I mean, you certainly don’t have to vote at all, since I’ll be sharing them all sooner or later 😀

But if you wanted to see one of these first just vote below and I’ll share the winner tomorrow/the next day.

So far, I have reviews ready for the following shows:

Dororo (2019)
Casshern Sins (キャシャーン SINS)
GunxSword (Gan Sōdo)
SoltyRei
The Vision of Escaflowne (Tenkū no Esukafurōne)

I think I know which will win, but I could be wrong!

Ultimately, I haven’t put a long timespan on the voting window and it’s low-stakes, but if you were super-keen for one of the runner ups, I will of course share that sooner or later too!

Vote Here (via Google Forms)

So, I’ve tweaked the site design back to an older theme – and I do find the smaller text on older posts to be a bit of a negative, but I mostly wanted to change things so that the ‘search’ bar and widgets were more more visible, and so, mission accomplished.

Might have some further changes over the next few days, not sure!

(Also, I should do a header ‘credits’ note somewhere, as per which Lupin anime they are from).

As I’ve mentioned before, I do like lists. Perhaps more than I ought to, and so I don’t really need much of an excuse in order to create one!

Today, I thought I’d tweak a challenge that’s making the rounds at the moment, and turn it into a ‘yet to be seen’ one, instead of the more classic version that exists at the moment.

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Below, is a list from A – Z of stuff I want to either watch for the first time, or rewatch.

Some of these shows have been on my list for many moons, some I only just heard of recently, and a few I believe I’ve already seen part of or all of them – but it was maybe twenty years ago, and thus my memory of those ones remains understandably hazy.

Parts of this list of films and shows might seem somewhat ‘historical’ if you’re brand new to anime, and with at least 70 years of anime production to draw from, there are plenty of gaps in my knowledge.

That’s something that (over the coming years) I’d love to fix where possible… but it’s such a huge ask to even approach a spot where I’d feel confident calling myself truly knowledgeable. (And I don’t really need to of course, I just like knowing where my modern favourites have come from I think :D).

And so, here we go at last, after my usual rambling preamble!

A            Ace Attorney (2016)

My knowledge of anime comedy is quite narrow, so I want to expand it and I know lots of folks enjoyed this series. As a bonus, I’d finally feel like I am on the ‘inside’ when it comes to that Christmas meme!

B            Brain Powerd (1998)

One I’ve always been aware of but never got the chance to see back during time of release – features direction and writing from Yoshiyuki Tomino + a Yoko Kanno OST 🙂

C            Chobits (2002)

Have long been curious as to whether Chobits is a kind of male wish-fullfilment re: having a perfectly subservient girlfriend, or whether it explores the clash of humanity, personhood and technology!

D           Dallos (1983)

I finally have a copy of this – and as a fan of atmospheric stuff, I’m looking forward to seeing this early Oshii OVA.

E            Eureka Seven (2005)

Having seen the sequel series, I ought to watch this, huh? 😀

F            Fist of the North Star (1984/1986)

I have reasonable memories of the film, but haven’t seen any episodes of the series, so I’m very curious to revisit this over the top classic in some form one day.

G           Ghost Hound (2007)

As a fan of the supernatural genre and also the writing of Chiaki J. Konaka, I have been trying to find a complete physical release of this for a while now, but no joy so far!

H           Hakugei: Legend of the Moby Dick (1997)

Similar to the last entry, I’ve been trying to find this for a long time but boy, I really don’t have a spare $200+ to grab a second hand (or sometimes new) copy. It’s become semi-mythical in my mind and I yearn for a re-release, lol.

I             Initial D (1998)

I don’t love racing or car-focused anime, but nor do I dislike them at all, I just rarely seem to choose that genre. I know this is quite the well-loved show and I’ve probably not started it yet, simply because I know it has a fair few episodes/versions and I don’t always have the energy for a series if it’s longer than one or two seasons.

J             Joker Game (2016)

Historical fiction + espionage? Perfect! Like a fair few anime fans I guess, the setting of WW1/WW2 era Japan is a draw for me, so I believe I will make the effort to watch this sooner or later!

K            Key the Metal Idol (1994)

A recent addition to my list of things I want to watch one day (thanks, Curtis!) I think I’ll enjoy this a lot, cyberpunk with a bit of a Pinocchio feel – I’m on board right away 🙂

L            Lily C.A.T (1987)

You can see the influence of Alien in so many places decades and decades later and I’m excited to see an anime take (aside from Bebop’s) on the isolation/space/deadly and mysterious creature.

