2025 was kinda... unbelievably awful, but at the very least I've watched a decent number of anime, played a decent number of games, and watched a decent number of movies to keep myself sane, and I wanted to share a little about them now! So, inspired by some people that I follow doing similar lists at the beginning of a new year, I decided to write a little about some of the things I saw in 2025, mostly to share my thoughts and recommend a few things! It's going to be a little long, so strap in!
Beastars (manga)
I got so invested in this manga I read it all in less than a week! The biggest highlights are probably the worldbuilding, which is super interesting, and the art in general, which I find super unique and nice to look at, with a sketchy look to it! The characters are also pretty fun, though it does have a bit of that problem where there are so many characters that a lot of them get a bit forgotten along the way (the manga does have a few chapters just focused on secondary characters that I find really cool).
I think the parts that's are the most divisive are the ending (which I personally liked TBH) and the metaphors that the manga tries to make related to the animal society: I've seen it being compared to Zootopia quite a few times, but I've also seen arguments about it being less a racism metaphor and more something about homophobia, or even about the way society treats people who committed crimes (I personally could also see some elements being about intrusive thoughts, learning to deal with them and the like). In general, it's a little messy, but I think it still works well enough.
In the end, It's a manga that can be kinda sexual, and also pretty wacky but also has many fun or serious moments, and I think more people should read! The anime seems to be pretty good too, but it's art style is pretty different since it's a CGI show, and I believe it takes some liberties on how it places some parts of the story (I didn't finish it though), so be warned if you decide to go with it.
Dragon Half (OVA)
I don't know how well know this very short OVA series (original animation released on video, in this case VHS) actually is, but I remember seeing a lot of artists saying it was a big influence on them, and I can definitely see why now! It's not the most well animated thing ever, but it's full of charm, and the chibi style works well for the very light comedy show this is.
It's a fantasy series that does some jokes that aren't super original nowadays, but are still pretty funny (like the main character being a half-human half-dragon because her father fell in love with the dragon he was supposed to slay, and her having a crush of the handsome hero… that gets send to kill her), and it's a very breezy watch. Unfortunately I believe it's only 2 episodes because it got cancelled, and it doesn't have a very conclusive ending, but the manga is there for anyone that wants more of this world,
Fight!! Ickzen One (OVA)
Here's an slightly longer OVA series (3 episodes!) that's very different in tone than Dragon Half: it's horror, sci-fi, and very serious!
It's not super deep, but I found it interesting; it's pretty depressing in a way, with the main human girl losing her family to some aliens and having to control a giant robot to save everyone. I remember finding the ending a little confusing, but it still works, and has some good fight scenes.
Some things I'll have to warn about: it has a decent number of scenes of gore, and also some nudity (one of the main girls gets naked when she controls the mecha). Also, I've seen it getting labeled as a yuri/GL series, but I don't think the main two female characters really have a lot of ship tease unless you squint a lot (I know that the original manga has the two leads as more of a couple, but that was an hentai that's not easily available online, so it's a pretty different experience.)
Now, two of the main villain girls ARE a couple, but one of them dies pretty early on… at the very least, the surviving villain girl's angst about her dead lover gives us some of the best emotional scenes of the OVA.
The Apothecary Diaries (manga, plus some episodes of the anime)
This manga had not ended yet, so I just read all that was available at the moment, but I'll still write a little about it anyway:
It's a pretty fun manga in my opinion, with a lot of interesting characters (especially the main character Maomao, she's serious, goofy and unhinged at the same time) and a lot of cool stories where she has to solve little mysteries and also help people with her knowledge of medicine and drugs. Later it gets less episodic and has some more plot, but I personally found the beginning a little more fun 😅
I also found the all the drama with the royal family very interesting, though I'm not very familiar with these kinds of period dramas that take place in China, even if I know they are pretty popular, so a lot could be fairly cliche and I wouldn't know… Also, I found a little hard to differentiate between certain characters that had very similar hairstyles and clothes (that's an advantage of the anime, everyone has wildly different hair colors)!
