You’d have to search long and hard for two words that would make me happier than these: “Chihayafuru’s back”. OP: “STAR” by (99RadioService) I suppose for most of us that love this show dearly there was just the tiniest bit of anxiety going into this week: would the magic still […] Read more
Why is every damn show this season refusing to do what I expect it to do? OP2: “Houkyou no Messiah (咆筺のメシア)” by HARUKI I pretty much love Robotics;Notes, and I’m pretty much resigned to episodes like this one failing to impress legions of fans. Like Psycho-Pass, R;N set up what […] Read more
Please see Roger Ebert review of “North”, 7/22/94, paragraph 8. Thank you. Although I’m loathe to talk about this series any longer than I have to, I’ll again refer to that review and paraphrase it here: “I hold it as an item of faith that Akiyuki Shinbou is a gifted […] Read more
In a week full of premières that have generally defied my expectations (for better or worse) Psycho-Pass returns to the schedule with an episode that does just the same. OP2: “Out of Control” by Nothing’s Carved in Stone It’s become something of a trend for Urobuchi Gen series to take […] Read more
It didn’t take long for Haganai to remind me of everything I like about it, and everything I don’t. OP: “Be My Friend” by Marina Inoue, Kanae Ito, Nozomi Yamamoto, Misato Fukuen, Kana Hanazawa and Yuka Iguchi This is an odd, odd show. There are very few comedies about which […] Read more
It’s ironic that only two premières this season have been exceptional, and Ohta Masahiko is directly connected to both of them. OP: “Sonna Koto Ura no Mata Urabanashi Desho? (そんなこと裏のまた裏話でしょ？)” by Megumi Nakajima I’m getting a bit tired of saying “That wasn’t what I expected” about seemingly every premiere this […] Read more
Damn it – now I really want to hear a Shirokuma Café report on the best ramen shops… OP4: “You & Me” by Saki and Rie Fu Seeing this cast again for the first time in the new year really does feel like happily greeting old friends. We have a […] Read more
That wasn’t quite what I expected. And thank goodness for that. OP: オープニングテーマ「ドラマチックマーケットライド」(Dramatic Market Ride) by Suzaki Aya I’ll be completely honest here – I went into this premiere more or less expecting to dislike it. While there’s always a ton of crossover with staff at Kyoto Animation and everybody […] Read more
So far Winter 2013 is generating a lot of premières that leave me feeling genuinely undecided, and you can add Amnesia to the list. OP: “Zoetrope” by Nagi Yanagi Generally speaking my track record liking anime adaptation of otome games hasn’t been a very good one. But this is Brains […] Read more
Sakurasou’s struggle with itself might just be more interesting than anything its characters are struggling with. OP2: “Yume no Tsuzuki” (夢の続き) by Konomi Suzuki Cour 2 (or more accurately, what feels like season 3) of Sakurasou kicks off with an episode that takes us squarely down the RomCom path, complete […] Read more