Rating: B+ Last episode’s mystery with the shrine provide a glimpse into the setting’s broader history. This episode, by contrast, looks at the closer history of the setting by starting to expand on Jinshi’s dream sequence from the beginning of last episode. (In the manga version, that dream sequence comes immediately before the content ofContinue reading “The Apothecary Diaries, episode 32”
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Winter 2025 Mid-Season Report, part 2
This half deals with titles which hit either their 6th or 7th episodes during the week of 2/17/25-2/23/25. It also includes the remainder of season 3 of Arifureta, which finished airing during this time frame. Arifureta s3 episodes 12-16 Rating (these episodes only): B- After a short delay, the third season of Arifureta finished itsContinue reading “Winter 2025 Mid-Season Report, part 2”
Winter 2025 Mid-Season Report, part 1
The Winter 2025 season is wrapping up its seventh week, so it’s time to see how several of its series are doing. Like with the past few seasons, I am mostly or entirely keeping up with a massive number of series this season (25 this time around), so I am once again splitting this endeavorContinue reading “Winter 2025 Mid-Season Report, part 1”
The Apothecary Diaries, episodes 29 and 30
Rating – Episode 29: A- Rating – Episode 30: A- Episodes 29 and 30 represent two different mysteries which may or may not be connected, though they do both fall under the general umbrella of being derived to some degree from the caravan’s arrival earlier this season. They are also, in some ways, contrasts: oneContinue reading “The Apothecary Diaries, episodes 29 and 30”
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? V episodes 12 and 13
While both episodes are covered together here, I felt I had enough to say specifically about each to write each one up separately. Rating – Episode 12: A Though its animation effort may have its flaws, DanMachi has always excelled above most other fantasy series in the dramatic staging of its fights and the emotionsContinue reading “Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? V episodes 12 and 13”
The Apothecary Diaries, episode 28
Rating: B+ In one respect, The Apothecary Diaries can be a frustrating experience, as its mysteries operate on three different levels and it’s often not clear which level a particular mystery is on. Some of its mysteries are pure stand-alones (such as the military poisoning incident straddling episodes 1 and 2 or the dancer onContinue reading “The Apothecary Diaries, episode 28”
The Apothecary Diaries, Episode 27
Rating: A- Although the circumstances comprising this episode were set up at the end of last episode, this one is largely a self-contained “mystery of the week” style caper, akin to what the series engaged in through much of the first half of the first season. For not the first time, a death is involved,Continue reading “The Apothecary Diaries, Episode 27”
The Apothecary Diaries episode 26
Rating: A- This episode has a bit of everything that makes this series great: expanded world-building, exploration of rich detail, hints of bigger mysteries, behaviors just suspicious enough to warrant investigation, regular cast members being themselves, lots of pretty venues and character designs, and a fun new regular being formally introduced by name. It mayContinue reading “The Apothecary Diaries episode 26”
The Apothecary Diaries, episode 25
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”
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”
USA Anime 