Tag Archives: Fantasy

Rayearth Review

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It’s time for another journey into the world of Rayearth! It’s a really chaotic adventure this time as they have to squeeze in a whole lot through only 3 episodes. The episodes are around double length but that’s still a tall order. While it’s certainly not as good as the full length TV shows, I thought this was pretty fun. It’s a very different take on the series and one that really isn’t bad. Sort of like watching an abridged version with everything compressed as much as possible. I’d like to have more alternate universe adventures like this.

Rayearth starts with a mysterious fairy appearing on Earth. It heralds the beginning of the end as a bunch of space invaders show up. They want to destroy everyone on Earth in some crazy attempt to save their home world of Cephiro. Only three girls can stop them, Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu. They have the qualifications to become defenders of humanity by enacting a pact with 3 legendary deities. This will be very risky though as they are still outnumbered and have no real way to practice for this fight. They will have to learn on the job and their only ally is Master Mage Clef, a man of unbelievable power in theory but never in reality.

Right away you can tell that the vibe is a whole lot different than the TV show. It’s less fantastical and more dread filled. You never know when the next casualty is going to arrive and quite a few people are wiped out. I know by the end of the OVA they make sure to mention that there were surprisingly few casualties but it doesn’t feel like that in the intro. Additionally there was a lot of destruction across the whole city so repairing it all will take a while. The members of Cephiro may not all be evil but they are definitely willing to wipe out all of the humans so you’re not going to be coexisting with them.

There is also much less time for Hikaru and her friends to try talking of peace with them. The only option is to go on the offensive right away. Hikaru is really the leader of the group like always and does well. She is the first hero to enter the fight and while she ultimately isn’t able to take too many Ws before being taken down, the bravery is what counts here. She wasn’t going to back down without a fight and her confidence never wavers.

There isn’t a whole lot of time to delve into her character but that was always going to be the case with how short this title is. Hikaru’s a very direct person so you get what the series is going for here. Meanwhile her friend Umi does really well. She won her fight with the greatest amount of ease not counting some resurrection shenanigans. While she was not brave enough to help Hikaru in the past, she made up for it in the present. She even had time to save Fuu from her opponent so Umi made the most of her screentime.

Fuu looked like the weakest as always but to balance that, the OVA made her the strongest of heart. She’s not the most outgoing kind of person but still got up the courage to reach out to Hikaru back when she was ostracized at school. She also still fights to the end like the other two. Ultimately all of the characters were pretty solid there. The most annoying hero would probably be Master Mage Clef because the guy just seems a little too helpless. I would have liked him to have actually fought back at least one of the villains. He spends most of his time giving up or telling the girls to run.

The villains tend to suffer a bit more from how fast paced everything is though. Initially you have some of the villains talking about how they love tormenting weaker opponents and all that but later on it seems like a bunch of this is dumped as just being due to their queen’s dark influence. I’m definitely more than a little skeptical of this. I just wouldn’t have done the redemption arc for Fario here, let him stay on the side of the villains.

Eagle was a really big villain here even if Lantis could have taken him out at any point. Letting him hang around definitely backfired with how close he came to destroying everything. It was fun to see him as a true threat though. As a hero he was a really difficult mastermind to deal with so it makes sense that as a villain he would be just as dangerous. Then Lantis works well as a guardian type figure who is ready to help. You do feel like he probably could and should have helped out sooner though. Aside from not taking out Eale, he had the speed and teleportation needed to take down any of the other villains.

I think he probably just couldn’t force himself to hurt these former friends but you have to take big steps when they are this far gone. Lantis still gets the MVP throughout the OVA for being the reason that the heroes won though. Without him, the heroines would not have had a chance. His sword was critical and he was the only one able to fight off the evil spirits. The deck was really stacked on the side of the villains before and Lantis was the only one who was able to start balancing those scales.

Emeraude ends up looking rather mindless for most of this series though. She can’t stop singing but is also trapped within her own mind. She was not able to handle the present situation and so that’s why she retreated. It’s all a really bad look for her. By the very end of this saga she has finally woken up but man did it take her a long while. I don’t think it would be possible to forgive her by that point. Of course there is no tie to go into the pillar system in this version but it would definitely be another strike against it.

The animation is definitely pretty good here. I wouldn’t say that it is flat out better than the main TV series per say but it does have a very theatrical feeling to it. I like the way that the colors look and of course taking place in a big city is a big win. It gives the fights more weight to them and that sense of danger is always all the way up. The colors and attacks are all striking while still giving you that ominous feeling that the villains could be around any corner. The soundtrack is less memorable though as it is a big step below the show. It can sound rather dramatic but a lot of the music tends to sound more like public domain themes than anything really striking. Still, it’s enough to keep you on the edge of your seat here.

The way the deity fusions work feels like it was changed to add in a bit of fanservice for no real reason. It’s nothing crazy though and only stands out because of how different the transformed forms are. In terms of violence, there definitely tends to be a bit more blood with how the magical girls feel every injury from their deity form. Alcyone also ends up getting the worst end from the characters but none of it is all that bad. It’s just enough to keep up the serious atmosphere of the heroes being in trouble without going too far in any direction.

A final complement I have to give to the OVA is how it throws you into the action without overly explaining a lot of things. You’re really left to your own devices to figure out what’s going on and that’s a good thing. They don’t make a whole lot of these nowadays. The quick story beats you get within the episode just have to be enough and I’d say that they are. You can reason out the rest and then just follow the adventure. It feels a little more like a mystery box this way.

Think of it like you’re one of the main characters. You don’t really need to know the whole story, just enough so that you can fight off the invaders. The primary concern here is about protecting Earth and so it would be nice if Master Mage Clef would at least be able to share some weaknesses with you. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen but I suppose in this case the villains maybe didn’t have many real weaknesses. Mix that in with having the strongest Deities around and it’s no surprise that they have had so much success up to this point.


