...So, I'm back with all the New-To-Me stuff I've watched since the last time I posted, which was WAY too long ago, LOL.
Massive wall-of-text incoming...
Akira movie (sub):
...Huh. Well, I have to admit, for a full
*40 minutes* 
, I was seriously wondering what all the hype was about.
I mean, I know that back in the day this sort of thing was revolutionary for Western audiences, and the impressive art does (rather amazingly) still hold its own even now, 30 years on. However, some of the violence and the one scene of detailed upper female nudity is rather gratuitous; it gets pretty darn
weird at times
; the pacing is far too loose and disjointed (this film really should have had a good editor...); and it is extremely difficult to connect to either the unlikable, shallow, inconsistent characters or the barely-even-there plot. Now, that said, once it finally hit that 40-or-so-min. mark, the pacing and plot (what there is of it, at any rate
) did snap into place, the visual quality shot through the roof, and it finally managed to keep me fully engaged from there until a few mins. before the end... at which unfortunate point the pacing anticlimactically became disjointed once more (and some of what the heck even happened in the end is unclear, to boot)... which led me back to wondering what all the hype was about. Again.
Basically, if you want to watch a visually impressive anime with some occasional violence, there are now plenty of others that contain not only that but *also* some actual depth of character and plot, so other than for historical value, I would not recommend this. *shrug*
Blast Of Tempest, a.k.a.
Zetsuen no Tempest, ep.'s 16-24 (sub, complete):
Finally finished the
ZnT anime-- which I had put on hold partway through as it was airing a few years ago after being somewhat annoyed by its 'adaptation' of the {excellent!} source material-- just to finally get it out of the on-hold section of my list... and, well... my opinion didn't change, LOL.
I mean, it's not like its adaptation was outright
horrible or anything (like some others I could name *cough*
ERASED*cough*, etc.
), it's just that it added/changed scenes unnecessarily (usually just to create a lot of extra fanservice not originally present, too
), had some serious pacing problems at times, somehow turned one of the most intense scenes in the manga--
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Yashiro's pretty darn spectacular
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: breakdown, which I had justifiably expected to be made even better with the addition of voice acting-- into... something really *not* intense at all (?!)
, and even cut out the entire epilogue!
To sum it up, this was a mediocre adaptation of an excellent manga, so please just go read the manga instead if you're thinking of watching this, or read it *also* if you already *have* seen this, LOL.
Blood+ ep.'s 1-50 (sub, complete):
First things first: Yes, this has 50 episodes, however it actually doesn't feel too long at all-- in fact, the pacing feels just right. It is very well-directed and animated for its time; uses "show, don't tell" brilliantly (until verbal explanations are actually needed, of course); its 'vampires' are quite different from their usual portrayal nowadays (their true forms are essentially terrifying gargoyles!); and the atmosphere, characters, relationships, action, and plot are all very engaging. (Plus, the secondary MC plays a cello, and you can't beat that, right?
) As for content, well, plenty of the item in the title is spilled, LOL
, but to my pleasant surprise it was never gratuitous; and while the whole forced-human-experimentation angle is certainly pretty dang disturbing in both idea and scope, the only thing that's actually *shown* being 'done' to any of the subjects onscreen is merely a completely-innocuous-looking
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: blood transfusion, or having them take 'medicine' tablets, etc.... so, essentially, there's really only *one* big singular content issue I need to mention-- namely, that at one point in the show a young teen boy is rather shockingly
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: raped offscreen by a female villain-- and purposefully right in front of his incapacitated-yet-fully-conscious sibling, no less.
Nothing is directly shown onscreen, thankfully
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: (the female character slips off her dress but nothing at all is shown, and the scene cuts away before she disrobes the boy; he *is* shown sans clothing later, but from the side only, so nothing critical is seen there either), but it is still a plot point, so I did have to mention it.
That aside, however, it's an excellent anime; indeed, even with that one plot point's existence,
Blood+ is so good overall that I wouldn't even hesitate to recommend it regardless. (Oh, and be sure to watch through the credits of the final ep. for a very important epilogue scene!
)
Blood Blockade Battlefront (Kekkai Sensen): Ousama no Restaurant no Ousama OVA (sub):
This was hilarious.
Saying anything more would spoil it, so if you watched the first series, just know that I heartily recommend watching this too.
Boogiepop wa Warawanai: Boogiepop Phantom (2000) ep.'s 1-12 (sub, complete):
This is an interesting nonlinear psychological series with bits of the supernatural aptly woven directly into its madness. (I can't really describe it much beyond that, because it would either be spoilery or completely unnecessary. Just trust me that it's quite well-done.
