It's nice to see that people are starting to come out in support of the 2003 series again - back when Brotherhood was on the way up, it seemed like everyone was rushing to throw it under a bus for daring to go in a different direction.
Rate the last anime you watched out of 10
- Thread starter Aion
- Start date
Buzz201
Mad Scientist
BBK/BRNK (2016)
BBK/BRNK (or Bubuki Buranki for anybody that favours vowels in their words) is a Sanzigen CG action mech anime, created as a celebration of the studio’s 10th anniversary. It follows Azuma Kazuki, as he, his sister Kaoruko, and his father and mother live on a floating island. His mother, Migiwa, has the duty of protecting the Earth from Buranki, giant potentially-biological robots, currently in a dormant state. One day his mother falls ill and in a desperate attempt to relieve her mother of her duties Kaoruko tries to use the robot-controlling abilities she has inherited from her mother; she accidentally triggers a disaster, awaking the Buranki, eight of whom fall to Earth. Her mother is forced to send the rest of the family back down to the surface of the Earth to try and keep them safe. Ten years later Azuma returns to Japan, only to be arrested by the police and promptly broken out by a childhood friend, Kogane, who is trying to introduce him to her group of friends. These new people are carriers of Bukuki, individual components that come together to form Buranki, and they (like the police before them) are after his heart, and they wish to use it to revive the robot his mother sent his family down to Earth on and use the robot to reveal the truth about the events of ten years ago which have been “reinterpreted” by the government to cast Migiwa as a witch. However, before they can get there they’re attacked by a gun-toting bad guy who forms the first of a group of villains who also want the heart for their own nefarious ends.
All of that information was taken from the first episode, which like the rest of the show, seems to be hellbent on cramming as much in as possible, just to get to the next fight scene. Instead of explaining anything in any kind of depth, things are generally explained in single, potentially throwaway, lines or just not explained at all. For example, at one point Azuma and Kogane hug, and it’s treated by the others as an obscenely close interaction, but it’s never explained, nor is it brought up again. There are also several hugely important and emotional sequences that are strangled to death by the show’s refusal to give them any sort of breathing space and running time. Events of enormous emotional importance, that might be given a full episode in any other series, are crammed into about 5 minutes of screen time, and it leads to the characters being underdeveloped and never really moving on from just being the stereotypical character types and arcs you might see in any other series. These hugely emotionally important events rarely get brought up again either, in the show’s insistence to move on the next thing as soon as possible, and it prevents them from having the resonance they likely should, with both the protagonists and the audience.
During the final episode there are also flashbacks which change our previous understanding of events and change our understanding of a lot of the stuff the audience thinks we know. It’s a clever idea and in an emotional sense it works, but it took me going back and checking previous episodes in order to construct a timeline, before it quite clicked with me what had happened. (It seems you really have to be keeping track of everything that’s said in early episodes.) This technique also ties in with attempts by the series’ last couple of episodes to use fresh reveals about characters to cast doubt on their prior villain status. These attempts are surprisingly effective, even if many of them seem to come from nowhere. They also form a departure from previous episodes, which were unfortunately lacking in character development. Whilst I appreciated their existence and effectiveness, especially since they do a fantastic job of wrapping up the stories of some of the most interesting characters, they do also highlight just how lacking previous episodes of the show had been in that area, even when they were seemingly ripe for such scenes.
Most criminally, important events in the show never follow any kind of logical progression, they just occur. It comes across as an endless succession of mostly inexplicable twists, which are just happening so they can have another fight or hit another arbitrary plot beat that probably isn’t relevant to the overall goal of the series. Much of the early half of the season feels like padding for time, especially given one of the twists in the first half of the series renders a plot mechanic, and the several preceding episodes which use it, completely pointless in seconds. This twist occurs so casually that it’s almost insulting to the audience. That plot mechanic, despite not being entirely successfully resolved, is never mentioned again. Whilst some attempt is made to use this plot device as a means of developing characters and adding backstory, for the most part the series struggles to make the best of it and doesn’t really do anything with the backstory it does give us. It presents some interesting backstory about love under false pretences and whether it’s possible to truly love somebody who isn’t who they claimed to be, and also the difficulties of acknowledging any good that came from such a relationship. Unfortunately, the show doesn’t go anywhere or do anything with it. It doesn’t even really tie it into the present day events it’s being interspersed with, and it feels like a really disappointing missed opportunity as a result.
