SSSS.Gridman Review

Posted on March 21, 2021 by dreager1

Gridman is an anime from not too long ago. It deals with robots, aliens, and a whole lot of other sci-fi elements. It’s a pretty fun show and one that makes for a pretty quick watch since there are only 12 episodes at the moment. There are quite a few twists and turns as you go through the series so you can try to see if you get where the show is going early on. With solid action and an ongoing mystery type plot on the back-end what’s not to like? Either way you should definitely have a good time.

The show starts off by introducing us to Yuta. He has complete memory loss which is pretty unfortunate since he seems like he had just said something to the popular girl at school Rikka but has no idea what he said. She’s nice enough to take him to the hospital and then show him where he lives. Yuta then gets reintroduced to his best friend Sho and tries to make the best of this new life. He’s a bit weirded out by the fact that the town is surrounded by giant Kaiju. Nobody seems to notice them so only Yuta can even perceive the giant things. Yuta also dreams about a being named Gridman who is stuck in a computer. When a Kaiju attacks the city, Yuta follows his instincts and jumps into the computer. This allows him to turn into Gridman and fight off the Kaiju.

There is more to the story than this though. So Sho, Yuta, and Rikka form the Gridman alliance to stop the Kaiju. There are a few concerns. One is naturally what these Kaiju are and how they are appearing in the city. 2. Nobody remembers the Kaiju attacks once they are foiled and all of the damage to the city ends up being fixed. 3. Anyone murdered directly by a Kaiju stays dead even when the city is refreshed but now nobody remembers that character ever existing. Clearly there is a mastermind behind this and the heroes need to figure that out.

The viewers know this from the jump though as the show immediately reveals Akane as the big antagonist along with her alien friend known as Alexis. It’s one of those interesting dynamics where you are many steps ahead of the protagonists from the jump. Akane may not seem like your average villain but she is quite sinister with how willing she is to murder anyone who crosses her even if it’s just something minor like dropping her sandwich. Akane absolutely doesn’t have any sympathy for other characters.

As the show goes on you learn more and more about the city and all of your questions will be answered. Delving into any of that would be heavy spoiler territories though but needless to say it makes for a pretty fun twist. There is one supporting character who briefly appears to explain the twist and throw an info dump on Yuta but she disappears after that. I would be interested to see what she does in the future. I hope the character returns because there is a lot of potential there.

As the main character Yuta is decent. He’s a nice guy who always tries his best. Yuta does resist Akane’s attempts to seduce him which is good since you want to have a strong main character. He fights well in the mech and basically does whatever needs to get done. Yuta doesn’t have a whole lot of personality outside of just being your classic main character but there’s nothing bad to say about him either. Maybe he gets a bit jealous at times involving Rikka but that’s about it and it’s usually pretty mild.

Then you have his friend Sho who tends to panic a little more. Sho gets a bit of a mini character arc where he experiences a lot of self doubt. Aside from that period he was pretty confident the whole time though and did well as Yuta’s right hand man. The main heroine is Rikka and she’s a solid character. At times she may seem a bit desperate to be Akane’s friend despite Akane always insulting her but the show even explains this one pretty well. Rikka’s definitely a fun character so I can see why she grew pretty popular. She has more development than a lot of the other characters.

Gridman has a few allies who show up with Calibur probably getting the best role from all of them. They’re helpful to have around and each of them help out in the big fights. The fact that Calibur can fight rather well even in the human world is handy though. Gridman mostly just repeats his speech about saving the world the whole show but there is something that happens at the end which helps him a lot. It makes him a far more interesting main character so there’s a lot that season 2 can do with him. The guy has potential and I like the design.

As for the villains, Akane is naturally the main one for the season. She is constantly coming up with new Kaiju threats to use in battle. She certainly has a lot of Kaiju knowledge which is handy as well. Ultimately she really became her worst enemy as she could have had a much easier time of things if she wasn’t trying to be so commanding all the time. Her trying to make the world perfect is really what drives people away. She ultimately doesn’t seem to like people all that much despite wanting to be liked the whole time which puts her in a bit of a spot. Ultimately she may take a lot of detours in accomplishing her goals but if that’s what it takes for her to have more fun then I guess it was worth it to her. Her actions don’t always make a lot of sense but that seems intentional.

Then you have Alexis who is a blast. The entire show it feels like he is really just trolling everyone and that makes him a compelling villain. It reminds me a lot of the villain “Hero” from the Hyper Neptunia Virtual Stars game. They have similar designs and voice styles. Alexis has a plan of his own of course and he definitely looks really good by the end. This guy was definitely a scene stealer and it was always fun to see what his responses are. Despite his joking around a lot of the time, you always knew that you would have to keep your guard up around him.

Finally we have Anti who ended up being the best character in the show easy. This guy had a whole lot of character development. While he is a Kaiju who has a human body, he gradually grows more sentient as he stays human. From being one note to actually creating plans and understanding what it means to be human, Anti really manages to stand out as a result. He had some really great fight scenes as well. His ability to adapt to any opponent and keep on fighting was definitely impressive. His final form in the series is pretty great as well although my favorite form might have been 1 or 2 steps behind that one.

There’s a lot to like in Gridman with the engaging story and characters. I wouldn’t say the cast of characters is one of the strongest that I’ve seen recently as the main heroes don’t have a whole lot of personality next to others but the villains were all solid and we do get a lot of quality interactions. The writing is never in doubt and remains solid all throughout the series. For me the best episode in the series was number 6 as that is when the show really took a turn and we learned a whole lot of twists about the series. Now, I could have done without the very final twist in the closing seconds of the final episode personally since the twist could have taken a few other directions but it is a bold play either way which you can appreciate.

The animation here is very smooth indeed. The fight scenes are on point, especially when Anti was fighting Calibur or the final episode clashes. With the Kaiju there is a little less movement of course and yet the studio did a good job of making them give Gridman a good fight. Gridman often had the speed advantage of course but the Kaiju would either have enough durability to tank it or they would move pretty quickly. The weakest one was probably the giant volcano though since he couldn’t really move. Anti looks even more impressive by the end of the series considering that 1 on 1 most of these Kaiju gave Gridman a good fight while Anti was mowing through a bunch of them.

In particular aside from the excellent action scenes I also liked the eye effects. Eye effects are always a lot of fun in anime and that’s no different here. The characters had very detailed eyes which would sometimes even have more than 1 color. It’s a fun thing to see because it just makes the characters that much more memorable. It adds an extra dimension to things you can say.

On the opposite side, the series did have some fanservice here and there. Nothing really crazy, mostly it’s limited to just Akane in the show when she’s at home or messing with Yuta. The beach episode is the one exception because of course you know the Beach episode is always going to be here to try and shake things up. So on the whole I wouldn’t say the show has a big issue here. Enough where it is noticeable but it could certainly be far worse.

The soundtrack is pretty good in the show. We get some solid scenes like the insert song at the very end of the show and some good action tunes. It’s a well rounded soundtrack that works well for the show and the theme it’s going for. We even have a bit of a mysterious theme going on for when the heroes are wondering about what to do next. As much as it’s an action show this title also does focus on the mystery angle quite a bit as well.

The initial episodes of the show go for a more monster of the week kind of vibe until the end so if you’re a big Kaiju fan I imagine that may be your favorite part. Each Kaiju gets to have an episode to themselves after all and they get a good amount of hype. Being able to go up against Gridman is definitely not something that just anyone can do after all. The opening of the show is always a good way to introduce the characters as well since they get to bond while fighting off against these threats.

Time for two spoilers paragraphs so skip these if you haven’t seen the show yet. It deals with some of the final twists of the show so learning this ahead of time would definitely spoil the twist. So at the end of the show there’s quite a bit to think about. For example from Akane’s perspective, is she really as bad as all of that if her actions don’t actually effect anyone real? For example, when her Kaijus attack the town aside from anyone she is targeting, nobody stays dead or injured. If she is targeting someone who never truly existed and who technically doesn’t in the present either, then is she really destroying someone? It’s sort of like the next step to a VR video game. If you destroy an NPC nobody bats an eye. If the video game was drawn to scale and you were playing through it, suddenly the violence and gameplay mechanics are a lot more real so that would be more of a real attack right? Where the line gets drawn is definitely a very interesting point. That’s not what’s going on here with video games or things like that but it’s a decent analogy. My view would be she’s still the villain clearly because the instant she created all of these people as god from her bed in the real world, they did exist. Now, it’s implied that the entire series is just a dream she was having and none of it is real. In that case if it’s a pure dream then nothing is actually happening anyway right?

Well, it’s hard to say for sure because of the Gridman team who come from another planet and the Kaiju girl who appears on the train. In theory they could also be apart of the dream since if this is all happening in Akane’s mind then nothing is really happening. If you look at it from that perspective as everything being one big dream, then she was having fun playing the villain in her dream but that’s it. Alternately, she essentially manages to create a whole psyche in the dream world and then created a city. Her entire life just happened in the span of a dream and it felt longer than in the real world. The Gridman team was somehow able to get in to try and fix this or Akane’s dream managed to take over an existing world. There’s just a lot of ways you can spin this but personally in this case I think the simplest solution is the right one. The entire series is an elaborate dream including every character and lore mentioned in the series. None of it is real and when Akane goes back to sleep she will just dream about it all over again. Of course a sequel could theoretically destroy this theory but at least that’s my take on it.

Overall, SSSS.Gridman is a pretty solid anime. It’s got a lot of great action and solid pacing which is what you want to see in any show. At 12 episodes you’ll definitely be able to blast through this one in no time. Perhaps even in a day you can just speed-run through this. Any action fan or someone who likes a good ole action/mystery story should get a kick out of this. It’s just a very well rounded title that doesn’t really have any weaknesses. The whole amnesia plot does mean that Yuta isn’t really given a chance to do much for a while but he gradually just gets used to his new self and acts like one of the gang. It would definitely be fun to see the characters again and how they move forward from all of this. I imagine it will definitely be pretty tough on Yuta that’s for sure. Meanwhile Gridman seems quite similar to Ultraman so perhaps we can get a battle crossover someday. That would definitely be a blast.

Overall 7/10

Spider-Man Review

Posted on March 21, 2021 by dreager1

Spider-Man has had a whole lot of shows and movies over the years. He is Marvel’s most popular character of all time after all so you would expect nothing less. The character tends to churn out a lot of quality content. Ultimate Spiderman may not have set the world ablaze but it was definitely a solid show with good animation and a lot of guest stars. This show tries to take the character back to its roots as more of an origin and then slowly starts to build things up. It definitely had a solid run and I’ll look forward to seeing what’s next.

The show starts off by getting the usual origin out of the way with Peter being bitten by a radioactive spider and then allows Uncle Ben to be murdered. We then cut forward to Peter being accepted into Horizon High on scholarship. It’s a very prestigious school, one of the top ones in the entire country for technology. He’ll now be surrounded by other geniuses at the school and Aunt May is naturally very proud. He’ll continue to work as Spider-Man on the side but this school is hiding more secrets than Peter would have initially suspected. Can he continue to hide his double identity while also keeping his grades up and uncovering the school’s mysteries?

