FIF#193-Record of Ragnarok

After millions of years of disappointment, the deities of the Earth gather to condemn the Human Race and plot its extinction.  Not all are in agreement, however.  The Valkyrie Brünnhilde opts to give Humanity a fighting chance by invoking Ragnarok: a tournament where 14 of the greatest warriors of Mankind must face the Gods themselves.  If they win, Humanity will be spared for another 1000 years.  If they lose, the Gods will have their wish and eradicate Humanity from the face of the Earth.  It should be a one sided fight for the most powerful entities in existence…right?

 
Ragnarok of Norse Mythology has definitely gotten a bit of a pop culture boost in the last few years thanks to its central inclusion in films and video games like Thor: Ragnarok and God of War: Ragnarok.  It’s nothing new for Anime though, world ending events happen all the time in various titles.  Record of Ragnarok hops on the Ragnarok hype train with its own rather unique take on the apocalyptic event.  Were I to break it down into simpler terms: this is Mortal Kombat meets Fate/Stay Night.  Should be a win for me, yeah?  Well, chances are I wont delve into it too deeply and to put it kind of selfishly, it’s all because of some artistic and aesthetic choices.
 

Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie

Children begin vanishing all over the world, lured to a mysterious ship by a haunting tune.  When their mysterious abductors come to Japan, Chibiusa finds herself their latest captive.  Guided by a rogue Fairy, Sailor Moon and the rest of the Sailor Senshi give chase.  High above the clouds, they come face to face with Queen Badiane, who is determined to drive the people of Earth to eternal darkness via the Black Dream Hole, and Chibiusa is the most important part of her plan.  The Inner and Outer Senshi unite alongside Sailor Moon to save not just the planet once more but also the hopes and dreams of the children of tomorrow.

After spending a month struggling to get through Sailor Moon SuperS, my expectations for the third and final of the original trilogy of movies was basically zero.  But then again, if the SuperS Season is basically rock bottom for the franchise, there’s nowhere else to go but up, right?  Turns out…yeah, that’s exactly what the SuperS Movie, originally released in the US as “Black Dream Hole”, does.  It’s not a flawless outing but its way better than the TV Season it spawns from.  Not only that, this might be the first of the three movies to really carry over several of the themes and core elements from its parent season: dream energy is a factor, Chibiusa has a love interest.  Heck, the plot even has shades of a certain Dragon Ball Z movie involving a kidnapped offspring and the villain opening a Black Hole to try and win the day.  Short version: this isn’t bad and at the end of the day, that’s a win that Sailor Moon has needed for over a month now.
 

T5W#424-Top 5 Resident Evil Movies

While I usually save the more horror centric Top 5’s for October, I’ve been foaming at the mouth to somehow acquire an Xbox Series X/S so I can finally play Resident Evil 4 Remake.  Not only have I heard and seen nothing but fantastic things but the inevitable Remake of the RE4 DLC, Separate Ways, starring the sexiest Resident Evil Anti-Heroine, Ada Wong, just dropped and holy crap it looks so freaking awesome.  So yeah, we’re back to do another Resident Evil themed Top 5 list to celebrate that occasion but what to cover?  Well having recently looked at Resident Evil: Death Island, I realize I’ve looked at just about every Resident Evil movie, Anime and Live Action, here at the Anime Corner.  Sure they all vary in quality but with 11 movies to sift through, choosing 5 for a list shouldn’t be a problem (for a Best and Worst list actually but I’ll save Worst for another time).  So let’s dive back into the biohazard horror thrills of RE with the Top 5 Resident Evil Movies.  And no, Death Island isn’t on this list and you can check out my review right here to find out why: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2023/08/resident-evil-death-island.html 

Sailor Moon SuperS Part 8 Episodes 161-166

The Dead Moon ruler, Queen Nahalennia, has had enough.  Determined to claim Helios’ Golden Crystal for herself, the beautiful Queen frees herself from her prison and plunges the world into darkness.  Up against the nefarious ruler of the Dead Moon, the magic of Zarconia and the newly powered up Amazoness Quartet, the Sailor Senshi prepare for the fight of their lives.  Things only grow more desperate when the Dead Moon Circus manages to capture Helios and Chibiusa.  The hopes and dreams of an entire planet once more rest in the hands of Sailor Moon and the Sailor Guardians.

There were many moments where I was watching the Season Finale of Sailor Moon SuperS and thought…this isn’t a great ending but its actually a bit decent…and that’s more than this terrible season deserves.  After almost 40 episodes of making a joke out of the Dead Moon Circus and their quest to find Pegasus, it feels a bit infuriating that they decide to finally get serious and actually almost succeed at defeating the Senshi.  It’s not just the sudden tonal change either, it’s also the newly introduced and expanded story elements that really tick me off because everything we learn could have been explored in other episodes instead of screwing around with the Amazon Trio for half a season.  Ergo, as you’ve probably come to expect by now, this is easily the weakest of the four Season Finales so far and it’s a shame because a lot of it holds good and bold ideas for what couldve made this a strong follow up to Sailor Moon S.
 

FIF#192-Super Life-Form Transformers: Beast Wars Neo

The never ending war between the Cybertrons and Destrons rages on.  When Lio Convoy and his unit on Gaia go missing, the Cybertron Elders call upon “The One Man Army”, Big Convoy, to train a new generation of young Cybertrons for battle.  This untested and hot headed bunch is about to get the ultimate crash course training as a message from Lio Convoy sends Big Convoy and the recruits across the galaxy to collect capsules of Angolmois Energy.  Following close behind are a new and more dangerous breed of Destrons.  Leading them is the mighty Magmatron, who has a personal score to settle with his old rival, Big Convoy.

 
A couple weeks back, I took a look at the Anime sequel to the original Beast Wars series, Beast Wars II: Super Life-Form Transformers.  Sure it wasn’t as dark and depressing as the official direct US Sequel, Beast Machines, but Beast Wars II was still just Beast Wars in name only.  It featured no characters from or connection to the original series and, much like the trio of Anime projects that followed the end of the 80s Transformers series, took things in a very Anime Super Robot direction.  Still, the show was successful enough to spawn a direct sequel, Beast Wars Neo.  While my interest in Beast Wars II was minimal, since this is the only other Beast Wars Anime I’m aware of, figured I’d take a look at the first episode.  Does it improve upon Beast Wars II’s setup or falter further?  Well, it’s mixed.