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Witch Watch Review

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It’s time for a pretty fun comedic action title. Witch Watch is a manga that ended up being a whole lot more fun than I was expecting it to be. Fortunately I can say that the anime did a great job matching that energy as well. So all in all this is definitely a fun anime to check out and it’s very well rounded. The type of show you can enjoy even if you aren’t really familiar with anime as a medium.

The story follows a girl named Nico. She is a witch and has always had trouble mastering her powers. She spent years being taught by the best and now she has returned to her home town. She will be living at Moi’s house. He has been assigned to be her guardian since he is an ogre and they used to be best friends back in the day. What Moi doesn’t realize is that Nico is in love with him. He is determined to be an amazing bodyguard and has no time to worry about such things. There are many sorcerers out there who want to take Nico away because she is the prophecies witch of thousands. She will grow to be the most powerful being on the planet. This won’t be an easy fight for Moi but along the way they will be making more friends.

Now that sounded like a very action filled synopsis so keep in mind that this is a comedy first. Witch Watch is just good at unapologetically going all in on each genre. So you will have pure comedy episodes on one hand and then you will be going straight into full action on the other. The show always takes itself seriously during these climaxes but knows how to relax once again after that. So it’s easily a lot more well rounded than nearly any of the other shows out there.

The animation is consistently good at all times. It’s very colorful and vibrant. You also really feel the impact of the spells. It’s not going to be the Demon Slayer or anything like that but it gets the job done. On the sound, I do think the little jingle that happens whenever a spell is cast can get old pretty quick. I wouldn’t mind if that was toned down quite a bit for the next season. The soundtrack as a whole is okay but for now this may be the weakest part of the series. There’s definitely nothing that would make my playlist and the openings are only okay.

Where the series is strongest is with the humor and fun atmosphere. As the Moi house gets more and more filled with the new recruits, the show lets us get a lot of fun dynamics to see at play. The episodic nature of the series means that just about everyone gets their time to shine. The cast is a whole lot bigger than you would expect for a comedy series. In a way it reminds me of Gintama and the payoff for this tends to be really good because then you can see all of the characters assemble together when the action part comes in.

The show also goes all in with the gags. For example we have a manga within the series called Uron Mirage which is a big action title. We get a whole episode segment devoted to it which had its own opening and ending. That was a really good attention to detail and helped the whole thing feel more real. It also makes you look forward to each episode because you never know which plot will appear. There are so many going on at once.

For the most part the show is completely episodic though. There may be a 2 parter every now and again but most episodes have 2 or even 3 segments as a result. So you are getting a ton of adventures but they can go by pretty quickly. The actual plot of Nico and her magic won’t be moving forward very much. Just think of this as the introduction arc and also pay attention to the spells Nico can use as you try to picture what she can do with them in an action context. Hint, most of them seem pretty useless in that regard.

For the characters, Moi is a great MC as you’d expect. He’s always good at getting right to business and doesn’t let himself get distracted by matters of the heart. It’s what separates him from a lot of other characters. Additionally, his super strength consistently comes in handy. Some may say that he should be embracing his emotional side more but eh I can see why he holds back. That’s just not him, but as the series goes on he does try to fit in with everyone as best he can. Moi’s just not the best at showing emotions on his face even if he is really happy about something.

At times he may be a bit too studious but honestly you could have far worse traits than that. Then we have Nico who is a solid heroine. You definitely feel bad for her with how hard she tries to get Moi to notice her. It’s just a really uphill battle for her and we start to even learn why this is really the case as the series goes on. Sometimes she will use magic a little too recklessly but her goal is to make everyone happy so you have to take some risks in order to make that happen.

It would be good if she could learn some more spells for self defense though. The dangers are only going to get more intense from here. Kanshi is the next member of the cast to join the Moi household. He may not be as tough as the ogre but he can still put up a decent fight when needed. He tends to be the guy that everyone steps on because of how goofy he is. The poor guy usually can’t catch a break but he’s loyal and everyone can count on him. That’s just how these things go sometimes.

Then we have Keigo who has the toughest magic element since he is fused with Wolf. They are two different personas that share the same body. They also like the same girl so that makes things extra complicated. Keigo suffers from confidence issues since he is just a normal guy while Wolf has super speed and strength nearly on par with Moi. Hopefully Keigo will one day awaken abilities of his own. In the meantime he just has to do his best and he is also still breaking out of his shell like Moi.

Miharu joins the group rather late in the show so he’ll get to do a lot more in season 2. Either way he is my least favorite member of the main group so that works out well enough for me. He’s part vampire so he can drain energy and add it onto his own. He’s certainly powerful but always speaks his mind and doesn’t really have a filter which can get the group into trouble at times. He’ll definitely need to watch that and hopefully he can improve his stamina down the road.

Then we have Nemu who has magic powers like Nico. Hers are much more limited though as she can turn into animals and that’s basically it. Still, it was nice for Nico to have another witch nearby. Initially Nemu liked Moi but now her feelings are confused with Keigo and Wolf. Her episodes always have a lot of very preventable danger scenarios due to her being way too nervous. The episodes work well though and she is a fun supporting character to have around..

The weakest episodes tend to be the ones about Yuri and Kukumi. Yuri is a huge anime/manga fan but works as a teacher and doesn’t want anyone to judge her so she keeps this a secret. Then you have Kukumi who is a really good artist and has been making a fanfic version of Uron Mirage. The two end up becoming best friends and they go on a lot of adventures together. I enjoy the segments about the Uron Mirage series itself but the two girls otherwise have a very limited dynamic. There are only so many gags you can do about Yuri hiding her true power level irl. I’m hoping Yuri will eventually just be bold enough to be a fan out in the open.

Then we have the student council. I enjoy how crazy all of them are. They each represent different character tropes and I’d say that they represent them very well. The most noticeable one is Tenryu who is always holding onto his cap very tightly. This character is easy to root for and is one of the most logical characters next to Moi. He doesn’t let his enthusiasm run away from him and knows how to keep everyone in check. Now that is an underrated skill right there.

There haven’t been too many notable villains yet. One of them was a witch named Ayako who went after Nico. Ultimately her magic may have seemed impressive but her true form wasn’t all that strong. Taking her down wasn’t hard once the heroes could figure out where she was. Ryohei was a little more impressive since his water abilities really had the whole gang wrapped up. That was one time where the vampire actually made himself useful.

