#Anime Short Reviews

[mechanimereview]

Some Sequel Thoughts (2045 Part 2 and T&B 2)

I’m Not Going To Write Long Posts About These Are you ever at that point where you said or you were meaning to write something about these things and you just don’t? Especially when they are sequels to some of your favorite shows? Shows that made you think you would have a lot to save about them and then you stare at the screen of your word processor for an hour or so and have not much to say?…

[lindoesntwin]

FABULOUS BEASTS

A mythical deer who was living his retirement in the heavens was kicked down to earth to help his fellow mythical creatures to survive in the modern world.

[ducktracy]

at this point, combing through boards to post and going “oh i forgot i referenced that” is also a part of my boarding process

[musings-and-overanalyses]

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind: Why This is My Favourite Ghibli Movie

CW: Major high-school English teacher vibes ahead. Proceed at your own risk.

Nausicaä of the valley of wind is a story of the titular character Nausicaä and her being a bridge between the world of humans and nature to bring peace, thus fulfilling an ancient prophecy.

Nausicaa is the princess of the Valley of the Wind. The film begins with her walking and exploring the Sea of Decay, an area with toxic air, plants and fungal spores. She collects some spores and finds the hard molten shell of an Ohmu (gigantic blue-blooded trilobite-looking creatures), which her people use to make weapons and tools. As the name suggests, the Valley of the Wind is a civilisation that depends on and bases their culture around wind, which one can see through an abundance of windmills and gliders, including the one that Nausicaä rides. They are shown to be peaceful people who do not interfere with the politics of the warring human kingdoms or disturb nature. Nausicaä in particular is shown to have a special gift with animals—from calming Ohmus to having a pet fox-squirrel. As the existence of the kingdom depends on the sea wind that shields them from the effects of the sea of decay, there is a general reverence towards nature and its other members such as the Ohmus, that are often referred to with honorifics.

This was an element I liked: the symbolism goes deep in this film; for example, with the nature of wind—it being the very breath necessary for life is contrasted with its other face, through toxic spores in the sea of decay capable of killing anyone who inhales it.

It is revealed that humans had built The Giant Men, weapons so dangerous—not unlike our atomic bombs as shown through the characteristic mushroom cloud—that the destruction caused by the war had unleashed the fury of the Ohmus, an otherwise gentle species. They wiped out entire civilisations and where they died, the Sea of Decay grew on their decomposing corpses, showing how all life is interconnected and that even in death the rage of the Ohmus, and through them the rage of nature, wouldn't subside. It is then that the viewers find out that this is not some far-off planet, but a post-apocalyptic future on earth.

New species of plants and fungi made the Sea of Decay their habitat—nature and life always find a way. It is implied that the humans lost the war referred to as the Seven days of Fire, but the truth is that it is not a war that can ever be won. Even if you win the war against nature you lose. As the story progresses, we see that the plants and fungi that Nausicaä collected from the Sea of Decay are actually trying to purify the soil and water—nature holds no grudges but only seeks balance.

The seventh of the Giant Men, a sentient atomic bomb if you will, apparently hid underground for a thousand years until the kingdom of Pejite found it for use against their enemy, the Tolmekians. They both remain oblivious to the sheer destruction that can be caused by this Giant Man and they don't care either. Despite the balance between humans and nature being a delicate one, instead of trying to rebuild together, they justify to themselves that the war is necessary for self-preservation and to put humans back on top of the food chain.

In their hubris, the Tolmekians and their princess Kushana believe that with the help of their superweapon they can destroy the Sea of Decay despite knowing that it will trigger the wrath of the Ohmus. The Giant Man however is not complete and hence, though the devastation is great, the final giant man dies and all that remains to be done is to calm the wrath of the Ohmus.

Nausicaä saves an Ohmu child who was injured by Tolmekian soldiers to lure the Ohmus into a war. She saves the baby Ohmu and sacrifices her own life to calm the sea of maddened Ohmus. The now-calm Ohmu then revive Nausicaä, symbolising the mystical healing power of nature and its ability to support and create life.