For people who grew up with the Spider-Man comics from the 60s, they’ll feel pretty nostalgic. It’s fair to say that we haven’t had a proper Peter Parker story in a TV show since the 90’s version and that was quite a while ago. Ultimate Spiderman while fun, was absolutely a Spider-Man story first and foremost. It was about him constantly teaming up with other heroes and even working as an instructor. That show was going for a team up approach while this one is going for a more personal feel.

It’s like comparing Batman the Brave and the Bold to the classic 90’s Batman story. Both have very different approaches. Now I’m more of a team-up guy personally but that doesn’t mean a solo story will lose. You’d have a hard time finding people who prefer Brave and the Bold to the 90’s show or saying that Ultimate Spider-Man beats the 90’s version. Solo stories can be a blast as well and then when they have their guest stars it feels like a bigger deal. With constant team up series you do run into the issue of how to increase the threat each time or how to make the individual stories feel threatening after having end of the world stakes.

Ultimate Spiderman had that issue to an extent at times as it’s hard to go from Spider-Man taking on the Beyonder to stop the universe and then going back to Paste Pot Pete. This Spider-Man show starts out with far more street level threats for Spider-Man to take down which then leads up to the season 3 finale where he has to defend the Earth from Venom. Now lets talk about where this show ranks real quick. Naturally it does not beat the 90’s show but I would put it above Spider-Man Unlimited, The Amazing Friends, the original cartoon, and the CGI show. Pitting this one against Ultimate Spider-Man is tricky. Ultimately I would give that one the slight edge. It’s close but ultimately that one does win in animation and it had a healthy episode count with a lot of solid adventures. Who can forget the mobile game adaption right?

So that would still put this on the higher end for Spider-Man shows. If you look at the show on its own then it absolutely stands out quite well. I thought the show handled the approach of seeing Spider-Man slowly mature and become his own hero really well. An interesting angle is also how it introduces the other Spider characters like Gwen, Miles, and Spider-Girl early on. In a way it’s like a look at the 60’s Spider-Man if he grew up in the modern day where there are just so many heroes. Now, while it may have been even more interesting to have kept Spider-Man by his lonesome to really start off small, it is kind of nice to have other characters trying to hide their secret identities for a change. It’s like a big game of cat and mouse as nobody knows what the other is doing. I always like that kind of tension.

For the animation, it’s not nearly as vibrant as Ultimate Spiderman was, but it does look very clear. I think once you get used to the more pale colors, the actual flow of the animation is quite solid. The hand to hand action is really good and the choreography even for the energy attacks is always on point. You can follow along with the action really well. The soundtrack is less noticeable but unfortunately that is really the norm for most shows. Really if you look at post Justice League there aren’t many comic book shows where you can point to a really vibrant soundtrack. (Ignoring the animes) The only one I would name would be Avengers Assemble as to this day I say they ripped some of the themes straight out of Justice League. It was always cool to hear them of course. That said, there is one theme I really liked here. I would unofficially call it the Cloak & Dagger theme since it always appears in an episode where they show up. That can’t be coincidence right?

Season 1 is mainly episodic but with a lot of plot lines being foreshadowed. This was a nice touch because it’s one of those things the original comics did so well and any superhero show starting out should absolutely do this. Yeah it can be risky if you don’t get future seasons but it’s worth it. Early on in season 1 the show already starts to foreshadow the Jackal, Spider-Gwen, Doc Ock, Norman, Alistair Smythe, and many more characters. you have all of their human personas walking around so you know what’s going to happen to them even before the characters themselves do. For some characters the payoff is quick while for others it takes a very long time.

One of the big sagas in season 1 was the big Spider-Island adaption. I remember when that arc was still going on in the comics and the show handles it pretty well. Suddenly every character has spider powers and you can imagine how society would go absolutely nuts at this point. If everyone is super then nobody is or at least that’s how the saying goes. Spider-Man would just have a lot of competition in standing out. Doctor Octopus also gets several episodes to himself as he is introduced. This guy would go on to have a pretty massive role so that makes sense. The first season does a great job of setting the stage and getting all of the characters introduced.

Season 2 starts to ramp things up for Spider-Man from street level threats to more high end villains. First off, Peter gets a job at the Daily Bugle so we’ve got that iconic storyline now. Meanwhile Doc Ock is trying his best to work as a hero but can Spider-Man really trust such a guy? It’ll really test his whole motto about giving everyone a second chance. Venom also finally merged with Eddie Brock, leading to the most famous version of the character. Even the Avengers show up and get kidnapped so Spider-Man has to save them. Yes, Spider-Man is a rookie no longer. Now he is a full hero and people are counting on him.

The Venom two part saga was pretty hype. Eddie definitely makes for a powerful villain and it add some tension since he knows who Spider-Man is and how to reach him. When someone like Aunt May is put into a dangerous spot naturally Spider-Man isn’t going to take that well. The Avengers episode is admittedly a little cheesy that they were captured so easily. By the way, it was A.I.M. that captured them so…I’m having a hard time buying it.

Season 2 doesn’t end there with the big events though. Next up we have a saga where a bounty is put on Spider-Man so every villain wants a crack at him. This leads to many episodes where Spider-Man has to deal with many villains back to back. It was a good way to show off his stamina and really illustrate that Spider-Man is not an easy guy to bring down. This all leads up to the whole Superior Spider-Man event where he trades bodies with Doc Ock. Now that was an intense storyline both in the comics and the show.

You do feel bad for Peter though because Ock puts his life through the wringer. It’s the kind of thing where no matter what Peter does or says later on about someone else being in his head, people will never trust him quite the same way again. Ock does a great job while trading places though and shows Spider-Man several ways he can improve. Now, he’s not an improvement in every way of course as he’s more of an anti-hero but he does make some valid points about Spider-Man installing better web equipment and having tech around to monitor the city. Ock took the whole job very seriously.

This also helped introduce Cloak and Dagger who would never become main characters in the show but looked good whenever they showed up. I rather like that duo so it’d be cool to see more of them. Their great theme song helps as well. If anything you might miss Otto when he’s gone. Although I didn’t really care for his possible romance plot though. The show mainly stays away from any romance which is probably for the best since in a school setting that could get overly dramatic pretty fast.

With Peter back we get the Avengers getting kidnapped again which is always fun. Beyond that the final episodes are all about the Goblin War. Norman’s making his big play..or is it Norman? Either way Spider-Man and the other wall crawlers will have to try and take down this army of goblins. Fortunately most of them are just grunts with a costume but it is concerning that so many have appeared to spread chaos.

Definitely a solid way to wrap up season 2 for sure. The stakes were increased and it was nice to get a change of pace here with the whole body swapping thing. The Avengers admittedly looked very bad in this season and it would continue to an extent in season 3. I guess that’s the one thing with having a lot of guest stars here. To show off how powerful the new threat is it can be tempting to have them lose so Spider-Man has to save the day but you have a hard time believing that the Avengers would lose first to A.I.M. and then to Regent.

Finally we make it to the final season which is easily the shortest one at 6 episodes but at least each episode was double length. The title of the season is Maximum Venom so you can imagine who the big villain is. So Venom is coming back and this time he has brought an entire planet of symbiotes with him. Together they manage to take over the planet, the Avengers, and just about every supporting character there is. Characters like Aunt May have to form a resistance and we even get Moon Knight on the team. For many of the heroes Earth is already lost so they plan to fight back a little bit here and there or wait it out in the sewers.

Now I’m not going to say this is executed quite as seriously as it all sounds on paper but I wouldn’t say it’s comedic either. The show actually plays this out pretty straight and Venom is really shown to be a fierce opponent. We also get Mary Jane introduced to the season at long last. They may play up how awkward Peter is around her at times though especially with baby Groot messing with him during their appearances. You feel like Mary Jane would make herself scarce after the opening scenes but at least she took it all pretty well and just seems like a very nice person the whole time. I suppose she just barely made it into the show before it ended since she showed up for the final episodes of the series.

Season 3 ended the show off pretty well. We got to close out a lot of the big plots here. All of the heroes are on good terms now and they’re pretty much ready to leave the school. I still don’t like Max but at least he should have less things to hide now though. Spider-Man is also ready to become an Avenger so things are looking up. If we got a season 4 then I’m guessing everything would go sideways again on account of the Parker Luck but at least like this things went well for him.

Lets talk about some of the characters. Peter is the main character of course and he’s really good. He may make his share of mistakes but throughout the show he is portrayed as a nice guy who does what he can to help out. Balancing his work as a superhero and an everyday student is naturally pretty difficult as it is. While it takes him some time, he does live up to his reputation for giving people a second chance when he forgives Otto Octavius which is pretty tough after all the things that guy did. The show also takes time out to show what a genius he can be as well which is something we don’t always see a lot of lately. The school setting and expanded take on his origin days helped to give him time to show this off instead of just overwhelming opponents with his physical power.

Then we have Harry who gets a pretty big role and character arc here. At first he starts out as Peter’s best friend and then of course things get pretty heated once he learns more about the Goblin heritage. He also gets a bit jealous when Otto enters the picture as well. It takes a while for all of them to really form one close unit but I liked him and the cool fire sword he got as Hobgoblin. It helped to make him more of a threat and not just another one of the friends. Since Peter’s friends all had super powers here that may have easily overshadowed him.

I definitely did not like Max though. I found him to be one of the most ungrateful characters in the series and he was always quick to go against Peter despite how much the lead did for him. Peter had his back every step of the way and the guy never did anything to try and help him. The worst of it was in the final season when Peter tried to save his job twice including disclosing his secret identity and Max just slammed the door in his face. Mix that in with all the dubious experiments and Max is just not a good guy.

Anya is one of Peter’s best friends in the show and she becomes Spider-Girl. Anya’s a fun addition to the cast and from the main members I certainly haven’t seen her as much as the others so it was nice to see her get some extra screen time here. She doesn’t really have any big personal plots compared to some of the other characters but she’s always ready to fight and help out.

Miles gets the biggest role from the friends as he helps Peter a lot and they share secret identities pretty early on. He also has the plot with his uncle/father (I forget which but I think it’s his father in this version) being a super villain so that adds a personal element to things. Surprisingly it’s a bit of a smaller role than you would expect. He’s typically the comic relief member of the group and tries to make sure everyone is having fun.

Then we have Gwen and naturally she has a big role since the Jackal is always around. Surprisingly Captain Stacy doesn’t show up as much as you would expect. Gwen’s a solid friend and may be the most fleshed out character from Peter’s inner circle. This family development definitely helped a lot in giving her things to do aside from just fighting the villains off. Her battles with Jackal definitely tend to get pretty intense. The Jackal’s also a fun villain. I’m always up for seeing more of him as I consider the guy to be a far more compelling evil scientist than Otto. It also opens up the door to the Spider-Clones although the show didn’t get into that yet.

