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Finally finished it. Only took me nearly four years. Really great series with a good hook, colourful fun characters and.... SCIENCE!

I will say that the reveal of the being behind the petrification while not altogether disappointing did feel a bit... cheap? Like this was built up for a LONG time... idk it was fine. It's the journey that's important, not the destination, like they say.

Senku's scientific crusade was an epic ride to witness... and it wasn't until I reached the last few chapters that I realized how much I'm gonna miss these characters. Their imprint has been left and man it's gonna be weird not ... sharing adventures with em' any more. But yeah, great job. For those who haven't read until the end.... GET EXCITED.

Bleach is the second-longest manga I’ve ever read and what a journey it was. If I could define it in one sentence, it is the very definition of “style without substance.”
The bad: About halfway through I realized I’d gotten everything I wanted out of the series. I kept reading for the sake of completion, but still. Particularly after the Soul Society arc, characters become way less interesting and storylines are replaced with endless nonsensical fights. With every character and plot change I started seeing more and more wasted opportunities for development, which is a shame.
The good: Bleach is by far the coolest of the ... big three. Endlessly stylish with iconic character designs and slick weapons and clothes to boot, there is plenty to appreciate visually. I feel like a parrot mimicking what's been said before, but the Soul Society arc is genuinely one of the best shonen battle arcs I’ve ever read. The Gotei 13 are and always will be the ultimate anime organization. And yeah, I’m prepared to burn for this, but Bankai is infinitely cooler than the super saiyan and Gear transformations.
The first third of this massive story is an easy 10/10 for me. And IF the hundreds of chapters that followed had something more to offer other than paper-thin characters pulling increasingly-ridiculous power-ups out of their butts, then maybe it could’ve retained that score. Even so, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why Bleach stands proudly as one of the Big Three. The dazzling fights, sick swords, epic drip and incredible main cast helped push this series to heights unscaled. And I haven’t even mentioned the S-tier waifus. (I’m convinced Rangiku and Yoruichi have permanently changed my taste in women.)
As is this is probably the best entry-level shonen manga you could ask for besides Naruto, but if you're already aware of the shonen tropes and cliches', this could be a bit of a slog. (Particularly the last third.)

I waited way too long to get round to watching this. Ranking of Kings is undoubtedly the best anime of 2021. I originally thought it was ODDTAXI, but while that odd masterpiece is in a class of it's own, Ranking of Kings' scope is bigger and brighter.
Don't let the kiddie artstyle fool you, there is some messed up stuff going on behind the curtain. But never for a second does it drag down Boji's adventure or his friendships. Watching this adorable ball of deafness going on his journey to be the King King (eh?) was one I was wholy invested in from start to ... finish.
The characters are never at what they first appear. This show plays greatly on the expectations the audience has on fantasy stereotypes and plays them brilliantly against us. The best way to describe Ranking of Kings is that it has the worldbuilding and strong character moments of One Piece, except it doesn't take hundreds of episodes to get through. And that's very high praise that I don't give lightly.
Also, the second opening might just be one of the greatest openings I've seen in years.

Solid post-apocalyptic fantasy manga by a as-yet-undiscovered Miyazaki. The main character Nausicaa is everything a hero should be; strong, humble pure-hearted and incredibly sacrificial. I have no doubt she served as the basis for which all strong female leads would eventually come.
In true Miyazaki fashion we have deep philosophy on war, differing culture and the human spirit and I would argue we've never seen it done better then here. The unfolding story refuses to let you think the bad guys are bad guys for too long as perspectives and motives change on a dime, making you realize how interchangeable good and evil are.
This ... beautiful work also goes together well with the masterclass movie it inspired.

