Category: Reviews
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The Apocalyptic End of Akudama Drive: Swindling Death with a Smile
Read More →: The Apocalyptic End of Akudama Drive: Swindling Death with a SmileAkudama Drive was an unpredictable, exciting and, in the end, emotionally moving anime: the kind of story that gets exponentially better with each episode, to the point where even half-way through, you realise that what you’re watching is becoming quite special. It begins in such a chaotic way too, all blood and thunder, “a storm…
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Moriarty the Patriot episode 1 anime review
Read More →: Moriarty the Patriot episode 1 anime reviewThe villain from Sherlock Holmes is re-framed as a righteous young avenger out to deliver his own delivish brand of karmic justice, the law be damned.
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The Gymnastics Samurai episode 1 anime review
Read More →: The Gymnastics Samurai episode 1 anime reviewIt’s fair to say I didn’t come away from The Gymnastics Samurai feeling inspired by feats of physical mastery.
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Akudama Drive episode 1 anime review
Read More →: Akudama Drive episode 1 anime reviewAn edgy, Western-media inspired “all villains” story that is as fun and violent as it is vapid.
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Jujutsu Kaisen episode 1 anime review: an electrifying introduction
Read More →: Jujutsu Kaisen episode 1 anime review: an electrifying introductionLike Parasyte and Devilman before it (and I suppose you could even lump Naruto in here too), Jujutsu Kaisen is the story of a boy losing control of his own body.
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Deca-Dence episode 1 – 5 anime review
Read More →: Deca-Dence episode 1 – 5 anime reviewDeca-Dence is an anime of dueling aesthetics: a gritty human world akin to Attack on Titan being bossed by a society of walking toys. Sounds weird? Well, that’s why I’m watching it!
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The ending of Sing “Yesterday” for Me was a betrayal
Read More →: The ending of Sing “Yesterday” for Me was a betrayalThe ending of Sing “Yesterday” for Me was a betrayal. I know that sounds dramatic, but allow me to explain.
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My anime diary: A Place Further than the Universe & Smile Down the Runway
Read More →: My anime diary: A Place Further than the Universe & Smile Down the RunwayI suppose I’m not the only one turning to the comfort of their anime backlog right now? I don’t feel like I have much patience at the moment and would much rather digest a finished story than be left hanging by one that’s still on-going. Anyway, I figured I’d watch Smile Down the Runway since…
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Appare-Ranman! episode 1 anime review
Read More →: Appare-Ranman! episode 1 anime reviewAn anime original from P.A. Works, Appare-Ranman! is the story of Appare, a scientific genius cum adventurer from Japan, entering into a larger than life car (some may say, wacky!) race across the US.
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The Millionaire Detective – Balance: UNLIMITED episode 1 anime review
Read More →: The Millionaire Detective – Balance: UNLIMITED episode 1 anime reviewA fun and satisfying debut that feels in many ways like a throwback to late Nineties anime like The Big O and Cowboy Bebop, albeit with a less masculine and more homoerotic subtext for the Noughties.
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Kakushigoto episode 1 anime review
Read More →: Kakushigoto episode 1 anime reviewThe chaotic story of a responsible Dad that’s also a pervy ecchi manga artist.
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Gleipnir episode 1 anime review
Read More →: Gleipnir episode 1 anime reviewGleipnir’s first episode pings between being a fascinating psychological thriller and a creepy erotic comedy. It starts weird and only gets weirder.
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Sing “Yesterday” for Me episode 1 anime review
Read More →: Sing “Yesterday” for Me episode 1 anime reviewSing “Yesterday” for Me is an easy anime to love and, quite frankly, I fell pretty hard for it.
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Wave, Listen to Me! episode 1 anime review
Read More →: Wave, Listen to Me! episode 1 anime reviewIn Wave, Listen to Me!, we’re dragged into Minare’s world: the world of a hungover and bitter adult, looking to regain some momentum in her life and ranting into the void whilst she waits.
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Tower of God episode 1 anime review
Read More →: Tower of God episode 1 anime reviewIn whatever medium, Tower of God is a messy story, filled with anachronistic touches, that’s somehow still quite addictive.
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Winter 2020 anime season: a final say
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Read More →: Winter 2020 anime season: a final sayThe snow outside is melting, the birds are singing and the flowers are blooming. Ever so quietly, even as the world feels like it’s frozen in time, Spring has crept up on us guys, and with us now on the eve of another wave of new anime, I thought it would be fun to rundown…
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The End of Blade of the Immortal: a merciless fate, stained in blood
Read More →: The End of Blade of the Immortal: a merciless fate, stained in bloodAt times, extreme and horrifying, at others, awe-inspiring and beautiful, but does 2019’s Blade of the Immortal anime capture the strange magic of Hiroaki Samura’s chanbara epic?
