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Well, Aggretsuko has reached an end after a long while.
Just a slight, barely important spoilers ahead, but I feel I had to mention it.

It was a nice and quite enjoyable show throughout, can't complain much about it, especially from the point of a former office worker like myself. It had that slight feeling of authenticity and was a great place to shake the hard days off, with great characters and shorter runtime per episode it was truly a treat. So I might be slightly different here from two previous reviews, but there's no mixed feelings, it was a fitting end and I surely ... will miss Retsuko and Haida.

It started off slowly, more or less continuing what we seen in S4, Retsuko and Haida now being together really brighten the show up, but as well shifting focus to Haida in the first half of the season was a great move. It was also a bit more serious and more grounded from the usual lighthearted, heavy-metal show we know. And yeah, this was, is and will be the most heavy metal anime ever. So praise metal gods for such a treat.

In the second half we have quite significant push towards the end, pace picked up quickly and with it it became more apparent that we are reaching end, especially since we got few bigger closures of characters as well as Retsuko's final goodbye in the final episode. And what an episode it was, extremely fast paced with tons of information to go thru, yeah, it wasn't the best episode and definitely could be done better, but remember, it was also one of the most Aggretsuko episodes of the entire Aggretsuko. And it left me with a bit of melancholic vibe, because this is it, we had reached an end after a long time with this series. It was bombastic at the time, full of amazing music and great character development. It was as well really focused on delivering a natural feel of realism, even if using animals to achieve that.

Animationwise it was the usual, clean and smooth animation was as good as before, musically it reached the heights tho, feels like it's a final season, music was even more visible, definitely worth remembering. Direction was on point with clever ideas and definitely huge heart to it, u could feel that creators gave it their all. I'm genuinely hoary with it. And happy seeing these characters one final time.

Such a treat of a show, such a good ending, even if it could be slightly better or executed with more planning it was a truly fitting ending to the truly original and refreshing show.

Long live Retsuko and hopefully, just hopefully, we might meet again.
All hail to the metal gods.

FOR THE ACCURATE EXPERIENCE WATCH IT IN GRAYSCALE!

Been waiting for that show for quite some time now. And I'm glad I watched it.
Creepy, twisted and dark works of one and only Junji Ito are well knows around the world and remembering last attempt to adapt his work being worried was more than justified. Not to mention few last Studio Deen works weren't the best.

But here we are, we got 20 short stories from Ito's rich and vile world, some were great, some quite disappointing, unfortunately what works on paper not always works on the silver screen. Regardless that - it was fun yet ... twisted watch. Definitely the best two shorts were Hanging Baloons and Tomie, as expected, two of the most renowned and known of his works. We all known that Junji Ito's works are blend of deeply unsettling psychological horror and body horror, sometimes taken to the genres extreme. But always having one thing in common - profound impact on the reader, wether it's just a creepy short like The Story of the Mysterious Tunnel or a bit more complex The Thing that Drifted Ashore, also both adaptations of these stories were quite on par with original.

But moving onto Studio Deen, I'm always saying that, didn't have greatest streak lately, yeah, but I'd like to remind everyone that they are, after all, creators of em few horror animes that are worth watching after years, namely - Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (need to add that while it's at best average adaptation, it stands on its own as a standalone work) and dark and deeply moving Jigoku Shoujo. Yes, I'm not a fan of anime horrors, unlike in live-action, these tend to be quite disappointing, let me just mention Another of the head, which can't decide whether it wants to be a full on horror, or another teen fucking drama. And that goes for most of the anime horrors in recent years, no need to mention that horrible adaptation of Corpse Party, isn't it. But here we are, this time simplicity in animation actually works miracles in this show, while Junji Ito's works are full of detail, in its core are quite simple. And it works in favour of the adaptation. Fluidity and backgrounds are quite on par with it, the main con I would have is of use CGI, sometimes overusing 3D models on 2D backgrounds hurt my eyes, but in general it's more than acceptable, this time Deen had enough time to finish the work.

Sound design and voice acting are among the best in recent years, beautifully crafted soundtrack only makes entire show more unsettling.Dark ambient mixed with smooth electronics and proper orchestration here and there gives proper chills even listening outside of the show. Voice acting on the other hand is a powerhouse. Enjoyed it thoroughly. Sound design in general was bloody spot on, amazingly atmospheric yet eerie. Couldn't ask for more in that departement, definitely one of the better sounding shows in recent months. I'm not a fan of the opening theme though, but ending theme on the other hand is one of my Winter 2023 favourites.

For better or worse it's a quite successful adaptation of Junji Ito's works, brings them no shame, to be honest looking at the picked works it is actually quite great entry into his works. It isn't particularly scary, but it's really creepy and unsettling, especially in these stronger episodes. Releasing it all at once isn't the greatest idea since consuming it all in one go can be quite hard, not only because of themes but as well as psychological exhaustion.