It’s clear that the series is holding onto the big villains for now. The heroes are essentially gaining experience by clearing out the weakest fighters. Then the big shots will start to appear in the next season. This way the opening season is really for character meetings and calm times. I’d say that it’s a sound approach and while not every show could execute this plan, Witch Watch certainly did.

Honestly it can even get a little educational at times. Whether it is commentary on running a Youtube channel or how to properly wash your jeans, there is a lot to really focus on here. At the end of the day though, Witch Watch is just a show that’s fun to watch. It may sound simple but not every show can get this kind of cozy atmosphere to really work right out of the gate. At the very least you’d expect the episodes to wildly vary in quality but I generally enjoy just about all of the dynamics. I haven’t seen a comedy balance so well between genres since Hitman Reborn! and Gintama. Of course when the action comes, I won’t have time to miss the comedy because of good those parts are.

Now the show is also part romance but it tends to be played up in a very comedic way. That’ll get serious eventually too but for now it works well enough. I’d say the Moi and Nico ship is a solid one that’s going to have a lot of buildup so it’ll work either way. The Nemu one is probably going to be a lot weaker from what we’ve already seen. She has too tough of a time making up her mind and that’s a recipe for disaster. Still, romance is hardly the central focus of the series so you shouldn’t watch it just for that. Now if you like a sprinkling of romance with your comedy then you’re all set.


Overall, Witch Watch is definitely a series that I recommend. Each episode will string you in with whatever magical situation is about to occur. You can easily sympathize with the different situations there and the unique drawbacks to each spell will make you wonder if they are worth it or not. Don’t watch this one anticipating a grand scheme or anything. At best that would be in the next season and either way I don’t think that will be any time soon. So just enjoy the comedy here and you’ll be just fine.

Overall 7/10

Final Fantasy VIII Remastered Review

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It’s time for another legendary Final Fantasy adventure. This one really switches up the mechanics quite a lot. I have to admit that going into it I didn’t know a whole lot about the gameplay. I kind of just assumed it was the same ole style as the others but in this case it was actually quite different. Leveling up isn’t particularly necessary here and is in fact discouraged for parts of the game. I tend to be a heavy farming guy though so that would be a real change of pace. Give me an RPG and I’ll usually give you a few hours of fighting every minion that I can.

The game follows a group called SeeD, who are soldiers with a mysterious purpose. Squall has always been extremely talented but he’s not the most personable fellow. He does the job but isn’t here to make friends. He does share a nice dance with a new girl who shows up though and it turns out that she is with a resistance faction. This is going to get Squall into a lot of trouble right? Well, the whole group is in trouble as he starts to find out about the secret bosses behind the organization and that their purpose may be rather nefarious as well. Additionally, he’s having these strange dreams of being someone else in the past. What can it all mean?

Final Fantasy VIII does a great job of reminding you how weird the franchise could be back in the day. Final Fantasy is part of what popularized the trope of RPGs having incredibly convoluted plots with tons of twists that would shock the normal audience. This game fits quite in with that as we have time travel, abilities that let you transcend time, and there are a ton of twists. The story is definitely great and the ending really seals the deal in a good way. If you haven’t checked this one out yet then you should get on that.

So what about the gameplay then? Well, it’s an active turn based combat system similar to Final Fantasy XIII. When it’s your turn you have to move quickly because the opponent’s turn gauge is still loading up. This is one of the toughest things because you have a whole lot of options and you have to go through them quickly. We’re talking attacks, magic, summons, draws, etc. Now what are draws? Well they’re a big point of emphasis in this game.

You can basically drain an enemy’s magic to use as your own. Sometimes they will even have a secret summon hidden among the options. The tricky thing is that it can feel like a waste of a turn at times. You can stockpile magic which helps with the grind though. See, your summon can be equipped and then you add magic onto your connection which increases your stat.

You can equip magic to each stat based on if your summon has them unlocked. Then if you have 100 of that magic spell, it will greatly increase your stats. That means you probably don’t want to be using that magic a whole lot though. It’s really hard to keep track of all this though and if you don’t draw enough, you’ll actually lose out on some summons which is rough. By the end of the game I got most of them but still missed around 4 or so which means that my stats were permanently nerfed.

When battling enemies you earn EXP for yourself and for your summons. You can then have the summons learn new abilities through AP which you then connect onto yourself. It’s a whole lot of things to remember and you can only equip 2-3 abilities at a time out of dozens. So choose carefully. Also make sure you actually add magic/summons as options on your menu or you will wind up in battle with only the ability to attack.

Several times I went into battle without the ability to use magic because I forgot to re-equip it after getting into battle. I wish those settings would save even when removing your summons but eventually you’ll just be reminded to check. You can level up your weapon by getting a bunch of items and finding a magazine to learn the recipe from but I never ended up getting the hang of that. So I beat the game with the default weapons. That meant attacking was basically useless for the whole game so I relied exclusively on magic and summons.

There’s also a whole card game built into Final Fantasy and this is how you learn a lot of strong magics. I probably should have played the game much more but in the end that’s why I had to grind hard on an island to get magic. I lost my first card game and never ended up going back into it. You later gain the ability to turn opposing monsters into cards but I never got to try that.

Then the cherry on top is that the enemies scale with you but they do so at a higher rate. So if you are level 5 then your opponent will be level 5. You will have the advantage though because you started out stronger. However, if you are level 20 and your opponent is level 20, now they have the advantage because they gain stats much quicker than you do. So there’s a lot to consider here and getting too strong can be an issue. Apparently they stop scaling around level 60 so you could eventually just power level to a point where they can’t stop you. The summon abilities are what you are really supposed to lean on though.

It goes against my usual strategies but I adapted. You can see how the game is really complicated and in depth with all of these mechanics though. It makes for a pretty intense experience. I’m not in fan of some of the mechanics to be honest. I like my RPG experience to be a bit simpler. In general I feel like going too far into the weeds can make a game feel a bit more like homework than just letting you have a blast. The game is still great overall and I had my fun but the gameplay does lag a bit behind the others.

The remastered version does have two good quality of life features though like being able to turn off random encounters as well as speeding up the game 2X. Certainly great when you have to run around the world looking for a spell or the next destination. There is also an option to just make the game much easier by multiplying your attacks but I didn’t use that one since it is going a step too far. Without the double speed though, the gameplay might have felt a bit tedious at times with how long the combat animations are.

