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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...
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...
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 ...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Pokémon Horizons: Season 2—The Search for Laqua Part 2
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Magic Maker: How to Make Magic in Another World Anime Series Review
Even if things get bogged down by some weird logic and a less-than-stellar second half, there’s still a bit of magical fun to be had here.
― Magic Maker: How To Make Magic In Another World follows Shion as he is given a chance to relive his adolescence in a fantasy world where he can tap into his passion for learning magic, which is almost non-existent in this world. Or so Shion initially thinks. On ...
Be Forever Yamato: Star Blazers: REBEL 3199 Episodes 7-10 Anime Review
I love this kind of dramatic storytelling, no matter how ridiculous it gets, with massive planet-destroying neon space lasers and missiles firing in all directions.
― Sometimes being a fan of the Space Battleship Yamato/Star Blazers remake series is suffering. On the one hand, it's a stunningly successful update of the 1970s/80s original, one of the most glossy modern sci-fi anime in existence; on th...
Even Given the Worthless "Appraiser" Class, I'm Actually the Strongest Anime Series Review
With yet another RPG power fantasy at the helm, what you see is what you get, but what you’re getting ain’t half-bad either.
― Sometimes I feel like fantasy RPG anime was on the tape in Infinite Jest. With so many of these shows pumped out per year, it feels like an onslaught we're forced to watch until the point of collapse. It's so easy to become cynical and jaded by it all. So when the first bit o...
Grisaia: Phantom Trigger the Animation Anime Series Review
It’s almost impressive how simultaneously over- and under-explained this series can be.
― I'm unsure whether or not this applies to the visual novels they're based on, but as far as the anime goes, Phantom Trigger is something of a black sheep among the various Fruit of Grisaia titles. “Phantom Trigger just isn't as good,” you'll often hear Grisaia fans say some version of, “And I don't like the main...
Promise of Wizard Anime Series Review
It doesn’t take long to realize that there’s not a helluva lot of things promising about this wizard show.
― Promise of Wizard is an anime so sluggish that it robs itself of any opportunity to be enchanting. Not even the wizard's ball that happens halfway through has any sense of glittery whimsiness. With the plot and animation trudging along at a snail's pace, it feels like nothing is going on. Ther...
Jujutsu Kaisen Hidden Inventory, Shibuya Incident [Limited Edition] Blu-ray + DVD Anime Review
The biggest selling point of the limited edition set is the art book for season two, although calling it an art book feels misleading.
― Season two of Jujutsu Kaisen is broken up into two major arcs that act as definitive turning points for the overall series. The limited edition set itself only comes with the second half of season two, the Shibuya Incident arc, but we will also be reviewing the firs...
Unnamed Memory Act.2 Anime Series Review
A rushed plotline and frenetic pacing barely leave you with a memory of this show worth naming.
― Many great fairy tales treat love as something no magical curse, giant tower, or fire-breathing dragon can tear apart. In worlds occupied by fairies and magic, love is the most real part of any fantasy; a passionate force that conquers all. Unnamed Memory Act 2 follows that precedent by having its leadin...
Headhunted to Another World: From Salaryman to Big Four! Anime Series Review
It’s almost frustrating how easily this series could've been a comedic subversion of all things isekai and salaryman life, but it just isn’t.
― Especially relative to many of the other titles in the deluge of isekai anime we've gotten in the past few years, Headhunted to Another World: From Salaryman to Big Four! (henceforth Headhunted), sounds on paper like it should be such a fun series. I mean, Ju...
Bogus Skill <<fruitmaster>> Anime Series Review
There could be an isekai out there where this series is a fantastic over-the-top comedy in the vein of Haven’t You Heard I’m Sakamoto? But instead, we got yet another generic adventure anime.
― There's no way you didn't notice it: even in a world full of anime with long titles that double as a basic plot synopsis, Bogus Skill <<fruitmaster>> ~About that time I became able to eat unlimited numbers of ...
Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms Anime Series Review
I won't say that I was disappointed watching Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms, but I was expecting a little bit more than what was given.
