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I liked the previous Jojo parts except for one - for the purpose of this review, this will not be revealed until I review said part. However, I have not been more baffled in a long time by a part of Jojo that was 'this' consistent in being badly executed, and I will explain why. The pacing of the story was decent, it was certainly even better than Part 4 and Part 3, but I found no enjoyment in the experience, I couldn't tell why at first. It even did the fights right, there was tension in each fight. But then it dawned on me, ... it clicked, why this part didn't work.

Reason 1: The Failure of its Premise.

The Premise was good in concept but so ridiculously bad in execution that it was hard to justify. For one, it is introduced as a Mafioso story in Italy, with Stands of course, and this Giorno Giovanna guy wants to take out “The Boss” of Passione (the most powerful crime syndicate in Italy) to stop the drug trade in his home country. While on the surface a neat idea, 'why doesn't it work?’ one might ask. Simply put, the main character has no reason to justify his position. I mean we are introduced to him through Koichi (from Part 4), and the first impression is that he is: a thief, his initial encounter with Leaky-Eye Luca and Polpo reveals that he is willing to murder to achieve his goals and has no remorse for his murders. So how does he take the high ground in the end when he defeats Diavalo?

To establish a main character's philosophy is important for having any purpose to the story, and seemingly the story after shooting itself in the proverbial foot, in this manner, tries to redeem itself through its side characters, and somehow screws it up even here with an exception. While the introduction of Bruno Bucciarati is much needed as it keeps the plot moving forward and adds a layer of morality and specifically the philosophy of Bruno Bucciarati that allows the team and the cast to feel like, (and I mean this in the clearest terms: ‘feel like’ not actually the good guys in this story) it adds some much needed contrast in the difference of motivation between Bucciarati and Diavalo’s outlook on the criminal lifestyle. But this could only work, if Bucciarati was the main character because he mirrors the Boss in the duality of ‘supposed’ good and evil.

We are given Giovanni’s half-baked backstory which is a rip-off of Goodfellas (from getting belted by his Step-father to entering the good-books of a Mafioso) that I suppose Araki saw the film while smoking his weed and listening to Rock bands, and it suddenly dawned on him to rip off this perfectly okay plot-point without understanding why this backstory worked for Henry Hill’s motivations to become a gangster, but meant that Giorno would have zero reasons why he should stop the drug trade.

In this regard, Araki failed and had to fill this through Bucciarati’s backstory which perfectly explained his hatred of the drug trade and his philosophy of viewing his loved ones as more than just pawns in a game, rather as a family. The problem however arises when you realize, that we are only given this backstory mid-way through because by that point Araki must’ve realized how bland and stupid the motivations of his main “JoJo” are. This would’ve been fine had Bucciarati been the JoJo of this part but he’s not and hence the whole premise fails.

You see Bucciarati never intended to “take down” the Boss, his only motivation was gaining influence in Passione, he decided eventually to betray ‘The Boss’ because he could not forgive his (Boss’s) attempt to murder his own daughter to secure his Identity. His nature and upbringing contradicted this, hence he decided to betray Passione, and this makes sense, Giorno wanting to betray Passione from day one just made Giorno look like an egotistical psycho as if he thought he was better than any of the rest of criminal scum just because of his refusal to peddle drugs. Yeah, very heroic!

Reason 2: The Failure of its Side Characters.

And the rest of the side characters except for Mista and Narancia are downright unlikeable. Trish is an awful excuse of a character for most of it, and Abbacchio’s backstory has some BS about justice and police corruption, granted, these are real problems, however it was so poorly executed, that I never for a second felt bad for the guy as if he had guilt or remorse for his actions. And his ____ scene was handled so poorly, like becoming a Mafioso was his way of seeking Justice when we all know that this is complete crap. Fugo was such a horrible character that he’s given a completely meaningless backstory, which doesn’t go anywhere and he was so awful apparently, that he was abandoned halfway through the plot and he doesn’t even come back as a villain nor does he get a death to perhaps amplify the stakes, he just disappears from the Plot. Lol. I know Araki wanted to do something with his betrayal but everything about him was so mediocre, that he must’ve realized it wouldn’t work, he could’ve at least made him die or something. The other traitors were okay, however they reminded me what this story could’ve focused on, a crew of criminals that gets slowly taken out by the Boss and is forced to go rogue, was kind of interesting until you realize that they got very little screen-time and were dehumanized for apparently no reason. And I don’t mean that they died horribly, no these guys died in VAIN! But our main crew doesn’t apparently, because Giorno becomes the Godfather by the end, how trite!

Reason 3: The Incoherence of the End goal.

Does becoming Godfather of Passione stop the drug-trade? Temporarily perhaps – It really depends, it could allow for decreasing it. Permanently, however? Absolutely freaking NOT! The problem is, as long as the corrupt Mafioso system is in charge of a country, anything really goes as long as it’s profitable. Who is to say the system doesn’t create another Diavalo, in fact, I think it’s 100% the case that it produces tons of people that find drugs to be profitable? Has Araki actually understood the movies that he’s paying homage to? In Godfather I & II, Michael Corleone opposes the drug trade but despite all his efforts is forced to become a silent observer in the matter. Henry Hill becomes a drug king-pin and has to snitch his way out of the situation to save his life. Tony Montana despite refusing to assassinate a man with his wife and kids there turns into the very thing he despises. This is the destiny of what it means to become a Gangster, there is no justice in that sort of lifestyle. However, this stupid story thematically justifies this end, which is a ridiculously horrible message. And if it wasn’t even bad enough, we get 2 prequel episodes at the end that justify the inevitability of fate arguing that to fight fate makes fate worse. What?? This is the most pessimistic garbage message that the writer could’ve decided to give the audience. But then he says it’s somehow worth it because of the journey? If so, why was it not worth it for the other traitors that died? And I will not buy the logic of them being evil, because everyone was evil in one way or another in this Show.

