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[SPOILERS AHEAD! THIS REVIEW COVERS A BUNCH OF MATERIAL FROM THE FIRST ARC OF CSM AS SEEN IN THE ANIME AND MANGA! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!]

Well, well, well! It's been a bit yet again since I've reviewed anything, so without further ado, rev up those chainsaws, but don't pull that pin as we dive into another EXPLOSIVE review!:

The Story/Narrative:

Being that this is both a sequel to the anime and an adaptation of the arc from the manga, as someone who's watched the series and read everything from the first arc, which represents him blocking out the guilt of killing his father in self-defense, I'd say this ... is, overall, a solid, nearly one-to-one adaptation of the arc as a whole. Denji's nightmare about the door, which symbolizes him locking away his guilt of murdering his father, Denji and Reze's brief little fling, Denji and Beam getting acquainted, Denji and Makima getting a little closer, Power's four-horn lore, Aki & Angel building up a proper partnership together, and Tokyo Public Safety Headquarters and the Devil Hunters scrambling to deal with Reze the Typhoon Devil, it's all accounted for here. The main focus overall is on Denji and Reze's fling, which I get since her name's in the movie, but it is a shame we didn't get a little more screentime for the other characters.

Overall, honestly, given the constraints of being a movie, the writers did an excellent job fitting as much in as they could while keeping a decent pace to the arc so that it doesn't feel too rushed in any way. It's pretty solid overall, and while I still think the manga does a better job at giving more time to everyone shown here, this is more than sufficient for those coming from the anime. It's just more exciting for manga readers like myself, who just get to see some of the iconic moments on the screen and fill in the blanks from there.

A- overall, if only because we didn't get a little more of the side plots.

The Characters:

Well, this issue ties back into what I was saying earlier, but the cast for this movie is surprisingly small compared to the anime, which is both a good and bad thing, I would say, because it means we can focus more on the characters, but as a result, it means we focus more on the characters we DO have and notice how Kobeni got shafted, heck Violence Devil has more screentime than she does. Aki and Angel talking, though, was nice, and as someone who was really fond of their friendship by the end of the arc, it was nice to see that get built up for later when Aki has to save Angel during the Typhoon Devil fight.

That being said, I really enjoyed the moments with Denji hanging out with Reze and Makima and getting to know them better, which also helps set up his personal conflict that follows him throughout the movie. It felt more like I was watching a really good love drama that also happens to be an off-the-wall thriller simultaneously. I think it works pretty well in the movie's favor overall because it also has some tension throughout, especially with the school build-up with Reze, where we know FULL WELL Denji's in trouble once we see her snuff out the Mysterious Man. Basically, the movie did a great job introducing and fleshing Reze out and making her an absolute MENACE.

The writing for them's pretty great too, we can kind of see how something's definitely off with Reze when we're first introduced to her now, based on HOW she speaks to Denji as well as her body language and movements, most rational people would see her being overly flirty as a red flag to stay away from her. However, for someone like Denji, who doesn't have a lot of meaningful interactions and relationships with many people in his life, he just goes with it because he doesn't know what else to do. It's the little things that add more depth to these characters, and it's interesting to see how they adapt and add onto what was in the manga in a more engaging format that can convey more to people than a manga panel may to some.

A- here for me.

The Visual & Sound Design:

Once again, Mappa absolutely KILLED it here with the visuals. The mix of various colors and styles, like the manga styling at the beginning of the moment, the usage of depth to convey ominous feelings in certain shots, and the blurring really convey how fast and frantic the action is; it's all REALLY nice. The Pool scene, of course, stands out because of just how well-drawn it is, and it just adds to the serenity of the scene as a whole. The usage of color was also effectively done; the entire sequence of Denji getting his tongue bitten out is somehow EVEN EERIER, combined with the red and the score. There are some issues in some places where you can tell that things may have been a little rushed or maybe cleaned up a little more; heck, even a couple of angles in the pool scenes, for example, did look a teeny bit off. At the very least, you can tell people worked on it, and that's more than can be said for some movies nowadays, but I figured it was something to note.

Back on the subject of the score, it's GREAT! Love the music during the Pool Scene, and I actually didn't mind the reuse of some of the openings from the anime (like HAWATARI NIOKU CENTI, for example, when Denji and Reze are fighting at the chase scene with everyone in the car.) The score itself is done by Kensuke Ushio, who composed the also amazing soundtrack for the anime, so it's no surprise that he does a great job here once again. Again, that scene with Denji and Reze with the fireworks is just...SOMETHING else with that score, so much terror and tension in that scene that it's brilliant! It blends seamlessly with the tone of the movie, just like it did with the anime, and it just feels...perfect, like a hand in glove. The opening and ending songs are just as infectiously catchy and wonderful as the openings from the original anime, too. 'IRIS OUT' is DEFINITELY gonna be stuck in my head for a while, and hearing Hikaru Utada tied to something Chainsaw Man-related is surreal but awesome to see.

A+, by far my favorite aspect of the movie, next to the character writing.

The Verdict:

Well, it shouldn't be any kind of surprise that the Chainsaw Man fan who's read both the manga and the novel and watched the anime would've liked this movie. But yeah, it's a no-brainer if you're a fan of the anime or the manga; it's absolutely worth the price of admission to a theater. Something about watching Chainsaw Man in a theater, of all things, just...feels right.

So yeah, if you watched the anime, read the manga, or both, give it a go. It's pretty solid for what it is, and I hope that we'll get to see everything in the first arc adapted with hopefully as much, if not more, love than this film did here, whether it's another anime season or two or more movies.

[SPOILERS AHEAD! ...NOT THAT YOU SHOULD PROBABLY BE READING MOST OF THESE REVIEWS BEFORE WATCHING IF THEY HAVE SPOILER TAGS ON THEM!]

