Somebody Take Dragon Age: Absolution Away From Me

/ thesakurasunrise / Leave a comment

[Update: So I literally just posted this but immediately afterward, I heard that Bioware, the studio behind Dragon Age and Mass Effect, shut down. While their projects weren’t as close to my heart as they were to my friends and peers, I was nevertheless shocked by the news. This is a tragedy for the games industry, whose death is proceeding more depressingly than ever with each passing day. Fuck EA, fuck Andrew Wilson, and fuck every single corporation that has profited off the hard work of this industry’s best and brightest without ever showing them, their art, or the players to whom that art resonated a single ounce of respect. I wish them nothing but the maggots that will eat their corpses.]

I’ve been starting way too many projects over the last year and I’ve barely finished any of them, so it may seem like the height of counterintuition to start another, but in my defense, Cyberpunk Edgerunners II just came out. You think I’m gonna miss that shit? And I know what you’re thinking – Matthew, you dumb slut – that’s not what the title says. Well, I promised my friend that I would wait to watch it with him and sure, maybe I didn’t promise him that verbally, but I felt the promise in my soul and that matters about as much (probably). So instead I’m gonna talk about a completely different Netflix animated series that came out nearly four years ago and that has lived in my head rent free ever since, mostly as an excuse to finally create something and chip away at my writer’s block… huzzah.

From Korean animation studio Red Dog Culture House, director Ki-Yong Bae, and creator Mairghread Scott, Dragon Age: Absolution is a six-episode animated series based on the Dragon Age video game series created by Bioware. It follows from the conclusion of 2014’s Dragon Age: Inquisition and follows a group of mercenaries tasked with infiltrating the Tevinter Imperium to steal the Circulum Infinitus, a powerful artifact fueled by blood magic. When their heist goes wrong, the mercenaries find themselves surrounded by overwhelming forces, confronted by betrayal, and haunted by their pasts.

Continue reading →

Jujutsu Kaisen: The Culling Game Is Better Than I Dreamed

/ thesakurasunrise / 1 Comment

Warning: The following contains minor spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen: The Culling Game – Part 1, now streaming on Crunchyroll.

When it comes to classic, beloved shonen, there are certain… barriers to entry, though nothing that should detract from their enduring legacy. It’s the “little” things, like the number of episodes, pacing, and production quality – factors that stem from a time when shonen were produced very differently. There were no seasons; they would just run continuously until they ran out of material to adapt, at which time they’d either go on hiatus or burn more of the midnight oil (that’s the whimsical way of saying overwork), producing filler arcs until there were enough chapters. Additionally, the evolving production quality meant that shows looked very different in Episode 1 than compared to Episode 200 or so, which could also deter anyone who is first and foremost drawn to the later art quality of a long-running show.

Of course, shonen has changed quite a bit since the 90s or the 2000s. If anything, sometimes it feels like you’re at greater risk of the animation quality going down after the first season, though this is thankfully rare. One-Punch Man never achieved the same level of attention in the cultural zeitgeist after Season 1, a decline most would attribute to the dwindling animation quality after the anime changed hands. Or, to a much less egregious degree, take My Hero Academia, a show whose detractors would assert that it declined in quality after Season 3. Personally, I think this is just because its early seasons set a gold standard for what a long-running shonen could look like – one that was unfortunately hard to maintain to quite the same level. Regardless, it was still a fairly consistent and wonderfully written series, and one that especially stepped up during its final seasons (though I’m obviously a bit biased on that count).

I bring all of this up because now we have Jujutsu Kaisen, and although it is by no means new (having started airing in 2020), I’ve only recently come to realize just how much I love – and have loved – this series. Season 1 already started strong, from narrative to animation and especially music, but I’m not sure I’ve seen an anime so consistently increase in quality each season – at least not that I can think of off the top of my head. I’m too busy thinking about The Culling Game – Part 1, the long-awaited third season that has officially cemented Jujutsu Kaisen as not only one of my favorite shonen, but one of my favorite anime, period.

Continue reading →

“Perfect Preparation”: Jujutsu Kaisen Serving C***

/ thesakurasunrise / Leave a comment

Warning: The following contains spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen, Episode 51, “Perfect Preparation”, now streaming on Crunchyroll.

