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Sep 22, 2021
Disney has been taking over the movie industry step by step, so naturally it wasn't long before they show an interest in anime. What resulted is their first original anime based off a popular franchise that they purchased the rights to about a decade ago, Star Wars: Visions. Deciding to make an anthology about Star Wars was an interesting idea, and they decided to hire seven different anime studios to animate nine short self contained episodes. This resulted in nine episodes of varying quality, but the decision to compile short stories itself had its own strength and flaws.
Let me get this out of the way.
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I am not a huge Star Wars fan in general, and outside of the three main trilogies, Rogue One, and The Mandalorian, I don't know anything else about the universe. So perhaps there are a bunch of references to other shows or books, but I wouldn't know. That being said, I found the episodes with obvious easter eggs to be of lesser quality than the other episodes. Additionally, I can say that one doesn't need to be really familiar to enjoy this anthology.
The pros of short self contained episodes is that it gives more imagination to the creative team and that if one person doesn't like an episode, they can watch the next and perhaps enjoy it. The cons of this style is that people that prefer a narrative and recurring characters might not get invested and that having a one-shot even that one enjoys can become unsatisfying if their isn't more.
Likewise, some episodes in this anthology focus more on story while others focus on style. Depending on what type of person one is will impact which shorts one ends up liking. So I will briefly get into the individual episodes.
The first episode, The Duel, is animated by Studio Kamikaze Douga and is a nice enough introduction. It is very style heavy and utilizes experimental animation. It isn't deep, but the animation and coolness of the characters influence how much one likes it.
The second episode, Tatooine Rhapsody, by Studio Colorido, has the most amount of references to the main series, but it ended up being the most disappointing. This is doubly true once finishing the anthology and realizing how different it is, and not in a good way. It's aimed much more toward a younger audience with its cutesy and dull animation and doesn't have any stakes worth caring about. It's more of a musical, and leaves more inconsistencies and questions than one would like.
The third episode, The Twins, by Studio Trigger, is what most people expected it to be: an insane sakuga fest of zany action. The story's focus is very narrow and it just sets up the two twins to fight. Interestingly, it serves as an clever contrast to the original Star Wars trilogy. Sort of like a "what-if" scenario. It is easy to poke holes at some things that happen, but it's Trigger, so that isn't the point. Like why does an android need an astronaut helmet in space? The underlying story and action make the episode a fun adventure in the anthology.
The fourth episode, The Village Bride, by Studio Kinema Citrus, has the best soundtrack of the series, composed by Kevin Penkin and has one of the coolest characters in the anthology, simply referred to as "F". The story isn't that compelling, but the atmosphere set up by the animation and soundtrack make a good showing with a bombastic finale with great action.
The fifth episode, The Ninth Jedi, by Studio Production I.G., is possibly the overall best piece in this show. It contains a full story, sets up a potential sequel, and has elements of action, mystery, and suspense. Constructed around a interesting cast of characters, especially the lead, it all culminates in a finely told story which will definitely surprise the viewer. This is the episode that feels like it could have deserved a full series.
The sixth episode, T0-B1, by Studio Science Saru, is cute and fun, but it doesn't do much besides that. The animation throughout the episode is pretty good, especially in the action scene, but it's mostly style and little substance.
The seventh episode, The Elder, once again animated by Studio Trigger, is very different than their previous short. It's more substance than it is style. It is a slow burn, or at least relatively compared to the runtime. It's mainly the two main characters bantering in conversation. Towards the end though, a new character makes an appearance and some chaos ensues. It could have benefited with more of a story, but the calm story and characters makes an interesting contrast to their previous episode.
The eighth episode, Lop and Ochō, by Studio Geno Studio, was one of the more highly anticipated episodes of this anthology, along with the Trigger episode, and this episode is an easy contender with the fifth episode as the best of the show. The animation style, the characters, and the story are brought together in a truly engaging tale of two adopted sisters finding themselves at odds with each other. It could have benefitted with a longer runtime, but that's true with all of the shorts.
The ninth episode, Akakiri, once again by Studio Science Saru, is another instance of extreme contrast between same studio episodes. While the first they did was colorful and cheerful, this is a lot darker in both color and tone. It also plays to their strength of trippy animation. That being said, it's mostly style and if it wasn't for the unpredictably dark cliffhanger at the end, it would end up as a complete turn off of a final episode due to being a very weak stand alone. As it turned out, the dark ending might be why they left it for last.
So that's all the episodes. They all could have benefitted from a longer runtime, but they are shorts for a reason. In general, the longer ones were better than the shorter ones, which makes sense.
