The sequel to the original Solo Leveling has just started so I expect it will be around for a long time. I’ll be here for when it finishes though and I already know this is going to be a great one! Lots of action right out of the gate and by the end of the series you know there are going to be tons of feats. Hopefully it can be the next Boruto and be a mega hit.
Overall 8/10
It’s time for an action film that was really solid. This one had some great fights in there and a story that actually succeeded in being really emotional. Definitely great stuff all around and the only issue I’d have here is that there is a significant amount of plot armor near the end. As the film goes on you wonder more and more how the final fight will be anything close to even and the movie is ultimately unable to come up with an answer to this. You know who needs to win narratively but the problem is that it doesn’t fit who would actually win realistically. Ideally you want the answer to both of those questions to be the same.
The film starts off by introducing us to our two leads. The first is Tommy who hasn’t had an easy life. He had to escape with his mother from the abusive Paddie and she died in a very rough way. Then he went to the army where some rough stuff happened and while everyone considers him to be a hero, for some reason he seems to be ashamed of what happened. He’s hiding some thing there and so when Paddie shows up to apologize, Tommy doesn’t want to hear anything of it. Tommy does hear about a massive boxing tournament that is being started though and the winner will be receiving millions. Tommy decides to win and give all of the money to the widow of his best friend who died in the army. To that end, Tommy allows Paddie to train him but on the condition that they don’t become friends.
Then we have the other main character Brendan who is Tommy’s older brother. He is a teacher but that doesn’t do much to pay the bills since one of his kids is super sick. His wife doesn’t approve of Brendan’s fighting in the ring but he is convinced that this is the only way to get the money that he needs. So when the big tournament shows up, Brendan really wants to join. The problem is that he was never quite the boxer that Tommy was and he’s going to have to improve dramatically in a super short amount of time to even have a chance of winning this big tournament. Does he really have what it takes here? He also has issues with Paddie but didn’t realize that Tommy heavily resents him for not coming along when the household broke. This tournament is definitely going to be very personal and both combatants have strong reasons for wanting to win.
Brendan definitely has the healthiest home environment at least. The others are dealing with past sins and military crimes while Brendan’s biggest issue is really just getting suspended from school for his part time job as a fighter. Considering it’s not like the guy is doing drugs or anything like that, I don’t really see the harm in being a part time boxer. If it is explicitly against the rules then of course that’s a bad thing but I’m pretty sure the film addressed this and it was not.
Brendan is the underdog fighter here but for that reason it can be a stretch to see him doing well. He is extremely good at grappling which is how he pulls through but he has trouble against the weakest fighters, let alone world class athletes. Any pro will tell you that the gap between an amateur and an elite is absolutely massive. To even think of bridging that divide in such a small amount of time is definitely a stretch to say the least. So I like the guy and he’s a solid character overall but I do think he should have been knocked out of the tournament early.
Meanwhile Tommy is someone who has a lot of experience. He’s been physically fit as he was active in the army until not to long ago and has been in a ton of fights. He is absolutely built for combat and has a lot of power. Throw in the fact that he has a massive chip on his shoulder causing him to be angry at the world and he knocks out most opponents in one move. The gap between these two in the movie is absolutely crazy. Very few fighters in the movie look to be even close to his level. Tommy breezes through the entire tournament up through to the final round. A key thing to keep in mind here is that this should have a good effect on his stamina.
Tommy takes almost 0 hits throughout the film while Brendan was getting the stuffing knocked out of him in every fight. He’s already incredibly injured by the time the battle starts. So that’s another thing to keep in mind. It’s good that Tommy is ultimately able to move forward with his emotions but you do fully understand why he would have such a hard time forgiving Paddie. Realistically it’s very likely that he never would forgive the guy in most scenarios. After someone has died it’s usually past the point of return. Any redemption just feels like it was too late.
Paddie also has a relapse later on in the film which was unfortunate. It’s a rough situation since it is hard not to sympathize when you see a character going through a lot in the present. It’s why I say the film does a good job on the emotional beats here. Everyone is hurting both physically and emotionally throughout the movie. They each have their own reasons and it’s hard to really say that one is worth more than the other. The widow really needs the money right now and Brendan’s daughter is still super sick and so they need a steady income. Both fighters might be able to find alternatives if they lose but this is clearly the best way to get out of the troubles all at once.
Overall, Warrior is definitely a great film. When a film executes the dual main characters strategy well it definitely pays off in a really big way. It’s hard to replicate this as you either run out of time leaving one character underdeveloped or you mess up in trying to set up the contrast and one just ends up being really unlikable. This doesn’t happen here and so I’d definitely recommend watching it. The fight scenes are all super solid as well and the film has great atmosphere throughout. The scene where the brothers finally meet during the rainstorm was definitely really intense. You could feel the tension all the way through there as we almost got an early fight. Whether you are a fan of boxing or just want to watch a film with a great story, this is one you don’t want to miss.
Overall 8/10
This review is based on the TV-14 version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative
This is definitely one of those films that is noir all the way to the core. Prepare for a lot of characters, a lot of moving parts, and a lot of inner monologuing. It really manages to nail all of the elements here and there’s even a good amount of dry humor/light banter. Once the main guy’s friend shows up the movie definitely gets real lively. All in all I’d say it did a good job here.
The movie starts by introducing us to Easy who is a man that is rather down on his luck. He’s trying to do things the right away after making a mistake once in his past. He owns a house now but the problem is that it’s very hard to get any kind of job. A rather shady individual shows up saying he has a job and it won’t even be that tough. Dewitt is a private investigator who has been having trouble finding a girl who went missing named Daphne. Her disappearance was strange and her husband Todd was forced to drop out of the mayor race. The whole thing sounds dicey right out of the gate, but unfortunately Easy is quite desperate at this point and needs the money. So now begins a mission that is even more dangerous than he could have ever expected.
Right out of the gate nobody is being very helpful. In fact, you could say everyone is trying to get in his way. He goes to the club where Daphne is supposed to frequent and people conveniently don’t remember anything. One girl named Coretta claims to know about Daphne but after using Easy for a while, doesn’t really prove to be super helpful and ultimately withholds her info a bit too long.
In a noir conspiracy like this you basically have to be super careful when you use your cards. Hold them too long and they become useless but use them too quickly and you have tipped your hand. It’s all about the mind games here and a lot of strategy. Fortunately for Easy he is a quick thinker and good at adapting. The whole first half of the film he gets messed over by pretty much everybody. Every faction from the PI, gangsters, cops, and independents are trying to scare and beat the fight out of him.
It’s why in the second half it feels good when Easy finally has some leverage. Mind you he never really gets to take it easy in this film. It’s one of those adventures where he has to stay ready at all times because things can change at any moment. He works really well as the lead even if he’s not the most heroic character. The affair with Coretta for example wasn’t a good move no matter how her current relationship was going.
Easy does make his share of mistakes but often times there’s really nothing he can do. He’s in the middle of such a large operation that at times all he can really do is wait for his chance to get in on the action. I do remember there were quite a few times Daphne would run off and I feel like he could have done more to prevent her from escaping.
Considering the title of the movie and that Daphne is wearing a blue dress, you probably don’t want to trust her very much at all either. Of course you can’t trust anyone here. Daphne is an interesting character though and just being in the middle of this already shows that she has a lot of courage. I don’t think very many could stay alive and keep on making moves as easily as she did in this situation.
Joppy was the most annoying character in the film by far though. The guy’s supposed to be one of Easy’s best friends and a little money gets to him real quick. I know he tries to talk his way out of it but when the stakes are this high that doesn’t mean much. Betrayals are nearly impossible to come back from when your life is at risk.
Dewitt makes for a solid villain. I do think he falls for the trap of getting his plan so convoluted that it works against him though. In a way that happens to most of the characters here but that’s where those mind games come back into play. Everyone’s got their own ideas of how to come out on top here. Even the mayor candidates get involved.
The simplest character here is Mouse and that’s also why he is a standout. When he shows up the villains either talk or get blown away. He doesn’t exactly take no for an answer and he’s also not the most patient character. He racks up quite a body count considering how late into the film he’s introduced. Without Mouse Easy would have definitely been doomed. Now that’s a fact and Easy really needs to thank him some more.
All in all it’s definitely a fun thriller though. The movie’s pacing is always good from start to finish and it is a movie where you really have to be paying attention or you will absolutely get lost. It’s also a title where you don’t really get the answers until the end so you can have fun building up the case in your head for most of it. See if you can figure out who is the true mastermind and what’s actually going on here. Props if you can assemble the pieces even before Easy does.
Overall, Devil in a Blue Dress is a pretty good film. The heroine herself doesn’t actually have as big a role as you might have expected though. She is still crucial to the plot of course but definitely more as a plot device than a main character. She is still fast enough to nab a car before Easy can get away though. The film can be rather intense at some points but never really goes over the top. I could easily recommend this to any fans of the noir/thriller genres. It’s a satisfying movie all around and it’s a fairly long one so it definitely doesn’t end too quickly.
