2019, 3 years ago, was the first time that the Boogiepop novels had gotten an anime adaptation. It’s time for me to give my thoughts before I get into the earlier Boogiepop anime series.
Read moreAnime Video Review: Boogiepop & Others (2019)
Shikimori’s Not Just A Cutie: Quick Thoughts
Moving on to the next of the anime series of the Spring Season that I’ve been watching – as of this writing I’m about 4 episodes into Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie – one of the new rom-com anime of the Spring 2022 Season that caught my interest. I’m about 4 episodes in so far, which is far enough to give me a pretty good feel of the show’s dynamics.
Read moreDemon Palace Babylon: Book Review
This time I’m following up on the direct sequel to Demon City Shinjuku, and the second half of the relevant omnibus.
Read moreSpring 2022 Anime: Season 2-s
Outside of the shows that carried over from the Winter Season (like Requiem of the Rose King), there were a couple earlier series that I reviewed that are getting second seasons, that I feel like giving some quick thoughts on – partly to cover for time on the blog (because, again, work wrapping up) and partly because honestly, I haven’t done much with the “As They Air” thing for ongoing series before and this might be worth doing for the long term. So, here are the two Season 2-s of anime I watched from earlier seasons that I’m checking out in the spring.
Read moreSpy X Family: Quick Thoughts
Unfortunately, with my current work wrapping up, this has played hell with keeping things caught up on my daily blog posts – so I’m having to grab some ideas more or less off of the cuff. In this case – with my regular anime viewing, I’ve gotten about 3 episodes into one of this new season’s most popular shows – Spy X Family, and I figure it’s worth breaking from my usual tendencies to give my thoughts on the first 3 episodes of the show.
Read moreWotakoi: Love is Hard For Otaku – Anime Review
Wotakoi is a remarkably chill slice-of-life rom-com anime. It’s just a fairly drama light series, which focuses on two otaku couples who share a workplace, and have mutual friends, just spending time together. It makes for a nice, refreshing bowl of vanilla bean ice cream in anime form.
Read moreMy Dress-Up Darling: Anime Review
I’m a sucker for an anime that has an element of instruction and education to its premise, and as someone who also appreciates cosplay, but who does not cosplay himself, I’m interested in the craft behind it. So going into the Winter 2022 season, I’d already suspected that My Dress-Up Darling would be my jam on that front. What I wasn’t expecting was to get a tremendously sweet love story along the way.
Read moreBoogiepop Phantom: Anime Review
Boogiepop Phantom was an anime that came out in 2000 that very much served as a counterpoint to Serial Experiments Lain in the eyes of American anime fans. Both works are dark psychological suspense works containing conspiracies and supernatural elements. Both works are heavy on suspense, and depict their high school-aged protagonists dealing with a heavy weight of intense personal dread, psychological pressure, and often with that trauma based on the burdens of society and how they play on their peers.
Read moreLupin The Third Part 6: Anime Review
Lupin The Third: Part 6 is, unfortunately, a mess. Unlike previous Lupin series, this one neither has a serialized focus (like with Woman Called Fujiko Mine) or a primary episodic focus (like Parts 1 through 3). Instead, the series tries to be a hybrid, sort of like Part 4, but instead of the stand-alone episodes fitting in the overall continuity, they go off on their own directions in ways that are very hit-or-miss. This is all aggravated by splitting the show into two different serialized plots – one per cour.
Read moreBakemonogatari: Anime Review
Bakemonogatari is my first introduction to Nisioisin and to Shaft as an anime studio. I had tried to watch the show in fansubs when it first came out, as it hadn’t been licensed, and I remember being struck by the visuals of the series and the level of visual style – I could tell that the show was doing something – but I couldn’t tell yet, and I ultimately decided that I’d get around to it once the show had finished. And then I forgot about it entirely until this past year, when I decided it was time to finally get around to watching the damn thing – and I’m glad I finally have.
Read moreThe Anime Appendix N: Sidebar 1
For the first Anime Appendix N Sidebar episode, I take a look at what use a “Recommended Works” section provides to an RPG, to GMs, and to Players, and how you can use one to help prepare players for your own game.
Read moreUQ Holder: Complete Manga Review
Ken Akamatsu’s most recent (and likely last for a while) shonen battle manga, UQ Holder, has come to a conclusion. So, having previously discussed it the last time I got caught up, now is a good time to give my thoughts on the series.
