Review: My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks

About a year ago I reviewed the first Equestria Girls movie and I was noticeably guarded through the whole thing. Not surprisingly: this was the first movie and it was also doing something risky by introducing a human world. It sort of connected to the main series but in a way that ultimately wasn’t important so the two could coincide and not require one or the other. Indeed, season 4 made no mention at all of Twilight’s adventures through the magic mirror portal. Well, it’s been barely a year and the sequel is here, now sub-sub-titled Rainbow Rocks.

Anime Review: Nerawareta Gakuen

Now this… this is a good movie. Superbly animated, wonderfully executed, and a joy to sit through. Other than the slightly confusing ending I’d still say it’s damn near flawless for what it is and sets out to do. It mixes school romance, replete with blushing beauties, a childhood friend, a goofy nice guy, and a dashing new transfer student; with a sci-fi twist of telepathy and time travel. Sure, there are a ton of clichés in this stew but damn if it doesn’t taste delicious.

Anime Review: Gekkan Shōjo Nozaki-kun

It’s no secret that I tend to gravitate towards simplistic comedy series featuring plenty of pleasing cutesy girly shit. I admit, it’s an easy trap to fall into, no less because anime has evolved over the years to perfect it. Hyper-realizing embodiments of moe has become the default approach these days and it can be both frustrating and fun. The interchangeability of most series might be more distressing if they weren’t still generally enjoyable.