Tekken: Bloodline Review

Posted on August 27, 2022 by dreager1

When Netflix first came out with the teaser for Tekken I was pretty stoked. From all of the fighting game series Tekken tends to have the best storylines. I may be more of a Street Fighter fan with the gameplay but the stories had less of a strong continuity than Tekken. Tekken was always going to give you a very solid cinematic experience and that translates well into a game. This one may be ultra short at only 6 episodes long but in a way you can just treat it as a 2-2.5 hour movie. It’s really quite elite and succeeds at everything it tries to do.

The show starts off by introducing us to Jin and his mother Jun. She is training him how to fight but only in self defense as might doesn’t make right. Jin tries his best to keep to these teachings but its tough with so many bullies around. Well, one day a mysterious being known as Ogre appears and murders Jin’s mother. He swears to avenge her and goes to meet his grandfather Heihachi to achieve the strength he will need. Jun had said to seek this man out and while Heihachi makes it clear that he doesn’t care about Jin, he agrees to teach him. Jin will have to enter the next King of Iron Fist Tournament and win. The more he wins, the more Ogre should be tempted to come out as he has been destroying powerful fighters across the world. What better bait than a fighting tournament right? Does Jin really have what it takes to beat all of these guys?

I mostly grew up with Tekken 4-6 so I don’t know too much about the earlier games outside of the bullet points. So it was nice to have more of an adaption for Tekken 3. This always felt like the beginning to me so I wonder what the first two games’ story was. Or maybe they were old enough so they didn’t really have enough of one to fill a whole show. Regardless, the decision was a good one because the story here is most excellent. Right off the bat you have a big villain and a tragic hero death. The main character losing a parent to a powerful foe may be something that happens a lot but when executed well it still hits you emotionally.

The show is in CGI but fortunately it keeps the cool visual effects that the games had when someone is hit. You really feel the power behind every blow and I would say the graphics work here. The show looks a whole lot like a video game throughout its run. The fight choreography was on point as well so I was not surprised when I saw Rooster Teeth in the credits. This is some of the better CGI on the market. Would hand drawn have been better? Yes, but they definitely did all that they could with the CG and it didn’t hamper the story. You’re still going to be having a blast with all of the fights. You may wonder how Jin can keep on fighting at times, particularly near the end when it feels like he fights in numerous battles with no break, but I guess we can chalk that up to the “Devil Gene”.

The Devil Gene is a big point of emphasis in the show because it ties into the Ogre mystery and why he attacked in the first place. Any Tekken fan will definitely recognize this as something that will be important in the future as well. It plays a part here and is referenced a lot but I would say it’s more of a preview of things to come. I certainly hope we get a season 2 or some kind of continuation. Keep this going because Tekken has a ton of potential!

I also liked the soundtrack but I think the opening is a huge missed opportunity. There is virtually no animation in the opening at all and the song is really dead. It doesn’t help get you pumped for the episode or anything. It just feels like a bit of a waste and is the only weak element of the show. Not a big deal since it’s just an opening but still, you’d expect better than that.

One of the main reasons why the show is so amazing is because Jin is a great main character. That is always the starting point when you want to make a show successful after all. He is motivated by revenge but hasn’t lost himself in it yet. He sill wants to be a great fighter and he’s made some friends along the way. The show doesn’t have time to dwell on this much but you can see that he does have a fairly stable life built around him. He always goes about things the right way and even by the end Jin still feels like a hero. Perhaps he is someone that the others will have to be careful around but I’d trust Jin at this point in time.

I also liked his fighting style a lot. It’s certainly more basic than most of the other characters but it shows how he relies on fundamentals. If the show was longer I would have liked to have seen more detail into the Kazama fighting style so we could really compare it to Mishima. That’s a big subject in the show as Heihachi wants Jin to learn his Mishima style over Jin’s mother’s style but we technically don’t see too much difference between them. Jin does get one KO move from his mother which was nice to see though.

Then Heihachi works really well as the main villain. He may be the CEO at the top of his company, but by no means has he gotten lazy in the slightest. His fighting abilities are just as deadly as they ever were and he gets to show them off at different points here. There is also a shocking moment involving a gun that was incredible. Heihachi really gets a lot of respect here and earns it not only as a fighter but as a strategist as well. His fans should definitely be very pleased with how he looks.

Jin’s friend Xiaoyu also looks really good. She is determined to be a fighter in the tournament and is tired of people treating her like a kid or thinking that she’s too weak for being a girl. Well, Xiaoyu does prove herself here and does better in the tournament than I was expecting. She’s just a fun character and brings a little light hearted cheer to the tournament as everyone else is fairly serious.

This hype does come at the expense of Nina to an extent though. It’s incredibly hard to believe that Nina would lose to Xiaoyu. I thought they were going to pull a twist where Nina lost on purpose to do some sleuthing in the background or something but instead she actually lost. Well, it’s an effective twist in that I wasn’t expecting it, but I’m still a little skeptical. Nina is fun in her brief appearance though and I expect we’ll see a lot more of her in future installments.

Next up is Paul who is a likable guy. He gets to talk tough and goes far in the tournament. It also feels like his fighting style is rather ordinary like Jin but it takes him far. He doesn’t get a whole lot to do here but I’d say the role was good enough. There is only so much time for each character after all and you get the feeling that Paul’s a good guy. He’s experienced and has been around the block a few times so he can give Jin some advice as well.

Leroy is more of an annoying character. He’s one of those guys who has a big grudge with Heihachi and wants revenge. Fair enough, but once you start taking that out on other people then it becomes a bit of a problem. He just wants to start trouble whenever he is around and that’s not a good idea without a good reason. Just taking out your revenge on someone else doesn’t cut it and so I found him to be one of the weaker characters here.

King was a solid fighter here. Now, there’s one moment where he defeats someone rather brutally so everybody gets upset, but I technically didn’t think he was crossing the line or anything. It’s not a Neji vs Hinata situation or something where it looks like the fight’s about to go beyond the match. King II just flat out won with his techniques and stopped once the opponent was down. We also find out why he is fighting later on and it tracks with him not being a bad person.

So I thought he was good, but the show tries to throw in a little mystery that deflates before it starts. So during the tournament the characters suddenly realize that this isn’t actually the original King. That’s cool and all but in the first or second episode they had already mentioned that Ogre destroyed King or at least that King vanished after the fight. So from the jump we knew that this wasn’t the same King even though it’s treated as a twist of sorts. I thought that was a bit odd.

Usually I’d be talking about Kazuya more by now but he really ends up missing out in this show. He’s still missing after the fight with Heihachi but unfortunately we didn’t see the scene of Heihachi throwing him off the mountain. We did get the reverse though. Those two always have an incredible rivalry so I’m ready to see him in the sequel. He also becomes more of a true rival to Jin. Right now Hwoarang has to fit that bill and it’s harder to take him seriously.

Hwoarang is a good character and I do like him but the victor is never in doubt when he goes up against Jin. It feels like those two are just in different leagues at this point. The fight appears closer than it really was. It’ll be nice to see him stick around but I feel like he probably won’t get many more big fights like the one in this season. As we wrap up the characters, we have to talk about Jun. She’s a lot of fun even if her screen time is quite brief. She helped train Jin the right away. While she does tell him to only fight in self defense, it’s to a reasonable angle at least.

My only issue with self defense is when characters take it to the extreme like letting people throw drinks on them or even land a hit. As long as you can fight back when you’re attacked then it’s all good. She reminds me a lot of the mentor character in Shenmue. Jun is really at the top of her game here and you can see why she is known as such a powerful fighter that even Heihachi gives respect to. She did well in the fight against Ogre too. I thought it was a good showing of how skill can let you keep up with a more powerful fighter for a while even if it won’t ultimately change the outcome.

Finally there is Ogre and I thought he was great too. He’s got a very Doomsday kind of vibe to him. He just shows up out of nowhere like a natural disaster and murders whoever is in front of him. As the show goes on we learn more about the logic of when and why he appears but either way you don’t want him to appear. Almost nobody can fight this guy 1 on 1 and hope to survive. The show even gets a little more out there than you’d expect with the final battle. Ogre does not hold back that’s for sure.

One thing the show could probably tone down for season 2 is the flashbacks though. This show is only 6 episodes long and yet there are a considerable amount of flashbacks. They seem to come in almost every episode over and over again. Some of the scenes we see multiple times and it’s not like the audience will have forgotten. Even ignoring the binging format, it’s only 6 episodes. You really don’t need flashbacks like that. If you want to use 1 or 2 to build up the emotional appeal then that’s fine but more than that is just excessive with no real benefit to doing so.

Meanwhile one unique thing the show did that I thought worked really well was having everyone talk very slowly. At first I thought it would just be something Heihachi did but it works for the entire cast. It’s like everyone is trying really hard to enunciate every syllable no matter how long it takes. I feel like this is either a tribute to the original game’s dubbing or that’s just the custom within the Tekken world. There’s no way it’s a coincidence and all of the VAs just talk like that. Whatever the reasoning behind it was, I thought it worked well. That slow way of talking wasn’t obnoxious like how it’s handled in other titles but just feels very regal here.

It also helps with the very cinematic style of each episode. Each episode feels like part of a grand movie. The characters are expressive, the backgrounds are memorable, and the music raises the tension. With the characters speaking slowly, you also feel like they could lunge at any moment so everyone has their guards up at all times. Some characters aren’t too smart and like to take their chances like the one guy who thought he could cheat Heihachi out of their deal, but for the most part everyone plans things out carefully. You have to in this kind of world or you’ll vanish pretty quickly.

