Legend of Korra Series Finale: Hooray! Makorra is Dead!

Legend of Korra Series Finale: Hooray! Makorra is Dead!

“I guess, I see a lot of myself in you.” – Korra So let’s start with that quote. On the plus side, it’s refreshing for the Avatar to actually talk someone down from violence instead of beat them up until they accept peace. In a sense, it resolves the Dark Korra arc that’s been haunting the season by showing Korra concoct an alternate solution to what her shadow’s been stopping her from doing. People complained that this was going on…

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Cross Ange Episode 12 – Putting the ‘Onsen’ in ‘Nonsense’

Cross Ange Episode 12 – Putting the ‘Onsen’ in ‘Nonsense’

After that rather mind… something or whatever (unsure if it is right to call it ‘mind-blowing’) last episode, we return to a damaged Arzenal this week. Instead of dealing with what the hell happened with DRAGON Princess, Ange makes Commander Jill live up to her promise in Episode 10 to spill the beans on the story of Arzenal. Unsurprisingly she does that in a hot springs, but surprisingly it’s pretty comprehensive. In essence it’s the dog and pony show of…

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Psycho-Pass 2: Why, Christ?

Psycho-Pass 2: Why, Christ?

So Psycho-Pass 2 has recently ended. And after my commending impression of the first episode, this show went off the rails more than any other show this season could do. Yes, you can say that Grisaia or Sword Art Online were worse, but they didn’t have that extra sting of being promised a sequel to a wonderful show. Maybe it was blind idealism getting in the way of seeing what was going on before the beginning. One could hope that…

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Cross Ange Episode 11 – Whoremonic Convergence

Cross Ange Episode 11 – Whoremonic Convergence

Initially only present in the OP and ED, we finally see that DRAGON Princess for the first time. She of course is some wunderkind with not only a Paramail but also in vocals that control DRAGONs and fire twin-shoulder death spirals powerful enough to destroy roughly half of Arzenal. If that’s not enough, Ange unlocks the Vilkiss’s power by singing as well. Then they cancel each other out and then that scene above, with the background montage spanning multiple storylines…

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“Chicken and Mayo – what an odd combo!” (Mayo Chiki)

“Chicken and Mayo – what an odd combo!” (Mayo Chiki)

Release date: Summer 2011 Director: Keiichiro Kawaguchi Script: Reiko Yoshida, Keiichiro Ochi and Yuka Yamada Studio: feel. Well, here’s this year’s review that I am doing for Animation Revelation. Last year, I wrote about Bodacious Space Pirates, a very fun and entertaining show that I still quite like a lot. Now, as 2014 comes to a close, I am taking a look at another show, brought to us by the wonderful folks from Sentai Filmworks having since gotten a re-release…

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Legend of Korra Episode 11: The Other Kind of Bender

Legend of Korra Episode 11: The Other Kind of Bender

Okay, I get it. Kuvira’s forming the Earth Reich. She’s making Nazi Dirtmany, with her own Groundstapo and Earthmacht. The only way to dig the point deeper would be for her to make up her own language that sounds suspiciously like German, or to name the last episode “Groundfall”. Not an episode goes by where some character doesn’t talk about evil Kuvira is. I have deep pity for anyone who takes a shot every time Kuvira’s villainy is mentioned or…

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Daisuke Jigen’s Gravestone: Revolv(er)ing Door Caskets

Daisuke Jigen’s Gravestone: Revolv(er)ing Door Caskets

I’ve always been a big fan of Lupin III. It’s not high art by any means, but the fun characters, cool artwork, great music, and thrilling (if often predictable) capers are simply too alluring for me to resist. It’s a nice mega-franchise, and with so many episodes and films to choose from, one that usually offers just what I need when I want to turn my brain off and enjoy some decidedly old school animation. Much like the five other…

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Cross Ange Episode 10 – Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Norma

Cross Ange Episode 10 – Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Norma

What an incredibly brisk episode this was. We start with a public event of the torture and execution for Ange which quickly is quelled. Ange and Momoka are rescued by Not-Kira, the former gets disciplined plus detained for a week as punishment, and fully reconciles with Hilda (apparently brought back right after her dirt road beatdown last episode) as they bond over Norma things. Things like say… someday getting back at the world for being so stupid with their rabid…

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Legend of Korra Episode 10: Premature Burst

Legend of Korra Episode 10: Premature Burst

So besides saving Zhu Li, what was the point of Bolin being in this episode? He didn’t really prove his worth or show off any lavabending moves. Instead, he’s just the comic relief in a recon mission. And while that would be just dandy in the first season, but we already had over 40 episodes to deal with that. I don’t think the writers know what to do with Bolin anymore. They keep throwing him around as a failed movie…

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Cross Ange Episode 09 – The Episode without a Snarky Jibe for an Article Title

Cross Ange Episode 09 – The Episode without a Snarky Jibe for an Article Title

Cross Ange is a show that is either run by sadistic misogynists or the maddest set of geniuses. This episode is a tense affair, because it is already established how hated Norma are on the mainland. All that needs to be done is to show how awful the aftermath is, once the steel-toed shoes drop on the baby Norma surreptitiously placed in its descent path. Mark my words, it is quite awful, and yet somehow establishes a thematic consistency, reconnecting…

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