Death Note (manga)
Yeah, despite it being one of the most popular anime series, I didn't know a whole lot about it before besides the general premise and the memes. Reading it was a real "oh, I get it now" moment, it really was as good as some people made it out to be… to the point it's a little hard to talk about it, don't know if I have many new takes on it.
Well, I loved Light, L, Ryuk and Misa (even if she's kinda left out of a lot of stuff by the end), found the mind games the characters play with each other super fun, and, unlike a lot of other fans, even enjoyed the second half! Yeah, Mello and Near aren't quite as cool as L, but they do have some of their own quirks, and by what I saw, are a little more developed in the manga (though I'll admit, the beginning of the second half drags quite a bit, so I get why the anime decided to rush through that part.)
I also discovered that the ending is controversial too, but honestly I loved it! I found it very satisfying to finally see Light finally getting outsmarted.
Pokémon: The Electric Tale of Pikachu
AKA: That one older Pokemon manga that has boobies in it and where Jessie/James is canon. I decided to read it to see if there was anything interesting in it besides the censorship; Now I can say that it does have a few elements to it that make it worth reading, but also had some big flaws for someone like me, who's a pretty casual Pokemon fan.
This manga was made as a spin-off to the Pokemon anime, which means it has a lot of characters that weren't in the games, that sometimes it clearly adapts stories directly from it… and that often it just skips certain developments because it expects you to have watched them in the show. For example, it only shows Ash getting 2 or 3 gym badges, and it barely shows him getting Pokemon. I don't need to see everything, but it feels a bit strange to read it by itself and not see a huge part of the plot happening.
I do think that, despite that, the manga has some cool things in it! The fact it was made really in the beginning of Pokemon's life as a franchise means the artist was allowed to take some creative liberties with the art style, and draw the Pokemon themselves in a really interesting way! They look way more feral than usual, which is cool. We also have some interesting stories that I believe are original to it, so it's probably worth reading it just for that. Also, we have weirdly hot Brock and Professor Oak alongside all the booby women, if that's your thing.
(also want to comment that I tried to read it via an fan edit that put the dialogue over the uncensored and unflipped original version, but they didn't actually finish it, so the second half I read censored…)
The Hunter's Guild: Red Hood (manga)
This is a really short-lived manga from Shonen Jump that got cancelled after only 23 chapters, but had a lot of fans that were very sad about it's demise. After reading it, I unfortunately I can kinda see why it got cancelled, even if I wish it didn't.
It starts out really well, with a good premise, good art and some interesting characters, but after that it goes to what could be called a training arc, or exam arc I guess, and it does lose a lot of what made the first few chapters cool, since I found the plot a little less interesting in this part and it introduced way too many characters at once. It also reminded me a lot of that part early on My Hero Academia where they have to do an exam to enter the school, showcasing everyone's powers, and seeing how it was still running on the same magazine, and how the art is a little similar (this author used to be an assistant on MHA), it probably didn't help this series a lot. The ending is also a bit too quick, but it's unfair to judge a cancelled series by it's ending; you can clearly tell it was supposed to have come after many different story arcs, but had to be thrown in there abruptly.
The best part of this manga? Buff women that kick ass. Namely the main mentor character, Red Hood, and Debonair the lady that's doing the training in that exam arc, both have really cool designs, and clearly are the breakout characters from it (they are the ones that had the most fanart at least).
Gunbuster (anime)
This is a six episode long OVA by Studio Gainax, and I went on without knowing a whole lot about it besides the fact I loved the artstyle, and came out having really enjoying it! Probably one of my biggest recommendations from this list.
The animation is amazing, and despite how short it is, I really felt for a lot of the characters, and they really managed to put a lot of cool fights scenes in it. The most interesting element though is probably the sci-fi elements it has besides the mechas, with the element of time dilation (time passing faster while they are in space) creating a lot of good drama, as the main character has to see the people around her aging while she's still really young.