It's not easy to score an anthology, as there are strong entries and weak entries, but overall, I would say that whether one is a fan of Star Wars or not, there is enough content of different variety that most people will find at least one episode that appeals to them. Again, the episodes that one ends up liking will depend greatly on personal tastes and whether one prefers substance or style.
I am scoring this anthology an 8. I enjoyed it enough to keep me watching without stopping and there are storylines that I am highly anticipating seeing sequels to if they ever come.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Aug 5, 2021
Shirobako the Movie is an entertaining movie with a lot of effort put into it, however, it suffers heavily due to the script.
Before starting the actual review, I just want to thank ElevenArts for offering an early screening for review purposes. I really appreciate it and will thus be completely honest with the review. Now on to the review.
Shirobako the Movie is a sequel to the show Shirobako, which is a great series. My overall thoughts on the series was that it was a breath of fresh air, though it felt a little aimless at times and there were a few episodes in the
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second cour that felt boring due to lack of plot and felt that a shorter episode run would have fixed my issues with it.
This movie has the opposite problem. It could have easily have been a full cour show if it was given time to flesh out all of its ideas and characters.
Back to the positives of the movie, the art and animation are phenomenal, and not just because the studio P.A.Works is generally well known for their polished art and gorgeous animation, but also because this movie experiments and displays many different styles of animation, which one could expect from a movie about animation. Sometimes, a change in animation could take the viewer out of the experience, but the changes were done in a way that fit seamlessly into the scenes that they were in. Seriously, the animation in this film can't be praised enough.
Often working in tandem with the animation, the other outstanding role in this film would belong to the music. Like the animation, the music style varied greatly from scene to scene, depending on the animation and atmosphere of the scenes. Many of the songs were creative as well as sounding good. Even outside of the soundtrack, which is terrific, the voice acting and the sound effects were all perfect.
These two attributes leads to another interesting aspect about the film, and that is the fact that it's almost a musical. Almost. There are a couple of musical numbers in the beginning of the film and a couple in second half of the film. These musicals are the scenes that have the varied animation and the varied soundtrack and of them look and sound wonderful.
Some other miscellaneous positives to the film would be the self aware nature, humor, and references hidden in the film. In addition, there are two highlight scenes, both action oriented.
Those are the strong aspects of the film. Now moving on to the biggest weakness of the film. The script.
This movie is 2 hours long, which should be enough time to make a movie about making a movie work. But alas, it was poorly scripted. The plot of the movie is that Miyamori, the main character, due to some unforeseen circumstances, needs to start of movie from scratch for a premier that starts in ten months. That right there is a great direction to take the series in, as anyone familiar with the animation process knows that making an original anime film generally takes two years, as they mention in the film, and ten months is a herculean ordeal. That's a nail-biter story right there.
The problem is, it doesn't focus on that plot for the majority of the movie, and even when it does, only a couple of scenes (the highlighted one mentioned before) actually portray the difficulty of that daunting task. Besides for those two scenes, the characters act like there isn't major crunch time and they act like they have all of time in the world. Again, those who have been in the community for enough time would know how the employees and studio would really be acting in those circumstances.
But even if they focused on crunch time every scene that it could be brought up, it still wouldn't be enough. Again, the movie is 2 hours long, but the plot doesn't kick into gear until the 45 minute mark and they don't actually start making the film until 60 minutes in. That just leaves 60 minutes to express how crunch-timing a film would be. However, most of that run time is spent on introducing characters that we already knew from the series and dealing with character motivations and other character related issues. That is a great thing to do, but not in if it negatively affects the plot. There are perhaps 5 minutes of accumulative run time in this film where you actually feel the stakes of the creating the movie in crunch time, and for a movie whose plot is tethered to that premise, that's a little disappointing.
This also ties in to the characters of the movie. The main cast have a great chemistry and have engaging personalities and stories. However, due to the script and pacing, they are largely overshadowed. It was promising in the beginning when the film took time to breathe and could introduce their current statuses in life and their goals, but once the main plot kicks in, those are largely ignored. Even their main goal of making an anime together is barely brought up when they eventually make it happen.
The rest of the supporting cast had their moments, but they tried cramming in too many characters and subplots to this film for any of them to hit their mark. There just wasn't close to enough time for all of them.
As one can imagine with such a poorly written script, the pacing was all over the place. Perhaps the movie could have juggled most of its subplots in the run time if they didn't waste it on the musical numbers. The musical numbers were really good, as stated before, though since they disappeared for most of the film, they do seem a little random and pointless at times. They weren't necessary, despite being welcome, and that could have easily made more room for the plot to develop.
Despite the aforementioned problems, the movie is very enjoyable. It has enough great action scenes and musical sequences spread throughout to keep one entertained if the plot and sub-plots themselves aren't engaging enough.
