Tag Archives: Adventure

One Piece Season 2 Review

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One Piece has finally returned! It’s been a really long time since season 1 aired so I’m definitely glad that the show wasn’t cancelled or anything like that. Now that would have been rough. This time we already know season 3 is on the way so that’s a load off. I wouldn’t say that this season quite beats the first one but of course it’s difficult to beat the first meetings for all the characters. We don’t get to see Mihawk this time around but there are a bunch of characters running around.

The story starts with the Strawhats making it to Loguetown to stop by for supplies before continuing on the Grand Line. They are still being pursued by Baroque Works for taking down two of their agents and get even higher priority from the terrorist agency when Luffy runs into the princess of Alabasta. The crew will have to keep her safe while fighting off the various enemies as well as the World Government. The sea is a vast place and so the heroes will get to go to a whole lot of islands and meet a lot of characters. No matter what obstacles head their way, nothing will deter Luffy from being King of the Pirates.

First off the effects are definitely solid like in season 1. I really enjoy seeing the characters use their special abilities like Luffy stretching all over the place and the villains having their own abilities like wax and bombs. The series is not afraid to go all out with the effects which is a good thing because a title like One Piece needs to embrace this. We’re not watching this show to just see some run of the mill pirates adventure.

The soundtrack is also really good. Sadly Buggy isn’t around all that much so his amazing theme doesn’t get to appear as prominently. The rest of the soundtrack is still really good though and you even get the occasional remix. Tony Tony Chopper even got his own theme which I was definitely not expecting. It’s catchy enough. So the technical elements are good here. The only small issue is that like season 1, the camera tends to zoom a little too closely into everyones’ faces. This is the only show I’ve ever seen where it’s so noticeable but granted, I haven’t seen a ton of live action TV shows.

The show manages to cover quite a few islands within the 8 episodes as well. The first one we go to is Loguetown where we get to see Smoker and his assistant Tashigi. Tashigi is given a little more ability in this version as she can actually fight and even defeats someone in a future arc. It was nice to see because she did start with some potential before getting completely written out. This feels like a much more balanced approach to what you would have expected here. Meanwhile Smoker definitely looks strong as always. At this point the Strawhats would really have absolutely no chance of defeating him. None of them have any counters to his smoke. Buggy also got to show up which was definitely a lot of fun.

Then we get the episode introducing us to the giant Whale who sailed with a future member of the Strawhats. Some good foreshadowing there and of course the group gets to take down two more members of Baroque Works. The Strawhats were definitely not doing too bad up to this point although I still have my share of issues with Luffy which I’ll get into later on. Lets just say that he isn’t quite the power hitter that you would have expected him to be.

The highlight episode of the whole season has to be the third one though. We see the heroes head into a town that lays traps for pirates. Most of the crew fall for this but Zoro was ready and now has to take on 100 fighters all by himself. In the show at least he definitely appears to be the strongest Strawhat. I can’t picture any of the others pulling off this feat or anything close to it to be honest. The whole episode has a lot of fighting and is very fast paced. The other members get their fights too of course but Zoro is the highlight. We even see how he is still dealing with what Mihawk told him before about being too weak. Zoro will prove him wrong or die trying.

Then we get to the final two arcs which are a little longer. Little Garden has the heroes meeting up with some giants and unfortunately Baroque Works is around to get in their way as well. In particular Mr. 3 is the big villain here with his wax powers. He is able to basically stick things together and can even create shields that are so powerful that Luffy has a hard time breaking them. That’s a really impressive devil fruit. If not for his getting supremely overconfident, the heroes would have been doomed here. In general the villains just have a whole lot of creative powers and of course the numbers advantage is on their side as well.

The giants look more on the underwhelming side if anything. They may be big but that’s about all that they’ve got. They are shown to not be strong enough to break through the wax which is a really bad anti feat for them. If you can’t even do that, then you’re naturally going to be in a whole world of trouble. Hopefully the giants look more impressive in their next appearances but in general it’s not like they’re my favorite characters anyway so it’s not a big deal.

The final arc has the group going to Drum Kingdom which is probably the most emotional arc of the series. We get nearly a whole episode that barely features the Strawhats as we focus on Tony Tony Chopper and his origin story. It’s handled pretty well and of course the final fight with King Wapol is good. The final episode is always fun because you get to see what the show will use as a proper cliffhanger for season 3. There are a lot of options after all and I have no issues with the one that they chose. We’re definitely in store for a lot of hype.

With all of these strengths, it’s fair to say that the show also has some weaknesses. The biggest one here would have to be Luffy. I think the show just went a little too overboard with having him lose fights. It’s not like he is undefeated in the manga but generally you can count on Luffy to win. He is an inspiring figure and a powerful one who can back up the tough talk. That is why all of the various characters can depend on him in the first place after all.

In the live action series it feels like they cannot count on him. He loses virtually all of his fights. Luffy got crushed by Buggy’s right hand girl in the first episode which was rather embarrassing. Then Vivi defeated him with her dancing skills, one of the Baroque agents beat him with her painting skills, and even Wapol was beating him until Luffy was saved by the Strawhats. You can definitely hit a good balance here but this isn’t it. Luffy still acts really cocky the whole time as he grins 24/7 and says he’ll kick their buts but it comes across as hollow when he is the one being crushed. So how do you fix that? Well, I’d say in the next season Luffy should be racking up the wins and generally overwhelming his opponents. To make up for this, he should be looking dominant.

As it stands, he just seems to be very weak and uses his gum gum powers as a crutch which isn’t really how Luffy should be portrayed. I don’t have any issues with his personality otherwise but he’ll be a lot more endearing when he can back up the tough talk. Meanwhile Zoro looks great as expected, he really dominates his opponents in every fight and has a lot of great scenes. In a way you would think that Zoro was the true captain of the Strawhats. At the very least I couldn’t really tell you different.

