Yawn – I flee to a different continent 6000 miles away, and I can’t get away from great episodes of Hunter X Hunter. The more things change… This episode was really geared towards learning about characters. It proves that there’s room in H x H to learn more about those […] Read more
Not wanting to bathe in false modesty, I’ll just say right out that my track record for picking out the best shows of the upcoming season is looking pretty decent lately. I can’t pay this episode a higher compliment that this: I was completely immersed in it from start to […] Read more
Put Shakespeare and BONES together and you’re probably not going to get something low-key – and Zetsuen no Tempest doesn’t disappoint. It’s been an awfully long time since I read “The Tempest” and I’ve never read the manga this series is based on, but it seems as if we’re in […] Read more
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
It seems fitting that the anime I’m watching while waiting to check in for the first leg of my trip to Japan would be focused on two things that have been so important to my time in America, coffee and baseball. OP2: “Rough & Laugh” by Clammbon There was lots […] 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
A wild fansubber appeared. It had to happen sooner or later, with a show this good – it’s in the bloodstream, like a virus. We have a second subbing group at last, Reika – and like Oyatsu, their work is high-quality. So feel confident in grabbing these new episodes – […] Read more
One strategy for OVAs is to try and make them as consistent with the TV episodes as possible, and that’s the tack AIC have clearly taken here. Haganai is an interesting show for me – a test of whether you can like a series if you really dislike the main […] Read more
“The Angels Take Manhattan” “That was so damned good. I laughed. I cried. I was on the edge of my seat. I jumped out of my skin. That to me is perfect entertainment. Every piece of my emotional machinery was fully engaged. I’m now going to have to have a […] Read more