Donkey Kong Bananza Review

Posted on July 19, 2025 by dreager1

It’s time to look at the new DK game that came out recently. I knew that I needed to get this one as soon as possible because it was really going to put the Switch 2 on the map. There aren’t too many destruction games that come out either so that was another reason to pick it up. I can safely say that this was a really good game as well. Playing through it just feels like a lot of fun and it’s really something that Nintendo is super good at doing. They always bring in that fun factor which is super important to any title.

The game follows a character named DK who works in the mines for bananas. One day a sentient rock shows up and it turns out that her true identity is Pauline. A mysterious group led by a villain named Void Kong are after her. She has some kind of special ability that makes her a big target for these guys and DK agrees to help her get to the planet’s core. There is something there that can grant wishes and her wish is to go home. DK also has a wish, he wants lots of bananas. Together the two of them will dive through the planet and pass a great many number of countries. Will they be able to pull this off?

The game is playing it fast and loose on what exactly is happening here. Why is Pauline a kid and how does this work in the timeline? The answer I like is that this is a hard reboot and is serving as essentially a DK origin story as well as a prequel to Mario Odyssey. It works really well when you look at it that way even if the timeline will still have various questions for you. Ah well, we’re playing more for the gameplay than the story as this is a Nintendo title. DK is not quite as serious as Mario so you can expect DK to be goofing off a lot and getting distracted by bananas. Fortunately Pauline is here to mainly keep him on task.

None of the new villains are all that good but we still get a super good climax regardless. Also while the game is a cakewalk for a good chunk of the adventure, the final boss is legitimately difficult. Not in a cheesy way either but in a very well developed boss battle that forces you to use your various abilities to their full potential. The boss battle certainly took me several tries to defeat and even now I feel like there has to be a better way of dealing damage than what I was doing the whole time. Make sure you don’t slack on your damage upgrades, that’s all I gotta say there.

I do appreciate the skill tree and how many different areas there are to power up. It ensures that you can really be getting a whole lot stronger as you play the game and also makes you prioritize what you are doing. If you really can’t get past a level, you can always go back and earn some more bananas. You should naturally get a whole lot of bananas by beating the game but there are over 700 throughout the game so there are tons of bonus levels and challenges to play to get them all. There are several other kinds of collectibles as well like different buttons and amulets that you can use towards clothes and other items.

The game has an incredible amount of replay value thanks to all of the content. The main campaign is less than 10 hours but the collectibles will likely triple or even 4X that amount by the time you’re done with it. Fortunately the game has a good amount of quality of life features on this, like letting you see the secrets on the map by paying a fee and also giving you a wide range scanner. It ensures that the game won’t feel tedious or anything as you are going through it. Instead, it will remain as a super fun experience the whole time as you go through the game.

The gameplay also lets you feel really powerful since almost anything can be destroyed. You can punch your way through any object and then you unlock various forms with abilities of their own. One of the big ones is the time slow with the snake and you get this near the very end of the game. It really comes in handy and of course flying is really good for skipping some of the puzzles near the end of the game. Use each transformation strategically and you will be just fine.

It’s always fun to run into an old face like Grumpy or Diddy in the game. Look out for the characters when they appear and make sure to say hi. It’ll definitely be worth your while. Meanwhile the graphics are definitely super good. The level designs look really solid and each level is so large. The colors are striking throughout and you’re never confused on what is going on. Then you have the soundtrack which is a lot better than I would have dared hope. The first Bonanza theme is the highlight of the game. I’ve heard it a ton of times and it’s really super great. It’s a catchy theme that gets you right into the action. Pauline definitely had real talent here.

So in the end there are really a lot of things to be happy about within the game and I don’t really have any big negatives. I do think it would have been nice for DK to have been a little more serious when it counted. So as a small issue I would say he was super underwhelming the whole time. Still….it is DK we’re talking about so it’s not like I should be all that surprised. Pauline is one of the few kids I’ve seen in a game like this that was not annoying though so I give her full props here. That can be a tough challenge.

Overall, DK Bonanza is a great game. Nintendo really did a good job with this one and it feels so creative. I would definitely be down for more destruction type games like this one. It is surely a genre that has a ton of potential within it. I’m sure other companies could mess it up but Nintendo just laid out the blueprint. There are no tedious moments, no times where the game gets randomly unbalanced, etc. Every minute you are playing the game is a minute that you are having fun. The controls are super smooth after all and you always feel like you are fully in control. If you don’t have this game yet then you should definitely change that. Nintendo has set the bar rather high here but they’re always a company that continues to climb higher and higher. The game should keep you plenty busy working towards that true ending as well so it won’t be going anywhere.

Overall 8/10

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Review

Posted on July 14, 2025 by dreager1

For a long time people were hoping that Vigilantes would get an adaption and now it’s finally here! It started off as a fairly street level title that eventually got as big and high tier as the main series. So now it is finally here and they did a great job on the production here. In some ways they have even amplified the source material so that was really appreciated. It’s a pretty solid title that you can jump right into without any issues. Definitely the kind of title that you can recommend with ease.

The series follows a kid named Koichi who always wanted to be a hero but his quirk did not appear to be well suited to it. He can slide along the ground at an accelerated speed but that’s about it. Nothing too flashy and the use cases for this ability aren’t going to be too large. Ah well, he can at least be a vigilante known as the Crawler who helps out his neighborhood. Well one day he runs into a local celebrity known as Pop and a mysterious old man that becomes his master. Now Koichi can actually begin acting more like a true hero but is he just going to get into more trouble by hanging out with these two?

At its core, Vigilantes is about how anybody can make a difference. Being a super powered vigilante is obviously against the rules in this universe, however we see how much good they do on a day to day basis. I would say this series does a great job of showing the positives about vigilantism. They aren’t doing anything super violent here and are saving the people that the pros don’t have time for. Koichi’s neighborhood is not the best to say the least and apparently even the pros often take a long while to get here since nobody’s in the area. That is where the vigilantes come in.

The pro heroes instinctively realize this and for the most part look the other way but technically if the vigilantes are too obvious then they have to be arrested. This season mainly focuses on the new characters though so the heroes will have to wait for a bit longer. We do get a standout fight between Knuckle Duster and Eraserhead at one point though which was a really good battle. Personally I feel like Knuckle should absolutely have the edge in that battle if they were both going all out. He just works as a really good counter to Eraserhead since he has no powers to shut off.

Right away on the technical elements, I would say that the opening song is very catchy. It’s not quite ready to defeat the best MHA main openings but I like it quite a bit. The songs within the show are also good and work with the action. The animation style is also great. It’s going for a bit of a thicker/flashier look than the main series. The details are really on point and the fights are really dynamic. There are a lot of great fights to choose from but the best might be Knuckle against the Bee user. A lot of good strategy and animation blending together there.

The show feels like it covers a lot of ground in just a few episodes and the pacing is just really on point. The characters are also likable which is important for any show even if one character is forgiven way too quickly. Soga is a bully who tries to do more than just beat Pop up before he is stopped by the heroes. Yet, he’s now just back to every day life and that’s it? I just can’t buy into that because there is crashing out and then there is knowingly being about to commit a heinous crime. No matter how you slice it, it makes this character look absolutely awful. He should still be behind bars and mayyybe after 3 seasons I’d consider a redemption arc for him. Ah well, the rest of the characters tend to be solid and this title is in a great position to be My Hero’s replacement for once that show’s final season ends.

Koichi is similar to Deku in some ways but they are still very different characters. Koichi is a bit more confident in himself and proudly shows off his All Might merch and tries to make friends. Things just tend to backfire on him so it’s not easy. I give him a lot of credit for deciding to keep on helping people even when his path to being a hero was really closed off. We also learn more about his backstory which ties into why he isn’t more powerful now. His life could have gone down a very different trajectory but either way the important thing is that he keeps on fighting and plunging forward for as long as it takes. That is the hallmark of a true hero. He just needs to work on being less socially oblivious and he will be all set.

Meanwhile Pop is a character who is also following her passion of singing and performing. She has been doing well and is even a local celebrity but she still wants to aim bigger. Towards the end we find out that she can’t really sing which I was surprised about. I thought she had been singing a lot but I guess she does more bouncing. Her quirk of jumping/moving in the air is a handy one even if it’s not directly a combat related quirk. It’s the type of ability that is versatile enough to work out well in a pinch but at the end of the day she’s just not a fighter so it’s not like she prioritizes mastering her ability. She’s here more for the romance subplot which for now has not really gone anywhere. That works out well enough for me since season 1 always has a lot to cover.

Knuckle easily has the biggest character arc in the show as it is absolutely crucial to what’s going on here. He makes for a real mysterious character and someone who is always ready to put his life on the line. I really liked him and this guy was a stand out character in the series. He would always step forward in a battle and showed that even without a quirk he can go toe to toe with some of the stronger villains in the series. It was all really impressive and any scene with him in it was sure to be a winner. It was good to have an older guy on the squad as well since he kept the other characters sharp.

