Yes, this is a brand of magical girl show, done a lot better than the ‘mow-‘em-all-down’ approach we currently have, but not as mindlessly frothy as previous versions. For this go-around, we have “Urara Meirocho” (“Urara Labyrinth City”). You see, Meirocho is a town filled with fortune tellers known as Uraras, who each specialize in different forms of fortune telling (Ooh! Ooh! Can I do tyromancy?) (more…)

Wow, I’ll be honest, I did not think I was going to like and/or enjoy this series, and there were some fits and starts to it, but once it got on track, it became rather compelling. We are talking about “Saga of Tanya the Evil”, (known in Japan as “Yōujo Senki”, “The Military Chronicles of a Little Girl”) and it is not as straight-forward as you might think. (more…)

Second seasons of any show are scary. They are scary as you are not certain if whatever you saw in the first season can be maintained in the second. True, a lot of this is based on however the original manga unfolded itself, but you can take liberties with things. The problem for me with “The Numbers 2” (“Nanbaka 2”) is that it became the Dragonball Z Syndrome: endless fighting amid endless fighting, when we are not endlessly fighting. This is what you get in the second go-around. (more…)

I always have a concern when you see a good anime and then someone at Corporate decides that they need to make the most of things, you know, strike while the iron is hot, and so start cranking out questionable product. “Attack on Titan” did it twice. First, for “Monster Theater”, which worked, as it was a bit of comic relief from a show that offered none and with “Attack on Titan: Junior High” which didn’t work, as it seriously undermined all of their efforts. (more…)

I knew that there was going to be a second season of this series. We had accomplished NOTHING in the main goals that we had set out for the first run, and so we have to continue the fight….as it were. So, the second season of “KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World!” (“Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku o! ) picks up where it left off, but with a caliber of false crisis. (more…)

It’s the future! I’m glad you made it to Osaka in the year AD20XX. Huh? What the hell year is it? OK, it’s the future; I guess numbers don’t matter in the world of “Hand Shakers”. Let us meet Tazuna Takatsuki (him of the clockwork sword on the right). He is very adept at mechanics and helps out a ton of people with his abilities. However, he gets so mono-minded on the task at hand, he is oblivious to his surroundings and could easily get clobbered by nefarious types or locked behind in the room when the rest of the staff has gone home for the day. (more…)

There is something wrong with the artwork, both in character design and actual results, for this show. It feels off, even for anime. It’s as if they wanted to be both cute and serious at the same time, but it didn’t work in either direction, thus a rather conspicuous failure for me. Do the eyes have to be that shiny? Do the skirts have to be that shorts? Must everyone be a tad on the thick side? Greetings, strangers, and welcome to the galaxy of “ēlDLIVE” (“Erudoraibu”). (more…)

Yeah, the ending of the first season guaranteed a second season, but it fell into the Sophomore Slump and we ended up being dragged along in an exercise more in what not to do for a second season. We are back to “BBK/BRNK” (or “Bubuki/Buranki: The Gentle Giants of the Galaxy”).
 
So, after the crew of the Oubu learn the ins and outs of their Buranki, they discover that there are more users out there. Oh, the crew of the Oubu (left to right) Shizuru Taneomi, Kogane Asabuki, Azuma Kazuki, Kinoa Ogi and Hiiragi Nono. (more…)

In a show like this, it is eventually going to be compared to “Monster Girls”, since you are dealing with similar creatures, but in a different manner, and it is those differences that make “Interviews with Monster Girls” (“Demi-chan wa Kataritai”, “Demi Wants to Talk”) potentially less effective than the former. (more…)

This is one seriously weird show, right from the title. Because the apostrophe is hidden, you think this is called “Akiba Strip”, but you wouldn’t be too far off the mark with it. No, the actually title is “Akiba’s Trip” (“Akibazu Torippu”) and the layout up top is every indication as to how unhinged it is. (more…)