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formulaorange · 2 years

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Spring 2022 Anime Review

Alrighty! This season I actually ended up deciding to watch the majority of the shows that were airing so here’s my run down of the 20+ series for the 2022 Spring anime season! (I will likely never do this again because I 100% burnt out) Edit - That being said, the last week before the finales aired, I decided to use my time to watch some of the ONA's and holy - they honestly stole the show. Both series I watched were at least 9/10 and blew me away, so I'll be starting with those.

Vampire in the Garden Spring 2022 ONA - 5 Episodes I've linked my main review in the title but here's a summary. This series was absolutely stunning. It was whimsical and upsetting and overall one of the best stories I've experienced in a while. 10/10 - Masterpiece

Spriggan Spring 2022 ONA - 6 Episodes This was based off a movie in 1998. I went back and watched it and please don't bother... The concept is amazing but the new series takes that concept and expands on everything the movie was missing. It also covers the same story in episode 2 but makes it significantly better. Right from episode 1 you can feel the 90s aesthetic build into the world and I absolutely love it. The story is neat, the style is great and they have a super interesting combination of modern and classic styles of animation. 9.5/10 - Amazing

Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie Spring 2022 - 12 Episodes (Posting this before the finale since it's literally the last thing to air) I think a lot of people went into this series expecting a similar vibe to Dress Up Darling and I think that was the problem. This show was actually really wholesome. It starts off with a healthy relationship and amazing friend group. The focus ends up being more on the group as a whole and their interactions rather than just the couple and to be honest, this made the slice of life aspect a lot more believable. I loved watching the episodes and ended up growing really fond of the whole gang. 8/10 - Very Good

Komi-San Can’t Communicate - Part 2 Spring 2022 - 12 Episodes I was pleasantly surprised by this part 2. This is actually just as good as the first part, if not better. I swear second parts pretty much always fall off, but man am I glad that this was consistent. I really liked Komi san, I don’t think it’s S-tier or anything but I think it’s still really enjoyable. I love the slow burn romance and I’m overall very satisfied with the rest of this season. 7.5/10 - Good + (Enjoyable)

The Rising of The Shield Hero - Season 2 Spring 2022 - 13 Episodes This was a show that I was genuinely hyped for when I found out there was going to be a continuation. The first season felt complete and had everything you'd want out of a series, proper character development, story completion and an actual ending. I really felt disappointed by the first 6 episodes of this new season and man was it rough. It throws you right into a totally different narrative and somehow you're in the middle of a war by episode 3. It really wasn’t until episode 6 or 7 when it started to get back to what was relevant to the first season that it felt the show was even worth watching. Because of how drastically different the two halves of the season were I’m splitting this into 3 ratings. Part 1 - (Episodes 1-6) - 4/10 - Bad Part 2 - (Episodes 7-13) - 7/10 Good Overall - 6/10 Fine

Before getting into the rest of the season here's the links for the top series that are 100% worth checking out: Spy x Family Paripi Koumei Dance Dance Danseur Additionally, there’s a few that I’d like to add to this list but will be continuing to air into the Summer 2022 season so go check those out: Aoashi & Summer Time Render Now back to your scheduled programming:

Otome Game Sekai wa Mob ni Kibishii Sekai Desu (Mobuseka) Spring 2022 - 12 Episodes I actually found this concept hilarious. I was a little concerned that the initial appeal would wear off but I found that the spite of the character really held his own throughout this story and I ended up enjoying each episode. 7/10 - Good

Skeleton Knight in Another World Spring 2022 - 12 Episodes This has honestly been a refreshingly simple isekai. I love how they didn't try to add any twists or make it exceptionally different. Thought as it comes with the territory, it did feel like it started to trail off near the end and the story ended up being a little plain. 6/10 - Fine

The Greatest Demon Lord is Reborn as a Typical Nobody Quitting Heroing Spring 2022 - 12 Episodes Each Combining the standard “isekai/fantasy” genre shows. Of course, there had to be a few of these in the season. Now I’ve seen my share of horrible isekais and standard fantasy anime over the last few season and I’d say 90% of them are tastefully trash, that said, these 2 barely scraped by. Quitting Heroing was technically something we haven’t seen before and I was pleasantly surprised by the simplicity of the series and the characters. As for the Greatest Demon Lord, this is a hard copy of Demon King Academy with some obvious alterations to make this ✨unique. It really wasn’t worth watching, everything that was decent in this you can get 5x better in Demon King Academy. (Especially since season 2 has been announced for that, this one just isn’t worth it.) Quitting Heroing - 6/10 - Fine Greatest Demon Lord - 4/10 - Bad

Aharen-San wa Hakarenai Shachiku-san wa Youjo Yuurei ni Iyasaretai Spring 2022 - 12 Episodes Each I’m combining these two as they’re incredibly similar in terms of my thoughts on it. They’re both wholesome series. Regarding Aharen-san, I really hated that they decided to try and take the romantic route.. could’ve just left it how it was and it’d just be a decent wholesome series. In the end, both of these series were cute but to be honest, really nothing special about them that we haven’t seen before. Maybe this kind of show just isn’t for me. 5/10 - Average

Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road (The Executioner and Her Way of Life) Spring 2022 - 12 Episodes This was unexpectedly disappointing. The concept was strong and the character design visually looks good but I felt the story ended up being really weak and didn’t really go anywhere. 5/10 - Average Mahoutsukai Reimeiki - Dawn of the Witch Spring 2022 - 12 Episodes Frankly I should’ve just thrown this one in with the other two fantasy ones. Again, not a new concept, Black clover covers the lack of magic aspect and the outcast witch has also been done before. Ok story, ok animations and ok characters, some of the ecchi in this series made me seriously uncomfortable on top of everything else. 4/10 - Bad There you have it, the majority of the Spring 2022 anime season. I have lots to look forward to for the summer but hopefully I'll be able to pick and choose rather than stupidly pushing through all of the mid shows.

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thenanamisimp · 4 months

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End of 2023 autumn season - part 2

Check out this post to read part 1 of my autumn 2023 reviews! It includes my opinions on Ron Kamonohashi's Forbidden deductions and Spy x Family season 2.

This part 2 includes opinions on Heaven Official's Blessing season 2 and Jujutsu Kaisen season 2. I waited so long to post this so I could include both reviews in one post since Heaven Official's Blessing actually only just finished this week.

In part 1 I didn't discuss any plot points so no spoiler warning was included; this time I'm talking about 2 of my absolute favourite adaptations - hence SPOILER WARNING for Jujutsu Kaisen and Heaven Official's Blessing (short discussions of the novel as well).

Heaven Official's Blessing, Season 2

Mmmkay so here's the thing... After watching season 1 on Netflix 2 years ago, I bought volume 1 of the official translation, read it and then kinda... Gave up. Then as the hype of season 2 started and then after the first couple episodes came out I became intrigued enough to finally read the rest of the books. And then I got even more attached to Hualian - which caused my MXTX spiral but that's besides the point.

