I would like to offer a "not recommended" review which isn't mostly about how Testsurou has an annoying voice.
I'm going to follow the format that MAL had me use last time I wrote a review, and make a note and give a score for Story, Art/Animation, Character, Music/Sound, and Enjoyment, with a final overall "why".
Art/Animation: Art is based on Leiji's manga, which has the One Piece problem of drawing women the same, except he does so for not only every women, but teenagers and old folks as well. Character design is a 2/10, then, I guess. It has basic anatomy, and pretty much nothing else.
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One could complain about this due to liking, say, Maetel's character design, but do note that it's repeated at least 25 other times in this series, just with different clothes and hair color. I have nothing to say about clothing. Now, for planet art. Gotta give a reluctant 8/10. Doesn't look very modern, but really does convey the locations they're on quite well. Now, animation. Pretty much what you would expect for a show of it's time. 9/10 if this was written 40 years ago, but 4/10 now. Better than stuff like Ex-arm, and the compositing (or whatever) and scene transition is usually good.
Music/Sound: They have 5 tracks that play often. They do fit this series, but they sound old, which is weird since the show is trying to set itself in the future. The other ones do help bring some much needed variety, but are few and far between. Like almost every other series I've seen, I've no problem with the SFXs used. Don't care about VAs, so nothing about that for me. Based no the quality of it, I'd give a 6/10, but due to it's repetitive nature, I'm going to lower it to a 4/10.
Plot: There's none. Rather, it's an episodic series with character mysteries spread throughout (I'm going to keep those for the "character" though). The plot for every episode bunch (the show is episodic, but it does have a few 2 parters and one 3 parter) is usually quite similar to every other one, except influenced by the planet's quirk, and the characters. The outcomes are rarely divergent, from each other, and the planet/worldbuilding design does not hold up to any scrutiny whatsoever. Heck, they can open the train windows in space (they do so in the first episode), to no consequence. More than anything, this show's continuity is horrible.
Example of plot: Tetsurou gets off on a planet, someone there is poor, and steals his pass. They try to get on the train, then either die or can't, Tetsurou get's the pass, then gets back on the train. End of episode.
Example of planet: 0.01% planet. Everyone on this planet is 100 times weaker than the average human, and so are the structures and the planet itself. Good concept, but this is clearly not a planet that would do well with tourists, nor would it's population be able to live anywhere else, yet the point of that episode was a couple stealing Tetsurou's pass to go elsewhere.
Example of inconsistency: In an episode, there's a barrier protecting you from boarding the train if you have a fake pass. In another, people just go into the train without any passes. I can't reasonnably give more than a 2/10. See 1 episode, you've pretty much seen them all.
Characters: Ooh, boy. Some say Tetsurou is evolving throught his journeys. I say that he's consistently inconsistently written, except for his wish to become a cyborg, which is actually properly paced. Doesn't make him an enjoyable character, though, especially with every other character praising him for being a good human. (2/10)
The conductor is seen as comic relief. I understand, but more than anything, he's just there to say "rules are rules" and "we must depart when we must depart" as well as "can't we wait for Tetsurou and Maetel to get on board?", the last one to the automated train. Yeah, the conductor is more like a travel assistant than an actual conductor. He has this thing about his body being special, which is treated as a mystery, but is never explained. (5/10; there 's nothing to hate, but next to nothing to like)
Maetel is the last major character. She's the perfect woman who's always right and does nothing wrong (per the show's POV), yet she blows up planets, kills people, and generally does what the show portrays as bad, but "not when it's Maetel doing it". Usually she has a more neutral and "do nothing" role, but that's rarely ever correct. She also always tells Tetsurou what not to do, which is always what he ignores, and sparks the conflict of the episode. Note that Tetsurour never does learn that he should listen to other people, though. Oh, and she also has a mystery. Which is also not properly explained, and makes no sense per what the show gives us as an answer. (3/10).
Every (POV) good character in this show: Praise Maetel and Tetsurou, have a tragic backstory, usually are murderers, thieves and some are even terrorists. (2/10), they're way too lazily written.