Overall 7/10
It’s time for one of the most well known anime of all time. This adapts most of the Naruto manga series after all which may be the second most iconic title of all time right after Dragon Ball Z. So the stakes were high and I’ve been watching this show for well over 10 years. Well, it definitely brings back a lot of good memories and it’s adapting a ton of amazing content. Unfortunately I would say that it has the absolute worst pacing and directing I’ve ever seen for a show. At times I would say it’s the kind of show you want to watch on AMV mode because of all the cutaways and stuff that are thrown in but I’ll get into that more later on. Basically though, it is a pretty good show either way.
The show starts by re-introducing us to Naruto who has returned to the Hidden Leaf village after nearly 3 years. He is now ready to help the village out and maybe they can even bring Sasuke back. The village refuses to acknowledge his hard work and they keep him in Genin status but he will prove them wrong. Together with Sakura and Kakashi he goes on his first mission which is to save his old friend Gaara. Gaara has been abducted by the Akatsuki and they aim to extract his tailed beast which will result in the guy’s death. They ultimately want all of the beasts which means that Naruto is in trouble as well but he is still ready to answer the call. Nobody’s going to get in his way!
Of course with 500 episodes you can bet that the plot is going to change a whole lot and this series does cover a very wide variety of arcs. A lot of them are even exclusive to the anime and were not featured in the manga so you should get excited for those….mayyyybe. They can be rather hit or miss but I’ll talk more about the arcs later on. At its core this is a series with a lot of combat action and adventure throughout. You learn valuable lessons about friendship and everything. It’s a series with quite a lot of good values spread throughout the title.
Of course in that time it will also make some slip ups. The series does have its occasional fanservice but it has always been better with this than other titles. It never gets too excessive so for the most part the series stays classy. With such a large amount of episodes, not all of them are perfect but the majority are good. There is of course some animal violence and other pitfalls here but if I was going to recommend an anime to someone, Naruto would be on the higher end since it feels relatively new user friendly despite the length.
Now despite all of this, why do I take shots at the pacing? Well lets look at a few random fights. Take Naruto and friends against Kaguya. The fight starts up and looks good…then we’re interrupted for several episodes for her really drawn out flashback. Okay, we’re back to the present for a few more punches. Then..back to Obito’s backstory. The fight gets interrupted so much. Then after the initial round with Madara we enter a filler season that lasts over 20 episodes and feels like it goes on forever. You’re just waiting for the show to return each time. It would help if the fillers were better but most of them weren’t all that great.
This happens consistently over and over. When the series doesn’t switch to a different plot point, it will usually instead have a scene get super dragged out. This especially happened in some of the earlier arcs like when Sai showed up. We have him and Naruto clashing kunai for such a long period of time that it makes Naruto look extremely wimpy. Instead of dominating the fight or even winning, it ends up being evenly matched which makes no sense. There are lots of zoom ins and reactions as the characters prepare to fight, etc.
Usually One Piece is the title people talk about in terms of something being drawn out but honestly I never had the same level of issues with that title. I would say it comes down to directing. Even when it’s drawn out, you don’t feel it quite as much as in Naruto. In Naruto it’s like everything just stalls and the added scenes don’t try to disguise themselves. So you’re just waiting for something to happen. A ton of episodes would get absolutely brutal with this. It’s why I say the series is lucky that it’s adapting a 9 star title because that hard carries the whole series. Without that, with the way everything is so delayed and such it would have a really hard time staying afloat.
Ultimately what helps to counter this is that the series does have a ton of nostalgia. I could turn it on to a random episode right now and I would have a good time. It does bring back memories and I do feel like they tried. The results may not have always been stellar but it’s not like the show was just phoning it in. The budget behind the show seemed reasonable. For example the animation is solid. There are some episodes that look absolutely top tier and to this day there are some fights that people say should be in the conversation for greatest of all time. Even for the fights that weren’t given the top of the line budget, I would say they looked good. This is a title that had strong fundamentals all the way through.
Then you have the soundtrack which really is excellent. There are a ton of great tracks all throughout the series and some new tunes that don’t even show up until the final saga. The fact that the show was still adding new tunes left and right like this was definitely impressive. I enjoy more tracks in the show than I can even count so you can bet that these definitely help to amp up the source material as well. Good music always goes a long way.
All right now lets dive into the story. So of course the first arc is about rescuing Gaara and it’s a fun way to kick things off. Deidara and Sasori get most of the screentime from the villains side of things. Yeah Itachi and Kisame show up but they’re more of a distraction than anything else. Don’t expect them to be getting any big character development just yet. Seeing Kakashi and Sakura fight was nice since it had been a while since we saw them. To date this might even be Sakura’s best fight as she really handles herself well against Sasori. Definitely a fun matchup while Kakashi doesn’t get to do as much this time. Deidara is a tough matchup for him since he’s always in the sky.
The stakes were high right off the bat and really the only complaint you would have here is that Naruto didn’t really get to look as strong as you might have expected. He’s the 9 Tailed Jinjuriki and after years of training with Jiraiya, he should be a true power hitter right? Well, surprisingly that just wasn’t really the case. He never felt quite as unstoppable as he should have which definitely left me puzzled. In a fair fight I see him losing to both Sasori and Deidara at this point in time which is absolutely crazy.
Naruto makes for a superb main character and the more I watch the show the more I appreciate him. I still have the battle crazy leads like Goku and Ichigo above him but Naruto is well above the average lead. He’s a surprisingly mature character by the end of his journey and he really learned his lessons instead of staying static. A lot of other leads could really look to him for guidance on this. He gives a lot of speeches and also knows when to stop talking and just start fighting. It’s this balance that makes him one of the greats.
Sakura also gets to look really good in Shippuden. Gone are the days where she would have to run away or duck a fight. Now she can fight alongside Naruto and the others. Her strength is really impressive and she gets some really fun fights in the series. Having the ability to heal her own wounds as well is definitely a massive plus on top of all that.
Kakashi is the ever reliable leader as well and definitely looks good here. The whole running out of chakra thing may be a bit of a running gag but jokes aside, he does take care of business. Without him they would have been absolutely doomed more than once. He may not always win, but you can definitely count on him to show up when the chips are down. He is a Sharingan user after all and that is still one of the absolute best weapons in the series.
Might Guy’s always been a fun rival to Kakashi and you can make the case that he was actually significantly stronger than him for most of the series. The 8 inner gates are really no joke and it was great to finally get to see him use them by the end of the series. He jokes around a lot but at the end of the day he is a sensei and one of the stronger fighters in the leaf village. Without him the heroes would really be in trouble.
Tenten doesn’t get a lot to do in the series but she is always ready to be the voice of reason. I appreciated seeing her show up from time to time but I wish she could have gotten stronger. Rock Lee is the more disappointing character here because he had such great showings in the first series. Taking on fighters like Gaara and Kimimaro is still legendary but you can’t really point to any signature fights in part 2. The same goes for Neji who by all accounts is much stronger but he isn’t really given anyone to fight outside of fillers. I suppose again that does make the case for why filler can be really handy. This way you can give fights to the characters who ended up being skipped over.
Chiyo only showed up for the one arc at the beginning but she did well. She made the most out of her screentime and ended up being a really memorable character. Even nowadays people know her well. She really outshined Kankuro who used to be the best puppet user but got surpassed by an incredibly large margin. He never really gets many scenes to make up for this. In comparison Temari also doesn’t do much but is at least relevant for the final parts of the series thanks to her dynamic with Shikamaru.
Gaara has a lot of screentime here so he does well. I do miss the fiery spirit he used to have back when he was an antagonist but he definitely got a ton of character development so I can’t deny that. His sand abilities are absolutely lethal at this point and he became the ruler of a whole country which is no joke. He gets to meet up with Sasuke and is generally one of the most loyal allies to the leaf.
As for the Akatsuki, I always liked Deidara quite a bit. His flair for the dramatic is handled really well. He’s an entertaining character who will keep you on your feet the whole time. His birds are also incredibly dangerous, the fact that he can use them to give fighters like Sasuke and Gaara a tough fight is super impressive. He’s the kind of guy who never gives up until the end so I can definitely respect that.
Sasori isn’t nearly as ambitious of a character but he is still a strong fighter who should not be underestimated. His poison daggers are tough to deal with since he has so many clones. I ended up liking his abilities more than the character itself but he’s decent. At the very least I will ay that he’s iconic, due in part to being in the first arc that everybody has ingrained into their heads.
Then the next arc has the big return of Sasuke which was hype! We’re introduced as Sai who tries to be Sasuke’s replacement but lets just say that he is absolutely not built for this. He’s not even close and falls far short of those high standards. Sasuke actually has been training over the last 3 years so the gap between him and Naruto was absolutely massive. It’s crazy that he could have finished them all off if he wanted to. The arc is fairly short but we got the big Naruto vs Orochimaru battle so that was pretty fun. Orochimaru was ultimately just soo slippery to really be put down for good. He was seriously just having fun in that match. You get the feeling that he would have crushed Naruto if he was really trying.
Sai is a character I never warmed up to. For sure he went through a lot and going through the Root program is crazy but he’s not my kind of character. He never gets all that emotional and his ability to draw anything is not a very offensive type power. It can be used well but for the most part you can never picture him scaling with the top tiers. Taking Naruto to a draw was absolutely a huge fluke and one that I would never expect to see again. He just got supremely lucky there.
