Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou (Girls’ Last Tour) is 50% atmosphere, 30% metaphor, and 20% girls overcoming physical obstacles on their journey. If someone dislikes it, it’s not because they “don’t get it,” so much as they’re not picking up what the show is throwing down, if you get my meaning.
The highly anachronistic military hardware in this far future setting told me right away that this world wasn’t meant to be taken literally but figuratively. This story is all about the journey because there is no destination. Not even an ending or conclusion.
The charming character duo can be interpreted as the Id and the
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Jan 5, 2020
If I had only 60 minutes to show someone what your basic anime from the early to mid nineties was like I think this two episode OVA would work. The silly character tropes, the cool mechanical designs, jazzy and pop soundtrack, sweet battle animations, it's all there in some form or another.
If seeing a white ADV films VHS tape doesn't fill you with nostalgia you might not get much out of this. I've been going back and tracking down all those old series I saw previews for way back when. At the time I either didn't have the money or just couldn't ... 
Dec 26, 2019
Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru
(Anime)
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I watched this when it first aired and thought it was pretty good (especially as a mahou shoujo fan). Coming back to it years later after having seen the prequel and sequel series and watching it a couple more times I think it's excellent.
I love the abstract eastern-mysticism theme. I got a better feel for the characters the second time through. The visual design is unique and appealing. The voice acting is excellent, as is the music. It's not really playing the "subversion" card, rather it's being straight-up slice of life to get the viewer attached to the characters so ... 
Dec 20, 2019
Back when this first came out I didn't really like it. I wasn't keyed in to some of the visuals and wasn't sure what I thought about the ending. I've rewatched the series several times since it came out, but recently I sat down again with the "Rebellion" movie.
I had to watch this movie three times before I finally "got" it. And when I did get it I loved it. When I first watched it I was spending the whole movie trying to figure out the mystery and the continuity with the series; I'm just like that. The second time I was ... 
Dec 7, 2019
Machikado Mazoku
(Anime)
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I absolutely adore this series. It's my favorite comedy since Gabriel Dropout.
It brings to mind Tentai Senshi Sunred in which the glory days of super sentai heroes are over and now he and the villains have to deal with everyday life. In this case it feels as if the glory days of magical girls has passed and they've settled into a mundane lifestyle. Enter Shamiko (Shadow Mistress Yuko) who inherits the destiny of her Dark Clan ancestors who opposed the Light Clan of the magical girls. Only Yuko is woefully unfit to be fighting anyone. I'm a sucker for humor where the protagonist's main ... 
Dec 7, 2019
I really enjoyed the main series "Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel: Kyun Kyun☆Tokimeki Paradise!!" as well as the original two episode OVA. This follow-up OVA has a few issues. There are obviously story elements and characters pulled from the manga. I have only watched the animated series, and this OVA being three years after the TV series indicates this was released as a manga tie-in more than anything.
The original OVA was on the serious side. The TV series was funny and light-hearted. This crosses over into being silly. I'm not saying that is good or bad, it is just the ... 
Dec 7, 2019
Sentou Yousei Yukikaze
(Anime)
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This OVA is way better than I remember it being; watching it again more than ten years later. I remember it being confusing, but that was probably because I was watching it as it came out with months between each episode's release.
Looking back, studio GONZO has had a mixed bag of excellent and terrible series. This is definitely one of their good ones. The plot may seem surreal or confusing in places, but if you go back and watch it a second time it seems pretty straight-forward. Parts might seem ambiguous, but that's just a quirk of Japanese storytelling. They ... 
Dec 7, 2019
When I watched this back in 2007 I didn't like it. But somehow it has always stuck in the back of my mind. Now 12 years later I've watched for a third time. For me this is one of those experiences with self-contained OVA productions. Stuff like Armitage III, Gunbuster, Orgus 02, Yukikaze, Blue Submarine No. 6, Project A-ko, Gunnm. These utterly unique productions that I randomly come across that, for some reason, stick with me. They'll have really out-there premises and the production quality can be a mixed bag, but they are so different from everything else I
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Nov 26, 2019
Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel
(Anime)
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Going back and rewatching this a decade later it's better than I remember it. The OVA has a slightly serious tone compared to the more laid back TV series that followed it. It manages to have decent character drama without crossing into the "dark" territory of recent magical girl series.
All-in-all it's a fun watch with good animation and entertaining action. Being a stand-alone two episode OVA it takes me back to the "old days" of renting or buying random anime. Back before there was decent anime information on the internet. You'd just have to watch the tape without any context ... 
Nov 26, 2019
Recent years have had a rash of dark, subversive "magical girl" series. This has made me go back and appreciate shows like this that play the genre straight and have some fun!
The dark, gritty shows are really just the same old stories of teens with "special powers" they would have normally written. They just make the cast girls, put them in dresses and call them "magical girls" while making limp-wristed inclusions of the actual tropes of the genre. I really, I mean REALLY love Magi Puella Madoka Magica. All of these "me too!" copy cats that have followed after it just make me ... |
