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My Happy Marriage Season 2 Review

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It’s time for the return of the rare romantic drama series over the many romantic comedies running around. Typically I’d say that a comedy will always beat a drama but this has been a good show. The first season was fun enough although held back by Miyo herself. Season 2 is a definite improvement but Miyo continues to develop rather slowly and isn’t really being aware enough of her surroundings. She needs to tap into the classic power fantasy elements that have made characters like Jinwoo and Boruto living legends. Miyo has the abilities for this, such is her birth right. So now we need to see her using them.

We’re able to squeeze in a few different arcs throughout this season. The first few episodes are about Miyo finally meeting Kudou’s parents. Naturally this is always a fairly big moment in any romance series. As you would probably expect from Kudou’s demeanor, his mother is quite strict. She begins bullying Miyo in earnest and when Miyo doesn’t fight back, the bullying only intensifies. In a way she seems upset that Miyo isn’t tougher since Kudou’s partner has to be strong. Kudou’s father is a lot more mild in comparison. It’s a fun enough way to start the arc although it’s fair to say that it’s the weakest arc of the season. Miyo just doesn’t handle herself with enough poise here and we should have been done with the bullying stuff by the end of season 1. Nobody should be able to mess with Miyo by this point.

Miyo has come a long way from the days of season 1 where she was a punching bag to every character in existence. She doubts herself less here although she still moves with less poise and authority than she should. Miyo is at
her best when Kudou’s life is on the line as she quickly proves that she doesn’t have a “No kill” rule. That’s a good thing in this kind of verse where it would be difficult to imprison everyone and you have to deal with politics running around. She is slowly getting more used to using her powers in an offensive way as well.

Miyo has a ways to go but if she keeps up her training then she will be a force to be reckoned with. The problem is that she seems to be actively deciding not to practice her abilities and I could see that being a huge problem down the road. When you have special abilities I would argue that it is your duty to practice using them and improving your craft. It’s just not an optional obligation by that point and I need her to start embracing this. Miyo also needs to work on establishing stronger boundaries like not letting Arta constantly pine after her. Shutting that guy down once and for all would be a good thing and I’d also argue that she could probably tone down her attempts to sympathize with everyone.

Sympathizing with a guy who has been on a big mass murder spree just isn’t the right move if you ask me. So Miyo had her ups and downs here but if she continues the trend of getting better after every season then we should be in a good place. Meanwhile Kudou is still a solid character as always who is ready to take Miyo’s side. He defends her from everyone including family so I appreciate his loyalty. He is generally more confident and uses his powers as needed. While his battle intelligence takes a huge hit in this season, he looks good beyond that. It’s a case where his core personality is still really good which is the main important part. He also makes a big decision near the end of the series that was definitely a good one. I can see this being a huge benefit over the next seasons as he will have more free time now.

Kudou’s father Tadakiyo is a reasonably fun character. He takes a more laidback approach as he lets his wife largely do whatever she wants. He is happily retired and just likes to keep the peace. It means that you can’t really count on him in daily affairs but he can fight as needed. He’s not a particularly interesting character as a result but he gets the job done. His wife Fuyu starts off as a big bully but softens up later on. I think the anime’s pacing was a little too quick in this case though as she basically becomes a completely different character within a few episodes. That was a little annoying but I suppose she’s still solid enough. Maybe the writer just figured things would be too hard on Miyo to have to deal with another big bully and so that plot was cut short.

As always Arata is around and I really appreciate the open disdain that Kudou shows him the whole time. Kudou just can’t stand the guy and with good reason. Miyo may be able to overlook a kidnapping attempt and some flirting but not her future husband. Arata seems like one of those guys who just can’t take a hint and is always on the wrong side of every matter. His plan is absolutely terrible in this season and I’m convinced that he is basically just around to hold Miyo back. She needs to cut this guy out already. Honestly he’s just gone way too far for anyone to ever trust him. I don’t see him ever really going up as a character.

We start to get glimpses of the main plot as the legendary Usui declares that he will be taking Miyo. This guy is the most powerful member of the Usuba clan and he can use complete hypnosis to mess with your 5 senses. So as a result he could be anyone or anywhere. Kudou takes Miyo to a guardsman base for her protection where she meets a girl named Kaoruko. The problem is that Kaoruko also likes Kudou and most of the soldiers here are all big bullies for no reason. Will Miyo have what it takes to put an end to this once and for all?

For the record I don’t think taking Miyo to this base is a terribly good idea but no location would be all that safe. Realistically there is no defense against Usui due to his ability. The main plan that would have made sense would have been to expedite her training instead. Still, it’s a good chance for Miyo to make friends and she handles herself pretty well in this arc as she stands up to the bullies and defends Kaoruko. If anything it’s just a really bad look for the army that they are unaware of all this treatment or simply don’t care.

Kaoruko makes for a fun character. She is a solid fighter and doesn’t let all the bullying get her down. I did have some suspicions about her that ended up being well founded but despite that she is okay. It just feels like there is not much of a point to her being in the story just yet so we’ll have to see if that changes for future arcs. Since she seems to be lacking in particularly strong abilities, I don’t see her being very useful in a fight. Her last big appearance is mainly crying at a party so it was a rather sad way to go out.

The big climax happens when Usui finally makes his move and kidnaps Kudou. For once it looks like Miyo will have to be the one to save the day and fortunately she is aided by Kudou’s shikigami. Although what she doesn’t know is that the Shikigami shares all of Kudou’s senses and he gets the memories so Miyo would definitely be rather embarrassed if she realized what was going on. Nevertheless, it’s time for action and the shikigami is unfortunately very weak so she will still have to do most of the heavy lifting on her own. Not like this will be the first time that she has done so though so this ought to be easy. It’s just the first time in a combat sense.

The final arc has quite a bit of action which is nice. It also gives the soldiers something to do as they fight a bit in the subplot. In general I always found the soldiers’ plot to be rather boring compared to the main Miyo plot but at least it went somewhere. The show was hinting early on at a possible argument between Miyo and Kudou when he rats out a protest group but nothing came of it. Maybe it was just showing that she was a bit sympathetic instead of her being upset. Still, it’ll be interesting if that turns into anything.

The soldiers have powers and such but they all feel so weak. Kudou has one right hand man who is important but most of the soldiers are rank and file otherwise. I think their plot will be more interesting as we get to learn about more and more of the specific soldiers within the group. That’ll help balance things out a bit there. Also we’ll need their plot to be good because assuming we don’t get another fighter like Usui for a bit, I’m not sure the romance is enough for the show to hang its hat on.

The romance between Kudou and Miyo does tend to be rather weak. I like the fact that it’s not a rebound or anything like that but Miyo is much too timid and since the two characters are ultra stiff around each other, there isn’t much in the way of banter. You could pull out a random anime from any year and it would probably have a better romantic dynamic between the leads. Maybe that will change in the next saga, hopefully it does. I would imagine this should be a natural part of the development.

