An early 90s nostalgia trip, Hi Score Girl is an anime series about hardcore 2-D fighting game enthusiast, Haruo Yaguchi, and the two girls he meets at the arcades. The first is Akira Oono, who is one of the most popular girls in school. Akira gets top marks in all of her classes and will… Read More Newman’s Nook: Haruo’s Passion in Hi-Score Girl
Not that long ago, I was in the field with a coworker of mine. She was talking about a recent trip she took to Japan. It was a cool conversation and touched on all the fun she had on the trip. She also started to discuss how she had recently gotten into anime. Her boyfriend… Read More Newman’s Nook: Evangelizing the Wrong Thing
One of my favorite anime antagonists is Shishio, the evildoer from the Kyoto Arc of Rurouni Kenshin. Shishio looks like a mummy, replaced Kenshin as the battousai, is never really bested by Kenshin with the sword, and in the dubbed version of the show, he’s voiced by always-awesome Steven Blum. What’s not to love (or… Read More Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki and Laying Down Your Life
Episode 12 closes out our summer series of Japan focused podcast episodes with a special Tangles panel: JP (Japes), Kaze, Jack (R86), and Daniel (Zeroe4)! All members of this month’s panel have spent varying degrees of time in Japan in very different roles with unique experiences of the country, and thus use that diversity to… Read More The Tangles Anime Podcast: Episode 12
Hello, this is stardf29, and I will be taking over Anime Today for japesland while he is in Japan experiencing the Japanese life for himself. Kiniro Mosaic, a.k.a. KINMOZA, is a cute-girls-doing-cute-things show with an ongoing theme of overcoming communication barriers, and that theme is stronger than ever in the currently-airing second season. In addition… Read More Anime Today: KINMOZA’s Communication Barriers
In the two most recent episodes of The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls, the focus shifts back to the main trio of Uzuki, Rin, and Mio as they work on their CD debut and prepare for a mini-concert to promote their new CD. Mio is particularly excited about their upcoming concert: she invites all her friends at school… Read More The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls, Ep. 6-7: Too Great Expectations?
With the Your Lie in April (Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso) manga coming to an end, the birth pains are being felt in the anime version as well. In episode 16, more than in any other, we see how debilitating Kaori’s illness is to her, and become more assured that her disease is fatal. In… Read More Your Lie in April, Episode 16: No Time
Sometimes when you go home, you find that you don’t always feel welcome there. It might be intentional, as with how Shione treats Nonoka in episode three of Sora no Method (Celestial Method). Or it could just be that you’ve moved past it or no longer feel in sync with a place. So, then, why… Read More Sora no Method, Episode 3: You CAN Go Home Again
Two episodes in, and Shirou is already coming across as twice the man he was in the original Fate/stay night anime. I’m not sure if this is a correction by design or if the chauvinism he displayed through FSN will rear it’s ugly head as he begins to develop his relationship with Saber. Still, there’s… Read More Fate/stay night Unlimited Blade Works, Episode 1: Saving Everyone
School is back in session for most students, which means that summer is coming to a close. That means the fall season of anime is just around the corner. Can you believe it? But writers continue to blog wonderful articles for the shows coming to a close for the summer season, including those below. Medieval… Read More Something More: Jesusmonogatari, GGO’s False Prophet, and Christian Writers on Ghibli