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Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories
Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories is a bit deceptive in its title. What we actually get is, for lack of a better phrase, weirder than that. Melon Journey is far more irreverent and yet bizarrely touching, all at once.
― Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories is a bit deceptive in its title. With a title like that, players expect a much more emotional journey about reminiscing on their past and maybe e...
Dr. Stone: Ryusui
While it's not the most exciting or climactic that the series has ever been, Dr. Stone: Ryusui is a solid continuation of the Dr. Stone story that should allow us to jump into some newfound adventure at the start of the third season.
― When it comes down to it, Dr. Stone: Ryusui serves as an epilogue to the second season while laying the groundwork for the third. Without Tsukasa, his people have been...
Tista GN 1
From the creator of SpyxFamily comes a difficult story, replete with themes of what we owe those who "save" us and just how much power any one person (or organization) should have.
― Before there was Spy x Family there was Tista. Tatsuya Endo's first serialized work shares some themes with his latest – heroine Tista Lone is an orphan who became an assassin after the Catholic Church experimented on he...
Resident Evil 4 (2023)
RE4 was hailed as one of the greatest games ever made for a damned good reason. This remake takes everything that worked about that original game and makes all of it even better.
― For any of the youngsters or new fans that have only just recently been welcomed into the Resident Evil fold, it might be hard to believe that it wasn't even all that long ago that the entire Resident Evil brand was seen a...
Hi Score Girl GNs 1-4
Hi Score Girl provides a light-hearted romantic comedy grounded in '90s video game culture. Yet despite its particular nuances, the general emotional throughlines are relatable enough that most readers can find something to enjoy here.
― Hi Score Girl provides a light-hearted romantic comedy with a specific sort of appeal. Yet despite its particular main nuances, the general emotional throughlines ar...
Ayashimon GN 1
This volume is packed with everything from yakuza action to twisted backstories to humans against monsters. Does this manga from the creator of Hell’s Paradise manage to bring it all together?
― Most of us have probably tried it at some point. What “it” means varies, but the definition is always “something that works in my favorite story.” Whether that was strapping brushes to your feet and skating a...
Tombs: Junji Ito Story Collection GN
The manga creator's grotesque artwork is in full force here, but unfortunately, there are a good number of stories in this anthology that feel a little bit undercooked.
― From the genius Junji Ito himself, we have another anthology book filled with a majority of short stories drawn and executed in his classic style. When you've read and reviewed enough of Ito's stories, there's always this worry of t...
I Fell for a Fujoshi GN 1
Ichiro's in love with Tae, who's in love with BL, and decides to just go with her misconception about him...will this eventually lead to romance?
― At some point we've probably all done something inspired by the fiction we've read that was, in hindsight, not a brilliant plan. Whether it was testing the theory of gravity or cooking and eating periwinkles, antics brought on by a good book aren't all th...
Raven of the Inner Palace Novel 1
Raven of the Inner Palace's first novel should please fans of its adaptation. It's easy to see what changes were made and understand why they happened, and it never feels like one version negates experiencing the other.
― If you watched the 2022 anime adaptation of Kouko Shirakawa's Raven of the Inner Palace light novels and wondered how faithful it was to the source material, the answer turns out to...
Shin Kamen Rider
Despite its loving connection to the original, you don't need to know anything about the 50-year-running franchise to enjoy and understand this film. However, its reverence for the TV show is also the source of the film's main problem.
― Shin Kamen Rider is both a retelling of and an homage to the original 1971 Kamen Rider TV series. There are many recognizable characters and numerous shot-for-shot r...
Alice Gear Aegis CS: Concerto of Simulatrix
Despite it's huge roster and customization options, Alice Gear Aegis CS remains threadbare in the story department and is hindered by repetitive combat.
― Alice Gear Aegis CS: Concerto of Simulatrix is probably one of the most “ok” games I have ever played. It is perfectly functional and achieves everything it sets out to do. It is stable, runs at a consistent frame rate on the Switch, and has everyt...
She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat GN 2
It's difficult to overstate both how good a chapter this is and how important it is, both for readers and for Nomoto as a character.
― Note: You can read our review of the first volume here. Kasuga and Nomoto are still at it—Nomoto enjoys putting her culinary talents to use in ways she's never been able to before, while Kasuga is happy to eat what she provides, and the two genuinely enjoy spending ti...
Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key
Ryza is and always will be that charming, winsome alchemist with an eager smile and boundless joy for seeing the world. And it just feels good to explore the world with her and her friends.
