There is certainly something appealing about airplanes, especially those that came just before and during World War II. There is a grace in their design, a sharpness in their form, a kind of satisfaction as they soar through the skies. However, there is something about 3D animation that doesn’t always work and it always feels like it is boxy and clunky and inelegant. Thus, we have this confluence of approach with “The Magnificent Kotobuki” (“Kōya no Kotobuki Hikōtai,” or “Kotobuki Squadron in the Wilderness”) all the way around. (more…)

This is a ‘nothing’ series; a show where we just see the day-to-day life of rather plain and ordinary girls, doing plain and ordinary things in their plain and ordinary life. Except it is anything but plain and ordinary. In fact, it is within the confines of these plain and ordinary things that we see marvelous and extraordinary things. And what makes “Joshi Kausei” (“High School Girls”) more than plain and ordinary is that no one ever speaks a single word! (more…)

In all the time I have watched anime, I have never encountered what I call a fetish show. I mean, there are shows that have strong ecchi factors in them and we are given some pretty strong examples of the weaponry that some of the women pack, but I haven’t seen a show that really hyper-focuses on one aspect of women and their clothing…until I ran into “Miru Tights” (“Miru Taitsu”, “Watch Tights”). (more…)

I have to assume that the reason everyone likes the chibi style is that all the characters are just so darn cute. I mean, the proportions are closer to a baby than an adult, so there may be a natural affinity towards it. I have also noticed that a lot of shows do a type of chibi adjunct, whether it was “Black Clover” and their ‘Petit Clover’ segment, or ‘Girls’ Last Class’, a short run series from “Girls’ Last Tour” or “Strike Witches” who did a short pull series in a pseudo-chibi style. Not wanting to be left in the dust, RWBY has thrown their hat into the ring (or gauntlet or maybe a vial of dust) and have come up with “RWBY Chibi”. (more…)

Oh, look, it’s another chibized series. What are the odds? (Well, since the House sets the odds, they were always in my favor.) (more…)

Are dragons back in vogue again? Were they ever out of vogue? Or even in “Vogue”? It’s just that I am seeing an uptick in dragon shows, or perhaps I am catching the end results of the wave. This was a show I caught on Netflix (I was able to upgrade my cable service; still no Anime Network, though. Nor hover boards) and I had a gap in the schedule, so there you go, and that is how I ended up watching “Dragon Pilot: Hisone and Masotan” (“Hisone to Masotan”). (more…)

Ever been cornered or trapped or treed, the hounds baying at your feet and you were compelled to do something you normally wouldn’t? Yeah, as of late, owing to real problems I have in trying to watch my anime, I have been seeing shows that I would have walked away from, but since I can’t get my hands on anything, well, as W. C. Fields once said “It is time to grab the bull by the tail and face the situation.” Thus brings me, and you, and the rest of us out there, to this, “Domestic Girlfriend” (“Domesutikku na Kanojo”). (more…)

It was interesting to find a report or a postmortem or one person’s view about AX 2022 and what they thought of it. They laid out a laundry list of issues that needed to be addressed before the next one, but it seemed to acknowledge that a lot of the problems appeared to be endemic to the nature of expos and may not be solvable, like the long lines. (more…)

Why do I keep doing this to myself? I keep going “That’s the last time I will EVER see a ‘Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure’ anime!” and the next time it comes around, I’m there. I know that it makes less sense than a presidential executive order, but I can’t help myself, and for this latest turn “Golden Wind” (“JoJo no Kimyō na Bōken Ōgon no Kaze”), it makes even less sense as it goes along. (more…)

Can you run out of ideas for adventure shows? I mean, we can go to the depths of the oceans, the outer reaches of space, the darkest cave, the highest mountain, the hottest desert, even what lies underneath your very feet in the big city. What else can you do? Well, what happens when a continent appears out of nowhere in the Pacific Ocean? Adventure calls, which is what happens in “Magmell of the Sea Blue” (“Gunjō no Magumeru, or “Ultramarine Magmell”). (more…)