Our guest writers highlight the year's new drops of battle weary rock, epic chamber pop, ska-inflected punk-pop and friendship R&B
Feb 26, 2025 • Subscribe
More like this
Friends Recommends #2: Emotional Balance and Post-Rock Catharsis
Our guest writers here to recommend you great new drops of classic rock, indie rock and emo
Friends Recommends #1: Bad Days and 20 Million Yen
A new column for This Side of Japan invites friends to recommend new Japanese releases to our readers
Messages of Hope and Friendship #3...
Messages of Hope and Friendship #3 What am I doing?...
MOTHER 3’s Timeline of Hope
A cycle of hope, hype, and disappointment has surrounded this game almost 30 years.
A Different Kind of Hope
It’s really hard to imagine sitting in a movie theater again. The last movie I saw in a theater was Takashi Shimizu’s Inunaki mura (Howling Village). Not the…
Shonen Flop Recommends #3: Parasyte: The Maxim
In our most recent episode, we talked about how SWOT failed at its attempt to be an action manga set in high school. The manga “Parasyte”, and especially…
Shonen Flop Recommends #3: Parasyte: The Maxim
In our most recent episode, we talked about how SWOT failed at its attempt to be an action manga set in high school. The manga “Parasyte”, and especially…
A Ray Of Hope In Castlevania
When Light Dares to Shine
Kyoto Animation: A Story Of Hope
Written by: Saumar Saikia (History, Batch of 2024) Kyoto Animations, also known as KyoAni, is a Japanese light novel publisher and animation studio. Over the years it has…
TenSura – 32 – A Seed of Hope
Rimuru learns that Mjurran’s heart was stolen by Demon Lord Clayman, which ensured she’d have to obey him to live. As part of his ongoing quest to make…
Tattoos and Books of Friends
I have been thinking about getting a tattoo and I just want to blabber on about it with you guys!
Messages of Hope and Friendship #5...
Messages of Hope and Friendship #5 ...
Messages of Hope and Friendship #2...
Messages of Hope and Friendship #2 What am I doing?...
Messages of Hope and Frienship #1...
Messages of Hope and Frienship #1 What am I doing?...
Messages of Hope and Friendship #4...
Messages of Hope and Friendship #4 What am I doing?...
Fanart Friday, Too: A Sense for Tea and Books
Do you love tea? Do you love books? Then you’ll love Sense Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, though beware: She has a sharp edge. ★ 【ふーにょん】 「 ゼンゼちゃん 2…
Natsume’s Book of Friends Season 7: Episodes 3 and 4 Reviews
Natsume’s Book of Friends is mostly episodic and anthological rather than serial. That means you can jump in pretty much anywhere. So, if you think you might check…
Emergency Survival Kit in a Sling Bag
This my survival / emergency kit that can be kept in the trunk of a car or hanging in a closet for immediate grab and go. It weighs…
Re:CREATORS Episode 4: The Coefficient of Elasticity and a Very Unusual Sense of Sincerity
Re:CREATORS Episode 4: Meteora attempts to meet her creator. Then her confession to Selesia Upitiria and Souta Mizushino shocks them both!
Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster: A Sign of Hope
To my reckoning, this story is a little more than a week old. After being dead and buried for four years, the body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster was…
When a Professional Animator Calls You Out
Imagine being that twitter user though (they didnt care) Edited by @TeeHallumsYT Written by @AnimeAjay SUPPORT US ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/totallynotmark FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER: https://www.twitter.com/totallynotmark FOLLOW ME ON TIKTOK:…
Jinrui Episode 8: Achieving a Sense of Self Through Slapstick Comedy and Puns
There’s a question that kept popping in my mind while I was watching this episode, regardless of how many times I attempted beat it down: Is a nondescript,…
Fiestar A Delicate Sense First Listen
Hi friends, I hope you’re all doing well! In lieu of me being in a really cool and supportive KPOP react community and requesting the reactor to listen…
A Grand Line Reborn! Cruise #03 – Defenders of Eorzea (and Alabasta)
Apologies for the delay in publishing this episode–Bill got invited to a dinner party in Ul’dah and had a hell of time getting out of there! After reviewing…
A Grand Line Reborn | Cruise #03 - Defenders of Eorzea (and Alabasta)
Apologies for the delay in publishing this episode–Bill got invited to a dinner party in Ul’dah and had a hell of time getting out of there! After reviewing…
The Emergency Heteronormative Character
There is an archetype in anime and manga that I’ve begun calling the “Emergency Heteronormative Character.” In the beginning, many manga creators do not know where their comics…
Beware Premature Calls of Japan’s “Re-Opening”
Many are calling Japan "open for travel" in the wake of the government's new announcements. But is it really?