Reading the books was actually a great decision because knowing what happens allowed me to appreciate the adaptation that much more. The first couple episodes of the season were not that exciting for me (I don't particularly enjoy the Banyue arc so I don't care for the aftermath) but then as we properly got into the gambler's den scenes, paradise manor, Fang Xin guoshi - I was hooked. I especially enjoyed the adaptation of the Qi Rong cave scenes and the Gilded Banquet arc. I also seriously loved the liberties the adaptation took with some scenes - like adding more information about the Gilded Banquet and Lord Anle. NOVEL SPOILERS [Hated (but loved) how they teased Xie Lian's parents' suicide - that scene crashed my SOUL as I wasn't expecting to see anything regarding that arc for another couple seasons at least.

Regarding censorship, this season wasn't too bad; do keep in mind tho, nothing too crazy happens in volume 2 which is what season 2 adapted. We lost the lap scene from paradise manor unfortunately. Xie Lian not falling into Hua Cheng's lap was a big loss but instead we got Xie Lian carrying Hua Cheng bridal style out of the way? I don't know, can't complain too much about that one.]

The animation, art and music were, as expected, incredible. This season elevated this donghua for me and earned its spot into my top 10. It probably helps how attached I am to the books and knowing what's coming. Overall, definitely one of my faves of the season. Please give this donghua a chance if you love fantasy.

Jujutsu Kaisen, Season 2

I have so many thoughts. So many feelings.

If you know me or have followed me for any length of time at all - or literally just by reading my name - you'll know that Jujutsu Kaisen is my favourite series of all time. Season 2 ran for almost half of 2023 and for me, it was my favourite of the season, not unexpectedly considering my love for the manga and the anime being my favourite of all time.

I don't wanna talk about the plot of hidden inventory and Shibuya arc cause we all know it's genius writing and plot so.... Let's just hype it up!

First of all, I can't speak about how beautiful the adaptation was and the incredible job the animators did without also talking about how MAPPA treats their employees with the least amount of respect they could. If you weren't online and weren't keeping up with the fandom on twitter as the season 2 was being aired, there were multiple animators from the jjk team tweeting about how horrible they feel and the mental load they are under from the pressure to finish animating jjk with a schedule that was unrealistic. Please show some love to the jjk animators and remember to thank the team - not MAPPA!

That being said, the animation team was ON IT. There was not one single episode that disappointed me - I was instead wowed by every new episode that came out and especially the extended fights, such as Megumi vs Toji, Sukuna vs Mahoraga, Yuji vs Mahito were so well done and beyond my expectations every single time. Even knowing what was about to happen, I was left at the edge of my seat, gasping at how beautiful the adaptation was every. single. time. without fail. I made an event of every new episode and my Thursday nights basically became rituals while the season was being aired.

ANIME SPOILERS [I have to specifically mention that Nanami's death episode, Nobara's death (jury's still out on her death if you cope really hard) and every episode after that were world changing, brain-altering, earth shatteringly good. I mourned Nanami's death for 3 days even knowing it was coming. The animators did an insane job and really did him justice. The whole dancing on the beach transitioning into the fight scenes was simply, insane. I love Nanami. Gege give him BACKKKKKKKK]

Anw this post is basically just Jujutsu Kaisen praise. I love Jujutsu Kaisen and this season surpassed my expectations and I loved every moment of it. Everyone should watch Jujutsu Kaisen, just be warned of the tragedy. And trauma. And many deaths.

Thanks for reading another anime ramble! Enjoy watching :)

theNanamiSimp

#anime #anime recommendation #anime review #jujutsu kaisen #heaven official's blessing #jjk #jjk spoilers #tian guan ci fu #jujutsu kaisen spoilers

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mastacell · 6 months

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For This Moment!! 🔥 Spy x Family Season 2 Episode 10 Review

#spy family #spy x family #sxf #anime #manga #otaku #manga anime #youtube #anime review #loid forger #yor forger #anya

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shazzeaslightnovels · 7 months

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October 2023

(Series: Fate/Strange Fake | Artist: Shizuki Morii)

The fall season is packed with interesting shows and I've ended up watching more series than I usually would. I'm behind on a few of them but I'm trying to let myself be okay with that. I haven't watched any new JJK episodes since the last update. I'll catch up to it eventually but I'm waiting until I hear that Nobara and Maki have had some quality screen time. I also have nothing new to say about Pokemon Horizons. It's still a delight that I look forward to watching every week. As for everything else...

After-school Hanako-kun (2 eps) - a gag spin-off of Toilet-bound Hanako-kun. I enjoyed the original Hanako a lot so I was looking forward to seeing the return of the characters but I haven't enjoyed this one much so far. I don't think I've laughed once so far which is not a good thing a series of shorts focused on comedy. At least the episodes are only 10 minutes long but I'm disappointed that this isn't better.

Dead Mont Death Play Part II (2 eps) - I enjoyed the first half of DMDP but I can't say the return of it has impressed me much yet. It's fine but I'm not really intrigued by any of the new plot points or characters and I'm struggling to remember what I enjoyed about the first half.

Frieren (7 eps) - really good and worth every bit of the hype. I love this exploration of the elf character and how an elf would view time and relationships differently to how humans view them. The fantasy world is so beautiful, the story is engaging, and I love the characters. Probably my favourite show of the season so far.

I'm in Love with the Villainess (4 eps) - I've read the first 4 volumes of the manga for this and the light novel has been of my wishlist for a long time so I was excited about it getting an anime adaptation and it's good so far. I mostly have the same thoughts on the anime as I do on the manga: the character drama is really engaging but the world building is meh. But the anime does bring something new the table with some amazing voice acting. Yuu Serizawa and Karin Nanami are perfectly cast for Rae and Claire, respectively, and make all their interactions even more fun to witness. Some gags that I didn't find funny at all in the manga made me laugh in the anime due to the impeccable comedic timing. The animation is a bit disappointing at times but it's such a fun ride that I can't be too mad.

Spy x Family 2nd season (3 eps) - Spy x Family is back and it's still really good. Like with the first season, I don't love all of the plotlines but the ones that are good are really good. This show is comforting and I'm glad it's back.

The Ancient Magus' Bride Season 2 Part II (4 eps) - while I thought the first part of this season set up a lot of good intrigue, it's in this second part that I'm starting to get really engaged in the character drama and story. I'm so invested in what's going to happen with Philomela and I'm excited every week for the new episodes. It also helps that the OP this time is incredible. In a season with a lot of strong openings, it may be my favourite.

List of Reviews:

Fate/Strange Fake 6

Danmachi Eiyuutan: Argonaut 2

Hamefura 13

#Reading log #october 2023

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incarnateirony · 3 years

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So here we are, The Great Supernatural Rewatch, 01.01 Pilot. If unfamiliar with this rewatch, please check my Objectives and Bracketing post [x], and then my Methodology Notes [x]; Also, reminder that I’m not the only person doing this, though each in their own ways. My Objectives and Methodology are my own.