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BNA: Brand New Animal episode 1 anime review
Read More →: BNA: Brand New Animal episode 1 anime reviewBNA could well be Studio Trigger’s Devilman: a story boiling over with racial tension and supernatural action, and yet still, undeniably, a Studio Trigger anime: just bloody good fun.
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Tower of God gets an anime: the exciting webtoon blazing a trail
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Read More →: Tower of God gets an anime: the exciting webtoon blazing a trailThe popular webtoon Tower of God is getting an anime series in April, but what is it? Heck, what is a webtoon? Let’s dive into the future of comics!
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Dorohedoro episode 1 anime review
Read More →: Dorohedoro episode 1 anime reviewQ Hayashida’s bewildering horror manga is finally animated! Dorohedoro is a dismal, filthy anime that’s teeming with cheerful monsters and we wouldn’t have it any other way!
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Haikyuu!!: To the Top episode 1 anime review
Read More →: Haikyuu!!: To the Top episode 1 anime reviewIt’s been four long years but finally, the majestic Haikyuu!!, one of the best sports anime of the last decade, returns for its fourth season.
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ID – Invaded episode 1 anime review
Read More →: ID – Invaded episode 1 anime reviewID – Invaded is caught between two worlds. One, an awesomely weird dreamscape modeled after Inception and Minority Report; the other, an overly-wordy police procedural.
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Pet episode 1 anime review
Read More →: Pet episode 1 anime reviewPet is a low budget, vaguely homoerotic supernatural thriller that recalls the pulpy late-night anime of the Noughties. As such, it won’t win praise for its subtly, but is still a pretty good time.
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Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! episode 1 anime review
Read More →: Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! episode 1 anime reviewKeep Your Hands Off Eizouken! is a love-letter to anime and, more broadly, the boundless potential of animation. It’s also really fun.
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Somali and the Forest Spirit episode 1 anime review
Read More →: Somali and the Forest Spirit episode 1 anime reviewSomali and the Forest Spirit was a surprise: an evocative fairy-tale anime told from a new Dad’s perspective.
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The End of Vinland Saga: An Inevitable Tragedy
Read More →: The End of Vinland Saga: An Inevitable TragedySet during Danish Prince Canute’s (King Cnut the Great) rise to the English throne, Vinland Saga begins in 1013 AD as the Vikings pillage their way across a beleaguered England. In their midst is the Icelandic boy-warrior Thorfinn, a precocious child hell-bent on exacting revenge on the man that murdered his father: Askeladd.
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The False End of Attack on Titan: “Eren will reach the sea for me!”
Read More →: The False End of Attack on Titan: “Eren will reach the sea for me!”Nothing is ever as great as you imagine. When a dream becomes real, it inevitably loses some of its magic.
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Destroying her identity: the timeless, terrifying world of Kaiba
Read More →: Destroying her identity: the timeless, terrifying world of KaibaI have dreams. I want to do something with my life. I want to be remembered. In my own little world, everything revolves around me. Isn’t it terrifying then to imagine a world where all of those important feelings, the very things that make you what you are, can be compressed into a memory ‘chip’…
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The Promised Neverland anime review: Vulnerable & compulsive
Read More →: The Promised Neverland anime review: Vulnerable & compulsiveThe Promised Neverland was great. At some point during its run, I started watching new episodes as soon as they were out. Every episode seemed to end on a massive cliffhanger, teasing me to the point of screaming (in frustration, but I know where your mind’s going!) I can only speak for myself and it’s…
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Boogiepop and Others anime review: If only…
Read More →: Boogiepop and Others anime review: If only…Boogiepop and Others is many things, but an anime for casual viewers it is not. Unless you’re willing to give it your full attention, it will leave you behind. One measly episode a week is not nearly enough to keep track of such a complicated web of things: to be honest, I’ve spent the last…
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You cannot save the world on your own: The Promised Neverland episode 11
Read More →: You cannot save the world on your own: The Promised Neverland episode 11What a treat episode 11 was. At this point, I have to say I think this anime is as good an adaptation as fans of The Promised Neverland could have hoped for. It’s the best kind of escapism: I lost myself watching this episode, it flew by so fast, and I can hardly stomach that…
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A light inside the darkness: The Great Passage (Fune wo Amu)
Read More →: A light inside the darkness: The Great Passage (Fune wo Amu)The Great Passage (Fune wo Amu) is about creating a dictionary. The people involved invest decades of their lives into its singular craft, which is no small feat. The series begins as Mitsuya Majime joins the dictionary’s editorial team. He’s a weird guy, introverted, but fascinated by words. Switched from a different job that he…
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The swirling nothingness: Shuzo Oshimi’s vampire manga Happiness
Read More →: The swirling nothingness: Shuzo Oshimi’s vampire manga HappinessShuzo Oshimi’s Happiness is a beautiful clusterfuck that I can’t get enough of, but let’s get one thing clear: there’s absolutely nothing happy about Happiness. It all begins when high-schooler Okazaki is bitten by the vampire Nora. She grants him two choices: either live like her, or die. Really, he has no choice.
