Review
— Archives —
Filters
All
•
Anime
Manga
Novels
Games
Music
Merch
Events
Industry
People
Live-Action
Korean
Text-only Compact View
Text-only List View
Text-only Grid View
List View with Images
Grid View with Images
Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray Season 1 Anime Review
The first season of the story of Oguri Cap stands apart from its previous Uma Musume brethren—and arguably stands above many of them.
― Every great hero deserves an origin story, and that even—especially!—includes the funny big-eating horse girl Oguri Cap from Uma Musume. This obviously isn't the only franchise where a comic-relief background character can undergo this kind of drastic promotion to pr...
Senpai no Kohai Manga Review
Hanakage Alt’s Senpai no Kohai is, in its slender volume, a beautifully sweet love story.
― Sayuri knows that it's hopeless to fall in love with a straight woman. That's an academic consideration, of course, when in her final year of college, she fell head over heels for Risa. The adorable first year consumed all of Sayuri's thoughts, no matter how hard she tried to avoid them, and when she graduated...
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle – Part 1: Akaza Returns Anime Film Review
The problem with this film is not the story being told but rather how that story is being told
― Akaza Returns is not a film without high points—especially to fans invested in every aspect of the story and world. Zenitsu and Shinobu both reach the climax of their arcs, and we finally learn the complete backstories of what drives them. We also get a rematch between Tanjiro and Akaza—now with Giyu work...
Mado Monogatari: Fia and the Wondrous Academy Game Review
Surely, there are better dungeons to delve somewhere out there.
― Did you know that those cute little slime-things from the Puyo Puyo puzzle games originate from a series of dungeon crawlers from the early 90s? If you didn't, I don't think anyone could blame you, since the franchise has only ever had a single western release in its decades-long history. It was called Sorcery Saga: Curse of the Great ...
Ultraman: Along Came a Spider-Man Volume 1 Review
In this, Spider-Man and Ultraman are kindred spirits, and I'm not quite sure what I expected their connection to be but I like this angle as a way to bridge these two very different characters.
― Ultraman: Along Came a Spider-Man is a solid start for an Ultraman and Spider-Man that hits most of the notes you would expect. The premise here is simple enough and totally in keeping with crossover tales o...
Pokémon Horizons: Season 2—The Search for Laqua Part 3 Anime Series Review
We need to find the remaining of Lucius' Pokémon, including the Black Rayquaza. All of that sounds really exciting, right? So why is half of this batch of episodes so boring?
― Training is over and it's time to leave Paldea. Liko, Roy and Dot are stronger than they ever have been before, but now it's time to resume the journey to find Laqua. But first we need to find the remaining of Lucius's Pokemon...
Dinner Table Detective Anime Series Review
If it’s a worthwhile mystery anime you’re hungry for and The Dinner Table Detective is what’s on the menu, you’re going to starve.
― First impressions are important. Titles are often a key part of an anime's first impression; ipso facto, an anime needs to have a good title that captures the essence of the show. But I'm not sure about “The Dinner Table Detective” as a title. It captures anything but m...
Spider-Man: Kizuna Manga Review
Spider-Man: Kizuna is a rather cartoony story, but succeeds at highlighting the appeal of Spider-Man in a traditional Japanese manga.
― With great power comes great responsibility! These words permeate throughout most, if not all, Spider-Man media, as it is the very mantra of the character himself. The ethos of Spider-Man revolves around a perfectly normal guy being pushed into situations where he is...
No Sleep for Kaname Date – from AI: The Somnium Files Game Review
It would be best for fans of AI: The Somnium Files to manage their expectations.
― If you have not played AI: The Somnium Files, I do not recommend you pick up the new side story, No Sleep for Kaname Date – from AI: The Somnium Files. I don't recommend you do anything other than go into the eshop of your platform of choice and purchase the absolute masterpiece that is the first game of the series. If...
Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid: A Lonely Dragon Wants to be Loved Anime Film Review
It is through the relationship between Kanna and her father that the film explores the concept that neglect is abuse.
― On its most basic level, this is a movie about family. In the lore of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, dragons don't have family units. They don't love their young and tend to see them only as battlefield companions or eventual rivals. However, thanks to her time in the human world, Ka...
Bullet/Bullet Episodes 1-8 Anime Series Review
On its most basic level, this first arc of episodes is a story of the rich exploiting the poor, and the poor accepting it.
― This first set of eight episodes is the story of a heist gone wrong—or one gone right, depending on your point of view. Gear, our starry-eyed youth, is a kid enraptured by the idea of an outlaw lifestyle who is being held back by his love for his sickly father figure. However, ...
Sword of the Demon Hunter Episodes 1-13 Anime Series Review
After an impressive start, this period supernatural show is hampered by terrible action scenes and squandered potential, but it's still watchable and interesting.
