Angel's Anime Rating Guide

Lately, I had the opportunity to binge on Disenchantment ... After tackling modern times with The Simpsons and the future with Futurama, producer Matt Groening steps into the past with Disenchantment. The animated fantasy series geared toward adults takes place in the crumbling medieval kingdom of Dreamland. It follows the misadventures of hard-drinking young princess Bean, her feisty elf companion Elfo and personal demon Luci. The oddball trio encounters the likes of ogres, sprites, imps, trolls and human fools along the way. Disenchantement follows Bean, our resident princess and local drunk, as she tries to avoid arranged marriages, defend her kingdom from attacking hordes, survive family reunions and other zany misadventures. Bean quickly acquires a demon and an elf companion and in the early episodes, Bean and her companions engage in a number of adventures as she attempts to avoid an arranged marriage. Later, of course, comes the aforementioned attacking hordes and the first s...

Sometime ago, long before the world stayed home, I went to a bookstore way out in what was recently a hot zone and picked up a handful of issues of the Harley Quinn graphic novel (the New 52 series). More recently, Harley Quinn went mainstream and after a handful of theatrical features, grew up and got her own TV series. According to Wikipedia ... The series follows Harley Quinn's adventures after she breaks up with the Joker and her attempt to join the Legion of Doom, forming her own crew consisting of Poison Ivy, Clayface, Doctor Psycho, King Shark, and Sy Borgman. When she finally achieves this goal however, she begins to distance herself from her newfound friends and still faces problems from the Joker, who refuses to accept the idea of Harley becoming a supervillain on her own. In the comic book as in the TV series, Harley Quinn finds herself Joker-less. In the comic book, Harley Quinn is more of a free spirit and has a place in the big city to call her own. She has her ...

Not long ago, I began watching The Owl House on the Disney Channel ... Self-assured teenager Luz stumbles upon a portal to a magical realm where she befriends a rebellious witch, Eda, and a tiny warrior, King; despite not having magical abilities, Luz pursues her dream of becoming a witch by serving as Eda's apprentice. The Owl House follows the exploits of Luz, as she studies to be a witch in the land of the Boiling Isles under the instruction of Eda, a witch and a free spirit who makes a living selling oddities collected from the Human world. Early in the series, we find that Luz is somewhat of a free spirit herself who has a fascination with fantasy stories and her dream is to become a witch. When Luz stumbles into the demon realm, she's offered the opportunity to return home and be "safe", but, of course, then there wouldn't be a need for more episodes of the series, so, naturally, Luz is going to run away from home into the demon realm. Meanwhile, bac...

A few days ago, I stumbled into Hazbin Hotel ... Hazbin Hotel is the story of Charlie, the princess of Hell, as she pursues her seemingly impossible goal of rehabilitating demons to peacefully reduce overpopulation in her kingdom. She opens a hotel in hopes that patients will be "checking out" into Heaven. While most of Hell mocks her goal, her devoted partner Vaggie, and their first test subject, adult film-star Angel Dust, stick by her side. When a powerful entity known as the "Radio Demon" reaches out to Charlie to assist in her endeavors, her crazy dream is given a chance to become a reality. Hazbin Hotel is a pilot episode for a yet-to-be-produced animated series and is the brain child of visionary animator, Vivienne Medrano . Vivienne aka Vivziepop on YouTube has produced a handful of pilots for prospective series like Hazbin Hotel as well as animated shorts, a number of discussions about animation and of course, speed drawing sessions. While there are ...

Last week, Mom and I began watching the Mandalorian , a live-action series set in the Star Wars universe. According to Disney ... After the stories of Jango and Boba Fett, another warrior emerges in the Star Wars universe. The Mandalorian is set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order. We follow the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy, far from the authority of the New Republic. Set in a period between the last of the original movies with Return Of The Jedi and the first of the new movies with The Force Awakens , the Mandalorian is the first non-animated incarnation of the Star Wars franchise to appear in a regular episodic form. Previously there were a handful of forgettable TV specials and a few direct-to-video live-action movies featuring the Ewoks. I've seen various animated series like Clone Wars , Star Wars Rebels and Star Wars Resistance and they're not half bad, but, the Mandalorian takes things to ...

