Tag Archives: Anime

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim – Movie Review

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TL;DR – It is not a perfect film, but goodness, it was a joy to jump back into this world with all its horns blaring.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Héra befriends an eagle.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim Review –

Few things get me excited as hearing the words ‘there is a new Lord of the Rings film about to be realised’. It is a world that brings me back to my childhood, back to reading The Hobbit and seeing those Lord of the Rings films for the first time. Well, today, I get to capture that joy because while I might not hold space for Defying Gravity, I do keep a place in my heart for The Ride of the Rohirrim.

So, to set the scene, there are many stories in Middle Earth about wizards and dragons or great wars and clashes of good and evil. But as Éowyn (Miranda Otto) explains, many stories are just as important and don’t get told made into songs but get talked about around the campfire. Almost 200 years before the War of the Ring, on the plans of Rohan lived Héra (Gaia Wise), the only daughter of Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox), ruler of all the Rohirrim. She rode a horse like it was an extension of her wild fury, charming the people and frustrating her father in equal measure, those secretly he delighted in her wildness. But when of the Lords, Freca (Shaun Dooley) demands a meeting of the Lords of Rohan and tries to position his son Wulf (Luke Pasqualino) as the rightful husband for Héra. Helm would hear nothing of it and strikes Freca down with a single blow and chases Wulf away. He did not mean to kill Freca, but sometimes unexpected actions create unexpected outcomes.

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Maboroshi (Alice and Therese’s Illusory Factory/ Alice to Therese no Maboroshi Kôjô/ アリスとテレスのまぼろし工場) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While there were some good ideas here, an unfortunate narrative focus and other frustrating narrative issues held it back for me.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Steel Factory on fire.

Maboroshi Review –

When something supernatural happens, is that divine retribution or divine protection? In a time of crisis, do people continue to carry on, or do they give up? What happens when you are stuck? Can you go on?

So to set the scene, it is 1991 in a small town in Japan, as Masamune (Junya Enoki) and his friends are all staying up late studying when an explosion rips out into the night. The local steel factory is ablaze, sending flames up into the air. Then, a light flashes through the air, and time becomes a bit funky. Running outside, they see the factory on fire, but cracks appear in the sky, and the smoke from the factory is not as innocent as it first appears. Everyone in the town senses the presence because everyone is trapped, and no one can get out.  

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The Films from 2023 That Showed Off the Wonderful Glory of Animation

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Animation is a form of filmmaking that is often related to second-tier status, something just for kids. This is by both the organisations giving out the awards and the guilds meant to promote their members’ work. However, they are not second-tier films; in many ways, animated films push the frontiers of filmmaking and what is possible, and they should be championed for their work.     

Animated films can be hand-drawn, stop/clay motion, or computer-generated; it does not matter, but all of them show the unique techniques of hundreds of artists that bring the work to life.

Our Highly Commended in 2023 are Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget & The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Our Best TV Animation in 2023 are Pokémon Concierge: Season 1, Rick and Morty: Season 7 & Star Trek: Lower Decks: Season Four

So, without further ado, these animated films showed us the glory of animation in 2023. Be warned that there may be slight spoilers for the movies in question. Also, click on the banners/titles to go to the full reviews of each of the films. 

The Nominees Are –

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Pokémon Concierge: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – It is bringing Pokémon into a new medium while being charming to its very core.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this show.

End Credit Scene – The final episode has an end credit scene.

Haru and Psyduck

Pokémon Concierge Review –

Well, today, we looked at a show that came out of nowhere and had me excited the moment I locked eyes on it. To be fair, I am an easy mark when it comes to Pokémon. I’ve been playing since Yellow. However, this felt like a fresh take on a formula that has, in many ways, been done to death, and I am glad to say that having now watched it, I was right.  

So to set the scene, Haru (Non/ Karen Fukuhara) is not having the best time. First, her boyfriend of six years breaks up with her over text message (what an arse), then a presentation didn’t go to plan, and worst of all, her work bestie quit. This series of unfortunate events leads Haru to make a drastic career change and become a concierge at the Pokémon Resort. Haru is nervous as to what she will need to do on her first day of work, but out of everything she was expecting, having Miss Watanabe (Yoshiko Takemura/ Lori Alan) tell her to enjoy the resort was not anywhere on her list. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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The Boy and the Heron (Kimitachi wa Dō Ikiru ka, 君たちはどう生きるか) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A heartbreaking and devastating exploration of grief set to a beautiful backdrop and wacky characters.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to see this film.