Reason 4: The Weakest JoJo Villain upto now. (Spoilers - skip to Reason 5)

I have not seen any parts following this one, so I am not sure if worse villains are yet to come. As a concept the Boss was menacing, for at least the first multiple episodes, but once they introduced the character I was shocked. And I don’t mean, the episode where he fights Bucciarati for the first time. No! I mean the episode where we see him in Sardinia. Once it is revealed, that the Boss has multiple personality disorder, I was confused. How in the F*** did this dude survive all these years with his passive naïve and stupid half as a part of him? I’m sure this could’ve been done well, as Diavalo was living double lives, but this would’ve made more sense, if his other personality wasn’t a bumbling idiot, I get that because of this no one suspected him, but to me what I saw in that episode, it made everyone suspect him as soon as getting a glimpse of this guy. I mean how wouldn’t you? I know it was supposed to be comedic but him making a phone out of literally the first thing that he’d find just to talk to his other half repeatedly, makes it impossible for him to have hidden his identity for this long. Araki successfully created a plot-hole just to make his villain more bizarre and unsettling. Like, Yoshikage Kira was weird and unsettling but he was thorough in his pursuit of appearing normal, he rarely had these freak-outs in public, he’d act normally. For such a “mastermind” of Italian black market the Boss sure seemed to be a complete give away, and his ability to erase time didn’t help either. Not to mention, I presume Araki ran out of new ideas for main villains. To put this in perspective, Dio could stop time for a few seconds, Diavalo could erase time a few seconds into the past/future. While Dio was the first villain with this type of stand, so he gets a pass, this was nowhere near as terrifying or creative as Yoshikage Kira’s “bites the dust”.

But okay, maybe let’s not compare him to already-established iconic villains, let’s instead compare him with Kars. Kars was an ancient Pillar-man who created the stone-mask to transcend his mortality, whose goal was to reach the pinnacle of perfection in being. He sought the power that would make him unstoppable to every creature on the Planet. So therefore, his pursuit of the Redstone of Aja, makes sense. He wants to achieve that state, and unlike this abomination of an anticlimax in Part 5, Kars actually achieves this state and is only bested by luck. He gives into emotion to avenge his fallen comrade against Joseph, goes into a murderous mission to kill him. The heroes don’t get any stupid power-ups, Kars is simply outwitted by the creativity of a Nazi and an Englishman and a bit of luck by their side, and hence it’s an entertaining finale. Whereas, Diavalo was magically rejected by the Arrow for being evil and it chose Giorno for no other reason than “the plot required it!” seriously? The guy who in his introduction murdered Polpo and robbed Koichi for no apparent reason, the arrow deemed him good? What BS!

Reason 5: No effort for the Italian Mafioso Aesthetic.

Character designs are important, it’s why novels spend so much time describing the type of clothes a character wears as it signifies many different aspects about said Character’s personality without even needing to go into freaking monologues and backstories. It also important for the sake of enhancing the immersive-ness of the Setting. Now, it’s not like JoJo is magically immune to this. In Part 1 All of the characters except for Vampires carry 1800s Victorian aesthetic of Britain. Even the minor characters from Tibet have different clothing than the British to emphasize that they are Tibetan. The same is true of Part 2, where Joseph wears 1940s American clothing with an edge to it. Caesar looks Italian, Lisa Lisa looks British, and they are not wearing freaking weird punk rock-band outfits. This is consistent in Part 3, where Kakyoin and Jotaro wear Japanese school uniforms, Muhammad Abdul wears Egyptian robes, and Joseph carries an American grandpa aesthetic sense. Even in Part 4, the characters who go to school wear uniforms, and Yoshikage Kira wears expensive suits which signifies that he is a working man. The only character that does wear Punk-inspired clothes is Rohan and he’s a Mangaka, so it’s not unusual for an Artist to have such an Aesthetic. However, in Golden Wind, suddenly everyone looks like a punk-rocker, they have rock-band name for Stands and even the freaking Boss, who I presume was supposed to wear formal clothes is revealed to have the same lame punk aesthetic. It’s ridiculous. No one looks like an Italian and no one looks like a Mafioso. The character designs are horrible.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I would say this Part of JoJo had some interesting ideas that were horribly executed. While this doesn’t suffer from the Filler episodes of the previous Parts, somehow it actually has significantly less things going for it. And while I wouldn’t say it was bad – per say, it was definitely a lot weaker in its Characters and Story and the overall premise failed to make any sense thematically or otherwise.

The things that did work in this Part, included the Soundtrack, the Animation was alright, the Stand battles were good, and the humor in regards to Mista and Narancia was good. But that’s about it. Overall, it was not bad, it had a ton of potential but it wasn’t good either.

