GI Joe The Rise of Cobra Review

Posted on January 17, 2015 by dreager1

GI Joe is one of those games that you really can’t help, but check out. It’s the very definition of a movie tie in as it has everything that you would expect one to have. I think that one of the ways that you can tell whether a game is big budget or not is the little things. As a whole, this game may look like any other overhead shooter, but it’s the small things that keep it from reaching the heights of other great shooters. No matter, it is still a pretty fun game and one that definitely gives you your money’s worth.

The Joes have captured Baroness and the Cobra organization appears to be gone for good. Everything is right in the world until they are attacked and Baroness escapes. It appears that Cobra may not be dead after all and they are using their new teleportation technology to create a lot of havoc. Duke is going to have to go back on the field with the other Joes to stop the enemies from gaining ground. The only question on everyone’s minds is…”Can Cobra really be back?” Time to find out!

There are 20 levels to be found here, which is a pretty reasonable amount. The levels are long enough so that they can’t be called short while not being nearly as long as a War for Cybertron or Shattered Dimensions stage. I’d say that they’re juuust right if you ask me. The levels are pretty repetitive as you go on, but the actual gameplay is always fun so I wouldn’t really count that as a negative. The gameplay is similar to Centipede Infestation or Alien Syndrome. It’s overhead, but close enough to the ground where it can almost feel 3D. You won’t realize that it is overhead until you are done…or that is typically the case anyway.

You take out your guns and try to quickly destroy all of the enemies who are in your way. Typically, your objective will be to destroy certain objects along your way to the end. This means that you can actually skip a lot of the enemies if you really don’t want to bother facing them. I do recommend fighting them since it’ll help you earn points to get more badges, but it’s your call. Beating the levels on casual difficulty will let you quickly get through them, but you will not be able to get 5 star ranks that way so it’s a double edged sword. The gameplay never gets old and it’s a lot of fun to just blast everyone in your way. You’ll rarely need to resort to hand to hand combat, but it can be fun to use once in a while as a change up.

Graphically, the game definitely doesn’t impress. The facial expressions can definitely look pretty bad, but it can be in a humorous way so I can’t really fault it. It’s pretty sub standard for a PS3 game, but I didn’t expect anything more than that. The graphics still look pretty good during the gameplay, which is what counts. No frills or extra things to polish up the graphics, but that’s all right. The soundtrack can be a little uneven as some themes are just really loud. Notably the “Go Joe” theme that plays when you activate your power up. Mixed in with the sound of your gun constantly firing, you’ll be tempted to lower the volume. The stage themes are pretty unmemorable, but they aren’t bad. The characters can sound pretty intriguing though and Cobra Commander is the best example of this. The writers definitely are not familiar with his character since he sounds nothing like the villain that we’re used too. He’s constantly losing his cool and shrieking. The Commander doesn’t even try to keep up a tough facade as he panics when the Joes break in. It’s tough for his fans to watch, but you will likely get a good chuckle out of him.

GI Joe definitely shines when it comes to the Replay Value aspect. There are 130 emblems to get, which will take you some time since getting 5 stars on every stage is truly a feat. You will need to find several collectibles in each level which can be tough and let’s not forget the trophies. They’re all pretty fair and while they can be time consuming, none of them feel cheap. If you really want to get the Platinum in this game, I’m confident that you will be able too. I’ve thought about it and I may get it at some point, but I’ll settle for obtaining most of the trophies for now.

The ending to the game is pretty unsatisfying though. First of all, there is no final boss. That’s pretty discouraging since each world had a final boss aside from the last one. Instead of fighting Cobra Commander, we got to fight a few generators that some minions were protecting. The game also plays it a little too safe with the story and all of the villains end up getting away aside from Baroness. That means that we go right back to the status quo from the beginning of the game where this was the case…..a bit lazy if you ask me.

Now, I mentioned that it’s the little things that separate this from a high budget shooter. One example of this is naturally the minor glitches. Nothing major luckily, but sometimes your gun will just go through an opponent and you’ll need to stop shooting and quickly start again. That’s not terrible and it’s quite rare, but it’s a little thing. Camera angles can be tricky and it’s easy to get lost in some of the levels. The gameplay is a lot of fun, but it’s not very deep so you really need to enjoy it or you will definitely find it repetitive. I recommend always choosing Heavy Duty since he has the best super attack in the game.

Overall, GI Joe The Rise of Cobra is a pretty fun PS3 game. It won’t be winning any awards in the near future, but it’s the kind of game that really goes by quickly. You’ll never feel bored as you tackle the Cobra agents and the plot is decently engaging. I’m glad that we do get actual cutscenes so the game definitely didn’t skip out on the budget. At 20 levels, it’s definitely long enough for you to spend a few days on it and more if you want the Platinum. I recommend this to all action fans who own a PS3.

Overall 7/10

The Maltese Falcon Review

Posted on January 17, 2015 by dreager1

The Maltese Falcon is a film that is even older than the original Godzilla. It’s definitely known as a classic at this point and with good reason. It’s a film that definitely holds up pretty well against the test of time. It’s nice and confusing without necessarily cheating the audience as it goes along. You have opportunities to try and piece together what is up amist all of the trickery that is afoot.

The main character is a guy named Sam Spade. He is a detective and one day a lady comes into his office asking him to tail someone. This guy may be dangerous so she wants them to proceed with caution. Sam has his partner tail the guy, but he ends up getting knocked off. This just got personal for Sam and he knows that the lady knows more. Other wrinkles quickly develop in the plot as an organization led by the Fat Man enters the picture along with a shady fellow representing another organization. What ties all of these individuals together is their desire to obtain the Maltese Falcon.

It’s definitely a pretty fun mystery as you watch Sam try to piece it all together. He definitely has no help since none of the characters want to be honest with him. He handles the whole thing pretty well for the most part although he does get knocked out once or twice. Sam is still human so I suppose he’s entitled to a few mistakes. One area where he didn’t look good was how he would let Brigid get to him even though he knew that she was pretty shady. By the end he makes the right call, but he should have kept the whole thing a little more business like anyway since he knew that it wouldn’t work out. As a detective, he’s definitely one of the best in the biz. He doesn’t back down from the cops or from gangsters. Sam just seems pretty fearless and we know that he isn’t, but his tough facade is a hard one to break down. He’s also a pretty talented fighter as he disarms several villains in the film.

Brigid is the main heroine and she constantly tells Sam lie after lie. It’s a good thing that he’s got a lot of experience at detecting those because she would have had him trapped otherwise. She got herself into this mess so it’s hard to feel sorry for her. She’s just as guilty as the other villains in pursuit of the Falcon so it’s hard to know which group to root for from the big 3. Regardless, she is typically on the defensive since she usually doesn’t carry a gun. She wasn’t my kind of villain.

Cairo is the kind of villain who acts really polite even when he is doing something sinister. He doesn’t look too impressive in his first fight with Sam, but he manages to do all right by the end. He is treated like a punching bag compared to the other villains though and you never get the feeling that his group will end up winning. He’s pretty brave and a quick thinker sometimes. Cairo’s a fun villain to watch, but one that you don’t expect to go very far.

Poor Wilmer is the main subordinate of the “Fat Man” and he always has a gun yet he is never really able to win. He’s constantly outmatched against Sam and the humiliations never stop for him. For a while you start to think that the “Fat Man” might just off him for being so inneffective as a hit man. Wilmer manages to escape that fate, but let’s just say that things aren’t all well and good for him by the time everything’s over. He does get more character than the “Fat Man” though. The boss talks tough, but he’s the kind of guy who really needs a bodyguard since he wouldn’t last very long on his own. He was a pretty fun villain and he also likes to act polite, but he enters the party pretty late. His final trick was a doozy though.

As with most of the old (Pre 60’s) films that I’ve seen, The Maltese Falcon has exceptional writing. If films still used the dialogue of the old days it would make for some pretty thrilling moments. There’s just something about the lines that makes all of the characters seem reasonably smart. It’s pretty neat and it’s probably one of the reasons why I like the feel of these films. The adventures are always very interesting and even if you manage to get lost in the shuffle of plot twists at some point, you’ll have had fun.

The ending was definitely a little unexpected, but in a good way. It was good to see a certain character get the last laugh after such a complicated endeavor. This character never actually gets to appear, but we begin to realize his brilliance once the final plot twist pops up. Trust me, it’s a doozy! It was a satisfying way to end the film and while we could in theory get a sequel, it can stand up on its own. The solid writing and good cast of characters definitely make the mystery entertaining. There is no soundtrack to be found here, but I suppose that I can overlook that this time…..I suppose.

