It almost goes without saying that this was a great and emotionally powerful episode of AnoHana – they pretty much all are. But I continue to be amazed by just how much this series gets right, and by how much punch it can pack into 22 minutes. Case in point […] Read more
It was all Auntie Meme, all the time this week. And impossibly, this episode was even fluffier and more ephemeral than the norm for this series. It really seems as if the time jumps are becoming a bigger device in this series the further it goes. I can’t say that […] Read more
Spring 2011 turned out to be a pretty good season when it was all said and done – certainly better than I thought it would be about a week in. It was a late bloomer, and I don’t hold in the esteem that some do – comparing it to behemoths […] Read more
No question, this series has the most disturbing previews of the season. Hands-down. And some of the most disturbing fantasy sequences as well… While remarkably little happens in any given episode of Hoshizora, there was some incremental progress in what passes for an overall plot. Basically, as far as I […] Read more
Lucky bastard Let me get the unpleasantness out of the way: I didn’t especially like this “True End” for Oreimo. I didn’t hate it, and I don’t leave the series (for now) with bad feelings or anything – but I did find the ending fundamentally unsatisfying. There was a fundamental […] Read more
“The obfuscation episode” Seriously, this episode was irritatingly brilliant at muddying the waters. We’ve gotten some exposition in every episode this month, so I guess this was payback time. But there was a few things that did become clear: – Ruka is now a girl. (S)He was wearing the same […] Read more
A brief look at where things stand with a month or so to go in the Spring season: Dororon Enma-kun Meerameera: A. Go Nagai updated for the 21st Century with a killer soundtrack and incredibly filthy humor. A cast full of industry legends having great fun with bizarre and silly […] Read more
Two more Kuroshitsuji OVAs hit the fansub wires this week, the full-length “Tale of Will the Shinigami” and the half-length “Spider’s Intention”. Of the two, the shorter “Spider” is by far the more noteworthy. “Will” is a throwaway piece about new trainees at the shinigami academy, featuring a flashback to […] Read more
Well now, it’s really hit the fan now, hasn’t it? Lots of things strike me after this latest stellar episode of Game of Thrones. Not least of those is that poor Eddard Stark is a boy among men (and women) when it comes to the titular game. His frankness and […] Read more