In conclusion, perhaps the biggest issues were the expectations. Thinking it would soundly resolve the series and characters, but it didn't so that, at least not in a satisfying way. They even tease a potential sequel at the end. The art, animation, and music are all top notch, but everything is dragged down by the baffling script which doesn't know what it wants to focus on.
Overall, I am scoring this anime an 8. I enjoyed it, and might even watch it again if it gets a dub. But the story is too poorly scripted for me to score it higher.
At the end of the film, when they showed part of their anime, I really just felt like I would have rather watched that anime than this one, which is never a good sign. I definitely didn't feel that way with the original series and the anime they made.
In the end, I would say that it's definitely worth checking this film out, since there is a lot to learn about how anime is made, but don't expect to be blown away by the story.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 29, 2021
This show feels like a case where nobody told the writers "No!". That isn't always a bad thing, but like everything in life, there needs to be a balance.
Yasuke has an interesting premise, but the show doesn't really know what it wants to be, and the back and forth between historical set piece and action fantasy aren't meshed well here.
The show introduced itself as a historical set piece in a fictional universe tied to the story of Nobunaga and Yasuke, but that really didn't come into play much the more the story went on. It was more of an excuse to use recognized names for
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their fantasy action series.
Another possible detractor is the short run time. With more run time, they could have delved more into the past timeline to flesh out the world and characters, but with as little as we got, it almost seemed unnecessary. Plus, the pacing was erratically fast. With a full cour, the insane whiplash of events could have been mitigated and felt more natural, but how it turned out, it feels like entire plot lines were either skimmed over or completely forgotten about.
In the end, I think what the main problem was that the worlds of the historical samurai mixed with the fictional fantasy weren't meshed well. Yeah, the characters needed some more work too, but all of the weird power elements in that dated setting can really take a user out of it.
That being said, I enjoyed the show, and the animation and music were pretty good, and I will even look forward to a potential sequel, but I don't think I will re-watch this when I can just re-watch Samurai Champloo and Afro Samurai.
More detailed review starts here:
The story is interesting, as there is a mysterious samurai who stumbles upon protecting a mysterious girl with strange powers, a very similar premise to Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit (which is a way better show). He needs to protect her from the evil organization/government that want to use her for their own nefarious reason. While it's good in concept, it wasn't executed that well as the point of events that they go through seem to skip from A to Z within an episode. We skip the amazing journey that we could have seen and just see the beginning and the ending, without seeing them bond as much as they could have with a longer run time.
The art and sound are pretty good, considering that MAPPA produced it. It looks very stylized and the music generally matches the scenes. It is a little too gory at times, but that is just a personal preference.
The characters aren't that great. Besides for Yasuke, the rest of the characters are pretty forgettable. Perhaps with a longer run time, they could have been more developed, but as it was, even Saki wasn't that interesting a character, and the plot is supposed to be based around her. The rest of the side cast have their moments, but none of them feel like real characters with real motivations.
Like I said before, the show is enjoyable popcorn entertainment. Just don't try using your brain too much, or else it will detract from the experience. Just enjoy cool stuff being animated and watch samurais fight magic stuff.
Overall, I am rating this show an 8.
The show is serviceable, which was probably what Netflix was going for when they produced it. It has some issues, but its short run time and slick action should keep you entertained for a quick 2 1/2 hour experience. The show definitely could have been a lot better, which is probably the worst part about it for me, envisioning what it could have been.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Feb 25, 2021
Don't make a drinking game out of the random panty shots in Thigh-Rise Invasion (pun intended). It won't turn out well for your health.
High-Rise Invasion has an interesting premise and a very strong start, filled with mystery and suspense, but as it went on, those aspects decreased and the flaws of the show became more apparent.
This anime is about a group of people who are suddenly thrust into a bizarre world and need to find a way out. This is actually very similar to the live action Japanese TV show that aired on Netflix a little while back called Alice in Borderland. Definitely give that
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show a watch, as it's very good (it also has an English audio option). The immediate mystery creates a huge draw for the series, and you are instantly put into the character's place trying to figure everything out, just like the characters are.
One of the aforementioned flaws in this anime was the animation. Studio Zero-G isn't a well known giant in the industry. In fact, I haven't seen any other anime from that studio so I can't say how well it matches compared to their previous work, but the animation for High-Rise Invasion, while clean, was a little lazy. Both in and out of action sequences. Nothing looked bad, but it is a shame that this show couldn't be given to a more well known animation studio. There were no flashy moments of sakuga and even regular movements seemed off sometimes. There were also some bad CGI integrations that really seemed out of place. That being said, the character designs were nice at least.
