Because it's a Netflix anime, Prism Rondo is a winter season anime that isn't releasing weekly, but has already released all 20 of its episodes all at once. It took a while to watch them all, but this is another excellent addition to the winter season. The art and animation are movie quality, almost as good looking as Who Made me a Princess?, which lifted anime to a new higher standard. The setting is perfect, pre-WWI England and Japan. It was like a totally different world back then, and the architecture, museums, mansions and gardens depicted are all exquisite. It's like some sort of wonderland, it's hard to believe humans really created such a gorgeous environment to live in. The lives of the rich and famous back then really were different from the hoi poloi. The grandeur of the main characters' lives is totally different from how people live today.
What's interesting is this extreme concentration of wealth and beauty did not come at the cost of technology -- the people are already using steam boats to cross the ocean, can send mail from England to Japan reliably, and rely on cars, bicycles and trains for transportation. It's like the world has all the benefits of modernity but without any cultural changes. Girls are all dressed modestly in clothes that cover them from top to bottom. Men are all wearing suits all the time.
The music is muted in this series, but it makes sense, because it's an anime about artists, not musicians. The focus is always on the visuals. As for the plot, it's a standard romance where a girl has to choose between two good boys and goes with the 'unsafe' choice, following her heart, in the end. I wouldn't say I really approve but it's a well known and popular love story. The plot is kind of ancillary to the visuals, though. The purpose of this anime is to draw how beautiful London and its environs were at this time. Every church is magnificent, every building, from simple schools on up, is magnificent. Every bridge and clocktower is magnificent. Everything is magnificent. It's well worth watching this anime even on mute.
Prism Rondo marks the 950th anime franchise I've watched rated mediocre or above. From one point of view that's a lot, but from another it's not much considering my long lifespan. This winter season is a sizable portion of all the anime I've ever watched. It's really impressive.
Meanwhile, Dragon Ball Super has finally announced the continuation of the anime, covering the new villain Moro. This is canon, Toriyama written content, so a valuable addition to the anime. And unlike Daima this story keeps proper track of power levels and doesn't rely on dumb gags. This is what Dragon Ball should be. Nevertheless, without the Granolah arc I can't say I'm satisfied. All of Dragon Ball Super should be animated, not 5/6 of it or whatever. Only with the Granolah arc will I uprank Dragon Ball to ahead of Kimetsu no Yaiba again.
With Dragon Ball Super being animated, it's off my wishlist (for now), so I replaced it with a wish for a a 'Sakura, Saku' anime. I'm well aware that will never happen but that's what idle wishes are for.
Medalist S2 finally debuted, and as usual it had good and bad portions of the episode. I keep wanting to call this anime great but there are so many boring/annoying scenes that I never quite can. For now I guess I'll maintain its 'good' label and enjoy my enormous 25-series winter anime season in peace.
I spent the money required to get admiral Aoi's level 1 limit break. As a side effect I also got some more brand new SS Memorias -- oktoberfest Adelheid, santa Fubuki and hot springs Isuzu. Most importantly I got phantom thief Jamie to limit break level 3. This gives her +30% to crit damage, and all her attacks are auto-crits so it's a straight 30% power up. I got my ice squad to over 800k on their score challenge, as well as my sextuplet squad. The sextuplets got a score of 941k, so close to the 1 million points they need to master their title badges. It's a shame but I'm not quite strong enough to bridge that gap.
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