Lego One Piece Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s actually been quite a while since my last Lego adventure. Netflix has really been trying to push the live action One Piece series so it makes sense that they would throw some legos into the mix though. It feels a little more standard than the average Lego adventure so I would have liked them to go a bit more crazy but on the whole it is still entertaining enough. This works as a fun recap for folks who want to jump right into season 3 when it comes out instead of going through the entire first two seasons.

The story begins with Usopp deciding to tell Chopper all about the adventures that they have all had. That’s the main framing device for these two lego adventures. Usopp is a chronic liar naturally so Chopper consistently has to correct him on everything. Usopp eventually stops messing around as much so we get the true story of how Luffy and his friends successfully defied the government and fought with big shots like Arlong and his pirates. They even got to go up against Crocodile’s organization and fought several of the numbers.

You’ll naturally get more out of this if you’re already a big fan of the series but I’d say that it is approachable for anyone. At its core this is an adventure about friendship and the characters deciding to help people while still keeping some of their selfish pirate tendencies. Zoro is still the best member of the main characters with how well he can fight. The guy keeps everyone in check and is someone that you can really rely on. He may lose to Mihawk at one point but anyone would have lost that fight as well.

The humor is generally on point. It’s not really laugh out loud funny but the characters are having a good time as they banter with each other. I enjoyed the lego graphics well enough as well and the pacing is good. This adventure is essentially getting through two seasons in two episodes which is not an easy feat. So there is a lot of credit to give there. They also grabbed the music from the Netflix show so you definitely feel the synergy all the way.

So in the end what’s the problem? Well the issue you may feel beneath the surface is just that it can feel a bit empty. I already mentioned this a bit before with how I wished they had done more with the Legos but this remake feels a bit to serious to me. It’s sort of like a corporate version of the Lego title if that makes sense. I think this is something where they should have gotten some huge fans of the series to come in and throw a bunch of inside jokes at the audience. Stuff that most people wouldn’t really get but would still help take this to the next level. At least I feel like that could have worked out really well.

Lego adventures are often remakes so it’s not like this is anything new but they always add something. I would even argue that the inside jokes and references are what make the Lego adventures stand out in the first place. If you’re going to do a tight 1-1 remake then that almost defeats the purpose. The adventure does change things for a few seconds when Usopp starts lying but he is always corrected too quickly. I would have made things feel like much more of an AU. We get one thing like that with Sanji being included in a scene where he shouldn’t be due to time constraints but that’s a little too minor. Still, you could end up nitpicking this all day so the point I’m making is they should have just had more fun with this. It’s not to say that this is an extremely serious special as there is a good amount of humor but it feels really confined. Almost like the writers were trapped in a room with a bunch of corporate suits the whole time.

This is still One Piece and the core story is still fun to watch. I enjoyed the fights with Arlong and Mihawk. I would definitely play a video game in this style. I’m sure the combat would be a blast and I really do need to pick up more Lego games in general. They are fun once I am going through them, I guess they just tend to lose out to most of the other genres. Lego games are more on the basic side but I have yet to play a bad one.

Seeing the live action characters briefly is also a good teaser for season 3. It sure feels like a long time since season 2 aired so it’ll be good to be getting more content there. I am also the king of saying that every series should be milked as much as possible so I certainly won’t turn down spinoffs like this. Keep them coming is what I say!

As I wind down this review it is fair to say that Buggy really outshone Luffy once again though. He was dominating him initially and then would have destroyed him in the rematch if not for other characters stepping in. His devil fruit really is a hard counter to Luffy’s and at this point Luffy doesn’t have the power to stop him. At least based on this lego adventure you probably can’t even imagine Luffy becoming King of the Pirates. He just isn’t ready for that but at least he has enthusiasm all the way.

Overall, There just wasn’t a whole lot to talk about on this one. It’s a great alternative for kids to check out if they don’t have time for the main show and it naturally does work well as a recap if you don’t remember what happened in the first two seasons. I see this as an aid in that sense and it feels more like that than as a complete product this time around. As long as you enjoy One Piece then I can recommend this one. I’m guessing they’ll do another one for season 3 at some point so I’ll definitely return. Of course I think it would be even more fun if they decide to do a stand alone adventure instead. There are unlimited situations you can do with these characters after all.

Overall 6/10

The Entertainer Review

Posted on by
Reply


The Entertainer is one of those films that goes a little too far in trying to show just how corrupt folks can become in show business. Ultimately the characters still need to take accountability for their own actions so I wouldn’t purely blame the job space. It’s definitely not a happy film by any means and after a while the constant sadness just overwhelms the rest of the movie. There isn’t a whole lot to enjoy here.

The film starts off by introducing us to Jean who has just had a big fight with her boyfriend. He doesn’t take her work seriously and is always taking shots at it. Now he has a big job opportunity which would force him to move far away. He wants her to come but Jean isn’t thrilled at the prospect. Instead she returns to her old home to visit her family but finds that they are not doing well at all. Her father Archie has really been bombing out at his latest comedy performances and the family is really poor right now. All they can count on is each other but is even that true?

The first problem with the film is that there are no good characters. The worst one right away is Archie for obvious reasons. The guy is cheating on his wife and makes bad decision after bad decision. He doubles down on basically everything with absolutely 0 remorse. You would think that with the stakes this high he would find some way to make ends meet but he does the opposite. Phoebe’s family is ready to offer him a job at any point but his pride forces him to refuse. Archie will live or die by his show business.

That may be a find attitude to have if you’re single but it is beyond selfish when you have a family that is depending on you. It’s not really a surprise that people wouldn’t enjoy his act because it seemed rather dreadful to me. There’s just nothing to it and you’ll be left shaking your head the whole time. Even the quick portions we see in the movie are more head scratching than anything else. Archie still makes promises that he can’t keep and loses even more money.

