Category: Weekly Summary

Wooper: I’m late with these posts so often that I ought to stop offering explanations – so I think I will. The Fall Season Preview will be up on time, though, and between JoJo, Cyberpunk, and a couple other web releases, it’s looking pretty ONA-dependent, which should give us plenty of time to catch up with all the spring and summer stuff we missed. Speaking of ONAs, there was a promising one from China that dropped last month – I’ve got preliminary thoughts on that show, plus a handful of others, after the jump. See you in a couple weeks!

Kore Kaite Shine – 2-4

It’s an interesting balancing act that Kore Kaite Shine has managed thus far. Protagonist Ai Yasumi is powered entirely by her love of manga, and she’s managed to establish a school club revolving around her hobby with the help of her friends, as well as demonstrate her potential as a mangaka to her mentor. There are plenty of limitations placed on her passion in these early chapters, however. Episodes 2 and 3 contained flashbacks to the hardships her teacher faced in securing an industry foothold, along with Teshima-sensei’s admonition that she mustn’t stake her life on manga. There’s also the rude awakening to her lack of writing prowess that she experiences in episode 4 – compared to the outstanding art of new recruit Fujimori, Ai’s stories receive much less praise, which clearly bothers her. She’s more or less remained her cheerful self despite these discouragements, but beneath its cutaway gags and manga-esque flourishes, KKS is obviously a dramatically adept show. Its excavation motif in episode 3’s flashbacks, for example, visualized the “digging” necessary for a young Teshima-sensei to produce a noteworthy work, and even then, all she earned was a bitterly disappointing honorable mention. I have to imagine that Ai will eventually aim for mainstream recognition, too, but as Teshima says in these episodes, “Readers are arrogant creatures.” That’s not just a sobering reminder of our non-creative stake in the work of manga (and anime) pros – it also foreshadows the hardships Ai will face in breaking through to an audience that may not appreciate her strange sensibilities.

Continue reading “Summer 2026 Check-In – Weeks 2-4” →

Wooper: With the summer season well underway, I doubt many people are clamoring for months-old thoughts on spring anime, so this post is mostly for me, as it had been hanging around my to-do list for far too long. To tell the truth, I haven’t watched a single episode of a currently airing show beyond last month’s First Impressions period, but I’m still alive, at least. You ought to hear from us again at least once between now and the Fall Season Preview, but for now, let’s rewind the clock to June of this year, starting with my Spring AOTS.

Awajima Hyakkei – 9-12

After serving as the series’ introductory protagonist, then disappearing around the middle of its run, Wakana Tabata returned for all of Awajima Hyakkei’s final four outings. In keeping with the show’s multigenerational theme, however, we weren’t reintroduced to her in just one time period, but two. Her older teenage self served as a roommate to promising freshman Akiho Kashiwabara (just as Kinue was once Wakana’s older roommate), while a future storyline covered her career as an author. Kashiwabara’s lone appearance in episode 9 gave the series another chance to tackle one of its secondary themes in fame, as her parents (both actors) were embroiled in a cheating scandal, but it was adult Wakana’s work on a book about Awajima Opera School that consumed the series’ closing chapters. That sustained focus on a single story marked a departure from its anthological approach, and to be honest, it didn’t lead to the show finding another gear; its best episodes remain the ones that function in isolation, particularly number 3, which I’d place among the best of the decade thus far. Still, the trajectory of the last few episodes did allow Awajima to bring things full circle – an admirable feat, since the show’s cast was huge.

Continue reading “Spring 2026 Wrap-up – Weeks 9-13” →

Wooper: Three-fourths of this post has been finished for more than a week, but one of these shows requires such focus to follow that I kept putting it off day after day. (If you’re curious, it’s the one that “makes me feel like a detective,” a phrase you’ll spot in its introduction.) I wasn’t idle during that time, however. Work on the Summer Season Preview has been progressing nicely, meaning it will go up on either the 24th or 25th. That’s “will,” not “should” – season previews are my favorite thing to write at this point, so the upcoming edition’s timely appearance is a guarantee. Before it pops to the top of the site, though, here are my belated thoughts on some nearly month-old spring offerings (and one early glimpse of summer).

Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You – 1-2

This is technically a summer series, so it won’t air on TV until early July, but it had an early streaming release with a half-episode format, which suits it pretty well. YaniSuu (as it’s portmanteaux’d in Japan) is about a middle aged salaryman who develops a flirty rapport with a supermarket employee after she invites him for a smoke behind the store – and not much else. I’ve only seen two episodes (which combine to match the length of an ordinary half hour show), but the details of protagonist Sasaki’s job are kept so vague that the series’ only real focus is likely to be his personal relationships. It’s a very seiyuu-forward show, especially since Seena Hoshiki essentially plays two characters, and the performances met my expectations (barring the vocal histrionics of office worker Suzuki), but the two major settings aren’t much to look at. Let your eyes wander the aisles of the grocery store during the script’s shopping trips and you’ll see what I mean – keep your eyes on the characters, though, and you’ll be rewarded with Sasaki’s slouched gait and Yamada’s seductive gestures. Their banter is greatly aided by that visual characterization, so the show is definitely hitting its targets, and the smaller episode lengths work in its favor. Still, it feels thin enough that I’m unlikely to venture far beyond this point.

Continue reading “Spring 2026 Check-In – Weeks 7-8” →

Wooper: I’m a couple days behind the schedule I set for myself in the last check-in post, but two days’ procrastination is a sizable improvement over three weeks. Most of these series are still operating at a very high level, and that’s not even including stuff like Akane-banashi or Yomi no Tsugai, which I’ll probably end up saving for my EOY binge at this rate. Whether there’ll be an AOTY post to potentially highlight shows like those isn’t a sure thing, but it’d make a fitting end to my time as a blogger. That’s for future me to worry about, though – for now, here are a few slightly belated thoughts on spring’s middle chapter.

Dorohedoro S2 – 5-6

It’s astounding how many plot threads Dorohedoro can carry while maintaining coherence, and I use that word purposely despite the mystery surrounding multiple characters’ identities. The dream sequence at the end of episode 6 wasn’t quite a match for the one Caiman experienced at the magic school earlier this season, but its location inside a human body and use of sludge as a motif (including the shot immediately after the dream ended) did connect it to Ai’s leap into Hole’s toxic lake during episode 5’s flashback. With Aikawa emerging from a trough of black sludge during the dream, it seems likely that he’s connected to Ai, and if Caiman is the one doing the dreaming, then he probably is, too. Ebisu’s return to her childhood home and encounter with her demonic doppelganger were carried between these two episodes, as well, and I imagine Fujita’s use of her dragon powder to protect her corpse (soon to be reanimated by Kikurage) will have significant consequences for his character. Episode 6 also gave us another big battle scene – one so massive that it exposed the magma basin beneath the hot spring inn where Caiman and Nikaido had been reconnecting (apparently for the last time). Between En proving his spore-infesting ability to defeat even magic-resistant foes and Risu being reborn as the seemingly invincible Curse, the power level of this show has skyrocketed halfway through its second season.

Continue reading “Spring 2026 Check-In – Weeks 5-6” →

Wooper: Anime as a whole has fallen on my list of priorities as of late, so this post is three weeks behind schedule. Great series continue to emerge season after season, yet my free time is increasingly captured by live action film and TV, prompting me to ponder how much longer I’ll continue blogging at my already lethargic pace. My current plan is to watch and write about one episode per day going forward, with a new post going up every eight days. A preview for the upcoming summer season is a sure thing, too, but beyond that, I don’t know what the future holds. As for the present, I’m watching just four shows this spring; we’ll start with my least favorite of the bunch, demoted to that position owing only to the strength of the other three.

Witch Hat Atelier – 2-4

Witch Hat’s beautiful art and animation have made it spring’s breakout series, but I feel a bit out of step with the consensus opinion here. After Coco and Qifrey concluded the premiere by departing for his atelier, episode 2 offered virtually no surprises. They arrived, she met the other students, took a brief tour, and began her studies. Her hesitation to begin using magic was conveyed verbally more than visually, and her new peers’ personalities were fairly one-note – even Agott, a temporary antagonist if I’ve ever seen one, was condescending to the point of predictability. Episode 4’s trip to Diagon Alley Kalhn didn’t sell WHA’s world to me, either, as I was distracted by Qifrey’s decision to put Coco in the eyeline of hundreds of other witches, then take his own eyes off her multiple times, despite her importance to more than one of the show’s magical factions. Thankfully, the third episode’s eye-popping flight animation and effective linking of her abilities as a craftsman and witch created a high-water mark for the series, which I’m hoping it will match before long. We just need to get through this introductory period where Coco lags behind the other students and the Brimmed Caps are treated as some distant threat. More screen time for the brushbuddy (my favorite character so far) wouldn’t hurt, either!

