anime

I Knew What Takopi's Original Sin Was Going To Be About, and I Still Watched it

The first anime I ever watched was Death Note. I was ten and a friend told me about this super cool, edgy show with a hot genius boy who killed criminals using a notebook. It probably wasn’t the most age-appropriate content, what with the God complexes, philosophical debates about justice, and a mountain of corpses. In retrospect, Death Note isn't even that graphic. Thematically mature? Sure. But it's not abstract or hard to follow, so that's probably why it was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump

Lucas.: sounds dark and twisted

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I Knew What Takopi's Original Sin Was Going To Be About, and I Still Watched it

Machines, Class, and Architecture: Metropolis vs Psycho-Pass

When I first watched Metropolis and later Psycho-Pass, I was struck not only by their shared visions of dystopian futures, but by how both stories use architecture, class structures, and the presence of machines to explore deeper questions about human agency and social control. In this piece, I want to reflect on the visual and ideological parallels between these two works, separated by almost a century but deeply connected through their portrayal of power, technology, and rebellion. This film,

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Machines, Class, and Architecture: Metropolis vs Psycho-Pass

Loving your Terrible Home Town in Clannad Afterstory

"I hate this town. It's full of memories I'd rather forget. I go to school every day and hang out with my friends. And then I go home. There's no place I'd rather not go ever again. I wonder if anything will ever change." It’s a strange sensation when a fictional character voices your inner monologue better than you can. I never loved my hometown, and not because it was especially awful, just because it wasn’t particularly anything. I grew up in a city that always felt like it was trying to conv

Jenn The Editor: alexa play hometown glory by adele

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Loving your Terrible Home Town in Clannad Afterstory

The Scene of a Lifetime: A Montage & Climax That Completes Each Other , just like their love!

"In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine." 'UP' UP THERE IN OUR HEARTS. In the landscape of cinematic masterpieces, there is barely any film that could possibly achieve the sublime balance between technical brilliance and emotional devastation all in the first 10 minutes with the most tender and heartbreakingly adorable approach quite like Pete Docter's "Up" (2009). The very sequence is a timeless testament to the human heart. U

mind.full.of.movies: Such a beautiful reading of the montage scene! I'm 100% with you; the montage in this movie reminded me a bit of that animation short, "Paperman" in that it really manages to evoke such deep, intense emotions without any dialogue at all. The way each scene was composed, the lighting, the music, and the simple body movements were enough to both captivate your attention, tell a story, and leave you feeling everything all at once.

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The Scene of a Lifetime: A Montage & Climax That Completes Each Other , just like their love!

Shingeki no Kyojin: The epic zenith of Japanese animation.

A good story increases its appreciation by revealing the truth about its characters. We have become spoiled by industrial cinema's schematic narrative order. In this order, the elements are visible to the audience, but not to the characters, so we are simply spectators of what will inevitably happen. To spice up a feeling of surprise, the goal is to build empathy or contempt for the character, but this only manages to cover up the incipient texture of the obvious, believing that a story is worth

Anime After Dark: Attack on titan has some of the best lore I’ve ever seen!

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Shingeki no Kyojin: The epic zenith of Japanese animation.

There Will Never Be a Film Like Akira

As someone who runs an anime review account, it feels almost sacrilegious to admit this, but I only recently watched Akira. Yes, the 1988 Akira. The one that’s practically the backbone of every anime, history, documentary, and cyberpunk fan’s mood board. I held out for years, despite all the peer pressure and persistent recommendations from friends and strangers alike. And now, having finally seen it? I feel like I've finally found something I've spent decades looking for. But my hesitation wasn

Matthew Alan Schmidt: I really need to watch this...

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You Are In Hinamizawa, Summer of '89

It’s June 17th, 1989. The sun burns through paper-thin curtains as the sound of cicadas drills into your skull. You're on a futon, half-awake, blinking against the light. It smells like damp earth and old wood. You hear footsteps downstairs and the clatter of someone making miso soup. You don’t remember arriving in this village, but you know you’ve been here before. You chalk it up to déjà vu. This is Hinamizawa, a rural village nestled deep in the mountains of Gifu Prefecture. Isolated and quai

Matthew Alan Schmidt: B-b-b-but how could an anime with such a cute art style be so cruel and disturbing??

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This Unknown Film Is Why Star Wars, LOTR, Avengers, Naruto, Mad Max and Every Action Blockbuster Story Feels the Same!