Usually you put a character in a tough bind so that the audience can feel sympathy for him but again, the guy’s a cheater. There is no sympathy to be had and if anything you’re rooting for his ruination. Then you have his son Frank who is essentially closing his eyes to the whole thing. He is content to just get drunk every day and support his parents. He doesn’t want to think about anything else and just stays out of the way so he is a classic case of being an enabler. When Jean tries to talk to Archie, Frank even runs interference.

Meanwhile Phoebe is another character who is essentially closing her eyes to what is happened. She puts up with a whole lot of grief from Archie who is constantly picking on her. Throw in the fact that she is really worried about her kid who is off in the war and it has not been a happy journey for her either. There are no real winners here. Now why doesn’t Jean rank so highly?

Well, she became complicit the moment that she found out Archie was cheating and didn’t say anything. Obviously it’s a hard topic to broach but she needed to come down hard on him or get out of there. Then when her boyfriend shows up, she basically tells him to leave because she needs to handle this on her own. With both of them always on different sides, I’m not sure how long their relationship is going to last. Jean got herself in the middle of a whole lot of family drama and that was definitely not a good thing. She needed to stay out or get in there and do something. Instead she’s just another passive observer.

The only one who really did something was Billy and the characters really get on his case for it. He’s archie’s father and finds out about the affair/false promises and decides to spill the beans. This causes a whole lot of drama and tough circumstances for Archie but that’s sort of the idea. Billy acts surprised at just how drastic it all gets but it shouldn’t have been a surprise. At the same time, he should have been happy about this because it really put a pin in that sub plot.

Things don’t go very well for him in the end. Billy tried his best but was just too old by this point. I understand that he wanted to help his son here but still should have let Archie dig himself out. It’s hard when you see a family member slipping to the dark side but if you try to help, the most likely outcome is that you’ll end up falling as well. That’s really the obvious ending to this kind of problem.

I dare say one improvement to the film would have been having Jean trying to fix things the whole time. Perhaps trying to redeem Archie, trying to get Phoebe to be more proactive, etc. Then as the film goes on she realizes that none of these attempts are working. So when her boyfriend shows up, Jean just leaves with him. That would have made for a more interesting plot and would have made her more likable as the lead. It’s really the best balance you could hope for. After all when the topics got serious here, the characters were quick to treat her coldly. Phoebe talking about how Jean isn’t her direct daughter, Archie just waving her off, etc. While we didn’t have much time for the boyfriend to reflect on his actions from the opening, we can assume that they are still okay. Jean’s side job will just be something that the two of them will continue to argue about probably even after they get married. It’s a bit of a red flag but could be worse.

Overall, I would say that this was just not a good film. It’s incredibly hard to make a good film with bad characters. I’m not saying that it is absolutely impossible but it is certainly difficult enough where I’m surprised whenever it works out. You’re just waiting for the cops to catch up and take this guy away. Archie shouldn’t have tried forcing his way through a business where he had lost the talent many years ago. Perhaps he could have trained himself into learning new skills and being a success again but then his ego was the other problem. Archie seemed to think that he was doing a fine job and so he didn’t need to learn any new tricks. Rookie mistake to be honest. The most tragic thing is that almost any of the other characters would have been more interesting as the lead.

Overall 3/10

Enchanted April Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for one of those films that doesn’t sound very interesting at first glance but maybe it could surpass that? Unfortunately that was not in the cards this time. The character cast is on the weaker side and there just isn’t a lot going on here. The film moves at a fairly slow pace and so the characters would have been its only chance at success.

The movie starts off with Lotty suggesting to one of her fellow club members (Rose) that they should rent a castle. It’s a rather impulsive thought but she saw an ad for this in the newspaper. Lotty has not been very consistent with her life at the moment as it’s rather boring and her husband is always running around to parties and trying to meet all of the bigwigs. Rose isn’t having a great time either as her husband is always writing nsfw books and doesn’t put her as his #1 priority. After some convincing, Rose agrees but a castle will be too expensive. SO they enlist an older lady named Mrs. Fisher and the rich Lady Dester to accompany them. The 4 of them will enjoy a month away from men and the outside world in general. Will they have fun or will they begin to miss their old lives?

It’s an interesting idea although I would argue that if you need a month away from your husband than the marriage was already very weak. You don’t need time away when you are having a good time after all. The husbands do not look good at all so this does track. That is why Lotty seems very annoying to me. If I were the other characters I’d be super upset because she suddenly decides to invite her husband over after just a few days.

Yes, the characters had previously agreed that they could each invite someone over but the fact that the one who suggested the idea was the first to cave is terrible. Lotty isn’t really up for discussing the matter either and just launches forward. The film shows that she is rather crazy the whole time but it turns this from being a quirk into a totally negative trait. You’re rooting against Lotty by this point. It’s just incredibly insensitive and I was not able to get past this even to the end of the film.

Sure enough, her husband shows up and immediately makes it clear that he is here to make connections. He gives some back handed complements like he’s surprised at how Lotty has such influential friends. The guy ends up not being too much of a nuisance but it still changes the vibe. You can’t be quite as free and one with nature if there’s another guy around. It’s just a matter of decorum.

Lotty then also pressures Rose to do the same thing and that so her husband shows up as well. This guy is basically showing up to see Dester and of course has been living a double life. This is a rather huge issue but the film basically shoves it to the side and he never has to pay for these issues. It would be one thing if the husband was keeping a second identity to not be connected to the book but the film makes it clear that he is really doing this to get with the ladies. The guy is not loyal and shouldn’t have been invited to this event.

Rose wasn’t the best character either but at least she wasn’t out there betraying her husband. Her main failing is that she is too easy to pressure. She is basically forced into the castle plan and from there on she rarely has enough strength to make her own decisions. She always ends up listening to Lotty and the others. Even by the end of the film I don’t think she ever really came into her own.

Lester has a tough time of it as she came to the castle for a peaceful adventure and yet everyone is always bothering her. She really doesn’t get a whole lot of peace and quiet to herself at all. I also thought she had the best plan of action for the castle which was just to relax by herself. That was the whole point of the trip and it wasn’t supposed to be about having lots of mandatory activities and bonding. This is a vacation, not work. The others worry about every little thing while Lester sees the bigger picture. She was easily the best character here.

