Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens Review

Posted on April 28, 2024 by dreager1

Lets talk about the next big Yugioh series. This one was definitely a real change from the previous Yugioh titles which all had a consistent kind of look to them. At their core they were Shonen Jump type stories while his one was definitely more aimed at kids. Of course we know from experience that this can work out really well like with Cardfight Vanguard and Buddyfight. Fortunately I can confirm that this did work out really well. It’s got a lot of fun moments and there are a good selection of likable main characters. The stakes may be a little lower but there are still a great number of really fun duels here so they will keep your attention the whole time. I was definitely sad to see the series go.

The series is about a kid named Yuga who loves dueling but he feels like it’s missing something. So he ends up installing his own version of dueling into the Goha network computers which installs the game onto everyone’s duel disc. This new form of dueling is called Rush Duels. Basically you draw 5 cards in every turn which opens the way to a lot of combos right out of the gate. It’s a very different kind of duel and as the name would suggest, it’s also a much faster paced way of fighting. Now he is eager to play it with everyone. This makes Yuga a local sensation and everyone at school is either thrilled about the new way to duel or resents him for it. Goha is trying to find a way to remove this new style of dueling as well before it overshadows the classic form of dueling. Can they really stop him?

You might think that this is all a bit much about a new style of dueling that is optional but I can actually picture companies getting upset about this. Like if you suddenly uploaded an optional way to play Street Fighter that Capcom did not approve of. You can bet that they would have some words for you very quickly and likely would not let it stand. That’s just the corporate way. They’re in this to make money, not to make friends and you really can’t convince them otherwise unless you have the money to back it up.

The setting will remind you a little of Yugioh GX with how it all takes place at school. At least the vast majority of the show takes place there. The show mainly starts out as a slice of life title as we are gradually introduced to all of the characters and get to see what kind of deck builds they are running. This intro phase takes a while but that’s fine since we’ve got a little over 90 episodes to work with. It’s similar to Cardfight Vanguard G which had a super long intro phase but it worked out really well because then we knew the characters when it was time for the big action sagas. That’s really the approach that this game went with as well.

So after the pre arc one of the big arcs we get is about the Master Cards. These are the latest gimmick in the Yugioh verse. You could say that the whole concept of Rush Duels counts as the first gimmick but then this would be the second one. You basically merge 3 cards into one super card that takes up the various spaces and has incredible abilities. Nail’s got a master card of his own and absolutely dominates everyone. The heroes have to beat his various lackeys without losing too many rounds or their accounts are forfeit. The whole “You’ll lose your account if you lose” is sort of like the new version of the shadow game. The account issue is thrown in front of the characters multiple times. Fortunately Luke is here to keep the characters from losing but if I were the heroes I’d be getting annoyed pretty fast. That’s a big weakness with the villains actually owning the software that the game’s code runs through.

Also I should mention that the hardware that plays the software are actually real physical objects over in space. For example the Rush Duel settings turned into a giant robot so throughout the series the villains are trying to break it. It’s actually rather surreal because it’s such an odd way for the coding to work. It’s cool though so naturally I’d give it a pass. It also gives us an excuse to have some space moments. There are actually quite a few other sci-fi themes in the show as well. Several characters show up who appear to be aliens. Some of them work for Goha and some are just doing their own thing. They all look almost identical but have their own gimmicks.

It’s random in the best way. Whenever they show up you just have to roll with it and enjoy the duel. I’ll touch on a bunch of the characters in a minute but then there are a ton of more minor characters that I won’t go into. Each of these characters have their own gimmicks though. One of them really loves sushi, one loves dinosaurs, etc. They all duel with their themes in mind and Yugioh is such a big game that you can make an entire deck off of a theme like that. It’s actually impressive and speaks to how many cards there are. The duels themselves may not be as entertaining as the big story based duels but it’s always fun to see how creative the show can get.

After the Master Card debacle you’ve got a lot of mini arcs like being attacked by the hard hat crew (Not their actual names but close enough), a few tournaments thrown into the mix, Luke becoming the Luke Man, and the Goa 6 showing up to basically take over the world/the game. We even get a whole arc where everyone loses their memory of dueling so Luke has to snap them back into their senses. At some point Luke moved from just being the super cool rival to borderline becoming the main character. It’s definitely impressive.

The show is 90+ episodes long though so you do expect a lot of different stories to occur. It gets around the lack of world ending stakes extremely well with this creativity too. So in the end where would I rank the show? Well I think it’s fair to say that it still does lose to most of the classics but I would put it above Vrains and Capsule Monsters. The rest are still a little too impressive to lose. I’d say it speaks more to how great the overall franchise is though as opposed to this one not being up to the task.

Now lets talk about the characters. As the lead Yuga is a fun guy. He’s not quite as untouchable as previous main characters but that works well since it makes him very relatable. He’s just a kid having fun playing his favorite game and there’s definitely nothing wrong with that. I can definitely respect his talent right here and he has a lot of confidence. It does mean that he is overshadowed by the other two members of the main cast who just have more charisma though. All in all, Yuga does a good job of leading the show and is consistently solid for the whole run.

Then we have Luke, the absolute stand out character of the series. You want to talk about an awesome character? Look no further than this guy! He’s awesome in every possible way. The guy has limitless confidence and always looks on the bright side of things. Characters try to sometimes get in his way and wreck the vibe but he doesn’t let it happen. He’s a bit of an unassuming character since most fighters think that the guy is full of hot air and yet he manages to win just about every duel. He is undefeated for almost the entirety of the series and I don’t need to tell you just how impressive that is. Seriously, it’s an absolutely insane feat and he constantly hits above his paygrade. He takes out big enemies that even Yuga wasn’t prepared for.

Luke is a game changer and he’s a big reason as to why I would go ahead and say that this is a great show. Not just a very good one or anything like that but it is legitimately great. Luke can hold his own with any of the previous Yugioh rival characters. He may not take himself as seriously as those other guys but his sill is up there. In fact, you could argue he surpasses the other rivals in one way which is that by the end of the series he is debatably still stronger than the main character and that never really happens.

Then we have Romin as the main heroine and she’s another great character. She’s a great duelist and also has time to be a professional singer on the side. Her cooking skills may not always be out of this world but she is always ready to try something new. She is able to keep up with Luke in terms of being high energy the whole time and so that makes the trio really complete. I would say that like Luke, she is also more interesting than Yuga so it’s one of the only times I can think of where the lead ends up being carried by the other two members of the trio. Nothing wrong with that of course, they’re just helping to elevate the series to the next level.

Romin gets a whole lot of character development like Luke. She has to really decide between music and Yugioh as you can’t really become a pro at both. Both of them have a whole lot of time commitments after all and so she has to make a lot of tough calls. Particularly near the end of the show with some mind wiping going on. All in all, she’s someone that you can count on and is a great member of the main cast.

The 4th member isn’t quite as solid as the main 3 though. We’ve got Gavin next and he’s one of those guys who really follows the rules at all times. This makes him not very reasonable most of the time. He does have his inevitable rebellion mini arc where he starts to break all of the rules but that just takes him too far into the other direction. As DJ G he at least has a cool beat going though. So I give him some props there but yeah he can’t keep up with the main 3 in terms of personality and I would say that the same is true of his dueling abilities as well. He’s a solid duelist but he’s not elite or anything like that.

One guy who sort of joins the main cast a bit later on is Roa and he’s a lot of fun. He’s Romin’s cousin and another great duelist. He’s sort of like a sub rival to Yuga. Luke is of course the primary rival but Roa shows up several times to really put the pressure on as well. His skills are the real deal and his backstory is also emotional. Roa’s been through a lot but he really made a name for himself and continues to move forward. He made no excuses about what he had to go through and is a very well balanced character. He was really solid and definitely ended up as one of the best characters in the series.

After that we’ve got Asana who is rivals with Tiger. Asana is certainly one of the more mature characters. She doesn’t tend to bicker quite as often as the others and she is always ready for a good duel. She’s portrayed as one of the more powerful duelists even if she doesn’t get to duel too often. Her personality works well as a contrast to the rest of the characters. She’s certainly got her quirks as well and they’re unique like naming her work equipment. Whatever works on the path to being the world’s greatest duelist though. The show goes all out by even having a full origin story for her and Tiger. I can’t say I was expecting that but it was handled really well. A little more communication could have stopped all of the misunderstandings though.

As for Tiger, she’s a lot of fun. As Luke’s older sister, it’s no surprise that she is also extremely powerful. She can hold her own against any fighter and even physically she is a beast. She’s always hitting people with that giant weapon she is carrying around. The gag of Luke being scared of her does get old rather quickly though. I wouldn’t say that it holds its own with the other gags at all. The whole time you’re just waiting for Luke to finally get past that and show her why he is the world’s greatest duelist. As good as she is, Luke has surpassed her fairly early on in the series. It was just like a mental block where he couldn’t put that all together when he was going up against her.

