The beginning of a new arc of H x H brings with it a whole lot of excitement. OP4 Sequence: So long York Shin (the arc, not the city – yet), hello Greed Island (the arc, not the game – yet). With a new arc, we get a new opening […] Read more
Uchuu Kyoudai – 37
That was definitely a three-hankie episode. I’m still not happy about the way the moment was teased and delayed, which felt a little bit beneath Uchuu Kyoudai’s usual standards. But if there’s one thing I have to say about this show, it’s that it gets the big emotional moments just […] Read more
Chuunibyou – 11
It seems only fitting that there’s no middle path to be found in Chuunibyou. It would be wrong of me to criticize this episode of Chuunibyou for being heavy-handed, because this series has never postured towards having a light touch in anything it does. When it was a comedy it […] Read more
Shin Sekai Yori – 12
This train has been bearing down on us for weeks now, but there’s just no stopping it. In terms of pure emotional impact, Shin Sekai Yori is a show with few equals. In a word, it’s ruthless – no measures are taken to soften the impact events have on the […] Read more
Eno-shima-DON!
Sometimes the reality lives up to the fantasy. This post was derailed by my untimely meeting with e.coli (or his cousin salmonella) but before I fell ill I’d spent the day on a return trip to Kamakura, wanting a chance to revisit on a sunny day and take things at […] Read more
Zetsuen no Tempest – 11
As much praise as I’ve been lavishing on Zetsuen no Tempest lately, I still don’t think I’ve been giving it enough credit. I’ve noticed a curious trend in my reactions to ZnT. The series on the whole is, at the moment, exactly like each individual episode. I tend to be […] Read more
Robotics;Notes – 10
NoitaminA is in good hands this season. This is something of a throwback season in that we’re seeing some of the titanic studios of the last decade show us why they achieved that status in the first place, after struggling some over the last couple of years. BONES has had […] Read more
Psycho-Pass – 10
I think that was an episode that pretty much speaks for itself. Psycho-Pass mostly set aside the philosophy and social satire this week and stayed solidly in action-thriller territory, in the process delivering a tense and exciting episode that connected on pretty much every swing. This was the product of […] Read more
Shirokuma Café – 37
If ever a series was cut out for a Christmas episode, it’s Shirokuma Café. Among the early Christmas presents to the viewers of Shirokuma: Mamoru Miyano as Alpaca-san Shirokuma at Shibuya Crossing The full Panda family together at last, live and in photo tai-chi form Fukuyama Jun and Hanazawa Kana […] Read more
Jormungand: Perfect Order – 10
Enter the Dragon. One of the many things I love about Jormungand (it’s a long list) is how internally consistent the story is. It’s outlandish beyond reason, of that there can be no doubt, but the internal logic always holds up. Everything that happens in the story happens for a […] Read more