I was expecting a lot out of the Hidden Inventory arc. I thought it'd be like the Dark Era arc in BSD, in the sense that it would make me love a series I previously disliked (and also make me cry). I wonder if I didn't accidentally make it a victim of my own hype, because while it wasn't bad by any means, I still couldn't bring myself to feel very deeply for the characters, which is a recurring problem for me as far as Jujutsu Kaisen is concerned. Maybe I need more time to let things soak in...I'll probably be able to give a final verdict on it once I rewatch it via the compilation movie. Anyhow, after this arc, I watched JJK0 for the third (!) time and I do see how it's a gay breakup story now. How sad…! Ahem. In the end, I was a just a tad underwhelmed, but there's one thing I can't deny: the animation looks absolutely gorgeous this time around.

The Shibuya arc was a huge surprise for me. I didn't expect the whole situation to be that dire. Everything just keeps going wrong…As my brother, certified Jujutsu Man, said, “it finally became a proper series, didn't it?”— compared to season 1, it's like night and day. The quality of the fights kind of fluctuates, and while I didn't love all of them, there was a lot to enjoy. The direction and visuals made for some incredible moments now and then. Honestly, before this I didn't even understand why someone would be a fan of this show (sorry!), but I think I get it now. It's pretty cool, actually!

Also, my brother and friends are now bullying me because I said my favorite character is Mahito (⁠=⁠_⁠=⁠;⁠)⁠・⁠・⁠・

Since I at least knew that the Hidden Inventory arc was a thing and had seen bits and pieces of the Shibuya arc by virtue of living in the same house as someone who's probably watched it a double digit number of times, the next season will actually be the first one where I have no idea of what to expect. My brother kept saying how lucky I am that I’d get to watch it right after season 2 without having to wait, so he was a bit mad that I wanted to go to sleep after we were done with the last episode instead of jumping to season 3 right away—what can I say, that was a lot! I need a break to process everything, all right?

I was under the impression that this was a feature length movie so I kept putting it off for another day, so imagine my surprise when I finally sat down to watch it and found out it's only 18 minutes long—not that I'm complaining, exactly. Somehow, it feels like the whole thing lasted three minutes at most. Something like a weekend morning breakfast simulator, something like a music clip, every second of it is the definition of eye candy. Yamada Naoko must be some sort of wizard to make me absolutely love something that uses so many emojis—it’s something I would have hated in anything else, and here it's infinitely charming. It's all so fluffy and beautiful, I wish I could eat the whole thing up.

So, one thing about my family is that everyone in it has seen Jujutsu Kaisen…except for me. Another thing is that my little brother is absolutely obsessed with it, and has been for several years. I could never get into it, but watching him rewatch his favorite episodes of the Shibuya arc for the nth time, complaining about this or that point, quoting his favorite character's lines (Gojo, that is), made me realize that if I wanted to understand it—to understand him, even—I'd have to watch it with him by my side. When I proposed it, he was over the moon—“For real? Every episode? Watching every single opening and ending?”—which made me feel like a good and proper big sister, for a change.

To tell you the truth, what I was most curious about was the hidden inventory arc (for BL reasons, of course), but that's in season 2—the very first arc, my brother assured me, so I powered through. I've read the manga up to the exchange event arc which would mean that there wasn't much new story for me…if not for the fact that I've forgotten most of it. I swear that this series goes in one ear and out the other for me. I've read JJK0 three goddamn times and still couldn't tell you what happens in it. Anyways.

Some arcs (especially the exchange event one) are pretty damn boring, and I had a hard time bringing myself to care about the characters. I've seen worse shows, sure, but I still can't think it's anything but “meh”. There’s lots of interesting concepts, though—Mahito is a personal favorite. His ability is so scary to think about, I'm really thankful to live in a world where he doesn't exist.

My other complaint is that I think the character designs look pretty ugly—my brother & friends swear that season 2 will look an entire world better than this one, though, so it's something I look forward to. I think my favorite part was the little omake at the end of each episode. They were fun and honestly looked better than the main anime itself.

