Anime Reviews
In-depth, spoiler-aware reviews you can trust.
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.
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.
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.
Spirited Away Review: A Girl in a Bathhouse for the Gods, Drawn at the Height of the Art Form
Ten-year-old Chihiro's journey through a bathhouse for the gods combines extraordinary hand-drawn animation with a hard-earned story about growing up. Spirited Away remains one of the greatest animated films ever made.
Your Name Review: A Radiant Body-Swap Romance About People We Almost Remember
This dazzling body-swap romance earns its emotional wallop, even when its rules about time and memory fall apart under close inspection.
Girls Band Cry Review: Frayed Nerves, Convincing Rock, and 3DCG That Feels Alive
Girls Band Cry is a prickly underdog drama with no interest in sanding down its cast. Its fully 3DCG presentation may divide viewers, but the animation comes alive when Togenashi Togeari plugs in, and the real rock soundtrack gives every performance weight.