― We've been spoiled on good slice-of-life and romantic comedy anime haven't we? As one of my favorite anime genres, I sometimes feel torn. I have been more forgiving of the tired and expected genre tropes, but I do genuinely love it when writers can take ...
A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School! Anime Series Review
Protagonist Haruaki Abe is the worst thing about this series.
― Sometimes a series' greatest detriment is the very character meant to be our window into its world. That's one hundred percent the case with A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School. Protagonist Haruaki Abe is the worst thing about the twenty-four-episode show. Not only is he screechy and whiny, he's also got a uniform fetish that the plot tr...
Hajime no Ippo: Rising Anime Series Review
The show may not be perfect and we may not get another Hajime no Ippo anime but this is a great note to end it on.
― I was a little disappointed with the second season of Hajime no Ippo for taking the focus away from our main character and putting it almost exclusively on the messy, drawn-out nature of the larger boxing world. Hajime no Ippo: Rising scales back that scope, which initially sounds like...
Aldnoah.Zero [Re+] Anime Film Review
This film is worth watching for the new episode alone. As for the compilation film attached to it...
― When it comes to many mecha anime, the protagonist is the pilot of some special or powerful mobile suit and uses it to turn the tide in a war (often one between Earth and space). Aldoah.Zero is the reverse of this. Rather than the heroes, it is the villains who have Gundam-like mobile suits powered ...
Macross 7 the Movie: The Galaxy is Calling Me and Macross Dynamite 7 OVAs 1-4 Anime Streaming Review
Macross Dynamite 7’s aesthetic is of its time, and it looks great.
― In terms of sheer volume of content, Macross 7 easily beats any of its franchise stablemates. At 49 TV episodes, the three-part Encore OVAs (bundled with the TV show on Hulu/Disney+), a short 1995 theatrical movie – The Galaxy is Calling Me, and the four-part Dynamite 7 OVA, that's a lot of one particular Macross flavor. If you didn...
Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger Anime Series Review
I am so happy that they made a sequel to one of my favorite anime of all time…seven years later.
― I am so happy that they made a sequel to one of my favorite anime of all time…seven years later. OK, that's not technically true, considering that between the airing of the first season of Hajime no Ippo and New Challenger there was a movie, as well as a fairly popular OVA, that was released. While the ...
Macross Zero Anime Series Review
Zero relies heavily on CGI, not just for its mech battles, but also for some backgrounds and scene transitions. Sometimes this works, and sometimes it looks horribly dated.
― A five-episode OVA released over the space of almost two years (2002-2004), in
release order, Macross Zero sits between 1997's Macross Dynamite 7 and 2008's Macross
Frontier. Chronologically, its events occur before every other ...
Lazarus Anime Episodes 1-5 Review
These first five episodes are more than compelling in their own right and set the rest of Lazarus up to be the exact mirror that our global society needs at this moment.
― First and foremost, you should know that this ain't Cowboy Bebop, partner! While Lazarus is the most stylistically and tonally similar to Bebop out of all of director Shinichirō Watanabe's subsequent works, it's not trying to be Co...
Arifureta - From Commonplace to World's Strongest Season 3 Anime Series Review
It all means that for an extra-special, extra-long helping of Arifureta, this season feels mostly obligatory. Perfunctory.
― Given the unenviable circumstances of its rocky start, it will always be generally impressive how far Arifureta has come. The anime has soldiered on for multiple seasons and extra ONAs, and even carved out a solid story identity for itself beyond the "dark vengeful power fantas...
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? 4K Remaster UHD & Blu-ray Review
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? is one of the most important films in anime history, but this new 4K restoration might not be the release it deserves.
― If you're around anime old heads for long enough, there's a good chance you'll eventually hear about the mythical year of 1984—a year that wowed audiences with now-timeless classics like Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ...
Demon Lord 2099 Anime Review
Hung around the skeleton of established genre tropes is an engaging cyberpunk mystery.
― The greatest praise I can come up with for Demon Lord 2099 is that it's solid. Every aspect of it is competently executed, without any one part that really stands out from the others for better or for worse. The peaks are more like gently sloping knolls, and the valleys are slight dips. It is, to be honest, like ...