Nami does well as always in a support role. She is written out for most of the final arc but is otherwise a big player throughout. I’m looking forward to seeing her get more action scenes down the road. Usopp is one of those characters where how much you like him will depend on how much you can tolerate his lack of bravery. Yes, he will get the job done in the end but generally it is going to take some time to get to that point…in every arc.

Princess Vivi does well in her role. She is a real fighter and gets more than one action scene which was good. She takes a little while to really get on board with the group but that makes sense since they are definitely a very active bunch. I’m definitely cool with her sticking with the crew for a while. Then of course we have Tony Tony Chopper who has never been my favorite character but he’s not bad. Chopper’s dream of being a good doctor is naturally a good one and he can fight when needed. Chopper just needs more experience under his belt so that he can really stand up to the others. He’ll be fun as the team’s animal mascot of sorts but he needs to work hard so he can be seen as a true member of the crew.

Finally there is Sanji who is pretty solid. The show does a good job of not really playing up the flirty part of his persona. So he comes across as a well rounded character with good cooking skills and combat prowess. I like his natural confidence and of course his rivalry with Zoro is always a lot of fun. He adds a whole lot to the dynamic of the main characters so you would want to have him around at all times.

Then we have the villains who tend to be pretty solid within their screentime. Buggy was great in his guest star role. He got to show Luffy who was boss and really take command there. Nico Robin gets a lot of hype throughout the show and it is definitely deserved. She will be a tough fighter to take down, especially if her opponents are not shooting on sight. If they don’t do that then there is really no way to realistically defeat her.

The Baroque Work agents can be more hit or miss. They work well as antagonists but less so as characters. Mr. 3 for example has a cool power but it’s not like his personality is all that interesting. He’s one of those very theatrical guys who likes to do everything his way. His own pride is what gets in the way of claiming victory here.

King Wapol is one of those super petty characters. He is as corrupt as possible and will never even bother to acknowledge someone else’s viewpoint on the matter. He’s the king so that is the only viewpoint that counts. So I may not be the biggest fan but he does have a good design and fights well. He actually had the upper hand for a while there. That makes him stand out at least.

Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine also have fairly big roles. Valentine’s weight abilities are really handy and I would say that makes her one of the stronger members. She was also very confident so that’s a lot of wins all around. Mr. 5 has bombs but there is a decent mount of load time before he can use each one so that limits him a bit. They also don’t seem to be super strong based on their range. They’re just strong enough for him to put up a good fight but that’s about it.

There are a bunch of other side characters running around but these are a lot of the big players. It’s always really cool to see an adaption ongoing like this. Hopefully the series can really make it all the way to Water 7 or Marineford before ending. I’ll be rooting for it all the way. At the end of the day this is a very fun show and that is its biggest strength. The positives certainly outweigh the negatives by quite a lot.

If there’s anything that really keeps the show from reaching the next level it would be the pacing at times though. Luffy being weak is annoying but not the kind of thing that really hurts after all. While the pacing isn’t enough where I would say it’s downright bad or anything, at times the scenes can drag a little bit. You aren’t always at the edge of your seat the way you need to be when a show is going for 1 hour episodes. Generally a 1 hour episode should still feel really fast when you’re having a blast but where were a handful of times here where you would want them to speed through some of the exposition so we could get to the next big moment.

Overall, This One Piece show is a good example of how any title can get a live action show if you have enough dedication. You just gotta go out there and get the job done. It certainly won’t always be easy but you just have to be confident about it. I would recommend this title to anyone looking for a fun action adventure series. You definitely don’t need to be a One Piece fan to enjoy the story. You’ll probably want to watch season 1 first before going onto this one though.

Overall 7/10

One Hundred and One Dalmatians Review

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This is one of those films where its reputation definitely precedes it. I dare say that the film even increased the popularity of the dog breed itself. It’s a movie that holds up pretty well with fun characters and solid pacing. It has quite a bit of action as well and a good amount of stakes. As long as you find dogs to be charming then you should have a good time with this one.

The movie starts with a dog named Pongo trying to find a wife for his owner Roger. Roger is always busy with his music and so the guy hasn’t made any kind of a real effort in order to find someone. Pongo doesn’t want this guy to end up being lonely so he takes Roger to the park and gets him married to a lady named Anita. Roger marries Perdita as well and they have a lot of cubs, but unfortunately the villain Cruella shows up and demands the puppies. Roger is able to block her but she has two hooligans break in to steal them anyway. The cops are unable to find any leads and so Pongo figures that it is all up to him and Perdita. Will they be able to catch the criminals or is this really game over?

As always with these classic Disney films, they do a great job with the color and vibrant tone of the world. There is always something going on here. The characters are very expressive and so the animation looks far better than something you would expect from the 60s. Although at this point I say that for a lot of old films so perhaps I just need to start thinking of the 60s as a great time for pure animation. The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side but you won’t see me complaining about the fact that they decided not to go the musical route with this one.

Pongo makes for a good lead because of his sheer confidence. It’s rare to see the main character being the one to play matchmaker. Pongo wasn’t embarrassed or overly shy; he was just out there getting results. That is exactly what you want to see from a character like this. He was also quick to fight when he had to defend the little pups from the enemies. All in all a very strong performance and he absolutely ends up being one of the more memorable leads.

Perdita also did well. She was right there with Pongo fighting off all of the enemies. While Pongo was the one with the plans, she was always there as good support. So she gets full credit all the way. The owners are a little less impressive, but hey that’s why they aren’t the main characters. Roger did well in standing up to Cruella even if he was super nervous the whole time. In his own house he really ought to be able to muster up a bit more courage than that. Perhaps I’m being a little greedy here.

Anita had less of a role but unfortunately it wasn’t a very strong one for her since she wasn’t taking Cruella’s threats very seriously. Cruella isn’t exactly a subtle character after all so you just have to follow your gut there. What Anita could have used was one really standout scene where she confronts Cruella and shows how aggressive she can be.