Back on the main heroes’ side, we also had Rayne and Rino who would work for the student council president Gavin. I didn’t really care for either of those characters much though. They were more on the boring side and didn’t really add any good banter to the mix. I wouldn’t trust them either as they go through a lot in the show and don’t tend to come out clutch. Whenever they got a duel it would typically be one of the least interesting ones. There’s also a random subplot of Rayne liking Yuga but that never even goes anywhere. I still don’t really know why that was included at all. So these characters you could have cut out of the story and it would not have really changed anything.

Mimi is a fun supporting character. She’s a full adult who even has a kid yet she is able to pass herself off as a student most of the time. That’s definitely impressive and at one point she even finds herself as one of the top staff members at Goha corp. So something is always going on with her and she’s definitely a lot of fun. It would be nice if she could duel more and show everyone the power of an adult but ultimately that’s just not really her role. I’d say that she is one of the more wholesome characters though and I’m glad to have her around. Outside of one episode about Romin trying to cook some food, there isn’t always a lot of time available for the characters to just mess around. So when Mimi shows up, you know the heroes can relax for a while.

Unfortunately Mimi is connected to the most disappointing villain in the series in the leader of Goha. There’s this mask that basically attaches itself to people and runs the corporation. It has a super cool design and always talks tough but ultimately ends up being a bit of a chump. Seriously he’s no real threat and nobody is able to take him seriously. I can’t even take him seriously. The guy can technically fight well but just goes through so much disrespect. His hype just slowly drains away the more the series goes on. Throughout the show I never lost hope that he would turn things around and be the secret final boss or something but unfortunately that never happened. I suppose it just wasn’t to be.

Goha was still a reasonable villain because I like the idea of corporate literally being the main antagonist but they didn’t really adapt with the times. They were tough in pre arc but that was about it. I suppose if you consider the final group as part of Goha then that’s different and technically they are but I consider them to be a bit separate from the actual corporation. I suppose that’s more of a me thing though, it is technically not super logical or anything like that.

Another character related to Goha is Otes. He’s definitely an interesting figure. Sometimes he’s helpful and sometimes he isn’t. His skill level is also hard to determine because sometimes losing is in his best interest so you don’t know when he’s going all out or not. The guy could have definitely talked more to explain things though and his character goes down a very odd direction by the very end of the series. Lets just say that this guy is filled with plot twists and ultimately the final ones do not help his character at all. He drops a whole lot for me but I can at least say that he was interesting. He remained relevant in the series for its entire run which is impressive.

Another character who was around the whole time was Nail but he did lose a lot of hype after the first arc. The guy was a big deal initially because of the super powerful cards that he could use. They were basically legal god cards and nobody else had them. Once everyone got them the battlefield was equaled and Nail couldn’t keep up. Gone were the days of him being the most powerful. He’s still tough but not nearly as imposing. I like his character but he was better as a villain. His poor servant Sebastian definitely goes through a lot of issues as well. I can’t say I really liked the robot though so I didn’t feel too bad for him.

Yuga has his own robot in Kaizo as well. That guy is always being transformed into different objects and hacked so he doesn’t have an easy journey either. The guy isn’t the most heroic though and has quite a lot of issues so you can get why Yuga is always going things to him. I would have liked Kaizo to have more of a real man up moment before the series was over. Even Swirls got his own arc although of course there were big reasons for that. As for the 6 big Goha fighters who showed up later, they’re pretty fun.

You of course have the other Yuga Goha who is solid although there were a few moments where I was pretty much laughing at the guy. He starts off in a super intense way but the more the show goes on the worse he looks. At one point he just loses energy while he’s in the sky and has a sudden crash landing, another time he gets affected by the memory bug and starts acting like a child, etc. It’s really hard to come back from this, specifically as a villain since you need to be able to take the guy seriously. Unfortunately I couldn’t take him seriously after that. There was just no way to pull that off.

Yuro’s a reasonable villain. Outside of Yuga, none of them are all that villainous for long to be honest but he’s a good duelist and a balanced character. So I can’t say that I really had any issues with him. Yujin has more drive so I like that about him. He’s a really enthusiastic kind of character who is always ready to jump in and have a good time. He also has actual hobbies outside of dueling which is always cool. Yuran is the most boring. He’s an okay duelist but there’s nothing all that interesting about him. He’s a bit too quiet and mellow and I need my characters to be bold and outspoken.

Yuka is fun enough. She can actually play baseball really good and gets a whole rivalry out of that. Again, it comes down to having a hobby outside of dueling which is nice. Finally there is Yuo who is quite bold since he actually tries to take power away from the others into his corrupt games. The guy is a strong duelist as well and aside from Luke there are very few who can take him down. He’s not my favorite villain but he does get points for actively acting like a villain and just generally doing whatever he wants. He’s not just here to make friends and have a good time. His priority is claiming his right to power.

For the animation, Yugioh Sevens looks pretty good but it is a bit of a step down from the last few shows. The colors aren’t as string and it just looks a bit cheaper. I’d say that might be more on the character designs than the animation itself but this won’t be winning any awards. It’s still not bad or anything but I just can’t say that it’s very good either. It’s solid enough where it makes for solid visuals and we get some dynamic moments but it’s mostly by the books. I would say that the same is true of the soundtrack either. It’s not like it’s bad or anything but the tunes aren’t all that memorable. The show is certainly not being carried by the technical elements or anything like that. It has to succeed on the writing and story which fortunately are up to the task for this.

The show is just really funny a lot of the time. At the end of the day what you really need in order to make a series successful is either a lot of great action with cool end of the world stakes that keep you on your toes or a great cast of characters that can pull off a low key slice of life type adventure. These characters are able to pull that off and you’ll likely be grinning in each episode. Luke isn’t just the best character because he can duel but also because he’s just really funny. The guy is constantly cracking good jokes with how oblivious he is and how he takes things out of context. At the end of the day he’s the kind of guy that everyone wishes they had as a best friend. That’s the power of being a quality character.

Overall, Yugioh Sevens is a great show. I really enjoyed all of the card games and the character cast is really solid. The show couldn’t have worked nearly as well with a weaker cast so they have to take a lot of credit here. I’d still like to go back to a more traditional artstyle but I will continue checking these out for as long as they want to keep going. I’m always up for more great Yugioh content and they really did well here. If you are a little worried about starting this show, don’t be. It still hits the electric highs that you’ve been expecting from the franchise.

Overall 8/10

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Review

Posted on April 28, 2024 by dreager1

Frieren was a show that definitely got a ton of hype when it was coming out. It’s a fantasy adventure that is a bit different from your average title. It takes place after the hero’s party already saved the world so it’s more of an epilogue with different events that are still going on to bring on the danger. All in all, it’s a rather satisfying show that has a good balance of heart warming/emotional moments as well as some really good action scenes. When the show decides to turn up, it really goes all out with the animation.

The show starts by introducing us to Frieren who was a legendary sorcerer who accompanied the hero Himmel on his quest to destroy the Demon King. They succeeded and the world was saved. They all went off on their own way. We pick the series up 50 years later as Frieren decides to redo the journey one more time to see how the world has changed. Along the way she does does Heiter a favor and decides to train a young girl named Fern. The two of them then meet a warrior in training named Stark. It looks like Frieren has assembled another hero’s party of sorts. There may not be a demon king to vanquish this time around but perhaps they can help Frieren learn what it really means to have emotion.

Frieren’s main conflict here is that as an Elf, she will live for hundreds and hundreds of years. Everyone she meets will inevitably die before her such as he hero’s party that she worked with previously. Some races last long like hers but the Elves definitely take the cake on overall longevity. Elves tend to be very logical and lack emotions as a byproduct of their long lives so while Frieren’s party seemed to have an amazing time, she couldn’t fully appreciate the moments at the time. So in the present, Fern and Stark’s constant banter help Frieren to learn these emotions. You can also give credit to the various supporting characters around.

So in a lot of ways this is about Frieren’s transformation from an emotionless leader into someone who has become more human. I’d say that’s the emotional core of the series and it works well. Frieren even sounds emotionless for most of the show but will sometimes show off a bit of humor and other emotions. Her dry wit works rather well as a contrast here. Above all, it’s also nice to have someone as powerful as her in the lineup. She’s easily the strongest hero alive on the planet right now. She may not be quite as heroic as Himmel but his tendencies have really started to rub off on her so she finds herself being more and more heroic with each day.

Her long years of experience have also helped to spread her reputation around. It’s always nice to see everyone treating her with awe and reverence the whole time. As someone who helped defeat the Demon King, that makes a lot of sense. I’d say this show handles that “Post Game” era better than most other titles that I’ve seen. People didn’t just suddenly forget what happened or anything like that. They’re all still hyper aware of the situation and that’s a good thing. She’s a great lead character, no doubt about it.