Bubblegum Crisis Perfect Collection Anime Review
It's always the right time to discover, or rediscover Bubblegum Crisis, and this Perfect Collection from AnimEigo provides the ideal way to do so.
― A flagship title not just for AnimEigo, but for the anime medium itself, it's easy to see how Bubblegum Crisis caught on all those decades ago. It's arresting before you even know what it's about: a moody intro pans over grimy cyberpunk backdrops ripped ...
Mononoke The Movie: The Ashes of Rage Anime Film Review
All in all, Mononoke The Movie: The Ashes of Rage delivers another philosophical and emotional look into the lives of feudal Japanese women in the imperial harem.
― The first Mononoke film was focused on the lower rank of concubines in the imperial harem. Thematically, it was about giving up one's individuality to serve a role—and how doing so brought misery to the human soul. However, this was a fat...
PreCure Splash Star Episodes 24 - 49 Anime Review
Futari wa Pretty Cure may be where the franchise started, but this is where it starts to hit its stride.
― Each season of the greater Pretty Cure franchise typically brings something new to the table. That all begins with Pretty Cure Splash Star. The second team of Cures may have looked awfully similar to the first, but this latter half of their story cements them as not only very much their own team...
The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows - World Premiere Review
It won't be topping any “best of the season” lists but it should be enjoyable to anyone who likes the non-revenge-focused “kicked out of the heroes' party” stories.
― The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows is an upcoming spring 2025 anime series. It had a special premiere showing at a movie theater in Tokyo recently. However, unlike the many other premieres I have attended, this time we were ...
Loner Life in Another World Anime Series Review
Even a thrown-in novelty like a harem of moeblobs can’t save Loner Life from having all of the hang-ups you’d expect out of a generic isekai.
― Just one look at the trailer and the key visual and you can already tell that Loner Life is
going to be another run-of-the-mill isekai. I'd be willing to bet you can even tell where its
strengths and weaknesses lie as well. To be fair, the music isn't bad,...
Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2199 and Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2202 Anime Streaming Review
Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2199 and 2202 show how to handle a reboot with masterful precision.
― Certain series will always hold a special place in your heart because of the time when you watched them. Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2199 will always be one such work for me. Once upon a time, this was the show that brought me back from a decade-long hiatus from anime fandom. I had no...
Wonderful Precure! Episodes 37 - 50 Anime Review
At the end of the day, Wonderful Precure! is all about hope.
― It's an inevitability of children's media that deals with animals that, sooner or later, the topic of death comes up. Most animals people love as pets don't live as long as humans, and the loss of a pet is often one of the first encounters with death a child has. I was four when my cat Oliver passed, and the conversation my parents had wi...
Sound! Euphonium Season 1 Blu-ray Review
Nearly ten years after it first aired, Sound Euphonium’s first season comes back to us on Blu-Ray, and it’s as dazzling as ever.
― The release of this Blu-ray comes at a very timely moment. Its December release marked the six-month anniversary of Sound Euphonium's triumphant final act, and this upcoming April will mark an entire decade since the anime first aired on Japanese airwaves. To watch this B...
Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse Season Two Part One Anime Series Review
This may not be the best shounen fantasy series out there, but it's still good enough to get its hooks into you and keep them there.
― What is Camelot? Most lore will tell you that King Arthur's fabled court is a Medieval utopia, a land where equality rules and everything is just as it should be. Far be it from The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse to throw that out entirely; original...
Psycho-Pass Providence Limited Edition Blu-Ray Review
I guess you could sort of call this movie an action-packed political thriller. But while it’s definitely action-packed, there’s nothing thrilling about it.
― There's plenty of anime out there that are widely regarded as having gotten worse the longer they went on. But I struggle to think of an anime that's had a bigger and faster glow-down than Psycho-Pass. What began as a fascinating exploration int...
Pokémon Horizons: Season 2: The Search For Laqua Anime Series Review Episodes 1-11
As probably the strongest batch of Pokémon episodes in a very long time, these eleven episodes will make a modern-day Pokémon fan happy.
