It’s time to notice new trends! What is the new trend that I am seeing? “Episode #0”!

You may call them ‘one-shot’ or ‘test balloons’ or ‘toss-offs’. They are NOT OVAs, as there has to be a series tied to it before it can be an OVA. Yeah, yeah, sure, sure. We can argue that an OVA has honestly nothing to do with any given series, so, in an open sense, it is an OVA. But I have seen them tied to a series, so I consider them part and parcel of the whole series effort and not just some one or two episode escapade to see what can be done with a story. (more…)

One thing about a majority of the short-pull series that I see is that many of them are based from 4-koma strips and, boy howdy, does it show! It’s not much more than set-up, joke, punch line, we all have a good laugh and that’s the end of the episode. Next! It almost seems more trouble than it is worth, but these shows can also be quite enjoyable. I tend to think of them as a proving ground for future writers and directors to test the waters without investing a whole lot into it, especially if it tanks. (more…)

OK, lest I sound like a sour old man (“Hey, you kids, get off of my lawn!”), there is nothing wrong with all-girl animes…..to a point. It’s just that you need to have something more than moe girls or full-figured femmes or luscious ladies cluttering up the screen. I do like (wait for it)…plot. Wait a tick…..why does this opening sound so familiar? Because this show, “Pan de Peace” (“Pan de Pīsu”, “Peace through Bread!”), is honestly no different than “Usakame”, save that instead of tennis, it’s bread. (more…)

OK, lest I sound like a sour old man (“Hey, you kids, get off of my lawn!”), there is nothing wrong with all-girl animes…..to a point. It’s just that you need to have something more than moe girls or full-figured femmes or luscious ladies cluttering up the screen. I do like (wait for it)…plot. We actually started off with “Teekyu”, which began as a sports comedy manga (and the title is a pun on the Japanese word for ‘tennis’. Things like that are lost on me). They then had a spinoff, “Usakame”, which is named for the high school these four ladies attend and they belong to the tennis club. (more…)

A fetish is an unnatural desire towards a want or need, whether it be black underwear or leather straps or Hello Kitty. I bring this up, as “Ojisan to Marshmallow” (“Ojisan to Mashumaro”) is a caliber of fetish show, except our hero, Habahiro Hige, is drawn to marshmallows, and it is more than drawn, it is a compulsion. (more…)

Well, we all knew far too well that there was going to be a second season of “”, (“Shinmai Maō no Tesutamento”) as so much was left unsettled at the end of the first season. This one is called “BURST”, which I assume relates to Mio’s blouse. I mean, even from what you can see here, she is on the verge of having her breasts explode out of it. This is still a very ecchi, very perverted show, despite all the battles and violence that ensues.

The main idea is that Mio (redhead, center) is still the Demon Lord’s daughter and if we can either co-opt her or absorb her power, we can control both the Demon Realm and the Real World. Our little clan must do what they can to stem the rising tide of combativeness and keep the delicate balance between both factions on an even keel. (more…)

This is a show that got me major league ticked off as well. Looks, it’s barely the start of the new year and I don’t think anything is going to match the lever of outrage I feel about this series “Alice in Borderland”, because I feel cheated, cheated, cheated!

I mean, I had not seen a show with such an interesting plot and development since “Btooom!”, as it has the same caliber of idea, but since the dang thing only goes three episodes, what a total rip! I wanted a whole run, not a mere glancing at the menu and then asked to leave.

OK, the story, as it is, begins with these three slacker friends (left to right):

Daikichi Karube
Chōuta Segawa
Ryōhei Arisu

For some odd reason, they appear to be hanging around a deserted subway stop about 2 am. They have no place to go and all day to get there, so they are just chewing the fat. Arisu makes the comment that he’d like to go somewhere far away and not have to do anything and his pals agree. He has problems with his intolerable everyday life and yearns for something more, potentially something more interesting and daring. Suddenly, there is a fireworks show, which is quite strange. The explosions appear to be coming closer and closer and then……. (more…)

When I started doing these Short Run reviews, I asked myself “When is an OVA not an OVA?” After a couple of years, I came up with an answer that I can work with. It is an OVA if there is a full show that it can be tethered to. So, when “Attack on Titan” or “Sword Art Online” have their little things, those are OVAs, as there is a show that it can be tied to. If it is something like “Eiken” or “Jungre de Ikou”, it is a short run series, as there was no show for it to be based from and is a stand-alone short run.

Now, with all that being said, I comment about this short-run item, “Holy Knight”. It comes in at a mere two episodes but leaves a lot on the table, kind of like going to an All-you-can-eat smorgasbord and then, after getting all of it to your table, you get up and get out after one bite. What? You’re leaving that all behind? What gives? What gives, indeed.

The tale starts out simple enough. An entire village is killed off, save for the child, Lilith Kishimoto. There is something odd or special about these farm folk, thus triggering their massacre. Here’s where the first problem occurs. The raid appears to have taken place during mediaeval times, as we are wielding swords and wearing armor. When Lilith grows up, in what appears to be a span of 10 years, it is certainly the modern times, with cell phones and airplanes and Justin Bieber posters. Lilith has grown into the fine woman you see before you, but she has a task. This is a three part task. I can only tell you the first part, as the other parts are major plot points. (more…)

When the first season of “Psycho-Pass” came out, I enjoyed it, as it was a crime drama with a hinting of horror. When the second season came out, it was now a horror show, with a hinting of a crime drama. That changed the pitch of the show…..and badly.

I think it’s been about two years since the incidents of the last season (can’t tell for certain) and the cast has changed and been added to. The new line up, from left to right, consists of:
Nobuchika Ginoza (was an Inspector, now an Enforcer), Sho Hinakawa (new this year, Enforcer), Joji Saiga (seen last year, now being ‘rehabilitated’), Akane Tsunemori (now head of Division One), Shion Karanomori (another holdover, she is Data Analysis), Mika Shimotsuki (was a student last season, now an Inspector), Yayoi Kunizuka (another Enforcer holdover from last season) and Sakuya Togane (new Enforcer and very cloistered).

The show came in with a great premise: What if you could keep you hue clear? You see, the Sibyl System rates a person by the color of their hue (or stress level). If it goes over 100, you are to be taken in to custody for ‘rehabilitation’. If it goes over 200, the only cure for that is death, as you are a real latent criminal. The Dominator, that gun they possess, can rate a person’s hue and will allow you to shoot it. If the hue is below 100, it will not let you fire it. But you, as an Inspector, can override the gun’s setting and allow you to stun the person, not kill them. For some odd reason, that aspect is absent, so we are treated to a lot of people being killed. (more…)

Being a demon is tough and when you are a territory boss in the East Demon World, it’s even tougher. In “Blood Lad”, Staz Charlie Blood is the descendant of a noble vampire, and his father would go to the human world to suck blood. Not Staz. If he went to the human world, it’s off to Akihabara for the latest in video games, animes and figures. However, one day, he meets Fuyumi Yanagi, a regular old-fashioned girl who wandered into Demon World through a portal that opened in her bedroom.

His staff wants to suck her blood; he wants to impress her with his ‘knowledge’ of human things (thus the bizarre get-up he has on). Sadly, this little tryst is broken up when a neighboring demon boss is set on taking Staz’ territory and unleashes some hideous beasts. Staz manages to defeat all of them….but one, who manages to get to his apartment and devour Yanagi, turning her into a ghost. Since this is the first girl Staz has ever met and seen really close up, he vows to do whatever it takes to make her human once again. (more…)