Reviews

Panning the Stream: Summer 2016 Premieres, Round 1

Let the taste-testing begin!

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I’ve been up to my ears in family gatherings, travel, and spotty WiFi this week, but I finally managed to watch enough premieres to compile them into the season’s first Panning post. We’re sticking with the new format I adopted for Spring: I’ll watch every new, licensed full-length show and talk about ’em, then roll them up into “digest” posts divided into three basic categories: “Guaranteed three episodes,” “On the fence,” and “Probably dropped.”

If a title catches your eye, you can find out where the show is streaming by using this handy search engine. Now hit the jump to ding the bell for Round 1—FIGHT!

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orange – Episode 1 (Meet ‘n’ Greet)

Prepare your heart for a summer full of feelings!

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Now that my schedule has settled down somewhat, I’m back to blogging weekly for the good folks at Anime Evo again! While I’m still not 100% certain if I’ll be covering orange or something else, this lovely, vibrant, pensive premiere bodes very well for the show’s chances. Either way, it definitely deserved a few extra words.

Click here for the full meet ‘n’ greet on Anime Evo!

Glancing Upstream: Spring 2016 Retrospective and Review

Gold and silver and bronze and on.

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Spring might have been lacking the standout masterpiece and shoujo gem that Winter had (Shouwa Genroku and Snow White, respectively), but it more than made up for it in sheer quantity, offering up a variety of lively, stylish, and just downright fun series. In that respect, this season feels a little like last summer: I’m not sure how many of these shows are gonna make my 2016 Top 10 list, but I enjoyed watching just about all of them.

In other news, I think this is the last time you’ll see my Totally Arbitrary Rankings used in a season retrospective. More and more I’m realizing I don’t love the ranking system–it forces me to list shows one after the other even if I think multiple shows may have all been equally worthwhile for very different reasons. It’s reductive and misleading but, more to the point, not that fun. So enjoy the numbers for today, bid them a fond (or not) farewell, and look forward to a new format from here on out.

For now, though…

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Moon Crisis Make Up! How Chiaki Kon Saved Sailor Moon Crystal

A miracle romance for the ages.

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Sailor Moon Crystal premiered to a lot of excitement, but the hype train soon ground to an unceremonious halt thanks to the show’s poor production values, breakneck pacing, terrible questionable changes to the source material, and general lack of energy. Some fans hung on. Many jumped off. With no real nostalgic attachment to the franchise and a ’90s anime I was enjoying much more, I wound up in the second group.

Then the Season 3 (“Death Busters Arc”) announcements rolled out: the show was moving from a bimonthly online (ONA) schedule to a weekly TV one, getting both a new series director (Chiaki Kon) and character designer (Akira Takahashi), and giving itself a Moon Prism Makeover. The hype train let out a low, tentative whistle. Curious but not all that optimistic, I gave the season premiere a try, and was shocked to discover it was actually…fun? Against all odds, Kon and her staff have breathed life into an adaptation that was dead in the water, thanks to a few simple changes that made a huge difference.

Click here for the full post at The Mary Sue!

Review: Welcome to Night Vale – “Ghost Stories”

My big ol’ nerd umbrella expands to cover podcasts with my review of the latest Night Vale live show.

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I’m fairly new to the town of Night Vale (feel free to greet me with a friendly “Interloperrrr!” if you’d like). Utena Watch Party cohort and online buddy Vrai convinced me to give the show a try last August, whereupon I fell hard for its likably flawed protagonist, diverse cast, offbeat humor, and casual weirdness, blazing through the entire series in a little under two months. Since then, I’ve become a Weird Scout, picked up some sweet WTNV merch, tossed around wild theories with friends, and attended a book signing event. (But I definitely didn’t go as one part of a genderswapped Cecil/Kevin duo for Halloween or design WTNV/Utena crossover art or create a Spotify playlist in loosely chronological order so I could relive the stories of Night Vale in song form—no no, certainly not. That would be ridiculous.)

Point is, I have a lot of love for this series, so I was thrilled to finally see my first live show when “Ghost Stories” floated through Chicago in April. And with the crew gearing up for the second part of their U.S. tour in July, now seemed like a good time to let others know about it, too.

Click here for the full review at The Mary Sue!

