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People who enjoy vintage sci-fi will enjoy this. I'm not saying this is the greatest or even the most entertaining manga ever, but it is one that feels quintessential of the time period. One of those things where reading it almost transports you back to the 70s. I can hear Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Aerosmith, AC/DC and The Rolling Stones in these pages. I can imagine being a child reading this and going in line to see Star Wars. As it is about 50 years old, there are some things that don't necessarily age well in that it has a simple good guys vs. bad ... guys with nothing really complex about it. I was also caught a bit off guard when this manga also felt more like a pilot for the mega franchise it spawned in particularly in its non-ending. The pacing doesn't give the audience any room to breathe and kind of jumps around. Nonetheless I enjoy the characters. They are mostly archetypes of 70s sci fi characters and some don't quite standout but the main cast is iconic. The best aspect is the art. Where Leiji Matsumoto feels limited in his writing, he more than makes up in his art. Some battles a little difficult to make heads or tails of, but he knows how to make the universe seem big. He draws space as more than just a black background. He also presents interesting concepts of space travel such as warping which puts the ship through portals to weave through showcasing more world building. People who only follow the trendy manga like Chainsaw Man and My Hero Academia may not find much of value here, but the ones who like studying the history of manga and reading the foundationals such as Astro Boy, Golgo 13 or Lupin III will also enjoy checking this out.

It’s touching and heartwarming, but then it ended rather suddenly and left much to be desired. The animation is lovely to look at, but the story and characters were so hollow. It’s got this somber tone like someone died, but really she’s just reflecting for 2 hours on her “horrible” childhood. To be honest it felt rather plain, which may have been the point for her reflection, but there really wasn’t much being conveyed. The flashbacks and the present in how they were stitched together seemed very disconnected. There were parts that I found funny, parts that I cringed at, and parts that I felt ... something all due to how relatable it was, but there’s also a lot of fluff that made it a total bore. It’s a very inconsistent 2 hours that I thought would lead somewhere but then the credits started rolling and I could only think “That’s it?” While the credits played there’s a beautiful scene of Taeko riding the train with her childhood. That was the best part. I wanted more like that. It’s a bit underwhelming we don’t get that until the movie’s over and it’s not even the deep payoff to something worthwhile it thinks it is. In short, I can see and appreciate the amount of care and heart that went into making this, the execution just didn’t fully work for me.

It has great animation and characters, but doesn't fully beat the "Japanese Disney" feel that anime had trouble escaping in its beginning years. There's quite a few terrible singing scenes that seemed tolerable at first but got old really fast and broke the pacing. There are times where this became an absolute chore to watch. There are other times where this became an absolute joy to watch. Where this movie really shines is the action sequences. They might not be anything you haven't seen today, but they are ahead of its time. The opening sequence and the final 25 minutes are stunning in this regard. ... I also enjoyed watching the characters and all their schemes. In particular I enjoyed Hilda's plot line. Horus is a bit one-note and standard as a protagonist. I feel like to the average person this movie won't make much of an impression but hardcore anime fans, especially Ghibli fans as this marks the first collaboration between Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki, should check it out at least for the history and impact.

As a massive fan of both the original series and the manga, I was really looking forward to this remake and overall I am impressed. At first it was hard getting used to the new style with most of the humor gone and the soundtrack going electric, but it was done rightly so. The animation is wonderful to look at, with many bright colors and cool backgrounds. The fight scenes are also a bit faster paced here too but not over-choreographed. It feels much like the battles presented in the manga. I especially loved the gatling gun scene and Kenshin vs. Saito. Voice acting is ... great with plenty of emotion in the actors' delivery. Considering the manga is long finished, it is a bit weird to have two filler episodes. I'm sure it was just to hit a standard 24 episode count without ending the season on a bizarre place, but they're not very interesting. Speaking of the ending, while it stays true to the manga and is the right place to end it, it is a bit underwhelming in execution. Compare Kenshin leaving Kaoru in the original series to the scene here, it doesn't hit the same. Playing it over the credits was distracting, and the ending theme didn't fit the sequence at all and didn't feel as emotional or hard-hitting as the original. I do kind of wish it remained a weekly anime instead of seasonal because Rurouni Kenshin has slightly drier and slower pace compared to most shonen. I feel this is why some people being introduced to the franchise with this anime seem a bit underwhelmed and not getting what makes it so great. However the Kyoto arc is what really counts so if the seasonal format is how we get an upgrade I'm all for it. And naturally since the original never adapted the final arc I'm assuming the third season will go there. I'm just really glad this season turned out good and am pumped to see this studio adapt the rest!

