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ep. review

MAO ‒ SEASON PREMIERE

Not since Kikyo sealed him to a tree have I seen so much taken from Inu Yasha all at once.
ep. review

Rooster Fighter ‒ Episode 6

I wasn't quite expecting was just how shlocky this entire episode would end up being.
ep. review

Witch Hat Atelier ‒ Episode 4

As with the first three episodes, this one does a beautiful job of providing little details that you barely even notice.
ep. review

Nippon Sangoku The Three Nations of the Crimson Sun ‒ SEASON PREMIERE

Anyone out there who is sleeping on Nippon Sangoku anime is making a grave mistake, indeed.
ep. review

Daemons of the Shadow Realm ‒ SEASON PREMIERE

This anime begins with a Shyamalan-style twist. However, what's interesting is that it is used to hide a much more interesting and personal twist.
ep. review

Wistoria: Wand and Sword Season 2 ‒ SEASON PREMIERE

It's all gas and no breaks now that the barrier has fallen and the monsters are on the loose, and Will is going to be facing off against his most impressive and deadly foes to date.
ep. review

Akane-banashi ‒ Episode 3

This all coalesces in a scene where we get the essence of the manga with the added benefits of an anime adaptation, such as strong voice acting, the benefits of full motion, and a musical score to accentuate everything.
ep. review

Needy Girl Overdose ‒ SEASON PREMIERE

Needy Girl Overdose understands our current moment in culture better than just about anything else.
ep. review

Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring ‒ SEASON PREMIERE

This show doesn't feel so much like one cohesive vision as it does a half-dozen different ideas for characters and stories that have all been jammed together into an unwieldy final product.
ep. review

Ramparts of Ice ‒ SEASON PREMIERE

Currently, The Ramparts of Ice feels a bit like You and I Are Polar Opposites, if the whole cast had similar outlooks to Taira and Azuma.
ep. review

Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 3: Adopted Daughter of an Archduke ‒ SEASON PREMIERE

The base is still rock-solid as the series has ever been, and I could watch Rosemyne go about her errands while cutely remarking on everything all day.
ep. review

Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun Season 4 ‒ SEASON PREMIERE

One of the best things about Iruma-kun as a series is the way that it’s always willing to show us new sides of the characters, and that’s on full display here.
ep. review

Hundred Scenes of AWAJIMA ‒ SEASON PREMIERE

A storied institution for teen girls that functions as a pressure cooker for multiple generations of high-strung theater kids is perfect scaffolding for Takako Shimura's stories.
ep. review

Snowball Earth ‒ SEASON PREMIERE

This opening three-act suite makes for some decent action fluff that is burdened by a problem too big to ignore.
ep. review

Medalist Season 2 ‒ SEASON FINALE

What we have here is less of an ending, and more of an advertisement for the upcoming movie.
ep. review

Dr. STONE SCIENCE FUTURE ‒ SEASON PREMIERE

Apparently the Nintendo Famicom is the pinnacle of human civilization. You know what? I can get behind that.
ep. review

One Piece ‒ SEASON PREMIERE

Personally, I love this sense of return to the series earlier roots.
ep. review

Akane-banashi ‒ SERIES PREMIERE

I’m glad to say that the cast manages this feat and then some, fully finding the characters’ voice in everything from the quiet, mundane human moments to the bombastic performances on stage.
ep. review

Go For It, Nakamura-kun!! ‒ SERIES PREMIERE

My problem with Nakamura! is that, outside of its directness, there isn't a whole lot going on in these first four episodes.
ep. review

The Warrior Princess and the Barbaric King ‒ SERIES PREMIERE

Serafina has been kept down for so long that she doesn’t even realize that she’s landed in clover.
ep. review

MARRIAGETOXIN ‒ SERIES PREMIERE

Whether you're here for the bombastic action scenes or our leading man's efforts to transform himself from an awkward mess to an eligible bachelor, Marriagetoxin looks like it'll have plenty of ways to keep you entertained.
ep. review

Always a Catch! ‒ SERIES PREMIERE

Mimi encourages that sort of attitude in people, like a puppy with boundless energy and cheer, who you forgive for getting muddy paw prints on your clothes because they’re just so darn wonderful.
ep. review

Dorohedoro Season 2 ‒ SEASON PREMIERE

Dorohedoro is back, and it is just as gory, grimy, and gleeful as it has ever been.
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Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 4 ‒ SEASON PREMIERE