A 70 year old b&w Japanese film is the BLUEPRINT that owns the narrative of ALL YOUR FAVOURITE ACTION FRANCHISE !? All those 207 days worth of cinema consumption lines up to this one MAGNUM OPUS film that has 207 mins of runtime but decades worth of influence! Influence so powerful that even this week’s release of PREDATOR movie has listed it in its influence for making their film ! Steven Spielberg, Andrei Tarkovsky, Martin Scorsese, Denis Villeneuve, Ingrid Bergman, Sergio Leone all these mast

ReelKen: Hell yeah Kurosawa was a god damn genius and Seven Samurai's DNA is absolutely everywhere in big action flicks – gotta admit your breakdown of the team-assembly thing and the rain making fights feel raw is spot on, totally see why Spielberg raves about it.

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This Unknown Film Is Why Star Wars, LOTR, Avengers, Naruto, Mad Max and Every Action Blockbuster Story Feels the Same!

How Two Studio Ghibli Masterpieces Define Coming-of-Age Cinema: The Cinema of Becoming!

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, but the journey of understanding begins with one frame." Here's the truth that changes everything once you recognise it: We are all living in the third act of our coming-of-age film ! This is my first article, written as I embark on the most important journey of my creative life. My "filler episodes" are done; this one, I intend for it to be canon. After years of loving cinema like from both sides of the screen , after countless hours of ana

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How Two Studio Ghibli Masterpieces Define Coming-of-Age Cinema: The Cinema of Becoming!

Why Pompo the Cinéphile Became My Timeless North Star

Pompo the Cinéphile is a profound act of cinematic communion, an animated film that doesn't merely tell a story but offers itself as a mirror, inviting creators, dreamers, and solitary wanderers of imagination to recognize themselves within its frames. To say I'm biased would be stating the obvious, it's impossible for someone who breathes film, who sees life as footage to be edited, stories waiting patiently for capture, to remain neutral. But perhaps neutrality isn't the point here; perhaps re

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Why Pompo the Cinéphile Became My Timeless North Star

Mind If A White Boy Watches Some Anime?

Moshi moshi. I fear that Peliplat is changing me. It's making me, dare I say, more well rounded. At least, it's expanding my viewing horizons, as I have started to consume content that was not previously on my radar. It used to take a lot for me to watch anime. As a white, Canadian adult, anime seemed like something for kids or at least something from such a foreign culture that it just wasn't made for me. A colleague once convinced me to watch Death Note, promising that it was the greatest TV s

omarmnsouli: I love Perfect Blue. I'm game for anything with a fictional popstar

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More Than a Star, Less Than A Person

If you live your life through parasocial relationships with the celebrities you adore, you’re definitely not alone. Honestly, I’ve been there too—maybe I still am. I mean, who doesn’t fantasize about becoming best friends with that one actor or influencer? Who hasn’t devoted so much time to a star or an idol’s career that, at some point, it almost becomes something religious? But over the years, I’ve learned (shocking) that some things we see or hear about famous people just aren’t true. A lot o

Lucas.: Once again, opening my eyes to a show/world I knew nothing about. Thank you, Anime After Dark!

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Turbo Granny and the Profane Grace of Evil

Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye is a collective exorcism in a dark room where the laughter turns nervous, and the color palette begins to rot. Let’s make one thing clear right out of the cursed, dripping gate: If you haven’t seen Season 1, do not watch this. The so-called “recap” is a jagged, barely coherent Rorschach test of madness—less a narrative, more a PTSD flashback stitched together by yokai-fueled panic. It’s not for newcomers. It’s not for explanation. It’s a fevered reminder to the initiated. An

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Turbo Granny and the Profane Grace of Evil

The Most Passive War Film Ever Made

Grave of the Fireflies is probably my perfect idea of a war film. I’ve seen a plethora of war movies throughout my life, from childhood to adulthood, since war is such a common dramatic motif. Many films use it to instantly create tragedy, win an Oscar, or, in most cases, discourage the notion that war was ever necessary or good. But very few are as quietly devastating, and as narratively dense, as this one. Fortunately, I’ve had the privilege of living in a relatively peaceful and stable countr

Lucas.: War is hell

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The Geometry of Willpower: Existential Symbolism in My Hero Academia: Vigilantes

In My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, beneath the genre polish of a superhero spin-off lies a textured meditation on dignity, justice, and the gravity of becoming. The narrative centers on a triptych of characters: a shy, grounded young man; a buoyant, rebellious girl; and a grizzled veteran who looms with the aura of past battles. But it’s in the literal biomechanics of their powers — the choreography of how they move through the world — that the story sketches its most potent philosophy. Koichi — o

