Episode 2 Rating: B Episode 3 Rating: B+ Episode 4 Rating: B I hadn’t originally intended to do episode reviews for this series, and this is one that I may only do every 2-3 weeks instead of weekly. However, a number of developments – not the least of which is the surprisingly quality of thisContinue reading “A Tale of the Secret Saint episodes 2-4”
Tag Archives: Review
The Apothecary Diaries episode 51
Episode Rating: A Looking good at being convincingly ugly is, in my opinion, one of the hardest artistic feats for an anime title to pull off, and in that realm, this series has few equals. That this episode pulls that off well without making a spectacle of it is far from the only reason I’mContinue reading “The Apothecary Diaries episode 51”
The Apothecary Diaries episode 50
Episode Rating: A- Maomao has a well-earned reputation for being very selective in what details she chooses to pay attention to; she’ll often ignore (whether consciously or not) things she’d rather not dwell on, such as Jinshi’s clear-to-others romantic interest in her. Nowhere in this series is that more in play than in the secondContinue reading “The Apothecary Diaries episode 50”
The Apothecary Diaries episode 49
Episode Rating: A- The whole plot of the Shi family may be over but the consequences of it aren’t, a fact which hangs over the story as it progresses into its post-Inner Palace era with the beginning of season 3. Little reminders of it are everywhere in this episode even as it starts to setContinue reading “The Apothecary Diaries episode 49”
Saga of Tanya the Evil II episode 12 (season finale)
Episode Rating: A Overall Series Rating: A- Compared to its first season, OVA, and movie, this season of Saga of Tanya the Evil has had a remarkably low military action quotient. Granted, it hasn’t really needed it since it’s (capably) leaned much more heavy into its philosophical and military drama angles, but that is partContinue reading “Saga of Tanya the Evil II episode 12 (season finale)”
Saga of Tanya the Evil II episode 11
Episode Rating: A With its penultimate episode for this season, Saga of Tanya the Evil continues to blend in more elements from World War 2, and it uses those to help steer the story towards the painful inevitability it’s been facing towards for several episodes now: extreme measures are going to have to be takenContinue reading “Saga of Tanya the Evil II episode 11”
Saga of Tanya the Evil II episode 10
Episode Rating: A Episode 10 is aptly named “A Way to Survive,” as that statement perfectly encapsulates the goal here: both the military and apparently now even the politicians are looking for a way for the Empire to come out of this war intact. Key figures in the military have long recognized that the warContinue reading “Saga of Tanya the Evil II episode 10”
Review: cocoon – One Summer of Girlhood
The movie version of Machiko Kyo’s incredibly harsh source manga opens with a disclaimer that this is a fictionalized account, though it is based on true events. In the documentary which follows the movie (which is only a bit over an hour long) in its theatrical run, director Toko Ina mentions that the intent ofContinue reading “Review: cocoon – One Summer of Girlhood”
Saga of Tanya the Evil II episode 9
Rating: A- Few anime series can pull off drastic tonal shifts as smoothly as this one can, and the episode “Sightseeing Tour” is just the latest proof on that. Even while engaging in elements of a light, playful foodie experience, the sense of the much more serious undertones is never far away, and the endContinue reading “Saga of Tanya the Evil II episode 9”
Saga of Tanya the Evil II episode 8
Rating: B+ Throughout the anime adaptation, Tanya has appeared on nearly every front that Germany directed engaged in during World War I or World War II. (The sole front that has not been represented is the battles in the eastern and southern German colonies in Africa during WW1.) The one she’s spent the least amountContinue reading “Saga of Tanya the Evil II episode 8”
