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Mar 20, 2025
Most OVA specials relegated to a Blu-ray purchase are either some kind of fan service episode, hot spring episode, some self indulgent filler, or anything you can imagine that would have no consequence to the overall story. That is not the case for this OVA.
This OVA feels like a (much needed) missing episode to the series. It has all of the iyashikei you would expect from the series, but the subject matter is much more potent and emotive than your typical episode in Hitotose. It's honestly a better ending to Hitotose than the original, in my opinion.
All I know is that if I knew
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I was getting a bonus episode when buying the Blu-ray to this series, I would be very happy with what I got. Actually, maybe a bit upset, because it feels like this should have been a part of the series all along rather than relegated to a Blu-ray disc only a few people bought.
If you liked Tamayura, do not skip out on this one. Unlike most Blu-ray specials, this one really is special.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Mar 20, 2025
Blue Seed walked so stories like Inuyasha could run. This series is almost entirely episodic until about episode 19. The manga was only 2 volumes long, and it really shows, because it feels like this entire series stretched out a few threads of story with its episodic nature. Some people may like this narrative choice, but for me, it really dragged the pacing down to almost a crawl.
The tone of the show is half serious, half 90s comedy. If you want to watch this for its nostalgic 90s direction, humor, music, and animation, it definitely has that going for it. Some episodes are much
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more violent and sexual than others, it really feels like a “90s OVA” at times in those respects. It’s odd, because the story and romance almost feels childish in comparison. It does not mesh very well with the gratuity. Almost all fight scenes are anticlimactic. Most fights start and end within a few seconds with not much build up. Despite the episodic nature, this show is best when it is either joking around, or focusing on its romance with Momiji and Kusanagi. Which is cute, but moves along very slowly.
I really find it hard to believe Momiji had no idea about her twin sister and seems to have very little interest in knowing about her as a sibling. It’s obvious everyone misses her and cares about her. I think the story would have been much more impactful if she also missed her with everyone else.
The tone of the show starts extremely seriously which suddenly turns into a light comedy battle series until episode 19 where the tone goes back to being serious. It feels like two different shows put together. When the ton shifts, it feels like we’re getting two different sets of characters. Especially with characters like Kunikida. And not in a Trigun sense where Vash is trying to be positive and hides his true feelings and nature. It just feels like two different writers wrote the characters from about episode 3 – 19.
I personally feel like this series would have done much better if it was 13 episodes. Cut down on the episodic nature, keep the first few episodes and last 7, throw some character building episodes in the middle, and the show would have felt much more cohesive and tightly written. Not that there’s nothing here. If you’re a stickler for 90’s animation and overall aesthetic, this will definitely scratch that itch. It’s a product of it’s time that stretches a simple story with monster (Aragami) of the week pacing.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Mar 18, 2025
I have been looking forward to this series for over 15 years. Shoji Kawamori directed, created, and wrote it. Yoko Kanno on the music? Just the key visual looks interesting. So I finally sat down to watch it… And I have a lot of things to say about this show. Not good things either. However, I don’t want to get into a scientific war over this series, so I will just write what you are to expect when you watch this series so you know if you are interested in it or not.
This series has really interesting, and well shot cinematography in most episodes. But
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especially the first few episodes. The music is obviously good, but I found that the sound effects often drowned out the evocative music, even during vocal songs. The main lead sounds like she’s never acted before, because her delivery is often over the top, or overly subdued. Her yelling comes off annoying like she doesn’t know why she’s yelling into the microphone (which happens a lot). The characters in this series are mostly selfish, have minimal growth, and cannot communicate correctly. A majority of the conflicts in this series could have been resolved with simple communication, even from Chris.
After I believe the first 2 episodes, the rest of the series is a collection of episodic tales about pseudo-scientific opinions. I truly me pseudo-scientific. Episodes about killing animals for food, using fertilizer on plants, having unprotected sex and abortion (the most juvenile episode by the way), living off of nature, using less medicine. I could go on. It kind of feels like a really opinionated snake oil salesman wrote this series who has no answers to his opinions. I wish I was kidding, but I am not. Each episode gets worse and worse as the show goes on and loses its focus by the end.
