Category Archives: Animated Movie Reviews

Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes and Huntsmen, Part Two Review

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RWBY has returned!! It’s always good to see more RWBY content and you really have to savor this one while you can because we still don’t know when the next product is coming out. It could be years but hopefully not. Interestingly this film takes place after volume 9 which was a very interesting decision. I was definitely shocked when I first found this out but now at least if we don’t get Volume 10 we have some extra insight into what’s going on. This is a must watch for all RWBY fans as a result.

The movie starts with the Justice League waking up after the simulation in the first film and they’re ready to take care of business now. Unfortunately while they were gone the world has been overtaken by the Grimm. The Justice League may be powerful but they aren’t ready to take on the powerful legions of Grimm. Their only option is to call in Team RWBY once more. Can even the experts take down the Grimm army or is the world too far gone here?

I’d actually say that this film beats part 1 for me. I feel like this movie had more variety in the battles and also the fact that it takes place in the present really ups the tension. It was great seeing what Team RWBY was doing after the V9 events.. Note that there aren’t too many spoilers for volume 9 if you watch this one. I’d say one pretty big spoiler involving a big development in volume 9 if you somehow managed to avoid the social media trends and one other big spoiler just involving where the team is in the present. Both are things you could have guessed though so it’s not a huge thing but either way you should have seen Volume 9 by this point right?

I wish we could have spent more time in the RWBY world here though because the fight there is the best one in the film by far. Seeing Ruby take on two of the giant Grimm snakes with ease using her master level speed and athletics was great. It’s definitely clear that she is the most powerful member of Team RWBY at this point and her confidence is at an all time high. She’s really taking care of business here and is completely self assured as the leader. There’s a subplot here about her possibly being too confident…and naturally I disagreed with that. I thought her level of confidence was great and inspiring. Plus she has the power to back it up so it’s not like its empty bravado.

If there’s just one thing I’m not crazy about with this taking place after volume 9 is I’m not sure that the status quo makes any sense. I feel like there would be a much greater sense of urgency going on. In theory Salem should be dashing over any minute now with her forces to end the world right? How about finding Mercury and friends? Now this could take place midway through volume 9 after the initial fights and there are a lot of ways that you could explain this so it’s not a negative per say but I’m a little skeptical is all. Particularly with the team just jumping over to DC world when their allies are in such danger.

The film addresses the time difference which makes this even worse. So last time the film took place during volume 7 and for the Justice League this happens minutes later. So how did we jump to Volume 9? Well Flash points out that time moves differently here so a few days in Justice League time is a few weeks in RWBY time. So when team RWBY jumps over to help the League for around 2 days (Because they did have to rest for one night before the climax) around 2 weeks would have passed in RWBY world at which point the rest of the resistance may have fallen. It’s also a little funny how the League asks RWBY if they need any help and they’re just like “nah”. I guess they either figure the Justice League will hold them back in the fight against Salem or they just figure they can win regardless. Either way it’s not the biggest vote of confidence for them.

Okay these are all things around the movie but lets talk about the story itself. It’s a pretty fun story that is part mystery as the characters wonder who is the mastermind from the RWBY side. It was fun to see the main villain of the video game Grimm Eclipse get references and even get a whole new illustration. That guy always did seem like an interesting character in the mythos but since a lot of people never played the game I’m guessing the character was probably a big question mark for a lot of viewers. The answer of who the main villain is was pretty satisfying.

The film uses some voice filters for the two main villains for a while and admittedly they were a bit annoying since it was super hard to understand them. Fortunately that ended up being fixed as the film went on which was good. Hearing those voices the whole film would have really been rough. Unfortunately we don’t get a proper fight against the mastermind but Killgore shows up and we get some satisfying fights with him.

In general I feel like the fights were better around the board here than in part 1. It felt more like the classic RWBY fights with the high speed takedowns. I also think the animators got to flex a lot more with the classic designs so maybe there was some trouble getting into the new ones. The fights are noticeably better when Team RWBY are in their classic designs as opposed to their re-designs in Justice League world. I do tend to prefer all of the classic designs as well but Ruby and Weiss look good in their superhero modes. I wasn’t big on Yang or Blake there.

Naturally the Justice League all look a lot better here since I didn’t really like any of their designs in the RWBY world. Also Batman is much more improved here as he actually feels like a detective mastermind this time around. That’s the kind of character development you love to see. He still does end up going down rather quickly which hurts the prep time part but at least the villains acknowledge that he was the greatest threat from the heroes so he had to be taken down.

Superman mainly gets clowned on the whole film as every single Grimm seems to have Kryptonite at the ready. It’s the rough part about having such an easily accessible weakness. Once you’re up against villains with it then this is game over. The Flash is mostly getting wrecked by his confidence issues in this film so don’t expect him to be doing a whole lot here either. It’s a really bad appearance for him here. Cyborg mostly gets styled on the whole time as he’s outhacked but at least by the end he gets his moment.

Wonder Woman, Vixen, and Black Canary are mainly consistent as they go about their business and take care of Grimm although the most satisfying moment was when Wonder Woman throws a punch but Yang catches it and physically overpowers her. Yang is absolutely crushing Wonder Woman in a 1 v 1 and the film seemed to get the drift here. I’d argue the Justice League don’t look very impressive at all here and mainly had to get saved by Team RWBY a whole lot. Works for me of course since those heroines are great.

This also has to be one of Ruby’s best portrayals which is great since of course she hit a rough patch in Volume 9. Here we see her making plans, using quick attack combos, and she was the first to figure out her powers in this new world. All Ruby fans should be particularly pleased at her top level performance here.

The soundtrack doesn’t have any of those iconic vocal songs from the RWBY series. I guess since it’s a crossover they kept the music more generic and non memorable for the Justice League side of things but it would have been cool to have had a big theme for the climax. It’s always a bit odd how the movies just don’t seem to be able to keep up in terms of action or visuals with the RWBY TV show but if you had to allocate more budget one way or the other of course it’s worth it to throw that at volume 9.

Either way this film is a blast and I was really satisfied with what we got. If needed we can always end the franchise with a movie rather than volume 10 so we at least wrap things up. I definitely think you could pull it off. Sure it would be rushed because of how many plots there are but I definitely don’t think that it would be impossible. Just have Salem show up, we get a bunch of nonstop fights and when the gods are summoned they get solo’d by Ruby. Then that’s the ultimate game over and the conclusion to the greatest series of all time.

Overall, This is definitely a film that you want to check out as soon as possible. The whole first part is quickly recapped here so you don’t even need to watch that one and can jump right into this part without any issue. That said, I would recommend watching both of course to get those extra RWBY sales and speed up the production of volume 10. We need that in order to keep on moving forward. And if you somehow haven’t watched RWBY yet and are coming in from the Justice League side, get ready for the greatest show to binge of all time!

