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In short this feels like a fanfic of someone, who really liked the first two Terminator movies. Additionally he threw a bit of animatrix into the mix and got someone on board, who had lots of experience in doing sci-fi series with lots of robots, androids, etc.: Production I.G.

The story starts simple and becomes convoluted later on with its twist and turns, for better and for worse. On top of that one thing, that ticked me off, was the plot armor, it starts literally in the first scene and it continues throughout the series. On a more positive note the animation and visuals work quite ... well, even though they mixed in CG for the machines and robots. The soundtrack is overall solid and has also a flair of fanservice, if you listen for it. With a runtime of 8 episodes the anime is shortlived, which is to a degree a positive, because I had at no point the feeling that the show dragged, yet it also results in a lack of character depth for the rather large cast. I found most characters either basic or underdeveloped. Alas, as this is the fifth thing, I watched out of the Terminator franchise (Terminator 1-3 and Salvation were the other.), I would put in place 3 and rank it a little bit higher than Terminator 3, though it has been ages since I saw that one. In the end I would recommend this for more casual Terminator fans, who don't mind some nonsense here and there. For everyone else, if you look for a sci-fi action show to gulp down, here is your poison, otherwise look for something else. 7-

What do you get, when you base an anime on a messy live action movie, use its characters, rewrite them to fit tropes, and throw them into a generic isekai setting? The answer: A mess, that's called Isekai Suicide Squad.

In short the plot is at the beginning: Force bad guys with bomb collars to help a kingdom in distress to secure resources. Later on there are some twist and turns, that don't make sense. Some characters get random power ups some don't, for whatever reason some have magical affinity some don't. The writing is not the only thing that is inconsistent, the animation also does ... its part: Sometimes it's a pure sakugafest (like episode 7) and other times it's a mess.

As a guy, who liked the animated batman series and the animated suicide squad movies, I can't recommend this anime for fans in that regard. The characters are a complete joke: Amanda Waller, who is a very calculating threat, is here an idiot in regards who she gave a bomb collar. Deadshot is a joke, Peacemaker is just there, Killer Croc is so unremarkable my mate and I thought he would be just a random boss lizardman. Some of the antagonist characters sort of fulfill their role as villain of the day decently. The main antagonist on the other hand, hoo boy, is completely retarded, as she could've won before the anime even started. The kingdom characters are also nothing special: The most prominent of them like the princess is just an insecure nice girl and the hero, is a walking incompetent weak ass punching bag. The only characters I kind of liked, where King Shark, Clayface and Harley. King Shark is kind of an adorably dangerously dummy. Clayface is a flamboyant pop-culture nerd, which kindof works. Last but not least the star of the entire project, Harley Quinn, is overall a wacky nutjob, but a bit more pg and moral (still I don't like the portrayal of her relationship with Joker here). Speaking of Joker, I absolute despise him, he should not be a "sexy" romanceable/romantic nutjob!

All said and done, if you want a "turn your brain off"-action show with a couple of wacky characters this show can be for you. Otherwise, if you want something more, don't watch it. 4+/10

The First Slam Dunk tries to be an entry point for newcomers, aswell as a somewhat new experience for old fans of Slam Dunk itself. The question is, does it work and is it good? To answer the question: It is good at what it does, but for a manga reader, an anime-only or a newcomer of Slam Dunk it has some issues.

The Good:
- The original mangaka, Takehiko Inoue, is the director of this adaptation, so you can clearly see his passion for basketball in this movie
- The shift of main characters from Sakuragi towards Miyagi and his additional backstory brings a bit of fresh ... air in this over 30 years old franchise
- The new backstory was also competently done narrative wise
- The soundtrack is well fitting, especially the 10-FEET songs, and it is used accordingly to enhance the scenes
- As a guy, who dislikes CGI, I have to say the scenes are awesome in motion, the game feels very fluid for the most part. I had one instance, where it was choppy/laggy, but that could've also been the fault of the broadcaster.
- The design is also well suited for the CGI approach, though I would've preferred 2D in some scenes
- The climax of the game was very well done the entire hall went wild for the last 15 minutes of the movie

The "Bad"/Moot:
The focus on Miyagi clashes a bit with how the game progresses. The first thing is, you have a flashback - game - flashback ... structure as the story goes on and the tension goes up it can be quite annoying. The second thing is the first half of the game gets rushed a bit, which is somewhat fine, but you lose a bit of characterization of the opponents and some development of the main cast. The third thing is the importance/impact of the MC in the game, because the movie adapts the manga, where Miyagi isn't the main character it inflates his importance and downplays Sakuragis. The last thing is the epilogue could've been handled better, as only one character had really a conclusion.
Furthermore, I assume most people, who saw this movie with me, were newcomers, and I think a bit of introduction for the characters wouldn't have hurt, you still get the gist of most of them but the relationships on the other hand is another story.

Conclusion and TLDR:
Well produced movie with fluid animation, good tension building, banger soundtrack, that sadly fumbles with its plot structure and it's character focus. Despite what I said above, I would recommend it to newcomers and for anime-onlys, aswell as manga readers, I recommend it just for the second half of the game itself. With that said I give it an 8+.