Overall, Tekken is a superb show. At the end of the day it really did everything right. It would have its super hype moments and it would also get very emotional at times. Not making any big mistakes is enough to get you to a 7 but if you want to go beyond that then you have to also be strong in all areas. That’s what Tekken does here. The fight scenes are really excellent and the story is great. The character cast is very strong and this is really a superb adaption. Any Tekken fan should be proud of how it came out and even if you don’t know Tekken, you can easily enjoy this as a solid action show. The plot is fairly straight forward with the tournament and you can follow along from there. In a lot of ways it feels like the anime version of Mortal Kombat and that’s always high praise. Hopefully a sequel comes sooner than later.

Overall 9/10

Dr. Stone Special: Ryusui Review

Posted on August 21, 2022 by dreager1

As the wait for season 3 continues, it was time to check out the quick special for Ryusui. I’ve been looking forward to seeing that guy show up for quite a while now so it was neat to see him in the mix here. It’s a fun special all around and should be nostalgic for Dr. Stone viewers. You get some more adventure here and a solid amount of plot development so you will absolutely want to watch this before you officially check out season 3. Unless they decide to readapt this part I suppose.

The special starts with Senku and friends realizing that they are going to need a good ship captain for the voyages ahead. They’ll be dealing with some rough waters with a ship that isn’t ideal so not just anybody can pilot it. Fortunately there is but one man who can get them safely across any storm no matter how turbulent. That man is Ryusui, the pirate captain of legend! The downside is that this guy is rather egotistical and a huge fan of capitalism. He’ll bring back the currency system and could even take over the world. With another top notch mind around, Senku will have to be extra careful how they handle this guy. One wrong move and it could be the end for the kingdom of science.

The special’s a little under an hour so it’s a good way to fully introduce him into the mix. The characters prepare to build their first boat and before that they even build a blimp so they can see what the terrain is like. At that point is when Ryusui really gets to prove himself although Chrome looks really good as well. You definitely can’t count that kid out. He even has a little rivalry going with Ryusui since they are both explorers. Ryusui just focuses on the oceans while Chrome is a land guy. Immediately you can see how Ryusui is a good addition both for his skills and then also for the dynamic.

With the whole blimp scare near the end, the special does a good job of having a little danger in the mix while also being fairly low key. Ryusui’s introduction arc is actually perfect for a TV special like this because it has a beginning, middle, and end structure. I don’t think it would have been as easy for other points in the series to be used like this without some big cliffhangers. This way the story wraps up perfectly.

Gen is also useful for a change. One issue I always had with him is it felt like his skills as a mentalist never worked. The villains would always see through it or tell him not to talk so they wouldn’t get confused. That doesn’t happen here and aside from Senku, Gen successfully tricks the entire cast. It may be a small thing but I thought it was important because that’s Gen’s whole angle so you do want him to succeed at some point. Otherwise there wouldn’t be a point to keeping him around.

In general it was a good time for the supporting cast to shine as we saw Yuzuriha get to work on the sewing. She also showed a lot of other characters how to do this and before long it was a full community effort. Even Magma got to show off his boat skills even if he wasn’t the top ranking guy around. Everyone got to pitch in and help out which is a nice way to built unity within the kingdom. They have to savor this now too as not everyone will get a big role in the next arc. The series is finally at the place where the hero size is just big enough where you can’t bring everyone all of the time.

If Senku’s team had died on the blimp that definitely would have been a sad way to go out. Like you survived all kinds of threats and tough situations only to die like this? Yeah there couldn’t be much more disappointing news than that. In a way you could say that going on the blimp was an incredible risk that they all took. Personally I’ve never been tempted to go on a blimp myself for that reason. I always felt like it just wasn’t as secure as the others.

Overall, This was a fun special. At the end of the day this special gives you a chance to see all of the characters again and that’s always a good thing. It’s a pleasant little adventure. I’m almost a little surprised we didn’t get some foreshadowing for a villain showing up but maybe that would be going too far ahead. Ryusui is immediately a likable character and adds a lot of fun to the series. Senku and friends should definitely be real glad to have him around and of course now you want to see what Tsukasa says when he gets up since he was against all of these profit schemes right from the start. He may have a big “I told you so” coming to Senku. Still, Senku made the right choice here because as he said, skills have to trump personality right now. You need the best of the best to survive in the stone era. It’s worked so far so why change approaches now? This may be a special but it’s fairly important to the rest of the story so I’d definitely recommend checking it out.

Overall 7/10

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War: Ultra Romantic Review

Posted on August 21, 2022 by dreager1

Kaguya has been a pretty great show through and through for the first 2 seasons but could it deliver in the third? Well fortunately the answer is yes there. Season 3 is another great installment in the series and this continues to be the definitive comedy series out there. It’s got all the fun interactions and character drama that you could ask for with its usual assortment of references to everything. The amount of detail and care that goes into this show is always very impressive.

I’d say the big arc in this season is definitely the festival at the end but of course we have a lot of fun segments throughout the season so I’ll talk about some of those. The season also has its share of serious moments and in a way you could say this ended part 1 of the series depending on how you break it up. Either way it’s fitting for a season 3 to go all out since it ends the trilogy in a way.

The first episode starts off strong with 3 good segments right off the bat. In the first one Ishigami has to find a way to subtly let Ino know that her earphones aren’t plugged in before the others hear. Considering how mean she is to him on the daily, it’s nice that he’s still looking out for her. It’s not an easy mission by any stretch since she’ll probably yell at him no matter what but fortunately he finds a rather unique way to get around this. I thought it was clever at least and as always he was taking the high road there.

Then you have a segment that really feels like the classic season 1 days with Shirogane realizing that Kaguya doesn’t know how Line messaging works and capitalizes on it. It’s probably one of his biggest clear cut wins in the entire series. It wasn’t a tie or one of those debatable moments, he just saw his opportunity and took it. The whole thing was retro in all the best ways. Finally we had a segment for the arm wrestling which had some DBZ action in there. All in all, that’s exactly how you want to do a premiere. All of the segments were a lot of fun.

In episode 2 we get to see the Ai and Shirogane dynamic again as she is sent to a party to watch over him and decides to mess with Kaguya some more. She definitely likes messing with the main heroine but of course Kaguya reacts quite strongly each time so it’s easy to do. There’s also a segment with trying to get Ino and Ishigami to be nicer to each other although that doesn’t go super well. This episode isn’t quite as strong as the first one though since it doesn’t have any segments that knock it out of the park.

Then in episode 3 we finally get Maki to really get a big role. She’s one character who really took a while to get a big role but makes the most of it. I always thought she was a lot of fun and the show nails her character perfectly. She has a tragic lot in life as the guy she liked ended up going out with her best friend instead. That’s a rather bitter pill to swallow but she takes it in stride or at least as well as she can. She gets two segments in a way as another one was because her friend thought that Maki was tempting the guy away.

The third segment here is finally back to a group game which is nice. Everyone gets to use their own strategies here to try and come out on top. I always like the game segments because they’re super entertaining. Seeing everyone try to accomplish their agendas is priceless and it makes the games a lot higher stakes than they would be otherwise.

After that we really begin the Ishigami and Tsubame plot in earnest. He’s finally trying to get courage to ask her out and this leads to another studying session. Whenever Kaguya teaches him it’s always fun because she’s just a really good teacher. He also does want to learn and so it’s a lot healthier than the Chika and Shirogane dynamic. Of course that one’s a lot of fun too but this is more of a proper teacher and student bond. The final segment is more of a sleepover adventure which isn’t nearly as solid.

We get to have some fun rap segments after that. Rap isn’t really my thing as I tend to find it to be one of the weakest music genres but it works well enough here. Shirogane really gets to try and get his message across this way. Then we have another Maki segment as she gets to vent to her friends. It’s nice that Ishigami and Shirogane are always there for her because otherwise she’d have to keep it bottled in which is no fun for anyone.

Another fun segment after that was the student teacher conference as Ai and Shirogane’s parents help Kaguya out since her guardians weren’t around. They did a good job of stepping up in the moment and it made for a very amusing turn of events the whole time. Beyond that we get closer to the festival arc as it starts to really be around the corner. Shirogane steels his resolve to have her confess by that date so the stakes are still rising.

After that the festival really begins in earnest. We get a lot of Kaguya and Shirogane moments, Ishigami trying to get to Tsubame, and more plots. Just about every character is here and that makes sense since no student can afford to miss the big festival right? Anyone who is anyone will have to attend and help make the whole thing a huge success. The festival is rather long but never drags out or gets dull because of how much is going on the whole time. The whole thing is a lot of fun and of course we get to see Shirogane’s big plan. The whole series will never be the same after this.

As you can tell from the episodes, one reason why Kaguya is so good is because the humor is top notch. The characters are all a blast and have great dynamics with each other. The writing is top tier as well and then the show goes the extra mile with the animation and soundtrack. The theme song’s visuals are really catchy and throughout the show it feels high budget. Then you have the soundtrack which is also top tier. This show is treated like a big budget action title in terms of how much effort is put into it and it shows.

The storyline was also building up to this for a long time so the payoff really ended up working. It all builds together to really make this a masterpiece. I really don’t have any negatives to say about this one. If I had to drilldown on something minor, there was a moment or two where the show would pick a random angle that felt like a tiny bit of fanservice but on the whole the show has been quite excellent at avoiding that. It’s all so minor here I wouldn’t consider it to be an issue. Kaguya is really high brow entertainment through and through.

As always Kaguya is a fun main character here. Her strategies are always on point and the back and forth with Shirogane is the meat of the show. This time you could say he actually had the edge for most of the show though because he had his goal to make her confess while she was still used to him trying to dodge her. It’s like he had extra intel you could say so he steeled himself and wouldn’t get flustered the way he usually would. That’s not something she had previously accounted for which is what put her in a tough spot.

