Akane-banashi Review

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It’s time for a series about Rakugo. It’s not an art that I was familiar with but essentially it is about telling a story where you play all of the roles. There are not elaborate costumes or any big special effects. You have to pull everything off on your own, including playing any instruments if needed. Having a whole series around this could be tricky since you’re going to need to write a bunch of stories and convincing characters who can pull off all of the roles. I’d say the show does a pretty good job of it. Rakugo is probably not something I’d be very interested in watching in real life, but anime adds that extra pizazz.

The story follows a girl named Akane who is really interested in Rakugo. She grew up idolizing her father’s Rakugo but one day he is suddenly expelled from the profession entirely and his career as a pro died. Akane has spent the last 6 years practicing her craft and aims to prove that her father’s skills were real. She will have to go through many challenges if she wants to be the best, but she is determined to prove herself.

The show definitely amps up the drama with her father to the point where you may even think that he’s dead for a while there. That may have been a little too dark for this one though, the motivation of wanting to prove the critics wrong is good enough. The series is pretty realistic all the way through by also explaining how her father could have joined a different master but just chose not to. It would have been hard to blacklist someone from this career entirely after all but it came down to pride. He didn’t want to succeed in any other way which is completely his decision but honestly to me that just means it wasn’t his life.

Akane feels like someone who would keep on fighting no matter what she had to do. Switching masters is something she would never want, but she wouldn’t just let her career get short changed like that. As someone even brings up, the guy who expelled her father wasn’t even his direct master. I feel like the dad could have pushed back on that. In general I’m just not a really big fan of this guy. I’d also like for him to be way more present in Akane’s life.

The show goes into this and he has his reasons but I didn’t think they were good enough. I’m a much bigger fan of Akane’s mom who is always there to support her. Her role is not huge since there’s not as much she could do here but it’s enough to know that Akane has her in the corner and is someone to talk to.

Akane is fairly young but since she has been training since childhood, it makes sense that she is really good. I was glad that the show really acknowledged this instead of making her a rookie for some reason. There are still plenty of different ways to make challenges for her and the show handles this well. She is absolutely a prodigy but there are other prodigies around as well so the competition will always be fierce.

Akane speaks up for herself and is a very fiery character. While she sometimes does have to play nice because of how formal the environment is, I give her full credit for not just letting the others roll over her. She also doesn’t stay down about anything for too long. All in all, she’s definitely a standout character and one of the best ones in the show. The cast is already getting pretty large with characters being set up for season 2 but so far they’ve mainly been good.

Issho works well as the main villain as well. He certainly does believe in protecting the future of Rakugo and so for him expelling the father wasn’t personal. (Welllllllll future seasons may change that framing a little bit) I don’t think his goals always make sense though. For example he talks about how the art is completely dying and they need to inject new life into it. Then it would make sense to keep as many pros as possible right? Publicly expelling a bunch of trainees and scaring the rest seems like it is absolutely backwards compared to that. Issho’s excuse is that it would water down the sport but that’s just hard to buy into.

Still, the show makes sure not to treat him like some 2 bit criminal. He’s still nice to the press and maintains a solid public figure. The guy even jokes with a reporter that he has to be nice because otherwise who is going to laugh at his stories? Rakugo isn’t always for making the audience laugh but that’s definitely the case in a majority of the stories. So that expelling moment was controversial and a mask off type of instance but it’s not who he usually is. I look forward to his continued rivalry with Akane. Rivalry might be the wrong word but they will certainly be going against each other.

Shiguma is another one of the big Rakugo masters and so he ends up being the one who trains Akane. He’s a bit mixed about this and didn’t want to be taking on any more apprentices but couldn’t really turn her down given the context. He’s a nice guy who doesn’t usually make a bunch of waves but may have to change that now. As the youngest member of his school, Akane is spoiled by all of the characters. If anyone goes after her, it’s not Shiguma’s job to protect her and he made that promise to her mother.

Another character in Akane’s corner is Jumbo. He used to be a bully back when she was growing up but he did mature over the years. Now he does his best to support her dreams and is always there with a kind word. He even talks to her teacher in an effort to help change her mind and let Akane pursue her dreams. He’s a character who doesn’t appear a whole lot but he really does make a difference in these small ways which I appreciated.

Then we have the teacher, Machiko. She has a small but important role here as well. It makes sense to be skeptical about Akane’s decision not to continue with school and to become a Rakugo player instead. There are so many ways that could go badly and Akane is young to be making such a permanent life decision. Still, Machiko keeps an open mind and ends up helping quite a lot.

From Akane’s teammates, Koguma is my least favorite. I do want to underscore that this doesn’t make him a bad character inherently but he’s just less interesting than the others. His gimmick is that he’s usually timid but gets really bold when he’s on stage. He also likes to tell stories by thinking about the lore behind them. So nothing bad there but I feel like Akane has probably already surpassed him.

Hikaru is one of Akane’s rivals and she does have a leg up in being a voice actress. She is used to throwing her voice around and doing all kinds of impressions. That’s an incredibly useful talent to have at her disposal. Some of the others try to use it as a diss but they’re just coping. Akane has the edge in experience so that makes for a pretty good contrast between the two of them. I definitely look forward to her appearing more.

Karashi is Akane’s other big rival and he likes telling a more modern twist on the classic Rakugo stories. It’s an incredibly good idea because telling the same stories over and over is really not a good idea. It’s got to be one of the reasons that Rakugo is dying. Particularly since the stories are all ancient and the characters don’t talk like normal people. It just doesn’t end up making for a particularly engaging product. Karashi is rather full of himself but that’s how a rival should be, so he’s definitely a compelling character.

Kaisei is one of those future rivals. Right now he is so far ahead of Akane that you can’t call it a true rivalry but down the road you can see how they would be fighting it out. He is a bit of an overbearing character who really gets up in your face and he gets away with that because of his talent. We only get to see him perform in a vague way so it’s a bit hard to say just how good he is but based on how he’s presented, he’s the best of the younger performers.

Maikeru hasn’t done much yet but he’s the more senior member of Akane’s teammates. So he clearly has a lot of ability and will be someone that Akane is not able to surpass so easily. Kyouji is another senior member but he gets a much bigger role than the others. He essentially takes on the role of being Akane’s hands on mentor. He walks her through the basics that she wouldn’t have encountered in practice and encourages her to keep up her grades as well. He doesn’t want her to sacrifice things needlessly which is important.

