Sakamoto Days Review

Posted on February 22, 2026 by dreager1

Sakamoto Days is one of those titles that jumped out at folks immediately. It was poised to bring in a ton of really creative action scenes with an overpowered main character who could win while using any item. Think of it like John Wick but pushed to more of an absurd level while also being part comedy. This show is able to balance the serious and comedic moments really well so it ended up being an absolutely stellar title. You won’t want to miss out on this one.

The premise involves the legendary assassin known as Sakamoto finally deciding to retire from the hitman life. The reason for this? Well, he fell in love and got married. He’s now a full time family man with a wife and daughter. He manages a local 7-11 type food shop and has put on a ton of weight. He intended to live out a normal life but one day someone puts a huge bounty on his head. Now assassins from all around the world are trying to take him down. He’ll need to stop them, defend his family, and find out who put the hit on his head. Until that bounty is taken down, his peaceful days are over.

Now if you are worried that you won’t see the overpowered Sakamoto from the first scene, no worries he is still around. While his skills have greatly diminished, they are still more than enough for almost every character that he will have to fight in season 1. It may not be enough for The Order, but those guys feel more like late stage bosses from how the show goes in season 1. Although I can tell you that every season is going to be filled with amazing moments! Sakamoto also has the ability to go back into his lean state when he is fighting hard enough as his body remembers the shape.

So you’re going to see him fighting with every day appliances and beating people up with his bare hands. Then for the more serious fighters, he will occasionally use items that feel deadly like a classic pen. Throughout the series you are reminded that he is a true threat and worthy of the bounty. His killer instinct also shows up from time to time although it is mainly directed at the telepath, Shin. Sakamoto balances his life really well and so right away you have a great main character here.

His wife and daughter are also pretty solid although they don’t get to do a whole lot here. His wife’s best scene is one where she technically doesn’t even appear. The context will make more sense when you watch the show. They’re both nice and wholesome though so it’s easy to see why Sakamoto enjoys his current days. He’s living the dream as they say.

The first few episodes mainly start to introduce you to the supporting characters and establish the general tone of the show. So you should know right away if you’re going to like the show or not because it does a really good job with the introductions. The first side character is Shin. They hint at a backstory with him and Sakamoto and I have to admit that this happened so early on that I completely forgot about this later on. He has the ability to read minds which is incredibly handy for an assassin. It’s an ability that has a whole lot of limitations and drawbacks but Shin spends the show working to improve it so that he can be a better fighter.

Shin definitely gets the most character development within the show and it works really well. I liked him from the start but by the end he is easily one of the best characters. In fact, I’d say that he is second only to Nagumo. Shin’s just really likable and a fun underdog since he is pretty much always outmatched in a fight. You can expect that this will continue to be the case for quite a while since the earning curve is really steep. He does take after Sakamoto in how he can make use of the environment during his fights. As long as you like the eager type of character then you’ll be a fan of his.

The next member to be added to the group is Lu. She’s from a famous Chinese mafia family and can fight with her drunken fist. She can be a bit of a scatterbrain but does add a lot to the main dynamic. She has a good rivalry with Shin. Rivalry may be the wrong word here since she isn’t a fighter on his level but they constantly bicker with each other. When the chips are down they will team up though and I tend to enjoy their dialogue quite a bit. They know how to poke fun at each other without going too far. When an insult does go too far, they work to remedy it which happened at one point in this season.

As the series goes on Lu starts to appear less so you want to enjoy her screentime while you can. She’s fun to have around and the main cast definitely wouldn’t be the same without her. Heisuke is the last one to join up although he’s technically not far behind the others in terms of debut. He’s a sniper who tends to be down on his luck when it comes to cash. This is partially because he’s a really generous guy and is always looking out for others. He doesn’t have the usual ruthlessness that you would expect from an assassin. So naturally that works out pretty well with the Sakamoto family and their no killing rule. He’s quickly able to make friends with the others.

Thanks to his position as a sniper though, I would argue that he is always going to be at a disadvantage. Any decent character is going to be a casual bullet timer after all and there are only so many things you can do to get around that. Heisuke tries to shoot bullets onto bullets to mess with the angles but even that is going to be a longshot at actually working. Still, he is definitely a likable guy.

I think calling it an arc may be an overstatement but the first main adventure is when Sakamoto takes his family to the amusement park. What he doesn’t realize is that an assassin named Boiled and a few hand picked goons have arrived to try and take him out. It’s a good way to let all of the main characters get a quick fight and Shin really makes himself useful here. Sakamoto also gets a pretty decent fight with Boiled. I wouldn’t say that Boiled every really stood a chance but he at least doesn’t go down in a single hit or anything. That guy is all about being as intense as possible and it shows in his fighting style. I think he’s a fun character although I would like him more if he was more powerful. Shallow? Perhaps, but the hard boiled lifestyle just works better when you’re incredibly powerful.

The first real adventure is the museum battle. The heroes head to a museum which leads to the lab where people experimented on Shin and gave him some powers. You have a couple of crazy assassins running around here while the Order has also infiltrated to take down the mysterious X. There are quite a number of big names here and it’s cool to see them all. A lot of fights are set up here without too many of them going all the way through. The whole saga is meant to be more of a teaser than anything else I’d say. It’s effective though because you can’t help but get hyped here.

Nagumo is of course the best character in the series and it’s not even close. He is extremely confident at all times and always has a trick up his sleeve. He has big scenes at every part of the show and consistently likes to troll everyone. You immediately get the vibe that he’s a pretty good guy because he could easily murder Sakamoto at any time but chooses not to since they used to be friends. He has a good honor code and also acts as a stand-in for Sakamoto’s wife later on to keep her safe. Nagumo embodies the humor of Sakamoto Days at its best as he blends together being the strongest fighter with also being the funniest.

It’s hard for any Order member to really keep up with him but I will say that Shishiba and Osaragi are still really solid in their own right. Shishiba is one of those really jaded guys who just wants to complete the mission and then go back to his life. Unfortunately things rarely work out for him and Osaragi doesn’t really help. Their dynamic is a fun one as he basically spoils her the whole time and never gets all that upset even when he’s the one messed over. It’s clear that the two of them have a really good friendship going.

One of the big villains to appear here is Kashima who has a really interesting deer mask. The guy is strong and has actual weapons within his body. Certainly not someone that you can afford to underestimate. He gets power cliffed really quickly in the series but I like him well enough. He may have lost his hype but Kashima is still the kind of villain you want on your side because of how loyal he is.

Then we also see a bit of X. He will do more later on in the story but he’s your classic villainous mastermind. His skills put him near the top of the verse and his overall motivations are unknown. He wants to destroy the JAA assassin group but why? He’s certainly making enemies out of basically everyone by going through with this. Well the series will unpack that as it goes on but I have no real complaints with him. This is the kind of villain that motivates his group well. He’s a complete character outside of just being a villain. He even jokes around with the team quite a bit but at no point do they forget that he is the leader.

Seba is a character who is introduced early and is difficult to defeat because of his invisibility suit. It can be hard to plan for his attacks as a result and his base stats are pretty good even without those. He has a rough matchup with Shin since telepathy can get beyond that but still puts in a good effort throughout. In fact, one on one he would have defeated Shin. He makes for a pretty good villain and is definitely memorable.

Then we have Horiguchi who by all accounts is a random one shot villain but I actually liked him quite a lot. His speedblitz against Shin was super impressive and his drugs also make it difficult to stop him. Essentially if he does land a hit on you, then he has a good chance of winning. His drugs mess up the signals within your brain so you start moving in the wrong direction and can have other effects. He was really interesting so that’s why I never forgot about him.

