Category Archives: Reviews

Gravity Daze the Animation: Ouverture Review

Posted on by
Reply


I’ve seen the title with Rush as well as Daze but in the end went with the latter, I suppose they’re close enough. It’s always cool when a game gets an animated OVA/mini episode since you just don’t see that too often. This one even helps lead you into the Gravity Rush 2 game so that was pretty cool. It’s a fun adventure and definitely one that you don’t want to miss out on. Additionally it’s just so short that it wouldn’t really make sense to miss out on it right? As long as you like some good action then you will have a good time. Additionally, without context you’ll probably have quite a few questions while watching the adventure.

The story starts with Kat eating some nice snacks and just having fun enjoying the day. It’s always nice to have a little downtime between saving the world and fighting evil creatures after all. Unfortunately the creatures do eventually arrive and Kat has to take down a whole army of them. I really appreciated that she was beating a ton of them as sometimes you see the heroes not be able to take down the armies of opponents that they could with the gameplay mechanics. So that clearly wasn’t a problem here but Kat does need backup when two powerful figures appear. With the help of Raven, Kat will have to defend the world once more.

Don’t expect a huge resolution or anything like that since this is basically a prelude, but even so it was fun to see the fight scenes. It really got everything started on the right foot and of course seeing the heroines in action was cool. The adventure may go by quickly but they did make the time to include fights which is the important thing. I also did like the world building here. The animation did a good job of getting in that basic world building and still telling its own story.

The animation is meant to look just like the games and they succeed in that. Naturally hand drawn animation style would be preferable in the long run but it works out well enough. The colors are striking and the battle scenes are good which is the important thing. The music is more on the forgettable side though, I wouldn’t say they broke the bank on the soundtrack here. I wouldn’t expect them to do that for a quick adventure though.

The special does begin some big plot points like the missing orphans so you’ll want to stay alert for all of the setup that is going on here. Of course if you don’t play the games then it’s not like you can expect these things to be answered but the villains are routed which is why I would still say that overall you got a conclusive ending here. Just think of it like a proof of concept kind of video.

It also shows how unique the world is in a short span of time, like the fact that the enemies are basically dark eyes that run around and try to hurt people. They’re sort of like an alternate version of the Heartless from Kingdom Hearts. You could easily picture a whole show about Gravity Rush, it has that mass media appeal. I don’t know why they didn’t do more with the series but I suppose you could say that for most titles. I also can’t talk too much since it took me years to buy Gravity Rush 2. You’d think I would have been there since day 1.

Overall, This was a fun animation to watch. There really isn’t a ton to discuss due to the length though. Even with both episodes combined, it’s about as long as a normal episode if not a bit shorter. It is fun to see Kat and the gang though and I would say that’s probably the point. The Gravity Rush verse is a really fun one after all and I would definitely like to see more of it. If I didn’t know there was a second game out, then this would have clued me in on that. In the meantime, whether you have played the games or not you should definitely check this one out. Gravity powers are always fun to watch because of how versatile they are.

Overall 7/10

The Sword of Hope Review

Posted on by
Reply


The Sword of Hope has such an intense name that you automatically assume you are going to be playing one of the best games out there. Unfortunately I am here to assure you that this is not the case. There are some interesting ideas here and even some great quality of life features but it is all tarnished by the game’s overreliance on RNG. Gone are the skill based matches of old. Now you must effectively hope in the roll of the dice at every turn. Not a good decision to be honest.

The game basically starts with the main character needing to use the Sword of Hope to slay the villains and save the day. The only problem is that the sword has been depowered for a very long time. The hero will now need to visit the 4 legendary spell crafters to see if they can fix the sword. Along the way he will fight many powerful enemies and so taking them on will be his true challenge. He has no other party members to help him so this will be a very long journey. Can he really pull it off?

Right out of the gate I can tell you that I appreciate how there is no such thing as a game over in this title. When you die, you just get warped back to the starting village where the sage tells you to try again. You keep all of your items, EXP, and gear. So dying is only a setback and you do have quick travel to all of the main locations. Those are two absolutely great features that I can’t rave enough about. I was really impressed here and additionally I like the fact that the upgrades you obtain are permanent and make a good difference in your defense and attack power. Each level up also dramatically increases your stats which makes sense since the game only goes up to level 31.

Now here is where the cracks in the armor start to appear. The way you inflict and endure damage is done through RNG. When an opponent his you, they have a minimum and a maximum range of power that spans multiple levels. So sometimes they will deal you 1 damage, other times they will deal around 40. This makes any kind of strategy completely reliant on RG and will cause you to have to replay the battles way more often than you should. This gets more and more crucial as you get deeper into the game.

Several of the final bosses can basically take you down in a single strike. So with the Switch Online’s rewind feature you are all set here and things aren’t bad but without it I feel like people must have taken ages to complete the game. You would certainly have to power level several levels above the recommended final battle level in order to increase your odds of success. This is such a bad mechanic that it basically slashes the score right away. I cannot in good conscience call this a solid game as a result. It should not be forcing you to have to account for luck in such a constant way.

The other big problem with the game are the countless puzzles. So every area allows you to perform 4 actions, “look” “open” “use” and “hit”. You can perform these actions on every object in the room which is usually around 3-4. Using the right option on the right location will give you an item, activate a boss, or clear a new path. So this means a whole lot of clicking and there are over 200 rooms in the game. Several of them are teleporting paths meaning if you get even one direction wrong then you have to start that puzzle from scratch.

After a point this goes from being immersive and challenging to just being rather drawn out and boring. You’re not having fun when you have to worry about all of these technical gimmicks instead of fighting enemies and getting stronger. I wanted to continue with the story, not be distracted by an endless array of puzzles. If I wanted a puzzle game then I would have played something like Professor Layton instead which is far better on the puzzle aspects. Yeah, this was definitely not the title to check out.

The graphics are okay but they do have to reuse character models a whole lot. Get ready to see the same lady showing up over and over as different people throughout the same game. The soundtrack is a bit catchy though, I like the main battle theme. They actually tried pretty hard on that one which I can appreciate. The game’s soundtrack will stick in your head for a while even after completing it.

Naturally there is no real replay value within the game but just completing it will take you long enough where you won’t mind. I can at least say with confidence that the game gives you a lot of value for your time here. The main campaign is technically beatable very quickly but good luck solving the puzzles in that amount of time. Personally I think this one will end up lasting for a whole lot longer than you might have been expecting. If you do like the idea of just being lost and trying to get out on your own, then this one could be worth a shot. It’s the only way I could possibly recommend it and even then you have much better options.

Overall, The Sword of Hope is a game with a lot of potential but unfortunate mechanics really set it back. This one was definitely a real challenge to complete but unless I am having a lot of fun, the challenge doesn’t move me. If this game got a modern PS5 remake it could end up being a solid title but until that happens, I just don’t see this game ever mounting a comeback. Even with the Switch Online there are far better games and I would recommend you play one of those instead. There’s no real reason why you would need to play this game in particular.

Overall 5/10

Blue Box Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for a sports/romance hybrid series. The romance eventually starts to overtake the sports aspect but I would say the series does a good job of keeping it mainly balanced at least in this season. The series got good production values and has fun characters so on the whole I would say it’s pretty good. The romance is handled in a serious way as a slow burn which is always the right approach, even if I may not be the biggest fan of the route it decided to go. You can’t win them all after all.