However, the frequent and generally excessive fight scenes are always well directed, animated and choreographed. There isn’t a boring or uninteresting fight scene in the whole show, and it does a great job making use of various weapons from shotguns to enhanced fists to full-scale mechs, and it does also do a great job of moving action around various different locations from sewers to trains to seaside bays and forests. Despite the fact there is an enormous number of them, none of the fight scenes ever feel samey or like a re-hash of a previous fight. Early episodes and their fight scenes also exhibit a sense of playfulness and fun, that I would personally more closely associated with the works of Trigger and director Hiroyuki Imaishi. To me, this was also enhanced by Sanzigen’s fantastic cell-shaded CG. Though I did notice some questionable attempts at replicating human walks and do seem to be more open to use of CG than much of the anime fandom.
The show also does a brilliant job of personifying it’s Bubukis, especially Righty (Oubu’s right hand), through excellent use of physicality, eye moment (all of the Bubukis possess eyes) and occasionally use of sound effects. This helps to reinforce one of the show’s key ideas, the potentially biological nature of the Buranki, and the associated themes it tries to discuss about teamwork and how other beings and objects shouldn’t just be seen as disposable tools to help one achieve one’s aim, but should be considered more thoughtfully. For the most part the show manages to do this discreetly, without being over-the-top or turning it into a monologue at the audience, however some of the references to Azuma being the Oubu group’s heart do start to be a little heavy handed, but it quickly gets that back under control.
Unfortunately, the show also suffers from a weird tonal anomaly around episode 8. Whilst the previous 7 episodes are mostly serious, episode 8 is full of irritating attempts at humour and introduces some questionable new characters, an excessively posey American character, full of dumb moves and ridiculous catchphrase-esque dialogue delivery that quite frankly feels like a poor attempt at aping JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure or Karamatsu. Only JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure knows when to end a joke to avoid it becoming annoying, BBK/BRNK does not. We’re also introduced to a pair of Russian twins that literally lust after their brother… because ‘yay incest!’, I guess? We don’t actually get provided a reason for their love for him other than he’s intelligent, vaguely attractive and not especially pleasant towards other people, which is apparently all it takes. These characters are hugely problematic because they are so out of keeping with the rest of the series, and whilst they clearly are being played as humour, it’s hard to stomach them after 7 almost completely joke-free episodes. Especially when the series goes back to its previous tone not long after.
I don’t want to give off the impression that this is a bad series with little merit, as it generally isn’t. The show gets a lot of stuff right, and clearly illustrates that first-time series director Daizen Komatsuda has talent and the capability to produce great works. But the show is clearly struggling with the script and story he was given to work with, so I’d hate to see anybody write off any of his future works based on it. However, I couldn’t recommend BBK/BRNK as for most people it’s confusing convoluted narrative, poor character development and insistence on cramming every episode well past breaking point will detract from any enjoyment the excellent fight scenes provide. I guess I’d say that whilst I wouldn’t recommend BBK/BRNK and am not especially looking forward to the forthcoming sequel series, subtitled Giants of the Stars, I am excited to see what Daizen Komatsuda does afterwards as his best work is clearly yet to come.
Rating: 6/10.
