This is half of what could be best called a brother-and-sister series. They are related in the fact they occur in the same town (Academy City) at about the same time and the characters do cross over and slightly interact, but that’s about it. They are independent of each other in what they wish to accomplish.

This one is “A Certain Magical Index”. Now, Academy City, a technologically advanced academic city located towards western Tokyo, which studies scientifically advanced superhuman students with powers, is also set in a world where magic is real. Our hero up there is Tōma Kamijō, a fairly average student but a flop when it comes to esper talents and abilities. In this town, your esper abilities determine much in your life and he is at the bottom, possessed with the worst luck ever.

The only thing he has going for him is his right hand, which he calls the Imagine Breaker, which has the amazing ability to negate magical and psychic powers. But since it is only considered an ability, he gets a Psychic Level of…..zero. He might as well be selling hot dogs from a street vendor wagon. (more…)

This is more along the lines of an advisory, but if you haven’t seen “Attack on Titan” yet, there is something you should be aware of.

Now, the show has not really reached a conclusion of sorts. Sure, we’ve passed the 13-episode mark, but it is far from even a coupler point, so a full review will be done at a later point (and don’t worry, there will be a review for this show).

I have been catching this on Anime Season, a pretty decent website, but they have a couple of ‘specials’ that I want to warn you about, and the bottom line is: don’t watch them yet. I will explain.

Specials differ, in my opinion, from OVAs, as they have a real bearing on the show, whereas OVAs are either tales that were too hot to put in (like for “Ikki Tousen” and “Ladies vs. Butlers”) or a tale told long after the series closed out (like Mahoromatic’s “I’m Back”). “Girls Und Panzer” has both of them and they use the specials as recap shows or a meet-and-greet for those just coming to the show and want to know if they should watch.

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I usually do not do reviews of shows that have been out there for a while. I am either going to merely join the praising chorus and agree with reviews that have gone before me of how fabulous of a show it is, or I will be a maverick and strike out into territory where I decry the wretched nature of this show and condemn anyone who has the temerity to like it.

Now, this is the kind of show I detest, as it has….wait for it….giant fighting robots! And the first two season of “Full Metal Panic” presents itself as hard, harsh drama as our combat hero, Sousake, has to struggle with balky machinery and his mental limitations to be able to remain in his mercenary force.

I am here to discuss the third season, “FUMOFFU”. Now, this violates every law of anime, in that you have completely changed the pitch and tone of the show, until the only thing it has in common with the previous seasons are the characters. Yet, this works and is the most consistently hilarious, off-center romantic comedy out there. Well, maybe not a real romance.

OK, let’s bring the rest of the people up to speed. (more…)

It is hard to believe that this show is already at the two-year mark with little sign of slowing down. Nor has it encountered the malaise that sometimes beset long-format shows.

Now, we have the Main Story. This is Toriko’s special training, as he is eventually going to search for GOD (no, not the guy with the beard, but the ne plus ultra ingredient that is the cat’s meow). So, he does all this strenuous training that exercises both body and mind and promotes teamwork. And Torkio’s boss, Ichiryū (who looks like a reject from the Village People) has also managed to coerce the other Heavenly Kings (you see two others up there) to also do this specialized training. There is something more going on here than just being able to go into the Lost Forest, so one had best be prepared for it.

Then, there is a sub story that all the great chefs in the world are being kidnapped. For some odd reason, Komatsu (the REALLY wimpy one up there) has not yet cracked the Chef World Top 100 list. Odd; you would think the chef who brought back Century Soup would merit something, as EVERYONE comments about it, but it’s just not good enough and since he also works for a mere Six-Star restaurant, I might as well eat something at Barney’s Beanery. (more…)

Crime has never been so odd and criminals never so odder. “Cuticle Detective Inaba” initially follows the standard crime drama trope. Our hero, Hiroshi Inaba (dead center), used to work for the police department, but got tired of being bossed around and thwarted in what he could accomplish, so he struck out on his own, as he feels he can do more without the restraints of police protocols and his annoying partner. And that’s where the standardness ends.

You have noticed the ears, right? Well, that isn’t some rockin’ hair style, our detective is a genetically-engineered werewolf and he can determine EVERYTHING about a person by tasting their hair. OK, it’s not as bad as licking drool, but still….

He will need all of his skills as a new villain has come to Tokyo, Don Valentino, a Mafia crime boss who is going to bring Japan to her knees with a daring series of bank robberies. He will amass all the money in the land…..so he can eat it. Yes, that guy IS a goat. Aiding Don is his fight is Fernando, that burlap-bagged guy who looks like a refugee from “Resident Evil”, Dr. Noah (the purple-pigtails. Yes, Woody Allen did that joke in 1967 with “Casino Royale”) and Gabriella, that scowling maiden at the far left, who is simultaneously the best and worst assassin ever. Oh, she can hit her mark….but it’s usually Don. Right between the eyes. (more…)

OK, Season Two is upon us for “The Neighbor’s Club” (or, the new title “Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT), where we build on the good will and storytelling of the first season to expand up our little entourage and see them grow and mature into the adults of the future. Sorta.

