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Millennium Actress (Eleven Arts English dubbed, REWATCH) - Watched this again again with a friend at their house haha, such an amazing movie and both dubs are great! :)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 1 (REWATCH) - I'm rewatching Buffy with two friends (separately) who haven't seen it before, I have now completed Season 1 with one of those two friends (me and that friend have also watched the first ep of Season 2 together) and the show holds up really really well, this show spoiled me with well written witty dialogue that few other series can match and the characterisation, plotting and horror are all on point too, the series also has pretty impressive special effects. I'm so looking forward to Season 2 onward (and I get to rewatch everything twice, double yay!) :p

Magic Knight Rayearth TV Season 2 (English dubbed) - An epic and beautiful conclusion to one of the best isekai out there from before the genre became mostly otaku wish-fulfilment. I liked this even more than the first season (great dub too though thankfully has the original Japanese OP and ED songs with both language options as the dubbed songs were rather pants IMO), and am now watching the 3-Episode OVA Series which is one of those alternate retelling kinda dealies :)
 
Finished Black Lagoon, The Second Barrage and Roberta’s Blood Trail. Gave all of them a 7 on MAL, with the latter being a pretty strong 7.

Still, as far as I’m concerned, this anime lives and dies on the strength of its small arcs, and all the better ones came near the end. I enjoyed the Tokyo arc quite a bit and the OVAs were the best version of what the anime was trying to be.

Just… I don’t buy Rock’s interactions with the powers that be in Roanapur. There’s very little reason for him to be treated with so much respect outside of the fact that he’s the protagonist.

I also had trouble reconciling the tone at times, because it really reminded me of Hellsing here and there, only this is supposed to be about hardcore crime syndicates as opposed to immortal psychos.

I would be interested in seeing more of Rock and Revy but with the manga being unfinished and seemingly nowhere near, I’m stopping here for now.

Next up is Fire Force.
 
Anime

Delicious in Dungeon Episodes 1 and 2.

Unlike most anime series I’ve decided that I’m actually gonna watch this one weekly because it’s entertaining enough when I only have to sit through 25 or so minutes per session but I might not have the patience to binge it all at the end, so far it’s pretty good, it’s fairly standard anime fare but still entertaining enough to possibly work as a weekly watch.

Summer Ghost

Of all the anime films I’ve seen, this one is one of the shorter ones and that’s the best thing I can say about it, otherwise it’s a dull anime with the same presentation as too many others, nope, not a fan, I’m far from against mature stories but if it’s presented in similar ways to way too many other contemporary anime films then it’s just exhausting to watch.

Non anime

Spider Man Across the Spider Verse

Another film from the guy who does a concept I despise better than it has any right to be; I really hate multiverses and I can’t stand how Spiderverse’s animation style has been liberally overused by other studios saying “I can do Spiderverse too” without understanding why it actually works, yet here is a film that takes the concept of the multiverse and makes a pretty decent story out of it, even if I can’t help but cringe at the characters deeming canon as a real thing rather than a plot point, also I’m gonna say it, Spiderverse’s animation style has only really worked for Spiderverse so far, it blends in with the comic book culture that defines Spider Man incredibly well and it’s more fun than vanilla Spider Man and all the imitators are either ruined by it, made worse by it or manage to be good in spite of it.
Overall the film is pretty good but certainly not award worthy material, though its competitors haven’t been on top of their game so maybe it is???

The Bad Guys a Very Bad Holiday

Is very Bad

I’m actually very late listing this as I watched this dump of a Christmas special not long after it came out but by thunder I’m not watching it again so I’ll mention it now and never have to watch this gutter trash again.
I wasn’t a fan of the film but it is a masterpiece compared to this, the animation is awful, I’m not a fan of titles pretending to be Spiderverse, but I’d have that style any day of the week over this clearly rushed animation that is far far below the standard expected of Dreamworks’s films and even shorts, the characters are at least as annoying as they are in the movie and it doesn’t even try to have a worthwhile story, the film had a go at it and it turned out badly but here it’s just a stupid excuse to get the characters I don’t care about in some Christmas shenanigans that I’ve mostly forgotten about by now, I’ll say that I wouldn’t mind it as much if I actually liked the characters but I don’t and Diane, the only character I liked enough from the film, is completely absent here, this makes the film look like Shrek 2 by comparison and to make a very mid film look like one of my favourite films of all time is a special achievement in bad.
 
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Meiji Gekken -1874- ep1: Another I'm not sure about; it's a competent enough period story about a former samurai getting mixed up in trouble again even though he's taken up an ordinary job and is still trying to tie up a personal loose end after the Boshin war. But something about it feels off; I don't understand who this is aimed at, how realistic it intends to be (not very, so far) or what point it's trying to make, so I don't feel that I have a good grip on where the show is heading. Historical settings always score more points with me and the superpowered murder squad which appeared briefly in the first episode seemed fun, so I might give it another episode to see whether it can win me over. The art style is quite nice even if it feels as though it's made with the western audience in mind (it's jarring to have completely westernised credits on a historical show!)