When it comes to the graphics, the Final Fantasy games never disappoint. This one certainly doesn’t either with a lot of great effects the whole time and attention to detail. It was always a real treat to see the fully animated cutscenes that would come up from time to time as the game flexed its CG. The soundtrack is also pretty good. Perhaps not quite as noteworthy as some of its rivals but I liked the final boss theme and there was also a really good tension theme. That one had a whole lot of replay value to it.

In terms of value, the story will take you around 30 hours. There is also a ton of other things to do in the game like beating all of the card fighters so by the end you’re probably looking more at 50 hours or so. If you go too far then you won’t be able to tackle the side content so you should always have a backup save at the ready. There are plenty of areas to get soft locked. Either way you’re getting a ton of value here, especially since you can sometimes get the game for under $10 when it is on sale.

Overall, I would definitely recommend picking this game up. You should really take time to actually learn the gameplay style though. You can cruise through a lot of the game like I did by playing it normally but then when you get stuck it will hurt a lot more than if you had already gotten the fundamentals down. I really had to change my whole approach near the end and even then I barely won. Had I been defeated by the final boss’ last phase that would have been a real setback. You always do expect that the game will end with a bang though and it did not disappoint. I look forward to seeing how Final Fantasy IX goes.

Overall 8/10

Sword Art Online Progressive: Barcarolle of Froth Review

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Sword Art Online is one of the most frustrating franchises of all time. This is because the highs and lows are so drastic. You’ll go from watching one of the greatest movies of all time to watching a terrible season of the anime. You’ll play an amazing video game and then read a below average manga. Unfortunately this one is in that side of the camp. I wanted to enjoy it but unfortunately it was clear that this story wasn’t exactly focused on the plot.

This story takes place during the early days of climbing to the top of Aincrad. Kirito and Asuna are still stuck inside the death game that is known as Sword Art Online. The only way to escape is to clear the 100 floors and right now they aren’t even halfway to floor 10. Yeah it’s going to be a long journey and so they try to have fun while they can. They go on adventures ranging from making a boat to visiting an elf friend of theirs. Will they be able to keep their sanity in such a strange situation?

Now if I’m being extremely generous, you could say that a lot of the crazy shenanigans here is because that is how they are coping with this situation. Acting extra silly helps them take their minds off of the danger. That said, even I’m not quite this generous. It’s clear that the series is having fun using fanservice as a tool to move things around all the time. The fanservice within this series is constant and it really does drag the series down quite a bit.

I haven’t seen a series be this obnoxious about it since Fairy Tail. There is a certain amount that you can maybe overlook here and there but when it is this frequent and intense, well there is no escape at that point. There isn’t a single chapter without a little of that and it seems to be the main default for the title when it comes to humor. It’s a shame because there are so many ways to throw in good jokes without relying on fanservice.

Additionally, the series should have an advantage here in that the Kirito and Asuna romance is one of the few really good ones among any anime/manga. So this is really about building chemistry and that’s what the title should have focused on. Not constant excuses for getting to the beach and swimming. At least Kirito tends to stay strong and doesn’t panic as much as Asuna but he’s also portrayed as lightly taking advantage of the situation at times which is not what you’d expect from the hero.

As a result the plot takes a back seat here. It’s not like the story is all that complicated anyway though. It’s really about taking on side quests. The longest one is when the heroes make it back to the elf kingdom and have to help them stop some invaders. It’s not the biggest challenge that Kirito has ever faced but he wants a perfect victory without any NPCs hurt in the process. So he convinces the ruler to help out and then they claim a nice victory. The climax is fairly quick here. There was also a quick action piece for the side mission to build a bridge.

The artwork is pretty solid so the action scenes look really good. Unfortunately the fact that the art is really good also means that the fanservice is worse. It’s a true double edged sword when you really think about it. The pages are easy to read and so you’ll blast through this one quickly. It’s only two volumes long after all so this is very close to actually being a oneshot adventure. This is probably why I had even forgotten that Sword Art Online got so many different manga titles for a while there.

While Kirito is the one who tends to steal the show the whole time, Asuna does well on her own as well. I was glad the manga didn’t overdo it with showing her to be a newbie because by this point she should be experienced enough not to be making the day 1 blunders. Kirito naturally still has more experience all around which makes sense but it’s not like she’s lagging behind. Her combat skills are also really on point here. Her character tends to suffer for most of the fanservice moments but outside of those she is a quality character all around.

There isn’t time for much of the supporting cast to appear otherwise. You still have the two factions fighting each other to clear the floors quickest but Kirito always runs in to steal the last hit bonus anyway. Shows you just how much of a pro Kirito is. Argo is fun enough as she keeps trolling everyone by withholding information. I like that Kirito is able to hold his own with her by this point since he knows how she operates. They have a fun dynamic going on here. I’d even say it’s a great friendship dynamic.

Part of why the supporting characters can’t do much is also because the series just doesn’t have a very strong cast of them by this point. The franchise wouldn’t get better at that for quite a while but it’s fine because Kirito and Asuna are all you really need to lead the adventure. They have a good dynamic as well and I would be able to just appreciate the fun vibes of it. Honestly if you take out the fanservice then you have a very good story here. Of course a what if scenario doesn’t help the actual product. It’s a key example of how just one area can really sink a story.

Overall, I would say to skip this one. The Progressive series is meant to be an ultra extended look at the first arc which means that you can really identify more with the characters. At the same time, that means you can easily skip chunks of it like this one without really missing anything. Technically this could be treated like filler so it’s worth checking out if the story is good. Since it’s not, you’ll want to keep going on your way. The drastic changes in quality for the franchise really continues here. That’s just how it goes sometimes though.

Overall 3/10

100 Meters Review

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It’s time for a big track and field movie. The 100 meter dash is not something that I’ve ever really followed but it does make sense that it would be a really intense event. You’re putting everything you’ve got into an incredibly short race. So if anything goes wrong, you can’t recover from it. You’re also putting your legs under a lot of strain with the constant wear and tear through training. It’s a pretty good movie that captures the intensity.