Yamato is someone I’ve warmed up to a bit. I think he had a super rocky start but as the series went on he would get more and more emotional. He actually became someone who would defend Naruto so that was nice to see. He tends to be on the wrong side of almost every issue though so he’s not perfect. I will need to see a lot more improvement out of him.
Orochimaru has a lot to do here as you can probably guess. The guy is getting close to needing to switch bodies after all. He probably could have planned things out a bit better but he was dealing with an Uchiha prodigy so that’s not easy. His durability is still very impressive to me. The guy never really goes down. He definitely gets off way too easily in the series though. This guy is psychotic and a mass murderer. He should be in jail at the very least. That part kind of annoys me but ultimately he does deserve his spot as one of the most memorable characters in the series.
Kabuto still works well as the right hand man. He gets a surprising amount of power near the end which was definitely a very impressive power up. By the end he is one of the strongest fighters and while we knew he would be strong, I was still impressed. He is a really fun wild card. I don’t love the character but he absolutely made the final arc better. Without him bringing all of the old characters back it just wouldn’t have been intense.
Sasuke is one of the biggest characters in the series so naturally there is a whole lot to talk about with him. He goes on a journey into the darkness where he sinks further and further as the series goes on. Just when you think he might be getting heroic, something would happen that would send him back. It’s a really tough cycle to be sure but at the end of the day, it’s a mission that he was ready for. He has his share of points and that’s why the battle of ideologies between him and Naruto was really good. He wanted Revolution while Naruto was effectively fighting for the status quo. Both sides have pros and cons to them.
Their rivalry is still one of the best of all times for any series. It’s just super impressive by all accounts. Sasuke is also my favorite character in the series. There are none who are even close. His character is just so deep and you could talk about him for an entire article. He survived one of the toughest experiences imaginable and he didn’t let it break him. If nothing else, you definitely have to look at that amount of fortitude and be impressed. It was really something. Then throw in some of the best attacks and theme musics and it’s a wrap!
The first of the really big filler arcs involves Sora. He’s a kid who is constantly upset and yelling so get ready for that. What I liked about the arc was they constantly played the anger theme which works well for battles but that’s about it. It’s a relatively uninspired arc and one that goes on for too long. There were some cool ideas too like a widespread 3 Tailed Jinjuriki battle but that was not enough to save this one in the end. You can easily tell which arcs are filler or not based on the quality which is kind of crazy. Well maybe not too crazy since in theory the original author knows his characters best but you’d still expect it to be a little closer.
In the following big arc, we get to focus on two more Akatsuki members. Hidan and Kakuzu show up and destroy Asuma so now the Leaf have to avenge him. It’s one of the only times we see a real switch in the team rosters so that was pretty fun. Kakashi vs Kakuzu is a really underrated fight that had a lot of great choreography the whole time. I also liked Hidan vs Shikamaru even though I felt like the hero didn’t stand a chance in that matchup. Then Naruto has his big return which is always super hype. He really got a lot of the best return moments across the series. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised though, such is a hero’s job right?
Hidan is one of the most enjoyable Akatsuki members. He’s always laughing and messing around while destroying everyone. The guy is unhinged and that works really well for his character. Trust me, he’s just a blast and to this day I’m waiting for Jashin to show up. Hidan got his immortality from someone after all. This could really work like in a sequel series or something.
Kakuzu by contrast is much quieter and more of a serious fighter. He wants to complete the mission and that’s it. He’s not really thinking about anything else. His trait of having more than 1 heart is definitely super handy though and the guy can fight in hand to hand. He’s a very well balanced member of the Akatsuki and definitely would have been a tough fight for most of the heroes. I also liked the idea of someone who is immortal being teamed with someone who has multiple lives. I think the second layer to that is how Kakuzu would always murder all of his partners back in the day but there’s no chance of that now.
Ino and Choji are sort of along for the ride in this series. They don’t really get to do much of anything and don’t really have the skills to stay relevant either. They get their moments but don’t expect too much out of them. Asuma get some really solid moments before he goes out though. I always liked his chakra blades, they seem super practical as a weapon. Ultimately he just needed to be stronger to hang in there more but the guy fought well.
Shikamaru gets a super big role in the series. He is still the man with a plan no matter what happens. He may not have the strongest attacks but he can get people to the right spots. I liked him for most of the series although I’m not as big on the character once he starts working for the Hokage. It felt to me like he basically sold out by that point and began getting more and more corrupted. I know that someone has to watch the dark side but above all else you need to trust your Hokage and I don’t feel like Shikamaru did. At times he felt like he knew best which is a dangerous assumption.
The 3 Tails Guren gets a mini filler arc and it wasn’t half bad. I remember the main annoying thing being the heroes being slow to act while the villains would monologue over and over again. Sometimes you just have to break the anime rules and land a hit real quick. I think this arc would probably work better if released as a mini series outside of the main anime. That said, I know filler was necessary to keep the show on the air without further destroying the pacing so it is always worth it. While I may not be the most positive about these things, it’s not like it was terrible or anything.
After this we finally start getting to the big Sasuke arc. He first forms a team with a bunch of new quirky characters and then heads off to go and take down Itachi. It’s a fairly short arc in the grand scheme of things but it was a fun one. I enjoyed seeing the rematch after all this time and it was easily one of the best fights in the series. I also think Sasuke’s group Taka isn’t even that bad. They’re not all stars by any stretch of the imagination but they actually had some decent banter the whole time and contrast with Sasuke pretty well. Sasuke also got a super great theme in this arc which was really good stuff. I loved it whenever that theme would appear.
Itachi is definitely a massive characters. No worries if the backstory confuses you because you’re going to be seeing it a lot. To be direct on this, he is a villain and no matter how many times we see the flashback, he was definitely in the wrong there. He was murdering women and children in his massacre and should have worked with the Hokage to find another way. No matter how you slice it, he took the villainous path. Still, he makes for a solid wild card who really can change the whole direction of the battlefield. He’s one of the most interesting characters in the series and one of the most powerful. The fact that he couldn’t be controlled even by the mass reanimation jutsu was definitely a big point in his favor. He really had backup plans on top of backup plans.
Kisame is not quite as powerful. Despite being partners, I would say they probably had the biggest gap in ability between them. You always got the feeling that Kisame could be destroyed at any moment if Itachi willed it. That’s how powerful he was. Kisame’s true form was still impressive though and he definitely did a lot of damage. As a fast yet powerful fighter, it would be difficult for most heroes to stop him. That’s how it should be too, each member of the Akatsuki should be someone that it either takes an entire team to bring down, or some of the absolute top tier fighters. Anything less just would not match the hype that this villain group got when they showed up.
For example none of the junior fighters like Suigetsu should stand a chance here. I like his confidence and the guy is ready to pick a fight but he’s in a completely different league. A much smaller league if you will. Even the idea of him trying to take on Kisame is funny. I don’t know what Suigetsu would do without Sasuke. His water powers are handy though, he just lacks the physical stats to really make the most of them.
I like him more than Jugo though. Jugo is just a bit too quiet and serious. We already have enough of those characters so he doesn’t really end up adding much to the dynamic at all. I needed characters who could provide banter. I’m not a big fan of Karin either but at least she definitely delivers on that front. When she is around you can bet that there will be a good amount of tough talk at all times. She was all business all the time except when Sasuke was involved. In that case she would break down immediately which really held her back. That gag got old fast.
Then was the big arc that may still be the most iconic in all of Shippuden, the big Pain saga. Pain finally launches his invasion on the hidden leaf and immediately destroys a whole ton of people. The body count is super high and Naruto is basically the only one who can stand against him. It’s always a fun what if to imagine if Sasuke was in town at the time. I thin he would have done really well to put it mildly. Aside from all of the awesome fighting which is of course great, we also get the conclusion to the debate on the cycle of violence. It’s a really well written sequence of scenes with both characters making a true case and then we see how it plays out. Ultimately it’s not like the cycle will ever end, but you can at least hope for the best.
Pain is of course one of the big villains of the series and he’s great all around. From the character design to his skills, this guy was the real deal. Seeing him basically take on an entire village was crazy and to date he has some of the most memorable moments in the series. You never forgot any of Pain’s big moments because that’s how influential the guy was. Each of his different bodies had more and more abilities as well. It was hard to keep track of them all, much less counter each form. That would be near impossible. Definitely a great pick as the leader of the Akatsuki.
While she isn’t mentioned as much, Konan is definitely right up there as well. Her paper abilities are super handy and she almost took down Obito early on. To think that could have seriously changed the trajectory of the series. She may appear to be meek compared to some of the other fighters but once she is in the battle she definitely goes all out. This is also a decent point to mention Jiraiya. Unfortunately I have to say that I’m still not a big fan of the guy. He had a heroic death and all but he had too many character flaws in the end. Those definitely cost him big time.
We get a random flashback arc about the old days here. I suppose people were probably getting nostalgic so it’s not a bad idea but it does sort of wreck the flow a bit. You want to get to the next big adventures after all and this is the only thing left standing in your way. It has to be removed as soon as possible. The arc isn’t super long but it’s still fairly long so you definitely have to wait for a while.