From the pro heroes, Eraser easily has the biggest role. He hasn’t changed much since the start of the main series which makes sense. He’s still not the most social guy out there but he does his best to live up to his obligations and will also stop any villain in his way. He’s a solid well rounded hero so it was fun to have him around. For the most part the others just make cameos except for Ingenium who gets his share of big moments. The guy’s speed is really intense and he definitely means well. I like his general heroism and while his quirk also has its limitations, he gets around them by having a really good team. He absolutely believes in proper teamwork and this keeps him ahead of the pack. It’s easy to see why he was one of the top heroes.

Captain Celebrity also shows up as a big hero from America. He doesn’t have the strongest moral compass though. Yeah he’ll save the day from villains but he waits until a camera crew is around. If he sees you, he’ll probably save you but otherwise he is not the type of guy to go the extra mile. So characters in the series are very critical of him and I definitely get it. We’re not saying he has to save everyone but he should be doing his best to that standard. Fortunately he is pretty fun to watch in that over the top jerk kind of way. He’s also legitimately very powerful so it’s still better to have him on your side than not to.

His agent is Makoto who also gets a big role here. She wants to find out the true identity of the vigilantes and so she tries to stick close to Koichi to get some intel on what’s going on. She can be very manipulative towards these ends though. At times she feels a bit too deceptive to me the kind of character who will really say anything to suit her own purposes. She’s not corrupt in the way that Celebrity is, but I do have to say that I just would not trust her.

Then you have the vigilante Stendhal who really can’t be trusted. He’s the Punisher kind of vigilante who believes that might makes right and will absolutely devastate any fighter who gets in his way. That’s just the kind of man that he is. His sword skills are really impressive and it’s fun seeing him shake the town up but he is the reason why Vigilantes are illegal. This wanton destruction and murder is an absolute abuse of power. So in a sense he just becomes a villain but at least one that you can basically root for since it’s better that he wins than the actual villains.

The main villain in the season is the mysterious bee user though. I mean her boss is All for One but the guy just talks, she is the one putting plans to action. She is also very confident considering that she openly disobeys him and basically dares the guy to do anything about it. That takes a whole lot of guts and so you can’t say that she does anything half hearted. Her bee ability is also hard to stop because of how many bees she has at her disposal and she can even fight in close quarters combat when needed. She made for a really solid villain as a result.

There are other side characters around as well but for the most part the show did a good job of keeping the cast relatively contained. The series also has enough ties to the main one where you can appreciate the guest stars but it works well on its own too. The bumpers are perhaps a little too basic with how they define terms like “hero” and “villain” though. Not the best use of those screens, I would have preferred some fun illustrations or something.

At the end of the day one of the big strengths of the show is how fun it is. I would say Koichi, Pop, and Knuckle already have a really good team dynamic between the three of them. It’s fun to see them chatting and bantering as they take down all of the big villains. Meanwhile the solid animation can make any enemy encounter memorable. I really liked the brief soccer villain who showed up for example. Seeing all that movement reminded me of what Blue Lock might have looked like and it also makes for a really surreal villain. He’s the kind of villain that you just don’t forget and the show had quite a few other one shots like that who were quite solid.

Overall, My Hero Academia Vigilantes is off to a really fun start here. The episodic nature of the big villains mixed in with the leader in the shadows is a really solid kind of setup. We’ve also already got some threads for the second season like this mysterious super speed villain. That is going to keep the heroes busy for quite a while. Hopefully we get season 2 sooner than later so the hype can continue. In the meantime I definitely recommend checking this one out. It’s a good action show that can really appeal to anyone.

Overall 7/10

Training Day Review

Posted on July 12, 2025 by dreager1

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

It’s time for a film about learning how to set boundaries. If you aren’t comfortable in setting those up then you can be sure that there will always be someone ready to run you over. You have to know what you don’t want to do so that you can’t be pressured into doing it. Well, the main character is about to learn that the hard way. This film ultimately suffers from the issue of not having any real likable characters though. It’s going for a very hood type vibe the whole time and in its pursuit of being as edgy as possible, the writing also ends up taking a huge hit.

The film starts off with Jake getting ready for his first day in his new NARC position. It’s effectively a training evaluation so he will be out all day. It’s supposed to be a very stressful experience so he’s ready for it to be over but will put his best foot forward. Unfortunately his partner is a guy named Alonzo who doesn’t exactly have a rep for following the rules. Alonzo gives him a tough time as soon as he day starts and doesn’t really let up from there. He wants to show Jake how meaningless everything is and how corrupt the area turned out to be. He wants Jake to do things his way or it will be curtains for him. Jake is desperate for a passing grade, but just how far will he end up going here?

I would argue that Jake makes a whole lot of mistakes right from the jump here. For starters it is true that you may have to put up with a certain level of nonsense on the job but direct disrespect is another matter entirely. Jake needed to really be fighting back from the start at the coffee shop when Alonzo was acting crazy but especially once they got in the car and Alonzo is talking about Jake cheating on his wife and trying to objectify their colleagues. Jake needed to put a hard stop to that even if it meant having to look for a new job. Putting up with that nonsense is bad enough because it shows you to be a wallflower but it also continues the decent into madness for the work environment. It’s just not something you can afford to let happen.

I would say Jake had no hope the instant he agreed to do drugs in the car just to keep Alonzo happy. That was just way too far and Jake is meant to be the more heroic cop who sticks up for what’s right. He does make better decisions later on and is obviously better than Alonzo but I would have liked to have seen him hold up a higher standard. I needed a super likable character in this movie to help it take things to the next level. For example, that’s part of why the movie isn’t very fun. Everything is super corrupt to an almost comical degree.

Throughout the film we see how basically everyone is in on the take. Alonzo is able to direct a judge, powerful politicians, and basically doesn’t have to report to work. All of the gangs know him and basically have to listen to the guy because he’s so feared. He’s evidently gotten away with things for a very long time now and we never even get to meet any of the good cops here who could have helped out. It ends up feeling like a very small world, a contrived one at that. There just isn’t really any hope for anybody here. Jake’s only chance is really to get out.

Alonzo does make for an intense antagonist, I’ll give him that much. He is clearly not the kind of guy that you want to go up against because he would murder you without a second thought. He also has a considerable amount of allies so you can’t just go at him without expecting a much larger fight. Maybe it’s for the best that he wasn’t even remotely likable since he’s a complete villain here but it also means that all of the screentime can be extra annoying.

The film also has to really bog us down in the very dark themes to really keep pushing in the point of what a bad area this is. Jake saves a girl from 3 guys who attacked her in an ally and Alonzo would have just left her there. The city is clearly as morally bankrupt as it gets and even after that, Jake follows Alonzo and gets walked into another trap. The whole poker game scene was a terrible look for the guy. Never hand your gun off to a bunch of drug dealers. Yeah he was already outnumbered and in a bad situation but handing over your gun is basically signing your death warrant. You can never do that.

I never understand in these films when someone drops their gun or hands it over for any reason. If you’re in a position where you might die, then you definitely keep your gun so at least the death will be fast as they all shoot back in retaliation. If you hand it over, then you may end up craving death by the time they’re done with you. Just a dumb decision and throughout the film it’s not as though there were any moments where the writing made me grin. All of the jokes are super crude and don’t even seem meant to be funny, the characters all seem evil except for the lead, etc. It’s just not a fun movie to watch as it’s just nonstop depression the whole time.

Overall, Training Day definitely wasn’t as good as I would have hoped. I was expecting a dynamic with one guy who does push the envelope quite a bit but more along the lines of a classic buddy cop film. Not as if the Joker was your partner as you terrorize everyone. If you want a good thriller, watch Die Hard instead. You can do a whole lot better than this film which really doesn’t end up aging well. Good luck finding any happy scenes throughout this film. At least the ending was satisfying.

Overall 3/10

John Wick: Chapter 4 Review

Posted on July 8, 2025 by dreager1

Please note that this is a review of the TV-14 edited version of the film. A review of the unedited version would be more negative

It’s finally happened, the John Wick has reached its final form. I can say without a doubt that this is the best film in the saga. It’s crazy to think that it’s been years since I saw the 3rd one. The first film was naturally held back by what happened to his dog, the worst way you could start a film tbh. The third film managed to squeeze in a dog getting shot as well which was super unnecessary and wasted too much time in the desert with a side character I didn’t care about. The second film had been my favorite one for a while there and I dare say it’s gotten even better in my memories but I may be forgetting some things. Either way this one surpasses it, I don’t really have many complaints here.

The film picks up where the last one left off, with Wick working to get revenge on the table and the continental for betraying him. He quickly puts a lot of people in a body bag but the Table isn’t going to go down without a fight. They are using every resource at their disposal to track down Wick and even destroy the Continental. This forces a bit of a truce with the owner and Wick. Is there really a way to defeat a global enterprise like the Table though? We’re talking literal millions of fighters on their side and at the end of the day Wick is only one man. He will have to bring his A game here.

If I do have a minor complaint here, it’s that I wanted to see Wick going up against the Continental. That could have been the opening action set piece with him being the one to destroy the hotel and then the rest of the film plays out like normal. Wick ultimately letting bygones be bygones and not taking it too personal does make sense within the framework of the world but it still felt like a tease from how the last film left off. It heavily implied a big fight was to come, rather than setting Wick up against the new villain in this film.

