An American Writer's Thoughts on Japanese Animation

Strategic Gem – Ya Boy Kongming Spoiler Review

I’ve heard a lot of weird premises in my time with Anime. It’s a topic I’ve gone over before, but I will spare you and just skip to the part where, though I’ve become somewhat used to it, the idea of the legendary tactician of the Three Kingdoms Zhuge Liang (better known by his courtesy name of Kongming) manifesting in modern Tokyo to use his ancient strategic mastery towards making a singer girl into a star… you still kind of notice that.

Read More…Read More…

The Search for the Tone – Ultramarine Magmell Spoiler Review

Taking place in a world where, if space shots are to be believed, an eighth continent has risen from the Pacific Ocean, Ultramarine Magmell regards this new world of harsh and even supernatural survival, where explorers brave countless dangers both known and unknown in search of riches and hope.

We will be following search and rescue instead.

Read More…Read More…

A Grimm Fate – Grimm’s Notes the Animation Spoiler Review

Shows that have to include “the Animation” in their title don’t have a great track record, do they? Which is to say, most of them that follow that scheme seem to be mobile gacha adaptations, which are a troubled corner of the already troubled video game to screen pipeline.

I may have said this in the past, but it doesn’t need to be this way. Video Games can have amazing stories, even if the addition of “viewer” agency tends to lens how those stories are told. Even mobile gachas, while no doubt rife with no-effort cash-grabs, include engaging tales told with memorable characters. There are barriers to adaptation, and some uncomfortable choices can be made, but with a good base material and a clever and invested studio involved, it could be done. It could even be amazing.

Considering that the game itself shut down entirely in about a year after this thing came out, though, I’m going to lower my expectations. The pitch is fractured fairy tales? Let’s just hope that it’s better than later RWBY seasons.

Read More…Read More…

To all the Cyberpunks – Armitage III Spoiler Review (OVAs + Dual Matrix)

Oh, classic Cyberpunk, how I’ve missed you. I might be more partial to more optimistic sci-fi, in part because it’s so rare, but there’s just something absolutely exquisite about the occasional piece of media willing to display some adroitly grim and rebellious retro-future stylings – dark shadows, menacing greebles, body horror, bizarre fashion, fanservice, and of course a good slathering of ye olde ultra-violence.

Armitage III is determined to deliver.

Read More…Read More…

The Miko and the Fox – Gingitsune: Messenger Fox of the Gods Spoiler Review

Gingitsune, like last week’s entry of Kamichu!, is a slice-of-life show focused on a high-school girl, which is sometimes described as “Shinto propaganda”. In specific, this one is focused on Makoto Saeki, currently the shrine maiden of a modest Inari shrine that’s been around since the Edo period, and the heir to the shrine-keeping family’s ability to see the heralds of the Gods. In her case, the Herald that lives at the shrine is Gintarou, a fox spirit who loves mikans and is often described as “lazy”. This is their story.

Read More…Read More…

Miko and God – Kamichu! Spoiler Review

So, I will admit that this one leans a little more heavily on the divine element, what with the characters most recognizable as shrine maidens being in the friend and helper role, but when you look up shows with miko characters and Shinto vibes, Kamichu! (the title is excited) tends to come highly recommended.

Read More…Read More…

Miko Club – Shrine of the Morning Mist Spoiler Review

Well, it’s that time of year… or it would be, but I’m going to do things slightly differently. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the first installment of Miko May! Yeah, when I said back in my review of Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister that I wanted to see more shows that put miko characters in the spotlight, there was an extent to which that was foreshadowing. At the very least I knew I was going to be taking on the arguable antecedent of the Magical Girl this year, rather than Magical Girls themselves.

As to Shrine of the Morning Mist itself (Asagiri no Miko in untranslated title, which is a little different), I suppose I’d better introduce it in its own right. What we have here is what seems like a very classical 2002 action-romcom, one of the pre-Shana examples of the urban fantasy lineage. The differences? This one has half-length episodes (Similar to Neo Ranga, which is from a somewhat similar era come to think of it) and five girls training as shrine maidens to be our action heroes.

Read More…Read More…

Mind Crush – Pet Spoiler Review

Pet is an unusual story, part crime drama and part psychological thriller, about a group of psychics in service to “The Company”, and how they do the dirty work of their corporate overlords.

It’s also a few more things, in terms of its theme, but you wouldn’t know even the previous paragraph just from episode one, so let’s just start the deep dive.

Read More…Read More…

Your Princess Is In Another Video Game – Circlet Princess Spoiler Review

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before – there’s this fancy fictional sport that seems to be played primarily or solely by girls…

And you’ve stopped me. And probably rolled your eyes at me for using that tired intro that I think I’ve used at least annually on this blog. But if the intro is predictable, overused, and passionless, then perhaps it’s fit for the material on offer this week.

Read More…Read More…