Summing it up it's quite good show, respecting its source material and amazing audio. Animation wise it ain't the best, especially when mixing too much of CGI with more grounded 2D animations but nothing, that would kill the atmosphere. Bacgrounds are spot on, character designs stay true to the source and overall manages to keep up with the creepiness of the original work. Best enjoyed alone in darkness, ain't work to enjoy with friends and definitely not your regular entertaining shows. Being a seinen I believe should be watched by more mature audience and definitely audience that understands this type of work.

I am satisfied, could be better but it's good enough to pass the mark.

6,5/10

Dear KyoAni,
I am truly happy that this actually looks like an end. Hopefully ultimate one. It feels like it was dragged forever. I’m sincerely happy that u managed managed to finish it, now u will have some more time to think about future after shutting down that store to expand the studio itself. Some new material would be nice in that full of sequels library of yours.

But going back to the reviewed piece. I hate Free! franchise, always did. It was lazy, boring and pretty much low effort(except for audio-visuals) production from our beloved studio. Never understood it’s popularity, not even cuz I am ... not in the demographic group, it just insults my intelligence.

STORY: 2
Yeah, continuing last movie’s main con it’s writing is even more dreadful. And it picked up exactly where previous movie left us on. I had have some hopes towards a bit more dramatic/realistic conclusion, or at least tad bit more used that fine set up that last movie managed to deliver, but naw. Writing is all over the place, horribly paced and, for me, left half of the plot lines just… there. Why bother. Too much of everything, no time to breath, as it was forced upon creators to shut it all down within these mere 100 something minutes. Pathetic attempt to cover it up with huge amount of sugar and fluffy ending did not help at all. Never expected to be any good, but that was below even my own expectations. Wondering if cut half of the dialogues it would be any worse? I think not, sadly, it underwhelmed even guy like me, that hates that franchise. Also, what with them fucking gags all over the movie, what was the point? Cringe audiences or what? I’m lost. Definitely weakest in the franchise when it comes to comedy.
But…

ART: 8
But it’s KyoAni, visuals were truly astonishing. Smooth animations with some glorious backgrounds were really pleasing, also framerate and designs did not disappoint. U could see where the budget went(obviously not to the writer). As usual, swimming looked beautiful, with really lovely colour palette, liked as well the way animators uses cgi combining it with digital brushing on top of the animation. Smooth af. I can’t hate in KyoAni technical stuff, cuz there’s rarely any reason to do so. It’s a visual thing, for that reason alone it is worth to finish that thing.

SOUND: 7
Well, obviously, it’s as lively as the animation. OST itself is a bit more unrecognisable throughout animation than usual, feels like it wasn’t there at all here and there, but when it’s needed it can pop up, especially during final scenes. They even put some smile on my face. The anime theme “This Fading Blue” by OLDCODEX is a banger. Only bigger issues I had was the sound mix, some dialogues were hardly heard, also va weren’t as memorable as usual, I believe it wasn’t purposely done though. With that, unfortunately, any good sides of that anime are concluded.

CHARACTERS: 1
Free! franchise always had one of the most flat and bland casts I’ve seen, forgettable characters, poorly written and with bare minimum of any psychological depth. Yeah, it is quite often in sports anime that these things are taken over by sports enjoyment and team work. Not here. Never, not even once, I felt connected in any way to the characters. You could change any of our 4 main characters for someone else and you wouldn’t probably even notice. With this movie it was, however, taken up to whole another level. Not only there were TOO MANY CHARACTERS, but our MCs quite often felt like side characters, just to show up in the last 20-30 mins of the movie to deliver than sweet ending. Kind of justified, but on another hand while I did not like that movie it was WAY TOO SHORT for amount of characters, plot lines and closures it wanted to achieve. Ultimately no one shines, no one has anything important to do, maybe except Kirishima, but even that looses its impact cuz of that horribly fast pacing. Big no no, shame, but as well it’s impressive to make that cast even less impressive. Well done.

ENJOYMENT: 5
It’s quite simple, the movie looks and sounds great, if u are audiovisual freak, you will be at least partly happy. Biggest issue, however, is that while being horribly fast paced and intensive movie it’s ultimately… boring. Except last 20 minutes that were genuinely enjoyable. I’m pretty sure some fans will shed a tear or two. Storywise it’s a dog shit, visuals were beautiful, also sounds lit, so it was enjoyable to some extent, at least for me.

OVERALL: 3
But sad truth is that nothing could save it from being just bland and disappointing. I’m pretty sure that most of the fans will be satisfied tho, get ready for some tears and feels, it was a long ride. Pointless, often literally unnecessary, definitely underwhelming. Not because I don’t like swimming anime, cuz I do, not like we have many of em, well, at least diving ones are quality works. Could it be better? Sure, stupid gags and lazy writing cursed that production. Also not using the build up from the 4th movie was pretty shocking for me.
BUT…

To you, fam of the franchise, no worries, you’ll probably love it as much as usually. It’s still fluffy, has beautiful boiz, looks gorgeous and ultimately it’s a feel good climax to long ass anime. Be happy.

