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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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).

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.

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.

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.

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...

Sometime ago, I saw Aeon Flux on MTVs Liquid TV programming block... Aeon Flux , created by Peter Chung, originally aired on MTV as part of their Liquid TV segment. Aeon Flux's oil-slick animation, angular heroic characters, and twisted plot threads woven around wonderfully original design concepts make it one of the most brilliant shows [formerly] on TV, live action or animated. Its dramatic direction and ironic use of irony slap the audience out of their preconceptions and make them watch and think. The tales of this beautiful secret agent/assassin only grow more curious and puzzling with each installment.

After more time than I'd care to admit, I've finally completed gathering all 26 episodes of Jane and the Dragon and added them to the archive. According to Wikipedia ... Jane and the Dragon is a CGI animated series based on the books of the same name by Martin Baynton. The show is directed by Mike Fallows and motion capture directed by Peter Salmon; it is co-produced by Weta Workshop (as Weta Productions) in New Zealand and Nelvana Limited in Canada. The series follows the comedic exploits of Jane, an adolescent girl training to be a knight, and her friend, Dragon, a talking, flying, 300-year-old, fire-breathing dragon. According to the backstory explained in the opening theme song, Jane was being trained to become a lady-in-waiting, but had always dreamed of becoming a knight. When the prince is kidnapped by a dragon, Jane sets out to slay the beast. When Jane brings the prince back, the king makes her a knight apprentice. Jane and the dragon end up becoming friends. Furt...

In 1995, I had seen a handful of episodes of Maxx on MTV ... The Maxx is/was a surrealistic cartoon animated by the MTV network in 1995. The Maxx is based on a comic book series. It tells a story of a man who hides behind a purple mask and of a Generation-X chick social worker who helps him through tough times. At times they are followed by a murderer; their lives in the city correspond with different lives in a parallel universe called "The OutBack" and well, ah, if you haven't seen it you really need to. Much like the works of the Surrealists, it cannot be easily explained in words.

Yesterday, after more work than I'd care to admit, I managed to complete my own collection of Thundarr the Barbarian ... Man's civilization is cast in ruin when a runaway planet speeds between the Earth and the Moon, unleashing cosmic destruction. Two-thousand years later, Earth is reborn from the ashes with a savage landscape, strange creatures and a primitive sense of justice. But one man fights to spread peace throughout the land: he is Thundarr the Barbarian and you can own All 21 Exciting Adventures starring Thundarr and his companions Ookla the Mok and sorceress Princess Ariel. Using their strength, courage and wits plus Thundarr's magical Sunsword, they journey from village to village, liberating slaves and battling all kinds of beasts, mutants, wizards, thieves and robots. The future of Earth may be shrouded in darkness, but Thundarr the Barbarian bursts into action as a shining symbol of hope for humanity.

I picked up the Reboot Season 1 and 2 box set... Welcome to Mainframe. Home to Guardian Bob, formatted to mend and defend. Join the fast-paced action and adventure as Bob and his friends Dot, her brother Enzo and his trusty dog Frisket fend off attacks from the superviruses known as Megabyte and Hexadecimal in their relentless pursuit of chaos and the destruction of Mainframe. Known as the very first completely computer-animated half-hour TV series, ReBoot debuted in the United States on ABC’s Saturday-morning block in 1994 and has captured the hearts and imaginations of kids and gamers ever since!

I picked up the Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends: 100% Complete Bull box set recently... Now here's something you don't see everyday, Chauncey. It's the complete first season of one of television's smartest, savviest, and most subversively funny animated series, ranked by TV Guide as one of the top 50 series of all time. Like the animators at Warner Bros.' Termite Terrace (birthplace of Porky, Daffy, and Bugs), producer Jay Ward, his partner Bill Scott (the voice of Bullwinkle), and the cracked writing staff did not write down to children. The dialogue is witty and sharply satiric. Characters break the "fourth wall" between the screen and the audience. They make sly references to the show's creators and the television network. They hurl barbs of mass destruction at Washington, D.C. politicians. And then there are the godawful puns. This 18-disc set contains the entire series -- it's the whole shebang, featuring 91 trips in the WABAC time machine...

Many years ago, before Elmo was all the rage on PBS, there were shows like Read All About It! According to Wikipedia ... Read All About It! was a Canadian educational television series produced from 1979 to 1983 by TVOntario that aired during the early to mid 1980s; It also aired in repeats in the 1990s. It starred David Craig Collard as Chris, Lydia Zajc as Lynne, Stacey Arnold as Samantha, and Sean Hewitt as Duneedon, ruler of the galaxy Trialviron. In the second season Michael Dwyer joined the cast as Alex. The main goal of the show was to try and teach viewers about skills such as reading and writing & history in the midst of an entertaining program...

I picked up the Daria Complete Series box set recently... The people of Lawndale just don't get Daria Morgendorffer. She's cool with that. See, Daria was born alienated, and now she's just trying to make it through high school with as little human contact as possible. Popularity, friends, activities... whatever. Daria lacks enthusiasm, but she makes up for it with sarcasm.

After revisiting Ralph Bakshi's version of Lord of the Rings , I decided to look into another Ralph Bakshi animation -- Spicy City . According to Wikipedia ... Spicy City was an animated television series which was created by Ralph Bakshi for HBO. The plot was described as a science fiction anthology series set in a futuristic city with a seamy side. Spicy City premiered in July 1997, beating South Park to television by over a month and becoming the first "adults only" cartoon series and lasted for one season which consisted of six episodes.

Several years ago, Cartoon Network aired a series called Megas XLR . I saw some of the series, but, it was gone before I had the opportunity to preserve any episodes for the archive. In the distant future of 3037, humanity is fighting a doomed war against an alien race known as the Glorft. In order to save the Earth and their species from total annihilation, the human resistance steals a prototype giant robot from the Glorft and modifies it, renaming it "Megas" (Mechanized Earth Guard Attack System). The plan was to send Megas back in time to the Battle of the Last Stand in 3035, which was the last major offensive fought by humanity against the Glorft. Humanity lost that battle, and the war moved more and more in the Glorfts' favor ever since, but the members of the resistance believe that Megas can tip the scales and hand the Glorft a decisive defeat.