― In the grand tradition of the Atelier games, the series is divvied up into subseries connected by protagonists. With Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key, we not only see the end of the unpreced...
Crazy Food Truck GN 3
In its final volume, Crazy Food Truck hones in on a 'live fast, die young' approach that seems at odds with the mood of the previous volumes.
― If the ending to the second volume of Crazy Food Truck had you thinking it would lead into some lengthy, epic story arc that would carry the third volume to the foretold finish for the series, you'd end up surprised. We're still in the opening chapter of this...
Insomniacs After School GN 1
With an anime coming in April, Rebecca Silverman describes Insomniacs After School as a story less about its teen protagonists getting rest and more about how they are able to form a bond over their shared disorder.
― Insomnia – real insomnia and not just the occasional inability to fall asleep – is among the most debilitating conditions you can have. A lack of sleep takes a toll on you both physical...
The Villainess Stans the Heroes GN 1
There's enough potential that it may be worth a second volume, but this isn't likely to hold your interest unless you're deeply invested in the villainess isekai genre.
― Is it even possible to develop twists to the villainess isekai formula anymore? Probably, but the majority of series are more than content to tweak it rather than attempting to make something new. That's both perfectly okay and comp...
Arknights: Prelude to Dawn
The first episode of Arknights: Prelude to Dawn absolutely shook me with its slick direction, ambitious cinematic vision, and gritty storytelling.
― The first episode of Arknights: Prelude to Dawn absolutely shook me with its slick direction, ambitious cinematic vision, and gritty storytelling. I'd never played a single minute of the Arknights mobile game and had no idea what to expect, but after jus...
My Clueless First Friend GN 1
Soon to be an anime, Taku Kawamura's My Clueless First Friend manga offers a ray of sunshine to break through Nishimura's cloudy life. One day a boy named Taiyo Takara transfers into Nishimura's class, and everything changes.
― It's a story that's all too familiar: Akane Nishimura is the focus of bullying in her fifth-grade class. The other kids, led by mean girl Kasahara and her male equivalent Kita...
Downfall
Downfall, adapted from the Inio Asano manga of the same name, is a film that uses one man's midlife crisis to explore the hypocritical nature of both man and the society we have built.
― Downfall, adapted from the Inio Asano manga of the same name, is a film that uses one man's midlife crisis to explore the hypocritical nature of both man and the society we have built. On one level, it is about the c...
Helck GN 2
What started as an over-the-top comedy with great face reactions slowly revealed itself to be much more of a suspenseful and dark story.
― Helck was a pleasant surprise when I first read it a couple of months ago. What started as an over-the-top comedy with great face reactions slowly revealed itself to be much more of a suspenseful and dark story. While I do think the shift to a more dramatic tone c...
Monster Episodes 31-52 Streaming
Monster having so many different plates to balance as it tells its story is an inherent draw of mystery melodramas like these, and pretty much all of these individual parts are compelling in their own right.
― The first 30 episodes of Naoki Urasawa's Monster delivered the opening salvos of a gripping, slow-burning thriller that still feels fresh even now, nearly twenty years on from its initial relea...
The Disowned Queen's Consulting Detective Agency Novel 1
Octavia de Reine is a stellar heroine is this gaslamp mystery but its many elements might be overwhelming to readers jumping in.
― Sarasa Nagase is having a bit of a moment in English translation. The Disowned Queen's Consulting Detective Agency is the second of her light novel series to be translated, following I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss (Yen Press), and with a third, The Do-Ov...
Lost Lad London GN 3
Lost Lad London closes out with a finale that may feel abrupt but ultimately sticks to the heart of its storytelling: racism blinds us, and to be young, poor, and brown is to live with a target on your back.
― Let me begin by saying that I solved this one in volume two. That's in no way a statement of any presumed superiority on my part nor about the quality of the mystery – my only complaint is that...
Beauty and the Feast GN 4-6
Food is still centerstage as Shuko and Yamato become more forthcoming about their feelings for one another.
― The old saying goes that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, and ecchi manga has taught us that if a teenage boy is in proximity to a buxom adult woman, he will begin to fantasize. Beauty and the Feast doesn't exactly shy away from either of these maxims, but it also is notable f...
Doomsday With My Dog GN 1
This is a joyously bizarre story of a high school girl and her dog roaming Japan after the end of humanity. It's full-color, four-panel weirdness, and there's something really engaging about that.
