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Ah I am back to the 80's again ! Even after 30 years the action, story and charismathic characters are still fresh! They did a great job with this City Hunter movie ! Sunrise brought back many good memories of that 80's action packed show that I watched a long time ago. Mokkori! Man do I missed hearing those words for such a long time... Thank you Sunrise for bringing back even as a movie all of the elements that made City Hunter a hit back in the 80's!

The story for those who know this anime follows the usual pattern, Ryou and Kaori receive ... a request written on a board placed in Shinjuku under the code XYZ to protect someone and often that person is a beautiful grill. Well why not since Ryou is a big pervet.... This time the place ain't the 80's Shinjuku but a modern nowadays society where the technological warfare is undergoing. Despite all of that it was nice to see how our main characters adapted to this society and fit in it so naturally.
The characters are the same and I mean it in a good way especially in 1080p quality.Ryou is the same womanizer who you can rely on him in time of need or his trademark Magnum, Kaori with her big hammer always brings back Ryou to his "senses" and the aiding characters such as Saeko, Umibozu, Miki never fail to fit those holes and protect Ryou's back. Also that means Saeko's "debts" are increasing each time when she manages to use Ryou so well...Well you gotta love her...

Moving on the action scenes never dissapoint you at all, and I was entertained especially Ryou's accuracy as a marksman. While some of them seemed unreal compared to the one's from the 80's you can still turn a blind eye to them and enjoy them. The music as always is the BEST and bringing back the 80's cacthy songs and themes that define this whole anime series is one of the best things that can happen in a modern anime! It was a joy to almost wreck my sound system by turning on the volume to max each time the background music started. And the best thing is that it was so well coordinated with the action scenes.
Regarding that I gotta mention the best scene of this movie where the bullet flying milimeters near Kaori's hair showing her trust in her partner Ryou that it will hit the target and their perfect chemistry as a duo, the catchy background music during that scene...oh ...the feelling you get from that can't be put in words as a viewer...

The girls are the best in both looks and personality, this show manages to bring out their traits and make you love them. That rule is applied this time to the beautiful client that Ryou must ensure her safety. In the end you either hate or love her but this movie makes her memorable in both aspects: beauty and personality.
Main problem that this movie has and most of the City Hunter movies is the predictable plot and outcome.. but despite that we still watch it and enjoy it right? Because despite all of that deep down you hope that our hero Ryou will save the day and do his job of protecting that girl until the end.

As a conclusion if you are a fan of this show I think you will enjoy and like this movie as Sunrise intented to do by combining all of the succes elements in this movie that made City Hunter a hit during the 80's !

Astounding message delievered from this show...Every inch and emotion in my body shivered through these 26 episodes. If you are gonna watch season 2 be prepared for a ride of joy, enjoyment, emotions and some brilliant moments.

Earth again faces a new crisis and our old crew from Yamato must once again embark on a journey in the distant universe to assure a future for Earth. Each encounter and fight holds a meaning and this season gives a lesson to its viewers about the mistakes that our characters did and shows us their path to clear them and make the right choices for their future.

The ... characters are what makes Yamato 2202 the best work of Matsumoto Leij. Each character has its own spotlight and each of them manages to stir up different emotions for its viewers. Sometimes you will hate them sometimes you will love them and sometimes you will encourage them. Another amazing thing is how well this season presents us the reasons of the enemy that Yamato faces with some strong and solid base behind their actions and choices.

One thing to mention is Desler's development from season 1 thourgh season 2. As you may know in the first season he was pictured as a cold-blooded dictator who sent most of his people to death to achieve victory. In season 2 they go inside his mind they present his reasons and choices, everything that made him do that and gives him a second chance, makes him a likeable character even more than the ones from the Yamato crew.
Desler isn't the only one who contributes to this season, each character manages to portray the main themes of this show . Their speeches, their monologue, their own story and past mistakes, all of them provide a warning and also a lesson for us viewers. Leji Matsumoto was a man who 40 years when he created the Yamato series he looked way ahead in the future and predicted how our society will become in the near future. And damn he nailed it ! Our modern society is almost identical as the one from the Yamato series.

