Usotoki Rhetoric by Ritsu Miyako is a manga series I fell in love with four years ago when I picked it up in 2020 due to being a big fan of both detective stories, romance and perhaps more importantly Hana to Yume series (this ran in sister magazine Bessatsu Hana to Yume).
The more I read Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? the more I truly come to appreciate the series despite the somewhat awful choice of title. Author Fujino Omori comments that the third volume of the series finishes off what he regards as the first part of the series’ story, and with that in mind I think it probably is the most fitting end you’re going to get for this section of our tale. Continue reading
Your Lie in April tells the story of Kosei Arima. A child prodigy in piano who steps away from the limelight after the death of his mother effects him so badly he can no longer hear the notes he plays. Fastforward a few years and Kosei is introduced to Kaori Miyazono, a free-spirited violinist who slowly encourages Kosei to take up piano once more. It’s a simple story on the surface but with a brilliant amount of depth under it all.
Fullmetal Alchemist the original series is an interesting series to say the least. Unlike the later Fullmetal Alchemist anime series, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, this series didn’t walk down the path of telling us the same story as the Fullmetal Alchemist manga series did. This series started out telling the basics of the story and then span off on its own to tell its own tale of Edward and Alphonse Elric’s adventures which is the best move it could ever have made. Many say this is one of the best anime series in recent years and with that I can agree. It is certainly a very moving and exciting adventure but the tale can also be very heart-breaking at time.
P.A Works are undoubtedly one of my favourite anime studios. They aren’t my most favourite studio by any means, but they are up there alongside Studio BONES and the like. So, when I heard they were coming into the Summer season with an original series I was quietly hopeful for a strong show. What we got was anything but…
Terror in Resonance has been an interesting work. Being directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, famed for Kids on the Slope and Cowboy Bebop, the series was hyped from the very second it was revealed. The first episode kicked off with a bang and I fell in love with it right from the off, as you can see in my review of the first couple of episodes where I went as far as to call it Shinichiro’s next big hit. After finishing the series my opinion hasn’t changed and the only thing that has is the passion and love I hold for the show, and here’s why.
Back in August the English Weekly Shonen Jump published a one-shot (Astronerd) by Blue Exorcist creator, Kazue Kato. In the same issue the magazine announced that Viz Meda would be releasing Time Killers: A Short Story Collection by Kazue Kato. A month later I’ve picked up the book for review!
Back in 2012 a new hit was aired during the Spring season and while I didn’t watch the show as it aired, I went back to it and fell in love with it very quickly. The series in question is Kids on the Slope, a simple story directed by Shinichiro Watanabe and based on a hit manga series. I’ve just rewatched the show for the first time with a close friend of mine and after seeing it again I figured I’d give this hit a review!
Kids on the Slope tells the story of Kaoru Nishimi, who transfers into a new high school during the summer of his first year. While there he encounters the school’s wildest student, Sentaro Kawabuchi. Due to a twist of fate the two quickly become friends and bond through playing music together, but with Kaoru having moved around a lot due to his dad’s job just how close is he prepared to let Sentaro?
UQ Holder! is a relatively new series from Ken Akamatsu. The series is set within the same universe and 70 years after as his previous work, Negima! Magister Negi Magi, but readers can jump into UQ Holder! right away with no trouble if they haven’t read the work that comes before. With that said we’ve jumped into the first volume of the manga to take a look at what it has to offer.
In the past few year’s we’ve had a bit of a boom in titles that are set around gamers being transported to a video game world or trapped within a video game (See Sword Art Online as the best recent example), but No Game, No Life takes this to a different level in an attempt to stand out from the crowd.
The story sets out by introducing us to brother and sister Sora and Shiro, who make up an ultimate team known as ‘Blank’. The two can complete any video game that crosses their path with amazing scores and are known as the best gamer in Japan, if not the world. One day a chess challenge is posed to them via email and upon completion the two are transported to a brand new world known as Disboard. In this world everything is decided by games, something which the two take great joy in partaking in.
