Previously:
May 10, 2025 Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, first cour

I liked this anime a lot, particularly in a landscape of endless medieval isekai.

Kado is really strong science fiction, big question science fiction.

The bulk of the show is really just about dealing with an alien in a rational and systematic way, led from the highest levels of the Japanese government.  In this way, it’s unlike almost any other alien invasion story.  The alien is interesting.  The Earth negotiators are skilled.

Towards the end there is quite a twist, and I can’t say the ending landed perfectly, but still a 5/5.

A tiny bit of the themes of Sonny Boy (2021, “Stepping Between Realities”) towards the end.  And although it’s very unlike Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars / Record of the School Wars: MURYOU 学園戦記ムリョウ it is also paradoxically a bit like Shingu in its calm approach to aliens.

Highly recommended.

It passes the bar for a remake, in that it is respectful and done well.  But that’s all it does.

The 2010 original is a comedy-action masterpiece, a film with heart and moments of spectacular wonder.

For the remake you have to ask a fundamental question, which is what is a remake for?  Basically, for this kind of shot-for-shot remake, you’re going to see a cover band.

In this case the cover band is ok.  Everyone is well-cast except Gobber.  But the movie itself is just an action movie that leans heavily on your memory of the original.  Comedy is a matter of milliseconds and micro-expressions and the director just doesn’t deliver on that aspect of the movie.  The entire arc of the original movie goes from “you just gestured to all of me” to “you just gestured to all of me”.  The remake doesn’t land this arc at all, in fact these lines pass so quickly and as part of a jumble of other dialogue that you’d never even notice them if you hadn’t seen the original.

Gobber as voiced by Craig Ferguson in the original is a key element of the movie’s comedy, which is not surprising given Craig Ferguson is a professional comedian.  New Gobber just isn’t.

A remake is a bit the Ship of Theseus.  If you replace all the planks, is it still the same ship?  What do you expect from a remake or a cover band?  A reminder?  Or a reinvention?

What is Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone?  The original book?  The audiobook by Stephen Fry?  The audiobook by Jim Dale?  The full cast audiobook?  The original movie that only has time to hit some key scenes, bang bang bang one after another?  The forthcoming television remake that will have more time to deliver on the full narrative of the book?

The original book of How To Train Your Dragon is almost unreadable.  The original movie takes a tiny core of the book and totally reimagines the rest of the story,  The live action remake of the original movie feels like they’re working hard to hit all their marks, but without the heart and humour of the original.

The live-action remake is not bad, it’s respectful of the original.  While it doesn’t fail, it is just a competent cover, nothing more.

Arte is a minor noble living in Renaissance Italy.  She wants to be a painter, but the available roles for respectable women are to be married or in a convent, and the available role for non-respectable women who want control over their lives is to be a high-class (a very high-class) prostitute, a “courtesan”.

Arte doesn’t want any of these three options and so she sets out on her own path.  It’s a really thoughtful show about female agency.  Arte is completely the lead, for a while you might think it’s leaning rom-com but those expectations are subverted, including when she changes cities part-way through the show.

They do a good job of the story arc ending, and I can forgive the comedy after-credits ending.

I really appreciated that they explored the role of her privilege as a minor noble, and whether it was a benefit or a detriment to her progress, and whether it was right for her to accept the benefits that come from her status.

It’s a smart female-centred show and passes Bechdel multiple times per episode.

SIDEBAR: Snow White with the Red Hair is often recommended if you enjoyed Arte, but Snow White is a totally different and non-female-centric show.

The thing to understand is that the title and the framing are completely misleading.  This is not a story about Shirayuki ( 白雪 , literally the characters for white and snow ).  This is a story about Second Prince Zen, Zen Wisteria ゼン・ウィスタリア and his friends.

The show doesn’t start at the beginning of episode 1, it starts at 7m13s into episode 1 when Second Prince Zen literally leaps into his own story.

If you like that story, about Zen and his companions Mitsuhide ミツヒデ・ルーエン and Kiki 木々・セイラン then this is the show for you.  Literally the first words we ever hear from Zen are “Mitsuhide, Kiki! I’m going on ahead!”

That’s what the story is about.  Zen is the story.  Shirayuki, the titular Snow White, is just a supporting character for Zen, part of his community.