BBK/BRNK (or Bubuki Buranki for anybody that favours vowels in their words) is a Sanzigen CG action mech anime, created as a celebration of the studio’s 10th anniversary. It follows Azuma Kazuki, as he, his sister Kaoruko, and his father and mother live on a floating island. His mother, Migiwa, has the duty of protecting the Earth from Buranki, giant potentially-biological robots, currently in a dormant state. One day his mother falls ill and in a desperate attempt to relieve her mother of her duties Kaoruko tries to use the robot-controlling abilities she has inherited from her mother; she accidentally triggers a disaster, awaking the Buranki, eight of whom fall to Earth. Her mother is forced to send the rest of the family back down to the surface of the Earth to try and keep them safe. Ten years later Azuma returns to Japan, only to be arrested by the police and promptly broken out by a childhood friend, Kogane, who is trying to introduce him to her group of friends. These new people are carriers of Bukuki, individual components that come together to form Buranki, and they (like the police before them) are after his heart, and they wish to use it to revive the robot his mother sent his family down to Earth on and use the robot to reveal the truth about the events of ten years ago which have been “reinterpreted” by the government to cast Migiwa as a witch. However, before they can get there they’re attacked by a gun-toting bad guy who forms the first of a group of villains who also want the heart for their own nefarious ends.
All of that information was taken from the first episode, which like the rest of the show, seems to be hellbent on cramming as much in as possible, just to get to the next fight scene. Instead of explaining anything in any kind of depth, things are generally explained in single, potentially throwaway, lines or just not explained at all. For example, at one point Azuma and Kogane hug, and it’s treated by the others as an obscenely close interaction, but it’s never explained, nor is it brought up again. There are also several hugely important and emotional sequences that are strangled to death by the show’s refusal to give them any sort of breathing space and running time. Events of enormous emotional importance, that might be given a full episode in any other series, are crammed into about 5 minutes of screen time, and it leads to the characters being underdeveloped and never really moving on from just being the stereotypical character types and arcs you might see in any other series. These hugely emotionally important events rarely get brought up again either, in the show’s insistence to move on the next thing as soon as possible, and it prevents them from having the resonance they likely should, with both the protagonists and the audience.
During the final episode there are also flashbacks which change our previous understanding of events and change our understanding of a lot of the stuff the audience thinks we know. It’s a clever idea and in an emotional sense it works, but it took me going back and checking previous episodes in order to construct a timeline, before it quite clicked with me what had happened. (It seems you really have to be keeping track of everything that’s said in early episodes.) This technique also ties in with attempts by the series’ last couple of episodes to use fresh reveals about characters to cast doubt on their prior villain status. These attempts are surprisingly effective, even if many of them seem to come from nowhere. They also form a departure from previous episodes, which were unfortunately lacking in character development. Whilst I appreciated their existence and effectiveness, especially since they do a fantastic job of wrapping up the stories of some of the most interesting characters, they do also highlight just how lacking previous episodes of the show had been in that area, even when they were seemingly ripe for such scenes.
Most criminally, important events in the show never follow any kind of logical progression, they just occur. It comes across as an endless succession of mostly inexplicable twists, which are just happening so they can have another fight or hit another arbitrary plot beat that probably isn’t relevant to the overall goal of the series. Much of the early half of the season feels like padding for time, especially given one of the twists in the first half of the series renders a plot mechanic, and the several preceding episodes which use it, completely pointless in seconds. This twist occurs so casually that it’s almost insulting to the audience. That plot mechanic, despite not being entirely successfully resolved, is never mentioned again. Whilst some attempt is made to use this plot device as a means of developing characters and adding backstory, for the most part the series struggles to make the best of it and doesn’t really do anything with the backstory it does give us. It presents some interesting backstory about love under false pretences and whether it’s possible to truly love somebody who isn’t who they claimed to be, and also the difficulties of acknowledging any good that came from such a relationship. Unfortunately, the show doesn’t go anywhere or do anything with it. It doesn’t even really tie it into the present day events it’s being interspersed with, and it feels like a really disappointing missed opportunity as a result.