Either way, this one is still a 6.5 from me…but I'm finally free to watch season 2 (and understand what my friend means when he calls JJK0 a “gay breakup story”)

I now realize I didn't go in any detail at all about any of the True of Vamp plays in the stageplays page (or any of the plays there at all, but that's another matter), but the reason I got into them was because of this anime. I wondered what on earth it was about back when it came out, and googling led me into a rabbit hole that I don't regret jumping into. Anyways, two years, one manga, and several plays later, I'm finally here.

I initially thought it would be a slice-of-life story about Delico and the other vampire bishies caring for their kids, but that's only half of it. Directly following the events of Grand Guignol, a group of vampire nobles come together to investigate a new series of murders, and at the insistence of ever-whimsical Dali Delico, they have to join him in raising their children themselves (instead of leaving it to their servants as is the norm in aristocratic families) while they work.

At first I was a bit annoyed by how they kept reiterating the same worldbuilding points again and again, but as the story progressed I realized I actually did not remember anything of what happened in SPECTER and in fact did need the refresher—oh well. That's one play I'm not looking forward to rewatching.

Anyhow, this show is, to put simply, not very good—my whole enjoyment was carried by the fact that I was already invested in most of these characters, and the story isn't much to write home about. The vamp babies were cute, but knowing what happens in TRUMP made this a very cruel watch. Every moment of happiness, every reiteration of the hope to grow up and become an adult, brought to mind the tragedy to come, like watching a car crash in really slow motion. That last episode really twisted the knife in—I cried for the entirety of it. Everything that came before is tragic, and everything that comes after is tragic, and I even wonder if there was any point to it at all—but today, you're all alive, so Ul, don't give up…!

This show always looked like a 6/10 to me so I never bothered checking it out, but my dad dragged me into watching it the other day (I wonder what prompted it). It's sort of like cultivator Saiki K., what with a super powerful guy constantly trying (and of course, often failing) to keep a low profile and hide his extraordinary powers at school, while also saving the world and his newfound friends along the way.

The gags were pretty damn funny now and then (me and my dad especially loved the froggy), and there’s lots of flashy fight scenes with plenty of what the kids call “hype moments and aura”. I initially found the more serious storyline they had going on rather boring, but by the end I came around to it. It's not so bad. Cute, even.

I must say, however, that it's also not good enough that I want to watch a second or third or fourth or fifth season, but my dad thinks otherwise, so I don't really have a choice in the matter (⁠─⁠.⁠─⁠|⁠|⁠）Seems like I'll be keeping up with Wang Ling’s (mis-) adventures for a while still.

I've been watching way too much stuff from the 2020’s lately, so it was high time for a little 80’s fun with a title that I've been wanting to check out for quite a while.

On one side, there's Miyu, a lovely vampire girl. She goes about an often solitary Kyoto alongside her masked servant hunting Shinma—magical creatures who prey on humans. Of course, being a vampire, she has a penchant for the blood of beautiful young girls and boys and prefers to keep her prey in an eternally-dreaming state rather than killing them outright. She is in turn hunted by the other protagonist, a spiritualist named Himiko who wants to stop her from drinking people's blood.

With a haunting soundtrack and a wonderfully mysterious atmosphere, it's a neat little gothic horror gem, with all the delicacy and romanticism that I could ask for on a cold winter’s night.

I kind of fell off from keeping up with this one back when it aired, saying “oh well, I’ll just binge the rest when it finishes”, like I always do…and then four years went by in a flash. Tehepero.

It was half a rewatch since it's been so long—to be honest, I hadn't forgotten anything, but getting a refresher doesn't hurt, especially for such a lovely show like this one. Lately I've been watching a lot of things I'm not used to, which is nice in its own way, but there really is nothing like home—a good Cute Girls Doing Cute Things title really is worth its weight in gold.

It's a light and airy anime where cutting-edge technology combines with all types of handicrafts in the rather unique DIY club. I've always liked making stuff, so I can relate to their philosophy (though I've never tried woodworking, which is most of what they do). The slightly futuristic setting and colorful artstyle are real stand-outs—I especially loved how the shading on the characters’ hair was done.

The protagonist, aptly (and a bit oddly) named Yua Serufu, is an incredibly clumsy and lovable girl, and the rest of the cast doesn't fall behind, either. A reliable president, a shy bookworm, a genius child from America, an energetic hacker girl from India, and Yua’s rather tsundere childhood friend to top it all off—girls who seem as different as night and day all come together in a journey where the end goal of getting enough members to avoid the closure of the DIY club is less important than the means of making things together with their friends.

