This week we're doing something different; pop-up reviews! Newly written and ready for reading!

As the mastermind behind this, I start us off with Megane na Kanojo, a series that is exactly what its title indicates; a show about girls who wear glasses. To quote the Diff'rent Strokes opening; "what might be right for you, might not be right for some". I go into more detail after the jump.

Next up is Carlos with Coicent, a recent one-shot OAV that he wishes for more of quite a bit.

For our last review we have Bradley's review of Rio: Rainbow Gate, which isn't part of the pop reviews update, but was originally scheduled alongside two other reviews of his to review today. You'll probably see the other two soon enough.

We'll continue the pop reviews Wednesday. See you then!

- Tim Jones

I may not have any reviews for you today, but there's still plenty of backlog to go through and plenty more titles to cover, so here we go!

Tim starts us off with the social misfit harem comedy Haganai (aka Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai), which would be a really great show if it weren't so fixated on boobs. This is still an improvement over the rest of this update, singlehandedly out-starring the next two features!

That's right, the rest of this update is all about the turkey shoot. Nick lets fly with a volley aimed at the theatrical release RahXephon: Pluralitas Concentio, which entirely misses the point of the exemplary TV series and instead plays out like a poorly-handled recap episode. Noooooooooooooooooooooo!

Aiden trots out trite fantasy harem show Shukufuku no Campanella and gives this plotless, soulless, charmless, lifeless wreck the coup de grace it deserves. And you'd think something featuring characters called "The Tortilla Sisters" would be worthwhile, but alas it was not to be...

And that's that for our "five-star review day" (that's right, five stars between three shows), but next week is looking pretty good, as we await Bradley's Triple Threat on Monday. Until then: have a great weekend!

- Carlos Ross

Hello again, everyone. It's time once more to bring out another trio of reviews from Aiden, Nick and myself.

Nick's offering for today is actually a half-American production made for Christian TV. The show in question is called My Last Day, which should be a good enough hint for Christians and non-Christians alike to try and guess what it's about.

Aiden looks more towards giving his funnybone a workout with Arakawa Under The Bridge x Bridge, and he seems to have found his groove within the show.

As for myself, I finally got to throw myself over Junichi Sato's own pet project, now a full TV show. Its name is Tamayura ~Hitotose~, and it's here to give the tilde curse a swift kick to the rear. Or it might have, if it wasn't so damned pleasant all the time.

Next week Nick and Aiden will return once more, but this time with Tim in tow. See you guys then.

- Stig Høgset.

So, we got a trio of reviews today.

First off, Nick brings us the excellence of ABe, whom a lot of you may know as the guy behind the ever excellent Haibane Renmei. That's why Nick is outraged... OUTRAGED, he says... that a good deal less people have heard about NieA_7, mostly because it's just so good.

Aiden's got his eye set on the murderous MOE, though, and he's not going to let anything silly like his review being a second opinion get in his way when he's up for talking about When they cry; Higurashi.

And, as it turns out, my review ended up being a second opinion too; namely that of Allison & Lillia, a show the Great Sultan himself reviewed not too long ago. And that somehow went completely under my radar, even though I know I've read it before. I think.

Man, I'm getting old.

Oh well, that's it for today. But we -- as in me, Nick and Aiden -- will be back this upcoming Wednesday with three new reviews. As in reviews for shows not reviewed here before. Stay tuned.

- Stig Høgset.

Well, two of us struck out today with our choices of reviews. First Nick didn't fare well at all with the 1991 bomb Psychic Wars, and then I fare bad with the 2011 Kamisama Dolls.

Aiden fared much, much better though, with the SHAFT comedy And Yet The Town Moves.

We return Monday for another week of 9 new reviews. See you then!

- Tim Jones

It's all good news this Wednesday, we have three series to recommend to you without too much reservation. Since life is too short for bad animé you might want to try out these:

First of all, Nick has given us another opinion on Wolf's Rain.

Next, I am very happy to brush the dust off 90s masterpiece Key the Metal Idol and give you another opinion on this classic series.

And finally, THEM veteran Carlos covers the slightly newer Magic Users Club TV. Does it live up to its excellent predecessor? Check out what Carlos has to say.

More on Friday, adieu.

~Aiden Foote

Sorry for the lateness, everyone. But we have three new reviews today for Monday.

We first have Nick, who gives us a look at the first of the new crop of Neon Genesis Evangelion movies; Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone. And he seems to really dig it.

We then switch over to Aiden, who also dug Kuuchuu Buranko.

Unfortunately for The Sultan/Carlos, he doesn't fare quite as well as Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere, but he still likes it.

We return Wednesday with three more reviews. See you then!

- Tim Jones

Laughs, chuckles and groans await you today with our latest selection of animé.

Our very own Nick Browne has plenty to say about Welcome to the NHK, an uncompromisingly dark but undoubtedly hilarious series about a hikikomori.

What I have to offer is the rose-tinged romance of Amagami SS. Sweet and sometimes funny, the show is nowhere near as bad as it could have been - maybe there is life in the visual novel adaptation.

Jake, however, has an example when video game adaptations do go wrong. he has plenty to say about School City Valanoir.

More next week, adieu.

~Aiden Foote

We've got a lot of reviews coming in, and a lot of reviews means a lot of updates, too. This time, we've got three pieces that run the gamut of drama, romance, sudden reconnections, and the spectrum of loveliness and unpleasantries that such a trio inevitably brings:

Aiden brings us a review of an anime with an exceptionally long title, but don't be fooled: there's a lot more than wordiness to this compelling piece, and he has many good things to say about it.

Jake, on the other hand, plumbs the bottom depths of our septic system with the strangely titled Baby Princess 3D: Paradise 0 [Love], which doesn't do anything to improve his opinion of creepy and unfunny harem comedies.

Finally, I get to throw a mixture of shameless fanboy gushing and mildly-frustrated groaning at Clannad's Another World Specials. You'll see what I mean once you read the review.

More news, more reviews, and more anime coming up soon. Until then, all the best.

-Nick Browne

Happy new year from me and now that the season is over and all your decorations are packed away along with your festive cheer, I've got the perfect mix of refined melancholia to help you get over all those resolutions you've already broken. Aoi Bungaku is a series of adaptations of some of the dourest pieces of classic literature to come out of Japan and my goodness, are they fantastic!

Jake also has some, rather positive, thoughts for a little series called Iriya no Sora: UFO no Natsu.

And, finally, today we have a new review from Nick for yaoi classic Ai no Kusabi. Go and see what he thinks.

Adieu,

~Aiden Foote.

So yeah, I thought I should start off this year on a good note, so I went back to an earlier Reverse Secret Santa suggestion (now that it IS out on DVD.) We're talking about fantasy epic Guin Saga.

Aiden, on the other hand, would like you to know you might want to stay the hell away from Yosuga no Sora. And he doesn't mince words about it either. He also has a review for Shiki, which is, if nothing else, at least marginally better.

Next week, Aiden returns with another review, and with him, another of our old staffers who we haven't seen for a good while. See you guys then.

- Stig Høgset.