Category Archives: Editorial

Best NFL Players

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With the NFL wrapping up it’s 100 year anniversary I figured it was a good time to take a look at who I believe was the best player to play the game in each position. You’ll notice that not all positions are on this list. I don’t have enough knowledge about the ones I’ve excluded like Linemen, Fullback, Punter, etc. Even if I did research now it would take too long to get an accurate picture of who the best was. The positions listed below are ones that I’m far more familiar with. Some I already knew before starting the editorial while other positions required more in depth searching.

Quarterback

When it comes to the best quarterback of all time that’s an easy pick to make. It’s Tony Romo. This quarterback is heavily underrated due to the Cowboys not winning a championship with him but team stats do not apply here. If you look at Romo’s stats he lit the field up whenever he was on the screen. To date he has the highest career QBR outside of active players and that’s one of the most impressive stats. Additionally Romo has a great arm so he could make even the more difficult of throws. His mobility was greatly reduced after sustaining multiple injuries over the years but this allowed him to improve his pocket passing further.

Running Back

Emmett Smith definitely has some competition for the best running back of all time but ultimately none of the competitors are able to match him. Smith was a powerful back who was known to consistently break tackles in the open field. His speed was also considerable even if it wasn’t quite what he was known for. He could turn up a gear or make a quick move to dodge a defender, but having the ability to break through an opponent was really his specialty. He obtained quite a lot of yards over the years and was a critical part of the 90s Cowboys success.

Wide Receiver

Aside from the quarterback position, the wide receiver is always the most enjoyable for me to watch. There have also been quite a number of incredible receivers over the years. Jerry, Randy, and T.O. are certainly my top 3. There can only be one though and I’m going with Randy here. His sheer athleticism was always very impressive and he could always fight for the ball. He had great seasons with the Vikings and a spectacular one with the Patriots as well. I haven’t seen another receiver who was quite so talented.

Tight End

As tempting as it is to pick Shannon Sharpe with his endless confidence and entertaining demeanor I’m going to have to go with Tony Gonzales here. He was always a consistently great tight end who lasted a while. Gonzales was always going to make the catch so the Chiefs could count on him for the first down. His size and physical route running also made it difficult for defenders to cover him. He had a great career.

Special Teams Returner

While most players aren’t officially listed as special team returners there are a few who were really just perfect for the role and that effectively became their position. Devin Hester was one of those guys and open field running was his specialty. Whether it was a kick or punt return he always had the potential to get the ball in the end zone. Eventually teams started kicking away from him. With 19 total return touchdowns he is far and away leading in that category. I highly doubt anyone will be able to pass him.

Cornerback

Deion Sanders was called Prime Time for good reason. He was a cornerback who made a lot of flashy plays and showed up in the big games. He was immensely talented and could even play other positions like wide receiver and he could return special teams. His real specialty was in the backfield covering receivers though. His ability to catch the football meant he could cover balls with the intent to catch them. At that point unless the QB threw a perfect pass it was a potential interception.

Kicker

An NFL kicker needs to be consistent and it’s been tough for teams to find one like that lately. It’s an incredibly difficult position as you may have to go into the game cold and still make the kick to win the game. With all of that pressure you have to have some pretty strong nerves. Dan Bailey was the closest you can get to a perfect kicker. While Bailey no longer has the record for highest field goal% thanks to an off year he had, he has gone back to being one of the most accurate kickers in history. As he is still playing he can still aim for the #1 spot in accuracy, but he already has that spot in the position with how he comes through in the clutch.

Middle Linebacker

Brian Urlacher was always a dangerous player on the field during his many seasons with the Bears. He’s the first middle linebacker I made sure to pay attention to because he was such a great player. The guy could easily pick off passes or go for sacks. It was always hard to tell exactly what he would do and just having that kind of pressure made it tough for the other team’s offense. I’m certainly not a big fan of the Bears but they have obtained quite a few great MLB’s in the past. I make the case that Brian was the best out of all of them.

Defensive End

This was probably the toughest position to pick. I was torn between Jared Allen, Demarcus Ware, and Michael Strahan. I compared their stats on Pro Football Reference and looked at some highlights. The main reason why Michael ultimately wins this one is because of his success in the playoffs. While he did have 2 more games to work with than Ware and several more than Allen, he easily led in sacks. He had close to 10 sacks in the postseason and those are the games where you have to show up. He also had the longest career out of the 3 and obtained the most sacks. Strahan was just an incredible DE and always made his presence felt.

Owner

Jerry Jones is easily the most well known owner. A lot of owners you never even hear about as they just don’t make the news or try to grab headlines. Jerry may be a controversial figure, but he’s never afraid to speak his piece about the Cowboys. You can count on him to address the media after every game and he definitely wants to win another Super Bowl. I can’t think of any owner with more energy and enthusiasm than Jerry.

So these are the top players of each position! The NFL’s 100th season was definitely a blast even if it didn’t go the way I had hoped it would. I look forward to seeing what the next century of Football brings us.

Is a Hot Dog a sandwich?

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One question that’s been floating around the world has been if the famous Hot Dog is a sandwich or not. Well, I lets look at this logically. I lot of the debate depends on your definition of a sandwich. My definition is that a sandwich is anything that is wrapped in between bread. The bread can be top and bottom like a classic grilled cheese or it can be enclosed like in a baguette sandwich. The goal is that something is there, if you’re just eating bread then it’s not an actual sandwich.

