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Reign of the Seven Spellblades ‒ Episode 3
It makes it an awkward one just three episodes into Seven Spellblades, with a whole bunch of obvious table-setting, but I'm not sure if the meal they'll be serving will be bland or something I'm allergic to.
Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Season 2 ‒ Episode 15
We knew going in that Glen Paige had some…less than equitable ideas about who could become a sugar crafter.
Undead Murder Farce ‒ SERIES PREMIERE
Undead Murder Farce is a prime example of what an anime can achieve when it stops flailing around and starts using its noggin.
Bungo Stray Dogs Season 5 ‒ SEASON PREMIERE
Allegiances are murky as Bungo Stray Dogs wastes no time this season, jumping swiftly back into the action.
Sacrificial Princess & the King of Beasts ‒ SEASON PREMIERE
Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts is steadily proving itself as a series that can deliver strong messages about real-world issues without being too preachy about it.
My Happy Marriage ‒ SERIES PREMIERE
From the gorgeous art that beautifully mimics the covers of the novels and the already visible growth of Miyo and Kiyoka, this is just a joy to watch.
Helck ‒ Episodes 1-2 ‒ SERIES PREMIERE
it's clear that Helck is hiding something serious from the beginning when you consider how the anime frames him alongside all of this dark foreshadowing.
Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon ‒ Episodes 1-3 ‒ SERIES PREMIERE
We see not only how the world works and how all the characters fit into it, but also all the little ways a vending machine would change a small community in a fantasy world.
Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout ‒ SERIES PREMIERE
So here we are, two hours in with nothing in the way of a greater story.
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation II ‒ SEASON PREMIERE
However, when it comes down to it, both stories are about one thing: people dealing with heartbreaking loss and their attempts to start over in wholly unfamiliar environments.
One Piece ‒ Episode 1069
It's just knockout blow after knockout blow rendered in glorious, fluid animation.
Dark Gathering ‒ SERIES PREMIERE
Comedy and horror will always be structurally intertwined, and as far as the quality of those goes, Dark Gathering is mostly okay so far.
Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Season 2 ‒ SEASON PREMIERE
Sugar Apple Fairy Tale attempts to dig into the slavery issue are back in these two episodes, and the handling is still pretty clumsy.
Reign of the Seven Spellblades ‒ SERIES PREMIERE
The setup we have so far is interesting enough, but I can't help but wish Nanao was the main character.
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead ‒ SERIES PREMIERE
The big question that Episode 2 has to answer is whether or not Zom 100 can get a whole season of anime after that pitch-perfect premiere. Thankfully, if “Bucket List of the Dead” is anything to go by, we don't have much to worry about.
Horimiya: The Missing Pieces ‒ SEASON PREMIERE
It is jarring to have skits focused on one type of romantic tension only to shift into a different type of romantic tension. Thankfully, after the first episode, that no longer seems to be the case.
Yohane the Parhelion -SUNSHINE in the MIRROR ‒ SERIES PREMIERE
Sunshine in the Mirror has revealed itself to be a much larger leap than its fairly grounded premiere would lead you to expect.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Season 2 ‒ SEASON PREMIERE
That's disappointing because we start with the series doing something I'd long hoped for – forcing our heroes to fight outside the box.
One Piece ‒ Episode 1068
Lots of brilliant shots in this episode that wow in a fundamentally different way than flashy explosion punches.
KamiKatsu: Working for God in a Godless World ‒ SEASON FINALE
All we're left with is a cynical, caustic, misbegotten mess of an anime.
Insomniacs After School ‒ Episode 13
The show achieves what it aims for so thoroughly and effectively that you wouldn't have a soul if you walked away feeling completely unsatisfied.
Hell's Paradise ‒ Episode 13 ‒ SEASON FINALE
OK, so none of us genuinely thought that this was going to be the end, and if I'm being honest, I thought the show was going to continue for another season without any breaks.
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury ‒ Episode 24 - SEASON FINALE
Honestly, the most radical, shocking thing about G-Witch's ending might be how definitive of an ending it is.
One Piece ‒ Episode 1067
Episode 1067 is another strong entry in the adaptation of Wano, though it lacks some of last week's incredible bombast.
