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A sleepless town remix texhnolyze6/15/2023 ![]() This release has the longer version of track 02, while the Japanese release ( PICA-1279) has an edited version. Pete Scriba, Erich Trushion, Damiano Antinori, Sheela-e, Naohei Hakuya Juno Reactor, Francesco Sansalone, Crictina Machado, Gackt, Mark Soskin, Booker King, Ben Wittman, Jack Walrath, Jay Rodriguez, Shiro Sasaki / 佐々木史郎, Hajime Mizoguchi / 溝口肇, Mina Kubota / 窪田ミナ, Masashi Shinozaki Group, Tsuneo Imahori / 今堀恒雄, Mitsuru Nasuno / 那須野満, Yasuo Sano / 佐野康夫, Ettore Gentile, Massimo Moriconi, Marcello Di Leonardo, Adriano Martino Keishi Urata / 浦田恵司, Koji Kasamatsu / 笠松広司, Hirofumi Goto Sadly, I was disappointed with this one, and highly recommend watching all of the other projects Yoshitoshi Abe worked on.Keishi Urata / 浦田恵司, Hajime Mizoguchi / 溝口肇, Tsuneo Imahori / 今堀恒雄, Adriano Martino, Francesco Sansalone, Ben Watkins, Mike Maguire, Gackt Fantastic atmosphere, trippy animation, and thematic music is what kept me going to watch the entirety of the show. Like I said before, there is a lot to like from this show. Perhaps I'm being too harsh on this one due to my high expectations. They all felt like soulless props where their only duty is to reflect the themes and statements of the show rather than be interesting on their own. The details that made the characters interesting were only the purpose each one served in the grander narrative and message of the show. All of them lacked character motivation for their actions. Even when the story focused on its strengths, I did not attach to the main character nor anyone else. Once the story finally started to re-focus on the main story elements regarding the world and its themes in the final episodes, it was too little too late for me to care. ![]() All the other plot elements took a back seat to a mafia story I've seen told better in other anime. It focuses on the battle between the three factions and their intricacies for far too long that it took away from all of the interesting aspects of the story and the world. Unfortunately, the story quickly devolves into a generic mafia tale. The music, the animation, the style, and the sci-fi elements all the ingredients are there for something special. There's no point for the icing on the cake if the cake itself is bland and boring. As a result, I felt no desire to go the extra mile and do research on the overall themes. Once I finished in the show, I was not emotionally invested in the story or characters. Then, once you finish it, you were so invested into the show that you want to re-watch it and do research to start understanding the themes and imagery. ![]() That is the one ingredient that all of the best films and shows of this genre have in common. The key though, is that you can entertained and immersed into Serial Experiments Lain even if you do not fully grasp all of the hidden themes, metaphors, and messages. Other anime tell their stories in a similar way, however few are as effective and complex as shows like Serial Experiment Lain. Several of his shows he is attached to, including this one, are avant-garde/arthouse that explore deeper meanings and themes beyond the core story. While I did finish watching the show, I was partially forcing myself through it. This led to a lack of immersion and boredom creeping in by the second half. However, despite the animation being just as strong as his other shows, this is the first show of his that I was mostly disconnected from the story and the characters. Serial Experiments Lain is one of my all time favorites and I have enjoyed all of this character designer's other projects.
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