Wolf’s Rain Anime Review – 89/100 – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction, Reviews by Lenlo, Throwback Thursday, Wolf's Rain

The early 2000’s were a rough time for anime. It produced some incredible works, from Welcome to the NHK to Tokyo Godfathers, my favorite animated movie ever. However it was also smack-dab in the middle of the industries transition from cel animation to digital. Entire pipelines changed, the animation process became completely different, leading to a glut of poorly produced, visually abysmal series. It was in this time that Studio Bones was born. One of the more prolific studios still working today, Bones had to get it’s start somewhere. And it’s one of their earliest works that I am here to talk to you about today. I present to you, originally written by Keiko Nobumoto, directed by Tensai Okamura, with music written and performed by Youko Kanno, the early 2000’s Sci-Fi adventure: Wolf’s Rain. Let’s dive into it!

Oh and really quick before we get to deep, just ignore the Omegaverse tags if those are still there. Those are stupid and have nothing to do with the series. There is no Alpha/Beta/Omega crap. Just enjoy the cool Wolves dangit. Onwards we go!

Be warned, this review contains minor unmarked spoilers for Wolf’s Rain. It also contains major spoilers in some sections however these will be heavily marked to avoid accidents. Additionally this review also covers the 4 episode OVA containing the true ending to the series.. Continue reading “Wolf’s Rain Anime Review – 89/100 – Throwback Thursday” →

Guest Post: Unearthed Treasure with Firechick – Princess Arete (85/100)

by Amunchet, posted in Anime Reviews

Amun:  Now for something a little different…a review from our very own chat-boxer extraordinaire, Firechick!  Since I’m being lazy and taking the season off, I figured the least I could do is help some other voices be heard.  Without further ado, here’s our first guest post of the season – Pricess Arete!

Hello everyone! For those who may not know me, I’m Firechick or Juliko. I’m just your average 30-year-old autistic woman who’s loved anime, manga, and video games since I was a child. I’ve followed the Star Crossed Anime Blog since 2007, and reading Psgels posts helped inform a lot of my current tastes in media, even if we didn’t always agree on which shows we considered good (For example, I love Jewelpet Twinkle but he didn’t). I also have a LiveJournal account, and I’ve been writing my own reviews on it since 2011, though I’ve been reviewing in general since 2010. I was just recently given the opportunity to actually post my reviews here, even with my non-existent experience with running a website and using HTML. How could I possibly pass this opportunity up? I’m going to call this Unearthed Treasure, where I review various anime, manga, and games similar to how Psgels did it, complete with his rating system. If I’m talking about something I feel is terrible, it’ll be Unearthed Garbage, and if its meh, Unearthed Baubles. I’ve written a LOT of reviews, so I have plenty of material to stick on here. I don’t know if I’ll have this be a weekly or bi-weekly series yet, as that’s still up in the air, but I do hope you enjoy my dumb little reviews regardless. So to begin my tenure on the blog I’ve followed for so long, I’m going to post a review I wrote back in November 15th, 2022, about an anime movie that Psgels talked about on here previously: Princess Arete.

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Vinland Saga S2 – 21 [Courage]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Vinland Saga

Welcome all, to what may be the best episode of Vinland Saga all season. A tall claim considering some of the previous episodes, I know. But this little bit has always been one of my favorite sections of story in the entire series, for reasons I hope everyone can see. And for those who can’t? Well allow me to explain.

To me, this episode completes Vinland Saga’s message. Not in that it was lacking before now, it wasn’t. “War and violence bad” is a pretty clear cut and stand alone message that doesn’t need much. Rather I see it as the beginning of Yukimura-Sensei’s response. After all, saying something is bad doesn’t really mean much if you don’t provide an alternative. And what is his alternative? Well taken at face value, as presented by the characters, it would be “Turn the other cheek”. To simply not rise to the words/insults/threats of others. But that’s ignoring a lot of the context surrounding their responses and, I feel, doesn’t wholly do it justice. To truly understand it we need to dive into what this response means for each character, starting with Olmar.

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Kimetsu no Yaiba S3 – 8 [The Mu in Muichiro]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Kimetsu no Yaiba

Welcome all, to another week of Kimetsu no Yaiba! This is… I won’t lie, this is a rough week for the series. There won’t be a lot of positivity in this post. But after last week I’m sure you anticipated that. So without further ado, lets dive in!

Getting right to it, this week was… Not good. Before even getting into the actual content, the episodes very structure was just terrible. Most of it was this slow-paced flashback, completely annihilating any kind of tension or pacing in an otherwise action-filled arc. This isn’t uncommon for Yaiba, it does this with basically every villain, following the exact same structure. But this one felt particularly egregious as it added so very little to the episode. It didn’t even manage to have any of Yaiba’s trademark flashy after effects! Instead it was filled with blurry rain, poor CGI forests and just kind of dull scenery compared to everything else we’ve seen. It honestly felt like a waste of 15 minutes. And the worst part? The actual content of the flashback wasn’t very good to begin with!

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Dr. STONE S3 8 – [The Trump Card Aboard the Science Vessel]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Dr.STONE

Welcome all, to another week of Dr. STONE! This week we meet our major antagonists, figure out their relationship with the island, and most of all see the petrification device! So without further ado, lets dive in.