After that we have a short interlude where we meet Wutang, who has come to bring Lu back to the mafia. He clearly can’t defeat Sakamoto’s group on his own so he resorts to gambling. It makes for a fun little arc as the characters have to try and use their abilities to win at games like poker. This is exactly the kind of episode that is good at getting you to learn more about the characters and also let them banter off each other. That’s why I had to give this part a shoutout because it was really fun.

There isn’t too much time for that breather though as we jump right into the action in the next arc. X sends his 4 assassins after the Order as well as Sakamoto. Each of the 4 get their chance to fight but for the most part they are really outmatched. Dump gets some good initial hype for example but gets absolutely crushed in her fight. Saw gets a much longer amount of screentime in his fight but had the weakest opponents. To his credit, he essentially won that fight since he survived but ultimately that was barely even a consolation. He didn’t have a chance at actually surviving in the end.

Minimalist seems to be a really strong guy but had to fight an absolute demon so he didn’t stand a chance. Apart definitely has the biggest role out of the 4 since he wisely decides to do his own thing. It ultimately lets him stick around for a bit and observe more than 1 fight. He was an interesting villain and had more character than the other 3. Still, I did think he was ultimately outshined by most of the other villains around.

This leads right to the next main arc with X and Gaku attacking the JAA base directly. It was fun to see Gaku getting some screentime. He’s one of those total prodigies on the villains team. This guy has super strength and great battle instincts. He’s also really young and yet is able to keep up with the strongest fighters around. It’s clear that he could grow up to be one of the biggest threats if he sticks around. I enjoyed him quite a lot and he rose up to the top. He’s rather chill about the whole assassin thing and still takes time to play his video games and everything.

Takamura also gets some hype from the JAA side. The show positions him as being the absolute strongest character in the series. There’s an argument to be made for that although I would still put Nagumo in that slot. Takamuru makes up for his old age by having precise control over his blade. He can strike in an instant and mask his killing intent to the end. Any scene with him tends to go really hard on the animation and he looks like a real beast. If only he were a bit younger, then he’d probably be invincible.

With that we enter the final arc which is basically a big JAA exam in order to get to their school. Sakamoto needs to get there for intel so he and Shin enter this exam. It’s basically like a multi step tournament and the villains are here to recruit up and coming stars to their organization. This means that things go off the rails real quick. It’s a fun arc that is super fast paced and I always love a good tournament. It may not be a traditional bracket system but works to the same end.

One of the new fighters is Mafuyu, a guy who really doesn’t like germs. He is extremely wary of them and that includes blood from his opponents so the whole job irritates him. Why be an assassin at that point? Well he seems to have an important reason for it. I thought that he was pretty decent but the germs thing just feels like a massive weakness. You’re always going to get dirty in a fight to the death.

Akira is the best member of the new characters here. She is really good at killing her opponents silently. All that she’s lacking is a killer instinct so unless someone draws it out of her, she’s not going to be eliminating her opponents too efficiently. Akira will get better at this though and in the meantime she basically has Sakamoto as a mentor. That’s a good position to be in. From the glimpses we get of her true abilities, you already know that she has a good future ahead of her.

Kanaguri is a guy who really loves movies. Anyone who insults them is immediately sentenced to death. The guy is definitely quirky and extremely insane but that’s true for a lot of the stronger fighters. He’s a good wild card and is also portrayed as being really powerful. Sakamoto won’t be able to just cast him to the side like with some other villains. I’d give Kanaguri a passing grade, he’s just fun to watch.

Toramaru is a big Sakamoto fan to a rather violent degree. She’s certainly picked the right path in being an assassin. Her weapon is really large and she specializes in powerful attacks. That tends to have a hard limit in a series like this where you want speed but as one of the top talents in the tournament, she lives up to the rep. She ends up being more fun than the other two special recruits.

Kaji has super hearing and so that’s a good ability but he doesn’t last quite as long as the others. Or a better way of putting it is that he doesn’t leave as much of an impact even though he is always around. Super hearing just isn’t the most interesting ability out there. His physical stats are really good but of course that’s true for the other characters too. He’s also a bit soft spoken and has a hard time jumping into a conversation. As a result, he’s ticking the wrong boxes and doesn’t go much further.

Finally there is Shinaya who is really cool but can’t really talk at all. There are some twists about this which drastically changes the character. So what I’ll say is that his role is really cool but the character himself can be more on the forgetful side. I like him more as an opponent than as a character.

The animation for the series is really great. There are a lot of big fights here and the animation is always smooth. The colors stand out and while I remember there being some controversy about the animation quality, I had no complaints on this end. It all looked really good to me and I was eagerly awaiting each scene. The soundtrack is generally good although I’m not a big fan of Sakamoto’s main theme. That’s maybe a bit ironic since it is meant to be the big theme that really breaks out but it didn’t fit in for me. Definitely not next to some of the epic battle themes that were around.

Overall, Sakamoto Days is a pretty great series. It really reminds you of the classic Shonen days. You’ve got a really crazy premise right away and the series just leans into it. The action is great and the characters are really fun. I’d say this is the kind of series you can plug in and watch at any time. I’ll definitely be ready for seeing just how fun season 2 can be. The end of this season introduces a bunch of characters all at once and basically ends on a cliffhanger as the story was just starting. Hopefully it doesn’t take too long to arrive.

Overall 8/10

Kaiju No. 8 Season 2 Review

Posted on February 22, 2026 by dreager1

It’s time for the return of Kaiju No 8! It feels like they’ve been moving through these seasons pretty quickly if you ask me. Maybe it’s a normal timeline and it just feels that way but it’s still cool to be seeing a bunch of the new villains. The season has got quite a lot of action to it and looks smooth as you would expect. If you like good fight scenes and a bunch of Kaiju then you are definitely going to have a solid time with this one.

The season starts with Kafka and Kikoru being sent to Narumi’s unit for some training. Narumi is a complete prodigy with abilities beyond just about every other human. At this point he may be the strongest hero alive but he is also a slacker and has his own quirks so this won’t be the easiest traineeship. He really takes Kikoru under his wing while Kafkka needs to control his Kaiju form. There isn’t a lot of downtime for Kafka to do this though as Kaiju No. 9 is still seeking him out and seemingly has an endless amount of Kaiju to throw at the cities. Kafka will need to fight hard but are the heroes underestimating this villain?

Kaiju No. 8 is absolutely one of those series where it feels like the heroes never really stand a chance. Yes, they are fighting back but Kaiju No. 9 can seemingly pop out of nowhere and also summon Kaiju at the drop of a hat. There is absolutely nothing to stop him from just summoning them to really populated areas and racking up a huge body count. In fact, he does this to stop a wedding at one point. The heroes always respond as best as they can but they’re always going to be on the defensive.

Then you have the fact that No. 9 is incredibly powerful. Kafka is stronger and Narumi makes it a 50/50 but everyone else is fodder to him at this point. Then he has the ability to create clones? He could easily just destroy everybody like that. The only reason he hasn’t yet is because he’s trying to get Kafka out in the open so he can get the powers of No. 8. 9 is presented as a strategic mastermind but I’m saying that he could go even harder if he really wanted to.

It is nice to have a really good villain like this though. Most of the villains in this series are mindless so whenever one does talk, it is instantly a good thing. There is also a mysterious villain who looks a lot like Kikoru. She hasn’t done much yet but from her few scenes you can tell that she’ll be a winner. Most of the other fighters from the final invasion wave are mindless so they have cool designs but aren’t about to become the next character to really stand out.

As for Kafka, he’s a solid main character as always although it would be nice if he could not be wavering so much here. You get why he would be nervous since the power already overtook him once in season 1. Still, he will be completely doomed without the powers so he just needs to hope for the best. This makes for a good cliffhanger to the season. I would say that as the season ends, Kafka has really come to terms with the fact that his human form is not going to be really helpful in the fights that are to come. He will need to exclusively rely on his monster mode and that’s the best way to go.