Animation alone doesn't always make or break a show though and while the animation by itself might not have been the shows strong suit, it wasn't the only flaw in the show. The characters themselves weren't that well developed. Some were given backstories that took themselves too seriously considering some of the shows goofiness and other characters backstories were somehow too ridiculous even considering the rest of the show. On that note, the tone of the show was all over the place. The show at times doesn't know if it wanted to be taken seriously or not. One minute a person could be beheaded in a supposed to be sad moment, and the next, there is an "accidental" panty shot.
That brings up the biggest flaw, the fan-service. I don't mind fan-service if there is a point to it in the narrative, but there really wasn't any point to it here. It was just a way to reach a certain viewing audience and sell better to that crowd. Every episode there were multiple panty shots and there were a few nearly nude scenes thrown in though nothing explicit is shown. There is also some Yuri subtext in between the two main leads which leads nowhere but will appeal to a large viewership nonetheless.
The music in the anime did its job. The OP is done by Empire, so those who watch Black Clover might recognize the artist. It took a few listens, but I ended up really liking the OP. The ED is mostly forgettable though. The OST did its job and really hyped up the scenes to be epic when needed. The voice acting (English Dub) was pretty good as well.
While the story starts off really strong, as it goes on, the plot sort of becomes a mess, many things don't make sense, and since it ended off unfinished and needed a second season, lots of questions remain to be answered.
All that being said, this show was a lot of fun. Some of the lines in fact would have fit right in an abridged series. Like "I recognize those panties anywhere" (paraphrasing). High-Rise Invasion is just a funny brainless popcorn flick at times, and a suspenseful thrilling mystery at others. The sum of its parts don't equal out to the whole for this anime. While there are big flaws and not so many strengths, it really is an enjoyable anime. Whether you enjoy it ironically or not is up to others to decide for themselves, but I had a blast watching it. I might even watch it again with my siblings and laugh with them about it.
In the end really, the over-the-top ridiculousness may be what makes or breaks the show for you. Some people might think of parts of the show as too dumb while others might think of it as dumb but fun.
Overall, I am rating High-Rise Invasion an 8. There were too many flaws to score higher than that, but it was also too enjoyable and fun to give a lower score. I haven't watched an anime as enjoyable as this in a while, so I guess that is my recommendation. Watch it and then either praise it or bash it, as long as you have fun doing so then you got something out of it.
P.S. Only calling this anime Thigh-Rise Invasion from this moment on.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Oct 1, 2020
Well, this movie was nice to watch. It really brought back that Bleach nostalgia.
While I can't even to begin to express how glad I am that I could experience Burn The Witch immediately as it released, it wasn't a flawless masterpiece. It tried to tell way too much story that could naturally fit in a one hour movie. The world building wasn’t as strong as it could have been. If only this movie had an extra 20-30 minutes to its runtime, like a normal length animated feature, it would have flowed a lot smoother and could have fleshed out the characters and world a bit
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more. Some things weren't explained fully and the characters didn't have enough time to become fully developed. This is especially true for Balgo, who is easily the flattest and least interesting character in the movie.
There is a moment at the end of the movie where two characters hug (sort of), and it feels so random and comes so out of nowhere, that you would think that there actually was a prequel movie to this, since nothing in the movie made it seem like they were on hugging terms.
Another flaw I would give this movie would go to the animation team at studio Colorido. While the fight scenes were well animated for the most part, a lot of the still frames felt stiff. While that may seem like an obvious thing to say, it felt stiffer than most still frames feel. Some of the CG was off-putting as well, but most of the CGI was integrated well.
Now for the positives, as I said before, the action scenes were well animated for the most part. They were very slickly and stylishly animated and the CGI was integrated well most of the time. The Marchen (legendary dragon) was animated nicely as well. The entire backstory scene with Macy and Elly was presented wonderfully. The ED song was nice and the soundtrack fit. The voice cast was all solid as well.
Most of the cast had great designs. The character designs were very Bleach-like and they looked great in this setting. Also, it is just nice to see the Bleach references and to just be back in the world of Bleach. The main characters, Noel and Ninny, are really likable (even if not fully developed), and they really had a natural and believable chemistry between them.
This movie was enjoyable, although I went in to the movie already loving it, so I have a bias. That being said, I think that non-Bleach fans will have a harder time enjoying it than Bleach fans.
There will probably be more animated Burn The Witch content down the road, so it will be interesting to see where the series goes from here.
All in all, an 8 out of 10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 24, 2020
This review may contain vague spoilers but it is mostly spoiler free.
Scenario:
You need to write an extra test to give to the main character Bam. What would you think is the best test to give to him?
A: Give him a trial to do only by himself, thus strengthening his character and showing what he is capable of without others helping him?
