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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...
Never 7 - The End of Infinity and Ever 17 - Out of the Infinity Game Review
The times, they are a-changing: visual novels have a niche but robust international following, and Uchikoshi is a recognized name within that.
― It's a good time to be an English-speaking fan of esteemed game writer Kotaro Uchikoshi. While he may be best known internationally for the Zero Escape and AI: The Somnium Files series internationally, he first made a name for himself with his work on Infini...
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...
Macross -Shooting Insight- Game Review
While the storied franchise has finally taken flight around the world, this shoot ’em up seems to be drifting out of formation.
― During Otakon back in 2023, I narrowly missed my opportunity to play an early build of Macross -Shooting Insight-. However, impressions were generally positive (if not a touch mixed) from those who did get a little hands-on time with the game. After a handful of delays, th...
GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE- Nintendo Switch Port Game Review
GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE- is the gold standard of combining style and substance.
― Suppose you're not super into fighting games. In that case, you'd be forgiven for guessing that fighting game players would probably love the Nintendo Switch—after all, what community is known more for feeling passionate about finding a way to make a tournament work anywhere at any time than the fighting game community? The...
Monster Hunter Wilds Game Review
Wilds is a solid evolution of the franchise, and while its innovations don’t change too much of the core experience, sometimes it's fine to just get a bigger version of what’s come before.
― For a long time, Monster Hunter was one of those franchises that looked cool, but felt a bit too intimidating for me to actually get into. I dipped my toes into Monster Hunter Tri on the Wii back in the day, but ...
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 ...
Vagabond Definitive Edition Volume 1 Manga Review
Inoue’s art is startlingly good. His keen eye for composition and posing, already put to amazing use in Slam Dunk, almost makes the characters leap from the pages.
― At its core, this initial three-volume collection of Takehiko Inoue's (Slam Dunk) adaptation of Eiji Yoshikawa's fictionalized biographical novel Musashi is about the terrible life decisions made by two seventeen-year-old boys. Full of h...
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...
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Game Review
This is the most fun I've ever had playing Like a Dragon, and that is saying something given the series' pedigree.
― God bless Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. It has been an incredibly wild ride this past decade to watch the mad lads from RGG take their cult franchise of weird little crime adventure games to the upper echelons of gaming's most respected institutions. I remember when I first discovered these ga...
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...
Your Forma Volumes 1-3 Novel Review
Your Forma’s first three volumes are, on the whole, excellent. A perfect blend of science fiction and mystery, the stories deal with strong plots and characters that are constantly growing.
― Mystery as a genre doesn't always intersect well with speculative areas of fiction like fantasy or sci-fi. Most people will tell you that's because mystery is rooted in logic and fact-finding, things that can be...
Mecha-Ude: Mechanical Arms Manga Review
Everything in Mecha-Ude Volume 1 is so close to the anime that, at times, it almost feels like reading through storyboards.
― During Fall 2024, here on ANN, I reviewed studio TriF's debut anime series Mecha-Ude as it aired weekly. Overall it was a great 12-episode show, densely packed with enough plot to fuel a series twice its length, elevated by wonderfully kinetic action animation heavily influenc...
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon The Super Live Stage Performance Review
Coming to North America next month, reporter Asha Bardon calls the Sailor Moon The Super Live performance a "brilliant" mix of light show, dialogue, interpretive dance, and circus skills.
― How do you condense the first arc of a best-selling, beloved magical girl manga into ninety minutes with less than twenty performers and time left for a musical encore? Surprisingly well, actually. English Sailor ...
SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada Game Review
This model of repeated actions on similar environments can work if the quality is there – I’ve certainly enjoyed such games in my time – but usually for some combination of meaningful extrinsic and intrinsic rewards.
― SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada is a game which makes a strong first impression before almost immediately nose-diving into humdrum monotony. The bones of the setup are strong enough to support ...
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...
Tokyo Alien Bros. Volume 1 Manga Review
By the end of the first book (of three), my initial interest had turned to boredom, and I couldn't see much of a point to what I'd read so far.
― Having read the first book of the Tokyo Alien Bros. manga, I confess I'm baffled, and not for the obvious reasons. The scenario isn't outlandishly way-out. Instead, it's very simple: two alien brothers living in modern Tokyo, posing as humans. Nor is the st...
AI2U: With You 'Til The End Game Review
A computer can never create, therefore computers must never make creative decision.
― To paraphrase IBM's slide from a 1979 panel: a computer can never create, therefore computers must never make creative decisions. AI2U: With You 'Til The End prides itself upon using generative AI as a focal point in its game, powering the basic intelligence of its three protagonists as you interact with them. In ch...
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...
Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos Game Review
I had a decent amount of fun riding around power-sliding through goofy dog slimes and the game never takes itself too seriously to get upset about the shallow plot or simple visuals.
