Forum: Anime, Manga and Video Game Reviews

Japan’s middle school basketball was dominated by a team known as the Generation of Miracles. Five unbelievably talented young men excelled at unbelievable levels. But Kuroko’s Basketball does not focus on any one of them. It focuses on the sixth man, Kuroko, a quiet boy easily overlooked by...

I wasn’t sure what I was getting into with Levius. The description said the story dealt with the violent sport of Metal Boxing. It sounded a bit like Magalo Box. Was this a rehash? No. It is different than Magalo Box. Levius has a better story, better characters, and better animation. With...

This is not an anime. But I just had to do a write up on one of the most impressive animated series I have ever seen. The Liberator is an American production directed by Polish born visual effects artist Grzegorz Jankajtys. This is his first major directorial effort. Set in World War II, The...

This is it in a nutshell. A school-girl teases this school-boy. That’s it. Not much else happens in Teasing Master Takagi-san. Oh, there is some bit about three other girls, but that doesn’t go anywhere either. I only made it half way through this 12 episode series, or rather I forced...

Sometimes it takes me three, four, or even five episodes to get into an anime series. With Erased, it took me five minutes. Satoru is a failed manga artist working in a pizza restaurant. He also has the experience of slipping back in time for a few minutes. These episodes, which he calls...

I am not exactly sure of what I just watched. The title is Children of the Sea. It’s the story of Ruka, who over a summer break from school, hangs out at the aquarium where her father works. There she meets two rather odd brothers, Sora and Umi. Born at sea and raised by dugongs, they boys are...

Ready for yet another high school romantic comedy? Yeah, right. That’s the way I felt, but it seems Netflix streaming’s anime list is growing a bit short, so I gave Toradora a shot. Takasu (the dragon, or dora in Japanese) is a student who frightens people because of his physical appearance,...

So there's this planet, right? And everyone is born female. At the age of 17, they can choose to become male. Until then, they pilot these magic flying machines into battle. These machines are called Simoun. Isn't that clever? OK, so the concept is not that bad, and even enticing if you are...

Some of the best movie and TV moments are when you see the perfect con worked out by professionals – or at least actors playing professionals. I just finished the first two seasons of Great Pretender on Netflix Streaming. Makoto is a small time Japanese con artist who finds himself involved...

Well, here we go with another high school anime. Just what we need, right? It has all what you would expect from a high school anime, but wait! Kamichui! is a bit different. Yurie is just like any other 14-year-old trying to break into adulthood and not totally being sure of who she is or...

It’s time for another school anime – as if there were not enough. Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea does have a different twist, but does the twist manage to carry the series? Hint: There are 26 episodes and I got only as far as episode 10. We get the usual middle school drama. Boys and girls are...

The Fate franchise has a loyal following, but really? How often can you get away with the same-old same-old? What is needed is a new twist. Fortunately, Fate/Grand Order – First Order delivers. The Chaldea Security Organization exists to ensure that humanity has a future by going back in time...

Three homeless people, a drunk, a drag queen and a runaway teenager, find an abandoned baby on Christmas Eve. Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, doesn’t it? But actually it is the premise of one of director Satoshi Kon’s most popular works, Tokyo Godfathers. It’s been ten years since...

Season three of Aggretsuko breaks the rules. This series is a light-hearted spoof of the anxieties, frustrations, and pressures of the modern young professional women. Now get ready to go where Aggretsuko has never gone before. Retsuko is a panda. Finally I figure out what she is supposed to...

Weathering with You is the most recent anime feature from Makoto Shinkai, who also directed Your Name, The Garden of Words, and The Place Promised to Us in Our Early Days. That’s quite a resume. We start out with a teenage runaway named Hodaka. He comes to the big city of Tokyo because. . . . ...

Michiru was a normal schoolgirl who had a happy life. She loved her friends and she loved basketball. Then one day she woke up and found herself to be a half-tanuki. Welcome to the world of BNA. OK, let’s gets some things straight first. BNA stands for Brand New Animals. I thought it might...

Of course I have seen this film before. It was time to watch Spirited Away again. Many consider this to be writer/director Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece. I won’t go into comparing one movie to another. But re-watching does give me a new appreciation for the work. Ten-year-old Chihiro is...

Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun is a high school anime. Yup! Another one of those. Only this one seems to have an interesting twist at the beginning. Now just try to get to the end. High school girl Chiyo has a crush on her upper classman Nozaki. When she confesses her love, Nozaki gives her his...

Here is a sci-fi, horror, action, dark comedy anime. That’s a lot to say. Dorohedoro seems to have it all – including lots of blood. Things get bloody from the first scene when we see Caiman and his muscle-bound female companion Nikaido attack a couple of sorcerers. Caiman has a bone to pick...

I have just finished the first two seasons of Haikyuu!! I don’t know what the word means or why exclamation marks are part of the title. But I do know this is an exciting series well made and well worth watching. We start off with a middle school student Hinata who falls in love with...

The first thing you have to know about The Law of Ueki is that there are dozens of plot points. I can’t list them all, but to summarize: The Celestrials are giving powers to junior high students so they can battle, with Ueki having the power to turn trash into trees, although this does make it...

The first rule of time travel is don’t change anything. Anyone who has ever watched Star Trek, Doctor Who, Red Dwarf, or any one of a number of sci-fi shows will tell you that. Young Makoto had to learn that lesson the hard way in The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. It looks like Makoto’s life is...

As far as I am concerned, Drifting Dragons gets off on the wrong foot. This anime series is about an airship manned by dragon hunters, known as Drakers. They hunt and kill dragons for food an oil, but in the most inhuman way. Hearing the huge beasts cry out in agony is a bit much, especially...

If Franz Kafka wrote an anime, would he have more than one bug? OK, let’s skip the highbrow literary references and go straight to the world of Cagaster of an Insect Cage. In the future, a disease with ravish the world by turning people into giant insects who devour people who have not turned...

Legoshi (named after Bela Lugosi?) is a typical 17-year-old. Tall and lanky, but awkward physically and socially, Legoshi is trying to figure out who he is and what his place in the world will be. And he has to fight his primeval urge to kill and devour. After all Legoshi is a wolf. I mean...

From what I have gathered, Iria: Zeiram is a prequel to an earlier live action series. Iria is a deputy bounty hunter working for her older brother. They are brought along on a hostage rescue, only to face an unkillable monster named Zeiram. Iria is the only survivor of the battle -- maybe. ...

Exactly what is anime? Is it simply any animation from Japan, or is it a distinctive style regardless of where the series or movie were made? Seis Manos is an American production with the art and animation done in South Korea, judging by the names in the credits. The art style is not what one...

Finally we get what we all have been waiting for – an anime series which opens with the sound of bagpipes. That is the series Master Keaton. Taichi Keaton-Hiraga, the son of a British mother and Japanese father, is a former SAS agent, ex-college professor and lecturer, and a trained...

Do you really know your cat? A Whisker Away will make you wonder. Miyu aka Muge is a young teen with problems. Still not recovered from her mother walking out on the family, she must now deal with her father’s fiance who has just moved in. To make matters worse, Kento, the boy she has a...

A short time back, I did a write up on the movie No Game, No Life: Zero, a prequel to the series No Game, No Life. You would think this would clue me in as to the nature of the original series. Nope. Based on the movie, I expected something a bit dark. Instead I find a light hearted action...