Jurassic World: Dominion Review

Posted on June 14, 2022 by dreager1

It’s time to bring the Jurassic World series to a close. It’s been quite the run and while I have yet to find any of these titles to be good movies yet, it’s always neat seeing dinosaurs. You could just say that the films are usually doomed from the start because it’s hard to have a dinosaur film without the dinosaurs themselves eventually running into peril. The animal violence sabotages the film right from the jump and this one is no exception with several hunting scenes. I’m afraid the franchise has overstayed its welcome and needs a new premise like robotic dinosaurs to get to the next level.

The film starts off by giving us a massive info dump about the dinosaurs having taken refuge in all parts of the planet. There is no escape from these dinosaurs and so Biosyn has taken this chance to quickly become one of the biggest companies in the world. Yes, it’s time to rake in those profits like nobody’s business! They were granted exclusive rights to grab the dinosaurs and so everyone else needs to stay back. Naturally they aren’t doing this out of the goodness of their heart though and seem to be doing something nefarious with the insects in their company. If they aren’t stopped quickly then the entire planet could be in danger.

There are two main plots here. First, you’ve got Owen and Claire who are still trying to raise Maisie as best they can, but they seem to have gotten lost in the sauce as in trying to protect her from everything around them, they’ve effectively trapped her in a house. Maisie quickly started to resent this and so she ran off and gets captured along with Blue’s kid. The heroes are in a race against time to find her and so we get a good amount of action here as they get to relive their action hero days.

In the B plot, the 3 main characters from the original trilogy have to try and get proof of Biosyn’s wrongdoings by infiltrating their headquarters. This plot has less action by comparison as they do their best to find out the facts but it’s all a bit more low key. I feel like this is intentional as the old characters do things by the book and it’s a very old fashioned type approach while the new characters are having fancy gun fights and hand to hand combat scenes. Naturally the main plot was typically more interesting. Then eventually the plots converge.

Lets get the obvious issue out of the way first and that’s the animal violence. Within 20 minutes of the film starting you have a rabbit eaten and a wolf murdered. Later on you’ve also got birds taken out and a fox hunted down. Of course eventually this also goes to the dinosaurs as they attack each other and one gets stabbed. It’s inevitable that this would happen with so many dinosaurs around and that’s the real issue here with dinosaur films in general. They are cool to see but of course they won’t stand a chance against properly armed fighters or bigger dinosaurs so someone’s going to get hurt. Each time that happens, the film ends up losing some momentum.

The other biggest issue I’d say is just that the film feels very long. The pacing isn’t air tight and it actually does drag on a bit. The plot with the old main characters can almost get boring at times. There are a lot of chase scenes and everything but when the film slows down, man does it slow down. You don’t care too much about the conversations on the dinos because we’ve heard it all a million times before. You just want to get to the good stuff and the film peaks early in that regard.

The best part of the film is when Owen and Claire confront two of the villains. Owen has an excellent close quarters fight against the knife wielder and it’s the best action scene in the movie. It reminds me of how his fight in the last film was also the best scene. I think it’s time for these films to transition into being more about the hand to hand combat because that’s clearly the best part of these films. I did think Claire was not intense enough in the moment which felt out of character though.

Keep in mind that they are trying to save the kid and it’s a matter of life and death. Owen certainly acted like it with how he was going at the guy and not taking prisoners but Claire’s battle had a lot more comedy mixed in and she was still trying to ask questions and all. I would have liked her to have tackled her villain and got right into the action. It all works out in the end but the villainess really got off easy the whole time.

Owen and Claire do make for solid main characters though. They get the job done and get a lot of good scenes. I do think they made the wrong choice in isolating Maisie as much as they did though. Yeah you’ve got to be careful but wouldn’t it still be better to be in a city environment than in the middle of the woods? Seems to me like being isolated is a bad idea when everyone around the world wants to get you because eventually they would. Just get some fake IDs and a decent disguise and you should be good.

I do think they could have played up the fugitive angle for these two characters a bit more though. In general there’s also more the movie could have done with the whole dynamic of having the dinosaurs on the go too. Having them just randomly running around the world seems like it should have had more of an effect on the planet than what we’re shown. Only around 30 deaths due to dinosaurs?? I find that extremely hard to believe.

These two are joined by Kayla later on in the plot as she gets roped into the adventure. Initially she’s here just for the money but gradually gets a conscience about the whole thing. She’s a decent fighter and helps them out when they’re in a pinch. Without a plane the heroes definitely would not have gotten very far here. As for Maisie, she is quite the rebel in this film and gets everyone into trouble. I’ll give the parents more of the blame here though because she did try to talk things out first several times and it felt like they weren’t giving her any great options.

For the other plot, well Ian definitely steals the show from the 3. He’s just way more of an interesting character than the other two. Ian always tries to find the bright side of things and remains calm even under pressure. His character is always a blast and while he isn’t as much of a field agent as the others, he does come in clutch on many occasions. Without him getting into the company first the others would have had a much tougher time of it.

