Borderlands Review


Whenever a film like Borderlands gets bad reviews you have to consider if it bombed for not being faithful to the games, it was too much like the games, or it just ended up being boring. The first two can result in really fun films while the latter is definitely a miss. I don’t even know which category this one falls into because I never played the games but to me it does feel like it’s leaning hard into being a video game film. This one goes through a whole lot of funny story beats as it pokes fun at itself the whole time. As a result it really ends up being a fun film and I would definitely recommend it. We don’t get enough parody type titles like this nowadays.

The movie starts off with Tina being rescued from some kind of sci-fi ship by Roland. He has defected from the corrupt army and wants to help her out. They are assisted by an escaped inmate named Krieg. In the future, everything basically went bad but out of all the planets, Pandora is the worst. It’s like a Mad Max wasteland there and crime rules the day. We cut to a bounty hunter named Lilith who is constantly complaining and is glad to have left that place. Well, she is hired by a man named Atlas to find his daughter Tina and rescue her from this Roland fellow. Lilith agrees due to the big pay day but is she really on the right side?

So first off, the whole introduction phase to the film is great. First we get a full Star Wars parody and then after that we get a parody to the usual bounty hunter intro. Lilith is approached by a bunch of thugs and immediately takes them out. Just straight up obliterates all of them. If she’s anything like this in the games then we’re looking at a top tier video game protagonist right out of the gate. Then when the “Mysterious leader” figure shows up, she shoots him dead too. It’s just such a great deconstruction of the usual scene and like I emphasized before, we need more well written parodies like this.

Ultimately Lilith decides to help not out of the goodness of her heart or anything like that but just because of the money. When she lands on the planet we see the Mad Max fighters except they’re basically all losers who get immediately crushed. You will always get points from me for making fun of that overrated series. Yeah they look more impressive deeper in the film when a bunch of them rush the heroes but this was a great introduction. As with most parodies, I would say the film tends to be a bit weaker once we get to the serious stuff.

I didn’t really care about Lilith’s origin story and it’s played a little too straight. Maybe there can be some parody appeal in being as generic as possible? Eh that’s probably a stretch. Either way the film wasn’t quite able to sell me on the emotional/serious bits. Fortunately that is a pretty small part of the film. For the most part this is a film that is just having a good time with itself and that’s the right tone for this film. It adds a lot of replay value and there are a ton of laugh out loud moments.

Claptrap is really one of the standout characters here. Pretty much all of his lines are absolutely great. The guy pulls off being the sarcastic bot persona really well. He is always there to make the heroes feel worse and to kick them while they’re down. In his defense they tend to treat him terribly so what goes around comes around. He is quite helpful a lot of the time even if he also gets them into trouble at other circumstances. Basically he is a true wild card and one that both sides really have to account for or they will get crushed in the process.

I already talked about her a bit but Lilith is really an excellent character here. She is completely jaded with everything and tries to always keep a large distance away from everyone. She’s not looking to create any bonds or relationships. She is just trying to get this mission over with for the money. As the film goes on her true heroic side comes out and all but not without a whole lot of journeying to get there. Additionally by the end she gets some fun abilities that will be fun for the sequel.

The movie had a bigger scale climax than I was expecting that’s for sure. I could see that being a final boss in the games. The main guy Roland was also pretty fun. Now it can be a little tough to take him seriously but I’d argue that’s the point. He’s very easy to overlook and that’s when he crushes his enemies. He’s a solid all around fighter and is around to help Tina the whole time. You have to give him credit for his drive the whole time.

Krieg gets overshadowed a bit in comparison but definitely seems like a great ally. The kind of guy who will really put it all on the line to help Tina. He also does really good in all of his fights and shows off some true super strength. Definitely nothing to dislike about him. As for Tina, I was a little unsure of her at first but the way she handled Lilith the first time they met definitely put her on the good side. She’s really crafty and quick witted. She can take care of herself without any problems and is very proactive. Most kids would be panicking the whole time but not her.

Out of all the characters, Tina is probably the biggest surprise at how much fun she is. I would have assumed that she would be more annoying. The villains tend to be more on the forgettable side though. You got some army grunts and Mr. Atlas himself but none of them are that noteworthy. They do have cool costumes though and Atlas’ protective energy barrier is actually extremely useful. It keeps him in the fight a lot more than you may have expected that it would.

Meanwhile the soundtrack is excellent. It’s extremely good and dominates every scene. You do see a lot of the “bad films” tend to have great soundtracks. I think it’s because some would say that the music shouldn’t dominate the scene so the big films tend to have more generic scores but this one goes hard with the rock music. It’s all really catchy and upbeat holding its own with Mortal Kombat 2, The Resident Evil films, etc. I was really surprised because the games didn’t strike me as having this kind of music.

Now as with all comedy films I wouldn’t expect every joke to land with you. The film does have a big crude humor sequence with some jokes which aren’t really my style. On the whole the jokes tend to work well though so the film is a lot funnier than it isn’t. The pacing is good with a lot happening the whole time as well. The fight scenes are a lot of fun and all the uniforms for the heroes and villains are on point. Again it feels very video game inspired without trying to tone the colors down. That’s the way to do an adaption, everything should really pop out at you.

Overall, I don’t know much at all about the Borderland games. They always looked pretty boring and unappealing but if this film is any indication then maybe they are actually really solid. Still don’t see myself ever playing them but if the film were to get a sequel I would definitely be up for that. That would be absolutely historic! I somehow get the feeling that the odds of that are not very high though. So in the meantime you should definitely check this film out. It may very well surprise you.

Overall 8/10

Tower of God Season 2 Review


We had to wait a long time for Tower of God to make its big return so everyone was eager to see just how good it would look. Well, unfortunately the series isn’t one of the more big budget ones to put it mildly. The story is a 10/10 though so the series was always going to be great unless they changed something about the plot. Fortunately the cuts weren’t all that bad here. Some stuff is missing to be sure but all in all I thought they did an impressive job with it. It’s no season 1 but this show was definitely a lot of fun.

The story takes place a long time after season 1. Our new main character is Wangnan who is trying to climb up the tower but he has been having a hard time so far. He owes a lot of money to the local Yakuza so this is his last chance. There are a scary batch of recruits this time around too including the mysterious Viole who is the latest Slayer candidate. Since he is sponsored directly by FUG, getting on his bad side would not be a good idea. As luck would have it, they are placed on the same team along with a variety of other colorful characters. Will they be able to succeed or are they all doomed to die? In the meantime, the old characters like Khun are still making their moves to climb the tower and get justice for Baam.

There is a lot going on here as you would expect since this was always a very dialogue heavy series with a lot of storylines going on. This one adds a whole lot of characters to the existing roster which was already quite sizable. There is definitely a lot to keep up with here and the story has to move fast so don’t expect to have too many moments to relax and digest what just happened. Naturally I tend to enjoy fast pacing so that was pretty fun. I’d say it is still enough where you can understand what is going on even without reading the original manhua. It makes things easier for sure though.

So the story is super compelling as always and that’s why I say the series was destined for greatness. As for the animation, it’s not bad. It went for a more traditional look than the first season and while I think that can be good to show off the higher power levels, it really isn’t taken to the fullest. This animation style feels very familiar after all but it doesn’t have the same budget that bigger titles have. So as a result the fights aren’t super fluid or tend to have a lot of movement. At the very end of the season we get some quick cuts but that’s about it. The big punch with Viole and Urek is still a lot of fun even if the animation isn’t super high tier or anything though. I guess it’s another moment where I would give the story itself the most credit.

Fortunately the soundtrack is still really good like in season 1. There are a lot of reused tracks but they still age well. The cliffhanger theme when Urek is fighting Viole is definitely the best one. The openings/endings aren’t as catchy as season 1’s were but they are still good. I’ve listened to them a whole lot and at this point I’m used to them but I still couldn’t say that they are elite or really stand out. They do work better when you ignore the images though. The first opening’s is still criminally low budget. There were some artistic ideas there but they failed.

The decision to make this season 2 cours was definitely a really good one because of how much content there was to adapt. They will probably need 4 cours in order to adapt the Hell Train arc properly but we’ll see how that goes. Hopefully the wait isn’t super long for the next season because it’s rough to have to wait for so long each time. The next arc is my personal favorite of the series after all so I need it right away!

Wangnan makes for a pretty fun main character and I would say he’s a lot more fun than Baam from the first season. That kid was nice enough but Wangnan has more of a personality. He has dreams and aspirations and works hard to make them come true. He may not be the most powerful fighter in the tower but he doesn’t need to be. He just needs good allies and gets some decent feats as the season goes on. He’s more of a comedic lead but that doesn’t stop him from getting serious moments as well. He does what he needs to in order to go higher in the tower.

Miseng is one of the main party members but she can’t really fight much which puts her in a tough spot. The tower is a cruel place and trying to climb it without being able to fight is a really terrible idea. I feel bad for her of course but cmon now. This is just not going to work. She just ends up holding the team back the whole time and since she knows it, this causes Miseng to make some pretty bad moves the whole time. The whole thing is really just a wash for her and she should probably have gotten kicked out of the exams earlier. It only gets rougher the more you climb up after all.

Then there is Goseng who is in a similar boat as she can’t fight. What’s with all of these civilians trying to climb the tower? It’s just such a bad idea and the series sets up a little romance for her but you can’t imagine it ending in anything other than a tragic way. It’s just not possible to climb while constantly having to protect others. She doesn’t seem to be working on her abilities either so for now she isn’t rising up for me.