The series starts off by introducing us to Taiki who is a badminton player. He has strong ambitions of becoming the top player and going to Nationals some day. He has a long ways to go for that goal though as his skills just aren’t there yet. He is a first year player so he has time but he wants to make it to the top as soon as possible. Meanwhile he has a crush on the Basketball veteran Chinatsu. She is in her second year and also trying to get her team to Nationals. Can he accomplish his dream and go out with her? Taiki has to play this carefully or he could make the school environment very awkward. There is one thing in his favor though…due to her parents’ work, she will now be living at his place for the foreseeable future.

Naturally living together can make things a bit easier since he will get to talk to her more, but on the other hand it also makes him a lot more self conscious. After all you can think of it as being a selfish move because she is relying on his household right now. So asking her out in this situation may pressure her to say yes, or if she says no, now the whole thing will be even more awkward. So Taiki has to work through his feelings here and I tend to agree with him on staying silent. It just doesn’t feel like the right time. One of Chinatsu’s friends says Taiki should say something since otherwise it is creepy behavior to be secretly liking her.

I get the logic of the counter but don’t really agree with it. There’s nothing inherently bad about it so long as Taiki has no bad intentions. So long as he stays respectful and within boundaries then not saying anything is still the better call. Living together just brings with it way too many complications to have a relationship, although of course this series would be over if nothing happens so you can expect some shenanigans to occur.

Taiki can at times be a little too scared to move forward which causes other problems though. Particularly in the other main romance of the series which is that his childhood friend Hina likes him. Taiki ends up being put in the middle here where he doesn’t really know how to respond to her confession and then that sends a lot of mixed signals over to Chinatsu. So as you can see there are a lot of very messy storylines going on here but it works well because romance is often messy. It’s all about how you respond to all of these sudden developments that shows your true abilities as a character.

I do appreciate that none of the main 3 characters are the jealous types. You don’t see Taiki freaking out when other guys are talking to Chinatsu and vice versa. Not to say they aren’t a little irritated but they don’t suddenly start freaking out or being all sulky. It’s a more mature take which is nice. There are still boundaries of course but if you don’t trust your love interest then the relationship will never work out from the start anyway. So the series definitely gets that one right.

The series also has quite a few sad moments as well. After all, in matters of love there will always be someone who loses out. In this case there are two girls who like Taiki so one will lose and based on the premise and all promotional artwork for the series, you already know who that is gonna be. The series doesn’t pull any punches with this one when the rejection comes through and breaks her heart. Now for the record, once again I have to say that Taiki handled it very well. He didn’t beat around the bush and just offered a complete declination. It may be hard to hear but at least this way he offered up some closure. If he was half hearted or left any room for something to develop then that would have been a mistake.

So while Taiki can sometimes annoy me with how timid and oblivious he can be, this was something he did well. It’s not like there is ever a perfect way to reject someone without leaving them a bit hurt. That’s just going to happen but you can at least do you best to reduce the sting as much as possible. That’s exactly what he did here so I definitely had no qualms with him. Meanwhile the sport moments often don’t go smoothly for the characters either. They definitely get some reality checks and at the end of the day only one player/team can win it all. So statistically the odds of winning are pretty slim.

The series is definitely an emotional rollercoaster with everything going on. At the end of the day I would say it does have an upbeat tone though. The bad things that happen never overwhelm the positive moments. Nobody is falling off a building or getting a rare disease. The drama we get are personal losses and tragedies but nothing that can’t be undone. I think it would actually change the series tone if they went for any storylines that were a bit too dark and depressing. So for me this is the right amount of drama to bring tears to your eyes but by the final episode you know that you’ve had a good time of it.

The animation is pretty solid for the series and helps to elevate the Badminton scenes. The colors are striking and there is a good amount of movement here. It looks better than what you may have expected for a romance series. So I definitely appreciated that. The soundtrack is a little more on the weaker side though. You’re not really going to remember it all that well by the end. It’s not bad by any means but it just feels more like free domain type music. It doesn’t really do much to elevate the series to the next level.

As for the characters, I already spoke about Taiki a bit. Nice kid who means well but I would definitely like to see him act with more confidence. He allows himself to be manipulated too easily by others and tends to really overthink things which gets him into trouble. In order to improve both in romance as well as his sport journey, he will need to get past that and really reach the next level.

Chinatsu does well as the main heroine. She tends to be fairly quiet and keep to herself. Since the series is from Taiki’s point of view, we don’t see her thoughts quite as much. I do appreciate this though because often times it is good to keep to yourself. Chinatsu is always polite and doing what she needs to without being overly expressive. Definitely no issues on that. I’d say if anything her only weakness can be that even when she’s upset she doesn’t say anything which can just lead to resentment. When you’re upset and it’s a possible misunderstanding then you definitely gotta find a way to clear the air there. A big example is definitely when she has a bit of an unspoken fight with Taiki before Nationals that makes things awkward so they aren’t really able to talk and it leaves her a bit distracted. Of course that’s not a valid excuse during a game but still worth noting.

Then we have Hina as the other heroine and the most tragic part here is always when you have the losing heroine accidentally be written to be more fun than the main one. Hina is easily the best character in the series and a real go getter. While everyone else is being too quiet or nervous to say anything, she just marches up to Taiki and confesses. This is absolutely the best way to go about things. It’s a very old fashioned way of thinking to assume that the guy has to make the first move and you just gotta wait your turn. Hina liked him and decided to just go for it.

Immediately she got my respect there and was a very supportive person otherwise. She still didn’t try any underhanded tactics to get an edge and was honorable the whole time. That’s the kind of character you want to have in your corner. Hopefully things go well for her in the future but I’m not rooting for any rebounds here. Ideally she will just continue to do really well in her career and win at Nationals. That would be a fun way to complete her arc.

Kyo is Taiki’s best friend and usually he’s a decent guy but he does have some of the absolute worst takes possible. He spends a whole lot of his screen time constantly gaslighting Taiki and getting him to make the worst mistakes possible. If he didn’t say anything then Taiki would be in less trouble. The guy is mainly just around to confuse the other characters but hasn’t really had any important moments otherwise. You could take him out of the series and for now it wouldn’t really change anything.

Then we have Haryu who is Taiki’s rival. A strong player all around and his romance journey has mainly been rather smooth. His relationship with Karen is a fun one and they are a good example for Taiki to look at and see how things should be done. Haryu does have a rough moment near the end where he starts to fear Taiki and ducks him during all encounters. That’s not how you want the rival to look, but he eventually gets over it. Ultimately the guy is getting older and may have hit his limits in terms of Badminton skills. Meanwhile Taiki still has an opportunity to be the best that there ever was.

Nagisa is a good friend to Chinatsu but doesn’t get much of a role. I’d say she is mainly around because every main character needs at least one friend at their side so the characters can vent a bit. She tends to be rather straight forward which is good and she talks a lot more than Chinatsu. So if the heroine ever needs any help, she knows where to turn. So while Nagisa doesn’t do a whole lot, just being around is still supportive.

Another minor character is Hyodo who is currently the number one Badminton player. The guy is completely invincible and never loses. Anyone who challenges him is very quickly humbled and that’s the kind of ability you like to see. He quiets everyone down with his overwhelming power. Nobody can hope to easily take him down. His character gimmick is that he tends to take everything literally. Not the most interesting gimmick, but again it’s not like he appears all that much.