Aunt May is solid as always. I did like that she was able to fight here like when she took her giant gun out. It shows that she was ready to rumble which is always important. I like to think that she knows Peter is Spider-Man as well even if she doesn’t say anything. Jameson’s role here is small but he does look good in the Venom episodes when he puts his life on the line to buy his staff some time. It shows that while he is a pretty gruff fellow he’s ultimately still a good guy. He’s a solid boss who thinks of his employees first.

Otto gets a really big role in the series since he starts out as a hero, turns evil, turns good, turns evil again, then he turns into Spider-Man, then he turns good again. He had a whole lot of things going on that’s for sure. I never really became a fan of his though. I guess the character just never really interested me but he’s better than in Ultimate Spiderman so I’ll give him that. While I usually didn’t care for his episodes much next to the other characters, I did like the Superior Spider-Man story arc quite a lot so that one worked out really well. At the very least his fans should be happy with how he looked.

Likewise, Norman gets a lot of props here. He’s the big mastermind behind a lot of the villains which is very fitting to his character. He’s always been the kind of guy who manipulates others from the shadows. He seems to return over and over again throughout the series. Harry finally got some closure from his character by the end which was a good way to wrap up the cycle. Norman’s always been one of the most compelling Spider-Man villains and the show did him justice.

Sandman doesn’t appear much but his opening episode was very memorable. It actually gets rather tragic by the end of it too. His powerset is always fun to watch and he does make for a pretty sympathetic villain the whole time. Speaking of minor roles, the Avengers look decent at best but most of the time they come across as pros who talk a good game but really can’t back it up. Being kidnapped and having to be saved by Spider-Man multiple times isn’t the best look after all. As the Superior Spider-Man Ock was also able to defeat them rather easily.

Finally there is Venom and naturally he looks pretty great here. He has several hosts during the series and in each one he is able to dominate pretty quickly. I’m still not a big fan of the whole twist that he was one of the weaker symbiotes on the planet though. That always seemed a bit cheesy to me. I like to think of Venom as one of the tougher ones. That’s just how I’ve grown up with him after all. Seeing him be humiliated and mocked by the others doesn’t feel right. Beyond that he does have his own sense of pride though and makes for a pretty intimidating villain. He was a fitting choice for the final boss.

Spider-Man definitely had a good run. There were a lot of solid adventures here and characters to meet. It’s not quite a great show as it would need that extra boost to reach the next level but it was quite consistent. As the seasons went on the show just kept bringing more plots forward and it felt like a pretty strong continuity was established here. Whether something happened a season ago or two the show would remember. If it had kept on going it would have been nice to see how everything else was adapted. Alas, all shows must end at some point.

Overall, Spider-Man is definitely a show that all fans of the character should check out. In general if you enjoy superhero shows then this will be a good one to check out. The story is sound and you have a good blend of action and adventure. It’s a pretty light hearted show and you can also expect some decent comedy. The jokes don’t tend to drag on for the most part or anything like that so you’ll be able to focus on the story. The show doesn’t really have any weaknesses so it makes for a pretty fun experience from start to finish.

Overall 7/10

Megaman – Saga of the Mu Continent Review

Posted on March 19, 2021 by dreager1

Megaman has had a ton of manga titles over the years. Naturally that also includes one shot adventures here and there. This is one of those and it’s pretty fun. Naturally when you’re only 1 chapter long at exactly 40 pages, there is only so much you can do. The nice flip side of that is pretty much the entire chapter is one nonstop fight scene so that’s always fun. I’d recommend checking this out.

The continent of Mu has risen from the sea after many generations. Dr. Wily manages to dash inside and take the place over before the heroes could do anything. He then used its infinite power to resurrect every robot master he has ever created. Megaman will have to put a stop to this before the Earth takes any more damage but can he really defeat this many opponents? Dr. Light has given Megaman an unnamed power up in order to handle these guys so we’ll just have to hope that it’s enough. If anyone can get Megaman ready for this then I suppose it is up to him.

One thing you’ll notice off the bat is that Megaman seems a little more unhinged than usual. Not to say he’s crazy or anything but he’s just really angry the whole chapter which is a lot different from how you usually see the guy. Typically Megaman is all about peace. He doesn’t really like to fight but does what he has to in order to win This Megaman is constantly yelling about how he’ll destroy everyone as he ravages through the base. There is a bit of a time crunch here since Megaman has to stop Wily fast so I guess we could chalk this up to nerves and stress. At the very least that’s probably the safest bet I guess. It’s a very different portrayal for sure but also one of his more powerful ones. What other title would have Megaman beating dozens of robot masters like this right?

The art is also solid. It certainly looks a little more modern than the others I had read. There’s more detail in each of the drawings and it works quite well for the fight scenes. You can definitely feel the action in each page and it works really well. You can feel the danger the planet is in. I think part of why Megaman is portrayed so violently is to show at the end how he has accepted the peace now. See, there is a voice in his head the whole time telling him that she wants peace and things like that. Now Megaman will be able to really understand and accept this. I’d argue that Megaman is usually an expert on peace as it is…but that seems like it makes sense.

With a 40 page chapter like this there isn’t a whole lot more to talk about. There are so many enemies that they all go down before they can really have much of a personality. You either already know these guys or you don’t. Megaman is really the important character here and I guess Wily. Wily has built another pretty powerful suit of armor/robot that he can use to crush Megaman although in this case it might be more accurate to say he built a control rig for it. The suit was already there from the Mu Continent and it has infinite energy which is pretty impressive. I guess they had a genius even smarter than Wily at the time.

If it really was the Earth itself asking Megaman for help and that powered him up in the end, I guess X has company now since the same thing happened in the X3 manga. It is nice to see a defender of justice like Megaman actually get acknowledged by the planet. It seems like it happens pretty rarely but if the planet is sentient then you do hope that it can recognize that at least one person is trying to save it.

Overall, This was a pretty solid one shot. It really just threw us right into the action and worked as a complete story. Naturally if it were a few more chapters we could have fleshed out more of the battles and maybe gotten some big characters like Protoman in, but as it stands this was a satisfying adventure. It also shows that Megaman was definitely not playing around at all this time. He was just determined to completely obliterate anyone who stood in his path. I really think Wily caught Megaman on a bad day, perhaps he should have postponed his invasion of Earth. If you like action and/or Megaman then you should definitely read this. Not to mention that you’ll have it finished in under 10 minutes anyway so it’s not like it’ll take a lot of time.

Overall 7/10

Face/Off Review

Posted on March 18, 2021 by dreager1

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

Face/Off is definitely one of the more intense action thrillers I’ve seen in quite a while. Everything really just keeps happening nonstop as we get many different gunfights and the body count is massive. Prepare yourself for an explosive time here as both of the main characters definitely will not be holding back this time around. It definitely has its share of slip ups but I will say this for the film, it does deliver on a lot of hype.

The movie starts with Castor attempting to assassinate Sean Archer, an agent of special forces. Unfortunately instead he ends up hitting Sean’s son. Castor decides to leave at that point although I was surprised he didn’t just take a second shot. We cut to 6 years later where Archer has finally tracked Castor down and defeats him after a big fight scene. The issue is that he has already planted a big bomb in the city that could destroy thousands. The only way to find out the truth is for Sean to go undercover using Castor’s face. There is a surgical operation that allows a person to swap faces with another and it’s actually a reversible process so supposedly there is no risk. Sean must now enter a top security max prison in order to find out about the bomb but meanwhile Castor wakes up and steals Sean’s face. With both people assuming the other’s identity, a game of cat and mouse begins.

When I say this film is nonstop action that’s almost an understatement. The amount of explosions here is absolutely crazy with both characters going at it over and over again. The movie has great music to accompany the fights and the slow-mo can be pretty fun with the jumping gun shots. Gunfights can get quite stylistic when you do them right and this crew definitely knows how to handle them. The standout fight for me may actually be the very first one at the airport though although there’s a lot of high quality ones.

You’ll notice right away that this film has quite the body count though. Characters are being blown to shreds left and right. If you’re a supporting character or even a main one you are absolutely not safe here. There were a few characters that died rather unexpectedly if you ask me. I’d point to at least a certain hospital scene for that where there were two characters that I thought were going to make it out of this. Then if you’re any kind of nameless grunt trying to get into the action that’s game over. Some characters are almost literally minding their own business but just get shot anyway while the characters are fighting. By the ending, while it’s an uplifting one, there’s a bitter sweet element to it since Castor manages to take out so many people. Even Sean is forced to take out a bunch while he is undercover since he needed to get out alive.

The movie goes out of its way to make Castor as unlikable and irredeemable as possible though. In his very first scene he makes it abundantly clear that he is absolutely crazy and this never lets up. It does get to the point where he begins to hold the film back though. He has so many bad scenes that you’ll lose count. You’re supposed to dislike the character of course but I think the movie could have shown a bit more restraint with him.

Meanwhile Sean is a good character. He is put in a very tough situation most of the time though. Things are not easy on him for over half the film. I have to say that I definitely wouldn’t have agreed with his decision to swap faces in the first place but at least he was doing it for the right reasons. The rest of the film is him just having to deal with the consequences of that. He’s a good guy and even ends up helping out with someone else’s kid who would have been in a tough spot without him. His instincts as a parent kicked in quick and I definitely had no qualms with him as the lead.

This film can definitely be very violent at times. It’s certainly an old school thriller in that sense with people being shot dead left and right. You’ve also got the face operations of course which are gruesome almost by definition. The whole process looks crazy painful and even just imagining how someone would look without a face is not a pleasant sight. As for the constant explosions, I will admit that they almost get funny after a point. At the very least it’s hard not to laugh near the end when the two characters are lighting the city on fire because of how over the top it is. The same fight scene is extended multiple times so that the fight gets restarted each and every time you think it’s about to be over. Definitely, a good way to keep you guessing on when it’ll actually end though.

Face/Off has some decent humor scenes though. I liked when the scientist got summoned to Castor at the hospital and still had the guts to ask what he wanted. It was rather obvious as Castor pointed out so it’s not the kind of thing you’d usually have to ask twice about. I guess he was stressed out which is why he didn’t put 2 and 2 together though. There’s other funny moments like that as well and it helps the film keep a light tone even with how violent and dark other aspects of it could be.

I also liked the scenes when Castor and Sean would face off. There was a lot of pretty intense battles between them with strong dialogue and generally hype scenes. Likewise at the very end of the film we also get a really good standoff between a bunch of the characters. I always like standoff moments like that. They’re quite tense and test out how quick on the draw you are.

The thing is, Castor gets away with a ton in this film. While he’s masquerading as Sean, he gets to abuse his power quite a lot. That’s not even getting to the fact that he was with Sean’s wife for a while and that whole plot-line’s just not pleasant even if you don’t really see anything. The idea of two guys getting to switch their lives in a thriller context is definitely a unique one and this film really tried to make the most of it, but ultimately it just made too many mistakes for me to say it’s a good title.