M          Monster (2004)

Something I must see – I have only ever heard absolutely fantastic things about this one.

N           Noragami (2014)

I’ve been curious about Noragami for a while now and it seems like it’d tick a few boxes for me – supernatural and comedy, plus the drama, so I’ve added it to my list of shows to watch on Animelab… so hopefully it doesn’t disappear before I get to it!

O           Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror (2009)

A preview on one of my other DVDs alerted me to this movie, and despite my trepidation when it comes to CGI there’s a cool ‘Alice in Wonderland’ feel to the story, with Haruka being drawn into a land of ‘forgotten things’ and so I’m keen to check it out one day.

P            Princess Knight (1967)

I thought this would be extremely hard to find but there are DVDs and Funimation recently added it – I can’t remember whether I can stream it here in Australia via Funimation, but as a fan of Osamu Tezuka I have long wanted to investigate, so this is the perfect chance.

Q           Queen Millennia (1981)

This series (or the film) is another I’ve been curious about – it has a connection to Galaxy Express 999 of course, but is less well-known perhaps. It’s another title (like Windaria) that Harmony Gold once screened, so I’ll be looking for a more ‘true to the original’ release.

R            Rose of Versailles, The (1973)

I’m cheating a little here, by using the ‘library’ style order for the title – but I still have to see this classic, an anime I’ve been curious about ever since watching Revolutionary Girl Utena.

S            Secret of Cerulean Sand (2002)

Steampunk and adventure, sign me up! Finding this one very difficult to track down too, but it’s nice to have something to look forward to – thanks again to Curtis for the rec 🙂

T            Tale of the White Serpent, The (1958)

The first anime made in colour – I didn’t think I’d be able to find this but there was a recent restoration done in 2019, I just can’t remember whether it features subtitles or not. (This is based on a famous Chinese legend and there is a Chinese-produced CGI prequel story out as well.)

U           Utawarerumono (2006)

There’s a few iterations of this story out there but I thought I’d begin at the beginning – and since this deals with masks and identity, along with mythology and has historical aspects, I’m keen right away 😀

V            Vision of Escaflowne, The (1996)

Another re-watch that I’ve been meaning to get around to for a long time, keen to compare my memories of this show vs what it’s actually like one day. Maybe I’ll do that soon…ish, actually.

W          Wicked City (1987)

Is the movie as pornographic as I seem to remember? Probably! One day I’ll re-watch it and find out but I think the action sequences were memorable. This film was a big deal in tape-trading circles in the 1990s, along with late night TV scheduling if I’m remembering correctly.

X            Xenosaga: The Animation (2005)

Over the years I’ve always been willing to give adaptations of games a shot, and since I’ve played a fair bit of Xenoblade lately, this one caught my eye. Not sure how well-received it was but sounds like science-fiction and androids, so cool, will give it a go!

Y            Yatterman Night (2015)

With the role of hero and villain switched this time around, I’m really keen to see how this update on the classic 1970s show plays out, so I now have my entry for the letter ‘Y’ 🙂

Z            Roujin Z (1991)

Admittedly, I’m cheating again here with the title, but there’s a prominent ‘Z’ in it so I’ll accept this as my entry. As a Satoshi Kon fan I’m keen for this, and once again, science-fiction themes, so I’m in! Like more than a few on this list, I once more want to thank Curtis from Iridium Eye Reviews for making me aware of this one!

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Okay, that took a lot longer than I was expecting! But, I certainly had a lot of fun collating, researching and checking my collection/streaming services to see what I might be able to find and add to this list.

I currently own or at least have access to probably half a dozen of these, so some of the names might pop up in future reviews… but I feel like I should do a bit of a Trigun ‘arc-style’ series, like I did with Nadia and so that might happen sooner!

Anything on the list above that you’ve already seen and would recommend in a non-spoilery kinda way? 😀

So, I haven’t been able to come up with titles for these posts and I didn’t want to ramble – but I kept thinking one post wasn’t enough, and so they’re just here as they are, but basically – if you’re in a position to support a POC creative somehow, then now’s gotta be a good time to do so.

For my part, I’m hunting for peoples’ ko-fi or similar tonight (and tomorrow) but I’m also open to suggestions if you know someone who might be struggling.

Hope you’re all safe right now if you’re in the USA but also, I’m down here hoping things are better on the other side – whenever that may be.

I know here in Australia things are quieter on the surface… but there are plenty of examples of the same, horrific police brutality here, so look after each other if you’re out in public.