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In the 7 weeks since my last post I've watched quite a few shows.

Outlaw Star. This tale of a motley crew of a space ship hasn't aged well. I've seen people compare it (unfavourably) with Cowboy Bebop, but I think it's closer to The Slayers in tone, if not setting. That tone is a very 1990s mixture humour and character design. I rated it decent, so not a dead loss.

I followed this up with two excellent anime: Liz and the Bluebird and Noein - to Your Other Self. The former is a spin-off from the Sound! Euphonium series and, while I admit I've only seen the 1st season of the TV show, I much preferred film's emphasis on its leads rather than the orchestra.

Noein has terrific main character and is unusual for SF for using the trappings of quantum mechanics as its gimmick. I was introduced to the series 12 years ago via Key's Best First Episode tournament. It has taken that long to finally watch it. My loss, I guess.

Angel Links. Another spin-off; this time Outlaw Star, although the two have very little crossover. The only improvement is it's half the length. Rating: so-so.

This was followed my Mezzo - the TV series, not the OAV. With the sex and violence toned down somewhat, there was more scope to enjoy Yasuomi Umetsu's goofy humour and ridiculous plot lines. Rating: good.

Sakura Wars - again the TV series, not the OAV. I came to this with high expectations: the late Ryutaro Nakamura has also bequeathed us Serial Experiments Lain, Kino's Journey and Ghost Hound. Sakura Wars occasionally provides the amazing visuals and soundscapes I've come to associate with him, but they don't happen often enough to raise this out of supernatural monster / villain mediocrity. Rating: so-so.

There's a few more to mention, but I'll leave that for another time.

Errinundra wrote:

In the 7 weeks since my last post I've watched quite a few shows.

I followed this up with Liz and the Bluebird a spin-off from the Sound! Euphonium series and, while I admit I've only seen the 1st season of the TV show, I much preferred film's emphasis on its leads rather than the orchestra.

While it works on its own, it's also worth pairing that with the second season, whose initial episodes deal with these two characters in the first arc.

Thanks. It sounds worth checking out.

Been a while since I updated the stuff I watched, 2 months. I have been very productive in my anime consumption:

Umamusume: Pretty Derby Season 3 (2023) Its been pretty nice, better than the first Uma Musume but I found it weaker than the amazing second season, which showed how horse racing anime where the horses are anime girls could deliver impactful dramatic power. This season attempted to replicate the greatness of the 2nd season and succeeded partially in doing so, found it well worth watching. 8/10

Konosuba 3 (2024) Meh, weaker than the second season and the movie which were also weaker than the 1st season. Still I like its art style and so found it enjoyable but the writing was pretty weak. 6/10

Train to the End of the World (2024) Finished this after posting about the first 5 episodes. This was a good show with nice art but so-so animation, although its very flawed (pacing is all over the place) and there are many better anime shows. But if you like trains it is interesting. 7.5/10

Sonny Boy (2021) Pretentious art house stuff that's hit or miss. Not my type of show, but it was interesting to watch anime with character designs that are a bit more realistic. 6/10

Nichijou - My Ordinary Life (2011) (rewatch) Its been a decade since I first watched this great show. In terms of art and animation this is at the peak, the best of the best in terms of hand drawn animation (including movies). Its an amazing display of animation talent, 26 episodes of dadaist comedy awesomeness. Rewatching it I rated it as 9.5/10.0, among the top 5% best anime.

So I'm a Spider, So What? (2021) Very entertaining RPG like show: watching it feels like playing an RPG videogame without having to put the effort of doing so. Still I didn't like the idea in the end that spoiler[as she evolves as a spider she acquires a human form as a high level spider demon] which kinda means the premise of it is over by the end of the first season. 7/10

Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghostfiles (1992-1995) The be all end all of battle shounen. This is really really good stuff if you can return to my former self's 13-year old mindset when watching this kind of battle shounen. I had watched the first half of it when I was a kid, but watching all its 112 episodes over a short period of time was a very nice experience. Its basically DBZ but bigger and better: with a more mature art style, more dramatic power, and more raw violence. Toguro's fight remains perhaps the best epic fantasy shounen fight ever. 9.5/10 only problem is that the last arc was a bit rushed and the fights in the second last arc were heavily nerfed.

