I don't think I've seen one of these threads in a minute, so why not?
Here's what I've had going on -
Completed:
Good:
Giant Robo: the Day the Earth Stood Still - Great OVA! I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys G Gundam since the first few episodes of this essentially helped Imagawa get the job as the first non-Tomino TV Gundam showrunner. From what I know, they didn't license the actual stories from the manga, so Imagawa and crew made shit up whole cloth and use characters from miscellaneous Yokoyama manga. It gives it this really manic energy when guys with random super powers and Romance of the Three Kingdoms characters are all fighting each other like a kid playing with a box of their parents old toys. Very light on actual robot fights, but the animation is gorgeous.
Getter Robo: Armageddon - More 90s super robots. I didn't like it as much as Giant Robo, but this goes pretty hard and was enjoyably edgy as fuck.
Rose of Versailles - Delightful 70s classic. It has me wanting to watch more Dezaki stuff - maybe Space Adventure Cobra will work its way in soon.
OK:
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Season 2 - Wasn't bad, but it just didn't have enough to interest me.
.hack//Sign - This was a favorite of mine back in the old days. It's good for an advertisement/prelude for the PS2 games, but I don't think I would recommend it otherwise. I also watched the Intermezzo and Unison OVAs - they're eh.
Kill La Kill - I watched this on a whim after watching Cutie Honey (1973). It's not bad, it's just not really my thing.
Musha Knight Commando: SD Gundam Scramble - Probably cool if you were like 10 in Japan in the early 90s.
Bad:
Cross Ange - Please check CWs before considering this, but wow is this an interesting train wreck of a show.
Ongoing:
Legend of the Galactic Heroes - 30/110 so far. Still liking it a lot, but I'm just slowly working my way through this one. I couldn't imagine binging through it.
Finished:
Bang Brave Bang Bravern! - A mecha show. Anything I say about it would be a spoiler; I'd suggest pretty much anyone to watch the first episode. The theme absolutely slaps. Now that it's over I can say it commits to the bit 200%, sometimes to its detriment. Also the male leads are pretty fuckin' gay.
MagiRevo - A sort-of-isekai that doesn't really do much with the concept and becomes a pretty boring yuri about the difficulties of being nobility in a fantasy setting. Hexbear recommendation from last year let me down.
Shirobako - AKA the anime about making anime. It's pretty great if you're into that kind of thing, and makes you wonder how the fuck anything gets made if the industry is such a damn mess. Imo it could stand to be a bit more cynical because as-is the heroines solve most of their problems (which are themselves very realistic portrayals of burnout, not being able to find work, etc) simply by being anime girls and saying "ganbare". Still, very good. Weirdly hype.
Shirbako OVAs - In the mainline show the studio works on two separate anime, and the two OVAs are the first episodes of those fictional series. You have the idol/adventure/mystery anime original and the adaptation of Girls
und Panzerand Planes. Both are utter fucking trash in just the right way that I'm not sure whether the creators are laughing along with me. At some point in the mainline series one of the anime girls says "All anime made today is trash", and these prove her correct.Shirobako Movie - What if you made a movie about making an anime movie, that was also guilty of most of the tropes typical of anime movies? You get this beautiful mess. Just as good as the mainline show imo. Made me when Yano and Honda showed up. Somehow has a sick ninja action scene in the back half.
Also Frieren which is a fantastic 6 episodes followed by a very mid show that can't live up to itself.
Started:
Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex - Only watched one episode so hard to say anything. Bounced off the series back in the day but we'll see this time.
This seems like something I'll blast through in a week or two lol. Glad to hear it has wrapped.
The first season is fantastic. If you like the show enough to finish it, give the Solid State Society movie a try.