As for Usui, he was a good main villain. His overall plan was rather lackluster but he does have a sad backstory. He just mishandled the whole situation and let things quickly get out of hand. The show also may have made him a bit too powerful. There’s a reason why complete hypnosis is used so sparingly in media. There is basically no counter to it. You need a high tier series with FTL fighters like Bleach for a proper fight to really be put into action. Realistically Usui should be able to handle the entire verse here. His ability to be completely invisible is unmatched and of course he is also an expert sword fighter. The show may have used this guy up a little too soon but of course there could be stronger characters in the winds. We’ll have to see.

The animation looks solid here. The show gets to show off a bit more this time since there are more action scenes at the ready. It’s always fun to see the fire and electricity shooting out at the opponents. The hand to hand fights are also solid as are the sword battles. Towards the end some of the fight scenes do make you shake your head a bit though. I get the feeling that the author is definitely not used to fight scenes as much as the romantic ones. For example Kudou’s final fight just doesn’t make sense as he seems to forget object permanence immediately. He knows good and well that his opponent has the ability of illusions and yet he’s shocked every time his attack doesn’t land.

Throughout the fight he learns nothing and makes the same mistakes over and over. It just makes Kudou look absolutely terrible as opposed to making the villain look better. As someone who was said to be the strongest in the verse, I would expect more out of Kudou. Particularly since his abilities have a wide range of destructive effect. So it shouldn’t be particularly hard for him to land a blow by predicting where the villain will be and striking. Yeah it was not a good look for him.

Meanwhile the soundtrack isn’t bad although it’s not particularly memorable. I would like the next season to really introduce some proper battle themes. The theme song is also okay but that’s about it. So you could say that the soundtrack is more of a weak point in general. This is a story that has to thrive more on the plot and fights which is fine, the series is able to do that. A nice soundtrack would be appreciated though, so fingers crossed for the next season.

Overall, This season brought more action which was definitely nice. At times the actual story is still not the most engaging though and the show’s attempts at humor tends to be on the weak side. It’s not really the kind of show where you’ll crack a smile. That said, we’re finally approaching the wedding and it’s about time since that should have happened already. I’m ready for Miyo to embrace her role as a Kudou and really start to show off some confidence. This is her chance to shine and she can’t let anybody stop her. If she continues to develop her powers as well then she should be a real threat. Also a change of scenery could be nice for the characters to get away from the main cities and not be tied down by regulations. Could be a nice way to explore their being a power couple. If you’re looking for a solid romance to check out, this one fits the bill.

Overall 6/10

My Hero Academia: You’re Next Review

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It’s time for the next movie in the My Hero series. As the main series edges closer to the end of its run, the movies have to deal with the stronger incarnations of each hero. Will they be able to bring in more quirk fighters to handle the strongest fighters in the verse? Well they do bring in some strong fighters but you do have to suspend a little more disbelief than the last times that these guy can actually hold their own. It’s a great movie with lots of action as you’d expect though.

The movie starts with the heroes taking down some more villains as usual but then they bump into a girl who is being held hostage by a guy who is acting like he’s the new All Might. He calls himself Dark Might and wants to be a new symbol of peace…using fear. His villain organization intends to dominate this world so Deku has to stop them and save the girl. The rest of the heroes are ready to help along with the addition of the mysterious Giulio but is this guy really an ally they can depend on or is he just another criminal to mop up?

Since the power levels are a fairly big thing here lets get into them first. The villains all have rather intense quirks that seem to have no real drawback. You could argue that they basically break the balance of the verse. All Might’s successor, Stars and Stripes, All for One, and One for All are basically the 3 strongest quirks in the verse. Nothing is really on their level as the latter two were built over whole generations while Stars and Stripes is just super busted for no reason. Shigaraki’s decay quirk is also super good but he does have to grab you. The powers these guys have just don’t seem to have any limitations.

For example one girl can look at you and send you into a dream world where you are completely helpless. She could then stab or shoot you and it would be all over. Even Deku with all the other spirits residing within him was unable to break out so it was up to Giulio to do his thing. The idea that his robotic parts can activate on their own and do something was pretty handy but you can see how this power is fairly broken. She would be able to dominate most fighters with ease in any setting.

Then you have the guy who can effectively stop time. He makes a wide area around him slow down to the point of being negligible. Deku had to really go at full power to even stand a chance and the guy being shocked was the only reason it started to work. Seems like it doesn’t drain much stamina with how long the guy can keep this up and of course he can move at normal speeds so he can easily murder you while the time slow is active.

We also have a teleporter who can teleport instantaneously everywhere that he can see. It’s also fairly busted but normal in the sense that every verse has some kind of a teleporter running around. His partner with the telekinesis was probably the most normal one. There is a guy who sets up an RPG land but I was a little unclear on if his power was summoning/reality warping or if that was incidental because the monsters kept getting generated even once he was gone. The sheer infinite numbers of them was intense though.

There is also a guy who can erase quirks like Eraser but it’s a bit different. He shuts off powers over a wide range and then keeps them on if you are next to him. Great in team competitions especially with how wide the range is. It’s impressively deep so it would be really hard for this guy to lose so long as his partners are at least halfway decent. If they let up at all then he is a sitting duck though so it’s good that he’s part of a team.

So these guys are all very powerful with their hax abilities but what about Dark Might? Well, he uses energy coins of sorts which he can use to form energy objects. He can make punches, barriers, etc. It’s a very versatile weapon but he does have to be throwing them around. He has no super strength or speed of his own. The film never quite convinces you why Deku can’t just speedblitz the life out of this guy and end things in a moment. I would say he feels like a downgrade compared to the villains from the previous films.

I was also surprised we didn’t get more of a battle of ideologies with him and Deku. It quickly becomes apparent that this won’t be a thing that happens when Dark Might quickly turned into a generic villain who just wants to conquer the world though. I was surprised they didn’t go for some kind of a justice parallel. At least make Dark Might think that he is the hero of justice before Deku exposes his flaws or something. Instead he’s basically just pure evil the whole time. So I like the concept of the character but thought the execution was off.

Regardless the fight scenes were excellent though. It’s always great to see the big 3 teaming up and in general Deku always provides the best fight scenes with his speed. The fire and ice effects were also solid from his helpers and you can tell that the movie got a really solid budget. They were not holding anything back here which is as it should be. The soundtrack is solid as always too so you definitely had no worries on the technical aspects.

The side characters all get some moments here including the pro heroes. It’s always nice to see them show up and use their signature attacks even just for the acknowledgement that they are around. Always better to have a cameo than to just not appear. Now should they have done a little better in stopping the ship? Probably, but at the same time I do think Deku has long since surpassed all of the pros here so if he was having a hard time then we can buy it a bit more for these guys.