― Fair warning – the bonus chapter has nothing to do with the main story (per the creator, Yu Ishihara) and it reduced me to a sobbing mess. If you're sensitive to sad animal stories, you may want to (and c...
Blue Thermal
There's nothing that's actively bad about the movie, and a likable protagonist goes a long way towards keeping things breezy and enjoyable, but its pleasures are mild, and the experience of watching it is almost instantly forgettable.
― Blue Thermal fits into the genre of slice-of-life anime centered around students partaking in a school club together. Somewhat unusual for the genre, it takes place i...
Blue Box GN 3
Regardless of where the romantic component of the story goes, if it continues to develop its theme of straightforward dedication with believably emotional moments, I definitely will find myself constantly coming back to the series.
― I wouldn't go so far as to call Blue Box a traditional sports manga. The story doesn't really go into the mechanics of badminton or basketball. Even though the artwork i...
PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo
While missed opportunities keep PARANORMASIGHT from being a truly standout game, I still enjoyed the process of uncovering the story, even if it goes into some truly off-the-wall directions in its end-game content.
― PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is a horror visual novel written and created for me, personally. I do not know how director and scenario writer Takanari Ishiyama tapped into...
FATAL FRAME: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse
Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse sadly never came to the United States to the disappointment of many fans fifteen years ago. KOEI Tecmo is here to right that old wrong, giving us the long-awaited localization. Was it worth the wait?
― Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse sadly never came to the United States in 2008, to the disappointment of many fans fifteen years ago. KOEI Tecmo is here to ...
Immoral Guild
So here it is: Immoral Guild is a horny anime. How horny? Monstrously.
― I briefly considered burying the lede at the beginning of this review as a joke by acting like Immoral Guild was some decently distinctive little fantasy sitcom if not for just one little caveat that I forgot to mention. But that's disingenuous. It does put "Immoral" right there in the title, after all, and makes no secret what ...
Aim for the Ace Blu-ray
Aim for the Ace! is a fantastic time capsule of the anime of the 1970s and a great origin point for tracing 50 years of anime history. And yet, to examine it solely through a historian's lens would be a great disservice.
― Sometimes, when I put on an older anime for the first time, I find myself approaching it primarily as I would a historical document. What animation techniques are utilized, and how...
Aggretsuko Season 5
Aggretsuko's final season stands among the best that the series has to offer when it comes to giving us insight into what life in modern Japan is like as a person (or a panda) that is just trying to make it through the day-to-day grind.
― It's hard to believe that Aggretsuko has been running strong for five whole years now, let alone that it's finally coming to an end. It's been a bumpy ride, especia...
IDOLiSH7 Third Beat! Episodes 14-30
Ryo Tsukumo and his evil ego gets ramped up to a point that nearly qualifies it as a nineteenth-century melodrama, with everything from rumors of contest-rigging to flat-out murder on the table.
― If you thought the first cour of IDOLiSH7 Third Beat! was dark, hold on to your hats. The drama stirred up by Ryo Tsukumo and his evil ego gets ramped up to a point that nearly qualifies it as a nineteenth-...
Little Witch Nobeta
Little Witch Nobeta has a palpable sense of it being crafted out of genuine love for style and genre. That makes it easy to like, even as some Souls-like fans might find it too easy to beat.
― Part of me doesn't want to be this guy. I'm not even a games critic, specifically, but Little Witch Nobeta here still landed in my lap thanks to demographics and opportunity. So then I load into this thing and ...
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a hard-hitting action game that plays well with my tastes and sensibilities, but I'm struggling to objectively see how broad its appeal is.
― Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a hard-hitting action game that plays well with my tastes and sensibilities, but I'm struggling to objectively see how broad its appeal is. But first, some housekeeping. The term Souls-like gets bandied abou...
Until We're Together GN
Until We're Together warm and welcoming, and a scene near the end reminds readers that everyone needs to feel – and deserves to feel – like they belong.
― It may only be eighty-seven pages long, but schwinn's Until We're Together manages to tell a full story that at times is strikingly different than many other English-translated BL works. For one thing, a central element of the story is the televisi...
Kitaro GN
This volume of Kitaro is a second edition of the one Drawn & Quarterly originally released in 2013, and for fans of the franchise – and especially the 2018-2020 anime adaptation – it's a treat to see back in print.
― Have you met Kitaro? He's the eternal boy born in a graveyard to a dead mother, the last member of his Ghost tribe. His father, Medama Oyaji (Eyeball Dad) helps his son, riding around in...