Then we have Fern who serves as the prodigy of the group. She is way younger than Frieren and yet she has already become a super talented mage. I don’t see her passing Frieren even by the end of the series but even so, she is a force to be reckoned with. She had to grow up quickly in order to take care of Frieren as well since the lead isn’t always the most responsible for day to day chores. In other ways Fern does show how she’s still a kid though like with her constant arguments with Stark. She really gives him a hard time over every little thing. He never takes anything personal and is a good kid. In a way it’s the only time Fern is able to act like a child which is probably part of why she does it. That, and Stark just gets on her nerves more than anyone else.

As for Stark, he’s the close range fighter of the group. With the other two main characters being long range mages, it is definitely super handy to have a close range specialist at the ready. He lets his guard down a bit and for now I don’t consider him to be in the same league as Fern and Frieren but he is a really fun character who does add to the dynamic. Stark provides a lot of the best gags in the show and he’s also just someone that gives you confidence in the group. He’s straight forward and gets along with people really easily. In that way he feels the most heroic out of the group. Actually, I’d say he straight up is the most heroic. Stark will defend anyone that he can.

The show’s foundation is really solid which opens up pathways to quite a lot of things. The show could have gone down a full slice of life route and it would still be pretty good because the main trio has such a good dynamic. The show also isn’t afraid to just slow down and let the main characters have a fun day off. We get one episode that is pretty much all about Stark’s birthday and Fern trying her best to have a good attitude about the whole thing. There are several other episodes in the show that don’t actually have any fighting involved. This is one of those shows where fights aren’t necessarily guaranteed and that’s definitely not a bad thing. Of course you know I love fights but this series can hold its own in any genre.

So the fact that we have a number of good fights is really a great bonus on top. Each half of the show has at least one major fight that looks great. Like I mentioned earlier, the animation is really solid here. You have a lot of strong/vibrant colors that really stand out at all times. The second half especially has a lot of memorable moments but you won’t have complains with any episode. Meanwhile the soundtrack can be more subdued but one big positive is that each opening is excellent. I really liked the first opening in particular which has a very unique sound design to it.

The first big villain in the show is a demon named Qual who was pretty fun. Basically this guy used to be a really huge deal but in this universe it is hard to stay as a top tier threat. The reason for this is due to the way the magic system works. Basically, the more familiar you are with a certain kind of magic, the easier it is to block. So what happens here is since Qual has been sealed for 50 years, everyone had time to study his magic. Because of that, his ultimate attack is now just a basic attack for the modern day mage. I give Qual credit for quickly adapting to this but ultimately that wasn’t enough to turn the tables. It was a fun way to introduce the viewer to some of the world’s rules while also giving us a fun villain.

The first main arc involves Frieren and friends heading into a town that is trying to make peace with some demons. I appreciated how Frieren said this was a bunch of nonsense from the start and would never work. A demon will always be evil after all and she has a super valid point there. The humans looked rather gullible and they should have let Frieren do her thing. Unfortunately they would have been doomed either way without her but with her then they had a chance. Frieren’s attitude towards destroying all of the demons is a nice change of pace. She definitely won’t be falling for any traps.

The demons all had their own character and personalities too. None of them were throwaways. Well, I guess the closest would be Draht who made the mistake of challenging Frieren to a 1 on 1 fight. She made short work out of him and has quite a few raw moments like that during the show. It’s always really impressive. Aura is one of the big shots here as she is incredibly powerful and gets a good fight with Frieren. The actual ending may be a little anti climactic but the show does its best with the animation and sound design to still keep it hype all the way. Ultimately there was just a big difference in skill level which is what was the main factor here. Aura didn’t really make a mistake so much as she just wasn’t strong enough to win.

Lugner was a solid villain who had a ton of confidence the whole time. I liked his smug disposition and it was certainly deserved considering how powerful he was. The average fighter really didn’t stand a chance against him and his battle with Fern was a lot of fun. This direction of the demons all being rather smug but possessing a dignified air about them is really good. It makes them feel classy even if they are evil the whole time. Finally you have Linie who just likes a good fight. Her ability to copy fighting styles is definitely really handy. I didn’t find her to be quite as impressive as some of the other demons but she can still hold her own in a big fight. If she wasn’t so overconfident she would have done even better.

For the most part that’s it for the demons for now. There are other powerful monsters who have appeared but we’ll need to wait until season 2 for the next big threats. The fact that there are still so many powerful demons out there should have the humans really nervous the whole time but I guess the world is so big that most people are still safe. A lot of people are actually rather nonchalant the whole time despite never knowing when a demon will show up. I suppose that’s just how the world is set up though, you can’t just be living your life in fear right?

Now lets talk about the old hero group and some other characters before we jump into the final big saga of the show. As the legendary hero, Himmel is a pretty fun guy. He’s super heroic and a great hero to have around but it’s not like he’s perfect either. His main weakness is that he can be kind of vain. He loves posing and showing off as the hero. Later on it’s explained that he does this in a way to preserve the legacy of a hero and give people something to believe in but it’s hard to say just how serious that was. For now I’d still assume that he just likes to show off a whole lot and there’s nothing really wrong with it. At most I’m just not sold on his power just yet. He doesn’t actually seem all that impressive in the flashbacks so I’m waiting until we finally see a flashback of how the demon king fight went down.

Eisen is a good supporting character. He is actually strong and can endure just about any blow. His durability is really the selling point here as he can stay in the fight until he delivers the decisive blow. At that point then it is all over for his opponent. Heiter is easily the weakest of the group. He’s a priest who is always drunk and messing around. That’s his whole gimmick but it’s not a good one as he is always getting in the way and this does limit his overall potential. Yeah it’s not portrayed that way exactly and he isn’t treated as a liability but you’d think he would be a little more focused with the stakes being this high. I just couldn’t get behind this character.

Then we have Flamme who was Frieren’s mentor but as far as mentors go she can be a little boring. She doesn’t like violence and wants to spread peace which is all well and good but that’s about the extent of her character. We don’t actually know a lot about her beyond that which isn’t much. More flashbacks could certainly help her character though. Then we have Kraft who is another elf like Frieren. This guy is actually all by himself which seems like it would be really lonely. I’m not sure how he handles it but he actually seems rather good natured so I give him a lot of credit there. It has to be lonely after a while but he definitely doesn’t show it.

Finally you have Sein who temporarily joins the group but I can’t say that he added much to the dynamic so I was okay with him being written out later on. He has some magic abilities of his own and is a good healer but he gets distracted easily and is a big flirt. That’s such a big stereotype and not one of the fun ones so keeping him out is good with me. It seems like he’ll probably return at some point but that could be far into the future so nothing to worry about for now.

Now we get to the point of the big magic exam. At least one member of the party needs to reach the next rank in order to proceed so Fern and Frieren enter the test while Stark finally gets some alone time. The exam has several phases involving teamwork which forces a lot of these crazy mages to team up. Only a few people will end up passing the magic exam so the heroes can’t let their guard down for a second. From capturing birds to travelling into a dungeon and then passing a verbal quiz, every test has the potential to be the end of the road. If this were a straight forward fighting tournament then it would be an easy win but as it stands, there are enough different factors where there are no real guarantees here.

The exams is really an opportunity for a ton of fights and lots of cool moments all around so that was definitely a lot of fun. It’s the best arc of the show for now as we’re also introduced to a number of fun characters. It’s probably the biggest jump in actual characters yet in the series as just about every contestant feels like a person who could show up again in the future. I’d definitely be cool with that since they weren’t bad.

The best new character has to be Ubel. She’s a bit of a riddle right now as she is a serial killer and has a tough aura but she does end up sparing quite a few people. She doesn’t appear to be nearly as bloodthirsty as she lets on. So is this all an act or is she just playing nice for now? It’s just really hard to say either way but she is super entertaining. Her magic abilities are also really handy such as her paralysis and ability to copy your moves if she is able to understand you. Not just anyone can pull that off.

I also like Wirbel who is very similar. He’s murdered many people in the past and is widely regarded as another murderer but in the show he ends up being very reasonable. Murder appears to be a last resort for him. His skills are the real deal and while he doesn’t back down from a fight, he isn’t actively looking to take everyone down. I definitely look forward to seeing a lot more of him in the coming days.

Denken is the oldest contestant in the group. He likes doing things by the book and he makes up for a lack of raw power with absolute experience. He has a plan for everything although plans can only go so far. He doesn’t do great against Frieren in part because when the gap in strength is high enough, no amount of tactics are able to bypass that. He learned this the hard way but it was a good lesson. He has his moments and isn’t bad although he gets overshadowed by mot of the other candidates.

