Behind The Nihon Review

Despite all that happened between them, Ami and Minori still found a way to respect and support each other.

Romance is rife in anime, and why not… it’s a fascinating and ever relevant topic that anime has a decent track record with overall. Friendship, outside of romance (since romance innately implies friendship) isn’t a so frequently explored topic. But, it’s not hard to find examples of wonderful and genuine friendships between two or more people in anime. (This post contains moderate spoilers of the tagged titles.)

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We’re just past the half-way point of the current season, and fast approaching the beginning of the next. A handful of our staff have taken a moment to tell you what we think of the show’s we’re watching so far, up to this point. This collection of our mid-season thoughts will serve as the first in a new seasonal series for the blog. As a comparison, you can read what we thought at the beginning of the season here. So, enjoy.
Introduction by: Sorrow-kun

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WARNING! Spoilers for Hikaru no Go

“Greatness isn’t born. Greatness is made.”

I’ve often seen such assertions made in the tag lines of motivational speaking programs and self-help books, who endlessly extol the virtues of hard work and self-application, and applaud the accomplishments of self-made men and women. All great achievers share in common the characteristics of bold initiative, strong work ethic, and exceptional talent. But how much of this grand narrative is accurate, and what important details are hidden beneath the tall tales of self-actualization?

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The saddest sight in the world.

It’s the night before Comiket 78. In about a few hours, I will be joining hundreds of thousands of others like myself, lining up in the sweltering heat and braving stampedes of foul-smelling young men in a quest for books, goods and trinkets. On the eve of battle, I sit alone in my Tokyo apartment, five minutes from Akiba. The lights are dim, Aoi Hana is playing softly from my computer’s speakers and I sit in my chair, reflecting upon my long history with Akihabara.

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This season, we’re doing something a bit different with our seasonal First Thoughts article. A handful of our staff have contributed their impressions on the shows they’re following so far. It’s an intriguing season to date, but for mine, it isn’t nearly as promising as the others that have preceded it this year, and I’d say our initial thoughts on what we’ve seen from the first few weeks of the season reflect that. There have been a few interesting entries, particular those in the “horror” (using the term loosely here) genre, such as Highschool of the Dead, Occult Academy and, IMO, the most promising of all, Shiki, but for the most part, this has been as a season of blandness and disappointments. Fortunately, there’s still plenty of time for a sleeper hit to emerge.
Introduction by: Sorrow-kun

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