6/10

Whenever one frequents the MAL website, one anime series that has consistently ranked this high for the past decade is Legend of the Galactic Heroes. When looking from the outside one does not understand why that is the case. Okay, it's an anime classic, but so is Bebop, so is Trigun, so is Berserk and Death Note. Why don't they rank as high, one might ask? Perhaps this could be because the aforementioned shows are a lot more accessible to the public and in my opinion: their stories do not have 'that' something going on that everyone; despite of background or political ideology; can necessarily ... relate to. What I mean by that is: Firstly, they were easier to access by the people, they had Dubs, they were aired on Toonami and spread before online streaming. This means more people got to watch these shows. Not just the ones that were looking for them. Secondly, the other shows mentioned rely heavily on a much smaller composition of cast and offer smaller scale of views and events. This means if you are not engaged by the ‘Pacifist Vs Nihilist’ take of Trigun, you'll leave unsatisfied, if you are not moved by Gut's story for purpose and Grifith's dream for an empire, you'll leave unsatisfied, if you are not invested in Spike and his crew's struggle with the past in Bebop or you get disappointed with the conclusion of the cat and mouse chase between L and Light, you'll leave disappointed. On the other hand, Legend of the Galactic Heroes delivers every single kind of struggle for every single type of person. And the specificness of its story means that fewer people are intrigued on just the Plot Synopsis. They may read and go, “Oh! It’s just a war story in space, not original enough to watch.” This is what appears on first glance, and that is a good thing because the story completely subverts the expectation of unoriginality. In fact, I am bold enough to say, I’ve seen no other show or film like this. I believe it is a truly unique experience one should view at least once in his life.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes is a novel series written by Yoshiki Tanaka. Its 10 Volumes were adapted into 4 seasons of the most cleverly written space opera. What is outstanding is that instead of the generic space war story with bad guys and good guys, an evil side and good side, the story instead takes a clever take on History that instead of being painted as black and white shows us the reality of war and politics in how war ‘actually’ is and how war-politics effects the stakeholders involved. This premise of showcasing war in a historical, unbiased fashion allows the story to showcase intricate and fleshed-out characters with understandable motivations and ideals. So, unlike the shows I mentioned earlier, where if you don't like the main titular characters, then it's over, it instead gives us such a huge cast of characters and fleshes them out so clearly that you'll have no chance but to feel deeply about their struggles, motivations, and goals, even if you disagree with them. And this is a major part of the interactions between the Alliance and Empire characters. They may disagree with each other completely on ideals but on a human sense they understand each other's motivations and reasons. And the conversations between these characters, as a result, frame neither side as being wrong. It applies a philosophical concept in the conversations of the characters from both sides, which I consider to be an implementation of "Hegelian Dialectics".

A good example of this is when Yang Wenli, a staunch believer in democracy, when confronted with the Idea of a ‘Just’ and ‘Popular’ dictatorship against a “Corrupt” and “Weak” democracy. He has no option but to apply the dialectical method to justify his beliefs, saying that although a paradox in itself, a Good dictatorship is the “worst enemy of a bad democracy”. He believes absolute power corrupts absolutely and even if a “one in a million” event of ‘Just’ autocratic ruler could happen, he argues that, because by the nature of the absolute rule, even if the Kaiser is just, there’s no guarantee that his successor may be just or popular. There is also a principle that he holds that goes in direct contrast to Reinhard on the Empire side, whereas Reinhard motivated by his specific circumstances believes that anyone that can seize power for himself and fight with honor and courage on the frontlines, should be qualified to rule based on his success on the battlefield. And that anyone who hides behind his soldiers and does not fight his battles does not deserve to be Kaiser. His view is basically, the view of meritocracy, that “a true leader should seize power, NOT steal it”. What that entails is to avoid petty tricks, in-humane actions, keep public peace, law and order and protect the rights of their subjects. In stark contrast to this, Yang Wenli believes that soldiers are just public servants for the citizens and that ultimately only the citizens should have the power to rule. So, in his view, if there is a bad democracy, it is the people’s responsibility to correct it, however, when there is a bad dictatorship, it can no longer be the people’s burden to bear, hence becoming an object of oppression. Because of these dialectical confrontations and exercise and debate on principles, even when the Empire characters disagree with the Alliance and vice versa, they still happen to respect each other’s viewpoints. And when we are shown a character who betrays his principles he is hated by both sides and is branded a coward and traitor by both the Imperialists and the Republicans. And, the amazing part is, the ones true to their ideals, they fight with bravery and honor, they have no personal grudges, and they consistently uphold these principles through their actions, so the impression is left on the viewer that these characters are true to their principles, hence both sides are honorable and respectable. So, while you’re watching the story from both perspectives, you find yourself rooting for both sides in that sense. And even if you find one side’s ideology to be silly, you will still highly respect said side for its commitment to it, and that’ll keep you hooked in for the side that you disagree with. And I think the real message, rather than in support of either ideology, it is the message that history respects those men and holds only those in high regard who are willing to sacrifice or fight to the end for the sake of their ideals. Never to compromise or turn their backs on them. This struggle for one’s ideals, accomplishing great things for the sake of it is what makes a person live on in the memories of the people that will remember them.

Therefore, in short, the very nature of the grey framing of the conflict, allowed the Legend of the Galactic Heroes to have a fanbase that is loyal and because of the large and extremely fleshed-out and well-developed cast of good characters, each viewer’s social and ideological viewpoint is met and addressed. Hence, this is not the case of: the series has many haters that have good justifications for not enjoying it. In fact, I believe it gives the viewers no reasons, other than someone could complain to be bored by it. Of course, if you are looking for a bombastic Star Wars esq. ‘good guys Vs bad guys’ narrative, I’m sorry, but you’re gonna have to be bored until your tastes mature a little. If your understanding of how real-life historical events happen is weak, then you’re not going to get this series. That’s just how it is. :\

Don’t watch this anime if you have stuff like Code Geass or No Game No Life, in your favorites, then this just isn’t for you. I’d recommend this type of series to my gramps but I’d never recommend this to anyone younger than 15, unless they are a huge history nerd, in which case they qualify and understand this show.