Then we have Yusa who is being set up to be Taiki’s more serious rival. The guy beat Taiki at first and then Taiki beat him so they are definitely very close in ability. He makes for a fun antagonist here. He’s not a bad guy or anything but of course he is standing in the way of Taiki’s dreams. The guy appears to be the more emotionless sort for now and is very focused on Badminton itself. That kind of drive is always hard to defeat.

Then we have Ayame who joins up near the end. Her ideas of romance are very different from the rest of the characters so she ends up rocking the boat a lot. She will go out with anyone who asks her out and will then usually break up right afterwards when it doesn’t work out. So for that reason she has a ton of ex-boyfriends but most of them end off on a positive note. Naturally she is there to give Taiki unfortunate ideas instead of just letting him trust his heart. She always means well but yeah Ayame has a lot to learn about romance. That much is clear early on and her meddling causes some really serious problems.

Overall, Blue Box was a fun romance title. I appreciate the fact that the series really goes into detail on the different relationship dynamics instead of jus running through it. We know that the series can take up to 2 years in universe because of the grade system so that leaves time for a really good slow burn. Slow burn romances are often the best way to handle things because it allows the characters to fall for each other organically. So I’ll definitely be ready for season 2 and in the meantime you should check this one out. Just watch out if you are a big Hina fan since things often go rough for her and even the opening animations foreshadow this.

Overall 7/10

Shangri-La Frontier Season 2 Review

Posted on by
Reply


Shangri-La Frontier is one of those shows that definitely took me by surprise with exactly how good it was. Now make no mistake, I knew the game would be excellent because the manga was. Yet the show still managed to be downright elite and this season starts to adapt my favorite arc in the series so it really ended on a high note. Definitely a title to keep an eye on because this is the kind of content I’m talking about when looking at excellent material.

The season starts on the more low key side with the devs fixing the Scorpion glitch Sunraku found so that he could no longer exploit them. The heroes also made an alliance with some guilds to get the pressure off but the first big event is that Sunraku and Psyger 0 run into the ultimate boss Lycagon. This is the ultimate rematch for Sunraku but the tough decision is deciding whether to go all out here or lose on purpose so he doesn’t give too much away. You understand the predicament but also realize that he has sunk too far into the social battles of the game. Giving up without trying your best would go completely against Sunraku’s character and it would have been a real shame.

Psyger 0 snaps him out of it quickly enough and then we get a really fun fight. The series excels in quite a lot of things, but one of them is definitely the fight choreography. You really get to see a lot of strategy in the battles like knowing what move to use and what cool downs are still in effect. It feels like a proper video game and I would say it’s probably the most realistic look at what a true VR game of the future could look like. I was definitely real impressed. Even Sunraku’s fights against minions tend to be fun for this reason although of course the bosses are when he’s at his best. At least with one exception, fighting other players but that’s really rare.

I tend to enjoy the quick voyages into other games outside of Shangri-La Frontier for that reason. In this season that means a quick journey into a mecha fighter game where Sunraku fights some old pals. This was a fun one because they did a good job with the robot battles and also because we get to see Sunraku strategizing against a real person. Outsmarting AI is one thing of course but it’s even more impressive when you defeat another player. Sunraku consistently shows that he is able to do this with minimal difficulty as well.

Then we begin two arc at once. This is a rare example of a big arc getting interrupted midway by another one. The main arc involves another unique scenario where Sunraku has to go to an underwater area to figure out how to take down the next monster. He brings the robot buddies along but this time Pendragon and Katzo have to miss out. It’s a fun enough arc but it does get completely overshadowed before long. The reason is because a giant tournament scrimmage is announced and Katzo has called Sunraku in.

Yes, this is the real final arc that the season ends off on. Sunraku is going to have to go toe to toe against the most powerful pro gamer in history at a game that he has never played before while she has played all of the other titles in the series. The one advantage he will have is that the game runs on the Shangri-La Frontier engine which is only available in Japan at the moment. It’s also a fun milestone because now the main characters are all going to meet each other IRL so we get a whole lot of banter. It’s pretty crazy to think that they had actually never met each other in real life before now.

The season doesn’t show us much of this arc yet, just enough of a taste to really get you excited. It still works tremendously well though and these episodes are top tier. The music, the directing, everything about this is extremely hype. In particular there’s one scene where Katzo basically admits that Sunraku and Pencildragon are the best gamers out there that stood out to me. The show played one of the new themes that is extremely hype (It’s not even out on Youtube yet) and really set the stage for how much this tournament means to him. I also love the rules as it is a real knockout style fight, meaning as long as you win, you keep on playing. Yeah the next season is going to rock.

As always the animation is really good here. It has a very solid style to it. You feel all of the blows and the movement is very smooth. It’s all very good and really goes to the next level during big battles. After that you have the soundtrack which gets full points. The first opening is spectacular as you’d expect. I didn’t care for the second opening as much but it’s still good. Then the tracks during the episodes are really incredible once again. Full on action themes that cover a wide array of genres. Nothing negative to say about any of those. It’s all just so good.

As for the characters, Sunraku is a great lead as always. I like how analytical the guy is while still acting like your ordinary gamer. He’s very down to Earth and competitive which are great qualities to have. His fighting style is fun and he always has a good time with the game. The show is far from being a comedy in any way but it definitely does know how to have some real fun gags every now and then. The show just has the perfect atmosphere and vibes for this kind of story.

Poor Psyger-0 still suffers from the fact that she has not worked up the courage to confess to Sunraku yet. So for now she just continues to hone her skills and do her best but it will be a while before she makes any progress. Fortunately inside of the game she is very powerful and she does great during the Lycagon fight. I’m generally not big on the more timid characters but she’s not bad. I would say it helps that she is really good at the game because at least in her own way she is trying to get closer to Sunraku. It’s not that she is passive or anything, she just can’t take that last step.

Meanwhile Pencilgon is one of those characters who has no problems getting whatever she wants. She generally just likes to be a vicious overlord in video games who has everyone at her beck and call. She is very skilled at deception and makes for a fun character. She may be a model in the real world but fortunately her friends are only into video games so it’s not like they care. They treat her normally and so it makes for a great trio of characters. They all just have fun with each other which is really the right way to go. Any scene with the main 3 in it is always a blast.

Katzo is the pro gamer of the group although I would say he is still often outshined by Sunraku. Not really his fault, that guy is just a legend. Katzo still holds his own the whole time and is a really good character. He does have connections and a lot of money which is how the final arc was even possible. He basically spent tons of money to get the best hotels and game equipment. His rivalry with Sunraku is always bound to bring in a lot of laughs as well.

I will say that the supporting characters in SLF tend to be on the weaker side though. Aside from Emul, we now know about 5 other rabbits and none of them are particularly interesting at the moment. They’ve all got their own unique gimmicks and all but you just don’t end up caring all that much. If the show has a weak point, it will be any scene inside of the Rabbit home world where it’s important for lore but that’s about it. You want Sunraku to get back out there and play the game some more.

Akane is probably the only interesting thing relating to that place and technically speaking she is still a separate character. She’s the second person to discover the unique quest and so now Sunraku is nervous that she might tell more people about it. The more people who know about this, the less valuable the info is as a bargaining chip. For now she seems trustworthy but we’ll have to see. Her overall level is much lower than the rest of the characters though so she’s a bit of a glass cannon at the moment.

