| Lycoris Recoil Am I on top of the thread again? How did that happen? I didn't plan it I've had Lycoris Recoil in my planning-to-watch for a long time. After getting bored with the current season I decided to try watching it, and it took only a week! Very fast for me. The story is the secret behind Japan's super peaceful low-crime society- why else? Because young girls in school uniforms with guns take out anyone who is committing a crime and then the government covers up what really happened. Hahahaha!! OF COURSE the whole organization is cute girls who only can be Lycoris up to the age of 18- the organization is called "DA" and the chief is a woman (I think) with reddish hair and no eyebrows. So to solve all the social problems of the world Why wouldn't you give teenage girls automatic weapons and let them kill any suspected criminal on the spot? If it were up to me that's what I would do... So obviously they're really good at their jobs, but the story is about a different Lycoris named Chisato who works at a cafe called Lyco-Reco, which is run by a long haired black guy named Mika; she refuses to use live ammo in her guns because she doesn't agree with killing. She meets Takina after Takina gets thrown out of DA for letting a AR15 rip IN THE DIRECTION of her comrades, but she insisted she wouldn't have hit any of them because she's a great shot. The head of DA disagreed and threw her out- so began the adventures of Chisato & Takina who take on jobs from their secret HQ at LycoReco with Mika, and meet a bunch more cute girls, when a terrorist appears who can outsmart the Lycoris. They need to take him down before he brings chaos to Japan! So I didn't expect to enjoy this anime as much as I did. The concept with girls shooting bad guys is silly and not original, BUT the way it's done is a lot different than you usually see in other anime. The style, and expression of a lot of the girls especially Chisato was unique. Chisato's facial expressions, and her English vocal by Elizabeth Freeman was fantastic. EVERY character is likable. There wasn't a single character in this show that didn't grow on me. Even the girls at DA who were hard on Takina and Chisato; especially Sakura who has a kind of boyish hairstyle... she's adorable- I liked all of them. Usually in an anime focused on high school girls, the men are either nonexistent or pathetic. Not here- Mika is awesome, though quiet at first- and Shinji Yoshimatsu, again the English voice performance really brought his character across so well. The dude is so stylish and slick it just made me laugh at his commitment to it. The main villain Majima is handsome and cool.. the only character who doesn't look good is the DA commander- but she's actually really nice and let's opposing voices speak even when they step out of line. She listens to her team. That's good leadership. The action is kind of intense in places, but it's not so over the top that it ever gets disturbing or unpleasant. It's just pure action- characters are put in definite danger at times- but it's not so bloody that you feel upset at the end. But it does reward binge-watching. I hardly ever binge anime, but I watched 6 episodes in a row with this one and that's probably a record. I only stopped at episode 12 and watched the finale today. I only ever give scores above 8 if I rewatch- and I plan to rewatch at least some episodes of this, thought it was beautifully made (the list of Japanese staff is a mile long) and gave it a 9. Fully recommend and make sure you watch the dub. |
| Dekiru Neko wa Kyou mo Yuuutsu Woman has a cat. The Cat can do . Sorry, that I couldn't explain the plot without spoilers, but there is nothing else in the story, except the cat who does and 3d animation. Regarding 3d animation, it is worth watching, so I highly recommend to watch PV. PV contains spoiler. 6/10 only because of 3d time to time and for one good joke. Yowamushi Pedal Spokon. Without finish of the race. Frankly speaking they had no chance to finish the three days Nationals in 38 episodes.To understand the problem, let me note that the finish of the first sprint takes up almost all three episodes. More precisely, they started the sprint 3 kilometers before the finish, and in reality they spent no more than 5 minutes on it. But in the anime they started the race in 23rd, and then half an episode of the start procedure and representation and then the five minutes sprint until the end of the 25th episode. This in itself is not bad, it's just difficult to animate. I haven't read the manga, but I can bet that in the manga this was all right, because the mangaka is not obligated to control the speed of actions. But in animation, time can go only normally or faster, because this is what the viewer is used to. Definitely there are situations where time in the movie can pass slowly, but it's not that simple. This is a challenge for directors and he must find something suitable for this story, simple slow motion wouldn't work. But if after '300 meters to finish' sign we have a lot of action and we feel that time has already passed and then we see that still 100 meters to the finish… It's just boring. I was not happy when our guys win, I was glad that this is the end. The end only for the first event in the race, as we have further sprint in mountain classification and finish of the first day in general. And the problem itself not only the incorrect time behavior, they insert a lot of conversations. Let's say it's just me who seems strange to want to talk during the sprint. I can deal with it. But these converstations doesn't make sense more often than always. It's time to move on the characters. So who was involved in these conversations? Firstly the black hole of the story, the man who can win everything, who has no problem with sprints in any classifications and the other characters. The black hole of the story usually trolls his opponents, that's his reason to ride a bike. The others feed the troll. Frankly speaking there is no particular reason to have this plot hole character. We have enough characters to develop the plot. Also we have the standart pair of the short redhead and the long brunette. We have the four eyes, the sprinter, the climber and the captain. We have the rival's captain, the rival's climbers, the rival's sprinter. We have secondary cast of our line up. We have the girl. We have Pinarello, Calnago, Specialized, Scott and so on. And only the four eyes has a personality. And finally bikes. Clipless pedals can't make you twice faster and unclip is much more difficult than to clip into. The rest is more or less ok. I liked the first cour, it was very decent spokon, this part introduced the main hero very properly, explained his hidden skill and I think that such a hero is quite realistic. But when they started a training plan that I can only describe as 'death to your knees', I felt pain. Following the direction of anime I will unexpectedly stop here. Look forward to the continuation next season. Although I won’t watch the next season, and I’ll soon forget this story Finally 5/10 |
| @jdvz I'm a big fan of Le Tour de France (can't wait for this years race to see if Cavendish will overtake Eddie Merckx as the overall holder for most stage wins in history) so I've been pondering whether to check out a sports cycling anime. Having read your review I think I'll give it a miss as it sounds like it would annoy me (stuff like unclipped pedals, all the pros clip into the pedals, apart from occasionally when racing on cobbles like the Paris-Roubaix). So thanks for watching it and sharing your thoughts. |
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Reply to 23feanor
@jdvz I'm a big fan of Le Tour de France (can't wait for this years race to see if Cavendish will overtake Eddie Merckx as the overall holder for most stage wins in history) so I've been pondering whether to check out a sports cycling anime. Having read your review I think I'll give it a miss as it sounds like it would annoy me (stuff like unclipped pedals, all the pros clip into the pedals, apart from occasionally when racing on cobbles like the Paris-Roubaix). So thanks for watching it and sharing your thoughts.
| @23feanor, I'm terribly sorry, but this anime not as bad, as it is not as good as it could be. They mixed very interesting nuances with amateurish ideas. Everyone in the race use clipless pedals, so everyone has to clip into and unclip then. What I mentioned before was about the way how they introduced the profit of clipless pedals. By the way don't mind clipless pedals or strange training activities. On the contrary you can see how the teams are positioned on the road to catch their sprinters. But my main complaint is not with the illustration of cycling features. I don't like balance of power. There is the annoying superpowered cyclist who could win everything, but the screenplay doesn't allow him for some reasons: because of his badmouthing, because of bad attitude towards others. However he is second to none in the first season. In the very beginning they introduced the long brunette as a hope of Japan, the most promising talent and so on. Despite of that he has no chance against the supermutant. And what I see in the 27th episode and in less than 8 kilometers to the finish of the second day? They introduce the second season with "A new enemy appears". Apparently the author thought that the competition was not difficult enough and needed to be strengthened. It would seem who could be more dangerous than an invincible opponent? But since the author does not allow the invincible to win, he, the author, adds another competitor, who, most likely, will also not be allowed to win for the same reasons. In the end, no matter how strong you are, all your successes are determined not by your abilities, but by the screenplay. ps I stopped watching the Grand Tours when I realized that neither Alaphilipe nor Dumoulin could win |
Reply to 23feanor
@jdvz yeah Alaphilippe is always fun to watch, great racer often coming away with the combativity award whenever he attacks a stage. I see in the cycling news that he won a stage in the Giro yday. Hopefully he'll be at the tour this year.
| @23feanor in France they like to compare any climber with a Virenque but in this case I even agree. ps this year I forgot about Paris-Roubaix. I remembered only because where I was driving the asphalt ended. And I was, like, 'Paris-Roubaix is today' ps guys, sorry for off topic |
| My Hero Academia Season 3 (2018) - I picked up S2 back in 2019 when I was just getting back into anime again and was underwhelmed so thought I'd give S3 a shot. It was ok, usual shounen fare. I quite like the quirks watching them play out in battles against each other (I prefer watching magical skills against each other in shows like Black Clover and Fairy Tail, but the quirks are a similar notion). Production values are good, as are the character designs. Character writing isn't so good, and the 'fight for justice and peace' guff is a bit annoying. There were a handful of arcs covered this season, some better (battle against All for One) and some a bit boring (moving into dorms and provisional licence test). Easy to watch shounen popcorn so will keep watching. Low 7/10 (7.2). Sand Land (2024) - I picked this one up as I'd heard it was similar to the original Dragonball, and there were similarities but it didn't have the raw energy of Dragonaball which was bursting with strange and interesting people and places. There were 2 arcs in Sand Land, both about overcoming despotic rulers with WMD, the second was pretty good involving a lot of mech and tank battles. Characters were ok, but didn't really draw me in. Visuals were unique with a seamless blend of 2D and 3DCGI animation. Low 7/10 (7.1). |
23feanorMay 18, 7:15 AM
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| Gi(a)rlish_Number Hard seiyuu life. A pleasant surprise. According to the scores, reviews and scrennshots, I was expecting something plain, but I got a very exciting anime. The characters are quite funny, they are good not so much in their depth of development, but in their combination. There is a lot of interaction between the characters, and it is even difficult to determine where the main cast ends and the supporting cast begins. The plot is interesting not for its novelty, but for its viewing angle. In the story, a cheap studio does a passable job of getting away with it. A randomly chosen actress gets the main role, and her acting style is determined more by her self-esteem than by her abilities. The script is not bad, with excellent pacing, even the happy ending fits in very well. It seems superfluous here, but these are the canons of the genre. I would watch the second season, but the anime has too low ratings and it didn't find an audience. Сomedic, sometimes a little sad 7/10 nota bene I have no idea what does '(a)' in title mean Sore ga Seiyuu Seiyu's Life. I'd better watch this title before the previous one. This piece was made one year earlier than Gi(a)rlish_Number, but the difference looks like 10. Nevertheless, there are some funny moments, but overall it's a very passable anime. Even despite a bunch of star cameos. 6/10 (ova 4/10) The songs sound like they were written for the Idolmaster franchise. |
Reply to jdvz
Gi(a)rlish_Number
Hard seiyuu life. A pleasant surprise. According to the scores, reviews and scrennshots, I was expecting something plain, but I got a very exciting anime.
The characters are quite funny, they are good not so much in their depth of development, but in their combination. There is a lot of interaction between the characters, and it is even difficult to determine where the main cast ends and the supporting cast begins.
The plot is interesting not for its novelty, but for its viewing angle. In the story, a cheap studio does a passable job of getting away with it. A randomly chosen actress gets the main role, and her acting style is determined more by her self-esteem than by her abilities.
The script is not bad, with excellent pacing, even the happy ending fits in very well. It seems superfluous here, but these are the canons of the genre.
I would watch the second season, but the anime has too low ratings and it didn't find an audience.
Сomedic, sometimes a little sad 7/10
nota bene I have no idea what does '(a)' in title mean
Sore ga Seiyuu
Seiyu's Life. I'd better watch this title before the previous one. This piece was made one year earlier than Gi(a)rlish_Number, but the difference looks like 10.
Nevertheless, there are some funny moments, but overall it's a very passable anime. Even despite a bunch of star cameos.
6/10 (ova 4/10)
The songs sound like they were written for the Idolmaster franchise.
Hard seiyuu life. A pleasant surprise. According to the scores, reviews and scrennshots, I was expecting something plain, but I got a very exciting anime.
The characters are quite funny, they are good not so much in their depth of development, but in their combination. There is a lot of interaction between the characters, and it is even difficult to determine where the main cast ends and the supporting cast begins.
The plot is interesting not for its novelty, but for its viewing angle. In the story, a cheap studio does a passable job of getting away with it. A randomly chosen actress gets the main role, and her acting style is determined more by her self-esteem than by her abilities.
The script is not bad, with excellent pacing, even the happy ending fits in very well. It seems superfluous here, but these are the canons of the genre.
I would watch the second season, but the anime has too low ratings and it didn't find an audience.
Сomedic, sometimes a little sad 7/10
nota bene I have no idea what does '(a)' in title mean
Sore ga Seiyuu
Seiyu's Life. I'd better watch this title before the previous one. This piece was made one year earlier than Gi(a)rlish_Number, but the difference looks like 10.
Nevertheless, there are some funny moments, but overall it's a very passable anime. Even despite a bunch of star cameos.