The movie’s main character is Togashi although it does well in establishing a lot of the supporting characters to get their own moments. Togashi has always been particularly gifted in running fast and so he would naturally enter track events. He was known around the school for being quite good and figured that would be his life’s career. Another kid shows up who likes running but doesn’t seem to have the talent for it, Komiya. Togashi works on helping this kid out but as quickly as he appeared, Komiya had to move out and vanished. Many years later, Togashi is still working on being the world’s best when he runs into Komiya again.

There are several big time jumps like this during the movie and each one has the character designs change a bit. It’s ambitious and I definitely think the film did a good job here. The only issue is does run into at times is that the animation can make it easy to mix up the characters at times. They can start to blend together. While the animation can look pretty solid with some of the special effects when running, I would say that on the whole it’s more on the decent side. Under the average weekly anime but above what you’re mainly going to see in US theaters.

This is a movie where the focus is going to be more on the story and themes. Both of those are areas where the movie does a great job so there is no real reason to worry here. Togashi is a great example of someone who really loves his hobby but then the competition starts to wear down on him. He goes through a slump but ultimately finds his passion for the sport again. I think that happens to most people when they finally manage to make it to the top level of competition. It’s just such a different animal at that stage.

Now, the film does run the risk of being a little repetitive at times with Togashi seeming to always need another speech to really get his act together. The film is spanning multiple years so in universe it makes a lot of sense but while watching you may be shaking your head at Togashi a bit by the end. Ultimately he’s a good guy though and is always trying to push the other characters forward. Togashi wants to be the best by challenging himself to improve as opposed to pushing anyone lower.

Komiya had a tough hand in life as he grew up in a tough environment and running didn’t come easily to him. When he really pushed himself he could do well but then he had to deal with injuries. It’s easy to see why anyone would start to put some distance from the sport after that. He ended up with a lot of anxiety but is able to push past it. A good example of this is when he is listening to Zaitsu’s advice at the beginning but in the second scene he just ends up cutting the guy off. Komiya was able to find his own ideals to race with, even if they falter by the end.

It’s solid character development because everyone is always going to have their own approaches and speeches to give you. There’s a time to hear them out but then there’s also a time to just go your own way and never look back. Komiya was able to become one of the greatest racers in the world through his own skills. That’s not easy.

Then you have Zaitsu and Kaido who are two characters who became immense racers on their own merits as well. It was pretty nice seeing each of them get some respect here with both winning at least one pivotal race. Each one also sacrificed a lot to the sport which is another theme in the movie. You are really giving your whole life for those 100 meters. At the end of the day you have to ask if the rewards are worth it. Does owning a bunch of trophies equate to a lot of happiness? Or will having records in your name be something that always keeps you happy? It’s just hard to say and by the time you think about it, your life has been used up a lot.

Togashi keeps it the simplest from all the racers. He just enjoys running and he’ll keep doing it for as long as he can. That’s really all that anyone can do and you have to make your peace with it. It’s a little late to be having regrets by the time it’s all over. Whatever you do with your life, it’s constantly moving forward. So you have to move along with it.

I think the movie pushed the 100 meter dash as far as it could. The short length of the race does limit how much drama you can build into the actual race but the film made sure to build up the angles around it. If the race was longer I would have liked to have crammed in all the racers in one race to end the film off. Logically would that be a little convenient? Yeah definitely but you can suspend a little disbelief for a climactic showdown like that. Of course a classic 1 v 1 is also a good way to end things so you’ll get no real issues there from me.

This is a film that’s just very strong all around. We get a number of good supporting characters and even by the end we’re still meeting new runners who are incredibly fast. It shows that new racers will always come in to replace the old ones and that the sport is in a healthy place. It’s a very uplifting kind of movie that you can recommend to anyone who has even a bit of a competitive spirit within them.

Overall, The film cops out at the ending on who the world’s greatest is but I like to think it was Togashi. To me that makes sense with the ending but it’s ultimately up to your interpretation. Either way I would recommend checking this film out. It’s a good adventure filled with a lot of drama and intensity. It all goes by pretty quickly and that’s considering that it had different false climaxes. You may think the film is about to end and then it jumps into the future again. You could easily build off of this into more spinoffs and sequels as well.

Overall 7/10

The Sword in the Stone Review

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The Sword in the Stone is a whole lot different than I would have expected it to be. I was thinking it would be a classic King Arthur story but that’s not really the focus at all. In fact that’s barely relevant for the whole adventure. It’s a fun enough story but I can see why this one never got quite as popular as some of the other big animated adventures.

The story begins by explaining that England has entered the dark ages thanks to its ruler dying without anyone to take the throne. The strong bully the weak and there is nobody to stop this chaos. What about Merlin? We’ll get to that. The story centers around a kid named Arthur who is mainly tolerated by the people around him but he’s seen as weak and ineffectual. His older foster brother Kay tends to treat him more like a butler and that’s been the dynamic for a long time. Well, one day Arthur bumps into Merlin who had predicted their encounter. He believes Arthur to be the chosen future king and so he begins to train him. But can Merlin train Arthur enough to win the grand tournament to become King of the land?

Merlin is probably the biggest problem in the film. Now to be clear, he can be an amusing character. Merlin is one of those guys who always has the answers and he also has a good amount of magical strength. So that would be handy here right? Well, he’s not the most patient fellow and doesn’t really listen. Why wasn’t he helping people out during these literal dark ages? Well, he was probably too lazy. We see that this mage knows about the future and routinely time travels. He can basically do anything.

Stopping crime would have been easy but instead he just waits on his prophecies. He probably should already know that Arthur becomes King by time travelling but acts like he doesn’t do for sure and is just following destiny. Okay, at least he will stick with this right? No, he blows up at Arthur near the end and runs off to a beach somewhere in the future. That was the worst moment for Merlin because he ditched Arthur when it counted. The misunderstanding was also 100% on Merlin.

Arthur was just happy because he finally got his old job back as Kay’s attendant. Sure, it’s not glamourous but after consistently getting a lot of losses, it is easy to see why Arthur was happy. I’m sure he would have kept on training if Merlin just talked to him but the guy immediately goes nuclear about how he won’t train Arthur anymore. Merlin literally skips out on the whole climax and arrives after it. So much for being a mentor that Arthur could count on.