Overall, This was a fun watch. It’s nothing that’ll change your life but I would recommend giving it a whirl. I’d even think of it more like a quick anime movie than a full on OVA since the 3 episodes combined would roughly get you to that point in terms of length. Everything moves very quickly here so you don’t need a whole lot of context here. There will be a lot of unanswered questions but that can be left for a sequel someday…maybe. This works as a stand alone and the heroines could essentially be called Magic Knights with how they mix spells and physical abilities. The ending is a bit rushed but it’s a worthy price for having a lot of nonstop action scenes.

Overall 7/10

Lonely Castle in the Mirror Review

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It’s time for my next adventure into the lonely castle! The manga was pretty fun when I read through it and the movie is a pretty faithful adaption. Naturally they do have to cut out a number of things but that’s normal for basically any movie adaption. They got to the main points and while I would say it is decidedly less intense than the manga version, we still do get a body count in the end.

The movie introduces us to Kokoro who for some reason does not want to go to school. It is apparent that something bad happened to her but we don’t know what. Well, one day a mirror appears in her room and transports her to a castle along with 6 other kids. They are told that this castle will be open for the whole school year but afterwards it will close. However, they have a chance to find a key which will grant one wish based on whoever gets it. Kokoro absolutely has a wish but these kids likely have ambitions of their own. Will they all be able to get along in such an environment? The castle just has one rule, you must not stay past 5 or you will be eaten by a wolf along with everyone else who entered the castle that day.

Pretty high stakes but technically most of the film is fairly upbeat. Kokoro finally gets to interact with kids who aren’t absolutely crazy and this allows her to gather the courage to fight the problems that exist for her back home. She can finally confide in her mother and begin the recovery process. There are some mysteries still going on like how this castle works and where could the key be, but they play second fiddle to Kokoro’s journey. Likewise the other kids don’t have a whole lot of time to their plots as well although they are crammed in at the end.

Technically even in the manga we didn’t see many of their struggles until the end but through their conversations we could get some inklings early on. This one has to go at a very fast pace in order to cover as much as possible. The way it’s ordered can also make the tone clashing a bit tricky at times. The one scene that was most jarring in this way was after the big climax where everyone sits down to talk and they’re all super happy and chipper. It doesn’t feel like there was enough time to be this calm yet.

Now, I assume that the queen of the wolves took certain things into account in order to prevent bad outcomes for any of the kids who participated in this journey but the film doesn’t actually go into detail. For example, Aki by far has the hardest struggle. It’s quite literally more severe than the other kids by several magnitudes and you’re left wondering what options she has for when she gets back to the real world. Since the film doesn’t go into it, I choose to believe that either the villain was devoured by the wolves or she was warped to a place where she was able to avoid the situation and get him locked up or something.

Aki’s plot was definitely a lot darker than anything else in the film though so it really feels unexpected. The film also used a unique animation effect to make those scenes even creepier. Personally I could have done without this plot but at least the film made sure that the worst of it didn’t actually happen and Aki was able to escape. The castle would have looked bad if anything was allowed to happen at the time.

I would say that Kokoro probably had the second hardest journey because of how isolated she was. Having a group of people coming over to your house to presumably beat you up in the best case scenario is already a tough thing to endure. Then mix that with how young she is and it is easy to see how this would be traumatic. The film definitely does a good job of hitting the emotional beats. You’ll be feeling the somber vibes the whole time.

It is also a good explanation for why Kokoro is so timid. I think anyone would be considering the circumstances there. As the film goes on she is able gain more confidence. The rest of the characters don’t really have a lot to do but are mostly reasonable. The most unlikable one is Ureshino. He just tries too hard and spends too much time flirting. While he does end up getting bullied and has a sad story like the rest, he handled it the worst. He eventually gets better but I never really came around on him.

Rion would easily be the best character as he did his best to make Kokoro feel comfortable and would also de-escalate each situation. He essentially played the role of the leader and without him that would have been a much harder journey for everyone else. Subaru probably has the most scenes cut out or at least it feels that way. You get some context clues for what he’s going on but it’s possible that you will mainly recognize this if you read the manga. Same for Rion with how he was essentially pushed to boarding school. You might only have suspicions just based on the movie.

Fuka also doesn’t get a ton to do here but the story of trying to live up to being a prodigy is definitely a classic one. Masamune and his lies getting him into trouble is another abbreviated one that still makes enough sense in the end. The Wolf Queen plot has to move pretty quickly as well. I think one way the film could have improved here would have been to show Rino being suspicious about her much earlier in the film so you can drop little hints here and there. Finally Ms. Kitajima is a big factor throughout the movie and so I’d say the movie paced her appearances really well.

As for the animation, it does have the usual nerf that films get where it doesn’t look as good as a standard anime. That said, it’s still a good product. I did like how the burning wolf really stood out. The flames looked hot and the colors were very striking. It may not be the most fluid project out there but I’d give it a passing grade. The soundtrack is definitely more on the forgettable side. I can’t say that it was particularly solid but it wasn’t bad or anything like that. So the technical areas were all about average here and the film succeeds more on the story beats.

Overall, The Lonely castle is a good film but I do think it was pushing the envelope a little hard with Aki’s plot. Throwing in a scene to see him get taken down would have helped but the film is more about recovery for each character rather than revenge or knocking anyone down. I’d argue that closure is a good part of recovery but ultimately things worked out. It’s the same thing where Kokoro’s bullies don’t get taken down a peg. In a way Kokoro is just given the tools for how to handle situations like that going forward. She also has a bright future coming up now because in the new timeline she’s going to have an ally at the ready right from the start. If you’re up for a really emotional film then you should check this one out. I’d say the movie also makes a good argument for how beneficial it can be to have friends or someone to talk to in order to not have to carry so much baggage on your own. Kokoro would have not had to deal with nearly as much grief as she did if her first friend hadn’t succumbed to peer pressure.

Overall 6/10

Witch Watch Review

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It’s time for a pretty fun comedic action title. Witch Watch is a manga that ended up being a whole lot more fun than I was expecting it to be. Fortunately I can say that the anime did a great job matching that energy as well. So all in all this is definitely a fun anime to check out and it’s very well rounded. The type of show you can enjoy even if you aren’t really familiar with anime as a medium.