The film also quickly addresses any concerns you might have had about the idea of beating an endless organization and it’s clever while also working within the rules of the series. The movie is quite long and as you can expect, nearly all of it is a long string of various fight scenes. You will definitely get your fill of action here. If you don’t want a lot of fighting then you’ve certainly come to the wrong movie. I’m sure some hardcore fans have probably counted the exact minutes of fight scenes to see which one has the most but I would not be surprised if this film ends up taking the crown on that.

There are some new characters that show up here to expand the cast but all in all the series does a good job of keeping each installment fairly light with the characters. One of them is a hitman known as Nobody. He’s really good at his job and while I did not find him as impressive as some of the other hitmen throughout the series, he obviously does have a lot of skill. He does well to play the long game even if he does underestimate the other players quite a bit. In a straight fight Wick is taking him down easily and I doubt he would pose much of a thread to the table.

Caine is a much stronger rival in this film. I do have to say that I had a hard time taking him seriously though. He’s completely blind so in the film he has different gadgets that help him keep track of his opponents. It’s just too much of a liability though, especially when his whole head is exposed for any gunshots. I don’t see how he has lived this long and has too many weaknesses. I can believe him being super powerful in close combat but there’s no way he would live this long in this world. Once he went blind that should have been the end of his career. I was glad the film showed Wick is more skilled but I would argue that the gap should be much wider than it was here. The film is also a reminder of why having any family while being a hitman is not advised since that’s just another word for future hostage.

Winston gets a pretty solid role in this film. It’s not like he’s a fighter in his prime so he’s not going around stabbing everyone but he does well with the word games and keeping the other fighters sharp. He is good in the support role and is always around to give Wick some really important advice. Likewise the king of the underworld always has some good equipment for Wick. Without his help, Wick would definitely have not made it over to the final showdown in time since the shortcut saved a bunch of time.

The main villain, the Marquis is okay. I don’t think he was as impressive as most of the other villains but the film had some powerful villains to take the primary role. Mostly he is here to be smug the whole time. While he isn’t a big fighter, we can assume that he had some moves in order to make it this far. A quick fight would have been fun to see but that’s just not his style. If you can’t fight, at least be smug. So he gets that part right and his right hand man looks very impressive in the battles.

As always, it is worth noting that the film is quite violent so you will want to watch out for that. If you have an aversion to blood then naturally this isn’t the movie for you. The film mainly keeps it all to violence in combat here though so in some ways it doesn’t feel as violent as some of the other films. It also could just be a time thing where I’m more used to it now. Violence comes in many forms and that could be its own editorial someday but violence in combat is definitely the most palatable kind of violence. It’s something that the fighters have signed up for and you’re not dwelling on each kill. Wick mows down dozens and dozens of fighters in the movie but it’s not like any of them are being tortured. They’re being shot or stabbed and then he moves on to the next one.

The film does have a dog taking a heavy hit at one point which again feels really unnecessary. Why do you always bring dogs into this? At least he was okay and it wasn’t as serious as the bullet wound from last time so it didn’t really hurt the film but it definitely did put me on notice. The long climax is also one of the better ones, and by that I mean arriving to the final battle. The final battle itself is only okay but for narrative reasons it’s not like the characters are taking it all that seriously.

The soundtrack for the film is really good. There are quite a number of solid tracks that appear and support the fight scenes. You definitely get into the action mood right with the various themes. The visuals are also really stellar and you can tell that the film really takes pride in finding great locations. Everything about the film always feels like there was a lot of really high production values across the board. From the writing to the choreography. I’d say it’s a big reason as to why the series is so successful.

Now, the film isn’t without its plot armor which is pretty unavoidable in a long action film like this. The final plan relies on the villain hesitating before shooting. Many of these big fight scenes also rely on nobody being able to land a clean headshot and then one meeting with another group relies on them not just immediately finishing Wick off. I guess you need a little bit of luck in order to be the best.

I’d say one of the best scenes in the film is definitely the brief poker game. I always like it when a film or any kind of media gets all of the big hype characters in a room. It also doesn’t end up making everyone look terrible like in Agents of Shield where everyone got together only to be held at gunpoint by randoms. Here, everyone keeps their hype and the film also not so subtlety gives us some contrast between them and how each one has a plan to get out of there. I’d even say the film tends to have a bit of a morbid sense of humor at times which is always handled well.

Overall, This was definitely a lot of fun. The film’s ending is technically one of the weaker ones as both 2 and 3 had way better cliffhangers but I did think the final scene was a solid way to end things off. Revenge is one of those never ending cycles but I was rooting for the lady to have her get back moment. Hey, things will always be sad for one character in a revenge plot but you gotta take a side. Meanwhile I expect to see a lot more of John Wick taking names in the next film. It’s hard to say who could be a real threat to him at this point so I think the next logical step would be to make it a protection mission of sorts. A kid stumbles into the wrong scene at the wrong time and Wick protecting her causes him to be in another tricky spot? The danger wouldn’t be to him so much as her sort of limiting his options. Either way I’m sure they can think of something and I’ll be curious to see if they can top this one. I would also like him to be revered more as a legendary hitman again. I know you need everyone to try their luck against him for the action scenes but would random number 58 really try to shoot his shot when he just saw the last 57 guys get immediately shredded? I’d like a scene of at least one guy running away after he gets to the scene, would be another effective humor moment.

Overall 8/10

The Misfit of Demon King Academy II Review

Posted on July 6, 2025 by dreager1

Anos definitely started season 1 out like a champ as he took everyone down and proved his utmost brilliance. He conquered death itself and took the fight to the gods. I would say season 2 has a hard time topping that but Anos definitely looks as great as you’d expect. He’s still rocking gods and everyone else who gets in his ways. I always like when a main character is this OP and he even makes for a really heroic character. This is truly the character who has everything and while season 2 might not match the pop of season 1, it absolutely holds its own.

The first part of the season is really about dealing with Shin’s past as well as Misa’s true form as Avos. The past events naturally get a little more tension than in the present since the characters can’t interact with the past. That would be impossible right? Well…..this is Anos we’re talking about so lets just say he messes with the past anyway but it was a good attempt. Then with the Avos part, yeah Anos could crush her but he’s not the kind of guy to go all out against a friend so the real tough part is finding a way to defeat Avos without actually destroying Misa. Anos is a guy who always has the answers so we’ll have to see what he comes up with.

By this season the character cast is actually rather big. Like in Reincarnated as a Slime, it’s not enough for Anos to be completely overpowered, he’s also got the most overpowered squad backing him up. We’re talking gods, the strongest swordsman, the hero king reincarnated, etc. Anos and his squad really cannot be beat and to try and counter that, the villains have more gods of their own this time but it doesn’t ultimately make much of a difference. Some of these villains are indeed quite strong but this isn’t the kind of series where you are overly worried about the heroes. Anos will ultimately be around to save them should things go too far. The villains do their best to split the heroes up but it tends to be in vain.

Also like I mentioned before, the rest of the heroes are so powerful they rarely need Anos to bail them out at this point. I would say season 2 is a bit more of an ensemble product compared to season 1 where most of it was Anos humiliating everybody. No worries though, Anos is still an absolutely crucial figure so don’t think he’s getting written out of anything like that. Now that would have been sad.

On a technical level, season 2 doesn’t seem quite as high budget as season 1. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say it is less consistent. In season 1 the episodes were always super good looking while season 2 has its stand out scenes but also has some really average ones. So prepare for a bit of a bumpy ride at times but I will say that the important fight scenes always look really good. Additionally the soundtrack is still really good. I would say that the openings are not nearly as good as in season 1 but they are still catchy. Just not ones that you will listen to as often as the season 1 tunes. Those I ended up listening to quite a few times.

As for the characters, Anos is awesome as always. One thing they added in this season was to make Anos get an alternate identity as a kid which was pretty interesting. He’s still really smug in this form while also being able to offer advice to those who need it. It adds a little extra touch of humanity to the character. He’s always benevolent by nature but as a kid he is certainly more approachable for some characters than he would have been otherwise.

Meanwhile Shin gets a lot to do here. We get to meet his kid and wife. Turns out that the guy is a real softy once family is involved. His skills are still the real deal though as he continues to dominate Lay in combat. I like the rivalry that ends up developing as a result. Additionally, I tend to enjoy the trope of the doting father so seeing him be really strict with Lay is fun. That’s how the show is in general after all, maintaining a fun tone all the way. So this is another fun gag to add to the pile and I also really loved the battle of bonds with Shin and Anos taking on Lay and Misa.

It’s only natural that the love of a leader and subordinate would beat the budding love between boyfriend and girlfriend. Maybe in a few years once their feelings have had time to evolve even more then it could be different but could Anos lose in any competition? Yeah this was definitely a whole lot of fun. Reno also ends up being a really fun character. For most of the season you’re wondering exactly how her story is going to play out since appearing in a flashback is always a worrying sign. She is also fairly tough although in this verse at minimum you need to be top tier or you aren’t going to last very long in a fight. She goes through a lot but ultimately Anos ends up stepping in.