So that brings us to the famous Hot Dog. As you may have guessed from the intro, I would count this as a sandwich. The meat is in between the bread from top to bottom. I think one reason why people may not consider it to be a sandwich is depending where you get the hot dog it is one piece of bread that curves around, not two separate pieces of bread. If you buy a low quality hot dog then the bread will probably break and it’ll look like a normal sandwich. I make the case that in both situations it is still a sandwich. My rebuttal to the first scenario is that we already have sandwiches with only one piece of bread as opposed to two. I’m talking about the Italian Footlong.

Go to Fairway, Shoprite, Whole Foods, or Trader Joes and buy one of the long baguettes. Now instead of cutting it up into a lot of smaller ones just cut a slit into the bread and put in the meat. You’ve still got one piece of bread (albeit a large piece) but it is stuffed. Wouldn’t you call this a sandwich? I certainly would so this supports the case that you don’t need two pieces of bread to be a sandwich. The only qualifications is that you’ve got bread and you’ve got something inside of it while not being baked into it. If you churned your own dough with cheese into the mixture you’re just making cheesy bread and not a sandwich. So the distinction is that you’ve still got to have two separate items, the bread and the filling. That’s really it though. That’s all you need for a proper sandwich.

Whatever else you add to the Hot Dog after this point doesn’t take away its status as a sandwich or legitimize it. The instant you’ve put the meat into the bun you have just created a sandwich. This is a pretty short editorial next to my usual ones since there isn’t much more to be said about this, but I had to answer this age old question. It’s a topic that is brought up quite a bit in Yugioh Vrains so I needed to throw in my two cents. What do you guys think? Is a Hot Dog a sandwich or should it really not be lumped into that category and is a unique case?

My 2019 year in review from Sony’s stats

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Hey guys, Sony just sent me my 2019 year in review stats so I figured I would share them here.

This image isn’t really surprising. Kingdom Hearts III was definitely the game I played the most in 2019. Yooka Laylee also took me forever with some of the puzzles so it makes sense that it would show up as well. 54 different games also sounds pretty good to me. It’s definitely been a pretty fun year for Sony.

Action-Adventure as my main genre makes sense. I think all 3 of the games above would fall into that category most likely even if they have other genres as well. You just can’t go wrong with a good action-adventure if you ask me.

So it looks like on average I played on the PS3 or PS4 once every 3 days. That seems pretty solid and of course they were all local hours as I don’t remember playing online at all. I wonder which game I was playing for 4 hours straight. I know I was really close with Star Wars so that could have reached 4, but I also played really long batches in Kingdom Hearts III as well.

396 trophies is pretty cool. I don’t see how it’s more than last year’s since I didn’t do any trophy hunting this year, but I suppose that just by having so many games it was a natural side effect.

So that’s my Sony wrap-up. I’d love it if Nintendo sent out a similar email. My numbers would be considerably higher on that one since I still do play Super Smash just about every day. It’s still the ultimate video game experience, a title that never really has to end. I’ll have more of a general 2019 recap soon for the blog itself.

2019 Christmas game wrap-up!

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All right guys another Christmas has come and gone. It was my largest haul yet I believe as I got 22 games this year. This is exactly why I love to wait until games are 2-5 bucks instead of grabbing em while they’re 60. While some games are worth snagging right away you can do without most of them til they’re cheaper. Gamestop also had their best deal yet this year with that buy 1 get 1 free deal. It’s just unheard of to do something like that so I was impressed! I have taken a picture with all the games I got, but I’ll also list them here since it can be hard to read them.

Need For Speed ProStreet
Brave
Topspin 4
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Little Big Planet 2
Angry Birds Trilogy
NFL Tour
Ghostbusters
Midnight Club Los angeles
Blur
Terminator Salvation
Wario Land Shake It
Yoshi’s Woolly World
Pikmin 3
Madden 19
DuskDiver
Beyblade Metal Masters
Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness
Diddy Kong Racing DS
Mairo and Luigi Partners in Time
Dragon Ball Z Attack of the Saiyans

Beating all of these should definitely take a long time but I look forward to taking a crack at it. Additionally here are some of the snacks I ended up going for. You can see how I tried to decorate my cookies a bit with the spoon and the emblems. I must admit that it all came out pretty good. Also, using the Chocolate spoon for the Ice Cream is brilliant because that’s one less utensil you’ll have to clean up in the end.

Merry Christmas folks!

Top 10 Foods

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Now this might have been the toughest list I’ve ever had to write here. Food is difficult to make a top 10 of because there are so many variations. How deep do you go? For example, there are hundreds of different pizza flavors. If I went that far into detail it would take up all 10 slots. Then you’ve got things that are really similar like Cheese fries with normal French Fries, Macaroni Cheese vs Fettuccini Alfredo, etc. I did my best to just capture the 10 types of foods I enjoy the most without going into the specifics. I’m also thinking of it in terms of averages. For example, Chef Boyarde makes the greatest Spagetti and Meatballs I’ve ever eaten. It would be enough to put that dish in my top 10, but otherwise it wouldn’t even be close. So I’m putting the top 10 that are typically great no matter where I have it. That seemed like the best way to go about this. So without further ado lets take a look at what we got here!