I am, even if that movie was just shit.

Thank you, Mr. Anno. Thank you for delivering the finale we all been waiting for since 2013. Thank you for not disappointing. It is and will remain a very satysfying ending for the beloved franchise.

Is is, in fact, an end of all Evangelion. Hopefully no one will come up with milking it no more.

Before starting the entirety let's all of u ask yourself, how much u love Evangelion, what it's mean for you? This finale is pretty much definition of love letter, not only for the fans, but as well Anno himself from himself. At last we are bound to strict and smooth ... vision, that ending in so bombastic but as well self-aware style it's beyond me and whole franchise as it is.

This review is completely spoiler-free.

THE STORY: 9
We do pick up basically more or less where we left off all these years ago. But thanks to enormously long runtime we have all of the characteristich psychological issued deepened and even further explained. What maked this movie the deepest and most intriguing in the whole tetralogy. Plus realism of writing is taken whole level up, especially considering what our expectations were towards Shinji, we can count on few really nice suprises. Ultimately is is cathartic and sad piece of work, but not to spoil, it is't End of Evangelion. It's Anno strong and clear with his vision. Yall be satisfied.

ART: 9
Well, it's outstanding, polished designs on the big screen are just like wet dream come true. Plus the art direction, world and mecha designs top notch with outstanding mix of really quality CGI was done more than decent. Color palette is light and very bright, create king of lighthearted atmosphere when it's really necessary, plus wide camera angles make it wven more fun. It's studio khara's best quality work up to date, immersive and eye-catching. A must see on big screen, so when yall have a chance - just head for your local cinema.

SOUND: 8
Sound design if reminded me of anything - Youjo Senki. Beautifully mixed and astonishingly rendered was an concerto for my ears. Returning seiyuu staff delivered what we expected, both - realistic and powerful performances. Soundtrack is as epic as it should be, monumental with some electronic extras here and there. And finally the beautiful ending theme 'One Last Kiss' by amazing Hikaru Utada ft. Hina, it hits harder and deeper, when u realise it's the final ending for the franchise. Song and artist choice was perfect. Will leave u sobbing at the very end of the ending credits.

CHARACTER: 8
Here I can literally say: HERE WE GO AGAIN.
But no, somehow I felt huge difference between earlier works and this. Now, when we entered the mature world of the ending, our characters have even less choices and there are still sacrifices to make. Shinji's progression is actually my favourite one, unlike in the old version, he became somewhat likeable and strong character. Plus having all the burden on the back shared just with the girls is feelable. It's definitely the best in the series from the point of psychological build. And rebuild, movie touches differently - meaning it will have different impact. I might bitch a bit, but unfortunately Maki character is the weakest part of the movie, but here I go again - no spoilers.

ENJOYMENT: 9
Well, I was always having tons of fun speaking of Evangelion in terms of enjoyment, but yes, this is bombastic, powerful and just stromng ending. Delivered tons of fun, great, great fights and huge destructions on-screen. Great action flick, great psychological tractat, great audiovisuals. Yes, by all means, I enjoyed it. And I enjoyed it TWICE. And will enjoy couple more times definitely. Plus, come on, it's damn Evangelion, we all have been waiting for it. And waiting since forever. Let yourself enjoy this movie, it's worth the time, money and your smile mixed with tears.

OVERALL: 9
Yes, it is ultimate Evangelion for the new generation, lighter, funnier and definitely less depressing. I like Anno when he have his vision sharp and clear, this time there's no place for some weird complications, it's a great finale this franchise deserves, it's as well poignant goodbye. Never expected to get such an ending, especially having orgy of destruction before my eyes. But yes, you will be satisfied, whether u are fan of the franchise or just casual viewer. Evagelion is done.

The end of all Evangelion has finally arrived, rejoice. It was great 25 years long journey. Thank you Mr. Anno, I am forever grateful. We all are.

Long awaited and hyped adaptation of 4th Sailor Moon arc is finally out.

To put it simple - technically breathtaking. Looks gorgeous, smooth and frickin' beautiful. Definitely best looking Sailor Moon installment ever and may be as well the best installment (or very, very close one, even it has some flaws) in general.

But there's no suprise, movie adapts best arc of the manga and follows it strictly (considering runtime and the cuts, of course), after all this is what makes remake of Sailor Moon better, or supposed to as Crystal had some really big issues with proper execution and pacing, following the source in the ... stricter matter isn't always best.
Movie fixes what didn't really work in the Crystal series from the technical point of view, especially animation and awful CGI, nah, no more shite. The movie shines, attacking with pastel color palette and some of the best and smoothest animation I've seen in this series. Plus it's bloody gorgeous, it's amazingly beautiful and colorful. Designs are, finally, executed to the point, flawless and frickin' hot. I waited years to get what I got. In the technical quality terms. It's just hot.