Kikoru looks great as you would expect. She consistently shows off her incredible close combat skills and continues to improve. The fact that she has risen to be one of the top 5 strongest heroes in the series without any Kaiju powers is impressive. If you remove the characters who have a Kaiju enhancement then she would be #1. Of course, this is the season where everyone begins to get Kaiju equipment so you can bet that she’ll at least be getting some equipment to be stronger.

I thought this was definitely necessary with how outmatched the humans are like I said before. That being said, I would still give the monsters the edge. Take away the top 3 and the humans are still in rough shape even if they are getting better. The third character I put on the list here is Narumi of course. With his special eyes he can essentially block any attack and has extreme amounts of speed. He immediately dominates in this season and I like his confidence.

Kaiju No. 8 has a really good core cast of main characters. The cast may be rather small since I barely count more minor characters like Iharu, but they do all carry their own weight. Narumi is allowed to slack off because he is simply that skilled and I respect that. When you put in the work and consistently outshine the rest, you should be allowed to get a little special treatment. That just makes sense.

Then we have Hoshina who gets a smaller role in this season. Near the end he finally gets his own Kaiju equipment which makes him relevant again. His speed and knife skills are solid but the first season showed that this definitely had its limits. Now he is in a better position and I also like the banter he gets with his Kaiju partner. Honestly it’d be fun if all of the Kaiju talked for that reason. The dialogue and banter would be really good throughout the season. Hoshina’s fights always tend to be a lot of fun because of his close combat style as well.

Although in general all of the fights look great. The series never disappoints with how fast paced and smooth the animation is. The fights look incredible and there is a lot of variety to them. The soundtrack is also good although I wouldn’t call it excellent. There are at least 1-2 themes that I enjoyed quite a bit in this one. The opening is one that I did not like though. I wasn’t even the biggest fan of the first season’s opening and this one is absolutely a step down.

As for the side characters, well we’ve got Reno who is still doing his best to find a place among the hero forces. It’s really just tough timing for him. Technically speaking Reno is considered a prodigy, but he’s less of one than the other 3 geniuses running around and of course Kafka has his own Kaiju suit. So here Reno is desperate to get more power and finally gets a Kaiju suit. This does give him incredible powers but it goes to his head right away and he has a hard time conquering the suit. Ultimately things go well so he’ll be ready for the next season but in this one he looked pretty bad. The fact that he couldn’t immediately neutralize his opponent Kaiju in a single hit was bad.

His partner Iharu had to help Reno stay in the fight. Iharu isn’t all that interesting and blends together with most of the other side characters who don’t have a Kaiju power. Still, since he saved Reno I guess I’ll give him a slight consolation prize there. It puts him ahead of some of the other characters. The baseline is clear though, you need to get a Kaiju power of your own or you are not going to be able to keep up. That’s basically what this all boils down to.

General Isao looks good as always. We really get to see what he can do here. Ultimately he has to contend with the fact that he’s a lot older than back in the day but Isao still puts up a great fight. The guy has a lot of guts and is not the type to back down from a fight. He was always one of my favorite characters here even if I treat him more like an antagonist. Isao is one of those very strict types who will break a lot of eggs to make an omelet. Without him the army would have been doomed though so you need him around.

Mina is a character who doesn’t get a lot of screentime in this season. She does land a really good sniper shot and is still known as one of the strongest fighters. There just weren’t a lot of opportunities to get her into the action. The season only has 11 episodes after all so it’s not like there is a whole lot of time for everyone. That shouldn’t be a problem in the next season where we’ll pretty much be going into nonstop fight scenes the whole time. You know I’m hyped for that, the more action the better.

This is a series that does thrive quite a lot on the action. I don’t feel like it ever really hit its stride when it comes to the downtime and just having the characters hang out. I like them well enough like I mentioned before but I guess they just don’t have a whole lot of great banter opportunities. I thought Hoshina and his Kaiju partner were immediately more enjoyable and comedic than the main characters. The leads just don’t tend to be all that funny and aren’t charismatic enough to hold their own scenes.

That’s probably slightly what keeps the series from reaching the next level. I think season 3 will bypass this just by having so many crazy awesome fights. Season 2 had a lot of action but was just one step away from the elusive 8. Perhaps that is being harsh on the series but I would say it was pretty good. It’s just not going to stick with you as much as other titles. A lot of anime I will go back and watch various clips and reactions right away but I admittedly have never done that with Kaiju No. 8. Maybe I’ll change that sooner than later.

It does make for a fun thought experiment though because it’s a bit harder for me to put my finger on it compared to some other titles. This is just the best way I can describe it. You almost don’t care about the characters a whole lot outside of the fight scenes. This is perhaps the kind of series that could use some random fillers but I would still like some action. For example we got the special about Hoshina’s day off and it’s not all that entertaining. So more fights with the characters bantering would be the best way to build up their likability further.

Eh that’s a lot of work though. Doubling down on the action is the best way to go. Narumi and Kafka had a very temporary team up fight against No. 9 that was really hype. It was a fairly brief fight scene but we don’t get a whole lot of 2 v 1s in this series so far. That should also change soon and I’m hyped for that since I love a good team up fight. It’ll also solidify No. 9 as a really powerful villain that you can’t simply beat 1 on 1.

Overall, I’m definitely looking forward to checking out the next season for this one. If you like action and giant monsters then you really can’t afford to miss out on this title. It’s the kind of anime that just works really well as a classic action title. It can get a little violent with all of the monsters blowing up and some civilians get caught up in the action but for the most part this one stays very streamlined. The overall vibes of the show tend to be rater happy even with humanity on the brink. Kaiju No. 8 just has that classic Shonen energy where you’re waiting for the heroes to claim victory.

Overall 7/10

Okami HD Stats and Records

Posted on February 22, 2026 by dreager1

PS4 Trophies 34/51

Okami HD Review

Posted on February 22, 2026 by dreager1

Okami is one of those games that I’ve heard a lot about but had never gotten to play before. Well, now I’m finally in on the action and I can safely say that it is a great title. There is a ton of action here and the game is a whole lot longer than you would expect. It’s not every day that you get a 30 hour adventure from an action game. That usually feels more like an RPG adventure right?

The game starts by introducing us to Amaterasu. She is a powerful deity who once sealed the frightful Orochi 100 years ago. Unfortunately in the present, a swordsman decides to free Orochi and plunges the world into eternal darkness. Amaterasu is forced to return to save the world once again but it won’t be easy. She has lost all of her abilities and will have to gradually reclaim them. This means fighting a ton of monsters and also bringing life back into the world. Orochi’s darkness has destroyed all of the plants and left all of the animals hungry. Amaterasu has to use her unique abilities to fix this and stop Orochi, but can she pull it off again?

Okami has a very unique mechanic with the air brush system. You use this to recreate objects that have been destroyed like bridges and the like while also attacking enemies. Her powers all revolve around the brushes like wielding the elements or creating bombs. If this game was played on the Wii then it would probably be a tragedy because you’d be fighting with the stylus the whole time. Since it is on traditional controls, that never ends up being a problem. Instead you are able to have fun since it uses traditional controls.

I will say that the drawings can be rather precise at times so you won’t always draw what you want to. I imagine that people who love drawing are going to be able to really have a blast pushing the system to its limits though. The rest of the combat is more like your classic action-fare as you swing at opponents with your sword or beads. I went with the beads for most of the game since I love the range but they all work really well. You can continue learning new moves and abilities at the dojo. At first it will be hard to buy anything because getting money is tough but then by the end it becomes a whole lot easier.