Princess Mononoke (1997) (rewatch) It had been a few years since I watched a Miyazaki movie and then I watched The Boy and the Heron which was a pretty good movie but it was not a super memorable masterpiece that I came to expect from the films of the great master of animation. So I decided to watch again one of my favorites for the 5th or 6th time: Princess Mononoke, and its indeed a perfectly executed and emotionally powerful experience compressed into less than 140 minutes. One can see how this movie defines as lot of anime tropes but at the same time its a very special experience, with an artstyle that is distinct from all other anime that is not Ghibli (I have been noticing that since they made K-On, KyoAni also has become like Ghibli in being differentiated from all other anime studios) and it features one of the best and most epic anime soundtracks ever. 10/10 (of course )

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable (2016) (rewatch) This year I have been rewatching many of the shows and movies I had rated 10/10, so far all of them deserved the perfect rating, so I was feeling a bit insecure about this one: maybe it is not as good as the others to be a 10. Maybe its more like a 9.5 like excellent shows such as Yu Yu Hakusho, Nishijou, or Frieren, among the stuff I watched recently that I rated 9.5.
Wink

But no, this is indeed something that operates at a higher level, at the level of a supreme masterpiece. I found it an impressive achievement for maintaining such level of quality over 39 episodes.

Morioh is one of the most memorable places in anime, perhaps the most memorable city in animation since Koriko in Kiki's Delivery Service or Sprinfield in The Simpsons. The style of Morioh is "western" in the way the Japanese imagine it to be, which is better than actual western. All its cast is great, cool, and expressive. JoJo at its best is truly special stuff: its silly but so silly that it becomes supremely cool. Here, JoJo reaches its apex but focusing on a single place and making it feel authentic but also supremely cool and over the top: it works as a comedy and as a drama at the same time! Double win. 10/10

Laid back camp 3 (2024) Its what you would expect from the first seasons but this time it looks like advertising for tourists regarding several places in Japan, like the bridge exploring episodes. Overall not bad but also not a particularly good show and a bit boring, not as good as the first two seasons. 7/10, but the art is excellent and the food always made me hungry when watching it.

Since watching Sakura Wars, I've continued to watch anime at a fairly high rate by my standards. Since 2007 I've averaged 57 anime per year. So far in 2024 I've watched 51 new titles and we're only ½ way through. Oddly, I've only watched 2 titles from 2024: Spice and Wolf and Train to the End of the World. I've been concentrating on getting through my hard media.

The Japanese International Film Festival had a free on-line broadcast of the 1966 movie version of Jungle Emperor Leo aka Kimba the White Lion. There's a comment in the ANN Encyclopaedia that says, "The first 2 minutes of this film are taken from the Jungle Emperor Leo (1965) TV series, while the rest is all original. Tezuka was very pleased that this film conveyed his story accurately, something he wasn't able to do with the TV series." That's not correct: it's 3 episodes tacked together. Still, it provides the Kimba / Leo back story, deals with his overall philosophy of how precious life is and concludes with a confrontation between him and giant mammoth-like god of death. The comment is correct in that the film provides a good summary of Osamu Tezuka's message. Rating: decent; it's old and its technical limitations are all too apparent. Fascinating all the same.

Next was an unexpected very good show - Kurogane Communication (ie, Iron Communication) from 1998. The title refers to how the main character, Haruka, is the seeming last human alive on earth after a military cataclysm, and lives and communicates with a bunch of robots of varying friendliness. With episodes ½ the normal length it's an easy watch. The first half of the series is something like an iyashikei as it cheerfully reveals her daily life as the last person on earth. In the second half she discovers there's a young man out there and it takes on a new, more urgent tone. I found that part less interesting and reduced the rating one level. Your mileage may differ.