Overall, The Maltese Falcon lives up to its reputation of being one of the best films of its time. It holds up well to the Hitchcock films or the other Bogart titles where he starred in a similar role. You may have some trouble keeping up with the names at first, but once you’ve go them down you’re all set to start deciphering the clues. Sam does let his feelings overwhelm him at times, but for at least 90% of the film, he’s the intense main character that we had been waiting for. I highly recommend checking this out if you like a good mystery.

Overall 7/10

Insidious Review

Posted on January 17, 2015 by dreager1

Time for another horror review. It’s been a while since I saw a film like this one, but you’ll definitely still be ready for what’s about to come. It was about as good as I expected, maybe a little better. That being said, there’s only so much that you can do with this kind of plot. It’s not my style, but if you’re looking for a nice horror film, this one beats the average flick in that genre.

A family moves into a house where their son falls off a ladder and enters a coma. A few months later, they start to see demons and they fear that the house is haunted. The main couple actually decides to move to another house, which is pretty impressive since that choice is rarely made. Unfortunately, it appears that the demons have followed them. Will they be able to fend them off and save their son? The poster gives us a not very subtle hint about what’s really going on.

Well, we get tons of jump scenes and a lot of fake outs as well to try and get that perfect balance that we’ve always wanted. The atmosphere is definitely creepy and the film does a good job of setting the tone early. It probably tried a little too hard to be scary at the beginning, but the director/writers know that you have to scare the audience early on or they’ll move on to the next film. The first half is pretty average and the main characters are powerless to stop these creatures, but that’s when a few new characters show up to help.

Bring in the Ghost Busters and an old lady who happens to be their leader. They deal with supernatural forces all the time and they know how to not only detect these guys, but they can see them as well. As you can expect, they aren’t actually good at fighting these guys. They merely detect them and try to reason with the demons. You may be underwhelmed during the mask scene as the old lady tries to convince the kid to come home, but then the demons take him away again. All she can do is watch so that’s not a great help to him.

That’s when the film’s biggest twist occurs, we’ve actually got enough budget in the film to visit the astral plane. It’s safe to say that this places the film on a higher level than most horror films. Many films would have been satisfied to have just let the kid make it back and we never actually see the astral plane. Not here! The main character wanders into the astral plane to find his son and he actually gets to duel with one of the demons. He does pretty well once he realizes that he’s stronger than the demon, but he doesn’t look too good against the main villain. The main villain isn’t strong enough to drag the kid away once he is running, but he’s still tough enough to throw around an adult for a while. It’s just how these things roll. In the astral world, will power is really what counts.

Josh is the main lead and he’s not a great main character. He stays at school pretty late to grade tests a lot of times when he should be home to help against the demons. Give all of the students As and Bs if you have too, but fighting demons is a lot more important. It’s good that he does ultimately journey to the Astral World to save Dalton, but then he decides to stay back so he could have a few words with one of the ghosts who’s been following him since he was a kid. Bad move Josh…bad move.

Renai is the other main character and she’s a decent heroine. She tries to get through this dangerous situation, but the demons are just too powerful so it is a losing battle. She tries to get help from many sources and she manages to last at the house while the demons are basically keeping her up all night with their random sounds. She definitely gives it her all, but knowing that it is all futile can be pretty sad.

The supporting characters are typically here to either look bad or add to the plot. We naturally have the pastor who comes to help, but is pretty ineffective and he leaves right away. Then we have the Ghost Busters who are treated as a joke until their leader appears. I really liked the Ghost Busters and a whole film about them fighting the demons would have been pretty good. Their leader is pretty knowledgable, but not quite as likable. She’s a little too old to be fighting demons and it seems like she hasn’t trained a successor. Once she is gone, humanity will be gone.

Again, I definitely give the film props for its special effects on the Astral Plane. It was pretty fun seeing Josh go in there and it’s a very trippy world. Things change in the blink of an eye and it would make for a pretty fun virtual ride in some amusement parks. I imagine that it would give many people heart attacks though so they would probably need to make the jump scenes a little less scary. There is a passing moment where we learn that one of the previous families was murdered by one of their own during this trippy moment and I wasn’t too surprised. Horror films love this twist so I guess they wanted to include it somehow.

So, where did the film go wrong? Well, one passing moment that was pretty wince worthy was when the demon decided to act demonic and stuck out his tongue. We know that the demons are evil, but let’s see that in a classy way and not in a cheap way. I’d rather that they just took out guns or something classic like that. The main reason why the film definitely gets a low score (Barring the fact that it is a horror film and watching the main characters get toyed around with for an hour and 40+ minutes is just not my cup of tea) is that the kid is basically defenseless against these guys, but he’s forced to stay in the astral world for months. They do mention that time flows differently over there, but that’s still a pretty sad fate for him. The demons seem to have attacked him off screen and we know what happens in the ending.

To an extent, I could extend that complaint to all of the main characters. I never like to see non combatants get injured by the villains because they didn’t sign up for this. It’s like watching a cop go up against an immensely powerful super villain. He’s a brave cop, but we don’t need to see him get beaten up for a while. That’s what it feels like when you see the humans trying to stand up to the demons. It’s more fun if one of the heroes can actually fight with supernatural powers or something like that. Then we’ve got a film. As it stands, this still takes down other films like Amityville and Haunted in Connecticut. Those make this one look like a masterpiece!

On the bright side, the villains actually have real designs and we get to see them pretty clearly on more than one occasion. No cop outs where they are just spirit forms or something like that. Now those are the kinds of plot twists that can be pretty annoying to see. They actually went to the trouble of getting some pretty scary costumes so the film went all out there. It makes up for the lack of a soundtrack I suppose since I wasn’t expecting any real music here anyway.

Now, this wouldn’t be a horror film without a twist ending right? There were really only two scenarios that I could think of as the ending drew near and let’s just say that the film probably made the right choice if we want the heroes to be doomed. It’s safe to say that these guys shouldn’t be in the sequel since there wouldn’t be a good reason for their survival. If you were expecting a happy ending then I will have to recommend taking another look at the genre for this film or maybe even the title. I appreciate the fact that the film keeps up with the horror standard of having a twist ending even if it does make the characters look bad and increases the body count. It’s expected, although I can’t say that it really helps the film. Who wants to see an old lady get attacked by one of the villains? Definitely not a fun scene.

Overall, Insidious is a horror film that tries to really scare the viewers. That is the job of such a film after all and it tries pretty hard. It probably has more jump scenes than almost any other horror film that I’ve seen. There’s probably almost one a minute during some parts of the film. There isn’t any animal violence and it’s classier than a lot of its counterparts, but it’s still not my kind of film. There’s no hope for the heroes and idea of the kid being stuck in the astral world for over 3 months is pretty terrible. If you are ready for your next horror film then this is probably the way to go, but if you really want a film that gets your heart racing, check out Yugioh 3D Bonds Beyond Time and get ready to duel!

Overall 3/10

Sakura Hime The Legend of Princess Sakura Review

Posted on January 15, 2015 by dreager1

Sakura Hime is a Shojo story that you may not have heard of. It’s not a completely obscure title, but it’s still not very well known. It tries to delve into the action genre while also keeping the romance in, which makes for a tricky balance. It’s definitely no Shonen Jump title, but I suppose that it is certainly better than most of the other Shojo series. I can’t give it a passing grade, but the fight scenes were pretty cool.

This story takes place in a land filled with monsters and kings. The setting is a fantasy land that seems pretty primitive by today’s standards. There are certainly no electronics to speak of. A young girl by the name of Sakura is found out to be a Yokai. She is one of the legendary monsters that hails from the moon and she is able to wield the legendary Chizakura blade. Prince Oura is sent to destroy her, but he decides not too since he naturally falls in love with her at first sight. The government still doesn’t trust her so Prince Oura is in a tricky spot.

Not wasting any time, the denizens of the moon decide to attack in full force. Their leader is immensely powerful and he seems to have some history with Sakura. The plot developments and twists will give Sakura some doubts as to what side she should choose. Both of them have shady pasts and many people will feel the effects of her decisions. Luckily, she is Princess Sakura (Did the title just spoil the series?) so she is always ready for action!

Sakura is the main character so it was interesting to see how cool she would be compared to Cardcaptor Sakura and Sakura Haruno. It’s safe to say that she comes in third place from this trio. (At least manga wise) She isn’t a bad character though and she certainly has her moments, but she has a tough time going all out. She always feels bad for the villains and she refuses to fight more than once. She is easily one of the stronger characters in the series since her blade can destroy any yokai with a single hit. This just means that there will be many excuses for her to miss the enemy. Her romance with Prince Oura is definitely one of the low points for her, but another one is that she lets so many guys hit on her without putting up enough resistance. She should just tell them to go away and slice them down with her sword if they do not. She has to put up with a lot of negativity from the villagers. (At least she gets to use intro lines that would even make Sailor Moon proud when she does get to fight)

Another problem is that she’s a little too gullible. She lets the government capture her with ease, which was pretty awful. It’s really a good thing that Enchu was there that time since her mind would have quickly broken under the government’s trap. That situation should have definitely been avoided and she should have known that something was up. It’s just sad to see someone as powerful as her be defeated by the government so easily. In the end, she may not be a bad main character and she beats some of her Shojo counterparts, but she definitely isn’t one of the better ones out there.

