| DATE | MEDIA TYPE | TITLE | CREATOR | SCORE | COMMENT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18/09/24 | Manga | Washizu: Enma no Touhai | Fukumoto & Hara | 7 | Fucking stupid manga, so over-the-top in the way it depicts Washizu - like he's a literal force of nature, but that's what makes this such a fun read. Not fully translated so I've only read about 17 chapters, but I'll definitely read more if it continues to get scanlated. I don't really have too much to say, but it was fun and made me laugh. |
| 17/09/24 | Manga | Tobaku Datenroku Kaiji: 24-oku Dasshutsu-hen | Nobuyuki Fukumoto | 9 | Finally caught up with all of Kaiji. This is a big change from prior arcs, no real 'gambles', Fukumoto instead pivoting his classic style of drama into an extended escape. I think it works well, and it's honestly really refreshing. It gives Kaiji a whole other level of depth as a character, seeing him in situations where he's not constantly shitting himself trying to avoid horrific punishment. Of course, he's still trying to avoid horrific punishment, and he often is shitting himself here, but there's a lot more slice-of-life and comedic elements present here. It kinda feels like Fukumoto saw the Hagiwara mangas and thought he'd take a crack at it. Seriously an excess of hilarious moments. Endo being the main antagonistic force in this part is also quite refreshing, and he's also given a whole other level of depth, which I think will make Part 2 even better on a reread. I'm excited to see where this part goes, it's most likely going to be the final Kaiji instalment so I hope it continues to be great and I hope that it ends in an awesome way. I'm gonna feel a little empty when Kaiji ends, the series has a long legacy and is one of Fukumoto's crowning achivements as a mangaka. I'm glad that it continues still in this modern day, 28 years later. |
| 12/09/24 | Manga | Gambling Emperor Legend Zero | Nobuyuki Fukumoto | 8 | This felt like reading Diet Kaiji. I guess it's novel to see another death game manga premise from Fukumoto. This one is more about math than gambling, and I've never been so great at maths so some parts were a little hard to follow, but it never got in the way of my enjoyment. There's some really awesome death games in this, tons of variety in a modest 70 chapters, and I'm a big fan of the theme park setting. Zero, unfortunately, isn't that interesting of a protagonist. He's a super genius so there's not really that much struggle save for a couple of games, it's less compelling writing a prodigy who can win by immediate tangible material logic (math), than it is with someone like Akagi, who's a prodigy and you know will come out on top, but you're constantly at a loss on how he'll achieve it. A solid read. |
| 11/09/24 | Manga | Terumina | Kashmir | 7 | Nice art and a very dreamy atmosphere, vaguely gave me the feeling I got when reading certain Panpanya stories, but not at the same level. It's hard to say anything really, given there's only like 6 chapters translated. I think the lore you get about the trains, and these forgotten districts of old Tokyo at the end of every chapter is a very nice detail, and I had fun reading them. |
| 10/09/24 | Manga | The Legend of the Strongest, Kurosawa! | Nobuyuki Fukumoto | 10 | Fukumoto outdoes himself again. I love these troubled, lost, downtrodden protagonists, Kurosawa may be the best of them. One man's struggle to achieve what every person wants - the love & self-respect of their peers, and to have some semblance of direction in their life. The road is rocky, harsh, filled with fuck-ups and unforseen circumstances, but by fighting on through it all, Kurosawa manages to be a shining pillar of strength, one that inspires those around him, and one that has inspired me. It's always a battle of the heart, in no sense should we ever believe we’ve failed, because the only true failure is believing in that falsehood - that falsehood that stirs inaction, that shuts the door on our dreams, and that stops us from living, stops us from walking the path towards the life that we desire. Cried at the ending. A new favourite. |