I will warn you that the game is definitely on the easier side so you may want to avoid maxing out your skills. The reason for this is that the weapons deal a tremendous amount of damage so you will be crushing the enemies in your way with ease. Even bosses go down in an instant. Then you are able to use bombs from your items and some of them can take down a whole health bar in a single hit. I was able to wade through 10 bosses in a row with my mighty supply of bombs. You also learn the ability to slow down time later on in the game which is an absolutely broken ability.

I will say that it’s pretty fun though. You are playing as a god so in a way this delivers on being a true power fantasy. The opponents can only watch helplessly as you save the day. The toughest parts in a way can be some of the puzzles which aren’t always easy. Your partner will give you hints if you start taking too long though so I appreciate that. Often times it’s just that you have to draw something you weren’t expecting to.

There is a good cast of characters here. I wish Amaterasu would talk in English of course but you can still feel the heroism. Her partner Issun is definitely the worst character. The poor guy is a constant flirt and so the game throws in a surprising amount of fanservice because of him. Now granted, the artstyle is such where it’s hard to take any of the fanservice seriously which is nice but it’s always rare to see that in a video game because it’s so rare. It’s mainly all for humor.

The villain roster is also rather strong. Orochi is a menacing presence of course but then you also have the Ninetails monster who is really crafty. Definitely a solid mastermind to have around. There is also the mysterious Waka who is always getting in the way and challenging you to a fight. Okami is the kind of game that is a bit of a slow burn when it comes to the story so anytime the big players showed up, you couldn’t help but get excited.

Meanwhile the graphics are definitely good. This is a very specialized kind of artstyle and so it has aged pretty well. It’s probably not going to be competing with the top echelon of gaming but does hold its own. The soundtrack is a bit more on the forgettable side. It’s not really my style as it’s going for ancient Japan/China kind of vibes. You shouldn’t expect any big rock themes here. It also decides to use the Banjo & Kazooie type of voice effects which I’m not a big fan of. You’ll get through it though. The story itself is interesting which is the most important part.

The game has a great amount of replay value. Not only is the base game 30 hours but there are plenty of side quests and people to help along the way. If you want to get full Cherry Blossoms for the ending to get another trophy, then you will need to help just about everyone. The Platinum will also be a trophy that takes you a while because of how many trophies are missable. You will want to really keep close track of that or you’ll be in trouble.

The biggest strength of Okami is how the various mechanics are just fun to use. I fed every animal I came across because it was fast to do and didn’t feel very intrusive. Likewise with why I revived every tree I came across and destroyed every enemy gate. They would each directly help me by getting more skill points to upgrade my stats with but also because you could see the changes in real time as life went back into the land. When a game seamlessly integrates these mechanics into the story and gameplay it is a beautiful thing. I would also say it’s a rare thing in general which is why I’m not always chomping at the bit to do bonus content until I’m trophy hunting.

Overall, Okami is definitely a really fun game. There are quite a few plot twists within the story and the action gameplay is really on point. You feel like you are wielding true power in the game and there are just so many items and attacks to use. You can fight in a variety of ways and I definitely look forward to playing the sequel at some point. We’ll see if it’s able to beat the original game though, that’s going to be a tough task.

Overall 8/10

Speed Racer Review

Posted on February 21, 2026 by dreager1

Speed Racer is one of those super famous series but it’s just old enough where a lot of people haven’t really seen it before. Well, I got to blast through the whole series and it is a title that really ages well. It shows some age but in all the best ways with the fun facial expressions and everything. Speed makes for a really good main character and Racer X is definitely one of the better rivals that you will come across. I didn’t really have any issues with this one, it’s a very well rounded series.

The series starts by introducing us to Speed, who aims to be a professional racer. Unfortunately his father Pops is against the idea and has pretty good reason to be. His other son Rex disappeared one day after crashing in a race and having a big disagreement with Pops. Pops believes that Rex simply wasn’t ready for that level of competition and doesn’t want Speed to make the same mistake. Speed disobeys Pops and enters a race anyway. His skills quickly become well known across the land and now Speed wants to be the world champion. Can he pull this off and eventually get Pops to see things his way?

Technically speaking that’s really the main plot for the 52 episodes coming up. The series doesn’t have a super deep plot or anything like that. Once in a blue moon you will get a returning character but for the most part these are episodic adventures. Most of them are 2 part adventures but as the series comes to a close we get more one shots. Racer X’s plot is one of the few that continues on throughout the show. As the viewers we learn that Racer X is Speed’s brother early on so you have to see if Speed can ever put the pieces together.

One thing that is also clear from the start is that racing is very dangerous in this world. It may be legal but there are constant fatalities throughout the series. Over half of the racers appear to die in every single event. Why do they still race? Well, for the pure thrill of it. That seems to be what it all boils down to and it is why Pops does appear to be rather justified here. Speed comes close to death on many adventures. In fact, if he had a normal car then he would be dead.

Naturally everyone knows about his super car, the Mach 5. This car has a ton of different gadgets inside of it like bullet proof glass, a spring to jump, a bird that can fly around, a water mode, buzz saws, etc. Speed uses these to get himself out of a lot of sticky situations. Otherwise he would have been doomed in a lot of events. To be clear, that’s because the enemies tend to cheat a whole lot. In a straight race Speed is second only to Racer X himself. Speed tends to demolish his other opponents.

Speed also takes a whole lot of pride in his abilities. He is very quick to jump into attack mode when someone calls him a chicken or crosses him the wrong way. Speed just isn’t going to let anything like that slide and he is a rather good fighter. On different occasions we see him going up against professional ninja, crime lords, and whole mini armies. Speed takes on all challengers and usually comes out on top. At times he will be defeated, but Speed is only human. He will eventually go down to a cheap shot or sheer numbers.

He’s just a great character and there is a level of genuineness to him that you won’t always see. Speed is incredibly heroic but he’s not a super saint. Speed’s quick temper means that even his allies have to watch out, as Sparky learned the hard way on at least one occasion. Speed is also willing to step out of his comfort zone as a racer like when he worked as an agent against different terrorist groups. Speed is always willing to help the cops out

His friend Sparky is often not able to keep up with Speed. Sparky is a great mechanic and helps to keep the Mach 5 in good condition but his role is lessened a bit by the fact that Speed’s also a top tier mechanic. So Sparky often feels like he doesn’t even need to be around. It’s kind of sad but he doesn’t really add anything to the show. It’s good to see Speed having friends and all but yeah Sparky could be removed and nothing really changes.

Then we have Speed’s girlfriend Trixie. It’s easy to forget that they’re actually together but she does a good job of getting jealous the whole time. Speed tends to attract quite a lot of attention in the races and often times Trixie isn’t allowed to race with him. She tends to have a pretty big role in the show so that’s good. It’s too bad that she’s not a big racer though because that could have really helped her to be an even bigger player. She races at least once but it’s a rare event to be sure.

She does provide aerial support though and arrives to help many times when Speed crashes. A little healthy jealousy can be a good thing as well so ultimately I would say that she gets a pretty good showing throughout the series. Naturally you always need to have at least one troublemaker in the main cast’s dynamic so that’s where Spritle and Chim Chim come into play. Spritle is a little kid who loves getting in on the races and so he follows Speed all the time.

Speed never seems to realize that his little brother is in the trunk until it’s too late. The few times that Speed suspects something is often when Spritle decided to stow away in someone else’s car. Spritle does come in handy sometimes so it’s not like he is always getting into trouble but often times he isn’t really helping too much. If anything he tends to be a hostage which gives Speed one more thing to worry about. As for Chim Chim, well he is helpful less often than Spritle. He pretty much never has a big moment of triumph and has to play second fiddle here. I could have done without him, I need my supporting characters to be able to talk and everything!

