I have to remind myself that my initial response to Hyouka was pretty lukewarm.
Jul 7, 2024 • Subscribe
More like this
Second Impressions – Shoushimin Series (How to Become Ordinary)
Where's Sherlock effing Holmes when you need him?
Shoushimin Series (How to Become Ordinary) – 03
Yonezawa is one of those writers that can't help but be a little interesting even when they're writing about boring things.
First Look: Shoshimin — How to Become Ordinary
He’s a genius at deduction. She’s really into confectionery. Together, they solve incredibly mundane mysteries and try to survive high school.
First Impression: SHOSHIMIN: How to Become Ordinary
Kobato and Osanai have a deal. The socially awkward boy and quiet girl will help one another “become ordinary.” To do so, they will follow a series of…
SHOSHIMIN: How to become Ordinary
SHOSHIMIN: How to become Ordinary is currently streaming on Crunchyroll....
SHOSHIMIN: How to become Ordinary – Episode 1
What do you mean, you’re on a mission to become ordinary? You seem pretty normal to me as you are, kiddo—dare I say bland.
Anime Like Shoshimin: How to Become Ordinary
Jougorou Kobato has a bad habit of inserting himself into other people's problems, using excellent detective skills to unravel their small mysteries. However,
Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, Sagrada Reset, Bakemonogatari, Hyouka, Kobato
The Speakeasy #163: How to Become Ordinary, Makeine, The Elusive Samurai + More Summer 2024 Anime
This month we breakdown the new summer season of anime: SHOSHIMIN: How to Become Ordinary My Wife Has No Emotions Twilight Out of Focus Alya Sometimes Hides Her…
Summer 2024 Impressions: Shoushimin Series, VTuber Legend, Dungeon no Naka no Hito
Shoushimin Series Short Synopsis: A girl who loves sweets and a boy who is really trying his best to be normal solve a mystery and (temporarily) get some…
Patron Pick Summer 2024: Shoushimin Series – 07
It’s always a bit of a minefield when pure slice-of-life series get serious in their final episodes.
Patron Pick Summer 2024: Shoushimin Series – 05
Can you imagine "The Chinese Restaurant" or "The Parking Garage" with little or no humor? Do you want to?
Patron Pick Summer 2024: Shoushimin Series – 06
I almost expected him to light a cigarette.
Patron Pick Summer 2024: Shoushimin Series – 04
Was this interesting? I guess sort of, though that's very much in the eye of the beholder.
Patron Pick Summer 2024: Shoushimin Series – 08
For me at least the ship has long since sailed on Shoushimin Series being remotely realistic.
Patron Pick Summer 2024: Shoushimin Series – 09
Fun fact - the seiyuu playing Kawamata Sanae is named Osanai.
How to Become a Wizard with Cherry Magic!
Oh, Cherry Magic, how I will miss you! Your angst and your miscommunications, your fluffy dreams and wishes. The show didn’t go quite as explicit as I’d been…
Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!
YOUNG CAPTAIN NEMO Book Trilogy to Become Animated Series!
Welcome, all, again. Although I have again been away from my site for too long, I return this time with good news: Kinsane Entertainment (the dedicated kids’ division…
Patron Pick Summer 2024: Shoushimin Series – 10 (Season Finale)
Ironically given the series' title and theoretically its central theme, Shoushimin suffered from nothing about it really being extraordinary.