Prince Oura is the main guy in this series and he’s definitely an unlikable character. He was terrible when he first appeared, but he definitely got better as the series went on. That being said, he went from terrible to just unlikable as he never became a good character for me. He always seems ungrateful and he decides to keep secrets from Sakura right up til the very end. He certainly doesn’t make things easy for her. He’s a part of the government so he should be trying to make things better, but he usually just goes along with what the higher ups want. When it comes to matters involving Sakura, he quickly stops them, but he doesn’t do much more than that. He just seems like a pawn of the government when he could be an instrumental figure in changing them. Maybe someday…maybe. Either way, he lost his chance at being a likable character a long time ago.

Asagiri is a little snow fairy who helps Sakura out during the series. Things definitely get dicey for her in the climax since she is captured and the heroes are too slow to really do anything about it. By the time they get to her, it’s almost too late. “Almost” being the key word of course and we have Sakura to thank for her rescue. She is definitely a good character and I’d say that she is one of Sakura’s best allies. As with another one of Sakura’s allies, Asagiri has a super form at her disposal.

Byakuya protects Sakura and acts as her mentor. She used to wield the sacred sword and she’s pretty powerful when she fights in her true form. Typically, she fights under the guise of an old woman, but this is just an act to make the opponent lower their guard. She’s pretty good and she has a twist at the very end of the series that is pretty intriguing. It’s definitely impressive for her, but it also does undermine the final villain to an extent. She doesn’t live up to the Byakuya name that we know from Bleach, but she is a talented fighter and a loyal companion.

Kohaku is a ninja who works for Sakura and she places the Princess’ safety before her obligations to the main house. That is a good thing since it means that Sakura can actually trust her. Unfortunately, she starts to develop feelings for two other ninja, which creates another subplot that we didn’t really need. It doesn’t help that both of them are constantly running away and making themselves scarce. Kohaku doesn’t get a whole lot of closure as the series ends, but she does get her own fight during arc 1. That was pretty good, but it was the only action that she really got in the series. She’s a good ninja though and certainly better than her partner.

Hayate is a very confused man who doesn’t really know what he wants. He thinks that he likes Kohaku, but then he starts to like Rurijo before trying to get back together with Kohaku in the final chapters. I definitely wouldn’t accept him if I was her since Hayate can’t make up his mind. Hayate was cursed to be a frog for a very long time so he misses out on most of the series. He can turn into a human when the full moon is out so he does try to get some fight scenes in, but mostly he is just a bystander. I’m glad that he didn’t rat out Rurijo to the corrupt government and the heroes, but he certainly didn’t do it for the right reasons. This is definitely one shinobi that I didn’t like.

Rurijo was made out of tree branches as a clone of Sakura. This way her very existence can remind Enju of the princess and how he needs to save her from the pesky government and Prince Oura. As such, she gets a pretty sad character arc since Enju only sees her as a substitute. She must constantly go to water to replenish her strength and everyone always seems to get upset at her when she tries to destroy Sakura. By the second half of the series, she is still learning to cope with this, but it’s slow goings. Things temporarily grow brighter for her when she gets a new master only for everything to go sour once again. This is one character who never really got to be happy. She can definitely be likable and she was a fun villain during the first half. Alas, she always longs to be with Enju, which hurts her character. She’s oblivious to Hayate, so I’ll give her some credit for that, but she should have stuck to being a great warrior who mows down the heroes.

Enju is the big villain and he lasts for the whole series. He has a pretty traumatic past, which led him to betray the government and become the big villain. Deep down he mainly wants to help Sakura, but he loses sight of this goal from time to time. He’s definitely a villain no matter how sympathetic the series tries to make him. That being said, you could call him a villain of circumstance as the government turned him into what he is today. It’s all pretty tragic for him although his last minute change of heart was more than a little hard to swallow. His personality just did a 180 in the span of 2 chapters. The series was ending so I’m guessing that the author just wanted to wrap that part up. I appreciate his loyalty, but he’s still not really my kind of villain. I do like the fact that he is a great fighter though and he works pretty well as a serious villain.

Shuri is a ninja who really tries to play all of the sides. On the surface he appears to be working for Enju, but this is actually a mission that the government gave to him. He also helps Prince Oura and the others when it is convenient for him so he really can’t be trusted. You could say that he’ll help Kohaku over his obligations to the other places, but I’m not really sure about that. This is one guy that I definitely would not trust. His ending is definitely emotional, but I didn’t care for his character from the start so it definitely wasn’t a big loss for me.

Maimai’s role felt much smaller than most of the other villains. He cares a lot about looks and exteriors, but he’s actually a “tough” villain when things get serious. I really couldn’t take him seriously and Maimai just isn’t a great villain. Maimai doesn’t really have any grand ambition or good reasons to help Enchu. As a result, he comes across as having no real character so he never stood a chance of being a cool villain.

Kaguya is the ultimate villain and the final one to take the stage. It comes as no great shock that she is pretty powerful. She doesn’t have much in the way of character since her screen time is so brief, but she still manages to be a pretty cool antagonist. She’s someone that you can certainly root for and she’s probably the best villain in the series. She also gives us our first fight where Sakura gets a speed feat. It’s not an incredible one, but it’s a speed feat nonetheless. It’s too bad that Kaguya couldn’t last a little longer, but she served her purpose of being a good villain.

The series definitely has quite a few flaws that keep it from being a real contender in the manga ranks. Naturally, the biggest obstacle is the fanservice. Seeing as how this is a Shojo title, it’s surprising that it is so prevalent in this series. Particularly with Rurijo since she is constantly at the hot springs. The plot reason for this is that she has to constantly go somewhere where she can be in the water because she is made of tree branches. Nevertheless, that plot could have been changed so that this wouldn’t be necessary.

Another factor is the romance. For the record, I haven’t actually bashed the romance angle in many of my recent reviews, but this one definitely deserves the harsh treatment. For one, Prince Oura is a really cheap guy, although you already know that from my earlier writings of him. I disapprove of Sakura going to him, especially after his threats and decision to destroy her in the beginning if not for her quick thinking. It goes a little far and this naturally lasts until the very end of the series so it continues to appear no matter how much you want it to go away.

Again, I do have to give the series props for the fight scenes though. For the first half of the series, we get to a point where 3-4 volumes in a row are composed of action scenes. We get to take a break from the typical slice of life moments to actually get a Shonen feel. Everyone splits up and chooses an enemy to face. It’s pretty fun and if the whole series was like that, I think it may have had a chance to creep all the way up to a 6. The characters on both sides were pretty well developed so the throwaway fights felt like real ones as well. The enemies were probably a little too strong compared to the heroes, but such is the fate of the humans in their war against demons.

One thing that’s pretty sad is that the government is pretty awful. They’re totally corrupt and they get away with just about everything. They naturally dislike the Yokai and they force the main villain into a water tank, which repeatedly destroys him until his mind breaks. They are the reason why he is evil and they nearly do the same to Sakura before that same villain arrives to save her. After that, you really don’t want the heroes to help the government, but they do and the higher ups never really get what’s coming to them. Enju takes out quite a few of them, but there are always more. One of the side characters is going to become the next leader of the place so maybe he can help right? The problem is that he’s also pretty corrupt so he won’t be much of an improvement.

With traitors like that as allies, there really aren’t many characters to root for. You can’t root for the villains either since they want destruction as well. It just makes everything hazy and while you can sympathize with Sakura’s desire to help everyone, she tends to make problems even bigger at times with her inability to really make a decision. Imprisoning the government officials and taking the Yokai down seems to be the best bet, but with a prince as one of the main characters…that will be difficult.

The art is definitely pretty good for the series. I won’t call it downright amazing, but it’s certainly better than I had expected it to be. It’s very clear and the fight scenes occur pretty smoothly. It definitely made everything a little more enjoyable than it could have been and I think the author must have read a lot of Shonen manga since the action scenes have the epic zoom ins and classic dialogue that we’ve come to expect. The art perfectly captures these moments and I definitely give the series a big thumbs up there.

Overall, Sakura Hime is a series that is plagued by the fanservice and romantic plots that tend to overwhelm it at times. If the series had stopped after arc 1, it definitely had a decent shot at landing a solid 6. As it is, I think that the second arc basically cut this series in half. You can blame at least 90% of that on Oura, but I suppose that we have to blame the Emperor and some of the other characters as well. How the government is allowed to continue their rule is certainly beyond me. Just about all of the higher ups are fairly corrupt so you really can’t trust anyone on either the human or the yokai side. If you want a romance series with some action, this is definitely the right series for you. As it stands, I can’t really recommend this title and would turn you to another Shojo like Kitchen Princess or Sailor Moon for a better experience.

