Magic Knight Rayearth Review

Posted on March 22, 2026 by dreager1

It’s been many years since I read the manga for this series so it was fun to see the animated side of things. Season 1 covers the main arc with the heroes heading off to save an entire world. The pacing is good and the arc goes by real fast. The characters and fights are good with a soundtrack that pops out more than you would expect. Whether you like magical girl anime or just a classic adventure then you should be satisfied here.

The series begins by introducing us to Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu who are on a class field trip. Hikaru stands out for having a lot of fun and enjoying the experience while everyone else just goes through the motions. All of a sudden the three of them are transported into a whole new world. They are told that the world will be coming to an end soon because Queen Emeraude has been kidnapped and she is the pillar which holds the world together. These three girls will need to quickly become friends and learn how to fight at a high enough level to stop the enemies that have conspired to keep Emeraude from saving the planet. Umi and Fuu aren’t so sure about this but Hikaru is eager to save the day. Will her determination be enough here?

Right away I can say that Hikaru is the best of the three heroines because of how quickly she focuses here. Hikaru wastes no time in wanting to be of help and throughout the show she is always very enthusiastic. It’s probably good that the three main characters are all very different for the contrast but at the same time it’s no surprise that Hikaru stands out the most. She gets quite a few scenes where everyone else has been defeated but Hikaru keeps on fighting. Without her the heroes would have really been doomed.

She just has good battle sense and so she is able to always put up a fight even though it takes a long time to get her own mecha. Other characters might have lost heart but not Hikaru. Umi mainly wants to go home and from the three leads it takes her the longest time to adapt to this world. She just doesn’t think it is their problem and wants to get back so she can be in the fencing competition. I was a little surprised at how long she stays on that point but it does show how seriously she takes her school commitments.

In terms of ability I would say she is second in strength to Hikaru. She clearly has a lot of talent but it doesn’t always translate as smoothly. As Umi begins to focus more fully on the world, she does better. She’s not quite as stuck-up or arrogant as you might have expected with her dignified background either. You could see her making a lot of friends real easily.

Finally we have Fuu and well I guess someone had to be in last place. Fuu is certainly not a bad character. She tends to be more soft spoken and her abilities aren’t offensive in nature so there’s a lot she has to deal with there. She also has a bit of a romance plot going on with Ferio so she tends to be a bit more distracted at times. They fight quite a bit when first getting to know each other and with the world at stake, there isn’t a whole lot of time for that. So Fuu is good but a big step below the other two.

As for Ferio, well he’s one of those charmers where it’s hard to say when he’s really being genuine or not. He works well in being the rival who shows up to change the situation but if I was Fuu it would be a bit hard to trust him after a while. He has more than one deceptive moment included here after all. He also tends to get discouraged when the going gets tough and just runs off to be by himself. I do like his fighting style though and he actually could hold his own for quite a while.

Presea is a supporting character who doesn’t appear much but has a good role in encouraging the heroes and being someone who could drop some exposition as needed. She didn’t last long but seemed like a powerful fighter. This tracks as the strongest characters tend to go out quickly like Clef. Clef is the ultimate super sage and yet he stood no chance against the villains. It’s why the prophecy about the three magical girls was so important because without them it is clear that the villains had an overwhelming edge here. The heroes were rarely in the same ballpark in terms of abilities and would have quickly been stomped. Clef has to come across as one of the most underwhelming characters because of all the hype though.

The first villain to go up against the heroes is Alcyone. Typically you could say that the first villain will always end up being the weakest. Well, in this case I think she was stronger than Ascot but it is safe to say that she wasn’t very powerful since a day 1 Hikaru was able to push her back and overwhelm her main spell. Alcyone has a one sided romance plot going on as well but it doesn’t do her any favors. You definitely have to be careful who you fall in love with, even if that’s not easy.

She at least had a strong presence though. Ascot has to be the most underwhelming villain because he can’t fight at all really. He just relies on his various monster summons and then gets mad when the heroes blow them up. At one point he yells about the magic knights almost 4-5 times for the episode cliffhanger with an echo in there and it just showed how helpless he was. If he really wants to stop this, then he needed to get into the ring and fight himself. Anything short of that and he doesn’t deserve to be one of the big monster commanders.

Caldina is a bit harder to scale because she also isn’t the most direct fighter. She likes manipulating the humans to assist her and then had Ascot as backup as well. She seemed reasonably tough but left as soon as she appeared. She actually got off rather easily considering she was a total accomplice to the villains here. She had a good personality and I liked the gambling gimmick. Her battle with Ferio was certainly a fun one.

Rafaga was a fun villain. He’s being mind controlled for most of it so that’s why I’d say it’s fair to refer to him as a villain. His abilities are clearly way ahead of the others and so only the main characters could really handle him. Well, naturally the main villain as well which is why he fell into this mess. He feels like a Fire Emblem character and I like everything about this guy. His powers, outfit, and personality are all very becoming of a knight. I would have liked to have even seen more action scenes out of this guy but he made every bit of screen time count.

Then you have Innova who is Zagato’s right hand man. This guy is definitely a really good fighter and his first battle with the heroines really showed what he could do. His barriers are able to nullify any attack and then he can launch attacks of his own. If anything it felt like he was a bit nerfed in his true monster form since he suddenly lost all strategies and just ran around like a mindless beast. Not a good idea when you’re fighting monster hunters like the main characters.

A good right hand man can always go a long way in an adventure like this and so I’m glad to say that he lived up to the hype. Then we have the main villain Zagato who is very good. He tends to win most of his fights with absolute ease. His goals also make a lot of sense and are dare I say admirable? He made a lot of great points and you could draw similarities to Homura Akemi from Madoka Magica. The system was broken and so he decided to make a move. It is a move that would destroy the planet but when you learn what the alternative is, it suddenly doesn’t sound so bad.

This may sound like madness to the average reader so you’ll need to watch the show to get the full context here. It comes down to the classic dilemma of sacrificing someone to save a group people. At what point are the numbers worth it, if ever? At least Zagato did something about this while everyone else was aware and chose to stay on the sidelines. It’s another reason why I give Zagato major points there. He ends up being the kind of main villain that you will not soon forget.

As for Queen Emeraude, well she has a lot more character than the average queen in these things. For starters it is also nice that she can fight. She has incredible powers at her disposal which is how she kept the whole planet stable. She isn’t some figurehead, but an actual leader who can be on the battlefield. I’d say her actions in the end will probably be questionable for some as well but ultimately I was on board with this. She had to make a lot of difficult decisions all throughout her life and finally made one last one in this show.

The animation is definitely pretty good. There are a solid amount of action scenes and the colors are always very striking. I’d say the show feels more high effort than you would expect from a magical girl title but then again it makes sense since this one loops all the way around to feeling like a true shonen. Meanwhile the soundtrack is also quite good. In particular there is a battle theme that is really solid and I’ve listened to it many times by now. It has a sense of danger that really supports the battles.

Good technical effects like this can always help to enhance a title. So like I said, the show is very good all around. We’re talking good writing, solid fights, good animation, etc. The ending is also a lot more intense than you would have expected. Of course there is a second season but on its own this would probably end up being known as one of the more depressing endings. Certainly not what you’d expect from a title that looks more like a feel good adventure.

Overall, This is definitely a pretty good series. I’d recommend checking it out. The show doesn’t need to have a giant cast or anything like that. It crafts a good adventure with monsters of the week as each villain gets a few shots before moving onto the next one. It always feels like the show is moving forward. Also a show like this is really dependent on the main cast being very charming and energetic. Hikaru is able to handle that side of the show with ease. There’s really nothing to dislike here and if you watch it you may find yourself being on Zagato’s side. In the end this isn’t as straight forward a threat as you would have assumed going into the show.

Overall 7/10

The Spy Who Loved Me Review

Posted on March 15, 2026 by dreager1

It’s time for more Bond and this time he will have to deal with a rival who may even be on his level. The concept is definitely cool but as the film goes on, you realize that the rival is a paper one. I’ll explain more about that in a minute but needless to say this film still falls into the usual issues of a Bond film. Perhaps that is just the inevitable fate of most Bond adventures.

The film starts with showing us how both Bond and Anya are messing around despite being called the world’s greatest secret agents. Bond manages to murder a bunch of enemy agents as he heads back to base though. MI6 has called him in to find the missing nuclear submarine that someone stole from Russia. Naturally this is a pretty big deal since it is a national crisis. Russia has also sent in their best agent, Anya to find out what’s going on. Both of them will be crossing paths as they uncover the mystery behind this but can they keep their hands to themselves?

I do like the hook of finally seeing another secret agency in the forefront. Surprisingly the films don’t often do this. Sure, other agencies like the CIA are referenced but typically they tend to just get wrecked off screen. That said, the film doesn’t totally commit to the bit as Anya isn’t super skilled. Perhaps relative to some of the other agents but she consistently feels outmatched here. This is why I would call her a rival on paper.

