Crunchyroll’s 2025 Winter Schedule and Our Top 10 Must-Sees

After looking at Crunchyroll’s 2025 Winter Schedule, we feel we can compose a song out of our top ten selection of titles that we feel are must-sees.

2025 Winter Schedule - CrunchyrollBefore signing off for a much needed holiday break, we looked at Crunchyroll’s 2025 Winter schedule, and it’s big! The fact the list includes returning anime series makes it huge, and what we are offering is our top ten of must sees. There are a lot of titles debuting in the first two weeks of January, and whether or not we’ll be able to watch everything will depend on other commitments, but can at least watch these series for enjoyment. Not everything will get reviewed.

To note, this schedule and languages available are subject to change, and the show’s availability may vary by region. The dates listed reflect what’ll be subtitled or simulcast premieres.

DECEMBER 31

Fate/strange Fake (A-1 Pictures)

In a Holy Grail War, Mages (Masters) and their Heroic Spirits (Servants) fight for the control of the Holy Grail—an omnipotent wish-granting device said to fulfill any desire. Years have passed since the end of the Fifth Holy Grail War in Japan. Now, signs portend the emergence of a new Holy Grail in the western American city of Snowfield.

 

Continue reading “Crunchyroll’s 2025 Winter Schedule and Our Top 10 Must-Sees”

Which Yule Movies Are Authentic, According To Tradition?

Not even I can fully answer that, but in what I present is a list of yule movies that honour the season rather than commercialise it.

Klaus, Yule Movie or Christmas?
Yule Movies – Klaus

After watching Red One, which went the wrong way with a great idea regarding an Icelandic holiday witch wanting revenge, I had to look for better films to cleanse the palette. To seek what others haven’t researched well enough meant deciding what works who are true to what Yule movies should represent. I feel in what’s key is that it has to be set in Northern Europe. Although they don’t have to be scary, that’s the secondary theme I’m going for.

Not every film can make the grade. As much as I’d love to include Winterstilte, that was a movie I didn’t really get into. As for other ancient figures from this region, there’s plenty to choose from! There’s Frau Perchta, who preys on innocent souls in the movie, The Twelve Days before Christmas, and curiously, there aren’t any more featuring her.

Continue reading “Which Yule Movies Are Authentic, According To Tradition?”

What Happened During The Beginning To Justify The End? Only Joshua Oppenheimer’s Strange Musical Knows.

The end is nigh in an art house style film about a family who survived the apocalypse who think singing out their feelings is the best way to keep on going. But some fantasies are just that, and could this movie be a parable?

The End (2024) Movie PosterJoshua Oppenheimer is better known for The Act of Killing, an extremely difficult film to view, and with his latest, The End, it’s just as hard. What I offer is more of a commentary with light review elements. I was curious about this musical because of the post-apocalyptic setting. Also, I always want to look at the next movie Tilda Swinton appears in. She’s well known for playing unusual characters, and I loved her performance in The Chronicles of Narnia franchise. 

This movie has the feel of being set in an art history museum. That is because the paintings Swinton’s character paints encompass a wide range of artistic movements and like those masters before her, they are to express her feelings of anger, pain and happiness. I noticed, and this attention to detail is great because it’s her role I want to decipher the most. If I ever get a chance, I’ll have to ask this director and cinematographer Mikhail Krichmanis if that character design was their intention.

Continue reading “What Happened During The Beginning To Justify The End? Only Joshua Oppenheimer’s Strange Musical Knows.”

Moana 2 Is Better Off As A TV Series

When sequels take too long to get made, the momentum has to be kickstarted again in Moana 2 and all fans can hope is the wait won’t be long for the next instalment.

Moana 2 Movie PosterSpoiler Alert

The world being set up in Moana 2 feels more suited to be a television series than a film. That’s because when Disney knows they have a hit, they better get on it fast otherwise it might get Frozen behind. Making computer animated films takes a long time, especially when it concerns figuring out the right story to tell. Here, what’s manufactured feels like it’s done by committee rather than from Jared Bush, the only individual who shares writing credit in both films.

Also, the songs aren’t as catchy as those from the first, and felt too loaded to keep the momentum going. After Moana (Auliʻi Cravalho) sings about how much has changed since the events of the last film, she also pines for more adventures with Maui (Dwayne Johnson). One night, she reveals to her little brother that once upon a time, all the island’s various tribes were united, but over time, something caused them all to split apart. Afterwards, she gets a vision to learn why, and she wants to help bring everyone back together!

Continue reading “Moana 2 Is Better Off As A TV Series”

Guerrilla UFOlogists Better Look Out! In The Next Aliens Uncovered Exists The Land of Legends….

If you have seen none of Clive Christopher’s other Aliens Uncovered documentaries, then there’s really no order in what to watch first. He’ll continue to look at cases not usually explored on Discovery/Travel Channel.

Aliens Uncovered The Land of Legends PosterAvailable on YouTube and Google Play
Spoiler Alert

Clive Christopher is a Guerrilla style filmmaker looking for a connection between what the indigenous people of Arizona are saying about visitors from the skies, and the information presented in Aliens Uncovered: The Land of Legends is rather fascinating. It is about time we get a look at this world, and I suspect watching this together with UFOs over Arizona and Buried Cities & Lost Tribes paints a bigger picture than this latest alone.

While this work mentions this tribal connection in the first segment, that’s as far as this documentary will go. Apparently, one of the earliest first contacts occurred at Camp Navajo and it doesn’t concern ancient aliens! Although much of what happened remains top secret, enough whistleblowers provided information to create this latest entry to the series. Artificial intelligence video rendered much of this segment, and though the animation style has an alien feel because I feel the technology for realism isn’t there, I suspect Christopher intentionally wanted to give this segment that otherworldly feel.

Continue reading “Guerrilla UFOlogists Better Look Out! In The Next Aliens Uncovered Exists The Land of Legends….”

Just How Much More Exciting Episodes of Ranma½ Will There Be? Questioning Netflix’s Commitment

Just like the West, some fond classics are getting a visual update, and Ranma½ looks great, but do we really need it?

Ranma½ Netflix PosterStreaming on Netflix

With the first season still going strong, I’m not finding the refreshed Ranma½ series significantly different from its predecessor. Sadly, the wait for stories from the manga which haven’t been adapted is going to be long. While the order of chapters is different between what I recall from the past version and the book, I’m okay with the alterations.

Here, Kodachi gets introduced much earlier; in the books, she doesn’t appear until chapter 17. In the first series, she didn’t get the spotlight until episode 11. And instead of following the six unit narrative arc from the books, the series condenses it into a well told two-part episode. With the latest, the deadly Golden Pair (ice skating duo), Mikado Sanzenin and Azusa Shiratori, appear to show that some members of the Tendo family have challengers.

Continue reading “Just How Much More Exciting Episodes of Ranma½ Will There Be? Questioning Netflix’s Commitment”