What Anime are you watching?

[B E C K]

That's kinda what I mean. Like, the artwork is part of the horror. The way the images are rendered and the line work and detail he's put into them is part of the presentation. It doesn't work with a normal cheapo anime budget.

I finally saw some of that new Gundam show. It's good, don't get me wrong. I just feel like I'm not quite smart enough for Gundam. I have no idea what was going on in the prologue. At all. Like, the kid synced with the Gundam or something and just murders stuff and is all weeee, shit's dead?  HUH. And what was Villain Guy getting out of having everyone shot? Gundams hurt the pilot so lets kill a shitload of people?  Double HUH? I also completely DO NOT get the point of the student duels. How are they able to fix their mechs (time-wise, resource-wise, AND money-wise) and how aren't students frequently dying? The duels seem stupid and utterly pointless. Along with the whole "win the duel and marry the villain's daughter" thing. Shouldn't there be a higher barrier to entry for these duels if being the Holder means you get the guy's daughter? Surely, they don't want any rube taking part in these sorts of things for this very reason, right? And nobody vets the huge fuckin' illegal mech she brings to school? As if she shoved a turtle in her backpack for Show 'n Tell? Again, I actually like this show but a lot of shit don't make sense.

[jonhammstein]

Yeah, I feel like more than a few Gundam shows have been like that over the years. Zero explanation for the status quo, you're just meant to accept that that's the way things are and go with it.

[B E C K]

I was bored and tried Koikimo because it was recommended to me. From somewhere. I don't remember where. And I don't know why because this show's so fucking weird. It's not bad but it's closer to bad than it ever will be to being good. Random points below.

Age gap relationship: I could've overlooked this with a better story. It's always better to go with adult age-gaps imo. She's 17, I'm not gonna nitpick it that much. He's 27 though. The show plays it off as "how cool that older, hot guy is interested in her" but he actually comes off as a bit of a stunted loser who can only relate to a child.

Womanizer Character: He's a womanizer. Fine. I think this character type can be conveyed without being disgusting. The whole "what's her name" can be funny once or with a bit of spin on the joke, although it's otherwise trite and cliche. This show has no such spins to offer. "He such a maaaaan he dun know wamen's names because he's been with soooo many wamens." Give me a break. FFS, just look at your damn phone and read the name that last asked for a hookup.

Secret Masochist: The guy likes verbal abuse and the chick being disgusted with him. It'd be funny if it wasn't clearly a kink without the girl's consent. I also find it hard to believe this guy's kink has never been triggered before. The implication from this show is that he's soooo hot or whatever that no woman's ever called him a jerk or a creep before and gotten him hard from it. I refuse to believe this.

Cool Sister: I like the dude's little sister. Seems like a nice character.

Female Love Interest: She's actually okay. I don't find her obnoxious or anything. But homegirl needs to cover her mouth when she coughs.

Boundaries: He doesn't really respect her's and she puts up with it. Irl, you wouldn't blame the victim especially when she's a child. But it's okay. This is a cartoon. It's le funny ho ho. Crossing boundaries this egregiously just means it's TRUE love, y'all. At least according to fanfics I read in 1999.

CREEPER: Male Love Interest intimidates others who don't step into line with his wants. He looms over highschool boys that don't behave the way he wants. In the first episode, he assaults a woman by grinding a napkin into her face to violently wipe off her make-up and then threatens to pull out her real eyelashes when she bemoans he pulled off her fake ones. It's supposed to be funny, guise. Because women who wear makeup are, like, vapid hos and this woman was being bitch by telling a *checks notes* highschool girl that the older man grooming her is a womanizer.

This was the most disgusting scene I have ever seen in an anime romcom and that includes any show where the female love interest was nearly r@ped. At least when the latter happens, it's done by a bad guy who is clearly wrong and gets some sort of comeuppance. But in Koikimo, the male love interest just gets to assault a woman. I get it was supposed to be played off as a gag but it wasn't actually executed as a gag. There were no zany sound effects or zingers to cap a joke. He just violently rubs off her makeup and threatens her.

I'd have more respect for this show if this behavior was called out or were indicators of a future turn into a darker show. Like he starts murderin' people and sticking them in his van. Then we'd have a dark comedy. But this is supposed to be a romcom. And in a setting of sparkling eyes full of admiration and gifting a flower a day to court his lady love, he randomly assaults a woman.

