ok team, it's been some time since i last posted and i know this is a little bit late, but i just remembered i had a blog so it's time to get into this fucking review. i did more than just watch anime this time (kind of), so we're gonna keep this one simple.
anime of the month
honestly, this month was kinda weak. i normally watch at least one thing that really blows me away, but march was rough. so i'll be giving this one to the one i enjoyed the most.
i know that a lot of people have mixed feelings on part three, which i understand to a degree. certainly, in its complete form, it is long and has a fairly repetitive format. i still really like part three because it's just a really fun time, but it's far from my favorite part. however, JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken (1993) is an extremely solid adaptation of the latter half of the part. of course, it's missing quite a bit being only six episodes long, but it more than makes up for that in its significantly improved art compared to the TV anime and its expressive characters. it really captures the goofiness of all jojo has to offer, especially compared to the 2000 OVA sequel-prequel abomination.
the parts they chose to adapt here they did really well. i was happy to see this take on iggy's introduction because the episodes were so much funnier than they were in the TV anime. i remember the beginning of the egypt arc being boring then, so this was cool. i also think it's awesome that out of all of the other possible fights they could have adapted, they picked d'arby the gambler. i love those episodes, but it was still great even condensed into thirty-ish episodes.
and of course, the fight against DIO was fantastic. the way the world is depicted is so much more intense, with it rarely having any visual or auditory effects. the added budget for each of these episodes was much appreciated, and i truly think that the fight is better here than in the TV anime.
manga of the month
that's right folks, i actually read manga in march; two of them, to be precise. it was a "tough" choice between Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha ViVid and Uchuu Kaizoku Captain Harlock, but the latter is going to just "barely" take it!
i randomly found the first volume of this at a bookstore for half off one day and i was like "sure" and bought it. i was already familiar with matsumoto leiji's work, having watched Queen Emeraldas and The Cockpit, the former of which is incredibly okay and the latter of which is fucking awesome. but as far as i can tell, all of the works relating to Harlock and Ginga Tetsudou 999 take place in the same setting, which is pretty cool. i had a great time reading captain harlock since, though it's very dramatic, it has strong characters and an interesting episodic plot. i wish that it had a more conclusive ending than it does, but from what i can tell from the TV anime's episode titles, it takes the story further than the manga does. i've been excited to watch captain harlock for a while, and i am even more so now that i've read its source material.
this is also the first manga from the 70s that i've ever read. likely due to matsumoto's unique artstyle, it holds up very well even almost a half-century later. i hope this will also be the case when i watch the anime, since i've never watched anything as old as captain harlock. i hope the anime with its forty-two episodes is able to expand on many of the characters, and hopefully the color will be a nice addition too. one of the other major benefits the manga has going for it though is it's contrast and attention to detail. i never ran into the issue i often have with manga where i can't tell what the fuck is happening because of all the muddy greys and lines all over the place; captain harlock is a very clean manga, as expected of one of the masters.
final thoughts
i wish i could've had a video game of the month this time around but i really have just been playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for the last month intermittently. i did start playing Chrono Trigger again, but i'll highlight that once i get further into it and play it more regularly. it's kind of hard to find motivation to play it despite how good it is because it feels like more of a time commitment when i sit down to play it.
also, i'm starting Tokyo Ghoul:re this month. hopefully, i'll finish it fairly quickly like i did with its prequel since i have so many other things i want to read, but we'll see what happens. i've also been rewatching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, which i already rate a 10/10, but i'm probably gonna have to talk about it in next month's review no matter what. it is seriously that good.
alright y'all, that's about all i've got for you today. can't promise i'll remember i have a blog in april but i'll try my best lol. -lego jujutsu kaisen