Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Betterman

Betterman was an anime series I watched a fair amount of on TechTV back when TechTV was a thing and it showed anime, before it became the G4 network. At the time I hadn’t heard about GaoGaiGar, and I didn’t have any form of DVR (and never got around to programming the VCR to tape it when it was on), so I never caught the whole show. However, at long last, in 2024, I have finally watched the show in its entirety and can give my thoughts – finishing it not long after Halloween.

Read more
Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Dead Dead Demon’s DeDeDeDe Destruction

I have heard very good things for quite some time about mangaka Inio Asano’s work – and I’ve also heard it’s tremendously bleak to the point of absolute nihilism, so for a while, I’ve been hesitant to read his stuff. When I learned his manga Dead Dead Demon’s DeDeDeDe Destruction (henceforth DeDeDeDe) was getting an anime adaptation and that it was one of his more… approachable works, I figured I would give the show a watch. The resulting show is interesting and messy – messy in some intentional ways, and some ways that may not be (and if those other ways are intentional it doesn’t reflect well on him).

Read more
Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Explorations Episode 24: Moyashimon & Moyashimon Returns

This month we’re taking a look at both seasons of Moyashimon. Moyashimon is available for streaming on Crunchyroll.

Episode 24: Moyashimon & Moyashimon Returns

This month we’re taking a look at both seasons of Moyashimon. Moyashimon is available for streaming on Crunchyroll. Next month we are discussing Dark Gathering, which is available for streaming on Hidive & Hulu/Disney+.

Read more
Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Spy X Family: Code White

Spy X Family has joined One Piece and My Hero Academia in the annals of (at the time of release) currently running Shonen Jump (or Jump+) anime adaptations that have gotten non-canonical (or mostly non-canonical in the case of MHA) anime film tie-ins. In this case, we have Spy X Family: Code White, which sends the Forger family on a weekend vacation to the mountains, leading to some Bond-Film-level shenanigans.

Read more
Posted on by Alexander Case

Manga Review: We Started A Threesome Vol. 3

Volume 2 of We Started a Threesome put a lot of time into developing Emito and his backstory, along with the setting up that Emito was bisexual and also loved Suisei – who so far hadn’t shown any signs of being bi, and was also dealing with some of his own jealousy. So, theoretically, the ending that has been established for the final volume was – “What’s Suisei’s own backstory, how will he handle his own jealousy, and is he closeted bi, or is he heterosexual and this volume will be about how nested polycules handle situations where two members have incompatible sexual orientations, where one of those members is into the other, and both have a common person who they’re both compatible and romantically into?” The question becomes – how do they handle that topic (if they do), and will they have enough time to do it justice?

Read more
Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Explorations Episode 23: Bubblegum Crisis

Blaine joins us again for a discussion of Bubblegum Crisis, along with the tabletop RPG.

Anime Explorations Episode 23: Bubblegum Crisis

Blaine joins us again for a discussion of Bubblegum Crisis, along with the tabletop RPG. Bubblegum Crisis is available for Streaming on Plex, Retrocrush, Pluto.Tv, and Peacock The series is also available on physical media through the Crunchyroll Store (Affiliate Link): https://crunchyrollstore.sjv.io/c/1395613/1941463/20100 Next month we are discussing Moyashimon Moyashimon is available for streaming on Crunchyroll.

Read more
Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review – Texhnolyze

So, the second of the anime series on my New Year’s Resolution list that I’m done with is one I’m dropping – Texhnolyze. I did give it a reasonable try – getting about a cour through the series before I had enough, and because I had the show on my resolution list, I do feel it’s important to talk about why this series failed for me when two other Chiaki Konaka projects – Serial Experiments Lain and The Big O – were fine.

Read more
Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Explorations Episode 22: My Neighbor Totoro & Akira

This month I’m joined by Blaine of the Babylon 5 30 Years Later and 99 Years 100 Films Podcasts (at Bureau42.com) to discuss My Neighbor Totoro & Akira.

