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Oshi no Ko Episode 15: “Emotional Acting”
Rating: A In the days leading up to the airing of this episode, I engaged in a discussion on another site about whether or not this story actually…
Spice & Wolf (2024) episode 17
Rating: B Fundamentally, Spice & Wolf is the rare fantasy series where conversations, much more so than actions, carry the weight of the series. The only other episode…
Oshi no Ko episode 14
Rating: B+ Oshi no Ko has never been a series that pulls its punches when it comes to commentating on the entertainment industry, and boy, this episodes hold…
Spice & Wolf (2024) episode 16
Rating: B+ Of all of the story arcs in Spice and Wolf, this arc is maybe my least favorite, and the content covered by this episode is a…
Oshi no Ko episode 13
Rating: A- Despite the regular cast mostly being relegated to supporting roles, the aptly-named episode “Game of Telephone” is, in its own way, nearly as searing an episode…
Spice & Wolf (2024) episode 15
Rating: B+ Things were a bit strained between Lawrence and Holo at the end of last episode, and clearly that still weighs on Lawrence as this episode starts;…
Oshi no Ko season 2 (episode 12)
Rating: A Oshi no Ko was, by any reasonable measure, one of the biggest titles of 2023, and one of the hardest-hitting as well for the content it…
Spice & Wolf (2024) episode 14
Rating: A- With “New Town and Nostalgic Feeling,” the series begins the adaptation of novel 3, thus following the exact path trod by episode 1 of season 2…
Spring 2024 Wrap-Up
With the last handful of titles for the Spring 2024 season having now aired (except for the title whose last two episodes have been delayed), let’s take a…
Summer 2024 Preview Guide
Commentary on most titles debuting in the Summer 2024 season as they debut.
Spice & Wolf (2024) Episode 13
Rating: B+ As I surmised last review, the episode “Supper of Three and Afternoon of Two” covers the exact same content as “Wolf and the Amber Melancholy,” the…
Spice & Wolf (2024) episode 12
Rating: B+ Last episode ended with Lawrence seemingly in deep trouble, though this time viewers don’t have to rely on meta knowledge to know that the worst for…
An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How To Love Your Elf Bride episodes 10-12
Rating (episodes 10-12): B Rating (overall): B Episodes 10-12 conclude the adaptation of the second volume of the source light novels. That and the way episode 12 ends…
Spice & Wolf (2024) episode 11
Rating: B+ Even if I hadn’t read the source novel or seen the original adaptation, I think I still would have seen all the major twists in this…
Spice & Wolf (2024) episode 10
Rating: A- The end of last episode found Lawrence at his lowest point, knowing that he was in trouble both financially and with his companion. Left with nowhere…
Spice & Wolf (2024) episode 9
Rating: B+ The original adaptation fell into a steady and familiar pattern throughout its two seasons: the first two episodes of each arc set up the circumstances as…
An Archdemon’s Dilemma, episodes 7-9
Collective Rating: B+ The first six episodes of the series established the two main characters, justified the series’ title, and (more or less) formalized the relationship between Zagan…
Review: My Oni Girl
On Friday May 17th, the Studio Colorido original project My Oni Girl had its world premiere at Anime Central, ahead of its wider release on Netflix on May…
Spice & Wolf (2024) episode 8
Rating: B Like its name suggests, the episode “Fellow Traveler and Foreboding News” deals with two plot threads running in parallel: one concerning Lawrence and Holo’s encounter w…
Spice & Wolf (2024) episode 7
Rating: B+ With this episode, this take on the source novels begins its adaptation of the second novel. It equates to episode 8 of the original series, since…
Spring ’24 Mid-Season Report, Part 1
We’re approaching the midpoint of the Spring 2024 season, and thanks to having more free time on my hands than expected, I am still keeping up with way…
The Banished Former Hero Lives as He Pleases, The Irregular at Magic High School, A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics, Delicious in Dungeon, Laid-Back Camp
Spice & Wolf (2024) episode 6
Rating: B- Whether you’re a newcomer to the franchise with this series or a long-established fan, this was always going to be the make-or-break episode for this adaptation’s…
An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride eps 5-6
Episode 5 Rating: B+ Episode 6 Rating: B Episode 4 ended with Zagan kicking Nephy out in an effort to distance her from the threats she might face…
Spice & Wolf (2024) episode 5
Rating: B+ Episode 4 ended with a crisis which demanded quick action. But while this series is many things, it’s definitely not an action series at heart. It…
Spice & Wolf (2024) episode 4
