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Ao no Hako is a high school sports romance that takes itself rather seriously. Unlike, say, Kaguya-sama, which tows the line between irony and sincerity, Ao no Hako leans into the sincere, playing up its dramatic moments through unfiltered, genuine expressions of emotion. The show still has tons of humor, too, but it expects you to buy into the premise in order to fully enjoy its story.

My favorite part is how easy the characters are to root for. They’re earnest, grounded, and surprisingly mature. When they make mistakes, it’s easy to understand why. When they suffer setbacks, it’s easy to sympathize. I don’t find ... myself constantly criticizing them for being obviously stupid, which makes Ao no Hako much more engaging than its “shounen” tag might suggest.

As much as I’ve been enjoying it, though, it’s not perfect. There are numerous off-model character shots in basically every episode, and the show seemingly tries its hardest to completely avoid animating anything dynamic, skipping almost every scene that would include a lot of motion. That hasn’t dulled the impact of the emotional moments, though, so I’d still recommend Ao no Hako if you’re looking for something with the usual honey-sweetness and catastrophic thinking that so often characterize high school romance stories.

There's some cool art and some fun fight scenes, but this manhwa has very little sense of worldbuilding and not a lot of consistent characterization. Conflicts pop up and get resolved within just a couple of chapters at the author's convenience, often in ways that contradict previously-established facts. This makes the entire story seem like its being written chapter-by-chapter, without a plan.

Maybe my expectations are too high, but I'm having trouble buying into the stakes or getting emotionally invested in the characters when they transparently exist only to serve the power fantasy. That being said, if you're specifically looking for a power fantasy, then ... you'll probably enjoy this. The protagonist is always one step ahead of or one level above whoever his current enemy might be, and that can be satisfying in its own way.

Season Two continues Oshi no Ko’s two-pronged approach to storytelling, providing a behind-the-scenes look at the Japanese entertainment industry while simultaneously serving up a long-form murder mystery. This season shifts its spotlight onto a fictional theater production, opening in media res with an unusually long static shot of the stage. It’s a fun scene as part of an anime adaptation of a real-world manga, which has an arc about adapting a fictional, in-universe manga into an in-universe stage play that you then get to experience as if you were part of the in-universe audience.

As fun as these meta-layers are, though, Oshi no Ko is more ... concerned with exploring the conflicting perspectives of its characters. Many of them are involved with the aforementioned stage play, and their attitudes and creative methods constantly clash throughout the thirteen episodes of this season. Oshi no Ko also features some brilliant animation work that elevates its already-solid source material to new heights. Episode 6 in particular ends with a spectacular, wordless sequence on how a side character’s life changed as a result of his involvement with the play.

For me, the main highlights of this season are the in-depth, humanized exploration of the manga-to-stage-play adaptation process that covered a lot of unexpected perspectives, the compelling narrative arcs of several recurring characters (but not all of them, unfortunately), the much smoother transitions between low-stakes and high-stakes scenes (compared to the first season), and the striking visuals. I was not a huge fan of Ruby’s general absence or the (expected) soapy melodrama.

As a whole, this season was rewarding to dig into. It’s a treat for your eyes and a rollercoaster for your emotions. After seeing what it accomplished, I would highly recommend giving Oshi no Ko a try, as it was one of my favorite shows this year.

It’s refreshing to watch an anime with adult characters, but Bartender: Kami no Glass takes too many cues from shounen sports and music stories. Bartending isn’t the same as high school volleyball or competitive piano—many of the tropes that this show attempts to use feel awkward and forced because the parallels between bartending and sports/music are flimsy at best. The resulting drama feels contrived and out of place among working adults.

I think Bartender: Kami no Glass works best in the background. It’s chill and relaxing, but it doesn’t reward you for getting invested. I enjoy it most when I’m not asking too many questions and ... my brain is turned off. Sometimes, that’s exactly what I need out of a show.

I watched this show while it was airing and found myself drawn in by its strong character writing, eye-catching visuals, and subdued humor (a far cry from the over-the-top gags I often expect from anime). As the episodes went on, the mysteries got deeper, and I began to appreciate the intentional shot compositions, the fun callbacks, and even the slick opening themes. There was a lot to love about Kusuriya no Hitorigoto.

I don’t want to overhype this show, because it’s not for everyone. But for me, it hit all the right spots and quickly became a personal favorite. I highly recommend giving this show ... a try.