I guess this show really cemented itself in its high rating, because the right people took the interest to watch it, and that I think is a good thing. Because the majority of the battles are not over-the-top and the clashes between the fleets from both sides realistically reflect historical clashes between armies, focusing more on the strategic nature of the battles. It allows conflicts to feel more like chess-games, so it is really enjoyable for mature people, whereas the average otaku may find it boring for the same reasons. This is something that I think, should be highly recommended to non-anime fans as I think it can easily help them get into the genre as a whole and take the art-form seriously. So recommend this to anyone that is a fan of historical TV dramas and documentaries, as I’m sure they will find this of interest to them.

Now, to discuss the weak points, and flaws. Although the Story, Characters, Soundtrack and Performances of the Japanese VAs are fantastic, there were still some things that might negatively affect the viewing of the series. And that is the animation of some sequences in the first season of the anime. While the rest of the 3 seasons have stellar animation, I believe this is only because the Anime was picked up for home-video in Japan and it allowed for a better budget for the rest of the 3 seasons. Although the first season has some great battles, I believe the animation in some scenes could’ve been better in this part of the show. It is sometimes janky and it could take the immersion away. This led to the creation of the jarring re-animations that they did on the DVD and Blu-ray releases. This is a contentious subject. In the first season, judge for yourself, which experience you prefer, but for the rest of the seasons, I would recommend the LaserDisc version, all the way through. Although it has lower quality, I’ll still prefer the LaserDisc version just for the consistency. And also because the re-animations were unnecessary in a lot of the scenes. I guess in that regard it runs into the “Star Wars” problem, unfortunately. Either way, I personally perferred the LaserDisc version.

My Final Rating:
Characters/Cast: 10/10
Story: 10/10
Soundtrack 10/10
Animation (S1): 7/10
Animation (S2): 8.5/10
Animation (S3): 9/10
Animation (S4): 8.5/10

Overall: 10/10 (Loved every second of it.)

Based on the manga from Masamune Shirow and directed by... (Hold on a second... let's see... AH!) Shinji Aramaki - man behind such works as... I suppose he previously directed “Part 3” of Megazone. You know: the Weakest Megazone 23 OVA. He directed that. Therefore it comes as no surprise, that this movie is as much of a cliched jumbled mess of a ideas as it is. And don't even get me started on the dated CGI that ruins almost every single character design (except Briareos).

Appleseed (2004) is a CGI Blockbuster Action Sci-Fi Movie that somehow takes a Simple Story/Concept and ruins much of the ... fun or intrigue surrounding it. Perhaps the most telling way that it accomplishes this is by breaking every single rule of "Show don't Tell" and spoonfeeding every fucking detail in every single conversation possible. That last part might be a little exaggerated, but Jesus Christ, it comes pretty damn close to it.

With a Fitting introduction surrounding an opening 6 minute action scene with no context or investment, all filled with dated matrix esq. timelapse sequences. A little after it wastes no time and It quickly ruins Hitomi by turning her from a fun-loving party-girl to a hollow exposition dumping machine. She has one scene that remotely resembles emotion and it’s an "on-the-nose" cliched dialogue about "love" and "anger" instead of the "show don't tell" from the 1988 Movie with Hitomi trying and failing to flirt with guys, while drunk from the partying.

In fact, Most of the Characters just feel like stiff versions of their original counterparts. Deunan is mopy and depressed instead of being a fun-loving badass. Briareos is stiff, unusually bitter and cold for much of the runtime rather than being a Man of Steel Armor with a Heart of Gold. (In the same vain as perhaps Alphonse from FMA.) Athena's role in the Movie is confusing and never expounded the same way it was in the Original, despite this movie's longer runtime. Hitomi is ruined the most perhaps, going from her bubbly charming personality to this boring CGI husk of a person.

The Witty Comedy that gave the Characters a sense of lighthearted fun, likeability and breathing room between the Drama is also GONE! Not even just toned down, it simply isn't there. I do not remember there being a single joke. Not even from Hitomi, it makes the characters downright boring. It's instead replaced with constant usage of exposition that is placed without any respect to the context of its scenes.

Perhaps the Biggest Flaw of this Movie is the lack of Good Villains and a complete Lack of Moral Ambiguity. This is not to say, that every good story needs it, however, when dealing with philosophical themes it fails miserably precisely because of a lack of ambiguity. The Main Villains of this Movie are TERRIBLE. In direct contrast, the villains in the 88 Anime were compelling, their motives were reasonable and understandable. They had a coherent ideology and real sense of purpose. "DA Ebil Cliched Military" Villains pale in comparison to 'the Terrorist and the Traitor' from the first Movie. They have no clear reasons for disliking the Biodroids or the Order of GAAIA, other than "oh, they're just ebil natzeees!" it's ridiculously black-n-white, one-dimensional and plain childish. What this means for the Themes is that it makes them one-sided, simplistic messages that are NOT open to questioning, or disagreement, which ends up becoming a detriment to the conflict and the themes, thereby making them NOT compelling.