Overall, Face/Off is a very long film and you can feel the length. That said, unlike some films that are this long, I wouldn’t say that’s a bad thing. On one hand, usually you want a long film to feel short because it means that the film really breezed by, but on the other hand, I think you can appreciate just how much this film was able to accomplish in its run-time. The movie was able to really delve into this plot and the various ramifications of it a lot more than it ever could have done so in around 90 minutes. Really if the film would have laid off of the violence and heavily toned down Castor’s character, I think everything would have worked out really nicely. It’s not like it would be a perfect film but those two changes would have made a world of difference. Castor ultimately just goes way too far so you aren’t able to enjoy pretty much any scene where it’s just him so he holds the whole thing back.

Overall 4/10

Fate/Grand Order – Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia Review

Posted on March 14, 2021 by dreager1

After watching the film a while ago it was time to jump into the show. I really like the idea of the company just giving people a choice on which arc to adapt. Instead of adapting the whole mobile game, just have the fans pick their two favorite arcs. One for the show and then one for the movie. Additionally, it’s not like it’s taking a different route or anything. The show literally picks up as if it’s season 7 of an ongoing series. There’s even flashbacks to scenes we’ve never seen and the characters just jump in with no recap or explanation. Technically there is an episode 0 which quickly runs through things as well as re-adapts the movie but it’s more of a general compilation. This is something I wouldn’t mind getting more mainstream. Your favorite manga never get an anime adaption and it’s over 20 volumes at this point? Quickly get a 12 episode anime to cover the final arc. It’s just genius because this also opens the door to adapting the older sagas at some point if the company really wants to.

After the recap of the previous 6 singularities, the show opens up with the heroes already completing the first 6 singularities and getting ready to complete the final one. This time they have to travel to the distant past in Babylonia where the age of the gods met its end. Their mission is to correct the timestream and locate the Holy Grail. It won’t be easy though as King Gilgamesh is already in a pretty big war with the three goddess alliance. These beings are immensely powerful and can’t be defeated so easily. Still, Ritsuka is determined to accomplish this mission and asks Gilgamesh if they are able to defeat the goddesses, can they have the grail? Meanwhile, you’ve got quite a few factions taking advantage of the chaos such as a being who claims to be the legendary hero Enkidu, although that hero should have been long dead by now. The heroes also meet up with a girl named Ana and Merlin, the most well known mage of all time. With their help, perhaps the heroes have a fighting chance.

The show manages to fit a whole lot into the 21 episodes. Pretty much every episode either contains a big fight or some kind of plot twist. You can expect each episode to never miss a beat as the plot moves forward. One thing you will be impressed by right at the start is the smooth animation. The show’s hand drawn style is definitely on point with a lot of great movement and high speed action. Every character looks like they can be a top tier threat with how they are dishing out the special attacks. The show also uses some CGI at times, particularly with Mash like in her opening fight scene but it’s handled really well. I suspect maybe they are trying to emulate Ufotable a bit with how they seamlessly meld the two together. This animation company certainly did a great job with this show. Some shows can make it difficult when you’re trying to find screenshots for the review like even Beyblade which has great animation but getting a screenshot isn’t always easy. This show has the opposite problem where there are so many great ones it can be hard to choose.

Naturally the soundtrack is also really good. It has that opera style feel for a lot of the bigger fights. I also liked the main goddess theme for Ishtar whenever she would appear for a fight. It definitely has that desert feel to it but with a lot of action so you felt like a big battle was about to come in. The technicals on the show were never in doubt throughout this. The opening is a little more low key next to the other Fate intros but it’s still very catchy.

As expected the dialogue is really good with each character being quite distinctive. There’s a lot of planning and strategizing going on throughout this war. Particularly since Gilgamesh and the humans appear to be on the losing side they have to do a lot of planning to try and make a comeback here. His very regal style of talking is always great. The guy embodies being a king through and through which keeps reminding me of why he is one of the greatest Fate characters of all time. I’d still ultimately say Archer is number 1, but Gilgamesh is a very close #2. This may even be his best portrayal yet although he’s great in all of them. His best design is still the casual design with the black shirt though.

With a series as intense as Fate you can always expect things to get a little violent though. You have characters being tortured and civilians slaughtered by the dozens. The most intense episode may be when the creatures show up in Uruk to dispose of the humans. They do succeed to quite a large extent as almost every human is destroyed. They’re either sliced to death or eaten and if you’re a human you’re probably hoping for the former. One of the heroes is captured and tortured a bit before being consumes which was definitely not fortunate for her. On the whole I wouldn’t say the show ever gets quite as up there as Fate/Zero or Demon Slayer in how intense it can get, the show is definitely not afraid to really blow people up.

As the show is in the desert you can expect a lot of wildlife. Now, the monsters here are created using magic so you could call them more magical creatures than animals. Still, I’d say there’s less of a distinction. Going back to my Pacific Rim review, I would consider these creatures to be more like true animals. It’s not exact, but I wouldn’t say any fight scene with the heroes beating up on them was quite so fun. I was always eager to get the characters back to fighting each other instead. Also, it’s not like the creatures ever stood a chance so after a while it’s not as if it is super impressive to beat them anyway. I’d prefer the battle with the new human creatures.

Those monsters were quite deranged to be sure and since they can talk that did make them legitimately spooky. Now this is how you introduce a powerful enemy invasion force that can be feared. They may almost be too powerful in some respects as one of them was strong enough to overpower Mash so with an army it’s hard to see how the heroes can stay alive for long. We have some super OP fighters on our side but even the goddesses were taking some hits. It’s a good thing Ritsuka is around to refill their energy or things could get a little tricky.

On a final note for things holding the show back a bit, this one does indulge itself a bit more than the other shows with the fanservice. It can be a bit cheeky the whole time with a lot of specific camera angles while the characters are fighting. Mainly I’d say this tends to happen to Mash and Ishtar. As I’ve mentioned in the past, a character design alone I wouldn’t usually consider as fanservice. Even some of the crazier ones like say Quinella or Nami’s “battle suit” I wouldn’t say are too crazy on their own. It just depends on if the show decides to pay extra attention to this during the battle. In this case, that’s what happens whenever Ishtar fights. I wouldn’t say the fanservice ever gets crazy though. It’s consistently there but to a fairly low level. Only slightly notable because the main Fate shows never really have much of that but I suppose this is more of a spinoff.

One of the fun things about the various Fate titles is always seeing who these heroes are. If you’ve heard of them, their weapon, or if you can predict their noble phantasm based on that. I’m not the biggest scholar on classic characters of legend but Samurai Warriors and Dynasty Warriors have helped quite a lot with at least being able to put a face to some of these names. Quite a few of the heroic spirits in this title like the guardians Gilgamesh sends to fight Gorgon appear in those games. In this one we get a bunch of big characters including ones not seen in Fate before now like Merlin and we even have Leonardo Da Vinci. The show makes good use of these guys.

In a power level context the show can be a bit tricky at times. Not because it’s hard to see their powers but because you can’t always be sure of their max limit. The heroic spirits are sort of like batteries. They naturally decay if they aren’t fighting for a while and they do need to be charged up either with rest or Ritsuka just using his amplification abilities. Ishtar for example looks consistently powerful but she isn’t able to use her most powerful abilities until the end of the series when Ritsuka is able to give her a boost. Since the same would be true for the other characters, it is hard to say who would truly be the strongest.

That said, you can usually work your way back based on who appeared first and who appeared last. One thing with this show is you can expect the main characters to get beat up quite thoroughly in just about each episode. Even when they recruit a goddess to their side they end up getting wrecked by the next one. At one point they get 2 and are still losing. They just have the unfortunate luck of recruiting the weakest one first or at least it certainly seems that way. The battlefield and even time of day are important in seeing who wins in a fate matchup though. I’ve been talking a lot about the general aspects of the show though so it’s time to discuss the characters.

Ritsuka is the main character here and he’s pretty solid as you would expect. He’s been through quite a lot by this point in the story but he hasn’t gotten jaded or lost hope. He’s always ready to lend a hand to the other fighters. He may not be able to fight all that much on his own but he still jumps into action. Definitely a good hero to keep everyone together. Then you have his main partner Mash. She is admittedly a bit on the weaker side but as a pseudo servant it does make sense that she would be relatively low tier in the grand scheme of things. Get ready to see her lose in just about every episode though. If you’re a big fan of Mash then that could get a little tough to watch but she always fights well. You can see that she has experience, it’s just that there isn’t a lot you can do when you’re physically outmatched like that.

Then you have Ishtar who gets a huge role here. She’s a lot of fun and one of the standout characters. Now she is weaker than all of the goddesses but that makes sense for a few reasons including the fact that she doesn’t have her ultimate weapon. She probably cares about humans more than the other goddesses as well. I like her aerial fighting style and the theme that accompanies her scenes is always fun. She has a hard time showing her feelings but she is willing to take quite the beating to defend the heroes. Her outright confidence and determination easily allowed her to surpass the other goddesses as a character.

Next up is Enkidu or I should probably call him Kingu. It’s not like he is able to keep the charade up past episode 2 anyway. The real Enkidu is long gone but this guy looks just like him. I won’t spoil why that is but he makes for a pretty intense villain. Maybe a naive one though as he really doesn’t tend to think a few moves in advance at all. This results in him getting surprise hit and overwhelmed quite a few times. You’ll see his face twist with shock a lot. Considering that he is one of the strongest fighters in the series, he really doesn’t contribute much when it counts. He does give us some of the most dynamic fights in the series though. So I’m a bit torn on him on how much I like the character but his strength is the real deal.

Merlin is more of a hype character. He gets a lot of hype from everyone but never really does much. As someone who exists everywhere but will cease to exist everywhere if he dies, it’s an interesting predicament. He has a lot of confidence though and is good at dodging so he has that going for him. Ana is much more fun as an ally. She has a deal with Merlin involving things you won’t get to learn til the end but until the deal is fulfilled she will be helping the heroes. Her power level isn’t very high but she is a valuable ally to have since every person counts here. I liked her savage fighting style as well, it definitely comes in handy.

As for Gilgamesh, what can I say that hasn’t already been said? The guy is very regal and an excellent ruler of the kingdom. He understands his people and how to best utilize them. This isn’t a Gilgamesh that has grown overconfident or discarded humanity. He serves as King and believes in giving everyone their proper role in society. It’s easy to see why he is such a beloved king. his strategies may not always pan out but he’s a really fun guy and whenever you see him on screen you’re sure to be in for an entertaining scene. He has a good working relationship with everyone and the way he is always laughing fills you with confidence.

His most loyal employee is Siduri who is a nice person. She’s probably one of the only people who would dare talk back to him. She is able to understand what he is really saying beyond the bravado which is important. Then in the darker corners of the city you have a mysterious being of shadow. There’s not much I can say about him but while his role is pretty small, it’s also a critical one. He gave the show a solid fight scene as well.

