2025 Summer Premiere Reviews
All the summer premiere reviews in one easy-to-find place. We’ll update the chart as new series become available, so be sure to check back in the coming days for more!
All Articles
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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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Throw the Man Away With Me: Rejecting heteronormativity in Run Away With Me, Girl
Much of Run Away With Me, Girl is focused on how heteronormativity cruelly forces queer people to diminish who they are. Thank goodness that the story also envisions so much more for its heroines.
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Dweebs, Dorks, and Dictators: El-Hazard’s prescient political commentary
El-Hazard’s depiction of its own petulant villain provides some eerily relevant commentary that resonates outside of the show’s original context, and makes revisiting the series particularly powerful.
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Orb: On the Movements of the Earth and imagining radical futures
As I watched Orb’s various protagonists stake their lives against a violently oppressive religious institution, my real-life government grew alarmingly hostile toward my existence and those of my ilk. Watching Orb became an acutely personal experience, demonstrating the force with which established power structures will suppress truths that threaten their authority and how hope for radical change can be found through community and collective action.
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In Sailor Moon S and Revolutionary Girl Utena, butchness is vital fluidity
Utena and Haruka are butch female characters who are treated positively and hold center stage in their narratives, making them noteworthy even after all this time.
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Chatty AF 230: Ave Mujica Retrospective (WITH TRANSCRIPT)
Tony, Cy, and Chiaki get the band back together to look back at plurality, toxic yuri, and glorious camp with the latest BanG Dream entry, Ave Mujica!
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The women coloring the worlds of Studio Ghibli from behind the scenes
Characters like the determined Chihiro, the principled San, and the imaginative Shizuku have inspired women and girls across generations—but do these fantastical worlds reflect the reality for women making films at Studio Ghibli, and are their ambitions equally respected?
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The Real Indians of Victorian Britain: Black Butler and the representation of South Asian histories
The depiction of Soma and Agni is significant, as it reflects the presence of Indian culture in 1880s Britain, representing historical reality that is often overlooked in popular culture. However, as in anime media more generally, it’s worth unpacking whether these two stand as strong examples of Indian representation or instead easy background gag characters.