The way the story is told, we are led to believe that we have been shown every one of Subaru's loops. However, that is not necessarily the case.
ep. review

Witch Hat Atelier ‒ SERIES PREMIERE

After Coco’s discovery that spells can be drawn by anyone, she’s given a concrete example as to why that’s not necessarily a good thing. But do you blame the girl or do you blame the system that forbade her from learning in the first place?
ep. review

Rooster Fighter ‒ Episode 5

I admire sentimentality in media because it's difficult to balance it, especially in a weekly, episodic TV show. There's a fine line between shlock and reflection, and I think this episode really pulls it off.
ep. review

Medalist Season 2 ‒ Episode 8

While this whole harness saga was more frustrating than bad, when it's all said and done, I'm still not sure if this detour was worth it.
ep. review

Rooster Fighter ‒ Episode 4

It's next to impossible to convince someone that the funniest gag you watched on TV all week was a rooster needing to nut.
ep. review

Fire Force Season 3 ‒ SEASON FINALE

It's been a wild ride, and I can see myself revisiting the adventures of Fire Force Company 8 whenever I need to remind myself to kick back and have a little fun.
ep. review

Medalist Season 2 ‒ Episode 7

If there's one big takeaway I got from this episode, it's that a harness is basically the ice skating equivalent of a speedy battle shonen power-up.
ep. review

The Darwin Incident ‒ SEASON FINALE

It leaves me in largely the same place I was with The Darwin Incident when I started its season: not necessarily impressed with its quality but still conspicuously compelled to see where it's going.
ep. review

Journal with Witch ‒ SEASON FINALE

“I witness you.” Spoken in English from Chiyo to Asa, these words are the fulcrum around which Journal with Witch's finale pivots.
ep. review

Golden Kamuy Final Season ‒ SEASON FINALE

Golden Kamuy has once again put all of its pieces into an interesting but immediately legible scenario, and I know I’m going to have a blast seeing it all play out once this season resumes!
ep. review

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Season 2 ‒ SEASON FINALE

This season didn't ruin my faith in this series, but it definitely made me lose a lot of the goodwill I had for it.
ep. review

Tamon's B-Side ‒ SEASON FINALE

I hope we get plenty of merch for this show. Utage deserves some fan shrines.
ep. review

Hell's Paradise Season 2 ‒ SEASON FINALE

Am I frustrated that this all built up to a giant cliffhanger? Absolutely.
ep. review

Rooster Fighter ‒ Episode 3

I didn't even miss not having any Demon fights this episode, because I think the best part of Rooster Fighter is just following our chickens around.
ep. review

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Season 2 ‒ SEASON FINALE

In a real way, this is not the story of an immortal elf. Rather it is the story of the goodness of one normal man echoing across history.
ep. review

You and I Are Polar Opposites ‒ SEASON FINALE

Whatever's next for the series, I'm sure it'll eventually find a way to make all these opposites attract.
ep. review

Dead Account ‒ SEASON FINALE

This is a lackadaisical ending of anti-climactic proportions.
ep. review

Fate/strange Fake ‒ SEASON FINALE

To end this season, we return to the events of Fate/Zero and see how Altria's lowest moment inspires Richard to reach for his highest.
ep. review

Roll Over and Die ‒ SEASON FINALE

It's frustrating when a finale arranges an intriguing pattern of dominoes without proving to the audience that it has the gumption and foresight to knock them over correctly.
ep. review

Trigun Stargaze ‒ SEASON FINALE

At least it was pretty, I guess.
ep. review

Medalist Season 2 ‒ Episode 6

While I wish we'd gotten some actual interaction between Inori and Hikaru this week, the episode at least compensates for that with good humor.
ep. review

Sentenced to Be a Hero ‒ SEASON FINALE

All of the season’s plot threads and concepts click perfectly into place in this final week.
ep. review

Fire Force Season 3 ‒ Episode 24

Solving the meaning of life, the universe, and everything has never been Shinra Kusakabe's bag. He just needs to know where the nearest crisis is and whatever he needs to hit really freaking hard to make things right.
ep. review

In the Clear Moonlit Dusk ‒ Episode 11

The question becomes, does In the Clear Moonlit Dusk believe that men and women can be friends?
ep. review

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3: The Culling Game Part 1 ‒ SEASON FINALE

This episode finally got me on the JJK hype train and it is one hell of a ride!
ep. review