Overall 8/10

Burn The Witch Review

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It’s time to take a look at the Burn The Witch movie. The way this series came out was pretty interesting with the movie jumping you right in the middle of the setting. More than most titles I would say this one could have you scratching your head a bit if you’re not familiar with the series although I always appreciate the boldness there. With context clues you’ll be okay even if the whole thing just feels a bit random. Unfortunately the character cast is still rather weak like in the manga.

The film starts with Ninny upset about something and giving the reporters the perfect soundbite to cause more controversies. She loses them with a solar flare camera and dives into the world of monsters. See in this world there is London and then there is Reverse London which basically exists in a parallel dimension. In Reverse London there are witches everywhere and there are also dragons. So it’s generally a pretty fun place to be although its more dangerous. She works alongside her partner Noel in defeating monsters and getting points. The more points you get the more career opportunities and money you can earn. Due to events in the past they have to babysit a human named Balgo who ended up getting a pet dragon of his own and is not supposed to be going to the real world too often anymore. (He ignores that of course and ends up spreading the contamination)

The main dilemma in this film is Ninny’s old possessive teammate Macy shows up to cause some trouble. She has been raising a dragon of her own known as Elly who is one of the most powerful dragons in existence. Additionally the government has decided to murder Balgo basically because they can so the girls have to protect him while they save the world. Can they pull this off? Additionally if they succeed then there goes their paychecks since the government is certainly not going to want to pay people who have just betrayed them.

So there is a whole lot going on and the film is barely an hour. Because of that the pacing is lightning quick to be sure but at times the film can feel a little unfocused. Like it’s not really sure which plot to go with next. You’re also left with a whole lot of questions. Balgo is a normal human who is often by himself, why not pick one of the endless chances to grab him alone and murder him then? Why is he allowed to go to the human world at all when he’s on a watchlist? How weak are Bruno and the other gov execs that they have trouble against two rookie level fighters? How are they allowed to actually let a human raise a dangerous dragon in reverse London without anyone picking it up on the sensors?

I don’t feel like very much thought was put into the film’s story at all. It feels like the world building is incredibly shaky at best. Even more so once we get a certain plot twist of where the film takes place. It’s pretty much an open secret at this point since everyone knows about it but just in case I won’t say anything. The main point is that I do think the film could have tried harder to make this plot be logical. Instead it just feels like you’re supposed to watch this film half asleep.

What really hurts are the characters though because they’re generally very weak. Lets start with Balgo who is easily the worst character. He’s completely obsessed with Noel to the point where he is constantly flirting over and over again. He’s cool with her insulting him as needed and just overlooks that. Suddenly by the end it’s hinted that she actually does like him? I get the whole tsundere thing but the problem is that there is no actual reason to like Balgo. He’s always being perverted, is generally useless in a fight, and has displayed no positive qualities. How she would fall for him is a complete mystery at this point. The ending to the film is definitely brutal.

As for Noel, I suppose she’s okay but even then I wouldn’t call her a very good character. Part of the problem is that she’s your classic tough character who tends to be sarcastic and emotionless as she does her duty. To pull off that character type you need a ton of witty dialogue which she doesn’t have. Additionally she doesn’t have the raw power needed to back up her quiet confidence.

Then you have Ninny who is at least a step up. She’s very aggressive and always looking for a fight so she can get a promotion. The problem? Once again she is fairly weak and actually has to get saved by Noel a few times. I don’t know how she thinks she will be hired as one of the top fighters when she is having trouble with random monsters. That just doesn’t look like a great sales pitch on paper. At least she is a celebrity in the real world so she will always be doing fine with money but it’s hard to see her keeping up both acts. She will eventually need to choose one side most likely.

The best character by far is Billy. He’s got a lot of skill but is officially out of the game at this point so he tries to hide it. The main heroines give him a tough time but he keeps his cool and still does his best to help out. He’s a solid character through and through. His role is small but very memorable. Then you have Bruno (Is it just me or all of the guys start with the letter B? Bruno, Balgo, Billy, etc.) who is solid but a bit weaker than he should be. He’s one of the members of this big secret council and he talks an incredibly big game. Yet when the going gets tough he isn’t really able to win a single fight. Sure we know he’s stronger than Ninny and Noel but they lose him rather easily and by the time he catches up he gets wrecked by Elly.

The guy panics as if he has never been in a fight before. I’d just expect a whole lot more from him and his 180 on what to do with Balgo felt a bit cheesy. This guy doesn’t seem as determined or focused as he should be given his position. Then there’s Macy who is pretty insane. She’s cool with blowing up buildings and such to get to Ninny but she’s also completely insane since she figures this somehow won’t turn her away. Is she serious about this? It seems to me that Macy and Ninny would get along just fine if Macy wasn’t doing crazy things like this. Unfortunately these possessive type characters all seem to have a few screws loose so I wouldn’t expect her to change any time soon.

Finally there’s the dragon Elly and you actually feel bad for her here. At first she was just protecting Macy and this gradually kept on escalating since Macy would always thank Elly for the help. So to Elly there was nothing wrong with blowing everyone up. She temporarily loses control later on and the heroes all try to destroy Elly. Macy halfheartedly tries to defend her but gives up after one shot. Even once Balgo activates his bankai type ability and calms Elly down it seems like the dragon is fine but gets hit with a sneak attack. The whole thing just made Macy look worse for not being more broken up about the whole thing and the rest of the heroes don’t seem too reasonable with how they just finished it off like that.

Who knows maybe that will be a plot point for the future, we’ll have to see. The animation’s fairly decent. Not even close to some of the more high budget products but it’s okay. It definitely doesn’t feel like the true movie budget went behind this one and considering how short the film is you’d think it would be easier to make it all look great. The soundtrack is also more on the okay side. The tunes don’t really pop out at you.

Overall, Burn The Witch is an interesting film but one that needed to stay on the drawing board for a longer period of time. The characters simply aren’t that interesting and that ends up extending to the film as a whole. It’s not a bad film by any means but the fact that it’s so unfocused and messy just doesn’t help matters. There isn’t a whole lot of reason to watch this one when you can just go back to Bleach instead or watch Little Witch Academia if you want to see something higher quality on the subject. I’d say this is maybe a bit better than the Burn the Witch manga but it’s still not saying much for now. Hopefully the franchise is able to bounce back.