Overall 3/10

Muhyo and Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation Review

Posted on January 15, 2015 by dreager1

It’s time to review another mystery series! Muhyo and Roji is a series that I started many years ago and then I finally got to finish it up late last year or extremely early 2015. The final days tend to blend together after a while. The series had an extremely slow start as the episodic mysteries/ghost occurrences took a little longer than expected. It got to be pretty fun during the main arc and then things started to die down towards the end. I wasn’t really sure how I should score the manga, but I’m sure that I’ll know by the end of the review. At the very least, I can safely say that it could be one of the best horror series that I have read.

For some reason I keep thinking of this series as a mystery even though it’s more of a horror. Well, Muhyo and Roji have an office where they field requests from their clients to help out in supernatural matters. Typically, they have to defeat evil spirits who are haunting people or helping nice ghosts to move on. Muhyo is known as a genius and he’s one of the best in the biz while Roji is the opposite. He’s weaker than most rookies when the series starts out and he literally cannot use any spells. That changes as the series goes on, but Muhyo is always the one who does the most fighting. We get a lot of one shot stories and mini arcs until the first big arc occurs.

Enchu was another prodigy, but he turned over to the dark side. He now commands a large army of evil spirits and demons and he wants to use them to destroy the magical academy and everyone. I forgot if he also wants to destroy the world or not, but you get the general idea. Many clerks (Magical exorcists) and trainees will now gather at this school to combat Enchu, but it will be quite the fight. Lots of new characters are introduced for the heroes and villains as the war escalates. This arc takes up most of the series and it’s certainly the best part.

Afterwards, we do get a mini arc with a new villain who is a serious threat. It’s hard to take this puffball (It’s literally a demon who looks like a ball of fluff) seriously though and the ending is rather anticlimactic. After such a big arc, going back to one shot stories and a small final arc is rather dicey. That being said, it appears that the series was cancelled though since it ends with some major loose ends and it’s rather rushed. One of the big villains is hatching his next scheme as the series ends, which could also just hint at a sequel series I suppose. The ending wasn’t great, but it was still better than the average series I suppose. I just wanted some more closure for the villain.

Muhyo is one of the main characters although I would argue that Roji is The main character. Muhyo’s a genius and he tends to be pretty mean to Roji at the beginning. He’s one of those characters who always has a gruff exterior so that nobody can get close to him. Sometimes an author can go a little too far with that, but this series did a good job of keeping it grounded. Muhyo is never too mean to the point where I would consider him to be a bad person as he just insults Roji enough to keep the kid sharp. Their bond definitely strengthens as the series progresses and Muhyo turns out to be a pretty nice guy.

We learn about Muhyo’s backstory as the manga unfolds and he still looks really good there. Suffice to say, Muhyo always has a reason for doing what he does. He never acts without a plan in mind and it’s probably why he is such a good fighter. He seems like he has no compassion for the evil spirits, but his mindgames sometimes do help them to see the light before it is all over. Unlike most Shonen Jump protagonists, he doesn’t have any real physical abilities. He fights using summons, which is a pretty unique way to battle. This is also a weakness since any foe with a decent amount of super speed could probably attack him before he has a chance to bring in any of his stronger foes. Muhyo looks very good from start to finish and he’s surprisingly one of the better Shonen Jump protagonists out there. I wasn’t a huge fan of him during the first few volumes, but it all makes sense once you keep on reading. That is how you use character development to make a character better!

Roji is Muhyo’s partner and he’s a good sidekick. He means well and he always does the problem to improve. You could say that he’s like your average protagonist in that sense, but with a more realistic pace in how he improves. It’s one of those times where the realism factor does not help his character though since it’ll be many years before he ends up being a top fighter. He doesn’t use summons and he can only attack by throwing tags that can hurt the weaker spirits. I’m afraid that this really limits his potential against stronger opponents. He gets depressed pretty quickly, which is definitely another one of his weak points. He’s a likable character, but I wish that he could have gotten stronger so that he could have helped more.

Kenji is technically a supporting character who is typically around the main characters, but I always wondered just what point he had in the series. He never really has any big moments. He does prove useful once or twice of course, but he doesn’t do anything that someone else could have done. It’s nice that Muhyo and Roji have a supporter of course, but he was never my favorite character. He’s better than most little kids though so I’ll give him some props there.

Nana is the main heroine of the series although her screen time isn’t as impressive as most of her counterparts in other Shonen series. She never learns how to fight so she really is just there as a bystander. She’s a good character, but she is unfortunately used as fanservice on more than one occasion. Nana doesn’t really get to add anything to the series and while she is a decent character, it would probably be for the best if she was not here due to how she is used in the story. The series was pretty decent with the fanservice for the most part so that’s too bad.

Of course, most of the blame goes to Yoichi since he is the token pervert of the series. He is easily the worst character in the series. At least, from the characters who appear more than once. There’s a slight chance that there is a one shot character who is worse, but it’s hard to beat Yoichi. He isn’t a great fighter since he doesn’t summon monsters and Roji should pass him pretty quickly. He proves to be pretty traitorous to the end as he doesn’t care about the feelings of the others. You just want this guy to stop appearing since he brings everyone down.

Enchu is the big villain of the series. He used to be one of Muhyo’s best friends before going to the dark side so you can tell that he is very powerful. Emotional villains like this one always manage to make it to the top of the food chain. His motives and goals aren’t great though since he is really just venting from past experiences. He causes a lot of mayhem and destruction so it’s a little hard to just let it go either. Muhyo wants to save him no matter what, but it’ll definitely be a pretty tough task. He’s a very strong villain, but he’s not really a likable one. As a hero he seemed like a pretty nice guy though.

Rio is one figure who had a pretty sad origin story, but one which had an ending that wasn’t as bad as you would have guessed. The school had a pretty bad principle who thought that Rio wasn’t a good teacher and needed to rely on her looks while an old lady had the opposite thought. Rio was torn between honor and money. Unfortunately, she chose the wrong choice and this started her off on the path to the dark side. Her character development is all over the place, but ultimately she just didn’t make the right choices when they counted. She helps out in some of the battles, but she was never a great character. She’s better than Biko, her partner, but I never liked him from the start. He’s just not a fighter and he acts a little too tough considering how weak he is.

Goryo is a rival who appeared in the series, but was quickly surpassed. He believes that money and status are very important and he loves to rub it in Roji’s face. He takes command of Muhyo’s base at one point, which was a low point for the series. Despite his tough front, Goryo is definitely not as strong as Muhyo and his abilities actually aren’t that impressive. His role was a minor one and he didn’t really contribute much to the series, but at least he gave it his all.

Imai is introduced at around the halfway mark of the series I believe. She’s not a great fighter as with Roji, Yoichi, and Biko. That being said, she does carry a gun with her so she has an instant advantage over the others. She is a professional and she’s been at this game for a much longer time than Roji. That doesn’t always help her out in the field, but technically this makes her more of a threat. She doesn’t get a whole lot to do in the series and she never gets a really big fight, but she’s a pretty good supporting character. Imai probably should have been given more development to make her an interesting character, but she was good enough.

Teeki is another one of the big villains and he was totally evil from start to finish. He has a pretty good design and his mask really gives off a horror feel. He’s a pretty intriguing figure who plans things out years in advance. His plans wouldn’t go so smoothly if other villains had not been as gullible, but he probably planned for that as well. He’s a reasonably cool villain. I definitely can’t say that he is a great one, but he is more of a threat than most of the others.

Mick is probably my favorite villain in the game. Finally, we had someone who could fight in close quarters combat with his swords. Mick is not someone that you want to underestimate even if his role isn’t that large in the manga. It’s great to see a human trading blows with giant monsters and it’s safe to say that only plot hax keeps Muhyo and Roji alive when he appears. He’s easily one of the strongest characters in the series and I was an instant fan.

Klaus is the teacher of Muhyo so he’s a pretty capable fighter. We don’t get to see him fight seriously until we’re almost at the end of the Enchu arc. He definitely puts in a lot of effort and his fight scene is pretty great, but I’m not a fan of him as a character. He’s the kind of guy who is constantly keeping secrets from the main characters and his duties as chairman come before his bond to the main characters. If Roji doesn’t pass the test to officially allow him to partner up with Muhyo, he’ll make sure that Roji is kicked out. It’s things like that which make me not like him. He needs to be a more dependable friend.