The story follows a girl named Nico. She is a witch and has always had trouble mastering her powers. She spent years being taught by the best and now she has returned to her home town. She will be living at Moi’s house. He has been assigned to be her guardian since he is an ogre and they used to be best friends back in the day. What Moi doesn’t realize is that Nico is in love with him. He is determined to be an amazing bodyguard and has no time to worry about such things. There are many sorcerers out there who want to take Nico away because she is the prophecies witch of thousands. She will grow to be the most powerful being on the planet. This won’t be an easy fight for Moi but along the way they will be making more friends.

Now that sounded like a very action filled synopsis so keep in mind that this is a comedy first. Witch Watch is just good at unapologetically going all in on each genre. So you will have pure comedy episodes on one hand and then you will be going straight into full action on the other. The show always takes itself seriously during these climaxes but knows how to relax once again after that. So it’s easily a lot more well rounded than nearly any of the other shows out there.

The animation is consistently good at all times. It’s very colorful and vibrant. You also really feel the impact of the spells. It’s not going to be the Demon Slayer or anything like that but it gets the job done. On the sound, I do think the little jingle that happens whenever a spell is cast can get old pretty quick. I wouldn’t mind if that was toned down quite a bit for the next season. The soundtrack as a whole is okay but for now this may be the weakest part of the series. There’s definitely nothing that would make my playlist and the openings are only okay.

Where the series is strongest is with the humor and fun atmosphere. As the Moi house gets more and more filled with the new recruits, the show lets us get a lot of fun dynamics to see at play. The episodic nature of the series means that just about everyone gets their time to shine. The cast is a whole lot bigger than you would expect for a comedy series. In a way it reminds me of Gintama and the payoff for this tends to be really good because then you can see all of the characters assemble together when the action part comes in.

The show also goes all in with the gags. For example we have a manga within the series called Uron Mirage which is a big action title. We get a whole episode segment devoted to it which had its own opening and ending. That was a really good attention to detail and helped the whole thing feel more real. It also makes you look forward to each episode because you never know which plot will appear. There are so many going on at once.

For the most part the show is completely episodic though. There may be a 2 parter every now and again but most episodes have 2 or even 3 segments as a result. So you are getting a ton of adventures but they can go by pretty quickly. The actual plot of Nico and her magic won’t be moving forward very much. Just think of this as the introduction arc and also pay attention to the spells Nico can use as you try to picture what she can do with them in an action context. Hint, most of them seem pretty useless in that regard.

For the characters, Moi is a great MC as you’d expect. He’s always good at getting right to business and doesn’t let himself get distracted by matters of the heart. It’s what separates him from a lot of other characters. Additionally, his super strength consistently comes in handy. Some may say that he should be embracing his emotional side more but eh I can see why he holds back. That’s just not him, but as the series goes on he does try to fit in with everyone as best he can. Moi’s just not the best at showing emotions on his face even if he is really happy about something.

At times he may be a bit too studious but honestly you could have far worse traits than that. Then we have Nico who is a solid heroine. You definitely feel bad for her with how hard she tries to get Moi to notice her. It’s just a really uphill battle for her and we start to even learn why this is really the case as the series goes on. Sometimes she will use magic a little too recklessly but her goal is to make everyone happy so you have to take some risks in order to make that happen.

It would be good if she could learn some more spells for self defense though. The dangers are only going to get more intense from here. Kanshi is the next member of the cast to join the Moi household. He may not be as tough as the ogre but he can still put up a decent fight when needed. He tends to be the guy that everyone steps on because of how goofy he is. The poor guy usually can’t catch a break but he’s loyal and everyone can count on him. That’s just how these things go sometimes.

Then we have Keigo who has the toughest magic element since he is fused with Wolf. They are two different personas that share the same body. They also like the same girl so that makes things extra complicated. Keigo suffers from confidence issues since he is just a normal guy while Wolf has super speed and strength nearly on par with Moi. Hopefully Keigo will one day awaken abilities of his own. In the meantime he just has to do his best and he is also still breaking out of his shell like Moi.

Miharu joins the group rather late in the show so he’ll get to do a lot more in season 2. Either way he is my least favorite member of the main group so that works out well enough for me. He’s part vampire so he can drain energy and add it onto his own. He’s certainly powerful but always speaks his mind and doesn’t really have a filter which can get the group into trouble at times. He’ll definitely need to watch that and hopefully he can improve his stamina down the road.

Then we have Nemu who has magic powers like Nico. Hers are much more limited though as she can turn into animals and that’s basically it. Still, it was nice for Nico to have another witch nearby. Initially Nemu liked Moi but now her feelings are confused with Keigo and Wolf. Her episodes always have a lot of very preventable danger scenarios due to her being way too nervous. The episodes work well though and she is a fun supporting character to have around..

The weakest episodes tend to be the ones about Yuri and Kukumi. Yuri is a huge anime/manga fan but works as a teacher and doesn’t want anyone to judge her so she keeps this a secret. Then you have Kukumi who is a really good artist and has been making a fanfic version of Uron Mirage. The two end up becoming best friends and they go on a lot of adventures together. I enjoy the segments about the Uron Mirage series itself but the two girls otherwise have a very limited dynamic. There are only so many gags you can do about Yuri hiding her true power level irl. I’m hoping Yuri will eventually just be bold enough to be a fan out in the open.

Then we have the student council. I enjoy how crazy all of them are. They each represent different character tropes and I’d say that they represent them very well. The most noticeable one is Tenryu who is always holding onto his cap very tightly. This character is easy to root for and is one of the most logical characters next to Moi. He doesn’t let his enthusiasm run away from him and knows how to keep everyone in check. Now that is an underrated skill right there.

There haven’t been too many notable villains yet. One of them was a witch named Ayako who went after Nico. Ultimately her magic may have seemed impressive but her true form wasn’t all that strong. Taking her down wasn’t hard once the heroes could figure out where she was. Ryohei was a little more impressive since his water abilities really had the whole gang wrapped up. That was one time where the vampire actually made himself useful.

It’s clear that the series is holding onto the big villains for now. The heroes are essentially gaining experience by clearing out the weakest fighters. Then the big shots will start to appear in the next season. This way the opening season is really for character meetings and calm times. I’d say that it’s a sound approach and while not every show could execute this plan, Witch Watch certainly did.