Please, just watch Love is Hard for an Otaku with adorable adult couples.

[B E C K]

I tried a bit of Sugar Apple Fairy Tale. The beginning with the mom was kinda cute but I'm not feeling this show. The lead being some frail little girl who insists that she can protect herself and then buys a fairy slave to protect herself is just... eh. I think I would've liked this show more if she truly had to find other ways to protect herself. But then, you know, we don't get the trope of master/servant love between her and the hot dude-fairy she buys. This combined with the prior scene where a big burly man beats a tiny fairy while he screams for his wing sends off mixed signals about the feel of this show. I mean, what kind of show do you want to be, Sugar Apple Fairy Tale? I'm kinda confused by it tbh.

I think this might've been a better show if her mom was still alive but sick and the Main Character needs the prize money from contest or whatever to buy medicine. And maybe she has a dad or aunt or someone else who buys her the fairy for her own safety and is keeping the wing hostage. This way, she's forced into her journey prematurely and she's forced to have a slave even though she thinks slavery is wrong. (In this show, the owners keep one of the fairy's wings hostage which forces them in slavery. So if someone else had the wing, she'd had no way to free the slave.)

But here, her mom's dead. And the Main Character just pops on over to the slave market to done buy her a slave. And that slave is sassy, so she's sassy back.  "How dare you call me names, slave." And I'm supposed to, uh, like this character? Just because she's a young girl and the English dub gives her a voice that sounds two degrees above ASMR whispering?

[B E C K]

I decided to try a bit of Lupin Zero and kid Jigen shooting at the bullies at his school was a bit too real for America. Doesn't look bad although I admittedly find Lupin very hit and miss for my tastes. I might come back to this later.

I also watched a bit of Aggretsuko Season 5. Way to turn this show into the Haida show. It's like the writers forgot who the main character was. They sidelined all of the more interesting characters for Main Character's homeless, jobless simp.

[jonhammstein]

Oh it's that time again! Spring anime piiiiiiiiiiiicks:

I gotta say, I do appreciate when they stick "isekai" right there in the title so that I can immediately toss it on the junk pile.

There are actually A LOT of shows debuting this time around, so I'll probably end up checking out twice as many as I've added here, but these are the ones that really stood out to me.

[Rodent of Unusual Size]

I rather liked the Handyman Isekai show that just finished airing. The guy couldn't do much adventuring because he sucked at it, but he opened treasure chests without setting off traps, fixed equipment, and helped the old magician remember his spells. Slice of life isekai isn't a genre I'd ever seen before, but it was fun.

I probably watched more anime this season than I have in the previous five years.

[B E C K]

God, Ranking of Kings season 2 already? Can't wait to see kings not being ranked, stakes immediately being unstaked, and people dying and coming back to life again with no consequence. That trailer's showing me a lot of Anne though I wanted to know more about her. Same with Lightning King Brother. I don't remember his name but I liked his character.

Witch from Mercury, I'm really excited about. I've actually grown to really like the show and, I won't lie, the series actually being released on YouTube--albeit slowly week by week--has really helped because I've been able to rewatch it with ease. With Crunchyroll turning its free option into pure ass and the inconvenience of sailing the high seas, I like being able to just cast from YouTube and I wish more anime was available this way.

That art on Rokudo's Bad Girls is kinda... eh, weird looking. So many characters with raccoon eyes, wtf. Maybe I'll give it a try since I have a weakness for delinquent anime but I have a feeling it won't stick the landing.

I've actually got a small list written down for anime I'm curious about that are coming out next month which includes Hell's Paradise and a few others posted earlier in the thread. Even if they're all ass, at least I'll have Witch from Mercury.

[B E C K]

I was curious about My One-Hit Kill Sister because I really like the chick's design with its Gurren Langan Yoko-vibes but seeing more footage of it put me off. Don't know if they're actually siblings or not but don't care for the wincest feels and the mc seems like the same pathetic limp noodle piece of cardboard I can't stand.

Saw the first episode of Witch From Mercury S2 and while I still love this show, I'm really put off by two things.

First, fricken Sophie. I like all of the other antagonists but then there's this high-pitched weirdo with a contorted bubble face and a stupid mop of hair (yes, stupider than Chu Chu's, than Nia's, than Guel's**) and that goddamn anime-tooth. She doesn't visually look like she belongs in this universe; and she's the dumb "adorable quirky sadist" trope that Japan has a boner for. We already have a other girls fulfilling the role of "murderous girl-child" that are way less annoying than this one. I'd be so relieved if Suletta offed her in their duel but this shitty character will probably live until the end.

