Having spent the last fortnight bedridden by a flareup of Cheeto Dust syndrome, I watched a few short series.
EAT-MAN (1997) Shoestring fantasy-noir, twelve eps (I recommend the 4hr "movie" cut, currently on Youtube). The episodic whimsies of immortal handyman/merc
Bolt Crank, and the ladies who employ him. Bolt enjoys a diet of metal, gunpowder, and other good shit, which his glove materialises into big fuckoff guns. But this generally only happens when it's time to blow up the Problem du Jour. Mostly he just insults noobs with his superhumanly cold burns.
Enjoyed, as much for its artful economy as the work itself. Comfily oneiric, its hazy retro-future haunted by wistful spectres of airships and the disarmingly odd Bolt. He's a fine
Man With No Name foil to the elliptic melodrama - quietly impervious, with a knack for giving clients what they want, up to and including a good death.
Definitely not for everyone, with its languid pace and disregard for resolutions. It reminds me of mecha anime Goshogun (aka Macron One)'s wonderfully offbeat post-mortem movie
The Time Etranger. Fans of that will probably dig this. Although its action scenes are threadbare, it's by no means unattractive, its imagery working enchantingly with Yuki Kaijura's OST. Apparently it's not very faithful to the source manga, which led to an "Eat-Man '98" supposedly lacking this one's baffling charm.
BAKI (2018)
An adaptation of the manga's
MOST EVIL DEATH ROW CONVICTS arc. Has a promising start, with these five alarmingly deadly motherfuckers tanking executions and busting out of prisons left and right. The devils are drawn to Tokyo, by an inexplicable primal magnetism! Desirous of DEFEAT, at the hands of the mighty!
WHATS NEXT?!
Oh. They've gathered in the secret arena... opposite Baki and four of his friends/rivals... for a five-a-side tournament.
Ohhh.
FUCK RIGHT OFF. I've still not recovered from the One Punch Man s2 fiasco! Don't waste my motherfucking time, Baki!
OR SO I THOUGHT. In a merciful break from shonen shite, the battle takes the form of open city-wide warfare... at any time, at any place, a mortal ambush may erupt! While eating. While sleeping. "EVEN WHILE HAVING SEX!"
Fairly entertaining. The five dudes are convincingly scary monsters, there's a real air of siege, and many stiff beatings are handed out. At 24 lean episodes, minus some pardonable teen drama, it's not a huge ask if you like your Hokuto-styled superhuman martial arts ultraviolence. It actually reminded me of an HNK that doesn't systematically kill its main characters. As a series newbie, I can't tell you how many times someone lost buckets of blood after getting unspeakably maimed, making me yell
"DAT MOTHERFUCKER DEAD," only for them to pop up with a band-aid later on. I was so embarrassed!
I went on to read a bit of the storied manga (there are four or so series, the latest ongoing), which was ok too, but eventually got a bit much with the utter worship of combat physiology. Loving paeans to the noble testes, the font of maleness, contrasting their situation with that of the brain and heart -
tasked with continuing the bloodline, yet so cruelly unshielded! Plus ancient Chinese butt stuff, etc etc. I don't mind at all, knowing all too well the power of a good pair of glutes - TBH I consider this extreme subgenre of martial arts manga, where humans are ruthlessly forged into WEAPONS FOR KILLING, a kind of body horror. See also the truly gruesome, cruelly dark
Shigurui.
It's more the cloying reverence I found a bit too rich. Hits a peak around Baki and co's vying to best PICKLE, the defrosted dinosaur-killing caveman - our young hero referring to the prospect of battle as "delicious" and "tantalising." Calm down son.
(some of the comments on those chapters were hilarious...
"MISS ME W/ THAT GAY SHIT NIGGA" "NAW,
U THA GAY 1 BRUH" "*spluttering outrage*
NAW U A FAGIT" goddamn noobs!)
Kengan Ashura (2019)
Another brisk 24 eps of MMA-styled shonen action, slightly more grounded than Baki's inhuman feats. Really enjoying this. While its concept suggests
untrammelled tournament arc shite, its execution has a real snap and vigour. Minimal
"uwuu get strong w/ friends," maximal face-caving violence. Weenie salaryman YAMASHITA KAZUO happens across a Tekken 4 beatdown
I.R.L. and is so moved by TOKITA OHMA's manfur display, HE
HABE 2 FUCK AFTERWARD* (PRIMAL REACTION). (*HE FUCK A WOMAN HES NOT GAY
)
^ KIRYU GAY THO (^ω´ )
They are drawn into KENGAN - the underground (but NOT RLY) fighting scene, where corporations put up big bucks as their gladiators slug it out for dispute resolution and great deals! Like all shonen it's very silly. Like better shonen, it understands how to marshal this, keeping things moving with fiery characters, wily plots, a healthy sense of humour and punishing, unpredictable battles. I knew something was up when I found myself actually looking forward to seeing these fuckers fight! Kazuo and Ohma are a fine surrogate father/son act, too. Reminding me of good ol' Spike and Jet. This is what a KOF/Tekken anime shoulda been. Joe Higashi fans will mark out for
THE HAMMER OF BURMA Saw Paing - even got Joe's classic VA, Nobuyuki Hiyama!
YOSHAAAAAA!
Quoth a very good YT scholar, the CGI animation isn't great, but it's sure as shit not Berserk 2016 either. I warmed up to it a lot - got some brutal hits, vividly expressive faces and clean composition. The anime covers the first 136 chapters, reading on from there it's been good. Looking forward to season 3 sometime this summer, AFAIK.