So on paper Anya is a genius, master of martial arts, and her resourcefulness speaks for itself. She should be able to hold her own against anyone. Well, on the field it just doesn’t play out that way. She may be able to defeat Bond at times in word games like when she mentions where the submarine is. Additionally, she is able to defeat him by using his weakness to women and spraying him with a knock out gas. The whole thing was super embarrassing for Bond but when it comes time for a fight, she is dispatched quickly.

She allows Jaws to defeat her even when she had a gun on him and he was unarmed. When she crosses with Bond, she is pitting her karate chop against his gun. Anya just wasn’t ready for this and the fact that she can distract Bond with her charms just feels like a consolation prize at best. I would have liked her to have been out there in the field murdering a ton of fighters and really giving Bond a reason to respect her abilities. Considering the series we’re watching, this will probably only be possible if the rival agent is a guy.

As for Bond, well he looks pretty bad as always. The whole world is in danger with the nuclear weapons here and he’s still trying to make a pass at everybody? Bond needs to lock in at this point and he just doesn’t have enough moments like that. Bond is ready to have his fun and lose the mission which is not what you want a hero to do. I appreciate his smug attitude and how Bond talks down to everyone but it’s still hard to overlook his faults.

Meanwhile Jaws is a solid villain because of his skills even if he lacks the overall charisma that Scaramanga had. Jaws is shown to be borderline superhuman with how he can absorb so many blows. He walks away from a massive car crash at one point with essentially no injuries. Bond is clearly not able to beat him one on one but is quicker so usually the environment ends up being the deciding factor. Jaws mouth is metal after all which makes things difficult for him around magnets.

His boss is technically the head honcho but that guy doesn’t look all that good. I appreciate all the tough talk and how he dispatched several characters in the opening scene. He knows how to stay on top but ultimately gets a little too cocky. His gun needed to be quite a bit shorter to be effective and the trigger needed to be silent. The guy had an interesting goal of wanting humanity to only live beneath the waves though. I’ll give him some points for originality I suppose.

As always the film suffers from fanservice and terrible romances which distract from the main plot. In fact, this time it’s even worse because the plot is completely going against the romance. Anya’s whole plot is to avenge her fiancé but she’s messing around with Bond right away. You could try to defend this by saying that it’s part of her job and she’ll get with everybody in order to further the mission but that really doesn’t help at all. It just pushes forward the worst trope of a female agent which is having to do any of that stuff in the beginning.

Nah you need to be able to solidify her as a top tier threat who doesn’t need to do that. Bond never does either, he just does it for fun. That needs to be dialed back as well so that he can actually be a likable character. The film’s general pacing and story is good but these things hold it back quite a lot. The fanservice is unrelenting and is something you don’t see so much of outside of the Bond films. In a way that’s what makes it so notable here.

I should mention that the songs aren’t all that impressive for me. I didn’t cover that in the prior Bond film but generally none of the songs have moved me so far. They sound decent, I’m certainly not calling them bad. However, I would not be looking them up on Youtube or anything like that. They really lack a better beat or incredible lyrics that force you to rewatch them. These just feel like what you would expect from a Bond film tbh and I don’t really mean that in a good way.

Overall, This film had an interesting premise but didn’t live up to it in classic Bond style. I will always take a plot like this with multiple factions over not having them at all though. If you have liked the Bond films up to now then you should like this one as well. In a lot of ways it is playing the adventure completely straight and that’s not a bad thing for the most part. The series just needs a way to lose the fanservice and then it can one day rise up as one of the all time greats! Until then, it will have to be satisfied with being at the back of the pack when it comes to action/thriller franchises.

Overall 4/10

Spider-Man 3 (Playstation 3) Review

Posted on March 7, 2026 by dreager1

It’s finally time to play Spider-Man 3 on the big console. A long time ago I played it on the game boy advance and naturally that’s a very different kind of experience. Still a lot of fun of course but I need my 3D environment to be swinging around in. The game surprisingly changes the gameplay quite a bit from the first two games. Or at least from the first since I have a vivid recollection of that one even if the second game is a bit more murky for me.

The game follows an extremely loose version of the movie’s plot as it adds on a ton of new villains and different scenarios to play with. I actually thought that was pretty cool because it keeps the experience fresh. Spider-Man will have to take down powerful threats like Venom and Sandman while also fending off the Lizard, Rhino, Kingpin, and more. Fortunately he has his trusty spider sense so it shouldn’t be hard to stay alive. Coming up with a way to counter these guys will prove to be the far bigger challenge.

The biggest challenge will be to the player though as this game is significantly more difficult than the first two games. It is seriously not even close. First off you have the fact that some of these enemies have state of the art a.i. with how they dodge and block your attacks. It often feels like you are fighting a total wall. One random henchmen blocked over 20 of my blows before I finally landed a hit in. Then the bosses can tank over 100 blows in order to defeat them. The toughest was either Kingpin or the Rhino, both of them will definitely have you fighting over and over again in order to conquer them.

Part of what makes the combat difficult is that you learn a new move after every level. There re 42 levels in the game and you need to complete at least 40 of them in order to beat the game. Why not just make it mandatory to beat all 42 at that point? I dunno. When you learn a move, it flashes on the screen briefly but otherwise you have to go into the pause menu and look at your upgrades to find it again. It’s really difficult to memorize all of your moves and most of them use extremely similar button combinations. As a result this became the first Spider-Man game where I was just button mashing for most of it. You just need to keep on throwing hits until they land.

Your spider sense is a meter that you can turn on to automatically dodge all attacks except for a rare few unblockable ones. Pretty handy right? Well, the catch is that the meter gets drained at different speeds depending on the attack used. So you might think you have enough meter to dodge one more attack when suddenly you don’t and take maximum damage. Most of the levels have no real way to restore health so if you lose some, it’s going to cost you. There are a good amount of checkpoints so you won’t lose too much progress but a lot of the cutscenes are unskippable so they do tend to add up a little bit.

You have some super attacks but the only one that seemed to be worth anything was the ground slam with R1+Triangle. It can one shot most minions and does serious damage to bosses. I recommend leading with that. You can meter by attacking and countering your opponents. Finally you also have a lot of quick time events and these are incredibly difficult. The buttons stay the same so you can eventually just memorize the combinations but it will be through a lot of trial and error. My own reaction times were just not enough to be able to keep up with this and so I would die to every boss at least once.

Actually, it’s probably more accurate to say that I died at least once in just about every level. This was essentially my Elden Ring moment. There are no difficulty settings within the game so what you see is what you get. I can definitely respect that and it makes the game a little longer than it would be otherwise. I see online that some people beat it in around 5 hours while it took the full 7 for me. Even the web swinging is harder than in other games as you really have to watch your momentum. You’re using 3 different buttons while most of the other games just use one.

I prefer the first Spider-Man’s gameplay but it’s hard to say how much of that is nostalgia. Either way this one works pretty well and is definitely a smooth experience. It may be hard but the checkpoints helps to take the sting out of it. The game crashed during one boss fight which wasn’t the game’s fault but it was rough as I had just beaten him. I guess the Kingpin managed to get the last laugh there.

The graphics are pretty good. I really like how expressive everyone is. The game is really a product of its time in that way as you won’t usually see this level of movement among the NPCs otherwise. They just feel so animated and always keep you in the thick of things. The voice acting is also a lot of fun and of course the soundtrack is on point. It’s actually quite a bit better than I would have guessed. The hub world music is very ominous like a Batman Beyond track and there are a good amount of action tunes. They certainly put more budget into this than you would have normally expected.

I also think the UI is very user friendly. I like how you can pause the game and immediately see everything from your play time to your completion% and how many missions are left. It’s just all very direct and clear which is something a lot of other games can learn a lesson from. While the game is fairly short, there are a decent amount of crimes to stop before you reach 100%. So that adds a bit of replay value even if admittedly there isn’t a ton of it. I imagine this may buy you like an hour or two and then you have the various trainings/activities which might buy you another 2. There are no PS3 trophies for this game but all of that combined is still pretty decent.

Overall, This is definitely a game I’d recommend trying out. The game is well rounded with a solid story and a really big hub world. It’s also fun to see just how difficult games could be back then. The default difficulty level is rarely this challenging on a modern game after all. I have heard that Web of Shadows could also be difficult on the PS3 so I look forward to seeing how that plays out some day. In the meantime I am one step closer to owning all of the Spider-Man games. That will definitely be a real milestone I’d say.

Overall 7/10

Slam Dunk Review

Posted on March 6, 2026 by dreager1

It’s time to look at one of the all time most popular sports anime out there. Slam Dunk has always been known as a stellar series and I remember liking it a lot when I read the manga. The anime definitely does a great job of elevating it even further with an excellent soundtrack and good production values on the whole. The show feels very retro in all the right ways and it’s the kind of title that will definitely keep you at the edge of your seat the whole way through.

