Miscommunication as narrative conflict is often linked with contrivance and bad writing—and no genre faces this criticism more than romance. That’s what makes Yuri is My Job! so refreshing. In the process of building a will-they-won’t-they story, it explores the gendered, neurotypical, and heteronormative expectations that are built into social interaction.
Here is a tip: if you want to endear me to your trash gremlin heroine—something which should not be hard, given my record—then probably the last thing you should use is a one-two punch of “filming a fake suicide attempt” and “threatening the hero with fake sexual harassment claims.” Because I’ll tell you, I’m just not gonna come back from that even before you start dangling incest in front of my face.
Have y’all ever made a zombie brain? It turns several very tasty alcoholic beverages into one of the single worst textural experiences on Earth. This is like that.
It’s a fantastic premiere that mixes dance with commentary on toxic masculinity.
Over the years I’ve gotten accustomed to the incorporation of very soft, cutesified character designs in shows. So RPG Real Estate has come along to catapult me directly back to the 2007 as punishment for my hubris.
A shoujo-esque coming-of-age series? Idols with art nouveau aesthetics? And its production has more than a ham sandwich to its name? Is it my birthday?
It’s an overpowered hero fantasy series and I made it all the way to the end without wanting to gouge my eyeballs out of my head. So, you know. It’s fine.
When it comes to the frequently trashy death game genre I at least respect Tomodachi Game’s attempts to be classy, even if I’m not convinced it has the goods to back it up
I have a weakness for high-concept shows that are this blithely earnest and excited about what they’re making (while also being at least a little gay).
A moment of silence for Love All Play, which has started airing just in time to be The Other Badminton Anime. There’s really nothing wrong with it if you’re a dedicated sports anime fan, but there’s not a lot unique to recommend it to anyone but genre diehards.
A yuri fantasy series that looks like a gem and is well worth going into unspoiled.
While Salaryman’s premise is pretty by the books, it absolutely shines in execution
Ah yes, the queer gothic series I’m obsessed with and have a very hard time recommending.
This has the makings of an exceptional rom-com, with a couple of caveats.
This episode lost and won my trust probably about six times in the course of 48-minutes, and I’m still not sure what to think of it beyond a general “alright, I’m listening.”
It’s a by-the-numbers mish-mash of heavy-handed homages that also has cute mini-mecha designs and a fair bit of heart. It sits squarely in the subgenre of “rah rah otaku culture” that’s remained a crowd-pleaser ever since Otaku no Video pioneered it in the 80s—people love to see themselves on TV. For mechs this season, you could very much do worse.
There are two major things that Platinum End has in common with previous Ohba/Obata manga. One, it captures the feeling of railing for the first time at an unjust society in a way that rings powerfully true if you’re in Shonen Jump’s 13-17 target demographic (physically or emotionally) and then gets increasingly shaky with added age and perspective; and two, it hates women just so very much.
It’s just….so boring.
Put on your earmuffs, because we’re headed square into dogwhistle territory.
The vampire dies in no time is no-holds-barred slapstick comedy. It’s a pretty good example of the genre, too, if you’re down for something manic.
