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The Great Anime Rewatch of 2024 - Part VI

Magic Knight Rayearth

First watched: circa 2006? Maybe? Rewatched: February 2024

Original rating: 5 New rating: 5

This is very ‘baby’s first anime.’ Far be it from CLAMP’s best work, it fits in perfectly with all the isekai shows currently drowning the market. Rayearth also is one of those stories that feels specifically intended to be enjoyed by a specific age group of a specific gender and little else. It at least hast he benefit of having magical girls and mechs, making it less generic than having a bland male wish fulfillment hero. I also like how the girls’s armor evolves. But Rayearth really is nothing special. 

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xxxHOLiC

First watched: circa 2007?  Rewatched: February 2024

Original rating: 5 New rating: 4

The colors look so flat and washed out. I also forgot how much anime original material was here, too. Similar to like how I remembered, the only things I really liked about this adaptation are the music and the voice cast. Ah, the illustrious history of weird, botched CLAMP adaptations. 

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Tsubasa Chronicle 1 & 2

First watched: circa 2006? Rewatched: March 2024

Original rating: 4, 4 New rating: 2, 2

Bee Train, your art style is awful. Just like xxxHOLiC, the colors here look dull and flat. The animation is also abysmal, with consistently off model characters and abnormally slow blinking. It doesn’t help that the anime has a lot of closeups and long shots on faces that I’m sure someone thought were very dramatic. But it’s just awkward standing and staring—a clear effort to cut corners. Also, the pacing is terrible. Why did we spend four and a half episodes in kudan-land? It’s an absolutely botched adaptation that happens to have a fantastic soundtrack, courtesy of Kajiura Yuki. (That opening song I never liked is still bad, though.) 

As for the second season, it wouldn’t have been so bad if the anime original episodes hadn’t been so uninspired. Whose idea was it to have everyone revisit previous worlds? Also that final episode always bothered me, even as a kid. This dumbass is made up of Sakura’s feathers, and she only absorbs one? Bro, what? If only Bee Train hadn’t gotten their grubby hands on Tsubasa, and they started the adaptation later in the manga's run. Production IG really saved us with Tokyo Revelations. 

Also, for the record, an animated work can still not look the best and still have good visual direction or interesting imagery. (I.E. Jimmy Neutron, Revolutionary Girl Utena.)

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Noir

First watched: circa 2006 Rewatched: March 2024

Original rating: 6 New rating: 4

This was one of the first anime I watched in Japanese. Since then, it’s mostly stayed with me in the form of its soundtrack. But how does the actual material hold up for me nearly twenty years later?

Not very well. The beginning has so many problems: episodes 2-4 have absolutely nothing of importance or of consequence. Even after that, we learn almost nothing about either Kirika or Mireille, and the episodes are terribly repetitive. As bitching as the music is, it feels like there are only five songs because they’re reused so often. 

Revisiting Noir was a boring slog. I don’t think this story warranted a 26 episode TV series. It would’ve been more suited to an hour and a half long film. 

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Cowboy Bebop 

First watched: 2009 Rewatched: March 2024

Original rating: 10 New rating: 10

The Great Anime Rewatch of 2024 is, frankly, not going very well. Let me revisit something I know I’m going to love. From my very first viewing, I knew Cowboy Bebop was a masterpiece. Since then I’ve rewatched it numerous times. I’ve always been bad about talking why I love this show. But it only resonates with me more as I get older. 

Cowboy Bebop is about a spaceship of fools. Fools who fail constantly. And when they find success, there’s no victory in it. Yet this cynicism is wrapped in quiet confidence and unbridled commitment to style and atmosphere. And it’s accompanied by one of the greatest soundtracks in anime. Also, its sense of humor is incredible. 

#anime

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Things I liked:

Tifa. 

The music - continues to be amazing. Great job to whoever’s arranging/orchestrating this. Hearing the new version of ‘Cosmo Canyon’ for the first time made me weep. 

Beach outfits - Unpopular opinion: I prefer all their ‘modest’ outfits to the non-modest ones. Aerith’s bikini looks so bad. 

The acting choice for Nanaki’s voice. - I’m soft. 