The show centers around Sakuragi, a guy who has had no luck with girls. He has asked many of them out but they all turn him down to the point where it has become a bit of a joke among his friends. Well, one day he falls for another girl and it just so happens that her big brother is captain of the Basketball squad. Sakuragi figures he’ll impress her and next thing he knows..he’s on the Basketball team. Sakuragi has never played before so he’s a total novice but he has been gifted with incredible size and power. Perhaps this will be enough to succeed.

Sakuragi initially figures that Basketball doesn’t take any real talent and really dunks on the sport. This naturally makes everyone furious but Sakuragi quickly gets with the program. Sakuragi quickly becomes one of the first players to get heated when anyone dares to make fun of the sport. That’s just the kind of guy he is once he is passionate about something. This show is really about showing Sakuragi’s journey to being the world’s best Basketball player. He goes from being a liability to being one of the team’s greatest strengths. Will that be enough for his team to win the world championships for the first time?

So like I said before the technical elements are incredibly good in this show. The soundtrack is really top notch with a lot of great tunes all around. Whether it be an action theme, a track that plays when they’re losing, or even a victory one. Slam Dunk has a wide range of great musical themes throughout and this really helps to set the mood. Slam Dunk quickly becomes a show that is amazing to watch during or in between basketball games.

Then you have the animation which is always a blast. There is always a lot of movement here and you feel the intensity of each shot. There aren’t a lot of slam dunks that happen here after all so they are all treated with a great deal of respect. I enjoy the sound design when they are sinking shots and you will never be mixing up the characters here. I definitely have no complaints here and of course the pacing is also really good. You will have basketball games that last for many episodes and yet it never feels like the show was just stalling for time or anything like that.

Each part of the game really means something. There are even several anime only arcs which blend in rather seamlessly as you wouldn’t know that they weren’t in the manga. Another benefit to this is really how it lets the characters get extra screentime and character development. That’s not something you’re always going to see with a newer show. 100+ episodes is certainly a lot of time to develop the characters and that works out well because each of the starting 5 on the basketball team get a lot of development. Even their main benchwarmer gets a lot to do.

While the show would have still been great with less episode, I think the long duration still plays a large part in just how good the title was. Now it does end off on a massive cliffhanger so if you’re not a big fan of that then you’ll probably want to watch out. That being said, cliffhangers just help the series to stay even stronger in your memory. Maybe on day we will get a full adaption for the rest.

Sakuragi is a great main character from the start. He’s a very earnest guy and so it is satisfying to see him gradually improving as the series goes on. He definitely has one of the best laughs I’ve ever heard. Everytime he would start boasting about his abilities it would make for a hilarious scene. Sakuragi is also no quitter and while that may come at odds with him actually quitting at one point, it was never going to be for long. Sakuragi gets a lot of difficulties to overcome and has to make it through his setbacks but he always manages to achieve this.

There will probably be some moments where you get annoyed that he is still losing but he usually gets a big win to make up for it. By the end of the series I would say that he has not become the best player in the world yet but I would probably put him in the top 10 which is still impressive. Sakuragi is a true genius considering that he hasn’t been playing Basketball for very long at all.

Of course his team is no stranger to geniuses. The next one on the team would be Mitsui. Mitsui was another prodigy who used to be one of the greatest players around but then he ended up joining the dark side. I mean that in a very literal way too as he actually joined a biker gang and started beating up a lot of people for no reason. He became an actual menace which climaxed with his gang attacking the main school. It was a fun mini arc because you don’t generally see a lot of fighting going on in a sports show. That said, it also meant that this would be tough for him to come back from.

It’s one thing to be a jerk but actually going as far as to try and murder people? Yeah Mitsui would definitely have a real tough time getting me to like him again. I was real hard on him for the rest of the show and Mitsui does tend to vanish in big moments. He’s not the guy that I would consider to be very clutch compared to the other members. Even by the end of the series I was still salty about this guy but it is fair to say that he acts like a completely different character in part 2. Once he joins the group as a hero, he has a new design and everything.

His skills are the real deal even if he isn’t very likable for a while there. The whole team forgave him but they do tend to be softies. Miyagi is an example of a character with a much more realistic turnaround. He also ditched the team for a while but at least it was due to injury. He tends to be distracted a lot like when he’s flirting with Ayako but ultimately comes through when the team needs a play to happen. I would say that he is the weakest member of the main 5 but he is the guy who gets the play drawn up. So his pure talent isn’t as important as his ability to escape from his opponent.

He also has some good banter with Sakuragi and knows how to manipulate the guy which is a handy skill to have. Kogure is the only other one who always knows how to handle Sakuragi. I don’t mean it has to always be in a deceptive way but they know the best way to encourage him at all times which is an impressive skill to have. Kogure gets power creeped rather quickly but he’s still a good teammate to have. He’s an example of a character who makes up for his lack of overwhelming talent by having very strong fundamentals. He’s not going to fall for opponent traps and they aren’t going to be able to play mind games on him. I actually think it would have been nice for the series to have focused on his strengths a little more but ultimately that wasn’t the way this played out. The series has a lot of juggling to do though so it makes sense.

Then we have Akagi who works as the foundation of the team. He’s the captain and the big bruiser that you keep under the rim. He has the tough job of trying to keep this team of rebellious teens together. It’s not easy and in the meantime he has his own dream of being the #1 center in Japan. He’s incredibly skilled but his competition is tough. It’s always fun to see him scoring points and doing well. Akagi is quite good to the point where he can hold his own with the other players. I’d say he has enough confidence to put himself on the same tier as even someone like Rukawa.

You need that attitude in order to succeed here. He’s also quite intelligent and ends up having to help Sakuragi when that guy gets into trouble. Akagi gets a lot of character moments on and off the field which really makes him a balanced character. His sister Haruko also has a big role since Sakuragi likes her from the start of the series. She is a big reason he joined the team in the first place. Ultimately she likes Rukawa though which puts Sakuragi in a tough spot and that doesn’t really change even by the end. I thought the plot was handled well though.

So the romance didn’t go both ways, at least Sakuragi ended up with a good friend as a result. Haruko is a good person and certainly someone that Sakuragi can rely on. I would still see this as an absolute W and she can still be a good motivator for him to win the Basketball trophy. He wouldn’t have gotten into this sport and made so many friends without her. I imagine that he’d always be pretty grateful about that.

Then we have Rukawa, the ultimate prodigy in Basketball! Well, perhaps not #2, I would actually have him as the #2 best player in the end. He is very aggressive while playing and gets pretty passionate about defending the sport like Sakuragi. Rukawa is able to back up his tough talk at all times and there is never a moment where he is completely dominated. He does absolutely have his share of occasional losses but that tends to be the fault of his teammates not pulling their own slack. In Basketball it is not possible for someone to be a one man team and that comes up on several occasions. His team is stacked by the end but at first it is in rather rough shape.

Rukawa also tends to be more of a quiet player than the others. You’ll hear him throw out a quick insult to Sakuragi but he is usually goaded into that. It’s not like he just randomly starts fights most of the time. I would also say hat he has a great dynamic with Sakuragi in general. They both help to goad the other one into doing better. No time to give up or falter when the rival is watching.

As for their coach, I’m never really impressed with Anzai. Outside of the end of the show, he never seems to give a lot of advice. He just sits around and lets the chips fall where they may. I dare say that he uses his experienced team as a crutch and would have been exposed otherwise. He has a very distinguished reputation but after some traumatic events in the past he has just been a different person. I think this directly impacted his coaching abilities as well. In a way he is afraid to make any bold moves. You can’t win that way.

The athletic trainer Ayako is much better as she actually makes sure that the characters focus and stay in top shape. She is always working and doing her best. I would like to see that level of dedication out of Anzai. I sympathize with his rough past but in the present he owes it to the team to bring in his best effort.

Now lets talk about one of the other big teams. We have Maki’s unit who are known as the greatest team in Japan. They win every year and this is due to Maki being a top tier generational talent. Well, perhaps I shouldn’t say that. High School teams have a complete roster shift every 3 years because their players graduate so Coach Takato should also get a lot of credit for keeping them at a high level. Maki is one of the top players of this generation though and he does really well in each of his fights.

He gets to go up against Rukawa and Sendoh, both top players in their own right. Maki never actually appears to be on the losing end in these battles which is why you could say that he is the best player. I still have Sendoh in that spot but it’s certainly a close one. He also has some pretty good teammates. The only one I wasn’t impressed with is Miyamasu. That guy is very small and not great at anything but shooting. He only manages to do well because he faces off against Sakuragi who doesn’t know how to handle him.

I had a hard time believing that throughout the match. I suppose I just have to accept that but this guy is the definition of a gimmick player. Then you have Jin who is great at 3 point shots. He’s better than Miyamasu though because he’s actually a really good all around player even aside from that. The 3 point shots are just his signature technique. That’s a better way to handle a specialist and Jin’s a solid character to have around. His role isn’t huge but he still makes a difference.

Kiyota is the only player on Maki’s team who acts more like Sakuragi. He is hungry to prove himself as one of the best and tends to go a bit wild. He is actually pretty good although he is far from elite. You can tell that Kioyta will only continue to improve as the games go on though and it’s fun to have a fiery player like this. He could have stood to have more screentime to really keep up with the others but was a good addition either way.