As for Pops, well he’s definitely a tough guy who is always being rather defensive but he’s a fun character. Like I mentioned before, he’s got a really good argument for keeping Speed away from the races as well. They’re just far too dangerous. You have people bringing bombs and guns onto the tracks and the refs never seem to notice. There is a constant amount of fighting going on and explosions but no cameras to capture it. Honestly I’m not sure why the spectators would enjoy racing all that much considering that most of the race is completely off screen for them.

You have races that go on for over 30 hours as the characters cross a whole continent. Speed has to fight off multiple opponents before the ending and the spectators only see the last mile or so. You shouldn’t think on it too much but that’s why the sport is rife with corruption here. Villains know that they can get away with anything. Pops is the top mechanic in the world in this series so for that reason there are a lot of people trying to get to him as well. Pops has to always do his best to try and stay safe while this is going on. His wife doesn’t really get much of a role in comparison. It would have been nice to have seen her in a few fights to show that every member of the family was a big fighter.

Then we have Racer X. This guy is not only known as the world’s greatest racer but he is also the top secret operative in a global organization that keeps the peace. For that reason he often travels the world. It also makes sense why he can’t reveal his true identity because then it would put Speed in danger. At the same time he does make sure to save his younger brother on many occasions. Their bond is a really strong one and you can sympathize with everything that Racer X has to go through.

I do wish the series could have given him more races with Speed. In almost all of their encounters, something comes up which prevents a straight race. Racer X does still manage to give Speed a whole lot of advice to help him out like not being as naive or gullible. Speed has a bad habit of believing sob stories and what he is told far too quickly. That’s something that you never want to do because you will be taken advantage of quickly. By the end of the series, Racer X has helped Speed improve a whole lot.

It’s also fun to just see Racer X have his really dangerous subplot while Speed is out there in the races. Racer X knows how to use a machine gun with an amazing level of skill. Where does he have the time for all of this right? When Speed gets close to learning his identity, X is able to deliver a well placed gut punch that completely removes his memory of learning the solution. Now that is talent.

The animation is definitely really good here. This is what I would call a very authentic hand drawn style from the old days. So there will be animation errors and perspective issues but that’s part of the charm. It still looks really good and is a lot smoother than you would expect. The colors are striking and this is the kind of animation that I could keep watching for a long while. The soundtrack isn’t nearly as memorable though. It sounds good and all but none of the themes will have you humming or anything like that.

Fortunately the writing is strong enough where you don’t mind. The show has a lot of good humor, both intentional and unintentional. The script is top notch and the way characters say things nonchalantly just works extremely well. It’s the kind of series you can definitely have fun watching reactions for. If you like a happy racing series with a good amount of banter then this is the title you want to check out.

Speed Racer also embraces the absurdness of the situations that Speed finds himself in. One second he is fighting a global terrorist organization, the next he is fighting giant monsters over in the jungle. Speed battles in Egyptian Tombs and in labyrinths underneath the waves. He doesn’t shrink from any challenge and fights just as well as he races. His opponents also tend to have some pretty strong gimmicks. There are one old guy who hated cars for example and so he would use his Horse to get around and whipped any cars that got too close. That takes a lot of guts. Speed even went up against a legendary gambler who knew the odds about everything and then another guy who built an entire secret city.

It’s the kind of atmosphere that is harder to create in a new title. These storylines work pretty well as long as you don’t overanalyze them. There are probably loads of plot holes and little inconsistencies that such situations create but they are fun to watch which is far more important. Give me a fun scenario like this any day and I’m all set. Where else are you going to see a group of Acrobatic racers who do stunts involving dozens of cars? That was one of the few times where even Speed got nervous.

Overall, Speed Racer is a pretty fun series. It’s definitely one of the older ones that I’ve seen now and I dare say that it was even better than I remembered it. I had seen a flurry of scattered episodes back in the day so it was fun to see the whole thing cover to cover. The series has a lot of humor to it but part of why it works is because the show is still treating these situations with a good amount of seriousness. There is a really tight line to balance here and the show makes it look easy. If you haven’t seen the series yet and worry that it’s too old, stow those fears. This series became a legend for good reason and you should definitely check it out! This is true for basically all shows but especially for Speed Racer I will also advise you to watch it through the English Dub.

Overall 7/10

Violent Night Review

Posted on February 21, 2026 by dreager1

This review is of the TV-14 version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

It’s time for a film thar really lives up to its name. If you wanted to watch a really violent Christmas film, well then you’re in the right place. It’s mainly played up for comedy but gets quite extreme as the film goes on. There are definitely a lot more misses than positives in this title but I really appreciated how some of the underlings performed in the fights.

The movie starts by introducing us to Jason and Linda whose relationship is on the rocks. They thought they could make things work but have now given up. This last Christmas party will be their last one together. The big issue between them is Linda feels like Jason always defers to his rich mother and worries too much about money. We’re not given a ton of context here since that part of the plot isn’t super important but Jason doesn’t deny any of it so this seems to be true. So the two of them head to the party with their daughter Trudy and have to tolerate all of their rich family members who hate each other. They are all just here for the mother’s money. Unfortunately a group of crooks with a whole lot of insider knowledge show up to steal all of the money. The only one who can stop them…is Santa Clause.

Yes, in this universe Santa Clause is real. He is very jaded with the job though and doesn’t really like humanity anymore. This was going to be his last job but unfortunately he is inside the house when the robbers attack and his reindeer fly away. Santa will have to find a way to escape but it won’t be easy. Additionally, his conscience isn’t too happy about this because Trudy is on the nice list and shouldn’t die here. Santa used to be a fighter over 1000 years ago…does he still have the skills?

Now you may wonder about how people don’t know that Santa is real when he is leaving presents. Well, the film actually explains that a little. He doesn’t give presents to literally everyone, just the people who really need him. I take that to mean families with a lot of dysfunction where they either wouldn’t notice a present or would assume someone else got it. As a result, the secret of Santa is safe. They don’t really get into the logistics of how he visits everyone in a single night but I guess we can go with the time displacement approach where every house is in its own pocket dimension on Christmas where these events happen simultaneously.

Santa’s magical abilities are a bit all over the place and in the film he mentions that he doesn’t really know how they even work. That is a good way to make sure that he isn’t too overpowered. As a result Santa is actually on the defensive for a good chunk of the film. He was being absolutely dominated by the first opponent and then also had a really tough time against the second one. I actually liked this because often times the minions are shown to be incredibly disposable when realistically they should be putting up some kind of a fight right? So that was pretty impressive and those fights had quite a bit of back and forth to them.

Santa’s character arc is also a classic although they may have went a little too far in how jaded they made him. He gets some pretty rough scenes early on like with how drunk he is and throwing up. There isn’t a ton of crude humor here but that was a tough scene for him to rebound from. The film’s writing can be a bit of a mixed bag as well here. The film has some great lines like “Santa’s coming to town” and when Santa is announcing all of his lines. Scrooge also gets some really good ones as the villain. Basically this is the kind of film that is going to wow you with some of the dialogue, but you do have to ignore that everybody talks like a sailor. They all swear up a storm constantly So that does make the script a bit weak even with all of the big moments.

Now where the film does unfortunately lose me is when the violence gets cranked up to 100. This is easily one of the most violent films I’ve seen in a minute, I dare say it may even pass John Wick in this area. Yes, the violence is played for laughs but there is still a whole lot of it and it is unrelenting. The whole climax is basically a contest to see how violently characters can die. It’s not even just Santa’s onslaught but the home alone subplot with Trudy goes for the most painful moments possible. You’ve also got one guy getting attacked by the nutcracker which was another brutal moment. This definitely hurt the film quite a bit with how excessive this is. It needed to be toned down.

