It seems obvious that things are rushing along at a brisk pace on Bakuman these days, because there’s a very discernible sense that each episode is really two episodes in one. Whatever happens before the break would probably have been a full episode in prior seasons, but the order has […] Read more
And so ends the Haruka Arc – or was it the Kanata Arc – and I can’t imagine anyone could complain about a lack of drama now. I have a few issues with the way things were wrapped up here, truth be told, though I suspect they’re more with the […] Read more
In the immortal words of Jerry Seinfeld, “It’s so nice when it happens good.” Yes, the above could certainly be applied to our heroes in this episode – it was a good time indeed to be Ashirogi Muto. But I selfishly speak of myself instead, as it’s one of the […] Read more
Wait a minute – just where did Kana pull that second sea cucumber from? Ho-hum – another week, another sterling example of Minami-ke Tadaima. I wasn’t sure anything could make me laugh as hard as the whiteboard scene in Zetsuen to Tempest, but this ep came pretty darn close. And […] Read more
What a fascinating country this is. A little belatedly, here are some pics and videos from a trip to the Ryoguku Kokugikan, the national sumo stadium in East Tokyo. Sumo isn’t an element of Japanese culture than I know all that well, honestly, but it’s a very deeply ingrained part […] Read more
Who knew the scariest opponent Killua has faced so far would only have one arm? I know some of the manga audience has been complaining about the pacing of “Greed Island” in this version, but for me it’s been rock-solid – to be honest if I didn’t know what I’d […] Read more
In every episode since this arc started I’ve been thinking a lot about a character who wasn’t on-screen – but it was a different one this time. For all the high drama surrounding Hibito’s compelling but ultimately predictable peril on the moon, Space Brothers has really missed Mutta’s presence. The […] Read more
I’m trying to sort out my feelings for Zetsuen no Tempest but believe me, it isn’t so easy. There’s no show quite like it. Without wishing to complicate things further, let me introduce a quote from yet another of Shakespeare’s plays (A Midsummer Nights Dream) which seems appropriate here: Captain […] Read more
The gloves are pretty much off now. This is going to be a dark ride of epic proportions from here to the end, I suspect. This has been a pretty dark couple of days in anime, what with the most recent episodes of Psycho-Pass and Robotics;Notes. But for my money […] Read more
“Every poem read sends you back a thousand years. How many sports are capable of such a feat?” There have been 30 episodes of Chihayafuru in total now, and since the vast majority of them have been excellent (or better) the series has obviously done a lot of fantastic things. […] Read more