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
May 21, 2023 • Subscribe
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Patron Pick Spring 2023: Jigokuraku – 11
That was certainly a dark turn. Read more
Patron Pick Spring 2023: Jigokuraku – 07
Jigokuraku seems to waver between Hunter X Hunter and Monster Hunter. Read more
Patron Pick Spring 2023: Jigokuraku – 06
That was pretty disturbing on multiple levels 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 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 – 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 Summer 2023: Helck – 08
This was very much an expected return to form for Helck. 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 Fall 2023: Atarashii Joushi wa Do Tennen – 08
This is not high art by any stretch of the imagination, but it's hard not to smile.
Patron Pick Summer 2023: Helck – 04
Good choice, Patrons. Read more
Patron Pick Summer 2023: Helck – 07
Wow, that was one hell of an infodump (no pun intended). 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 – 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.
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 – 09
Helck getting a look at the darker side of demonkind seems like it might be a moment. Read more
Patron Pick Winter 2023: Mononogatari – 06
Mononogatari is growing into its premise, albeit slowly. Read more
Patron Pick Winter 2023: Mononogatari – 05
The voters have spoken. 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 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
Jigokuraku – 08
「弟子と師」 (Deshi to Shi) "Student and Master" I can't shake the vibe that this show has more than a whiff of death porn about it
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
Patron Pick Winter 2023: Mononogatari – 12 (Season Finale)
That explains why the exposition with this series seemed glacially slow. Read more
Patron Pick Fall 2023: Atarashii Joushi wa Do Tennen – 04
Atarashii Joushi certainly doesn't beat around the bush. In that sense Kinjou, the new guy at the office, seems to fit right in.
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 Fall 2023: Atarashii Joushi wa Do Tennen – 09
That the Japanese need series like these to reassure them that it doesn't have to be like that is sad as Hell, but it's nice to have one…
Patron Pick Fall 2023: Atarashii Joushi wa Do Tennen – 05
This week was probably the most shameless episode of Atarashii Joshi wa Do Tennen yet, and the weirdest too.
Patron Pick Fall 2023: Atarashii Joushi wa Do Tennen – 06
There were several interesting elements in this episode of Atarashii Joushi, along with the usual handful of guffaws.
Patron Pick Fall 2023: Atarashii Joushi wa Do Tennen – 10
On the whole this ep was more like a Blu-ray extra than a real episode of the series, with all that implies.
Patron Pick Fall 2023: Atarashii Joushi wa Do Tennen – 11
It's great that Shirosaki is so protective but Momose needs to take control of his life here.
Patron Pick Winter 2024: Dosanko Gal wa Namara Menkoi (Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable!) – 08
Dosanko Gal is another (in a long and august tradition) of anime on which I find my opinion diverging sharply from the general consensus.
Patron Pick Fall 2022: Koukyuu no Karasu – 09
Yet another big name in a small role. Read more
Patron Pick Fall 2022: Koukyuu no Karasu – 10
It says something for how persuasive Koukyuu no Karasu's good points are that it keeps doing the things it does that annoy me and I'm still on-board. Read…
Patron Pick Fall 2022: Koukyuu no Karasu – 12
This was perhaps the first time an ep of Raven in the Inner Palace actually felt like a self-contained piece of work. Read more
Patron Pick Fall 2022: Koukyuu no Karasu – 11
Koukyuu no Karasu gets the job done by doing a lot of big things poorly but doing all the little things incredibly well. Read more
Patron Pick Fall 2022: Koukyuu no Karasu – 06
The voters have spoken. Read more
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 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.
Jigokuraku
It’s time to employ another Suicide Squad-like theme. Oh you know, when good guys are feeling too chicken to get a dangerous job done because the cost will…
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.
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.
Jigokuraku – 07
「花と贄」 (Hana to Nie) "Flowers and Offerings" In accordance with my usual policy of not burying the headline, that was by far, far the best episode of Jigokuraku so far…
Jigokuraku – 03
Silly as it is, this is still kind of an interesting situation. Read more
Jigokuraku – 04
This whole operation kind of doesn't make sense on any level. Read more
Jigokuraku – 01
「死罪人と執行人」 (Shizaijin to Shikkounin) "The Death Row Convict and the Executioner" I had a tickle in my brain telling me this one was going to be good.
Jigokuraku – 05
As with so much else about it the gender politics of Hell's Paradise are a bit schizoid. Read more
Jigokuraku – 02
It seems like Jigokuraku has a bit of a split personality to it. Read more
Jigokuraku – 09
「神と人」 (Kami to Hito) "Gods and People" Little Shop of Horrors meets elixir of life
Jigokuraku – 02
「選別と選択」 (Senbetsu to Sentaku) "Screening and Choosing" It seems like Jigokuraku has a bit of a split personality to it.