After that we have the Kage Summit, another small arc but a real doozy. Sasuke decides to take on all of the Kages and he actually has them on the defensive. That is absolutely crazy when you think about it. His fight with Danzo was also awesome and this is really the arc where he goes full on villain. Before now he wouldn’t murder innocents or anything like that but now everyone is fair game. He has really changed a whole lot from the Sasuke that we once knew. We also got the big Team 7 reunion which was cool even if it maybe wasn’t quite as big as you might have expected. There is a cool fan animation that heavily extends the fight with Kakashi and Sasuke while one of the Ultimate Ninja Storm games officially extended Naruto’s fight with him. Regardless, it’s a top tier arc.
Danzo is one of those guys who was running around causing trouble for ages so it was nice to finally see him get taken down. Honestly he got away with way too much the whole time. The fact that the Lead Village would look the other way is rather disgraceful if we’re being honest. If Sasuke didn’t take him down I don’t know what would have happened and that’s annoying because it never should have come down to that. It doesn’t make any sense. His skills are the real deal so I will give him that though. The guy has masterful tactics and it makes sense how he could reach the level of Hokage.
The Raikage is another Kage who really earns his station. He is always ready to fight and doesn’t hide behind minions. His speed and power are both off the charts which makes him a top fighter. I like his personality and he is the kind of guy who is always ready to take charge. I may not have agreed with some of his decisions but he was usually on the right side. In fact, he had to be convinced to put Naruto on the shelf when originally he was planning on deploying him to the front lines. That would have been the best plan to take advantage of his abilities.
The Mitsukage gets less to do but she is around. Her lava abilities aren’t bad but I think her main problem is that the technique doesn’t feel as special. You can’t compare it to instant regen, new lives, or invincibility. Her power is just lava and I know that is lethal but it feels like a normal ninjutsu. I wish we could have seen more out of her. Then we have the Tsuchikage who has the cube style. His particle attacks are definitely super impressive so to balance him out, the guy has chronic back pain. Honestly that gag could get annoying sometimes but I get why they needed to nerf him. Now there is a really solid technique.
After that..it’s time for the big war. You could argue that the war itself had a bunch of mini arcs within it as well. Of course you have the long dream saga where each character imagines what the future could be like. Some are simple AUs while one extended one recaps the whole series. That one was unfortunately a bit too ambitious for its own good. With an arc as long as the war, it wasn’t always able to be consistent but there are a ton of super memorable moments to be found here. Madara finally making his move and of course seeing all of the reanimated shinobi was a lot of fun. All big Shonen titles should end with some kind of a huge war because it’s the perfect way to really show off your extended cast. Without that then it’s harder to bring everyone in. So the arc may be controversial but I still thought it was very good. The climax really makes it. You’re seeing the strongest shinobi of all time all going at it. Who can’t help but not get excited at such a prospect right? This is what we came here for, this is why we are Naruto fans.
Madara is a villain who was hyped up for the entire series and I’m glad to say that he absolutely lived up to it. He is a beast in battle and the kind of guy who loves fighting. You already know that would win me over right from the start. This is a villain who shook the entire world with just his name. Now that’s presence, I don’t think there is any other villain with that much aura. It’s a shame how his character ended up going out because he was absolutely cooking everyone. There’s definitely a whole lot more you could have done with the character. Still, he got so much screentime that I can’t complain much.
Then we have Obito who was also a really big threat. Perhaps not as strong as Madara but still a top tier within the verse. You definitely understand his motivations, not just because losing someone is something we can all sympathize with but because of the fact that we got to see Rin die like 100 times throughout the series. I felt bad for her because that flashback would never stop looping. It was absolutely crazy. I do think that Obito got off way too easily in terms of reputation though. I’m glad that the series deals with redemption arcs but this man did hurt a ton of people. Lets not forget that so easily.
Zetsu has a consistent role throughout the series and then he really turns up near the end. He’s actually a rather fun character with how tough he talks the whole time. The guy has a lot of good plans and while it may stretch disbelief at times, hey the guy is patient. He is the ultimate strategist who waits on the sidelines but technically can’t fight at a high level. If he could fight too then the world would really be finished.
Kushina has a solid role as Naruto’s Mom. She was a real fun character and a go getter. It’s a shame that her screentime was so low but she gave him good advice throughout and was a super solid parent. Then you have Minato who also looked really good. We actually got to see him fight a lot which was awesome. He always had a very cool air about him. The guy was also a top tier parent. He ends up being one of the better characters in the series and he definitely has the best reputation as the Yellow Flash. People knew not to mess with him.
The 3rd Hokage doesn’t do much here but I’ll just say that he’s annoying. Every time we get a new flashback, we see how more and more of the problems were all his fault. If he had just stood up and stopped at least one of the internal villains then things could have been very different. It’s hard to be as harsh on the 2nd Hokage since most of his actions were off screen. He seems to be a solid fighter but again we just don’t know a ton about him.
The 1st Hokage is easily the most impressive. You could make a decent case for him being the strongest character in the series. The guy’s abilities were super terrifying. Personally I still have Madara above him but the two were rivals for a good reason. It definitely wasn’t one sided in either direction. The scene where he powers up to freeze all of the Hokage and Sasuke was definitely a true flex and one of the biggest hype moments in the series. It’s hard to imagine him ever going down in the past.
Killer Bee is the only Tailed Beast holder aside from Naruto who gets a big role. He definitely makes the most of it as his debut appearance against Sasuke was definitely a really memorable one. It was nice to see an owner who actually bonded with the beast. Eventually Naruto would do this as well but it would take a long time. Killer Bee’s rapping gimmick also wasn’t that bad to be honest. Not really my thing but the execution was okay.
Hinata doesn’t do much for most of the series but she starts to get a role by the end so I should mention her. My main issue with Hinata is the same as with a bunch of other characters. She is too soft spoken the whole time and needs to assert herself more. This is what keeps me from becoming a big fan. I want to see a Hinata who gets really tough and just starts blasting the enemy. Still, I’d say her fans should be satisfied with her portrayal here.
Side note, it was cool seeing Zabuza and Haku return. They may have appeared super briefly but that was a lot of fun. One old character who shows up a bit is Iruka but I still don’t like the guy. He’s way too harsh on Naruto and wouldn’t even hear the guy out when his wedding day was approaching. I think some people find the dynamic charming with Iruka constantly bashing Naruto and apologizing for him since he assumes that the lead is up to no good. The problem for me is that this gag has the opposite effect. He should trust Naruto completely by now. It’s definitely a big L for Iruka.
The 9 Tails himself gets a ton of character development and it’s fun to see how far he has come. Gone are the days where he would just be yelling and trying to scare everybody. Now he is actually a rather reasonable person which is cool. He supports Naruto and really helps him to improve. It’s a superb dynamic and I like how they build each other up. No matter what, Naruto and the 9 Tails will always have each other as friends.
Finally we have Kaguya and unfortunately the anime does her a disservice. The extra scenes actually make her look worse instead of better which is crazy. She just appears to be too naive and slow on the uptake there. I would have liked her to have fought more and just messed over anyone in her way. She is Kaguya, one of the strongest people in the verse. That shouldn’t be asking for too much right? Great design and everything but the flashback definitely hurts.
After that, the series mainly starts to wind down. We get a quick mini arc for Shikamaru based on his novel, a Sasuke arc for his, a mini arc on picking out presents for Naruto, and episodes for some of the characters as kids. The anime really wanted to make sure you had time to see what the characters were doing in the present which is a nice touch. I mean personally I’m cool with just ending on the big fight but the longer you can extend a series the better and it was worth it to reach 500 episodes. That is an absolutely crazy amount that almost no show nowadays can ever hope to reach. It is simply too impressive.
Even with a review this long there are tons of characters and episodes I didn’t touch on. It’s why watching this show is a true saga. It’s an experience that you can’t complete in a few days. It would be literally impossible to do so. That’s the charm of the series after all. Even I would probably not remember everything if I gave it a re watch so in that way there is always a ton of replay value here. You can try to notice extra easter eggs and lore that you didn’t notice the first time. Then you will have made it to the level of grand Naruto scholar and you can use that as super bragging rights. Of course the next step will be to enter the world of Boruto at some point but that’s a discussion for another day. That is technically a separate series after all so it should be looked on separately as well.
Overall, Naruto Shippuden is one of those titles that I will never forget. It will always be very important to me because of all the memories and the experiences I had with the show. It was a title that lasted a long time and there are very few titles that can keep going for 500 episodes nowadays. It’s lucky for most to reach 100 after all. I would definitely recommend this to any action fan. For a long title like this, you are really given time to know all of the characters and get emotionally invested into the whole thing. That definitely goes a long way and at the end of the day watching this is like watching a big piece of anime history. You owe it to yourself to experience what this global phenomenon was all about. On an episode by episode battle it may not beat the higher tier shows but while those end every 12 episodes, this one will just keep on going and going.
Overall 7/10
This review is of the TV-14 edited version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative
All right, it’s time for one of those films that has a solid premise but I think the execution was off. It didn’t really play around with the two main characters looking the same as much as I would have liked. They didn’t even get as many big conversations together as you would expect considering what a big revelation this is. The movie makes all of the easy mistakes and ends up being a below average action film. It doesn’t compete with some of the star’s other movies.