The show should be called “Second Prince Zen and his friends”.  The show’s arc ends not with Shirayuki’s journey, to the extent she has a journey at all, but at 19m48s into final episode 24 when Zen stands across from his “Lord Brother”, first Prince Izana, and faces him with directness for the first time.

The show is in fact most interested with the journeys of Zen’s male community, all of whom without exception are rather improbably redeemed.

The despicable Prince Raj ラジ・シェナザード , the kidnapper Mihaya 巳早 , the (inexplicable) erstwhile kidnapper Kazuki 鹿月 – redemption, redemption, redemption.

Just as a side note, Mihaya is not Obi.  They look similar enough that for a while you may be wondering, wait is Obi the guy who just kidnapped Shirayuki?  But he isn’t.

Obi オビ in fact is a very fully realized member of Team Zen, and gets some of the best facial expressions and lines in the show.  Along with his own redemption backstory.

The show is beautifully animated, just spectacular.

Some of the facial expressions are incredibly well observed, with fleeting moments of side glances that are really well done.

As Second Prince Zen’s story, medieval setting, adventures, The Hero and His Party, it’s good, 4/5.

If you imagine somehow it is Shirayuki’s story, it’s pretty weak, 3/5.

Basically Shirayuki’s entire role is to be the Maltese Falcon.  She exists to be desired, to be in danger, and to have a transformative impact on those she encounters.  And that’s it.  Other than that basically her entire personality is (in very typically Japanese fashion) she works really hard at her job.  That’s it.  “Shirayuki works really hard” would not be in any way an atypical anime, but in this case it’s not a particularly compelling story in and of itself.

The show itself does know what it is about.  The ending lands well, including the post-credits, which is a major achievement.  The post-credits is just as it should be, Team Prince Zen about to start their day’s work, with Shirayuki just a bit separated, off to do her separate job.

(Above review is for the 2015 anime.)

I watched the show because it was mentioned as a good companion show to Arte アルテ , but that is actually a pretty terrible recommendation.  On the very surface maybe, as “a show about a girl in a medieval setting who has a job”.  But that’s as far as the similarities go.  Arte is absolutely centred on the lead character and her journey to gain agency and be independent in a culture and time when her options are very limited. 

Snow White / Shirayuki is absolutely not about female agency at all.  It’s about Prince Zen and his friends.  It’s a good show about Prince Zen and his friends, in fact.  But a totally different show from Arte.

• 2001 – Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars / Record of the School Wars: MURYOU 学園戦記ムリョウ
• 2003 – Stellvia 宇宙のステルヴィア
 (should be called “Stellvia: Space Academy”) – first cour only
• 2024 – Tasūketsu: Fate of the Majority 多数欠

This will mostly be anime because Crunchyroll has a complete day-by-day, episode-by-episode watch history.

If it seems like I often only like the first season or first two seasons, and I am often disappointed by endings, that’s pretty accurate.

Television

• Scrapped Princess (2003) スクラップド・プリンセス – good but blows the very ending. Should be called Discarded Princess.
• With You and the Rain (2025) 雨と君と
• Dr. STONE (2019).  I liked this until S4. Dr. STONE SCIENCE FUTURE, when the story fell apart and made no sense.  If you want to catch up on s4 you can just watch 4×23 and 4×24.
• Turkey! Time to Strike! – The Japanese title is basically just「Turkey!」.  I tend to call it Turkey Time for reasons that will become obvious if you watch it.  The show surprised and entertained me although the ending was weak.
• Shangri-La Frontier (2023) シャングリラ・フロンティア but s1 only.  S1 is a well-honed sword and s2 is a blunt bludgeoning hammer.
• Stellvia (2003) 宇宙のステルヴィア – “Stellvia: Space Academy” would be a better title. It’s basically if you put a Japanese school overlay on top of space boarding school. Tom Corbett Space Cadet + Hogwarts + Sanderson’s Skyward.  First cour only.  Falls apart in second cour.
• I really enjoyed 2001’s Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars (English title), actually called 学園戦記ムリョウ “Record of the School Wars: MURYOU” in Japanese.  It’s a kind of comedy alien invasion middle school story.  Really good use of 4th-wall-breaking humour.  Also notable as basically the last television anime done with traditional cel animation.
• I also enjoyed 2006’s Project Blue Earth SOS (in Japanese: Project BLUE 地球 SOS).  I would say it’s kind of aliens vs. James Bond + Johnny Quest x2.  Ends weakly though.
• 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy (2024) ループ7回目の悪役令嬢は、元敵国で自由気ままな花嫁生活を満喫する .  They really should just have stuck with 7th Time Loop as a title.  The rest of the title is misleading.  Basically she loops and has different careers and it all comes together at the end.  Although it is a time travel story it also has a lot of overlap with the “I’m inside a novel I’ve read” genre (which doesn’t have a name that I know of), since in each loop she knows what happened previously.

