Anime RE-Claimed: Oshi No Ko

What's the deal with isekais lately? There was a time when Truck-Kun was busy running down salary men and transforming them into overpowered badasses, but that has slowed down considerably. Now we come to "Oshi No Ko", an anime that is pretty unique in its existence and exactly what I wanted (more or less) out of the isekai genre...if you can call this isekai. I can't really talk about the series without going into the major plot of the story, but this is all in the first episode, which is an hour long (yes, it takes that long to set up the plot). Despite the colorful art style and the beautiful character design of "Oshi No Ko" and the seemingly wholesome plot, this is actually a dark tale of revenge and murder. Confused, I hope so. Welcome to "Oshi No Ko".

Anime RE-Claimed: Go Go Loser Rangers

I'm a huge fan of "Power Rangers", I'm pretty sure I said that on this blog here and there but it bears repeating. Surprisingly there are very few Sentai-related animes, sure you've got "Sailor Moon" and "Gatchaman" and to an extent "Voltron" but none of them capture that Sentai vibe. Most recently I watched "Love After World Domination" and I enjoyed that fully but even then the sentai aspect took a back seat to the romance plot. "Ranger Rejects" or "Go Go Loser Rangers" is a subversive take on the Sentai genre that I'm surprised took this long to make. I'll dive in after the break;

Anime RE-Claimed:The Eminence In Shadow

When is an isekai not an isekai, or rather when is an isekai supposed to be an isekai? That's the questions I ask because when I think isekai I think of "a fish outta water" story where a character from one time or place has to adapt to another time or place BUT "The Eminence In Shadow" is more or less a parody of this and beyond. Minuro Kagenou was an unassuming young man in high school, just like anybody else, so normal was he that he was barely recognizable, HOWEVER, underneath Minuro's unassuming nature was a strength beyond comprehension as Minuro was actually something of a vigilante and not only that but freakishly strong, had a vast array of talents and abilities and was an expert in combat so apt that he was even able to go toe-to-toe with a former solider without suffering any damage. One fateful night while attempting to learn magic Minuro was struck by a vehicle (isn't it always) and was reborn in another world as Cid Kagenou. Now in a world filled with magic Cid continues his quest to become the Eminence In Shadow...but what does that even mean?

Anime RE-Claimed: Spy X Family

So here's a fun fact about me, I love me some James Bond, I love spies and spy stuff, I love James Bond so much that I even made my own James Bond-type character complete with a series of adventures that sound like unused Bond titles. This isn't to say that "Spy X Family" or "Spy Family" (because the "X" is silent) is anything like James Bond, it's not, not at all, BUT that is the groundwork for the series. When two different genres meets, the exciting spy thriller with...slice of life hilarity ensues. The American market does this often when some high-ranking military bad-ass is suddenly saddled with a bunch of kids ("Suburban Commando", "The Pacifier", "Cop and a Half", "The Spy Nextdoor") the list goes on, usually American tends to ramp up the comedy and while this isn't much different, anime has a way of making things more organic. What "Spy X Family" offers us is an unlikely trio of misfits who by hook and crook are somehow making a lie as thin as a sewing needle work as the foundation of a family, let's dive in.

Anime RE-Claimed: Classroom Of The Elite

I love schemers. And by schemers, I mean the characters who are always 3 steps ahead of the other characters. It's a trend I have; Michael Scofield in "Prison Break", Frank Underwood in "House Of Cards", Light Yagami, L and Near in "Death Note", Moriarty in "Sherlock", Hannibal in...well..."Hannibal", and the list goes on. Even in my own works, there always seems to be one character who's holding all the cards. "Classroom Of The Elite" is no different. I gotta be honest, I'm not sure what I was expecting when I picked up the manga, "Classroom Of The Elite" was one of those manga that were getting pretty decent buzz, the characters were pretty dang cute, and I'm a massive sucker for pretty faces. I wasn't sure what the manga was about, but wanting to check something out I decided to give it a shot, and I'm pretty dang happy I did. Let's dive in;

Anime RE-Claimed: Love After World Domination

It should be no mystery to anyone that I love "Power Rangers" and while I never watched any Super Sentai (despite watching a few episodes of "Chojin Sentai Jetman"), because it is the progenitor of "Power Rangers", I have a healthy enjoyment of that as well so it should be no small mystery as to why "Love After World Domination" caught my eye, a slice-of-life, comedy, romance anime with a super sentai twist...exactly where do I sign up? "Love After World Domination" tells the story of Gelato 5, a gelato-themed sentai team fighting against their enemies The Secret Society Gekko HOWEVER, Red Gelato, Fudo falls madly in love with Secret Society Gekko enforcer Reaper Princess for a forbidden romance. Sounds cheesy but I'll explain more after the break;

Anime RE-Claimed: Assassination Classroom

There are few animes which have come out recently where the premise raises an eyebrow, many of the isekais where the protagonist is reincarnated as some random something or other ("Reincarnated as a Vending Machine" comes to mind) But "Assassination Classroom" road the line between weird and standard anime fair quite easily all the while being a completely weird series. Long story short, a yellow octopus monsters destroys the moon and declares that in 1 year he will destroy Earth but not before providing an education to the failing class of middle school students. What follows is an emotional rollercoaster of lies, treachery, secrets and of course, assassination.

