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Befitting the spooky month I've started a rewatch of When They Cry: Higurashi. Though it's been some time since I first watched it I think this'll have some good rewatch value with added context from later arcs.

Also started Noein: To Your Other Self from Stars Align director Kazuki Akane. Interesting premise so far with plenty of good mystery. Was getting big Macross Frontier vibes from the CG backgrounds and it turns out they share the same two CG directors which is pretty cool. Really liking the visuals in this.

And to cap off September I watched Macross Delta the Movie: Passionate Walküre which serves as an interesting mix of a compilation movie and alternative retelling. While it largely keeps the same story many events are blended together with animation also repurposed to fit this new context. The first half is admittedly a bit too fast paced but that's too be expected of a film trying to compress 26 episodes into a two hour movie. The second half however really steps it up with a good amount of divergence that sets it up nicely for the next movie. Definitely one of the more interesting compilation movies I've seen. A greatest hits compilation if you will.

Love Live! Superstar!!9/--Seasonal
When They Cry: Higurashi4/26Rewatch
The Legend of the Galactic Heroes64/110Streaming Backlog
Release the Spyce7/12Streaming Backlog
Yona of the Dawn17/24Physical Backlog
Assassination Classroom5/22Physical Backlog
Your Lie in April5/22Physical Backlog
Hello!! KINMOZA!2/12Physical Backlog
Noein: To Your Other Self4/24Physical Backlog
 
Mieruko-Chan- episode 1- Denial. Interesting start and liked the OP.

Digimon Ghost Game- episode 1 Time stolen.
Really,really loved the first episode, feels refreshing and I’m liking the supernatural,spooky vibe their going with. Frickin fantastic opening too. Gammamon is also adorable 🥰.
 
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations episode 218 Taken.

Fena: Pirate Princess episode 9 Tragic past

Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut episode 1 Treatment.

Mieruko-chan episode 1 Lurker.

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 2nd Cour episode 12 One wish.

31 Days of Halloween 2021! Day III: Demons 2 (Film)

Lupin III: Tokyo Crisis (Special) This was another good special which gave Zenigata a good sidekick/foil for the story. 3.5/5
 
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Yesterday.

My Hero Academia Season 5 (English Dub) Episode 24

EDENS ZERO Episode 25 Retribution. (Complete. A solid Sci-Fi adventure series with a straight forward premise at it's core whilst also sharing many similarities with it's predecessor. For me though this was a major improvement upon what Fairy Tail was when it came to certain character development and the fights between characters which was a definite highlight. Overall thoroughly enjoyable.) 3.5/5

Fena: Pirate Princess Episode 9 Tragic backstory.

Let's Make a Mug Too Episode 1-12 (Complete. A somewhat charming SoL though not the most engaging of series at times. Overall it was okay.) 3/5

Let's Make a Mug Too 2 Episode 1 Another charming season begins.

Restaurant to Another World Season 2 Episode 1 I'm definitely going to enjoy this second helping.

Selection Project Episode 1 Another Idol series, should be fun.

The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated! Episode 9 Splurge.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Episode 43-63

Yuki Yuna is a Hero: The Great Mankai Chapter Episode 1 Looking forward to this new season.
 
Love Live! Superstar!! episode 10 Ad-lib.

The Vampire dies in No Time episode 1 Sand.

31 Days of Halloween 2021! Day IV: Zombi 2 (Film)

Lupin III: The Columbus Files (Special) This story tries something different by incorporating an amnesia subplot for Fujiko but was otherwise a middling special overall. 3/5

Lupin III: Missed by a Dollar (Special) This special had a jazzy feel and was (I think) the final Lupin special to be animated via traditional cel animation before they switched over to digital. 3.5/5
 
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Tokyo Revengers eps 22-24 (complete)
Aftermath past and present.
That's quite the cliffhanger! No season 2 announced yet, hopefully there will be one, but if not I've already made a start on collecting the manga.
Whilst there's always holes in time travel stories and the way Takemichi does it is a bit odd it's something you can overlook as he tries to solve the problem of changing his present. Actually he does it 2 ways, initially by dying and then by shaking the hand of a kid, Naoto, who's a young man in his present (who should be dead himself in the present, but by Takemichi going back to the past changes that by telling him). One thing that's a little harder to overlook is the fact the main cast are Middle Schoolers! Sure kids can find themselves in a gang, but can they end up being the baddest of the bunch, especially when they go up against older gangs? That aside the drama was interesting, if overwrought in places, and the odd humerus moment alleviated it from being too serious. Most of the characters were likeable/hateable enough to not grate. My theory on the big bad that emerged is that he's also a time traveller, and after the last line of the show in which he calls Takemichi his "hero" maybe could even be Naoto who got bored of waiting for Takemichi to solve the problem and decided to give him an extra push in the right direction, even if it did mean having to kill his sister a few times!
The art was OK with plenty of varied character designs, but the animation was a little lacking. Plenty of stills and only mouths moving in talking scenes.
8/10