Honestly it can even get a little educational at times. Whether it is commentary on running a Youtube channel or how to properly wash your jeans, there is a lot to really focus on here. At the end of the day though, Witch Watch is just a show that’s fun to watch. It may sound simple but not every show can get this kind of cozy atmosphere to really work right out of the gate. At the very least you’d expect the episodes to wildly vary in quality but I generally enjoy just about all of the dynamics. I haven’t seen a comedy balance so well between genres since Hitman Reborn! and Gintama. Of course when the action comes, I won’t have time to miss the comedy because of good those parts are.

Now the show is also part romance but it tends to be played up in a very comedic way. That’ll get serious eventually too but for now it works well enough. I’d say the Moi and Nico ship is a solid one that’s going to have a lot of buildup so it’ll work either way. The Nemu one is probably going to be a lot weaker from what we’ve already seen. She has too tough of a time making up her mind and that’s a recipe for disaster. Still, romance is hardly the central focus of the series so you shouldn’t watch it just for that. Now if you like a sprinkling of romance with your comedy then you’re all set.


Overall, Witch Watch is definitely a series that I recommend. Each episode will string you in with whatever magical situation is about to occur. You can easily sympathize with the different situations there and the unique drawbacks to each spell will make you wonder if they are worth it or not. Don’t watch this one anticipating a grand scheme or anything. At best that would be in the next season and either way I don’t think that will be any time soon. So just enjoy the comedy here and you’ll be just fine.

Overall 7/10

Immortals Fenyx Rising Review

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This is one of those games that I passed by in the store 100 times. It’s clear that Ubisoft made a whole lot of copies for this one and unfortunately it doesn’t look like it panned out. You can usually get the game for about $5 which isn’t what you want to see for a big budget title. The writing definitely tends to be a big miss but the gameplay itself is really stellar. So this is a game with a lot of ups and downs but ultimately the gameplay is able to keep this one at a high level.

The game starts with Poseidon begging Zeus to free him from his endless torment. Zeus basically laughs at the idea and he’s busy because all of the gods have been taken down by a villain known as Typhos. Zeus is the last one ready to fight but Poseidon tells him the story of a mortal who may be able to tip the scales of battle. Her name is Fenyx and she is on a quest to save all of the gods. Perhaps if Zeus is amused by this story, he will free Poseidon. Maybe…he tends to shift with his moods at random points. Poseidon will have to risk it all here though and Fenyx is his only chance. She will have to harness all of her abilities to win this one.

So when it comes to the writing, this is definitely a game that isn’t taking itself very seriously. There are jokes in every other line and aside from Fenyx, all the other characters are total jerks. By the time the game does transition into being a more serious title, it’s just a little too late. There are definitely some lines that will get a chuckle out of you but also a lot that will have you rolling your eyes. Your best bet to enjoy the story is if you just really like that kind of annoying character. A character who complains nonstop but has absolute power so everyone just has to roll with it.

The game doesn’t shy away from all the darker parts of the old gods either. Zeus and the others are all basically evil with how many crimes they did so it’s hard to root for them. Typhos may be less sinister as he’s just evil in a basic destroy the world kind of way. Zeus and the others are busy torturing people for life so it’s a little hard to be worse than that.

Like I said, the gameplay is why you are really here though. It has a large hub world like Breath of the Wild, but you can glide at high speeds and have a more generous stamina bar. It lets you navigate the world a little smoother than Link. There is also a ton of content here with the main game being around 20 hours long and the bonus content will probably take you another 10 hours or so on top of that. Not a bad deal for your buck right?

The gameplay is intuitive enough where I had a lot of fun exploring and completing side missions. Not purely for the fun of it but because each power up makes a solid difference. The collectibles expand your health bar, potion inventory, stamina, and attack power. Even with all of those power ups, I still lost my initial attempt against the final boss which shows just how powerful he was. The game never gets absurdly difficult but it will give you a fair challenge. It’s not the kind of game you can just beat with your eyes closed.

The combat is all in 3D so picture any 3D action title. You have your sword, an axe, and a bow to shoot arrows with. I used axes for 90% of the game as they hit harder than swords and can also stun enemies. They are a bit slower but that’s fine. You can roll to dodge enemy attacks or parry them. I never tried parrying in this game because dodging felt a whole lot more natural but it’s worth noting that it is an option. So you want to keep it all in mind.

The game has enough customization where you can really have a very different gameplay style than the next player. Do you go aggressive or focus on parrying? The choice is really yours here. Then the puzzles come in a wide range of different options. They can sometimes be a bit too unclear on what you’re supposed to do but for the most part they aren’t bad. This game is probably the first time I’ve seen a puzzle rush as opposed to a boss rush. I was definitely not expecting that.

The graphics are pretty solid here. The artstyle isn’t my favorite but on the whole the game is clear. I only encountered two glitches and both were purely artistic ones so it’s not like losing save data or something. The soundtrack is more on the generic side though. None of the tracks were particularly impressive and you will forget them as soon as you put the game down.

That’s why the game is fully dependent on the gameplay here. There are a bunch of quality of life features here as well like quick saving anywhere, fast travel, and a super detailed map. I would like it if you could refine the map a bit more in terms of limiting what you want to appear but that’s me being a little greedy. This is still more than what most other games have. The clear progression and really fun action gameplay makes for a dynamite combo. I think you could pull off just about any kind of story with this gameplay because I’m just going to be addicted to the combat. This game was a good example of that as it is a very weak story compared to pretty much any game I’ve played in a long time and yet the experience was still a lot of fun. Not fun enough for me to buy the dlc though.

Overall, This is definitely a pretty unique game. I can definitely say that for better or worse I will certainly remember every bit of it for a very long time. The goo and the bad. I wouldn’t be running to grab a sequel but I certainly wouldn’t avoid it either. If you’re looking for a solid action game with a ton of content to play through, then this is a good one to check out. It will really test all of your abilities.