Late last year, I wrote about Gachiakuta and how refreshing it felt as an anime-only to go into a new series from my favorite studio with the manga’s first three volumes fresh in my memory. It felt cool to experience what manga readers must go through every time a new adaptation comes out, and judging its early episodes with some added context/authority offered some nuance to my time with it that I wasn’t used to. Now, unfortunately, the anime quickly outpaced what I was able to read in the manga, mostly because no bookstore around me had Volume 4 for some reason. Thankfully, just a few months later, I would be subject to an even greater catharsis as Jujutsu Kaisen: The Culling Game Part 1 began airing.

With Gachiakuta, it was something new to me, and whether I was reading it or watching it, I hadn’t fully decided if I liked it or not yet. With Jujutsu Kaisen, on the other hand, I had already read the manga to completion last year while waiting for the show to return, which was certainly an experience to say the least. And for all the insane battles, cool characters (both wasted and not), and the at-times cumbersome culmination of the series intricate magic system, there was really only one arc that I was desperately hungry for above all the others… The Perfect Preparation Arc. In other words, the moment Maki became the coolest character.

Continue reading →

Thank You, My Hero

/ thesakurasunrise / Leave a comment

Warning: The following contains spoilers for My Hero Academia Final Season, now streaming on Crunchyroll. Some sections are more spoilery than others, so I’ll try to label when I’m diving into the thick of things for those who might just want my general thoughts on the season as well as the series at large.

This coming April will mark 10 years since the TV anime adaptation of My Hero Academia began at Bones Studio C, the same production house that gave us Fullmetal Alchemist (2003), Soul Eater, and Ouran High School Host Club. And nearly just in time for that anniversary, the series has concluded its eighth and final season – the shortest, in fact, at 11 episodes. 11 episodes of dazzling spectacle, heartbreaking sacrifices, and monumental strides for its world and characters, and not a single week passed that the gravity of it all did not bring me to tears.

When it started, I was in my senior year of High School. I loved all the characters, I loved the animation, and I had a crush on Deku, because he was (and still is) adorable and ideal boyfriend material. Now I’m approaching my 30s, and despite the uncertainty of the future, for which this series’ text aptly latched onto as it progressed, I’m living my best life. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say that My Hero Academia contributed to the heights of my life at this juncture, I wouldn’t hesitate to say that its whimsy has helped lift me along the way. It is a story that found me at the right time and grew with me, becoming more resonant than I ever expected.

Continue reading →

I Thought I Would Hate Virgin Punk (And I Was Dead Wrong)

/ thesakurasunrise / Leave a comment

[Trigger Warning: This review covers a film that touches on some sensitive subject matter. Namely, a villain with a lolita fetish and a main character being forced into a younger version of her body and being controlled by said villain. There is – thankfully – no sexual violence depicted in this film, but I felt the need to put a disclaimer anyway.]

During Aniplex Online Fest 2024, a trailer dropped for a film that instantly captivated my attention like nothing else. A cyberpunk action story, but one that traded the traditional neon-drenched eerie gloom for a bright, sun-drenched European-inspired city that might look utopian if it weren’t for all the blood being shed. Gunfights, explosions, sinister men, and amid the chaos, a young woman in a cybernetic body, dragging a large attache case and toting a mean-looking pistol. This was Virgin Punk, and I couldn’t fucking wait to watch it

It was to be the start of a new series from Yasuomi Umetsu, a beloved director and animator behind Kite (1998) and Mezzo Forte (2000), two OVAs famed for their gunporn, to say nothing of the actual porn in their extended editions. Yep, they were hentai, albeit with enough exciting action and competent attempts at weaving revenge stories and crime thrillers that they could cut out the sex entirely and still find an audience. And that’s exactly what happened when the OVAs found their way overseas, not that there was much choice when the uncensored versions were banned in multiple countries.

But see, I didn’t like Kite. It’s actually one of my least favorite anime. I found it a little gross, to be honest, and even the highs of the action weren’t enough to compensate. It was heralded as a classic, but I found it lacking, such that it stained my perception of the director and his work. You might wonder why I’d be so excited for Virgin Punk in that case, but I think the trailer speaks for itself. There’s just one problem: the trailer speaks for itself, and once it got subtitles, I feared that this new film would fall victim to the fetishes of an unfortunately cracked director.