Overall 5/10

xxxHolic: A Midsummer Night’s Dream Review

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It’s time for my first journey into the xxxHolic series at least in terms of animation since I’ve read the manga. It’s a pretty fun low key supernatural franchise with a lot of things happening and often times it’s all about the atmosphere. Usually things don’t end up going well for the greedy figures or anyone who is too antagonistic. This short film is definitely no exception to that. It’s a fun ride all the way through though.

The film starts off with Watanuki having a tough time as always with a bunch of spirits trying to grab him. The poor guy has always been able to see spirits and the main issue is they know it so he has to constantly fight them off. The film has a lot of fun with the animation with Watanuki flailing to escape. Well it’s summer time now and Watanuki has to head back to the witch Yuko to serve his time. Basically she gave him something to keep the spirits from totally destroying him and in exchange he spends the Summer working from her. (Yes this is a film that jumps you right in so for more context you’ll want to read the books. That said, it’s not like you need much more context than this.

For this film’s adventure, Yuko has been invited to a gathering of exclusive collectors by…The Collector. She wants Watanuki and his friend Domeki to attend with her. I say friend but Watanuki doesn’t really get along with Domeki. Domeki has a habit of being super oblivious while Watanuki is super petty and so they’re constantly bickering. But it’s really one sided as Domeki doesn’t care enough about anything to ever actually get upset. He’s also got strong spirit energy so spirits leave him alone with Watanuki is jealous of. Well the heroes arrive at the mansion but the Collector is not there and mysterious things start happening. It would seem that he aims to destroy all of the invited collectors!

I’d say the main thing to learn from this is if you receive a mysterious invitation to go to a mansion in the middle of nowhere…you should probably decline. Is there any positive outcome out of going there? The film does address this though as every collector is incredibly proud of his/her collection and basically came out of pride. You see one extra note is that on the invitation the collector implied that each person is missing something so they can’t let that insult slide. Each collector also collects a different thing and they all start to compare against each other’s collections. Naturally Watanuki isn’t much of a collector so they’re all bashing him the whole time.

The animation is definitely great all around. The mansion is suitably mysterious and the supernatural effects are all on point. It’s got a bit of a retro vibe to it that works really well. Mix that in with all of the experimental stretchy effects and this gets a full thumbs up. It’s all just very fitting for the general weirdness of xxxHolic. The soundtrack is a bit more forgettable but I still wouldn’t call it bad or anything. It’s just not super memorable so you’ll forget most of the tracks real fast.

Watanuki makes for a good main character. He may complain a whole lot and is constantly yelling but it makes for an entertaining lead. He’s fun to follow around and even in the scariest of situations he’s panicking more about the annoyance than actual terror. Then you have Domeki who is a solid foil since he’s so much quieter. He’s not quite as fun though but it’s always good to have a strong fighter at your side when you’re in a crazy mansion like this.

Yuko mainly likes having all of the answers to everything without actually helping so don’t expect her to contribute much. Technically she is never in a lot of danger or anything but you also get the vibe that she would let Watanuki die if she felt he made a mistake. So you’ve still got a good bit of tension here. She makes for a solid mentor character. The actual Collector has a mysterious presence the whole time but I wouldn’t say he’s that great. He’s a good vehicle for making the plot move but that’s about all I’d say for him.

The rest of the collectors are more entertaining. I just like how selfish and over the top they all are. They’re constantly bragging while pretending to have a little humility the whole time. So the film shows you their true faces which look monstrous all while they’re technically saying nice things. It’s all just really insincere the whole time. “Wow your collection is just as good as mine” but you know that’s a complete lie. At least the person saying that didn’t believe it in the slightest.

I would say this film is definitely more on the low key side so if you’re expecting a bunch of explosions and fights then this isn’t exactly what you’re about to get. The film is more about being a warning against rampant greed. You could say the whole film is really a metaphor about it with these guys risking everything they have for something extra. Their need to be the ultimate collector really came back to haunt them where if they had been satisfied with their collection they wouldn’t have fun into that issue at all.

Overall, xxxHolic delivers another satisfying story here. The only issue you could even say is just that it’s so short so it’s over in an instant. It definitely feels like an adventure right out of the books. The ambiance is really good and the atmosphere is really tense which is always what you want to see here. It balances the plot, horror, and comedy all very well so that nothing is out of place. Mix that in with the fast pacing and I really have no complaints with this title. I’d definitely recommend checking this one out.

Overall 7/10

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle the Movie: The Princess in the Birdcage Kingdom Review

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That title is definitely a mouth full eh? Well it’s always nostalgic to see more Tsubasa content. This movie is super short and reminds me of the old school OVAs like Naruto’s hidden waterfall village where its all over in an instant. We still get some fun fights and visuals here though so all in all I was pretty satisfied. It’s probably a bit of an odd film if you watch this without having seen the show but the movie did go out of its way to include a full recap of what’s going on in the intro so maybe they were trying to get some new fans here.

The basic plot is Syaoran and Sakura land on another planet where a feather containing a key memory is being stored. This planet is ruled by an evil dictator who wants to plunge the world into endless darkness and to do this he intends to kidnap the princess and use her ring. Syaoran has to stop this but the guy is protected by legendary bird warriors who are pretty fast. He needs the help of Fai and Kurogane but they are busy being kidnapped somewhere and he doesn’t have the time to save them. What can he do?

Okay I should give those characters some credit. Kurogane and Fai do take out some enemies before they are captured but even so, they are the power hitters so it certainly doesn’t make Syaoran’s job any easier when they go down like that. They are captured off screen which is not the best move but I do get it since it’s hard to picture them losing otherwise. The writers probably had a hard time justifying it so that’s why this had to be cut out. We do get to see them dismantle the human guards early on though which was a lot of fun. The movie is more plot than action but the fights that we do get are well animated.

In terms of visuals the most impressive shots were probably when Syaoran was using the ring of blue flames at the end. The flames look really bright and the contrast works really well next to the other colors. Syaoran trying to fight off the bird people was also animated well even if it feels weird to see him being overwhelmed so easily. I guess he wasn’t always a super strong fighter but late stage Syaoran probably would have fared a whole lot better with his sword and other abilities.

The film’s original characters are okay but due in part to the length you never care about them all that much. You have the princess who seems like a good character and all but she’s a little outmatched since she can’t really fight. Her chief guard loses all of the fights he’s in which isn’t the best first impression. There’s also a kid here who tries his best to be helpful but tends to fail. I did like the main villain though. Yes he’s a bit on the generic side but it works well for this kind of “Take over the world!!” villain. There’s no time to make a complex villain so why even try right? A stock evil villain can actually work well under the right conditions and I would say that these were the right conditions.