Many summoned monsters appear throughout the series. Some are certainly more impressive than others. Unfortunately, their designs typically aren’t as unique and memorable as your average Yugioh monster. Muhyo’s main monster is an old one with a 1 or 3 eyes. He’s pretty powerful although he’s not that quick. He’s a very dependable guy to have. Muhyo’s strongest monster helps him during the climax of the Enchu arc and they did a cross fusion of sorts so that he could fight without restraint. By “cross fusing” it means that the summoner gives the monster his life force by merging their energies. The flip side to this is that the caster will die if the monster does. It’s an all of nothing gambit that almost never works, but it dramatically increases one’s abilities. It made for a pretty good battle and Klaus had a great one of his own. Typically, the monsters aren’t very impressive in terms of speed or power, but the high end ones can definitely put on quite a show. Since we don’t really have any human fight scenes aside from Mick, we need the monsters to definitely hold their own.

The monsters have a decent amount of character. Most of the high end ones are either wise sages whose boosts come from their actions of the younger ones who like to brag as they fight. It makes for some pretty good trash talking and the designs for some of them are humanoid enough so that they can really fight. Most of the final monsters also have instant regeneration so taking them down is tough. That’s why the final boss is pretty anticlimactic. It’s a giant sponge or a sponge ball I guess. It doesn’t look that tough even if it is beating the whole cast. I dare say that he is weaker than the final boss of the Enchu arc since Muhyo didn’t need any cross fusion or ultimate tricks to beat him. A simple sentence sufficed and that was probably sad for the fans.

There is some fanservice in the series, which naturally takes a shot at the series. Mostly, it involves Yoichi just being inappropriate or your generic hot springs scene. As always, these scenes are pretty unnecessary and shouldn’t be around. It seems pretty hard for any series to pass up on this, which is regrettable. Just look at classic titles like Beyblade, Kenshin or Yugioh GX to see how you can do a series without this negative addition. That being said, it’s definitely less recurring than most of the other series on the block so that’s a small victory.

The artwork is decent, but I would probably place it under the average Shonen Jump title. I think it’s part of the reason why I wasn’t crazy about the first volumes. It feels really rough around the edges as you’re reading it and I can’t say that it ever got really good. From start to finish, I felt like something was pretty off about the character designs. The monsters looked good, but they could have looked even better. It may have helped for the creepy tone of the manga, but I’ll take streamlined art any day.

The stakes were only high for one part of the series, but that was enough to make the series feel a little more Shonen. One of the reasons why the beginning was lacking was that the characters were not really likable yet so the one shot stories didn’t work. Those work best when you like the characters so seeing them in any situation is fun. Placing the Enchu arc first would have probably done wonders for the series since the one shot stories after that one are better than the beginnings. The series was pretty fun from the Enchu part and that’s one of the main reasons why it ended on a higher note. The series also ditched most of the horror themes from the beginning starting with the Enchu arc. I’m okay with that since it went for action over spooks. The horror part wasn’t bad though as it was pretty cool to see what designs the author could come up with. They typically just weren’t combat designs.

Overall, Muhyo and Roji is a pretty good series. If I allowed half points on the blog, this title would definitely get a 6.5. I don’t think that it’s quite consistently good enough to get a 7, but giving it a 6 seems a little harsh as well. That being said, a 6.5 is not an option so I have a choice to make. I’m going to have to go with the former mainly thanks to the slow start coupled in with the fanservice. The likable characters and fun fights naturally keep it in the positive area though and I was pretty satisfied with the ending. It would have been cool if the series had kept going, but I guess some series have to ultimately end without breaching the 20 volume mark. I recommend this series if you want something that deals with the supernatural and especially if you like monster fights or want a manga series with a horror vibe. In that case, this is definitely your series!

Overall 7/10

Taken 2 Review

Posted on January 14, 2015 by dreager1

You have to admit that the poster is a bit much. It looks very good of course so I have no problems there, but it just looks a little too good if you know what I mean. Let’s just say that the main character doesn’t go around blowing up the city as he stops the crooks..he has someone else do that for him this time. It’s a decent sequel, but it’s definitely a little too dreary to get a solid rating. There is no replay value to be found here folks.

After Bryan saved his daughter from a fate worse than death in the first film, he has continued on with his job of keeping the peace and protecting people. He doesn’t want to let the events of the first film get him down so he invites his wife and daughter to go with him on a vacation. Naturally, they check into a pretty charming hotel like last time and leave the daughter along like last time as he heads out to have fun. A car appears to be chasing him and then he realizes that his daughter could be in trouble once again. The gangsters are mainly after Bryan since they want their revenge, but they’re going to take it out on anyone who is with him. It’s time for Bryan to take his gun back out since things just got serious!

Well, the film plays out as you may expect. There isn’t a lot of things happening here to be honest because the film is under 2 hours and we need the first 20 or so minutes for character development. See, the daughter wants to live a “normal” (AKA, a Hollywood) life so she decides to find some random guy and make the next step. That subplot is pretty bad and we’re lucky that it’s only here for a scene near the beginning and one at the end. That being said, it’s still a pretty terrible subplot and it’s a good way to start the film off on a low note.

It makes Kim a pretty unlikable character here from the start. Considering how hard Bryan worked to save her last time, you’d think that she would be a lot more grateful. Moving on is always a good thing to do, but you still need to be a little more rational about the whole ordeal. A vacation to a country that isn’t Sweden or France is definitely something that I wouldn’t go for. She gets to help out a lot in the climax and it’s good that she’s able to step up when she needs too, but that’s just not good enough for her to be a well rounded fighter.

Bryan looks pretty good as he continues to show why he is always prepared. He has a lot of weapons around him, but more importantly, he knows how to get out of a trap. His mini phone definitely came in handy quite a few times and he’s still a really good fighter. He doesn’t really have any flaws. You can actually say that he’s a bit like Kirito in the fact that you are meant to put yourself in his shoes. He’s basically the ultimate team guy. You like to think that this is how you would solve the problem if someone took your family hostage and he always delivers. In that sense you can argue that he is “too good” but I never really bought that argument. Whether he is meant to be the viewers or not, I’m glad that he is a pretty capable lead.

It’s hard to say whether Lenore looks good or bad since she is taken out of the picture pretty quickly. One of her flaws is definitely who she choose to be with instead of Bryan since we see that it was a bad choice. The game of romance is always risky and it’s why I never recommend participating in it. That being said, she seems like a reasonable person for the most part and she holds up pretty well when she’s captured. There’s nothing really negative about her so that’s a good thing.

There’s not much to say about the villains since they’re just meant to be unlikable. None of them really have any character to speak of. They want vengeance for the other ruthless gangsters who died so they just use that as an excuse to destroy more people. They’re all pretty sick individuals and you’re just waiting for them to get arrested as you watch the film. Unfortunately, the cops look pretty bad once again as they fail to take down even one gangster before they are mowed down. Not very flattering for them.

This film is definitely more violent than what you would see in your typical PG 13 film and mixed in with the dark tone, you have a film that you probably won’t want to watch again. The replay value just isn’t there and it’s not really a fun film to watch. The film is pretty realistic for the most part, but that just makes you want to avoid it even more since you know that these things are happening in real life, but without happy endings. It’s definitely not my kind of film or it’s just “taken” it a little too far. Regardless, one viewing is definitely all that you need.

There is one scene that definitely does stretch your disbelief a little bit as Bryan gives Kim a lot of tasks to do over the phone and she’s able to do them pretty easily. Drawing a circle with her equipment may not be that difficult, but it’s still not something that you can typically do without any experience. She was able to locate things on her map with ease and the whole thing was pretty unbelievable. Bryan was also a little too good there as he memorized exactly how many twists and turns the van did as they went on a pretty long journey. He was also counting the seconds of course so he knew just how far they had driven. I don’t care how much of a genius you are, that’s just not happening. Getting into the Embassy was also a little dicey since the heroes probably would have been shot as soon as they barreled past. The U.S. Embassy means business after all and they wouldn’t let a few trigger happy individuals in a speeding car get past them.

Naturally, the film decides to put some emphasis on the final murder for Bryan. He gives the villain a classic choice, walk away or he will destroy him. The villain makes a move and then Bryan does as well, but now we’re dealing with a defenseless villain vs Bryan, which makes the whole ordeal a little more dicey. Arresting him is always the just move, but Bryan is here to avenge his family so he doesn’t really care about all of that. The villain wasn’t smart there either since he should have expected the gun to be empty. I guess we’ll find out if his threat will come true or not about his other allies and their quest for vengeance.

Overall, Taken 2 is not a good action thriller. I recommend Mission Impossible as an alternative course of action and specifically the first one since it was pretty great. This film is just too dreary to really recommend watching. Seeing Bryan (AKA the viewer) beat up all of the bad guys in pretty intense ways as he saves the day can probably feel pretty rewarding for some, but it can also just make you think of how believable the whole thing is. There isn’t a lot of hope throughout the film and even the ending has some dark twists since we are led to believe that more villains will pop up. Since there is a Taken 3, it seems that this will probably happen. The film did a good job of avoiding language and unnecessary (fake) romance scenes, but it’s still just not a very good movie. I recommend it if you are looking for a fairly realistic story where you get to see the gangsters beaten up, but otherwise this is a film to skip.

