Author: Lenlo

Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine – 1 [Master Thief vs. Lady Looter]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Lupin III - Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna

Welcome all to a very irregular segment for The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. Because of how small this season was, I wanted to fill in our coverage a bit, and thought it was a good opportunity to watch something that’s been on my list for awhile now. And heads up, this series is going to be irregular just as I watch it, so I hope you stick with me, as we watch some Lupin!

Right out the gate, my goodness was that an unexpected amount of titty. I always thought Lupin III was a more… childish show to be frank. An old classic detective show, something more in the Disney style. I assumed things like Goemon’s Spray of Blood being the black sheep of the series. Turns out that was just par for the course, as Fujiko Mine opens with incredible style. Lots of heavy shading and crosshatching, disguising CGI with said shading while at the same time keeping Lupin’s classic character design. The long story short is that Fujiko Mine looks good, like really good. I think Fujiko’s tits are a bit to large myself and show seems to really revel in that sexuality. However overall it visually looked fantastic. I can only hope it keeps this up moving forward because its a nice breath of fresh air in this current season.

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Gunslinger Girl – 5 [Promessa (Promise)] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Gunslinger Girl, Throwback Thursday

Another week, another episode of Gunslinger Girl, and another new cast member is introduced. This week we get another Brother/Sister pair, a deeper look into the Agency and just a bit of tragedy. So without further ado, lets dive in!

Starting off I want to explain where I am at with Gunslinger Girl. Because you see, I think I’ve had the wrong idea of what exactly this show is. After the first episode I was expecting a crime thriller of some kind, a character driven pew pew shootemup with morally questionable children. And so as we worked through these last 4 episodes I ended each one thinking “Great, when does the plot start?”. As many of you have told me, this was clearly a mistake. That isn’t what Gunslinger Girl is about, shooting guns is just a consequence of the setting. Rather Gunslinger Girl is about… well, the girls and those watching over them. About their relationships and how they interact with each other. I want to say its almost episodic in nature, but who knows where it will go. As for me, I’m just along for the ride now.

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Japan Sinks 2020 Anime Review – 22/100

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense, Japan Sinks 2020, Reviews by Lenlo

Masaaki Yuasa is, without a doubt, my favorite director in anime. His 2014 adaptation of Ping Pong the Animation is my favorite anime of all time, while Tatami Galaxy sits at a close 2nd. Among his more recent works, Devilman Crybaby was imperfect but ultimately a visual treat, while Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken is my current anime of the year. The man has a visual style unlike any other, and the works he adapts often resonate with something deeply personal, to put it simply, utterly human. So when I heard he was working on another series, also to be released this year, I was ecstatic. That it was based off of a famed novel from the 70’s and would be his last work as President of Science Saru only fueled this fire. I was expecting something incredible, a rival for Eizouken! Sadly, Japan Sinks was nothing of the sort.

Simply put, Japan Sinks was a complete and utter failure, the likes of which I was not prepared for. There are themes to be found, and moments of Masaaki Yuasa’s usual brilliance to be found. But they are few and far between. The tone is jarring and throughout the whole thing I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be laughing, crying or just shocked. Japan Sinks is, in a word or two, jarringly inconsistent, questionably paced and poorly timed in regards to current world events. With all of that said, the ending score should come as now surprise, it was an utter failure. But the question remains as to why, why did it fail, why does it not work? So without further ado, let’s talk details, and strap in because this is going to get wordy. Also fair warning this review will contain spoilers for Japan Sinks.

(Disclaimer: I am working to make 50 the new “average”. 70 is not an average score people. 70 is above average. Also apologies for how long this took, motivation was low with this piece.) Continue reading “Japan Sinks 2020 Anime Review – 22/100” →

Gunslinger Girl – 4 [Bambola (Doll)] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Gunslinger Girl, Throwback Thursday

Another week, another episode of Gunslinger Girl. This week marks more of the same for our child soldiers, which is both a blessing and a curse. So without further ado, lets dive in!

Now like I said, this week is very similar to the last two. It’s a character focused episode, this time dialing in on Triela and her own relationship with the Agency. However while this is interesting on the macro level, its always nice to learn about our characters, as a viewer I am starting to lose engagement. 4 episodes in it feels like all we are doing is getting info dumps on these characters, rather than moving forward any sort of plot. Gunslinger Girl has taught us about Henrietta, Rico, Triela and their brothers, but it hasn’t really challenged them in any way. It hasn’t set anything in motion, it just feels like they are existing in this world and nothing more. So while these individual episodes are nice, I just wish/hope they tie into a larger plot moving forward. That said, onto details!

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Gunslinger Girl – 3 [Ragazzo (Boy)] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Gunslinger Girl, Throwback Thursday

Another week, another dose of child soldiers and government conspiracies with Gunslinger Girl! This week is another character focused one, though surprisingly not with our main pair. So why don’t you all join me in welcoming the newest member of our cast, and my current favorite Rico! Lets dive in.

First up, as usual, production. Once again we aren’t really seeing any of those animation chops from the first episode. Small bits, such as Henrietta slipping on a bullet or the occasional “hair in the wind” bit. But for the most part Gunslinger Girl stays rather subdued animation wise. However in this case I think this is for the best, because of the kind of story Gunslinger Girl is trying to tell. All of these character focused episodes, these bits and pieces of the children’s lives and how they view working for the government, etc. None of these would land quite so neatly if their brutal business was glorified with some high octane action animation. Take the finale of this episode, delivered straight without any flashy animation or direction, just a pulled trigger and cut to black. It’s a shame, I love the early animation, but it works for now.