Continue reading “Spring 2026 Check-In – Weeks 2-4” →

Wooper: We interrupt your just-begun spring 2026 impressions with some final thoughts on four just-wrapped winter anime, plus one that began an unceremonious pause after a double-length premiere. There are a handful of winter shows I didn’t cover that will require a fair shake before EOY (ShiboYugi chief among them), but this is all I’ve got for now. Alright, back to the First Impressions grind!

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure:
Steel Ball Run – 1

I hadn’t tuned in to a JoJo anime since bailing on Diamond is Unbreakable nearly a decade ago, but Steel Ball Run presented an opportunity to give the franchise another spin, since it takes place in a separate universe. Its continuity is so fresh, in fact, that it places more emphasis on the titular cross-country race than any of its familiarly named characters – with the exception of Johnny Joestar, who receives a rather momentum-breaking flashback explaining his paraplegia. That scene’s blunt implementation didn’t inspire much confidence that future flashbacks will blend in well, and there will probably be many of them, since the race started so quickly that a lot of pre-race context will become necessary as the story evolves. This two-parter did keep a lot of other details close to its ridiculously costumed chest, such as the nature of Gyro Zeppeli’s Hamon-like ability and the way Sandman instantaneously developed his ultra-fast running style. I like the decision to preserve some mysteries for the future, though the lack of an airdate for subsequent episodes means that future may be far away.

P.S. Were JoJo’s fifth and sixth parts as scatological as Steel Ball Run? There were three references to poop in this premiere, which is a lot, even for a double length episode. Weird stuff!

Continue reading “Winter 2026 Check-In – Weeks 11-13” →

Wooper: I don’t know why I said I’d write a first impression for Rooster Fighter in the intro to the last check-in post. Maybe I was on drugs – though certainly not as big a dose as I’d need to enjoy the show itself (as befitting an Adult Swim series). It’s just the three regulars plus Ganglion, then, with thoughts on a bunch of episodes crammed into only a handful of paragraphs. The Spring Preview takes priority, I’m afraid – it ought to go up in four days or so, so be on the lookout for that as the winter season begins to wind down.

You and I Are Polar Opposites – 7-9

I’m beginning to get fatigued of all these socially anxious anime characters who find a friend group and learn to express themselves. Polar Opposites’ representative in that field is Nishi, Tani’s co-worker in the library after school – she’s twice as quiet as he is, so the show’s primary strength (conversation) hardly applies to her. Of these three episodes, Nishi only appeared in number 7, and it was a warranted appearance, resolving her encounter with Yamada during the previous episode’s culture festival. Still, she’s my least favorite of the show’s otherwise fun cast – thankfully, the other two weeks in this batch were primarily concerned with our main couple, especially when Tani’s birthday rolled around. Teenage staples like falling asleep on a phone call and celebrating with store-bought cakes brought a smile to my face, but the funniest moment of all came at the very end of episode 9, when Suzuki terastallized in excitement after kissing her boyfriend goodnight. As for the show’s secondary couple, their non-relationship underwent a bit of a stress test the week beforehand, as Taira insisted that Azuma discard her nonchalant persona and “get angry” over her middle school friends’ poor treatment of her. I’m still not sure how I feel about his phrasing, but it made for a sharp change of pace.

Continue reading “Winter 2026 Check-In – Weeks 7-10” →

Wooper: I know this column is about currently airing anime, but have you all seen the surplus of cool shows set to debut next month? Our spring season preview is going to be packed (by my standards), and that’s without counting mid-March premieres like Steel Ball Run and Rooster Fighter (which should show up in a future post this March). Ikoku Nikki is holding me down this winter, and I can easily envision a future where it retroactively outclasses every new spring series, but I’ve got to say, I haven’t been this optimistic about an upcoming crop of anime in a long time. That’s not what you’re here for, though – read on for my thoughts on the usual suspects, plus one new show before the jump.