Now, Merlin does get a cool fight with his arch nemesis Madam Mim. We get to see more of his abilities and creativeness there. It’s a fun fight and so he is not weak by any means. That said, we already knew this right? Merlin has never been a weak fighter. He has abilities but just doesn’t use them in the day to day which is the problem.

As for Madam Mim, she was mainly fun for the fights. I would say in a way Ector and Kay were the real antagonists here since they kept getting in Arthur’s way. I give the film credit for not making Kay super over the top evil though. He’s not the smartest guy and is certainly rude but he doesn’t go out of his way to consistently bully Arthur the way you would see from other characters in a similar role. Ector’s screentime isn’t as much as you would expect but he is fun in the role of being a thorn in Arthur’s side.

As the main character Arthur is okay but much too weak willed and submissive for my liking. Often times in a story like this, the only way for a situation to get better is to improve it yourself. I wanted to see Arthur actually fighting back against his destiny to make things better. Sure he pulls the sword and everything but it’s still in a fairly mild mannered way. It’s not unrealistic but I just wanted my confident King Arthur from the legends. I dare say that would have made for a more impactful film.

Midway through the film we get a whole montage of training moments where Arthur is turned into different animals. This even leads to an animal getting a crush on him which was a bizarre plotline. Arthur wasn’t exactly given any backup here and was left to fend for himself. It didn’t feel like this was really necessary to the film and all the animal stuff was almost like the movie was buying time. There wasn’t a ton of story here if you drill down into it.

The animation has held up really well over time though. I thought it looked really smooth and colorful the whole time. Meanwhile the soundtrack wasn’t bad. It’s a classic Disney film so you can expect quite a few songs. I don’t think any of them ever became the next big thing but the opening is not bad. It’s one of those songs that is used as exposition the whole time which is an art form that has mostly been lost nowadays. I tend to like story songs like this but only when used for that purpose. I wouldn’t listen to a song like that at just any point.

Overall, The Sword in the Stone is a fun movie. I had a good time while watching it but you feel a lot of missed opportunities the whole time. I don’t agree with the decision to go with a young King Arthur. How well can a kid really rule the kingdom? Have him be a humble teenager/young adult like Link of Hyrule or something and he gradually gets ready to be the king. You could still follow similar story beats but Arthur would be able to have more agency. He wouldn’t have to be quite so timid and you could even cut the animal transformations. If not, at least avoid the romance and maybe give more justification for why we needed these training segments. Outside of showing off animation, the in-universe reason for doing this was shaky at best. I didn’t feel like Arthur learned a whole lot here that couldn’t have been taught traditionally.

Overall 6/10

Cosmic Monsters Review

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There’s always something comforting about watching an old creature feature film. The fun dialogue, the quick moving plot, it’s all just good stuff. Sometimes you barely even need the creatures around because the vibes are just good. This is an example of such a film that is very simple. I would go as far as to say it’s a super basic movie but it knows its objectives and clears them. This is a fun popcorn film you can check out at any time. The movie never drags on and you get a fun climax. I don’t really have any issues with this one even if I may have a hard time telling it apart from 5 others in a few years.

The film starts with some scientists trying to run a bunch of experiments with magnetic fields but they haven’t had any luck in a long while. The government has about had it with them and they have the gall to request more funds. These scientists are given one last chance but in the meantime hey will have to work with a new computer professional, Michele. These guys are not happy about this, they all grumble a whole lot about how a lady couldn’t possibly understand the work. They say she’ll be tough to work with and what have you. They whine so much that the government agent seems pretty happy about it and leaves them to the work. What they don’t realize is that these experiments may have real dangerous consequences.

I will say that I was glad Michele stood up to them right away. Not like it was too hard to be honest but she showed that she had the skills to keep up with them and they get on board quickly. Of course the film couldn’t resist the urge to immediately have some flirting thrown in there as well with Dr. Graham. It would have been perfect if that wasn’t a part of the dynamic at all so that Michele would have really just been one of the team ready to change the world with science.

Now at first you may think that Dr. Laird is just one of those classic mad scientists who slowly starts to get real extreme…and by the end you’ll still be thinking that. He’s not exactly subtle but that makes for a fun character type. The mad scientist has always been a really interesting character. You’re certainly not rooting for him but you can really appreciate the dedication to his craft. He really did come close to some amazing breakthroughs and actually got a few, just unintended from what he was after.

Dr. Graham is more your average main character. A good scientist who isn’t really extreme. He stops when things get too dangerous and knows his limits. Nothing wrong with that but it also means he won’t be a very memorable character. The cast is fairly small though so that helps his odds. You have the government who decides that this tech could be incredibly handy in combat but there’s mostly just the one or two point persons.

In a way the creature stuff almost seems like it’s getting in the way of the interesting consequences of these new innovations. Using magnetic fields in a way where you can cause gold to be brittle would naturally be really handy in wars or normal fights. You could have actually had some enemy officers trying to start a fight like the government expected. Instead, it’s aliens time! It’s not quite as exciting as you might expect though.

First off, it starts with a little girl who has no real survival instincts. Even after her mother warns her not to do this, she goes deep into the forest and talks to strangers. One of them is the mysterious man who seems to be interested in the experiments. This guy seems rather odd but the kid doesn’t notice. As the film goes on, we find out a little more about him. The thing is, this guy is very hesitant to act and do anything even when the stakes are high so you wonder what he was even going to do. If the main characters didn’t have a long talk with him, I guess he would have just silently left and maybe gotten some big weapons involved?

There is even a scene where we find out that the world might have to choose between one life (The crazy scientist trying to destroy the world) and the world itself. The alien admits that it would be a hard decision for him as he goes on about the importance of life and all. So maybe he is just an ultra pacifist to the extreme but the whole thing was not a good look for him. He talks as if humanity is so far beneath his people but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Perhaps scientifically but that would be it.

Also we do get a random mass murderer who shows up thanks to the radiation messing with him. He’s good for a few jump scares initially but there’s not much point to this except to try and get the characters closer to figuring out what is going on. Amidst all this, we have giant insects! Yes the gravitational fields also affect them along with radiation and such. I don’t really get why they didn’t just say the scientists were messing with radiation, would be a simpler way to get to the same end point. It’s all sci-fi though so ultimately I’m on board with it either way.

