I was initially concerned about this show, as it looked like another version of the “Ouran High School Host Club”. It took a couple of episodes to warm up, but “The Royal Tutor” (“Ōshitsu Kyōshi Haine”) was a real eye opener. (more…)

It is often said that Edgar Allan Poe brought us the detective fiction novel, although there had to have been some kind of investigation and detection into crimes long ago and far away. It gets tough to put together these tales about the past, as we here in the modern era do not know how they might have done things in those days and for our tales, it was when Tokyo was Edo (sadly, that era spans 1603 to 1868, so it is hard to give a specific date). However, what we see in “Onihei” is a marvelous crime story, set off with beautiful imagery, smart story-telling and one sharp fortune cookie. (Yes, yes, I know that the fortune cookie is an American invention.) (more…)

This is another iteration series, although rather than putting a date on it, they dub it as ‘new’, but this is a reboot of a series that came out over 25 years ago. Some might call this a black comedy, but I feel it is in the horror genre, akin to the old “Night Gallery” shows, where people get what they deserve. But let us look deeper into “The Laughing Salesman” (“Warau seerusuman” or “Warau Salesman”). (more…)

Another ‘new’ trend in animes: the outsider, coming to a school that is fitted with rigid regulations and equally rigid people to enforce things. Easily seen in the bizarre “Prison School”, our latest show under the microscope takes it to a different level. This is the world of “Armed Girl’s Machiavellism” (“Busōu Shōujo Makyaverizumu”), where power is knowledge. (more…)

There is a problem when you try and convert a video game into an anime or a manga, in that the adaptations don’t always work. Yes, in a sense you have the best story board around, but you are spending a lot of your time fighting in the game and that the plotting may come off as a bit thin. Such are my concerns with “Granblue Fantasy: The Animation” in that it feels like a video game…and I wonder why. (more…)