Confessions of a Shy Baker GN 1
If you're a fan of What Did You Eat Yesterday? and are looking for a new series about an established, adult couple in a committed relationship, Confessions of a Shy Baker will scratch that itch.
― If you're expecting Confessions of a Shy Baker to be a baking BL romance, you might be disappointed. The main character of the story is a gay man, and he does bake, but that's really just the window dressin...
Hirano and Kagiura Novel
Spun off from the low-key and charming Sasaki and Miyano, Hirano and Kagiura's light novel adaptation is, well, low-key and charming.
― Spun off from the low-key and charming Sasaki and Miyano, Hirano and Kagiura's light novel adaptation is, well, low-key and charming. That's a good sign on several levels, not the least of which is that fans of Shou Harusono's cozy slow-burn storytelling can be assur...
The Little Lies We All Tell
In a stuffed fall season, The Little Lies We All Tell slid under the radar. Caitlin Moore lays out her case about why this sitcom is just what the doctor ordered after a long day.
― I won't blame you if you missed The Little Lies We All Tell. It was the last show to premiere in a season positively stuffed with big-name, lushly animated series like Chainsaw Man, Mob Psycho 100 III, and Bocchi the Rock...
Ragna Crimson GN 7
Ragna Crimson Volume 7 is basically like listening to an eight-minute long guitar solo in a song without verses or a chorus.
― This is one of the hardest volume reviews I have had to write in my time with Ragna Crimson. It's not that the chapters themselves are challenging to talk about. It's not even that I didn't enjoy what was on offer here – far from it! But there was a lingering sense after I fi...
I Want to Be a Wall GN 2
I Want to Be a Wall is a needed piece of representation, and even if the series tanks later on, these first two volumes are worth your time and money.
― You can find our review of volume one here. As your mother, all I want is for you to keep your own happiness in mind. Do you really plan to be alone forever? Those words, spoken with the best intentions, nicely summarize the situation in which the pr...
Choujin X GN 1
This striking volume from the creator of Tokyo Ghoul follows Tokio, a so-called social "vulture" struggling with imposter syndrome and a hideous transformation.
― From the same creative mind that brought us the hit manga series Tokyo Ghoul comes another rather dark outing from creator Sui Ishida. If you were a fan of his previous work, there is certainly a lot to love about Choujin X. On paper, both ...
SCRAMBLUES GN
What SCRAMBLUES lacks in romance, it makes up for in character growth in this single-volume manga.
― Some of my favorite romance stories are ones that function as good character pieces that flesh out the individual issues of their characters before moving forward with any major romantic progression. This is one of the greatest strengths of SCRAMBLUES, as it puts some of the traumas and insecurities o...
Mermaid Scales and the Town of Sand GN
A lot is going on here, from the quiet pain of personal tragedies to the lengths adults will go to "protect" children from life, all tempered with the need to believe.
― It is very easy for adults to dismiss what a child sees. Whether it's mosquitoes that look like tiny fairies in the twilight or mermaids in the sea, things seen through the eyes of imagination can be written off with impunity by adul...
Fox Tales Novel
The newest novel Tatami Galaxy's Tomihiko Morimi has "plenty of little gems secreted away within the text that make it in many ways a beautiful read."
― Fox Tales by Tomihiko Morimi, author of The Night is Short, Walk on Girl and The Tatami Galaxy, is more aptly a collection of vaguely interrelated short stories than a novel. The book consists of four roughly sixty-page stories all set in a more or l...
Like a Dragon: Ishin!
You cannot help but fall into the rhythm of daily life in Like a Dragon: Ishin!, and that immersion blurs the line between player and non-player characters, between the game being played and a life being lived.
― My wife and I order the same meal from the same restaurant every Friday. We share an order of fajitas from our favorite Mexican restaurant. It's part of our weekly ritual, where we get a spe...
Make My Day ONA
Make My Day is a derivative work lacking any identity of its own. Its visuals make it hard to watch at best. Skip it and save yourself the time.
― Make My Day is, simply put, forgettable. The basics are there, but there is not enough originality or spark to get much going before the credits roll. The most apparent criticism that jumps out almost immediately is the sense of “been there, done that." Th...
The Princess of Convenient Plot Devices GN 1
Convenient Princess is effectively a case of taking the kinds of escapist fluff you aren't supposed to think more than five minutes about, then thinking about it for more than five minutes.