As for Shirogane, his plan was really on point. He put a whole lot into this and it paid off quite well. I always like how he’s determined to learn new talents and everything too. I doubt any character works quite as hard as he does. The guy never really gives himself a breather or any kind of break. He just keeps on improving and working to make everyone’s lives better. It’s why he’s so worthy of the title of class president.

Chika’s role isn’t huge here but she’s always around to have fun. Especially when there’s a mystery to be solved or a game to play. While she may have gotten one of the mysteries wrong, I did like her enthusiasm the whole time. She was so happy when she thought that she had cracked the case that I felt bad for her afterwards. Chika definitely nails the comic relief character role down to an art.

Ishigami continues to be a great character here. His character development has been super smooth all the way through. He’s always trying to do the nice thing and he’s slowly bursting out of his shell. He consistently has great character moments in every season and this one’s no exception. While I’m not really rooting for him to get with Tsubame, at least it’s another way to motivate him to study. His days of slacking off are pretty much over at this point.

Then we have Ino who is still fun but always aggressive towards Ishigami. He can’t really do anything without her throwing some shots his way. Ino always seems bitter about the guy which makes for a fun running gag but as a character you can see why he wants to avoid her after a while. While I would put her as the weakest member of the council for now, she is still a fun character and does add to the dynamic. Right now her friend Kobachi doesn’t at all. I can’t say I’m a fan of hers yet.

Ai is a fun character as always though. Her ninja skills are still on point but gradually Kaguya is learning how to fend for herself and not have to rely on Ai all the time. This also gives Ai more freedom to think about what she really wants and this is a plot that should continue on into the future. Then there is Tsubame and she’s a nice enough character. She did her best to break Ishigami out of his shell and should accept some of the credit for doing that. As for how she took the whole confession angle, it was all in the heat of the moment so all things considered she handled it well enough.

Now for me I’m mostly a fan of Kaguya because of the humor and all of the mind games. It’s what really put the series on the map for me as a top tier contender through and through. I’m less big on the romance in general so as the series gets more serious we’ll see how it can keep up. The first two seasons didn’t really deal with romance seriously at all as it was all about the cat and mouse games. Well, now we’re starting to get more into the serious side of it so I think it’ll be hard for the next seasons to beat the original 3. Still, as long as they keep putting this much effort into it, then they should work well enough. Also while I like Ishigami a lot as a character, I do think his romance plot is a lot weaker than Shirogane/Kaguya’s.

At least as far as romances go, Kaguya and Shirogane’s has been done the right away. It’s been built up for several seasons now and part of why the show is so much fun is because they just want to be the one to win the love game by getting the other one to confess first. So it’s a fun dynamic and once the romance gets serious, at least there’s been a lot of build up the whole time. Ishigami’s is much more of a quick romance in comparison and then with Ino you already have the show hinting that it wants to add some more drama into the mix. Right from the jump you could see how this one won’t work as well and it doesn’t work within the show’s tone quite as well either. There are no mind games to be had here (None yet anyway) and it’s all just a bit basic. Keep Ishigami as the fun video game guy and Ino as the stickler for the rules and then you’re all set.

As a side note, I did think it was fun how they switched up the ending animation for one episode where the characters are in some kind of neon lights band. The animation went crazy on that one but it was fun as a little experimental moment. Then you also had Ai’s brief song which felt really high budget and the music for that was cool. So the show isn’t afraid to mix things up every now and again. It’s a difficult show to predict compared to most and I would say that’s a good thing. You always want to stay unpredictable.

One thing we haven’t gotten from the show yet which would be fun would have been a school against school battle. It’s unlikely to ever happen as the manga is nearly over too but with so many strategic juggernauts in one school, imagine the possibilities of putting them up against another group? That would be a blast and we don’t actually get to see the Student Council teaming up a whole lot like that. Maybe do it as a quiz show or some kind of Olympics event where you keep switching activities. I’m sure our team would win but that whole scenario would be a blast.

Overall, Kaguya delivers another excellent season with this installment. It’s absolutely a show that you could recommend to anyone who wants a fun laugh or a good time. The production values are really impressive and the character cast is super dynamic. You could put two of them into any situation and you’ll be able to get a lot of fun jokes out of it. That’s when you know that a series is really on a good track. There are no weak episodes here and the 13 episodes will really be over in a flash. Now with the movie announced, we’ll see how long it takes to do season 4.

Overall 8/10

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle Review

Posted on August 21, 2022 by dreager1

I remember starting this manga not too long ago. Well after binging it all the way to the current chapter it was time to look at the show adaption which was referenced in the manga a bunch of times. Ultimately it is a fun slice of life type show. It’s not laugh out loud levels of funny like Noragami or Kaguya Sama but if you’re looking for a calming experience then this could be the ticket for you. At the end of the day it’s a very safe show all around that you can pick up and play at any time.

The show starts with Princess Syalis being kidnapped by Twilight, the Demon King. The hero Dawner vows to find and rescue her no matter how dangerous the trip is. To this end he and his loyal allies set off to various regions and dungeons to find her. They actually aren’t the main characters of this quest though. No, Syalis is the main character and the show is about her daily interactions in the Demon Castle. Will she learn that the demons actually aren’t so bad?

I have to admit, having Dawner as the main character would have been cool though. He’s a very genuine guy who really wants to help her out but unfortunately she just finds him annoying and the demons appear to be a lot stronger than Dawner. He can be sneaky good at times though and the show even gives him more of a role than in the manga. He gets to appear in quite a few episodes here as he gets closer and closer to the goal. Dawner is really played up as not being very smart and being super over the top but with such heroic aspirations how could you root against him right?

Now keep in mind that even though you have heroes here and villains with super powers, this is not an action anime. So don’t go in expecting a lot of big fights or anything like that. This is still a slice of life comedy at the end of the day so you have to go in with the right mindset. So long as you do that, then you’ll be good as the show goes on. If you went in expecting action then you’d be in trouble but I like to think that the theme song would clue you in right away.

As for the theme song, it’s okay I’d say. I’m not a big fan of it but it’s not bad. The soundtrack itself could use some more variety though. There wasn’t really a standout theme that I can think of right now. The animation is okay, but nothing special. I would say fairly low budget or maybe standard at best. This doesn’t strike me as a show with a really big budget but of course there’s not a whole lot to show off with it given how the show is based though. It’s not quite going above and beyond here, just adapting everything as normal. It also uses that annoying blush effect I don’t like much in the shows. It isn’t constant like in other shows but it’s never needed.

The one thing holding this one back is that I wouldn’t say it’s very funny for being a comedy. In general if you aren’t an action show then you need to be either really funny like Kaguya to succeed, be very emotional like Kanon, or have a super engaging plot with great characters like Death Note. If you don’t have any of those things in your corner then you’ll mainly be treading water. Now I do still have this show on the positive side so it works well enough but I do see this title being buried by the competition the whole time.

I do like that the show has a true continuity going for it though. While it won’t take too much advantage of that yet, we would see more of that come to play during a season 2. This isn’t one of those shows where each character is static, characters do get development. I wouldn’t say it’s anything major but it’s still nice because it really gives you a good reason to watch in order and see how it goes. I would argue that even true 100% comedic shows should have a continuity that they stick to. It just gets you more invested.

Now for Syalis, she’s a fun main character. She takes things in stride and quickly figures out the best way to manipulate the demons. With the video game RPG rules in effect, it also makes sense that she would grow so powerful so quickly as she’s always murdering the minions to get materials. That kind of EXP will add up quickly. Deep down she just wants a good sleep and that’s as good a motivation as anything. Contrary to most main characters, I wouldn’t even say that she is super nice. Sleep is prioritized over everything so if she needs a nap then that’s what is going to happen even if it means ignoring her friends.

At times you will feel bad for some characters like the succubus and harpy who want to be her friend though. Syalis comes really close to being a full antagonist at times so everyone needs to keep their guard up. Most of the demons know to leave her alone though, some just don’t really tend to get the hint in time. The show has each episode segment be like an in game mission which is fun. It comes complete with the fanfare and everything.

No main character is complete without a supporting cast though so lets talk about the side characters. First up is Twilight and he’s a very reasonable character. As of now we don’t really know why he kidnapped Syalis but he seems bored so he may have just wanted some excitement. He’s not even a particularly bad guy as he even leaves cool weapons and items for the hero to use. He doesn’t want things to be boring and he’s also got a lot of good sportsmanship which again begs the question of why demons and humans are enemies to begin with. The show starts to delve into that but for the most part that will be a plot point for the next seasons.

Twilight is definitely one of the best characters here. He is maybe a little too nice to Syalis which helps let her get so spoiled right away but it’s just hard for him to not be nice. That’s his default setting if you would. Then there is the Demon Cleric and he plays the straight man to the various jokes and gags. Everything takes him unawares and he really isn’t sure of what to do. I can’t say that I’m a big fan of his. His role will only grow larger and larger in the future but in the meantime he just needs to make sure that Syalis can revive without any issues.

Harpy is the most tragic character in the series because she just wants to be friends with Syalis. Unfortunately that isn’t possible as the princess just sees her as a pillow. It’s why their friendship always seems rocky at best. The dynamic is that Harpy does her best to help out and Syalis takes advantage of her. It’s the only time when Syalis can be rather annoying for me. Usually I can root for her but moments like that are not a good look at all. The same is true of the Succubus to an extent. She doesn’t want to be friends but Syalis is always putting her in dangerous situations when Succubus just wants to be more popular.