Nausicaä is an excellent protagonist, and how the trope of the chosen one is utilised is beautiful and full of symbolism. Right from the get-go, we see her being inquisitive and brave. She is willing to defend her people but not through violence. And it is made abundantly clear that her avoidance of violence is not due to any lack of strength; when she strikes down the soldiers who killed her father, rather than feeling any sense of pride (as one might expect from a character not used to strength), it sickens her. She shows understanding even towards Kushana, whose men took over her kingdom. She sincerely loves and respects animals and plants.

There was a prophecy among the people of the valley of wind that a person clad in blue over golden fields will save their kingdom and bring peace. And towards the end of the film, Nausicaä's clothes becoming blue with the blood of the baby Ohmu she saved and the golden fields being the tendrils of the Ohmus healing her is poetic to say the least.

In addition to a good female protagonist, we also get a powerful female antagonist in Kushana, who starts out as a one-note expansionist ruler, but it is revealed that she lost her limbs and got severely maimed by the sea of decay, motivating her to destroy it once and for all. Proud and arrogant, sure, but she has a motive beyond just wanting power and possesses some form of a moral code. In another story she could be the protagonist bravely defending humanity against the evil, alien-esque trilobites and spores.

It was a unique and meaningful choice on Miyazaki's part to symbolise nature through the Ohmus—alien-looking giant insects—instead of something cute and fluffy. Oftentimes humans care more about the conservation of animals that they find cute (pandas over, say, Panamanian golden frogs), but an animal doesn't have to appeal to human aesthetics to be worth conserving.

Absolutely not to be missed is the breathtaking soundtrack by Hisaishi. There are symphonies, techno music, sitar-like instruments and a child's humming, all elevating every scene to give a moving experience.

Ultimately it is an ambitious story that aims to deal with themes of coexisting with nature, the futility and dangers of war, and of how innocent children who should live carefree lives are dragged into it and made heroes. This film is often categorised as falling into the genre of Solarpunk: a literary and artistic movement that centres around building a sustainable future interconnected with nature and community. Although this film does depict violence and wars, it ultimately shows a peaceful future is possible.

Truly a masterpiece. 9/10.

[sinnermannn]

Transformers One is such an incredible film that is for everyone I feel. Long time fan to new fan of transformers I feel would love this film. What do you guys think?

[stevencraigkuhl]

[afza147]

Pantheon season 1 short review

The uploaded intelligence where people seek to live after death

Basically season 1 is origin and chaos

Super shock on caspian life

Perhaps a love line with Maddie in next season

Which I so thankfully it existed🙏🏻 the season 2 not the loveline( as I have not watch season 2)

Ratings: 5🧠/ 5 👩🏻‍💻

It's good series with a future in view plus the ending really wraps up everything👍🏻

[goatsandgangsters]

Book Review: Januaries by Olivie Blake

★☆☆☆☆ [1/5 stars]

DNF at 34% / after 4 stories / on page 133

This was a slog, with juvenile writing, flimsy storytelling, and nothing particularly interesting to say.

I tried. I really tried. But after thinking, "I'm not enjoying this. Maybe I'll try one more?" after every single story, I can't do it. I can't try just one more. I'm not strong enough.

The writing style was unimpressive. It alternated between unsuccessfully attempting a lyrical voice and (much more often) writing in what I've now termed "meme voice"—a quippy, modern-slangy, overly casual tone that often jarred with the fantastical fairytale setting. The two styles together clashed, and neither was wielded with much success.

The short stories themselves seemed to take a very long time to accomplish very little. There was a lot of needlessly convoluted setup, where the only payoff was the exact same cookie-cutter couple falling in love. Again. Seemed extremely roundabout. None of these stories are really "doing anything."

I picked this up because the cover is gorgeous and I thought the seasonal framing would make it a good pick for the start of the year. While the cover remains gorgeous and has thankfully not decayed Dorian Gray-style, even the seasonal framing seems arbitrary. Maybe it becomes clearer with later stories in the collection, but so far there hasn't been anything to tie these stories to their particular season thematically. There's no sense of temporality at all, which seems careless given this collection is structured around time.

