Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)

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Hayao Miyazaki, Laputa, Studio Ghibli

Theatrical Poster (Source: Wikipedia)

Laputa: Castle in the Sky was the first film to be produced by Studio Ghibli[1], and was an auspicious start for the studio.

The film opens with air pirates attacking a luxury airship liner to steal an amulet from a girl named Sheeta. Sheeta has previously been kidnapped by secret police and uses the confusion to try and escape, only to lose her grip and plummet from the sky.

Or does she? Cut to the credits with some fascinating imagery of a civilisation in the sky falling to earth in an unexplained disaster.

Umamusume: Pretty Derby (2018): Final Thoughts

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Umamusume

Source: CrunchyRoll.

As I noted in my Spring update, Umamusume: Pretty Derby was proving to be a competently executed show.

I asked the question then of whether Umamusume would have a decent story to tell in leading up to the promised race between Special Week and Silence Suzuka.

Toji no Miko (2018): Final Thoughts

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Katana Maidens, Toji no Miko

Source: Crunchyroll

Well, that finished I guess. Toji no Miko (aka Katana Maidens) basically survived on the watch list by being streaming on Saturday’s when I was recovering from a personal training session[1].

Despite my snark during my midseason update, the second arc of Toji no Miko did work better than the first. I think that this was due to greater familiarity with the characters, plus some actual depth of characterisation, that allowed the charm of the show to carry a bit more weight.

Amanchu! Advance (2018)

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Amanchu!, ARIA

Source: CrunchyRoll

I was so looking forward to the second season of Amanchu!

Oh dear.

As I wrote about the first season, there was real potential for this show to become an all-time favourite if it was given the space to breathe. Even with the limitation to 1 cour again, the early episodes showed potential with an early focus on Teko obtaining an advanced diving license that would allow her to dive deeper than 18 meters with Pikari.

Then it all went wrong.

Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (2018)

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Maquia, Mari Okada

I’m currently in Melbourne for Continuum 14 but took the opportunity to catch Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms this afternoon before the convention got underway.

As a writer and series composer Mari Okada is already a big name in anime, and she just made her claim to be a director to be reckoned with.