― We're midway through Sword of the Demon Hunter, with the two-cour series due to resume on July 15, and it's still tricky to evaluate as a whole. As the amusingly generic title suggests, it's a period supernatural drama, mostly set in 1850...
I Tamed My Ex-husband's Mad Dog Volumes 1-3 K-Comics Review
Don’t pick up I Tamed My Ex-Husband’s Mad Dog if you’re looking for a light, romantic read.
― It may seem disingenuous to say this, but I Tamed My Ex-Husband's Mad Dog is one of those stories that gets very dark, maybe darker the longer it goes on. Certainly, the covers make that case, although as we all know, you can't always judge a book by one. (Or by their titles, for that matter.) But even among...
Yakuza 0: Director's Cut Game Review
Unfortunately, for all of its improvements and refinements, this Director's Cut cannot truly be called the definitive version of Yakuza 0.
― Going back to Yakuza 0 after all of these years was a fascinating experience. On the one hand, this is a decade-old entry in a franchise that has since exploded in its popularity and ambitions, all of which is thanks in large part to this particular prequel's su...
Detective Conan: The Black Iron Submarine Anime Film Review
I would put this in my top three Detective Conan movies.
― The Black Organization is the primary antagonist in the Detective Conan franchise. While the abundance of filler in the main anime series causes their presence to get buried, when even a single member makes an appearance, that's when you know that an episode is important. The organization ties all of the major plot points of the series togeth...
Virgin Punk: Clockwork Girl Anime Film Review
Virgin Punk is the most gorgeously animated 35 minutes of ultraviolent anime I've ever seen.
― Virgin Punk is the most gorgeously animated 35 minutes of ultraviolent anime I've ever seen. Every frame has an unreal level of detail. The action itself is smooth, clear, and impressively choreographed. The direction is likewise a masterclass in visual storytelling, and more than a bit of rotoscoping has b...
SHIROHIYO - Reincarnated as a Neglected Noble Episodes 6-12 Anime Series Review
Shirohiyo manages to glide to a stop, like a sled on a hill that’s not quite steep enough for good sledding.
― The ending of Shirohiyo: Reincarnated as a Neglected Noble: Raising My Baby Brother With Memories From My Past Life isn't conclusive. I think many of us saw that coming; not only is it the norm for anime series based on long-running light novels, but it also couldn't have reached a solid fin...
Persona5: The Phantom X Game Review
I found the original Persona 5’s story to be particularly resonant and engaging, so this is an unbelievably disappointing downgrade so far.
― Love them or hate them, games featuring prominent gacha mechanics are big business. While initially more the domain of mobile platforms, we've moved on technologically since the heady days of (decade old!) Fate/Grand Order's one billion US dollar annual earnin...
I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class Volume 1 Manga Review
There’s the potential for a stronger story if the rest of it can continue leaning into the exploration of social expectations that this first volume presents, and it’s planted enough seeds that I think it could get there.
― Although I enjoy my share of high school rom-coms, I'll admit that I was a bit wary of this one going in. While you can't always tell much about a series based on its title, light...
Unico: Awakening and Unico: Hunted Manga Review
This story is like a child's imagination come to life.
― Osamu Tezuka is a legend in the world of animation and manga. Not only is this man responsible for some of the most iconic series of all time, but his stylistic influences can still be felt to this very day. Many of his franchises, like Astro Boy, continue to persist into the modern day with adaptations or re-creations. So when I heard that one...
Nue's Exorcist Volume 1 Manga Review
Nue’s Exorcist is the sort of book that’s more fun the less you think about it.
― The history of the nue is long in Japanese yokai lore, dating back to at least the Heian period, when it was described in Heike Monogatari as a chimera-like creature composed of bits and pieces of snake, chicken, tiger, tanuki, and monkey. Different variations on the theme followed, but manga fans may best know it as th...
I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level Season 2 Anime Series Review
I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level Season 2 is perfectly “fine” at what it sets out to do.
― I've been sitting here for ages racking my brain for the correct adjective with which to describe this series. “Mediocre” is too negative, as is “middling,” as both would suggest I didn't enjoy my time with it. I guess I'll stick with this one: it's “fine”. I've Been Killing Slimes ...
Spacewalking With You Volume 1 Manga Review
This American Manga Awards nominee is an unflinchingly honest and compassionate look into the lives of two neurodivergent teens just trying to get through life.
― Recently, I've found myself searching for works that leave me with a sense of catharsis—stories that send me through emotionally wrought tunnels and leave me coming out of it like I'd just gotten something off my chest. Thanks to a strong r...
CITY Volume 1 Manga Review
CITY revels in the casual charms of our lives, delights in our mundanity, and provides more than a few chuckles along the way.
― The first volume of CITY is a delightful slice of life slapstick romp that asks very little of the reader while eliciting a lot of great feelings. CITY is a simple work at face value. Three young women – Midori, Ayumu, and Wako – all go to Mont Blanc University in a city na...