The film is at its best when it’s just having fun with the concepts. Just letting people adapt to the idea of Santa and watching him crush everyone. The film doesn’t take itself overly serious and that’s a good thing. A wacky concept should have a wacky execution and that will let the whole thing flow really well. Without all of the ultra violence this would have definitely been a lot higher. Now if you’re not too squeamish, then this should still be an absolute W for you.

There are obviously going to be some power level issues here but of course you’re not meant to take it too seriously. Scrooge makes for a really good villain because after watching Santa massacre everyone, he is still prepared to fight to the end. Now that is a brave villain and it’s nice to see one who is willing to fight to the end like that. It’s something that you don’t see all that often in a film like this. He also does now how to fight pretty well considering how close he came to winning.

Personally I’m not too interested in Santa’s past so I’d prefer that the sequel focuses on the future but we’ll see how it goes. There are a decent amount of plot points ready for the sequel and there are a ton of different directions the movie can go. Maybe even introduce another legend for Santa to fight. This could be a proper cinematic universe if they want to go down that route although I imagine a lot of the companies will be squeamish about this.

Now most o the characters are annoying but I’ll give Trudy props for not ending up like the others. She’s still trying to be a good kid and do the right things. She knows how to defend herself and assists Santa throughout the movie. She surpasses most kid characters in this regard because they tend to get in the way while she is actively helping out. She definitely gets a passing grade in my book.

There isn’t really much saving the other characters. Jason may have had a big plan but he shouldn’t have let the marriage get to such a negative point in the first place. Meanwhile Linda is okay and we don’t know how much of this is on her but she wasn’t really helping matters. From all of the unlikable family members, Gertrude is easily the best one because of how smug and overconfident she is. I can really appreciate that in a character, particularly in a villain. She is able to hold her own with the banter for quite a while there.

Overall, Violent Night is a film that is having a lot of fun with the concept. The film is extremely violent and there are a lot of things happening at all times. On one hand I think the film does a pretty good job of living up to the name but on the other that is pretty much what doomed it. The film just gets way too excessive at different points. The script could have also used a lot of work. There is some novelty to be had with watching this film but ultimately, I would end up giving it a thumbs down. This will not end up being the next Die Hard classic.

Overall 3/10

Death Wish Review

Posted on February 21, 2026 by dreager1

This review is of the TV-14 version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative.

It’s time for a film that has quite the controversial reputation over the years for how intense it gets. It’s definitely a film that really got the vigilante genre popular and to this day it’s something that it used in many films. The vigilante route is always a hard solution to deny, particularly in a film like this where it seems like the only reasonable answer to all of the violence.

The film starts off by introducing us to Paul who is reminded by his coworker of how much violence is going on in NYC. Paul just tries to keep to himself and still have a good time rather than live in fear but this does catch up to him. His wife is murdered and his daughter is left in a vegetative state where she isn’t really alive anymore. This pushes Paul to start carrying a weapon with him. It proves effective when he is attacked and after a trip to California, Paul finds that he now has a gun when his contact slipped one into his bag. Why have a gun if you’re not going to use it? That’s essentially Paul’s mindset as he becomes the hunter and aims to go after all the criminals.

Surprisingly we never actually get to have Paul meet the villains from the first scene to put them 6 feet under. I can only assume that would be in a sequel or there’s some super deep narrative reason to avoid that. Whatever the reason was, it would have been more satisfying to have seen Paul take them down. He should get that level of reward after everything that he went through. It would have at least been a fun moment to see.

Now where the film really messes up is by going way too far in the opening scene. Films like this always try to really stress just how evil everyone is in order to make the point for the vigilante. Sure, I get that but you don’t really have to go to a 10 on this. Now, fortunately I saw the TV version which seems to gloss over the opening scene pretty well as it’s mostly just mentioned a lot after the fact. If the scene was on screen then this would be a quick and immediate 0/10. So the film is spared from that fate but even then, the whole plot about what they did to Paul’s daughter did not need to be in the film. That level of ugliness has no place in any film.

It’s a real shame too because after that the film is pretty good about not being explicit. There are certainly a lot of people getting shot throughout the movie but it’s not really all that violent in comparison. Paul moves like a trained killer, only using one bullet per target. He then dashes off to get some more crooks. The camera doesn’t linger on the dead all that much and in general a quick bullet wound isn’t going to be too bad.

I thought the movie also did a good job by showing how the political leaders didn’t want to stop Paul either. Rather, they needed to stop the killings but just get him out of there. That way they could still take credit for the drop in crime without having to rely on a vigilante. That kind of self serving mentality absolutely seems realistic to me and certainly not out of the ordinary. Also everyone in the streets were supporting Paul because they are the ones dealing with all of the crime.

Paul shoots at least 10-15 different crook to death here and it may have been more than that. This is a massive difference to the living standards of the neighborhood when you consider that these are all going to be repeat offenders. It’s clear that they were used to committing these crimes and stopping anyone in their way. So lets say on average each crook is robbing someone once day, well you’ve just dropped 30 crimes per person each month.

The city was living in fear and now they aren’t. Again, that’s why vigilantism is so tempting because you are ending crooks who only serve to disrupt everyday people from their lives. It’s clear that this problem was too big for the cops to handle here and so Paul went to work. The film certainly shows the weaknesses of law and order as you would need to try and get proof on these criminals, get some witnesses, wait months for the court date, etc, etc.

Obviously there ae reasons why vigilantism cannot be accepted in every day society. You’ll get lots of copy cats, many with different morals and sets of values. Additionally, you would have to constantly be looking around you since everyone would be very trigger happy. So lots of pros and cons but at least in this film it is clearly the only way to go. The criminals are extremely brazen with how they assault people at all times of the day and at any location. Paul made sure that this won’t be happening quite as often.

The character cast is actually really small in this one. Aside from Paul you do have his son in law who mainly represents the film’s take on what non-vigilantes are doing about things. He is constantly sad about what happened to his wife but isn’t actually doing anything about this. He just hopes that society will get better and talks about how they should have moved away. It’s not a very flattering look for this character.

Then you have the police chief who definitely wants to take Paul down but has no real support to do this. So he’s just really annoyed the whole time since his hands are basically tied behind his back. He’s a fun character to have around and gives some of the rare humor moments within the film. This is largely a serious film after all. It is nice to see Paul enjoying himself as he takes down the crooks though. At times he gets a little too cocky and takes a hit that he shouldn’t but does make short work out of his opponents. In this business t is important to finish off each target or they will be back out there soon enough and Paul will be in even more danger.

Overall, Death Wish is one of those films with a really intense plot. It certainly gives you a lot of reason to be sympathetic to Paul and what he is trying to do here. At the same time, the film just goes too far in order to make that point. That’s what really makes you shake your head here. If the film could have had some more tact then it really could have been remembered as one of the good ones. So ultimately I am going to have to recommend skipping this one. I’m hopeful that the sequels will be better since they can just jump right into the action but this is also the kind of plot that is easy to mess up. It always needs to be handled carefully.

Overall 3/10

Batman: Justice Buster Review

Posted on February 20, 2026 by dreager1

I started this manga a long time so it was pretty fun to finally make it all the way to the end. It’s probably not too surprising to say that this one gets pretty deep into the philosophy when it comes to Batman’s code of ethics. Is he true Justice? Well, the series will definitely have him think about this at real length. Now you may wonder what the rest of the DC heroes are doing. Well, this is addressed so for better or worse it’s not like the series ignores this.

The series starts by showing us that Gotham is in pretty bad shape as per always. Criminals are everywhere and there just doesn’t seem to be any end to them. Batman does his best to take them all down as efficiently as possible but he just can’t possibly keep up with the onslaught of opponents. There is really no end to them. So he needs the help of Robin, a state of the art A.I. that will help him in missions. This works well for a while but Alfred fears that Batman is relying too much on this entity. What if it turns evil?