Giulio is the main OC for this film and he’s not bad. I think he gives up a little too quickly though in terms of jumping right to trying to murder the girl. He definitely needed to think of other options. Why not call in the pro heroes? In some cases that’s not always easy but this seemed like one without any real downsides. Surely they would be able to help out a little bit. The guy has a solid character arc and I like his gruff personality but it was still hard to look past the murder attempts. It’s kind of a big deal when you think about it. The heroine here is okay but doesn’t really get much to do. She’s being mind controlled for 99% of the movie and every time she snaps out of it she is kidnapped and mind controlled again. Quite the cycle when you think about it. So not really her fault, but she didn’t have a chance to shine.

When you pop in a movie like this you’re mainly looking forward to the big fight scenes and the film definitely delivers. While there is some down time between fights, it never goes on for too long or anything like that. So you can really sit back and enjoy the fireworks. Power levels are things you contemplate during the movie but they don’t end up hurting a film. I’m just glad that we got the action and that the villains had fairly inventive quirks. You could make a case that they would wash the League of Villains if they fought but it would be interesting to see how all of the hax go up against each other.

Overall, My Hero Academia churns out a lot of consistently great movies and this one is definitely no exception. The action really doesn’t let up and you get to enjoy seeing Deku and friend fight off against the most powerful villains out there. I’ll definitely be eager to see what film comes out next. Hopefully some kind of a crossover with the Vigilantes cast because that would have a ton of potential. If it takes place completely after the main series it would be a good way to expand the world development. In the meantime, definitely check this one out.

Overall 8/10

Bicycle Thieves Review

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It’s time for a film that was fairly short but also a good deal of fun. It’s what I would call a very subdued film but one that still gets the plot across. At the end of the day, a bike is stolen and while for most of the characters this isn’t a big deal, it’s definitely huge to the main character. You can feel the drama and ultimately the film shows how he gets more and more desperate to the point of his undoing.

The movie starts by introducing us to Antonio who is having a hard time providing for his wife and kid because there are no jobs available. You have the ultra rich and then most of the people in town who are super poor. There isn’t really much of a balance to be found here at all. Well, he finally gets a job but it is contingent on getting a bike. Antonio sells the last of his earthly possessions in order to get a bike but then it is promptly stolen one day while he is on the job. Can he get the bike back or is it curtains for him?

Right away Antonio sees how he won’t have backup on this mission. The cops basically give up immediately as they say it just won’t be possible to track down the bike. By this point it has likely been disassembled or is just out of their reach. Still, if Antonio can find the bike, they will keep the serial number on file so that he can make a claim to it. It’s a huge city though and everyone has a bike. There are hundreds on the streets and in the markets so this is really like finding a needle in a haystack. It will not be easy to complete this mission.

Finding the individual thief might be easier but even then how do you get the proof that he is guilty? A lot of the crooks all stick up for themselves too so he will really be in enemy territory here. Due to the nature of the job (Putting up posters) it will also be tough to constantly be guarding the bike even if Antonio gets it back. It may just get stolen again. Faced with all of this, Antonio also starts considering going down the dark path and just getting a bike of his own.

It’s a film about being pushed into a tough spot and seeing how you will react. Some will go off the deep end and just sink to the same level while others will push through. It’s easy to determine what to do from the couch but of course in that situation it could be a whole lot different. Either way the film is written well and has quick pacing. The movie is really over in the blink of an eye.

I can use this one as a good example of how quality writing can get you far. Objectively speaking it’s not like this film has a huge story or anything like that. It’s a very small and direct one. What really sets it apart is that the film establishes the situation well so you can sympathize with Antonio right away. It’s not like he’s an amazing character or anything but he’s just a guy trying to get through the day. He’s persistent and uses every connection available. There are just limits to what one person can do, especially on such a timer. Additionally it seems like the crime rates were rather high here which makes it all the more unlikely that he would find the bike because it’s just not a great neighborhood to be in.

There is also a character who is supposed to be all knowing and at first he writes her off as a scam but begins to think better of it later on. It’s one of those things where he just got really desperate but his first hunch was correct. If anything he just ends up wasting money along the way like with that scam or buying a bunch of food in a burst of frustration. The problem only gets worse the more that he tries to pursue it. It’s why theft is such a stressful crime. Odds are that when someone takes something from you, you’re never going to find it again.

It’s also a reminder of how tight money can be at times. When you’re going through a slump and have to cut back on meals and food, you remember how much worse it could really be. These people were really just trying to survive and doing so without the knowledge of a steady job to back you up is really something. I’ll also give Antonio’s kid some props for doing his best to help out. He was a good sport as they kept running around everywhere. He did make some mistakes and at times could be a bit slow on the ball but for his age he did better than most would.

Antonio’s wife seemed more the panicky type and wasting money on a seer seemed like a really bad idea considering how they were doing financially. It’s like if you’re down to your final $5 but you still want to go to the bar and get a quick drink. It’s just not a good idea at all and will only make the situation that much worse. I suppose she really thought that the lady had all the answers and could help but yeah it was not a good idea.

Overall, You definitely couldn’t call this a happy film but it also isn’t downright depressing or anything. I would say it’s a sad film and one that ends right before things are about to get even sadder for the characters. It was a good look for the city but definitely in an annoying kind of way. It’s a satisfying watch and while I don’t think there will be much in the way of replay value here, I would definitely recommend checking it out. I can see why people enjoy watching this film.

Overall 7/10

Wario: Master of Disguise Review

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“At what point did you realize you were playing the worst game of all time?” I always like thought prompts like that. Usually the answers are pretty fun, especially when the person is still playing the game. Well, I started to have this question pop in my head as I was playing the game but I know deep in my heart that this isn’t the worst game of all time. Man did it try though. The gameplay is really bad and the stylus destroys any potential that it might have had. Make no mistake, this isn’t a game that you play…it’s a game that plays you.

The game starts with Wario watching TV as he wishes he were rich but then he comes up with a brilliant idea. Why not teleport inside the TV show and get rich??? He is a mega genius after all so he invents a helmet that lets him break the boundaries between dimensions and hops inside. He steals a wand from Mr. Cannoli and now wants to assemble the missing relic pieces to get his wishes granted. Yes, everything is going well for Wario but is he dabbling with powers beyond his comprehension?

The story isn’t particularly interesting so you’ll tune out early on. There are parts that are ironically fun like Cannoli’s theme that plays whenever he appears. That was pretty fun because it was a quality theme. Additionally I would say the game does try to throw in a lot of lore and hype by the end. It was just so deep into the game that it was basically over by then. They should have found a way to make things a little more interesting before then. The idea of a more plot based Nintendo game is always fun, you just have to handle it with the greatest of care.

It all comes down to the gameplay though. A game can have a terrible story but still be fun with the right gameplay. Well sadly it doesn’t deliver. The game is built around transforming into different Wario forms and using their abilities to solve puzzles. The goal is to get to the end of the level and find a relic or beat up a boss. The levels range from being 20-90 minutes long. I think they’re all meant to be more like 20-30 based on how the play time goes red as it gets too long but good luck figuring these out so fast. The levels are as poorly developed as possible.

