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I'm a big fan of the serialized Horimiya manga by Square Enix. This anime is adapted from the original webcomic though, and it seems not much thought has been given to actually *adapt* it from a medium such as that to a TV format.

Obviously, three episodes are not enough to cover the whole storyline, and so we're left with a bit of a bittersweet/cliffhanger-y ending. The whole adaptation probably doesn't make that much sense without at least some knowledge of the source material (the way the Sengoku-Remi-blame-game against Hori goes down, for example).

Don't get me wrong, it's still the same story, and it's still sweet ... in its own way. The characters are their usual, lovable self, but a total of about one hour of screen time is not enough to properly flesh out the main four, and certainly none of the minor supporting roles.

The art is very true to the source material, but the actual animation is mediocre at best -- and certainly not out of stylistic necessity.

If you're truly starved for some Miyamura, give it a go, but if you're up to date on the manga, you probably shouldn't bother. Reread the manga instead.

Ano Ko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo starts like a shoujo ai high school version of Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san in some regards, with the essentially superhuman genius Kurosawa constantly teasing the decidedly Tsundere Shiramine. (Hermione Granger and Shiramine would probably be best pals.) But then the next volume is about a different couple. And the volume after that is about yet another couple. There's certainly hugs, and kisses, and hand holding all around, but I haven't really felt a deeper connection with any one of the characters. I feel like since about chapter 30, and the start of Kurosawa's "search for something she actually ... wants to do with her life" arc, it's gotten a little more serious in tone.

So yeah, this is definitely something to pick up if you want some light, cute shoujo ai reading, but neither does it reach the same lightness as, for example, the Kase-san series, or the same level characterization and focus as Yagakimi. The main couple is developed pretty slowly, which is okay with me, but some of the other couple arcs seemed a tad rushed.

The art feels nice, though sometimes a little too flowery, and enjoyment was high throughout. So overall, a good manga, but not exceptional.

So, anybody watching this in 2017 will immediately think one thing after watching this short: "So *this* was the beginning of Kimi no Na wa, huh?"

City boy and country girl, kept apart by distance, yet with their lives strangely interwoven, searching for something that had been missing until now in their lives. It's the exact same shots from the later movie as well, only this time it's for a 2 minute commercial for the Japanese Online Cram School Z-Kai.

Art and sound are pretty good, but, on account of it being that very 2 minute commercial, obviously there's not much to be said about "story" or ... characters. Overall, it's a very decent commercial, but if given the chance to watch either this or Kimi no Na wa, I'm gonna pick Kimi no Na wa 10 out of 10 times.

Like, don't let this review keep you from watching the commercial (have I already said it's only 2 minutes long?), but ... it's a commercial. 6/10 ought to be a generous score for Z-Kai.

Compared to many other yuri series out there -- you know the ones, full of fan service or extremely high on the melodrama or the will-they-won't-they -- Yagate Kimi ni Naru's most outstanding characteristic is definitely its well-developed characters. Apart from the first two chapters, which feel a little bit rushed, because they just want to set up the story, it's also incredibly well paced.

Both main character bring their own interpretation of love to the table, fundamentally and diametrically opposed -- Touka, who's fallen hard for Yuu, and knew immediately and now wants everything out of their relationship that normally goes along with such. Yuu, ... on the other hand, who is a girl who loves romantic storylines about as much as I do, and expected love to be just like Touko experiences it, but simply doesn't and has resigned herself to this. There are occasional hints that Yuu might be developing feelings for Touko as well, but even this isn't overt and still open to interpretation. And then there's the added difficulty of Sayaka and the whole spiel about the two connected components in their relationship graph (but at least it's not a full love triangle).

I'm definitely ready for whatever the future might bring for this story.

Trying for some comparables: It's heavier than Kase-san, for sure, but by far not as heavy-handed as Kuzu no Honkai. Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon comes close in relationship dynamics, but the focus is different -- not only what it means to fall in love, but become a family there, what love itself means for different people here. More mature characters than in Tsuki ga Kirei.

This was entirely too short, pretty stock characters and a pretty stock story with a little twist. But the overall enjoyment, while it lasted, compares well with the very best of romcoms.

For such a small project, for the adaption of a really short manga story, this was a stunning display. Even though it's a pretty stock story, you'll get drawn in easily. Even though they're stock characters, they're both nicely done. The narration by Hotaru didn't grate on my nerves nearly as much as most other narration does. The music was good as well.

This movie made me continuously smile for a solid 40 minutes, ... but it seemed to lack just a certain something.

This anime, to me, looks like a perfectly executed, perfectly fine movie that lacks just a little spark to make it truly great, instead of making it merely "good". I'm not sure what else to say. Something was missing, but I still would give it 10/10 in the pure enjoyment department. It's exactly right for the right mood.