Second, that ED song: what the fuck are those vocals? They hurt my ears and ruin the song.

** Yes, their hair is weird but to me all of the weird and bad hair belongs here. Maybe because the characters sell the looks to me. Even Guel. Sophie's hair is like "hi, we ran out of ideas and mullets." But I dislike her character so perhaps that's my own bias.

[B E C K]

I watched two episodes of My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Level 999. I meant to see Oshi no Ko but got distracted and watched this instead. It's okay. I'm seeing lists group this with Netjuu no Susume and Wotakoi (Love is Hard for an Otaku), which I've mentioned in multiple other posts and are two shows I really like. This show is not at their level.

tl;dr - If you want to make a good romance, there needs to be some level of mutual interest. No interest = No romance. These two leads are also shallow-ass characters.


Problem number one is that the male love interest has no interest in the female love interest. The female love interest, in turn, doesn't even know this guy. She thinks he's hot and that's literally it. They have no reasons actually forcing them into each other's orbit either. This show wants to pretend they do but they actually don't: they could part ways easily with no impact on the other. They are both also weak-ass characters.

The male love interest is bland and rude. His blandness is supposed to be funny but it only serves to make him boring. His rudeness is supposed to be a joke, but he's not rude in a funny way. To clarify, I think his rudeness could've been funny. But it's not executed here well at all. For example, he takes two minutes to provide this chick with one-word replies online, this happens at least twice in a row, and that's the joke. Then she's rude back when he asks her to leave the hunting ground and that's also supposed to be another joke: I guess the joke is that she's hurting from being dumped so she was overly rude back to the rude guy. Ha ha?

Those aren't jokes, that's just stupid. I was waiting to see if maybe there's some other layer as to why his replies were so slow. I thought we were gonna see him struggling to get in one-word replies in between something else he was supposed to be doing: like maybe he was texting at work or school or something. Then we find out, no. He has no reason to be rude to his guildmate other than he's an emotionally-stunted rude young man and that's supposed to make me laugh. The end. Fuck you, show. What's funny about that? That's not a joke. A joke has a fuckin' punchline. He's rude because he's playing two games at once. He's rude because she slighted him somehow in the past. He's rude because he's texting while lint-rollering his carpet. Nah. He barely knows her and is just rude to his guildmate because he's a rude person. UGH.

And the above is, like, the whole metaphor for this show: It could be better but doesn't even try.

I couldn't tell you much about the female love interest. She's a cute college girl and that's it. In the first episode of this show, the story revolves around her moping about her boyfriend, thinking about her boyfriend, wanting to show off because of her boyfriend, and feeling sad again because of her boyfriend. Do you have interests of your own, lady? This show could've fixed this by making her character the hardcore gamer who got her boyfriend into the video game and then boyfriend turns around and dumps her for another gamer girl. Instead, the actual plot is she actually has no interests of her own: her gamer boyfriend got her to play the video game he liked and then dumped her for a gamer girl. This character is nothing but the shadow of her boyfriend and it's fucking weird to watch.

So we get a show that looks passably nice, music's okay, voice acting is okay, and it feels like almost nothing is happening because nothing is happening. Two episodes already from a thirteen episode show and they aren't even friends. I literally chuckled once. There's more offensive shit out there, for sure. 5/10, I guess.

[B E C K]

I saw some of Rokudo's Bad Girls. I'm not sure if I like this or not. The concept at face value is kind of funny but I don't think it's capable of carrying an entire show. I still think the art is kinda off-putting. Haruya I kinda like as a character but it's weird they'd give him more dimension in the first two episodes than Rokudo, Ranna, or either of Rokudo's friends. Which, I guess, is the main problem in that most of the characters feel flatter than I think they should. Rokudo's friends appear designed to have two distinct personalities but act like the same type of guy. All of the thugs feel like the same type of guy as well. And the other kids at school seem... just completely divorced by what's happening around them and this makes the world in this show feel very small.