Then we have the older lady Mrs. Fisher. She was a fun character. At first she tried to really dominate the rest but once that didn’t work, she calmed down quickly. She is big on traditions and so it takes a while to really learn how to relax. Still, Fisher pulls it off and gets along with the other characters. She doesn’t have as much of a trial to get over so her role felt a bit smaller even if I feel like the screentime was probably roughly on point with the other characters.

Ultimately the film’s biggest problem is just that it’s rather boring. Nothing is really happening and so that’s why you have to be on board with the characters. Since the characters are on the weaker side then there wasn’t much that could really be done to save the adventure. From that point on, the film was doomed.

I can respect the intention of the film which is that this grand castle was able to save both marriages and show the other characters how to be happy but the way it played out wasn’t very believable. It just felt like the characters needed more time to develop these subplots and the film was already pretty long. It would have been better for the film to have just been about the 4 ladies and how they are completely different but still manage to come together in the end. The castle could have been about how they all forgot their outside selves and just had fun.

If you really wanted to include the husbands on this trip, then they should have been introduced as better characters. You could have easily still had the wives feeling dissatisfied with their lives without making the husbands quite as bad. For example maybe both of them were spending so much time at work that they felt neglected. Instead by introducing them as antagonists, it meant that the redemption arc was not going to be very satisfactory or paced well in comparison. I feel like the film tried to have some funny moments with both of them so they wouldn’t feel quite as much like villains but it did not work at all.

Overall, This is the kind of film that doesn’t even really work as background noise. It’s not making a significant amount of problems during the run but isn’t really keeping your attention either. I can’t say that I would enjoy spending a month at the castle very much. I would definitely find ways to make the days pass by quickly but give me my own bed any time. Now spending that time with 3 people that I really don’t know very well? Yeah that would be even rougher. This does not feel like a very calming experience at all. The whole film is hard to relate to and isn’t executed well. There are just so many better ways you could have handled the story to make the film more interesting because I could definitely handle a film about the characters bonding. They really needed to make Lotty a more likable character though, she was chaotic in all the worst ways. Well, if you’ve ever really wanted to be in a castle then maybe you should check it out.

Overall 4/10

Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for a new Castlevania adventure. It’s sure been a while since we got the last one so I had to pre order this right away. I haven’t been a fan of the series since it started though, I really just got into it recently thanks to all of the collections that came out. I was curious how this one would handle quality of life features and things like that. Well, I can happily say that this title really stuck the landing in every way possible. The graphics and gameplay are extremely smooth and the Metroidvania or should I say Castlevania elements are as good as ever. You feel stronger as you traverse the castle with your level ups and power ups. Additionally you have the roguelite elements here where you can die anywhere and it warps you to your last respawn point. You never lose any progress.

That’s right, you don’t lose any currency, exp, items, etc. That takes a load off of you because now you can just enjoy the adventure. You can take more risks and fight really aggressively with the knowledge that you will return. I absolutely understand how some wouldn’t like that but personally I think this was a great way to approach the game. As you play, you will continue learning the enemy movements and will be dying less and less.

The general plot sees Rose and her father summoned to Paris. Dracula is about to return and as the last Belmonts it is their job to destroy him. Unfortunately it won’t be easy as Dracula’s minions are all assembled to stop any invaders. Rose has always had the potential to be the next most powerful Belmont but she will have to realize that potential right now. There is no further time for training or preparation. Along the way she can capture any boss that she defeats which forces them to be her allies and use their abilities in her service.

This also makes for some pretty nice banter. Like Medusa intentionally giving the wrong advice all the time. She may be forced to help Rose physically but verbally there is no such requirement. That was a nice change of pace. The story is definitely solid with a lot of great voice acting all the way. Dracula and Death make for really solid villains as always. They really have the personality and aura farming down as a fine art.

The visuals are also really good. The backgrounds really pop out at you and the main art style is fairly similar to Hades. It may not match that legendary title but rather than be a knock against the game, I would say that it is a pretty good copy. The game also has a few cinematics which are solid and multiple endings which is always a lot of fun. Even after you beat the game, there are plenty of routes for replay value as you try to get to the true ending. Don’t expect this to be a quick journey.

As mentioned before, the gameplay is super good. It feels very satisfying to be crushing all of the enemies that get in your way. Additionally the various movement options like air dashing means that the rooms never feel too large. There are quite a lot of platforming traps along the way too. More so than in any other Castlevania game so I hope you are good at jumping around. If you’ve played Mario Maker then that will definitely help. The game doesn’t hold your hands as all here.

Now at one point there started to be a few puzzles and I was getting worried but then they vanish as quickly as they show up. They are mainly present in the astrology chapter and I gotta say those puzzles were a little too complicated. I just had to spend a grinding session trying all star alignments until I got to the answer. I still don’t get what they were talking about with the picture hints. Yeah this game should stick to the combat.

My favorite weapon to use was the cross that you throw forward but gradually I had to start using the fire blast because of how many aerial foes there were. My favorite item to have equipped on hand was the quick sword but then I stuck to the whip as soon as I unlocked that. The game goes out of its way to make this the strongest weapon in the game and that makes sense. The whole franchise is built upon that assumption after all. If the Belmonts didn’t have the whip then the world would be in a much more dangerous spot.

The music is definitely great as well. You’ve got several remixes here in addition to the original tunes. I would say the original tunes are where the game really shined. I enjoyed the Paris backdrop quite a lot. It’s very mysterious which makes sense with how it has been taken over by the villains. This could easily be leveraged into a whole new saga of games depending on how the true ending wraps things up. I would be eager to play another installment and hope I don’t have to wait 5-10 years for that.

I will say, this might be the only game I can think of where the intangibility item is basically pointless. Usually that is one of the strongest abilities since you can walk through everyone but instead it has way too many limitations. Certain objects can hurt you anyway and some bosses can bypass it as well. What is the point in that case? It feels like the kind of item that may have been broken initially and then there was an overcorrection so it ended up being pointless. Ah well, there are plenty of other ways to get really powerful in this game but that just stood out.