A flawless slice-of-life show, incredibly fun and relaxing to watch, complete with a nice dose of yurifulness (it's there if you have the love to see it)—I enjoyed every second of it.

I wasn't really interested in this one when it came out, but I needed something high energy to match my mood today and the colors were super aesthetically pleasing, so I decided to give it a try.

Utage made me nostalgic for the like, single episode of Kiss Him Not Me I watched back in highschool (I bet it's a show I'd understand better nowadays so I should get back to it eventually…) A kid who came over while I was watching the show said, “oh wow, her room is exactly like yours!” and I can't really argue with that. We're both crazy, just in slightly different ways. Anyways, she's a very fun protagonist, and completely carried the show for me.

I sort of can't stand Tamon’s idolsona’s type (though to be honest I kind of wish I lived in that world so I could read the Tamon/Ouri rpf I'm sure it goes crazy—), but his doom-and-gloom pathetic other side added a level of humanity—or I guess you could even say cuteness—to him, but he still got on my nerves sometimes. I kind of want to kick him. Ahem.

I didn't particularly dislike any of the other F/ACE guys. Didn't particularly like any of them either, but so it goes. It was pretty funny seeing their real selves—I was totally able to guess what Keito was going to be like based on his looks. Go, me! Come to think of it, we didn't get to see what Rintaro is actually like. I wonder if he's the exception to the others and is just like that normally…nah, I'm sure he's as much of a disaster as the others. Somehow.

I'm not really the target audience for this show but I had fun regardless. I liked how the over-the-top gags would often end up being diegetic, it was so silly. I thought the romance was pretty cute, too. I have no idea how it'll turn out, but I'm rooting for them. Go for it, Utage…!

No battles in this one, just pure summer vacation fun given a twinge of sadness by Yamatonokami going around wishing Kashuu was there to enjoy it with him. The perfect blend of slice-of-life antics and slight melancholy. I almost cried when Okita showed up while Kashuu was writing his letter (also, when he asked him “is that a love letter?” !!!)

One half at the mountains (I guess Yamatonokami and Kashuu are doomed to not be able to participate in the water-gun fight at the same time), one half at the beach—the cave scene was beautiful, but seeing Mikazuki in that straw hat with the ribbon was also amazing~ When Kashuu came back at the end a couple of tears did fall—I totally thought he was going to be absent from the fireworks show…! I didn’t like the second half of the last movie very much, so I wasn’t expecting this one to be this good, but it’s going right behind season 1 of Hanamaru in my personal rankings. I really loved it.

Maybe it’s the sun setting early and the weather getting colder, but I've been in a real mood for ghosts—though not necessarily horror—this past month for some reason, and this anime fit the bill perfectly.

The protagonist is Mai, a high school girl who works at Shibuya Psychic Research, an agency led by a mysterious teenage boy investigating supernatural mysteries, from possessions to curses—and ghosts, obviously. They've got a lot of bases covered with an onmyouji secretary and tagalongs in the form of a (former) buddhist monk, a (self-styled) shinto shrine maiden, and a catholic priest (-in training), plus a famous medium who(at least to me) looks more like a ghost herself. It's a really fun cast.

The show is divided in files, each a pretty much self-contained case around 3-4 episodes long, and it's the type of series where I feel like pacing yourself and watching one arc at a time makes for a better experience than binging the whole thing.

Some of them are more light-hearted, while others manage to create a really creepy atmosphere (which kind of goes down the drain if one of those purple-fire ghosts show up), and the paranormal procedural often gives way to chanting of sutras and purifications that take it to the realm of fantasy. An incredibly entertaining show, and it's with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to it—as I happily add the light novels to my reading list, of course.

I forgot to mention this when I was talking about season 1, but is Fuurin High even a school? So far there's been no teachers, no classes, they just go there to meet up and leave to fight someone whenever they want to. What's up with that?! I gotta say it's a better hangout spot than KEEL’s, at least—that warehouse of theirs was so dark I could barely see anything that was going on in the first two episodes! Anyways.