Ellie and Allen are held back a bit by the inevitable romance which feels like it’s way too late. You can see the romance a mile away but cmon now, they’ve only just gotten reunited after how long? There’s no time for all of that and these two feel like they’ve been out of the game for so long that they’re a bit out of their depth. Their plot just never comes close to being as interesting as the main one.

On their plot you’ve also got Ramsay who gets quite a lot to do. The guy ends up being rather helpful the whole time so that’s good. The B plot has its share of danger and everything but 9 times out of 10 you’re ready to go back to Owen and team. Finally there’s the main villain Lewis and I’m not sure exactly what they were going for with him. He can be rather serious at times and then almost incompetent at other moments. He’s always very hyper/manic so he doesn’t always have time to finish his sentences. He works well as a funny villain in that degree even if I’m not sure how intentional that was which is a bit of an issue.

If he was meant to be more of a serious villain then the film failed but if you’re supposed to laugh at him a bit then that works well enough. He had some of the funniest scenes in the film although I would say Ian was still the most humorous character in the grand scheme of things.

While the movie is fairly lighthearted the whole time, it does have some grim moments like when two kids are attacked by a bunch of locusts. I was actually a little shocked at that because it just comes out of the blue and man, they were not expecting that. Of course you could try to say that they escaped but it was probably all over for them. I would still not call the film particularly violent or anything compared to older ones though. It’s certainly not touching the original films in that regard. Even the dinosaur fights usually happen when it’s really dark so you can’t actually see too much of what’s going on. I like to think that was to hide the violence and not because they’re afraid of how the CG looks.

The movie uses the classic Park theme at one point but for the most part it feels rather quiet. There aren’t any standout tunes at all which is a shame. Good music can really help take you to the next level and it could also have been used to make some of the slower scenes a little more exciting. In fact, that really might be what the film was missing. Throwing in some more good music could have really helped take the film to the next level or at least get a 1 star boost or something.

There’s certainly more to dislike here than to like. There’s also virtually no replay value because of how long the film is and how it ends up dragging instead of really utilizing that length. There are quite a few portions of the film that it feels like you could almost cut out so that it goes along a bit quicker. Now this may not sound good for fans of the original trilogy, but I think a strong case could be made that Ellie and Allen should have been cut out. All you need is Ian for their plot and when Maisie shows up she can take care of the rest. The two characters are almost filler if you think about it.

In a way the biggest way I can tell that the film wasn’t super interesting is I’m already running out of stuff to talk about and usually reviews for films in theaters tend to be on the longer side. There’s usually a bunch more to talk about but I guess that’s it here. At least the T Rex does get to show up and I will give the film props for the dinosaur models. I still think they look cool at least. I liked the one with the claws, that was nice. The film definitely could have used more day-time scenes with the dinosaurs so we could really appreciate how they looked though. A dark climax makes sense for the scary vibes but c’mon, this film isn’t really scary like that.

Overall, Jurassic World ends on a bit of an eh note. I would say this beats Fallen Kingdom for me but it loses to the original Jurassic World. I’m inclined to say Jurassic Park III beats this one as well. This one probably beats the first two though so all in all…that means this one’s roughly in the middle or slightly above the middle. That’s not bad. It’s not a particularly high bar for me though but it’s a start. If you really like dinosaurs then you should still get a lot out of this movie but it really should have been more exciting than how it turned out to be.

Overall 3/10

D.N.Angel Review

Posted on June 5, 2022 by dreager1

I remember starting this manga well over a decade ago. It may have even been close to 20 years ago at this point so it’s been quite the journey. Well, after a long hiatus it finally came back and actually got an ending so I figured I’d take it back from the top and read all the way through. It’s a fun title but one where the plot is actually the least interesting part. I was just way more engaged with Daisuke’s day to day life and comedic hijinks compared to the actual story which is the only thing holding this one back a bit.

The story starts off by introducing us to Daisuke who lives in a house that’s a bit out of the ordinary. His Mom is always building a ton of traps for him to get through, some of which are quite lethal and he has to get around them to leave for school. This is because he is training in order to be the next in line to house the Phantom Thief Dark as part of the Niwa family tradition. See, Each man in the Niwa family eventually takes on the role and they have to go around stealing a lot of treasures. Typically they focus on stealing artwork from Hiwatori’s family throughout the ages.

Daisuke isn’t thrilled about this but there also isn’t really anything he can do to refuse. Dark just appears in his soul at one point and now it’s time to start the party. Whenever Daisuke’s heart rate speeds up, it triggers his transformation into Dark and then he won’t change back again until Dark’s heart speeds up or if he just chooses to cancel the transformation. This will be difficult for Daisuke since he has a crush on Risa. Will he be able to get close to her without his heart rate going crazy or is he doomed to be forever alone as long as Dark is here? Also, can he keep his double life a secret without any of his friends finding out?

