Hello, I'm ma1kawa11, I critique film/anime as a hobby. I hope you enjoy my profile.
I judge an anime based considering multiple factors, based on different topics of design of which there is an outline below:
Overall: (X/10)
Worldbuilding:
The depth and quality of the world
The quality of the development of the world
The logical coherence of the world
The way the atmosphere of the world relates, affects, and benefits the plot and genre.
Plot:
How the plot innovates its genre
The structure, pacing, and form of the plot/arc. The consistency of each arc in the scope of the entire series.
The logical coherency of the plot
Minimal use of Cliches, and if/when they are used, the quality to which they are used.
Power scaling (if applicable), or the buildup towards the climax.
quality of the introduction
quality of the ending
Minimal use of flashbacks (and if they are used, the proper use of them)
Characters:
Whether the characters are primarily three dimensional versus one/two dimensional.
Strong Protagonist/Antagonist if applicable.
Characters have a complex sense of morality (no absolute good or evil)
Minimal use of cliches and tropes in personalities or motivations (and if they are used the quality to which they are used).
Strong Character Development.
The realisticness of a Character (would the character make sense as an actual person)
Informed and correct portrayal of minority groups (e.g. LGBTQ+, racial minorities, sex, disabilities) if any. I judge this relative to the time the show was produced.
Art:
The graphical quality of the art style.
The consistency of the quality of the art style throughout the series.
How well the art style matches or fits in the genre.
CGI quality.
Animation:
The production quality of the animation.
The consistency of the animation quality throughout the series.
A distinct animation style which fits and coordinates with the art style.
Sound:
Voice Acting:
Quality of voice actors.
Ability to express a wide variety of emotions and express themselves as their characters.
SFX:
SFX Production Quality
Emotional Impact and logical choice of SFX.
Music:
Production Quality (bitrates, quality of performance, etc.)
Appropriate emotional impact for scenes, consistency of genre to create that impact.
Good compositional techniques (lack of cliche chord progressions, good melody writing, good instrumentation, etc.).
There are a few types of things which significantly affect my rating of a show other than the rubric that is shown above to the point where a score my drop by a full point or more if depicted in a show:
Use of Fanservice
Inappropriate, Immoral, or Strong Sexualization
Defending Discriminatory Ideals
Non-Satirical Political Bias
Additional Notes:
I watch and review anime exclusively based on their English sub because of the inconsistencies of the voice acting quality in English dubs.
When I make a formal review on a show, I may summarize or exclude some or most of this information based on their relevance to the main points I want to make. This allows me to keep my review simple and concise if need be.
This sheet is only something I use for shows within the TV, Movie, and some ONA/OVA.
For Specials, and some ONA/OVA I will rate them relative to the original TV/Movie they were based on judging based on certain quality aspects in such a way that those specials cannot be rated higher than what they area adapting from. With the exception of Recaps and Promotional videos which are automatically given a 5/10 unless it is adapted from a show that is lower than 5/10 of which it receives the same score of the show.
Music Videos are judged solely from the "Sound", "Animation", and "Art" sections of the list.
I define my scores fairly obviously, I follow the general idea behind myanimelist descriptions of each number. This number is determined by my rating rubric. Following is a slightly more elaborate description of how I define the myanimelist score system.
10 - A Masterpiece: Shows that are as close to perfection as possible.
9 - Excellent: Shows that are close to being a masterpiece, but are not entirely perfect.
8 - Great: Shows that are extremely enjoyable but have small issues in a few areas of my rating system.
7 - Good: Shows that are very enjoyable but have issues in a few or several areas of my rating system which have affected overall quality.
6 - Okay: Shows that are enjoyable, but have prominent issues that while outweighed by the show's strengths, have significant impact to overall quality.
5 - Average: Shows which do not stand out, and generally have an equal distribution of strengths and weaknesses.
4 - Meh: Shows which might have certain strengths, but overtaken by significant issues to the point where it has outweighed the strengths and affects enjoyment.
3 - Bad: Shows that suffer from extremely major issues in a large amount of different areas and significantly outweigh the show's few strengths, as a result not being very enjoyable to watch.