10. French Fries

This is definitely an old standby. You just can’t go wrong with a good French Fry. First off, they go well with almost any condiment. Cheese sauce, Honey Mustard, Ketchup, Blue Cheese, BBQ, etc. Naturally they taste great by themselves as well. Another thing that really helps them rank up here is how they are so versatile. You can put them in a sandwich or on a pizza and you’ll be all good. It’s the perfect option to kick off the top 10.

9. Potatoes au Gratin

This one’s a more obscure option, but a fantastic one nonetheless. Few items go together as well as potatoes and cheese. Most of the recipes I have made over the years use both for that reason. A good Au Gratin should be extremely cheesy and filled with the diced potatoes. It’s an amazing combo and it a good substitute for Lasagna if you aren’t able to eat pasta. Tomato sauce is optional for this dish but it definitely does work out quite well.

8. Cheeseburger

This is another classic dish. I typically like to have my Cheeseburgers with bacon but just about anything works out really well. My favorite burger place of all time is McDonalds, but just about any will do. My preferred way to cook them is well done to really get that flavor in. I really enjoy all of the special burgers the various chains have been coming out with lately like the Breakfast burger that usually has a fried egg in it, any with fried onions, triple cheese, etc. Burgers are just amazing and I could eat them all day. It goes without saying but any item in the top 10 is one I could go for on just about any given day.

7. Cheese Calzone

A Cheese Calzone is really just a pizza without sauce. If you’ve got some marinara cups on hand then this essentially is a pizza. I really enjoy Calzones and the only reason I don’t have them more often is because I’m typically enjoying a pizza instead. A good Calzone should have a lot of ricotta cheese and ingeneral will be stuffed with flavor. I also enjoy the Ham and Cheese version of the one with Pepperoni in it. It’s pretty similar to a Stromboli to be honest so you could interchange them. A Cheese Calzone is usually a side item for me, but you could use it as a main one as well.

6. Mashed Potatoes

This is one of the gold standards of food. Not only is it an amazing dish, but it is absolutely mandatory for events such as Thanksgiving. Potatoes are one of the greatest foods out there and as a base ingredient, it may only be behind pasta and cheese. Good mashed potatoes only need some butter and you are absolutely set for action. You can also add some other items though, I once had a really good Mashed Potatoes with bits of bacon thrown in. It goes without saying that cheese and other meats go well too. Almost every fast food place has this as a side order for good reason. There’s not much to say about Mash because everyone already knows how good it is.

5. General Tso’s Chicken

It’s time for a sweet addition. General Tso’s Chicken is pretty nostalgic as I still remember the first time I had it in the Manhattan Mall. To date that was the best version of it I’ve ever had. People make this dish in a variety of ways. My personal favorite is to have a very thick sauce accompanying the chicken. It should be sweet, but have a good impact that you won’t soon forget. The only counter side here is that I can’t eat a sweet dish for too long without getting full so I need a lot of white rice with it. That’s why this is the perfect accompaniment. It’s not uncommon to have it with pizza or Mashed potatoes. One of my personal favorite combos is to put it with Macaroni and Cheese. Part of why this one is ranked so high is because the taste is so amazing and unique. You can’t really find anything quite like this.

4. Boulders of Justice

There is no official name for this that I know of so I coined the phrase. I think the closest thing to a name would be calling this Cheese Balls. It’s effectively Mashed Potatoes with Cheese chunks embedded into it. You roll the potato into a ball, puncture a hole in it and then fill it with cheese. You cover it with more potato, wrap in breading and bake/fry til done. It’s my personal favorite recipe and it took a lot of tweaking until it was just right. Now it’s something I could eat all day every day. On my best day I’ve eaten around 20 of these at once. It mixes all of my favorite tastes together into a wonderful dish of bliss. I highly recommend messing around with potato and cheese until you find a balance that works for you as well.

3. Lasagna

Now we’re heading into the big 3 and these guys are in a class of their own. I’ve literally eaten so much Lasagna that I got sick for a very long time. (Ate almost a full tub of Lasagna) It’s definitely a dish that is dangerously addicting with how good it is. The best part is that it’s super easy to make and it will taste great. I add as much as cheese as possible going up to almost a full pound. I could still eat a full tub of it but I like to think I’d show more restraint in the future. This is one dish that is never a side order, it’s definitely the main star of the party at all times.

2. Macaroni and Cheese

This was actually number 1 for me for many years. I think Pizza only passed it maybe 2 years ago. Macaroni and Cheese is just sacred. It’s pasta and cheese which may sound simple, but the flavor is quite complex. Whether it’s from the box or from the tin this is great. I find that it’s impossible to mess this one up. So long as there is cheese this dish will always be amazing. I even got to taste a sugar Macaroni and Cheese once which I had never heard of before, but was eager to try. It was actually really good which really supported my theory that it will always taste amazing. Naturally the more cheese the better, but this dish goes well al dente or soft and mushy. I’ve experimented in so many ways with this dish and had a blast doing it.

1. Pizza

This is the ultimate dish. You simply can’t beat a good pizza. I could eat this every day all day and not get tired of it. I once went a whole summer to Mike’s $1 pizza. Literally every week day I went there and got my slice while still having pizza on the weekends. Pizza is the epitome of perfection and I doubt we will ever be able to create a dish that comes close. There are limitless amazing flavors like Pepperoni, Macaroni and Cheese, Steak, etc. I may do a top 10 Pizza varieties or pizza shops at some point. As we speak I am getting hungry for more pizza. Frozen, Store bought, homemade, I don’t care which I just want some good pizza!