| 05/09/24 | Manga | Buraiden Gai | Nobuyuki Fukumoto | 9 | Whyyyyy must the best Fukumotooooo have to be cancelledddd before its tiiiime? Buraiden Gai is simply awesome right from minute one, the fiercely independent Gai standing alone, back to the wall with a swarm of cops blocking the exit, holy shit! The Human Insitute is a wonderful Kaiji-tier locale, Sawai is an imposing, sick, cruel antagonist - definitely up there with the likes of Washizu & Kazuya - it's a joy to see his 'rehabiliation'. Gai also ends up being one of my favourite Fukumoto protags in general, just behind Akagi & Kaiji, I love his view on the world and how his desire for independence is shown in his past. Brilliant manga for just 38 chapters. All Fukumoto enjoyers must read. |
| 05/09/24 | Anime | Riding Bean | Sonoda & AIC | 8 | More of what I really liked from Gunsmith Cats. I'm really attracted to how these Sonoda OVA's flow, the violence mixed in with these really animated & fun characters... it tickles just the right spot in my heart. I think prototype Rally is less interesting than the Gunsmith Cats Rally but she's still badass. Minnie May is sorely missing. The Bean Bandit is so insane as a character featwise that he ends up being just, so cool. I'm even more excited to read the Gunsmith Cats manga when I can. |
| 05/09/24 | Manga | Seizon: LifE | Fukumoto & Kawaguchi | 8 | Love crime-solving/detective stories, this one was a really fun read and felt exactly like a movie of this kind. Middle-aged protagonists are always super cool, especially parents, Takeda really hits the mark, I love how homely he looks. Super solid, super fun short read. |
| 05/09/24 | Manga | Rude 39 | Nobuyuki Fukumoto | 7 | It's not that impressive in comparison to other shorter FKMT series like Ginyanma or Tenma but I had more fun reading this than those because this one focuses on pachinko. The Bog is one of my favourite Kaiji arcs, and even though what's featured here is absolutely nothing in comparison to that, it's nice seeing some pachinko struggles, and this definitely has its moments. I don't know what the need was to make Satomi 16 years old though, there's not really anything between her & Katagiri after the start. |
| 05/09/24 | Manga | Kuso Miso Technique | Junichi Yamakawa | 2 | Really crude gay sex that I couldn't get anything out of even as somebody that likes men since it quickly becomes crude pissing into the ass. It gets a point because there are some funny panels. |
| 05/09/24 | Manga | Kaiji Gaiden | Nobuyuki Fukumoto | 5 | It's a long joke about Japanese kana, not that funny of one, and a really repetitive one too. Wish it was more of a serious alternative story I guess. |
| 05/09/24 | Manga | Shinjitsu no Otoko: Taian Kichinichi Shintarou | Nobuyuki Fukumoto | 6 | I kinda like the spirit of this but with 4 chapters translated, there's not enough for me to really understand the goal of this. Don't really have a lot to say, but I did have fun reading what I did. |
| 04/09/24 | Manga | Gin to Kin | Nobuyuki Fukumoto | 9 | I love the amount of variety here, swapping between scams, gambles, political manipulation, true life & death scenarios, in just 108 chapters, so much happens and it's all done excellently. The only real issue with this is that it just ends suddenly and doesn't wrap up or conclude anything because the magazine it ws publishing in became a hentai mag. It's a big shame Fukumoto didn't do something in the same vein afterwards! The incredibly variety in a relatively modest chapter count is really engaging, Kaiji sorta carries it forward but Kaiji's always involved in GAMBLES for several hundred chapters where as the GtK guys kinda just do whatever. I'm glad to have read, this would have been one of Fukumoto's overall best no doubt had the circumstances been different. |
| 04/09/24 | Anime | Mr. Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues | Hagiwara & MADHOUSE | 10 | I was skeptical of this before I watched it, I didn't know how they could do a 24 episode spinoff about Tonegawa. In the end, this is one of the funniest things I've ever watched, it's perfect in twisting Fukumoto's style of suspenseful drama into one that'll make you laugh your ass off. The amount of great moments here is countless, there's just, so, so, so much to love. I'm kinda in awe. Thank you, Hagiwara, I will be reading all your stuff when the time comes. |
