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An exhilarating adventure that exudes visual imagination over narrative depth. Introduction Studio Ghibli movies have many flavors. There is the grand fantasy of Princess Mononoke, the homely comforts of My Neighbor Totoro, the spirit worlds of Spirited Away and the broad comedy of Porco Rosso. One flavor is the visual whimsy spectacle, a movie emphasizing episodic incidents of visual imagination over story. This kind of flavor includes Ponyo, a pure spectacle movie. The Boy and the Heron is one more visual whimsy spectacle. Summary The Boy and the Heron (Heron) is Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli... See full review

A warm, comforting anime about creating and rekindling friendships through planning, gathering, and building together. Introduction Simplicity is often the best option when creating a story. Simplicity is keeping a tight focus on a subject and striking a balance between too much and too little. Do It Yourself!!, or DIY, is an example of a club/friendship anime that knows how to keep itself simple and entertaining by focusing on its characters and the growth of their friendships through building. Summary DIY is the story of Yua Serufu, an easily distracted, imaginative, and often irresponsible high... See full review

A Buddy Cop Story that Implodes from Unrestrained Ambition  Best Original Anime, Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2023, I am not joking about this! Tagline A hilarious and overwhelming blend of action, thriller, comedy, mystery, and cute slice of life that breaks itself with scatterbrained writing and uneven execution.  Introduction  In a dystopian Japan, secret police called Direct Action (DA) safeguard society through assassination. The DA's weapons are Lycoris, orphan girls trained as assassins who execute anyone believed to be a threat. When Takina, a cold and... See full review

Deceptive advertising! A foot fetish ecchi about middle school girls! Advertising: a girl wants to go to her mother's middle school wearing a traditional sailor uniform. She makes friends and has fun. Genres: middle school slice of life. Actual content: a foot fetish ecchi with middle schoolers! For the purpose of this review, I believe ecchi to be anything that is meant to arouse the viewer. If I see it, it's ecchi. Akebi's Sailor Uniform is an unsettling mess that uses a lightly dramatic family and school story to conceal that it is an ecchi focusing on feet... See full review

I don't know whether this is a horrible adaptation of a manga, or a faithful adaptation of a horrible manga. This review will not fit my usual review template, because this review does not fit in that format.  First impression: a quirky romance story about four people competing for love, with much introspection and tragic backstories. There's a crow for a pet! Reality: a frustrating romance story with characters who don't want to advance in life, don't want to change and do not know how to express their feelings for each other in a healthy way. There is a crow for a pet, but that means... See full review

  A charming anime that gets the job done with excellent presentation, music, and a fun cast.   Introduction   Familiarity and stereotypes are neutral. When people bring up familiarity and stereotyping, they often use those terms to negatively judge something. Creativity is praised and overly familiar anime franchises are called out for their presence. What most people don’t talk about is how familiarity and stereotypes have purposes. Most stories are familiar because people like certain types of stories and anime producers know that these stories appeal to most people. Stereotypes... See full review

Sometimes, you have to be pushed to see what an anime is really like.  For eight episodes, I was entertained by Slow Start. Then the problems and the creepy aspects collided in the 9th episode, and I had to drop this anime.  This review has spoilers. Plot: Slow Start is about a group of high school girls who become better friends over time. The protagonist, Hana, a shy and socially inept girl, is a year behind in school because she had mumps and was not able to take the high school entrance exam. Hana enters high school and meets a new group of students: Eiko, a popular girl and... See full review