The Ramen Shop

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...

I didn’t initially expect much when going into Act-Age, especially with its first couple of chapters not doing much noteworthy besides laying down the foundation for its plot. However, as I kept reading I grew to really enjoy the manga for the way it handles its premise and characters. Written by Tatsuya Matsuki and illustrated by Shiro Usazaki, Act-Age follows Kei Yonagi, an aspiring actress who lives to support her two younger siblings after their mother passes away. Yonagi has an incredible talent for method-acting, a style that brings out believable emotional reactions by the actor placing themselves in the given scene. However, she takes this to an extreme level to the point where it seems like she can’t distinguish between the fantasy of a scene and reality. She initially fails to find gigs due to this potentially self-destructive behavior however a highly acclaimed director, Sumiji Kuroyama, recognizes her potential talent and takes her under his wing to culti...