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I’m in a unique position, in relation to how people usually view this franchise. I’ve seen pretty much nothing of Monogatari as a series, sans a few early episodes of Bakemonogatari. All I know is that Kizu takes place at the very start of the series, and features a somewhat different style and approach the series overall. I'd heard about how good the Kizumonogatari films were meant to be, and I've always been a little drawn to anime films rather then TV series - so, I dove in, expecting just a feature-length version of what I'd seen in Bakemonogatari.

Man, Kizumonogatari is really something different.

The biggest ... thing I took out of the first Kizu movie is it’s depiction of it’s visuals - I am in love with how this film looks. My first thought as I was watching the film was that having a near totally CGI backgrounds would look cheap and out of place, but it does so much to create this weird, eerie atmosphere. I’ve been critical of SHAFT’s attempts of CG in the past, but I think they did amazing work utilizing what I’d say is a shortcoming in their other series to amazing effect in the film. The animation is also nothing short of superb in this film, not once dropping below a spectacular standard - Araragi’s immolation is probably the standout moment of the film. It’s just this nightmarish situation that goes on just long enough that it feels like it’ll never end for our poor protagonist.Character animations can range from being incredibly realistic and fluid, to an almost hyper-cartoonish and silly. Maybe the most wonderful thing about that though is that it all flows together perfectly, never really breaking up the important scenes of the film.

Honestly, the story isn’t that unique - normal high school student Araragi runs into the dying body of an obscenely powerful vampire lady, offers his blood to restore her life, and the plot unfolds from there. Like I said, it isn’t particularly new territory for any media, but it’s the way they outline the plot, the way the characters act - especially Araragi, who’s complicated feelings in regards to the people he meets (like Hanekawa) or the sheer terror, yet need to help, Heart-Under-Blade, in what felt like turning the ‘protagonist's sacrifice’ trope turned on its head. The ending of the story sets up a lot of cool places Kizumonogatari could go, none of which really bodes well for Araragi, and gets me excited for some more animation-heavy content, especially after seeing SHAFT flex their animaton muscles in a lot of more mundane situations in this film.

I know dialogue is the standout feature of the Monogatari series, but I feel the general lack of constant dialogue made the scenes of character interaction stand out that much more. I adored pretty much all of the interactions between Araragi and Hanekawa, with all their little movements and mannerisms that I haven’t really seen captured in most films of this level, a further testament to just how far SHAFT went on developing this film series. Even with such a different style to the series (at least from what I can tell), the lifeblood of Monogatari is still utterly present within it, which I think would've made this something the fans didn’t celebrate as much as they have since it’s release.

I think it's been a while since I watched something we're pretty much every character on screen was so utterly fighting for the spotlight. I wasn’t sure if it was the writing, their visuals, or the stellar voice acting (which, my god, is probably the most objectively perfect thing in this entire film). At first, Araragi and Hanekawa’s interactions were simply divine, but then Araragi’s encounter with Kiss-Shot and what follows had me at a loss for what I enjoyed more. Every character feels so distinct and utterly different from each other, and I legitimately feel they’re all perfect for the role they play in this film. Though, with a gun to my head, I’d have to say Hanekawa - all her little movements and playful, bubbly energy was like an arrow into me, and I was legitimately sad when (due to events in the film) she wasn’t a major player. Thankfully, I’ve got two more films worth of content with this simply divine cast of characters.

I will go back to how I mentioned how good the atmosphere of this film was. During the opening scene, of Aragragi climbing the building, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Silent, eerie, bleak - it all combines to create this world that I couldn’t tear my eyes away from. There were a lot of moments in this film, especially in its first half, that felt like I was watching someone else’s nightmare. Honestly, there are some situations I could imagine watching this film and actually be a little creeped out by the vibe it throws out at times. Atmosphere has always been key to my enjoyment of a lot of shows, and I can’t really think of many other anime that have nailed that atmosphere as well as Kizumonogatari.

With an incredibly strong start, Kizumonogatari has got me raring to watch the rest of the film trilogy, and dive into Monogatari as a greater franchise. With amazing voice acting, visuals, and mood to cover a slightly ho-hum story, Kizumonogatari I is a feast for the eyes, and required viewing for pretty much anyone who’s got a hungering for some top tier animation. It’s weird, it’s eerie, and it’s all kinds of crazy, but damn, Kizumonogatari feels like something special that only SHAFT could do.

I'm the first to admit - I'm a sucker for romance anime. They're cheesy, they're silly, but I just can't get enough of them. The issue is, most romance anime kind of sucks. They all feel like they're twelve episodes, spend ten of them getting the pairings together, and then we MIGHT get one kiss before show is over. It just... sucks. So when I heard Bloom Into You was a little different, and from a few recommendations from people who've read the manga, I dove into the show looking for that something was a little different. And man, was I not disappointed.

Bloom Into You ... more (or at least how I see it) realistic take on a romance show was something I really dug throughout the entire run of the show. It features the story of a new high school student, named Yuu, who finds her self unable to understand love, or find herself falling in love with someone. She meets Touko, a 2nd year student who quickly grows attracted to Yuu due to her abnormal love-related problems, and the story progresses from there.

