
Sword Art Online: The Anime That Launched a Genre and Never Quite Lived Up to Its Own First Arc
Sword Art Online review: A-1 Pictures' trapped-in-a-game anime, its first arc's brilliance, Kirito and Asuna, and where the long tail falls short.


Sword Art Online review: A-1 Pictures' trapped-in-a-game anime, its first arc's brilliance, Kirito and Asuna, and where the long tail falls short.

Black Clover ran 170 episodes from 2017 to 2021. A review of Asta, Yuno, the Black Bulls, and a world where magic is everything.

Chainsaw Man review: MAPPA's solo-produced 2022 anime turns Denji's debt into a brutal, funny 12-episode first act scored by Kensuke Ushio.

SPY x FAMILY ran three seasons and 50 episodes, from April 2022 to December 2025. A review of the Forgers, the voice cast, and the 8.5 score.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood review: Bones' 64-episode adaptation of Arakawa's manga, its cast, conspiracies, and why it earns a 10/10.

One-Punch Man review: Saitama's three-year training, Genos, Boros and the Hero Association's rankings across three seasons from Madhouse and J.C.Staff.

Jujutsu Kaisen review: MAPPA's 59-episode anime about Yuji Itadori and Sukuna's cursed fingers scored 8.6/10, with a dub, soundtrack and film.

Attack on Titan, from 2013 to 2023, grew from a horror siege into a story about walls and nations. A review of the anime's four seasons and two studios.

Naruto Shippūden ran 500 episodes on TV Tokyo from 2007 to 2017. A review of the time skip, the Akatsuki, the filler, and why it still earns an 8.5.

Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira (1988) review: Neo-Tokyo, Kaneda and Tetsuo, gamelan score, and why the landmark anime still holds up at 8/10.
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