Hromino

I have a great love for jazz, film noir is my cup of tea, and I can’t get enough of science fiction. So you might be wondering why I only gave Cowboy Bebop a three-star rating. It's a cult show that I recently rewatched, ten years after I first saw it, and it still didn't quite hit the right spot for me. I understand why it's a cult classic, especially in America, and how it became a gateway to anime for many viewers. I also see why Netflix didn't hesitate to produce a live-action remake after more than twenty years. However, in my opinion, Cowboy Bebop is a creative combination of good but not great ingredients. The episodic narratives are enjoyable, but they didn’t leave a deeper impression on me and quickly became forgettable. The show has a cool vibe, and the characters are interesting, but their character design can become overly generic at times. Additionally, the concept of a "modernized" Western had already been explored in Trigun at that time. While the show's accessibility to Western audiences is understandable, it comes at the cost of its Japanese identity, which is primarily manifested through the eclecticism of genres and themes. For me, the lack of a strong Japanese identity was somewhat detrimental. If you're looking for a show with a unique and bold Japanese identity, I highly recommend Samurai Champloo. It has even more advanced concepts, ideas, a fantastic soundtrack, and cleverly mixes Japanese identity with Western ideas compared to Cowboy Bebop. “Better” 3 stars.

It's a bit absurd when an anime series centered around drawing has poor animation. The show features long static shots, jerky movements, and awkward character expressions, all combined with a near-slavish devotion to the manga source material that fails to consider the techniques that work on paper but may not translate well to the screen. Normally, I would say goodbye to the show's creators and watch something else. However, I kept watching Blue Period for two reasons. First, the show has expertly crafted characters and a captivating storyline. The original manga is so well-crafted and has such a strong foundation that it mostly manages to overshadow the series' other shortcomings. Second, the issues mentioned earlier are mostly present in the first three episodes, during which the animation team was still figuring things out, and the screenwriter was trying to adapt the manga frame by frame. However, the quality of the episodes improves, and the tenth episode, set in Odawara, is particularly impressive, with a beautifully Haruki Murakami-esque feel that showcases the show's strengths. Blue Period is not just a narrative about someone falling in love with illustration; it's a story about different characters with varying motivations, problems, and opinions, all on a journey of self-discovery in which drawing is their constant companion. The anime's creators have managed to capture this journey, the essence of the characters, and the essential themes almost perfectly. Achieving this is no small feat. Initially, I didn't believe I'd experience the same emotions while watching the show as I did when reading the manga, where Yatora's life story resonated strongly with me. I'm giving Blue Period a solid four-star rating, with a special mention for the opening and ending, which I think are spot on.

Sometimes anime creators let success go to their heads and their next project ends up being a self-absorbed mess that nobody likes. Shingo Natsume and my favorite illustrator Hisashi Eguchi were supposed to be a dream team with their Japanese fantasy take on Lord of the Flies. Instead of a masterpiece, we got a self-indulgent mess full of pointless blabbering. Sonny Boy is a prime example of how even the craziest anime needs a solid foundation for the fictional world to work. Otherwise, all the over-the-top fantasy elements just become a weakness and the whole thing gets boring fast. The creators thought that the "random" feel of the show would appeal to viewers who wanted to figure out which superpower caused what, or who combined their powers to create a spectacle like the last part of Kubrick's 2001. But because the show's own set of rules and physics for the supernatural powers are so vague and unexplained, it feels like the creators didn't even need to put in the effort to explain anything, and could have just turned Sonny Boy into a psychedelic eye-candy without any substantial storyline. The characters, led by the main protagonist, are all boring and there's barely any social commentary or psychological depth after the first couple of episodes. And that twenty-minute long talk about monkeys in episode four? Traumatizing. 1 star.