Suggested by Sonic Silver Sonic is strong but he’s not nearly as fast as most of the other doppelgangers. That means Rapidash will be able to land some really solid hits and her flames will be enough to get past the steel. Silver Sonic has no great long range options to counter and so he’ll definitely be boxed in here real quick and then overwhelmed with the fire. Rapidash wins.
Suggested by Destroyer This is a close battle and part of me doesn’t want to count the Dark Bunny out. However…what is he really going to do here? The Three Giant Snakes are huge and they have decent levels of durability. We haven’t seen anything from Dark Bunny to suggest that he could hold his own long enough to land a definitive blow. He has nothing to land such a blow with either. So yeah this one’s not going to go well for the caped crusader. Three Giant Snakes wins.
Suggested by Destroyer Mr Haney is a tough guy but in the end he’s not tough enough to take down Ratburn. Mr Ratburn was strong enough to put fear into the whole classroom and he did it with ease. Haney doesn’t seem like he would be quie as good in a fight and so ultimately he would be playing catchup the whole time. Ratburn just needs a few good decisive blows to win this. Mr Ratburn wins.
Suggested by Destroyer Richard doesn’t have a gun here so he’s not going to be doing much against Howard. Richard can throw a punch as needed and he can be a very manipulative guy but at the end of the day that just won’t be enough. Howard has been toughing it out there for a very long time so at this point he definitely has the skills to survive for long periods of time and to fight out there a little better. Richard just can’t keep up. Howard Aguello wins.
Suggested by Destroyer The Chunk is taking Richard down rather quickly here. Richard isn’t really a fighter while the Chunk has taken down his fair share of opponents over the years. Chunk can spit out his diamonds at super speeds to knock Richard unconscious and that would be the end for him. Richard has no real way to dodge such an attack so it’d be game over for him. Chunk wins.
Suggested by Destroyer Kyodaigumo is a powerful spider that can fire off a lot of threads and even spikes at once. I don’t see Dark Bunny being able to keep up with that level of power and he would be quickly overwhelmed in short order. Jumping around just won’t help in a fight like this. He would be at the mercy of the beast and he really needed more screentime so we could have seen the stronger gadgets. As it stands now he just doesn’t have enough. Kyodaigumo wins.
Kilala Princess is a fairly basic manga that is all about having fun and doesn’t really try for a deeper plot. That said, it succeeds in this by earnestly making that the priority. The series knows exactly what it is and isn’t trying to be anything else. I can definitely respect that. It’s a super safe approach so I don’t have any significant issues with the series. It does mean that there’s a lower ceiling here since the title won’t be all that exciting or epic but it avoids most pitfalls as well. In essence what this means is that it’s a safe recommendation to anyone but it’s not going to be high enough where I would usually end up recommending it to anyone either way.
The series starts off by introducing us to Kilala who is a very cheerful girl. Life comes at you fast but it never overwhelms her and she just looks forward to the adventure. One day she meets a boy named Rei who is the prince of a far away kingdom. He’s guarding a tiara but there are a bunch of villains after it. Basically he needs to find the 7th princess of legend in order to save his country. Kilala knows there’s no way it can be her but she offers to help. In fact, the princess could possibly be her best friend Erika. Unfortunately Erika gets brainwashed and the villains are relentless. Kilala is now in for a big adventure spanning various worlds and dimensions as she aids Rei but what if this search is for naught and there is no princess?
It’s a fairly basic plot and that’s basically a vehicle for the adventures so don’t worry about that much. There’s a fairly straight forward formula here which is that the heroes will go to a world like Little Mermaid or Snow White and meet with the heroes. The villains will attack, the heroes realize that the 7th princess is not there and then they go to the next world. It sort of reminds me of Kingdom Hearts but of course without all of the Heartless attacking and laying siege to the planet. There are the human villains running around of course but they aren’t quite as threatening.
As I said before though, it’s a fairly calm adventure and without that big sense of danger you are able to just relax and have a good time. The main characters are nice enough and this is the kind of title you can definitely recommend to all ages to have a good time. There’s a little adventure, a little romance, and a little danger. There’s also some positive themes here like Kilala learning to stand up for herself and realize that even if she’s not a princess, there’s nothing stopping her from being a great person.