Richter is sort of the opposite here. He’s a lot younger and tends to be more impatient. He does have plans of his own but they do revolve around steamrolling his opponents with pure power which doesn’t always go well. He makes for a good antagonist but he’s not someone I would trust. He would absolutely turn against you for the right incentive. Land is more of a cautious fighter. He tries to keep a wall between him and everyone else at all times but will step in to protect his ally when needed. Ubel definitely dominates him in every interaction and a main reason for that is how Land is a bit of a softie. I like the guy though, he may constantly be lying to himself but the fact that he steps up when needed is a good thing. He’s someone you actually can count on to do his best at all times and to prioritize your safety.

Then you have Lawine and Kanne who are best friends even if they fight a lot. Their abilities complement each other well and they learn a lot while under Frieren’s leadership. I expected them to join Frieren again for the second challenge so it was surprising when they stayed back. I guess it can be awkward when the old friend group shows up but that was their big chance. Individually they’re only okay but as a duo they’re a lot of fun. I always enjoy the friendship banter with all of the insults flying around.

The proctor Sense is okay, but I’m not a big fan of her. I do think that allowing her clone into the exam was a little underhanded especially since she isn’t fighting on the hero’s side. For now I’m not too impressed with her in a power sense either. Certainly the opposite of Serie who finally shows up as the actual strongest fighter in the world. I have Frieren as the strongest hero because Serie is no hero but at this point in time you have no doubt that Serie would win in a fight between them. She’s spent her life in the pursuit of magic and has taken the offensive capabilities of it a lot more seriously than Frieren has. Serie can be openly bias when she is being a proctor but you have to love that confidence.

There are a lot of other characters, particularly in the magic arc but those are the main ones. You’ve got a really good assortment of supporting fighters here and there is already a lot of ground work for a ton of future seasons. There are tons of demons out in the world and the journey to get back to the end point of the adventure should take 10 years according to Frieren. That’s an incredibly long time so yeah this series could be around for a very long time and I’m absolutely cool with that.

Overall, Frieren is a great show and definitely lives up to the hype. It’s a really exciting show during the plot moments and it is a really thought provoking title during the slice of life episodes. The fact that it can succeed so well in two vastly different genres is a testament to the writing in the show. You should definitely watch this if you are looking for a fun adventure title. It doesn’t get much better than this.

Overall 8/10

Bomberman Jetters Review

Posted on April 28, 2024 by dreager1

We’re back in the world of Bomberman with this next adventure. It’s pretty fun to finally be getting back into the swing of things as this series is always pretty good. Platforming with the bomb explosions is unique and you can’t really compare this to very many other titles. I would actually say this one even improves upon the last title because of various quality of life updates. Less missable collectibles/monsters this time around. In fact you’d have to try in order to actually miss any of the creatures. The collectibles can be a little more difficult though, I actually missed two of them and had to head back. Technically you don’t necessarily need every material but I didn’t know that until the end.

The basic plot is that the villains are causing a lot of trouble once again. This time they have powered up a rocket that will either ram into a planet and destroy it or it is going to fire some kind of laser. Either way Bomberman’s mission is clear, he has to destroy the ship right away. If he can do that, then the worlds will be safe and perhaps this villain group will forever stop trying to get in the way. The main villain is protected by the elemental bombers though. You’ve got a fire bomberman, water, ice, etc. They’re all working for the villains so I guess the main Bomberman is one of the only heroes left at this point. There is also Max who is around but don’t expect him to say anything.

The graphics are really solid here and I wanted to jump into that right away. It’s super impressive how many fully animated cutscenes we have here. I was super happy about that because not many titles did this back in the day. There are 2 big cutscenes in every world which establish the boss and set the stage up very well. Meanwhile the soundtrack is fairly decent. A little less memorable I will admit but it still works well so the technicals for this game were on point. Then we have the gameplay which was really solid too which makes for a balanced game. I will jump into that now.

In each level you have to get to the goal in order to complete it. To do that, you typically have to find some kind of switch or blow some enemies up. Each world has 6 levels at first although the latter worlds tend to be 4 levels instead. The first, second, fourth, and fifth levels are classic stages. You run and jump over obstacles. Then stages 3 and 6 are the boss fights of the area. Usually the third level’s boss is fairly easy and you can use any bomb to beat him while the 6th level’s boss is more difficult and only one element will be particularly useful here. So if you miss an ingredient for one of the bombs, the level will get tricky.

This is where Max comes in. He can hurt every boss with the exception of 1 with his unique power. It takes an extremely long time to charge but has the largest range in the game. It deals a quarter of 1 heart per hit so you can beat a boss with around 20 of those. I can see this working as a self imposed hard mode of sorts. If you get hit while charging then the energy ball drops and you have to start again. It makes it so Max is actually a rather difficult character to use but I did have to resort to him twice. You can also switch to him at any point during the normal levels but there isn’t really a reason to do that. Typically Bomberman is better for every situation.

There are only 12 different monsters to recruit in this game but they are all pretty interesting. The level up system is a bit basic this time as you can only go up to level 3. So at that point you will have maxed out the monster and there isn’t much more to be done there. You level up fairly quick so I maxed out around 5 of them before I beat the game. I don’t think it would take long to max out the rest. It looks like you can also unlock a bonus world but I’m not sure how you would do that. It’s probably connected to at least one of the collectibles that you can grab. So there is a decent amount of replay value here. The main campaign’s not all that long so you’ll have it completed in under 10 hours but with the replay value it might make it up to the double digits.

I appreciated that the collectibles weren’t fully mandatory for completing the game though. This one could be fairly difficult at times but in a very fair way. You just had to really apply yourself and be good at using the bombs and not rushing. Often times you will only get yourself into trouble if you try going too fast and start bumping into enemies. That’s really where the trouble starts but if you go slow then you shouldn’t really be getting hit. Some levels can take a while, one took me close to an hour although in part that’s because I got lost.

Each level does have a map but it’s fairly zoomed out so you can still end up bumping around a lot. Level 5-1 was easily the most difficult if you ask me. You have to activate statues and play a little minigame to determine your route and there is a lot of backtracking so that often meant I would pick the wrong path and have to start again When in doubt just go back to the start of the level and retrace your steps. The good thing is that the enemies don’t respawn so feel free to knock them out and then decide on a plan. That way you have no real distractions.

Overall, Bomberman Jetters is a pretty fun game. The actual gameplay is fun and the level designs clearly had a lot of effort put into them. The sheer size of some levels could be rather daunting but the game was really fair about everything. The way that the monsters and bombs are handled was better than in previous Bomberman games as well so this leads to a very smooth experience. It’s an easy game to pick up and play and I can safely say that it did exceed my expectations. The full anime cutscenes were just another boost to add to the top. So I would definitely say to pick up this game as soon as possible. You won’t regret it!

Overall 7/10

The Goodbye Girl Review

Posted on April 28, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for a rom-com that’s definitely got a good amount of drama in it. One of the main messages here I would say is to be careful who you decide to date because things can easily move sideways. Ultimately the film is entertaining and you’ll have a good time but you can’t really buy into the romance considering how much both characters hated each other for a while there. Well, mainly it was on Paula’s side towards Elliot but he didn’t really help matters.

The film starts by introducing us to Paula who has had a rough time of things. She and her husband divorced so now she takes care of her daughter Lucy by herself. She meets a guy named Tony who seems all right except for the fact that he is already married but Paula makes the terrible decision of getting with him too. Inevitably he ditches her shortly after. Additionally, he ends up renting out Paula’s apartment over to his friend Elliot. Paula has to vacate the place immediately and well she’s not happy about that. So when Elliot moves in, Paula decides not to move out. Can these two manage to get along?

Now both characters are jerks to each other for a while there but I will say I am a bit more sympathetic for Elliot here. The guy actually did pay for the apartment for several months in advance so yeah he does own the apartment. legally. The whole time Paula is giving him a ton of attitude but he’s actually being very tolerant since he really could have her kicked out. At the end of the day he is a good guy who doesn’t actually want to kick her out mainly because of the kid. I do think he’s restrained a whole lot so as not to make things tough for Lucy.

Yeah during the movie he retaliates a whole lot but I can’t blame him for that. Additionally he was expecting to have the place to himself so he could do whatever he wanted and now he basically has roommates. Paula starts giving him a ton of different house rules right out of the gate. Elliot quickly comes up with his own rules, some of which are a bit much I’ll admit. The morning yoga with burning incense comes to the top of my mind. Playing the guitar during the night isn’t a big deal if you ask me though.

Basically he’s trying for a reaction at times and Paula makes it really easy since she has a big reaction to everything. As for Paula, she’s been through a lot so you feel bad for her. You’d expect her to be a little less aggressive to be honest since she doesn’t have much of a leg to stand on here though. If she ever gets Elliot really upset he could really just kick her out since their whole temporary agreement isn’t legally binding in any way. She’s certainly been jaded by the men in her life but it has also removed her tactical experience. Every time Elliot messes with her she reacts in the wrong way, it’s almost funny how badly she is losing the battle initially.