Gold Saucer date - CLOUD AND TIFA KISSED THEY KISSED THEY KISSED did i go back and spend almost three hours on doing sidequests and learning how to play fuckin' Queen's Blood to max out Tifa's intimacy stat to see them kiss? FUCK YEAH I DID.

The cardboard cutout of Rufus. - Stan. 

Yuffie - Had a great time with her. Her interactions with Barrett were particularly good. Love her play style and her random little songs. 

Things I didn't like:

The ending - It was even worse than I had ever imagined. A complete and utter nightmare from both gameplay and narrative perspectives. I don’t think any words can describe just how disastrous that finale was. 

Mini games and roadblocks - Having minigames being mandatory narrative roadblocks is already poor game design. Having to succeed in them is even worse. It happened six times. I know it happened in the original game, too. But the devs really wanted to go this far? 

Shoehorning Aerith into every situation - No, stop talking about Aerith on your date with Tifa, Cloud. Don’t have her sing that really awful song. There’s no way that girl is a belter; she’s a light lyric soprano and you can’t change my mind. 

Cait Sith - Here he is in all his….glory. Fuck that Shinra Manor Lab dungeon. 

Shinra Manor - Poor place was relegated to nothing but an underground laboratory. It was much better in the original. 

Empty dungeons - by empty, I mean the segments where nothing of importance happens. Such as the Corel Mines. No character development, no revelations, no story progression. Just an unnecessary roadblock from point A to point B. 

The Gi - sure, add all this lore that not a single person was asking about. And make things even more complicated with the black materia. For fuck’s sake, no one asked. That dungeon was too fucking long. And it completely undermined the emotional moment that completed Nanaki’s arc. 

Whispers, timelines, AUs - just thinking about it makes me angry. The Zack POV sections made me want to stop playing entirely. Not everything needs to be a cinematic universe. I just wanted a remake of a classic, amazing game. Not another entry into the Final Fantasy 7 cinematic universe. If I pretend that it’s faithful to the original story, then all is right with the world. 

Too much Sephiroth - homie works better as a mysterious force when he’s not on screen every ten minutes. The moment where I knew it was going to be bad was when they made the giant swamp snake a mandatory boss fight, and we saw Sephiroth finish it off. Nuh-uh, buddy. That was a terrible narrative change. Took away all the mystery. 

Sidequests with too many steps. - self explanatory. 

Sidequests with pre-requisite sidequests. - self explanatory. 

#video games

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A Tower, A Promise.

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Tifa’s Seventh Heaven

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my shop

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I owned the original Persona 3 but never finished it. This is my redemption, but it doesn't feel rewarding.

Things I liked:

The redesigned character portraits.

The following social link characters/storylines: Sun, Hanged Man, Fortune.

The themes of death and utilization of Greek/Egyptian mythology.

Aragaki Shinjiro was the only teammate I was remotely invested in. Congratulations to him.

Things I didn't like:

How they didn't combine the aspects from the removed FemC route into this game. You're telling me you didn't want to give us legitimate social links with our male teammates? Yeah, we still got some storylines, but it's not the same if it's not an actual social link.

How all possible story changes from previous iterations were eliminated: being unable to save Aragaki and Chidori, being unable to pick what club to join (I chose kendo in the original), etc.

The following social links: Magician (one of the worst in all Persona), Justice, Chariot (Ryuji draft one).

Being forced into summer school and a track meet and a vacation that rob you of all stat raising/social link opportunities. This is the worst summer vacation in Persona.

How late some of the female teammate's social links start.

Not enough passive ways to boost social stats.

No weather changes. With the exception of that one typhoon, they suffered quite a drought in this game.

Not enough social links are night options.

The villains are kind of garbage and don't really do anything. I clocked the twist villain ten minutes in, and homie barely had time to do anything evil after the reveal.

The character writing in general just feels weak. I didn't want to date any of the girls. I have no waifu in this game.

Almost 100 hours later, and I didn't get the same rewarding feeling I got from Persona 5. This one felt like an endless marathon that I was happy to put behind me. Though that's partially because I'm aware of how much material was removed or cut. I'm kind of disappointed.