The most amazing stuff from this show is how well the raw human nature is presented and explored, and how well the human mind is studied during a crisis situation and the decisions made by them. Our own greed for war, our capability for destruction but also our good side our creative mind , our undying will and that we cling in desperate times, our heart to hate but also love! Our possibilities and choices to create a Future for ourselves!
This is Yamato Space Battleship 2202 a study about humanity about their choices their love their capability to destroy or create a FUTURE! This is Leji's Matsumoto masterpiece from almost half a century ago! Just don't miss this...you will not regret it trust me!

As expected from each Lupin special it doesn't disappoint you in terms of enjoyment and characters. As you know and are familiar in each special there is a focus on a certain main character were they present another side of him rather than the usual one that we are used to see.
In this special the focus is on Jigen and we are shown a more human side of him rather than his cold personality and gun skill as a hitman. The special does a good job at exposing some surprising traits of the main characters especially Fujiko during her piano recital performance or Lupin ... trying to adapt his thief skills using modern technology (computers), Goemon being behind times but always helpful with his Zanketsu for Lupin's gang and finally the unyielding determination of Zenigata to catch Lupin.

The story is the same, someone gives a challenge to our main character Lupin to steal something impossible at first glance but using his magic and craftiness he manages to exceed expectations and provide a lot of enjoyment in making the impossible possible. Praise worthy is how well the main 4 characters work with each other to achieve their initial goal and the plot twists who raise the hurdle for the story.
While there a lot themes the main problem that this special has is that it fails to execute a main theme and we have a mess. Another problem is the villain who this time has some shit reasons for his actions and a childish ambition (world domination).

Nevertheless these two factors don't ruin the enjoyment and emotions that this movie deliver especially through it's catchy music and knowledge about the world of classical music .The visuals are great, and for that thank you TMS, there are still talented people out there who can hand draw a plane and not use cheap cgi like most modern shows abuse of it.
The grills are great and their personality and charisma always makes me love them especially when they help our main character Lupin who is all the time finding himself in a dire situation.

So for the usual Lupin fans i recommend you watch this movie you will be not disappointed and for those who are new to these series start with the old specials from the 90's to get a little hold and knowledge on how Lupin and his gang does his stuff! Bye Bye!

Let’s talk about a story about existentialism told with the help of our main heroine Alita/Gally. What’s the meaning of being alive? Everybody needs a reason to live and move on. A purpose in that world were the society is divided in two classes: The poor one living in the scrap yard and the ones with a social status living in Thypares . For those from the scrap yard Thypares is a place were many of them aim to go a manifestation of their dreams and hopes it’s like a oasis in a middle of a desert were travelers can rest after their journey.

The worldbuilding ... is fantastic in Gunnm. As the story progresses we found out more about the people from the scrap yard their lifestyle their hopes that they cling to them every day , the corruption and the ones who suffer from it and finally the environment they live their daily lives. What is another stunning factor is the care the author explained each element from that world into his manga panels who have a limited amount of space.
The manga is so detailed and every new element introduced is explained. For the art I must praise the author for its effort and talent. Every chapter is rich in content and the backgrounds of each panel are very detailed. The black -white contrast style is well balanced and the fights are well drawn making it easy for the reader to distinguish the small details. Nowadays manga uses to much black for the fights which ruins the quality.

The story is beautiful and emotional. Through each chapter our heroine Alita discovers through her experience and encounters the meaning of being alive. Each character gives a lesson about being alive for Alita and each experience is used for her further battles in the future. Some arcs may be boring but their slow pace has a purpose for the story later so don’t get fooled by that, everything has a meaning in Gunnm nothing is left untouched.

What I enjoyed and liked from this manga was Alita. She is one of the best girls from a work of fiction, because of her personality, her caring for everyone and helping them how she can despite her own circumstances. I love her ideals her thoughts her perception about the world her every word that she exchanged during her encounters and fights, from the bottom of my heart and she always will be my number one girl.

In conclusion the 53 chapters are just pure art. Yes pure art my friends in which the author poured all his soul and emotions. From each story there is a lesson to learn for its readers, a lesson about life and the meaning of being alive of leaving something to be remembered by others in this world which let’s be honest we all struggle to do that in our own society. FANTASTIC!

This is the best season in everything! If you were patient for 2 seasons you will be rewarded with some neat stuff from the characters and some plot twists from the story. I gotta mention that episodes 60-78 I watched them on Youtube and despite the 480p quality the story was so damn good that I didn't care too much about animation and sound.We have new characters that are introduced which brings a diversity for this show and more enjoyment because this is what matters the most from an anime!