Before I get into this let me preface by saying I'm still analyzing the first Ghost in the Shell and don't feel I 100% get it. However, even when I couldn't quite follow it I was able to feel it and see the vision. This time, I really had no idea what the fuck I was reading. The characters, the world and the plot, beyond the general scenario, were very much lost on me. So why did I give this a 7? To be honest I'm likely to lower it to 6. What I really like though is the art. It's not as refined as ... the original, but it's so cool to look that. Especially the scenes in the AI world. This is a hard work to review as I have only read it once and this installment adds to the popular notion that this franchise needs several revisits to take in everything. As it stands this is what my idea of a stoner manga looks like. Overly complicated plot with a bunch of sci-fi mumbo jumbo dialogue but highly stylistic with unique art to trip out to and doesn't take too long to read.

It's unfortunate this got cancelled because when I read the first volume or two it wasn't great but it wasn't bad. I was actually interested in how Masashi Kishimoto develops this world. Because he was told after that point it was being cancelled, he spends the last 3 volumes rushing to the end. As it stands, we get a pretty bad manga. All the redeeming qualities it started with are lost and we get a lot of plot holes, confusing art, and a very incomplete lore. There's a character who is introduced in the beginning, doesn't seem to reappear, but then he does at the ... very end with some power that saves everyone. Not only is it weird because we never saw him leave his planet, but when Hachimaru asks how he did whatever he did, his response is pretty much "oh yeah I did [insert sci-fi garbage not even worth putting together] and came here." This is the type of bad writing that plagues the last two volumes. It's probably not Kishimoto's fault because it was a direct consequence of being cancelled early, but he also needed a better start. The characters from the beginning feel like rejected Naruto characters. It's got the standard group of outcasts who all have baggage and dreams of being bigger than they are except they are not interesting. He had this cool vision that mixed ancient Japan with futuristic cyber-technology but the art does a horrendous job displaying it. In short, Samurai 8 is the textbook definition of wasted potential.

Black Lagoon is a show that at first I wasn't sure if I was going to like. At first it just seemed like everyone was yelling and swearing. Revy initially annoyed me as she was always throwing fits and acted entitled, but I persisted and I'm really glad I did! After the first couple I got the appeal and it grew on me. Imagine a female Archer written by Quentin Tarantino. It's awesome! It's hilarious! Because it's more mission by mission instead of a real ongoing storyline there isn't always much development but we do get nice character moments throughout. My favorite arcs this season ... are the Nazi submarine one and the Roberta arc. If you're completely turned off by vulgarity and raunchy dialogue this probably isn't for you but if you enjoy some dark humor this is certainly worth a try.

I've never played a Bayonetta game. The only thing I know about her is she's my main in Super Smash Bros Ultimate. Maybe the reason I couldn't enjoy this is because this was strictly for the Bayonetta gamers, but even then it shouldn't have been this dull. I find the idea of a witch waking up after centuries and having to kill all these angels cool if I'm getting that right, but the presentation is so shallow. The animation isn't the worse but it's painfully average. The storytelling is so bad. Things just happen for ninety minutes and then roll credits. There's no excitement in ... any aspect of this. It's like the studio got a contract to make something based on Bayonetta and all the staff just get it over with to move onto the next project.

Growing up as a diehard Batman fan, this might have actually been my first anime. I watched it several times before knowing what anime even was. To me this is essential viewing for DC fans and anime fans should enjoy it as well. It consists of six stories produced from Studio 4 °C (Memories), Production I.G. (Ghost in the Shell), Bee Train (.hack//) and Madhouse (Death Note). Although they range in quality, there's no bad one per se. I don't love the animation in the first story, Have I Got a Story for You, and the ending to the fifth one, Working Through Pain, admittedly ... has me puzzled. The rest are spot-on though. As usual it's great to hear Kevin Conroy's voice in this movie, which was his first outside of the DC Animated Universe started by Batman: The Animated Series. I might be biased towards this movie because it was one of my favorites to watch growing up but even in my college years I find myself revisiting this time to time and always getting a thrill out of it.

This isn't just the greatest anime movie, it's one of the best movies ever. The animation is revolutionary and still holds up strong today! It is uniquely scored with a mix of tribal and choir music instead of just plain techno the 80s are known for. The characters all have something going on and become instant icons in their own right. The story is phenomenal! It's not an easy task condensing the manga into two hours, so Katsuhiro Otomo tells an alternate version of his tale that still hits all the themes and messages he presents in his original work. This is the rare film, ... or really any piece of media, I see no flaws in. It is perfect!