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…)

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…)

Every year, an anime comes out that towers over the competition and leaves even strong competitors in the dust. Some previous entries include “Attack on Titan”, “Erased” and “One-Punch Man”. For this season, it falls to “The Promised Neverland” (“Yakusoku no Nebārando”), a series that initially sucks you in with sunshine and light. (more…)

There is a special name for this kind of show: isekai. This is where the main character finds themselves transported to another land, whether it is a real land or some kind of video game land. For the most part, they are treated as comedic. Some are a bit rough (like “The Rising of the Shield Hero”), but this one, “How Not to Summon a Demon Lord” (“Isekai Maō to Shōkan Shōjo no Dorei Majutsu”, or “The Other World Demon Lord and the Summoning Girl’s Slave Magic.”) is deliciously stupid. (more…)