Blatch

I figured that if there'd be a new FLCL sequel, it'd be from the original creators and attempt to show the people who made Progressive and Alternative how its done. But this... well, if DeMarco keeps this up, I don't think Toonami is going to survive to its 30th anniversary. 😛 I mean, maybe it could work better now that these new creative teams are free from the baggage that plagued the previous sequels, since now there's no need to ape the style of the original or subvert it in a significant way. On the other hand, I think Alternative would've worked better as a completely original project. At least the other new series they're making looks interesting.

And not only that, the two sets have different music. For what it's worth, I prefer the second one, which has less obnoxious music plus the clips of Reg getting elecrocuted and Riko throwing a fit. Pretty cute... but they clash with the bumps badly, and it's going to get worse starting this weekend. I would hope for new bumps starting with The Return, but... I don't know. I don't think they'd go all out for a TIE that only lasts two weeks, when most of the previous ones lasted four. They'll probably keep things the same, and I'll start to wonder why I don't just mute the bumps already.

On the plus side, college basketball took the top four spots, sports in general almost swept the top 10, and even a second-tier NASCAR race didn't do that badly. I, for one, welcome our new bracket overlords. [i picked arizona to win it all]

Part of me wishes they could stay on each layer for longer, but then again, I think this show's pacing is just exactly perfect. On the other hand, this series is getting a video game! It's an RPG that's supposed to come out later this year. There's some more info on it here, but be careful if you're spoilerphobic because it has a key visual for the second season, on top of a tease for the current one. One extra aside: I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone talk about madokajacks in the context of Madoka Magica on Toonami. Yeah, it's a blatant reference, but that joke would've killed in the block's glory days (2014-16).

That hallucination scene was great. Equal parts fucked up and uplifting, mostly since it shows how much Reg means to Riko.

That wrecked ship embedded into the wall is the Abyss is so cool, and yet the show treats it like a throwaway scene. Oh, and to add to that, a tension-filled chase with the splitjaw. Reg's out cold, but I think Riko will manage.

And we open on Marulk's scene. What a good kid. On to the third layer, where it turns out there are lots of holes. Meanwhile, more exposition courtesy of the kids on the surface. I don't mind these scenes, of only because they give the neglected characters (and their VAs) something to do.

Okay, so that was... yeah. A fittingly quixotic end for a series no one expected a sequel to. I did think the idea of killing Jaaku in the past with a faster-than-light arrow was pretty cool, though. On top of that, Sentai did the subs for this too? They're really taking over the block, as I think they should. [think we can get hamefura on toonami?]

And now, a few more observations: I figured Joy looking like Nanami would be the obvious joke, but I was waiting to see if she was really voiced by Luci Christian to lock it down. Sure enough, she is. On the other hand, the young orphan boy not being voiced by Greg Ayres threw me off. The traditional Chinese lady shows up again and gets two words of dialogue. Nice. At least she didn't repeat that stupid poem again. Interesting how Ryo is now putting his fingers up to the bandage on his face. The first time, I thought he was going to take it off as an act of symbolism to mark reaching Hong Kong, but then he keeps gesturing to it. Maybe he's always done this and I never noticed? Nice action, which is to be expected. Turns out the best kind of pacifism is the one where you make your enemies beat each other. And the lady who runs the temple turns out to be wearing a China dress. Ooh la la. My preferences are traditional Japanese clothes, but I get the appeal of the cheongsam. Heck, the current Deresute gacha has a character wearing one, complete with double bun accessories. This show continues to be surprisingly delightful, even if it now feels odd to see the Crunchyroll logo on anything given that they're being dragged through the mud for wanting to pay translators less. At least Sentai's the one working on this show. Next week, the fighting continues.

Ah, Hong Kong. A place I've heard a lot about, but maybe not for good reasons. The show has done a good job as portraying it as a smoggy metropolis filled with unknown assailants, with the occasional scenic getaway. The temple Ryo went to is quite beautiful, and I can almost smell the incense. Too bad he's stuck trying to knock the leaves off this tree, in what I figure was a lengthy quest in the video game. As a side note, that was quite a while before the break, which threw me off in starting this post.

Our trip through the depths continues, as Reg and Riko find themselves at the lip of the Abyss's third layer, where a big vertical drop awaits them. How can they even get down? Find out at 1:30A on Toonami, just before we jump ahead an hour due to Daylight Saving Time. As a bonus, I'm going to try and pop into this forum (not just this thread, but Shenmue and maybe Cosmo Samurai too) and discuss the shows live.

I have seen the entire season, and I agree with your seeming reaction in that things get pretty bleak. On the other hand, when I tried rewatching it with the dub, I chickened out after the tenth episode. Ain't gonna happen this time.

That sequence near the end of this episode with Ozen explaining some of the Abyss's finer points is so good. It blows my mind to think that there's something tangible down in the seventh layer, when the sixth is the point of no return and even the fifth seems like a place with little info. I really want to keep watching this show after the Toonami run ends, though while the continuation movie will be fair game, I don't think the second season's coming out until the summer. And even then, it probably won't be dubbed for a while. It's been such a treat to watch this show, which Sentai did a really good job on, on American TV. 😇

I was expecting the review to go in-depth about Ozen bullying the kids, since that's my major sticking point with this episode. I don't know how else they could've set up the plot point of her being, well, irredeemable, but it was difficult to watch, especially since it comes from the same angle as some of the show's other taboo topics, like Riko being strung up naked. As for the rest of it, I didn't mind this episode's pacing, and while it did get a little sketchy at some points, I find it more tolerable than other shows given the simplistic designs of the main characters. Compare the most recent episode of My Dress-Up Darling, which had its characters in chibi mode for a few scenes, on top of other telltale signs of a budget running low like flashbacks and slow panning shots.

