Editor

Mika Tanabe

Hozuna’s editor watches the seasonal charts so you don’t have to. She refuses to recommend anything she wouldn’t rewatch.

Mika runs Hozuna’s editorial side: every review, deep dive, and curated list on this site goes through her, and the weekly availability checks land on her desk before they land on your screen. Her taste comes from growing up between two languages and two broadcast schedules. She stayed up for Toonami’s Saturday block while her cousins in Osaka mailed over DVDs of everything that never made it across. She’s been keeping score of what’s actually worth watching ever since.

Her rules are simple. Facts come from licensed data and get re-checked weekly (here’s how). Opinions are hers, argued in the open, with a “deliberately left off” list wherever something popular didn’t make the cut. And nothing gets recommended that she wouldn’t sit through again herself.

A score is there to be argued with. Tell her where you disagree at [email protected].

The Shelf

The six she’d grab first if the internet disappeared.

Hunter x Hunter (2011)
The smartest shonen ever made, and it never once tells you it is.
Monster
Proof anime can do a slow-burn literary thriller better than prestige TV.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
The rare fantasy that understands time is the real subject.
Steins;Gate
Twenty-five episodes of setup that pay off harder than any show has a right to.
Made in Abyss
Beautiful and merciless, it stays with you. Do not trust the art style.
K-On!
The comfort rewatch. Some shows are about nothing and everything at once.

Hot Takes

Dubs count. Gatekeeping the way someone enjoys a show is the least anime thing you can do.
The three-episode rule wastes your evening. One honest episode is enough to know if a show respects you.
Recap movies are a licensing product, not a viewing order. You can skip almost all of them.
A 7/10 is a good score. If everything you love is a 10, you haven’t told anyone anything.
Where a show legally streams is part of whether to recommend it. A masterpiece nobody can watch helps nobody.

Every Review, Scored

New reviews publish most weeks. The full index starts with the best-argued.