Yeah, yeah, yeah! Back at it again for another review! And what a fine anime we got here. Ready up your Cyberware and lock and load, chooms! Got quite a bit to say with this one:

The Story/Narrative & Characters

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners starts off simply enough, essentially being a story about how David Martinez, a typical delinquent, tries to get by, only to turn to a life of fighting alongside a group of people called Edgerunners who battle against Arasaka and their corporate ways, culminating in ... lots of violence, tragic deaths, and emotional pain for everyone involved. It grows significantly and becomes WAY MORE in-depth as the series progresses, and is paced well for being only ten episodes long. Personal and financial stakes for both the Edgerunners and Arasaka really add lots of tension to their conflicts and is a pretty major theme throughout the series that I'm sure ties back to the game and its own themes perfectly (which, yes, I would like to note now by saying I haven't played Cyberpunk: 2077 prior to watching this, but certainly want to after watching this anime.)

It's got lots of emotional weight, tension, and it's overall pretty nicely packed with lots of twists, gut-wrenching moments, and heart packed within its runtime. Overall, just really amazing stuff, and I was completely engrossed throughout.

Character-wise, Cyberpunk's cast is quite colorful, well-written, and complex. Characters of various abilities, strengths, and weaknesses, and ideals all complement and define each other in their own ways. The camaraderie, especially with David, Lucy, Maine, Dorio, Rebecca, and Kiwi as the Edgerunners group, was one of my favorite parts of the series. I can't mention how great David and Lucy's chemistry is, though, either. It starts off how you'd kind of expect them to, but REALLY twists into something pretty depressing as the conflict in the story progresses and naturally affects their feelings (especially with David due to his Cyberpsychosis worsening as the series progresses as well, giving him EVEN MORE personal conflict on top of his responsibilites as the group's new leader post Maine and Dorio's deaths.) Everyone just has...really understandable and human motives. David just wanted to make his Mom and his group (who basically BECAME his new family) proud and make an impact on the world. Lucy wanted to move on from her past with Arasaka and just live her life as a normal girl with David, and it's tragic how she ultimately doesn't get that ending, but that's just how it goes sometimes. Maine and Dorio ultimately threw their lives away to save each other and their crew's lives from the unrelenting force of Arasaka, which ultimately did damage to David and caused him to become what he sees post-timeskip, all chromed up and suffering the same fate as Maine, which is a nice subtle way of foreshadowing what happens to David later in the series, which lowkey makes his and Dorio's death feel a little meaningless, but in a tragic, good way writing-wise. Kiwi starts as another crew member for the Edgerunners, turns out to be a traitor who was working with Faraday, but ultimately, by the end, turns to help her crew when she realizes that she was going to get screwed over by him too, ultimately teaching the important theme of never trusting people in Night City. Given how a few of the people in the show can be towards each other, it is both a perfect send-off to her character and an appropriate lesson in context to the world they live in. Faraday wanted to climb to the top of Arasaka's corperate ladder (much like Gloria wanted David to do in the beginning and it serves as a dark telling of what COULD'VE happend had David taken that route like Tanaka was suggesting to him) and become someone in a place of power, but in the end flew too close to the sun trying to get what he wanted, not taking into account who exactly he was working with, and underestimating his opposition. I could go on, but you get the point. These characters have quite a bit going on with them, and seeing how all of their fates turn out...it's painfully beautiful.

Truly A+ writing overall if you ask me.

The Visual & Sound Design:

Visually, this show's GORGEOUS. I mean, c'mon, it's Studio Trigger, they've got Kill La Kill, Darling in the Franxx, Promare, and Star Wars: Visions under their belts, they make pretty solid stuff for the most part (at least visually, I can't speak on the quality of any of these shows as I've only seen small non-spoilered pieces of them and I'm simply grading them on their visuals in this case.) There are some AMAZING visuals here that are both effectively used for non-visual storytelling and just for flair (David's death being depicted the way it was definitely stuck out for me, and yet it STILL hit hard just knowing that he got flatlined there.) The fight scenes are EXCELLENT, lots of variety with shootouts, hand-to-hand, car chase, and they're all absolutely BRUTAL AND GORY! It's amazing how a show can be breathtaking eye candy one moment and then turn into an absolutely gnarly bloodbath the next, but it's balance between the two really gives it the beautifully gritty vibe the game is also known for. Character designs are also really solid, varied colors and body types, lots of non-verbal characterization that gives you more insight into how everyone is, without just dumping exposition. I'm a sucker for details, so things like Night City being as pretty and well-detailed as they are, also just had my ears wandering and looking for other details while watching too, which actually isn't something a show manages to do too often for me. It's all just...wonderful, can't gush about it enough.

Okay, so there's one little knock I have on this series: there is a little something in the Sound Design. Now, it's not against anything technically; in fact, technically, the shows AWESOME! The amount of music that's both from the game (shoutouts to HEALTH and Dawid Podsiadło) and the original soundtrack composed by the legendary Akira Yamaoka and the also great Marcin Przybyłowicz and P.T. Adamczyk is also just BRILLIANT! It's all effectively used for the perfect scenes, adding the right amount of tension, ambience, and emotion to the scenes they're all used in. The English Dub is also INCREDIBLE! This show was one-hundred percent made to be watched in Dub (which I guess makes sense since this IS an anime based on a Western property, so maybe the direction with the English Dub was just better compared to the Japanese Dub.) Everyone just sounds...like how you'd expect them to be based on how they look, like a hand in glove.

So, the issue I personally have with it is the script for the Japanese Subtitles. They're not unwatchable, per se, but they do tend to butcher or just not at all translate some of the slang that Cyberpunk is known for into the dialogue there. You also don't get the character-specific accents that a few of the characters have, namely Gloria and Ripperdoc, who have Hispanic and Jamaican accents, respectively. It just doesn't capture the full vibe of the characters, and that in general steers me away from recommending the Japanese subs for that, really. In general, you lose out on A LOT of what makes Cyberpunk's characters and world so rad, so it's overall just a downgrade from the dub.

This area would've been an A+, had it not been for that fumble, so I'm going to give it an A- simply because an anime that's as modern and wonderful as this should've been able to provide a great watching experience for people who want to watch either or.

