2 Best Movies to Watch by Taito Ban

Slaying monsters online is definitely more exciting than typing on a computer all day, but having to do so in real life might be a different story. The highly anticipated anime adaptation Solo Leveling depicts a world where those online adventures are a mundane but dangerous day-to-day gig for some people with unique abilities set in stone, but with a twist– every player doesn’t have the video game information, stats, and structured quests, except for the world’s weakest hunter Sung Jin-woo. It’s an intriguing world that brings up themes such as gamification and inherent talent versus acquired skill, and it’s one that’s matched with great animation, thrilling fight scenes, and gory deaths.

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

Actor: Daisuke Hirakawa, Genta Nakamura, Haruna Mikawa, Reina Ueda, Taito Ban

Rating: TV-14

Science fiction imagines new worlds we’ve never seen before, but the world of Synduality: Noir doesn’t feel that way. Noir feels like it presents a familiar world, except with an added touch of AI assistants called Maguses. The fighting piloted mecha robots are reminiscent of Gundam and Pacific Rim. At times, the action looks like automated 3D animation made to cut costs. However, even if the world-building was stronger, Synduality: Noir doesn’t feel like a show that wants to tell a story. There aren’t enough moments that we get to spend with the main characters Kanata and his Magus Noir to justify creating a whole series around it. We don’t even need to get into the icky slave-like dynamic between the (mostly) male Drifters and their (mostly) female Maguses.

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

Actor: Aoi Koga, Ayaka Ohashi, Fuminori Komatsu, Mao Ichimichi, Nagisa Aoyama, Taito Ban, Takeo Otsuka, Yusuke Kobayashi