I try really hard to finish everything that I pick up by choice. I don't DNF lightly. I can't even remember the last time I outright gave up. But my good will as a reader has been completely squandered and I don't think there's any benefit to continuing—either for myself or for this review, which would probably devolve into angry swearing if I tried to force myself through an insurmountable 200 more pages.

I haven't read any Olivie Blake before, though I know of her. Maybe her novels are stronger (short stories are their own unique skill set), but unfortunately I'm not very motivated to find out, as this was a poor first impression.

Below are my notes that I jotted while reading each story:

The Wish Bridge: 2.5 stars Writing is very juvenile. Alternates between attempting a lyrical fairytale voice (itself meh) and extremely modern slang-y phrasing, which is jarring. Feels like flash fiction on tumblr, but not in a good way (aka trying too hard to rules-lawyer a trope or genre convention, instead of telling an actual story). Not a strong start for a collection.

The Audit: 1 star Took a long time to do not very much, which is not a great quality in a short story. The whole setup seemed like a needlessly roundabout way to achieve what it wanted to achieve; I was expecting it to do More based on the premise. The meme-y voice still isn't my favorite, but it fit better for this story and this character. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around someone unironically writing and publishing this story In This Economy. It truly boggles my mind that this story has NOTHING to say about labor OR free will vs destiny. Truly taking the speculative out of spec fic.

TUMBLR EXCLUSIVE: I hated this short story so much that I had to text @opheliaintherushes venting about the bizarre pointless premise, and I think you'll all hate it too, so I'm transcribing my annoyed texts below so you know that I am Justified In My Ire once you understand the plot [editor's note: annoyed texts have been condensed for clarity]: so it's set in what I'm ASSUMING is a near-future sci-fi setting where using ~technology, they have this new pilot program where people in their 20s can find out how much money they're going to earn in their entire life, get the whole lump sum upfront as a loan, go enjoy their youth, and then when they're like 35 they go do whatever job they're "meant to do" that earns them all that money in the first place You might think the point of this setup is to explore something about work or wealth or youth or capitalism. You would be wrong. Our annoying 20-something protagonist finds out the ~terrible news that she now has 40 MILLION DOLLARS IN HER BANK ACCOUNT. She has to go to grad school when she's 30 so she can get the qualifications for her job at age 35, but otherwise she has a decade to enjoy HAVING 40 MILLION DOLLARS Also did the question of free will or fate factor into this ever? No. It did not. She spends the entire short story doing absolutely nothing. She said she was going to quit her job to travel. She doesn't do this. She repeatedly GOES TO WORK. (She works in, wait for it, a bookstore because of course she does of COURSE she fucking does. and it's a ~chill bookstore that makes all its money selling rare books so she doesn't have to do like, any work). It is so many pages of her just like, considering buying Nice Chocolate and then getting stressed and not buying it. And then continuing to go to work The thing that she DOES do is repeatedly hang out with her downstairs neighbor in his apartment that he never leaves ever. He only got several hundred-thousand dollars, because he's going to die young, which is why he's stopped leaving the apartment (again: do questions of fate come into play here? No) They fall in love, which apparently was the actual point of this short story. Seems like a whole lot of unnecessary setup to me just to write a story about falling in love with your weird neighbor So anyway, after doing absolutely nothing with her 40 MILLION DOLLARS for like twenty pages except think about how she doesn't really know what to do with it, it ends with her renting a bunch of famous paintings from museums and bringing them to this guy's apartment so that he can enjoy them without leaving his apartment. The end. hold onto your blood pressure, but her roommate is in law school (she chose not to find out her ~destiny) and the protagonist is like "do you want me to like, pay for law school" and the roommate says no (??) and the protagonist is like "I just want to make things easier on you" and the roommate says AND I QUOTE "things being easy isn't the point." which like WHAT. in this economy????? Why are you setting up a story about WEALTH AND FATE AND PREDESTINATION AND WORK to literally just bone your neighbor I'm literally staring at the wall of my cubicle and thinking "I don't know if I can do it. I'm not strong enough." Usually books that I hate take longer than this to go off the rails. It's been 51 pages. There's 300 more.

this was also the point when I came on tumblr and complained to you all about my suffering, but then I continued to read two more stories "just in case it got better." It didn't.