Bloom Into You did the most important job of immediately getting you invested in the main plot and relationship between Yuu and Touko and doles out the advances of their relationship in such a way that leaves you needing that one more episode to see what turn things will take in that next episode. The narrative is firmly tied to the two main characters of the show, Yuu and Touko, and so a majority of how good the show really is is tied to how good they are. Plus, the fact that they start their 'relationship', as abnormal as it, within the first few episodes puts this show in my good books without question.

Thankfully, Bloom Into You's protagonists are nothing short of brilliant.

Whilst Touko didn't really 'develop', so to speak, as a character besides her attraction to Yuu, one of the best parts of watching the show week to week was slowly peeling back the layers of the facade that make up Touko Nanami. From where we start with the seemingly perfect Touko, loved by all men and women at the school, we see someone who's pretty much in the realm of mental illness, obsessed with something she had no control over. It's heartbreaking to watch, and it's heartbreaking to see Yuu do everything in her power to try and stop her from teetering towards the edge. On an extra note, I normally really dislike love triangles in my series, but seeing how Touko's new relationship with Yuu impacts her deep friendship and one-sided attraction from Sayaka really enriches Touko's character, and the immense influence she has on the people closest to her.

On the other side we have Yuu, who I cannot praise enough as the protagonist of a romance show. She isn't automatically in love with Nanami from the get-go, but at the same time not opposed to the physical displays of affection Nanami dotes on her with. Seeing Yuu struggle with the nature of her feelings towards Touko, and her feelings towards romance and all that are fascinating to watch, and seeing her wants and desires change over the course of the show puts her one of the best romance show protagonists in a very good while. I was also fond of the fact that she wasn't utterly obsessed with Touko, like most romance protagonists. Whilst she naturally wants to be around her, and talk to her, Touko never becomes the sole factor of her character, as she had friends and family she spends time with, which I felt was really nice.

On that note, and not in a perverse way, but I really enjoyed that their relationship is shown in such a physical manner. Too often, -especially- in yuri series, you'll get the normal crap of 'we are girls that love each other a ton' but simply don't do much beyond holding hands and MAYBE a hug. It was refreshing to get something that was a little more realistic and how I'd feel two teenagers who are attracted to each other (especially in Touko's case) would act.

I feel where this show suffers the most are segments of the show that don't directly focus on the developing relationship between the two main protagonists. A lot of the scenes that focus on side characters felt a lot more boring and tiresome to slog through then scenes featuring Touko or Yuu, which I think serves to show just how fantastic those aforementioned moments are. It's not to say I disliked characters like Sayaka or Koyomi at all, exactly the opposite. It's just that I was so invested in the main storyline of the show, and enjoyed the direction of the main scenes so much that I was just always wishing the focus would cut back to the two of them. I also felt the show was just -that- little bit slow-paced for a twelve-episode series. Whilst never devlolving into a snoozefest, the second half of the show has that feeling too little is happening over too much time, and whilst that's good for a more realistic romance show, I feel a few more chapters of content could've been covered if the pacing of events sped up just that tiny bit.

An additional thing, on that note, that I'm grateful for is the show including non-straight characters that aren't the two main protagonists of a romance. Just having Sayaka and the teacher Riko as side characters that are decidedly not straight, being a lesbian and (seemingly) bisexual respectively, helps the show feel less gimmicky. A bit like it's less 'hey, here are these two gay characters in a sea of a straight people!' like every other yuri or BL show.

The show looks very pretty throughout it's entire run - the more simple, realistic character designs are very at home in the world of Bloom Into You, and the show never noticeably dips into off-model characters or anything of that nature. The animation is... fine, I guess? Outside of maybe one episode, it never really reached the atmosphere of 'great', but it's the kind of slow-paced show that doesn't really need it. For what Bloom Into You is, the show is a visual treat that'll deliver exactly what you want.

If you're like me, and you're looking for a romance-based show that takes the main relationship seriously and doesn't (mostly) waste your time, Bloom Into You is worth your time. With very strong character writing for it's main cast and a strong supporting cast, along with one of the better non-straight romances... well, probably ever, all I can do is sit and wait for more of this show to come, and just hope everything turns out well for these two very good girls.

If there's an award for most weird and wild show for 2018, Gakuen Basara is for sure in the running.

I wasn't really a fan of Sengoku Basara. I only watched the first season, but I felt it was a pretty average series that I was only really interested in because of my interest in the Warring States period of Japan. But, I liked it enough that when I heard about Gakuen Basara, a school-setting version of Sengoku Basara. So, knowing a lot about the real-world individuals, I decided that at the very least, this show would be a good laugh at crazy, school versions of ... people I find fascinating.

If anything, this show is a great pile of fun. Seeing characters like Ieyasu Tokugawa, Yukimura Sanada, and Date Masemune existing in a school environment is just a basic point that is simply hysterical. The show itself is formatted, for the most part, as each episode having two stories per episode, though there are several plot threads that culminate in the last episode.