The romance may have been on the weak side but as it’s mostly off screen we can try to say that a lot of it was just not seen by the audience. I don’t have any big quarrels with it at any rate since it’s not a big focus on the film. Cruella appears far less than I would have expected though considering how popular she is as a villain. The design is certainly memorable and it can be nice to just have an overt antagonist like this. She has no dreams of helping the planet or some kind of random sob story. No, she just wants more fur coats and is willing to murder everyone in order to get it. That’s just her style.

Her two henchmen get a big role but they’re your general bruisers. They aren’t too smart and are just good at throwing things and picking fights. Technically that’s more or less all that you need for henchmen though so in a way I’d say they do their job well. They had accumulated quite a lot of Dalmatians as well although apparently the rest of the owners had just sold them so I guess that’s less impressive. Either way, it’s good that the main dogs could fight or this would have gotten real ugly real fast.

The puppies didn’t tend to be the smartest guys around but they’re young so I’ll cut them a bit of slack. It was also fun to see them all watching the cartoon early on in the movie. It was a rare chance for the characters to all catch their breath and we got to see some happy scenes as a family. Generally, in a film like this the plot is moving at all times so there isn’t much downtime. I appreciated having this scene before things got crazy. The movie also did a good job of showing how powerful community can be with every dog pitching in to help out and do their best.

Now while the soundtrack may have mostly been forgettable, I did enjoy the Cruella song near the beginning. It was a very catchy song and using all of the lyrics just to bash her was pretty fun. You get the feeling that Roger wouldn’t be brave enough to say it to her face but the thought is what counts here.

Overall, One Hundred and One Dalmatians is definitely a fun film. It’s the kind of title that has a lot of replay value and really goes by quickly. The characters are all handled well and the film’s animation is super clear. The movie never drags on nor does it have any real weak points. I could easily recommend this to anybody and it ends up being a really timeless film. It’ll be tough for the other Dalmatian films to try and top this one so we’ll see how that goes. In the meantime don’t let the 1960s date scare you, the film certainly doesn’t feel old and the writing is on point from start to finish.

Overall 7/10

Magic Knight Rayearth Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 7/10

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t Review

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This is one of those series that is always a lot of fun. It may not make a lot of sense and by the end of the adventure you’re remembering how lucky the main characters got but the film is focusing on pure entertainment. So I really can’t fault it for that. As long as you have fun during the adventure then the film can get away with leaps of logic like that. You just have to stretch your disbelief to the max and as this is the third film in the series you are probably used to that. It also may be the kind of series that just gets better the more you watch it because I see that I was quite harsh on the first film when I originally saw it. My memories of it aren’t bad tho.

The movie starts off by explaining that the Horsemen have gone into retirement and they haven’t appeared in the outside world for a long time. A trio of new magicians figure that this is their chance to get out there and so they begin to fight the good fight. Acting as modern day Robin Hoods they steal from those that they believe deserve it. One day they are approached by Atlas, one of the original horsemen. He claims they are all second rate at best but is reluctantly going to work with them because The Eye sent him here on a mission. The 4 of them have to steal the richest diamond in the world away from a power hungry lady who seeks to dominate the planet. The stakes have never been higher!

Right away I would say that the film’s greatest strength is in its nonstop banter. These magicians are all incredibly talented and they know it. This results in all of them having rather inflated egos with maybe one exception. They love to try and see who the real best magician is so we get a lot of fights between the original horsemen and the new cadets. It tends to be a closer fight than you might expect.

Atlas is easily the most enjoyable character in this arena because he is just constantly landing insult after insult. The guy just never stops and he perfectly nails the sarcasm in every scene. He may have the occasional genuine moment but you just wait for him to get back into sarcastic mode. I’d also say that Atlas tends to be the most proactive member of the group. He’s not just waiting for things to happen, he’s going out there to make it so. It’s why he was the first one to introduce himself to the new characters. Atlas also tends to take front stage on all of the big tricks.

He does have a good match against the main villain here though. Veronika is the last leading her global company to be found riches with her aggressive plays in the board room. Anyone who stands against her is completely threatened and could lose their lives. It’s all part of the plan and what a plan it is. She has a ton of safety features around the diamond to prevent it from being stolen and her head bodyguard is immune to hypnosis which is important. Also she isn’t some damsel who must be protected by security. Veronika knows how to use a gun and also set up a tremendous trap for the horsemen.

There is no twist like they got caught on purpose. In fact, it’s likely the most danger that they’ve been in throughout the 3 films because she built such an incredible trap. You could say that they really got lucky on this one. So she was a lot of fun to have on screen and is easily one of the most memorable characters around. Not saying you’ll be rooting for her to beat the heroes…but it may be tempting.

From the 3 new characters, Charlie is the brainiac of the bunch. He stays in the back and works on the tricks for the other characters to pull off. Charlie doesn’t tend to like the spotlight and as the film goes on he gets to have more of an active role. He’s one of the weakest characters for me and the reason is pretty self explanatory. I like really confident characters who spend their time boasting and showing everyone up. A more quiet character isn’t going to be able to keep up with that.

Then you have June who is very athletic and can handle all of the physical stunts needed for the illusions. She is way more confident and the kind of person you want to have on your team. She is quick to take on all challengers and even defeats her horseman counterpart in their first meeting. I would say she got the only definitive victory in the whole film because of how completely he was destroyed. She also did really well in the prison room using her size to evade the guards.

Bosco is probably the most emotional of the main 3. He doesn’t particularly like the horsemen and if anything resents the idea that he would need them for anything. Bosco feels like he can hold his own and that’s certainly valid. His group did just pull off a master heist after all. It always feels like the other characters are having to hold him back from making a big move and potentially getting them all in trouble. I do appreciate his loyalty though.