6/10 (ova 4/10)
The songs sound like they were written for the Idolmaster franchise.
| @jdvz https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/5nzu9u/giarlish_number_so_what_does_that_title_mean/ |
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| Umamusume Pretty Derby 2018, S1 Rewatch I saw they just released a Season 3, and remembered this being amusing but wanted to look at it again before watching another season. Yea this is another Only In Anime Universe type of anime. I can't even keep a straight face describing it: It's about, uh... uh, well it's about... 'horse' racing. But instead of actual horses, in this world there are Horse Girls (because of course there are) and they are all cute and have these little pointy ears on their head and horse-tails but are otherwise the same as ordinary anime girls. Instead of galloping down a track on hooves, it's more like foot races but they wear these chunky-heel shoes that have horseshoes on the bottom.... --> And after they run races they also have to do IDOL SINGING AND DANCING AFTER (because of course they do) Each one of them has the name of a famous Japanese racehorse- Special Week, is the main character. (She's referred to as "Special" or "Spe" most of the time) she dreams of becoming a famous winning Horse Girl, and travels to Tokyo to see about joining race team. She immediately captures the interest of Trainer-san, who feels up her muscular legs, and gets into Race School right away. So then it's the same as any "magic school" anime, the girls wear uniforms, their school looks like a palace, there's an all-girls dorm... Special's companion is Silence Suzuka, a horse known for tragically dying during a race.... So basically it's a sports anime, but combined with a training-school element, with some idol performances thrown in. Mostly it's a comedy. The races look pretty much the same, they run really fast pumping their arms and WANT TO GET STRONGER! It's based on a mobile game I think? Anyway that game, and well the anime was insanely popular. Obviously it has to be for them to make 3 seasons. Actually I was sort of shocked when I saw a season3 coming out, I went back to rewatch it since it's been 6 years, was it really that good? After rewatching the first 12 episodes I can say No, no it really wasn't that Special (pun very much intended) It's okay, cute fluff, meant to be cute fluff. After finishing episode 12, watch two more seasons of this? Nah... think I'll just skim through some of the new season to see, but my brain will go into meltdown if I try to force myself through 26 more episodes of this. I gave it a 7... but probably is more like 6.8 |
| Summertime Render Chapter 1. For those who plan to watch. This is amazing. The hero finds himself in a difficult situation, looks for a solution, the situation becomes more complicated every moment and every step in the right direction is read by the enemies and, on the contrary, worsens the situation. Very good adaptation. The manga starts out very chaotic and often loses momentum in the second half. In the adaptation, everything was corrected for the better. Fan service if your like it. Chapter 2. For those who weren't deceived by Chapter 1. The whole story consists of the author’s struggle with prot holes. The author uses pacing and features in this fight. The balance of power introduced by the author at the previous iteration works against him in the next page. But the very first halt gives a chance to think. Luckily my first thougts were, like, 'how bad it was in the manga'. And it was bad in the manga and I was refreshed. Other option is to increase your watching speed. But even with all this, the story can't work. Well there is no good story, so what about the characters? Nothing much to say. I can't require 2D characters to know Stanislavsky's system, but they could read Agutogawa's "Hankachi". Moreover, one of the heroes has name Ryuunosuke. But Ushio spent half a season in a swimsuit. Finally. This is not bad. And I even can't imagine how it might be better. It has some compulsive ideas, but in common the plot is corrupted itself. But not bad, simply not very interesting for me. 6/10 |
| Secret of Cerulean Sand (2002) - a clear and unabashed rip off of Nadia and the Secret of Bluewater, this adventure series had some good moments early on (mostly during the 'setting out on an adventure' portion of the story), with an interesting core premise of cerulean sand and floating liquid, but the character writing and motivation for the central villain were sorely lacking. This show came out just after the advent of computer aided animation and wide spread use of 3Dcgi and it showed. The backgrounds looked like sets with the 2D characters moving in front and the 3Dcgi airships looked odd, but not as bad as the ships in Vandread. I was comparing this mentally to Noir, which came out 9 months earlier and was cell animated and has some stunning use of animation, colours and backgrounds. One saving grace for Secrets of Cerulean Sand was the strong orchestral OST and lovely ED's. Low to mid 6/10 (6.4). Kill Me Baby (2012) - gag comedy show based on a 4-koma manga about two girls, one an assassin and the other her loud and silly friend. The kind of comedy that makes you smile every now and then, at most a light chuckle, but not really laugh out loud funny. Best aspect was the dub performance by Hilary Haag and Luci Christian for the two leads. Pleasant but simple visuals. Low 6/10 (6.3). Sol Bianca: The Legacy (1999) - this is an alternative version of the prequel OVA with a longer runtime. The stories were decent enough and I liked the world building, but the visuals just couldn't hold a candle to the prequel OVA. This was the first pre 2000 stand alone OVA I've come across made using very early digital animation techniques and cgi. To be fair the cgi ships and vehicles looked ok, better than Vandread or Secrets of Cerulean Sands. However, the character designs were off and looked pretty fuggly at times, which is a real shame as the char designs from the prequel OVA looked superb. If the animation had been of a similar standard to the prequel this would have been very good, as it is, high 6/10 (6.9). Grand Blue Dreaming (2018) - basically a Japanese version of frat boys get drunk and enjoy some diving, usually while naked. I'd steered clear of this show for a while as I didn't think it looked or sounded very funny from the clips I'd seen, but it was actually pretty damn funny. I've learnt that even the worst scenarios and premises can be good if delivered with suitable poise and attention, most of the time. Some really good reaction faces that reminded me of the titans in Attack on Titan. Solid 7/10 (7.5). Mouse (2003) - a bad copy of Cat's Eye and Lupin where the MC is a phantom thief known as Mouse (actually a rich playboy) who announces he's going to steal an item so he can pinch it from under the cops noses. He has 3 sexy assistants and most of the show is about their master-servant relationship and overt ecchi fan service. This really was rather rubbish, shows like this, if delivered with a tongue in cheek tone with some nudity can be worth watching, but it just doesn't work here. It feels like a flimsy excuse to have the MC (can't even remember his name) surrounded by women who all want to be his servant and let him use them however he wishes, and there's plenty of suggestive scenes showing what they mean, plus a few extra scenes hinting that he takes them up on their offers, but off screen ofc. Just makes a 5/10 for some nice boobs, but that's about it. Felt like a crappy OVA rather than a TV show, and as a fan of crappy OVA's (so bad it's good variety like Lemnear) that's being rather generous. Elfen Lied (2004) - there's the foundation of a good premise here but the execution is too blunt and relies on shock value, gore and fan service, the latter of which comprised mostly minors, including the rape of a 13 y/o girl by her step father (seriously the way it was staged was just like a hentai/JAV and so fucked up, it wasn't edgy just sickening). Characters were pretty weak. I'm not a fan of watching cute anime girls suffer, although shows like Freezing and Cross Ange manage to pull it off. Backgrounds for the location were nice. There was enough build up to make some of the emotional beats land in the final climatic episode. Mid to high 6/10 (6.7). Mushi-shi Path of Thorns (2014) - special between first and second parts of the second season about a mushi that has the power to absorb life and needs to be sealed. Calming, thoughtful, lovely visuals, high 7/10 (7.8). Hunter x Hunter: The Last Mission (2013) - this spinoff original film centres on the persecuted descendants of a covert group of Hunters that were disbanded after their actions got out of control. The descendants hatch a plan to take revenge against the Hunter Association and chairman Netero and Gon and Killua come to his aid. Story was ok, Madhouse always bring solid visuals and OST. Both Hunter x Hunter films seem to have cracked the formula for a spinoff movie and have been pretty good, wish Madhouse would teach Toei as the One Piece films are always disappointing. Low 7/10 (7.3). Mushi-shi: Next Passage Part 2 (2014) - the second part of season 2 continues same as the first, thoughtful, calming, sometimes melancholy, tidy self contained episodic stories, amazing visuals and OST. A very impressive story of the supernatural world, this franchise has been consistently solid from beginning to end. Same score as part 1, high 8/10 (8.7). Mushishi: The Next Chapter - Belldrops (2015) - two episode length movie about a girl who becomes the chosen mountain lord. Good story, which benefited from the extra runtime giving it room to take root. Low 9/10 (9.0). Magical☆Shopping Arcade Abenobashi (2002) - an isekai adjacent show where our two leads, Sasshi and Arumi are transported to various versions of their hometown shopping arcade, brimming with anime, movie and game parodies. You've got the fantasy version, sci-fi/mecha one, hard boiled detective, highschool dating SIM, wartime, movies, fairy tales etc. As they pass through each version they try and find the reason for their predicament and a way back to their own reality. Each episode had different art styles reminding me of Gainax works like Panty & Stocking, also some of the mecha designs looked very similar to the ones for the as-yet-unreleased Gurren Lagann. This show was created by studio Madhouse but Gainax are listed as producers and they are labelled all over the opening and end credits, so guessing they must've had a large creative input into this original production. Wacky, crazy but not especially deep. Mid 7/10 (7.4). |
23feanorJun 8, 2:52 AM
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Reply to 23feanor
Secret of Cerulean Sand (2002) - a clear and unabashed rip off of Nadia and the Secret of Bluewater, this adventure series had some good moments early on (mostly during the 'setting out on an adventure' portion of the story), with an interesting core premise of cerulean sand and floating liquid, but the character writing and motivation for the central villain were sorely lacking. This show came out just after the advent of computer aided animation and wide spread use of 3Dcgi and it showed. The backgrounds looked like sets with the 2D characters moving in front and the 3Dcgi airships looked odd, but not as bad as the ships in Vandread. I was comparing this mentally to Noir, which came out 9 months earlier and was cell animated and has some stunning use of animation, colours and backgrounds. One saving grace for Secrets of Cerulean Sand was the strong orchestral OST and lovely ED's. Low to mid 6/10 (6.4).
Kill Me Baby (2012) - gag comedy show based on a 4-koma manga about two girls, one an assassin and the other her loud and silly friend. The kind of comedy that makes you smile every now and then, at most a light chuckle, but not really laugh out loud funny. Best aspect was the dub performance by Hilary Haag and Luci Christian for the two leads. Pleasant but simple visuals. Low 6/10 (6.3).
Sol Bianca: The Legacy (1999) - this is an alternative version of the prequel OVA with a longer runtime. The stories were decent enough and I liked the world building, but the visuals just couldn't hold a candle to the prequel OVA. This was the first pre 2000 stand alone OVA I've come across made using very early digital animation techniques and cgi. To be fair the cgi ships and vehicles looked ok, better than Vandread or Secrets of Cerulean Sands. However, the character designs were off and looked pretty fuggly at times, which is a real shame as the char designs from the prequel OVA looked superb. If the animation had been of a similar standard to the prequel this would have been very good, as it is, high 6/10 (6.9).
Grand Blue Dreaming (2018) - basically a Japanese version of frat boys get drunk and enjoy some diving, usually while naked. I'd steered clear of this show for a while as I didn't think it looked or sounded very funny from the clips I'd seen, but it was actually pretty damn funny. I've learnt that even the worst scenarios and premises can be good if delivered with suitable poise and attention, most of the time. Some really good reaction faces that reminded me of the titans in Attack on Titan. Solid 7/10 (7.5).
Mouse (2003) - a bad copy of Cat's Eye and Lupin where the MC is a phantom thief known as Mouse (actually a rich playboy) who announces he's going to steal an item so he can pinch it from under the cops noses. He has 3 sexy assistants and most of the show is about their master-servant relationship and overt ecchi fan service. This really was rather rubbish, shows like this, if delivered with a tongue in cheek tone with some nudity can be worth watching, but it just doesn't work here. It feels like a flimsy excuse to have the MC (can't even remember his name) surrounded by women who all want to be his servant and let him use them however he wishes, and there's plenty of suggestive scenes showing what they mean, plus a few extra scenes hinting that he takes them up on their offers, but off screen ofc. Just makes a 5/10 for some nice boobs, but that's about it. Felt like a crappy OVA rather than a TV show, and as a fan of crappy OVA's (so bad it's good variety like Lemnear) that's being rather generous.
Elfen Lied (2004) - there's the foundation of a good premise here but the execution is too blunt and relies on shock value, gore and fan service, the latter of which comprised mostly minors, including the rape of a 13 y/o girl by her step father (seriously the way it was staged was just like a hentai/JAV and so fucked up, it wasn't edgy just sickening). Characters were pretty weak. I'm not a fan of watching cute anime girls suffer, although shows like Freezing and Cross Ange manage to pull it off. Backgrounds for the location were nice. There was enough build up to make some of the emotional beats land in the final climatic episode. Mid to high 6/10 (6.7).
Mushi-shi Path of Thorns (2014) - special between first and second parts of the second season about a mushi that has the power to absorb life and needs to be sealed. Calming, thoughtful, lovely visuals, high 7/10 (7.8).
Hunter x Hunter: The Last Mission (2013) - this spinoff original film centres on the persecuted descendants of a covert group of Hunters that were disbanded after their actions got out of control. The descendants hatch a plan to take revenge against the Hunter Association and chairman Netero and Gon and Killua come to his aid. Story was ok, Madhouse always bring solid visuals and OST. Both Hunter x Hunter films seem to have cracked the formula for a spinoff movie and have been pretty good, wish Madhouse would teach Toei as the One Piece films are always disappointing. Low 7/10 (7.3).
Mushi-shi: Next Passage Part 2 (2014) - the second part of season 2 continues same as the first, thoughtful, calming, sometimes melancholy, tidy self contained episodic stories, amazing visuals and OST. A very impressive story of the supernatural world, this franchise has been consistently solid from beginning to end. Same score as part 1, high 8/10 (8.7).
Mushishi: The Next Chapter - Belldrops (2015) - two episode length movie about a girl who becomes the chosen mountain lord. Good story, which benefited from the extra runtime giving it room to take root. Low 9/10 (9.0).
Magical☆Shopping Arcade Abenobashi (2002) - an isekai adjacent show where our two leads, Sasshi and Arumi are transported to various versions of their hometown shopping arcade, brimming with anime, movie and game parodies. You've got the fantasy version, sci-fi/mecha one, hard boiled detective, highschool dating SIM, wartime, movies, fairy tales etc. As they pass through each version they try and find the reason for their predicament and a way back to their own reality. Each episode had different art styles reminding me of Gainax works like Panty & Stocking, also some of the mecha designs looked very similar to the ones for the as-yet-unreleased Gurren Lagann. This show was created by studio Madhouse but Gainax are listed as producers and they are labelled all over the opening and end credits, so guessing they must've had a large creative input into this original production. Wacky, crazy but not especially deep. Mid 7/10 (7.4).
Kill Me Baby (2012) - gag comedy show based on a 4-koma manga about two girls, one an assassin and the other her loud and silly friend. The kind of comedy that makes you smile every now and then, at most a light chuckle, but not really laugh out loud funny. Best aspect was the dub performance by Hilary Haag and Luci Christian for the two leads. Pleasant but simple visuals. Low 6/10 (6.3).
Sol Bianca: The Legacy (1999) - this is an alternative version of the prequel OVA with a longer runtime. The stories were decent enough and I liked the world building, but the visuals just couldn't hold a candle to the prequel OVA. This was the first pre 2000 stand alone OVA I've come across made using very early digital animation techniques and cgi. To be fair the cgi ships and vehicles looked ok, better than Vandread or Secrets of Cerulean Sands. However, the character designs were off and looked pretty fuggly at times, which is a real shame as the char designs from the prequel OVA looked superb. If the animation had been of a similar standard to the prequel this would have been very good, as it is, high 6/10 (6.9).