Mahito walks through grass.

The Boy and the Heron Review –

When you look at the great animation studios of history, one name does tend to stand out, so much so that we wrote a whole article about The Beauty of Ghibli. For a long time, we thought that there would be no more films because creator Hayao Miyazaki had retired. However, it seems like Miyazaki-san does not like to take it easy, and it means that we get another of his movies, and who am I to disagree?

So to set the scene, Mahito Maki (Soma Santoki/ Luca Padovan) is a young boy during WW2 who is haunted by the day he watched as the hospital with his mother inside burned to the ground. He has not really had a chance to process this when his father Shoichi (Takuya Kimura/ Christian Bale) marries his late wife’s younger sister Natsuko (Yoshino Kimura/ Gemma Chan) and moves into her estate in the countryside, where a Grey Heron (Masaki Suda/ Robert Pattinson) pays a particular notice to the new arrival.  

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Drifting Home (Ame wo Tsugeru Hyôryû Danchi/雨を告げる漂流団地) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A fascinating look back to the power that a home can have over us, more than just four walls and a roof.   

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

The clouds over an ocean.

Drifting Home Review –

At the end of last year, I realised that I had not watched enough animated films in 2021 and that needed to change in 2022. I think I succeeded on that front, but when I looked back, I realised that there was one hole in that catchup, Anime. Today I start fixing that blind spot by diving into a film full of mystery.    

 So to set the scene, in town in Japan at the onset of summer, there is an apparently haunted apartment block about to be torn down. While the old building is being removed to put something better, it is still considered ‘home’ for Natsume Touchi (Asami Seto) and Kosuke Kumagai (Mutsumi Tamura), who grew up there. However, since they moved out, the two have drifted apart as they went through separate lives. One day before they tear down the buildings, Kosuke and a group of boys visit one of the buildings and find Natsume hiding in their old apartment. As more school students show up, a concern about a mysterious boy called Noppo (Ayumu Murase), whom no one has met before but who lives in the building, raises the tension. It is all the building blocks for an argument between Natsume and Kosuke that had been percolating for months. As the two fight, Natsume slips off the roof, but before she hits the ground, a storm envelops the apartments, and the group finds themselves in the middle of the ocean, all alone.

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DOTA: Dragon’s Blood: Season One – TV Review

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TL;DR –A little convoluted yet strangely compelling ride through the expanded lore of one of the most popular video games out there.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription that viewed this series.

DOTA: Dragon’s Blood. Image Credit: Netflix.

DOTA: Dragon’s Blood Review –

DOTA is one of those video games that I know, but I have never been able to get into, and that is not from a lack of trying. It is this phenomenon that I have watched from a distance with this odd curiosity. While the game itself feels like an impenetrable mess, there is a lot of style and intrigue going on, and I know that there is a whole lot of lore built into the game that could be good to explore.    

So to set the scene, we open with a huge info lore dump that you probably don’t need to understand fully. We then cut to the middle of a battle as many militiamen get ripped apart by a dragon that dives in and out of the ground. It is a losing conflict until Davion (Yuri Lowenthal), the Dragon Knight, enters the fray as his squire Bram (Josh Keaton) watches on. It is a glorious battle that dives in and out of the ground, and eventually, it is killed. It a moment of rejoicing. However, Frühling (Matthew Waterson), the captain of the guard, is less than pleased because an elder dragon still sleeps nearby, waiting to attack. But when he goes down into the lair of the best, he finds there is more terror there than he expected. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Pacific Rim: The Black – Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a show with a lot of potential that would have worked a lot better had it not stumbled in critical places.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription that viewed this series.

Pacific Rim: The Black. Image Credit: Netflix.

Pacific Rim: The Black Review –

When you hear that there will be an American Animation TV Series, done in the style of a Japanese Anime, based in the Pacific Rim universe, and then set in Australia, well, that is an exciting combination if I have ever heard it. Good or bad, you want to see how it works. With that in mind, let’s dive into this fascinating if flawed world.