I’m trying to get a little ahead of the official Jan 3 start date, since I know I will... inevitably fall behind, and this episode was ripe for the initial pick-through for the inevitability of a thousand call backs.

That said, with level 1. SYNCHRONIC: As it reads, unto itself, as best divorced from future knowledge of the story, it’s difficult to do much actual “meta” as much as review and commentary since literally it’s all character and story introductions. There’s some to be had, but beyond things like lighting, the Level 1 viewing tier is not going to lend towards much beyond basic archetypes, and a lot of mythology breakdown. This post will be heaving Level 2 weighted as a result. Most tier-1 posting is going to be an early build of key words, phrases and signs to assemble throughout the season watching (and tap back on later for tier 2 by tagging.)

Also a few unannounced side projects; I’m about to start a “Combat Counter” and “Marksmanship Counter”, to see how Sam and Dean handle both in physical battles/scraps over time compared to each other, and who has the better overall aim in the long term.

Some things saved in this post will seem random and arbitrary, but are potential flags I intend to keep, mostly for later level 2, DIACHRONIC study.

Now to get to the meat:

STUDY: REWATCH/REVIEW STAGE

Allow me to lead with: this episode even unto itself is a fine spectacle of just how much the genre shifted over time. I am a huge fan of David Nutter’s directing; many would know him from, say, Game of Thrones. He didn’t stay long--just Pilot and Wendigo--before moving on. But some of his touches stayed with the show for a few years. The entire ambiance is a giant testiment to survival-horror, a grimness to it, even if the CW itself could never truly capitalize on it. The mood and ambiance was successfully played on. The entire episode is rife with cloudy lighting beaming between bars and through windows, bold silhouette shots, and more that gives an air of mystery even after some characters are established. Dynamic shots are plenty.

Your early reading here isn’t going to tell you much you don’t already know, but is for filing, review, and even reminder/refresher purposes. As the season unfolds, there’s going to be more to interconnect, obviously. If you would like to read more observations on actual parallels, scroll to the DIACHRONIC STUDY header. If I’ve taken a screenshot, even in Synchronic, it’s because it’s a flag I do expect to come back up in diachronic study later and need to catalogue for future parallels and address.

So, imagining it’s 2005, we’re watching Supernatural for the first time. We’re in a very different world, Both in the show, and in the real world. A standard, haunting discord rattles the minds of the audience as a tree moves like a hand towards the window of a suburban home.

We see a classic, nuclear family in this standard home, saying their charming goodnights to an infant. But within moments, we’re told in every classic way that everything is wrong. The infant’s mobile turns on its own accord; the clock stops.

It’s 8:12pm when the world goes haywire. The decorative moon in the room flickers, growing dim. The mother wakes to the sound of a distressed infant on the baby monitor. She rises from bed in her gown.

This is a point I’m left to negotiate cursed knowledge: to all visual cues, the mother’s attire appears to be white. The audience perceived it as white. But we know it, and Jess’ gown later, was actually pink; the film stock failed to capture it. Both short term and much louder in the long term, these two colors can deliver two very different meanings. But for us, a viewer consuming a digital medium with no knowledge beyond what they published, I’m left to decide that the text seems to determine her in a white gown.

The wife sees a stark silhouette, asking if the child was hungry, assuming it was her husband that quieted her. She turns away, tapping on a flickering light over an old marriage portrait that one can only assume was a previous family generation. She descends the stairs.

Here she finds her husband is sleeping. Panic takes her, bringing her to the room. Quickly, chaos erupts. As does she, once seen bleeding down onto the hand of the father from above the crib. We see her, sunken eyes, already dying, screaming without a sound. Silent. Unable to make a noise.

The camera details the desperation of the father rushing his infant to his older child. “Take your brother outside as fast as you can, don’t look back. Now Dean, GO.”

I’m unclear what John thinks he’s going to achieve running back in for Mary as fire takes the home. But soon, he finds young Dean, 4, outside, holding an infant, “I've got you Sammy.” John erupts out of the house as the windows begin to blow, sweeping in to carry Dean, who carries Sam.

As the fire department arrives, the first cords of a song we would later come to recognize as Americana haunt through otherwise chilling music that climbs actively to punch out through our first cold open.

The Winchesters are our first cold open.

We find ourselves in modern day with the rick of a rock cord, and a young woman in a white nurse outfit adjusting her earings while framed by an image of John and Mary--the mother and father--in a picture frame. Though she calls for Sam, we see nothing of Dean--not even a picture. The image on the counter tells of a life Sam(my) was too young to even know, but perhaps is in his blonde-haired woman who teases him about halloween while standing in front of a mirror.

Sam is clearly in his young prime, celebrating his LSAT with a 174 score much to his chagrin with friends dressed up in all styles of wardrobe. Behind Sam a neon black cat sign may just jinx his future in warm but dull lighting; ghostly drapes hide behind Jess in a blue, sharper light.

Sam’s friends perceive he must be the Golden Boy of the family. Jess is proud of him. “What would I do without you?” “Crash and burn.”

Night onsets. Dim lighting feels dusty despite the otherwise hopeful environment. Heavy creaking, groaning, footsteps; Sam rises on instinct, spying an open door and catching haunting noises--sounds. An intruder. And one fateful fight. The choreography spares little.

In actual combat, the intruder--quickly identified as Dean--comes out on top. (Combat ticker: Sam vs Dean: Dean 1) Easy there, tiger. As Dean haunts, revealing his roguish personality quickly, he’s then gotten the better of (this is not going to be considered a combat ticker, it’s not actual combat, but aftermath).

Sam challenges why Dean broke in, but Dean knew Sam would have never picked up without him. They’re interrupted from their silhouetting by the light flicking on, and Dean further displays his roguish charm, enjoying her smurfs, not dreaming of her getting dressed; but soon, it’s down to business--Dean says it’s private family matters. Sam, a unit in the doorframe with Jess, says it can be said in front of her. Until the fateful line: “Dad’s on a hunting trip, and he hasn’t been home in a few days.” The camera zooms on Sam’s set jaw to tell the audience how much weight is in that line as the audio itself drags a raw cord of suspense.

The dizzying stairs are a descent into a world Sam seems to have left behind, with the audience viewing from below. Quickly, we’re introduced to ideas: the Poltergeist in Amherst, the Devil’s Gate in Clifton, “always missing and always fine.” Sam’s bitterness is thick: rather than telling him not to be afraid of the dark, “dad gave me a .45″, though Dean challenges what he should have done. They soon stand in a cage of sharply lit bars, arguing if this was what their mother would have wanted--to be raised like warriors.

