In the immortal words of Azuma Yuhei, this is getting complicated. Life with Chihayafuru was certainly easier when Suou was someone we knew little about and were given no real reason to like, and we could unabashedly root for Harada-sensei with a clean conscience. But as any fan of Hunter […] Read more
“In Her Garden” Mori-sensei + cat = win. I must say that narratively speaking I found this new chapter to be a bit of a snoozer, though I suppose it’s only natural since I have no connection with this new bride. But the art was so beautiful you can’t help […] Read more
Let the games begin. It’s a double release of Chihayafuru this week – in translated form anyway. And the form the story itself takes should be very familiar to viewers of the anime’s second season, because these chapters take place almost entirely in tournament mode. As always with the Queen/Meijin […] Read more
“My Brother” Baseball must have drama, Radishes gotta be from Nerima, And Saury’s gotta be from Meguro. Thank you kindly for your attention. It seems to me as if Adachi-sensei’s fourth-wall breaking – always a staple – is on the upswing of late. That passage was how he justified Touma […] Read more
“Report” Every time NoitaminA announces a new series that isn’t Otoyomegatari, I grieve a little – especially when it’s a manga adaptation. I’m prepared for the obvious possibility that this series will never be adapted – there are major difficulties any producer would have to face, plus the near-certainty that […] Read more
What a long, strange trip it’s been. Sometimes in our anime lives, we have our own fated meetings, just like the characters do – meetings that are destined to change our lives together. This was the first paragraph I wrote about the Chihayafuru anime, back in 2011: It’s always a […] Read more
“Shield at Your Back” So all that stuff I said a couple of days ago? That. Seriously, this is the problem with monthly manga (actually it’s even worse with Otoyomegatari, as Harta is only published 10 times a year) – the waits between chapters are brutal. And that’s under the […] Read more
“Azel”s Offensive” If the question was, “Could Mori Kaoru draw a battle manga?” I think the answer is a conclusive “yes”. It would hard to overstate just how much of a departure the last few chapters of Otoyomegatari have been from earlier chapters in the series, and indeed from anything […] Read more