Azure Flame Reloaded

Whilst our heroes stand over the body of Smith, the monster dog emerges. Nameless unimportant subordinate dogs run away. GB: Oh great, it’s still alive- Smith just sacrificed himself for no good reason. Monster: They’ve cast a VA for me at last, and that means it’s time to hear the tragic story that will add [...]

The new dogs introduce themselves. Jerome: Guess what, it’s the usual “that cliffhanger wasn’t quite what you thought it was” opening to the episode. We aren’t your enemies; in fact, we’re here to explain the situation. Enter Exposition Mode! Screen dissolves to flashback. Chrono Trigger battle music plays. Jerome: Anyway, to cut a long story [...]

I’m no stranger to morbid curiosity; the “I must see the horror for myself” has led me into many dark and dangerous places (take, for example, the Otome manga), but rarely have I wandered so unprepared into a series as dire as Sakura Diaries. I was expecting a shallow romance, trashy but entertaining in a [...]

Our intrepid canine heroes journey on, but thank to old man Smith and pup Mel, the pace is slow. GB: Hey Weed, why don’t you go on ahead? Of course it’s not safe and you’re bound to get in trouble without your friends by your side, but what the hell- just go for it. Weed: [...]

Note: this is the first part of my Haruhi rant, written while the series was still airing. The second part will be posted eventually soon. Before its first episode aired, there were precious few people who had even heard of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Flash forward a couple of weeks, however, and suddenly practically [...]

Weed, GB and Smith move on. Weed: Hey, what happened to that brown dog from episode one? The other dogs shrug. Cut to a town- a young pup named Mel is stealing food from the humans. He runs off into the forest. GB: What’s that all about? Hook: I am Hook, a character conveniently placed [...]

If the slice-of-life genre has taught us anything, it’s that reading about or watching people go about their daily lives can be surprisingly enthralling. Unfortunately, Binbou Shimai Monogatari’s lesson is quite the opposite- there are equally times when a story about day-to-day life can be just plain tedious.

If I had any sense at all, I’d be more selective about what I watch. I wouldn’t feel strangely drawn to certain series like a moth to a flame, and I’d have infinitely more time for as yet undetermined higher pursuits (such as getting bored). Unfortunately, I just cannot help myself- despite all the blocks [...]

Where other series have fallen by the wayside, I can’t help but keep watching Ginga Densetsu Weed; not because it’s particularly good, nor even for the novelty of featuring dogs as the main characters, but because it is perfect material to parody. And so, starting today, I’ll be posting my episode-by-episode parody guide as to [...]

Spoiler warning: this rant will unashamedly give away the plot for the entirety of Mai-Otome and most of HiME. In October 2005, life seemed good; a sequel to Mai-HiME had begun airing in Japan, and it seemed to be all anyone could talk about. Fans of the original were looking forward to bigger and better [...]