Leila Hamm 4/13/22 Leila Hamm 4/13/22

Texhnolyze S1E7: "Plot"

One of the more chilling surprise villain reveals that I can readily recall.

Leila Hamm 4/10/22 Leila Hamm 4/10/22

ExoSquad S1E5: "Resist"

I've seen some other western media critic types complain about how much right-wing messaging there is in Japanese animation. I'm seriously looking side-eyed at those people right now.

Leila Hamm 4/7/22 Leila Hamm 4/7/22

ExoSquad S1E4: "Blitzkrieg"

Really just laying on the nazi coding now, I see.

Leila Hamm 4/4/22 Leila Hamm 4/4/22

ExoSquad S1E3: "Hidden Terrors" (continued)

"We have the wolf by the ears, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other."

Leila Hamm 4/2/22 Leila Hamm 4/2/22

ExoSquad S1E3: "Hidden Terrors"

Maybe I was giving Zembacca too much credit for his ability to thwart the terran intelligence agencies. It evidently is a very difficult task to fail at.

Leila Hamm 3/28/22 Leila Hamm 3/28/22

ExoSquad S1E2: “Seeds of Deception”

Do the thing, Phaeton. Do it.

Leila Hamm 3/26/22 Leila Hamm 3/26/22

ExoSquad S1E1: “Pirate Scourge”

There was a lot I liked here, and also quite a lot that I disliked.

Leila Hamm 3/19/22 Leila Hamm 3/19/22

Texhnolyze S1E6: “Repetition”

It really felt like there were some scenes missing in this episode. Moreso than even in the pilot. At this point I'm not sure at all of what's supposed to have happened, entirely.

Leila Hamm 3/10/22 Leila Hamm 3/10/22

Haibane Renmei E1: "Cocoon — Dream of Falling from the Sky — Old Home" (continued)

She might still be having some dysmorphia issues, but at least for not the conscious thrill of having angel wings is keeping it subdued.

Leila Hamm 3/10/22 Leila Hamm 3/10/22

Haibane Renmei E1: "Cocoon — Dream of Falling from the Sky — Old Home"

It's like one of those really weird dreams that you wake up from immediately wanting to tell people about, but then within seconds realize that it's too nonsensical to even communicate to someone. But somehow works anyway, at least so far.

Leila Hamm 3/8/22 Leila Hamm 3/8/22

Texhnolyze S1E5: “Loiter”

I'm not really sure what to make of this one. It was...something, alright. There were thematic threads running through it, but I'm not sure what they actually were. I might be better able to understand in retrospect. I hope.

Leila Hamm 3/4/22 Leila Hamm 3/4/22

Texhnolyze S1E4: “Synapse” (continued)

The pain, horror, and hopelessness of life under a kleptocracy.

Leila Hamm 3/1/22 Leila Hamm 3/1/22

Texhnolyze S1E4: “Synapse”

Fucking hell this guy gets raped a lot.

And dismembered a lot.

And orphaned a lot.

Leila Hamm 2/26/22 Leila Hamm 2/26/22

Texhnolyze S1E3: “Texhnophile”

Honestly, the weakest part of this show for me is how hard it leans on its aesthetics and style. I don't *dislike* the vibe it goes for, but the show spends way too much time setting the vibe with long silent shots, scenery montages, etc without doing much else, and I find the story more engaging than the scenery.

Leila Hamm 2/26/22 Leila Hamm 2/26/22

Texhnolyze S1E2: “Forfeiture” (continued)

His city turned into a hostile desert wasteland around him, leaving him to parch and die and leave his bones on its sandy bedrock.

Leila Hamm 2/26/22 Leila Hamm 2/26/22

Texhnolyze S1E2: “Forfeiture”

Losing two limbs in a world where prosthetics are this goddamned hard to talk or write about.

Leila Hamm 2/15/22 Leila Hamm 2/15/22

Texhnolyze S1E1: “Stranger”

The minimalist approach to storytelling makes it a little hard for me to get into the characters, since I don't understand much about what they're doing. It also feels like it's struggling to fill its 22 minute runtime without biting the bullet and having people talk. On the other hand, I do like the urban exploration sort of aesthetic, and while I only understand a few bits and pieces of the story it seems like it at least *could* be interesting.