12 Days of Anime #8: Triumph in Yuri on Ice

“Everything a skater feels on the ice…is love.” – Yuri Katsuki [WARNING: SPOILER ALERT!] There is a subtle but important distinction between victory and triumph. Victory is the opposite of defeat. Triumph is the opposite of failure.

12 Days of Anime #7: The Taste of Steel in Thunderbolt Fantasy

The last thing you’d expect from an epic fantasy wuxia inspired production would be the protagonist to opine against taking swordsmanship seriously. Thunderbolt Fantasy’s has a stubbornly singular, beaten to death storyline that drives our heroes’ quest: they must retrieve the stolen legendary sword, Tiān Xíng Jiàn (literally “Heaven’s Retribution Sword”) from the evil hands […]

12 Days of Anime #6 Übermensch in Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto

What’s cool, cooler and coolest? Inspiring others to help themselves. While we marvel, gape, or go into asphyxiating fits of disbelief, Sakamoto’s magnetic draw is not just his ability to perform physics defying, visually stunning feats of physical prowess and artistic virtuosity, but how his impossibly cool actions encourage people to develop the confidence and […]

12 Days of Anime #5 Diligence in Assassination Classroom 2

You know that insane math problem showdown between Karma and Asano in that semester final episode? Yeah, I didn’t get it either. I had difficulty understanding it as a college educated adult–there was no way I would have been able to understand it as a middle school student. What is Japan feeding their students? Mathematics […]

12 Days of Anime #4: Fatherhood in My Hero Academia

Was anyone else disturbed by the noticeable absence of Izuku’s father? We see a lot of his mother but his dad is oddly absent. Yet we hardly notice because All Might is so darn good at filling up those paternal shoes.

12 Days of Anime #3: Heroics in Legend of Arslan: Dust Storm Dance

There are many wonderful moments to enjoy in Legend of Arslan: Dust Storm Dance (Arslan Senki: Fuujin Ranbu), but the opening fight between Gieve and Hilmes stole the premiere episode for me and affirmed my opinion that Gieve, is indeed, the most overpowered guy on Team Arslan. When we’re talking about combat skill, Daryun might be […]

12 Days of Anime #2: Anguish in Digimon Adventure Tri: Confession

The Digital World is a cruel place for children. Haven’t you noticed how every time the Digidestined get the chance to go to the Digital World, it is rarely a good thing?

12 Days of Anime #1: Joy in ERASED

While the nail-biting cliffhangers and Satoru’s mounting desperation to avert the tragedy he has lived through kept me on the edge of my seat every week, the emotional payoff when Satoru sees a smiling, healthy Kayo with her baby boy was, for me, the highlight of ERASED (Boku Dake ga Inai Machi, lit. “The Town Without Me”).