The actual comedic value of each story vary wildly. Some, such as Kanbei's struggles in life, or the entire festival episode are fantastic, though other one, such as the episode focused around the female characters, or Keiji's attempts to woo Magoichi are downright awful. There's a decent balance, and for the most part the episodes are very watchable, there are just more then a few moments in which the show can get a little boring. There's also the fact that there are a lot of character-centric jokes that can get a little tiresome by the end, but these moments are far and few between.

I honestly think I would've enjoyed this show without having seen Sengoku Basara, as imagining the historical figures, like Tokugawa or Mitsunari engaging in such a petty squabble is simply hysterical. The way they incorporate people from the Warring States period (as they are in Sengoku Basara, of course) into the show is done very clervly, and in a way that's generally very funny - stuff like Nobunaga being the demon-like Headmaster of the School, or legendary warlords being teachers is brilliant. The comedy of the stories are all nice, but the characters are absolutely the highlight here. Mitsunari was by far my favourite, as his obsession with Ieyasu led to a ton of insane scenes where he attempts to take control and just fail miserably, generally. My only complaint is there wasn't enough screaming between Yukimura and Takeda. Additionally, all the voice acting is nothing short of fantastic, with all the voice actors doing their best versions of the character, even in such a bizzare and wacky setting.

The way the ongoing plot threads, such as Hideyoshi's suspension and Ieyasu and Mitsunari's war over the student council come together really nicely, and creates a sense of continuity and build-up to the finale, especially in the last four or so episodes. I honestly didn't expect the show to have any continuity between episodes, but having everything come together, (sans a sort of 'and the story goes on' ending) gives the show a boost it would've suffered without. Visually, the show looks fine and never looks worse then that - it never looks or sounds amazing, but it also doesn't really need to for a gag show like this.

Gakuen Basara isn't amazing, not by a mile. But it never tries to be, and that's fine. It's simply a fun, crazy gag spin-off for an already odd show. It's not always hilarious, but there are a lot more hits then misses. Fans of Sengoku Basara will love this - people who are interested in the Warring States Period might also really enjoy this, though I'd recommend seeing Sengoku Basara first. It was a fun watch, and I might not ever watch it again, but it's the perfect kind of show you just kick back, switch your brain off, and have a great time watching.

I went into Vampire Hunter D with a lot of hopes. I’d heard about the film for years, and there are few things that get me excited then some weird-ass, edgy as balls vampire slaying action with some delightfully 80’s style. And whilst I got some delicious art and at least a bit of fun action, Vampire Hunter D fell way below my expectations, falling into a lot of the problems a lot of anime just seem to naturally have.

First, I’ll start with the good stuff – generally, this film looks great. It’s opening scene, in particular was fantastic – the dark, grassy fields, the ... legendary reveal of Count Lee, and Doris slaughtering the monster attacking her horse. It’s all fantastic and set my expectations really high for the rest of the film. The general design of the film is really well made, even if it is peak 80s style. One section I really liked was D’s initial assault on Lee’s castle – we get to see a massive variety of monster designs that are honestly quite disgusting to look at, in the best way possible.

Though, I have to talk about the elephant in the room – I think the fight scenes are honestly really poor. Like, really, really poor. I’ve got nothing but good things to say about the animation, which is draw-dead amazing at times, as expected from Madhouse. No, I just thinking the choreography and action of the fight scenes are awful. It felt like more then half of the ‘fight scenes’ are just shaking stills of D and other characters preparing attacks, whilst glowing speed lines backlight what feels like every scene in the film. Every fight feels like it’s over in mere moments and it honestly feels like we don’t get to see any really cool abilities in the entire film outside of a light that weakens Vampires and their kin.

The story isn’t much better, but it’s at least serviceable. D has to help a young woman named Doris, who has been marked by the bite of the Vampire Count Lee, for the purpose of marriage. It plays out pretty much exactly how I’d expected. Additionally, I really like the setting, a weird fusion of medieval Europe mixed with science fiction interiors. It’s a little underused, but the interior of Lee’s castle is stunning in particular. Where I have greater problems is in the characters themselves. Sure, I don’t think I’m trying to expect any amazing writing out of any of the characters, but none of them sans D seem to have an interesting bone in their body. It felt like, by the end of the movie, the only character I gave two damns about was Rei, the mutant who serves Count Lee. I honestly felt bad for the guy getting screwed around by literally everyone in the movie.

I had a lot of hopes for Doris to be a cool character, especially after the fantastic intro, but by about halfway through he movie she felt incapable for doing anything for herself. She literally just become something to protect, and someone to fall in love with someone at blatantly weird looking and unsettling as D. There was also a lot of… I don’t know, pointless sexualisation of her? I know this was the 80’s, but her outfit is utterly stupid. Like, why is she wearing half a skirt. Along with stuff like having her chest exposed for literally not reason for about three seconds, fully animated, it just felt like they did a massive disservice to what could have been a really cool character. On a better note, this being the 80’s, this film is brutal as all hell. Gore, brains and blood practically rain by the galleon, and it’s a sight to see.

