snakebrain

Story -- 7.5 Koutara-san is what I like to think of as a "hang out" anime. Like many slice of life shows, its most obvious joy is the opportunity to just hang out with some interesting characters for 24 minutes at a time. By episode 5 the core cast is more or less set and the premise is pretty well established; by that point, you're either on board with this cast or not. After that point, the series settles into a fairly predictable, albeit lightly enjoyable, rhythm. The plot, such as it is, involves a high schooler named (you guessed it!) Kotoura, who from a young age has been able to read... See full review

**This review contains some mild hints and/or spoilers about the series; if you'd like to go in completely blind, you can skip to the "Overall" section at the bottom. Story -- 7/10 There is not much to the story of The Devil is a Part-Timer that can't be guess from the title: the devil from a fantasy realm called Ente Isla nearly takes over the world before his forces are defeated by a Hero, and he only narrowly escapes total defeat by passing through a portal that leads him to present-day Japan. Once there, he and one of his generals, Alciel (Ashiya once they arrive on Earth), discover that... See full review

**Note: This review contains a few mild spoilers and some hints about the series. If you’d like to go in completely unspoiled, you can just skip to the “Overall” section at the end. Story – 8.5/10 At what price comes security? The people of Japan in Psycho-Pass have willingly given up many freedoms for what appears at the outset to be a perfect system: impartial machines, run by the centralized Sibyl System, judge the psychological wellness of every citizen, assigning a “hue” to their mental make-up and a number to their “crime coefficient,” a measure of how... See full review

To be fair, I probably shouldn't review a series minutes after finishing it.  Right now I'm very much on a "Tsuritama High," which means that the outrageously high scores above are potentially more reflective of my gut reaction to a stellar final episode than to the quality of the series as a whole. Of course it's just as possible that this show is just that good.  I have never, ever purely *enjoyed* an anime series as much as this one.  The last one that came close was probably Ouran High School Host Club, but that was more a guilty pleasure than anything else.  Tsuritama is... See full review

**This review contains some spoilers "Angel Beats" is a concise exploration of adolescent angst set against a backdrop of near-constant violence, which is hardly unique among anime.  What I liked about this one, though, was the pervasive optimism -- this is not a particularly dark or depressing show, although it is emotionally honest, which means that there may well be moments to make you cry (I never did, although I came close in the last few episodes).  The violence, though it comes often (and is just as often fairly brutal) has a light edge to it, because, especially in the early... See full review

This is a very special anime.  Not only is it an absolute delight from start to finish, it's one of those rare shows that seems to enrich your life after you've seen it.  Or at least, it did mine; not that I'd ever held any prejudices against transgendered individuals before I saw this show (far from it), but seeing the lives of young children with gender identity issues dramatized the issue in a way that made me understand it better, and enriched my perception of the world around me.  It's a powerful anime that can do that; only a few have in the past (Kino's Journey and Grave of the... See full review

**This review contains some minor spoilers** When fifty-two epsides isn't nearly enough, that's a sign that what you're watching is something really special. Kekkaishi was a show that I started watching basically because I wanted to watch an anime as it aired, on Cartoon Network.  So (more or less) every Saturday at 11:30 p.m., I dutifully watched the show.  Prior to the start, I read some reviews -- some said it was distressingly formulaic, while others said it was surprisingly innovative.  What tipped things in the show's favor was that the manga had won a prestigious award in Japan ... See full review

**This review contains some mild spoilers You're going to wish this series was longer.  There are many reasons for this, not the least of which being that it's only eleven episodes, but that's not the only reason; many anime are that short (or nearly) and don't feel incomplete.  The problem here is that there are many, many different avenues of exploration, and by the end it really doesn't feel like the events of the series have amounted to much. True, there are two movies, which I haven't seen.  But one has to wonder why they didn't just continue the series.  Or at least make the end... See full review

I've let this movie percolate in my brain for a couple of days before writing this review, just because I wasn't sure if my immediate reaction of "holy crap, that was awesome!" was justified.  After a few days of rumination -- it is.  It totally is. First things first -- the story.  Though I don't generally like to discuss a movie's plot in my review (you can read the plot summary this site provides if you want to know that), I do feel like it's necessary to talk about what this site's summary doesn't cover, which is the wonderful family dynamic that plays throughout all of... See full review