Dead Moon arc is the best (and considerably darkest) arc in manga and was already adapted in Sailor Moon SuperS from 1995, which is one of my least favourites Sailor Moon installments, probably cuz of my high expectations and, well, love to the original. But well, here we are focused on Chiba-Usa and unlike previous adaptation she finally shines and is not small annoying cunt which u wanna smash every single time she pop up on the screen.
Character development is smoothly continued from the Crystal III plus Dead Moon Circus ain't annoying no more as well, beauty. And the whole writing is finally focused on the story and proper arc execution. However few cuts are feeleable and unnecessary, that's unfortunate payment for making it into two part movie and probably 3 hour long runtime for the whole arc. It might actually work.

Soundtrack is hot as fuck, main theme song is now my all-time favourite Sailor Moon song. And seiyuu work is an work of art, no suprise here tho.

Is it having a problems? Well, yeah, it's rushed a bit, first movie clearly building hype for the second part, which is good, but as well losing it's clarity and pacing once or twice. I would add about 20 minutes runtime to properly focus on Dead Moon Circus as intentions of them were always, well, bit childish, so good 'ol more detailed backstory would help, on the other hand second part will bring closure (I hope) for questions and, well, will leave doors open for the final arc - STARS. But I'm afraid, that future of it lies in the movies success. And none of the 3 screenings I've been earlier today were full, in fact one of em was pretty empty. I guess tomorrow families will strike the cinemas. I honestly hope so.

But is it a good movie? By all means - yes. It's the best Sailor Moon ever, even after the cuts, rushing it still manages to be a great entertainment, especially for mahou shoujo fans. And definitely for Sailor Moon fans. But it is as well for die hard fans and them alone (except kids of course, which are main audience of this franchise), it's impossible to get into this movie without watching Crystal and will be completely out of space if someone will watch this movie by chance. But it ain't nothing bad, it's just how it is, the sequel after all.

It's a very good movie. And do not disappont. IT LOOKS FUCKING AMAZING, one of the most colorful movies I've seen in quite a time. My Sailor Moon nerd inside is satisfied and happy. I think this is the most important and key in my final rating. It's simply amazing.

I am extremely lucky to have crazy ass friends that were able to get me ticket for this movie on the opening day. It was sold out in advance with huge waiting list and it was clearly visible by the TOHO Cinemas Roppogi Hills where I was pleased to see this movie. Every available seat was taken and queue was HUGE.

Now, let's have a deeper look at the movie itself, there'll be some minor spoilers but if u haven't read the manga I strongly suggest to avoid them, they'll be marked.

STORY: 7
I was never a big fan of KnY, it's pretty generic and ... predictable shounen, but it was fun and enjoyable, up to some point, overall manga was really disappointed at the end and final arcs were to say least, weak. But it does't change anything, we're talking about the movie which adapted Mugen Train Arc and did it really, really good, giving justice to the manga and leaving audiences with an quality product.
Tanjirou and his friends accompany Rengoku, the Flame Hashira on the mission to investigate unexplainable disappearances onboard the train. They don't yet know, that Enmu, one of the elite Twelve Kizuki demons is awaiting them with a trap. It's fast paced, darker and suprisingly close to the manga events, would say that the sligh changes made it even better.

[SPOILER] The sad and bitter ending was really powerful, leaving us speechless and very emotional. Done right, without forced sadness and fake emotions. And for that it ufotable has my thanks. [END SPOILER]

ART: 10
It's ufotable after all. And with huge movie pudget it's basically one big show off of magical skills of animators. We got to see Rengoku in action, with such a detail and precision, beautifully animated and blood pumping. Tanjirou showed even more of his techiques and is was pleasable, what's most important, the framerate and overall animation quality is superb, flawless. And yeah, we got to see more of Nezuko in action. The fights choreography is another ufo usual, amazing and smooth, with beautiful colors and movements. Designs were even sharper and planning and backgrounds were bloody well done. Mixture of ultramodern animation with static drawings and CGI is top notch. Orgy for the eyes.

SOUND: 10
And the sound is an orgy for the ears. Voicing is powerful and reliable, full of emotions and feels. Music on the other hand is once again an beautifully written mixture of classic japanese sounds and modern orchestration and arangations. Plus of course beautiful ending by LiSA hits straight into the heart.

CHARACTER: 6
Well, character development in KnY is just fine, nothing unexpected, pretty straightforward and predictable. But it is done right and without cringe, just your regular shounen show off. From the checkpoint to another checkpoint on the road to achieve goals and plans. But what stands out is a nice Rengoku introduction, his backstory and good explanation of his motives. Job well done.