The series does seem to accelerate near the end to the finish line though so don’t expect each of the worlds to have equal length. Towards the end they have to wrap things up so the last world or two are rather short. Still, the series had a decent run and is still long enough to be memorable. The smaller stakes is what helps this to end up being very manageable in the long run. Now lets talk about the characters.
Kilala is a nice lead who is always trying to do the right thing and help the prince out. At times she can be a little timid though and isn’t the most outspoken lead. To an extent I would say this is because she’s younger than most leads. Kilala hasn’t had to deal with a whole lot of issues or crisis situations over the years so this whole journey is a brand new experience for her. She does take it in stride and has fun while she can of course. Part of her character development is how she eventually learns how to stick up for herself and be a core member.
It’s just not easy at first but I’ll give her points for doing this. She’s just not my favorite lead as a result. What I’d like is for her to talk a little tougher to the rival Sylphy. See, Sylphy is basically Rei’s fiancé but there’s a lot of disclaimers to that. The problem is that he never really rejects her which gives her an in to be super confident and mess with Kilala a lot. On one hand I love Sylphy’s confidence so if she did nothing underhanded then she would be the best character. Unfortunately she ends up making a shady deal at one point in the series which tanked her character.
If she stuck to fighting for Rei then that would be one thing but she crossed the line there. Ultimately that’s why the best character is Kilala’s friend Erika but she ends up vanishing after the opening arc. It’s too bad but often times that is the fate of the friend in world hopping adventure like this one. Erika isn’t the main character so she’s not really invited but she handled herself with great poise the whole time. She’s just a good person and that goes for a lot in the end.
The reason why Rei doesn’t rise as highly is because he doesn’t really pick a girl as I mentioned earlier. The guy is super passive the whole time. Sure he gets his romance moments but he’s not very decisive and leaves a lot of the work to Kilala. In some ways I don’t fully disagree with this so long as he isn’t interested since the party more in love should make the first move. The problem is then after that he absolutely needs to make a decision but he’s often content to just be on the sidelines. Mix that in with his getting knocked out, captured, and defeated constantly and he’s not the most impressive prince. He means well but you can’t say much else for him.
As for the main villain I suppose it’s a bit of a twist on who he is so I won’t say his name. He’s okay at best but there’s really not a whole lot to say about him. I think you could have gone into depth on his motivations and given him a real sob story but he doesn’t get a whole lot of attention. Yes, he does get the bare essentials in terms of origin and motives but nothing that really makes him stick out. At the end of the day he’s just some guy trying to take over and that’s why it rarely feels like this is really the main plot.
The story is more about Kilala learning about what it means to be a true princess as opposed to fighting and leading the army against the impending threat. This is still a Shoujo and not an action title after all. It’s not trying to be the next Yona of the Dawn. At times you definitely wish there would be more action but the talks with the princesses and mini adventures are fun enough. It’s basically like watching a Saturday morning cartoon.
The art is also pretty good, it’s clear and the character designs are on point. You shouldn’t have any problem understanding what is happening at all times. The different worlds all look distinct and I would say the artist captured the style and appearance of each world pretty well. It’s why in a way basic art can sometimes take on the more detailed ones. Sure this won’t look like One Punch Man or Megaman NT Warrior but because it’s rather basic it is easily understood and you can appreciate the big splash pages.
Overall, Kilala Princess is good fun. There’s not really a whole lot to it but there aren’t really any big issues either. The characters are fun enough and you’ll be breezing through the volumes. I’d recommend this to anyone who wants to see the classic Disney characters. Unfortunately the different worlds don’t get to meet up but you still get to see them advise the heroine and help her along the journey.
Overall 6/10
This review is of the TV-14 edited version of the film. Please address the review as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative
The Warriors is a film that was pretty big back in the day. I like the concept of a gang having to basically try and get around the entire state with everyone after them. Unfortunately the movie doesn’t quite live up to the concept. There is a good amount of fun to be had here but the more the movie goes, the more the characters start to get a little unlikable. The movie sort of loses focus on its own plot and there isn’t nearly as much action as you would initially expect.
