I’m really trying hard to get invested in C. It’s an interesting premise and has a great pedigree, and it’s not as if there’s been anything to dislike in the first three episodes. It’s a flashy, cool and eye-catching show. But for whatever reason, there’s some element that’s missing for […] Read more
Are there problems with Moshidora dramatically? Er, ah – hai. At this point it seems as if this just isn’t an especially good show when viewed as an entertainment. The humor – such as the aforementioned catch phrase – falls kind of flat. The BGM in the dramatic scenes is […] Read more
Kuroneko’s campaign for “Best Female Character” of the last year picks up steam with the third “True End” episode of Oreimo this week. I have absolutely no idea how Kyousuke has the will power (and/or density) to resist her – I swear, every time she does that face-down pose on […] Read more
After the first half of this episode, I was beginning to really wonder if Moshidora was for me. At that point it seemed to me more an academic exercise than anything else – interesting but dry and frankly, a little boring. But things did pick up a bit after the […] Read more
I’m very much of two minds about this series. On the one hand, the dialogue is clever, subversive and frequently hilarious. There’s a great attention to detail, and I love all the small nuggets of Akihabara lore in there – the logo on the recycling bins, the “I Heart CRT” […] Read more
Only in Japan. To say the subject matter of Moshidora is unusual in the world of anime is something of an understatement. Peter Drucker’s “Management” – while one of the best-selling and most influential business books ever – hardly seems like an interesting subject for an animated series. And applying […] Read more
Poof! If I really stop and consider it, there’s really no denying that this show is pretty dumb. There isn’t an ounce of sophistication to it, and not more than an ounce or two of originality. But dammit, there’s just some quality to it that engenders affection. If I had […] Read more
Well, that was exciting. What this is turning out to be – at least after two episodes – is one kick-ass soap opera with epic fantasy trappings and an “R” rating. It’s closer to Rome than Lord of the Rings so far, but we’re at the beginning of the beginning, […] Read more
I’ll admit I was a little worried after last week’s wayward episode, which felt like a completely different series had possessed the one I’d grown to admire so much after two episodes. But based on this week, I needn’t have – unless Hanasaku Iroha has one of the biggest cases […] Read more
It’s not an exaggeration to say there’s very little that hasn’t been done in the superhero genre. I think they ran out of original straight-up stories a couple decades ago, and at this point there have been so many reboots and parodies and satires that the satires themselves are starting […] Read more