Still, I'd rate this higher than the Yamada-kun Level-whatever show mainly because that show tried to be a Wotakoi-type rom-com and did a shitty job of it. This show is also categorized as a rom-com but it seems more like a rom-com for little boys so I can give it more leeway.  These characters also are actually taking action in their lives and shit actually happens in this show. Don't think I'll stick with it at all but it can have a 6/10.

[jonhammstein]

Bad Girls is a little odd, but I want to see where it goes. Magical Destroyers is just... shoddy-looking. I do appreciate its batshit OP and ED, though. Mashle also looks cheap, and they don't really seem to be doing anything interesting with it animation-wise. I'm current with the manga, so do I really need to re-experience the story if they're just going to phone it in? Probably not.

Only watched the first episodes of Tengoku Daimakyou and Skip to Loafer, but they've grabbed me so far. Really, really like the art in Skip.

Jigokuraku is solid, but having read all of it, it's kind of tough to get excited about the earlier portions. It gets so much better later on.

How about this one?

I didn't mind the first episode, but the premise is a little questionable to say the least.

[B E C K]

Saw the first episode of Witch From Mercury S2 and while I still love this show, I'm really put off by two things.

First, fricken Sophie...

...I'd be so relieved if Suletta offed her in their duel...

Hey hey!  Wishes come true! Sure, the character died on her own but still.

How about this one?

I didn't mind the first episode, but the premise is a little questionable to say the least.

Also only watched one episode and didn't care to see anymore but not because it's bad or anything. 6/10. It's all right for what it is but there's probably better things to watch.

[B E C K]

Finally got to see Oshi no Ko. This show is so pretty to look at. But, holy shit, hurry up and get stabbed already. Now I haven't read the manga. I don't know if maybe the manga's really, really good or something. I only came into this knowing the initial premise of the show. As someone with limited knowledge of this story, I really enjoyed the first 15 min or so and then diminishing returns set in. The whole learning words from YouTube was a funny joke and fooling the manager's wife was kinda cute. This prologue felt too damn long tho'. It felt overly long without providing much of anything as if the makers were determined to have a movie-length special and needed to fill in the time before the stabbing. I'm probably hugely biased because I think Gorou >>>>> Aqua. I'll maybe chell out an episode or two and see if it grows on me.


Edit w/ Courtesy Spoiler Space in Case Anyone Cares:
Okay, I read some spoilers because I want to see where this goes. I don't see myself sticking with this.















I know the manga's not finished but their dad is literally just a crazy and that's it?  That doesn't interest me.

[B E C K]

I got through 12 minutes of Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion before I couldn't anymore. This first episode is an incredibly weak introduction. At least all of the other shows got me to sit through them for more than twenty minutes.

We open with an impressive--and by "impressive," I mean fucking lame--array of barely moving shots with two or less faceless people doing boring shit, making this world feel as lifeless and empty as possible. (Please stop doing this shit, anime. You need to blow a bit of your budget here. The viewer needs a positive first impression.) The heroine looks outside of her window in her mansion, thinking about that time she died in the real world or whatever. She was so worried she didn't get a good grade until, what's that?  She passed her exam.  "Yatta!"  Whoops, I'm falling off of the building. Truck-kun, you took the form of a person and pushed me! ùwú <<Angry UWU

Now I'm a character in some book I read! Let's meet my family designed by in-betweeners a bit before we meet my fiance who was also looks like some extra from ten other anime. He wears a business suit and with a tie and a pocket square like an office worker. Immersion?  What immersion?  This is a fake world, we can do whats we wants. Now let me try to break up with my fiance in the stupidest ways possible. I even bought a book from a book store with books that appears completely anachronistic to the setting we're trying to achieve.  Immersion? Stop it, uwu. Oh no, now he's being creepy! Help, uwu.

I skipped ahead a bit to see if the hot guy appears. He does. With more exposition. Holy crap this is dull as dishwater. Fuck this show. Every other show I tried so far at least had a beginning of some sort. 2/10. I like the heroine and her love interest's designs. That's it. I like nothing else. The rest of this show isn't pleasant to look at at all. Even the mansion's design reeks of 'lazy.' uwu

[B E C K]

I tried about a minute of Birdie Wing and almost immediately tapped out.  What is this anime? A snobby rich girl in a jet with computer monitors? A chick wearing a mask playing for a pro player? Then returning home to the redlight district? What is all this shit? I thought this was just gonna some cute girl golf anime and instead it's all over the place. Oh, yeah, gotta get that male gaze all up on blondie as she changes her clothes. No thanks on all fronts.

