review

Otaku Evolution Episode 194 - Iria: Zeiram the Animation

I have to admit, I did not watch the two live-action Zeiram movies. I saw a clip or two (I used one of them) and read a summary on Wikipedia. Because of this, I approached Iria: Zeiram the Animation not as a prequel to the movies, but as a distillation of elements from the movies, an anime that stands on its own. But it's not a great anime on its own, or at all, really. It's not truly awful, but there are so many other anime out there worth your time more than this one. Some of the plot beats are head scratching, to say the least.

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Otaku Evolution Episode 193 - Lupin III: Farewell to Nostradamus

I love the Lupin III franchise, but there is a lot of crap in it. And the crappy parts range from dull and lifeless to actively painful, and all shades in between. Legend of the Gold of Babylon was interestingly bad, which may or may not fall on the spectrum of crap (it may just be an exception). Farewell to Nostradamus, on the other hand, is the kind of terrible that you can't really say that much about. It's just a very dull, inert movie that feels like Lupin III in automatic mode. There's nothing special about it whatsoever, aside from being a theatrical feature.

 

Otaku Evolution Episode 192 - Excel Saga

Excel Saga is the anime that I immediately think of when somebody says "anime comedy". It could've been FLCL, which I think is better, but FLCL isn't as gut-bustingly hilarious, so much as it is contemplative with a little zaniness baked in. Excel Saga is pure comedy, through and through, and I recall the hype around it on the original Otaku Revolution message board. I didn't see it until ADV licensed it, and I still have the DVD singles that I collected over time. Excel Saga may not be up there among my top 20 anime, but it's always a treat to revisit.

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Otaku Evolution Episode 191 - Black Jack OVA (Eps 7-8)

Black Jack is glorious bullshit. It's like watching the medical version of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure sometimes. You think you have a good grasp of the real life medical information being relayed, everything seems pretty grounded, if not always believable (just look at Pinoko), but then some wild nonsense like a talking thousands year old tree and a leaf boy are thrown at you and you're left wondering what Osamu Tezuka, or Osamu Dezaki, were smoking that lead them to these plot beats. This is why I watch two episodes at a time, to get a decent sampling of both the realistic and fanciful, and still have episodes left for later.

 

Otaku Evolution Episode 189 - Trigun

While not holding up entirely, Trigun is, overall, a pretty fun television series that can proudly stand apart from the manga. There are definitely episodes that are significantly better than others, but you can find that in even the best anime. What I think I like the most about Trigun is that it's a unique experience. I mean, name another anime that's even somewhat like it. I mean, aside from (vaguely) Kenshin, but Trigun is more than just "Kenshin with guns" or "space western Kenshin". I was happy to revisit it.

 

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Otaku Evolution Episode 188 - Cyborg 009 (Part 2)

 

Part two of my look at 2001's Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Soldier involves looking at some of the non-Black Ghost related storylines in the series. There's the mythology arc with the cyborgs fashioned after Greek gods, the two parter with the extraterrestrials/otherdimensionals, and there's the unfinished final arc where the cyborgs get an upgrade. But there are also one-off episodes that I thought were worth highlighting here, like the one where 009 experiences time different because his Accelerator Mode is stuck (that might be my favorite episode).

 

Otaku Evolution Episode 187 - Cyborg 009 (Part 1)

It's been a while, huh? We're all still feeling the hurt from last year, aren't we, and yet here we are? As usual, I took January off to cool my jets, but I'm back for another year of the plucky little anime review show that can... well, can't, really, but tries anyway.

First up? A look at the 2001 anime TV series Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Soldier. It's a 51 episode series about cyborgs with different abilities fighting... well, mostly other cyborgs with different abilities. It's like Kakaider, but a little less up its own ass.

Otaku Evolution Episode 186 - Year End English Dub Review VII

 

2020 was a horrific year. The year saw a pandemic, social strife, and an election that seems to still linger (for some reason). We lost Kobe Bryant and Alex Trebek, and many of us lost people even closer. So it feels a bit frivolous to care so much about a silly little anime review show that few people even watch to begin with. The weight of this year is heavy. But maybe that's why we need some lighthearted frivolity now and then.

Otaku Evolution Episode 174 - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (two seasons) is 52 episodes long, making this the most episodes I've ever watched to review for these videos. Not only that, but it's definitely the most I've ever watched to review for a single video. I didn't even break this into two or three parts! I probably could have stretched the material, too. But I felt like one succinct video was enough to give the right impression of this classic anime.

Well, actually, it was a tiny bit longer, originally, but I had to edit it down because it was blocked in some areas. Always a pain in the ass, YouTube and Japanese companies. But you get the drift.


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