So those are my top 10 foods. All 10 are naturally amazing. The top 3 certainly do break away from the other 7 quite a bit, but all of them are dynamite 10/10 dishes. I’ve never gotten to try having all 10 at once and even for me that would be difficult, but it is something to think about someday. On my Birthday I usually have at least 4 out of 10 so that’s a start.

Why Toonami needs to bring in episode promos for all their new shows

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Toonami is a pretty cool TV block and I dare say that it’s the best block out there. It’s done a really great job of getting its brand out there. When something is on Toonami you know it. The channel has great bumpers, an actual ongoing story with TOM and manages to always have a pretty great lineup. Just having a place for anime to get aired nowadays is really cool since there aren’t many alternatives aside from watching online. At times the channel may make some questionable decisions (Super’s frame rate. There’s a bit of a blame game here with everyone deflecting, but ultimately it seemed to be on the channel not double checking their tapes) (The TV ratings for shows don’t always make sense. I believe channel ratings are up to the discretion of the channel so it could be more of a CN decision, but I imagine Toonami would have some input) but it’s still a top notch block. The channel has been through a lot, but there is one change I’m not too fond of. For a while the block always had 30 second promos for the top shows. Now they’re down to 15 per show and a lot of big titles don’t even get them.

To be fair, Toonami has never made it a practice to give every new show episode promos. I’m assuming this is due to budget concerns and not getting the content quick enough. Even so, I’m here to make the case that all new shows should have consistent episode promos of around 30 seconds. I really don’t think this would have a huge impact on the budget. Editing is no joke, but it’s something that they could certainly have staffers do. One way to get around the time involved would be to make episode promos based on the sub versions. You could just grab the entire thing, but of course this would be more of a last resort. Ideally I’d like to have 30 second dub promos for it the way they used to. For the purposes of this editorial when I say “new” shows I’m talking about anything that is airing on Toonami for the first time. For example something like My Hero Academia which is already available online is still on Toonami for the first time so that should get dub promos. Likewise if Sailor Moon Crystal were to air, I’d want that to get promos as well since it’s on Tooami for the first time. So…why are episode promos important?

1. They are your first glance at a show

Toonami has four kinds of promos. They have the motivational speeches every once in a while, the monthly lineup change promo, episode promos, and new series introduction promos. I’m mainly focusing on the third kind, but the fourth one has some overlap. Every new show does get an intro promo so Toonami does a good job with that. Typically this promo is a minute long and it’s a great way to set up a show for new viewers. To date the best series promo by far was the Sword Art Online Alicization one.
https://gfycat.com/concernedscientificaustrianpinscher
Despite there not being a whole lot of action in the premiere they used amazing editing and a rock solid music choice to get you hyped. I’ve seen that promo at least 50 times since it first aired. It’s just perfect and it’s an example of a show I could see myself checking out without knowing anything else other than the promo. It’s just that good. Episode promos can have the same effect.

Put it this way, the series premiere promo only shows up for 2-3 weeks. After that it’s gone so if you turn on the TV at a random time odds are that most of the shows airing won’t have any promos. That’s where an episode promo comes in. Lets say you turn on the TV and you get the Samurai Jack episode 3 promo below.

https://gfycat.com/cornyeuphoricblackmamba

You have no idea what this show is, but all you care about is when the episode is going to air. You’ll tune in and now there is a chance that you’ll pick up the show. You’re much more likely to take a chance that way after seeing something rather than blindly tuning in at the time and checking it out. A good episode promo goes a long way to letting you see if you’ll like the show or not. Actual footage goes a long way.

2. They get you hyped for the next episode
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An obvious benefit of episode promos is they get you ready for what will come next. Especially as most of the Toonami shows are action ones. A solid promo builds up the hype and anticipation for next week. Lets take this Titan promo for example. We’re finally going to see Eren’s rematch against the titan from episode one. This is an event that viewers looked forward to for several years so just having that scene in the promo really gets you amped up. It’s just not the same with no promo or even with a 15 second one. They’re just way too short for you to do anything with them. We need consistent episode promos and all of the new shows deserve them, not just the top 2-3 each season.

3. A good promo may make you jump on board a show even if the first few episodes didn’t look so good.
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This is similar to the first option, but a little different. Lets say you’ve got a show where the beginning looks boring? Say you turned on Dragon Ball Super and you saw the early Beerus stuff. You figure “I’ve already seen this as a movie” so you turn it off and don’t watch again. About a year later you turn on the TV and the following promo shows up. Now you’re thinking “Wait a minute, this looks hype!” and you scramble to watch the next episode. An episode promo like this shows you what you’re missing and may incentivize you to re-start the show. After all, you’re more inclined to do so if you know there is going to be some big payoff like this rather than watching something you’re not a fan of and hoping it’ll get better. A lot of shows have slow beginnings and for some they may never get better while for others they hit that next gear and never look back. Promos are perfect for this.

