The year is wrapping up, so it’s time to a year in review video where I give my 6 anime that I recommend from 2021.
Read more6 of My Favorite Anime from 2021
Way of the Househusband: Anime Review
Way of the Househusband, like Science Fell In Love So I Tried To Prove It earlier, is a comedy anime based around variations on one theme – the theme being, “What if a super badass retired yakuza was really goddamn good at domestic tasks.”
Read moreFena: Pirate Princess – Anime Review
Fena: Pirate Princess is the first co-production in a while between Adult Swim/Cartoon Network and an anime studio (in this case, Production IG), possibly the first major series since the second season of The Big O. With an animation style and plot that feels like it’s meant to evoke Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water and The Mysterious Cities of Gold, while leaning into the “anime-ness” in a way that feels similar to Avatar: The Last Airbender, except in the sense of an anime studio looking at Avatar and going, “We can do this.” The question then is – can they do this?
Read moreRe-Main Anime Review
Re-Main is the latest of what I’d call a series of anime series made with the Summer Olympics in mind, highlighting various sports from the game, including Sk-8: The Infinity (Skateboarding), Sport Climbing Girls (Bouldering and Speed Climbing), and Wave!! (Surfing). While those covered some of the new sports at these Olympic games, Re-Main focuses a longer, more established Summer Olympic sport – Water Polo.
Read moreEvangelion 3.0+1.01 Anime Review
I have, at long last, watched the (to date) final Evangelion film, Evangelion 3.0+1.01: Thrice Upon A Time. I have some considerable thoughts about this – and I’d like to talk about them with spoilers, so the entirety of my review will be below the cut.
Read moreMy 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.
Read moreMiss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S: Anime Review
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S is Kyoto Animation’s big return to television after the horrific fire of 2019, along with the pandemic, so it feels right for them to come back with something as cheerful and heartwarming – and also horny on main – as Dragon Maid.
Read moreThe 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.
Read moreGirlfriend, 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?”
Read moreHameFura 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.
Read moreMother 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.
Read moreNight 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.
Read moreAnime Review: Shirobako The Movie
I’ve gone and seen another recent/new release anime film in theaters, as a Fathom Event – this time the sequel to Shirobako, which I’ve reviewed previously.
Read moreAnime Vlog Review: Fate/Stay Night Heaven’s Feel
I’ve finally seen the last installment of the Fate/Stay Night Heaven’s Feel Trilogy – which means it’s time to give my thoughts on Ufotable’s adaptations of these routes of the game.
Read moreFruits Basket The Final: Anime Review
This revived version of Fruits Basket has been a long time coming – the original series came out while the manga was ongoing, and skewed more towards comedy rather than drama, and some of the core themes of the series ended up getting pushed to the side (along with some instances of mischaracterization). At long last, though, we come to the conclusion of the far more faithful adaptation of the manga, and the question becomes whether or not this can stick the landing.
Read moreThe World Ends With You: Anime Review
To be upfront – The World Ends With You is a game that I had no familiarity with going in. I never got around to picking up the DS version of the game, and I’d held off of picking up the Switch version mainly because I’d heard disappointing things about that particular port. So, when I learned that the game was getting an anime adaptation (just in time for a new game in the series to come out), I decided to give the show a watch.
Read moreCombatants Will Be Dispatched: Anime Review
I will admit, I’m not as familiar with Konosuba as I’d like to be. I’ve watched some of the show in advance of my first Anime Appendix N video, but I haven’t read any of the novels (though I’m planning to rectify some of that). However, the show was very much a success, so it’s not surprising that a different series of novels from the same author – Combatants Will Be Dispatched – has also received an anime adaptation.
Read moreS.S.S.S. Dynazenon: Anime Review
The previous Gridman anime, from Trigger, hid the true meaning of those 4 S’s for that series until the last episode – “Special Signature to Save a Soul.” Dynazenon puts its meaning for those initials right up front – “Scarred Souls Shine like Stars.” The theme of this show is very much self-evident – this is a series about characters learning to cope with trauma and work through trauma, but also acknowledging that trauma is something that sticks around and doesn’t necessarily go away. And the show presents those themes through the framework of high school students working together to fight Kaiju.
Read moreBack Arrow: Anime Review
Of the past two cours’ mecha anime, Back Arrow is probably the oddest of the bunch. Like Real Robot anime, it has warring factions with what are, effectively, mass production mecha, with ace customs for more prominent named characters. Like Super Robot anime, no fucks are given as to the mechanics of how this works, to the point of the mechs effectively running on Gurren Lagann-style Hot-Blooded Gumption (fitting since Kazuki Nakashima, who wrote Gurren Lagann, wrote this) And, like Space Runaway Ideon, there are some mysteries about the source of this technology that lean towards the sinister.
Read moreJoran: The Princess of Snow and Blood – Anime Review
Joran: The Princess of Snow and Blood is a series that grabbed me by its premise – what appeared to be an alternative universe take on Lady Snowblood with some steampunk and supernatural trappings. While the show went off on its own directions from that elevator pitch, it did build up some goodwill that kept me engaged, even with some missteps at the start of the third act. So, the show wrapping up its run with a spectacular face plant was immensely disappointing. I will be getting into spoilers for that ending below the cut – because it strongly tainted my response to the show to an extent where I can’t really talk about my reaction without it.
Read moreSK8: The Infinity: Anime Review
Much as how Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl was created by legendary manga writer and artist Naoki Urasawa in advance of the Barcelona Olympics having the first women’s Olympic Judo competition, the 2020 (now 2021) Tokyo Summer Olympics has had several sports anime released for the various new sports for those games. I’ve already discussed the bouldering anime, and we also got a surfing anime which I wasn’t really able to get into – at least not enough that I felt comfortable reviewing it. However, arguably the best of these is has been SK8: The Infinity, which wrapped just last season.
Read moreLog Horizon: The Destruction of the Round Table: Anime Review
It’s been a long time since the last Log Horizon series came out. That series ended with several mysteries still in play, and several new plot hooks set up, like Krusty having been teleported to the Chinese server, and the introduction of Geniuses – more powerful monsters with their own weird, metagame logic sent by whoever on the moon server had brought them to this world in the first place. This season doesn’t resolve those issues particularly, but it does push some plot developments forward in that regard, particularly related to the characters’ plot development.
Read moreSorcerous Stabber Orphen: Battle of Kimluck: Anime Review
Orphen’s second season is, arguably, a lot more focused than its first. That, unfortunately, doesn’t stop the show from tripping over its own feet when it comes to the world-building of the setting. In particular, it’s where the mythology of the setting is concerned, especially related to the organization known as the “Kimluck Church.”
Read moreOtherside Picnic: Anime Review
Otherside Picnic isn’t exactly a horror anime, nor is it strictly a portal fantasy. It’s got clear horror elements, and certainly has characters going to another world, but also very frequently returning to our world. It’s a series that is, on the one hand, incredibly chill, and on the other hand is absolutely not.
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