Sasha and Misha had their big character arcs in the first season but no worries they still get a lot to do here. They can now use their fusion form at will and in that mode they are also incredibly powerful. They even get a big fight of their own which was nice to see. Sasha still has her tough personality which always makes her a lot of fun to watch. Misha tends to still be quiet which isn’t as entertaining but she means well. I won’t be too harsh on her, she tends to be better than most of the quiet characters in this archetype at the very least.

Misa is a character who didn’t really stand out a lot in season 1 so this time she gets a massive role in the first half. It turns out that she is actually the true false dark lord and gets a massive power up along with her true form. In her true form she is much more assertive and I know that’s just a side effect of being evil initially but then later on she is able to utilize that personality at will. It’s still basically Misa in both forms and I would say it bumps up the character tremendously. It even makes her romance with Lay a lot more interesting. Season 2 absolutely bumped her up the most from all of the characters.

Meanwhile Lay still looks solid in the fight although his whole having 7+ souls thing becomes less and less impressive as the series goes on. Basically to actually defeat him you basically have to murder the guy a half dozen times right away before all of his souls regenerate. The big villains are able to do this rather quickly now and I would say Lay has had a real hard time keeping up with the other heavyweights in the verse. He is still really strong but the series goes all in on the power creep. It’s fitting for a title like this. Lay’s a good guy throughout the series though so his personality is on point.

One of the big OP villains for example is Nosgalia. The guy is one of those gods who can body hop and is always talking a really big game. From all of the villains I would say he easily shows the most arrogance against Anos. The guy is very powerful so I would say it is earned but of course at the end of the day he has nothing against Anos. While I respect his power, I can’t say that I cared very much for Nosgalia as a character though. Not my kind of villain and he’s definitely not the honorable sort.

Can’t say I was a big fan of Erdomaid either but that guy gets a considerable amount of hype too. Anos really tames him into being a forced servant for a good chunk of the season though. He almost literally cannot oppose Anos now that his powers are shackled but this guy is a real trickster. If anyone can have a second wind it’s him. In a way his goal is to make Anos the best demon lord possible but their sense of morals and what makes a good demon lord are completely incompatible. I would say Anos should just permanently off him but he is the kind of demon lord who tends to be merciful to a lot of characters so it’s not exactly surprising.

Now by this point you probably figure nobody can really do anything against Anos so what’s the next step? Well, what if Anos’ memories were tampered with. What if…he tampered with them? The only one who can possibly stop him would be himself so that makes things interesting. He meets up with the goddess of creation and she seems to know a lot but for now it’s fairly cryptic. Part of the second half is about Anos trying to regain those lost memories and find out why they were removed in the first place.

This actually leads into a tournament! The God Selection where 8 people will compete with their summoned gods in order to obtain true power. Anos doesn’t have a whole lot of interest in this but he is thrown into the mix regardless and at least this could give some clue as to where his true memories are. It’s not the most formalized kind of tournament as the combatants tend to do their own thing and everyone has an agenda but it was still pretty fun. I liked how high stakes it was and naturally this meant Anos would have time to style on everyone a bit more.

Away from all of the big battles, Emilia also gets a subplot to herself. Her character appearing in general was definitely a surprise. She was pretty awful in season 1 but now the true depths of Anos’ plan have finally hit. He is helping her to become a better person and the punishment of having to teach the pesky humans is just part of that. Her class was filled with a bunch of troublemakers and do-gooders but she is ultimately able to reach out to them. Thanks in no part to the corrupt headmaster who is just there to cause trouble. We see how Emilia had to eat lunch all by herself and was shunned by everyone. The scenes aren’t particularly long but do make you feel really bad for her. I was glad that she ended up getting a happy ending.

Eleonore and Zeshia also get to return thanks to the new venue. At this point the power creep has long since surpassed them but they still do well against the monsters that showed up. They’re generally fun characters like most of the cast so I was glad to see them around. Even the Anos fanclub gets to have their moment to shine with the songs so the series really made sure not to leave anybody behind.

Arcana is one of the god summons with the biggest roles here. She even gets a flashback and a pretty nice dynamic with Anos. He’s close friends with a lot of people but now he gets to be a big brother as well. She is certainly very powerful but when her master has her fight with Anos you know how that is going to turn out. Even literal gods have nothing on the Demon Lord of Tyranny. Arcana could have been at risk of being a little too naive and soft spoken but the show doesn’t play this up too hard so she ends up being fun.

Ahide is one of the big bosses of the final arc and he is strong but he also does spend a lot of time whining. He’s at his best when he maintains his cool, calm and collected outlook. It just never lasts for too long with these kinds of characters as Anos is around to shatter his illusion. Get ready for several tactical retreats as Anos always manages to convincingly crush him. Anos goes harder against him than usual as he really breaks the poor guy.

Then you have Ceris who claims to be Anos’ father. That definitely made for an interesting twist and he ends up being a very mysterious character. Finally someone who might be able to give Anos a run for his money right? Well at the very least I would say that it does make him very interesting. I thought he made for a fun wildcard as he seems to know a lot but stays cryptic during most of his appearances.

Diedrich is one of the first combatants to make a move so you already know that he’s doomed. He was quite powerful though and I did appreciate that he was always up for a fight. He also ends up being a lot more honorable than I would have expected so I ended up liking him. I was expecting him to be one of those crazy corrupt kings but I suppose that’s why you can’t judge a book by its cover. He perhaps overrates his abilities in relation to Anos’ just a tad but I won’t fault a character for being confident.

Golroana is another religious fanatic, the Pope himself! I did think it was pretty interesting to lean so hard on the religious angle for season 2. It makes sense though as this season focuses on how powerful legends and reputation can be for a character. This was especially relevant for Rena in the first arc but plays a role here too. Legends give you power and so likewise everyone believing in a religion would give those folks power. It’s the same concept as the Anos fan club giving him extra power when they sing his songs. So it’s not as if this is a new concept, if anything it has just been actively weaponized here a lot more than we had seen previously. It was a solid thematic element.

Yeah this season was definitely really satisfying. Now I won’t say it’s perfect or anything. it does still have the occasional bout of fanservice but on the whole I would say it’s surprisingly tame. It also helps that in general I love a good power fantasy so I don’t get bored of Anos being so overpowered. I could watch another 3 seasons of him just humiliating everyone and I would still be fine with it. They picked the perfect voice for him and it helps that he’s a generally nice guy. The show actually teaches you valuable lessons about friendship and everything.

Overall, Demon Misfit continues to be a great show. It’s another example of how solid writing will always be enough to clear the day. It may not have the absolute budget of other titles but it doesn’t ultimately need them. The show looks great when it counts like I mentioned earlier but it also absolutely nails the humor aspect. The character cast is also really strong so you have all the elements you need for a great show. This is one I could definitely recommend to anyone looking for a fun anime to watch.

Overall 8/10

Blue Exorcist: Beyond the Snow/The Blue Night Sagas Review

Posted on July 6, 2025 by dreager1

Yeah that title is a mouthful right? Well in this case each cour got a different subtitle and that’s more or less how they list it on Wikipedia so I figured ehhhhh I’ll write it out like this. Get ready for a pretty long flashback saga thrown in. It’s important to be sure but you’ll probably be more eager to see what is going on in the present so in a sense this will definitely slow your roll quite a bit. We do get more action in this season although I still find myself wanting for more Rin battles. This must be what Edward fans felt like in FMA where you could go 20 episodes without the guy getting a real battle. Some MCs just don’t get all the screentime.

The first half of the season mainly focuses on Shura as we finally see her backstory. She vanishes one day in the present and Rin/Yukio are sent off to find her. There is still a bit of tension here as Yukio is still acting really shady and irrational. Even Rin who is one of the more oblivious guys out there is starting to pick up on this. With Shura being in danger there isn’t a whole lot of time to think about it but the situation will only continue to get worst at this rate. Shura is being controlled by a villain from her past known as Hachiro. Defeating him won’t be easy and it would appear that Shura may die anyway due to a contract. Can she be saved or will the heroes have to make a sacrifice here?

Once your soul is partially owned by a demon then you’re going to be in for a rough time. It really isn’t easy to save Shura as a result and she’s secretly known what was coming up ever since childhood and just didn’t tell anyone so they wouldn’t worry. It’s a heroic mindset so I don’t fault her for that. She probably could have left some kind of word for the rest of the characters so they wouldn’t chase after her but I’m not really sure what kind of wording you could have even tried to say that would have stopped them. Odds are they would see through most lies.

Shura has always been one of the more powerful fighters so it was nice to finally see her in the lead again. For the most part she is no match for Hachiro but she still gets some good action scenes. She is still used a bit for fanservice at times and even this life or death matter couldn’t help but still ship her a bit with Yukio. Definitely a really weak ship especially when Yukio is acting all crazy but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and say his actions here really were to help Shura. I like to think that he was totally faking everything he was saying even if it’s lightly implied that to a degree he meant part of it. Forming a pact would grant him more power which is something he desperately wants after all. This arc was able to continue his slow decent into darkness.