So you’ve got the general premise there and obviously the A.I. isn’t going to be on the side of justice for very long. Well, depending on the definition of Justice at least. This is what the bulk of the series is about. Batman starts out the series believing that justice is essentially born through violence. You have to use violence in order to keep the peace and fear will keep everyone in line. It’s an interesting perspective since you tend to see the whole ruling by fear thing being a villain’s ideology. And yet it makes sense because Batman has seen first hand just how corrupt Gotham is. It’s why he does a ton of philanthropy on the surface but also fights crime during the night to fight the battle on multiple fronts.

Superman shows up with the more basic version of justice. He says it is simply a matter of helping others out. It’s an answer that obviously isn’t wrong but does lack a lot of nuance. Batman points out that it may be that easy for Superman, but certainly not the case for anyone else. Superman doesn’t budge of course and while he doesn’t get a whole lot of screentime here, I do like that he is shown to be every bit as tough as Batman.

Superman’s not some rookie. He is a seasoned fighter in this manga and has likely had many adventures of his own. So nothing Batman says is really able to rattle him at all. They just go their separate ways. Later on the villains put some people in danger to keep him from joining the front lines but I have to admit that this is a little tough to believe. With his speed, Superman could have absolutely returned to save the day. This isn’t his story though so I was just glad to see that his character was handled extremely well. He was the symbol of justice as always. The artwork also does a good job of making him look absolutely menacing.

Then you have Jason Todd who is the Joker in this story. His ideas of justice are consistent with what they usually are as a vigilante. He murders criminals who get in the way so they cannot cause any more problems. Vigilantism is always the most tempting form of justice because of its absolute results. Any criminal who is murdered can never hurt anyone else again. It does remove the possibility of redemption but also results in the most lives saved. It’s not something that Batman can ever condone but the merits speak for themselves.

Jason was a really fun character to have around throughout though. The manga did a good job of balancing a whole lot of characters and he was a compelling one. He may not have gotten along super well with Batman for a while there but at least they could talk to each other. Alas, the city is a pretty dangerous place and there can only be so many fighters running around.

Robin’s philosophy is the most difficult to unpack. It’s a spin on the usual robotic kind of view which is that crime will always exist so long as humans do. Yet he doesn’t really go down the whole “All humans must die” approach. Instead he mainly focuses on proving that Batman’s justice is flawed so it’s like another avenue without actually giving a real answer to it. Perhaps there is none in his eyes. Robin made for a very interesting character but I do think that the ending messed him up a little bit. The final twists and character moments just didn’t make a lot of sense to me. It all went on a bit too quickly and took away some of the punch.

There’s also a kid in the series who gets a pretty big role. You can probably guess early on how that character arc will play out. I thought he was a lot better than the average kid. He had to grow up in a rather rough environment and didn’t panic too much when confronted with all of the villains and super powered fighters running around. A lesser character would have been panicking the whole time so I really appreciated that. It’s the little things that make a big difference.

Then we have Joe Chill who shows up as the mysterious villain for most of the series. Seemingly he’s the one who murdered Batman’s parents but is that actually the truth? Every time he talks, the guy seems to lie a whole lot. Trusting anything that he says seems like a really big gamble. He is also quite powerful and tends to have the advantage in every fight. It’s as if he isn’t truly human.

The series at times goes to the border on being part horror series in addition to being an action title. Part of the reason for this is because of the artstyle which is very grim and detailed. It definitely makes for a lot of really intense shots. It also helps with the fight scenes to look very sci-fi in nature. I was certainly a fan of it and this is a series that will end up being very memorable by the time you’re done with it.

It even dabbles a bit into the multiverse with little guest star panels and such. It’s not particularly important but was interesting to see. Then back to Batman, well he looked good as always. Even if his sense of justice got shaken up quite a bit, he still made the right decisions when it counted. Additionally, he was beating up on all the villains in his way at the same time. Batman didn’t let his indecision ever take priority over saving Gotham. Batman always tends to be a really good character so it’s not like that was surprising.

I’ll also give Alfred a shoutout for looking pretty good the whole time. He was constantly the voice of reason here. He’s also the only guy that Batman will listen to at times. Granted, not always but at least some of the time. We also have quite a few other villains running around aside from Joe Chill like Deathstroke, Two Face, Firefly, and Killer Croc. For the most part these guys aren’t really tying into the bigger plot but tend to be used like pawns on the board to force Batman to make a move.

The whole series is like a big chessboard with everything slowly connecting to Joe Chill and the murder of Batman’s parents. his would really make for a great two part movie eat some point. You will be at the edge of your seat the whole way through and this is one of those mystery titles that actually does have a lot of replay value. You can easily go back to read this one again after you complete it. The fairly short length at just a few volumes makes this pretty easy.

As for who has the best vision of justice in the series, well it’s probably going to have to be Jason here. Superman’s on the right path but nobody else has the power to see it through. Batman’s makes a lot of sense but when even a lot of cops and the prisons are corrupt, the villains will naturally go out eventually. Jason’s the only chance that the world has of being rid of the worst crime doers around. So long as he keeps from getting too extreme then it should work well. Of course, that’s a big if since this tends to be a slippery slope.

Overall, Justice Buster was definitely a great series. I would have liked for it to have continued on for longer to be honest. There’s just so much story to cover and so many characters running around. It does a good job of wrapping everything up and you just know that the story will continue on. I’d certainly like to see more manga for the DC heroes. They’re just done so masterfully well. Whether you are familiar with Batman or not, I would recommend reading this series. It’s a really compelling read all the way.

Overall 8/10

Our Souls at Night Review

Posted on February 19, 2026 by dreager1

There aren’t too many films about romance that blooms when the main characters are seniors so this was definitely different. It makes sense that folks can get lonely even when they are in the twilight years. Personally I would tend to advise against entering a relationship at that late stage but you just hope for the best. The film had some potential but it can’t resist adding in a bunch of drama which ultimately hurts things in the end.

The film starts by introducing us to Louis. He’s really old but has a solid routine every day. He hangs out with his friends and then heads home. Life goes on as normal and he doesn’t seem to have any complaints. Well, one day his neighbor Addie shows up and says they should start sleeping together so the nights won’t feel as long. It’s certainly the strangest offer Louis has gotten but she confirms this will be purely platonic. Luis decides to give this a shot but in the most shocking of plot twists, he begins to fall for her. How could this happen and what should he do about this?

Now obviously this was always going to be the end result. There are loads of lies that you can tell yourself but the biggest one is that you can hang out every night on the bed with someone and not catch feelings at some point. It’s why friends with benefits has always been a bunch of immoral nonsense but also why you don’t go to naked saunas or hot springs adventures with your friends. If you want to keep your friends and not succumb to impulses, you shouldn’t be entering spaces and situations that aren’t meant for them.

The instant Addie made the offer, it was clear to both parties deep in their mind that a romance would happen. The whole deal just wouldn’t make sense otherwise. From that point on, if they’re both on board then there’s technically nothing wrong with it. It would still feel like a rebound to me though and like I said before I just wouldn’t recommend a late stage romance. Why not?

Well when you enter into any kind of relationship you have to take the good with the bad. The bad in this case is likely going to involve a lot of medical issues and deaths of friends due to how old they all are. You’re potentially getting super close to someone who is not going to be around for much longer. That happens even in a young relationship since by extension you now know double the people which means more chances of bad things happening. It’s not a great way to look at things but you have to when you have two people 70+ who are going to be getting together now.

Then we also learn that Louis wasn’t the best guy in his youth. He cheated on his wife and while they patched things up later on, his social reputation was destroyed. You can’t full recover from something like that, the trust is just gone. I felt this was a really unnecessary part of the film. One of those classic plots to show how everyone makes a ton of big mistakes. Why couldn’t Louis just be a good guy?