After that kind of hard-to-see brawl (which fucking sucked, to be honest) the show calms down for a while, shifting to a more quiet interpersonal drama. I never would've expected something like episode 6—or a character like Tsubaki—when I started watching this series. It does keep in line with the themes of acceptance that have been going on since episode 1, but it was still a surprise. I don't know how to explain it, but I expected this show to be a lot worse than it actually is, so I'm caught off-guard whenever I find myself thinking it's kinda good.

Most of the second half is back to the usual well-choreographed fights in the middle of the street. There wasn't that raw brutality that the Shishitoren one-on-one's in the first season had, but there was still just as much heart behind it.

Suou remains my favorite (though I have to admit some part of my brain keeps seeing him as Kashuu), and I'm very curious about what his deal is—though not enough that I'd go out of my way to read the manga. Well, if there's a third season, I'll watch it, so there.

This isn't the type of show I usually watch, but I had to give it a try after a friend's glowing recommendation—when I said it looked kind of ugly, he replied with “come on, it's kind of BL” (and since it's about guys punching each other, I suppose he was right)

Anyway! The protagonist, Haruka Sakura, is a guy who spent his life being shunned for his uncommon appearance moves to a new town intending to take the top spot at Fuurin High School, a place where strength is the law, but upon getting there, he finds that the once-dangerous town is now protected by the students of said school, who call themselves “Bofurin”. Here, his natural two-tone hair is nearly unremarkable in a sea of bleach and dyes and wild hairdos, and he has to learn how to accept the newfound goodwill of the people around him, all while fighting to protect his new friends.

A show about friendship and community , and also about guys talking with their fists. Brutal one-on-ones spraying blood of an unsatisfactorily light shade of red on some episodes, street brawls filled with impossible flying kicks on others, Sakura blushing at the drop of a hat in nearly all of them. It feels a bit like a sports anime, down to the type of characters in the cast. So far, my favorite is Suou—he wears an eyepatch, so no surprises here (also, he kind of looks like Kashuu…)

The fights are rather fun to watch, and I found myself enjoying this way more than I expected. A pretty solid 7, I'd say. Now, on to season 2 we go…!

This feels like the type of movie I'd watch on DVD like every single day as a kid. I have a soft spot for 2000’s CGI so I don't share the general complaint about the dance scenes—both the story and animation are super cute! Just pure joy, nostalgia and some of the cutest outfits in the world. The only defect is that it's less than an hour long—I could totally go for a few cours of their adventures.

I was going to start this review with something along the lines of, “it may not seem like it, but I'm a huge type-moon fan” as if this website isn't named after an obscure type-moon manga—anyways! FSN and Tsukihime are my favorite VNs ever, and as a certified lore nerd, Fate/strange Fake is without a doubt my favorite spinoff from the whole franchise (the only one that maybe comes close is /type redline). I don't usually look forward to light novels I like getting anime adaptations, but this series was an exception. It was a long wait, but boy, did it deliver.

The visuals and direction were so good it caught me off guard. The OST was great, and I have to admit I felt a bit emotional when I first saw the first ending sequence making a homage to the Carnival Phantasm ed—I haven't been really keeping up with Type-Moon stuff since I quit FGO a few years ago, so it felt like coming home.

I can't unread the novels to truly know if someone having the first contact with the story through the show would be confused or not, but I don't think there was anything that hard to keep up with, plot-wise? My only complaint is that the pacing being as fast as it was did sacrifice some of the quieter conversation scenes which is a shame, though complaining about that in a fate adaptation doesn't feel worth it at this point (read the novels, kids!). Even then, I thought it was a great adaptation, fitting of that insane grail war.

I got into this one pretty late, about 5 or 6 weeks into the Winter 2026 season, at the recommendation of a friend. I figured, just because I had lost on 6 weeks of fujoing out with him, that didn't mean I had to give up on the next 6, right? Either way, that's quite the long title, isn't it? I have to google it whenever I'm writing it down. We always said, “did you see The Isekai this week?” (or just started talking about Seiichirou over snacks like we were gossiping about a mutual friend), so I didn't get a chance to learn it…

Ok, now for the show itself: I'm pretty sure everyone is used to Isekai With a Twist at this point (or maybe not), and while I probably say every year that “I'll never watch an isekai again”, something always ends up changing my mind…oh well. Haggard 30-year-old workaholic who's always about to die from being poisoned by magic air × super hot and talented 22-year-old commander who can heal him through magic and gay sex is a rather fresh dynamic, I'll give you that. The story is half Seiichirou becoming one of the most important people at work I mean the kingdom through the power of spreadsheets, half him getting saved/spoiled by Aresh(he deserves it). The pacing is quite slow, but I think it fits well for the type of story it is. The romance aspect was super cute and adorable (and I do love when the uke is older)—I felt like I was melting a bit.

