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Straight-up the best modern shonen going on right now. Chainsaw Man is a game-changing series that's completely unlike anything else I've read. Fujimoto manages to bounce with a blistering pace between moments of confounding absurdity, dark humor, blood-splattering action, and captivating character-building. The narrative moves so quickly that it can be difficult to keep up, but I honestly love hot it constantly moves forward with crazy new developments. Even just by the end of Part 1, I already feel an immense connection to the world and characters that is well beyond the norm for shonen. It takes a lot for me to really love a ... series, but Chainsaw Man earns it by being so incredibly genuine and distinct.

After re-watching the anime in preparation for season 2, I have concluded that Jujutsu Kaisen is a shonen with great action and shallow storytelling. In terms of sheer spectacle, Mappa delivers bombastic action scenes with spectacular directing and fluidity. Perhaps more than any other series in the past few years, Jujutsu Kaisen demonstrates the incredible value that shonen can get from adapting their manga in seasons. Quality is extremely consistent across all 24 episodes, rather than just being focused on the huge set-piece fights.

The story of Jujutsu Kaisen's first season is fairly mediocre. Yuji is a generic protagonist who lacks a strong goal to push ... him through the narrative. In the arcs so far, the story has sort of just happened around him while he cracks jokes and relies on stronger characters to save him. His bonds with his team members are hardly fleshed out, making it difficult to really buy any sincere connection between them beyond being told they're friends. As a whole, the series has a problem of rushing past those smaller moments of character development and worldbuilding. The author wants his characters to have strong relationships and exist in a living world, but he rarely takes any downtime to really ground viewers in the setting and develop the main cast with downtime. To both the series' benefit and detriment, Jujutsu Kaisen tends to rush between story beats in order to maximize the number of climactic fights.

I find enjoyment in Jujutsu Kaisen from engaging with it on a superficial level. The series is carried hard by the sheer time and effort poured into its presentation, and this makes it fairly easy to overlook how uninteresting its actual plot has been so far. There's nothing wrong with appreciating some dumb fun; that's my perception of the series as of now.

What the dog doin? More like who the dog doin.









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Okay, nice review everybody. Now let's pad this puppy up.

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I'm not quite sure what I was expecting going into Fire Punch; more Chainsaw Man goodness from our boy Fujimoto? Any abstract expectations I may have had going in were utterly shattered over the course the manga's runtime. Fire Punch expertly rides the line between being a haphazardly constructed mess of a story and a brilliant, subversive work that meditates on grounded themes such as violence, escapism, and depression. Fujimoto lures you in with strange characters and juvenile humor, only to sucker punch you with unexpectedly heartbreaking moments. The manga elicits an immense tonal whiplash that manages to in equal part break your neck and ... your mind. This is a story that most people are either going to love or hate, but either way is stands out as a remarkably bold shonen that disregards nearly every traditional notion of good storytelling. Reading the last chapter of Fire Punch left me baffled in a way few pieces of media can, and that's an experience that will stick with me for years to come.

(Also if you haven't read Chainsaw Man go do that you coward)

Despite often being one of Ghibli's less discussed releases, Only Yesterday surprised me with its beautiful insight into how seemingly unimportant childhood experiences can linger well into the age of adulthood. Taeko Okajima is a woman who, much like Spike Spiegel, has her vision split between the past and present. Bright, pastel memories often intrude upon the dark, rich colors surrounding her, constantly drawing parallels between the small moments that have shaped her and the unremarkable city life she now occupies. Much like Taeko, I often look back at my childhood self as a separate person, yet all the same, I can still feel the ... emotions of years past flood out as if they were fresh in my mind. Only Yesterday is in no way a story of whimsy, excitement, or danger. Rather, it challenges viewers with moments of silent contemplation and self-reflection. The film may lack the supernatural elements present in Ghibli works such as Totoro and Mononoke, but that enables it to feel sincere and personal like few other anime.