Dean challenges if Sam would want a normal apple pie life; Sam slaps back: not normal, safe. “And that’s why you ran away.”--But John told him to stay gone. Regardless, Dean doesn’t want to do it alone. Sam asks what he was hunting, and why Dean wasn’t there; Dean was working a voodoo thing in New Orleans.

Dean reveals Jericho, California--10 men over to years on the same 5 mile stretch of road.

The “Ran it through A Goldwave” is a funny side comment but I’m not gonna get into why beyond LOL “through a goldwave”, that’s-- whatever. But we hear, in EVP, “I can never go home.”

The average viewer, at this point, isn’t going to be deeply instructing the story parallels--and in the scheme of it, Sam’s fear of going home barely scratches the meta surface. We do know John has been missing for three weeks. And find out Sam has a Monday deadline for his entry to lawschool, “whole future on a plate.” Jess worries over disappearing with his family, reminding of the deadline, but he promises to be back in time.

A sharp cut to JERICHO, CALIFORNIA. The driver shares similar concerns to Sam, “if I miss it, dad’s gonna have my ass,” he tells his girlfriend on the phone. A woman in white appears down the road as the car clock fries at 10:17, asking to be taken home. “Take me home?” “She lives at the end of breckenridge road.” “A girl like you shouldn’t really be alone out here.” She hikes her skirt. “I’m with you. Do you think I’m pretty? Will you come home with me?” hell yeah.

They arrive at a dillapidated home. “I can never go home.” No one even lives here. He steps out, turns around, and she’s gone. An eerie handprint appears on the window.

He decides to leave, clearly feeling the offsettling vibes, but isn’t alone. She steams with animosity in the backseat.

He looks into his mirror.

And wipes out.

After a violent death, we cut back to our boys and another exposition: credit card scams (jesus, could sam have yelled it any louder?), breakfast in a gas station bag, you gotta update your casette tape collection--why? because for one, they’re casette tapes. Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Metallica--it’s the greatest hits of mullet rock. “House rules Sammy, Driver picks the music, rider shuts his cakehole.” “Sammy is a chubby 12 year old.” “What, can’t hear you.”

ENTER, JERICHO

Internal impala shots galore will end up being a major vibe of our next few years. A spunky guitar theme plays that we will eventually come to know. Dean pulls out a cigar box full of fake badges ranging from FBI to Bureau of Tobacco from the glove box, quickly showing us how deep this path goes for them already.

The cops review the mystery: no fingerprints, spotless; we find out that the victim was dating the cop’s daughter, who was posting missing flyers downtown. The boys introduce themselves as federal agents, are challenged for being too young, and Dean sasses his way through, “that’s very kind of you.” -- while gathering basic intel, we quickly find Dean’s tongue getting ahead of him, calling their lack of ability to find a connection beyond them all being male victims, calling it crack police work. The brothers’ dual personas exit the crime scene with a cuff upside the head from Sam to Dean, a bickering match, and Dean leaving a Mulder and Scully crack on the cops.

They quickly find Amy, the girlfriend, and lie to claim that were Troy’s relatives and had heard about her, and move to a diner to talk about events.

No major unusual things to warrant events; Sam compliments her necklace. She jokes that Troy got it for her to freak out her parents for “devil stuff”, but Sam quickly educates her on the pentagram meaning the opposite, a symbol of protection.

But there are weird rumors in town--people talk. In-sync, “what do they talk about”; a local legend. She tells them of a girl murdered on centennial where anyone who picks her up disapears forever. The brothers quickly move on to a library with a clunky monitor, fully dating us; not just the lack of good cell phones and wifi, but the equipment and the appearance of the search engine alone. Right, we’re watching this in 2005.

The brothers slapfight again, but Sam shows that even away from the life he never lost his prowess. He asks, “Angry spirits are born out of violent death, right?” and searches for suicide. 1981, 24 years prior. “Our babies were gone and Constance couldn’t bear it.”

So they go to see where Constance took the swan dive.

The brothers begin to fight.

SAM Dean, I told you, I've gotta get back by Monday—

DEAN turns around.

DEAN Monday. Right. The interview.

SAM Yeah.

DEAN Yeah, I forgot. You're really serious about this, aren't you? You think you're just going to become some lawyer? Marry your girl?

SAM Maybe. Why not?

DEAN Does Jessica know the truth about you? I mean, does she know about the things you've done?

SAM steps closer.

SAM No, and she's not ever going to know.

DEAN Well, that's healthy. You can pretend all you want, Sammy. But sooner or later you're going to have to face up to who you really are.

DEAN turns around and keeps walking. SAM follows.

SAM And who's that?

DEAN You're one of us.

SAM hurries to get in front of DEAN.

SAM No. I'm not like you. This is not going to be my life.

DEAN You have a responsibility to—

SAM To Dad? And his crusade? If it weren't for pictures I wouldn't even know what Mom looks like. And what difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed her, Mom's gone. And she isn't coming back.

DEAN grabs SAM by the collar and shoves him up against the railing of the bridge. A long pause.

DEAN Don't talk about her like that.

They’re interrupted as Constance appears, diving off the cliff, and immediately taking control of the Impala.

“Dude, who’s driving your car?” Dean holds up his keys.

They flee, over the bridge, and share another movement. One more fake card later, they find themselves in John’s room, room 10, in a motel. Sam remarks that the place is covered in Salt, and Cat’s Eye Shells. The entire room is covered in case work and lore.

I’ll break down the lore of these in a later mythos reblog, though the Asmodeus one really catches my eye for reasons outside of this episode.

Sam finds a photo-- a distinctly different family than the one on his college dresser. There, it’s John and Mary as an ideal image that framed Jessica. Here, it’s the life he walked away from. But while Dean heads out, he’s spotted by police, and their old coded dialect pops out, “Five Oh, take off.” Federal marshalls confront him: They’re looking for his partner (cue Wincest fans trying to make meta that’s about to be shot down one scene later, in the distance), fake US Marshalls, fake credit cards, is there anything about you that’s Real. My boobs.

Just putting a flag in the name Sheriff Pierce, we’ll figure out if that’s ever valid to anything later. But he tells Dean of the trouble he’s in with a room full of missing people and devil worship, for Dean to snap back he was 3 when they went missing. But they knew he had more than one partner. An older man. John’s journal is thrown out (Wincest meta dies a terrible death beyond previous scene)

Again, I’ll translate the FUTHARK in a follow up post, this is already taking a lot of time as it is.

Meanwhile, Sam is investigating the leads they and John both found. Previously spoken intents to burn her has him ask about her being buried at an old plot by Breckenridge at their old place.

SAM And why did you move?

JOSEPH I'm not gonna live in the house where my children died.

SAM stops walking. JOSEPH stops too.

SAM Mr. Welch, did you ever marry again?

JOSEPH No way. Constance, she was the love of my life. Prettiest woman I ever known.

SAM So you had a happy marriage?

JOSEPH hesitates.

