It's a Makoto Shinkai double-feature this week. If you haven't caught the director's tale of supernatural-infused romance, Grant Jones has his take on gorgeous Weathering With You.― What do you do when the rain won't stop? The film Weathering With You attempts to answer this question in both a literal and figurative sense. From acclaimed director Makoto Shinkai - whose other works include films such...
The key to your name's success lies in how it uses its mysterious body-swapping gimmick and the more existential threat that Mitsuha's village faces to dress-up what is honestly a very simple and relatable story― Makoto Shinkai may not yet be a household name here in the western hemisphere, and I am not really the kind of person to buy into the hype of him (or any other director) being “the next Miy...
Nick and Nicky find Netflix's latest foray into anime bogged down by its nihilistic worldview.― In 2012, Capcom released the Dragon's Dogma hack-n-slash video game and it went on to sell over a million copies. This new Netflix anime series shares almost nothing in common with it except for the "Mature" content rating. Will our embittered protagonist Ethan manage to overcome the sinful monsters in f...
RIP 3DS. The game-changing handheld is finally put out to pasture. Meanwhile, Microsoft scoops up fan-favorite game developing studios including Bethesda. It's all in here for This Week in Games!― Hey all! Tokyo Game Show is starting up as I write this (Wednesday night), and announcements streams are scheduled to go on for a few days. Sometimes I delay the column a bit when I know some big announcem...
Saya Fukuzumi, Haruka Shiraishi, Shizuku Hoshinoya star in anime about virtual Diva Battles― Takara Tomy opened a website for the new television anime for its Wixoss franchise on Tuesday. The website posted a teaser promotional video that reveals the anime's title as Wixoss Diva(A)Live (pronounced "wi-cross diva alive"), and also reveals the cast, staff, story with a new world setting, and January 2...
The primary struggle of the definition of humanity is a big part of what makes this work effective.― “Just an empty sheath.” It's one of the first lines spoken by our hero Hyakkimuaru. Accosted on the road by bandits, they demand the sword at his hip as payment to pass through. He informs them with a smirk that the sheath is empty – it's just for show. They attempt to jump him and find out that he i...
Given isn't just about cute and fluffy first love or teenage angst; there are some murkier aspects of romantic relationships being explored here.― This approximately 60-minute film is a direct continuation of the TV series, although the focus is less on the main characters and more on the supporting band members Akihiko and Haruki. Even after the story moves on from Mafuyu's struggle to come to term...
Writer Nicki “YuriMother” Bauman looks back on the pivotal romance series and why it's so important to the yuri sub-genre.― Warning: This article contains spoilers for all of Bloom Into You Nio Nakatani's hit series Bloom Into You is one of the most successful yuri works in recent memory, selling over one-million print copies and spawning two manga anthologies, a spinoff light novel trilogy, a stag...
Once the training wheels come off and its gameplay opens up, however, Aegis Rim goes from a good game to a great one.― 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a one-of-a-kind game that blends visual novel storytelling with real-time strategy combat. It draws on some heavy inspiration from War of the Worlds. This is most apparent in its storytelling, but the book is touched on all over. Space Invaders is referenc...
Deca-Dence is revving up for its big finale this week and the show has certainly gone some places. Human avatars, penal colonies that shovel literal shit, and hope that the system that grinds its people to dust can be overthrown.― Deca-Dence is revving up for its big finale this week and the show has certainly gone some places. Human avatars, penal colonies that shovel literal shit, and hope that t...
Kazama's crash-course in babymaking is part of what makes I Don't Know How to Give Birth! so approachable.― Every birth story is different. This is an extremely important point to keep in mind when approaching any personal recollections of giving birth. What happened during one pregnancy can be completely different the second time around, not just from person to person. That said, as a two-time mom,...
400 images from 8 films represented, including Spirited Away, The Wind Rises, The Tale of Princess Kaguya― Studio Ghibli released an extensive gallery of screenshots from various films on its website on Friday. The notice included a personal signed message by co-founder Toshio Suzuki stating that the public is free to use the images for personal use "within the bounds of common sense." 400 images fr...
If you've seen the Robotics;Notes anime, why should you play the game? Richard Eisenbeis gets the answers from game producer Tatsuya Matsubara.― The western world is about to see a lot more Science Adventure visual novel titles, with the upcoming English release of Robotics;Notes Elite and Robotics;Notes DaSH in October. Robotics;Notes Elite is an enhanced version of the original Robotics;Notes visu...
All of ANN's coverage of works hit by new coronavirus disease― Here is all of ANN's coverage of the series, films, manga, and games that the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has affected. Note: Asteroid in Love, Bungo & Alchemist, Darwin's Game, Fate/Grand Order Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia, Hatena Illusion, Jewelpet: Attack Travel, Kukuriraige -Sanxingdui Denki-, Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Rein...
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