Throughout the past decade, my relationship with the Dragon Ball has been tenuous to say the least. After countless years of stagnation, the series returned in full force with the movies Battle of Gods and Resurrection F. These two films worked as enjoyable reunions for Goku and his varied allies, but also created an exciting new status quo to explore moving forward. I was genuinely interested in watching where Toriyama and Toei would bring the franchise in this new era, which made Super's mediocrity all the more disappointing. Super is guilty of many things that would be tedious to dwell on; worst of them all, ... it made me lose confidence in where Dragon Ball was going. With that being said, the following film Super: Broly featured outstanding animation and a heartfelt tone that demonstrated surprising maturity. If Super's 100+ episodes came off as a hasty, soulless crash-grab, Super: Broly came off a passion project that everybody behind it really poured their efforts into. This high mark of quality would be difficult to maintain, and for that reason I and others have been reasonably skeptical of whether Super Hero would successfully carry on that torch. I'm very happy to report that the film is strong success, at least in terms of what long time fans are looking for.

Looking at its main premise, the greatest strength of Super Hero is immediately made apparent: the general absence of Goku and Vegeta. These two characters have amassed an increasing monopoly on screen time ever since the Buu Saga, an arc in which Toriyama tried and failed to shift his focus to a larger ensemble of characters. I certainly enjoy their rivalry as much anybody else, but it's been hard to shake the feeling that Toei uses them as a marketing crutch more than anything else. Refreshingly, this film presents Gohan and Piccolo front and center as main characters dealing with main character issues. Despite having fallen behind the radical power curve evident throughout the series, these characters have endearing qualities that are genuinely worth exploring. Instead of playing down Gohan's strength as a joke, the writers really draw attention between the two parts of his character: the family man living peacefully and the suppressed warrior capable of unmatched feats. Piccolo receives a similar level of attention, with his role as Earth's proactive protector being highlighted more than ever. Neither character has tremendously deep characterization, but they both serve as a refreshing shift in focus after years of pure-blooded saiyan antics.

The other main department in which Super Hero succeeds is its presentation. Upon hearing that film would be ditching Super: Broly's stellar 2D animation in favor of 3D environments and character models, many were skeptical regarding this sequel's quality. Was it a cost-cutting measure? Perhaps; more traditional computer animation requires a hefty amount of time and effort. Regardless of the internal decision making behind this change, the end result is ultimately more than satisfactory. Character movements are regularly expressive and energetic, with many fights featuring some stellar fight choreography. Camera movements are abundant and creative, adding a degree of expressiveness previously unseen in the more static shots presented with 2D animation. CGI anime can often come off as lazy and ugly, but Super Hero's usage of it sits as a shining example alongside other newer productions such Beastars and Land of the Lustrous.

Perhaps the greatest critique that could be levied against Super Hero is its lack of narrative depth. The narrative initially appears to be commenting on the recent western obsession with super hero culture, but the villains themselves fail to really say anything while playing into expected comic book tropes. The antagonists are all simply cartoon villains with flat motivations, and this ultimately results in the final third of the film being nothing but large, flashy fight-scenes stuffed with fan service. These brawls are fast and exciting, but still lack the heart and complexity seen in better shonen. This leaves Super Hero as a film that could only really appeal to Dragon Ball fans looking for some dumb fun with characters that they haven't seen in a while. This kind of enjoyment isn't something I look down upon, it's even something I'm happy to indulge in, but it does sadly demonstrate that Dragon Ball is a franchise forever shackles to its young shonen demographic.

While I wouldn't call Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero the best shonen has to offer, it presents renewed optimism for the classic series it's a part of. If the rumors are to be believed that Super's anime will return at some point down the line, I sincerely hope that Toriyama continues to shed light on secondary characters and present a healthy balance between serious fights and lighthearted slice-of-life. I would never expect Dragon Ball to present a story arc on par with something like Hunter x Hunter's Chimera Ant Arc or Yu Yu Hakusho's Dark Tournament, but it still presents the opportunity for some lighthearted fun and flashy attacks.