Kyouji is a well balanced character although he doesn’t strike me as being super talented. Naturally that’s not the case but his Rakugo just feels ordinary. Likewise we have Guriko who also helps to tutor Akane but he doesn’t seem to be immensely talented. This is actually building up to a plot point though so that works out. It is rough to be surpassed by someone who just joined the clan so I can get why that would be annoying. That’s the power of a prodigy.

Now as the show went on there are two questions that will come to mind. The first is, how will the show manage to show how skilled each Rakugo master is? The title intentionally avoids showing Issho or the others giving their full performances while we are still watching the trainees going through the motions. That said, it’s just a bit hard to picture how different you can really show the art of Rakugo. The series will have to get real creative there.

The second question is, how come the characters are all stuck to using the same stories over and over? I guess it’s answered to an extent with how Issho really loves tradition but then of course the art is dying out. Imagine if you really love watching a cooking show but they always make the same 10 items? It’s why I really liked Karashi because he had the right idea. Throwing a modern twist into these stories is a great way to get to the audience. It’s something that I’d like to see other characters doing. Maybe not making it modern per say, but switching up some details.

The animation is pretty solid throughout the show. It’s not like you’re going to be able to show off a whole lot here since there aren’t fight scenes but the colors are on point. The character designs work well and you can tell that a lot of attention was put into it. The soundtrack is a little less impressive. Not bad but the opening really didn’t click for me. The themes during the show are good though. So I wouldn’t call this one super memorable but it’s not bad by any means.

This show also shows how important writing is in getting you invested. I’m personally not all that into Rakugo even after watching the series. I tend to prefer the moments around the actual performances because I just enjoy competition. Give me all the tournaments and the trash talking around them. The Rakugo itself just seems a little too basic. I would really need the other actors around because one person trying to play them all would just start to feel a bit cheesy to me. Like I would be cracking a grin even when I’m not supposed to be. The stories aren’t painful or anything, they’re just not super engaging so far.

Overall, I definitely look forward to seeing where the next season goes here. There are going to be a lot of tournaments as Akane tries to move up the ranks and that always means more rivals to overcome. The show has a very pleasant vibe to it and so the episodes go by quickly. It’s definitely going to run into some challenges on how to make the fights stay interesting/how to increase the power levels and so I want to see how that’s handled. You don’t need to be a big fan of Rakugo in order to enjoy this one so that’s a solid credit to the show.

Overall 7/10

Marvel Midnight Suns Review

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I remember thinking Midnight Suns looked like a really odd Marvel game when it first came out. The whole strategy card game just didn’t seem like something you’d expect for a superhero game. It was also known as a super long game so I figured I ought to wait until I had some time. Well, that time was now and this definitely ended up being a really fun game. I’ve been loving this kind of strategy gameplay and it is really satisfying to play through. Mix it in with a really detailed story and this is a winner all the way.

The game starts off with an ancient evil awakening and so the Caretaker wakes up The Hunter. The Hunter is the son of the ancient witch who has returned to destroy the world. He’s not really much of a people person but he does get results. The Hunter will be working with the Midnight Suns as well as the Avengers to save the world. It won’t be easy but he will have to step up and work as the leader here. Can he bring all of these heroes together?

A big part of the game is about how nobody really gets along. Iron-Man is used to leading the Avengers after all and doesn’t want to be taking a backseat to the Midnight Suns. Additionally, the Midnight Suns are resentful for being put to the side when they are the experts on the supernatural side of things. Hunter isn’t used to working with others and so that ties into the relationship mechanics in the game. As the story goes on you will be trying to increase your friendship ranking with the various characters.

That said, you can also choose the meaner options to increase your dark energy. It’s not completely linear though where some dark options will increase your friendship depending on who you’re talking to. For that reason it can sometimes be difficult to tell which is the right option but I focused on increasing my dark energy because there was a trophy for getting 200 dark energy decisions. I ended up completing the game before I could get it fully maxed out but I was awful close.

A lot of times those awkward responses felt more in character for Hunter anyway. I didn’t really go out of my way to use a lot of the social aspects of the game but it is impressive just how much content is here. It’s like a whole other game within a game. The structure is formulaic. Each morning you get to start a research, send a hero on a research mission, and talk to your friends. You then select your story mission for the day. After the mission is complete it is the evening so you can hang out with your friends or attend a book club. Go to bed and you repeat the adventure again.

There are only 21 story missions in the game but each one usually requires you to do a filler day in the middle so the story will still take you a while. I believe my playtime was over 30 hours by the end which shows just how much there is to do here. I haven’t even touched upon the training dojo, collecting all of the cards, etc. There is also DLC that you can buy to continue the adventure and fight more battles.

So lets talk about the gameplay. It’s a strategy game where you have your playable characters and can move them across the board based on how many turn points you have. You can perform 3 card actions, move once, and use up to 3 items per battle. You can do free environmental attacks where you blow up objects to injure enemies but it costs you some action points. Action points are how you use the stronger cards in your disposal.

I appreciated that the game really explains these mechanics to you very gradually so you’re not scrambling from the start. If the game had launched all of the mechanics immediately then trust me you would end up lost very quickly. There are just so many mechanics that it would feel overwhelming otherwise. The final level is essentially a pop quiz on all of these mechanics at once as you launch into the longest mission yet where you end up using every character in the game.

The game is reasonably difficult without being overbearing. I died twice in the game but for the most part I was taking care of business. There are harder difficulty options available though and they increase the rewards you get when completing the level. That’s definitely a good incentive right there. This is also a game where you can level up your characters but the enemies scale up to them so it’s not immediately helpful. The level cap is 25 and after that you just increase stats which don’t scale to the enemies so that is when you will really see the benefits. I was only able to max out the Hunter in the game but level ups come pretty fast so it wouldn’t take long to do that with the rest of them.

The graphics are definitely pretty solid. The art style may not be my favorite but on the whole I thought they did a good job here. It does have a bit of a supernatural feel and you can tell that this isn’t the normal superhero adventure. I also enjoyed the different gameplay effects in terms of visuals. The soundtrack is a bit more on the boring side though. The tunes aren’t bad but none of them really stand out. As for the writing, as long as you like it when all of the characters are constantly being ironic and cracking jokes then you’re good. I had a fun time chuckling at most of the dialogue here. I’d say it works out well enough.