KPop Demon Hunters Anime Film Review
Sony and Netflix's anime-influenced action-musical KPop Demon Hunters is energetic popcorn entertainment with great senses of style and humor.
― Why don't we have more action musicals? Lin-Manuel Miranda has theorized, “Action movies, musicals, and porn movies are all fighting for the same storytelling real estate. When you can't talk anymore, you sing, fight, or f*ck.” KPop Demon Hunters is rated PG...
Cosmic Censorship Volume 1 Manga Review
Confusion works decently well to keep readers on their toes, although if you like to fully understand what's going on at any given time, this may not be the book for you.
― According to the dictionary, a “censor” is, among other things, a wartime official who reads all communications to delete classified or dangerous information. That's not too far off from the way we more typically see “censor” and ...
Leviathan Anime Series Review
Leviathan is a poignant and moving war story in a time when we need tales that shine bright through the darkness.
― Around this time last year, Netflix announced that it would be home to the next project from Studio Orange (Trigun Stampede, Beastars) and Qubic Pictures (Eden), Leviathan—an anime adaptation of the alternate history World War I novel trilogy written by Scott Westerfeld and illustrated ...
BLACK BLOOD Manga Review
If you are or have ever been a connoisseur of the clang-clang, rest assured that Kuku gets it, and has provided a book that delivers.
― The surface-level selling points of a story can often be all it needs. The premise of Hayate Kuku's BLACK BLOOD certainly lends itself to the potential of denser themes: the nature of the human soul, the validity of suppressed and manipulated emotions that make peopl...
Once Upon a Witch's Death Anime Series Review
This story about an improbably cheerful witch under a deadly curse is hampered by dull early episodes and a cliffhanger which may not be resolved, but it's still enjoyable and worthwhile.
― In Hayao Miyazaki's Kiki's Delivery Service, the plucky title witch no sooner turned thirteen than she left home to make a living in a faraway town. Kiki, though, had it easy compared to Meg Raspberry, the heroine...
Senpai is an Otokonoko: My Crossdressing Classmate Volume 1 Manga Review
This is the sort of series I fully expect to see evolve over its ten-volume run. It’s as much about learning comfort levels and respect as it is about learning who it is you are or want to be.
― Note: I will be using he/him pronouns in this review, since as of this volume, that's what Makoto uses. Gender can be a performance. Because of socially mandated gender norms, that's true even if you identify...
Unaware Atelier Meister Anime Series Review
The potential The Unaware Atelier Meister had makes it all the more disappointing that it turned out to be such a letdown.
― Overpowered anime protagonists are always in vogue and usually find themselves front and center of the anime zeitgeist. And yet, perhaps in part because of that, they've become dime-a-dozen, and it's a lot harder than it used to be for them to stand out, to say nothing of the e...
Watari-kun's ***** is About to Collapse Volume 1 Manga Review
This book felt like watching somebody slowly wind a guitar string. Are they tuning the instrument, or do they want the wire to snap?
― Have you ever finished reading a volume of a manga where you just feel unnerved by the end? When I first picked up Watari-kun's ****** Is About to Collapse, I was expecting a semi-tragic story about two siblings trying to persevere in a new environment after losing th...
Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II: The Movie Anime Review
In many ways, Macross II is a product of its time—for better and for worse.
― Often regarded by fans as the red-headed stepchild of the Macross franchise, 1992's six-episode Macross II OVA series was rights holder Big West's attempt to make a sequel to seminal 1984 movie Macross: Do You Remember Love (DYRL) without the involvement of original creators Studio Nue. As a result, this is the only Macross...
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Battle Destiny Remastered Game Review
It's incredibly easy to load up, blow up a few robots, drop the points in your robot, then do it all again a few minutes later.
― Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Battle Destiny Remastered is a fun enough title for what it is, but it struggles to feel like more than a solid port of a decent game. Battle Destiny Remastered is a port of the original PS Vita title, launched back in 2012. The original title was o...
Anyway, I'm Falling in Love with You Season 1 Anime Review
The anime's presentation lets down what is otherwise a good story.
― Even though I am a self-described (and other-described) Book Person, I try very hard not to get too caught up in the idea that the originating novel or manga is always going to be better than the TV adaptation. But sometimes it turns out to be true, and this is one of those cases. Anyway, I'm Falling in Love with You does work bette...
Farmagia Anime Series Review
The original character designs of Farmagia are penned by Hiro Mashima, which results in Fairy Tail bleedover leaking all over the place.
― It's hard to resist calling Farmagia a “dumpster fire” when the show starts with a giant fiery monster wreaking havoc on the landscape. Granted, the anime does creep into that territory on more than several occasions, but it doesn't quite land there. For me, dumps...
