We watched The Animatrix this past weekend. I'd seen several episodes a while back, but I'd never seen the full thing. I kind of wish that I'd seen it sooner, because I suspect that some of my feelings of anticlimax stemmed from having already seen The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, both of which were released after The Animatrix. Most of the stories filled out the existing Matrix mythos in some way or another. For example, "Kid's Story" showed Neo providing a trail of thought breadcrumbs for someone the way that Trinity had done for him. I think Kid is the same guy who's hero-worshipping Neo in Revolutions. "Detective Story" seems a snapshot of Trinity shortly before the beginning of the first film. I think my favorite piece was "World Record," which appeals to my taste for things that deal with the triumph of the individual, and also offered an alternative route for expanded conscioiusness. It was a little different: related, but not quite more of the same.

Some of the animation styles I liked, and some I didn't. There were some that utilized the gratuitous gore that I often associate with certain anime and that I find to be a turn-off. Mostly though, I just sort of felt like I'd been there and done that.