My ordered Suzume blu-ray arrived so a re-watch was in order - the first time since seeing it at the cinema. At excellent, I've rated it above both My Name and Weathering with You (both very good). The main things letting it down are the blob monster worm things, which look kinda silly.

Back to my hard copy backlog and I watched Kiddy Grade, which is a bunch of fighting girls anime who provide protection services throughout the galaxy. It becomes apparent the girls have a weird history and the powers that be have secret and nefarious plans that are linked to that history. It's all flash and glamour and somewhat less in ranking than unremarkable: not really good.

My order of the Puss 'n' Boots Around the World movie on blu-ray also arrived. Lots and lots of fun. Good

Then came a highlight: Scrapped Princess with its great bunch of characters and a post-apocalyptic scenario that isn't obvious at first but slowly reveals itself. Happily, the fighting is kept to a minimum as the various character motivations play out. I like how the main character isn't the legendary saviour of the world, but its nemesis, and how her lack of power leaves her largely dependent on others until she develops some resolve. And it has great opening tune. Rating: excellent. Why didn't I watch it sooner?

I finally watched the last season (#4) of Maria Watches Over Us. Even with a new director it maintains its standards. In this season, the main character, Yumi, finally gets to decide who her little sister is. While the franchise has been good overall, I liked this instalment as its last few episodes show Yumi growing in maturity, while the decision itself is satisfyingly emotional. It's yuri subtext is understated so it can be enjoyed irrespective of your feelings on the genre. Rating: very good.

Looking up at the Half-Moon: stilted direction, lead characters who aren't compelling and indifferent technical merits really bring this down. The oh-so-sad medical condition of the female lead is the most compelling thing about this love tragedy. There are better examples of the genre. Rating: so-so

Princess Pacifica and adoptive brother Shannon. Along with Suzume, the pick of the bunch.

Started up Otaku Elf today. I had actually sampled the first few episodes of the series during last year's Spring season before losing interest and dropping it, but did buy this on video a few months ago. Feelings are just as lukewarm for the series as they were from last year. The premise of an elf from another world serving as the goddess for a local shrine has storytelling potential, which is unfortunately wasted on this being yet another fluffy slice-of-life series and the elf in question being a shut-in otaku for whatever reason. There are hints of what the series could explore, but much of this is more focused on the elf's otaku antics and her chemistry with the teenage shrine priestess being the "straight man" of the duo. Not too insufferable, but have a good idea for what I'm in for here and that makes me rather indifferent on this series.

Plastic Memories

Since it is being referenced in discussions of a couple of shows debuting this season, thought it best to get up to speed.

Unlike many, I thought the comedy parts were needed to lighten the overall mood, and was happy the show did not solely focus on the greater social implications of human-Giftia relationships.

Not something for depressed people to watch unless they want to feel even worse.

My ranking is the full five onions: Crying or Very sad

Cardcaptor Sakura

It's my first watch and I'm doing the dub, I know the dub has some cut content but I missed it airing on TV by a few years and I weirdly enjoy watching the awkward kid's show dubbing style, it makes me feel like I'm watching Saturday morning cartoons again. Love the characters and the visuals, I can definitely see why this one is a classic

Nearly finished on Suzume. Largely been indifferent on Makoto Shinkai films due to his rehashing of the same themes with his films for years and my impression isn't much different here, though will admit this film feels a bit sloppier with its storytelling compared to his prior films and would probably regard it as Shinkai's weakest film to date. It felt like it was trying to do too much within its two hour runtime from our titular female lead's trip to different locales meeting some of the residents while dealing with the film's supernatural threat to its attempted coming-of-age theme and Shinkai's usual romance feeling shoehorned into the film by its second half. Film is still gorgeous and highly detailed with scenery and character designs, as well as being nicely animated which are expected from Shinkai. But still, the sloppiness of the storytelling was rather noticeable here compared to Your Name and Weathering With You that at least took the time to explore and flesh out their central characters despite having their flaws.

