It completely ditched (what little) narrative elements the first season had, and just absolutely indulges in ridiculous fan service scenarios (in one episode for example, a neglected cat transforms all the girls in the school into cat girls, while in another a sentient perverted teddy bear spies on & gropes them at any opportunity). Apparently the studio knew they weren't going to be getting a season 3, so they just went absolutely wild with the stuff.
The only reason to watch this would be if you're interested in fan service (which at points borders on outright lewd content, especially that OVA episode), and to give it credit they don't cut corners in the animation/detail paid to it (I think practically every other fan service show I've ever seen pales in comparison to the effort this one puts in to that aspect).
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
One: Finished off the final season of the Man in the High Castle last night. Really gripping show all the way through IMO, though they definitely make a few bold decisions, especially in that final season that I could see being off putting to mainstream audiences (even a bit disappointing to me).
Really disappointed that when the opportunity finally presented itself in the last episode, that the resistance declined to fly the US flag due to equating the history of American racism to Nazism, and wanted to start fresh. There's certainly discussion to be had there, but I'd rather them ultimately decide to see what the US could be, rather than what it was, and fly the flag.
Other general thoughts are that I'm shocked that they suddenly killed off Joe Blake in the first half of season 3 (he was certainly going down a dark path, but was essentially the co-protagonist with Juliana until then, so it came as a surprise. I was for sure he'd return as a variant at some point, but that never materialized).
Also surprised that Childan made it all the way to the end, and even insinuated that things were finally going to go right for him. Definitely a bit self serving, but he ultimately tried so hard just to fit in, so I was kinda happy for him. Totally had him marked to die/be written off during season one, so was surprised he made it to the end.
Really interesting show, & I'd definitely be interested in seeing spinoffs focusing on other parts of the world (which we didn't really see outside of a few Berlin trips), even if they didn't have the unique hook of the dual Imperial Japanese/Nazi Germany rule.
Two: Also binged through all the I am Groot shorts last night, and they were pretty cute with quite a few humorous moments. Some of the shots looked kinda wonky, but there were quite a few beautifully realized moments as well.
My only big gripe is that there weren't more of them! Hopefully it's a huge success & they make more.
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
on Netlflix
-the last 3 episodes of season 10 of Walking Dead
-season 2 of Z Nation
for DVD and/or blu ray
Transformers original series season 3
Glass
Rocky for blu ray
Pacific Rim 2 for DVD
binge watching the Fast and the Furious 5-9 movies this month
Dead or Alive the Movie which has Kevin Nash in it
Saturday was a pretty nostalgic day of TV for me. When I woke up in the morning Cartoon Network was showing a couple episodes of the OG Teen Titans (the two part finale of season 2), so I decided to watch (& realized that this version of Robin is probably my favorite animated iteration of anything "Batman").
That night me & bro stayed up and watched Toonami together for the first time in years (watched Primal, YashaHime, Lupin the 3rd Part 6, and an hour of One Piece). Because of YashaHime & Lupin we joked that if you suddenly transplanted someone from 20 years ago (when both InuYasha & Lupin the 3rd Part 2 were part of the lineup) into the modern day, they'd probably assume both shows had just been completely ongoing this entire time, lol.
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
Midnight Diner season 2 (Netflix) - Continues to be a good watch with some surprisingly emotional episodes. You can definitely tell it had a higher budget compared to season 1 as well.
Cars on the Road (Disney+) - I've always had a bit of a soft spot for the Cars franchise, so I thought this was pretty cute, and elicited a few laughs.
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
House Of The Dragon
I've seen every season of Game of Thrones, so know about the Targaryens, and read Fire and Blood, so I realise this is different from that main series. So far, I think its quite good. Australian actress Milly Alcock (Foxtel's Upright) is excellent.