It does have some romances that aren't able to be all that developed thanks to it's length (though I honestly didn't mind them all that much), but in general this is a strong choice if you want to watch more 80s anime, more mecha anime or if you are a big fan of other things by Gainax/Trigger. I genuinely cried at the ending, from how touching it was and how much I loved it.
Chainsaw Man (anime + Reze movie)
Another show that's really popular and that I'm really late for, but I really liked it!
Best parts for me were probably the animation and artstyle, which tries to be slightly more realistic than most anime in a way, and the characters, which are all extremely flawed and fucked up, but in a way that's very interesting to watch (the female characters in particular were a highlight for me, they are all really fun and unique… or just huge assholes that are still kinda complex, there's a reason why people love drawing fanart of them so much). The action's good, what we see of the worldbuilding in interesting, especially because it doesn't really feel the need to have a ton of exposition… In general, a really high quality show.
Though it must be warned that it's a very gory series, and that a lot of the elements of the plot would probably be very triggering for many (it deals a lot with sex and sexuality related to the teenage main character and the people around him, for example), so I wouldn't recommend it for everyone, but I feel like many would enjoy it.
Also had the opportunity to watch the recent movie in theaters, and it was a great choice, as the super good fight animation is fantastic to see on a big screen! Reze herself also was another fantastic character, and I found funny that I'm pretty sure I had seen her "devil" design online, but didn't know it was a Chainsaw Man character? It was surprising to see her there I guess.
Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun (anime)
Wanted something more light after Chainsaw Man, and this show was a great choice! It's a really breezy watch, with most episodes having a lot of different stories and comedy elements to them, and a really good cast of characters that are all super funny in their own way. It makes fun of a lot of common tropes in romance manga and games, but in a way that isn't mean spirited, just showing how silly some things are when you really think about them or put them on a more "normal" setting.
I guess if you get frustrated by shows where the main romance doesn't actually get developed all that much this might be a little frustrating, but it wasn't all that bad for me personally, and I think the show has enough going on that this isn't all that important by the end. Really wish it could get a season 2!
Re:Zero (anime, first season only)
For some reason, I have a weird fascination with all the weird isekai anime that always comes out, but I had never actually watched one, so I chose one of the few I see people really praising, and really had a good time with it!
The main character, Subaru, is probably the most controversial element of the show as far as I could see (he's that typical "nerdy guy send into another work that makes anime references sometimes"), but I genuinely think he's a good character! He's kinda cringy and obnoxious, but on purpose, and despite being aggressive and selfish he's also shown to actually care about the people around him and want to help them, despite the fact he doesn't have a lot of powers.
That's actually one of the cooler elements of the show: the time loop ability he got when transported to the other world which he can only use when he dies, and how he has to find ways to solve his problems with it, mostly by talking to other people and trying to find allies that can help him! (I think I've heard that later in the show he might get some actual powers, but I have only watched the first season so I could be wrong). He also has the problem of viewing his relationships with the people around him differently from them since he remembers things from previous time loops that they don't, which leads into a lot of good drama.
Some other things I liked: Subaru struggles a lot, which made it really satisfying when he finally accomplished things; the worldbuilding is pretty good, I especially liked how we got to see a bunch of other women that want to become the leaders on the kingdom, and how flawed and interesting they were; and it was interesting to finally learn who Rem is, since I've only known of her as a very popular anime figurine until now (and I ended up actually really liking her, and finding her cute… the waifu-bait worked on me).
All Purpose Cultural Catgirl Nuku Nuku
This is a shorter OVA series (only 6 episodes, like Gunbuster) and it isn't super deep or anything, but I had fun with it!
The main character, android catgirl Nuku Nuku, is probably the best part of it: she's energetic, funny, sweet, and really strong, which makes for a good protagonist in a action-comedy series; her relationship with her family is also sweet, even if the rest of the family is… dysfunctional (i guess that's a good word for a mother that attacks her husband with mechs and robots to get her son and android creation back in the first half of the show, though they get better later). The two henchwomen of the mother are also highlights, both are very funny.