[B E C K]

I hate to be hard on Niehime only because I think it has the bones of good story somewhere.

tl;dr - a decent story's in there somewhere but the show's pretty bad

I haven't touched the manga so I don't know if the presentation in the anime is in line with the manga. Either way, the presentation of the story is bad in this anime. Like a poor man's Full Metal Alchemist or a Marvel movie that tries to be jokey and serious at the same time. "A girl raised only to be a sacrifice to be fed to a beast king in a beast kingdom but becomes his queen" is a good hook. But almost immediately after being presented as to the king, this show becomes "look at this loveable sassy child." The budget is skinflint from the very beginning of this show and, as such, this world doesn't feel lived in at all because it all looks so empty. Even this so-called-king's bedroom couldn't manage to be decorated, supporting the assumption this kingdom is poor and barely has any people or resources. However, I get the feeling that's not the impression the show meant to convey.

The king and his people never feel like any sort of threat. You can't be all "u gonna be sacrificed" and then immediately start providing exposition on the way the world works or acting all silly when your sacrifice hops around the palace. Even the king's subjects/council/whatever-they-are are conversing with themselves and providing exposition between each other on the history of the kingdom that they ALL should already be aware of. What the fuck? Literally why are you saying this shit, four eyes? (Because he has four eyes, not because he wears glasses.) Can you imagine?  "Hey guys, you remember how I was Darthnuriko and had an EZBoard. Let's talk about it. It's not like you were fucking there yourselves or anything." That's so fucking stupid. Nobody fucking talks like this.

Then we get to the big GOTCHA moment of the episode and it all became even more fucking stupid: the king actually doesn't sacrifice anyone and turns to a human like a reverse-werewolf. The king lets the sacrifices escape and spills his own blood so that he can pretend he killed and ate the sacrifices. Wouldn't the beasts smell the difference in the blood? How do the girls make it back home? Don't they tell anyone when they get home? Doesn't word get around once they arrive home that the king doesn't kill anyone? Wouldn't the Sacrifice-girl's "parents" now be aware their daughter was never in any real danger and not have to be so cold to the stand-in? Did any of these "sacrifices" see his face? Do any of them know he's half-human? Also, he's half-human so a human got fucked somewhere, right? Doesn't that mean his subjects would already be concerned he's half-human or concerned that he himself might have tendencies to *ahem* the humans? Why am I using *ahem* when I already used 'fucked' anyway?  I don't fucking know anymore. And then he's all "she's my kweeeen" and expects his subjects to accept this shit when he's cutting himself to try to make them believe he's killing humans because his subjects want the humans to die because his subjects don't fucking like humans? Weren't you fucks clued in on the fact your king brought the "sacrifice" to see some flowers?  None of this shit makes any sense!  Make it make sense!

Also, she's a child, yo.  She's fifteen and looks ten.  Both are kinda bad with this dude if they are supposed to be in a romance of some sort, especially since she looks ten.

4/10, I guess. I like the girl character. I know this trope's been done before in other shows but this part was nailed down right. The two balls or whatever the fuck they are that hang around with her are kinda cute. Concept's very interesting even if it's shittily done. Oh, and the king is voiced by fucking Ainz. But everything else is lackluster to bad.

[Rodent of Unusual Size]

Skip to Loafer has been fun. I think it's a keeper. And it's not one I would normally watch, which is weird for me. Maybe my tastes are changing for the better...nah, the rest of this list proves it's not!

Thankfully Bofuri is over. This season just sucked. Sad, too, as the first season was fun. I just don't see them doing anything any different, either.

One-Turn Kill Sister is shlock, but I'm trying to decide if it's likeable or unlikeable. I'm leaning toward the latter...bro-con shit creeps me out, and the one from a couple years ago with the doting mom with the two shot attack was barely tolerable.

Megami no Cafe Terrace looks like it could be a nice echhi harem show packed with service, but the jury's still out on whether the characters are worth keeping track with. I give it one more show...I like my smutty anime, but only if it's got some heart.

Edomae Elf is cute so far, but I'm worried it will become tiresome unless they branch out a bit.

I just started pulling down Tonikaku Kawaii season 2 after watching season 1. I thought it'd be more like Hayate the Combat Butler (same creator), but it's more of a saccharine naive love story. Having started reading the manga there's a loooooooot of ground to cover, and they're really keeping it slow.