The soundtrack is solid as always. It uses a lot of the tracks from the show but the instrumental versions with no opera music for some reason. Not sure why the change, but they sounded good anyway which is what counts. Throwing in a lyrical song for the climax would have been cool but it was epic enough anyway. The production values were pretty good here and I didn’t have any issues with the pacing.

In general I wouldn’t even say I had any issues with the film. At best you could say it just doesn’t feel like a movie. The stakes aren’t particularly high and there’s nothing really separating it from just being another episode. So this isn’t some grand experience and paying money to see it in theaters may have been rough (Although it was a double feature so you can cut it some slack) but watching it like this just helps to amp up the nostalgia. It doesn’t have to be super memorable, just enjoyable and it succeeds on that front.

Overall, Tsubasa churns out another solid product here. The special gives you a lot to have fun with and doesn’t make any kind of mistakes. It could probably have stretched the limits a bit and gone for higher stakes but rather than focusing on what it’s missing I’d say to focus on what is here. Tsubasa’s plot lends itself really well to random movies and specials because of how many planets they had to go to in order to find the feathers. So just treat this as a fun episode and you can’t go wrong. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone looking to see Syaoran and the gang again.

Overall 7/10

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War The First Kiss That Never Ends Review

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All right it’s time for an anime film to show us how to really make a quality romance. Kaguya-sama is an elite franchise for a bunch of reasons and one of those is that it actually has a quality romance without being rushed or making things about rebounds. Kaguya and Shirogane work because they were always each other’s first pick and nothing else was going on there. The movie really expands on that and gives the two characters a lot of closure. All in all this is a great title.

The movie picks up where the show left off with Kaguya and Shirogane finally getting together…or did they? See they may have had their first kiss but they haven’t been able to talk with each other since then so the situation is getting tense. Making matters worse is the fact that Kaguya appears to have fallen back into her icy persona from the old days so Shirogane gets the feeling that she is trying to put some distance between them. He needs to win her over one last time but can he really pull this off? Meanwhile Kaguya is fighting her inner demons and has to decide if she should finally remove all of the masks and risk it all by being with Shirogane. It’s a tough call.

So if you’re a fan of Ino, Chika, or Ishigami then there’s not going to be much here for you. This film is really about Kaguya and Shirogane all the way through. Those 3 characters barely get more than a few lines and while you know they’re off having their own adventures, the movie isn’t worrying about them. It’s nice to see them of course and I think more screen time would have been nice if the film extended its run time but the main duo always have the best plot anyway so it works out.

As always the animation is really solid here. Everything really pops out at you and the show has a lot of fun flexing for random scenes. A great moment with the animation was when Kaguya was trying to run away from Shirogane. She was suddenly leaping across the walls like a cat and zooming around. That was definitely real impressive. We may not have as many visual gags since the film is fairly serious next to the standard episode but they are still around at some points. I would also still consider the film part comedy since a lot of it is super fun. The movie just knows when to slow down and have an emotional scene.

The soundtrack is also excellent as always. The show had a great variety of themes and the movie continues this really well. While the opening song is not quite as strong as any of the openings that appeared prior, it’s still good. I’ve listened to it a good amount of times to prep for the review in case it jumped up but in the end I think it just isn’t quite as high speed and energetic as prior ones. I suppose that may have been the idea.

Now for the movie, it’s interesting in that it’s a decently long movie but it can be a bit hard to go into the plot much because the story itself is quick. It’s ultimately just about the two finally having time to have a candid talk about the situation. Things just keep happening that prevents the two from doing this like Shirogane fainting or Kaguya turning chibi and then having a complete mental breakdown. The movie definitely did a great job of adapting chibi Kaguya too. That was a really fun part in the manga and the show really captured how crazy the whole thing was. The doctor who showed up for Shirogane is a lot of fun as always too.

Now for the romance itself, which character handled it better? Well that would probably be Shirogane since if Kaguya hadn’t panicked you can make the case that the film would have effectively ended during the first scenes. They would have made it official that they were going out and that would have been the end of it. Then once the icy persona was back Shirogane did a good job of trying hard the whole time. I don’t blame him for missing the hint about her hands being cold because that was out of character for Kaguya so he just didn’t pick up on it.

Throughout the movie he is a perfect gentleman. He may not always be able to read her mind but for the most part he does a good job of adapting to the situation and never giving up. In terms of not wanting to let his own mask fall off, that also makes sense. He worked hard to become the best at the school and thrive despite not being from a rich family. To an extent I think that would never go away. There’s a saying about how everyone has around 6 faces, the one they show family, friends, work colleagues, online, with strangers, and the one they have when alone. Some people are better than others at basically keeping them all more or less the same and others do this more as you get older but to an extent I’d say you will always be a little different based on the setting.

In a relationship though, the biggest factor is trust so you do need to be able to trust your partner with your true self. In this case if Shirogane isn’t ultimately able to trust Kaguya that far then their relationship would be doomed eventually. He would never be able to relax and the stress/nerves would ultimately get to him. You could make the case that even by the end of the film he hasn’t truly let go yet so that could be a plot to continue on even if he is in a much better place than where he started.

Then for Kaguya the problem is similar but she comes to terms with it quite a bit quicker than Shirogane. It helps that she has always been a very introspective person so she literally creates alternate hers from each of her age periods to talk about this. Once they come to an understanding she is able to just be herself and be with Shirogane. Perhaps as Shirogane says it is a little easier for her since it’s a side he used to know since that’s how she was at the beginning Of course part of that is just him making excuses but I would also say it is true to an extent. Her true self is still mega rich and had other suiters in the past while Shirogane is worried everything would immediately come crashing down. It’s the dark side of overthinking everything and it’s nice to see the series acknowledging this since that’s the entire premise really. Both characters just overthinking everything all the time.

Seeing Kaguya overcome her fears and finally come into her own was a great plot point. While I would say Shirogane slightly edged her out as the main character of the movie, the series is hers and you could say the whole series was building up to this point. Just losing the mask and being analytical all the time to just have a heartfelt moment and stop playing the chasing game. So yeah this is a winning romance and it worked well for the movie. You could probably even jump in to this film without watching the show since you have enough context and it still ends up being a really solid title.

Overall, This was a lot of fun. The romance is written really well and is one of the few ships I can get behind. If I ever write an editorial on how to write a good romance, this will absolutely be one of the examples I use. The whole thing is satisfying and the ending is solid. I still do want future seasons to adapt the rest of the series though. It may not have had the best final saga in the manga but it’s still important to get to the end of the series. The anime can probably end up buffing it as well since it has done such a great job of adapting the content so far. I’m confident that they can do something really good here.