Rust is the mecha pilot who ends up joining SLF temporarily along with her sidekick. She’s not a bad character but for now is on the weaker side. I don’t feel like she really adds to the dynamic at this point so she will need to do something to change that. Once that is the case then the cast will really be in an even better spot. At least she can fight though which is the important part.

The various leaders of the different clans like Animalia, Psyger 100, and the Professor haven’t done much yet. We got to see Animalia being rather overconfident and being stomped by Lycagon but that’s it. Each character seems interesting so I appreciate them being around to flesh out the world. They will be good for future confrontations even if they haven’t done much of anything just yet.

Lycagon of course is still one of the best monsters. She seems the most sentient out of all the unique creatures with how she plans and strategizes. She leaves the rest of the creatures in the dust in these respects. I also like how she even gets some plot twists which end up resulting in the power level going further up. You just don’t see that kind of dominance very often.

Then for the game arc, Sylvia is the most important new character for now. She’s basically a girl version of Sunraku with how talented she is. Her reaction times are insane and of course she is competitive as well. This is really what made her an opponent to beat. The series really cooked by making her the primary antagonist coming up. Sunraku will have to bring his A game if he wants to defeat her.

Then on Katzo’s team we have Megumi who is mainly used to hype up Sunraku and crew which I naturally don’t have a problem with. After all, the more hype they get the better. She definitely means well and her concerns are even pretty valid. After all, why would some random teens from Japan actually be better than pro gamers? I’d be concerned too and she was reasonable since after being stomped by Sunraku she stopped with that. She is a reasonable addition to the crew and I’d be cool with her sticking around.

Much better than the new underwater character in Araba. Nothing really wrong with him I guess but he just lacks depth. He’s a sea creature with a good honor code who can fight. I’m not sure if it’s the fact that he’s an A.I. ally and not a real player but I just don’t find him too interesting. I’d rather Sunraku be dominating the opponents on his own and monologuing instead of working with this guy. So he’s not a bad character but is an example of someone who does not add to the dynamic.

Also, while the tournament is far more interesting, we are getting closer to a climax here so in the next season that will still be fun. The battle itself is definitely quite intense with a lot of stand out moments all throughout. Next season will be a masterpiece regardless but definitely focus on the first episodes the most because Shangri-La really shows how you do a proper tournament arc. It’s absolutely impressive with no real weak points. I would maybe change one fight but it was still extremely satisfying either way.


Overall, This series continues to be an elite. The cliffhanger is absolutely spectacular and really gets you hyped for what is to come. I suspect it might be a while before we get a season 3 now that they are close to being caught up with the series but when it does return I shall be ready. In the meantime you should definitely watch this series. It’s really a great experience and not something you could find just anywhere. This is a series with a ton of heart an it reminds you how much fun video games are both to play and to see in action.

Overall 9/10

Texas Terror Review

Posted on by
Reply


Texas Terror brings us back into another classic John Wayne adventure. It’s fairly short as with the last few so things have to move fast but it doesn’t feel like there is as much of a sense of urgency as in his other films. It makes for a fun adventure but nothing that I would consider to be top tier. Still, these films always have strong fundamentals and this one is no exception. You will certainly get to see some solid fights.

In Texas Terror you have some outlaws running around as always and unfortunately they bump off a man and escape. The timing of it is rough though so John actually blames himself for this. He gets on the trail and ends up saving a helpless young lady while posing in his disguise. He then has to go back to town and pretend not to know her. It turns out that she is the daughter of the guy who was murdered. The problem is that the villains are around and one of them decides to further frame John for the death of her father. Can John clear his name and save the day or is it all over for him?

He probably could have had a good talk with her a bit sooner and saved on some of the drama to be honest. Yeah it wouldn’t have been the best story based on his understanding of it at the time but at least it would be coming from him and not some third party. At the same time I get it because she does panic a whole lot. I wouldn’t be surprised if she let the cat out of the bag too soon and would spoil everything. At the very least you have to consider the possibility here. She is just not ready for this. As it is, she faints rather easily and is quick to believe this random guy at the town dance. With everyone being so secretive, I get why she might believe things but she still could have stayed a little more calm to really think things through.

One thing I enjoyed in this film is that John actually has a good relationship with the Sheriff this time around. He’s not running around and being a vigilante or anything like that. Yeah his methods might be a little more intense than the average person’s, but he gets results. Ultimately it’s not like the others were able to really do much of anything here. One guy does spot the fact that the villains were using stolen currency which was really clever. You don’t see this used all that often but using serial numbers to track stolen money is actually a really clever idea.

I would have liked the heroes to have been a bit more proactive at that point rather than waiting though. The middle is the only part of the film that is a little slow since we know who the crooks are and the heroes do too. For a film this short, you don’t usually want it to have any slow moments. Ah well, it is what it is I suppose. At least we do get the classic climax with some real fights as John shows why he is the top dog around here. He really gets in some powerful shots. In a way I feel like John shows off more in hand to hand combat than in marksmanship in these films.

As always you have the classic soundtrack here. A little bit of eerie music every time the villains make a move and it really lets you feel what the movie creators were going for the whole time. This way you aren’t left in suspense of anything like that. While the music may really be on the nose, it’s still better than not having a soundtrack. Somehow these old movies actually understood the balance more than some of the modern ones. They may not have had the budget for a whole lot of songs but at least they were able to get in the main ones that counted.

Overall, Texas Terror is a bit of a misleading title. You’re certainly not going to be too scared while watching this film and it’s not like it is going for that vibe either. At best you could say that John’s early disguise was pretty scary. They actually did a really good job with that one since you really could not recognize the guy. It was an impressive disguise, especially since he makes sure to act a lot different as plain ole John. The fact that the heroine almost saw through it might make him look a bit bad but hey that’s just how it goes. If you like classic Westerns then you’ll like this one as well. It feels like there is just not a whole lot to it compared to some of Wayne’s other films but that doesn’t make it a bad film or anything like that. Standard or not, it’s still a fun adventure.

Overall 6/10

Chain Reaction Review

Posted on by
Reply


Chain Reaction is one of those classic thrillers with a whole lot going on but at the same time you also have to stretch your disbelief quite a bit. You almost wish they had said the main character was ex-military or something to explain how far he got. Instead, the villains look a little inept with how much trouble they have trying to find him.

The movie starts with Eddie and a bunch of other scientists finally having a breakthrough on their free energy alternative. This was made possible thanks to Eddie finally locating the right frequency that their energy process needed. He was in too much of a rush to write it down but that’s fine, they’ll handle that later on. The world can now get unlimited clean energy for no extra fee. Of course somebody doesn’t like that and during the night the facility is blown up and one of the head scientists is destroyed with another one missing. Eddie finds this out but now he and his coworker Lily are being framed for being involved here. Paul, one of the seniors advises them to turn themselves in but Eddie refuses. Lily and Eddie will now be on the run for a while as they try to figure out what’s going on and clear their names.

You’ve got both the CIA and the FBI involved with this affair so you can bet that things are white hot right now. This is where you have to try not to have the film lose you. Eddie and Lily have no espionage training or anything like that but they are able to evade everyone fairly easily. At one point they stop by Eddie’s friend’s house to stay for a while and are otherwise just on the run. It feels like they should have been caught within a matter of minutes or hours at the very worst. There is also a point early on where Eddie is running and the cops corner him on a bridge. So he basically jumps on the inside and while they work on fixing it, he just escapes. That seemed improbable.