There isn’t a whole lot of time for the giant insects though as the film is basically over by then. It’s one of those sci-fi films that ends extremely quick. It’s going, you’re in the big climax and then it just suddenly ends. It’s always impressive when films do that because even as the viewer you’re just left shocked. I feel like it happens the most with sci-fi films too although that may just be since I’ve seen quite a few of those.

Overall, Cosmic Monsters is one of those films that goes by real fast. It’s a film that is very distracted though. There are just so many plots going on here and a lot of them barely have anything to do with each other until they collect at the end. I also think there shouldn’t have been a big messy romance here. Even the first guy is initially surprised when Michele is moving on but then basically congratulates the next man up. Not exactly broken up about this eh? He was being rather presumptuous either way. The film’s title may leave you disappointed if you are expecting a lot of cosmic monsters though. Go into this expecting a chaotic sci-fi film and trust me you will have a whole lot more fun! How can you go wrong with giant insects, a mad scientist, and aliens all in the same film?

Overall 7/10

The Creature Walks Among Us Review

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This film is a bit of a mess and the biggest problem is that the romance is absolutely crazy here. The film should have focused a whole lot more on the Gillman himself. Instead he is functionally a human for most of the movie and we have this awful love triangle going on. Trust me, the drama is not worth it for this film and you should stay far away. The winning formula is not to be found here.

The movie starts off with the main characters taking down the Gillman once more. He was badly burned so they take off the gills and it turns out that he looks just like a human now. He can no longer breath underwater without the gills but maybe they can slowly rehabilitate him. The problem is that Dr. William is bit on the crazy side. He’s also randomly abusive towards his wife Marcia and so their relationship is incredibly strained.

Unfortunately one of their divers is a man with no redeeming qualities named Jed. Jed decides that he wants Marcia all to himself so he begins to continually harass her as he tries to weaken her will so that she can cheat on her husband. Marcia doesn’t have much love left for William with how things have gotten and so she gradually weakens enough to allow Jed his advances. What does any of this have to do with the Gillman? Well, the poor guy is getting an up close view at how humans cannot be trusted and are all rather sinister.

That’s a huge problem for the film which is that the characters are simply unlikable. You’re basically rooting for the Gillman to take them out. First it’s easy to say that William is the worst of the humans. There’s no excuse for being abusive. The fact that he gets physical puts him on the lowest rung of the totem pole here and you’re waiting for someone to bump him off. He’s also not that good at thinking ahead as he puts himself in a really rough position when trying to frame the Gillman.

The Gillman gets framed? Yeah that actually happens near the end which was definitely a real desperate move. Could have been interesting if we had a courtroom trial or something but all of this is taking place privately with the characters on their property so we never get that far. Next up I have to put Jed as the second most unlikable character. You should never be trying to get someone to cheat. How classless is it to go after a married woman? That’s just total villain behavior and this guy seriously cannot take no for an answer.

So I can’t say that I felt any real sympathy for him. He found out real quick what the repercussions for this would be and shouldn’t have been making those mistakes. Finally, Marcia takes up some of the blame here but naturally not as much. She was on the back foot here but could have been more decisive in shutting Jed down. For example when Jed was going to go diving underwater, she insisted on coming along.

Everyone warned her that she’s not experienced for this and she could get the bends. Marcia insists on going and naturally she immediately makes a big mistake and Jed has to save her. That’s far from pushing him away and now it’s an excuse for him to be real close to her. Marcia needed to make sure she wasn’t putting herself in that kind of position. Sure, she couldn’t have assumed that she would make a mistake underwater but the point of the mission is that diving is really hard. It’s why Ned is here as an expert in the first place.

So instead of swimming with him, she needs another way to stop his endless pestering. This is the kind of serious matter where you do tell everyone and make a big stink about it. You have to embarrass the guy and if you don’t feel safe, then it’s time to get the cops involved and such. It’s also time for her to end the marriage to William and just start fresh. Hard decisions but this guy was clearly escalating more and more. Once things go physical then there isn’t a way back.

Still, this is a whole lot of screentime for the pesky humans. Keep in mind that the runtime for the movie is short. This is under 90 minutes total. The Gillman spends a good amount of that time getting burned and then being in recovery mode. He wakes up in time to take down one of the animals just for the film to remind us that this is not a quality picture. Far from it! Then the ending also goes out on a total whimper.

The Gillman walks out onto the sea. We know that he can’t breath under the water anymore so the implication is that he walked into his death. Living on the ship with those crazies was enough to thoroughly break him. That’s pretty sad in its own right. There is no climactic battle, in general the film didn’t have much action. This really feels like a poor way to end the Gillman trilogy. You’re left wondering what the whole point of the film was really about.

What purpose was there in showing that the Gillman was actually very similar to a human being? William had an obsession with evolution and biological changes like this but it’s not like that ever went anywhere. The Gillman didn’t ultimately learn how to hold a whole conversation or anything like that. You can barely even call this a horror film to be honest and maybe that’s not one of its official genres anyway. It’s more of a full on drama.

Overall, I’d say to stay away from this film. It doesn’t really satisfy you as a creature feature film and when it comes to full on dramas, there are way better ones out there. We needed a much better cast of characters here and there should have been way more action. If you do want to go into the romantic drama, then go all in and have both guys trying to murder each other throughout the film or something. Put it out in the open and the film is a battle of wits in this murder game. Then you somehow have the Gillman get involved in all of that. it would have been infinitely more interesting that way. Instead what we get is a mishmash of genres that won’t really satisfy anybody.

Overall 3/10

Vampire in the Garden Review

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It’s time to look at a classic tale of humans vs vampires. This one apparently has quite a story to it but I can’t say that I remember it so well before actually watching the show. At 5 episodes it is quite short so that may add to the effect. I’m not the biggest fan of vampires in general but it’s a solid story. It does end without a whole lot of things being resolved though. In a way it’s like you got to see the main character’s part in it and then you turn the camera off before the inevitable bad ending that is going to happen to most of the cast.

The show starts by showing us the war between humans and vampires. Both sides have taken heavy hits over the years. Most of the humans are extinct and have retreated to a mini city that is protected by a special kind of light that repels the vampires. The vampires have their own mega base where they stay out of range from these weapons. Both sides continue to strike the other but neither have made a decisive blow to end the war as of yet.