The Verdict:

With all of that in mind, I think it's safe to say that Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is an AMAZING series that captures a lot of the amazing aspects of the game, while also telling an amazingly emotional, tragic, brutal, story set within the world of the game and standing on its own an as a technically solid, well-written, and wonderfully animated, composed, and directed (minus the Subs) series overall. As someone who again hasn't experienced Cyberpunk: 2077 for themselves, this DEFINITELY got me motivated to actually pick it up and give it a try.

So, if you're a fan of Cyberpunk (both the game and the genre itself), love lots of gory action scenes, want an emotionally powerful story with complex characters, or just want something shorter and sweet to watch. It's an ABSOLUTE MUST-WATCH! All I'd personally ask is that you watch the series with the English Dub since it's much more faithful to the source material and is just REALLY solid overall, but it's up to you at the end of the day, and it all comes down to your personal preference.

Well, time for another quickie review. As I've only just started the series, I figured I'd get this out of the way too, since it's allegedly a prequel piece to the main show (which makes sense given it was released a day before the full series dropped on Netflix).) With that out of the way, weapons up, let's go!:

The Story & Characters:

While a short music video, it does establish the Maine and his gang, and also gives us insight into what happened in their group that led them to where they are now (namely, having Kiwi around instead of Sasha).

It's a quick, short story of ... how a mission to get some confidential files from Biotechnica on the drug Securicine files uploaded ended up tragically costing a girl her life, being bittersweet, with the mission accomplished, Sasha, in a way, reuniting with her mother in the afterlife, but dying and leaving her friends in the end. For being only five minutes, it has a surprising amount of weight to it, and I'm not surprised people want to see more of her before the events of this music video.

There's no dialogue, minus the on-screen dialogue with Maine and Sasha, and the subtle details like Maine's proper typing and Sasha's simple typing are a neat touch, though.

Maine's other crew members are there, but they're just part of the background for a scene, so I can't comment much on the characterization here.

It's quite well-put together for its short length.

The Visuals & Sound Design:

Much like the anime itself, this music video is GORGEOUS! The usage of pink to theme the whole video around Sasha, the fight choreography, and some of the shots are just...incredible! It all has this serene vibe that complements the tone of Dawid Podsiadło's song PERFECTLY! It's a finely put-together music video that you can tell was made with love by everyone involved, and also shows they had the same level of care here for this music video, just like they did with the anime. It's certainly one way to get people excited to watch it, that's for sure.

Honestly, while I was watching it, it reminded me of Blade Runner 2049's short prequel shorts, albeit only one instead of three larger shorts, but both are of amazing quality and make you want to watch their respective source materials.

Probably my favorite aspect about it, honestly.

The Verdict:

While only a five-minute music video, 'Let You Down' gives some extra lore for a character that we sadly never get to see in the main series, but, combined with its stellar visuals, storytelling, and music. It works to make this one heck of a layered music video as a result.

If you're a fan of Cyberpunk, you're getting into the anime, and or just want to watch a banger music video, absolutely go for it. Pay some respects to the people who put together such an amazing music video for such an amazing series.

And here's the last stop on the Cowboy Bebop binge...not too much to say about this one. Like a dream, it comes and goes super fast, and you barely remember it:

The Story & Characters:

Given it's only a minute long, it's just a quick, cute little picture drama about Ein dreaming about him taking a vacation with Ed and doing his own thing.

Character-wise, it's just him and Ed (albeit as a background character) popping up here and there's no dialogue. I do wish we could've seen Spike, Jet, and Faye all in beach outfits along with them, but I guess Ein sees the others as a ... hassle minus Ed...even though she frankly gives a little bit of a hard time a certain points in the show too, heh.

It's a simple as it gets. I can't even really give it a grade, cause well...there's not really anything TO grade.

The Visual & Sound Design:

Again, not a whole lot to say here, but the art by Toshihiro Kawamoto is wonderful, of course. It's all consistent in quality and does make me want to see a super comprehensive art book of everything Cowboy Bebop-related they can slap into as thick of a book as possible, but that's probably just the art gusher in me talking.

Sound-wise, Yoko Kanno's wonderful music is used, and it works perfectly fine here to fit with the cute, simple, relaxing tone this little short goes for. Can't go wrong with her music, even if it's for something as simple as this.

A+ cause it's all solid art and great music as always.

The Verdict:

I mean...it's kind of funny that I even bothered to make a review on this, but hey, it IS a piece of Cowboy Bebop media you can watch, and for only being a minute long, it's just a cute little short giving Ein and Ed an eensy bit more screentime. There's really no real point to it other than to give the Blu-Ray re-release the series had that LITTLE bit of extra value to people looking to buy it. I'm not sure if it was actually successful in achieving that goal, but I'm sure it worked for the more hardcore fans of the franchise looking for some new content to watch. It's just funny to me that it's taken me longer to review this than to WATCH IT.

If you're a fan, watch it, why not? It's only literally a minute long, and it looks nice. Otherwise...don't, you're not missing out on anything if you don't.

[SPOILERS FOR BOTH THE MAIN SERIES AND THIS MOVIE...DUH!]

My oh my, THIS movie certainly is something. Oddly enough, I'd say it's a perfect Halloween movie, honestly. Bah, I'm getting ahead of myself. Grab your guns and trick or treat bags, this one's got some tricks and treats for sure!:

The Story & Characters:

Given this movie takes place between Episodes 22 & 23 of the series, this film is set before a lot of the major things have happened towards the end of the series, so Faye and Ed are still around, Spike's not stuck in purgatory on whether he's alive or dead after his fight with ... Vicious, etc. The story itself is certainly the most layered compared to the main series and its episodes. To break it down in simple terms, a soldier who was experimented on named Vincent ends up trying to essentially exact his revenge on the world through the usage of a bioterrorist act with a nanomachine pathogen that's made out of blood (specifically tied in with bone marrow) to wipe out the world and wants to take Faye along with him into his 'new world'. It's pretty well-paced (especially well given the fact it's roughly a little under two hours long) and has a pretty cool conspiracy to it, especially thanks to the large scale with the Mars Military, ISSP, Cherious Medical, and the Bebop Crew all trying to figure out what exactly they're up against and what they can do to stop it. It still keeps the theming of a character having some deeper-rooted reasons for doing what they've done, and while the writers hold your hand here more than they do in the main series to explain what's happening, I personally didn't mind it and found the way they presented it in this movie to be interesting and not too unnatural.

