My Hero Academiamay just go down as one of the best anime series ever made … but it’s not there yet. The tale of Deku, a powerless kid who grows up to be the world’s #1 hero, has yet to be completely told even though it’s already worth the watch. So whether you’re new to the crew or just want to experience the story so far over again, you might want to check out the seasonal collections on FUNimation. Season 3, both Part 1 and 2, are available now on digital and Blu-ray, along with a bunch of other worthy anime titles. I’ve reviewed a new batch of the newly available shows below, so check them out to see what you might be missing!
For the uninitiated, FUNimation is a U.S. company known for their dubs and domestic distribution of Japanese anime. So all of the reviews you’re about to check out are for the dub version of each anime, though some Blu-rays/DVDs have a Japanese audio option as there are some exceptions to the rule. Below, you’ll find the official synopsis for each movie and series, along with a link to pick up your own copy at FUNimation’s online store, should my review convince you. Sometimes, it’ll be an easy thing to suggest you buy it, other times, it’ll be just as easy to go in the other direction.
My Hero Academia: Season 3, Part 1 & 2
Summer is here, and the heroes of Class 1-A and 1-B are in for the toughest training camp of their lives. But nothing could prepare them for a surprise attack from the newest members of The League of Villains. When a student gets taken away by force, it’s time for the pros to step in. Get ready for All Might’s most critical battle with the mastermind of the League, All For One!
Season 3 features some of the best storytelling inMy Hero Academiaso far, starting with the requisite recap episode before quickly moving into some truly heroic tales. We get to meet Kota, a young boy with a tragic past and an understandable distaste for heroes. We also get to watch the heroes-in-training enjoy a (brief) stay at a summer camp, which comes with much more than they bargained for when the League of Villains reveals their dastardly plans. But while Deku’s one-man stand against a powerful foe in order to protect a defenseless child is vital to the hero’s story, what really sets this season apart is the final clash between All Might and All For One. That’s the end of one generation of heroes and the beginning of another.
But our heroes still have a lot to learn: They get new gear, costumes, and ultimate moves, and they’ll need them all if they’re to pass the provisional hero trials. We get a peek at their fight ability–as well as their strategy when it comes to defense and disaster response–but we also get teases for the new villains moving into the power vacuum and the heroes tasked with responding to the emerging threats. It’s perhaps the best season yet, and there’s plenty more to explore in the Blu-ray sets.
Special Features include:
Class 1-A is fired up to earn hero licenses after All Might’s epic battle with All For One. Once they’re official, Deku and his friends can finally join the pros in the field. But first, they must pass a brutal exam that’s brimming with school rivalry!
Special features include:
Special Features:
Inside the Episodes (a peek behind the scenes of voice recording and voice direction): In this featurette, you get to see actors take direction fromColleen Clinkenbeard, plus trivia like how they record with their hands covering their mouths to mimic wearing gas-masks, a low-tech way to save on post-production!
The Outtake Reel is also delightful, so don’t miss it!
Inside the Episode:
Check out more of my FUNimation anime reviews below:
Jormungand: Complete Series
Jonah is a child soldier and the newest bodyguard for Koko, an international arms dealer with an entourage of hired guns. The cold-blooded kid hates Koko’s line of work, but following her into the darkest corners of the black market might be the only way he can find those responsible for his family’s slaughter. Besides, his employer isn’t like most merchants of death. She uses guile and cutthroat tactics to keep her clients armed to the teeth—all while cultivating her own warped plan for the future of world peace. With the CIA desperate for her capture, assassins eager to collect her head, and the potential for every contract to end in ultra-violence, Koko and her comrades in arms bring the boom to every corner of the world.
“Jormungand, the world serpent!” The opening dialogue about how the serpent has already gathered up most of the world despite not having any wings, hands, or feet is quite the way to throw audiences into a story about mercenaries, world-conquering warlords, and a child-soldier who’s been thrown into the mix right alongside us. Jonah, orphaned thanks to military weapons but who became a well-trained and heavily armed mercenary in spite of it, plays a vital role in the success or failure of this team.