I can’t say Hachiro was one of the more interesting villains though. He’s certainly powerful but not particularly ambitious and it’s not like he has a super end game either. He’s someone you don’t want to cross but that’s about it. The heroes are way too lenient the whole time though and should have crushed him at the first opportunity. You will want to roll your eyes by the end of this arc. I would have liked to have seen Rin do more in the fight here but surprisingly he doesn’t play a pivotal role the way you might expect.

Rin still looks really solid throughout the anime though. He is really trying his best both in handling what the past brings in the next arc and even confronting his own feelings for Shiemi. It’s always best to take a pro active approach rather than sulking on the sidelines so that was really good. He may no look as good as he should in the fights by this point in the series but there are asterisks behind some of his worst showings so I cut him a tiny bit of slack here. By the next season I’m hopeful that we will be seeing more of prime Rin since he was down in the dumps for half of this season.

Unfortunately I can’t say that Yukio looks good at all here. At this point he is so jealous over Rin’s abilities that he is trying really dangerous methods to awaken his own. Even risking his life and basically coming close to ending it on the hopes that a life or death situation will manifest his powers. Yukio is willing to go to any level to wake them up including working with the Illuminati which is obviously a bad call. Not to mention pointing a gun at his friend Suguro. By this point in the series Yukio cannot be trusted at all and it’s a shame to see how far he has fallen.

It’s also a drop that has lasted whole seasons by this point so it’s certainly been a while since we’ve gotten to see him as a very heroic figure. Ah well, I guess that just wasn’t in the cards for him this time around. He is without a doubt getting stronger though so he will be hard to deal with. I expect that eventually he will be pulled back into the light, hopefully before he causes too much damage.

Aside from the Shura story, we also get the end of year celebration for the main characters. So we get a classic festival and interpersonal developments with the various characters. Not to mention that Lightning continues to discover more about the blue night massacre which is putting a lot of eyes on him. Lightning is a tough guy and not afraid to ruffle some feathers though, he just continues to work hard on that and doesn’t look back. I think he can be a bit too extreme at times to where he can feel like a villain but I can understand why he is tired of dealing with all the bureaucrats.

One thing to remember about this series is just how corrupt the government is. The “heroes” are working with Mephisto, a legendary demon after all. A lot of the issues they are dealing with in the present are due to crazy unethical experiments in the past. The whole second half of the season deals with a whole lot of that and the government doesn’t seem to have learned their lessons. They are still better than the villains who are trying to destroy everything but by no means are they innocent. You eventually need them to be taken down but right now that’s not really on Rin’s radar. The main characters will stop any evil in front of them but a systematic change is hard to do.

Rin’s various school friends are still around as well of course. Suguro helps Lightning out a lot and as a result he knows a whole lot more about the situation than most of the kids. Of course the more he learns, the more danger he gets put in. This is why Yukio targets him after all and at this point the guy definitely needs to watch his back as well. The villains can come from anywhere after all and Suguro isn’t the most powerful fighter by any means.

Meanwhile Shiemi is still dealing with romance issues. She is just unsure of what love really is and sorting out her feelings has been difficult. I appreciate that she is giving this some real thought rather than falling into anything too quickly. It’s not an easy concept to wrap your head around after all and once you have someone confessing to you, it just gets that much more complicated. It’s as if she’s on the clock now and has to decide much quicker than otherwise. There are so many kinds of feelings you can mistake for love as well so she needs to rule those out. She’s also started taking a route away from being a fighter which is a good decision, although now she’s being forced into a role that might put her in even more danger. Sometimes you just can’t win I suppose.

Shima is still working all the sides and continues to be an interesting wildcard. I can’t say I trust the guy at all though and none of the characters should. When you’re working all of the groups against each other, you have to be extra sure of where his real allegiance is or you will end up getting burned. He’s not the most powerful fighter so Rin could take him in a straight fight but the guy definitely feels like the assassin type so all he needs is a clean shot and he could still be a problem.

Then the second half starts and we have to take a break from the present right when things were getting real interesting. It’s time for Rin to learn the truth about everything that happened in the present. I know this flashback is a real big deal but it is the weakest part of the season in part because of how passive the main characters are. They just allow everything to happen rather than making moves to stop it all.

We see how Shiro grew up and joined the order. How he met a lady named Yuri who would be tasked with watching over Satan and would have a first row seat to how crazy the guy would get. It’s a very twisted dynamic to be sure and who would have guessed that Satan would turn out to be evil?? I would have liked the warning bells to have gone off within the organization a little bit sooner but they’re all just so arrogant and cocky that they could contain him. If there’s one demon you should not underestimate, it would surely be this guy right? Definitely not their best appearance and Satan definitely makes them pay for it.

There are a number of annoying things about the flashback but the would be romance with Shiro and Yuri has to be at the top of it. Ultimately he’s too gruff and stubborn to actually say that he likes her and allows her to keep on seeing Satan and basically sacrifice herself for the mission. Yuri also doesn’t seem to want to be a burden and so she takes on each mission even knowing about the danger. She also begins to care for Satan to a degree which was definitely a mistake. I was glad the series didn’t try to go out of its way to make him seem like a caring guy.

Satan may have started out as a baby but from the start his evil impulses are definitely there. It’s portrayed in a way where he would turn evil no matter who helped to raise him. It’s just in his very DNA and soul. You can’t fix that and I would say this is as clear as that’s going to get. At the same time I would say he loses whatever mystery is left within the guy. We just see him in a vulnerable/weakened position too often to take him seriously. He gets a whole lot of cringe scenes while growing up in the asylum and the fact that the humans were able to placate him for so long is rough. It’s the same thing that happened with Lucifer and I even dare say Mephisto gets hit with this. You can’t take them seriously when Lucifer and Satan are constantly spitting out blood and dying to be reincarnated later on. Then Mephisto takes a gunshot and winds up in the equivalent of the hospital? Yeah he’s probably trolling but cmon now.

Of the 3, Mephisto seems to be the most dangerous with his time manipulation but they all have full weaknesses. Mephisto at this point has been jobbing so hard for so long that I almost wonder if he still remembers how to be a fierce opponent. One thing’s for sure, he’s been playing the long game for a longer time than most other antagonists. He probably gets some kind of record for this. No matter what his end game plan is, I dare say I will find it to be way more convoluted than it needed to be.

I also would say Yuri having kids with him was definitely a mistake. The less said about this ship the better but the whole plot definitely makes you shake your head. Like I said, she took the job way too seriously and her feelings got way too confused the whole time. None of the characters make it out of the flashback saga unscathed. They all make their share of mistakes and all of them seem like self inflicted errors. Any of the characters could have handled it way differently like for Yuri abandoning the order, the Order could have just taken Satan down earlier and worried about the resurrection at another time, Shiro could have stepped in, etc.

The characters really allowed things to get out of hand and of course the ramifications of this are that we got the blue night disaster and all of the current events in Blue Exorcist. This also put Shiro further under Mephisto’s thumb which would really become a life debt. That’s probably one of the toughest things for the heroes in this series which is that they’re basically forced to work for the villains under penalty of death. Rin is really the only hope to shake off these chains if by now he is strong enough to change the world.

The animation for the show is good. Nothing amazing and I don’t think you will be seeing this on lists for best animation but the action works well enough. I expect that once we get a long Rin fight we will get to see the animation explode. When characters have fire powers, it really helps the animation to look extra sharp because the colors work well with the swordplay. If you mess up fire based fight scenes then the studio has a real problem I would say.

As for the soundtrack, they are still using a whole lot of the old tracks from previous seasons so there isn’t much new here. Neither one of the openings are particularly solid. I would say they are okay but definitely not game changers. They really aren’t doing anything innovative here unfortunately. It’s not bad or anything but I do hope they can spice things up a bit in the next season or just use some of the old tracks more. The electronic battle theme and the classic Blue Exorcist themes are right there begging to be used more!

While it feels like we are starting to approach the end of the series, it also feels like the title is dragging its feet a bit. Blue Exorcist has always had some weird pacing issues. It feels like the world is only partially fleshed out. The characters accept some rather odd situations without questioning it. Only Rin seems to know how twisted things are but half the time when he speaks up, Mephisto just threatens him to his face. There is no winning if the world is still ruled by demons and it’ll be interesting to see how Rin finds a solution to this. While trying to obtain more and more power is usually something the villains do, I think it is the heroes who need to crave it this time. That’s the only way they can overthrow the demons and really change things up.

At this point there really should not be much more time for school adventures. I like them as much as the next guy but the world is going crazier and crazier with the demons running amok throughout the country. I need to see some initiative for the heroes as they take them on directly. I also really need to see Rin taking a more prominent role. If they find a way to sideline him again in the next season then I’ll be shaking my head. It’s time for Blue Exorcist to get serious and give us some serious plot progression in the present timeline.

Overall, The season spends a lot of time in the flashback which definitely slows up the pacing. Most of it you can easily guess and piece together from the lore we already had so I think this could have been condensed a whole lot. I just want to know what’s going to happen in the present so the next season has the potential to be the most explosive yet. I would say as always, Blue Exorcist continues to be solid but still lacking things to make it a very good show. It’s a mix of characters and action. The series just has not been ready to turn the corner but perhaps that will change now. If you’re this deep into the series, you should definitely continue in order to stay current. It feels as though the series is starting to approach the climax so I doubt we will be getting another 4 seasons at this point.