― Neptunia Riders vs Dogoos is one of the stranger games that I've reviewed here for ANN. As far as Neptunia goes, it's something of an institution at this point. Starting back in 2010 on the Playstation 3, the series fo...
Kawaii Cafe Ramen Cookbook Review
The number one thing this book taught me was that making homemade ramen isn’t nearly as difficult as I always assumed it would be.
― Has any singular food been made to look more great more often in anime than ramen? Naruto, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Ponyo, Ramen Akaneko, Food Wars—the list of anime that are notable for having excellent looking ramen can go on, and on, and on. And even ...
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 g...
Genso Manège Game Review
All of the routes are very enjoyable, bittersweet in good ways, and even the ones I didn't expect to like, such as tsundere Serge, I ended up enjoying.
― You have to speak two languages to understand the title of Genso Manège, but there's no denying that it suits the game well. “Genso” in Japanese roughly means “dreamlike,” while “manège” is French for carousel, so the title can be translated as “Dre...
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...
Donkey Kong Country Returns HD Game Review
Donkey Kong has finally returned…again!
― Donkey Kong has finally returned…again! Come to think of it, he's returned a few times hasn't he? While Donkey Kong hasn't exactly had a new mainline game in quite some time, it's nice that Nintendo is doing their best to make sure that some of his best games are available on current generation hardware. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was one of the fir...
Love and the Highly Sensitive Person Manga Review
This is a sincere but not-too-sappy tale of love and acceptance, both for oneself and others.
― It's always refreshing to see romances that explore uncommon perspectives and relationships, telling love stories that don't often get told. It's even more refreshing when they do it with as much kindness and empathy as Love and the Highly Sensitive Person does. This one-shot, PG-rated BL follows the hairs...
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 ...
Re-Living My Life with a Boyfriend Who Doesn't Remember Me Volumes 1-2 Manga Review
Even questionable execution can’t rob the plot of its key point: Oriana’s desperation to save Vincent’s life.
― Time loops are fickle things. As any reader of the isekai subgenre can tell you, most of them only grant memories to the person doing the looping – as far as everyone else knows, they're living their lives for the first time. For Oriana, the heroine of Re-Living My Life with a Boyfriend Who...
Hello Kitty Island Adventure Game Review
Even if you’re not a Sanrio fan, it’s easy to get pulled into the gentle world of the game, and if you enjoy the cozy exploration experience, this is a good choice, no matter what your age.
― Traveling to a tropical island resort is the dream of the winter months for many people living in colder climates, and Hello Kitty Island Adventure is very well aware of that. The story invites players to join H...
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...
Living With Him Manga Review
If you want something a little less spicy and a little bit more wholesome, there’s plenty here to make your heart flutter as a smile creeps across your face.
― I've never been to Japan, so I can't comment on how its society at large views same-sex relationships. But there seems to be a consistent theme in these stories where people never seem to entertain the notion that two guys could be romanticall...
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 anti-...
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...
Hell is Dark with No Flowers Volume 1 Manga Review
Somewhere between xxxHoLiC and Hell Girl lies Hell is Dark with No Flowers.
― Somewhere between xxxHoLiC and Hell Girl lies Hell is Dark with No Flowers. If you think I've made that comparison before, you're right – Matsuri's Phantom Tales of the Night can also be described that way. But Hell is Dark with No Flowers, based on the novel of the same name by Yoru Michio, is the better use of the descrip...
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 ...
Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero Game Review
If any of you are outsiders sitting on the fence, take it from me: This game is pretty neat!
― I've always wanted to dig into the beloved-but-niche JRPGs from Nippon Ichi Software (a.k.a. “NIS”), especially the Disgaea games, but I've always been intimidated by their reputations for containing complex and finicky systems that require a real commitment to number crunching and min-maxing. When the oppo...
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete Game Review
Pocket Camp Complete is perfectly designed to be playable in bite-sized chunks, a relaxing experience when you just need a brief moment of escape.
― I am not, by and large, a mobile gamer. I'll play games on my clunky old Galaxy A03 every so often, but it's rarely my first choice of platform. That's important to mention because Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete was a game I found myself coming ba...
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...
Firefly Wedding Volume 1 Manga Review
It isn’t a perfect way to phrase it, but Firefly Wedding’s first volume feels like it lands somewhere in between Yakuza Fiancé and Yakuza Lover.
― It isn't a perfect way to phrase it, but Firefly Wedding's first volume feels like it lands somewhere between Yakuza Fiancé and Yakuza Lover. That's not because there's a yakuza element to the story, at least not in those terms; set during what appears to ...