The show is very visually uninteresting, though that was within my expectations for a non-action-focused isekai seasonal. OST was also nothing to write home about (though I still have the opening song stuck in my head). I wasn't familiar with most of the VAs in the cast, but nothing struck me as particularly bad( and Tomoaki Maeno was so perfect as Aresh!).

Anyways, it's quite a lovely BL, and I was very happy to learn that the novels have been officially localized by Yen Press—I’m still in the second volume(equivalent to the last 6 episodes of the show), but I'm having a lot of fun re-experiencing the story.

After a full decade of staring at the cover thinking “this looks like a solid 7/10”, my intuition was proven right—not a point more, not a point less. Pretty cool show with an interesting setting.

Kings and their followers, floating swords, superpowers, a cat that turns into a girl, a straight-laced swordsman, and a mysterious white-haired boy at the center of it all...Major BSD vibes in more ways than one (welcome back, DaChuu?). There's quite a lot of characters but they’re balanced well. Now, I didn't think the story was particularly good, and I found the tonal shifts to be a bit jarring now and then, but, as I said: pretty cool show!

I liked the visuals, especially in the first few episodes, quite a bit—that blue-tinted city, the moving wallpaper in Shiro’s room… it feels a bit weird to say this, but it's the sort of aesthetics that make me feel like I'm really watching an anime from the 2010s, y'know?

The OST was one of the high points. The tracks had a really cool vibe.

It was very open-ended, but there's quite a few sequels, though I'm honestly not sure if I'll watch them or not…

So, one thing about me is that I read a fuckton of villainess manhwa. Another thing about me is that villainess manhwa usually pisses me off—see, I don't like het romance very much, and I'm always thinking something along the lines of how the heroine is a much better match than mr-crown-prince-duke-of-the-north or what have you(⁠ノ⁠｀⁠Д⁠´⁠)⁠ノ⁠彡⁠┻⁠━⁠┻. I'm afraid someday they'll give me an aneurysm and I'll wake up as the protagonist (or side character that has like a single-digit number of lines and dies 3 chapters in, as seems to be the fashion these days) of one of them. So why do I read them all the time, you ask? Well, to look at the art, of course! I love frilly princess dresses and castles and flower gardens and fancy tea sets and shiny boxes full of jewels and if I have to lose count of how many blonde girls I've seen marry black-haired guys to be able to look at these things, then so be it.

Ok insane rant over I promise. I read some of the manhwa this donghua is based on years ago, but so it goes that I remember nothing about it. I'm pretty sure they changed quite a bit of the premise of the story, but I honestly don't care enough about it to complain—this is not a principled review. As I said, I'm here to look at pretty shiny things!

And boy were they shiny. The art is even prettier than the manhwa somehow, and it moves! It's all so beautiful and sparkly, it's like a dream—like the princess stories I loved as a child, but better. As the show went on this diminished a bit (I wonder if they were blowing the budget off on those flashy battle scenes). After each episode, I'd be in a mood to make sweets topped with fruit like the ones they had at their tea parties, which my family enjoyed quite a bit (halfway through the series, I was making the sweets a day before the new episode came out so I could eat it with them as I watched it (⁠；⁠^⁠ω⁠^⁠）).

I’m one of the few people who chose to watch the Chinese dub(I prefer watching things in their original languages; besides, there's no way I was going to miss Hua Cheng’s VA as Lucas), and it was really lovely.

The story is nothing life-changing, but it's by no means bad. It's super cute, in fact! Watching Athanasia grow up every week was so heartwarming, I kind of felt like she was my own daughter. That ending, though...ack! I might have to come crawling back to the manhwa sometime soon(ᵕ—ᴗ—)

Pretty sure I learned what the word “fujoshi” meant because of this anime. Not like I watched it past the first episode back when it came out. Whatever. I’m back and stronger now.

