Review: Kaguya-sama: Love Is War

In Short: Kaguya-sama: Love Is War is a 2019 anime from the well known studio A-1 Pictures. In it, our two main characters, the President and Vice President of their prestigious academy’s student council, play hilarious, ever escalating mind games with each other in an attempt to force the other to be the first one to declare their love. This is a bombastic, over the top show with off the wall…


Review: SSSS.Gridman

In Short: SSSS.Gridman is a 2018 anime by Studio Trigger that centers around four high school students living in a seemingly normal world, one of whom transforms into the building-sized, robot-looking hero known as Gridman in order to protect his city from equally large kaiju monsters. The show is packed full of great animation, terrific action, excellent characters, and stand out music, as well…


Review: Strain: Strategic Armored Infantry

In Short: Strain: Strategic Armored Infantry is a 2006 sci-fi anime from Studio Fantasia that follows cadet Strain pilot Sara Werec as she pursues her older brother across the stars looking for answers after he betrays her. The show offers interesting takes on depression, determination, and mech-based space combat. It also makes novel use of the time dilation effects of faster than light travel…


Review: Revue Starlight: The LIVE #1

In Short: Performed a year before the release of the Revue Starlight anime, the first Revue Starlight stage play tells a similar story complete with some familiar songs and fun choreography. This stage play is notable because the nine core live action stage actresses went on to voice their same roles in the anime. Though it may just be an unfortunate trick of the camera, a lot of the projected…


Review: Steins;Gate Anime

In Short: Steins;Gate is a 2011 anime by White Fox that follows the humor and tragedy of self-proclaimed mad scientist Okabe Rintaro as he, and his friends, get in over their heads when they accidentally create a time machine by hooking up a cellphone to a microwave. Steins;Gate features great characters, witty dialogue, one of the better time travel plots around, and easily one of the best…


Review: Land of the Lustrous Anime

In Short: Land of the Lustrous is a 2017 anime by CGI powerhouse Orange about a small group of immortal, genderless people whose entire bodies are made of the gemstone or mineral each is named after. While most of the gems, like Jade or Diamond, are content to carry out their same routines day after day, just as they have for hundreds or even thousands of years, the show’s focus on the spunky…


Magma & Team IcyHot vs The Friendly Fortune Teller

Magma entered the small farming town she and her companions had agreed to visit, hopeful the job they had heard of was still there. It had been a long, exceedingly lonesome day of riding… and now, snow was beginning to fall as she searched the few streets and alleyways for the tavern her friends were to be at. Though not as bad as a heavy downpouring of rain, the darkened evening sky and falling…


The cast of Revue Starlight on stage seen from above

Review: Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight Anime

In Short: On its surface, Revue Starlight is an anime about nine young women who attend an all girls music and stage production school. They learn to sing and dance and act and perform as you might expect. But, when they aren’t attending academic or artistic classes, these same girls are called to fantastical Revue auditions where they must literally fight each other, weapons in hand, in…


The girls with the southern lights in the background

Review: A Place Further Than The Universe

In Short: A Place Further Than The Universe is a 2018 anime by Madhouse that follows the challenges and triumphs of four Japanese high school girls who become the best of friends after choosing to join a research expedition to Antartica. The show features strong art and animation, great characterizations for its four leads, a realistic portrayal of just what it takes to go on such a journey, a…


Toybox in orbit over earth with a sunrise ahead

Review: Planetes Anime

In Short: Planetes is a well made, character-driven anime that depicts life and work in Earth’s orbit in the near future of 2075. Its realistic portrayal of space, combined with its complex, well-rounded ensemble cast, delivers humor and fun along with a strong helping of angst and character drama. Even though its art direction is top notch, Planetes is an older series, and that sometimes shows…