Vampire Hunter D isn’t a flat-out bad movie. It’s a movie I dislike, but I can totally see why it’s one people enjoy. But to me, it commits the cardinal sin of being flat out boring. I awaited the end with bated breath, not to see the thrilling conclusion, but to just get the whole experience over with. I do urge you, that if you enjoy vampires and crazy gore, you might really enjoy this movie, and I think it’s really up to you to decide if this is your kind of thing.

Ever since The Tatami Galaxy single-handedly re-kickstarted my interest in anime proper, I’ve been a massive fan of Masaaki Yuasa. Devilman Crybaby was my 2nd favourite series of 2018, and Ping Pong The Animation stands as one of the medium’s greatest triumphs. So, it was great with elation I finally sat down to watch Lu Over The Wall, a film that is a bit more family oriented then his usual fair, and clearly not as deep or meaningful, but lacks none of the heart and visual splendour that has become usual Yuasa fair.

When I watch a Yuasa property, I feel they can be divided into ... two categories – more clear cut and straightforward series, like The Tatami Galaxy or Kaiba, where the point of the series is much clearer, and then there are the weirder, more experimental or cerebral affairs, such as Devilman Crybaby or Ping Pong. As much as I wanted it to be, Lu Over The Wall felt like the former – it doesn’t hold a candle to Yuasa’s best, but that doesn’t mean much when comparing to masterpieces – Lu Over The Wall delights in what it attempts to do.

I’m going to start with my biggest takeaway of the film – the art, animation, and general visual direction of this film is simply astounding. For the entire one hour and fifty-three-minute runtime of the film, I was practically glued to the screen. The amount of creativity and varied forms of animation showcased in this film floored me – where one scene everyone was moving in relatively normal anime fashion, mere moments later there were hundreds of characters moving as if they were utterly cast from rubber. It’s bright and colourful, but not in a sense that feels utterly childish or hard to look at. As a side note, I feel that film might have the best animation style for water I’ve ever seen in any medium.

The film’s audio accurately conveys the feeling on living on a basically dying town on the coast, punctuated by the youth of the town’s attempts to break away from tradition. The set-up for the musical themes of the film being the three main character’s creating a band was a lot of fun, and I had a great time watching all the music-focused scenes of the film; they’re easily the highlight of the film, audibly at least. I do wish there were a few more vocal tracks, rather then the focus on the main theme for the film, but they do enough variations on the theme that it never really gets that old.
Unfortunately, my absolute acclaim for the visuals of this film don’t extend to the story and characters – whilst never reaching the territory of being ‘bad’, they never really claw out of being mediocre. This is pretty family-oriented fare, with a very clear-cut story about a friendship between a lonely middle school student and a mermaid and its effect on the town as a whole. There’s a bit more to it then that, but outside of a few key moments of the film, the story never really grabbed me.

The characters also, for the most part, fail to impress really. They’re fun to watch, but none of them, sans some moments at the very end of the film really captured my imagination. Main character Kei seems to jump around in regard to his characterisation without warning, constantly acting in odd ways that are never really explained – honestly, he was probably my least favourite part of the film – whilst the supporting cast are generally alright, scenes solely focussing on Kei felt like a slog to get through. On a character design level, though, I feel the film was pretty inventive and gave every major and minor character a pretty unique look, making it easy to identify characters without even knowing their names. There’s one… rather large character that I feel may be one of my favourites designs I’ve seen in recent years, but I’ll let you, dear reader, see that surprise for yourself.

So, you’re probably thinking, “Lemmy, how can you rate this film so highly if you’re so middling on so much of it?”. Well, dear reader, I have to say, the sound and visuals for the film are that good. Even when the story was middling, and my interest waned even a little, the film threw up a scene that had me grinning from ear to ear – the beach dance scene, in particular, stands out as an absolute masterclass in animation, giving me vibes that reminded me a lot of the old 30’s era western animation. Whilst the vocal tracks are few, overall, I liked all of them immensely, and it wasn’t too long before they were on my own phone, with myself jamming along to them almost constantly. Basically, I can recommend this film on visuals and audio alone. It’s that good.

Narratively, Lu Over the Wall doesn’t really stand up to Yuasa’s greats, but on a visual level, I think this may outstrip them all. Just on visuals alone, this film is utter joy incarnate, and for you parents out there, this is the perfect film to watch with younger children. It’s silly, it’s fun, and it’s a great family friendly entry in Masaaki Yuasa’s rapidly growing filmography that seems destined to go down as one of the greatest directors in recent animation history.

Lord Slug is the fourth film of the Dragon Ball Z film series - and it comes with a plot and villain that are just as generic as the last film - thankfully with the caveat that it's at least a more interesting and exciting film then Tree of Might, but that's not saying much when the result is still quite a bit more forgettable and middling then I'd like to see in a Dragon Ball film, or any film for that matter.