From the old cast of course we have Jack who is good at sleight of hand. Unfortunately, he does not look good here. Unfortunately his raw skills are beneath the rest of the Horsemen. If someone didn’t return in the next film, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was him. Then his ex/situationship Lula also doesn’t get a huge role here. She helps break them out of prison at one point and is upset at being excluded but doesn’t do a ton beyond that. I suppose I should give her credit for actually catching up to the rest of the team though. Their romance is fairly weak but that could be the excuse to remove both characters.

Henley is still the main escape artist here and she’s the one who really makes sure that the group escapes the big trap. Without her I don’t think they would have really had a shot here. She has also developed into being a really good all around magician with the other kinds of tricks as well. You really can’t count her out. Then you have Merritt who is still as self depreciating as ever. His hypnotic abilities are certainly handy although they meet their match in his one.

He probably spends the most time on the losing side here compared to the other horsemen but also helps to gather a lot of exposition on the main villain. He gets his own rage moment after one of the heroes is taken down but ultimately you could argue that his side initiated it so I wouldn’t say that you feel a ton of sympathy here. It’s like when a big villain has a best friend who is super upset at a hero murdering the main villain. Yeah it sucks but the heroes aren’t the ones who started this.

In this case Veronika’s group are not heroes or anything like that but the Horsemen are the ones who stole from them. So we’ve got a solid cast of characters all around and the main advantage the film has over most others if how basically everyone can get in on the banter. The movie moves at a really fast pace as a result and the flashiness of the film just works super well.

Overall The movie may not make a lot of sense if you focus on it too closely but that’s fine. We’re here for a fun time, not an accurate one. This does a great job of wrapping up the trilogy and it’s going to be tough to top this one. The films are really pushing the idea of the Horsemen being global agents who save the day and a full on mission for that could be fun but I feel like the heist element needs to stick around. Seeing them steal things and stay one step ahead of their pursuers is a big part of the fun.

Overall 7/10

Brother Bear Review

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Brother Bear is one of those films that mayyyybe you’ve heard of but there is also a good chance that you’re just thinking of something else. This one didn’t exactly go down as one of the all time animated greats. It’s not bad and in the end I will be making the cast that it is a “good” movie but certainly not very good or great. It’s a very safe film where you aren’t going to likely have any major issues with it but I would also say that to an extent the film feels a bit aimless. There isn’t a super large plot going on so half the time you’re just buying time with random gags.

The movie starts with Kenai getting really excited because he will now be able to finally become a man. There is a coming of age ceremony that his village does and you also get your own animal amulet. Unfortunately he is discouraged when his amulet is the bear which symbolizes love. Kenai doesn’t feel like this is very manly and his day gets even worse when a bear eats all the fish that the family had gathered up. This was directly his fault for not tying it up and when Kenai fights the bear, he loses and causes his eldest brother to die.

Kenai comes close to death as well although he manages to murder the bear. The spirits don’t like this and transform him into a bear. Kenai must now find a way to reverse the curse and in the meantime his elder brother will be hunting him across the jungle. After all, from Denahi’s perspective (The last surviving brother) the bear has now murdered both of his brothers. So he swears revenge in order to make things right.

This was definitely a really tough situation for Denahi in particular. He had a lot of reason to be upset as Kenai for constantly causing trouble. He also brings up a good point initially in not wanting to blame the bear for what happened. It was just an act of nature after all. Unfortunately were he goes too far is when he blames Kenai and when the lead seemingly dies, it adds a whole lot of guilt to Denahi. He absolutely has the saddest story among the various characters here because he is really having to deal with all of this on his own.

This guy was really resourceful too with how far he chases the bear. Denahi manages to make it over through the entire salmon run and also holds his own in the fights. Naturally Kenai is holding back since he doesn’t want to hurt his brother but it still takes a lot of stamina to have this much energy after being on the run for so long. It’s easy to root for Denahi as a character. Naturally you aren’t rooting for him to accomplish his goal since that would only end up harming him.

As for the main character, well naturally a large part of the story is about Kenai getting his character development. So he is meant to be annoying at first and you just have to see if he improves quickly enough. Personally it is hard to get past his opening scenes because these were really big mistakes that he made. It’s not like they were small ones by any means. His actions directly resulted in several deaths and that’s not something that you can take very lightly.

Then as a bear, he’s rather rude to the cub that journeys with him for a long time. Kenai goes out of his way to be a jerk like making fun of the stories and making it clear that they aren’t friends. The film doesn’t give us enough of a reason for why he had to be this openly antagonistic. So the only outcome you can really have here is that he’s a total jerk. Kenai tries to make it up to him by the end but it was too little too late.

Koda is the cub who travels with Kenai and I thought he was a lot better than the average kid character would be. Koda tries to keep their spirits up at all times and is a very reasonable character. He’s not overly oblivious nor is he getting them into a lot of trouble. You couldn’t ask for a much better companion and it’s why you wish Kenai would have been a whole lot nicer to him.

As for the animation, I thought it was pretty solid. There’s a lot of movement going on and some fun energy effects like with the spirit transformations. We do get some action scenes like with the bear battles so the animators get a little chance to show off. It’s nothing out of this world but it was pretty good. The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side. None of the songs would really be hitting the big time and the general ost doesn’t really pop out at you. This story will have to succeed more on the story.

The story itself isn’t bad. The animal stuff tends to be more basic but the human plot had some rather high stakes. I also give the film credit for not being too rough with the animal violence here. Even when a bear dies, there isn’t any real blood and due to the spirit influences, it doesn’t feel too final. It does feel at times like the writers weren’t too confident in the story itself though so you have a lot of random characters like moose and others who show up as comic relief. They get their scenes to buy time for the next main moment.

The humor could be hit or miss. I enjoyed some of the jokes at least but at times they could feel a bit forced. Like this is just here as a quick intermission as opposed to the joke needing to be there. I’d say it’s because the salmon run journey isn’t all that long. Maybe they should have had an obstacle or two pop up where Kenai and Koda have to help some village of animals. Then that helps Kenai start to become more mature. That could have worked over well.

