Japanese Culture class is back in session… This is really the first time since very early in Hoozuki no Reitetsu’s run that I’ve felt a bit left out of the joke. The entire episode was pulled straight from Japanese legends and fairy tales (and just my luck, none of them […] Read more
It’s a truth we see borne out over and over again in anime: endings are hard. I won’t lie – I’m of the mind that Nagi no Asukara is ending at the right time. The heart of the matter is this: the only element in the story that really rings […] Read more
As soon as Inari Konkon was announced as 10 episodes, I should have known Jerry Seinfeld’s “This is going to be a shame” would have fit perfectly. A few weeks back I compared Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha to a meal where the side dishes were excellent, but the main course […] Read more
Turns out Mt. Maeda is an active volcano… Witch Craft Works – 11 I guess the message of this episode is that the secret to magic power is in the shirt. Or something. Anyway… We’re still in full-on plot mode with Witch Craft Works, which clearly has a lot on […] Read more
You know, this show is actually pretty good. Hunter X Hunter really is the gift that keeps on giving. There’s seemingly no end to the ways it can entertain and astound me. To those who complain that “Chimera Ant” is too paced too slowly I can only ask – why? […] Read more
At long last, the real racing has begun. Time to break out the sorting hat. When grand tour bike races start (and in high-school terms three days certainly qualifies as a grand your) everyone tends to fall into their specified roles. With two-week affairs like the Tour de France the […] Read more
As confessions go, that was certainly emphatic. I think I’ve figured out why Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta often seems to work better as a series than it “deserves” to – why all the exasperating logic holes and sexism and overzealous foreshadowing can’t quite sink the dreadnought. Inside this deeply […] Read more
The chickens are really coming home to roost now. I hardly know where to begin talking about an episode like that one, because it was so intellectually dense, opaque and a total mind-screw to boot. Space Dandy has done surrealist and even psychedelic more than once, but this was something […] Read more
The seas may be uncharted, but so far the sailing is pretty smooth. I’m viewing this anime-original turn for Noragami as a positive because it seems to indicate a desire not to go places that will make a second season more difficult, and comments this week from director Tamura Koutarou […] Read more
No ablutions occurred during the course of my visit. I’ve been to Yushima Tenjin before and blogged it, but given the Noragami connection there were obvious reasons to go back. Besides, I’m a student and next week is finals week, and it’s virtually a requirement that all good students visit […] Read more