Meanwhile Coach Takato was really good. Honestly I like all of the coaches a lot aside from Anzai. Takato, Taoka, and Goro are all really good and constantly have plans at the ready to support their players. You really need to be doing that because it is the whole reason that you have a coach in the first place right? Now I did say before that Anzai started using plans by the end of the series so in a sequel he may do better.

Then we have the other powerhouse team led by Sendoh. Sendoh is the player who I consider to be the absolute best. He is at the pinnacle of his position to the point where he was able to change positions mid season and still dominate. I consider the rest of his team to be a step below the others which puts even more pressure on him. Nevertheless, Sendoh never falters and continues to dominate. He always seems to rise to the occasion and just gets even better. At one point he gets past the entire opposing team on his own which was a crazy feat. He even needed to be triple teamed and could not be stopped.

Mix that in with his incredible stamina and you have the equivalent of a final boss on the team. He also knows how to stay loose and just have fun compared to some of the other players who take things very seriously. His right hand man Uozumi is still really good as well though. He is a center who has a strong rivalry with Akagi. He tends to be on the losing side of it but always puts up a good effort. He’s a strong all around player.

Fukuda enters the group later on and proves to be good but does have some weaknesses. He’s a solid scorer but isn’t quite as good on the fundamentals to the point where Sakuragi is able to give him a tough fight for a little while there. This guy also gets very emotional like Sakuragi and ends to fly off the handle. It’s pretty rare to see that from someone on Sendoh’s team but this guy does help to fire him up.

Most of the other teams will only have one big player which is part of why they couldn’t reach the top. It’s always a bit tragic but makes the one player stand out more. One good example of this for me is Fujima. This guy is the analytical type and that’s how he plays against the geniuses. He may not be able to beat them in pure size and skill but can outplay them and win within the paint. This guy doesn’t get to appear a whole lot but every fight with him is fun. It was also an unexpected surprise to see him show up for the big fight at the end of the series.

Also while not Basketball players, I should give a shoutout to Sakuragi’s friends. They really help him out a whole lot whether it be by fighting off thugs who try to get the lead distracted or even providing damage control when he says the wrong thing. The main member of the group who stands out is Yohei. He’s incredibly powerful and the show hypes him up a lot. He could have been the leader of almost any other gang. You could say this plot could even be its own show as Sakuragi helped these guys become good vigilantes rather than going down the thug route.

It’s inspiring how close their bonds are. I would also say they help give the show a lot of its humor. Slam Dunk tends to be a really funny series when it’s not in the middle of an epic climax. The show runs the gambit on emotions and it is all extremely well written. Naturally there are more characters and events but these are the main ones. I think it would be nearly impossible to watch this show and not be impressed at just how elite it is.

Overall, Slam Dunk is an elite show. It’s a whole lot of fun throughout and really depicts Basketball in an amazing way. I really didn’t have any notable issues with the show. It made no mistakes and all of the games are really good. You know a series is elite when even the throwaway battles against no name teams are good. Slam Dunk really delivered in a big way and I highly recommend this to any fans of Basketball or even to anyone who likes sports in general. The show does a good job of explaining how you play the game and all of the rules through Sakuragi anyway.

Overall 9/10

Sakamoto Days Review

Posted on February 22, 2026 by dreager1

Sakamoto Days is one of those titles that jumped out at folks immediately. It was poised to bring in a ton of really creative action scenes with an overpowered main character who could win while using any item. Think of it like John Wick but pushed to more of an absurd level while also being part comedy. This show is able to balance the serious and comedic moments really well so it ended up being an absolutely stellar title. You won’t want to miss out on this one.

The premise involves the legendary assassin known as Sakamoto finally deciding to retire from the hitman life. The reason for this? Well, he fell in love and got married. He’s now a full time family man with a wife and daughter. He manages a local 7-11 type food shop and has put on a ton of weight. He intended to live out a normal life but one day someone puts a huge bounty on his head. Now assassins from all around the world are trying to take him down. He’ll need to stop them, defend his family, and find out who put the hit on his head. Until that bounty is taken down, his peaceful days are over.

Now if you are worried that you won’t see the overpowered Sakamoto from the first scene, no worries he is still around. While his skills have greatly diminished, they are still more than enough for almost every character that he will have to fight in season 1. It may not be enough for The Order, but those guys feel more like late stage bosses from how the show goes in season 1. Although I can tell you that every season is going to be filled with amazing moments! Sakamoto also has the ability to go back into his lean state when he is fighting hard enough as his body remembers the shape.

So you’re going to see him fighting with every day appliances and beating people up with his bare hands. Then for the more serious fighters, he will occasionally use items that feel deadly like a classic pen. Throughout the series you are reminded that he is a true threat and worthy of the bounty. His killer instinct also shows up from time to time although it is mainly directed at the telepath, Shin. Sakamoto balances his life really well and so right away you have a great main character here.

His wife and daughter are also pretty solid although they don’t get to do a whole lot here. His wife’s best scene is one where she technically doesn’t even appear. The context will make more sense when you watch the show. They’re both nice and wholesome though so it’s easy to see why Sakamoto enjoys his current days. He’s living the dream as they say.

The first few episodes mainly start to introduce you to the supporting characters and establish the general tone of the show. So you should know right away if you’re going to like the show or not because it does a really good job with the introductions. The first side character is Shin. They hint at a backstory with him and Sakamoto and I have to admit that this happened so early on that I completely forgot about this later on. He has the ability to read minds which is incredibly handy for an assassin. It’s an ability that has a whole lot of limitations and drawbacks but Shin spends the show working to improve it so that he can be a better fighter.

Shin definitely gets the most character development within the show and it works really well. I liked him from the start but by the end he is easily one of the best characters. In fact, I’d say that he is second only to Nagumo. Shin’s just really likable and a fun underdog since he is pretty much always outmatched in a fight. You can expect that this will continue to be the case for quite a while since the earning curve is really steep. He does take after Sakamoto in how he can make use of the environment during his fights. As long as you like the eager type of character then you’ll be a fan of his.

The next member to be added to the group is Lu. She’s from a famous Chinese mafia family and can fight with her drunken fist. She can be a bit of a scatterbrain but does add a lot to the main dynamic. She has a good rivalry with Shin. Rivalry may be the wrong word here since she isn’t a fighter on his level but they constantly bicker with each other. When the chips are down they will team up though and I tend to enjoy their dialogue quite a bit. They know how to poke fun at each other without going too far. When an insult does go too far, they work to remedy it which happened at one point in this season.

As the series goes on Lu starts to appear less so you want to enjoy her screentime while you can. She’s fun to have around and the main cast definitely wouldn’t be the same without her. Heisuke is the last one to join up although he’s technically not far behind the others in terms of debut. He’s a sniper who tends to be down on his luck when it comes to cash. This is partially because he’s a really generous guy and is always looking out for others. He doesn’t have the usual ruthlessness that you would expect from an assassin. So naturally that works out pretty well with the Sakamoto family and their no killing rule. He’s quickly able to make friends with the others.

Thanks to his position as a sniper though, I would argue that he is always going to be at a disadvantage. Any decent character is going to be a casual bullet timer after all and there are only so many things you can do to get around that. Heisuke tries to shoot bullets onto bullets to mess with the angles but even that is going to be a longshot at actually working. Still, he is definitely a likable guy.

I think calling it an arc may be an overstatement but the first main adventure is when Sakamoto takes his family to the amusement park. What he doesn’t realize is that an assassin named Boiled and a few hand picked goons have arrived to try and take him out. It’s a good way to let all of the main characters get a quick fight and Shin really makes himself useful here. Sakamoto also gets a pretty decent fight with Boiled. I wouldn’t say that Boiled every really stood a chance but he at least doesn’t go down in a single hit or anything. That guy is all about being as intense as possible and it shows in his fighting style. I think he’s a fun character although I would like him more if he was more powerful. Shallow? Perhaps, but the hard boiled lifestyle just works better when you’re incredibly powerful.

The first real adventure is the museum battle. The heroes head to a museum which leads to the lab where people experimented on Shin and gave him some powers. You have a couple of crazy assassins running around here while the Order has also infiltrated to take down the mysterious X. There are quite a number of big names here and it’s cool to see them all. A lot of fights are set up here without too many of them going all the way through. The whole saga is meant to be more of a teaser than anything else I’d say. It’s effective though because you can’t help but get hyped here.

Nagumo is of course the best character in the series and it’s not even close. He is extremely confident at all times and always has a trick up his sleeve. He has big scenes at every part of the show and consistently likes to troll everyone. You immediately get the vibe that he’s a pretty good guy because he could easily murder Sakamoto at any time but chooses not to since they used to be friends. He has a good honor code and also acts as a stand-in for Sakamoto’s wife later on to keep her safe. Nagumo embodies the humor of Sakamoto Days at its best as he blends together being the strongest fighter with also being the funniest.