Akraptor is the tough guy who seems unhinged at first but has a soft side. Still, this is finally someone who can really fight so I am on board with having him around. He is able to keep his cool and keep the others in line when needed. He also tries to put up a fight against Viole although going for cheap shots against Horyang wasn’t smart with how high the stakes were. The guy adds a little spice to the team dynamic by being someone who can’t 100% be trusted so I appreciated that.

Horyang is another pretty powerful fighter and he’s got a sinister past. Definitely someone to keep an eye on and he gets a big role in the arc as other figures from his past turn up. I think he can be a bit too soft spoken but once his mini arc starts, he did get more serious and pro active. So I would say I hesitantly like him. I would like him to do more in the future though instead of just being dragged around a whole lot. He also needs to not make such a reckless move in leaving the heroes again since that just puts them all in danger.

Yeon is a pretty high ranking individual among the family hierarchy so when she shows up you expect a whole lot out of her. Unfortunately she can’t control her flames which is a classic way to nerf her. She’s not bad but considering how much hype the flames themselves get, it can be annoying to see people blocking them or straight up tanking the blasts. She absolutely needs to improve her abilities and do it quickly. Fortunately for her, Tower of God is one of those titles that doesn’t put a ton of stock on speed so she will still be able to tag speedsters even if it doesn’t make sense. Still, you need more than flames to win in this world because being a one trick pony is a recipe for disaster.

Viole is the power hitter that the team needed so it’s always good to have him around. He also doesn’t live up to the hype as much as you would want in the show version. As the slayer candidate his abilities are supposed to be absolutely legendary and on a whole different level yet he doesn’t look quite as overwhelmingly powerful as you would expect. If anything it just seems like his aura is slightly greater than the others which isn’t the all powerful buff that you would think it is. I would have liked to have seen more out of him.

Even so, it’s clear that he is stronger than the rest of the guys on his team so that’s good. Additionally just the fact that he stood up to Urek even for a moment was impressive since everybody else was chickening out immediately. When you are trying to climb the tower, you sometimes have to have a defining moment where you stand against the strong and this was it. It’s a lesson that the other characters could definitely learn from.

Take Prince for example. He may have looked tough at first as one of the villains but the instant he joined the heroes, the guy lost all his hype. It’s not like we needed another kid type character on the crew either. He doesn’t really contribute much at all except to hold the heroes back so I can’t say that I was a big fan of his either. On the whole you can see why I preferred the team from the season 1 group. I tended to enjoy everybody there while here the team can be hit or miss.

Then of course we have Khun’s team led by the man himself. Khun is solid as always here as he thinks 3 steps ahead and always has a plan. This is around the time he became a full time strategist. In season 1 he was also rather dominant physically but I suppose by this time the opponents are getting stronger. I would like to see him fight more though because I have to assume he’s still stronger than a lot of people. He doesn’t see into every possible contingency nor does he win every battle but on the whole he looks good. Khun is great at adapting to the circumstance and always keeping a confident demeanor up no matter what.

Dan is the new recruit Khun finds who has super speed. Uh oh, we all know how super speed can get kinda dicey when it comes to power levels right? Well, naturally it’s not all that good for Dan and he doesn’t get to show it off as much as I would like. The show does a good job of making him immediately likable though. I thought he was a really well developed character though and somebody who was just fun to root for.

Most of Khun’s other members aren’t all that memorable but there were two others who left an impact. First up is Novik who is one of those strong guys who is always overshadowed by having someone more powerful than him on the team. That has to be rough to know that you are pretty powerful but will never get that elusive #1 spot. Doesn’t feel all that fair right? Well he doesn’t let it get him down. It’s a bit hard to gauge Novik’s strength as well because he’s often either much stronger than his opponent or much weaker. There’s not really much of an in between here.

Then you have Ran who is a lot of fun. The guy is super confident and powerful. He reminds me a lot of Killua from Hunter X Hunter. His smugness is definitely deserved with how easily he dispatches his opponents. I like his fighting style so you could say that everything about the character is great from start to finish. He’s really fun to root for and gets a good amount of screentime. Khun definitely did really well to recruit this guy.

Shibisu has his own team as well which is a mix of new characters and old ones. The guy has really come a long way from being more of a loudmouth to a strategist who is treated a lot like Khun. The first season set up the seeds for this and the payoff was really good. He’s still not really a fighter though so tactics are really how he shines in the battles. If you take that away from him then he will really be in a tough spot here.

One of his new recruits is Vespa who is a strong fighter. Vespa brags a lot about having an awakened form and being the fastest but ends up fighting people who are either faster or who have hax which is unfortunate. I still like the character though. I don’t like Verdi as much because she seems borderline evil. She likes to collect people as puppets and brainwash them. That’s not exactly hero behavior so I don’t know what she is doing with these guys. I guess it was one of those strategic partnerships to look the other way but that isn’t a huge consolation to me. You have to reign that “Anything goes” attitude a little bit or you will become the villains.

Endorsi is also part of the group but she really does whatever she wants. It’s fun to see her absolute freedom though and continues to be one of the more powerful fighters. She gets a lot of hype on this one and also on an intellectual level as she quickly figures out that something is a little off about Viole. I definitely look forward to her continuing to have a pretty big role.

Anaak also gets her own solid fight so her fans should be pleased. Her durability gets a lot of respect and she is a high end fighter as well. For the most part you would expect her to be able to defeat most of the other fighters in each group. She is quick to want to get revenge for Baam which I appreciate. That’s how a real friend does it. Unfortunately I would say Hatz looks far less impressive. I really liked him in season 1 but it’s clear that he has lost to the power creep. Gone are the days where he could fight on par with Anaak. Hatz gets his own sub plot ad everything but he just doesn’t have the edge that he used to which is a shame.

Then on the FUG team we have Refejo at the helm. He’s a rather mysterious guy who seems loyal but is always having a backup plan at the ready. In fairness to the guy, trusting anyone in the Tower of God is a really bad move so I don’t blame him. His suspicions turn out to be correct more often than not. He ends up making for a really good villain and is one of the standout antagonists here. The guy can back up his tough talk really well.

Varagav may be stronger but the guy has less character. We get to see him fight Endorsi but that’s about it. I do like the foreshadowing with Baylord Yama being mentioned though. Beta was a more impressive villain as he really gave Viole a tough fight. The guy was pretty whiny so I won’t say he’s as likable as some of the other villains but the guy made his presence known. He really gave all of the characters a really tough fight throughout.

Another villain is Quaetro but he stops being a threat early on. His fight with Wangnan was a lot of fun though. For the most part the fights in the series tend to be serious so having a little comedic moment once in a while isn’t bad. His partner Chang gets even less to do but does seem to be stronger. Maybe one day we will really get to see him cut loose although it feels like the power creep has already passed him. The series really moves fast when it comes to powers.

That’s not even counting characters who appear but haven’t fought yet. Karaka gets a few appearances to gloat and look tough. He’s a solid villain so I look forward to him getting a role. Then of course we have his master Jinsung who gets even more hype. The kind of guy who doesn’t mind walking into a villain’s base all on his own just to talk smack. Now that’s a good level of confidence that I like to see.

Of course Urek towers above all of those as one of the strongest characters in the whole franchise. The guy loves a good fight and really shows off his power. Definitely someone you will want to see more of and he really steals the show even with a very limited amount of screentime. It will be a while before he does anything again so you better savor the moment while you can. His appearance was like a glimpse into the end game.

Then we have Xia Xia who isn’t the strongest villain but she still finds ways to shake everybody up so I can appreciate that. She is crazy in a very dangerous way with no tactic being out of bounds. I thought she did a good job of playing everybody and while her role isn’t large, it was impactful. She’s almost like the reverse Hwaryun who also trolls everybody constantly. Hwaryun gets more hype though since as a guide her foresight is pretty much unstoppable. She will always be on the path that she needs to be. Granted, it doesn’t stop her from being knocked out but you always assume that she got knocked out at a good time for her or something like that.

Emily is a mysterious figure and most of her scenes had to get cut out for the anime. Not that it changes much since she keeps the mysterious aura either way. I wasn’t crazy about the subplot in regards to her true identity but I did like the idea of a texting app that everybody was using in order to stay ahead. That added a fun wrinkle to the Workshop battle arc and kept all of the characters guessing. The more mind games in Tower of God the better!

Still, any scene with the Traveler would usually be pretty uneventful and dare I say a bit boring. I just didn’t care about the guy and not even the anime adaption would end up fixing that. He doesn’t appear a ton fortunately so that worked out. As one more miscellaneous hero, Rak shows up for the second half and even gets some fights. I would say he is an unfortunate victim of the power creep so don’t expect him to look too overpowering but he gets his share of fun moments. He’s not exactly my favorite character but the guy is super loyal so I really appreciate that.

Somebody like Cassano can learn from that. Cassano is a solid villain but you wonder how far he has thought ahead in his plans. he makes a whole lot of enemies out of pretty much every faction which can’t be a good idea for his long term health. He’s a solid fighter but not one of the top tiers. I guess relative to the average fighter he would be considered near the top though. I think he works as an interesting wild card and just needs at least one more power up.

Then of course we have Rachel who is still a standout character. She’s just an absolute blast and always shakes up the tower. It’s clear to see why she is considered one of the destined ones by the tower itself. She also has the most brutal moments in the series. She doesn’t appear much in the second half but of course you can look forward to seeing a whole lot more out of her down the road.

