This is grown-up anime, in every sense of the word. At this stage I’m about ready to call Gangsta the best new show of the summer, though Ushio to Tora and Akagami no Shirayukihime aren’t too far back. There’s just a maturity to this series that sets it apart. In […] Read more
Parents, once again I beg you – take your children as far away from this place as possible. That stuff about Japan being the safest country in the world? It doesn’t seem to apply to whatever town Kyoukai no Rinne is set in. And the funny thing is, we never […] Read more
Apparently time manipulation is among Overlord‘s powers. And so we turn to the third in this season’s triumvirate of bubble series. Overlord. It’s already the group’s odd duck in that it’s not a comedy, but happily this show stands out as well because unlike Jitsu wa Watashi wa and Joukamachi […] Read more
Just because you can talk to a dog in his own language, that doesn’t mean he has to listen. Joukamachi no Dandelion still hasn’t quite closed the sale for me. It’s close – I get a very positive vibe from this show generally, and the sibling dynamic is especially well […] Read more
When they were handing out the clueless, Kataoka must have stood in line twice. There are very few anime – and even fewer sports anime – that alternately compel me and drive me around the bend the way Diamond no Ace does. We go through cycles where things are exciting […] Read more
Two steps back here, big-time. Charlotte – 03 To be honest, Charlotte always had to pull a bit of an inside straight to make the cut with me – there’s just so much about it that I normally just don’t find appealing. The second episode was pretty good, but this […] Read more
Before the invention of the text message, a person really needed to be creative… If you’re looking for high drama, Akagami no Shirayukihime just may not be the series for you. Even when there’s danger, somehow things don’t quite feel all that dangerous, and I think to some extent that’s […] Read more
OK, so I’m just going to pretend I didn’t see that end card… Sooner or later, the sneaky bastards in this series are going to realize that it’s just not smart to fool with Narsus. But for now, his genius continues to be the driving force in the narrative, and […] Read more
Would it kill those three to cheer a little louder? Opposite styles almost always make for interesting matchups in a sport like tennis. Most of the great rivalries have featured two players who go at the game in very different ways. In the old days that usually meant a serve-and-volley […] Read more
Wowzers. Did that really just happen? My apologies, but I’m going to be running way behind for a few days (see sidebar) so I’ll be briefer than normal here. But don’t mistake my brevity for commentary on this week’s Working!!!, which serves as a glove-slap across the cheek to everyone […] Read more