Overall 8/10

Alice in Wonderland Review

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Alice in Wonderland is a film that I know very well and yet I can’t say that I remembered about half of it. When I think of this story, I remember the Cheshire Cat and the Queen of Hearts. Otherwise most of the in between was foreign to me. So it was nice to see the whole adventure and I can definitely say that it has aged well. It’s a fun story and Alice works well as the main character who has to deal with all of the craziness.

The story starts with Alice being really bored. Her sister is trying to teach her something but Alice has no time for that. She sees a curious rabbit running somewhere and gives chase. This causes her to fall into a whole new world where the normal theories of physics need not apply. The world is dangerous and has a whole lot going on within it. Alice will have to keep her guard up at all times in order to survive. The toughest part will be keeping her sanity though.

Now in a modern remake of this I would expect a lot of sarcastic banter and a lead who would really fight back. In this classic version, Alice does her best to be polite at all times even when the characters are not being the most pleasant towards her. The whole tea party scene is a good example of this as they keep on taking her tea away before she can drink it. The conversations start spiraling early on and it’s clear that they are all insane.

Alice doesn’t really let it get to her although she was ready to leave in several instances. The whole scene is just really bonkers with how nonsensical everyone is acting and that is part of the charm. The whole film has a bit of a weird vibe to it and I would say that is what ultimately got it to be so well known and popular. You won’t forget any of these characters and it is fun enough where people even tend to ignore the ending. You will have been sucked into the adventure.

It’s also worth noting that the film is quite short as it is barely over an hour. As a result the pacing is really good and the film certainly never drags on. The animation is also really incredible considering how old it is. It’s insane to me that a film from the 50s can look better than some animation in the 2020s. That’s the gem of hand drawn animation though. It ages incredibly well and always tends to beat its competitors in the long run.

The music isn’t some of Disney’s strongest though. I don’t think any of the songs here would hit the big time for me. They’re okay I suppose. I wouldn’t call them bad but at the same time I don’t see myself looking any of them up anytime soon. They’re just not going to be quite at that level.

While the tea party is definitely my favorite sequence, the Queen of Hearts part is certainly a classic. How do you defeat someone when they can legally murder you at any point? It adds a lot of stress to Alice’s game when going head to head in croquet here. The Queen may not be the most reasonable character but she works well as a villain. She is always in control and it’s actually okay for her to panic since she is royalty and can do whatever she wants. It’s not like she will ever be on the back foot as a result.

The Cheshire Cat ended up being one of the most remembered characters from the movie. Despite that I wouldn’t say that he has a whole lot of scenes to himself. Still, when the film is this short I suppose that is enough. He is a fun character as well since his near invincibility means that he really has nothing to fear from anybody. He does whatever he wants whenever he wants and that’s just the way that he rolls.

The Rabbit is probably the weakest character in the end. After all he spends almost all of his screentime running and being all scared. He has good reason for this of course but at the same time it doesn’t make him the most compelling character. While a lot of the other characters had less sanity than the rabbit, they also seemed to have a lot of confidence in their own way. It’s not like they were all spending their lives in fear of the Queen.

Alice in Wonderland is a good template of how to have some good world building with minimal time. It doesn’t take long for all of this to be set up. A good fantasy world doesn’t really need a lot of rules and baggage to appear right away. Instead it should be able to do anything and I’d say the film lies up to that. Things don’t make sense to Alice and the viewer but to the characters it clearly does. It’s just a whole other system of logic and that’s all you really need to know.

Overall, Alice in Wonderland is a pretty fun film. I had a good time with it and at the end of the day it is basically simple fun. All of the obstacles she runs into are thought out pretty well. Alice herself could be a little slow on the uptake as she has a very hard time keeping up with all of the craziness that is happening. I would have thought by the halfway point she would already know that she has to assume everyone is crazy. Ah well she’ll get them next time and maybe her sister can join in on the adventure this time. Either way I definitely recommend checking this movie out and seeing for yourself just how advanced the animation was back in the 1950s!

Overall 7/10

Bâan: The Boundary of Adulthood Review

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It’s time for a really quick anime special. It’s under 20 minutes so it’s even shorter than some anime episodes so that means the pacing has to be really fast here. It’s a good story and I can’t say that I have any complaints here. I do think the world building is sound enough to make this into a full fledged adventure some day though. That would be a lot of fun to see.

The story takes place in a time where humanity has finally found a way to establish a teleportation station from Earth to a fantasy world. People can travel from planet to planet with ease and even start new lives there. A fair girl named Rinrada decides to travel to Earth while the human Daichi decides to try his luck in the fantasy world. The grass may look greener on the other side to each character but is this actually a good idea or are they about to regret this right away? Technically they can always go back through the gate again if things don’t work out but both of them have too much pride for that.

As a small aside, they probably should have showed a long line by the portal or a bunch of people at the landing zone because I imagine this is a really popular tourist destination. It’s hard to imagine that this kind of tech would exist and almost nobody would use it. This is a small nitpick though, doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. Personally, I’d be having a ton of fun in the fantasy world. Earth is cool and all but yeah it doesn’t have cool dragons and stuff like that.

Since the film is short, a lot of the background information has to be inferred rather than outright stated and I appreciate that. This is sort of a back to basics in visual story telling as you will be able to piece everything together if you’re paying attention. Whether it is a phone being passed around, a photo in the background, a character’s voice, etc. It all ties in well and so you get a pretty solid plot twist midway through.

Rinrada has a really hard time getting a job in the human world and so you have to imagine that she wasn’t leveraging her magical abilities well. I tend to think it’s because for whatever reason they are frowned upon or even illegal in the real world but maybe she just took them for granted. Regardless, she keeps a positive attitude and does her best even when she wasn’t able to get an elite job. She has the right attitude to succeed in life. By the end of the film she also realizes that pride for its own sake isn’t a great thing and so she gets a solid ending.

As for Daichi, well I’d argue he was having fun for the entire movie. As soon as he got to the fantasy world he wasted no time in showing off his culinary genius and making friends. Even when he was on his own initially, the guy showed a lot of creativity in finding things to eat and just surviving off the land. You could tell that the fantasy world was a great fit for him over the ordinary mundane nature of the real world. He just didn’t need any of that. You get the feeling that he could have left for the fantasy world on better terms with his Mom over the phone but as part of his character development we can see how he really matured after going to the fantasy world.