Train to the End of the World. The journey was better than the destination. When a new 7G network is triggered the world is transformed into a barely recognised parody of itself. 4 girls and a dog set out by train from their regional town for Tokyo to find their missing friend. The adventures on the way are bizarre and the the characters are well-crafted enough to make the surreal side stories a treat to watch. Problem is, the side stories are more fun than the central narrative. Director Tsutomu Mizushima gives us another over-the-top comedy, but it can't match Girls und Panzer. Rating; good.

Sound of the Sky. Sort of a K-On! in a military setting, but with more narrative impetus and better looking. Kanata Sorami, a typical-for-the-era moe looking bugler, transfers to a frontier outpost with the threat of war ever present. As the all female garrison goes about their daily duties we learn that the location and the characters have a deeper history and more significance than their seclusion might otherwise suggest. The moe affectations don't always sit well with the serious elements of the underlying war story, but I enjoyed it from start to finish. Rating: the low end of excellent.

My-Otome Zwei and My-Otome 0~S.ifr~. Disposable side story and back story, respectively, to the My-Hime franchise. They don't work as stand alone shows as, even having watched the main 2 series, they're largely incomprehensible, although my memory shortcomings would've contributed. At 4 and 3 episodes they belt along, which inhibits any worthwhile character exploration and exacerbates the confusion. Ratings: not really good and so-so. Only for die-hard fans and completionists.

The Magnificent Kotobuki are a squadron of fighters for hire, flying WW2 era Japanese planes in a recovering and treacherous post-apocalyptic world where they provide security at a price. It may sound dire, but it's another Tsutomu Mizushima comedy. It isn't as funny as some of his other efforts, the CG animation creates an atmosphere of artificiality at times, and the main character isn't all that appealing, but the amazing reproduction of the aircraft along with the thrilling (and wacky) flying sequences more than make up for it. Rating: very good.

Matoi the Sacred Slayer (TV series and one episode OAV). Uninspired magical girl series aimed at a teenage male audience going by the character designs, sexualisation and fight sequences. There's a couple of sweet narrative threads about Matoi's search for her absent mother and her relationship with her hitherto estranged father, but they're overwhelmed by the many other unexceptional elements. In the what-happened-after OAV, with the threat overcome, the under-occupied magical girls make ends meet by becoming pop idols. It's a fun concept that's still executed forgettably. Ratings: so-so (TV series); not really good (OAV).

Skip Beat. This would be a near perfect series, if not for one thing: the final arc of the series ends ½-way through the equivalent arc in the original manga. Kyouko Mogami's life is turned upside down when she overhears her live-in boyfriend, who's a popular idol star, confess to a colleague he only keeps Kyouko around as his housekeeper. Kyouko sets out to reinvent herself, become an actress / idol, and ultimately take revenge on her former boyfriend. What actually happens is Kyouko begins to learn who she really is - much, much more than a doormat - meets some equally interesting people in the entertainment industry and develops a budding relationship with another actor. The series is frequently funny but that never overshadows Kyouko's journey towards self-awareness. The series is a bona fide anime classic and only the truncated ending brings it down. Rating: excellent.

Of the currently streaming shows I'm watching Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf and The Magical Girl and The Evil Lieutenant Used to Be Archenemies. I've also started The Sacred Blacksmith from the collection on my shelves.

A steely-eyed Kyouko Mogami.

At least within the past week and what I'm dabbling into for Summer anime...

Monogatari Series: Off and Monster Season - My understanding is this is meant to focus on side stories involving several of the girls that Araragi helped throughout the Monogatari series. Tsukihi and Nadeko have mainly focused on so far, with Nadeko's arc still continuing as of this point (have yet to see the final part for it). Still retains the quirky style of other entries in the franchise that Shaft's done and offers decent continuation of the mentioned characters, particularly in the case of Nadeko.