Momo is a soldier who has had a tough time with this. She’s not big on violence and the vampires can also be kids and look really unassuming. She is unable to pull the trigger during a pivotal moment which causes shame onto her mother Nobara. Nobara is a high ranking general in the army and doesn’t have time for this kind of distraction. She also finds out that Momo has been hiding some music which is explicitly forbidden to humans. Music is seen as a work of the evil demons. Momo has enough and runs off, only to be taken by the queen of the vampires, Fine. Fine appears to be decent but is she really? The humans mobilize to save Momo while the vampires give chase because they feel that Momo may be corrupting Fine. Is there a way to end this cycle of violence?

I’d say that’s the main theme of the show. Trying to get away from the fact that this war is essentially an eternal one at this point. There will be no true winners or losers, only more bodies added onto the pile. The problem is that when the war involves this many people, it is not easy to stop. Fine essentially says that they should turn their backs on the war but at the same time it will keep on occurring. It’s sort of like closing your eyes to a bad situation. I’m not saying it’s inherently wrong in this context but it’s a short sighted decision. One way or the other, someone is going to win this war and then these two will be hunted again.

Now who is going to win this war? Well, I’m betting it will be the vampires, they just have too many strengths going for them. Yes, the humans have the lights but they aren’t particularly fast and can be evaded. The search towers are extremely lethal but the smaller lights are shown to be survivable. You have to factor in that the vampires can fly, have super strength/speed, and have absolutely incredible durability. They are not going down easily by any means. They will be in the driver’s seat in all the fights. The show tries to make this appear to be relatively equal but I just don’t see it playing out that way.

You can also see why the vampires are wary about Momo. See, this same situation happened to Fine earlier. There was another human girl who looked like Momo and things didn’t end well. The anime slowly peels back the cover on what happened in the previous tragedy but it makes the whole situation a lot clearer. Fine just seems to be walking into a trap from the perspective of all the other vampires. In particular, Allegro is someone who cares a lot for Fine’s safety and decides to take things into his own hands.

He’s a very loyal vampire to be sure. He also points out that as the queen, Fine does have a lot of responsibility here. She can’t just be shirking her responsibilities all the time. In a way she should be using her role to try to change things instead of escaping. Yeah it would absolutely be a lot tougher but it’s still an option for her with how much power she has. Ultimately things don’t go very well for Allegro at all but he ends up being sympathetic.

I liked Fine but she definitely had her faults with trying to run away and all. It was nice to see her fighting and the show actually gave a good explanation for why she couldn’t just absolutely crush everyone in her way. The fact that she refused to drink blood meant that she was constantly in a weakened state. This completely affected her fighting ability and why wouldn’t it right? So that made a lot of sense and I thought it was handled really well. She also helped Momo to escape her shell.

At first Momo was the kind of person who would just put her head down and accept whatever order she was given. After that, Momo would finally speak back and do well. I didn’t like Momo quite as much as Fine. They had similar character arcs in a way but the problem is that Momo was a more naive version of Fine. When they first made it to the sanctuary, Fine immediately knew that something was wrong while Momo was clouded by what she hoped to see. In the end Momo is a child so it makes sense that she would be easier to fool but it would have been really nice if she could have looked a little better in the meantime.

I think this is where the short length hurts a bit. If it had gone on longer, I think we would have had more scenes of Momo protecting Fine, the way that Fine protected her. We saw this briefly when Momo was forced to fight and it would have definitely continued into the next episodes. A dynamic like this is perfect when we really see both characters risking their lives and doing their best to protect the others. It’s a dynamic that I really enjoy and Fine absolutely did her part. She put her life on the line many times. If you are going to make the selfish move of ditching the world to protect each other, then you need a lot of scenes to really sell that. Even just one or two more episodes of the two of them on the run together would have been nice.

As for Nobara, well she doesn’t handle things very well at all. She should be upset with Momo for putting her in a tough spot but she could have more effectively gotten Momo on her side with words. Instead Nobara constantly lashed out and that’s not the right way to brainwash someone. Nobara took too long to really understand exactly what her main goal was. Is it to lead the humans or to protect her daughter? Unfortunately there was not really a way to do both. I think we could have gotten a bit more out of Nobara but she worked as an intense antagonist.

Then we have Kudo who ends up stealing the show a lot. He’s Momo’s uncle and the guy can really fight with his sword. He casually destroys vampires and also holds his own with Fine. It shouldn’t be possible for an ordinary human to be defeating vampires in single combat and yet he pulls it off. This guy has clearly been training for a long time and has more street smarts than the other humans. He has his own tragic backstory which partially explains this.

Kudo is focused and has a chip on his shoulder. That’s a huge red flag for any opponent going up against him. Life is not something you can be assured of having by the time you’re done with that fight. Kudo is the best character in the series without a doubt. He may not really be on the right side but it’s easy to see how he ended up where he is due to the previous events.

You’ll probably notice that I’ve referenced past trauma for a lot of the characters. Well, that is a common element among most of them in this show. Momo is the only one entering the conflict fresh. The others have all already had negative encounters with the other side that has turned them into who they are now. It all goes back to that classic cycle of violence. It’s why the war can’t be ended quite so easily.

The animation is pretty good. I don’t consider it to be anything high end but the show works well and I don’t have any real issues here. It’s all pretty flashy and the characters move well. Action isn’t the highest genre in this adventure but there is enough of it where I’m glad that the show looks good. The soundtrack is a bit on the weaker side. Since music is part of the whole divide, we don’t have a lot of it. Fine tries to teach Momo a song and it’s okay but when you exit the show you won’t have heard any real catchy tunes. I’m also mixed on music being something that was left for the vampires. Shouldn’t the humans use that either as a means to trap the vampires or as a way to take some power back? Just letting the vampires keep it seems like a surrender to me.

For a vampire show it mainly avoids a lot of the blood sucking. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than the average vampire type product. It can get a little violent but never extensively so. I think this would be a fairly safe anime to recommend to folks. It doesn’t have a ton of replay value though so it’s not one that you are likely to go back to. Enjoy it for the initial run and then keep on moving to the next thing. That’s the easiest way to go.

Overall, The show covers a good amount of ground in 5 episodes. It has a happy ending on the surface but you can’t help but feel that it is the calm before the storm. The war will never stop until one side is destroyed, no matter how many small communities appear that try to surpass this. They will all likely end up like the first sanctuary at best. I would have liked to have focused more on the war itself but that was clearly not the focus for this show. You’re going to be here for the drama and the show is written well. It does feel a little confined within the 5 episodes where there are things that could have been more fleshed out but it should satisfy you.