Part of the problem with a second season is if you do not have a clear picture of what you want to accomplish, you are just retreading, or following the same path or sticking with that which worked, rather than expanding outwards. And this is exactly what happens. It is as if they got to a point they feel good with and left it at that. The only one who is trying to move forward (of sorts), is Rika, the mad scientist, who goes through a transformation to be something else, so she looks really different.

We still have the verbal fisticuffs between Yozora and Sena, as well as the battles between Kobato and Maria, but Kodaka is still just as clueless on things, even when aspects of his past are brought forth. The injection of conflict into this show seems kind of artificial. I am also amazed as to what people remember from their youth. I have foggy notions and nothing truly concrete, but these folks recall it like it was earlier in the day. (more…)

I just am not certain what gives with all the ‘nothing’ shows. Sometimes it works, as with “Joshiraku”, but a lot of the time for a lot of the shows, it is a head-scratcher. You are not even certain if you like or dislike the show, as there really is nothing there to grab ahold of to determine whether you like it or dislike it. It reminds me of going to Denny’s: I can get something to eat, but it has no lasting impact on me. Did I even really have food? “Minami-ke Tadaima” is that kind of show, as we watch these three sisters who live on their own and the problems they face in everyday life, with their friends at school and at home.

The three sisters are, left to right, Kana the headstrong, Chiaki the youngest and Haruka, who is the eldest. There is no explanation as to why they are on their own, but Japan seems to have more absent and/or dead parents than even in the Disney Universe. They are getting along and trying to understand what life is about and what growing up entails. At least, that is what you are hoping for. (more…)

A kind of sister show to “AKB0048” (although more like a distant cousin) is “Love Live! School Idol Project”. This tells the story of nine girls who are trying to save their school from shuttering its doors. Otonokizaka Academy has had declining enrollment for years and will not accept new students after this year, allowing those who remain behind to complete their education there, then turning into a Senior Center or a giant fighting robot assembly plant or a Pokemon hospital. Honoka Kōsaka (far left) will do whatever it takes to save the school. But what? What can be done to increase enrollment enough?

She notices that other schools have Idol Clubs and they are both very popular and very successful, the biggest being UTX Academy with A-Rise. WE could do this! She petitions the Student Council to start this club. Alas, the president of the Council, Eri Ayase (the person next to Honoka) is dead set against such a debasement of the school and its standards and will not allow it, even if it could save everything. However, there is a tiny, tiny loophole: Niko Yazawa (number three position; red ribbons in her hair) has an Idol Fan Club on campus and that one is established. It is decided to join her club and slightly change the charter for it, thus allowing them to rehearse. The initial members of the group are Honoka, Umi Sonoda (dead center) and Kotori Minami (gray hair, white ribbon) and they call themselves “μ’s” (pronounced ‘muse’, so you can see why it has to be a nontet), but initially it is a trio. They give a great performance in front of practically no one, but the word gets out and others want to join the group and help the cause. (more…)

OK, anyone who didn’t know there was going to be a second season of “AKB0048”, you have to watch “Tokyo Mew Mew”. A lot. There were so many loose ends, it was like the first time someone tried to sew, so we HAD to have “AKB0048: Next Stage” to bring everything to a conclusion…..of sorts.

So, we pick up right where we left off, trying to get the 77th generation of AKB0048 ready. We still have the same problems: artistic rivalry, the evil forces of the anti-entertainment army in hot pursuit, self-doubt and uncertainty if any one of them can really make it. However, they do throw in new problems that complicate things even further, in that the Anti-Entertainment Forces are now becoming more aggressive and Chieri’s father (that girl is the blue-haired attraction in the front row), is bound and determined to get the Center Nova Phenomenon to take effect, so he can take advantage of everything for some galaxy-consuming power grab the likes of which no one has ever seen.

It’s just, for me, the cast was/is getting almost too large to handle properly. We have broken them down into factions or groups to tell the story better, and each of the groups (The Trainees, the Old Guard, the Support Staff) get their time in the sun, but I would have preferred more interaction between the overall groups, and not just merely within. Another aspect of this show, which is crucial, are the songs and I care so little about them. Maybe I’m not into J-Pop or the songs just do not have enough driving hooks for me, but it is all so very, very bland to listen to. You would think a series about music would have better songs to go along with things. (more…)

I was at Anime Expo 2013 and you get marvelous opportunities to see films…provided you could get in. This one presented itself and the line for it was short, so I grabbed it.

Now, the official title of this is “Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below” (although in some places, it is also known as “Journey to Agartha”. The ORIGINAL title is “Children Who Chase Stars”. For me, this is a sign of trouble. Can you pick a title?) This is brought to you by the same folks who did “5 Centimeters per Second”. This has been out for a while, but is just getting to us here.

Asuna Watase is a girl who is mostly by herself. Dad is dead and mom works long hours as a nurse, so she is left to her own devices. This includes spending a lot of time at her secret cave, listening to whatever radio signals she can get on her cat’s-whisker radio and hears a song she has never encountered before. At school, she hears tales of a bear being seen in the hills where her cave is. Defying the people, as she knows the mountains well, she goes up the hill and sees the ‘bear’, but it is some kind of horrible monster, bent on killing her. (more…)