Overall, Season 2 was definitely a blast. It’s a great show even if it’s not downright elite the way that season 1 was. There is a lot going on here and a lot of plot developments set up for the next saga. Regardless of how the animation ends up looking, the next part should be super elite. Although of course I will be hoping for better animation as well because why not have the full package right? A series like Tower of God absolutely deserves every bit of effort it can get. I definitely recommend this title.

Overall 8/10

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Review


It’s time for another Ghostbusters adventure and this one does its best to give everybody some time to shine. It almost feels like a bit of an ensemble cast with how many people are showing up now. Unfortunately one of my least favorite characters gets most of the screentime and keeps on making mistakes in this one. Ghostbusters making mistakes on the job is nothing new though. This is a fairly enjoyable film but one that is lacking the It factor to get higher.

The film starts off with an ice demon taking a bunch of people down for the count and then vanishing. Something mysterious is amidst. Unfortunately the cycle will continue as the orb that it is sealed in gets bought by one of the original Ghostbusters who has become an antique dealer now. As soon as that orb is opened up it could spell the end of the world. Meanwhile Phoebe is being visited by a mysterious ghost and since she has no true friends, she is a little more susceptible to social engineering. Will the Ghostbusters’ biggest weakness be one of their own?

So on the positives it is impressive how much is being juggled here. You have the original trio of Ghostbusters, the new fighters which comprises the 4 from the last film, a new guy who may be the next Firemaster, and the B team led by the social media guy and the girl who has taken more of a scientist angle. So that’s a ton to squeeze in along with all of the fight scenes and ghosts popping up. As a result the film does feel rather busy and it’s a good thing that it’s as long as it was. That said, the best characters tend to be the older Ghostbusters so you just wish they could take the starring role at this point. Even if it feels like a nostalgia cash grab, they would be way better than the kids.

Phoebe has the biggest role here as she has to deal with the fact that she’s still a minor and as a result cannot be a legal Ghostbuster. The government plays the antagonist role here but it really does make sense. It’s a super dangerous job even for adults and this wouldn’t fly anywhere else. Obviously the mayor does have a grudge so this is super personal but the argument itself is sound. Phoebe is there for the whole scene but still blames the rest of the team for not defending her.

The problem is that Phoebe proves them right time and time again with how immature she is. She has a habit of making a bad situation worse over and over and over again. There’s just no stopping her and that’s a very bad thing. The plot of her meeting the ghost is even worse though because she doesn’t know this ghost and yet they become friends really fast. Phoebe trusts her enough to let her into the base and even though the ghost acts really suspicious by going right to the generator, Phoebe doesn’t think anything of it. In fact, she leaves the ghost unattended for the rest of the night as she goes to sleep. Really bad idea right there.

I get the plot of Phoebe feeling lonely but this is still pretty inexcusable. This is a universe much like Frieren where Ghosts are just evil creatures and have to be stopped with no ifs ands or buts. For the nicer ones they get nicer prisons but you’re not just letting any on the loose. It simply isn’t done and so Phoebe needed to take her down right away. Now could Phoebe have won? Probably not, the Ghostbusters equipment continues to be incredibly unreliable, slow, and weak. It’s impressive that they have even lasted this long to be honest. The ghosts can dodge the laser, fly high enough so it doesn’t work, crash into things to get the humans off their tail, etc. Realistically they’re not catching anything with that laser.

Her brother gets the shaft this time which is probably good. He basically tries unsuccessfully to take down the garbage ghost and pays the price. Instead we have a big role for Nadeem who shows up early on. The guy is good at scamming and doing whatever it takes in order to make a quick buck. He may not be the most heroic guy out there but he knows what it takes to survive. So then we get a big plot about how he actually has super powers and it’s not half bad. The guy has a lot of good humor scenes and to be honest you’re rooting for him over the Ghostbusters. He quickly starts to steal the show in every scene that he is in.

It does lead to some wonky power levels but this is Ghostbusters so that’s par for the course. The main ice villain here is fairly decent as he gets cool dialogue and a solid design. He doesn’t look super impressive combat wise but the verse isn’t the strongest. I would have just liked there to have been more effort to defeat him or more reason on why he didn’t just immediately murder everybody with the spikes. Seriously in the climax the heroes go at him with no real plan and have to be bailed out multiple times. I think the “best” part here was when they all tried shooting him with the lasers that they knew didn’t work and then they looked shocked when…they still don’t work.

Gary and Callie have a subplot where they are trying to establish their relationship with the kids and make it way more convoluted and harder than it has to be. If they’re married then he’s the step dad and if they’re not, then he’s just plain ole Gary. It’s that simple and yet the whole time they keep stammering about this and by the end I’m not even totally sure of their status. It sounds to me like they’re still dating but I’m not sure. Either way the advice Callie has is for Gary to be tougher on the kids instead of just being a friend but I would argue this is terrible advice if they aren’t married yet. He would really not have much say and if they are, then sure that’s fine.

Felt like a bit of a waste as far as subplots go though. Still, Gary and Callie are at least fun and more entertaining than the kids. They are a bit useless in the actual Ghostbusting though so hopefully they amp up their skills. It is a bit sad that the kids really do all of the work. Back in the old days everybody had a super big role. As for the old timers, they had some fun moments and it was nice to see them in the mix. They may not be able to keep up as much as they used to, but they do their best.

So all in all this feels like a Ghostbusters through and through. I sort of mean it as a complement but to be honest it’s a soft one. The movie feels fairly interchangeable with the others and it feels like the series hasn’t been able to reclaim the fun vibes of the first title. There are some pretty good jokes here. The movie does manage to be pretty funny but the action scenes aren’t quite as entertaining and the movie has a very hard time keeping a straight face during the serious scenes. It’s like the movie is being really serious but the characters themselves can’t really acknowledge what is going on.

For that reason it should probably lean a bit harder on the comedy angle and really let the action just fade out. We can still have a fun climax of course but handling the tone just right is difficult and seems to be too much of a challenge for this film. We do get a remix of the classic theme at the end which was good though. I was waiting the whole film for that and I’m glad that it didn’t disappoint. They should really try to surpass it with a new song but I’m not holding my breath.

Overall, by the end of the film you will probably agree with the mayor that the Ghostbusters are a danger to society. They cause crazy amounts of collateral damage even dealing with a throwaway ghost like in the first scene. They didn’t plan out the storage well so a lot of the chaos throughout the film is directly their fault. In fact, I’d go as far as to say the whole film is their fault. It doesn’t seem like anybody else would have been able to unlock the seal on the orb and having all of the ghosts in one place is a massive security risk. They do their best with the ghosts but the mayor needs to just create some ghost guns and give them to the cops. I’m sure they’ll end up doing a better job.

Overall 6/10

Trap Review


It’s time for a thriller as we see the cops going up against an intense serial killer. The premise for this film is definitely pretty good and the story itself is very interesting. Unfortunately the deck was just stacked too far against the villain so the film has to pull off impossible magic tricks several times in order to keep the movie going. These moments will definitely have you rolling your eyes but on the whole this makes for a good watch.

The movie starts off with Cooper taking his daughter Riley over to a concert. She has been looking forward to seeing the singer, Raven for ages and even studied up in order to get good grades. Cooper figured that this would be a good surprise but there are a ton of cops around. Cooper asks one of the custodians and he says that they’re here to capture the mysterious butcher who is one of the attendees. Cooper appears to be that guy as he starts to get crazier and crazier. Can he really escape now that he is inside the venue and surrounded by hundreds of cops and FBI agents?

Okay so the decision to show that Cooper is the villain very early on in the film is a good idea because that is effectively the hook. We need to see how he deals with this and tries to escape rather than this being a twist in the second half of the film. That’s the tension after all as we root against him. The thing is, the cops have laid out a very impressive trap. They are guarding all exits, checking all of the men, and even have secret passwords. In theory there should be no way for Cooper to escape and that’s when the film has to quickly start making everyone act as dumb as possible in order for this to happen. I’ll just name a few of the film’s magic tricks that don’t pass the eye test.

First off, some random employee telling Cooper all of the details. I’m talking about the operation itself, the password that only the employees have, letting him come back stage with no supervision, etc. I mean this is all way past just breaking protocol, it wouldn’t make sense even without the situation. Being allowed into the supply room with no supervision…what? This was early on in the film too. I know they needed to give Cooper a way to know what was happening early on so he could be sweating it out but cmon now.

Then Cooper is consistently able to wander into employee only zones and pull off a lot of pranks. For example he super charges the french fry machine to burn someone, steals a walky talkie, steals a badge, attends the FBI briefing, etc. He even goes on the roof and just gets asked a few questions. He’s consistently pulling off the impossible here and it only gets worse like when the famous singer decides to talk to him one on one with nobody present. These leaps start to get even larger as the film goes on.

As one point, he is trapped inside an area while the cops have surrounded the place yet again. He somehow gets past all of them, disables one without making a sound, and then appears inside a particular vehicle that should have been the most guarded. Crazy stuff. The film still pulls off another disappearing act later on as he is surrounded…..again for the 5th time and somehow escapes the vehicle without anyone seeing him and even gets all the way back to a house for more terror.

