“A very emotional journey about the difficulties of dealing with loss and lack.”
Dec 23, 2021 • Subscribe
More like this
Blue (BLUE/ブルー, Keisuke Yoshida, 2021)
A trio of dejected boxers contemplate their place inside and outside of the ring in Keisuke Yoshida’s unconventional boxing drama
Dark Blue Forest (2021) review [JFFH 2022]
A great experimental thriller-mystery narrative about borders and the destructive nature of prejudice.
Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Blue Period
Streaming: Netflix Episodes: TBA Source: Manga Episode Summary: Yatora is a high school student making his way through life on auto-pilot. His studiousness makes getting good grades easy,…
Review: BLUE GIANT
Of course, I can't spend all month ragging on music-related manga. I also need to cover better, more earnest stories learning one's craft a...
Review: BLUE GIANT
Of course, I can't spend all month ragging on music-related manga. I also need to cover better, more earnest stories learning one's craft a...
Spring 2021 First Impressions – Blue Reflection Ray
Streaming: Funimation Episodes: 24 Source: Game Story Summary: Ruka is a quiet girl with a longing to connect with others but an inability to do so effectively. She…
Day Eighteen: Three Colors: Blue (MotM 2021)
Before the numerous superhero trilogies that spawned from the early 2000’s and onwards, there was this trilogy. The theme? Colors. Why? Uh, because.
Review: AGE CALLED BLUE
It's Pride Month once more, so once again we're looking at some of the manga queer stories to be found within manga. Of course, that includ...
Blue Giant Movie Review
Blue Giant is a new jazz themed anime movie that's based on the award winning manga of the same name. It follows the adventures of aspiring ...
Perfect Blue Review — A-
An idol becomes an actress. Then murder.
Review: Blue Period [Netflix]
Yatora Yaguchi lives the life of a delinquent, and yet is still able to get good grades in class. A big weight has been placed on his shoulders…
Blue Hearts – Webtoon Review
Blue Hearts is the latest webtoon from the author of ReLife. Does it live up to its famous predecessor?
Manga Review: Blue Period
Spoilers for the first four chapters of Blue Period! Yatora is in many ways a typical high school student, dealing with questions of who he is and what…
Blue Period Anime Review
Another bright slice-of-life series has entered the fray! See how this series holds up in our review.
Blue Lock Episode 29 Review – The Blue Lock 11
Will these 11 players be enough to defeat the U-20?
The Deep Blue Ocean – Blue Period Ep 10 Review
Yatora and Ryuji bare it all at the ocean. Did they make it back to the surface unscathed? This is a review and discussion for Blue Period Episode…
Review: My Blue Summer (2022)
My Blue Summer 暗恋 橘生淮南 China, 2022, colour, 2.35:1, 100 mins. Director: Huang Bin 黄斌. Associate director: Qiu Sheng 仇晟 (Xiamen unit). Rating: 6/10. Generic Gen-90 romance has…
Arpeggio of Blue Steel Review
Oh, what can I really say about these kind of shows? Maybe you can see where I’m going with this one: military, moe girls, advanced technology and alien…
BLUE REFLECTION: Second Light Review
After the good man Macho Chikorita (Chikorita157) helped out by reviewing the first Blue Reflection game I promised I would eventually do the sequel. The time has come.…
Review: Blue Box, Chapter Two
“A badminton guy falls for a basketball girl. Do these sports-crossed lovers have a chance?” Whoa, hold the phone! Did I just see the words “badminton guy” and…
Blue Reflection Review (By chikorita157)
Note from OG: With the surprise resurrection of the Blue Reflection series in an anime midquel and a sequel to the first game, I thought it would be…
Review: Blue Box, Chapter Three
Three chapters in to Blue Box, a manga serialization on Shonen Jump, and my love for the series continues to grow. Did I mention I’m a fan of…
Blue Reflection Ray Spoiler Review
Let’s talk about feelings. But not any specific feelings. Feelings in abstract. The idea of feelings. Let’s ride the fine line between deeply exploratory science fiction and outright…
A review of Perfect Blue
I think Perfect Blue is a first here on the site. I’ve never had a look at an anime film before; they’ve all been series so far. But…
Blue Imagine (2024) review [OAFF 2024]
A powerful reminder of the sexual transgressions that structurally plague the Japanese film industry
Blue Period Review: The Broad Strokes
Studio: Seven Arcs Director: Koji Masunari Streaming on: Netflix Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, as the poem goes, and I’ve always felt that strongly. I thought…
Blue Flag Vol. 1 Manga Review
