Finished watching Kaleido Star

Finished watching Kaleido Star S01 (2003, Gonzo, 26 epi.) on 4/18/2016.

Sora, a young acrobat from Japan, travels to America to join a world famous acrobatic circus known as Kaleido Star. With much luck she gets accepted and a small, floating, masked man the size of a beer bottle reveals himself to her as Fool, the Spirit of the Stage, seen only by those who have a burning passion to perform.

7/10 – This show was alright. The story, although with minor plot holes and trivial awkwardnesses was pretty decent and somewhat engaging. And while the art style wasn't that bad, I feel like this show could've benefitted from a bit better quality. The animation itself only got better when the characters performed complicated maneuvers, otherwise it would be pretty mediocre. The soundtrack doesn't have much to say about itself. Nothing really stood out to me, not even the opening and ending themes. I don't have anything too bad against this show, it's pretty decent for what it is and I would recommend it. But it didn't really convince me to watch the second season arc.

Finished watching Tsubasa: Tokyo Revelations

Finished watching Tsubasa: Tokyo Revelations (2007, Production I.G., 3 OVAs) on 4/13/2016.

With the services of a dimensional witch named Yuko, a boy named Syaoran and his childhood friend Sakura continue their journey together with a warrior named Kurogane and a magician named Fai in search for Sakura's memories which turned into feathers and scattered throughout various parallel universes. Far into their travels, they reach a dismal land known as Tokyo Country where factions fight eachother for survival and resources while acid rain constantly pours from the sky. Our heroes are taken in by a faction and reluctantly fight bloody battles as secrets are revealed changing their lives forever.

8.5/10 – Wow! Holy Mokona! Y'see what happens when you hand this show over to Production I.G.? Seriously! In just three episodes this OVA mini-series revealed so much more content, and did so much more than two whole seasons of RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE ever did. I honestly don't know what Bee Train was thinking. I mean, this show really kicked it up to 11. There's so much bloody violence, really not for the weak hearted. And then there's Sakura. Wow. She had to pull her own weight this time around, all on her own nonetheless and boy, did she take it like a champ! You really don't need me to keep going here. This show is amazing! I just wish it continued with a few more episodes. But, anyways, go watch it, you won't regret it.

Finished watching Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle's Second Season

Finished watching Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle's Second Season (2006, Bee Train, 26 episodes) on 4/7/2016.

With the services of a dimensional witch named Yuko, a boy named Syaoran and his childhood friend Sakura continue their journey together with a warrior named Kurogane and a magician named Fai in search for Sakura's memories which turned into feathers and scattered throughout various parallel universes.

5/10 – After this season I find myself really disappointed with this show. Like, really disappointed. While the animation and art quality remain mediocre at best, the story leaves much to be desired. Since I haven't read the manga yet, I can't say how it compares, but from other reviews I've read apparently it disgraces the manga. I really wish I had simply read the manga instead of wasting my time on this poor excuse of an adaptation. I'm being way too polite here considering how I'm feeling about it. I mean, I even was able to skip an episode and perfectly predict its outcome. That's how sad it is. One of the things that bothered me the most is how little exposition was shown throughout the series, on the exception of perhaps Kurogane. But what really got on my nerves was the ending. It made no sense, the production value was beyond par and the fact that *SPOILER START* the main characters just sit tight as they watch hundreds of feathers just slowly fly off into other dimensions instead of using their superhuman powers to collect them all. Heck, even Mokona could've sucked a good chunk in if not all of them. Like... seriously! *SPOILER END* The only exciting thing was seeing familiar faces from Chobits. I honestly think Production I.G. would've taken much better care of this series. Bee Train can suck it.

Finished watching Capitão Falcão

Finished watching Capitão Falcão (2015, Individeos, 106 mins.) on 4/3/2016.

Ultra-patriotic, Portuguese superhero Capitão Falcão (Captain Falcon) teams up with his sidekick, Puto Perdiz (Partridge Kid) under the direct orders of Portuguese dictator António de Oliveira Salazar to defend his nation from a communist threat known as the "Red Menace".

7.5/10 – Although this satirical movie was heavily based on real, important events in the history of Portugal, it was still able to be a very entertaining comedy filled with bright comic book-like colors and kung-fu action. What I loved the most about it is that it followed a nostalgic live-action superhero style very reminiscent of the Adam West Batman series. But, as you can tell from the rating I gave it, it's not a perfect movie. Some scenes were awkward to watch and others were dragged out for too long. With that in mind, I still recommend watching it. In fact, I can't wait to watch it again with a friend of mine. I had tons of laughs with it.

Finished watching Escaflowne

Finished watching Escaflowne (2000, Sunrise, Bones, 98 mins) on 3/8/2016.

Kanzaki Hitomi is magically whisked away from Earth to a planet called Gaea where she is taken in by a group of freedom fighters who believe her to be their fabled Winged Goddess, their only hope in awakening a legendary, weaponized, mechanical armor known as Escaflowne. With Escaflowne piloted by the young Van, they hope to fight and defeat the evil forces of a powerful man named Folken.

8.5/10 – It seems to me that the Escaflowne franchise likes to create parallel universes for each of their different media installments. The manga, anime series and this movie seem to be very different from eachother, yet the same. But the movie is more faithful to the series than the manga is in terms of character design. Just remember that it's a different story. But this movie is good. I especially like the visual aspects. The animation quality is very good, but the style differs a bit from the series, everyone is just so... attractive, gorgeous *coughallencough*. That's because Sunrise hired Bones to do the animation. Explains a lot, doesn't it? The movie has its own soundtracks while some are from the series, and others are based on them. And while the animation is awesome, the soundtrack is good, and even the story is interesting, the plot seems to develop at a slow pace, finally picking up a bit of speed towards the end. And Dilandau is still my favorite character. Just puttin' it out there.