The Otaku Exhibition

Tag: review

  • Blue Box Review: Shonen Jump’s Sports Romcom Scores

    Art and Story by Koji Miura All chapters available on the Shonen Jump app I’ve been doing my best to catch more manga in the early stages so it feels like I’m actually reviewing a new series, not just what’s out there and popular. Unfortunately, that’s pretty hard if you’re not fluent in Japanese; by…

  • Kaiju No. 8 Review: Oh, No, There Goes Tokyo

    Art and Story by Naoya Matsumoto All chapters available on the Shonen Jump app For nearly 70 years, kaiju have been one of Japan’s most significant cultural exports. The precise cultural importance of creations like Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidora has been lost in translation, but the world at large has no qualms about enjoying…

  • So, Was I Right? Summer 2021 Edition

    I have often gone on the record to say that my reviews are fallible. I recommend or bash a show based on its first two or three episodes, and it is often impossible to predict where many anime can wind up. A brilliant gem in its first few episodes can fumble. Something unremarkable can develop…

  • Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Look Back is Life-Changing

    Chainsaw Man is the first manga I reviewed (and also the only one), accidentally coinciding with the series’ unexpected end last December. In it, I discussed how its characters are simply-written and likable, its art is grisly and majestic, and it’s the first story in a long time where I truly believed that anyone could…

  • Re-Main Review: Does MAPPA Sink or Swim?

    Studio: MAPPA Director: Masafumi Nishida Streaming on: Funimation For better or worse, MAPPA has become one of the most dominant studios in the anime studio, and a household name in the anime community. After producing popular and well-regarded anime for much of the 2010s, they experienced an explosion in popularity thanks to their high-profile adaptations…

  • Skyward Sword HD Review: The Best-Worst Zelda Takes Flight Again

    It isn’t exactly a hot take to say you don’t like Skyward Sword. It is the single-most maligned game in a beloved franchise. It suffers from a series of easily avoidable defects. It seems to trip over obstacles that the developers purposefully placed in their path. However, it’s not so simple as saying that I…

  • Remake Our Life! Review: Where Have I Seen This Before?

    Studio: Feel Director: Tomoki Koboyashi Streaming on: Crunchyroll One of the weird and strangely enjoyable things about anime is that there are distinct types of genres that are so weird and specific that they’d never be a genre anywhere else. This can often contribute to a premise feeling tired; since these genres are so specific,…

  • The Case Study of Vanitas Review: Behind Blue Eyes

    Studio: Bones Director: Tomoyuki Itamura Streaming on: Funimation Longtime readers will know of my great weakness for the bishonen subgenre, the pretty boys. SK8 The Infinity, Banana Fish, Free, pretty much all projects pertaining to and adjacent with Horoko Utsumi. I make no secret of it, and have in fact come to you today with…

  • How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom Review: A Paperwork Anime? I’m In!

    Studio: J.C. Staff Director: Takashi Watanabe Streaming on: Funimation We have gotten a lot of isekai over the last decade. And I mean a lot. Considering the genre as we know it was popularized and its conventions set in stone by the smash success of Sword Art Online in 2012, we have gotten heaps of…

  • Girlfriend, Girlfriend Review: That’s Just Polygamy with Extra Steps

    Studio: Tezuka Productions Director: Satoshi Kuwabara Streaming on: Crunchyroll If you’ve seen my essay where I praised Rent-a-Girlfriend for being an ecchi harem comedy with excellent writing, you may think I’d be enjoying this season’s Girlfriend, Girlfriend. You’d be incorrect there, as I put emphasis on the part about good writing. In the competition of…