This series has the intensity ofGhost in the Shell, just without the far-flung futuristic aspect of it. That grounds the story a bit as both the weapons and the vehicles are recognizable. And just likeGitS, it’s the characters that make the story worth watching. Each of the mercenaries in the group, led by Koko, get a pretty significant backstory, as do the occasional rival mercs that cross their paths. The storytelling gets increasingly mature as it moves from the introductory Season 1 to the more conclusive Season 2, ultimately building to Koko’s final plan for world domination. That plan may seem extreme–and it is, really–but the story itself loses a little punch because it doesn’t really explore the fallout from it. Other than that: Solid.
“Here I am, traveling with an arms dealer…”
Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits - Season 1
Aoi Tsubaki is suddenly swept away to the hidden realm when a handsome ogre lord comes to take her as his wife! He claims that she must pay back her grandfather’s debt, but Aoi’s not willing to give her hand over so easily. Instead, she makes a deal to work at the Tenjin-ya, a bed and breakfast for ayakashi, to pay back what her family owes.
Gorgeous animation from Gonzo to start as we watch protagonist Aoi, who can see the spiritual Ayakashi. One such being saved her life when she was younger; many of them are super cute, even if others are dangerous. LikeInuyasha,Spirited Away, orAncient Magus Bride, Aoi finds herself transported to a hidden realm but is pulled there by an ogre (a rather handsome lad) who will become her husband; she’s been given his hand by her grandfather to pay his debts. As Aoi works to pay off her grandfather’s debts, she makes friends and allies along the way, some of whom are rather powerful and bestow incredible gifts–like an enchanted flower bud that will bloom until it falls one day, giving strongBeauty and the Beastvibes–upon her that she uses to survive in both the human realm and that of the spirits.
As it goes in the modern era of anime, there’s special attention paid to food, its preparation, and how it affects humans and ayakashi alike. Overall, it’s a sweet story that focuses on the Hidden Realm’s denizens’ relationships with Aoi, the human food she makes for them, and various mythologies from the Hidden Realm (and there’s very little fan service, which is refreshing.) Part One ends on a bit of a cliffhanger in Episode 13 when a strange new Ayakashi arrives … could it be the same one from Aoi’s childhood?
Katana Maidens: Part Two
Tasked with protecting the world from the aradama are the sword-wielding shrine maidens. When it’s time for the national competition, Kanami Eto is determined to win. But when she faces Hiyori Jujo in the finals, Hiyori doesn’t attack her but goes after the head of the Origami family! Suddenly, Kanami is helping Hiyori escape and learns that the Origami family is hiding a big secret.
Though you can revisitmy review of Part One here, I’m sorry to say that Part Two doesn’t much improve matters. It’s like someone took all the fun and style and humor out ofRWBYand this is what’s left … it’s dreadfully boring and slow. And by the finale, it hasn’t really picked up at all. If you’re into these characters, cool, otherwise there are many other better stories out there to spend your time on.
Kamisama Kiss: Season 1 & 2
Nanami is a poor homeless high school girl until she accepts an offer to live at an old shrine - making her the new local god! After an awkward introduction, the handsome and hard-shelled fox spirit Tomoe reluctantly vows to protect her as her familiar. As Nanami learns the ins and outs of godhood, she meets more spirits along the way—including a cute snake god and a sexy crow demon!
We’ve got anotherInuyasha-like serires with less action and more comedy/drama, but I rather like this one. It’s got agreattheme song to start; it’s both original and fun to listen to, and doesn’t get old after a dozen or so playthroughs. We quickly meet Nanami, a (surprise) 17-year-old abandoned by her father due to his debts. She’s gifted a house but it’s a trick; she’s actually now at a yokai shrine for the “land god.”
This series is more about the high school drama and relationships between humans and yokai than it is about action, and that’s totally fine. It works surprisingly well!
