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Kelly Quinn Chiu

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Summer 2018 Anime: A Perfect Day for Bananafish

Fri Jul 27, 2018 9:00am 8 comments 1 Favorite [+]

The summer season is upon us, and as usual, that means ice cream, overworked A/C units, and new anime. This season’s got a variety of summer-ready shows, from anime about beach volleyball and a college diving club to the return of our favorite swimming anime. If you’re not in the mood for the beach, there’s also quiet mysteries, madcap school comedies, quirky action shows, extremely intense badminton, and a gritty crime drama that’s not to be missed.

With so many simulcasts at our fingertips, there’s no reason to wait to catch these shows—escape the heat this summer with these five shows you can watch right now.

[Read more]

5 Books to Devour After Witchmark

Thu Jun 28, 2018 12:00pm 3 comments 6 Favorites [+]

If you’ve been lucky enough to read C. L. Polk’s Witchmark, you already know it’s a compulsively readable Edwardian fantasy chock full of intrigue, betrayal, steamy romance, and high-speed bicycle chases. And if, like me, you read it way too fast, you might be left craving more. Whether Witchmark whet your appetite for early 20th century fantasy, arcane aristocracies, or magical medical care, here are five books to devour after you turn the last page.

[Read more]

Spring 2018 Anime: 5 Shows to Watch Right Now

Mon Apr 30, 2018 10:00am 9 comments 3 Favorites [+]

Spring is here, the cherry blossoms are blooming, and anime renews itself once again with a brand new lineup of shows for your enjoyment. Along with the return of some favorites like My Hero Academia, Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma, a new Gundam Build Fighters anime, and Full Metal Panic (what year is it???), spring has got some fresh new cartoons, at least one of which involves punching bears in the face. Oh, and you can now watch Violet Evergarden on Netflix if you live in the U.S.

Ready for bear-punching? Check out these five new shows you can watch right along with audiences in Japan.

[Read more]

Winter 2018 Anime: A Deal with the Devil

Tue Jan 23, 2018 12:00pm 5 comments 2 Favorites [+]

Welcome to the winter 2018 anime season, where all your dreams can come true—babysit cute kids, travel to Antarctica, tease your crush, collect Sanrio merchandise, go camping, be an idol, pilot an anthropomorphic robot girl, ride a bicycle, merge with a demon. With several highly-anticipated premieres, the return/reboot of some classics, and a few pleasant surprises, winter’s got a little something for everyone. Read on to get the details on six shows worth watching right now—plus, did I mention Anime Strike is dead? Go watch Made in Abyss and Land of the Lustrous.

[Read more]

Anime Year in Review: The Ten Best Shows of 2017

Wed Dec 20, 2017 10:00am 15 comments 7 Favorites [+]

This year has been a strange one for me with anime (2017 has been a strange year in general, but let’s set that aside for now). I found my watch schedule dominated by sequels and second seasons, while some of my more highly anticipated shows (Welcome to the Ballroom, ACCA, Little Witch Academia) left me a bit cold, and other shows I initially enjoyed took a sharp nosedive (hey there, Rage of Bahamut). This list definitely reflects that, being split equally between sequels and nonsequels. That said, there was plenty this year for every kind of anime viewer (perhaps minus mecha fans) to enjoy—dragon maids, food-themed coup d’etats, dramatic sword boys, steampunk assassins, and small-town tourism, just to name a few.

But enough with the chatter—keep reading to see my favorite ten anime of 2017.

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Fall 2017 Anime: Four Fantasy Shows Worth Watching Right Now

Wed Nov 1, 2017 10:00am 5 comments 3 Favorites [+]

Every three months, Japan graces us with a new batch of shiny new cartoons. But with more than forty shows airing this season, who has the time to watch them all? Decisions must be made. We’ve hit the three-episode mark of most shows this week, and it’s time to separate the winners from the losers. With offerings this season ranging from slick reboots of old classics to sentient battling jewel people, here are four shows that you can jump into right now, personally vetted by yours truly.

