SEAN: It’s the end of the year, and as always I’ve forgotten 90% of what I read back in March and April. I will thus make my pick a collective pick, as this year had so many new Villainess Novels. Be it reincarnated in an otome game, a duke’s daughter who is publicly shamed, or just a depressed young woman who’s trying to quietly live through her teenage years so she can enter a convent, the Villainess genre has proven surprisingly wide, and I’ll be delighted to read even more of it in 2023. MICHELLE: I didn’t read as much as I wanted to this year—blast that infernal “life crap” that always seems to intrude—but of what I did read, my favorite was Lost Lad London. Getting a real mystery...
Dec 26, 2022 • Subscribe
More like this
Pick of the Year: Anime, Publishers, and Podcasts
SEAN: As always, there's been so much this year that it's hard to choose. Honestly, my pick of the year is an anime, and one that ran in…
Small History and Big History
History has two different and related types: small and big. Big history is what you learn in school. It’s the major events of the past: the American Revolution,…
Pick of the Week: Big Big Waves
SEAN: It’s possible I’m not on the same WAVElength as the rest of the group, but I’m going to channel my inner nerd and pick the final (no…
Small Packets, Big Changes
If you use Japan Post, you may've been aware of some significant changes. Krystallina covers all of that in this week's Please Save My Money.
Small Nozomi and Big Yume GN 1
The novelty of big girl-small girl isn't enough to make for the dragging, unfocused plot.
Lycoris Recoil: Big World, Small Story
This is a show I wanted to review for a while now, something that took off quite a bit during its air-time last year. It’s always good to…
Pick of the Year: So Many Options
SEAN: It’s always hard to think back twelve months and remember what’s been coming out. There are so many titles that I love and want to mention here.…
Pick of the Year: It Was a Very Good Year
MICHELLE: When declaring a pick of the year, I feel some self-induced pressure to choose something highbrow, but the fact is that the the title that I loved…
A Big 1st Year and a Little 2nd Year
大きい1年生と 小さな2年生 (ookii ichinensei to chiisana ninensei, A Big 1st Year and a Little 2nd Year, 1970) is a children's book by FURUTA Taruhi ( 古...
Pick of the Year: Our Favorite 2020 Manga
KATE: Since this is the final week of 2020, we decided to pick our favorite new manga of 2020 instead of highlighting something from the new arrivals pile.…
Anime Genres
If you have any opinions on anime genres that is didn't mention let me know in the comments sorry for the wait after my last video, I've been very…
The Realities of Small Companies
I feel like I always have some serendipitous timing with the anime that I watch and what happens in my own life. Recently, I started watching Aquatope and…
Two Giants, Five Publishers, and all the Fixings
In this week's Please Save My Money, Krystallina explores a lawsuit involving Amazon and eBooks that feels familiar to a lawsuit in 2011.
The Otakusphere: Genres, heroes and all of the shows I should have watched
Welcome! Welcome! It’s another Sunday afternoon, and like usual, I have a curated collection of anime- (and some not anime-) related blog posts for you today. It’s been…
Big Windup and the Art of Adaptation
I go back to my roots with Big Windup. Sports anime have always been some of my favourites and the first genre I discovered.
Why I Can’t Pick An Anime Of The Year For 2021
Who knows? Maybe 2022 will change things.
Demographics vs Genres
Anime Fans Don’t Understand Demographics! #shonen #shojo #seinen #josei Thanks for watching! Music In Video: Ouran Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw-R7CzMFpo Wotakoi Op: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB4vZdOT-3w One Piece Rap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_2EMMLg-qU Ya Boy…
Yozakura Quartet, Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, One Piece, Skip and Loafer
Pick of the Week: Transformative Pick
SEAN: It’s a relatively quiet week this week, and none of the debuts interest me (Shaman King’s been delayed anyway). As such, I’ll be picking the 2nd volume…
Pick of the Week: Of Mice and Manga
MICHELLE: I have wanted to read The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese for quite a few years, so to me there is really no other choice. ANNA: Me…
Void Terrarium Review – One Small Robot against One Big World
Void Terrarium, also known as void tRrLM(); //, is a roguelike game released by NIS America earlier this month on the Nintendo Switch and PS4. In the game,…
Pick of the Week: Phantoms and Food
MICHELLE: I’m not wildly passionate about anything coming out this week, but I did think the first volume of Phantom of the Idol was fun, so this week…
Pick of the Week: Samurai and Kings
KATE: There is SO MUCH GOOD MANGA coming out this week, y'all, I don't know where to begin! VIZ is unveiling two new series with grown-up appeal—Steel of…
Pick of the Week: Knights and Kings