Season 3 handles so well the reasons of the characters that did different things who put ... them in a positive or negative light. Li Muchou (or Ribakshou in Japanese) is one character that you cannot hate and she manages to leave a good impression after her journey comes to an end. One of the strongest points in this season is Xiao, Lung Nu's disappearance(or running away) which gives a reason of existence for our main character Yang Gou.

We get too see Xangier all grown up as a fine gorgeous lady with a pure and big heart that helps here to make a lot of friends. Thank god she didn't grew up and become a bitch like her big sister Lu Fou who you cannot like her no matter what.Huang Rong is probably the best character from this series along with the Condor which is my bro despite being a bird.Also the development of our main character is impressive and the fact that he maintains his modest mentality of doing things despite acquiring a lot of knowledge and power in the martial arts is a plus and praise worthy stuff for this show.

The quality of story is good as always and the enjoyment is even better in this season.While the animation and sound (especially the chinese va) sucks everything else compensate and I had a blast watching this. I wanted more episodes after the show ended to be honest. So my recommendation is to watch this no matter what! I don't have anything to complain about from this season I liked everything!

Golden Kamui returns with the second cour/season which imo is better than the first season. The story, characters and plot have improved a lot and what I liked in this season is how they focus more on the side characters.
The characters maintain their unique traits and the enjoyment is better with the addition of the new characters that are introduced.

If you were familiar with the first season one of the main themes that is executed is the insatiable hunger for war/fight that the human nature is capable of. Our characters despite the Japanese-Russian war is over are still living in the past on ... that blood-dyed battlefield were many lives were lost and heroes emerge.
Being unable to escape their past that hunts them every night our characters seek something that can prove their meaning and existence during those times. That thing is the Ainu gold which is said that with its value you can buy a country. It's ironic but is the raw truth on how a common goal can bring together people with different ideals and principles and make them work together as a team. In regard of that season 2 dives deeper into that matter and adds different obstacles and conflicts to test out their teamwork but also their trust in each other. It has a slow start but after a couple of episodes everything becomes a roller coaster of enyoiment, maniac laughing and plot twists that you don't expect to happen.

Now let's take a look on our characters which I must say this season has done a good job at making them memorable. While the first season made us familiar with the knowleadge and cuisine obsession for Asirpa, the toughness and recklessness actions of Sugimito and Shiraishi's slipperiness, season 2 brought foward new stories and revealed the reasons and motivations for Ogata and Tanigaki in seeking the Ainu Gold.
We all know that Ogata is a skilled sniper from Tsurumi's 7th division who wanted something new thus leaving the division on his own will. But we never knew what were his reasons on doing that? What was the reason why Tanigaki was going on that journey and what were the real intentions of Hijikata and his men? Why was Tsurumi and his men a torn in their back all journey long?

Well all of this questions are answered in this season by the characters themselves. They tell us the viewers in a form of a monologue their past choices and what made them end up the people they are today. Some of their stories are hilarious (I gotta mention that Tsurumi's was the one that I laughed the most and the one that fitted his twisted personality so well), some of their are filled with regret, some of them with vengeange and finally some of them managed to stir up some emotions (especially Tanigaki's conclusion to his story).

Regarding the bear- cgi complains from the first season this season managed to solve those problems and the animation improved. The ost is the same (great) and the animation for the opening song manages to mix the knowledge of Asirpa's cuisine with the traits of our characters. As a conclusion I gotta mention that Tsurumi's men are damn awesome and their twisted personalities are damn enjoyable. And I love how they mix up the craziness and smart decisions depicting a unique trait in Tsurumi's character. His qoutes are damn juicy, here is a example to know what I mean :
(To Sugimoto)"I'm your Shinigami. Your life is a candle, and I can blow it out anytime I choose".

If you wanna find out more about what I wrote in this review you gotta check this season out!

See you can make a memorable modern movie if you want too Japan! Made by a studio who nobody even heard about it "I want to eat your pancreas" is a rare gem that everyone must see! Like Frank Sinatra's song "Strangers in the Night" I too was a stranger before coming across this movie. This movie is a letter of love addressed to life who despite being short is damn gorgeous!