#video games

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The Great Anime Rewatch of 2024 - Part V

Casshern Sins

First watched: January 2014 Rewatched: January 2024

Original rating: 6 New rating: 4

Prior to this rewatch, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you anything about Casshern Sins. It might’ve been better if it had stayed that way. While watching the first episode, I couldn’t stop complaining how bad the writing was. It feels like the creative team was banking on the show’s style and atmosphere to compensate for its weak dialogue, and I’m not falling for it. The thing I will fall for is the music. It’s really good. But if I want a post-apocalyptic story about robots having existential crises, I’ll stick with Nier: Automata, thank you very much. I lasted five episodes. 

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Claymore

First watched: December 2011 Rewatched: February 2024

Original rating: 7 New rating: 5

The writing is basic and everything is mid. If one of your deuteragonists is an audience avatar with no personality, that’s not good. Then on episode five we completely switched POVs out of nowhere, and we barely know anything about our original duo. It feels like the author was stalling for time while they figure out what do to with Claire and Raki. I lasted five episodes. 

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Boku no Hero Academia 1, 2, & 3

First watched: 2016, 2017, 2018 - all original airdates Rewatched: February 2024

Original ratings: 7, 8, 8 New ratings: 7, 7, 4

I remember enjoying BnHA, but I never got swept up by the hype. I’m not really into superhero stuff to begin with, and the sub-genre is so oversaturated, the stories almost feel like parodies of itself. Anyway, let’s try this again, and not on a weekly basis. (I refuse to rewatch season four since I didn’t like it much.)

Season 1 - I find it extremely hard to believe that every single student made it out of that big villain ambush with light injuries. At least one kid should’ve been killed or, at the very least, extremely traumatized. But what I appreciate most is that the characters are smart and actually use their powers creatively and intelligently. I still don’t understand why Mineta exists, though. No one likes him. He should’ve died. 

Season 2 - BnHA’s strengths and weaknesses are in full swing now. Its highs consist of the sports festival/tournament arc, Bakugo and Deku vs. All Might, and the conversation between Deku and Shigaraki. As for the weaknesses? Well, the neglect of the female characters was thriving. I really don’t like Creati (she can create anything except a decent outfit), but I pitied her—getting roped into a hero internship and do nothing but beauty ads? What the actual fuck? After the Stain stuff, my interest was diminishing and I was skipping bits of almost every episode. Bakugo is my favorite character, and fuck that dog police chief. 

Season 3 - Now I’m actively skipping episodes. It’s starting to get redundant at this point (more exams???), the cast is so large it’s collapsing on itself, and there’s no sense of loss. Why should I care about any fight when everyone gets to walk away alive, completely intact, and fine in every sense of the word? This was less evident when I watched these seasons as they aired weekly with lengthy breaks in between. The pacing problem is also exacerbated now, with the stupid forest training bit taking up the first seven episodes, when it probably could’ve been three or four. (I skipped most of them, hence the ‘probably.’) Meanwhile, the villains don’t actually accomplish anything. There’s no reason for me to take them seriously. And the heroes aren’t developing—their powers aren’t escalating or changing, and neither are they as people. The only character who gave me what I want is Bakugo in his fight with Deku. 

BnHA is weird, because in this world where nearly everyone has a power, I think it went down one of the most uninteresting directions possible. The cast is far too large, and can’t juggle them all, despite its earnest effort to do so. And while suspension of disbelief is always required in things like superhero stories, I feel like there’s not enough loss. That’s partially due to the nature of the demographic, but stories like these shouldn’t be so terrified of whittling down/killing off its bloated cast. What if some of the UA students felt traumatized from fighting with real villains, or decide that they want to change career paths? Or a former hero student who turned to villainy? It’s a shame that those things aren’t explored. 

I still had a pretty good time with the first two seasons, but found myself emotionally apathetic to most of the cast. 

The only ones I actively care about: Bakugo, Deku, and Shigaraki. 

The characters I enjoy but am not particularly invested in: Froppy, Tokoyami, Todoroki, Ochako. 

Bypassing season four, will I give season five a chance? Not sure, since season three was painful to rewatch. From overall fan opinion, the story and writing seem to get worse, and I spoiled myself with Bakugo and am very disappointed to see sacrifices gone to waste and being brought back from the fucking dead. 