It’s rare to have so much dialogue in a Marvel game like this so I was really just enjoying getting to see all of the characters talking to each other. There is a lot of great opportunity for banter in this kind of setup. They should really make more Marvel RPGs, I would definitely be there ready to have fun with the tactical gameplay. Or if they just want to go with a classic Final Fantasy turn based kind of gameplay, I’d definitely be there for that as well.

Overall, Marvel Midnight Suns is a really great game. I’m super impressed by how much content is in this game. There is a whole lot to do and you’ve almost got 3 different games here between the story, the relationships, and the card collecting. You could easily spend 100 hours here just trying to complete everything. It does mean that I won’t be getting the Platinum trophy here any time soon but the game has a ton of bang for your buck which I appreciate. I’d recommend picking it up.

Overall 8/10

Madden 27 Review

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It’s time to check out the latest Madden! This time I didn’t order it day 1 since I got my fill with the last title but fortunately this one was got a full game trial across all consoles so I got to give it a go. I can definitely say that the series is still as elite as ever. It’s very familiar and for that reason I absolutely understand when people criticize EA but that doesn’t take away from just how amazing the game is. At least not if you ask me.

I jumped right into the main games with my Cowboys and everything is really streamlined. The gameplay is incredibly satisfying and the graphics are basically like looking at real life by this point. I figure I should jump into whatever differences I notice first off. I guess one would be that the coaching pop ups are a lot more frequent. This is essentially your coach making a recommendation and you can click yes which will have your players move the way he wants them to move. So far the recommendations were pretty accurate so I have no complains there.

And…well yeah that’s basically it for differences. Still, the gameplay is excellent like I’ve already said a bunch so that’s not a real problem. The tackling feels very satisfying on every play as well as the overall presentation. It’s nice to see the stats being shown live on the screen as well as the player records from previous years. The whole thing makes it feel like you are playing a real Football game, particularly when you choose not to skip any of these cinematics. They are all skippable of course as that would wear thin eventually but in the moment it’s a blast.

Each team has a ton of play options for you to call and of course no two games will be the same. You can always bet on different possibilities and options as the teams go at it. I also feel like the other team adjusts pretty quickly on the A.I. Humans can only control one player at a time so the rest are up to the CPU and they actually do a good job of covering all the exits and making sure that this isn’t easy for you. Often times I could cheese any team with a bunch of slants up the middle and that wasn’t working very well this time. So what I gotta say to the Madden devs is…well played.

There are a bunch of modes outside of the classic games of course. You can do the franchise where you create a player and just play as him throughout the league. You can live a whole life in the game and then retire after a number of seasons. You can also do online franchises and play against a bunch of real people on your way to the Super Bowl. Finally there are practice modes, minigames, etc. There is a lot of content here which is impressive and I’d argue that it’s another way to show that EA isn’t completely lazy. They are a bit lazy, I’ll admit that but it could be worse.

As always I do prefer being on offense to defense though. It may be a skill issue but I seriously can’t stop anyone. I basically just have to hope for an interception or some other form of RNG to get my opponents. I know how to jump and make the play if it goes towards me but I’m never able to apply pressure or anything like that. The other team is essentially just having their way with me the whole time and one day I have to figure out how to make a proper counter attack. Until I can pull that off, I’ll always be on the back foot for half of the game which is not good.

On offense though, I just feel like I have limitless chances. What I really appreciate compared to other sport titles is that there is a minimal amount of RNG on the offensive side of the ball. If you throw a bad pass, that’s on you. When running you often have to decide which hole to go through. Now there are times where coverage will break down or you get stopped behind the line. Those moments can come down to RNG but it’s a lot rarer. For the most part you’re in complete control and that’s what I like about this game. You just have to continuously work on finding the best plays for each setup and knowing how to audible as needed. Keeping an eye on the opponent is absolutely crucial because any play can be stopped, but any defense can be broken through. It’s a continuous game of cat and mouse.

Overall, How much you enjoy this game will depend on how much you have enjoyed Madden for the last 20 years. It really hasn’t changed much at all and you can think of that as an insult or just a complement to how strong the core gameplay is. There is no need to change the system because it just works. The games sell amazing every year and while sales are obviously not a full way to gauge quality, a lot of people are really satisfied with it. I’m one of them, I just think these games are absolutely elite all the way.

Overall 9/10

Persona 3 The Movie: No. 3, Falling Down Review

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This third Persona 3 film definitely feels like the craziest one in some ways while also being the most slice of life. Sounds like a contradiction eh? Well we really start right away with the heroes having their final confrontation with the villains that appeared in the last film and all of the shadows were taken down essentially off screen. The threat is over and our heroes have made it to a new era of peace. That’s essentially how this film starts off so most of it is the after party. Makoto is wondering what to do next and starts drifting away from the rest of the team while a mysterious transfer student shows up and decides to be his new friend. What is going on?

I’m betting that the film just had to skip a lot of the mid parts of the game in order to get to the next events or at least that’s what it felt like to me. Not a bad thing by any means but the cutting felt more apparent. I would have liked to have seen more of the intro fight though because it was looking real interesting. I’d say there is a bit less action here than in the last film but it may have just felt like that. The movie is also a bit shorter than the last one so it may be a by default kind of thing.

The opening fight was probably the best out of the 3 films so far and it was nice seeing the whole gang get in on the action. The group is really big by this point but they still all get to have their moments. Throw in a mini climax right after that with a big betrayal and it’s like the film started out with its climax. After that there is a lull until the end so how much you like this film will depend on how much you enjoy the shenanigans in the middle.

I will say that the middle could be a bit choppy at times. I feel like Makoto going through a depression arc again was a bit repetitive. It was already foreshadowed last time with him wondering what would happen when the shadows were gone so I figured he had gotten past that. I suppose instead he had secretly been dreading it the whole time. This time the arc is seemingly over for real so that’s a good thing. Makoto was really holding them back but at least this time the others were holding their own.