| 03/09/24 | Manga | Tasogare ni Maniaeba: Akai Sashimi Sakuhinshuu | Sashimi Akai | 7 | Super short chapters, simple gags, I like Akai's art a whole lot and I'd like to read their other works, but I don't have a ton to say given the majority of the chapters are only 2 pages. I'm not that huge on them making the non-humans odd shapes, it's not that interesting, but I recognise it's a compleeeeeete nitpick. Not a lot wrong here at all, just not A LOT in general. |
| 03/09/24 | Manga | FERNANDES PIXY SHOP | Kenji Tsurubuchi | 5 | I wasn't expecting this to be centered around the mutilation of faries, I guess it's kinda going for a fantasy pet shop thing maybe? It has good art, and maybe I'd appreciate this as worldbuilding in a larger dark fantasy setting, but as a one-shot, it kinda just makes you feel rotten and not much else, watching this fairy be harmed in really terrible ways to be fit for purpose as a servant. |
| 03/09/24 | Manga | Ginyanma: Janki-tachi no Densetsu | Nobuyuki Fukumoto | 6 | A lot like Tenma, it's just mahjong gameplay. Ginji's pretty cool but he's just the typical stone-faced legend, not a lot to grab onto unfortunately. The two one-shots included in this are good but, yet again, just mahjong gameplay. The one about the cancer patient was pretty cool, the other one was a little forgettable. |
| 02/09/24 | Manga | Atsuize, Tenma! | Nobuyuki Fukumoto | 6 | It's okay, it's pretty much just all mahjong gameplay without much else, Tenma ends up doing good deeds but he's not as much of a character as Pen-chan or most other FKMT protagonists, so there's not much to really grab me here. It's a little silly. At least it's short. | 02/09/24 | Manga | Atsuize, Pen-chan! | Nobuyuki Fukumoto | 8 | This is the loveable mahjong idiot thing I was kinda expecting at the start of Ten, before Ten proves himself to actually be pretty compotent as that series runs on. Pen-chan's a total moron, a complete idiot, but that's what makes him so brilliant, and what draws his allies and the reader to him. Typical top-class mahjong you expect from Fukumoto, and plenty of lessons on why you oughta live your life more freely, detaching oneself from the stupid shit that weighs you down. |
| 02/09/24 | Anime | Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (rewatch) | Kumeta & SHAFT | 9 | Still fantastic, still hilarious. I think SHAFT should have been more restrained in their usual... 'SHAFTness', most of the season is character intros and I think going so hard on Kaere's pantyshot gag and not being particularly covert about it would turn some people off, as well as shit like the eyecatches with Kiri & Chie. First season would be a 10 probably if they could have been, it's kinda nice how different the start of this series feels to how it later becomes, and it sorta starts coming out near the end of the season. Zoku definitely elevates the formula even further and I'm excited to rewatch that. Zetsubou Sensei is such a special thing to me. I love you, Kumeta. |
| 02/09/24 | Manga | Bernard-jou Iwaku | Yuuki Shikawa | 10 | I'm in love with the sense of earnest honesty within this manga, and I can find myself hooked by, endeared with, and relating to Sawako's admiration for these books & authors without having what it takes to get through most of them. Sawako & Kanbayashi have a kinda beautiful friendship, I really like their conversations, and seeing Kanbayashi's long-winded explanation of various things to do with her sci-fi novels. I think Sawako's odd nature engages her in just the right way. Sumika & Endou aren't half bad either, but I think Sawako & Kanbayashi definitely steal the show. Sawako has a ton of actually interesting, intelligent things to say too, in her own way. Plenty of hilarious dialogue, dense chapters for only being 9 pages each. A new favourite, for sure. |
| 02/09/24 | Manga | Phantom Bullet | Rei Hiroe | 5 | It has some okay action, but there's nothing for me to really grasp onto here, its 4 chapters doesn't do the manga any favours, things just happen and then they end. None of that Black Lagoon grit. Didn't really care that much. |