Mashle: Magic and Muscles ‒ SEASON FINALE
Things find their way back to the main themes and more interesting conceptual hooks of Mashle in a satisfying way.
Insomniacs After School ‒ Episode 12
Once the noisiness of the friends comes and goes, we get a bit more of that somberness with Isaki alluding to the fact that she may not be around that much.
Golden Kamuy Season 4 ‒ Episode 49
We need to check in with all of our primary cast members again just to remember who the key players are.
Oshi no Ko ‒ SEASON FINALE
In order to get closer to his revenge, Aqua is going to be working with actors from the Ai-connected Lala Lai theater troop on a stage play of Demon Slayer—er… Tokyo Blade.
KamiKatsu: Working for God in a Godless World ‒ Episode 11
The worst part of this episode comes at its end, as the series tries futilely to take itself seriously in a way that it has never earned.
Dead Mount Death Play ‒ Episode 12
Well, that was a bit anticlimactic.
Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion ‒ Episode 12 - SEASON FINALE
As far as "read the books, kids!" endings go, this isn't a bad one.
Heavenly Delusion ‒ Episode 13 - SEASON FINALE
Heavenly Delusion's wild roller-coaster plotting saved its steepest freefall for these last two episodes of the season, and in this finale, the cart doesn't hit the bottom of the track without incurring some noticeable dents.
One Piece ‒ Episode 1066
Episode 1066 is another half-hour of weekly television that manages to be like the greatest thing you've ever seen.
TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You Season 2 ‒ Episode 12 - SEASON FINALE
OK, I genuinely feel like TONIKAWA was just trolling me right up until the bitter end.
Hell's Paradise ‒ Episode 12
Honestly, I would like it if the show stopped frontloading me with a character backstory right before they're about to die because it muddies the tragedy a bit for me.
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury ‒ Episode 23
A lot of expected elements of sci-fi epics and Gundam, in particular, get checked off this week, but you can feel Okouchi and the rest of the team reaching out to comment or put their spin on them as they necessarily put it all together.
Birdie Wing -Golf Girls' Story- ‒ Episode 25 - SEASON FINALE
I can't help but feel like this finish comes along too quickly. While a portion of that is longing on my part, I think a 26th episode could have done wonders for the pacing of the conclusion.
My Clueless First Friend ‒ SEASON FINALE
As it turns out, we don't need a flash-forward or a time skip to reassure us that these two are going to be okay.
My Love Story With Yamada-kun at Lv999 ‒ SEASON FINALE
Setting up for the big moment with Yamada and Akane is then an exercise in the age-old plotting trick of bringing things full circle
A Galaxy Next Door ‒ SEASON FINALE
Some shows have a grand finale. Others fizzle out.
Magical Destroyers ‒ SEASON FINALE
On a purely mechanical level of “What happens to whom, and when, for whatever reasons,” I guess this episode technically makes sense.
Konosuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World! ‒ SEASON FINALE
Folks, I think being able to summon a giant explosion is a great power to have.
Mashle: Magic and Muscles ‒ Episode 11
All we need to do is watch our boy punch some puppets and go home.
Otaku Elf ‒ SEASON FINALE
Small-scale as it is, the writing is still able to use this to lead back to a finish focused on the core ideas of the value of spending time with loved ones.
Yuri Is My Job! ‒ SEASON FINALE
After all the drama between Sumika and Kanoko over the last few weeks, it's nice to end the season on a bit of a lighter note.
The Legendary Hero is Dead! ‒ SEASON FINALE
Everything that happens here is as predictable as it is generic. Touka saves the day with a bunch of assistance from the supporting cast, and the bad guy of the arc is defeated.
The Ancient Magus' Bride Season 2 ‒ SEASON FINALE
It's a very good thing that more has been announced and is only a few months away. Without that coda, this season would feel wholly incomplete.
Golden Kamuy Season 4 ‒ Episode 48
In all seriousness, these episodes make Golden Kamuy both impossible to recommend and impossible not to. It's got a heart. It's got adventure. It's got the onomatopoeia fapfapfapfapfapfapfap across the screen.