Chained Soldier Season 2 ‒ SEASON FINALE

I won't at all be surprised if we're reunited with everyone's favorite Sex Pokémon and His Harem of Deadly Supersoldier Mistresses sooner rather than later.
ep. review

The Holy Grail of Eris ‒ SEASON FINALE

Scarlett, when paired with Connie, is Harmonia, Eris’ counterpart.
ep. review

The Invisible Man and His Soon-to-Be Wife ‒ SEASON FINALE

It doesn't matter how you literally see things, what matters is how things feel and actually are.
ep. review

Oshi no Ko Season 3 ‒ SEASON FINALE

Aqua and Ruby made up, and with textbook Oshi No Ko quirkiness, it’s time to Make It Weird.
ep. review

Hell Teacher: Jigoku Sensei Nube ‒ SEASON FINALE

Who doesn’t want to non-consensually probe the deepest, darkest aspects of their teachers’ subconscious psyches?
ep. review

Journal with Witch ‒ Episode 12

At times, Journal with Witch acts like a trained killer sent here to assassinate me specifically.
ep. review

The Darwin Incident ‒ Episode 12

Everyone's still got growing to do. Granted, that growing now involves Charlie asking the only girl he's ever said more than ten sentences to if she wants to share a banana split with him.
ep. review

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Season 2 ‒ Episode 25

Wow, they really just tried to shove everything into the second last episode of the season didn
ep. review

Yoroi-Shinden Samurai Troopers ‒ SEASON FINALE

This season could be seen as a fascinating tangle of a creation, especially as a legacy follow-up to a classic franchise. But I don't know that it succeeded.
ep. review

Hell's Paradise Season 2 ‒ Episode 11

It feels weird that the first half of this episode is dedicated to him reflecting on how his wife's influence has changed him, but whether or not she's real anymore doesn't really come up.
ep. review

Isekai Office Worker: The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter ‒ SEASON FINALE

I appreciate Bean Counter's approach to isekai: that until other worlds stop kidnapping teenagers or acknowledging that that’s a problem, the genre is going to be stale.
ep. review

Wash It All Away ‒ SEASON FINALE

This anime’s curtain fall feels more like a long rush to the finish line than a properly satisfying conclusion.
ep. review

Golden Kamuy Final Season ‒ Episode 61

Golden Kamuy has long earned praise for depicting the fullness of the human experience within its story, and this episode is a non-stop deep dive into the best, worst, and weirdest parts of the human condition.
ep. review

You and I Are Polar Opposites ‒ Episode 11

This episode wasn't exactly lacking in charm, but it did leave me feeling a little starved on the romance front.
ep. review

Trigun Stargaze ‒ Episode 11

I’m struggling to decide if the writers know what they’re doing, or if the last few plot twists have been symptoms of terminal idiocy.
ep. review

Dead Account ‒ Episode 11

Another episode that is the same old same old, bearing all of the warts I’ve written about for what seems like an eternity now.
ep. review

Fate/strange Fake ‒ Episode 12

Understanding this episode requires quite a bit of information not covered in this series specifically.
ep. review

Rooster Fighter ‒ Episode 2

If Keiji is a photo-realistic Ferrari of a chicken, Piyoko is a bit like a week-old balloon animal, rasping as the air is being let out.
ep. review

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Season 2 ‒ Episode 9

Every once in a while, we need an episode like this one—one that reminds us what exactly Frieren’s journey is for.
ep. review

The Invisible Man and His Soon-to-Be Wife ‒ Episode 11

If the episode ended with the cut to black while our two leads were leaving the village, it would have been perfect.
ep. review

Roll Over and Die ‒ Episode 11

The uncomfortable introduction leads nicely into the confrontation with Dein, and while this manifests as a literal battle, it is better understood as an ideological conflict.
ep. review

Fire Force Season 3 ‒ Episode 23

Fittingly, this climactic confrontation with Haumea is essentially the show's big 'Third Impact' moment… though I think it may work better on paper than in execution.
ep. review

Sentenced to Be a Hero ‒ Episode 11

The only real criticisms that I have are that it is so joyful it almost feels tonally out of step with the rest of the series.
ep. review

Medalist Season 2 ‒ Episode 5

Even if Tsukasa isn't necessarily using Inori as a way to redo his past failures, it's also true that training her has made it easier for him to continue running away from himself.
ep. review