Overall 4/10

New Avengers Everything Dies Review

Posted on January 13, 2015 by dreager1

Time to review volume 1 of the recent New Avengers series. The Illuminati have always made for a pretty interesting plot and Captain America has been the one to keep them in line. What will happen when they decide to go too far? It’s definitely a collection that is meant to keep you thinking and it’s a fun read.

The Earth is going to collide with an alternate Earth and the resulting explosion end up devastating the universe. Black Panther learns of this when he apprehends a mysterious figure who appears on his land. Her name is the Black Swan and she knows more than she lets on. He reluctantly calls the Illuminati to deliberate about what must be done. Black Swan lets them know that they ultimately only have two choices. Blow up the other Earth or allow the universe to end. She just finished blowing up a planet herself so she is not bluffing. What will the heroes decide to do?

Naturally, Captain America is against the notion of blowing up the planet. Since it is an alternate Earth, that would mean destroying billions of lives to save their own. It’s just not a good gambit and he knows that there has to be another way. He’s seen the Earth on the brink of extinction many times in the past so he knows what he is talking about. This is Captain America as he was meant to be portrayed. He is the moral compass of the group and he won’t even entertain the notion of using the bomb to take out the planet. Unfortunately, this means that the Illuminati can no longer have him around and they decide to erase his memories. It’s ~~ripped off~~similar to what the Justice League did to Batman a while back. It’s sad for Steve Rogers since the others basically became traitors at that moment. The Avenger didn’t get to appear for most of the collection since he was taken out, but he looked very good in the scenes that he was in. I think he shouldn’t have been surprised by Black Panther’s betrayal though, but that’s a minor setback.

Black Panther is all for the idea along with Black Bolt. They’re leaders so they’ll do whatever it takes in order to save their kingdoms. Morals and honor will always be secondary to their overall goals. Namor is happy to do it since he’s essentially a villain at this point in time anyway. Dr Strange is slightly more reluctant to do this and he has a few spells ready, but none of them really seem like they’ll complete the job here so it’s moot. He ultimately agrees with the decision to blow up the planet. Mr Fantastic agrees pretty quickly since it’ll save his family and the Beast doesn’t even need a moment to think about it. He agrees wholeheartedly because he is the Beast and remains as one of my least favorite X-Men fighters.

That’s when the big cop out occurs…the planet is uninhabited. That does take away all of the tension and the stakes since they can now blow up the planet with a clear heart. In a way I would have preferred for this cop out not to have occurred since we would have seen whether these heroes were really heroes or not. No matter how they tried to justify it, destroying the planet would have cemented them as villains here. Destroying billions of people is far greater than any genocide feat in history and it always would be since blowing up planets is impossible in the real world. Naturally, a hero could top them by blowing up an inhabited galaxy someday, but it could be a while. On the other hand, it’s probably good that this did happen since I would rather not see these heroes taint themselves in such a way.

That was a big blow, but we got to see what all of the characters would have chosen (in theory. No guarantees until the final seconds right?) so that’s the important thing. Some subplots for the future have already begun. Black Panther has declared war on Namor and we can bet that Captain America will regain his memories and launch his own attack at some point. Dr Doom now has knowledge that could prove dangerous to the heroes as well. These plots should be pretty good and it’ll be interesting to see what the Black Swan does next as well.

The Black Swan makes for a pretty good villain here. She looks pretty similar to Emma Frost or Magik so I can’t say that the character design is pretty unique, but she’s a fun villain. We haven’t really seen what her abilities are (Assuming that she has any, but let’s face it…she will!) yet, but her plan is just getting started. She is pretty cooperative with the heroes since she definitely does want to keep on living. The whole situation is rather complicated and the heroes would have had a much tougher time without her. They should hopefully not trust her all that much at the moment, but she has definitely earned her freedom. Only time will tell if she saved the world for the better or for the worse.

The concept of the Illuminati is also pretty dicey and I agree with Black Panther for the most part. Deciding that they will take care of the Earth as they see fit is something that no group should be able to do. What about politics and Joe the Plumber? The heroes are starting to put themselves on a pedestal next to the average person and that’s definitely dangerous. Having the Infinity Gems in their possession is also a big display of power. at least the heroes claim to be doing this for the good of mankind and they haven’t overstepped their boundaries yet, but that day could definitely arise in the near future. We’ll see if the choices make or break them. After all, Captain America was the only member of the team who was a complete hero, without him…things could get very dangerous. The Beast will do anything to help the mutants and likewise with Black Bolt and Black Panther for their races. Namor doesn’t really care about anyone and Dr Strange’s motives are typically pretty clouded. Iron Man already has a dicey history of betraying his comrades like in Civil War so he certainly can’t be trusted. It’s only a matter of time until they fight the normal Avengers.

One thing about the premise that is hard to believe is how Black Swan says that nothing can stop the planets from colliding. The heroes try to use the Infinity Gauntlet and it actually doesn’t work. It’s possible that Captain America’s resolve just wasn’t strong enough, but it’s still a bit of a stretch. Even if that didn’t work there should be a bunch of other things that would. Remember how the Justice League made the Earth intangible during Doom? Something like that would work here or just warping it away from its current position for a few minutes. There are a lot of solutions that you can think of and it’s why I never believe in two choice scenarios in the Marvel world. Of course, you have to ignore that for the plot here, but it’s something to consider. It’s hinted that a high above being is forcing this to happen so that could become a plot soon.

The art is as good as I could have expected. Marvel has always been very sharp for the New Avengers and that doesn’t stop here. All of the character models look sharp and the proportions are right. The action scenes are typically pretty clear except for the Terrax one where a lot was happening at once and the art got a little fuzzy. Marvel continues to show that they can keep up with DC in the artwork game when they really put some effort in.

The writing is also very good for the collection. Regardless of how antagonistic the heroes appear to be, they are still written pretty well. It’s not necessarily out of character for any of the characters here to decide to blow up the planet. If Captain America had agreed then it would be a different story, but he didn’t so I give the comic some more props there. Galaktus and his herald do pop up out of nowhere, but it makes sense that they would try to do something in these final hours. The script alone makes the comic interesting so the fights and good visuals only help to improve the experience.

Overall, New Avengers Everything Dies is a pretty good comic arc. It’s a very fine start to the series since some of the sub plots have already started and we got to see the dark side of the group. The roster for the Illuminati is pretty good as well since most of the characters are interesting. I don’t think that adding in the Beast was a wise move, but maybe he’ll contribute something to the team soon. I think that the plot twist at the end was one of the biggest cop outs that I’ve seen in a while, but I suppose that it makes things a little easier on the heroes. It certainly prevents me from losing more respect for some of them, but it would have been nice to see if they would ultimately take the plunge or not. I recommend this to all Marvel fans or to anyone who wants to read a pretty good comic. Let’s see if future installments can keep this up!

Overall 7/10

Naruto Shippuden Road to Ninja Review

Posted on January 12, 2015 by dreager1

I finally checked out one of the latest Naruto films. This one got the most hype out of any Naruto film. Even the new one that came out about a month ago didn’t get the same kind of publicity as this one. This was going to be the ultimate Naruto film with the best villain yet. I understand that a lot of people did like the villain, but I can’t say that he was for me. This film suffers from the fact that it seems to appeal to the general audience a lot like the last film, but it’s still a decently good movie. We’re just falling back to the pre Shippuden level for the films.

Naruto and Sakura are having some drama with their parents/lack of parents. This results in some tense scenes in the beginning, which inevitably leads them to conclude that their lives would be better off if they could have swapped parental situations. That’s when the Masked Man appears and blasts them into an alternate world where that is the case. Naruto and Sakura realize that they’re going to really have to put some effort in if they want to escape this world and they’ll need to stop the Masked Man. The only problem is that the Masked Man looks a little different in this world. No matter, time to take him out!

Well, it’s a pretty fun plot, but the movie just messed up in several areas. I will admit that I was worried from the very start, but luckily the film fixed my problem with the intro. Let’s just say that it plays out like a bad fanfic. (Good concept, but terrible execution = bad fanfic) The Genin 11 (Mostly Chunins at this point) are slaughtering the Akatsuki when the film starts. It’s embarrassing for the big villains who used to be a threat. Even Itachi and Kisame are treated like random minions. I was definitely wincing a little during this fight since the disregard for power levels was at an all time high. I feel like power levels tend to be more inaccurate as you go through a series so that made me extra cautious here. Luckily, we get a big twist that makes the Akatsuki look better while making Naruto look worse.