So to set the scene, we open in the days after chaos erupts across Australia as rifts open up the centre of the continent. After a valiant fight, it becomes clear that Australia is lost, and the call to evacuate is put out. Everyone had five days to reach Brisbane, Darwin, Perth, or Sydney. While trying to help with the evacuation, one Jager team stays back to stop the Kaijus because their children had yet to leave. They tried to get to the evac point, but they were too late. Instead, they took the group of civilians back to their home base Shadow Basin which was also destroyed. The parents left everyone behind in an oasis and leave to go to the coast to get help. Five years later, Hayley (Gideon Adlon) and Taylor (Calum Worthy) have a fractured relationship as their parents never returned. However, one day Hayley fell down a metal hole and discovers that not all of Shadow Basin was destroyed, with the Atlas Destroyer Jaeger and its AI Loa (Erica Lindbeck) still there. But that discovery becomes a beacon for all the danger in the world. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna (Dejimon Adobenchā Last Evolution Kizuna/ デジモンアドベンチャー Last Evolution 絆) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A surprisingly mature and emotional end to a long

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There are images during the mid-credits through to the end

Awards –

Nominated: Creative Animation
Winner: Creative Animation

Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna (Dejimon Adobenchā Last Evolution Kizuna/ デジモンアドベンチャー Last Evolution 絆). Image Credit: AnimeLab.

Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna Review –

When I was growing up in the 90s, there was not enough time in the morning to watch Cheez TV, so you would stick the tape into the VCR and just waited all day to see what was taped when you got home. One of those shows that I still think back fondly on was Digimon Digital Monsters. It was this tale of these young kids getting trapped in a digital world, but they were not alone because they made friends with the local Digimon. It had two solid seasons where we followed their stories, but after that, they did the animated equivalent of Skins and shifted the whole world up and along the way I just got lost. Well, today I get to go back in time and revisit an old past with the conclusion to that story started so long ago. Just before we dive in (because I know this is important to some people), I watched the dubbed movie for this review, not the subbed. Purely because this is the version I grew up on, so this was the version I was going to say goodbye to.

So to set the scene, years have passed since the series and other movies and the DigiDestined have grown up and are going about their lives. However, across the world, an Aurora has been dazzling the night sky from New York to Tokyo. There is nothing to fear … the government says … right up until a portal to the digital world opens and Parrotmon (Yoshihito Sasaki) bursts forth. Luckily Tai (Joshua Seth), Matt (Nicolas Roye), T.K. (Johnny Yong Bosch) and Kari (Tara Sands) along with their Digimon can send it back to the digital world. However, in its wake, DigiDestined around the world have begun falling into a coma, and no one knows who will be next. Now in this review, I do want to spend some time exploring some of the themes, but that will head us into spoiler town real quick. So I will start with some general impressions before delving in more in-depth.

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TV Review – Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045: Season 1

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TL;DR – This is an ambitious return into the world of Ghost in the Shell that exceeds expectation in some areas but I am not sure the overarching story is going to work for everyone.

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045. Image Credit: Netflix.

Review –

There are a couple of shows that serve as a gateway into the world of anime. One of the greats is Ghost in the Shell a grand cyber-punk post-human jaunt into the future. For a lot of people, it was the movie that was their first contact, but for me, it was the Ghost in the Shell SAC. It was this, bright bold explosion, exploring religion, philosophy, what it meant to be alive. Since then I have wondered if anyone could capture that again, and the less said about that movie the better. Well, today we get a chance to see as we dive back into the world of Major Motoko Kusanagi (Atsuko Tanaka/Mary Elizabeth McGlynn).      

In the time since the show and movie, the world has become a very different place. The G4, that is America, China, Russia, and the European Union, moved the world into an economical system called Sustainable War, which sounds about as bad as it. This is escalated by the Global Simultaneous Default when all the world’s financial system collapsed at the same time. Since Section 9 had been disbanded, most of the team joined in on the sustainable war effort as a mercenary team called Ghost. They worked their way up from South America and at the start of the series they are travelling through the ruins of Palm Springs. They are there to stop a raid on the gated section of Los Angeles but there is more going on than they first thought. Now we will be looking at the series as a whole and as such there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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