Overall 6/10

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Review

Posted on July 3, 2025 by dreager1

It’s time to return to the world of the Guardians of the Galaxy where they have to deal with a whole new threat. The films have had their ups and downs to be sure but how would this one wrap things up? Well, unfortunately I would say that it is the weakest one of the 3. The Rocket subplot is a double blow since it introduces animal violence while also writing him out of most of the movie. A very risky call no matter how you slice it since he is such a popular character. Ah well, we still do have a lot of fun banter with the rest of the characters.

The film starts off with the Guardians still being in a rocky spot as Star Lord grieves over not having Gamora around anymore. She died and was replaced with an alternate version of herself that never actually dated him. Now he just gets drunk all day but when the team is suddenly attacked and Rocket gets into critical condition, Star Lord realizes that he has to get his game on. Rocket’s unable to be healed by the usual sci-fi tech because of a bomb inside his chest and so they need to find a way to deactivate it. This may mean going up against the high Evolutionary but the team has never allowed themselves to be deterred before and they aren’t about to start now.

So lets get the dicey parts out of the way first. The High Evolutionary’s whole gimmick is that he experiments on animals in order to evolve them further. He aims to make a new human race that is superior to the old one. So naturally in a film adaption that means that we are seeing a lot of animals in rough states. Several of them were essentially dismantled and are part cyborgs now. Rocket grew up with a bunch of them so we see this quite a bit. Fortunately the surgeries already happened as that would have really pushed the envelope into absolutely terrible stories but it is a really dark plot that to this day you never need in any kind of film. It’s never going to elevate things.

Rocket also had a lot of experiments done on him which were quite painful. It’s a subplot that really drags the film since we cut away to it numerous times. Meanwhile the High Evolutionary looks really bad the whole time. I’m used to him being a fairly poised villain who is in control but here he constantly whines and it out of his depth. He doesn’t seem to be a great super genius and was unable to find Rocket for many years despite the guy being a world famous Guardian. This guy’s utopia didn’t even work as he has actual drug dealers running around.

He says he’ll just start again but why would a new attempt be any different? He feels like he is just completely insane. That’s not a bad thing for a villain necessarily but at the same time I would say that it just doesn’t make sense amidst the wider context. I would argue it makes his whole goal seem weird since he wasn’t even close to succeeding and having Rocket won’t really help with that. he discards all of his test subjects too quickly.

While the film also did a number on Warlock in terms of totally changing his character, at least he was funny. I can see why longtime fans wouldn’t appreciate this version since he’s nothing like the comics/games but at least he looks reasonably strong. I would argue he should have crushed the Guardians with ease though since that team is hardly the strongest one out there. I suppose he just lets his guard down a little too quickly when the going gets tough. With the Sentry coming up, Warlock’s probably not going to be able to stand out quite as much in his next appearance.

Where the film is stronger is in the usual banter. If you liked their discussions in the first two films then you should like them here as well. This team loves to constantly be bashing each other and they’re always doing pranks. For better or worse, you can’t trust your teammates on the small stuff but you can count on them when the stakes are serious. Mantis is always pranking Drax despite his many protests, Star Lord seems like he can’t help but constantly flirt with Gamora, etc. The team is completely dysfunctional but you could say that’s part of the fun.

The only member who is mainly left out is Groot thanks to Rocket being gone the whole time. Still a rough decision I gotta say and they should have kept him awake the whole time and helping out, just have there be a time limit on the bomb or something. From the Guardians I would say Mantis was my favorite character. Yeah she is definitely very immature and gets the team into a lot of trouble but at the same time I would say she cares about the team the most. She is always doing everything she can in order to help the rest out. Her attempts sometimes backfire but it’s the thought that counts.

Gamora is also solid considering how much she has to put up with. She is completely a different person than the old one so it’s really not fair how much pressure they put on her. I was glad that she stuck to her guns and did not let peer pressure win. That would have been a pretty bad look if you ask me. It was also good to have at least one team member who could fight well and keep the team on track. I would say that’s Drax’s role but he still ends up being the team’s jobber for most of the film. He does well against Warlock in the opening fight though so I’ll give him that. He also gets some big moments near the end of the film.

I didn’t care much for Yondu’s replacement but at least he doesn’t appear much. He was being kinda rude to Cosmo for no good reason. Cosmo did good though and reminded viewers why he is one of the most powerful creatures here. His mental abilities are really impressive. Finally we have Star Lord and he does not look good at all here. Getting so drunk and wasted during the intro was really rough. I needed him to step up as the team leader a whole lot sooner than he did. This is supposed to be his team after all, it was time for him to man up and act like it. I already talked about the Gamora stuff but yeah he’s just too desperate. I think he works well as the whiny comic relief in most cases, the serious moments just don’t hit as hard.

The film does a good job of making him funny at least though. I would make the case that the humor in the film tends to land more than it doesn’t. For that reason I would label the film more as a comedy adventure than adding any action to it. We do get some good fight scenes but I would say no great ones. The first fight with Warlock is way too slow and the best fight is the room battle near the end where everyone fights at once. Unfortunately there isn’t a great climax fight this time. I think the reason is because the High Evolutionary can’t really fight so there was no big villain that would force the heroes to team up against him.

While the second film had a lot of faults, it did deliver on a rather big climax which also had Star Lord’s best scene in the MCU. If you take away the Rocket subplot entirely then this film has a clean win over the second film but with it then it does end up sinking more than expected. Ultimately I guess you just can’t beat the original film which had all the fun first meetings. It was probably the funniest as well. In general it’s not possible for every joke in a comedy film to land but I would say most of them did there. A good amount landed in this film as well though.

As for the music, I would say it’s a step down from the first two films. Maybe that means low key the new music eras can’t beat the 80s. That is definitely possible although I tend to like 2000s so maybe it’s just the selection. There were no themes here that felt like they would become iconic or anything like that. They were good enough but not crazy good. Meanwhile we don’t get the usual big stingers at the end of this film so the ending is rather subdued.

Overall, Guardians 3 could have been better. It definitely suffers from having one of the worst MCU villains to date and not having a proper super bad to end the film with. Removing Rocket from most of the film was not a good decision and of course his backstory really ended up hurting the film as well. This was just one negative too many for the film to get around and so that sealed its fate. I think if you go into the film as a fan of the Guardians and just want a fun time you may get the best out of this. If you’re going in as an action fan or a big comic book guy, then you are probably not going to have as good a time here between Warlock and the High Evolutionary.

Overall 4/10

Rurouni Kenshin Season 2: Kyoto Disturbance Review

Posted on June 29, 2025 by dreager1

It’s time for the return of Rurouni Kenshin. This season begins the build up to the most well known of all the Kenshin sagas. Shishio is here with his elite 10 swords and Kenshin’s sense of justice will be pushed to its limit. Can he manage to defeat them without going back to his killing ways? Winning as a Rurouni will put him at a disadvantage but this is still the way that he wants to win. It will mean potentially getting his friends out of the picture but they won’t let him do that so easily.

The series starts off pretty quickly with Kenshin deciding to head to Kyoto where the action will be. Saito will be there as well to fend off the invaders but first he takes out Kenshin’s friend Sanosuke to prove why Kenshin left him behind. This boxer is going to have to get a whole lot stronger. In general all of Kenshin’s allies have to strengthen themselves in order to be ready for this mission. At the same time, Aoshi has returned and he wants revenge on Kenshin even if it means joining up with the villains. Kenshin’s honor code may be stronger than ever but Aoshi has ditched all of that. At this point all he cares about is getting his revenge. His judgment may be clouded but his abilities are as dangerous as ever so this won’t be easy.

One thing’s clear from the start, Kenshin can’t possibly win this on his own. Naturally he does want to keep everyone out of harm’s way but he’s not really fighting at his best right now and he’s also completely outnumbered. While he could probably defeat any of the 10 swords individually, he wouldn’t stand a chance as a group. It’s also hard to say if he could beat either Shishio or Aoshi one on one. Fortunately Kenshin gets a whole training arc later on which helps him to finally regain his old abilities.

As always, you have to decide if you feel like Kenshin is going too far in his pacifism or if it is admirable that he would sooner die than take a life. Although when hostages are at stake then he is more likely to act. It’s hard for me to directly fault him for that but it can be rough to see him effectively be sandbagging mid fight when people can die at any second. Of course the remedy to this is to get so strong that you can win even while holding back. That is the path that Kenshin must go down.

Meanwhile you have Yahiko who is still trying to be one of the big main characters but just gets in the way the whole time. I know he means well but this is why the kids can be annoying. He knows very well that he shouldn’t be anywhere near the battlefield and yet he still comes to Kyoto with the others. Yahiko is just a kid and even though he has some training under his belt, he’s far too weak to be of any help at this point. It’ll likely be a very long time until that changes either so he really just needs to stay home.

