A weird time to get into this
So, I knew of this franchise by reputation, but it had largely passed me by. Nothing in particular, just never gave it a fair shot.
But one day, a few weeks back, I stumbled across the DVDs in a charity shop and thought "why not? Worst case, it'll be a laugh."
And you know what? It's not bad at all. The characters are fun and nuanced, running the gambit of flawed but endearing, the action's top notch, the animation (while a little dated with its CGI) is still vibrant, colourful and fun. Personally, I find the hyper sexualisation of the characters is about as appealing as a flesh wound, but the rest of this show stands, to my mind, on it's own merits. So much so, that I immediately went out to purchase the full colour manga just to see what happens after the credits roll, and I'm enjoying what there is.
Each day I came home from work excited to watch the next couple of episodes, which is always a very good sign, especially when so many shows can feel like such a slog.
Which gets me onto why I'm posting this, because it's crazy to think that this fanchise is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary, and I only began taking any vested interest in it within the past month.
It's very odd to get this glimpse into a story that so perfectly encapsulates the era it's from, and drew me in so effortlessly. But tragically unlike it's contemporaries which share similarly abrupt endings like Berserk, we'll never get the same kind of reprise.
Food for thought