The Best Japanese Shows To Get A Sense Of Tokyo
These Japanese web shows offer you a free tour of Tokyo! Experience life in the city without actually being there.
Giovanni's Island - Hope, in a Time of Hopelessness
Giovanni's Island - a picture set during the months and years following the end of World War II - is an unexpectedly hopeful movie. Though the lives of…
Castlevania: Hope For A Franchise of The Dead
Use code BPCEES and get $25 off your Castlevania Statue Preorder: https://figurama-collectors.com/products/castlevania-symphony-of-the-night-1?_pos=1&_sid=ee2e6a938&_ss=r Castlevania is a long standing franchise that Komani has let sit and do nothing. The Castlevania anime…
Summer of SoL: Optimism and Learning to Hope
Are you an optimist or a pessimist? Personally, I’d say that I’m a pessimist, if only because of my penchant for overthinking every single situation and action to…
Pick of the Week: Yona and Friends
MICHELLE: There are a few things coming out this week that appeal to me a great deal, not least of which is the latest Yona of the Dawn,…
When the Cicada Calls
detective fiction, 推理小説、games, mystery, murder, locked room, Japanese, translations,
Girl Friends and The Bride Was a Boy
The White Sox won a game today, so it was a good day. This time we’re talking...
Girl Friends and The Bride Was a Boy
The White Sox won a game today, so it was a good day. This time we’re talking about Milk Morinaga’s Girl Friends and Chii’s The Bride Was a…
KEEP HOPE ALIVE: Journey to the Hill of Hope
Continuing on from my backpacking trip through Yamaguchi Prefecture, I next ventured to Hiroshima where my main destination was the white marble Hill of Hope on Setoda Island.…
Higurashi - When They Cry: A History of Horror & A Story of Hope
Ryukishi07 is known today for making well crafted works of horror in the world of Japanese media alongside his team in 07th Expansion, but there's one work in…
![Featured image for Migi & Dali – 3 [Let’s Make Friends]](https://cdn.aniblogtracker.com/live/20231017/1697547721.70759.106769.jpg)
Migi & Dali – 3 [Let’s Make Friends]
Welcome all, to week 3 of Migi & Dali! This week our lovable twins go outside, make some friends, case some houses and beat a child senseless. Did…
Lufia and the Fortress of Doom's Grand Opening
I did not own Lufia and the Fortress of Doom as a kid, but my cousins did. Each summer they’d bring it along when the family gathered…
Natsume’s Book of Friends: A Boy, His Cat, and Ungendered Relationship Struggles
Despite shojo manga’s reputation for romance and shonen manga being known for endless battles, both categories place a heavy weight on relationships. Shojo manga heroines pine for seemingly…
A Grand Line Reborn | Cruise #04 - Recaps and Reimaginings
We’re back in our, uh, first episode of 2023, with a double feature at the movies! Tobias got his first taste of the One Piece anime adaptation with…
A Grand Line Reborn! Cruise #04 – Recaps and Reimaginings
Third Impact Anime present A Grand Line Reborn! Cruise #04
A Beautiful Memory — The Unyielding Hope of Radiant’s Seth
Since time immemorial, humanity has tried to make sense of the natural world and humanity’s penchant towards chaos through myths, religion…
Hope and Happiness in The Fantastic Adventures of Unico
Elizabeth James discusses The Fantastic Adventures of Unico, and the way the film conveys a message of hope amid sadness.
Pick of the Week: Old Friends And New
SEAN: There’s always an embarrassment of riches when it’s Viz week. That said, I can see no reason not to pick one of my favorite manga series of…
“Sense – A Cyberpunk Ghost Story” Release Month Announced
A title I had been eagerly anticipating for a while will soon become available for purcahse. Does it feature yuri? Possibly. No het as far as I know…
Astolfo: The Personification of Hope
One thing I really don’t like is the meme status of male characters who dress or act in a feminine way. These characters are commonly referred to as…
The Hope Of The Universe
🤓 I am the light in the darkness 🤓 Edited by @TeeHallumsYT SUPPORT US ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/totallynotmark FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER: https://www.twitter.com/totallynotmark FOLLOW ME ON TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@totallynotmark
Re-Dive: Sense of Values of Wine: Wholesome Hentai
I’m no stranger to talk about hentai on this blog. Most of the time it so for fun and laughs, but I do believe there are legit good…
Magia Record – 13 [A Faint Hope]
And so Magia Record ends – at least for now since the second season is confirmed – on a sad note. Not only am I disappointed (but not…