Category Archives: review

Time Exists in Bartender: Glass of God

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The 2024 anime Bartender: Glass of God stands out to me because of how different it is from the previous Bartender anime from 2006. 

Both series adapt a manga about a bartender named Sasakura Ryu whose observation skills and alcohol-mixing expertise allow him to help customers work through whatever problems plague them by providing them just the right drink. But the 2006 version came from director Imagawa Yasuhiro and leaned more into the director’s roots with Mister Ajikko and its establishment of the now common trope of “seeing characters make exaggerated reactions to the incredible food and beverages they consume.” It feels more like a healing anime not far from the slice-of-life titles that usually populate that genre, and Sasakura’s presence is downright therapeutic.

In contrast, Glass of God does show Ryu as a generational talent in bartending, he’s situated in a greater world. He may be amazing, and there are characters who want him for their hotel bar, but Ryu is not necessarily the best. He’s in the middle of his own journey that has him occasionally cross paths with those who are even better at making and serving drinks. Whereas the 2006 series feels like one where time stands still, the 2024 series gives the impression of progress, however gradual it might be.

While this might sound like a cop-out, I feel there are benefits to both. Sometimes, you might need meditative work to repair a bruised soul. Other times, you might need something that invigorates and motivates instead. Right now, I think I need a bit of both.

Don’t Let Them Limit You: Gridman Universe

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It’s amazing to see what Gridman has become. Thanks to Studio Trigger’s SSSS.Gridman and SSSS.Dynazenon, we’ve had a franchise revival that’s a love letter to its origins as a 90s tokusatsu series (Gridman the Hyper Agent) while telling new and interesting stories. As someone who loved Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad as a kid (and always feels a little giddy at the inclusion of “SSSS” in Trigger’s anime titles), it feels great. So of course I’d want to see the latest movie, Gridman Universe, which promised from the start to bring together the characters of both SSSS series.

I had to wonder about one issue, however: While SSSS.Dynazeon is a “sequel,” it was never clear how exactly the two series connect. In fact, the finale of SSSS.Gridman makes fully reconciling it with other works seem impossible. Well, the movie does address this discrepancy, and the solution is both obvious in hindsight while still being fairly elegant, but it’s ultimately a less important factor. 

Gridman Universe is a compelling work whose success has little to do with considerations for “canon” and “lore.” In fact, it almost entirely eschews those elements. Rather than focus on them, it foregrounds three aspects in particular that have become the soul of the franchise in more recent times. First, there’s the characters, whose stories of healing are bolstered by how natural they feel, to the point that they sometimes don’t sound like anime characters. Second, there’s the sense of play that comes from its tokusatsu roots: endless transformations and awesome fight scenes, but also being vehicles for imagination and wonder. Third, there’s the Gridman name itself as a concept, brand, and source of nostalgia.

The movie begins with two of the characters trying to write a play for their school festival about Gridman. Takarada Rikka and Utsumi Sho are the the only ones left who remember the events of SSSS.Gridman—namely that monsters kept attacking the city, only to be defeated by the giant hero Gridman, and that series antagonist Shinjo Akane was actually an IRL human who created their very world as a way to deal with personal trauma. Rikka wants more than anything to tell everyone about Akane, while Sho is a tokusatsu fanboy who prioritizes monster fighting and cool action. In that contrast alone, the first two aspects of Gridman are evident. The problem is that their classmates keep rejecting their scripts because they think it’s too unrealistic and far-fetched, particularly the story of Akane as the forgotten “god” of their world. 

The third element comes into the spotlight through the character Hibiki Yuta, the very guy who merges with the entity known as Gridman to fight. Despite being the “hero,” he has no memories of what transpired, and only knows because Rikka and Sho have told him. This movie is actually the first time we really see Yuta’s true personality, because the ending of SSSS.Gridman reveals that Gridman had actually taken over Yuta’s body during that time. His own story involves not only trying to confess his feelings for Akane that were delayed due to that amnesia, but trying to see if his importance was reduced to just being a vessel for Gridman.

