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My thought on Urashiman is that it's worth seeing if, and only if, you're a fan of Irresponsible Captain Tylor - because if you can't appreciate that, you won't appreciate this. Like Tylor, this is a parody comedy based on tropes of the period, but it's simply not as good as Kouichi Mashimo's later work and very inconsistent between episodes. The only episode really that stood out to me is #32, which has a 3 minute sequence with the best callbacks to the silent film era I've ever seen in anime: they managed to reference at least 11 specific Chaplin, Keaton, and Keystone Cops moments ... all mixed together brilliantly.

This is a fun little show if you're familiar with mecha from the time period, and appreciate the zany humor of a director who would infamously kill off another anime's title character in a fit of pique with his show's sponsors just a few months after this aired! I wonder how much influence this had on the creators of Xabungle who also went for self-referential humor a couple years later... The biggest difference here compared to that show is that there are lots more references to real world persons and places.

From a technical standpoint there's nothing really noteworthy here: the animation is par for the ... course for TV anime from this period, characters are generic; the sound, music, and voice acting are all competently done, but nothing that really stands out. The only reason to watch this is if you want to see want to see a mildly humorous take on the combining super-robot genre.

Note that there is no continuity with the Toki no Etranger movie which is a very different kind of production.

This is an interesting little OVA if you like quirky art projects, but it's all style without much in the way of story or interesting ideas. It's enjoyable if you can pick up on all the pop culture visual cues and references, and there are some delightful moments of character animation that are remarkable for how well they convey fluidity and weight of movement - but unless you're the sort of person who likes watching animation for the sake of appreciating the technical aspects, and recognizing trademark elements that the staff on this project used elsewhere, you probably don't need to invest 48 minutes to ... see this.

The Reflection is doomed to be a love-hate series. If you want a typical anime, or are a fan of superhero franchises, then you're probably going to loathe this. If you like artsy animated films and fun shows that capture the pure joy of cartoons, then you'll find a lot to like.

I fall into the latter category but fully recognize the flaws of this show: the story and the characters are not particularly interesting or consistent. The heroes and villains are generic and don't have much in the way of backstories. The story doesn't get explained in detail and lacks a definitive ending or beginning. ... Don't watch this if you require a standard narrative-driven tale.

Where The Reflection really shines is the art and sound: it's visually distinctive with its own unique language, the limited palette and dark atmosphere work really well to capture a classic comic book vibe and allow for some unique action scenes that capture motion and energy brilliantly, and there's a surprising amount of real-world USA (more than just famous landmarks) hidden in plain sight if you keep your eyes open. The use of sound is my favorite thing about The Reflection, where insert songs and sound are kept in the foreground, and are just as important to telling the story as the spoken dialogue.

"The magic of moving pictures" is something that we take for granted, especially as anime fans. If you're conscious of how ridiculously cool it is that a series of flickering pictures can trick our brains into thinking we're witnessing motion, and thrilled when a progression of musical tones can call up an emotional response, then you're probably a good candidate for watching this show. Projects like The Reflection will never appeal to the overwhelming majority of people, which is why well-done artistic efforts deserve praise when their creators go out on a limb to make them - kudos to Stan Lee and everyone else who made this show, you rock!