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Spring 2017 Anime Preview: Can We Stop Adding “Re:” to Anime Titles Now?

Fri Apr 28, 2017 10:00am 6 comments 1 Favorite [+]

Spring is here in all its glory, and the spring anime season is here in—well, I don’t know if I’d say glory, but it’s definitely here.

This season the anime gods have bestowed upon us a stable of quite exciting sequels, which I’ll get into further down, as well as a heap of rather less exciting but still quite watchable new shows. If there’s anything I’ve learned in the last few seasons, it’s that beggars can’t be choosers. As usual, I’ve watched a dizzying number of premieres and come to you, dear reader, with only the best: three new shows that you can start streaming right this moment. Oh and hey, did you know Attack on Titan is back?

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Winter 2017 Anime Preview: Jean the Cigarette Peddler

Thu Jan 26, 2017 10:00am 6 comments Favorite This

Welcome once again to the winter anime season preview, where I watch all the worst shows so you don’t have to—and with Hand Shakers airing this season, I really do mean the worst shows. With arguably the most widely anticipated winter show, Trigger’s Little Witch Academia, being held hostage by Netflix until further notice, the list of new anime that is both defendably worthwhile and available to watch instantly this season is rather short (by which I mean I’ve picked only one). On the other hand, we are graced with quite a few highly anticipated sequels, including Blue Exorcist and KonoSuba, which are doing their best to redeem a dismal winter.

So what’s worth a look? Well, there’s this pretty cool show about fantasy politics directed by the guy who did One Punch Man… and you don’t even need an Anime Strike subscription to watch it.

[Read more]

Anime Year in Review: The Ten Best Shows of 2016

Mon Jan 2, 2017 11:00am 17 comments 3 Favorites [+]

Looking back at the year in anime, it’s been a pretty eclectic mix. We’ve had some very highly anticipated adaptations, some ambitious original stories, and even a few unexpected revivals of seemingly long-abandoned franchises (looking at you, D.Gray-man). If anything, 2016 has showcased how flexible and creative the medium can be: we’ve had shows featuring zombie fighting, lexicography, concert bands, mafiosos, superheroes, professional figure skaters—this year we watched a Taiwanese fantasy puppet show and called it anime, for god’s sake.

Narrowing down the top ten was, as always, a unique challenge, and, as always, I’ve left off quite a few of my favorites. But enough excuses—read on to see what made my list for the best ten TV anime series for 2016.

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Fall 2016 Anime Preview: That Ice Skating Show

Thu Oct 20, 2016 2:00pm 7 comments Favorite This

It’s that time again—new anime is here along with the fall leaves, and it is our duty, as usual, to divide the 2D wheat from the chaff. Fall is traditionally a strong season for anime, and though this one is a bit lacking, there are still a few new shows worth checking out. Joining a roster of strong sequels—Haikyu!! is back, along with Kyoto Animation’s Sound! Euphonium, the second part of Bungo Stray Dogs and Iron-Blooded Orphans, and the fifth season of Natsume Yuujinchou (hallelujah)—are a smattering of interesting offerings. Fans of madcap comedies might check out ClassicaLoid, a show about classical composers making magical gyoza, and shoujo and BL fans can unite this season over unlikely romcom Kiss Him Not Me. If you’re in the UK, count yourself lucky because The Great Passage, a literary drama about publishing a dictionary, is apparently available only in your region.

And if you just want the best of the season’s new anime without all the funny business, keep reading—I’ve picked three promising shows that you can start watching right this minute. Here’s a little hint: axel, lutz, loop.

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Summer 2016 Anime Preview: Giving 110%

Thu Jul 21, 2016 9:00am 9 comments Favorite This

Summer season is upon us at last, and what looked at first to be a rather dismal showing has shaped up in the last few weeks to have quite a few worthwhile new series. Among the interesting trends this season are a cluster of sports shows (Cheer Danshi, Battery, Days) and idol shows (Tsukiuta, B-Project, Love Live Sunshine), as well as several hotly anticipated sequels and spinoffs (Shokugeki no Soma, Cute High Earth Defense Club, Handa-kun), some of them VERY long awaited (Berserk, twenty years after its first TV series, and D.Gray-man Hallow, ten). There’s also a show about a cat that lives in a banana.