Lupin the IIIrd: Zenigata and the Two Lupins ONA Review
Lupin the IIIrd: Zenigata and the Two Lupins is both a fantastically directed political spy thriller and an exploration of Zenigata and Lupin's odd-yet-enduring relationship.
― I'm a big fan of the adult-audience aimed Lupin the IIIrd series of shows and ONAs. Starting with The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, each of these has told the early adventures of our antiheroes with a large helping of ultraviolenc...
DAN DA DAN Season 1 Anime Blu-ray Review
DAN DA DAN’s first season is more than just a kooky and spooky teenage romance; it’s the best deal in anime right now.
― If you've been following the latest and greatest in anime, there's a good chance that you're well acquainted with the first season of Dan Da Dan. A quirky, and often spooky, action-romance comedy that landed with general audiences and critics when it aired last fall. With that in ...
All You Need Is Kill Anime Film Review
It’s a shame that a film making such idiosyncratic choices in its merging of 3D and 2D visual languages in animation keeps falling into rather predictable patterns
― It's appropriate that Hiroshi Sakurazaka's light novel All You Need is Kill, a story about trying something again and changing just a little bit each time, is getting a repeat adaptation. But it would be a disservice to the new film by K...
Outsiders Volume 1 Manga Review
Outsiders is a book that should have been better.
― Does this sound familiar? A teenage girl with a sense of being disaffected and socially dislocated, one day discovers that there's a whole supernatural world right under her nose, and becomes involved with a hot werewolf and a handsome vampire. It's not just Twilight that uses that setup, although it probably remains the most famous example of the p...
Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army Game Review
Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is the gold standard that all PS2 remasters need to adhere to.
― Originally a spin-off of the Shin Megami Tensei series, Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army separates itself from Atlus's other games. One aspect is that the story's tone sits between Shin Megami Tensei and Persona's. It's not as apocalyptic as Shin Megami Tensei, but y...
ChaO Anime Film Review
This Little Mermaid-inspired film just won at Annecy - come discover the charms that helped it to do so.
― There have been many stories – even just told with animation – about love going beyond cultural lines, appearance, even specifically love between man and mermaid. As the film settles in to its premise, ChaO has a lot of work to set itself apart from these other films. Director Yasuhiro Aoki buil...
Bye Bye, Earth Episode 11-20 Anime Series Review
Nonsensical as this twenty-episode fever-dream of a show is, I can’t deny the potency of its mad imagery.
― After finishing the second half of LIDEN FILMS utterly inscrutable anime adaptation of Tow Ubukata's Bye Bye, Earth novel series, I had to lie down for an hour so that my poor, confused brain could attempt to parse all that it had experienced. I don't know whether that helped, but the color-dre...
Heroine? Saint? No, I'm an All-Works Maid (And Proud of It)! Volume 1 Novel Review
This is, at its heart, a send-up of otoge isekai.
― No matter where you trace it back to, the subgenre of isekai where someone is reborn in the world of, specifically, an otome game, has become popular. It's not as well-loved (strictly in terms of popularity) as villainess or OP isekai, but there are enough stories that use it as a setting to make it deserving of its specific subgenre. It's got a bit...
Puniru is a Kawaii Slime Season 1 Anime Series Review
Puniru Is a Kawaii Slime is throwback to the mid-late 2000s, when we had an abundance of slice of life comedies focusing on a tsundere boy and an overly hyperactive girl.
― In a lot of ways, you could consider Puniru Is a Cute Slime as a throwback to the mid-late 2000s when we had an abundance of slice of life comedies focusing on a tsundere boy and an overly hyperactive girl. We have a bunch of imma...
Manie Manie: Neo Tokyo Anime Film Review
This collection still stands tall as a time capsule for an essential era in the history of Japanese anime.
― It's always wonderful when classic, out-of-print anime make their way onto legal streaming services. While a full-blown restoration on a nice home-media format would obviously be ideal, the fact that we can sit here in the year 2025 and watch Manie Manie: Neo Tokyo at all is something to be th...
100 Meters Anime Movie Review
Debuting at Annecy, 100 Meters is a gorgeous work from the creative team behind On Gaku: Our Sound and the creator of Orb.
― If you were to map the film onto the circumstances of its making, Kenji Iwaisawa's feature debut ON-GAKU: Our Sound fit perfectly—a project made by self-taught animators about embracing your love of art despite your level of talent. His sophomore feature 100 Meters is less clea...
Jinsei Anime Film Review
There is an eclectic collection of influences at play in Jinsei, from acclaimed Norwegian comedy-drama The Worst Person in the World to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey
― It's easy to reduce Jinsei, 30-year-old Ryuya Suzuki's feature directorial debut, to this year's On-Gaku: Our Sound. It's not like the two films have nothing in common, either. Both share a sheer sense of independent filmmaki...
The Last Blossom Anime Film Review
The first film from the creator of Odd Taxi makes it clear Baku Kinoshita loves to show the gradual cracks in the shell of a taciturn man.
