A man hums “Moon River” without knowing what it is as a sleepy crew shuttles along one of the Moon’s rilles in a monorail. Suddenly, they are under assault by flying things! Are they robots? Are they aliens? Are they alien robots?! Nothing is clear as the fists fly, the capes billow, and finally—finally!—the guns… Read More First Impression: Moonrise
The episode opens with back-to-back VTubers: the first one is dark-haired, with lots of neon lights surrounding her and a short song on offer; the second sports short orange hair and lots of pep but not much else. There’s no apparent connection between the two. Cut to real life (as in, 2D anime life), and… Read More First Impression: Kizuna no Allele
Three typical slice-of-life girls arrive in the big city. There’s Himawari, the confident blond sporty one, Tsuyukusa, the sleepy-eyed, dessert-loving blue-haired one, and Tsutsuji, the reddish-pink haired one who is so normal she’s special, as befitting an MC. Only, what’s that beneath their hats? Horns?! Oh yeah, they’re oni or the demon-monsters of Japanese folk… Read More First Impression: Onipan!
It’s not often I feel shown up by an anime—especially when it comes to my faith. But the Hunter King in Ranking of Kings episode 4 does just that. As I watched him lead Bojji in a dance of thanksgiving, I realized that I had a thing or two to learn from this wild animist. … Read More Dancing of Kings: What the Hunter King Taught Me about Thanksgiving
Anime has a lot to say about friendship. Most of it, is about the process of making friends (often in trying situations with rather awkward people), and then standing by them in tough times. Much of the medium’s message about friendship can be pretty clichéd, but that doesn’t make it any less comforting and inspiring—or… Read More The Friend We Don’t Know We Have: Ranking of Kings, ep. 5
The ranking of a king depends on the prosperity of his town and his accomplishments as a warrior-hero. What chance does a tiny little prince the size of a thumb have in such a world? Especially one whom the people mock as he strides happily through the town centre in his underpants. And even more… Read More First Impression: Ranking of Kings
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