2 - Very Bad: Shows that are extremely unenjoyable due to having almost no positive aspects whatsoever. Nearly a catastrophe.
1 - Terrible: Shows that are a catastrophe, nearly zero positive aspects of the show whatsoever.
So hopefully this gives a bit of an idea what I think when I give a show a number.
I judge series both on a rough bell curve and by my standards as I've described above. This means that my rating of shows is influenced by the total number of shows I've seen. Since I am aiming for a bell curve, as the number of shows I have seen goes up, the mean score of shows will tend to approach between 5. However in application, my mean tends to be balanced between 4-6. This is because while I try to be balanced in the shows I am watching and my rating of a show, because I enjoy anime, I have a natural bias to watch shows that I am interested in. This means that my curve will always be slightly skewed, though with my rating system this has been somewhat mitigated. However, because MAL does not separate things such as promotional videos, music, and specials from the list, I'm not sure how accurate this will stay towards a bell curve since I value my ratings of those shows much differently. Below is my current distribution of scores:
I define my favorites as following:
Manga/Anime:
My Manga/Anime favorites are purely subjective based on my enjoyment of the show. I don't follow any of my guidelines for ratings with my favorites, so while my favorites tend to be things I've rated highly, it doesn't necessarily mean that they will always be the most highly rated.
Characters:
My favorite Manga/Anime Characters are primarily chosen through a combination of how well I think the character was written, and how well I can relate to them. Does not necessarily mean that they are from my favorite anime/manga and also doesn't mean I rate the show more highly.
People:
This section is dedicated purely to my favorite composers from anime I've seen.
Companies:
These are a list of production companies that are generally behind anime that I have rated highly or are on my favorites list.
Drop: I do not drop anime, if I watch or complete a first episode I will complete it and give it a rating. If I do not finish something I will add it to an "On Hold" section to watch later. I do not rate shows I have not completed because I do not have a full perspective on the show and all of its strengths and weaknesses.
Hold: If for some reason I have not finished a show, I will put that show on hold. While on hold the show will not receive a rating. I do not have any timeline where I may finish a show, but I do plan at some point to finish watching it.
Watch Policy: I watch everything to completion with only a few exceptions. Those are recaps. If it is a recap and I already have seen all the scenes in it, I will automatically add it to my list because I have seen those scenes, as it is just added to mal for courtesy separately for some reason. If the recap is in a format where it contains new scenes, I will watch those new scenes in exclusion and consider it fully watched. I add lost media to the list if it is considered part of a franchise, this is because I don't believe that MAL should add lost media to its regular list because it is impossible to watch.
If you have read a review or a post of mine and disagree, feel free to criticize me! I'm always open to hearing other people's viewpoints, and I also want to refine my own skills at reviewing shows. Just please keep these things in mind when criticizing me:
Please be civil and respectful in your criticism. I'm looking for constructive criticism on how to improve, not insults.
Just because I disagree with you doesn't mean my opinion isn't valid.
Don't expect me to change my mind. I'm open to hearing and trying to understand your views, and I will definately take into consideration what you say. However that does not necessarily mean I will automatically agree with you and if I don't, please don't get upset over it.
With that in mind, I totally look forward to hearing your opinions! :D
Hello! Thank you for your recommendation on Secret Santa.
I just finished it today, and I thought it was a good experience. It’s an anime that brings everything in the form of conversation—from the most random jokes possible to clever references to other works, and even breaking the fourth wall.
The characters have great chemistry, and their jokes keep things lively. Definitely a fun watch (´▽`)
Glad to hear you liked those. I was pretty much positive you'd like AE, so I had to bring it up again. The AE movie is quite impressive when it comes to the aesthetics, atmosphere, etc. Maybe puzzling as to how to interpret it, though. I was just now trying to recall who the composer was for RX, but it seems the only other anime credits she has are for the Code Geass films (aside from singing the theme song for Fujiko Mine Lupin spinoff series). That and RX are so different, lol, so I wonder what her CG compositions are like.
