OST Spotlight: “the beginning of the end” of Fate/Zero

While I liked and could recognize one or two tracks from Fate/Zero, that was about the extent of my engagement with it until I came across this interview with composer Yuki Kajiura. There were a few interesting points in it, the first being that the anime's main theme revolved around one frame-matched track: "the beginning…

[Highlights] Kino’s Journey Ep. 13 (A Kind Land)

I could have sworn I published this post a month ago, what the heck... After approximately two years, we're finally at the finish line! I did not know that the original anime was an incomplete adaptation of the novels, but I am pretty satisfied with where the 2003 series leaves us off. One thing I…

[Highlights] Kino’s Journey Ep. 12 (A Peaceful Land)

Back again with another procrasti-post! This episode really isn't one of the series' strongest. It feels kind of wrong that it's the penultimate episode in the series, when the episode prior to it could probably lead into the finale more nicely. It's called the "Land of Peace," but wait, there are tanks and statues of…

Jon’s Creator Showcase: August Edition

Welcome to the August Edition of the JCS 2021! For those who are new, this showcase features content from various creators around the web, summarized up here for your convenience and enjoyment. Submissions were accepted primarily via Twitter, and include content created during the month of July. A confession about this month's showcase: I was…

Jon’s Creator Showcase: July Post Submissions Open

Hello, hello. (Recently came to the horrific realization that the Ex-Arm opening plays in my head whenever I say it, who can I blame for this!?) Been a while. I'm still busy as heck, but I'm glad to be hosting the beloved JCS this month. I totally didn't almost forget about it until today. Of…

The Struggle of (Not) Having Thoughts on Anime

Do you ever just forget that you have a blog? That's what happened to me...until I checked my blog email the other day and found a surprisingly recent request for my response on a certain question. It was such an interesting prompt that I decided to write a whole post on it. If you're reading…

[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…