Grand Blue Dreaming (2018) - basically a Japanese version of frat boys get drunk and enjoy some diving, usually while naked. I'd steered clear of this show for a while as I didn't think it looked or sounded very funny from the clips I'd seen, but it was actually pretty damn funny. I've learnt that even the worst scenarios and premises can be good if delivered with suitable poise and attention, most of the time. Some really good reaction faces that reminded me of the titans in Attack on Titan. Solid 7/10 (7.5).
Mouse (2003) - a bad copy of Cat's Eye and Lupin where the MC is a phantom thief known as Mouse (actually a rich playboy) who announces he's going to steal an item so he can pinch it from under the cops noses. He has 3 sexy assistants and most of the show is about their master-servant relationship and overt ecchi fan service. This really was rather rubbish, shows like this, if delivered with a tongue in cheek tone with some nudity can be worth watching, but it just doesn't work here. It feels like a flimsy excuse to have the MC (can't even remember his name) surrounded by women who all want to be his servant and let him use them however he wishes, and there's plenty of suggestive scenes showing what they mean, plus a few extra scenes hinting that he takes them up on their offers, but off screen ofc. Just makes a 5/10 for some nice boobs, but that's about it. Felt like a crappy OVA rather than a TV show, and as a fan of crappy OVA's (so bad it's good variety like Lemnear) that's being rather generous.
Elfen Lied (2004) - there's the foundation of a good premise here but the execution is too blunt and relies on shock value, gore and fan service, the latter of which comprised mostly minors, including the rape of a 13 y/o girl by her step father (seriously the way it was staged was just like a hentai/JAV and so fucked up, it wasn't edgy just sickening). Characters were pretty weak. I'm not a fan of watching cute anime girls suffer, although shows like Freezing and Cross Ange manage to pull it off. Backgrounds for the location were nice. There was enough build up to make some of the emotional beats land in the final climatic episode. Mid to high 6/10 (6.7).
Mushi-shi Path of Thorns (2014) - special between first and second parts of the second season about a mushi that has the power to absorb life and needs to be sealed. Calming, thoughtful, lovely visuals, high 7/10 (7.8).
Hunter x Hunter: The Last Mission (2013) - this spinoff original film centres on the persecuted descendants of a covert group of Hunters that were disbanded after their actions got out of control. The descendants hatch a plan to take revenge against the Hunter Association and chairman Netero and Gon and Killua come to his aid. Story was ok, Madhouse always bring solid visuals and OST. Both Hunter x Hunter films seem to have cracked the formula for a spinoff movie and have been pretty good, wish Madhouse would teach Toei as the One Piece films are always disappointing. Low 7/10 (7.3).
Mushi-shi: Next Passage Part 2 (2014) - the second part of season 2 continues same as the first, thoughtful, calming, sometimes melancholy, tidy self contained episodic stories, amazing visuals and OST. A very impressive story of the supernatural world, this franchise has been consistently solid from beginning to end. Same score as part 1, high 8/10 (8.7).
Mushishi: The Next Chapter - Belldrops (2015) - two episode length movie about a girl who becomes the chosen mountain lord. Good story, which benefited from the extra runtime giving it room to take root. Low 9/10 (9.0).
Magical☆Shopping Arcade Abenobashi (2002) - an isekai adjacent show where our two leads, Sasshi and Arumi are transported to various versions of their hometown shopping arcade, brimming with anime, movie and game parodies. You've got the fantasy version, sci-fi/mecha one, hard boiled detective, highschool dating SIM, wartime, movies, fairy tales etc. As they pass through each version they try and find the reason for their predicament and a way back to their own reality. Each episode had different art styles reminding me of Gainax works like Panty & Stocking, also some of the mecha designs looked very similar to the ones for the as-yet-unreleased Gurren Lagann. This show was created by studio Madhouse but Gainax are listed as producers and they are labelled all over the opening and end credits, so guessing they must've had a large creative input into this original production. Wacky, crazy but not especially deep. Mid 7/10 (7.4).
| @23feanor - Magical☆Shopping Arcade Abenobashi was a series I enjoyed the first time I watched it and has remained one of the fun ones. The OP was a blast and is on my playlist of various songs over the years. The ED was nice as well. Just finished watching Bean Bandit (2021), the updated OAV (funded via KickStarter) and while it was very nice to see a lot of the crew from both Riding Bean and the Cats, out of a 15 minute video 4 minutes is a listing of all the people involved in the work, including the KickStarter funding folks. Essentially, you have an 11 minute video of which there is no actual story line, good animation, nice cars, pretty girls and a cliffhanger after the 4 minutes of credits. 6.5/10 and that was pretty much because of the inclusion of so many characters that we've enjoyed over the years. Wish there had been more of depth to the story and that they had fleshed it out with more background and depth to the characters. Such is life... |
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| Megazone 23 (1985) - this was a pretty unique OVA consisting of 4 episodes each movie length covering two stories, each two eps long. The first is about a seemingly normal city, which it turns out is actually inside a spaceship, a fact which the populace at large is unaware of and actively prevented from discovering through mental manipulation. Our MC, Shougo, uncovers the truth by accident and works with his biker gang to take down those in power keeping the people in the dark about their fate, with the help of the virtual idol Eve. This story had elements of Macross and Akira present, the latter of which is interesting as these first OVA eps were released before Akira came out. The second story is set about a thousand years after the first with a different set of characters based in a futuristic city where everyone on earth resides in one city called Eden reliant on an all pervasive system for everything, apart from those who get downcycled and go cybernet running and hacking outside the system. The MC for this story, Eiji, works with Eve (the connecting link between stories) to stop the system as it has gone out of control and is working against the interests of humans. Cool futuristic sci-fi and cyberpunk settings, mixed with some very normal Japanese city settings in the first story. Loads of action in both stories, with bike chases, mech fights, mass devastation, shoot outs etc, plus some nudity and pretty decent sex scenes. Background art (particularly the futuristic city setting of the second story) and moving animation for the action sequences was very good. I thought the characters were more engaging in the first story (especially some of the members of the biker gang) but the premise of second story was better. Solid character designs that were more realistic than the usual 80's style, more like Macross or Akira than say Gall Force. Really good OST with synth and J-pop/City-pop sounds with some lovely insert songs for the idol Eve. This was a really good OVA, the stories had the runtime to develop and didn't feel too rushed. Not quite as good as the stellar FLCL, or very good Gunsmith Cats, but up there with the best standalone OVA's I've seen, low 8/10 (8.0). This one really landed in the sweet spot for me with it's gorgeous OST (went straight into my playlist, haven't been so taken with an OST since City Hunter 2 last summer), solid visuals and decent story. Dub for the second story wasn't the best, but that's my only real complaint. @OrlahEhontas Thank you for cluing me in on the existence of Riding Bean OVA. I watched Gunsmith Cats years ago, but is still to this day one of the best, and highest rated for me, OVA's I've come across. Will be watching that one next weekend :) Humanity Had Declined (2012) - bit of a weird one. Set in a future where humanity is in decline and 'new humans' (which we would call fairies) are now the dominant species, complete with strange magical powers. enter our MC, known only as Watashi (don't think any character has an actual name, just a moniker), is appointed as the mediator between humans and fairies for a village. Lots of strange scenarios with no real flow to them, comedy was deadpan delivery and wry. The chronology of events is all off, only discovered that episodes are out of order at the end of the series, so felt very disjointed. I never get why directors chose to air episodes out of order as it never works. Wish HiDive had the episodes in order for streaming. I ended the series on a strange double ep about Watashi's time at a school populated by oddballs and was like, huh, bit of a damp squib of an ending. Artsyle was decent. Enjoyable but weird. High 6/10 (6.9). Delicious in Dungeon (2024) - this show seems to have gone under the radar a bit the last two seasons but it's steadily gotten better during its runtime. The first half of the show is about a group of adventurers on a search and recovery mission for a missing party member, but who run out of food whilst in the dungeon. After a fortuitous meeting with the dwarf Senshi they begin using ingredients from the dungeon, including monsters, a cooking style Senshi has adapted to very well. Lots of inventive, tasty looking dishes and bit of light comedy. Then we get to the second half of the show and the plot concerning the missing party member comes into focus and the story drastically ramps up. Very good world building. I love a well crafted dungeon crawling anime and this one always had new and exciting layers as our group made it to each successive floor. Solid character mix for the main group as well as some interesting secondary characters who join up with our main party for varying amounts of time. Decent animation (studio Trigger so no surprise there), colours, background detail and dubcast (Netflix always lands with the dubcast), OST was on point. Fingers crossed we get another season. Low 8/10 (8.1). |
23feanorJun 13, 7:49 AM
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| Revue Starlight (2018) There are a lot of things to love about this series that are pretty straightforward. I think the music is consistently strong, there's pretty great fight choreography throughout (as might be expected of one large stage show), there's an investing plot to follow that takes some intriguing twists and turns, and since there's a central aim from everyone to become the "Top Star," there's a really good central conflict that keeps things interesting. Even on parts of the series I didn't particularly love at first glance - the relative safety the girls experience in these fights with bladed weapons, the mostly predictable sets of fights leading up to the finale, and the two girls ending up at the center of it all in the end - actually fit quite well into the central themes of the show and match its aesthetic. This is a giant theater first and foremost, after all. It's a production, one that the giraffe who observes it all claims to "understand" because it's straightforward. The Starlight play acts as a play within a play, a microcosm that dictates generally how things will go in this arena. I kind of love that, and I think the themes of the series are pretty solid as a whole. The difficulties I have are with the characters and their individual arcs. There's a certain degree to which I see each character's arc as an individual, which means their stories necessarily are contained to a certain span of time and wrap up in some form by the end of it. I recognize that there are many characters in this series to juggle. Still, I found it difficult to buy the means by which so many of them wrapped up. I won't spoil individual arcs, but many of them felt too neatly resolved, particularly one that felt pretty central to the narrative and had some broader implications for the plot. The series offered lots of interesting character arcs, but they almost all felt like they ended chiefly because the plot demanded that we move on and pull focus to the leads. That might be thematically appropriate, but it bleeds these arcs of significance and makes certain sacrifices that come later feel like they only meaningfully affect two people. It's not so much that they vanish into the background either - we continue to see them late into the series and they remain important, but their roles seem to shift to support rather than continuing to seek that "Top Star" status. A lot of interesting opportunities at worldbuilding also take a backseat to the central relationship. There are other schools where this is happening and where other wishes have been granted and performances are ongoing. There are other classes of students being admitted to this school, or who are the upperclasswomen to our central cast, yet we hardly see them. I know there is enough going on that keeping the story pretty tight is kind of required to make sense of everything to create what I would say is still a pretty fulfilling arc for the central two, and maybe the movie does more in this regard, but I was left wanting a bit by what the show teased in its broader strokes. Overall, while I thought this was a really good series, its focus ends up drawing attention away from the aspects that most intrigued me. The central two get a good arc, but I can't say I was ever solidly invested in their characters, whereas I was interested in getting a deeper dive into some of their fellows. I think there's a lot to love about the world that was built here and the cast is diverse and interesting enough to keep things interesting, but I also see some missed opportunities that hold this back from greatness for me. 7.8/10. Revue Starlight Movie (2021) This movie, like the series it follows up on (in fact, much more than that series), feels like a staged performance. Whether we're talking about scenes that go harder or interactions that seem significantly darker than the series proper would ever have featured, they are all very much a performance, depicting both what the characters wish to deliver to one another and a display for the audience (both us and the giraffe). That's an impressive mode of story-telling that largely short-circuits any complaints I have about how this plays out. Fights feel toothless? Because they are, by design. Arguments feel a little stilted and out of character? That's what the performance demands of them. Even large set-pieces that feel absolutely insane like the giraffe becoming part of the performance and turning into a giraffe-shaped amalgamation of fruits and vegetables seems purpose-built to fuel the performance as it goes forward. So, it's all staged. It's a performance meant to give a bit of closure for these characters who are exiting this stage and moving along their own individual paths, whether they truly want to or not. And I definitely bought into that, particularly in a couple of the performances. That being said, I don't think all of them worked to the same degree. It was legitimately thrilling to watch Claudine and Maya come to blows in what was probably the best choreographed fight in the bunch, as well as just an opportunity to understand more of the headspace these two occupy. Considering they're the top students at this school, it makes sense that they'd be peak. Some other matches certainly went hard in the visual design, particularly both involving Hikari, but I've had pretty consistent issues getting into her headspace throughout and this was no different. I more easily understood the characters opposite of her each time. I wish we'd gotten to spend more time with Nana, who dominates the stage when she's there, but feels like she didn't get enough attention on the character side as opposed to the performance side. Mahiru gets a strong scene, and though she's largely relegated to sitting and pondering through much of it, Karen gets a strong wrap-up. Junna got a strong scene as well, though it seemed like Futaba was just capping off a story that already felt resolved in the series. So, overall, it's a very strong performance that felt like it was only let down by some less than inspired character building. Visually inspired with a lot to love on the choreography, this definitely exceeds the series, even if I wanted a little more out of it. 8.3/10. Secret of Cerulean Sand (2002) I had the pleasure of watching Nadia and the Secret of Blue Water a couple of years back. I'm not making a comparison between the two simply because they have "Blue" and "Cerulean" in the title, but more because the series have decently similar premises. Both are adventure stories helmed by a young girl that involve a mix of sci-fi and fantasy elements. They take place in very different worlds, with this story taking place in our world and Nadia taking place in a very distinct one, and a lot of the direction and characters in the story are distinct. But that's part of the problem: this story just lacks Nadia's swagger. It's got a decent enough adventure and as long as we left William out of it, I think it had some legs. The various vehicles we saw, the relationships they developed (even if they felt a bit dragged out), and the concept of the Floating Liquid was interesting enough to keep the series afloat for much of its run. But William hung like a spectre over all of it, and from the beginning, it was obvious that he would be the main villain without ever justifying why. Setting aside that he was just absurdly, cartoonishly villainous for the reason that he had a complex after his mother died, which is already pretty weak, his actual plans were completely and utterly baffling. That might not be enough to sink the show on its own, but the character writing in general left something to be desired. Jane is a pretty basic character who had glimmers of something more interesting as she struggled with the negative implications of technology and with her love for her family in the face of William's outrageous crimes. Those are both somehow quickly forgotten. George is somehow unknowingly a party to some pretty terrible shit, gets upset that he did that, and sacrifices himself for no reason. We get more interesting with some of the side characters, but even with someone like Barsac who presents a competing interest, he doesn't get an opportunity to act as a grey character, instead almost consistently acting in support of the central cast. To its credit, this series doesn't go off on useless side-tracks like Nadia did for part of its run, but it's significantly less satisfying of a story overall and lacks the gravitas in its characters to carry the narrative. It's fine enough for what it is, but lacks the strength required for a recommendation. 