Anime Reviews

The God of High School [Anime Review]

Every so often, an anime comes along with qualities that can best be described as “stupefying”, and in the summer 2020 season, that anime is The God of High School. Based on the Korean WEBTOON online comic by Park Yongje, The God of High School …Read more »

Barakamon [Anime Review]

January 1, 2021

Michael Goldstein

John Lyndgate once said, “You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.” Seishu Handa, a prodigy calligrapher at the …Read more »

Healin’ Good Pretty Cure [Anime Review]

November 28, 2020

Brittany Vincent

A magical-girl extravaganza The Pretty Cure franchise is rife with hit after hit when it comes to adorable, heartwarming, and flashy magical girl characters. The seventeenth installment, Healin’ Good Pretty Cure, is no exception, as it delivers exactly what fans have come to expect over …Read more »

Princess Connect! Re:Dive [Anime Review]

November 23, 2020

Brittany Vincent

Travel to the land of Astraea When it comes to anime adaptations of video games, many are often hit or miss. They’re either fantastic expansions of a property that remind you why you fell in love with the game in the first place, or they …Read more »

Demon City Shinjuku [Anime Review]

October 18, 2020

Daryl Surat

Only Trust Your Bokuto 32 years following its release, 1988’s Demon City Shinjuku still remains the greatest anime ever made about a teen chopping up horrible monsters and the occasional buff wizard using a wooden stick, with the sporadic support of a little person grenadier …Read more »

The Millionaire Detective [Anime Review]

September 28, 2020

Kara Dennison

Spend without fear The spring and summer 2020 seasons have been rough on anime, especially those just starting out. Some that were only an episode or two in were cut down in their prime, having to rely on the good-will and patience of viewers to …Read more »

The Helpful Fox Senko-san [Anime Review]

August 28, 2020

Kara Dennison

Calm and refreshed Anime has a glorious sub-subgenre known as iyashikei—literally, “healing” anime. You know those shows with lovely backgrounds, low stakes, calming music, and (occasionally) really gorgeous food? Those shows you can sit and take in despite their minimal plot because they just bathe …Read more »

The Quintessential Quintuplets [Anime Review]

August 27, 2020

Kara Dennison

Harem scarem! At first glance, Negi Haruba’s The Quintessential Quintuplets carries the earmarks of pretty much every other harem series. Guy finds himself unexpectedly entangled with multiple girls, each with a unique look and personality that someone in the audience will like. Each maintains a …Read more »

King’s Game [Anime Review]

August 21, 2020

Kara Dennison

A solid swing There is, if it’s the sort of thing you fancy, no shortage of anime about high-school students killing each other off. Where once the niche was so narrow you could accuse any such project of copying Battle Royale, now you can find …Read more »

Africa Salaryman [Anime Review]

August 21, 2020

Gerald Rathkolb

A field day in the office Anime is no stranger to animating the working lives of regular people. Shows like Aggretsuko have shown that anime is willing to jump into our boring office lives and try to find entertainment in people sitting around a desk …Read more »

Dallos [Anime Review]

August 21, 2020

J.L. Carrozza

Space oddity The early 80s anime classic Dallos is a real blast from the past. It is the first OVA, a term well known to old school anime enthusiasts referring to an animated program released directly to home video instead of theatrically or to television. …Read more »

Mai Mai Miracle [Anime Review]

August 19, 2020

Daryl Surat

A thousand-year dream arrives after 10 Sunao Katabuchi established himself as the bona fide successor (but not imitator) to his old mentor, the late Isao Takahata of Studio Ghibli fame, with 2016’s In This Corner of the World. The extended edition, In This Corner (And …Read more »

Somali and the Forest Spirit [Anime Review]

August 17, 2020

Gerald Rathkolb

A rarity of a show When it comes to fantasy anime, we are mostly treated to two distinct types. 1) A generic JRPG-style world complete with “classes” and enemies having “levels” (do they realize that levels are just a way of quantifying the concept of …Read more »

Osamu Tezuka’s Phoenix: Perfect Collection [Anime Review]

August 11, 2020

Daryl Surat

Osamu Tezuka is often called the “god” of manga and anime, having pioneered many of the modern conventions and production methodologies still in use today. His works remain resonant to modern audiences; 2019’s anime adaptation of his 1960s work Dororo was one of the year’s …Read more »

Giant Robo: The Complete Original OVA Series

August 11, 2020

Daryl Surat

The greatest OVA of all time? I have been saying it for decades, because it remains true. Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still is the greatest anime OVA series ever created. Nope, not Gunbuster. Not even Legend of the Galactic Heroes. It’s this …Read more »