Of course, thrillers are often improbable. I would say the trick is really just seeing how noticeable it feels in the moment. Most won’t hold up under scrutiny but at least during the movie you can look the other way. This time it was just a whole lot more obvious so you’re basically holding back a smirk the whole time. I won’t say it was crazy or anything like that but just adding in the whole ex military thing would have helped a whole lot.

Eddie just wants to make the world a better place and so I’d say he is a good lead. He did his best to save lives during the fire and is generally not someone who scares easily. He doesn’t panic a whole lot too which is good and even gets some quick fights. Meanwhile Lily starts off rocky with letting herself get so drunk. No matter what kind of a party it is, you know you’ve had too much to drink when you’re super drunk like this. It doesn’t put her in the best position but at least after that she doesn’t have any rough moments. She generally does her best as well.

Thing is, the main characters are completely out of their depth here for most of the film. The enemies have connections, guns, and a whole lot of power behind them. There’s almost nothing the leads can do without a considerable amount of plot armor. Their only help would be Paul who is rather shady from the jump. Paul is one of those guys who will always say the right things and is constantly in a regretful mood but it just doesn’t help you much at all. You’re still needing someone to actually keep you safe as opposed to just talking about it. He’s not going to be that guy who actually saves the day or anything like that. He does make for a fun character though.

The film’s best moments were often times not even concerning the main characters. I just liked the banter with Paul and everyone who would go at him. Whether it was Paul vs Congress, Paul vs FBI, Paul vs Private companies, etc. They were all a lot of fun. Paul is someone who is supremely confident at all times and feels like nobody can even touch him. When you have absolute confidence like that, well you’re definitely able to do a whole lot.

Ultimately, if we ever did unlock free unlimited energy, you definitely know that there would be massive fights about it. Even if there was enough for everyone all around the world, there would still be fights. People will go to war and fight about every little thing. Imagine something as big as a new kind of energy that would put several sectors completely out of business overnight? Yeah that’s bound to stir up a whole lot of feathers.

The main story may be about the leads finding some answers but I would say the most fun part was definitely the discussions of the impact that such an invention would have. Unlimited energy will likely never be a thing but at least it’s something that you can picture. Still, there needs to be a way to pull off the plot without making the villains look completely incompetent though. Not being able to stop two young adults with no military training is just a rough look.

Overall, Chain Reaction is a good film but not a great one. The villains seemed like they should have been able to win this one near instantly instead of constantly trying to play 4D chess and letting it backfire horribly on them. Still, you will be entertained and at the end of the day that is the most important part. The villains are fun with how over the top they are and the main character does a good job of not panicking. It’s the kind of film that you have a hard time finding nowadays because you’d expect a lot more research and realism to come into play. For this one the entertainment was absolutely the main selling point for better or worse.

Overall 6/10

The Desert Trail Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for another old Western and I dare say this one was having the most amount of fun with the concept. I would even call it a comedy before a Western if I was ranking the genres. There’s a ton of in fighting and slapstick around here with none of the characters being very smart. Whether you enjoy it or not will definitely come down to how much you enjoy the absurdity. Me personally? I got a real kick out of it. This is definitely a film with a lot of replay value.

The film starts off by introducing us to John and Kansas who are friends that get very competitive with each other. They may be friends but when a girl is involved they will suddenly become total enemies. Things start off rocky right away when a lady is having a lot of trouble with her clothes and both guys fall head over heals for her. They keep on insulting each other with John usually getting the upper hand but Kansas being pretty good at pretending to be rich. This lady named Juanita is definitely someone who likes digging up a bit of gold and she takes a liking to both of them as well as to a crook who is also good at getting money. Can she make it so that she can take all 3 of them? It’ll be a tough mission.

Wait that’s the actual plot? Well it might as well be but technically a corrupt town festival tries to short John on his winnings so he holds them at gunpoint and steals the money. Then some other guys come in and rob the place for the rest of the money and make it sound like John took it all. John must now evade the cops by going to a whole new town and also doing his best to one up Kansas by getting a girl there to fall for him instead. There’s definitely a whole lot going on here.

Naturally you will have a hard time rooting for John and Kansas because of all the infighting. John is constantly goading Kansas into trying to fight back and that guy is immediately falling for the bait every time. The problem for him is that John is much stronger than he is. So this means each time that John just beats him up and Kansas is forced to make an excuse to regain his honor. This happens numerous times throughout the movie and keep in mind that this is a fairly short film. So yeah it’s really rough on poor Kansas who is really just trying to hang in there. Of course Kansas isn’t much better since he is still to blame in a lot of instances too.

Then John doesn’t always make the best moves like firing back at the cops while in the house. At that point he is only making things worse for himself although he was probably going to be doomed either way. Holding up the store owner was probably valid for trying to short change him on the money but I dare say that it would probably have been good to have tried going through the sheriff first. Worst case he would still be a fugitive either way which would not make things any easier for him.

The actual villains aren’t the most inspired. You have one who knows that stealing is wrong but he just can’t bring himself to say anything about it. He meekly goes along with everything and even shoots someone. He may feel bad about the whole thing but it’s hard to sympathize too much. He simply made way too many mistakes at that point and he had direct victims so it’s not like he did something mild like have a quick lie. As for the other villain, he doesn’t really have a ton of character but he does show up the two leads at one point. I’ll give him credit for that.

The two main characters may make a ton of mistakes and all but like I said at the start, it’s still just a really fun film. I enjoyed the constant jokes and the pacing is really fun. The soundtrack at this point is completely recycled from other Western titles but at the same time I would still say it is pretty good. I like how on the nose it is. You can almost predict when the music will appear based on what is happening on screen. Some may call that generic timing but I would say that means the timing is very appropriate. It fits in with what the film is trying to show you.

You may wish there were more gunfights here but there was enough to satisfy the Western part. The characters being so over the top is what you should really savor here because you’re just not going to see that very often. I would even say that there may not be any others quite like this one. Now that may be too bold of a claim since there are a lot more Westerns that I haven’t seen yet but this one was just so different in all the right ways. Yeah, I was definitely real impressed here.

Overall, The Desert Trail is a film I can really recommend. It reminds you of why you need to be careful about getting too enamored with someone to the point where you start trying to make your best friend look bad. It’s important to keep your priorities in order and to not be led astray. As long as you enjoy a cheerful film and like some good jokes then you will have fun here. If you can find the antics to be a little too exaggerated at times then that might work against this one. So it is hard to say for sure how much you will like the film until you check it out. You can’t really go wrong with a quick comedy like this though right?

Overall 7/10

Solo Leveling: Arise from the Shadow Review

Posted on by
Reply


Solo Leveling is one of those titles that became a global hit almost overnight and it’s easy to see why. The series has a ton of action and the animation is really top tier. I can safely say that it is one of the best looking anime out there and I can say that with ease. So whatever you’ve heard about the show, know that it is even better than the reputation. If you’ve ever thought about what it would be like to continue leveling up, this show will answer that for you.

The series starts with Jinwoo still continuing to train and grow stronger. He is finally going to be promoted to S rank status and is really close to getting the ingredients needed to cure his mother from her eternal coma. You can say that things are just looking great all around but there are still dangers facing the world. The governments of Japan and Korea are teaming up to do a raid on an island inhabited by powerful insects. These insects murdered quite a lot of people over the years and so this mission will be incredibly dangerous. Jinwoo may be Mr. Invincible but what about the rest of the heroes?

