Gosplan14_the_Third

...is basically the backstory to Star Trek, but worse?

Going from the Season 2 shenanigans, continuing on the "love is the answer" themes. I understand what it was going for as a movie, and pulled it off kinda competently.

The ending was frankly weird, with Setsuna going all Mass Effect 3 ending to end the conflict out of nowhere. But I did like the portrayal of the aliens themselves. An unknowable entity you might not even be able to communicate with, not to mention know their intentions. You know what this reminds me of? Oh wait I already mentioned that series in the first sentence.

Overall, a good Gundam AU, that failed to live up to its heights from Season 1. Fantastic music though. It made me go down a kick of 2000s Japanese Alt Rock.

Antideutsche plotting to make me laugh my ass off in public during my break smh

It also feels like these things are making me more musically illiterate.

You see enough Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Imaginal Discs and the twenty yearly Trhä albums as super highly praised and something every music nerd should listen to, and forget what kind of music most people actually like... which if you go by the spotify charts, is a lot of slop! And if you go by the radio, it's mostly the same stuff since 1995.

The show offers you a disapproving commentary on the War on Terror, liberal technocratic fantasies, and even accidentally recognizes that the bourgeois state itself is one of the biggest obstacles in the liberal one world fantasies that were popular at the time this show aired.

And predictably retreats into hope and despair that this is all caused by a lack of good morals on the part of the rulers. Because if you did that, you'd get something oddly similar to the backstory of Star Trek... and now, but nicer. Literally nothing changes, but it feels good!

Light of the world, shine on me! Love is the Answer! - as always.

And good lord there is a lot of love. This show goes really overboard on the romance melodrama in season 2. Without giving one to the MC, despite the obvious candidate of Princess Marina Ismail. Guess he can't be the man, the legend, Colasour the Indestructible.

Season 1 was the strongest, when it was about geopolitical blocs trying to crush an insurgency that happened to be the main characters of the show. Season 2 retreated hard into totally not newtype mysticism - as can be expected from Gundam really... I need to rewatch After War Gundam X.

What this show was really strong in were the visuals, especially in Season 1, and the music. The soundtrack is composed by Kenji Kawai, and featuring excellent OP and ED themes. Such as the OP2, sung by Tomoko Kawase - one of the Japanese artists I consistently get impressed by - plus Pulse by the Back Horn (containing ED1) is a really good album.

As close as this show was to jumping the shark, it never really did (in the movie? I haven't watched it yet, but thanks to Super Robot Wars I know what it's about lol). The show is just very, very competently made. At the very end of Mecha's presence as a TV anime staple.

Is this show good? Yeah.

Does it have good politics? They're very lib lol, though much more interesting than I expected.

What is this show really? Full Metal Panic, but without the comedy + Gundam Wing

Bonus: A random comment I found on r/gundam

This band is way too obscure outside of Norway smh

Plus:

Another day in the second age of Hitler.

It's May already

Manga:

Shibuya Near Family continues to be good. Koji Kumeta seems to be taking time off, so there was only one chapter in the last month. A

Iwakutsuki Bukken no Yakuro-san is a short (19 chapters) cute read about a ghost waifu. For what it is, it was alright. B-

After Being Executed With the Words "Necromancers Are Disgusting," I Will Start My New Life as a Demon is one of those otome isekai manga with horrible long titles... this one's 𝕯𝖆𝖗𝕶. Unfortunately it seems to be a romance with the evil but secretly caring demon lord. Mehhhh D+

Anime:

I have watched the first half of Gundam 00's first season. The politics are funny. It basically takes Mithril from Full Metal Panic and makes their goals more ridiculous - while also being completely serious about it. But the show itself is fun, and the visuals aged quite well. Also, I discovered that the album the ED song is from (The Back Horn - Pulse) is actually quite good. Apparently the show goes off the rails soon-ish, so I guess I'll see how much of a shitshow it will become B

The Namek arc in Dragon Ball Z is very strong. There's still... 200 episodes to go. A

A Ninja and an Assassin Under One Roof is the new Studio Shaft anime, and unfortunately is nowhere as adventurous as their peak (beyond the start of E1, which is done in an authentic early 1970s animation style). The show itself is fine. C+

Recovery of an MMO Junkie is something Animefeminist.com fawns over, and the first impression confirms their views. Moriko is a very relatable protagonist for anyone who is an adult that feels directionless in life (and got hooked on being terminally on the computer) - but I am too early into the show to comment if it's worth watching.

Bakemonogatari is a show that, for the most part, has not lived up to its sordid reputation (unfortunately "for the most part"). In fact, it's significantly more interesting than what I expected. I'm reserving my judgement until I see where the story goes, if anywhere, beyond character arcs. For better or worse, this is Shaft at its peak.

Western Animation

Gravity Falls is still fun. Though was the Dipper in love aspect of the show really necessary? Ah well. B+