Anime RE-Claimed: My Dress-Up Darling

Okay let's get the obvious outta the way, I'm a sucker for a good love story. I'll admit it Writing romance has never been my forte so when I see a good love story I'm all in. That isn't to say I'm into romance at all, I'm not but I do like seeing two characters who are great for each other get together, and that's more or less of what we're getting here but like any Slice of Life anime there is so much more than meets the eye and we gotta talk about it. Like any anime I decide to watch I'm always lured in by a pretty face and they get no prettiter than gyaru Marin (pro. Mar-reen) Kitagawa, so after seeing that character and the premise for this series I quickly added it to the list. "My Dress-Up Darling" is about Wakana Gojo, a young man with a passion for making Hina dolls coming into contact with cosplay and mega weeb Marin Kitagawa and both their worlds are rocked for the better. I'll explain more after the break;

Anime RE-Claimed: I Wanna Be The Strongest In The World

Ya know, the great thing about anime is that you can find an anime about almost anything; that's why when I was with my wife at quite possibly the only F.Y.E in existence and spotted an anime that featured hot anime chicks about professional wrestling I was (as the kids say) SOLD. "Wanna Be The Strongest In The World" is a 12 episode anime about pop idol Sakura Hagiwara who decides to become a professional wrestler after being insulted. I'll knock a few things outta the way, is there fan service in this anime, ummm, yeah...I mean look at the cover for crying out loud, but this anime does have a very good plot, some nice action, and a neat story. I would recommend this anime if you're looking for an anime about fighting, all in all it was a good experience and I had fun watching it. Now on to some spoilers.

Anime RE-Claimed: Durarara!

I'm a sucker for down to earth yet weird animes: "Tenchi Muyo" & "Burn Up W" comes to mind but "Durarara" is special. Although to be completely honest I haven't watched much of it (mostly due to life issues and free time being incredibly scarce) what I have seen of it I greatly enjoy. So let's talk "Durarara" and see what's what.

Anime RE-Claimed: A Sister's All You Need

I've watched a lot of anime, "Ninja Scrolls", "Bastard", "Vampire Hunter D", "Serial Experiments Lain" and so on and THIS, this is easily one of those "What am I watching?" animes. Let me back up and start at the beginning. This little gem came to me via Instagram when someone posted the opening scene of the 1st episode and that scene is more than likely infamous now and a good indicator as to what you're about to experience watching this show. That being said, this show hits a number of notes for me and while I won't be binge watching it as much "My Hero Academia" (easily best anime of last year), it's still one of those down to earth animes that still manage to be bat-sh*t crazy. Let's dive in and I'll give you the rundown.

Anime RE-Claimed: My Hero Academia

Superheroes have kind of exploded on the scene as of late? What with Marvel's Cinematic Universe and DC death crawling it's way to catch up, not to mention TV shows featuring characters with super powers are all the rage, FOX has "The Gifted" and Hulu is coming out with "The Runaways", and with the canceled Sony Network (of all things) a show quite literally named "Powers", superheroes are a dime a dozen. Anime hasn't really been big into the whole superhero genre. Don't get me wrong there are certainly TONS of characters who have super powers and what not but a secret identity and the whole 9 yards? Naw, not even "One Punch Man" falls into the convention of standard Super Hero Genre tropes. Which brings me to "My Hero Academia". So what's up with this series, let's dive in and we'll see!

Anime RE-Claimed: Dragonball Super

Ya know, if years ago you'd have told me there was going to be another "Dragonball" series I'd have rolled my eyes and said "What?! Really?!" but in this day and age of things coming back ("24", "Prison Break", "Heroes: Reborn", "Fuller House" and I'm pretty sure I'm missing something) "Dragonball" was the LAST thing I'd expect to make a come back. But Akira Toriyama wasn't done and in 2016 came out with "Battle Of The Gods" and introduced us to Beerus and Whis, 2 divine powers that pushed Goku to a new level Super Saiyajin God. After the movie was a success, it was announced that Dragonball would get a NEW series a legit sequel (unlike "Dragonball GT") named "Dragonball Super" and now here we are and here's what I think!

Anime RE-Claimed: Prison School

As my Anime RE-Claimed series continued I tried to figure out what would be the next anime I'd sink my teeth into. I enjoyed "High School Of The Dead", LOVED "One Punch Man", the less said about "The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya" the better, but unfortunately I don't go searching for anime. That is to say, I don't go out of my way to try and find anime. Usually what gets my eye is a really good cosplay, maybe a panel or two posted somewhere and a character who looks interesting and then I'm interested. "Prison School" got me for a number of reasons: for starters, I'm currently working on a screenplay with a similar premise but completely different genre and I saw some really good cosplays for it. And considering where I work (which pretty much is a prison) I figured this could be interesting, everything you need to know is in the title "Prison School". So here's what's up with "Prison School".

Anime RE-Claimed: The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya

Man...I'm disappointed. For starters, I kinda have a thing for Haruhi Suzumiya, she's graced by banner for awhile and she's just easy on the eyes but MAN is she an annoying character. In reality, the only selling point of this series is Kyon and even then it's not enough. Let's dive into "The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya".

Anime RE-Claimed: One Punch Man

So this is one of those animes that I've heard about here and there. While it looked interesting I was SUPER concerned that it's extremely simple premise was going to be convoluted in "animeness". If you haven't read my previous post, this is the definition of "Animeness" What is "animeness"? Animeness as I define it, is taking a simple and interesting concept and needlessly convoluting it to the point where the concept isn't interesting anymore. So what is "One Punch Man" about? "One Punch Man" follows the story of Saitama, a chrome domed guy who's a superhero as a hobby. Saitama has the ability to defeat enemies in (eponymously) one punch and it's awesome.

Anime RE-Claimed: High School Of The Dead

So as written hither-to in my previous post about my disappointment in modern anime I said I'd eventually check out some animes I've had my eyes on and it looks like that day has come. Yesterday I checked out "Highschool Of The Dead". "High School Of The Dead" is one of those anime series that constantly referenced for copious amount of fan service;

Case in point

Anyway, on my quest to inspect anime I've diced to give this series a shot and while I've only seen the first episode, I'm gonna drop a review and my thoughts. So here we go!