Is there a specific characteristic that sets great anime protagonists and heroes apart? While there are perhaps plenty of common traits they share, one that really just out is their ability to be themselves even when being yourself isn’t cool. Naruto Uzumaki provides us a good example of this funny trait. The Naruto manga is… Read More Naruto and Futaba Just Don’t Care (and Neither Should We)
Episode 12 ends Blue Spring Ride without much of anything resolved. Summer has come. Kou doesn’t have to take summer classes. The group of friends continue to bond. Yuri and Futaba agree to increase their efforts for Kou’s affections. The only major thing that’s happening is this: Kou has started to open himself up to… Read More Blue Spring Ride Episode 12: Opening Up
It always seems as if season finales sneak up on us, and summer 2014 was no different, with shows ending their runs this week. That also means that a packed new season of anime is about to begin! Last night, Japes and Kaze conducted our first live stream, reviewing a number of this season’s shows… Read More Video: Summer 2014 Anime Review & Fall 2014 Anime Preview
Episode eleven of Blue Spring Ride (Ao Haru Ride) begins with a very heavy hand, as in the opening few minutes we finally see why Kou has become the way he has. Not only do we now see the pain he went through with his mother’s illness (from lung cancer, it turns out) and death,… Read More Blue Spring Ride, Episode 11: What We Do With Our Time
My mom moved around from church to church quite often as I was growing up. I of course, hated that, because as soon as I would establish myself among a group of friends, it seemed, I would be uprooted. Once, when I was in fourth grade, my church friends and I were working hard for… Read More Blue Spring Ride, Episode 11: Guilt and Despair
The more I watch Blue Spring Ride (Ao Haru Ride), the more I see myself in Futaba. And that’s unsettling, not because of her faults, but lately because of her strengths, which are more on display in episode ten than in any of the others to date. This episode begins where the last left off,… Read More Blue Spring Ride Episode 10: Realization and Confession
As Blue Spring Ride (Ao Haru Ride) progresses, so, too, do the relationships in the show. Unlike other series, Ao Haru Ride throws five characters together who are fairly new to each other. There is some history there, but none of these people have been in any others’ social group before. We’re getting to see… Read More Blue Spring Ride, Episode 9: Friends and Lovers