'Wasteful Days of High School Girls' Is Delightfully Hysterical

Wasteful Days of High School Girls (also alternatively titled in the singular form Girl) is a slice-of-life comedy series that follows a freshman class of an all-girls high school.  Each one of them has their own distinctive quirky personality, and at the start of the school year, Nozomu Tanaka gives teasing nicknames to her classmates which are based on their respective quirks.  These end up sticking on them.

'Fruits Basket' Is Melodrama Done Right

It was 2001 when Fruits Basket first got an anime adaptation.  However, back then, the manga was still ongoing, so the series did its own thing in some parts, making it inconsistent with its source material.  In addition, the manga creator and the anime director were rumored to be constantly butting heads during its production; the former didn’t like many of the choices that the latter had been making, that in the end, she hated that adaptation.  Nevertheless, the 2001 Fruits Basket was considered a shojo classic by fans.

Fast forward to 2019, and Fruits Basket has gotten a remake.  With the manga now long finished, and the creator presumably giving it her blessing, this new adaptation is set to be the definitive anime version of Fruits Basket as it would be able to follow the intended vision.  With that in mind – as well as the fact that the spring season wasn’t particularly top-heavy of notable anime – I decided to finally see for myself what this supposed “shojo classic” was all about for the first time.

Cuteness Alone Couldn't Carry 'If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord'

If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord is a slice-of-life fantasy anime series centering on a young, highly skilled adventurer named Dale and the exiled devil girl that he adopted named Latina.  Dale found Latina – orphaned, hungry, cold, and dirty – while he was on a mission in the deep forest.  Not wanting to leave her to die, and seeing that she had nowhere to go, Dale decided to bring the tiny Latina with him back home and raise her as if she’s his own daughter.

'Astra Lost in Space' Is an Intrigue-Filled, Feel-Good Space Adventure

During the start of the summer season, I wasn’t immediately sold on with Astra Lost in Space.  A few episodes in, it was still among the new anime shows which I was contemplating of whether to continue or drop.  But it really got better and better down the line.  Eventually, it turned out being only next to the “Big 3” (i.e. Dr. Stone, Fire Force, and Vinland Saga) as my favorite new anime of the season.

Astra Lost in Space is set in the future, in which mankind has advanced far enough to achieve faster-than-light space travel, and it centers on eight students of Caird High School plus the younger sister of one of them – so, nine kids in all – who are left on their own in the planet McPa for a 5-day planetary camp.  Almost all of them are strangers to each other, but before they can really start knowing one another better, a mysterious ball of energy pops out of nowhere and starts sucking them in.  Apparently, it’s a mini-wormhole of sorts, and it sends them to space, floating above an unknown, barren planet. 

'Dark Phoenix' Is Undoubtedly the Worst 'X-Men' Movie Ever

When it was announced that Disney was acquiring Fox, it immediately made Dark Phoenix, which was in production then, meaningless.  It didn’t matter anymore since X-Men is going to be rebooted for the Marvel Cinematic Universe anyway.  Most fans (me included) were already looking forward to that, and just wanted to get it over with Dark Phoenix already.

Thus, from the get go, Dark Phoenix had this going against it.  With the status of being Fox’s last X-Men installment (as far as the series is concerned.  Spin-offs don’t count; New Mutants is still slated for next year) forced upon it, it couldn’t afford to be mediocre or even just good.  In order to be relevant and overcome that general sentiment of apathy that the Disney-Fox merger set for it, it needed to leave a mark – to be unforgettable.

And it indeed succeeded in being unforgettable – in distinguishing itself from all of the other movies in the franchise.  But for all the wrong reasons.  Dark Phoenix leaves a lasting mark by being the worst X-Men movie ever made.

The Comedy of 'How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?' Is at Its Strongest when It's Centered on Machio-san

How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? follows Hibiki Sakura, a second-year high school student with a voracious appetite who desires to slim down after it was pointed out to her that she’s gaining weight.  Although initially reluctant of doing so, she decides to join Silverman Gym – thus, begins her life-changing journey into the world of strength training.

'Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: The Battle of Unato' Is Amply Pleasing, but Doesn't Reach New Heights

Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: The Battle of Unato is an anime film that serves as continuation of the 2016 anime TV show.  It’s set six months after the events of that 12-episode series, and follows the Kabaneri (half-man, half-Kabane) Ikoma and Mumei, along with their friends in the armored train Kōtetsujō, as they stop by the town of Umato to aid with the efforts of ridding it of the Kabane (iron-hearted zombies) before they can proceed with their journey back to Aragene Station.

'Are You Lost?' Is Fairly Entertaining and Informative

One of the new anime I picked up at the beginning of the summer season was Are You Lost?.  It’s a short-form series about four high school girls of varying personalities – the reserved Homare Onishima; the merry, sporty Asuka Suzumori; the shy, brainy Mutsu Amatani; and the spoiled rich kid Shion Kujō – whose plane during a school trip crashed into the middle of the ocean.  Miraculously, not only do they survive, but they are also uninjured, and an island is in relatively close proximity of their crash location.  They head toward it, but they soon discover that it’s uninhabited and seemingly situated far from civilization and normal ship routes.  Fortunately, Homare was well-trained in survival by her dad when she was still a small kid.  Thus, for them to survive in that desert island, the girls must rely on Homare’s skills, knowhow, and leadership.

'Battle at Big Rock' Stirs Some Excitement for the Third 'Jurassic World' Movie

It has long been announced that Colin Trevorrow is back at the director’s chair for the third installment of the Jurassic World series (he directed the first one; J.A. Bayona did the second one).  But even though that movie is slated for a 2021 release, we won’t have to wait until then to see a new Colin Trevorrow-directed Jurassic World film – granted, it’s only an 8-minute-long short film.

The short is titled Battle at Big Rock, and is set a year after the events of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which ended with the dinosaurs getting released into the world.  It centers on a newly formed family of five that still hasn’t fully adjusted with each other yet.  In an attempt to bond, they take a campervan into Big Rock National Park.  One night, they become witness to a battle between a family of Nasutoceratops and an Allosaurus.  But when the Allosaurus shifts its focus toward them, they find themselves being the ones fighting for survival.

The Way Ash Ketchum Finally Won His First Pokémon League Championship Was Disappointing

There used to be an old saying that went, “Nothing is certain but death and taxes and Ash Ketchum never winning a Pokémon League.”  Well, that saying isn’t true anymore.  After 22 years – and after falling short six times before – Satoshi a.k.a. Ash has finally won his very first League championship in the most recent episode of Pokémon Sun and Moon!

Just like everyone who has been a Pokémon fan at some point of his life, I was delighted when this news dropped.  But after watching for myself the two-episode championship match of the Alola League, my elation disappeared.

Three years ago, after Ash’s maddening loss in the final round of the Kalos League, I thought the show’s writers missed the best opportunity of finally giving Ash the satisfying win that everyone was waiting for.  Concluding my reaction article for it, the exasperated me wrote this:

“I just hope that when the showrunners decide to finally let Ash win it all in the Pokemon League, it would be sufficiently gratifying to make up for all of this crap.”

Unfortunately, Ash’s Alola win didn’t quite make up for his Kalos loss – or the accumulated frustration through the years derived from his peripheral losing for that matter.  Let me explain.

'Log Horizon' Is the Premier MMORPG Isekai

Perhaps no other genre dominated anime in the past couple of years more than isekai.  For those who are uninitiated, isekai literally translates to English as “another world” or “different world,” and as its current incarnation goes, it involves a story where the main character – typically the otaku shut in-type – is transported to another world – typically an MMORPG-style fantasy realm.  Because of the massive popularity it has gained, a flood of new isekai series continuously debut every year, eventually saturating the market.  And as an effect, there may be an occasional gem now and then, but a majority of these series turn out being lazy, trope-heavy, and derivative (a hilarious detail about these isekai shows is how the cities their respective protagonists are based in look the same).  Yet, strangely, there’s still no widespread isekai fatigue.  It’s still as popular as ever – still growing strong.  Isekai shows constantly rank among the most-watched in every new season of anime.  Seriously, its charm is unparalleled.