Ushiwakamaru definitely has a big role here that’s for sure. She’s a fun character and I like how much speed she uses in her fights. She’s definitely not a fighter you will be forgetting anytime soon. Alas, this is Fate so don’t expect everyone to have a happy ending. From all of the characters she probably has it rougher than most. At least she never allowed the villains to break her. I’m not sure I buy her going down when the speed advantage was so great but I suppose if she decided to never run away eventually she would tire, although I expect it would be days later.

Then you have Benkei and I really didn’t like him. There aren’t a lot of bad characters in the show, up til now they’ve all been good in fact. This one is an exception though. He chickens out when it counted and that caused quite a lot of grief and casualties. Ultimately he just wasn’t abe to make it up to the characters. Leonidas gets a smaller role but at least he did charge in when it counted. The heroes probably would have fared better if they had teamed up instead of going 1 on 1 but at least he slowed the villains down.

Jaguar Warrior is an interesting character because initially she is so strong that she wipes the floor with all of the characters but then slowly but surely they don’t take her seriously. It’s not like she can do anything against the goddesses I suppose. She’s a fun character to have around though. Probably not someone I would trust to be honest but if you have absolutely no other options then she is not a bad ally to have.

There’s also the Mage King but he doesn’t technically appear here outside of flashbacks so I don’t think there is much to say about him. He seems like he is going to make for a great final boss though. Back at base you also have Da Vinci and Roman but they don’t do much. Roman is still hiding a lot of secrets to be sure so the heroes are going to have to be careful with him. Da Vinci seems safe but you never know. They’re usually here just to give us some quick moments back at present but more often than not they don’t have any ideas for how to deal with the villains.

Now lets talk about the three goddesses and the main villain. First up is Gorgon who is pretty powerful. Not only does she have a whole lot of poison thanks to her snakes but looking directly at her is a bad idea. Cursed eyes are always lethal in any anime, but especially in Grand Order they’re given a lot of significance. I’ll give her some props for being so powerful. She has a bit of a 1 track mind with how she wants revenge on humanity and doesn’t get as much character as the other goddesses but makes her presence felt with how long she remains as the big villain here.

Then you have Quetzalcoatl who has the toughest name to spell. She is all about combat and likes fighting people 1 on 1. There are some twists that help with redeeming her character. She is quite strong as you’ll see when she easily wrecks the main cast. Her final fight is also quite the spectacle as she unleashes some pretty crazy attacks on everyone. She is definitely a memorable character to have around for sure.

Finally there is Ereshkigal. Here’s the thing, she seems like a very nice character in the present. Someone you can sympathize with and all. But the flashback is hard to ignore where she repeatedly tortured Ishtar for a while before stripping her of her decrees and leaving. In the show they don’t explain it too much but decrees and orders are part of your power level. The higher your divine right and the more authorities you have, the harder you will be to defeat. Ereshkigal really put Ishtar in a dangerous spot and you don’t just torture someone without being a psycho. So I liked Ereshkigal in the present but she seems like a completely different character than what we know of her.

Finally we have Tiamut, the big boss of the season. I have to say that she was handled really well. It’s pretty much a trope for a show to always end off with a giant monster or just a giant enemy in general. I see even Fate went this route. Usually I’d be rolling my eyes at this but this may be the best example of how to handle it. Tiamut is more intimidating than the villain from the latest One Piece film, My Hero’s first film, Godzilla: all 3 Netflix films, etc. The reason is because Tiamut is effectively portrayed as a god and her invincibility is absolutely crazy.

The way the show is able to pull this off is because of how stellar the animation looks. Each cut is just crystal clear and she feels like a walking disaster. I also liked how her eyes have actual stars in them. I just love anime eye effects like that where the colors are really crazy and vibrant. Having symbols is an added bonus. So Tiamut was just a real threat as she took the final attacks of so many fighters and just kept on going. I haven’t seen another giant type fighter look so impressive, maybe ever. Her design is memorable, her durability is some of the best I’ve ever seen, etc. This is just the proper way to handle a giant opponent. I won’t go as far as to say it would beat having a humanoid sized opponent at the end but I can appreciate the angle here. You could make a case for Tiamut maybe even being the strongest Fate character of all time since she is invincible in the real world and even in the underworld she is almost impossible to stop. 1 on 1 who could stop her?

It’s no surprise that the show would have an out of this world climax though. The show just has such high standards for the soundtrack and animation that you knew they would go all out. It’s also easy to see why fans would vote for this one to be the big arc to get an anime adaption because I wonder if the others would have such a grand spectacle to end things off on. Surely this one can’t be topped right? I suppose we can’t rule it out but that would be difficult. I fully expect the climax of the book to have something big with the Mage King though. Maybe summoning a bunch of other heroes to come in and help would be ideal.

As a final note, the show also has some pretty good humor. There’s a lot of solid banter throughout. Gilgamesh and Ishtar both tend to have a lot of the best scene with regard to this. The writing is on point so it almost goes without saying but I did want to give the humor a mention. It helps give you a breather from when things are getting so deadly although there isn’t much time to rest in the second half once the new humans start showing up to eat everyone. The first half is more low key in that respect as we’re introduced to the characters and see the heroes lose a bunch as they slowly get used to this world.

Overall, Fate/Grand Order -Babylonia arc is a pretty fun show. It’ll definitely take you on an emotional rollercoaster with all the epic fights as both sides keep trying to gain ground in this war. Grand Order seems to really go all in with bringing in so many different characters from the franchise. This one seems to be definitely gotten the most high tier with crazy stakes but I’d still look forward to seeing the older arcs at some point. With the season ending on a huge cliffhanger for the climax of the first main arc of the game, hopefully that gets adapted at some point. The animation is definitely top tier. I would still say Ufotable is the best but CloverWorks absolutely establishes themselves as a top tier contender with this title. Pretty much every episode has a huge fight scene and the animation is always excellent. Not just in motion but a lot of the still shots if you pause the scren. Yes, that even includes the CGI which is better than most competitors. If you’re a big Fate can then you definitely need to check this out if you haven’t already. Also if you just enjoy action then this will still be a pretty big title to check out. The animation is absolutely on point and the characters each have their own distinctive fighting styles. We’ll see what the Fate series has in store next.

Overall 7/10

Megaman 4 Review

Posted on March 14, 2021 by dreager1

After wrapping up that last Megaman manga it was time to dig deep and check out the next one. Once again this is only one volume so it makes for a pretty quick read at only 5 chapters. It’s a fun enough story that throws you right into the action and does the game justice. It’s always fun to be able to jump back into the world of Megaman.

The story starts off with Megaman beating up Wily again and heading home. He’s just in time because Roll is going shopping to grab stuff for Dr Light’s surprise birthday party. Megaman offers to go with her and even saves a kid from getting hit in traffic. Unfortunately that’s when a bunch of robots start attacking the cities and the whole world is in peril. This time it’s not Wily, but Dr. Cossack who is the big bad. He has control over 8 robot masters and doesn’t intend to stop his mad quest for power. Megaman is forced to suit up once more to take this guy down but is he really ready to defeat such an opponent? Hopefully because he likely won’t get a second chance if he is defeated here.

Since 8 robot masters have to go down in under 5 chapters as well as giving us enough time to deal with the extra levels, Megaman really mows them down. The first few fighters like Pharaohman and Diveman do well enough but after that Mega Man basically no sells them. He essentially beats every robot master within 5 chapters before giving one for Cossack and one for the final boss. It’s not surprising though because Megaman should be completely crushing these guys. He’s just on a different level and has enough raw power to destroy just about any opponent who gets in his way. He’s earned the Mega part of his name after all.

Megaman often gets compared to Astro Boy because they share a lot of similarities. I’d say that this is one such occasion as this Mega Man in particular feels a lot like Astro Boy. He’s a very nice guy living a day to day life but gets serious when the going gets tough. Like with Megaman X, the classic version doesn’t care for battle but he gets less emotional about it. Megaman just takes down the villains and keeps it moving. It’s just the way he handles these guys. Megaman’s a very streamlined fighter after all, nobody gets in his way for very long before he packs them up.

The artwork is also pretty solid. It looks a little more modern than the last adventure so the fight scenes are a bit better but it stays very clear. All of the character outlines are good and the layout is on point. As a result you’ve got a manga that you can read through very quickly. The writing is on point and the action is good so there’s really nothing negative to say here. Especially if you played through the game then you’ll probably be feeling pretty nostalgic when you read through the title. It’s always fun to see the familiar robot masters trying to get in Megaman’s way.

Naturally you can always expect Wily to make an appearance as well. That was definitely a lot of fun to be sure. Perhaps it was not unexpected because he had to show up sooner or later though. Protoman also got to appear for a change which was fun. The one thing is, he didn’t get to fight which is a shame. I feel like by having Protoman in, you just expect that he would at least get 1 action scene to himself. What’s the point if he doesn’t get to throw out any blows except to look cool. He saves someone which is hype but I think they should have added a scene where we see Protoman beating up some bodyguards or something.

The volume ends pretty suddenly when Megaman beats Wily so don’t expect an aftermath. Megaman just showed up to clean shop and that was the end of the battle. Presumably after that he will finally get to enjoy the Birthday party that everyone had been planning so nicely. Due to how direct the volume is with Megaman just running from battle to battle, there’s not a whole lot extra to say about it. The robot masters don’t appear long enough for any true discussion with them either since they appear and then get blasted without mercy by Megaman. They get their quick rematch with Megaman at the end when he has to fight them all again but they barely even get to talk before they’re shut down. It just goes to show how strong he is.

I suppose the emotional moment here would be Cossack’s plot since it’s not like he is exactly thrilled to be going up against Megaman. Still, he’s got to do what he’s got to do. Hostage situations always get tricky. I would have liked to have had some banter with the various doctors though. Seeing them all debate the classic question of robots would be fun and how they should be used or not used in society. Even if it’s a super simplified version that would have been fun too.

Overall, Megaman 4 is a very solid adaption. These one volume titles are always very easy to read. Personally it’d be fun if the series could be longer since you could really expand on each fight and give a little more story in between the battles. That said, you’d probably need to change the format of the story a bit if you wanted to add a lot of other scenes just because of the way there is typically no break in the attacks. It’s not like Megaman can just choose to stay home sometimes either. So until we get a more adventure styled Megaman manga like that, I’m definitely content to get a bunch of these smaller volumes. At the very least we got to have a giant Mettaur show up out of nowhere at one point which was definitely a blast. If you haven’t checked this one out yet, I would recommend doing so now.

Overall 7/10

Pacific Rim: The Black Review

Posted on March 14, 2021 by dreager1

I’ve been awaiting the Pacific Rim show for quite a while. From the start it looked like the show was doing all of the right things that the movies couldn’t quite capitalize on. I mean, I did enjoy both films pretty well to be honest and would definitely recommend them but the idea of Kaiju vs Robots has a lot of potential out of that. An animated format will always be the answer for taking something to the next level and The Black definitely pulls it off. I’d be game with them just continuing the rest of the franchise in this style.