D_Cide Traumerei the Animation ep 13 (complete)
Combination.
Part of a multimedia project, I think there's a mobile game to go with it, the story is a bit of a Persona knockoff with people entering a dream world where their wishes get personified in monster form. These monsters can gain access to the real world if nothing is done quickly and this is where our heroes enter the fray by battling these monsters in their own hero manifestations. It was mostly told in a monster-of-the-week fashion with an overarching plot mostly in the background. Some where interesting, most were OK and the when the overarching plot came to the fore it was pretty tropey stuff. All the various plot elements had silly sounding English names, for example the heroes were called Knocker Uppers!
The animation and art were all cg which along with the story meant that it all blended together nicely rather than when 2D and cg get put together making it jarring. The character designs were pretty good both civilian and hero if a little stiff when animated, but the monster designs were mainly either bland or weird with the odd good one.
6/10

That's Summer done. I put Peach Boy Riverside and Sonny Boy on hold because they were both confusing messes for different reasons. I may or may not go back to them at some point. So now for Autumn:

takt op.Destiny ep 1
In a post-apocalyptic world music is forbidden as it attracts the alien beings that have invaded. But the fight back is on as people called Conductors can direct living weapons called Musicart to fight the aliens.
One that I had my eye on since I saw the trailer. Certainly very stylish, hopefully the story is good.

Mieruko-chan ep 1
Not quite sure what to make of this yet. Seems like a horror series, but had some comedy moments. Also I saw the manga has the ecchi tag on Bookwalker and I can see why with all the shots focusing on the MCs crotch, which I'm not sure is entirely necessary!

The Heike Story ep 1
Seems like they'll be plenty of political intrigue in this series and some supernatural going ons.
 
takt op.Destiny episode 1 Let the music Play.

The Fruit of Evolution: Before I Knew It, My Life Had It Made episode 1 Do the evolution.

31 Days of Halloween 2021! Day V: Maniac (Film)

Lupin III: Return of Pycal OVA An underwhelming storyline featuring a returning character from the original series. 2.5/5

Lupin III: The Elusiveness of the Fog (Special) A story involving time-travel and another returning villain from the original series, only this time with more personality. The feudal Japan plot wasn’t anything too special but there were some fun moments throughout. 3/5
 
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AMAIM: Warrior At The Borderline: episode 1 Oppression.

The Fruit Of Evolution: Before I Knew It,My Life Had It Made: episode 1 Painful evolution.

Irina The Vampire Cosmonaut: episode 1 Space.

The Vampire Dies In No Time: episode 1- Not sure what to think yet,but the Armadillo is cute.

Boruto Naruto Next Generations: episodes 102-108 Had been on my on-hold list for a while,decided to watch some episodes, this was a very fun,enjoyable bunch.
 
Banished from the Hero's Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside episode 1 New path.

The Heike Story episode 4 Play on.

The World's Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat episode 1 Displaced.

31 Days of Halloween 2021! Day V: The House by the Cemetery (Film)

Lupin III: Part V episodes 1-12
 
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Pride of Orange ep 1
Cute Girls Do Cute Ice Hockey (And Idol, apparently!) Things or CGDCIHAIT for short. Apparently it's from a mobile game, so think Uma Musume, only with regular cute girl designs and Ice Hockey. Seems from the opening we know where the story is going to go, so I don't think it's going to be as good as Uma Musume.
 
