Tag Archives: Review

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”

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)”

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”

Special Review: Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom

Unlike most other movies connected to anime series, The Sacred Kingdom is not a compilation, sequel, or original side story. It is, instead, an interstitial story, one that takes place between the two main arcs of season 4 but was skipped over during the airing of season 4, presumably to set up the end ofContinue reading “Special Review: Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom”

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? V episode 2

Rating: B+ I have seen some claims that this installment is only supposed to be 15 episodes long instead of two full cours. If true, that means a much faster-paced adaptation than the previous story arc, as volumes 16-18 are collectively at least 100 pages longer than volumes 12-14. (And that’s without factoring in theContinue reading “Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? V episode 2”