That episode really didn’t work for me, but I feel kind of bad for saying so. I admire the fact that Kokoro Connect is setting its sights higher than its competition in many respects. This is a show that’s really trying to tell a serious story, and to craft something […] Read more
That was downright metaphysical by AW standards… Well, without question that was a pretty dramatic change of pace from the last few Noumi-dominated episodes. This was the sort of story that I suspect would have had a lot stronger impact on me if my buy-in to the series were a […] Read more
It’s never a good idea to get too comfortable with what you believe is happening in Astral Ocean, because this is not a seismically stable landscape. In some ways this episode was downright relaxed compared to the frenetic pace of the last couple, where the revelations were flying fast and […] Read more
Rebellious teens do stupid things, no matter the age or the country in question. This episode of Shouwa Monogatari introduced a term – and social phenomenon – I was previously unaware of: Miyuki-zoku. This “youth tribe” did in fact first appear in Tokyo in 1964, their origins mysterious. It’s a […] Read more
Dysfunction junction in flower shops everywhere. There were even pandas at the amusement park. Certainly, naming the amusement park at the center of this episode “Hanayashiki” can hardly be called subtle – hanaya means “florist”, and shiki (as most anime fans know) has associations with death and the undead. But […] Read more
Which one is the real one, indeed… If you’re going to be an anime comedy, bringing in Shimono Hiro to play a masochistic Dog God is probably never a bad idea. And Hiro-Hiro really sinks his teeth into the role of Momou the Inugami, an old bondage buddy of Momiji […] Read more
Thursdays this season just aren’t good days for florists and normal relationships. While it didn’t pack the hilarity of last week’s two skits, the camping chapter was interesting to me for a couple of reasons. One, it pointed out the very real dichotomy of mind that exists for me when I contemplate […] Read more
Turns out there was a trap in Kingdom after all – but… All in all I’d say this was one of the best episodes of Kingdom to date, starting with the most obvious element – the animation. It was positively lush by Kingdom standards – hardly any CG, and halfway […] Read more
“Sprout” It occurs to me that in many a series, Suehiro Anna could have been the character everyone loves to hate. She’s pretty, she’s successful, and she’s an interloper – not only does she arrive in the middle of the story, but she winds up stealing the protagonist from his […] Read more
The first three episodes of Uta Koi spoke to different faces of love, and so does the fourth in its own way – the love of poetry. Fuku kara niAki no kusaki noShiorurebaMube yama kaze oArashi to iuran The mountain wind in autumn timeIs well called ‘hurricane’;It hurries canes and […] Read more