When the monsters start attacking again, Gridman returns, followed by Dynazenon characters and more as worlds collide. These events all contribute to the push-and-pull that exists between the characters’ goals for their play and in Gridman Universe as a whole. Not only does having everyone together mean more opportunities to see cool crossover moments, but paths open up to address unresolved emotions of all kinds, see how the cast of one show responds to the character dynamics in the other, and even bring in unexpected figures and reveals whose presences take the film even further into the territory of meta-commentary about what’s important to the thing we call Gridman. 

There’s a moment in the film that I think speaks to the core of Studio Trigger’s Gridman works, where a villain talks about knowing everything that the heroes are capable of, and can thus predict everything they do with ease. The heroes respond by basically just devising random new ideas on the spot, trying out every different combination sequence they can think of, as if they’re the toys of kids who are playing pretend and just making stuff up as they go along. While this scene most obviously connects to the tokusatsu side, it also carries the drama and the brand by being the culmination of Rikka’s hopes and Yuta’s self-reflection.

I actually had a chance to watch Gridman Universe a few years ago, but I wasn’t able to. While I wish the wait hadn’t been quite so long, I’m glad that it’s available to watch now. Gridman Universe is a brilliant movie that merges many seemingly disparate parts into a harmonious whole that really encourages viewers to think about how they engage with their favorite works, all while celebrating the simple fun and creativity that comes from the franchise itself, the creators who help bring it to life, and the fans who elevate it.

MF Ghost is Great Sometimes

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You never know for sure who’s a fan of Initial D. While there are folks who are almost guaranteed to enjoy it due to a love of Japanese cars, I’ve seen quite a few people who aren’t really into that sort of thing will still embrace the series. Maybe it’s the exciting Eurobeat soundtrack, or getting to see an underdog whupping everyone, or just enjoying characters babbling about turbo engines and anti-lock brakes and what-not. Like many good anime and manga, the series has the ability to draw in people who might not care about the topic it focuses on.

The sequel, MF Ghost, isn’t nearly as compelling—at least not at first. For one, it doesn’t even have its first big race until the start of the second season. And when it finally gets there, the format isn’t as immediately and viscerally thrilling. Street racing duels have made way for 15-car competitions, trading a more direct fight for a complex mosaic of moving vehicles. That has its appeal in its own right, and it has kept me watching, but it’s different nevertheless.

But even as fun as the races are, MF Ghost has some weird personalities, and some of the dudes are the worst. Initial D was never a bastion of great characters, but there were some real charismatic personalities in there, and even the worst assholes and cheaters are compelling in their own way. In comparison, one of the top racers in MF Ghost is a guy who refuses to date anyone older than 17. An ally of the main character, a generally upstanding and generous racer, is in love with one of the race queens who’s secretly a high schooler (To his credit, he isn’t aware of this). The same girl is also the primary love interest of the main character (who’s closer in age), making for a strange love triangle. 

Between all that and the weird underwear-like outfits of the race queens (aka the “Angels”), a lot of MF Ghost on the character side feels like an old person’s idea of young romance. The girl, Ren, has a sweet and gentle personality, albeit somewhat different from a lot of current heroines who could be similarly described. Maybe it’s the lack of pointed fetishes in her design and personality specifically that contrasts with a lot of current manga, anime, and light novels. She’s also a far cry from either of Takumi from Initial D’s romantic prospects, which makes me further believe that the author created her to have a more general appeal

So that’s my experience with MF Ghost. Sometimes, it’s legitimately exciting. Other times, I can feel my face scrunch up into a weird frown when some character does something really off. I guess my desire to see the underdog still pulls through.

They Tried to Rig the Game, but You Can’t Fake Influence: Demon Lord 2099, Kendrick Lamar, and Being the True King

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Veltol, the protagonist of Demon Lord 2099. He is ruggedly handsome with long, dark hair. He is wearing armor, while one of his eyes is bloodied and his right hand is extended toward the viewer, also covered in blood.

I watched Demon Lord 2099, an anime about a vanquished Demon Lord who revives in a magitech cyberpunk future. This former ruler, Veltol Velvet Velsvalt, discovers that one of his generals heads the largest corporation in the world and by extension the way magic is used and controlled in society. Not long after their reunion, it’s revealed that this general, Marcus, would rather not cede his position at the top of the world, and betrays his former master. Marcus prides himself on being the strongest, and therefore the true Demon Lord of the modern day. 