B: Give him a trial to do mainly by himself, thus still showing what he can do and at the same time rounding out other characters?
C: Give him a trial to do nothing, where his only job is to stand still and have
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his friends protect him?
If your answer is C, then you might not mind some of the others problems in the show, but if A, B, or another option, you might have a rough time making it through the series without many questions about things that don't completely make sense (yes, I know that the test was done that way for a spoiler reason, but I am talking about the writer needing to at some point develop the main character).
Tower of God is the new adaptation of a Korean Manhwa by the same name (which I haven't read) animated by Telecom Animation Film (a subsidiary of TMS Entertainment previously called Tokyo Movie Shinsha) well known for the anime Orange and for its recent dive into the Lupin III franchise (Lupin has always been attached to the studio but this newer sub-studio took over some of the projects).
They generally do a decent job. However...
The directing for this series is lackluster, thus causing the show to feel lackluster. The director, Sano Takashi had almost no prior experience in full series directing before this (he has only directed one full series and the majority of one other, neither of which you have probably heard of), so it is a mystery as to why he would be chosen to direct a property as popular and complex as this one. The storytelling is unfocused and the narrative is choppy. The decision (probably from the production committee) to pack so much into 13 episode definitely didn't help either.
Another possible detrimental component is the music/OST. While normally a soundtrack by the legendary Kevin Penkin would be a welcomed addition, it doesn't matter how good a soundtrack is if it isn't integrated properly into the right scenes. To be fair, this probably wasn't his fault, but more likely that of the sound director Yamaguchi Takayuki, the same person responsible for the infamously bad Index III sound effects. While I can't say for certain who messed it up, I wouldn't be shocked if they told Kevin Penkin to read the source material and make an epic soundtrack, then it was just placed wherever the sound director wanted. The soundtrack features some amazing epic soundtracks similar to Lord of the Rings, but are used in such random scenes that it is almost comical. Some scenes like the silent atmospheric ones work, but then the same ones are used for action sequences and those just really don't work at all.
The OP and ED are both average. Nothing special and even a little lazy. Having a quarter of the OP being a sporadic black screen with credits seems like an odd directing decision. Though a few shots are gorgeously animated. The songs get better after a few listens but neither of them are that great.
One really neat thing about Tower of God is that they focus a lot on the side characters, giving them unique personalities and plenty of development...if only it did the same to the main character, Bam. Of course, you wouldn't know he was the main character if the series didn't make it obvious from the start since Bam has less screen time than many of the side characters and is so boring and flat that he really shouldn't be the main lead. The show would be much better and have a lot more focus if they removed him and made Khun or one of the Princesses of Jahad the main character. Most of the side characters are likable enough and detailed enough to have their own side series, which is a good thing for any series. Of course, I am sure that later on, he will have more screen time and be more important, but for this season alone Bam is very underwhelming and an annoyance whenever he is on screen...which thankfully isn't a lot.
This could have been another great example of Baccano, Durarara, or Fate/Zero where there are many main characters and there isn't one obvious one to rally behind, thus making the stakes more thrilling, but when Bam is the obvious main character, it slightly lessens the impact and importance of the other characters backstories, which shouldn't be the case of a show that is so determined to flesh out as many of them as possible. In the end it seems to go the Hunter X Hunter route of having a lot interesting side characters, but at least Gon wasn't a bland character like Bam is and Gon has plenty of screen time.The characters would have been a perfect category if Bam had been more developed this season.
Returning to the opening paragraph, even the tests seem to take for granted that Bam shouldn't do anything to stand out as the main character. The narrative of the show thus far, and even the scene itself, made it seem like Bam would finally have a crucial role in a test, setting up a perfect chance for his character to grow, even if just a little. Instead of that however, they just give him the luxurious role of doing nothing while being protected by his friends. Of course, maybe that was the intention of another character, but it would have been better if used as an opportunity to do at least something with his character. Even earlier, when that character gets injured by another character, he isn't even angry, which he should be. He is just like "why did you do that?". There should definitely be more of a reaction there.
The Japanese dub does a good job voicing the characters, except for Bam of course, which is where the saving grace Johnny Yong Bosch steps in for the English dub to give Bam more personality from the line deliveries alone. He conveys way more emotion and charisma than the original dubs voice work for Bam. Of course, that might have been the idea, to make him sound like a lost puppy, since he is, but the blandness of a voice can still make a character seem too boring, which is never good for a main character.
This may be an unpopular opinion, but I really like the art and animation for this series. Of course, if it looks like Lupin (come on, the close up shoe shot in the OP is straight out of a Lupin scene) then of course I would, but I think that it is a unique enough art style to set itself apart from its shounen peers. The series has colorful characters and backgrounds and the animation, while not always consistent, never looks too lazy. There are some nice looking fights in the crown game and a few other spread throughout. While it isn't top tier shounen fight material, the animation delivers a solid showing and definitely isn't the weak link.