This guy may as well be a magician with the kind of stunts that he is pulling off. Then the film has to break common sense a few times to help him in other ways. For example when the cops have this big time serial killer at gunpoint, they opt for tasers instead which of course get tanked and someone gets some vicious eye injuries. Tasers are never going to work but if you use them, one person needs to have the gun active or at least be backing up to not get taken out in the meantime. At least his shirt is off so he won’t be able to hide anything. Wait…you’re telling me the cops put his shirt back on for the lolz? He’s even allowed to hug a kid and play with a bike? Lollllllllllllll

I could rant on the conveniences all day. There are many other moments as well like how Cooper gets back stage but at the end of the day sometimes a film puts itself in a massive hole with no way out and that’s what happened here. Realistically the film would be over way quicker in just about every situation. Cooper makes for a solid villain. 100% evil and irredeemable and the film doesn’t try to make him sympathetic or anything like that. He’s a monster that has to be taken down and the only question is how to do it.

Poor Riley is really oblivious and stuck in the middle here but there’s no real reason why she would have any clue on what’s going on here. So I don’t really put any blame on her. I am glad that we didn’t get to meet her ex friend though because that whole plotline seemed like it would have had nothing to do with anything. It was good as a fun contrast to someone who thinks that she has a dark side and someone with a real one but that’s about as far as you would need for that kind of similarity.

Then we have the singer Raven who looks pretty good here. A bit naive perhaps to meet any stranger behind closed doors one on one. For a singer or any celebrity really they should know first hand how dangerous fans could be. She doesn’t know this guy at all so that could have been her death. It really doesn’t take long for something bad to happen but we get back to the plot convenience moments there. I give her a lot of credit for fighting and doing her best to help out though.

That said we do bump into some more plot convenience for the villain here. So imagine that you’ve got about 2 minutes to yourself to quickly alert someone on what’s going on. You can immediately text the cops, your driver to tell the cops, call them, or you can go on live. Naturally the last option is chosen and it’s honestly not a terrible play but it’s all in the wrong order. Call the cops first and then do the detective gathering. Doing this all in reverse doesn’t really make sense and once again the film could have been over. Honestly even punch out the windows while you can. Mannnnnnnn

At the end of the day Trap is one of those shocking thrillers where the villain makes a lot of bold plays that are usually not good ideas but work out here. As long as you’re cool with that you’ll be able to enjoy the ride really well. The writing’s not bad but at times the film loves to put in some very obvious dialogue. One guy even defines the term “Uncle” in case I guess some movie viewers don’t know what that means. It can be kind of funny though. Everybody acts real extra and the film loves really strong zoom ins on the characters. You’ll be seeing their heads with a whole lot of detail. I think it’s meant to look very strange so every character seems rather suspicious the whole time.

As for the ending, it’s not bad but I would have gone in a bit of a different direction. For one thing, the climax is another moment of convenience in many different ways and the cops look terrible but the final, final scene is hard to take too seriously. There should still be no way out and I don’t see how it works as sequel bait but hey stranger things have happened within the movie. I’d be up for a sequel though. Whether it is believable or not, the film is certainly very interesting. It will definitely hold your attention and that’s the main part.

Overall, The film may not have the huge twist you are hoping for but the film itself is good without any big misdirects. We do get a small twist at the end which may count for some and it was a nice detail. It raises other questions to be sure but that’s how it goes. I would recommend checking it out. It’s definitely very suspenseful and the music was actually pretty decent. I’d say the film even has some decent replay value since it moves at a quick pace.

Overall 6/10

Mission: Yozakura Family Review


It’s always a cold day for the manga industry when one of the big Shonen Jump titles ends and that’s what happened here. It lasted for quite a while although for me it feels fairly recent since I didn’t jump onto the series until it was already in the climax. It starts out fun enough and then really started to get good as the plot picked up. By the end I can safely say that it had a really great run. I don’t think it ever returned to its peak after the big timeskip as that is the weaker part of the series but it’s not unheard of for a title to end up having a final arc that can’t beat the older ones. The series would have had a hard time recapturing its peak from right before the timeskip anyway. I’d definitely recommend checking out this series and it actually has a solid romance all the way through.

The series starts by introducing us to Taiyo. He’s a fairly quiet kid who does his schoolwork and keeps on moving without any issue. Unfortunately his parents died in a tragic “accident” and so he was taken in by the Yozakura family. Their head is his close friend Mutsumi and so now they get to hang out a lot. Thing is, they cannot remain as just friends. The family needs Taiyo to marry her and while he is hesitant to do so, he realizes that she will be in more danger if he doesn’t step up to the task. So he agrees to stand by her side and will have to quickly level up as a spy. Additionally, the death of his parents appears to be mixed up in a huge conspiracy that involves the family so he will need to learn more about this.

Right out of the gate you’ve got a pretty fun premise here. There is naturally the potential for lots of fun shenanigans with all of the different family members and all of their quirks. The series starts off as a comedy with different glimpses of action before going down the action path 100%. That’s always a pretty fun way to develop the story and this one’s no different. The romance angle to the plot also works well because since they were to be matched up fairly early, there is no chance for any rebounds or rivals. Both Mutsumi and Taiyo have eyes for nobody else for the duration of the series. There is never a single gag or moment of drama that even causes them to doubt the other one’s affection. The series even had fun with that with a few chapters that was hinting at it only for that to be squashed.

I can safely say that this is one of the better romances in Jump and is absolutely the way to handle it. The romance is slowly developed as the series goes on so nothing is too quick and you get to really understand the characters by then. All of the characters get a whole lot of development as the series goes and one of them in particular had a masterful character arc. Kyoichiro goes from being more of an annoying comedic character to the absolute best character in the series. It’s not even close to be honest. He really steals the show and absolutely elevates the series whenever he is on screen.

So Kyoichiro’s gimmick is that he is extremely protective of Mutsumi. He is obsessed with her to a rather creepy degree as he is constantly spying on her and running around to make sure she is never hurt even just emotionally. He constantly attacks Taiyo because he isn’t ready for Mutsumi to be married yet and so the whole family is constantly beating him up. He gets beaten in almost every chapter and while he picks most of the fights, you have to imagine that it hurts after a while. He is the eldest child of the family though and bears a lot of the responsibility.

So later on once the series enters its serious mode, we really get to see him in a different light. One chapter even did a call back to a bunch of the gags from earlier on and how they were secretly him preparing them for different situations. He plays the goofball as a teaching role a lot of the time and barks a lot louder than his bite. Now does that mean his whole personality is fake? I wouldn’t say so, he just plays up his normal personality to a comedic degree intentionally. He still does work on protecting Mutsumi as his primary task and it involves his childhood. It was effectively the first mission he was ever given.

Kyoichiro is consistently ready to put his life on the line in order to protect the rest of his family members and does this really well. When he is put into a rocky situation he immediately has plans and contingency plans on how to handle this on his own. He is really the perfect example of a character who helps others secretly from the shadows. It’s really quite impressive. Kyoichiro also put a lot of work into perfecting his own skills and is easily one of the most powerful characters in the series. I would even go as far as to say that he is absolutely number 1 among the entire cast. His abilities are just absolutely broken. So his antics may be a bit too much for some people to look past but he really worked out quite nicely for me.

As for the main character Taiyo, in a way you could say he is the one character with the least amount of development. In a way the series tries to keep him as the normal joe throughout the adventure. Everyone else has a lot of quirks and we then see their serious side while Taiyo was serious from the beginning. His whole journey is about protecting Mutsumi no matter what. I guess you could say he gets less shy about showing his affection for her the more the series goes on though which is pretty nice development. He also naturally gets a whole lot stronger as the series goes on and really becomes a top tier fighter.

Mutsumi is a character I expected a bit more from as I kept waiting for the twist where she was a complete fighter as well. It just makes sense that the head would be one of the most powerful people in the room right? It didn’t play out that way but she is still fun. She actually gets one of Kyoichiro’s big traits in terms of obsession. She is obsessed with Taiyo and collects all kinds of merchandise about him which is pretty awesome. I also like that he doesn’t find this weird at all and is just flattered which is how it should be. It’s why they make for a great pair.

Futaba is another one of the older family members and she has developed a whole lot of power. If Kyoichiro’s abilities are about fighting with a lot of technique and poise the whole time, she fights with raw strength to dominate her opponents. For this reason it is hard for any character to go up against her head on. Typically they have to rely on sneaky tricks or poisons. She eventually even becomes a good mentor of sorts who works with the next generation. Because of her power level she is often kept away from the main battles but always lives up to the hype once it is her turn for some action.

Shinzo is definitely one of the more timid members which is a contrast to his raw power. He is great with guns and a consistently solid fighter. He does go through a rough patch for a while there in the series although there were some mind games at play. I don’t find him as interesting as most of the other family members but he’s not bad. I didn’t feel like he ever fully his his stride as one of the crew because his gimmick is much more subdued. In a lot of ways he’s just similar to Taiyo. A good kid who means well and always does his best. Nothing wrong with that of course but he won’t stand out.

Shion in comparison is a really entertaining character. She loves hacking and using her brilliance to mess with people around the world. There is nobody who can really take her on in this realm except for one rival. Shion isn’t the most mature character and definitely does whatever she wants but you need at least one wild card like that the whole time. She keeps the rest of the crew lose along with Kengo. Shion never becomes a close quarters combat specialist or anything like that but she is definitely able to hold her own.

As for Kengo he’s a fun jokester. He gets serious when he has to though and is a slippery character. He’s good for keeping the atmosphere light even if he isn’t the best in a fight. He’s the kind of character you want because he makes the whole dynamic more fun. Without him the team would just lose a whole lot of spark. Kengo also has a lot of good banter with Shion and I like when they team up. They are also the highlight characters once the kids showed up after the timeskip since they could keep the little rascals in check.

