Wave, Listen to Me! Anime Review: Minare Koda and Taking a Chance

Stability can be a double-edged sword. Having a routine and knowing that by the end of the month, your bank account's gonna have some sweet, sweet moolah to fund your pleasures and vices is pretty great. But at the same time, it can foster contentment. And for some, what is contentment but a state where you're blissfully unaware of how hollow and boring your life has become?

I've written before about how most of us live in obscurity. We look for a decent job and try to tolerate it while cultivating happiness outside of our careers. Most of our dream careers go out the window when the realities of life slap us in the face.

But what if life slaps you with something different? Something that never really entered your radar?

Well, for Minare Koda in Wave, Listen to Me!, that's exactly what happens.

Minare, a quick-witted restaurant server, is suddenly thrusts into the world of radio

A Mangaka's Weirdly Wonderful Workplace Review: Work, Passion & People

"Life changes based on who you cross paths with"

The above line is a direct quote from Episode 12 of A Mangaka's Weirdly Wonderful Workplace  also known as This is a Workplace Where You Can't Help But Smile, or Egao no Taenai Shokuba Desu in Japanese. It may not seem like a groundbreaking statement, but it is something that we working adults rarely stop to think about.

The need for basic necessities drives us to not expect anything more than the tolerable in our professional lives. Of course, this isn't the case for everybody. But for many of us, careers are simply seen as a means to an end.

But what happens when your career is an actual passion? What if you are one of the few who dreamed of and worked hard to reach a profession that is more than just a source of your next vacation, game console, or body pillow?

A Mangaka's Weirdly Wonderful Workplace is an anime that gives us a look at what that world can be like—and how someone can avoid becoming jaded and losing that spark.

Futami, our main heroine, is an emotional wreck who panics at the prospect of submitting her storyboards in the middle of the night

Snack Basue Anime Review: A Comedic Reprieve From Everyday Life

"For those of us who deal with stress at work and in real life, isn't a snack kind of like another world?"

Adulthood is funny, isn't it? As kids, we dream of becoming great individuals admired by others. Our visions of the future are limitless, with the innocence of youth shielding us from the challenges that might get in the way. But as we get older, insurmountable challenges—or just plain bad luck—get in the way. The twinkle in our eyes gets replaced by the cold, bleak cynicism of adulthood.

Well, that is the case for a lot of us, anyway.

Instead of becoming great people whose names are etched in history, we live in anonymity. We get yelled at at work, balance our budgets, and take care of the kids. We are saddled with the responsibilities of life.

It is this burden that causes us to long for some reprieve—a place where we can just hang out and decompress while talking about nothing in particular. For Tatsu, Yamada, Morita, and the rest of its customers, Snack Basue is that place.

Akemi gets the people in Snack Basue hyped as she sings a Thai song... she doesn't speak Thai...

With You and the Rain Anime Review: Finding Magic in a Story With No Goal

"Sometimes, just because you hang out, talk, and have fun, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll become close"

Fuji and her new "dog" enjoy themselves in the bath on their first night together

Slice-of-life is one of the more well-loved genres in anime. Every season, there’s usually one that revolves around a hobby. The formula is familiar: a bubbly, extroverted newbie discovers a new interest and becomes the kohai of an introverted expert. Their shared love for the hobby brings out the best in them as they work toward getting better.

But what if there is no goal? What if the two main characters are an introverted, reclusive writer and a tanuk... I mean, a dog whose only means of communication is through a pen and a notebook?

Well, we get With You and the Rain.

From the first episode, it is clear that With You and the Rain will not present an extraordinary tale of adventure. The atmospheric sounds of the rain, the footsteps wading through small puddles, and the soft piano during the first forty seconds give the show the relaxed first impression it needs as an introduction to our two main characters.

Ganbare, Douki-chan Review: Cute, Funny, and a Little Too Ecchi

"Want to eat dinner with me? I'm free until morning!" - Kouhai-chan

The cute Douki-chan and the bane(s) of her existence

Binge-watching an anime series, or any series for that matter, can be challenging for working adults. Professional and personal responsibilities take up a lot of time. Ganbare, Douki-chan understands that and packs a surprising amount of comedy and cute moments into its short six minute episodes.

Ganbare, Douki-chan is a romantic comedy about the cute Douki-chan, a single office lady who lives with a cat, and her crush on Douki-kun, her colleague with a face straight out of your favorite hentai anime. 

And don't let Douki-kun's face—or lack thereof—deceive you. This is not hentai.