Anime Reviews

[Review] My Hero Academia Season 1

Izuku Midoriya might be the most relatable shonen hero out there. After all, as much as we love characters like Luffy and Naruto, not many of us can relate to the desire to be the king of the pirates or the endless, fiery ambition to …Read more »

[Review] Ocean Waves

April 1, 2017

Paul Thomas Chapman

In 1993, Studio Ghibli teamed up with Nippon Television in a project designed to give younger animators a platform with which to express themselves artistically. The result was Ocean Waves (known in Japan as Umi ga Kikoeru , or “I Can Hear the Sea”), an …Read more »

[Review] your name. Anime Film is a Real Crowd-Pleaser

March 30, 2017

Joseph Luster

At this point you've probably heard a lot about your name. ( Kimi no Na wa. ), the latest anime film from director Makoto Shinkai ( 5 Centimeters per Second , The Garden of Words ). I won't spend too much time breaking down …Read more »

[Review] Ajin: Demi-Human

March 26, 2017

Joseph Luster

What if you were just going about your day-to-day business, only to suddenly find out you're not human? Not only that, but you're a dangerous, immortal non-human, which means the government suddenly wants you in a lab with a barrel to your temple. That's what …Read more »

[Review] Girls und Panzer der Film

March 15, 2017

Paul Thomas Chapman

It takes a special breed of villainous bureaucrat to renege on a promise to a group of high school girls after they've just won the athletic championship that was supposed to save their school from closing down, but that's exactly the premise that puts the …Read more »

[Review] Attack on Titan: Junior High

March 8, 2017

Evan Minto

When Attack on Titan first crashed onto the manga and anime scene, fans were blown away by Hajime Isayama’s detailed world, brutal outlook on humanity, and willingness to kill seemingly important characters. So naturally, as fans wait for more Attack on Titan anime, what’s the …Read more »

Lupin the IIIrd: Goemon Ishikawa’s Spray of Blood Is a Bloody Good Time [Review]

February 16, 2017

Matt Schley

If the sudden flood of new Lupin the Third properties feels a bit hard to keep track of, well, there are certainly worse problems to have. The franchise has come a long way from its thinnest years, when about the only Lupin stuff being released …Read more »

[Review] To Be Hero

February 12, 2017

Ink

The world is just not fair. All Ossan—a divorced, handsome, successful toilet seat designer—wants to do is womanize after work and fawn over his only daughter (Min), whom he ultimately and affectionately ends up annoying through his thoughtless and lazy ways. Then one day, merely …Read more »

[Review] Kiss Him, Not Me

February 11, 2017

Brittany Vincent

What happens when a girl who's interested in watching the gorgeous men around her suddenly becomes the target of those same men's affections? Enter Kae Serinuma, a somewhat sloppy otaku who loves anime and watching men kiss. She's a fujoshi, so watching male characters in …Read more »

Keijo!!!!!!!! [Anime Review]

February 10, 2017

Ink

“Keijo” is a sport wherein women wearing bathing suits use naught but their breasts and buttocks in battle to push competitors over the edge of a land—a large float—and into some surrounding body of water. The sport itself is fictional ... thankfully, but the tension …Read more »

[Review] Magical Girl Raising Project

February 10, 2017

Brittany Vincent

After Puella Magi Madoka Magica aired, it seemed as though any magical girl television series with even a modicum of darkness was mercilessly compared to what had become "the" subversive magical girl show. I never thought it was fair to examine shows by raising them …Read more »

[Review] Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket

February 8, 2017

Evan Minto

Gundam Wing served as many Americans' first exposure to the Gundam franchise, but it was the original 1979 series and its Universal Century (UC) timeline that started it all in Japan. With Right Stuf now releasing a string of Gundam series on home video, it's …Read more »

[Reviews] Drifters

January 28, 2017

Joseph Luster

It feels as if the latest anime based on the manga of Hellsing creator Kouta Hirano has been a long time coming, but maybe we've just been particularly thirsty for something this ridiculous. From the very first scene, Drifters is as gleefully violent and over …Read more »

[Review] Flip Flappers

January 22, 2017

Joseph Luster

Even from the very first episode of Flip Flappers there's a sense that you're watching something special. It wasn't until the third that I was completely convinced, though, as the beautifully animated fantasy took a sudden turn into a very Fist of the North Star …Read more »

[Review] All Out!!

January 21, 2017

Joseph Luster

In a season that includes the likes of Keijo!!!!!!!!, it's not surprising at all that we now have an anime series based on rugby. ALL OUT!! comes from the manga series by Shiori Amase, which has been running in the pages of Kodansha's Monthly Morning …Read more »