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Feb 1, 2025
A twisted story about young adult romance and life. This was a strange show and manga to peruse. One might be perturbed about a story of malice and mischief. Even more so the big difference in art direction from the manga to the anime adaptation.
Set in a decaying early-2000's, post-Bubble Era economy in a countryside district in Japan are three main characters with intersecting life paths. The anxiety, loneliness, confusion, disappolntment, wonder, resentment, anger, frustration and delusion the Japanese youth felt of the time are immediately palpable in the story and are excellently conveyed to the audience in many different storytelling aspects. You could sense
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it in the art style, backround setting, music score, character lines and plot points.
It is a hard show to finish. Particularly to those who have unfortunately crossed paths with these kinds of characters in real life, it might bring back some harsh memories- so be forewarned. The only real downside for me would be the art direction- in the manga, the main characters are depicted as being attractive- particularly the antagonists of the story. In this adapatiation, the actors chosen for the rotoscope effect detracts from the storyline (their otherwordly, almost demonic attractiveness and beauty is part of the story for it to make sense). It has been proven the mangaka self-inserted his own life story into his work so the show has an uncanny realistic feel to it- perhaps why indeed it is a horror.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Feb 1, 2025
A must for those who want to watch Gundam series in chronological order. In this world which still coincides within the Gundam Universal Century timeline, this is is an instant classic. Since it was made so long ago, the writing for the story is excellently polished and pulls at the heart strings- unlike more modern Gundam offerings.
Depicted is a story about a novice officer- tasked with defending Federation military strongholds despite his rather lack of experience. Uraki would be facing many obstacles to his personal greatness- competition within his own faction, the enemy Zion faction, his own lack of skills and courage and of course,
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his love interest.
Whenever someone mentions being interested in space opera or Gundam in particular, I would first recommend for them to watch this. Perhaps 08TH MS Team would be a close second in terms of a good dive point for Gundam story.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Feb 1, 2025
If you were a fan of Initial D for the culture surrounding that era, this would be my top pick for a next up. Think of it like Initial D but for the late 1980's where this story is set- and with less racing and more filler. It is an excellent period-correct show to study Japan's peak "Bubble Era" economy. Particularly about the "bosozoku" street phenomenon.
Would say the story focuses less on racing the machines and instead it is about the people and the lifestyle that surrounded it. Much tradition and cultural experiences are depicted here which is lost on modern media today. Things like
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"highschool fair days" and what it meant for the youth of the time. How the young deliquents spend all their money on their gaudy, flashy ride for a chance to get with a beautiful girl. (It is similar to Young GTO show). The story shows much of "Nanpa" which roughly translates to "the West" as "Picking up" girls. Yes, this was how the youth then met their love interests before smartphones, the internet and social media. It is a great peak into that time. It is a story about Nanpa, not racing.
Also has much to do with tropes like: friendship, loyalty, responsibility and honor. Characters are introduced that are integral to the show's story and pull the two main characters into all sort of predicament. In one moment, it is a goofy and humorous story and the next- it becomes a dark and rather macabre look at youth life. With topics such as kidnapping, r_pe, violence and even introduces some straight up murderous villains in the story. It is similar to Bebop Highschool- a story about deliquents after all.
Being so old- you might find it difficult to locate on online streaming sites. You might get lucky and somehow find it uploaded from the VHS copies posted somewhere (like YouTube for instance). The art style has a greatly colorful palette with highly-expressive character designs which was common for the shows of the time. There are scenes of high-frame animations with impeccable detail particularly for the vehicles and some races- using slow-motion cinematography at times. The music score is also excellent- particularly for those who are now fans of City Pop- you might appreciate the music choices in this show.
