MediaOCD has announced more than two dozen classic anime titles now available on disc from its Discotek Deep Dives intitiative
#MediaOCD #DiscotekDeepDives #SonetheHedghog #CardcaptorSakura #JInRoh #Kodocha #SgtFrog
https://www.animationmagazine.net/2026/03/mediaocd-adds-dozens-of-classic-anime-to-discotek-deep-dives-selection/
Six months after I began watching it, and 102 episodes later, I have finally finished Kodocha! It was definitely worth the nearly twenty year wait since I first found out about the series. Except for one story arc, I enjoyed it all, and the show's quality never wavered, even during the arc I didn't care for. Kodocha is top shelf Akitaroh Daichi, with a masterful blend of comedy and drama.
I also finished Sarazanmai today, and that was a trip and a half. I'll definitely need to watch it again to start to fully wrap my head around it all, but I expect no less from Kunihiko Ikuhara. There was also a blink-and-you'll-miss-it Utena reference in the final episode, which gave me major chills. That was immediately followed by what may have been an equally brief Penguindrum reference. I'll look at kappas in a whole new way now that I've seen Sarazanmai.
With fewer than twenty episodes remaining, I'm happy that the (presumably) final arc in Kodocha has fully drawn me back into the story, after an arc which didn't do anything for me. As long as the series is, and as much as it covers storywise, I'm curious to see how it all plays out.
I'm already starting to think about what I want to watch next once I finish Kodocha. I have a couple more longer series in my backlog (around 40-50 episodes), but I think I may go with a more typical 26ish episode series next after Kodocha's 102 episode marathon.
With just over twenty episodes remaining in Kodocha, I'm heading into the home stretch! For a series this long (102 episodes) to be consistently good is an impressive feat. That being said, I'm glad the current arc is finally over, because it really didn't do much for me. I'm all for giving supporting characters a development arc, but I constantly felt myself just wanting to get this part of the story over with. It wasn't a matter of quality, because that hasn't wavered. It's just a matter of interest on my part.
On a related note, the interstitial episodes between some of the story arcs in this series are fantastic.
I'm three-quarters of the way through Kodocha, and in what seems like something completely unrelated, for much of that time I've felt like I want to watch Gakuen Alice again. In fact, the opening theme to Gakuen Alice has been dancing through my head for much of the past several months. I think it's the age similarity of the characters in both series, especially in Kodocha's first half. Other than that, the two series have little in common. Maybe Sana reminds me of Mikan?
A rewatch of Gakuen Alice hasn't been on the table for me (I have so much in my backlog I want to work on before rewatches), but we shall see. I haven't decided what I'll be starting when I finish Kodocha yet, anyway...
Just cracked open the disc for the second half of Kodocha, since I'll start watching it tomorrow. (In other words, I'm now officially halfway through the series!)
Looks like they somehow managed to put the entire cast including the secondary characters into one image! 😅
Which seems oddly appropriate, since that one disc has 51 episodes on it.
Nearly halfway through Kodocha, and the series continues to refuse to be boxed into a single genre. Is it off-the-wall comedy? Yes. Heartfelt drama? Yes. It's even a bit of an idol series, given that Sana is a child actress. I also constantly forget that I am watching a series by one of my favorite directors: Akitaroh Daichi. All of the pieces just fit so perfectly, and nothing seems out of place or forced in.
I'm also halfway through Revue Starlight, and the story arc I've been waiting for has begun. It almost reminds me of a certain polarizing story arc in another famous anime series I like quite a bit, except the execution of it is a bit different. And unlike that other series, I don't remember how it was resolved in Revue Starlight, so I'm looking forward to seeing it play out again! (Yes, I'm intentionally being vague. 😅 )
Animag
Tatara🌱
NieA