It’s hard for any Order member to really keep up with him but I will say that Shishiba and Osaragi are still really solid in their own right. Shishiba is one of those really jaded guys who just wants to complete the mission and then go back to his life. Unfortunately things rarely work out for him and Osaragi doesn’t really help. Their dynamic is a fun one as he basically spoils her the whole time and never gets all that upset even when he’s the one messed over. It’s clear that the two of them have a really good friendship going.

One of the big villains to appear here is Kashima who has a really interesting deer mask. The guy is strong and has actual weapons within his body. Certainly not someone that you can afford to underestimate. He gets power cliffed really quickly in the series but I like him well enough. He may have lost his hype but Kashima is still the kind of villain you want on your side because of how loyal he is.

Then we also see a bit of X. He will do more later on in the story but he’s your classic villainous mastermind. His skills put him near the top of the verse and his overall motivations are unknown. He wants to destroy the JAA assassin group but why? He’s certainly making enemies out of basically everyone by going through with this. Well the series will unpack that as it goes on but I have no real complaints with him. This is the kind of villain that motivates his group well. He’s a complete character outside of just being a villain. He even jokes around with the team quite a bit but at no point do they forget that he is the leader.

Seba is a character who is introduced early and is difficult to defeat because of his invisibility suit. It can be hard to plan for his attacks as a result and his base stats are pretty good even without those. He has a rough matchup with Shin since telepathy can get beyond that but still puts in a good effort throughout. In fact, one on one he would have defeated Shin. He makes for a pretty good villain and is definitely memorable.

Then we have Horiguchi who by all accounts is a random one shot villain but I actually liked him quite a lot. His speedblitz against Shin was super impressive and his drugs also make it difficult to stop him. Essentially if he does land a hit on you, then he has a good chance of winning. His drugs mess up the signals within your brain so you start moving in the wrong direction and can have other effects. He was really interesting so that’s why I never forgot about him.

After that we have a short interlude where we meet Wutang, who has come to bring Lu back to the mafia. He clearly can’t defeat Sakamoto’s group on his own so he resorts to gambling. It makes for a fun little arc as the characters have to try and use their abilities to win at games like poker. This is exactly the kind of episode that is good at getting you to learn more about the characters and also let them banter off each other. That’s why I had to give this part a shoutout because it was really fun.

There isn’t too much time for that breather though as we jump right into the action in the next arc. X sends his 4 assassins after the Order as well as Sakamoto. Each of the 4 get their chance to fight but for the most part they are really outmatched. Dump gets some good initial hype for example but gets absolutely crushed in her fight. Saw gets a much longer amount of screentime in his fight but had the weakest opponents. To his credit, he essentially won that fight since he survived but ultimately that was barely even a consolation. He didn’t have a chance at actually surviving in the end.

Minimalist seems to be a really strong guy but had to fight an absolute demon so he didn’t stand a chance. Apart definitely has the biggest role out of the 4 since he wisely decides to do his own thing. It ultimately lets him stick around for a bit and observe more than 1 fight. He was an interesting villain and had more character than the other 3. Still, I did think he was ultimately outshined by most of the other villains around.

This leads right to the next main arc with X and Gaku attacking the JAA base directly. It was fun to see Gaku getting some screentime. He’s one of those total prodigies on the villains team. This guy has super strength and great battle instincts. He’s also really young and yet is able to keep up with the strongest fighters around. It’s clear that he could grow up to be one of the biggest threats if he sticks around. I enjoyed him quite a lot and he rose up to the top. He’s rather chill about the whole assassin thing and still takes time to play his video games and everything.

Takamura also gets some hype from the JAA side. The show positions him as being the absolute strongest character in the series. There’s an argument to be made for that although I would still put Nagumo in that slot. Takamuru makes up for his old age by having precise control over his blade. He can strike in an instant and mask his killing intent to the end. Any scene with him tends to go really hard on the animation and he looks like a real beast. If only he were a bit younger, then he’d probably be invincible.

With that we enter the final arc which is basically a big JAA exam in order to get to their school. Sakamoto needs to get there for intel so he and Shin enter this exam. It’s basically like a multi step tournament and the villains are here to recruit up and coming stars to their organization. This means that things go off the rails real quick. It’s a fun arc that is super fast paced and I always love a good tournament. It may not be a traditional bracket system but works to the same end.

One of the new fighters is Mafuyu, a guy who really doesn’t like germs. He is extremely wary of them and that includes blood from his opponents so the whole job irritates him. Why be an assassin at that point? Well he seems to have an important reason for it. I thought that he was pretty decent but the germs thing just feels like a massive weakness. You’re always going to get dirty in a fight to the death.

Akira is the best member of the new characters here. She is really good at killing her opponents silently. All that she’s lacking is a killer instinct so unless someone draws it out of her, she’s not going to be eliminating her opponents too efficiently. Akira will get better at this though and in the meantime she basically has Sakamoto as a mentor. That’s a good position to be in. From the glimpses we get of her true abilities, you already know that she has a good future ahead of her.

Kanaguri is a guy who really loves movies. Anyone who insults them is immediately sentenced to death. The guy is definitely quirky and extremely insane but that’s true for a lot of the stronger fighters. He’s a good wild card and is also portrayed as being really powerful. Sakamoto won’t be able to just cast him to the side like with some other villains. I’d give Kanaguri a passing grade, he’s just fun to watch.

Toramaru is a big Sakamoto fan to a rather violent degree. She’s certainly picked the right path in being an assassin. Her weapon is really large and she specializes in powerful attacks. That tends to have a hard limit in a series like this where you want speed but as one of the top talents in the tournament, she lives up to the rep. She ends up being more fun than the other two special recruits.

Kaji has super hearing and so that’s a good ability but he doesn’t last quite as long as the others. Or a better way of putting it is that he doesn’t leave as much of an impact even though he is always around. Super hearing just isn’t the most interesting ability out there. His physical stats are really good but of course that’s true for the other characters too. He’s also a bit soft spoken and has a hard time jumping into a conversation. As a result, he’s ticking the wrong boxes and doesn’t go much further.

Finally there is Shinaya who is really cool but can’t really talk at all. There are some twists about this which drastically changes the character. So what I’ll say is that his role is really cool but the character himself can be more on the forgetful side. I like him more as an opponent than as a character.

The animation for the series is really great. There are a lot of big fights here and the animation is always smooth. The colors stand out and while I remember there being some controversy about the animation quality, I had no complaints on this end. It all looked really good to me and I was eagerly awaiting each scene. The soundtrack is generally good although I’m not a big fan of Sakamoto’s main theme. That’s maybe a bit ironic since it is meant to be the big theme that really breaks out but it didn’t fit in for me. Definitely not next to some of the epic battle themes that were around.

Overall, Sakamoto Days is a pretty great series. It really reminds you of the classic Shonen days. You’ve got a really crazy premise right away and the series just leans into it. The action is great and the characters are really fun. I’d say this is the kind of series you can plug in and watch at any time. I’ll definitely be ready for seeing just how fun season 2 can be. The end of this season introduces a bunch of characters all at once and basically ends on a cliffhanger as the story was just starting. Hopefully it doesn’t take too long to arrive.

Overall 8/10

Kaiju No. 8 Season 2 Review

Posted on February 22, 2026 by dreager1

It’s time for the return of Kaiju No 8! It feels like they’ve been moving through these seasons pretty quickly if you ask me. Maybe it’s a normal timeline and it just feels that way but it’s still cool to be seeing a bunch of the new villains. The season has got quite a lot of action to it and looks smooth as you would expect. If you like good fight scenes and a bunch of Kaiju then you are definitely going to have a solid time with this one.

The season starts with Kafka and Kikoru being sent to Narumi’s unit for some training. Narumi is a complete prodigy with abilities beyond just about every other human. At this point he may be the strongest hero alive but he is also a slacker and has his own quirks so this won’t be the easiest traineeship. He really takes Kikoru under his wing while Kafkka needs to control his Kaiju form. There isn’t a lot of downtime for Kafka to do this though as Kaiju No. 9 is still seeking him out and seemingly has an endless amount of Kaiju to throw at the cities. Kafka will need to fight hard but are the heroes underestimating this villain?

Kaiju No. 8 is absolutely one of those series where it feels like the heroes never really stand a chance. Yes, they are fighting back but Kaiju No. 9 can seemingly pop out of nowhere and also summon Kaiju at the drop of a hat. There is absolutely nothing to stop him from just summoning them to really populated areas and racking up a huge body count. In fact, he does this to stop a wedding at one point. The heroes always respond as best as they can but they’re always going to be on the defensive.

Then you have the fact that No. 9 is incredibly powerful. Kafka is stronger and Narumi makes it a 50/50 but everyone else is fodder to him at this point. Then he has the ability to create clones? He could easily just destroy everybody like that. The only reason he hasn’t yet is because he’s trying to get Kafka out in the open so he can get the powers of No. 8. 9 is presented as a strategic mastermind but I’m saying that he could go even harder if he really wanted to.

