Welcome, March! And hello, AniMarch Madness! The craziness begins today with our six play-in matches (plus one exclusive to Patreon) to determine the final entrants into the field of 64. Please vote for one anime from each match below to move on to the tournament proper, which begins on Monday. As just as with the… Read More AniMarch Madness 2023: Play-in Matches
This is it, folks! The final installment. We didn’t quite make it to 13, and there was no beach episode, but otherwise, we hope we were able to do justice to the tone, heart, and charm of slice-of-life in our summertime special devoted to this beloved genre. Thank you for joining us on this laid-back… Read More The Things We Learn from Slice-of-Life
As fans well know, Non Non Biyori is a show punctuated by pauses. In fact, many of the top comments on Crunchyroll have to do with viewers who’ve checked their internet connection or refreshed the page mid-watch, thinking that the stream must have stalled. These “frozen moments” are unique to the anime adaptation of the… Read More Summer of SoL: Non Non Biyori & What Happens in the Pauses
Welcome to BtT’s Summer of Slice of Life! This is the series where we’ll be celebrating all the things we love about SoL and the ways it soothes the soul, deepens our faith, and models for us the beauty of life and community on this planet we call home. And, in keeping with the relaxed,… Read More Summer of SoL: Is Escapism Unhealthy? A Christian Perspective (Series Launch)
Happy International Women’s Day, everyone! In honor of the day, we here at BtT are excited to celebrate some of our favorite women working in anime, manga, and light novels. We’re also joined by our friend Atelier Gokujou, who shares a few faves with us from the perspective of a professional anime artist. From the… Read More An Ode to the Women of Anime, Manga, & Light Novels
Rice paddies and those that call them home: a songbird, a couple of farmers and a girl who runs for the pure joy of it. She pauses to gather herself, thinking of her favorite idol and her goal of making friends at her new school, before throwing herself into a cartwheel that turns into a… Read More First Impression: Akebi’s Sailor Uniform
Amid shots of gorgeous scenery, a handful of elementary and middle school-age kids attend the Japanese equivalent of a one-room country schoolhouse. Silliness ensues, periodically interrupted by more landscape shots. The heart of Non Non Biyori is Renge, a precocious and hilarious first-grader. Then there’s Hotaru, a former city girl whose family moved out to… Read More First Impression: Non Non Biyori, Season 3