Sucker for Pain: 3.5 stars On a style level, the writing was worlds better than the first two. But in terms of plot and character, it was basically every YA paranormal fantasy that's ever been written condensed into 40 pages, so it wasn't really for me. At least that there was some degree of prose.

My feeling is again that we just sort of meandered around for 40 pages. There isn't a strong sense of purpose here, or that real kick that short stories are meant to have. So far none of these have been Doing Anything in a storytelling sense

The Animation Games: 2 stars Well, this one went in directions I did not expect, which is not the same as Doing Something. Again took too long to do very little of substance and unfortunately it devolved into meme-y-ness and a very typical couple dynamic that's been done to (ha) death. I kept looking at the number of pages and feeling deeply frustrated that there were more of them. Romantically murdering each other with weird antics like somebody decided they wanted Tom/Jerry instead of Tom & Jerry went on for an excruciating number of pages.

Shoutout to one of the worst sentences I've ever read: "He let the water coat his lips, seeping coolly onto his tongue, before it slithered gradually down his throat and settled conclusively in his stomach." Slithered? Settled conclusively?? Maybe I shouldn't have complained about the meme voice if this is what her attempts at being lyrical are like. But unfortunately this sentence lives in the same story as meme-voice dialogue such as "I sort of assumed you were the regular kind of dead." It's painful.

The only thing I felt after this story was exhausted relief that it was over.

In conclusion: I would recommend this book to people who want to look at the cover without ever opening it.

[eu0n1a]

Develop Dialogue (Pt 3)

Use these lines of dialogue, and the following longer conversations, to explore what the scenario might be, and who might be saying these lines. You can use them for a screenplay, play, or in prose.

1) “I had hoped that if I could convince my mother, I was a bear, she would just let me stay in bed and sleep through the winter. But no, she made me go to school.”

2) “ people like to chat when they’re happy; that’s why I like to make them mad. They are unable to find the words and, and that sweet moment of silence, I can simply walk away..”

3) “why are you listening to ___? No good ever came from listening to ___”

4) “ please don’t eat me”

5) “this is the worst thing anyone has ever given me, including the time, my brother punched me on my birthday and called it a ‘complimentary boxing lessons’”

6) “ I didn’t say that. I would never say that.”

7) “I think you might be the very worst person I’ve ever met. And considering I hate everyone, I find that very impressive.”

8) “don’t touch me. Don’t look at me. Don’t even breathe near me.”

9) “you could try being nice to me.”

10) “I’m a person before I’m your friend.”

[hoyotunes]

Honkai World Diva (Movie Ver.) from Review Mika Kobayashi, Sya, Zoe, Gon, HOYO-MiX

[agentnico]

An Almost Christmas Story (2024) review

Forget Red One, THIS is the kind of holiday season nonsense we seek to enjoy this time of year! 

Plot: Moon, a curious young owl, finds herself trapped in a Christmas tree destined for Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. Trying to escape the city, Moon befriends a lost little girl named Luna. Together, they embark on an adventure.

Amongst Disney+’s endless library of Marvel and Star Wars cash-grabbing content there are rare occurrences when little charming projects such as this come to fruition, and more so allow for certain filmmakers you’d never think to team up make something special. In this case we have Alfonso Cuarón and David Lowery co-producing and writing this delightful little short that perfectly embodies the magic of the holiday season. It’s a simple premise about friendship, courage and the power of home, however told in such a heartwarming way, with impressive animation that stylistically resembles those cardboard pop-ups you get on certain fancy Christmas cards, as well as am engaging voice cast.

The aforementioned animation is particularly wonderful, as at first I was fooled into thinking it was stop-motion, however it is in fact CG. Which is surprising as the level of detail and texture of the character designs looks very photo real as if they were real handmade models. The little owl’s facial layers are particularly top notch!

