Anime Review: Angel's Egg

Glad to get away from politics fellow Otaku & Metalheads!

With the past few weeks in the dust, it’s time to get onto the good stuff, and what way to start this year of anime reviews off than with one of the strangest movies I have ever seen. If I didn’t watch an examination of this on Halloween day in 2022, I might not have picked what I’m looking at today. Instead, I’m going to take a look at one of the oddest, bizarre, weirdest, yet visually most stunning anime I’ve ever laid my eyes on. It’s simultaneously one of the best I’ve watched, yet above average in other aspects. So, with that out of the way, here’s my review of the mid 80s obscurity that is Angel’s Egg. Let’s begin!

Story/Setup
And here’s is what can make Angel’s Egg irritating for some. It’s not that there isn’t a story, because there very clearly is one. In a decrepit building near a seemingly long abandoned city, a white-haired girl lives alongside a large egg that she protects by carrying it under her dress sometimes. One day while scavenging for food & water, she comes across what appears to be a soldier of some sort carrying a cross-like weapon (I’m assuming it’s a weapon). At first scared of this person, the girl eventually warms to him over the course of a journey that the two go on. I can’t reveal anymore, as it’s partially due to not wanting to spoil anything else. The other reason is because everything is done in an incredibly abstract manner, as for every clear moment there’s twice as many that are odd or presented in a strange way. Again, there’s definitely a story, but you gotta get through a lot of weird stuff to find it.

Animation
The big thing that people remember about Angel’s Egg the most is it’s animation. Despite being nearly 40 years old (It’s officially 40 years in 2025), it has managed to stand the test of time on it’s looks alone. It’s not surprising, since the visuals & animation were done by Yoshitaka Amano, who’s name might be familiar to fans of Final Fantasy. The OVA is just brimming with imagery that only he could have drawn, as the mix between gothic, technological, fantasy, and religious iconography that would later be found within the FF franchise is right in front of you. The world that this OVA takes place in feels incredibly old, yet there’s vibrancy to be found in it’s somewhat muted color palette, and there’s a surprising amount of fluidity when it comes to the movement. Not only that, but the background imagery is gorgeous to look at, as it’s somehow believable despite the occasional weird/alien visuals.   

Voice Acting
Perhaps one of the weirdest aspect of Angel’s Egg is that there’s hardly any voice acting in it. I’ll get to it in a moment, but due to the lack of characters you rarely hear anyone speak. When you do hear the voice acting, it’s not bad! It may be minimalistic, and again you don’t hear our characters talk often, but I have heard way worse out there than what’s being spoken here.  

Characters
Like I said above, there is a severe lack of characters in Angel’s Egg. In fact, we only have 2 main characters! Literarily called Boy & Girl on Wikipedia (and the movie itself if I recall correctly), there’s very clearly personality & motivation to them, but because they hardly speak it’s so hard to read them. One could make the argument that they’re mostly blank slates so the viewer can imprint a piece of them onto these two, but even then you would have to imprint a lot onto them for the two to have full personalities and characteristics. That being said, they’re interesting enough for the viewer to stay glued to the screen during the entire run time. You definitely want to know what’s going to happen to these two, even though you can’t quite read their personalities.

Availability & Pricing
Perhaps the biggest flaw of Angel’s Egg would be it’s availability. Since it’s release in 1985, there has never been a release here in the states, and worldwide by extent. It crops up from time to time on sites like Youtube & many other video sites with various English subtitles, but it’s never had a proper DVD/Blu-Ray release here in the United States. It’s incredibly baffling as to why, but if Bennett The Sage’s theory is correct, then it goes from baffling to infuriating. In any case, I got a link below so you can watch it:

Angel’s Egg

Overall Impression & Rating
Angel’s Egg is just a confusing one for me. On visuals & presentation alone, it is nothing short of an artistic masterpiece like I said earlier. As an anime, it’s definitely something. Not abysmal by any stretch, but with the Dark Souls like storytelling, it’s hard to figure out who the characters are & what’s going on (Ironic, since I love Dark Souls quite a bit). If you’re coming into this for artistic merit, then you’re definitely going to find it. If you’re coming into it for being a clear-as-day anime movie......you’ll like it, but you won’t fall in love with it.