WARNING: Demon Lord 2099 spoilers.

Marcus from Demon Lord 2099. He is a human-looking demon with sharp, angular features and long white hair, and he is wearing a red suit. Behind him are the silhouettes of bodies floating in ambiguous pink space.

But there’s a recurring idea in the anime that springs forth from Marcus’s desire: Just because you’re the best around doesn’t mean you’re the greatest or even endowed with greatness. This is an idea that occurs all the time in competitive environments, such as sports, video games, and music. Is Michael Jordan the GOAT of basketball, or is it Lebron James? RTS fans used to debate what makes someone a Starcraft bonjwa, a fan title reserved for a select pantheon of players, of which there are arguably only five or so. Heck, the first thing that came to mind when I saw Demon Lord 2099 highlight the difference between “best” and “greatest” is F.D Signifier’s hours-long video about Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar, where he describes the reluctance among many fans of rap towards accepting Drake as the king of his era, and the enthusiasm with which they embraced Kendrick upon his return. 

The second form of Veltol, now a massive demonic dragon towering over Marcus.

Being the greatest seems to require not merely a list of accomplishments, but to also have an aura that comes out in one’s actions and behavior. In Demon Lord 2099, this notion sees its culmination in a rematch, where Veltol reveals to his betrayer that he has a second and more powerful form, as per the classic video game final boss trope. In this new guise (unknown to all but the hero who bested him long ago), Veltol neutralizes all the technological advantages Marcus created for himself and humiliates the traitor. The Demon Lord also reveals the source of his power: He cannot achieve this second form unless he has enough worshippers, which he has spent time regaining by becoming a popular streamer. Marcus tried to clothe himself in greatness without embodying any of the qualities that make for greatness, be it inherent ability or the acknowledgement of the people.

“Greatness” is, of course, subjective by nature. Different people will value different things, and second boss forms aren’t a thing in reality unless you maybe count competitors being incredibly clutch in key situations. But I think the difference between “best” and “greatest” seems to be in the words themselves: whether you are simply better than those around you, or you want to carry your craft to higher heights and possibly even use it for a more profound purpose.

Threading the Needle(mouse): Sonic the Hedgehog 3

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Sonic the Hedgehog has become a hit movie franchise, and that fact is still kind of mind-boggling. Even putting aside the widely-panned promotional images from the first movie that resulted in the CG being completely redone, there were many years where Sonic was the butt of endless jokes. Now, the third movie features Shadow the Hedgehog, the ultra edgy character who has been mocked by the internet since his debut…and he’s great. The movie’s great. 

My inner child, the one that used to imagine himself as Sonic, is thrilled. The more critical adult that I am now is satisfied as well. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has broad appeal while being faithful to the spirit of the source material and telling a good story, and that’s a balance many studios are failing miserably to achieve right now.

The story of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is basically an adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2 on the Dreamcast, but pared down to 90-ish minutes in a way that keeps the essence of the story and the narrative benchmarks. For example, the film pulls out the iconic theme, “Live and Learn,” at just the right moment. This is indicative of something the Sonic movies have been able to pull off that I think has helped their success: They know what to prioritize in the source material. When the Sonic games themselves have accrued a ton of bloat over time, and making films for Hollywood often means trying to cater to mainstream assumptions and expectations, this is a powerful skill.

Characters retain their core traits even when certain aspects of their personalities might differ from game portrayals, such that they can be given more broadly relatable/entertaining traits and quirks without being unrecognizable, like Sonic’s occasional vulnerable awkwardness is charming juxtaposed with his general smart-aleck nature. Knuckles lack of self-awareness balances out his portrayal as a stoic warrior. Jim Carrey as Robotnik is a scenery-chewing goof more reminiscent of The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog than anything else, but it works because the movie captures his frustrated antagonism towards his nemesis. 

With Shadow too, the creators understood that you have to play his brooding nature pretty straight because he needs to come across as powerful but burdened by trauma. Keanu Reeves also performs Shadow almost perfectly, especially in the way he differentiates his voice from a similar character in John Wick. 

As I was watching the movie, I wondered where they might go next with any sequels. Sonic Adventure 2 is probably the last time any character has really cemented themselves in pop culture, and a lot of the games after that are filled with odd experimental gimmicks or rely on nostalgia. When the post-credits teasers hit, they took me by complete surprise. Now I really want to see Sonic 4.

Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back EVOLUTION…in Japanese?!

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While browsing Netflix one day, I came upon the movie Mewtwo Strikes Back EVOLUTION: a remake of the first Pokémon movie originally from the late 90s. Out of curiosity, I decided to look at the language settings to see what was available, and was surprised to see Japanese audio among the options.

This is a fairly big deal because the US release of the first movie never came with Japanese as an option, and it was from a time when dubs would substantially alter the contents of the original. While both the Japanese and English versions of Mewtwo Strikes Back are clearly meant primarily for kids, the differences are enough to practically make them two different movies. 

I watched EVOLUTION with Japanese audio and English closed captioning (an actual subtitle track was unavailable), and to my surprise, it actually translates a majority of the script faithfully. Gone are the attempts to “explain” mysterious moments from the film—there’s no legend of “healing tears,” for example. And rather than the antagonist Mewtwo being a grievance-filled villain out to start his “reign” over the world, they’re back to being the traumatized soul who “strikes back” at the world because of a deep existential crisis. I am serious when I say that Mewtwo is literally the best character in the entire anime because of the complexity of their character, and I’m happy that people get to see that now. For those watching in Japanese, Ichimura Masachika reprises his role as Mewtwo, and his performance remains unbelievably good. Ichimura’s background is actually in theater acting (he was the very first Japanese Phantom of the Opera), and his veteran skill shows.

I said the script was mostly faithful, though, and that’s because a few things do not match up. 

The opening and ending songs are still the ones used in the dub version even when you watch in Japanese, so I sadly did not get to hear the new rendition of one of my favorite songs, “Kaze to Issho ni.” At the very least, the new ending song is better than what used to be there in the dub.

The biggest departure comes from the fact that the English script retains the dub’s version of Mewtwo’s speech at the end: “I see now that the circumstances of one’s birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.” It’s not a bad sentiment, but it is significantly different from the Japanese, where Mewtwo is much more ambivalent to the very end. In Japanese, they talk about how the clones are alive, and they will continue to live—somewhere.” The difference in sentiment feels like it comes down to America’s valuing of being a master of your fate vs. Japan’s love of the ephemeral and imperfect (to overly simplify things), but I wish at least this version could have stuck closer to the original. Given how the rest of the script is so close, I suspect that those in charge felt that the dub line is inextricably tied to perceptions of the movie in English.

Aside from the translation comparison, the rest of the film just feels like an experiment they decided to throw out there. The CG is all right but unspectacular, and a number of action scenes feel longer than they did before (sometimes to the detriment of the pacing). Overall, the original holds up a bit better in Japanese, but having a version that’s 80% more accurate in English is something I’m just glad to see.

I Wish It Was 52 Episodes: The Stories of Girls Who Couldn’t Be Magicians

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The Stories of Girls Who Couldn’t Be Magicians is an anime that should have been longer. 

Adapted from a web novel, the story of Mahonare (as it’s known for short in Japanese) follows  Kurumi Mirai, a girl who has always dreamed of being a magician, but failed to get into the magic program of the prestigious Rettoran Academy. Attending the school’s non-magical track, a crestfallen Kurumi and the rest of her class soon meet their homeroom teacher, the unusually petite and eccentric Minami Suzuki, who promises that she will teach them magic, despite common sense saying that it should be impossible.

There is one series above all others that Mahonare reminds me of: the wonderful Ojamajo Doremi. While the magic aspect is something they clearly have in common, the similarities also include the style of presentation. From the pastel-like filters to the opening narration each episode to the theme songs themselves, Mahonare greatly resembles the morning girls’ anime of the late 90s and early 2000s that include Doremi but also things like Ashita no Nadja and Fushigiboshi no Futagohime.

But the more important way that the Mahonare draws upon the tradition of Doremi is the way it builds up a strong cast of characters, both major and minor, that contributes to world building and story. Though we get only a few glimpses of some characters, each gives the impression that they’d have their own interesting stories to tell if given the chance. One girl in Kurumi’s class is supposed to be part of the magic elite, only to have come short. Others are more happy to just be attending even if they can’t cast spells, eager to pursue their passions whether it’s cooking, music, or fashion. 