| 02/09/24 | Manga | Gengaku Shijuu Soudan | Yoshiharu Mishima | 10 | Gives me a similar feeling to Shimeji & the first Spectral Wizard, it's vague & foggy & abstract, permeating some kind of melancholy for the future. It foretells the end of the world, and the way of things continually gets worse and worse as things progress. I'm sorta enamored by its continuity, the way things keep trodding forward, it's almost like you kinda wouldn't expect a manga like this to have such strong continuity. Sometimes something horrible happens and it simply continues, without forgetting. I'm really excited to read further. Mishima's excellent art has continued to mature since Kodama Maria, and I think the more out there manner of speech finds a better home here. |
| 01/09/24 | Manga | Call of the Night | Kotoyama | 9 | I loved reading this, such a deeply interesting spin on a vampire story, being a romance, as well as coming-of-age. It can be very powerful when it matters, it got tears out of me several times especially in the last stretch. Kou's a very endearing lead even if he's not got many flaws. So, so many fun characters. I'll be thinking about it for a while, I'm sure. I wish it could take just one step back from the 'lewdness' though, I think it often does have its place, definitely at the start, but many times I just wish the manga was more restrained, since it does get in the way of & distract from what's actually great about Call of the Night. Sure, for Nazuna, but its really fucking distracting when it's Anko or other characters. |
| 31/08/24 | Anime | Gunsmith Cats | Sonoda & OLM | 9 | I had a ton of fun watching this, it's exactly the type of pulpy action that I really enjoy. Rally & May are great leads, very cool, charming, and both badass and full of levity. Awesome action & comedy, was totally gripped. I'm super excited to read the manga soon. |
| 30/08/24 | Anime | Symphogear G: Non-Songs of the Valkyries | Satelight | 8 | Two 13 minute omakes. Super funny, made me laugh a lot, and has some good world & character building within too. I have no idea why the cover for this is a swimsuit shot on logging sites. |
| 30/08/24 | Anime | Symphogear G | Satelight | 8 | A definite improvement on the first season, more focused on the Gear users, their battles, and their drama. Enjoys the usual second season trait of being all killer, no filler, not having to set-up all these different concepts. Super fun. Antagonists here are a lot better than in the first season too, with cooler abilities. I hope this show continues to get better and better. |
| 30/08/24 | Manga | Ikenai Kacchan Love Story | Nobuyuki Fukumoto | 4 | Didn't expect this sort of sex comedy from Fukumoto, and it doesn't end up being that good. You can definitely understand why most of his stories concern adults, as the high school cast of this do not feel like high schoolers, with open drinking & smoking and whatnot, but even if this wasn't about high schoolers, it still wouldn't be so good. |
| 27/08/24 | Manga | Yoroshiku! Junjou Daishou | Nobuyuki Fukumoto | 7 | Surprisingly manages to carry the feel-good spirit I've felt many times throughout many of Fukumoto's work, despite the terrible scan quality and despite it being his first work, and quite a short one. Made me smile, made me cheer, made me sad, made me laugh. Just what I expect from FKMT. Good stuff. |
| 26/08/24 | Anime | Mazinkaiser vs. Great General of Darkness | Nagai & Brain's Base | 6 | As Mazinkaiser is heavily derivative of Mazinger Z, this is derivative of Great Mazinger by bringing back the (shitty, useless, pointless) Mazinger army and the GGoD. Just that instead of the (shitty, useless, pointless) Great Mazinger, they have the (marginally less shitty) Mazinkaiser. Wow. Who gives a shit. |
| 26/08/24 | Anime | Mazinkaiser | Nagai & Brain's Base | 6 | It's pretty much just the original Mazinger Z except they replaced Z with a robot that's marginally better. Tries to the introduce the 'the robot is killing the pilot!' shit but forgets about it quickly. The Mechanical Monsters are still really boring antagonists, Baron Ashura & Dr Hell still don't have a lot going for them. Watching for the kino Boss Borot scenes. |