― Alhough the debut feature film from Baku Kinoshita, The Last Blossom, is strikingly different from his series OddTaxi, it's clear the man loves to show the gradual cracks in the shell of a taciturn man. In this case, it's the stoic yakuza Minoru Akutsu, first sh...
Nobody's Boy Remi Anime Series BD Review
While Nobody’s Boy Remi doesn’t have the fidelity of other World Masterpiece Theater adaptations, it’s still historically important and a solid work in itself.
― Based on the 1878 novel by Hector Malot, Nobody's Boy Remi (originally called Sans Famille, meaning “without family") is part of what appears to be AnimEigo's “Ruined Childhood” collection. That tongue-in-cheek label (the series is famously ...
Princess Principal: Crown Handler - Chapter 4 Anime Film Review
Princess Principal: Crown Handler Chapter 4 feels like it squanders the tension it gained in the previous installment with a return to the status quo.
― The previous Princess Principal film ended on the mother of all cliffhangers. While Mary was saved, Prince Richard captured and all of our heroes were as well, with even Princess Charlotte revealed as a traitor to the crown. All this left us wonderin...
OKITSURA: Fell in Love with an Okinawan Girl, but I Just Wish I Know What She's Saying Anime Series Review
The real star here is Okinawa and its language.
― In case you're not familiar with Okinawa's place in Japanese culture, the US has a convenient analog: Hawaii. Like Hawaii, Okinawa was an independent nation that was annexed by a larger and more militarized empire. Its geographical distance from its colonizer allowed it to maintain its distinct culture; however, it struggles to survive under the threa...
DAN DA DAN Evil Eye Anime Theatrical Cut Review
Fun as it is, Evil Eye isn't really a movie. You will find plenty of exposition, a rising action, and a falling action—but nothing resembling a satisfactory conclusion.
― Fans of DAN DA DAN have nothing to fear but the Evil Eye as we head into the second season of the supernatural action series. Evil Eye is the theatrical cut of the anime's first three episodes, a now tried-and-true promotional avenu...
Stay By My Side After the Rain Volumes 1-3 Manga Review
Stay By My Side After the Rain is a remarkably well put together story. While each volume is more or less self-contained, they all build together to form a picture of two people overcoming their hurdles and finding happiness together.
― If there are two persistent narratives that queer fiction is beholden to, they're coping with homophobia and coming out. Both are real and significant in fiction and ...
Uglymug, Epicfighter Manga Chapters 1-10 Review
OK, what if someone was transported to another world but they were ugly? No seriously, that's it.
― OK, what if someone was transported to another world but they were ugly? No seriously, that's it. Is the story going to be some kind of biting social commentary about how beauty is in the eye of the beholder and how we don't give people a chance due to their physical appearances? Maybe the story is a c...
The Remarried Empress Volumes 1-6 K-Comic Review
With a drama adaptation announced, now is the perfect time to see why The Remarried Empress is worth the hype.
― It's good that we know how this story ends because it is one hell of a ride to get there. The Remarried Empress, originally written by Alphatart and adapted to manhwa by writer HereLee and artist SUMPUL, opens with heroine Navier being granted a divorce from her emperor husband and immedia...
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma Game Review
Series fans will definitely appreciate the evolution of long-time mechanics, and newcomers will enjoy the cast and building mechanics.
― The Rune Factory series has firmly established itself as more than just a mere "Fantasy Story of Seasons. However, with every series—and every season—there must come a time of growth and experimentation. Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma notably avoids counting itsel...
Lost in Starlight Movie Review
This is a movie drenched in color, from the verdant greenery of Seoul’s parkland to the warm reds and browns of its older buildings, not to mention the vibrant, sparkling starscapes and sunsets, many of which would make Makoto Shinkai proud.
― While Korean animation director Han Ji-won's fame has steadily grown in her homeland, Netflix's worldwide release of her latest, most substantial movie, is the...
New Saga Volume 1 Manga Review
If you had the ability to go back in time and relive one of the most difficult journeys of your life, what would you do differently?
― If you had the ability to go back in time and relive one of the most difficult journeys of your life, what would you do differently? If you sacrificed everything for the sake of taking down an ultimate evil, do you think it's possible to accomplish the same goal witho...
Dear Hongrang K-Comic Review
Dark, bitter, and intermittently hopeful, Dokjin and Hottu's adaptation of Jang Dahye's original novel pulls you in, even if none of those flavors are your preferred reading, making it nearly impossible to put down.
― Complete at sixty episodes (chapters), Dear Hongrang is a journey. Apart from flashbacks, the prologue, and the epilogue, the entire story takes place over one brief summer during the J...
Observation Records of My Fiancée Light Novel Series Review
Although it isn’t as deep as I’m perhaps making it sound, the story is a look at both the metafictional qualities of game-based isekai and an exploration of how an inability to distinguish between reality and fiction can be harmful.