It is nice to have a really good villain like this though. Most of the villains in this series are mindless so whenever one does talk, it is instantly a good thing. There is also a mysterious villain who looks a lot like Kikoru. She hasn’t done much yet but from her few scenes you can tell that she’ll be a winner. Most of the other fighters from the final invasion wave are mindless so they have cool designs but aren’t about to become the next character to really stand out.

As for Kafka, he’s a solid main character as always although it would be nice if he could not be wavering so much here. You get why he would be nervous since the power already overtook him once in season 1. Still, he will be completely doomed without the powers so he just needs to hope for the best. This makes for a good cliffhanger to the season. I would say that as the season ends, Kafka has really come to terms with the fact that his human form is not going to be really helpful in the fights that are to come. He will need to exclusively rely on his monster mode and that’s the best way to go.

Kikoru looks great as you would expect. She consistently shows off her incredible close combat skills and continues to improve. The fact that she has risen to be one of the top 5 strongest heroes in the series without any Kaiju powers is impressive. If you remove the characters who have a Kaiju enhancement then she would be #1. Of course, this is the season where everyone begins to get Kaiju equipment so you can bet that she’ll at least be getting some equipment to be stronger.

I thought this was definitely necessary with how outmatched the humans are like I said before. That being said, I would still give the monsters the edge. Take away the top 3 and the humans are still in rough shape even if they are getting better. The third character I put on the list here is Narumi of course. With his special eyes he can essentially block any attack and has extreme amounts of speed. He immediately dominates in this season and I like his confidence.

Kaiju No. 8 has a really good core cast of main characters. The cast may be rather small since I barely count more minor characters like Iharu, but they do all carry their own weight. Narumi is allowed to slack off because he is simply that skilled and I respect that. When you put in the work and consistently outshine the rest, you should be allowed to get a little special treatment. That just makes sense.

Then we have Hoshina who gets a smaller role in this season. Near the end he finally gets his own Kaiju equipment which makes him relevant again. His speed and knife skills are solid but the first season showed that this definitely had its limits. Now he is in a better position and I also like the banter he gets with his Kaiju partner. Honestly it’d be fun if all of the Kaiju talked for that reason. The dialogue and banter would be really good throughout the season. Hoshina’s fights always tend to be a lot of fun because of his close combat style as well.

Although in general all of the fights look great. The series never disappoints with how fast paced and smooth the animation is. The fights look incredible and there is a lot of variety to them. The soundtrack is also good although I wouldn’t call it excellent. There are at least 1-2 themes that I enjoyed quite a bit in this one. The opening is one that I did not like though. I wasn’t even the biggest fan of the first season’s opening and this one is absolutely a step down.

As for the side characters, well we’ve got Reno who is still doing his best to find a place among the hero forces. It’s really just tough timing for him. Technically speaking Reno is considered a prodigy, but he’s less of one than the other 3 geniuses running around and of course Kafka has his own Kaiju suit. So here Reno is desperate to get more power and finally gets a Kaiju suit. This does give him incredible powers but it goes to his head right away and he has a hard time conquering the suit. Ultimately things go well so he’ll be ready for the next season but in this one he looked pretty bad. The fact that he couldn’t immediately neutralize his opponent Kaiju in a single hit was bad.

His partner Iharu had to help Reno stay in the fight. Iharu isn’t all that interesting and blends together with most of the other side characters who don’t have a Kaiju power. Still, since he saved Reno I guess I’ll give him a slight consolation prize there. It puts him ahead of some of the other characters. The baseline is clear though, you need to get a Kaiju power of your own or you are not going to be able to keep up. That’s basically what this all boils down to.

General Isao looks good as always. We really get to see what he can do here. Ultimately he has to contend with the fact that he’s a lot older than back in the day but Isao still puts up a great fight. The guy has a lot of guts and is not the type to back down from a fight. He was always one of my favorite characters here even if I treat him more like an antagonist. Isao is one of those very strict types who will break a lot of eggs to make an omelet. Without him the army would have been doomed though so you need him around.

Mina is a character who doesn’t get a lot of screentime in this season. She does land a really good sniper shot and is still known as one of the strongest fighters. There just weren’t a lot of opportunities to get her into the action. The season only has 11 episodes after all so it’s not like there is a whole lot of time for everyone. That shouldn’t be a problem in the next season where we’ll pretty much be going into nonstop fight scenes the whole time. You know I’m hyped for that, the more action the better.

This is a series that does thrive quite a lot on the action. I don’t feel like it ever really hit its stride when it comes to the downtime and just having the characters hang out. I like them well enough like I mentioned before but I guess they just don’t have a whole lot of great banter opportunities. I thought Hoshina and his Kaiju partner were immediately more enjoyable and comedic than the main characters. The leads just don’t tend to be all that funny and aren’t charismatic enough to hold their own scenes.

That’s probably slightly what keeps the series from reaching the next level. I think season 3 will bypass this just by having so many crazy awesome fights. Season 2 had a lot of action but was just one step away from the elusive 8. Perhaps that is being harsh on the series but I would say it was pretty good. It’s just not going to stick with you as much as other titles. A lot of anime I will go back and watch various clips and reactions right away but I admittedly have never done that with Kaiju No. 8. Maybe I’ll change that sooner than later.

It does make for a fun thought experiment though because it’s a bit harder for me to put my finger on it compared to some other titles. This is just the best way I can describe it. You almost don’t care about the characters a whole lot outside of the fight scenes. This is perhaps the kind of series that could use some random fillers but I would still like some action. For example we got the special about Hoshina’s day off and it’s not all that entertaining. So more fights with the characters bantering would be the best way to build up their likability further.

Eh that’s a lot of work though. Doubling down on the action is the best way to go. Narumi and Kafka had a very temporary team up fight against No. 9 that was really hype. It was a fairly brief fight scene but we don’t get a whole lot of 2 v 1s in this series so far. That should also change soon and I’m hyped for that since I love a good team up fight. It’ll also solidify No. 9 as a really powerful villain that you can’t simply beat 1 on 1.

Overall, I’m definitely looking forward to checking out the next season for this one. If you like action and giant monsters then you really can’t afford to miss out on this title. It’s the kind of anime that just works really well as a classic action title. It can get a little violent with all of the monsters blowing up and some civilians get caught up in the action but for the most part this one stays very streamlined. The overall vibes of the show tend to be rater happy even with humanity on the brink. Kaiju No. 8 just has that classic Shonen energy where you’re waiting for the heroes to claim victory.

Overall 7/10

Okami HD Review

Posted on February 22, 2026 by dreager1

Okami is one of those games that I’ve heard a lot about but had never gotten to play before. Well, now I’m finally in on the action and I can safely say that it is a great title. There is a ton of action here and the game is a whole lot longer than you would expect. It’s not every day that you get a 30 hour adventure from an action game. That usually feels more like an RPG adventure right?

The game starts by introducing us to Amaterasu. She is a powerful deity who once sealed the frightful Orochi 100 years ago. Unfortunately in the present, a swordsman decides to free Orochi and plunges the world into eternal darkness. Amaterasu is forced to return to save the world once again but it won’t be easy. She has lost all of her abilities and will have to gradually reclaim them. This means fighting a ton of monsters and also bringing life back into the world. Orochi’s darkness has destroyed all of the plants and left all of the animals hungry. Amaterasu has to use her unique abilities to fix this and stop Orochi, but can she pull it off again?

Okami has a very unique mechanic with the air brush system. You use this to recreate objects that have been destroyed like bridges and the like while also attacking enemies. Her powers all revolve around the brushes like wielding the elements or creating bombs. If this game was played on the Wii then it would probably be a tragedy because you’d be fighting with the stylus the whole time. Since it is on traditional controls, that never ends up being a problem. Instead you are able to have fun since it uses traditional controls.

I will say that the drawings can be rather precise at times so you won’t always draw what you want to. I imagine that people who love drawing are going to be able to really have a blast pushing the system to its limits though. The rest of the combat is more like your classic action-fare as you swing at opponents with your sword or beads. I went with the beads for most of the game since I love the range but they all work really well. You can continue learning new moves and abilities at the dojo. At first it will be hard to buy anything because getting money is tough but then by the end it becomes a whole lot easier.

I will warn you that the game is definitely on the easier side so you may want to avoid maxing out your skills. The reason for this is that the weapons deal a tremendous amount of damage so you will be crushing the enemies in your way with ease. Even bosses go down in an instant. Then you are able to use bombs from your items and some of them can take down a whole health bar in a single hit. I was able to wade through 10 bosses in a row with my mighty supply of bombs. You also learn the ability to slow down time later on in the game which is an absolutely broken ability.

I will say that it’s pretty fun though. You are playing as a god so in a way this delivers on being a true power fantasy. The opponents can only watch helplessly as you save the day. The toughest parts in a way can be some of the puzzles which aren’t always easy. Your partner will give you hints if you start taking too long though so I appreciate that. Often times it’s just that you have to draw something you weren’t expecting to.