The movie starts off with the main character’s parents celebrating a big accomplishment in opening up a tunnel. They are feeling so hype in fact that they tell their bodyguard he can head out as they drive home. This wasn’t a smart plan as they are quickly shot up by the Triad group. The two kids barely survive with the body guard Frank saving one of them and the other is taken to another country. Still, with the parents out of the way, Triad takes over the tunnel and now has the credit for how it is being used.
We cut to the present where Chad leads a very successful dojo along with Frank. It’s been a quiet but fulfilling life. This all changes when Frank lets Chad know about a new business they can run in Hong Kong. Chad is skeptical but his worries quickly vanish when a girl named Danielle starts flirting with him. Chad thinks he has finally won the lottery when he is knocked out by his twin brother Alex. Basically Alex runs a lot of shady operations out here and has become a really solid fighter as well. Chad has more traditional skills as he teaches martial arts but Alex has street skills which work just as well in a pinch. Frank lets them know the truth about what happened to their parents and how they have to stop Triad. Can the two brothers put aside their differences in order to pull this off?
So I’ve got a few issues here but the first is what I mentioned earlier about the brothers not getting nearly as much dialogue with each other as you would have expected. I really feel like this is a gold mine of opportunity with the characters interacting and bonding. Maybe throw in an extended fight scene. Nah, in the end we do get some banter but there isn’t much about them being twins. They could have just been random people brought together and it would be the same effect.
The film also goes the very dicey way of having Danielle fall for Chad. She was originally with Alex but the guy doesn’t even treat her right at all so you can see why she would leave. The big problem is this just doesn’t feel like an organic relationship, I would argue it doesn’t even feel like a positive one in any way. Rebounding with the brother is never a good idea, you don’t go through different family members like that. Chad should have also been ready to break it off. The initial scene with them is one you can’t blame Chad for since he didn’t know, but after that he takes a lot of responsibility here.
We just didn’t need this kind of drama. Alex starts to feel a little bad about himself later on but it’s also really late for that as well. He’s basically a villain after all, just not quite as out there as the Triad group. So he just wasn’t ready for a relationship either way. The whole using the girl to make the two guys fight is just rather cliche though and not one of the better ones. The film could have definitely done better there.
The film also decides to make one of the villains more on the creepy side for no reason. Kara notices that Danielle is being shady when the heroine was spying on the villains. So Kara messes with her a lot and the whole scene definitely goes on for way too long. There isn’t really a point to Kara frisking Danielle to such a degree except as basically a power play and the movie could have handled things a little more classy than that.
The main villains are basically your average thugs so there’s not much to them. Kara had the most personality, just a shame it wasn’t a better one. She’s definitely not the kind of villain that you want to underestimate though. On the heroes side, Frank was a solid character. He did a good job of trying to get the boys back together and had their backs the whole time. He’s a good man who is really trying to do the right thing. He knew how to fight and was experienced with a gun so the guy always came to the situation prepared.
I didn’t really care for either Chad or Alex though. Alex was just too much of a villain for most of this so either way you wouldn’t trust him outside the mission. His treatment of Danielle was an automatic L for the guy. Meanwhile I liked Chad’s confidence but he could definitely be way too much of a flirt and never kept his eye on the mission. When you lose focus as easily as this guy, that means you are definitely not cut out for the big leagues. Even if there was no villain conspiracy going on, I don’t feel like he would have what it takes to launch a big business. It feels like Frank would have to do all of the heavy lifting and I bet that’s the case back home as well. Chad’s just not a very responsible kind of guy.
The fight scenes are solid as you would expect from this star though. The choreography is on point and you really feel the blows. It’s clear that the characters know what they are doing and that really makes a lot of difference. This isn’t just a bunch of amateurs messing around or anything like that. It can always be a bit cheesy to see a guy knocking out a ton of gunmen with his fists though. The gunmen just end up looking completely incompetent because the main characters aren’t exactly quite about this. Still, it can be funny even if that wasn’t the overall intention.
Overall, Double Impact isn’t my favorite film. The fight scenes are good but the story is weak and the main characters are even weaker. There was no point to the scene of Danielle getting searched and that definitely could have been dropped out of the film. If you want to watch a film just for the fights, there are many better option so I would recommend those instead of this one. Double Impact should have focused more on the lost twins angle with a lot of good scenes you could have had there. Instead, it was game over for this one.
Overall 4/10
It’s definitely been a while since I checked this one out so lets dive into season 2. I really enjoyed season 1 with the awesome music and fights around every corner. In a lot of ways season 2 does keep up although I would give 1 the slight edge. I thought it had a better climax and wrapped things up a little better. This one gets a bit too ambitious towards the end so some things have to be rushed like the two cosmic beings and one of the main characters looks horrible here. Still, we do get the big fight scenes which is always a plus and the soundtrack is still great which is what counts.
After the events of the first season, Arshem and Yamato are split off into two different plots. Arshem is helping a resistance group get their bearings as she still works to become leader of the aliens. If she can do this, then she will really be in a good position to stop the war once and for all. The main problem is that their commander right now is Grieffas who is not about to listen to her and wants to conquer the remaining humans. She will inevitably have to fight with him at some point about this.
In the human plot, Yamato is still blasting away at the aliens but his heart isn’t quite as into it anymore. He used to want to wipe them all out, but now that he knows a lot of them are just ordinary people, it’s not something he can put all of his heart into in quite the same way. It’s not like he is a mass murderer after all. He just wants to defend his right to live. He also sees more of the shady dealings that his own government is doing, this will not be easy.
Yamato is a great character as always. He still has a lot of fire within him and is always ready for a fight. He hasn’t lost that enthusiasm. He may have less time to show off his punk side but near the beginning of the season he does get to fight the new transfer student which was fun. Yamato is definitely not someone who will go down without a fight and you can always appreciate that. I was a little surprised when the first season threw in a bit of a romance for him and season 2 doesn’t shy away from it either. His romance with Arshem is treated as a legitimate plot point that actually comes up and get focus on numerous occasions. It can definitely be really dramatic at times to be sure but it’s definitely handled way better than the average one. It helps that they are both quality characters.
This is one of those romances that I can actually point to as a great example on how to do this. Both characters liked each other without any rebounds or other people getting in the way. We get a lot of time so it’s not like they fell for each other immediately, etc. There were just a whole lot of positives to be had here. The series tries out some other romances which don’t work quite as well since they weren’t the focus but when you manage to do the main one right, the rest all comes into play.
Arshem is also a great character here with good ideals. At times she may feel a bit naive with her hopes for world peace though. The fact of the matter is that there can be no chance for peace until there is a cure allowing the aliens to live peacefully on Earth. Without that, they will have to keep relying on the injections over and over again which isn’t a long term strategy. If anything it is just something that will make the forces uneven which will breed more resentment. So finding the cure is really the first step…or just gaining absolute power and that’s really the route that she went. So her goals were good but I do think she was missing the big picture.
On the human side we also have Ryugo as one of the original main characters but I wouldn’t say he gets a ton to do after a while. His abilities are fairly low compared to the rest of the pilots. He pulls his own weight and everything but it always feels like he is lagging behind the other characters when it counts. He works well enough for the banter but it would have been great if he could have gotten some kind of a power up at some point.
Teru is the brainy type of character and he was solid in the first season but he really falls off a cliff here. The character doesn’t have enough strength of will to make the right decisions effortlessly. Instead he has to actually wonder what the right call is even when it’s obvious. He had a kid and isn’t sure if the kid should be alive? That’s rather crazy and he doesn’t do much about the experimenting for a while.
Then at one point he attacks a cleaning maid because it looked like the girl he was in love with. Teru’s absolutely deranged and he ended up being one of the most annoying characters. I was sort of rooting for his downfall for a while there. It’s just crazy how you can fall so hard after being a rather sensible character.
Reiji is still a solid character with his super abilities. It would have been nice if he could have used them more though. It felt like there was a lot more to that plot point that never really got addressed. Later on Yamato seemed to be able to use similar abilities so it’s maybe something that humans just have innately as opposed to it needing to be artificial but I dunno, it wasn’t given quite as much focus as you’d expect. Reiji does have one critical battle near the end where he holds off a top tier though.
Jun is always a super fun character. She enters a bit of a slump later on when she suffers some PTSD but the whole plot is actually handled rather well. It’s not rushed and we are given a lot of time to see her fighting through this and trying to get her old confidence back. Once Jun pushes past this, she goes back to her fun moments of banter and messing with everyone. It can be hard to get a read on when she’s joking vs being serious but that’s part of her charm.
The Queen gets a rather big role here and she is another character who was handled super well. She had to make the really hard calls as the leader and accepted the role as villain. She still is a villain to be clear and there’s no real way to explain her wanting to murder Arshem. So she ended up being too far gone and no amount of damage control could fix that. That being said, while I will continue to criticize her for that, taking down the Earth seems like a reasonable strategy from her perspective. There’s no way any planet will willingly give up to another and additionally, if they wanted to accept the aliens, that wouldn’t be possible either since the planet isn’t big enough for the two of them.