The movie starts off with all of the gangs converging in the Bronx because a speech is going to be made by the most influential gang of all. The leader is basically calling for a ceasefire because if the gangs can team up then they should be able to take over the city. Everyone’s pretty stoked about this but then the leader is suddenly shot. The worst part is that someone claims the Warriors are behind it. Their gang is fairly small plus they are behind enemy lines so it’s time to bounce. The problem as any New Yorker knows is that Coney Island is quite far from the Bronx. It takes over an hour to get there from Manhattan as it is! Are they ready for this?
It’s definitely fun to recognize the sites during the film. They actually filmed in slightly different locations and switched the train signs around which is clever but if you live in Manhattan then you’ll see through it. It’s a good way to just see the city and I’ve been around the area where most of the film takes place in quite a lot so that was nostalgic. The atmosphere is just right and so the film really starts off with a bang. You can feel the danger and the whole first act is excellent.
Where the film drops off majorly is during the chases in the middle of the film. See, the Warriors get split up and each group gets their own subplot. One part of the Warriors ends up bumping into an all girls gang and figure they’ll mess around a whole lot. The film needs extensive amounts of plot armor to keep them alive here though. Keep in mind that they suspect absolutely nothing the whole time and so there are numerous times when the guys are completely preoccupied and defenseless. It made no sense that the girls didn’t just murder them and that will definitely take you out of the film the whole time.
Then you have another group where one of the guys gets distracted by a lady who’s hanging out alone by a bench. He is here to remind us that the Warriors are still a gang and as such are not particularly heroic. Fortunately she ends up being an undercover cop and calls in the police to bring him to jail. What’s disappointing is the fact that he was actually attempting to overpower her which isn’t just a villainous move but pretty much the worst action possible. You’re absolutely rooting for this guy to be crushed and by extension you’re not really rooting for the rest of the Warriors as much either.
As a side note I do think that the undercover cop plan was super risky though. It took quite a while for the cops to arrive after being signaled since I guess they didn’t just have them camping in the park. Personally I think you have to have at least one officer hiding close by in the bushes or something because a lot can happen in a few minutes. You have to be discreet but you can definitely do that while still being safe.
Meanwhile the main one, Swan mostly stays focused and does a good job of staying focused on the goal..until near the end. He ends up cracking and has a quick fling with Mercy who had been taunting him throughout the film but if would have been good if he had stayed strong instead. She was constantly getting the group into fights by goading on different fighters and increasing the tension levels as a result. The Warriors nearly got away without a fight from the first gang and she’s the one who pressed for one. I feel like getting together with her after that is a bit much.
The romance here is definitely sub par and in a way that’s because this film should not have had any romance to start with. This is supposed to be a gang war film with a ton of battles and every group going at it. When you stop to have a quick affair like this it just doesn’t make any sense. There are only around 2-3 real battles here. I did like the confrontation in the park which was one of the more extended fights at least. The Warriors got to show that they could really fight but it’s also an opportunity to show what the film could have been.
This absolutely should have been like Mortal Kombat with a fight every few minutes. It should have been a full boss rush as the Warriors take on every rival gang around and keep it moving. There was a whole lot of potential there but in the end there are definitely a lot more chases than fighting. Still there are things that the film does well.
When the characters aren’t looking really awful, we do get to see them planning and outmaneuvering all of the gangs. I liked the atmosphere of the gang being out really late at night. Even nowadays you never want to be out too late because that’s asking for trouble so you can only imagine back when there were a ton of gangs everywhere. You do feel better when you’re in a group though which is why they keep on getting separated until there are fewer and fewer of them around.
The ending is also satisfying and really finishes things off in a nice way. You always want to end things on a high note and that happens here. Plus seeing the sunlight as the heroes finally make it back to Coney Island was nice as a way to show that they did survive the night and made it back home. Only way I’d top the ending would have been to show that the Warriors had a bunch of extra members who had stayed home and they are the ones who end up surrounding the villain. Would have been a good way to show that this is their home turf. The villain was very underwhelming so he would have folded either way but I think this would have been a nice touch.