#anime

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🚃 🚃 🚃

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the kiss

happy 11/20 everyone

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Valentine date

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The Great Anime Rewatch of 2024 - Part IV

Lucky Star

First watched: Circa 2008? Rewatched: January 2024

Original rating: 5 New rating: 5

The weird shit about Lucky Star is that even though the show is essentially about nothing, the episodes go by very quickly for me. (Compared to other slice of life shows in this rewatch round that were mind numbingly slow, but actually had a plot, or something resembling a story arc: Aoi Hana, Aria, and Kimi ni Todoke.) Its quick switching between scenes due to its nature as a 4-koma adaptation is actually doing wonders for my shitty attention span. With that said, it was wearing out its welcome very quickly, and motivation to watch more was low. The second half starts focusing on the expanded cast that I don’t give a shit about, and I don’t think other fans do either. Lucky Star is definitely not a show to be binged, and I also don’t see myself revisiting it again. 

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Blood Blockade Battlefront 1 & 2

First watched: Fall 2015, Fall 2017, original airdates Rewatched: January 2024

Original rating: 7, 7 New rating: 4, 6

I’ve been on a weird streak of watching anime featuring blonde twins: Migi & Dali, Trigun Stampede, and now BBB. As soon as I started watching, I remembered the original story was written by the same author as Trigun. Rewatching Trigun did not go well for me. But wait! Matsumoto Rie directed the first season. Maybe this won’t be so bad. 

First off, I’m not wild about the art style—specifically the way people are drawn. There are stunning visuals elsewhere: the not-chess match in episode three, the giant tree train station, etc. The ending sequence is fun and joyous. BBB’s tone reminds me more of Baccano or Space Dandy than Trigun, which is definitely a good thing. What I don’t think is a good thing is how BBB starts with a large cast, and primarily focuses on what they can do, rather than who they are. The problem is exacerbated as new characters are introduced every episode. Space Dandy was similar, but that show did a much better job of establishing its core cast. Then the story shifted to anime original material which was so poorly done and…maybe Matsumoto Rie isn’t as good of a director as I once thought. (Although I do love King of Despair, he just wasn’t in the right anime.)

The second season’s change in director was noticeable immediately. The first thing that felt different was the music—we started off with a rap song. The visuals also look cleaner. And, oh? What’s this? We’re finally spending time on the Libra members? I’m finally getting a feel for who they are as people now? Amazing. This is what I was looking for last season. But of course, I’m impossible to please, whatever. And now my problem is that the entire season is episodic, and no overarching goal for the heroes to be working towards. The seasons should’ve aired in reverse: season one should’ve been character-centric episodic, and give an overarching story to season two. There were some fun moments, but BBB just didn’t do it for me the second time around. 

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Rideback

First watched: June 2011 Rewatched: January 2024

Original rating: 7 New rating: 4

Here’s an anime no one else remembers. Taking place in the year 2025, and with the original story starting publication in 2003, it’s interesting to see how people depicted the future without the presence of social media and over-reliance of cell phones. Other than that, there’s not much to say about Rideback. I think the premise of a retired dancer trying to find a new purpose could’ve been really lovely in the hands of a better writer. Too bad the writing and characters are dull, but the mechs themselves are cool. More pirouetting mechs please. Moving on. 

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Full Metal Panic! & Fumoffu

First watched: June 2012 Rewatched: January 2024

Original rating: 8, 8

New rating: 5, 7

This is such an anime anime: teenage mercs piloting mechs, high school romcom, terrorists, man Full Metal Panic! sure does have it all. When I first watched it, I liked it enough to watch the sequel, the comedy spinoff, and the OVAs/specials. There is something about it that is timeless, yet it has aged strangely. The first few episodes in particular were very bad. Barring the lackluster animation, it did get better, or at least more tolerable. I’m thankful that Sosuke’s secret was out to Kaname by episode five. But every time I finished an episode, I asked myself, ‘what actually happened?’ Things are happening, but it never feels like the plot is advancing, or the characters are growing. I lasted twelve episodes. 