Overall 8/10

One Piece: Episode of Sky Island Review

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It’s time for the next One Piece special on the docket. This one is about Skypiea but I guess they went for Sky Island to keep it a little more vague. Additionally Enel is now called Eneru….I prefer the old version but hey it’s a pretty minor thing. The special is good and does a decent job capturing the arc but it doesn’t work as well as the East Blue special because this one really goes out of its way to skip the fights. It doesn’t nail any of the really emotional moments as well as the show did and so what you get is an arc that is wayyyy watered down next to the show version. This is still nostalgic though.

The special starts with Luffy and gang heading to a small island where someone explains that there used to be a guy called Nolan the Liar. He would lie about everything including seeing an island floating in the sky but this guy is a direct descendent and believes that the stories are true. So now he continues to dive underwater in order to prove it, but this ain’t easy. Well Luffy and friends are going to pay a visit to the sky island but they find that it is being ruled by the god of lightning, Eneru. Can they defeat him and save the local islanders?

So there’s a lot to enjoy here since this is a big One Piece arc but at the same time it does lose a lot of the powerful moments and I will explain. For example, one of the biggest scenes in the show is when Enel made a huge lightning blast over one of the strawhats and it was one of the first times we saw him use such a big blast. The scene went in slow-mo and it was all very tense because we could see the damage it did. That scene straight up doesn’t happen here.

We also miss out on Zoro’s entire fight against one of the angels which was unfortunate because that was a really fun battle. Even their big battle with Eneru was very short. I guess it wasn’t a super long fight in the main show either but this felt like a blink and you’ll miss it kind of moment which is definitely not what the original was like. Even the Luffy vs Enel fight doesn’t feel quite as long or grand as it should be. It does at least get way more screentime than anything else though so you couldn’t ask for much more there.

Chopper only gets a quick instance for his win as well which doesn’t show you much. There was a lot going on with the whole island survival game but the whole thing is basically shown in quick stills as everyone is wiped out. That’s what should have been expanded and I feel like the runtime should have just been extended a little. The special goes by quickly and considering that it’s a whole arc we’re dealing with, making it around 2 hours would have been really nice. Especially since this arc gets more important each time.

Now a common topic to think about is if Enel would still be a threat in future arcs. I’d say at best he gets up to the CP9 saga but that’s it because his speed wasn’t enough to dodge Luffy’s attacks while in Gear 1. So as good as you think his lightning may be, his speed isn’t at a level where he could seriously be a fierce opponent to most. I’m sure he will get buffed a lot if he ever does reappear in the manga but I do have my doubts on that. Of course it would be awesome but the series is slowly getting to the very end of its saga so in that case it’s probably over.

The special has a pretty emotional ending with Luffy and the gang proving that Nolan wasn’t a liar. I’m also glad that the people in Skypiea had realized this too because otherwise the whole flashback would have been pretty tragic. I mean it definitely was still tragic either way, One Piece doesn’t hold back on the feels. There was some hope though and it could have all been a lot darker. So like this I was pretty satisfied. I’m naturally a lot more interested in the present stuff though and the flashback gets a ton of screentime which is also part of why it doesn’t stand up to the East Blue saga where the vast majority was about the Strawhats.

In terms of animation the special looks good enough. I don’t think it looks nearly as good as the East Blue saga though and it’s clear this one wasn’t super high budget the way the other special felt like it was. The soundtrack brings in the classic One Piece tunes which is nice enough. One of these days the specials should bring a whole new soundtrack even if it takes away from the nostalgia feel a little. Just switch things up to really make everything pop out. It’s One Piece so to an extent it will always be very good no matter what happens but this would help to really take it to the next level.

Overall, This was a really fun adventure. It just feels like they left a whole lot of meat on the bone. While nothing will beat the original source material I’d say the idea behind these specials is to give you something more or less comparable so you can just enjoy that instead of redoing the whole saga again. That doesn’t work in this case because you’re just missing out on too much action. So now you have to watch the show again which unfortunately does destroy the point of this. It’s unfortunate but that’s just the way that it is. Still good though so I’d recommend checking it out if you’re an experienced One Piece fan but I’d probably deflect people unfamiliar with the series to the TV show instead.

Overall 7/10

One Piece: Episode of East Blue Review

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It’s time for one of those classic One Piece remake specials. This one has to cover a lot of ground since it’s going over the whole East Blue saga but it definitely pulls this off really well. In a way it’s like a template for the live action series. While the general audience would probably be a little confused if it had been adapted exactly like this, I feel like it worked really well. It’s a great special and really reminds you of the classic days of One Piece.

The special is divided up into 5 sections told through flashbacks from each crew member. The first one is naturally Luffy as we see his very first adventure. Of course this involves getting his devil fruit and Shanks saving him from a giant monster. It’s a pretty good origin that has stood the test of time. Yes you may still wonder why Shanks didn’t awaken his advanced haki in order to stop the monster and how he got speed blitzed by a random joe with the help of a smoke bomb. All very valid questions but it’s best to just acknowledge this as a quick fumble and keep it moving. At the end of the day that is all we can really do. It’s still a very tense opening.

You also see how Shanks and friends were true pirates. When the going got tough they did not spare any prisoners, they straight up murdered their opponents. It’s a brutal reminder that as nice as they are, they’re still pirates and aren’t about to serve as marines in arresting everybody. Seeing Luffy come into his own as a pirate makes for a solid conclusion and you’re reminded how far he has come. So all in all that works as a really good way to start this up

Then we get to Zoro’s segment. His origin is still extremely emotional the whole time and definitely one that you won’t soon forget. I do think he probably didn’t handle the situation very well in terms of allowing Axe Hand Morgan to capture him though. That’s just way too risky even when it is intentional. Once he joined Luffy then it was all uphill though. They also included his big battle with Mihawk which is still an excellent fight. They even extended the choreography and made this a true fight from start to finish. Of course he was overwhelmed but the production values were on point and I dare say that it is the best looking moment in the special.

After that we have the Usopp arc. He lied so many times that eventually nobody believed him which has to be a rough situation to be in. He definitely shouldn’t have lied so often though, this was the only way that it was going to go. Captain Kuro still makes for a very imposing villain along with his teammates. We get to see Luffy shine and of course Usopp does man up in the end. It’s easily the weakest of the 5 segments in the special but of course it’s still solid either way. Usopp just wasn’t ready out of the gate the way that the others were.

Then we have Sanji’s story which is a lot of fun as you would expect. I like how bold he was in attacking anyone who got in his way and this is back from when he was a lot more charming and wasn’t being overly flanderized with the flirting. So this version actually had a lot of dignity about him with a clear vision on finding the All Blue. His flashback is also another really sad one and of the main 5, probably the most brutal aside from Nami’s. They also really extended his fight with the minion that he fed.