ENJOYMENT: 9
Ufotable never disappoints when it comes to enjoyment, it's epic, fast and looks godly. And it looks godly af. Great combination of action, music and simple, but fair story makes very good impression and leaves with heart pumping faster. Like proper action flick, enjoy the show and leave no place for deeper thinking. Pure fun and action, strongly recommend to watch it at the biggest possible screen when it'll be released for streaming and bluray next year.

OVERALL: 8
An very good movie, better than expected, satysfying and an visual diamond. Ain't the best action movie, but it's very much what action movie is supposed to be. Yeah, it has it's critics, I'm one of em, but it doesn't stop me from enjoying an great entertainment. Especially when it's done with highest possible quality. Great as an cure for the current situation, makes u forget for nearly 2 hours about reality. I recommend it of course for every fan of KnY as well as fans of good action flicks. It stands on entertaining the audiences and with bit darker notes it delivers as well bit deeper view and can make u emotional. An satysfying and ectremely well done movie. Even with it's typical shounen flaws and shorts. An job well done ufotable, thanx again.

Holy shit. Coming to Japan in order to watch this movie was one of my best decisions this year. Mere month after I've seen final Fate/stay night Heaven's Feel movie I come back this time to Kyoto. Is it better than super hit from ufotable? It doesn't matter actually, I'm speechless. And in love. TV series has few flaws, plot pretty bland and predictable, simplified to the border. But I still loved it, because all these things weren't actually problematic as Violet Evergarden never pretended to be something else than beautiful story about understanding what love is. And it was damn beautiful. And this movie ... took it whole level up.

STORY: 8
So how this 140 minutes long movie looks compared to its prequel? Well, much, much better. It went full melodrama mode. Movie pick up the story basically where 2018 TV show left. Violet is unable to forget about Gilbert and don't want to believe he's gone forever. Even everyone told her to move on. The MAL synopsis doesn't give much justice to the actual movie plot, but on the other hand... it's somewhat perfect. This nearly two-and-a-half hour long movie throws us pretty fast in the story and it's damn hard to avoid spoilers at this point. Enough tho say, that Violet herself is at her limit and anything can broke her faith and feelings she just learned to understand. As for romantic melodrama pacing is damn fast and story and directing doesn't give much time to process the story. But it ain't flaw, actually it's better for the plot and it's heartbreaking twists. Trust me, even with no spoilers, you'll need napkins. This movie doesn't take prisoners, you'll cry. Especially changes towards Light Novel went even deeper than in TV series. And I'm happy of that, especially when it comes to the finale. Trust me, you can expect suprises, even tho it's still bit predictable. But it was to be expected. It's Violet Evergarden at her finest.

ART: 10
Honestly, this movie is fucking breathtaking. KyoAni did another masterwork, quality of animation is just speechless. Such a beauty, starting from flawless and even more enhanced character designs, throught amazingly animated action and dynamic scenes, finishing on backgrounds and planning. Animation is flawless, smooth and better than ever. Colours, quality, shadows, all location and character designs is just top of the top notch. If it comes to animation this year, no one can stand next to this masterfully crafted work, except ufotable of course. And even that, it's extremely hard to compare this animation to anything I've ever seen. Work of pure art, such a beauty that leaves you literally speechless. KyoAni outdone themselves.

SOUND: 10
It's KyoAni, sound quality is over the top. Perfectly synced, beautifully fitting every second of this movie. All-star seiyuu squad did work of the year, next to final F/sn movie, can't actually decide which is better. Voicing is perfect, leaves no doubt that it's real piece of art. There's soul and love in every dialogue, feelings and power is everywhere, it's a work full of dedication and understanding. Both, for characters and audience. Then we have beautifully crafted atmosphere, world is full of life and ambient sounds are just perfect. And finally we have soundtrack. Evan Call outshine himself once again, music is beautiful, very soft, but at the same moment powerful. It's extremely well fit the melodramatic atmosphere and works both, as perfect piece of work that hit you straight into heart and separate album, will get it asap.

CHARACTER: 9
As before, this movie stands mostly on characters. But this time psychological portraits are deeper and much more detailed. Violet struggling with herself, her feelings, beliefs and past even more than before. It can be truly heartbreaking at one point. This time Dietfried, Gilbert's brother received much more screen time and his character is much deeper and more clarity than before. Finally we can completely understand him, his pain and he went throught. In the past and now. Fortunately rest of the supporting characters got just enough time and plot to actually, unlike the TV series, be much more important to both, Violet and audiences. I mean that this time every important character, starting from Claudia finishing on Cattleya have important task and deepened characteristics and psychological portrait. It's a huge step forward comparing to the prequel and deserves praise. This time characters are on the first plane, including the most important one next to Violet.