6/10. Baki Hanma vs. Kengan Ashura (2024) For someone who is a fan of both of these series, this was surprisingly underwhelming. I realize they didn’t have a lot of time in this short production to have strong fights that require some real thought on the part of the combatants, but they really just made this one a character showcase and left out anything interesting from the fights. Even the animation was surprisingly dull - both Baki and Kengan have done far better - and all the fights were forgone conclusions. Aside from the final fight, there wasn’t even much strategy. It was just meathead fights that barely made use of anything aside from character power-ups and demonstrations of fortitude. We get the usual “oohs” and “aahs” from the crowd as well as detailed breakdowns of their fighting prowess that is, as per normal, more tell than show. That’s made slightly worse this time by the fact that some of those watchers could put up more interesting fights or at least relate their experiences to heighten the action rather than just opining on the fighters. Put simply, it’s an ONA that’s weaker than the sum of its parts. It lacks the fight dynamics and most of the visual flair of both series and leans into some of their more frustrating habits as characters interrupt matches just to end them awkwardly, and discussion of fights ends up taking more time than the fights themselves. It’s not bad, but it’s underwhelming and hard to recommend to fans of either show. 5/10. Delicious in Dungeon (2024) This season was just a joy to watch. It doesn't have the deepest characters, but they really do make one of my favorite teams I've seen in a long time, gelling together really well and showcasing some of those interpersonal differences that give a group like this texture. The series develops them mostly well, if a bit unevenly. Personally, I have a great fondness for Senshi throughout this story, easily the MVP and most delightful character on the regular. When his background was finally explored, it hit the hardest for me as well. The worldbuilding is master class, easily the best aspect of the show despite the strong animation and presentation of the food. It's consistently a joy to explore this world and get an almost scientific examination of a purely fantastical setting. As a microbiologist myself, seeing the fantasy version of Winogradsky columns (look them up, they're kind of awesome) hit a sweet spot that I haven't seen touched by any series other than Dr. Stone, but doing it with a purpose-built fantasy world makes it all the better. Almost every episode seemed to introduce some new aspect of this world that made the dungeon itself literally come alive. Seriously, if I had a couple of hours to do this, I might just do an episode-by-episode recap of my favorites, from the Cleaners to the Living Paintings to the Doppelgangers to the Undine to the Changelings to the Living Armor (seriously, there are so many), the flora and fauna of this world will live rent free in my head for a long time. If this series falters in any area, it's the plot and tone. On the former front, while I think it executes its mid-season twist very well, but the series began with the effort to find Falin after she was eaten by a dragon, and shifts to... the effort to find Falin again, but with different stakes and concerns. It's not a bad shift, and I sincerely love the set-up for the latter half, but it's also hard not to see that the direction of the series remains remarkably similar: find Falin and return her to normal. The major difference is what they're returning her to normal from (I'll keep that vague to avoid spoilers). It doesn't help that, in introducing a central antagonist for the series in the middle of the season, but also giving that character limited time on screen, the shift in plot direction still feels a little weak. Doing more to establish that character could have made the second half of this season pop better. As for tone, it can sometimes be difficult to reconcile the ways Laios behaves and his desire to save his sister. We got to see the driven side of him, but his attentions seem split from the get-go and for much of the series that makes it difficult to get behind their central journey. I understand that saving Laios's sister is a pretty straightforward motivation, but that should have been an essential emotional drive to the series and not just something that felt like it vanished into the background from time to time. Alternatively, removing the central drive might have made this a better SoL-type experience, but would lose some of that emotional core. Still, while these issues are present throughout the series, I think the series does more than enough to balance them out. The journey matters more than the destination, as it should for an adventure story like this, and when they do reach pivotal points in the season, the production gets the tone right and puts on a great display of sakuga. When the characters get developed, particularly Senshi and Marcille, it really does hit. I'm very much looking forward to S2 and watching where they take this adventure. 8.6/10. |
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| An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride (2024) - basic fantasy romcom about an archdemon lord who acquires an elf slave who later becomes his live in (willing) love interest at his creepy castle. The dynamic between the central pair was pretty good, the elf being submissive and feeling unvalued suddenly realising her new master cherishes her, and the archdemon having little to no social awareness, especially where it comes to the other sex. His inner monologue was very funny in these situations. Sadly for the show after the first few eps setting up this pair the story meanders into the less interesting fantasy aspects of this world, which weren't bad, they just weren't that interesting (female priestess and baby dragon turns up, although not as additional love interests thankfully). I would've preferred if this show had stuck to the central pair and become a SoL romcom. This was the opening act in how a lonely archdemon found himself a life partner and family. Visuals and OST were nice, good ED. Mid 6/10 (6.6). |
23feanorJun 14, 4:03 AM
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Reply to 23feanor
Secret of Cerulean Sand (2002) - a clear and unabashed rip off of Nadia and the Secret of Bluewater, this adventure series had some good moments early on (mostly during the 'setting out on an adventure' portion of the story), with an interesting core premise of cerulean sand and floating liquid, but the character writing and motivation for the central villain were sorely lacking. This show came out just after the advent of computer aided animation and wide spread use of 3Dcgi and it showed. The backgrounds looked like sets with the 2D characters moving in front and the 3Dcgi airships looked odd, but not as bad as the ships in Vandread. I was comparing this mentally to Noir, which came out 9 months earlier and was cell animated and has some stunning use of animation, colours and backgrounds. One saving grace for Secrets of Cerulean Sand was the strong orchestral OST and lovely ED's. Low to mid 6/10 (6.4).
Kill Me Baby (2012) - gag comedy show based on a 4-koma manga about two girls, one an assassin and the other her loud and silly friend. The kind of comedy that makes you smile every now and then, at most a light chuckle, but not really laugh out loud funny. Best aspect was the dub performance by Hilary Haag and Luci Christian for the two leads. Pleasant but simple visuals. Low 6/10 (6.3).
Sol Bianca: The Legacy (1999) - this is an alternative version of the prequel OVA with a longer runtime. The stories were decent enough and I liked the world building, but the visuals just couldn't hold a candle to the prequel OVA. This was the first pre 2000 stand alone OVA I've come across made using very early digital animation techniques and cgi. To be fair the cgi ships and vehicles looked ok, better than Vandread or Secrets of Cerulean Sands. However, the character designs were off and looked pretty fuggly at times, which is a real shame as the char designs from the prequel OVA looked superb. If the animation had been of a similar standard to the prequel this would have been very good, as it is, high 6/10 (6.9).
Grand Blue Dreaming (2018) - basically a Japanese version of frat boys get drunk and enjoy some diving, usually while naked. I'd steered clear of this show for a while as I didn't think it looked or sounded very funny from the clips I'd seen, but it was actually pretty damn funny. I've learnt that even the worst scenarios and premises can be good if delivered with suitable poise and attention, most of the time. Some really good reaction faces that reminded me of the titans in Attack on Titan. Solid 7/10 (7.5).
Mouse (2003) - a bad copy of Cat's Eye and Lupin where the MC is a phantom thief known as Mouse (actually a rich playboy) who announces he's going to steal an item so he can pinch it from under the cops noses. He has 3 sexy assistants and most of the show is about their master-servant relationship and overt ecchi fan service. This really was rather rubbish, shows like this, if delivered with a tongue in cheek tone with some nudity can be worth watching, but it just doesn't work here. It feels like a flimsy excuse to have the MC (can't even remember his name) surrounded by women who all want to be his servant and let him use them however he wishes, and there's plenty of suggestive scenes showing what they mean, plus a few extra scenes hinting that he takes them up on their offers, but off screen ofc. Just makes a 5/10 for some nice boobs, but that's about it. Felt like a crappy OVA rather than a TV show, and as a fan of crappy OVA's (so bad it's good variety like Lemnear) that's being rather generous.
Elfen Lied (2004) - there's the foundation of a good premise here but the execution is too blunt and relies on shock value, gore and fan service, the latter of which comprised mostly minors, including the rape of a 13 y/o girl by her step father (seriously the way it was staged was just like a hentai/JAV and so fucked up, it wasn't edgy just sickening). Characters were pretty weak. I'm not a fan of watching cute anime girls suffer, although shows like Freezing and Cross Ange manage to pull it off. Backgrounds for the location were nice. There was enough build up to make some of the emotional beats land in the final climatic episode. Mid to high 6/10 (6.7).
Mushi-shi Path of Thorns (2014) - special between first and second parts of the second season about a mushi that has the power to absorb life and needs to be sealed. Calming, thoughtful, lovely visuals, high 7/10 (7.8).
Hunter x Hunter: The Last Mission (2013) - this spinoff original film centres on the persecuted descendants of a covert group of Hunters that were disbanded after their actions got out of control. The descendants hatch a plan to take revenge against the Hunter Association and chairman Netero and Gon and Killua come to his aid. Story was ok, Madhouse always bring solid visuals and OST. Both Hunter x Hunter films seem to have cracked the formula for a spinoff movie and have been pretty good, wish Madhouse would teach Toei as the One Piece films are always disappointing. Low 7/10 (7.3).
Mushi-shi: Next Passage Part 2 (2014) - the second part of season 2 continues same as the first, thoughtful, calming, sometimes melancholy, tidy self contained episodic stories, amazing visuals and OST. A very impressive story of the supernatural world, this franchise has been consistently solid from beginning to end. Same score as part 1, high 8/10 (8.7).
Mushishi: The Next Chapter - Belldrops (2015) - two episode length movie about a girl who becomes the chosen mountain lord. Good story, which benefited from the extra runtime giving it room to take root. Low 9/10 (9.0).
Magical☆Shopping Arcade Abenobashi (2002) - an isekai adjacent show where our two leads, Sasshi and Arumi are transported to various versions of their hometown shopping arcade, brimming with anime, movie and game parodies. You've got the fantasy version, sci-fi/mecha one, hard boiled detective, highschool dating SIM, wartime, movies, fairy tales etc. As they pass through each version they try and find the reason for their predicament and a way back to their own reality. Each episode had different art styles reminding me of Gainax works like Panty & Stocking, also some of the mecha designs looked very similar to the ones for the as-yet-unreleased Gurren Lagann. This show was created by studio Madhouse but Gainax are listed as producers and they are labelled all over the opening and end credits, so guessing they must've had a large creative input into this original production. Wacky, crazy but not especially deep. Mid 7/10 (7.4).
Kill Me Baby (2012) - gag comedy show based on a 4-koma manga about two girls, one an assassin and the other her loud and silly friend. The kind of comedy that makes you smile every now and then, at most a light chuckle, but not really laugh out loud funny. Best aspect was the dub performance by Hilary Haag and Luci Christian for the two leads. Pleasant but simple visuals. Low 6/10 (6.3).
Sol Bianca: The Legacy (1999) - this is an alternative version of the prequel OVA with a longer runtime. The stories were decent enough and I liked the world building, but the visuals just couldn't hold a candle to the prequel OVA. This was the first pre 2000 stand alone OVA I've come across made using very early digital animation techniques and cgi. To be fair the cgi ships and vehicles looked ok, better than Vandread or Secrets of Cerulean Sands. However, the character designs were off and looked pretty fuggly at times, which is a real shame as the char designs from the prequel OVA looked superb. If the animation had been of a similar standard to the prequel this would have been very good, as it is, high 6/10 (6.9).
Grand Blue Dreaming (2018) - basically a Japanese version of frat boys get drunk and enjoy some diving, usually while naked. I'd steered clear of this show for a while as I didn't think it looked or sounded very funny from the clips I'd seen, but it was actually pretty damn funny. I've learnt that even the worst scenarios and premises can be good if delivered with suitable poise and attention, most of the time. Some really good reaction faces that reminded me of the titans in Attack on Titan. Solid 7/10 (7.5).
Mouse (2003) - a bad copy of Cat's Eye and Lupin where the MC is a phantom thief known as Mouse (actually a rich playboy) who announces he's going to steal an item so he can pinch it from under the cops noses. He has 3 sexy assistants and most of the show is about their master-servant relationship and overt ecchi fan service. This really was rather rubbish, shows like this, if delivered with a tongue in cheek tone with some nudity can be worth watching, but it just doesn't work here. It feels like a flimsy excuse to have the MC (can't even remember his name) surrounded by women who all want to be his servant and let him use them however he wishes, and there's plenty of suggestive scenes showing what they mean, plus a few extra scenes hinting that he takes them up on their offers, but off screen ofc. Just makes a 5/10 for some nice boobs, but that's about it. Felt like a crappy OVA rather than a TV show, and as a fan of crappy OVA's (so bad it's good variety like Lemnear) that's being rather generous.
Elfen Lied (2004) - there's the foundation of a good premise here but the execution is too blunt and relies on shock value, gore and fan service, the latter of which comprised mostly minors, including the rape of a 13 y/o girl by her step father (seriously the way it was staged was just like a hentai/JAV and so fucked up, it wasn't edgy just sickening). Characters were pretty weak. I'm not a fan of watching cute anime girls suffer, although shows like Freezing and Cross Ange manage to pull it off. Backgrounds for the location were nice. There was enough build up to make some of the emotional beats land in the final climatic episode. Mid to high 6/10 (6.7).
Mushi-shi Path of Thorns (2014) - special between first and second parts of the second season about a mushi that has the power to absorb life and needs to be sealed. Calming, thoughtful, lovely visuals, high 7/10 (7.8).
Hunter x Hunter: The Last Mission (2013) - this spinoff original film centres on the persecuted descendants of a covert group of Hunters that were disbanded after their actions got out of control. The descendants hatch a plan to take revenge against the Hunter Association and chairman Netero and Gon and Killua come to his aid. Story was ok, Madhouse always bring solid visuals and OST. Both Hunter x Hunter films seem to have cracked the formula for a spinoff movie and have been pretty good, wish Madhouse would teach Toei as the One Piece films are always disappointing. Low 7/10 (7.3).