One thing that sets Lord Slug apart is it's set-up that could only really work in a film setting - a doomsday setting ... that pushes the Earth (again) to the very brink through the use of a 'terrafreeze' device after a huge planet-sized object barely misses the planet. The scenes leading up to these plot devices are pretty dramatic, showing the world on the edge of destruction - I just fee that as the world begins to freeze over, we could've just gotten a few minutes of the world reacting to the slow cold creeping around the globe. The art direction for the frozen world looks pretty great, and it looks very different to a lot of other DBZ films, at least in about half the scenes.

Lord Slug himself, however, is a bit of a disappointment. His original premise of being an old, ancient being made me pretty excited to see how he was going to be a major adversary to Goku and crew, but almost instantly is this idea dropped and we get a normal, run of the mill villain who comes off as a budget King Piccolo from the original Dragon Ball. At the very least, we get some cool abilities on display from Lord Slug, but even these feel just like cheap imitations of Piccolo and other Namekians we've seen through the series.

Sadly, you know something is wrong with the film when the side-fights are more interesting then the one against the titular opponent himself. Almost nothing stands out for the actual brawl against Lord Slug; it never falls into boring territory, but outside of his initial, calculated beat-down of Goku and Goku's sudden pre-Super Saiyan power-up, there isn't really much memorable about it until the final stages. On a completely different note, however, this movie is actually pretty funny - Lord Slug has a lot of stupid, yet great one-liners, and Krillan's reaction to the world ending is nothing short of hysterical.

For the love of god, though, why doesn't Krillan get ANY love in these films? When he's not being a babysitter, it seems he's almost instantly removed from the fight. Otherwise, one of my favourite parts of this film is the other Z-Fighters trying to deal with Lord Slug's efforts when Goku is MIA. Gohan going full Musou-style on Lord Slug's goons is pretty spectacular to watch, and there is nothing in this film more satisfying then Piccolo's initial fight against one of Lord Slug's commanders. The build-up to and the side-fights themselves are probably the highest points of the film - it's a shame, because with a similar tone and a little less villan's going down in one shot, this could've ranked with the best.

Lord Slug is a perfectly average and forgettable entry in the Dragon Ball Z film series. Like many of them, it has it's moments, but it feels nothing short of a massive amount of missed potential. I wouldn't go so far to say it's a bad film, but it's very much the kind that you'll watch it once and never think about it again, which is some ways, is a much worse thing to say about a film then calling it bad in the end, anyway.

On my quest to watch and review all the Dragon Ball Z films, I'd been feeling pretty good about their quality after watching Dead Zone and The World's Strongest, wondering if they weren't as bad as I thought they'd be. Tree of Might ground that idea to a halt and made me a lot more worried about the quality I'll be expecting in the near future - since this seems to be one of the better regarded ones.

Tree of Might features the coming of Turles, a Saiyan warrior who bares a near exact resemblance to our hero Goku, and his planting of a 'Tree of ... Might' that'll drain all of the nutrients from the Earth to create a fruit that'll give him the power to rival the universe.

Overall, the premise is solid - The Tree of Might's depiction is pretty unnerving, and the scenes of it slowing creeping across and draining the world are pretty tense to watch. I enjoyed the first fifteen minutes or so of the film, since it's rare we get to see our heroes at this point in Dragon Ball Z in a more relaxed setting - the camping trip at the start, and the hunt for the Dragon Balls that follow is a really fun concept. I think there was a little too much of Goku hanging out with his new dragon friend, but it played out pretty well once the fight against Turles started up.

Sadly, whilst the first two films had fairly original (if basic) plots, Tree of Might just feels like a new take on the Saiyan Saga, but without literally any of the good parts of it. Saiyan comes to Earth? Check. Powerful leader with weaker goon(s)? Check. Plan to use the Earth for their own gain? Check. The issue is, that literally not one thing outside of their usage of the Tree of Might is remotely as dramatic or interesting as ANYTHING that happens in the Saiyan saga.

Whilst I was pretty positive with the last couple of antagonists in the form of Garlic Jr. and Doctor Wheelo, sadly Turles is as massive downgrade from the them. There is literally nothing unique about him, outside of his resemblance of Goku, which is only a part of the character design for shock value; it's literally only brought up twice. He's just overpowering strong for the sake of strong - no one in the film holds a candle to him, even Goku, and it just makes the fights boring to watch as he swats them out of the sky over and over again.

The major fights are... okay, at the very best, which isn't a very good thing when this is Dragon Ball Z. Literally no one does anything of use in the entire film outside of Goku - there was literally no reason for Krillan, Tienshen or Yamcha to join in the fight, as I didn't think they land a useful strike all film. Piccolo is marginally useful, and Gohan has the one caveat of having a transformation during the film, which looks spectacular and is probably the highlight of the film. Though, what I feel is the biggest issue of the film is that Goku's victory against Turles feels utterly unearned - he barely scratches Turles before he's tterly defeated, and pretty much snatches a victory for himself and the Earth out of nowhere. And I know this is a thing that happens frequently in Dragon Ball Z, but this one feels so much worse then the others since Turles is basically unharmed. The fights are worth watching for one viewing, but overall none of them stick out in my memory.

