Yonezawa is one of those writers that can't help but be a little interesting even when they're writing about boring things.
Jul 22, 2024 • Subscribe
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First Impressions – Shoushimin Series (How to Become Ordinary)
I have to remind myself that my initial response to Hyouka was pretty lukewarm.
Second Impressions – Shoushimin Series (How to Become Ordinary)
Where's Sherlock effing Holmes when you need him?
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.
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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…
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Patron Pick Summer 2024: Shoushimin Series – 06
I almost expected him to light a cigarette.
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 – 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 – 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?
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?!
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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…
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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…
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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 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: 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…
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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…
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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…
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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 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 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).
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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…
How To Start a Series: Pleasure and Corruption
There’s a manga out there called Pleasure and Corruption. It is hard R-rated. Be warned. I’m going to be frank here. I’ve only read one volume of 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…
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WARNING: This discussion violates my rule on not talking about anime that are just out. It contains spoilers! Be warned. In a lot of ways Thermae Romae Novae…
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 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 Watch the Grisaia Series in Order
You, too, may have fallen prey to the Grisaia trap of cute anime girls and found yourself in a series of building complexity. It is the visual novel…
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 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 Build a Series: Knights of Sidonia
There are some shows that are constructed so cleverly that I would give anything to be a fly on the wall during their development meetings. In fact, I…
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Look, there are times when you can look at creating a story/series as being like cooking from a recipe. That doesn’t mean it’s going to work. You can…
How To Build a Series: Spy X Family
Okay, repeat after me: Stories don’t need conflict if you don’t want people to pay any attention to them. Of course, if you DO want people to like…
How to Watch the To Love-Ru Series in Order
For most ecchi anime, much like their watchers, they usually don't last long. Well, they don't last long enough to usually require watch orders anyway.
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