The weakest link would belong to the pacing of the story and the effect that it caused to the story itself. This season is really similar to the hunters exam arc from Hunter X Hunter, but while that arc was able to effortlessly glide through the tests at an even pace, thus making the tests themselves fun, many of the towers tests are so rushed that not only do you not fully understand the rules, the tests themselves with the exception of the crown game aren't enjoyable to watch.
The rushed story is also all over the place and many things are unclear, from character motivations to tower mechanics/explanations. Some episodes compete to see which one can jump around to the highest number of scenes the most amount of times. There will be an epic fight scene, just to randomly cut to a boring scene, to randomly cut to a random not important fight scene, done multiple times within one episode using the same musical piece. While a good director might be able to pull off those transitions with competence, it just didn't work out well here.
These types of shows are tough to rate, since while it is entertaining (if you like these type of shows) and I did get enjoyment from it, there are a lot of flaws to point at. I am already re-watching it in English and I will definitely watch season 2 when (if) it airs, but the apex example of a show for me is when I am not questioning the show but rather just enjoying the watch.
Overall, this show in entertaining but has many flaws. It has great side characters, mystery, and a intriguing world, but it's also poorly directed, has a bland main character, and stops at a weird spot.
Score 8: Good and had some great elements
(There is a possibility that I might bump it up to a 9 after the dub finishes airing, but I doubt it.)
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 5, 2020
Once again, Lupin takes the stage in easily my favorite Lupin film that isn't directed by Hayao Miyazaki (The Castle of Cagliostro).
Lupin the Third: The First (yes, it is a very confusing title) is a typical Lupin movie through and through with just a single new addition, it is in CGI. Not just any regular anime CGI, Hollywood level CGI. Disney/Dreamworks level CGI. The animation itself made this movie better than most of its Lupin counterparts, but the story has a couple of extra things that made this installment stand out among its peers (besides for the CGI).
First off, the story: Classic Lupin story,
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if you have seen any other Lupin installment than you know what happens here. No twists you won't be able to see coming a mile away. However, this movie adds a Indiana Jones aspect to it that fits in quite well for Lupins character. I won't call this movie a complete rip off of Indiana Jones, but it is obvious to tell where the inspiration came from.
For those who haven't seen a Lupin film before: Lupin is a thief and he and his team steal something, it gets taken from them, then they try to get it back with Inspector Zenigata on their trail trying to arrest them. Very simple concept which somehow is still interesting even after seeing it over one hundred times.
Moving on to the technical aspects of the film, I can't praise the art/animation enough. The CGI is on par (or at least close) to a Disney film. While a couple of the character models look a little weird compared to their 2D counterparts, the CGI is great, particularly in the action sequences. The animation is super smooth and fluid and everything looks clean and polished. The chase scenes in particular are fantastically animated and directed and it is easy to just replay them over and over.
However great the animation is however, just like usual, the greatest thing in every Lupin film/series continues to be the Soundtrack/OST. Yuji Ohno has succeeded in making one of the most iconic themes in all of anime and this is proven when the same theme has been used and praised for over 40 years. It's not just the main theme song however, every one of his pieces are brilliantly orchestrated and are arranged in different ways for different movies. It is impossible to not just hum/tap along to the main theme and the ED "Gift" sung by Lyn Inaizumi is another beautiful addition to the Lupin music library.
The voice acting (Japanese) was very good, which is no surprise coming from Lupin which has a long history of good voice acting. Even the new roles in the movie were done really well, with a shout out to Suzu Hirose who voiced Latiana.
The main characters are the same as always. Lupin is a playful not so serious thief, Fujiko is mysteriously trustworthy/untrustworthy as usual, Jigen is the serious partner, Goemon is the cool headed samurai, and Zenigata is the stubborn, persistent, and foolish inspector. The side characters however really make this movie stand out. Latiana is a great new addition used to attract our the viewers sympathy, and it succeeds. The antagonists are also given a lot of screen-time to help them not just be the forgettable Lupin villain. One of the antagonists actually has a little bit of depth.
This movie was extremely enjoyable to watch as a huge Lupin fan. Even in CGI, it feels like a Lupin movie. I will definitely watch this a couple more time once the English dub gets released.
Overall, this movie was as perfect as a copy paste story-telling Lupin movie could be. Th CGI was visually appealing, the OST was gorgeous, the new characters were given some depth, and the plot was an Indiana Jones movie. The movie couldn't have been much better.
