Madhouse jumps into the fray with some hard sci-fi that doesn’t seem to be a game-changer, and doesn’t need to be. OP: “No Pain, No Game” by Nano While had some premières this season that intentionally obfuscate in their openers, deliberately sowing disorientation in the audience to focus on style […] Read more
After one episode, it’s too early to tell if K is a triumph of style over substance or just a triumph – but the style part is a sure thing. (Editor’s Note: Watched and composed on a plane, finalized while severely jet lagged and soaked to the bone so apologizing […] Read more
What is it with all these exclamation points in anime titles lately anyway? OP: “Sparkling Daydream” by ZAQ When the respective projects were announced by Kyoto Animation, there was some consensus – and it’s one I tended to share – that Hyouka would be the safer, less ambitious series, right […] Read more
I move that today is officially Brains Base and Tomatsu Haruka Appreciation Day. OP: “Q & A Recital” by Tomatsu Haruka I’ve waxed poetic before about what a stellar studio Brains Base is, but it really bears repeating. There are studios that made more anime, and those that have more […] Read more
Fall 2012 kicks off properly with the first big premiere the show I was most anticipating – and it doesn’t disappoint. I’ll freely admit that a lot happened in the first episode of Shin Sekai Yori that I didn’t fully understand – and I’m absolutely fine with that, because I […] Read more
Well, you knew someone was going to get around to doing this sooner or later. The surprise here is that Oda Nobuna really isn’t half-bad – though maybe that’s not such a huge surprise, with Madhouse co-producing with Studio Gokumi. Cute girls doing cute things as ruthless Sengoku warlords is […] Read more
Body switching episodes are one of the most common anime tropes, but rare indeed is the series that attempts to build an entire show around it. OP: “Paradigm” by eufonius Given that this is the second series of the season (or the first, if you count the pre-aired half-episode) to […] Read more
In any season, the buildup and expectation for SAO would make it an important series to watch. In this one, it looms over the competition like a colossus. It isn’t all that often that a series is so clearly “the” show, as Sword Art Online is for Summer 2012. Really, nothing else […] Read more
Not much to see here, I’m afraid. Kono Naka ni Hitori, Imouto ga Iru! – 01 This was the fist show of the season that I didn’t manage to finish. There’s nothing particularly offensive about it, but even in a season as full of formula as any I can remember […] Read more
There weren’t too many surprises in the first episode of Koichoco, but there were at least enough twists to make the road seem like it might be an interesting one. OP: 「シグナルグラフ」 (Signal Graph) by Annabel Formula is a funny thing when it comes to eroge adaptations. Certain things are […] Read more