Character-wise, this is still 100% Cowboy Bebop at its finest. You've got the crew all coming together and contributing their own work to the story, too! I GOT WHAT I ASKED FOR! Everyone's still their usual selves from the main series, and I didn't get any 'out of character' vibes from any of them at all. Vincent, Elektra, Lee, Hoffman, Shadkins, and Rashid are the newcomers here, and they're all pretty great and utilized well with the time they're given, especially Elektra. I would've LOVED to see her pop in the main series if she were able to be. Hoffman and Shadkins were just there for basically comic relief and to add some more scale to the story with their presence, but I'll admit they gave me a couple of chuckles with their banter. It's once again really solid stuff, and I'm glad they still had the talent in them to keep the same consistency in quality like they did with the original series.

I'd honestly give this an A+ for this department, if only because the writing here feels a little more refined than in the original series and because the themes and story are genuinely really interesting and kept me really engaged all throughout the runtime.

The Visual & Sound Design:

Having been released a few years after the original series, the visuals received a significant boost. The CGI is still a little dated, but not NEARLY as much as it is in the original series, and the blend of traditional and CGI actually looks REALLY GOOD, especially for its time. The visual effects and ESPECIALLY the animation and detail throughout this movie are ASTOUNDING, not even in a fangirly way, just in a 'Damn, this movie looks so CLEAN!' sort of way. There's A LOT more shown environmentally, and the varied locations and the new Middle Eastern ones are super great and give this film just a little more of its identity. The gunfights, hand-to-hand, and dogfights got a HUGE boost in fidelity for sure. The fight scenes with Spike and Vincent are BRUTAL, man, you can see and practically feel how hard they're whooping each other. Those amazing shots that were seen in the original series look even more amazing here with the refined visuals. If the original series looked THIS good, people would be gushing about it WAY more. There's also just a lot of experimentation with the visuals (i.e. the first person views of the characters whenever they're affected by the Pathogen and how the butterflies come into their visions to signify the virus is affecting them) and I think it REALLY gives this film its own flare on the original already trippy mixed-media style that the original series had going for it.

Sound-wise, it's also PEAK! The English Dub and Japanese subs are both phenomenal, and everyone was able to come back and once again absolutely ROCK their roles. Yoko Kanno also returns with the Seatbelts and absolutely KNOCKS it out of the park with Rock, Ambient, Cultural, Jazz, and Western musical styles that perfectly capture the series' original identity while giving us even more new amazing music. Sound design-wise too, man, those fight scenes and explosions hit EVEN HARDER than they did in the original series, feels like they have a little more oomph to them. It's hard to go wrong when you've got the best of the best here.

Probably my favorite aspect of this film, and I'll definitely be gushing at it all for a while. It's just...gorgeous, man. A+ grade work here as well.

The Verdict:

Cowboy Bebop: Knocking on Heaven's Door is an AMAZING addition to the Bebop franchise and helps in expanding the world more, giving us a little more screentime for all of the characters from the main series we all know and love while giving us some new ones that are also pretty interesting (even if we sadly don't get to see them again), and looks STELLAR while doing all of that. You can really tell they went all out on this film, and it paid off, cause this is probably, if not legitimately, my favorite anime movie I've seen, and that's a MASSIVE statement coming from someone who's seen nearly every Ghibli film under the sun. There's just something about this film that...hits the right chords in a very specific...sensual sort of way? It's hard to describe, but it's brilliant.

I think it goes without saying, but I can only recommend it to those who are already invested in Cowboy Bebop and want more. And yes, I, like many other people, will say you should watch this probably between Episodes 22 and 23, when watching the series, since that's where it takes place. I will say, though, if you loved the series, you'll get an ABSOLUTE KICK out of this film, it's...Dare I say...a near-perfect masterpiece. Also, make it a Halloween movie, because why not have an excuse to watch it every year?

[SPOILERS! MAJOR PLOT POINTS ARE DISCUSSED...YEAH!]

Well, oh, well...THIS is a show I've been meaning to get to for a long time. But here it is, hot and fresh, just like some bell peppers and beef! Lock n' load, cause I've got QUITE a bit to say about this one:

The Story & Characters:

Cowboy Bebop's story is...unique to say the least. For one thing, multiple stories are going on, one with each of the main crew, at least. Each of their stories isn't continuously built episode to episode, but rather has stop-and-go moments off and on, like in Spike and Faye's cases or in characters like Jet ... and Ed's cases, which are usually resolved in an episode exclusively focused on them. The other thing to also clarify is that this show takes a sort of minimalist approach, which, while I personally don't mind since I'm more of a show-don't-tell sort of person when it comes to my media, others may find a little hard to follow. I suppose that comes down to the viewer themselves and whether or not they'll enjoy it. Structure-wise, it's like a mature Saturday morning cartoon with a new villain each episode that gives us a glimpse into the universe and the various kinds of people in it while also giving us more of a glimpse into how the Bebop crew and their perspectives on everything around them. All in all, I found it engaging and enjoyable, especially since I had NO CLUE what to expect episode to episode, even with the previews.

The Characters are also pretty out there. The Bebop crew are definitely some of the more unorthodox characters I've seen in anime, but that doesn't necessarily make them bad. Spike's my favorite in that he gets the most development, has some of the most iconic lines, and he, as a person, is genuinely interesting to watch. He can be an absolute loveable joker one moment, and if something makes him mad, he's DEAD SERIOUS the next. He carries A LOT of weight on his shoulders...especially by the end. Faye...you either love or hate her. Me personally, I like her, and no, not because she's a bombshell. She gets her development later than Spike and even Jet, but her past and how she comes to terms with it are fascinating to watch. She goes from being someone very hoity and mean to genuinely being emotional and fragile, again showing that these characters have more going in internally than they let on. Jet's past isn't as strange as everyone else's, but he certainly has his own baggage too, with a certain lady and his past as a police officer. Basically, if the Bebop crew's a football team, he's DEFINITELY the Coach directing everyone. His banter with Spike is a treat to watch and shows how much time they've spent together without having to explain it too much. The other plus of seeing him put Faye in her place at times when she gets a little too bossy is also great. Edward is just straight-up the comedy of this show during her time with the crew while also doubling as the obligatory tech nerd of the group. I'll admit she gave me a couple of laughs with her antics, but if you're not super into 'quirky' characters, you're not gonna vibe with her at all. I will say, though, the episodes where she's focused on more and actually contributes to the plots of the episodes are great. Oh, and there's Ein, everyone's favorite little space pupper, who basically is just a cute little sidekick for Ed once she joins the crew. He's still one more little pupper and has his moments, too. Everyone's dynamics together as a team are...kind of amazing. Seriously, one of my favorite parts of this show was watching the crew go about their lives day to day on the Bebop, and I lowkey wish we got a little more of it.

