I remembered first writing about anime in this blog all those years ago and for some strange reason, I thought there was never another post on this subject in the following 16 years of me posting drivel in this blog. On looking back in the archive, I actually had, albeit somewhat sporadically. Anime isn’t big on terrestrial telly in this neck of the woods, so my source of anything good to watch was initially from the big “market in the cloud”, later progressing to going legit by subscribing to Crunchyroll for a few years now. I used to also subscribe to Sony’s ANIMAX but the service somehow folded in the UK a few years ago. Come to think of it, Crunchyroll’s list is better in my opinion. Also, NETFLIX is pretty okay too albeit not having as many titles as Crunchyroll.
Anyways, the following is a little update on what I managed to watch but haven’t finished. My taste is somewhat varied so it’s not all robots or animals you catch in a ball.
PSYCHO-PASS|サイコパス
This was a pretty good series which I saw a few years ago revolving a group which enforces the law in a dystopian future where the populace is monitored by a computer network named Sibyl. Anyone who is judged by Sibyl to meet the criteria for potentially able to committing a crime will be arrested or, if necessary, terminated by Inspectors, who are supported by Enforcers. The animation is top notch and f you enjoyed the themes employed in films like Blade Runner and Minority Report, this is worth catching. I only saw the first couple of seasons and I need to catch up on the third which was released last year.
Just to add, there are also two PSYCHO-PASS films (Sinners of the System and First Inspector), which I need to catch up as well.
GOD EATER (ゴッドイーター)
This is going back a few years already – and I just now realised I haven’t seen the entire series as I was watching Crunchyroll simulcasts of the episodes all those years ago, and life got in the way I guess. A bit Judge Dredd-like concept-wise where a bunch of God Eaters, humans with weapons named God Arcs venture out to obliterate monsters called the Aragami in the desolate wastelands outside the city walls. Based on a series of RPG for the Sony PSP back then, God Eater was a pretty okay series from a story perspective, enough to make you feel invested in the plot. The animation is great, although it looked like it was CG despite what’s in wiki. I guess when stories are based on a game, you need a good writer to embellish whatever backstory there is in a game. I bought my first ever anime figure (a 1/8 figure of the delectable Алиса Ильиничина Амиэлла by Alphamax, of course) in Akihabara because of this series, though. What? WHAT?!
進撃の巨人
Now, Shingeki no Kyojin (or Attack on Titan) is one of the best story concepts I have ever seen (and read). Any manga/anime fan worth his salt would at least know of this series. Again, here we find remnants of humankind living within walled cities (are we seeing a pattern now?). Protecting the general population from titans – towering humanoid creatures with a mindless hunger for human flesh – are a military force, one of which is a group called the Survey Corps who venture beyond the wall doing research on the titans. The anime is pretty violent and not short of bloodletting or dismemberment scenes. I managed to complete one season and while waiting for the second season, I began reading the manga. As usual, once my attention has gone to other interests, I stopped reading. And behold, the fourth and final season is upon us! Time to pick up where I left, then, eh?
ゴールデンカムイ
Talking about violent anime series, Golden Kamuy is another one. The violence is not gratuitous but as the story involves soldiers and is set in the background of the Russo-Japanese war back in the early 20th century, you have to expect a bit of the red stuff. The story is rather intriguing as it revolves around the protagonist’s (Sugimoto Saichi) quest of a map that will lead to hidden gold of the Ainu, Hokkaido’s indigenous people. The catch? Parts of the map are tattooed on the skins of escaped convicts – yup, Sugimoto needs to kill and skin them, and create a patchwork to see the complete map. And Sugimoto isn’t the only person looking for these convicts. The violence depicted aren’t all those of men in battle, as Sugimoto is joined by a young Ainu girl named Asirpa, who isn’t shy of preparing furry animals of all manner and size as food. The scene of her preparing minced meat made from a squirrel she caught takes the cake, followed by her going hinna! hinna! before partaking a plate of diced squirrel. Like a lot of anime that has factual content, the audience can learn not only about Ainu culture (some involving bears… why?!!) by way of description of their rituals and the like. I still hadn’t finished season one as I find it somewhat difficult wanting and not wanting to watch the anime for obvious reasons. I think season 3 is on now. Just like to add, MWAM‘s Winding Road was the OP song for season 1:
In my next Katun Jepun update post, I’ll write about the ones I’ve completed or currently watching. And I promise you the list will be a bunch of more light-hearted stories compared to the list above!