) The themes/violence can get a tad disturbing on occasion (though, technically, the visuals still never really got as graphic as even something like, say,
Baccano!; so YMMV), but otherwise there were no real glaring content issues. One thing to note in terms of comprehension is that is series is (apparently) actually supposed to be a sequel to the first arc of the original
Boogiepop novels (which are not only now licensed, but which the new revival anime is also supposedly going to cover), so many of the former characters and events that were in that novel and which end up being referenced in this particular anime are given only the barest of glossing over via tiny flashbacks (as you're expected to have already read, and thus known, about said characters/events)... however, if this is indeed your first introduction to the franchise, even those hints are enough to form just enough of a frame of reference when needed, so don't worry about the order you read/watch this in.
Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! OVA (sub):
This was kind-of billed as the conclusion of the series (well, for this group of characters, at least; there is also a spinoff series with new characters that just aired this year and which I'll be getting around to soon
), so-- rather surprisingly-- a good chunk of this was actually recap, but at least it was cleverly done. As expected, the characters make fun of it
, and the insert songs that play over the scenes are hilarious.
In the end, the few new scenes don't provide any extra closure that the main series' S2 ending didn't already provide, but it was an amusing enough extra, so whatever.
Humanity Has Declined ep.'s 1-12 (sub, complete):
This is quite a unique series. It has some purposefully bizarre/surreal elements and contrasts, contains hilarious (and occasionally slightly disturbing, as well, LOL, yet somehow not in a bad way?
) dark and meta humor, is very surprisingly feel-good at times, and features a wonderfully cynical and deceptively clever female MC.
Now, since each of the series' stories are told out of chronological order with each other, it does have a slightly abrupt ending (as the last story is actually mostly a prequel)-- although there is definitely some emotional resolution on the MC's part-- and the very last line does feel a bit like "Okay, go read the novels now!", LOL; however, the aforementioned emotional resolution was pretty satisfying on its own, and it was a fun watch overall. TL;DR: I never realized how much I'd enjoy watching a cheerful nonlinear post-apocalyptic black comedy until I'd seen this, so yeah, it was good.
Iblard Jikan OVA:
This has no story and no (discernible) dialogue (though a few characters do wind their way through it), but what it does do is showcase a wonderfully fantastical world that looks like it's drawn in (astonishingly detailed) pencil. Indeed, every scene is (quite literally) a work of art. Plus, it starts off very calming and almost mundane (if one can call this level of art such a thing), then gets increasingly fascinating as the sci-fi/fantasy nature of the world is revealed, then back to calming for a nice full-circle finish. Definitely worth a watch once.
Interstella5555: The 5tory Of The 5ecret 5tar 5ystem movie (sub):
...Yes, this is essentially just one long music video for Daft Punk's entire
Discovery album, but it's a good one, even if it is pretty cheesy at times, LOL.
It's worth a watch once for sure, at least.
Kakurenbo short movie (sub):
This was a 25-min. mild horror film featuring a hide-and-seek game gone very wrong, LOL. It's not *scary,* per se, and is easily predictable until one nicely chilling little twist at the end, but it was definitely a decent watch nonetheless.
Katanagatari ep.'s 1-12 (sub, complete):
OH. MY. GOODNESS. This was excellent!!
Now, before anything else, I do have to preface this with the fact that one of the story's major themes is 'failure'-- pretty much *all* of the characters' goals (and many of their lives) are either completely destroyed, dismissed, or otherwise made moot-- and it was probably a good thing that I had known about that ahead of time thanks to a review, because it put me in the right mindset for some of the events. That said, on to why it was so good: The wonderfully stylized art (and the animation of it) is beautiful; the 2 main characters (who are actually both in their 20's, for once!) are really likeable (if in rather
unique ways
, and with very grey morality {...along with all of the other characters-- none of them, the MC's included, are 'good'; they're just interesting}), including the female MC being quite intelligent and working her way up to her current position via that intelligence, and the slow and subtly-building character development for both of the MC's over the course of the entire show; the writing is entertaining, toys *wickedly* with your expectations (+ including some bitter, piercing irony) at just the right times (hint: watch all of the next-episode previews, because it's literally the only glimpse you'll even get of one of the events, LOL), and is somewhat self-aware (for actual plot reasons, no less!) in very incisive ways; and the whole show was both engaging enough and had perfect enough pacing that I literally didn't even notice at first that all the episodes were double-length! Plus, as for those themes I mentioned earlier, not only is the consistent, overall theme of failure quite unique, but the meta commentary on apathy towards violence and even 'history' itself was thought-provoking as well. Indeed, this series left me thinking about it for a long, long time after I had finished watching it, and I absolutely recommend it!