However, the frequent and generally excessive fight scenes are always well directed, animated and choreographed. There isn’t a boring or uninteresting fight scene in the whole show, and it does a great job making use of various weapons from shotguns to enhanced fists to full-scale mechs, and it does also do a great job of moving action around various different locations from sewers to trains to seaside bays and forests. Despite the fact there is an enormous number of them, none of the fight scenes ever feel samey or like a re-hash of a previous fight. Early episodes and their fight scenes also exhibit a sense of playfulness and fun, that I would personally more closely associated with the works of Trigger and director Hiroyuki Imaishi. To me, this was also enhanced by Sanzigen’s fantastic cell-shaded CG. Though I did notice some questionable attempts at replicating human walks and do seem to be more open to use of CG than much of the anime fandom.
The show also does a brilliant job of personifying it’s Bubukis, especially Righty (Oubu’s right hand), through excellent use of physicality, eye moment (all of the Bubukis possess eyes) and occasionally use of sound effects. This helps to reinforce one of the show’s key ideas, the potentially biological nature of the Buranki, and the associated themes it tries to discuss about teamwork and how other beings and objects shouldn’t just be seen as disposable tools to help one achieve one’s aim, but should be considered more thoughtfully. For the most part the show manages to do this discreetly, without being over-the-top or turning it into a monologue at the audience, however some of the references to Azuma being the Oubu group’s heart do start to be a little heavy handed, but it quickly gets that back under control.
Unfortunately, the show also suffers from a weird tonal anomaly around episode 8. Whilst the previous 7 episodes are mostly serious, episode 8 is full of irritating attempts at humour and introduces some questionable new characters, an excessively posey American character, full of dumb moves and ridiculous catchphrase-esque dialogue delivery that quite frankly feels like a poor attempt at aping JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure or Karamatsu. Only JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure knows when to end a joke to avoid it becoming annoying, BBK/BRNK does not. We’re also introduced to a pair of Russian twins that literally lust after their brother… because ‘yay incest!’, I guess? We don’t actually get provided a reason for their love for him other than he’s intelligent, vaguely attractive and not especially pleasant towards other people, which is apparently all it takes. These characters are hugely problematic because they are so out of keeping with the rest of the series, and whilst they clearly are being played as humour, it’s hard to stomach them after 7 almost completely joke-free episodes. Especially when the series goes back to its previous tone not long after.
I don’t want to give off the impression that this is a bad series with little merit, as it generally isn’t. The show gets a lot of stuff right, and clearly illustrates that first-time series director Daizen Komatsuda has talent and the capability to produce great works. But the show is clearly struggling with the script and story he was given to work with, so I’d hate to see anybody write off any of his future works based on it. However, I couldn’t recommend BBK/BRNK as for most people it’s confusing convoluted narrative, poor character development and insistence on cramming every episode well past breaking point will detract from any enjoyment the excellent fight scenes provide. I guess I’d say that whilst I wouldn’t recommend BBK/BRNK and am not especially looking forward to the forthcoming sequel series, subtitled Giants of the Stars, I am excited to see what Daizen Komatsuda does afterwards as his best work is clearly yet to come.
Rating: 6/10.
Lutga
Mad Scientist
Personally I wasn't overly keen on Moribito - I think it's one of those shows that probably at the time looked very technically impressive, but I think it's been bettered since then. I'm a fan of the director's style, but I think it works far better in modern day shows - and outside a few select episodes of Moribito (the gambling episode for example), I think the pace mostly just feels too slow.
If you like that style of show though, I'd definitely recommend the likes of Yona of the Dawn though.
Smeelia
Thousand Master
Oddly enough, I think I generally found the slower paced stuff to be more enjoyable overall. The first half tends to have more episodes where they're not really on an adventure so much as just getting used to the situation and I feel I generally preferred those episodes. I thought the "down time" generally contributed a lot to the characters and helped build them up and get them into position for what they'd be dealing with in the second half of the show. There are still some particularly strong episodes in the second half but I don't think I'd have minded if they just spent the whole show hanging around learning things about each other and their lives.
