Things continue to move along at a brisk but manageable pace with Arata Kangatari, which as yet stubbornly refuses to offer up any clues suggesting radical changes to the storyline to compensate for its brevity. I’m finding – more so with the anime than with the manga, perhaps because the […] Read more
This series just has a way of focusing on the right animal at the right moment. Metaphors can be taken too far, I know, but they are useful in trying to illustrate a point, and so I’ve found it with RDG. A couple of weeks ago I noted that this […] Read more
Cyclone! Haiyore! Nyaruko-san W – 05 I haven’t generally been all that crazy about the character-driven episodes of Haiyore! – or is the plot-driven ones? In any event, less drive and more comedy is usually the forumla for success here, but for an ep that was plot and character heavy […] Read more
“The Climb” Well, that episode had a little bit of everything. Changes from the books confirmed, new changes added, torture, death and kisses in the strangest places, and a tasty little spoiler of events to come much, much later that isn’t in the books at all. And a measure of […] Read more
“The Crimson Horror” Where have you gone, Neil Gaiman? A Whoniverse turns its lonely eyes to you… Prolific Who scribe Mark Gatiss’ “The Crimson Horror” represents another decent episode in a season that’s been characterized by them. It’s pleasant enough, but there’s just something missing. This episode in particular feels […] Read more
Big drums are big. Here are some pictures and videos from the Kurayami Matsuri at Okunitama Jinja in Fuchu, about 30 minutes by express from Shinjuku. Sorry about the quality – these were all taken at dusk and at night (Kurayama Matsuri means “Darkness Festival” after all) and failing light […] Read more
Well, that was a bit of a shame. I haven’t checked the credits, but I’m going to hazard a guess that Urobuchi Gen didn’t write this episode. To be fair, Gen hasn’t been credited with writing an episode since the first one, but if there were any doubt that he’s […] Read more
A funny thing happened in the middle of this episode: Kuroneko actually showed up. Hard to know just what to make of this episode of Oreimo, really. On the one hand, we’re at least back on-point as far as the story is concerned, and the more likeable members of the […] Read more
Even for a Togashi series, it’s incredible just how much the tone of Hunter X Hunter has shifted seemingly in the blink of an eye. I hate to keep using the word “somber” but it just keeps leaping into my mind unbidden as I watch the “Chimera Ant” arc unfold. […] Read more
Clearly, being alive is not a prerequisite for being a main character in this series. It’s hard to believe that – not counting the flashbacks to boyhood days – Brain Jay has been dead for the entire timeframe of Space Brothers. The man – and especially the events surrounding his […] Read more