The animation looks solid enough here. We even get a quick action scene in there. It’s clearly not a top rate production but the important thing is that it doesn’t look stiff. The song at the end of the special was also good. So the technical elements here are around average. Nothing noteworthy but nothing that would hold it back either which is the main victory. There aren’t a lot of characters here so you can really focus on the main two and what’s going on. If the special had to cram a lot of characters in then that would have been a lot tougher. Even if we had another 20 minutes or so to play with, I’d like to use that to see more of the day to day life of our main characters. The call center seems like it would be a fun area for comedic shenanigans and of course Daichi being in an isekai world has a ton of potential. Maybe you could even squeeze in a scene of him defeating some orcs or something.

Overall, this is a good movie. I don’t think it’ll end up being super memorable due to the length but it’s a good accomplishment to come out with an anime of any size. Maybe with an explosive climax or something but that’s definitely not what this title was going for. So props to the Youtuber for making his dreams a reality here. It’s something that will always be out there as a legacy of sorts. It’s also extremely easy for me to recommend this one as a result because it’s so short that it’s not like you’re putting a lot of time at stake to watch it. Even if it doesn’t end up being your cup of tea, it was less than 20 minutes of your life. It’s not like this is a really ambitious adventure with a ton of stuff happening, but it’s a calm slice of life that just works well.

Overall 7/10

Unico in the Island of Magic Review

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Unico has returned for some more hype. At this point you know the drill with the character and this one isn’t really trying to change up the formula. Unico is brought to a new land where he has to solve some problems and once again awaken his ultimate form. The movie does give us better animation and strong effects this time though so I definitely appreciate that. It’s what I would consider to be a pretty low key movie but one that does have some good action.

The movie starts with Unico being dumped into an island that is about to be under attack by a mad wizard. This guy is turning everyone into toys and Unico barely manages to escape him. It turns out that his sister is a girl named Sheri who has been waiting for him to come back home but something changed him. The wizard Tolby now works for a real demonic spellcastor named Kuruku. This guy has abilities that can barely even be comprehended and so he is always causing mayhem. Can Unico and Sheri put an end to this?

First thing I have to give the film credit for are the designs. Kuruku actually looks rather frightening for a kids film. He is constantly changing shapes and dashing through the air. His energy blasts have the potential to take out any opponent in an instant because of how his matter manipulation works. He is also not someone that can really be reasoned with because he doesn’t care at all about humans. There is no heart to be swayed and so Unico must adopt more violent methods with this guy. It made for a really good climax.

Unfortunately, Tolby looks pretty bad in comparison. He has a more convoluted plan about working for Kuruku and turning everyone into toys so he could learn how to turn them all back. The plan doesn’t really make any sense as it relies on a whole lot of things that just aren’t likely to happen. Tolby should have been teaming up with the heroes from the start in order to stop him. You’ll have a lot of questions on exactly how they met and how Tolby went down this path so quickly but even to the end he just doesn’t do a good job of seeing the big picture.

Tolby is also not particularly good at aiming and so he tends to lose in each of his fights. I did really like the character design though. It really stands out and he definitely looks fancy in that outfit. As a character he really needed more work. He gets a sidekick cat for most of the movie who can be fun though. This cat likes listening to his music and is also a scaredy cat so he will change sides at the drop of a hat. Not someone that you can depend on at all. I was expecting him to turn out to be super heroic by the end but his character doesn’t really change much. I guess Unico can’t win everyone over.

As for Unico, he doesn’t look very good for most of the film but that is to be expected when there is constant amnesia. No matter how much Unico may improve in one adventure, all of the character development is removed by the next. So as a result Unico always has the same character arc of learning how to use his powers and gaining more confidence. That happens here as well and it’s just a really tough road to get to that point. If anything, Unico showing off crazy levels of power at the end can be annoying because then you feel like he should have been doing that the whole time. So in a way it just flips the situation.

The film is definitely aimed a bit younger so at times it might feel a little bit boring. Also every character is constantly yelling, it’s a very loud film. I know some people accuse shows like Black Clover of having a bunch of that, but this movie tops that with ease. Trust me, it can get a little grating after a while and things really have to be spelled out for you. It’s why I was glad that we did have some action scenes later on since those really helped to make the whole film feel more like an event. The film was really not scared to have some scary imagery with the fights as well.

There’s one toy that goes around chomping anyone in its path and actually comes across as real intimidating. Kuruku naturally fits that bill as well and so that is something that does set it aside from the average kid’s adventure. Also as far as kids go, I guess Sheri wasn’t bad. She was rather proactive and kept on going on her quest to save the day. Even being willing to leave Unico behind so that he wouldn’t be in danger. It didn’t work but it’s the thought that counts. We also have a cat who’s related to the Sphinx to help out but she didn’t actually do much. You were waiting for her big moment the whole film and it never came. I liked her enthusiasm as she was always ready to fight but that’s about all that I can say for her.

Overall, If you’ve seen other Unico films then you know what to expect with this one. It’s got more danger than the others but at its core this is a film about friendship and how Unico helps to restore the bonds between people. Unico is someone who is always ready to help out but takes a whole lot of pushing in order to actually begin fighting. The film may not be long but it can feel long as the dialogue isn’t always super interesting so how much you enjoy the film may actually come down to the animation and fights. If that ends up being the case, I dare say that you’ll be in fine hands. The animation has aged really well and just the novelty from that can really help to boost this one up. I’d recommend it if you’re up for a nice story about a little unicorn.

Overall 6/10

The Boy and the Beast Review

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I remember hearing this film’s name a whole lot back in the day. I can’t say I knew a whole lot about it but from the title you can more or less guess the themes. It ends up being a pretty solid film. We get some good action here and a solid amount of character development. It’s well balanced all the way. I was also not expecting the time skip that happens around halfway and it was a really good decision as it led to a more enjoyable status quo for the climax.