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The Geometry of Willpower: Existential Symbolism in My Hero Academia: Vigilantes

Time Travel is Usually Horror

I grew up watching the 1970s kids' show Doraemon, where a robot cat from the 22nd century travels back in time to the 1980s to help his caretaker’s great-grandson fix his life (if only someone would do that for me now). The show revolves around the two having adventures in Japan with their friends, as Doraemon uses several of his futuristic gadgets—like the bamboo copter, the anywhere door, or the flying magic carpet—to impress his rural companions. That was all fine and dandy, but as I got olde

Lucas.: If I could time travel, I'd go back so I could watch more anime

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Wind Breaker: It’s time for lunch

Why? That’s the only question I can ask myself. THUD! Another guy just fell to the ground after getting punched. I think I saw a tooth flying out of his mouth. Why am I in this situation? Right now, I’m in the middle of a massive brawl between two groups of high school guys. To be more precise, I’m lying on the ground and playing possum after being shoved. My name is Filip Kovacevic; I’m starting my first year of high school after moving to Japan. My family had to move here for my dad's work. Wh

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Crunchyroll Anime Award picks?

https://deadline.com/2025/05/crunchyroll-2025-anime-awards-winners-list-1236411102/ They came out with the winners, but who do you think should've won in each category? I think Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End should've won everything.

Carlos Norcia: Frieren made me cry like Up, I had to take a break from it – right after I finished watching the pilot, hahahaBut I'll keep watching it!

Jennifer Check Takes Light Yagami to Dinner

So many mainstream thriller and horror franchises are built around psychotic antagonists facing off against protagonists that are kind of just saner versions of the villains. And I get why that elevates the conflict, drives the plot forward, and gives the audience someone they're obviously meant to root for. The few films that feature two similarly antagonistic characters playing off one another are rare and much harder to develop, but whenever I watch a movie that nails it done right, then that

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Jennifer Check Takes Light Yagami to Dinner

One Piece: Freedom is a Revolution

Have you ever asked yourself, “What if I made a different decision?” That’s something I think about quite frequently. Honestly, I hope there aren’t many people reading this who feel the same. I have always made choices that feel safe and don’t push me out of my comfort zone. We should be making decisions that, even if they're scary, are the path we want to take forward. I need to free myself from the fear of the unknown, to be bold, to find true friends. Those are some of the lessons I learned w

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Anime After Dark

I Knew What Takopi's Original Sin Was Going To Be About, and I Still Watched it

Takopi's Original Sin

anime

Dark

takopi

Host of Embers

Machines, Class, and Architecture: Metropolis vs Psycho-Pass

Metropolis

Artificial Intelligence

Dystopian

anime

Anime After Dark

Loving your Terrible Home Town in Clannad Afterstory

Clannad

Coming-of-Age on Screen

anime

sad

CinematicSID

The Scene of a Lifetime: A Montage & Climax That Completes Each Other , just like their love!

Up

A Scene to Remember

Romance

Pixar

Joshua Lentulus

Shingeki no Kyojin: The epic zenith of Japanese animation.

Attack on Titan

A Scene to Remember

anime

desafio

Anime After Dark

There Will Never Be a Film Like Akira

Akira

Old Movies, New Faves

1980s

anime

Anime After Dark

You Are In Hinamizawa, Summer of '89

Higurashi: When They Cry

Horror

summer

anime

CinematicSID

This Unknown Film Is Why Star Wars, LOTR, Avengers, Naruto, Mad Max and Every Action Blockbuster Story Feels the Same!

Old Movies, New Faves

Explore Japanese Cinema

Star Wars

CinematicSID

How Two Studio Ghibli Masterpieces Define Coming-of-Age Cinema: The Cinema of Becoming!

Whisper of the Heart

Coming-of-Age on Screen

Fantasy

Animation

Fran Casillas

Why Pompo the Cinéphile Became My Timeless North Star

Pompo: The Cinéphile

Old Movies, New Faves

must see movies

Adult Animation

Lucas.

Mind If A White Boy Watches Some Anime?

Perfect Blue

Perfect Blue

anime

Movie Club

Anime After Dark

More Than a Star, Less Than A Person

Oshi No Ko

anime

idol

cultural

Fran Casillas

Turbo Granny and the Profane Grace of Evil

Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye

Animation

peliculas de animacion

Supernatural anime

Anime After Dark

The Most Passive War Film Ever Made

Grave of the Fireflies