Overall, Like I said this film is good but it’s not great. I think you’ve got a lot of interesting seeds here like Kenai being hunted by his brother and the debate on love and revenge. It did make sense not wanting to hunt the bear down after the first attack but I also understand why after two brothers are murdered you do feel like some human intervention is needed. Less screen time for the animals and more for the humans would have been a really good idea I’d say.

Overall 6/10

Spider-Man 3 (Playstation 3) Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 7/10

The Emperor’s New Groove Review

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It’s time for a fairly quick animated adventure. The Emperor’s New Groove is what you would call a basic film that has a good amount of comedy in it and fun characters. You’re not going to get your next award winning classic here or anything like that but it’s all pretty good stuff. At the end of the day, the movie is satisfied being at this level and there’s nothing really wrong with that. It even beats some of the more ambitious titles.

The main character is Kuzco, the young emperor. He is incredibly spoiled and doesn’t care about anyone but himself. This allows him to easily fire anyone and displace whoever he wants in the various villages. So long as he is happy, then nothing else matters. It is easy to see why nobody likes him. One day, he fires Yzma, an old lady who had been getting a little too power hungry. Kuzco underestimated just how much she wanted power though as he gets poisoned by her and turned into a llama. Her assistant Kronk was supposed to murder him but instead Kuzco finds himself at the poor village where Pacha lives.

Kuzco had previously told Pacha that he was going to wreck the man’s village so that he could have a summer home. Yet now Kuzco must rely on Pacha’s generosity if he is going to survive the journey back to his castle. Can Pacha convince Kuzco of the error in his ways or will this emperor be stubborn all the way until the end? The character arc itself here is pretty straight forward. You will just need to see if the film can really convince you of his personality shift within 70 minutes. That’s a rather tall order after all, especially when he starts off by being so antagonistic.

Now, with Kuzco’s very life hanging in the balance you can choose instead to think that his big character shift is really out of self preservation. It’s not really the film’s message but it can work out. While Kuzco is a total jerk for a lot of this, he’s a pretty fun one so I was still able to enjoy him as the main character. He is also able to break the 4th wall on more than one occasion. It would have probably been good to have let him start having some heroic moments earlier on in the film though. That would have made the character arc a little smoother.

Pacha is the other main character here as he tries to help Kuzco be more heroic but it is an uphill battle. It is really difficult to work with this guy but Pacha does his best to always be patient. He should have been honest with his wife about the possibility of losing their house at the start though. If he wasn’t able to pull off this journey then she would have been really taken by surprise. You always want to be representing a united front here. Pacha doesn’t have a ton of character beyond wanting to do the right thing though. It also feels like he isn’t quite as upset with Kuzco as he should be.

I get being good natured but he really takes it to some extremes. On the villains’ side we have a solid duo. The main villain is Yzma and she has been through a lot. Kuzco is always insulting her appearance and in her old age she doesn’t have much of a counter to this. She has lived with a lot of resentment for years and so she is finally making her move now. She can be distracted easily and has to put up with Kronk’s mistakes but still ends up being a compelling villain. She is rather effective with how many strides she makes during the film. She really took all of the characters to the brink and ultimately just needed to finish the emperor off herself. If she had done that near the beginning of the film then everything would have played out very differently.

Then we have Kronk who is a lot of fun. This guy may not be the smartest around but he has a lot of talents under his belt. The guy is a great conversationalist, has a terrific memory, and he is even a great cook. So while Kronk may not be the best at recognizing sarcasm or hidden nuances to a plan, he gets the job one. He’s also just a nice guy in general who unfortunately is loyal to a fault. If he had been working for a hero the whole time then I have no doubt that he would have made for a good ally.

Now it does feel like a bit of an excuse to say that he’s only a villain because of Yzma. At the end of the day he is still making his own decisions and is responsible for all of them. Hopefully after the events of this film, he will be someone that is more reliable as a hero or at least someone who isn’t actively helping in assassination planning.

The songs are okay in the film but I wouldn’t say that any of them stood out. They’re okay and catchy enough while you’re watching the film but you won’t exactly be looking any of them up on Youtube afterwards. I thought the animation was pretty good though. It’s all very smooth and consistent the whole time. The colors are also very striking outside of the animation itself. So on this area the film definitely managed to hold its own.

It’s a very safe style of animation. Like the rest of the film, it isn’t anything groundbreaking but is still solid all the way around. The writing is also solid with a lot of good banter and jokes going around the whole time. The pacing is quick and that’s part of what makes this an easy watch. It’s the kind of movie where you can just turn off your brain and enjoy it. There are no scenes that will make you shake your head or anything like that. It’s just a lot of fun and that’s the most important element of any movie.

Overall, This was a pretty fun film. There’s a lot of appeal here with just how fun and fast the humor is. I always enjoy a film with good banter and due to the premise you have the two main characters enjoying a lot of that throughout. The villains even have their own comedic dynamic going on. Naturally you do need to be a fan of a good comedy adventure in order to like this film but that goes with the territory. Since the film is well crafted, you never feel like you are missing out on a more serious adventure. We even get a reasonably intense climax here. So if you haven’t seen this film yet because you’re worried that it won’t be able to hold its own with other titles, I wouldn’t worry about that. The movie can stand on its own.

Overall 7/10

All Dogs Go To Heaven 2 Review

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It’s time for Charlie and the crew to return to the front line one more time. You’d have expected that Charlie’s journey was over after dying but nothing can keep him down for long. The story works pretty well as a sequel with letting all the familiar faces show up. You’ve got some good action and adventure going on here. I’m not going to say that it’s a great film or anything like that but it will keep you entertained and is a fun film all the way around. I had no serious issues with it.