To switch costumes you have to draw on the screen but the game is very particular about the drawings themselves. This means you often have to try and transform more than once in order to actually get into the form. This part is what will have you shaking your head. It just doesn’t make sense…none of it makes sense. So yeah that part definitely stings and then the powers themselves also use the stylus. To fly you have to blow into the 3DS microphone so be prepared to do that a whole lot near the end.

You have to open treasure chests to get key items and these require you to play through the same 5 minigames over and over again. Definitely brutal stuff and some of them just feel rigged. There is one minigame about tracing objects that I never got right even once. Fortunately the treasure chests do change the minigame every time so even if you lose once then you can try again and it’ll be a different minigame. That should provide some solace at least.

Then you have a 1-2 checkpoints in a level so you respawn there when you die. Yes, if you die to a boss be prepared to have to go through a few rooms again to get back there. Additionally some of the puzzles deactivate so you have to solve them again. You already know the answers by this point so it’s not too bad but it’s still tedious. The game almost goes out of its way to be as tedious as possible and that’s what will have you shaking your head. This was not supposed to go this way. The game was supposed to be intense and awesome, not a total letdown like this.

It comes down to why you don’t want to tie your game into a gimmick because it will always backfire. The stylus just isn’t fun to use. Never was…never will be. When I play a platformer I want to be actually playing it. At least I can say that the graphics aren’t bad. The character designs are actually good like with the final boss. The game does turn out on the visuals. The soundtrack is way more on the repetitive side but I still wouldn’t say that it’s bad. The Cannoli theme is good like I mentioned before. I think there is some kind of true ending if you get all the treasures in the game too so it had a bit of replay value. Not enough to even be remotely tempting mind you, but if you enjoyed the game then there’s that. Although none of the treasures are even hidden so if you liked the game a lot then you will have probably gotten them already. The game feels rather long so I guess it earns the price you paid to get it at least.

Overall, Wario: Master of Disguise feels rather disgraceful most of the time. You’d think it would be on the level of Mario or something but it’s not even close. The game is definitely not up to Nintendo’s seal of quality the whole time. Everything feels slapped together without a lot of care or consideration. I wanted the game to be better but I had to shake my head while playing it. The game doesn’t have any quality of life features and so playing through it can be a bit of a chore. It’s just not the big game that I thought it was. You want to stay far, far away from this one. It’s just a recipe for disaster.

Overall 3/10

The Man From Utah Review

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It’s time for a film where John Wayne plays a character named…John? Yeah you already know this is going to be a good one. It’s a very old film since it’s from the 30s but it still does have a full soundtrack and everything so that was nice. The film does feel its age but it still holds up as a solid experience. It is incredibly short though so things have to move quickly but in a way that may be a good thing. I think the novelty could have worn off if this was too long.

The film starts off with John singing and having a good ole time as he dashes through the wild west. This is clearly a man on a mission but then he bumps into a bunch of bank robbers. He holds his own against them but they run off and John nearly gets framed for being one of them. Fortunately, John gets away but the Marshall catches up to him and enlists the guy’s help. See there is going to be a big contest in a few days and these crooks have been cheating to win a bunch of them. If John enters, they will try taking him down as well and then the Marshall will have caught them in the act. John agrees to help.

Now I do have to admit that the whole thing does make the previous heroes look sloppy since they didn’t notice the villains fiddling with the equipment all the time. These guys don’t exactly seem like top professionals or anything like that after all. They’re also not the smartest crooks in the bunch as they desert the girl member of the group right before the heist. Seems like an easy way to get yourself double crossed right? They should have brought her along or made up some lie on why she would be joining them later on. Just straight up ditching her is absolutely the worst decision you could make there. It makes them look real bad there.

Granted they still put up a fight at the end and overwhelm the bank worker. It would have been nice if they could have been stopped a bit sooner but at the end of the day the heroes still took care of business. John could have been one of the ultimate sheriffs but instead he decided to go for the romantic life. This won’t surprise you but the romance here is very rushed. When a film is only around an hour or so that is very likely though.

The actual competition is okay but all of them involve animals which is not a pastime I can really support. Having to tie up bulls or stay on horses that don’t want you there just feels mean spirited. If the animal is not having fun then I’m not either. I can appreciate that it is difficult to pull off these challenges and yet I feel like it just should not be a thing. I would have had more fun with it being able lassoing different objects or something like that.

This is the main chunk of the film though as it builds up to the villains getting ready to cheat. The Marshall was a fun character for his limited screentime though. You actually feel bad for him and the town when John says that he just wants to settle down now. He was the best shooter that they had and so it was crazy to lose a mega asset like that. No sirrrrrrr, but I imagine off screen he would probably get back into the action at some point. The Wild West has a way of dealing you back into the fold.

Interestingly the film seemed to have a hard time having music on during any dialogue scenes. So when the characters are running with the horses it can get eerily quiet and that’s how you know they’re about to start talking. Then you have some chase scenes where some fun music plays so you know there won’t be dialogue for a while. I’m guessing there is probably some kind of really old technical reason for why this is the case. Maybe you could not mix the different audio tracks together at once or something like that. It makes for a pretty interesting gimmick though.

Again it comes down to that novelty factor. It was fun while watching this movie but I probably would not want it to be a regular thing. The shooting and everything was fun enough though. The film had good action and a fun story. It almost goes without saying that the writing and the script were good as well. These old films rarely ever missed on that angle. I would say the movie did as much as it could within the runtime.

Overall, The Man From Utah is sort of like an abridged wild west film. It goes by really quickly and its got all of the usual elements you would expect to see from a Wild West but doesn’t take too long with them. It basically has to jump from story beat to story beat with impressive speed. As a result it is easy to keep your attention though and I did enjoy John as the main character. Most of the others don’t get a whole lot of screentime though. If you’re looking for a retro film then this one is as good as any to check out. Sometimes you just want to watch a peaceful film like this where there is a little danger but you know you’re on your way to a happy ending.

Overall 7/10

The Passion of the Christ

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

It’s time to look at one of the most famous adaptions of Jesus Christ’s resurrection. I would even go as far as to say it’s probably got the number 1 spot on lock there. It’s really nice to see a movie like this get so mainstream. It may not be my personal favorite adaption but it definitely does show what a massive burden he had to endure for humanity’s sins.

The movie starts with Jesus being betrayed by Judas and what follows is close to 2 hours of him being beaten and tortured until his eventual murder. There are quick flashbacks to his life and important moments mixed into this but make no mistake, the focus is really on his final hours. I can’t think of any film I’ve seen with this long length of nonstop violence. Films like Transformers are famous for very long action scene but to call this an action scene would definitely be misleading. This is a complete beatdown/torture for hours, not a string of different fight scenes so you definitely don’t want to get that mixed up.

Throughout the movie you know that Jesus has the power to save himself but is showing restraint because his death needed to happen here. It’s what makes all of the scenes that much more powerful since it would be one thing if he was completely helpless but putting up with all of this when he could end it all in an instant is really something. Along the way you naturally have Satan trying to tempt him and also showing up to mock as much as possible.

