Rate (Out of 10) or Review the Last Anime You Watched~

[Vynith]

Psycho Pass.

Wow that was a philosophical anime.

 

[zrdb]

That's exactly why I had to watch the rest of it after I saw the Providence at the theater when it came out 2 or 3 years ago. Not to mention it has a lot of totally kick ass action scenes!

 

[Dai]

Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc
This movie confused me. Not with its story, which is pretty simple. Not with its imagery, since anyone who has been watching anime for a while probably won't blink at the sight of a guy made of chainsaws riding a shark. No, what confused me is the level of care and artistry that has been lavished upon what feels like a fairly typical battle anime plotline merged with the excesses of a blood-and-boobs exploitation OVA from the 90s. Rather like the first season of One Punch Man, I was left wondering, "Why was this the story that made these animators bring their A-game?"

To be fair, there's nothing wrong with what's here. The first 40 minutes offer a solid build-up and look like they could present an interesting new angle for the series. I'm not sure the eventual twist can even be called that though, since it's so heavily telegraphed that you would need to have your eyes closed not to see it coming. What follows the twist is almost an hour of some the best animated action scenes I've ever seen. They're so impressive, in fact, that they almost distract from the fact that there is almost zero real plot going on behind them. The narrative arc of that hour of action is just that the villain wants to kill the protagonist for some reason that's never explained. Presumably this will be explained in a later arc (or maybe it was explained in season 1 and I forgot?), but within the confines of this movie specifically the stakes end up feeling like little more than a monster-of-the-week fight. Now, this is a shonen battle anime, so I shouldn't be too harsh on its emphasis on anime battling, but the production team raises the critical bar for themselves by trying to pass the movie off as something more prestige. There's some pathos in the denouement that elevates it, but not to the level that the lavish direction and Kensuke Ushio's patented sad piano are aiming for.

So what we're left with is a 6/10 story that's enhanced by 9/10 direction and music, and 10/10 animation. For me, it ends up at a 7/10.

 

[Aion (Retired)]

Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc
This movie confused me. "Why was this the story that made these animators bring their A-game?"

Disclaimer: I ain't seen the movie (yet), despite my namesake Dan having posted a review on the other page. Do have some insight via the manga, though.

Volume 6, which the film adapts, was probably the best single volume in the entire series. And whilst it was bombastic enough for the big screen, with shark riding and general bomb chaos, with an emotive end twist, I can't imagine beyond the audiovisual spectacle it'd be ideal stretched into a movie given the aforementioned telegraphing and general 1vol>movie pacing differences. Likely better as a fast/intense page flicker than flick. But too short be a TV arc, hence this situation.

The series goes utterly batshit, starting the next arc but more so after . Less interested in telling a story than insanity where characters are killed off willy-nilly, and the good parts like Power's driving skills are more isolated. Much of the remainder is like v6, but amped up to 1000%. After v9, it jumps the shark rather than continuing to ride it. So in that sense, giving one of the best remaining more... coherent bits the highest quality makes sense. If not to you as the viewer, to meeeee as a manga reader that dropped the series after v11.

 

[awadama]

ONIMAI: I'm Now Your Sister!

One of the true masterpieces of our time. "Absolute cinema".

9/10

 

[Aion (Retired)]

Frieren - Season 2: 7/10
​

Rarely does a series dance to two distinct, opposing beats; one of which I adore, the other... not so much.

There is the bittersweet regret that comes with living a near immortal life, as an autistic elf--one that managed to spend 10yrs saving the world alongside a hero that fell for her, all the while remaining none the wiser 'till he was near dead and - worse yet - bald. By traveling with her student Fern, both grow via almost slice of life, School Rumble-stylin' (minus the spazzy energy) half eps. Ignoring flashbacks that are on the nose in order to shove Frieren's original journey in alongside her new one, there is a restrained subtlety that limits inner thoughts to deadpan comedic skits.
...Then, there is the flashy shounen fanfare. 'Tis as if Howo the Wisewolf were to sully herself by giving running battle commentary, as a side gig to acquiring apples. Mercifully, Frieren has so much budget that the action is oft in fluid motion (ie mostly evading talk no justu)... whilst overlaid with intrusive thoughts. This noticeable downgrade in writing quality can be compartmentalised by those long since mind-broken by anime. And nothing up to yet - bar the accursed chunin exam redux arc - has been drawn out forever more. Yet.

