The Cel Block: Anime Reviews & Analysis for the Gen-X Fan

Sub title page content

Mebius Dust Ep 1: Capture the Flag With Extra Names - Pinned Up Ink

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.

Continue Reading
Macross Plus Review: The 1994 OVA That Still Wins - Pinned Up Ink

Macross Plus, the 1994 OVA co-directed by Shinichirō Watanabe and Shoji Kawamori, follows childhood friends Isamu, Guld, and Myung as rivalry, romance, and a sentient AI idol named Sharon Apple collide above planet Eden. With Yoko Kanno's genre-defining score and animation that still holds up 30 years later, this review breaks down why the series remains one of anime's most complete artistic statements, and why its 2026 4K restoration matters for new and longtime fans alike.

Continue Reading
AIKa R-16: Virgin Mission Review: Ecchi With Charm - Pinned Up Ink

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.

Continue Reading
World Trigger Episode 9 Review: Border's Faction Politics - Pinned Up Ink

Episode 9 of World Trigger pulls back the curtain on Border's internal power struggle, revealing three competing factions shaped by grief, ideology, and institutional memory. Yūgo Kuga's role as Border's founding Commander-in-Chief reframes everything — turning Yuma's arrival into a multigenerational legacy conflict. From Chika's quiet shrine confession to Jin's political judo, this episode transforms a neighborhood invasion story into something far more Shakespearean.

Continue Reading
Magic User's Club OVA: A Charming 90s Anime Review - Pinned Up Ink

What makes a place feel like home? Magic User's Club OVA (1996–1997) uses that understated question as its emotional foundation. A six-episode magical girl comedy about a high school club battling alien invaders, it is light on plot but rich in heart. Carried by a lovable, endearing cast, charming 90s aesthetics, and wacky slapstick humor, it is a short, feel-good watch that sneaks up on you.

Continue Reading
Dominion Tank Police 1988 OVA Review: Chaos, Tanks & Fun - Pinned Up Ink

Set in a smog-choked future Newport, Dominion Tank Police follows rookie cop Leona Ozaki and her beloved mini-tank Bonaparte in a 4-episode 1988 OVA based on Masamune Shirow's manga. The series leans hard into comedy over plot, delivering chaotic firefights, lovable misfits, and a surprisingly nuanced trio of villains — a blast if you don't take it too seriously.

Continue Reading
Flip Flappers Review: Symbolism, Adventure & Sci-Fi Magic Anime Explored - Pinned Up Ink

Flip Flappers (2016) follows middle schoolers Papika and Cocona as they dive into Pure Illusion — a dreamlike parallel dimension — hunting magical amorphous shards for the Flip Flap organization. Beneath its colorful, adventure-driven surface lies layered symbolism: innocence, identity, and the turbulent crossroads of childhood and adulthood. With striking hand-drawn visuals reminiscent of Studio Ghibli and standout music by ZAQ and To-Mas, this Studio 3Hz gem is a must-watch.

Continue Reading
ēlDLIVE (2017) Review — The Space Cop Show That Almost Got Out of Its Own Way - Pinned Up Ink

ēlDLIVE is a mid-tier 2017 space cop shonen that echoes the energy of classic sci-fi anime while exploring heavy themes of childhood trauma and guilt. Though Studio Pierrot’s budget constraints and a sluggish middle act hold it back, the surprisingly raw emotional arcs make it worth watching. If you enjoy nostalgic extraterrestrial world-building and character growth over flashy animation, this flawed series truly earns its score.

Continue Reading
Gun×Sword: Grief, Revenge, and Mecha on the Frontier - Pinned Up Ink

Gun×Sword follows Van, a drifter with no past and one purpose — find the man with the claw. Wrapped in a mecha-Western skin, this 2005 Gorō Taniguchi series builds a quiet meditation on grief and arrested identity, using Van and Ray Lundgren as mirror images of the same wound. Honest about its limits and committed to its ending, it rewards patient viewers who grew up on G Gundam and s-CRY-ed.

Continue Reading