I did thoroughly enjoy that gambling episode though. Another highlight for me was the episode where they basically sit in a blacksmith's shop the whole time (I particularly liked the way that one came back later but it's a shame they didn't have time to do more with that storyline).
I always find pace one of the more difficult aspects of a show to talk about, since it seems to be highly subjective at times. While I appreciated the quieter moments of the show, I could very much understand some people just wanting them to get on with the main plot.
I do have Yona on my list, hopefully I'll enjoy it when I get around to it.
Lutga
Mad Scientist
Yeah, pace is a hard one to gauge. Usually a much favour faster paced shows (especially as I usually marathon series), but then there are some shows with far slower paces that I watched over a series of weeks and it gives you a real sense of a 'journey' that I really enjoyed, following the characters through their highs and lows. I always give examples like Eureka Seven, Wolf's Rain or Last Exile of this kind of slower pacing done really well - especially in the case of something like Eureka Seven which is 50 eps long.
Strat
Great Teacher
Vwls r vrrtd.
MrLaserSharkKH
Stand User
Horizon on the Middle of Nowhere (2011)
To start here is sort of an overview as you have probably seen written like elsewhere regarding the series: When humans came down from the sky they brought with them the Testament, the guide to the path they must follow if they wish to return to the skies again. Now, in a strange world where only the islands of Japan are inhabitable, the nations of the world vie for power and protect the portions of Japan that they have claimed, each armed with its own ultimate weapon: a Roysmoi Opro, the Armor of Deadly Sins. But there may be a far greater threat to mankind than the Roysomi Opro, for the Testament ends abruptly, and it is now the last year. History as they know it is ending...Horizon on the Middle of Nowhere is a difficult anime to describe. It very much blends Historical Elements, Sci-Fi, Action, Slapstick Comedy and Philosophical Storytelling into one package without ever seeming too random. It's a unique series in regards to it's storytelling as it prefers to build up multiple elements of it's core and pay it all off at once rather than gradually spoonfeeding to you over the course of a series. This isn't a show that pauses to let stragglers catch up with the goings on in the series. Of course this unique aproach to storytelling is a risky proposition and many would label the series with the "bad storytelling" tag if it fails to pull it off, but Horizon' just about manages to pull it off with some interesting complex world building and storytelling. The first few episodes of the series though are a bit of slog to get through, they are very heavy handed as you may expect, slow and inconsistent pacing detracts from the series early on and will put some viewers off. Sunrise Studio 8 who are behind the show even admitted that the early novels were a very tricky proposition to adapt and it shows, you may not even get a full grasp for the series early on without rewatching the first few episodes again or by looking up factsheets/wikis about the series, this is definitely one series that needs more than your three episode rule to fully evaluate. But once the series progresses everything falls into place nicely and really starts to shine.
The characters in the show are a likeable bunch of characters, which is a good things as there are a lot of them. There are many different groups and factions within the series that have an impact on where the series goes. And despite the fact there are lots of characters in the series, each of them are introduced, developed and connected to the viewer without the need to spend much time on them. So it means that even for some of the characters that appear for like three scenes over the entire series, we still know who they are and what purpose the serve to the show whether they are there for the shows more worldbuilding, political, philosophical stuff or more for comedic purposes. All the characters have unique personalities and quirks that help set them apart and make for entertaining interaction with each other as well as create some intriguing discussions.
The animation is of high quality throughout the series, the unique animation and art style set it apart, with great detail within the show from the setting which includes scenes of more Sci-Fi influence along with some of the more traditional Japanese settings blending rather nicely together, this carries over into the design of the characters, attention to detail on every characters design is quite amazing in how unique they are, whether they have a more tradional design or something more extravagant they all manage to suit the characters perosnallites in themselves. It's also very colorful and the production quality from Sunrise Studio 8 is high, with smooth and natural flowing animation and some nicely blended CG, you can tell they put quite a lot of effort into the series.