There are a lot of other monsters around the castle and the message to them is clear, stay out of Syalis’ way! If they don’t then they are liable to get hurt like the shrouds that she murders every day. Perhaps she is the real demon in this castle. The characters certainly treat her like the boss with how she can come and go as she pleases. Syalis even tends to take over the big board meetings when she feels like it.

Because this is a standard slice of life without any big plots yet, there isn’t a whole lot to talk about. I suspect that season 2 will have more themes to really sink your teeth into and discuss. That said, at least we do see that as per normal the humans appear to be the aggressors here. They have whole festivals and such just for badmouthing the demons. I tend to always be taking shots at the humans in these things and this is an example of what makes it so easy.

Now at least they have an excuse to be a little upset right now with Syalis being kidnapped but the festival has apparently been going on for a while now. So they are always using opportunities to insult the demons while meanwhile we see in the demon castle that they don’t care about the humans. The whole antagonism is only on one side. Of course they can’t suspect that the demons are so nice but they could stand to be a little more reasonable. It just feels like a mean spirited festival the whole time instead of just being a way to have a lot of fun. I admit that even Dawner would likely be in on this though so the whole kingdom needs to work on this.

Because of the nature of the show you’re not really sure just how deep into all of this it’ll go but at the very least there are already hints at a more serious plot someday. You have some serious moments with Syalis and Twilight on this and her deciding to go back with them instead of to the humans. It reminds me a bit of Detective Conan in that sense as 90% of what’s going on is fluff and then you have the occasional tease at a plot coming soon. Whether it actually happens soon or in a very long while is really the question you have to ponder in the meantime.

Overall, Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle is a decent show. It’s a nice way to spend the time and it’s always fun to see the RPG elements. To take the show to the next level I’d say it needs to spice up the music a bit and also change the scenery some more. The demon castle is good but you need more than one backdrop. Make sure to show Dawner more as well since that guy is always fun. Any scene with him in it is bound to be a winner. In the meantime if you want a slice of life to check out, this one’s fairly short so there’s not really any downside to giving it a chance.

Overall 6/10

Demon Slayer Season 2 Review

Posted on August 21, 2022 by dreager1

This review has been waiting for a few months at this point so it’s time to finally look at season 2 of Demon Slayer. This one readapts the movie and then takes us into the entertainment district arc with one of the longest fights yet. The battle goes on for more episodes than you would guess which is good. I would certainly consider this one to be stronger than season 1. It still does tend to dwell a bit on the gritty side of things which always holds it back but I would say a bit less so than the spiders arc in season 1.

The first arc has Tanjiro and friends called in to assist the Hashira, Rengoku in exterminating a powerful demon. This demon has been lulling people to sleep on a train and then taking them all down. Even several other slayers have gone in and been taken out so the threat is very real. While the main characters are skilled, they don’t have the skills to be a Hashira yet so they have to be careful not to get in the way or be taken hostage either.

One thing that is new here is a prequel episode of sorts as we see what Rengoku did before getting to the train. The show has some dynamic animation right out of the gate this way and we see why Rengoku is one of the top fighters. This episode is a little more violent than the actual arc and serves to remind you why demons are so terrifying. Fortunately our hero takes this guy down real quick and the sheer speed when he runs is always impressive. In that stat it feels like he may be the best out of all the Hashira but of course there would be some competition there.

The actual train arc is still a highlight of the season because it’s great like in the movie. Each character really gets to test their limits as they confront their teams and make it out in one piece. The tough dynamic of having to destroy yourself in the dream to wake up while not accidentally doing that in real life was always a good one. It was a unique challenge that you don’t see very often and Tanjiro really had to fight hard to get around that. This was always one of his better appearances and was a good example of him surpassing his limits.

I’m still not a fan of seasons re adapting movies because it feels a bit lazy to me but at least a good story will always be a good story. I thought the movie was great and that transfers over to the arc as well. It’s effectively the same thing after all as I don’t think they switched the animation or anything like that. The first theme song that plays for this part is also excellent. I forget if that song had already been used in the movie but either way it was a blast. I already reviewed the movie so you can see my more in depth thoughts there.

Now the meat of this is the next arc. So the next Hashira has arrived, Tengen. His gimmick is that he always likes to be flashy about everything he does. He was originally going to take a few girls with him to do some investigating but Tanjiro and his pals get to quickly volunteer for the job. They will have to go undercover as ladies in this district and each work in a different house to find where the demon is. This appears to be an upper rank demon so they have to stay on their guard at all times. Once they have found the demon responsible, then Tengen will handle the rest.

The first part of the arc is a bit on the slower side. I felt that way in the manga too and mainly it’s because the main trio aren’t quite strong enough to hold their own screen-time without some action going on. They’re fun characters for the action but in terms of dialogue and all they aren’t super engaging. Fortunately that’s not an issue for long as the fights start up fairly quick and once the climax is here, it sticks around for the rest of the adventure. There is 3 episodes of build up and then around 8 for the fight so that’s a very good mix. You want fights to be long like that.

As always the animation is top tier here. It’s easy to see why Ufotable is considered the best in the biz by a wide margin. Pierrot will always be my favorite anime company but even they don’t tend to be as flashy all the time. It’s closer than people may think though. When the show was on you would typically see tweets about how good it looked just about every day. It’s just impressive how great each moment looks and this season really outdid itself. I doubt any other show in the season would come close. It helps to also show off just how powerful the Hashira are. They’re always drawn to be on a completely different level than the main fighters.

As mentioned earlier, the soundtrack is also top notch here. There are a lot of great themes all throughout from the theme songs to the battle themes within. I’ve definitely heard that first theme song a whole lot of times. There’s also one episode that ends on a powerful note with the villains seemingly winning and the music’s very emotional. It was one of the better cliffhanger endings I’ve seen to an episode.

The series absolutely soars on a technical level as always. It’s high budget all around the board. As for the arc itself, I would also say it was solid. With all of the action going on it’s hard not to rank it highly within the series. Daki and Gyutaro also made for good villains in the end and I’ll write about them more later on. The next arc will have a hard time topping these guys so we’ll see how that goes.

Really the only thing that limits Demon Slayer a lot will always be that the violence tends to be over the top. It’s still trying to be like Attack on Titan in some ways with the poor humans getting destroyed by the demons. Of course the humans are going to be doomed in pretty much any title with big villains but how much you show will vary from title to title. This is one that likes to go more in depth. Like near the end we get the big reveal on another upper rank demon and of course he has to show up with a body in tow that he’s still in the process of eating. It turns what should have been a really hype moment into a groaner. Why couldn’t he get a cool intro like Akaza?

Another moment where the detail was just too much is during Tanjiro’s fight with Daki. So there’s a lot of back and forth, big cuts and blood as they go all out and that’s all cool. It’s combat injuries and they know the risks so the battle’s a blast. The only point in the whole fight that felt iffy was when Tanjiro gets stabbed through the chin so you have the blade sticking out of him a bit as that goes on. It’s just enough detail and such a painfully specific wound that it throws you out of the mix there a bit.

I do feel like it’s toned down from season 1 which could really get crazy at times but ultimately I’d like to see season 3 dial it back even further. Otherwise the action is absolutely great and would be enough for high scores all around. This is just the one thing to get around and we get that the demons are all evil and everything so it’s not like we need any big reminders there.

As for the characters, Tanjiro is very solid as always. He got a massive power boost over the months that passed since the train arc to the point where he can temporarily hold his own against an upper rank like Daki. Of course once she got serious then he would be toast but he looks very impressive the whole time. There is a lot of good strategy going on here throughout like with how he’ll use the breathing arcs to go faster or switch to more powerful strikes depending on the circumstance. Humans have to fight with tactics since the demons have so many advantages after all.

Then it’s always fun to see Inosuke get in on the action. The guy still has a whole lot of confidence in himself and lands good blows when needed. By this point he and Zenitsu already seem completely outclassed by Tanjiro but at least they can perform search and rescue parts of the mission while also keeping some of Daki’s limbs busy. Her ability is really broken in a one on one fight since the heroes were barely holding their own even while she was distracted. Inosuke never backs down and that’s always good.

Zenitsu still isn’t my kind of character though. If there was ever a time for him to step up and be great then this would have been it to protect all the women in the houses but he still can’t do much without putting himself to sleep. We’ll have to wait longer to see him actually get brave and fight to his full potential. Nezuko gets a really good role here. Her abilities continue to improve and with her demon abilities she can regenerate and fight with the top warriors now. It’s always good to see just how far she has come as a solid ally.

Then we have Tengen and while he doesn’t beat Rengoku, (That would be really hard for any character) I did think he looked good here. I certainly enjoyed his flashy style of fighting with all of the explosions and everything. Tengen prioritized saving everyone and once the fight was going he would lose himself in the action. Determined characters like this who put it all on the line always tend to be really high for me. That’s exactly what you want in a hero.

Next up are the two villains. First up is Daki and she’s one of those sadistic villains who bumps everyone off for Muzan and enjoys making it rather painful. She’s also petty and will eat someone if they do any small thing that displeases her. There is an origin/sob story for her and Gyutaro later on where you can feel bad for them but then you see her in the present and are reminded that she’s completely twisted. As I said earlier though, I really like her power set. It’s super versatile and works as a close and long range weapon. Now that’s something that’s super handy to have.

Gyutaro is also impressive with his blood arts. The guy’s physical abilities are also on a completely different level. He tanks a ton of attacks and makes for a super powerful tag team with Daki. The Upper demons do seem more powerful than the Hashira on average so you really need 2 at once if you want to beat them in a fair fight. His character gimmick of constantly scratching himself can be really grating but once he’s in battle then you can’t lower your guard. As a character I’m not really a fan of his but as a villain he fits the bill.