Lucy is used as a contrast here where we see how she isn’t bothered by anything that he does. Elliot playing guitar through the night? Lucy doesn’t notice. Elliot starts chanting in the morning? Lucy notices but doesn’t care. Every single time Paula looks to Lucy to have a comrade in arms who is really upset but Lucy has already fallen asleep again or doesn’t really care. So Lucy does well I would say. She’s also very reluctant about having another man in the house and I don’t blame her since the last ones have all struck out. In that way I’d actually say she is being more sensible as well. The whole roommates to lovers thing just seems like a weak foundation for a romance if you ask me. Both of them are just charmed in the short run to have someone nice to talk to but that’s about it. It’s probably why Paula has been running through relationships.

Now I should say for a romance like this where both people are fighting, there are ways to make this work. Basically you can’t have either character go too far with how much they dislike each other. You establish that part of it is a defense mechanism and for the most part there should not be any prior baggage. Part of why this one doesn’t work is because for Paula at minimum this is the third guy. The squabbling romance works better when it’s an initial romance. Additionally it just doesn’t feel like there is any reason for each character to fall for each other because of all the bitterness here. I would say Elliot does put in most of the work here though. While Paula is still being rather rude and petty at times, Paula does his best like helping out with expenses and not intentionally messing with her. Aside from his early trolling with the yoga, he typically doesn’t start any of the fights. It still doesn’t make the romance work any smoother but I can at least say it’s not quite as fast as some other movies where it happens immediately.

As for each character’s individual plot, Paula is trying to become a dancer again but the problem is that she has been out of the game for too long. She’s gotten a bit too old and dancing is really a young person’s game. Ultimately she tries and it doesn’t work out which does make sense. It’s hard to compete with other dancers who have been doing this their whole life. When that doesn’t work she tries other jobs like being a car salesman but things don’t go too well. She is trying so you have to give her some credit there, it’s just tough to really get into a job sometimes with no prior experience at the ready.

Meanwhile Elliot’s definitely got a tough road here as well. He is an aspiring actor about to finally get his big role but the problem is that the director’s kind of a hack. He wants to butcher a production of Richard III by completely changing his character and personality. All of Elliot’s previous training and rehearsing has completely gone down the drain now. I’d be upset if I was him as well. Unfortunately the director does have way more power than the actor in this case. He tries to make the best of it and ultimately does get a few concessions from the director.

Overall, The Goodbye Girl is a film that’s fun enough. It tend to land more on the comedy than the romance though so the first half ends up beating the latter. It’s actually a decently long movie so at least there is plenty of time for the fun comedy before things get serious. With films like this it is always inevitable that the main two are going to get together no matter how improbable it is. You’ll be rolling your eyes a bit at all of that but the banter before then is handled well. I’d say the writing is on point as well and so this is a movie that I can recommend.

Overall 6/10

Kin Review

Posted on April 28, 2024 by dreager1

All right so it’s time for a sci-fi film that could have started some kind of big franchise but ultimately that was not in the cards. Wasn’t even close to be honest since I never saw anybody talking about this film. It had some interesting ideas but the main problem is that you could make the case that the whole film is set up for the actual film. The cool sci-fi robot/aliens don’t get to do anything until the very end. In a way you could have easily cut the sci-fi stuff out and just made this a film about bonding with family and letting go of the past.

The film starts off with some robots running around and fighting something but no worries that won’t matter for a long time. The main plot starts by introducing us to Eli who is having a tough time at school. His home setup isn’t exactly great which doesn’t help matters. His step father Hal is a fairly strict guy who isn’t a bad person but he hasn’t done much to connect with Eli. He seems to have a tough time opening up and unfortunately he won’t get much time for that. Hal’s son Jimmy shows up one day as he’s finally out of prison but he wants some money to pay off a dangerous person he took a loan from.

Hal isn’t about to break the law so he says no but Jimmy ends up breaking into his shop with a few gangsters. Unfortunately Hal is gunned down during the battle so Jimmy runs off with Eli who doesn’t realize that Hal is dead yet. They are being pursued by Taylor who wants revenge for Jimmy bumping off his brother. A lot of drama going on for sure. Will they be able to stay safe with so many enemies around. Also, what does any of this have to do with the aliens??

So yeah like I said in the beginning, this doesn’t really have much to do with the sci-fi angle at all. The only element that is relevant is that Eli finds a sci-fi gun that one of them drops and this helps him out a whole lot. It can take down just about anyone in a single hit. It takes a little time to master the gun but it definitely comes in handy. Again though, it is something you could remove from the film and almost nothing changes. That’s why it feels like a really odd direction for this movie.

The climax ends up feeling like a completely different movie all of a sudden. We learn about different concepts and some crazy stuff happening in space but that’s all for the sequel. So a lot of potential here but that sequel’s probably never actually going to happen which just makes the whole thing even more pointless. At least I did like the visuals though. They did a great job on the armors and the future plot did sound interesting.

Now while that all sounds negative, I actually did like the movie. Because the foundation is good even considering the fact that the sci-fi part didn’t really add anything. First up, Hal’s actually a solid character. The film achieved a much better balance with him being a strict Dad but still a good person compared to many other films that cross the line and just make this kind of character an antagonist. He handled Jimmy well even if his son didn’t see things that way. Hal can’t just hire him out of the blue, it wouldn’t make sense and the guy was just trying to get him back on the right path. I do think he handled the robbery attempt rather badly but you can chalk some of that up to shock and part of it to underestimating his opponents.

Meanwhile Eli’s a good main character. It does take him a little while to get going but he is young so I can cut him a little slack. I do think he’ll end up being better in a hypothetical sequel. For now I can at least be satisfied with his heart being in the right place. He also ends up going all out with the alien gun which was good. When you’re being attacked you really can’t worry about holding back, especially when you are outnumbered.

Jimmy though, I did not like at all. I know he goes through the whole character arc about finally being mature and everything but it takes too long. He made way too many mistakes here. Owing all that money to a bunch of gangsters was a really bad idea, then taking Eli to a strip club, getting drunk, etc. He was really his own worst enemy in this film and made things a lot tougher for everyone. If he could have wizened up a lot sooner then that would have really made a difference.

Meanwhile Milly is a solid character. She does call out Jimmy for how irresponsible he is being the whole time. The guy definitely needed a lecture. The whole strip club venue did feel like a rather cheap attempt to get some fanservice into the movie though. It really has nothing to do with anything except to further show how far Jimmy has fallen but we didn’t need that. There comes a point where you make a character a little too unlikable after all and this is really that point.

As for the villains, I mean they’re basically just generic gangsters so there’s not much to say about them. Taylor comes across as not really thinking things through. His brother got shot because they started a gun fight so the whole quest for revenge feels like an ego trip. I would have much preferred fighting some aliens or something a little cooler at the end. The climax is only tense in the sense that Jimmy could get bumped off which isn’t the worst thing in the world. I’ll give the film props for having one of the cops actually help out a bit as opposed to everyone dying immediately though.

Overall, Kin is a reasonable action film. It’s at its best when it’s not worrying about the sci-fi stuff. Having the main characters be on the run from a bunch of gangters while the main character doesn’t even know they are on the run is pretty intense. Jimmy may be annoying but on the whole the writing here is good and there are definitely way more positives than negatives. The soundtrack could be decent at times and there aren’t a lot of issues to be found here. Just treat it as a solid one-shot and you should have a good time here.

Overall 7/10

Safe in Hell Review

Posted on April 28, 2024 by dreager1

When you’ve got a title like this you already know that the main character’s probably stuck in a rather tricky situation. It’s definitely a film where the heroine has to go through a whole lot. There definitely is a lot of tension but I can’t say that it’s the kind that really helps to elevate a film. Ultimately there are very few likable characters here at all and it’s always hard for a film to really survive that.

So the movie starts off with introducing us to Gilda who has had a rough time of things. She has not been able to hold down a steady job for a long time due to one guy who basically blackmailed her into an affair and then his wife found out. So Gilda was blackballed from every industry and ended up becoming a lady of the night. Well, one day that guy returns and Gilda accidentally murders him in self defense. Her boyfriend Carl shows up just in time to save her from the police. While he’s not thrilled about what Gilda has been doing, he takes her to an island to hide from the cops for a while. He’ll go figure something out but she’ll have to stay on the island for at least a month. That wouldn’t be so bad except…this is an island inhabited by a bunch of criminals and degenerated and they’ve all got their sights on her. Can Gilda remain faithful amidst all this temptation and can she even remain safe?

So now you can see how none of the characters are particularly likable. They’re all just throwing themselves at her the whole time despite knowing that she is already with a guy. None of them have much in the way of class at all. Of course some are worse than others. The worst of which is a guy who shows up at the island later on after a plot twist. Definitely the kind of villain you don’t want the heroine to go easy on. Just bump him off and everyone will be happier off for it. He’s the kind of villain who actively brings down the quality of the movie.