Continue reading →

Bones Film and the Hunger for Longer Anime Seasons

/ thesakurasunrise / Leave a comment

So earlier today, I watched the new trailer for Daemons of the Shadow Realm, the new Hiromu Arakawa adaptation, and unsurprisingly, it rocked. Though crucially, I don’t believe it’s just because of Arakawa’s namesake. Don’t get me wrong: Fullmetal Alchemist‘s acclaim and staying power in the cultural consciousness are a testament to some wonderful writing, but they’re also inextricably tied to the artistry of Studio Bones. Frankly, if it weren’t Bones – oop sorry, Bones Film – handling this adaptation, I might actually be less excited, if only because few studios can evoke such trust in me by reputation alone.

Like, honey, look at the material. Mob Psycho 100? My Hero Academia? Noragami? Kekkai Sensen? Star Driver? With a resume like this, even something as huge as Fullmetal Alchemist is practically just a blip on the radar. Glazing aside, Daemons of the Shadow Realm‘s anime has only done itself more favors the more that’s been shown, and all from Masahiro Ando, the director of one of the studio’s greatest gems, Sword of the Stranger. Plus, with music by Kenichiro Suehiro of Fire Force and Re:Zero fame, it will probably be one of the best soundtracks of the season.

But none of that is what really caught my eye. I wasn’t even gonna write about it. If anything, I was planning on writing about Gachiakuta and My Hero Academia dominating this season (and I still might). No, what really caught my eye were the final words of the trailer: “Airing for two consecutive cours starting in April 2026”. It’s just a simple detail, practically obligatory, to disclose the release date and whatnot, right? Right… But somehow it felt more like the answer to a prayer. Cause like, has anyone else felt like anime seasons used to be longer?

Continue reading →

To Be Hero X Is The Best Superhero Story of 2025 (Sorry)

/ thesakurasunrise / 1 Comment

[Note: I watched To Be Hero X in Japanese with English subtitles. Any appraisal of vocal performances is made with this frame of reference in mind. However, from what I’ve heard of the English dub, it’s really well done, so if you prefer dubs, you’re in for a treat.]

In a landscape so saturated with superhero media, what does it mean to be truly original? Is it the ideas? The spectacle? Themes? Style? Sure, these can help new projects to stand out in a cluttered marketplace of origin stories and disparate continuities, but amid the genre’s worst lulls, finding originality can feel like a moot point. And frankly, is looking for “true originality” even productive? The foundations of these stories and their messages are timeless for a reason. It’s not about originality so much as nuance, and To Be Hero X might be the best superhero story in years.

And, you know, at the start of 2025, that might have felt like a low bar, especially after such a spineless shitshow like Captain America: Brave New World. Even with Thunderbolts*, Jake Schreier and his team’s commendable commitment to practical stuntwork, strong theming, and heartfelt character drama felt like the exception to the rule. But then we got James Gunn’s Superman, and less than a month later, Matt Shakman’s Fantastic Four: First Steps. These two beloved films weren’t just successful, but reignited faith in superhero movies, to say nothing of hope for humanity in general (especially in the case of the former).

So it’s fair to say this has been a strong year for superhero media, which makes my aforementioned take a lot more contentious. However, while I don’t want to undermine the merits of Schreier, Gunn, or Shakman, I genuinely think To Be Hero X clears all of them by *that* much. But what exactly is To Be Hero X? And why does it deserve to be recognized among the genre’s best and brightest?

Continue reading →

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Made Me a Fan Again

/ thesakurasunrise / Leave a comment
TitleDemon Slayer The Movie: Infinity Castle
DirectorHaruo Sotozaki, Hikaru Kondo (Chief Director)
StudioUfotable
Premiere Date9/12/2025 (United States)

It’s been nearly six years since Ufotable’s adaptation of Demon Slayer concluded its first season, becoming a worldwide phenomenon and earning an admittedly impulsive 10/10 from yours truly. Granted, my love began to wane in the years since, bogged down by the TV anime’s questionable pacing, which created a sensation that not much progress was being made in the story. And now, it’s already coming to an end… well, technically. There’s still a lot more to adapt, I hear.

