This pair isn’t exactly your one-stop shopping for pulse-quickening excitement. Mikagura Gakuen Kumiyoku – 02 I think it would be fair to say that the problems with the second episode of Mikagura were easy to predict. Namely, that once you got past he veneer of insanity and things calmed down […] Read more
When I trial a show based solely on the studio behind it and nothing else, things rarely end well… Houkago no Pleiades – 01 Truth be told, it’s hard for me to watch Houkago no Pleiades without a heavy heart, and that’s because of what it isn’t rather than what […] Read more
This is definitely not A-1’s finest day. Gunslinger Stratos – 01 My attachment to Gunslinger Stratos was always pretty tenuous – basically, Urobuchi Gen’s tangential involvement in drafting the scenario for the game the anime is based on. I went into this story about a future where Japan is split […] Read more
Next week had damn well better be worth the wait. Diamond no Ace – 74 As is too often the case with Daiya no A lately, we have to be patient through an awful lot of twaddle to get to the good stuff. And this time around we didn’t even […] Read more
I had no idea when I called Shirobako a WUG for the anime production world that it would turn out to be as true as it has. Shirobako – 05 First off, I would certainly acknowledge that Shirobako is an interesting series – and that it’s better, on the whole, […] Read more
Sometimes, wanting to like a series just isn’t enough. Rolling Girls – 02 Rolling Girls is definitely an odd duck of a show. I could see where someone who hasn’t seen the Gainax and neo-Gainax series (especially FLCL) this one tries so desperately to mimic might find this to be […] Read more
In the parched desert that is Winter 2015, any possibility of sustenance must at least be investigated. Junketsu no Maria – 01 (Pre-air) I wouldn’t go so far as to say Junketsu no Maria was a sleeper going in, but in a schedule nearly bereft of interesting prospects it was […] Read more
That was a really heartwarming, feel-good episode of anime. Oh, and I watched Shirobako too. Shirobako – 04 Looks like I spoke to soon in the Fall Check-in – Shirobako is the kind of show its previews suggested it would be, for one week at least. I found this CGBC […] Read more
In blogging terms, it looks like these series are two ships passing in the night. Gugure! Kokkuri-san – 04 Well, that was certainly an unexpected development. Going into this episode I really felt like this show was in need of some fresh ideas – Episode 3 had a whiff of […] Read more
If anime were played at bars on casino floors in Vegas, Psycho-Pass 2 would be a perfect fit. Shirobako – 03 Shirobako continues to be a modestly interesting take on the trials and tribulations of the anime production process, though I do find myself wishing it would refrain from inserting […] Read more