The Hozuna Blog
Reviews, deep dives, and what's new in anime: where to watch it, and why it's worth your time.
Gintama Review: The Gag Comedy That Sneaks Up and Breaks Your Heart
A crude, chaotic parody that hides one of anime's most rewarding emotional payoffs behind a wall of jokes and a genuinely steep commitment.
Berserk (1997) Review: Ambition, Betrayal, and Dark Fantasy's Cruelest Ending
This dated but unforgettable version of Berserk's Golden Age arc runs on three magnetic leads and Susumu Hirasawa's haunting score, then stops at one of anime's most brutal unresolved cliffhangers.
Masaaki Yuasa: Anime's Freest Hand
Yuasa's wobbling, elastic line is neither careless drawing nor evidence of a thin budget. His work makes the animator's visible touch part of what we watch, and Inu-Oh turns that working method into its subject.
Why Psychological Anime Keeps Lasting
Timeless themes are only part of the answer. The best psychological anime leave essential work unfinished, and Serial Experiments Lain shows why that keeps viewers coming back.
Violet Evergarden Review: A Living Weapon Learns to Feel Through Letters
A former child soldier becomes a ghostwriter and slowly learns to understand human emotion in KyoAni's most visually staggering drama. It can be episodic and overwrought, but it is often sublime.
Made in Abyss Review: Anime's Most Beautiful Nightmare
Made in Abyss looks like a warm storybook adventure, then charges a terrible price for every meter of its descent. It is a masterpiece, but one that many viewers will have good reason to avoid.
How Netflix Changed Anime
Netflix did not change anime most through its catalog or its money. Its bigger contribution was raising the ceiling on what a series could be, and Devilman Crybaby shows exactly how that happened.
Mob Psycho 100 Review: The Most Explosive Show About Being Ordinary
Bones weaponizes every animation trick it owns to tell a disarmingly gentle story about kindness, self-worth, and the fraud who accidentally raises a good kid.
Ghost in the Shell Review: A Cyberpunk Landmark That Thinks as Hard as It Hits
Mamoru Oshii's cyborg noir is slow, talky, and emotionally cool on purpose, and it remains one of the most quietly influential science-fiction films ever animated.