[Highlights] Kino’s Journey Ep. 9 (Land of Books)

Bringing back this episode review series just in time for National Library Week (thanks to e-quips for the reminder), how apropos! This is one of the hardest episode reviews I've had to write--there's so much going on here. In fact, I sat on it for well over a month, and kind of forgot about it…

Horimiya with IriMoya – episode 9 — I drink and watch anime

On kinky violence, making friends with past foes, and conversations in tight spaces. I gotta say, Miya’s reputation is taking quite the hit. He better make it work with Hori because I doubt anyone else is going to want to be with him if this keeps up. If he doesn’t end up in jail that…

[Highlights] Kino’s Journey Ep. 8 (Land of Wizards)

An episode that takes a simple idea and explores it in a refreshing way. Probably not among the strongest of Kino's episodes, but there's a bit going for this one too. Old wizard's warehouse There's nothing too distinct about the Land of Wizards as a whole, other than that one or two "wizards" with mysterious…

[Highlights] Kino’s Journey Ep. 5 (Three Men Along the Rails)

Starting to notice that one of the main differences between Kino's Journey and Mushishi is that whereas Mushishi observes the nature of life (both human and mushi ones), Kino's tends to have something to say about it. The strong themes and at-times-heavy dialogues in Kino's makes it kind of like watching oddly familiar fables told…

[Highlights] Kino’s Journey Ep. 4 (Land of Adults)

Backstory time! This episode feels more poignant and aesthetically intense than the last few, in a way that I rather loved. Took me a while to figure out that Kino was singing a lyric version of Pachelbel's Canon in D at the start of the episode. I've never heard Canon in D with lyrics before,…

[Highlights] Kino’s Journey Ep. 2 (The Tale of Feeding off Others)

September's not even over and it feels like winter already (T_T). Perfect for this episode of Kino, I guess. Check out the Episode 1 highlights here if you missed it. Kino ready to survive winter, a pandemic, or a round of Among Us Big change in season and scenery from last episode. It makes me…

[Highlights] Kino’s Journey Ep. 1 (Land of Visible Pain)

The end of a trip is the start of another! If you still remember, I promised to episodically review an anime series in celebration of 500 followers, and the anime that was chosen was Kino's Journey: The Beautiful World (2003), suggested by  Fred @ This is my place. Now that I am back from my…

Anime x Lit Crit: Toradora! Episode List

Following our wrap-up of the project with Toradora!'s last episode, here's a master list of all the episodic reviews that NegativePrimes and I did for Toradora!. To briefly recap what this project was about, it's a conversation-style collaboration that focuses on analyzing characters and themes in the anime Toradora!, from a vaguely literature-informed perspective. Compiling them has…

Anime x Lit Crit: Toradora! 25 (Finale)

We did it! After 2 years 2 months and roughly 2 weeks, NegativePrimes and I FINISHED REVIEWING TORADORA! Sorry for the all caps, I couldn't restrain myself. 🥂 Primes: You bring the caps, I'll bring the emojis. For those who didn't start following the project from the beginning (which is probably all of you reading…

Anime x Lit Crit: Toradora! 24

Penultimate episode analysis, here we go! I said last episode was intense. Well, I was wrong. Intensity is relative... Primes: So true! This is one of my favorite Toradora episodes! In our last discussion, Primes asked if I thought "[the main characters will] finally see the ghosts and UFOs they believe in." I suggested that…