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Ruins Legend Acrobunch - Episodes 15 - 24 [Final]

The last 5 episodes got a bit better but overall Acrobunch just felt clunky and goofy with quite basic animation. There were quite a few nice ideas in it but the execution was weak, it wasn't that I didn't like Acrobunch it was just a shrug of the shoulders ok.

Bubblegum Crisis - Episodes 5 - 8 [Final] (Blu-ray)

I still think Bubblegum Crisis is best observed as a series of interconnected short stories rather than a continuous narrative. Episodes 5 & 6 (directed by Masami Obari) are the standout episodes in what is a very good OVA, the differences each director brings make Bubblegum Crisis a very interesting watch. I still love BGC as much today as when I first watched it in the early 90's.

Weathering With You (Blu-ray)

I often have a lukewarm response to Shinkai films but I really enjoyed Weathering With You. I loved the recreation of everyday Tokyo and how the characters developed and I thought how the fantastical was integrated with the real world was very well done.
 
Urusei Yatsura ep 16
Fight for your right... To be a girl!
God this one was a slog. Full of shouting and dumb slapstick.

Giant Beasts of Ars ep 9
Recovery and new plan.

ONIMAI eps 10 & 11
Valentines and birthday.

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady (aka Yuri Isekai) ep 12 (complete)
Fight for love.
Loved the central relationship and how it ended (especially that Euphy being the more forward one when it came to the kiss!), and Anis' circle of friends were cool, but the plot from about halfway was dumb for me with the whole succession question and the ignorant nobles.
I have no idea why the Prince couldn't accept Anis was fine with him taking the crown, then once that was resolved why didn't the King tell the nobles to do one? Or maybe Anis becomes Queen and smashes the system herself? I mean it's not without precedents in the real world for a Queen to come to power and ignore the calls for her to take a husband (QE I). The cop-out/solution they came up with fit the world, I suppose, but even then when the girl who had done the same thing was laying out the pitfalls on one hand she was relaying her own memories and in the next sentence saying you forget all your memories!? But you just told us some of your memories!!
Art and animation were great.
With all the above I'm torn on the score, but I think the plot just could have been way better!
7/10

The Tale of Outcasts ep 9
Empathy.

Tomo-chan is a Girl ep 12
Facing the truth.
 
The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World (English Dub) Episode 9-10

My Life as Inukai-san's Dog (Uncensored) Episode 12 Guinea pig. (Complete. Fanservicey at times and downright utterly bizarre when it came to certain characters eccentric interactions and behaviour.) 3/5

ONIMAI: I'm Now Your Sister! (Uncensored) Episode 12 Hot spring hijinks. (Complete. Gender-bender anime can be somewhat of a controversial subject depending on how the "body swap" theme is presented - thankfully this doesn't get too risque and is moraly acceptable.) 3/5

Spy Classroom Episode 11

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Scarlet Bond (Film)

The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World Episode 12 (Complete. A fantasy series that isn't as strong as other anime of a similar concept but a least it made for a decent watch on Thursday's.) 3/5

Urusei Yatsura (2022) Episode 23 Rumble in the ring. (Complete... for now. Despite not having seen any of the original Urusei Yatsura - I've so far been pretty entertained by this adaption which I'll continue to watch with it's second season next year.) 3.5/5
 
The Fire Hunter eps 9 & 10 (complete)
Lightning in a bottle and WTF!
Welp, that was a whole bunch of crazy nonsense with very little explanation. Dumb set up from the start with humanity, for some reason, now unable to use fire least they burst into flames! yet conveniently there are now beasts that bleeds stuff that can be used to replace fire. Add onto that a myriad different themes like fantasy with the above beasts and numerous tribes of primitive like people, AND a steam punk city with people with Victorian like attitudes, AND Oriental style religion like Gods, local guardian spirits, and element based clans that seem to be watching over the world AND ALSO ancient (ie modern for us) tech also lying around! It's a confusing mess only added to by stopping at a random point with none of it explained satisfactorily!
The animation was OK, but the art was all over the place with the character designs quite bland, but also having a bit more of an abstract style during action, weird freeze frames in another style and then one location in cg which was used again and again!
5/10
Might go up, if I bother with the 2nd part.

Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro s2 eps 11 & 12 (complete)
Follow your heart and Practice.
Initially a bit samey, but new characters add some different elements, as does the progress with their relationship.
Art and animation were the same as the first season.
8/10
Bit of a drop, maybe because, as well as the sameyness, it wasn't quite as fresh as the first season as the gap between me reading the more recent volumes of the manga were closer to me watching them animated.

NieR: Automata Ver1.1a ep 6
Do Androids Dream of Fallen Comrades?

Kaina of the Great Snow Sea eps 8 & 9
Return and symbols.

Buddy Daddies ep 8
Going home.
 
Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Liesellote Episode 12 A happy ending. (Complete. Standard RPG anime concept with a darker underlying subplot. I did find the interactive commentary and analysis idea to be a interesting twist on the overall story.) 3.5/5

Farming Life in Another World Episode 12 Baby. (Complete. A fine and enjoyable fantasy series with a likeable cast of characters to which I would definitely welcome another season.) 3.5/5

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Episode 12 Suspicions and sacrifice. (Complete... for now. An intriguing storyline so far - I'll be curious to see where and how the next part unfolds.) 3/5
 
Atlantis The Lost Empire (Ok so, not anime but I figured this would be a good thread to post an opinion of the film that is more TLDR rather than my usual reviews)

I decided to rewatch this absolute gem and honestly I would say that it's Disney's best film, sure I like Treasure Planet at it's best more but that film really dips when B.E.N shows up; I am happy to report that there is no B.E.N here and it is a genuinely a fantastic film from start to finish; fantastic animation, a unique art style, a great story with excellent character interactions and it even avoids the typical Disney villan death; in fact I would say this one barely feels like a typical Disney film and it's all the better for it.
 
Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte episode 12 Together. (Complete. An interesting dynamic and the core duos were worth rooting for.) 3.5/5

Farming Life in Another World episode 12 Warm. (Complete. A simple story but a very charming one that I’m glad to have given a watch.) 4/5

The Fruit of Evolution: Before I Knew It, My Life Had It Made Season 2 episode 23 Trouble.

The File of Young Kindaichi episodes 90-113
 
RadFemHedonist said:
Akudama Drive (English dubbed) - This was so utterly engrossing and I'm really glad I watched it, it has a lot of really interesting stuff to say about dystopias and our society as it is now and I got very attached to the characters. The dub was excellent too IMO :)

Now I'm watching Grimoire of Zero :)
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I enjoyed the first half of Akudama Drive so much that when the action dipped, I felt a bit disappointed. But still a great show.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is my favourite. Robin is amazing.
Batman & Harley Quinn is best for laughs.
 
Otomo said:
I enjoyed the first half of Akudama Drive so much that when the action dipped, I felt a bit disappointed. But still a great show.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is my favourite. Robin is amazing.
Batman & Harley Quinn is best for laughs.
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I thought Akudama Drive would be your kind of show! :)

I like Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - you mean the two-part animated film one? Still need to see Batman & Harley Quinn :)
 
Anti Magic Academy Episode 2 (also what I rate it out of 10)

When I mentioned episode 1 I admit, I probably blew a few hinges off and allowed my tone to be akin to a Megumin level explosion; I wasn't exactly in the best of moods that day as far I can remember so I can only apologise for that, however, although my tone is different here, my thoughts are not, this is still a bad show if the first 2 episodes are anything to go by, usually if a show has a bad first episode then they messed up the first impressions, I don't think this one is going to get much better.

I actually tried making it a bit more bearable by watching it on the PS3 with 1.5 speed (this can be done by pressing R2 once during playback), knocking a quarter of pain away from this ordeal of a show; however I think this may well be one that I'm gonna drop as there are just so many better shows for me to watch and if I have to watch it sped up to make it better then it's probably not worth the effort; I guess I probably won't be finishing all the mystery box shows after all.
 
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BOFURI s2 e8
Preliminary.

Malevolent Spirits: Mononogatari ep 11
Getting fitted out.

Urusei Yatsura ep 17
Bra and star.

ONIMAI ep 12 (complete)
Squidgy!
Was a bit sus at the start as Mahiro got to know his new body, but gradually turned into a pretty wholesome CGDCT/SOL, especially after going back to school and making friends. The choice at the end didn't seem to be permanent, yet, but it was quite moving.
The art and animation was very good with quite a bit of small movement going on instead of just mouth flaps. It was subject to some dumb censoring though, extra steam in certain scenes was understandable, but other bits not so much. Apparently done for the more conservative TV stations in Japan, but then didn't give CR an option of the less censored version aired on other stations.
7/10

Revenger ep 9
Extra motivation.

The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten ep 10
Confide in Me.
 
White album 1&2
Always happy to watch drama anime with older characters and with the first show I thought I'd be getting something along the lines of Sing Yesterday For Me but it was more in the vein of School Days minus the ⛵. Started well with some nice 90s aesthetic but the unlikeable protagonist and too many characters and routes from the VN to adapt dipped the quality. The mystery elements in the second half were nothing to write home about either. Still an entertaining watch of this love pentagon? which I'd give 6/10.

Back to high school for the second one but focusing on just three main characters worked much better and the story's perspective shift in the last third I thought was done really well. The love triangle gets 7/10 from me.
 
RadFemHedonist said:
I thought Akudama Drive would be your kind of show! :)

I like Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - you mean the two-part animated film one? Still need to see Batman & Harley Quinn :)
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Yes, the 2 parter. As with Year 1, it was also based on the comic written by Frank Miller. Which I read in the eighties. It was like a dream come true when they animated it.

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S
Episodes 3+4
 
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