Each film tends to pick 2 of the friends to get their big moments and this time I would say it was Junpei and Kirijo. You could make a case for Aigis as well though. The kid and dog from the last film definitely get the shaft though. For Junpei his big character arc is about how he is in love with one of the villains, Chidori. So he doesn’t want the team to be too harsh on her even when she was actively trying to murder them. I’m always up for a good romance but I think it was a bit much to be stopping his allies when she was absolutely evil. You could say that she was manipulated a bit and her mind isn’t quite right but those do come down to being excuses.

Junpei was captured and then severely injured during the film. It was really not his best appearance and he was also unsure of how to help Makoto when the guy was going through a lot. You need a better friend than Junpei. Kirijo spends a lot of the film being depressed because of events that happened near the beginning. I give her credit for trying to handle this internally and not making a big deal out of it. It’s certainly not the healthiest approach but she is trying to move forward in the best way that she knows. I can definitely respect that and she doesn’t hesitate when it comes time to fight. That’s something the others can really learn from.

Aigis has to deal with the fact that her mission is seemingly over and she handles it better than Makoto. She is determined to keep moving forward and stays by Makoto’s side. This makes for some pretty effective comedic scenes and she has really earned her spot among the group. As a robot her one weakness is being controlled by others so hopefully she can get more security soon. Aigis is a determined fighter though and even at the end of the film she is the first one to act. If only the others had taken her warnings more seriously.

So how about this new mysterious kid named Ryoji? Depending on what you’re expecting from the character I’d say that the film tipped its hand a little too quickly. I mean it all just feels very obvious on where they were taking his character but I guess I have watched a lot of anime before. He seems like a nice enough guy but the nonstop flirting can be really obnoxious. Definitely the kind of character that you wouldn’t want to take too seriously or he’ll just be upsetting the whole time. He should be playing a big role in the next film though and I expect he will look a lot better there.

The soundtrack is great as always. Persona always has really good tunes and this one doesn’t disappoint. They are forced to use action themes even for comedic moments like being stuck at the hot springs since a lot of the film isn’t in a tense situation. It works pretty well though and the film largely avoided having too much fanservice there. There was definitely still some though which is why you never want to follow up a beach adventure with a trip to the hot springs. That’s really just asking for trouble if you ask me.

I already talked about this before but to enjoy this film you are really going to need to like the characters. A lot of the film is about them going on a field trip, working part time jobs, etc. It’s not going to work for you if you just want the climax to happen right away so just don’t go in with that mindset. I’d probably have trimmed down the side quest stuff a little bit but it doesn’t seriously drag on. You’ll just feel some second hand embarrassment from the stoic Makoto doing all of these little tasks while presumably his friends are watching and wondering what’s going on. It would be odd for a friend to stop talking to you and then you see him hanging out with someone new and having a bunch of goofy adventures.

Overall, This was a pretty fun film. It’s really not what I was expecting with this next part. I suppose in the game it would be the calm before the storm but I wonder if this was really expanded or they cut out a lot of bosses in the middle. In theory even the calm parts would have had some night sections right? It may not have been as action packed as I may have hoped but I’m invested in the characters enough where the slice of life was still good. If anything it’s almost a bit foreboding where you are waiting for something to happen. There were a good amount of twists and turns here as well as a real body count so it’s not like the stakes got lower. These characters got to have a little more fun than most main character groups though so that’s a W in their corner. As long as you enjoy a good slice of life with some action then I’d definitely recommend this one.

Overall 7/10

Captain America: Brave New World Review

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It’s time for the 4th Captain America film. Of course Steve Rogers is dead so in this case it’s about his successor Sam Wilson who has let go of his old Falcon persona. This is a good film but definitely one that drags out quite a bit near the middle and that’s not good because this isn’t a particularly long film in the first place. The film has a running joke which I think is even a bit meta about how Sam should have taken the super soldier serum and honestly…he should have. It would have helped quite a bit.

The movie starts off with Sam and his sidekick Joaquin taking down a bunch of terrorists and securing a package that had been stolen. He is thanked by the president elect Ross. After a timeskip, Ross has become the president and he is attempting to seal a treaty with Japan over the use of Adamantium. It is a material that may even be stronger than Vibranium and would have a whole lot of uses. Ross is trying to move on from his dark past and be the best president that he can be, but it won’t be easy. A figure from his past has appeared and is attempting to sabotage all relations with Japan. Can Ross put an end to this?

It was nice to see Ross return because I always thought he was a pretty fun character. Definitely on the gruff side and he had a tendency to do things that weren’t exactly legal but he was always fighting for his country. Now as the president Ross brings that same level of grit to the job. As the film goes on he starts to look a little shakier though. After we get through all the twists and such, I can say that he definitely made one too many mistakes here. It was still fun to root for him, but he really sabotaged himself completely.

When you make a mistake you have to deal with it. Ross decided to just ignore it and naturally that comes back to bite. So he does really good in all of the present actions but that was enough to really hurt him. Meanwhile you can also say something similar for the main villain here. This mysterious villain has a grand master plan and could have easily completed it if not for his ego. This guy really wants everyone to know that he is the one behind this plot and so naturally that leads to him being captured.

It just feels a bit absurd that a so called super genius could not find a better way to do the plan without being captured in the process. Maybe he plans to escape and that’s another plan but that’s way too risky. The villain never ended up being very impressive for me and I also thought that they really messed up his design compared to what it was in the comics. That look was 100X better than this one which is really going for more of an intentionally ugly design.

As for Sam, he does a good job as Captain America here. He certainly looks better than in the Winter Soldier miniseries where it almost felt like you were meant to root against him. Sam tries to do his best to help the country out while not becoming some yes man to a guy as dubious as General Ross. Sam’s also dealing with a lot because his old friend Isaiah goes crazy for some reason and Sam needs to figure out a way to prove his innocence.

Throughout this adventure, characters are quick to doubt him as well. The villains make fun of him, Ross compares him negatively to Steve, etc. I do think it would be good for Sam to finally get past the self confidence issues though so hopefully after this he won’t be wavering anymore. It is just tough to see that he is still just a human with tech though. It works for someone like Iron-Man who is surrounded by nanotech and that’s always been his thing. Being Captain America without the actual super strength? That’s a lot tougher.