Overall, The Warriors has a better story than the actual execution. While watching the film you keep waiting for the big gang fights and all the action that follows but instead we focus more on the gang members individually as they get a lot of character development and that’s not what you wanted to see here. Particularly because the characters didn’t end up being likable by the end precisely because of these moments. You’re better off doing the big New York walk yourself one of these days, start early and see how far you can go.
Overall 4/10
It’s time for a blast from the past with this one. Imadoki is a romance manga that wasn’t particularly long but still had a lot going on. As far as romance titles go, it’s not bad but the character roster isn’t the strongest. There’s a ton of drama going on because the characters let themselves be overwhelmed by peer pressure so much. Over half of the series would just not exist if the characters had the strength needed to push themselves forward and just go after what they actually want. Instead all of the characters just end up feeling really frustrated the whole time.
The series starts off with Tanpopo transferring to a new school. She is eager to make some new friends but it won’t be easy since she isn’t as wealthy as the others. The instant that the students realize she is a commoner they quickly start bullying her as hard as possible. There is only one guy who seems nice named Kouki but while they’re at school he always pretends not to notice her. Additionally, since he is the most popular guy in school, this doesn’t help with the bullying. Tanpopo’s only chance here is to get close to Kouki while at the gardening club since they are some of the only members but can she pull this off? Also does she want to be just friends or more?
Kouki starts off kind of rough here because he is definitely a lot ruder than he needs to be towards Tanpopo. Pretending not to know her at school and not defending her is just a bit much. I get it if he wants to keep up his image but ultimately that just means he wasn’t a strong enough guy to deal with the consequences and do the right thing. Trying to fit in with the wrong crowd really isn’t a good idea in the slightest. Gradually he gets nicer until he doesn’t worry about those things as much but it’s still tough.
Then he falters in the second half because a girl named Erika shows up and he allows himself to become engaged to her out of obligation. See, she was promised to his brother Youji who ran off and so Kouki feels like he has to marry her now but that’s a pretty huge leap in logic. He then allows Erika to start bullying Tanpopo and chasing her out. At times he’s oblivious about this but it’s all so obvious that it doesn’t make him look any better since it’s basically his fault.
Kouki just gets pushed around a considerable amount throughout the series which puts him a level beneath a lot of the main Shoujo guys. It also feels like he’s rebounding a lot of times because there are several points where he basically decides he’ll settle with Erika and not actually go after Tanpopo. In fact this goes on for a long while since they were together all the way until the next semester started. Not a good look.
Of course Erika is an actual antagonist but at least she’s open about this. She does her best to crush Tanpopo and does this effectively by making bets with her and banking on the fact that Tanpopo would lose her nerve or something would go wrong at the last second. The worst part about this is definitely the fact that the plan worked so smoothly because in a lot of ways Tanpopo had the advantage but just didn’t have enough confidence to make it work. Erika is super dramatic and always trying for attention but I blame Kouki for falling for it just as hard as her for doing this.
Not to be outdone, we have another bully in the form of Tsukiko. She pretends to be Tanpopo’s friend at first while bullying her from the shadows and doing her best to wreck Tanpopo’s day. Some friend right? Ultimately she does turn over a new leaf after being exposed and from then on is a good character but it was another rough start. The series was almost like Dragon Ball Z where everyone started out as a villain and then gradually became a good person. Of course with less volumes there isn’t as much time to really develop them as heroes. At least she actually backed Tanpopo up by the end while most of the other friends scattered.
Arisa ended up being the most loyal friend by far but she wasn’t able to help out as much near the end due to being pregnant and as such not being able to run around with the rest of the gang. Her plot definitely got rather dark for a while there. Ultimately she has the best redemption arc as she got in with the wrong crowd and made a lot of mistakes but never tried taking anyone down with her. That’s the big difference compared with the others so you could root for her.