There is a good cast of characters here. I wish Amaterasu would talk in English of course but you can still feel the heroism. Her partner Issun is definitely the worst character. The poor guy is a constant flirt and so the game throws in a surprising amount of fanservice because of him. Now granted, the artstyle is such where it’s hard to take any of the fanservice seriously which is nice but it’s always rare to see that in a video game because it’s so rare. It’s mainly all for humor.

The villain roster is also rather strong. Orochi is a menacing presence of course but then you also have the Ninetails monster who is really crafty. Definitely a solid mastermind to have around. There is also the mysterious Waka who is always getting in the way and challenging you to a fight. Okami is the kind of game that is a bit of a slow burn when it comes to the story so anytime the big players showed up, you couldn’t help but get excited.

Meanwhile the graphics are definitely good. This is a very specialized kind of artstyle and so it has aged pretty well. It’s probably not going to be competing with the top echelon of gaming but does hold its own. The soundtrack is a bit more on the forgettable side. It’s not really my style as it’s going for ancient Japan/China kind of vibes. You shouldn’t expect any big rock themes here. It also decides to use the Banjo & Kazooie type of voice effects which I’m not a big fan of. You’ll get through it though. The story itself is interesting which is the most important part.

The game has a great amount of replay value. Not only is the base game 30 hours but there are plenty of side quests and people to help along the way. If you want to get full Cherry Blossoms for the ending to get another trophy, then you will need to help just about everyone. The Platinum will also be a trophy that takes you a while because of how many trophies are missable. You will want to really keep close track of that or you’ll be in trouble.

The biggest strength of Okami is how the various mechanics are just fun to use. I fed every animal I came across because it was fast to do and didn’t feel very intrusive. Likewise with why I revived every tree I came across and destroyed every enemy gate. They would each directly help me by getting more skill points to upgrade my stats with but also because you could see the changes in real time as life went back into the land. When a game seamlessly integrates these mechanics into the story and gameplay it is a beautiful thing. I would also say it’s a rare thing in general which is why I’m not always chomping at the bit to do bonus content until I’m trophy hunting.

Overall, Okami is definitely a really fun game. There are quite a few plot twists within the story and the action gameplay is really on point. You feel like you are wielding true power in the game and there are just so many items and attacks to use. You can fight in a variety of ways and I definitely look forward to playing the sequel at some point. We’ll see if it’s able to beat the original game though, that’s going to be a tough task.

Overall 8/10

Violent Night Review

Posted on February 21, 2026 by dreager1

This review is of the TV-14 version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

It’s time for a film thar really lives up to its name. If you wanted to watch a really violent Christmas film, well then you’re in the right place. It’s mainly played up for comedy but gets quite extreme as the film goes on. There are definitely a lot more misses than positives in this title but I really appreciated how some of the underlings performed in the fights.

The movie starts by introducing us to Jason and Linda whose relationship is on the rocks. They thought they could make things work but have now given up. This last Christmas party will be their last one together. The big issue between them is Linda feels like Jason always defers to his rich mother and worries too much about money. We’re not given a ton of context here since that part of the plot isn’t super important but Jason doesn’t deny any of it so this seems to be true. So the two of them head to the party with their daughter Trudy and have to tolerate all of their rich family members who hate each other. They are all just here for the mother’s money. Unfortunately a group of crooks with a whole lot of insider knowledge show up to steal all of the money. The only one who can stop them…is Santa Clause.

Yes, in this universe Santa Clause is real. He is very jaded with the job though and doesn’t really like humanity anymore. This was going to be his last job but unfortunately he is inside the house when the robbers attack and his reindeer fly away. Santa will have to find a way to escape but it won’t be easy. Additionally, his conscience isn’t too happy about this because Trudy is on the nice list and shouldn’t die here. Santa used to be a fighter over 1000 years ago…does he still have the skills?

Now you may wonder about how people don’t know that Santa is real when he is leaving presents. Well, the film actually explains that a little. He doesn’t give presents to literally everyone, just the people who really need him. I take that to mean families with a lot of dysfunction where they either wouldn’t notice a present or would assume someone else got it. As a result, the secret of Santa is safe. They don’t really get into the logistics of how he visits everyone in a single night but I guess we can go with the time displacement approach where every house is in its own pocket dimension on Christmas where these events happen simultaneously.

Santa’s magical abilities are a bit all over the place and in the film he mentions that he doesn’t really know how they even work. That is a good way to make sure that he isn’t too overpowered. As a result Santa is actually on the defensive for a good chunk of the film. He was being absolutely dominated by the first opponent and then also had a really tough time against the second one. I actually liked this because often times the minions are shown to be incredibly disposable when realistically they should be putting up some kind of a fight right? So that was pretty impressive and those fights had quite a bit of back and forth to them.

Santa’s character arc is also a classic although they may have went a little too far in how jaded they made him. He gets some pretty rough scenes early on like with how drunk he is and throwing up. There isn’t a ton of crude humor here but that was a tough scene for him to rebound from. The film’s writing can be a bit of a mixed bag as well here. The film has some great lines like “Santa’s coming to town” and when Santa is announcing all of his lines. Scrooge also gets some really good ones as the villain. Basically this is the kind of film that is going to wow you with some of the dialogue, but you do have to ignore that everybody talks like a sailor. They all swear up a storm constantly So that does make the script a bit weak even with all of the big moments.

Now where the film does unfortunately lose me is when the violence gets cranked up to 100. This is easily one of the most violent films I’ve seen in a minute, I dare say it may even pass John Wick in this area. Yes, the violence is played for laughs but there is still a whole lot of it and it is unrelenting. The whole climax is basically a contest to see how violently characters can die. It’s not even just Santa’s onslaught but the home alone subplot with Trudy goes for the most painful moments possible. You’ve also got one guy getting attacked by the nutcracker which was another brutal moment. This definitely hurt the film quite a bit with how excessive this is. It needed to be toned down.

The film is at its best when it’s just having fun with the concepts. Just letting people adapt to the idea of Santa and watching him crush everyone. The film doesn’t take itself overly serious and that’s a good thing. A wacky concept should have a wacky execution and that will let the whole thing flow really well. Without all of the ultra violence this would have definitely been a lot higher. Now if you’re not too squeamish, then this should still be an absolute W for you.

There are obviously going to be some power level issues here but of course you’re not meant to take it too seriously. Scrooge makes for a really good villain because after watching Santa massacre everyone, he is still prepared to fight to the end. Now that is a brave villain and it’s nice to see one who is willing to fight to the end like that. It’s something that you don’t see all that often in a film like this. He also does now how to fight pretty well considering how close he came to winning.

Personally I’m not too interested in Santa’s past so I’d prefer that the sequel focuses on the future but we’ll see how it goes. There are a decent amount of plot points ready for the sequel and there are a ton of different directions the movie can go. Maybe even introduce another legend for Santa to fight. This could be a proper cinematic universe if they want to go down that route although I imagine a lot of the companies will be squeamish about this.

Now most o the characters are annoying but I’ll give Trudy props for not ending up like the others. She’s still trying to be a good kid and do the right things. She knows how to defend herself and assists Santa throughout the movie. She surpasses most kid characters in this regard because they tend to get in the way while she is actively helping out. She definitely gets a passing grade in my book.

There isn’t really much saving the other characters. Jason may have had a big plan but he shouldn’t have let the marriage get to such a negative point in the first place. Meanwhile Linda is okay and we don’t know how much of this is on her but she wasn’t really helping matters. From all of the unlikable family members, Gertrude is easily the best one because of how smug and overconfident she is. I can really appreciate that in a character, particularly in a villain. She is able to hold her own with the banter for quite a while there.

Overall, Violent Night is a film that is having a lot of fun with the concept. The film is extremely violent and there are a lot of things happening at all times. On one hand I think the film does a pretty good job of living up to the name but on the other that is pretty much what doomed it. The film just gets way too excessive at different points. The script could have also used a lot of work. There is some novelty to be had with watching this film but ultimately, I would end up giving it a thumbs down. This will not end up being the next Die Hard classic.

Overall 3/10

Death Wish Review

Posted on February 21, 2026 by dreager1

This review is of the TV-14 version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative.

It’s time for a film that has quite the controversial reputation over the years for how intense it gets. It’s definitely a film that really got the vigilante genre popular and to this day it’s something that it used in many films. The vigilante route is always a hard solution to deny, particularly in a film like this where it seems like the only reasonable answer to all of the violence.

The film starts off by introducing us to Paul who is reminded by his coworker of how much violence is going on in NYC. Paul just tries to keep to himself and still have a good time rather than live in fear but this does catch up to him. His wife is murdered and his daughter is left in a vegetative state where she isn’t really alive anymore. This pushes Paul to start carrying a weapon with him. It proves effective when he is attacked and after a trip to California, Paul finds that he now has a gun when his contact slipped one into his bag. Why have a gun if you’re not going to use it? That’s essentially Paul’s mindset as he becomes the hunter and aims to go after all the criminals.

