Thank goodness the Tengu wasn’t around for all that. More than with any other series this season, I think, I find myself fervently hoping Gugure! Kokkuri-san gets a sequel. I like it very much, of course, but more than anything it just feels like this story has only scratched the […] Read more
And just like that, the switch is flipped… It’s hard to believe that in any season Unlimited Blade Works could be only the second-most maddeningly up-and-down series, but so it is this Fall. No, in first place would be Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso – I’m not sure I’ve ever […] Read more
Ginko’s journey to the dark side continues in a big way. I’d forgotten what a dark ride the last stretch of chapters of Mushishi is, but lest anyone think Nagahama-sensei is spiking the punch, he’s not – he’s adapting the manga more or less in order. One could speculate as […] Read more
What a study in contrasting emotions this series is. Diamond no Ace is in many ways the quintessential sports manga/anime. It’s s old-school as it gets – baseball being the ultimate manga sport, lots of GAR and rough-hewn male bonding. But there are extremes here, more so than in most […] Read more
This is one franchise that isn’t going anywhere for a long, long time. Hard to believe I know, but if you didn’t hear, a second season of Shingeki no Kyojin was announced (it and Kamisama Hajimemashita – equally surprising sequels?) for 2016. And of course, it’s already had several semi-canon […] Read more
Goodness me – series finales and penultimate episodes already. Where does the time go? We said goodbye to Hitsugi no Chaika today with a predictable but modestly entertaining final episode (which seems fitting), and another long-time fence-sitter in Argevollen is down to one ep remaining. There was certainly a stretch […] Read more
Is it Spring yet? There’s no sugarcoating the headline here – this is the shortest preview post I’ve ever done. Eleven series, that’s all – and believe me, this was not the most stringent selection process I’ve ever used. If this preview wasn’t going to be one I could send […] Read more
This all certainly has the makings of a colossal disaster. Bloodlines certainly do show through, don’t they? Put one of the most critically acclaimed manga in decades in the hands of a studio that knows what they’re doing when it comes to adapting great manga and you get this sort […] Read more
Enter the dragon. Come on, you have to give me that one… Forgive me for being a little distracted as I type this, as the Chicago Cubs have just signed a free agent other teams actually wanted for the first time in about a decade and I’m a bit euphoric. […] Read more
“Every time I think of you, the leaves will turn red.” We’re just at the tail end of Koyo season here in Tokyo, but today’s perfect weather seemed like a good excuse to visit one of the last major public gardens in Tokyo I’d yet to see. That’s Hamarikyu, formerly […] Read more