A strong point in this movie is how simple and enjoyable it manages to present the story for its audience. The strong willed female lead character made the story so damn enjoyable and ... managed to steal my heart with her charisma and interactive personality. Her selfish and stubborn way of doing things is what makes her attractive.
A weak point in this movie is the cgi used in some scenes and the side characters who have almost zero influence across the whole movie, some of them managed only to annoy me and ruined my enjoyment.

Simple stuff between two friends done on a free day or after school is used to establish a bond between Sakura and Haruki, our two main characters.While their bond doesn't cross the limits of "best friends" they still have something that cannot be described by words, something that keeps them for falling apart.Together they experience new feelings and start to change and view the world with a different perspective. Despite being of opposite personalities like "ying and yang", spending more and more time together they come to understand each other and change as time passes on.

The dialogue is damn enjoyable and filled with some beautiful poetry about the value of life and meaning of love.The visuals and ost blends with the dialogue and enforces a variety of emotions that bloom like a beautiful flower. I was looking forward each time Sakura was sharing her thoughts, her feelings, her perception about life. Like Frankie's song "My Way" she did everything with in her own way, and that's what I love about her!
While Haruki is uninteresting as a character and person, his growth after his "fateful" encounter with Sakura is worth mentioning, his change made me see him in a positive light after finishing the movie.

I gave this a 10 because of the strong female lead character,because of simple and how beautiful they executed the main themes and because this movie was honest with me until the end, nothing stopped me from enjoying every minute. I experienced a lot of emotions watching this movie and one of them is hope that somewhere out-there I can meet a person that can understand me for what I really am someday. This is why I love anime and always appreciate and praise good works that manage to stir up different emotions and leave a good impression for us, the viewers.

It doesn't matter in which language the story is told, as long as it can connect with the one who is listening to it. In this case this season despite having a chinese cast, some junk animation in the first episodes (later on it improves) and some emotional moments that were so poor handled by the chinese VA, despite all of that the story was so damn good that it made me stick with all of the 26 episodes until the end.

To put it in a couple of words for you(the readers), the story follows Youka and Koko from were it left in season 1, ... as they face new trials were they're bond and love is tested. Youka come across his past and must face it, as for Koko she stays beside him until a certain event breaks them apart for a period of time.
The characters are more interesting in this season and some of them offer something new for the story.

What I liked from this season is how well they handled Ribakushu's character (Master LI in the chinese version) and presented a more let's say human side of her.Also my favorite character from this season is not even human, it's a bird, a Condor who believe me or not helps Youka to overcome his hardships and trains him.
What I didn't like was Fung Gou who was so damn annoying for 26 episodes long and the fact that Koko still doesn't trust Youka 100% and runs away from him again...This time atleast they handled it better and we had a happy ending( a reward for the both of them).

So in conclusion if you liked the first season and if you are curious , patient and don't mind chinese VA you can give this season a go and you will find yourselves wanting more at the end of it.It's a shame to not watch this, because many questions from the first season are answered and the story gets better with each episode.I myself gonna start the final season and write my thoughts about it in a form of a review.

With this special episode Violet Evergarden proves to us once again how the power of words can change the world around a person and how hard it is to find the perfect words for the dear ones. The timeline of the story is set between episode 4 and 5 and the focus is on a opera singer who is trying to convey her feelings of love for the dear one through her acting and singing. Violet as you know will try do to her best to help her but now she is in a pinch and that is what makes this special worth watching, ... to see how she will manage to touch her heart with the words she puts on paper....

A special episode of 34 minutes duration who managed once again to make the viewer experience different stages of emotions...Starting from the joy&happiness of seeing once again their favorite character Violet doing her best to help a person in need and ending in tears of joy and sadness accompanied by the music, story and narration style.A special that you must watch especially for those who loved the tv series (including myself), a special that will remind you how beautiful Violet Evergarden was and maybe who knows will make you rewatch it....

The characters at first glance don't seem to bring something new for the story but when they start to tell their own story and experience everything changes, everything takes a form, their words bring depth and substance to the story they manage to convey their words into emotions felt by the viewers.
I always liked Roland's character because despite having such little screen time he had a great influence on Violet's development in the tv series and once again his choice of words filled with experience and substance about life helped Violet overcome her trial and grow further.

The story overall was beautiful , the message left for the viewers was heartwarming and manages to touch and warm up even a frozen heart. It's about the things that matter the most in life it's about a simple but yet hard to say word "I love you" to the one that matters the most to you to the one that is everything for you.