Oh, an oversight on my part is that when I chose not to include GITS, I didn't have a slot for Kenji Kawai. So I'd switch that out with Patlabor 2. Unlike with Berserk, I've listened to that many times outside of the anime and quite recently. Pretty sure you'd also like that if you like the GITS OST.
The song really annoys me. That aside, the biggest issue with the Death Parade OP is that it clashes horribly with the show. There are a lot of songs I don't especially like that fit a show well, so it's much easier to tolerate the song and maybe even enjoy it on some level. Plus, cutting the song down to 1:30 can work wonders for some songs that are too long or repetitive or have weaker sections somewhere along the way. I agree that it's professional, but I'd rather listen to keyboard cat or The Shaggs. XD
Key is completely forgotten on MAL. Strangely, back when I used IMDB more, I used to hear about it all the time.
I read a novel now and then, but I also tend not to read much fiction because fiction is something I use as a break from articles and non-fiction books (so fiction breaks are usually anime or film instead of reading). I also like audiobooks for fiction a lot and usually fall asleep to one as well. Do you like genre fiction for novels much? There's an unlisted YouTube channel I could send you that has a lot of interesting genre fiction.
I've never been much into ballet or watching musical performances. Outside of film or animation, music is a purely aural experience for me. I've probably seen some version of The Rite of Spring on TV a long time ago when I left the art channel on that played a lot of classical, but I'll check streaming.
I've actually listened to the Celeste OST without having ever played the game and liked it okay. I like a lot of rapidly looping music, if that's the main issue as an OST. But, also, with something like Berserk, I'm probably going by my memory of watching the series rather than listening to the OST in this case. So maybe that shouldn't count so much. I've tried a bunch of OSTs that I loved during a film/series with tracks that were too long or with voice overs and various things like that, so it's hard to say.
Uh, I'm trying to recall any accordion music in anime, now that you mention it. Other than a street music scene or a joke involving Europe. Spit and Accordion. Wow. XD
I can see the MGX OST being really effective in the series based on what I've heard so far.
I find some of the tracks work fine outside of the shows for Lain and Boogie, and I used to listen to them when playing chess XD. Maybe that's kind of weird... Main thing though is that both rely a lot more on sound design than other anime. I like the OP for Lain a lot but not the ED. I guess I'm not crazy about either for BP, but the OP grew on me for the visuals and sometimes the song kind of fits the tone of that (sort of...) but not the show as much. The ED is pretty throwaway, and the visual element is just a replay of scenes. Honestly, many corners are cut with EDs, and I have a harder time remembering ones that I like. What is your opinion of Death Parade's OP...? not sure if you've seen that, but I hate that song so much. I find it so weird watching an episode after hearing that. XD
I heard the Franxx manga somehow fixed the ending, though obviously that couldn't be of interest for you if you only like the score. I'm just wondering what possessed them to end it as they did. That's AoT ending-tier bad, lol.
I remember not liking Jigoku Shoujo. Honestly, I have a hard time getting into most episodic series. Some of the bigger exceptions are Mushishi and Kino's Journey. Did you get into it as a horror fan? I want to say the sound element of the Uzumaki adaptation this season is fairly good too.
Same, there are a lot of OSTs I like that don't correlate with liking the series, especially for OPs and EDs, which are made more complicated because it's harder to separate them from the visual component, or I prefer to think of them as audiovisual rather than purely audio as I will sometimes do with OSTs. For example, I'm not sure how much I like the song for the Generator Gawl OP, but I like the visuals a lot, and they go well with the song. Kazuto Nakazawa always does cool stuff with the OPs he's attached to.
I respect Darling in the Franxx partly for its dumpster fire qualities, tbh XD. Can't remember the soundtrack too well, other than catchy OP or something. I'll try it after I send my comment.
I'm familiar with and like most of the OSTs you listed, except I can't really say anything about Nichijou or Spit Maiden. They're both on my PTW list. GITS and Akira are usually on any list I'd make, but I'll skip them this time. Metropolis also has a really strong usage of music. btw, have you tried Hosono's older non-Ghibli work? I find a lot of his stuff from Birth, Venus Wars, Arion, and etc., to be pretty good electronic music that's never mentioned.
