Shachibato! President, It’s Time for Battle! – Episode 1
The biggest problem with Shachibato is that, while it doesn’t do anything egregiously wrong, it doesn’t do anything especially right, either.
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My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! – Episode 1
My Next Life as a Villainess has a lot of points in its favor, but I’ll start with this one: Catarina is an absolute A-plus delight of a protagonist.
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Arte – Episode 1
I went into Arte with cynicism in my heart, and Arte proceeded to prove me completely and totally wrong. Under all that brightly colored shoujo artwork lies a heart of steely determination.
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Wave, Listen to Me! – Episode 1
Minare is perfectly imperfect, and the exact kind of heroine I’ve been asking, nay, begging for for years. I think I would die for her.
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Gal & Dino – Episode 1
Did you like Pop Team Epic? I hope so. Otherwise you’re gonna have a bad time with Aoki Jun’s latest multimedia mashup.
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Listeners – Episode 1
Listeners is the best kind of pastiche. It takes a number of familiar elements—a young man stumbling on a mysterious young woman, a post-apocalyptic setting, and the sense of being shaken out of a sense of complacency—and mashes them up in such a way that, even though you know you’ve seen and heard it all before, feels fresh and energetic.
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Kakushigoto – Episode 1
Kakushigoto is sweeter, softer, and gentler than the mangaka’s previous work Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, and the first episode was a delight to watch.
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Bungo and Alchemist -Gears of Judgement – Episode 1
Okay, time to spend several hundred words talking to myself.
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The 8th son? Are you kidding me? – Episode 1
8th Son is not out here reinventing the isekai wheel, but the wheel it presents is pretty well-made and charming, all things considered.
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TAMAYOMI: The Baseball Girls – Episode 1
While I wouldn’t count on this being a very deep series given that baseball requires a nine-person team and this is only a single-cour show, this has the makings of a perfectly serviceable mid-tier sports anime.
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Tower of God – Episode 1
International collaborations can, in theory, inject fresh ideas and perspectives into the medium, creating a story that can say new things and appeal to diverse audiences. I’m, uh, not so sure Tower of God is gonna do all that, though.
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AniFem Fundraiser and Site Update: March 2020
March has been low on reasons to celebrate (to say the least), but here’s a small one for our readers: AniFem’s first-ever fundraiser has officially completed all its major tasks! Cheers, AniFam!
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Chatty AF 112: Winter 2020 Wrap-up (WITH TRANSCRIPT)
Dee, Vrai, and Peter look back on a packed season with plenty of sparkling gems and solid sequels!
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My Hero Academia Shows Us How To Write Damsels (And Dudes) In Distress
It’s easy to think the best solution to any harmful trope is to avoid it altogether and, to an extent, in the short term, this is true. In the long term, however, avoiding a trope entirely can be counterproductive, creating a new harmful trope on the other side of that same coin.
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My Fave is Problematic: Mad Bull 34
Mad Bull 34 cranks up the absurd action of buddy-cop movies in a way only the animated medium can. But the series and buddy-cop movies in general have a serious flaw: the glorification of police officers who circumvent the rules, as well as police brutality in general.
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Rage, Mentors, and Rebellions in Classic vs. Modern Sukeban Anime Girls
While old-school sukeban (“boss girls”) anime/manga characters come across as irrational in their anger and resentment toward society (until the very end of their respective series, at least), newer sukeban characters often are more level-headed, using their rebellious spirit to improve their circumstances.