Read moreBlade Runner: Black Lotus – Anime Review
Blade Runner, as a franchise, has had a lasting impact on anime, particularly in the Cyberpunk genre. In the lead-up to Blade Runner 2049, an OVA – Black Out – was released to expand the setting. As a further part of those efforts after 2049’s release, Adult Swim & Crunchyroll collaborated with Shinji Aramaki & Kenji Kamiyama to put out a CGF animated series set between the Black Out OVA and 2049 – Blade Runner: Black Lotus. Crunchyroll & Adult Swim’s last collaboration – Fena: Pirate Princess, was somewhat mixed, and unfortunately, this series, Blade Runner: Black Lotus, is much the same.
Read moreMy Neighbor Totoro: Anime Review
My Neighbor Totoro is, undoubtedly, one of Studio Ghibli’s (in general) and Hayao Miyazaki’s (in particular) most beloved films. IF there was a film that established, clearly, Miyazaki as the “Japanese Walt Disney” to international audiences outside of anime fandom, this was it, whether Miyazaki wanted the title or not.
Read moreMonthly Girls’ Nozaki-Kun: Anime Review
It is a long-standing trope in romance fiction to have an author protagonist whose own romantic inexperience drives them into the relationship that is the focus of the plot. Normally, the way this premise works is that the author has a degree of self-awareness of their own inexperience, in turn leading to them being self-conscious about it as they look for a partner. Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-Kun, however, is not one of those stories. Oh, the male lead is inexperienced, but he’s also a grade-A Wholesome Himbo.
Read moreNeon Genesis Evangelion Ultimate Edition Unboxing
Haven’t done an unboxing in a while – I’ve received my copy of the Neon Genesis Evangelion Ultimate Edition, so let’s take a look at what’s on the inside of the box.
Read moreAnime Video Review: Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Well, I’ve reviewed all of the Legend of the Galactic Heroes novels, so now it’s time to review the OVA series.
Read moreThe Anime Appendix N: Fantasy (Part 2)
Now that I’ve gotten the larger scope spectrum of fantasy anime out of the way, it’s time to get into some specifics for three different anime and manga series and what GMs and DMs can take from them.
Read moreRumble Garanndoll: Anime Review
If AMAIM: Warrior at the Borderline was the mecha anime series from this season that was trying to sell hesitant viewers on Japanese conservative talking points in an anime context, Rumble Garanndoll feels much more like a move in the opposite direction. It’s a mecha anime series, leaning more towards the super robot side of things, which also feels like it’s more overtly anti-fascist, but with a more comedic, otaku-focused take.
Read moreAMAIM: Warrior at the Borderline (Season 1): Anime Review
AMAIM: Warrior on the Borderline was an anime series from Sunrise Beyond (formerly XEBEC), which touted itself as being a mecha series that continued with having fully hand-drawn mecha, instead of ones created using CG. Unfortunately, it ended up trying to surf into some politically awkward waters, in terms of its plot, and while it may have navigated them successfully, it didn’t try to do anything interesting either.
Read moreMy Senpai Is Annoying: Anime Review
Of the fall 2021 anime, one of the two main romantic comedy anime series for me was My Senpai Is Annoying, a workplace comedy series with a nice healthy dose of romantic comedy that worked very well for me, as a Geriatric Millennial.
Read moreSakugan: Anime Review
We have a trio of mecha anime that I watched this past year – the first of which to finish was Sakugan, something of an underdark exploration anime, combined with some Gurren Lagann-esque hot-bloodedness, and a well-done father-daughter dynamic with the leads.
Read moreTakt Op.: Destiny: Anime Review
Takt Op: Destiny – the first part pronounced “Takt Opus” – is the second of the two anime I watched this season based on a mobile game – specifically a mobile game that wasn’t out yet. Unlike Pride of Orange – this was a show where how the ultimate game would work out in practice felt like it was a little more established from the get-go. This still left the question of whether we’d get a solid story out of the bargain.
Read morePride of Orange: Anime Review
The past couple of years have had a wide array of new sports getting represented in anime forms, some of which I’ve reviewed on this blog – like Sk8: The Infinity, Re-Main, and Sport Climbing Girls. Well, this year we had not just the first hockey anime (which is a surprise right there), but it’s also the first girls’ hockey anime (and potentially the first girls’ hockey TV series – full stop), with Pride of Orange.
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