Rate the last anime you watched out of 10

Going from the last few pages of Dai and Vash bravely battling to keep the thread alive... to ShoBitch 2-3/10. Maybe the less said about it, the better?
When I saw 'ShoBitchu', I knew anime was surely dead. The final nail in the coffin if THAT is deemed worthy of being released outside Japan. No mas~

Noted Vash channeling my '6/10' TTGL/everything approach, minus numbers. Gundamu: read Origins. It's the definitive version, and the first two movies are shoddy recaps/outdated.
PS: You're kindasorta meant to rate what you review. Be brave and pick a number. 'Tis more fun that way.

That aside, whilst still 'ere posting, I figured I'd do my civic duty and revive the thread I once created, before no doubt hibernating once more.
I have long since abandoned the desire to type reviews longer than MAL list tags, not helped by fact I watch as much anime as Ayase these days--a truly sad state of affairs. But I'll try, one last tiem~

DANDADAN (S1)
7-7.5/10​
Dan(dadan) is quite odd, even for something named after myself. It began as no more than a hyper shounen-thing, heavily amplified by Science Saru going all-out on frenetic animation porn. For want of a better way to put it, it made me feel old; as if I required constant stimuli or risk attention drifting, as is the case for brats nowadays. The first ep, amidst its wonderfully detailed-atmospheric backgrounds (such as the tunnel), crammed in introducing the main duo Momo & Okarun bickering at school over if aliens/yokai exist -> a yokai possessing and stealing the lead's junk + alien 'banana' harvesting/rape insync, psychic powers... 'twas all a bit overwhelming, yet free-flowing and visually captivating enough to hold brain. Just a wee bit too shallow to invest into.

However, something strange occured as I continued watching and the quest to recover Okarun's balls/shaft took shape: it stopped coming across like a new age OCD shounen, and more like... a rom-comedy with high octane/batshit action sequences? Or, put another way, it started reminding me of Urusei Yatsura, where some new episodic alien nutter would appear, and chaos would ensue. The last few episodes were most striking in this regard, as there was an utterly random chase sequence (with 'william hell overture' music playing): Momo holding onto a running anatomical doll with her psychic powers, her childhood friend holding onto her, and Okarun in hot pursuit chasing them. No context besides there being an apparently possessed doll, holding one of Okarun's golden testicles.

During the OVA boom era, many an anime was created simply because talented animators wanted to throw shite at the wall, hoping it would stick the landing and sell. And Dan reminds me very much of that era. It has the tropes that define shounen, like Okarun having an inner power he struggles to control and the laws of nakama dictacting that, somehow, enemies become allies, be it via an evil spirit getting chucked into a harmless plushie or a transformed by aliens mantis shrimp sharing a (thankfully comically half-arsed) sob story. Whether because of Science Saru letting loose or the brand of humour, it never feels constrained by its target demographic. Instead, it's a merger of al ideas that don't all fit together neatly, and that is what takes me back to the era OVA of creativity. Before everything was a soulless isekai. And I became dead inside...

...But that's not to say there's no substance whatsoever. The story is admittedly a non-entity: aliens/yokai appear, they want sexual organs/ooo BANANA, the lead loses his. And for some reason his (golden) balls end up corrupting things for others. Where Danda shines is the relationship between an introvert nerd that has comically endearing outbursts, and the more trendy/popular Momo freaking out over a nerd having the same name as an actor she in lust with. Their opposites awkwardly attract development feels natural, amidst the craziness, as the show starts to alternate between latest yokai/alien nonsense -> comedic downtime at school, where both nice moments and Momo suspicious/misunderstanding silliness ensue. The sharp humour excels in these moments, such as when Momo learns about Okarun's missing testicles and near enough pisses herself laughing on the floor. Or when baseball is used for testicle reattachment. Yes, really.

I don't think Dan is on the same level as Chainsaw Man, which is just as chaotic but more plot/action focused, and with a more mature edge. I do however think Dan is entertaining and high budget enough to be worthwhile, IF you can endure wtf happening GIANT ENEMY CRAB and the more juvenile bits. And wait long enough for it to became an outright rom-comedy, as it's somehow better than actual dedicated rom-coms. It does have one poignant show-no-tell part in ep7, where a flashback to a mother/daughter is played out wordlessly, but it's better summarised by its end: it just ends, no resolution/climax, as if ep13 is on the same disc as part of S1. That seemed to fit so much with the nature of the show, I wasn't annoyed, although one does hope Momo isn't left in that... situation for too long. 🐊 In a nutshell, Dandadan is a series solely created to be entertaining, and it certainly never bores.

PS: Ushio's music, blending into the background yet enhancing the more emotional moments, and channeling the series energy during the more frenzied parts, is an additional +1. ​
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And just briefly before go back to sleep:

Golgo 13: The Professional
6.5-7/10​
Watched this a fair few weeks back. 'Tis a hard-boiled, film noir anime time-capsule: back to when pure unadultered manliness, and female sexualisation were normalised. It was, put simply, cool... although with how women treated, they may disagree. I don't think I could enjoy seeing Golgo's permanently constipated, Kiryuu-esque emotionless face for too long, but as a standalone film 'twas enjoyable. What stood out to me more so than anything else was the direction. It had been so long since I'd watched anything by Dezaki that how some parts were angled/presented impressed in how differed from modern shite. I'm now very much looking forward to revisiting Black Jack.

There was a sequence in the middle of the film that blew me away: a driving set-piece that put to shame anything similar have seen in Lupin. Golgo shooting/killing felt he had too much plot armour, where as that sequence - on top of animation/style - felt like he had some vulnerability.

Like all darker anime, Golgo looked its best during night, with daytime/white void bgs letting it down a little. The end fight sequence in the elevator was engaging/coo. The fight after against the random, low budget masked immortal duo, not so much. Not the best ending, though the physics on that suicide/fall impressed me greatly. ​
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I need sleep. Pls don't let the only place people type more than a sentence about anime on AUKN die. Sayonara~​
 
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