Ty’s Hidden Gems Series – Astra Lost in Space

Astra Lost in Space’s premise is simple enough: set in the distant future where space travel is a normal, everyday occurrence, a group of high schoolers, while on their class trip, suddenly find themselves transported to the far reaches of uncharted space. There they find an abandoned spaceship and soon begin their perilous journey back home, touching down on each planet they pass in the hopes of scavenging resources. Surprisingly, deadly aliens aren’t the only threat our characters face. In fact, the real threat turns out to be much closer to home. Astra may seem like an odd choice for my hidden gems series. After all, it only finished airing last year and hasn’t yet had the time to fade into obscurity like my other choices. Nevertheless, I feel that Astra, with its less-than-stellar marketing, was oft-overlooked in favour of anime like Fire Force, Dr. Stone, and Demon Slayer. I’m hoping that this review will convince you to give the show a try if you, too, passed up on it last year. 

Ty’s Hidden Gems Series – Space Brothers

Late at night, while camping out in the hillsides of their hometown, brothers, Hibito and Mutta Nanba, spot what they think is a UFO whizzing its way to the moon. Awestruck, Hibito and Mutta vow to, one day, become astronauts and travel to the moon together themselves. Fast forward 20 years later and Hibito, the younger brother, is well on his way to achieving that dream. Mutta, meanwhile, is chronically unemployed. But could some meddling on the part of his parents, who send his resume to the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), be about to change all that? Space Brothers, which first aired in 2012, is a feel-good anime about two brothers supporting and encouraging each other to achieve their shared dream, overcoming the many obstacles that stand in their way. If my synopsis wasn’t enough to convince you to watch this hidden gem, I hope that my review (which you’ll find below) is! 

Ty’s Hidden Gems Series – Tatami Galaxy

Tatami Galaxy is a strange story about a young, nameless college student in relentless pursuit of the “rose-coloured campus life”. This wish, to spend his college years luxuriating in a circle of his choosing, surrounded by a bevy of raven-haired maidens, is not easily fulfilled, however, as our protagonist repeatedly finds himself in all kinds of trouble and wishing that he could start over and do things differently. The show takes a strange turn when our protagonist does just that. But will a different set of choices lead to a different set of results? And will our protagonist finally be able to lead a worthwhile college life and make that all-important love connection? You’d have to watch the show to find out! In the meantime, please check out the following review!

12 Days of Anime 2018 – I Unearth a Hidden Gem

Artist: SagaTale

I’ve spoken at length recently about my elitist tendencies, about how I love nothing more than to trek off the beaten path in order to hunt down the more “exotic” anime, the kind of anime that pays no heed to current trends or tropes, but instead does its own weird and wonderful thing. Not only that, but to then pat myself on the back in regards to my overwhelmingly superior taste in shows. Whilst this tendency does run the risk of alienating other anime fans (understandable, given that it does make me out to be quite the toad), it does have the advantage of giving me the opportunity to unearth hidden gems, older shows buried beneath a mountain of newer, shinier anime, using my platform as a blogger. This is something that I discovered quite recently upon reviewing one such show: Gankutsuou.

30 Days of Anime – #22 My Favourite Anime Weapon

#22 What Is My Favourite Anime Weapon?

Saya Otonashi’s Katana

Today I will be, once again, cheating with this challenge (this has now become a kind of trend), as my actual favourite anime weapon is Attack on Titan’s maneuver gear. Alas, I already waxed lyrical over this amazing piece of weaponry during an earlier entry for this challenge, so, so as not to bore you guys to death, I thought that I’d discuss my second favourite weapon: Saya Otonashi’s katana (since I have not talked nearly enough about Blood+ for my liking)!