The series also has a really good soundtrack, with a mix of Techno, Mellow and Epic tracks making up the core. The mixture of the Techno and Orchestral elements make for some good action scene music. The OP didn't really do anything for me and after a few episodes I skipped it, it is one of those songs were your mileage may vary though I will admit, I liked the ED songs as well not so much for the songs themselves but for how they were used, there were two different endings that play in the series which changes depending on the mood and the tone of the episode. The VA was OK, nothing ever really left that much impact one me, however there were a few moments such as when Horizon sings that incantation where you start getting some chills in your body.
Horizon' overall is a series with fundemental flaws but albeit a very entertaining one with some great action scenes, silly comedy and high production values. At the end of the day, in determining whether or not this anime is for you is quite simply this— do you enjoy silly things and are willing to accept something you may not fully understand, if not then look elsewhere. But one thing for certain which no-one can deny is that there really isn't anything quite like Horizon' out there!
7/10
To start here is sort of an overview as you have probably seen written like elsewhere regarding the series: When humans came down from the sky they brought with them the Testament, the guide to the path they must follow if they wish to return to the skies again. Now, in a strange world where only the islands of Japan are inhabitable, the nations of the world vie for power and protect the portions of Japan that they have claimed, each armed with its own ultimate weapon: a Roysmoi Opro, the Armor of Deadly Sins. But there may be a far greater threat to mankind than the Roysomi Opro, for the Testament ends abruptly, and it is now the last year. History as they know it is ending...Horizon on the Middle of Nowhere is a difficult anime to describe. It very much blends Historical Elements, Sci-Fi, Action, Slapstick Comedy and Philosophical Storytelling into one package without ever seeming too random. It's a unique series in regards to it's storytelling as it prefers to build up multiple elements of it's core and pay it all off at once rather than gradually spoonfeeding to you over the course of a series. This isn't a show that pauses to let stragglers catch up with the goings on in the series. Of course this unique aproach to storytelling is a risky proposition and many would label the series with the "bad storytelling" tag if it fails to pull it off, but Horizon' just about manages to pull it off with some interesting complex world building and storytelling. The first few episodes of the series though are a bit of slog to get through, they are very heavy handed as you may expect, slow and inconsistent pacing detracts from the series early on and will put some viewers off. Sunrise Studio 8 who are behind the show even admitted that the early novels were a very tricky proposition to adapt and it shows, you may not even get a full grasp for the series early on without rewatching the first few episodes again or by looking up factsheets/wikis about the series, this is definitely one series that needs more than your three episode rule to fully evaluate. But once the series progresses everything falls into place nicely and really starts to shine.
The characters in the show are a likeable bunch of characters, which is a good things as there are a lot of them. There are many different groups and factions within the series that have an impact on where the series goes. And despite the fact there are lots of characters in the series, each of them are introduced, developed and connected to the viewer without the need to spend much time on them. So it means that even for some of the characters that appear for like three scenes over the entire series, we still know who they are and what purpose the serve to the show whether they are there for the shows more worldbuilding, political, philosophical stuff or more for comedic purposes. All the characters have unique personalities and quirks that help set them apart and make for entertaining interaction with each other as well as create some intriguing discussions.
The animation is of high quality throughout the series, the unique animation and art style set it apart, with great detail within the show from the setting which includes scenes of more Sci-Fi influence along with some of the more traditional Japanese settings blending rather nicely together, this carries over into the design of the characters, attention to detail on every characters design is quite amazing in how unique they are, whether they have a more tradional design or something more extravagant they all manage to suit the characters perosnallites in themselves. It's also very colorful and the production quality from Sunrise Studio 8 is high, with smooth and natural flowing animation and some nicely blended CG, you can tell they put quite a lot of effort into the series.