Oshi no Ko ‒ Episode 10
As we ramp up to the season finale, Kana, Aqua, and Ruby each must get out of their way—or risk B-Komachi's revival resulting in a major flop.
Skip and Loafer ‒ SEASON FINALE
It would be so, so easy to call Ririka a bitch and leave it at that. But writing her off like that would be ignoring the entire point of Skip and Loafer as a series.
Insomniacs After School ‒ Episode 11
You hope these days would continue with these two together as they're away from everything that generally reminds them of their anxiety.
Vinland Saga Season 2 ‒ Episode 24 - SEASON FINALE
While it won't go down as the single best half-hour of the series, "Home" gives us exactly what we need after experiencing so much alongside our heroes: a moment to rest and a glimpse of all the wonderful things to come.
Dead Mount Death Play ‒ Episode 11
It moves all the pieces to where they need to be. And while I expect it to pay off more next week, this one was pretty lackluster as a stand-alone episode.
My Home Hero ‒ Episode 12 - SEASON FINALE
This final episode of My Home Hero is all about our two fathers finally giving some much-needed backstory for Matori.
Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion ‒ Episode 11
It doesn't seem likely that we'll get any concrete answers in next week's finale. There just isn't enough time, no matter how much manhwa gets crammed into twenty-four minutes.
Heavenly Delusion ‒ Episode 12
A goofy nightmare from Tokyo portends a chapter full of profound sea changes on both sides of Heavenly Delusion's plot.
TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You Season 2 ‒ Episode 11
You could argue that faith in the concept of marriage now isn't nearly as strong as it used to be for a handful of reasons, but TONIKAWA is not interested in any of those things.
Hell's Paradise ‒ Episode 11
This show is something else, as it runs the gamut of hitting you at your core with uncanny and disgusting subject matter without necessarily feeling gratuitous.
The Dangers in My Heart ‒ Episode 12 - SEASON FINALE
While this season doesn't end with any romantic climax, I think it does a solid job of rounding out Kyotaro's character arc.
Birdie Wing -Golf Girls' Story- ‒ Episode 24
The day has arrived, the promise has been fulfilled, and the golf girls are ready to pen the ending of their story on the biggest stage possible.
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury ‒ Episode 22
Apparent as it is that we're heading into finale territory, without certainty of a follow-up season, we can see that the show simply isn't going to have the space to resolve all the various conflicts it's built up and utilized throughout its run.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Swordsmith Village Arc ‒ Episode 11 - SEASON FINALE
If you're looking for a review of this Demon Slayer season finale that is chock-full of unqualified praise and hype, you won't find it here.
My Clueless First Friend ‒ Episode 12
After seeing Yukiko's friend kiss her boyfriend, both Takada and Nishimura are faced with both the uncomfortable aftereffects of accidental voyeurism and the growing possibility of wanting to engage in some romance themselves.
Magical Destroyers ‒ Episode 11
All in all, I still have no clue whether or not all of this nonsense will have been worth it, by the end.
My Love Story With Yamada-kun at Lv999 ‒ Episode 12
The movement up to the threshold of crossing the confessional line is the main feature of this one.
A Galaxy Next Door ‒ Episode 11
This hasn't always been a perfect series, but in this episode, they truly get it right.
Konosuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World! ‒ Episode 11
It's the kind of silly Scooby Doo-esque hijinks in a fantasy setting that warms my heart, and it got a big belly laugh from me.
Otaku Elf ‒ Episode 11
It drives up the tension more than Koma's flighty faffing-about of an investigation does, as we're immediately driven to anxiously ask "Koito, what did you do?!"
Mashle: Magic and Muscles ‒ Episode 10
It feels weird that the best compliment I can pay this episode is that at least it's moving through its fights quickly when we could have skipped over these entirely and not missed anything.
Yuri Is My Job! ‒ Episode 11
While Kanoko may not care about the Schwestern concept, she knows that Sumika does. To Sumika, it is the symbol of a real sisterly relationship—on stage and off.
Dr. Stone: New World ‒ SEASON FINALE
It's an incredible father-son moment stretching across the millennia.