| 25/08/24 | Manga | God Mazinger | Go Nagai | 7 | Ths one was a lot more enjoyable to read, the God Mazinger actually does feel quite unstoppable and the series is better when it doesnt need to shoe in the other shitty robots. The writing's still kinda off, pacing is weird & the end point was... okay. Feels scattershot. What a grim ending too. |
| 24/08/24 | Manga | Great Mazinger | Go Nagai | 5 | Equally as dull as the original, with the Great Mazinger & new protagonists coming out of nowhere halfway in. Wow. For being the 'invincible' Mazinger, both Z and Great seem to get damaged an awful lot. What truly shitty robots. Still hoping for improvement in this series... |
| 24/08/24 | Manga | Mazinger Z | Go Nagai | 5 | Maybe a little spoiled after reading most of Ishikawa's Getter, I know Mazinger's kinda the first giant robot or something like that, but there's not really anything going on here. The Mazinger Z isn't very exciting & the enemy robots aren't either, and there's no real ongoing narrative or strong character writing to latch on to. Just boring. Hopefully gets better as the series goes on. |
| 23/08/24 | Manga | Getter Robo Go | Ken Ishikawa & Go Nagai | 9 | I wish I read this before Shin but we live with our mistakes. Getter continues to surprise me, Ichimonji and the new Getter team are great new leads, the conflicts shown here are mindblowing in art & scale, and this is where the series really DID take the pivot I mentioned in the Shin Getter Robo entry. The end of this entry is so fucking awesome, and very scary. The Shin Getter Robo is the coolest mech in anything I've experienced so far, hands down. |
| 22/08/24 | Manga | Kodama Maria Bungaku Shuusei | Yoshiharu Mishima | 9 | Maria & Fueda share a lot of gripping conversations, it's a lot of fun to watch them talk and really dive deep into language. I don't know where this could go in the future, hasn't had a translated chapter in a long time, but I hope it keeps releasing. |
| 21/08/24 | Manga | Shin Getter Robo | Ken Ishikawa & Go Nagai | 8 | Accidently read this too early, oops! Thank you AniList. This was a fantastic new direction, I was expecting this to be a continous monster-of-the-week series but I was really surprised while reading Shin. It's an incredibly powerful and interesting pivot to focus on the machine itself and its rising destructive capabilities tapping into an energy that's not sufficiently understood, the unfettered power of evolution & progress shown not to be infallibly good. Very good stuff. |
| 21/08/24 | Manga | Getter Robo G | Ken Ishikawa & Go Nagai | 7 | More of what was good about the first series. I think the demons make for less interesting antagonists than the dinosaurs, but there's plenty of great moments and a tighter pacing, probably because Getter-3's piloted by someone competent this time around. |
| 21/08/24 | Manga | Getter Robo | Ken Ishikawa & Go Nagai | 7 | Fun read, art looks great for coming out in '75, Nagai's style is awesome. Nice, long chapters, doesn't overstay its welcome at all and does packs plenty of fun although simplistic fights in its runtime. Fuck dinosaurs. |
| 17/08/24 | TV | Smiling Friends Season 2 (rewatch) | Zach Hadel & MIchael Cusack | 9 | More of the same goodness. I'm not sure whether I prefer Season 1 or 2. Excited for season 3 in 2028. |
| 17/08/24 | TV | Smiling Friends Season 1 (rewatch) | Zach Hadel & MIchael Cusack | 9 | I forgot to log this the first time (doh), Smiling Friends is still hilarious on a rewatch and a gift that keeps on giving if you were a Newgrounds kid. I'm glad Zach and his buddies can do something like this. |
| 16/08/24 | Anime | Katte ni Kaizou OVA (rewatch) | Kumeta & SHAFT | 8 | STILL do not like the first few episodes that adapt the earlier parts of the manga. I liked the later episodes even more this time I think. We love this OVA as a demonstration of the growth exhibited by Kumeta at this stage of his career. And we love the opening song. |