Then there is Aoi and you guessed it…he has a really rough start too. He is a hacker villain that decides to go after Tanpopo and Kouki, even going as far as to threaten Tanpopo’s life and take advantage of her in the process. The instant a character gets physical like that there really isn’t any coming back for him. He just went way too far so by the end when he turns good (Which isn’t even near the end. It’s basically immediately after the first appearance) then you have a hard time buying into it. He comes in handy a lot with how he stabs other villains and knows how to fight but in theory Tanpopo would never really be all that comfortable around the guy after that. He was just too much of a creep initially with the grabbing and licking.
Finally we have Youji and this guy’s not bad I guess. Of course within the story’s context he’s annoying since he shows up to cause more drama by getting together with Tanpopo but this isn’t actually a rebound per say from his side. See, he went after her after she had broken up with Kouki so she was a free agent at the time. Additionally, nobody was pressuring him into this and he seemed like a nice guy in general. Sure he definitely knew that Kouki liked her as well but Kouki was busy with Erika so that’s not a bad time to make a move. If he were to seriously get together with Erika afterwards then that’s more of a problem but while the manga hints that this will happen, I wouldn’t say that it’s confirmed.
Youji’s definitely not responsible with how he just ran off out of nowhere but he wouldn’t let the company control him so I get that. He just could have handled the whole situation better. So in a way he is the best character by default here. You also have Tanpopo who is nice enough but she falls into the rebound trap. She clearly liked Kouki from day 1 so she shouldn’t have even entertained the idea of being with Youji. This is the problem with rebounding, it’s like you throw logic out the window for a little bit and hang out with someone else while you get your feelings back in order but that’s not how it should be.
She also made a lot of the wrong calls when she was being pushed around by Erika. See, when Erika told her she had to leave the club after losing a bet, okay fine Tanpopo can leave. However, just tell the others this is why she left. Instead she says nothing and so they all get the wrong idea. You’re still honoring the bet but you’re at least letting people know that there was one. Of course Tanpopo shouldn’t have taken the bet in the first place since she was the head of the club. It just caused a lot of needless drama the whole time when there wasn’t any need for it which is a large part of the series really.
If the characters could just stick up for themselves then a lot of the issues wouldn’t have occurred here. The story is still compelling and I enjoyed the writing but a lot of it was rather contrived which does keep it from matching up against the bigger Shoujo titles. The art’s also really good. It’s very clear the whole time so you can easily read through the chapters right away. None of the characters are drawn too similarly either so each member of the main cast stands out. That can be tricky sometimes so I’m glad that this series didn’t run into that issue.
I’d also say that the humor works well enough. It’s personally not one of the funnier manga titles that I’ve read but the artwork could make for some fun comedic expressions. In general there is just more drama than comedy this time around. The tone always stays rather light so don’t think that this is a depressing title or anything but maybe some more joking around could have done the title some good as well. Give us more time with the characters just having fun and chilling out instead of jumping into the next school controversy or rival showing up.
There is very little time for the characters to just have their day to day adventures. I suppose the author wanted to just focus on the plot and keep things moving which is fine of course but perhaps this is what the series needed to make the characters more likable. Similar to how the Sailor Moon anime made all of the characters a lot better by throwing in a ton of filler. In the end that’s what filler is good for after all, developing the characters as needed.
Overall, Imadoki is a romance manga that can be fun but does end up being annoying a lot of the times. The characters need to learn to stand up for themselves and not just fall for every possible villain plan. That’s what this all comes down to after all. Also, the lack of a strong character cast is also what hurts this series. With better characters this absolutely would have been a much stronger adventure all around. Instead its potential does get rather limited. If you like romance manga then you should check this one out but otherwise there are a lot of better options.
Overall 4/10
It’s time for a movie that is pleasant enough but also supremely annoying. The ending isn’t at satisfying as the movie would have you believe and that’s because there just isn’t a reason to believe that things will be different. One character in particular is a massive pushover and looks awful the whole time. Seriously you do not want him in your corner because at the end of the day he’s really not going to do anything for you. He’ll just bow to peer pressure and then that’s the end of that.