Now we have my least favorite member Nanao. It’s not that he’s bad or anything but he’s not as interesting as the others. He really tries to look out for the rest of the family just like the others but does so more from a chemical perspective. He is excellent on using poisons and natural ways to combat outsiders. He has had to deal with that all his life due to a rare blood condition but does a good job of never guilt tripping anyone for that. He just handles it and keeps on moving which I really appreciate. It would be easy to have a whole pity party around that but he doesn’t get down.

Then we have the next generation. First up is Hifumi and he’s not bad but I still do think that the series had a harder time once the kids were the focus. They just aren’t as interesting. She inherited Mutsumi’s obsessive nature and it’s towards her brother Alpha so she is always trying to protect him. She is good at being manipulative and she has one of the strongest powers in the series. For the most part there are not many fighters who can stand against her and this will reduce even more as she gets older. She can have some good banter and will get better as she gets older.

The same mainly applies to Alpha as well. He is a nice enough kid and is fairly skilled but there’s not a lot to him yet. I do like his “evil” mode that he gets into when Hifumi is in danger. He gets real confident and calculated there so I would like that to be his main persona at some point in the future. He does his best to help out and is key in the climax but at the end of the day he is still just a kid so he’s not going to get too far.

Surprisingly we don’t see much of Rei even though she is Mutsumi’s Mom and wife to Moma. Both of those characters had massive roles after all but in the end all we needed to know is that she was a kind person. Moma is someone who gets a whole lot of big moments but ultimately I never liked the guy. He went through some really cruel events and had a rough hand but he still could have done better. Whenever a character has an ultra convoluted plan it ends up being a toss up on if I will agree with it or not. To me, he was just not a great character either way. He did make for a good villain though who really kept everyone on edge.

One of the most terrifying characters as well with how often he would just fully crack. It was always hard to know just what was going on with the guy and since he was also really powerful it’s not like you could let your guard down around him. He may not have been the final villain in the series but he certainly left the greatest impact by far. Definitely someone you will remember once it’s all over.

Keiko and Ban are pretty fun characters since they represent the really old part of the Yozakura family. They went through their own struggles and are now fully retired. Their skills are still on point so none of the villains are ever able to get to them which can be a fun running gag. Maybe it can come off as a bit cheesy as well but I was glad they weren’t getting roped into this because it would just be sad to see them getting injured or anything like that. I’m good with them staying as fun supporting roles from safe positions which is what the manga did.

Tsubomi has to be the most tragic character in the series. She got put through a whole lot over and over again with no way out. I definitely thought the series went a bit too drastic with her because after a while the extra suffering isn’t helping the story at all. So for that reason I didn’t feel bad for certain characters at all because you really can’t talk your way out of that situation at all. It’s just too far gone by then.

While the family makes up the majority of the cast, there are still some supporting characters outside of them. Some of them get a lot of screentime while others do not. For example the most disappointing cast of characters has to be the S rank Spies. The problem is that they come in way too late in the series and so by then the power creep is too high. They get a quick moment and are then written out again. I like the concept but given that the ranking system was established earlier, they should have appeared way sooner too. Also, the final villain group relating to Asa were also rather weak. Most of them were one note and also vanished immediately.

The first character to talk about is Makoto. He’s one of the first villains to show up and is the series first unsuccessful attempt to have a sympathetic villain. He tries to explain why he’s doing what he’s doing and has a whole sob story but I didn’t buy into it. He still did too experimenting and was too evil. He made for a good antagonist but I can’t see him as anything but that. The guy is interesting but the series should have just kept him as full on evil. His group of fighters were also pretty solid. Akai was the most memorable and they definitely did well on the various fights. This also started to introduce the concept of blooming to the series.

Basically it is the power system here. The Yozakura family bloodline allows users to develop special abilities and that’s why everyone wants them. These abilities really range from a whole variety of different techniques but are so dangerous that most people who use the blood end up dying. So these villains are able to use a fraction but start to die if they use too much. It’s an interesting plot point and I do like the idea that not just anyone can use the blood. That would come off as more than a little cheap if you ask me.

Ai was one of the villains but quickly becomes an ally to the main heroes. She is basically like a little kid who was augmented with super villains so it’s nice that she could finally have a wholesome family now. I thought her character was fun enough. She’s not the strongest and I’m not the biggest fan of kid characters but she was still decent. In a way she was like a practice kid for Taiyo and Mutsumi.

Seiji is a detective who helps the heroes out from time to time. It’s pretty cool that they have an informant on the outside but the guy doesn’t end up doing much once the series reaches the serious phase. I expected him to have a much bigger role but I suppose in the end he’s not really a fighter and is more of a support character. Ayaka fits the role as someone who could have introduced a love triangle or been a rival in a less serious series but for Yozakura that wasn’t going to fly. So instead she end up being a fun supporting character but also one who is basically relegated to the comedic chapters. When the serious stuff happens she vanishes as fast as can be. Too bad since she is a spy and can fight.

Asuka is definitely more of an annoying character. He has a big crush on Mutsumi and isn’t shy about it even though he has absolutely no shot with Taiyo around. You’re always rooting on him to get crushed whenever he shows up. Sosuke is the same kind of character. He’s super in love with Mutsumi and wants to marry her but it’s game over for him. Taiyo doesn’t take the guy seriously as a threat and that’s the right approach although I wouldn’t mind him knocking the guy out. At least Asuka stays classy while Sosuke always acts like a creep. Definitely not a quality guy.

Then we have Sui and he’s the most surprising character to be written out. His power level seemed rather high and he helped train Taiyo on how to move fast. Still, he wasn’t around for very long so I ended up missing him. He had a cool personality and was fun to watch. Rin also has a fairly small role even though she is apparently strong enough to have a rivalry of sorts with the Yozakura family. It’s mainly in the comedic moments though so I suppose once the going gets tough, she wouldn’t be able to stack up. Another fun character who brings in some good banter though. Also even if she isn’t the strongest, she can still hold her own.

Kai is one of the characters who shows up later and starts to steal the show. He doesn’t have any real super powers but he is incredibly perceptive. So for that reason he is constantly able to tell when someone is lying. Now the guy does make some massive mistakes so I did lose some respect for him but ultimately through twists and turns he still ended up being fun. Not the best but he always kept things interesting and added a lot of development to Kyoichiro as well. We got several flashbacks but I wouldn’t mind a lengthier flashback story about them.

Shura is one of the S rank spies who shows up later on. Despite a criminally short amount of screen time, she was fun enough to leave an impact at least. Sadly Alexandryu gets a bigger role and he’s much more annoying. Now there’s a guy who could have been written out. His gimmick is one of the worst ones as he constantly tries to pull moves on people who don’t want him. He’s as obnoxious as possible. Finally we get to the final villain Asa. I won’t even go into his unimaginative group of fighters.

Asa is the most wishy washy character of the lot and constantly talks big. I was waiting for him to get blown away the whole time. Technically he’s powerful so I’ll give him that. The series did a really good job of building up to him as the big bad so it would be hard to live up to all of that hype either way. That being said, what they really should have done was make him a fully evil villain. Some villains don’t need all of the extra “Depth” and all of that. Just have him selfishly use the blood for his purposes and don’t try to offer any other explanations. This guy was a full on psych and deserves to be treated as such.

There are more characters but that about wraps up the big ones. In terms of the artwork the series is definitely very good. Towards the end it started to be a little rougher but I assume that’ll be cleaned up in the volume release. The fights had really great shading and you can definitely feel the intensity in the fights. I really had a blast marathoning through the peaks of the series because it’s really hard to put down. The artwork definitely makes it easy to read and supports the writing really well.

The series managed to stay really high quality the whole way through. The series didn’t have any real fanservice and avoided getting too violent or anything like that. Tsubomi’s the one exception where the series went a bit far but the sob stories aren’t too crazy otherwise. The series is also really good on both the comedic and action phases. Now you might need to cut the series some slack on the constant death fake outs. There are a lot of those so that’s why you need to keep in mind that this is still primarily a comedy. Even when things get serious, it’s not likely to have a big body count or anything like that. It’s just not that kind of title.

This is really a fun title about family that just delves into everything. The romance is also really solid like I said before because there are no rebounds or anything either. It’s nice to show such a wholesome romance through and through here without any crazy drama or anything like that. Sometimes you want to see the optimistic take on this and of course seeing the whole family bonding is a great thing. Definitely the kind of uplifting title that works well even if I read most of it while listening to a remix of Infinite’s theme song.

There are a lot of story arcs here and they tend to link well into each other so it’s pretty seamless. That said, Kyoichiro’s disappearance is naturally the best arc in the series. Depending on when that officially starts, the ending of the previous arc has to be up there as well. Still, he does great in group fights and always surpasses the odds. The arc has a whole lot of tension and mystery that just works so well. I already had the series ranked fairly high on the charts for me but this is when it really went up even further and showed Kyoichiro as a fairly top tier character. Having a character like that will always take the series to the next level and that’s what happened here.

Overall, This is definitely a series that I can recommend. The action and characters are really good and the series was long enough to really dive into the main characters. It gets to cover a whole lot of ground and was a lot of fun to read all the way through. You’ll be super engaged in the plot of what’s going on here and will get invested on what’s going on. Even without the high stakes of everybody dying, it shows how a good story can overcome it all. This does a great job of representing the current era of Jump. Ultimately it will have to move on to being known as a past era before long but it was really around for quite a while. I’d be up for some kind of movie event epilogue at some point.