You probably just need to try out all the abilities to see which ones are your favorite. In that way the early abilities will always have an advantage because you get them so early that you become used to them. Later on in the game you get a blood ability which is pretty handy. I used it to beat one boss but otherwise I stuck to the older ones. I dunno, they just felt more natural to me by that point.

Overall, Castlevania really returned with a vengeance here. The game is absolutely terrific and I am definitely glad that I got to be here day 1. It’s the kind of title that is just really fun to play and I give credit to the devs for making everything so intuitive. The menus have a great UI, the consistent save points are also well spaced, and the game is a lot of fun to play. There are no real slow points where you want to put the game down for a while. The pacing is always high and there is a lot of bonus content to keep you around. This one has a good bang for your buck and is a terrific title. I highly recommend picking it up.

Overall 8/10

Tales of Bersaria Review

Posted on by
Reply


Tales Of is one of those franchises that is always amazing. I have yet to play a bad title in the series and it has been fun slowly catching up with all of the titles that have come out. They don’t release as often as in the past but I suppose that’s true for pretty much all of the big video game series. I have yet to play all of the Final Fantasy titles either but in this franchise I was even more behind so it was time to change that. I have another title that I’m in the middle of so you can expect another review in the future. For now though, I think it will be an uphill battle for any title to beat Bersaria. This was such an intense title.

The game begins with Velvet taking care of her brother with the help of her mentor Artorius. Unfortunately he betrays her one day when he sacrifices her brother and imprisons her in a monster tower. She is stunned by this betrayal and now lives only for revenge. No matter who or what she has to sacrifice, Velvet will avenge her brother. This begins her tale of woe and tragedy.

With a 30+ hour title like this, you can bet that the story will be taking a lot of twists and turns as it goes on. The main cast gets fairly large and Velvet really learns how to interact with each other. Any series with revenge as a core theme is going to have to deal with forgiveness, sadness, and the cycle of violence. The game deals with all of that very well and I agreed with a lot of Velvet’s decisions. Characters kept trying to get her off this path of revenge but she was fighting at every corner.

Mix that in with the incredible cinematics and ost and you have a very intense game. I always appreciate it when a game goes the extra mile to have fully animated cinematics in addition to the main cutscenes. The songs are all really good as well and so you will be on the edge of your seat the whole time. An RPG must have a great story to justify the long play time and this one certainly does.

The core gameplay is much more complicated than the average title in the franchise. You have to balance your 3 characters as normal but you can only attack based on the amount of gems you have on hand. You must steal them from your opponents while also saving some for defense and character switching. All the way to the end of the game I can tell you that I never fully understood this system. There are over 50 tutorials at the beginning of the game and they ended up just overloading my brain.

I had to rely on my old button mashing skills to find some good combos and then I stuck to those. I will say that items are incredibly useful in this game. You absolutely need them in order to keep on healing and to keep your status up. You can spam items like crazy in this game and you just have to watch out for the lag when using one. It is less useful in one on one combat. There are very few of those boss fights but they tend to be the most difficult ones when they appear.

There are also a lot of collectibles in the game. You can grab vegetables which permanently increase your stats. Yes, these are as helpful as they sound. You should always make a detour to grab those when possible. The treasure chests confused me a bit because they seem to actually respawn. I may have been imagining things though. I still recommend opening them all and using the pink chests when you have enough orbs set up. I was mainly doing this to get some trophies but ultimately I beat the game before I had opened enough of them.

In addition to the main story you naturally have a lot of side quests as well so the game is not lacking in content by any means. There is always a whole lot to do here and there are always ways to get stronger. The EXP gains dramatically slow down as you get to the end of the game but you should still be fine. Grinding is just a part of these RPGs after all and I have to admit that I always have fun with this part. It just feels good to watch yourself gradually getting stronger. It’s why I never like when an RPG has enemies auto scale to your level and fortunately this one doesn’t do that.

There are over 500 optional cutscenes as well which is a crazy amount. This game is just super detailed and I appreciate that. You really get to know all of the characters and I can say that this was a really strong main cast. I dare say that they are in one of the higher tiers as far as that is concerned. Artorius also makes for a great villain with how the game sets up his character early on. So you know the guy and he does think of himself as the villain. Break an egg to cook 100 omelets kind of thing. His plan has a logic to it without a doubt but it makes sense that Velvet would oppose this.

The production values are through the roof and I really have no negative things to say about this game. It is just utterly fantastic even if it has a really depressing ending. Perhaps one day it will get a sequel but I suppose I just have to recognize that these grand adventures often have a pretty sad ending. You’re not usually going to get to see everyone reach their happy ever after even if I wish that were the case.

Overall, Tales of Bersaria is a game that I absolutely recommend all the way. It is a terrific experience. Some RPGs can take time to get going but this one starts off amazing within the first 20 minutes. I also had fun with the game’s built in customization which is a little cherry on top. Either way if you like action and adventure then you have to buy this game. It can hold its own with any RPG and gives you that somber feeling when it’s all over. You just want games like this to go on forever. The game is difficult but you can always grind your way through it, such is the art of the RPG.

Overall 9/10

Fairy Tail Re:Fantasia Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time to take a look at the recent mini series that launched for Fairy Tail. This one didn’t last very long and definitely came as a surprise since there was already a fairy tail sequel that was out. It definitely feels very authentic to the original series so as long as you enjoyed that one then you’ll like this one. At the same time, it does fall into all of the same issues as the original as well so that didn’t go very well. This title is entertaining but that’s about all that I can really say for it. It still has too much fanservice to make for a real recommendation and stays in the middle.