Putting a flag in this for later.

But Sam decides to call the man out.

SAM A woman in white. Or sometimes weeping woman?

JOSEPH just looks.

SAM It's a ghost story. Well, it's more of a phenomenon, really.

SAM starts back toward JOSEPH.

SAM Um, they're spirits. They've been sighted for hundreds of years, dozens of places, in Hawaii, Mexico, lately in Arizona, Indiana. All these are different women.

SAM stops in front of JOSEPH.

SAM You understand. But all share the same story.

JOSEPH Boy, I don't care much for nonsense.

JOSEPH walks away. SAM follows.

SAM See, when they were alive, their husbands were unfaithful to them.

JOSEPH stops.

SAM And these women, basically suffering from temporary insanity, murdered their children.

JOSEPH turns around.

SAM Then once they realized what they had done, they took their own lives. So now their spirits are cursed, walking back roads, waterways. And if they find an unfaithful man, they kill him. And that man is never seen again.

JOSEPH You think...you think that has something to do with...Constance? You smartass!

SAM You tell me.

JOSEPH I mean, maybe...maybe I made some mistakes. But no matter what I did, Constance, she never would have killed her own children. Now, you get the hell out of here! And you don't come back!

Sam is flushed out, and makes a fake 911 call to break Dean out, pointing out that the husband had been unfaithful. More dramatic silhouette shots really capture the early spirit of the piece, with Dean using a phone booth in lieu of other options. Hell, Dean was able to find a phone booth, let that take you back. They determine that John left Jericho, and establish his ex-marine habits with the coordinates, 35-111 that Dean had lied through to the cop. But while on the phone, the woman in white appears in front of Sam on the road, non-crashing.

She controls the car again, and forces him to drive to a broken home, repeating, “I can never go home.” Sam recognizes: “You’re scared to go home.” And that’s when the creepy ghost rapey vibes start, mounting him, demanding he hold her, she’s cold. “You can’t kill me, I’m not unfaithful.” He argues. You will be. Just hold me.

As she goes to rip out his heart, she flickers with the beat of his.

Dean breaks into the scene, unloading 12 shots into the ghost with iron bullets to disrupt her manifestation, giving Sam time to sit up and say, “I’m taking you home.”, where he drives through the house. Dean helps Sam out of the car, only to be telekinetically pinned by a dresser to be disabled.

The lights flicker again. Children manifest, water runs down the stairs, looking eerily like the light could be the Winchester’s old home

Here, she falls when reunited with her children. Sam clarifies--she could never go home, she was too afraid to face her kids (while not viable for the synchronic study, for my own sanity I’m going to note this season, Home will be all but mandatory to touch back here.) Dean says Sam found her weak spot.

They drive down the road with a blown headlight, Sam using an old map and ruler to locate the coordinates. But it’s realized Sam isn’t going with Dean to blackwater ridge, colorado 600 miles away. His interview was in ten hours. Dean declares, “I’ll take you home.”

There’s banter over meeting up later, and being a good team, but Sam goes inside and calls for Jess. “You home?” He finds a plate full of cookies with a note “missed you, love you” and relaxes in bed with the distant sound of a running shower.

And of course.

And so it began.

SYNCHRONIC STUDY: IN-EPISODE PARALLELS

In a first episode, there’s only so much to address. While we may question how much the Woman in White being in White may have been intentional with Jess and Mary, who wore pink (a diachronic full text body note later), in the initial review, it’s worth mentioning for the reasons in part 1 I’ve decided to air towards white in the final text product. Resultingly, the tie between Constance->Mary->Jess seems tangible. But it isn’t really so simple.

“Home.” Home is a huge keyword.

"I can never go home." within the episode unto itself, Sam is struggling to well, get back home. And frankly, returning home is the key of it. (hears distant uppity Wincest stans) The difference here is, this isn't a direct parallel, of course, as much as a general ambient mood that will haunt is forward through the show, even if current viewers just watching episode 1 don't recognize it yet. Sam going home kills Jess, essentially; or at least witnesses her death. At the same time, Sam fears returning to the hunter life, or more doesn't think he can because John told him not to come back. But now that Jess is dead, well, Sam can never go home to the life he was building. He has no choice but TO go back to the other home--the hunter life. Even if he’s certain it’s not what Mary would have wanted for them.

DIACHRONIC STUDY: IN-SEASON PARALLELS, LOOKING FORWARD

There’s no way I’ll have them all in mind, these are just what are flagging me along the way.

1.09 Home As the “Home” rewatch is not that far away, I’m going to save this as a placeholder with general notes about “Mary apologizing to Sam,” even if frankly, she should have to Dean too. But even if, at the time, the exact details of the deal may or may not have been established or hashed out by the authors--we’re not picking at arguing if the authors intended it or not here. Here, Mary apologizes for her deal. Here, Mary apologizes--for drowning her children. For magnetizing this poltergeist to this place that she demands let her sons go, where she forces the spook to let go of Sam. She couldn’t really go home in the truest sense until that passed. (I’ll have deeper chain-link connections on this looking-forward once actually at the episode.

DIACHRONIC STUDY: IN-ERA PARALLELS, LOOKING FORWARD

They’re here, but not pinging me at 1 AM beyond vagueblogging about Lucifer showing up as Jess to haunt Sam and the inevitable time travel episodes about Mary, so placeholder for later updates.

DIACHRONIC STUDY: BEYOND-ERA PARALLELS, LOOKING FORWARD

Obviously compare to above-dropped screenshots.

11.04: Mistakes were made.

Listen, Dean’s grimace seat has been in discussion lately, don’t blame me for thinking of Joseph’s mistakes right after the season as Dean-mirror Pastor Joseph. Funny how Sam’s get shown and Dean’s don’t.

11.23/12.01: Mary’s return in the (white or pink, I’m rolling with white as-above) gown, and all extending details.

12.22: Mary's dreamspace.

12.23: Dean, Castiel's death, Sam removing Dean

15.01: Woman In White, We've got work to do

I feel like the Woman in White is the most interesting of these that hasn’t been as talked to death as, say, the 12.23 elements with the Destiel parallel. After all, the Woman in White largely focused on Sam. It was his fear of home. It was him being faithful to Jess (and being unfaithful can be more than sex, really; after all, he made a promise to come back.) But in season 15, it’s Dean that the ghost of the jilted lover approaches, shortly after Dean nearly killed Jack in his pain. Was Dean the weeping woman? Or was Castiel? Who held the animosity in the back seat?

Or is this a shared path? As Dean puts the Equalizer away under the Cigar Box, he has his own haunting issues in the mirror.

Those will be addressed more deeply when we get to that episode in like half a year. But for now, I’m just putting a pin in it. With a side scribble of “Cas got his Secrets/Mary, Sam got his serial killer and clowns and Dean got... the woman in white with Belphegor.”