MICHELLE: There’s so much good stuff coming out this week, though most of it new installments in series in which I’m woefully behind. My heart, however, most goes…
Pick of the Week: Farmers and Witches
ASH: I'll have to admit, the releases I'm most excited about are ongoing series like Witch Hat Atelier. That being said, I'm interested enough in the debut of…
Pick of the Week: Beginnings and Endings
MICHELLE: I’m excited by all the final volumes out next week. I’m definitely interested to read the conclusions of Ao Haru Ride and The Demon Prince of Momochi…
Pick of the Week: Princes and Nobles
MICHELLE: I don’t know what to expect from Prince Freya, as I haven’t read either of the creator’s series that have been published in English so far. The…
Pick of the Week: Koi and Dragons
MICHELLE: My pick this week is Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love for the very simple reason that I almost always adore manga from Margaret and its offshoots.…
Pick of the Week: Dances and Houses
MICHELLE: I’m torn between Wandance and Burn the House Down this week. Sports-adjacent manga versus josei suspense/mystery. I think in the end, Burn the House Down has the…
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,…
Pick of the Week: Historical and Horror
KATE: This week's list has several tempting titles! In particular, I'm curious about two debuts: Nude Model and Other Stories and The Blue Wolves of Mibu, both of…
Pick of the Week: Confessions and Titans
SEAN: This may be the first time I’ve ever picked as Pick of the Week a book I not only plan to not read but plan to actively…
Pick of the Week: Love and Cats
MICHELLE: Despite not loving The Wize Wize Beasts of the Wizarding Wizdoms as much as I’d hoped to do, I am still really looking forward to Nagabe’s Love…
Pick of the Week: Journeys and Windows
SEAN: While I realize it may be too bleak for me to actually read, I can’t help but make HIRAETH -The End of the Journey- my pick this…
Pick of the Week: Love and Sports
MICHELLE: There’s not much that I’m especially excited about this week. I have enjoyed what I’ve read of Farewell, My Dear Cramer, though, and we don’t get much…
Pick of the Week: Jazz and Josei
SEAN: I try not to do more than one pick per week, but I have to break the rules this time around, as I cannot decide between jazz-tinged…
Pick of the Week: Yona and Others
SEAN: It’s Jump/Beat week, folks, and once again my pick is Yona of the Dawn, because it remains one of the best manga Shojo Beat is putting out.…
Pick of the Week: Food and Mystery
SEAN: I generally try not to double dip light novels and manga, and the novel this manga is based on is coming out in two months from J-Novel…
Pick of the Week: Classic and Modern
MICHELLE: Part of me really wants to pick Marmalade Boy here, as it's one of the first manga I ever read and I have tremendous nostalgic feelings about…
Pick of the Week: Sports and Wine
MICHELLE: There are several volumes of sports manga coming out this week, which delights me to no end. I will happily read all of them, but my pick…
Pick of the Week: Cinderellas and Akitas
SEAN: Tempting as it is to go with the manga featuring what looks like the dumbest dog ever on the cover (Lovely Muco), I will instead go with…
Pick of the Week: Medalists and Househusbands
SEAN: There’s several titles I’m interested in… a new “Peggy Sue Villainess” story, a new We’re New at This sex comedy story, and (of course) a new Urusei…
Drifting Dragons, The Way of the Househusband, Urusei Yatsura, Blue Period
Pick of the Week: Mao and Meow
ASH: While I haven’t read everything by Rumiko Takahashi available in English, I have enjoyed everything that I have, so this week I’m particularly looking forward to giving…
Pick of the Week: Signs and Canvases
SEAN: The last pick before I have to stop getting my manga from my local comic shop for the time being, I am feeling a tad melancholy. I…
Pick of the Week: Guardian and Others
SEAN: I have been hearing about the amazingness that is Guardian: Zhen Hun for years now, so it will be nice to finally see what the fuss is…
Pick of the Week: Performers and Delinquents
MICHELLE: I am, of course, happy to see new volumes of Lovesick Ellie and Giant Killing, but this week I'll pick Delinquent Daddy and Tender Teacher simply because…
Pick of the Week: Adults and Knights
SEAN: Even Though We’re Adults. Boy, that was easy. Next? KATE: This week, I’m all about the DRAMA–specifically, romantic drama. I second Sean’s recommendation of Even Though We’re…
Pick of the Week: Friendship and Monsters
MICHELLE: Anything by the author of My Love Story!! automatically receives my endorsement, so it's The Secret of Friendship for me this week! SEAN: I'm very tempted by…
Pick of the Week: Rainbows and Boats
MICHELLE: I usually like manga from Margaret and its spinoffs, so I’ll go with Rainbow Days this week despite knowing absolutely nothing about it. KATE: I second Michelle’s…
Pick of the Week: Cages and Fairies
KATE: I won't lie: I love the cover of Soloist in a Cage! Though my inner critic is whispering, "Don't judge this book by the you-know-what," my gut…