― When a genre, or subgenre in this case, becomes as entrenched as villainess isekai is, you need a twist to make your story stand out. Shiki has hit on a good one for th...
Elden Ring Nightreign Video Game Review
Rather than being a game about “getting gud”—slamming headlong into a big boss over and over again till you learn every tell and attack pattern, Nightreign is a game about “getting fast”.
― In Elden Ring Nightreign, you pick one of eight unique characters and are dropped into the land of Limveld along with two other players with the nebulous goal of defeating the Nightlord. The map is full of locati...
BET Live-Action Streaming Series Review
Bet is not a real show, not one worth watching as a curiosity for Kakegurui fans, nor for people just looking for entertaining TV, trashy or otherwise.
― Westernized takes on Japanese media are hardly anything new. They've been around from The Magnificent Seven to The Ring—go ask what the original Star Wars was based on sometime. So something that might seem so profoundly anime in its iteration as Ka...
A Wild Last Boss Appeared! Light Novel Volume 1 Review
I was on board with the gender bender premise, but I found it lacking when it came down to the execution.
― The biggest shocker of A Wild Last Boss Appeared! is that it won a major award. In the author's note, Firehead expresses their surprise that this story they serialized on an amateur web novel site got a book deal—and a manga and anime after that. Believe me, I'm just as surprised. In such a cro...
Does It Count If You Lose Your Virginity to an Android? Volume 1 Manga Review
This manga asks and answers the question “What if the loveable loser in a sexbot comedy was a woman?” The answer won’t surprise you.
― If you've been reading manga for any length of time, you've probably encountered some version of the hapless, yet relatable, loser protagonist. He's a guy with no friends and a weird hobby, or the woman who looks super cool and together on the outside, but when she st...
Nasu: Summer in Andalusia Anime Film Blu-Ray Review
Nasu: Summer in Adalusia finally makes its way to English speaking audiences, and it was well worth the wait.
― Chances are, relatively few people reading this have heard of Nasu: Summer in Andalusia before. Despite being the first anime film ever accepted to Cannes and its stylistic resemblance to world-famous Ghibli films, which were finally receiving wider international recognition when it came ou...
Night of the Living Cat Volume 1 Manga Review
This manga has an amusing idea that could make for a funny one-shot manga or a spoof trailer, but feels ludicrously overstretched here.
― Night of the Living Cat will soon hit the screens as an anime series in July, with at least one huge name attached: Takashi Miike, on board as the “Chief Director.” You may know Miike from the live-action films of Ichi The Killer and other manga. I'll always rememb...
Ado SPECIAL LIVE "Shinzou" in Cinema Concert Film Review
There's no auto-tune or post-production magic here. For over two hours, Ado belts out one high-energy song after another, showing off her range and power without somehow destroying her voice in the process.
― While this may be shown on the big screen, Ado SPECIAL LIVE "Shinzou" in Cinema is, for all intents and purposes, your typical concert recording. There's no attempt at weaving a story around the...
I'm Getting Married to a Girl I Hate in My Class Anime Series Reeview
This is a rom-com without any fancy frills, yet doesn’t come off as too cliche or trite for its own good either.
― I'm Getting Married to a Girl I Hate in My Class gives you exactly what you expect, but honestly? What you get is something that for the most part delivers. Its premise is simple and to the point, and it's filled with rom-com tropes that are put to good use, even if they never amount to ...
Dra-Q Volumes 1-2 Manga Review
Dra-Q is a hard series to recommend with its skin-deep characters and a plot that sometimes feels like the creator was just flying by the seat of their pants.
― Kodansha's copy for Dra-q, Chiyo's dark comedy/romance/horror manga series, says that it's perfect for fans of Dandadan and Call of the Night. While I wouldn't necessarily agree with the latter – the only real commonality they share is vampir...
SHIROHIYO - Reincarnated as a Neglected Noble Episodes 1-5 Anime Review
Shirohiyo has just enough charm to go down easily, a standard isekai showing that sometimes describing a series that way isn’t automatically an insult.
― In the crowded anime landscape, it's easy to forget that “standard” doesn't immediately equal “bad.” That's especially true of isekai titles, where the word is just as often used as shorthand for “creatively bankrupt.” I certainly am not exempt from...
The 13th Footprint Volume 1 Manga Review
The 13th Footprint’s first volume is mainly a setup, but it’s a lesson in how to do it well.
― While nothing else he's created has quite lived up to Erased's level of excellence, it's not for lack of trying on Kei Sanbe's part – both of the other mystery titles previously released, Island in a Puddle and For the Kid I Saw in my Dreams are very good. But The 13th Footprint's first volume comes closest...
They Were Eleven Manga Review
They Were Eleven is indisputably a classic, a beautiful example of how manga can transcend literary snobbery to be classified as literature in its own right.