ENJOYMENT: 9
The movie heavily plays on the feelings, even more that TV series. But taking whole melodrama to another level it was pretty predictable. Enjoyment is top notch, but can be literally painful at some point. Before you visit your nearest cinema, ensure you have enough tissues on you. I'll not spoil anything, but it's Violet Evergarden, so trust me, you'll need them. Enjoyment overall is great, you'll sit on the edge of your seats, you'll feel, laugh and cry with the characters. And you'll love Violet even more than before. Such a powerful chatacter. Once again she's having literally whole production on her shoulders, but this time, there's no flaws. Enjoyment, even hurtful sometimes is outstanding. It's a perfect entertainment. And perfect sequel, without a doubt it's the best return for KyoAni after the tragedy. Beautiful.

OVERALL: 10
It's 10. Second best anine movie I've seen this year. Extremely poignant, beautifully crafted, with beautiful, bit predictable, but still satisfying plot. It's an perfect example of closing a story and hitting deep into soul of its viewer. This anime movie is not only the best closure for the story, but actually is better in everything than its prequel TV series. It's deep, touching and full of extremely different feels. Will leave you speechless, shocked and ultimately satisfied, even if you didn't like prequel. KyoAni managed to achieve something very rare, they delivered satisfying, amazingly crafted epilogue to this story that's actually better than ever before. 140 minutes long runtime gives perfect amount of time to answer all unanswered questions, to deliver beautiful romance and extremely touching story. It's a masterpiece on its own rights. And beautiful tribute to all these people that died in this awful fire. Is it better than final Fate movie? Probably not, but it manages to stand next to it like equal. Terrible year for humanity, but great year for anime. This is how you craft masterpieces, even if you don't agree. Beauty.

Long live Kyoto Animation.

And get bloody tissues, you'll need them.

Year 1963 was completed basically in 100%, next one caused more propbelms tho, animes are rarely available unfortunately, the bigger suprise I had when I found whole Shounen Ninja Kaze no Fujimaru in one place and even found original dvd from some ebay third party seller (I actually hope I'll receive it, quite expensive shit).
Well, entrance to 1964 was quite very enjoyable, with great enjoyment and some decent art quality and nice setting. Very well done 65 episodes...

STORY: 8
Quite strong rating, but well, it's one more of the 'first ever' animes. This time it's ninja shounen subgenre (yer all know Naruto, right?).
Story ... of young ninja Fujimaru on his way to find his family and gaining secred ninja knowledge from an ancient tome is well written, quite reliable and very much enjoyable. The samurai/ninja era japanese setting is great by itself. Everything starts with yourg mc being kidnapped by an eagle and shortly after is resqued by samurai named... Sasuke, yeah, u right. The samurai takes him as his disciple and teaches him... ninjutsu and multiplication technique that allows Fujimaru to create multiple shadows to confuse his enemies... yeah, you're completely right on your thinking now. As the story goees on mc decides to find his lost mother and fins the ancient Ryuen Tome that contains forgotten ninja techniques. His biggest enemy is Japusai, master of fire techniques that's as well after the ancient scroll.
Pretty good piece of story and most importantly it's not too long, perfect for the story.

ART: 7
That's one of the highest ratings in 60s animes I gave so far. There's 2 main reasons why, no.1 - Hayao Miyazaki and Yasuji Mori and no.2 - it's one of the best looking animations from the time and well, many animes from 70s and even 80s were much worse. Toei Animation animators did great job, early Miyazaki is already very focused on the backgrounds while character designs showing his later works. That combined with Moris's maestro works giving true great quality that back in the day would deserve true max score in art quality. Today of course it's nowhere near being even good, however it's much easier to handle than most animest from the 60s. I loved designs, especially of the main characters and great background works are great until this day, especially in remastered version.

SOUND: 6
Another nice suprise, well recorded seiyuu voices, nice syns and quite easy to understand without much downs at all. Same goes to OST, which was guite enjoyable mix of traditionad japanese music with some epic instrumetalisations, didn't like opening and ending songs tho.
Overall as for 60s show it's the first time I was able to understand everything without bigger propblems, record were clear and well preserved. Good job.

CHARACTER: 9
The strongest part of the show. Main character, Fujimaru, strong and talented ninja with great character develompment and well psychological backstory. Precedessor of all young ninja/samurai mc's. Smart, bit childish, greatly talented, with BIG heart. So far one of my favs in genre. His sensei, Sasuke is your very typical 'sensei' in every way u can think of. Powerful, strong and quiet. With great influence on mc and finally has taken the role not only of his mentor but as well father he never had. Amazingly written character tho. And finally my favourite, the bad bastard Japusai. Imagine your typical mc enemy, add to that tons of great story where u actually starting to understand and like the guy. And don't get me wrong, his motivations are just as evil as they can be, no crybaby backstory, well, his backstory's great tho. And well, he's master of fire (AANG - I KNOW FROM WHERE U TOOK THESE INFLUENCES FINALLY).