― These eleven episodes made me happy to be a modern-day Pokémon fan. I will not mince words here, this is the strongest batch of Pokémon episodes that I have watched in a very long time. I was worried about the initial setup, considering they seemed to be stepping ...
The Apothecary Diaries Season 1 Part 1 BD Anime Review
With a good story, great characters, and spectacular animation, The Apothecary Diaries is one of those series that begs to be owned on disc and rewatched frequently.
― The recipe for The Apothecary Diaries is deceptively simple: take one acerbic young apothecary with a very sharp tongue, add a gorgeous young eunuch, put them both in the rear palace of a Chinese-adjacent emperor's court, and season wi...
Tokyo Ghoul - Complete Series - 10th Anniversary Box Set Anime Series Review
Like Kaneki, the Tokyo Ghoul anime is a messy hybrid, with one-half of its adaptation feeling like the product of unfulfilled ambition, while the other feels hollow.
― It's been over 10 years since Tokyo Ghoul first came onto the anime scene, and in that time, it has managed to leave a strong impression. Sui Ishida's original manga has been a critical and commercial success domestically and abroad. W...
Blue Miburo Episodes 1-12 Anime Series Review
The plot hasn’t developed in any particularly interesting ways, to the point it’s hard to write anything positive about the show.
― The Bakumatsu period, the final years of the Edo period, was an era of great social change and should be a fertile choice to set a historical drama. The mid-1800s brought an end to the Tokugawa Shogunate, a mode of government that had persisted over 250 years, while also...
Kinnikuman: Perfect Origin Arc Season 1 Anime Series Review
I think there are a lot of anime fans—a lot of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure fans, in particular—who would love Kinnikuman if they only gave it a try.
― A few months ago, when FLOW was on their world tour, I went to one of the shows. At one point, after having played several familiar hits, the band asked excitedly, “WHO HERE LIKES KINNIKUMAN!!” For the uninitiated, FLOW did the opening song to this first ...
Sengoku Youko: Thousandfold Chaos Arc Episodes 1-10 Anime Streaming Review
It’s a narratively and thematically rich show that rewards close attention to character development and dialogue in-between moments of larger-than-life characters beating seven kinds of hell out of one another.
― After the bitter disappointment that was The Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer's abysmal anime, Satoshi Mizukami fans were understandably wary about studio White Fox's subsequent adaptation of ...
Ron Kamonohashi's Forbidden Deductions Season 2 Anime Series Review
This anime doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but what it does, it does well.
― By now, Sherlock Holmes has been reimagined through the anime filter more times than I can count and to mixed levels of success. Usually, it's done more through the lens of inspiration—which is to say, having a character who's Sherlock Holmes-inspired but isn't supposed to be Sherlock Holmes. As I sit here typing this, we have t...
Macross 7 Episodes 27-52 Anime Streaming Review
Say what you like about Macross 7, it sticks to its guns from beginning to end with a consistency of tone and intention that’s admirable.
― Compared to watching modern anime's shorter single-season lengths, completing a watch-through of Macross 7's fifty-two episodes feels like a real achievement. Forty-nine of those were broadcast on TV weekly, without a break, from October 2004 until September 2005...
Failure Frame: How I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells Anime Series Review
It shouldn’t set Failure Frame apart that Touka doesn’t take any of these characters as his slave, but it does. Does that make Failure Frame a good show? Heck no!
― It may be tempting to dismiss Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything with Low-Level Spells. The wordy title alone promises a series that offers little originality, considering how many isekai and non-isekai LitRP...
One Piece Film Red 4K SteelBook Blu-ray Review
One Piece Film Red is a feast for the eyes and ears, but is more spectacle than substance.
― Disc 1 – The Movie One Piece movies can be understood to come in two distinct types: Arcs summaries, such as The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventures in Alabasta, or a single new adventure, complete with a new character to be rescued and a new bad guy to be defeated. One Piece: Red is an example of the...
Days With My Stepsister Anime Series Review
Despite its run-of-the-mill storyline, there is a surprisingly cinematic style to it that makes it stand out among other romance stories of its ilk.