How to improve the Shenmue Series
The Shenmue series, which was released in the 90s, is surely a series that we all should be thankful to, as it invented various aspects of the games…
How To Cook a Series: Nana
Nana is one of those things that’s actually easier to think about than a lot of anime, because it transcends the genre(s) in a specific way. Yeah, it’s…
How To Build a Series: Toradora
I always like a nice case of Stealth Storytelling. Look, in a lot of ways, when you have a really basic story what you’re really exploring is character…
How To Cook a Series: Beastars
I’m taking a week off from shows going off the track, since even I don’t think it’s THAT interesting. I mean, you know, really. Problem: This is the…
How to Start a Series: Dragonball
And I do mean Dragonball, the original series, because it was the start of it all. If the first one doesn’t work, Z and Kai and whatever others…
How To Build a Series: Steins;Gate
Steins;Gate is one of those things I saw a long time ago but never really had a chance to take a close look at until just recently. It’s…
How to Build a Series: Strike Witches
I’ll just say it: the neat thing about Strike Witches is that it’s like a good stew, a whole bunch of things thrown together that work together to…
How to Cook a Series: Domestic Girlfriend
Okay, let’s throw something on the floor here: You got this high school student named Natsuo. He’s got a heavy crush on this girl named Hina. In the…
How to Cook a Series: Demon Slayer
Everyone thinks writers start with a plot and write. I don’t. I think about what I want to write about, and then cook up whatever other pieces I…
How to Cook a Series: Silver Nina
Every once in a while I fall into a rabbit hole and can’t climb out. So I have a subscription to Crunchyroll, and there’s an app that gives…
How to Build a Series: Samurai Champloo
I don’t talk enough about Samurai Champloo. I guess that’s because it’s Shinichiro Watanabe’s second series, and let’s be honest: Once you’ve made Cowboy Bebop there’s only one…
How to Build a Series: TP Bon
Okay, I write science fiction, so I’m a sucker for stuff like time travel as long as the writers can convincingly deploy handwavium. You know handwavium: “We can…
How to Build a Series: Death Note
Death Note is one of those anime stories that tries to be deep by asking deep questions. There are others. Ghost in the Shell asks “What does it…
Confessions of an Overage otaku
One-Punch Man, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Death Note, Ghost in the Shell
How to Build a Series: Fruits Basket
Fruits Basket is one of those things that looks like a delightful piece of fluff but is actually a masterclass in story construction when you look at it…
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou 01 – How to pick up girls.
Despite being a surprising collaboration between Square Enix and Sunrise, Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou is as its titles suggests: the daily lives of high school boys. Confined in…
Daily Lives of High School Boys, Nichijou - My Ordinary Life
How to play soccer without breaking anything indoors? Futsal Boys First Impressions.
Futsal Boys, with its traditional portrayal of soccer, seems to be trying to get a spot between Free! Iwatobi Swim Club and Ace Of Diamond…
Adachi to Shimamura | First Impressions
Time for the long awaited First Impressions post for the anime, Adachi to Shimamura. Somewhere in the school at noon, one might hear the sound of two girls…
First Impressions – Skip to Loafer
Another day, another premiere of a show that would have been my top pick in a lot of seasons. Read more
First Impressions – Migi to Dari
Migi to Dali is an adaptation with a sad story behind it. But it holds up as entertainment, with its author's signature offbeat humor.
First Impressions – Majo to Yajuu
Today is “sleeper day” for Winter 2024.
First Impressions – Sasaki to Miyano
I'm not sure that title is coincidental. Read more
First Impressions – Yubisaki to Renren
There's a certain easy charm to this premiere that I found appealing, but to me events seemed a little forced at times.
First Impressions: To Your Eternity
Hello and welcome back to Otaku Friday! To those of you thinking wait—“wait. Isn’t it Otaku Thursday?” : shhhh child. It is otaku Friday this week. Today we’re…
How Did Shibuya and Shinjuku Stations Become So Hard to Navigate?
Why'd they have to go and make everything so complicated? A short history of how Shinjuku and Shibuya in Tokyo developed their bad reputations as Japan's most confusing…
How Did “Octopus” Become a Japanese Insult?
Did someone just call you an "octopus"? How "tako" became both a fish and an insult in Japanese (spoiler alert: it involves samurai).
How To Start a Series: Komi Can’t Communicate
I almost called this “How Not to Start a Series,” but as annoyed as I am with Komi Can’t Communicate, from the standpoint of financial success the author,…
How to Cook a Series: Kotaro Lives Alone
Isn’t Kotaro Lives Alone so cute you just can’t stand it? That brave little boy, living alone, living up the ideals of the noble knight, making all the…
How to Cook a Series: Wonder Egg Priority
You know what Wonder Egg Priority reminded me of? Interviews with Monster Girls. Let me tell you why. The deal with the demi-human girls of Interviews is that…
How Not to End a Series: School-Live!
I’m relatively new to anime/manga fandom, and School-Live! is the first series I’ve managed to follow “traditionally.” You know: waiting for weeks or months for the next issue,…
How to Start a Series: Revolutionary Girl Utena
Revolutionary Girl Utena is one of those concoctions, like Neon Genesis, that is sometimes so deep it seems like the creators outsmarted themselves trying to show themselves how…
How to Cook a Series: The Orbital Children
The Orbital Children is one of those things that snuck up on me. I was like, yeah, kiddie sci-fi, I’m going to like that (sarcasm), but I was…