The main plot centers around a big contest that is coming up. Fairy Tail competes in a beauty contest every year and so everyone is super stoked about this. Laxus doesn’t feel like he should attend though because he attacked Fairy Tail a while back. Time may have passed but he doesn’t feel like he has earned the right to attend. Unfortunately the contest is thrown into disarray when the characters are all attacked by a mysterious villain who is leading a group against Fairy Tail. He aims to erase them all and Natsu may be in for the toughest fight of his life. Can he put out this threat and ensure that the contest runs smoothly?

This is a true miniseries all the way as it has less than 10 chapters in total. That means there isn’t a whole lot of time for story beats or fights in general. It’s really just an excuse to see all of your favorite characters again and that would have been fine, if not for the fanservice. The beauty contest is really just an excuse for this and the series isn’t very subtle about that. It’s not quite as bad as the original series but of course at the same time that is partially due to how short the title is. It also stands out a lot because in general a lot of mainstream manga have really distanced themselves from fanservice and that’s a net positive all around.

The story is also a bit of a stretch because it feels out of character for Laxus to be having doubts now. The guy has been teaming up with Fairy Tail for ages at this point and was welcomed back into the family shortly after he had temporarily been a villain. This series could work if it took place very early in the series, not being put near the end like this. It feels like a very forced story option and one that doesn’t even feel necessary because it doesn’t really change anything. I guess at best you could say it makes for an easier reason to have Laxus be by himself for a shipping moment. I don’t really think that’s a good enough excuse though.

Whatever my thoughts on it, I do feel like that was the main driving force behind this miniseries in general. Laxus and Mira have the longest conversation in the title and it’s certainly the most serious one. She basically ends up asking him out since Laxus was never going to move forward on his own and they get a little team up. It’s hard to set up a romance with so few chapters but you could argue that the main series was building up to it. I wouldn’t say it was ever pushed as hard as the Natsu/Lucy and Gray/Juvi ships though.

So it’s not a bad plot but I still just feel like Laxus was dramatically out of character here. No matter how many times the series tried to convince me why he would still be feeling down, it doesn’t work in the timeline. If you ignore the ooc elements, then the story itself is still great. Laxus has to confront his past and even attempts to take on the entire villain group by himself. He is willing to be a martyr for his friends and Fairy Tail has always been very passionate about the friendship themes. That’s never changed before and I don’t see it changing in the future either. It’s a good thing, no other title pulls this off quite as well as Fairy Tail.

As for Eraser, he makes for a pretty good villain. The guy has a solid intro and gets to beat up on Jellal like all of the good Fairy Tail villains. You always need someone to style on after all and Jellal is perfect for this. The guy manages to lose almost every fight but there’s a part of you that always feels like he may still be a threat in the end. When Eraser revealed that he had an entire villain group behind him, I did smirk a bit because there’s no time for that. They don’t get to fight until chapter 4 and this is a 9 chapter series. I should also note that the chapters are only slightly longer than weekly sized so in total this is basically a single manga volume. I guess I can give the author props for being ambitious.

Also to continue the focus on Laxus, his father Ivan returns. The guy was a fairly minor villain from the old days so it was interesting to see him return. The guy never really ranked for me but it makes sense to include him if you’re trying to make Laxus the main character here. The rest of the characters get to still have their own fights which was nice. They may be short but the series had all of the proper ingredients that make Fairy Tail stand out. If anything it’s another impressive thing about the series, which is that it is easy to get you hooked.

I think this is partially due to the stunning art, but the writing style is also good. Fairy Tail is genuinely funny and balances this well with the action scenes. The fanservice is the only thing holding it back and it reminds me of a lot of conversations I had on the original series. It has so many extremely hype moments that I would check out here and there. The series is the ultimate “Potential” title for me because it is always so close to being the next big thing. It just needed an extra boost.


The artwork is pretty solid as always. Fairy Tail has always been really terrific in this area and that’s why it has some of the best fights in the business. Take everything else away and Fairy Tail would absolutely thrive as a serious action title. It’s just nostalgic to see Natsu beating someone up with his flame powers. You may be hoping for a longer fight but again, this is a miniseries.

The author even has a little fun with this by making one of the antagonists a character from Eden’s Zero, another manga that he created. Now this is most likely just an alternate version of the character who looks like him but that’s close enough. Still captures some of that crossover energy. I really think he should do a full crossover ongoing series someday. That would be amazing and at the very least I do think it would be super engaging the whole time. Hopefully Mashima could just rein himself in a bit though. Fairy Tail’s probably the closest thing you can have to being a true guilty pleasure title. I know the series is always going to end up messing up but I’ll still be there for all of the adventures. It’s just such a charming title. Laxus and Mira is far from one of my favorite ships but I can still say that the author went all out here with both characters talking like real adults.

Overall, This is classic Fairy Tail through and through. If you felt like the 100 years quest title was way too grand and missing the local charm of the original, this one will definitely be a pleasant surprise for you. That being said, it doesn’t bring a whole lot to the table beyond being a nostalgia trip. That part isn’t even done correctly because the fanservice just holds it back in a big way. I’m still a fan of bringing all these titles back for short sequels but ultimately it would still be nice to be telling a complete story. Maybe next time we can get a series that lasts at least 3 volumes or so. The more I was writing this review, the more positively I started thinking about this series. That’s how infectious it can be.

Overall 5/10

My Happy Marriage Season 3 Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for a very mini season. I wasn’t even sure if I should still go with the season 3 title since that’s pretty much been dropped but it still felt like the most direct way to capture this one. With 3 episodes there isn’t a lot of content to go over but Miyo and Kudou do get to go up against one last challenge. It’s a fun enough final saga with the characters mainly looking good. Unfortunately Miyo was really the main exception to this.

The 3 episodes start off with the two getting ready for their big wedding. The whole series has been building up to this after all but neither character is really sure what to do in the interim. Miyo is still so shy that she can’t bear to hug or even hold Kudou’s hand. Meanwhile Kudou is getting roasted by his friends for how formal the two of them always are. Then tragedy strikes when a legendary monster has been reawakened. Kudou will have to try and put this creature down, but can he make it back to the wedding in time?