Crunchyroll doesn’t have the second season, but it does have Fumoffu. I had a much better time here. Because the jokes are so specific to the characters and the bits actually have a plot, the comedy has aged surprisingly well. 

I didn't realize how big of a franchise Full Metal Panic! actually is until now. With a a ridiculous number of light novels and manga, and anime adaptations as recent as 2018, I can’t fathom this story going on for as long as it has. 

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Fruits Basket

First watched: Circa 2006 Rewatched: January 2024

Original rating: 7 New rating: 7

Fruits Basket and I go waaaaaay back. Both the English and Japanese versions, as well as the manga, I couldn’t get enough of this shit when I was in middle school. I’ve been wondering whether to watch the remake for a while now, but wanted to revisit the original first. 

Barring the mispronunciations of the character’s names, the dub's core cast still rocks. I alternated between English and Japanese depending on what characters were present. Also this is funny as hell. 

The main issues I have with this adaptation are: the soundtrack sounds like it only has ten songs, and constantly reuses the same song each episode, the lackluster art style and animation (Deen 2001 at your service), and some of the English voice actors. Aside form that, this story still holds up. And I am more emotionally attached to it than I thought I was going to be. I still like these characters, I still like this story, and I still love that gentle opening song. I had a good time revisiting this. 

Dear fucking god please let the remake still keep the humor. Don’t let it succumb to the melodrama. 

#anime

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Hayao Miyazaki, Il ragazzo e l'airone. Art by Loputyn

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The boy and the heron fanart. This movie means a lot to me I saw it early thanks to my friend and guys it’s so good. I love it a lot and I think it’s a beautiful message Miyazaki has to artist and young people. He’s saying don’t try to continue legacy or be perfect or the next Miyazaki live life he felt he wasted his. Read a book, spend time with your loved ones, and make friends. Life is more than our passions and careers. Which is what I needed to hear y’all will love it

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how do you live?

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Brief FFXV/XVI comparisons

Knowing the dev team of FFXIV headed FFXVI, it feels like they were singing, “Anything you can do, I can do Better” in the face of FFXV. Many of the key story elements and beats are identical: An orphaned prince clad in black who was a supposed heir to a noble bloodline, the hero’s kingdom being destroyed in the beginning, a deadly plague that is slowly consuming the world and its people, etc. Hell, they both end with a 1v1 duel and both the heroes and villains die at the end. Except FFXVI actually has a cohesive, more focused narrative, better lore, and smarter world building. It also has a massive advantage over FFXV since it is a self contained story—not a bullshit multimedia project where you have to watch a movie, an OVA and play four separate DLC games. 

Things I liked: 

Torgal. Best boy.

Mothercrystals - Both the crystal’s role and appearance are really fucking cool. It takes the basic premise of the original FF games, and looks at it realistically. (Though I felt robbed since we didn’t see the heart of the purple crystal in Waloed.)

The interpretation of the summons and Dominants. - Similar to the crystals, I like how people across Valisthea have such different thoughts on the Dominants: fear, reverence, worship, etc. Their character designs are very appealing. It’s also great to see summons who haven’t appeared in a game in well over a decade. 

Cid - Easily a candidate for the best Cid, only rivaling Cid Highwind and maybe Balthier’s dad. He was one of the few characters who had a distinct voice. (Along with Mid.) 

The music - Opinions on this game are all over the place. The one thing everyone universally agrees on is the music fucking rules. It definitely deserved its prize at the Game Awards. Great job, Masayoshi Soken. 

The Hades-esque combat system for Clive. It was fun experimenting with all the powers and abilities.

Nektar - MOOGLE. We actually had a moogle in a FF game for the first time since FFIX. HAPPY DAYS. 

No day/night cycle. No fishing. No forced mini games. Fast travel was accessible from the start. Blessed dreams.

Things I didn’t like: 

Jill is useless. She has no agency. Her confrontation with her abusers was ruined, since Clive did all the fighting in that encounter. They should’ve done what they did with Joshua, and given us control over Jill/Shiva just that one time. After the ocean fight with Barnabas, why did she waste time creating a path on the ocean floor, instead of turning into Shiva and flying themselves out of there? So stupid. And don’t get me started on the sad excuse for a romantic relationship she had with Clive. What a waste of the only female party member. (Also, why does she look so much like Tifa?)