I definitely did not like Naruto as he is treated like a plot device to get things rolling. He suddenly starts to feel bad about not having any parents and he takes it out on Iruka. It’s just not the Naruto that we remember. He got over that a long time ago and seeing his parents in his memories was enough to finally snap him out of that. He’s proud of what they did so he would never wish that they were back here. It seems like something that the writers felt was “realistic” for a kid who didn’t have any parents so they threw that in. This transitions into the general audience problem, but I’ll sidestep from that for a little longer.

Naruto gets to meet up with fake versions of his parents and he decides that he’ll act like a rude person so that they’ll stay away from him. He decides that he’s not going to play the Masked Man’s games, but he’s stuck in the world for now so breaking ties with them is not the best way to go about it. Not to mention that fake Minato is the reason why he will get to go on the mission in the first place. If Naruto really didn’t want to hang out with them, he should have just slept on the bench or in the woods like last time. As long as he is in the house, he should definitely act hospitable.

Even worse than Naruto’s actual personality though is definitely how weak he looks. Naruto has long since surpassed everyone in his village by now so he should have crushed the “Akatsuki” in the opening now that we know the twist. He looks worse than most of his allies there and it’s sad since he was the first one to rush in. Then, he finally gets to face off against Menma and he is thoroughly outclassed. His Sage Mode is unable to do anything so he is forced to summon a giant monster so that we can have a one hit KO attack when he finally gets close to Menma. Not exactly how I pictured the final battle.

Sakura doesn’t look very good either. Temporarily she doesn’t even care about going back to the real world. This also happens to Naruto in the second half, which is also pretty disappointing. She also has her arguments with her parents that is out of character, but still counts against her in this film. Her portrayal definitely wasn’t very good like with Naruto, but she could have been a lot worse. Just look at most of the supporting characters. Once again, it’s safe to say that the Leaf Village is pretty unlikable. Iruka deciding not to recommend Naruto to be a Jounin is just a really low blow. This is why nobody can trust this village, they’re always stabbing each other in the back.

Time to back it up a little. The film really feels like it’s trying to be a decent introductory movie to new viewers in a few ways. One way is that we get to see Naruto’s origin story once again (Luckily we skip all of the bullying this time) and Naruto hasn’t gotten over the death of his parents like I mentioned earlier. Sakura’s arguments with her parents are completely out of character for her and it’s just here so that she can be a part of the plot. It’s also a common plot to use for a film so the writers just couldn’t pass it up. (The Author was the main one who decided what the film would be like, but I say writers because the film guys likely helped along the way with their suggestions) Another way that it feels like a general audience film is that the climax is a giant monster battle instead of a nice hand to hand experience.

Let’s face it, “Bigger is better” is still a popular saying in films. So, instead of letting audiences see Naruto and Menma go at it in a DBZ style confrontation, we get to see the Nine Tailed Fox duel a giant monster. They are naturally implied to be far superior to Naruto and Menma is strength even though they look pretty unimpressive. They can spam their energy blasts, but the small range of the blasts (They strike more vertically than horizontally) means that we end up with two monsters who are effectively “camping.” They just keep firing blasts at the other and none of them actually connect. It’s more of a chase than an actual fight and then we get the one punch that ends it all.

That would have been the more disappointing final anime fight since Pokemon if not for the fact that we quickly get another fight after that. Unfortunately, the film was running out of time by then so Naruto’s fight against the Masked Man is very short. No worries, they decide to rip some scenes out of the manga as Naruto wins in a move that pays homage to Minato’s fight. The film’s homages didn’t begin there though as Naruto’s punch with Menma is almost identical to how Naruto defeated Gaara back in the day. I like homages….actually I don’t. Thinking about it now, they’re typically just not good and take away opportunities. Look at Avengers Assemble and how often it copies the film. It’s always best to do something unique and a homage should be more subtle than just copying a fight scene. That’s a lesson that this film really needs to learn.

The film’s animation is pretty good. It’s definitely not something to write home about, but the quality is definitely very good and it makes for a pleasurable viewing experience. I think it’s a little dicey that a show that’s a few years old like Fate/Zero looks better than this film, but that company’s animation budget is just through the roof so I suppose that it’s not fair to compare. What hurts this film a lot is the fact that we didn’t get any real fight scenes, or at least ones that would have a chance to shine. No character uses any fancy energy weapons or has a power up scene where the animators can have fun with the aura. The energy blasts from the Kaiju are the only chance for the film to show off its movie budget and the blasts look good, but they’re more like energy balls so you can’t really make them look quite as good as a Kamehameha no matter how much time you spend drawing it. The fight against the Akatsuki is pretty smooth, but not flashy in the slightest, which is why it actually doesn’t look impressive. You could compare it to the fights against Kakuzu and Hidan in the series and it would actually be pretty similar. The film is more streamlined, but just not as explosively colorful sometimes.

This film borrows just about all of its themes from previous films and the show. That’s pretty sad for it, but it’s a new trend for films based off of old franchises nowadays. It’s a pretty bad trend if you ask me since the music may be established and great, but you need to keep making new songs. Imagine a time where all films just use old tunes and remixes of old tunes. That’s not what we want to see, but the soundtrack is definitely 5 stars worthy. They’re old, but the themes are tried and true. They’re perfect for battle scenes and some of the villain themes really make you feel like the end is near. They’re fitting for such a world filled with despair as everyone fears Menma.

Speaking of which, one of the gimmicks for this film was that Naruto’s supporting cast would have warped personalities in the alternate world. It’s a decent sub plot in concept I suppose, but totally unnecessary. I always liked the idea of parrellel worlds, but just turning all of the heroes to villains and villains to heroes would suffice for me. Instead, the writers decided to make just about all of them unlikable. We have a few perverts, and more of the others are either really meek or too aggressive to the point where they are antagonistic. It’s hard to imagine how this village lasted for a year, much less up to now. There are no good fighters and the whole world lives in fear of Menma.

Time to finally talk about Menma. Saying Menma’s true identity is hardly a spoiler since it’s probably basic Naruto knowledge at this point considering how popular he became for a while, (Not to mention that the actual plot mixed in with the tie in episode makes it a logical conclusion) but I shall not mention it just in case. He has brought the entire Shinobi world to its knees and he is feared as the ultimate Naruto villain. He knows about the Masked Man and then he decides to destroy the Red Moon scroll. It is the one thing that can defeat him so he heads to the Leaf Village to destroy it and that’s when the climax begins. He can summon several monsters like Pain and his physical abilities are already pretty considerable. He is able to catch a Sage Mode Punch from Naruto, which is no easy feat. Unfortunately, the film was just toying with us there as he doesn’t actually fight. Instead, the monster battle begins. From that one moment, we can tell that he is a tough villain, but he just couldn’t end up showing it.

Menma is ultimately an unlikable character despite his powers. One of the main reasons is that he seems to just be a tool the whole time. He has no real motivations and he seems to just fight for the thrills. What really doesn’t help this is the fact that he has a terrible voice. It’s one of the worst voices that I’ve heard for a final boss in some time. It doesn’t strike fear into you or make you gain respect for his character. It just makes Menma seem like a villain who’s tough talk is all that he’s got. Menma’s true design is pretty good and the voice luckily shifts, but it’s hard to watch his masked form.

This review is definitely turning out longer than I had expected. Partially it’s due to how many ways the film went wrong, but also just because this is a Naruto film so there is a lot to discuss. Naruto’s fake parents look pretty good for the most part. One scene is there to quickly reinforce the point that Naruto’s parents were better so that he could leave with no regrets. It definitely shows how much fun it would have been if the parents had been here since the beginning. That would make for a pretty good AU spinoff series since the Leaf Village would definitely be overpowered with them in the ranks. In a way, that’s how it should have been.

I think I’ve addressed most of the points in this film by now. Time to quickly mention one of the negatives that certainly helped to drag the film down. The fanservice. This film has a lot more of it than usual, which is pretty disappointing. It’s not a huge amount, but for Naruto film standards it is considerable. We have the generic bath house scene, which is pretty cringe worthy. There is really no point to it at all. It’s probably just there to get in some more money, but this has always been a pretty cheap trick. You don’t need fanservice in a film and then having two of the characters be perverted for no reason is also in bad taste.

This film is pretty long, but it doesn’t know how to maximize the time that it is given. Too much time is spent on showing us how everything is a little different and not enough is spent on the actual fights or the villain. The film is already almost over by the time that the final fight happens so naturally it is given the shaft instead of the filler moments. Definitely not a good move for the film if you ask me. The film could have been the usual 70 or so minutes without a lot of the filler moments or 2 hours with more action. Either way, it would have been a huge improvement from what we did get.