Another thing that brings it down is the ending though. It’ really a rough way to go out and I definitely prefer for a movie to have an ending with a bit more hope. You basically have to stomach the fact that the villains won in the end. Perhaps not in all the ways they wanted but they still got a win which is absolutely undeserved. I get the feeling that the film didn’t want Gilda to have a happy ending after the mistakes she made but they were all under rather drastic circumstances. She’s certainly not without fault but is nowhere in the same league as the other characters. The whole film just doesn’t feel all that fair to her at all.

I’d argue Carl should absorb some of the blame here. He ditches her for months at a time on his job which always leaves her to fend for herself. Yeah Carl’s a sailor so he’s gone a lot but it seems like there is absolutely no way to reach him. So when Gilda was out of a job with no hope in the beginning, there was no way to reach Carl. Then when she was stuck on the island, there was no way to contact him easily again. She is constantly left on her own in the absolute worst circumstances. Now she does send a letter later on so there is at least a way to eventually reach him. Maybe she should have trusted him a bit more and reached out sooner but I get why she figured she had to stick it out. Ultimately she does still get more of the blame because she didn’t trust Carl when it counted. Sometimes trying to stick something out by yourself doesn’t work, particularly in a realistic setting like this.

So if she has to have a bad end, then that should apply to the rest of the characters. At least Bruno who ends up being just as demented as the other characters. In fact he was the second worst beyond the first guy. Nothing happening to him is really a shame. It’s like the film could have used an extra segment at the end. It is really short as it stands, the film is barely over an hour. So maybe extend this to 90 minutes and have an epilogue where various characters are taken out. Have a big revenge scene where Carl shows up and blows everyone away.

You could also have just included the moral of trusting him at the end. Instead of doing the false confession to get executed, have her make her speech which is when Carl shows up. Maybe have one of the other hotel guests reveal that he saw the whole thing with her being handed the gun. There are so many ways you could have written around the ending to have her actually make it out of there in one piece and given Bruno the chair instead.

Overall, Safe in Hell is definitely a pretty awful film. It’s one of those never ending stories of misery the whole time with a bad ending to boot. None of the characters do anything to actually help Gilda out which is where the film really fumbles the landing. With this kind of premise you’d assume that by the end most of the guys would actually be decent and would end up defending her. Maybe bumping off the corrupt cops or just lying about the whole thing when the real authorities get there. Just about any of those endings would have been more appreciated. Instead Gilda is consistently punished for her use of self defense in what I would call the most valid situations to use it. Definitely stay as far away from this film as possible!

Overall 2/10

Shangri-La Frontier Review

Posted on April 27, 2024 by dreager1

Shangri-La Frontier is one of those titles that got a good amount of hype when it was coming out. Not only was it getting the big anime production but there was even a mobile game coming out around that time. Who doesn’t like an action show about a fun VR world right? One thing that did differentiate this one from other titles is how they weren’t stuck in the game this time though. You can actually log out and you don’t die in real life when you die in the game. So it’s more about enjoying the game itself and the series succeeded massively at this. It shows that the writer was able to pull off an engaging story without life or death stakes and that’s very admirable.

The story introduces us to Sunraku (I’m mainly going to use the game names for everyone here to keep things a little more straight forward) who is a “Trash” gamer. Basically that means he intentionally only plays the absolute worst games imaginable so he can have fun mocking them and having a good time. It’s a pretty good strategy the whole time I have to admit. I do the same thing at times, only I still play the high quality stuff too. I can’t imagine limiting myself that hard. Well, one day Shangri-La Frontier comes out and Sunraku decides to give it a try. It’ll be the first “God Tier” game that he’s played so how will this feel?

Well, in a way it feels even better than for the average player. Going from a string of 0/10 games to a 10/10 is just a feeling that’s out of this world. He also happens across one of the legendary bosses in the game, Lycagon. This is such a rare spawn that almost nobody has ever even seen him. Sunraku is destroyed but this causes him to revive with a curse and a unique quest involving a bunny named Emul. Can he clear the quests and solve the mystery of the game or has he finally bit off a challenge that’s simply too big for him? Along the way he meets up with some old associates from other games including Pencilgon and Oikatzo.

One of the key challenges the series would inevitably have here is keeping your interest piqued without the big death stakes. Like I mentioned earlier, the series does well with that and I’d say the main reason is Sunraku as the lead character. He comes off as a fairly overconfident gamer who thinks he can tackle any challenge and it sort of give the show a bit of a sports vibe. Just like you’re engaged in a good game of tennis in Prince of Tennis, you enjoy the boss fights here to see how Sunraku fares. We still get glimpses of the human world from time to time where we actually see him looking at resource guides and browsing online for tips and tricks.

The show is really immersive when we’re inside of the game but I do like these details to show that this is still a video game that exists in a real world. Sunraku won’t always be the first person to discover something, in fact the one exception is the unique quest. So reading up online is something a hardcore player would absolutely be doing. We get to meet his quirky family as well and there’s even a mild romance plot going on in the human world. The absolute best detail though is that Sunraku still occasionally plays some other games. We see him enter a fighting game to practice some moves/unwind and he goes into another game for the occasional meeting.

It all does a lot for the world building. In one episode we even get to meet some of the devs behind Shangri-La which was cool. They haven’t gotten to do a whole lot yet but their banter already makes them likable characters. I have high hopes for their roles in the story coming up soon. There will be balance patches and updates coming into the game soon too so it’ll be fun to see how all of that is handled. Right now Sunraku may have the highest natural talent out of any player in the game but his character’s level isn’t as high as some others so he can still lose fights. In fact we see him lose a decent number of battles which makes sense. Even the best video game player in the world can’t expect to beat very level without dying on his first try.

This isn’t a power fantasy like Sword Art Online (Which is till legendarily hype!) and it’s going for a different vibe. Sunraku is super good at games but it’s for a very realistic reason which is that he stays home and plays video games all day. The guy’s spent his whole life doing this so it makes sense that he would be really good. The same is true for both of his main allies. At most I guess you could say Pencilgon may not make quite as much sense since she is a lot busier with her real life work but hey some people are just really good at games. She’s always a fun character to have around as well.

In terms of production values, I would say the show is very good as well. The soundtrack has a lot of variety to it and is definitely a lot of fun. The themes really help to enhance all of the scenes from slice of life moments to the fights. The Weathermon fight in particular has a lot of fun themes going on there. Both of the opening songs are also exceptional, some of the best I’ve seen in anime. The classic rock really gets you pumped for the action. Meanwhile the animation is also really good. Again, the Weathermon fight has some of the peaks for the series there as it doesn’t give an inch and keeps things moving at a high level. The animation is consistently solid throughout the show though.

Now lets talk about the characters a bit more. Like I said earlier, Sunraku’s a lot of fun and he’s a big reason why the show is so good. I like his overall confidence and how he doesn’t back down from a challenge. Even when he’s outmatched, he just trusts in his overall abilities and reaction times. He reminds me of myself to a large degree I gotta say. It always feels great when he clutches out a great victory and shows why he is still the best. He does a good job of bantering with the rest of the characters and is just a lot of fun the whole time.

He really takes his time about equipping the right items and formulating battle strategies for the fights. We get a lot of insight into his overall personality even outside of the battles. He’s a reasonable guy who has a lot going for him and that makes for an entertaining main character all the way. Then we have Emul who is sort of the sidekick/animal mascot here. She’s okay but a bit bland as far as supporting characters go. Right now I don’t feel like she really adds much to the equation. Yeah she can fight a bit but in terms of comedic potential she doesn’t have a lot yet.

Fortunately Sunraku has two full allies to help carry the load. First up is Pencilgon who definitely likes to think of herself as a leader figure. She has a lot of power and influence within the game thanks to her guild ties. While her circumstances change as the series goes on, she’s always super resourceful so you have no doubt that she will always be near the top. She has a lot of assets and knows how to exploit every rule in the game. Having her on your side is a big deal. While she tends to be a super tough character, she does allow the game to get her a bit emotional at times.

Hey that’s when you know a game is really good after all right? You want to be able to fully immerse yourself in the game and have a good time. I’d like to see her have a real fight with Sunraku at some point. Surprisingly none of the trio have actually fought each other yet and I think that would be a lot of fun. Of course my money is on Sunraku taking them down in the end. Then we have the third member of the team, Oikatzo. The fact that he is a pro gamer is really fun. I don’t remember seeing a character with that job before and it’s nice as a really good reason as to why he can keep up so well. In fact, he still has to play a lot of other games on the side which is probably the only reason why he doesn’t do even better.

Right now it’s fair to say that Sunraku is still better but Oikatzo is a top tier fighter in his own right. I also like that he doesn’t use a weapon and just uses his knuckles to deliver damage to the opponents. I’m more of a sword guy myself but there are definitely some games where I just go weapon-less and enjoy the hand to hand combat. I did that in one of the GBA RPGs a while back because there was some kind of bonus to doing that. While the alliance was temporary you get the feeling that these 3 will constantly be a trio for most of the adventure although inevitably there has to be some kind of tournament where they fight.