I would say the fact that the show is so short does makes it feel as things are moving too fast sometimes? Like, episode 3 is about the family trying to make peace and live together, which feels a little too soon for a plot like that, but it still works well enough since it isn't a super serious show. (there are two longer sequel series, but I believe they are both AUs, and neither seems to be as good so… I probably won't watch them 😅)
Anime I'm still watching: Aggretsuko Season 1
This year, I tried my best to play more games, since I've never been much of a gamer, mostly watching videos about them on YouTube and playing some pretty "casual" stuff (Minecraft, Stardew Valley, some random mobile games or flash games I find on the browser…). Hopefully I'll play even more cool stuff next year, but here are some I can talk about from this one:
Forager (finished it for now I guess?)
This is a game I had seen a few youtubers playing, and wanted to try it out myself! It's a game about crafting and expanding the area around you, with a very cute art style in pixel art, which I found very chill to play. You have a lot of things to do and discover, and a few puzzles and dungeons to solve sometimes.
I think the main problem of the game is that it gets REALLY grindy by the end. I pretty much stopped playing after a while because while I had the materials do make some of the more advanced armor and items, it took forever for them to actually get done, and I had already unlocked all islands and finished all NPC quests, so I felt as if I had finished all I wanted to do.
Despite that, and the fact that I don't think the game will get updated anymore (I believe I read something about a lot of fights between the team and the main developer? but I'm not 100% sure if it's true) I still think this is a pretty fun game to play once in a while! It doesn't have an real ending, so it's more of an "play until you want to do something else" kind of deal.
Potionomics (100% it)
I first saw this one on a video about "cozy games", and even though the person didn't love it, I though it looked really cool so I tried it out: In it, you play as a woman that gets her uncle's potion shop, but has to participate in some potion selling tournaments to get the prize money and pay off the debt he left her with.
The game's all about getting ingredients and trying to make different types of potions, and them selling them in segments where you talk to customers and try to convince them to pay a little more for them. You also have a lot of characters you can meet and become closer to, and also usually gets certain things out of them (better ingredients, cauldrons, upgrades to your shop…), and I really loved all of them, pretty much everyone had some level of depth and a interesting story to learn about, or was at least pretty funny (you can also date most of them if you want! I ended up dating both Saffron, a carpenter satyr, and Roxanne, a mean lady that's initially your rival).
I know that the game used to be criticized by being a little too difficult for some, but the version I played was from after an update that added some new difficulty settings that help a lot. While I don't think this is a very relaxing game (you have a time limit to do certain things in every in-game week, so you'll probably always be planning out what you'll do next) it's still fun to play, and probably one of my biggest recommendations of this list!
Awaria (beat it)
This is a shorter free game by the same creator of Helltaker! It has a really pretty 2D artstyle, and it's all about trying to keep a bunch of machinery from breaking while a bunch of ghost women are attacking you, with it being kind of a bullet hell game. It's also very gay, which I imagine will be fantastic for many that would like to kiss mean women who are trying to kill you (also pudding, there's a lot of pudding in this game).
It's also kinda hard, but it has fun gameplay and you can change difficulties pretty easily if you are annoyed by a level. It's worth trying out I think, you might have a fun, if slightly frustrating time.
Scribblenauts Unlimited (100% it)
This is an game with a pretty fun main mechanic, where you have to write things down on a magic notebook that can make anything appear, and also put adjectives on the people and objects around you to change them, and now you need to help the people with their problems using it to get stars and help your sister. You can choose how you want to help them too, and even be a little mean if you want to (which I wasn't… usually)
As this is a kid's game, most of the puzzles aren't too hard, and it's mostly a pretty chill time… with a few exceptions: Some missions later on were hard just because they need you to think a little more to find a solution, which is good, gives a little challenge to the game; the ones that were more of a problem were the ones that were difficult because of the Portuguese translation I was playing (which is the official one on Steam), which isn't bad by any means, but clearly had some trouble adapting some of the items, because some use more dated/specific names for them that I wouldn't have known to write without using an guide, and others simply did not translate well…
For example, one special mission where I needed to "give an demon their favorite food", which isdevil food cake in the original; we don't have any cake with a similar punny name here, so you inexplicably need to give him a normal chocolate cake. (weirdly enough, a similar mission for an angel got adapted pun, i'm guessing they couldn't find an sweet with "devil" in the name?).
