people: Netflix
2020
'The Great Pretender': Con Men At Work September 25, 2020
A real delight: a smart, fleet-footed story inspired by classic con-man comedies, and with correspondingly more to bring to the table than other anime
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'Dorohedoro': Black (Magic) Comedy June 05, 2020
Blackly funny, rollicking, and spectacularly animated, the adaptation of Q Hayashida's equally off-the-wall manga is another high point for Netflix's anime coproductions
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'Ghost In The Shell: SAC_2045': A Withered Husk May 18, 2020
Easily the weakest 'Ghost In The Shell' project thus far, but with a tease of hope at the end of its first half
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2018
'Illang: The Wolf Brigade': Defanged November 19, 2018
Jee-woon Kim's live-action adaptation of Mamoru Oshii's 'Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade' is passable on its own, but doesn't come close to the primal shadow-play sorcery of the original
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'Bleach' (2018): Kid Janitor Of The Spirit World September 19, 2018
A dialed-down take on elements from the first major story arc of Tite Kubo's long-running shōnen actioner, it's no classic but no disaster either
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'Violet Evergarden': Words From The Heart April 23, 2018
Netflix's coproduction with Kyoto Animation is gorgeous and has a story worth telling, but maybe melodrama wasn't the right mode for it
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'Fullmetal Alchemist' (2017): Ed And Al, In Miniature February 23, 2018
Further proof that some anime-to-live-action adaptations need to either be done at the right scale or not done at all
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'Devilman Crybaby': Sympathy From The Devil January 17, 2018
Maverick director Masaaki Yuasa retells one of Gō Nagai's infamous operas of ultraviolence, with Yuasa adding both his trademark psychedelic visuals and a story that ultimately aims to break your heart, not just turn your stomach
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2017
'Neo Yokio': Rising Below Badness October 05, 2017
It's not good, to be sure -- but maybe being its own special kind of bad is more valuable than we think
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'Death Note' (2017): D.O.A. August 28, 2017
This isn't 'Death Note'; it's barely Cliffs Notes
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Netflix's 'BLAME!': Killy Walk With Me May 22, 2017
Recast into a two-hour movie, Tsutomu Nihei's metamorphic cyberpunk hellscape manga emerges all the more as a graduate of the 'Mad Max'/Man With No Name school of drifter/loner heroes
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Anime Roundup: March 24, 2017 March 24, 2017
'Ghost In The Shell''s opening scene; the first U.S. 'Death Note' trailer; 'Outlaw Star' and 'Big O' are headed back onto shelves
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'Gantz: O': Kill, Die, Repeat February 27, 2017
'Gantz' was never long on story to begin with, and so this new adaptation, an eye-popping CGI killstravaganza, works best as pure spectacle. Would that it didn't have to, though
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2016
'A-JIN': Live, Die, Repeat April 29, 2016
After 'Knights of Sidonia', Netflix and Polygon Pictures aim -- sucessfully -- for darker and harder-hitting territory
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2015
'Knights of Sidonia', Season 2: Once More Into The Breach, Dear Pilots July 13, 2015
The best parts of 'Sidonia' remain its visuals and its gut-wrenching combat sequences; it's a shame its human elements aren't quite as strong
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2014
'Knights of Sidonia': For The World Is Hollow And He Has Touched The Sky July 15, 2014
The first anime to be distributed exclusively on Netflix is dazzling and enjoyable enough to feel new, but plays it safe enough to go mainstream
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