Filler vs. Canon: A Beginner's Guide to Understanding Anime Arcs (and Which to Skip)   You're watching a long-running action anime, like Naruto. The main plot is intense; the characters are in the middle of crucial training or a life-or-death battle. Suddenly, the next episode begins, and the main characters are on an unimportant side mission, like helping a talking ostrich or cooking the...

Although the concept of a Shared Universe is popularly associated with Western comics, large anime franchises have been interweaving timelines and secondary narratives for decades. In this medium, spin-offs are not just extra stories but often essential narrative pieces that redefine the main work. We analyze how anime uses this expansion to create rich and enduring worlds. I. The Classic...

The Mahō Shōjo (Magical Girl) genre is one of the pillars of anime and manga, with a history spanning over half a century. What began as a childlike concept of costumes and wishes has transformed into a complex genre capable of exploring themes of sacrifice, despair, and nihilism. The trajectory of this genre can be divided into distinct eras, marked by two main narrative milestones: the...

The “curse of video game adaptations” is a real phenomenon. For decades, most anime based on video games were, at best, 20‑minute commercials and, at worst, rushed adaptations that stripped away everything that made the original great. But that has changed. In the modern era of streaming, creators have had the freedom to take the lore and world of a video game and build something...

Top 5 Anime Movies to Make You Cry (That Aren't From Studio Ghibli)   When someone asks for a recommendation for a "sad anime movie," the automatic answer is almost always Studio Ghibli and its devastating Grave of the Fireflies. It's a classic, no doubt. But the world of anime is vast, and limiting your search for strong emotions to a single studio is a mistake. Directors like Naoko...