So, the third season of this show is out, but it poses more questions than it answers and whatever charm was in the first two season has gotten washed away, as the show moves in a different direction for “Ascendance of a Bookworm” (“Honzuki no Gekokujō: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan o Erandeiraremasen”, or “Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Stop at Nothing to Become a Librarian”). So, onto the story. (more…)

How many does it make for this year? How many for this month ALONE? Every time you turn around, there is another isekai, staring at you from the shadows or behind a tree or underneath the floorboards. Much like the cooking shows craze of a couple of years ago, this is one genre that just does not seem to be able to run out of steam and it can get quite tiring. How much more can you do with this, without it looking like a retread or a rip-off of some other isekai, which was already a retread or a rip off of another isekai? You have to bring something new and/or different to the table, OK. Well, perhaps that has happened with the entry of “Skeleton Knight in Another World” (“Gaikotsu Kishi-sama, Tadaima Isekai e Odekake-chū”). (more…)

We have always viewed dragons as proud and dangerous creatures. They breathe fire. They crush people underfoot. They lay waste to those around them. They hoard gold. They can fly. I mean, THEY CAN FLY!!! You do not want to mess with them. Even the bravest of the brave have second thoughts when they have to go up against dragons, even if it is a ‘little’ dragon. (Hahahaha! You said ‘little’ like it makes a difference! Hahahahahaha!). Well, what if the dragon was as big of a doofus as the rest of us? (Look, I believe in recycling. Just think of this intro as the return visit). We meet another less-than-meets-the-eye dragon in the mile-long titled “A Herbivorous Dragon of 5,000 Years Gets Unfairly Villainized (“Yowai 5000-nen no Sōshoku Dragon, Iwarenaki Jaryū Nintei”, or “A 5000-year-old Herbivore Dragon Was Recognized as an Evil Dragon For No Reason”). (more…)

We have always viewed dragons as proud and dangerous creatures. They breathe fire. They crush people underfoot. They lay waste to those around them. They hoard gold. They can fly. I mean, THEY CAN FLY!!! You do not want to mess with them. Even the bravest of the brave have second thoughts when they have to go up against dragons, even if it is a ‘little’ dragon. (Hahahaha! You said ‘little’ like it makes a difference! Hahahahahaha!). Well, what if the dragon was as big of a doofus as the rest of us? What if instead of soaring through the skies, blotting out the sun and inspiring fear and trembling, they are just as hapless as mere mortals? Thus is the idea behind “Dragon Goes House-Hunting” (“Dragon, Ie o Kau” or ”Dragon, Buy a House”.) (more…)

It’s time for another episode of “Anime Wheel of Fortune”, so let’s spin the wheel and see what theme of show we’ll be getting. Round and round it goes, as you spin me right ‘round, baby, right ‘round, like a record, baby, right ‘round, ‘round, ‘round. And it stops on……isekai! Is that wheel broken? This is like the fourth isekai we have looked at. Well, actually, it’s a lot more, but who’s counting? And we will be looking at another ungodly long-titled show, “My Isekai Life”, short for “My Isekai Life: I Gained a Second Character Class and Became the Strongest Sage in the World!” (“Tensei Kenja no Isekai Raifu ~Daini no Shokugyō o Ete, Sekai Saikyō ni Narimashita”).

And now, time for a commercial break. Have you thought about extending your car’s warranty? Care for a time share? Perhaps a job at an Amazon sweatshop warehouse. (more…)

Hi, kids, and welcome to another anime review. Let’s walk over and open up the Special Magical Chest and see what we have awaiting us. Well, who would have guessed that is another in a long series of isekai that litter the landscape like Starbucks cups. Is there anything more enjoyable than seeing another one of these shows, for the third time, this week, alone? Well despite some degree of misgivings, we do find ourselves in ancient-ish times with this offering, “Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World” (“Isekai Meikyū de Haremu o”, or “Building a Harem in Alternate World Dungeon”). (more…)

So, what have we here? Really? Another isekai? Really? How many is that just this month? Really? And it’s the first of the month as well! And since this one is really similar to another one just like it, it gets hard to separate them. This particular one is (at least I think it is. I have to write better notes) is “Black Summoner” (“Kuro no Shōkanshi”). (more…)

There are some absolutely brutal animes out there: “Berserk”, “Elfin Lied”, “Gantz”, “Deadman Wonderland” and “Redo of Healer”, to name a few. But the artwork supported the notion that it was going to be a bumpy ride. But what if you have an anime that is equally as brutal, but the artwork lulls you into a false notion as to what is lurking out there? Such is the case with “Made in Abyss” (“Meido in Abisu”). And after the first season and the three-movie arc, we now have the second season, with the multi-worded title “The Golden City of the Scorching Sun” (“Retsujitsu no Ougonkyou”).
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Is this another anime trend I see before me? Now, gender change comedies have been with us since the Greeks took ink to paper (or whatever they wrote on). We can discuss “Some Like it Hot”, “Victor/Victoria”, “The Hot Chick” (OK, NOT ‘The Hot Chick”; that one was terrible!) and into the mix we fling another montrapatiously-titled show “She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man (“Kenja no Deshi o Nanoru Kenja”), which also doubles as part of the video game genre for anime. (more…)

Hey! It another gender-blender show. I hope that this isn’t the latest anime craze, especially since the focus of these shows is what once was a guy is now a gal. And it’s an isekai as well, so, all bets are off. We find ourselves in the reshaped world of…(take a deep breath; it’s a long title)… “Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout”  (“Fantajī Bishōjo Juniku Ojisan to”, or “With a Fogie Reincarnated as a Pretty Fantasy Girl”, which has been abbreviated as “Fabiniku”). And since we have thrown everything into it, including the kitchen sink, well, it certainly has a lot to take in, so here we go. (more…)