青のフラッグ, Ao no Furaggu Genre: Drama, Romance, Slife-of-Life Written By: KAITO Publisher: Shueisha Magazine: Shonen Jump Volumes: 8 Manga Monday was almost about to turn into ‘Reading Wednesday’ but I pushed…
A review of Blue Reflection (PS4)
Here’s a post that’s been a long time coming. From the very back of my backlog, or at least the backlog I’m actively keeping track of, comes Blue…
Blue Flag Vol. 1 Manga Review
青のフラッグ, Ao no Furaggu Genre: Drama, Romance, Slife-of-Life Written By: KAITO Publisher: Shueisha Magazine: Shonen Jump Volumes: 8 Manga Monday was almost about to turn into ‘Reading Wednesday’ but I pushed…
Perfect Blue – A Secret Santa Review
Hello, it’s been awhile. I hadn’t intended to take a whole year off from blogging; I intended last year’s secret Santa review (of the excellent Interstella5555, which I…
Review: Behind the Blue Eyes (2023)
Behind the Blue Eyes 不能流泪的悲伤 China, 2023, colour, 2.35:1, 96 mins. Director: Tang Jiahui 唐家辉. Rating: 5/10. Fairly standard student romance, set in Taiwan, is kept interesting by…
Anime Talk: Blue Eye Samurai Review
I discuss the Netflix animated series Blue Eye Samurai. Story follows Mizu who is born of half European, half Japanese blood which makes her an outcast. She is…
Review: MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM: BLUE DESTINY
It's Mecha Month once more at the Manga Test Drive, and naturally I have to start with the franchise I know and like the best...even if this...
Blue Lock Episode 25 Review – Tryouts
The upcoming fight against Isagi vs the cooler Isagi (Rin)
Blue Lock Review: The Anti-Anime
Directed by Tatsuaki Watanabe Produced by 8bit Streaming on Crunchyroll I have already written a glowing essay where I praise just about everything in Blue Lock and then…
That Blue Sky Feeling – Manga Review
For pride month I bring you my review of That Blue Sky Feeling. Ok, if I find any other sweet shonen-ai manga, I'll review them regardless of the…
Manga Review – My Boy in Blue
My Boy in Blue PとJK (P to JK) MIYOSHI Maki Shoujo – Comedy, drama, romance 16 Volumes (complete) Kodansha Comics Review copy/copies Summary: Sixteen-year-old Kako is pushed into…
Review: MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM: BLUE DESTINY
It's Mecha Month once more at the Manga Test Drive, and naturally I have to start with the franchise I know and like the best...even if this...
Blue Period Volumes 3-5 Review
Yatora is continuing his prep work for taking the TUA entrance exam and like many third year high school students, this after school prep work is overtaking everything…
Goto-san (2021) review [OAFF 2021]
“Gokan expertly reveals the position of the freeter as an attempt to escape the capitalistic machinery but also as a position that most easily falls prey to the…
Underdog (2021) review
“Take’s film powerfully shows that the heroism of the art of boxing lies in the very subjective meaning that power the jabs, the hooks, and the uppercuts.”
Review: Yanagawa (2021)
Yanagawa 漫长的告白 China, 2021, colour, 1.85:1, 112 mins. Director: Zhang Lv 张律. Rating: 3/10. More accessible than most of Zhang Lv’s features, this indie confection is still a…
2021 in Review
The world continues to go to hell in a handbasket. The pandemic continues to rage. The world supply chain is borked. Inflation is rampant. W...
Rain Boy, Yawara!, Bakumatsu no Spasibo, Super Cub, Horimiya
Review: Shallow (2021)
Shallow 出拳吧妈妈 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 95 mins. Director: Tang Xiaobai 唐晓白. Rating: 6/10. Despite a few shortcomings in the script, under-rated Mainland actress Tan Zhuo throws herself…
Review: Synesthete (2021)
Synesthete 越界 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 80 mins. Director: Liang Honghua 梁鸿华. Rating: 3/10. An interesting idea never comes to fruition in this messy, low-budget ghost movie with…
Character (2021) review
It might not be a film that challenges or subverts the tropes and dynamic of the mystery and thriller genre, but it sure does deliver a satisfying and…
Homunculus (2021) review
“A worthy attempt to offer something fresh to the horror-table, but Shimizu struggles to blend the many pleasing parts into a whole that truly engages and pleases the…
February 2021 Review
Ah, February is here and thus another traditional post to be done-a review focused on character relationships and/or romance. Hard to believe I have done reviews of this…
Review: Secret (2021)
Secret 秘不可言 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 90 mins. Director: Cao Yong 曹涌 [Cao Yong 曹勇]. Rating: 5/10. Intriguing, well-mounted psychodrama-cum-mystery starts well but becomes scarcely credible later on.…
Frantic (2021) review
“Fuji delivers his best movie yet and, quite possibly, the cult-film of the year.”