Genocyber and Takopi's Original Sin

Animes with unstable females.

Genocyber (1994)

In a future where scientists weaponize unstable little girls, they are hilariously surprised when the psybernetic (that's not a typo) weapon goes on a rampage and over the course of a handful of episodes quickly obliterates most of the planet. The old style anime art is well done and the stories are interesting enough but it would have been great if they gelled together a bit better instead of seemingly having time skip cold opens a few times. 

Takopi's Original Sin

A goofy alien that looks like a happy squid lands on Earth with the mission to make people happy and pairs up with an abused and suicidal teen. The animation of this one is really smooth with a violently depressing story (though I found some dark parts quite funny). I have a feeling that because the beatings depicted are more grounded to reality it actually hurts more than say the flurry of blows in Dragonball Z. Very different from my normal viewing, and very dark.  

Red Sparrow Outside the Wire

Movies with manipulation.

Red Sparrow

A famous Russian ballerina (played by Jennifer Lawrence) is manipulated by her uncle into joining the SVR Sparrow school where she learns the art of sexpionage to use against their USA counter parts. The story is a rather dark one but good, and while there is a bit of violence here, there is obviously much more in terms of nudity (full frontal) and sex. Worth a watch but I'm not sure I'd want to watch it again as the content is a bit "heavy" and the run time a little long.

Outside the Wire

In a future with robot soldiers supporting their human counterparts, war still rages in Ukraine. A drone operator who disobeyed an order is sent to the front lines as punishment to work in a two man team with his superior, Captain Leo (played by Anthony Mackie) who rather quickly reveals he is an experimental android and their mission is to find "lost nuclear silos" in the region. Uh. Really? You have freaking robots, drones, satellites and you need to walk around ask where these things are? The drone operator could have used a stronger actor too. That aside there's an ok movie in here, but its not one you need to rush out and see.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Skull Island

Animated Netflix series.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

Set in the same futuristic world as the Cyberpunk game (which I haven't played) where people modify their body with machinery, this one season show follows a teen who through misfortune and bad decisions ends up running with a street gang. Very nice art and animations, adult themes coupled with violence and gore and cool concepts that I'm sure are shared with the game (which I haven't played). It is very loud though, seemingly just for the sake of being loud, and it takes a little bit before you can warm up to any othe cast. Not bad but I'm sure it would track better for game fans.

Skull Island

Set in the same world of monsters as Kong: Skull Island, this animated series follows a band of explorers who through good luck and bad decisions (they're out to look for giant monsters, really?) end up on the titular island that is home to a variety of giant creatures and one giant monkey. While the animation is decent it is the surprisingly humorous script and very likable characters that suck you in, and then the death and gore for me is a bonus! I also think its smart that they don't really focus on Kong because that lets this show be more standalone than not. So far only one season of this exists and I will be watching if a season two ever appears.

Altered Carbon: Resleeved

Happens in between Seasons 1 and 2.

This cell-shaded anime movie is decent enough to not break too many of the established rules of the main series, with fight scenes that are particularly exemplary, but the plot is on the thin side. Tasked with the protection of a tattoo artist, Takeshi Kovacs has to face off against the yakuza in this very bloody outing.

There's definitely a high body count!

While it is certainly a story set in the Altered Carbon universe it's simply not as refined as the live action counterparts. Still worth a watch though, I give this 2.5 sleeves out of 5. Would I watch it again? Probably just the fight scenes.

Altered Carbon

Only your digital self is true.

In a future where people exist as tiny hard drives the human body has become disposable. These "sleeves" can be upgraded, cloned, enhanced and worn by anyone. Anyone who has the money to afford it that is - making the rich near immortals. This also makes it super easy for the show to keep characters while switching their actors around at will, such as the main protagonist Takeshi Kovacs (played by Joel Kinnaman, Anthony Mackie, Will Yun Lee, and more).

This is all the same character.

Season 1 sees him solving a murder mystery with a twist while Season 2 has him chasing his own past. Both of these are very well produced, are well written and are quite effective as stand alone stories by themselves. As a bonus (for me) there is tons of violence and gratuitous nudity, especially in season one. Highly recommend this series. I give it 4 stacks out of 5 and would rewatch both.

Ruiner

Listening to voices in your head gets you into trouble.

You must find your brother in this cyberpunk future and brutally kill the many enemies that get in your way. While you can carry a melee weapon and a ranged weapon, both of which you'll be swapping out regularly due to durability or ammo constraints, you are always armed with a trusty, up-gradable gun - the titular "Ruiner".  

Feels a bit like Diablo. In the future?

There are a whole set of skills you can upgrade too as you gain levels - which happens quite frequently in this short game. Make no mistake though, it is quite challenging! While the story is ok, the graphics and controls are really good. The only thing I didn't like is the somewhat epilepsy inducing "hack" slide shows.

Still, this is one I can recommend and give it 3 cats out of 5.

Insight: I heavily made use of the shield and the dash abilities. Pay attention in the dash tutorial as you'll notice you can slow down time when planning where to dash to. This is handy in a few fights, mainly against the melee bosses.