― Figuring out The Princess of Convenient Plot Devices can be an experience, given how much of this volume is about figuring things out. The isekai genre and its angles of reincarnation have come so far these days...
Wild Hearts
Wild Hearts feels like a variant of Monster Hunter Rise, but does it offer enough to stand on its own two feet?
― Wild Hearts has to deal with a very obvious elephant in the room: with its heavily-Japanese-inspired aesthetic and open-world structure, it's going to be fending off a lot of “Like Monster Hunter Rise, but...” comparisons. This isn't a death sentence: the last time Koei Tecmo tried their ...
Tokyo Aliens GN 2
I was lukewarm about the first volume of Tokyo Aliens, but I thought it had potential. Unfortunately, volume 2 does not do enough to capitalize on said potential.
― I was lukewarm about the first volume of Tokyo Aliens, but I thought it had potential. Unfortunately, volume 2 does not do enough to capitalize on said potential. To be sure, there are no critical missteps here. Akira and Tenkubashi are t...
The Girl That Can't Get a Girlfriend GN
This autobiographical manga recounts "an otaku with the fashion sense of a twelve-year-old" and her haphazard attempts to attract the cool, short-haired woman of her dreams.
― Relationships are hard. It's a fact that even people who have engaged in many successful ones can attest to, and things can be even more challenging for those who struggled to accumulate that kind of experience. Art and storyte...
Kaguya-sama: Love is War -The First Kiss That Never Ends-
Continuing on directly from the final episode of Kaguya-sama: Love is War Ultra Romantic, this film is all about the fallout—namely the complete and total destruction of the status quo.
― Note: This review contains spoilers for Kaguya-sama: Love is War -Ultra Romantic-. Continuing on directly from the final episode of Kaguya-sama: Love is War -Ultra Romantic-, this film is all about the fallout—namel...
Record of Ragnarok Season 2
All in all, Record of Ragnarok Season 2 is better than Season 1. But the quality jump is minor at best, and the novelty of its tricks is already wearing a bit thin
― Record of Ragnarok returns and executes on its premise with greater success than the first season. The question is whether that success is enough to keep people watching. When the first season of Record of Ragnarok dropped back in the su...
The Holy Grail of Eris Novel 3
Along with being one of the most consumable light novel series in English translation at only three volumes of main story, The Holy Grail of Eris is also one of the best.
― If left to its own devices, history is perfectly willing to repeat itself. Whether that's down to human nature or the cyclical nature of events is possibly up for debate, but when history tells us that ten years ago, a young woman...
Barbarities GN 1
Barbarities' first volume is an interesting opening to a political BL tale. The politics and the side romance may be a little more intriguing than Joel and Adam right now, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth reading.
― One thing we can say about BL manga creator Tsuta Suzuki is that they aren't stuck in a storytelling rut. Their previous English translated title, A Strange and Mystifying Story, drew...
Pokémon: The Arceus Chronicles
This is an OK continuation to the Team Galactic storyline filled with various callbacks to the Diamond and Pearl series, but is otherwise superfluous.
― Pokemon: The Arceus Chronicles is interesting because, at first glance, I thought I was preparing myself for a very different type of story. Everything from the promotional images to the opening and closing credits made me think I was about to watch ...
Lupin III vs. Cat's Eye ONA
While Lupin III vs. Cat's Eye is a competent enough work in most respects, it is also ultimately far less than the sum of its parts.
― While Lupin III vs. Cat's Eye is a competent enough work in most respects, it is also ultimately far less than the sum of its parts. As a crossover film between two established properties, your familiarity with the component franchises (or lack thereof) will significa...
Show-ha Shoten! GN 1
Stephan Paul's translation largely carried what ended up being a surprisingly involved and unique underdog story involving two aspiring comedians.
― Reading the premise of Show-ha Shoten!, I was initially worried about whether or not I would be able to appreciate the book on the level that it wanted me to. Yes, comedy is incredibly subjective, but for such a dialogue-heavy story about two high school...
My Special One GN 1
The romance moves abruptly in this one, as spurned schoolgirl Saho attempts to reconcile her feelings for hot idol Kouta despite being burned by a handsome guy in the past.
― Momoko Koda seems to specialize in stories that are just this side a feeling universal. Her previous work to see English translation, No Longer Heroine, also features a heroine who is caught up in how she thinks things are suppo...
Run Away With Me, Girl GN 1
Reading this book is a bit like watching a wound open up. At first, everything looks fine, but as the Band-Aid is slowly peeled off, we get a glimpse of a raw injury that has yet to scab over.
