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Blam! Blam blam! Blam!!! That's how the title of this work is pronounced, not the actual word "blame". That's right the title to this movie is a poorly written sound effect not a verb.

Blame comic is one of those rare combinations of popular and niche at the same time, generating positive reviews and poor ones depending on the writers. Nihei, the mangaka, creates a divisive work by focusing on atmosphere, violence and body horror, while the story takes a backseat for the seemingly endless journey, leaving readers to pick up the small bits and pieces like bread crumbs. Suffice to say, this did not sit ... to well with some people, who describes the narrative as "unwelcoming". Now, how does one go about adapting this into a movie that is supposed to have massive appeal?

Well to make it more accessible, they shave the story down, include only a few parts from the manga, alter the events to make it more cohesive, use flashy CG graphics and introduce a "way in" character in the form of a moe girl who is meant to have us root for the second she removes her helmet revealing her pouty face, tear filled yet determined doe-eyed expression and by gum, it actually works!

Although this is a different experience than reading the source materials, using a solid narrative (even an open-ended one), visuals that can be chilling while showcasing Nihei's fantastic scifi world, although at times the character models can look stiff and Zuru acting as the emotional anchor, contrasting Killy silent protagonist style, really grounded this work. Ultimate the result was something that newcomers could enjoy as well as people that are a fan of the source material, could admire. A lot of thought and care into the framing of scenes, the music and sound effects that made this project a worthwhile. Even though we don't get to spend time with some of the characters that we want to, I enjoyed the time we did have. There is just something unforgettable about Cibo nonchalant smirk or Sanakan's arrogant smile. You can tell a lot of thought and time went into their designs and how they are represented and it's not lost on me.

Although the movie leaves a lot of things open and people questioning things, that is just the nature of Nihei work and can be scene in all his creations, so I'm glad they didn't waste too much time and effort trying to write a dictionary worth of stuff to appease people's unrelenting desire for explaination. Overall it's a a good movie to sit down and watch, especially if you are crazy something more scifi and mysterious.

So, what's the deal with the end credits animations? That design and animation is like something straight from a Disney Marvel movie lol.

Of all the Dragon Ball movies this one is clearly the most theatrical. It does not shy away from painting the screen with dramatic imagery, delivering poetic lines and one could argue, a series of tragic twists and lore which could be considered shakespearean.

That's the beauty of this movie, although the ending does fall flat, after watching it you are still left with a good impression thanks to the art direction. No more than 10 minutes after finishing it and complaining about the ending, which I will delve in to later, I started to think about all the good things this film did. ... My mind wandered to the great shots such as the image of Bulma holding baby Trunks as the wind blew her hair and sakura petals with the spaceship perfectly framed in the background or how Gohan tragically hung from a building after his defeat or how badass Piccolo's entrance was or how chilling the shot of infant Broly being held with a knife up to him. This is one of the rare cases where Dragon Ball really nails the pacing, dialogue and humor. The backstory and plot are told just at the right times and the lines given by Broly, his father Paragus gives you chills and the humor really works! From the karaoke scene at the start, Goku and Chichi interactions (was she threatening to withold sex?!), to Roshi's inebriated antics, I found myself giggling more often than I expected. Also going back to some of the older content is a nice change of pace because you see how modern Goku who is, for lack of a better term, "stupid" to his older potrayal of just being blunt. "Is this interview a fibbing contest" or "Aw, that's nasty!" as a sincere response to Broly doing the villain licking blood off his face thing, moments had me rolling.

The plot is fun and adds to the lore of Dragon Ball in a good way, which is what fans could hope for from an original movie. As I mentioned earlier, the pace is very telling a story of deception, revenge and loss but that starts to fall apart at the end. Unfortunately Broly and the Legendary Super Saiyan title more than lives up to its reputation. Of course this is Dragon Ball, so the plot ends in a battle and that's fine but the issue is that Broly is unstoppable, meaning the cast does not make a single scratch on him. At first this is great for building suspense but when you realize what you see is what we are getting it just makes the movie drag on and on and on as we watch Broly pummel them uncontested. This could work if the characters acknowledge this and was trying to reslove things in a different manner, trap him on the planet, setup a special attack, or somehow force a situation to give them the advantage but this just isn't the case. The cast cotinues marching forward to get beat up. The remake, reboot or reimagining of this movie is able to resolve this because they have access to fusion techniques so it's a great way to go, "hey ok, we established this guy is badass and beat everyone now just have them fuse." Instead here we get a series of beatings until someone on the staff decides, "ok lets end this." and they decide to do that by having everyone give Goku energy and he one shots him. Dragon ball logic, that shouldn't really work and the fact that it just happens makes it feel unrewarding. Regardless it's anticlimatic to say the least.