It also does limit what the film can do in terms of fight scenes. The final battle relies on an enormous amount of plot armor and nerfing the opponent so that Sam can have a chance. It’s really hard to pull off that kind of a fight without making one party look worse than they should. As for how you solve that, well you have to give Sam some serious powers. Otherwise even fighting humans can be tough for him. He was getting absolutely clobbered by one villain near the beginning of the film. Sam is only able to win with a lucky shot near the end but effectively lost that battle. Then he has a really close shave against a guy with a gun. Yeah that guy is the head of Serpent and is skilled but is technically still just a guy.

If you’re having close shaves with all kinds of normal fighters like this then you’re not really going to be able to go toe to toe with super powered villains. Joaquin made for a good sidekick and while he is much weaker since he is a human with worse tech, he does good against the side opponents. He’s not really ready for the bigtime but the film isn’t trying to put him in those situations so it works out.

We’re introduced to a new character named Ruth here who is a former Black Widow. As a result she is fairly strong and can fight well despite her short stature. Her inclusion felt a bit random compared to the rest of the characters but it’s always good to have another fighter at the ready. This film was really trying for a more grounded approach which is why you have so many street level fighters running around here. It’s also why the climax feels especially out of left field because the power levels have such a huge jump. It’s not like it’s a spoiler to say who it is since the film was advertising him a lot but I’ll still abstain there.

So we’ve got a lot of action scenes and everything. Why isn’t the film higher? Well, the writing and action are good as always and I enjoy the general tone of the film. It just moves a bit too slowly and takes some of the war stuff more seriously than is needed. For example we get a fairly long dog fight of Sam trying to chase some jets and based on the speed we saw from him early on this should be easy. Instead the chase overstays its welcome by quite a lot and just doesn’t really get that interesting.

Towards the middle a lot of time is spent on the mystery of why people are going insane. The problem is that as the viewer you know who it is early on and Sam/Ruth find out the method for the hypnosis right away. So then the real mystery is tracking down the assailant but it wasn’t a great journey to get there. None of it is bad but I feel like there really isn’t much in the way of replay value here. You’re glad you saw the film and it kept your attention but that’s about it. I dare say the film is essentially filler in terms of future developments and even the final post credits scene is rather halfhearted. It is just so vague that it is essentially meaningless. I would have gone for something a bit more hype like actually showing a guest star.

Overall, Brave New World didn’t exactly shatter the sky in terms of hype but it is a good film. I enjoyed it and the MCU always does have a fun style of banter and action scenes. The choreography is good and I dare say that was never in doubt. It’s just a fun movie all the way but ends up being a bit more forgettable and the film also has a hard time trying to balance the fun and serious moments. I dare say it should have just leaned more on the fun and being a comic book movie. We’re pretty deep in the MCU so by this point it should be able to get as fantastic as possible. I’d also say that keeping a certain guest star around for the climax would have been a really good idea because otherwise it just felt a bit pointless. We’re getting closer and closer to Doomsday so I look forward to seeing how the next films go.

Overall 6/10

Rooster Cogburn Review

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Rooster Cogburn is one of those titles where you would have no idea what the film is about. It’s such a general name but hardcore fans of True Grit will know that this is a western right away. This title plays it very safe and ends up being a decent western title. You’ll either appreciate the subtlety it is going for or you’ll end up finding it to be a bit boring. There’s not going to be much in between. For me I thought it did a pretty good job. It’s not terribly exciting but keeps your attention well enough and also avoids some of the classic western issues.

The movie starts off with Roster taking down some more thugs but he is called into court. Unfortunately the town has decided to move in a more nonsensical direction and does not want to see Rooster murdering criminals anymore. Rooster is stripped of his badge and forced into retirement which has him feeling rather bitter. Naturally the judge and the town quickly realize that they are doomed without Rooster as a group of bandits steal some powerful nitro. The town is forced to call Rooster back in for one more adventure. Is Rooster too old to deal with these guys?

Right away you can see how absurd the town is though. The fact that they were so quick to fire Rooster was crazy. Now Rooster is no saint. The guy gets drunk way too often and has slowed down a step but it would have been nice if the town could have found some real examples to call him out on. The self defense shooting we saw at the beginning of the film was completely justified. If Rooster didn’t shoot then he would have been dead. That’s just how it worked back in the wild west and the town looks naïve to think otherwise.

Rooster was right to be sore at how he was quickly fired like this. He showed no remorse and that’s a good thing because he didn’t make any mistakes there. The rest of the deputies are so scared that none of them even want to accompany Rooster so he goes off on a 1 vs 9 kind of fight. That’s basically unwinnable to be honest.

It turns out that he won’t be completely alone though as he runs into Goodnight and a kid named Wolf. They are the last survivors after the same group of thugs stopped by their house and murdered everyone. Goodnight is certainly no big fan of violence but is no damsel and ends up joining the adventure with her gun. Wolf is a bit too young to be super helpful but is still around to cause distractions as needed.

It’s a real team effort and from here we get a lot of banter with Goodnight and Rooster. The writing is pretty solid in general and their dynamic ends up working well. Goodnight is definitely right that Rooster lets himself go too much with all the drinking and tries to help him be more introspective. I don’t think it really works as I feel like Rooster really doesn’t listen to anybody but at least he warmed up to having her around.

Goodnight has a lot of brave scenes like when she stands up to the thugs as well as saving Rooster from one shot. She’s definitely a solid heroine through and through. Wolf is okay but tends to forget how young he is and tries helping a little too much. That may not sound like a negative but sometimes you really do need to take your own power level into account or you just end up getting into a whole lot of trouble.

The villains are more on the forgettable side. There is a whole lot of infighting which helps the odds for Rooster. One of the main villains is a turncoat who used to work with the sheriff. He is an expert at explosives and helps in using the nitro. He’s clearly a cut above the rest of the lackeys but at the same time is still afraid of the main villain. The main villain really has a strong chokehold on his whole group and is always threatening or murdering them. He really never stops.

There is a decent amount of action here as we get several fight scenes. They’re all handled well but it feels like the villains have a whole lot of plot armor at times. Rooster and his crew get the drop on them initially but don’t end up picking off a single one. Yes, Rooster’s first shot was a warning one since he is trying to take them in alive but after that he should have been landing direct hits. These guys are all dangerous murderers after all and Rooster has always ignored the town’s orders before. It felt like too many shots were just being missed.

I suppose that’s a factor in all westerns though. This one just felt like it stood out a whole lot though. Still we got a solid climax here and the whole film is handled well. The writing was the most important part of course and the pacing was also good. The film’s main appeal is probably for when you want to show someone a western without it being too gritty. Despite being a sequel to “True Grit” there is absolutely nothing gritty about this adventure.

