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Feb 22, 2024
I will never make anything as effortlessly surreal as Wonder Egg Priority. The script crams so many bizarre and captivating things in at every moment that it's a miracle it makes sense at all. But it not only is it coherent, it flows with a weird intuitive logic. It makes a ton of sense, believe it or not. I feel a lot of people see surrealism and feel like someone is trying to outsmart them. They see surrealism as a challenge, the creators telling the audience "this is deep, and if you disagree you are a stupid person". I don't think adding unreal elements to
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your story makes it deep, and I absolutely don't think it needs to be justified. Girls who killed themselves hatch from eggs bought with pocket change. Thats stupid? Okay mr writer in his big boy writer pants, where should the suicided dream girls come from? It's a cool premise, the steps to get there are flavor. What matters isn't the consistency of the dream logic, it's the consistency of the characters, it's the emotional truths running through the story.
You'd be forgiven for not realizing that the topics covered are even controversial, if you were like a space alien who didn't know anything about human culture. We never indulge in horror, save for a couple ill-conceived moments towards the end. It's the earnestness of wonder egg that allows it a lot more room to explore risky territory than it would otherwise. It nails the tightrope walk between flippant and exploitative, even as it just runs the gambit from self-harm to suicide to depression to gender dysphoria to body dysmorphia to etc to etc. And it does it all with a sort of looseness/honesty because why wouldn't it, what girl hasn't had to fight one or two or all of the above to stay alive?
We focus on the after, not the during (Rika's scars are barely mentioned; Koito has already died before the pilot; despite most characters committing suicide the act is rarely shown). I think the lack of weight given to any particular one trauma rings truer than any Very Special Episode could. It's not about lessons, it's about connecting. These aren't events or obstacles, they're just things that every character lives with (even the dead ones)
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 5, 2023
A show that exists only in extremes, and refuses to do anything less. Throughout the 12 episodes (which feel more like 24), the show bounces between mashing up magical girls with heavy drug use, serious emotional beats about war with a self-parodic "gamers are oppressed" gang weed premise, incredible character design with inconsistent animation, and esoteric metaphysical plot twists with underage boy fanservice. I choose to pretend that last one did not happen. Every show gets one mulligan.
The show is constantly at odds with itself, but never completely tears itself apart. It has some great edgy, almost cynical little moments: our nerd-hero-loser-soldier going all little
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dark age smoking a cig, three girls created in a lab to be Disney characters & rebelling against it because one of them found emo music, another one found out how cool drugs are, the third changed her name to fuckin Anarchy. That shit is so lame & so cool. Yet this self-conscious earnestness is contrasted with a sincere and uncritical celebration of everything in the culture. It seeps into the bones of the tv show, drags it all down. The mc spends less time quietly vibing with the girls than he does doing harem shit. Their connection isnt founded on their rejection by society or even shared interests, but on classic anime "yes master" bullshit. There are about seven too many speeches giving the viewer a pat on the back for watching this show in the first place. Fortunately, about two of these speeches are actually really effective.
There's a perfect balance somewhere, between making cool ass characters that break the "nerd" stereotype vs making them actual turbo losers that find pure joy and fulfillment in the things they like. Neither I nor the show know where this balance is. But that's all beside the point, cause what this show does know is the power of a good fucking image. A man in a suit with a tv for a head. Fantasy anime girls hanging out in a drop top. A gas mask with a dress. Find a juxtaposition and draw it, no extra steps in between. I think sometimes that's all you need.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 28, 2022
In a show called "Chainsaw Man" about a man made of chain saws who screams about boobs while killing a guy called the Bat Devil in like episode 3, it's funny how the parts that really stuck with me were the quietest. Denji lying in bed, chatting with his dog about girls. Himeno sitting upright, animated with a clinically insane level of personality. Aki smoking a cigarette, painfully aware of how ironic it is for a character defined by his impending death. The flowers beside someone about to be executed, the silence that comes after. In a world with devils and curses and a guy
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who turns into chainsaws then drinks your blood, the scariest thing is still a gun.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 5, 2022
This is perhaps the most Good show of all time. Good music, Good characters, Good worldbuilding, Good action, etc etc etc. There's plenty of Good stuff to talk about. But aside from the absolutely peak shapes & colors (classic Trigger) there's nothing that ties it all together into some sort of masterpiece. But it's a Good show.