Chained Soldier Season 2 ‒ Episode 11

Maybe it would be more appropriate if I said this is “an episode that shoots for the stars…except, in this universe, all of the constellations have been replaced with crudely drawn doodles of big butts and bouncing boobs."
ep. review

Tamon's B-Side ‒ Episode 12

I just want to stand on a roof and yell about what a great episode we got this week.
ep. review

Champignon Witch ‒ SEASON FINALE

Life goes on, whether you’re a white witch, a black one, or something else entirely. The important thing is to keep trying and keep moving forward.
ep. review

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3: The Culling Game Part 1 ‒ Episode 58

This is probably the most frustrating episode of JJK so far this season, and I can’t wait to wash the taste of it out of my mouth next week with one of my favorite bouts from the manga.
ep. review

SHIBOYUGI: Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table ‒ SEASON FINALE

SHIBOYUGI is an indulgent tonic of equal parts empathy and anger that invites us to luxuriate in an elegy for a world gone insane.
ep. review

In the Clear Moonlit Dusk ‒ Episode 10

To be treated as a girl is to be considered beautiful. To be considered dateable by boys and not dateable by other girls.
ep. review

The Holy Grail of Eris ‒ Episode 11

Will the goddess of discord’s grail be filled to the brim with blood? Or will someone spill it and finally put the past to rest?
ep. review

Hell Teacher: Jigoku Sensei Nube ‒ Episode 24

With traditional exorcism methods out of the question, Nube saves the day with something he’s particularly skilled at: empathy and heartfelt tears.
ep. review

The Darwin Incident ‒ Episode 11

It's only fair that this follow-up episode is a bit more mechanically minded in getting all its gene-spliced ducks back in a row.
ep. review

Hana-Kimi ‒ SEASON FINALE

Slice-of-life sitcoms like Hana-Kimi don't need to be a tightly-woven tapestry, but this is closer to a moth-eaten mesh.
ep. review

Yoroi-Shinden Samurai Troopers ‒ Episode 11

It's not that the show is devoid of ideas, it's just that it lacks the time, space, and structure to articulate them effectively.
ep. review

Oshi no Ko Season 3 ‒ Episode 10

The way Aqua is making an enemy out of me, he should think twice before standing on a cliff.
ep. review

Journal with Witch ‒ Episode 11

Journal with Witch paints an entire tableau with a few lines of dialogue. It casts light onto indeterminate shapes lurking within my soul.
ep. review

Trigun Stargaze ‒ Episode 10

Perhaps this is yet another layer of narrative fakery, and episode eleven or twelve will culminate in a heartbreakingly nihilistic orgy of bloody ultra-violence where no-one survives.
ep. review

Wash It All Away ‒ Episode 11

This episode comes across as a bag of the most mixed, divided of sorts: a second half that is as “what you see is what you get” as it comes, and a first half that’s just...there.
ep. review

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Season 2 ‒ Episode 24

This episode is finally hitting a lot of notes that I’ve been begging for all season!
ep. review

Isekai Office Worker: The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter ‒ Episode 11

Seiichiro and Aresh’s relationship is so delightfully mutual now – they can call each other out on little things, yearn to be closer in ways they culturally understand, and are just so damn cute.
ep. review

Golden Kamuy Final Season ‒ Episode 60

Animation issues aside, there’s a lot to love in this episode, and I hope future installments manage to look as good as this caliber of writing deserves.
ep. review

Hell's Paradise Season 2 ‒ Episode 10

This episode of Hell's Paradise does something that I didn't realize the series could do.
ep. review

Rooster Fighter ‒ SERIES PREMIERE

It's what makes Keiji such an on-target protagonist. He embodies all the heroic traits, from his rippling chicken thighs to his relentless womanizing, but he's also… well, he's a chicken.
ep. review

Fate/strange Fake ‒ Episode 11

Ayaka inspires Richard to dream again—to not be tied down by the grim reality he often lived.
ep. review

You and I Are Polar Opposites ‒ Episode 10

While we're gonna have to wait a bit to see how each of these romantic escapades play out, the fact these pairs all have something going on is a testament to how well this show is handling its balancing act.
ep. review

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Season 2 ‒ Episode 8

It's not what a person believes that makes them good or evil, but rather the actions they choose to take. And Stark and Genau constantly make choices that firmly place them on the side of the angels.
ep. review

Roll Over and Die ‒ Episode 10

Unfortunately, the content of this episode is only slightly more interesting than the murky fog rolling throughout the city.

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