Jigoku Shoujo

  One of the classic 2000 Anime series that had quite a following in its time which i only managed to complete its 4 season marathon recently. The series follow after the journey of a mysterious girl named Enma Ai who served on behalf of Hell to send a person directly judged to hell for the begrudged at a price of their soul in afterlife. At first i thought Jigoku Shoujo would be more intense in its horror theme due to its nature but turns out to be still quite mild compared to something like Ghost Hunt. The series could have cranked up the Horror if they want to do as showcased in some episodes but i suppose they want the series to be accessible for teen audience. Jigoku Shoujo spans over 4 seasons though only the first 3 Season can be considered full anime season since it is not easy to get fundings for 26 Anime episodes nowadays.

 While Jigoku Shoujo is episodic in its nature, where Enma accepting errands and send people to hell, each of the first 3 Season of the series had overarching theme in relation to Enma's Past, Present and Future which is tied to particular character that had relationship to Enma in some way. The first season had a Journalist whose ancestor had personal bond with Enma when she was human, while second season feature a young boy whose life drastically changed from witnessing Enma in action and finally third season had a middle school girl who is supposed to be Enma's future successor.

 While Enma supposed to accept request by people who is wronged by perpetrator who are unable to be judged by law, most of the clients are just as insufferable and no better than the people who wronged them especially the teens. Even Enma's subordinates which are bunch of Youkais had better shred of humanity compared to these clients showing that how depraved human nature could be. Just like Death Note, I think Jigoku Shojo just try to show that supernatural power to kill people does no good in the hands of human as they will end up misusing it anyway. 

Despite the animation didn't aged particularly well, Jigoku Shoujo story are still good enough if you want to get some fix of pulpy mild horror anime. There are probably attempts to revive Jigoku Shoujo series but personally i would love to see the ultimate fate of journalist guy from the 1st season.

Kino no Tabi - The Beautiful World -

 

   Another anime series in my backlog that i finished recently and Majo no tabitabi is definitely based on this. There are two versions of Kino no Tabi, the one made in 2003 and 2017. I tried to watch the 2017 version but ended up visited the 2003 one first. Kino no Tabi tells the story about a boyish girl named Kino travelling to all sorts of places with a sentient motorbike named Hermes as her partner. The series explores the ideas throughout the history of humanity through the places that Kino visited, some places are pleasant trip while a few can be a downright anarchic where Kino had to fight for her survival. Both 2003 and 2017 version had its own merit as each have their own separate story to tell with only about 3 episodes that had similarity. Personally i find 2003 version story are more interesting but darker at the same time, while the 2017 gives more screentime for supporting characters that Kino encounter throughout her journey. Personally Kino no Tabi deserves second season because there a much from 20 volumes of Light Novel material that can be covered. In any case this is a superior version of Majo no Tabitabi

Densetsu no Yuusha Da Garn The GATTAI Gaon

 

 It was quicker than expected since i thought it would have taken GSC more than 6 months to follow up the GATTAI Da Garn X, but here comes the Lion Sidekick Gaon! The GATTAI Gaon is scheduled for May 2022 Release with 22000 Yen Price tag, slightly below the GATTAI Da Garn X. Just like its partner counterpart, this version of Gaon comes with transformation gimmick and obviously include capability to combine with Da Garn X to from Great Da Garn X as its main selling point.

 Gaon is one of the last Yuusha to join protagonist team in Densetsu no Yuusha Da Garn, Gaon is one of the handful Yuusha in its series that taken Beast form as part of its transformation apart from Hawk Saber and Seven Changer though the latter is quite an exception. Compared to Da Garn, Gaon is more of a close combat fighter dual wielding Guns and Tomahawk to get the job done but for some reason  Great Da Garn X which is result from combination of Da Garn X and Gaon heavily focus on ranged firepower  with the Big Guns and Missiles.

I have come to notice that Great Da Garn X is basically Da Garn having Gaon as its external armor parts, which is abit derpy but still not the worst of the Main Yuusha Final Form. In any case this version of  Gaon is a must get for those who have ordered the GATTAI Da Garn X.

Kami no Shizuku / The Drops of God

 Another hidden underrated gem which its translation only accessible for the whole series recently. If Oishinbo focused only about wine industry and given modern breath of artstyle, you got yourself Kami no Shizuku! This manga is a legendary series at its own right which explore the world of wine through the rivalry of two men in 44 volumes of manga. The premise of the series is about a Son of a prominent Wine critic found himself fighting for his father's inheritance against a famous young wine critic in a battle of finding wines riddled as "12 Apostles of God" which ultimately will lead to the legendary Wine bearing the title of "Drops of God". 

 The manga explores the world of Wine which lead the main characters travel around the globe obviously including a good portion of time in Wine Birthplace France, to find the God Apostles Wine. The main character, Shizuku Kanzaki might look disadvantaged at first in the fight of 12 Apostles Wine as he is merely a salaryman who is pitted against Issei Tomine, a young Wine Critic who is at the peak of his popularity whose talents are real deal. However Shizuku, gifted with very sharp sense of taste and almost godlike perception when it comes to wines due to his upbringing proves to be serious challenge for Tomine in each of the 12 fights for the Apostles Wine.

Kami no Shizuku main strength lies at the vivid visualization of Wines which the main character portrays in very elaborate fashion. This selling point is what makes the manga a very interesting read even for readers who are not familiar with Wines and it is very enjoyable read for those who appreciate arts in general. The Journey of these Shizuku and Tomine for the Drops of Gods does not exactly end in Kami no Shizuku as the series has another sequel which spans over 26 Volumes that only finished last year. Hopefully it won't take too long for the Finale Part getting translation but in any case Kami no Shizuku is still very good read on its own right.