Lack of interaction with other party members, and a lack of a core party - Sparse off the cuff conversations/remarks, no tag team attacks, no breathing room for these characters to simply exist. And when they do, it feels out of place. (I.E. the optional picnic scene with Jill and Clive that felt like watching two rocks try to talk to each other.) Final Fantasy has always been a franchise that has always had a group of eccentrics of different ages, creeds, and species banding together to fight a shared enemy. FFXVI loses that entirely. With a large portion of the game just being Clive and Torgal, this could be any other dark-ish fantasy game. (My ideal core party would be Clive, Joshua, Cid, who would then be replaced by Mid. Byron, Gav and Dion would rotate as guest party members. Jill can go away.)

Lack of good character writing and dialogue. It feels like a redux of FFXII, where the dialogue is dramatic, poetic, and oh gosh no almost everyone talks the same, and the core cast has such little personality.

Too many characters and too many unnecessary story elements. - Torgal being a frost wolf? Doesn’t matter. Sleipnir being an ‘egi’? Doesn’t matter. Spend more time on your characters, dammit!

How every goal, main and side, is impeded by a seven step process. Oh, we have to get through this gate? Well first you have to talk to five people for a fetch quest, run to another area, and defeat two rounds of mooks followed by a mini boss. GIVE ME A BREAK. Are you so insecure about your story and its run time that you have to have bumps in the road at every single turn? 

The length of the boss battles. If I weren’t on story mode, some of these battles would take me over an hour (and multiple tries). The Bahamut fight in particular was absolutely absurd.

So many of the problems could’ve been solved if characters just waltzed into places and killed their targets immediately. Clive could’ve stabbed Hugo in the back before the hallucinations kicked in. If Dion just threw his lance at Anabella or Olivier instead of making a whole fucking speech, then maybe he wouldn’t have killed his dad. It feels like nearly everyone in the game is just stupid. 

#video games #final fantasy

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The Great Anime Rewatch of 2024 - Part III

Nekomonogatari: Black

First watched: January 2013, original airdate Rewatched: January 2024

Original rating: 8 New rating: 4

I was only a few days off of watching this precisely eleven years later. Monogatari has always been a series whose strengths and weaknesses are on full display, and committing to both. For Nekomonogatari, its few episodes are filled with frivolous nonsense that feels like a waste of time: the little sister pandering, and the conversations that go in circles or last too long. And considering how Nekomonogatari was supposed to focus on Hanekawa, she’s not really in it much. Hanekawa has never been my favorite character in the series, and this didn’t help endear me to her at all. Also I’m just tired of seeing teenage anime girls being so sexualized. Finally, I had to dock points for Hanekawa idiotically stating, “People who aren’t blood related can't truly love each other.”

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Owarimonogatari

First watched: December 2015, original airdate Rewatched: January 2024

Original rating: 5 New rating: 4

I guess even my teenage self was growing weary of the Monogatari series by this point, even if I didn’t have the knowledge or vocabulary to explain why. Now I can say that its cast is growing too big and I don’t care about any of the new additions. I did not remember Sodachi and Gaen’s existences, and I still think Shinobu is overrated. I know people adore badass, buxom female characters that are trapped in a younger/more innocent form (Nel from Bleach and Moka from Rosario+Vampire immediately come to mind), but it’s never been a trope that I’ve cared for. 

I was originally going to watch Tsukimonogatari, too. But considering how far my goodwill for the series has plummeted, I’m going to end it here. As far as the Monogatari series goes, I will stick to the first two seasons. They are all I need. But it will be a long time until I go anywhere near this franchise again.

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Aoi Hana

First watched: May 2011  Rewatched: January 2024

Original rating: 7 New rating: 5

Aoi Hana was one of the few yuri anime that wasn’t exploitative, fetishy, or queerbait. Since the author of Aoi Hana is the same woman who created the whole transgender story of Wandering Son, it makes perfect sense.

As much as I want to like Aoi Hana, I just don’t find its characters memorable. (The same goes for Wandering Son.) It’s also really slow. I think it would’ve been better as a condensed film adaptation. I only lasted six episodes. However, I am interested in reading the author’s other works. 

