demographic: shōnen
2021
'How Do You Live?': Letters To A Young Wonderer November 29, 2021
Not some genteel life-lessons story, but the quiet plea of a man resisting the growing militarism and reactionary violence of his world
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'Weathering With You': Who'll Stop The Rain? January 01, 2021
The latest of Makoto Shinkai's gorgeous films that inevitably end up being about so much less than the sum of their parts
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2019
'Penguin Highway': Whiz Kid Vs. Cosmic Weirdness December 20, 2019
The author of the surreally absurd 'The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl' and 'The Tatami Galaxy' now turns to a story aimed at younger readers, but with the reality-warping and surrealism of his other work
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'Promare': The Burning World September 15, 2019
Studio Trigger's first theatrical film is so dazzling it threatens to melt the eyes right out of the head, but suffers from feeling like a TV series truncated into a two-hour slot
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2018
'Fullmetal Alchemist' (2017): Ed And Al, In Miniature February 23, 2018
Further proof that some anime-to-live-action adaptations need to either be done at the right scale or not done at all
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2017
'Death Note' (2017): D.O.A. August 28, 2017
This isn't 'Death Note'; it's barely Cliffs Notes
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'Attack On Titan: The Movie': A Dead-Action Film February 06, 2017
Misguided, tone-deaf, ugly, and erratically paced, this is one of the rare occasions where a promised Western remake might actually be just the response we deserve
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2016
'Astro-Boy': The Kid With The 100,000 Horsepower Heart January 25, 2016
Osamu Tezuka's beloved creation was more than just kid's stuff; it was machine-age mythology for young and old alike
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2015
'The Seven Deadly Sins': A Venture Into Familiar But Entertaining Territory December 07, 2015
Netflix's next venture into anime territory is satisfyingly entertaining and sports a gamboling cast, but don't look for any envelope-pushing here
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'Noragami': God For Hire. Cheap. July 22, 2015
Having gods tussle with each other in the middle of the modern world isn't a new idea, but 'Noragami' finds ways to be enjoyable rather than shopworn
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2014
'Claymore': The Beautiful And The Damned October 10, 2014
Rare these days is the series with an all-female cast where character, story, and drama are the goals, not titillation or eye candy
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'Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit': Have Spear, Will Travel September 12, 2014
Unfairly overlooked by audiences, this engrossing and intelligent adventure fantasy deserves cherishing -- doubly so now thanks to its welcome re-release
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'Cøde:Breaker': Someone Else's Idea Of Fun June 30, 2014
A show this dismal is best seen as a symptom of anime's growing insularity
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'Eureka Seven': The Way Young Lovers Do June 02, 2014
Nominally a giant-mecha fantasy, 'Eureka Seven' also explores the awkward pain of young love -- and the even greater pain of trading childhood for adulthood
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'Ranma 1/2': Love Runs Hot And Cold April 02, 2014
After twenty-five years, this seminal anime comedy is still both funny and a reminder of how shows like this are harder to make than it might seem
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