Score: 10: A masterpiece and so good that i would watch it again and again and again.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Apr 23, 2020
Can CGI ruin a show? Yes. Does it here? Thank goodness no, at least not for me.
Ghost in the Shell is a lengthy franchise spanning over decades with at least four different art styles. However, while all of the previous art styles until now were in 2D animation, they decided that they should try a CGI approach. Many will skip over this season because of it, but if that is the only reason, then it is a huge mistake. Despite the animation, all of the characters remain the same and the story feels very similar to SAC previous seasons. So how does it match
...
up?
SAC (stand alone complex) is what these seasons do: There are stand alone episodes and there are complex (like an arc) episodes. The complex episodes progress the story while the stand alone episodes progress the characters development. This season starts with a complex arc of six episodes about the emergence of post-humans (super smart and strong humans) and the majors (Mokoto Kusanagi) team being forced to take him down by the American government. Then, there are a couple of stand alone episodes when they return to Japan that showcase the characters of Batou, Togusa, and the new character Purin Ezaki individually. Then there is another complex three episode arc involving another post-human case in Japan but slightly different. Then it stops at a massive cliffhanger which will be resolved in the next season.
While the episodes were all great, I am not a fan of the seasons being split up like this, but I take what I can get.
To talk about the elephant in the room: the art. This will severely prevent a multitude of people of enjoying this season, but that is only because they won't give it a chance. The CGI is very well done for Japan TV standards. It isn't as good as something like Frozen but it is still decent enough to not be too distracting. The character models are great and very closely resemble the original models. The fight choreography is outstanding and the backgrounds, while not the best, are still serviceable. My main problem with the art was the faces of characters. A lot of times that there should have been emotion on faces, there just wasn't. It is hard to accomplish it in CGI but nevertheless they didn't accomplish it. But the art for the OP was phenomenal.
The music was okay...or at least when there was music. While the OP was decent and the ED slightly better, there was rarely any music in the actual show. In the first episode there was a great jazzy instrumentally track which got my hopes up, but after that there was barely any BGM at all. It is sad especially considering that Yoko Kanno did the original SAC OST and it is still known to be one of the best soundtracks of all time. The voice acting was all good. I would have preferred the English dub, especially since the original dub cast returned to reprise thir roles, but unfortunately the dub release was delayed due to Covid19.
The characters are all the same as previous seasons with the addition of Kenjiro Tsuda, an American agent in the first arc but who then leaves (he might be relevant in the second season) and Purin Ezaki in the second arc who was the comic relief and an enjoyably cute and silly character. Togusa goes through some development as well. The Tachikomas are amazing as usual but they have slightly less screen time than they did in the previous seasons. There isn't yet a main villain that we have met yet, but the puzzle pieces are building up and hopefully can actually pull off a great reveal in the next season. The major is a boss, like usual.
I enjoyed this season a lot, and I would recommend it even to people who haven't seen previous seasons or movies. The pacing is fantastic and thrilling while the story keeps building mystery and great development.
My main issue with the season, not including art or sound, is that this season plays it safe. Ghost in the Shell is known for utilizing thought provoking themes which helped it stand out throughout the decades, but this season hasn't really done that yet. The last arc was close, but didn't fully succeed to hit the usual franchise marks.
It went for a more Hollywood style, lots of fights, but very rarely any serious internal conflicts or thought provoking ideas.
Overall, this season was great. Better than what I expected. Hopefully the second season is as good or better and can properly tie up all of the loose threads that were leftover after this season.
Score: 9 (Very good and rewatchable, but not good enough to do so very often).
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 26, 2020
Psycho Pass 3: First Inspector is a worthy conclusion to the third season. A lot of loose ends were resolved, although not all, and there was another development for the Sybil System. It isn't perfect and there was a lot more I wanted it to do but the movie focused on its own goals and accomplished them well.
It focuses entirely on the Bifrost organisation attacking the Public Safety Bureau and taking over their headquarters to either kill the governor or forcing her to retire. They break in slightly too easily to be believable in my opinion, but nevertheless, the officers need to find a way
...
to protect the governor and to regain control of their buildings systems.
The movie is directed nicely although the third season and this movie both could have been scripted better. The music fits well and the fight choreography is stellar. Realistic movements combined with precise strikes makes for much better entertainment than loading up an energy beam for half an episode.
There were a couple of missed opportunities though. The entire premise could have benefited with Akane being involved in taking down the terrorists. Also, a few characters motivations still aren't clear. Additionally, even after all this time, the new characters have almost no charm.
The story shines in two areas. The first is in contrasting the ideologies of Arata and the antagonist Azusawa. The second is showing how the Sybil System is vulnerable and is ever adapting. Both of these plot points are handled very well in the film and cause the entire series to have a stabilized narrative.