Overall 6/10

Spider-Man: Octo-Girl Review

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This is one of those series that lasted longer than I would have expected. It’s always good to get more superhero manga and this one definitely fits within that category. It’s a pretty fun story that revolves around Doc Ock for a change. The art is good and the pacing is solid. There does tend to be a lot of plot armor since a bunch of kids are around as main characters but even with all of that I would say this is a pretty good story.

The story starts with Ock getting absolutely destroyed by Spiderman once again. He just can’t seem to keep up with the web crawler but lost quick enough this time where even Spidey forgot to hold back. So as Ock plummeted to his doom, he activated his last minute clone technology to send his mind to one of the doppelgangers. Unfortunately, the A.I. made a critical error and he ends up being sent into the mind of a little girl named Otoha who was in a coma. Pretty big glitch in the system right? Now Ock has to share a mind with her until he can find a way back to his own body. In the meantime he refuses to live a sub optimal life and so he intends to help Otoha deal with her various issues.

Don’t get the wrong idea, he has no intentions of assisting her because he cares about the situation at first. He’s just doing this for his own ego because Doc Ock must always be on top. That is how things have always been and how they must persist. Ock gets a whole lot of development within the story as he learns more about being empathetic. He’s in an interesting position because this clearly takes place deep within the Spiderman mythos so to an extent you’d figure he already knew a lot of this. He’s a character who often teeters between being a hero and a villain. Still, it’s an alternate take so that’s the best way to write this off.

Ock’s inventions are certainly very useful at all times as he quickly improves Otoha’s situation. The metal arms make her a force to be reckoned with and while she often has to tone him down, I don’t think she could deny that she was in a better space immediately after he showed up. Ock gave her more confidence in standing up for herself which is her main character arc. Otoha starts out as a really timid character but gradually becomes able to defend herself and reach out to gain back some friends who had been lost along the way. She never became one of my favorite characters but had a noticeable improvement from the early scenes.

Marika was apparently a nice person throughout the series but her first scene got her off on the wrong foot with Doc Ock. After that they get along well enough and Marika even plays a role during the series in getting one of their friends back to being a nice person. She can’t actually fight though and so generally she’s more of a spectator. Denko gets less of a role but she tends to have an edgy outlook on things like telling people they’re better off dead. Certainly not the kindest thing to write to someone who was just in a coma and nearly died…..yeah I never ended up liking Denko.

Taka is much more than just one of the opening chapter bullies though. She actually gets a really big role as this series’ Vulture. She gets her tragic backstory and all but it’s not enough where you end up rooting for her over the heroes or anything like that. She made her choices and like Ock she will have to try and atone for them. I liked how tough she was throughout the series. In her opening moments she was already talking tough to Doc Ock and never wavered in the midst of his power. Now granted, that’s probably not smart since at the time she couldn’t fight.

She does gain powers later on though and really makes the most of them. I always tend to like the tough talk and when a character is really confident so that sounded good to me. She’s easily one of the better characters in the series and helped to not only increase the stakes but make them personal too. She gave Otoha a reason to fight along with Ock as opposed to just being in the backseat. Otoha had more of a reason to fight in this case to be honest. The series wouldn’t have been the same without Taka.

Another really good character is Haruka. When she showed up it was a pretty awesome moment since she’s already well known from other manga titles like Deadpool. Alas she is still stranded across dimensions and that has been hard for her but she won’t overlook the crimes around her. So she naturally goes into battle with Ock. While she is essentially on the losing side and continues her streak of consistently being defeated by everyone, I’m glad that she never stops trying to fight. You need a hero like that, especially when Spiderman is never around in all of these spinoffs.

Then we have Superior Ock who shows up as another personality gone rogue. It’s pretty fun to see two versions of Ock running around at the same time. Superior Ock gets all of the best dialogue throughout the series and consistently dominates whenever he is on screen. I also really liked his Spider-Man costume which is also similar to the one he wore during that era in the comics. You needed a villain like this to fight Ock brain to brain. He also forces our doctor to confront his past self in a sense.

The villain who is a bit redundant is Old Ock who shows up for a climax. He is really here just to redo the character arc of Ock having to see what he used to be like. Old Ock is his earlier self as well from when he was pure evil. So this one wants to destroy everything as opposed to being an extreme justice advocate. He doesn’t have enough screentime to really contribute much and is mainly just here to extend the climax a bit. The action is all solid but yeah this character wasn’t needed.

I suppose it may have been better than sticking with Maxine as the corporate final boss. It was fun to see how shady corporate was as per usual but it’s not like that makes for a very interesting final boss. The series is under 40 chapters so you didn’t need a whole lot of characters. The cast we got was solid enough. Spiderman himself shows up for the beginning and ending of course. He looks good and heroic as you would expect. He never gave up on Doc Ock throughout the whole time he was in a coma. It’s why Spiderman is always an inspirational hero.

The artwork in the series is pretty good. I would say the title especially excels when it comes to fight scenes which is a good thing. We get quite a few dynamic pages with characters squaring off. The artwork does a good job of keeping up the intensity and definitely getting you hyped for the battles to come. So the series gets a real good thumbs up there.

While you may wish Ock didn’t have to share a body with Otoha, it would be a different story at that point. The school stuff may be far less interesting than what is going on with the villains at large but the plots are often really intertwined to the point where you are getting a lot of screentime for both at all times. It’s not like each plot has to take a break for the other one. This is definitely a fun manga to binge and the art is clear enough where you would finish it up pretty easily.

Overall, Octo-Girl is a pretty good series. It gives each character a good amount of character development and lasted long enough where nothing feels rushed. You could tell the author really had the story beats laid out from the start and followed them all. We start off with the slice of life adventures to get you used to the characters and then we enter te story arcs. Everything feels planned out in a good way so I definitely appreciate that. If you like the various Spiderman characters then you should check this one out. There is a lot to enjoy for longtime fans and newcomers alike. Doc Ock may be a character who has already gotten a lot of development in different titles but it’s always fun to see a new take. I am still waiting for a new title about Spiderman himself though.

Overall 7/10