A few years ago, Cartoon Network aired a pilot episode for Infinity Train ... Trapped on a mysterious train full of puzzles and perils, a headstrong 12-year-old girl must use her wits to uncover the train's many secrets -- and hopefully return home. Tulip's mind-bending journey will find her forging friendships with One-One, a robot with dueling personalities, and Atticus, the canine king of Corginia. But with new surprises awaiting them in every car, will Tulip ever find a way off the train? Years ago, the pilot episode of Infinity Train introduced us to Tulip after she had been on a mysterious train for a week. The pilot episode followed her through the Corgi Car where she met Atticus, king of Corginia. The pilot episode left behind some mysteries like how did Tulip end up on the train, what was the number on Tulip's hand and what was the creature that attacked Tulip in the Corgi Car? I really enjoyed the pilot episode and looked forward to seeing more of the series,...

Last week, I saw Primal on Cartoon Network ... Coming off an award-winning final season of Samurai Jack, Adult Swim reunites with creator Genndy Tartakovsky on a new animated series. Primal features a caveman at the dawn of evolution. A dinosaur on the brink of extinction. Bonded by tragedy, this unlikely friendship becomes the only hope of survival in a violent, primordial world. All Earth was but one thought... ...and that was death... Excerpt from the poem Darkness by Lord Byron (1788-1824). In a five-night event, Cartoon Network aired Primal . There is copious amounts of blood and gore in the series, which is why it aired in the late-night Adult Swim programming block. In the first episode, Spear, the spear-wielding caveman, loses his family -- his mate and children are eaten alive by a dinosaur. Later, Spear confronts the killer, only to realize that offender is a mother of two young dinosaurs and even with his recent loss, Spear empathizes with the murderous mother...

As soon as I had heard about this feature, I couldn't NOT watch MFKZ ... Featuring the voices of Michael Chiklis (The Shield, American Horror Story), Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad, The Usual Suspects), Jorge Gutierrez (The Book of Life, Son of Jaguar), Dascha Polanco (Orange is the New Black, Joy), RZA, Vince Staples, and Danny Trejo (Machete, Predators). Genre-mashup MFKZ is the collaboration of French comic artist Guillaume _Run_ Renard and ultra-hip Japanese animation house Studio 4C, creators of Tekkonkinkreet, Genius Party and Mind Game. The Tekkonkinkreet dream team of Shojiro Nishimi and art director Shinji Kimura reunite to bring to life a dark but stunningly animated sci-fi vision that mixes anime, film noir, and Lucha Libre in an orgy of video game-inspired mayhem. The film centers on young Angelino and his skull-and-flame pal Vinz, who live in a seedy tenement in an LA-inspired dystopian metropolis -- a burnt-out, gang and cockroach-ridden neo-urban hell. Follow...

I saw previews on Cartoon Network for Gen:Lock ... Featuring an all-star cast of voices from award-winning actors such as Michael B. Jordan, Maisie Williams, David Tennant, and Dakota Fanning, the science-fiction series Gen:Lock delivers an action-packed tale of mechanized warfare. Set in a dystopian future, Earth's last free society recruits a diverse young team of robot pilots in the hopes of saving the world. The story follows the Gen:Lock experiment as the members upload their minds to control giant mecha robots to do battle against the invading forces of The Union and its tyrannical leader. I'm not really a fan of giant robot shows, but, I decided to give Gen:Lock a try. First off, I should note that the animation is not as polished as I would like, but, the story is not half bad and makes up for some of the deficiencies in the animation. The story centers on a mysterious force that is attempting to take control of portions of the United States. As far as I can tell, ...

Recently, I started watching Amphibia ... Inspired by creator and executive producer Matt Braly's heritage, family and childhood trips to Bangkok, Thailand, Disney's animated series chronicles the adventures of independent and fearless teen Anne Boonchuy after she is magically transported to a rural marshland full of frog people. There, Anne meets the excitable young frog Sprig Plantar; unpredictable pollywog Polly Plantar, the youngest member of the Plantar family; and overprotective and traditional grandfather Hop Pop. Stuck in this fantastical world of amphibians, Anne quickly bonds with the adventurous Sprig and discovers the true meaning of friendship. Amphibia starts out with Anne being mistaken for the local monster, but, after Anne demonstrates that she is not a monster by intervening on behalf of both Sprig and the townspeople against a real monster, she is welcomed into the home of the Planter family where she becomes the monster that lives in their basement. Duri...