Overall 8/10

The Creator Review


It’s time for a film about the far future in which humanity may be on the brink of extinction. It’s a pretty classic look at a dark future and has some good ideas but chooses to focus on the wrong characters. There are a whole lot of interesting angles about this world where A.I. are leading the charge but instead we focus on the super A.I. who can change the world. It feels like most of the meat is left on the table here.

The film starts by explaining that the A.I. launched a giant nuclear attack that took down Los Angeles and now the planet is in a big war. The Western world led by America wants to destroy all A.I. while Asia has decided to take their side. Joshua was an undercover agent here who was tasked with finding out about the A.I. super counter weapon which could shut down the human one. If this mission is successful then humanity will win the war and otherwise we will lose. Joshua ended up falling in love with his contact Maya but handles the raid very sloppily so she runs off with the rest of the androids. Years later, Joshua is asked to go back into the field.

I do have to say that Joshua seems like a very sloppy secret agent from how he acts in the beginning. You don’t straight up yell “I’m undercover” into a walkie talkie while behind enemy lines. Did they not have any kind of secret codes and such at this point? Well the mission’s a bust and from then on Joshua doesn’t trust the government as closely which is a good thing. He ends up having to guide the A.I. kid Alphie from the humans who want to take him down. Alphie can shut down any electronic device which is naturally super dangerous at this point in time.

Joshua is a decent lead although I can’t say he’s all that likable. I can’t really get past the double agent stuff while he was married because at that point you need to choose your wife over the job. Additionally, he was working with the government for quite a while and didn’t mind the cruelty. To a certain point you are held responsible for their actions because you could have stepped away or joined the resistance. Joshua not doing that was a mistake.

As for the general war, the movie is super pro A.I. so it should be noted that there isn’t much of a debate. The film leaves little room for ambiguity as we find out the truth behind the nuke. Additionally every scene with the humans is them just murdering without a care, torturing, and doing whatever they want. Slaying the A.I. means they don’t have to worry about any moral boundaries. Meanwhile the A.I. keep promoting peace and trying to de-escalate.

I tend to be fairly pro A.I. myself as it seems like a great tool that will only continue to get better and better as it adapts. Still, you’ll be able to notice the film’s take on this extremely quick. I tend to root against the humans in these films anyway but this one certainly made it super easy. There is really no reason to root for the humans here because their world seems like it would be much worse than what the A.I. could create. After a point it’s not like the world could be much worse right?

The film does tend to be fairly violent at different points though. Get ready for quite a bit of bloodshed here as everyone gets mowed down. It can be a bit of a dreary experience with the endless fights while neither side makes much ground. You’re basically just reminded that this is a terrible future for all parties involved. Just being around is a dangerous game to be sure. The ending is sorta happy, I would say it’s a mixed bag. I think you could take it in almost more of a creepy way with the applause and the grin at the end. One thing’s for sure, I think things are going to get rougher for the West but at this point it seems deserved.

The special effects here are pretty good. The robot designs aren’t the most memorable but they are trying for pretty realistic looks. So these generally are just people who are missing ears or full on battle droids. The fights look good though. The soundtrack is definitely more subdued but there was one pretty solid track near the beginning while the characters were in the big ships getting ready to fight.

Ultimately the reason why it felt like this film was a missed opportunity is that I would have liked to have seen more of what life was like with the A.I.. We see that you can donate your likeness for them to use but what positive effects do they have in society? We see them working with the humans but with their advanced intellect I’m just expecting something a little more groundbreaking. Maybe teleportation or something. Instead they just feel more like normal people because they’re a bit underdeveloped.

It’s why I didn’t want the focus on Alphie. Alphie’s okay but she’s basically just a little kid. She may be an A.I. but still isn’t particularly smart or quick on the uptake. If you take the sci-fi plot away, a film would probably have her act in the same way. You could say that the film’s intent is to show how humans and A.I. are basically the same by this point in time. A.I. have evolved so much that they are now human and it’s a fine plot but it also means that we aren’t using the story to its fullest Generally speaking the Alphie plot wasn’t all that interesting and I wanted to get back to the main story. Except that Alphie was the main story so we were basically stuck.

Overall, I think the idea of a film talking about how the A.I. should be handled is a good idea. I can totally picture A.I. walking among us in robot bodies by 2065. They already have robotic bodies for many different uses and they are getting more and more human. That being said, the moral dilemma is the interesting part, not Joshua having to learn how to be a good dad and showing this kid the ropes. I wanted some solid ethical debates and maybe a bit of back and forth between the A.I. and the humans. That would have been a really good idea and so if you’re really into A.I. then this might not be a bad watch but honestly it just could and should have been a whole lot better.

Overall 5/10

Seraph of the End: Guren Ichinose: Catastrophe at Sixteen Review


It’s time for one of the edgiest grim dark manga titles of all time. Each chapter tries to keep on one upping itself for a while there. You already know that things won’t end well based on how the main series plays out but the author wants to really show you that absolutely nothing good would happen to Guren. He ends up going through trauma after trauma for the whole series. Definitely one of those titles that had potential but got way too distracted the whole time.

The story follows Guren who is part of the Ichinose family which is considerably under the Hiragi family. Basically they exist to be convenient tools and slaves to be used as needed. Guren doesn’t like this setup and wants to rebel but unfortunately doesn’t have the power to do so. Any attempt ends up with his friends getting tortured and murdered. So he is eventually tamed but his friend Mahiru goes a different path. After years of being tortured forever and ever, she gains the abilities of demons and vampires and breaks free. She has now set the planet on a course for destruction and Guren might be the only one who can stop her. Does he even want to stop her though?

As always you are not rooting for Guren to save the planet here because there is nothing to save. The series makes it absolutely abundantly clear that humanity is extremely evil to an absurd degree. Slavery is completely legal here and the political power of the top brass is so good that they can execute people in the streets as a whim. Almost every member of the main characters are tortured at some point and this seems like a frequent occurrence. You then have random demons abusing the humans and going all Sword Art Online on them. They commit violence of every kind and so again…why should humanity be saved?

This series is even darker than Attack on Titan which takes a whole lot of skill and effort because that series is near the top. Just thinking about how far this goes will make you crazy. I guess the other aspect of this is about how they show how hopeless the world is. It’s one thing for this to be the case currently but then it’s even worse when you know that things won’t get any better. So there are a few factions here. You have the humans and if they win, then the torture and slavery will continue. They are the status quo after all and will continue with the human experimentations forever. The “Heroes” won’t come to help you because they work for the establishment and have hostages to consider.

Then you have the vampires who intend to keep the humans alive as cattle so they can keep on drinking blood forever. Humanity will survive but it won’t be of much use because your quality of life will be absolutely horrible. It won’t be a life worth living. The angels mostly just watch in amusement but will blow up the world if they feel like it. Mahiru meanwhile is also going to end the world so at least in those situations it will all end right away. Finally the demons just want the humans to give into their base desires and cause chaos so you can imagine what a terrible world that would be. So yeah, we just need the planet to go boom already.

Now I will give the series this, the art is very good. It looks a whole lot like the main series and there is a lot of attention to detail on the fights. The action is always easy to follow so it doesn’t get convoluted or anything like that. The art style also does well in keeping up the atmosphere of dread. The series does actually have a solid atmosphere, it would just have needed a whole lot of restraint for the rest of the content instead of going absolutely looney tunes on the whole thing. That would have really made a world of difference.

When it comes to the characters, I can’t say that I liked most of them. Again, most of them are caught up in the cruelty of the world with no way to fight back. It doesn’t inspire a lot of hope within you to see that they’re all just government stooges the whole time. Take Guren for example. He talks a really good game but he’s always getting absolutely dominated by every other character in the series. He has to let them pound away at him because he’s forbidden from fighting back most of the time.

He’s allowed to murder other henchmen but that’s about it. He even has to work for the guy who brutally murders his father and a bunch of his attendants. Guren is forced to do that guys every bidding and even has to kneel. The amount of disrespect he goes through is really something and after a point it’s better to just make a move and die in the process instead of living with that. So that’s why I didn’t like Guren. At the end of the day he played it way too safe and did not make a big difference in the world.

Sayuri is one of his main attendants and I’ll be less harsh on her and the rest of his followers. All of the social pressures on Guren are magnified even more on someone like her who is considered deposable by everyone. She also doesn’t have the power levels needed to fight back. I appreciate that she can stay optimistic throughout all of this but her character arc is definitely tragic. Shigure and Mito are basically the same in that regard.

Shinya at least gets to troll Guren a lot so I appreciate that. He’s one of those guys who is also serious but really has to mask it or of course he will be punished as well. Definitely not a lot of good options for the guy. He was loyal though and for Guren every ally is important in this impossible fight. Norito doesn’t get as big a role as he seems to be in the main series but he was another great ally.

One of the biggest players here is Kureto. He’s the head of the Hiragi clan and one of the most powerful players among the human race. Even he has his betters and so he also puts up with some disrespect but there aren’t many. He also intend to betray these people eventually. It might make sense for him to treat his subordinates a little better as a result but this guy likes the cruelty as well. Ultimately it’s not like he has ever been anywhere close to Mahiru in power and the guy is jealous but you can’t feel all that bad for him.

