I have remarked that when you see an uptick in OVAs or short runs of a series that completed its first season, it is a prelude to the release of the next season, but they want to let you know it’s coming with more than a notice on the internet going “The second season is coming!” It’s just there was a two-run OVA about a year or so ago and now “Nanatsu no Taizai: Seisen no Shirushi” (“The Seven Deadly Sins: Signs of the Holy War”) came out with what they refer to as a TV Special that acts as a prelude to the new season. (more…)

It’s a drinking show. There is nothing more cuter than seeing a lady drink…..unless it’s a bunch of ladies drink! This one isn’t much different than “Osake wa Fūfu ni Natte kara”, except it’s times four. “Takunomi” (“Drinking at Home”) tells the story of 20-year-old Michiru Amatsuki (lower right). She arrives in Tokyo, where she will start a new job and enjoy a big-city lifestyle. (more…)

It’s a drinking show. There is nothing more cuter than seeing a cute lady drink. “Osake wa Fūfu ni Natte kara” (“Love is Like a Cocktail”) tells the tales of the married Mizusawas: Sora (him) and Chisato (her). (more…)

Well, it came around faster than I imagined, but I realized why. So, we have had the second season of “Gin no Guardian” (or “The Silver Guardian”), which really upped the stakes, but also really left you hanging in the balance. (more…)

It has sadly gotten to the point where I am tired of NEETs or hihikimoris or shut-ins or whatever you want to call those people who willingly shut themselves off from the real world to pursue a virtual one. However, this offering, “Netojū no Susume”, (subtitled “Recommendation of the Wonderful Virtual Life” or “Recovery of an MMO Junkie”) does something a bit different than just locking us inside a darkened room, the glow of the monitor giving us companionship. (more…)

Slapstick is a harder genre to master than one thinks, as you have to balance the mayhem with the results. It doesn’t succeed as well as it should, and so “Aho-Girl “(“Aho gāru”, or “Stupid-girl”) kind of dissolves into sit-com madness. I say ‘kind of’, as it doesn’t grasp the elements correctly and comes off as more vicious than it needs to be. Let me explain….. (more…)

Untethered OVAs, for me, are a bother, in that I end up getting plunked into the middle of something and since there is not going to be anything to come home to or go on from, it is merely a way to spend a half-hour, looking at the problems of others. Such is the case with “Rescue Me”. (more…)

In one sense, this reminded me of “Daily Lives of High School Boys”, in that it is a series of events and actions where, at the end of the day, nothing really happens. That is not a bad thing, as we see the blush of youth, trying to understand love and getting it all bass-ackwards. Welcome to “Tsurezure Children” (“Tsurezure Chirudoren”). (more…)

One of the problems with these short-pull series is that they seldom get aired through the normal channels. You then have to hunt them down and that can sometimes be a workout. I can’t comments as to why they exist in the first place, as I don’t know the artistic reasons to bring forth a show that only has 10-minutes segments for its run of twelve episodes. I also don’t know why Adam Sandler is still making films, but there you go. In any case, “Kenka Bancho Otome: Girl Beats Boys” takes a seriously weird look at juvenile delinquents and cross-dressing. (more…)

There are a lot of shows about video games in anime. It certainly seems to be a strong genre, although it’s more action/adventure oriented than merely watching some otaku NEET trying to beat the Final Boss on the 99^th Level of “The Tower of the Abyss” or whatever you wish to call it. But this show, “The Silver Guardian” (“Gin no Guardian”) puts an interesting twist on things. (more…)