An American Writer's Thoughts on Japanese Animation

To Boldly Go Where No Catgirl Has Gone Before – Cat Planet Cuties Spoiler Review

When starting Cat Planet Cuties, I felt an odd sensation. It took me a moment to place it, but I soon realized that the feeling I was experiencing was a nervous concoction of creeping dread. Why feel fear when loading up something that seems as mindless yet harmless as Cat Planet Cuties? Well, let’s just say I’ve seen another show with a fairly similar pitch, DearS, and that the title “Cat Planet Cuties” inspired about as much confidence as “In Another World With My Smartphone”, so I was expecting this to hurt me.  Expectations, however, must be modified in the face of evidence.

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Unseen – Mushi-shi Review

For those who don’t know, Mushi-shi is an anthology-style show. It follows (roughly) the travels of Ginko (by trade, the titular Mushi-shi), a man who specializes in dealing with strange cases related to Mushi, spirit entities that most humans cannot see but that all can feel the effects of. He walks the length of ancient Japan, interacting with isolated villages and others that have Mushi problems whether they know that’s what they have or not. Part nature documentary, part medical drama, and part ghost story, Mushi-shi has a broad range of experiences to offer.

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Vacuous Vixens Vanquish Virulent Villains in a Vexatious Venture – Venus Versus Virus Spoiler Review

Sometimes, the first couple of seconds can tell you a lot about a show. With the extreme closeups of a gun being loaded, girl in a dress, general art style, ruined church setting, and shots fired at some swirly darkness, the first thirty seconds of Venus Versus Virus let you know you’re watching yet another of the crusty mid-2000s urban fantasy pieces. What it doesn’t tell you is whether you’re watching something into which actual effort was put, like Shakugan no Shana, or something that’s going to just bring you pain, like Omamori Himari.

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Mine Transfer – ID-0 Spoiler Review

It should come as no surprise, but I tend to enjoy science fiction. Don’t get me wrong, I like a good fantasy setting or even a hybrid with both magic and technology, but there’s just something about visions of the future, dealing with such topics as robotics, AI, and transhumansim that tends to hit a different way. And while there are some good examples in anime, it’s generally something that sparks hope to see another. Enter ID-0

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Shooting Blanks – Girls’ Frontline Spoiler Review

Despite this not being the first one I’ve reviewed, I’m always kind of impressed when I hear a gacha phone game got an anime, especially once it’s been out a bit rather than as a launch or pre-launch outing like Takt Op Destiny. Perhaps I shouldn’t be – I know that an anime outing can be more of an advert than a culmination, and I know that even a phone gacha game can be used as a storytelling medium, potentially creating something at least decent to work off. But games in general are a source that has struggled to find success in adaption and phone games are a particularly troubled subset. So when I see there’s an anime of Girls’ Frontline (also called Dolls’ Frontline), I both feel some appreciation for the fact that something with such an inauspicious beginning managed to go the distance, and deeply worried that the final product is going to hurt.

Unlike Azur Lane, I haven’t played GFL, so I’ve gone into this completely blind as a new viewer, arguably the kind of person that the show wants to attract and be appealing and memorable to. Why? Because I’m a glutton for punishment and people like it when I review something I should have dreaded watching. Is it really all that bad, though? Let’s take a look.

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The (Frustrating) Show about Passion and Mechas – Rumble Garanndoll Spoiler Review

They say the past is a different country, with an outdated military and huge oil reserves (okay, only Randall Munroe says that last part) but usually that’s not to be taken literally. In the case of Rumble Garanndoll, someone took that idea a little bit literally. The general concept is that the show takes place in a world where Modern Japan was invaded by a parallel universe Japan that still follows the no-nonsense militaristic culture that was dominant during the Showa era (particularly before the end of World War II, for obvious reasons). The invaders, armed with future tech weaponry such as mechas, quickly turned into occupiers and aimed to force modern Japan to follow their principles. This involved, among other things, persecuting art and culture that didn’t fit with their vision, particularly Otaku media.

This leads to our show, where a resistance group made up of weird nerds engages in a rebellion plot that’s almost as much of a pastiche of genre conventions as they think it ought to be.

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