The Action Scenes all focus on being as bombastic as possible, trying to squeeze as much action into the scene as possible instead of intricately delivering with planning and/or skill. (i,e; the shooting scene near the end of the first movie, or the arrest of the terrorists.) There are only about two scenes that are anything close to providing good action. There is also a considerable lack of stakes (until the very end) which makes it plain boring to watch.

Around an hour into the movie, we finally get an effective flashback scene that is done half-decently, right after which we return to the same "ebil military", exposition dump, "tell-don't-show" crap, with 4 plot-twists in quick succession, making the plot feel bloated and overdone, much like the graphics.

Speaking of which, the Dated CGI becomes an eye-sore after a while and Janky-looking Character Animation ruins the emotions that the characters are supposed to express. Couple that with the Horrible Soundtrack, with hipster music and compositions that sound like they belong in a 2000s B-movie or low budget video-game.

Which is why I am completely lost and confused as to why this is rated higher than the 1988 OVA that did far more with far little. It's a shame that adaptation is acknowledged less as it was significantly better. The only thing that the 2004 Film has over the 1988 Film was the Dub. The Dubbing was an improvement, obviously because more modern dubs tend to be better produced, however other than that I could not see a single thing that this Film did even moderately well.

4.5/10 (Bad CGI Blockbuster Movie from the Early 2000s, with much of the cliches of that Era.)

I, as many who found themselves watching this, must've surely at least enjoyed Great Teacher Onizuka to give this prequel (even tho, it's not really, since it came out earlier) a try. I suppose in all respects it can be considered GTO's younger brother. With GTO taking all of the spotlight and attention and also having a stronger narrative and cast of characters.

Whereas, in Shonan Jumai Gumi, the only two characters that I gave a damn about other than Onizuka were Ayumi and Ryuji. The Humor was all consistently funny, however, Story-wise this OVA instantly falls apart. With the Exception of Episode 3, this ... felt really mediocre (story/character wise). Not bad however, some of the amateurish lowbrow humor, from time to time would catch me off-guard with its hilarity.

After finishing watching it I couldn't say that I disliked it, nor could I say that it was very good. Perhaps it was an entertaining shit-show that can reasonably be called a guilty pleasure. Had the last two episodes continued off from Episode 3's plot in a way that if it were vaguely related to it, or even if it ended with 3 Episodes I could've left satisfied with the story.

Alas, the OVA's last two episodes focus on plot points that were vaguely brought up again in GTO, however, it hampers the OVA's quality overall. Since those plots are never really resolved in the OVA itself. It gives it an abrupt ending. Perhaps they planned to do more, however the cliffhanger style ending only really left me a bit confused by the end. Since there was not really any clear direction that the story seemed to want to go into – Switching between Episodes, the Narrative seemed to lack a great deal of focus, there was never any clear direction for the story, which is why although I was hooked on GTO, Shonan Jumai Gumi however: failed to hook me.

If you are a hardcore GTO fan, you'll definitely love this, as the humor holds this OVA together and makes it entertaining overall. And the fights are pretty well done and set-up. Making it enjoyable even despite its lack of overall substance.

Based on the manga from Masamune Shirow and directed by Kazuyoshi Katayama (who would later go on to direct "The Big O"), Appleseed (1988) gives us a sci-fi thriller plot that moves at a break-neck space, with wonderfully stunning animation, characters that are easy to get invested in and while also providing social commentary on the idea of utopianism and the role of chaos within in an orderly setting. All the while, it makes it so that it does not come across as preachy, since the characters through which the 'more' philosophical dialogue is introduced are speaking in context of their own experiences making the ... employment or use of the themes to be coherent and well-related to the story as well as open to criticism by other characters.

The Movie opens up with somewhat of a tragic event that leads us into expertly establishing the motivations for its Antagonist from the get-go. This sort of pacing made it so that it never felt too rushed while also telling the entire story within just an hour of film. In this way the characters managed to be well-fleshed out within a short amount of time without rushing any development. Subtle choices through dialogue that made sense and flowed smoothly throughout the OVA.

The Main Plot revolves around these terrorists that the Police Force has to combat in order for the city's security and people's safety. While most terrorists are doing this for money, there is one particular character who, like Kazuho Yoshii from Texhnolyze, or Joker from The Dark Knight, does it for the sake of "sending a message". While now seeming cliched, one must keep in mind that this was not so cliched in the 80s. So in a lot of ways, Appleseed can be said to be ahead of its time.

Other than the Plot and Characters, The Art and Animation were fantastic. Some of the songs from the Soundtrack were pretty great and complemented the scenes well. Overall it was good and worked for the Film. The Dub was quite dated, but can easily be enjoyed by any anime fan who grew up on old dubs. Some of the voices for the main cast were decent and serviceable, while the side-characters sounded comedically bad. So take what you will from it or avoid it altogether if you dislike dubs.

Overall: Appleseed kept me engaged throughout, had quality action/animation, gave me memorable characters while also providing interesting themes to think about. 8.5/10

Quite possibly one of the worst Anime Films that I have ever seen. And I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say so. While I'm sure there are other Films in the Anime Medium that are far worse, judging from what I've seen - this is the absolute worst so far.

Its position in the Evangelion Franchise is confusing. As even people who liked the more campy/bombastic bad Michael Bay esq. parody movies like Evangelion 2.0 cannot defend this in terms of its entertainment value. The only thing that gets people to defend this garbage project is rabid-fanboyism.