Do you enjoy violence? Do you enjoy yelling? Do you enjoy wAcKy characters? If you answered yes to any of those, your standards may be low enough to enjoy Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan.

In a sense, Dokuro-chan could be seen as the pure embodiment of how normies perceive Japanese animation. The plot is a complete mess of absurd moments that are mentioned and subsequently dropped with no regard for consistency. The few important details that do persistent are a cacophony of random ideas that just leave you bewildered more than anything else. Characters in this show aren't complex, clearly-defined individuals so much as gag machines which produce ... endless strings of non sequitur punchlines. Tonal consistency is seemingly a thing of the past, with Dokuro-chan switching between dramatic moments and absurd nonsense with zero self-restraint. Of course, this is all not to mention the wildly erratic animation on display. Shots constantly switch surprisingly good and utter shit, with character expressions and anatomy taking on a jumpy, exaggerated look. Everything about Dokuro-chan is a complete and utter mess; knowing that actual people released this as a commercial product will keep me up at night for years to come.

Despite all of these hyper-exaggerated characteristics, there's still a chance you might find some enjoyment in this series. If you were the kind of high schooler to find yelling "penis" in the library to be peak comedy, the random comedic approach will most likely resonate with you on some level. There's a certain appeal to watching the writers throw out whatever ideas they came up with while they were black-out drunk. This style of humor is by no means clever, but it does stimulate your brain just enough to keep you watching the train-wreck unfolding before your eyes. Not all media necessarily has to be traditionally good to have value, and garbage piles such as Dokuro-chan should be applauded for being honest about the crummy, low-brow humor they provide. Just don't let your parents catch you watching this; they'll have your ass out of the house in no time.

Kakegurui is a poor man's gambling anime. Despite luring you in with the promise of high stakes and exciting mind games, the series ultimately fails to deliver on either of those essential fronts. If you watch this series like me expecting it to have either of these qualities, you'll get spat out its 12 episodes feeling dejected as an anime fan on prom night.

Each gamble in this series is a fight for survival, represented by bets that inflate at a comical rate. Characters constantly wager their lives for some slim chance at victory, creating a fleeting illusion of tension. Unfortunately, no matter how much money ... is put on the line, Kakegurui fails to make any of its games feel meaningful whatsoever. Threats of bodily harm and indentured servitude are repeatedly thrown out, but the series is completely unwilling to flirt with its main protagonist losing in any meaningful way. Yumeko's near-supernatural gambling abilities make victory a guarantee in every situation, with even her technical losses still benefiting her in some regard. When the audience realizes that the story would effectively end if Yumeko truly lost, they come to realize that any and all wagers are a mere formality obfuscating an inevitable victory. Nothing is on the line because nothing truly matters.

Despite its complete lack of real narrative tension, Kakegurui still holds the allure of watching its overpowered protagonist steamroll through cocky opponents with some quick thinking. Even in this department, the series still mostly fails. Rather than allowing viewers to follow Yumeko's internal thought process, the narrative repeatedly opts to present only her conclusions with fairly little to justify them. Much like an unsatisfying mystery, Kakegurui believes it's more important to shock the audience with unpredictable twists and turns than actually respect their intelligence enough to drip feed clues. The writers often attempt to elicit an "aha!" moment, but instead can muster little more than a "sure, I guess." These tendencies reach their worst form when the pretense of strategy is dropped for pure displays of luck. When the characters choose to believe in the heart of the cards and hope that luck is on their side, the last inkling of intrigue is drained from this shallow battle of wits.

Ultimately, Kakegurui is the perfect gambling anime for people who those that lack the patience and attention span to watch a better series such as Kaiji. The characters are bland, the payoffs are immediate, and very little brain power is necessary to work through each episode. Aside from conveying the mental derangement necessary to enjoy the masochistic elements of gambling, nothing is really learned by the end of this non-thrill ride. The worst part of the series is that never dares to be truly be outlandish and wild, leaving it squarely in the valley of forgettable anime. There are plenty of perfectly enjoyable dumb-fun shows that deserve your time far more than this bland display.