Meanwhile Addie doesn’t have any big moments of crisis in her past but in the present she is the one who ultimately chooses her other responsibilities over Louis. She started this whole arrangement and yet she’s the one to end it? That’s not a particularly good look. Her ungrateful son spends a lot of the film getting drunk and whining but it sounds to me like she did her best. I didn’t have a problem with any of the issues that guy had been raising up.

In general the kids are the most annoying characters though. Addie’s son Gene is trying to raise his son on his own after the wife left but it seems clear why she did. He gets drunk a lot, isn’t able to properly control himself, and can’t land a job. Perhaps Gene is trying hard but there is really no excuse for when he left his kid all by himself and started drinking. He’s always looking for a fight and is quick to blame others but doesn’t take ownership of his faults. Even by the end of the film we have no reason to think that he has changed at all.

Then we have Louis’ daughter Holly who gets far less screentime but also doesn’t do very well. She comes off as very aggressive during the lunch meeting about how she’s going on her adventure and blames Louis for not being there. Her therapist wanted her to make it very clear to Louis about this so that she could have closure and all. It just seemed to come out of nowhere. Naturally we know that the past events led up to this but it always feels petty to just launch an attack after a long period like this.

Once you’re an adult you have to be responsible for your decisions. Holding onto old grudges is not a good idea but even if you do, just keep it to yourself at that point. Don’t go and set up a meetup just to do more complaining. If Gene was so unhappy, then he shouldn’t be going to Addie for help. Holly could have just gone on her adventure without stopping by to rub Louis’ nose in it. Like I said, the characters are just unlikable.

I also can’t say that I liked any of Louis’ main friends. They’re basically around to be crude and start the rumor mill but that’s all that they are here to do. Louis takes offense at it because he’s the main character this time but from how they were talking, this is probably a regular thing. It doesn’t reflect well on Louis to be hanging out with these characters.

For a slow burn film like this, it helps a lot if the characters are all pleasant. I think that Hallmark could do a really good job with this premise for example. They should have also played up the romance to be more gradual. Instead of the two running to a hotel to try and act like teenagers again, have them do an actual courtship and build up to the end process. Get married first and make it official instead of all this hidden stuff.

As a more minor note, there is a lot of screentime for taking care of Gene’s kid while he is out playing the fool. Louis and Addie do a good job of taking care of him but getting a dog was a big mistake. For starters, both of them aren’t going to last very long so that raises questions on what will happen to the dog. Ultimately they end up giving him to Gene instead. Gene can’t even raise a kid tho, let alone a dog. So that’s the kind of decision that just seems to be very iffy at best.

Overall, Our Souls at Night shows exactly why you don’t want to be getting into any secret entanglements. Eventually everyone finds out and even if you double down, it’s just not going to last. I didn’t particularly enjoy the ending because it felt very avoidable but in a way it is realistic. The situationship worked for a while but now Addie doesn’t need any help to sleep since she’s not alone and so she chose the responsibilities over Louis. Ultimately the biggest moral of the story is, if anyone ever asks you to do something inherently intimate but claims that it will be platonic….listen to your common sense and reject the offer. I did enjoy the small town atmosphere at least, it seemed like a fun area to live in.

Overall 4/10

Barefoot in the Park Review

Posted on February 19, 2026 by dreager1

Uh oh, it’s time for a romance film. Usually that means you are about to be seeing a really weak romance but of course the film could surprise us? Nah that doesn’t really happen here. There is a good amount of humor within the film but it also gets hurt by some of the characters being really unlikable. It’s the classic example of a film that is pretty fun for most of the adventure but does end up running out of steam before the ending.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Corie and Paul who have just gotten married. Things are going really well for them and right away we see the contrast in personalities here. Corie loves trolling Paul and putting him in embarrassing situations while Paul pretends not to enjoy it too much and so they’ve had a great bond. Well, their bond gets put to the test when they move into Corie’s apartment on the 6th floor which has no heating, almost no room, and no elevator service. Paul isn’t in particularly good shape and so walking up the 5 flights is a real struggle. They also have to deal with an upstairs neighbor named Victor who is not particularly subtle with his flirting towards Corie. How will things turn out?

First off, I will say that the comedy in the film is pretty impressive. I enjoy the banter between the characters and also think that Corie has a good sense of humor. Yes, most of her jokes do have the potential to get Paul punched out or in serious trouble but the high stakes nature of the jokes are what makes them work. I also think those jokes are not really a bad idea at all in strengthening their relationship.

The film also gets a lot of leverage out of the 6th floor part. It’s hard to see why it’s such a big deal to walk up all those flights but I can overlook that because the various jokes are just funny. Then we have Paul trying to keep up with Corie’s energy even if it means trying strange foods. You definitely feel bad for him there because that is a real struggle all the way around.

Now for the romance, it starts out good but does take a tumble by the end. Their relationship should not have been so easy to crush. Surprisingly the film doesn’t really go for the jealousy card with Victor here but instead plays up that Paul feels like a stiff compared to Corie. When she basically admits to that, then they go through a lot of troubles which only resolve with Paul having to play the fool for a bit. Jestermaxing as the kids would say nowadays.

I didn’t think that was a good resolution. For starters, it does play into Corie actually feeling that way to an extent. I would have preferred her to come to the realization that she wants a guy who is very steady and not going to get drunk and such. Have her tone down her own behavior a bit. My biggest issue with the film was how she would act around Victor. It’s one thing to be friendly but I thought she was a bit overboard with him. Victor would really get away with flirting and the way he helped her get down from the AC was absolutely fresh.

The film is mainly content to never make Victor out to be the villain but I would have liked Paul to put him in his place. Boundaries are always important to consider. I say this as someone who does hold the unpopular opinion that you can have really close friends of the opposite sex at all times. Whether married or not, there are wholesome friendships to be had but that is precisely why you need boundaries. If your friend is genuine, then they will respect them and everyone will have a great time.

Then we have a whole subplot where Corie tries to set up her mother Ethel with Victor. Setting someone up on a blind date is always a bad thing to do here and then to see it work can be rather annoying. Victor is introduced as a character with quite the reputation of getting around so why would this possibly be a good idea?

You have to assume that it all works out but it is a strong assumption all the way through. Ethel was a good character though. Romance aside, she did her best to be supportive of Corie and Paul the whole way through. There were plenty of opportunities for her to complain about things like the way the apartment looked but she tried to find the positive side of things.

As for Paul, he mainly did good but unfortunately looks bad at the end when he gets super drunk. Essentially he was trying to prove that he could be fun but in that instant he lost the high ground. I would have preferred that he stuck to his guns and eventually Corie would realize why he was a good man. Some mistake the ability to get drunk and go to clubs as being a fun person when you don’t need any of that. The ability to have fun without being intoxicated is a much more honorable trait.

So the film was pretty solid but really just fumbled when the plot had to get serious. The film probably felt like it needed to have some drama to end things off but this was the wrong way to do it. It just came at the expense of both characters and that’s never a good thing. Additionally, pretty much every scene with Victor just came across as annoying. I would have much preferred that the film be built around the apartment and that’s where the fun comes from. You could have both characters arguing over how the apartment should look and that would easily have enough material for a whole film.

Overall, This is a film that’s pretty fun but does get hurt quite a bit by the end. The end is ultimately what will leave the biggest impact on you so that was a really rough way to go. If you do like a classic comedy-romance then you should probably still check this one out. Just be prepared to see a whole lot of wasted potential here as the film focuses far too much on Ethel and Victor who try to take over the film. You just want to get back to the main duo but they don’t get much of a chance by the middle portion since it leads right to the big fight for the climax. It was a fresh change of pace to have the characters married from the start though rather than waiting until the very end.

Overall 4/10

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