Then we have the classmate, Psyger-0. She has a big crush on Sunraku but the guy never notices her. It’s definitely a rather tragic subplot for her and unfortunately she tends to freeze and panic whenever he is around so she is unable to properly confess. Also, the game store they hang out at has a giant poster of Sonic Frontiers so it’s hard to notice anything else when you’re seeing a top quality game like that. Hopefully she will eventually gather her courage but in the meantime at least she gets to see him inside of the game at times. She has a super high leveled character in game which makes her one of the most powerful. It’s definitely a very impressive build even if she can’t get all of the credit for it. I think the account belonged to her sister or something like that, another character who will show up soon.

So I can’t say that I love Psyger-0, I don’t tend to be big fans of the timid characters. I can appreciate that she really takes care of business in-game though. She is actually a really solid player with how she handles the combos and adapts on the fly. The cast actually isn’t that big for the supporting characters beyond that. We do have the various other characters at Rabituza but this is really the only weakness of the series. Right now I don’t really care much about that place. It just feels a little boring and I always want to get back to the main plot. Yeah there are some good gags here occasionally and the place leads to some good fights but I just haven’t had my interest captured yet.

The blacksmith is okay and she’s good at her job but she’s not all that entertaining. Then we have a sword fighter who shows up at the very end of the season and I can’t say that he’s all that good either. The big boss is your average tough guy character but I need to see him fight seriously before I can really appreciate his character. I know this will probably be the area with a big payoff since it’s a super unique quest that only Sunraku has activated so far (Main character hype!!!) but yeah it’s just kind of dull.

The episodes are always more hype when he’s running around the real world. For example the early boss fight with Lycagon was definitely one of the highlights in the show. It was cool to see him struggle for so long against this guy. He may not have been dealing all that much damage but he was fighting hard the whole time regardless. It reminded me of the optional fight against Ganondorf at the very start of Breath of the Wild. It was a good way to introduce us to the skill ceiling in the game.

All of the other boss fights are generally fun as well. We get to see Sunraku take on many different challenges. Then there are also the times where he has to grind up levels against minions or gather collectibles. All things you would expect to see in a game like this. It all leads up to the big Wethermon fight which you could say is the main focus of pretty much the whole season. We get a pretty solid backstory and all but mainly you’re here for the fight and it delivers. It is fair to say that Wethermon is my favorite villain right now.

The guy has a great design and a killer fighting style. I really enjoyed seeing him on screen the whole time and how he just kept on getting up. It’s actually hard to see how this fight will be surpassed any time soon. It felt like an end of series type of boss rather than being so early on. In fact, the devs reference this as he may have even been the strongest out of all the bosses and that’s considering that he was nerfed. So we’ll see how the bosses fare from here.

I have no doubts about the series staying strong though. The character cast has already proven themselves to be strong enough to make any scene entertaining. You don’t even need a top threat to make things exciting. Yeah, I may not care about the lore of the world and all that much so this new professor character could get annoying fast but I have every confidence that the main cast will concentrate more on the gameplay anyway. They’re not the kinds of characters to get distracted all that easily.

At the end of each episode there is a little SLF Mini segment which is kind of retro because I feel like more shows used to do that back in the day. The segment can be hit or miss at times depending on what you enjoy/find funny but all in all I like having it there. In particular I like the ones that show us events we missed or ones that give extra depth to a scene. The comedic ones can be a bit more of a miss but so far there has been a good balance.

Overall, I would definitely recommend checking this show out. Shangri-La Frontier is a great game. The rock music is so good and the show has a great action vibe all the way. It’s sort of like a back to basics kind of show but done with top of the line graphics. I also think it’s a nice change of pace to just have the characters enjoying the virtual world and having a good time. Not every show has to be super traumatic to the main cast at least. I’d say there’s definitely a whole market for more titles like this. Just a fun adventure with great writing and a really solid story. Hopefully they continue the series sooner than later because I am ready for more adventures!

Overall 8/10

Destination Inner Space Review

Posted on April 27, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for one of those classic creature feature films. You can always expect a whole lot of action out of a title like this. It’s a retro film that has aged well with solid pacing and a fun monster. I definitely won’t say that it’s out of this world or anything like that but it gets the job done. Your interest will be maintained the whole time and the simple plot makes for a good amount of replay value.

The movie starts with some kind of underwater object being spotted. It doesn’t appear to be a submarine or any kind of life that we have previously known. A few experts are brought in and Commander Wayne is ready to lead the team. Technically this falls more under the doctor’s authority than the marines so Wayne is a bit more limited in power than he normally would be but he is still ready to do what must be done. Unfortunately there is some drama though as a guy named Maddox is here and he keeps insinuating that Wayne did something really terrible a long time ago. It’s some kind of conspiracy that must not be uttered and it’s threatening to tear this crew apart.

While this is a creature feature film, you could definitely say that most of the stakes and danger actually come from the human plot. Maddox is really a loose cannon and definitely the worst character in the film. All of these passive aggressive jabs he takes at Wayne just feels really petty. It gets much worse once we actually find out the truth about his past. The guy was making a whole lot of noise for something that really wasn’t Wayne’s fault, even remotely. Seriously, the guy’s doing a lot of squawking when he should only be blaming himself. It makes him look super bad to be honest and I would argue that he never recovers from this. Just a really bad character all around.

The most surreal part of the film though happens once we’ve learned the tragic backstory. The heroine who likes Maddox suddenly says that she has gained respect for him. It’s supposed to be a touching moment since he just came clean about everything but instead you’re just rolling your eyes. You can’t take this seriously at all because one, it had to be completely dragged out of him. He was ready to keep up the pretense the entire time and blame Wayne for everything. He was actively lying about the events and if Wayne wasn’t persistent enough then this would have really gone sideways. It’s only after enough pressure was applied that he cracks. And second, it just makes Maddox look terrible.

Even if you make some excuses for the guy, at best you don’t lose respect. I don’t see how you could gain it though. So yeah that romance plot was pretty bad. Wayne’s romance plot wasn’t much better though. In his plot he tries convincing a girl to give a guy a chance. This lady is super jaded about men in general and I don’t blame her since Wayne’s first instinct when coming aboard the ship is to flirt with both of the women there. So it does make him come across as rather shallow I have to admit. This romance definitely doesn’t need to be in the film at all.

Wayne’s a solid main character aside from that though. He’s focused on the mission and doing his best to keep everyone alive. He knows what he’s doing which is more than I can say for most of the other characters. The main scientist/doctor here looks really bad. The guy is so concerned with getting a big discovery and achieving new science that he is willing to risk everyone’s lives without a good plan. The guy is actively getting everyone into trouble and does so very unapologetically. Having this guy around is really like having an enemy on deck. Things would have gotten a lot smoother without him.

Now how about the monster? Well the creature is definitely a lot of fun. It’s got a very colorful design and is an aquatic type creature like the Gill Man. The aliens are fairly high tech with the UFO and it made for a good antagonist. It is far from being the strongest villain on the block though. The humans are able to overpower this creature physically which does mean that it would be absolutely stomped/devastated by the average opponent. It would certainly not be going toe to toe with a Xenomorph for example.

The design is what counts though. It also got lucky with one of the humans pouring water on it so it wouldn’t die. Giving water to a water based alien creature is probably the #1 thing you should not do if you want to survive an alien encounter. The humans make a lot of pretty bad mistakes here but I would still say the writing itself is good. Sometimes characters are bound to make some really bad moves and that can be realistic in its own way. It’s not like these guys have to be super geniuses or anything like that.

Like I said earlier, the pacing is pretty good too. Things tend to move fast but you have to really enjoy the situation itself since the creatures take a while to do anything. This is definitely a film about the tension of the unknown and the human drama as much as it is a creature feature film. The action scenes hold up when they occur though and this film just makes for a good time. It’s really got everything I could want/expect from this type of movie.

Overall, Destination Inner Space has a clever title and this makes for a good movie. Even today the ocean is filled with mysteries and you can imagine a lot of spooky stuff being down there. Perhaps no humanoid aliens like this but it makes for a fun element. The movie isn’t flashy so don’t expect a bunch of giant explosions or anything like that. At the same time, what you can bank on is a lot of good fun. This is a film that delivers all the way and you aren’t going to forget it.

Overall 7/10

White Noise Review

Posted on April 27, 2024 by dreager1

White Noise is one of those desperate horror films that actually snagged an interesting idea but rushed to churn out some random product that barely made use of it. I can’t say I was all that disappointed because to be honest I had fairly low expectations going into it. The movie’s fairly bad as you would guess. The villains are overpowered with no weaknesses and the whole film is an exercise in futility. At least the film has some restraint and doesn’t go too crazy though.

