Anime Reviews
In-depth, spoiler-aware reviews you can trust.
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.
Apocalypse Hotel Review: A Robot Concierge Keeps the Last Hotel Open
A tireless android hotelier keeps humanity's grandest hotel ready for guests who may never return. The result is one of the most quietly moving slice-of-life shows in recent memory.
Medalist Review: A Broken Coach, a Late-Blooming Kid, and the Warmest Ice in Anime
A tender, tearjerking figure-skating drama that sells its underdog dream so completely you'll forgive the CG routines that occasionally wobble beneath it.
Look Back Review: Fujimoto's Bruising Love Letter to Making Art
This hand-drawn film runs for less than an hour, yet its story of two children making manga becomes one of anime's most honest recent accounts of grief and creativity.
Akira Review: The Cyberpunk Landmark Anime Is Still Chasing
Otomo's Neo-Tokyo epic can be hard to follow, but the sheer detail and force of its hand-drawn animation make even its most overwhelming scenes worth the effort.
Millennium Actress Review: Satoshi Kon's Most Romantic Film Is a Chase Through Movie History
Satoshi Kon turns one woman's lifelong pursuit into a breathless sprint through a century of Japanese cinema, and it might be the warmest, most moving thing he ever made.
Princess Mononoke Review: Miyazaki's Epic Where No One Is the Villain
A cursed prince walks into a war between a forge-town and the forest gods it's killing, and Miyazaki refuses to tell you who's right.
Weathering With You Review: Makoto Shinkai's Rain-Soaked Gamble on Love Over the World
Shinkai's follow-up to Your Name is a stunning, RADWIMPS-scored downpour of a movie that stumbles where its predecessor soared yet lands a braver, more divisive emotional gut-punch.