Mushi-shi: Next Passage Part 2 (2014) - the second part of season 2 continues same as the first, thoughtful, calming, sometimes melancholy, tidy self contained episodic stories, amazing visuals and OST. A very impressive story of the supernatural world, this franchise has been consistently solid from beginning to end. Same score as part 1, high 8/10 (8.7).
Mushishi: The Next Chapter - Belldrops (2015) - two episode length movie about a girl who becomes the chosen mountain lord. Good story, which benefited from the extra runtime giving it room to take root. Low 9/10 (9.0).
Magical☆Shopping Arcade Abenobashi (2002) - an isekai adjacent show where our two leads, Sasshi and Arumi are transported to various versions of their hometown shopping arcade, brimming with anime, movie and game parodies. You've got the fantasy version, sci-fi/mecha one, hard boiled detective, highschool dating SIM, wartime, movies, fairy tales etc. As they pass through each version they try and find the reason for their predicament and a way back to their own reality. Each episode had different art styles reminding me of Gainax works like Panty & Stocking, also some of the mecha designs looked very similar to the ones for the as-yet-unreleased Gurren Lagann. This show was created by studio Madhouse but Gainax are listed as producers and they are labelled all over the opening and end credits, so guessing they must've had a large creative input into this original production. Wacky, crazy but not especially deep. Mid 7/10 (7.4).
23feanor said: Mushishi: The Next Chapter - Belldrops (2015) - two episode length movie about a girl who becomes the chosen mountain lord. Good story, which benefited from the extra runtime giving it room to take root. Low 9/10 (9.0). Where did you find Belldroplets? I looked for that anywhere even just wide open search and never found it. Maybe I gave up a couple years ago. Is it translated? It was the last piece of Mushishi ever made |
| @SuperAdventure on the usual streaming site on the high seas, the wave one, although a couple of others have it as well. It's a very good send off to a brilliant franchise. And fully subbed. |
23feanorJun 15, 11:17 PM
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| Dragon Knight (1991) - It's listed as a hentai genre, but honestly it was the 90's and they really had a low bar as to what that involved. This was an attempt to jump onto the D&D bandwagon and it somewhat succeeded. MC is a wandering hero (fighter class). Opening sequence finds our "hero" killing monsters in the forest and starving since either he neglected to pack provisions or has been out way too long. Comes across a town only to find all the taverns closed up. Finds an "empty" castle with a full kitchen and decides to plunder it. Next thing he knows he's in the judgement hall of the current leader of the village for robbery (such a surprise) and in the process is tasked with a quest to save the people of the town that have been taken prisoner by a Dragon Knight and his underlings. Here's where the so-called hentai comes into play. The people our "hero" is to rescue are all good-looking ladies and are being subjected to various "tortures" by the various underlings. Overall, the level of sexual imagery is pretty tame by today's standards (see raunchier scenes in a PG13 rated movie these days) and the humor is, as somewhat expected, rather juvenile (on par with Golden Boy) but still humorous. Animation is about what one would expect to find in an early '90's anime. The VA's did a good job with a story that was pretty much cookie-cutter in writing. Was expecting something more from this based on the synopsis and the number of good things folks have said about the franchise. The animation and VA's pretty much sold it though and I gave this a low 6/10. Worth the watch and I need to check out the rest of the franchise to see if the positive qualities remain throughout or if it goes downhill. Hard to find streamed on any other than the hentai streaming sites though. Neo Ranga (1998) - Was looking for something to watch that was short and humorous. And while technically this is short (15 minute episodes), it's also 46 episodes long. As for humorous, well... The MC's are Minami (the realistic one and eldest), Ushio (the idealistic one and the middle) and Yuuhi ((or Yuupi, as the sub I watched listed her)the youngest and most devious of the three). Our three MC's are invited to a South Pacific island, Barou (fictional), where they find out their older brother had wooed and married the local island princess, but had disappeared and was now presumed dead and that his wife, the now Queen of the island, had also passed away with no male heirs to inherit the throne. Congratulations seem in order for our MC's as they are the only remaining heirs and they are now the "kings" of the island, but the Lady Fate is a fickle goddess. Not only have they inherited the kingdom, but they have inherited control of a "god" as well. This god (Neo Ranga) takes the form of a 4-5 story building high mecha/robot/monster (? Never really clearly defined). The biggest problem is that these girls all have lives they're living back in Japan. Admittedly, their lives are not what one would call prosperous. They live in the house they inherited from their parents and the oldest of the three is working at least three jobs to keep the younger two in food, clothing and school, but it's the life they know. So they return to Japan, sans Ranga, and continue their lives. Ranga decides that he needs to be c lose to his "kings" and follows them home, arriving in Japan à la Godzilla style, causing much destruction in the process of getting from the ocean to their house and the troubles for our heroines begin. Between the youngest using Ranga as transportation to and from school and the ultra-secret "return to the good ole days" conspiracy group, it seems like it should be hilarious. Sadly, while there are funny moments throughout the series, the humor just isn't there for the most part. The story may have been good in the eyes of the writers, but somewhere between their vision and what wound up on the screen got lost in the transition. There is an overall plot to the series, but it's tough to follow and track who is doing what to whom and why. The VA's did a good job and the animation is quite good for a 15 minute episode, but the script must have been given to the cast the day they were recording it with little or no prep time adding to the confusion factor for the audience. The first OP is good, although a bit weird, as well as the first ED. The second season OP/ED are pretty average though. Because of the confusing plot I wound up giving this a middle 6/10(6.3/6.4), with a re-watch level of 0. |
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| Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included (2024) - picked this one up on a whim this season in the hopes it might be a wholesome romcom, and it was (pg-13, no fan service), but the harem element somewhat ruined it. Our MC discovers an angel on his balcony one night and takes her in to live with him in his one room apartment (old trope of teenager living alone again). The angel, Towa, is pure and sweet and their interactions are pleasant and sunny. Then MC meets more supernatural girls, who all take a shine to him, and you have his childhood friend along as well. I wish the show would've stopped after the second or third girl and concentrated on the banter and some comedic moments, but we ended up with the usual large gaggle of women and one guy going to resorts, beach, bbq etc. There was one stand out girl, a yuki-onna, who was a shut in for most of her life due to her powers going out of control and she now tries 'friending' (being friends with someone) and is constantly comparing real life to events she's seen in animanga, worked well. Clean visuals. Ofc there's no actual romance, just the girls all wishing there was. Inoffensive and forgettable. Low to mid 6/10 (6.3). Riding Bean (1989) - spinoff from Gunsmith Cats also set in Chicago but follows the story of a courier who is framed for kidnapping a young girl. Tries a bit too hard to be shocking and hard boiled, nice visuals, Low to mid 6/10 (6.3). |
23feanorJun 16, 6:53 AM
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Reply to SuperAdventure
23feanor said:
Mushishi: The Next Chapter - Belldrops (2015) - two episode length movie about a girl who becomes the chosen mountain lord. Good story, which benefited from the extra runtime giving it room to take root. Low 9/10 (9.0).
Mushishi: The Next Chapter - Belldrops (2015) - two episode length movie about a girl who becomes the chosen mountain lord. Good story, which benefited from the extra runtime giving it room to take root. Low 9/10 (9.0).
Where did you find Belldroplets? I looked for that anywhere even just wide open search and never found it. Maybe I gave up a couple years ago. Is it translated? It was the last piece of Mushishi ever made
| @SuperAdventure Search for "MUSHI-SHI Special: Bell Droplets" or "Mushishi Tokubetsu-hen" on the site formerly known as 9anime.to. It's not only the last entry of the anime franchise, it also is the last manga chapter. And as such, it nicely concludes Ginko's own story. |
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Reply to 23feanor
Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included (2024) - picked this one up on a whim this season in the hopes it might be a wholesome romcom, and it was (pg-13, no fan service), but the harem element somewhat ruined it. Our MC discovers an angel on his balcony one night and takes her in to live with him in his one room apartment (old trope of teenager living alone again). The angel, Towa, is pure and sweet and their interactions are pleasant and sunny. Then MC meets more supernatural girls, who all take a shine to him, and you have his childhood friend along as well. I wish the show would've stopped after the second or third girl and concentrated on the banter and some comedic moments, but we ended up with the usual large gaggle of women and one guy going to resorts, beach, bbq etc. There was one stand out girl, a yuki-onna, who was a shut in for most of her life due to her powers going out of control and she now tries 'friending' (being friends with someone) and is constantly comparing real life to events she's seen in animanga, worked well. Clean visuals. Ofc there's no actual romance, just the girls all wishing there was. Inoffensive and forgettable. Low to mid 6/10 (6.3).
Riding Bean (1989) - spinoff from Gunsmith Cats also set in Chicago but follows the story of a courier who is framed for kidnapping a young girl. Tries a bit too hard to be shocking and hard boiled, nice visuals, Low to mid 6/10 (6.3).
Riding Bean (1989) - spinoff from Gunsmith Cats also set in Chicago but follows the story of a courier who is framed for kidnapping a young girl. Tries a bit too hard to be shocking and hard boiled, nice visuals, Low to mid 6/10 (6.3).
| @23feanor - Actually it's the other way around. Cats is the spin-off of Riding Bean. Rumor has it that there was some issues between the author and the studio regarding how the Bean series was going to go. Sadly, those differences apparently went unresolved since we only have the one episode of Riding Bean and the "follow-up" Bean Bandit. |
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| The Heroic Legend of Arslan (2015) - pseudo historical action series set in a fictional ancient Persia which follows the young prince of Pars, Arslan, on his journey to retake his country after it's invader by the neighbouring Lusitanian forces. At only 14 y/o Arslan must gather together and rely upon a group of trusted advisers and plan how they can raise a force to challenge the Lusitanian army, all the while seeking his own reason for becoming the next king amid rumours of the illegitimacy of his claim to the throne. From the writer of LotGH, this had promise, and I loved the attention to detail in the visuals for the settings and dialogue, however, the action and overall narrative required to much suspension of disbelief. The group around Arslan was interesting, and they had good banter, but there wasn't much of it. I found Arslan himself a bit less engaging as the central character in this story. Action was ok, use of cgi soldiers wasn't bad, have seen a lot worse. Amazing OST really lifted the show. Finally the inclusion of dark sorcerers and prophecy was a bit disappointing as they were simply used as plot devices to extend the main narrative. If this show had taken a similar tack to 12 Kingdoms, Apothecary Diaries or Vinland Saga it could've been something special, as it is, it's a decent watch. By the end of the season there's many unanswered questions and you feel the story has only just gotten off to the races. Mid 7/10 (7.5). @OrlahEhontas yeah I saw that, meant to write 'same world setting' or prequel spinoff. Was a bit disappointed tbh. Gunsmith Cats was so good I was hoping for more of the same, but there's an early scene where the young girl, Carrie, Semmerling's accomplice and fuck toy, tries to give a captive man a 'cleaning service' and I was like oh dear. It just didn't hit the right tone for me, I liked the car racing and setting though. Girlish Number (2016) - cgdct do VA in the style of Shirobako letting us peek behind the curtain of the voice acting industry. Our central lead, Chitose, is a talentless hack with a crap personality, but she doesn't let this get in the way of her climbing the ladder in a jaded industry where everyone wants the new up and coming hot ticket. The core cast has strong chemistry with a rounded cast, some decent banter and enough depth to the characters to flesh them out. We even get some real character development later on as Chitose realises the gap between her unmerited confidence and her actual level of talent. There's a lot of drinking involved in being a VA apparently. Clean visuals, ok OST, solid 7/10 (7.5). Hand Maid May & Special (2000) - I'm a big fan of old but gold harem romcoms (Tenchi Muyo, Girls Bravo, Mahoromatic Maiden, DeaRs, Magikano, UFO Princess Valkyrie, My Bride Is A Mermaid, Good Luck Ninomiya-kun, Kemeko DX, Magicians Academy) and the 2000's shows of this variety nailed the perfect mix of sci-fi, romance (usually light and innocent in nature but with some feels thrown in), wacky goofy tone of comedy and a frisson of fan service. I'm always searching for similar shows from this era but all the ones I've tried recently had been duds. Until I picked up Hand Maid May. This had everything I was looking for, it had a sci-fi element a bit similar to Chobits and Plastic Memories, with our MC, Kazuya, suddenly receiving a delivery of a cyberdoll, May, who becomes his live in companion. Shortly followed by a number of other cyberdolls. The tone of humour most closely reminds me of Girls Bravo with silly antics and over the top reactions, perfectly delivered by the dubcast, who all elevated the humorous side of the show. This is one of those shows where the characters watch a soap opera every episode, called Whirlwind of Love, and this one was a real hoot, with a BL aspect. Little touches like that, a fictional show which our characters get hooked on, and you as the viewer end up wanting to know more about, are a hallmark of the type of comedy I so enjoy from these older romcoms. Thinking on the modern take on the harem romcom I finished the other day, Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included, there is no comparison and leads me to the venerated conclusion that they just don't make harem romcom shows like they used to. I mean there are some good ones like Cafe Terrace Goddesses and Girlfriend Girlfriend, but they just don't hit the same vibe and the romance is more serious. Hopefully this won't be the last hidden old but gold harem romcom I'll find. Solid 7/10 (7.6). |
23feanorJun 18, 4:31 AM
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Reply to 23feanor
The Heroic Legend of Arslan (2015) - pseudo historical action series set in a fictional ancient Persia which follows the young prince of Pars, Arslan, on his journey to retake his country after it's invader by the neighbouring Lusitanian forces. At only 14 y/o Arslan must gather together and rely upon a group of trusted advisers and plan how they can raise a force to challenge the Lusitanian army, all the while seeking his own reason for becoming the next king amid rumours of the illegitimacy of his claim to the throne. From the writer of LotGH, this had promise, and I loved the attention to detail in the visuals for the settings and dialogue, however, the action and overall narrative required to much suspension of disbelief. The group around Arslan was interesting, and they had good banter, but there wasn't much of it. I found Arslan himself a bit less engaging as the central character in this story. Action was ok, use of cgi soldiers wasn't bad, have seen a lot worse. Amazing OST really lifted the show. Finally the inclusion of dark sorcerers and prophecy was a bit disappointing as they were simply used as plot devices to extend the main narrative. If this show had taken a similar tack to 12 Kingdoms, Apothecary Diaries or Vinland Saga it could've been something special, as it is, it's a decent watch. By the end of the season there's many unanswered questions and you feel the story has only just gotten off to the races. Mid 7/10 (7.5).
