Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Your Forma

In the past few years of anime streaming, we have had escalating forms of “Streaming Jail”. First, there was Netflix Jail, where a show would sit on TV in Japan but was licensed for streaming in English on Netflix, so you had to wait until the show was done. Then there was Disney+ Jail, where the show was licensed on Disney+ internationally, and you had to wait and see if it went on that service in your region. Now, with Your Forma, we have Smart-device Specific Jail, where a series is only licensed for streaming to a service that’s locked to a specific company’s smart devices. Good news for me – I have a Samsung smartphone and tablet. Bad news for Your Forma – it can’t make it to viewers who don’t.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Mobile Suit Gundam Quuuux

Gundam Quuuux is a bit of a tricky series to recommend. First, it has the continuation of a problem that appears to have started with Witch From Mercury of series that just didn’t have enough time for their plot and characters to breathe, and not (as was the case with First Gundam) because it was cut short due to poor ratings or sponsors bailing. Second, it’s an alternative universe take on the Universal Century that doesn’t provide a lot of hooks for people who are new to that timeline. I enjoyed it, but I wonder how much of that is due to my own familiarity with the events and characters it’s playing with.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Wind Breaker Season 2

Wind Breaker’s second season, at first glance, seems like it’s characterization is weaker than the series first season, with protagonist Haruka Sakura taking a backseat to some of the supporting cast. Instead I’d say the characterization of Sakura moves in a different direction, though we do get more development for one of the members of Bofurin’s Four Kings.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Anime Review: Please Put Them On, Takamine-San!

Ghu Bless the Reiwa-era rom-com! We have, with Please Put Them On, Takamine-San!,  which I’m just going to call Takamine-san going forward, a fanservice comedy that generally nails the character dynamics. This includes sexual slapstick that has consent (except one bit in the first episode)! This isn’t a bar that you’d think would need to be cleared, but it is, and it has, though its head did strike the bar.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

TV Review: Twin Peaks: The Return

The end of Twin Peaks’ second season had Laura Palmer tell us she’d see us again in 25 years, before leaving the Real Cooper trapped in the Black Lodge, and BOB wearing Cooper’s body. The film, Fire Walk With Me, provided more details about the background, including Laura Palmer’s last days, but left Cooper’s fate horrifyingly up in the air. We weren’t to get answers for another 25 years of real time. Twin Peaks: The Return serves as a farewell to the world of the series and its characters, as David Lynch’s (somewhat unintentional) final work, and a bit of a commentary on how the world (and television) has changed in the last quarter-century.

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