Summer 2014 anime preview: Aldnoah.Zero

Aldnoah.ZeroGen Urobuchi’s latest politically charged work drips with the potential of an interplanetary war, and Aldnoah.Zero looks poised to deliver on its promise.

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Summer 2014 anime preview: Sword Art Online II

Sword Art Online IIRedeeming the abysmal second half of the first season of Sword Art Online could be tough, but there’s enough potential in Sword Art Online II to excuse one for getting their hopes up.

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Summer 2014 anime preview: Glasslip

GlasslipIn yet another town by a sea, somewhere in rural Japan, P.A. Works presents a group of adolescent kids getting to ready to graduate — and it’s a safe bet that those students will engage in a love polygon of sorts as they find their way through the final months of their youth.

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Summer 2014 anime previews

Summer 2014 Anime PreviewsI position myself as a writer who focuses primarily on video games, but as I’ve heard so many freelancers tell me: “diversifying your portfolio is a must if you want to succeed.” Therefore, anime previews incoming.

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Godless Sunday twists the apocalypse formula enough to warrant your attention

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Of the three shows that I’ve recommended this weekend, Godless Sunday is the one that I’m the most undecided on. That’s partially due to an extended narrative-frame that’s developing at the start of the show. But if the intrigue of heavenly Grave Keepers and forsaken immortal humans, can be maintained, I’m willing to buy-in to future story arcs.

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Shapeshifting racoons and their unique encounters make The Eccentric Family a Summer standout

There are five racoons in this shot. Believe it.

The Eccentric Family is a show that I can recommend to anyone at this point in the season. Whether you’re a harsh anime critic, or you’re a Western-culture centred person looking for a step out of your comfort zone, it’s sure to engage you with its unique appeal.

Great comedy-dramas are works that really get me going. There’s always something there to make you chuckle and keep you hooked, but in each joke there’s an iota of character development that – over time – weaves a slightly bitter narrative that becomes more powerful as your investment in the happenings increases.

The Eccentric Family looks like it’s going to be a great comedy-drama that oozes originality, and that’s what has me jazzed.

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Stella Women’s Academy subverts expectations and gets better by the week

Stella Women’s Academy (or Stella), on its most basic level, is a show about high school girls that are part of a club, but it has got one hell of a conceit.

It sounds like the description of every slice-of-life safe-bet anime that’s aired every season since K-On! took Japan by storm in 2009. Actually, I also just described the core of three other original series that started airing along side Stella. The proliferation of the setup is getting a little ridiculous.

But Stella is a lighthearted show all about airsoft, not traditional athletics, music or supernatural shenanigans. It’s about oddballs in a private girl’s boarding school shooting at each other with plastic pellets. If there was even the slightest hint of a joke in the show’s execution, I would have stopped watching it in an instant. But while Stella may be lighthearted, it’s lacing it’s combat boots as straight as a show about replica firearms possibly can.

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