Contrary to popular belief, this film is ... not in the least psychological, although it is framed as such. I could understand people mistaking it for a psychological film due to its presentation, however the content runs completely hollow. The Plot doesn't make any sense, the action sucks and the CGI is overused but that is the least of our concerns. The biggest problem is that there isn't a shred of substance in any of the dialogue. The characters aside from Kaoru and Shinji are not even given much screen-time or any meaningful lines and what happened in this 14 year timeskip after N3I (that was somehow Shinji's fault - but not really because they retconned it, a movie later) made the other characters unbearably disconnected. Misato is not Misato, Asuka has very little dialogue, we never get to know how she feels, she's completely forgotten. Rei is just a hollow emotionless doll - which ironically goes towards the opposite of what Rei's development was meant to represent in Eva, making her a fucking parody of herself. Shinji's just depressed as usual but somehow comes across completely emotionless this time instead of being lonely. Which at some point started to get on my nerves. Not only are the characters a parody of their original counterparts with any sort of depth removed, they are also hollow figures within the narrative, thereby making the Film not only shallow but also boring.

Now a rabid fanboy will say: that was the intent. Anno wanted to make you feel disconnected. Let's grant him that, however one must ask to the purpose of such a decision, to which a rabid fanboy may reply: It reflects Anno's mental state. That counterpoint is meaningless, to put it bluntly. The Room reflects Tommy Wiseau's mental state. Batman & Robin reflects Joel Schumacher's mental state. However does that make "The Room" or "Batman & Robin" good movies? Precisely Not. Every Art-piece reflects the Author, but whether that Art-piece itself is meaningful has nothing to do with who the Author is. I have seen countless videos of rabid fanboys trying their hardest to analyze this Film to reach for a message and they all fail. They try to assert that Anno gave the Otaku what they wanted by trying to show them what their decisions lead to. The truth is: he made a bad corny blockbuster movie out of Evangelion and then tried to counter it by making an even more shallow yet meaningless piece to cash off of rabid fanboys that being as pretentious as they are, eat the same Otaku crap that they claim this movie criticizes, despite the rebuilds being the same Otaku garbage that they think it's not.

Preface: This will be less of a Review and more of a Defense against the common criticisms this Anime sees.

To make it clear. Trigun is one of my All-Time Favorite Shows. And so explaining what exactly made it stick out for me can be a tad difficult at times without delving into the Themes. For one, it is a Sci-Fi Western Classic that blew up back when it aired on the Toonami Block, overseas. But it can be said to be a whole lot more than that.

The Majority of the Criticism for this Show comes from People who don't either understand the purpose of the ... Humor of the First Half of the Series or they simply don't find it funny.

1. For those that don't find it funny, I refuse to believe that they watched the English Dub, because it is known to excel in the Dubbed Version. If they did watch the English Dub and did not laugh then the only possible explanation is that they don't have a sense of humor. If you don’t find Johnny Young Bosch stuffing donuts in his face to be funny, then can you really laugh at anything all?
2. For those that found the humor breaking the tone of the Series for them greatly misunderstand Vash's (& Wolfwood's) character and the relationship between the humor of the characters and the prevailing theme of Idealism that surrounds almost the entirety of the show. To put it simply, the comedic faces Vash and Wolfwood put up are the "Ideal", and their cryptic past is their "Reality". That is the way the comedy functions for the characters.
If this were a simple Juvenile Comedy Drama, it would not reach the levels of Depth that it does in the second half and the characters would not change and develop as much as they do. The purpose of the first half is to make the viewer assume that he/she's watching a simple juvenile comedy drama when the truth is far from it. And it's not like the gritty serious story of the Second Half isn't foreshadowed. We are told of it as early as Episode 6. In the same way that Berserk foreshadows the Fantasy Elements through Zod, Trigun foreshadows it through the fate of July. And the creeping dark past of Vash keeps building up through the usage of vague flashbacks in each episode by the time we reach Episode 9.
After minutes of comedy between Vash and Wolfwood, we not only get a touching scene of Wolfwood showing kindness to kids on the bus with Vash smiling gazing at them just to be hit by Wolfood putting it bluntly
"You were always smiling, you seemed real friendly, but the way you smiled was so empty it hurt to watch you"
Mind you, this is the introduction of Wolfwood and we already get prophetic gems like this. What's important here is not only the fact that Wolfwood sees through Vash's entire facade, it is incredibly important in establishing Vash as an Idealist who wants people to think of him as a goofball, no matter how much pain and torment he might actually be in. Trigun so brilliantly exceeds at show-don't-tell that people actually think its comedy is out-of-place when that is precisely the point. Even in the second half, the little comedy we do get is so morbidly hilarious yet sad that it damn near feels like Welcome to the NHK at points. With Meryl and Milly seeing Vash's body covered in wounds and him comedically trying to hide it. It's not for no reason. It establishes the light-hearted nature of the man against his cruel environment. Vash acts like a goofball to protect others around him, Wolfwood acts cheerful for the sake of protecting himself.
3. Others who don't find the comedy much appealing tend to criticize Meryll and Milly for being one-dimensional, while ignoring much of their function in the story. And I don't mean their significance in the Plot. I mean their relation to Vash and Wolfwood's struggle towards higher meaning. What makes the dark parts of the duo's story hit IS the lighter parts with them goofing around with the Girls (Meryll and Milly) from the Insurance Society. If there wasn't that form of lighthearted hope, quite simply, what would both of them be fighting for?
Around the final 6 Episodes this becomes clearly apparent as the comedy is nowhere to be seen for most of it and the Milly and Meryll come to represent a genuine connection that Vash and Wolfwood come to relate to. This is important for making clear what exactly IS at stake in the story. If Meryll didn't exist, Vash wouldn't have recovered from [Big Spoiler in Episode 24]. If Milly didn't exist, Wolfwood wouldn't have found some form of peace for his actions of [Spoiler in Episode 22]. Ironically the last glimmer of hope that Vash receives is a heroic act from Meryll which reminds him of his Purpose. Meryll and Milly despite being fairly simple are effective and likeable. They give the audience a bystander's viewpoint, which provides perspective on the show's conflict from the way a normal friend would observe another's turmoil. The amount of hate these two characters get for no reason is honestly baffling.