― Of all classic shōjo manga creators, Moto Hagio has had the most success in English. Part of the Year 24 Group, which includes Keiko Takemiya (To Terra…), Riyoko Ikeda (The Rose of Versailles), and Yasuko Aoike (From Eroica with Love), Hagio h...
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Familia Chronicle: Episode Lyu Novel Two Review
This book solidifies Lyu as the best girl in the franchise.
― This review will contain spoilers for the Astrea Record novels, novel 18 of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon, and season five of the Danmachi anime. I'm not sure that Fujino Omori ever intended for Lyu Leon's background to be as significant as it is. In the early novels of the larger Danmachi series, the tragic tale of Astr...
Dogsred Volumes 1-2 Manga Review
I can't wait for more people to discover this absolute slapshot of a classic in the making.
― About thirty-five years ago, a young mangaka from Kagoshima took Japan by storm with a little story about a relatively obscure sport—basketball. Fast-forward to today, it's pretty safe to say that this artist's love letter to shooting hoops became something of a Slam Dunk with its readers. While reading thro...
Yes! Precure 5 Episodes 1-24 Anime Review
With a good first half to a seminal series, this is likely to appeal to classic magical girl fans in general, even if you’ve never watched a Precure series before.
― In the history of Precure, Yes! Precure 5 is particularly important. This fourth series, which introduces the third set of Cures, is the first to feature more than two officially-named Cures (Shiny Luminous doesn't have “Cure” in her tit...
I'm a Noble on the Brink of Ruin, So I Might as Well Try Mastering Magic Anime Series Review
The plot is unoriginal, the characters forgettable, and the storytelling itself is bound and determined to keep things as void of narrative tension as possible.
― I'll be the first to admit that it's generally in bad taste to compare one work of fiction to another while reviewing it. After all, each is an individual work of art that has unique points, even if they use the same basic tropes or general...
The Color of the End: Mission in the Apocalypse Volume 1 Manga Review
The Color of the End is one of the stronger “girls after the apocalypse” manga out there, more bitter than sweet and filled to the brim with loneliness.
― “Girls after the apocalypse” has become a subgenre of post-apocalyptic fiction. Whether alone, in pairs, or with their pets, young women traversing a ruined world have carved a niche in science fiction manga and anime, perhaps relying on the juxtap...
Devil May Cry Animated Series Review
Rather than doing just the bare minimum with fun fights and explosive action, Devil May Cry also explores concepts like xenophobia, religious zealotry, and the difficulty of accepting when you are wrong.
― The Devil May Cry game series has built itself on over-the-top action, demonic invasions, and pithy one-liners. Netflix's Devil May Cry certainly does the same. However, unlike the 2007 anime serie...
The Lady and Her Butler Volumes 1-3 K-Comic Review
The real impetus behind the plot is Taesoo and Sooha’s traumas and how they shape their lives and relationships with others.
― There's a difference between being asexual and being sex averse, although it isn't one that many people understand. Jade's webtoon The Lady and Her Butler is not one of them. Protagonist Sooha Lim is sex averse, meaning that she finds sex repulsive while being capable of sexu...
Trillion Game Episodes 14-26 Anime Review
The story’s a freewheeling mess, rushing from one mad scheme to the next, with regular daft cliffhangers and last-minute plot twists.
― When last we left would-be trillionaires Haru and Gaku, it seemed an irreparable rift had formed between them. Having unilaterally decided to use all of their company Trillion Game's available cash to buy two billion yen in entertainment company God Promo's stock, Ha...
My Kitten is a Picky Eater Volume 1 Manga Review
If you like cats and stories about people taking care of cats, My Kitten is a Picky Eater will be a purr-fect fit for you.
― If you've ever owned a pet, then you've almost certainly learned that oftentimes, the best way to their heart is, of course, through their stomach. Such is the core of Migiri Miki's My Kitten is a Picky Eater (henceforth Picky Eater), which follows a new kitten owner—Mano—whose...
Pokémon Horizons: Season 2—The Search for Laqua Part 2 Anime Series Review
Now that we've gotten the training arc of the season over with, I'm very curious to see how the main plot will end up playing out moving forward.
― Pokémon Horizons: Season 2—The Search for Laqua is definitely shaping up to be one of the strongest arcs in the entire Pokémon franchise. I already sang the praises of part one and how it established its new characters. This part focuses on how some of th...
You and Idol Precure♪ Episodes 1-12 Anime Review
We’re still in the early stages of this series, and it has plenty of room to grow.
― Wonderful Precure was always going to be a tough act to follow. That's doubly true when you add Soaring Sky! Precure, the series that preceded it, into the mix – between those two and the previous year's Delicious Party Precure, we've had three very strong seasons in the long-running franchise in a row. None of this ...