The artwork of Vagabond is simply outstanding. Inoue Takehiko understands exactly how to fully capture the reader in his brush strokes that change to an insane degree depending on in-story situation. I have never seen anything that comes even close in leading the eye along the gorgeous artwork. Even if you don't care at all about the characters or the story, the art alone would make it worthwhile to read this work. The in-story calligraphy is nothing to sneeze at either.

The story roughly follows Yoshikawa Eiji's take on the life of Miyamoto Musashi, undoubtedly one of the the greatest swordsmen to have ever lived. The ... depth of his understanding of fighting and the art of the sword still eludes droves of sword students today. Starting this manga, I had read Musashi's Go Rin No Sho and the original Yoshikawa Eiji book and I think this made the experience all that more enjoyable. Some of the decisions Musashi makes along the way are much easier to understand with the background knowledge gained from Yoshikawa's book and there's various throwbacks to philosophical understandings Musashi expounds upon in the Go Rin No Sho.

Like Yoshikawa before him, Inoue takes various freedoms in timeline composition from what are the current best guesses about the life of the real, historical Musashi, but it's an action manga after all. If you see the characters as adapted from the Yoshikawa novel, then the level of adaptation is simply outstanding. They come across exactly like in the book, especially the three leads Musashi, Kojirō and Matahachi. Takuan, too, takes very well after the book character. If you haven't read the book, then the characters are still extremely well defined original characters, with clear goals, inhibited by human error and understanding, certainly utterly comprehensible in their life choices, whether your agree or not.

If any manga deserves the designation "unrivaled under the heavens", it's certainly Vagabond.

To be honest, I wasn't much into the original Working (dropped it after a few ep), so I was a little surprised that the spinoff was able to to catch me with its stories.

First of all: this anime is weird. It's far from the weirdest out there, but at least the scene change whenever they're meeting St. Valentine reminded me of stuff like Yuri Kuma Arashi. The characters are caricatures of their own idiosyncrasies more than anything. And those idiosyncrasies just seem more natural and at the same time more over the top than in the original Working.

Obviously, it lends itself to hardcore shipping, ... and even the weaker characters evolve more sympathetic later on.

Art style, sound and the other hygiene factors aren't extraordinary compared to your average 2016 anime, but they also don't lose out against much.

All in all an enjoyable anime. It obviously lacks the brilliance of greats like Nichijou, but solid nonetheless. Tentative watch recommendation if you like slightly weird, character-driven slice of life.

A nice story, with decent, though not great animation, a forgettable soundtrack, likeable characters ... it should all be so easy, shouldn't it? But the enjoyment to drama ratio, for me at least, went much too heavily into drama for drama's sake territory. Half the movie you're on a constant emotional tearjerker streak, and I usually don't enjoy those if they serve no purpose.

A movie is supposed to tell a story, and terrible things obviously *can* happen, but usually those should further the plot. Here, the plot just seems based on one sob story giving way to the next. If you compare the love story ... here to other examples of the genre, I'm constantly left with the feeling of "what was it all for??" at the end of every act.

Sure, people pine for one another and only eventually give up, and that's sad and a basic human condition that you could base a movie on, but it just comes across as entirely forced in this one and, even though it ends with what the director probably thought was the beginning of hope blossoming up in the protagonist, but it just leaves the watcher feeling empty and in need of a hug.

I love both the romance and slice of life genres. But without even a smidgen of comedy to light things up a bit, it just becomes a bother to watch.

Hinamatsuri is easily my most favorite manga and I don't get why it's relatively unknown in the community. It's slice of life with pretty good humor about a Yakuza basically adopting a girl with psychokinetic powers from the future/another dimension (?) - we haven't really reached a full explanation yet. The setting and the characters are each funny in their own way. I'm usually particularly drawn to Hina's own storyline, as well as Nitta's and Mishima's. Anzu's isn't that great, but still passable in its own way.

The setting doesn't reset at the end of a chapter, and there's multiple chapters with references to events 30 ... chapters back and many questions still unanswered at this point in time.

The art isn't quite on the same level as other famous slice of life manga, like Yotsubato!, but simply comparing it to Azuma's stuff is already a pretty high bar. Also there's been a noticeable change in storytelling and art style from the earlier chapters to the later ones, and it's basically all only ever getting better.

If adoption stories like Usagi Drop or general slice of life with a little bit of action, quite a bit of humor and the possibility, but not the overt use, of magical abilities are to your liking, Hinamatsuri won't disappoint you. Give it a try.

Starts out strong, mostly because of the character's love for their respective callings, which drive the whole story. And they're all portrayed in a way that makes these callings really believable (think opposed to how overdrawn the average sports anime's protagonists are into their respective sports). The first few episodes are really enjoyable like that, but then right down the middle, this anime certainly slumps a little.

The art is fair, but I've seen better even for short anime on a budget. The music is okay as well and captures the mood, but it's entirely forgettable.

I guess it redeems itself a little towards the end and ... finishes in a pretty generic drama-like way. Not a must watch, but kind of better than expected overall.