Now, the moment you’ve been waiting for. Was this movie as disappointing as Battle of Gods? I’m going to say no although it’s very close. My hopes for this film were slightly tempered by Blood Prison while I had nothing to protect me from Battle of Gods before hand. This film still had a great soundtrack, which Battle of Gods lacked although the DBZ film had the much better fight. It just goes to show that the modern films for these two series are not as good as the classics, but that just means that the sequels have a higher chance of being better than these. I’m already hyped for the return of Frieza and I think that the final Naruto film should be pretty good as well. I don’t have high hopes for that one anyway, but the big battle should be good.

In the missed opportunities section, there are definitely a few things that come to mind. One of them is Sasuke since his appearance literally has no point here. He just gets 2-4 lines and that’s about it. He’s relegated to the background like most of the characters here. That’s pretty sad for his fans when the trailers made it seem like he would actually get to do something. The Masked Man’s plan at the end is decent, but plot hax get in the way of this and he also looks rather weak since Sakura is able to hold her own against him for so long. Sakura is a tough fighter, but she’s not Naruto level so he should have been able to crush the Masked Man considering how Sakura’s fight turned out.

Now, I should probably summarize what the positives of the film are since we have so many negatives. How does it actually deserve a 6? Well, we still get a decent fight with the Akatsuki at the beginning and watching them fight random monsters at the end may not be extremely amusing, but it’ll do as an action scene. You just need to ignore the power levels for this film and then you’ll enjoy the fights a lot more. The actual concept is interesting, but it just isn’t used very well. The soundtrack and animation are pretty good as well of course. The film is also pretty interesting while you’re watching it and it’s a fun film. It’s a popcorn fun, action block buster so you’ll leave it feeling satisfied. Amidst all of the negatives, you have to remember that this is still a Shonen Jump film. The designs are unique and the fights are fun. We have good amounts of those two positives here and mixed in with the music, you’ve got the makings of a pretty good film. That’s about it for positives I’m afraid, but they’ll do.

Overall, Road To Ninja is definitely one of the worst Shippuden films and probably ranks pretty low on the all time Naruto list. It loses to films 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8. I’m going to say for now that it does beat films 1 and 5 though. 5 was probably the ultimate disappointing Naruto film since Sasuke was in it, but he couldn’t save it. This is a good film to introduce you to the world of Naruto and Naruto fans should still enjoy the fights. Just be prepared for all of Naruto’s friends to look pretty awful and for the unnecessary fanservice included. Also, brace yourself for the final battle because you are sure to be disappointed unless you were waiting for a giant monster fight. The soundtrack and animation are pretty solid and it’s still a good film despite all of the flaws. This review was certainly on the negative side, but that just seems to be the fate of the modern anime films that get a lot of hype. Obscure titles like Bleach 4 and Yugioh 3D seem to get all of the fun. You’re still guaranteed a fun experience here.

Overall 6/10

Transformers Beast Wars The Ascending Review

Posted on January 12, 2015 by dreager1

It hasn’t been too long since I read The Gathering so the characters are still pretty familiar to me in the sequel. It’s Transformers so I use the term “familiar” a little graciously since you’re probably not going to know all of the names by the time that you finish. I find it easier to just memorize the designs instead of the names since that usually sticks with you a little longer. It’s a pretty good comic and it really has everything that makes Transformers so fun.

Magmatron has been defeated, but he somehow survived the ordeals of the last volume. He is now trapped between dimensions so he exists as a pure energy being. He can travel through time instantaneously now, but he is unable to talk to anyone. It’s a pretty boring existence for him, but he learns of a plot to bring back Unicron. He must warn the Maximals or the Predacons before it is too late! Meanwhile, the Maximals and Predacons are still stuck outside of time during the Beast Wars saga as they try not to tamper with the original fighters and the original fighters try not to tamper with the Autobots and Decepticons.

This is why time travel can be tricky! Ravage wants to tamper and naturally help the Predacons win so fights ensue. Magmatron unleashes his plan, which helps other Maximals to arrive while at the same time making the new villain send his heralds to the planet to silence all of the plots. A lot of things are happening here and the volume is filled with nonstop action. Beast Wars is definitely getting off on the right foot with me.

First off, the art is very solid. That’s a must if you’re going to fill a collection with action scenes. Bad artwork would just wreck that effort and make the issues drag on. The designs are all spot on and everything is very clear. These may be giant robots, but they are able to fight with grace and finesse. Again, the artwork does a great job with that here.

One of the big positives is that the collection is just fun to read from start to finish. There aren’t any big names like Optimus Prime or Megatron here so the comics have to deal with minor characters to hold out intention. I guess Grimlock counts as a big character, but he’s more of a guest star or the one big star to keep your attention. He isn’t even needed since the writing is just that good. It’s definitely a pretty fun ride and probably one of the best Transformer comics on the market.

Shokaract is the big villain of this collection and he’s pretty cool. I definitely like his design and the Anti Matrix that he possesses is definitely powerful. I don’t see him taking on Megatron or anyone like that, but in this universe he is easily one of the strongest fighters on the block. He is already gone by the end of the collection though so we’ll have to get ready for the next big villain to replace him. (The guy gets a one panel cameo at the very end and he looks cool so far, but we’ll have to see how his personality is to know for sure whether he is a good character or not) Shokaract is being used by the villains, but he doesn’t know this so he still manages to talk tough the whole time. He’s a solid villain even if his amount of screen time isn’t very large.

It’s good to see the series still taking some nods from G1 like the Unicron is returning subplot. They’ve stopped that for now, but I’m sure that he will totally revive at some point. Once he does, I’m expecting a crossover since the Maximals will likely be thoroughly outclassed by this new threat. They’re good, but they’re simply a lot weaker than their G1 counterparts.

It’s hard to say who the leader is. The War is over right now so technically the Maximals and Predacons are teammates over in space. One of the robots who looks like Optimus Prime seems to call the shots or he at least has a lot of political power. On Earth, the war still rages on and the Maximals have the upper hand. There are 3 Maximals who looks like Optimus Prime at the moment. I like the one with fur and the tallest one whose leadership skills closely resemble that of the famed leader. I was pretty surprised when I saw the third one since he just jumped in out of nowhere, but he seems to be pretty cool as well. Some drama ensues as Razorbeast, one of the main Maximals, turns evil. His story is probably the only sad one in the batch since it’s pretty tragic. He was a good character so it’s sad to see him go.

One of the tools at the villain’s disposal is a king of liquid that infects whoever is hit with it. One blast will turn you into a mindless creature whose physical stats are now greatly increased. This happens to Razorbeast, but luckily he has enough strength of character to last for a while. It’s a great weapon for the villains, but it’s a little too potent if you ask me. Razorbeast was able to give the whole team a good fight so it was hard to believe that the weakened heroes teaming up with the villains could beat the heralds. They don’t due to some circumstances, but they held out for quite a while without getting hit. It’s a stretch, but I can live with it.

Ravage still makes for a pretty good Decepticon as well. He always looks out for his own skin, but he knows when it’s time to team up. His contributions to the team definitely help out a lot during the tough spots and he’s always been a pretty cool character. He looks better than his Autobot counterpart in Grimlock. Grimlock looks tough to be sure, but he just doesn’t seem as experienced as he should be. Ravage brings a lot to the table for his side, but Grimlock is really just extra muscle for the heroes. He comes in handy, but he should be able to help out even more.

The time travel aspect is a nice touch, but it does make things rather tricky for the writers going forward. Apparently, the robots have access to all point in time now so what’s to stop an enemy from messing with the timestream? Traitors are everywhere after all so you can’t count on any defenses forever. It’s one of the dicey parts about time travel and I guess it’s just better not to think about it. After all, this does open the door to some great stories in the future. I just think that it’s a path that needs to be walked very carefully.

Overall, Transformers Beast Wars The Ascending is a very good collection. There are mostly only obscure characters to be found here, but you’ll still find yourself enjoying the collection. It’s just one battle after another and it’s a lot of fun to read. It plays out like something from the 80’s. It’s a stand alone adventure by the end although I’m sure that some of the plots will ultimately continue. I recommend this to any Transformers fan or to anyone who likes a good action comic. I really can’t think of any negatives here and this is why Transformers has such a good reputation in the comic world.

Overall 7/10

Naruto Shippuden Legends Akatsuki Rising Stats and Records

Posted on January 10, 2015 by dreager1

Stats time!

Play Time 7hr 15m
46200 Ryo

Character Levels

Gaara lv 30
Kankuro lv 30
Temari lv 30
Itachi lv 30
Kisame lv 30
Deidara lv 30
Sasori lv 30
Hiruko lv 30
Naruto lv 44
Sakura lv 14
Kakashi lv 10
Shikamaru lv 12
Tenten lv 15
Rock Lee lv 30
Neji lv 25
Might Guy lv 22

Scenario Star Rank Achieved

1 Yes
2 No
3 No
4 Yes
5 No
6 No
7 No
8 Yes
9 No
10 Yes

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Naruto Shippuden Legends Akatsuki Rising Stats and Records

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