The movie starts off with showing us that Charlie isn’t very happy over in Heaven. He feels like things are just too peaceful and everyone acts too happy. What he wants is the hustle and bustle of Earth that he is used to. He gets his chance when Carface manages to steal Gabriel’s Horn and escapes back to Earth. There is no way to process the recently deceased now and this is only going to get worse. So reluctantly, Heaven sends Charlie back to the real world along with his friend Itchy to reclaim the horn and save everyone. This should be an easy task….except Charlie may not be eager to complete his mission. Oh yes he bumps into a girl dog named Sasha and her owner David. This may complicate things as well.

Charlie wasn’t exactly subtle about his intentions so it’s hard to blame him too much for not taking the mission all that seriously. I suppose the risk may have been low initially since he went as a ghost and couldn’t interact with anyone. Nobody had guessed that the villain Red would come up with collars that could allow Charlie to act as if he was still alive. Charlie still does the right thing when it counts but does need some prodding. In a sense you can say that he needs to personally care about the situation in order to really help. If Sasha wasn’t around then things could have gotten really rocky here.

Still, Charlie’s an entertaining character. His sheer experience and confidence is always fun to watch. He isn’t afraid of the big bouncers at the beginning of the film at all. (Granted, we find out later that he was invisible and intangible but it’s not like Charlie knew that)

His pal Itchy is stuck playing the straight man in all the jokes. He’s not really able to keep up with Charlie’s crazy antics. Itchy was really happy to stay in Heaven and just have a good time but was ultimately dragged into this whole situation thanks to Charlie. By the end Itchy is able to stick up for himself long enough to finally break away from Charlie and live his own life. The two will always be great friends but sometimes you still gotta go on different paths.

Carface isn’t one of the more interesting villains so fortunately he really plays second fiddle here. Obtaining the horn at the beginning was his biggest moment. After that it is really Red’s show all the way. Red makes for a more entertaining villain. He certainly should have been able to claim victory with the big lead he had but in the end you could say that he got a bit cocky. He does have an actual sinister design though so that was impressive. The character himself may not be super memorable but the design certainly helps quite a bit.

As for the heroine Sasha, I’d say she is a pretty decent character. I wish she could have looked tougher though. The film portrays her as the really tough type of heroine and she talks a good game to Charlie but doesn’t really show up as much when the chips are down. Just a few good scenes of her really taking down opponents would have been really good. Instead she’s mainly here to set up the romance which is not handled particularly well at all. Honestly the first impression with Charlie should have been enough to keep them from being an item at all.

She also has to look after David which limits her since he tends to be an annoying character. He ran away from home to be a magician so he seems rather delusional from the start. He’s young but you would still expect him to be a lot wiser with his choices. He definitely caused the parents a whole lot of worry throughout the movie and doesn’t really recognize that he made a mistake for a very long time. It’s not like his skills are all that bad. I liked the classic hiding the ball trick but he wasn’t even able to realize that Charlie’s trick was a whole lot more impressive. This kid has a long way to go.

The animation was reasonably good. I always like the hand drawn style since it is nice and colorful and tends to age well. The film is definitely very expressive the whole time and it is always moving at a really high speed. The soundtrack is more on the hit or miss side but I did like the villain theme. Those tend to always be a whole lot more impressive than the hero tracks here for some reason. The other songs just come across as a bit more generic or otherwise uninspired.

Now the film definitely has a lot of humor and isn’t taking itself super seriously so you should keep that in mind. That said, the film is pretty direct about this from the start. It still does have a body count just due to the nature of the film and there are some intense visuals. It may not be as intense as the first film but you don’t have to worry about this being a boring movie or anything like that. It still has a good script and Charlie is enough of a renegade to keep the film from being all goody goody or anything like that.

Overall, This sequel does a good job of continuing the story with the characters. It’s fun enough even if the film is not the kind of title that will stand out 10 years from now. It’s hard to imagine actually wanting to go back to Earth once you’re in Heaven but the film does portray Charlie as being really unique in that regard. I suppose there’s gotta be one guy who really wants to go the other way. If you really liked the way that the first film ended then you may not be a huge fan of this one on principle but beyond that it is a good standalone story.

Overall 6/10

Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit Review

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Moribito is an anime where I knew the name of it for a long time but never really knew what the show was about. For the longest time I actually thought it was something vampire related. Well, it’s a pretty fun adventure show with some solid action in there. The old time setting doesn’t always work for me but I would say this show did a good job with it. The pacing is solid and so in the end I didn’t have any big issues with it.

The series starts by introducing us to Balsa who is one of the world’s greatest spear fighters. For a while there she had been a fighter who would not hold back and clear any mission. As a result she ended up taking 8 lives and so she has decided to save 8 lives in return. Balsa was able to help out 7 people easily enough but the she stumbles upon a royal conspiracy. The prince Chagum is expected to be assassinated and so his mother asks Balsa for help. This is not usually a mission that Balsa would undertake but it is the final life that she needs to save for atonement. So she takes Chagum and escapes the kingdom but now everyone is after her. Can Balsa keep him safe?

The other difficult part of this task is the timeframe. Typically you would expect to get someone out of danger and then you can leave. With this task, Balsa is expected to look out for Chagum for the rest of his life as the kingdom will never stop looking for him. This means that her life is essentially over as she will be a bodyguard forever. This concerns her friends and Chagum also isn’t thrilled about this. He doesn’t wish to be a burden to anyone and has his pride as a prince. This is something that causes quite a few disagreements during the series.

So why does the kingdom want to murder Chagum? Well, he has a legendary beast within him, one that is said to bring destruction along with it. To that end, murdering him is the only way to save the world. His father, the Mikado is the one who has to do the deed. So he’s not exactly happy about this, but that’s what the guy does. Unfortunately it does mean that The Mikado is hardly one of my favorite characters. Listening to a prophecy over trying to help your own kid is just a terrible decision. He may as well be a total villain if this is the kind of decision that he’s making.

Several characters act as antagonists throughout the story but ultimately the monsters that wish to eat Chagum serve as the final boss types. They are hard to defeat with conventional weaponry as you have to wait for them to materialize. There are also a lot of them which results in a pretty big climax. About 90% of the series is a really realistic feudal setting with the monsters spicing things up for the final act. That was pretty fun although I will admit that the fight scenes against them are not nearly as entertaining as the human ones.