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The (Anti) Shonen Hero
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Read More →: The (Anti) Shonen HeroWhen Dororo begins, Hyakkimaru’s at his strongest. Without nerves, he cannot feel pain, and without pain, what is there for him to fear? He can jump higher and fall harder than any man because there are no bones in his legs to break. In many shonen anime, characters like Naruto and Izuku begin at the…
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Manga, sweat and tears: Run with the Wind
Read More →: Manga, sweat and tears: Run with the WindRun with the Wind is at a point now where every episode explodes with such a cathartic resonance. The boys are a mere qualifier away from the Hakone Ekiden and to get even this far, they’ve all had to work so hard: some more than others.
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Changing your destiny: Dororo
Read More →: Changing your destiny: DororoBefore he was born, Hyakkimaru was sold to demons.
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Winter 2019 impressions
Read More →: Winter 2019 impressionsWhen it came to writing up my top anime of 2018 list, I realised that there wasn’t much from 2018 that I could really recommend. I would even go so far as to say that 2018 was a poor year for anime. However, in comparison, 2019 is already looking good.
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A game of faces: The Promised Neverland episode 1
Read More →: A game of faces: The Promised Neverland episode 1There are some early visual cues that all is not right for the orphans in The Promised Neverland.
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Dororo episode 1 is superb
Read More →: Dororo episode 1 is superbThis is what I needed. Dororo episode 1 is a visual treat, with its Mushishi esque painterly backgrounds and moody period setting.
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Anxious and otherworldly: Boogiepop and Others first impressions
Read More →: Anxious and otherworldly: Boogiepop and Others first impressionsMy gut feeling is that Boogiepop and Others won’t be a crowd-pleaser.
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Existential sci-fi manga! Identity & control in Toward the Terra
Read More →: Existential sci-fi manga! Identity & control in Toward the TerraSet in the infinite blackness of space, where single lives are like grains of sand thrown to the wind, Keiko Takemiya’s Toward the Terra unfolds.
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There’s just no escaping anime, is there? (Autumn 2018 impressions)
Read More →: There’s just no escaping anime, is there? (Autumn 2018 impressions)It’s Autumn in the UK now. It’s cold and wet outside, the nights are drawing in and there’s the first inkling of frost in the mornings. Don’t fret though, a new anime season is here to keep us alive, so pour yourself a hot drink (unless you’re one of those weird people that doesn’t like…
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Great romantic fools: The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl
Read More →: Great romantic fools: The Night Is Short, Walk on GirlIn 2017, Masaaki Yuasa directed The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl, which is a film set in the same fictional universe as his 2010 series The Tatami Galaxy. I really liked The Tatami Galaxy. I remember thinking that it was a more conventional (and therefore more accessible) anime than his other works at the…
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The unbearable lightness of Tamako Love Story
Read More →: The unbearable lightness of Tamako Love StoryI had a little crush, recently. He was handsome and urbane, tall and well dressed. We talked late at night over a bottle of whisky. It felt out of control. It felt silly. I let myself be swept away by daydreams. And why not? Is there anything more uncomfortable and enlivening than the feeling of a new love?
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The first rule of Bento Fight Club is: You do not talk about Bento Fight Club
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Read More →: The first rule of Bento Fight Club is: You do not talk about Bento Fight Club(Bateszi reviewed this back in November of 2011, I’m revisiting it in light of Funimation’s upcoming February release of the show) A strong signal that a series is great is that you can easily summarize the concept and get someone to watch it based on that short description. Ben-To is just that kind of show.…
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As long as we stay here in this world all that's awaiting us is death
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Read More →: As long as we stay here in this world all that's awaiting us is deathOn the blu-ray packaging, Funimation trumpets the Eureka Seven television series as “The Greatest Love Story Ever Animated.” Where that series is centered around love, the movie re-imagination, Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers, is all about death. In particular, it is about the fear of death. Even the crew of the Gekko,…