Ringtail Reviews

2022 was an absurdly packed year for anime. From hotly anticipated manga adaptations to anime-original surprises that took hold of the discourse, the year was often so overstuffed that it was tough to keep up with everything, especially during the historically stacked fall season—which makes it no surprise that there were plenty of great shows in the mix.  So with just that much to choose from, what exactly did 2022 bring? It’s true that we didn’t get an artsy, dramatic masterpiece on the level of 2021’s The Heike Story or Sonny Boy , but instead, last year delivered something different: lots and lots of top-shelf entertainment, fun shows of all shapes and sizes brought to life with extraordinary art design and over-achieving animation, even for the productions made under tight conditions. 2022 felt like a constant celebration of the entertainment that that anime can bring, and here, I’d like to highlight the best of these shows and the joy they brought me.  Before we get to t...

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...

2020 is long since dead and gone (thank God), but I'm still pretty proud of this retrospective I wrote at the start of 2021. Here's hoping you get something out of it over a year later. Enjoy! - R - - - Time to get this out of the way: 2020 sucked, 2021’s shaping up to be only slightly better, and we’re all doing our best just to get by. Let’s get along with the feeling of hopelessness. I have now fulfilled the baseline requirements for a 2020 year-in-review article introduction. Okay? Okay.  Well, maybe not okay. Because this is a thing I'm writing about anime, and the anime this year was… not the best. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a miracle that any shows managed to get off the ground in a year that saw the entire industry uprooted and working from home. But between multiple delays, a few high-profile flops, great shows that couldn’t stick the landing, and the continued dominance of soulless mobile game and isekai adaptations, I can’t say this was my favorite year for Japan...