The Ramen Shop

The developers at Arc System Works have proven throughout the last few years that nobody makes anime fighting games quite like they do with their flashy and over the top style and in-depth, rewarding combat. Similar to their attempt to turn Dragon Ball into a 3v3 fighter in Dragon Ball FighterZ, their newest title "Granblue Fantasy Versus" sets out to give the juggernaut of a Japanese mobile game a 1v1 fighting game adaptation. While many in the West may not be deeply familiar with the series in which it's based on, Granblue Fantasy Versus is yet another exciting addition to Arc System Work's lineup of 2D anime fighters. Arguably the three most important aspects of fighting games are its characters, combat, and presentation and Granblue Fantasy Versus manages to go above and beyond with each one. Versus looks stunning with its highly stylized anime aesthetic with a similar 2D/3D animation style that has been honed since Guilty Gear Xrd and Dragon Ball F...

Japanese Film Maker Makoto Shinkai captured audiences throughout the world with 2016's Your Name  and he now follows up the film with 2020's Weathering With You. The film focuses on teenage Hodaka who runs away from home to a modern-day Tokyo that has seen nonstop rain for a significant amount of time. Hodaka lives on the streets unable to obtain a place to stay until he finds work as a writer for an urban legend magazine. Rumors spread of a mysterious Sunshine Girl, who can control the weather. Hodaka's life is soon changed when he meets Hina, a girl who possesses the very same power to stop the rain. Weathering With You is an incredible experience that uses beautiful animation to tell a story that is both an endearing tale about young love and an allegory for the struggles that young people face today. One of  Weathering 's greatest accomplishments is the way it beautifully portrays the city of Tokyo both in its animation and in the story. The weather that enve...

I’ve had my eye on Trigger’s ‘Promare’ since it was announced for a US Theatrical Release. It’s the studio’s first feature length film straight from the people behind Kill La Kill and Gurren Lagann, two of my favorite anime of all time. I had high hopes for Promare because of that and I’m so happy to say that it more than delivered. Promare’s everything that Trigger is known for in full force and is a love letter to the studio’s past work. Promare takes place 30 years after The Great World Blaze, a near cataclysmic event caused by humans that spontaneously combust into flames that ravaged the entire earth. These flame-wielding humans, now known as the Burnish, are discriminated against and branded as criminals with society reconstructing itself to withstand themselves against the Burnish threat. One such defense is the mech piloting firefighting troop Burning Rescue and over the course of the plot, new recruit Galo Thymos fights with his team to combat ...

One day after a mysterious flash of light, all of humanity turned to stone and several thousand years later, humans break free from their petrification and find themselves in an earth that has reverted back to its original state. Dr. Stone began as weekly manga series with an immediately intriguing premise alongside great presentation and characters that made it a fantastic read. As a fan of the manga, I was extremely excited for the anime adaptation. We’re now 3 episodes into the show and while as an anime it may not be doing anything groundbreaking, Dr. Stone proves to be a fun and entertaining watch that you should definitely check out during this summer anime season. Dr. Stone stars Senku Ishigami, a highschool genius who uses his intellect and scientific knowledge in order to survive in the new stone age that he finds himself in. He and his loud, enthusiastic friend, Taiju work together to discover a method to break people free from their petrificati...

Dragon Ball is one of those series that feels like everyone under the sun has experienced or at least has heard of. Even my grandmother can at least recognize Goku as the guy in the orange karate gi with the spiky, golden hair. However, my experience with the series is a unique one as unlike seemingly every other person my age who enjoys anime, I didn’t grow up with Dragon Ball. I was the prime target audience for Dragon Ball as a child. Not only did I play video games and enjoy action-orientated shows like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Avatar: The Last Airbender but I also took mixed martial arts classes for a large portion of my life as well. However, for some reason, I never tried giving the show a shot. It may have been due to my parents thinking it was too violent for me at the time or a general lack of interest at the time but regardless of the reason, I never sat down and tried watching it. As I got older and became more into anime, I started to realize...