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Black Lagoon & The Second Barrage

First watched: June 2011, August 2011 Rewatched: January 2024

Original rating: 8, 8 New rating: 5, 5

With the utter failure of my rewatch of the bloodbath that is Future Diary, will Black Lagoon fare any better?

I watched the dub because most of the English cast are all Canadian, and Canada churns out some of the best voice actors. More Canadians in anime dubbing, please?

First season - I wasn’t feeling it until episode nine when Roberta entered the story. (The whole submarine-painting escapade was the low point for me.) The comic timing as the Lagoon calmly hides under a table during a bar shoot out was so good. I also found myself enjoying a lot of the music, particularly whenever it sounded Mediterranean. Rock is way more boring than I remember (fuckin’ morality pet), Revy is more static than I remember, and Benny….exists. Dutch is cool, though. With the exception of the CG for some of the vehicles, most of the animation has also held up. The first season was just alright to me, but the English cast and localization did a lot of heavy lifting. (Docking points for having a white lady doing a bad Asian accent for Shenhua.)

Second season - So. The twins. Still the highlight. And I called it quits five episodes in. I’ve had my fill. This is not the kind of show that’s good to marathon for me—it’s better suited to a weekly popcorn flick that you forget about almost immediately after. But I’m not doing that. Again, massive credit to the the English cast and localization team for a damn good job. 

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Spice & Wolf

First watched: July 2011 Rewatched: January 2024

Original rating: 5 New rating: 4

‘Animeconomics’ and Holo defined Spice & Wolf. I only recall being bored (I was only seventeen when I first watched it), and thinking Fukuyama Jun was woefully miscast as the main guy. I still feel that way, so I dared to watch this in English. Maybe listening to Holo’s economic lessons in English will help my enjoyment?

I feel like so many female voice actresses fall back upon the acting choice of high and mighty/snobbish/know it all route, and then use it for every fucking line. (Colleen Clinkenbeard, Marisha Rey, Brina Palencia.) No, it doesn’t make me like you or the character. It’s annoying, and much more intolerable in my native language than hearing it in Japanese. And Lawrence has the personality of a wet log. 

However, Spice & Wolf is most interesting when Holo and Lawrence are using their knowledge and wits in the harsh landscape of merchants and peddlers. The bits where they’re being chased and attacked? Get that shit out of there. In a story like Spice & Wolf, you know everything is going to resolve itself quickly. There’s more tension in making bad deals or getting swindled. I’d almost be better off listening to the education bits audio only, since the visuals are woefully uninteresting. I lasted six episodes and furries still make me uncomfy.

#anime

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The Great Anime Rewatch of 2024 - Part II

Trinity Blood

First watched: I have no idea.  Rewatched: December 2023

Original rating: 6 New rating: 4

I first watched Trinity Blood when it was on Adult Swim. It was so long ago I only remember the name of the protagonist, Abel Nightroad, vampires and the church, and that’s it. I don’t even remember if I actually watched the whole thing. 

Jumping into this felt like a blast from the past, both tonally and visually. The narrow, elongated faces of the characters have not been in fashion for ages. And coupled with the dark, edgy and over the top atmosphere, those kinds of anime aren’t really made anymore. (For better or for worse.) I was thoroughly disappointed that Abel’s characterization was basically identical to Vash the Stampede’s. When he actually becomes threatening, it’s hard to take him seriously when his hair goes all DBZ. 

You know what? The show itself is hard to take seriously because it’s such a tonal disaster. I’m not invested in a single character, and I’m not interested in the story. I lasted seven episodes. 

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Space Dandy

First watched: winter/summer 2014, original airdate Rewatched: December 2023

Original rating: 8 New rating: 8

I forgot almost everything about Space Dandy. But I did remember the dub is good. (Except for Colleen Clinkenbeard because she makes the same choices all the time. But I digress.) For some reason, I was anticipating Space Dandy being worse than I remember and not aging too well. I’m so pleased that I was wrong. Sure, its episodic nature means that not every story is a winner. But the highs are really high. 