― With a title like Days With My Stepsister, you might already expect how this story
will unfold. But this is just at first glance. Despite the tale dipping its feet into the taboo waters of
NBR relationships, the anime does what it can to subvert its...
COLORFUL STAGE! The Movie: A Miku Who Can't Sing Anime Film Review
COLORFUL STAGE! The Movie: A Miku Who Can't Sing is a movie made for one group of people and one group only: Players of the smartphone game Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage.
― While far from the biggest Hatsune Miku fan, I'd dare to claim I am “familiar” with the franchise. I have played several Project Diva games, listened to more than a few Vocaloid songs, seen her “live” at various events, and even pl...
PreCure Splash Star Episodes 1-23 Anime Series Review
Despite its clear borrowing from its mother series, Splash Star is able to establish itself as its own story, creating sympathetic heroines and villains, and reminding us that everything makes a difference.
― After the disappointment that was Pretty Cure Max Heart, it's a relief and a delight to see that the third series, comprising the second team of Cures, in the franchise is a step in the right di...
Love is Indivisible by Twins Anime Series Review
Without a doubt, Love Is Indivisible by Twins is one of the most realistic and relatable depiction of twin relationships I've ever encountered. However, it's mired up in an uninteresting plot and an unbelievable love triangle.
― The way twins are represented in the media is frustrating. They're treated as creepy at worst, a single unit at best, and more often than not, a gimmicky curiosity. Although ...
Tower of God: Workshop Battle Anime Series Review
It doesn't look as bad as Return of the Prince—however, that is an incredibly low bar to set and damning with faint praise more than anything else.
― Workshop Battle is a major step up from Return of the Prince. It is a far more focused story with an understandable core conflict. Bam is trying to keep everyone he cares about safe at his own expense. At the same time, his new friends and Khun are putt...
The Rose of Versailles Anime Film Review
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 us to this new MAPPA-animat...
Demon Lord, Retry! R Anime Series Review
This is a bad sequel in almost every way. Barely a thing has improved over last season, and many of its flaws have been carried over to here.
― Demon Lord Retry! R is a bad sequel in almost every way. Barely a thing has improved over last season, and a lot of its flaws have been carried over here. The action is as flat as ever. The animation barely moves an inch. The battles are unengaging and ant...
As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I'll Use My Appraisal Skill Season 2 Anime Series Review
This is the story of a young man who will do what must be done but nonetheless strives for an unobtainable ideal—not just for his people but also the enemies he comes across.
― The first season of As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I'll Use My Appraisal Skill was centered around putting the band together. With Ritsu, Ars gains the ultimate warrior, and with Charlotte the ultimate mage. He gains the ultima...
Most Notorious "Talker" Runs the World's Greatest Clan Anime Series Review
There is a lot to The Most Notorious "Talker" Runs the World's Greatest Clan that feels one note, but it’s quite the note if you’re in the mood for some anti-hero cheese.
― There is a lot to The Most Notorious "Talker" Runs the World's Greatest Clan that feels one note, but it's quite the note if you're in the mood for some anti-hero cheese. This is a light novel adaptation that really, really lives ...
Castlevania: Nocturne Season 2 Anime Streaming Review
It may have taken a few tries, but with this second season of Nocturne, the animated Castlevania franchise has finally produced a true masterpiece.
― Castlevania is one of the series that I have been privileged to cover since the original Netflix animated project premiered back in 2017. It has certainly been a wild ride seeing one of gaming's most venerated (and most neglected) bloodlines get the big...
Blue Exorcist: Beyond the Snow Saga Anime Series Review
This season works fine, as long as you're still invested in Blue Exorcist's world and characters enough to follow them through an action-light season with a sprawling plot.
― This review covers the dozen Blue Exorcist episodes streamed from October to December 2024. For anyone new to Blue Exorcist, this is not where you start. This far into the series, the season's a case of what TV Tropes calls Cont...
Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning- Anime Film Review
This film is a fantastic addition to the Gundam franchise—and one you can't even begin to talk about without getting into massive spoilers.
― Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning- is a compilation film containing the first four episodes of the upcoming TV anime, Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX. The trailers made it look to be something similar to G-Gundam (much like how Gundam 00 shares many elements...