Season 2 changes things up with a less-impressive theme song and a new character: Mamuro the shikigami. (Fanswillget to hear Kurama sing though, so that might be something you’re into.) This season also tries to mix in a little more action, but that comes with mixed results. It moves away from the fun mythology and fish-out-of-water story of Nanami in the realm of the yokai and kami, so while we do get some more of Nanami’s backstory and family history, which is worthwhile, it doesn’t improve on what’s already an entertaining first season.
Guilty Crown: Complete Series
In the near future, a meteorite carrying a foreign virus crashes in Japan, leading to a devastating nation-wide infection and total anarchy. Several years later, Shu-a teen with a special ability awakened by the Apocalypse Virus-meets a strange girl who incites him to join the struggle against a government organization’s robotic forces and a secret society whose goal remains shrouded in mystery.
The series is introduced over the opening credits and theme song, a style that few anime series do these days but which I kind of prefer; it lends something different to the storytelling approach, tone, and pace. That being said, even with this intro, I don’t know what’s going on, but there are heavily armed futuristic military machines (similar to those found inGhost in the Shell)chasing down girls flocked with feathers and in flowing gowns for some reason. Anime!
What starts with a school student running afoul of an organization that apprehends one of the girls soon defaults to a “damsel in distress” story in which the kidnapped girl lets the boy “use her” and use the “power of the guilty crown, released by two hearts”… Our protagonist, Shu, literally pulls a weapon from inside the girl’s body, which looks like a rock-candy fist that transforms into a massive sword of some kind. Neat party trick!
It’s a pretty standard paired-up actioner from there on out, similar toTwin Star Exorcistsin a lot of ways, along with the familiar fan service; even Shu’s mom is curvy/pervy.
The mythology and the history pick up a bit in Season 2, as does the conflict between the GHQ and Funeral Parlor. Shu’s behavior–forcibly taking Voids from the girls–remains problematic though. His humanity is tested throughout and he soon becomes tyrannical as the new “student council president” in an effort to break him and his friends out of their imposed isolation. But Shu gets his comeuppance when an old enemy returns and forces him to snap out of his power-mad state.
Ultimately, the ending just kind ofhappens.Maybe it’s because I never felt super invested in any of the characters along the way. But, as a bonus, the entire series features a disabled character and doesn’t attempt to animate around her or magically “cure” her, which is a nice touch and something we rarely get to see.
Lucky Star
What’s the best way to eat dessert? Do twins really have a psychic connection? What kind of guys are into moe girls? These are the kinds of questions that float through the inquisitive mind of anime super-fan Konata Izumi. When she’s not lost in her favorite manga or logging hours in one of her online games, she’s debating the mysteries of the universe with the best friends a girl could ask for.
This anime adaptation of the long-running short-form slice-of-life comedy series is like ifSeinfeldwas an anime series for kids. The girls have in-depth conversations about everyday things, like how they eat or prepare different foods, the difference between a cold and the flu, “May Sickness”, and how to go about studying and doing homework. (There’s a weird quick side story about girls being kidnapped by someone obsessed with slave/master anime, but it’s not revisited…) If you like this sort of thing, good; there’sa lotof it. Well done for what it is, but not my cup of tea.
Junji Ito Collection: Complete Series
Enter the twisted world of Junji Ito’s works of horror! Witness the most hair-raising stories from Junji Ito Masterpiece Collection and Fragments of Horror like you’ve never seen them before. For any fans who seek the thrill of shocking imagery and ill-fated characters, this whole show is made for you.
If this anime adaptation introduces people to the work of Junji Ito and gets them interested in reading more, that’s great, but it pales in comparison to the experience of reading the manga for yourself
Animation has a hard time adapting horror and there are few examples of this being done well. Even in the best-adapted episodes in this collection, like “Grease”, the “model” or the scarecrow episode, a live-action adaptation would have carried much more weight. It’s the suspension of disbelief that comes up short here as the medium of animation inherently undercuts the horror and drama of Junji Ito’s most disturbing and unsettling stories.
The “Tomie” extras are worth watching if only to see the story that launched a horror franchise of its own.
