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.

Finished watching Darker than Black

Finished watching Darker than Black (2007, Bones, 25 epi.), Darker than Black: Gaiden (2010, Bones, 4 epi.) and Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor (2009, Bones, 12 epi.).

Ever since the the two Gates showed up in North America and Japan, the people that live in the spaces they encase have not seen the true night sky for ten years. That wasn’t the only change that took place. A select few became Contractors, people who’ve exchanged their humanity for supernatural powers. But the real question is, what exactly is outside of the Gates?

8/10 – I liked this show. I think the art and animation quality is its strongest point. The first season's plot though was a bit sluggish and more political than anything. After that I watched the surprisingly gory, 4-episode Gaiden which focused on a growing relationship between Hei and Yin and a hidden power in Yin as a "doll". Gemini of the Meteor carried on after that and was more character driven, more emotional, which kept me very engrossed. The plot twist was also good but the ending, like the first season, still left me with plenty of questions. Specially about the whole Gate thing. I still don't understand it well. I decided to review these three altogether because I gave them all the same rating.

Finished watching Space Dandy

Finished watching Space Dandy (2014, Bones, 26 epi.) on 12/2/2014.

Space Dandy is the dandiest guy in space! But her's not alone! Together with his smart-vacuum, IQ and Meow, a cat-like alien being, the three travel the cosmos to all sort of planets and locations in space bounty hunting for aliens of all sorts. And in the downtime they chill out at BooBies, Dandy's favorite restaurant where scantily-clad waitresses are the main attraction and entertainment.

8/10 – Interesting. Very interesting... Gosh, where should I start. Throughout the series you'll notice Dandy explore various differently themed locations with the two most constant being the Alien Registration Center and BooBies, a high-spirited, space counterpart of Hooters. Each episode's plot however seems to be self-contained giving you the impression that there isn't much of a continuity with the story. However, as you keep watching you begin to notice a subtle strange cliffhanger phenomenon at the end of episodes that leaves you puzzled as to what really happened. The show's art style tends to change a lot on occasion too, almost feeling like a new studio came in and did the episode. I'm guessing this is the show trying to be a little abstract, or as a wise man once put it - artsy-fartsy. This is perhaps to make the show visually interesting. Not that it isn't interesting already, by like, a long shot, due to its art quality already being quite excellent, but seeing those odd episodes give it a different taste which can be either welcomed or disliked... in a good, intriguing kind of way. Perhaps... a dandy kind of way? Ultimately the show can get a little dull and repetitive with its story, but just a little. The nice animation and visuals can really help keep you going. But I really would've welcomed more exposition.