MF Ghost Season 2 Anime Series Review
While it would’ve been nice to see this series pick up some much-needed speed, all it did was put the brakes on.
― Suffice it to say that season 1 of MF Ghost, the newest series by Initial D creator Shuichi Shigeno, didn't exactly drive me wild. In a word, it was underwhelming. So, going into MF Ghost season 2, I was expecting another middle-of-the-road racing anime. And my expectations, as it turns ...
The Healer Who Was Banished From His Party, Is, in Fact, the Strongest Anime Series Review
While I didn't expect much from this anime, there were still enough shortcomings that left me high and dry.
― There are about four or five settings The Healer Who Was Banished From His Party, Is, in Fact, the Strongest has at its disposal: a labyrinth, a guild hall, the city streets surrounding said guild hall, and the fields between said city and labyrinth. The world doesn't feel like a sprawling fa...
Digimon: The Movies - Movies 1-3 - Anime Blu-ray Review
In an era when digital media is getting lost, destroyed, or put on a shelf to collect dust forever, having this collection is nothing short of a miracle
― I never thought we would see the day we would get something like this. In the 2000s, I was a kid taken to see a film called Digimon: The Movie, an original film based on one of my favorite franchises, Digimon. At the time, I thought the film was fu...
Macross Plus Blu-ray Movie + OVA [Ultimate Edition] Review
This isn't just a collection centerpiece for hardcore Macross Plus fans, but an incredible archival release for animation scholars.
― At Anime Expo 2022, Macross license holder BIG WEST announced that they would be partnering with multiple distributors to bring almost every post-1987 entry in the beloved franchise to North American home video for the very first time. One of these distributors is Anim...
How I Attended an All-Guy's Mixer Anime Series Review
How I Attended an All-Guy's Mixer isn't bad, but it hardly feels like it's taking advantage of any of its potential.
― How I Attended an All-Guy's Mixer is not a complex show. The story's premise of its ostensibly straight male leads winding up dating a trio of hot drag kings certainly lends itself to the potential of exploring gender presentation, roles, and sexuality in relationships. But while tho...
Be Forever Yamato: Star Blazers: REBEL 3199 Episodes 1-6 Anime Review
I'm happy to report that Star Blazers REBEL 3199 blasts out of spacedock, immediately firing on all cylinders.
― Space Battleship Yamato is back with a bang in this latest continuation of the
remake series that began in 2012 with Yamato 2199, and continued with Yamato 2202 and
Yamato 2205 over the subsequent decade. While 2199 was top-tier space opera, 2202 wasn't as universally loved, with a muddled...
Let This Grieving Soul Retire! Anime Series Review
There are no deeper themes to be explored or musings of human nature break down. However, there is a cast of silly characters and fun fantasy mysteries.
― Let This Grieving Soul Retire! is far from the first anime about a dummy of a protagonist who lucks their way into victory while still managing to lose on a personal level time and again. The issue with stories like this is that all too often, the ...
KamiErabi GOD.app Season 2 Anime Series Review
This feels like a show that wants so badly to be deep.
― Let me be up front about something: I didn't enjoy the first season of KamiErabi. Its three cardinal sins were poor writing, characters who made no sense, and rigid CGI. So the prospect of a second season—which was confirmed pretty early on into the first season's airing—wasn't exactly something I was thrilled about. A sentiment among viewers w...
Love Live! Superstar!! Season 3 Anime Series Review
More superlative ideas occasionally break through, but overall, this is easily the weakest season of what had been the strongest series of Love Live! yet.
― The second season of Love Live Superstar felt like the kind of miracle the school idols of this franchise so frequently make happen. Classic Love Live series writer Jukki Hanada and director Takahiko Kyogoku built upon the smart foundation of Sup...
Seirei Gensouki - Spirit Chronicles Season 2 Anime Series Review
With this second season, I am beginning to think that Yuri Kitayama’s original light novel series is simply a poor fit for animated adaptation.