Yeah, I get it. If you can't find the time and don't want to use the brainpower required for reading over mere watching, taking a break is okay with me. But it really hurts to see this thread become so inactive. Where did everybody go? It seems like half the regulars left the forum for no apparent reason, while the others abruptly stopped posting just in here. And the anime-watching thread isn't any better: it's seemingly now down to just you, me, and Poke. Atsumare! Fushigi Kenkyu-bu 95-99 Bokura no Mahou Shounen 7/8 Witch Hat Atelier 8 The Quintessential Quintuplets 49/50 I ordered the first volume of Delicious in Dungeon off of Right Stuf, but it's currently in Supply Chain Hell. This after two failed attempts to pay for it using a gift card and after I waited a good while for it to even be in stock. We'll see how this shakes out, but in the meantime, I can't help but be impressed at my own persistence toward Atsumare. [reiko is best girl]

Cowboy Bebop 23 (rewatch) My Dress-Up Darling 9 takt op.Destiny 3

Okay, so I don't have much time. But that doesn't matter, because there ain't much to talk about for this episode... just Riko and Reg trying to survive at the outer reaches of the depths' second layer. You might be able to make a reasonable guess as to how all of this will go, but I don't want to play spoiler.

Hacka Doll the Animation 3-6 My Dress-Up Darling 6-8 Nichijou 20/21 The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls Episode 9: "'Sweet' is a magical word to make you happy!" [oreimo wednesdays, forever in your heart]

I don't know anyone who parties for Mardi Gras, and I can't imagine it's a big thing outside of the South. But hey, at least college basketball is a solid vice. I can't wait for this year's tournament to be relatively normal.

I find it stupid that a major geopolitical event can tank the block's ratings. I would assume people would be more likely to get away from the news, but between the chaos of last January and now this, it seems people want to stay informed. And for that, I wish them a very I hope their brains start leaking out of their skulls. Now, as for the block itself: it's good! Though I do wish I was watching more than two shows at the moment. Not only is Shenmue doing a backflip over the really low bar the other CR originals have set, but the block finally has some much-needed stability, and it should last for at least another month.

Probably Funi's. CR just got a fancy schmancy new app for the Switch, complete with offline viewing.

Yeah, that was... a lot. What I got out of it was some shit involving a time loop. I guess the cat created it when he made TOM, which the villain thought would make the perfect body to use to do evil stuff? Also, the ninja lady has clones, and she goes through their bodies like bottled water. But what about the other two? I could criticize it, but then again, this TIE is already beyond the pale given its generic origins. I don't mind coming along for the ride, even if it's barely comprehensible. And hey: least it's better than Sand Whale and Me.

We're now basically at the halfway point of the series, which is neat. The thing is, I can't remember most of what happens in this episode. The fact that the cable descriptions for each episode (at least on Xfinity) are really short doesn't help matters, and they're often spurious. Get a load of last week's: The latter is a misnomer since Reg never lost his arms; he just needed Ozen to throw them back, and that was immediately at the start of the episode. I'm not sure about the former, but while it's probably correct in the most literal sense (since Riko would thank Ozen from carrying her up from the Abyss), the adventuring party spent a lot more time in the ep with Marulk, that lovely kid. By the way, it seems to be canon that his gender is ambiguous, though I imagine everyone portrays him as a boy because crossdressing characters have always been a popular trend.

Okay, so after three episodes, I figured I'd take a stab at critiquing this show. No surprise, but I think it's pretty good. The plot feels a little mechanical to me, with Ryo going from place to place to try and figure out just what he has to do to start avenging his father, but I figured as much given that the show is based off a video game. And in between the cracks of story development, we get some nice action scenes. Like Black Lotus before it, this show revels in having characters punch holes through each other. And this time, given that this is traditional animation as opposed to mo-cap (where I imagine they still have to fake it to make it), everything feels a little more visceral. Interesting how the show features Japanese and Chinese protagonists with the implication that they're going to work together. I thought the show was going for Japanese nationalism at first. But also, the fact that this show features the Chinese mafia as a major player tickles me. The fictional work I've been dreaming up features a similar idea, with a Chinese character meddling in the criminal underworld, except the organization he's a part of includes the good guys. It's got all the Asians and some other cultures banding together in the name of justice. And also, I liked the reveal in this episode where Ryo's dojo has a hidden room you can access by putting a sword through a glory hole. Again, similar to my planned series, except it's an inconspicuous trap door located in a shrine. So yeah. For what I didn't cover, I defer to Jman. This show is probably the best Toonami original since the final season of Samurai Jack, let alone any of the CR stuff. And next week, forklift memes! Should be fun, even if MST3K did it first.

Now that is an A+ troll, in the grand GoHands tradition. At least they waited a few episodes in one of their series to drop the big twist.