Sometimes we can only appreciate a series fully when we can look back on it as a whole. Yeah, right – as if… Read more
Kanto Diaries – Fuji-san
Astonishing doesn’t begin to cover it. I’m on break this week, so I decided to use the JR Kanto Pass (¥8000 for three consecutive days of travel anywhere in Kanto) to do three day trips. That maximizes the value and saves me money on hotels, but it’s going to be […] Read more
Tokyo Diaries – Kamakura Re-redux
Too much is never enough. My friend Bonnie is in town from California (generously, she bought Kabuki tickets – not cheap – and I was amazed at how much fun it was) so I tagged along on her trip to Kamakura. I already have two Kamakura posts but damn, so […] Read more
Space Dandy – 13 (Season Finale)
Space Dandy finishes its first season pretty much where I expected it to back when it all started. There were definitely some peaks and valleys in the first cour of Space Dandy, which are inherent in the style with which it chose to tell its story. But in the end […] Read more
Diamond no Ace – 25
Let the torture begin. In today’s anime reality one-cour series are the norm, but sports manga adaptations are a different animal. They’re a throwback in that way – a series like Daiya no A effectively takes two full cours just to exposit the prologue, and is only now getting down […] Read more
Hoozuki no Reitetsu – 12
Here’s some good news – a bonus episode of Hoozuki no Reitetsu. It had been widely reported – at least in every source I saw – that Hoozuki no Reitetsu was going to be 12 episodes long. Happily, there’s going to be a 13th next week (one which I assume […] Read more
Gin no Saji Second Season – 11 (End) and Series Review
That was a stellar ending – but surely, we had no reason to expect anything less. Final episodes of really good anime can inspire a wade range of emotions in me. But I know I’ve experienced a truly special series when the dominant feeling is gratitude – only the very […] Read more
Nagi no Asukara – 25
Oh, dear… My experience with anime has been that it’s usually far easier to drop shows earlier than later, at least from a blogging perspective. Once shows have an established fanbase and viewers feel pot-committed, they often get very hostile towards anyone who criticizes that series – we certainly saw […] Read more
Spring 2014 Season Preview
The Winter of our discontent is drawing to a close, and it looks as if Spring is going to be a considerably better season for anime fans. Even by Winter’s normally low standards, 2014 was a rough one for anime. A few strong carryovers and a few very good shows […] Read more
Witch Craft Works – 12 (End) and Series Review
It might seem to be damning with faint praise to see that the best thing about a series was its ending theme, but this was a damn fine ED… I just can’t muster the motivation to write a long series review post on Witch Craft Works, and judging by the […] Read more