Screen Anime in Review

NoSurprises

NoSurprises

Hunter
Since there wasn't quite a thread for this, thought I'd use this to keep track of the Screen Anime offerings to see if I was getting value out of my £40 for the year (Note: this doesn't include the discount at the AL store! If you're a frequent buyer from there it's a bit of a no-brainer). I encourage you to add your own experiences though.

Also note that the below is my opinion! Your milage may vary! (I'm not very good at scores, so I'll give a quick gut feel and a Yes/No. I'll probably add if it was available somewhere else when streaming was going on and if I watched it aaaaand I'm just brain dumping at this point...)


May (TLDR; easily worth the price of admission)

Promare - Watched. First time watching on here. I love me some Trigger and I thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle of this. It did feel rather one and done though, I'm not sure I could revisit it like LWA or Kill la Kill.
Available on video: Only in US.
Recommended: Yup.

Penguin Highway - Watched. First time watching on here. Had a really good time with this one too, lots of positives out of this, made me follow Studio Colorido more actively and convinced me to pick up the blu-ray from AL.
Available on video: Yup.
Recommended: Yup.

Wings of Honneamise - Skipped. I like Honneamise, but wasn't really in the mood for it during the month of May, since I already own it on blu-ray I figured I could watch any time, so skipped this one.
Available on video: Yup.
Recommended: Yup.

Patema Inverted - Skipped. Again, Patema is an alright film, it's just not great enough for me to warrant the rewatch during May since I own the blu-ray. I can recommend folks watch it at least once though for some of the clever cinematography.
Available on video: Yup.
Recommended: Yup.

Wolf's Rain - Dropped. I didn't really get on with this one, sorry! Watched 4-5 episodes and it didn't really grab me, seems like a well regarded series though, so probably just me!
Available on video: Yup.
Recommended: Nope.


June (TLDR; weird one, lineup is pretty much stellar, but already owning most of these value not there)

Your Name - Skipped. What can I say, it's Your Name, you've probably already seen it and own a copy of it! Unfortunately I'd watched it recently in the run up to Weathering With You so it was fresh enough in my head that I didn't really want to watch it again so soon.
Available on video: Yup.
Recommended: Yup.

Weathering with You - Skipped. Sorry! Again, JP blu-ray had just come in, so had watched it a little too recently to warrant the re-watch regardless of how good it was.
Available on video: Only in JP.
Recommended: Yup.

Anthem of the Heart - Skipped. I do like Anthem and I own a copy on blu-ray which I've broken out to watch a couple of times, but I wasn't really feeling it this month.
Available on video: Yup.
Recommended: Yup.

Fireworks - Watched. Hadn't seen this before now, I didn't feel like this was good, like, at all. I also struggled to see past the monogatari designs outside of monogatari which probably didn't help.
Available on video: Yup.
Recommended: Nope.

Silver Spoon - Skipped. I was halfway through this in my Crunchyroll queue... Stop stalking me AL... I'm enjoying it for what it is though, don't think it'll convince me to pick up the blu-ray though unless it blows me away later.
Available on video: Yup.
Recommended: Yup.

July (TLDR; I got my monies worth here as hadn't seen a few of these. Also 5 films rather than 4!)

Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution 1 - Watched. What on earth is going on here, the first 20 mins or so were a fun throwback that didn't try too hard to retcon, I had a good time here and would've happily shelled out for just this to watch prior to the original series. But then the mess that comes after is just unforgivable; spliced up original series footage in no sensible order or context, I was confused even though I'd seen the original series, I can't imagine someone who hadn't trying to peace this together. Strongly suggest to stop watching as soon as the aspect ratio changes. Also whoever thought it was a good idea to have a barrage of notes at the bottom of the screen needs a punch...
Available on video: Yup.
Recommended: Kinda. Watch the first 20 mins if you enjoyed the original series or intend to start it.

Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution 2: ANEMONE You Can (Not) Redo - Watched. I actually had a good time here, maybe because I went in with rock bottom expectations after watching the hash of a recap that was high evo 1. I have a feeling this'll be a love it or hate it deal though; I enjoyed how mad it got, the action scenes, the hardcore eva channelling, more Anemone characterisation. I felt the bouncing between CG and 2D was fine too, normally I find that to be a bit jarring in most things, but here it felt fine (I dunno, maybe I'm just used to how prolific CG is now). Film still spat in the face of the established cannon, but it didn't seem as egregious as Pocketful of Rainbows. I still don't know why they bothered with trying to recap some of the series in hi-evo 1, as unless I missed it, other than one scene that acted as a reminder, it didn't really have any bearing on this film at all...
Available on video: Only in US.
Recommended: Yup. The original series and the first 20 mins of high evo 1 are required viewing though.

Mai Mai Miracle - Skipped. I've watched this a couple of times now, inititally when it first popped out of the kickstrarter and again on Blu-ray last year. It's a lovely film, but probably not going to revisit it this month.
Available on video: Yup.
Recommended: Yup.

Ride Your Wave - To Watch.
Available on video: Only in JP.

Lu Over The Wall - To Watch.
Available on video: Yup.

Silver Spoon Pt 2 - Skipped. As with June, already caught this on Crunchyroll recently!
Available on video: Yup.
Recommended: Yup.
 
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I guess Weathering with you is a hit and I'm glad people like it but it only reaffirmed that I hate the romance genre. Your Name was really good, Fireworks... exists. Anthem of the Heart will be my next watch.
 
Vincentdante said:
I guess Weathering with you is a hit and I'm glad people like it but it only reaffirmed that I hate the romance genre. Your Name was really good, Fireworks... exists. Anthem of the Heart will be my next watch.
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Your Name was is too unbelieveable for me and I kinda hate it having too many ideas the body swapping, the investigation and the final act and the ending annoys me a lot. WWY felt like refining the formula focusing on something more realistic and it has a more important core theme regarding the climate and I like the ending easy to choice between them for me.
 
I took it as nature taking back what we did which in a way is climate change we damaged the planet and we have to face the consequences if we don’t prepare.
 
Personally I don't even see it as an allegory for climate change. It looked like spiritual super powers basically that were never really explored and only existed to bring faux drama to the scene.

Your Name was done much better I thought as it had larger implications for everyone involved to take part in rather than the world bending over so two teenagers can get together.
 
Your name explained it’s plot by muh religion which still annoys me now. And the time travel how did Taki never remember somewhere being destroyed by a meteor seems pretty big news to me. It’s cosmic powers are even stupider and has one of the worst endings as why should Care what happens to them if they forgot the whole film.
 
At least it was explained, but lol I guess we will have to agree to disagree. To be fair to Weathering with you everything was very well presented and it was still enjoyable to watch. I just prefer Your Name and thought it did the situation better.
 
thedoctor2016 said:
nature
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thedoctor2016 said:
muh religion
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Both, obviously, should be looked through the lense of Japanese culture and attitudes.
They've suffered many natural and man made disasters and rebuilt many times, so therefore most probably have the attitude of "**** happens" and "we'll just deal with it".
And with Your Name. the religious aspect was all about connecting with someone through ritual much like Shinto and Buddhism is all about connecting with nature. The not remembering the incident part is a bit ropey, maybe could have made the gap a bit wider.
 
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NoSurprises said:
I kinda kid, there's a good theme of personal growth in there too, just be aware that it is a romance overall and there is melodrama involved.
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Thanks for the heads up, I think I will pass then. I guess I can handle romance stuff as long as there is something else to it that isn't soap drama. Just like how Your Name is a romance technically but there is so much else going on in the forefront that I'm fine with it. Romcoms that don't take themselves seriously can be good as well.

Otherwise this is basically how I see them.

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