So lets start with the big reveal this week: The petrification device. Dr. STONE has long hinted at this, and we’ve long had theories about it. What could cause all of this? How does it work? And while we haven’t gotten those answers just yet, we have finally seen it. And with that, we’ve also started to learn how it works. About its limited ranged and indiscriminate nature, like a grenade. How, despite its fantastical effects, it isn’t fantasy. This isn’t a spell. As Senku put it, it’s not magic because it has rules. And if it has rules, then it’s a science. And if it’s science? Then Senku can’t lose, because science is his everything. I really like this, I think it takes a fantastical McGuffin that’s always existed and demystifies it a bit. It really feels like Dr. STONE is finally progressing that overarching plot. I like that.

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Vinland Saga S2 – 20 [Pain]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Vinland Saga

Welcome all, to another great episode of Vinland Saga! It’s another emotional one, so strap in because there is a lot of tragedy to talk about. Let’s dive into it!

Overall the best way to describe this episode is… Tragic. Incredibly tragic, in just every way. Vinland Saga hits you, every week, with the horrors of war the effects it has on people, especially the innocents. Over and over and over again it hammers away at its primary theme of how war is terrible and the glorification of it only perpetuates it. It’s honestly incredible to me that people still seem to miss the point and think Vinland Saga is some kind of… battle hungry Shounen or something. I know plenty of people who have dropped the season because it was “boring” and they wanted the battles of Season 1, or because they just didn’t get what was going on. Which is ridiculous to me, because I think Vinland Saga is so clear with its messaging that there’s barely anything to write about each week!

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Kimetsu no Yaiba S3 – 7 [Awful Villain]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Kimetsu no Yaiba

Welcome all, to another week of Kimetsu no Yaiba! This week sees yet another twist to the combat, as well as a bit more backstory for Tokito. A good bit worth talking about this week, so lets dive in!

So, starting off with my overall impressions of the episode… It was kind of mid. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about the episode, nothing that stood out. At least not in a positive way that is. Rather, I’m kind of getting tired of the constant “twists” in the conflict. Part of this is probably due to the Upper Five fight really not doing anything yet, leaving the Upper Four to stand on it’s own. But even that doesn’t seem right, as by this point the Upper Six fight with Daki and Gyutaro was still going strong. Part of this was the presentation, last season was just overall more visually engaging. But I also think it has to do with the villains themselves not being near as interesting. As squandered as Daki and Gyutaro were, they still had something going for them. These two? Not so much.

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Dr. STONE S3 7 – [Ray of Despair, Ray of Hope]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Dr.STONE

Welcome all, to another episode of Dr. STONE! This week we reach the island, meet the locals, and get absolutely rolled by an unknown force. What? Oh, the last one? Don’t worry we will get to that. Now lets dive right into it!

Starting off, this week we finally reach the island! Dr. STONE walks us through a whole introduction for it, from the basic geography to local tensions. Of course part of this is introducing us to some locals and their politics. Setting up the main conflict of the arc. However more then that, what Dr. STONE does is completely shatter our expectations of what’s going on here. It makes it clear that, whatever you thought, this place isn’t just going to be a simple walk in the park with some stone-age yokels. And personally? After the slower first half of the season? I find this to be a welcome change of pace. Mostly because of the mystery of petrification.

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Wolf’s Rain – 29/30 [High Tide, High Time/Wolf’s Rain] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Throwback Thursday, Wolf's Rain

Welcome all, to the grand finale of Wolf’s Rain! This is a contentious ending from what I’ve heard, and I can see why. We have a lot to talk about this week so lets just dive right in!

Before we get to deep into it though I want to talk about whether or not this ending works for me. And overall? I think it was… effective. There are bits and pieces I’m not 100% sure I either understand or entirely like, but the more I think about the finale the more I feel like it works. Everyone got some kind of closure to their arc, no one was ignored, it answered a lot of questions regarding the setting and why all of this was happening. I’m satisfied. The only places I’m not totally sure on is the core idea of “repeats”. I’m typically not a big fan of these kinds of endings, for reasons I will talk about later. But Wolf’s Rain managed to frame it in a way that I think works well. Is that vague? Yes. Follow me after the break if you want spoilers.

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Vinland Saga S2 – 19 [War at Ketil’s Farm]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Vinland Saga

Welcome all, to another week of Vinland Saga! This week marks the beginning of the war, as Canute lands on the farm and battle is joined. Who will come out on top? Who will survive? Let’s jump in and find out!

So, the war. Thing aren’t looking good for Ketil. They are horribly outmatched, in both skill and equipment, and everyone worth their salt knows it. Snake, Thorgil, Thorfinn, Canute. Everyone who has actually seen battle knows that these farmers don’t stand a chance. Everyone that is, except for the farmers themselves. All idiots driven into a frenzy. Having their heritage and pride played off of, being convinced that their superior numbers will be able to overcome Canute’s battle-hardened elite. It’s sad really. These people are being led to their deaths for the glory of another. They have nothing to gain in all of this, they could probably sit back, let Canute take over and continue living their lives under new management. But as is often the case, the greed and ambition of greater men drive them to their slaughter.

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