Movie/Drama Review

Alluringly artistic, spiritedly upbeat, Drifting Dragons explored the best of humanities through the fictional occupation of dragon hunting from an airship. Yet being removed from reality meant the depiction was both aspirational and illusional, if one traced back to the no-so-glorious jobs the series drew its inspiration from.

When I looked at the poster of Astra Lost in Space, I saw a group of younglings among stars and planets. When I watched its first trailer, the scenes were like the 2013 movie Gravity being tamed by cartoon brushstrokes. And its second trailer was like the first part of The Martian (2015), only that the entire team was stuck behind this time. I thought, this must be some exciting tales of a Sci-Fi journey through space, like these movies.

And I was wrong, the first of many curveballs the series threw at me.

Knight of Sidonia Poster Season 1 and 2

After destroying Earth many years ago, the alien race Gauna has been pursuing the remnants of humanity—which, having narrowly escaped, fled across the galaxy in a number of giant seed ships. In the year 3394, Nagate Tanikaze surfaces from his lifelong seclusion deep beneath the seed ship Sidonia in search of food on the upper levels, only to find himself dragged into events unfolding without his knowledge. When the Gauna begin their assault on Sidonia, it's up to Tanikaze—with the help of his fellow soldiers and friends Shizuka Hoshijiro, Izana Shinatose, and Yuhata Midorikawa—to defend humanity's last hope for survival, and defeat their alien foes. Sidonia no Kishi follows Tanikaze as he discovers the world that has been above him his entire life, and becomes the hero Sidonia needs. Written by MAL Rewrite and originally posted on myanimelist.net/anime/19775/Sidonia_no_Kishi

Where shall I start? Maybe from the name itself and the poster. I was spoiled before watching the series that it somehow involved a “nuke”, which is not really my fault cause it’s written in the “Synopsis” part of its Wikipedia page (though not the English version). But even if you are not spoiled, watching the first five minutes of episode one, with the protagonists stealing something from a nuclear plant should convey something similar. Thus by looking at the poster of three protagonists standing in front of twisted metals and buildings on fire, I naturally expected Terror in Resonance to be the story of three protagonists fighting for their lives in some post-apocalyptic world. Well, the skies are blue and some buildings are intact in the poster, so it might be a sanitized version of Mad Max. Well, the title says “Terror in Resonance”, in which the terror must be the nuke, and the resonance must be aftermath of the nuke.

Terror in Resonance Poster

Psycho Pass Poster

Justice, and the enforcement of it, has changed. In the 22nd century, Japan enforces the Sibyl System, an objective means of determining the threat level of each citizen by examining their mental state for signs of criminal intent, known as their Psycho-Pass. Inspectors uphold the law by subjugating, often with lethal force, anyone harboring the slightest ill-will; alongside them are Enforcers, jaded Inspectors that have become latent criminals, granted relative freedom in exchange for carrying out the Inspectors' dirty work. Into this world steps Akane Tsunemori(常守 朱), a young woman with an honest desire to uphold justice. However, as she works alongside veteran Enforcer Shinya Kougami(狡噛 慎也), she soon learns that the Sibyl System's judgments are not as perfect as her fellow Inspectors assume. With everything she has known turned on its head, Akane wrestles with the question of what justice truly is, and whether it can be upheld through the use of a system that may already be corrupt.

At first glance, the animation series of RahXephon tells the story of a God-chosen teenage boy riding a giant robot and fighting off villains.

Oh wait a moment, shouldn’t that be Neon Genesis Evangelion (EVA)?

RahXephon Poster

Being adapted from a comic franchise, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows could easily be OK, because the comic already sets an exciting storyline that the movie just needs to follow.

Also being adapted from a comic franchise, it’s hard for the movie to be excellent, because any deviation from the comic easily degrades into betrayal, and childish comics are rarely excellent in professional eyes.

So far, as for comic adaption, the only excellent works in my opinion are the Batman’s Dark Knight by Christopher Nolan, and it took such genius director and writer for the adaption to be excellent.

So to me, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is at its best, average.

Detective Conan: The Darkest Nightmare Poster

Speaking of the Japanese animation series Detection Conan, a franchise that’s basically the age of myself, a series that I’ve watched from the age of Conan to the age of Shinichi Kudo and beyond, it’s hard to deny senses of nostalgia.

I came to known the Assassination Classroom series because my friends were watching it on a train ride. I decided to give it a try, which ended up as just another topic for our casual chats, no more.