RuriDragon Volume 1 Manga Review
In spite, or perhaps because of how laid-back it is about Ruri’s seemingly bizarre circumstances, RuriDragon really feels like something special.
― Honestly, the fact that I'm even here reviewing RuriDragon at all is something of a minor miracle. While the manga debuted in Shonen Jump to pretty much immediate success, it quickly ran into trouble when its author, Masaoki Shindo, started suffering from...
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...
Galette Manga Magazine Volume 1 Review
This is not a one-for-one version of the original Japanese volume; it is an adapted edition for the English-reading audience.
― In the mid-2010s, the runs of two of the three existing quarterly yuri manga magazines, Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari published by Shinsokan and Tsubomi published by Hobunsha came to an end, leaving some yuri artists with unfinished series and no place to serialize them. Some o...
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...
Crescent Moon Marching Volumes 1-6 Manga Review
Crescent Moon Marching becomes a story of how young Mizuki understands what it means to be passionate about music and how crucial it is to improve yourself while understanding others.
― Originality is a tough thing to come by. The great Salvador Dali once said that those who imitate nothing produce nothing. Considering the infinite artists, musicians, writers, and other types of pen-wielders who have...
Viral Hit K-Comic Review
Viral Hit is very hard to read because of how relatable it is on two major fronts.
― Viral Hit is very hard to read because it is relatable on two major fronts. The first one is its depiction of modern-day bullying and humiliation. The second is that Viral Hit very much leans into seeing life through the perspective of an absolute self-aware loser. Our protagonist, Hobin, is someone who is physically...
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...
Ashita no Joe: Fighting For Tomorrow Volume 1 Manga Review
While it would be a lie to say that Ashita no Joe doesn’t show its age, it’s still a solid story, and one that’s very much worth reading.
― To call Ashita no Joe one of the most culturally significant works to ever exist within the realm of anime and manga would be a bit of an understatement. It served as the inspiration for many a boxing manga, and its anime adaptation is one of the most iconic work...
There's No Freaking Way I'll Be Your Lover! Unless... Volumes 1-6 Manga Review
If you're looking for a GL harem, this is a safe enough bet; just be aware of the dubious consent issues going in.
― Are you looking for a harem? A single, ordinary person surrounded by a bevy of beauties, all of whom want them? Typically, that ordinary person would be an unfortunate young man, dull as a potato, but There's No Freaking Way I'll Be Your Lover! Unless…, based on the light novels of the...
Scars Volume 1 Manga Review
Between Kyonosuke's past trauma, trouble at school, and zero support at home, Scars is a story about the world's worst coming-of-age.
― Based on the cute character designs, I didn't expect this comic to get so dark so fast. Between Kyonosuke's past trauma, trouble at school, and zero support at home, Scars is a story about the world's worst coming-of-age. The title refers to scars both physical and p...
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...
Re:Anima Volume 1 Manga Review
Re:Anima tamps down any hope that it'll do much that's new with its familiar-feeling ideas. So far, it seems happy to be one more genre potboiler, to take or to leave.
― The kindest way to describe this science-fiction action manga is as competently average. It's a likable, lightweight read, with lively action scenes, but the first book is also laughably tropey and flimsy. The book has a note from cr...
Ave Mujica - The Die is Cast - Episodes 1-3 Anime Review
Ave Mujica is even more melodramatic than MyGO—and that's probably why you're here.
― Despite what some of its promotion might lead you to believe, Ave Mujica - The Die is Cast - is absolutely not accessible for BanG Dream newcomers. The preceding series It's MyGO!!!!! is required reading for kick-off context on this dark group of distressed theater kids and how they came together to form this bizarr...
Übel Blatt – Episodes 1-2 Review (Premiere Screening)
Übel Blatt feels like an anime from a different era, like a throwback to turn-of-the-millennium dark fantasy stories like Claymore and Berserk.
― These first two episodes of Übel Blatt do very little regarding hand-holding. We're given some brief on-screen text about the mission of the 14 warriors and are shown the brutal murder of Ascheriit—the last of the four who actually completed their mission—a...
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Film Review
This year was already stacked to the brim with Sonic content but does the film close out the year on a strong note? I would have to say the answer to that question is a resounding yes!
― Sonic 3 was one of the most anticipated movies of the year for me. Not only were the previous films solid in their own right, but I was also curious to see how they would handle the second most, if not the most, popu...
BEASTARS Final Season Part 1 Anime Series Review
BEASTARS' final season is nothing so transformative as Trigun Stampede; even as the same fundamental story as Paru Itagaki's manga, it benefits so much from its clarity of vision and purpose.
― I will admit that I felt more than a little bit of trepidation going into this first run of episodes for BEASTARS' final season. I have been singing the praises of this series for years, and without spoiling ...