The character cast for important figures is rather small here and you could say that goes hand in hand with this arc mainly focusing on the fights. Also the season itself was a little shorter than usual and then part of that was to redo the movie. So when you add all of that up, it makes sense that the season felt short. It really just breezes by at the end of the day and the wait for season 3 is probably going to feel long. At this point while the demons and humans have both taken losses, it’s fair to say that the demons have the advantage right now so the slayers are going to need to think of something and quickly. If they don’t then they are in big trouble.

Muzan needs to make sure not to mess with his demons too much though. I thought he was rather harsh on Akaza without good reason there. Akaza took out one of the Hashira so that should be a moment of triumph, not to act petty again. Muzan can get away with it since he’s the leader but no good can really come out of antagonizing one of your best fighters like that. Sure, Akaza didn’t murder everybody but taking out a Hashira is no joke since there aren’t too many more of them left at this point.

Even with his power ups, I wouldn’t consider Tanjiro to be quite a match for these guys yet. So have Akaza take out each Hashira one by one. It’s easy to lure them out too since all you have to do is to keep bumping off a bunch of humans in one spot and wait for the slayers to arrive. If you wanted to be fullproof about it, you could even show up with the whole force of Upper ranks and just start taking over the world one city at a time. When the Slayers are forced to respond, you take them out all at once. The gap in power isn’t as hopeless as something like Seraph of the End but it’s still enough so where that would be a real easy win for the villains. There isn’t much the humans could do in response to that.

In a final note, I’m almost surprised they don’t just make this a movie series. I can’t stress enough how great the animation is. It puts most movies and shows to shame. Instead of doing a 12 episode show every few years, why not do a 2 hour movie every year? I’d imagine that’s about the same amount of time to produce but the studio would be making bank every year. People would absolutely pile in to watch this each time. Even as I was getting screenshots from the show they all stand out enough where you want to watch the fights again. Needless to say there should be tons of great AMVs for the action.

Overall, Demon Slayer always delivers with the top tier action. If you’ve been following along with the series then you should definitely check the season out. If you haven’t yet, you’ll probably want to jump onto season 1 first even if it’s easy to follow along with what’s happening. It can be a little intense but as long as you enjoy a good fight then you should be set. The show probably has one of the most realistic fire effects as well as it almost looked real for a little bit there. The arc definitely has a lot of tension as the villains just keep getting up over and over again no matter how many finishing moves the heroes use. It’s why demons tend to be scarier than zombies since one mistake could cost you here while the zombies are slow enough where you can regroup each time.

Overall 6/10

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Review

Posted on August 19, 2022 by dreager1

Dragon Ball has finally returned with a new movie! You’d think a franchise this big would always have something ongoing but Toei likes to leave money on the table I suppose. It’s always good to see the movie getting a big theatrical release like this and ultimately it ends up being a great DBS movie as you’d expect. You get a lot of good action and power ups which is what you always want to see here and there’s a good amount of replay value to be had.

The movie starts off with Magenta deciding that it’s time to revive the Red Ribbon army and in order to do this he is going to recruit Gero’s grandson, Dr. Hedo. This guy is supposed to be even smarter than Gero so if Gero could build Androids that are stronger than Legendary Super Saiyans, perhaps this guy could build some that surpass the gods. Goku and Vegeta are busy training off planet so when Piccolo finds out about this, he realizes that Gohan may be their last shot. He wouldn’t be Piccolo’s first choice, but there’s nobody else left.

There’s definitely a lot to talk about here as with any Dragon Ball film so lets dive right in. First off would be the animation as it was super controversial that they decided to go with CGI instead of hand drawn. Directly, hand drawn will always beat CGI so the downside of the switch is that the classic Dragon Ball films from around 20+ years ago look better visually than this one. It just can’t keep up and the movie shows us some hand drawn scenes in the opening credits which I thought was a mistake. It looked amazing of course but that was the problem. When the film shifts into CG, it was such a downgrade I thought it was going to show someone playing a video game for a moment there.

As the film goes on, you get used to the CGI so it doesn’t stand out so much and it’s good in its own right, just on a different league. I always compare CGI to the 2nd best dish at a restaurant. It’s still very good, perhaps you could even say great, but you’ll never intentionally choose it. So while this is strictly speaking a downgrade from the traditional animation and I hope they go back to hand drawn for the next one, I wouldn’t say that the CGI is bad. It’s still cool seeing all of the fights and it has a very colorful artstyle.

The fights are really good as always and it is like playing through a video game. While the movie ultimately ends up devolving into the giant villain climax as most anime films seem to, the early fight scenes have a lot of great hand to hand. The best fight was probably Gohan vs Gamma 1. Hard to top that one in terms of movement and overall hype. Some other characters get to jump in for the final battle though which was nice to see. Those were effective cameos.

The soundtrack is weaker than the last films but I would say it was still good for the most part. My only issue is it felt like the themes never had a climax to them. Like it was a good beat and then it would just end before getting to the next level. In general the battle themes were fast and helped make the battles epic though. I liked the theme for when Goku fought Vegeta. So until it ends and you realize the song didn’t climax, it definitely still fits the bill. I also really liked the themes during the first chunk of the film. Mainly the themes for the Red Ribbon army meetups and discussions. It had a very quirky vibe to it that worked.

Now I’d say the film realized that without Goku and Vegeta playing a big role it wasn’t going to come close to matching the last films in hype or scale so instead it focuses more on having a lot of humor and I’d say that was a wise approach. Try winning with charm and style over action since you’re using CG anyway. I’d say it works well. Pan and Piccolo have a fun dynamic going on here and she’s already getting the hang of using her abilities. Saying she has more potential than Gohan sounds super hyperbolic but in sports they try saying that about everyone so it’s probably just a good coaching technique. Convince yourself of it and then you’ll really have fun training your student.

I liked the oreo gimmick for Dr. Hedo and how he was always eating that. The way the film handles the Pan kidnapping was also nice, I thought that was the absolute best way to handle all of this. I’d have a harder time buying her actually being taken in by the random humans and if it turned into a fight then that would really make it impossible to fool anyone into thinking the Red Ribbon army were good guys. So this way it all worked out nicely.

The film’s pacing is really good. It all feels very quick as you’re watching which is why it would be easy to rewatch at any point. There’s never a long gap without something happening whether it be an action scene or a fun easter egg/throwback moment. The film’s just got fun vibes that make it a nice nostalgic adventure. It’s like a lost episode/meanwhile kind of plot. I know I’ve seen quite a few people like the idea of 2 different timelines at this point, one for the manga and one from the show but personally I hope they’re all mixed so I would just put this one right after the Moro arc. I’d say that would still work out quite nicely and in a way I wouldn’t mind if the Super sequel show re-adapts the movie similar to how the first two were.

Having Piccolo be the main character was a bold choice. I’m sure even his fans wouldn’t have predicted that so that was good for him. We get to see why he’s the strategic leader of the team. Yes, Gohan has lost that spot. Piccolo does all the hard work in finding out the enemy plans and making moves on his own. He fights hard and never gives up, definitely the kind of main character you want to have here.

Unfortunately for Gohan fans I’d say he looks really bad here. He stopped training yet again? Really….that’s just an awful look. Particularly since the Tournament of Power was supposed to have reignited his fire to train. I don’t see why he slacked off so hard here and even complained about the old costume being heavy. I’d say it gets even worse when he is struggling hard with opponents that I wouldn’t say are extremely tough when he thinks Pan is in danger. The rage boost should have gotten him through that and since it didn’t, that means he got extremely weakened through the years. That’s not a good look at all. Even by the end during his big moment I would say he didn’t look great because he comes close to losing control again. He’s going to need to work on balancing things out.

Pan looks great of course. She’s learning quickly and is eager to get strong. She’ll be a fine addition to the Saiyan fighters in a few years and I look forward to seeing her go Super Saiyan. Trunks gets a small role but he’s always fun to have around. I’m not really much of a Goten fan in comparison but we’ll see what he can do. Android 18 and Krillin get to show up as well and have their moments as well as a few other characters. Dragon Ball’s always had a fun cast which works out well here and Bulma always has all of the gadgets ready. If not for her having the Dragon Balls things could have been tricky.

Now to the villains, Magenta is a fun enough character. He’s one of those rich CEO types who has a few tricks up his sleeve but mainly likes to call the shots. I thought he was good in this role and I liked how smug he was all the time. Then you have his assistant Carmine who likes to show off in his videos. The guy is more bark than bite but his tactics and planning are actually the best from the 3 villains. Finally you have Dr. Hedo whose genius is good. He definitely likes doing his own thing and while he could have handled some situations better, he has the situation under control for most of the movie which is good.

Gamma 1 and Gamma 2 got fairly big but I wouldn’t say I liked them much yet. Basically they’re the kind of guys who listen to orders no matter what even if they don’t make sense. You need to have more free will than that especially if you consider yourself to be a hero. So I was kind of shaking my head at them the whole time. It’s great that they meant well and by the end they look better, but it’ll take another appearance to really go higher.

Before we get into spoiler territory, I will say as a last thought that one of the big issues here is that a lot of the decisions in the film were rather confusing. They weren’t necessarily bad ones, but they were head scratchers that didn’t make a whole lot of sense. For example, why show Goku and Vegeta early on and imply as a result that they were going to show up with Broly later on. The way the film is set up, you expect them to appear in the climax similar to Resurrection of F when they teleport in. Particularly since their plot gets quite a few scenes but ultimately it feels like that plot didn’t matter. You could remove it entirely and nothing would change similar to the random 5 second cutaway to Bulma finding the radar. The scenes are fluff.