Visually stunning and meaningful, this may be the single most beautiful movie I've ever seen, ever. The incredible music adds weight to every scene, mixing with the jaw-dropping animation to create both a visual and auditory tour de force. Violet Evergarden has one of the best uses for a post-war setting I've ever seen.
However, while the story was poignant, I found it to be quite emotionally manipulative. Simply put, I'm not one to cry at just the sight of the characters bawling their eyes out - I need an actual reason. Some episodes of the series managed to achieve this brilliantly but it didn't quite ... work here. Watching characters cry for thirty minutes doesn't make me sad, just miserable.
Regardless, for fans of Kyoto Animation or the original 2018 series, this is an absolute must-watch.

I checked this out on a whim because I heard the sword fights were incredible, but ohhh boy did I get more then that. It's easy to forget how great samurai tales can be and this film is no exception.
Art and animation are beautiful and hold up incredibly for 2007, and yeah no the fights are actually god-tier. Storywise it's your traditional samurai-with-no-name-reclaims-his-honor story but I'll be damned if it doesn't do an effective job with the material.
It's a crime that a film this good isn't more well-known given it's production values and amazing fight choreography.
Please, if you like anything with swords ... in it, give this a watch.

This bi-monthly series started in December and only has five chapters to it's name, but it's already giving off some big impressions. This is Hiromu Arakawa's first fantasy manga since Fullmetal Alchemist and the writing quality is definitely up to snuff.

The plot is basically a reverse isekai where entities known as 'tsugai' can be used by humans to fight other superpowered beings. I know that sounds dumb but believe me when I say it's dope as fuck. I can't really say much else because not much else has been revealed. This series is still young, after all. But this is a hell of a beginning ... for a series that shows real promise and for any Arakawa fans, it's a can't miss.

Jujutsu Kaisen (Chapters 1-182)
I didn’t think that right after the 30-ish chapters that made up Season 1 carefully set up the world, power levels and characters, Akutami Gege would just throw everything together into one almighty ‘purge arc’ where he spent characters lives like poker chips and events I assumed would take hundreds of chapters to pay off ended up hardly mattering.
Such a sharp change in themes and direction I swear I got whiplash, but that ended up being funner then it sounds. And it ended up being the perfect excuse to re-enter the one and only Yuta Okkotsu back into the story and ... steal back the protagonist's crown from Itadori.
While I admit JJK went a little insane with its direction (and seemingly never-ending power-ups) I’m still very much excited to see where we go from here. And I really don’t think anyone is ready for what Season 2 will bring to the table, least of all me.

Black Clover Review (Chapters 1-331)
Nothing has quite managed to move past its rocky, meme-able beginnings like Black Clover has. Since its release, it’s managed to go from being the butt-joke of Shonen Jump to standing toe-to-toe with all the modern greats. While MHA dared to be more than its genre and then buckled under the weight of its own promise, Black Clover started out as the most generic and cliche shonen of them all, only to go and use those tropes to its benefit.
It has the sad backstories of Naruto, the sheer hype of Gurren Lagann, the power-ups of Dragon Ball and the found-family camaraderie ... of One Piece.
Nothing in this story is overly original, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t make for an incredible experience. I have no doubt if this came out twenty years ago it would be up there with the big three. Black Clover is the true shonen underdog that started the race dead last but now stands a fair chance of winning and I can’t wait to see it cross the finish line.

I have to give credit for trying to craft a filler movie with as many well-known characters as possible, especially ones as richly developed as that of One Piece. However, rather then exploiting this angle for an incredibly engrossing star-studded story to match the scope of such a film, the creators have gone for a feature-length smack-down brawlfest featuring everyone vs. cliche’ filler villain. Why does he wanna beat the snot out of everyone? Who cares, watch!

I have no problem with movies that want to be just one big (very long) fight. I absolutely loved the well-choreographed and stunningly animated Dragon Ball Super: Broly, ... which managed to be emotionally-involving underneath all the swinging fists and laser-beams. This time however, the devil was definitely not in the details. Important characters are pushed aside to do absolutely nothing important while others show up for a quick cameo and are then instantly shoved aside. It’s hard not to feel like this was a colossal waste of potential. Then again, there are probably some who would love nothing better than to see all their favorite characters go up against a big bad for 100 minutes. I just prefer a little meat to go with my gravy.