Daemons of the Shadow Realm – Episode 1
Daemons of the Shadow Realm comes out of the gate swinging with a first episode that’s gory, thrilling, and sets up plenty of intriguing and feminist-minded world-building questions.
Posts by Tony Sun Prickett
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Witch Hat Atelier – Episodes 1-2
Witch Hat Atelier is a masterful adaptation that captures the beauty and terror of the sublime. Run, don’t walk, to watch it.
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Akane-banashi – Episode 1
The story is off to a very promising start with its themes about gender roles and performance told through rakugo, but it needs to give its visuals time to breathe.
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Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Societal Melancholia in the Wake of Imperialism
Each generation in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle attempts to find a path out of suffering, groping at lost histories to understand themselves so they can connect with others, in the process forcing a reckoning for readers with Japan’s imperial legacies.
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I Have No Enemies: Vinland Saga and the ethics of political nonviolence
Vinland Saga challenges our relationships with nonviolent resistance as individual moral actors and members of a collective struggle for a world free of state violence.
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A Misanthrope Teaches a Class for Demi-Humans – Episode 1
I honestly don’t understand who this show is for, because monsterfuckers will get nothing from it, and anybody else will find it astonishingly bland.
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The Case Book of Arne – Episode 1
It’s poorly written as a mystery show and the last-minute twist makes the whole thing fall completely flat.
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Journal with Witch – Episode 1
Journal with Witch is exquisitely boarded, perfectly edited, and speaks profoundly to the human condition, intimacy, and ambiguities of grief.
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Takopi’s Original Sin – Series Review
The greatest works about childhood must excavate the harm that our systems do to them. Takopi’s Original Sin stretches my tolerance of this excavation to its absolute limits–depicting how abuse and neglect can break the minds of children, with very little in the way of meaningful solutions.
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Digimon Beatbreak – Episode 1
Digimon’s greatest strength as a franchise lies in its character relationships, and this new entry doesn’t seem to understand that at all.
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Sanda – Episode 1
SANDA may be one of the most idiotic shows on TV. That is precisely why it works so well.
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Gachiakuta – Episode 1
Gachiakuta is an angry show, but it’s not yet clear whether it has a goal or will fall into aimless edgelord exploits.
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CITY the Animation – Episode 1
If you loved Nichijou, this creative reunion is largely more of a good thing..
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The Summer Hikaru Died – Episode 1
The Summer Hikaru Died is without a doubt worth your time–and I highly recommend it for anybody interested in horror, queer storytelling, experimental animation, or just good anime generally.
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Takopi’s Original Sin – Episode 1
Takopi’s Original Sin thoughtfully addresses its heavy themes with gorgeous style, but its graphic imagery make it not to be watched lightly.
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BanG Dream! It’s MyGo!!!!!, Ave Mujica, and the Doll in Asian Feminism
Bang Dream: It’s My Go!!!!! and Ave Mujica challenge overly simple distinctions between fake and real that imagine Asian girls as doll-like constructs of femininity and marginalize trans women.
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Apocalypse Hotel – Episode 1
A remarkably lonely premiere that uses the apocalypse to explore a Sisyphus-like absurd heroine robot.
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Mobile Suit Gundam: Gquuuuuux – Episode 1
This new entry has a high barrier to entry to new fans, but is well worth the confusion
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Summer Pockets – Episode 1
It’s like I’ve been sent 20 years back in time in the worst possible way.
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From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman – Episode 1
This isn’t just any old harem: it’s a middle-aged man and his former/current students.