Little Nemo movie (dub):
Meh. The 'plot' is barely there, and it's very much a "kids' movie" (well, minus the cigar-smoking {...what??}
), but the art and animation is quite nice for its time, and it's at least cleverly directed to be dreamlike overall (it's whimsical, illogical, changes settings and scenes with no warning or apparent reason, and features both fear and fun in alternating bouts). Not something I'd be likely to watch again though.
Lu Over The Wall movie (sub):
OH MY GOSH-- this is basically what
Ponyo would have been
had it actually been any good! Seriously, though,
Lu Over The Wall is awesome-- it's wonderfully imaginative (including a *VERY* unique take on mermaids--
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: vampiristic, plus with magical dancing powers! ), adorable, hilarious at just the right points, has musician protagonists
, has a (mostly
) coherent story (which is also mercifully devoid of any heavy-handed evolution/environmental weirdness, unlike that *other* movie mentioned earlier...
), and is beautifully presented.
Now, all that said, this movie isn't *perfect*-- for example, the last segment of the story feels a bit rushed, and the open ending is rather annoying
(to me, at least
). Overall, though, it was heartwarming and just plain fantastic-- so if you haven't seen it yet, then I heartily recommend that you do so right now!
Mizu no Kotoba OVA (sub):
This is a prior work from the creator of
The Time Of Eve-- actually, it seems rather like a prototype for it, featuring a bar and little glimpses of the customers' lives, though with a different emphasis and an extra twist-- and it was a neat and imaginative little episode. Good watch.
Mouryou no Hako ep.'s 1-13 (sub, complete) +
"The Case Files Of Atsuko Chuzenji" special (sub):
This is ostensibly a murder mystery (with a few sci-fi elements and a whole lot of supernatural Japanese folklore mixed in), but it's one of the most surreal mysteries I've seen to date (and that's actually a good thing here). First, everything is so well-crafted, from the animation to the characters' body language to (particularly) the directing-- indeed, the visuals utilize techniques often reserved only for live-action camerawork, yet which also use the freedom of the animated medium to full effect at the same time, blurring the line between what's 'real' and what's not, often in a very creepy way (which works perfectly, as several of the main characters have mental health issues {or, in the case of the villain, are just outright insane}
). Also, continuing with the discussion of the surreal elements, the first few episodes don't make much sense at first-- for example, it took me until episode 5 to figure out that certain scenes were
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: actually just depictions of parts of some in-universe novels written by the characters (...though, in my defense,
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: when one of the characters is reading them, he mentally projects himself and those he knows into the *novel*-characters' roles... which was a very deliberate choice on the part of this show's creators, as it both brilliantly misdirects the viewer initially plus
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: reveals the mental instability of said character, all at the same time)-- however, things that initially seem to have no connection nor relevance to the main plot at hand masterfully weave together as it goes. (Also, once you start noticing the square/rectangle/box imagery cleverly incorporated everywhere, it gets even creepier, because of... reasons.
) And I wasn't originally expecting its supernatural folklore element (nor the eventual sci-fi element) to be quite so big a plot point, but in the show's internal logic it actually does make quite a bit of sense. As for the 15-or-so-minute special, it features mostly all-new scenes plus some extended ones from the show that flesh out a few more little details in the plot (and one character as well), so it is a good idea to watch that as well if you choose to watch the main series.
Natsume's Book Of Friends, a.k.a.
Natsume Yuujinchou, S5 OVA's 1-2 (sub, complete) + S6 OVA's 1-2 (sub, complete):
Man, what more can I even say about the
Natsume... series at this point? These are so beautiful in such a heart-squeezing way (especially the latter two)... so good! <3
Pale Cocoon OVA (sub):
Like
Mizu no Kotoba, this is another prior work from the creator of
The Time Of Eve. I won't spoil the story of this one, but suffice it to say that it's sci-fi, the directing is superb, and overall it's great.
Paranoia Agent, a.k.a.