The series also has a really good soundtrack, with a mix of Techno, Mellow and Epic tracks making up the core. The mixture of the Techno and Orchestral elements make for some good action scene music. The OP didn't really do anything for me and after a few episodes I skipped it, it is one of those songs were your mileage may vary though I will admit, I liked the ED songs as well not so much for the songs themselves but for how they were used, there were two different endings that play in the series which changes depending on the mood and the tone of the episode. The VA was OK, nothing ever really left that much impact one me, however there were a few moments such as when Horizon sings that incantation where you start getting some chills in your body.
Horizon' overall is a series with fundemental flaws but albeit a very entertaining one with some great action scenes, silly comedy and high production values. At the end of the day, in determining whether or not this anime is for you is quite simply this— do you enjoy silly things and are willing to accept something you may not fully understand, if not then look elsewhere. But one thing for certain which no-one can deny is that there really isn't anything quite like Horizon' out there!
7/10
Morbo
Adventurer
After watching Akira at Basingstoke cinema yesterday and in hopes to relight my burn out of anime, tonight's viewing was street fighter 2 the movie.
I picked this after watching @HdE's review today and seemed right to pull me back in as it doesn't need a lot of concentration.
As per his review its pretty much mindless violence for the sake of it. Perfect for my current mood as anything convoluted would have put me off.
Easily a 8/10 for me as it's cheesy with plenty of fights with characters from a childhood game.
I picked this after watching @HdE's review today and seemed right to pull me back in as it doesn't need a lot of concentration.
As per his review its pretty much mindless violence for the sake of it. Perfect for my current mood as anything convoluted would have put me off.
Easily a 8/10 for me as it's cheesy with plenty of fights with characters from a childhood game.
Joe
Thousand Master
The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya - 9/10
I'd already read (and enjoyed) the first few volumes of the manga and was interested in seeing how it would translate to animated form. I was grinning from ear to ear pretty much the whole way through. Because of it's short runtime, it's also got probably the most concentrated amount of moments that made me laugh out loud from any anime I've seen as well. I really wish there were more of it.
I'd already read (and enjoyed) the first few volumes of the manga and was interested in seeing how it would translate to animated form. I was grinning from ear to ear pretty much the whole way through. Because of it's short runtime, it's also got probably the most concentrated amount of moments that made me laugh out loud from any anime I've seen as well. I really wish there were more of it.
ShipTeaser
Dandy Guy, in Space
Totally agree. My only dissapointment in it is Blanka gets way too little screentime. I usually watch this once a year or so with a few beers
Orgun
Dragon Knight
Galactic Drifter Vifam 9/10
Sunrise's most overlooked and underrated series and director IMHO.
Vifam is an almost perfect character driven drama, it doesn't focus on the mecha or the war that creates the backdrop of the series, in fact it cleverly never fully resolves the war, providing only a snapshot that tells the story of the 13 kids that get to the end. I say almost perfect because some of the arcs tend to drag unnecessarily for an episode that just slow the story down and the two recap episodes aren't warranted either, hence a 9 instead of a 10.
The animation is a big ropey in places but the excellent plot, characters and music more than make up for it.
Takeyuki Kanda was a great director and he is very overshadowed by Tomino and Takahashi but he did some awesome series and I rate him right up there as part Sunrise's triumvirate of mecha masters.
Sunrise's most overlooked and underrated series and director IMHO.
Vifam is an almost perfect character driven drama, it doesn't focus on the mecha or the war that creates the backdrop of the series, in fact it cleverly never fully resolves the war, providing only a snapshot that tells the story of the 13 kids that get to the end. I say almost perfect because some of the arcs tend to drag unnecessarily for an episode that just slow the story down and the two recap episodes aren't warranted either, hence a 9 instead of a 10.
The animation is a big ropey in places but the excellent plot, characters and music more than make up for it.