Well, that's only a problem if you want to 100% the game though, and in general I would suggest for anyone that gets interested in this game to play it casually. It's a fun experience, despite my little problems with the translation.
20 Small Mazes (100% it)
Another shorter game that's free on Steam, and a very simple one: you are given 20 little mazes, each one very different from the other, and have to solve them! They are all laid on top of each other as if they were actual paper on a desk in front of you, and you can choose in which order you want to play them, though some you will need items from later in the game to solve.
Some mazes are easier than others, but it's unlikely that you'll get 2 hours of gameplay, it's a breezy thing that's probably make you happy for an afternoon!
Emily is Away (beat it)
And yet another free short game (sorry, couldn't resist trying some of these out), and one I recognized from watching someone playing it on Youtube, though thankfully I didn't remember the story very well, as this is a game that's very focused on the plot.
The whole game is presented as an early 2000s chatroom, where you are talking to a friend called Emily; the story is pretty simple college drama, but it's still interesting enough, it's fun having it in this interactive way, and there are a few choices you can make over the game (and some that you cannot). It has 2 sequels that seem to be themed around other sites, but I haven't played these yet.
Wonder Boy: the Dragon's Trap (beat it)
I have kind of an interesting story with the Wonder Boy series, as i'm pretty sure it was the first game I've ever watched someone playing on the internet (specifically of the Brazilian localized version, that changed the main characters for ones from a popular comic series from here), and got me interested in games in the first place! This isn't the game in question, but it's the one that got a remake that's easily available on Steam, and it also looked cool, so I tried it out!
The gameplay, that has you changing into different animals with different abilities and it's kind of an Metroidvania, seems to be very faithful to the original, with the graphics being the main thing that has changed, and they are beautiful! Very detailed and colorful, all 2d and hand drawn (though you can change back to the old ones if you want to). The thing is, that the old game was already kinda hard, full of secret passages and mysteries that it usually doesn't really explain to you, so you will probably not find all of them on your own, though it's pretty fun to explore around sometimes.
It also has a few new challenges to do after you finish the game, with some harder rooms to visit with each transformation and beat… but I didn't really feel like doing them at the moment. Maybe some other day I guess.
Coromon (beat it)
This is an indie game that's very clearly inspired by Pokemon, and is clearly made by huge fans, since I recognized a bunch of features that people wish would be added to the games, like having Nuzlocke as a difficulty setting. For me, who only watched other people playing Pokemon games before, it was a pretty fun time, and I really liked discovering all the mons that the game has to offer, and finding which ones I liked having on my team.
I'll admit though, while I found the story alright, with you being an researcher that has to travel around and save the world from aliens, I thought that the characters in it didn't get a lot of focus, and that some of the places you visit were kinda derivative (like the desert area being very usual "Indiana Jones explorer" type of things, and a Karate Kid mentor in another). It's still fun thought!
Games I'm still playing: Persona 4 and House Flippers
This section will be a little different, as I will only talk about the more interesting movies I've seen (or at least the ones I have something to talk about). I'll start out with the 3 movies from 2025 I've seen, and then follow with some interesting older movies, and in the end I'll leave some other films I saw that are neat but I didn't know what to say about them:
Mickey 17
First movie by Bong Joon Ho I've seen, was surprised by the fact that, despite having a pretty depressing premise (a man getting hired to be cloned and tested on… and dying a whole lot) and some serious moments, it was also kinda silly at points! I found it a pretty solid sci-fi movie, even if it has a few plot points and characters that could have been developed a little more. The main villain is a pretty obvious Trump/Elon Musk stand-in, and apparently some people didn't like it? For me, that just made the movie even better, please make more villains like them.