I'm not usually a fan of ninjas, but, of course, I had to make an exception for Batman Ninja ... Batman Ninja takes a journey across the ages as Gorilla Grodd's time displacement machine transports many of Batman's worst enemies to feudal Japan--along with the Dark Knight and a few of his allies. The villains take over the forms of the feudal lords that rule the divided land, with the Joker taking the lead among the warring factions. As his traditional high-tech weaponry is exhausted almost immediately, Batman must rely on his intellect and his allies--including Catwoman and the extended Bat-family--to restore order to the land, and return to present-day Gotham City. Batman Ninja , unsurprisingly, requires quite a bit of suspension of disbelief from the very beginning and becomes even more unbelievable as the feature progresses from time-travelling lunacy to utter monkey madness, complete with giant robots. The feature is actually very beautifully animated and the style ...

On the SyFy Channel , around the time that I noticed Alien News Desk , I also happened to notice Happy! ... Nick Sax is a corrupt, intoxicated, ex-cop turned hit man who is adrift in a twilight world of casual murder, soulless sex, and betrayal. After a hit goes wrong, Nick finds a bullet in his side, the cops and the mob on his tail, and a monstrous killer on the loose. But his world is about to be changed forever by a tiny, imaginary, blue-winged horse with a relentlessly positive attitude named Happy. On their journey, they must contend with a laundry list of enemies including angry mobsters, ex-mistresses, ex-wives, and one very bad Santa. Although, unicorns and rainbow sprinkles abound in Happy! , the younger unicorn fans among us should definitely stay away. Happy! is a dark comedy that follows Nick Sax as he kills his way through the seedy underbelly of the criminal underworld in an effort to rescue a young girl kidnapped by a deranged Santa. Throughout Happy! , there are co...

I saw the NetFlix feature, Next Gen ... A rebellious girl and a runaway combat robot unite to stop a madman's technological plan for world domination. Next Gen is an animated feature that envisions a world where technology is even more ubiquitous than it is today -- a world where artificially intelligent household robots are commonplace. Our story centers on Mai, a young girl who has developed a bad attitude after her father and mother separated. While Mai's mother has wrapped herself up with an obsession with robots, Mai spends about a third of the feature acting out all of her bad-girl instincts. Early on in Next Gen , Mai, while acting up, yet again, encounters a combat robot in a lab. After Mai is escorted out of the lab where the combat robot resides by robot police, the combat robot becomes fascinated with Mai and decides to follow her home. At first, Mai isn't really happy with her newfound robot, but, once she realizes the evil potential of this robot, she qu...

I had seen previews for Kubo And The Two Strings and the visuals looked really good, but, I did not see it during its theatrical run. I did, however, eagerly await its release on DVD... From the acclaimed animation studio LAIKA (Coraline) comes an epic original action adventure featuring the voice talents of Academy Award winners Charlize Theron and Matthew McConaughey. Kubo mesmerizes the people in his village with his magical gift for spinning wild tales with origami. When he accidentally summons an evil spirit seeking vengeance, Kubo is forced to go on a quest to solve the mystery of his fallen samurai father and his mystical weaponry, as well as discover his own magical powers. Kubo and the Two Strings is a wildly imaginative, magical adventure. According to Wokipedia ... Announced in December 2014, the project is the directoral debut of Laika's CEO Travis Knight. Knight was pitched the story by production designer Shannon Tindle as a "stop-motion samurai epic"....

Earlier this year, I started watching Final Space . According to Amazon ... Final Space is a serialized intergalactic space saga about an astronaut named Gary and his adorable, planet-destroying friend, Mooncake. The series will follow their adventures as they embark on a quest to unlock the mystery of "Final Space," the place where the entire universe ends. Season 1 Chapter One Gary carries out the final days of his lonely, five year prison sentence aboard the Galaxy One, when he meets Mooncake, a little green alien, who has the galaxy's most dangerous bounty hunters chasing after it. Gary swears to keep Mooncake safe from the anyone who would do it harm. Little does Gary know, Mooncake is the world's most adorable planet destroying super weapon. Chapter Two Gary and Avocato must chase down the ruthless bounty hunter, Terk, before he can tell the Lord Commander that Mooncake is aboard the Galaxy One. Chapter Three Gary tries to hide Mooncake safely away o...