I just started pulling down Eden's Zero season 2. Hopefully it's as fun as the first season, but I see no reason for it not to be.

Yamada-kun to Lv999.... was a bit off-putting at first, and the first couple episodes don't really dispel that too much. But the manga has been enjoyable, so here's hoping it gets to the point that it matures into a pleasant show sooner than later.

Isekai Shoukan wa Nidome desu has been entertaining despite not getting anywhere yet. I know isekai is really played out, but after the excellent Handyman isekai last season I'm willing to give the genre another go. I just hope they start moving the story along after two episodes of setup.

[B E C K]

Gave Skip to Loafer a try since both of you guys mentioned it. Holy shit, I'm only twelve minutes in and I love this so much. It's so cozy and wholesome.

[B E C K]

I watched what's available of Hell's Paradise. I like it but I also kind of don't.

I like the two leads and the core story. Big ups for those. But when the show strays away from the leads, it does slog a little bit. The first ten minutes of episode one weren't the best first ten minutes of a first episode. I was kinda bored. Immediately knowing this was an edgy boy who wuvs his wifey would've made me invested in the plot right away instead of saving this info as a tweest at the end of the episode . I also would've wanted to arrive on the island much sooner than we actually do in this show.

I'm not sure how to feel about the Juni Taisen narrative-style where we meet the character and get their backstory. Sometimes I'm interested and other times it feels like it's interrupting the actual plot.

Also, I don't like the opening or closing music. It's not bad. It's just... there.

7.8/10 I don't know if I'll stick with it though.

[jonhammstein]

It's been kind of limp so far. And the fact that it goes on break after episode 13 doesn't help. I keep saying it gets better later, but maybe it actually won't have by the end of this block?

[jonhammstein]

Skip 2 My Loaf gives me super Dress-Up Darling vibes, subtracting the thirst aspect, of course. Just the whole thing of characters overcoming their prejudices and learning to accept one another and all that... so good. So, so good.

It's a toss-up between that and Heavenly Delusion for my favorite of the Spring so far. I've been going back and forth on using romanized and localized titles for shows, I should probably just pick one.

Heavenly Delusion is one of those shows that just fires on all cylinders for me. Beautiful animation, likeable characters, solid action, mystery (I refuse to look up manga spoilers). Although, I'll probably end up going for the manga once the first batch of the anime concludes...

[Rodent of Unusual Size]

I forgot about Heavenly Delusion; I've been sticking it in my Plex server but haven't started watching it yet.

[B E C K]

HD's on my short list but I'll probably wait until there's more of it for me to binge.

[jonhammstein]

I dropped Bad Girls and Magical Destroyers. They're just too fucking ugly to look at.

[B E C K]

I watched a bit of Magical Destroyers out of curiosity and didn't think it was that ugly. I mean, it's definitely not winning any awards though. Man, twenty minutes or so of that first episode seemed completely redundant. I guess I wouldn't have minded if any of it was actually funny but it wasn't. I did laugh when that mascot thing got shot up into a skeleton but that was almost already the end of the episode. And I like the "spirit," I guess, behind the show. Like, I think I know the tongue-in-cheek vibe it's going for and I can dig it. I just don't think it's actually accomplishing that.

I feel more weirded out by the art/designs of Bad Girls than the random ugly in this show but that show is more visually appealing from the use of color and contrast and it also appeared to have a story. To be fair, I don't think Magical Destroyers is supposed to really have a story--at least not in this first episode--but I think that's to its detriment since it doesn't accomplish being "pointlessly funny" either.  4/10.

[jonhammstein]

Disney+ did another batch of St*r WarzzZZ: Visions shorts, with a more international flavor this time around as there is only one Japan-produced segment. I think I voiced my distaste for the first batch earlier in this thread, so my expectations were substantially tempered going into these new entries.

I will say, there's definitely a lot more variety here, as there should be considering it's different stuff from around the world, and overall the visual quality was top notch with a few exceptions towards the end. The storytelling, on the other hand, was mostly what I'd call subpar.

1. About a former Sith who decided to give up on being bad and instead live as a bohemian? This one was CG going for an oil painted kind of look, pretty nice honestly. Good action, easy to follow. The resolution seemed to imply she would be some kind of "neutral" Force user... who knew that was an option? This one was okay, I won't knock it too hard.