His demons also make quick work of Judas. One of the annoying things is always how Satan can freely use his abilities whenever he pleases while Jesus has to show restraint but that’s how it has to be for now. In the end Christians will get the final victory and it’s all about trying to survive until then. It isn’t easy and it will be a long road but at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel. That really should provide some comfort although it is often easier said than done.

The main thing to remember is your Earthly life is essentially a series of long trials. It’s a race with an unknown goal and so you have to not only survive the race but not lose your faith along the way. If you are able to do this then you will be in Heaven in the end. If you are not able to do this, then Hell awaits which is an unfathomable punishment even greater than the tribulations you see in this film. It is quite literally the highest stakes imaginable and so you have to really do your best to not let it overwhelm you. Just take it one day at a time and the Lord will be with you.

Now like I mentioned this isn’t my favorite adaption because to me the whole thing is a little too narrowly focused. Without the context from the Bible, it’s not as if this film is really going to be speaking to you all that much. In that sense it’s impressive that the film is releasing with a real specific target of reaching Christians and being a visual aid. On the other hand, there is no real goodness in almost any of the characters. The beatings and torture also go on for such an incredibly long amount of time that there is virtually no plot for most of the film.

It’s just like pulling up footage of someone being beaten and it goes on for a long time without the guy being able to fight back. It’s just going to be a hard watch and you question how effective it can really be. The movie also does add a lot of effects to make this almost like a horror film at times but then it jumps right back to the shock value violence. I understand that plenty of people have seen this film and enjoyed it so I suppose I can’t say it had no positive effect. Still, you get more out of the toned down versions that focus on the surrounding events as well like He is Risen. Or ultimately just reading your Bible is still and always will be the best resource since you are reading The Word directly.

Overall, The Passion of the Christ is a film showing a very important moment in history. The brutality that Jesus went through was absolutely extraordinary and he did not falter in his divine mission. Ultimately it is thanks to him that we have a path to Heaven through believing in him. I won’t fault anyone for skipping the film though due to the extreme levels of violence. At the end of the day this is a way to reach more people but as long as you read through your Bible and have a good understanding of the events then you are still all set. The ending is definitely handled really well, you can see how the sequel will pick things up from here.

The Secret of NIMH Review

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It’s time for a pretty well known animated film. It actually took me a little while to check this one out but I’ve finally done it. Ultimately it’s a good movie, but I didn’t find it to be as much of an all star as I usually hear. I dunno it felt a bit uneventful might be the best way to put it. It didn’t make any wrong decisions or have any big issues. It just wasn’t quite as engaging as some of the other animated movies that I’ve seen recently. I suppose that’s just how it goes sometimes though and the film is fairly short as it’s under an hour and a half so it never drags on. I do think they could have made this into a franchise if they wanted to and maybe that would have improved this one’s stocks retroactively. Not like it’s a competition though, as long as it’s a good movie that’s what counts.

The film starts off with a mouse named Brisby finding out that her son has pneumonia. It’s a pretty serious case of it too. This is bad timing because the mice need to vacate their homes since it’s plowing season. The pesky humans are going to be destroying everything as always but it’s not really safe to transport the kid right now. Fortunately she runs into a nice bird named Jeremy who may be a bit of a klutz but he means well. He’ll take her to see the wise Great Owl and then to meet the Rats who may be able to help with their high tech. Will they help her though?

I can say right now that it’s really lucky for Brisby that her late husband was such an important man. In pretty much every encounter, the other person is dismissive until they find out the connection. The Great Owl? “You’re all doomed”…”Oh you were Jonathan’s wife? Sure we can find a solution, go ask the rats”. She goes to the rats. “Get lost mouse!” “Oh you’re Jonathan’s wife? Sure we’ll go in and save the day”. It really shows how much clout Jonathan got as a proud warrior and a fine man. He managed to help protect his family even past death.

I also give a lot of credit to Brisby of course for going on this dangerous quest. Most of these animals are all several times bigger and stronger than her. They could eat her in an instant but she will go through any trial in order to save her kid. Brisby takes a pretty positive outlook on life and definitely sees the glass as half full. She’s also a quick thinker and will usually have an idea when in a pinch. Her quick reflexes definitely came in clutch when a rat monster randomly tried to murder her when she first entered the forest looking for Nicodemus. Did I mention how mean every character is? There is really a culture of just looking out for yourself here.

Meanwhile Jeremy is just plain likable. He comes in clutch once in a while but also gets himself into trouble constantly. Nearly chokes on different pieces of fabric twice. Without his flying ability Brisby wouldn’t have even been in position to save the day so we have to give good credit there. His romance scene at the end is super cheesy but I guess the film really wanted to give him a super happy ending. He adds a lot of the humor to the film so his presence was definitely appreciated.

The Great Owl didn’t live up to his hype to be honest so not much to say about that guy. Yeah he gave some direction but considering how much hype he got at first, I was just expecting more. At least we finally got a nice character in Justin. The guy has a good attitude about him and likes making jokes. He is stuck with some poor company though. Jenner is one of those guys. A classic power hungry villain but I was glad to see him because this ensured some action would be coming out way. The guy didn’t disappoint. Sometimes it’s nice to have what I’d call a basic villain here.

He wants power and when he sees an opening he takes it. It’s an effective piece of motivation. Interestingly, this also isn’t one of those “Animals can talk and do science just because” kind of films. We actually get a rather detailed backstory similar to TMNT about how they were mutated and this started the whole rat society. It’s pretty interesting and it’s also rare for humans to actually be getting a big role like this. Their presence is felt the whole time even in the meanwhile scenes are they are preparing to destroy the area.

The animation is unsurprisingly really good. The characters are very expressive the whole time and the movements go by really quickly. It’s this kind of hand drawn animation that I always miss as the years go by. It was really able to do so much here and the film holds up incredibly well. If you showed me a film with an alternate style I doubt it would be able to say the same, at least not to this degree. We even get some action scenes and energy effects thanks to the electricity. The music is more of a non factor but they can’t all be standouts there I suppose. Nothing immersion breaking or anything like that, it’s just that none of the tracks will stay in your head.

Overall, The Secret of NIMH is a fun movie. It has some danger throughout and the adventure is a good one. I think going into it without any knowledge of its big reputation will probably help you out a bit. Regardless it is well crafted. It may not have the same level of energy as some of the other big titles but being enjoyable is the most important part here. Thanks in part to the short length and of course the quality writing, there is a lot of replay value to be had here. There’s no reason to be skipping out on this one so just give it a whirl and see what you think.

Overall 6/10

Togari Shiro Review

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I knew I had to jump right into the sequel after finishing up the original Togari. This one has the daunting task of needing to wrap everything up in 18 chapters. There were still 3 big villains on the loose so between 18 chapters that should be easy right? Wait….there’s a whole new villain group on the loose? Let’s goooooo!!!! Ambitious times have arrived. Ultimately I would probably even say it beat the first series although it does have the benefit of being able to basically be nonstop action.