She decided that with all of this in mind, she may as well launch the first strike and knock them all out immediately. There was only one flaw with her plan which is that she couldn’t destroy all of them without finding the method for being able to breath in Earth’s atmosphere. If not for that, she could have finished the job and that would have been that. I do think you could make the case that they should have captured more people then and there are different ways you could play this. At the end of the day, the humans pulled through anyway.
Grieffas is a more extreme villain. He believes in the first place that the aliens should not have run away when they were being annihilated by Adam and Eve. So under his leadership the whole race would have been wiped out before this series even began. That would have certainly been one way to go. I definitely sympathize with not wanting to run away but it’s clear that the gap in power between the two races was extensive. There’s nothing that could have been done. Then he gets obsessed with being together with Arshem and is madly jealous of Yamato the whole time.
He goes way down in this second half for basically being a creep and spending all of his time on the throne. In season 1 he was fighting and at least getting stuff done. In this second part his main priority was Arshem at the cost of his own plans and ultimately he went down like a chump. Definitely not the way you want to lose when the stakes are this high. The other villains in the show all ended up being a lot more fun. First off you have Zaskar who actually doesn’t get a whole lot to do. He is introduced as one of the top fighters on the villain’s side but he shows up super late into the game. He would have gotten more to do in the end but the show didn’t quite get to that part. Still, I always enjoy the elite villains like this and the guy has a very serious attitude that is appropriate for a fighter of his station.
Then we have Yugra who starts out as a villain that just follows orders so that he can prove himself. From there he ends up being a really solid villain overall who questions his orders and follows his heart. His character arc has to go through rather quickly but it was a good one and he ended up being likable. The same goes for his partner Miysis although it takes longer for her to really join the heroes side. You sort of feel like she just came along for the ride for a while there but in the end as long as you join the heroes I suppose the reason itself isn’t quite as important.
Veloa is another villain who starts out as being evil and then sees the light. When you think about it, quite a few of the aliens were ready to turn good and I think it helps to support the overall premise of both groups not wanting to be evil. At the end of the day they committed the murders under the Queen’s orders but before that they were never a villain group like this. So going back to their old ways will end up being normal. There are still a lot of grudges that will never go away but that is to be expected. So this guy gets to prove his worth of why he is a good bodyguard even if he does lose his main fight.
Then we have Dixenberg who is a reasonable villain. He’s basically an old guy who can’t really fight so you do have to keep that into consideration. What I like about him is he represents the corrupt humans who will always show up from time to time. He plans to take advantage of the chaos that arose when 99% of each race’s population was wiped out. Now he can be king and rule over it all! It’s truly an ambitious plot and so I get that. Ultimately it’s not like you ever think he would stand a chance against anyone but he is still fun enough.
Kojiro is more of an intense villain because he gets a big backstory and a lot to do in the present. He has trouble with a second personality that takes over and makes him murder people all of the time. It’s definitely tough to make friends that way and he really starts to crack by the end. I thought that he was a reasonable rival but the low willpower definitely did hurt him in the end. He sort of holds the heroes back for most of the series and only gets it in gear by the very final part of the climax. Better late than never though.
We also have the other human resistance group led by Victor. He’s a solid character who has a big backstory. I give him massive amounts of hype for being able to survive in the wilderness while the entire planet is covered in poison. That’s a really difficult thing to have to put up with and yet he took it like a champ. So definitely kudos there. He could have introduced himself to his daughter a lot sooner though. He really took his time there.
Then there is Masamune who gives us one of the most enjoyable fights at the start of the season. I like the idea of a pro agent being thrown into the mix. He may not be a street fighter like Yamato but his skills still translate themselves into the battles very well. He gets his own romance plot which is rather rushed I have to admit but all in all he’s good. Near the end of the series he lets his guard down and gets stabbed which is a really cheesy scene. There’s no way the villain should have been able to land a hit on him there. That whole thing felt rather forced.
Shizuka gets the least to do by far. She’s good at covert ops and infiltration but we don’t really get to see her fight. She’s a solid member of the team either way and pulls her own weight but the first two undoubtedly get a lot more to do. It feels like Shizuka needed a friend or family member of her own so that she would have a relevant plot going instead of just waiting around on the sidelines.
Finally we have Adam and Eve who are rather huge as you would expect. These two are villains with cosmic abilities that are vastly above what you may expect from anyone in this series. They usually don’t get to actually show these abilities off though and that’s in part because they don’t do anything until the very end. Just one of their mechs gives the whole crew a tough fight and they can create millions of them. Only a very specific kind of ability is able to negate this and they happen to fight her. Still, I really enjoyed Adam and Eve. They make for a good team and the only shame is that they didn’t appear more. There is absolutely still a whole lot you can do with them. Considering that they wiped out the aliens so easily who wiped out the humans with the same lack of difficulty, the power creep was intense.
The show perhaps bit off a little more than it could chew there. I don’t think it is always able to handle the power level concerns that come up when the characters start introducing stronger and stronger mechs. That being said, the show is still very interesting all the way through. There is never a shortage of action so you will have those scenes in every episode but at the same time there are much deeper plot threads going on the whole time. The series really dives into topics like the cycle of violence and why wars need to be stopped.
The animation is definitely really solid. I would say it’s very consistent between the episodes and I always really enjoy the hand to hand fight scenes. The robot fights are a lot of fun too of course and there are more of those but that’s why the human fights stand out. They happen so rarely that you really feel the impact. Then for the soundtrack, we have a number of lyrical songs that pop up and the usual battle themes which are really good. They all balance out really well and so there is a lot of variety here. You won’t be feeling that the osts are too overused or anything like that. This is a show that will keep you guessing.
There are some themes that the show does gloss over a bit that I would like to see addressed in a sequel though. One of these is of course the fact that the “heroes” are brainwashing all of their civilians so they don’t panic. That still doesn’t justify the whole time. If people are going to panic then your job is to minimize that, but mind controlling them is just taking away all of their agency. This was never really addressed and we see that the humans really got desperate when they were almost wiped out. Ultimately they had a lot of flaws that just weren’t really acknowledged so that’s something I would like to see more beyond all of the extra fighting that I would want to see as well.
Overall, Megaton is a great show all the way around. It may be a little under season 1 but I still had a really good time here. There are a ton of characters to root for and a lot of action scenes to keep your pulse racing. The animation and soundtrack are good and there is a whole lot of ground that is covered here. I can definitely recommend it to any mecha fan or anyone who even just likes a good romance plot. There is a whole lot of screentime for both things and the show does a great job of juggling all of the plots. A story of two people from warring factions falling for each other is always a classic after all.
Overall 8/10
Kaiju No 8 really became a big thing when the manga came out. One of those titles that was being mentioned everywhere. How could you not like it right? We’re talking giant Kaiju, big action scenes, etc. The anime started off on a rocky note with people doubting the character designs and animations when it was first announced. Could it really capture the manga’s raw art? Well, I think it’s fair to say that the anime isn’t nearly as intense and isn’t leaning as hard into the horror type imagery but still works as a solid adaption. I was satisfied with season 1’s direction both with the animation and soundtrack.
The series starts by introducing us to Kafka who has been trying to join the Defense Force for a very long time but always gets rejected. The guy just has absolutely no luck with this and he’s not getting any younger. This is his last chance now and it’s not looking great but he ends up swallowing a Kaiju and gains super powers. He is now Kaiju No. 8, one of the most powerful monsters in recorded history. If he can hide these powers just right, perhaps he can finally join the group? Kafka’s ultimate goal is to work alongside his childhood fiend Mina who is now near the very top of the organization. Until he fulfills that goal, he will not give up!
Now I will say right off the bat that I know some people were disappointed that Kafka didn’t get to stay as a clean up guy who supports the team rather than being the main fighter himself. I get it, but I have to disagree because it wouldn’t be very exciting. I want to see a lot of fight scenes and the best way to do that is always to have the main character be a top tier fighter. At the end of the day that’s the only way to really proceed. So I’m fine with that part and Kafka makes for a reasonable main character. In terms of personality I wouldn’t say that he’s great or anything but I’d say he is average.
He gets the job done when it counts and has some good moments. I think what really keeps him from rising up is that it never felt like he really tried to achieve his dreams as hard as most leads. He basically gave up for a long while there and while he trained a bit, we just didn’t see that very much. It felt like he was half heartedly chasing his dream to be by Mina’s side for a while there instead of going full blast. Getting the Kaiju powers was basically lucky for him and from then on he had it made. I would have fought the government more near the end but most main characters would have done what Kafka did so I won’t blame him there too hard.
He tries to act like the younger main characters despite being old so in a way the age never really becomes a factor the way you would expect it to. His sidekick Reno is the more interesting character though. He wants to be a big Defense Force hero as well and has been training hard for many years in order to pull this off. He may not have super powers but he is able to unlock a lot of power out of his suit right away. If he wasn’t in a historic year of geniuses then he would have shined even more. He’s a good friend and ultimately Reno is the kind of hero that you definitely want to have on your side.
