I often talk about what I don’t enjoy in anime. This is done more than to allow me to rant and rave about ‘slights’ foisted against me and more to let you know that even with this issues, I will not dismiss most anime out of hand (except “Initial D”; it would take divine intervention to plunk me down in front of that.) So when horror raises its head, I am wary. (more…)

Steampunk is a genre that I genuinely do not fully understand. I can grasp bits and pieces of it and I have seen a few steampunk-themed shows. I even saw “Steampunk”, the anime movie, but I am uncertain what it wishes to accomplish. I bring this up, because the series I just viewed, “Code: Realize − Guardian of Rebirth”, is a strong entry into Steampunk, even though it started out as a video game. (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…)

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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OK, if you did not know that there was going to be a second season of “Attack on Titan”, you go stand in the corner with the other two people in the world who got confused on this. The dramatic conclusion of the first season and the veritable ton of unanswered questions DEMANDED that there be a second go-around. Now, this felt more like an experimental season, complete with a huge amount of blind-side attacks and plot contortions that could have doomed other series. It doesn’t mean that this came out unscathed and the 12-episode run just added to the experimental nature of what is already a difficult show to follow. It is certainly more than the mere destruction of the titans, and, although the fight sequences do not disappoint, they can get a bit much. Now, let’s get down to brass tacks….. (more…)

Do not let the rather casual, almost cartoon-like animation fool you; this is a rather cruel and heartless show. “Shōjo Shūmatsu Ryokō”, (“Girls’ Last Tour”) tells the tale of Yuuri and Chito (left to right) as they navigate a massive city complex after some apocalyptic war has taken place. Driving their Kettenkrad (a kind of motorcycle half-track), they search for something, anything, to help them understand what went on and what is going on. (more…)

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 for fans who are too gullible to take a second look at things. And I will be saying this plaint again and again until I am proven demonstrably wrong. I have gotten close, but not with any consistency. Yet, “Kantai Collection: The Movie” (and couldn’t you come up with a slightly better title than that?) does try to move events along, basing it off of that which we have already seen in the series and that which we already know, to tell a different tale. Of sorts. (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…)

It’s an anime movie. I am at least finding them a bit more often than in the past, but they still come out in a dribble, compared to other offerings. This is an odd one, more so for the apparent CG than the plot, which smells rather “Matrix”-y. This is “Blame!” (“Buramu!”). (more…)

I am starting to notice another trend cropping up and that is the throwback style in anime. I have seen a few shows that are trying to mimic what I call the First Wave of Anime (1962-1969 or thereabouts), like when “Astro Boy” first made it to the shores of America. This is an apt description, as “Atom: The Beginning” (“Atomu za Biginingu”) tells the story of things before “Astro Boy” became Astro Boy. (more…)