Truly there isn’t much more to say here other than this is a lovely 20 minutes to spend, with fun folk songs sung by John C. Reilly (who also narrates), and in fact reminded me of how Reilly is genuinely a solid singer. Then again, how can we forget that John C. Reilly is also the man, the myth, the legend Dewey Cox, and he can walk hard! Anyway, do check out An Almost Christmas Story and let it fill you up with cuteness and the fuzzies. I am just going to bypass the fact though that again this type of content being released in November rather than December seems a tad early seeing as we’re still over a month away from Christmas Day. But I shall not be a Scrooge this time around and simply enjoy this little tiny owl do it’s owly thang.

Overall score: 7/10

[tuliharja]

BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War - The Conflict episode 4 review

This week's episode was truly as shonen as one can get! Lots of staring, lots of shouting, bleeding hearts toward your former friend...not forgetting fighting. Despite that, I'm kind of happy Bleach is going somewhat fast-paced with things, because if this episode had been made a few years ago or sort of, they would have prolonged Uryuu's and Ichigo's fight about five (would that have been even enough?) episodes or sort of. But now it was neatly started and wrapped up.

As a manga reader, this episode cleared two things for me. The first is about Uryuu and the second is about Yhwach's future role as the new king. (I won't call him Soul King, because he is Quincy and I can only imagine Yhwach would throw a tantrum over such a name.) But if we stick just with the anime...let me just write this: some foreshadowing was done in this.

Yoruichi at the beginning of the episode was pretty epic. I really liked how she tried to seal the new Soul King while others all but stood by. Too bad she got shot down in the end, but at least she tried. Let's hope her fall wasn't too far, because if she fell all the way down to Seireitei? Erm, I'm pretty sure even Yoruichi wouldn't survive from that. Maybe Ichigo got shot by Uryuu, because of his protagonist tag, but even so... this episode seriously made me once again wonder about the role of Orihime, Chad, and Ganju. While it was nice they tried to help Ichigo a little bit and fought even against the rest of the Quincies (were Uryuu and company just standing by side and sipping some drinks while Yhwach had been giving his glares to Ichigo and company or what?) it still made me question why they were there. The fact most of the time we saw them standing by felt a bit...like a wasted potential. But I suppose Ichigo needed his moment to shine with Uryuu.

Where we get to another point! I haven't ever really understood if there is a big urgent thing, instead of starting to solve your personal matters, one should focus on the bigger one. In this case, rescuing the Soul King. While it was obvious the right hand of Soul King could put up a fight, I'm pretty sure if Ichigo had put his fight against Uryuu as a secondary matter, maybe this result of Soul King getting adsorbed by Yhwach could have been avoided? Which made me wonder did Soul King truly died or not? After all, does someone die when they're adsorbed, or does their identity, the 'me' just disappear? Anyway, the all drama of everything coming down and worlds ending...was the biggest hoax. Maybe in a certain perspective, shinigamis' world will end, because I can't imagine Yhwach just letting them all live their happy (corrupted) lives. Same with the hollows, but the World of the Living? I don't know. Unless Yhwach makes himself known to everybody, nothing for them will change and I bet even with hollows things would be pretty same: getting hunted by someone. With shinigami? Erm, massacra? Slavery? I don't know. But I'm sure Yhwach will reveal his grand plan in the next episode. The next episode's title at least implied so much.

I'm also curious to see if Ichibe will patch up Ichigo or did he indeed fall down all the way down to Seireitei along with Yoruichi? Or, did Orihime, Chad, and Ganju pick up at least Ichigo? I'm sure we'll see that in the next episode. Plus, what Urahara and others will do~.

[endysfrair]

Mini-agro-goat-toxic

in Animated Short - Hook, Lamb and Sinker

Wow! ✨ Look at the smooth animation we are delighted with in the new trailer for Cult of the Lamb

I just don’t understand why Goth is so toxic here, although in his own announcement, he seemed to be the best friend of the Lamb, simply the most faithful bro, who would not give offense to a friend. Such a powerful little bandit and fear of enemies with just his appearance, and he’s like a clichéd older brother, bantering and pushing...

And yes, I saw the ending, he noticed the crowd and ran to save it, but in my opinion this is even more cliché. He's kind of teasing, but in case of danger he will come running to pull him out, although he himself is the cause of Lambert's black eye.