Solo Leveling often gets some complaints for how powerful Jinwoo is. The guy is basically invincible but that’s part of the point of being a solo leveling warrior. When you are the only one who can grow stronger, it is only a matter of time before you outpace everyone. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just being realistic here. There are still some fights where he has to go all out here as well. it’s probably safe to say that you never feel a sense of danger when he is fighting but that’s where the hype comes in. When he shows up, you know that everything is going to be okay. The tension is really for when the side characters are running around because they are all expendable.

Generally any hero who isn’t Jinwoo may end up meeting a rather painful end and this happens quite often. There’s a whole montage of sorts where a villain takes out a bunch of heroes and naturally none of them are able to do anything against him. They’re not Jinwoo. The core thing to remember about this show is that is all revolves around the hero. You’re either with that program or you aren’t. Interestingly the anime actually tones down just how much Jinwoo dominates everybody and yet it is still noticeable. That’s just how good he is.

The power creep goes pretty hard in this season to the point where the S ranks are all basically fodder by the end. At this point you need to be a Nation level hunter in order to do anything here. Even then, the main rule here is to never bet against Jinwoo. Season 1 had him at his lowest and season 2 is basically the victory lap. I always enjoy his confidence and he’s just a really fun character to root for. In case it’s not obvious by this point Jinwoo is definitely one of my favorite characters and a solid reason why I enjoy the series.

Of course I should also get the technicals out of the way too because they are very positive. The soundtrack is really top tier, there are a lot of great themes all throughout the series. You’ve got battle themes, operatic themes, and of course the opening/ending is really good as well. Then you have the animation which is really top tier. The fights are extremely impressive and the backgrounds/character designs are on point as well. There are really no weaknesses to be found here as it is a consistent all star production from start to finish.

The show’s first big adventure has Jinwoo facing off against the ice demon Baruka. It works well as an intro fight because Baruka teases a bit more about the plot and how the system works. Additionally he is a strong fighter and this ends up being one of Jinwoo’s best fights in the season. Technically he is even losing for part of the fight. Baruka has a lot of confidence and a very memorable design. This makes him a solid villain right from the jump. If anything it’s a shame that he won’t be returning.

We also quickly see Jinwoo’s father II-Hwan which sets up further plot points for the next season. Definitely a very mysterious guy but you have to assume that he is crazy powerful because of the connection to Jinwoo. It’s not like he would just be some random pencil pusher next to the lead right? He will have a lot of explaining to do for me to find him likable though because he really left the family in a tough spot. Jinwoo nearly died in season 1 after all.

From there we have some smaller adventures before Jinwoo invades the demon castle to get the ingredients. We briefly see Hunter Cha who is a powerful S rank and someone who is fairly clever. Jinwoo has to be careful around her or she could find out his secret. She is a strong fighter and a fun S rank to have around. She has quite a bit of character and I would say it’s just her bad luck that she is often put into battle situations where she doesn’t really have a chance at turning the tables.

We also see more of Jinwoo’s friend, Jinho. Jinwoo can be a bit harsh on the guy at times but they are still friends at the end of the day. They each help each other out and while Jinho may not be the strongest guy around, he’s got a good heart. Jinwoo knows that he can rely on the guy when the chips are down which is always a good thing. Jinwoo may be a solo leveler but he can still have some friends.

At the demon castle we meet a demon named Esil who is fun. She is a fairly strong fighter who also knows when a battle is unwinnable. She ends up essentially being Jinwoo’s tour guide as he goes through the different floors. She’s a fun character and adds a bit of humor to the series. I would also say that by the end of the arc she even feels rather loyal and I couldn’t picture her betraying Jinwoo.

The final boss of the arc, Baran has a cool fight but there isn’t a lot going on with him in terms of character. He’s a good obstacle but that’s about it. Still, that’s all you really need in order to be a strong final boss. The demon castle was a fun mini arc here and of course it finally helped Jinwoo with his mother. The series actually gives us some emotional moments here and a rare break from all of the big fights.

After that it’s time for the Island raid. Along the way there is some training as the different countries spar with each other but then it’s all guns blazing forward. The Japanese hunters all feel doomed right from the jump but they had cool designs so I’ll give them that. I even think Goto made for an interesting antagonist. The guy may not be pure evil but he is certainly shown to be someone where the ends justify the means. He will take out fellow heroes if ordered to or if he thinks it will help them out in the long run.

Jinwoo had to put an end to that. In the actual raid, Beru is the only main villain to get a big name and role. He was all that they needed though. Beru is easily the most powerful villain up to this point and he really does well in the fight. I enjoyed the dialogue with him and Jinwoo the whole time. A lot of good banter there with Jinwoo basically making fun of him at the start. It’s one of those fights that the whole season had been working up to and I would say that it lived up to the hype.

I have real high hopes for all of Beru’s future appearances. There is definitely a lot more for him to do in the future. For the S ranks, hopefully you liked them by this point because otherwise they won’t have as big of a role as they did here. They are all decent characters but they’re taken out of the running quick enough where you don’t take any of them too seriously. By default I would say Hunter Cha is definitely a step above the others in terms of character by the end especially with how much future development is already foreshadowed.

During all of these episodes, another way the show managed to excel was in having great cliffhangers at the end of virtually every episode. They would just always find a way to get you extra pumped, even if the cliffhanger had to be forced in a little bit. It was definitely worth it though because the ending theme was really good so it ended up flowing well. The best cliffhanger out of the whole season is probably when Jinwoo activated teleport to go and join the battle.

Again, there may not be tension for the main character but it definitely exists for the other characters. They are constantly only one wrong move away from getting bumped off. They have to try and survive against crazy odds, even while knowing that they can’t get stronger. That’s probably the toughest part of this whole deal because in most other series you can at least get massive power boosts. That’s just not the case here.

Additionally, the monsters are only getting stronger and stronger. This means the heroes are slowly approaching extinction with no real way to combat it. Jinwoo is really the only chance that they all have and only a handful really know just how powerful he really is. Although by the end of the season you can definitely say that the circle of people who know about him has certainly grown. Hard for it not to with how Jinwoo ended up saving everybody.

Solo Leveling may have a rep of being a mindless action series with no real plot but at the end of the day there is a lot of story here. There are certainly plenty of plot twists yet to be uncovered and of course we still don’t know anything about the level up system. These are all mechanics that should keep you real interested. If none of them interest you, then I suppose at that point you really only have the fight scenes left. That said, the fights are good enough where if there was nothing but those, this would still be a good title. So it’s not the dunk that people might think it is.

At the end of the day the rule of cool definitely works for this show under any context. You feel hyped while watching Solo Leveling and it really succeeds in the primary goal of any show which is to let the viewer have a good time. Not I will say there is a high amount of violence in the series so keep that in mind. Characters are ripped apart here and there is definitely more detail than in other series. It’s not a show I would recommend to just anyone as a result. I would definitely need to first find out how comfortable you are with violence. If you have a hard time seeing the injuries like that then I would be forced to recommend something else.

Overall, Solo Leveling season 2 was definitely a blast. It kept all of the intensity from the first season and then added a bunch of hype new characters like Beru. The series is absolutely in a great spot for season 3 and hopefully it doesn’t take too long for that one to come out. In the meantime you will definitely end up regretting it if you don’t check this series out. It’s just way too much fun to leave on the shelf and the story is only getting more and more intriguing. At this point you’re probably going to be wondering how they can even find any more opponents for Jinwoo to go up against. All I can say is don’t worry about it, we have plenty of strong fighters coming up soon. You don’t want to miss even one moment of the experience.

