We at The Nihon Review do critical reviews of all media Japanese. Does that make us stiff-necked critics? Perhaps so in many cases, but even the stiffest of us are human enough to enjoy the light fluffy stuff every now and then. We can’t live on a diet of critical masterpieces after all; sometimes it’s […]

What does one do with a TV franchise that has proven itself to be highly popular? One milks it for all it is worth by turning it into a movie, of course! Though the limitations of the movie format usually means that creative adjustments tend to be inevitable, such is probably the last thing on […]

And when they produce works that fall short of their usually-high standards, the disparity seems to be all the greater. Though the likes of Bones and Kyoto Animation may be famed for the quality of their animation, some of their latest works have proved that even outstanding audiovisual capability is no substitute for below-par scriptwriting.
Today, […]

The Fall Season of 2008 in anime was a time when a great number of highly anticipated series started their broadcast, amongst which are sequels and remakes of established works. While quite a few of these, like Nodame Cantabile ~Paris Chapter~ and ef ~a tale of melodies~ turned out to be disappointing, the sheer volume […]

….is merely a complement, and in no way a substitute, for truly compelling plot and/or character drama. Today, Kavik Ryx makes a contrast between Macross Plus and Flag, showing just how massive budgets on the visual/audio component can either be wasted on a poor story, or give additional value to an excellent one.