Oh, and before anyone asks, no, I don't think Spike's dead, I think he just passed out from blood loss like we've seen happen to him in the series before. Come on, bro's not gonna die THAT easily after the amount of hell he went through, especially with WAY worse near-death situations. I do wonder if Vicious's lackies went out of their way to get him help, though. I figure they would, given how Spike was able to blast him while already pretty injured, gotta respect the skill and determination on that.

I'll give it a solid A-, only because of the minimalist approach to the character development and some story beats being a possible hindrance to the viewer's overall enjoyment of the series (though again, not me personally.)

The Visual & Sound Design:

Even its detractors will give this show credit for this: This show's got some AMAZING style to it.

Seriously, the varied environments, the mix of 90s-era and futuristic tech, the fashion of the residents on each planet, the animation with the action scenes (gunfights, dogfights, and hand-to-hand scenes), the character details that give more personality to the characters, it's all just...sublime. Sure, the CG's DEFINITELY aged, but in most cases it isn't too noticeable, and I think the animators tried their best to mask it, and it only caught my attention a couple of times when watching. But all in all, though, it oozes Noir, Cyberpunk, Western, and pretty much every genre it takes inspiration from pretty amazingly. Some of the shots in this show are amazing, just from looking at the stills of them alone. It also uses some slightly mixed media for things like the intermission cards, which is a nice touch. I can totally understand how people would adore this so much, and with how solid it is for its time and how well it's aged for the most part, it's a classic for its time right up there with Evangelion for me...though its early episodes don't look NEARLY as weird as that show's do.

Sound Design-wise, it's also REALLY GOOD. Again, this is one of the things I would say comes down to musical preference, but the mix of jazz, rock, acoustic, orchestral, and western music is REALLY clean. I mean, it's Yoko Kanno who worked on it, who I absolutely LOVE for her work on other shows like Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Wolf's Rain, and Darker Than Black. In that regard, I shouldn't be too surprised that she absolutely KILLS it here. The variety of songs combined with their perfect usage in their respective scenes absolutely SELLS the vibe this show is going for. This is one of those soundtracks that's up there with the all-time anime greats because of how solid it is. The voice acting is also INCREDIBLE. Seriously, that English Dub is Death Note, Black Lagoon, and Fullmetal Alchemist-levels of good. Every single performance from everyone here fits like a glove for their characters, and the accuracy when comparing it to the subs genuinely amazed me how well they carried everything over. The Japanese Subs are also great. I mean, having Kōichi Yamadera certainly helps, I know him as Shun Akiyama from the Yakuza franchise and Ryoji Kaiji in Evangelion, and he, as always, SLAYS with this work here and sells Spike's charming lazyboy attitude wonderfully, makes EVEN MORE sense for him to go on to play Akiyama later in that regard.

Almost a perfect A+, but an A- for some of the aged CG. Other than that, this is one BANGER show with LOTS of style that I don't think I'll find in another anime I watch.

The Verdict:

Cowboy Bebop is one of the shows for sure that has its fans and detractors, and while I personally LOVE this show, I can only recommend it to those who are willing to look past some of its flaws and see all of the other amazing stuff underneath it. I'd say if you want to watch something that's akin to a 'classic' anime, are a dub watcher looking for a PEAK anime to watch, or like a lot of the genres and sound of everything I've brought up here, give it a go. It's a classic in my book, and I certainly understand why people love it so much. It's just a shame it took me so long to get around to it.

Well, here we are at our first stop on the BeBop Journey. Not a whole lot to say about this one, so this'll be a fast-flowing Spiegel-kick speed knockout of a review:

The Story/Narrative & Characters:

Given that this episode is just interpersonal monologues of the Bebop Crew using the first thirteen episodes of the series for footage, there's not too much to say. The life lessons from each character are very fitting and are valuable lessons, like not upsetting yourself over the small things in life with Spike, embracing yourself despite what others may think of you for Faye, and you not being able to get ... everything you want in life but appreciating the things that you have with Ed are all very nice things. It's nothing to write home about, but I like the connections each lesson has to each character, and some of them are nice food for thought.

The only characters that have any commentary are of course the Bebop crew and while it would've been interesting to see what some of the antagonists like Gren or Vicious would've had to say, I suppose with only so much footage to go off of and the fact this was more of a 'We want to leave something for people to remember us by' sort of episode, I suppose they wanted to keep it simple and to the point.

Not much else to say other than that.


The Visual & Sound Design:

Well, given that everything here is just footage of everything up to episode thirteen of the series, it's wonderful! I won't go too deep into it yet, as to save my praises for it in the main review after I've finished the series in full, but everything here is simple, top-notch.

Oh, and that music...woo mama. It's up there with Evangelion for me as some of the best anime soundtracks of the era. The different lessons using their own tracks to set the tones for each in this episode, specifically, was a nice touch. There's no other sounds really used other than the ones that are briefly featured in the clips and the characters voicing their thoughts, so there's nothing to say there. However, I WILL say as someone who's been watching the series in Dub since I was told at how iconic, accurate, and solid it is, the Japanese Subs are also quite great, especially Kouichi Yamadera as Spike (I mean for crying out loud, he's been in EVERYTHING, Shun Akiyama from the Yakuza/Like a Dragon franchise is his most recognizable role for me though and I caught it IMMEDIATELY upon hearing him.) They went all out as much as they could with this episode, like it was their last. Guess you could say they succeeded there.