Overall 9/10

Gotham Knights Review

Posted on by
Reply


Batman has definitely had quite a few top tier titles over the years. When you think of Batman you tend to think of the best level of comic book games. This one didn’t quite get the same acclaim as the big Arkham titles but at the same time I’d say it does hold up. There is a whole lot to do within the game even outside of the story and so the replay value really hits hard. I would say it sacrifices a bit of polish for overall content and of course that won’t always be seen as a positive so I suppose it’s a bit of a case by case kind of thing.

The game starts with Batman taking some heavy injuries against Ra’s and is forced to settle for a draw as he blows up the Batcave. With Batman dead, the rest of Gotham’s heroes have to suit up and defend the city. Batgirl, Nightwing, Robin, and Red Hood will have to team up for this one. They find out that Batman was looking into a crazy conspiracy involving an organization that controls Gotham from the shadows. This was such a big secret that it cost the Dark Knight his life, so his successors must solve it or die trying. This won’t be easy, but they understand the risks.

The gameplay is your classic 3D brawler. You have a lot of different attacks up your sleeve and will also be dodging a whole lot in order to counter blows. One thing I was surprised about was the lack of a block button. Dodging is your complete form of counter attacking here which is different from what you’d normally expect. Still, it works pretty well and after not being allowed to dodge like that in God Eater, I was glad to go back to my spamming ways. Most of your super attacks are locked behind side quests so I had to make do with the default ones. They are good enough though. The main story is fairly long even if you are only focused on doing them and not touching the side quests.

Counting the side quests, it feels like there is a very impressive amount of content here. It certainly feels longer than the main Arkham titles at the very least. The fact that the side quests also have a lot of cinematics is also pretty fun. At one point I had skipped so many side quests and such that there were no random mobsters to interrogate which held me back during chapter 6. I had to randomly defeat a few Clayface minions which let me go forward. It’s a pretty decent mechanic though because the heroes should be penalized for not defending enough civilians.

I will say that navigating the city isn’t quite as fun as in Spider-Man since you can’t just leap through the city. Arkham City was much easier in that respect. The motorcycle is cool though, it just does take much longer. Locking the fast travel points behind side quests is diabolical but it does encourage you to at least do a few of them. I ended up doing at least a few of them because it would save time in the long run.

Then you have different forms of currency and materials which you use to get new suits, weapons, and projectiles. You can also get mod chips to put inside of them, although I never had gear good enough to equip any so I had to go with the defaults. The equipment was a nice touch though because it adds further incentive to go exploring. The more you do that, the stronger you get. I always like when a game rewards you for these kinds of things. Yeah there is definitely a whole lot of replay value here so you can bet that you will be adventuring around for a long while. Getting the Platinum looks like it could be rather difficult though.

The graphics are pretty solid. I’m not a huge fan of the art direction at times as a lot of the humans look rather generic but the costumed fighters are good. The game does a good job of making all of the dozens of suits and equipment match the art style as well. It may not be the most colorful game but it still does look good. The soundtrack is definitely more on the dull side though. Not many memorable tunes here so you will end up forgetting them rather quickly.

While the game is definitely centered around having multiplayer, I think they should have added AI allies for when you’re playing solo. It would have been nice to have seen the other characters fighting too since otherwise it doesn’t feel as much like an ensemble game. I mainly played Nightwing the whole time so to me this was basically a Nightwing solo title. Of course I could have switched and such but I already had Nightwing leveled up really well so at that point I didn’t want to switch. The fact that all 4 characters have their own unique fighting styles is cool though.

The game’s only real weakness for me could be that the mechanics are really not explained very well at all. Installing mods is really confusing and likewise the map has way too many icons that look similar. White triangles are mobsters, white upside down triangles are for the freaks, yellow triangles are corrupt cops, etc. Your world map gets real cluttered real fast. There had to be a better way to display all of that information. Again I would point to Spider-Man where the map never feels as imposing. Additionally it’s just easier to do a ton of side missions because of how quick they all are there. This game doesn’t move at quite the same high speed because while the combat gameplay is very smooth, the hub world navigation can be a little rough at times. Get ready to run past buttons when you just meant to walk past them.

Overall, Gotham Knights is a great game, it was better than I expected it to be. The game is definitely very combat heavy so you really need to like the style though. Ultimately I found it to be very rewarding as you actually feel it when you level up and get stronger. It’s a great template for a title and the story is also good. There’s really not much else to say about this one. As long as you enjoy really good action titles then you should have a good time and while you may feel overwhelmed at first, just take it one mission at a time and gradually the main map will become a lot emptier.

Overall 8/10

No Guns Life Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for a series with a very unique premise. I can’t say I knew what to expect when first getting into No Guns Life and I can say even now that there aren’t many shows quite like it. It’s sort of a steam punk Noir at its heart and the combination works pretty well. I’m not going to say it’s a great title or anything like that but it’s pretty good and has a lot of interesting concepts. I mean, what would you do if your head was an actual gun? I’m not saying shaped like one, I mean it’s an actual gun! Better be careful what position you sleep in or you might blow the ceiling up.

The story takes us to a world that is basically ruled by a corrupt company that is at war with a large gang. Just about everyone lives in slum-like conditions and even the rich seem to have quite hollow lives. So many people have lost limbs that there is a whole market for “Extended” which are when people have robotic upgrades to replace their missing parts. Some just get upgrades to be more powerful and then there are people like Juzo. Juzo was a weapon used in the last war. He took many lives and now he has sworn to never let anybody use his gun again. He works as a detective solving crimes everywhere and has gotten a pretty strong reputation. He has more enemies than he can count but this is the road he has chosen. His life really gets thrown for a twist when he meet a kid named Tetsuro. Tetsuro has a weird power that lets him affect all machines which is of course extremely handy in this world. Just about everyone is after him, can Juzo really protect him? At what point is he going above and beyond his actual mission?

There’s so much to the setting and story that it was hard to keep it to one paragraph. While parts of the story may sound a bit absurd and would never happen, a lot of it also feels very realistic. Is it possible that some day we will have so much daily violence that most people will be missing a limb? Absolutely I can see that. Is it also possible that anyone with a robotic limb will be seen as inferior and relegated to the slums? Yeah that can definitely happen. Obviously the world being owned by a corporation is also in the cards so yeah this definitely seems like a very dark future and one you can picture.

Juzo basically stays out of the politics of it all and is mainly just trying to do his job and ignores all the rest. He gets threatened constantly but handles it all smoothly. No matter what is going on, you can count on him to just be smoking his cigarettes. It’s not just to look cool though, those are what allow him to dull his never ending pain and also allow him to function normally. They’re basically filled with a kind of pain killer that he needs. Yeah being a living gun definitely sucks and he is put through a lot throughout the series. He never complains about his lot in life though.

The series ends before he can truly confront his past and get all the answers though. You’ll probably be able to notice right away as the series ends that not everything is answered. It’s definitely one of those titles with an early ending but it still works well enough where you don’t need the full adaption. I would still like to see more of it in the future though. Juzo ends the series as one of the strongest fighters and dominates most of his battles. Even the other gun units don’t tend to be able to defeat him.