Panning the Stream: Spring 2016 Midseason Review

Pick a show, any show.

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We’ve reached the midway point and Spring shows no sign of slowing down or dropping off. From calming comedies to urban fantasies to action-packed (melo)dramas to whatever-the-hell The Lost Village is supposed to be, there’s a lot of variety and remarkable quality, with most shows building on themselves nicely or, at the very least, maintaining a steady course.

While I wouldn’t say there’s a ton in the way of jaw-dropping creative ambition at this point (aside from Concrete Revolutio anyway), if you’re in the mood for entertainment, Spring 2016 has got you thoroughly covered. Hit the jump to check in with our motley crew of anime titles.

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Life, The Mooniverse, and Everything: The Sailor Moon Newbie Retrospective

A two-year-long journey through a twenty-year-old classic.

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A couple springs ago, when I was just getting into the planning stages of launching this blog, Viz hit us with some big news: They had licensed the original Sailor Moon, and they were going to re-release the entire series with a brand new uncut(!) translation. And just like that I had my first ever blogging project: A 200-episode series of Newbie Reviews. (So, you know. A nice, easy commitment.)

I loved Sailor Moon‘s directors’ later works (especially Ikuhara of Utena fame), and I knew a little about the series itself, but I really had no idea what to expect–whether I’d like it, or find it too childish, or get trapped in Filler Episode Hell. What followed were 24 months and 100 posts of quips, critiques, praises, giggles, feels, and flails, as I slowly fell in love with the cast, the stories, and the silliness. It was easy to see why the franchise had so many long-time fans. And, as the final credits rolled, I counted myself among them.

It’s been a fun journey, but now that I’m sitting at the destination, I wanted take a moment to look back, talk about the series as a whole, and maybe reminisce about the characters and moments that stuck with me the most. I, er… got a little carried away, and the post ballooned like a Dead Moon Circus tent. I’ve done my best to break it up with my favorite Sailor Moon gifs. Hit the jump to take a leisurely stroll down Memo(on)ry Lane.

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Rule of Three Review: Spring 2016 Anime Digest

Don’t mind me, I just fell over under the weight of my watch list.

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I hemmed and hawed about exactly when I should post this sucker. Due to a combination of already offset premiere dates and delays caused by the Kumamoto Earthquake (a list of ways you can help here, if you’re interested), some of these are into their fourth episode while a couple have only aired two. So consider this more a rule of three-ish review, I s’pose.

The number of shows that made it this far is, uh… not insignificant, with a good mix of comedy and drama (or at least loud glorious trashy action) to offer a little something for everyone. Even the stuff on the bubble is pretty solid, and would have been a lock during last season’s sparser schedule. I’m going to try to be brief here so as not to overload you on word count, but let’s see if I can’t praise some favorites and maybe point you towards your next favorite along the way.

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Panning the Stream: Spring 2016 Premieres, Round 2

Be careful what you wish for?

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On Monday, shortly after watching four lackluster premieres in a row, I shot out a grumpy tweet hoping that the spring season had gotten all the boring anime out of the way in one go. The anime gods heard my prayer, cackled madly, and then proceeded to drop nine shows in my lap, eight of which were, at the very least, pretty good, even if they weren’t all my thing.

Some of the stuff in my “on the fence” pile is there simply because I had to draw a line somewhere or the season was going to crush me under titles. Granted, it could all fall apart pretty quickly, but staring at a potential watch list of 12+ shows for the first time since last summer is–well, daunting, but pretty exciting, too. Maybe this anime thing ain’t so bad after all.

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Panning the Stream: Spring 2016 Premieres, Round 1

So many shows, so little time!

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It’s a little late out the gate, but here’s the first batch of panning posts. I’m doing my premieres a little differently this season: I still watch every new, licensed full-length show and talk about ’em, but I’m rolling them up into just 2-3 “digest” posts and forgoing my usual extended meet ‘n’ greets for shorter blurbs divided into three basic categories: “Guaranteed three episodes,” “On the fence,” and “Probably dropped.” Not sure if I’ll stick with this in future seasons or not, but it’s how I needed to do it this time around.

If a title catches your eye, you can find out where the show is streaming by using this handy search engine. Now hit the jump to ding the bell for Round 1—FIGHT!

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