The final episode of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End season 2, which aired last Friday, closed with small stories of the travels that Frieren, Stark, and Fern are on. And like many of the others, it conveyed stories that hold real meaning—and so were an appropriate way to end the season of such a meaningful show!… Read More The Bridge That Saves: Frieren, Gehen, and the Hope of Good Friday
Another anime season is upon us, and that means it’s time once again for our first impressions series here at Beneath the Tangles. Over the next several weeks, our writers will be sampling a wide range of new and returning shows and sharing their early thoughts—what excites us, what surprises us, and what might be… Read More Spring 2026 Anime First Impressions
It’s 2045, and technology has made life very comfortable and, seemingly, better. But with all the advances, there’s one restriction that’s quite unusual: People are outlawed from singing, playing, or even composing music. That’s why Seria finds it so unusual to hear someone in an alley singing a tune. Chasing down the voice, she instead… Read More First Impression: GHOST CONCERT : missing Songs
What if the future becomes the past? Imagine that riots, plagues, and international war bring about the collapse of civilization. Imagine the “Japan Era” becomes a memory, and samurai like those of old battle it out among decaying skyscrapers. Aoteru Misumi, an agricultural planner, lives in such a world, the world of the Sangoku period.… Read More First Impression: NIPPON SANGOKU: The Three Nations of the Crimson Sun
A lot happens in this first episode, so buckle up. Our story opens at a rakugo (traditional Japanese storytelling) cafe in Tokyo, where a 30-something man is giving a performance. We quickly learn that this man’s name is Tohru Osaki, stagename Shinta Arakawa, and his performance…has room for improvement. We can tell he’s under a… Read More First Impression: Akane-banashi
In a world where social media is the determining factor for success in the world, OMGkawaiiAngel—also known as KAngel—is the ultimate “Internet Angel.” Her charming pastel presence and addictive music have gained her ten million followers. Her streams are like an injection of hope for her followers who live in a depressing existence of work… Read More First Impression: Needy Girl Overdose
He is risen! On Beneath the Tangles, we love to talk about the power of storytelling. And on Easter we remember the greatest story—a true one about one who was both man and God, who two thousand years ago was executed in humiliation and agony. From the outside, it looked like the end of that… Read More He Is Risen! Happy Easter to the Doubters, the Failures, and the Thieves
Nanoka Kiba is a normal third-year middle schooler—well, normal except for the intense trauma she’s gone through. She was found by rescuers at the bottom of a sinkhole, bloody and not breathing; her family had fallen in while driving when she was a first grader. Now, all these years later, Nanoka finds herself at the… Read More First Impression: Mao
Minato, who can see benevolent spirits but not wicked ones, becomes caretaker of an abandoned house that belonged to a distant relative. As he cleans up, he unwittingly drives out the negative spiritual energy infesting the place. Soon he also meets Yamagami, a mountain god in the form of a large talking canine creature. The… Read More First Impression: Kusunoki’s Garden of the Gods
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