[0rph3u5]

I recently reconnected with one of "my experts on anime" and got some recommendations from her of what's avalible on Netflix (German region) and been binging her recommendations when I am not writing:

Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011)
Recommendation line: "It's a deconstructionist take on a genre you are not familiar with. But you will at least enjoy the art style."
Well, she was right and wrong. I did enjoy the aestehtics but I am not sure if it is really a deconstruction as advertised - but then again that may just be my ignorance talking. I liked it but it is very "sad melodrama".

A Certain Magical Index (2008)
Recommendation line: "Required reading for what you actually should watch."
Spot on - the writing it contrived and keeps jumping; probably because it is cherry picking from a more extensive source material.

A Cetrain Scientific Railgun (2009)
Recommendation line: "It's action might be right up your alley."
She was spot on with that one. Also, I think compared to the previous series it is much improved in terms of essemble and character development. Liked it a lot.

[Det. Bullock]

Finished the third season of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.
So, the "Mara went crazy" thing was more complex than what was initially said, who woulda thunk, eh?
A couple of characters seem to disappear at a certain point but other than that the series keeps getting better and this time the open ending is not a mid-season cliffhanger.

Amphibia is nice but at the moment it seems the classic Disney show first season with mostly setup for things to come, I still have to finish the first season though.

[Luis Dias]

Rewatching StarGate Atlantis, wherein Trip Tucker boldly goes where no man has gone before.

[Colonol Dekker]

Never got into that one as...... (takes time to get behind hard cover and check ballistic plates are seated correctly in chest rig, adjust chin strap and eye protection)
I've not fi ished SG1 yet 


I have got though a few "Venture Bros" and I have to say..... I do very much like Helpr and want my very own Helpr robot.

[Mongoose]

Toonami started showing a (slightly time-edited) run of Gen:Lock, a series by Rooster Teeth, and after one episode it...kind of kicks ass.  The character models and animation are pretty stiff, but the actual action sequences are masterfully shot, and it's a glorious mishmash of Battletech meets Top Gun meets Super Sentai Gundam meets hard sci-fi meets who knows what else.  The voice cast is pretty absurd for what it is too, with Michael B. Jordan, Dakota Fanning, Maisie Williams, and a David Tennant who was absolutely chewing the scenery for the short time he was on-screen.  Can't wait to see more of this.

[jr2]

Finished the third season of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.
So, the "Mara went crazy" thing was more complex than what was initially said, who woulda thunk, eh?
A couple of characters seem to disappear at a certain point but other than that the series keeps getting better and this time the open ending is not a mid-season cliffhanger.

Amphibia is nice but at the moment it seems the classic Disney show first season with mostly setup for things to come, I still have to finish the first season though.

Agreed.

[Det. Bullock]

Meanwhile I've finished Amphibia's first season.
Well, that escalated quickly.
The reunion with Anne's lost human friend was quite dramatic and

Spoiler:

Anne reduced to a crying mess while the Plantars try to console her after the final confrontation is a startingly sincere and powerful image

.

[jr2]

Just finished Record of the Grancrest War.  I found it enjoyable.  Medieval battles with mages etc and something called "The Chaos".  Political and Strategic intrigue, betrayal, conspiracy, etc.  Also kind of major

Spoiler:

the Chaos an evil magical force was meant to prevent technology from being developed to stave off the "ultimate energy" from being discovered ... again.  Cause the first time didn't go so well once weapons were made from it. Assuming that means nuclear.  You don't find this out until the end.

[Mongoose]

Finally getting around to one of the all-time great shounen series, Yu Yu Hakusho.  Botan is best girl.

[Det. Bullock]

I have watched Infinity Train.
I've read it was originally going to be an animated movie and got turned into an animated miniseries and it's quite evident.
That said the ten episodes of this self-contained first season are weird and haunting, they also continue this trend of not beating around the bush with emotional stuff of recent cartoons. It reminded me a lot of The Endless Story original book regarding a child dealing with change (here it's a divorce, in the book it was the death of the protagonist's mother).
I don't know exactly how I feel about a second season, the protagonist story ends here it seems so I guess there will be another lost soul getting on the titular Infinity Train I guess.

[Colonol Dekker]

Go Team Venture!!

[Det. Bullock]

The Steven Universe TV movie shows that the crewniverse didn't think they hammered it enough that Steven is a Disney princess it seems.
The new status quo is interesting and I wonder if the new villain is a one-off character or will return later.
That sixth season can't come soon enough.

Transformers Cyberverse season 2 starts with a bang in the middle of a battle on the Moon between Autobots and Decepticons and with

Spoiler:

Megatron mercilessly beating Starscream, finishing him off with the plasma cannon and dumping the corpse on the Moon.

There is also a funny gag about the earthlings finally noticing the transformers running around and of course posting videos on social media.