15.02: Road Closed

15.03: If one insists Mary and Jess’ dress are pink, Rowena’s dress upon wedding and unbirthing to death (and queendom)

15.04: I still think about Jess (shortly before Eileen’s return.)

15.13: If one insists Mary and Jess’ dress are pink, atop the eventually-addressed meaning of lighting (death and transformation) vs the Empress symbolism (fertility, rebirth), Castiel in pink light.

15.15: If one insists Mary and Jess’ dress are pink. Amara’s trenchcoat.

15.20: Beyond the obvious quotes, and the (IMO failed) attempt at nostalgia, there’s honestly very little callback to the original episode.

That’s it on first glance, I’m sure more will rattle out as we go forward. Well, mostly. Keys to the Legacy from Mint Condition is flagging me alongside control mechanisms like Castiel losing control of his vessel. But those are thoughts to put pins in for now and develop later.

COMBAT COUNTER:

DEAN VICTORIES: 1 (sam vs Dean)

MARKSMANSHIP COUNTER:

DEAN SHOTS: 12 shots, 12 hits.

(hits for any individual will be considered accurate even if targets teleport/flicker out as long as it should have hit the body)

The mythology pasted all around John’s Room is worth a second trip, but off the top of my head I see the Bell Witch and Asmodeus from the Lesser Key of Solomon (near the motel door).

I’ll reblog later to add commentary on that.

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Disney+ UK Star Launch: Complete List of New TV Shows and Films

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We came for The Mandalorian, stuck around for WandaVision, and, as we wait for The Falcon and Winter Soldier and Loki to arrive, there’s now a huge pile of new catalogue additions to work through, courtesy of Disney Plus’ Star brand.

Star launched on the Disney Plus streaming service in territories outside of the US (where Disney already has a home for adult drama in Hulu) on the 23rd of February. It’s added over 75 TV shows and 280 feature films here in the UK, including the entirety of Lost, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The X-Files, Glee, Prison Break, Sons of Anarchy and Scrubs as well as cult favourites Firefly, Flashforward, Terriers and more. There are also some UK debuts in the form of the Star Originals listed below.

Film-wise, there’s ample reason to go back to the 90s in the form of Arachnophobia, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Con Air and a host of others, plus…well, it’s almost 300 films. Chances are you’ll find something to tickle your fancy. Households with kids should know there are new parental controls to set too, ensuring that nobody gets any unwelcome surprises.

Here’s the complete list of titles so far:

Star Originals

Big Sky

From Mr TV himself, David E. Kelley (Doogie Howser, Chicago Hope, Ally Mcbeal, Big Little Lies) comes a nine-part crime thriller starring Ryan Philippe and Vikings‘ Katheryn Winnick. Based on the 2013 novel The Highway by C.J. Box, Big Sky is the story of a series of missing girls and a private detective/cop trio with a messy personal history who team up to find them. It aired on ABC in the US last winter.

Helstrom

There’s very little fanfare for this comic book show‘s UK debut, which met with mostly negative reviews on release and was cancelled after 10 episodes, but Marvel completists will want to take a look. Tom Austen and Sidney Lemmon play the Helstrom siblings Daimon and Satana, the children of serial killers who hunt down the worst of humanity.

Love, Victor

Another Hulu original making its UK debut, this teen drama spins off from celebrated gay teen 2018 film Love, Simon. It’s narrated by Nick Robinson, who played Simon in the original film, and follows the story of a Puerto-Rican/Colombian-American teen living in Atalanta. Reviews for the 10-part first season were strong and it’s been renewed for a second.

Solar Opposites

Rick and Morty‘s Justin Roiland and Star Trek: Lower Decks‘s Mike McMahan are the creators of this adult animated comedy series about a family of aliens (pictured above) forced to seek refuge in middle America. Season one was enthusiastically received, and a second run is due to air in the US in March. Read plenty more about it here.

TV Series

According To Jim, Seasons 1 – 8 Alias, Seasons 1-5 American Dad, Seasons 1-16 Animal Fight Night, Seasons 1-6 Apocalypse World War I, Season 1 Apocalypse: The Second World War, Season 1 Atlanta, Seasons 1-2 Blackish, Seasons 1-5 Bloody Tales Of Europe, Season 1 Bloody Tales Of The Tower, Season 1 Bones, Seasons 1-12 Brothers & Sisters, Seasons 1-5 Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Seasons 1-7 Buried Secrets Of WWII, Season 1 Burn Notice, Seasons 1-7 Castle, Seasons 1-8 Code Black, Seasons 1-3 Cougar Town, Seasons 1-6 Desperate Housewives, Seasons 1-8 Devious Maids, Seasons 1-4 Drugs, Inc. Seasons 2-7 Family Guy, Seasons 1-18 Feud: Bette And Joan, Season 1 Firefly, Season 1 Flashforward, Season 1 The Fosters, Seasons 1- 5 The Gifted, Seasons 1-2 Glee, Seasons 1-6 Grey’s Anatomy, Seasons 1-15 The Hot Zone, Season 1 How I Met Your Mother, Seasons 1-9 Inside North Korea’s Dynasty, Season 1 The Killing, Seasons 1-4 LA 92 Lance, Season 1 Lie To Me, Seasons 1-3 Lost, Seasons 1-6 Mafia Confidential Maradona Confidential Mars, Seasons 1-2 Modern Family, Seasons 1-8 O.J.: Made In America Perception, Seasons 1-3 Prison Break, Seasons 1-5 Raising Hope, Seasons 1-4 Resurrection, Seasons 1-2 Revenge, Seasons 1-4 Rosewood, Seasons 1-2 Scandal, Seasons 1-7 Scream Queens, Seasons 1-2 Scrubs, Seasons 1-9 Sleepy Hollow, Seasons 1-4 Snowfall, Seasons 1-3 Sons Of Anarchy, Seasons 1-7 The Strain, Seasons 1-4 Terra Nova, Season 1 Terriers, Season 1 Trust, Season 1 Ugly Betty, Season 1-4 Ultimate Survival WWII, Season 1 Valley Of The Boom, Season 1 Witness To Disaster, Season 1 WWII Bomb Hunters The X-Files, Season 1-9 The 2000s: The Decade We Saw It All, Season 1 24, Season 1-9 24: Legacy, Season 1 The 80s: The Decade That Made Us, Season 1 9/11 Firehouse The 90s: The Last Great Decade? Season 1 9-1-1, Season 1-2

WandaVision Episode 7 Theories Explained

By Kirsten Howard

Gina Carano Was Fired from The Mandalorian, But Should Cara Dune Live On?

