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Dropout Idol Fruit Tart episode 1 A slightly peculiar name but a decent first episode.

Golden Kamuy 3rd Season episode 26 Fighter.

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle episode 2 Until it sleeps.

31 Days of Halloween! Day XII: The Evil Dead (Film)

Mob Psycho 100 II (Rewatch)
episodes 1-7
 
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The Great Pretender ep13-14 (English dub)

Thus concludes what is currently available. Snow of London was a nice change of pace from the previous two arcs, but I did miss the big splashy set pieces.

On the whole, this has been a very entertaining series so far, but behind its inherent breeziness, there are occasionally flickers of something a bit darker (and possibly more substantial) that might have been rewarding, had they chosen to pursue it.
 
Dropout Idol Fruit Tart ep 1
Seems like it'll be a fun show. Some weird animation bits where the pattern of their tops stayed static as their limbs moved, creating an odd scrolling effect.

That is the Bottleneck ep 1
Strange things are afoot at the local Hot Hot Mart. An odd short episode series.

That's all the first episodes done for the Autumn season shows. A few are on the chopping block, especially the 2 "comedies" that aren't particularly funny.
 
Higurashi: When They Cry Rei (Japanese audio) - OVA Episodes 1-5 (Finished)

Rei was an interesting OVA series. Dice Killing arc helps fill some context with the main series, while the other two episodes were more comedic and fun which is great if you enjoy seeing the characters do random stuff.

No clue what I'll be watching next in my on-disc backlog batch but I'm impressed I was able to get through a 55 episode franchise in about 2 weeks.

Anime SeriesStatus
Higurashi: When They Cry26 episode series, Watched
Higurashi: When They Cry Kai24 episode series, Watched
Higurashi: When They Cry Rei5 episode series, Watched
More Incoming!
 
Black Clover episode 147 When the talk no jutsu breaks down.

Ikebukuro West Gate Park episode 2 Fighting for what’s right.

31 Days of Halloween! Day XIII: Mr. Vampire (Film)

Mob Psycho 100 (Rewatch)
episodes 8-13 & OVA (Complete. Still a strong second season that improved upon the first and was a seasonal highlight at the time.) 4/5
 
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Kakegurui XX episodes 10-12 (End)
A great followup to season 1 with more high stakes games and an expanded cast of fun characters. Really hoping for a third Season now.

As a side note, with his direction on both this series and Dorohedoro I have faith that Yuichiro Hayashi will do a great job on Attack on Titan's final season even as the production falls apart.

When They Cry: Kai episodes 19-24 (End)
A fantastic series to watch during this spooky month. Great suspenseful directing from Chiaki Kon befitting such a complex mystery series. Kenji Kawai's soundtrack is fantastic as expected with big Fate/Stay Night vibes.

Will check the original visual novels sometime as well as Umineko seeing as this season's stealth sequel seems related.
 
October 9th - October 13th.

Kaguya-Sama: Love is War 2nd Season (English Dub) Episode 9

Monster Girl Doctor (English Dub) Episode 9

The Misfit of Demon King Academy (English Dub) Episode 6

Assault Lily: Bouqet Episode 2 Yuri aplenty.

By the Grace of the Gods Episode 2 Leaving home.

Dropout Idol Fruit Tart Episode 1 This seems fun. Odd name though.

Fire Force Season 2 Episode 39 Marionette.

I'm Standing on a Million Lives Episode 2 Job class change.

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? III Episode 2 Ochlocracy.

Is the Order a Rabbit? BLOOM Episode 1 A SoL favourite of mine returns.

Iwakakeru! -Sport Climbing Girls- Episode 2 Tournament.

King's Raid: Successors of the Will Episode 2 Big reveal.

Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club Episode 2

Maesetsu! -Opening Act- Episode 1 Seems fun, but the comedy will be a deciding factor as to whether or not I will continue on watching.

One Room Third Season Episode 2 Caught out.

Rail Romanesque Episode 2 Partnering up.

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle Episode 2

Talentless Nana Episode 2 Time-shift.

The Day I Became a God Episode 1 Pretty funny first ep.

TONIKAWA: Over the Moon For You Episode 2 First night together.

Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina Episode 2 First friend.

Warlords of Sigrdrifa Episode 2 Teamwork wins the day.
 
DOGEZA: I Tried Asking Episode 1 Desperate begging.

Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World Episode 2 Coincedence.

Strike Witches: Road to Berlin Episode 2 Together again.
 
Pandora In The Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn
Fun show bringing an early full body prosthetic world to life. Perhaps the most interesting comparison to Ghost in the Shell is in comparing their protagonists. The Major is cynical and largely pessimistic in her world view and how she sees others. Here Nene is eternally optimistic and sincerely believes world peace is a possible and realistic outcome. It's basically a CGDCT version of GitS but still has plenty of of action and a good varied cast with a slight yuri theme between the main pair. The end of the series is a bit rushed compared to what happens in the manga but still resolves this part if the story.
 
Finally got round to watching Konosuba season 1 episode 1-10 plus the ova over all I enjoyed it
Plus and slowly watching Gundam Reconguista in G again only watched 1-3 so far so some reason I really like it
 
Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle ep 2
Don't let the bed bugs bite.

Ikebukuro West Gate Park ep 2
Malpractice.