A character I feel bad for is Shinoa who basically grew up in hell the whole time. Mahiru shielded her as best she could but this still wasn’t 100%. It’s clear that Shinoa is already broken inside by the time this series starts and considering that she’s just a kid, that’s real tragic. The most sympathetic character here is Mahiru though. All she wanted was to be a normal girl in love and ultimately that wasn’t in the cards. At every turn she is attacked by every faction in the book. It’s no wonder that she would join the dark side here. The only way to end this cycle of violence appears to be to destroy the world.

After all when every faction is evil, how would you go about peacefully solving this? It’s just not going to happen and so manipulating everyone to speed up the end of the world seems like the best bet. It’s also really impressive just how powerful she is. I dare say the romance dynamic with her and Guren is actually really interesting as a result. I do think it’s fairly one sided though as she really liked him while Guren seems to be the type who will just manipulate her when convenient. Not the way you really have a healthy dynamic but anytime Mahiru appeared, things would be interesting.

I can also give the manga some credit there, it is an interesting story. It’s not very often that you have this many factions running around and the series balances them well. Likeability aside, there is at least no dull moments in this series. The characters and story continue to move forward as they are thrown into more and more predicaments. The long climax that leads up to the ending is also really exciting. It’s a good reminder that you can create a lot of tension even when you know exactly how the prequel will end.

Why it had to be so extra dark and gritty is a question that will haunt us all for years to come. Even the main series can get depressing but never to this extent. Throw in all of the other issues like random fanservice and this one really fell into every issue possible. It definitely keeps this from being a fun read. Somewhere buried wayyyy deep into the manga is a wholesome school story that would have been a lot of fun. Just Guren and the gang hanging out like normal friends.

We get small glimpses of this like when Guren and his friends played video games before the big climax. Of course even then I’m not sure that the writing would have been up to the task. With all the talk about desires and such, most conversations tended to go down that dicey direction and it showed just how the author was never able to have normal dialogue. It felt like the series had to constantly go down a suggestive path which wasn’t a good idea in the slightest. I’d usually put in suggestions on how to improve the series but in this case that would pretty much mean a complete change to many parts of the premise, situations, etc. It would be a completely different story by the time I was done with it. Perhaps that would be for the best though.

At least we do get some nice cameos and easter eggs for the main series. Yuichiro and Mikaela get some brief appearances where they already appear jaded with the world. One of the top vampires shows up to remind the heroes just how many orders of magnitudes stronger Vampires are than demons. Just as a gentle reminder that there is really no hope of ever surpassing them. You have to let the humans down gently after all and that’s certainly one way to do it. Not like the series wasn’t already twisting the knife on this…

Overall, This is definitely one of those series that you will want to avoid. Stick to your head canon on what happened prior to the main series. Between what is stated and the context clues, you can more or less understand what happened anyway. I’s pretty neat to see the characters in a normal world going to school and stuff but at the same time it’s not like they are able to do this for very long before everything starts to go sideways. So if you’re reading for that then it won’t matter much anyway.

Overall 1/10

Venus Wars Review


Time for an anime film that I wasn’t too familiar. It’s got that classic sci-fi flare to it though and it’s a good bit of fun. We get action, racing, and a good exploration of the futuristic world. It’s the kind of film that starts you off in the middle of a big adventure and ends while it’s still going but still works really well as a snapshot of what’s going on. It clues you in to the adventure without having to break everything down scene by scene.

So in the future Earth has become a Utopia. Everyone basically gets along and there isn’t crime. We’ve also taken over Venus but now that planet is where all the action is. There’s a big civil war going on between two sides and the fighting never stops. The reporter known as Susan arrives on Venus to get the big scoop on this since most people on Earth have no idea of what’s going on. Even Susan is surprised to find out for example that they have death racing games as a casual spectator sport on Venus. Not exactly what you would have guessed right? Well, she came at a big time as one side finally wins the war and takes over. Now the losing side is being forced to attack its own citizens and basically become traitors.

This takes us to the main character Hiro. He’s always been a bit of a rebel and he loves the death racing. He’s fairly good at it too although his team always ends up losing. Well he is determined not to be controlled by the government and has a lot of resentment towards everybody. He will now be fighting off the oppression and defying the local authorities along with the help of his friends. Can they make a difference or is this like a water gun taking on a flood?

A common theme in the film is that both sides are pretty corrupt. The aggressor that won the war is definitely ruling as a full authoritarian but the losing side was very quick to fall in line and start attacking everyone. Hiro gets shot by the local cops early on after all. So he has a hard time knowing which side to help and to an extent he doesn’t really want to help anybody. He doesn’t want to be weighed down by anything and just live his life. To an extent I would say this is pretty selfish though. I think it’s pretty obvious that the invading side is worse so you still need to fight against them. Choosing to do nothing isn’t particularly helpful here.

Hiro is also good at making a tough situation even tougher with how he picks fights. I do like that confident attitude of his though. He may not be the toughest guy on the block but he will keep on fighting for as long as it takes to win once it’s something he believes in. He does pretty well in the final fight and in the big race with Kurtz he nearly took the win. So Hiro definitely has a high degree of skill.

Then we have Susan who is a fun character but has to put up with a lot. The very first scene of the film is quite jarring as she has to get inspected by a group of evil officers. The movie doesn’t have much fanservice outside of that intro but it was a wildly bad way to start the movie. For a minute there I was getting worried on what the rest of the film would be like but it doesn’t go down that path.

To Susan’s credit, she is in a dangerous territory that has been devastated by war and she doesn’t let it get to you. When you factor in that she’s from Earth where everything is peaceful and calm you would probably have expected her to be a little shellshocked or unable to continue. I would not have been able to blame her if that had been the case. It certainly wouldn’t be her fault but instead she manages to persevere on through and I have to give her major props for that. It was really quite impressive.

She may have ended up fighting the heroes at different points but it shows how passionate she is. Her only unfortunate appearance was in the climax when she makes a rookie mistake after having someone at gunpoint. That is absolutely the point where you can’t afford to make any mistakes. Meanwhile the other heroine here is Maggy who is pretty much the opposite of Susan. She is a lot more softspoken and is fully about peace. She just wishes things could go back to normal and tries not to think about all of the violence. Her role isn’t particularly big but she serves as one of the main reasons why Hiro wants to get back home to everyone.

There is also Miranda who is one of the key members among Hiro’s friends. She seems to be the oldest member of the main group and is quicker on the uptake like when she figured out that Gary was aiding the rebels. Miranda is excellent in the races and is also one of the main characters who seems to really understand Hiro. I liked her character, she is another example of the film not giving you all the answers and just letting you come to your own conclusions. She seems to likely have some kind of past involving the army and knows a lot for a civilian but we don’t get a grand sob story or anything like that. She’s just around to contribute as one of the main characters and that’s all we need to know.

As for Gary, he was a solid character. He was doing his best to keep the kids out of danger but ultimately couldn’t stop them forever. He did his best though and also seemed more likable than most of them. Hiro’s friends could be a bit forgettable at times and also had some unfortunate moments. Will probably had one of the biggest roles from them and did his best although you could tell he wasn’t quite as skilled as Hiro. I do think he had a better attitude though. I agreed with him on at least doing something to help the cause instead of staying inside and wishing both sides would lose.

The main villain Gerhard is pretty solid although he starts to get really extreme at the very end since the film drove itself into a corner. There is no logical way for him to lose except to have the guy completely panic for next to no reason. If not for that then the heroes would have been absolutely cooked. He had a good amount of confidence and a fun design which helped him stand out.

Then we had Kurtz on the rebel side who was good at riling Hiro up. The guy did a good job of handling him and leading his team to success. Without him the rebels wouldn’t have stood a chance. He’s definitely merciless but in the middle of war it’s hard not to be that way. His main duty is to protect everyone on his side and that’s exactly what he did. It’s an honorable role without a doubt.

The animation was definitely really good and expressive. All of the effects were looking really sharp and it’s clear that the film has aged well. It looks nostalgic but not in a “Very Old” way but just the way the aesthetic was. Sci-Fi films at the time had a certain look and feel that this one absolutely captures. The same goes for the music which was really good. It definitely gets you feeling pumped and works well with the action that is on screen. I definitely had no issues at all with it. It worked quite well for the adventure.

Overall, Venus Wars is a fun film. As it ends we know that the battles will keep raging on and Hiro will likely still be a part of them. It’s still a hopeful ending though as things have been made better. They squeeze in a whole lot of adventure here and the fights are fun. I do think some characters could be a little better though as several of Hiro’s friends just hold them all back. I’d also have liked a little more racing here since that was a big hobby for Hiro and the others but we really only got the one race. I know their world got turned upside down but it felt like we didn’t get much of a build up. This is one film that probably could have stood to be a little longer if anything. I don’t think it’ll end up being super memorable but it’s still a good time so I would say to check it out.

Overall 6/10

Gridman Universe Review


Gridman Universe is one of those films that is a great reminder on why crossovers are awesome. It really takes every fun aspect from the two shows and brings them together here. You’ll have tons of easter eggs and every character gets something to do. One of the best scenes in the film is when someone whips out the “Domination” ability because that thing is super overpowered and for a minute you’re wondering if they remembered that some heroes can use it. It’s really a trip down nostalgia lane and the film has a pretty long climax. It’s all just excellent stuff.