There are little moments that stand out. Main's arc has a perfectly executed ending. Scene transitions are really stylish. The part when that song plays in the last episode is the best 4 minutes of the show probably. There are larger threads running through the whole series that work
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great, too. David & Lucy's relationship is compelling enough to carry half the show's plot, it's just a lot of fun. Rebecca, just in general. David starts off watching brain dances (?) of legendary Edgerunners, before becoming one himself. The whole show feels like we're watching one of those chips ourselves, just seeing his story play out. It's detached—you kind of have to be to tell such a big story in 4 hours. But at the same time it's surprisingly intimate and humanistic in a way that most cyberpunk stuff isn't.
Unfortunately the moments that don't reach these heights blend into a sort of beautiful white noise. especially near the back half. Whole episodes go by without any substance beyond a couple plot points and "oh that looks really Good" type scenes. The highs are high, and the lows are forgettable.
BUT Giancarlo Esposito is in the show. So absolute W
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Oct 1, 2022
Hello and welcome to Anime Euphoria But with Vampires instead of Teenagers snorting Xanax. The show’s got it all: the color palette, the hard asf trap beat bgm, and the 50 year olds luring minors into inappropriate relationships. Yeah it’s weird, but the romance stuff is chill and makes my brain produce positive brain chemicals so I don’t care bozo.
Besides the occasional side quest episode that only exists to introduce the audience to some side character, it’s a pretty solidly paced show. There’s a level of world building and suggestions of a bigger mystery that I definitely wasn’t expecting the show to bother with, but
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I’m glad exists. The characters are also all mostly engaging, even if some of them have next to nothing to do at this point. There are clear standouts, but there was no one I actively disliked.
But enough about stupid made up bull shit like “characters” and “story”. Cause any sentence I write here is just wasting time I could have spent talking about the visuals, music, and general vibe of the show. As a fan of shapes and colors, I can say this show’s a standout. It just looks good. So good that it feels kind of pointless to write a review, cause it speaks for itself.
I mean look at it dude.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Sep 11, 2022
It is incredible to me how a movie this allegorical and self-reflexive can make intuitive sense. The movie takes I Know That Thing level references and iterates on them until it all becomes a bloated soup of total nonsense, to the point where even the heroes are like “this is too much fucking Evangelion.”
The apocalypse comes in the form of a tidal wave of anime mechs, and can only be subverted by literally crucifying the series’ most iconic robot. The nearly incomprehensible fight scenes followed by cathartic resolution to the characters’ eternal torment ends the series with a resounding “Go outside and get some Bitches”
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Sep 3, 2022
There's a million ways that Evangelion could be improved. Major plot elements are introduced too late and without enough explanation. The fanservice is played straight more often than not. They literally run out of money in the end, and it shows way before the last two episodes. But check this out. I don't care.
The whole thing, with all its imperfections, strikes this perfect tone of wholesomeness and self loathing. The first half is mostly standard but well executed robot anime stuff, which lays the groundwork for the second half's subversive twists. The jarring way they combine highlights the duality of the show. Bright colorful flesh
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robots beat the shit out of giant monsters and win by ripping their hearts out. Asuka is a charismatic child prodigy, coping with her crippling insecurity following her mother's neglect and suicide. Shinji hates himself for attention, recognizes that's why he does it, and hates himself even more for it. He has all these wonderful platonic friends that he is incredibly ashamed about his feelings toward. Every episode ends with a beautiful cover of Fly Me to the Moon sung by one of the girls; the last line of the song is "I love you". The first person Shinji hears these words from in the show is killed minutes later (by him). Jesus.