Honey and Clover Episodes 1-5 (rewatch, dubbed) - I love this show so much really happy to have it in 1080p on Blu-ray to watch and the dub is pretty good (watched subbed the first time) :)
Chihayafuru Season 2 Episodes 1-9 (dubbed) - not my fave josei or sports series but still a very good show and I'm glad to spend more time with the characters :)
Lupin The Third: The First (dubbed) - Enjoyable caper with the gang, tbh I haven't seen much Lupin stuff outside of The Castle of Cagliostro and I'm not sure I really want to, but this was fun :)
Corpse Bride (rewatch) - Really enjoyed seeing this again now I have the Blu-ray, the score was gorgeous as well as the songs :)
Okko's Inn (dubbed) - Damn, this was really good. I had seen numerous people on here say it was really good and not to assume it would be too kiddy but yeah it was great and the English dub was super well done as well. Little nuances in the animation and writing that I loved :)
Ever After: A Cinderella Story (rewatch) - Enjoyable take on Cinderella with Drew Barrymore as the lead, I saw this quite a bit as a kid was nice to watch it again :)
 
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Hokuto no Ken 2 - Episodes 24 - 27

AMAIM Warrior at the Borderline - Episode 1

There's good pedigree behind, Nobuyoshi Habara also directed Fafner which is another great mecha series and I'm happy it's got 2 cours. This was a solid first episode and I'm keen to watch more.

Twinkle Heart

A simple and fun OVA from Seiji Okuda (Dancouga), it was meant to have more episodes but never got beyond the first episode.

Transformers: The Movie (Blu-ray)

Transformers seem be quite prominent at the moment in many of my anime interactions on social media and I've seen quite a bit about the movie recently as well so felt like a good time to revisit the movie having not seen it for a few years. It's basic stuff and I'm a bit nostalgic for it ( I was 10 when I went to the cinema to see it in 1986) but it still has so many great action scenes and characters that I like along with awesome music and amazing animation that I continue to really enjoy watching the movie.

Girls with Guns said:
I picked up both of these titles on Blu-ray just a few months ago. I've not watched Arcadia of my Youth yet but I am a huge space opera fan so I can't wait to get into it, especially after your review. I have seen the Harlock 3D CGI movie and really enjoyed that. Goshogun I've seen streaming a few years ago and I thought it was really good. I knew it was related to the TV series, but I also knew I wouldn't be interested in the series at all because of the mecha. I liked Time Etranger so much because of the lack of any mecha in it!
Click to expand...

You'll really like Arcadia of my Youth :). I can understand not watching GoShogun because of the mecha but it does help flesh out some of the character motivations in Time Etranger.
 
SAKUGAN episode 1 Spat.

The Aquatope on White Sand episode 14 New tour.

31 Days of Halloween 2021! Day VI: Beyond Re-Animator (Film)

Lupin III: Part V episodes 13-24 (Complete. An energetic series for the character which incorporated a lot of modern technologically-driven ideas into the story alongside some political intrigue and more familiar cat-and-mouse scenarios.) 4/5
 
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Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S (English Dub) Episode 7

Mother of the Goddess' Dormitory (English Dub) Episode 7

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime 2nd Season (English Dub) Episode 42

Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun 2nd Season (English Dub) Episode 40

Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside Episode 1

Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut Episode 1

Komi Can't Communicate Episode 1

Love Live! Superstar!! Episode 10

Mieruko-chan Episode 1

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 2nd Season Episode 12

The Aquatope on White Sand Episode 14

The Fruit of Evolution: Before I Knew It, My Life Had It Made Episode 1

The World's Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat Episode 1

Yu-Gi-Oh! Episode 64-97
 
Sakugan ep 1
Going underground.
Could be interesting. The main characters haven't grabbed me yet.

Platinum End ep 1
A Shinigami Angel gives a young man powers to kill/control people through the use of a Death Note Angel Arrows! LOL I thought this was giving me strong Death Note vibes, turns out the manga is written (and drawn) by the same people. The entry for the manga on MAL is over 1.5 points down on Death Note though, so not holding up much hope for the anime.

Yuki Yuna is a Hero s3 e1
A fun episode which reminded me of the first episode in the first season, but seems the fun times won't last, again.

Taisho Otome Fairy Tale ep 1
Arranged marriage and the age of the girl might make a few queasy, but seems fairly wholesome apart from the misunderstanding gag where the older male MC (17) thinks the 14 year old female means "having sex" by saying "can we sleep together"! Hopefully it steers clear of that sort of humour going forward.
 
Platinum End: episode 1 Revelation.

Sakugan: episode. 1 interesting.

Waccha Primagi!: episode 1 Cute.

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations: episodes 124-133 Absolutely lovin this.
 
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