Anime, News

My Hero Academia Season 5: Anime Review

From the discussions I’ve seen online as the season went on, My Hero Academia Season 5 is probably the most divisive season of the show thus far, between those who have been reading the manga, and those who have been watching the show, and a lot of that comes down to the decisions made around the final arc of the season, the My Villain Academia arc. It’s not that the season is bad, it’s that the narrative decisions that were made about where they would include that arc in the season was very controversial.

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Anime

The Detective Is Already Dead: Anime Review

There’s a point, in a flashback sequence in The Detective Is Already Dead, where the titular Detective, Siesta, is asked by our protagonist and her sidekick, Kimihiko, why she calls herself a detective when she’s closer to being a spy. Siesta responds that she protects the interests of her client, which what a detective does, so she chooses to identify herself (professionally) as a Detective. This kind of encapsulates the show in a nutshell.

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The leads of Girlfriend, Girlfriend
Anime

Girlfriend, Girlfriend: Anime Review

Many romantic comedy anime series use misunderstandings as the focus of their humor. Something is misheard, or not told, and it sets up a snowballing series of events, like in Maison Ikkoku. Girlfriend, Girlfriend is the exact opposite of that. It is a series based on the fundamental premise of “What if people were maybe just a little too open and direct?”

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film

It Came From Beneath The Sea: Film Review

It Came From Beneath The Sea is the kind of giant monster movie I can enjoy mostly guilt free. No appliances glued or stapled onto animals – just good old fashioned, cruelty-free Ray Harryhausen stop-motion. It’s how Willis O’Brian did it – it’s how the movie industry had done, and at that point in the ‘50s it had worked pretty well so far.

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The cast of HameFura Season 2
Anime

HameFura Season 2: Anime Review

My Next Life As A Villainess All Routes Lead To Doom X (or HameFura Season 2 for short) – continues the adventures of Katarina Claes. In the first season she successfully survived the events of the otome game “Fortune Lover” after being reincarnated as that game’s antagonist – and in the process got every possible route (and rival, and the game’s protagonist) to fall for her, all without deliberately trying to do so, and she is still unaware of this fact. Now with a bright future ahead of her, clearly it’s all just slice of life comedy, right? Well… not exactly.

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Anime

Mother of the Goddess’ Dormitory: Anime Review

I have been known to enjoy a fan-service anime or two in varying circumstances – even series with premises that, at first glance can be skeezy, can be executed well – as with What The Hell Are You Doing Here, Teacher? I had hoped that Mother of the Goddess’ Dormitory would fit into that criteria – and it almost does. However, it has a few points that don’t quite make it work.

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Anime

Night Head 2041: Anime Review

I normally don’t review shows when I drop them, though considering my reasons for dropping Babylon in 2019, I probably should have done so. Considering that, and with how far I got in Night Head 2041, I feel I’ve watched enough of the show to make it worth reviewing. And, much like Babylon, it had done enough to draw me in, in spite of some serious red flags, that I do want to talk about it.

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music

Apocalyptica Plays Metallica Live: Album Review

When I listened to Apocalyptica’s first album when I was in high school, I was impressed. I’d listened to classical re-arrangements of rock music in the past – my parents own “The Baroque Beatles Book” – but I’d never been impressed by them. It always felt like they (whoever did the arrangement) mapped the various notes 1-for-1 with other parts from the original performance (with either brass or violins for vocals). Apocalyptica, on the other hand, felt like more of a clear re-interpretation.

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Video games

Utawarerumono Mask of Truth: Video Game Review

Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth picks up (more or less) right where Mask of Deception’s Story ended. The game mechanics are pretty much the same as those from the previous game, with the addition of a very well done tutorial mode that not only provides a solid refresher on the base mechanics, it also does a very solid job of getting across some higher skill level techniques, to help if you get in a tight spot.

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