| 11/08/24 | Anime | Lupin the 3rd: Part 1 | TMS | 8 | I didn't expect the enjoy the first part as much as I did, but it kept my interest throughout and often had me laughing my ass off. Lupin as a concept is just so very fun. I think the first half of the part is stronger than the later half and has more unique scenarios, but its all good. I'm locked in for Part 2. |
| 11/08/24 | Anime | Symphogear | Satelight | 7 | Fun, unconventional mahou shoujo. The singing reminds me of Revue Starlight. It's good throughout but suffers from feeling a little generic. Noise are really, really not interesting enemies, and the human antagonists too are kinda middle-of-the line. Will watch further seasons. |
| 07/08/24 | Manga | Shibuya Near Family | Kouji Kumeta | 9 | I was unsure on this one at first, but I've grown to really love it. Keeps Kakushigoto's short chapters, but instead of long, continuous story stretches, each chapter is its own thing much like SZS. It starts with 5 pages per chapter which wasn't enough to realise a lot of those jokes, but thankfully it's up to 9 pages a chapter currently, and it works great. Excited to keep up with this. |
| 04/08/24 | Game | Psychopomp | Fading Club | 6 | Cool visually but there's nothing to it gameplay-wise. Not even an interesting use of the look/touch/talk/kill buttons. It's a little bit of a shame. I think when you're doing a Silent Hill type thing you need the real world grounding too which this doesn't really have. |
| 03/08/24 | Movie | Paris, Texas (rewatch) | Wim Wenders | 10 | Very hard to put this movie into words, moreso the second time. I loved it a lot. The cinematopgrahy is still mindblowing. The parallels to No More Heroes are DISTRACTING so fuck you Suda51. |
| 26/07/24 | Anime | Lupin the IIIrd: Goemon's Blood Spray | TAF | 8 | Awesome action, and very fun. I'm looking forward to diving headfirst into the Lupin series proper soon. Goemon is super cool, I liked him the most in what else I've seen so this was awesome. Unfortunately, the translation on this was a little dogshit, but still worthwhile. Fujiko hitting the bong holy shit |
| 19/07/24 | Manga | Goodbye, Eri (reread) | Tatsuki Fujimoto | 10 | One of the best one-shots ever, gets me crying at various points, incredibly powerful & incredibly funny. Masterclass. |
| 15/07/24 | Anime | Happy World! | KSS | 3 | Completely boring and pointless with no likeable characters, but at least its only 3 episodes. I liked the spirit in the final episode but it was still bland as hell. |
| 10/07/24 | Game | Dead Rising | CAPCOM | 9 | Hadn't played this since around 2008, and played a lot more of the sequel back in the day, but holy shit, this was fantastic. I love the simplicity the absence of combo weapons creates. Survivor AI wasn't as bad as people make it out to be. |
| 04/07/24 | Manga | Kume Short | Kouji Kumeta | 7 | There's one really good joke but largely doesn't have a central point or purpose like Kumeta's previous oneshots, so it ends up feeling a little aimless. |
| 03/07/24 | Manga | Kakushigoto | Kouji Kumeta | 10 | Who knew Kumeta had it in him to make something so truly touching? A mangaka of his age and experience, it's fantastic getting to read a story fictionalising his experience in and stance on the industry, still managing to be gutbustingly funny. Cried at the end. Be kinder to yourself, Kumeta. |
| 30/06/24 | Manga | Studio Pulp | Kouji Kumeta | 9 | This is the Kumeta I fell in love with. Incredibly funny, it's so very nice seeing all these characters again, and the actor angle keeps them feeling fresh. I need the rest of this. |
| 30/06/24 | Manga | The Impatient Count and the Time Thief | Kouji Kumeta | 7 | Even taking cues from SZS, the sex jokes don't work. It can be funny but the base premise is overly complex and stupid and the cast is too small, which hurts it a lot. |
| 29/06/24 | Anime | Katte ni Kaizou OVA | Kumeta & SHAFT | 8 | The first two episodes still suck when animated, but the later segments are awesome, especially in the last episode. It's cute that the artstyle of the OVA changes as Kumeta's did. |
| 28/06/24 | Manga | Katte ni Kaizou | Kouji Kumeta | 6 | Kumeta is at his worst when he's mostly writing sex jokes, which is the bulk of the start of this. The ending is just as good as SZS's and makes me want to read the middle so much. Grahhhh. |
