Sometimes, you do not honestly know what you are getting into when you dial up any given anime. For many, the capsule description is either intentionally vague or underwhelmingly written, so you could miss something. So, when I ran into “Killing Bites” (“Kiringu Baitsu”), I really got a genre-busting show. (more…)

I was greatly relieved when the series, “The Ancient Magus’ Bride” (“Mahō Tsukai no Yome”), came to fruition and actually explained the proper position of the apostrophe. (more…)

We have, for your perusal, another in the long and grand tradition of “Girls Who Save the World” shows. On its face, this is no different. No, seriously, it is no different than “Symphogear” or “Yuuni Yuka” or “Battle Girl High School”. Gee, even “Panty and Stocking” could fall into this category. Anyway, “Toji No Miko” (“Katana Maidens” or “Sword-wielding Shrine Maidens”) actually tells two parts of the same story, neatly divided at episode 12/13 (there is a recap episode at 12.5, which might make for a good lead in for the seconds part. I usually don’t do recap shows). But we will get to that break point later. Let us take up the sword, so to speak, and relate our tale. (more…)

One the one hand, I personally enjoy realistically rendered anime. It is far too easy to fall into tropes and traps when you deal with a ‘traditional’ anime style, so when it is more like-life (let me direct you towards “Basilisk”, one fantastic-looking anime), I glom onto it. However, I do not dismiss the experimental; especially when there is a compelling story behind it (let me direct you towards “Dead Leaves”, one imaginative and strikingly insane anime.) (more…)

This is the oddest looking show I have seen in some time. And I don’t mean wild and crazy as with “Dead Leaves”; I mean it more like ‘Why are they all built so oddly?’ Look at how long their legs are and the hips come off more like a U-joint of some construct. And that the show is CG just adds to the visually unsettling nature of things. Thus, we come to “Houseki no Kuni” (“Country of Jewels” or “Land of the Lustrous”) and the tales of all of these gems. (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…)

I could have seen this at AX 17, but they mooked with the scheduling so it passed me by. I had to wait for it to come online to grab it. This is a caliber of lead-in to the series, as it is a three-part OVA. The series itself was released in 2018. This short-run talks about things after the dust has settled and everyone is more or less comfortable with one another. If the series is going to be like this offering, it is going to be both intriguing and restrained. This is “The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Those Awaiting a Star”. (more…)

This was heavily promoted at AX 17, but I could never find any episodes scheduled for viewing while I was there, so I had to wait for the Fall Release to grab it. It is, at its heart, a school rom-com, but the situation and circumstances puts the spin on it. Welcome to “Sentōru no Nayami” (“A Centaur’s Life”, also known as “A Centaur’s Worries”). (more…)

This first came up as an offering at AX 17, but since there was zero description in the handbook about it, my initial thought that it was going to be a stupid rom-com, about a princess who, for whatever reason, has to be the principal of a high school for a year and learns about ‘commoners’ and their problems. I could not have been more wrong, as it is an Alternate Universe Steampunk Spy Drama. Thus we arrive at “Princess Principal” (“Purinsesu Purinshiparu”). (more…)

As much as I like “Food Wars!”, it can get too much for its own good, with those foodgasms and the overweening prats that infest the school. So when another dining series cropped up, I wanted to check it out. This is the bailiwick of “Isekai Shokudō” (“Restaurant to Another World”). (more…)