3 Best Movies to Watch by Shunsuke Takeuchi

Mind-bending, intense, and mysterious, it's hard to put Tengoku Daimakyo into words. The anime might be a post-apocalyptic adventure series where two teenagers fight against man-eating monsters, but it also happens to be a sci-fi-based contemplation of genetic experimentation, AI, and interventionism. The structure of the series is strange too, with its two seemingly unconnected parallel storylines. At the start, it's unclear why the show alternates between a futuristic utopian boarding school and the monster-filled ruins of Japan. However, there's something very compelling about the way this show unveils itself. When a question about the premise is answered, even more questions pop up. When the kids' wishes and predictions get fulfilled, it's never in the way they expect it would be. When the show drops an unexpected revelation, sometimes a rewatch of previous episodes is required to understand the weight of that scene. But once things click, the brilliance of the show is undeniable. Tengoku Daimakyo is strange but downright fascinating.

Genre: Action & Adventure, Animation, Mystery, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Actor: Atsumi Tanezaki, Gen Sato, Hibiku Yamamura, Kazuya Nakai, Misato Fukuen, Misato Matsuoka, Sayaka Senbongi, Shunsuke Takeuchi, Tomoyo Kurosawa, Toshiyuki Toyonaga, Yuuki Shin

Rating: TV-MA

Best known for its cute characters, Sanrio has partnered with Netflix to deliver a children’s adventure mini-series centered on their laziest egg yolk Gudetama. If you’d like to know how an egg like Gudetama can exist, this show conceives of a world where once out of their shells, all eggs have sentience, from regular chicken eggs, to eggs of other species, and to various forms of egg dishes like omelets and flans. While it’s slightly horrific to imagine eating these kawaii creatures, the show embraces the absurdity of its premise, depending heavily on food-based puns, as well as contemplating the purpose of raw eggs. This show may not be to everyone’s taste, but it’s certainly one of a kind, and short and sweet enough to swallow.

Genre: Action & Adventure, Animation, Family

Actor: Sarutoki Minagawa, Serena Motola, Shunsuke Takeuchi

Rating: G

With most of early January 2024’s slate focused on fantasy, Metallic Rouge is a fairly decent cyberpunk refresher. With fantastic, mostly 2D animation, studio Bones’ 25th Anniversary project has spectacular mecha match-ups between government android Rouge Redstar versus various members of the excellently designed Immortal Nine, as well as humorous, expository banter from Rouge’s human partner Naomi Orthmann. But it’s the mystery that drives interest in the show, as Nean androids and humans share a world, but not the same status, and the origins of the artificial intelligence bots seem to link with a previous alien invasion that pushed humanity into further space exploration. It’s an interesting premise, and the structure is definitely unusual, but with Bones’ track record, we’re expecting that it’ll all come together by the end of Metallic Rouge.

Genre: Action & Adventure, Animation, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Actor: Atsushi Miyauchi, Chiaki Kobayashi, Hiroyuki Yoshino, Kazuyuki Okitsu, Kenjiro Tsuda, Shunsuke Takeuchi, Tomoyo Kurosawa, Yu Shimamura, Yui Ogura, Yume Miyamoto

Director: Yutaka Izubuchi

Rating: TV-14