Final Update: 3:37 p.m. EST 1/12/25 Welcome to my seasonal Guide! (The debut schedule can be found here.) One series – Solo Leveling s2 – previously debuted in a theatrical release. A write-up on that one can be seen here, so it will not be revisited in this Guide. Season 2 of The Apothecary DiariesContinue reading “Winter 2025 Preview Guide”
Author Archives: Theron
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? V episode 11
Rating: B The saying “it’s always darkest before the dawn” is practically a writing guideline for shonen action shows, and it is one that has often applied to this franchise, too. The situation isn’t at its absolute lowest point yet as the episode ends, as Hestia and her allied gods are all still safely inContinue reading “Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? V episode 11”
Review: Oshi no Ko (live-action)
Note: This review assumes the reader is familiar with the anime version and/or its equivalent content in the source manga. There will be spoilers for those who haven’t seen through the final episode of the anime’s season 2! The live-action version of Aka Akasaka and Mengo Yokoyari’s Oshi no Ko manga is an ambitious projectContinue reading “Review: Oshi no Ko (live-action)”
Review: The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
Though written, produced, and given a musical score by non-Japanese individuals (including Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson from the live-action The Lord of the Rings movies as Executive Producers), this wide theatrical release is officially an anime because it was animated by Japanese studio Sola Entertainment (Rick and Morty: The Anime, Tower of God), supportedContinue reading “Review: The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim”
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon? V episode 10
Rating: B+ As announced at the end of last episode, the trouble with Freya is going to be resolved the classic Orario way: with a War Game. Yes, we’ve seen this before in the DanMachi universe – when a god became obsessed enough with Bell to go after him aggressively – and I can’t faultContinue reading “Is It Wrong to Try to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon? V episode 10”
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? V episode 9
Rating: A- Given Hestia’s persistently undignified behavior, it can be easy to forget that she is actually a goddess. Even with her divine powers curtailed, she is still the supreme power in Orario within her domain: that of purity. Unfortunately for Freya, that domain is the one that stands most directly opposed to the allureContinue reading “Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? V episode 9”
Special Preview: Solo Leveling – ReAwakening
Rating (compilation part): 3 (of 5) Rating (new episodes): 3.5 (of 5) Solo Leveling is returning to TV for the Winter 2025 season, and this special theatrical presentation provides both a roughly 80 minute compilation of the first season and an advance look at the first two episodes of the second season. It was outContinue reading “Special Preview: Solo Leveling – ReAwakening”
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? V episode 8
Rating: A- In all heroic stories where things go bad, there is a turning point. In the case of this arc, that “point” is the entirety of episode 8. No action in this episode can single-handedly carry that distinction, but taken together numerous actions set the path forward for climbing out of the hole thatContinue reading “Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? V episode 8”
Fall ’24 Mid-Season Report, part 2
See here for part 1. This half of the report covers Orb (which I somehow overlooked in my first half) and all fall season series I have been following which are first hitting episode 6 or 7 between 11/16 and 11/20 inclusive. Mostly these are the series that were later starters, though in one caseContinue reading “Fall ’24 Mid-Season Report, part 2”
Fall 2024 Mid-Season Report, part 1
Week 7 of the Fall ’24 season marks the season’s official midway point, so let’s take a look at how some of the series airing this season are doing. Like with the past three seasons, I am keeping up with a massive number of series this season (23 to be exact), so I am onceContinue reading “Fall 2024 Mid-Season Report, part 1”