OSTs:
-RahXephon (Incidentally, I recall there being some Wagner in the first episode. Borodin somewhere too)
-Angel's Egg (I recall suggesting this one to you, and based on the kind of composers you like outside of anime, I think you'll find it worth trying)
-Alien 9
-Night on the Galactic Railroad (this and the one below are essential for me because of Haruomi Hosono)
-Genji Monogatari
-Serial Experiments Lain (kind of hard to separate this and the one below from sound design, though)
-Boogiepop Phantom
-Hi no Tori: Houou-hen (absurdly underrated OST but fairly well known anime because of Tezuka)
-Berserk 1997 (wanted to add Susumu Hirasawa somewhere)
-Roujin Z (a film that involved Otomo of Akira, and the score is kind of similar to Akira, only maybe more restrained?)
I definitely liked some of the LotGH OPs and EDs, but there are so many of them so not sure which ones. I like Gunsmith Cats and Elfen Lied OPs a lot. I've heard most of the others but don't remember them well. I'd like to try the ED for A Kite because I also don't remember that, but the soundtrack seems a lot more effective than I remember. It's kind of easy to get lost in certain scenes when a score complements what's going on well. :P
OP/ED is insanely hard for me to pick, and I'd probably have to dig through a bunch of them. But I like these (Elfen Lied is also an easy choice for me, but I'll leave it out since you have it).
OP - both Record of Lodoss War OVA and TV
OP - Niea Under 7 (totally unique with those vocals!)
OP - Key the Metal Idol
OP - Dirty Pair Project Eden (holy shit the visuals)
ED - Now and Then, Here and There
OP - Witch Hunter Robin (feels like the most music videoish OP ever, lol)
OP and ED - RahXephon (think this has one of the strongest OP/ED combos out there)
ED - Aku no Hana
OP - Higurashi (feel like this does a great job of creating a kind of paranoid moe horror)
OP - Vlad Love (I think this is opening 1... great mood)
Edit: Yeah, I like the Franxx OST, and I'm kind of curious how it's used during the series, as it's way different than I remember.
Hey. Thanks, I've been good. How have you been? Although it makes sense in your case, it's sort of unusual on MAL to see a list of fav people that are all composers (except Watanabe). Do you have a list of favorite OSTs in anime (or in general)? I was rewatching the original Hellsing recently, and I forgot how interesting the OST and sound design were (plus, Youta Tsuruoka has to be the most notable sound designer in anime).
Hi, thanks :)
I also love Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Metropolis and Terror in Resonance from your list, but my free list can only hold 10 titles hehe
I'm curious, how did you find me in MAL?
The first one was some similar Christian one, I guess? Have you seen Mawaru Penguindrum? I can't claim that it's good. I'm not sure, and it's not about being in a cult, but it's... I guess about the impact and subtle reverberations of having been associated with one and its impact on society. It has a weird way of presenting it, so you won't pick up on it at first. It incorporates the Aum Shinrikyo sarin gas attack into its narrative, which kind of feels like a spoiler lol, but I knew about it when going into it.
Just make sure it's the 1970s version of Wickerman unless you're looking for a comedy. X)
What kind of cult was it, if you don't mind answering?
Well, these kind of critiques of capitalism tend to be framed purely in terms of economics. I feel propaganda has always been more important than money when it comes to media, and what is profitable will sometimes be rejected because it's not in line with current and developing propaganda trends. The way parent companies and global markets work, they can often afford losses. A loss in one area can be recouped in another. And if even a small percentage of the Indian or Chinese market watch something, then that's a big profit.
I haven't read the original manga either, but, from what I've heard, the old 1980s OVA is much more faithful. Yuasa applied an aesthetic reminiscent of his other films/series and turned it into a silly high school thing with a lot of bad additions. If you don't mind the amount of violence and you think the trailer for the 1980s Devilman OVA looks good, then I'd suggest it.
From what I recall with class struggle, there's something about the upper class drafting or pushing the lower class into war, and I can definitely see that in the OVA, with the rich guy enlisting the help of the MC. Crybaby? I don't remember but I doubt it.