What Happened After My Place Got So Humid It Grew Magic Mushrooms And I Ate Them And Got Super Horny! - Volumes 1-2 Manga Review (18+)
Sometimes, it doesn't matter how detailed or long the title is; you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.
― Sometimes, it doesn't matter how detailed or long the title is; you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. A title like What Happened After My Place Got So Humid It Grew Magic Mushrooms And I Ate Them And Got Super Horny! prompts a lot of questions, and the answers are surprising. It sounds like o...
Delico's Nursery Anime Series Review
If other unconventional combinations like chocolate covered potato chips and dungeon crawler rhythm games can find an audience, then why not a vampire parenthood anime?
― Have you ever watched an anime about parenthood and thought, “Golly, you know what this anime needs? Vampires. Vampires would really spice this up.” Or, similarly, have you ever watched a vampire anime and thought, “If only they wou...
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim Movie Review
WotR probably won't become a must-watch addition to your LotR marathon any time soon, but it's still an enjoyable—if a bit underwhelming—adventure movie.
― In 2024, do I even need to explain what The Lord of the Rings (henceforth LotR) is? J. R. R. Tolkien's deeply iconic and highly influential masterpiece is widely considered among the all-time greatest works of fantasy. And even if you haven't read...
Why Does Nobody Remember Me in This World? Anime Series Review
Why Does Nobody Remember Me in This World? is an anime with a captivating story hook and characters hampered by a substandard presentation.
― Why Does Nobody Remember Me in This World? is an anime with an excellent mystery at its core. Kai finds himself in a post-apocalyptic version of his world (at least when it comes to the state of humanity). Yet explanations are hard to come by. Is he in a parall...
Interstella 5555 - The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem 4K "Remaster" Review
Do you remember that story about the fresco that was “restored” by an amateur who clearly had no idea what she was doing? That's exactly what this “remaster” is.
― To say this supposed 4K remaster of one of my favorite movies of all time leaves me with mixed feelings would be an understatement. My initial excitement at hearing this one-of-a-kind collaboration between Daft Punk and their childhood her...
Are You Crazy? Volumes 1-2 Novel Review
Are You Crazy? isn’t the most polished series Editio has published (although the translation quality remains excellent), but it is both one of the shorter ones and a good read.
― If you're feeling worn out from isekai novels, I can't blame you. Nearly every permutation of the genre has graced our reading and watching habits for quite some time now, and even the most steadfast fans could easily feel l...
The Ossan Newbie Adventurer, Trained to Death by the Most Powerful Party, Became Invincible Anime Series Review
This is one of those shows that feels like it's better than it has any right to be. It drags out overused plot contrivances but then uses them perfectly as tools to explore the characters on a deeper level.
― The Ossan Newbie Adventurer is split into two distinct arcs. The first follows Rick as he attempts to get his F-rank adventurer's license. This arc is all about introducing Rick, the world, and ...
Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League Anime Film Review
Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League is an insanely fun film. It's got the perfect mix of action and comedy while still providing a story that looks into what makes some of the world's most famous superheroes who they are.
― I was filled with more than a bit of trepidation heading into Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League's world premiere at Tokyo Comic Con 2024. Simply put, I felt that the first Batman Ninja fi...
Dracula's On the Night Shift Manga Review
Despite ostensibly being a manga about a vampire working a night shift, DotNS isn’t the What We Do in the Shadows-esque comedy/slice-of-life series you might expect at first glance—because it’s not really a comedy/slice-of-life series at all.
― There's plenty of anime and manga about vampires trying to blend into human society out there, but not as many of them are terribly concerned with how their v...
I Raised a Black Dragon K-Comic Review
I Raised a Black Dragon isn't perfect, something that mostly comes down to an ending that simply screams for a sequel. But it's also a nice twist on some of its genre's staler elements and a good read overall.
― Have you ever wondered what happened to the person who used to be the owner of a body taken over by an isekai'd soul? Not many books seem to care, but Sottan's I Raised a Black Dragon isn't o...
Solo Leveling -ReAwakening- Anime Film Review
Solo Leveling: ReAwakening is a film with a very specific shelf life—one measured in weeks.
― As a film, Solo Leveling: ReAwakening is more than a bit of a mess. This is because it's not really built like one. With a runtime of two hours, the first hour and fifteen minutes are a recap of the first season. The remaining 45 minutes? The first two episodes of the upcoming second season. This causes all ...
Pokémon Horizons Episodes 35-45 Anime Series Review
We have come down to the end of the first major arc of the Pokémon: Horizons anime and it certainly does end on a high note.
― We have reached the end of the first major arc of the Pokémon Horizons anime that ends on a high note. It is impressive how far Liko, Roy, and Dot have come as characters, stepping outside their comfort zones to fully embrace a lifestyle that they never originally thought pos...
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