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I definitely enjoyed "Take the X Train" - it has a commitment to the craft that is very admirable. The character designs lean heavily towards a realism rarely seen in modern anime, while combining that with the incredibly zany cocktail of a haunted train stalking an ESP-awakening office worker. I think the biggest stand-out visually is the design of the ghost train itself; fully electro-incorporeal, arcs of lighting suggesting the shape of a train without "revealing" it - it understands the rules of the spook. And within this vague story is a bit of thematic depth and genre playfulness, about the world modernity left behind ... and what (if anything) we got in return.

The downside here is that it does not do very much with any of these parts. The characters are vague and one-note; the "story" could easily be told in a few minutes, and none of the themes are developed. I am not saying it should change all of those pieces - simple is good at times - but for a ~50 minute OVA there just is not enough meat to hang off the bone here. Honestly if this was ~20 minutes I would rank it much higher. Still, the parts where it does well are worth the watch. I use the whole range of numbers in my reviews - 5 is not bad. If you like experimental approaches to anime and some fun ghost train aesthetics set to free jazz, give it a watch.

It is dedicated to "Take the A train" composer Duke Ellington; jury is still out on if he would take that as a complement or an insult.

Incredible "vibes" OVA - California Crisis commits fully capturing the summer haze and glitzy shine of 80's Los Angeles as seen in fashion magazines & music videos. Which is a great thing to capture, but combining it with a military/spycraft chase for a lost alien artifact is a zany enough premise to elevate this work above being simply good YoutTube playlist background art. The OVA's bright spot is the Patrick Nagel-esque animation style, where everything is heavily solarized; it does not always work - most particularly for the female lead Mashrea - but when it does it creates a unique aesthetic for anime, and one ... that really "sells" the LA vibe it is so invested in. Additionally, since I saw some comments on it, I think the ending is great. This is not a complicated story, and characterization is done through visuals and actions over dialogue; the simple, abstract ending creates a small-but-real level of thematic depth to the tale.

If you want some retro-80's American pastiche through the eyes of an outsider, it doesn't miss.

Dark Sea Moon Shadow (as the Real Ones call it) is an incredibly solid representative of the OVA Era. It is not very creative or original, it has twists but they are typical for the genre, you can see the tropes it is using for its story with clarity. Which for this OVA is a strength, not a weakness, because it executes on them with conviction and charm. The character designs are stellar, the energy of each scene is a fun dance between horror and romance, and the story keeps its eye on the main character dynamic without getting bogged down in detail. Also Katsuyuki ... is peak 80's masculinity, total hottie, get yourself a man who looks at you the way Katsuyuki looks at Ruka.

Since they don't make 80's OVA's anymore, what was standard then is special now, and Dark Sea Moon Shadow is very adept at delivering that "OVA feel". And what other reason would you have for even being on this page, after all?

Ocean Waves works as a piece of non-narrative simplicity; it isn't about telling a story of a romance or anything like that. Sometimes in life you meet someone, ~events~ without connection happen, and they generate feelings in you that you only realize much later. Also sometimes someone is a jerk but they are hot enough that you forgive them for it. Both of those work to let this film make an impact if you are in the market for that level of realism; and the muted colors and restrained artistry synergizes very well with that. And now that we are past the early-90's Hisashi Eguchi ... era, this style is also rare to find to at this level of polish.

It should have ended ~15 minutes earlier, alas, as what is subtext because text with too much repetition. But you can look past that misstep and get a lot out of this 90's mood piece.

Frieren is an anime that is good at what it wants to be good at It is the best-looking anime of its season, Frieren is a solid character with a strong dynamic with Fern+; you watch it and you care about her because its core conceit of playing with time and the attachments that transcend it is a good hook. Also Sein is a goat, should've kept him around.

It just lacks a story worthy of all that. This show absolutely should have just been an OVA, it has about ~6 episodes of plot in actuality. But its not 1991 so they stretch that out and ... add a ton of padding instead. They could have made it a slice of life thing where there is no plot intentionally and I think that could have really worked with its tone and lush worldbuilding? But they chose shounen battle academy arcs (the worst part, filled with irrelevant characters) and demon army battles (those are okay but wear out their welcome, the demons are boring) instead.

Unless this is your specific genre, or you love beautiful animation for the sake of it, or one of the characters just really triggers your lust meter, I don't recommend it - the effort will not pay off. But if this is your niche then it will scratch it fine.