I don't like Crybaby either. It's a watering down of Yuasa's past glory, it's Netflix produced, a poor adaptation, and I don't think it does anything that well.
Nowadays "stereotypically villainous" almost always means not. Usually when I watch a murder mystery there's one person who is too obvious and can be ruled out immediately. Even if they make a twisty plot where you've come to not suspect them and then fake you out, it just doesn't seem to work to use the character for that.
I'm not a big fan of Midsommar, but I do like a lot of the imagery. It's interesting how much of the art that we see on the walls explains the process of the rituals and such. Do you like Wicker Man too? More so the older one than the Nicholas Cage one. X) I thought I remembered it having a good OST.
I guess it's not surprising. I feel like film craftsmanship has mostly dropped as a whole, so something that's a bit more difficult to do well like horror will fall even harder. And then you get a lot of the gross stuff to replace atmosphere or effective construction or anything like that.
The most memorable horror work for me that came out in the last few years was probably Petscop, but that's a fake "let's play" series rather than a movie.
I'm surprised you disliked Devilman Crybaby so much, but it honestly is a pretty bad adaptation. The first Devilman OVA is more like a horror film, and I think it's a much better adaptation. The only people disagreeing are probably people coping because daddy Yuasa failed them. X) Has a Kenji Kawai score too, I think.
It's kind of funny how crammed and fast it becomes because it starts off a little slow... I winced in pain thinking about 12 episodes, but there are a lot of directions they could have gone in and ways in which they could have expanded the characters. A lot of the ideas they had would work with the right script and direction.
Was the big guy named Khan? I think a lot of people were weirded out by the cheap trick early on to make us think he was a killer. That was supposed to be a previous loop that ended badly, right? In retrospect, that's probably the only thing that would make sense because I don't think the early "bad Khan" events mesh well with what happened in the ending episodes.
But yeah, the cult family... it would be interesting to rewatch to see if there are any solid hints. Though I don't think I can do it, knowing how frustrating the whole thing is. There's a sort of investment in their friendship that makes the twist ridiculous. Would have been better if the daughter were more conflicted, and it was mostly just the parents.
Yeah, horror is in a bad state in general. It's too bad, as I really like horror, but I don't watch them now as there's nothing to choose from. Most anime horror is mixed with shonen action or comedy too, so little of what is classified as horror is what I'd truly call horror. Instead of genre, it's more like a theme of horror imagery. I'm looking forward to the Uzumaki adaptation. Though I'm kind of hoping they'll take some artistic license with the script a little bit. The manga's episodic nature is too loose and lacking in emotion, even though I like it.
I guess I'll put this in a spoiler tag for anyone who might stumble into your comment box, since this series doesn't have much going for it other than the mystery. Yeah, what I didn't mention, as I think it wasn't a spoiler review, was how ridiculous the twist was. I didn't think it would go to quite that level, as that's more like insane VN territory, but I think we all knew something was a little off with Kimi at least. The dead dog scene was probably too much foreshadowing. :S
The other girl being an unhinged killer in a cult was much worse. If any character would benefit from more dimensionality, then it was probably her.
Lovecraft had different periods, but he's most known for the nihilistic stories where humanity learns of a terrible god that sees them as nothing but cattle, like Cthulhu. That's what Kimi is... except not quite because she's running an experiment to make all of those humans in that area live peacefully together. What I really don't like about it is how condescending Kimi is. You're a Lovecraftian cosmic entity, Kimi. How can you expect a completely different species to act like you? Why do you want them to act like you? Most of all, how do you expect them to ever get along if there's your secret cult that's antagonizing and offing them one-by-one? XD
It's been a while since I've seen it, but didn't the three cultists see the moss as a sign from their god that fueled their actions? That makes it even more ridiculous. Kimi acts above it, but she's part of it. That feels like a mistake to me, and the series is so crammed together and rushed that I wouldn't be surprised if it is.
All Comments (81) Comments
I just finished it today, and I thought it was a good experience. It’s an anime that brings everything in the form of conversation—from the most random jokes possible to clever references to other works, and even breaking the fourth wall.