The movie starts with Yuta still feeling the effects of the Gridman show. At the end of that adventure, Gridman left and so Yuta got his body back. The problem is that it means he didn’t get to really keep the experiences of what happened during the show. He had gotten close to Rikka at the time but in a way it didn’t count and he’s having a hard time approaching her. Things have gotten a bit awkward again and he is also having a hard time contributing to the big school play that they are working on. Well he has no time to worry about that when a Kaiju attacks the city and Gridman returns. Yuta merges with him to fight off the invaders but something feels different about these attacks.

The Kaiju are very real but Akane isn’t around anymore. Who is this new threat? Additionally, the universe appears to be colliding with another one which brings in Yomogi, Yume, and the rest of the new cast of Dynazenon fighters. They don’t know why they’re here either but are ready to help as soon as they get their mechs back. Can Yuta save the world and also express his feelings to Rikka or is that too much to accomplish in such a short time frame?

Yuta’s predicament is definitely a super understandable one because in a way he did lose part of his life there. It’s not easy to reclaim any amount of extra time. I’d say doubly so because it’s not like it was due to a villain or anything like that. There isn’t someone to blame, it just sort of happened and Gridman didn’t do anything bad either. Everyone seemed to really like Yuta during that time so it’s a lot to live up to. The film handles this whole character arc really well. Yuta may not be my favorite character because of how timid he is the whole time but he’s still likable enough.

Meanwhile Rikka’s also in a tough spot here because it’s like she has to get to know Yuta all over again. I’d say she does a good job of putting on a brave face and acting as normal as possible though. She is doing her best to put on a great school play for everyone and keeps good relations with the main characters. Utsumi has a little less to do than the main two but he’s also contributing to the play and doing well. He’s a solid friend who is always there for Yuta when he needs some support.

On the other end, Yomogi is pretty solid. He’s definitely gained confidence since the older days and is way more self assured. He’s quick to notice when someone’s not feeling well and gives Yuta some nice words of encouragement which was definitely nice. He does a great job of holding off the villains at one point and basically does what he can to save the world. Likewise Yume mirrors his confidence and helps Rikka by not beating around the bush either. Yomogi and Yume’s dynamic is definitely pretty solid and they’re long past the point of having any doubts which is great. It would have been nice for them to have gotten a bigger role as the film definitely skews more towards Gridman than Dynazenon but their role was still good.

You may be curious about the big villain, Mad Origin. Well he’s a pretty solid villain. At first I was worried that he was showing up too late and wouldn’t get to do anything but at the end of the day he still did get to have a standout fight and lasted longer than I expected. Naturally that boosted him up the ranks for me quite a bit. He basically wants to destroy everything and you gotta respect that. If not for basically every hero in existence showing up to team together against him, the guy really could have won.

Akane only gets a small role here but it’s definitely a really good one. She was always a fun villain in the first story and she’s still shown to clearly be one of the most powerful fighters here. At this point she shows up whenever she wants to deal out some damage which is a fun role to have. Also the film doesn’t shy away from the twist in the first show that it’s all a fake world that is manipulated from the real world. The characters have had to contend with that, at least the ones who know about it. After all if you found out that you’re fake, what would you do about it? You’re still you after all so on a grand level it shouldn’t matter but that might be easier to tell yourself than to actually believe.

Each show gets to bring their whole supporting cast so as you keep watching you get rewarded for how much you remember each character. Meanwhile the animation here is really excellent as you would expect. The fights really pop out and the colors are very striking. The characters all have very distinct designs and then you’ve also got a really great soundtrack. The domination theme is excellent and then you’ve also got a lot of good general action themes and even a good insert song. The technical aspects were definitely on point here and never faltered. It goes without saying that the story and writing are also very good here.

The movie also did a good job of making up for some previous weaknesses. The two shows did have a bit of a fanservice issue at times and this movie really didn’t have any of that. Maybe a quick moment somewhere but it wasn’t an issue in the film which is great. The movie also came up with a good villain for the end which helped to end things on a high note. It’s really fundamentally sound on every level. The movie is also long enough to give the human characters a chance to catch up and talk a lot outside of the fight scenes. Maybe at most I’d have liked the main two from each show to have gotten to talk a bit longer. I’ll take what I can get though.

Overall, This was definitely a great film. I can’t imagine you will have any real complaints as a fan of either show. The movie went above and beyond to include every possible reference and plot point that it could. There is a lot of great action and also time for character reflection. It also works as an excellent end to the franchise. Naturally I’d love to see more installments in the series but if it ends with this then that’s fine. You can probably watch this even without seeing the shows first but I don’t think you will get the full experience since the big cameos and such won’t hit as hard even if there are enough context clues to figure out what’s going on. Now I suppose I need to wait and see what the next film crossover will be. There are endless possibilities for fun crossovers in anime after all.

Overall 8/10

Diamonds Are Forever Review


It’s time for another James Bond adventure and unfortunately this is one of his weakest. As always it does have a ton of problems like with the fanservice and Bond being a terrible main character but I dare say it falls into the traps even more than the others. It’s fairly close I suppose since the films are known for this but there’s just not enough time to have fun on the proper spy stuff. At least I can take solace in the fact that Bond looks like a chump for most of the film.

The exception is the intro scene as we see Bond systematically murdering everyone who works for Blofeld and getting on his trail. This climaxes with Bond murdering some of the henchmen and even Blofeld himself. Now he is ready for his next mission involving a bunch of diamonds that are being smuggled around the planet. There is something going on here and meanwhile we have two assassins who are murdering anyone who has even come into contact with them. Will Bond be able to stop them?

So lets get the obvious negatives out of the way first. The film is loaded to the brim with fanservice in just about every scene. The whole opening credits have a lot of this as expected and then you’ve got a bunch of different heroines running around here. You figured that Bond might tone things down after he got married but that’s not the case. Instead he is back to his old ways completely. So much for becoming a loyal guy. This is why it’s always hard to root for James Bond.

He’s living the fantasy all right, but that’s usually the villain’s job. Then Bond does look really bad on several occasions. The worst is when he let his guard down around the diamonds and got thrown into a coffin to be cremated. He had to be saved there since he was really about to die. Then later on he is knocked out again after walking into the most obvious trap of all time and is only saved by the villains’ ineptitude. Bond doesn’t feel like an ultimate secret agent with how many times he messes up.

I know that he’s only human and can’t be expected to be perfect but I also expect him to be putting up some real fights. For example at one point Blofeld has him at gun point and tells Bond to walk into a mysterious room. Bond does, where he gets knocked out but why do that? Take your chance and rush at Blofeld because the room would obviously be an instant death otherwise. It’s why in real life if someone tells you to get inside a car at gunpoint you make a break for it. Because going in the car will just be a more painful death or something worse, whereas if you mess up on the run, at least you’ll be dead quickly from the bullet. It’s not guaranteed but your odds are absolutely better.

So Bond loses all of the goodwill that he got during the opening scene which is a shame. At best it can be morbidly humorous to see him flipping the script on some of the ladies who seduce him by having his fun and then just lying afterwards. Why they would actually believe him is something I’m still wondering. They’re all just real desperate I suppose. Also it’s worth noting that Bond was getting absolutely crushed by two ladies in the climax which was another embarrassing moment for him. One of them had a super long wind up to her big attack and he still took the whole thing to the face. Definitely a low moment in his career.

It was fun to see Blofeld getting more of a role here though. His plans may not always be all that great and he is wildly overconfident but after so many films of being in the shadows, it was great to see him take center stage. His body doubles were also pretty fun. The way he goes out is perhaps not the dignified ending people would expect but these villains often do have a way of crumbling as soon as the going gets tough. It’s a tale as old as time.

Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd are two villains who get old really fast though. I was actually annoyed at how much screentime they got and how often they kept getting the best of Bond. It’s not even like they’re super tough but Bond just forgets to take anything seriously half the time. We got the whole book-end scene with Bond’s wine knowledge coming into play but you mean to tell me that he was otherwise going to start eating/drinking a meal from room service that he didn’t order? I swear Bond has absolutely no survival sense whatsoever. He gets lucky so many times because he should be dead over 10 times in this film alone. Kidd and Wint just have the charisma of a stick of butter and that weakens the whole assassination plot.

Tiffany is the main heroine out of all the heroines but I can’t say that she’s very good at all. She is ready to help out by the end of the film but also makes a ton of mistakes the whole time and comes off as way too easy. Tiffany shouldn’t be degrading herself to be with a man like Bond that doesn’t even care about her. I won’t fault her for messing up by switching the discs though because from her point of view that actually made a lot of sense. If anything it’s impressive that she was able to switch it out without alerting anybody. She wasn’t so lucky a second time but the attempt was worthwhile.

The fights we do get are pretty fun here. There is a solid amount of action throughout the two hours and some good physical stunts as well. That’s why the Bond films tend to be tragic. The action that we do get is very sound and the plot is engaging if not a little overly convoluted. The diamonds switch hands so often that you start to lose interest after a point. I dare say that the film did as well because it doesn’t really factor into the space laser all that much. I think it may have doubled as a power source or something but yeah it wasn’t super focused.

Overall, This is definitely a James Bond film. It is quite direct about what the appeals of the film are meant to be and unfortunately they haven’t aged well. I like a good ole power fantasy as much as the next guy but Bond is really a different kind of fantasy and it doesn’t make him look particularly likable. The films would eventually improve once we got to the newer ones but this was a real low point in the franchise. You should skip this one as quickly as possible and just go with a different Bond adventure.

Overall 2/10