Gonna Be the Twin-Tail!! Complete Series
Soji Mitsuka is an ordinary high schooler with an extraordinary obsession. Twin tails are his fire, his air, his will to live! But when a mysterious woman from another world enlists his help to fight hideous monsters with various moe fetishes, Soji much transform into a powerful pigtailed…girl?
100% thought the “Twin-Tail” was going to be something like a superhero designation but no, it’s about a boy obsessing over a girl’s two long ponytails/pigtails, as you do. How do we learn this? By Soji, the male protagonist, being asked to put “his big thick thing” through a bracelet because the girl (Twoerle) “can take it”… followed by her offering her boobs to Soji, so …
Let’s not take this one too seriously since it’s Soji’s obsession with “twin-tails” that will ultimately save the hairstyle from being erased from existence. Soji’s catalogue of “twin-tails” to identify girls at his school is necessary to track which girls are being attacked by “the bad guys”, the Eremerian, who hate “twin-tails”… This is so dumb that I watched a little longer to see if it actually got funny.
The interesting wrinkle is that Soji turns into a girl when he transforms, and that pervy Soji is put up against equally pervy monsters from another dimension in order to protect the objects of his desire. By the end, it’s still very silly as Soji learns to embrace his dual reality and battle a powerful foe who’s obsessed with girly boys…
It’s relatively clean and light-hearted, just not for me
Yurikuma Arashi: Complete Series
In a world divided between humans and hyper-intelligent, man-eating bears, Kureha attends an all-girls school and holds onto a simple wish—to spend the rest of her life with her classmate and soul mate, Sumika. But after a secret rendezvous ends in tragedy, Kureha vows to never back down on her love and put a bullet in any bear she meets.
What starts off as a love story between two girls is interrupted by a bear sighting. Apparently these “bears” love and hate the humans on the other side of the wall (of severance), so they had no choice but to cross over … and if you’re having a hard time following along already, that’s by design.
(This likely makes the second allusion to theSankebetsu brown bear incidentthat we’ve covered in these anime reviews, the other of which was referenced inGolden Kamuy.)
There are some really bold visuals right off the bat, like yellow-and-black caution/warning signs covering a bright red, pink, and blue school building. And on the aural side of things, after a breathy, semi-erotic theme song, we get a dose of exposition about the Wall of Severance and the bears who long to eat humans.
There’s not much story at the get-go, but the tension between the humans and bears stays with you throughout, especially when some of the bear-girls delight in having eaten someone while some of the human girls train to hunt bears and protect their friends. Things tick up a bit when it’s revealed that the protagonist’s girlfriend was likely eaten by a bear. Meanwhile, in a spirit realm, various kawaii boi judges rule on the conflict between humans and bears…
Much likeFLCL, I have no clue what’s going on here, especially as scenes start to be repeated, but I’m glad I gave this one more of a chance. It’s essentially a story about those who are excluded from social groups for being different and who must find courage in their true love even if everyone around them is telling them it’s dangerous to be “different”; unfortunately, the message isn’t super clear and it takes alongtime (and a lot of patience) to get there. And as far as yuri anime go, it seems to check all the boxes, even if it’s not a direct adaptation of the manga.
Chio’s School Road: The Complete Series
For Chio, the journey to school is packed with socially unacceptable mishaps, and every day is crazier than the last. Path blocked for construction? She takes the high road, rooftop assassin style. Thug staring her down? She activates her online ego, Bloody Butterfly. There’s no telling what she’ll do next, but her best friend is always there to laugh at her.
Always a good sign when you have a solid theme song to start things off.
We follow Chio, an obsessive video game player who hates standing out, on her road to school, which includes a detour across the town’s rooftops and underground garages while helping people out along the way (but avoiding social contact as much as possible). There’s a great sequence of poor, awkward Chio trying to figure out how to react to the most popular girl in school talking to her out of the blue and it is justtoo real.
While many anime series are set in high schools, I love that this one takes place mostly on the way to/from school, which is a refreshing change. Ultimately, there’s no bigger point to the overall story, but it’s a nice coming-of-age slice-of-life tale for Chio and her friends