The fact that the villain actually beat Sanji was something I really forgot unless the victor was changed here. Sanji was completely overwhelmed the whole time and didn’t stand a chance. It’s a reminder that while Sanji is very skilled, he wasn’t quite up to the level of Zoro here. Some really good determination moments for Luffy in this arc too though, when he punched through the spikes that was really intense! Moments like that are why he is the captain here.

Then we have Nami’s arc which of course ties into the famous Arlong Park saga. We get her origin story which was really intense and her Mom was a really fantastic character back then. She really never wavered and did her best to stick up for Nami and her sister. Then in the present of course we get the famous scene of Nami asking for help and Luffy really dishing out the pain to Arlong. That’s what you like to see from the climax and it’s still one of the most iconic moments of all of One Piece. It works really well having this as the last part of the special since it’s the biggest climax at least by that point in the series.

So there’s really nothing to dislike about this special. It’s filled with tons of top tier content throughout and constant action. The characters are all developed really well and the animation is really solid. The colors are striking and the choreography is on point. The soundtrack has aged really well and they brought back some of my favorite retro themes. The technical elements were on point here, now I just need them to do Episode of Marineford already. That one already looks awesome but I’m always down to revisit one of the best moments in the series.

Overall, Episode of East Blue is definitely a great special. It took a lot of really excellent moments from One Piece and brought them all together. The length is also pretty solid considering the amount of content here so it wasn’t super rushed. It is rushed of course to an extent because it would be mathematically impossible not to be but it all works out pretty well. I would say that a bunch of the fights do start to get skipped especially by the Arlong arc but Luffy’s fights all make it at least. I would like to have seen more fights because that’s my thing but I know others would prefer the story beats. All in all it’s a reasonable compromise/division of scenes between action and story. I would definitely recommend this to any One Piece fan, you’re bound to be in for a good time! Even to general anime fans you should be able to enjoy it.

Overall 8/10

The Land Before Time Review

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Time for a fairly old film that most people have heard of. The Land Before Time was a really big deal back in the day and I’d say it’s definitely had a lasting effect on the world. People still haven’t forgotten the films after all. This one works pretty well to kick things off and you’ll have a wholesome time with the dinosaurs. One of them is definitely pretty annoying for most of the experience but there is a character arc involved.

The film starts off by showing us the world of the dinosaurs and how each species mostly keeps to themselves. Littlefoot doesn’t understand this since he wants to be friends with everyone but the grownups are adamant that the dinos keep to themselves. Well eventually a giant earthquake happens which splits all of the dinosaurs up. Littlefoot must now go on a great adventure to get back to his tribe but it will be a long journey. Fortunately he meets up with a few other kids along the way. Together they can show the world that dinosaurs of different species can get along!

I’d say one of the more emotional moments here is definitely when Littlefoot’s mother passes away. It’s pretty much a rite of passage in every animated film involving an animal that the parent dies early on and Littlefoot was not spared this tragedy. He still tries to put his best foot forward at all times which is admirable though. Throughout the movie I would say he is consistently the best character. Even when the other dinosaurs are being jerks or traitors he will do his best to save them. A key moment in this is when they all ditch him for Cera despite the latter not being dependable or a team player at any point. Littlefoot could have just took off and forgotten about the lot of them but he still ventures into the magma zone to save them all.

Littlefoot can definitely end up being the chief of the dinosaurs at some point with his courage and dedication. On the other hand Cera spends most of the film trying to prove herself to be a tough dinosaur while often having the opposite effect of that. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to present yourself as a tough fighter. It’s good to have courage and determination but at the same time she needs to realize her limits a bit sooner. I expected Cera to learn how to be humble a lot sooner than when it actually happened.

It’s really over 90% of the movie where she is doing her own thing and getting everyone into trouble. The worst of it has to be towards the magma zone when she decides to ditch Littlefoot and the others all follow her. Of course that translates really badly on them as well though. Seriously throughout the film Cera never lifted a foot to help any of them and that’s true here as well. Two of them get separated and Cera doesn’t care. One of them falls into the ocean and is about to drown and Cera doesn’t even notice. Yeah I’m going to need Cera to work really hard to be a likable character in the sequel because right now things are not going well for her at all.

Ducky is a nice character, she’s very outgoing and always doing her best. So in a lot of ways she has all of the right traits here but I do deduct some points for her going with Cera instead of Littlefoot. It’s the only error she made but it was a pretty big one. When all of your screentime is so positive though it’s hard for one moment to stop you so I still give her a lot of credit. Meanwhile Petrie also made that error but was decent otherwise. A little timid since he had a lot of trouble flying at first but gradually he is able to get past that. I suppose I’ll cut him a little slack since he was so young as they’re all kids here.

As a villain Sharptooth works pretty well. There is a bit of plot armor on the heroes to deal with him since a grown T Rex isn’t about to be stopped by a bunch of kids so easily. You almost feel bad for him in the sense that it’s more instinct to go after the prey rather than him being evil or anything like that. Of course you want the heroes to get away but you still hope Sharptooth will be okay as opposed to getting taken down by the kids. They can’t all be winners in the end but at least a truce can happen in some films. I can tell you right now that this doesn’t happen.

I was half expecting a little more of a reaction from the grown up dinosaurs at the end though. Like they see everyone getting along so well and decide that maybe dinosaurs can all get along. Some kind of coming of age moment where they realize the error of their ways. Perhaps the film writers felt that would be too cheesy or just too rushed to put in the last minutes though. I mean you could say it’s pretty much implied I guess, everyone is hanging out at the same area after all and at this point the kids have been through enough where they’re probably old enough to hang out with whoever they want. One of these days I’ll probably watch the sequels so we’ll see how they go.

Overall, The Land Before Time is a pretty fun film. It has a reasonable cast of characters and I was glad that Littlefoot got the win in the end since Cera really wasn’t being helpful or grateful at all the whole time. It is fairly short so the movie ends really fast but I’d say it got a good amount of plot in there. It might not be the most exciting movie out there which keeps it from being a bit higher but the quick length keeps it from dragging on. For example if this had been a 2 hour movie I would argue that it would actually hurt the experience since that would just be too much. At about an hour? Yeah that’s a pretty good length for this one.

Overall 6/10

Blame! Review

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Blame! is one of those manga that is definitely super unique. You really won’t see very many things like it. So it’s pretty cool that this got a movie and in some ways it even clears the manga. On average the manga does have higher highs but it also has lower lows with some of the intensity going on there. This one hits a fairly safe peak and stays there. I think it would have looked a whole lot more impressive with proper hand drawn action of course and you could have made this longer but in the end it was a satisfying watch.