As a quick interlude here, the series maybe has a little too much fun with making everyone a prodigy. The only other series to do this quite as frequently is World Trigger and I would say that show did a better job of it. It’s just a bit harder to buy in Kaiju No 8 with everyone setting records and dominating. Shouldn’t humanity be doing a little better against the Kaiju with all of these heavy hitters around? And yet, there are other times where you wonder how they have been alive for so long otherwise. Without Kafka stepping in, most of the Defense Force would have been wiped out within the season. So it feels like the series can never really decide on just which team should have the advantage here.
An ongoing plot point is that the villains are getting stronger lately so you could say it’s just an ever increasing amount of power escalation that is going on within both sides. I suppose I can get behind that but I dunno it could have just been set up a little better. Either way with Kafka on the team the world can be saved real fast now. You know that the Defense Force had to be desperate for some kind of trump card with all of their fighters constantly being destroyed all the time. It would be really dumb to try and get in his way right?….right?
Well the government always falls beneath the occasion and of course they try to arrest Kafka. I don’t even know that I need to really go into this to explain why it’s such a bad move but I may as well. So Kafka just saved the entire team from an extremely powerful Kaiju that was going to wipe them out. Clearly Kafka is stronger than everyone in the room and could have murdered all of the humans in the room. The fact that he didn’t, means that he is definitely one of us right? Why hold him at gunpoint and get the guy arrested?
I say this for 2 reasons. First, lets assume that Kafka is actually evil and he’s just trying to gain their trust. Immediately saying you don’t trust Kafka and getting aggressive would just force him to act and murder you all. This is a bad strategy because it fails if you are right. Then if he’s a good guy, threatening him isn’t good either because what that means is he may have to fight you in self defense. Even if he doesn’t wipe anyone out, he’s going to have to go into hiding for a while and may not be able to help as freely. The only real option here would have been to get his help.
I’d also give Hoshina some grief for attempting to destroy him early on for the same logic. Even if you don’t want to take a chance and figure you should murder every Kaiju, only do that once you’ve wiped out all of the obviously evil ones. Otherwise you are risking your life in vain. Hoshina is a great character otherwise though. I like him as a senior rival of sorts. Someone who was a prodigy of the previous generation who can still hold his own against the current characters. In fact by the end of this season he is probably still top 5 among the heroes. I’m not counting Gen yet since he only appeared for under a minute.
Then we have his boss Mina who is a fun character. She is really serious to be sure and definitely doesn’t really do much of anything to help Kafka out. Mina intends to give him the same treatment she gives everyone else so if he wants to be by her side, he will really have to work as hard as possible. Mina might take this a little far but from her perspective Kafka has been disappointing for a long while so I’m cool with her being a little irritated at this point. In the meantime she continues to shred Kaiju left and right. Her projectiles are incredibly powerful to the point where even numbered Kaiju will have a tough time with her attacks.
Mina is strong and fast. She’s really the ideal soldier for the Defense Force and someone who will definitely not be going down anytime soon. Then we have Kikoru who seems like she will be the next generation of Mina. She is another prodigy who is easily excelling past all of her comrades. The way Kikoru fights is different though as she is a close quarters specialist who fights with a big axe. Kikoru continues to excel more and more in the fights despite dealing with some issues from her past.
It probably comes as no surprise when I say that she is the best character in the series. I always like that tough talking kind of character who is always ready to get into fights and mess with everybody. It’s part of what makes her such a fun character. I look forward to seeing her continue to take on more powerful fighters. Right now only Kafka seems to be able to do anything against the top tiers but these characters won’t give up until they can help.
Finally from the humans you have Isao who is the head of the Defense Force. I should say, he is the head of the fighters but there is still an executive council of directors who are basically around to have bad takes and sabotage the whole operation. I like Isao, but exclusively as a villain. It’s always hard for me to acknowledge him as a hero because he’s a bit too extreme. Ripping out Kafka’s rib for example to test if he would go berserk was crazy. Yeah I’d go berserk and take Isao out at that point. He just goes too far even if it is to prove a point. It’s not the way to do things.
I do respect his abilities though. The guy is the leader for a good reason as his abilities are really a clear cut above the rest. He can move with tremendous speed and dominates anyone who makes the mistake of getting in his way. I can picture him taking out almost any other Kaiju with ease. It also helps to have a leader who can fight like this because it instantly wins the respect of anyone who is around him.
There are only two main villains so far. The first one is Kaiju No. 9 who is a mastermind. The guy masters online games with ease and wants to remove Kafka from the board. He’s the only Kaiju who is really seeing the big picture and trying to change the world. So right now he is the villain you are looking at as opposed to the many Kaiju who look imposing but don’t actually have any dialogue or plans beyond just trying to crush the heroes. I’m not super impressed with No. 9 in a strength sense though. It’s the risk of putting in your big villain so early on since he loses to the main character and then sacrifices a bunch of hype.
I liked Kaiju No. 10 but of course he doesn’t actually do much here. The guy technically goes down fast but the design was really memorable and he did have a real character. So that automatically makes him rather memorable as well. The guy was fast and his main mistake was deciding to sacrifice that speed for more power. It’s a gambit that rarely ever works after all and should serve as a cautionary tale for other characters to be more careful.
The fight scenes in the show definitely look great. I like how fast paced the animations are and you can feel the power behind the characters. The coloring is on point as well and so in the end I definitely don’t have any problems there. Like I said at the beginning, it might not get as intense or spooky at times but considering that the anime is going more for your classic action tone, I would say it ends up landing rather well. Then we have the soundtrack which is good. I’m not really a big fan of the ending but the rest of the tracks are fine. The opening is super disappointing animation-wise, but the song isn’t bad. I don’t think it’s quite as good as it could be, but I appreciate the tone they were going for here. That is like something out of a horror title.
The humor can be a bit weak to be honest though. It might be that the characters just haven’t grown on me yet but Kafka just doesn’t handle the jokes very well. When he’s in Kaiju form we have some crude humor which was rough and in human form he maybe tries too hard to still be like a young person. This isn’t a show that is really built around humor though so it’s not a big thing. I also think some jokes are definitely funny like Hoshina messing with Kafka and making fun of the guy.
Right now the cast is rather small so I’ll be looking forward to more of the characters showing up. You already have enough good ones to satisfy me though. The series tries to expand the roles of Kafka’s other teammates but for now I don’t really care about them that much. I think the problem is that they all feel irrelevant already since they just don’t have the abilities needed to help. You could argue that Reno falls into that same camp but it’s already clear that he is improving very quickly so the foreshadowing is there.
Overall, Kaiju No. 8 is a pretty fun show. It may not reach the level of great for me yet but there is a lot of content left to cover and I’m confident that future seasons will be able to break into that territory. There are going to be a ton of battles coming up after all and with the character introductions out of the way, it can really focus on that right from the start. Yes, fans of the series can definitely rest assured that a lot of good things are coming their way. In the meantime I would recommend checking this title out and getting yourself ready for the sequels.
Overall 7/10
It’s time to jump back into the world of DBZ. Things definitely get rather intense there so you can be sure that this would be another great game. While I do think it is completely inexcusable to not have the Buu saga, the rest of the game is still really good. It’s interesting to see which fights were made into stages and which weren’t. The game is fairly short so it definitely won’t last very long but you will have a good time throughout the adventure.
This story mode is definitely made with DBZ veterans in mind more than the average DBZ game. While it has more battles than the original Budokai, this one rarely gives you any real context to the battles. You’re thrown right in, sort of like a best hits kind of compilation to the title rather than a true story mode. Each arc has around 20 levels in it. There are also alternate paths/stories where you can relive the Broly movie, the Bardock special, and then a few random fights thrown inside. That does help extend the story play time a little bit although it’s still fairly short in the end.
Most of your playing time here will likely be in the vs mode which makes sense. This is a fighting game after all so that is mainly why you are here. The character roster is fairly small but all of the core characters are here which is what counts. It is interesting to hear Cell’s first form with his Perfect voice since they seem to share a character slot though. In the cutscenes he sounds normal so I’m surprised they couldn’t set it up that way in gameplay. Unless maybe it is and this is just a glitch in the story mode. I can’t say that I went into the vs mode myself to test this out.
The graphics are really good. I like the dynamic designs and artstyle used for the characters. The game places a heavy emphasis on the aura that each character admits, so you should get ready to see a lot of bright colors. I imagine this might be tough if you have any vision issues so keep that in mind. It can be a bit overdone at times but all in all I would say it ages pretty well. I don’t always get the point of spiking up my aura but I’m sure that’s more of an advanced gameplay mechanic.
As for the soundtrack, it’s fairly decent. There aren’t many memorable tracks here so I can’t give it a higher rating than that. It works well for the scenes that it is in but the whole time you do feel like they could have some richer tunes. Something more along the lines of Xenoverse 2 which sounds amazing in all of the levels. DBZ on average should be leaning towards hard rock music that really gets you into the match.
One thing this game does which is fun is throw in a quick fight that is pre rendered before every story battle. You quickly see how there are only 3-4 variations that are looped to each character model but I still liked the effort. I always like seeing the characters mix it up before the actual battle starts and it adds more of a cinematic flair to the fights. These are battles that all DBZ fans will be super familiar with since every game has them so this helps the game to stand out a little more than it would otherwise.