Demon Slayer The Movie: Infinity Castle sells itself as the beginning of the end, but if anything, it makes the six years between Season 1 and now feel like nothing more than an interlude. Season 1 adapted 53 chapters, but this trilogy aims to adapt the final 66. It’s not just an ending; it’s the story’s next major saga, from its pacing to its beating heart. In that, this film exemplifies the anime’s intervening failings, yet at the same time, it is also a rekindling of its greatest strengths.

Continue reading →

An Abridged Summary of My Thoughts on the Demon Slayer Anime For No Reason At All

/ thesakurasunrise / Leave a comment

Hey everyone, remember in 2019 when I gave Demon Slayer a 10/10?

Probably not, and that’s fine. I mean, I didn’t give it a 10 in the post itself, but that is what I gave it on MyAnimeList.net when I finished it, and honestly, I still stand by that. Season 1 of Demon Slayer was such a fun and jam-packed adventure that really hit all the right notes. Animation, music, performances, heartfelt themes – it had it all, and from when it began to where it ended, it truly felt like we’d experienced an adventure with only more on the horizon.

Fast forward to 2021, and I reviewed Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train almost just as positively. It was kinda the first shonen anime film to prove that studios could feasibly continue the canon story through films rather than just making high-budget theatrical side stories that were dubiously canon at best. Mugen Train was awesome, and later, while writing for GameRant, I would go on to write about what I considered to be the most emotional scene, not only in that film, but in the series at large. That film rocked and made me even more excited for what the franchise held in store for the future…

… That is, until that future came. Now I’m just a bit sad.

Continue reading →

[Insert Joke About Trash]: Should You Watch Gachiakuta?

/ thesakurasunrise / Leave a comment

Warning: The following contains spoilers for Episodes 1-3 of Gachiakuta, now streaming on Crunchyroll.

I was gonna turn the title of this post into something like “This Anime is Trash” or something evocative of the central motif of garbage present in the story, but then I remembered that every reviewer on YouTube has already made that joke. I also remembered not immediately picking up on the joke and getting a little pissed, thinking, “What the fuck are these people smoking?” The thing is, it’s undeniably effective clickbait; it just already feels played out (not that my title ideas are any better, clearly).

To the surprise of no one who has read my writing before, I love Studio Bones. Their shows have consistently been among my favorites of all time, be they original projects or adaptations, and for over 25 years, they’ve been a shining beacon in an industry full of beloved studios. But sometimes I feel like I need to brace myself for the day when my favorite studio will “fall off”. I’m not getting any younger, and the same can be said of the artists behind my favorite works of film and television.

I think it was The Canipa Effect on YouTube who said that studios aren’t actually important. What matters are the artists behind the studio. When you get right down to it, it’s not “Bones” that I have to thank for my favorite shows. It’s the producers and founders like Masahiko Minami, character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto, and the late Hiroshi Osaka. It’s also Bones’ directors, like Tensai Okamura, Takuya Igarashi, Rie Matsumoto, Kenji Nagasaki, Masahiro Ando, and none other than Shinichiro Watanabe.

Of course, I say all this, but Bones still has that dog in them. Mob Psycho 100 is one of the most well-animated TV series of the past decade. Bungo Stray Dogs continues to be one of the highest-quality manga adaptations out there. My Hero Academia Season 7 was so good that I tried to nominate it for Anime of the Year at this year’s anime awards (albeit to no avail). Like, come on, they just announced a new adaptation of a series from the creator of Fullmetal Alchemist. They’re doing fine.

The thing is, studios change. It’s natural, because the people working there age and pass what they know down to new people. Those new people might kick ass and bring the studio into a brave new era, and maybe those new people fuck it up. Most of the time, it’s nothing so clear as either one of those. I guess what I’m trying to say is that, in trying to prevent myself from becoming a bitter old man or a stan that refuses to criticize something, I want to be more critical of Studio Bones. You see, it’s just a little tough, though, because so far, Gachiakuta is pretty fucking cool.

Continue reading →