RKasa

Lycoris Recoil has top-tier production values overall. The animation and mise en scene are solid, ClariS' earwormy theme song is the highlight of a very good soundtrack, and the voice acting, particularly for the two main characters, is some of the finest I've heard in recent anime. However, the story tries to do too much in the span of thirteen episodes. It's a standard case of having your cake and eating it too: this show combines slice-of-life with a complex thriller, and neither aspect shines as much as it could. The LycoReco cafe where Chisato and Takina work is a lovely setting, and there are many... See full review

One of my favorite things to do while watching the first 40 episodes of Yawara! (localized by AnimEigo with some incredibly detailed translation notes) has been to speculate why Viz Media hasn't published Naoki Urasawa's original manga. There's some underage drinking, although not nearly as much as in Kimagure Orange Road, which Viz had previously passed on. Yawara! is a long series, and also an older one, neither of which work in its favor. Ultimately, however, another major point against it is that unlike just about every other Urasawa series Viz has published, Yawara! is a Rumiko Takahashi-esque comedy... See full review

I didn't want to write this review until, like with the other New Evangelion Movies, I had seen it a second time. It took awhile, but that second viewing has happened. More details were noticed and analyzed, and I came away with it with much the same impression after my first viewing: it was a long, bumpy ride to get to this point, but the payoff was ultimately worth it. With this movie, I really do feel that Hideaki Anno has finally done all that he has wanted and needed to with the Evangelion franchise. As with my previous reviews of this series: spoiler warning. The opening is a brief recap of the... See full review

So, here's the third review of my New Evangelion Movies rewatch project (a week late; sorry about that). My first ever viewing of the fourth film, and a review of that, will follow shortly. My original Anime-Planet review of this film is three stars. Unlike with the previous films, and even though I watched the 3.33 version this time instead of 3.0, this score will not change much at all. Spoiler warning for both the original TV show and events new to the movie. And what new events there are! The action jumps ahead fourteen years, and Shinji has awakened from a long sleep. The last thing he remembers is... See full review

As stated in my review of 1.0, I'm currently in the process of rewatching the first three New Evangelion Movies in preparation for the fourth. We've rounded out this weekend with 2.22, and will pick things up again on Saturday with 3.33 and the final film. For the record, my original Anime-Planet score of 2.22 was two stars. Spoilers this time for not just the TV show, but events new to the movie. While 1.11's highlight was the level of detail and depth it added to the Evangelion universe, the best parts of 2.22 are its... See full review

In preparation for watching the fourth New Evangelion Movie, my husband and I are rewatching the first three. It has been several years since we'd seen them, and in addition to refreshing my memory about what happened in them, I was curious to see if my stance on them had softened. As a longtime fan of the original TV series and movies, I did not like these new films upon those first viewings. I had originally rated 1.0 (well, 1.11, really) 2.5 stars here on Anime-Planet, and I liked the next two movies even less. Spoiler warning for this review, though I will try not to give away anything major that wasn't... See full review

I was a little skeptical about this OVA going in, especially since I'm not the biggest Masamune Shirow fan, but my fears ended up being unfounded. Although it is light on story, it is a fun spectacle of an anime. The plot concerns a pair of escaped experimental military androids which must be brought under control, and the freelance journalist covering the action who gets directly involved once she learns about their target. There are tiny bits of dialogue-based worldbuilding, mainly in the form of hints about an ongoing conflict with a northern country, but don't expect the exhaustive... See full review