I feel this manhwa has gotten unfairly dunked on due to its dark topics. If you're someone who enjoys reading about taboo relationships, cycles of abuse and generational trauma, you'll enjoy this.
Lady Devil is something I came into expecting enjoyable trash but instead got a beautiful story of broken children becoming broken adults and eventually trying their best to heal from that and break the cycle they were born into. It also is probably one of the best in terms of historical elements in manhwa often labeled "historical". The clothing and hair, especially for the protagonist Giovinetta takes medieval inspiration and is beautifully done.
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Mar 1, 2024
Cutie Honey Universe
(Anime)
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For the sake of completion, I am planning to watch everything in Cutie Honey. Naturally, this included Universe.
This is time I'm never getting back. First off, visuals. Really mediocre most of the time, some times outright bad. The battles taking place in gravity tunnels (which were never really explained) made them SO boring and ugly to watch as Honey battles a Panther in some blue void. The attacks were so bland and the fight choreography wasn't dynamic or fun to watch at all. There were a handful of cool shots but overall it was just PAINFULLY bleh. Characters also didn't help. I'm not expecting ... 
Feb 10, 2024
Ace wo Nerae! (1979)
(Anime)
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Per my rating, I have mixed feelings on recommending this. I watched it hours after finishing the tv series.
Starting off with the pros, the high budget is clear with beautiful shots and no off-model moments for characters (or at least I didn't notice any) In the 6 year gap between the series and the movie, Dezaki's directing became so much more refined and distinctly HIS style from the pastel still frames, the shots of birds taking flight, unique camera angles, and color palette changes in intense moments. It very much made the movie for me. Onto why I am mixed about this, the movie is ... 
Dec 23, 2023
Initially when I heard about this spin-off, I was excited and optimistic. However, after watching, I feel disappointed. It quickly became clear that this was simply nostalgia-bait.
A good amount of the episodes followed the formula of "I'm doing my dream job but it isn't what I expected oh no" and then they transformed and became Cures again. There was so much reused and poorly upscaled animation for the transformations and finisher attacks along with flashbacks to the old seasons. The Shadows were so ugly too, being jarringly 3d-animated. And the motivation of Bell made no sense. The show was clearly trying to do a ... 
Dec 7, 2022
Michiko to Hatchin
(Anime)
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This show is very fun to watch. Despite the lack of a real cohesive plot, Michiko and Hatchin has great fights, great voice acting, and super fitting music. The art style is pleasing to the eye with the eyecatches between commercials being very unique and different for each episode. The characters themselves aren't the best written but I'm not here for well-written and character-driven narratives, I'm here for badass women and fun.
This show is not all snappy music and fun, though. The country this is set in seems very bleak with poverty wherever the duo go and characters having very sad circumstances. There are ... 
Nov 27, 2022
Tokyo Mew Mew
(Manga)
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Tokyo Mew Mew is definitely a childhood classic for many today. With the reboot aired this year, I decided to finally sit down and read the entire manga.
Let's start with what I liked. The premise was very unique. Animal magical girls fighting polluting aliens does not sound like a common pitch. And this novelty definitely gives the manga points. And, the art. I am a sucker for 2000s shoujo art with the large glossy eyes and youthful faces. The costume design is cute and while the attack names are a bit cheesy, it's very fun. However, good art and premise does not make up for the ... 
Nov 5, 2022
Totsukuni no Shoujo
(Manga)
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This manga was haunting and beautiful. The artstyle was out of a storybook with the forests, cozy cottages, and drawings of Teacher and Shiva.
It brought me to tears twice. I wanted so dearly for nothing bad to happen but alas. It had an interesting philosophy of light and dark. One is not complete without the other. And with suffering. If you find out something you love dearly and saved you also was the cause of your pain, would you still accept it? Very thought-provoking. I'm keeping this vague but still spoiler-warning. While the ending, in my opinion, was a bit hard to understand and too ... 
Nov 2, 2022
Tenshi no Tamago
(Anime)
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This movie is definitely not for everyone. It's slow, abstract in plot and theme, and nothing really happens. However, I did enjoy it as a late-night watch. The landscapes are like moving paintings with the ambient sound and soft music providing the post-apocalyptic setting with a very melancholic tone. There is a lot of Christian symbolism laden throughout. And, the lingering shots allow one to appreciate the drawings of each frame. However, this movie is definitely not without fault.
The pacing is abysmally slow with nothing really happening save for some action in the city with fish and statues. The dialogue is strange at times and ... 
Aug 15, 2022
Suicide Girl
(Manga)
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This manga definitely exceeded my expectations. I expected it to be an edgefest ala Mahou Shoujo Site.
But, this is so much more. Despite its darkly comedic tone, it handles the issues of mental health and suicide with incredible sensitivity. It shows how family, friends and even passerby are affected by a suicide. It gives hope, surprisingly. This manga seems to give the message to keep going and survive, for we were born to live. It is also very pretty, artistically. The large and cutesy eyes along with the costume design for the suicide girls and phobias are very pleasing to the eye. It also utilizes ... 
Aug 1, 2022
Miss Guillotine
(Manga)
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I usually am not one for dark magical girl. I find it to be exploitative and very voyeuristic on the suffering of teen girls (most of the time)
But, this is one exception. The character designs of each magical girl were unique and eye-catching. The story was packed with twists and turns that had me always tapping next chapter. It was an interesting commentary on bullying and how people will always find a way to excuse it if the bully is conventionally attractive or perceived as a good person who couldn't possibly do that. But, it is a very edgy tale. It devolves into manipulation and ... |
