The charm offensive was off the charts this week. If you’ve ever been to Ikenoue Station on the Keio Inokashira Line – where I’m 99% sure Isshuukan Friends is set, despite having changed the station name to “Midorikawa” – you know it’s the perfect setting for this series. It’s as […] Read more
Well, that episode was certainly an eye-opener. The new characters are coming fast and furious now, but there’s still some old business to take care of. The final set of the practice match with Aoba Johsai, to be precise, and that means the entry of Oikawa Tooru onto the scene. […] Read more
In case it wasn’t obvious enough, this was a very important episode of Baby Steps. It’s a pretty great time to be a fan of sports anime. Yowamushi Pedal was just confirmed for a second season, Ping Pong is establishing itself as a unique and brilliant take on the genre, […] Read more
Whaddaya know – Ace of Diamond can throw the curve after all. As much as I love Daiya no A, one thing it hasn’t had much of is surprises. This really isn’t the sort of show that thrives on misdirection, but rather on delivering more or less what’s expected in […] Read more
Sci-fi Saturday indeed… Sidonia no Kishi – 06 I hesitate to group these two shows together in a single post, because it’s not really fair to either of them – apart from both being science fiction there isn’t much that links them, and the constant comparisons are more than a […] Read more
As if Meruem needed any more power-ups… No real surprises in the poll – I kind of figured “Chimera Ant” and “York Shin” would go 1-2. I didn’t necessarily expect “Hunter Exam” to finish so far ahead of “Heaven’s Arena” – which I think is the most underrated arc in […] Read more
There’s just nothing about Ping Pong that’s remotely conventional. Boy, is this show ever ugly. Stylistic choices aside, this is some of the most bare-bones art and animation I’ve seen in any anime – we’re talking about stuff approaching the level of the Togashi doodles here. I’m not sure whether […] Read more
Straight-up moe trumps gap moe this round… There was interesting news this week that Hitsugi no Chaika was “renewed” for a second season this fall. When an announcement takes place a month into a season, of course, what this really means is that the series was always intended to be […] Read more
Every so often Killua reminds us of the first line of my post from way back at Episode 33… This has been an amazing trip, this “Chimera Ant”. I look back now and it’s been almost exactly a year since the journey started (Episode 76, to be precise) and to […] Read more
There are a lot of questions about Yowamushi Pedal’s future, but none about this: it’s one of the best anime of the last year. Without a doubt, there are plenty of reasons to feel optimistic about Yowameda’s future as an anime. It’s sold quite well (it will likely average about […] Read more