― With this second season, I am beginning to think that Yuri Kitayama's original light novel series is simply a poor fit for an animated adaptation. That's not necessarily because the story is a bit hackneyed; it is, but that's hardly the problem here. The gr...
Fate/strange Fake – Episode 1 (Special Airing)
This episode serves as an inversion to the start of Fate/stay night with a Saber that shouldn't have been summoned and a protagonist who outright refuses to become one.
― The 2023 special Fate/strange Fake -Whispers of Dawn- began the story of Fate/strange Fake by introducing us to the various mages and their summoned heroes. It also laid down the ground rules for this story and how it deviated from ...
Tying the Knot With an Amagami Sister Anime Series Review
There's no pretending this harem anime is particularly good, but it's rewarding to see it recover from a disastrous start and rise up to something decent.
― There are anime that blend heart-warming wholesomeness with something more lewd. One case is Your Name, a chastely yearning love story with jokes about boob-groping, and arguably non-consensual boob-groping at that. Then there are shows like Dan ...
Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2205 Anime Review
More kinetic than Legend of the Galactic Heroes (but sharing its naval theme) and less frenetic than Macross, Yamato strikes a good middle ground for exciting animated space warfare.
― Much like that other pillar of classic anime space sci-fi, Macross, the Space Battleship Yamato franchise experienced a frustrating journey to Western TV screens. The original 1974 series came to the US as Star Blazers...
Trillion Game Anime Streaming Review
Author Inagaki asks us to find entertainment in the story of a man who wants to be the most viciously successful corporate shark of them all. I say, “No thanks”.
― At any point in history, has a man ever been more wrong than in my recent review of Trillion Game's manga? I rated it four out of five and remarked, “I love it.” I highly anticipated the anime version and quite enjoyed the first few episod...
Kinokoinu - Mushroom Pup Anime Series Review
This isn’t a laugh-a-minute comedy, despite the prominence of its weird mushroom-blob animal-thing. Instead, it starts as an almost uncomfortably frank exploration of grief and loss.
― I wasn't sure what to expect when I first picked up Kinokoinu, but it wasn't the overly somber, almost maudlin first episode likely to alienate viewers looking for the comfy, amusing show its promo images seemed to pro...
Tonbo! Season 2 Anime Series Review
One of the best things about sports anime is the deep insight into the passion of people who play. That passion runs very deep in Tonbo! Season 2.
― One of the things I love best about sports (and games) anime is that you won't really learn how to play the sport or game, but you will get deep insight into the passion of people who play the sport or game. That passion runs very deep in Tonbo! Season 2...
PreCure Max Heart Episodes 26-47 Anime Series Review
It pains me to say this, but at the end of the day, Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart just isn’t as good as most of the other seasons of Pretty Cure officially released in English.
― It pains me to say this, but at the end of the day, Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart just isn't as good as most of the other seasons of Pretty Cure we've had officially released in English. (For the record, I'm not counting...
Macross 7 Episodes 1–26 Anime Streaming Review
This lighter, sillier tone feels like the entire series was made as a prolonged shitpost poking fun at the seriousness of the prior Macross franchise entries, and I am absolutely here for it.
― This is the series I've been waiting thirty years to watch officially in English, and it's finally here (at least if you live in non-U.S. English-speaking territories). I'm more than a little sad that it's me ...
Tasokare Hotel – Episodes 1-3 Review (Press Screening)
This is a series that will live or die based on how interesting the “mysteries of the week” are—and how invested we become in the overarching mysteries of those working at the hotel.
― Without question, the biggest thing Tasokare Hotel has going for it is its fantastic setting. It's full of the outright supernatural—i.e., bedrooms changing shape when no one is looking to help jog the memories of thei...
Vinland Saga Season 2 Blu-ray Anime Series Review
While this Blu-ray release is incredibly lacking, Vinland Saga season 2 is as good as it gets.
― I haven't seen a lot of anime/read a lot of manga that hit me even half as hard as Makoto Yukimura's Vinland Saga. And season 2—often called the farm arc, slave arc, and/or Ketil's Farm arc—is arguably the strongest part of that punch. Or—actually, it doesn't feel thematically right to call it a “punch” i...
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