Pretty Rhythm: Rainbow Live has been a wonderful yet underrated surprise among the anime I’ve seen. On the surface, it looks like a typical children’s magical idol show with an ice-skating gimmick, but the combination of tightly-crafted story arcs and amazing character development among the cast has made the show shine like a prism… Read More 12 Days of Christmas Anime, Day 9: Pretty Rhythm: Rainbow Live
Gasaraki is one of the classic mecha anime. “If it’s a classic,” you ask, “why have I never heard of it before?” Despite the great animation (at least, to a connoisseur of 90’s anime like myself), many layers of intrigue, a unique plot, and great mecha battles, the dialog can be very abstruse–so abstruse that… Read More Gasaraki: the Collective, Conscience, and Freedom
Last year during this season I talked about the Christmas episode from The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls, so it is only fitting that this year I would talk about the Christmas episode, Episode 22, from the “original” The iDOLM@STER anime. (And no, I do not mean Xenoglossia; the one from 2011.) Our 13 girls of 765… Read More 12 Days of Anime Christmas, Day 12: The iDOLM@STER’s Family Gathering
I watched Tokyo Godfathers for the first time recently, and, in addition to inspiring the ink drawing above, the thing brought me to the point of tears. The third movie directed by the late Satoshi Kon, it tells the story of three homeless people who find an abandoned baby girl on Christmas Eve and embark… Read More 12 Days of Anime Christmas, Day 1: Tokyo Godfathers
The beauty of Clannad is in how it shows love expressed through family of all different kinds – that kind of love has the power to heal, to restore, to give life, even in the midst of extraordinary difficulties, even when life itself isn’t fair. There’s a sincerity to the series that’s lacking in most… Read More When Community Fails: Tomoya and the Failure of Clann
Never turn your back on family, even when they hurt you. Sakae’s final words in Summer Wars reminds the Jinnouchi clan of the importance of family. It’s a significant message, both in how most of us can connect to that idea and its complexity. The quote above, and the longer message it accompanies, instructs her… Read More Mamoru Hosoda and God’s Unconventional Family
What is family? It’s a weird question to ask, but it’s one that Nyanbo! unintentionally answers throughout the series. The Nyanbo are a group of box-shaped anthropomorphic cats. The series takes a lot of interesting turns in its short-form silliness, but throughout the series we find the Nyanbo constantly coming back together to unite as… Read More Newman’s Nook: Who is Your Family?