Arjuna had a lot of potential, but was wasted on the ramblings of preachy old men. Or, as I put it immediately after finishing the show, “Pseudoscience, propaganda written by a 13 year old who doesn't know how to communicate.” I feel bad for the entire team who produced this. It feels like a lot of talent went down the drain because of the awful writing of this series. Ironically, for how environmentally conscious this series tries to be, it doesn’t once bring up greenhouse gasses or carbon emissions. If you want to watch an entertaining film that talks about our environment, I recommend First Reformed. Please steer clear of this sad train wreck.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Mar 18, 2025
The background art style is unique and on point. It has a palette knife style too it, which I haven’t seen in an anime before. I do think the character designs are quite unique too (for anime). But the proportions in their faces are sometimes off. Such as where their mouth is relative to the rest of their face. I personally do not like Dorothy’s design. I’m not sure why, but I find her designed insultingly try hard to make her seem black, but quirky. It could be I just find her character annoying too and that tainted the design to me.
The music in
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the show is usually very good, especially the jazzier pieces. I personally found the vocal track to be very generic though. I also thought some arcs over used the vocal tracks. I believe they used the same song 4 times in a row during Cynthia’s arc, which at that point was comical. Also on the voice acting front, it's usually up to par for what you expect from an anime. However, they make the actor's speak different languages literally half the time. And it shows that none of them speak any of these languages natively. There's a point in episode 1 where they say every character is speaking English, but we hear it in Japanese for clarity. This is the only time this happens, and the only language they do this for. I believe they speak French, more English, Mandarin, Maylay, and some others I can't think of at the top of my head. This may be off-putting for you, especially if you speak the language natively.
This series is told through a series of arcs with the main con crew being the centerpiece. I have to point out, this show is very entertaining, and usually builds up to the finale of each arc quite well. However, at the end of every single arc (Don’t even get me started on the last arc) there’s always something they do that is unbelievable, or too ridiculous for me to take seriously. Even to anime standards. The show presents itself as realistic to a certain degree. But then they have literally 50 moving parts at the end and say it’s all according to plan. It’s a shame, because this series had a lot of potential with it’s characters.
Each arc also tries to have you sympathize with each character and tries to have some kind of message it’s trying to convey. I am not sure if they forgot, but this is a show about con artists. It doesn’t matter if they’re only stealing from criminals, it’s just an odd choice tonally. I feel like I’m watching Oceans 11, and suddenly George Clooney gets sappy about wanting to be friends with Brad Pitt. The whole series does this with Edamura in particular, and it never stops feeling out of place to me. Abigail is the most consistent character, and more what I was expecting everyone to be/stay like throughout the series.
Overall the production values of the series are quite high for an anime, and each arc is at least entertaining to behold. I would say the first season was worth watching for style, descent characters, and entertainment value. I must warn you, the last arc is kind of a train wreck. It takes too many twists and turns, and it ends most ridiculously by far. Let alone the insanity of the after-credits scene.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Mar 17, 2025
After watching the excellent series again since its release, it was actually much better than I originally remembered it being. Due to life getting in the way, I have been eagerly awaiting the viewing of this film ever since its release, and only in 2025 was I able to watch it. After the heaps of praise it’s been getting for over a decade (it’s even rated higher than the series), I was expecting the film to really blow me away… Well, that’s not exactly what I got.
Mentioning just about anything specific in this film would spoil it, but I do want to explain my disappointment
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with the film. It has a noticeably higher budget so the visuals are more impressive than the TV show. The avant-garde segments are just as captivating and unique as the series. The acting is excellent. There are a lot of moments that are well paced (for the most part), and pack an emotional punch. The music is just as great (slightly less memorable though) than the show as well. But, the TV series really focused on the world building of the series, what it means to be a magical girl, existentialism, and even views on organized religion and cult leader mentalities. Almost none of that is here in this film until the last 15 minutes. In my view, Madoka Magica is essentially the origin story of magical girls, and tells that extremely well with great detail. However, this film just feels like one witch labyrinth episode stretched out to film length. It lacks any commentary on being a magical girl, world building of the universe (including Kyuubey), or even much about what Madoka means to the universe. The film is essentially just watching Akemi Homura be tortured for about an hour and a half until the ending of the film where things finally start to pick up. I personally liked the way the film ended, but my wife did not.
I mainly want to write this review to let anyone curious know that this film does not expand the world of Madoka Magica much at all. It’s almost entirely about Homura and her mental state, which is well told, but not what I was expecting a 2 hour film to be entirely about. One of my main praises for the original series is that it had a lot to say in 12 episodes, and said it very concisely and effectively. I feel like this film is a step back in writing quality. Not terrible by any means, but the series was just so much better in my opinion. If you like Homura as a character, you will not be disappointed in this film. Excellent production values, music, and avant-garde direction come together to make a film worthy of your time. Just don’t expect the same amount of meaningful content as the series in this film.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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