Angel’s Egg easily gets a 15 out of 10 due to how it looks & presents itself, but a 6 to 6.5 in terms of everything else.

And that was my look at the sadly obscure Angel’s Egg. Despite it not being talked about much, it’s influence in many games & anime can still be felt today, and it’s popularity is strong enough that it’s got a strong cult following even in the beginning parts of 2023. Well, with January done, our sights are set to the rest of this year, so join me soon for the first overview of the year. See you when you show up!


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If you’d like to take a look at this movie’s history (As well as the bizarre story & meaning behind the religious imagery), then click on the link below:

Angel’s Egg (Wikipedia)

Album Review: Kreator's Hate Über Alles

Welcome back....to mini Politics Month fellow Otaku & Metalheads!

That name sounds a little goofy to be sure, but it’s true. I don’t want to keep this month focused on the political BS of my home country, but at the same time I feel like I need to say a little bit of something. Last year around this time I devoted all of January to politically themed reviews, but this year not so much. Yeah, I got a rant up last week, but this time I’m just sticking it to one review, and moving on from there. Today’s review was something a sort of alluded to on the 6th of this month, and might be the catalyst for something a little later in 2023. Regardless, today’s album will get you mad as hell at the system, and maybe get a bunch of you out there fighting the good fight! So, without further delay, here’s my review from one of the titans of German Thrash, Hate Über Alles. Let’s begin!    

Background
Taken from Wikipedia:

“About three months after the release of Gods of Violence, Petrozza mentioned a follow-up album, saying, "Maybe we should work with a different producer. Maybe we should go to a different country to record the album. Maybe we should write a more metal or more full-on thrash metal. Whatever we feel, first and foremost, that is the most important thing. Time will tell." In a September 2017 interview with Australia's Silver Tiger Media, Petrozza stated that Kreator could do another album after Gods of Violence but "not yet." When asked in February 2018 about the band's future, Petrozza said, "I think we're gonna take next year off and write a new record. That's the plan at least. We'll see what happens. I don't put myself under pressure. Let's see how I feel after this tour, and if I have ideas for new music, I will book a studio and start working on demos as soon as I have the time. And then I'll come up with some new stuff." He told Guitar Interactive magazine in July 2018 that Kreator would take 2019 off to focus on writing the new album, which was planned for release in the summer of 2020. Petrozza later stated their new album was not expected to be released until the summer of 2021.

In the beginning of December, Kreator embarked on a tour of Europe, entitled the European Apocalypse, with the bands Dimmu Borgir, Hatebreed and Bloodbath. It was also announced that the final concert of the European Apocalypse in London would be filmed and produced as a live DVD in 2019; titled London Apocalypticon - Live at the Roundhouse, this DVD was released on 14 February 2020. Kreator supported Slayer on their final world tour, appearing at the Santiago Gets Louder festival in Chile on 6 October 2019, along with Anthrax and Pentagram Chile.

On 16 September 2019, it was announced that Christian "Speesy" Giesler had left Kreator after 25 years as their bassist, and was replaced by Frédéric Leclercq, who had recently left DragonForce.

On 26 March 2020, Kreator released a music video for "666 - World Divided", which marked their first song in three years and their first one since Leclercq joined the band.

On 20 July 2020, Petrozza posted a picture of himself in the studio on his Instagram page, which indicated that Kreator were working on their new album. Petrozza confirmed two months later that Kreator had been writing new material "in the last couple of months", and that he was recording vocals for the album. In a March 2021 interview, Petrozza revealed that Kreator was supposed to start recording their new album in February, but added that this plan was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. He also went on to say that he wants "the album to come out and go on a world tour right afterwards" and revealed that Arthur Rizk would produce it. The band announced in September 2021 that they had begun recording the album at Hansa Tonstudio in Berlin, Germany with Rizk. In December 2021, Mille announced on his Instagram page that their new album would be released in the summer of 2022, preceded by a "new single SOON!". On 4 February 2022 the band released the title track from Hate Über Alles as the album's first single, and announced on the same day that the album would be released on 3 June; its release date was later pushed back to 10 June. A video for the second single from Hate Über Alles, "Strongest of the Strong", was released on 8 April 2022, followed less than a month later by its third single "Midnight Sun".”