The music , the visuals, together created an emotional atmosphere and gave an outstanding ending for this specials episode filling the story with warmth words. It has been a while since I cried like a little baby after watching this special and with all my heart I recommend this to who loved the tv series and want to experience those emotions again....
I love you VIOLET!

Introduction:

Darling in the FranXX is an original sci-fi anime co-production between studio Trigger and A-1 Pictures directed by Atsushi Nishigori (Tengen Toppa Gurren Langan, FLCL, Evangelion 1.0 Movie, etc..) with the mech designs made by Shigeto Koyama who became famous after his mech designs for Star Driver, with Nishigori and Naotaka Hayashi handling the series composition, Masayoshi Tanaka designing the characters, Hiroyuki Imaishi(one of the co-founders for Studio Trigger) serving as action animation director and Asami Tachibana composing the music. The series was announced at Trigger’s Anime Expo 2017 in July 2017, with the first episode airing on 13 January 2018 with a ... length of 24 episode running time.


Story:

The story is set in the distant future. The world is ruined, and humanity establishes mobile fort cities called "plantations". Pilots produced inside Plantation live in Mistilteinn, also known as the "birdcage." Children living there know nothing of the outside world or the freedom of the sky. Their enemies are mysterious giant life forms known as Klaxosaur, and the children pilot machines called Franxx to face off against them. For the children who pilot those machines that is their sole reason to prove their own existence into that desolating future not knowing if they will see the day of tomorrow. The World is one of the strong points in this show and its containing elements are explained at a steady pace in each episode with the purpose of making the viewer to understand how its mechanics, principles and laws work and interact with the story and characters.

Characters:

To get the viewer familiar with the characters in the first couple of episodes the anime displays their ordinary lives and activities in those “birdcages” and the specific bonds that are formed between them. If we take each character apart we will notice that Zero Two steals the spotlight each time she appears on screen leaving the other characters in a con of shadow…..To compensate for that huge gap the anime focuses on the bonds between them and how will influence their further development into that world. The anime allocates time in each episode to dive into each character and display their reasons for piloting the Franxx and depending on your own interpretation you may hate them or love them. There are some heartwarming moments that enforce the bond between our characters that myself I just fell in love with them. Another thing I must mention is how beautiful and smart the visual metaphors are used when each character is telling us his own experience as a Franxx pilot and what made him the person that he is today. These are the “marvelous slice of life moments” that made me love and appreciate Darling in the FranXX.

Our characters as they dive further into the that world filled with destruction where each day is a battle for survival discover and learn different emotions that they aren’t familiar with it such as love, bond, affection, compassion and family. Those emotions become their new sole reason of existence replacing the old one in which their lives were at stake each day. Their fight is not over yet but this time is not a fight for the selfish adults but for their own future and to create a place filled with smiles and warmth a place called HOME. The bonds that are formed between the characters, their experience principles that they form for themselves during the fights with the Klaxosaurs become the foundation for their development and growth as characters across this show.

Visuals & Audio:

The show starts off with a visual metaphor to captivate the attention of the viewers which later will become a narrative monologue metaphor part of the story and main plot of Darling in the FranXX. The visual vocabulary is rich and attractive having an important role for telling us the long forgotten bond between Zero Two and Hiro which is the main attraction of this anime. The visuals, story and audio together manage to take the viewer through different stages of emotions and connect them to each character’s experience. The op song is damn good especially the one for the second half were the visual metaphors are damn juicy for the audience who enjoys this kind of stuff.

Personal Opinion & Enjoyment:

As having some experience in many anime communities and hearing a lot of different opinions about this anime, myself agree or disagree with many of their points about Darling in the FranXX who borrowed different elements from famous shows like Evangelion , TTGL, Kill la Kill and so on…… Despite all of that, this show manages to maintain its original concept and despite the lack of appeal for some characters this anime manages to deliver a form of enjoyment accessible to a variety of viewers (beginner or veteran) especially those who don’t enjoy the mecha genre, through its unique mech designs, characters bonds and visual metaphors. Having seen a lot of shows with different genres and variety of themes I gotta say that I enjoyed Darling in the FranXX for the story , world and bond created between the characters and hope studio Trigger will keep on the good quality they deliver in their original concepts for shows that may come in the near future.