The characters have great chemistry, and their jokes keep things lively. Definitely a fun watch (´▽`)
Hope you have an awesome New Year!
Oh, an oversight on my part is that when I chose not to include GITS, I didn't have a slot for Kenji Kawai. So I'd switch that out with Patlabor 2. Unlike with Berserk, I've listened to that many times outside of the anime and quite recently. Pretty sure you'd also like that if you like the GITS OST.
The song really annoys me. That aside, the biggest issue with the Death Parade OP is that it clashes horribly with the show. There are a lot of songs I don't especially like that fit a show well, so it's much easier to tolerate the song and maybe even enjoy it on some level. Plus, cutting the song down to 1:30 can work wonders for some songs that are too long or repetitive or have weaker sections somewhere along the way. I agree that it's professional, but I'd rather listen to keyboard cat or The Shaggs. XD
Key is completely forgotten on MAL. Strangely, back when I used IMDB more, I used to hear about it all the time.
I read a novel now and then, but I also tend not to read much fiction because fiction is something I use as a break from articles and non-fiction books (so fiction breaks are usually anime or film instead of reading). I also like audiobooks for fiction a lot and usually fall asleep to one as well. Do you like genre fiction for novels much? There's an unlisted YouTube channel I could send you that has a lot of interesting genre fiction.
I've actually listened to the Celeste OST without having ever played the game and liked it okay. I like a lot of rapidly looping music, if that's the main issue as an OST. But, also, with something like Berserk, I'm probably going by my memory of watching the series rather than listening to the OST in this case. So maybe that shouldn't count so much. I've tried a bunch of OSTs that I loved during a film/series with tracks that were too long or with voice overs and various things like that, so it's hard to say.
Uh, I'm trying to recall any accordion music in anime, now that you mention it. Other than a street music scene or a joke involving Europe. Spit and Accordion. Wow. XD
I can see the MGX OST being really effective in the series based on what I've heard so far.
I find some of the tracks work fine outside of the shows for Lain and Boogie, and I used to listen to them when playing chess XD. Maybe that's kind of weird... Main thing though is that both rely a lot more on sound design than other anime. I like the OP for Lain a lot but not the ED. I guess I'm not crazy about either for BP, but the OP grew on me for the visuals and sometimes the song kind of fits the tone of that (sort of...) but not the show as much. The ED is pretty throwaway, and the visual element is just a replay of scenes. Honestly, many corners are cut with EDs, and I have a harder time remembering ones that I like. What is your opinion of Death Parade's OP...? not sure if you've seen that, but I hate that song so much. I find it so weird watching an episode after hearing that. XD
I heard the Franxx manga somehow fixed the ending, though obviously that couldn't be of interest for you if you only like the score. I'm just wondering what possessed them to end it as they did. That's AoT ending-tier bad, lol.
Same, there are a lot of OSTs I like that don't correlate with liking the series, especially for OPs and EDs, which are made more complicated because it's harder to separate them from the visual component, or I prefer to think of them as audiovisual rather than purely audio as I will sometimes do with OSTs. For example, I'm not sure how much I like the song for the Generator Gawl OP, but I like the visuals a lot, and they go well with the song. Kazuto Nakazawa always does cool stuff with the OPs he's attached to.
I respect Darling in the Franxx partly for its dumpster fire qualities, tbh XD. Can't remember the soundtrack too well, other than catchy OP or something. I'll try it after I send my comment.
I'm familiar with and like most of the OSTs you listed, except I can't really say anything about Nichijou or Spit Maiden. They're both on my PTW list. GITS and Akira are usually on any list I'd make, but I'll skip them this time. Metropolis also has a really strong usage of music. btw, have you tried Hosono's older non-Ghibli work? I find a lot of his stuff from Birth, Venus Wars, Arion, and etc., to be pretty good electronic music that's never mentioned.