Preamble aside, this brings me to S2 of Autistic Waifu Chronicles. Only 10 eps in contrast to S1's 28, with a focus on what I wanted to see: half ep traveling. The journey is very much more important than the destination, 'ere. That said, there were less memorable moments given S1 already covered most of Frieren's Himmel/corrupt priest flashbacks of note. And besides Stark/Fern continuing to edge ever closer via a rather charming date ep where Stark realised a bullet point guide is autopilot robotic, there wasn't anything on par with S1 with the main trio, either. A big loss from S1 is the priest character whose name eludes me, given Frieren is emotionally stunted and the other two are still young--his more mature mediator role was straight man comedy gold in S1. There were still nice moments, such as a trip to an onsen and 100yr dwarf bridge saga coming to a close. However, the plot needs to advance to unlock more meaningful character moments. Frieren did find Himmel's memoirs, and her unaware smile highlighted her growth, but that's all he/she wrote.

In truth, I came away a bit disappointed. The presentation whilst still mostly excellent didn't hit the consistent highs expected of 10 eps. Much of the budget, or at least sakuga/animation ooo went into ep8's shounen battle, where Stark channeled Wolverine to somehow not be killed in a 2v1 (he was joined by a mage that can create Sephiroth wings/fly--I fear 'magic' is going the way of ninjustu) battle against a 4-armed/sword snake demon. Even the excellent music, despite a brand new OST, had 'Is this the Braveheart OST?' S1 familiarity; only the aforementioned snake demon and its stop-start flutey tunes standing out.
Additionally, one half ep rather exposed the gulf in depth between the slice of life journeying and demon warzu aspects: apparently, there was some never before mentioned hero, stronger than even Himmel, that took on all seven sages of destruction + some also never before mentioned overseer solo; halting the demon advance in the process. That this lore was tossed in as it was - in the latest flashback cameo of Himmel - did little to sway my feelings that the medieval world and its history are not nearly as fleshed out as its cast. At times, it makes me think of 1D isekai's and their demon kings. 'Tis displeasing.

But I digress: apart from the brief return to shounen battle moed (Frieren casually stayed out of battle... which kindasorta kills any tension; at least regarding Fern), S2 was the non-spazzy autistic comfort food I crave. Well, besides the one gag where Frieren turned into a crybaby, disturbing me greatly. And like in S1, I very much enjoyed the action vs episodic monsters that neither talk nor evoke the need for inner obvious waffling to be swiftly dealt with. 'Tis pleasing.

I am a lil' worried going forward given next up is going to be an arc dealing with the strongest and/or goldest out of the 7 sages of destruction, in what looks like an Elden Ring area. Doubtless, the series' struggle to marry the idea of a 'journey beyond journey's end' with shounen demon showdowns to the death will continue, whilst Frieren remains able to casually one-hit laser any and every demon (very much like an Elden Ring mage summoned to help with bosses).

Despite the blend of impactful regret and more tedious (though brief) demon battling, I shall stick with it for the introspective characterisation that does not make me feel quite as old as to recall my misspent teenage Naru(tarded) days. At least Frieren goes feral when it comes to killing demons, as opposed to them becoming nakama. That's a +1. ​

Chainsaw Man – Reze: 8/10
​

Jump-riding the shark and not (quite yet) falling off into the terribad anime abyss highlights Chainsaw Man's special brand of insanity... and how anime fans are indeed unblinking confronted with such absurdity~

That aside, finally got around to watching and, to my utter horror, discovered I was one-third incorrect in my earlier post: the film adapts half of v5 AND all of v6 into 90ish minutes. What this means is that name thief Dan being bored by the first half and Dai pondering why so much was lavished on a fight with a new 'monster-of-the-week' character in the other both have equal merit. DxD. The v5 setup was heavily extended, in some instances turning a few panels/pages into minutes. And the v6 fight was - 'bomb time' slow-mo & Superman smashing thru the actual Mappa building aside - as is on page; constantly leaving me pondering if fingers are being tossed like grenades (or if imitating FMA's Roy snapping his fingers), whilst explosions are used for propulsion through the firework-laden sky.

'Tis the fact the plot could be summarised in a half-arsed sentence that is the issue: Denji meets a new girl, they talk about mice and things get explosive (rather amusingly, only after Reze feels rejected for another girl, does she... react. Makima's timing is similarly... reactive.) In fairness though, story is rarely a consideration for this series: up to this movie-point, it is as an exasperated Denji comically details on top of a gaudy CG car (when the TV ED3 aka anthem of chainsaw plays): every girl he knows has just so happened to try to kill him. On the down-low, this is a series dedicated to Denji's woes with nutty women; an actiony Aku Hana, if you will. Crazy attracts crazier, clearly. A few Aki moments that hint at later happenings aside, it was a self-contained romp.