2. Child laborers in a mining camp. Of course it manages to end up being about lightsabers and the conflict was absolute nonsense. Although I do really enjoy the animation in this one, and it's probably one of the better ones here.

3. Stop motion is weird now, because I'll admit that CG fakery has gotten to the point where I can't tell the difference. Which is this? I don't know. But it looks really nice either way. Indigenous Force-sensitive (But of course!) sisters fight back against Imperials plundering their homeland. Completely unnecessary backstory about how their mother died rendered in a 2D cave paint art style. This one was kind of bland.

4. This is the Aardman one. Looks amazing, their stuff always does. Absolute dogshit sitcom plot about a family racing competition. Painfully unfunny.

5. This one was really convoluted, and I really don't feel like going over all the specifics. Basically a "seer" decides that if she destroys the means by which they predict "bad" (As in dark side-influenced) events, they can help win the war against the Empire. Uh...? Just too stupid. Again, though, beautifully animated. More lightsaber action. Gotta have it, right?

6. Another one where the setup jumps through ridiculous hoops to establish a conflict. There's this super-lavish cabaret-type tower where Cirque du Soleil-like performances take place, but for some reason this is where the rank and file Stormtroopers go to chill out? They all have the hots for this one dancer chick who uses this to her advantage to gather intel on the Empire because -- SURPRISE -- she's a Rebel! Subplot about how her child was stolen from her when she was young, and you guessed it this fact ends up being very important! Nice to look at with an unfortunately goofy narrative.

7. They just straight-up injected Indian culture into St*r WarzzZZ for this one. Everybody just dresses and behaves like they're Indian people from India on Earth. I actually kind of like this one story-wise. Likeable protags and a cool design for the villain. Downside here is that the CG animation is a little wonky, particularly during the disjointed lightsaber duel. That's right, another one for the pile!

8. Miners again. What are they mining? Kyber crystals, naturally! Basically they dig a hole so deep they can't get back out and their Imperial overlords just leave them down there to die. They sing a song (or maybe it's just a chant?) that draws the attention of the nearby city folk, who magnanimously rescue the miners. This was an odd one, and probably the ugliest of the bunch. It had that kind of faux-anime look you'd find in shows like the Boondocks, which is weird because I think this was the one entry submitted by Japan.

9. Miners... again? Kyber crystals... again! Other than that though, I think this one's probably my favorite? It's done in the aforementioned is it?/isn't it? stop-motion style and it looks really good. The plot is pretty basic, so there's no point in going into any great detail. Cute characters, super-colorful, I wish more of them could have been like this one.

All in all, a better outing this time. None of them made me cringe or otherwise scoff in disgust like the first batch. I think if they decide to do another set they should probably coordinate better so as to avoid so much overlap in plot devices. Then again, it is St*r WarzzZZ... the source material is what it is.

[B E C K]

I want to like Hell's Paradise more than I do. "Edgy assassin wants to return to loving wife" is a good hook. And I like Gabimaru's character way more than I actually thought I would. But this show feels a bit padded out. Like it's trying to stretch itself to match to a stopping point in the manga. So far I'm still somewhat watching it. But I expect to either forget about this show when it's done or eventually drop it before it's over.

[jonhammstein]

Yeah, Hell's Paradise is kind of a bummer. And the animation itself isn't bad, but I wouldn't call it good either. More like good enough. The original manga artwork was pretty nice, so it's hard not to notice.

[B E C K]

I finally watched most of Cyberpunk Edgerunners.  It's good but there's something I didn't like about it.  Probably the fact the overall story is a bummer.  As far as the outcome for the characters, I mean.  But it has good music, aesthetics, and animation.  And I was reading some reviews of people calling it out on the animation aspect.  And it's, like, look: we can either get a show cheating a lot during the quiet moments and balls-to-the-walls dynamic where it counts. Or we can get mediocre animation all the way through.  I'd rather had the former, especially for a story like this that needed those bursts of actiony moments.

Oh, yeah, and hot guy died in Hell's Paradise.  But noooooot before we got his backstory.  Yawn.  Wheee.  Honestly, the only reason I haven't dropped this show completely is because someone's been uploading the episodes to YouTube so it takes almost zero effort to sit in bed with my phone and put it on.  I've only really been invested in Witch from Mercury and Skip and Loafer.