The Verdict:

All in all, it's a solid little episode that does its best to try and cap off the series at a time where everyone had NO IDEA what was gonna happen to the series. Thankfully, the series was brought back and went on for another thirteen episodes, cause it would've been an absolute BUMMER to me if it ended off like this.

Only watch this if you're a superfan that wants to hear the characters speak their minds a little more (which I don't mind cause I'm VERY into character-driven works in general) or you're like me and want to experience EVERYTHING the franchise has to offer. It's just a single episode and I think you'll get some value out of it otherwise.

[MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR THIS ONE! PLEASE WATCH THE SHOW FIRST, AT LEAST BEFORE READING...or don't, it's up to you.]

Alriiiight! Now that the final episode is out for this series (and the entirety of Strive's Source code got leaked, yikes), I'm here to hop back on the Guilty Gear grind for a little bit to review this series. Time to bandit-revolver our way into this review:


The Story/Narrative

Being a mega fan of the franchise, the story, for me at least, was pretty easy to grasp. Essentially, the conflict between Humans and Gears (the Crusades) was starting to finally come to an end thanks to Ky and Dizzy's ... marriage, but Unika, who later turns out to be Sin's sister from the future, comes in attempts to stop the marriage from happening. This furthers the cycle of humans and gears being at war with each other, exactly like her father, Nerville Hammer (specifically his future counterpart), wants. From there, it's up to Sin, Sol, Jack-O, Johnny, Baiken, Axl, Ramlethal, Elphelt, Leo, Vernon, Dr. Paradigm, and the other gears of Earth to stop him before he tries to take over the world and force his ideals into their time and save their world and everyone in it.

It plays off of some pre-established series lore by mentioning and showing things like the Crusades, Knights of the Holy Order, how Gears function and the types that exist, and the aforementioned conflict between Humans and Gears, as well as character lore that's been established, all of which I found pretty nice, but I know for ABSOLUTE CERTAIN is going to go over newer fan's heads if they aren't familiar with the series' older lore.

It's nothing too crazy, but I think for a series that's this short (and probably was meant to be longer) it's decent enough for what it is and while I would've liked for it to feel a LITTLE bit larger in-scale by including more of the characters, it does the best it can with the eight episode length it has.


The Characters

This part's gonna be a LITTLE bit negative, but I am pretty bummed about how a lot of the cast either doesn't show up in this anime at all or just shows up as a cameo. On top of that, the characters that DO get proper screentime don't really get to do all that much other than fight Nerville's clones and have little quips. Characters like Jack-O and Johnny only felt like they were brought in at times just to help out and basically aura-farm and then leave, only to show up later fighting alongside everyone else with little to no explanation on where they were. I would've liked to see more serious character-to-character moments with a lot of the cast, and sadly, there isn't much of that outside of the Sol and Sin's dynamic, and even then, it's hardly enough and feels more like Sol at times is still babysitting Sin and being the big lug he is fighting stuff with his Junkyard Dog.

Granted, it's not all bad on the character side of things. For example, Bridget and Unika's dynamic and Bridget giving Unika the goal of 'finding her shape' are very wholesome, a nice reflection of her character after Strive, with how SHE found her shape and how her positive outlook on her life is, in a way, passed on to Unika. Unika even goes on at the end of the anime to do just that, and while I found it a bummer she didn't say, at least there's some reason that she's going out to do what she wants to do. Sin and Unika's dynamic is by far the most explored, and while it starts hostile, I do like the fact that Sin's kind-hearted stubbornness eventually does convince Unika to work with him to stop everything that's happening, with them at the end especially bouncing off each other quite well in combat coordinating alongside each other and their sibling banter at the end (which as someone who has a sister can relate HEAVILY too.) Unika's backstory is a little bit of a mess with how it's presented because it's deliberately shown in disjointed parts to give us a mystery that can't be pieced together til later, but once we find out she's Sin's sister, most of the mystery is gone and by the last episode where we see Nerville and Unika talking I was just sitting there wondering "Why wait til the LAST EPISODE to expand all of this?" Granted, it's better late than never, but it still confused me during my watch of it.

Overall, it's a bit of a disappointment, but there are some good character moments and things I do like about the show enough to not make me feel like the characters were mishandled like some people have been saying. If you know these characters pretty well like I do, you'll enjoy them, but if you're someone who's not super into Guilty Gear...I'd say it's fifty-fifty on if you'll like them or not.


The Visuals & Sound Design

Mostly solid outside of one rather minor (or major, depending on how you view it) complaint.

When everything's looking like how you'd expect it to be from the game, it looks AWESOME, the big scale explosions, the expressions on the characters' faces, the on-point locations, the weight and clashing of attacks and sharpness of the blades, the sheer scale of everything being shown, it's all really nice. The thing that bothered me, and this may come off as a nitpick) is that it does have some reliance on using stills in certain places for things that should've been animated, namely in Episode 7 during the fight to get to Nerville's core (my guess is either time or budget constraints, but I'm leaning towards the latter being the reason for these). The characters look pretty on-model, albeit with some minor touchups, and the fact that Blender was used as effectively as it was here shows just how talented the animators who worked on this were. Episode 8 is probably where most of the show's budget went because of just how abstract they got with the mixed animation styles, and the fights were all absolutely INCREDIBLE.

Sound Design-wise, it's pretty solid. The Japanese voice work is phenomenal as always, with everyone reprising their roles from Strive/previous games, props to Sin's voice actor screaming as much as he did, cause boy does he do it A LOT here, heh. The music's pretty solid, orchestral mixed with heavy rock, exactly like you'd expect from Guilty Gear. One song in particular was repeated twice, but it works for both scenes, and it really emphasized how badass the moments were when it played, so this is most certainly a nitpick. Explosions are punchy and loud, fights have A LOT of weight and impact going on in them, and it's exactly what you'd expect from a Guilty Gear anime.