So, those are 3 reasons why I think Toonami should reconsider their current approach and begin airing 30 second promos for all of their premieres. It would really go a long way towards getting more and more people excited about their current shows. The biggest benefit will be for more casual viewers, but I just love promos even if I’m already watching the shows and am hyped for next week. Promos are just amazing and I’ve always enjoyed watching them a bunch. A good one just goes a really long way and also helps when trying to recommend a show to someone. Well, with or without this change, Toonami has definitely been a great way for us all to experience new titles. Without Toonami I doubt anime would be quite as mainstream as it is today.

My Pokemon Dream Team

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I recently saw people discussing who their dream team of 6 would be in Pokemon. I figured that was a fun thing to think about so I went through all of the Pokemon and eventually settled on a top 6. It was a really tough endeavor and to make things fair I didn’t count mythical or legendary Pokemon in this. Only the average Pokemon you could hope to find out in the wild. Getting the list down to my favorite 18-19 was easy enough, but from there it was extremely difficult. First up lets look at the runner ups.

Runner Ups

Electivire
Infernape
Typhlosion
Pikachu
Alakazam
Vaporeon
Umbreon
Jolteon
Charizard
Sceptile
Tyranitar

These guys are all pretty awesome and any one of them would make for a great substitute on my team. Alas, I can’t go over 6 so I had to let these guys hang out on the sidelines this time. Pikachu’s a great Pokemon and he was probably the closest to the top 6, but I just couldn’t think of anyone to drop out. Charizard and Umbreon also just barely didn’t make the cut as a similar style Pokemon beat them out.

So lets now look at my 6. These are my 6 favorite Pokemon and while they may not make for the most balanced team possible, I do think they cover for each other’s weaknesses pretty well.

6. Machamp

This guy’s design is just amazing. You can tell that he is a true fighter and even to this day I consider him to be one of the strongest fighting types out there. He would be a great addition to the squad and a solid Pokemon to lead out with to scope out the competition.
5. Scizor

Easily the coolest steel type in all of Pokemon and probably the best design improvement from a base form Pokemon. I like his speed and power, Scizor is just a very well rounded Pokemon who I believe would especially excel in Doubles where he can keep striking at the opposing fighters to support his teammate.
4. Lucario

Lucario is one of those Pokemon who really caught my eye thanks to Super Smash Bros. His incredible aura abilities and Mega Lucario mode help to make him one of the coolest Pokemon. At times he feels like a Shounen hero with how many abilities he has and this Pokemon could go up against legendaries if needed.
3. Espeon

Espeon is my favorite Eevee evolution just barely beating out Umbreon. A case could be made for Umbreon being in the top 6 and I was super close to putting him in as well. Espeon’s design is just really sound and it’s very easy for her to dodge attacks thanks to her speed. She may not be the strongest fighter in the group, but her attacks will definitely still deal a good amount of damage.
2. Feraligatr

Feraligatr was my favorite Pokemon at one point. He eventually fell to second place and a little further if we count legendaries. Still, I love this guy’s design and it’s one of the fiercest in all of Pokemon. His power and speed are definitely top tier. In a 1 on 1 fight there aren’t too many Pokemon who can beat this guy. He fights hard til the end.
1. Blaziken

Finally we’ve got Blaziken, my all time favorite Pokemon. He just has a super cool design and I was first impressed with him when he beat Charizard in the Pokemon anime. The Pokemon looks like a street fighter and he’s a fire type. That’s a dynamite combo right from the start. Then I got to see him again in Pokken which was really cool. This is the guy I trust to have my back when it’s crunch time.

So those are my 6 favorite Pokemon! If you could choose a top 6 from all the ones available who would make your squad? New Pokemon keep getting added year after year so we’ll see if anyone is able to break into this team one of these days.

What is the average score I give in my reviews?

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I recently decided to finally make categories for how many stars I give my movies so I can take a better look at the scores. I already did this for TV Shows and Games so it just made sense to do it for movies as well. Eventually I’ll do it for comics and manga. Maybe books, but I don’t review many of those so there may not be a point yet. I always feel like the scores have had their meanings changed a bit over the years as a 5/10 shouldn’t mean that something is bad. A 5/10 just means that it’s middle of the road. It’s okay and not bad by definition. Here’s how I consider the scores,

0- This is a terrible product. Absolutely horrendous with no redeeming factors. To get this score you had to do something truly distasteful.
1- Pretty horrible film. It may have had some entertaining moments to keep it from being a 0 or perhaps it just didn’t do anything over the top. Most slasher films are here for the excessive violence.
2- Pretty bad film. It may not be so bad that you want to turn the TV off, but it really messed up in every area.
3- Bad film. There was no heart to this film. It was really boring or had a terrible ending that blew the brakes off, but still isn’t as broken as a lower score.
4- Tragic film. It was fairly reasonable, but made enough mistakes where I could not recommend it anymore. It needed a little something to get over the edge.
5-Middle of the pack. The positives and negatives cancel each other out here. For every good scene there was a bad one and the film just never turned the next corner.
6- Good film. This is a movie that was pretty fun, but either made a little mistake that kept it from being pretty good or it dragged on a bit. Still worth a watch and one I would recommend.
7- Pretty Good film. By default this is the score you start out at. As the film goes on it moves up and down based on the scenes and every area of the movie. If you do nothing wrong then you stay at a 7.
8- Great film. This is a movie that was a blast. It has great action scenes, a solid plot, and didn’t really make mistakes. It is a true success.
9- Elite film. This is something that wasn’t simply great, but truly groundbreaking. It’s a movie I could re-watch almost immediately and it will still have a great effect on me. These films were basically perfect.
10- G.O.A.T. film. This is the greatest of all time. As a result only one film can have a 10 star rating for me. If it gets surpassed then it drops to a 9.