On a more positive note, this film looks and sounds fantastic - The Tree of Might serves as a fantastic arena for the battles in the film. I'm not as good as noticing great songs in anime, but even I could pick out the pretty uplifting and hype-worthy tracks that played out in the final moments of the film. Animation overall is okay, reaching a highpoint during Gohan's transformation, but overall it didn't have anything that really sticked out overall. It's typical movie quality, but it feels like at this point they weren't quite putting as much effort as the first couple of movies.

I think Tree of Might is good enough to warrant one watch through, but even for Dragon Ball Z fans I feel this ones a slog - with a wasted premise, average fights, and awful usage of just about every character, Dragon Ball Z's third outing to the cinema is a much weaker affair then the others, leading me to question the good things I'd heard about it prior to my watch, and hopefully not an indication of the future films quality. But, I digress - it has it's moments, but it's easily one of the weaker entries in Dragon Ball overall that I've ever seen.

I've never really delved into the treasure trove that is the Lupin the 3rd series - outside of watching the outstanding Castle of Cagliostro, which was more due to the talent attached to the production. After stumbling upon it by chance, I watched Goemon's Fountain of Blood, due to my fast love of the character from the aforementioned film, and excitement over the little bits of it's events I knew about. What I found is something that appealed to me so much, and makes me a little bit sad there isn't anything quite this brutal (to my knowledge) in the rest of the franchise.

Fountain of ... Blood details Goemon, frequent collaborator to Lupin and friends, who is struggling with a hired assassin on behalf of a yakuza outfit he's working for. The premise is basic, but gives off a feeling similiar to The Terminator; Hawk is the assassin Goemon is targeting, who is in turn targeting Lupin, Jigen and Fujiko. For 85% of this film, nothing stops Hawk - he's like a bulldozer that absolutely nothing can slow down. It one of those storylines that don't have much, but it's all they need.

Easily the highlight of the film is it's art direction and phenomenal action. The action in this film rivals the best that came out in 2017, and had me on the edge of my seat at every occasion. The art direction is strong, very strong, and the animation is nothing short of wonderful, especially when it comes to any scenes involving Hawk, the animation putting a lot of care into showing how his weight and fighting style would actually play out. For the main cast, the main cast all just look like modern day versions of how they've always looked. Though, I gotta say the character designs for all the one-off characters in this look very distinctive, especially for the yakuza characters that Goemon interacts with in sections of the film.

This film is legitmently one of the more brutal things i've watched in recent times, and I don't say that lightly. Some of the fights in this film are simply borderline horrifying. Limbs are sliced off, bodies are broken up, and even worse. I was somewhat aware of the more mature nature of the film, but I still didn't exactly expect it on this level from a Lupin III property. In all honesty, it was a breath of fresh air seeing people actually take so much bodily damage from swords and axes and the like. The combat is simply amazing from start to finish - Goemon and Hawk's fights have a huge amount of weight and precision to them, and has all the consequences of two masters of their styles clashing.

I have nothing but good things to say about the antagonist of the film, Hawk, a fairly unusual design for an assassin in a show like this. The most interesting thing about him is the fact just the way he's presented in a scene changes the feeling he gives off - in one scene, he's picking up a child and looks like a lovely father - in the next, he gives off the vibe of The Terminator as he relentlessly pursues Lupin and Co. He's simply one of the more unique antagonists I've seen in a anime film recently - the inventive way he fights and his general demeanour are ujst so off-putting that you legitemently don't know what's going to come out of his mind next. Otherwise, the whole cast is pretty great to see, but outside of Goemon, I didn't feel any of them acted out of what I'd expect from a Lupin III property - though I have to say, the icy coolness in which Goemon tackles his opponents in the second half of the film was a hoot, and lended a lot credence to the incredible skill he's always said to have.

I gotta say though, the method in which Goemon learns to defeat Hawk felt pretty silly - I understand this is Lupin and silly solutions are probably pretty commonplace, but I didn't think there was any real reasoning why Goemon's 'training' actually helped him defeat his gigantic foe. Aditionally, I think it would've made more sense if Fujioko wasn't even in the film - she does very little beside just interact with Lupin and Jigen, and then leave pretty much halfway through the film without doing much. It isn't a huge deal, but it just seemed like a big underutilisation of the character.

Overall, Goemon's Fountain of Blood is a great film that's well worth watching if you're in the mood for something a little different and a little more brutal then the norm. I feel, for the most part, you don't need prior knowledge of Lupin III to watch it, but probably having a little basic backstory will help regardless. It's absolutely gotten me more interested in the Lupin series, and even on it's own, it's just a damn good time with it's darker and more mature tone.

Like it's predecessor, I didn't have the highest of expectations going into World's Strongest, but I must admit they were a bit higher after being surprisingly happy with how solid The Dead Zone was. In the end, I feel whilst World's Strongest is an enjoyable, fun romp, it has more notable weaknesses then it's predecessors in the form of a weaker villain and plot, and the obvious issues that come with a non-canon film.