First season highs: the zombie episode, the plant episode, the racing episode, and both episodes centering on Meow and QT. Even if an episode as a whole isn’t great, there’s usually a memorable scene. (I.E. The Dandy vs. Dandy game show in the chameleonian episode.)

Second season highs: The alternate versions of the protagonists, the time traveling river/tsunami, the style and animation in the fish planet episode, the high school musical, Major Attaway voicing the disco alien, the limbo episode, the animation of the 2D dimension, and the supporting cast teaming up to save Dandy in the finale. 

I wouldn’t call Space Dandy one of my all time favorites. Scarlet’s episodes were always the weakest, despite the attempts to make her likable. (Part of that is due to Colleen’s acting—she delivers lines in the way that make her sound condescending at all times.) The second cour’s focus shifted mostly towards Dandy, and both QT and Meow were sidelined. But it was absolutely worth revisiting. This is easily the most fun rewatch I’ve had this round so far. 

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Sankarea

First watched: June 2012, original airdate Rewatched: December 2023

Original rating: 7 New rating: 5

The scariest part of Sankarea is the titular heroine’s fucked up relationship with her father, and her zombiefication. Everything else is mid as hell, that ranges from forgettable to annoying. Rea was the only character I remotely gave a shit about, but she is not enough to make up for the rest of the show. It’s also a lot more perverted than I remember. I didn’t find myself enjoying this upon rewatch and skipped a lot of scenes. I lasted six episodes. 

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Kimi ni Todoke 1 & 2

First watched: Winter 2010 and winter 2011, original airdates Rewatched: December 2023

Original rating: 7, 7 New rating: 5, 5

Kimi ni Todoke was one of the most popular shoujo romances back in the day. Newer anime fans seem to regard it as average and vanilla. With the third season finally on the horizon after a thirteen year gap, I figured now was a good a time as any to revisit it. 

Revisiting stories after such a long period of time is one of the best way to see my growth as a person and a storyteller. One aspect of media that I’ve always leaned towards are good characters—I much prefer character driven stories over plot driven ones. No matter how interesting a story is, I won’t care about what’s happening if I’m not engaged with the characters. This is also exemplary in my own writing, where I have my protagonists have clear goals they wish to achieve. This is heavily influenced from my years steeped in musical theatre, where “I Want” songs are crucial to the story. 

All this to say that with Kimi ni Todoke, I don't know what these characters want, aside from romantic relationships. It doesn’t make me care about them, or look forward to what’s going to happen. I understand that not every story or every character needs to be driven. But it gives me little to cheer for when the main couple in shoujo romances inevitable get together by the end. 

The other main issue I have is that all conflicts come from outside sources. Or rather, an outside source: Kurumi. Then when her time is up, the story doesn’t know where to go with Kazehaya and Sawako. So it shifts to the other protagonists. There’s also an excessive amount of internal monologuing from Sawako. A lot of it is relatable—dealing with loneliness, not sure if people you consider friends genuinely like you, being worthy of love. I take some comfort in that, but there have been other characters who have expressed it better. For the first season, I watched through episode 19, then skipped to the final episode. I didn’t feel like I missed much. 

As for the second season….it was infuriating. Having both of your romantic leads cause drama by sheer stupidity and lack of communication is just weak ass writing. Plus the author, once again, relied on a third party (Kento) to actually make things happen. I don’t remember much about the rest of the story after this, and I don’t know if I’m up to watching the upcoming third season. Kurumi is the best character, and cheers to Yano for having some fucking sense. 

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Future Diary

First watched: April 2012, original airdate Rewatched: January 2024

Original rating: 7 New rating: 5

Enough lovey dovey shit. Time for some insanity. With that said, I forgot the sheer lengths of insanity Future Diary went to. I also forgot every character who wasn’t Yukiteru, Yuno, Akise and Minene. Most of them weren’t worth remembering. In fact, by episode eight, my motivation to continue watching was super low—mostly because I don’t care about anyone (except Akise). But also the action and gore are so crazy, but the characters aren’t suffering any physical or mental consequences. No one’s broken a bone, or sprained an ankle, or fractured a rib. And I get it, Future Diary is big dumb fun. But the stakes remain stagnant and I don’t care to see it through. I lasted twelve episodes. 

#anime