I used film analogies for the scores, but that’s the general concept for all of my categories. Without further adieu lets take a look at my scores for the next few categories. The graphs are pretty self explanatory.

Total Live Action Movie reviews: 720

10 Star Movies 1
9 Star Movies 7
8 Star Movies 38
7 Star Movies 137
6 Star Movies 109
5 Star Movies 73
4 Star Movies 79
3 Star Movies 95
2 Star Movies 68
1 Star Movies 68
0 Star Movies 45

Total Games 913

10 Star Games 1
2 Star Games 5
3 Star Games 8
4 Star Games 31
5 Star Games 67
6 Star Games 177
7 Star Games 371
8 Star Games 204
9 Star Games 49

Total TV Show Reviews 117

10 Star TV Shows 1
9 Star TV Shows 16
8 Star TV Shows 28
7 Star TV Shows 37
6 Star TV Shows 10
5 Star TV Shows 9
4 Star TV Shows 6
3 Star TV Shows 6
1 Star TV Shows 2
0 Star TV Shows 2

Live Action Films 39% positive 49% negative.
Video Games: 88% positive 4% negative
TV Shows: 78% positive 12% negative

Pretty interesting stuff I’d say. The most common score for each medium is a 7/10 and if you go back to my rubrik it makes sense as well. If you make no mistakes then that is your destination. Video Games are the most positive which makes sense. I think it’s the easiest medium to do well in and it has always been my favorite hobby. Typically I enjoy all of the games I play. TV Shows are next and most of the ones I watch do tend to be pretty fun. I think the longer nature of the format also helps since the characters get to grow on you. Then you’ve got films which have the most stinkers. That one makes sense as well since it’s the most all encompassing. For games and shows I have a more focused selection of the ones I try out while for films I’ve seen ones from every genre. Still, we’ll see if it eventually gets closer to a 50/50 split.

I’ll probably do another one of these in a year or so once I’ve added scores to the other categories. Plus by then the numbers should have changed a bit as well.

10 Things that need to happen in RWBY Volume 7

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All right, it’s time to take a look at some things that need to happen in RWBY Volume 7. It is quickly approaching and I feel like we need to be ready for it. As a result I have outlined the 10 things that absolutely must happen in order to solidify Volume 7 as one of the greats. I mean…it’s RWBY so it’ll be great either way but I want to see it reach the level of volume 3. Volume 6 set up a lot of hype plot lines which could and should have a big payoff here. While they won’t wrap everything up here since we’ll probably be stuck in Atlas for a while, a lot of big events should happen.

1. Cinder and Neo need to meet up with Team RWBY

No, we don’t want this whole volume to be a set up for their confrontation in Volume 8 as I’ve heard some discuss. I want Cinder and Neo to arrive in Atlas and fight the team in this volume. It’s fine if it takes half the season to get there, but I want a serious fight with Team RWBY and these two. At this point Cinder’s abilities are so great that she could probably take on the main 4 by herself while Neo deals with Qrow and Jaune’s team. They could even switch. It’s hard to say how formidable Neo would be against the heroes on her own since we haven’t seen much of her since volume 3 and the heroes have also gotten way stronger since the old days. That actually connects to another point later on. Regardless, this is a big fight that needs to happen. Whether they pick off some of the heroes one at a time or go for the full combo at once this will be the highlight of volume 7.

2. Winter’s Return

This is Atlas and Winter has been teased at for a very long time. What better way to make her return than in Volume 7? It already seems like this volume is going to have a ton of character development for Weiss and that makes sense. The last volume got a lot of closure for Blake and Yang as they dealt with Adam and Ruby always gets a lot of development about the Silver Eyes. This is Weiss’ time to shine and I also wouldn’t mind an upgrade to her current dust abilities. Atlas is her home turf and that need to be taken advantage of. I don’t mind if Winter and the father don’t show up but I’m sure they will.

3. Full Team RWBY fight

This could happen at the same time as the first option. I want a real fight with the complete RWBY team all at once. Can you believe that the only time we’ve seen them fight as a team against a capable foe was with Torchwick back in Volume 2? That’s absolutely crazy and we gotta change that. Fighting Grimm and random giant robots just doesn’t work for me. They can fight against Cinder or Salem, or someone else. The important factor is that this opponent needs to actually be a threat so we can see the team unleash some cool combo attacks on him as they go in for the win. I’d also expect this fight to get the full budget that it deserves because it’s such a big deal. In general Volume 6 brought the budget back way up so I’m not really concerned about that.

4. Ruby needs to learn to control her Silver Eyes

A lot of people point out and rightfully so that Ruby should have been learning how to control her Silver Eyes by now. They are an incredible asset against the Grimm and other enemies. Qrow at least knows about them so giving Ruby a heads up years ago would have been nice. Now that we have the Grimm Reaper there is no reason why we can’t have Ruby just unleash on all her foes. I feel like she has gotten a lot closer to mastering these abilities so completing that character arc in volume 7 would be ideal. It does mean that the Grimm may not be a threat anymore, but perhaps Salem will have a way to power them up.

