Category Archives: Anime

Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs

Posted on October 31, 2022 by Roger Pocock

Happy Halloween, and what better time of year to take a look at an anime series about a ghost, a demon-slaying ninja, a psychic who fights evil spirits and a bunch of girls who regularly expose their naked bodies to … Continue reading →

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Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl

Posted on September 26, 2022 by Roger Pocock

Kashimashi is a yuri anime with a difference. The main character is Hazumu, who is accidentally killed by aliens and restored to life. The problem is that they make a mistake and he returns to life as she. It’s a … Continue reading →

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The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated!

Posted on September 19, 2022 by Roger Pocock

One of the most popular subgenres of anime is known as isekai, where somebody escapes their humdrum, human existence to live in a fantasy world. I can understand the popularity, because it’s pure escapism, but I’m not sure there’s a … Continue reading →

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Haibane Renmei

Posted on September 12, 2022 by Roger Pocock

This series is 20 years old now, and watching it today is a reminder of how much anime has moved on in the last couple of decades. There is generally a lot less movement in the animation nowadays, but watching … Continue reading →

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That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Season Two

Posted on September 5, 2022 by Roger Pocock

The vast majority of anime series get around 12 or 13 episodes per season. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime is one of the lucky exceptions, returning for its second season with 24 episodes. For the first season … Continue reading →

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Zoku Owarimonogatari

Posted on August 29, 2022 by Roger Pocock

Owarimonogatari was a magnificent end to the Monogatari anime adaptations, tying up pretty much all the loose ends from a large number of previous episodes. It felt like a fitting tribute to all the main characters. But what happens after … Continue reading →

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Owarimonogatari II

Posted on August 22, 2022 by Roger Pocock

Endings are tricky things to get right, and few anime series even run long enough to get to the point of concluding their stories. Strictly speaking this is not quite an ending, for reasons we will discuss later, but it … Continue reading →

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Owarimonogatari I

Posted on August 15, 2022 by Roger Pocock

As we travel through life we tend to collect emotional baggage. The older we get, the more we will be able to look back on past friendships and other associations and wonder what we could have done differently. There will … Continue reading →

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Koyomimonogatari

Posted on August 8, 2022 by Roger Pocock

At first this season feels like an odd backwards step for the Monogatari franchise. We begin with a prequel to Bakemonogatari, with Koyomi and Tsubasa investigating a minor mystery concerning a shrine in their school’s gardens. It all seems oddly … Continue reading →

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Dive!!

Posted on August 1, 2022 by Roger Pocock

I stumbled across this anime series on Amazon Prime, looking for something that was safe to watch with the children around. There is a lot of anime that’s free to watch if you have Amazon Prime, but their age guidance … Continue reading →

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Citrus

Posted on July 25, 2022 by Roger Pocock

For the benefit of newcomers to the world of anime, there is a fairly popular subgenre of anime known as yuri, which focus on lesbian relationships. These tend to be gentle affairs, but this 12 episode series from 2018 is … Continue reading →

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Tsukimonogatari

Posted on July 18, 2022 by Roger Pocock

The title of this miniseries in the Monogatari franchise is a tricky one to translate, with an ambiguity of meaning that is probably beyond the understanding of somebody trying to dip a toe into the Japanese language like me, but … Continue reading →

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Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club (Season One)

Posted on July 11, 2022 by Roger Pocock

Both Love Live! and its sequel Love Live! Sunshine!! followed basically the same storyline, with an idol group with nine members being assembled, with the goal to make their school famous and save it from impending closure. There were different … Continue reading →

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Shakugan no Shana Final

Posted on July 4, 2022 by Roger Pocock

Shana has always been an uneasy mix of teenage relationship issues and fantasy battles, and those two aspects of the series have never been well integrated. We have had whole episodes that focus on school life, followed by whole episodes … Continue reading →

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Kaguya-sama: Love Is War? Season Two

Posted on June 27, 2022 by Roger Pocock

Kaguya and Miyuki and back, and they are still battling to somehow make each other be the first to confess their love. We had no resolution to this conflict by the end of the first season, and don’t expect one … Continue reading →

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Koimonogatari

Posted on June 20, 2022 by Roger Pocock

We have reached the final, six-episode arc in the second full season of Monogatari, and the focus is mainly on two protagonists. Hitagi Senjogahara has been largely neglected as a character for a very long time, her relationship with Koyomi … Continue reading →

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Onimonogatari (Review and Fanservice Debate)

Posted on June 13, 2022 by Roger Pocock

We have reached the penultimate arc in the second season of Monogatari, a four-episode story titled Shinobu Time. It is an absolutely magnificent run of episodes, for reasons I will enumerate later in the article, but first I need to … Continue reading →

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Otorimonogatari

Posted on June 6, 2022 by Roger Pocock

After a little detour to watch Hanamonogatari, we are back with Monogatari: Second Season for a four-episode arc titled Otorimonogatari. The title loosely translates as “Decoy Story”, although as is often the case there are subtleties in the use of … Continue reading →

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Hanamonogatari

Posted on May 30, 2022 by Roger Pocock

Regular visitors to the Junkyard will remember that I have been watching the second season of Monogatari, and have so far written about Nekomonogatari (White) and Kabukimonogatari, which leaves three arcs still to watch. I have paused from that season … Continue reading →

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Kabukimonogatari

Posted on May 23, 2022 by Roger Pocock

The second season of Monogatari continues with Kabukimonogatari, a four-episode arc. If Nekomonogatari (White), which proceeded it, felt like there was not enough story to stretch to five episodes, this is quite the opposite. A complex butterfly effect plot is … Continue reading →

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