― It's a tired old trope trotted out in plenty of yuri manga: dating other girls at your all-girls school is simply training for when you graduate into the world of men. While yuri manga often tries to refute t...
My Dear Detective: Mitsuko's Case Files GN 2-3
My Dear Detective: Mitsuko's Case Files is a frothy historical cozy series, and if you're a fan of the genre, it's more than worth the price of admission.
― For our review of the first volume, go here. The lady detective as a character is generally dated to the early 1860s, when two novels - Revelations of a Lady Detective and The Female Detective - were published in England, but when the Stratemeyer...
Even If This Love Disappears Tonight Novel
From the writer of I Want to Eat Your Pancreas, Even If This Love Disappears Tonight is a predictable book from start to finish. It hits all the notes of a sentimental teen love story to an almost clinical degree.
― I know for sure I don't have anterograde amnesia, because I've seen this premise before. The hero encounters a beautiful girl and their relationship deepens, only for him to discover that...
Is Love the Answer? GN
Is Love the Answer? is a book that looks to start a conversation about asexuality, agender, and the equal parts comforting and terrifying feelings that come with sitting on any branch of the LGBTQIA+ tree.
― We are lucky to live in a time and place that understands, or is at least beginning to understand, that there really is no such thing as a universal “normal.” That doesn't mean that it's easy to ...
Haikara-San: Here Comes Miss Modern Part 1 and 2
Fans of old-school shōjo and soapy melodrama won't want to miss this.
― Haikara-san: Here Comes Miss Modern is one of the latest adaptations of the manga series of the same name, written by Waki Yamato and published between 1975 and 1977. The series has largely become Yamato's defining work, and with good reason: she won the first Kodansha Book Award for shōjo manga in 1977 for this series. It was al...
Monster Episodes 1-30
In these first thirty episodes, the series is living up to its reputation as a stone-cold classic, and I'm completely on board for the next batch.
― I'm not kidding when I say that folks like me have been waiting years to finally get their hands on Monster. Even though Naoki Urasawa's original manga is a legendary part of the modern manga canon, not to mention the fact that the anime adaptation is eq...
Oshi no Ko GN 1
Don't judge this manga based on its back cover copy; it has more in common with Perfect Blue than idol fare like Love Live!
― Warning: of necessity, this review will contain some spoilers not covered in the book's back copy. If you pick up Oshi no Ko based solely on the back copy and expecting the cute story of an obstetrician caring for his favorite idol during her pregnancy, you are bound to be dis...
Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle
If this were just a film about Koko, however, it would have been more successful, but the cartoonish villain and deforestation plot serves as little more than a distraction from the character arcs.
― With the announcement that long-time series protagonist Ash would be retiring from the TV series, could this be his final Pokémon movie? Maybe. To be honest, Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle actu...
Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Scherzo of Deep Night
Asuna's story continues in the second Progressive film, opening in theaters in the U.S. on February 3. Find out more about her and Kirito's growing friendship and see the continuation of her rocky relationship with Mito.
― Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Scherzo of Deep Night is the second Sword Art Online Progressive film, and it picks up the story a bit less than a month after the end of A...
Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters
Neptunia Sisters VS Sisters isn't doing anything new in the JRPG space, but is it at least a fun ride?
― The Hyperdimension Neptunia franchise has been pretty extensive since 2010. Including the mainline games and the spin-offs, there have been over a dozen games released for the franchise spanning various genres, from online card games to side-scrolling action games to hack-and-slash games with rhyt...
Muv-Luv Alternative Season 2
Major revelations will be blithely glossed over, and new characters are thrown at the audience who get one or two scenes to make clear that they're supposed to be somewhat relevant or important, but with no connective context as to why.
― There's an element of presumed prestige to the back half of this Muv-Luv Alternative anime adaptation. And why shouldn't there be? The original visual novel is a pr...
The Legend of Mana: The Teardrop Crystal
The possibilities in The Legend of Mana: The Teardrop Crystal seem endless. Sadly, a show is not just possibilities and vibes— The Teardrop Crystal struggles with executing a meaningful plot.
― I went into The Legend of Mana: The Teardrop Crystal anime with a very patchwork understanding of the original game. I have never played the original title from 1999 nor had a chance to play the recent remaste...
Fire Emblem Engage
Fire Emblem Engage has had a rough time coming. The art style left a lot of people unconvinced, and it's coming on the heels of the widely-beloved Fire Emblem: Three Houses. How does Intelligent Systems' newest strategy RPG hold up?
