Hybrid shows are always a problem, in that they want to be all things to all people, but they are not always capable of fulfilling the promise. Such is what you get with ”Dame×Prince Anime Caravan” (also known as “Damepuri”). It wants to be both dramatic and comedic, but it just doesn’t know the best way to pull it off. (more…)

One of the freedoms you get with doing an Alternate History/Universe series is that you are untethered by anything concrete in the real world to tell your tale. One drawback is that you may have to rely on pseudo geography and country names to help with your story. Thus is the conflict generated by “Shoukoku no Altair” (“Altair: A Record of Battles”). (more…)

Another trend that I am seeing is what I call the Cutely Brutal show. The artwork is more along a cartoony, slightly exaggerated approach, but the story itself is mean and cruel and vicious and horrific, so you have a difficult time reconciling the two. Such is the case of “Made in Abyss”. (more…)

This is one of those stories that drops you in the middle of things and tries to explain some aspects of this odd and strange life that you have encountered, but not explain too much, kind of like the lives that these people are leading. This is “Kujira no Kora wa Sajō ni Utau”(“Whale Calves Sing on the Sand” or “Children of the Whales”.)
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“Sword Art Online” has been one of the more interesting series (and now franchises) of the past half-dozen years. As with any movie that comes from a successful series, I am leery that it might be just might be a recap of the series, put in movie form, for those folks who are too lazy to plunk themselves down and watch the whole thing, from a company that wants to make some quick money. Yes, they did do that in 2013, calling it the “Extra Edition”, so I was a little more assured that this one would be a real movie and not just a Season Two Recap. This brings us to “Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale”. Now, it would help to understand what an ‘ordinal scale’ is. (more…)

Well, well, lookie here. Another “Girls Who Save the World” show. I. Did. Not. See. That. Coming.

Although one can compare it to the “Symphogear” series or even “Yuuni Yuki”, it is still a bunch of high school girls taking on implacable foes.

It is the year 2045 (Still no hoverboards. Are those things ever going to show up?) The world has been contaminated by Irōsu, a strange and mysterious group of invaders who suddenly appeared. Well, they do the usual junk: lay waste to the population, kill everyone they can and leave the seat up on the toilet. Really nasty types. Humans find themselves restricted and contained, unable to do much of anything. However, standing boldly against these invaders are ordinary girls everywhere, girls who can give the what-for to these who-dats. The Shinjugamine Girls Academy is a school for these “Hoshimori” (Star Guardians), destined to fight the Irōsu. Welcome one and all to “Battle Girl High School “(“Batorugāru Haisukūru”). Cue the jets flying overhead with the colored contrails. (more…)

A harem comedy. Wow, I haven’t seen one of those in about 20….minutes. Still, this one brings along a great deal of charm and heart…despite the rather capacious title of “Isekai wa Sumātofon to Tomo ni” (“In Another World with My Smartphone”). (more…)

This was a second season approach that I did not see coming, but it was fully welcomed, as it is something that is rarely put out there and that is what I call ‘The Other Story’. If you remember the first season of the capaciously-titled “Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?” (“Danjon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darō ka”), the second season is subtitled “Sword Oratoria” and it looks at the simultaneous events revolving around Aiz Wallenstein (that missy in the center with that sword a-pointing at your giblets) and the adventures she goes on with Familia Loki. (more…)

Although this is a magic show, it is miles away from what you are used to, even with the mediæval flavor. It is a land where man and beast live. It is a time where common folk are in fear of witches and the Beastfallen. It is a situation where the Beastfallen are in fear of others, despite their size and numbers. This is the world of the “Grimoire of Zero” (“Zero kara Hajimeru Mahō no Sho”, or “Starting the Magical Book from Zero”). (more…)

There is a problem when you try and convert a video game into an anime or a manga, in that the adaptations don’t always work. Yes, in a sense you have the best story board around, but you are spending a lot of your time fighting in the game and that the plotting may come off as a bit thin. Such are my concerns with “Granblue Fantasy: The Animation” in that it feels like a video game…and I wonder why. (more…)