Gatchaman Crowds is still a mixed bag for this viewer, but trending up. If there was one show that was hard to peg coming into the season, it was probably this one. Partly that’s due to the fact that there were no previews of the show itself whatsoever (which was […] Read more
Ginga Kikoutai Majestic Prince just keep rolling along, stealthily under the radar. But maybe that’s changing. I’ve compared this show to the Tortoise (the one who raced the Hare) on more than one occasion, and it’s definitely meant as a compliment. While those other mecha series from Spring have disappeared […] Read more
Anime are a lot like race horses – if you want to predict how good they’re going to be, you could do a lot worse than looking at the pedigree. Any concerns I had about Rozen Maiden: Zurückspulen after the middling premiere have pretty much evaporated. The last two episodes […] Read more
There’s no denying that Gin no Saji represents a huge change-of-pace, in just about every way. There’s not much about Silver Spoon that’s by-the-books. This is the sort of anime about which my friend in the film and TV business – who basically still thinks of anime as all giant […] Read more
Free! is a fascinating journey of self-discovery. Well, sort of… I’m just about 50-50 on whether to continue covering Free!, though to be honest if it were a decision based on the merits of the show itself I’d be leaning against it. After three episodes I’m less interested than I […] Read more
There’s never been a day in my life that couldn’t be made better with the addition of a little Ika Musume. I won’t lie – I’m biased when it comes to this series. I have a very special place in my heart for Shinryaku Ika Musume, though it does me […] Read more
Thank goodness for Kingdom, because it feels an anime niche I really like seeing filled, and one that hasn’t been for far too long. It says something about the breadth of Kingdom and its versatility that it can change gears completely and leave its main character behind without losing a […] Read more
Whatever else I may ultimately decide I feel about it, watching Watamote is undeniably a powerful experience. If it were strictly a question of how good the first two episodes of the series were, the decision about whether to blog Watamote would be easy. They were really wonderful – very […] Read more
How much bigger can this plot possibly get, I wonder? One thing I’ve noticed about Mushibugyou is that it has the latest eyecatches in the anime business – they usually hit somewhere around the 18-minute mark. It’s almost as if there’s so much going on that the show can’t afford […] Read more
Like Uchouten Kazoku, Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi offers up a second episode that surpasses the first in every way. This season is showing promise, especially by the normally low standard of summers past. No series has yet managed to burst through the gate with two outstanding episodes, but there are […] Read more