K-POP Demon Hunters
I watched this on the first week of it's release, and it was crazy seeing how popular it became afterwards. It reminded me a lot of shows from the early 2000s, like Totally Spies and Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, with the fun dynamic between the girls and the very anime inspired designs… But also in the way it felt like a TV show pilot, introducing a world but feeling a bit incomplete like there's stuff we still need to learn about this world. Hopefully they make a TV show based on it or a sequel, I would like to see some more.
Frankenstein (2025)
Watched with my father, and we had an great time! It's a very dramatic story, the special effects are great, and the two main characters (Victor Frankenstein and the monster) both have very sympathetic backstories but are still very flawed. I don't know how accurate it is to the book as I never read it, but it seems to have some specific details that aren't usually adapted if my very limited research is correct? If so, that's pretty cool, and I think in general it's a pretty good watch.
Look Back
This was a movie based on a oneshot manga that the author of Chainsaw Man wrote (I actually own the manga now too!) and it's a really touching story about 2 girls that like to draw comics, and also about inspiration, feeling like your art isn't good enough, and about the feeling of losing the spark to create art, but trying to continuing creating… Yeah, this one hit me hard as an artist.
Nice Cats & Dinosaur Adventure
These are 2 short movies I watched with my friend… and they are some of the worst animated movies ever made, by infamous german studio Dingo Pictures. The stories are weird and inappropriate in points, the art is unbelievably bad, and they are ripoffs of better movies… we had an absolute blast watching these.
Anyway, here is an entire playlist with these on Youtube, in English and German (we watched them in Portuguese, which actually had good voice actors in them unlike these). You really can't wish for better "bad movie night" content than these.
The Exorcist
A pretty famous movie that I had never seen before, because I'm a scaredy cat that doesn't really watch horrors movies all that often, but I did think this was a pretty good movie! It has a lot of different elements that are scary or taboo in some way, and it paces it out in a way that you are always tense waiting for something to come next and scare you again… Also had a decent story with the priest that finds connection with his faith again when he has to fight against a demon.
Flow
I had heard some great things about this movie, like it being animated all on Blender, which is a software I've used before and I had the opportunity to watch it on the theater with a friend, so it was very surprising when the Oscars came and it won best animated movie!! I genuinely didn't think it had any chance, since they usually don't care even a little for the more indie animated movies, but it made me very happy!
As a movie by itself, it's really cool too! It has pretty much no dialogue, and you follow a bunch of animals trying to survive a flood, and having to become friends. The 3d models aren't super detailed, but everything's still very charming in it's own way, and the water, naturally, looks very good.
The Black Cauldron
This is one of Disney's darker and more obscure movies, and I always had a little of curiosity to check it out for myself after hearing so much about how it almost killed the studio by how hard it bombed in the box office. It's… alright. Unfortunately, while the different tone can be cool and novel, it's also kinda dry, and not a lot of interesting things happen on it (I was pretty disappointed that they build up going after the cauldron so much, but them they only have like, less than 15 minutes of actual adventure?)
In general, it's more fun to read about it's production than actually watch it; in fact, I watched the next movie because it seemed like a better "dark fantasy animated movie", and I really think it's the better option of these two:
Wizards
This was the first movie by famous director Ralph Bakshi I've seen in it's entirety, and it was very interesting! It's kinda slow, and has some of Bakshi's usual sex and violence that will probably not appeal to everyone, but I really liked that it takes place in a fantasy world that's actually our world after millions of years, where the main wizard villain learned about our wars and technology and uses them to get an advantage against his enemies (like showing a bunch of elves and other fantasy creatures footage of war, which scares them a lot). The artstyle (really cartoony characters next to super detailed backgrounds) is also pretty unique, even if I'm sure it looks like this thanks to the very low budget of the movie.
The First Slam Dunk
This is based on a pretty popular basketball manga called Slam Dunk, and adapts the last game of the manga, but I think it's pretty easy to watch even if you never saw it (as I haven't, but liked the movie a lot). It seems to focus on a character from the main team that isn't the main character, making it a new watch even if you know the source material, and it has really good CG animation simulating 2D! I'm not that into sports, but I think movies like this show why it can be exciting to watch, I'm surprised there aren't more western animated sports movies.
