He's been hiding his power level all this time.

Exit 8 (10/10)

So this kind of blew me away?
Turns out between producing Shinkai and Hosoda films, Genki Kawamura was capable of shooting the BEST ONER I've ever seen.

This is a film that fully earns its Shining reference.

You and I are Polar Opposites Cour 1 (9/10)

While I'm personally invested in the one couple that didn't get together yet, I can't deny that starting off with faster pairings gave it time to address what you want to share common ground or stay different.

Trigun Stargaze (2/10)

So it's Avatar but with a Teletubbies Ending?

I was not a fan of Stampede, but I wish Muto stuck around. The heroes lost their charm, the villains lost their aura, everyone else lost their purpose, and ORANGE lost the plot.

Beastars Final Season Pt. 2 (4/10)

All that BS for a fight that finishes itself, a play that's never shown, a political scandal ending on a wet fart, and a kiss we expected 3 seasons ago?

I hate to say it, but this time the manga fans were right.

This particular cut changed my brain chemistry.

Hell's Paradise S2 (8.5/10)

While it's lost the death game hook that S1 had, I can't deny that the extra production time led to it consistently pulling off cooler shit. Hajime Ootani's Ep 8 was on par with what MAPPA was pulling in Culling Games.

Golden Kamuy V (8/10)

PSYCH this wasn't the Final Season! 🤑
Honestly for the better: the past few psychos were getting lame and they clearly want to just wrap it up. And for what it's worth, they've set up quite the finale.

MHA Vigilantes S2 (7/10)

An unfortunate case of timing a backstory WAY too late and having the one actual vigilante exit the main cast, but Captain Celebrity's arc was surprisingly cute and some of the action cuts in the 2nd half live up to main MHA.

Link Click: Bridon Arc (8/10)

The build-up for S3’s league of super twinks is interesting enough to keep watching, but the standout was definitely its hour long premiere. The way it tackles pig butchering scams addresses why the lie feels so real.

Macross Dynamite 7 (3/10)

This is like showing up to a reunion concert that's half empty (OH WAIT THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED!)

I get they wanted to return to the space hippie vibe with the whales, but the fact that Mylene is only here to get assaulted is dogshit.

it's sooo endearing. every game ive played that people have called a dad game is always, like, "having a child is a burden unlike no other and these challenges teaches me they are human just like me"

pragmata is nonstop "oh a kid is an endless font of surprises, new experiences, and joy"

a cartoon of a girl swimming in the ocean ALT: a cartoon of a girl swimming in the ocean

From what ive heard from sakuga experts, he's a relatively hands-off director mainly doing storyboards. It's why something like Space Brothers looks relatively tame, but that he also did Children of the Sea.

Weekly sighting of funny rakugo creature

SENKU NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Holy shit the character animation on this week's Akane-Banashi went HARD!

Phoenix: Yamato (10/10)

Hirata’s OVA was actually the first I saw, and it’s actually my favorite despite the other two being more flashy. How it tackles the native and colonizer forbidden love showcased the Phoenix’s modus operandi: brutal, but ultimately for the greater good.

Phoenix: Space (9/10)

While Kawajiri’s was my least favorite of the 3, the bottle-film-turned-cosmic-horror is so much better than Eden17. Wish it had time to show more rather than just say what happened, but the fact this preceded Alien by a decade is incredible.

Phoenix: Karma (10/10)

Rintaro set out to make the first good Phoenix anime by tackling an arc about two artists chasing the divine. One yearns for ascendance, another for repentance. But only one recognizes karmic punishment isn't a one-sided deal.

ChaO (6/10)

He can't handle all that. Give her to me. 😤

The Shanghai-meets-Water-Park aesthetic and one of the most spellbinding mermaid designs since Mutio is worth sitting through some embarrassing slapstick, erratic pacing, and a population of people who look freakier than the fish.

The King's Warden (5/10)

The premise of Nobles getting exiled to the Boonies as detention was refreshing enough to keep me watching, but it honestly felt like the rightful heir had a deeper connection with the chief's son than him.

Marcille

Go For It, Nakamura-Kun's Mangaka Syundei Deleted their X Account over Alleged Online Harassment.

Go For it, Nakamura-kun!! Creator Leaves X After Dealing With Alleged Harassment Syundei: “I only get complaints asking why I drew something like this”

Go For it, Nakamura-kun!! manga creator Syundei leaves X (formerly Twitter) after dealing with alleged harassment:

Rooster Fighter is like that one ep in an anthology that everyone goes “I’d watch a whole show that’s just this!”, only to watch clips when it actually does. 😅

My take is that as a hardboiled parody, I wish the whole thing looked more like its postcard memories.

The Three Nations of the Crimson Sun > Agents of the Four Seasons

I accidentally became the Director of Smiling Friends YouTube video by Shigloo

For better or worse, the pipeline for Smiling Friends was more reminiscent of anime than a regular cartoon.
youtu.be/GLh4_CV4jOI?...

The Liar Game J-Drama has more animation than the Liar Game Anime.

Ok I turned on the 2007 J-Drama as a test.
How does this feel MORE ANIME than the ANIME?!

From what I read up, the fact they can't just kill eachother means some of the mind games have clever tricks to them. But they're also carried out by the con man because the MC's dumb as rocks.