Two things I wanted to write about this week. First is that I finally finished up Helck this past week. Overall, it was fine. I definitely think there were some pacing issues and once you got through the first act of the show, it lost a lot of its charm. At a certain point, it felt like I was watching an anime version of a Thomas Hardy novel. If there is a second season made, I may watch it, but I probably won't be going out of my way for it depending on what else is airing that season.
The second thing I wanted to talk about this week is that I started watching, and just caught up with Brave Bang Bravern. I have been really enjoying it. The show is some kind of mashup between a Saturday morning cartoon show about a super robot that does all the tropes. It transforms, it shouts out the names of its moves, it even has built-in speakers that play its theme song in-universe. On the other hand, it is a gritty depiction of the horrors of war. We see plenty of death happen on screen, bloody bodies and tough decisions being made in a makeshift field hospital, and depictions of torture and the broken mind it leaves behind. The show is wild. Each episode it feels like anything could happen. I highly recommend it to anybody that appreciates just the right amount of insanity in their anime. Also, if you have fond memories of any super robot series, then this will connect with you.