As always, I’ve picked out five of the best new shows airing right now, as well as a special bonus this season—two shows that are available to binge watch from start to finish. Quit trying to catch that Zubat for a minute, it’s cartoon time.

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Spring 2016 Anime Preview: Plus Ultra!

Thu Apr 21, 2016 10:00am 5 comments 2 Favorites [+]

Maybe it’s the flowers blooming or the lovely warm weather outside that makes this time of year so pleasant… or perhaps it’s the remarkably good season of new spring anime that’s lifting my mood.

Spring season features a long list of worthy contenders, including the fourth installment of fan-favorite JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and a new entry in the venerable Macross franchise, in addition to a host of new shows. As always, we’ve picked the most promising of the new stuff, and boy is it an eclectic mix this season: we’ve got cartoons ranging from superhero adventure to surreal school comedy to fantasy slice of life. With simulcasts a mere click away, there’s no time like the present—read on for six of this season’s best shows that you can watch right now. [Read more]

Winter 2016 Anime Preview: What the Heck Is “Rakugo”?

Thu Jan 28, 2016 9:00am 7 comments 1 Favorite [+]

The winter anime season is cracking along, and with a few episodes of new shows under our belts, it’s time to carry on with the keepers and drop the duds back into the 2D oblivion from whence they came. In addition to some strong carryovers from fall, such as Haikyu!! and Osomatsu-san, winter sees some highly anticipated continuations (Akagami no Shirayukihime, GATE, Durarara!!) as well as the usual slew of new stuff. This season is shaping up to be a bit of an odd one, with two runaway favorites dominating the conversation while the rest of the season floats somewhere between “not bad” and “please don’t make we watch another five minutes of this.”

As usual, we’ve picked the best of the new anime for your viewing pleasure, from a not-to-be-missed fantasy thriller to a peculiar comedy featuring Japanese candy. Simulcasts are just a click away, so snuggle up in that down comforter and check out our five top picks for winter!

[Read more]

Anime Year in Review: The Ten Best Shows of 2015

Fri Dec 18, 2015 1:00pm 20 comments Favorite This

It’s that time of year again, when the shops are awash in holiday garland, the houses draped with festive lights, and the blogs festooned with “Best of 2015” lists. Looking back through this year at the good, the bad, the ultimately disappointing, and the thankfully forgettable (goodbye forever, Chaos Dragon), it was surprisingly hard to narrow this list down to ten shows, and I’ve certainly left out some worthy contenders. Yet, for the sake of the season, it must be done. Without further ado then, the best ten TV anime of 2015.

[Can you guess what our favorite show of the year was?]

Fall 2015 Anime Preview: Summarize it in Twenty Words or Less

Wed Oct 21, 2015 2:00pm 9 comments Favorite This

We’re well into the fall anime season and it’s full of lovely things. The second season of Haikyuu!! is here, for a start, and it’s exactly as wonderful as season one. Noragami Aragoto is kicking into high gear with the start of a widely-anticipated arc for its return to TV, and the Monogatari juggernaut is rolling again with Owarimonogatari. We’re also getting a solid dose of wacky, weird, and just plain strange, from a manic 1960s revival in Osomatsu-san to the time-jumping mishmash of Concrete Revolutio. And then there’s the (not one, but two) anime featuring boys breaking into impromptu musical numbers, and the (not one, but two—really, you can’t make this up) harem anime featuring pink-haired girls with flame powers. I watched all of these and more, dear readers, in order to pick the best of the best for your 2D consumption. With simulcasts a click away, there’s no reason to wait. Settle down with your pumpkin spice latte and check out these three top picks for fall season.

[Onward to robots!]

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