Overall, This is a very safe film that doesn’t really make any mistakes. The fights are good and I liked the dynamic between the two leads. The movie could have probably given the traitor more to do which would have led up to another solid fight. I enjoyed the villain cutaways with all of the dysfunction over there but it didn’t ultimately lead to a whole lot. This film isn’t super long or anything but there was enough runtime to add on another subplot. It just doesn’t have much of a hook so the movie is good but you won’t be thinking about it much afterwards. I guess it’s the definition of a good popcorn action film.

Overall 6/10

Back to Bataan

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Back to Bataan is a pretty intense film that’s based on events during WWII that I wasn’t particularly familiar with. So it’s always interesting to learn some new facts like this. Of course the film does take its share of liberties and apparently isn’t going for the 100% accuracy route but it’s not like I can really tell which parts are real or not. As long as you enjoy war films then you should like this one.

The film starts off with the U.S. losing a lot of their morale in their fight against the Japanese over Batann. This is because a lady named Dalisay has been spewing Japanese propaganda over the airways and she was the girlfriend of Andres, one of the U.S. soldiers. It’s disheartening to see that she would turn on them even if it is likely under threat of death. Joseph is trying to keep the forces together but it’s not easy. Then he is told to leave the company for a while in order to execute a top secret mission. He will be working with the Filipino resistance to stop the Japanese from the inside. Can he pull such a thing off?

Obviously the resistance is always going to be on the back foot from the start. They have courage and a whole lot of heart but the government side is always going to have the advantage in ammunition, firepower, and numbers. The only way to win will be a lot of run and gun tactics which is difficult. Still, Joseph is not going to give up and gradually he starts to win over more and more people to their cause. The film is really about this uphill battle and not giving up until the very end.

On the Japanese side we see how they cycle through a bunch of different tactics. First they go with trying to overwhelm the locals through intimidation and wanton murder everywhere. When that doesn’t go so well then they try appeasement by pretending that they will actually let them live peacefully. This illusion doesn’t last very long before they break character and just start murdering again.

There is definitely something to be said for having homefield advantage. Even when the Filipinos were completely outnumbered they were able to find different trails to launch counter attacks and regroup. It’s not the kind of situation you ever want to find yourself in but at least there can be a little solace in knowing that there are some ways to fight back.

Joseph was a solid main character. He was good at getting the most out of his soldiers. In some cases that meant feeding their egos, playing dumb, or taking an aggressive approach. He did whatever he needed to in order to come out on top and that was crucial. I don’t think it will come as a surprise to say that he was the best character here.

Andres steps up as the film goes on but admittedly he wasn’t looking good at the beginning. I don’t think he should have been as shook up as he was upon hearing Dalisay’s voice. Honestly at least it means that she is still alive and I wouldn’t be holding anything against her. It goes without saying that she is not saying these negative things of her own freewill. At one point Andres mentions that she has to know how damaging her words are…and yeah of course she does. Dalisay is trying to stay alive and he should understand that.

There are certain things you should never do even when under the threat of death. Murdering a comrade, leading soldiers into a trap, etc. Talking negatively on the airways though? Ehhhhhh I just don’t see that as being as much of a problem. Obviously it’s a bad thing but would it be worth dying over? Personally I’d be glad that she has found a way to extend her life even if only by a little bit.

Dalisay was courageous on her side and took quite a number of risks. She did whatever she could in order to help on the side but she just didn’t have many opportunities. This film was really about everyone making these kinds of sacrifices. Even a little kid was helping the heroes a lot even when the risks were high. The heroes bump into a school where the teacher helps by dressing wounds and such. In a war everyone has to do their part. There is no time for bickering or deciding to sit it out. You either fight or end up dying.

In a way this war also has a time limit. The resistance needs to last long enough for the U.S. navy to get there. Once they do, then they can bomb the Japanese out of there. Of course there will still be a lot of collateral damage and it won’t be clean but at least the resistance isn’t totally on their own. Now that would have been even more grim.

Overall, World War II was an absolutely grim event and so this film doesn’t have the happiest tone either. The soldiers do their best to find some levity where they can but for the most part they all have to stay focused at all times. Focusing on the Battle of Bataan was a smart move since it doesn’t get nearly as much screentime as other parts of the war. I definitely feel like I got to learn something while watching it and so I would recommend this one to folks. Of course if you are not a big fan of war films or prefer something a bit happier then you’ll want to skip this one. It’s ultimately building towards a happy conclusion but it is a rough journey to get there.

R.C. Pro-Am II Review

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R.C. Pro-Am II is one of those games that I hadn’t really thought about before but it’s a pretty decent game. There isn’t a whole lot of extra content to play around with here but this is a fairly old game. The overhead style works well enough although I much prefer full 3D so I can see where I’m going. Every time I miss a turn or a hit an obstacle I inevitably end up blaming the game. Probably not the best move but hey…it made sense to me at least.

The main mode here is the grand prix. You race in a bunch of levels against the other cars and can keep on moving forward as long as you’re in the top 3. Every time you fall to last then you lose a life but the grand prix continues forward. The mode stops once you have lost 3 times. I got as far as level 8 but then the RNG starts to hit hard. There is some kind of a thunder cloud that blasts you when you get too close and bumping into other cars becomes a real threat.

Additionally there are tons of little boost cans and boost arrows all along the track. Falling into any of those will help you out but the computers have them memorized while you will have to figure them out one at a time. This is definitely one of those times where the computer just has an inherent advantage and I’m not really sure how you would remove that. To an extent all racing games will run into this issue.

It’s why this kind of title is just a lot more fun when you’re playing against other people. Against the computer it is going to get old quickly. The core gameplay is still solid enough where I would give this one a positive score but it’s certainly not knocking you out of the park. It’s a solid racing game with good gameplay controls and that’s about as much credit as I’d be giving it right from the jump. That’s still a pretty good amount of credit though.

The game succeeds on fundamentals even if it has long since been surpassed by newer racing games. There is not much reason to play it in 2026 but that doesn’t take away from this game since I don’t score on a sliding scale. If you have the Nintendo Switch Online then you should check this one out. It can at least be a good way to test out your reaction speeds with all of the obstacles. Maybe you could even play this as a memory type of game because technically the obstacles don’t change places during the level. You can try to memorize them and then ace your second lap.