Mousou Dairinin, ep.'s 1-13 (sub, complete):
This is somewhat fascinating because all of the characters are mentally unstable at best (and genuinely mentally ill at worst), so they're all unreliable narrators (and that includes the *visuals* as well as their thoughts/actions/words). However, due to some of the content (a couple of instances of detailed upper female nudity; prostitution; gleeful suicide; etc.), the somewhat-unsatisfying ending, and it definitely not being as good as Satoshi Kon's other works, I'm not sure I'd really recommend it (at least over his other stuff, at any rate). *shrug*
Road To You: Kimi e to Tsuzuku Michi promotional short ONA (sub):
Hmm... well, it's basically a cute little snapshot of the lives of three groups (two romantic and one familial), and there are some very pretty visuals at the end; it's a decent enough 3-or-so minutes of time, but it's quite forgettable after that. (That said, it was actually meant to be a commercial for car tires, LOL, so it having any interest at *all* is a miracle in the first place, LOL.
)
Senyuu. S1-S2 (ep.'s 1-26) shorts (sub, complete):
Eh... IMO this wasn't anywhere near as funny as some of its reviews made it sound; but, then again, that could just be me, as I usually much prefer sitcoms and/or sarcastic/satirical dialogue and wit over outright silliness and slapstick (the latter of which being what
Senyuu. consists of-- plus some 4th-wall-breaking, parody, and visual gags, as well). It tries to have a plot at the end, too, but that didn't work well.
I mean, the show did get a few snorts from me here and there, but only a scant couple of real laughs (although I did enjoy it poking fun at the monologuing/name-shouting tropes on occasion), and the ending annoyed me with how it... well, *didn't* end (at all!) and was so blatantly a "...now go read the manga to finish it, kids!" sort of deal (which I usually would've done anyway, but seriously just couldn't care enough to bother with doing this time), so yeah... this gets a solid "Meh..." from me. IMO, don't bother with this one. *shrug*
Space Battleship Yamato 2199 episodes 1-5 (sub, DROPPED):
Okay... I know this was originally released as a movie series, which was then divided up into episodes later on; but if it takes until well more than halfway through the first episode to become even *remotely* interesting
despite that entire screentime consisting of one big space battle, you know you've got some major pacing problems.
Actually, the entire first movie has some wonky pacing and editing issues in general; there's a really inordinate amount of technobabble (and *far* more explaining and then doubling down and *confirming* those explanations than
actually doing any of the explained actions! 
); certain plot points happened way too conveniently for me to suspend my disbelief
; and I couldn't even manage to connect with any of the characters... so by ep. 5 I just gave up. _ _ Oh well.
UN-GO ep.'s 1-11 (sub, complete) + the
UN-GO: Inga-ron prequel movie (sub):
This is a really underrated show. I suppose I can see why it might have disappointed those who were expecting an actual detective story (LOL), or at least a somewhat normal mystery series-- as there's actually not a lot of 'detecting' in this (and when the MC's silent mental deductions are finally revealed, it's usually only after already being 'confirmed' by his inhuman partner's powers anyway, except in the final arc), and the cases' 'mysteries' are really only 'standard' at best, most of the time-- however, I had fortunately gone into this with no preconceptions/expectations about it whatsoever, and was thus actually pleasantly surprised when it turned out to really just be more of a supernatural-flavored dystopian sci-fi with some interesting character dynamics than anything else. Plus, there was just something about the way everything throughout all of the cases-- namely: The realization of what kind of society the characters in this show were now living in; the MC's natures, backstories, and relationships/interactions with each other; the way the system was so incredibly (and purposefully!) truth-suppressant and deceitful, and yet the MC always tried (not always successfully, though, but I liked that, since it was more realistic that way) to secretly leave one small bright spot of truth behind him even in the most unfair of situations (for a reason finally explained right at the end)-- there was just something in the way all of that was so naturally revealed and built up to its big overarching conclusion, as well as just something about the two MC's themselves, that kept me engaged from start to finish (especially in the series' latter half). Indeed, it's quite clear that the show's 'mystery' elements were merely just the means to the end of its real storytelling, and IMO that worked just fine. ...Now, all that said, I am definitely NOT claiming that this is a masterpiece or anything like that, LOL
-- *however,* it's better than it has often been given credit for, and I enjoyed it.
And, finally, the
Vampire Hunter D (2000): Bloodlust movie (sub):
Hmm... well, the art is certainly quite beautiful; and while the plot is extremely typical and predictable, it was well-done enough that it somehow was not boring; so it was worth a watch once I guess.
I mean, this had obviously been slowly turning into a complete trainwreck for a number of episodes now, but unfortunately it has somehow turned out even worse than projected. 
I mean, sure, fine, Kaisar probably just saved them from Bahamut or whatever (despite that actually being the king's fault in the first place 
)