The film starts off with introducing us to Carrie who has had to live through a rather unpleasant home environment for quite a while now. Her son Ludie has been completely dominated by his wife Jessie to the point where he will do all her bidding and never sticks up for his own mother. Jessie keeps on taking Carrie’s retirement checks and forbids her from doing basic things like singing hymns. She has also forbidden Carrie from ever going back to her real home. Carrie finally has enough of this and slips away during one sunny afternoon. She has a headstart now but is older and she’s heading for a town so small that most people don’t even know about it anymore. Will she be able to make it or will she be captured by Jessie? The clock is ticking and time is definitely not on her side.
Okay so the main annoying thing here is how much Ludie lets Jessie get away with. The guy is absolutely spineless for the entirety of the film to the point where I would call him an antagonist. When you just stand by and let your mother get picked on then you’re basically guilty in that respect. Ultimately when you’re married it is expected that your significant other will become the #1 priority in your life but you should still be able to see reason enough to stand up for yourself and call that person out when the wrong calls are being made.
This did not feel like a healthy or balanced relationship. Instead Ludie was basically just getting bullied the whole time and it’s a really bad look. It’s a massive L for this guy. Then of course you have Jessie who is still the main antagonist here. It’s crazy how she shamelessly takes the money and constantly barks out orders. She’s a very toxic person and one who shows no real signs of changing which is why the ending doesn’t land. Any scene with her is annoying and you just feel like the movie doesn’t really do anything to have her own up to her crimes. That’s really the biggest problem with her. If the film had acknowledged this…then okay fine I can get behind that. But since they don’t, that’s where the issues really come up.
Finally we have Carrie who is doing her best to get back home. She is very old during this adventure so that does put her at a big disadvantage. She also ends up succumbing to Jessie’s demands most of the time to please Ludie which is too bad since I’d like her to take a firmer stance. Ultimately it would bring more trouble but apologizing when you’re not the one at fault has always been a real annoying thing. You just shouldn’t have to do that under any circumstances.
There is one main side character here in Thelma who was a really nice character. She did her best to look out for Carrie during the bus ride as well as when they were at the bus stop. I actually thought she was going to be around for the whole film but ultimately she was just there for part of the journey. Her appearance was very appreciated though as she helped Carrie through a tough period and it would have been a lot tougher if Carrie was on her own. Ultimately Thelma was the highlight of the movie for just being a kind person in a movie where everyone else seemed rather cruel for no reason. Even the Sheriff took forever and a day to help Carrie out when giving her a simple drive seemed like a no brainer.
I’m also glad the film didn’t have Carrie die when she made it home, like she had just been hanging on until she got there. That definitely would have been real unfortunate. As I mentioned earlier this ending still isn’t perfect like with how the villains don’t really pay for their crimes. That’s something that really should have been fixed through and through. I wanted Carrie to insist she stays in town or just move off on her own. Even bolder, have Jessie leave, those would have all been more satisfying endings.
Instead the ending is basically that things will eventually work out and they all just have to take it. Pretty bad message if you ask me because none of it was Carrie’s fault. It’s the classic “We’re all a little at fault I guess” kind of ending that I never agree with. You shouldn’t have to pay for someone else’s issues and we saw nothing in the film to even suggest that Carrie was being a problem in any way. Throughout the film she was the one doing her best through and through.
That’s really the sore point of the film and what keeps it from getting a higher film. It just feels like the whole thing wasn’t fair at all and Carrie effectively got penalized for just being a nice person. That’s no good. If you watch this film, just get ready to be annoyed a whole lot because Carrie just trying to visit her home is something that should be a simple matter and not something she has to ask permission for. The whole thing is just bonkers.
Overall, This movie is still supposed to be more of a feel good title, but it forgot the feels good parts. If it was a little more upbeat and fun then I think we’d be having a very different conversation here. As it stands that just wasn’t in the cards and I can think of many better films to watch if you want to feel good. It’s time for this movie to instead be lost in the years of time.
Overall 4/10
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