As “Arrietty” has just begun a theatrical release, I thought it would be a good idea to top this review. Remember, this is for the subtitled version – I’ve also seen the Disney dub and I can tell you it’s decent, though nowhere near as good (shocking, I know). David […] Read more
Better late than never, it’s Towa no Quon 04 – and it continues the increasingly dark path the OVAs have taken. I can’t help but think this idea would have been better served as a TV series than an OVA, but then that’s usually my opinion about these things. It’s […] Read more
Courtesy of the San Francisco Film Society’s Animation Festival, I was able to attend a screening of the FMA film tonight. After a harrowing odyssey of bizarre Sunday-night traffic that turned a normally 20-minute drive into a 90-minute serpentine through unfamiliar surface streets, I found a parking space and pulled […] Read more
One of the great LOLWUT series of 2011 returns with an OVA that lives up (down) to its own lofty standards. Let’s face it, Hozhizora was never going to win any prizes for its intellectual content and subtlety. Brain food it ain’t, but at its best the show could be […] Read more
The little ecchi that could is back for one last hurrah, something for 97% of the anime-viewing world to ignore and the rest of us to savor. I’ve always been a little hesitant to call R-15 an “ecchi series”, because I really think that doesn’t come close to doing it justice. […] Read more
Apparently it doesn’t take a half-price sticker to start a Ben-to war, at least where Takasu Ryuji is concerned. One of the most beloved romantic comedies of recent anime history returns with a new episode, and it was good to see old friends again. It’s a bit of an […] Read more
Fresh on the heels of the release of Shinkai Makoto’s Hoshi o Ou Kodomo on BD/DVD, word comes that the other “Next Miyazaki”, Hosoda Mamoru, has a new film coming in July. I hate that next Miyazaki nonsense and I don’t see the need for such comparisons, but in truth […] Read more
I promise it’s a coincidence that I ended up watching Mashifoni and the Infinite Stratos OAV on the same day – just the luck of the draw. But it certainly was revealing. If you read my posts on IS when the TV aired, you know pretty much how I […] Read more
“Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below” I honestly don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that Shinkai Makoto is the most important anime director in the world. But while I’ve been arguing for years that the endless examples of him being called “The Next Miyazaki” were off base, […] Read more
It’s amazing how an anime made so obviously on the cheap can look so cool. This OVA is really all about Sawa Ryochimo, the director, AD and character designer. A look at his résumé shows that at the tender age of 32, he’s already worked on a startling number of […] Read more