Way back in 2014, a friend and I collaborated on a series of articles we called Watson Watches, in which I forced enticed Watson to examine a bunch of new-to-him anime shows. Using a basic question/answer format, the general idea was to gain a fresh, non-otaku perspective on some conversely very otaku-friendly titles such as Azumanga Daioh, Kuroshitsuji, and Kill la Kill. While wading through some old files the other day for a long-overdue PC clean-up, I came across one such article that, for whatever reason, never quite made it onto the blog, and Watson was kind enough to allow me to belatedly post it rather than have it remain in a folder titled only: ‘Unpublished’. This is that piece. Read More
Sailor Fuku: The Long and Short of It
Despite or perhaps even because of its prevalence in anime, the traditional sailor-style school uniform, or sailor fuku, is one of the more misunderstood articles of clothing out there, particularly by those viewers who may watch anime only now and again or have little to no direct knowledge of Japanese daily life. I must admit, even as someone who consumed anime voraciously prior to my actual move to Japan, I was still surprised by some of the things I discovered firsthand, especially when it came to things like school-specific rules around sailor fuku and what students could/could not get away with. Read More
Anime Taste Testing: Wonder Egg Priority
Funny story, I almost passed up on giving this series a look entirely (I don’t even remember why, but possibly simply because there was so little info on it back when the other shows of the winter season were being announced). Sure glad I changed my mind on that one. Read More
Anime Taste Testing: Kemono Jihen
While quite possibly the series I was least looking forward to giving a watch, this ended up being surprisingly alright. Read More
Anime Taste Testing: SK∞
Fast and Furious: Okinawa Drift. Read More
Anime Taste Testing: Horimiya
Aside from the creepy teacher, this series is actually pretty okay. Read More
Anime Taste Testing: Back Arrow
So it’s mecha but with backwater villagers dressed as old-west cowboys and the more tech-advanced folk looking like something out of a Chinese-inspired historical-fantasy. Cool cool. Read More
Anime Taste Testing: 2.43 – Seiin Koukou Danshi Volley-bu
Come for the promise of a decent sports anime, stay for the Fukui-ben. Read More
Anime Taste Testing: Hortensia Saga
This would have felt lackluster and cliché had it been released 20 years ago – and what’s more, nothing would have changed between then and now aside from the CG. Read More
Anime Taste Testing: Urasekai Picnic
I think I would have enjoyed this one a lot more had I not felt like it was trying so hard to be purposefully enigmatic – with the result that I was left more confused and vaguely annoyed than intrigued. Read More