Anime often does character studies and coming-of-age stories well. Hanasaku Iroha centers on Ohana Matsumae who is sent from Tokyo to live with a grandmother she had never met. Her grandmother runs a hot spring inn called Kissuiso. Her grandmother, at first, comes off as stern, uncaring, and harsh. She slaps the faces of the…
Category: Anime
Parallel World Pharmacy Review
Parallel World Pharmacy takes a different direction from the usual isekai. When medical researcher Kanji Yakutani dies from karoshi, he wakes up to find himself reborn in a medieval fantasy culture with all his medical knowledge intact. Fortunately, he was also reborn to a pharmacist family and, in isekai fashion, born to power. In his…
Your After Anime Sadness is Okay, but it Brings Personal Responsibility
My article 5 Ways to Handle After-Anime Depression surprised me with the amount of comments people have posted. Feeling sad or empty after finishing a story that resonates with you is a common experience for anime fans. Now, many people would roll their eyes at this idea. “It’s a cartoon! It’s not reality. Save your…
My Top 5 Nostalgic Anime
Nostalgia has a bad reputation online. It is looked down upon because it isn’t objective. I’m sure you’re familiar with the idea of nostalgia goggles: the idea that nostalgia keeps you from seeing how bad something is. Nostalgia’s warm fondness doesn’t have to keep you from knowing if something is objectively bad. What matters is…
Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Review
Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun surprised me. As long-time readers know, it’s a rare comedy to make me chuckle. Kaguya-sama: Love is War is one of the most recent surprises. Monthly dates back to 2013, but appeared on my Netflix feed, so I gave it a watch. More fodder for JP, after all. I expected the usual…
Using Anime to Heal
To say the past two years of 2020-2022 has been difficult for many people doesn’t do justice. Many people have lost loved ones, suffered mental difficulties, lost income, and suffered through many other trials. Sometimes, you just need to take time to heal. If you are a long-time reader, you know I’m an advocate for…