5. Update on the White Fang

Adam is gone, but that doesn’t mean that the White Fang is no more. He was already split from them early on in volume 6 after murdering a few members and going rogue. I assume that someone else is now at the helm of this organization. While it will likely go to Blake in the long run I want some closure for them. Having the White Fang as an ally would be interesting or even better as a wild card that still messes with both sides. They don’t need a lot of screen time or anything. I’d be satisfied with even a quick mention or a small role where they are acknowledged.

6. I want to see some Atlas huntsmen/huntresses

It’s time to see what other regions have for defense. Beyond the cadets we don’t really know very many Huntsmen. Salem did murder most of them by now, but I imagine that Atlas would have a reasonable supply of them since they are so closed off from the rest of the world. I’m not talking about expendables like the guys who showed up in Volume 6, but real ones. As a last resort I could settle for the in training ones that we saw in the tournament but I’d like to see more. One theory from the trailer that came out is Atlas will have their military take down the team. I’d rather RWBY does not lose to guys with guns, it should be a full squad of Huntsmen and even then it should be a close fight. Ironwood is portrayed as a smart commander so I like to think that he has a good army ready to fight Salem with.

7. Beringels need to appear

Quite a few of the post credit scenes from previous RWBY volumes either did not happen, may have happened but we don’t know since no aftermath showed up, or had to re-happen in volume. I want the post credits scene from 6 to matter so these guy should appear. They are the new kind of Grimm we saw Salem make at the very end which have wings. They seem like they should end up being a very big threat so I look forward to seeing them give the heroes a tough time. They may even be Salem’s escort since Hazel hinted that she would be stepping up to the plate. So long as they appear then we’re good.

8. Raven needs to return

Volume 5 ended with Raven seemingly returning home to talk with Yang’s Dad. We haven’t seen any of this yet so I want them to either appear in the flashback or in the present to help out the team. Raven may not be a hero yet, but she is learning that Salem’s route won’t end well for her. Raven does still have incredible powers of her own so striking now makes sense. I doubt there is any member of Salem’s team who can handle her one on one. She needs to show up in Atlas and cause chaos or make a move on the villains. It’s the best way to protect her tribe and we really shouldn’t go 2 full volumes without seeing her.

9. Power Levels explained

The show isn’t big on explaining power levels, but it’s time we get something. Right now there are too many variables because of how much time has elapsed. We have no idea just how much stronger Ruby and friends are than they were in the first volume. Part of the problem here is that they were all extremely overpowered in the first 3 volumes and then got nerfed straight down for volumes 4 and 5. Volume 6 seems to have bumped them up again, but with all of the back and forth we’re more confused than ever. One example is Yang vs Mercury. Mercury was way above her level in volume 3 to the point where he was able to control the fight, but now Yang is hinted to be even stronger than the Grimm Reaper. Yang also assisted in beating Adam when she lost in one hit last time. Could Yang beat Mercury now? That’s just one question out of many. I think Qrow could give some exposition on where the team stands right now since he is the most experienced and would be the right person to offer some guidance and a proper assessment.

10. Salem needs to fight

This is the final but most important one. Salem’s been the big bad threat over the horizon since Volume 3. The problem is that she hasn’t done anything in the present since then. Personally I feel like Cinder or Raven could beat her at the moment. Salem’s advantage seems to be her regeneration since destroying her causes Salem to reconstitute like a sludge monster. It’s likely an instant rebirth so putting her down will be difficult. I want to see her in action. Part of me thinks her first victim would be either Raven or Cinder as she decides to just absorb a Maiden. While I’d be sad to see either one go, it would be the perfect way to show Salem’s strength. It would solidify her as a threat and I believe this shouldn’t wait until Volume 8. We need to see her power this season.

So those are the 10 things that I believe needs to happen in Volume 7. Let me know what you would like to see in this upcoming volume. It’s only around 2 weeks away now so it’ll be upon us before you know it. I’ve definitely got high hopes for it even if Adam won’t be showing up this time.

3 Characters who are stuck in bad titles

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I think it’s time we look at a rather tragic situation for a character. One of the saddest things is when you’ve got an amazing character who is stuck in a bad anime, manga, or film. It’s like having a player who is stuck on a bad sports team or a great video game locked behind a console nobody bought. There are likely many times this has happened, but in general there aren’t too many that would immediately come to mind. For the definition of “bad” in this context I’m talking about series that I’ve given a 4 or lower.

1. Gray Fullbuster

Who better to start this off than a character from Fairy Tail? Fairy Tail is one of those series that should have been nothing short of amazing. The art is absolutely top notch and the fights are great. It has some of the most epic scenes out there and the franchise has really done a good job of spreading out over the years with various spinoffs and prequels. Alas, a character cannot hold an entire franchise up on his own. Gray is awesome, but you can’t fully appreciate how many great scenes he has because then you’d have to watch Fairy Tail.

He’s got a very tragic backstory involving an ice demon and has done a great job of trying to get past that. He’s always grown up being a noble main character and is willing to throw his life away multiple times in the series to stop the threat on his own. He’s got an ice spell that sacrifices his life in order to stop an enemy. This attack may have even stopped Zeref if Natsu hadn’t stepped in. Even his comic relief subplot of always losing his shirt may be a subconscious method of trying to remember the good ole days with Lyon and his master.

