Tag: Japan

February 10, 2024 · 1 comment

By Zoe Crombie. Have you ever wondered what an anime series that combines the cute slice-of-life antics of magical girls with the spectacular action of giant mechs would look like? If so, then wonder no longer – Granbelm is the series for you, combining these evergreen anime subgenres with a surprising degree of success. Centred […]

February 7, 2024 · 0 comments

By Jonathan Clements. Unsure of what direction to take in life, high-school graduate Hiwa Natsunagi (Haruka Fukuhara) decides to become a professional hula dancer, like her late sister Mari. But she soon begins to wonder if hula dancing is the thing for her, when she proves to be the clumsiest, least hula-competent girl in her […]

February 4, 2024 · 0 comments

By Andrew Osmond. Like many fantasy protagonists, the young heroine of Ascendance of a Bookworm is on a desperate mission. But it doesn’t involve melting a ring, slaying a dragon, or facing an invading army. No, her mission is suggested by the title; it’s to read a book in a world where books are as […]

February 1, 2024 · 0 comments

By Andrew Osmond. Shirobako opens… misleadingly, actually. Its first minutes show an animation high-school club where five close-knit girls are making their own anime mini-epic. Once that’s been done, they promise each other, they’ll join up again to make something else. And then… the story skips forward two and a half years. Two of the […]

January 26, 2024 · 0 comments

By Shelley Pallis. The story of I Could Never be a Succubus begins with a striking Gotterdammerung, as a bold hero and an evil demon lord fight for their lives in a burning castle. But this is not one-on-one, the hero is the leader of a stereotypical party of adventurers, and the adversary soon realises […]