Bye, Bye Earth - Has the feel of an old-school fantasy-adventure series with Belle's attempts to find a place of belonging being the only known human among a world of anthropomorphic animals. It's familiar territory, but Belle makes for an interesting character with her struggle and fighting ability. Plus, there's a decent foundation for world building that offers enough to want to keep me engaged to it.

Rainbow - My second attempt at dabbling into the series via Discotek's release of it and having last watched it years ago. Only got through four episodes before I decided I had enough of it. The heavy-handed drama and exaggerated evil acts of the villains make the whole series feel like tragedy porn, and I haven't got the patience to want to go through the whole 26-episode series.

Dangers in my Heart (Season 1) - It's familiar territory for a rom-com with the "will they or won't they" relationship developments between a social outcast and the popular student between Ichikawa and Yamada. But the series makes the effort to flesh out Ichikawa's character with viewing events through his perspective and the gradual developments in his bond with Yamada changing him for the better, making me care for wanting to see where things go with the couple. Have interest in wanting to dabble into the second season down the line to see where things go next with the couple.

Giant Beasts of Ars - Pretty meh on the series. Has a decent foundation for world building as far as the fantasy elements for this go, but it doesn't have much going for it as far as substance goes with its bland storytelling and characters. Up to episode 7 as of the time I post this. Will be able to finish it, but not expecting much to change my thoughts of the series.

This post will bring me up to date.

The Sacred Blacksmith. A fantasy tale about Cecily, a bimbo who overcomes all obstacles with her "do your best" attitude, and Luke, a young blacksmith specialising making magical swords, who's reliably boorish for the entire series. Cecily is the point-of-view character but the story is ultimately about his background and relationship with the people of the town. The choice to make her the PoV is to highlight her fanservice attributes, particularly in the first half of the series, and perhaps because Luke's character is so unpleasant. Things improve as we get to know some of the support characters such as the human form of the sword Aria, and gets reasonably good in the last 3 episodes as we learn about Luke's past. Overall rating: so-so. Watch Scrapped Princess instead.

Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt and Panty & Stocking in Sanitary Box. These have been sitting on my shelves unwatched for years. After being bored out of my brain with Gurren Lagann and appalled by the first episode of Kill la Kill I've forever put off watching it. I think the word meretricious fits director Hiroyuki Imaishi - "alluring by a show of false attractions, showily attractive, tawdry, insincere." I get PSG sets out to be trashy - that's part of its raison d'etre - but get beyond the facade and, as with TTGL, there's little of interest or of substance. I don't mind sex, vomit, toilet and gore jokes but, if they're the point, they need to be reliably funny and / or truly ghastly and / or make some wider point. PSG only manages to do that occasionally. The artwork and animation is simple, if expressionistic, but makes up for it with its liveliness and aptness. And there are parts I liked, such the insert song - an MTV send-up - in episode 10 of the main series and a Sanitary Box skit where circumcised foreskins are baked and turned into junk food. Most of the time, however, I was bored. Ratings: PSG - not really good; Sanitary Box - weak.

I haven't added any new streaming shows to my viewing, but I'm about to start Kyousougiga from my shelves. I have high hopes that it'll be razzle dazzle WITH substance.

L-r: Stocking, Panty and Garterbelt performing the episode 10 insert song, variously known as D City Rock, Anarchy or Help! We are Angels.
At the bottom right their mascot character Chuck (as in vomit) is humping his guitar.