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Gunslinger Girl – 2 [Orione (Orion)] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Gunslinger Girl, Throwback Thursday

Welcome all to episode 2 of Gunslinger Girl! Where last week gave us a fair bit of action and gunfights, this week we slow it down and get to know our characters. There is a lot worth talking about so strap in!

Alright let’s get the negatives out of the way first, because there was really only one. And to be frank, I really have no idea why Gunslinger Girl did this. A stylistic choice perhaps, but I could do without the 5 minute opening recap. Maybe they wanted to reintroduce us to the scene, since this episode primarily takes place in the middle of episode 1. In that sense, it’s not a bad idea to reintroduce us to how episode 1 started. However we didn’t need 5 fulls minutes of that, just give us a quick rewind or something. Considering the themes and ideas Gunslinger Girl is trying to tackle, you’d think it would trust its audience to be smart. To be able to follow along between episodes, especially considering how sudden it treats some of its flashbacks. Let’s just hope this isn’t going to be a consistent thing.

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Tower of God Anime Review – 56/100

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction, Reviews by Lenlo, Tower of God

Whatever many might say, Tower of God is not the first Korean work to get an anime adaptation. From the obscure Shin Angyo Onshi to those people barely know were originally Korean such as Freezing. Whatever the reason, be it heated diplomatic relations or just disinterest in the works, Japanese adaptations of Korean works are rare. So to see one of Korea’s largest series in Tower of God, originally created by SIU and read by millions, get one is a momentous occasion. Its success could mean the opening of the door for other Korean series, such as The Breaker. A possible breath of fresh to what sometimes feels like a stagnating industry. Its failure could mean that door stays shut for a long time to come. So the question is, is it good? Adapted by Telecom Animation and Directed by Takashi Sano, this is Tower of God. Let’s dive in.

And warning, this review will contain spoilers for Tower of God.

(Disclaimer: I am working to make 50 the new “average”. 70 is not an average score people. 70 is above average. Carry on.) Continue reading “Tower of God Anime Review – 56/100” →

Gunslinger Girl – 1 [Fratello] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Gunslinger Girl, Throwback Thursday

Welcome all to the new season of Throwback Thursday, this time featuring Gunslinger Girl! Anime is well known for it’s loli’s, and well known for gratuitous violence, but what about gratuitous loli violence? That is a sentence I never thought I would write, but here we are, so without further ado lets jump in!

Starting off, lets talk visuals, because I am a bit mixed on Gunslinger Girl. Animation wise, it’s great. Once everything starts moving, guns start shooting and characters get running, everything is smooth. The big standout here was of course Henrietta’s gunfight near the end of the episode. Firing, shells hitting the ground, bullets hitting the environment, reloading, it all looked great. I also like the expressiveness on characters such as Giuse, I understood his emotions throughout the episode just from his face. But that brings me to the character designs, which I’m less enthused about. They aren’t bad, they just felt sort of.. flat? Washed out? I can’t tell if it’s the emotionless eyes or perhaps I just need to dial back after the colorful nature of Princess Tutu. Because it reminds me a lot of anime like Monster, which I love dearly. I suppose we will see moving forward.

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Tower of God – 13 [Tower of God]

by Lenlo, posted in Tower of God

Welcome all to the finale of Tower of God! I would say a lot happened this week, but lets be real, very little actually happened. What do I mean? Well strap in and find out!

Right off the bat, lets talk about recaps, because that was this week effectively was. A large portion of the first half, was just running us through events we had already seen. Now yes, they were from Rachel’s perspective and we did get some new scenes we will talk about later. But on the whole I don’t like it. Because Tower of God has cut a lot of content to fit 78 chapters into a single season, a lot of that content being some of my favorite. So for it to then insert a half-episode long recap with Rachel’s voice over just feels wrong to me. We already know how she felt throughout most of that, she isn’t a particularly complex character just yet. If you were going to add stuff like this, I would prefer more reactions from Khun and co. Alas, we got a recap instead.

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Princess Tutu Anime Review – 91/100 – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Romance, Princess Tutu, Reviews by Lenlo, Throwback Thursday

I am not a Mahou Shoujo fan. The first one I ever watched, like many, was the Sailor Moon dub while growing up. It was fine enough, but as I grew, I eventually came to just ignore and tune the genre out. It wasn’t for me, it was silly girl stuff. In recent years, having met new friends in the community and traded recommendations, I was reintroduced to it. Whether it be watching Hugtto Precure or Symphogear for the r/anime awards or Penguindrum via contract, it’s the most Mahou Shoujo I have seen in years. And I hated almost all of them. They were either so sweet they gave me diabetes or had their head stuck incredibly far up where the sun don’t shine. The last one I remember actually enjoying was Madoka Magica, which is hardly an accurate representation of the genre. And then came Princess Tutu.

On paper, going by its title and promotional art, I should hate Princess Tutu. Directed by Junichi Satou, the man behind 2018’s Hugtto Precure, and made by Studio Hal Film Maker, it looks like everything I should hate about the genre. And yet as I watched Princess Tutu, it became very clear to me that this was nothing of the sort. Everything from its direction like a ballet to its tragedy-soaked story and characters felt so much richer than any Mahou Shoujo I had seen before. So much so that I don’t mind spoiling where this review will go by saying right here at the top that Princess Tutu is the best Mahou Shoujo I have ever seen. So as someone who self-describes as “Shounen Trash” and is routinely dismissed as such, please listen when I say: stop reading and give Princess Tutu a shot. You may be surprised.

Without further ado, let’s talk details, and strap in because this is going to get wordy. Also fair warning this review will contain spoilers for Princess Tutu. So if you haven’t watched it… fix that.

(Disclaimer: I am working to make 50 the new “average”. 70 is not an average score people. 70 is above average. Carry on.) Continue reading “Princess Tutu Anime Review – 91/100 – Throwback Thursday” →