Then the excuse for keeping Android 17 and Android 18 out of the fight for most of the movie was weak. Dr. Hedo may know their weaknesses? Who cares tho. They’re strong enough to take care of themselves and 17 was able to train with the animals until he was able to take on Jiren with the others. They could have used him. Likewise, call in Gotenks and friends right from the start. There was no reason to lay back and wait for everything to go on, just take the fight to the Red Ribbon army. Nobody should be scared of the 2 Gamma. I’d also argue that fighters around the world should have felt when Piccolo’s energy went low and came in to help him. Maybe Gohan can’t sense energy well anymore but the others sure can. Okay now it’s time for spoiler territory so skip the next _ paragraphs if you haven’t seen the film yet.

First off we’re going to talk about the final boss, Cell Max. This was the biggest missed opportunity in the movie by far. Why use the second design which is almost universally known as the worst? Then he’s a mindless monster here and he’s huge. That’s a really bad combo of 3 elements if you ask me. It’s almost like they were trying to recreate elements of Bio Broly by making him like this which is not what you want to do. I mean there are a lot of similarities with character designs and such that people pointed out months prior to the film but that should just be an Easter Egg.

Now it does make sense that Cell would return. A lot of us suspected that immediately when we saw that Gohan would be a focus here and it would keep the films going in bringing all of the old villains back. So that makes the hit extra hard since everyone wanted Perfect Cell in here. This Cell is barely even a character so much as an obstacle so that was sad. What the film could have used was a second climax where he transforms into Perfect Cell and that’s when Goku and Vegeta arrive. That’s definitely how I would have done it without a doubt. Fights against giant creatures like this just aren’t as interesting.

Then we come to the power levels. That’s always going to be an issue with Dragon Ball at this point but it’s always so big that you just have to mention it. In DBZ the biggest moment for this was always the Androids because there’s no way an old man could have built something to beat Super Saiyan. It’s not happening but by and large that was always the biggest moment in DBZ for power level issues. Super is when things started to really go off the rails which made sense as the levels got bigger.

So first off, a big issue is Gohan vs Gamma 1. They’re fighting rather equal in Super Saiyan, then Gohan takes a slight edge in SSJ2. Then…Gohan goes mystic and it’s back to being an equal battle. That makes no sense no matter what multiplier you use for mystic. Generally it should be around a X4-X5 as it’s considered to be better than SSJ3 for the most part. Instead it’s as if he didn’t get stronger at all. It makes his SSJ Blanco form harder to scale too. (I do like how they’re finally taking inspiration from Dragon Ball AF with this form. It’s a really good design and feels like we finally got Super Saiyan 5) It’s still great that we got new forms though. If we do really get a TOP 2 or a war against the gods, Gohan and Piccolo should now be able to contribute a little to the fight. Gohan might even be able to contribute a lot depending on how high his new form scales. Right now I feel like it should be about as good as Evolved Blue or Blue Kaio-Ken but I’m not ready to put it on the Ultra levels yet.

At the end Gohan mentions how Goku and Vegeta would have had a hard time here and that’s how you realize how delusional he is at this point. They would have mopped the floor with Cell Max so that means Gohan thinks that he’s actually on their level right now. Also, why didn’t Cell Max’s explosion destroy the planet? Normal Cell’s would have which is why Goku warped him away and this Cell should literally be millions of times stronger? That was a bit odd. In general the power levels don’t really work here at all but that’s not the kind of thing that hurts a film’s score or anything. It’s expected at this point. I did like how Vegeta beat Goku again though. He maintains his undefeated streak as he beat him during the Buu arc, when they first fought, and then again now. End spoilers

Overall, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is a great movie. I would also call it the movie of missed opportunities and odd decisions though. Not having Goku and Vegeta play some kind of prime role here was a mistake I would say. You have to either throw them a fight or just write them out. For the other characters I think you could write better excuses for not having them get involved as well. At the end of the day though we get a lot of good fights and the CG works well enough. It’s a fun film with a lot of light hearted moments as well. I wouldn’t say the stakes ever get all that high and you don’t feel like the heroes are going to go down but that ties in with this being more like a side adventure. It’s about setting the characters up for the future and giving you some more time with them as opposed to being the next Broly battle. I’m ready to see what’s in store for Gohan next so hopefully they hurry with the next sequel.

Overall 8/10

Shokugeki no Sanji Review

Posted on August 14, 2022 by dreager1

One Piece is one of those titles that’s so huge you’d expect there to be more spinoffs than there actually are. Still, it was about time that Sanji got his own and with a full 6 chapters, that ended up being a fairly decent run. We get to see a day in the life of Sanji across several different arcs and fans of his character will be thrilled about all of his extra screen time. It helps that he looks pretty great in all of the stories. You can definitely expect him to come out on top with his expert cooking skills. Each story is stand alone so it’s an easy one to just pick up at any time.

The first chapter is fairly straight forward to introduce Sanji to the general audience. A world class food critic appears on the restaurant ship and she threatens to shut the place down with her reviews if the food isn’t top notch. She seems to have a lot of contempt for the place so Sanji is eager to change her mind with his top tier cooking. We get to see how bold Sanji can be when it comes to the food and he isn’t going to back down here. Sanji lives by a lot of rules of honor regarding food which is that it must not be wasted and he will feed anyone, even if that person is a villain.

Of course his food turns out great and she ends up being conquered by the excellent taste. The chapter really goes into detail showing us just how good the food looks and all of the preparation involved. This artist’s really detailed style definitely works well for that. I feel like it must take a lot longer than usual to draw like this but either way you have to give the artist a ton of credit here. Give a bunch of people any amount of time and they could not possibly match this style. It’s just super impressive.

The second chapter actually has the Strawhats be around a little more. A guy shows up with a super hard animal to cook, some kind of advanced eel. It’s so tricky that no ordinary blade will do so Sanji is forced to ask Zoro for help by borrowing his blades. I thought it was a nice teamwork moment and also showed that Zoro would help him out. At the end of the day they may be rivals but they are still on the same side and Zoro hypes him up a lot. It’s a very wholesome chapter for that reason and Zoro even says that Sanji’s a good cook. I also thought it was nice how Zoro endured the food explosion so his clothes didn’t blow up the way that everyone else’s always does. That’s why Zoro is the power hitter of the group. The stakes aren’t as high as the other chapters but it was just a nice chapter.

In the following chapter, Sanji and friends are preparing for their big banquet after stopping Crocodile but some petty bandits prevent the supplies from getting there in time. Ultimately the cooks are kind of doomed so Sanji steps in to save the day because he’s a true trooper. He is able to make the best use of the rations in order to make some great dishes and doesn’t even ask for thanks. It’s one of those times where Sanji is just being a really good guy and that’s reward enough for him. Again, you can see why I like Sanji here because he’s just one of those ultimate heroes who helps everybody out.

The 4th chapter is definitely one of the more crazy ones. Sanji is stuck on the island with Ivankov’s gang and the only way to get out is to get a bunch of recipes. If they catch him then it’s game over so he has to try and make the best recipes possible. It’s difficult but not impossible for someone like him. So the big challenge this time is trying to make recipes on the go while constantly moving. It’s got to be the toughest battle in this mini series and also the highest stakes because losing would be really rough for the guy. It’s not nearly as solid as the other chapters in the end. The villains aren’t really my kind of characters.

Then we have the 5th chapter where Sanji heads to Wano. Unfortunately there is a ramen villain who is cheating everyone with his ramen and not letting other people make their own. Sanji challenges him to put this guy out of business but the deck is stacked against him so it won’t be easy. It’s always nice to see Wano show up. This chapter was fun because we finally had one of those corrupt villains to beat up. Perhaps not physically but we get to see Sanji humiliate him in a food contest and that’s just as good. Never mess with an honest chef! Yeah this was a satisfying read.

In the final chapter, we get to go back in time to Sanji’s origin. The first time he was able to make a dish for a customer. Basically some ladies thought he was a really nice guy and asked if they could eat something he prepared personally. He’s thrilled to do this but his colleagues aren’t as happy and decide to sabotage him by hiding the ingredients. Will Sanji still be able to make it or is this game over for him? I feel like those guys got off really light here because messing with food like that is a huge taboo. Especially since they would be costing this place a lot of money.

Fortunately Sanji is a pro no matter what dish you get him. He never gives up and is always thinking of ways to get by. It’s clear that he earned his way to being the top chef on merit and he takes it all very seriously. This spinoff manga really got to let him shine because his usual vice of being obsessed with the ladies doesn’t get to be much of a factor here. Instead his cooking skills are played up which is good because that’s the best part of his character. It’s exactly what you want to focus on.

Now the manga isn’t perfect on this, we still do have some fanservice issues. You’ll probably have expected that since this is by the Food Wars guy but at least one time per chapter you have someone’s clothes exploding because the food was so good. It’s definitely not needed and if you take that away it would be a good thing for the manga. It’s not too excessive at least but it would have kept on adding up if the series kept going. Once a chapter may not sound like a lot but to have it show up every time like clockwork is a bit much. It doesn’t add anything to the story after all.

If you take out the fanservice then the manga is really the perfect Sanji experience. Of course battle manga are always the best but sometimes it’s nice to see what I would call a laidback experience for the hero. Put him in a setting where he is the strongest and just has to handle more day to day stuff. That’s the appeal of a title like this or Zero’s Tea Time and it works really well. The hero should be allowed to have some downtime once in a while right? As opposed to just being in battle against battle getting dealt painful injuries all the time with no moment to savor the fact that you’ve gotten really strong. This at least gets to show Sanji having a lot of fun all the time and just being the people’s hero. None of these kingdoms will forget how Sanji saved them.