In theory that doesn’t even sound so hard because it’s not like the levels are all that big. You’re talking about having to memorize 1 minute of screentime to ace the second lap. For some speedrunners who have to memorize hours of content, this would be a no brainer. Still, I didn’t find it to be an easy task. Perhaps I need to work on those skills but I would just fall for the same obstacle more than once.

The graphics aren’t bad here. They’re fairly bright and have a good amount of character behind them. That soundtrack is more on the bland side so you won’t be remembering any of the tunes. That’s fine, it would have been a nice bonus but I don’t think anyone was expecting anything too fancy out of this title. Everything passes the bar of being “good enough” which for this title is satisfactory.

Overall, I’d say to check this one out. There isn’t a whole lot to it but sometimes it’s nice to check out a retro game and see just how much the genre has changed. I’m sure that a modern remake to this title would look and feel completely different. That isn’t necessarily always a good thing but in this case I do think the modern quality of life features could make a world of difference. This one may have gone as hard as it could for the NES but it will be a world of difference on the Switch 2.

Overall 6/10

Princess Knight Review

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Now this is a really old manga from back in the day. Princess Knight is not a title that I was ever familiar with but it made for a fun read. It plays out a bit like some of the old TinTin comics at least when it comes to the atmosphere and art. The series was not afraid to drastically change the status quo either and so every chapter would really keep you on your toes. You never really knew what was about to happen next. I got to read the series as one giant omnibus so it really felt like a journey.

The story starts off with an angel named Tink messing up during the ceremony to give people hearts so they can be born on Earth. Now a girl named Sapphire has ended up with both the girl and guy hearts. This doesn’t work out very well for her kingdom where girls are not allowed to rule. As a result Sapphire has to pretend to be a man and serves the kingdom as Prince Sapphire. Deep down she wants to just be able to live as a girl though and the charade is difficult to keep up. Additionally, the Duralumin and his trusted right hand man Nylon have their doubts. They think Sapphire is actually a lady and seek to expose her. Can Sapphire continue to evade them and how will Tink take back the extra heart?

Tink’s official mission is to take the male heart away because Sapphire was originally supposed to be a girl. It’s also why the villains are able to suspect that something is up. For all intents and purposes Sapphire is still a girl. She feels like one and all but the male heart gives her more courage and strength than she would otherwise have. Sapphire has a strong commitment to her duties as the prince and so that is why she continues to fight hard all the way to the end.

The character cast isn’t particularly big so this allows each of them to really make their mark in the story. I’d say that Nylon was easily the best villain. He’s one of those bumbling types who is always trying to get the jump on Sapphire but is rarely up to the task. It really shows just how persistent he is though and you just have to respect that. It’s not easy to constantly get up to fight again when you are always losing every fight. I’d even say that the story rewards him a bit as he gets a happier ending than some of the other characters. It’s not like he gets away completely free or anything but at least he has a chance at a solid future.

His boss Dualumin doesn’t actually appear quite as much but worked well enough as the mastermind. He’s just more the type to stay in the background and lets the chips fall where they may. Ultimately this is the kind of series where you have to be proactive though so that plan didn’t work out very well for him. Then you’ve also got the demonic witch who is trying to get her daughter Hecate to the throne. She tries several traps to end Sapphire’s life with so there would be no competition.

It’s pretty rough for her though because in general she is one of the stronger fighters. Unfortunately for her, Angels are a complete counter to her abilities. So Tink who isn’t much of a fighter is able to dispatch her every time. It was nice to see Tink getting some respect there because he started off in a bit of a rocky position. He’s still a rookie after all and isn’t much of a fighter but he was ready to help Saphire out when needed. At first he would only get in the way but then by the end he did well.

I also enjoyed Hecate as a villain. She was certainly a lot more reasonable than her mother. Hecate was no hero by any means but she ended up helping out when their goals aligned. It is something that happens more than once during the adventure. Additionally, she does have real abilities like shapeshifting which comes in handy for all kinds of situations. I would have liked her to have had a bit more screentime.

There was one villain with less screentime though. A goddess shows up near the end who is extremely petty and becomes jealous of Sapphire’s beauty. She is quick to turn people into animals and complain a whole lot. Fortunately Tink is able to talk back to her and rat her out to the elder god. Otherwise she would have crushed everyone since the humans can’t really do anything to a goddess.

So for Tink, with the wins I mentioned earlier I suppose I’ll give him a passing grade. He’s not the most interesting character out there but showed up when it counted. He is overshadowed by Prince Franz though. That guy is essentially the main rival of the series. He helps Sapphire out a whole lot and fell in love with her female disguise. Since Franz thinks that Sapphire is a guy, they have a friendly rivalry at first until they become bitter enemies due to a misunderstanding. Franz is a really upstanding guy and the kind of prince that you want to have in your corner. He continues to fight in order to find the girl that he loves and is the most earnest character in the series.

It was always a blast whenever he would show up. We get another rival in the form of Captain Blood who is also a pretty solid character. He couldn’t help but fall for Sapphire’s charms as well but just has way less screentime. You sort of know that he’s doomed from the start but it was still nice to see another quality character at the ready. He was a strong fighter and even gets a big plot twist by the end of the series. This guy certainly became more important than I would have expected.

Finally we got a third rival in Friebe but she had even less time to appear. In this case she fell for Sapphire when she thought that the knight was a man so that was definitely a big disappointment to her. Still, she handled this like a champ and continued to be helpful instead of spiteful. She became a really good character right away so it’s a shame that she barely got to appear. There was definitely a ton of potential right there for her to have continues to appear.

As for Sapphire, she is a decently good character but loses to the 3 rivals. Some of this may be a bit out of her control but Sapphire’s personality changes a whole lot based on the heart(s) that she is using at the time. As a result there are moments where she is way too helpless. Nylon was actually overpowering her when Sapphire had temporarily turned back into a girl. The personality shifts are a big part of the plot so it may seem a bit harsh to really attack her on this but you definitely need to be a more consistent ruler to rise to the top.