I have the same criticism for Kaoru. She’s not a real fighter and Kenshin left her behind for a reason. Deciding to follow him after that is completely selfish and potentially puts all of their lives in the balance. You just can’t be doing that and of course it puts him in an awkward spot as well. It’s not like he can force her to stay back and he’s generally too polite to be too harsh about the whole thing. But this does mean that he has yet another person that must be protected.

Megumi is probably the smartest member of the side characters. She knows her limits and so she helps with medicinal herbs but isn’t trying to just constantly get Kenshin’s attention like the others. I definitely respect her for that and in general she has the roughest road because you know that for Kenshin she has no chance over Kaoru. He didn’t even give her a personal goodbye like the others and she took it in stride instead of immediately sulking.

Sanosuke is the only guy I can defend when it comes to defying orders. He is still a fighter after all even if he isn’t nearly as strong as Kenshin or Saito. Things work out well for him in that he is able to train and get stronger. So that definitely makes things even easier. Sanosuke has a right to die on the battlefield with the others and at least he will give it his all. So yeah in his case this is just what I would call proper determination. He even gets to contribute at several points in the arc. I look forward to seeing him continue to his best and get stronger still. With all of the sword fighters around, it can be fun to have an old fashioned hand to hand specialist.

Then we have Saito who is easily the best ally to have around. His sword fighting is top tier and he can even match Kenshin. The most impressive moment though was when he crushed Sanosuke in hand to hand combat. When you can defeat a hand to hand specialist in something like this when that’s not even your main weapon of choice, well that is absolutely a flex. He’s a very practical guy and while he is very aggressive, it’s never at the expense of strategy. Saito is even a good judge of character as he knows exactly who to leave the district with later on. Saito can’t be everywhere at once after all and unlike Kenshin, he is tied to the government. So there are limits to how far Saito can go and what he can do. The guy just does his best in maximizing all of it.

We know that he is ultra powerful, but Saito actually doesn’t get a ton of action scenes just yet. So that is something to look forward to. A fight that would be a lot of fun would be him for Aoshi. Both of them are extremely skilled and bloodthirsty after all. Aoshi may be a complete villain at this point but he is certainly an interesting one. I would even say he is more interesting than Shishio at this point in time. You get the feeling that Aoshi could possibly even take him on. We’ll find out the answer to this soon but for now it’s just fun to see how he fears absolutely nobody. Aoshi just does whatever he wants and fights when he pleases. He just lives for revenge now and his skills are sharper than ever.

He even surpasses his clan rather easily. Okina used to be the big leader there and the guy is still strong but I wouldn’t say it was a particularly close fight. Aoshi has reached new limits with his abilities while Okina has gotten old. Age is something that will ultimately defeat the strongest of warriors. The clan was fun to see overall but it’s not like any of them are a big threat to Aoshi. The member with the biggest role is definitely Misao and even then it’s more about her trying to find him and not because she is a deadly fighter. She is still a step up from Yahiko though without a doubt. At least Misao has a ninja background and can absolutely end the various enemies who get in her way. She’s also generally fun so I can overlook her being in the way to an extent. She actually adds some fun banter and humor.

Shishio is the big bad so you know he will be really strong but for now he’s mainly still aura farming. The guy will have to prove himself in the next season but he does enough as the main villain to still be solid. He’s perhaps winging it a little too much with his underlings though as they came pretty close to thinking about turning on him. With his right hand man Sojiro he would still be okay even against the other 9 deadly swords but he really doesn’t have time for any infighting right now. Kenshin and friends would absolutely be glad to have less opponents.

Sojiro has already gotten to prove himself with several really impressive moments. It’s why the guy is already a really fun villain. I tend to like the right hand man villain type who can hold himself at a really high level like this. In another series he could have even ended up being the main villain. So you definitely don’t want to sleep on this guy, even Kenshin was taken by surprise with his high level of skill. Considering how young he is as well, you could say that he is a true prodigy.

Hoji is one of those guys who is loyal to a fault. He’s not a top tier fighter or anything but he would definitely give his life to ensure that Shishio wins. He sees that as his absolute focus in life and will do anything to see it through. Certainly impressive, I can say that much. I ended up liking him more than I expected to by the end. I don’t always love the advisor types but in this case he was convincing enough in the role to get me to take him seriously.

Anji is one of the more honorable villains. At the very least he isn’t going around murdering for fun but it’s always important to keep in mind that he is still fighting on the side of the villains. By allying himself with them, he definitely takes on a large part of the guilt. No amount of grandstanding can change that. He seems like one of the more powerful villain members but we’ll have to see how that shakes out. He definitely seems stronger than Cho for example since that guy was captured pretty quick. He’s also portrayed as more of a rival to Sanosuke while Anji is seen as being above him.

Usui is probably the biggest wildcard among the villains since he is willing to openly go against Shishio and basically dare the guy to make a move. A bold play to be sure and I would even say that Shishio allows too much here. It would be a better look if he had taken Usui down already. I know he wants to conserve strength and all but that would be a way to really ensure that all other villains completely stayed in line. I know right now they do follow his orders without question and all but adding a little more oomph to that is certainly not a bad idea.

The animation is really solid as always. You really feel the various sword clashes between characters and the choreography is on point. The colors really stand out and the sounds do a good job of showing the power behind each blow. meanwhile the soundtrack has a lot of variety and fits the moments well. I wouldn’t say that the opening or ending particularly stands out but it’s not bad either. The show is definitely backed up well on the technical front.

Meanwhile the writing is good as always with the story being very interesting. The arc has a whole lot of fight scenes going on nonstop which is really exciting. This is the kind of story that is always fun even without fights but of course you are always glad to see them appear and take the story to the next level. Yes, definitely no complaints here. I felt like there was a big fight in nearly every episode and even when it was for characters I’m not too engaged with like Misao’s ninjas, it still worked well. The show was trying to get everyone involved including the villagers so I can appreciate the teamwork nature of it all.

Kenshin having to constantly deal with the fallout of his actions is also good. At the end of the day when you live by a strong creed, there will definitely be things that come with that. His mentor was also good at making sure Kenshin stuck by his decisions by even upping the stakes of them. The mentor is the kind of guy who always shows off a really gruff exterior but means well when it counts. I would say he still seems to be considerably stronger than Kenshin at this time so the hero will need more training.

Finally the show still depicts how a fairly simple story can still be super engaging. At its core this is a very simple show. A bunch of terrorists are trying to overthrow the government and Kenshin has to stop them. All of the heroes and villains are known, we’ve already got most of the matchups and the climax is approaching. There isn’t a need for a bunch of twists or mysteries, the show is just very confident in its story and rewards you with the strong banter and matchups. Due to how corrupt the government is, it also allows you to see the villains as more than 2D villains who are just trying to destroy the world. It’s not enough where you’d root for them over Kenshin but it is solid writing all the same.

Overall, Kenshin season 2 was a lot of fun as expected. We still got great fight scenes at every turn and the animation was really solid. I enjoyed the soundtrack quite a lot as well. It’s fair to say that the technical aspects across the whole show are fundamentally really strong. A lot of work goes into every part of it. I’m definitely looking forward to season 3 as it will be adapting the peak of the series. So long as the budget stays high this will be another all star title. It had one of the more satisfying climaxes to an arc in the manga as well.

Overall 8/10

Meg 2: The Trench Review

Posted on June 21, 2025 by dreager1

It’s time for the big sequel to the original Meg title. The first one wasn’t exactly a top caliber film and unfortunately neither is this one. The Trench certainly does throw in a whole lot more action when it comes to the human combatants but it will also be a long while until you see the Sharks in action. In a sense that can be a good thing for the film since the sharks are usually going to be the title’s downfall. At the same time, you know they will show up eventually so either way it’s not like this will have much of an effect long term. In that case, you might as well get it over with. Sure enough, the film does fall into old habits at that point.

The film focuses around Jonas who has been fighting off eco-terrorists and saving the day from the shadows. His crew is also busy raising one of the Megs and Jiuming is even so overconfident as to think that the Meg won’t eat him. This puts him into danger almost immediately but somehow he manages to get to safety. Everyone tells him what a bad idea this is but he doesn’t care. The heroes go further into the ocean than they had planned and end up finding out that there are several Megs. They just won’t have time to do much about this because of an insurrection. Turns out corporate still has a few tricks up their sleeve and now the heroes will be stuck underwater…forever. Can Jonas figure a way out of here?

A good chunk of the film is really an underwater survival mission. How do you get out of a submarine with no escape pods left and the villains watching your every move? This will definitely make you even more paranoid about being left so far under the sea. It’s just not a good business move especially when it seems like there is a traitor behind every door. Corporate doesn’t have the greatest of plans here as they basically pull a Jurassic World but we have the villainous smirks and cackling throughout the film which is the real important thing. You can tell that these villains really think the world of themselves.

Jonas is a solid lead as always. He is a solid fighter and doesn’t underestimate the terrors of the deep. He is always the voice of reason here and ultimately is the one to get things done. Without him the rest of the crew would not have lasted more than a few minutes. They are seriously outmatched without him there at all times. That’s why Jonas is the head honcho after all.