| 26/06/24 | Manga | Spectral Wizard: The Most Powerful Spell | Imitation Crystal | 9 | This one has it tough, following up on the first Spectral Wizard. It's great but I think Mozocry is better suited for more serialised and shorter-form stories. Give Misaki all of Spectra's pain multiplied by ten. |
| 26/06/24 | Manga | Spectral Wizard | Imitation Crystal | 10 | Dear God, give all of Spectra's pain to Misaki all at once. Taking it by itself, the ending of this is very somber, makes you want to keep walking forward in spite of whatever terrible issue that will surely destroy us eventually. |
| 26/06/24 | Manga | Kuroki Yodomi no Hedoro-san | Imitation Crystal | 10 | It's tough watching an existence of absolute kindness fail in the face of humanity's cruelness. In the end, it uplifts you and it does make you want to be more like Kraunessa. Ms. Rimon arc made me cry. |
| 24/06/24 | Manga | Beank & Rosa | Imitation Crystal | 8 | Maybe ends too soon. Ending was moving but it felt very abrupt. I feel bad for everybody. |
| 24/06/24 | Manga | The Tragically Sad Story ofHopelessness About Friendship | Imitation Crystal | 10 | Short but sweet and cuts deep. Some people are just not suitable to be friends with one another. That's fine. Just how it is. |
| 24/06/24 | Manga | The End of Goldfish Kingdom | Imitation Crystal | 10 | Tackling the cruelty of life & society through the eyes of a child and the adults in their life who struggle to find the correct way to show the goodness in life is genius. One of Mozocry's best. |
| 23/06/24 | Anime | Shin Getter Robo vs Neo Getter Robo | Ishikawa & Brain's Base | 7 | Not done anything else Getter, but this was a fun watch so I'm interested to dive into it proper. Very old-fashioned in the way it approaches the dinosaur antagonists but I don't mind. |
| 22/06/24 | Manga | Girl meets Rock! | Kuwahali & Tetsuo Ideuchi | 7 | It's fun so far, and good at introducing the reader to awesome J-Rock bands. Art looks similar to Skip & Loafter which I like, and Chiriro looks like Mitsumi. I'll keep up with this. |
| 08/06/24 | Anime | Baki Hanma x Kengan Ashura | TMS Entertainment | 6 | I've not read either series. It was fun, but I could tell it didn't lean into the strengths of either, and it was cheaply animated. |
| 03/06/24 | Anime | Hidamari Sketch | Ume & SHAFT | 9 | Beautiful in visuals & audio, SHAFT did an above-and-beyond job of making such a simple CGDCT slice of life so impactful & long-lasting. Can't wait for the further seasons. |
| 25/05/24 | Anime | Cat Shit One | Motofumi Kobayashi | 8 | Why was an ONA about rabbits fighting camels during the Iranian Hostage Crisis such a fun watch? No clue, but I absolutely need to read the Cat Shit One manga now. |
| 23/05/24 | Manga | Toufuu (Fu)Kenbunroku | Kouji Kumeta | 8 | I like stories about memory and this was surprisingly touching when it mattered. Along with being funny when it mattered. Good one shot, Kumeta. |
| 23/05/24 | Manga | Contract Detective Nokori Kasuhiro | Kouji Kumeta | 8 | Kumeta should write a detective manga, this one was very funny for just being a one shot. |
| 22/05/24 | Manga | Joshiraku | Kouji Kumeta & Yasu | 7 | If SZS's biggest strength was its huge cast, Joshiraku's biggest weakness is its tiny cast of only 4 (5 but Mask is lame as fuck). There's just not enough in the girls to make anything remotely funny or interesting as anything SZS does. No Kumeta art is a bummer too. Still can get some laughs out of me though. |
| 20/05/24 | Manga | Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei | Kouji Kumeta | 10 | Kumeta's magnum opus. No large focus on time or place, Kumeta's greatest tool is the large cast that he can swap in and out at will to create whatever hilarious, scathing criticism of Japanese life and the world that he wants to. AND HOLY SHIT, WHAT AN ENDING! I've been obsessed ever since. |
| 11/05/24 | Anime | Kara no Kyoukai 3: ever cry, never life | Type MOON & ufotable | 5 | Garden of Snorers: I don't know how to write something interesting so I'm adding rape to the story (Nasu family technique) |