The movie starts with a kid named Ren running away from home after his mother died. The father was out of the picture and he didn’t want to go with any of the family members. This leads to him entering the monster world where he ends up becoming Kumatetsu’s apprentice. This guy is one of the two candidates to become the next lord of the world although he always loses to his rival Iozen. He hopes to get stronger and in the meantime Ren also wants power. So he reluctantly joins Kumatetsu and thus begins a strong partnership. However, Iozen’s son Ichirohiko begins to grow jealous. Is some foul play about to occur?

The monster world is pretty interesting. For the most part it is a lot like the human world, just with tournaments of power going on. Because of the similarities, we don’t have to spend a lot of time on world building and can focus on the dynamic with Ren and Kumatetsu. That’s the main draw of the film after all and it works well. For the most part I tend to blame Ren for being a little too bratty for the first half but it is true that Kumatetsu could have handled some of the situations with more tact. Dealing with others may not be his specialty but it is something that he can improve on.

I did enjoy him a lot as a character though. I always tend to enjoy characters who are confident and ready to fight. Kumatetsu is the kind of guy who never backs down and has a lot of determination. He easily could have been the main character here if things had played out a little differently. His ending isn’t my favorite and I would have preferred if the film had gone in a different way but it doesn’t make him look bad at all. He made the sacrifices that he needed to in order to help Ren.

Ren naturally gets much better once he is older and makes up for his earlier scenes of whining a lot. By the end he is totally a good character. He gains a lot of confidence and is also a responsible person. Ren’s not perfect and still flies off the handle a bit too quickly though. Deciding on a whim to live with his father and ditch the monster world did not make any sense and I also think he could have really tried talking to Kumatetsu instead of storming off. He usually gets his act together quickly but it was all a bit rushed and made him look immature.

Also while the film didn’t want to reward the rage out, he should have been allowed to fight Ichirohiko a little bit in order to avenge his master. Having him not even be able to land a single hit because it would put him on the dark side was a little too extreme for me. That just didn’t make sense. Meanwhile Ichirohiko is definitely one of the pettier characters here. One of those guys who is totally cool as long as you’re weaker than him but otherwise he gets jealous really quickly.

His origin wasn’t all that sad so I can’t even say that I felt all that bad for him. He just needed to not become a total bully at the first opportunity. One thing I really respected about his father is that Iozen stayed professional at all times. I don’t think he was ever the biggest fan of Kumatetsu and this definitely showed, but he wasn’t about to stab him in the back or cheat. He would still fight fair and play by all of the rules. If it didn’t work out, then that would be it for him. Just a solid class act the whole time.

The animation is pretty good. The opening may have been a bit too stylized for me but otherwise all of the action scenes are good. The fights are on point and all of the battles really stand out. The music is unfortunately going to sound like a lot of free domain stuff. No songs that you’ll be humming to during the film. None of the tracks are bad but none of them are even slightly memorable.

Ren’s trip to the human world may be a little rushed in general but Kaede made for a solid supporting character. My only gripe with her would be her lack of a survival instinct. Holding Ren’s hand when he was about to fight wasn’t very smart and then talking smack to a giant monster is also not a good idea when you can’t fight. I appreciate her toughness of course but she could have had better tactics here. She was a good friend to Ren and helped out when it counted though. The film also sets up a romance without rushing things so I was fine with that. Pacing is absolutely key with these things. Ren’s father doesn’t get quite as much time so his whole plot feels rather forced but I guess we can just say that he was a good guy in a tough situation.

The ending of the movie is a bit disappointing since it does limit things though. I would have taken things in different directions on several occasions. Both Ren’s ending and Kumatetsu’s were not very good. A sequel can fix both things but this film should have ended in a way that would make it easier and more satisfying. In particular when you build up a great dynamic, you should give it several films for the audience to have fun with instead of just ending it.

Overall, The Boy and the Beast is a pretty good film. It had more action than I was expecting and had good pacing. I do wish we could have gotten a proper match between the apprentices from both candidates though. The climax is more about super abilities and summons so we never have a chance to get that proper choreography. I think it would have been a lot of fun even if Ren would have absolutely had the edge. Ah well, you can’t have every fight. The ending of the movie also isn’t my favorite but a sequel could always change things up and turn out to be a lot of fun so you can’t rule that out.

Overall 7/10

The Fantastic Adventures of Unico Review

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It’s time for the return of Unico in another big adventure. This time we have a feature length movie so there is more time for things to happen but unfortunately I dare say that it was weaker than the pilot. The longer runtime means there is more time for everyone to gang up on Unico and the poor lead just ends up looking like a doormat. We desperately needed a scene where Unico fights back and shows them all what kind of power he has. Meanwhile I dare say that the film actually feels rather dragged out at times so it’s not like the pacing was incredible ither. Yeah this one definitely had some issues.

The story begins with the gods being super petty once again. They don’t like how Unico makes people happy since that should be their job. They fear that Unico’s presence will make their own unnecessary. Initially they think about murdering Unico but are persuaded to instead banish him into the dark realms of the world where nobody else exist. One of the wind spirits instead takes Unico to a place that is still empty but not as desolate, underestimating that a devil named Beezle lives there. Unico decides that the two of them will be friends but Beezle is a tough customer. Will they actually get along? Additionally the second half of the film brings in a cat named Chao who gets mixed up with an evil Baron and an old lady so Unico may be needed here.

I would say one of the problems here is how long is takes for Unico to get along with Beezle. You get what the story is going for with how Beezle will initially put up a fight and cause a whole ruckus but eventually sees the light. It’s a rather standard character arc but not a bad one. The problem is in how long it takes. Unico puts in a whole lot of work over and over again in order to reach Beezle and yet the guy is still trying to stab Unico and throwing him to his doom even near the end.

The film overplays its hand here to the point where Beezle isn’t even remotely likable. It also ends up hurting Unico because he puts up with way too much. There is a big difference between trying to be a nice person and just getting taken advantage of. Unico should not have give Beezle his horn even for a day. That should have been a boundary that Beezle should have had to respect. If the film had done that, it would have showed that Unico had a proper backbone instead of just giving in to whatever Beezle wanted.