And on top of all that, Shinji has to deal with the fact that he's being used as a pawn in a grand scheme orchestrated by his absent father. It's a scheme so incomprehensible that the show does not even explain what it is; it just cuts to the final two highly experimental episodes with no explanation. The first of these episodes contains a shot of Misato. She's dead, killed in the middle of some hallway. It never explains how this happened. In fact, it never explains anything to us. It's a show about Angels, demons, prophecy, the rapture. We're just people. Why should we expect to comprehend God's will?
The penguin is also very funny. He is Pen Pen. He likes waddlin around.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 3, 2022
Eight hours of horrific violence and murder and terrorist acts and fascism, with like ten moments of levity in total. Each of these happy moments is immediately undercut by a scene of someone being violently stomped on, exploding, getting shot in the head, being ripped apart, or announcing their plan for mass extermination. Needless to say I love it.
S4P1 sees the series continue its progression from action fantasy to endless nightmare. The ambiguity seen in earlier seasons is pushed further and further until it's pretty much all that's left. By the end of the Marley arc, we're completely alienated from every character we know. What's
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left is a show about a bunch of scared, violent people turning a bunch of other scared, violent people into red pulp; and the longer it goes on, the more obvious it is that there's no point to any of it. Gabi & Falco's arc works as the perfect through line for the season, bringing both the themes and plot full circle. But what good is a few characters learning a lesson about peace when there's crowds of people outside calling for war? Just shut up and Give Your Hearts losers!
What really manages to keep this season from becoming a totally miserable slog is the fantastic art direction & cool fights. The new setting gives the show its first chance to really change up the visual style, and they use this opportunity to its fullest. The new Titan designs, new characters, old character redesigns post-time skip, etc are all just fun to look at. The foreign buildings and technology both look cool and completely change the dynamic of every fight scene.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Aug 5, 2022
If you were ever watching Attack on Titan and you were like "man this is good but I wish there weren't so many big funny naked dudes", this is the season for you. I'm a fan of the total left turn into the political thriller genre, it somehow feels like a really natural follow up to everything before.
If you've been waiting for the show to actually be about something, here you go. Sure it's basically following the general arc that every zombie movie+show+etc does ("what if people are the real monsters"). But The Walking Dead doesn't have Captain Levi flying around like spider-man cutting off
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the heads of other people, who are also flying around like spider-man.
The show does a fantastic job of putting you in the Scouts' place narratively. There's so much shit going on and you know as little as they do. By the time they brutally murder their hundredth MP soldier to save shitty Eren, you start to get this nagging feeling that the other guys are probably right. But don't worry about that man. The Scouts got more people to kill baby. Also, turns out killing people yourself is even more traumatic than watching them get eaten. Viewers get to watch in real time as these beloved 16 year old child soldiers give up any pretense of being good people.
And then, after all the killing is over, you still know almost nothing about the world. Cause everyone that knew jack shit got a sword stabbed through their chest. Oops.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Aug 5, 2022
Def the weakest season in the series. While it kicks off at a pace so fast that the plot literally starts before the end of season 1, it kind of grinds to a halt quickly. Sure it's cool that there's a few eps filling out minor characters, but I don't think you have to sacrifice plot development to do this. Season 2 disagrees.
While the first arc develops the show's mystery by going "hey check this thing out, that's weird huh?", the second arc does what the show does best: answering questions you wanted to know with more confusing questions until you're just sitting there like
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"wtf is going on" and then a bunch of big dudes punch each other in the face.
The season worked a lot better for me on my second watch. Scenes have a lot more weight when you actually understand the importance of the info they're dumping on you. The "hints" are honestly more like easter eggs than foreshadowing. Not ideal when trying to piece together a story the first time around, but it's a good fun time to try and catch the five Hundred billion little details connected to future plot points.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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