The story starts off about 2 weeks after the first series ended. There is just one day left for Tobei and only one more sin to collect. Here’s the problem, there are multiple villains on the loose as I mentioned and when Tobei gets the last sin, he will automatically teleport back to Hell to be reincarnated. So in a sense if he does this too fast, then he will be leaving the world to be defenseless against all of the villains. So Tobei has to try and work this out but it’s a difficult problem. Additionally, the Angels have had enough of this and have decided to destroy the world. Great timing folks…looks like Tobei will be busy.

That’s a whole lot of story to go through here though and I can tell you that by the halfway point we’re basically in the same situation so you’ve really got 9 chapters to deal with all of that. The first half is to deal with Sena’s right hand man. The most impressive thing about this villain is that he has the longest fight in the series and is around for a huge chunk of it but they somehow manage to not even use his name during any part of that. So I’ll just call him the grinning villain.

This guy is really crazy but also makes for a really good villain. His abilities are basic in that he can absorb objects and people and turn into a clay type monster. Yet he is really strong as he really dominated Tobei in their first fight and nearly won the rematch. What I liked about this villain is he fought back against the whole second chances guilt trip and just kept on taking everyone out. He’s not a mastermind kind of villain, just someone who likes chaos. He was even planning to take down Sena for basically no reason. He was a real scene stealer.

In comparison, Sena starts to fade a bit. This villain was a roller coaster because he looks tough at first, pathetic in the middle, and then good at the end. He reminded me a lot of Light Yagami in some instances. He likes to play god with everybody and just be a general master manipulator. His goals may not have been the best and deciding to even temporarily ally with the angels was super risky as well. I don’t really see what the benefit was and by the end it was hard to really untangle his goals. His final scene was really solid though. It made everyone else look absolutely terrible by the way but for him he still managed to get the last laugh in.

I would say in a lot of ways Sena is one of those villains who really works as a good sanity check on why too much mercy is a bad thing. The heroes keep talking about needing to use peace and violence isn’t the answer but then they are opening themselves up to cheap shots. If they had just taken care of business then things would have been easier. You just have to be honest here, some villains are not going to have a change of heart. Sometimes due process isn’t going to work as both the heroes and villains admit the legal system would not be able to do anything. Sena is a mass murderer and they all know it but there will be no proof since it’s supernatural. When you have a glaring flaw in the system like that, it’s time to take action.

So by extension Itzuki doesn’t look very good here. She’s just too passive and lenient as she drops her guard down time after time. The worst decision was going to the house of a murderer by herself without telling anybody. Especially when the guy called for her to drop by. He couldn’t have made it a more obvious trap if he tried. I figured she’d bring a weapon or something but nope, she just came unarmed and figured she would be able to do something.

Ose was a solid right hand man to Tobei once again. By this point he has really come a long way from being a skeptic or just another government stooge. It was nice to see him proactively fighting for justice and having Tobei’s back. He’s a high quality character by this point and really came through. Meanwhile Tobei is also really solid as he finished his character arcs last series. He is fully committed to stopping the villain and helping out humanity. There is nothing selfish or evil about him anymore. He has been a hero for a long time at this point and only continues to get stronger.

I do feel it was a bit odd how he seemed to not have any of his super abilities anymore though. He unlocks a new power by the end but the first series made a big deal of finally becoming one with his Togari. I guess we can probably blame the Togari for that though. It looks awful petty in this series and sure gets in the way a lot. I know it wants a body and to end all of this but suddenly being a sabotage type of character just doesn’t fit. It just felt like an odd character decision.

Ema gets a big role here as she really arrives to help out and balance the odds. It was nice to see her more and she also has a little more fun while in rebel mode. She continues to save the day from the shadows on multiple occasions so I have to give her a lot of credit. You really get to see various characters showing their true colors and not just being yes men anymore. A terrific plot development if I do say so myself. Also she has a real 4D chess moment where she has a conversation with someone that she can’t even see and predicts their responses. Is it maybe stretching disbelief a bit? Yeah but it was still cool and that’s what counts. Rule of cool prevails here.

Sawazaki’s role is much smaller this time though. He sees a vision of his old partner telling him not to die yet which feels rehashed and the villain outtalks him at one point. Eh not his best moments but he gets credit for quickly picking up on the signs of danger and arriving to help out. It was more than anyone else on the force did. Additionally with such a short amount of chapters, it makes sense that some characters had to be sacrificed. I would say the same thing happened to the guard dog Ami but technically he appears a lot. The direction his character went in was just a bit odd.

He basically still wants to cause chaos but is practically a hero by this point. He helps them out on a few occasions and we get a little more closure for his more personal subplot. He ended up being a fun character to the end but it did feel like he took a back seat to the Angels. I would have liked at least one big fight for the guy even though it seems like he wasn’t as powerful as he seemed to be initially.

As for the Angels, I think that whole plot could have been removed. They just didn’t add much to the story and acted just like the folks from Hell. They feel super important and think humans are all chumps. They fly around waving their authority in everyones faces and then run off. You can’t really take any of them all that seriously since they’re not the most powerful guys out there and the leaders seem super out of touch. It is impressive how much lore we have about the series by this point but at the same time I think it was lore that didn’t actively add onto the series.

The focus should have stayed on Tobei fighting Sena. You already had a really interesting premise with the villains launching a bunch of new sins in the world to taunt the guy since Tobei has to avoid finishing any of them off. That had a lot of interesting moral questions that basically had to be skipped by the end. I will say that the ending had me super nervous for a minute there but fortunately the final chapter went the right away. Not fully, I still think the ending could have been a lot better. It just wasn’t as bad as I had feared. I’ll have to accept that.

Naturally the art is pretty good. The fight scenes are on point and you can really feel the intensity in every panel. The artist is definitely operating on a solid level here. Then you also see the cruelty of humanity constantly as they are drawn like monsters. One of the big morals of the series I would say is that most of the humans are just pretty awful. When we get a national day of crime a bunch of people immediately jump into it and then try using legal loopholes to stay out of trouble. What a bad look for the citizens, it really shows why the monsters got so much traction. It must have been easy for the sins to start taking control of all of them.

Then you have both Heaven and Hell being shackled with endless rules and regulations. You would think they would be above such things but apparently not. In particular the Angels keep talking about all the rules they have to follow and all of the restrictions that are placed on them which prevents them from stopping evil. It just feels a bit silly that they have to do all of that. The whole point of being an angel should be that they can do what they want and stop the villains as needed right? If they have to overlook evil because it is out of their jurisdiction, then the whole system is messed up. Which is certainly is but even by the end of the series that isn’t really addressed. It’s fair to say that the world of Togari is super messed up. Definitely not somewhere you would want to live since nobody is really going to help.