Rating: A- With its fourth episode, the economic scheme that Lawrence has gotten a whiff of expands, with Lawrence wading into deeper water as he arranges a deal…
An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride episodes 2-4
Episode 2 Rating: B Episode 3, 4 Rating: B+ In my Preview Guide entry for episode 1, I had mixed feelings about this series and the seemingly-stereotypical path…
Spica & Wolf (2024) episode 3 + English dub
Episode Rating: B+ This week the English simuldub begins, lagging two weeks behind. Brina Palencia and J. Michael Tatum are back reprising their roles from the dub of…
Spice & Wolf (2024) episode 2
Episode Rating: A- Episode 1 may have established the series’ operating premise, but episode 2 is the series’ make-or-break episode, the one which determines whether or not viewers…
Review: Gushing Over Magical Girls
In the world of shy, average teenager Utena Hiiragi, magical girls become celebrities by openly fighting to defend cities from evil organization Enormita. Utena adores and idolizes Tres…
Spice & Wolf: merchant meets wise wolf episode 1
Note: Because I find this title obnoxiously long, I will hereafter be titling these Spice & Wolf (2024). Rating: B+ The base concept here seems simple enough: a…
Spring 2024 Preview Guide
Looks at the first episode of each anime series debuting in the Spring 2024, posted as they debut!
Winter 2024 Wrap-Up
With the last handful of titles for the Winter 2024 season having now aired, let’s take a summative look at what worked well and what didn’t this season.…
The Apothecary Diaries, episode 24 (season finale)
Episode Rating: A Overall Series Rating: A After the dramatic events, revelations, and symbolism of last episode, there was really only one final climax possible for this series,…
8 Lessons From Frieren
With its 28th episode, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End ends its initial run. By any reasonable metric, it has been a huge hit on both sides of the Pacific,…
The Apothecary Diaries, episode 23
Rating: A The Apothecary Diaries is undeniably Maomao’s series, though Jinshi has increasingly had his viewpoint represented of late. That makes episode 23 a major aberration, since not…
The Apothecary Diaries, episode 22
Rating: A- Though he’s hardly one of the more likable characters in the series, Lakan is still an intriguing one. He’s ferociously smart and a superior judge of…
The Apothecary Diaries, episode 21
Rating: B+ Though The Apothecary Diaries has been set up almost from the beginning to ship Maomao with Jinshi (and Jinshi is clearly starting to see her romantically…
Winter ’24 Mid-Season Round-Up, part 2
In Part 1 last week, I covered series that have not been getting episode reviews at Anime News Network. In this installment, I will be offering my take…
The Apothecary Diaries, episode 20
Rating: A The Incident may be over, but the mysteries surrounding it aren’t, and as this great follow-up shows, they may not be for quite some time. Jinshi…
Winter ’24 Mid-Season Round-Up, part 1
Really, this should have been started last week, when the earliest-starting series were first hitting episode 7s, but sometimes real life intrudes. Anyway, I have plenty of time…
The Apothecary Diaries, episode 19
Rating: A+ This episode represents the biggest dramatic peak in this part of the story. It is the culmination of everything that has happened so far this season…
The Apothecary Diaries, episode 18
Rating: A I was going to skip reviewing this one separately and just combine it with episode 19, rather than post a review this late. However, episode 18…
The Apothecary Diaries, episode 17
Rating: A There have been other strong episodes in this series, but this one is a microcosm of what makes this series stand apart from most other series…
The Apothecary Diaries: Episode 16
Rating: A- Another episode, another mystery for Maomao, but this time it’s a longer one – taking up nearly the whole episode – and doesn’t involve the cause…
The Apothecary Diaries, episode 15
Rating: A- If you’re an anime-only viewer, this episode is one you might want to bookmark to come back and watch again later on, as it drops a…
The Apothecary Diaries, episode 14
Rating: A- Episode 14 contains the sequence that I was probably most looking forward to seeing animated from this part of the story: Maomao’s lessons to the four…
The Apothecary Diaries, episode 13
Rating: B+ After a week off, the second half of the series begins, shifting the adaptation into the territory of the second light novel and the 5th manga…
Winter 2024 Preview Guide
Coverage of the Winter 2024 anime season begins! Check aback regularly for updates through 1/14.
2023 in Review: The Best and Strangest of the Year
As we say good-bye to 2023, it’s time to take a look at the highlights of the year as a whole, rather than just individual seasons. And my,…