Basic Description
Gods Of Violence 2.0

That’s not an insult in anyway. If you remember from my top 5 albums of 2017 list (As well as my top ten albums of the 2010s list), you might recall I gave Gods Of Violence some pretty high praise. Kreator always knew how to create politically charged Thrash Metal that was also exceptionally catchy & managed to stick with the times very well. Hate Über Alles is no exception to this: the guitar & bass is rough but slick, the drumming sounds like the marching of people who are sick & tired of how much the world is going to crap, and Millie Petrozza’s singing is that of a revolutionary that has something important to say. There is one small hiccup I’ll talk about a little later, but the band set out to make a point with this album, and I genuinely think they actually succeeded. It may age as well as Gods Of Violence did, or it may not. Either way, this album was a hell of a hit last year, and I look forward to what the band has cooking next!

Best Track
Virtually everything on this album is fantastic, but I gotta give the honor of being the best track of this release to the title song. As a way to begin previewing this record to people at large, this was a perfect choice! The instrumentation is on point, as it lays out that speedy thrash Kreator has been known for across most of their discography, and Millie’s vocal work carries that controlled fury the fans have heard through most of their life in the band’s fandom. The true opening song after the near 1-minute of atmospheric audio, it’s most easily the face of Hate Über Alles, and I don’t think any other tune could have been.

Hate Über Alles    

Worst Track
Like I stated in my top 5 albums list of 2022 in December last year, the only fault with Hate Über Alles would be the pacing of some of the songs. Most of the tracks on this album occupy the mid to fast tier when it comes to speed, but there are a tiny pinch of them that are definitely slower, and thus slows the overall swiftness that this record otherwise paces itself. I should point out that the slower tracks in question aren’t bad by any measure, as they contain just as much fury as everything else on Hate Über Alles. It just that with the faster nature of the album, the tracks in question do keep things slightly down in terms of the overall pacing.

Other
If you’re curious about listening to this album, then click on the link below:

Hate Über Alles

Overall Impression & Rating
Hate Über Alles is a rich & powerful album. Continuing the legacy set by the release before, it’s a perfect portrait into the political turmoil of the early 2020s. Sure, there’s a song or two that slows down the speed at which the album plays, but even then they still contribute to the overall package. If you missed Gods Of Violence for whatever reason, then Hate Über Alles is a good release to start back up at.

Hate Über Alles gets a out 9 of 10.

And that was my look at Hate Über Alles. It was only appropriate to cover this after my recent rant, and one that may fit our times more than Gods Of Violence did. Even with that said, the two albums stand side-by-side, and raise all sorts of hell. So, with that bit of politisperging out of the way, I got my 1st anime review of 2023.....and it is hands down the single strangest thing I have ever watched. See you soon!

Food For Thought/Thought For Food No. 27: January 6th (2 Years Later)

What a difference a year makes.

It’s now been 2 year since the disastrous events of January 6, 2021. 2 years since an aspiring despot tried to illegally keep power in this country after losing his presidential position, and 2 years since a rightful new leader took his place as President of the United States (A few days after technically). In the time since Biden took office, a special House committee was formed to investigate the actions of Donald Trump & those that worked alongside him, and determine whether or not he & his conspirators deliberately tried to thwart a legal election just to keep his position of power. I admit when I did my post about this day last year, I may have jumped the gun a little. The January 6th committee was only around a little under a year at that point (Someone correct me if I’m wrong), and didn’t quite have the info. Now that it’s 2023, so much more has come out from the proceedings.....and it’s scary.