Oneechan Gokko – 1

I’m not exactly tapped in to the world of indie anime, but the YouTube series Oneechan Gokko (produced at the fledgling Studio Gohan) still found its way onto my desk somehow, and I’m glad it did, as its first episode was much more polished than expected. It doesn’t move at the same speed as a mainstream seasonal anime, but scenes of the main character Akane jogging home from school or riding a bike are still plenty immersive thanks to detailed lighting and autumnal background art. Given the season, red, yellow and brown are the dominant colors here, with Akane’s green-haired sister Sui serving as an exception to the series’ visual palette. That nonconformity makes sense on several levels, because she may be more (or less) than she seems – at several points during this episode, Akane receives phone calls from someone claiming to be the real Sui, who claims that the girl in her house is an impostor. Oneechan Gokko is set in the future, with service robots having been partially integrated into society, so we may be headed toward a “machine supplanting man” theme – one with spooky overtones, as Gokko’s presentation takes that tack at several points (especially in its closing minutes). You can watch the first episode [here] to see whether it sucks you in – just know that the follow-up won’t be out for several months.

Continue reading “Winter 2026 Check-In – Weeks 4-6” →

Wooper: It’s a little late to be reviewing just two episodes of a handful of new series, but that’s what I’ve got for you here. Between AOTY writing that’s progressing in the background, my growing interest in non-animated films, and some personal stuff happening in my life, I’ve been slow to keep up with anime this winter. Shibou Yuugi, whose double length premiere greatly intrigued me, was going to be part of this post, but I decided to just publish what I had and not wait around. It probably won’t show up next time either, but there’s a YouTube series that might make the column in a couple weeks if I end up liking it. We’ll see!

Ikoku Nikki – 2-3

Why was there a hybrid Japanese-English grammar lesson in the first act of episode 3, and why did it make me tear up? I guess that’s the strength of Ikoku Nikki, a grief-themed josei drama composed almost entirely of natural conversations between two or three characters. That third episode has received a lot of praise online, likely because it marked the first major emotional moment for its orphan protagonist Asa, and while it surely deserves the acclaim, I found the second to be exceptional as well. In that sophomore episode, Asa’s aunt and legal guardian Makio invites her friend Daigo over to their apartment, and maybe it’s just because I’m in awards season mode, but Daigo is already my frontrunner for Best Supporting Character of 2026. Her hiccupy laugh, warm yet patient personality, and teasing relationship with Makio made her an object of fascination for Asa, whose unfamiliarity with adult friendships hints at a past frigidity between her deceased parents. In episode 3, Asa was more active and less observant, but Makio still got some nice scenes, including one where she mistakenly addressed the specter of her sister while retrieving Asa’s belongings from her previous apartment. The show’s psychological breadcrumb trail is longer for Makio than it is for her new ward, but I’m enjoying the pace at which it’s following both paths.

Continue reading “Winter 2026 Check-In – Weeks 2-3” →

Wooper: Who’s ready for another 365 days of anime? I’m certainly not, but Japan won’t stop making the damn things, so our Winter First Impressions will start appearing soon. And what do you know, I actually managed to wrap up my thoughts on what I watched last season before the initial impressions post went live! I’d say “new year, new me,” but nobody is that gullible, so you’ll have to settle for the same old Wooper, plus whichever writers are game to keep this operation running (I know Lenlo will be doing some first impressions, at least). Hope everybody has a happy and healthy 2026 – we’ll be back again in a couple days!

Star Wars Visions S3 – 7-9

Of these last three Visions shorts, “The Smuggler” (number 7) was the most ordinary, with genderswapped Han Solo-esque heroine Chita trafficking a wanted prince away from his home planet – only to agree to take him right back at the script’s conclusion. This reversal underscored the shortsightedness of the writing, which prioritized adherence to a mission over character motivations, but the episode still had its positives, one of which was its animation of facial expressions. The character designs were appealing in general, but Chita’s head tilts and eyebrow arches gave her a good deal more personality than she had on the page alone. The quiet strength of the prince’s tall, thin ex-Jedi guardian was another plus, especially in her battle with a bomb-specializing bounty hunter. The Smuggler isn’t the most memorable of this year’s shorts, but it was fun while it lasted.

Continue reading “Fall 2025 Check-In – Weeks 11-13” →