Anime Review #95: I Want To Eat Your Pancreas

I've finally found an anime that comes off similar to a novel/flick from the golden yet seemingly distant days of middle school, named Nicholas Sparks' A Walk To Remember, which tells the story of an outgoing, popular boy falling in love with a shy, distant Protestant girl despite their initially rocky start. And the anime …

Anime Review #82: From Up On Poppy Hill

When most people think of stories that strictly involve romance, introspective and thought-provoking journeys or school scenarios, Studio Ghibli movies aren't usually their initial choice. Understandable, since when watching these flicks, you'll also likely get the presence of interesting fantasy lands and creatures straight out of the Miyazaki mindset - No-Face from Spirited Away, Ponyo …

East Meets West #17: 5 Centimeters Per Second .vs. The Great Gatsby

Many of us are familiar with the works of Makoto Shinkai, the famous Japanese director of modern hits like Your Name or Weathering With You. Throughout parts of 2020-2021 I've looked through a bunch of his works and have noticed that they all hinge on one specific theme: getting a boy and girl together. With …

Anime Review #79: Hotarubi No Mori E

Some anime movies are just so simple, yet so profound that they can tell a story better than a single novel could. In preparation for last week's post, I had to read Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers and was surprised at how verbose and detailed some of the chapters were, that one would have to …

Anime Review #77: Chuunibyou – Take On Me!

Ah, good old Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai (Love, Chuunibyou, And Other Delusions). After Clannad came out some six years prior, this was Kyoto Animation's second throw at the high school romance subgenre. Needless to say, when I watched it, I was less than enthralled. Expectations ended up lower than initially anticipated, as schizophrenic characters …

Anime Review #62: The Garden Of Words

You know, at some point there comes a time when one needs to look at an anime, realize how much wrong there is with it, and simply turn off the screen, and walk away from the madness. I've been able to do that with several series over the course of my lifetime; notably Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds …

Anime Review #59: Fireworks – Should We Watch It From The Side Or The Bottom?

There exist two classes of romance stories: on one side, there are the timeless, heartwarming stories which continue to captivate readers and enthrall them with the life, struggles and successes of the couple. Nicholas Sparks' A Walk To Remember, which I remember reading in middle school, is one such example. On the flip side, you …