Usually, dragging out half a volume until action would be dreadfully dull. The tingymajig is, Chainsaw Man's author does not let scenes breathe. He is chaos incarnate, and his idea of a love story is a psychotic one, ran along a chainsaw's edge, with no time to process as tongues are bitten off and bombs genocide the Japanese populace. His helter skelter pacing left me only recalling v6, as that's where his work shined. The movie focuses on the other end of that stick by balancing the two uneven segments into half build-up, half pay-off. Most notably improved is the school segment--the pool scene in the manga being 3-4 pages, whilst in the anime Ushio's 'in the pool' track is over 4mins (plus a shorter 'in the sea' remix, later, when it comes full circle~). Through a combination of the inhibition free liberation added by the (oddly nippleless) visual flourishes and Ushio's sentimental piano keys enriching it, it becomes something more; perhaps Denji's one true moment of happiness.

Whilst typing Ushio, thus far his body of work broadly speaking consists of two types: atmospheric romantic ambience and... Devilman/Chainsaw (PS: Reze includes a remixed driving track / from Devilman). Here he frequently blends these two distinct styles into individual tracks via a sort of musical mix alchemy, such as the fireworks scene. The highlight however is immediately after the pool part, when a Se7en style serial killer (re)appears, complete with an appropriately unsettling tune befitting the mood 180. Even knowing Reze isn't quite as into Denji as she lays on (less in an ANIME way, more 'there's no way a woman would be this touchy, so fast, or find Denji THAT funny'), I found myself immersed. The colour changes (blue to red), lighting in the dark and tension all hit harder than b&w manga. It adds so much to the suspense, seeing and hearing her 'terror' as she runs to the roof, girlishly. But more interestingly, the anime not only extends this sequence with animation but intersperses what was originally an image of Denji fantasising about his 'harem' during this chase; totally oblivious. The 'two storms' track plays perfectly insync, nailing it. The... No Country For Old Men intro switcharoo was of course expected but, nonetheless, I could not help but be pulled in by the audiovisual splendor.

With regards to the film's presentation, I noted Other Dan was displeased with the art change from S1 to Reze. Naturally, I find myself agreeing with Dan, for it was one of my main reservations going in, too. Y'see, S1 slightly changed the manga's art style, which has what I can best describe as a cartoonish derp to it. The TV series had a polished, more cinematic look (ironically in contrast to the movie) and definitely looked better. But the difference didn't bother me as much as expected; partly because of my goldfish memory only registering anime music but also due to 'they just animated the manga' undersells the work done. Even small things like watching Makima walking away, with Denji briefly stun-locked after the trip to the movies is more evocative, now. And THAT rat-infested alleyway leading to the cafe at the start/end getting more than a few panels as Reze's route, charted from the phone booth to cafe in rich animated detail, adds a thematic weight linking the two events far more memorably than with a couple of throwaway panels. Plus, they didn't merely add animation: the from behind, gruesome bathroom introduction to Mr. Se7en differed from the manga, where it was side-on, and there was no victim.

My original score was in-line with Dai's triple grading. Whilst the last half mixed it up as best it could, with Aki's samurai cameo and surely the most self-aware moment ever shared between creator and viewer when Denji opts to ride a shark like a horse amidst a... typhoon, the longer an action sequence extends - no matter how well executed, or if sharks are rode - the less impact it holds. As a result, my favourite scenes were at the school long before, and the ending.
Having sat on it for as long as laziness to type allowed, the alleyway sequence swayed meee. A lot of the thanks go to the manga, as nothing was changed - including how little was said and how much was said by those few words ("I too prefer the country mouse"~) - but, as was the case with the film as a whole, the presentation/music elevated it. Seeing ****** appear like Eu Sunt Dracul, with many-a-rat, was impressive. But what moved meeee was one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've heard, with nods to the classics. It went through the three stages of anime grief: beginning hopeful, then ominous longer key strokes... before becoming almost peaceful.

TLTR: A rare anime +1 where it improved the manga (the first half), at the cost of slowing things down and perhaps making some parts, such as the cinema date, a touch too long in the tooth. Ushio's music added emotional gravitas to what could otherwise be described as shallow. And mirroring the path to the alleyway, connecting the start to end, is a wonderful addition. Overall, this film is something akin to if Shinkai were to try his hand at a doomed, psychotic romance (wish he would rather than milking Your Name forever more tbh...) between half man, half chainsaw Denji and his bombergirl waifu.

They do say there's a fine line between genius and stupidity, and Chainsaw Man's author certainly lives on that line. There will be emotional moments that hit home harder than one-shot Reze, and even crazier action, but this will remain the most consistent high point given it's a standalone movie with a clearly defined start, middle & end. The same cannot be said of the rest. ​