Anime

*Note: This review contains major spoilers for The Water Magician.* The Water Magician arrives as a curious experiment in the isekai formula: instead of celebrating the genre’s familiar beats, it often undermines them. That boldness is simultaneously the series’ most compelling element and its chief flaw. On one hand, the show gives us an unnerving, […]

The back half of the Cat’s Eye remake shifts the franchise from lighthearted capers to a darker, more serialized tone as Hitomi and her sisters face the Cranaff Syndicate while trying to recover their missing father’s paintings. Despite the attempt to raise stakes and deepen mysteries, the season struggles with pacing, characterization, and a repeated […]

Azusa Kannawa is the kind of manager who excels at deadlines, presentations and professional composure — but when it comes to small talk, after-work drinks or showing her softer side, she’s spectacularly out of her depth. My Awkward Senpai turns that charming contradiction into the heart of a workplace romantic comedy that’s cozy, sometimes predictable, […]

Puniru is a Kawaii Slime returns for a second season that leans harder into emotion while keeping the series’ signature zaniness and visual flair. What begins as a continuation of sitcom-style antics gradually shifts into surprisingly thoughtful territory — exploring identity, validation, and what “being cute” really means for the characters involved. The result is […]

Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter — promotional cover Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter (translated title) offers a textbook example of an isekai-adjacent school fantasy that leans heavily into character-driven vignettes. At its core the series follows Allen, a commoner-turned-tutor, as he tries to guide a trio of female magic students—most notably Tina, the […]

Poster: The Camphorwood Custodian Based on Keigo Higashino’s 2020 novel, The Camphorwood Custodian is a contemplative anime film that blends gentle mystery with character-driven drama. It follows Reito Naoi, a man who, after a desperate act and subsequent arrest, is released on the condition that he become the custodian of a camphorwood tree at Tsukigō […]

A quietly imaginative slice-of-life drama, Fureru. follows three island-born friends—Aki, Ryo, and Yuta—whose bond is literally strengthened by a small, spiky yokai named Fureru. This hedgehog-like creature erases the walls between minds, allowing the trio to share thoughts and feelings with perfect clarity. As they grow into adulthood and move to Shinjuku, the supernatural shortcut […]

There’s No Freaking Way I’ll Be Your Lover! Unless… ~Next Shine~ — Renako and Kaho’s delicate arc. There’s No Freaking Way I’ll Be Your Lover! Unless… ~Next Shine~ extends the show’s blend of deadpan comedy and quietly potent emotion by centering its latest arc on Renako and Kaho. After Ajisai’s confession and Renako’s month-long promise […]

Studio Orange’s Leviathan is an ambitious alternate-history anime that blends soaring imagination with the grim realities of war. Based on Scott Westerfeld’s novel trilogy and produced in collaboration with Qubic Pictures, the series reimagines a World War I–adjacent conflict where bioengineered “fabricated beasts” and hulking mechanical war machines clash overhead and on the ground. With […]

After its gentle first season, I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level returns with a second run that doubles down on comforting, low-stakes fantasy. Season 2 keeps the same cozy isekai sensibility: Azusa Aizawa, the eternally youthful witch who accidentally outgrinded the system by killing slimes, lives a slow rural […]