Meiying is supposed to be the fun child character but she does tend to be more on the annoying side. Stowing away on a dangerous underwater adventure is really not the play. She may have some scientific knowledge that comes in handy from time to time but she also spends a whole lot of time just slowing everyone down. She is physically unable to compete when the going gets tough and that is exactly why kids stay out of missions like this.

Unfortunately Jiuming may be even worse at times. He was a second away from completely traumatizing the kid by getting eaten by the Meg. He was way too confident in his sonar gadget and should have been doing a whole lot of further test studies before actually getting in the ocean. He had to rely on pure luck to stay alive and I can tell you now that this is not a good meter for success. You can’t count on luck to bail you out of every opportunity. That’s just not happening, it’s not a good way to play the odds.

The guy doesn’t really learn his lesson as he is constantly running into danger. Now you may be wondering if every character was completely unprepared for action but I can at least say that DJ was ready. This guy decided to properly arm himself in case the going got tough. Some would call him paranoid, I would call him realistic. This is exactly the kind of initiative I like to see in these events. He had some hand to hand skills, a taser, and other miscellaneous equipment. He saves the day on several accounts here. Every time you think DJ is done, he pulls something else out of his toolbox.

He really stole the show in his quick scenes here. I wish I could say the same about the villains. The lady had a great line though where she asks if another villain is crying. That about sums up how threatening these guys are to be honest. This does give us a chance to give Jonas a solid one liner as he kicks someone off a bridge later on though. When the film leans into a little bit of cheesy behavior, you know that it has a ton of confidence. On the whole the film had a good blend of action and humor. I would say the tone was solid and the fight scenes even had some good choreography. One mistake the film had was in having the best action scene be at the very beginning of the film though. When you peak that early there are always going to be some problems.

So like I said the sharks don’t appear for a while. Unless you count the opening scene I suppose. So the film was mainly doing good but once the Sharks show up then the animal violence begins. One of the big problems with creature films like this is how the monsters don’t actually end up being all that scary. The main character is ultimately able to take a few on with just basic equipment after all. Not the best look for these creatures right? So sadly they are stabbed and blown up. Also the opening scene is fairly graphic with all of the animals getting chopped.

It’s why the creature genre tends to be doomed on arrival. Either the monsters show up and get crushed, or they don’t appear much and you were in a whole bait and switch operation. In either event, the film is probably not going to get the highest score. I would say if you take out all of the animals then this could have been an easy 6 out of 10. Throw in all of the shark bashing and of course it’s going to go lower. Props to the film for not bumping off the dog though, now that would have been really crossing the line.

Overall, Meg 2 feels impressively long but I can’t tell if that’s a good thing and the writers packed a lot in or it means that the pacing was a bit slower than I thought. Either way if you’re here for the sharks then you may find the first half way too slow but if you’re here for the character banter then the second half may not match up for you. If you’re a Dinosaur film then you’ll probably have a good time here because their role is way bigger than I thought it would be. Personally I figured that would maybe just be the opening scene or something but they actually stick around. I think it’s probably time for this series to retire but if we get a third then the only way to top this will be to finally add aliens or something like that.

Overall 3/10

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Review

Posted on June 17, 2025 by dreager1

I can definitely see why this one has such a low score compared to the average Marvel production. For the most part this barely even feels like a superhero movie. Whoever decided to make an Ant-Man film that is far less about Scott running around and more about sci-fi lore should have had some second thoughts. All of the film’s issues can be traced back to one thing…..nobody cares about the Quantum realm. It’s got to be one of the more boring settings that I’ve seen in years and feels like it’s trying hard to stand out and instead gets shown up by just about every sci-fi environment before it. Ah well, at least we do have some fun fights.

The film starts off with Scott enjoying life. He helped save the world and his family is back. Things could not be going better for him…well until his daughter gets arrested again. She has been flying further and further off the deep end and it doesn’t help that the rest of Scott’s family almost seem supportive of her getting arrested. When Scott tries to shut this down, they make fun of his book because these are some of the most annoying, pettiest side characters I’ve seen since The Devil Wears Prada. They all seem jealous of Scott saving the world and it’s completely unwarranted since he’s such a nice guy. He’s not being a jerk about it or anything. Ah well, Cassie thought it would be a brilliant idea to send signals to the Quantum Realm and this causes everyone to be warped in there. Can they escape this tyrannical realm before certain twists tear this family apart?

Now you may be thinking that since Scott is basically the only real likable member of the Ant Man family that this film will be a way for everyone else to become tolerable? Well, unfortunately the film only has the opposite effect of that. The Wasp is probably the best out of the main supporting characters but she was actually more fun in the last one. The Quantum Realm brings out the worst in most characters although it brings out the best in one of the antagonists though so I’ll give the film some credit there.

Darren finally returns! The guy gets so much hype and recognition. Every time he shows up, the characters exclaim “Darren!” In a really puzzles but excited way. It’s sort of like when you’re at a party and you finally bump into someone that you know. So that was pretty cool and definitely worked out pretty well. He is now known as MODOK but it’s not like he’s a very serious character so his best scenes are when he takes the visor off. He had the best jokes throughout the movie. Yeah he gets some serious moments by the end but for the most part you will be remembering the laughs. It’s another glimpse of what the film could have been. Imagine a lot of banter between him and Scott above ground. Now that would have been fun.

Scott is still a good main character. He tends to carry his scenes and most of his dialogue is just good fun. He can banter with the best of characters. Scott may not be the best fighter but he’s a good dad just trying to help his family out of a jam. The guy endures quite a lot of damage and punishing blows throughout the movie with no real complaints either. I’d say he’s generally one of the most likable Avengers at this point.

That’s why the Quantum Realm is such a waste. You just don’t really care about Kang’s empire or the resistance group fighting against him. It just feels like the most generic war possible and we don’t get enough out of the characters to really be invested. The backgrounds are more boring than cool and of course the film can’t resist going with the disgusting ooze angle a few times like with the controls or having to drink some to understand the aliens. It really felt like the writers had no idea what to do with this place.

Then this place also destroyed Janet as a character. He was around here for a while and basically got into an affair. You’re hoping the whole time that maybe it wasn’t as bad as you’re thinking, only for rebound guy to confirm it. Janet’s excuse is also the worst possible one as she talks about having needs. That’s the lamest thing I’ve heard in a minute. Her constant secrets are also why everything fell into disarray so this film destroyed any possible character she could have had prior. There is just no coming back from this.

Meanwhile Hank is just way too passive about the whole thing. He’s very chill upon learning about this and then also admits he went on some dates himself. It’s all such weak stuff and then Hank is sidelined for a large part of the film. He does end up helping out with his ants later on but the main problem is that in a film like this there just wasn’t much to do. It’s not even a particularly action packed movie as things don’t really get explosive until the climax. Until then it’s mainly a lot of setup and lore.

Then we have Cassie and a whole lot of this is her fault after all. Shrinking cop cars and breaking the law is bad enough but then messing with the Quantum Realm when she knew Janet had been stuck there for decades. It seems like Cassie was mainly doing this out of curiosity which is not a great motive. It’s not like she was getting ready to save tons of lives or anything like that. Yeah I can’t give her a pass on this either. It’s just such a bad look for her all the way around. Of course by the end she has found a cause worth fighting for and does her best but it’s more like a broken clock finally getting the time right. I need to see some real character development that stuck for her in the next film.

Hope isn’t bad but it feels like she spends a good chunk of the intro to the film just smirking in the background as opposed to actually backing Scott up. I do appreciate that she is always a lot quicker to action though. Her suit is basically always on and she also didn’t panic with her alternate version copies as much. every group needs a good fighter an she does thrive in that role. So I may not be her biggest fan but I do appreciate her in a fight and she is definitely the backup that Scott needed.

As for good ole Kang the Conqueror, he just looks way too wimpy here. Yeah you could say it was part of his plan but his first appearance just makes him look so small and weak. Even once he has the tech back, you’re telling me he couldn’t react fast enough to stop Janet initially? Then having any trouble with Scott later on is rough. You really have two options here. Either his tech isn’t as good as he thinks it is and he never beat the Avengers in the past, or he is an absolutely terrible combatant who squanders his tech the whole time. Either way it is not a good look for him.

I would not be able to take him seriously to handle a big team of fighters so I’m definitely cool with the character being written out. We get two post credit scenes involving him and they’re more funny than anything. Kang really thought he could do something. The guest stars in the second scene were a lot more fun. Especially with one character completely calling Kang out the way I would have in the audience. He just doesn’t look that imposing at all and this film really sealed the deal there.

Overall, This film had its moments but the beginning and ending were easily the best parts. I wanted more of the surface world which always has a lot of fun to it. I usually like a good sci-fi environment but the world building for the Quantum Realm was just way too boring. The film did not do enough to justify its focus within the story. Ultimately that took a big toll on the film and it could have used some more action to keep you interested. There’s really on replay value to be had here or any reason to really watch the film. So for that reason you could probably skip this one and jump to the next film that really counts. Of course if you do plan to watch the movie, it’s not like it is a bad experience or anything so you’ll be fine. Just don’t expect a classic Ant-Man light hearted adventure.

Overall 5/10

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