Episode 5 of My Status as an Assassin rebounds after a weaker fourth outing. Akira, Amelia, and Night leave the elf kingdom for Brute, where pirate ninjas, Lord Gram, and a feared black cat set the table. Crow's grief and Night's Nightmare of Adlea past give the hour weight. Amelia calls out cowardice, then gets abducted anyway. Akira's furious Shadow Hell finally breaks his stoic calm.
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Burst Angel, also known as Bakuretsu Tenshi, is Studio Gonzo’s 2004 mecha-action series about pastry student Kyohei Tachibana cooking for mercenaries Jo, Meg, Sei, and Amy in a chaotic, gun-legal future Tokyo. This mixed 24-episode review finds catchy designs, solid late CGI, and a likable Jo, yet criticizes filler-heavy storytelling, stereotypical characters, unused Kyohei, and fan service that outpaces plot. Action fans may still enjoy the ride.
Episode 2 opens with a DBZ-style recap, then Elymas refuses Arus’s party to hog EXP. He dumps points into Oath of the Heavy Armor, disarms a level 16 spider, and fires Rampart Reflection. Poison proves no man is an island. The F-rank guild mocks Heavy Knight until solo-farmed stones hit the counter. GoHands shoots the forest like Predator. Recap annoyed me. Episode 3 has me hooked.
A subtitle rewatch of Vampire Hunter D (1985) reframes the Streamline classic. Ashi Productions’ frontier gothic blends Western grit with vampire nobility, and original dialogue sharpens D, Doris, Count Magnus Lee, and L’armica beyond the dub. Uneven animation and Komuro’s synth score mark its era, yet every motive lands cleanly; what Macek softened still matters. D rides off; Doris never gets a goodbye—seven out of ten.
Episode 4 of My Status as an Assassin picks up the “child of blight” cliffhanger and turns it into a sister feud, a Holy Tree duel, and a flashback that overexplains everything. Akira won’t draw his blade. Amelia wants her name said out loud. Kilika fights on a lie her father built to spare her. The score carries a budget fight. The hooded instigator walks away.
Netflix’s The Ribbon Hero reimagines Osamu Tezuka’s Princess Knight as a theatrical, sometimes brutal feature from Yūki Igarashi. Princess Sapphire survives Silverland’s fall, scrapes by in Goldland, and awakens as the Princess Knight against the Nergal and a faith that feeds orphans to keep the peace. Unique designs, Takarazuka-coded acts, and gray morality outweigh CG seams. Dead stay dead. Hope costs. Recommended if Flip Flappers energy matters more than clean exposition.
The Exiled Heavy Knight Knows How to Game the System opens with ceremony, betrayal, and exile. Elymas Edvaughn lands the “trash” Heavy Knight class, gets disowned, and walks into Rondalm knowing Magic World’s real meta. GoHands packs flashbacks, busy fights, and restless camera work into a brisk premiere. Between Malice’s cold smile and OP skill trees, Episode 1 sets a clear revenge engine—and makes the two-cour run feel worth the ride.
Mebius Dust Episode 1 drops viewers into a quarantined Tokyo where powered kids fight capture-the-flag turf wars under a floating crystal. Polis Hopper loses ground, meets Dr. Yuda, and rematches ice-powered February Roar. Doga Kobo’s original has cool ability gags but muddy team clarity and choppy action. Araki’s strained clairvoyance plus the escape promise are the real hooks. Simple watch if expectations stay low.
AIKa R-16: Virgin Mission is a 2007 Studio Fantasia prequel OVA directed by Katsuhiko Nishijima, the man behind Project A-Ko and Agent Aika. This three-episode series follows sixteen-year-old Aika Sumeragi into a treasure-hunting adventure loaded with fan service and surprisingly well-choreographed hand-drawn action. It’s not deep anime, and it doesn’t pretend to be. But with a jazz-inflected score, solid voice acting, and a golf club beatdown for the ages, it delivers exactly what it promises.