Ernest and Celestine is a French production based on series of children's books featuring a bear and a mouse... Deep below snowy, cobblestone streets, tucked away in networks of winding tunnels, lives a tiny mouse named Celestine. Unlike her fellow mice, Celestine is an artist and a dreamer, and has a hard time fitting in. When she nearly ends up as breakfast for a grumpy bear named Ernest, the two become fast friends and embark on an adventure that will put a smile on your face and make your heart glow. Ernest and Celestine introduces Ernest, a large bear living in a ramshackle house in the countryside. We first meet Ernest looking to scrape together some money for food. Celestine is a mouse who like to draw and believes that bears are not as bad as everyone claims. Celestine lives in an orphanage and makes her living gathering teeth from baby bears to supply a need among mice for replacement teeth. Celestine and Ernest cross paths when Ernest finds Celestine trapped in a tra...

I was revisiting Starchaser: The Legend of Orin when I realized, for some reason that defies description, I hadn't actually mentioned this feature before... Get ready to blast into hyperspace with Starchaser: The Legend of Orin, an exhilarating, animated sci-fi saga hailed as an excellent special treat for families (Screen International) that brings interplanetary excitement and adventure to an all-time high! Deep within a subterranean Mine-World, a tribe of humans forced into a grim life of servitude by the malevolent overlord Zygon knows nothing of the surface world or of hope until a brave young boy named Orin discovers a sword with mysterious powers that only he can unlock! After escaping the Mine-World with his weapon, Orin teams with rogue smuggler Dagg, a beautiful princess and some trusty robots on an intergalactic mission to free his enslaved people and defeat the evil Zygon! Way back in the misty dawn of time, I had seen theatrical previews for Starchaser: The Legend ...

Over the weekend, I saw the animated short, Scavengers on Cartoon Network ... According to Creator's Vice ... Stranded on an strange planet, two surviving crew members of a colonial starship perform a series of bizarre rituals using alien flora and fauna in Joseph Bennett and Charles Huettner's short film, Scavengers. Each step in the mysterious ritual prompts more questions than the last, from... What are they doing?... to... How did they learn all this stuff?... and ending with... Will I ever understand this crazy world? Scavengers tells the story of two colonists stranded on a remote planet as they perform a complicated series of interconnected tasks to achieve their goal. At the outset, the viewer does not know what the colonists are trying to do, but, by the end, there is a sense of accomplishment. At about eight minutes, the feature is fairly short, but, manages to tell a story in its own way, and does so, without any spoken dialogue. I enjoyed the feature en...

This post concerns  Pink Lemonade , an animation project that had been in production for many years. Sadly, it appears that after years of inactivity, it may be time to acknowledge that the project is pretty much dead... sniff... sniff... ☹️ To be clear, I'm NOT in charge of this project or associated with the production in ANY way, but, I am a fan of the work of White Radish , and lately, I've been curious about the project. In case you were wondering, Pink Lemonade was described by White Radish as... Pink Lemonade [an] upcoming 6-episode OVA series involves four girls in a complex diamond of love/hate/desire set in a galaxy far, far away, where cyberpunk action and comic relief balance with character development and pathos, and at least one "H" scene in every episode! By the way,  White Radish  did release a music CD featuring Vanilla Almond Creme , which composed the music for some of White Radish 's productions. At one time, I had a link to the Vanill...

After many years away, my brother, Sammy, recently came home from away and offered some fascinating insights into the peculiarities of censorship in the modern era. Sammy wanted to see an R-Rated movie. As he was looking for a suitable candidate --  Deadpool  --, he happened to notice a pile of  Tinker Bell  movies and mentioned that he had never seen any of them as they were unrated and as such, were banned. He also noted that  Big , the Tom Hanks movie where Tom plays a child who has suddenly grown big, was censored for objectionable content. As for Tinker Bell, from what I understand, in the original text of Peter Pan , fairies are described as being only able to hold only one emotion at a time, so, when Tinker Bell is angry, she is psycho-crazy angry. And, some of Tinker Bell's anger management issues even make their way into the animated Peter Pan movie as noted in a Buzzfeed article. Of course, the more recent Tinker Bell movies are toned down quite a...