So, I've also watched a fair number of things besides the season simulcasts over the past few months:
Digimon Adventure tri. movie #2
"Ketsui" ('episodes' 5-8 on Crunchy) (sub):
This wasn't quite as good as the first movie in this series, but it was decent enough. (...I still need to know what happened to the
02 DigiDestined after that ominous, apparently-
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: being-felled-in-some-way thing in that intro to movie #1, especially since
tri. is set *in between* the 'main' ending of
Adventure 02 and its epilogue... also, the 'Digimon Emperor' apparently showing up in this one threw me off at first because-- even setting aside the whole
02-DigiDestined-
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: felled-in-the-previous-movie's-intro thing-- if you've seen
Adventure 02, you'll know that there's no way Ken would ever go back to that after being redeemed; as it turns out, though,
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: some Digimon was actually somehow projecting his image instead, which of course makes way more sense {in terms of Ken 'being there,' I mean
![Happy :)](./images/smilies/smile.gif)
}.) ...That aside, there was a nice little bit of character development for Mimi in this one. (On the other hand, Joe's 'development' was a bit of a retread, but at least it was something, I suppose.
![Grin :grin:](./images/smilies/grin.gif)
) Oh, and I collapsed with laughter when Himekawa sent Izzy that "Extremely Urgent" e-mail
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/lol.gif)
(and also when Leomon was 'convinced' by Meicoomon, LOL!). And it sure got real at the end there...
![Suprise :wow!:](./images/smilies/suprise.gif)
I mean, it's been quite obvious that the whole virus thing involves
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Meicoomon somehow, as well as the fact that Leomon was going to
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: die horribly just because he showed up, LOL
![Grin :grin:](./images/smilies/grin.gif)
, but I wasn't expecting it to be quite so
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: brutal... ![Pikka Chew? :pikka:](./images/smilies/pikka.png)
Looking forward to movie #3!
The Garden Of Sinners, a.k.a.
Kara no Kyoukai, movies 1-8 +
Mirai Fukuin +
Mirai Fukuin: Extra Chorus (sub, complete):
Yes, I finally got around to watching this movie series (including all the extra epilogues/etc., which were just as excellent as the 'main' movies {...in fact, the
Mirai Fukuin movie was an absolutely amazing [and even downright beautiful and heartwarming! <3 ] finale!}), and yes, it is just as fantastic as I'd heard it was. (...As well as being just as graphic as I'd heard it was at times, too, LOL
![Sweat :sweat:](./images/smilies/sweat.gif)
; however, it was very much worth having to watch the occasional scene of gore for everything else
![Thumbs up :thumb:](./images/smilies/thumb.gif)
). This series is gorgeously animated ( + features equally beautiful music/sound design); and as for the story and characters, the MC's are really interesting as characters in and of themselves, as well as having an equally great and interesting relationship with each other; the movies being set a little out of order chronologically (with each other, and sometimes even within each movie itself) both makes you pay attention + gives interesting in-hindsight/peel-back-the-layer reveals on both the overall story and the characters; and some of the twists in that overall plot-- which is cleverly threaded through each of the movies' own mini-plots (a couple of which are deliciously twisty enough in and of themselves!)-- are *awesome.*
![Suprise :wow!:](./images/smilies/suprise.gif)
(Also: I
never thought I'd hear "Singin' In The Rain" in an anime (!)-- nor that a character singing it in Engrish could be so
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: emotional...!
![Suprise :wow!:](./images/smilies/suprise.gif)
) ...Now, all that said, I do have to note that along with the occasional scenes of gore, there is also a rather severe content warning of another nature for the third movie, because a big plot/character point in that one involves a girl being repeatedly
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: gang-raped-- you see her (fully detailed) bare chest + the, er, motions several times... ![Pikka Chew? :pikka:](./images/smilies/pikka.png)
It's not fanservice at all-- it's there to heighten the horror of and disgust at what happened to her-- but it's there nonetheless, so if you're going to watch these then just be forewarned. However, even though I'll likely skip most of movie #3 (aside from the last few scenes before + after its credits) in future rewatches, this series was *more* than well worth the watch overall
![Jump :jump:](./images/smilies/jump.gif)
, and I will indeed be eagerly rewatching it again soon!
Hibike! Euphonium: Suisougaku-bu no Nichijou short specials 1-7 (sub, complete):
As you might expect, given that these are shorts, they are simply some amusing asides. But I had a smile on my face throughout every single one of them (and the third one was actually downright hilarious, LOL
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/lol.gif)
), so they were certainly worth a watch.