The anime version of ReLIFE stays true to the original themes of the manga while condensing the story into a dozen and a half episodes. Watching the characters learn and grow together was a great time, and the anime improved the frustratingly glacial pace of the manga. However, many conflicts from the source material were completely omitted, resulting in a story where several characters, particularly one of the protagonists, feel underdeveloped. Some of the trimmed content may have been more pivotal to the story than the anime production team realized.

I would still recommend the anime over the manga, especially for its first season. Neither version ... of ReLIFE is particularly visually stunning—the manga, though fully colored, features numerous off-model characters, and the anime, while more aesthetically consistent, appears quite stiff-looking at times. But the anime manages to shine with its snappy directing and solid voice acting. I genuinely enjoyed it, and you might, too!

I went into this one expecting mediocrity, especially given its mundane premise, blobby visuals, and initially-sub-7 rating, but it proved to be much, much more than that. There are nuanced character motivations, layered political schemes, and a surprising amount of humanization/justification for behavior that normally gets reduced to just "bad" in simpler shows. While no conflicts or plots are taken too seriously, each one gets multiple takes from different perspectives. The two main characters also have great chemistry with each other.

I am recommending this show because it goes well beyond what I had initially expected and far beneath its seemingly surface-level tropes. It reminds me ... of the first season of Hataraku Maou-sama (2013), Seijo no Maryoku wa Bannou desu (2021), and even Porco Rosso (1992) with its themes of redefining yourself and failing to fit in. I am somewhat surprised by its merely lukewarm reception, and I suspect that a lot of people are unfairly writing it off the way I was.

This show has MULTIPLE kickass openings and endings, crazy high production values, and enough slice-of-life scenes to flesh out its characters. I don't care too much for the magic system, but the animations and effects do a great job of selling it. Jujutsu Kaisen is a beautiful series with outstanding art direction, which lets it stand heads and shoulders above the competition visually.

However, I have trouble taking the main story seriously. It has inconsistent stakes, unbelievably convenient writing, and awkward, start-and-stop pacing. The scattered conflicts feel unsatisfying to follow and silly to the point of breaking my suspension of disbelief. I think I might just ... be too old for Jujutsu Kaisen's antics.

The characters played off each other well. I thought the story moved forward without rushing. And the art style, animation, and overall production quality all impressed me. I really enjoyed this first season and would highly recommend watching it.

I had only two major complaints. First, the twins' interactions felt somewhat unrealistic--I thought they were too sparse and inconsequential to be believable. Ruby and Aqua somehow avoided learning anything about each other for an entire decade and a half. Brothers and sisters growing up together should have a tremendous impact on each other's lives, reincarnation notwithstanding. And second, I disliked the transitions between the serious, mystery-driven ... scenes and the slice-of-life showbiz scenes. While the scenes themselves were individually engaging, Oshi no Ko neglected its larger plot. The show thrives on being a revenge story and simultaneously a deep dive into the entertainment world, so I wouldn't want a story that is only one of those halves, but I was still left wondering if there was a better way to split the difference.

I watched Aria of a Starless Night (the first SAO Progressive movie) two months ago, and I was pleasantly surprised by that movie's solid writing and beautiful visuals. Aria's thoughtful retcons made the overall story more coherent, so I was looking forward to what Scherzo of Deep Night (this second Progressive movie) would bring to the table.

This follow-up movie has a lot of pieces to pick up, and unfortunately, most of them fail to connect. The pacing of Scherzo is strange, marked by out-of-place jokes and emotional beats that don't receive enough buildup. Compared to the first movie, Scherzo also has less character development--Asuna ... went from a rising star in Aria to a static constant in Scherzo. We saw Kirito as an awkward middle schooler in Aria, which was an interesting take on the unrelatably-flawless hero of the original timeline. That extra dimension of him is now gone.

The most disappointing part of Scherzo is the lackluster animation. I thought the original SAO anime series looked great back in 2012, and Aria of a Starless Night built upon its foundation with flashier effects and punchier impacts. Scherzo, on the other hand, features a lot of inconsistent faces, off-model characters, and jittery motions. I honestly have a hard time believing the same production team worked on both SAO Progressive movies with how much worse the second one looks.

I wanted to like Scherzo of Deep Night, because I was pleasantly surprised Aria of a Starless Night. I came in with tempered expectations (it's SAO, let's be real), but I still felt let down by the noticeably many ways Scherzo fails to even come close to its predecessor. If there are any more SAO Progressive movies in the works, I hope that they take after the first movie more than the second.