Project A-Ko
One of the earliest really "nerdy and otaku" anime projects as far as I know, and a pretty influential one! The animation is great, and the main 3 characters are fun too (also pretty gay). It's full of pop culture references, some that are easy to recognize and others that are very dated, either because the thing it's referencing isn't that well known or because it's the other type of dated (all of the characters in film are women, including the ones that are explicitly referencing male characters, and they are often voiced by men or look very manly as a joke... It can come off as transphobic unfortunately). I do think that, if you are interested in anime history, you'll probably find this one neat.
Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure
Never watched anything from this series before (not even Digital Circus, which I'm sure it's the reason why a lot of people even heard of it before), but still found it pretty cute!
It's pretty slow, but very charming, and the animation is unbelievably smooth! I liked how it felt eels dream-like in some parts, and has a lot of weird characters and nonsensical scenes, it's interesting.
Venus Wars
This is an anime movie from the 80s that I had seen a few people that talk about vintage anime talking about, and it's a good watch, even if a bit flawed. It takes place on a future where Venus has been colonized by Earth, and a civil war breaks through, so a group of "bikers" that live in the city being attacked try to save their area.
I though the movie was really good at showing the effects of the war in the city, and the main characters seemed to have realistic reactions to it (even if the main guy could be a bit of an asshole sometimes). There's a reporter lady that everyone seems to find insufferable, but I liked her! Reminded me of Bulma, and I though her being kinda uncaring made sense as someone not being directly affected (as she doesn't live there), even if it doesn't make her a great person.
The animation is very good, very 80s, and they do some experiments with integrating live action footage in some scenes that are… interesting. One last note: there's this very feminine male character at one point of the movie, which is clealy supposed to be a gay stereotype, which is pretty lame... but I found hilarious how, thanks to the way a scene of the main guy thinking back to him is framed, it makes it seem like our protagonist got a crush on him about 1 scene after meeting him! This complete accident made it less bad for me.
Tick, Tick.. BOOM
Another movie I went into without knowing a whole lot about, and honestly, it just made it hit me harder when I realized it was an biographical movie! It's also another movie about the creative process (in this case, focusing a lot on feeling time passing by while you feel like you haven't made anything of worth yet, and on working hard on projects that doesn't do all that well… Other topics that hits pretty hard). The songs didn't click with me all that much, but the story is good enough to make up for it.
Transformers ONE
I suppose I need to give my opinion on this movie, seeing how Transformers is, in a way, the main reason I even have a presence online (creating a Tumblr to reblog fanart of it)... I found it pretty good, I'm happy they finally made a Transformers movie that focuses on the elements of the series that fans love and wished to see in those previous live action films (worldbuilding of the cybertronian society, the drama of the different sides of their war, focusing on the robots as characters instead of humans...)
It's not a perfect movie, since it has some comedy scenes that don't fit in that much sometimes, and unfortunately I don't think it will get a sequel, but if you don't know anything about the franchise and want to get a taste of it, I think this is the new best way of doing so!
The Star of Cottonland
An more obscure anime movie, that's distinct for being one of the first sights of a catgirl in anime! In this case, it's a real cat that believes she will become a girl when she grows up, so she (and all the other cats in the film) are represented as small humans with cat features.
Maybe this premise will be weird for some, but I found it pretty cute, it's mostly a very low stakes story about the main catgirl interacting with her new owners and their friends, and later traveling around the town after an misunderstanding.
Do the Right Thing
Another movie that's super famous and important, and it was a pretty cool watch, even as the whitest person ever 😅. I found the presentation really good, with the way we get to see a day in the life of a big number of different characters, and feel for them before the ending happens and… just crushes you. It was kinda shocking to realize this is a movie from 1989, since so much of what it had to say is still super relevant today (also kinda sad that a lot of the topics that the movie raises, like police brutality, can still be controversial to be talked about nowadays). I think it's a great movie to go in blind, you'll probably have a lot to think about afterwards.