The film deals with the emergence of a mad scientist, now only a brain in a jar, and his attempts to take over the body of 'The World's Strongest'., and Goku and ... co's attempts to defeat him. The plot isn't particularly interesting at all, and the set-up doesn't really make any sense when you really think about it (How did Wheelo put himself in a jar, and build the bio-weapons if he was trapped?) if I'm being honest. The only real appeal for this film are the fights are the general art direction. The design of his bio-weapons, at least the unique ones, are all right at best, having a couple of fun abilities across them. I'm aslo grateful for the fact that the villain actually backs up how dangerous they really are to the heroes - the power of the bio-weapons are potent, and seeing the results of Wheelo testing his weapons on an entire town is a pretty surprising display of carnage in a Dragon Ball property. He's not the most memorable villain I've ever seen, but his entire persona and power-up are enough to make him pretty entertaining to watch. Also, even if it's absoloutly non-canon, there is no way to reconicle the plot of this with the main storyline of Dragon Ball - with what we know what has already happened, it just can't make sense, which I thought was more funny then anything else.

As with it's predecessor, I was surprised how much I enjoyed the setting of World's Strongest - the futuristic fortress of Wheelo's base looks really fun, if utterly out of place in the Dragon Ball world. It's also nice to expand the world a little more - I don't think, at this point, we'd ever seen the cast in the Arctic areas of the planet before. Additionally, Wheelo's entire atmosphere, at least in the dub, is pretty unnerving, especially as he watched everything going on in the fortress via 2001 A Space Odyssey inspired cameras. Though I have to say, whilst Wheelo's brain coupled with his voice are somewhat intimidating - why the heck is his brain so big? It looks at least five times the size of a human brain, which is just kind of insane. The film also takes a little too long to get anywhere, since he have to suffer through the existence of Oolong and another one of Gohan's weird fantasises.

Easily the strongest aspect of the film, as it should be, are the fight scenes. We were still at a part in the power creep of the franchise where a lot of actual martial arts techniques are actually used. I got pretty excited to see Master Roshi dish out some pretty sick moves, and the fight against the bio-weapons are pretty tense, as the combos pulled out in Goku, Gohan and Krillin's fight against them are pretty brutal, which is sold by the pretty chilling screams from the cast. Though, the film does suffer from the Dragon Ball formula of an opponent being rapidly defeated after a sudden power-up, which whilst something I find really frustrating, makes sense due to the reduced runtime of the film making this equivalent of a three episode arc. The artstyle, still using the older look of early DBZ, looks wonderful adapted on the big screen once again, and is one of the best aspects of the film. For the most part, the animation looks great - fights are fluid, and even a lot of the comedic touches they blend into the fights look great just from how hilarious they look, like Goku on the ice.

It's good to see most the characters get a moment of two to shine in this film - even Master Roshi, which is always exciting to see dish out a few of his old man moves, even for a moment. Some of my major issues of this film really come down, though, to how badly they use some other characters - Bulma is little more then a chained up, screaming, damsel in distress, and Krillian doesn't do one useful thing in this film beside being a target for Wheelo's subordinate. Sure, they even point this out in the film, but it's really disappointing to see a legitemently great character be used little more then a joke. Honestly, when it comes to these films, Krillin is more Yamcha then Yamcha.

In the early days of Dragon Ball Z, Gohan's latent power is used frequently as a deus ex machina to quickly solve or ease a situation, but here I felt it was actually used well without utterly overpowering the enemy for no real reason. The way the film ends is satisfying enough, with everyone pitching in, but honestly I couldn't help but be a little disappointed that Goku's really the only one to pull the win from under Wheelo's feet, but I suppose you could argue the way Goku does it makes it a team effort. Honestly, it's kind of sad the most interesting techniques in the film come from the opponents, but it's still pretty exciting to see Goku whip out Kaioken in a time before Super Saiyan utterly outstripped it.

The World's Strongest is a perfect serviceable, non-canon entry in the Dragon Ball series. It has a mediocre, yet pretty impressive villain, and a really fun setting that sets it apart from other entires in the franchise. It's not something you'll be thinking about a week after you watched it, but for what it is, it's a solid hour long ride you should watch if you just want more Dragon Ball Z in your life, and if that's your desire, World's Strongest will that desire swimmingly.

Dragon Ball as a franchise has always been a pretty important part of my interests – it’s what ordinally piqued my interest in Japanese animation, it got me into martial arts in media, and it consumed me when I was around 11 or 12. The newest series, Dragon Ball Super, besides some highlights, didn’t really grab me as a fan, and I started to wonder if I had been the one to grow out of it. Dragon Ball Super: Broly convinced me that it wasn’t me – this is the best Dragon Ball has been in a very, very long time.