― Fire Emblem Engage has had a rough time coming. The title was weird, the art style left a lot of people unconvinced, and it's coming on the heels of the widely-beloved ...
Pokémon Master Journeys: The Series (Episodes 49-90)
This is where Pokémon: Journeys shines the most, taking familiar past elements and putting a twist on them in the present day to progress the story forward.
― After dealing with a major threat to the Galar region, Ash and Goh continue their journey as if nothing had ever changed. Still, it feels like we're finally getting into the significant challenges that both of our protagonists were bound to fac...
Natsume and Natsume GN 1
With his terrifying smile and heart of gold, Natsume-kun is basically a CGCT protagonist in a high school boy's body.
― Natsume Shiranui has a problem, and it's different from the one you might expect. From a glance at the cover, you would expect that the biggest issue he faced came from people being terrified of his apparently horrible case of resting evil face. But instead, his problem is that he d...
One Piece Odyssey
The presentation is top-notch the entire way through. There are plenty of gorgeous action sequences during combat, voice acting for a large majority of the game's dialogue, and a rich and beautiful world that is easy on the eyes.
― Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this game for the purposes of the review with the pre-order bonus DLC. Additionally, though I am a good ways into the main story, I...
Qualia the Purple LN
Qualia the Purple is one of those stories where much of the enjoyment comes from having as little idea as to where it's going when you first experience it.
― Qualia the Purple is one of those books that can be challenging to review. Yes, there's the point that it deals in some dense scientific concepts and also dips into very dark, messy places as far as its material. But mostly, Qualia the Purple is...
Shin Ultraman
Shin Ultraman presents us with intrigue and heavy questions about humanity's place in the world, the many threats of the future, and the many frightening things that lurk in the shadows waiting to take advantage of our ignorance.
― You can summarize Shin Ultraman thusly: in many of the shots taking place in the SSSP ofice, SSSP member Taki's model of the USS Enterprise is proudly seen on his desk, su...
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Scarlet Bond
There's one thing that prevents Scarlet Bond from becoming a genuinely memorable entry in the Reincarnated as a Slime franchise: Rimuru Tempest himself.
― That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Scarlet Bond is somewhat of a rarity in original tie-in films to TV anime that are adapted from another medium. Most films in this vein are either not in continuity or are so removed from the main story that...
Fist of the North Star GN 7
Good points: Some of the best material in one of the greatest manga of all time
Bad points: We have to wait three months for the next release ― This is the best of what Fist of the North Star has to offer. There are many legendary moments throughout the series, and certainly, there are higher highs and more iconic moments than what happens here in Volume 7. But I think this stretch of chapters helps...
Bad points: We have to wait three months for the next release ― This is the best of what Fist of the North Star has to offer. There are many legendary moments throughout the series, and certainly, there are higher highs and more iconic moments than what happens here in Volume 7. But I think this stretch of chapters helps...
ATOM: The Beginning Volume 2
Volume 2 manages to build on the first volume and take narrative risks as Six encounters more deadly foes after the conclusion of the robot fighting tournament.
― Atom: The Beginning Volume 2 manages to build on the first volume in surprising ways while also playing it somewhat safe in the action department. I think the shortest possible review is that if you enjoyed Volume 1, I think Volume 2 will a...
Honey Lemon Soda GN 1
Is this romance about a bullied teen all sweet and no substance? Rebecca Silverman checks out Honey Lemon Soda to find out.
― It seems to be a universal truth that middle school is hell. Even if you were one of the lucky ones who came through relatively unscathed, the middle grades are a time when everyone is trying to sort out themselves while suffering under the slings and arrows of adolescence and...
Pokémon Journeys: The Series Episodes 1-48
As we prepare to reach the end of Ash's journey, MrAJCosplay looks back on Pokémon Journeys' victories and squashed potential.
― After becoming the first official champion of the Alola region, Ash Ketchum returns to Pallet Town and is ready to start a new adventure. However, right from the jump, Pokémon Journeys seems to be just as interested in the franchise's history as it is interested in advancin...
You Like Me, Not My Daughter?! GN 1
This age-gap romance between a 20-year-old and 32-year-old might not be for everyone, but there's a sweet story hiding underneath.
― Age is a funny thing. We've all read manga that equates being over thirty with being middle-aged, and that really drives home the idea that along with being a simple set of numbers that delineates how long you've been alive, age is also very much a social construct and ...