ENJOYMENT: 8
I just loved it, great story, great characters and suprisingly well watchable even today. One of the titles that actually survived the tome without much harm. Even for people that doesn't like old titles this one should be quite enjoyable. Some great ninja shounen, not the best, but definitely over the average and well - influencing af, just watch Naruto again after this show.

OVERALL: 8
Strong 8, no mistake. Great piece of history again, but this time much better preserved and enjoyable by young people now. Shame it's almost forgotten. Shame and disgrace (64 bloody ratings!), what's even bigger disgrace is it's score, barely reaches 6,0 with incredibly low amount of ratings. Shame on u mal users, shame again.
One of the biggest, if not the bigger title for the genre of all time, influential and well, it's the first one after all. Suprisingly well even today. Nothing to be worry about. It's your typical, good shounen at it's finest.

I wish that ine day animes like this one will be well recognised and praised by modern society, especially without animes like that your favourite genres could look completely different. One piece of true history and as I can see it's remembered again only by mentioning is terrible articles like 'First Anime Series of Every Genre (Well, 10 of Them Anyway)', the heck. Go for it while it's still available.

And lemme go for next 1964 title, see ya'll soon with another review.

Tetsujin 28-gou is an production that concluded my journey with 1963 animes. And hell naaaah, I didn't expect dat. It was definitely one of the best animes I've seen in my life. What a great, great work. I'm stunned and truly sad this anime has come to an end. And wondering why I skipped it for so many years. Journey through 1963 was fair, without suprises - well until I finally got to see infamous Gigantor. And as it's quite common - the series is another 'first ever' this time it's first ever super robot anime ever (Laputa or Gurren Lagan are other famous animes ... in the genre). And definitely the best one.

STORY: 10
There's no joke, you'll find further some more heavy praising. One of the best sories I've encoutered in a while. 96 episodes writted over quite amount of time, great arcs; first one will be from now on among the best stories I've ever seen, so strong storytelling, not to mention the final one, I never felt so sad with anime ending that wasn't sad by itself. More or less it's a story of Shotaro Haneda, 12 years boy that fighting crime (and sometimes true evil) along his friend (created by his deceased during WWII father), robot named Iron Man 28. Over the story he's joined by his gather friend Dr.Shikashima and local policeman Otsuka. Story takes a few good years as we see Shotaro growing up a bit as well as became finally Interpol agent that will be continued in (pretty crappy unfortunately) in Tetsujin 28-gou from 1980 and then (in great, much darker) Chou Dendou Robo Tetsujin 28-gou FX from 1992. 2004 remake is worth watching tho.
But the story quality over whole length of the show is only great, bit childish and archaic, yeah, but among the greatest of all time. Each arc is greatly introduced and explained for which as well the plots and storytelling is fairly great. Enjoyed it much, much more than ever expected.

ART: 5
Well, it's 1963 production, so it barely surviving the time flow unfortunately, but nothing out of order there, some animes are being watched for the story quality not the art, that comes especially for the older titles. So here we have some decent classic art, good development, nice backgrounds and truly amazing setting. It aged badly tho, not very, very badly but it can be unbearable for many viewers tho.

SOUND: 5
Mediocre as it is, the usual soundmixing and recording quality sucks but this time we have some nice OST, veery catchy, however, archaic in every way u can think of. Great opening song, especially remastered version and good voice sync (what is actually not that common), I liked as well the first ending and the main theme. Main theme is actually well know even if u didn't see the anime itself. That will be about it. Nice, old-sytyle music with some decent tunes that is quite weakened by it's age and quality of the recording. Still decent.

CHARACTER: 10
Starting from our mc, Shotaro Haneda - he's one of the best written characters I've seen as well. His backstory, life, choices are greatly explained and psychological characterology os over the average a good couple of times. Aur electric Iron Robot is... lovely, no jokes here. On the beginning when Haneda finds him he's very funny to become by the end the strongest example of great character development I've ever privilege to see. Dr.Shikashima's backstory is the most tragic, however, as for anime for kids it's fairly reduced, however, adults will see much more, starting from the WWWII shadow behind doctors back all the time. The last one to mention is officer Otsuka, last member of Haneda's squad. Typical sidekick that brings a lot of humour and good gags along with nice backstory and some decent role.
Whole character development is on great level, not to mention that even after all this years it seems to be fairly done, reliable and most important - greatly written. Same goes to HUGE gallery of villains and other characters like other police officers, crime lords and mob bosses, thieves and even evil aliens.

ENJOYMENT: 10
After seeing Sennin Buraku I didn't expect anything to give me more enjoyment from 1963 animes. I was wrong. And wrong in every possible way I can actually think of. Not only great humour but as well amazing dramatisation, plot and overall great pace just giving me chills even after finishing it. Truly one of the best animes I've seen in my life.
Over 2/3 days I spent watching this gem I never had a single though about dropping it, going for a tea or anytning, after one episode finished I was so curious how it'll go further that I ended up watching 33 eps on the first day and 53 the next one with only 10 left for this morning. Truly amazing anime. with godly levels of enjoyment.

