Bye Bye, Earth Anime Review – 66/100

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews, Bye Bye, Earth, Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction, Reviews by Lenlo

One of the main reasons I prefer novel adaptations to manga or light novels is that, usually, it’s harder for a novel to get picked up for one. To get that kind of attention, to get noticed, it’s hard. They don’t have the same mainstream reach. Why I’m not sure, maybe people just don’t like reading. Whatever the case, the point is that novels don’t seem get anime as often, and when they do they tend to be rather well written. Think The Great Passage, Run With the Wind, or Tatami Galaxy. So when I saw that one such novel was getting adapted this season, I was pretty excited! Everything about it seemed interesting, from the musical aesthetic to the named swords, it seemed fun! Little did I know what I was in for with Bye Bye Earth, originally written by Ton Ubukata, directed by Yasuto Nishikata and animated at LIDENFILMS.

Be warned, this review contains minor unmarked spoilers for Bye Bye, Earth. It also contains major spoilers in some sections however these will be heavily marked to avoid accidents. Continue reading “Bye Bye, Earth Anime Review – 66/100” →

Guest Post: Unearthed Treasure: The Summer You Were There (82/100)

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews, Manga

Man, it seems like the yuri/shoujo-ai genre is going through some kind of renaissance, what with so many of those titles being ported to the US, and several of them actually managing to range from good to amazing. I don’t typically find myself reading a lot of yuri or shoujo-ai manga, more due to lack of time and lack of interest in romance in general, but these past few years I read some really good ones, such as Goodbye My Rose Garden and Yume no Hashibashi, not to mention all the ones that are much more frank about exploring LGBT themes. I do plan on reading A Tropical Fish Yearns For Snow at some point because I hear that one’s really good, but I don’t know when that’ll be. On that note, I hadn’t initially planned on reading The Summer You Were There because its premise made it seem like it was going to be an archetypal romantic comedy, but I wound up discovering through TVTropes that it’s actually a tear-jerking drama on par with something like Your Lie In April and I Want To Eat Your Pancreas. I mention those two titles specifically because of certain plot developments that form the backbone of The Summer You Were There, and while I do genuinely like this manga, much more than I thought I would, there are some things holding it back from true greatness in my eyes.

Continue reading “Guest Post: Unearthed Treasure: The Summer You Were There (82/100)” →

I Parry Everything Anime Review – 73/100

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Action, I Parry Everything, Reviews by Lenlo, Uncategorized

There’s no shortage of OP MC fantasy shows out there. Even ignoring the entire Isekai sub-genre, your still left with shows like MASHLE, Tower of God, Solo Leveling, the list goes on. Point is, there’s a lot of them, and standing out can be hard. Some do it with fantastic animation, good comedy, or compelling writing. Most though? Most fail spectacularly, and are forgotten to history, never spoken of again. Sadly, that seems to be exactly where I Parry Everything, originally created by Nabeshiki, directed by Dai Fukuyama and animated at OLM, appears to have landed. But you know what? I think it deserves better. I think this show, despite it’s average visuals and standard narrative, deserves your attention. So if you take one thing away from this review, make sure it’s this: I had more fun with I Parry Everything than almost anything else this season. Here’s why.

Be warned, this review contains minor unmarked spoilers for I Parry Everything. It also contains major spoilers in some sections however these will be heavily marked to avoid accidents. Continue reading “I Parry Everything Anime Review – 73/100” →

Fall 2024 Season Preview

by Lenlo, posted in Seasonal Previews

Lenlo: Hello all, and welcome to another seasonal preview! We’re looking at the last season of the year, with plenty of anime to look forward to. Personally I’m keeping my expectations low, so that if they somehow wind up being good I’ll be pleasantly surprised. No use getting my hopes up when I’ve been burned multiple times before with these, right? Anyways, Wooper and I have returned once again to take a look at the upcoming shows and see what might be worth paying attention to, so let’s dive right in!

Wooper: The “What will you be watching?” poll is at the end of the post again this time. Don’t forget to let us know what you’re anticipating after you’ve perused the season preview (or before, if you’ve already done your research!).

Garbage Fire

BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Conflict

Studio: Pierrot Films
Directors: Tomohisa Taguchi, Hikaru Murata
Series composition: Tomohisa Taguchi, Masaki Hiramatsu
Source: Manga

The Premise: Part 3 of the final arc of Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War.

Lenlo: So this may be a bit blasphemous, but I have… negative hopes for this last part of Bleach. We’ve already seen writing issues in the past two parts, nonsensical plot twists, constant escalation, absurd character writing. And with what I remember from the manga, it’s only going to get worse from here. Really the only possible redeeming factor for this season will be the action set pieces, which Bleach has occasionally done well with like with Yamamoto vs Yhwach, some of the Squad Zero stuff and parts of the Kenpachi fight. When Bleach has the desire to be, it’s pretty great action. The issue is that I have no faith in Pierrot and their team to want to do that. Maybe I’m just salty about how the manga ended, maybe I’m not giving them enough credit. But the nice thing about setting my expectations this low is that whatever they do manage will probably end up as a pleasant surprise. And that’s the best Bleach can hope for at this point.

Continue reading “Fall 2024 Season Preview” →

Warhammer: 40,000 – The Horus Heresy – Horus Rising by Dan Abnett

by Lenlo, posted in Warhammer 40,000

Welcome all, to the first book of my Warhammer 40k book club and our introduction to the Horus Heresy, Horus Rising! I wasn’t sure what to expect from Horus Rising to be honest, I’ve never read a book from the First Founding/31st Millennium time period. It’s very different from modern Warhammer 40k, containing a lot less of the religious zealotry and fascism that will come to define the Imperium of Man in the future. In fact, if it weren’t for the Space Marines, Primarchs and other core 40k concepts, it could almost be a regular science-fiction novel. On one hand, was a bit off putting, as I was expecting typical Warhammer 40k experience. On the other hand, the very purpose of this series is to watch the fall of an empire in the middle of its ascendancy, to experience the decay and destruction of something great. And to do that, Horus Rising has to first establish what exactly we’re losing.