| 11/05/24 | Anime | Kara no Kyoukai 2: …and nothing heart. | Type MOON & ufotable | 5 | I don't have a lot to say here. What action there was was good, but it's far from exciting and Nasu's characters (especially male) are boring. |
| 07/05/24 | Manga | Frieren: Beyond Journey's End | MADHOUSE | 7 | 3 years later, it's still a shame that this becomes a typical adventure manga. MADHOUSE knocks it out of the park as usual on animation & choreography. I'm not that big on aloof depiction of elves, they should still have a sense of time. Frieren feels like she learned very little from her party's old age and deaths. |
| 05/05/24 | Manga | Iigakari Neesan | Kouji Kumeta | 6 | It's okay, this archetype was better covered by Umi in Katte ni Kaizou so it doesn't have a huge identity within Kumeta's catalogue. |
| 05/05/24 | Manga | It Doesn't Matter if We LoseEspecially if the Match Will Be Held Here | Kouji Kumeta | 7 | Surprisingly funny, some good football jokes here although Kumeta probably wouldn't have been able to keep it up for long beyond a one-shot. |
| 05/05/24 | Manga | Root Paradise | Kouji Kumeta | 3 | It's all sex jokes, and none of them are that funny. The art is ugly too, clearly it took a little bit of growing pains for Kumeta to really find his groove. |
| 04/05/24 | Anime | Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei: Nyankin no Kirisuto | Kumeta & SHAFT | 9 | It's a really funny original anime segment. SHAFT still had that SZS fire in them in 2012. It's a shame they never got to work on a fourth season. |
| 04/05/24 | Anime | Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei Bangaichi | Kumeta & SHAFT | 9 | This is kind of bittersweet. You can tell that SHAFT really loved working on this show. The extended opening says as much. Thank you so much for this phenomenal adaptation. |
| 04/05/24 | Anime | Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei | Kumeta & SHAFT | 9 | It's a shame that they dialed it back from Zoku, something that's even acknowledged in the anime itself, but it's still SZS so it's still constantly hilarious, and that's all that matters at the end of the day. |
| 01/05/24 | Manga | Bloom Into You | Nio Nakatani | 6 | It's nice when it counts, but I still can't ignore how uncomfortable Touko's actions towards Yuu made me. I need to stop myself from calling it sexual assault and coercion at times. It's not really ever acknowledged like that in the manga though. |
| 01/05/24 | Anime | Goku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei | Kumeta & SHAFT | 9 | More SZS greatness, not long enough for me to say it's on Zoku's level. The changes to Kuusou Rumba using the talent of the Madoka Witch Den artists are very cool. SHAFT have a good track record of playing with the opening in their OVA'S. |
| 30/04/24 | Anime | Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei | Kumeta & SHAFT | 10 | Turning the SHAFT dial to 11, the experimental & avant-garde nature of this season's adaptation creates a comedy anime experience like no other. Always funny, always interesting, even when the joke is a deep cut. Kumeta is so blessed to have this tied to his career. |
| 28/04/24 | Manga | Ten: The Nice Guy's Path to Tenhou | Noboyuki Fukumoto | 10 | Shigeru Akagi really steals the show from Ten, which I'm fine with. This makes for an excellent 'closer' to Akagi, it's great to see how the man has grown. It's nice seeing a more simplistic FKMT manga too, it's far from a death game here. WHAT AN ENDING! |
| 27/04/24 | Anime | Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei | Kumeta & SHAFT | 9 | Extremely funny and making full use of SHAFT & Shinbou's trademark visual style to create a comedy anime that fires on every cylinder possible. Only complaint is that SHAFT can focus on the wrong areas. The panty shots were not part of the manga's identity! |
| 23/04/24 | Anime | Kara no Kyoukai 1: Thanatos | Type MOON & ufotable | 6 | It's okay. I liked the action scenes but it struggles to hold my interest or stay in my memory. Is Nasu overrated? |
| 22/04/24 | Manga | Akagi | Noboyuki Fukumoto | 10 | Excellent, nail-biting Fukumoto throughout, but the Washizu battle is something special. There may never be a clash in manga as epic as Akagi vs Washizu again. 20 YEARS. And ended so perfectly. B-R-A-V-O |