Akemi's Anime Blog

Notes and musings about what we're currently watching, as well as goings-on in Japan. Check it out.

Strike Witches: Plane-catgirls Without Pants

02/06/2010

Yukikaze meets Harry Potter meets Sakura Wars, with some Geobreeders thrown in for good measure. It's pretty, it has an appealingly odd setup, and the only thing I could think of was Great Balls of Fanservice!... and The Tick quote "Do you have pants?" ...
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Burst Angel Intro Notes

02/02/2010

Fancy Gonzo action, big guns, bigger mecha, setting half way between Cyberpunk and Mad Max, unusually unpleasant characters, and very little originality as of the first couple episodes. ...
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What's New At The Site

Also available as an RSS Feed.

Nov. 1, 2009

Two double reviews: Lengthy discussions of the spectacular Code Geass and its mostly-disappointing sequel R2, plus the disturbing Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan and its not-so-disappointing sequel. Also another review from reader Chainclaw, of Steamboy.

Jun. 9, 2009

New reader review from deep in the backlog of Ninja Scroll: The Series by longtime contributor Chainclaw, the first of several.

Jun. 1, 2009

New official reviews of the fun Allison and Lillia, season 1 and season 2, and the hilarious Kyouran Kazoku Nikki.

Apr. 4, 2009

New official review of Dennou Coil.

Mar. 29, 2009

New official review of Popotan and a reader review of Batman: Gotham Knight by longtime contributor Wolfwood.

Mar. 21, 2009

New official review of Shadow Star Narutaru and a reader review of Eureka Seven by Jared Prewitt. More of both to follow.

Feb. 22, 2009

Though it's been up for a few days already, we're going to give the blog thing a shot, with commentary on what we're currently watching. This isn't in place of any reviews; rather, it's making my internal notes public in the hopes some might find them interesting, plus a few side bits of commentary that didn't fit anywhere else on the site. We're also going to try and add bits of Akemi's commentary on interesting goings on in Japan, if her schedule permits. Also, since the blog is more about process than product, it makes more sense to post details with what's going on at the site there rather than here; the news feed will, thus, return to what it was in the old days, more of a brief list of changes. The blog is linked from the home page or available at blog.animeworld.com; feel free to comment if you love or hate the idea--it's a work in progress.

And on that note, two new reviews today, both of rather goofy comedies: The crazy, funny Akahori Gedou Hour Rabuge and the weak Itsudatte My Santa. Also fixed the review search, which was somewhat broken.

Jan. 1, 2009

Welcome to 2009: today we celebrate AAW's tenth birthday. '08 was a rather quiet year here, and we did hope to have something a little more exciting ready for an anniversary announcement, but it's not ready yet, so oh well. Instead, just a thank you to all of the 10 million people who've visited AAW over the past decade, and a wish of a good 2009 to all.

Aug 16, 2008

New reviews! First another unexpectedly good Geneon comedy, Dokkoida?!. Second the obscure action-western Early Reins.

And third, our first two reviews to include Blu-ray info: Yukikaze and SOS Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next. We figured that, since the silly next-gen format wars finally ended it was time to get on the boat, in particular reviews of the ridiculously expensive not-quite-imports from Bandai's Honneamise label, like these two, to help you decide if it's really worth quadruple the price of the DVD for a high def version.

More stuff and reader reviews to follow in the near future.

June 5, 2008

New review today of one of the funniest things the editorial "we" have seen recently, Daphne in the Brilliant Blue. The review actually isn't quite done, but it turns out RightStuf is running a clearance sale on a bunch of Geneon DVDs, among which is Daphne for a paltry $5 a disc, so we wanted to spread the word while the gettin's cheap.

Also at work on plenty of other stuff, but we'll wait until it's more finished to talk it up.

Archive of old "what's new" things.

Industry News

News Provided by Anime News Network

Anime Boston Hosts Final Fantasy Composer Nobuo Uematsu (Updated)

2010-02-08 at 15:10:19
Also scored Chrono Trigger, Blue Dragon, Advent Children, Ah! My Goddess film Full Article at ANN

Japan's Animation TV Ranking, January 25-31

2010-02-08 at 14:51:28
20th anniversary Maruko-chan, Dragon Ball Kai, last Fresh Precure, Stitch, Kaidan Restaurant Full Article at ANN

Japan Foundation Teaches Japanese via Anime, Manga

2010-02-08 at 14:07:47
Foundation's Japanese-Language Institute, Kansai launches anime-manga.jp site Full Article at ANN

Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaō TV Anime's Promo Streamed

2010-02-08 at 09:57:37
Anime of Shōtarō Mizuki's's magical fantasy novels to debut in April Full Article at ANN

Votoms Case;Irvine, Finder, Koei Futatabi Anime Revealed (Updated)

2010-02-08 at 08:41:07
Sunrise projects with Kunio Okawara, My-Hime designer Hirokazu Hisayuki Full Article at ANN

Coraline's Uesugi Wins Annie, But Not Miyazaki, Hisaishi

2010-02-07 at 18:13:17
Illustrator Tadahiro Uesugi earns animation award for production design Full Article at ANN

Canada's YTV Removes Naruto, Bleach From Schedule

2010-02-07 at 17:31:52
Pokemon, Pretty Cure, Dinosaur King still running on Saturdays Full Article at ANN

Japan Makes English Evangelion Tourism Map, Poster

2010-02-07 at 14:43:21
Hakone Instrumentality Map already in Japanese; Akiba English guide also made Full Article at ANN

Chiaki Kuriyama's Gundam UC Song Gets Overseas Release

2010-02-07 at 06:04:19
Japan/Korea on 2/24, U.S./Canada on 3/2, Hong Kong/Taiwan on 3/5 Full Article at ANN

Japanese Box Office, January 30-31

2010-02-06 at 23:57:00
Nodame Cantabile at #10, Yu-Gi-Oh! falls from charts Full Article at ANN