Anime Reviews

The Millionaire Detective [Anime Review]

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 »

Tower of God [Anime Review]

August 9, 2020

Brittany Vincent

What if scaling a massive tower meant you could have any wish you’d ever dreampt of granted in the blink of an eye? Would you still push yourself to reach the top, even if it meant facing off against some of the most difficult challenges …Read more »

Vinland Saga [Anime Revew]

August 9, 2020

Gerald Rathkolb

Unless you’ve been under a rock (kind of like me) you’ve probably come across some sort of article or radio show that keeps talking about how we are in some “golden age” and eventually you’ll hear the much-bandied about “prestige television” phrase that’s been thrown …Read more »

My Hero Academia Season 3 Part 2 [Anime Review]

March 3, 2020

Joseph Luster

At this point, I think it’s pretty safe to say that every season of My Hero Academia is substantially more exciting than the last. It’s a testament to manga author Kohei Horikoshi’s ability to continue ramping up the stakes and grounding the intense action, and …Read more »

A Life Less Ordinary

December 13, 2019

Michael Goldstein

Nichijou is both a furiously energetic comedy and a simplistic and endearing display about the trials and tribulations of everyday life. For an anime whose title roughly translates to mean “My Ordinary Life,” Nichijou, the 2011 spring adaptation of Keiichi Arawi’s popular slice-of-life/comedy manga, has a very …Read more »

All Hail the Son of Satan in Kazue Kato’s Blue Exorcist

December 6, 2019

Joseph Luster

What is it that causes teenagers to act the way they do? To lash out in anger. To go from being an outgoing child to an introverted young adult. Whatever the “affliction” may be, symptoms of youth in revolt come in many forms, and a …Read more »