@OrlahEhontas yeah I saw that, meant to write 'same world setting' or prequel spinoff. Was a bit disappointed tbh. Gunsmith Cats was so good I was hoping for more of the same, but there's an early scene where the young girl, Carrie, Semmerling's accomplice and fuck toy, tries to give a captive man a 'cleaning service' and I was like oh dear. It just didn't hit the right tone for me, I liked the car racing and setting though.
Girlish Number (2016) - cgdct do VA in the style of Shirobako letting us peek behind the curtain of the voice acting industry. Our central lead, Chitose, is a talentless hack with a crap personality, but she doesn't let this get in the way of her climbing the ladder in a jaded industry where everyone wants the new up and coming hot ticket. The core cast has strong chemistry with a rounded cast, some decent banter and enough depth to the characters to flesh them out. We even get some real character development later on as Chitose realises the gap between her unmerited confidence and her actual level of talent. There's a lot of drinking involved in being a VA apparently. Clean visuals, ok OST, solid 7/10 (7.5).
Hand Maid May & Special (2000) - I'm a big fan of old but gold harem romcoms (Tenchi Muyo, Girls Bravo, Mahoromatic Maiden, DeaRs, Magikano, UFO Princess Valkyrie, My Bride Is A Mermaid, Good Luck Ninomiya-kun, Kemeko DX, Magicians Academy) and the 2000's shows of this variety nailed the perfect mix of sci-fi, romance (usually light and innocent in nature but with some feels thrown in), wacky goofy tone of comedy and a frisson of fan service. I'm always searching for similar shows from this era but all the ones I've tried recently had been duds. Until I picked up Hand Maid May. This had everything I was looking for, it had a sci-fi element a bit similar to Chobits and Plastic Memories, with our MC, Kazuya, suddenly receiving a delivery of a cyberdoll, May, who becomes his live in companion. Shortly followed by a number of other cyberdolls. The tone of humour most closely reminds me of Girls Bravo with silly antics and over the top reactions, perfectly delivered by the dubcast, who all elevated the humorous side of the show.
This is one of those shows where the characters watch a soap opera every episode, called Whirlwind of Love, and this one was a real hoot, with a BL aspect. Little touches like that, a fictional show which our characters get hooked on, and you as the viewer end up wanting to know more about, are a hallmark of the type of comedy I so enjoy from these older romcoms.
Thinking on the modern take on the harem romcom I finished the other day, Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included, there is no comparison and leads me to the venerated conclusion that they just don't make harem romcom shows like they used to. I mean there are some good ones like Cafe Terrace Goddesses and Girlfriend Girlfriend, but they just don't hit the same vibe and the romance is more serious. Hopefully this won't be the last hidden old but gold harem romcom I'll find. Solid 7/10 (7.6).
@OrlahEhontas yeah I saw that, meant to write 'same world setting' or prequel spinoff. Was a bit disappointed tbh. Gunsmith Cats was so good I was hoping for more of the same, but there's an early scene where the young girl, Carrie, Semmerling's accomplice and fuck toy, tries to give a captive man a 'cleaning service' and I was like oh dear. It just didn't hit the right tone for me, I liked the car racing and setting though.
Girlish Number (2016) - cgdct do VA in the style of Shirobako letting us peek behind the curtain of the voice acting industry. Our central lead, Chitose, is a talentless hack with a crap personality, but she doesn't let this get in the way of her climbing the ladder in a jaded industry where everyone wants the new up and coming hot ticket. The core cast has strong chemistry with a rounded cast, some decent banter and enough depth to the characters to flesh them out. We even get some real character development later on as Chitose realises the gap between her unmerited confidence and her actual level of talent. There's a lot of drinking involved in being a VA apparently. Clean visuals, ok OST, solid 7/10 (7.5).
Hand Maid May & Special (2000) - I'm a big fan of old but gold harem romcoms (Tenchi Muyo, Girls Bravo, Mahoromatic Maiden, DeaRs, Magikano, UFO Princess Valkyrie, My Bride Is A Mermaid, Good Luck Ninomiya-kun, Kemeko DX, Magicians Academy) and the 2000's shows of this variety nailed the perfect mix of sci-fi, romance (usually light and innocent in nature but with some feels thrown in), wacky goofy tone of comedy and a frisson of fan service. I'm always searching for similar shows from this era but all the ones I've tried recently had been duds. Until I picked up Hand Maid May. This had everything I was looking for, it had a sci-fi element a bit similar to Chobits and Plastic Memories, with our MC, Kazuya, suddenly receiving a delivery of a cyberdoll, May, who becomes his live in companion. Shortly followed by a number of other cyberdolls. The tone of humour most closely reminds me of Girls Bravo with silly antics and over the top reactions, perfectly delivered by the dubcast, who all elevated the humorous side of the show.
This is one of those shows where the characters watch a soap opera every episode, called Whirlwind of Love, and this one was a real hoot, with a BL aspect. Little touches like that, a fictional show which our characters get hooked on, and you as the viewer end up wanting to know more about, are a hallmark of the type of comedy I so enjoy from these older romcoms.
Thinking on the modern take on the harem romcom I finished the other day, Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included, there is no comparison and leads me to the venerated conclusion that they just don't make harem romcom shows like they used to. I mean there are some good ones like Cafe Terrace Goddesses and Girlfriend Girlfriend, but they just don't hit the same vibe and the romance is more serious. Hopefully this won't be the last hidden old but gold harem romcom I'll find. Solid 7/10 (7.6).
| @23feanor - You're thoughts on the whole rom-com harem genre makes me wonder if that is part of what drives the dislike for it that I've seen over the past few years. Folks are basing their feelings on the newer stuff that just doesn't feel the same as the older stuff did and not enjoying it as much. Most of the newer stuff just leaves me out in the cold and not enjoying the humor. |
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| Astro Note (2024) - easily my top pick of this season. I said in my recent review of Hand Maid May that modern romcoms don't compare to the wacky ones of the past that I enjoy so much, well I have to eat my words. This show is a sci-fi romcom packed full of colourful characters and wacky antics. The writers of this original work clearly took inspiration from Maison Ikkoku and Urusei Yatsura as the story is set in a boarding house full of oddballs with the landlady, Mira, an alien princess from outer space looking for a lost key, which is also being hunted by other aliens who spy on Mira and her talking dog (who's her guard). Enter our MC, Miyasaka, who moves into room 5 (same room as Godai in Maison Ikkoku) as the live in chef and falls for Mira. We get plenty of laughs, comedy was on point, lots of silly antics, slapstick, some backstory for the characters who live in the boarding house and it's connection to Mira and her mother. The romance bubbled along nicely, not too much or over egged, just the perfect balance with a very satisfying conclusion in the form of a Gainax style ending with spaceships. Visuals were lovely, VA performance was very good. Direction from one of the Gintama directors, this hit all the marks for me. OP was a banger. High 8/10 (8.8). |
23feanorJun 21, 10:15 PM
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| Gibiate (Year of the rat) Jibby-8. One of the most badly made modern anime I have ever seen. I can't even review it here, like I started writing a review halfway through but after the ending.. don't even know what to say. Just to give you an idea how bad this anime is- you don’t need to watch the full thing, just go watch episode 7. Seriously it’s the worst thing you’ve ever seen. Ugly looking characters that are off model almost all the time. The camera is always jammed in someone’s face. No logic to the story or scene composition- the action jumps from flashbacks to conversation to action. The action is mostly fighting terrible cgi monsters- that purple dinosaur!!! OH MY GOD! So bad! This is some of the worst CGI I have ever seen. The experimental CGI in some 90s anime looked better than this. There's freeware you can use to make better models than in this. That's how terrible it is. There’s an interesting narrative underneath all the mess- and I liked the characters as people at least- in fact after a while they grow on you. The way the story was told, each episode begins with a bio, recorded on a camcorder- was an interesting idea and some of the backgrounds and music were great. But the production is soooooo amateurish. ^_^ If you haven't watched Jibby then don't bother, like I said just check out episode7 and if that doesn't make your eyes bleed then be my guest. I can't recommend this to anyone but diehard cyberpunk enthusiasts or people who love watching bad anime as some kind of masochistic hobby. You have to be a little bit wonky to like this show. I think I was just in awe at how weird and ugly it was most of the time. Was leaning toward a 5 by the end of episode 10; but after watching the ending I can't go higher than 4. Yup it's that bad! |
| The Heroic Legend of Arslan: Dust Storm Dance (2016) - continuation of the story from the tv series with a couple of twists thrown in. Same production values and tone as the tv series but with slightly better background art as this was an OVA. Very good OST. You can tell by this point in the show that this is a long running story with many moving parts and plots, and the tv series and sequel OVA are just the opening arcs. Shame we never got a continuation. Same score as the tv series, solid 7/10 (7.5) Train to the End of the World (2024) - cgdct go on a surreal adventure. After a calamitous event occurs when 7G wireless is switched on in Ikebukuro, the whole world goes looney tunes and people turn into animals and objects, distances have no meaning and it's all cuckoos for coco puffs. Enter our central cast of 4 girls who decide to set out on a train journey to find their lost friend who went to Ikebukuro. Along the way they have a bunch of strange encounters. Some good banter between the main girls. Episodes were hit and miss, some of them were really wacky and funny, others just plain strange. Some nice visuals, high 6/10 (6.9). Tsukimichi -Moonlit Fantasy- Season 2 (2024) - it feels to me like a lot of isekai that have gotten second seasons have trailed off, and the second season hasn't fulfilled the promise of the first (Slime isekai, Overlord, Saints Magic Power is Omnipotent, Faraway Paladin), so it was good to see Tsukimichi find it's stride this second season. The story expanded in scope and our MC, Makoto, has broadened his horizons. There's a very good central cast behind Makoto, which is partly why it's such fun to watch. Clean animation and OST, very high 7/10 (7.9). |
23feanorJun 26, 12:17 AM
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| The Heroic Legend of Arslan (2015) This season is, overall, a pretty good time. The score is excellent, the animation really good with only a few odd CGI choices, the characters varied and entertaining, and the plot, if nothing else, is interesting enough to keep me invested. All that being said, it does seem like the show trips over itself a bit in the details. For example, one of the elements it introduces and uses with some regularity is a set of sorcerers. They use magic, they're clearly fantastical, and they appear on the battlefield from time to time to get major characters out of harm's way. It's a bit of a deus ex machina that feels very much like the author has his hands in the plot, which is something I rarely appreciate in my stories. That's pretty granular, though, so I'll go bigger. Arslan himself plays a pivotal role in the plot, and while he's certainly surrounded by interesting characters, he himself feels a little flat at times. He's an idealist who sticks to his ideals, and while that's kind of refreshing when compared to the much gloomier renditions of this type of character, it also means that we don't see much from him beyond getting challenged on his ideals, doubling down on them, and moving on. Maybe it's not fair for me to compare them, but Canute from Vinland Saga is a far more investing character for how he has to wrestle with the ways his ideals clash with the realities of his role, and how he has to twist, bend and break some of them to pursue his goals. Arslan isn't king yet, but I was hoping to see more than we got here, and I chalk that up mainly to everyone around him feeling pretty invincible and, partially as a result, his battles feeling like foregone conclusions. Arslan's idealism would be all the more striking it if was tempered with some tragedy. Still, I think the show manages better than I would have expected, especially given that it doesn't answer pretty much any of its central mysteries. I've looked into it enough to know that the source material does answer them in complex and often confusing ways, so maybe adapting those answers was just never in the cards. Honestly, there's so much going on behind the scenes that seems far more interesting than what's playing out on screen in these battles. But I don't mean to be too negative, as I would still recommend this show. The dynamics between its characters, the breadcrumbs the show feeds you about those mysteries, the sweeping battles and even some of the individual fights really make this show work, even if it's missing the depth I was craving for much of its run. 7.5/10. Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night (2024) This show was an easy pick for likely anime of the season. It’s not like it was perfect from the outset – the series has a habit of kick-starting and wrapping up arcs within one or two episodes in a way that sometimes felt rushed, and some of those arcs weren’t particularly inspired when compared with other, similar series. Still, even when it was at its strangest, it consistently managed to be endearing. Though few of its characters are particularly deep, the series does a great job elevating all their stories by bringing them together… …all the way through episode 8. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that the last 4 episodes ruin the show or anything that severe but given that the show finally seemed interested in doing a multi-episode arc, it’s incredibly disappointing to see that arc apparently backtrack on important character development over an idiot plot that shouldn’t have happened. I don’t mind idiot plots when they work, but I do mind when they clash with established character relationships, particularly when we’re talking about one of my favorite characters of the season. I’ll keep it vague to avoid spoilers, but Kano and Mahiru knew each other well enough by this point that their mutual failure to communicate comes off as forced and contrived for the sake of generating drama. In a show that tackled most issues at least pseudo-realistically, this completely took me out of it, and their continued inability to sit down and have a conversation until the finale was baffling. It gave opportunities for the other characters to shine a little more, but I don’t think that was worth the cost. And so, what I’m left with is a competing desire to dissect how this series went wrong and one to gush about how well this series works when its at its best. It spends more time in the latter category but puts a lot of its emotional energy and the finale itself in the former. I want to love this series, but instead, while I still like it, I just don’t feel much desire to return to it. This was a valiant effort, but one that just missed the landing. 