Hello once again my fellow anime enthusiasts. This is the thread in which you can pour out your heart and soul about any anime-related topic you feel like. Want to know what to watch next? Want to espouse the virtues of your favorite 80’s anime? Just want to check in with others about shows you are vibing with this season? This is the place!
As always, make sure to tag your spoilers! If you don’t, then Light will write your favorite character’s name in his notebook.
Finally got a little time to watch this week. Wrapped up my HBO Max journey by finishing the last couple movies I don’t have on disc. Turns out four of them I had picked up on previous Black Friday sales and forgot haha.
Belle: I enjoyed it and the animation was very good. But probably my least favorite Mamoru Hosoda film. Wolf Children and Mirai are easily my favorites, while this felt like mostly a retread of Summer Wars. Where it went different than Summer Wars, especially the more challenging content topics, I think it could’ve done better with a more complete message. This gets too spoilery to discuss further unfortunately. It’s worth watching, still.
From Up on Poppy Hill: I liked this much more than the last Goro Miyazaki film I watched (Earwig). Similar to Only Yesterday, it was a really nice look into a specific time period in Japan. This time the early 1960’s, with the massive developments going on in Tokyo and nearby cities. This felt like a typical Ghibli film, with very likable and strong female protagonist and a plot with a strong moral message about respecting the past/heritage. I enjoyed it more than Belle and was one of my favorites I’ve been blasting through. Still need to get to Tales of Earthsea sometime to complete my Goro journey.
Caught up on Frieren and absolutely loving it. If it keeps up, it’s going to take AOTY from Oshi no Ko for me.
Congratulations on finishing your HBO Max travels! Glad that you found some things that you enjoyed on the way. I am realizing from your posts that I could stand to watch more things in the movie format. I haven’t watched many anime movies at all other than the occasional movie that is part of a series I am watching.
As for personal AOTY, earlier this year, I was sure that Oshi no Ko had it on lock. However, Frieren has been truly special. I really, really love the manga, so I kind of figured I would be let down by the anime adaptation since I didn’t think it could get any better. However, it has exceeded even my optimistic dreams. I was worried that the story might not connect with general audiences, but I am really glad to see the widespread love for the series.