Another thing people criticize is the Episodic Structure, but that's only an issue if you ignore how the episodes play into each other. The First 4 Episodes wonderfully establish Vash as a Goofball who hides his true face. Those Episodes are the sole reason for the buildup that makes Episode 5 & 6 work properly. Episodes 7-11 show us villains, enemies and conflicts that are not morally simple, which works excellently for building up to the fan-favorite "Episode 12: Diablo". Even Episode 14 which seems to break away from the Plot is funnily enough important for establishing the world of stakes for Vash's final confrontation in the Last Episode. It is world-building that adds a layer of intrigue for the planet. It also ties back into Episode 5 from Earlier.
Episode 15-26 are not in the slightest episodic and are 12 of some of the best Episodes put to TV. It ties all of the previous episodes into a thrilling story of tragedy and redemption.

The Worst Criticism I have seen, by far, is calling the Show: "black and white" in its Morality, when it is FAR from it. Trigun succeeds at putting Nihlism and Pacifism in direct opposition to each other in ways that put most other Philosophical Shows to shame. And the way that this is presented is neither dogmatic nor relative. It is in no way made "black and white". Each of the Characters represents one side of his philosophy, but they are multi-layered characters that are given interesting reasons for their beliefs and do in fact function in exploring the grey area where murder - may be justified or if it should even be viewed as preferred. And yet the show doesn't knock you over the head with it either. It shows you how that plays out once Vash is [Spoiler in Episode 24] and Wolfwood tries to repent of [Episode 22] by [Spoiler in Episode 23]. And this doesn't just come out of Left-Field. Ideas of Grey Area in Morality is thoroughly explored episodes in advance. Case in Point: Introduction of Legato Bluesummers in "Episode 12: Diablo" and Vash and Wolfwood's conversations all the way from "Episode 9" to the final few episodes. Even Episode 7-8 provide us with a Conflict that deals with a victim that uses immoral means and a villain that has principles. Trigun actually gives us a minor villain that has rules.
Coming back to Episode 12, Legato Bluesummers is one of the most fascinating villains in Anime. Think of Johann from Monster, but Legato does the same thing in half as much time in the story with 10 times the impact. Johann was never able to break Tenma's Morals in any significant way throughout the runtime of Monster. Legato with the Gung-Ho Guns did this with just 12 episodes. Not only did he do this in the plot, he also broke the themes of Idealism indefinitely just through mere dialogue alone. Creating circumstances where Nihlism was not only the best option, it was the only option. Anyone who thinks that the show was simple in its morality wasn't paying attention to Legato Bluesummers at all. And Knives being comparatively simpler, was still far better than most villains in most stories. "Saving the Butterflies by Killing the Spiders" was such an effective and easy way to sum up the character that it seems almost like a miracle how they made that entire episode play out. Creating an extremely effective villain for the final confrontation. The show entirely focuses around 5 key-characters and their ideas in relation to the people they are themselves. Wolfwood, Vash, Rem, Knives and Legato's Ideals coming in conflict with each other is what made this show a Classic.

Other terrible nitpicks include decrying the Animation for being "dated" or talking shit about the music. To put it bluntly, Trigun has one of the best Soundtracks I've ever heard. And it's completely unique in its composition and also fits extremely well with the setting and feel of the show. Filled to the brim with guitar strings and the electronic flute solos, rem's song, etc. there's so many memorable tracks from it.
As far as the Animation goes, while it is true, other shows such as Bebop and Outlaw Star pulled a better budget, I could not for the life of me see a single animation error, frame rate issue or lack of detail in either the action and drama or a lack of fluidity in the slapstick comedy. The worst thing you could say about the Animation is that it looks a little rough or older compared to other works from its time and that's understandable because of its limited budget. A lot of it could also be due to the fact that Trigun never got a Blu-Ray Remaster or something similar of the sort. Whereas Bebop and Outlaw Star are available in HD. This seems to be the only explanation for this criticism. If you've ever seen Vash's fight in the final Episode, it looks gorgeous. And this is only one of these fights. Most fights with the Gun-ho Guns and the ones with enemies earlier all look pretty good. They are animated quite well.

So with Action and Animation holding up decent, despite being produced on a low budget, the Soundtrack and the English Dub being Top-Notch and downright Masterful, Characters written with depth and precision, Themes that touch on more Truth than 90% of all shows and A Sci-Fi story that is instantly intriguing, What else would you get other than an All-Time Classic Show? It's no wonder that Trigun got the praise it did. It seems to me like the people who decry it, do so, in the spirit of - the hipster who doesn't like things for being either popular or old.

Madhouse's 1st and Only Season of "One Punch Man" is genuinely one of the best shows to come out of the 2010s decade for Anime. Up there with Tatami Galaxy, it is hilarious from start to finish.