7.9/10 KonoSuba: God's Blessing on this Wonderful World! S3 (2024) KonoSuba is the kind of series that never manages to get stale. It’s consistently a funny watch, and like many great comedy shows, I chalk that up to a central cast that is just firing on all cylinders when it comes to how terrible and yet surprisingly relatable they are… well, except for Aqua. This season, the situations they find themselves in are varied and entertaining enough as always, but if I had to nit-pick a bit, it does feel like it’s lacking more in the whole group dynamic. Characters spend large portions of the season apart, and though the settings can be entertaining and meaningful, it does feel like it misses opportunities to make the most of its cast. I love Kazuma, but he needs his girls to balance out some of his worst tendencies, and having Darkness spend much of the season as the one keeping everyone else in line was interesting, but meant she wasn’t super entertaining this time around. Granted, her role as a masochist can get a little stale, and her role drives much of the plot of the latter half of the season, so it’s not bad by any means. And, yeah, the plot itself is just a vehicle for more hilarious situations. Whether we’re crashing a wedding, playing Gotta Catch ‘Em All with some magical items from previously isekai’d humans, fighting a massive hydra day after day, or just hanging out with some royals, the series finds lots of opportunities to keep the laughs coming. Occasionally, they’re tempered with a serious moment or two, but this season knows its strengths and generally sticks to them. Still, at the end of the day, this season does feel like it’s missing something. It’s not so much in its moments, but in its bigger presentation. I think KonoSuba is at its best when it’s offering opportunities to build out the world in crazy and insane ways, and much as its smaller stories are still fertile ground for the series to get its laughs, I don’t think this season did much for the broader narrative. I love learning about the isekai’d fucks ups and what they did in their time in this world. I love learning about the Demon King’s Generals and what crazy nonsense they’re up to (or being subjected to). This season seems like it’s teeing up more of that in the future but feels lackluster in those elements. I still love it all the same. 8.1/10. Bartender: Glass of God (2024) This series ends up with the feeling of a good bar: warm and inviting. There’s a genuine sense of connection that forms over the course of the series, though it’s notable that throughout its run, there’s also a sense of distance. That’s not an easy balance to strike, but I think the series does it well, finding ways for the bartenders to interact with their customers that still leaves the bar between them, as both a physical presence that imposes distance and as a sort of self-imposed barrier meant to shield both sides of the bar from the other. The series never lets us forget that we’re dealing with humans throughout, but we get very distinct insights into how each side of the bar feels. Customers may not be here to be vulnerable, but they are rendered vulnerable by the incisive reads into their emotional states that come from the bartenders. The bartenders, at least when they’re at work, always try to act like they’re present to help the customers that come in their door, not necessarily to relate to them. Those that are considered among the best are the ones who are most capable of imposing that distance, and I think the series is at its best in showing how each of them manages (or fails to manage) it. Ryuu Sasakura has clearly become quite expert at it, though cracks start to show when he’s off the clock and doesn’t give himself a chance to process how he’s feeling. Kyouko Kawakami is still trying to establish that distance, but in finding herself more often on the other side of the counter, she also gains more from the experience of seeing how others manage it. Kelvin Chen wants desperately to be the kind of person who can stand behind that counter, but in his desperation to prove himself, he often misses those points of connection and struggles to reestablish them. I love seeing the contrasts between their styles and personalities, and that’s no more apparent than when they’re mixing drinks and we get to see the various reactions they experience. No character in this show is perfect – there is little sense that any of these bartenders has truly made it in the end, even though many of them succeed in a wide variety of ways. There’s always something to learn, and they are humbled on numerous occasions. Still, the main delight of the show is seeing the beautiful drinks they craft and getting an understanding of why they were chosen. I feel like I need to rewatch this show at a bar and just be ordering at least the central drink of each episode to experience it along with these characters, though that sounds like a good way to get absurdly drunk. There’s just a lot to appreciate about this series, so… why I am I left feeling empty by it? Part of that may have to do with how abbreviated many of these experiences can be. The series thrives on its recurring characters, yet so many flow into and out of the story without getting more than a drink and some wise words. In a sense, that’s more accurate to the experience: not everyone is a regular, after all. Still, it does leave some of those experiences feeling less than. I also feel that following Ryuu, while certainly not bad, does leave much of the more emotional moments feeling a little dry. He has clearly been affected by his past, but he shows almost none of it, and when confronted with a moment that appears similar to his prior trauma, it feels like it passes us by too quickly and with little note. The central narrative of this is an attempt to recruit him to a newly minted bar and, while it does get resolved, it also ends up feeling a bit silly that it took a whole season to get there. This is the kind of show that I can admire very easily, but still leaves me wanting. It has a lot of good ideas, but I’m just not sold on the execution as much as I want to be. Still an easy recommendation. 7.6/10. Train to the End of the World (2024) At its best, this series has been eclectic, and I do mean that in a positive sense. The setup for this world is crazy, and so building it out needed to be crazy as well. Very little about it makes logical sense, and the series doesn’t try to explain itself or generate any kind of understanding for the viewer. As someone who loves some solid worldbuilding a la Delicious in Dungeon and Frieren, I also found plenty to appreciate here. There’s a sort of irreverence to how this series approaches its world and setup that I can really get behind. I mean, come on, the girls rely on communication with a man who can normally only say “choo choo” over and over via everything from Morse Code countless miles away by rapping on train tracks to speaking through an overgrown melon vine. Why do they do this? Reasons. Why does it work? Reasons. Why didn’t this genius come along with them? In his own words: reasons. As someone who loves to interrogate details, it’s honestly a joy to see them flippantly throw those out the window from the outset. But it’s also that eclectic nature that leaves this series about four girls heading to Ikebukuro to find and rescue their friend feeling scattershot and unfocused. Some of the stops offer some interesting insights into our characters and the various effects of 7G, but for the most part, they’re asides that feel empty. Our characters know and understand what’s going on in some of its more outlandish moments, particularly in an episode about shogi, but while I enjoy seeing these shenanigans, it does feel like empty calories. We get some semblance of a character arc for two of them, not much for the other two, and just a lot of things that happen to them, so their presence in the plot feels largely perfunctory: they’re present to fill a need to have more personalities present on the train and contribute to more outlandish circumstances. It doesn’t help that every stop is literally a distraction from the central narrative of getting to Ikebukuro, a place we only spend time in over the last three episodes and that our four girls only arrive in in the penultimate episode. I’m not going to spoil anything about the ending, but I’ll say that it kind of encapsulates the difficult balance the series tries to set between irreverence and everything going on between Shizuru and Youka. I end up wanting more of the former and less of the latter. Sure, it has some sweet moments and showcases some great animation, but I don’t think the series itself quite sticks the landing as it rushes to a resolution. A couple more episodes might have brought this one up for me, but while it doesn’t come together as well as I’d like in the end, it’s still worth the ride. 7.3/10. |
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| Kaiju No. 8 (2024) Even with all the hype surrounding this series, I honestly wasn't expecting it to be this good. Visually, it's excellent, and even though it doesn't always maintain its peak quality, I think it does more than enough to stand out from the pack. I really like the setup for this series as well, as we get to see a main character in Kafka Hibino who a) is already in his thirties and feeling it (I feel seen), b) is working in the down and dirty job of kaiju clean-up and is actually really good at it, and c) is a serial failure at trying to get his dream job of joining the Defense Force to fight alongside his childhood friend and absolute badass MIna Ashiro. He's not coming from a place that feels well-trodden by other protagonists, and honestly, one of the few flaws of the series is that we don't spend much time here. By the end of the first episode, Kafka has obtained the power of a kaiju and thus has the means to get everything he wanted. Power fantasy, coming up! ...except not quite. Sure, if Kafka just regularly used his kaiju powers to get out of sticky situations, it might feel that way, but it really doesn't for two important reasons. First and most important of those is that Kafka is both restricted from using his powers by extrinsic (the Defense Force would kill him) and intrinsic (Kafka wants to prove himself, not have his new power give him a leg up) factors. It does occasionally get used to handle an impossible situation, but there's no sense that Kafka is ever going to abuse it. If anything, he actively desires not to use his newfound powers, meaning that it doesn't become a "Get Out of Jail Free card." Second, and I've actually mentioned this recently with Shangri-La Frontier, what makes Kafka stand out is that he never truly leaves behind his experience in kaiju janitorial work. It becomes one of his most essential tools, something that helps him to stand out despite his lack of physical ability, and it gets recognized for its worth by his superiors. Kafka comes into the Defense Force almost as a joke, but establishes himself in a way that no other person on the Defense Force can by using the tools he obtained as a human. With these factors in place, the series can move forward by throwing various trials at Kafka (both those he chose and those out of his control) as well as introduce a larger cast. These can be pretty hit-or-miss for me. The ones that get substantial screen time like Kikoru, Reno and especially Soushiro stand out in their own distinct and interesting ways, while other characters like Mina, Aoi and Haruichi still don't have much depth to their characterizations and feel pretty flat so far. I like a lot of the plot setup, and generally speaking, things move fast. The villains introduced are threatening in interesting and distinct ways, and their continued impact on the plot going forward has broader implications for the world. That being said, there are some obvious places where the series doesn’t do much work to establish itself. The means by which Kafka achieved his powers is clear enough, but why him? Why these powers? What are his limits? There is more depth to the human power system than the kaiju one, which will probably be expanded upon in future seasons. Also, much as I enjoy the little tidbits we get, there’s surprisingly little worldbuilding in this series, and backgrounds remain somewhat vague. There are big implications about both from the final episode, which is a good start, but I would have liked to have seen more on that front this season. It's a great package. The series looks great so far and, though the plot can be a little simplistic at times, it does a lot with what it has. I’m hoping it gets more fleshed out as it goes, but it’s a strong start. 8/10. Girls Band Cry (2024) I went into this series with some substantial expectations since I picked it up mid-season and had already seen some of the great CGI animation and solid music videos. That alone would have been enough: a group of young girls producing some great music was an easy draw. But it's been done before. Even this season, there's Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night which aired this season as well and started off so strong (though it fell off for me in later episodes), so... can it even stand out? It can. And it does. Girls Band Cry goes further down into the personal level over its run, really delivering on a character level. Its songs were consistently great with fantastic choreography, singing and instrumentals. You can really tell that the talent behind the scenes is making a show out of this. At the start, I felt that these characters were all generally pretty surface level. The great and exaggerated animations actually made this perception worse, since especially Nina seemed like a powder keg with a lot of pent up emotions that seemed to explode randomly. What I didn't expect was for the show to become more than the sum of its parts. There's a sense of camaraderie and support here that feels real, with the girls fighting almost as much as they work together and making mistakes everywhere. It doesn't feel like anything is ever fully resolved, so you can't encapsulate much of this to a single episode or arc. What elevates the series beyond these elements is a narrative that really tests these characters and their individual resolves. In particular, Nina, Momoka and Tomo have to face the demons of their respective pasts in order to move forward together, and it never feels like they do it alone. We often become mired in our individual struggles, but in friends and family, we find people who can help us navigate a path forward. There isn’t a sense that they leave their issues behind them – Nina and Momoka especially carry their anxieties and insecurities with them throughout – but rather that they find a means to forge them into something useful. And that development makes for an ending that is very satisfying. You want these girls to succeed in their efforts just as badly as they do, but you also want them to be true to who they are. In some ways, they stand on principle, and while that seemed almost childish from the outset, there’s a sense by the ending that that’s what got them to this point. That is what makes them a success, more than any amount of popularity or accolades. It’s the kind of ending I was hoping to see with Jellyfish, but one that works all the better here. As for faults, while there aren’t many, I do have a few. Awa is a fun character and has her own personal issues with her grandmother, but they do feel resolved a little too easily and you never get a strong sense of just how much they weigh on her. I like her well enough, and her presence in the group is certainly justified, but her arc is one of the weaker parts of the series. Rupa is also a good time, but she’s also the only one of the five who doesn’t have an arc per se, or at least it doesn’t happen within this season. We know about her history, but she seems like a fully developed character from the outset, almost always acting as the adult in the room. If I had to give my biggest gripe, it’s that they strung out the reveals about Nina’s past for so long. I think episode 10 should have been the complete reveal instead of leaving crucial details all the way to the finale. I can see why they did it, but it didn’t seem necessary and it monkeyed weirdly with the pacing of that final episode. Overall, though it took a bit to really invest me in its early plot, the show did more than enough to drag me in with tis performances and keep me coming back for more week after week with its strong developing narrative and characters. And yes, it's a crying shame that this series didn't get picked up by any streaming service. Major mistake on their part that will cost this show the audience it rightly deserves. 8.3/10. Wind Breaker (2024) Wind Breaker is one of those shows that often feels like more style than substance, though that’s not a bad thing. It puts on a very strong showing in its fights with some of the best hand-to-hand choreography on display, though that’s the low-hanging fruit. The characters are really what elevate the series far more than its narrative, as we get a wide variety of quirky guys that all have their own reasons for joining the fight, and we get to explore and understand a good number of them over the course of the series. It’s no small feat to be able to split attention this way and still be compelling, whether we’re talking about the central school of Bofurin or its local rivals Shishitoren. Whether we’re talking about characters who get full histories and fleshed out mindsets or those who only suggest something going on below the surface, the series does plenty to invest you in their stories. However, there are two places Wind Breaker stalls. First, its main character. It’s not so much that Sakura is a weak character – if anything, the show establishes significant potential for him, building him up as someone with the most room to change and improve over the course of the series, as any good protagonist should. The problem is that we see very little of that in this season. This is mainly an introduction to Bofurin for him, getting an opportunity to see the classmates and upperclassmen at his school, seeing different perspectives on strength and the goals that those seeking power are actually after, finding connection through his fights and community in this new setting. It’s all invigorating and the seeds for some huge character development… in S2. I like seeing how this series plants seeds, but considering he’s the focal point of the season, it’s a bit disheartening to see that he’s only come as far as understanding what directions he can develop rather than seeing actual development. So, where did that attention go instead? Second, the fights between Bofurin and Shishitoren. Again, the fights look great, and we get a lot of insights into many characters in this setting, though some are jobbers, get defeated with relative ease, and are quickly thrown to the curb. We get to see a lot of how Shishitoren became the way it is, how its leaders are thinking, and how that affects the organization as a whole. The way Umemiya in particular challenges them is really well done, and seeing how both their leaders react to those challenges is probably the best part of the whole season. But… this little tournament really eats into the series runtime. It takes roughly 6 episodes, so half of the runtime of the season, before we can fully hash this out, and while some of the other fights are interesting, only the final two have real emotional heft to them, so the rest are just there to give us opportunities to see these fighters in action. It’s not a bad choice per say, since we get to see how both organizations react to their wins and losses, but it also means that only two characters at a time have significant attention. It’s an ensemble cast, but most of them are relegated to color commentary most of the time, and in a setting where battle royales appear commonplace, it’s disappointing that this is the tack they took. And I think this issue is at its most apparent in the finale, as the season ends at a pretty awkward point just after the beginning of a new arc that offers substantive opportunities to address both of the above. It's very much a "tune into S2" moment that gives some solid indications of Sakura's growth, but gives us very little opportunity to see how that growth plays out when push comes to shove. Overall, while this is a great anime stylistically, it hamstrings itself in the substance department. Maybe it’s just that it doesn’t match my expectations, but I was hoping for more from this season. It’s still very enjoyable, though as set-up for later seasons, it doesn't do as much as I'd like to carry its own narrative weight. 7.7/10. The Heroic Legend of Arslan: Dust Storm Dance (2016) While I don't think this eight episode stretch is dramatically different from the previous season (still a banger OST, solid animation that actually seems a bit improved, fights that look great), there are a few differences. It's nice to see Arslan leading confidently through much of this, as he's certainly earned some confidence after his victories and with so many strong and capable people around him. Arslan with swagger is a welcome shift, and because he's not constantly fighting big battles and actually has to deal with putting governance into practice, even if there's not a lot of it. It's also good to see SM show some humanity in his actions. All that being said, narratively, most of this arc feels like a cul de sac for the series, and while I don't mind cliffhangers, it's frustrating to leave us at such an interesting point. So, by the end, we exit a narrative cul de sac and enter what looks like a far more interesting arc that... will almost certainly never be animated. Hard not to be disappointed. There's a great deal of potential that has been built up here to see a clash of leaders and their ideals, and with Arslan having proven himself capable on multiple fronts but also having been humbled on others, it's not obvious how this would play out. But here we are. Might pick up the manga at some point, but for now, I'm left feeling more tepid on the anime. It's still a worthy addition to the series, but not as good as the first season. 7.2/10. |