The first thing I took ... away from this film was just how nice it was too look at – it made me think about the much earlier art-style from the start of Dragon Ball Z, which I feel is a massive upgrade from the somewhat static and often plasticy-esque looks of the characters in the low points of Dragon Ball Super. The set-pieces of the film look nothing short of amazing – the destruction of Planet Vegeta is awe-inspiring, and the main bout had me practically bouncing in my seat – the environmental destruction on display and the movement between sky, ice, and fire kept the look of the fight from becoming too stale in one place too long. Music-wise, whilst there are highlights, some of the music during power-ups felt slightly out-of-place, but it was nothing that took me out of the film. But voice-wise, it’s phenomenal – so much of my love for Dragon Ball Z is tied to it’s amazing dub cast. Just about every single voice actor is on point, especially with Chris Sabat’s role as Vegeta, and Vic Mignolgna’s tortured screams as Broly.

Since the movie’s promotion heavily focussed on the main fight of the film, my biggest worry going into the film was if they were going to stretch out the main bout of the film out far too long, but I couldn’t be happier about the way this film is set out. The film sets the stage, presenting a thirty-minute prequel to the series, showcasing the fates of the Saiyan race, the survivors of the planet’s destruction, and Broly’s origin. This section went on slightly longer then I thought it would, but I was glued to the screen the entire time – Broly’s broken origin was such an incredible upgrade over his original depiction. I additionally loved the inclusion of a few other beloved Dragon Ball characters, such as getting a little glimpse at old favourites Raditz and Nappa, and a brief show of heroism from Goku’s father, Bardock. The entire Planet Vegeta prequel has a constant feeling of calamity just around the corner, and I couldn’t say better things about its tone.

In all honestly, the actual present-day events, plot-wise, aren’t that amazing – but I wasn’t going expecting a ton. All the value comes from the character interactions and the fight itself, and in that sense, I loved near everything about it. One of the parts that took me out of the film a bit was that the set-up for the big encounter in the ice felt a little forced and a bit too silly, but in a very Dragon Ball kind of way that I couldn’t really have that great an issue with. Lastly, I also felt it was nice to see so many beloved elements from the franchise’s non-canon instalments (Like Broly, elements of Bardock, and a few other surprises) and bringing them into the universe canon-wise. It’s just fun to know, going further, that Broly is a part of what goes on in future Dragon Ball instalments.

I honestly can’t think of a time Dragon Ball’s animation has ever looked this good – the major brawls between our heroes and Broly look incredible, a very loose, fluid art style that just flows from attack to attack. Even when it steps away from traditional animation, instead using CGI to depict the fight, it never looks bad and is only a minor step below the previous animation. There’s a few moments of the film where the CGI looks a little ‘plastically’, but this is mostly for some backgrounds and is gone in a few seconds. For all intents and purposes, the entire fight between Goku, Frieza and Vegeta against Broly is incredible, and will go down as one of the franchises’s best. Few fights in the series are as brutal, desperate and exciting as this one, and rather than falling into old traps of ultra-fast fighting and overuse of energy attacks, features a lot of actual martial arts technique (albeit, to an exaggerated degree). The slow build-up of the fighter’s power scale was fantastic, with none of the combatant’s utterly destroying the other.
Well, except for the final section of the bout, which I feel is, sadly, one of the weaknesses of the film. To start with, the situation that leads to Goku’s power boost breaks up the momentum of the Broly fight a little too much. Whilst the circumstances of the final section are among the film’s most exciting, the battle against Broly ends a little too rapidly for my taste, as one side becomes far, far too powerful for the other to deal with. But, at the same time, without this upgrade, this fighter wouldn’t have stood a chance against the other. It’s just a consequence of the exciting, yet age old power-up based combat of the Dragon Ball franchise. It doesn’t break the film, but it’s entirely possible these criticisms come from me just wanting to get just a little bit more of this film’s amazing bout. It also, in some ways, takes the battle too far, with some flat-out crazy things going in the final exchanges that don’t honestly make sense with some honestly baffling backgrounds.

But no fight is worth its salt without having the characters to back it up. We don’t really get a lot of new knowledge regarding our returning characters, sans Freiza’s new heights of how to be a jerk. Just about every character who appears in this film gets their little fun moment, if it’s Weiss’ comments on the cold of space or Beerus being saddled with babysitter duty. No, this stage is all for Broly, who I adore as a character. Rather than the rage-fuelled, baby-hating roid monster he was in the non-canon films, this Broly is a nuanced victim of circumstance, abuse, and not having his own place in the universe. He’s not Broly, the Legendary Super Saiyan because he was born to be that – he is what he is, because people made him that way. His father is unlikeable, crass, and brutal to his son – but I think the reason I feel he’s a good character is because he felt real, to an exaggerated degree – people treat their children in a related manner, and it gave a level of tragic realism to the entire film. The look that falls on Broly’s face when we see the shock collar for the first time made me feel honestly uncomfortable and uneasy in a way that Dragon Ball has never had before, which I was really impressed with that kind of characterisation.

I was simply floored by how much I enjoyed this film – it’s leaps and bounds ahead of the original Broly trilogy from all those years ago and reignited a love for a franchise I’d been starting to burn out on. It’s not perfect, but I legitimately feel that it’s the closest Dragon Ball has gotten in a very, very long time. With one of the series best characters, a beautifully animated brawl for the ages, and the (hopeful!) future of Dragon Ball ahead us, I’ve haven’t been this excited for this franchise in a very, very long time.