Now we’ve got a few different trials here but I will say the one about making it back to the wedding on time is more of a non issue. Lets face it, the characters are pretty understanding of the context here. It’s not like one of those rom-com movies where you’re worried that one person is going to leave early. That was never even a consideration here. The biggest issue is really just the fact that the monster is incredibly tough. He murdered Kudou’s predecessor after all.

Additionally, while Kudou is the strongest fighter in history, he is a bit out of practice due to keeping up with the wedding. He’s grown so sloppy that he didn’t even notice when Miyo was cursed. I will admit that was a bad look for him. Still, on the whole he looks good here. He looks particularly impressive in not falling for Kimio’s tactics which would have worked on most leads. Now this is a complicated issue so lets break it down further.

Basically Kimio is being abused by her husband. This has been a really rough situation for her for a very long time and she doesn’t see a way out. Up to this point, she is clearly a victim. Where Kimio goes wrong is that she decides to bring others down with her by unleashing evils, sending out curses, etc. She isn’t helping her case in doing so and that’s where Kudou looks good. Most characters would have decided to help her out anyway and let bygones be bygones. Kudou instead keeps his personal and professional matters separate. He makes it clear that Miyo is the only one he will give special attention to.

I just like that as a matter of principle and it’s extremely rare that you see this. Usually it’s the opposite where the guy treats every girl amazing to show what a perfect character he is. Obviously being nice to everyone is cool but there is something inherently more romantic about only being extremely kind and charming to one person.

Kudou still points her in the direction of others who can help but she doesn’t seemingly even attempt any of those options. So it’s hard to say what’s going on. Has she already tried these paths and it didn’t work? The series takes place in the olden days where domestic issues didn’t have as many solutions as they do in the current days. I would say part of this mystery is intentional though. We don’t know the full context around Kimio’s situation and we likely never will. All we get to see is what’s seen from Miyo and Kudou’s perspective. It makes Kimio a really complicated villain.

The subject matter is also surprisingly dark and intense for the series. It’s not that Happy Marriage hasn’t tackled its share of dark topics before but doing so in the happy marriage batch was a real choice. Still, the instant Kimio went after Miyo, it makes sense that there would be a lot less sympathy there as well. Miyo was completely innocent so that was completely uncalled for.

This is really the main plot of the 3 episodes and dealing with all the fallout. That’s all handled solidly, but the main issue this trilogy runs into is Miyo herself. I know cultural standards are quite different around the world. Typically in Japan you’re expected to show less affection in public. You’ll see couples barely making any contact outside and then they just pop up years later with several kids. Not expressing romance in public is hardly an issue.

The issue here is how absolutely terrified Miyo is the whole time. Not being able to hold Kudou’s hand or even say his first name in public is just absurd. What’s even worse is how she can’t even have a direct conversation with him while in private without sputtering the whole time. It’s so bad that when Miyo is cursed and starts saying mean stuff to Kudou, he doesn’t even get upset. He just thinks it’s funny because even cursed Miyo is just so timid.

Being timid isn’t inherently a bad thing but again it’s just way too extreme. We are 3 seasons into the show, Miyo should be considerably more confident and skilled by now. Instead it feels like she has only made baby steps since the start of the show. That is ultimately what’s disappointing. She should be on a much higher level by now. The final fight Miyo is in just results in her getting stabbed without being able to react at all. It’s a sad, but rather fitting end to her character. So much for all the power ups and training in the last season.

The animation is pretty solid. There aren’t a lot of fight scenes here but the colors are sharp and you can tell that the animators know what they’re doing. The soundtrack is a little more on the forgettable side but it’s decent enough. This isn’t really focusing on the action part so it makes sense that the soundtrack would follow that. The music works well enough in each scene.

Again, there’s not a whole lot you can do in 3 episodes but I’d say the show covered the important things that it needed to. It was nice to see all of the characters again. It does feel like the army is going to be completely doomed without Kudou but it’s not like he’s moving to another country. I’m sure he’ll still be helping out anytime there is a fight to be won and so in that way I suppose it’s not like they’ll be missing out too much.

In a lot of ways the show is a good example of how a wish fulfillment anime can be good. Who wouldn’t want to be loved by the most powerful person in the land? Miyo went from a really hard life to finally being surrounded by plenty of people who love her. The ending is very wholesome and even if we don’t get any more sequels, this feels like a pretty complete ending.

Overall, If you enjoyed the first two seasons then you will like this one as well. These 3 episodes are good even if Miyo will be annoying you the whole time. The production values are good as always and the writers handle a thorny subject pretty well. I’m sure it will be controversial….or would be if the series was more popular but the whole thing made sense. It doesn’t mean that Kudou did the right thing per say or that the society in this series is as heroic as can be, but the series didn’t take any half measures. If you need another romance series to take the place of this one, I recommend checking out Witch Watch.

Overall 6/10

Three Cases of Murder Review

Posted on by
Reply


The anthologies continue with this next title! Three Cases of Murder has fewer stories than the other two titles but they are each able to hold their own. I dare say this may have even been the best of the three even if it is the least frightening. This one is better to look at as more of a suspense collection. Each one definitely keeps a tense atmosphere the whole time the story is going on.

One of the stories is about a guy who has fallen in love with a lady that he met. He’s really excited because before now things haven’t really worked out for him. Unfortunately his work partner will be returning soon and for some reason the ladies all seem to like him at first glance. He can’t lose her…but sure enough the girl leaves him for his partner. Where things go sideways is one day she is found murdered and it looks like the friend did it. What should the lead do now?

Now right away you can see that none of the characters are particularly likable here. The friend has no real class to be stealing girlfriends like this. It doesn’t sound like it is the first time either and he has a habit of constantly getting drunk. The guy just does whatever he wants and unfortunately this seems to be appealing to everyone that he comes into contact with. I would say the friendship would definitely be over by this point.

