Rating: B+ The Apothecary Diaries is back in animation, and all is right with the world! The latter part of the first season was rife with all manner of dramatic events and revelations, but with the franchise’s bona fides now firmly established, it can afford to start off its second run of episodes with aContinue reading “The Apothecary Diaries, episode 25”
Author Archives: Theron
2024 in Review: The Best and Strangest of the Year
As we say good-bye to 2024, it’s time to take a look at the highlights of the year as a whole, rather than just individual seasons. 2024 may have set a new record for anime debuts, with roughly 200 full or half-length non-kiddie titles debuting over the course of the year. Included amongst those wereContinue reading “2024 in Review: The Best and Strangest of the Year”
Fall 2024 Wrap-Up
With the last handful of titles for the Fall 2024 season having now aired, let’s take a summative look at what did and didn’t work well this season. In addition, I will have some wrap-up commentary at the end about a certain Spring season series which finally got around to finishing. . . Because ofContinue reading “Fall 2024 Wrap-Up”
Winter 2025 Preview Guide
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”
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”
USA Anime 