It’s always a bit of a minefield when pure slice-of-life series get serious in their final episodes.
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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 – 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 – 09
Fun fact - the seiyuu playing Kawamata Sanae is named Osanai.
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 – 10 (Season Finale)
Ironically given the series' title and theoretically its central theme, Shoushimin suffered from nothing about it really being extraordinary.
Patron Pick Summer 2023: Helck – 07
Wow, that was one hell of an infodump (no pun intended). Read more
Patron Pick Spring 2024: Bartender: Kami no Glass – 07
Bartender is working better for me when it's quirky and geeky - the drama just doesn't pack the same punch.
Patron Pick Spring 2023: Jigokuraku – 07
Jigokuraku seems to waver between Hunter X Hunter and Monster Hunter. Read more
Patron Pick Summer 2023: Helck – 05
Pairing off Helck and Vermilio was pretty clearly fated to happen, and the possibilities here are obvious. Read more
Patron Pick Summer 2023: Helck – 08
This was very much an expected return to form for Helck. Read more
Patron Pick Summer 2023: Helck – 10
This show has the chops to go full comedy when the mood strikes it. Read more
Patron Pick Summer 2023: Helck – 09
Helck getting a look at the darker side of demonkind seems like it might be a moment. Read more
Patron Pick Summer 2023: Helck – 06
Doing the expected in an entertaining way seems to be the order of the day. Read more
Patron Pick Summer 2023: Helck – 04
Good choice, Patrons. Read more
Patron Pick Summer 2023: Helck – 13
At long last Helck takes us on a journey to the past - Helck's past, where so much of the foundation of the story takes place.
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 Fall 2022: Koukyuu no Karasu – 07
I confess that ending had me checking the calendar there for a second. Read more
Patron Pick Spring 2024: Bartender: Kami no Glass – 12 (End) and Series Review
I go to see the person who is nowhere to be found.With clean water,And beautiful flowers in my hand.
Patron Pick Fall 2023: Atarashii Joushi wa Do Tennen – 07
I think it's worth reiterating my view that the current plot twist is kind of messed up.
Patron Pick Spring 2024: Bartender: Kami no Glass – 11
I’ll say this for Bartender, it’s really finishing on a high.
Patron Pick Spring 2024: Bartender: Kami no Glass – 06
In spite of its resolutely realistic settings, Bartender is actually not a series that's trying to be realistic.
Patron Pick Spring 2024: Bartender: Kami no Glass – 08
There are times in this series where it straddles the line between entertainment and commercial.
Patron Pick Spring 2024: Bartender: Kami no Glass – 10
Anime don't get into philosophy too often and when they do, rarely rise above the level of a fortune cookie.
Patron Pick Winter 2024: Dosanko Gal wa Namara Menkoi (Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable!) – 07
How, the reasoning goes, could pretty teenage girls like a guy like this?
Patron Pick Winter 2024: Dosanko Gal wa Namara Menkoi – 06
Obviously a high school student having a curfew isn't in itself unusual, but it's pretty obvious that Tsubasa's home life is.
Patron Pick Winter 2024: Dosanko Gal wa Namara Menkoi – 05
This is now a love triangle of sorts, undeniably. But it doesn't bother or even annoy me because of the way it's being handled.
Summer 2024 series poll closed!
Thank you to all who voted in my latest new season poll! The series that will definitely be joining my summer 2024 lineup is:
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.
Patron Pick Winter 2023: Mononogatari – 05
The voters have spoken. Read more
Patron Pick Winter 2023: Mononogatari – 08
The first name thing was a bit of a disaster, but the die is pretty much cast. Read more
Patron Pick Spring 2023: Jigokuraku – 11
That was certainly a dark turn. Read more
Patron Pick Winter 2023: Mononogatari – 11
I've always had the sense that this adaptation was never doing more than skimming the surface of the source material. Read more
Patron Pick Winter 2023: Mononogatari – 06
Mononogatari is growing into its premise, albeit slowly. Read more
Patron Pick Spring 2023: Jigokuraku – 10
Jigokuraku may be turning into the sort of series I was hoping it would be. Read more
Patron Pick Spring 2023: Jigokuraku – 08
For me, once a series has established that plot armor doesn't exist, I'd rather it not revel in demonstrating it ad nauseam. Read more
Patron Pick Spring 2023: Jigokuraku – 06
That was pretty disturbing on multiple levels Read more
Patron Pick Winter 2023: Mononogatari – 09
I don’t think it would be inaccurate to call Mononogatari a slow build sort of show. Read more
Patron Pick Spring 2023: Jigokuraku – 12
Sooner or later the humans have to figure out that the entire premise of their presence here is a sham. Read more
Patron Pick Spring 2023: Jigokuraku – 09
Talk about flower power. Read more
Patron Pick Fall 2022: Koukyuu no Karasu – 13 (End) and Series Review
I sort of had a feeling this series was going to stick the landing. Read more
Second Impressions – Shoushimin Series (How to Become Ordinary)
Where's Sherlock effing Holmes when you need him?
First Impressions – Shoushimin Series (How to Become Ordinary)
I have to remind myself that my initial response to Hyouka was pretty lukewarm.
Patron Pick Winter 2024: Dosanko Gal wa Namara Menkoi (Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable!) – 12 (End) and Series Review
There's no bait-and-switch happening with Dosanko Gal wa Namara Menkoi - people just see what they want to see.
Patron Pick Fall 2023: Atarashii Joushi wa Do Tennen – 12 (End) and Series Review
Anime has always been very good at delivering this sort of story, and I wish we got more examples of it than we do.
Patron Pick Fall 2022: Koukyuu no Karasu – 06
The voters have spoken. Read more
Patron Pick Spring 2023: Jigokuraku – 13 (Season Finale)
There's definitely the core of something rather good here, and we managed to see a fair bit of it in the second half of this season. Read more
Patron Pick Fall 2022: Koukyuu no Karasu – 08
An episode like this one provides an indication of what Raven of the Inner Palace is capable of at its best. Read more