Oreshura - I Happen to Like Junk Food Sometimes

Harem shows are trash. They're garbage, junk food for the mind that doesn't have any meaning in their narratives. They are a genre that hasn't evolved in any meaningful ways since the 90s and does not intend to change because they still are met with a fair degree of success. Despite filling the market every season, very few of them are any good.

...Wait a second, very few? As in, more than none?

One-Punch Man - Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too

I usually don't try and put my thoughts out on shows around the time I've watched them because many of them need time to stew so I can look in retrospect, see how memorable they were and whether there was any part of the craft that was particularly good or bad. The psychological term is "the recency effect" where you will be more likely to look at things you've seen recently in a more positive light, although when it comes to this sort of thing it's possible I can have an initial terrible reaction that mellows out. Now why am I talking about this here? Well, because I can't imagine my reaction to One-Punch Man changing with time.

Fighter's Radiance - Fight Scene Brilliance

 Moreso than most genres, anime thrives on action. Whether it's violence for the sake of violence or something trying to be more poignant, a large majority of anime is centered around action scenes. This is why I think it's strange that by a large margin, anime fights tend to be somewhat mediocre.

I personally have high standards for what I consider to be a good fight scene. Many people praise action sequences in shows like Kill la Kill or One-Punch Man but I find them to be average at best but usually quite bad. But let's start the new year with some positivity. Rather than picking apart why those action scenes don't work, I think it might be a good idea to point out what can make a fight scene truly unforgettable.

Giant Gorg - Gorg Don't Give a F

I'm not going to pretend like there was any "golden age" of anime, that the 80s was "better", that hand-drawn is superior to computer-assisted or even go into my meta tirades against the industry. Every time period has good stuff and bad stuff. That's not what I'm here to talk about. Instead: Giant Gorg. Gorg is a sign of what happens when passionate people get the chance to make exactly what they want to make.

No Game No Life - Cheatcodes Allowed

How far does a concept carry a show? I ask this because No Game No Life had gained quite a few viewers with its concept: a world where all conflicts are settled with games. This, coupled with its unique art style and the first couple episodes being very solid, made me quite hopeful that it would actually manage to be good. That was a bad idea, I should've gone in with lower expectations.

Zambot 3 - But Who's Going to Thank You?

Ah, yes, Zambot 3. As far as I know, this was the first major deconstruction of super robot series and, I feel that in many ways, it is the most complete one. Of course, someone from the outside looking in could easily misconstrue Zambot as a regular 70s robot anime. Everything, from the design to the music, looks like it's playing things straight. That is entirely the point.

Resurrection "F"'s Biggest Missed Opportunity

I feel bad having a complaint about Resurrection "F". Freeza has been my favorite Dragon Ball villain since childhood and hearing he was going to return for a new movie had me so stoked. So my having a problem with the climax feels awful, like spitting in the face of Toriyama after he gave me a great present just because it wasn't perfect. Honestly, it is a really great film and Freeza is just as good a villain now as he was years ago, plus the switch of focus from energy struggles back to martial arts for the most part was a welcome change. I still love how they treated Freeza, but it had a bit of a miscalculation right at the climax of the film, something that I think could have been an easy fix that would have improved it overall. Since I'm mostly talking about my impressions about the climax and not a full review, be forewarned that this entire article will have spoilers and assume the reader has already seen the film.