Review – Page 3 – Gay Anime Symposium

Review: DAKAICHI – I’m being harassed by the sexiest man of the year (Episode 2)

DAKAICHI – I’m being harassed by the sexiest man of the year | (抱男1位に脅されています (Dakaretai Otoko 1-i ni Odosarete Imasu)
Episode 2: Is He Sick of Me Already? | あいつ、もう俺に飽きやがったのか？

It’s an unfortunate truth that not every 18+ erotic yaoi manga gets adapted into a BL anime. Sometimes, it’s for a reason. Sometimes, that reason is seeing this stuff acted and animated gets really weird, really quick.

So with that, it’s time for Dakaichi Episode 2.

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REVIEW: Double Decker! Doug & Kirill (Episode 4)

Episode 4: Derick Returns! | 帰って来た、デリック！

If episode 3 sagged a little under the weight of its lackadaisical plot and character development, episode 4 shrugs that burden right off its shoulders, pops the pin of a grenade and jumps gloriously into action.

Part of this could be is that Doug and Kirill are stagnant until we a) learn more about Doug and b) Kirill is able to either advance the plot or personally level up, and the story doesn’t seem to be willing to budge on either point yet. So the best course of action is to swap MCs, ramp up the personalities of its side characters, throw in a few minors twists, and dial the comedy to an eleven.

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for ~~Derick~~ Deana del Rio!

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REVIEW: Banana Fish (Episode 14)

Episode 14: Tender is the Night | 夜がやさし

If you’re catching onto the bumpy Banana Fish narrative formula of bloody carnage/brief respite/bloody carnage, then you should know after last week’s bloodbath it’s time for a break. But “breaks” in the jam-packed Banana Fish are really a matter of perspective. We wouldn’t want you thinking for even a second that Ash Lynx is going to catch a break.

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REVIEW: Double Decker! Doug & Kirill (Episode 1-3)

Double Decker! Doug and Kirill | ダグ＆キリル (Episode 1-3)
Release: 2018

When I started this blog, one of the anime I wanted to rewatch and critically assign gay points to was Tiger and Bunny. Before I could get around to it, Double Decker came crashing majestically into view. By the same studio and rumored to be set in the same universe, Double Decker is a spiritual successor, if not literal sequel, to the colorful, cartoonish crime-and-cape comedy and a hot tip says this time, it’s gay. Um, gayer.

So crank up the jazz and grab your donuts because we are going full frontal buddy-cop. Move over, vigilante superheroes, because we bought these gainfully employed protagonists with our own damn tax money. Meet Kirill, the aspiring hero whom no one, not even the narrator, takes seriously, and Doug, the standoffish hyper-intelligent veteran detective who misses the killshot in the first three minutes of the show. Add a sparkling posse of lady detectives, at least some of whom are possibly lesbians and-

Wait, are we shooting for both BL and GL here? Aw man, this really is a double-decker!

Continue reading REVIEW: Double Decker! Doug & Kirill (Episode 1-3)

REVIEW: DAKAICHI – I’m being harassed by the sexiest man of the year (Episode 1)

DAKAICHI – I’m being harassed by the sexiest man of the year | (抱かれたい男1位に脅されています (Dakaretai Otoko 1-i ni Odosarete Imasu)
Episode 1: In the World of Show Business, It’s Eat or Be Eaten
Release: 2018

Big reveal: the official English title of Dakaretai Otoko 1-i ni Odosarete Imasu, the latest BL manga-turned-anime, is Dakaichi – I’m being harassed by the sexiest man of the year, earning a spot in the ranks of currently trending long-sentence anime titles. What a mouthful.

The curtains open on our top two thespian bachelors in the Japanese entertainment industry. Takato Saijō, a cool and conniving A-list actor since childhood, knows how to play the game. He has carefully cultivated his public appearance to maximize his celebrity appeal, and viciously cuts down the opposition in the process. His handsome looks and top-notch acting skills have earned an array of accolades. But his most treasured achievement is his five-year streak of being voted “Most Huggable Man” in an annual fan poll in some random gossip magazine.

But his world comes crashing down around him when a younger and less experienced actor, Junta Azumaya, beats him in this year’s “Most Huggable” poll, knocking him down to a humiliating second place. What’s worse is the pair have been cast to act together in an upcoming movie, and Junta, not Takato, will be playing the lead.

Ready, and action! (Yes, you’d better believe that’s innuendo.)

Continue reading REVIEW: DAKAICHI – I’m being harassed by the sexiest man of the year (Episode 1)

REVIEW: Banana Fish (Episode 13)

The Snows of Kilimanjaro | キリマンジャロの雪

After waiting an extra week for the next episode, we are officially rolling into the second half of the series. It’s Halloween night, and Ash is going trick-or-treating. Well, it’s like trick-or-treating, but instead of going around getting candy from strangers, he’s single-handedly massacring an entire mafia faction. His costume is that he’s a badass and he’s armed. Ooh, spooky.

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REVIEW: Haruchika

Haruchika: Haruta & Chika | ハルチカ
Release: 2016

Finally, a sports anime for those whose sport is brass band. I say “finally” because I assume brass band is underrepresented in anime. It might not be. But this is the first brass band anime I’ve ever seen. The first brass bandime. (Nailed it.)

Starring Haruka and Chika (get it? “Haruchika”?), who have a few things in common: they are childhood friends, they are both in brass band club, and they’re both madly in love with their band teacher.

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REVIEW: Banana Fish (Episode 12)

EPISODE 12: To Have or Have Not | 持つと持たぬと

Ash and Eiji knock a few off Dino Golzine’s chess board. It’s a study on fears and monsters. A tale of blood, of murder, of the fleeting moral condition of humanity, and of natto and other scary things.

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REVIEW: Hitorijime My Hero

Hitorijime My Hero | ひとりじめマイヒーロー
Release: 2017

Here it is, the gay teacher-student romance you were never sure if it was legal to ask for. Hitorijime My Hero combines the plots of two BL manga (“Hitorijime My Boyfriend” and “Hitorijime My Hero“) to tell the story of not one uncomfortable romantic pairing, but two, with a star-studded cast including a teenage “delinquent” (intentional scare quotes), a predatory math teacher slash vigilante street fighter, a derpy prepubescent best friend, and a total bitch of a human being with zero redeemable qualities beyond being an ikemen.

hitorijime-2 — …and other killer teacher-student pickup lines.

All right, for better or worse, we’re doing this. Let’s talk about the gay.

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REVIEW: Banana Fish (Episode 11)

Episode 10: The Beautiful and the Damned | 美しく呪われし者

“Beautiful” and “damned” don’t even begin to describe Ash “Fucking Up Your Shit” Lynx. If last episode was Rambo explosions and machine guns, Ash has gone full Light Yagami now, and you’d better believe he’s fully armed with military-grade cleverness, and baby, he’s gonna make it hurt.

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