Hakumei to Mikochi, Violet Evergarden, and Historical Context in Anime

The Industrial Revolution irreversibly altered the world. The mark it made upon society can still very much be seen today, and it serves as the baseline for many fictional works, such as those of the steampunk genre. Two anime I’ve eagerly been watching this season are Hakemei to Mikochi and Violet Evergarden, both of which …

Is it Fair to Compare Works by the Same Studio?

The critical evaluation of anime (and media in general) is driven by comparison. This is only natural since we base all our opinions off of previous experiences. If this wasn’t the case we’d have to pull ratings out of thin air. Drawing parallels between anime we have already processed and ones we are still processing …

The Employment of False Visuals in the Monogatari Series

The other day I concisely twittered with Tim from Thoughts That Move about the Monogatari Series, an anime that I have been bewitched by ever since first laying eyes on it. Tim eloquently exhibits one of Monogatari’s greatest strengths in his analysis series (spoilers), pulling apart many of Bakemonogatari’s visuals and then defining why they’re …

The Importance of Ambience in Anime

Over the past few days I’ve been finishing the anime Silver Spoon by A-1 Pictures. It was alright but in my opinion not exceptional. I just couldn’t quite put my finger on why that was however. The characters were good, so was the story. The concept was unique and interesting, I’d never seen an anime …

Prison School is Oddly Relatable, Obscene and Hilarious

Prison School is an ecchi comedy anime that I finished only yesterday. Already though, have I come to the conclusion that it is one of the funniest anime I have ever watched alongside the likes of Nichijou and The Everyday Lives of Highschool Boys. It shamelessly uses its eroticism, which is honestly borderline hentai, to …