By John Saavedra

Films

The 13th Warrior 42 to 1 9 to 5 Adam (2009) The Air Up There The Alamo (2004) Anna And The King Annapolis Another Earth Another Stakeout Anywhere But Here Arachnophobia Australia Bachelor Party Bad Ass Bad Company (2002) Bad Company (Aka: Tool Shed) Bad Girls (1994) Bad Times At The El Royale Baggage Claim The Banger Sisters Be Water Beaches Before And After (1996) Belle Beloved (1998) The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Best Laid Plans Big Trouble Billy Bathgate Black Nativity Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation … Boys Don’t Cry Braveheart Breaking And Entering Bringing Out The Dead Broadcast News Brokedown Palace Broken Lizard’s Club Dread Brothers In Exile Brown Sugar Bubble Boy Bulworth Bushwhacked Can’t Buy Me Love Casanova (2005) Catch That Kid Cedar Rapids Chain Reaction Chasing Papi Chasing Tyson Choke The Clearing Cleopatra (1963) Cocktail Cocoon: The Return Cold Creek Manor The Color Of Money Come See The Paradise The Comebacks Commando (1985) Con Air Conan The Barbarian Confetti Consenting Adults A Cool Dry Place Cousin Bette Crazy/Beautiful Crimson Tide The Crucible Cyrus Damien – Omen Ii The Darjeeling Limited Dark Water Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008) The Day The Series Stopped Day Watch Deadpool 2 Dead Presidents Deceived (1991) The Deep End Deep Rising Deion’s Double Play The Devil Wears Prada Devil’s Due Die Hard 2 Die Hard With A Vengeance Double Take Down And Out In Beverly Hills Down Periscope Dragonball: Evolution Dreaming Of Joseph Lees Drive Me Crazy The Drop Duets The East Ed Wood The Edge Encino Man Enemy Of The State Enough Said Evita Exodus: Gods And Kings The Fab Five (2011) Far From The Madding Crowd (2015) The Fault In Our Stars The Favourite The Final Conflict Firestorm (1998) The Fly (1986) For The Boys Four Falls Of Buffalo French Connection II The French Connection From Hell Gentlemen Broncos A Good Day To Die Hard Good Morning, Vietnam The Good Son (1993) A Good Year The Grand Budapest Hotel The Great White Hype Grosse Pointe Blank Guilty As Sin Gun Shy The Happening Here On Earth High Fidelity High Heels And Low Lifes Hitchcock Hoffa Holy Man Hope Springs (2003) I Heart Huckabees I Love You, Beth Cooper I Origins I Think I Love My Wife Idiocracy In America In Her Shoes Independence Day Independence Day: Resurgence Inventing The Abbotts Jennifer’s Body The Jewel Of The Nile John Tucker Must Die Johnson Family Vacation Jordan Rides The Bus Joshua Just Married Just Wright Kingdom Come Kissing Jessica Stein Kung Pow: Enter The Fist Ladyhawke The Ladykillers (2004) Last Dance (1996) Le Divorce The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou Live Free Or Die Hard Looking For Richard Mad Love (1995) The Man From Snowy River Margaret The Marine Marked For Death The Marrying Man Martha Marcy May Marlene MASH Max Payne The Maze Runner Medicine Man Melinda And Melinda Metro Miami Rhapsody Miller’s Crossing Moulin Rouge (2001) My Father The Hero Mystery, Alaska The Namesake Nature Boy Never Die Alone The Newton Boys Night Watch (2006) No Mas Nothing To Lose Notorious Office Space One Hour Photo Oscar And Lucinda The Other Woman (2014) Our Family Wedding Out To Sea Pathfinder (2007) Phat Girlz Phone Booth Planet Of The Apes (1968) Planet Of The Apes (2001) Pony Excess The Poseidon Adventure (1972) Post Grad Powder The Preacher’s Wife Pretty Woman Primeval The Puppet Masters The Pyramid Quills Quiz Show Ravenous Rebound Renaissance Man Revenge Of The Nerds Ii: Nerds In Paradise The Ringer Robin Hood (1991) The Rocker Romancing The Stone Ruby Sparks Runaway Bride Rushmore Ruthless People The Savages Say It Isn’t So The Scarlet Letter Sea Of Shadows The Secret Life Of Bees Separate Lies The Sessions Shadow Conspiracy Shallow Hal Shining Through The Siege Signs Simon Birch A Simple Twist Of Fate The Sitter (2011) Six Days, Seven Nights Sleeping With The Enemy Solaris Someone Like You Soul Food Spy Hard Stakeout Starship Troopers Stoker Summer Of Sam Super Troopers (2002) Surrogates Swing Kids Taxi (2004) Terminal Velocity Thank You For Smoking There’s Something About Mary The Thin Red Line (1999) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Three Fugitives The Three Stooges (2012) Titan A.E. Tombstone Toys Trapped In Paradise Tristan & Isolde Up Close & Personal V.I. Warshawski Veronica Guerin The Village (2004) Von Ryan’s Express Waiting To Exhale Waitress Waking Life The War Of The Roses The Watch (2012) The Waterboy The Way Way Back What’s Love Got To Do With It When A Man Loves A Woman White Men Can’t Jump William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet Win Win Woman On Top Working Girl (1988) The X-Files

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The X-Files: I Want To Believe

Disney+ UK, now including Star is available for £7.99 per month

The post Disney+ UK Star Launch: Complete List of New TV Shows and Films appeared first on Den of Geek.

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shiro-s2e2-erukinzu · 1 year

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It's a week + a day later (and also New Year's Day) but I still wanted to share my thoughts on episode 25...

The last episode of cour 2 /season 1 of Spy X Family...!! 😊

AND IT WAS GREAT!😁

Episode 25 covered Missions 37 and 38 of the manga, and like I said last time, this was the perfect spot to end the season with (at least to me it was...!!) 😆

There were a lot of things I enjoyed in this episode, but one of my favorite things in it was THIS:

The way they animated Anya running behind those pillars to sneak up on Damian and his friends was just HILARIOUS TO ME...!!! 🤣

Now, let's talk about some changes that I noticed, shall we...? 😁

The first change I noticed was what Damian said here:

In the manga he says: "Leave me alone!", while in the anime he says: "Shut up!"... I think I prefer "leave me alone" more, but "shut up" works in this scene too, so no complaints here...!

These next few things aren't exactly changes from manga to anime, but more like tonal changes to some capacity...

