I confess I was a little skeptical about an entire episode devoted to Nanase, but it ended up being a story very much in the classic Natsume Yuujinchou tradition. There was a bit of a tease factor here, knowing we were going back in time to the heyday of Natsume […] Read more
As great as the mystery element in this series is – and it’s the best of any series for quite a while – I think the character interaction might just be even better. This was a funny sort of episode in some ways. For the most part it was actually […] Read more
“Mind Game” The long-awaited reunion finally happens, at the karaoke bar – Nitorin, Makoto, Chiba, Takatsuki, Sasa, Anna, and – seemingly the odd sock – Momo. I felt a little bad for her being stuck there with a “bunch of freaks” when Chi-chan bails with a cold – but at […] Read more
I actually enjoy the omakes at the end of Mirai Nikki episodes, but I’ve noticed that their absence tends to be a good sign – it usually means the pacing of the ep was as batcrap crazy as Yuno herself, and that’s the Mirai Nikki I like best. As I […] Read more
Shakugan no Shana III – 19 That was certainly an eventful episode – a bit too heavy in all the mind-numbing avalanche of “Shana” side characters and terminology, but action-packed nonetheless. I rather liked the fact that the trick to the Giralda wasn’t that it would consume the user’s power […] Read more
While it’s no secret that any episode that looks closely at Killua’s soul is going to go to a very dark place, I was surprised by the way the remainder of the hunter exam’s final phase played out. For me, Killua has always been the saddest character of all the […] Read more
The title of this episode was “Towards the Fate That Never Stops Assailing Us”, and it would be hard to do a better job of summing up the overall feel of this series than that. What a fascinating contrast we have in our two Saturday Sci-fi series, Senshogear and Mouretsu […] Read more
I don’t want to make too much of unintentional symbolism, but you’d be hard pressed to find a line that sums up this show better than “Let’s finish this – I have school tomorrow.” Mouretsu Pirates has a lot in common with it’s main character. Both are likable, attractive, and very […] Read more
It’s pretty clear that neither the mangaka or the director of this adaptation was too worried about unrealistically building up Araki Ryuuichi, but the shaft of light from the heavens as he walked (floated?) onto the pitch may just have been a bit much… I suppose I’m just going to […] Read more
As “Arrietty” has just begun a theatrical release, I thought it would be a good idea to top this review. Remember, this is for the subtitled version – I’ve also seen the Disney dub and I can tell you it’s decent, though nowhere near as good (shocking, I know). David […] Read more