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear ep 2
Well this makes no sense after episode 1 or it makes episode 1 make no sense.
Either it's an isekai or a VRMMO, make your mind up!
The only way episode 1 makes sense now, if this is the true start of the story, is if she escapes the isekai, but still has the bear suit in the game. So in other words they just ruined the plot!
Also she's still stupidly OP at level one which is just dull when any action shows up. Although it was funny putting the "goblin" in his place.
On the chopping block.

Noblesse ep 2
Transfer students.

Ninja Collection ep 11
Reflecting.

Golden Kamuy s3 e2
Steamy!
 
Kimisen, Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World episode 2 boundless art.

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear episode 2 Introductions.

Noblesse episode 2 Ramen.

31 Days of Halloween! Day XIV: In the Aftermath (Film)

Modern Magic Made Simple
episodes 1-6
 
When They Cry: Rei episodes 1-5 (End)
Episodes 1 and 5 were pretty pointless but at least episodes 2-4 provided a new arc exploring a new iteration with major changes.
 
Blue Comet SPT Layzner - Episodes 30 - 38 [Final] (Blu-ray)

I know series that get cancelled rarely have satisfactory conclusions due to the forced truncation of the final episodes but Layzner's really is the worst of the bunch, there is a massive unexplained skip to episode 38 and then it doesn't really end the show either.

Blue Comet SPT Layzner - OVA III (Blu-ray)

There's no need to watch the first two OVAs if you've seen the TV series as they are very condensed recaps of the first and second half of the TV series that ignores episode 38. The third OVA does at least provide a reasonable satisfactory ending to the story if not exactly the way Takahashi wanted it.

Circuit Angel

Bari Bari Densetsu


First watches of these OVAs ahead of reviews on the podcast.
 
Yu Yu Hakusho ep17-18 (English dub)

Shirobako ep8-9

Patlabor TV ep1

Been thinking about going back to Patlabor for quite a while now, and I'm glad I did - it's still a really fun show. I've seen a few episodes of this iteration before, but remembered very little about it, beyond the fact that it's lighter in tone than other versions, being almost more like a sitcom.

The main thing of note in this first episode though is that it follows a different timeline to the OVAs, with Noa being introduced as a prospective recruit, before proving her mettle by chasing down a labor thief. It might just be my imagination, but there could be a slight nod to Alice in Wonderland going on here with Noa's constant complaints about being late, amid the distorted sense of scale from things like Alphonse's comically oversized revolver.

Perhaps unsurprisingly with the shift to television, it's not quite as nice looking as the OVAs, but they've achieved a lot in spite the lower budget, with particularly good attention to mechanical detail in the action scenes, and the music is, as always, utterly great.

I also sampled the dub briefly to see what it was like. It's quite acceptable, with most of the cast apparently trying to match the cadence of their Japanese counterparts, but it does seem like they're perhaps trying to hard to match the mouth flaps, as there are some weird pauses in the dialogue and Michael Schwartz lacks Ryunosuke Ohbayashi's air of laconic authority as Goto.
 
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So I fired up HiDive (and a VPN, since pretty much all I seem to be allowed to watch in France is VOTOMS) and actually did some anime watching.

Hakumei & Mikochi: Episodes 1-4 rewatch(?)
I can't remember where I got up to with this before, so I started again. What a lovely little series this is. The kind of relaxing slice-of-life I can really appreciate, reminding people how joyful and comforting the simple pleasures of life and nature can be. Which is not so much the case when it comes to...

The Life of Budori Gusuko or Blue Cat Stares into the Middle Distance for Two Hours II
I'm not exactly sure what the message of this was supposed to be, presumably that humanity can leave nature alone and remain at its uncaring mercy, or we can try and prevent it from killing us but wreck the natural balance in the process so we're screwed either way. In the early stages I thought it was a commentary on industrialisation and thinking we know better than nature despite its cruelty, but given that Budori found his place in the world with people who unnaturally meddle in natural processes and his final choice was to willfully cause global warming, thereby pretty much assuring he will not only perpetuate but probably even worsen the extreme weather cycles he is trying to prevent, the "happy ending" rings pretty hollow. Also what was with the melodrama of them having no firewood? The famine I understand, but they lived right on the edge of a forest. The town's major industry appeared to be s*dding timber and his father was a lumberjack, how the hell did they not have any wood? Could they quite literally not see the forest for the trees?

Plot aside, it did have some very nice visuals, at least as long as they remained 2D. The continued terrible implementaion into 2D anime of poorly integrated 3D models (that look like they've just had standard materials applied instead of, y'know, trying to actually make them fit into the art style at all) makes me want to go to Japan and produce CGI for the anime industry, because I'm fairly confident I could actually do a better job. And I was always glad to see the death/god cat because he actually had an expressive face, unlike Budori's vacant stare.

I've seen a few episodes of this iteration before, but remembered very little about it, beyond the fact that it's lighter in tone than other versions, being almost more like a sitcom.
Much as I do appreciate the obviously higher budgets and better animation quality of the OVAs and movies, for me Patlabor on TV is what really made me fall in love with the characters. They have so much more time over its longer course to interact and give you a better sense of their personalities and relationships (plus the music, as you've already pointed out, is awesome). I couldn't handle the dub. No Ohbayashi? No Toshio Furukawa? But especially no Yoshiko Sakakibara? No deal.
 
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I hear that in France, they call it Les Votomes.

But yeah. If I was really digging into it, Shinobu sounds too young and Ohta sounds too... normal. I know the old Manga UK dub for the films is well regarded, but it's been so long since I've seen it, I really can't remember what that was like now.
 
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