Overall, the animation has some issues at times with the using stills issues, but when it's not doing that, it's SUPERB and combined with the excellent music, sound design, and voice-acting, it's the best you'll probably get for a Guilty Gear anime and I was pretty happy for the most part with the technical side.

The Verdict

While it certainly has a couple of issues in the Writing and Technical departments, I think, as a companion piece that was mostly meant to introduce Unika to Guilty Gear Strive and the overall series lore as a whole, it's pretty good for what it is. I feel like it certainly would've benefited from being at least twelve or thirteen episodes, like a lot of traditional one-season animes are, but I'm sure there are some reasons behind the scenes for why it is. The team tried their best with what they had, and as a fan of the franchise, I felt mostly satisfied by the end of it.

I'd personally only recommend this series to the more hardcore or at least fairly knowledgeable Guilty Gear fans who know of the older series lore (and Strive, of course) because it relies on pre-established in-lore events for some of its plot. Otherwise, if you're a big fan of Guilty Gear like I was and go in with an open mind, I think you'll finish watching it and be satisfied with it like I was.

Well, well, well...it's been a LONG time coming for this one. This one took me a while to get around to, but I've FINALLY finished it. No evokers required to take on this one:


The Story/Characters:

Persona: Trinity Soul is...interesting because it tries to tell a story of its own while also leaning into the canon of Persona 3's story.

Taking place ten years after the events of the game (which I'm assuming also includes FES with The Answer since it was already out in Japan by the time this series aired), it's a...decent enough crime thriller story that utilizes the lore of Persona in terms of both ... its concepts and its usage. It gets a little disjointed at times, sometimes focusing on the main group (Shin, Jun, Ryo, Megumi, Takuro, etc.) and the time they spend together growing both as friends and as allies in battle and at times the villains known as the Marebitos (Kujo, Saki, Toma, Sotaro, etc.) I actually found the story about Shin and how everyone else's pasts all tied into the current conflict they're dealing with very interesting and it's executed quite well. But, the biggest problem ultimately is that it bounces around too much and it makes it a little hard for people to keep up with and with all of the plot points it adds on top of itself, it gets a bit convoluted rather quickly. The other issue is that we're balancing between the internal conflicts of each of the main characters (i.e. Shin finding out about his past), the in-fighting between the Marebitos and how they WANT to stand up to Kujo but are afraid to, the Police trying to stop Kujo and HIS plans, while also trying to find time to flesh everyone out and make them compelling, which in 26 episodes...isn't exactly ideal. Some people like me may still appreciate what it does and the effort it goes through to try and make you care about them, heck Morimoto's death actually got me pretty upset because I really wanted her and Shin to get together and there had been some buildup between the two throughout the series, but sadly the bloated plot has to take precedence over the character-building and it somewhat hurts the experience as a whole.

The way this series takes a spin on Persona is...hit and miss. The fact that adults can't use their Personas without a special drug is just flat-out dumb and directly contradicts the games that came both before and after this series. Persona 1, 2, 3, and just a month after this show finished airing, Persona 4, all have adult Persona users without there being any issue, so it just feels like they did this for these sake making it unique and while it works in THAT regard, it ultimately just ruined this show's chances of being canon. The sea of unconsciousness and the sea of psyche concepts were neat, but unless you're a. A hardcore Persona fan like myself who's played the earlier games and read some of the extra material to know what they're talking about or B. A Hardcore Psyche Major, you're not going to understand that. Apathy Syndrome and Reverse Cases also are a part of this story and while they add tension, they're all pretty much resolved with no further issues at the end of the series, which while nice in giving the plot some closure on that front (and for Akihiko and the other S.E.E.S. team members, I'm sure, wherever THEY are), it felt a little forced in and once again was just another plot point that was bounced back and forth between when it was needed rather than being a constantly looming threat to push the characters and the main story forward.

In all honesty, I can't really tell if this plot was supposed to appease the general or hardcore fans of the fanbase, but even as someone who is SUPER into the series, this plot was overall a little overcomplicated and hard to follow. It feels like the writers wanted to tell something different, but had to stick with having Persona in there because of the namesake. However, the ideas it DOES present and does things WITH are all pretty neat and genuinely well-handled with the themes of death, regret, purpose, and trauma. Sure, all of these themes have been covered before in the games, but they are handled in a new way here that makes the characters who experience them and the message behind the series overall meaningful and at least somewhat memorable. There's an episode in there too (I wanna say it's Episode 11 where they bring up the themes of traffic safety and drunk driving using Megumi and Morimoto) that could've been used MUCH more wisely to expand on things more but they didn't so...yeah, it's basically filler with a minor little development for Ryo at the end.

The Characters themselves vary in quality, characters like the main cast with Shin, Jun, Ryo, Takuro, Kanaru, Ito, and eventually Akihiko are actually quite good and they all in a way go through an arc of their own and aren't just tossed to the side. The Marebitos for the most part outside of Saki, Sataro, Kujo, and Udo, are completely inconsequential and don't have much done with them. Saki and Sataro and really the only ones who really get a decent amount of screen time and even then, due to the constant bouncing around between plot points, we don't necessarily get to see them talk or know how they feel until the near end of the series. Kujo is a pretty cliche antagonist who just wants to continue doing his research and basically make the world his own (a main theme in the series is control and how reality can be molded by one's consciousness and things of that sort, but it's not really used again til the end of the series.) I'm aware of the Trinity Soul novelization that contributes more to the Marebito's side of things, but they REALLY should've just focused on making sure they were fleshed out more in the series. Overall a mixed bag, but I do like most of the cast and it is a bit of a shame that we'll never get to see these guys outside of anything else other than this anime outside of maybe some Anniversary art, if even that.


The Visual & Sound Design:

Probably one of the better aspects of this show. A-1 Pictures worked on this series, and they were the ones responsible for animating some of the later Persona anime-related stuff like the cutscenes for Persona 4 on PS2 (with Studio Hibari), the Persona 3 Movies, and...sadly the Persona 4 Golden: The Animation, as well as Persona 5: The Animation. Hey, three out of five ain't too bad, I guess.

