We use the term ‘Frankenstein’ to indicate a soulless monster, cobbled together from the parts of other corpses. It’s even used in reality TV, to indicate that things have been cut and pasted together to give a different impression than what happened originally. But for this show, “Frankenstein Family”, (also known as “Creatures Family Days”, “Shiyan Pin Jiating, Jikken-hin Kazoku”), it’s more to indicate they are a caliber of monster or mutant, but I guess “Mutant Family” might have a bigger connotation problem than merely being called ‘Frankenstein’. (more…)

So, it is common knowledge that the Japanese will make an anime series on practically ANYTHING. I mean, there’s one that delves into the fascinating world of….being a public servant! And I saw another one about the struggles to create….a new dictionary!!!! (Be still my beating heart. It is hot in here or what?) So when I ran into this one, “Chio’s School Road” (“Chio-chan no Tsūgakuro”, or “Chio’s Commute to School”), I was ready for the caliber of boredom usually reserved for things like being trapped at the Cleveland Airport for a week. Boy, was I wrong. I mean, about the show, not the Cleveland Airport. (more…)

This is a real mixed-bag of a show for me. I like the general concept of it but detest the animation decisions, as it serves no purpose to make it 3D-ish, unless they were trying to tie things in with the video games they were playing. Anyway, this is the world of “Hi-Score Girl” , (‘Hai Sukoa Gāru’). (more…)

I guess if you are going to be a demon, it really helps to be a cute one. Or have big boobs. I guess that’s nice as well. At least that is one of the theories on display in this rather charming and obscenely violent series “Dropkick on My Devil!” (, “Jashin-chan Doroppukikku”). (more…)

OK, so we are genuinely building to a series of climaxes, as each season is upping the stakes in “My Hero Academia”, to the point that it is a genuine wonder that none of them have dropped out. I mean, I suppose it’s nice to have a quirk, but some people have a quirk that’s not much better than being able to raise or lower the temperature of a room by 17 degrees. Still, it appears the villains are ‘shoving all the chips in’ to see what goes down. (more…)

I am worried about this series. I mean, initially, “Black Butler” was one of the meanest and cruelest series I had ever seen, where harsh justice is dispensed right and left and anyone who dares to entrammel the relationship between Sebastian and Ciel had best bring their A++ game; otherwise, they will crash and burn and experience 99 degrees of unpleasantness. And get stuck with the bill! But for this movie go-around, we get “Book of the Atlantic”. (more…)

This is another show that had a bad capsule description and that description made it a bit of a coin flip to want to watch. And since it was ANOTHER isekai, that made it doubly undesirable to want to catch. But it was a show that I could catch (I am having serious problems trying to track down my anime without getting the Red Box of Death), so, I did so. And we get to watch ”Ascendance of a Bookworm” (“Honzuki no Gekokujō: Shisho ni Naru Tame niwa Shudan o Erandeiraremasen” or “ Lover of Books: I Can’t Choose the Means to Become a Librarian”). (more…)

Part of the problem with the spy genre is that everything gets tethered to James Bond, so you end up missing some really good spy work (think more of George Smiley). So we have a spy drama before us that not only plays the cat-and-mouse game, but does it with more going on at the same time and with this many chainsaws being juggled, catastrophe is a mere distracted moment away. Welcome to “Spy X Family.” (more…)

There are a lot of animes out there about making animes and all the trials and tribulations that are required to pull it off. It also acts as a primer as to what is needed to make all this stuff work, but I have rarely encountered one that really looks at the entirety of the process, not just the artistic aspect of it, but the financial considerations as well. This project is pulled off quite well with the marquee-busting title “Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!” (“Eizōken ni wa Te o Dasu na!”). (more…)

This has got to be the funniest series I have encountered, owing to a ton of decisions that were made that merely add to the insufferable inanity that is the world of retail. We are at a bookstore, but we are hovering around the manga/light novel/comic books portion of it. Welcome to the world of “Skull-Faced Bookseller Honda-san” (Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-san, “Skeleton Bookstore Employee Honda”). And you are welcome to it! (more…)