I’m not entirely sure why I agreed to review Day of Sigma to begin with. Somebody suggested it in my comments and I just kind of thought, “Yeah, why not?” Maybe it’s because I owe so much to the Mega Man franchise, with my edited sprites. But I could have chosen a better representative than this half hour game prologue, couldn’t I? I mean, it’s not bad, it’s actually kind of fun, but it’s so short, there’s not much to say about it. It’s not exactly awash with themes and profundity, now is it? It’s just a small little trifle.
Otaku Evolution Episode 287 – Star Blazers (Space Battleship Yamato) 2202
It miffs me to no end that this is probably the last time I’ll get to talk about this franchise on Otaku Evolution, but Star Blazers/Space Battleship Yamato 2202 is at least a decent (if just a bit inferior) sequel to the original season of the remake. I just wish it weren’t so monomaniacally addicted to shocking revelations every episode. The effects wear off after a while, folks. You start to feel jerked around.
Otherwise, a pretty good show. And it deserves to have its sequels dubbed into English, too. But I guess it just didn’t do numbers for FuniRoll. Sigh.
Otaku Evolution Episode 286 – Mid Year English Dub Review XII
Here’s where I get to talk about the English-dubbed versions of the anime I’ve covered in the first half of 2026. So it’s not a particularly long video, but I still put some effort into it, so watch anyway!
I’d say the best dubs I’ve run into this half of the year were the ones for Gundam: The Origin and Lupin III: Part IV. The Dragon Ball Super: Broly one was pretty good, too (though I’m still not going to talk about whatshisname, that sex pest). It was good to get a variety of different studios in there in this first half.
Otaku Evolution Episodes 285 – Why The American DBZ Soundtrack Sucks
I don’t get it, folks. I really do not understand the popularity of the American soundtrack to Dragon Ball Z, outside of base nostalgia. It’s so tacky and borderline racist to replace the music to begin with, but then to do it with music that is such an enormous departure from the original sound is even more insulting. Most of the Faulconer Productions score is lousy, or utilized poorly, or both. Especially when compared to Shunsuke Kikuchi’s fantastic orchestral score.
After this, no Dragon Ball for a while, okay? I’ve done two videos in a row and… wait, I’ll have to talk about the Broly movie again in my next video, because it’s an English Dub Review video. Well, other than that, no Dragon Ball for a while. I’m burned out on the franchise.
Otaku Evolution Episode 284 – Dragon Ball Super: Broly
So, this is a tale of redemption. I always expected Dragon Ball Super: Broly would be as lame and forced as the previous Broly entries, but by reinventing aspects of the character, they (finally) made him a worthwhile addition to the Dragon Ball canon. I completely discounted this movie for years, believing it was just another Broly stomp romp, and especially hating the Dragon Ball Minus aspect, but never actually sitting down and watching the entire thing. Now that I have, I understand its popularity. It’s a damn fine DB movie. Might be the best entry in decades, it’s certainly among the best. And for that, I apologize. I was wrong. It happens (though rarely).
Otaku Evolution Episode 283 – Lupin III Part IV
I just love Lupin III. Especially when Lupin III is good, and Lupin III: Part IV is quite good, indeed. It has just the right balance of standalone capers and ongoing storyline, and is bursting with energy and fun. It was just what the franchise needed after years of mediocre TV specials (though The Woman Called Fujiko Mine came out just a few years before it, and that’s arguably the best series): a return to form for Lupin. Not too soft, not too rough. A great balance.
It also happens to have my favorite new Lupin character in ages, MI6 Agent Nyx, who I am so upset never appeared in anything after this. At least Rebecca got a cameo in Part V, but I’ll get to that another time.
Otaku Evolution Episode 282 – Flame of Recca
Flame of Recca is one of those shows I saw as a teen, back when I was just getting into anime, that I thought was pretty neat, only to revisit and realize it’s not so great after all. It’s a shonen action series that feels pretty diminished when compared to a lot of other, better shonen action series… especially Yu Yu Hakusho, which it feels like a lesser version of. I tried to find all the positives I could about this show, but try as I might, there wasn’t a whole lot to say about it.
Otaku Evolution Episode 281 – Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (OVA)
I wanted to do another Gundam video, but I had a few ideas and didn’t know which to pick. Part of me wanted to do a video on the original TV series, though I covered the story of that in my reviews of the compilation movies. Then I thought, maybe I should do a non-UC Gundam series? But I felt like it would be a pain in the ass to get back into the AUs when I’m in more of a UC mode. I could have done Gundam Thunderbolt, at least the first “season”, but I really wanted to add some new context to the original series and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin is a great way to do so.
Otaku Evolution Episode 280 – Armitage III: Dual Matrix
So, here’s a short video on Armitage III: Dual Matrix, the sequel to the Armitage III OVA (and compilation movie Poly Matrix). There’s not a whole lot to say about it other than the presence of Ahmed Best as Jar—I mean, Mouse. Otherwise, it’s a pretty basic bitch sci-fi action romp with the usual cyberpunk-ish tropes and cliches. If you didn’t see the first Armitage thing, go watch my video on it I did a while back.
I would have done some bookend story material but I couldn’t think of anything.