I myself have grown to love isekai.  And like many anime fans, I’m somehow still not tired of watching most, if not all, of the new isekai that debut every season.  Heck, I even find fun with some of the mediocre and clichéd ones.  Not only that, but in my fondness for this genre, I’ve even started seeking out and watching years-old isekai series that I haven’t seen yet.

Log Horizon was one of these old, unwatched titles that were often mentioned in conversations and articles I encountered regarding “the best isekai series.”  Its first two (and, so far, only) seasons ran from 2014-2015 – during the early days of the isekai craze – and it became widely considered as one of the shows that defined and made the best use of the genre.  With such reputation, it was begging to be watched by an isekai fan like me.

'Men in Black: International' Is Enjoyable Enough; Still the Worst of the Series

I love Men in Black.  I love the original movie trilogy.  I love the animated series.  And I love the MIB as a fictional organization (or is it? Hmmmm. Lol).  And thus, the spin-off film Men in Black: International, regardless of how its quality would turn out, was something I had been meaning to watch.

'Young Justice: Outsiders' Marks the Pleasing Return of the Beloved TV Show

For me, the cancellation of Young Justice after two brilliant seasons was up there with the cancellations of Spectacular Spider-Man and Firefly as the dumbest, most infuriating, most unfair, most heartbreaking premature TV series cancellations of all time.  Thus, when the news dropped that it was being revived for a third season, I was delightfully shocked.  I really thought that such occurrence – as it is with reviving Spectacular Spider-Man or Firefly for TV – was impossible already.

It took nearly three years of restless anticipation until, at last, it finally dropped this year.  So, was the wait worth it?  Well, yes.  However, I do wish I could answer that rhetorical question with an emphatic, “Heck, yes!”  But I can’t, for even though Young Justice returns without missing a beat as one of my most favorite animated series of all time, I was honestly hoping for something more terrific than what it ended up being.

'Weathering with You' Is Delightful and Moving, but the Surprise Cameos Could Have Been Done Much Better

Weathering with You is the much-hyped, much-anticipated new movie from Makoto Shinkai, who became a household name after the pop culture success of Your Name a few years ago.  It follows a runaway teenager named Hodaka Horishima who comes to Tokyo during a remarkably rainy season.  While trying to strike it on his own, he meets an orphaned teenage girl named Hina Amano who seems to have the ability to pray away bad weather and bring in clear skies.  Upon the suggestion of Hodaka, they start a business in which she can offer her services to those who want good weather for special events.  As time passes, Hodaka falls in love with Hina.

In 'Sticks & Stones', Dave Chappelle Refuses to Yield to the PC Overlords

Sticks & Stones is Dave Chappelle’s latest Netflix comedy standup special.  It’s something that I had no interest of watching in the first place.  Even though Chappelle is supposedly a legendary standup comic, I haven’t been a fan.  But just like his previous Netflix specials Deep in the Heart of Texas and The Age of Spin, I became intrigued of watching Sticks & Stones because of one sole reason: it triggered the SJW snowflakes.

'The Boys' Is a Fresh, Cynical, Profound Take on the Superhero Genre

The Boys is a web TV series based on the comic book series of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson.  It’s set in a world where superheroes exist, but these superheroes – “Supes”, as they are loosely called – have essentially become corporate brands and just another class of toxic celebrities.  Thus, just like many real-life celebrities, Supes are all about maintaining an image of smiles, decency, and wholesomeness, but underneath their public personas, they are really corrupt, arrogant, hedonistic, self-serving a-holes.  And just like real-life celebrities, Supes have resources, connections, lobbyists, PR staffs, and fixers that work on upholding their positive, squeaky-clean public image and sweeping any scandals and liabilities arising from their debaucheries or recklessness under the rug.