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Frankly, I'm pleased with this season of Blue Lock, especially the last 2 episodes, which are really excellent (if they were the only ones, I'd probably have gone up to 7/10 with no problem).

So I know there was some debate about the animation, which admittedly isn't that great, but frankly it didn't bother me in the slightest, because unlike other anime, this sluggish animation is compensated for by very good direction that makes the viewing more timid and conveys what's going on in the players' heads. For example, in the penultimate episode, when Rin realizes he's not alone, there's a maudlin scene with his childhood ... toy being rebuilt, which is then shattered by Rin's rage at this situation, which he hates so much, and a more hellish (almost horrific) scene, which surprises the viewer as the emotion builds and shows what Blue Lock and Rin are all about. So, sure, it could have been much more beautiful, but in the end, as it's well shown, it's not a problem for me, I don't need sakuga to be drinkable (even if some CGI shots are ugly, I grant you). What's more, Blue Lock works with a lot of slow action and endless decryptions, so sakugated animation (whatever that means) isn't necessarily appropriate, even if it could have been more polished at times.

In short, it was great even if, apart from Bachira, I found it a little hard to get attached to the characters, notably because of the fact, indicative of the series, that all success comes from a desire for individualism, which I don't really like in this sport, but that's the concept of the series, so it was inevitable.

Frankly, this season had some very good ideas. For example, the idea of showing each hero failing in their role to create a parallel with Naofumi, or returning to a more impulsive aspect of our hero at the end of the season, these are very good ideas. The problem is that the execution doesn't follow. If I take the example of the heroes who fail, it's already very unsubtle, with the characters feeling obliged to explain everything out loud without letting the viewer hint at anything, but above all, it's the same reasons that lead them to failure 3 times (and even 4 if you ... count the case of Naofumi in season 1), the same sequence of events that resolves the situation at breakneck speed, and the same person who causes their downfall. In other words, it's mega-redundant. What's more, the fact that Mine is responsible for the 3 catsatrophes makes no sense at all, given that she's been proven guilty of manipulation and treachery in front of everyone, but they're still trying to make you believe that the heroes don't know about it or are stupid enough to believe her, when in fact she's not even subtle in her manipulations (just a “you're too strong, only I understand you, bg” is enough). And it's a pity, because that's what almost every idea is, overhauled and poorly executed.

Really, this anime is the perfect illustration that having a good idea isn't enough, and that you have to apply it properly or it becomes a bad idea.But it's still drinkable and it managed to pique my curiosity at the end, so I'm still curious to see season 4.

I'm really not convinced by these OVAs. The animation isn't that great (even for 2008) and the direction is flabby, which makes it hard for the series to get involved in its story, which isn't very interesting in itself (after all, that's never been Cobra's strength).

Seriously, this OVA series only inspires a vague boredom, and where the 2010 series was saved by a few stories with interesting concepts, here neither the story nor the characters are successful, and as the anime doesn't manage to show them to us in a way that makes them more intense (like seriously, even the glass man can't ... manage to iconize him), well, we're bored stiff, and in the end I've almost already forgotten the 4 OVAs, even though I've just finished them.

It's really sad, but Cobra was impressive in the 70s, but no longer in the 2000s.

Frankly, it's much better than the previous OAV!

This time the story is interesting, discovering the beginnings of the Cobra/Armanoid relationship is a great idea, and it's nice to finally see Cobra involved in what's going on and not just disinterested and self-serving as always, it's really nice to finally humanize the character and feel him really attached to his companion.

The problem with this OAV remains its flat, idea-less direction, as well as the execution of the script, which dispatches its good ideas and dwells on the not-so-good ones. Seriously, they've bungled the story of what drove Armanoid to become a robot in 5 minutes on ... the clock....fortunately, even so, the emotional impact is still there.

But the pace is an overall problem with these OVAs, because in this case, it clearly should have been made into a film, given how the script begins in a hurry without taking the time to explain the reasons that will lead us to this story, and ends just as hastily, which is a real shame!

But it's still better than the previous OAV, so I'm satisfied.

Quite frankly, a wonderful discovery!

There's a deep melancholy that emanates from this anime, giving it a truly atypical atmosphere that fits perfectly with this tale of a desperate quest for freedom, which tackles some very interesting and profound themes.

The problem is that the episodes are rather uneven, that the anime doesn't take on board the implications of its story (i.e. the inevitable loss of many members in this struggle) and that the ending, although logical and relevant, is really too hasty and settled in 2 blows of a spoon. Seriously, the whole idea of the passing of the baton and the eternal quest for freedom ... is totally in the right place, but it's settled in 20 seconds with no real up-front preparation - what a waste!

Otherwise it's a very good anime, so I can't wait to see the other Albator series, which look just as good.

The anime is the embodiment of boredom at its most boring, with nothing to shake us out of the ambient monotony that runs through these 13 episodes. What I mean by this is that everything is seen over and over again, without ever adding anything to the already hackneyed scenario of the young girl reincarnated as a romance game villain. And from there, every clichéd event unfolds exactly as you'd expect it to, so you're never surprised or invested in any way, and so you just endure the scenario and nothing more.

But what pushes me below the average is that in execution it manages the ... feat of messing up what it does! For example, the heroine behaves like the most evil villain of all, and for that we get 0 subtlety, because she repeats it 20 times per episode, and worse than that, she never actually behaves like a villain, despite what she keeps saying, every one of her actions is that of a lambda big-hearted heroine, the only difference is that she makes a villainous laugh and says she is, but I'm sorry, saying an event is bad doesn't automatically make it bad, it doesn't work like that!

