Netflix - Arcane - Season 2

Anime Review + Netflix

I had high hopes for season 2 of Arcane... Season 1 was brilliant, an emotional roller coaster, great animation, and a good story to carry it all. How could season 2 be any less?

Well... it turned out it could be. Worse, that is.

Appleseed

Anime Review

With four movies and a thirteen episode television series many of us must have caught at least a glimpse of Appleseed. Or at leats of one of it's main characters: Briareos. Aka bunny-ears... Just kidding 😇

Netflix - Arcane

Anime Review

It’s based on a computer game, but it has (fortunately) little to do with the game (besides borrowing characters and background).

Synopsis: two sisters survive in a world with lots of contrast between the rich and the poor. When a heist fails, the oldest sister goes to jail, and the youngest one goes… crazy.

Netflix - Akira

Anime Review

I think my first encounter with anime was back in '95. Yeah, I'm getting old 😔

(I know some people will hate me for my take on this classic, but it's like Jack Burton always says: "Give me your best shot, pal: I can take it.")

Wallpaper - Pinky & The Brain

Wallpaper

Megalomania isn't a problem... Well, it is (Musk, Putin, Trump, and you can come up with a few names of your own) but at least it isn't a problem in cartoons... Meet Pinky & The Brain!

(Click image to enlarge)

Countdown to 2023... Love Hina (1998)

Countdown + Anime Review

Anime can be great. I love anime, though I'm not a hardcore fan. I did notice there's a lot of variation in anime, and though some of the topics have become more mature over time, anime as a whole genre seems to be moving back to its roots, ie. lately anime seems to be targeting a younger audience again.

Netflix - Pacific Rim - The Black

Anime Review

Remember both Pacific Rim movies? Well, here's an anime series set in the same universe, which isn't that bad. The animation is okay, the monsters are fine... though not exceptional. The story is okay, mostly.

If there's anything bad about this one, it's the ease with which the main characters accept they are responsible for murdering a village full of friends and family, that just doesn't sit well with me. Otherwise, it's fine...

Hyperpolice (1997)

Anime Review

Yeah, I know. Lot's of old anime lately.

Hyperpolice. Starts of as a comedy, but does introduce some more moral points of discussion during the series. Only 25 episodes, and not very well known... in the west.

It's... Complicated - Netflix - Fate / Evangelion / Sword Art Online - viewing order

Anime Review

Some anime series can get rather complex... And some of those series made it to NetFlix.

I haven't seen the following (yet) but I thought it best to start with figuring out the proper viewing order. So, as far as I can tell...

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Movie Review

Is there anything better than the original (?) animated Disney movie? Perhaps not... Still, Tim Burton did a pretty good job back in 2010, in spite of it all. Yeah, 3D was 'the' thing, and that was the one thing I hated about the movie.

Photon (1997)

Anime Review

You'd be tempted to think I watch loads of anime... but I don't. These are old reviews I wrote over the years, most for Dapper. I promised to post something every Monday, and I have been a bit busy, work wise, so here's another review of something old.

Photon then... Six episodes... Drawing style is somewhat childish, plot is somewhat illogical, purpose is somewhat undefined, it's all somewhat... vague.

Ranma 1/2 (199x)

Anime Review

Revisiting the past... ever heard of Ranma 1/2? Boy meets girl, which appears to be just another fiancée. Credits to daddy. Girl meets boy. But boy is, sometimes, a girl.

Don't go and look for anything politically correct, or any LGBTQ+ sensitivity. This dates back to the early nineties, and is slapstick anime comedy, aimed at younger teens.

Skyland (2005)

Anime Review

Ten years ago or so Skyland was showing on Dutch television. At the time I downloaded a few episodes, and noticed that the broadcasted version was post-processed to look more 'dirty'. Which made it look a lot better, to be honest. 

Story wise both versions are the same and okay.

Galactik Football (2006)

Anime Review

I'm not into soccer much, but the anime series Galactic Football wasn't too bad. Though it wasn't too good either, to be honest 😅 Most interesting was perhaps the drawing style, CGI 'cell shaded' characters on more detailed backgrounds.

Netflix - A Certain Magical Index / A Certain Scientific Railgun

Anime Review

Combine 'slice of life' with superpowers, heroic fights, add a dip of magic, and give it a little girl x girl x boy twist (though very, very minor). Fairly regular stuff, although not too bad. What made it stand out and interesting is the 'sisters' arc, especially in the spin-off, which is a lot darker than the rest.

Netflix - Ghost in the Shell SAC2045

Anime Review

Painful, skip these.

The live move with Scarlett Johansson was better, the two older anime movies and the original Stand Alone Complex TV series were yet another step (or two) above that. (In other words, those were pretty damn good.)

I cannot comment on the comics as I’ve never read those, but this 'new' series was inconsistent and contained more plot holes than Gouda cheese. Horrid stuff.

Put your favorites in a box, Mister Geek

Column

No matter how you categorize series, movies, books, you will always find examples that do not fit in. That refuse to respect certain borders. That are... different.

Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 (1998)

Anime Review

Remember the old Bubblegum Crisis? Well, here's the remake (which itself is also twenty years old), brought into a slightly newer era (we want rock, we want roll).

Words Worth

Anime Review

Words Worth will have the old poet crying in his grave. Anyway, no idea what the title has to do with this short series. Not a clue either what the authors of the (hentai) anime series were trying to accomplish (besides making money).

Juuni Kokki

Anime Review

Not well known, and certainly harder to get over here (that is: Europe) it tells the tale of a young girl who found herself in another more magical realm.

Well, nothing spectacular thus far, we've seen that before. And yet...