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| Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 2 Part 2 (2024) - Rudy's journey in another world continues, this instalment of the show sees him dealing with the arrival of his younger sisters, married life and meeting up with his dad again after a tip on the whereabouts of his mum following the teleportation disaster. Rudy travels to a new continent and dungeon crawls with his dad's old party in search of Zenith. Mix of slower moments, mostly centred around emotional drama with Norn, some decent action in the dungeon and finally a handful of touching emotional beats. Rudy experiences some traumatic and pivotal moments in any persons life that feel like they propel him past the memories and person he was in his former life in our world. He has now experienced more as Rudy than as his former self, although he may still be younger, and that comes through in his way of thinking and approaching new situations. His new life in this world has emphatically changed the person he was when he reincarnated into someone new. Are there still vestiges of his former way of thinking still present, yes, but he has a core store of knowledge garnered from his life experiences in this world that bolster him and give him a confidence he never knew in our world. MT seems to have gotten into it's stride now (47 eps in), and the world building is phenomenal, the story is solid, however, some of the sexual content (and the characters actions related to sex and relationships) takes away from the immersion of the world and strays into the realm of male wish fulfilment a little too much for my liking. The only comparison for me is Re:Zero, which has a more engrossing narrative story, but the world building and setting isn't quite as rich and immersive as MT. Although this season is still very good, it hasn't quite hit the same highs as season 1 part 2. Now we've seen all 3 girls, think Slyphie is my best girl out of the 3, closely followed by Eris, don't get the attraction people have to Roxy though. Mid 8/10 (8.3). Brave Bang Bravern! (2024) - this is a mech parody played with a straight face. The plot is a bit like a mesh between Transformers and Independence Day with alien robots suddenly invading earth and only the ally robot, Bravern and our two male leads, Smith and Isami stand in their way of taking control of earth. The vibe is similar to the testosterone filled action movie Top Gun, including the homoerotic undertones, which are quite exaggerated by the dialogue with a lot of 'come inside me' and 'ride me' jokes dropped in when the subject of piloting the mechs comes up. Nice visuals, mech designs were very good, as good if not better than gundam, although not with the same level of precision for the mechanics of the mechs as some of the gundam entries. Explosive action. Save the world narrative. This is one of those niche shows that anime pulls off so well, reminding me of Akiba Maid Wars and Birdie Wing Golf Girls Story with a premise that sounds off the wall but somehow works. Fun watch. Strong 7/10 (7.8). |
23feanorJul 2, 12:34 AM
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| @23feanor Glad you liked Bravern! I enjoyed that watch quite a bit, and yeah, I'd put it in a similar camp to Akiba Maid Wars and at least the first season of Bridie Wing. Go! Go! Loser Ranger! (2024) So, I grew up on Power Rangers. Back in 1993 (yes, I’m old), I watched the Rangers on the regular. It was simple, but I loved everything about the show, from the garish Ranger uniforms to Zordon, and yes, I even loved the villains. Rita Repulsa, in particular, was just a joy to watch on screen, though all manner of boss monsters from Goldar to Lord Zedd to Ivan Ooze (obviously, I watched the movie in 1995) just exuded personality and absurdity that scratched an itch I otherwise never would have known I had. You know who I paid the least mind out of everyone? The Putties. I hardly cared when these nameless, faceless goons got upgraded and effectively became invulnerable… except at the giant Z-logo on their chest. Yeah, I wasn’t impressed with the fodder and usually just found the Rangers’ fights with them frustrating. Cut to 2024 and I see a show that’s clearly meant to ride my nostalgia for tokusatsu sentai series. This series would follow one of those Putties, who was clearly given at least some personality, and give us a world in which he and the other monsters have to fight a group of Dragon Keepers (essentially up-jumped Rangers) who wield special weapons in shows that aren’t all that different from my Saturday morning watches: new boss monster, bit of back and forth, Dragon Keepers unleash a final attack and it’s over. I thought this would be pretty kitschy, even after we find out that said Putties can alter their forms to look like humans, and that the Dragon Keepers are the antagonists of this show, essentially forcing the Putties to put on a show every week now that the real Boss Monsters are all dead and gone. Sure, that’s a nice twist, but how far could they take it? Much further than I ever imagined. To start, this series looks great. It has crisp animation and a lot of interesting ways to use it with the variety of transformations and attacks on display. It may not be the best-looking anime of the season, but it’s largely keeping up and maintains it throughout. IMO, this has the best OP and ED of the season, utilizing some strong thematic music and visuals with a variety of animation styles. Where this series lives and thrives is in its narrative. I rarely had any idea what was coming next episode-to-episode, whether as a result of failed plans, successful ones, or the collision of multiple plans in unpredictable ways. Some of that I chalk up to certain characters not mentioning important details, but the plot rarely takes that tack, instead often diverging from expectations due to a previously unknown factor at play. To its credit, the show usually breadcrumbs those factors, even if a couple of them come out of nowhere. Just as importantly, the sudden shifts in the plot are often character driven. Sentouin D may not be a tactical genius, but he implements several very important plans that pay off over the series run and he’s surprisingly good at working off the cuff… albeit his subterfuge could use some work. There’s not a sense that the plot happens to him – he’s taken his position as protagonist rather than being relegated to some background extra. The larger plot is the conflict between the Dragon Keepers and Sentouin D, representing the monsters. Effectively being enslaved to the Dragon Keepers whims under penalty of death via magic weapons is a pretty solid reason to want revenge, especially after years under their thumbs. The audience and some of the human characters in the show recognize it for what it is: a means to maintain their power and influence in the broader world at the expense of those monsters. By contrast, Sentouin D and the other monsters came to this planet to conquer it, enslaving the masses and killing a tremendous number of humans in the process. They’re not exactly paragons of virtue and the only reason they’re stuck in this situation is because they made a deal with the Dragon Keepers after the Boss Monsters were killed. So it’s effectively some villain vs. villain action, with the actual heroes – usually those training to be Dragon Keepers one day themselves – find themselves caught in the middle and sometimes even having to pick a side. The characters are probably the weakest element of this series. They serve the narrative well enough and there are a wide variety of different character types and designs, but that huge range of characters leaves most of them feeling either like half-baked stereotypes or very superficial and obvious… which is honestly kind of on point for this genre, so I find it difficult to hold it against the series too much. There are several exceptions, including pretty much everyone who gets substantial screen time and even a little bit of backstory, though only a couple of them (particularly Yumeko Suzukiri, who I really wish had more screentime this season) show meaningful depth that really makes them stand apart. We see a lot of Sentouin D over the course of the series and spend most of the time in his head. We understand where he’s coming from early, and though he largely sticks to his sentiments about humans and his own kind, he does change as the series progresses. What I really like about those changes is that they’re organic to his experiences without feeling like a dramatic about-face. Even as circumstances dramatically shift to favor his endgame, Sentouin D never seems ready to hand over the reins of power to anyone. So much like he can alter his form, he changes to suit the situation, but also the narrative he’s writing for himself. All this is to say that, yeah, I kind of love this series. It reminds me a bit of my experience with Bang Brave Bang Bravern last season (though notably less humorous and homoerotic). It’s far from perfect, especially given a mid-season twist that really does feel like it comes out of nowhere, but even that ends up serving the broader narrative well enough. There is a long stretch where the series focuses on fights in a parking garage, and while it results in a number of interesting fights and scenarios, it does result in some weaker animation and backgrounds. Still, for a series that seemed like a gimmick meant to ride sentai nostalgia, this really does go above and beyond. Even the ending, which showcases some progress for Sentouin D towards his goal and simultaneously recognizes how far away he is from achieving it himself, feels like an appropriate capstone to this season. 8.2/10. Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 2 Part 2 (2024) I consistently struggle with this series. That’s not because it isn’t good, but rather because it’s a series of extremes, from the excellent to the incredibly frustrating. Big spoilers and detailed thoughts incoming. In a season with some of my favorite moments in the series, it’s a shame that there’s so much dragging it down as well, relegating a series that could have been one of my top contenders for AotY with whole episodes that I absolutely loved instead to a series that I can only say was good when taken as a whole. 7.8/10. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Hashira Training Arc (2024) As a manga fan, I knew what to expect with this one, but it's always nice to see Ufotable pop off and they most definitely did here, particularly in their first and last two episodes. I don't think they stood up to the best-animated shows last year, but this season has enough powerfully animated moments (including two in the finale that were both pretty awesome) that I have no doubt this season will be a strong contender this year. That being said, this is still Demon Slayer. It's still narratively just OK (more basic than usual across much of this arc), the characters are hit or miss depending upon your tastes, and while the animation ranges from good to incredible, it trends more towards the former than the latter. Ufotable is bound to up the ante for the final three movies. Still, the season is far from a bust, paving the way to the final arc with some pretty strong insights into a few lesser known Hashira (particularly Giyu and Gyomei), and giving us enough insight into their dynamics with the leads to have some sense of how they will interact in the coming fights. That's enough to elevate it in my book. 7.6/10. |
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Reply to 23feanor
| Seems like we're on largely the same page with this season - I appreciate the detailed response. I know a few things that are planned for further out and this series is not going to stop being divisive, but I'll keep watching. |
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| Ashita no Joe 2 (1980) - I said in my review of the first season that it was a bit of a slog to get through. Not so with this season, which experienced an impressive glow up. The pacing was tight, music moved from the wild jazz of the first season to smooth blues and jazz with lots of bass guitar and the visuals were much improved in both detail and movement for the sporting action. Finally the direction was sublime. It's not often you can 'feel the hand of the director', but here you could; the camera positioning/angles, match cuts and flashbacks, foreground vs background and positioning of the characters in both, clipped pacing that kept the story moving forward without getting bogged down or feeling rushed. You never got the feeling like you were bored and wanted to get onto the next arc, or certain parts were rushing by without allowing you time to absorb everything. And finally the trademark Dezaki charcoal stills, which were taken to an artform int his season, mostly white, grey and black but often with subtle shades of orange, pink and red. Looked awesome. You can tell Dezaki learned a lot in his ten years between the first and second seasons. The story for this second season was pretty simple, Joe's push to fight stronger opponents ending with the bantam weight world champion. The characters are something else in Ashita no Joe, each feels unique and newly formed, not based on some previous stereo type. I believe this can be largely attributed to the setting for much of the show, the Namidabashi slums which gives rise to such a wonderful collection of characters, the equal to any birthed from the pen of Dickens. Juxtaposed against this colourful lot from the slums you have the posh girl Yoko Shiraki, the male dominated boxing world and the glitzy attention of the tv network executives. This season the trainer Tange took a bit of a subdued role as he doesn't really have anything more to teach Joe and is there mostly for support. Yoko otoh really came into her own as the antagonist, choreographing events from behind the scene to match up Joe with new opponents. Yoko is one of the best written female characters I've come across, she's much more than just the rich girl of the series. She and Joe have a fractious relationship, and she has a growing obsession seeing him fight that isn't exactly healthy, but it works so well. Yoko becomes Joe's partner in crime, helping him onto each new level of the boxing world so he can achieve his dream of fighting the strongest opponent in the world champion. They even include some romantic subtext right at the end, which add some texture to Joe's relationships with Yoko and Noriko. I won't discuss the ending, but I wasn't expecting it, however, on reflection it was foreshadowed many times. Hit hard, 'I burned my fire, until there was nothing left...All that's left is pure white ash'. I can see why this is called a classic, I really can't find any faults in this season. Having watched all of season one and two, I would recommend new viewers watch season one till ep 52 of 70 and then switch to season two, as season two picks up right after a pivotal event and everything after in season one is filler as the anime had exhausted the source material. In terms of score, this is one of those shows where I'm trying to wrack my brain thinking of why this isn't a 10/10 and can't come up with anything, so 10.0/10. Only minor gripe was that we didn't see more of the mischievous kids causing havoc and my personal favourite Sachi, waving her shoes around. Some of the best characters I've met in any anime. You can see why they're parodied to this day. KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World! 3 (2024) - Konosuba is back with the worst adventuring group in Kazuma, Darkness, Aqua and Megumin. After such a phenomenal first season (the only show I scored a 10/10 years ago that I've rewatched more than once and still agree with my score) and decent follow up in season two and the sequel movie, it's hard to keep the impetus going. The story and world don't quite land as well as the prequels, but that may simply be because of brand recognition, Konosuba isn't the new fresh ticket anymore. That said, the original fab four of the isekai world still have that magic, they bounce off each other, bicker, tease and cajole. They even have a few serious and sweet moments, but never for long. I did enjoy Kazuma becoming the phantom thief with Chris. Visuals were above average, clean but also detailed with bright and pleasing colours. It's great to have these guys back on our screens again. Hoping it won't be too long before we get a season 4 and fingers crossed we get all the source material adapted. Low 8/10 (8.1). |
23feanorJul 4, 12:04 AM
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