So the basic promise alone is screwed up, but you can extend that to this season's central twist, which is pathetic in its execution, to the romance, which has no chemistry and comes out of nowhere, and overall to everything the anime undertakes, it's sad beyond belief to see such a result.

I'll say one last word about the feat of transforming Alicia's only bad deed, namely harassing Lize when she hasn't asked her to, into a good deed, since at the end you're made to believe that Lize is a manipulator, when formally she isn't. But then, it would have been too much to ask that Alicia be allowed to do what she wants. But it would have been asking too much to actually make Alicia mean in even one relationship.

But the bottom line is that I'm not even annoyed by this level of pandering, I'm just indifferent. In short, in the end I won't retain anything from this anime other than a vague boredom, but did it ever try to be more than that? Unfortunately, I don't think so.

What an experience this film is!

It's halfway between an enchanting children's film, with its retelling of the Pinocchio fairy tale, and a borderline horrific film, with very harsh, dark themes and atmosphere, which makes for a very peculiar mix to watch. In the end, however, it's still very enjoyable to watch, despite its confusing nature, because it's so original that you don't really know what to expect.

In terms of the subjects dealt with, it's really varied and well-handled, with the quest for what it is to be human (with Palme's unattainable quest and the paradox of his inability to understand human beings), parenthood (with the ... various parents who abandon their children for their own interests), free will (with the puppet motif that also applies to humans), grief, selfishness (with Palme ignoring the desires of others), etc.... The result is a very rich film, and these themes aren't just thrown in at random; they contribute to the richness of the story, as they are applied to the characters in greater depth, or through parallels between each of them, creating connections between them.

The result is a film that works very well, but not a perfect one, because in the application of these themes, there are some clumsy elements that detract somewhat from the film (even if they remain superficial). For example, the film doesn't really take the trouble to endear Palme to us before his anthypathetic arc, so we're less attached to him and therefore less involved in certain moments of the story, or the relationship between Palme and Mina, which I think starts a little too quickly.

All in all, an imperfect film, to be sure, but devilishly disconcerting, rich and interesting. So I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a more atypical experience, because this film is definitely worth a watch!

This film really doesn't know what it wants to be. It wants to create a new work inspired by Jules Verne's novel by integrating a tyrannical futuristic empire and a story of rebellion, but at the same time it wants to be a faithful adaptation of the book and therefore reproduces a lot of scenes that don't tie in at all (or very badly) with the plot the film is trying to develop. As a result, in trying to do everything at once, the film ends up doing nothing at all, and is just a poorly-paced, messy plot.

There are still a few good ideas, such ... as a new origin story for Captain Nemo, which is interesting and in line with the film's direction. The problem is that even these ideas are poorly executed, ruined by poor writing that lacks subtlety and a messy pace that leaves no time for these ideas to develop properly.

As a result, we end up with an incomprehensible, poorly-written film that doesn't know what it wants to be. It's a real shame, because with the original material, it could have been much better.

I'm sorry to have to give this remake such a low rating, because I sincerely thought that re-adapting this Japanese anime myth was an excellent idea! Except that this adaptation is clearly shaky, and that's what forced me to give it this mark.

The characters are clearly less interesting and less well-written in this version (and it's not the surface depth they vainly try to create that's going to save it), some characters are clearly useless, the love plots that are brought to the fore are clearly not very thrilling, the subtlety of the story is non-existent and the episodes are frankly uneven (a problem of ... the original, by the way).

What's left to salvage in this season is a real willingness to reappropriate Goldorak, which I find quite courageous given the myth that it is once again, and here they went all out! Even though the ideas clearly didn't appeal to me, and I find them really poorly exploited, you can't take away from their desire to truly remake the anime and not just copy and paste a more contemporary version, as with many remakes, and that's great.

In the end, I was really disappointed by this season, which is shaky in a number of respects, but this desire to create something new makes me hope for a sequel that will be much more successful and where the staff will be able to exploit its ideas more effectively (and honor the characters, because things aren't going well at the moment, give us back our Maria).

In short, I'm not crazy, but I'm hopeful for a better future (by the way, the ending is brilliant).

I must admit that I wasn't expecting to like this anime so much, but the fact is that I had a great time watching it.

The subject is original, the characters are endearing, Obata's designs are very well done, the story manages to involve you quite strongly despite a rather slow pace, which manages to make Go very cool to watch, and there's lots of other really cool stuff.

I'd still like to emphasize two things that I find very successful:
Firstly, the Hikaru/Akira rivalry, which is the main thread running through the anime and which is very well written, with one of them pushing the other to ... take up Go and the other pursuing a chimera that will make him change his way of playing in the presence of Sai's game through Hikaru's intermediary. So both progress in Go and evolve as their rivalry progresses, and that's super interesting.

The second thing is the theme that the anime tackles through its story, talking about many aspects of Go (even the less glamorous ones like the precariousness of amateur players), which gives quite a broad portrait of the profession and that's rare enough to highlight. On top of that, there's a whole subject on the transmission of knowledge and a questioning of where to stop in one's quest for excellence, and what's the point of going so far and regularly questioning the passion and absolutism of the characters in the Go.

In short, this is a truly original and very clever anime, which managed to captivate me on a subject I wasn't particularly interested in from a distance, while at the same time moving me at certain moments (especially the ending, which is bathed in the feeling of looking back at all the ground we've covered so far).

To sum up all this talk: Look at Hikaru no Go, it's super cool and not well-known enough.