The series also goes a bit too far with showing how evil the angels are so you can’t really believe it when they start trying to act nicer later. They literally look at babies as future harbingers of sin. They have no compassion and believe the human race are a failed experiment. They act meaner than the wardens of Hell which is crazy although both sides are shown to be morally bankrupt. Maybe Togari will change the system…but it doesn’t seem like that’s going to be happening anytime soon.

Overall, Togari Shiro was a solid sequel series. It may have been a tad too ambitious by adding more content than it could ever really hope to finish in time, but it was a fun sequel. The battles were long and there was a ton of nonstop action here. It’s a real page turner as you want to see how it all ends. The ending leaves things on a nice note and the series could definitely get a sequel if the author ever wanted that to happen. It does feel like this could have just been added to the main series but I’m assuming there’s a reason why the first one just had to end abruptly.

Overall 7/10

Togari Review

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Togari is one of those manga I really hadn’t bumped into back in the day. It is a fairly intense action title that didn’t last super long but had an interesting story. You can feel how it starts to accelerate near the end before it has a conclusion although the series took a bold approach with the ending itself. This is a fun title. I wouldn’t call it great or anything but the battles are on point. There can be a little repetition with Tobei’s character arc and the deck is really stacked against the poor guy. Still, he will not give up!

The series introduces us to Tobei who is currently suffering in hell after living a life of brutality in the real world. He grew up in a terrible environment rife with crime and basically adapted to be just as bad. When this fighter was finally put down, his story should have ended but his vengeance is so strong that he continues to try and break out. Finally the rulers make him a deal. He can go back to the human world for 108 days and his mission is to destroy 108 Toga. These are physical manifestations of evil, basically like monsters. He has to destroy them all within the time limit and then he has his freedom back. Additionally he cannot commit any sins himself or he will automatically be murdered. Can Tobei pull this off?

The mission is harder than you might think. For starters, no sins means that Tobei can’t beat anyone up. All of the 108 Toga are basically weapons or monsters that have paired themselves with a human. So lets say there is a human holding an axe that is a Toga. Tobei has to destroy the axe without harming the human associated with it. Even a grazing blow will deal heavy amounts of damage back to Tobei. Then after that we also have to consider the time limit. Tobei has to average one monster a day but it’s not like he has a map or anything. He can sense when they are nearby but the radar’s range is fairly short. So this is unfair..but that’s the point.

Obviously Hell has no intention of letting Tobei go and they’re just using him as extra manpower. Throughout the manga these guys seem really shifty but would you really expect anything else from Hell? It’s also not like Tobei is blameless either. He did a lot of bad things initially and that’s why he went to Hell. He had a really brutal life so you understand what put him on his current path but it’s not like this completely exonerates him either. A big part of the series is about him genuinely learning to be a better person though and so he does his best there.

I mentioned earlier that the series could be a bit repetitive and i feel that is the case with Tobei. Initially he starts off as someone who is just glad to be able to run around and use violence again. So he crushes the other Toga and has a blast before softening up and starting to be human. Then he relapses and goes into monster mode, then back to human, etc. It went on more than twice which felt a bit excessive. Tobei really can’t catch a break in this series. By the end he is definitely solid with no caveats though. It may have taken a bit longer than I had hoped but it worked out. He’s a very genuine guy who really does his best. Since he was in hell for 300 years, there are a lot of modern things he doesn’t really know but he adapts well enough.

The rest of the characters would have been in real trouble without him. Ose is one of the main supporting characters and he’s generally annoying. He was basically the watchdog for Tobei for a while there and for the first half he is mainly just getting in the way. By the end he starts actually trying to help and has Tobei’s back but he’s already been power creeped pretty hard. It would have been nice if he could have been a little stronger to actually do anything. The other watchdog was way more powerful so it felt like a complete imbalance there.

Itsuki is the main heroine here and she’s not bad. Her role within the series never gets huge or anything like that but she definitely helps to keep Tobei grounded. It’s no exaggeration to say that he wouldn’t have had a full redemption arc without her. She was definitely pivotal in that sense just by existing. Itsuki also isn’t overly emotional or anything and takes the situations in stride. I appreciated that she wasn’t the kind of character who would always be panicking.

Ema is one of the bigshots of Hell although as the series goes on her status appears to be lower and lower. There is always somebody trying to give orders after all. She can be rather cruel but it does come with the job. Again if you’re someone working in Hell then you’re probably not going to trust anyone too much. They’re there for a reason after all. Her character was always interesting though and I would always be interested on just what she would do next. I wouldn’t say she gets an amazing conclusion though.

Sawazaki is an interesting character and one of the best supporting ones. He is a detective trying to make sense of all the supernatural things going on. I tend to enjoy this kind of character type because it really is a very difficult case to solve. Nothing makes sense because the villains are invisible to the average eye. Additionally, you’re probably not going to jump to demons as an explanation right away. The people being possessed by the villains don’t keep their memories and it’s not like there is any physical evidence lying around. So he does his best to keep to the clues and it takes a while. We also see bits of his past including a mentor of his own throughout the series.

He was a character who was really easy to root for. Then we have the old man who looked after Tobei. He was a very patient guy and also did his best to put Tobei on the right path. Ultimately the ways in which he could help were limited but between him and Itsuki it was nice that Tobei had some reliable figures in his life that he could count on. If he had been all by himself then he could have really been in trouble.

One of the big villains is another watchdog, Amy. (Online scans use that name at least, I forget if that’s what he was called in the manga) This guy is probably the best of the villains. For starters I liked that he was a full wildcard here. Yeah he was mainly helping the villains but the guy really couldn’t be pinned down at all. Freedom was his whole thing, he wanted to take down the system and pointed out how rigged it was. For example, Tobei’s weapon would get weaker as he let go of his hate so for all the talk of rehabilitating him, it’s as if they were actively trying to sabotage him right from the start. He definitely had a valid point there. There is just no reasoning with the system.

Of course that doesn’t mean it’s okay to just become a big terrorist like what he did. He took the extreme route but at least as a villain his motives made sense and this made him a very interesting character to me. He also seemed fairly powerful although that part we don’t get to see too much of just yet. Once we’re fairly deep into the series, we finally get to see the villain group. Their leader is a guy named Sena and they all know how to weaponize their Toga. This makes them a pretty tough organization to deal with but at the same time you know that the amount of chapters left is very limited which makes this a mixed bag.

The first member to fight is a guy who uses a Rubix cube to fight. It’s a rather unique weapon I have to say so that was cool. He just doesn’t last long. Tobei takes him out without too much fanfare so he felt like just another villain as a result and by this point in the series Tobei had taken out a whole lot of those guys. Then the second one wasn’t too strong but just made it for a while by taking hostages. Not the most impressive look for the villains right. At least from there they would get stronger.

Next up is the fog girl and she definitely has a real tragic backstory of her own. She doesn’t feel quite as mercilessly evil as the others but she is still in on the action with blowing up the city and being a terrorist so I’m not really going to be cutting her much slack either. Obviously you get why she went over to this side but no matter what the reason is, you are a villain from that point on. Her abilities also didn’t seem terribly impressive but she had the bad luck of going up against Tobei once he had gotten his resolve back so he was in prime shape.