My, what pretty boys ... Ahem.  Sorry.  Got distracted there for a minute.  Where was I?  Oh yes, a review of Ouran ... Well actually, that first sentence isn't a bad description of the series.  Mind you, it doesn't mention the great humor and engaging characters, but it's certainly what you'll be thinking through much of what happens. The physical characteristics of the characters are necessarily played up.  The plot more or less demands it; it is about a group of boys (and one girl) who do their best to make the girls of Ouran Academy swoon.  To this end, they... See full review

I liked Noein (pronounced "no-een," by the way) quite a bit more than I thought I would on first impression.  I watched the first episode and was put off by what I saw as somewhat sketchy animation and a flimsy story.  I eventually came back to it, however, and the more I watched, the greater my appreciation for this remarkable series became. True, the animation is sketchy at times.  Especially during battle sequences, though I've yet to see battle scenes that are as kinetic and energetic as the ones in Noein.  This could definitely put some people off, like it did me... See full review

Princess Mononoke is my favorite anime. I get this out of the way first so you know that this review is in no way meant to be any kind of objective. I heart this movie to an extent that even recognizing it has flaws is hard for me (pacing can be wonky? says you! convoluted story? take that back! too long? well … it isn't, actually, but some might say it is). Anyway, the point is, I love this anime. It's very nearly my favorite movie ever, in any medium (right up there with Amadeus, Seven Samurai, and The Thin Red Line). I love the animation, which is beautiful to behold and gives us some truly... See full review

I’m not quite sure what to make of Ghost in the Shell.  I think it’s a good film, thought-provoking and entertaining, with dynamic animation and an interesting cast of characters.  But it’s also curiously pedantic – the exposition is just a little too on-the-nose, and the ending is an anticlimactic mess.  It’s still an excellent movie, but at the end I found myself wondering, “Is that it?” This might not be the film’s fault.  I’ve done quite a bit of research and critical reading on the concept of embodiment in cyberspace and... See full review

This is a really excellent anime.  I went into it basically on a whim -- I couldn't tell you why it got shuttled to the top of my Netflix queue over anything else -- based more or less on an action-packed trailer, and what I got was a surprisingly mature, engrossing, and sedate film that raises some very interesting questions. The story is simple enough, though it reveals further complications as it goes along that I won't spoil: essentially, it revolves around a pilot, one of the immortal Kildren, who arrives at an air force base as a replacement for another fighter pilot who recently left (it's... See full review

I finished this film a few hours before the writing of this review, and I have to say, this may not be the best time to write it.  The feelings are still fresh in my mind, the emotions still present, the visuals still stuck in my eyes.  I'm writing based on what amounts to a gut, visceral response, to a masterpiece of a film that I liked far more than I thought I was going to.  This is largely because I had high hopes for the film, which is one of the most famous anime movies of all time, and they were, by and large, lived up to. The story is intriguing, if a bit cliche (though it's... See full review

Big Windup! is not an anime I expected to love.  Mostly I started watching it because I thought the animation looked very good -- and it is -- and I liked the character designs.  I'm not a huge fan of sports anime, but that's mostly because I'd never really seen one before this -- the genre had never interested me.  I can say now, having watched Big Windup!, that the sports genre of anime is one I'll be looking into quite a bit more.This is a very good show.  It's all about a young man and pitcher named Ren Mihashi, who loves Baseball but hates himself.  He's recently... See full review

WARNING: This review contains some mild spoilers.I quite like this anime.  The story -- an Ordinary High School boy finds out he's the key to a great battle between rival ninja clans -- isn't particularly original, but it becomes quickly obvious that the show isn't really about that.  Rather, it's about the slowly evolving relationship between our main character, Miharu, and Yoite, another young man of an opposing ninja clan who is slowly dying -- and desperately wants something from Miharu.The relationship between these two kindred spirits is fascinating, as we begin to slowly understand... See full review