The main guy’s name seems to be spelled differently every time I see it. I’m used to something like Kyrii, but here it’s Killy but I’m pretty positive it was spelled differently within the film. I guess it doesn’t matter in the end and I’ll go with Killy. So the movie starts by explaining that humanity fell a long time ago. The world now belongs to the robots. The “Builders” are the robots which continue increasing the size of the world to no end. The problem with this of course is that these are basically empty buildings and floors with no food or anything and so humanity keeps falling more and more to hunger. You can travel for days just to get enough food for one meal.

The film follows a girl named Zuru as she tries to help her village by finding food but it isn’t easy. She leads an expedition to get something at least but most of her group are murdered by the nearby robots. The only silver lining is that she bumped into Killy who is clearly very powerful. If the village can get him to stick around then maybe they’ll be saved. However, Killy has bigger goals in mind and aims to save the entire world if he can just find the net terminal gene. Is it possible that this is actually located within the village?

The apocalyptic world is a very good setting for this story and the film does properly capture the atmosphere from the manga. The robots are for all intents and purposes limitless since the master computer can create hundreds in seconds and installs new bases with every expansion. Basic robots are enough to destroy dozens of humans and the specific material needed to destroy them is very limited. By the start of the film the heroes have already lost most of their ammo. The exception to this is Killy who has a super gun with unlimited ammo but the drawback is that it does zap some of his energy every time he uses it.

The humans really figure that they are only delaying the inevitable and that there is no true victory at the end of the tunnel. It’s a rather depressing thought but it is impressive that they have lasted this long so far. A good chunk of the film is really about building upon this atmosphere and so I wouldn’t expect too much action. We get a big climax near the end and some quick action at the beginning but that’s about it. There are long sections where no fighting happens but fortunately the characters and setting are enough to keep the film afloat.

From the characters Killy is definitely the best character I’d say. It’s clear that at this point he doesn’t have much humanity as he’s basically emotionless and can barely even talk at times. He will say his general idea but that’s about it. He’s not exactly a conversationalist and is really just interested in saving the world. Think of him like the Terminator in that respect. Ultimately he is someone you want on your side though and he quickly goes back to help the humans when they’re in trouble. He ultimately prioritizes saving the world over side missions but he won’t abandon anyone right in front of him. That’s really all you can ask for from a guy in this kind of rough situation.

He does save a ton of lives directly by beating the enemies and indirectly by giving the village enough food to tide them over for a few months. Then Cibo is the other big character here as she is someone who managed to survive for thousands of years long enough for Killy to return. That can’t have been easy so that’s impressive. She’s really handy to have around since she can interact with the robots and has impressive hacking abilities. Cibo is the brains to Killy’s brawn and without her the village would not have been in a good spot. She’s also a lot of fun to have around. She may mostly be emotionless like Killy but she talks a lot more and is someone you can count on.

For the most part the villagers are just around but they’re all likable enough. When they’re wearing the robot suits it can be tough to tell them apart. Outside of the suits they all just want to help the village out. Zuru steps up when the going gets tough and takes the leadership role. This is definitely appreciated since otherwise the village wouldn’t have really had a good plan. The village elder was also good as he made the right call in banking on Killy. After all if the village doesn’t do anything they will eventually die so you may as well take a risk now right? Some of the other villagers tend to panic and don’t do as well so their performance varies.

Then as I mentioned earlier we do get a good fight near the end. Sanakan is the final boss here and she’s one of the more impressive villains in the manga as well. She can hold her own against Killy and then some as her strength and speed both appear superior to his. He has a better weapon which does help to equalize things a bit. What makes Sanakan stand out is how she can actually plan things out and knows how to infiltrate a hero base. The rest of the robots are terrifying but still mindless so you can work around them. That’s not so easy with someone like Sanakan who can use tactics against you.

This worked really well as the climax to this film. It was a fitting way to end as Killy had to fight for humanity’s survival and the fiery backdrop felt appropriate for a final boss. In the end I wouldn’t say the animation for the film is all that great but it’s clear that they tried hard for this fight. The CG can just be a little stiff and it doesn’t have the same intensity that a hand drawn film would have had.

I think CG works well enough for robots as it’s still at a disadvantage but not as much as with the humans. That said, it’s not enough to hurt the film. You can always still tell what is happening and that’s the important part. The soundtrack is a bit more bland, I couldn’t really tell you any of the tracks or even say that I recall them much. For a sci-fi film like this you can absolutely do better.

Overall, Blame! is a pretty fun film and a lot of that is due to the premise and story. With any animation style you’d probably have a good time here and the CG works well enough. Killy is a solid hero to root for and that climax was really intense. This is a film that you won’t be forgetting anytime soon and it would be fun to see it get some sequels and see how that goes. In the meantime while you may be left with some questions, I would say you should get most of it since the film breaks down the story well. In the end robots will always claim the advantage over humanity at some point. It’s only a question of when.

Overall 7/10

Fate/strange Fake: Whispers of Dawn Review

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It’s time for Fate to begin another animated spinoff. The franchise has really done a whole lot as it expands in every way and this film is already going to be getting a full TV show later on. It’s definitely impressive and this one kicks the route off to a really good start. The Holy Grail War always feels grand in every timeline and this one’s no different. The special also already adds a number of different hooks to really make it stand out.

This one starts off with a rumor about a new Grail War taking place in the United Stated. The ministry is skeptical, however they can’t take a chance on this being legit and send over a pair of professionals to check it out. Due to the war being in America the rules are a bit different due to the magical history not being present. There is no ruler/observer this time around and there is one less servant….for now. There are conditions by which an extra servant can still appear but otherwise this is still very much the classic war that you remember. Each of the masters summon their servants and prepare for battle. Who will come out on top?

This whole special/movie is really about setting up the tournament so at this point it has barely started. Still, that makes it the perfect way to build up the hype and introduce the characters. The cast is already quite large so don’t expect them to all do a lot just yet but we already know some of their motivations and we almost get the first big fight here. The quick clash was a good way to get you ready.

Now the main question you may be wondering is…who am I rooting for? Well let me break down the teams and my general view of their goals and why I would or would not root for them. First up we have Gilgamesh and Tine, this is the pair I am rooting for. Tine’s goal is really to win this grail war quickly o that she can push away all of ther interlopers who have appeared and are wrecking the land. As someone who has helped protect the land for many generations she just can’t let this stand and I resect that. Excellent motive right off the bat so she had my attention. She can also fight and took care of the other guy real quick.