Yeah after all that Goku punches him once and that's the end... Oh wait is that a comet...comet!? That's a freakin rogue planet! Teleport and role end credits!!

Man... I hate this movie.

Galaxy Express 999 is a wonderful series and Sayonara Galaxy Express is a must watch movie in my books. The beauty of the animations is in the theme which as Leiji Matsumoto says is, a celebration of mortality. This theme is expressed in how characters live thier lives, how they die and their dreams, which leads to the ultimate decision on if pursuing immortality is the right choice for Tetsurou. Eternal Fantasy (as the name implies) seems to upend that notion. But that's neither here nor there, lets instead talk about what this is.

Eternal Fantasy is an adaptation to the newer ... Galaxy Express comic, eternal edition, which means it ignores some parts of Sayonara Galaxy Express which served as a conclusion of sorts. Which isn't a big deal because continuity is something that's always loose in this series, the question is does this do a good job as a prologue in its 54 minute run time... wait a minute, 54 minutes?! That's right and with that said, let me say that the answer to if this is a good prologue is, no and the runtime is a part of it. I don't think this version of Galaxy of Express is destined for greatness but the lack of desire to look into Eternal Edition after watching Eternal Fantasy lies solely on this film.

The problem with this, is that the prologue isn't interested in the setup, the start is just to get the ball rolling and the adventure on the train happening again which makes this movie which consists of the prologue and only the prologue, frankly, bad. This movie is like eating the discarded, unwanted parts of food. The thing that no one wanted or cared about, all rolled up in a nice package and handed off to you, solely for the purpose of getting you excited of actually eating the meal and you want me to rate the trash parts? Well they're not good. The story is rushed and all the important parts are told through flashes of exposition outside of the action.

Without spoiling things, Eternal Fantasy story goes like this: "The plot starts out fast and hard with flashy action and we learn through a quick exposition that the enemy is comfort and high quality of life apparently. Lets escape! Oh hey btw the most tragic thing that could happened just randomly happened offscreen with no warning, setup or reason given. Ok, the end. Nope, no, do not recommend. This came out in theaters in Japan by the way and no they weren't happy about it either as it underperformed.

I enjoy Leiji Matsumoto works but I can't recommend this. The only saving grace is that the animation is enduring and that the little time you spend with it, the movie never insults your intelligence, or subjects you to stupid or offensive themes preventing it from ever falling into the apalling or terrible category.

Sexual Transhumanism:

This anime isn't exactly smart; don't expect to find hidden philosophic wisdom but the main theme is trans-humanism and sex. While Bubblegum Crisis relied on Blade Runner aesthetic with 80s anime badass girls and Parasite Dolls focused on hardboiled noir stories, this series deals with bizarre new sexual kinks brought about in this new cybernetic world.

The multiple stories presented to you will focus on things about people going into sexual frenzies and sexual frustration brought out in mulitple ways because of boomers or cyberization.
In theory this sounds like a good concept because its original and not relying too heavy on other influences but the ... problem is that the stories aren't exactly complex, fun or have anything intelligent to say. The series does succeed in usuing visuals, characters and music to create a world you want to revisit. Plus if you enjoyed the type of grittiness of the anime of this era you would feel right at home as blood splashes all over the place, bodies become riddled with bullet holes and limbs fly through the air.

Overall, I give the anime credit for its attempt to inject some interesting concepts into a genre. We all know about an AI/Android struggle for independence but what happens when they get a sex drive? Will they develop kinks? Or what happens to the effect of cyberization on people sex drive or psyche when they have it? Sure we've seen people question their humanity of cybernetic implants but what about their them questioning their sexual function?

It's an ambitious series and I do enjoy coming back to it every once in a while and if you allow me to contradict myself for a little bit, it does have some intelligence to it, its just that the type it displays is very common and seen before. What holds back this series is that the episodes each exist individually before they have a chance to become great, they all kind of end abruptly not really allowing the series to make a good enough statement or point.

If you are interested in this series for any reason what so ever, as in a fan of Bubblegum Crisis, Cyberpunk, or gritty anime of this era, then it will be worth the watch but if none of those things are you cup of tea, then you may find yourself uninterested. Do I recommend it? Yes, I would say it's a good watch just as a study into the subject matter. Can't think of another series that deals with these subjects in this manner, so pick it up if this review interested you.