Takeyuki Kanda was a great director and he is very overshadowed by Tomino and Takahashi but he did some awesome series and I rate him right up there as part Sunrise's triumvirate of mecha masters.
Baggie_Saiyan
Thousand Master
Your Lie in April. 8-9/10 can't decide.
Bittersweet ending to an overall solid anime that was actually more times then not pretty hilarious. Course there were a few emotional moments scattered through but yeah really enjoyed this one. Definitely recommend if anyone wants a "cozy" anime.
Bittersweet ending to an overall solid anime that was actually more times then not pretty hilarious. Course there were a few emotional moments scattered through but yeah really enjoyed this one. Definitely recommend if anyone wants a "cozy" anime.
HdE
Comic Book Guy
I'm late seeing this, but cheers for the mention, Morbo!
I reckon that's about as on-point a summary of the film as you could get. It's not actually that great a film, but certainly good fun! And watching it with a six pack to hand is certainly recommended. Heck - I'd be tempted to push the boat out and get a chicken bhuna in as well. Add friends and hey presto - perfect night in!
Incidentally, I'm working on some new Street Fighter content for my channel right now. It's looking likely to appear sooner rather than later at this point.
qaiz
Pokémon Master
Manga Entertainment released Akira in cinemas to a surprising degree of success and figured that a little upcoming project called Ghost in the Shell would replicate that success so when it failed and a little film that they released on VHS called Ninja Scroll instead did amazingly well, their best selling title at the time even, well that put them on a different trajectory that would be felt by us all. It was an edgy time.
I suppose they must have done alright out of Naruto and Bleach, but on some level, I've always felt that Manga never quite recovered after the supply of bubble-era video nasties dried up.
Lutga
Mad Scientist
I think that era is definitely still the era of Manga that remains strongest in people's minds - certainly as a brand 'name' with individual value. When you bought a Manga VHS back in the day, you were buying into the Manga brand and all it represented. Whereas by the era of Naruto, it had flipped and it were the shows themselves that were the real stars.
I do wish we'd got a few more steel-books / BR remasters out of the period when Manga were reissuing their classics. Sure, Akira, GITS, Ninja Scroll and even Street Fighter 2 were the obvious ones - but I'd have loved to have seen Wicked City get the same treatment too. A lot of the old Manga era video nasties were utter garbage *cough Psychic Wars cough*, but a few were notably decent. There were even the ones like RG Veda and the old Arslan OVAs that never made the transition from VHS to DVD.
I do wish we'd got a few more steel-books / BR remasters out of the period when Manga were reissuing their classics. Sure, Akira, GITS, Ninja Scroll and even Street Fighter 2 were the obvious ones - but I'd have loved to have seen Wicked City get the same treatment too. A lot of the old Manga era video nasties were utter garbage *cough Psychic Wars cough*, but a few were notably decent. There were even the ones like RG Veda and the old Arslan OVAs that never made the transition from VHS to DVD.
That's a good point - I wasn't that interested in the new Arslan, but I would certainly buy a DVD/BD of the old oav series.
Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress
It leaves no cliche unturned in terms of its characterisation, but this was a consistently exciting and entertaining action series, much elevated by its wonderfully realised retro visuals. It's a shame that it'll probably never escape the comparisons to Attack on Titan as, while it certainly owes a debt to AoT, it is not the blatant knock-off some would have you believe, and arguably maintains its pacing far better than its illustrious forebear. I don't think I would go as far as to say Kabaneri is the better show, but it's most definitely deserving of your attention.
Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress
It leaves no cliche unturned in terms of its characterisation, but this was a consistently exciting and entertaining action series, much elevated by its wonderfully realised retro visuals. It's a shame that it'll probably never escape the comparisons to Attack on Titan as, while it certainly owes a debt to AoT, it is not the blatant knock-off some would have you believe, and arguably maintains its pacing far better than its illustrious forebear. I don't think I would go as far as to say Kabaneri is the better show, but it's most definitely deserving of your attention.