Every (POV) bad character in thi show: No depths. If ever they actually have a reason for their action, the show shifts them to a (POV) good character. (1/10)
Enjoyment: I liked the first episode. I liked one other episode, because of the comedy. I laughed and became enraged by the poor writting of this show. I was engaged, but never, past the first episode, was I actually liking the show. (3/10) (gets a +1 due to the occasional "so bad, it's good", but you'd need to watch every episodes for that. Don't.
Overall: Honestly, I don't care about Art and Music. This leaves me with 2/10 for plot, overall 2.6/10 for character and 3/10 for enjoyment; a 3 bordering a 2. However, this show is overall very bad, not horrible, so a 3. Not badly produced, just a bad everything else.
Do not watch more than 1 episode. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or whatnot about this.
Oct 25, 2023
Ginga Tetsudou 999
(Anime)
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I would like to offer a "not recommended" review which isn't mostly about how Testsurou has an annoying voice.
I'm going to follow the format that MAL had me use last time I wrote a review, and make a note and give a score for Story, Art/Animation, Character, Music/Sound, and Enjoyment, with a final overall "why". Art/Animation: Art is based on Leiji's manga, which has the One Piece problem of drawing women the same, except he does so for not only every women, but teenagers and old folks as well. Character design is a 2/10, then, I guess. It has basic anatomy, and pretty much nothing else. ... 
Aug 10, 2023
Spoiler to about episode 22. Watch this, there's no reason it won't be worth it.
Honestly, I'm saddened this wasn't in the series itself. This small bit was not necessary, and such I understand, but it really helps to characterize Ketil, but also to show how the Norse were so opposed to running away, in contrast to when they really did run away. The plurality of human, which is strong in the series. Of course, it's about the secondary characters, but that doesn't mean it's less important. Just look at Canute's scene in the first season. So, in terms of meaning, it meshes with the series (as ... 
Jun 19, 2022
Battle Spirits: Heroes
(Anime)
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Although this series is a sequel to Brave, it is not cannonically in the same universe, and can be watched without prior knowledge of the game, nor viewing of another Battle spirits series. It follows a young boy nicknamed headband, as he aims for the championship.
When I saw that it was the Battle spirits season with the lowest score (save for Double drive, which you can't watch anywhere in full), I can't say I wasn't dissapointed. Spoiler free. I'll start off by saying. My scores are 6 for the story (it's a basic tournament style competition that holds for the whole show. There are a few ... 
Feb 28, 2022
Battle Spirits: Sword Eyes
(Anime)
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I'll just start by saying: Please do not watch the opening of this show before the show itself, as it spoils the sword eyes. Given that the one place to watch the show is on youtube, and the uploader didn't put in the opening (due to copyright), that shouldn't be a big problem unless you search for it.
This series is about battle spirits yet again, but this time, the spirits don't originate from Grand Rolo; it's not connected to Dan/Brave. The show is very plot focused, and has a lot of characters (the quote unquote 12 sword eyes, plus quite a few others). Story: 9. ... 
Feb 21, 2022
Battle Spirits: Brave
(Anime)
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First off, I'm going to start by saying this: This show can be watched as a stand alone, but I would not recommend it. It would be better to watch the prequel (Dan) first.
After the dissapointing execution of an interesting plot in Toppa (first battle spirits series, absolutely skipable), came Dan. To me, in started becoming interesting half way through. I had hopes for it's sequel series Brave, and I was dissapointed. I found the first half of Dan to be a typical episodic card based isekai, and the second half to be much more plot focused, and my enjoyement went up. In Brave ... 
Feb 21, 2022
Battle Spirits: Saga Brave
(Anime)
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I'd just like to start by stating: This is a direct sequel to Brave, which is itself a direct sequel to Dan. I can guarantee that the enjoyment of someone who hasn't seen the 2 prior series would be limited.
After having watched Dan and Brave, I heard of Saga Brave, and wondered how they could add to the story. Well, this was a perfect closure for the series. It revisits the most important characters from Dan and Brave, and how they adapted to society after the events of those series. As a series all it's own, it still has it's own plot. It's not very ... |
