Feb 13, 2025
Birdie Wing constantly creates the opposite effect of what theoretically should be a more dramatic story of two women who were trained within an inch of their lives to be good at one sport, are torn apart by circumstances, and their love and appreciation for each other is only rivaled by the need to destroy each other at golf. The series is a blast. I hesitate to use the term "life-affirming," but it sure as hell is more uplifting and entertaining than most things. And the more shady, morality-free villains who join the cast to either propose that beloved protagonist Evangeline become their slave or
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Feb 8, 2025
The second movie doesn't add up to "meh" the way other movies do. It is 40% the epic film about crossdressing to break a vital person out of Space Alcatraz with a concert, and nobody can take that away from it, but it's also an extremely messy crossroad, changing the entire second half of the series' plot while the first film doesn't have a firm grasp on the supporting cast who are much more active this time around. If you haven't seen the series, you are confused about who these people are and why they're doing stuff, and the people who've seen it aren't given
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Feb 8, 2025
It's a good sampling about what is great about Macross in 00's clothing, even if it doesn't explain the universe itself super well (You're supposed to laugh when they bring up Sharon Apple as one of the great songstresses, by the way). The soft reset of the characters gives the clearest, most sympathetic view of the leads, and the movie lets them have half the screentime to exist and marinate in their circumstances. It still is a shallow, flashy action melodrama, and the lack of work to solidify the rest of the cast does hurt the second movie, but it's so much fun.
Feb 8, 2025
Still way more convoluted than it wants to do the legwork for, and it has a lot of needless moments that make two out of the three main characters needlessly rude (They even soft reset their intros in the first movie). But when it hits with its unashamed sentimentality and 80's music video editing, it hits hard. Yoko Kanno gets limiters taken off to write sexy love jams, cheery pop, and tearful farewells in the only way a person who once had Edward from Cowboy Bebop sing about the number Pi can do. It's glorious and compliments Kawamori's 80's capitalist utopia, even if the idea
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Oct 10, 2024
Chikyuu Shoujo Arjuna
(Anime)
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If Shoji Kawamori wasn't so intent on doubling down on the series' claims, I'd call Arjuna a psy-op against environmentalism. It's odd he's so militant given in Macross, he sees the greatest gift of mankind as the mall and as far as Macross Delta, the good guys do their duty gentrifying the universe.
Arjuna is such an unpleasant, anger-inducing anime where they take a poor girl, dump her IMMEDIATELY into a terrible situation, and essentially look down on her for not being good enough despite not teaching her ANYTHING. It should be noted they don't directly tell her about one of her powers until the LAST ... 
Sep 18, 2024
Season 2 is a harder pill to swallow as a fellow country bumpkin gifted kid who was always inches away from being thrown in the trash the moment I'm too much of a problem. "Our Empty Selves" is a painful watch for anyone who's had terrible things done to them "for their own good."
But it's what makes Witch from Mercury a worthy successor to Revolutionary Girl Utena despite lacking the latter's artistic flair. I know people who finished Utena's playhouse of metaphor who felt the series was an inspiration, but the ending stops before dealing with the "real world." Despite souped-up sci-fi and a bunch ... 
Aug 5, 2024
Maybe I'm just a filthy Fumoffu lover who doesn't appreciate the pure FMP experience, but the full lean into the 80's and early 90's action movies that inspired the franchise is a cynical, depressing, and predictable experience with none of the cocaine involved that made those movies ridiculous and fun.
It starts off immediately letting us know it's FOR REAL as Sagura graduates and everyone tells him, "NO ONE'S GOING TO PROTECT YOU ANYMORE! IF ANYTHING HAPPENS, IT'S YOUR ASS. NO MORE FUN FOREVER!!!" Then we get one conversation with the main couple to remember why this relationship is good before they're separated because THIS ... 
Jul 27, 2024
Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu
(Anime)
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As a fellow extreme introvert who secretly holds the world up, the Yuki parts of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya are truly special, even if it's just at a base wish fulfilment level of feeling recognized and thanked for doing the incredibly stressful and draining activities that are invisible for everyone else until they don't get done. This is why both the Yuki-chan manga and anime are COMPLETE GARBAGE.
It's not just they completely changed the character to a generic cute girl. It's not just the way they try to force the normal series continuity into the new imagination like how Yuki's trying to save ... 
Jun 17, 2024
So Ra No Wo To
(Anime)
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In that mix of mid-00's anime like Haibane Renmei and Aria that are slice-of-life with a cast of women and girls in an alien-but-comfortable world, it might have been up there with my favorites if I hadn't taken a couple decades to catch up with it. It falls in the middle of these of how REAL it gets, occasionally dipping into dark backstories of the characters and the world, but still keeps a friendly tone. You're not going to be looking at the darkest parts of these people's souls, but as a military base on the border with a country that they had just been
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Jun 3, 2024
Shinsekai yori
(Anime)
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It is a heavy, complicated anime about the distortion of history written by the conquerors. There is much to unpack, and I'm sure one can find many things to criticize, especially the point of view ultimately being held by people who had nothing to do with it and sympathize with what they find out, but still benefit from a completely broken system. I don't think it's much comfort to anyone on the other side of what is considered "the best that can be done" at the end.
But once the anime plays its slow, occasionally clunky hand, the impact is undeniable, and how it changes ... |
