Ringtail Reviews

Hello and welcome back to my watchalong of Yurei Deco! The show's first episode  was about as good as a premier can get, with dense worldbuilding that's already doubling as a strong critique of the modern internet and social media. Beyond that, the show's just enthralling from moment to moment—the visual style's great, Berry's a charming little rascal of a protagonist, and the worldbuilding is hitting the perfect balance between the plausible and the fantastical. I spent much of my time after the first episode just wanting to know as much as I could about this world, even though I'd never actually want to live there. With the basics having been established and a confrontation with the enigmatic Phantom Zero brewing, I'm excited to see what's next. Let's get back to it!

Summer's here, the heat's unbearable, and multiple governments are failing before our very eyes. But what's that, you ask? The anime?  Well, the anime's actually not so bad!  I've seen some general grumbling that this season feels slower than the last, but while it's true that there aren't as many big-name crowd pleasers as in  spring 2022 , the best shows of this season might be on track to outclass it. I'm of the opinion that a season's only as good as its top shelf, and in that respect, we're doing just fine. I had plenty of thoughts about the premiers I checked out, which I've listed below for your reading pleasure. I also want to give a quick mention to Made In Abyss , an often great show with disturbing tendencies that have made me reluctant to catch up on its currently airing second season.  But as for the rest, let's get to it! Tier 1: Must-Watches Yurei Deco Finally—after months, our first great theme show of the year has arrived...

Hey all! Today, I’m starting a journey into one of the newest and most promising anime of the year, Yurei Deco . Simply by virtue of being animated by Science Saru—the boundary-pushing studio cofounded by legendary director Masaaki Yuasa — Yurei Deco was already one of my most anticipated shows for this season, given the studio's stellar recent track record with Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! and last year’s masterpiece The Heike Story . Still, I went in with a few slightly concerning unknowns: the series composition by sci-fi veteran Dai Satō , who’s written for classics and stinkers alike; the directing by up-and-comer Tomohisa Shimoyama , who hasn't directed much despite being in other industry roles for years; and most importantly, the reports of increasingly tumultuous labor conditions at Science Saru as the studio takes on an unsustainable number of new projects. Despite those concerns, I’m pleased to report that Yurei Deco ’s first episode was fascinating, with a bold,...

If there’s one word to describe the best anime released in 2021, it's ambition .    I think that’s important because modern anime tends to be homogenous and insular. If production committees aren't releasing as many isekai adaptations as possible, they're often greenlighting quick genre ripoffs to cash in on the latest trends or churning out rushed sequels to proven properties. It’s not so different from what happens in other mediums, but anime has a weird specificity to its mass-produced power fantasies, idol show knockoffs, and gacha-game tie-ins. But 2021 felt different. To be more specific, 2021’s top shelf contained the most jaw-dropping assortment of shows I've seen since I started watching anime seasonally. I’d seen enough great shows by halfway through the year that I’d already filled a top-ten list—and then they just kept coming . There were amazing shows of every stripe: impassioned war stories, Lynchian arthouse dramas, emotive slices-of-life, muted romance...

Spring sure went fast, huh? A couple weeks of mid-sixties temperatures and tornado scares, and now we're in the throes of sticky summer heat. Personally, I'm more of a winter guy, so I can't wait 'til it's over—although with global warming making every December exponentially hotter, I'm not holding my breath that the concept of snow will exist in my neck of the woods for much longer. Living in a ceaseless hellscape aside, spring 2022 also brought us some good anime! In that respect, it finally feels like the year’s in full swing—the winter season was a little dire, with just the dregs of Ranking of Kings and Attack on Titan keeping me going, but now there’s a whole plethora of quality shows to choose from. This spring was particularly loaded with comedies of different stripes, along with some healthy side courses of action, drama, and romance. All we could’ve used was a nice theme-heavy show to round things out and make this a truly great season, but I was happ...