Overall, This was a fun manga experience. I would like it if everyone could have their own spinoff manga. It doesn’t have to be long, just a few chapters like this one and that’s all that you need. Plus each chapter was fairly long so it still felt like a lot happened here. Seeing Sanji just get to do his own thing is nice because you get to really see how he acts as a character. I’m really not the biggest Sanji fan at all but at least in this chapter he’s pretty cool. He has an answer for everything and is just so skilled at cooking that he can turn anything into a meal. Now that’s talent.

Overall 7/10

Deadpool: Samurai Review

Posted on August 14, 2022 by dreager1

This manga is definitely a pretty unique one that really takes advantage of how crazy Deadpool is. It breaks the fourth wall consistently and we even have some guest stars show up like All Might. It’s a fun read all the way through and it’s also neat to try and see if you can catch all of the references. It’s fairly short but is a fun and memorable ride all the way through. I guarantee that you won’t be forgetting this one anytime soon which shows that the series definitely did something right there.

The series starts with Deadpool being recruited by Iron Man into the Avengers. Now keep in mind that Tony was against this but Captain America felt that it was necessary. Apparently the crime rate across the entire planet has gotten super high and so there aren’t enough heroes to deal with it. That leads to the tough choice of putting a known murderer like Deadpool in on the action. Keep in mind that in this version Deadpool is murdering people on screen while the Avengers debate about recruiting him. It’s all really bonkers the whole time but I guess it shows how desperate they are. They are willing to take him no matter what.

Deadpool’s not really a team player but his services can be bought out so that’s an option there. The main villain of the story is Loki. He’s assembled a team of all star villains that are going to unite their talents to take over the world. Deadpool will need to be the one to stop them along with his Samurai Force but it won’t be easy. Deadpool recruits two girls for the task, Sakura and Neiro. Can the 3 of them really make the difference and save the world?

Right off the bat the series is already throwing in a bunch of references and such as early as chapter 1 so it sets the tone early. I like how Deadpool even mentions how long it can take to draw a page while readers go through it in an instant. It’s true, I can finish a chapter really quick even when it’s very detailed with the artwork. That’s just the way it goes even if it can be a little tragic there.

The humor lands really well which is important. I think a series like this would absolutely fail if the humor was no good but fortunately it never gets annoying or anything like that. I would say instead the manga just feels surreal the whole time and in a very good way. Perhaps if there were a lot of manga like this then it would get old but it feels very unique which is part of the charm. I can’t say I remember another manga that goes as far out as this one.

It can be quite violent but all the scenes tend to be played for laughs. I wouldn’t say that makes the violence itself nonexistent as it can still be extensive but thanks to the context it doesn’t feel as bad as it could have been. It helps that Deadpool is fully immortal as well so no matter how many times he get sliced, the guy just keeps on coming back. He jokes about this a lot as well of course. It’s also interesting having a villain like Deadpool as the main character because he certainly murders a ton of people in his way. He may be working for the heroes but he hasn’t changed his standards at all. He still does what he wants whenever he wants.

Deadpool’s art is also very strong here. The character designs are on point and every character is on model. The style works for both the action and humor scenes. Whoever drew this series put in a ton of effort. It holds up a lot better than you may expect and isn’t some simple franchise-tie in. The art is legitimately great.

As for the characters, I’ve already talked about Deadpool a bit. If you liked him in the comics then you’ll like him here. He’s always very confident and likes to throw jokes around 24/7. It’s fair to say that he never gets serious here. Even when he is trying to play the part, you know that he’s faking deep down. Things just don’t phase him the way that they do for everyone else and I figure it’s a side effect of being an immortal.

Then you have Sakura who is the first hero recruited to the cause. Her hero name is Sakura Spider and she’s a fun character. Sakura is super optimistic and always really happy so she tries to help make Deadpool a real hero as well. Of course that doesn’t work but it’s a nice attempt. Her humor scenes work really well too and she’s a nice foil to Deadpool who is a lot more jaded which is partially why he jokes around a lot. Having a true hero like her on board is a nice way to keep him honest.

Then you have Neiro as the final member of the big 3. She is the current Venom host and is a popular idol on the side. She and the symbiote have a very good partnership going. She feeds him snacks and he eats up any bad people that approach her. Neiro doesn’t care about murder so much but wants to make sure the symbiote doesn’t eat too many fans so that at least keeps him from eating a bunch. Her role never gets as big as Sakura’s and she ends up missing the climax but I had fun with her. The series did good with the two original characters for the series since they were both fun. The writer was really solid here.

As for Captain America, he’s definitely quite naïve here as that part of him is played up a whole lot. It’s part of the humor of course but his choosing Deadpool was not a smart move if you look at just about any aspect of it. It could also hurt the Avengers’ reputation. Iron Man’s role is smaller but he does get to land a petty attack on Deadpool near the end and openly voices how he doesn’t like the guy. So I like how bold Iron Man is, he speaks his mind and doesn’t care what the others think.

As for the villains, the only real big one is Loki. Sure he summons a bunch of others but they’re basically mindless minions. Deadpool and friends make quick work out of them. For Loki it was fun to find out the true reason behind why he’s causing so much chaos. In true Deadpool fashion the reason will come out of nowhere and be a little crazy. You can count on that. Loki does his best to be really serious the whole time so I’ll give him props there. Deadpool is always trying to psyche him out but it doesn’t work.

While his role is fairly small, Thanos shows up too which is fun. It leads to his famous battle against All Might which was a big thing back then. It’s probably the most memorable scene in the whole manga because of how out of the blue it was. I’m glad to see All Might getting his props here. It also showed just how much effort the series was putting in to really make it break the fourth wall all the time. Thanos and All Might fans should be pleased at how it all turns out.

We also get double Deadpool action later on and even a reference to the Wolverine prequel. That was pretty neat. I can still remember how everyone was outraged at his role there. Look, the design was definitely not very good but at least his abilities were impressive and he worked as the final boss kind of threat. I suppose at this point he will always be known as the worst incarnation of the character though.

If we do get more Marvel manga, I hope they can take place in the same continuity. Build up some kind of mega Marvel multiverse for the manga. That would be a lot of fun. Whether you’re here for the action or comedy you’ll want to check this one out. I dare say it’s one of the funnier manga I’ve read as of late along with Mieruko-Chan. Humor is something that can always be hard to land so I have to give the manga a good shout-out for pulling it off. It ain’t easy!

Then the action scenes are legitimately cool. Even while Deadpool is joking around, you have solid choreography and the fights aren’t too short. You have time for the characters to really trade blows and go all out. It also goes back to how the art here is really good. I’m still surprised at the level of detail that went to it. Choosing Loki as the main villain may have been a little overdone since the guy is constantly the main villain everywhere but he works out well enough. His powerset always makes him a good choice as the villain.

Overall, Deadpool: Samurai is a lot of fun. It’s a shame that so many series end early like this, I think this had potential to be a really solid, long running series. Certainly there are more things they could have done with this premise instead of just ending it all. Give us more references, fights, and all the hype. Hopefully they continue making more Marvel manga in the future. There are so many heroes and stories you could tell in this format. Either way I would definitely recommend this one. It can get a little violent but as long as you read it in a comedy context you should be good.

Overall 7/10

Star Wars Rebels Review

Posted on August 14, 2022 by dreager1

Star Wars has returned for a quick manga adaption of the Rebels show. It didn’t end up making it that far but is a fun little read. Ideally this will get you interested in watching the show which was probably the objective from the start. It’s a classic space type adventure and you can see how this premise could be turned into a long running show as needed. The Star Wars universe is vast after all so you could definitely do a lot in there and that’s why spinoffs to the franchise can really be unlimited as needed.

The series starts off by introducing us to Ezra who is a kid that runs around stealing and doing whatever he has to in order to survive. He lives in a rough district and there aren’t exactly a lot of options for him right now. One day he bumps into the Jedi known as Kanon and that ends up being a rough twist of fate for the kid since he can’t hope to beat this guy. He eventually finds out that Kanon isn’t so bad though and reluctantly joins his group along with Hera, Zeb, and Sabine. The group of them help the poor and restore justice to the world but they do so in a very low key way. You could sort of call them scavengers or bounty hunter types. They have to be careful though because Darth Vader and the Inquisitor would like nothing more than to find and shut these guys down.

This takes place after Order 66 went out so most of the Jedi are long since dead. Kanon was able to survive but that could easily change. He has pretty much stopped being a Jedi in all respects as while he still uses the lightsaber, he isn’t going around training or any of that. To an extent he’s just too nervous now and the series delves into this more later on. This is a good era for storytelling since a lot should have happened in this period. I still find it odd how all the Jedi got wrecked by Troopers so I wouldn’t mind a retcon one day where they were all beaten by Sith Lords or Inquisitors. Would make a lot more sense.

The series is fairly short with 15 chapters but that’s still enough time to get in some quality adventures here. I’d say the most impactful one is when Kanon takes Ezra over to meet his former master Luminara. Unfortunately it turns out that she was already murdered and this was a trap laid by the Inquisitor. It works really well as a big mission here by really introducing us to the villain and also helping Kanon get over his doubts. Before then he was constantly deflecting Ezra’s requests to train by saying that Luminara would do it.

Ezra didn’t want her to train him, he wanted Kanon since that’s the guy he looks up to as his teacher. This was a tough concept for Kanon to grasp for a while but this adventure at least gave him his confidence back. The action scene here was also really good as the Inquisitor could absolutely fight with the best of them. His lightsaber style was very good and I would like to see him more in future stories.