Moreover, while the teens have teen troubles, the adults have adult troubles, and the intersection between them creates conflicts about everything from pursuing your dreams to moral quandaries that cut to the heart of their society. One of the most interesting plot points involves the positives and negatives of the magic notebooks that have become ubiquitous. Their widespread adoption encourages magic to be converted to easy-to-use apps that don’t require necessarily understanding fundamentals, mirroring concerns over the way smartphones and tablets have transformed how children grow up with electronics.

But that resemblance to Doremi is exactly why I think Mahonare should’ve had more episodes. It feels like a 52-episode work that was condensed down to 12, and the show suffers for it. Little crumbs of plot development that could have been sprinkled in here and there instead come one after the other. Character bonding moments happen very rapidly as well, as opposed to building up gradually and therefore with more weight. While I understand that the reality of current anime production means very few anime get that privilege, I can still lament the loss of that possibility for Mahonare nevertheless.

This certainly isn’t the first time that a series has received a truncated adaptation, and some even go on to have a more thorough version be made later. I can only hope that The Stories of Girls Who Couldn’t Become Magicians falls into this select category.

King Arthur and the Knights of Justice Has a Comic

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I was recently surprised to discover a King Arthur and the Knights of Justice comic, based on the 1990s cartoon.

As a kid, I thought that show was the coolest. It follows a football team (led by quarterback Arthur King) who have been transported to ancient Camelot to fight in place of the Knights of the Round Table against the evil witch Morgana and her general, Lord Viper. In practice, it was a toy-centric children’s show featuring buff dudes in armor riding buff horses in armor, firing missiles from medieval weapons and sometimes summoning a dragon. Totally radical.

Like so many animations of that era, it’s more impressive in my childhood memories and has no actual conclusion. Eventually, it faded from pop culture consciousness. Seeing it pop up again in a new format, I had to at least give the thing a chance.

Currently at a single volume, the comic version keeps the same basic premise but changes a few things up. The plot is a little more nuanced and does a lot to foreground the characters’ interpersonal dynamics. It’s also a lot more gay now, and I don’t mean that in a derogatory fashion. Two of the male teammates-turned-knights are literally a couple, and their relationship is both displayed prominently and becomes a major factor in the plot. There’s even a note at the end of the book promoting it as LGBTQA+ fiction. 

While I could see some people criticize this adaptation for “changing the characters,” it’s not as if King Arthur and the Knights of Justice was ever some work with strong, three-dimensional personalities or significant cultural traction in the first place. Related to this, the characters are drawn fairly differently, going from the barrel-chested children’s cartoon heroes common in the 80s and 90s, to appearing a bit more svelte and often kind of sultry.

I find the new designs fascinating, because it’s like the comic designs are a confluence of various influences and forces originally found in shounen manga. First, there’s the handsome sports dudes component in the vein of Prince of Tennis or Yowamushi Pedal, but through the additional lens of comics such as Check, Please! Second, whether intentional or otherwise, King Arthur and the Knights of Justice has always been a kind of American version of Saint Seiya, a series that is foundational for the fujoshi community. In a way, making a Saint Seiya descendant that was as chaste/bland as King Arthur in the character department into something closer to Saint Seiya (in a way that appeals more to a chunk of the latter’s fanbase) feels like things have gone full circle.

The comic is trying to draw from a past resource and do its own thing, and I appreciate that. Although it runs the risk of alienating people who just want something totally faithful to the original, I think that aiming it at a newer generation is A-OK.

A Lasting Legacy: Love Live! Superstar!! 3rd Season

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11 anime schoolgirls in gray uniforms holding letters in their hands that spell "Liella!"

Love Live! Superstar!! is one of my favorite entries in the Love Live! franchise, but even I was unsure if the third season was necessary. The previous season ended on a high note, and the girls of Liella! could have ridden off into the sunset for a satisfying conclusion. But despite some misgivings, I decided to stick with it. Fortunately, my faith was rewarded once again, and by the end, I found that this season solidified my ongoing belief that Superstar!! is the absolute best of Love Live! from a storytelling perspective.