Hibike! Euphonium: Kakedasu Monaka special/OVA (sub):
This is a full extra episode, focusing on the 10 players that didn't make the cut for the final performance (though mainly just on Hazuki), and it was both excellent and absolutely worth the watch! <3
Magnetic Rose short film (sub):
Ohhh my goodness-- I watched this because I'd heard it was a really great short film that Satoshi Kon had worked on (he actually didn't direct it, rather he wrote it), but it was actually way more awesome than I expected.
![Jump :jump:](./images/smilies/jump.gif)
Not only is its art gorgeous in its detail, and the film just wonderfully atmospheric overall, but the story is excellent as well-- the premise is that a group of space-garbage-collectors get a mystery S.O.S., and then when they go to answer it, weird things start happening... I can't explain any more because the fun is in experiencing it as they do, but trust me that it gets quite intense (and quite good).
Samurai Champloo episodes 1-26 (sub, complete):
...Welp, to be perfectly honest, I don't really understand why people praise this show so highly
![Eyebrow? :eyebrow:](./images/smilies/eyebrows.gif)
-- I mean, I get the staff and the stylistic things and the music and the (admittedly *fantastic*-- in fact, some of the best I've ever seen
![Suprise :wow!:](./images/smilies/suprise.gif)
) fight choreography and all that, and there was certainly some objectively great stuff in here (although a lot less of it than I expected), etc.; but, overall, I did not enjoy this anywhere near as much as I expected to.
![Shady :shady:](./images/smilies/shady.gif)
Among other things: Some of the content (for example, I facepalmed my way through the whole last section of episode 6
![Forehead :forehead:](./images/smilies/forehead.gif)
, didn't appreciate the... uh...
'purple haze' bit in episode 9, either
![Tsk tsk tsk :shake:](./images/smilies/smiley-shakehead-blue.gif)
, and then there's all the red-light stuff, etc.); Fuu is a 'damsel in distress' a bit too often despite her natural resourcefulness; the requisite 'mushroom' ep. towards the end was neither funny nor interesting-- actually, it was boring as heck
![Sweat :sweat:](./images/smilies/sweat.gif)
(...in contrast to
Cowboy Bebop's 'mushroom' ep., which was both hilarious and quite rewatchable
![Grin :grin:](./images/smilies/grin.gif)
); the baseball ep. was just plain nonsense (and a tad annoying in tone, especially compared to what was about to come); and then, of course, there's the ending.
![Shady :shady:](./images/smilies/shady.gif)
Not only do I *loathe*
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: open endings when it comes to romance in particular (and the Fuugen buildup was totally obvious until its complete non-ending
), but I also just didn't get why they decided to
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: split up *again* in the first place when the three of them had indeed 'finally found what they were looking for' and basically become like a family (even to the point of {essentially} giving up their lives for each other {I mean, they all ended up surviving somehow, but they did what they did with the full intention to give/really thought they were giving their lives up}!), so what the genuine
heck?
![Eyebrow? :eyebrow:](./images/smilies/eyebrows.gif)
I mean, why would they even *want* to
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: split up again at that point?
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: (And yeah, sure, there was that whole thing about the three of them always managing to find their way back to each other every time they tried to split up, but there was no indication of that actually occurring after the end. Seriously, at least throw me a tiny bone of actual resolution here...
) The closure with their *pasts* was nice and all (and appreciated-- really!); HOWEVER, there was no closure for their relationships (romantic or familial) in the present, and for no good reason either, IMO.
![Tsk tsk tsk :shake:](./images/smilies/smiley-shakehead-blue.gif)
So, yeah. I mean, don't get me wrong, it certainly wasn't all bad; along with the objectively-good stuff I mentioned at the beginning of this little rant
![Tongue :P](./images/smilies/tongue.gif)
, episode 14 pretty much blew me away (oh my gosh, that entire
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: song/flashback/near-death-experience/etc. sequence in particular was *AMAZING*...
![Suprise :wow!:](./images/smilies/suprise.gif)
); but
when one doesn't start actually wholeheartedly enjoying a show until *episode 12* ![Eyebrow? :eyebrow:](./images/smilies/eyebrows.gif)
, and then there's still that other stuff that I didn't like (including the show's actual ending) on top... it gets pretty darn difficult to recommend.
![Tongue :P](./images/smilies/tongue.gif)
Oh well... *shrug*
And
She And Her Cat: Everything Flows mini-episodes 1-4 (complete):
This is a prequel to Makoto Shinkai's
She And Her Cat short (although you don't actually realize that until the after-credits scene in the final episode). It was quite sweet and touching, and
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: despite the inevitable tear-inducing ending (before the credits, I mean
), IMO it was worth the one-episode's-screentime in total to watch.
![Happy :)](./images/smilies/smile.gif)