[Det. Bullock]

So now even OK K.O. Let's Be Heroes comes to an end and why the hell these shows have such melancholic endings?
It might have something to do with the fact that they are often made by people of around my age probably.
Particularly surprising because this shows leans a lot more into old-timey cartoon goofiness and has a younger target audience than late Adventure Time (which was already a weird mix of melancholy and nonsense from at least the third season) or Steven Universe (which was like that basically from the start).
It is a bit of a rushed conclusion (a particular revelation gets a massive lampshade hanging a few episodes before the ending for not being as drawn out as it was supposed to) because of course CN had to close it before the creators were done with it, but at least it seems to have an ending.

[Luis Dias]

tried to look at cyberverse. the aesthetic is fine. first dialogue between bumblebee and that female airplane:

she - What are you doing here on Earth?
him - What are you doing here?
she - The same thing you're doing.

[Det. Bullock]

tried to look at cyberverse. the aesthetic is fine. first dialogue between bumblebee and that female airplane:

she - What are you doing here on Earth?
him - What are you doing here?
she - The same thing you're doing.

It gets better when Bee recovers his first memories but they do milk every comedy possibility out of Bumblebee's amnesia and broken voicebox in the first season.
Keep also in mind that even if it's not dull and monotonous like Robots in Disguise 2015 the target audience is still the same so even if there is drama, action and lore dumps there is plenty of intentional silliness.

[linmark]

Now I’m watching Boruto, there’s no time for the rest, and I’ve looked at anime sites and haven’t found one that comes out with a lot of anime, now you can see only old animes or even better read manga or ranobe. 

[TechnoD11]

A few updates:
Downton Abbey - Finished this series in anticipation of the upcoming movie. Some of the best produced TV I've ever watched. Concept sounded boring but I somehow enjoyed nearly every episode. Would highly recommend at least trying.

Demon Slayer - Kimetsu No Yaiba - Caught up on this (only two episodes left to air). Animation is Outstanding, easily some of the best looking anime I've seen. It's got some of the common shounen tropes, as to be expected, but enough unique content to keep it interesting. Spoiler:

Spoiler:

I didn't like Zenitsu at first, and from the reviews I have read I am not alone in that opinion. However his character develops more as the series progresses, and he better serves a role of friend/comic relief now to Tanjiro

Kaguya - Love is War - Wanted something lighthearted to watch in between, and this fit the bill perfectly. I laughed, several times, so it served its purpose.

[Det. Bullock]

I was watching Carmen Sandiego season 2.
Normally I only comment after finishing binging but I had to let it out:
What the HELL is wrong with American and British shows setting _anything_ in Italy!?
I could forgive V.I.L.E. accountants using the occasional Italian word in the wrong context or slightly mispronounced as I can at least pretend she might just be some fashion nut who's using Italian words to sound "refined".
But HOLY HELL, how can you manage to pronounce the word "Medici" with the accent on the wrong syllable every single time even when spoken by someone who's supposedly Italian!?
Also that same Italian guy forgets to decline the few Italian words he says, which is something no native Italian would even be capable of doing (this of course after forgetting the fact that the actor is doing the standard Mario accent).
Also the fictional fashion firm "Dolce Rita" (which is actually a plausible pun/reference) for some reason is spelled "Dolcé Rita" which is just nonsensical.
And to cap it off the characters for some reason seem to think "gelato" and "ice cream" are two different things, when "gelato" is just "ice cream" in Italian!
Is there some weird American thing that is not ice cream and is for some reason called "gelato" or do they just misuse the term to indicate something that is undoubtedly called a completely different name in Italian? My bet is either on "granita", basically flawored artificial snow (the classic flavours are either lemon or coffee, usually eaten with a brioche with the coffee flavour usually topped with whipped cream), or "sorbetto", a sort of archaic form of ice cream that's still used as a dessert.
At least there are no dialogues in "Italian" that manage to be completely incomprehensible to a native speaker like me like in the 90s series but it still managed to sour what would normally be a rather fun episode.

[Mongoose]

You, uh, might want to keep in mind what age group is generally targeted by the Carmen Sandiego franchise.  I sincerely doubt that linguistic accuracy is near the top of their priority list.

And no, at least in the US, "gelato" is not synonymous with ice cream.  At least according to Wiki and the sources linked therein, it's much denser and has much less fat content than our standard ice cream.

[Det. Bullock]

You, uh, might want to keep in mind what age group is generally targeted by the Carmen Sandiego franchise.  I sincerely doubt that linguistic accuracy is near the top of their priority list.

And no, at least in the US, "gelato" is not synonymous with ice cream.  At least according to Wiki and the sources linked therein, it's much denser and has much less fat content than our standard ice cream.

It's the difference between artisanal and commercial ice cream, we all call it "gelato" here.
Also Carmen Sandiego last I checked was supposed to be edutaiment, it's not even a target thing, all American and British shows regardless of target audience do stuff like this and you can check stuff like the accent and spelling in online dictionaries like I do all the time and yet even an edutaiment show does the same identical mistakes.
Hearing "Medici" consistently pronounced with the accent on the wrong syllable (it's from the same root as "medic" for crying out loud! I can't even fathom why they pronounced it like that!) was nerve-wracking.