Anyways! Boys that bond over liking Sanrio (and occasionally get bullied for it—damn those stupid kids, don't they get that liking Pompompurin is a sign of mature refinement?) A surprisingly dramatic first half that mellows out a little as the show goes on (the drama comes back in full force for the final episodes, though).

Maybe an odd premise but the show is pretty average slice of life/cute boys doing cute things fare, with a beautiful message about accepting yourself and who you love—who you love in this case being Sanrio mascot characters, of course. To be honest, I had way more fun than I expected. It's cute!

I kind of wish the boy’s designs were less low-key though. I guess that's kind of the point since they're supposed to be normal guys and all but color-coded hair and ties would've been so nice…!

The worst part is that it made me realize that I own zero KikiLala merch even though they're my favorites. And I Cannot buy merch because of a Sanrio show that would mean their propaganda worked (←person who bought a Kuromi plush because of Onegai My Melody)

Aimlessly rolling on mudae late at night →pull an Uesugi Kenshin catboy →omg →I recognize that artstyle →look the game’s name up →it’s a long-since EOS’d otome gacha →there’s an anime adaptation →it’s unsurprisingly super poorly rated →not like I have anything better to do

You know, being physically unable to look at a screen at all for two weeks last year really tanked my standards for what shows I consider watchable—even then, this barely scores higher than “laying on my bed staring at the ceiling”. Catboy Uesugi Kenshin seemed like a fire idea, and when I recognized Kousuke Toriumi's voice in the first episode, I decided I'd watch this show to the end no matter what. As it went, it seems he's more of a dogboy (or a werewolf, as they said), and his episode (halfway through the series) was the only watchable one. Like that episode alone is almost a six out of ten. I want to say the Masamune Date one was also decent but I fear it might just be some form of stockholm syndrome there's no way it was actually any good. Whatever. The rest of the show, well…I knew it would suck, and my expectations were met on all levels. Vampire Oda Nobunaga’s design was cool though, I'll give them that. Moral of the story: none

A reimagining of The Count of Monte Cristo in a distant future of interplanetary travel and intergalactic wars that combines sci-fi technology with 1940s-esque aesthetics for a truly unique setting—and a truly unique work.

The visuals are simply out of this world. All those mesmerizing patterns and textures come together with that almost dreamlike PS2-ish CGI in a collage where something is always moving. It’s all such a feast for the eyes. The soundtrack is amazing, too!

The Count looks and sounds pretty much exactly how I pictured him in my mind when I read the novel all those years ago(down to the fangs!). The story is captivating and full of surprises even if you haven’t read the book (though it’s not like I can unread it to be sure…). Honestly, I may like it even more than the original (even though Eugénie is straight in this one…). Revenge, greed, death, hate… and love, most of all. It's kind of BL, even.

This one’s a real gem—or a king's treasure found in a cave. Now I need to go and find a way to convince everyone I know to watch it...well, as the man himself said, "Attendre et espérer!"

I'm not sure why, but I thought this was going to be set in some sort of fantasy world, or at least some not-our-world setting like Kino no Tabi, but I guess present-day Japan does make more sense.

The premise of “letters sent from the dead” lends itself well to tearjerkers, and I did cry in one…or three episodes, but for most of the time I felt like I was watching a worse version of Hell Girl.

I didn't really like the colors in Fumika’s design (or the shigofumi’s uniforms), and both this world and the next are visually quite boring, which is a shame for something where the main character has angel wings(sometimes).

The overarching plot surprised me quite a bit. The plurality aspect was really well-done, and is certainly the only good memory I'll bring away from this show. On the other hand, the conclusion the story reached in favor of continuing to support a writer’s work after he was convicted of abusing his child left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

I’ve seen gifs of this show going around various #aesthetic blogs on Tumblr for the better part of a decade, but I never knew it had humans in it until I started the first episode. I always assumed it was some pre-k show about My Melo and friends making flower garlands and having tea in a green field or something…well, it IS a kid’s show, but you know what I mean.

Some part of me feels kind of wrong calling it a mahou shoujo, but it would feel just as wrong calling it anything else. Uta-chan isn't the one fighting in the end, but the beats are still the same. Yeah, let's cut the middleman and let the plushie-like mascots duke it out between themselves.

