Welcome, readers, to Late to the Party , a column that's right on time when it comes to catching up on anime everyone's already watched. This column addresses a universal truth in regard to being an anime fan: an anime backlog is quite the powerful beast. Many of us have one, where we amass more and more content we have designated in the "planning to watch" category. How and why it takes so long to actually address this task varies from person to person, but the gratification of finally allocating the time is really quite splendid. Occasionally, it’s by watching a classic anime from yesteryear that you’ve had your eye on for quite some time. In other instances, it’s a more recent premiere that just slipped by. As is often the case, the key visual for this month’s anime caught my eye when I was covering a previous entry by the same studio ( Samurai Champloo ). Considering that was back in July 2024… yeah, this column is called Late to the Party for a reason, y’all. She Came In Like a Wrecking Ball Studio: Manglobe ( Karneval , The Sacred Blacksmith , THE UNLIMITED Hyobu Kyosuke ) First aired: October 2008 (over 18 years late to the party! DANG IT HIROSHI, WHERE ARE YOU, BRO?!) Speaking of Samurai Champloo , I have long been on the hunt for an anime that scratches that indelible itch in a similar way.