The inevitable triangle seems finally to be upon us, and so far I’m not in love with where it seems to be taking Sakurasou. I’ve had the nagging feeling for a while that Sakurasou was a series torn between two impulses – one, to be a somewhat radical and certainly unusual […] Read more
At long last it’s the unveiling of Reika Mark II. This reveal certainly has to go down as one of the worst-kept secrets in Ginga e Kickoff – along with Aoto and Tagi joining the Predators – as it’s been teased in the OP since the very first episode. Still, […] Read more
It seems fitting considering the theme of this episode that this was the week my affection for Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun turned into love. There was so much happening this week that I could start almost anywhere with this ep, and why it was such a good one – it’s an […] Read more
“The Feast – Part III” As always, the wedding is for the family, not the brides and grooms. But there’s something of the discrete, at least, in the fact that the ceremony itself takes place behind closed doors with only the close family present. Much to the disappointment, I might […] Read more
Thought it often ventures into other areas with highly entertaining results, Bakuman always returns to what it truly is – an extended love letter to manga. One thing that Bakuman gets just right is hard to truly understand until you’ve been to Japan, and that’s the degree to which manga is a […] Read more
Episode 5 – shameless, but effective. I liked this episode of Sukitte just as much as the first four, though it felt quite different to me. Those four eps were appealingly realistic and just a bit raw – not especially polished in terms of presentation but emotionally honest and free […] Read more
Well, whaddaya know – Little Busters is a Key adaptation after all. While the events in this episode were certainly foreshadowed last week, the change in tone was still pretty stark – especially in the second half of the episode. This was really the first time that the Key/Maeda Jun […] Read more
As many epic fights as this series has shown us so far, I get the sense that the big dogs haven’t even started to hunt yet. This episode was certainly a bit of an emotional roller-coaster, though that was to be expected under the circumstances. It started out feeling like […] Read more
There are a couple of currently airing series where the gap between how brilliant they are and how much discussion they get is particularly large, and Space Brothers is definitely one of them. And I confess, I’m guilty myself. An interesting bit of trivia about this week’s episode: astronaut Hoshide […] Read more
When it comes to these two shows it’s, Yin, meet Yang. Btooom! – 05 I’m right on the edge with Btooom at the moment. I get that the whole piece is something of an unqualified condemnation of human nature, and the broader feeling in watching is still that it’s compelling […] Read more