I never cared much for My Melody(I don't like her shade of pink ┐⁠(⁠‘⁠～⁠`⁠;⁠)⁠┌) but she is. So cute. Like incredibly cute. The way she says “yaaaan” and does chores around the house and floats on that little umbrella made me want to reach my hands through the screen and grab her. She activates my Rena-hauuu-omochikaeri-instincts like no other. We are friends now. Besties, even. We're having tea at her place tomorrow. She says you're all invited.

Now, Kuromi. I never cared much about her either…but getting complimented on my Kuromi bag by random Kuromi fans on the street quickly made me appreciate her more, and that's what actually led me to watching this show. Didn't want to be a poser, y’know? (⁠•⁠ ⁠▽⁠ ⁠•⁠;⁠)

Anyway, this little imp girl is so very charming. Stubborn to a fault. Keeps a written record of every time My Melo has wronged her(most of it is her own fault, which she obviously doesn't acknowledge. Call that relatable). She's funny. She's stylish. I wanna pinch her cheeks. I had a brand-new Kuromi plushie in my arms before I was halfway through the show. She really got into my head…

Either way, I wouldn’t say this show is like, good, but I guess it’s decent for what it is. Or maybe not. There’s some good episodes and some really bad ones. I certainly don’t hate it! It did achieve the goal of “making me more of a Sanrio fan”, so that’s probably enough, right?

I was joking about how I'd love to watch an anime that's not set in Victorian England (I saw like four in a row! ^^;), so I decided to take up on my friend’s recommendation and hop on Vanitas no Carte some four years after the fact (by the way, it's the second anime set in 19th-century France I've seen this month —)

Initially, I was surprised by how “SHAFT” the direction felt, and it all made sense when I saw the director was Tomoyuki Itamura (who directed Monogatari from Nise up to Owari). At some points it's a dead tell, but most of the time the series has its own visual identity, so it doesn't end up feeling like a second Monogatari or anything.

At first I kept watching less because I was enjoying it and more because I was curious about that hook at the end of the first episode, but the story really delivers! I'm glad I kept going.

The worldbuilding is amazing, what with the formulas and crystals and malnomens and the alt-history stuff—Paris without an Eiffel tower is such a strange thing to think about…

The character designs are stunning, and the blood sucking scenes are really hot, which is probably the most important thing in a series about vampires. The fights are also pretty cool I guess.

My favorite character was Noé, I want to pinch his cheeks…! Anyways, I guess I gotta hop on the manga now…

Watched Given. I thought it was 12 episodes long, but it’s only 11. I was surprised at how fast it went by…

My main criticism of the manga was that the story wasn’t given enough room to breathe (even if that gave it a certain unique intensity). This (as I expected) isn’t the case in the anime. It’s a very different experience from reading the manga. Days repeat, scenarios are panned over, guitar riffs play in the background—it lingers, and lingers often. It gets to the point where it feels like its own, separate thing rather than an adaptation. It’s also closer—or rather, exactly aligned with my expectations of what Given would be like before I got into it. I wonder if it’s because most people got to know it from the anime? Which is to say: I feel like I finally know the “Given” I always saw people posting about.

Commenting on the music would require way more technical knowledge than what I have (which is zero), so I’ll just try to put down my general impressions. It sounds different from what I expected. The instruments feel like they’re demanding your attention, somehow? In the opening, the drums, the bass, the guitar all sound so cool (I’d even say refreshing). It is a story about music,after all. I was very curious about what “A Winter’s Song” sounded like (especially because when I was reading that part in the manga I put Asian Kung Fu Generation’s “Solanin” in the background and had the best experience of my life). The song isn’t bad, but I can’t say I like it. Despite that, the moment when Mafuyu just yells out took my breath away. There’s that intensity from the manga, achieved in a completely different way. It’s overwhelming. Only after that initial shock faded and I caught my breath was I able to cry. And that’s also how it was for Mafuyu, wasn’t it?

Kyosougiga started out as a 30-minute ONA, followed by five shorts and finally a 10-episode TV show. They’re pretty different takes on the same story, so I've broken up the review in parts.

