Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Tokyo Mew Mew New – Season 2

Mew Ichigo clinging to the Blue Knight in Tokyo Mew Mew New Season 2

First off, hey! That title rhymes! Also, the second season of Tokyo Mew Mew New is a straight continuation of the plot, with the focus shifting with the Aliens no longer shooting for a slower, more gradual monster-of-the-week plan, and instead going for more spectacular plots, threatening Tokyo as a whole. On the mundane side of the plot, Ichigo’s relationship with Aoyama is now getting considerably more serious. And then there’s the whole matter of this new Blue Knight who keeps (Tuxedo-Mask-esque) coming to Ichigo’s aid. There will be some spoilers.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Spy Classroom: Anime Review

I’m not entirely sure if Spy Classroom knows what it wants to be. On the one hand, it’s an anime series about a bunch of (cute) teen girl spies going on missions in an alternate-history Europe – in this case, one inspired by Europe in between the World Wars, and before the rise of Fascism. On the other hand, so much of this series is just comedic hijinks, which makes it miss the gravity of something like Princess Principal.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Ippon! Again: Anime Review

I’m a fan of Naoki Urasawa, and one of his manga that got him on peoples’ radar (and the anime adaptation that came with it) was Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl. That series was a more conventional sports anime – closer to something like Hajime No Ippo/Fighting Spirit. This year, we got what I believe is our first dedicated girls Judo anime in quite some time – Ippon! Again – a series which follows in the wake of the Cute Girls Doing Cute Things sport anime series of the past (like Pride of Orange), so I was interested to see how this new show bears out.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: In/Spectre Season 2

The second season of In/Spectre is less dominated by a single mystery for the entire story, and is instead broken up into a series of smaller mysteries – generally not one-and-done cases, as they usually take a few episodes to resolve. However, it does mean that if the Steel Lady Nanase mystery seemed to drag for you in the show’s first season, this might be more your speed.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Urusei Yatsura (2022-3)

These past few years have been a time of resurgence for various classic anime & manga franchises – not only with the long-running new adaptation of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, but also with an adaptation of Ushio & Tora, and a sequel to Inuyasha, it only seemed appropriate that someone returned to the manga that put Rumiko Takahashi on the map in Japan – Urusei Yatsura.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Lupin Zero

On the one hand, Lupin Zero is a show that doesn’t “need” to exist. We’ve had several TV specials and the series A Woman Called Fujiko Mine has covered some of this in the past. Lupin Zero tries to put their own spin on it by making Jigen & Lupin either late-Middle Schoolers or early High Schoolers, in a series set contemporaneously with when the manga started running.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Mobile Suit Gundam: Witch from Mercury (S1)

Mobile Suit Gundam: Witch from Mercury is an excellent example of how to handle shifting the tone of a series incredibly well. The show opens with a prologue episode set several years before the main body of the series, establishing what the Gundams are, and what the Gundam (or GUND-ARM) technology that powers them is based on – before setting up why the Gundams are rare and restricted, and how the main character’s Gundam, in particular, is going to be special in the series to come.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Chainsaw Man

Chainsaw Man is a manga series that I’d have to admit that I held off on reading because I’d read some of the early art and thought it was edgelord crap. However, I kept hearing that no, it’s actually that good. So, when the anime adaptation aired, I decided that this was what I needed to take the plunge and give it a shot. It turns out it’s actually that good. There will be some spoilers for the first season.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Uzaki Chan Wants To Hang Out Season 2

The first season of Uzaki-Chan wants to hang out was a fun, if kind of standard, sitcom RomCom anime which played into the whole concept of “male character being lightly bullied by a younger female character” which also showed up in “Teasing Master Takagi-San” and in “Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro!” – only this time moving the concept up to college. Unsurprisingly, the anime adaptation got a second season – officially titled “Uzaki-Chan Wants To Hang Out W” (but using the lower-case Greek omega, because it looks like an anime character’s mouth getting mischievous). There will be some spoilers.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Do It Yourself

When I put Do It Yourself on my watchlist for this month, I was expecting a more generally explanatory anime series – something along the lines of Diary of our Days at the Breakwater something comedic, and explanatory about the subject matter in question (handicrafts in this case) – and chill but not necessarily a “healing” or “Iyashikei” anime. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was also one of the warmest and most life-affirming anime of the season.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Godzilla Singular Point

2022 is the first year that I have finally decided to knuckle down and get involved with a thing I’d been meaning to do for quite some time. Well, two things – one being doing a convention panel, the other being taking part in Anime Secret Santa. I’ve been a long-time listener of the Reverse Thieves Podcast, so I’d heard about it through them – and more recently it has shifted to being organized by the All Geeks Considered podcast, with Kate & Alan of the Reverse Thieves still taking part. So, when the call came out for participants (and which was repeated on the Reverse Thieves Discord), I tossed my hat into the ring as a participant. So, I was tremendously pleased to see a series that I’d been meaning to watch for quite some time was among the three series put before me – specifically, Godzilla Singular Point.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Fuuto PI: Anime Review

We’ve been getting a fair amount of anime and manga spinoffs of Tokusatsu series lately. The main ones I’ve covered have been the Ultraman manga series and its anime spinoff on Netflix, and Studio Trigger’s Gridman universe series – Gridman and Dynazenon – in addition to ones I haven’t gotten to yet, like the Garo spinoff anime series. This fall’s Fuuto PI (or Fuuto Tantei) is another of those – this time tying in with Kamen Rider W.

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