The animation throughout the show is pretty good. the fights have solid choreography and while the animation colors may be a little washed out, there is a lot of movement. The series peaks rather early on with the fights though. The best battle in the series is when Balsa takes on the 5 legendary hunters at the same time. It’s really an impressive fight and shows why her skills are in a league of their own. The soldiers all get really upset about this but in a 1 on 1 fight she would be able to defeat any of them.

She does take injuries in the fight which affects her for a long time after that but at peak strength she is clearly number 1. We do get some fights here and there after this like a flash back with her mentor but surprisingly the show does prioritize adventure over action. There actually aren’t a ton of fights in the series. Instead Balsa shows Chagum that fighting isn’t always the way as they meet many people and journey throughout the world.

The soundtrack is a bit more on the forgettable side though. It’s not bad or anything but you won’t find a whole lot of tunes that are going to make your playlist. Likewise with the opening. It’s all a bit quieter than it needs to be. Some may say that rock music would go completely against the show’s vibes but ehhh I think it would work pretty well personally.

Balsa does really well in the main character slot. She is quietly powerful. You won’t hear a whole lot of bragging from her but she does take all opponents down as needed. She also does well in dealing with Chagum who isn’t accustomed to this life so she has to set things up carefully. Balsa is put through a whole lot of hardship here but never backs down. Her experience really shines through.

As for Chagum, well longtime readers of this site can probably expect that I wouldn’t be much of a fan. It takes him way too long to actually get with the program. He does his best to try and help Balsa but tends to make a lot of mistakes. Going to the festival to wrestle a bully was the wrong decision when he was already on the run. It also gets annoying when he keeps on trying to get to the capital. He vastly underestimates the danger that he is in at times. Then this isn’t totally Chagum’s fault but near the end the monster within him starts to take more control so Chagum is often rather lifeless and quiet.

He really needed to trust Balsa more and understand why she would have to keep some things from him. Then we have Tanda who likes Balsa a lot and is always worried about her. He’s not a fighter so he stays back at base and makes herbs to heal her. He has never really been able to confess his feelings but is trying to gather strength for that. Tanda never ended up becoming one of my favorite characters. He should have been learning how to fight if he really wanted to help Balsa.

Additionally, his powers of walking through dreams and reality is good in concept but it seems like he never trained that either so he has a ton of limitations. The guy needed to be bolder and protect his craft. If he had done that then this would have been a very different story. Balsa’s mentor Juguro was a whole lot more interesting. It’s a shame the way that he went out but this guy was a true fighter all the way. His skills may have even been better than Balsa’s although I like to think that she caught up to him in the end. I would have liked to have seen more adventures of Juguro since we don’t actually see him all that much. He has a constant presence within the show through references though.

Then we have Torogai who is essentially the oldest character in the series. She is part of a tribe which uses natural remedies and talks to the spirits. They are direct rivals to the kingdom’s own faction of spellcrafters. I’d say she is far more impressive than they are. Even in her old age she is able to take down several master hunters and is always one step ahead of the others. If she was just a bit younger she probably could have taken on an active action role as well. Either way she is very helpful to the main characters and they would have been doomed without her. She ended up being a bit better than I would have guessed.

There are also two kids who help Balsa throughout the series. Toya and Saya, who grew up poor but have always been very resourceful. They don’t get down about the situation and just keep on doing their best. They’ve made a whole lot of friends in the process and know their way around the town. They are generally able to stay out of danger this way and help Balsa at the same time like when they lit up the cabin on fire to warn her that enemies were around. These two characters certainly had a lot of guts.

Then there are the star readers. First there is Shuga who starts out as a bit of a yes man but gradually starts to realize that not all is well within the kingdom walls. It takes him a little while to really get a spine but by the end he is firmly within the hero’s camp. I would have liked his star reading to have been a little more helpful though. He ends up needing the help of the main characters for noticing signs of the upcoming draught and then he has to rely on others to read the ancient scriptures on what to do.

It is true that Shuga is the one who pushes these things into motion but I would have liked some more direct skill out of him. He was better than his master Hibi though. Hibi was a complete antagonist for a while there as he was quick to try and murder Chagum. He tries to explain later on that he has to follow the prophecies and he will adapt along with them but to me that was never a good excuse for how he was in the first half of the series. The guy was absolutely brutal and out for blood. While the Star Readers need to take definitive action during a crisis, this guy was ready to justify anything within those confines.

I don’t think any character should trust him after that. The guy had an imposing presence though so I appreciated him as a villain. I was less sold on him being more of a decent guy. At least he did more than Sagum though who probably ends up being the most underwhelming character. He takes over for Chagum during the series but then randomly passes from his illness. It was foreshadowed to a degree but I thought he would be able to do something first. You could cut him out of the show and absolutely nothing changes. It just made him feel like a very random character.

As for the 5 legendary warriors, two of them really get main plots of their own. Jin was a good friend to Chagum and the king so he has made it his mission to murder Chagum himself. He wants to do this to spare the Mikado the trauma of the act. The problem of course is that he is no match for Balsa. I would even say he may be the weakest of the main 5 because of how headstrong he is. The guy is chastised for this on multiple occasions but never really changes.

While he is another character who is primed for the redemption arc, I wasn’t feeling it here either. At the end of the day he is moving to murder a child after all. No matter how you square that way, that is absolutely big villain territory. I don’t know how you can really get past that. A real friend would fight against the prophecy rather than letting it dictate his life. It was a misstep right from the very beginning.

Then there is Mon who is the leader of the group. He is the most well balanced and the guy who can listen to reason. As an enemy he is as dangerous as they come but it is also easy to see why he is so trusted by the empire. He is able to match wits with Balsa much better than the other characters. Additionally he has a whole lot of power. Balsa is still more powerful to be sure but he is a worthy rival all the way.