The show starts off with introducing us to the main characters’ parents. They are trying to help with the evacuations particularly since their kids are still around but the government has declared this place as lost. The parents manage to protect everyone and then leave to go and find help. Unfortunately help never came and many years have passed. Taylor and Hayley are the two kids who couldn’t escape in time. As siblings they are quite close but have taken the loss of their parents in different ways. Taylor thinks he has to protect Hayley at all costs and wants to stay safe in the village until they return while Hayley is convinced that they are dead and thinks they need to leave. Well, their hand is forced when a Kaiju attacks. Taylor and Hayley take a test Jaeger (Giant mech suit) and escape. Their best bet is to try and find civilization but can they survive in this Kaiju wasteland?

There are 7 episodes out currently as season 1 concluded. I’m hoping we should get season 2 pretty soon. If they could fast track that and get it out quick that would be ideal. The show does manage to conclude a lot of the main plots pretty well but we’re just at the tip of the iceberg here. The show doesn’t reference the movies all that much beyond a few names you might recognize like easter eggs for the suit and the pilot. Otherwise this works as a standalone title which works for me. We’ve already got a pretty solid cast and world going on here after all. Then we can build to an eventual crossover so far. Right now we haven’t really had time for any aliens to show up for example so throwing that in will be cool.

A lot happens in these 7 episodes after all. We get a new villain faction and it’s hard to say if they are human or alien yet. My bet would be alien but it’s hard to guess. Either way they get the stinger at the end of the season and it’s a pretty hype way to get season 2 rolling. Then there is the bio form running around. Won’t get into specifics since that would definitely be a spoiler but it seems like an interesting take that’s different than what Uprising did. It’s another kind of fusion and based on the dialogue we should see some more of these soon.

Meanwhile the animation here is pretty solid. It looks like it’s straight out of a Fire Emblem cutscene. That video game kind of look works well and the animation’s pretty smooth. It may not be quite like Castlevania or a true anime look like that but it works well enough. The fights are also nice and colorful with the Kaiju and Jaegers. If you’re going to do CGI then this is the level you’ll want to be on. The soundtrack is a lot more forgettable though. I can’t say that I could really recall any themes by the end of this.

Taylor may take a little time to get going as one of the main characters but he does get better. Hayley handled the situation better initially but eventually Taylor came around. He still panics quite a bit and I see more character development incoming for him. At the end of the day he is ready to step in and help Hayley and is determined enough to reach his goal that he even goes through the solo diving process. Meanwhile Hayley is solid from the start with how she jumps into battle and always tries to have a plan. They make a good team and who knows, if Taylor had gone with her initially and helped with waking up the Jaeger then they may have had time to train a bit more.

Loa is the main A.I. for the bot and I like that she has some good personality here. The series is already hinting at an origin story for her. It’s hard to say how it’s going to play out. Is it simply that she used to be the A.I. for another Jaeger and the pilots have traumatized her or is there something more to it? A lot to explore here but she definitely helps to keep you guessing. Then you have Mei who is the best character of the season. She’s the right hand woman of Shane and so starts out as an antagonist. From the start you can see that she has a lot more humanity than the other members though. She’s not just going to destroy humans without giving them a chance.

She is also the most skilled human in the series. That doesn’t mean she will stand a chance against any of the Kaiju but it’s good to have a solid human fighter on board with how many corrupt people are out there. There’s no end to the humans trying to take them down. I imagine this will only continue as the seasons go on. Mei still has some more demons to get past since she isn’t quite 100% past them but I do think she’s at a point now where she is ready to actively participate and be a part of the team. I look forward to seeing this play out.

Then you have the main villain Shane. Effectively he’s a black arms dealer who sells things for a profit and makes sure that he always has some plan at the ready. The guy suffers a lot of losses to his troops though and doesn’t make for a great general. Just look at how he sacrificed so many brains in the experiment to try and get a pilot on the Jaeger. Not the smartest move when you already don’t have a lot of men and are living in a Kaiju wasteland. By the end of the season you’re sure he will be back but the guy doesn’t have a whole lot of resources left. You feel like it’s going to have to be a big coincidence that he ever catches up with them at this point.

Then you have Boy. Now, I think everyone will know exactly how his plot is going to go the instant you see him in the tube but I won’t say just in case. He has to be the weakest character though. Most of the time Boy is just holding the characters back. He doesn’t have much common sense so he runs off all the time picking on little animals. There’s nothing heroic about this guy for most of his screen time because a more heroic soul wouldn’t be attacking all these creatures. He gets the heroes into a lot of trouble all the time. I’m hoping he improves but his core personality is one that doesn’t usually change all that much so I admit that I am having some doubts here.

Then you have the mysterious Apex, a being that seems to be part Kaiju and part Mech. In the film we saw aliens piloting mechs by sort of infusing the two so this is like a more advanced version of that. It’s got a pretty great design and has a great role. Definitely one of the more hype characters and he gets a lot of really pivotal scenes. One of the best things about this guy is that he shows some real intelligence so I can call him a true character more than most. Whether we see an army of them soon or stick to just this one, I don’t see any passing the first. This guy will come in handy soon.

As for the Kaiju, we get to see quite a few as the series goes on. The Rippers which are like little dog Kaiju. I was a bit on the cuff with these guys. They were a little close to looking like real dogs. I would say there was just enough Kaiju where they weren’t, maybe in part because the blood is blue or they just didn’t show a whole lot of animal type mannerisms and mechanics compared to others. If any of them had been taken in as a pet or something it could have changed things entirely since the viewpoint shifts but it’s hard to say for this kind of thing. They are fairly weak though and only good against humans. Then you have the Eel who goes down awful quick. The best Kaiju personally is Acidquill. The two tendrills it shoots out are very impressive and I liked the fightstyle. That’s a good way for a Kaiju to stand out among its peers and this worked out quite well for it.

The Kaiju with the biggest role here is definitely Copperhead. He follows the heroes around quite a lot and is a very determined Kaiju. He gave us some solid fight scenes and made for a good opponent. Most of these Kaiju likely won’t be returning for the second season so we’ll see who the replacements are next time. As long as their are mechs, Kaiju will continue to show. Right now the humans are definitely on the back foot since the aliens can seemingly summon an infinite number of Kaiju to keep on bumping up the ranks. No wonder the humans are always running.

All right, time for a spoiler paragraph so skip this if you haven’t seen the show. It won’t be in depth spoilers but just my quick theories on things. So for the parents, I’m thinking right now that the Dad is dead but the Mom escaped. The reason for this is based on what we saw, the Dad definitely seemed to be crushed in the ship while the Mom did run out of the hatch in time. Now, why is the father’s body not there? Well, someone took it so perhaps the Sisters will turn him into a Kaiju or something like that. There’s a lot of possibilities so it’s hard to say for sure but it’s definitely going to be a pretty interesting path to watch.

Rim: The Black definitely has quite the body count at times. Someone’s head gets blown off, a village is blown up, etc. This is definitely not a world that has worked out very well for the humans. The show can have some violent moments on occasion like this but usually they are either mostly off screen or stylized quite a bit. The show has an intense atmosphere but at the same time by and large I wouldn’t call this a violent series all that much. Again, if the dogs had been more like real dogs then we may have had some real problems but as it is the show has stayed the course.

Part of what makes The Black so much fun is really just boiled down to the premise. Giant robots vs Giant monsters and the characters keep this working well. The main suit is Atlas Destroyer and I definitely like the design of this Jaeger. I also like that it becomes more of a hybrid later on which enhances the design anymore. I expect the main characters will be fighting a little more in the second season now that they are more experienced so that will be fun to see. There’s a lot of adventure and action throughout the show so you should be on the edge of your seat. The writing is also quite solid so the show ends up being really balanced and makes for good marathon watching. I saw all 7 episodes back to back after all and it definitely didn’t drag on.

As a final note, am I the only person who thinks Hayley completely looks like Link from Breath of the Wild? I think it’s due to using a similar shading system but you would really mistake her for Link easy. I’d also say she has a strong resemblance to Samus from Metroid. I guess you could say that some similarities can be drawn from Link to Samus by extension and I would say that is true at least in Breath of the Wild. Maybe it’s just a character design that is easy to make you think of other characters but the instant the trailers came out I remember thinking that right away and that never changed during the show. It’s just a random observation but it was interesting.

Overall, Pacific Rim: The Black is a great show. I had been pretty hyped for this ever since the trailer since it looked so dynamic and the show did not disappoint. It definitely ends up finishing in the blink of an eye but it really delivered on everything the show promised. The characters are a lot of fun and the fights are dynamic. The water type effects when trading out blows or when they are used in place of the blood is an interesting one. It could have been hit or miss but it works well in this one. The show opens up a lot of plot lines to be completed at some point in the future. I’ll be looking forward to how that goes. I’m sure there will be a lot of theories on everything going on right now. Lets see if Rim keeps going strong and finally re-establishing Rim as one of the premiere mech titles.

Overall 8/10

Beyblade: V-Force Review

Posted on March 13, 2021 by dreager1

Beyblade is ready to make its big return with this second season. The original Beyblade season was great, no doubt about that. However, this season takes things to a completely new level as it easily jumps up to one of the best anime out there. That’s right, this one is an easy 9 no questions asked. You’ll get to see a ton of hype duels and a bunch of great new characters. Effectively this season accomplishes everything that the first did and then even improves upon it.

The season starts with explaining that the Bladebreakers have gone their separate ways. Effectively the group has broken up since each member has gone their separate ways. Unfortunately a group of mysterious individuals appear and manage to defeat or at least tie every member of the Bladebreakers. Tyson in particular gets slammed twice by the mysterious Ozuma. These new enemies intend to steal their bit beasts so the Bladebreakers decide to reunite to stop them. This group known as the Sacred Shields aren’t the only group after them though. You’ve also got a group of scientists who keep on sending bounty hunters and trained professionals after them as well. With everyone wanting a piece of the team, can the heroes really escape?

The first episodes are really about establishing the new group led by Ozuma and allowing the heroes to get used to Bey battles at this level again. One thing I was surprised about was Kai’s sudden retirement. That plot didn’t really work for me. So Kai retired because there was nobody left who was worthy to fight and yet it’s not like he beat Tyson the last time so why retire? You’d think he would at least want to end on a win first before stepping out of the game and Wyatt even points that out. Wyatt’s a kid at school who knew Kai and his role is actually rather big due to the influence he left behind on Kai. I wasn’t a fan of the guy personally and stealing someone’s Beyblade is never the right answer. Still, he was right that Kai shouldn’t just ignore a fight like this, especially when someone is targeting him.

Kai does recover from the slow start though and did put up a good fight against his opponent. In general the Saint Shields are a lot more interesting than the scientist villains so whenever the focus was on them that was definitely a good thing. The season really started out with a bang by introducing these Saint Shields and having them easily dismantle the main characters. They didn’t waste any time with that episode 1 fight coming in to the mix of a new rock song. That has to be one of the most influential fights in the series just because of how sudden it was. I always like the plotline where a hero just became world champion or beat the best there was and suddenly is defeated by a new challenger. It really establishes the new villain as being tough.