While the art can sometimes be a bit on the “Tie-In” side where it doesn’t feel great, the artist does know how to handle the dramatic scenes really well. You’ll suddenly get a lot of ink for important moments that makes the villains look absolutely fierce. Darth Vader’s appearance at the end for example is a great example of this. You certainly won’t forget that scene for quite a while. It really pops out at you and reminds you why he’s going to be a big threat if he ever catches up to the heroes.

Hera, Zeb, and Sabine don’t get a whole lot to do here before the series ends but they all seem like fun members of the crew. I think the ship has a nice dynamic with all of these characters running around. They may not have Jedi abilities but they can still use their blasters and help out that way. With more time I’m sure they all would have gotten their own mini arcs at some point or another.

Ezra was a solid character right from the start. I liked that he was fairly tough and could look out for himself. He didn’t need anyone to protect him and surviving like that took a lot of skill. In a way you’ll probably miss this part of his character once he is a part of the crew but once he’s with the team he’s still fun. He’s slowly learning how to use more of the Force and his lightsaber so after the time skip he’s probably really strong. The series ends real quick at that point so we don’t really get to see what he can do yet. Perhaps a sequel will come out some day.

Kanon doesn’t look great at first due to those confidence issues that I mentioned but by the end he’s good. Once he has finally embraced his calling as a Jedi and a teacher then he is ready for the big leagues. I am also glad that the heroes have at least one Jedi Master on board because I can say that a big reason as to why Star Wars is cool is due to the lightsaber battles. If your whole cast couldn’t really fight all that much then that would have been disappointing.

As for the Inquisitor, he makes for a very imposing villain. I like how determined he is to destroy the heroes and really doesn’t give up no matter how far away they get. His trap using the dead master was a very smart one as well. He reminds me a bit of Darth Maul with his design. I assume this guy is probably not ready to go up against Sith Lords like that but his skills are still good enough to be worthy of fear. You don’t want to mess with this guy unless you have to.

There is a mini arc here about Teebo, an alien who knows what happened to Ezra’s family. It’s definitely one of the most emotional parts of the series because of course Ezra blames Teebo for running off. The characters all try to help him get past this and even he knows that it’s unreasonable, he just has a hard time getting around that anyway. Realistically Teebo couldn’t have done anything, it’s not like he’s a fighter. I wouldn’t say I was a fan of Teebo myself but you still couldn’t blame him for this.

It does help lead to the rest of Ezra’s character development though from being a loner who wasn’t very forgiving of others to someone who can lead the whole team like a capable leader. I wouldn’t be surprised if he totally took over as leader eventually because it comes naturally to him. So I did like Ezra quite a bit here, he’s a fun main character.

The series ends in one of those ways where the adventures continue and you can imagine how it all plays out. We still got a good amount of adventures on our end to have fun with in the meantime. The emotional stuff is handled well and works to make the action even better. If the show is really like this then I can see why it was a hit. Usually I see more fans of the Clone Wars but there are a good amount of Rebels supporters too. I never really see people talking bad about it at least. I’m sure the show would have more time to really show off the characters too since the manga didn’t have too much time for that.

In a way I would say the whole manga version really works as an origin story for Ezra. It’s not really going too much farther beyond that and this succeeds well as an origin since there was a good amount of action. It’s not one of those slow boils where you’re waiting for the main character to step up to the plate. Of course you have to assume these guys ultimately get bumped off or something since we don’t see them in the main films but that’s what also helps to enhance the stakes here. They could die at any moment so every mission suddenly becomes a lot more dire.

Overall, Star Wars Rebels is a pretty good manga. You’ll have a fun time with it. It’s well balanced with the action and adventure while also just being fun to read. It may not be super memorable at the end of the day but it’s a good story and makes for a fun read. At the end of the day the objective of any title is to be enjoyable and this one fits the bill. It never drags on and it’s just a good story for any time with a lot of replay value. I’d recommend it if you’re looking for a good sci-fi action.

Overall 7/10

King of Fighters Gaiden: Origin of the Flame Review

Posted on August 14, 2022 by dreager1

King of Fighters seems to get a whole lot of manga titles. I haven’t been able to finish most of them yet though so interestingly one of our starters gets to be a time travel story. You can’t really go wrong with that though and it’s a fun adventure. I wouldn’t say that I’m a big fan of the main character but we’ve got a good story here with some action and adventure before it all ends.

The series starts with Shingo still being really weak and wishing that he could compete with the big shots like Kyo and Iori. His family is a big mixed on his chances but he knows that one day he will be the best. Unfortunately he falls into a portal that leads him into the distant path in the days of Orochi and the original ancestors of Kyo and Iori. Now Shingo realizes this is a unique opportunity to learn from them but unfortunately nobody trusts him. When the villains start to make their move, Shingo will need to step up or all hope is lost.

It is an interesting way to have Shingo get stronger by fighting people who are just like the ones he aspires to be like. I can see why they’re all a bit suspicious too since Shingo isn’t great at actually conveying all of this. He’s a bit slow on the uptake in regards to his having travelled back in time but eventually he gets it. This feels like a classic Isekai adventure because now he’s in the wilderness with mysterious creatures/monsters and it all takes place in the old times. Of course I do prefer a more modern backdrop but it works out well enough.

The series is only 10 chapters long, however some chapters are split into 3 parts so you could say that this is closer to about 25 chapters. It’s enough time to quickly get Shingo some skills and then throw him back out. I wouldn’t say this one feels rushed or anything like that which is good. The story is balanced all the way through and the art is really solid. At least, the art for the fight scenes is great. I like how the flames are handled and the action scenes have a lot of weight to them. That’s important because there is a lot of hand to hand here so if the animation wasn’t up to par then that would be really bad.

My only issue is that some characters look way too similar. In particular Yasakani and Kusanagi are almost identical at times. They have almost the same uniform and hairstyle as well. The only difference is usually that Kusanagi tends to be smiling while the other guy is always frowning. With the context in the show you’ll usually be able to tell them apart but it’s a little close for comfort if you ask me. So the artist could have done a little better there.

As the main character, I never thought Shingo really rose up for me. I do want to underscore that he’s not really bad or anything like that but at the end of the day he’s a comic relief character trying to quickly transition into being a full fledged hero which is a tough road. It’s not something you can just say that you’ll do and then it’ll be accomplished. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication. When he has his serious moments, I can’t always take them seriously and usually he doesn’t either as he’ll go back to yelling after that.

In a power levels sense it also hurts the final fight just a bit because you have a hard time believing that Shingo could pull this off. This is probably the only area where being so short hurts the series because there wasn’t enough time to properly show him getting stronger. We do have a little montage where he remembers the opponent’s skills and starts to adapt to them but it’s a little rushed. Particularly since he was fighting someone with Orochi abilities. I feel like Shingo should have gotten wrecked there.

Kusanagi was a lot more interesting. He’s a guy who likes to fight and protects the villages as best he can. His role grows bigger in the second half once Yasakani is kidnapped and he has to fight off the Orochi opponents. The guy has a lot of confidence and style, both things that I appreciate out of my main characters. His skills were the real deal and he didn’t have to act as gruff as Yasakani the whole time. He just went with the flow.

Yasakani is a good character who is actually a nice guy even if he can’t show it. My only issue with him is that it ultimately feels like he goes down real quick and he doesn’t have a ton of willpower. The way his plot ends was also rather unexpected if you ask me. I didn’t think it had to go that way. He basically decides that he can’t defeat the power within him and runs off in a complete retreat. This dooms everyone to go through the cycle of violence which lasts through to the present. Why not fight against that and control the darkness? Sure, that may be easier said than done but you have to at least try.

Kaya is Yasakani’s wife and she has a solid role here as she can see into the future. Unfortunately this also makes her act rather complacent about the future since she thinks that it can’t be changed but it’s not as egregious as Yasakani because she can’t really fight. Her two opponents would have been too much for her either way. She helps to give Shingo more confidence which is always appreciated though and I would say that she was a good character.

Finally we have the main villain Yakumo. He gets quite a lot to do near the end with all of his scheming. The guy can fight too beyond just being a mastermind which is really good. You always want someone who can do a little of both. Ultimately he doesn’t even let defeat get him down and I appreciated that he took everything with a lot of dignity. To the end he was still really amused and he also helped to raise the stakes of the series as soon as he appeared. Now that’s a good way to make an entrance.

There are two other fighters who appear that are controlled by Orochi but they are almost literally dead bodies that are reanimated with his power. They have some character but appear super briefly. It does remind you that seeing Orochi bring together 8 warriors would have been really awesome but it just wasn’t in the cards this time. I guess the series wouldn’t have been quite long enough for all of that but it would have been a great battle.

I would say the biggest strength of the series is that it’s engaging all the way through. Even though the past isn’t always my thing, the series had a good plot right from the jump. The small character cast allowed everyone to be built up really quick and you could expect a fight in virtually every chapter. Some of them would be training fights of course but the hand to hand was always good. While Shingo wasn’t my favorite lead, I did like that he always had a positive attitude about things.

This was a short series that always felt like it was going to be short so it wraps everything up and does have a very definitive beginning, middle, and end. Whether you’re a fan of the franchise or not I think you would be able to appreciate the series on this basis. It’s just good storytelling even if again, Shingo probably should have gotten wrecked in the final fight.

Overall, This is a solid King of Fighters title and worth checking out. The story itself may feel random but that’s the fun thing about spinoffs. You can pick a character and just drop them into any setting or situation that you want. I imagine Shingo fans in particular would get an extra kick out of this. Why not go all out if you’re going to make a story right? I feel like that’s what this series did and it worked really well. I look forward to finishing some of the other KoF titles as well.

Overall 7/10

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