OVERALL: 10
Yeah, I know giving 10/10 to nearly 60 years old anime can be bit... too much, but not for me. I'm not only watching on it as on average mecha anime but as well consodering how it was received in 1963 as well. Not to mention it's story is still great until today and the only thing that aged here is the art ann sound. Still hell out of a great story that keeps u at the enge of ur chair for the most of the time, godly opening arc, no modern anime comes even near this opening, very strong plots quality and amazing final arc that left me completely speechless. Speechless because 96 episodes gone so fast and that's it. Like - what the hell, is that it?
Yeh, I saw the 1980 version a while ago, been thinkings it's a remake of this one, I was bloody wrong, it's some kind of a sequel (1992 version is great tho), quite poor back then but now I can actually understand half of references I didnt understand when I was watching 1980 version. 2004 remake is nearly as great as this one. But nowhere on this level after all.

This title concludes the journey as it is. 1963 was good, Sennin Buraku was great piece of comedy and quite mature ecchi (the first one of all time), Tetsuwan Atom and Ookami Shounen Ken were decent, bit mediocre but still good animes while Eightman and Bouken Shounen Shadar were TRULY TERRIBLE.
It's nice to finish 1963 journey with one of the best animes of all time in my opinion. Great piece of hostory and even greater piece of fun.
I will proceed now to 1964, see u around. ;)

Thanx for reading.

And another gem from 1963 arrived. And what a great piece was that. Funny, weird, very, very old and overall extremely entertaining in every possible way u can think of.
Sennin Buraku is known for being the very fist real ecchi anime of all time, another worthy time gem from 1963. Didn't expect that from this particular title. Sweet mother of God what a fun I had.

STORY: 6
Well, it's quite simple story. 3 sexy sisters and everything around them - more or less erotic in some archaic sexual ways. Hilarious af, honest and very, very funny. Everything takes place in some chinese village in ... nowhere. Full of symbolism, Taoism and beliefs but everything sexualised to the maximum level. A lot of nudity and slapstic humour, great gags and good plot, even if it's basically about a married man who's after sex with 3 young sisters. A lot of alchemy and bodychangings tho. Mix-up of everything, but the very first one.

ART:
I love the art here. Very old-school but greatly detailed, focused on classic art and paintings, caricatural and very refreshing. Weird back then and even weirder today. The character design is truly a masterful work, amount of different characters is gret, every is different and recognisable in full. Everything in old-school black and white. Locations are great, classic and backgrounds detailed, different without copy-paste locations. Truly among the greatest designs back in the day.

SOUND: 3
Well, no opening no ed, short eps with some music but... well, sound mix is AGAIN terrible, sometimes really bad and awfully recorded. Vioces are barely recognisable, music tho, is quite okay as on the other hand and there's a lot of sexual dancings and shit. Unfortunately whole sound, as usually, lacks in decent quality and good editing. Voice sync is as well far from being perfect. But if u actually used to old animes it's nothing really bad and it's very easy to get used to it.

CHARACTER: 7
Well, we have our 3 sisters, basically main fuel for the plot, sexualised to the maximum and still... respectful, greatly written with some reliable backstory. We have as well young monk/taoist apprentice that instead of focusing on religion focuses on the sisters, funny fat guy mentioned above and the main taoist elder, another perv that likes to watch girls changing etc etc. Gallery full of typical ecchi characters. A lot of fun apparently, much more that expected.

ENJOYMENT: 9
I've been laughing most of the screening, like laugh a lot. Funny gags, a lot of sex and nudity, everything mixed in nice mild sauce constantly delivering loads of fun and ecchiness at it's finest. As for 56yo anime amount of joy, fun and enjoyment is stunning not to mention it's archaism is basically one of the strongest parts of the show.

OVERALL: 9
Yeah, didn't expect that from the show. I knew it's going to be nice and fun, however, didn't expect that much fun. Decent animation along with great, stupid and very 'ecchi' story gives great combination of respect for anime lovers, great humour, amazing setting, some poor sound and above all - good and reliable show. Nothing more to expect from the mother (and father) of all ecchis. And still delivers more that it actually should. Sometimes 'older' means 'better' and in this case it's definitely like that.

23 episodes (well, 21 as 2 episodes are lost forever unfortunately) went smooth, fast (max 11-12 minutes each) and very nice. Great amount of respect for the audience, nicely done production that is as well an great piece of animation history delivers until today loads of fun. What more we can wish from precedessors?

And bonus, I posted all 21 available episodes on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLv3P-RR1JYD4J-7dg-e7UIcNsSky_3GU3

Enjoy!