Naturally this can be tough to execute because you also might just not buy into it. Like Tyson was shattering universes with his Beyblade and now he can’t beat this guy? In some ways I would say they’ve scaled down the feats from the first season so don’t expect the Beyblades to look quite as powerful. Still, the intensity is always present in the battles which is the important thing. The animation is a lot different for the actual Beybattles here but I was definitely enjoying them quite a lot in the season. In general I would even say the battles were better here. In part because the season had the heroes powering up a lot more.

You could mistake this for DBZ as the characters start yelling and powering up their Beyblades. This was executed exceptionally well and really made you engaged in what was about to happen next. The character designs aren’t quite as good as season 1 though even if I think the animation is a little better. The characters just don’t look nearly as powerful. Tyson was ripped in season 1 and now he looks like a kid. Kai’s new outfit also isn’t nearly as cool as the old one. They do keep their strength though even if it doesn’t show like Tyson being able to race across the entire city. At the very end of the season we also get some power levels introduced to the series which was cool. I had definitely not been expecting that.

So the first half of the season is really solid but it’s the final chunk where the series kicks it into high gear. First, with the scientists out of the way, we get the final battles with the Saint Shields. One of the fights takes place during a rainy battle at the amusement park which was a lot of hype. Kai and Ray got to tag team against one of the big opponent teams. Then we had Ozuma and Tyson finally have their big rematch. It was a terrific way to end the arc and you couldn’t ask for better.

The final arc is the best though. A new kid named Zeo has been hanging around with the heroes for a while. He even saved them from the Saint Shields at one point. Well, he goes from being a happy, mild mannered kid to a really intense villain almost over night. The heroes aren’t sure what to do about this yet but there isn’t much time to think about it. The World Championships are starting up again so the Bladebreakers have to defend their title. This time the tournament is in a 2 on 2 setting though where the teams compete in a best of 3 set, one at a time. The bladebreakers split into two teams. You also have the Saint Shields stepping in, the hunters King and Queen, two of the international fighters from the earlier team that got mind controlled and of course Zeo’s team. That means that you have every big character in the season all rolled into one big tournament.

It would have been fun to have seen some of the season 1 guys as well but to be honest most of them would probably get stomped and the season 2 fighters are more interesting anyway. The more the better though if you wanted to make the tournament last a few more episodes. Every single duel in this tournament is incredible and a big part of why this season will be so hard to beat. Every duel just draws you in because of how strong each character’s motivation is. For example, I would say the big highlight battles in the tournament are Ozuma vs Zeo, Kai vs Zeo, and of course Tyson vs Zeo. There are a lot of other hype battles to be sure but in each fight the hero really wants to take Zeo down no matter what.

This leads to a ton of solid back and forth. The soundtrack is also so amazing in the season that each duel is really built up. The first season’s soundtrack was already excellent and this one took it to the next level. It reduced the amount of time the weaker songs played and even introduced some new ones. Swing Low is the standout theme here for sure which always shows up when the opponent is dangerous. Whenever you hear that theme you know things are about to get real.

This climax can hold its own with any anime. Then you also have the fun tournament meetup scene where the fighters get to interact. It’s a small thing but I always love to see this moment especially when it leads to a little fighting the way that this one did. King and Queen definitely love to stir the pot. They are even bold enough to directly cheat in one of the tournament battles. If you ask me that should have automatically disqualified them but of course they are allowed to proceed a bit since the judges just want to see good battles. Otherwise you feel like the Saint Shields may have actually won that battle. I was surprised at how quickly King turned over a new leaf by the end though. Hopefully they return at some point.

Tyson is a fantastic main character as always. You’ll notice that he does seem to be a lot more tense than usual here though. He picks fights with the characters quite a lot to the point where he is always breaking up the band. Being the champion of the world has certainly gotten to him. That said, his skills are still the real deal. If not for Dragoon chickening out on him he may have very well had fewer losses by the end of the series. When he’s not blowing up at everyone Tyson also does have a ton of great lines where he does pat himself on the back. A high energy main character like Tyson tends to always be a lot of fun. He enhances every scene he is in and is just fun to root for. He gives a good amount of pep talks as well. I’d still go with Kai as the best character but it’s awful close.

Then you have Ray who is the team’s consistent third strongest member as always. He is a blast to have around and I always like when a series has the big three established. Think One Piece, Saint Seiya, DBZ, etc. You can always count on Ray to go in there and get some wins. In some ways he even looks better than Tyson as Ray never even entertains the idea of cheating while the others get tempted to do so during the tournament. Ray is all about fighting with honor and to the end. His fights tend to get more intense than the others with how much physical punishment he takes, but Ray always gets back up. It’s too bad that he was the only one who didn’t get to fight Zeo, that would have been fun.

Max is around the whole time so he has a pretty big role but he always tends to get overshadowed by the other members. His Beyblade fighting style is all about defense and to his credit it is handled rather well. He is always relevant in the battles and gets a good fight to end the series. I’m not the biggest fan of Max but he’s fun enough and a good friend to have. At the end of the day he’s a nice guy who fights fair so what’s not to like right?

Kai is the main rival and so of course he is a blast here. Again, I wasn’t big on his first episode though with the whole retiring and then mellowing out. It just didn’t feel like Kai, especially just letting an opponent stomp him like that. As the season went on he quickly rose back to his old levels though and that was great to see. He really serves as a mentor to the group and was probably the only one actually making sure Hilary was okay during the big fights like saving her from the boulder and a big fall. Kai was also determined to stop the part hunters and did a great job. He always brings a ton of intensity to the battles which is important.

Hilary is a new addition to the cast and she’s fun enough. She gets a lot of fun banter with Tyson. Tyson certainly takes a lot of shots at her but she can dish them out just as well which makes for a pretty good balance. If she could duel that would be even better since she could help out in the climax but as it is she’s solid. I prefer her to Kenny who is technically more important to the battles but at the same time I’ve just never been a big fan. He should duel at this point and he is always doubting the team and putting them through a lot of training. Dizzy doesn’t do much as the A.I. but she gets some good one liners and tends to be pretty sarcastic the whole time.

Lets talk about some of the other big characters here. First up is Zeo of course since he is the big villain. He was a fun hero so it made for a fun character arc. I do have to say right off the bat though that I still don’t buy how he was able to take on the complete range of Saint Shields with a single blow and then go back to rookie status after that. I wouldn’t say Beyblade is the tightest when it comes to power levels but that just felt like a stretch. None of the characters seemed to think it was off either. Even if it was a surprise attack, the match should have just kept going.

I also have to admit Zeo’s reasoning for turning evil is very weak and does make him look bad. At the end of the day he turned against his friends incredibly easy which was disappointing for them. Zeo makes for an excellent villain but I will have to say that I’ll remember him as a traitor pretty well too. So, great character but his betrayal was too sudden and too easy. I did like the explanation for why he was so strong by the end though, that did make a lot of sense.

Then you have the various Doctors. Doctor K probably had the most personality since she actually got kicked out and then went right back into the ring with her own team. You have to admire her persistence that’s for sure. She even grabbed a gun to try and shoot the tops herself so you can’t say she does things halfway. Then there’s Doctor B who gets scared a lot. He does a lot of the grunt work of actually challenging the team and bringing the robots so kudos for that. He’s just never really much of a threat though.

Dr Zagart is someone you don’t mess with though. I’d have liked to see him duel a bit too but he does have much more of an imposing presence about him. The guy feels like a main villain and you can tell that he’ll back it up as needed. Much more so than Gideon who basically gets shoved aside and frightened by all of the other villains. You feel bad for him because essentially he is a henchman who is forced to act like a leader until he is tossed aside. Cool character design though. By the end of the series there are so many layers to the hierarchy in the organization that it’s quite impressive.

King and Queen are added near the end of the series but they leave an immediate effect. What better way to solidify yourself as a threat than taking Kai down right? I wasn’t exactly expecting Kai to be dispatched like that so this was a pretty epic way to introduce them. Both of these characters make for really epic fighters. I also like how both of them are ready to jump in when one of them is in trouble. Queen cheats on King’s behalf the first time against Kai and King returns the favor against Mariam. Their costumes are pretty cool too and at the end of the day the impressive thing is really that their skills are the real deal. Even without crazy power ups they were doing well.

That’s one thing you’ll see a lot of here compared to the first season though, rampant cheating everywhere. You have characters using Beyblades that keep on regenerating. Then you have the 2 on 1 battles like I just mentioned with King and Queen. Kai gets double teamed, Mariam gets double teamed, it happens a lot in the series. The most annoying part is when the heroes just get frozen though. If you see your teammate being double teamed you’re really obligated to jump into the fray immediately if you ask me. Anything less and you’re not watching your partner’s back as closely as you should.

Time to talk about the Saint Shields. Mariam gets a lot of development in the group. I like her confidence and she does like a clean fight. You could say she appreciates it more than some of the other members who just want to win at any cost. She certainly taunts Dunga quite a bit but the group is pretty close knit so they definitely get along well when it counts. Dunga is also a solid fighter although he’s naturally not quite as charismatic as Mariam. His brute strength takes him pretty far in the series but ultimately falters when it counts.

Then you have Joseph who probably gets the smallest role out of the group. He just doesn’t have a true character arc next to the others but does have consistent skills. The best member has to be Ozuma though. He seems to take this mission the most personal when it comes to trapping the Bit Beasts. He has a lot of passionate duels and the way he stole the show in the first episode of V Force was just incredible. His entrance was absolutely perfect and his victory over Tyson was decisive. There was nothing questionable, no dirty tricks or cheating. He just won straight up.

Then we have some of the other characters who appeared briefly and then got turned by the Psychic team. Salima tried to stay strong and even did some detective work but ultimately her will power was no match for the power of the dark blades. It was definitely unfortunate but nobody in the series seems to be able to resist its powers so she isn’t alone in this. Kane is another such victim. He was a decent rival to Tyson but you did feel like he had no real shot once he was a good guy again despite a pretty impressive intro. Both of these characters were pretty interesting. They got overshadowed but had a good run. I can’t say much for their two partners though. They were definitely not very impressive in the slightest.

Wyatt is someone who’s worth more than a mention since he was integral to Kai’s plot. My main issue with him is how weak willed he was. First he stole Kai’s Beyblade and then after that he was very quick to turn to the dark side again. I can see why Kai didn’t want to train him because this kid absolutely could not be trusted. No matter how many sympathetic flashbacks the guy got, I was never a fan. Finally we have Gordo who was Zeo’s partner in the finals. It’s clear that the whole purpose of his character was so Zeo could have a partner but the guy was fun. I liked his design which is a total reference to DBZ and the guy can fight so he was a worthy partner.

Right from the first episode V-Force establishes the stakes as being quite high. These fighters are extremely powerful and it’ll be fun to see Season 3 up the stakes again. The question is, can they top this one? The fun part with Beyblade is you know there is always a chance even if it’s hard to picture when you’re coming off the incredible highs of this climax. The season has incredible replay value to the point where you could easily go back to watch some of the big fights again right now. While I’ve mostly been praising the second half of the show, I do want to say the first half is great as well. A lot of the Saint Shield battles are there after all and you’re guaranteed a lot of great moments with the cast filled with action and intensity. You can’t go wrong there.