🧊 And by the way, what kind of ice age are we waiting for? Glaciers or maybe a change of season in the settlement??? I think that's even more interesting ^^

Subscribe, here will be the latest news of your favorite games, reviews and theories, selections from the past Gamescom 2024 "The Heart of Gaming", as well as notes on anime that I recommend watching or which are worth refreshing in memory for our short discussion.

Your Shadow Cultist

[kiyosho-art]

Hello! I have a free PDF preview excerpt of my novel, Finbar. Enjoy!

SUMMARY: Wolf hybrids are increasingly becoming an endemic problem for the state of New Hampshire, due to unconcerned breeders and people that bite off more than they can chew. When Finbar, a high-content wolf-dog, grows too big for his owner to handle, he is abandoned in the most cruel way imaginable; drowned in an icy river in the White Mountains, Finbar was ready to accept his fate and succumb to the cold. However, to his shock, he does not die but lives, due to the help of a kind young she-wolf.

Going forward, Finbar must learn how to survive in the wild, running with no place to call home. Neither wolves, nor dogs, nor humans will accept him due to his mixed blood, but with the help of the friends he meets along the way Finbar forms a pack of misfits. Together, they search for a place in the world to call their own.

GET IT HERE: https://sweetwatergoodies.gumroad.com/l/finbarprev

[artistryaffinity]

The Magic Kiss

Once upon a time, in a bustling little town nestled in a serene forest, there lived a girl named Lily. Lily was a cheerful, adventurous child who loved exploring the woods near her home. She would often spend her afternoons wandering through the trees, listening to the songs of birds, and watching squirrels play. However, her most cherished companion on these adventures was her cat, Snowball.

Snowball was a small, fluffy kitten with pure white fur and bright blue eyes. He followed Lily everywhere, scampering beside her with boundless energy. The two were inseparable, their bond growing stronger with each passing day.

One sunny afternoon, Lily and Snowball ventured deeper into the forest than ever before. They stumbled upon a hidden glade filled with vibrant flowers of every color imaginable. The air was sweet with the scent of blossoms, and the sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting a golden glow over everything.

As Lily and Snowball explored the glade, they noticed a peculiar shimmer coming from a cluster of flowers at the center. Curiosity piqued, and they approached and discovered a small, ancient-looking chest nestled among the blooms. Lily knelt down and carefully opened the chest, revealing a sparkling, heart-shaped locket inside.

The locket was exquisite, adorned with tiny jewels that seemed to twinkle with their own light. As Lily held it in her hands, she felt a warm, comforting sensation wash over her. Snowball, sensing something magical, climbed onto Lily’s lap and nuzzled the locket. To Lily’s amazement, the locket began to glow even brighter.

In that moment, Snowball leaned forward and gave Lily a gentle kiss on the cheek. The warmth from the locket spread through Lily’s body, filling her with an overwhelming sense of love and happiness. She realized that this was no ordinary locket—iit was a magical charm that amplified the love between her and Snowball.

With the locket’s power, Lily and Snowball discovered they could communicate with each other in a way they never had before. Snowball’s purrs and meows now conveyed clear thoughts and feelings, and Lily could understand him perfectly. Their adventures became even more exciting as they shared their discoveries and experiences in a whole new way.

Word of Lily and Snowball’s magical bond soon spread throughout the town. People marveled at the extraordinary friendship between the girl and her cat, and many came to see the enchanted locket. But Lily knew that the true magic lay not in the locket itself but in the pure, unconditional love she shared with Snowball.

From that day on, Lily and Snowball continued to explore the forest, their bond growing ever stronger. They cherished their special connection, knowing that love had the power to create magic in the most unexpected ways. And so, they lived happily ever after, their hearts forever intertwined by the magic of a simple, loving kiss.

[iamthelastreader]

The Beginning of the Story

"I lose myself, yet I am found, In distant lands, on shifting ground, A thousand lives, a million faces, Drifting through forgotten places."

Hi, and welcome to IAmTheLastReader.

This is my little space to share my love for stories, poetry, novels, manga, and anime. A place to get lost and explore what words and worlds, have to offer.