UPDATE: A late-December addition is Arte アルテ , a show that explores female agency in a medieval setting.  4.5/5  END UPDATE

I can’t really count Moonrise (2025) ムーンライズ since I didn’t finish it.

In terms of regular TV Silo (2023) s2 and Andor (2022) s2.  I don’t hold out much hope for Silo s3 though, I don’t care about the backstory.

Murderbot (2025) adapted the story better than I expected but was still a bit off in some aspects.  Also the Murderbot episodes should have been longer, the episodes are so short they should be called Murderbot Post-it Notes.

I mostly enjoyed the nonsense that is The Buccaneers (2023) although it fell apart at the end of s2.  I won’t be watching s3.

Movies

• Thunderbolts* (2025) is excellent
• I quite enjoyed Predator: Badlands (2025)

Television Rewatch

• Avatar: The Last Airbender (original animation, 2005)
• Astra: Lost in Space (2019) 彼方のアストラ
• Sound of the Sky (2010) ソ・ラ・ノ・ヲ・ト
• Sakura Quest (2017) サクラクエスト
• Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (2023-2024).  I’ve written some episode summaries for the first cour.  The next season is coming January 2026.
• A Place Further than the Universe (2017) 宇宙（そら）よりも遠い場所

• Resident Alien (2021) s1 & s2 are excellent.  After that it falls apart.  S4 is terrible.  On Crave or buy on Apple TV.

Movie Rewatch

• Stargate (1994)

Television

• Dickenson (2019)
• Julia (2022)
• The Aquatope on White Sand (2021) 白い砂のアクアトープ
  A terrible title, the subtitle “Two Girls Meet in the Ruins of their Damaged Dreams” is much better.
• Sakura Quest (2017) サクラクエスト
• The Detective is Already Dead (2021) 探偵はもう、死んでいる。
• Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (2023-2024), second cour 葬送のフリーレン (1×11 to 1×28).  I wrote some episode summaries for the first cour.
• Tasūketsu: Fate of the Majority (2024) 多数欠
• 365 Days to the Wedding (2024) 結婚するって、本当ですか
• Negative Positive Angler (2024) ネガポジアングラー
• Sound of the Sky (2010) ソ・ラ・ノ・ヲ・ト
• SSSS.Gridman (2018) and SSSS.Dynazenon (2021).
  Don’t watch Gridman Universe (2023), it just snarks on the previous shows.
• Sonny Boy (2021).  A terrible title, it should be called more like “Stepping Between Realities” or something.
• Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family (2018) 衛宮さんちの今日のごはん
• Convenience Store Boy Friends (2017) コンビニカレシ

Television Rewatch

• I really like Astra: Lost in Space (2019) 彼方のアストラ

Movies

• Sword Art Online Progressive: Aria of a Starless Night (2021) / Sword Art Online Progressive: Scherzo of Deep Night (2022) 劇場版 ソードアート・オンライン -プログレッシブ- 冥き夕闇のスケルツォ
• The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (2010) 涼宮ハルヒの消失
• It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947).  See Black and White for Christmas – Around the Corner on 5th Avenue.

Previously:
January 9, 2024  My 2023 in movies and television

• Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End 1×01 and 1×02
• Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End 1×03 and 1×04
• Frieren 1×06 and 1×07
• Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End 1×08
• Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End 1×09
• Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End 1×10

I also made two related posts:

• The Frieren opening song in Apple iTunes
• Thoughts on Frieren season 1 and Faraway Paladin season 2

The balance between intense action and very lightweight group dynamics leaning heavily on anime emotional indicator tropes is a bit off, but ok.

I only know about it from JustWatch Canada popular.

Netflix didn’t recommend it to me in any of its dozens of recommendations, even though it’s new (April 10, 2025) and matches my interests.

There’s speculation online that Netflix is trying to bury the show.