Captain Corinth GN 1
At this point in genre saturation, a space soldier being dropped into a medieval fantasy planet feels positively revelatory.
― We've been conditioned to think of isekai as either a case of transportation/summoning, being reborn, or some other form of portal fantasy. But Captain Corinth takes a different approach: the protagonist of this sci-fi isekai story ends up on a new planet that no one in the G...
Summer Time Rendering
Stealth dropped on Hulu this week, Summer Time Rendering is an anime you don't want to let wither in your queue. Kim Morrissy's review is here.
― The biggest problem with Summer Time Rendering is the Disney+ jail. The show got a staggered release across different regions, with minimal marketing to boot. Chances are that this title may have slipped you by, even though it's among the best anime of 2022...
Black Rock Shooter: Dawn Fall
Does this edgy sci-fi story make for good popcorn entertainment? Maybe, but you might not remember any of it when it's over.
― Black Rock Shooter is such a weird franchise. I wouldn't necessarily say that it's reached mainstream status, but it is still a recognizable name and seems to have garnered some cult status in certain circles (could you believe that all of it started with just a simple drawin...
Encouragement of Climb: Next Summit
This fourth season of Encouragement of Climb is a satisfying resolution to Aoi Yukimura's story, but it does get off to a bit of an odd start.
― This fourth season of Encouragement of Climb is a satisfying resolution to Aoi Yukimura's story, but it does get off to a bit of an odd start. The first four episodes are compilations from the first three seasons, with a couple of short original segments thr...
Helck GN 1
A human makes a play for demon king, stating he hates humankind just as much as a demon should. He just has to convince Red Vamirio, and her suspicions are running high.
― Have you ever been so strongly convinced about someone having ulterior motives that you obsess over proving it? That very relatable idea is at the heart of this first volume of Helck, which can be neatly divided into two parts. The...
Blue Box GN 2
Blue Box continues to surprise its readers, but it's about time Chinatsu got more time in the spotlight.
― Blue Box is a manga that exists in that sweet spot between a well-paced slice-of-life romance and a traditional sports story. While the series doesn't reach the massive highs that either of those genres has to offer, the two feed into each other enough to create a mostly enjoyable experience. In...
Romantic Killer GN 1-2
The source of the Netflix anime series, protagonist Anzu isn't interested in romance, and unlike most manga, Romantic Killer never dumps on her or cajoles her into picking a boy.
― Romantic Killer's strongest asset is almost certainly its title-fulfilling heroine. Romance stories with romance-averse main characters are hardly uncommon, but Anzu takes it to a heretofore-unseen level. There's a pointed...
Surviving in Another World as a Villainess Fox Girl! Novel 1
Miku's twin sister Claire has been saying weird things since they were two about how she used to live in a place called “Japan” and now she's living in an “otome game.” How does this take on the 'reborn into my fav visual novel' hold up?
― Surviving in Another World as a Villainess Fox Girl is one of those titles that is more interested in hooking the reader than actually describing the book. It's no...
Witch On The Holy Night
I can imagine kinetic novels being a tough sell for most gamers, but for people who are fearless of text in their stories, Witch on the Holy Night has lots to offer.
― Reviewing a kinetic novel is a curious thing. There's no gameplay to discuss or criticize, and there aren't any mechanics to discuss. What you have is a story. The good news is while Witch on the Holy Night is a prequel to Lunar Legend...
Lonely Castle in the Mirror
One day, seven troubled middle schoolers find themselves transported to a mysterious castle on the other side of their bedroom mirrors...in this new world they might just find the strength to survive.
― When it comes down to it, Lonely Castle in the Mirror is a commentary about one of Japan's most prevalent ongoing problems: school bullying. The viewpoint character of the film, Kokoro, has been bulli...
Loved Circus GN
This feels like a volume created by somebody whose eyes are bigger than their stomach. The ambition for the piece is clear, but the execution does not go far enough to make this story feel particularly worthwhile.
― It's an old trap, but a good one: office worker Kei has become a frequent customer of a hostess named Momo, and before he quite understands what's happened, he has driven himself into deb...
So What's Wrong with Getting Reborn as a Goblin? GN 1
Is the main character reborn OP? Yes. Is there a built-in harem aspect? Yes. But simply put, this book works better than its title and genre might lead you to believe and is worth checking out.
― If you are familiar with Nazuna Miki's other works, you may have an inkling of where this title is headed. Many of their previous titles have the word “harem” in them prominently, and while this one does not...
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