Just rewatched Major 2nd. The first series, Major, is one of my favourite anime. Most sports anime tend to be squarely focused on the sports, usually focusing on one or two tournaments for multiple seasons. I really like Kuroko's Basketball and Haikyu!!, but Major sets itself apart by not just being about baseball. Every season of Major is essentially another chapter in Goro's, the main character's, life. Over the course of 6 seasons Goro grows from a preschooler to a young adult. He faces tragedy and trauma, and meets lots of different people during different parts of his life. Every season typically introduces a whole array of new characters, some will never be mentioned again, some will become part of the recurring cast and some will make short cameos at some point. It makes sense since Goro's environment keeps changing from different schools to even traveling to America. Major isn't about Goro defeating the strongest players or teams, it's about Goro's life journey and that's what makes it so amazing for me. A shame that since Major was never licensed in the west and was fairly niche (in the west), it's probably almost unobtanium at this point.

Major 2nd follows suit, but focuses on Goro's son, Daigo, instead. I mean, for me, I already get huge amount of satisfaction just seeing many of the Major's cast again in the later parts of their life. But Major 2nd once again places the focus on growing as a person instead of just doing hot-blooded baseball. Like with the first series I tend to really vibe with the character writing and style of humor Major 2nd does. First season is elementary school while the 2nd season (of Major 2nd, quite confusing yes) is middle school. The 2nd season probably has my favourite cast out of the whole Major series. Daigo's team is mostly made up of girls in the 2nd season. Girls and guys playing together and against each other is so unique for me in a shounen sports anime and it's so fun seeing the girls kick the boys' ass. It also leads to the anime exploring some of the issues of girls going up against guys in a physical sport and I kinda like the fairly reasonable and "realistic" conclusions that Major 2nd reaches in that.

Major 2nd's 2nd season aired all the way back in 2020 and there have been no news of a 3rd season. I have almost abandoned all hope, but maybe some day we will get a 3rd season.

With Major 2nd I guess rewatching became a theme for me since I started rewatching My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU also known as Oregairu. I was a bit taken aback by Hachiman's misogyny. He just casually calls Yui a slut in like the first or second episode. It's been a long time since I've seen the first season, but I guess I forgot how much of a self-deprecating ass Hachiman can be. However the back and forths between Yukino and Hachiman are still fun and general writing is strong. First season is a bit rough animation wise and character design in the later seasons are far superior. I never understood what the deal is with the names: Yukinoshita Yukino, Yuigahama Yui, Kawasaki Saki etc. Is it just a gimmick or is it just something that only Japanese speakers can understand? Despite the chemistry Hachiman has with Yukino or how angelic Nao Toyama sounds as Yui, the teacher Shizuka is still the best girl.

I'm going to have to watch Major someday. Maybe you've lit a fire under me on that. I recently watched Touch's 3 compilation? alternate retelling? movies, which was weird, because they seemed to have basically the same plot as Mix, which I watched the reboot of. In Mix, the step-brothers aren't twins, but still have the same birthday, the girl in their lives lives with them instead of being the next door childhood friend, they seem to have the same dog, and the guy with the wart on his eyebrow seems to be in both series. And both have a critical tragic death of a character. At any rate, the movies didn't make me want to go watch the original series, or do the work of trying to sort out all the characters, or exactly how these two series are supposed to intertwine. Smile

I just rewatched the first 3 seasons of Haikyuu!! and it hasn't lost a thing. Because it's been awhile since I saw it, having a poor memory was a plus, as even though I knew the outcome of the matches (which was pretty predictable the first time or you have a short series), all the action still seemed fresh and gripping. I so love my volleyboys. Not sure I can face rewatching the 4th and 5th seasons after they ruined the character designs.

Gina Szanboti wrote:

I'm going to have to watch Major someday.

You should! The first season (of the first series) can work quite well as a standalone. I would recommend anyone to give the first season a try though actually finding a way to watch Major might be difficult. The first season has less focus on baseball and is far more focused on Goro's family circumstances and setting up one of the big things that drives his baseball spirit through the whole series. And it has Takehito Koyasu voicing a struggling single dad which I feel like is not a kind of role you can hear him voicing these days.

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