I highly recommend it if you are a gearhead enthusiast type.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Aug 19, 2024
A delightful side-story that dramatically turns dark rather quickly. It begins like any stereotypical adventure story akin to Studio Ghibli movies of the past. Dare I say it borrows much from Laputa Castle in the Sky in its storytelling- much in the style of the music backround score composer, plot and character design. We follow a school boy, who unconsciously supports an enemy spy- who then leads the charge of a terrorist attack on a Space Colony. A story that started off lighthearted, gives you a swift slap to the face. A familiar feeling for Gundam fans of the lore. The story rapidly ramps up
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to its final crescendo of events that leads to its tragedies near the end. I appreciated this story as its one of more polished stories the Gundam series had to offer. If you watched Gundam chronologically like I chose to do so, you would be surprised how complete this story felt after enjoying the previous series- more recent ones seemed more convoluted in its plot- often requiring you to have read the manga before watching it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Aug 19, 2024
A forgotten gem. If you are into studying Japan's peak Bubble Era economy time, this would be a great addition to your list. It excellently captures the mindset of people at the time- and shows a perspective of young adulthood. Full of hardship, turmoil, romance and of course, violence.
I would say this series inspired many other shows that came after it. It has this pure feeling about its story. As if you were there experiencing that time with the characters. The story is set, stark in the late 1980s and emerging into early 1990's. The characters are delightfully cast into predicaments that can only
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pertain to that era. Like getting lost in an unfamiliar neighboring district in the bustling metropolis that is Tokyo with no directions or information. That kind of story is what you'll see here.
The stereotypical masculine storyline is also there to be admired. You just do not see this kind of depiction of Japan in current media anymore and this show is a shining example of that. Highly recommened if you are into this type of violent story.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jul 7, 2024
An excellent dive into the world of Japan's peak era- the 1980's! If you are into studying older anime to gain an appreciation for the art, this show should be a baseline. Forget about the Tiktok viral hits like Yu Yu Hakusho- this show inspired all of that. It is a shame it flew under the radar.
First thing to notice is the amazing art style that stayed consistent throughout the episodic short movies. Each backround scene is painstakingly painted and the bright and colorful cell artwork is so appreciable. The amount of frames for each specific scene or movement on screen is properly
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chosen, where it doesn't detract from your immersion (something modern anime forgot about). All the proper details are there, from the bikes, to the character clothing and hairstyle- they went to great efforts to depict the deliquent story you desire.
The story is a bit cliche- but it is an earmark for the era where it is exactly where you expect it to be. The motivation for their deliquent behavior rest heavily on romantic masculine ideology and is something I very much enjoyed. They managed to throw in Japanese tradition- wherein the characters participate in all sort of hilarity and is wholly welcomed. Many masculine stereotyping, coming-of-age situational comedy and tropes which is sadly missing in modern shows. They throw in important life lessons as well.
It is a shame most modern anime lean more towards the fantasy side of things. So to watch a show that tries to reflect upon current events of the time, is so great. The sound scape is also excellent, where certain scenes blend in with the backround score so effortlessly- it keeps you immersed in the story. The sounds of the bosozoku gangs rampaging through a seaside town is exactly how it should be. Each ending of every episode has a long song, very reminiscent of 80's movies of the time. It never leaves you incomplete in that sense.
Overall, a great insight of Japan during that time. If you are into brainrot Shounen fighting type of action anime, give this one a try- you might then understand REAL anime.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jul 7, 2024
Now I can clearly see the character design reference for Komi Can't Communicate (Komi-san wa, Comyushou desu). The slapstick comedy gag is the same- an unlikely main character with a deceptive face that shrouds their true golden personality and good intentions. They go about their highschool days misunderstood primarily due to their appearance. It becomes an appreciable comedy with the main character's inner monologue as narration which helps the audience understand his predicament- of which the effect is stronger than in the manga. He gets into ridiculous situations where he is deeply misunderstood and where the audience is left most often perturbed or sympathetic. The
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art style is so good- as the same with all anime of this era. The cell production is reminiscent of greats such as Neon Genesis Evangelion or Yu Yu Hakusho in some scenes. I would leave this to OG anime enjoyers or people about the study of 90's era golden time anime- it is incredibly obscure about the story and the production. You appreciate realistic shows like this from the past.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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