Daily Life of a Middle-Aged Online Shopper in Another World Anime Series Review
Forget exploring a new land and learning the customs of its people. No, the first order of business is flipping goods for profit in a world where you've been granted a silver spoon.
― What's the ultimate isekai fantasy? Is it slaying monsters? Obtaining magical powers? Knighted by a beautiful queen? Taking things easy, forego all that hard work and danger, and… relax in a new world? Meet hotties and ...
Ishura Season 2 Anime Series Review
The real genius of Ishura is that none of this is boring. By some stroke of demonic inspiration, every character’s backstory is compelling
― In my review of Ishura's first half last year, I wrote, “The one thing that frustrates me most about Ishura is that its promised tournament to decide the “True Hero" doesn't even begin during this season, which means the entire thing is but a prologue to the rea...
Shimazaki in the Land of Peace Volume 1 Manga Review
Every time I turned the page, I was worried about what would happen because the answer could've ranged from a gorgeous scenery shot to a violent execution.
― If there's one thing I can command Shimazaki in the Land of Peace for, it's the first volume's ability to create this incredible layer of consistency from beginning to end. Every time I turned the page, I was worried about what would happen beca...
Moonrise Anime Series Review
Moonrise succeeds in being casual, accessible fare for anime fans new and old and anybody hungry enough for some high-octane popcorn.
― The first five minutes of Moonrise are enough to let you know how streamlined and accessible this series is. This show is anime through and through; longtime otaku can see traces of Full Metal Alchemist, Nausicaa, and Gurren Lagann if they squint their eyes hard enou...
Mask Danshi: This Shouldn't Lead to Love Volume 1 Manga Review
The biggest strength of this volume is the way it works with Sayama’s anxiety.
― Anxiety isn't always treated seriously in fiction. That could be because it's unique to everyone who deals with it; even if the same basic things make multiple people anxious, reactions and coping mechanisms will be different. In the case of Sayama, one of the protagonists of Mask Danshi: This Shouldn't Lead to Love, he ...
The Rose of Versailles Anime Film Review
Now streaming on Netflix! How do you adapt a seminal classic that took 14 volumes of manga and 40 episodes of TV to tell into a feature film? You make it a musical.
― The Rose of Versailles is one of the seminal works of early shōjo manga. With over 23 million copies sold worldwide, it's no surprise that it still holds a place in popular culture over 50 years since its original release. This brings u...
The Legend of Kamui Volume 1 Manga Review
The start of a legendary manga franchise, The Legend of Kamui is rife with social conflict and violence that isn’t for the faint of heart, but an excellent must-read for manga fans hungry for historical epics and political commentary.
― With each and every passing day comes another hardship. A family of farmers accompanied by
genin (outcast) assistants are working in the fields. A young genin child s...
Hunter × Hunter Omnibus Manga Review
Twenty-seven years after Hunter X Hunter's debut in Shonen Jump magazine, we can witness the start of Togashi's legendary manga again with this sleek omnibus edition of the first three volumes.
― Yoshihiro Togashi's decision to pen Hunter x Hunter a few years after infamously closing the book on Yu Yu Hakusho meant one thing: you can take the mangaka out of battle shonen, but you can never take the b...
Kinnikuman: Perfect Origin Arc Season 2 Anime Series Review
Few anime have mastered the art of absurdism quite as well as Kinnikuman. And for a wrestling anime, its love for the over-the-top makes total sense.
― Few anime have mastered the art of absurdism quite as well as Kinnikuman. And for a wrestling anime, its love for the over-the-top makes total sense. In many ways, it'd be weirder if it weren't as weird as it is. Watching this show feels like you're w...
Rusty Rabbit Game Review
If I had a friend who was curious about Metroidvania-style games, this would probably be at the top of my list of beginner games to recommend to them.
― When I picked up this game to review, I thought it was a match made in heaven. Do you mean to tell me that I get to review a Metroidvania-style game with cute mascot characters in a story written by the man who has written some of my favorite anime o...
A Sinner of the Deep Sea Manga Series Review
Akihito Tomi's A Sinner of the Deep Sea takes Andersen's tale and reframes it, asking what would have changed if the mermaid had a best friend who wouldn't just sit back and let her die.
― We all know the story: a mermaid ventures to the surface, falls in love with a human man, and ultimately ends up dying because of it. Hans Christian Andersen's literary fairy tale The Little Mermaid has become the ...
Aquarion: Myth of Emotions Anime Series Review
Despite a strong start, Aquarion: Myth of Emotions falters early into its run.
― Back in early January, a friend and I decided that we'd sit down every Thursday to watch the latest entry in Shoji Kawamori's Aquarion series, Aquarion: Myth of Emotions. After a few weeks, we realized that we didn't know anyone else who was watching it. There wasn't exactly a ton of buzz or enthusiasm around Myth of Emo...
For all articles, see the archives