And so ends arguably the most popular anime to come out in recent years. Even though I rarely write more than one post in less than a day, after watching the last two Madoka Magica episodes, I just couldn’t keep my fangasms about the ending to myself…
Bakuman review
Bakuman is one of the few weekly shonen series that’s devoid of intense, bloody battles and characters with fantastical super powers. Rather, Bakuman tackles the shonen theme of plucky young boys trying to achieve their goals in a more realistic setting. Instead of wanting to become hokage or “King of the Pirates,” our heroes simply want to become manga-ka…
A certain magical Index that’s lacking
About a year ago I watched To Aru Kagaku no Railgun and found it very well written and enjoyable. I knew it was a side-story of another series, To Aru Majutsu no Index, which I hadn’t yet seen. Since I liked Railgun so much, I decided to watch both seasons of Index soon after. And now, after completing season 2, I feel that something was definitely lacking…
Wandering Son review
One of the more unique and less flashy anime to come out this past winter ’11 season, Hourou Musuko, a.k.a. Wandering Son, tells an intriguing story about adolescence and transsexualism…
“Why do humans care so much about where their souls are?”
みんな仲良しであれたら by 明
There have already been many posts about how Mahou Shojo Madoka Magica is subverting the magical girl genre and keeps shocking us with events completely unbecoming of what was originally expected of it. I was naive at first, believing that the series would follow the mahou shojo formula closely, with perhaps a slightly darker atmosphere, as it appeared to do in the first two episodes. But as we all know, by episode 3 the show has become something very different…
Aria and a pure slice-of-life experience
I recently finished watching the 13-episode first season of Aria. It caused me to recall a discussion that was circling the blogsphere back in August about the true definition of slice-of-life. Now that I’ve seen Aria, I know why many consider it perhaps the best example of this genre…
The World God Only Knows: can true love exist outside the real world?
The World God Only Knows started out as another light comedy series that pokes fun at an aspect of the otaku world. However, as the series progresses, the arcs involving each of the girls that Keima encounters became increasingly more involved and complex – Ayumi’s was forgettable, Mio’s was interesting but still typical, and Kanon’s was quite dramatic. I felt that Shiori’s arc however, was the most compelling and brilliantly conveyed an overall message that the series itself is trying to tell, through Shiori and through Keima himself…
Final reflections on OreImou: CAN she be this cute?
Like other fans, OreImou has given me many topics to ponder over the course of its twelve episodes. In a previous post, I discussed six of these topics from the first five episodes. In this post, I’ll wrap things up with my thoughts until episode twelve…
Katanagatari review
ずっとね by ちゃぼ
I recently finished Katanagatari, a series by the same creator as Bakemonogatari, and one of the more unusual anime to come out this year. Its twelve episode run started airing in January, with a 50 minute episode released each month until now, December. As a whole, I thought it was good and enjoyed most parts of it, but I also had my share of issues with it as well…