OSTs:
-RahXephon (Incidentally, I recall there being some Wagner in the first episode. Borodin somewhere too)
-Angel's Egg (I recall suggesting this one to you, and based on the kind of composers you like outside of anime, I think you'll find it worth trying)
-Alien 9
-Night on the Galactic Railroad (this and the one below are essential for me because of Haruomi Hosono)
-Genji Monogatari
-Serial Experiments Lain (kind of hard to separate this and the one below from sound design, though)
-Boogiepop Phantom
-Hi no Tori: Houou-hen (absurdly underrated OST but fairly well known anime because of Tezuka)
-Berserk 1997 (wanted to add Susumu Hirasawa somewhere)
-Roujin Z (a film that involved Otomo of Akira, and the score is kind of similar to Akira, only maybe more restrained?)
I definitely liked some of the LotGH OPs and EDs, but there are so many of them so not sure which ones. I like Gunsmith Cats and Elfen Lied OPs a lot. I've heard most of the others but don't remember them well. I'd like to try the ED for A Kite because I also don't remember that, but the soundtrack seems a lot more effective than I remember. It's kind of easy to get lost in certain scenes when a score complements what's going on well. :P
OP/ED is insanely hard for me to pick, and I'd probably have to dig through a bunch of them. But I like these (Elfen Lied is also an easy choice for me, but I'll leave it out since you have it).
OP - both Record of Lodoss War OVA and TV
OP - Niea Under 7 (totally unique with those vocals!)
OP - Key the Metal Idol
OP - Dirty Pair Project Eden (holy shit the visuals)
ED - Now and Then, Here and There
OP - Witch Hunter Robin (feels like the most music videoish OP ever, lol)
OP and ED - RahXephon (think this has one of the strongest OP/ED combos out there)
ED - Aku no Hana
OP - Higurashi (feel like this does a great job of creating a kind of paranoid moe horror)
OP - Vlad Love (I think this is opening 1... great mood)
Edit: Yeah, I like the Franxx OST, and I'm kind of curious how it's used during the series, as it's way different than I remember.
I also love Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Metropolis and Terror in Resonance from your list, but my free list can only hold 10 titles hehe
I'm curious, how did you find me in MAL?
infact that's not truly saying anything because the manga has more fucked shit in it
What kind of cult was it, if you don't mind answering?
Well, these kind of critiques of capitalism tend to be framed purely in terms of economics. I feel propaganda has always been more important than money when it comes to media, and what is profitable will sometimes be rejected because it's not in line with current and developing propaganda trends. The way parent companies and global markets work, they can often afford losses. A loss in one area can be recouped in another. And if even a small percentage of the Indian or Chinese market watch something, then that's a big profit.
I haven't read the original manga either, but, from what I've heard, the old 1980s OVA is much more faithful. Yuasa applied an aesthetic reminiscent of his other films/series and turned it into a silly high school thing with a lot of bad additions. If you don't mind the amount of violence and you think the trailer for the 1980s Devilman OVA looks good, then I'd suggest it.
https://myanimelist.net/anime/2354/Devilman__Tanjou-hen
From what I recall with class struggle, there's something about the upper class drafting or pushing the lower class into war, and I can definitely see that in the OVA, with the rich guy enlisting the help of the MC. Crybaby? I don't remember but I doubt it.
I don't like Crybaby either. It's a watering down of Yuasa's past glory, it's Netflix produced, a poor adaptation, and I don't think it does anything that well.
I'm not a big fan of Midsommar, but I do like a lot of the imagery. It's interesting how much of the art that we see on the walls explains the process of the rituals and such. Do you like Wicker Man too? More so the older one than the Nicholas Cage one. X) I thought I remembered it having a good OST.
I guess it's not surprising. I feel like film craftsmanship has mostly dropped as a whole, so something that's a bit more difficult to do well like horror will fall even harder. And then you get a lot of the gross stuff to replace atmosphere or effective construction or anything like that.
The most memorable horror work for me that came out in the last few years was probably Petscop, but that's a fake "let's play" series rather than a movie.
I'm surprised you disliked Devilman Crybaby so much, but it honestly is a pretty bad adaptation. The first Devilman OVA is more like a horror film, and I think it's a much better adaptation. The only people disagreeing are probably people coping because daddy Yuasa failed them. X) Has a Kenji Kawai score too, I think.