Taking the Shonen/Superhero Genre and flipping its tropes on their head. Showing them for how unmotivating, meaningless, and ultimately nihlistic their message ends up being.
While most shonen/superhero stories or power-fantasies, of the like - try to awe the viewer by giving them a sense of hope, One Punch Man shows you how that thirst for Power has absolutely NOTHING to do with anything that could be considered positive or ... optimistic. Instead it makes things downright depressing. The Lack of Competition or Threat makes obstacles seem like a chore and therefore makes Life uninteresting and deprives people from taking meaningful challenges. The truth about Power-Fantasies is that it makes people too comfortable in their own little bubbles. Vapid Escapism doesn't really offer motivation for solving real life issues, they become a distraction.

Since, Saitama can defeat any enemy that comes in his way with minimal effort, there is nothing left to do for him but engage in vapid escapism, indulge in consumerism and live a meaningless existence. Without challenge there is no growth and without growth, there can only be stagnation. And Saitama's biggest challenge becomes instead to break that stagnating cycle, but alas, he is unable to lose.

In terms of the characters, aside from Saitama, every side-character has some typical generic backstory that is put in contrast with Saitama having no backstory - getting his powers from doing 100 sit-ups, push-ups and a kilometer run. Genos being the biggest example of a Character that has tacked on backstory with complicated motivations and a lot to learn and grow, which puts him directly in contrast with Saitama for the vast majority of the show.
The ONLY other Character that doesn't have a tacked-on generic backstory that sticks out despite having little screen time is Mumen Rider. A comparatively weak hero with a heart of gold and the dedication of a Saint. Ironically the truly inspirational character in the entire show is the weakest character who barely accomplishes anything. This is runs perfectly with the themes of the Show. As power doesn't bring meaning, rather dedication does.

One Punch Man is a truly unique series from the 2010s Era. While most shows from this decade can't help but fall into tropes, cliches, or become parodies of themselves, One Punch Man succeeds by reversing the meaning of struggle in key structural ways that makes it an Intelligent Subversive Comedy.

Cybernetic Post-Nut Depression executed with Blade-Runner Esq' Thematic Story-Telling. Bubblegum Crisis was a very good Cyberpunk Series that had a lot of cliches from its period and overall lighter tone. This is a far-cry from that.
The Atmosphere is dark and brooding. The Sexual Overtones present throughout are not in the least erotic, rather completely horrific. More akin to representing the idea of humanity through a cold distant lense. A lense that is completely robotic and empty.

Following the titular Police Detective from the original Bubblegum Crisis series: Leon McNichol, it deals with his early days in the A.D. Police. However, other than the first episode, it ... doesn't really focus on him that much, rather on the events happening around him and their relation to everyday people. Whether cybernetic enhancements make us less human or if our humanity comes from our conciousness. What this OVA seeks to ask the viewer is the ultimate question of "what makes someone truly human?"
It seeks to answer this by the feeling or sensation of being human. A person's humanity thus being completely contingent on his sense of emotions. The further he strays from his emotions, the less human he becomes, so to speak.

I'm surprised at its low rating. Perhaps people went in for the lighthearted fun action of Bubblegum Crisis and found themselves horrified at the dark and gritty content and the complete lack of Knight Sabers. But honestly that would be a very dumb reason for criticism.
8.5/10 (This isn't lighthearted action, it's a scifi horror/crime drama)

Do not let the ratings fool you, this Anime is criminally underrated. A lot of it could be considered by some to be "so bad it's good" but I disagree. The same people who praise Hellsing Ultimate for being over-the-top in its plot, action and dialogue use it as a point of contention with Angel Cop. Criticisms of its Plot are biased and mostly full of shit.
Hellsing Ultimate is about Nazi Vampires & Ghouls terrorizing Britain, Angel Cop is about Psychic Je- (I mean) Americans funded by the Deep State.

Plot-wise this Anime does pretty good, It's not crazy or anything but it's servicable for a ... Baddass Action Flick. The Political Aspect of it is actually somewhat intriguing. Communist Red-May, Big Business's Involment and the Deep State Conspiracy with the SSF trying to solve it all, it puts it miles above other Edgelord Gore OVAs from this time period.

One other criticism is that the characters are flat, but that's complete nonesense. I found Raiden's character to be exceptionally written, and a lot of it relied on show don't tell and his develepment happened quite quickly. Freya, Asura, Taki, Hacker and Reika were very good Side-Characters that significantly boosted the stakes for the conflict. For 6 Episode OVA, this was pretty good.
Angel is basically a badass trashy hypocritical bloodhound at the start but this makes sense because by the end of the OVA, there is an obvious change which also makes sense plot-wise. People criticise her character but I think a lot of that has to do with how the dub underplays the depth for the sake of humourous lines such as "If this is Justice then I'm a banana" - which although great on their own, do make the character feel a bit more shallow.
Even despite that the change is noticeable, tho subtle. The villian is cartoonishly insane although, she's more of a puppet for the deep state which is made even more interesting with the back-and-forth in the final episode with Taki confronting his Superiors.

So, if the Plot is Decent, the Characters are Good, the Dubbing is Fantastic, the Animation is Fluid, then why on Earth does this OVA get so much Hate? Does being over-the-top and campy make it bad somehow, or does the gore make it lose points, or could it perhaps be the Anti-Semitism in the Sub? A lot of it's detracters have such superficial reasons for disliking it, it's a shame I hadn't heard of this Anime before.
8.5/10 (Badass Action Sci-Fi Romp)