Category Archives: Review

.hack//Legend of the Twilight – Review

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Holy crap was this show bad. SUPER bad. Nearly entirely without merit, in fact. That didn’t stop me from good-naturedly trying to sift its dregs for even mild praise, but man, what a waste of time this turned out to be. This one basically just used the .hack universe as an excuse to be the stereotype of anime that people who don’t like anime apply to all anime. Silly episodic nonsense, incest, bobble-headed characters, gay panic jokes, a trite and ridiculous storyline, the whole nine yards. Please, please, please stay far away from this one.

Here’s my full review if you want to hear even more lurid tales of narrative failure. And you can check out my sad, resigned notes below!

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The Ancient Magus’ Bride, Vol. 1 – Review

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Manga trawl continues, with another very solid series! This one may go in any manner of weird directions, since its premise is so incredibly loaded, but the story so far is just totally enchanting. It’s basically holding to one of my favorite styles of magic, the one that builds off of old stories and treats magic as beautiful and dangerous and tends to feel vaguely European. It’s a style I strongly associate with Diana Wynne Jones, since her Chrestomanci stories were very formative for me, and it’s used well here. Definitely worth a look.

Here’s my full review over at ANN. Notes below!

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Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, Volumes 3-4 – Review

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More manga reviews! Branching out this time, switching from the ever-enjoyable Genshiken to the cult classic Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer. I wasn’t so hot on Biscuit Hammer’s first couple volumes, but it really clicked for me this time – with what seems like the full cast introduced, the story’s gaining a lot of interesting texture while maintaining its great personality. The art’s still crappy, but hey, it’s an endearing kind of crappy. Anyway!

My full review’s available over at ANN. Manga notes below!

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.hack//SIGN – Review

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Reviewing an oldy again. This one’s got a bit more of a legacy than friggin’ Half-Moon, and for good reason – it’s exactly the kind of wibbly-wobbly character-based show that I’m guessing appeals to a lot of people who are into anime for the long haul. It’s a mess, but a mess with a whole lot of great things to recommend about it. Strong characters, interesting ideas, beautiful landscapes and music – all that is great. Its inability to actually tell a story, or even to coherently articulate itself half the time – not so great. My notes kinda reflect how long it took this show to win me over – the first half has a whole lot of giggling about how poorly the story’s conveying itself, and even in the second half, it’s a friend you like in spite of their many failings. But I enjoyed it! I had a good time with .hack, and it does feel kinda sad that my time with these characters is over. I kinda appreciate how these reviews force me to engage with things I might just drop otherwise – there’s good to be found in almost everything.

Here’s my full review. Episode notes below!

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Hanamonogatari – Review

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Time for more Monogatari! We’re finally up to the last arc I’ve already watched, and one I actually wrote an old essay about. Hanamonogatari was great back when I watched it the first time, and remains great now. It’s one of the most focused and self-contained arcs, and it’s got a wonderful balance of character interiority, humor (thanks Kaiki), and beautiful visual tricks. Having this come at an even pace relative to my other reviews actually helped me appreciate how this arc really was a visual step up, and the work this arc does for Kanbaru’s character is just spectacular. Just a really well-composed and compassionate short story all around.

Here’s my full review. Lots of notes below!

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Yakitate!! Japan, Part One – Review

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Yeah, I reviewed a show about bread. WHAT OF IT? Yakitate!! Japan isn’t actually that bad or anything, but I can’t say I recommend it – it’s a pretty standard shounen tournament show, it just happens to also be all about bread. Lots of wackiness, plenty of absurd rivalries, etc. It was perfectly watchable, and certainly didn’t require all that much unpacking, but there are many, many better ways you could spend your time.

You can check out my review here! Way too many goddamn bread notes below.

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Genshiken Second Season, Volume Six – Review

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Genshiken reviews continue! The manga has largely regained its stride at this point, and seems fairly comfortable in its more romance-heavy New Normal. Hato and Madarame are working well as the dramatic centerpieces, the side characters are stepping it up, and everything’s getting more awkward and emotionally loaded by the second. We’re also finally into territory I haven’t read before, so I’m as interested in seeing where this goes as anyone.

Here’s my review of the volume. Notes below!

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Genshiken Second Season, Volume 5 – Review

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Kinda behind on linking these, but I’ve been busy with stuff! Anyway, I got a bit negative on this one, since we’re now right in the unsteadiness of Genshiken shifting towards a more full-drama style. The whole Madarame harem thing doesn’t kill the manga for me, but it certainly tends to make it lean into a more heightened reality than the story normally evokes. I guess we were all guilty of loving Madarame just a little too much.

My review is here. Notes below!

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Looking Up at the Half-Moon – Review

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Hoo boy was this show garbage. Hot, steaming garbage. This is actually the most negative review I’ve written for ANN, beating out even the Sword Art Online Swimsuit Episode. At least that had SAO’s usual solid aesthetics to create some interest – this was just a collection of terrible ingredients tossed together in a terrible stew. Do not watch Looking Up at the Half-Moon.

Feel free to check out my review, though. And you can look back on all my permanently exasperated, frequently disbelieving notes below!

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Yatterman Night – Review

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Another full streaming review is up! This one’s sadly much less positive, as Yatterman kinda collapses on itself, but it definitely seemed like it was going places for a while there. I had to kind of pan this one’s animation in spite of it actually possessing a fair amount of really stylish webgen animation throughout, both because it wasn’t really that consistent and because the last episode was a trainwreck, but we at least got some good single sequences and episodes out of the show. They can’t all realize their potential, I guess.

Here’s the full review over at ANN!

Yatterman Night