Oh and for those of you looking for anime content, don’t worry. I have a few reviews I’m working on for the end of the season, and Wooper and I are working on our usual Season Preview to come out in a week or two, so those are on their way!

Continue reading “Warhammer: 40,000 – The Horus Heresy – Horus Rising by Dan Abnett” →

Warhammer: 40,000 – The Horus Heresy Series – Quick Primer

by Lenlo, posted in Warhammer 40,000

Welcome all, to a fun new thing I’ve decided to do. So for those who might not know, I’ve been a big Warhammer: 40k fan for a while now. Pretty sure I’ve mentioned it in the occasional post, as well as on Discord. Yet despite this, despite playing the table top for a number of years, loving the setting, playing all of the games, and reading plenty of the “modern” novels, I’ve never actually read the definitive story of the setting, the Horus Heresy. Recently however I’ve decided to do just that, and thought it would be fun to do little reviews for each book as I finish them and share my hobby here. I know this isn’t anime, but well… It’s something I’m passionate about, so why not try and something new? Before we get into that though, I need to introduce you to the setting and answer a few questions you might have. Questions like “What exactly is the Horus Heresy?”, “What’s a Space Marine?” and “What do you mean ‘40,000’?”. Well this post is going to answer all of those and hopefully act as a bit of a primer to the Warhammer 40,000 universe, affectionally called Warhammer 40k or just 40k, for those who have been interested but never dared dip their toe into the franchise. So without further ado, let’s dive in to my favorite fictional universe ever!

Continue reading “Warhammer: 40,000 – The Horus Heresy Series – Quick Primer” →

Guest Post: Unearthed Treasure with Firechick – Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid (88/100)

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews

Hey kids! Remember back in the 90s-2000s, people were convinced that video games made people violent? Or believed that video games were only violent shooters, and stuff like D&D and Pokemon were Satanic? These days, actual studies have shown video games by themselves don’t cause people to become violent or engage in violent acts, and luckily, that stereotype has mostly died out. But there are also people who believe that real games should only be shooters, action games, or overworld games, not those pesky RPGs, visual novels, farm sims, and so on. I think you guys know which camp I’m in. Video games, like all media, can be anything and everything their creators want them to be, whether they be action packed fantasies or down-to-earth, quiet farming sims. There’s really no restriction on their content anymore. Just look at the Boku no Natsuyasumi series, which are basically video games about kids playing in the countryside during their summer vacation and doing everything from fishing, catching bugs, hanging with friends, and so on. I’m only just starting to learn about the BokuNatsu series, but recently, a game that’s made by the same creators, Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid, got an English release and came out on Switch and PC. It looked cute, so I played the demo and thoroughly enjoyed it. 30 hours in, and I’m totally hooked!

Continue reading “Guest Post: Unearthed Treasure with Firechick – Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid (88/100)” →

Summer 2024 Mid-Season Check In

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, State of the Season

Welcome all, to a mid-season check in post! I’m stuck in the middle of a writeup on My Hero Academia that’s taking longer than I thought, so I figured why not talk about how this season is going and what, if anything, interests me. Make sure to let me know how you’re enjoying it in the comments down below! Always a chance I missed something after all. Also these are in no particular order, so don’t read into that, I just added them as I thought of them.

Isekai Shikkaku

First is my surprise favorite of the season, Isekai Shikkaku. To be honest, I really wasn’t expecting to stick with this. The first episode was a pleasant surprise, but I didn’t think it would be able to keep it up for the entire season. Yet here we are, seven episodes in, and I’m still enjoying it just as much as I did the pilot. Something about Hiroshi Kamiya’s deadpan performance as Osamu Dazai, the way he simultaneously enables and dampens all of the usual Isekai bullshit, really appeals to me. His power is still situational OP bullshit that does whatever the plot demands, and they still always win, but he also never involves himself in a conflict until the very end to clean it all up. Instead he walks around making morbid quips and trying to kill himself, all the while those around him expect Dazai to be the standard Isekai protagonist man-child.  It’s… I wouldn’t exactly call it novel, because Isekai Shikkaku still follows a lot of the standard Isekai tropes, but it’s definitely more entertaining than 90% of Isekai and there’s a degree of heart to it I don’t get from most. Something about a suicidal Osamu Dazai giving life lessons and wisdom to people that he himself will never take to heart works for me.

Continue reading “Summer 2024 Mid-Season Check In” →

Guest Post: Unearthed Treasure with Firechick – A Little Lily Princess (90/100)

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews, Special Articles

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “What?! Why would anyone adapt a classic Victorian era novel into a visual novel?! This is gonna suck soooooo bad!” Yeah, adapting a Victorian novel into a video game is definitely not the norm. Was anyone really expecting this? And did anyone even want such a thing to happen? Well, Hanako Games thought it’d be a great idea, and they made A Little Lily Princess. Now, as of this review, I’ve finished this game, read the book, and I’ve seen three adaptations of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess so far: The 1993 movie, the 1986 British mini-series/movie starring Amelia Shankley, and the 1985 anime adaptation, the latter two I think are some of the best adaptations. I can definitely say for sure that A Little Lily Princess is up there with those two in that it’s one of the most well executed, well thought out adaptations of Burnett’s novel, though I won’t deny that it does have some flaws that prevent the game from being truly great.

Continue reading “Guest Post: Unearthed Treasure with Firechick – A Little Lily Princess (90/100)” →