R
 
I don't think I'm suffering from Anime burnout.. more Seasonal Burnout

Bang Dream Season 1 - Rewatch (Complete)
Bang Dream Season 2 - Rewatch Episodes 1 + 2
 
7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! Episode 2

Banished from the Hero's Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside Season 2 Episode 2

Fluffy Paradise Episode 3
 
Banished From the Hero's Party I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside Season 2 episode 2 Hot spring harem.

One Piece episode 1090 Robotic grasp.

The Fire Hunter 2nd Season episode 11 Creations.

Kyousougiga episodes 6-10 (Complete. An anime that was eccentric and also visually interesting.) 3.5/5

La corda d'oro: primo passo episodes 1-13
 
With my mother:
The Apothecary Diaries Ep. 14.
Made in Abyss S1 Ep. 13 (end).
Chaika: Coffin Princess Eps 1-3

My own viewing:
A Sign of Affection Ep. 2. I'm going to really like this one.
7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! Eps 1-2. Looks to be a decent villainess redemption and romance anime, so I'm in.
The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash Ep. 1. This actually looks like it could be a decent series.
Tales of Wedding Rings Ep. 2. What's not to like about a fun ecchi harem anime to fill in beteen the other shows this season?!
Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss But I'm Not the Demon Lord Ep. 1. Neat twist in the first Episode!
 
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Rui said:
Meiji Gekken -1874- ep1: Another I'm not sure about; it's a competent enough period story about a former samurai getting mixed up in trouble again even though he's taken up an ordinary job and is still trying to tie up a personal loose end after the Boshin war. But something about it feels off; I don't understand who this is aimed at, how realistic it intends to be (not very, so far) or what point it's trying to make, so I don't feel that I have a good grip on where the show is heading. Historical settings always score more points with me and the superpowered murder squad which appeared briefly in the first episode seemed fun, so I might give it another episode to see whether it can win me over. The art style is quite nice even if it feels as though it's made with the western audience in mind (it's jarring to have completely westernised credits on a historical show!)

R
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gave this a watch after your writeup, and I guess the answer to "who is this aimed at" is ... me! really enjoyed this, I'm a sucker for historically set stuff and I don't mind if they play a bit fast and loose with the facts. the superpowered squad were great fun too, looking forward to seeing more of them.
 
Bang Brave Bang Bravern - Episode 1

Very happy to see Masami Obari back with a new mecha show. This first episode felt very much by the numbers but it was great fun and I can't wait to see more.

Urusei Yatsura - Only You

Having only just recently finished all the the Ranma 1/2 anime I want a bit of a break before I start the UY TV anime so I thought I would work through all the films in the meantime (I know it's not the right order but whatever). I really enjoyed this film and it was very funny and entertaining throughout. I also loved the artwork and the animation was gorgeous especially in some of the backgrounds and the mechanical design was fantastic too.

Ninja Robot Tobikage - Episodes 23 - 27
 
Spirited Away live on stage version one: Two hours and 40 minutes run time for this version/cast. Very impressive but also quite exhausting. I hope the audience gets a nice intermission to stretch (I'm still debating whether to buy a ticket for when it comes to London in April). Excellent acting, imaginative props, and pretty much everything from the movie is included.
 
The Boy and the Heron (dubbed, in the cinema)
WUT?
OK, the usual standard Miyazaki art and animation, with a bit borrowed from Takahata's Kaguya-hime in certain running scenes and the usual excellent score by Joe Hisaishi, but the story...
Lots of elements borrowed from Miyazaki's previous work (based during WW2, having to move from the big city, people turned it animals and vice-versa, rescuing relatives from a magical realm and a journey with plenty of peril), but much of it is random (especially in the magic realm bit) and none of the story really makes any point! Our protagonist is still the same throughout unlike pretty much all his previous protagonists who grow, mostly from being a bit bratty into more mature kids.
I just read the synopsis of "How Do You Live?" and apparently it's about a boy and his uncle and the uncle makes notes of their interactions with thoughts on ethical and emotional trials. In the end the boy reads the diary and writes a reply on how he will live! There's pretty much none of that in here, the closest it gets is that his great grand uncle turns out to be in charge, somewhat, of the mystical realm and wants our protag to take his place and rebuild it. Actually just read the plot on Wikipedia to double check something and there's a bit that I may have missed the relevance of, or just flew over my head because I was pretty bored by then (2 hour run time is another Miyazaki staple) and had also stayed up till 4am this morning to watch the NFL playoffs! Anyway, like others said, probably needs a re-watch, but as of now I might even have to say this my least favourite Miyazaki! Not Ghibli, good old Earthsea will probably keep that forever!
6/10

NormanicGrav said:
the most mature Ghibli film
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Miyazaki maybe, but not Ghibli, and even then The Wind Rises and Princess Mononoke have lots to say and I understood them on first watch! Takahata's film meanwhile are way more mature especially Fireflies, Only Yesterday and Kaguya-hime.
 
The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You (English Dub) Episode 10

The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy (English Dub) Episode 2

Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable! Episode 2

The Foolish Angel Dances with the Devil Episode 2

Tis Time for "Torture," Princess Episode 2

TSUKIMICHI -Moonlit Fantasy- Season 2 Episode 14
 
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