LogFAQs > #965358257

I figured I should start prioritizing watching and rewatching Netflix anime because at some point they'll ban password sharing and I ain't subscribing on my own.

I rewatched Dragon Pilot: Hisone and Masotan. I remember enjoying it a few years ago. When I checked the archive website for what past me thought about it, I saw that it was even one of the fifteen anime I recommended people watch for the 2018 Anime of the Year awards we did here. It's about girls in the Japanese air force who get swallowed by secret dragons to control them from inside their guts. It's such a zany premise, and the first time through I was just struggling to keep up while wondering what crazy thing would happen next. It was all so charming.

Turns out, that feeling can't be replicated. Even with only hazy memories of what happened, my opinion of this fell quite a bit on rewatch. The themes were clunky and, at times, uncomfortable. Like, what they were trying to convey was super obvious but the supernatural aspects didn't support it and the real world stuff was too real to be any fun. Hisone was still a fun character but most of the others were bad or, at best, bland. Without the 'man this is nuts' aura the show had the first time through, everything that happened just felt it was happening to push forward a pretty basic message.

Hopefully this is just one of the rare anime where the magic can't be reexperienced, because it's kind of a bummer to rewatch a 7/10 and come out the other end thinking it's a 4/10.