It’s also obvious that using his abilities too much would alert the gods but Unico never even thinks about that. Pretty big thing to forget about right? I know Unico is essentially just a little kid so he doesn’t fully know what’s going on but that’s no excuse not to have some basic defenses up and try to keep a low profile. Even when Unico is kidnapped by the wind spirit again at the end, he only makes some half hearted attempts to break free.

So I was definitely not a real Unico fan here. He needs to spend a lot of time working on being a tougher character who doesn’t let anyone push him around. If he can pull that off then I will absolutely gain a lot of respect for him. Meanwhile Beezle is a lost cause like I said before. The fact that he initially wasn’t going to save Unico from drowning is really bad. Yes, Beezle is a kid as well who doesn’t really understand things but this falls more into the realm of common sense.

The character arc itself isn’t a problem, but it’s how long this drags out. That was the real offender here and why I was glad to get a new plot later on. When Chao shows up, we see how she is very carefree and happy. She sings to herself while floating down the river and is just having a grand ole time. When she gets to turn into a human girl thanks to Unico, this goes to her head immediately and she becomes snobby. Another classic character arc but it isn’t dragged out nearly as much so I didn’t mind Chao.

She was a bit too gullible in listening to an obviously shady baron who wasn’t even hiding his nefarious intentions but maybe I’ll cut her a bit of slack since she used to be a cat. This also did lead to getting a fight scene later on so I can appreciate that. Either way this plot was far more interesting than what had been going on in the first half with Beezle.

As for the Baron, it was nice to have a central villain who was actually at the forefront and not just hiding in the arena of the gods. His swordplay wasn’t bad and he definitely gave Unico a good match. I would like to see more action of course but this was good enough for now. It’s clear that the series is big on getting in some good morales at the end of the stories and so any action we get is a bonus. The point is more about Unico helping everyone to become better characters and there’s nothing wrong with that. How effective the character development is will be completely dependent on the pacing at the end of the day. Keep that in check and the rest will follow. The movie is definitely aimed at a pretty young audience though so it makes sense that they would want to keep this basic.

The animation is definitely dated but not bad or anything like that. It’s not meant to be a particularly high budget production or anything like that but still gets the heart of it across. You will also see a cameo from another character in the background at one point which was cool. The soundtrack is more on the weaker side though. Definitely no tunes that will really catch your eye or anything like that. Maybe I should say catch your ear. Ah well, Unico might do better next time.

Overall, Unico didn’t really succeed on this adventure. It definitely straddles the line of being boring at times when the pacing is at its slowest. It’s not a bad film by any means but I don’t think the average viewer is going to get a ton of enjoyment out of it. Unico really needed to be a whole lot bolder in its approach. Throw in some more high stakes or if it can’t due to the target audience, maybe it should have been shorter. That’s always a back handed complement but if you don’t have a ton of story lined up for the film, you don’t need the extra time. Shave off 20 minutes and the film would probably flow a lot more organically. As it stands, I would recommend watching the pilot over this one.

Overall 5/10

Unico: Black Cloud and White Feather Review

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It’s time for an anime pilot that I was really not familiar with at all. Unico is a franchise that I really knew nothing about so it’s always fun to stumble upon a hidden gem like this. It’s a fun film at least with a story that could lend itself to a lot of different events. Don’t expect it to be the next big action blockbuster or anything like that but it is pretty good fun.

The story revolves around a mysterious being known as Unico. He is no ordinary animal, he has the ability to materialize things out of nothing. Unfortunately he is also cursed and must always be removed from being around any humans. He must be alone at all times and must try to push past this. Unfortunately he isn’t always fully aware of what’s going on which makes it a bit harder to stop the curse which is enforced by a goddess who goes around chasing him.

It’s clear that there is a lot of lore going on here in the background but for now we don’t get to see too much of it. This is definitely like a little taser to get you interested in the series. The main plot here is that there is a land where pollution envelops everyone and poisons the people until they die. They have tried to rise up but the central company controlling the pollution is far too powerful. Unico is really the only hope that they have and he must hurry or a little girl will be the next one to die.

With this kind of story my biggest issue is naturally going to be how the town is just sitting there and allowing this to happen. Once you’re at the point where people are dying en masse due to pollution and the government/corporate won’t stop it, then you have to do something about it. You must become a vigilante and do what you can to destroy the facilities because otherwise you’re just going to die without a fight. If Unico hadn’t showed up, that is exactly what would have happened.

The characters are far too passive here. The little girl was nice since she was trying to help out Unico at least. I also won’t blame her for much of anything because ultimately it’s not like she could do much about the situation. She could barely move. Meanwhile the local mouse was nice since he fed Unico even though he was really hungry. The rest of the animals tended to be pretty fierce outside like the hawk that nearly finished Unico off in the intro.

Ideally Unico will be able to master his powers better as the series were to go on and by the end would manage to get some happiness. That will probably mean confronting the gods at some point and I’ll also be curious to learn more about this. In the intro he was best friends with a girl before the evil goddess got him and began the tricks but why did nobody stop her? It seems like the greek gods of old who were always corrupt and annoying so it could be that they were all just evil or apathetic at worst but Unico will hopefully get some backup. On his own he just seems a bit too inexperienced to actually be ready to defeat the system.

In a way the lore might have been too good as you’re almost more interested in seeing the gods and what’s going up there than in the actual story about Unico helping people out. They are almost two completely different genres with the contrast between the two. Meanwhile the animation is solid. It has a good artstyle that ensures this adventure never gets too dated. You can tell that it is an older animation of course but it never looks bad. The ost doesn’t age quite as well with the songs though. They’re a bit on the cheesy side and not super catchy although I wouldn’t call them bad or anything like that.

Overall, This was a fun story. At the end of the day it’s basically the length of an episode so as you can imagine it does end pretty quickly. It’s enough time to solve the main story while leaving a lot of room for the next adventure. If this sounds interesting to you then you should check it out. It’s a fairly original premise and doesn’t drag on or anything like that. At the same time I do think it would need a bit more of a hook to really rise up and break to the next level. Maybe having a supporting character who tries to get Unico his memories back but is constantly fighting the gods. That would be a good subplot but perhaps a bit too intense for the tone that this one is going for.

Overall 6/10