Sapphire was also a nice character from the start but a little too timid. She could have avoided a whole lot of drama if she had told Franz who she was from the start. I’d say that Sapphire is also a bit too easygoing like when she gave all of her riches away to the corrupt soldier that put her in prison. It just felt like she could have fought back a whole lot more if she had really wanted to. None of this makes her a bad character by any means but it does prevent her from being a better one.

The art is solid enough. It definitely does look old and while it is a very authentic style, it doesn’t hold up to any of the modern titles. It has that Sunday Newspaper kind of vibe which is why I compared it to old western comics. This one still has way more plot progression compared to those even if each chapter has more of a slice of life vibe. They just remember to pick up where the last one left off and each plot development really sticks. I’d call this a good comfort read that just about anyone could enjoy. It’s just nice and pleasant all around with a solid amount of humor, action, and adventure.

Overall, If you haven’t heard of Princess Knight before, I can safely say that it is worth a read. The writing is solid and I enjoyed the cast of characters. It all really goes by in the blink of an eye even though the series is close to 700 pages long. The pages are just very clear and easy to read through. Additionally, the concept is pretty interesting. I imagine some modern retellings will give Sapphire a bit more agency so hopefully she can win more important battles and not falter whenever she loses a heart. I wouldn’t mind some more big fights as well.

Overall 6/10

Can’t Buy Me Love Review

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Can’t Buy Me Love is one of those romance films where you’re waiting for some kind of twist ending to save it. For example maybe something that prevents the main duo from getting together and the film decides to be a bit subversive about it all. Unfortunately that didn’t happen and this ends up being one of those films that will just have you shaking your head the whole time. There isn’t much to salvage about this one.

The film starts by introducing us to Ronald who is your typical nerd character. He’s extremely introverted and has not been able to get popular at school. He secretly wants to be like the cool guys and go to all the parties/get a girlfriend. One day he sees that his next door neighbor Cindy is in a jam because she ruined her mother’s expensive dress. It will cost $1,000 to buy a new one which is a lot of money for that time period. Ronald offers to buy it for her on the condition that she pretends to be his girlfriend for a month. Cindy is under duress right now because she’s really worried about what her mother will say, so she reluctantly agrees. This will now be the toughest month of her life.

So right away there are a bunch of problems with this premise. Yeah I get how you can get a lot of comedic situations out of this. It’s a classic type of plot that has been done many times before but this situation was not a good move. The fact that Cindy was super pressured into doing this was crazy. It’s much better done in a film like Summer Wars where one character said yes to be nice and there was no blackmail happening.

Now it does set Ronald up as an antagonist right away. He’s willing to go quite far in order to move ahead and the film will even surprise you with how degenerate the guy is. Ronald is the kind of guy who lets the power get to his head immediately. The movie also shows how he doesn’t even see Cindy as real girlfriend material because when she starts to fall for him, he doesn’t even acknowledge it. Yeah maybe he’s a bit oblivious but pair that with all of the future scenes and it makes sense.

He just wants to live a life without morals where he can have relations with whoever he wants. This is not true boyfriend material in the slightest. Ronald also betrays his friends. Not even in a subtle way like eating at a different table, but completely ignoring them, messing up his best friend’s house, etc. The betrayal is quite extreme and then he gets with quite a number of girls before the film’s over. Ronald just goes all the way in each instance and doesn’t know how to have any restraint. The ability to do anything doesn’t mean that you suddenly go and take advantage of every opportunity.

If anything the new status just exposed his true personality. So this guy was a real bad apple for sure and the ending is not deserved. He should have just been totally isolated as a repercussion for what he did. That would have evened out pretty well if you ask me.

Then you have Cindy who isn’t exactly the best character either. I do want to confirm straightaway that she is many times better than Ronald though. Cindy has a lot of status within the school as the top cheerleader and never let it go to her head. She’s just a bit spoiled like when she took her mom’s dress when she was explicitly told not to do that. So Cindy really set herself up for a lot of trouble here. There’s no reason why she should have agreed to Ronald’s demands though because she actually has a long distance boyfriend.

Now that boyfriend doesn’t seem like a great guy but you still can’t be pretending to cheat on him in front of the whole school. That’s a quick way to destroy the reputation of all parties involved. Additionally she is just way too forgiving. This is partially because of how the film had to end out but it was a real shame to see her just absorb all the abuse Ronald threw her way. He did not hold back at all in trying to make her look bad and was quick to cut her down.

He’s the kind of guy who will take anything you share in confidence and blow it up in your face. So if you have any self respect then you’re not even going to be friends with someone after that. Definitely one of the worst romances I’ve seen in a while. This also takes away from the comedic potential of the film. Officially this is meant to be part comedy and you can see all of the jokes that are slipped in but it tends to be a little too mean spirited to actually have fun with.

It’s almost spiteful with how it all plays out. This is like a power fantasy for an introverted person but written from someone who thinks that popularity is inherently bad. Ronald also comes across as being whiny here because it’s not like he was completely alone. He had quite a few friends and they would even play games together at night. They were real friends and then he had a good reputation in the neighborhood like how Cindy’s mom thought he was a responsible young man. He traded that all in and I’d say that speaks volumes about him.

There’s so much more you could say about the romance in general but you get the idea. For a romance to work you need both characters to be solid but as the title went on everyone just looked bad. The worst part is that Cindy made a good faith effort from the start with helping Ronald learn how to dress for success. Then she came up with a good cover story and everything but Ronald was quick to just take everything too far. I suppose he didn’t have great family influences. His parents let his younger brother constantly bully him but of course that whole subplot was also embarrassing for the main character. Surely he can handle some banter with a little kid right?

Overall, This is not a film that I would recommend. It gets way too dramatic and mean spirited the whole time. Definitely a film that will not go down as one of the better ones and I can see why it has been forgotten to time. The film needed major work in order to even be decent. You definitely have to start by fixing the general premise of the film so it starts off a bit lighter and then you shouldn’t make Ronald a total jerk. There are so many ways to make the film fun and you can keep him oblivious without making him a total antagonist. Then you can actually focus more on the comedy. Like there was one funny joke where Ronald’s friends try to enter the party but immediately sit back down when they’re called out. Of course it was hard to be sympathetic to them either since they were girl crazy as well. That’s got to be one of the worst stereotypes. They should be focused on games or something. If they really want to get out there, then they should be going to the gym or something. I gotta just try and focus on the comedy….

Overall 3/10