It was also crazy to realize in the end that Spike Lee directed this AND acted as the main character (yeah i think it mentions it on the opening credits but I didn't realize it. Also, the opening credits are great!).
Sinfonia Amazônica
This is a pretty special movie, since it was the first animated movie made in Brazil, and it was animated by only 1 person! Obviously that means the animation is pretty limited next to other animated movies from the 50s, like the stuff Disney was doing, but it's still impressive for what is it.
It was clearly very inspired by Disney's Fantasia, as it doesn't have that much of a plot, mostly being an excuse to play music and have some interesting visuals, though it does try to tell some native Brazilian stories (that I don't think if are particularly accurate??). It is unfortunately one of those movies that are more interesting for it's place in history than by it's actual content, but it's still neat in my opinion! It can be watched here! (not the greatest upload in visual quality, but it has subtitles in some different languages).
The Hunger Games
Watched this mostly as reference for a project that I haven't posted yet, also haven't watched any of the sequels… But even by itself it's a cool movie! The effects are good, the themes about inequality and the whole "distracting the people from the problems with the hunger games"are on the nose, but still work well in my opinion, and I though Katniss was a good character!
I remember seeing people complaining about her being too stoic back in the day, but it works with the fact she needs to be nice and charismatic for the people watching to like her, but that isn't something that comes naturally for her (also she's rightfully pissed at them).
It has some kinda silly details, like Peeta's makeup thing, and some scenes have that shakey camera that makes it hard to really understand which characters are which, but I think it holds up well enough. Also, it was funny recognizing certain elements of the story from some random things I've seen over the years, like that Hunger Games Simulator browser game, or an derivative young adult book series I read once when I was sick on a trip (The Selection, I believe).
Perfect Blue
Another fantastic watch, also one of my biggest recommendations from this list! It's about an idol that leaves her group to become an actress, and all the horrible things that happen afterwards. It has a lot of good social commentary (about things like idol culture, obsessive or judgmental fans, and actors being mistreated and forced to do very traumatic things without proper support for it), and it's also a genuinely tense movie in parts, making you confused and scared of what's going to happen. Need to watch more movies by Satoshi Kon, this was a great first impression.
Mufasa
Here's a thing about me: I really don't like the live action Disney remakes. As an animation lover I don't like what they represent, and usually they don't seem to be all that good on their own. Unfortunately, I'm also a very curious person, so I decided to check this one out (in a non official way, don't worry), since it's at least an more original project than the others, and… it wasn't as bad as I though it would be, but it's still really not all that worth watching.
The animation seems to have improved from the little I saw from the original remake, since the characters are more expressive, and they try to make more creative choreography during the musical numbers… but it just ends up clashing with the hyper realistic style in a weird way. I liked some details of the plot, like Rafiki's storyline, but almost everything related to Mufasa is either convoluted (like the whole explanation of him being adopted) or super lame (like him having an super perfect relationship with Scar until they fight over romance, then Scar just decides he always hated Mufasa out of nowhere).
There were sooo many scenes calling back to parts of the original movie (like some 3 homages to the stampede) that I got kinda annoyed, and I love that movie! I think there's some material for a good story here, but almost every decision they took made it a weaker movie…
Angel's Egg
I had the opportunity to watch this one in theater with a friend, and it was cool to watch it on a big screen, even if it isn't exactly the most… exciting movie in the world. It's a pretty slow and confusing watch, that has a bit of a plot, but it's clearly more focused on two things: the animation and visuals, which are really detailed and grand, and on symbolism!
It's the type of movie that's fun to talk about afterwards to see what you got from it, and what you think it was trying to say, which was exactly what I did! Watch it with a friend, or try to read about it online after watching it, I think it's an important part of the experience.
The other movies I watched that are good and I would recommend, but I couldn't think what to talk about: The Mask of Zorro, Kung Fu Hustle, The Blues Brothers, Whisper of the Heart, the original Godzilla, The Sound of Music, Conclave, Coming to America, Pacific Rim
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