Your anime viewing journal

farzam1999 said:
The PQ was trash tho, easily the worst anime I'VE seen on blu-ray. What was up with all that banding? - @Professor Who can maybe give me an explantation lol.
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The JP BD has some banding, as it was baked into the source, but it's at a tolerable level. Never too distracting. However, FUNi's BD (which the UK is a clone of) is atrocious. The settings were bad on the encoding level, I guess. The brightness is higher (thus making banding more visible), and the poor compression algorithm didn't produce any good results.

I've seen it said that the FUNi BD was tampered with, but mp3dom confirmed that FUNi used the same master as everyone else (so it isn't a Re:Zero situation), but like Re:Zero the banding is out of control. It's in practically every frame.

If I had to guess, it was the settings the compressionist chose, But, I have no idea. It's so whack that it defies all logic.

Now, for my viewing journal.
On Monday I saw:
Kaguya-sama Love is War Episodes 1-3
The Rising of the Shield Hero Episodes 1 and 2
Food/Stay Night (Today's Menu for the Emiya Family) Episode 1
That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime Episode 1
 
A Certain Magical Index III (English Dub) Episode 17

The Rising of the Shield Hero (English Dub) Episode 7
More merchanting. Exterminating some extremely invasive weeds and a dip in the local Hot Springs.

Kemurikusa Episode 7
After finally getting a moment's rest and recovery is short lived by a new threat.

Meiji Tokyo Renka Episode 7
The power of love will always triumph.

My Roommate is a Cat Episode 7
Let's bring along kids to someone's house who just happens to suffer from (S.A.D)..... Yeah, Great Idea... NOT.

Virtual-san Looking Episode 7
New opening, but same randomness.
 
My Roommate is a Cat episode 7 Dealing with kids can be difficult.

The Rising of the Shield Hero episode 7 Hot springs and pouty jealousy.

Kino’s Journey episodes 8-13 (Complete. An atmospheric and intriguing episodic series which manage to be simple but also engaging in its execution. I’m curious as to how the newer iteration handles the source material, I notice a lack of scanlines too, which I had gotten used to.) 4/5
 
There are 3 Kino ova's that are all worth watching too. Might have to dig out the straw hat for those though.

2017 Kino wasnt nearly as good imo, but still enjoyable enough, with 2 or 3 excellent episodes.
 
Aye I’ve heard that the 2017 one is more hand-holding when it comes to the philosophical themes and isn’t as atmospheric but I’ll still check it out.

As for the OVAs I’ll see if I can course a ship to find them on the seven seas.
 
The way the newer Kino handled the colosseum story really soured me on it and I don't think I ever watched much beyond that. Apparently it's a more faithful adaptation than what we had in the original anime, but the way it dealt with the characters in that one just put me right off. I probably will finish it at some point, but it's definitely got a different feel to it, compared with the first series.
 
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Penguin Highway (Japanese audio) - Film

I had the opportunity to check out Penguin Highway at my local cinema who are screening films from this year's Japan Foundation Touring Programme (it was also the same festival and cinema where I was able to watch A Silent Voice years prior).

Penguin Highway is a really enjoyable and interesting film. Now despite the cute penguins, this is not a family friendly film so I can see why Anime Limited may not consider a nationwide release for it, but honestly I actually liked the jokes regarding those select scenes especially Aoyama himself. The animation is great and the ending song by Utada Hikaru is neat (the song 'Good Night' is available on her album Hatsukoi for those interested).

I would definitely give it another watch so I will pre-order Anime Limited's release when that happens.
 
Girly Air Force episode 7 Predictable but enjoyable enough.

The Promised Neverland episode 7 Phil strikes again.

Outlaw: Black Dagger (Film) Another less noteworthy entry, and stands alongside VIP 2 as the weakest in the series. The visceral ending is definitely a series highlight though. 3/5

Outlaw: Kill! (film) A decent ending to the franchise. That’s the best way to describe these films really, they’re decent but aren’t great. They have some good acting and directing, but never registered above “decent” for me overall. 3.5/5

Massacre Gun (Film) Stylish if a bit formulaic in places, an overall solid Yakuza flick with some nice jazzy motifs. Really working through these Arrow Japanese cinema releases. 3.5/5
 
A Sister's All You Need episodes 9-12 (End) - A surprisingly good comedy series that pokes fun at the little sister trope. A decent cast of characters and a good balance between comedy and drama. 8/10

BanG Dream Season 2 episode 8

The Quintessential Quintuplets episode 7

Laid-Back Camp episodes 9-12 (End) - This time I watched the BD version through the high seas. I noticed many of the animation errors (especially episode 8) had been fixed for the BD version which is nice to see. Can't wait for this series to get an English release! 10/10 as usual.

Laid-Back Camp Specials episode 3 (End) - 8/10

Time to read volume 5!
 
Tsurune: Kazemai High School Archery Club (English Dub) Episode 13 (Complete)
A decent sports anime centred on archery with some beautiful KyoAni animation, and as expected very competitive and tense tournaments. I had hoped that they would have given this a few more episodes though preferably (one for each character), as it would have allowed for the characters psyche and backgrounds to be explored. 3.5/5

Dimension High School Episode 7

Girly Air Force Episode 7
A Mock Battle with a predictable outcome.

The Promised Neverland Episode 7
Choose your fate...
1. Escape and try to survive.
2. Become the next Mom/Sister.
3. Die and become food.
So much for a happy future for the children then. More amazing facial expressions... but that ending tho.

The Quintessential Quintuplets Episode 7
 
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