An American Writer's Thoughts on Japanese Animation

Bad End? – In Search of the Lost Future Spoiler Review

If, by chance, you find yourself in Anime High School and don’t want to go on an adventure, apparently in addition to not sitting in the window-side seat second from the back, avoiding mysterious transfer students, and keeping out of any sort of Paranormal or Occult interest group, you should also stay well away from the Astronomy Club, if this show and Brynhildr in the Darkness have anything to say about it.

And that might be the biggest takeaway from the whole show. So, this show… It’s a show. It has episodes and everything. But it’s not exactly memorable or engaging, and in some ways it’s actually strange that it’s not. We’ve got an imperfect time loop, a Sword of Damocles hanging over a lovable character, riddles and mysteries, slow-burn development of the rest of the cast… so why doesn’t this work?

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How do I hate the main character? Let me count the ways – Revisions Spoiler Review

Oh boy, this show sure is… something. So the basic idea is actually one that sounds different and engaging: Shibuya (a city that’s normally a rather busy and famous ward of Tokyo) is transported to a post-apocalyptic future where the people must learn to survive both cut off from the rest of the world and against the new threats that have emerged: giant biomechanical horrors known as the Revisions. Helping them is a contact from human civilization of this time who grants a small group of special young people a set of mechas that only they can use, placing them on the front line of Shibuya’s defense.

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Controversial (?) Gateway Cyberpunk – Beatless Spoiler Review

It happens every now and then that I sit down to watch an anime expecting it to be bad. It’s not often; Like most people, I like to watch good shows when I can. But now and then something can be “So bad it’s good” or mediocre Junk Food, and sometimes that’s what you need. As a reviewer, every so often I need to dive into the world of the terrible so I can analyze how and where it doesn’t work, and as a writer it’s sometimes inspiring to consume bad media because you can look at it and say “Wow. I could do better.” I can stumble on shows I find to be bad without going looking, but when you’re looking for trouble like this, you’re very likely to find it. The masses usually seem kind of easily pleased, so when the consensus isn’t happy you probably won’t be either.

But now and again, there’s a show that seems to have slipped through the cracks, that has a general consensus as to its lack of quality but then on watching it you (or at least I) ultimately enjoy. Most of the time there is some glaring flaw that you can look at and say “Okay, I wasn’t totally put off by this, but I can see why people in general were.” It’s scarce as hens’ teeth to look at something with a poor overall rating and say “Why didn’t people like this?”.

Enter Beatless, an intelligent and accessible Cyberpunk anime with a lousy reputation that I don’t think it deserves in the least. I’m going to take a look at it today, and try to figure out why so many people seemed to hate this show so much.

Strap yourselves in, this is going to be a long one.

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Seasonal Selection – Warlords of Sigrdrifa Episode 5

After the bizarre out-of-body experience that was last episode, we get something very much different and, in my opinion, the show’s strongest episode so far in terms of character.

We start by introducing a new character, “Big Sis” Amatsuka, a senior Valkyrie who Miko seems to be very fond of. Azu and Sono, less so. Along with her fighter squad, she’s an ace who goes to wherever the fighting is the toughest… which makes her appearance at Tateyama base both odd and somewhat worrying.

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A Lesson in Stakes and Tension – The Promised Neverland Spoiler Review

This week, it bears reminding everyone that what I write are full spoiler reviews. I’m willing to go over every movement in the plot, in order to analyze what makes it good or bad. Usually I think putting the word “Spoiler” in the review title is enough, but when it comes to The Promised Neverland , I feel like there needs to be a more certain and bold message: If you aren’t sure you want spoilers for this show, you are in the wrong place. It’s worth watching and because of its nature it’s probably worth watching unspoiled if you are at all the kind of person who minds spoilers. The review and analysis will still be here when you get back.

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Seasonal Selection – Warlords of Sigrdrifa Episode 4

Well, I will give the show this – it did not do what I expected it to do here. With a title of “Tateyama Castle Swimsuit Skirmish!” you might be expecting a typical beach episode where we get some lame excuse to show off the girls in their bikins which will look nice but ultimately just make a select group of fan artists (and their fans) very happy or provide an alternate figure if the show takes off enough to get statuette merch. Simple, right? It’s pretty much just an obligatory thing that into every show a little beach episode must fall.

What we got from Warlords of Sigrdrifa was much stranger, a sudden dive into a surreal “what the hell am I even watching?” sequence that’s almost sure to be the show’s Big Lipped Alligator Moment.

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Magic and Mayhem – Witch Craft Works Spoiler Review

I love anime witches – Whether they’re in comfy stories like Kiki’s Delivery Service or Flying Witch or more adventurous affairs like Little Witch Academia, I just think they’re nifty, especially around this time of year. Usually cute girls (though you do get boy witches and older witches sometimes), and always with the mystical powers and big pointy hats, they show up most often in Urban Fantasy settings, whether out in the open or keeping their powers secret from the world. Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches didn’t really live up to the “Witch” concept, which I don’t hold against it, but for a hefty serving of witchy goodness, I’m going to take a look at Witch Craft Works.

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Seasonal Selection – Warlords of Sigrdrifa Episode 3

So the expectation from last time was pretty much “Pillars show up, fight them off, character building on the side, if there’s time”. This time, though, we get a downtime episode, more or less, where we see more of these characters and how they fit into their world. This is one of the bit places where the show will determine whether it soars or stumbles, so how does our first outing go?

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