There are no PS3 trophies to add to the replay value for single player content but you could try to unlock all of the special conditions in each fight. There are a bunch of them based on different techniques or actions that you need to take. I’d say that would be a fun way to test your limits and everything. Ultimately the unlimited replay value is in the vs mode but it’s still important that there is some more single player content to have past the initial hours. How long it takes to get the complete requirements in each level will likely vary dramatically with your skill level but for even the best of players this should at least double the run time.
I will take one last shot at not having the Buu saga though. This is something that you absolutely need to have. To say that there wasn’t enough space or budget in a PS3 game is something that I would have a hard time with. Saving it for the sequel is also not a good enough excuse because that is the devs getting really greedy. I could see this absolutely lowering the hype for a lot of people because cutting out one of the biggest arcs like that is crazy. I still can’t get over that part. I’d still be playing the game right now if there was a whole other big arc of battles left to play like that.
Overall, Burst Limit is definitely a great game. It is one that feels like it was made with a rather narrow budget at times but all in all it’s still a lot of fun which is the important thing. The gameplay is rather advanced so it is difficult to craft the combos that you want. You will really have to study up in this game and learn all of the moves if you want to pull that off. It’s not an easy feat by any means. I suppose in that way it is definitely a lot more like a true 2D fighting game. You can have endless fun with friends here which definitely keeps the title at a high level.
Overall 8/10
It’s time for a Kaiju No. 8 spinoff that lasted for a little while. Miniseries like this are always fun to flesh out the side characters with material that we never got to see in the main title. It’s a good idea and I think more manga should do this. I would have liked it to have been longer if anything, but we still got to see 3 different characters and their origins which was fun. They picked really solid characters to do this with. I guess at this point there are just 3 more that I would like to see a full prequel with. Captain Ashiro, and then both of Kikoru’s parents. Maybe someday though.
The first story is the origin for Hoshino. All his life he has trained in the ways of the sword but the problem is that this is seen as very ineffective against Kaiju nowadays. Most of them are just too large so the sword won’t pierce and even for the smaller ones, it seems a lot more efficient to just mow them down with a machine gun. Hoshino really wants to stick to the sword though, that has been his family legacy after all. Finally he is being given a chance by Captain Ashiro. Can he live up to her hopes or is he about to just doom his chances of ever being a true Kaiju hunter?
It’s definitely fun to see Hoshino in the old days and he already had great speed and ability. Honestly I never thought the series made a good case for why guns beat swords. The gun blasts vary based on how much power you can get out of the suit and the way I see it, almost nobody can get a reasonable amount of power out of the suit. So in that case, it ends up feeling like they’re just spinning their wheels there. It’s not a great long term approach at all. So if everyone had swords, at least they could stab into the Kaiju because the power of the suit won’t limit the sword as much as it would a gun. Maybe there are more reasons for not using swords though.
Either way Ashiro made a wise decision in picking Hoshino for her team. He has definitely proven himself a whole lot and he really did good against the Kaiju fighters in the first story. He would go on to consistently be one of the best characters in the series. Following him up would be a tough choice but the series went with Kikoru which makes sense. She is also a prodigy after all. In this case we already know her origin from the main series though so what would the story be about?
The title decides to show us how she ended up picking out her custom weapon. Her normal weapon wasn’t strong enough to pierce the armor of the Kaiju that she was up against in the training exercises so she grabbed an axe and then the rest was history. You could tell that the writer was a little more constrained with this character since we see her a lot in the main story but this was a smart way to get us some more fights and everything. It’s definitely much smaller scale than the first story with the stakes not being as large but it was satisfying to see her rise up to the top.
The Kaiju corp is definitely lucky to have so many prodigies on the team. In some ways it’s why the series reminds me of World Trigger because the heroes have so many different hype characters on the roster. They just keep on coming and so you’d think the enemies might be in a bad spot but fortunately for them, they have a lot of strong fighters too. If they had actually made a move before the heroes grew so powerful, it would probably be curtains by now.
Finally the last story is about Gen and how he was recruited. The guy started out as a…guess what…a huge prodigy! As a kid without a suit he was already powerful enough to take down some of the smaller Kaiju on his own. Mix in the Kaiju suit and now he was basically unstoppable. This guy has the special kaiju eye implants that can let him detect future attacks. So mix that in with his relentless training/ability and he is one of the strongest in the series. I dare say that he easily surpasses both Hoshina and Kikoru in skill. I’d like to see a quick story with a rivalry between those 3 characters to be honest. That would have been a fun way to finish up the series as a bonus story of sorts.
Ultimately I suppose the point of the series is to hype up the main one and get more readers on it. It does a good job with that as each chapter ends with a flash forward to the main series as everyone gets hyped to take on the Kaiju. The monsters don’t stand a chance against the combined might of human ingenuity! The art is definitely really high tier and holds its own with the main series. All of the action scenes are drawn really well and the villains are definitely very imposing. Of course this is before we got to the intelligent Kaiju so they’re basically just classic monsters but the designs are really good.
This is a rare example of an anthology where I liked all of the characters/stories. Usually in formats like this, there will always be at least one that holds the others back but this wasn’t the case here. I guess it goes to show how solid the cast is for the series. Kaiju No 8 has a very small cast of notable characters next to other titles but that’s probably a good thing in this case. It allows each one to stand out way more than they ever would have if they tried introducing too many characters. Still, like I said before there are some other characters around if they want to go and start working on those in another anthology spinoff.
Overall, All 3 stories were really good. The series was really a bunch of nonstop action scenes across the 3 leads which worked perfectly for this one. That’s why you are reading Kaiju No 8 after all. You’re here for all of the fights and the intrigue. The series never holds back on this. The art is still really solid and so this is a must read for any fan of the franchise. Even if you don’t read Kaiju No 8 this works as a solid jumping on point. Then if you enjoyed this prequel, you can jump into the main story right away. That’s a good way to handle things.
Overall 7/10
It’s time to look at one of the oldest DBZ titles out there. Budokai is a true classic title that doesn’t even have the Buu saga contained within it. So the game goes by very quickly. It’s fun to play through the first two sagas again and the game gives a decent amount of context for the levels. That said, there’s just not a whole lot of battles here. How could there be when most of the characters aren’t even playable? You’ll be done with this in around 2 hours or so.
The gameplay is your classic 2D fighter. You use your close combat moves and energy moves to try and take down all of the health your opponent has. If you play better than your opponent, you will have won the round. There’s nothing complicated or tricky about the gameplay so it’s all about execution. If you lose then you know that you were outplayed. It’s really as simple as that and I can appreciate this. You have to lock in and mix up your combos if you really want to win. You learn more and more combos/attacks as you play through the game.
In general I wouldn’t say that I ever really got too good at learning all of the attacks. I would try to find one or two that would work really well and then I kept on using them. This seemed to be the perfect balance for me. Just spam the Kamehameha and the normal attacks and you would do pretty good. In general the Super Saiyan fighters really had crazy fast moves too. When I was using them I didn’t have to worry quite as much about strategy or anything like that. I do like how you would go back to base mode if you took too much damage though. The enemies would have the same thing happen to them too. I liked that the game was fair about it as others would just stack the deck in favor of the villains which is always a bit iffy.
The hits are satisfying and so I have no problems with the gameplay. Maybe it wasn’t the fanciest out there but this is an older game. Every character does have a combo move that triggers a whole animation with a lot of blows and good background damage. That was definitely a lot of fun. I didn’t get to land a whole lot of them to be honest but each one that I did get was very satisfying. You really have to time the attacks just right in order to land these special moves. Trust me when I say that it’s not easy.
The graphics have that retro feel which works really well here. Everyone is super blocky like an N64 title but the character designs are really handled well and you still recognize them from the show the whole time. Everything is fully voice acted which is always really nice as well. The soundtrack is fun enough, I enjoyed seeing the English theme song even if it’s not one of the all time greats. Everything about this feels like they put a lot of effort into the game back in a time when things weren’t as advanced as they were back then.
You also don’t have to worry about replay value. The campaign may have been very short but there is still the vs mode which is the main reason people would stay playing the game anyway. You can keep having fresh games with your buddies forever since the core gameplay is so solid. It’s why that part of the game is so absolutely critical. If it had not been up to snuff then the whole experience would have been hurt big time. Fortunately that was not the case so that’s why I can recommend this one.
Now the final question is, can you dive into this one without any prior knowledge of the DBZ universe? I would say yes. While the game has to skip a whole lot due to the limited amount of characters, they give you just enough story before and after each fight to know what is happening. I actually think it would be a very interesting way to get into the franchise that’s for sure. Still, this game is so old that by this point I doubt it will be the intro point for anyone.
Overall, Budokai is definitely a really nostalgic game to dive into. It’s pretty nice seeing the retro animation and having the theme song before every story saga really makes it feel like watching the show. It does a good job of tackling the story but is a really short game without a ton of characters to play through. Ultimately there aren’t too many reasons to play this over any of the newer ones. They will all have more things going for them but now I feel like I have really gotten to have more of the full Budokai experience so that alone was worth the trip. I eagerly await seeing what comes next with Sparking Zero although I will have another DBZ review up before then as my gaming marathon continues!
Overall 7/10
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