As for Tetsuro, he’s a nice enough kid but he sure does get into a whole lot of trouble. It feels like he is constantly making more work for Juzo. The guy has a big heart and basically wants to be a hero but he doesn’t really have the ability for it. Yes, he can hack any extended but he doesn’t have a lot of stamina and can only control one person at a time. So when the control ends, then he is completely vulnerable. He also falls into his share of traps. So I like him well enough but he definitely doesn’t think things through quite as much as he could have.

Mary is a mechanic who helps Juzo out quite a lot by fixing him up and also supplying him with the special cigarettes. She even ends up getting a fairly big story arc involving her brother Victor. She has to do a whole lot of digging in order to find him and see what happened. He basically vanished amidst a huge conspiracy and with this world is can be hard to find the truth. There is also the question of who he truly is. There is an Extended with a copy of his mind, a hand that may or may not be controlled by him, and his real body only might be out there. There are a lot of questions floating around and she’s not exactly a fighter so it’s not like she will be able to just get out there and find the answers on her own.

So she makes for a good sidekick but like Tetsuro she can bite off a bit more than she can chew. Olivier is a police agent who seems rather corrupt and yet she is better than the average officer. She always enjoys a lot of banter with Juzo and throws threats around like they’re going out of style. That said, her hands are often tied when it counts and then she has to rely on Juzo either. Certainly not the position she wants to be in since it definitely undermines that tough image she is going for. I can’t say I was a big fan of hers. To a point her character was just an excuse for fanservice.

On the whole the show is pretty good about not having too much fanservice. There are some moments here and there but rarely anything too crazy. There was one pointless episode involving a perv who goes to the shop just to spy on the ladies there. He gets off way too easily as well. It’s the only episode where you are wondering why it is even there. It’s not the entire episode or anything but it was a pretty large chunk that was effectively just filler. I’m always up for some filler but it should be something a little more fun with good substance. Not whatever this was.

Meanwhile the graphics are good although the fights can get a little messy. It’s far from being a top budget show or anything like that but it looks good enough for me. The character models are good and the backgrounds really help fit in with the noir vibe. The show definitely nailed the atmosphere which was the most important thing. The ost isn’t bad. There are 2-3 themes that I enjoyed but otherwise it can be a little forgettable. It might have clashed with the noir aspect but I’d have liked some good rock themes.

Back to the characters, Kronen was a pretty interesting one. The guy is a human who doesn’t like Extended and that always makes for a fun character. The series doesn’t make him absolutely insane or anything like that either. In fact you could say he may be the most powerful full human in the series. He actually fights well against Juzo without any enhancements. This is due to his powerful throwing needles which can paralyze any opponent. This guy is very resourceful and while he will always be at a disadvantage, he still fights his absolute hardest at all times. You definitely have to respect that.

Wachowski is one of the big leaders of the Spitz organization and I really like his name. Yeah, not a great reason to like a character but it’s just such a fun name to say. The guy is ancient but plans things along pretty well and always has a backup plan in the works. He really comes close to succeeding in his ambitions and the guy even thought ahead enough to bring along some Extended equipment in his wheelchair. Now that is some proper dedication. I tend to not take these old timers too seriously but this guy at least had a decent plan so I’ll give him that. He just let his guard down too quickly.

Then we have our next psychotic villain, Pepper. She seems rather messed up from the start, thanks in no small part to a pretty dark backstory. She had to survive through a lot in a messed up environment and then basically made a pact with one of the gun units. The sob story did include some animal violence which was regrettable. Whether it is bugs or bigger animals, the show didn’t need to go that far. Even with the dark origin, I can’t say that I ever became a big fan of hers though. She’s just too crazy without having anything “cool” to back her up. So it’s just crazy in more of an aimless way and her twisted version of a bond with Seven never got through to me.

Meanwhile Seven gets a fairly raw deal here. After all he needs Pepper to use him as a gun unit, but at the same time he is now super attached to her. So he follows her every order and doesn’t really think for himself anymore. He gets jealous easily and ultimately just acts a lot like a kid. It’s too bad that Pepper was a villain since that ensured that Seven would be as well. Otherwise Seven could have gone on to be a decent hero. That said, when you don’t use your own freewill to decide what to do, it can be easy to make excuses. Ultimately it would have been up to him to have made the right moves.

Another villain we had is Kunugi who doesn’t actually get to do a whole lot. He uses needles to paralyze opponents as well and does pretty well in his fights. You get the idea that he is definitely more of a sub villain than a main one though. On his own the needles would be tough to defeat a more powerful opponent but I like his confidence either way. He’s a very interesting villain and works as a wild card since you can tell he has no feelings of loyalty. I like villains who just do whatever they please like this guy.

The show has 24 episodes and manages to fit in quite a few cases in those episodes. You’ll see traitors like Colt who are forced into hard choices and then other characters like Victor who are a true mystery. We also see Juzo’s origin story and how he used to act back when he was in the war. In a way the series is about showing how he has developed free will since then and won’t be anyone’s weapon in the future. It’s a big deal in the show when he finally lets someone use his trigger since that’s definitely a sign of complete trust.

On a lighter note, the show even talks about the other downsides of a gun head like the fact that it can rust so Juzo has to be careful in the water. It’s not like Juzo ever had any choice in the matter but he does have free will. That whole character arc with showing Tetsuro how to make his own choices was good. The series has a lot to say about not letting yourself be manipulated and making choices for yourself. Juzo ends up being a good role model for the other characters even if it is a role that he absolutely doesn’t want.

Ultimately I’d say the show is also about knowing that you can’t change every part of the world but you can make a difference locally. Juzo keeps on helping people even while the whole world is in such a sorry state and the two villain organizations are still doing whatever they want. Juzo doesn’t let them get in the way of his missions and fights back as necessary but he’s also not just trying to get out there and bomb all the villain bases. He can’t change the world on his own but he can at least change the paths of those right in front of him. It’s the core of a good Noir title.

I’d say the best mystery that represents the show would be when Juzo is called in to help a girl who is being haunted by a ghost. There are a number of twists here as well as set up for future missions but otherwise it is a good stand alone story. Juzo goes in, solves a case, and gets basically no gratitude for most of it. By the end people realize that he is a good guy but it’s not easy. The life of a Noir detective is rarely easy after all. I will say it’s funny how almost nobody reacts to his gun for a head though because of how crazy things are in this world. Juzo is always expecting a reaction so we can assume that off screen most people still get nervous but at least all of the main characters are a bit too busy for that. Why worry about a guy who has a gun for a head when you have to solve a string of murders right?

Also while a lot of the series is about setups and mysteries, there are certainly a good amount of action scenes here. Juzo goes up against everybody from other humans to Extended, to fellow Gunheads. He really runs the gauntlet on the kinds of different opponents who take a swing at him. He doesn’t just win every fight either, he takes his share of losses as well. It’s good that the pain killers remove most of his pain too because he tends to lose in rather painful ways. Juzo always finds a way out of the situation though. The series ends on a completely open note with the adventure continuing so at least it will be easy to get a sequel some day if they ever want to do one.

Overall, No Guns Life is a pretty good show. I like how unique it is and the show has solid enough production values. The writing is good and so you will have a good time here. It will keep your attention the whole time and you’ll be engaged with the cases. Generally it’s not a Sherlock Holmes kind of case where you’re interrogating everyone and getting to the truth but there are still mysteries regardless. Juzo makes for a good narrator in these moments as he walks you through what happened. He’s really got the voice for it. Yeah if you see this show around you should check it out.

Overall 7/10