There are other characters running around but these are most of the main ones. There is a bounty hunter who goes after Balsa for a long while until she eventually takes him on. That guy was definitely a nice wild card to introduce to the series. It makes sense that Balsa would have made some serious enemies over the years after all. The episodes were also a great way to show her stamina as Balsa was basically not allowed to go to sleep for several nights while under constant attack and still pulled through. A lot of characters would have broken down at that point. Balsa also comes close to going back to her murdering ways but is able to pull back.

During this part of the adventure I do think it would have been worth not having the plot twist. Instead of the opponent surviving, he should have died and then Balsa would have to reconcile with that fact. By having him survive, it does take a little bit away from her decision. There are times when murder is necessary in a self defense situation like this and having the characters explain that to her would have been more powerful if you ask me. Even if it means she has to save one more life at the end of the series since she would have a body count of 9 now.

Overall, Moribito is a pretty fun show. With the ending you can tell that there are many more adventures to come but this was a great way to introduce all of the characters. The ending isn’t perfect with Chagum basically becoming royalty but not being powerful enough to let Balsa go where she pleases. I never understand why the Prince/King at this point have to succumb to classic traditions. When you rule the nation you should be able to bend the rules and help your friends out. Otherwise what’s the point of even having a King? If you like a good adventure show then you should definitely check this one out.

Overall 7/10

The Creature Walks Among Us Review

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This film is a bit of a mess and the biggest problem is that the romance is absolutely crazy here. The film should have focused a whole lot more on the Gillman himself. Instead he is functionally a human for most of the movie and we have this awful love triangle going on. Trust me, the drama is not worth it for this film and you should stay far away. The winning formula is not to be found here.

The movie starts off with the main characters taking down the Gillman once more. He was badly burned so they take off the gills and it turns out that he looks just like a human now. He can no longer breath underwater without the gills but maybe they can slowly rehabilitate him. The problem is that Dr. William is bit on the crazy side. He’s also randomly abusive towards his wife Marcia and so their relationship is incredibly strained.

Unfortunately one of their divers is a man with no redeeming qualities named Jed. Jed decides that he wants Marcia all to himself so he begins to continually harass her as he tries to weaken her will so that she can cheat on her husband. Marcia doesn’t have much love left for William with how things have gotten and so she gradually weakens enough to allow Jed his advances. What does any of this have to do with the Gillman? Well, the poor guy is getting an up close view at how humans cannot be trusted and are all rather sinister.

That’s a huge problem for the film which is that the characters are simply unlikable. You’re basically rooting for the Gillman to take them out. First it’s easy to say that William is the worst of the humans. There’s no excuse for being abusive. The fact that he gets physical puts him on the lowest rung of the totem pole here and you’re waiting for someone to bump him off. He’s also not that good at thinking ahead as he puts himself in a really rough position when trying to frame the Gillman.

The Gillman gets framed? Yeah that actually happens near the end which was definitely a real desperate move. Could have been interesting if we had a courtroom trial or something but all of this is taking place privately with the characters on their property so we never get that far. Next up I have to put Jed as the second most unlikable character. You should never be trying to get someone to cheat. How classless is it to go after a married woman? That’s just total villain behavior and this guy seriously cannot take no for an answer.

So I can’t say that I felt any real sympathy for him. He found out real quick what the repercussions for this would be and shouldn’t have been making those mistakes. Finally, Marcia takes up some of the blame here but naturally not as much. She was on the back foot here but could have been more decisive in shutting Jed down. For example when Jed was going to go diving underwater, she insisted on coming along.

Everyone warned her that she’s not experienced for this and she could get the bends. Marcia insists on going and naturally she immediately makes a big mistake and Jed has to save her. That’s far from pushing him away and now it’s an excuse for him to be real close to her. Marcia needed to make sure she wasn’t putting herself in that kind of position. Sure, she couldn’t have assumed that she would make a mistake underwater but the point of the mission is that diving is really hard. It’s why Ned is here as an expert in the first place.

So instead of swimming with him, she needs another way to stop his endless pestering. This is the kind of serious matter where you do tell everyone and make a big stink about it. You have to embarrass the guy and if you don’t feel safe, then it’s time to get the cops involved and such. It’s also time for her to end the marriage to William and just start fresh. Hard decisions but this guy was clearly escalating more and more. Once things go physical then there isn’t a way back.

Still, this is a whole lot of screentime for the pesky humans. Keep in mind that the runtime for the movie is short. This is under 90 minutes total. The Gillman spends a good amount of that time getting burned and then being in recovery mode. He wakes up in time to take down one of the animals just for the film to remind us that this is not a quality picture. Far from it! Then the ending also goes out on a total whimper.

The Gillman walks out onto the sea. We know that he can’t breath under the water anymore so the implication is that he walked into his death. Living on the ship with those crazies was enough to thoroughly break him. That’s pretty sad in its own right. There is no climactic battle, in general the film didn’t have much action. This really feels like a poor way to end the Gillman trilogy. You’re left wondering what the whole point of the film was really about.

What purpose was there in showing that the Gillman was actually very similar to a human being? William had an obsession with evolution and biological changes like this but it’s not like that ever went anywhere. The Gillman didn’t ultimately learn how to hold a whole conversation or anything like that. You can barely even call this a horror film to be honest and maybe that’s not one of its official genres anyway. It’s more of a full on drama.

Overall, I’d say to stay away from this film. It doesn’t really satisfy you as a creature feature film and when it comes to full on dramas, there are way better ones out there. We needed a much better cast of characters here and there should have been way more action. If you do want to go into the romantic drama, then go all in and have both guys trying to murder each other throughout the film or something. Put it out in the open and the film is a battle of wits in this murder game. Then you somehow have the Gillman get involved in all of that. it would have been infinitely more interesting that way. Instead what we get is a mishmash of genres that won’t really satisfy anybody.

Overall 3/10