Meanwhile the girl isn’t worth fighting for because she got with the friend so quickly. She is clearly not the loyal type and so you will be having to fight every guy who comes into contact with her. That’s not the kind of relationship that you want and the lead needed to move on. Also while some may say it is admirable to stick up for your friend in a murder case by lying to the cops, that’s not the right way to play it. You have to let the legal system do its job. If the friend did murder her, then he’s going to have to pay.

It’s not quite so straight forward in the story though as we get a few twists and turns. Characters aside, I thought it made for a really interesting story. You couldn’t really trust anyone here and it was tough to predict how it would end. The story was well crafted and definitely got things off to a pretty good start.

Then we have a story about living paintings. This one’s a bit harder to accept at face value but basically we follow an employee of the museum. He has been working here for many years and in particular likes a painting that is in the main room. The glass around it seems to break every day which is odd. One day a mysterious gentleman tells the employee to come with him inside the painting. It turns out that each painting is alive and people live in them. They can then leave to the human world when needed to get supplies and such.

It’s a really interesting concept to be sure. Unfortunately for the employee, this painting’s creator is rather mad. He is completely obsessed with making the painting be perfect and will stop at nothing for this goal. As the two of them hang out in the painting along with his wife and an old man, the employee realizes that things are getting more and more dire. Unfortunately he does not want to be rude and so he entertains them…until it is too late. The whole time you are just thinking that any half decent main character would have gotten out of this film alive. It’s not like the painter was that tough.

In fact, he was scared of the old man until the employee showed up. This guy can easily be beaten and leaving the painting appears to be very easy. So this was just a collection of errors by the main character for the situation to get this far. It is the most preventable story out of all the anthology ones I’ve seen and that’s saying something. I do really enjoy the concept though, this could make for a full length movie easily. It would take a really skilled writer to anticipate all of the effects of having every painting be alive though.

Finally we have a story that gets a little more intense. There is a man in parliament who is known as the best up and coming politician. He constantly knows what the right thing to say is and he just finished crushing someone’s career. That guy swears vengeance though and activates his dream powers. Now he is able to control the politician in his dreams, forcing him to do embarrassing things like dancing and singing. The worst part is that both of them are aware of these dreams so it feels like emotional blackmail. What can the politician do? One option may be to destroy the nightmare bringer in the dream but is that possible?

Now, this is a tricky situation so I do want to flag that right away. That said, it doesn’t feel unwinnable by any means. Keep in mind that the dream creator doesn’t seem to have any special powers in the real world. So there’s nothing he can do there and additionally he doesn’t have any real blackmail material since it stays in the dreams. At face value, the main character should have just ignored him and things would be fine.

There is the fear that these dreams could escalate further of course. If the dream creator wants to murder him then this would be the way to do it but all of that should be handled in the dreams. The politician just lets it get to him too quickly and essentially tanks his career in the meantime. It made for some interesting back and forth but as soon as the dreams began to break him down, that was it. I don’t think there was any coming back from that. The tragic thing is how close the lead was to winning here. He just needed to hang on a little more and perhaps the voice would have gone away. Perhaps though…no guarantees with powers like this.

Part of what helps the film succeed is that the script is solid for each of the three stories. The old writing style works well here and the pacing is solid. I didn’t think we needed the narrator between stories though. I always think it’s best to let the stories speak for themselves. If you need something to tie them together, then do it within the story like with the last two anthologies. Having someone randomly talking in between the stories just hurts the momentum. Not in such a way that it really hurt the film of course but it still felt pointless.

Overall, Three Cases of Murder was a pretty good movie. I thought that each of the stories were solid and kept me engaged the whole time. They had a good amount of twists and turns but most importantly, the core concepts were solid. There is a lot that you could really do with each of the premises. The main characters just tended to be way too passive in each of the stories. The first story would be the exception to this but the lead of the following two stories could have easily claimed victory. Perhaps that’s where the horror comes from, imagining that you could go down like this. Still, this is a film that I would recommend checking out.

Overall 7/10

Torture Garden Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for another horror anthology. These are usually not so good but the last one was actually solid. Could they pull off such a thing once again? Well I’m glad to say that it was another good one. The stories work pretty well and each have a premise that doesn’t have to rely on shock value. Trust me I was a bit surprised but I’m always glad to see this coming together. Perhaps the writers have finally figured out what is needed to make this kind of story format a true success.

The movie begins with 5 folks heading to a crazy carnival attraction. There’s nothing all that scary so they basically scoff through it all until a mysterious guy says he will show them something truly scary. They follow him to the back where he has a mysterious statue. Looking at it can let you see the dark future that is coming up. Each one decides to take a peak and sees just what horrors are in store.

The first story is about Colin deciding to be a real jerk to his uncle. Colin wants his vast riches and he wants them now! The uncle warns him not to look too much into the origins of the wealth but nothing is about to stop Colin. It turns out that the money comes from a mysterious cat demon, but the problem is that in exchange for these riches, Colin must do its bidding. Colin does his best to resist but is powerless before this creature.

It’s a pretty intense one to start with. The cat is shown to have powerful telepathy and so nobody can resist it for long. Colin sure tries but is unable to stop himself from murdering several folks. This is probably the most intense of the stories with the highest body count so it’s an interesting way to start. You could say that the film is actually peaking early here even if that wasn’t the intent. Colin really dug his own grave here so it’s hard to feel bad for the guy. There’s not much he could have done to escape the situation once it had started but not being an ungrateful jerk would have helped.

The second story is about Carla deciding to mess over her friend. She intentionally sabotages a dress so that she can take the friend’s spot in a date with a powerful member of Hollywood. Carla is fairly confident in her social skills and is quickly able to maneuver her way into meeting all of the inner circle. Unfortunately this puts her right in the middle of a grand conspiracy on just how far the Hollywood elite will go in order to keep their fame.

Like with the first story, Carla is the one who got herself into this mess. Sabotaging her friend was a terrible thing to do and Carla is just shown to be absolutely merciless the whole time. Even by the end she is basically threatening the celebrities to let her in on the secret and that seems like a bad idea. Threatening the super powerful is not a strategy that will often work in your favor. Carla just doesn’t seem to be taking all of that into consideration.