Visually, it looks fine for its time. The characters, both in terms of design and animation, are usually pretty on model and fit the P3/P4-era style perfectly. The environments look nice. The scenes where things are abstract are neat (albeit a little confusing at times, in part due to the story). The fight scenes, while sprinkled throughout (more than likely for budgetary reasons), are pretty flashy and have a lot of weight to them. CGI is used sparingly and really only for vehicles where it looks fine enough. It's all around just fine, nothing incredible, but it has some beauty in it at times and looks presentable enough.

Sound Design-wise, it's all pretty solid as well. The voice cast is all pretty great (Shin's VA pouring it out in the emotional scenes was genuinely incredible) and Jun's VA doing both him and Yuki at the same time sells the split-personality part of their character perfectly. Music-wise...again, minus Burning Men's Soul's ATROCIOUS rap lyrics, is actually all pretty wonderful. There are some ambient pieces, orchestral pieces, and soft acoustic pieces all done by Taku Iwasaki, who's done other work like Black Butler, Gurren Lagann, and Shin Kamen Rider. There are also some vocal tracks done by Lotus Juice AND Yumi Kawamura who were both involved with the Persona series at the time and they absolutely NAILED it, some of their most underrated songs, for sure. The opening and endings are also pretty great too (visually as well.) The show uses some music from both Persona 3's game soundtrack AND the Reincarnation album for some of the background music, which is a nice nod, didn't really distract me, and honestly works in context to the world just fine due to their sound. Outside of one noticeable blemish, it's a solid soundtrack throughout.


The Verdict:

So...would I as someone who LOVES the Persona series and even likes this series in a lot of ways recommend this to people?

Well...the thing is that this show is pretty all over the place and at times is a little stop-and-go plot-wise, which may turn a lot of people away from it. But, if you're enough of a Persona fan and you are willing to stick with it and go in expecting something pretty different from what the games are, you may come out liking it more than you expected like I did. There clearly was a lot of effort to try and make this something special and I think for what it is and the ambition and scope they were going for with this series...I can't help but respect it.

Is this anime for everyone? Absolutely not! But for those who stick with it and give it a chance (or are just a massive Persona nerd like I am), it's definitely worth checking out.

[SPOILERS FOR BOTH THIS ONA AND BITS OF HALO 1-ODST IN THIS REVIEW, OF COURSE!]

Aaaah, it's been a while, but I'm back for now and I've got quite an interesting one to talk about here. And yeah, for context, I've been binging the actual game series like heck, so this one may be a little more rambly than some.


The Narrative(s) & Characters:

Considering this an ONA based on the franchise, it bounces off of everything that was out at the time (Halo 1, 2, 3, Wars, and ODST) and expands on A LOT Of the in-universe lore for all of the factions we've seen. The Spartans, ... ODST, Flood, Covenant, and Brutes all get some time in the spotlight here and it's all genuinely informative as a fan and is presented excellently. Each episode focuses on something different (except the first two, which is a two-parter, the last episode was split-off too, but not where I watched it) and covers various time periods and locations throughout the series from various pre-established and original characters. The pre-established things work well with the new ones, which is how it should be, and the fact Japanese studios are handling a Western property like this one, they do a great job in staying faithful to what may or may not be seen in the series (though there are some liberties certainly taken here and there.)

The characters are all pretty great. It's surprising to me how much I got to care for a lot of them given the episodes are so criminally short. Their designs are...definitely more anime-esque than your typical characters, but they work well in the context of this series. I specifically want to highlight Ghost in 'Prototype' and the ODST group in 'The Babysitter', they're especially great. They've got signature UNSC charm that the soldiers in the actual games do and it made me really appreciate them. It's just a shame we don't get to see more of these characters because again...how short these episodes are.


The Visual & Sound Design:

Well, given this IS an anime of a Western property (an adaptation, I suppose? Though not a direct one), I must say the art for this series is quite nice. The episodes vary in style and some pretty well-known studios like Bones, Toei, and Production I.G. worked on this series, so it's no wonder that even now most of it still holds up super well. Episode 3 has a very interesting watercolor style that I believe is meant to reference imperial Japanese-styled art, which I think is quite charming, even if it may be distracting and not their cup of tea to some. I personally think the various styles help in giving each episode its own signature flare and atmosphere and I would say it works effectively in doing so.

I will say that it's not perfect, though, it has aged a little. The CGI in some places is a bit noticeable (though Episode 8 I will say holds up superbly and I respect the visual style it's going for in matching the CGI cutscenes scene in the Anniversary versions of 1 & 2 as well as Halo Wars 1) and I did find it odd in some of the places they used it where they could've drawn things out instead and had in some episodes (though then again, various studios handled this series, so I suppose its a per-studio basis on what they do and don't draw.) The characters look slightly rough in some cases, especially when a lot is going on on screen. However, to give it credit for what it is, a lot of it is quite nice and the characters all look on-model to the series and the new additions don't stick out all the much visually compared to everything else.

The Sound Design is STELLAR! Bringing back the music of Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori who have made some of the most iconic compositions out there along with the new artists Yasuharu Takanashi, Naoyuki Hiroko, and Tetsuya Takahashi, they all knock it out of the park. It all fits superbly well in terms of fitting with the signature sound of the series. It's mostly orchestral this time around, but it's all very consistently high-quality works and the amount of tracks composed for such a short series is quite impressive. The voice acting is also quite solid. I watched the first episode in both English and Japanese to compare and while I personally prefer the dub for the sake of being more accurate to the games, the Japanese Subs are perfectly fine too, and do offer a different Halo-watching experience.


The Verdict:

Halo Legends is certainly not for everyone and I would personally only recommend it to those who are SUPER into the series like myself and want to explore more about the series. I myself have been going through the series and have been trying to soak up as much lore on it as I can to REALLY see how creative it can get. As a personal recommendation from me, if you ARE a fan and don't mind the fact that it's so short (which is probably my only complaint with this series), absolutely give it a watch! I think it's worth watching just for its novelty alone. That...and if I'm not mistaken it's all canon, so hey, if you're someone who wants to know as much canon stuff about your favorite series as I do, it's a must-watch!