The first one I noticed was Anya's speech to Damian about her papa (Loid):

In the manga, it feels a bit more serious and comes from the heart...!! While in the anime, with the music that was playing in the background, it came off as more silly than anything else... I mean, I know that at the end in both versions Anya forgets what she was talking about at the end of her speech in both versions, making it silly at the end, but... I think I prefer the tone and vibe in the manga version over the anime...! (Sorry about being nitpicky again...! 😅)

Another tone / vibe that I felt was a little different in both versions were these few scenes with Donovan, like this one:

In the manga, Donovan says "Nah, it's fine" and gives off more of a chill vibe... While in the anime, Donovan says "No, it's okay" and gives off chill but formal vibe...! I find it very interesting how just a change of words (and even a change of mediums) can make a scene feel different...! 😄

The scene next scene that I wanna bring up is the one with Donovan sighing:

In manga, the way Donovan looks when he sighs comes of as a bit more odd, strange, and even a little wacky; while in the anime, Donovan's sigh comes off as bit more unnerving... Both versions show him as being a bit annoyed, but I personally think that anime does it better (Even though the manga version me made me think: "What the hell is wrong this guy...? 😰" when I first read it...! )

And the last scene...:

Both pretty much give off the same vibe... I just think that Donovan looks and feels a lot more threatening in the manga than in the anime...! 👌😌

And that was episode 25 of the anime, it was a great episode all-around...!! 😊 I'm sad that we won't have any new episodes for a while, but I'm glad that I could share my thoughts with all of you (even if it's a little late...! 😅)

There was a few other things that I noticed between the anime and the manga, like how Damian looked more devastated after his father's speech people never understanding \ being sympathetic with each other in the manga than in the anime... Or even the fact that anime confirmed (to me) that Donovan's scars are only on the sides of his and not just one big scar around his head (because I've been trying to write a theory about his scars and how I believe he could've been lobotomized to be the way he is now, but I never got around to writing and was also questioning whether or not his scar went around his head...! 🤔) But of course, Tumblr only has a 10 image limit, so... 😌

Anyway, this has probably become my most word-est review yet, so I'll keep it brief...! 😅 Anime onlys, it's been a fun sharing my thoughts with y'all and hope to see you all again when season 2 comes out...!! 😊 Manga readers, we still got a ways to go before the next chapter drops, so stay strong my friends...!! 💪😤 And to everyone else, including the anime and manga fans, Happy New Year and I hope and wish that this year will be better than the last...!!! 💗💗💗 Take care everyone...!! ✌😊

(That wasn't really that brief at all, was it...!! 😅)

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shazzeaslightnovels · 1 year

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February 2023

(Series: Demon’s Crest | Artist: Yukiko Horiguchi)

No. of Reviews: 5

List of Reviews:

Demons’ Crest 1

Hamefura 12

Kami wa Game ni Ueteiru 5

YouZitsu 9

Astrea Record 3

As promised last month, I’m going to use this post to delve into my top 10 anime of 2022. It ended up being long and I can tell that I’m not going to be able to do much about that without really cutting more details out and I’ve already tried to make it shorter so I’m just going to put it under a cut instead. Before the list, here are some honorable mentions: Summer Time Rendering, Delicious Party Precure, and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury. Really, GWitch should be on the list but I’m still traumatised from the disappointment that was the second half of Ranking of Kings so I’m being cautious. It’ll probably end up on next year’s list if all goes well with the second half.

10. Raven of the Inner Palace - I watched this one shortly after it finished airing and was very impressed. The story was really interesting and engaging, the characters were charming and I loved watching them grow, and the lore was fascinating. The only major issue is that it does end of a somewhat incomplete note. It feels like it wraps up Shoxue’s character arc satisfyingly but it’s clear that there’s more story to come. I definitely would be interested in reading the novels but I’d struggle a bit with some of terminology in Japanese so if I did read it, it would be in English.

9. Shadow House 2nd Season - The first season just missed out on being one of my faves of 2021 so I was pleased that it got another chance so soon and it more than earned it’s place on my top 2022 list. The plot of season 2 was consistently engaging and I appreciated the focus on characters like Rosemary/Maryrose and Barbie/Barbara who I was interested in from the first season. I hope we get more but I know I’m going to be reading the manga when I can either way.

8. Love Live! Superstar!! Season 2 - While I didn’t like the second season of Superstar quite as much as the first, I did still really enjoy my time with it. I was a bit iffy on the new characters at first but they did grow on me by the second half and I was able to enjoy it a lot better. I think the best part of this season is the introduction of Wein. She’s got such a cool character design and a lovely voice and her performances were so good. I was also incredibly fond of the episode about Ren’s gaming addiction. I was initially annoyed about the ending but now I just can’t wait to spend more time with these characters and see what’s in store for season 3.

7. Bocchi the Rock! - There were three things that stood out to me while watching this anime: the music, the visual gags, and the representation of anxiety. The music was great and the visual gags were hilarious and I really related to Bocchi. Aside from the relability, I also really liked that Bocchi was allowed to grow throughout the twelve episodes. Compared to something Komi Can’t Communicate, which I do like but it has flaws of course, where it’s been 2 seasons and Komi still can barely string together a sentence, it was nice to see Bocchi actually grow and be able to talk to others in ways that she couldn’t have imagined at the beginning. I really appreciated that. I think I will rewatch this one in the future as I wasn’t in the best of moods when I did watch it but I still enjoyed it and I really hope we get more.

6. Spy x Family - I don’t know that I have anything to say about this show that hasn’t already been said. It’s fun show and I enjoyed watching it every week, though there were a few dull moments. I enjoyed seeing the family grow and it’s such a good-looking show. I can’t wait for more.

5. Sasaki and Miyano - Sometimes a simple romcom is all you need. I’ve been a fan of the Sasaki and Miyano manga for years and I was so excited for the anime adaptation. While I was a bit wary of the adaptation choices at the start - like the awkward character designs and anatomy and the random cut-aways to cats doing stuff, it melted my heart by the end and became such a joy to watch. I loved seeing these two characters fall in love with each other week by week. It was just so sweet.

4. Lycoris Recoil - This anime was such a blast to watch each week and to look at all the new fanart of the characters and the ships. The animation was superb and I loved the characters and watching them and their relationships develop. I know a lot of people were disappointed that the story didn’t challenge it’s own flawed premise but I think it was satisfying as a story about Chisato and Takina and I appreciated it for that, though I do wish we had gotten more from characters like Fuki and Mizuki. I know we’re getting a sequel and I’m cautiously optimistic about it.

3. The Case Study of Vanitas: Part II - I enjoyed the first half of Vanitas well enough but Part II really surpassed my expectations. I was so invested in the story and the characters and it was such a pleasure to watch each week. I hope we get more of the anime at some stage.

2. Kaguya-sama: Love is War - Ultraromantic - To be honest, I wasn’t massive fan of the first two seasons of Kaguya-sama. It had some great visual gags but I wasn’t attached to the characters or anything and a lot of the gags fell flat for me. And then Ultraromantic came along and I finally fell in love with it. Each episode was hilarious and I was surprised by how invested I was in the romance aspect. I loved all the visual gags and this one stands out as being one of the most memorable anime that I watched last year. I can easily recall several scenes and that’s not something that I can say about most of the shows on this list. So I guess Kaguya-sama won this game.

1. The Orbital Children - This was one of those series that reminded me of how much I love sci-fi. There were so many interesting ideas and details. The plot was gripping and the characters were so much fun, especially Mina. I do think it got a bit convoluted at the end there but I still really enjoyed it and it ended up being my favourite anime of last year.

#Reading Log #February 2023

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