Love Live! Superstar!! 3rd Season begins with protagonist Shibuya Kanon and the rest of Liella! coming off the high of finally winning the Love Live! national school idol competition. They start the new school year determined to be first back-to-back champions, but a few hurdles stand in their way. First is the pressure of being the reigning team. Second is the presence of one Wien Margarete, a transfer student from Austria who competed against Liella last time and decides to form her own school idol club at their school instead. Third is the fact that Kanon decides to pull a surprise heel turn (of sorts) and join Margarete’s side along with another girl, Onitsuka Tomari. Now, instead of everyone working as one, the two sides must compete to see who will represent their school.

The idea of rival clubs is an intriguing one, but Love Live! is not really a franchise that can make it particularly intense. Or rather, the last time they tried with the (now-defunct) Love Live! All Stars mobile game, it backfired among the fanbase, and the anime adaptation had to tone things down. And so events proceed fairly predictably, with the two sides eventually coming together and any animosity being just caring and affection in disguise. In that sense, Season 3 is a bit of a disappointment, but I eventually realized that this was the wrong angle to look at the whole thing.

The Love Live! competition itself isn’t actually the main focus in 3rd Season. Even the desire for a repeat victory and the challenge of getting there is merely a backdrop than the driving force. Instead, the real story is about how everyone deals with the inevitability of change that comes with the fact that Kanon and the other founding members will be graduating from high school. All the third-years are thinking about what their adult lives will look like and what careers they want to pursue. The second-years will be the ones to inherit the club, and they must go from being the newcomers to becoming the core. And the first-years, Margarete and Tomari, see their participation in more cynical terms. They’re all at different stages.

Superstar!! is also the first time we’ve followed a core cast from the start of high school all the way to the end. In the first season, Kanon’s main struggle is overcoming her trauma that prevents her from singing. In the second, it’s figuring out how to help others overcome their own fears and doubts. And in the third, it’s about leaving behind a system and legacy that will encourage even more in the future to have courage and chase their passion. This might seem par for the course compared to previous generations of Love Live!, but there is a significant difference. 

In every other case, the story begins with a collection of first-, second-, and third-years all coming together. While characters develop in their own ways, they’re also limited to a degree by this format in one way or another. Often, the specific roster is portrayed as lightning in a bottle—something that cannot (and maybe even should not) be replicated. In contrast, all three seasons of Superstar!! collectively work to show that even as Kanon and her classmates leave, the club will continue to grow and change. Each iteration of Liella! has been important in its own way, and the anime implies that this won’t stop even after the original five are no longer there. This flow of time is what sets this series apart, and ultimately makes this third season satisfying to watch.

So that’s Love Live! Superstar!!…or at least until the series gets a feature-film send-off. While I have great fondness for all generations of Love Live!, I really do think that this one is special because of how strong it is as an overall piece of narrative fiction. Superstar!! relies the least on expecting from its audience an inherent receptiveness to idols (and by extension the “school idol” concept), and I think this versatility helps make it a very rewarding series overall.

Birds of a Feather Conspire Together, but Also Separately: “Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master”

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Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master stands out as an anime that deftly combines different genres together to make a smart, compelling adaptation of the novel series.

Yamauchi, the world of Yatagarasu, resembles Heian-era Japan, but all the people have the ability to turn into large three-legged ravens—because they actually are ravens. Yukiya, the son of a leader from the North (one of four areas alongside the West, East, and South), gets into trouble that winds up with him working for the Imperial Prince. But despite its pristine outer image, the imperial court is center stage for the different factions to jockey for power, and clandestine actions are not uncommon.

The series is a mix of fantasy, court intrigue, character drama, and detective fiction, where the Prince is the primary investigator and Yukiya is his somewhat reluctant assistant. With all these different elements at play, it would be very easy to have the work fall apart, but Yatagarasu successfully weaves it all together. The world-building is continuously intriguing, the mysteries are elaborate and well-structured, and the twists and revelations are genuinely surprising while still connecting logically. Even the seemingly arbitrary decisions about the setting play into the greater story. The greater cast is great as well, whether it’s potential brides for the Prince showing that they’re more than passive damsels or enemies with unseen sides.

The anime gets through its initial major story and ends in the middle of the next one, so it doesn’t wrap up neatly. Nevertheless, I think it’s a great series that can draw viewers deep into its world if they can handle the court complexities.