Midnight Diner season 3 (Netflix) - Pretty much more of the same, but that's no bad thing. There was an episode early on centered around the younger Yakuza guy (can't think of his name off hand) that was absolutely gut wrenching. Loved the final episode where they got everyone back for the New Year celebration though.
High School of the Dead (Blu-Ray) - I'll never get over how genuinely good this show is. Yes, it's filled with OTT ecchi/cheesecake, but it genuinely takes it's concept & world building surprisingly seriously. It's animation is leagues above what I've usually come to expect from "fan service" fare, the action is super fun, & yet it knows when to step up and clue you in on how the world at large (and government/military agencies) is reacting to the breakout. I even warmed to all the American-isms that were almost certainly added to the dub (references to Wal-Mart, the NRA, even Sarah Palin, etc.) which ended up complementing the tone, IMO. I'm stunned it never got a season 2.
Triage X (Blu-Ray) - Based on a manga by the same guy who made HOTD above, I have similar thoughts about this one. The animation is noticeably not quite as good, but here we have another "ecchi" anime that vies to take it's narrative/action elements seriously (this time about a group of hospital workers, & students from an affiliated high school, who moonlight as vigilantes during the night, "operating on the health of the city"), to be more than just T&A. Like the above, it never moved beyond it's first season though, which is a shame (at least I have the manga to fall back on).
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
Got around to rewatching Neon Genesis Evangelion for the first time in about a decade thanks to the recent Blu-Ray release, and while nostalgia probably plays a part, I definitely think it (mostly) still holds up.
I'm going to buck convention though and say I think the first half of the series is probably my favorite part of it. The animation & mech designs are wonderful, and it comes from an era where the anime world carried some sort of respect for military tech (+ cars & guns) & it wears it's appreciation on it's sleeve, which I always thought was cool (my favorite episodes might be the one where they siphoned off electricity from all of Japan to fire that rifle, & Asuka's introduction where they battled on the UN fleet). This is broken up by a surprising amount of light hearted levity that breaks up the drama. Yes, Shinji (& others) clearly has emotional problems, but I think the first half of the series generally does a good job of showing him slightly starting to open up around those in his life.
Of course it takes a much more of a dramatic tone in the latter half, and my favorite elements of the series start taking a back seat. However it does attempt to delve deeper into the convoluted lore which I do enjoy trying to piece together, and heck, maybe the critics are right and it is a bunch of nonsense with no greater purpose, but I still like to think I come away with it each time learning something about it I didn't know before.
Of course we all know they depleted their budget by the last couple of episodes, not being able to end it as intended. That said, while they are my least favorite part of the series I think they do well enough with what they have to work with (I think I would have been more satisfied with it had it confirmed that the "possible reality" short had been confirmed as the canonical ending, given how I feel about the lighter moments).
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
The Boogens
original The Fog
Tom Savini remake of Night of the Living Dead
Poltergeist
Nightmare on Elm Street 1, 2, 3 and 4
Return of the Living Dead
Malignant
The Vigil
then on Tubi
-Evening With Kevin Smith 2
-Lady in White
-Scanners 2 and 3
Been awhile since I posted in here, but a couple of weeks ago I finished up Outlaw Star (Blu-Ray).
I've seen it twice before now, once as a kid on Toonami, then online somewhere over a decade ago. For whatever reason it has never managed to stick in my consciousness like my other big childhood/teenage anime (InuYasha, Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, Tenchi Muyo, etc.), however the one mental note that's stuck with me is that it's "awesome"...
Watching it all these years later on Blu-Ray I can confirm it is indeed awesome & I can't for the life of me understand why it hasn't stuck (with me). I absolutely love the spacefaring adventure vibe, killer music, awesome action, & more. Heck, I even really looked forward to those little lore dumps that kick-started each episode. I think it struggles a bit at the end in giving everyone something climactic to do (Aisha probably gets shafted the hardest with her "quick single clash against rando tornado guy" fight), but I ultimately think it manages to stick the landing.
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
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Topic: What are you watching?
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