Gray functions as the rival in Fairy Tail as well as a secondary main character of sorts. He’s managed to keep up with Natsu throughout the series to the point where they are at similar levels of power even by the end. He saved Natsu when up against Mad Geer as well in what was probably his most impressive scene. I would also rank that as one of the all time best “Someone steps in to save the main character” scenes in a series. The one liner about reminding Natsu to keep track of his scarf made the whole thing even more epic.

Aside from being an excellent fighter Gray is also a smart character. He’s the first one to figure out that something is up during Fairy Tail Gaiden’s mystery story with Gajeel and in general he simply doesn’t fall for tricks. He doesn’t have the weakness of being motion sick like the Dragon Slayers and this makes him a well rounded fighter. Even his romance plot is better than 90% of other romance plots. I’m still not a fan of most romance in general and I’ll probably do an editorial someday about what makes for a good romance, but his is actually pretty sound.

In short, Gray’s just an incredible character and it’s a shame that he couldn’t have been in a better series. This guy should be spoken about in the same sentence as Sasuke or Vegeta but he’ll always be relegated to B status at best simply because he’s stuck here. At least he’s a great silver lining for if you ever check out Fairy Tail, but it’s not like I could actually recommend the series just because of Gray.

2. Eren Jeager

Attack on Titan is a very popular series, but one that I ultimately had to give a thumbs down. It goes too far in being ultra violent and making everyone out to be so unlikable and evil that there is nobody to root for by the end. Still, that doesn’t stop one character from making a name for himself and ultimately overcoming all of this. That would be Eren, the main character. He’s an excellent lead who really hits the right balance of being impulsive and calculating. His whole life was turned upside down when his town was attacked by titans and he’s sworn to take revenge against them his whole life. Once he becomes old enough Eren gains the abilities of a Titan Shifter and begins his revenge. He starts out as a pure hearted hero who eventually goes down a gray road to the point where he isn’t much better than some of the villains. Eren’s always been about revenge so it’s not like things have really changed all that much for him, but revenge seems to be his only motivation now.

Part of what makes Eren great is his quick actions. He doesn’t buy into the various justifications that the villains give even when the others characters begin to crack. One good example of this is when the Colossal and Armored Titans begin to explain why they are going around murdering everyone. Eren doesn’t believe a word of it and calls them out for just being mass murderers. Eren says it how it is and doesn’t worry about appearances.

In combat Eren is quick to adapt and learns how to fight the Armored Titan mid-fight. He also did well against the Female Titan. He makes up for his lack of experience with pure fighting technique. He didn’t start out as an ace fighter or anything like that, but didn’t stop until this became the case. That’s why he’s such a great character. We actually see Eren training with the others and his gradual improvement over the series. It’s really something to see how far he has gone from the original days. The character is almost unrecognizable upon first glance, but on closer inspection you can see the same fire in his eyes.

He’s easily the highlight of the series and whenever he appears you know something cool is going to happen. I think part of what makes him work so well is that he actually has the power to back up his plans. He’s not going to just go along with the corrupt government any longer than he has to. Once the time skip happens then all bets are off and we see Eren truly unchained.

3. Kirito

Let’s be honest here, Kirito is one of the main reasons why I made this editorial. He’s one of the greatest characters of all time and yet he is stuck in Sword Art Online. SAO has a cool premise and the first arc of the anime is one of the most complete sagas out there. Alas, after that things went downhill a bit with almost every arc having something wrong with it. Kirito shines as a beacon of hope in even the worst of arcs, but imagine what he could really do in a better series?

Kirito started out as your average teen who just loved video games a lot. Once he gets stuck in the world of Sword Art he does his best to get back while keeping as many people alive as possible. Kirito prefers being a solo act and that’s how he is for the first two arcs of the series. Eventually he becomes more of a team player in Gun Gale and that leads up to Alicization where he has a tremendous amount of character development. In that series he is now portrayed as the mature adult who has been through a thing or two. He teaches Eugeo how to be a good fighter as well as how to be a good person. He instills a lot of great life lessons like fighting for your goal and not letting it turn into hate or a vendetta against the villains.

Kirito is a master swordsman in all combat styles, but he’s also a super genius and picks up on things very quickly. What never wavers is his unshakable confidence. He’ll jump in to help anyone at any time while always keeping a cool head. Kirito is the kind of guy that you always want to have in your corner. He’ll figure out a way to win and if it doesn’t exist yet then he’ll invent a way for it to work. He’s always been a very outside the box kind of fellow at it is. There’s no shortage of amazing Kirito scenes in the Sword Art Online series. You always know that no matter what happens he will be around to help. One such scene is when he takes on an entire platoon by himself. I can’t really picture anyone else in the series being able to do something like that.

Kirito really embodies what it is to be a perfect character. He’s a really nice guy who will always do his best to help his friends get through a tough spot. He’s got an awesome uniform and is always up for a fight. As long as you try your best you should always be able to get through a situation and Kirito shows how dedication really does make a difference.

So, those are 3 characters who are quite awesome, but just so happen to be stuck in titles that will never really be able to hit the big time for me. It’s too bad, but at least those titles do have a cool character to help them. It’s way better to even just have one good character then to be a title with no solid characters to back it up. These 3 are all stars who would be top 5 in any title and that’s definitely an impressive feat.