meta: High School
2020
'Birdy The Mighty: Decode': Gimme Back My Skin! December 29, 2020
A raucous fusion of two genres (SF and comedy), and just like its two main characters, it's a symbiosis, not a collision
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2018
'A Silent Voice': Children Of Lesser Gods June 27, 2018
A gorgeous adaptation of the acclaimed manga, and a story with a hard moral question: Who gets to be redeemed?
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2017
'Ocean Waves': There's Something About Muto May 01, 2017
A trifle of a film, but it doesn't overstate its importance or overstay its welcome, and it shows how Studio Ghibli gave as much care to stories like this as they did for any of Miyazaki's fantasias
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2015
'Ping Pong The Animation': Tennis, Anyone? July 06, 2015
Calling this a 'sports story' falls so far short of describing how its seething visuals tell a story that'll hit home with most anyone, ping-pong players or not
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'Tokyo Ravens': Of Magic And The Mundane March 23, 2015
Shouldn't a show that entertains the idea that Japan's mystical past is an integral part of its present-day world not be so ... well, mundane?
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Short Takes: 'Witchcraft Works Vol. 2' January 15, 2015
Second verse of this fantasy-comedy, a bit less interesting than the first, as coincidence and contrivance take precedence over invention and storytelling
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2014
Short Takes: 'Witchcraft Works Vol. 1' December 03, 2014
Magical hijinks in high school are the jumping-off point for this enjoyable story with no small amount of potential, but also unnecessarily confusing visuals
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'Toradora!': No Paper Tiger August 22, 2014
Under the clichéd surface of this lively romantic farce run undercurrents of something smarter and deeper
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'Robotics;Notes': Hey, Gang! Let's Put Together A Giant Mecha! April 23, 2014
Next to its cousin 'Steins;Gate' this sunny robo-fantasy bulks small, but it still supplies an entertaining ride
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