Surprisingly we never actually get to have Paul meet the villains from the first scene to put them 6 feet under. I can only assume that would be in a sequel or there’s some super deep narrative reason to avoid that. Whatever the reason was, it would have been more satisfying to have seen Paul take them down. He should get that level of reward after everything that he went through. It would have at least been a fun moment to see.

Now where the film really messes up is by going way too far in the opening scene. Films like this always try to really stress just how evil everyone is in order to make the point for the vigilante. Sure, I get that but you don’t really have to go to a 10 on this. Now, fortunately I saw the TV version which seems to gloss over the opening scene pretty well as it’s mostly just mentioned a lot after the fact. If the scene was on screen then this would be a quick and immediate 0/10. So the film is spared from that fate but even then, the whole plot about what they did to Paul’s daughter did not need to be in the film. That level of ugliness has no place in any film.

It’s a real shame too because after that the film is pretty good about not being explicit. There are certainly a lot of people getting shot throughout the movie but it’s not really all that violent in comparison. Paul moves like a trained killer, only using one bullet per target. He then dashes off to get some more crooks. The camera doesn’t linger on the dead all that much and in general a quick bullet wound isn’t going to be too bad.

I thought the movie also did a good job by showing how the political leaders didn’t want to stop Paul either. Rather, they needed to stop the killings but just get him out of there. That way they could still take credit for the drop in crime without having to rely on a vigilante. That kind of self serving mentality absolutely seems realistic to me and certainly not out of the ordinary. Also everyone in the streets were supporting Paul because they are the ones dealing with all of the crime.

Paul shoots at least 10-15 different crook to death here and it may have been more than that. This is a massive difference to the living standards of the neighborhood when you consider that these are all going to be repeat offenders. It’s clear that they were used to committing these crimes and stopping anyone in their way. So lets say on average each crook is robbing someone once day, well you’ve just dropped 30 crimes per person each month.

The city was living in fear and now they aren’t. Again, that’s why vigilantism is so tempting because you are ending crooks who only serve to disrupt everyday people from their lives. It’s clear that this problem was too big for the cops to handle here and so Paul went to work. The film certainly shows the weaknesses of law and order as you would need to try and get proof on these criminals, get some witnesses, wait months for the court date, etc, etc.

Obviously there ae reasons why vigilantism cannot be accepted in every day society. You’ll get lots of copy cats, many with different morals and sets of values. Additionally, you would have to constantly be looking around you since everyone would be very trigger happy. So lots of pros and cons but at least in this film it is clearly the only way to go. The criminals are extremely brazen with how they assault people at all times of the day and at any location. Paul made sure that this won’t be happening quite as often.

The character cast is actually really small in this one. Aside from Paul you do have his son in law who mainly represents the film’s take on what non-vigilantes are doing about things. He is constantly sad about what happened to his wife but isn’t actually doing anything about this. He just hopes that society will get better and talks about how they should have moved away. It’s not a very flattering look for this character.

Then you have the police chief who definitely wants to take Paul down but has no real support to do this. So he’s just really annoyed the whole time since his hands are basically tied behind his back. He’s a fun character to have around and gives some of the rare humor moments within the film. This is largely a serious film after all. It is nice to see Paul enjoying himself as he takes down the crooks though. At times he gets a little too cocky and takes a hit that he shouldn’t but does make short work out of his opponents. In this business t is important to finish off each target or they will be back out there soon enough and Paul will be in even more danger.

Overall, Death Wish is one of those films with a really intense plot. It certainly gives you a lot of reason to be sympathetic to Paul and what he is trying to do here. At the same time, the film just goes too far in order to make that point. That’s what really makes you shake your head here. If the film could have had some more tact then it really could have been remembered as one of the good ones. So ultimately I am going to have to recommend skipping this one. I’m hopeful that the sequels will be better since they can just jump right into the action but this is also the kind of plot that is easy to mess up. It always needs to be handled carefully.

Overall 3/10

Rings Review

Posted on February 15, 2026 by dreager1

It’s time for another Ring movie and this one is the weakest yet. It’s time for a whole lot of exposition to things that we already know about. There aren’t any real great characters here and the film falls into the usual issue of the whole thing being futile. The main characters have absolutely no chance of claiming victory here and will only continue to be absolutely crushed. The film desperately needs to introduce a villain to fight the demon or something because the humans are not cutting it.

The movie starts with Samara crashing an airplane filled with people because at least two of them had seen the video. Everyone is now doomed and upon their death we cut to the real main characters. Julia is the heroine here and her boyfriend heads off to College but they swear to stay together. They will make the long distance relationship work. Unfortunately he stops returning her calls early on and the last time they spoke he was surrounded by other student who didn’t seem like good influences. Another girl shows up on his computer and starts acting crazy so Julia drives over to find out what’s going on. Unfortunately she is not entering the middle of an ongoing death experiment.

There’s already a lot wrong with this. Holt just comes across as a terrible character. So he willingly joined an experiment about death, knowing full well about the risks. He bought into the explanation that this can help humanity learn some knowledge or something but with the risk it’s not worth it. Basically Professor Gabriel has a lot of students watch the Ring video. Then before the week is up, they get other students to watch it. You can keep on passing the curse along so that nobody dies but the professor waits for a long time to get a tail on this and so people still keep on dying anyway.

Holt’s excuse here is that he left Julia in the dark so that she wouldn’t get involved. It’s a terribly thought out plan. For starters this would make her nervous and want to come over anyway. If she didn’t, then she probably would have just straight up dumped him. In either case, there is no real winning on this one if you use that strategy. Instead he could have just acted like all was normal and at least texted her back once a day. Even letting her know about the experiments and just hiding parts of it would have worked better. So he’s just not very smart.

He’s also not likable for even getting involved with this in the first place. I’d also throw in that if he had roommates with him, he should have warned Julia in the call before she started stripping. Obviously that’s putting her in a really embarrassing situation otherwise. I can’t say that I was a big fan of Skye either because she was quick to watch the video and then was ready to pass it on to someone else. Not a very nice thing to do and it makes her as guilty as the other characters.

How come nobody suggested just making this into a Daisy Chain? Person A gives it to Person B who gives it to Person C who gives it to Person A, etc. You could do that every 3 days and in theory nobody would ever die. It would certainly be a lot safer than their current plan. Perhaps I missed one of the very sketchy rules about copies here but as far as I know this would work. Now admittedly, I still have to stretch some disbelief to understand how Gabriel found out so much about these rules. I guess you could say through a lot of trial and error but it’s always weird to have someone figure out so much about this.

Unfortunately that doesn’t save us from the exposition as we still have Julia and Holt travelling the world to learn more about Samara and her past. This is basically retreading a ton of old ground that we have already went through so I can tell you that this was incredibly dull. We already know that Samara is evil so it’s not like finding out more is going to help. The film introduces another big villain in her father but Samara is not some random victim.

She has been murdering dozens of people for years and has already said that she would never stop. While the father was crazy and evil himself, you knew that he didn’t stand a chance. He was blind so perhaps he figured that would be a natural defense against her curse but what he didn’t realize was that Samara has the ability to restore someone’s eyesight. Checkmate! I know that sounds pretty ridiculous but as long as you keep in mind that she is all powerful then it works out.

So you don’t really have any likable characters here. Gabriel should be treated as another big villain here as well since he was a mass murderer by showing the video to so many people. He may claim it was for science and stuff but that doesn’t give him a free pass. When Samara messes them all over by stopping the video from being copied, you can’t even feel too bad because people were already dying anyway. At least this will stop all of the experiments.

There just comes a point where you wonder what the point of this all is. Samara cannot be defeated or even slowed down at this point. She can take anyone down and even possess others whenever she wants to. You can try to burn the tapes but she will return right away and ignore every attempt to stop her. She seems rather slow so you could in theory run away from her but then she’ll just have you choke from bugs or be in some Final Destination type explosion. There is no escape and there is no way to beat her so everything is absolutely brutal.

I guess I can say that the film is at least not ultra violent. It certainly has its moments but isn’t on the same level as something like Final Destination or Halloween. The film makes up for this with a lot of disturbing imagery and just dark themes in general. This is definitely not what you would call a feel good movie nor does it have much in the way of replay value. There aren’t even a ton of scares to be had. Yeah we get some jump scares and all but the exposition part of the film is reallllly long. Honestly there is no easy way to save this franchise. Giving her a weak point would be a good start but it doesn’t seem like that is in the cards. Maybe at least give us a likable character.

Overall, Rings has more pertinent things to say about long distance relationships than actual lore about Samara. It’s all recycled at this point so you just don’t care. Her father has a good voice for exposition but the character himself is just randomly evil without a whole lot of development. I would definitely recommend staying far away from this film. It doesn’t meaningfully upgrade the Ring series and just takes a few steps back instead. Maybe the next film will be better…one can hope.

Overall 2/10

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