One thing you will learn quickly in this series is that you always have to act very quickly. If you want for even a moment then you may get bumped off by the very servant that you summoned or someone else can land a cheap shot. So your best bet is to use a command seal immediately and otherwise you may be in trouble. Tine doesn’t have this problem because she knows how to address Gilgamesh with respect and doesn’t cross any lines. That’s the kind of dedication and devotion that he is looking for in his subjects. No more and no less, just do what you gotta do and you’ll be fine. It’s completely possible that she will have some sinister motivations in the background but for now she’s easy to root for.

Then Gilgamesh is a super impressive servant as always. I love how grand he talks at all times and the man carries himself like a true professional. He is not someone to be trifled with and we actually get to see him cut loose for a little bit as he gets excited in one scuffle. It’s very rare to see him treat any opponent with a high level of respect so that was cool. Also if you’ve been watching some of the other spinoffs like Grand Order then you get a little something extra in all of the interactions with him and his rival since you got to see more of the context there. Yeah I don’t see any team passing this one and they should be the obvious lock to win the tourney.

Then we have Enkidu and Wolf. In theory this is the next strongest pairing but I’m highly expecting Enkidu to suffer the worf effect here. The pieces are all just in place right now. This guy’s a literal god compared to all of the other servants who are mere heroic spirits. He can control the very atmosphere and environment and Gilgamesh has been looking forward to fighting him. I’m betting that the little girl’s shadow is going to show up and murder him since the foreshadowing is already there. It would be a shame to see Enkidu go down so quickly but I do have high hopes for this new villain so it really could work out. It’s also a little too early to actually be worrying all that much.

I like Enkidu as a pretty solid antagonist. He’s a very reasonable fighter and someone with complex motivations. Then you have the owner who is a normal Wolf. It’s an interesting concept since before now we’ve only seen humans be masters but it makes sense that any sentient life could do it. My one problem is how the Wolf is going to be involved in the fighting and could get hurt now. That already happened here and it’s definitely animal violence you don’t want to see. If the series brings that back in any form it’ll definitely be concerning. This was the only part that wasn’t great since the rest of the special was spectacular.

Alexandre is another fun pick for a master because he’s a police officer. I guess police chief is probably more appropriate here and the guy even has a personal army dedicated to his cause. He wants to fight for justice but gets criticized by one of the other officers for it. You can tell that this guy’s sense of justice is probably more the tyrannical sort but considering some other fighters here are going to be pure evil, you may need to root for him.

This is really helping to take full advantage of the fact that the war is in America this time by involving the police and government. I’m really liking the approach. Unfortunately while this guy is one of the more interesting characters, I really don’t like his servant Orlando yet. The guy doesn’t seem like a fighter and gets overwhelmed too easily by his vices. I have a feeling he’s going to be a chore to watch until he eventually gets bumped off. Hopefully he can prove me wrong.

Then we have Flat and Jack who feel completely out of their league. Flat has skills but doesn’t totally know how to use them yet which could come back to hurt him. Then we have Jack the Ripper who seems reasonably tough but not all that impressive. Yeah they should be very worried at this point and could be a first round exit. They have no interesting motivations for being in this tournament either so there’s not much reason to root for them. They’re just doomed.

We don’t know almost anything about Richard and Ayaka yet so I’ll mainly skip them. Richard seems like a solid hero and the only “Hero” out of the 12 who is actually heroic. You can tell that he’ll be one of the main characters. As for Ayaka she appears to still be in her rebellious phase so we’ll have to see how that plays out. I see them being a fun combo to root for but I’ll still take Gilgamesh any day. Richard’s going to really need to prove himself here.

Tsubaki’s just a kid so right now it’s not like she has any big plans. Fortunately she seems to potentially have one of the strongest servants since the mysterious shadow is getting a lot of hype. Her whole plot is wrapped up in some mystery right now since we don’t even know if her parents totally know about what happened. Initially it seemed like her father wanted to be the master based on the planning and getting the artifacts but we also got a scene where he was monitoring a mysterious bruise/imprint on her so maybe this is a plan to make her powerful. Either way I can see this being one of the darker plots but as long as she has the shadow to protect her I expect things are going to start going up for Tsubaki.

Next up is Jester who is very much a big wild card character here. His servant Assassin seemingly took him down for the count right away but he was able to auto revive later on. He definitely has some pretty solid abilities even as a “human” so there is more to him than meets the eye. Even the servants may want to be afraid of the guy at this point and I think the Assassin should be very nervous. It’s going to be difficult for her to get away from this guy should he choose to chase after her. Making some humans a big threat is a good way to increase the tension though so I look forward to seeing what this guy can do.

While Waver and Grey are not in the tournament it will be interesting to see if they get involved in the action. As a pseudo servant Grey can fight and while the Waver show depicted how she would not be able to hold her own against any servant perhaps she can get some kind of power up. Waver is also well versed in magic and perhaps he would be able to come up with a spell that could work as well. They don’t need to get involved but it would certainly be fun.

Francesa is very much another mystery character. She is a servant where we don’t know who her master is and she appears to be a double agent. Francesa also doesn’t seem particularly heroic and has a whole speech about how easy it is to be a villain. This is someone you want to watch out for because she will absolutely stab you in the back. I don’t expect she will end up being one of the stronger servants but should still have a sizable role.

Then we have Faldeus who is a government worker and it seems to be implied he’s either CIA or FBI. He’s a really fun character right off the bat here because he made a great plan and executed it flawlessly. He knows how to be undercover and having the government around here is a brilliant move. It adds a whole new dimension to the Holy Grail War and really spices things up. I’m betting he will be a main antagonist here and at the end of the day even servants can die against bullets if you land the attack with enough stealth. Yeah this guy is going to be a lot of fun.

So there are the combatants. As you can see the movie set up a whole lot of plots and characters right from the jump which is excellent. This tournament is bound to be a blast and even thought the tournament is typically only a few days long, you can easily make this a long series just by having lots of fights, planning etc. The bigger the cast the bigger each day will be and the cast is already quite large here.

The animation is definitely really solid as you would expect. We haven’t had much action yet but all of the characters are really clear and the backgrounds are sharp. The soundtrack isn’t quite as memorable as the other Fate titles just yet but I did really like the ending theme. I’ve been hearing it a lot on Pandora and it really helps bring in the grand vibes of the series. Fate should always feel like a huge deal with even the weakest spirit still being a powerful fighter and that comes across here.

Overall, I expect this is going to be a really high tier part of the Fate franchise. The setup was excellent and there is just so much to do here. It’s still early to get a proper vibe on how things will play out so we’ll just have to wait and see. If they keep the production values and writing up then there should be no worries here. I definitely recommend checking this one out as soon as possible.

Overall 7/10