2009
Noah’s Barks pages covering things relating to the year 2009.
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Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
This more-faithful adaptation of the original manga successfully delivers an action-adventure epic, but falls short in some presentational elements compared to its predecessor. (Includes Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – 4-koma Theater’) (read more)
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Drifting Net Café
While Shūzō Oshimi normally handles sexual content with tact, ‘Drifting Net Café’ is possibly his most exploitative work. How much does it drag the work down? (Warning: Review is currently only unedited notes.) (read more)
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![[Rec] 2](https://noahsbarks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/rec-2.jpg)
[Rec] 2
‘[Rec] 2’ wastes no time showing it understands nothing about what made the original work, with irrational characters and a senseless plot. (read more)
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The Flowers of Evil
Possibly my favorite manga, Shūzō Oshimi’s ‘The Flowers of Evil’ delivers a story about societal repression, isolation, and perversion. (read more)
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Bronson
An entertaining but ultimately shallow waste of potential. Bronson hints at social commentary beyond the story of its character with its metanarrative’s stand-up sections that seem to be leading into discussions about goading the mentally ill into stardom and exploiting it, but instead the film drops this for nothing. This flavor of Bronson as a… (read more)
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Antichrist
Antichrist is a good counterexample of what kind of horror works best on me. The atmosphere is there, the imagery and implications are all shocking, but I’m unmoved because I never establish a connection and empathize with the characters. It’s all fictional regardless, but identifying with fear is the only way I can feel it… (read more)
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Ring of Gundam
‘Ring of Gundam’ is a five-minute special celebrating the franchise’s anniversary. I’m not sure how else to describe it, other than "bad." (read more)
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Rebuild of Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance
‘Rebuild of Evangelion 2.0’ continues to experience diminishing returns. Everything here has been done before and better, and the allusions to ‘End of Evangelion’ only make its comparative hollowness more apparent. (read more)
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Summer Wars
One part Digimon, one part boring, and all parts fairly unmoving, lazily-written entertainment. (read more)
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Tailenders
‘Tailenders’ crosses the finish line in a distant second place to ‘Redline,’ but is still highly recommended to anyone who couldn’t get enough high-octane, stylish racing animation. (read more)