The plot/twist is pretty interesting overall even if this doesn’t feel as much like a true horror. I suppose the situation is scary to be in though. It’s also another one where it would be super hard to get out of the situation once you are stuck in it. Hollywood has a lot of connections and so it would be game over eventually. They must be silencing people by the thousands since nobody has noticed the twist within the film. Definitely an interesting amount of world building here.

Next up we have a story of Leo falling in love with a lady named Dorothy. He is a world class pianist but now his skills are starting to fade a bit because he is spending so much time going on dates. His piano doesn’t like this and decides to murder Dorothy. Dorothy isn’t particularly scared of anybody because she lives life on her own terms. In most cases I’d say she should be correct here. I don’t see how you lose to a piano but I guess that’s how the cookie crumbles.

The idea of an evil object getting feelings of jealousy has certainly happened a few times. It’s an interesting premise but usually you pick something with a bit more of a punch. You can imagine a car being really dangerous after all. For a piano you just need to jump on top of it or outmaneuver it. The thing is fairly easy to break as well. Unfortunately Dorothy doesn’t handle the situation very well at all.

This situation was a bit more difficult to avoid since you’re not expecting a piano to suddenly want to murder you. That being said, you should also know better than to enter a dark room when you hear some ominous piano music. Dorothy had also been warned by this point so the best thing to do would have to just been to get out of there. It’s always one of the more tragic horror tropes to see a character run back into a room one last time, only to be murdered for their trouble.

Finally we have a story about Ronald getting to meet the world’s best Edgar Allan Poe collector. Ronald is super hyped to see all of the collectibles but unfortunately he is also incredibly crazy. The guy can barely control himself and the more antiques he sees, the more out of control he gets. The guy must know everything and will stop at nothing, including murder. It’s definitely hard to feel bad for Ronald at all here because he’s just completely unreasonable.

Throughout the movie he seemed really crazy so it was interesting to see that he was crazy in the future as well. The guy was also the only one to not really be shook by what he saw in the future. It makes for a nice contrast since usually everyone is just panicking in this kind of story. For once you instead have a villain having to go up against another one. It was a pretty solid story for sure with a nice amount of build up and a satisfying ending.

Now you might be wondering, what about the 5th character? Well he was probably the smartest one here as he decides not to peer into the future and just attacks the host instead. That is crazy in its own way to be sure but this guy was not going to go out quietly. I at least have to give him some major credit there. It’s ultimately a little futile in terms of stopping the host from doing this to others but this guy kept his sanity. It also just made for a bit of an explosive ending.

None of the stories are really going to knock your socks off but none of them were particularly weak either. That is really important for anthologies because what you don’t want is for one story to really drag the others down. This one avoided that entirely and the stories also had a whole lot of variety. As long as you enjoy some suspense and a few thrills then you’ll have a good time here. It may be a horror title but it’s not nearly as violent as you may be expecting.

Overall, The title may give you the idea that this is a super grim film but it doesn’t really play out like that. I would definitely recommend checking this one out if you’re looking forward to seeing some retro stories. The movie holds up well in the present day. It was also nice to have all of the main characters be antagonists so you don’t feel quite as bad for them. There are innocent victims in some of the stories but at least the main characters get their just desserts real fast.

Overall 6/10

Revenge of the ‘Gator Review

Posted on by
Reply


This is definitely one of those games that just seems super random. Did anybody really ask for a crocodile pinball game? I guess true fans may point out that this is actually talking about Gators but they’re about the same when you think about it. The game isn’t bad but it is painfully ordinary. There is no real reason to play this one over any other Pinball title. I’d also argue that the angles are set up in such a way where you are guaranteed to lose many times over. They could have toned that down a bit.

If you know how to play pinball then you basically know how to play the game. You want to rack up as high a score as you possibly can before you lose all of your lives. This won’t be easy but generally speaking you should be able to get a few thousand in the blink of an eye. In a way the better you get at the game, the more daunting it will become. You have to last for a very long time in order to have the highest scores and that means your own high score will be more intimidating every time. Definitely something to keep in mind.

One thing that hurts this game is that there aren’t very many areas. One way for Pinball games to really separate themselves from the pack is to have a wide variety of areas to choose from. This lets you enjoy the different backgrounds and find the secrets to each level. Since this one only has one main area, you will be able to explore all of the sub areas very quickly. Before long there just isn’t much for you to really do. That’s where this game is really lacking, general content.

The gameplay itself is fun enough as long as you like Pinball, but then at that point the sport is really doing the heavy lifting. The game itself isn’t bringing much to the table. Mix in the fact that the soundtrack and graphics are only okay and that isn’t helping things either. The game is lacking in any real selling point here. Now when you can play it for free on the Switch Online, you don’t feel like you are losing any value. Imagine if you had purchased this game for full retail price though?

That’s why I am not able to give it full points here. In the end it does enough where I can’t call it a bad game but I wouldn’t really call it a good one either. It’s stuck right in the middle and that’s not always a fun place to be. It’s not the kind of game that is going to go down as being very memorable or anything like that. I have played quite a few Pinball games over the years and I dare say that nearly all of them beat this one.

I’m not expecting something on the level of Pokemon or Metroid Pinball but there should still be some kind of variety and excitement to be found here. Without any of that, you are just left wanting to play Pinball in the real world. If they ever made a big remake of this game, perhaps that one could succeed. The main thing to do would be to keep the gator gimmick because that’s pretty fun but then aside from that we just need a lot of content. Throw in more levels or a story mode. A story mode is like a cheat code because it can make any game better. Slap that in and this game is instantly a lot different.

Overall, there’s just not much more to say about a game like this though. It’s extremely basic and delivers on being a pinball experience. That’s about all that you can say for it. If you really love pinball and already own the Switch Online then you should check it out. Otherwise if you are looking for something a little more interesting then I’d say to just save up and buy a more detailed title. When it comes to the world of Pinball, you can absolutely do better!

Overall 5/10