After that is one of the more impressive villains from the group. Gaku is the power hitter who can create giant craters with a single blow. His destructive abilities are really out of this world and he keeps Tobei on the defensive the whole time. It’s a real back and forth fight with both combatants really getting in their share of attacks. The villain may have been misled about what happened to his comrade but as Tobei pointed out, Gaku was murdering tons of people so he doesn’t really get to be upset at a single death. None of the villains really have that luxury by this point. They knew the stakes.

The girl behind the computer ultimately didn’t do much and the guy with the beanie hat wasn’t bad but also short lived. You could chalk it up more to timing than anything else. Otherwise in a straight fight it would be close with the latter at least. It was about time that Tobei got a super form though so I was glad about that. He had really needed one for the longest time here since otherwise he was really not keeping up with the current power levels.

Finally we get to the leader Sena. He’s so evil that his darkness even turns white. He is able to unify the other villains through pure power which really speaks to his overall abilities. Initially Tobei is barely even able to get close to the guy and even by the end of the series it doesn’t seem like they’re on the same level. The fact that they both use darkness just feels like it will always give Sena the edge. Tobei has come a long way from his earlier limits and yet you still don’t feel like the playing field has been leveled.

The art is pretty solid here. We get some really detailed pages and the fights are on point. At the same time it can get a little cluttered during the fight scenes so mileage may vary here. It definitely does get the intensity of the story across though and you see just how scary the Toga would be to the average person. They’re just less imposing to Tobei who generally isn’t scared of anybody. I think that’s even one of the fun appeals to having an ex villain be the lead. It’s nice to see him just walk up to any opponent.

While the ending was rushed, I thought the series did a good job of covering a lot of ground in the stories leading up to that. We had plenty of time for monster of the week type fights before getting into the heart of the plot itself. Tobei even got to have some brief school adventures although I would emphasize that they were definitely very short. So don’t get too attached to that setting. By the end we’re in the middle of a climax for a long while until it just abruptly ends. It’s definitely nice that there is a sequel to wrap things up although I guess even if there wasn’t, the sequel works pretty well as it is. It definitely drums up a lot of hype.

The series still went far enough and showed us all of the major story beats, villains, and origins that we needed in order to understand Tobei’s character arc. At times all of the grim dark backstories and tension of what was going on in the present could be a bit much which is why the school moments were nice to have. In a series about fighting the physical manifestations of sin, you can expect that things will often be dark. It comes as no surprise that Heaven also seems rather shady in this series. It’s definitely one of those situations where Tobei can only really trust his new family and that’s about it.

Overall, Togari is a good manga. To an extent it may end up being a little forgettable but the concept was definitely interesting. It’s a classic story of redemption and trying to really be a better person. It takes a while to pull that off with Tobei and especially when the game is rigged against him the whole time. Still, there was lots of room to continue from where the manga left off so I look forward to seeing how that plays out. If you are looking for a classic supernatural action title then this one should serve that purpose.

Overall 6/10

The Outfit (2022) Review

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

It’s time for a film about a villainous organization making the rounds. It works pretty well as a low key suspense kind of film. Things pick up near the end but a good chunk of it is really about trying to keep quiet and seeing how long the characters can run a bluff. Naturally this isn’t a very easy thing to really pull off especially under duress.

The film starts by introducing us to Leonard. He’s the best at what he does and while most people call him a tailor, he is actually a cutter. Leonard goes to great pains to explain the difference but people always underestimate him. Ah well, his skills are the real deal and everybody goes to his shop but the one catch is that he has to allow the local mob to use the venue as well. His shop is almost like a front in that sense which isn’t his favorite thing in the world but at least he can tune it out. Well, one day two of the high ranking mob members stumble inside after a vicious battle with another gang, Richie and Francis. Richie was badly injured and there is a mysterious suitcase carrying something. Leonard is warned not to mess with it or he’ll lose his life but the whole city is after it. What should he do?

The entire movie takes place inside of Leonard’s shop as different people go in and out. It definitely makes for a pretty interesting setup here. The film has an old school feel to it as a result as you think of the old Hitchcock films that would use one location like this. As the viewer you are out of the loop at first but gradually you begin to see more and more of what’s going on. The film keeps on hinting at things as well to let you craft your own theories before they are revealed.

The movie is very confident in its story to the point where you don’t really have any red herrings here. You’re likely going to know the first pair of twists but then after that it’s much harder to have predicted the last one. It’s all a very logical line of story beats and they are written well. The film will have you engaged with what is going on the whole time without a doubt. It’s very easy to get engrossed in it all.

For the most part this is what I’d call a cerebral thriller so there isn’t a lot of violence but I would say there are two fairly violent deaths. Each one definitely drags on a little longer than necessary as these people die relatively slow deaths. Beyond that, it’s really all about the mental stress which is definitely intense enough in its own right. It’s part of why the film is fun, it’s just a nice angle to approach things from.

As for the characters, Leonard is a nice guy who is trying to get his secretary Mable back on the right track. She’s been after the bad boys for a while now and seems to put too much importance on material wealth. Leonard knows that this will get her into trouble but the problem is that it’s not really easy to fix that. At the end of the day she is just an employee after all, not family or anything like that. People often learn their lessons the hard way. Leonard doesn’t always make the correct calls as the movie goes on but his experience and intuition go a long way. While it’s fair to say that he definitely got lucky in some instances, he handled things as well as he could.

As for Mable, I can’t say that I was a fan of hers. Bad romantic decisions aside, she came off as way too arrogant and overconfident considering her situation. At one point she basically just starts talking tough and being insulted when she was nearly about to be tortured and still in a super dangerous position. You’d think that would make you at least a little more quiet for the time being as you wait for the situation to be a bit better. It seemed to me that she did not have a whole lot of street smarts.

Then we have Richie who is a bit easy to manipulate. The guy thinks he is a real big shot and such hubris is often blinding. The guy was completely out of his depth here and someone who spent a little too much time trying to be intimidating. He could have used all that time posturing to train instead.

Meanwhile Francis is another guy who thinks he is a real trickster and that comes back to bite him a bit here. To an extent all of the characters are trying to manipulate the situation though so it all comes down to who can do that the best. In times like that you need a mix of skill and experience on your side or you’re through. I did appreciate the leader of the gang though, he was sharp like when he noticed an object that really changed things. The boss of the rival gang also seemed smart and resourceful even if we did not get to see nearly as much of her since she didn’t appear until the end.

Overall, The Outfit is a pretty solid film. It’s definitely one of those films that makes you want to try and predict every twist and the fact that it doesn’t cheat with unknowable information definitely makes it that much more satisfying. If you’re up for a film like this then I can solidly recommend this one. The plot continues to shift and change as the movie goes on and the pacing remains solid all throughout the adventure. You could probably even make a sequel with how the film ends although some may say that could end up redundant anyway.

Overall 6/10