So a new re-imagining of Thundercats has been announced, and the fire from it all has been intense. On the same time that a school shooting took place and a royal wedding was being prepared, the loudest thing I saw on social media was “Did you see the new Thundercats trailer? Look what they did to Thundercats! What the fuck did they do to Thundercats?! Damn you, CalArts! Aaaaaaaagh!” This cartoon that I haven’t thought about in years is now…
After two and a half years, Digimon Adventure Tri, the third installment in the Digimon Adventure subseries, has finally ended. And instead of praise or satisfaction, I can only feel malaise. A delirious, yet somehow sobering malaise. What was meant to be a milestone series celebrating 15 years of the Digimon anime finished on a halfhearted slog. One that did not highlight the fine points of the franchise or add new moments of gold, but only a reminder of banality…
As Trigger budded off from Gainax, the comparisons were inevitable from the very beginning. A two-cour mecha anime featuring heavy sexual imagery. A timid, teenage boy thrown into a cockpit and forced to fight giant monsters, while finding himself in a love triangle between a hot-blooded foreign girl in a red suit and a blue-haired girl whose feelings for said boy feel more familial than romantic. Even from the first episode, astute audiences took pictures, matched them up with screencaps…
23 Slaves and Me A man walks into a studio. He asks to see the manager because he has a series to pitch. The manager comes out of his domain and asks, “What are you offerin’?” “Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!” the man says. “You can’t believe the kind of anime I have for you!” “Another one of them isekai whatchamacallits?” the manager inquires. “Don’t you shut the door in front of me, because my anime will shatter your…
Spring is in the air, and so is anime. Caligula I remember as a teenager thinking the Matrix sequels had interesting things to say about philosophy and the human mind. I know, bear with me, but I legitimately thought shit like the Merovingian’s cake orgasm speech and Agent Smith asking Neo why he keeps fighting were cool. But that was over a decade ago, and now I think all those attempts at psychological science were stupid. Nothing except for a…
Lately, an episode of OK KO has been making the rounds for bringing back the almost dead very special episode trope to make a show about gun control, one so blatant that it ended with the show telling you to call your congresswoman. And because of all the school shootings over the years, this was a hot button issue. People against guns were praising this episode for touching on such a delicate message. Those for guns were angry that a…
DARLING in the FRANXX You know what? Hype is a bitch. And nobody knows that more than Studio Trigger (for better or worse). Ever since they were declared “THE SAVIORS OF ANIME!!!”(tm) by one of my colleagues (the one who doesn’t write here anymore because he’d have to apologize to all of us for making that inane claim), the studio’s name always gets attached to some high profile, heavily promoted, stylish as hell supershow, only for it turn out either…
Citrus I don’t like Citrus. Watching it makes me feel like I’m seeing a teenage girl being sexually abused by another teenage girl. Because that’s exactly what I’m watching, and no amount of camerawork trying to frame it as romantic or erotic will make me feel better about a young woman being forced to the ground and violently kissed by her step-sister, tears welling up in her eyes. I’m not interesting in seeing the groundwork being laid for a relationship…
No. No they haven’t. Welcome to the worst season of the year (until the next one). Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Arc Aw, yeah. It’s Keerdkapteers! Sucker-a’s a junior high school student now! Madison’s still a dirty, shameless voyeur! Eli Moon’s back! Ms. McKenzie’s back and she’s got tea! Yue’s back! Syao-show-xiao-Michelle-whatever-ran’s back! Kero’s back but he doesn’t sound like surfer dude Matt Hill anymore! That sucks, but who cares?! Everybody’s back! Except for that annoying Chinese girl who wanted to…
Dies Irae Welcome to the real premiere of Dies Irae! You’re probably asking yourself “What’s the deal? Why are we dealing with high school shenanigans? Where are the Nazi’s?” Well as you could probably tell by now, episode 0 was supposed to be an appetizer meant to show off the villains and entice people into the show. Yeah, general reception by fans and non-fans alike should tell you how well that worked out. I myself didn’t watch it because the…