What’s come out about that day has been more terrifying than any horror novel. Most disturbing than a horror movie or horror anime, and more spine-chilling than any horror themed metal album that’s ever been crafted. I think we all knew how corrupt the Trump administration run was, but I don’t think many of us knew how deep it all went. You know it’s awful when even the Secret Service was tainted by the Trump years: not notifying Democrat members of congress until it was too convenient on January 6th, protecting their own with perhaps too much zeal, and seemingly catering to Trump’s whims in a way that’s obviously wrong. That’s just the tip of this oily iceberg, and to explain any further would cause me to drink until my liver started screaming at me.  

So, I say this knowing how hyper liberal it is going to sound, but with all of this information coming out, it just confirms what so many of us already knew for some time.....that the Republican Party.....is the party of evil. Having long since abandoned the virtues of country & true conservatism, they are now the party of baseless conspiracies, racism, sexism, religious & political fanaticism, starving the common folk so they needlessly have more, denying & attacking science and the COVID vaccines to placate the fanatics, and actively encouraging violence against those who are not like them. Not only that, but they cater to the very psychopaths that attacked the heart of this nation, and all because an orange toddler was whining about not being president anymore. All because a bloated orangutang wasn’t in the spotlight anymore, and wanted to keep playing with a toy that he broke a little longer. Now thankfully, this isn’t completely the case anymore. There are still fanatics among the party & the rank-and-file followers, but after the brutal losses in November & December last year, their evil isn’t so strong anymore. So many donors & supporters have left the Republican & MAGA cult, and even FOX News is taking pot shots at Trump now (Do you know how much you have to screw up in order for FOX to take digs at you?)! Everything that the Trump years did hurt actual Republicans. Hurt actual Conservatives, and hurt actual people on the Right. This 10% of the party/political allegiance are the ones who still walk the walk & talk the talk, and haven’t caved in to the Cult of Trump. This 10% still give me hope that one day the Republican Party & the Post Christians will be cleansed of evil & corruption, but give how it’s only gotten worse as time has gone on, it’s just a pipe dream to me at this point.  

Now, am I saying that my side of the fence is clean? That the Democrats are the paragons of virtue? Fuck No! If you’ve seen some of my past few political rants, you know I’ve thrown my fair share of mud at the Left in recent years. As far as a party is concerned, they haven’t been truly left since the years before the Clinton era. In the time since, they’ve left the Liberal path, and are now seemingly stuck right in the middle. In the process, most of those who call themselves Leftists have gone so far to the Far Left, the few normal people seem like mutations at this point. However, I would rather deal with someone on the left (Far or Normal) than anyone who dared to say that I wasn’t patriotic or Christian enough. I would rather deal with Bullshit Justice Warriors (The exact opposite of actual Social Justice Warriors), than deal with someone that dared to say I was less American than them. Again, my side has blood on it’s hands most definitely, but at least the Democratic Party tries to act like they give a shit. At least Liberals & the Left are attempting to change things into something better (Or casting the Illusion of something better). At least my side isn’t actively trying to kill people with their hyper fixation on a man that would toss you to the side if it would save him a penny. Trump has shows his truly colors since his popularity unfortunately began decades ago, but because he perfectly & flawlessly catered to the lowest-common denominator, it will cause problems for decades. We’ve been able to heal from the Bush years for the most part, but Trump? We all have scars because of him, and I don’t think they’re ever going to go away.

And that was what I had to say about today. Perhaps I’m a bit more disappointed this time around than last, but at this point nothing surprises me about the entire Trump debacle. Nothing surprises me about the corruption he & his administration brought in, nor at how deep it goes. We will be fighting the aftermath for decades, and I don’t think we’re ever gonna heal right. So, with that being said, this January won’t go political like in 2022, but I got a review coming next week sometime that’ll be in the ballpark at the very least. Take care until then!  



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If you’d like to see my thoughts from last year around this time, then click on the link below:

Food For Thought/Thought For Food No. 23: January 6th (1 Year Later)

Also Trump, it’s your fault that the political party you tainted is tearing itself apart right now. As entertaining as it is to see, it’s also a sign that things will get worse.