You can also tell how impressive a show is when there’s a fight where the outcome is already all but determined and they still keep you invested. In a fight like Kai vs Zeo you already know there’s no way Kai can end the arc prematurely. At the same time you want to see just how close he can get. Even fights with throwaway villains end up being a lot of fun because of how well the show executes the battles. There’s also a lot of solid character development everywhere. The main characters are obvious, but take someone like Hilary. She starts out despising Beyblade and giving Tyson a hard time but by the end she is as invested as the rest of the characters. Admittedly she was a lot of fun as one of the antagonists but as an ally she’s cool to. The show has a lot of fun with the dynamics and banter. It almost goes without saying but the writing is absolutely phenomenal here. The trash talking is top tier with Tyson getting a hype line about how he’s seen better duelists in Kindergarten at one point when fighting Ozuma. Lines like that are why Tyson’s still the Beyblade champ.

Overall, Beyblade V-Force is a terrific anime. It’s just incredible how intense the duels are and how excellent the characters are. You can really get behind this as one of the all time greats. I can really see why Beyblade got to be so great. There’s nothing that this show doesn’t execute at a masterful level. It definitely deserves to be up there with the all time greats like Yugioh and Cardfight. The best part is knowing that Beyblade still has tons of episodes and seasons left to go. If you haven’t watched Beyblade yet, you definitely need to change that as soon as possible.

Overall 9/10

Mega Man: Dr. Wily’s Revenge Review

Posted on March 10, 2021 by dreager1

After reading through all of the X titles it was time to finally take a look at the Mega Man 2 adaption. When you have a title like “Dr. Wily’s Revenge” you know things are about to get epic. Naturally the manga is a lot calmer than the X titles which makes sense since the classic era was known as a peaceful one next to X. To an extent the writers would need to be careful whenever doing a classic title since if they make things too explosive, it may seem a bit off. (Gigamix handled this exceptionally well though as they just went all out anyway and made the definitive Mega Man experience possible) This manga one shot plays it pretty safe and by the books so it’s an enjoyable experience too.

The manga starts with Mega Man finally having some relaxation time, but unfortunately it is cut short when Wily appears on the T with his new robot masters. They taunt Mega Man and dare the blue bomber to try and stop him. Mega Man is eager to rise to the challenge so he jumps in. These robots are tougher than the original ones though so Mega Man is going to have to fight smarter this time since he can’t just win with brute strength. It’s actually a theme throughout the volume about how fighting smarter is the way to go. It’s a pretty nice theme for sure although I like to think Mega Man’s specs should be better than some of these guys but maybe Wily really is the better inventor.

There are 8 chapters in this series and basically each chapter has him defeat around 2 of the Wily robots. Sometimes it spills over to the next chapter but by the end of the first 6 he has taken care of business. Then we get the climax of the series where Mega Man goes after the dragon and Wily’s final robots. One opponent I was surprised to see was Guts Man only he is now in a new form where he is some kind of vehicle hybrid. If he was in the game then I have to say I really don’t remember him. It was a nice way to acknowledge the original title though that’s for sure.

Mega Man has solid action in the volume and the artwork is good. It’s not nearly on the same level as X though with that series being a whole lot more detailed throughout but this one is going for more of a retro feel with the simpler character designs. It’s fitting for the original series and it’s easy to read so I’ll give it some kudos there. The fight scenes are on point and you’ll be blasting through the volume with ease. The story is pretty simple but to the point.

Thanks to the format of the game that this is adapting, you could say that this one shot is really just nonstop action throughout. It never lets up as Mega Man takes on challenger after challenger. Anyone who gets in his way is promptly shut down immediately. Nobody’s about to get one up over Mega Man even if they all start out strong. I will say there’s no way Mega Man should have been able to stop the guy who could literally stop time though. Now that’s an incredibly broken ability if I’ve ever seen one. I don’t see how you can think your way around such a power. Quickman’s speed was definitely impressive although time stop is a bit of a perfect counter to it which makes things pretty tough for Mega Man.

The writing is on point with Mega Man being portrayed as a lot more gullible than X. Both of them have similar ideals about world peace but Mega Man here is willing to take Wily at his word that he will just turn over a new leaf and immediately become a good guy after losing. Keep in mind for context that he made the exact same speech after the first adventure and it turned out he was lying. Why should this time be any different right? Mega Man chooses to see the best side in everyone even if it doesn’t always pan out. At the end of the day that’s just his style.

There was one twist I liked near the end of the volume that the manga had some fun with. When cornered, Wily turned into an alien and revealed that he was never an Earthling to start with. Of course this isn’t true, but it did allow us to have a proper battle scene where Mega Man has to go up against this mysterious looking alien and it was a fun way to handle the climax. You couldn’t help but feel that if this was real it would have been a pretty amazing twist. You certainly wouldn’t look at Wily the same way knowing that he was holding back so much power and pretending to be weak the whole time. It’s quite the crafty move.

The characters are all written pretty well too. Wily’s a crafty villain as always while Dr Light always shows up out of nowhere to quickly drop off an invention and provide some insight. His upgrades do come in handy. I was surprised to hear the giant dragon talking but he had some solid lines as well. The series also does a good job of explaining the video game mechanics as well so you can treat parts of the manga a bit like a walkthrough as Mega Man offers tips and tricks which can better help you navigate the obstacles in the actual levels. I thought that was pretty clever the whole time. After all, some people may be reading the manga because they weren’t sure how to complete the game so Mega Man points out every boss’ weakness as well as the best way to get across the invisible blocks and areas where you should use the hoverboard.

Overall, Mega Man: Dr. Wily’s Revenge is a fun manga. It’s not exactly going to light the world on fire with how great it is, but not everything needs to be the next big title. This manga is content to be a fairly standard action title featuring everyone’s favorite robot. It encompasses the game really well and provides a well rounded mech experience. I didn’t have any complaints with the title and look forward to reading the next installment. Hopefully we get Proto Man or Bass coming up but I always forget when those characters debuted in the games. Proto Man at least should be close I think.

Overall 7/10

Little Nikita Review

Posted on March 7, 2021 by dreager1

Time to take a look at a film about spies and traitors from a while back. It’s a fairly low key espionage film so don’t expect a lot of fight scenes or anything like that. In a way it’s a film where it feels like not a lot happens until the very end. It’s more of a slow burner. The film works well enough even though it’s not particularly exciting. I wouldn’t recommend it over other films in the genre but you should be entertained during the movie.

The movie starts off with someone murdering an employee of the IRS. It turns out that this employee had actually been a double agent from Russia. Interestingly enough, he was murdered by a Russian agent who has gone rogue. The agent’s codename is Scuba. He is blackmailing the Russians into paying him a large sum of money or he will continue to murder all of their operatives. They decide to send in agent Konstantin to take him down. Konstantin is given strict orders not to allow the media to catch wind of this and he has to bring Scuba in alive.

On the other side you’ve got agent Roy of the FBI who wants to avenge his partner who was murdered by Scuba a while back. He finds out that Jeff’s parents are sleeper agents and figures this could be a good way to finally track this guy down. Thing is, he has no proof and furthermore, as sleeper agents that means they haven’t actually done anything yet so it’s not like he can just go in and start shooting. He tries to convince their son Jeff to step in and find out the truth but involving a boy in a case like this is fairly reckless. Will it actually pay off for him?

The idea of the Russians being blackmailed by one of their own makes for a pretty interesting plot. I dare say that it is a pretty original one as well. Usually you might see this on the other side but for the Russians to be on the defensive was an original twist. Naturally due to this the CIA, FBI, and the rest aren’t too keen to get involved. They figure they will just let the Russians take each other out. The reason Roy is getting involved is because it’s personal this time. To avenge his partner he feels like he has to get involved and take Scuba down. He is told off the bat that he will not have any backup though.

With a premise like this you’d probably expect a whole lot of action right? Well, the wrinkle in this plan is that the sleeper agents aren’t really fighters. The whole time the film is going on you’re expecting the pin to drop and for these two seemingly normal parents to suddenly just grab their guns and go into commander mode. Well, that doesn’t exactly happen here. They never get to fight and even at the very end they’re about to easily lose to Scuba. It’s to the point where even once he is shot they aren’t able to stop him from getting the briefcase. I admit that they really did not look very impressive in this film at all. At least in an action context. They seemed like perfectly reasonable people otherwise. Maybe a little naïve since they don’t pick up on anything unless it’s spelt out for them though. At the very least I thought their guard would be up when they met Roy and he suddenly moved next door but they really didn’t.

Jeff’s a decent main character I guess but as a kid he does tend to panic a whole lot. He just isn’t ready for these kind of twists. He just never helps contribute to the situation and while he means well, the scene of him trying to pass the air force exam was pretty rough. The cast is fairly small so each person has to do their part. The other characters were a lot more solid. First up is Roy. Of course he has the whole revenge angle but on the whole he does have some good plans most of the time. He comes in handy with his clutch shots and did figure out the mystery of the sleeper agents really fast. Most of the other characters would have still been in the dark otherwise. I do think his decision to quickly have a random affair was poorly timed though. He’s in the middle of the most important case of his life. Surely he can wait a little bit to stay professional before getting distracted right?

Konstantin was also fun. I always like seeing the experienced agents who have already been through a lot and just have all the answers. That said, he was overwhelmed and surprised by Scuba rather easily. The scene of Scuba breaking into the guy’s shower was just embarrassing for the hardened agent. Especially how he panicked afterwards. Not his best moment to be sure and you feel like he was enthusiastic about paying up afterwards because he was actually scared of Scuba. He just hides this with his nonstop banter. Scuba doesn’t get much if any personality in the film though. He’s really just a mysterious figure who has a clear goal. He wants to get money and will murder people to get it. He’s a bit of an old school antagonist in that sense as there is no origin story or anything like that to clue you in to why he is the way that he is. He just does things his way.

What I think this film probably needed is to have been a little longer. A large chunk of the film seems like it’s all about build up to a big series of interconnected plots. So when the payoff finally happens, it goes by really quick and not in a super satisfying way. Honestly, if you cut out Nick that would probably be the best thing to do. Then you can really have two sleeper agents who still have their skills going up against these forces. Alternately you could also have just made these two agents a little less rusty to force some solid tension in. It would have increased the sense of danger throughout.

Overall, Little Nikita is a good film. It’s definitely fairly low key but I do think it manages to accomplish what it set out to do. A little more focus on the actual agent vs agent action would have been good though because there’s just a lot of fun ways this could play out. While the writing was good, I also think that area could have been bumped up a bit. Put some more solid banter in and make the characters a little more likable. Part of the problem is that Nick wasn’t great and then Roy/Konstantin weren’t as good as they could have been. Tat said, if you’re up for a quick spy thriller this is a good one to check out.

Overall 6/10

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