Kyosougiga (2011): A schoolgirl with a transparent hammer goes on a wild, fast paced chase around a colorful city. FLCL vibes. Didn't understand a single word of what was said, but that didn't dampen my fun.

Kyosougiga (2012): We’ve still got some fast-paced rumbles, but they're interspersed by quieter episodes focused on telling the characters’ stories. A lot more emotional beats. Feels like the kagepro anime, somehow? I was also able to understand a lot more this time, which was nice. A magical mirror city born from a monk's drawings, a girl from an alternate dimension, a rabbit turned into a woman, a mismatched broken family trying to piece themselves together again...at this point, it was shaping up to be a pretty sweet story. I enjoyed this one a lot.

Kyosougiga (2013): At last, the final version. A lot more exposition and character development, added to the longer runtime, gives it a very different feel from the movie and the shorts, though it's closer to the latter. There's quite a bit of overlap, but not enough that I'd say to forego the shorts and just watch the show—all three are valuable experiences in their own right. It's so bright, colorful and creative, it feels like you could just walk inside the screen and get lost in that world. The story (of a family's separation and subsequent reunion or whatever it was that the narrator said), now finally told in full, is indeed very sweet. I had a smile on my face through most of it, it's such a fun watch! I miss it already…

Kaiba is a very unique show, both in story and visuals. The animation is an absolute delight to watch, with movements and character designs reminiscent of old western cartoons. It all feels very nostalgic.

The story is set in a world filled with odd technology and space travel, where memories can be stored into chips and exchanged from one body to another. Rich people enjoy immortality, while poor people resort to selling their entire bodies to make ends meet.

The first half is very episodic, following the protagonist as he travels through different planets in an attempt to recover his memories, with an overarching plot unfolding in the second half. The show is often odd, sometimes funny, and made me cry more than once. The way things wrapped up felt a bit rushed, but that doesn't take away from the story as a whole.

The soundtrack is very beautiful, with one of the most wonderful openings I have ever seen—it's like floating…

There’s something very dreamlike, almost transcendental to Kaiba—like a childhood memory of a show that couldn’t possibly exist. But it does, and what a joy it is to watch.

I was in the mood for some sports anime since it’s been a while, and this seemed like a good choice to binge in an afternoon. I was under the impression that it was a much older show(I was probably mixing it up with SKET dance?), but it’s from 2021, and the OVA released just earlier this year, which is probably why I saw an uptick of people posting about it…but I digress. As I was saying, it's pretty cute! The story is pretty formulaic, but the dynamic of the two main characters was really sweet. Visuals wise, it’s a very bright and colorful show, and the competitions were super fun to watch, even if sometimes they went so over-the-top as to be funny. I don’t think doing most of that stuff on a skateboard is possible, but what do I know…;p

Anyhow, seeing Reki and Langa have so much fun reminded me of when I got a skateboard back in middle school. It took me a while to find it under a pile of junk in the garage, but wouldn’t you know, I can still ride it just fine. I was going to say this show was fine, if nothing life-changing, but I guess it did change my life, even if just that little bit.

Between her father gambling all the family's savings and running away, and being evicted from her house, 17-year-old Nanami is down on her luck. After helping out a mysterious man at the park, she gets sent to an old, run-down temple, where a belligerent fox guy informs her she's the temple's new goddess! I've been in a shoujo kick lately, and Kamisama Hajimemashita was love at first…okay, I've known about this series’ existence since forever, so maybe second sight—

The main cast is really charming. Nanami is a great protagonist, and Tomoe is just so cute! Kurama was very funny, when he was on screen I felt like I was watching Saiki K.(...but just who is it that he reminds me of?) Mizuki is not a bad character but I feel kind of whatever about him ┐⁠(⁠￣⁠ヘ⁠￣⁠)⁠┌

The ayakashi and deities had some really fun designs. I loved the Swamp Princess's big eyes…

The soundtrack had a very nostalgic feeling to it. There was nothing too impressive about the opening and ending sequences, but something about them just felt so pleasant to watch and listen to. I really liked it.

And as for the romance…ah, the romance…! Let me be dramatic for a second. I loved Nanami and Tomoe’s dynamic, they're so cute together! The emphasis given on touch and lack thereof while their relationship developed made my heart skip a beat. That ending had me melting away…ok, I'm back to normal now. Let's see how things go in season two!