Episode 22: My Neighbor Totoro & Akira

This month I’m joined by Blaine of the Babylon 5 30 Years Later and 99 Years 100 Films Podcasts (at Bureau42.com) to discuss My Neighbor Totoro & Akira. Referenced Links: Akira Production Report Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcY248hbwwU Mythology Behind My Neighbor Totoro: https://www.followthemoonrabbit.com/totoro-mythology/ My Neighbor Totoro is available for streaming on Max in the US and on Netflix internationally.

Read more
Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Wind Breaker (Season 1)

After having read the manga Crows a while back, I got a new appreciation of the Juvenile Delinquent manga, so when a Juvenile Delinquent anime, Wind Breaker, showed up in the Spring 2024 anime list, I figured I should give it a try. It didn’t have the same degree of character depth as Crows, but I still found it to be an enjoyable show.

Read more
Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Laid Back Camp Season 3

Laid Back Camp has, consistently, been a chill (you might even say “Laid Back”) anime series about informing the viewer about going camping, while also providing some chill vibes to accompany it, and it has generally succeeded. Season 2 stepped some things up by having some arcs include potential complications you can run into while camping – and the film covered some of the wrinkles you can run into if you decide to make a campground. Season 3 continues with the chill vibes, while also getting into “What might you have to deal with when traveling to your campground?”

Read more
Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Explorations Episode 21: Jojo’s Bizzare Adventure – Diamond Is Unbreakable, Part 2

We wrap up Diamond is Unbreakable and our Summer of Jojo for 2024.

Episode 21: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure – Diamond Is Unbreakable, Part 2

We wrap up Diamond is Unbreakable and our Summer of Jojo for 2024. Next month we are watching a double feature of Akira & My Neighbor Totoro: My Neighbor Totoro is available for streaming on Max in the US and on Netflix internationally. Akira is available for streaming on Crunchyroll.

Read more
Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included

Often with an anime series, you get the caveat of “Oh, it has a weak start, but it really sticks the landing in the conclusion” or the warning of “Oh, it has a good start, but really fumbles the landing”. Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included has the weird instance of being a series with a weak start, a weak end, but a really strong middle portion of the series. The series, which I’m going to just call Studio Apartment for the sake of brevity – starts out as a pretty standard magical girlfriend series, and ends as a magical girlfriend harem series – but there’s a moment in the middle, where the series really finds its feet as the supporting cast builds up – and where it has some interesting humor to go with it.

Read more
Posted on by Alexander Case

Quick Update on my Anime Holy Grails

Another item on my Anime Holy Grail List is getting a US release – AnimeNewsNetwork has reported that Gkids, in addition to distributing Angel’s Egg in theaters, will also be giving the film a physical release as well. Now, this is just one item on the list, so I’m not going to do a full revision as yet (I’ll want 3 items off the list before I add some replacements), but it’s good to see this title get distribution.

Here’s hoping I don’t have to wait too long for those next two titles to make it off the list.

Please support my Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/countzeroor
Buy me a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/countzero
Watch my Live-Streams on http://twitch.tv/countzeroor
Check out my Let’s Plays at https://www.youtube.com/@CountZeroOrPlays

Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Metallic Rouge

Metallic Rouge is Studio Bones celebrating its 10th anniversary by going back to its routes with an original anime series, with an action show about a pair of ambiguously lesbian characters going on a journey – in this case a science fiction trip through various planets in the solar system, in the process uncovering several mysteries about the world. The problem is that the series, at 12 episodes, doesn’t quite have the time to really do justice to all the themes that they want to cover.

Spoilers below the cut.

Read more
Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Solo Leveling

Solo Leveling was one of the web novel titles that I remember seeing promoted heavily by Yen Press. It was one of the first of these Web Novel turned Light Novel titles that got an audiobook release in the US, and generally it had a fair amount of buzz behind it. So, when an anime adaptation came up on the Seasonal charts, I decided it was time to find out what all the buzz was about.

Read more