The film starts off with Jonathan being married to Anna and she is even expecting a kid which is hype. Unfortunately she dies after that so Jonathan gets rather depressed. He ends up meeting a shady guy who was following him around for a while though named Raymond. He dabbles in the arcane arts and explains that Sarah’s spirit can still be heard through the computer. They just have to listen hard enough and he’s a pro at the electro voice phenomenon and has made it his life’s work. He’s been helping another lady named Sarah as well. Now she can help Jonathan a bit because Raymond gets bumped off soon after. The spirits don’t appreciate this intrusion and plan to keep on murdering people. What can Jonathan do against these demonic entities?

Nothing to be honest. Lol you thought this guy could do anything about it? These ghosts are intangible, they’ve got super speed, super strength, endless stamina, they can control your body and make you jump out a window, etc. Their abilities are basically limitless so all Jonathan can do is flail around for a while until the ghosts have had enough of him. That’s my main problem with some titles like this. You have to at least introduce a concept that gives Jonathan some kind of a chance in this fight. Otherwise, what is even the point of watching the film? It’s just pointless if his only escape is his inevitable death. At that point then what are we even doing here?

The film also gets rather boring at times. It’s good that Jonathan is super good at hearing because half the time I couldn’t even get what the ghosts were saying through the computer screen. It could be like gibberish at times and I’m someone who tends to like white noise. I use it every night to create that hype atmosphere although I’ve thought about buying a more custom noise like a rainforest sound or something. I think those could even be more fun although I haven’t tried that yet. But even so it’s not something that can carry a movie. I did appreciate that most of the transitions were done using white noise though. The general colors, backgrounds, and effects weren’t bad either.

There just isn’t a lot of them to go around and they tend to be very repetitive. Also, it goes through the annoying cliche of only the evil spirits having power while the good ones can only repeat one or two phrases like an NPC. Anna shows up a few times to tell Jonathan to run but she never gives any more details than that. Also lets face it, running’s not even going to do anything at this point although I appreciate the attempt. No, he’s doomed no matter how you slice it.

One plot point that starts kind of late is how Jonathan can quickly see into the future. He is given glimpses into different dark fates that await various characters but with enough time to save them or help out in time. He does help out a bit but I’d be annoyed with this ability because it doesn’t come with any hints or anything. He just has to run around until he finds out what is going on. It’s also usually a half victory as someone still dies or gets injured while he saves someone else.

Ultimately though, it’s all rather futile like I mentioned. Jonathan never stood a chance at winning or doing much of anything. Depending on how you interpret the ending, it’s not looking much better for the other characters either. Part of the ending is a little funny though with some more static noise showing up and we get one last line from one of the characters. Everyone looks either shocked or happy except for the driver who is over the whole thing. He just drives off looking rather annoyed and I don’t blame him because from his point of view the whole thing’s probably been a real drag. Now he’s going to have to compete with a legacy that will probably be dramatized a bit. If he was in the sequel I’d bet that things would not go well for him.

Ultimately the message here is really not to mess with the dead and spirits. Once someone dies then you’ve gotta move on and fast. No trying to contact them or anything because you’re just going to be going around in circles and contacting demons anyway. I’d also say you should never trust some random guy who’s been following you around and telling you all of these weird stories. I get that Jonathan was desperate but yeah you definitely need to be able to move on. Not rebound of course, but just keep it calm and not chase after her spirit.

The film also has a really random plot twist near the end of the film that doesn’t make any sense. Feels more like a shock value moment than anything to be honest. Lets just say there is one human villain here to make things a little more tense at the end but there’s just no point to that. We already know that the demons can do anything they want so why involve a human? Just to mess with the main character? That seems like the only possible explanation. The demons strike me as really unreasonable villains who always have some kind of a chip on their shoulders even when they are the ones who created the situation. Yeah they’re not winning any points in my book any time soon.

Overall, At the end of the day there’s not much to positive to really say about the film. It’s a very by the numbers horror film but it doesn’t have a ton of good jump scares. The computer screen moments tend to be on the boring side and you’re really waiting for some action. Unfortunately there’s not much for the main character to even fight for most of the film and by the time we get a human villain the film is ending. This is a film that should have had more fun with the electronic setup. That should have also played into the demons weakness somehow. You know, just give us something with a bit more substance instead of dwelling on the computer screen for so long. Additionally the whole sub plot of Jonathan playing superhero by seeing into the future didn’t make a lot of sense and felt shoehorned in. The film just didn’t have time to really go into this plot so it felt pointless.

Overall 3/10

Bad Day at Black Rock Review

Posted on April 27, 2024 by dreager1

All right it’s time for one of those films that I hadn’t heard of before but was actually really solid. There’s a lot of good tension here and at times it can even play out a bit like a Twilight Zone episode. The main character did annoy me at times with how much disrespect he was taking from the other characters but ultimately it was a tough situation and the movie was careful not to give him any easy outs. It makes for a tense watch the whole way through.

The film starts with a guy named John getting off of a train and into a small town. For some reason nobody is happy to see him and he is given the cold shoulder immediately. The concierge straight up tells him to go home and nobody wants to give him a car to drive. He’s told all of the hotel rooms are booked, people threaten him, etc. John came here in search of a guy named Komoko but the instant he brings up this name things get even worse. The local sheriff is completely drunk and refuses to help while everyone else just acts like a villain. It’s clear that nothing good happened to Komoko and now something is about to happen to John. Someone lets him know that he will be murdered by the town at the end of the day. Outnumbered with no vehicles, weapons, and 1 dead arm, can John find a way out of here?

You can see how the situation is definitely not in his favor. I’d say the biggest issue is really that he only has 1 good arm. It means that even with the element of surprise, any attack option will be incredibly risky. One bad hit and John will be on the ground with no real way to defend himself. Yeah it’s possible to fight with one arm but it gives you dozens of new weaknesses. You have to really fight perfectly and even then winning is only a possibility. Particularly with a whole town against you. Yes, it’s a small town but we’re still talking around 6-8 guys against 1 man. Those are not good odds.

John does his best not to pick any fights and to keep his head low but it’s clear that this won’t work. Now that he’s entered this town he won’t be allowed to leave. A good chunk of the film is really about the town making veiled threats against John as he tries to figure out what to do. Actually to be honest the threats are barely even veiled by the end. For most of the movie I was expecting there to be a twist like John could use his second arm or he had some kind of gun but that’s not the way things go. He is actually able to fight reasonably well but like I said, that’s not enough to really make him feel safe. If I was him I would have finished off the first attacker during the bar fight though. At least you take one guy down before dying.

In these kinds of situations I always feel like it’s better to die quickly than risk a slow death. So you jump into the fray which will force the enemy to shoot you a few times and then bam, you’re out of the picture. So you either win or you die fast and there’s no middle-ground. Now I should say that in the town not everyone is super evil. Some are just weak willed and don’t have the courage to stand up to the mob. It’s particularly tough in a small town like this. As one lady says, John will at least be dead in short order but the rest of them have to continue living in the town. It’s not even much of a town either.

They are running out of food and water, nobody ever visits and the place is completely isolated. There are less than 20 people living in the village and it doesn’t look like they will be having any kids anytime soon. It’s like watching an extinction in real time. The fact that the survivors actively try to prevent anyone from visiting definitely says a lot too. They are really making history here but the wrong kind.

As for what happened to Komoko, well it is explained. You can probably guess almost immediately what happened to him though based on how the town is. It’s definitely a pretty tragic event and it makes everyone look really bad. Even the characters who try to help out by the end I still don’t have a whole lot of sympathy for. They didn’t act when it counted the first time and that made everyone complicit. It’s almost worse in a way for the “good guys” who did nothing compared to the villains who are openly evil. If you don’t do anything then you really helped out in the end. The Sheriff in particular is rather toothless as he gets threatened as well and pushed around. That was definitely not a good look.

The movie sticks the landing and has a satisfying conclusion. I had a good time watching the movie. There are a decent amount of characters all things considered and they are written well. The villains have a lot of screen presence and all of the characters seem rather realistic. Like I said, I’d have liked John to do some things a bit different but who knows how things would have gone. At least keep the gun once you knocked the first guy out, that could have been super handy.

Overall, Bad Day at Black Rock is definitely an intense film. I would say part of what makes it rather scary as well is that you can picture this happening in real life. You always do want to be careful where you travel and you should always do some research first. Even the best of countries have rough areas, neighborhoods, and yeah even towns can fall into the picture. If you go unprepared then you are likely to vanish in the wind. Back in the day it was harder to actually do research like that though. John certainly had no idea what he was walking into. The movie tackles some serious themes and does so without missing a beat or overplaying its hand. I would certainly recommend checking it out.

Overall 7/10

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Monthly Archives: April 2024

Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens Review

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Review

Bomberman Jetters Review

The Goodbye Girl Review

Kin Review

Safe in Hell Review

Shangri-La Frontier Review

Destination Inner Space Review

White Noise Review

Bad Day at Black Rock Review

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