-THIS REVIEW COVERS BOTH SEASONS OF CHIHAYAFURU-

Chihayafuru is a very unique show in premise but not so much in execution. It centers around a traditional Japanese card game called karuta and the aspirations of a girl named Chihaya set to become the best player in Japan (and therefore the world) alongside her friends.

Karuta is a one-on-one card game in which players must try to touch cards inscribed with poems as the corresponding poems are read faster than their …

-THIS REVIEW COVERS BOTH SEASONS OF CHIHAYAFURU-

Chihayafuru is a very unique show in premise but not so much in execution. It centers around a traditional Japanese card game called karuta and the aspirations of a girl named Chihaya set to become the best player in Japan (and therefore the world) alongside her friends.

Karuta is a one-on-one card game in which players must try to touch cards inscribed with poems as the corresponding poems are read faster than their …

Friendship is anextremely common theme in anime (in any medium for that matter) but rarely isit portrayed in hell. Set in a crippled 1950's Japan, Rainbow thrusts its sevenprotagonists into a juvenile refinement center, which is essentially a youth prisonfilled with guards who are out for blood. They give each other nicknames,befriend each other over a smoke, and carve their dreams on a tree for whenthey're finally free, and agree to meet there once again in the future.

It …

House of Five Leaves is an utterly mesmerizing Samurai drama that follows the dealings of a gang of thieves called Five Leaves in Edo Japan, who focus on kidnapping and ransom to make a profit. Despite the intriguing premise the show sadly went overlooked by most at the time of its release. This is likely due to the focus on dialogue and character interaction rather than swordplay and large-scale fights. It's a real shame too because the characters themselves are really …

Shits on the main series, gn