The Legendary Hero is Dead! ‒ Episode 11
It's the kind of fight you'd see in a filler episode of The Seven Deadly Sins, delivered with animation on par with that show's worst episodes.
The Ancient Magus' Bride Season 2 ‒ Episode 11
An unsettled Lucy asking to pet Zoe's snakes (no, not like that!), admitting that she needs something comforting to cuddle in lieu of her spiders, is an incredibly sweet moment.
Golden Kamuy Season 4 ‒ Episode 47
Episode 47 is one of the better one-off entries in the series that doesn't necessarily wow but turns into a strong performance regardless.
Oshi no Ko ‒ Episode 9
Though "B-Komachi" is all about building the action into the season's likely final arc, smooth transitions between storylines and consistency of messaging and voice make this episode shine.
KamiKatsu: Working for God in a Godless World ‒ Episode 10
At this point, everything about this show is so pitifully inert that it can't even manage a half-assed parody.
The Dangers in My Heart ‒ Episode 11
It seems that the stage is being set for these two to enter an environment where it will be nearly impossible for them to deny their feelings, whether it's to each other or in front of other people.
Insomniacs After School ‒ Episode 10
Now that our two leads are stuck playing house together, with no supervision whatsoever, it makes me itch on the edge of my seat because I know something is coming.
Vinland Saga Season 2 ‒ SEASON FINALE
"Two Paths" is where this stage of our heroes' journeys reaches its end, and I couldn't have imagined a more fitting way to wrap up Thorfinn and Einar's long and difficult road to freedom.
Skip and Loafer ‒ Episode 11
It's not going to be easy or instant. Nothing is, but this episode shows a lot of people taking tentative steps forward.
Dead Mount Death Play ‒ Episode 10
At this point, in her mind, it was proven. She was just as bad as those she had killed. So there was just one evil assassin left to kill: herself.
My Home Hero ‒ Episode 11
When it comes down to it, Tetsuo can't let go of his empathy even in a life-or-death struggle. He simply has to make one final appeal to the man out to kill him and his family.
One Piece ‒ Episode 1065
It's a whirlwind tour of Onigashima that results in a lot of smaller elements that simply don't have enough time to shine.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Swordsmith Village Arc ‒ Episode 10
It finally feels like the show is willing to (almost) shut up and let the audience enjoy the fight that has been in progress for two-and-a-half months now—at least in the second half of the episode.
Heavenly Delusion ‒ Episode 11
After weeks on the sideline, the "Heaven" side of Heavenly Delusion takes the narrative's reins and slides downhill towards the inevitable disaster at the bottom.
Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion ‒ Episode 10
There's one major problem here: Raeliana herself is still stuck in the mindset that she's a side character in someone else's story.
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury ‒ Episode 21
This is the sort of aftermath, downtime, catch-up episode everyone needed after the big blow-ups last week.
Hell's Paradise ‒ Episode 10
This is a very exposition-heavy episode, but I don't mind that there were some interesting revelations here.
TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You Season 2 ‒ Episode 10
This episode gave us something I wasn't expecting, but it's arguably something we've needed for a while.
My Clueless First Friend ‒ Episode 11
For every character who changes, there are going to be those who don't.
Magical Destroyers ‒ Episode 10
The big problem with Magical Destroyers going all in on the tragic spectacle that an “All is Lost Moment” demands is the whole “spectacle” part.
My Love Story With Yamada-kun at Lv999 ‒ Episode 11
Just keep putting yourself out there against it and trying, paying attention, until the proper approach makes itself apparent to you.
A Galaxy Next Door ‒ Episode 10
Mrs. Goshiki feels like a throwback to a time when parents fully controlled their daughters and guarded their “purity,” and that's almost certainly intentional.
Birdie Wing -Golf Girls' Story- ‒ Episode 23
All you millions of Birdie Wing fans who begged for footage of Eve bench pressing, your day has arrived.
Konosuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World! ‒ Episode 10
Megumin tries and tries to fit the right fit, and just keeps coming up short. We've all been there!
Mashle: Magic and Muscles ‒ Episode 9
Mash's all-physical counter-attack he throws at Razer is a satisfying beatdown for the climax and I remain amused by Mash calling out his particular muscles like they're magic spells.
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