Overall, this movie was a lot better than I anticipated and elevated the third season by completing the narrative in a satisfactory way. Also, a certain character didn't die in the third season and is shown by the end of the movie to still be alive. It was obvious but overall a good decision. There were minor missteps and inconsistencies but these are overshadowed by the films strengths. It also opens up possibilities of another season.
Apparently there was an after credit scene in the theatrical version where Akane tells the inspectors that she will tell them what happened two years ago (the thing that got her imprisoned). This definitely increases the chances of a fourth season.
Score: 8 (would have been a 9 but the it loses a point from association to the third season. Its narrative is a much better stand alone movie than a sequel).
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 27, 2020
Babylon is like a plane crash. It takes off well, flies in the air for a nice while, but in the end it just couldn't stick the landing and it just flopped down in an explosion. What could go wrong for a show with such potential, lets find out.
Story:
Babylon is about a detective who is trying to catch a woman who can kill with her voice. That is it. Imagine Death Note flipped where the main focus is on L who is trying to catch Kira but we never get Kiras perspective. He is just a character who stays in the background. That is
...
exactly this show. And that might have been its downfall.
The rest:
Everything besides the storytelling is very good. The sound, art, and characters are all well done. If it was written better this could have been a great anime.
Enjoyment:
I enjoyed this show until episode 7 where it takes a narrative shift so immense that it wouldn't surprise me if it have been written by a different person. Then it becomes boring and dumb.
Overall:
I can't forget that 1/2 of it was really good, but that last 1/2 has me switching from a great show to an okay show. What happened to make it change so drastically?
The Problems:
1: Like I said before, this is a flipped Death Note. Change the perspective to only the main character Zen Seizaki (L) and don't focus on the villain Ai Magase (Kira). Ai can instead of using a death note can use her seductive voice to control people to kill themselves. Cool, right? However it is never explained. It is hinted that there might be drugs that she is using on her victims but that is completely forgotten about and instead suggested that she is like the snake of the garden of Eden (pure seductive evil). In a realistic show you can't just make up reasons for powers. Use the drug angle, or introduce her as the devil from the beginning of the show. Make her a main narrative character to give us some insight. But no, instead make it seem that she just has the power to turn on every possible gender so much that they get so aroused that they just need to kill themselves. That seems legit!? And why would she do it? Because she was born like that? That is terrible writing. They had her go to a shrink, they showed a little back story. That could have been used to see how she turned out like that from a psychological standpoint, but instead, she is the devil and she can apparently shape shift into whoever she wants. That is just lazy writing. Unlike Death Note where you might root for both characters, here there is no perspective from the antagonists, thus there is no reason to be invested in Ai besides for the mystery to be solved and her caught. But since neither happen, she wasn't used to her full potential.
2: The narrative shifts from catching her to a political debate over if you can kill yourself. The show depicts this in such an unrealistic and dumb way that it is hard to put it to words. The concept and execution of the debate are just badly handled.
I don't like talking about politics because no matter what you say you will cause a fight but I believe most people can agree that this show didn't do a good job depicting the debates between what is good and evil.
3: The ending has no satisfying resolution. After the president and Zen confront each other in the last scene before the end credit scene with Ai enjoying the show from the sidelines, it is like they knew they messed up so they just quit trying. I am sure that the White House had plenty of time to find a way to save the president from the possible jump, but besides that, Zen could have shot his leg or arm to stop him from jumping but shoots his chest instead?! Why?! And how would the president not only not fall backwards, but fall forwards instead? If he only injured the president who only afterwards fell because of the shot then the result of suicide wouldn't have been considered because it was murder, and if he didn't fall, then he would have saved his life. There was absolutely no reason to go for the kill shot and he had everything to gain to go for a minor injury. After that, he could of killed Ai right away but he hesitates for no reason. The end is left up to interpretation but the way I see it, Mai not only gets off scott free (because escaping from the White House is as easy as sneaking into it apparently) but there is never any resolution for her character. She just continues her life. The president also didn't get any resolution because he was stopped by Ai before he could benefit from it. The only resolution is for Zen but it was poor because if he did kill himself at the end then not only did he not catch Ai, but he also failed in the narrative because the show was going for the angle of letting go of anger but it also goes nowhere.
4: In the end, I didn't see a point in what the show was trying to say. First a mystery thriller which isn't even told in good detective fashion, then a political mess of suicide talks all without a solid piece of perspective from the angle of the antagonists. What were the creators trying to say with this anime? Don't do suicide? You don't need to make an anime about it, but if you do, direct it better than this show.
Score: 8 (good and had some great elements but I wouldn't rewatch it).
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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