Typically, the verb ‘watch’ implies a passive experience. ‘Watching’ fictionalized television can be a relaxing recreational pursuit, as viewers discern unambiguous character development or follow the trajectory of an oft-linear plot. It’s an ephemeral process ...
Read More »Natsume’s Book of Friends Review
Save for Casper, Harvey Comics’ altruistic apparition, Western depictions of the supernatural are almost always rooted in menace. That isn’t always the case in Japan- where folklore is filled with tales of yōkai- spirit creatures ...
Read More »Ghastly Prince Enma Burning Up Review
NIS America aficionados may have noticed a schism between the publisher’s interactive output and their growing library of anime. While their games habitually incorporate capricious scenarios peppered with lascivious situations and a reliable sprinkle of ...
Read More »bunny drop: Complete Series Premium Edition Review
After years of enjoying anime fixated on mecha, magic, mystery and moe sirens, I had convinced myself that the ‘slice of life’ genre had little to offer. Certainly, after witnessing Kemonozume’s naked protagonist sinuously thrash ...
Read More »anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day Review
As a universal human experience, the exploration of death isn’t an uncommon theme in anime. While mortality has been depicted in a wide range of methods- from Shinigami no Ballad’s lead character escorting people through ...
Read More »Zakuro Review
Transitional periods often elicit unforeseen, and sporadically- serendipitous events. That’s the premise behind Zakuro (based on Lili Hoshino’s 2006 manga, Otome Yōkai Zakuro), which set during Japan’s Meiji era, reveals the country adjusting to the ...
Read More »Kimi ni todoke: Volume Two Review
Playful titillation has become a traditional quality in NISA publishing efforts- from the penetration of a Reyvateil’s ‘installation port’ by an enlarged crystal in Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia to an impish onsen cutscene in ...
Read More »Arakawa X2: Under the Bridge x Bridge Review
A good sitcom is one of the hardest things to write. Viewers tend to range from devoted regulars to mid-season drop-ins, so each episode has to be a self-contained story in and of itself, while ...
Read More »Kimi ni todoke: From Me to You – Season One Review
I typically loathe the star-studded, Hollywood romantic movie. Originally, I thought contempt for the genre stemmed from being socialized to appreciate their assumed antithesis: big, dumb, action flicks. Upon closer analysis, it was the medium ...
Read More »Katanagatari Volume Two Review
Unexpected quality can ruin a perfectly good plan. Case in point: upon receiving the second volume of Katanagatari from NIS America and having missed the storyline from the first boxed set, I intended to skim ...
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