There’s a whole lot of rules to the body swapping part and it keeps on changing as the series goes on so it’s really rough for Daisuke. He doesn’t even care about the whole stealing art thing and just wants to be a normal kid but his mom is super enthusiastic about it. She’s always encouraging Daisuke to steal the artwork and will even put up signs and notices for him to alert the authorities. This all must be done by the book after all and Dark puts in a notice so the cops have a fair chance to try and stop him. Daisuke’s dad doesn’t care as much and in fact he never got possessed by Dark back in the day but he does his best to help out. He makes up for his lack of physical abilities by being great at finding research and ancient scrolls to help the heroes out.

The end game for Daisuke is that Dark should eventually fade away and in the past that has happened if both Dark and his human host fall for the same girl. The issue this time is that they’ve fallen for different people this time as Daisuke likes Risa and Dark likes Riku. Both of them are twins and this complicates things because then Dark may never leave which would make things really difficult for Daisuke. Another wrinkle is that Risa likes Dark while Riku likes Daisuke. As this is a romance manga first and foremost, expect those pairings to change quite a bit as the adventure goes on.

Now you may be wondering, why would the rom-com moments beat the actual plot? Well, the story tends to be very repetitive when it happens. For example, one arc may have Daisuke fall into a painting where he is now in a what if universe where there’s another kid who likes Riku. Another time he’ll fall into a painting where he has to confront his confidence issues. Each arc tends to feel like a bit of a retread of the last one and the arcs can be a bit long. So it can just feel like nothing is really happening the whole time and you want to get back to the real world to move the story along. Typically you do get a lot of lore and sometimes you will get a new supporting character but that’s about it.

The arcs aren’t bad or anything but the just aren’t as interesting. It feels like the real world is where things are going on. As for the characters, I’d say we’ve got a reasonably solid cast here. As the main character, Daisuke definitely has to be strong enough to hold the story and I’d say that he pulls this off from an interest standpoint but he’s not really my kind of character. The guy isn’t very confident and gets pushed around throughout the whole series. He tends to be a little too forgiving even when someone is trying to murder him.

He can also be a little flip floppy. As mentioned earlier, he likes Risa at first but gradually changes to Riku. This is exactly what I would call a rebound romance since it was clear that Risa was not interested in him. The same is true of Dark who ends up switching sides so only Risa and Riku followed the person that they actually liked from start to finish. Daisuke is a nice guy and he will ultimately make the right calls in the end but I just wish he had more confidence. Even by the end of the series you can say that he still isn’t very confident yet so he hasn’t gotten the full amount of character development that Yugi got.

As for Dark, well I like his confidence but he is definitely more of a flirt. He’s fallen for many different girls and so as a result it’s hard to ever take his romances seriously. Does he really love Risa or is he just going to move on again? That’s how I always feel for characters like this. At least in a fight you can certainly count on him though. This series doesn’t have too many action scenes but Dark is consistently shown to be one of the more powerful fighters in the verse. He can definitely hold his own and then some.

Then there’s Risa who is my favorite member of the twins. Risa ultimately steps up when the going gets tough and she is also quicker to realize when something isn’t right. While Riku is still fumbling around and unsure of what’s going on, Risa is always 5 steps ahead and still making plans of her own. She doesn’t get discouraged as easily as Riku does and still looks out for her sister all the time. Risa plays a big role in at least one of the dream adventures and she comes across as being more understanding. She certainly takes more risks as well which isn’t always a good thing but it all tends to work out for her.

She just does all of the right things each time. Riku’s fun enough too though. She does her best to uncover the situation behind Daisuke always running off. She does suspect that he might be Dark but the whole concept of that is just so out there that she has a hard time convincing herself of that. In fairness to her it can be hard to believe but she needs to trust her eyes more like Risa. Risa ultimately just took a look at the facts and it added up so then she connected the dots. Riku takes a bit longer to get to her destination. Risa and Riku definitely end up working well as the two heroines though.

That said, while I have my issues with Daisuke and Dark, they do have a fun dynamic as well. Naturally they are complete contrasts to each other and Dark will occasionally try to be helpful. Sometimes he’s clearly just there to get in the way and make Daisuke feel bad but other times he’ll do his best to help the kid out. It just ends up being frustrating for both of them since only one person can use the body at once. That makes going out difficult on both of them, especially since the other is always watching so it can be a bit awkward.

Then you have Hiwatori who is a big detective and the latest in the lineage of the family that Dark robs from. Naturally that means that he is a very big character here and with Daisuke not always being very clever about hiding his secret, Hiwatori is always right on his tail. Hiwatori does have some honor so he won’t just attack Daisuke at school or anything like that. If not for that self imposed rule then Daisuke would have been really doomed.

I’m not really a fan of Hiwatori though. For starters the manga tries to build up a bit of a romance with him and Risa but it starts off way too late for it to work at all. He needs to stay in his lane there especially since he’s trying to destroy Dark and he knows how she feels about him. Hiwatori is the kind of guy who tends to follow orders most of the time and doesn’t question them. He is dealing with a lot as his alter ego Krad isn’t as nice as Dark. So you do feel bad for him and things rarely go his way. That said, he just doesn’t make the right choices most of the time and is certainly not someone that Daisuke can rely on. I don’t blame the mom for being really concerned whenever Hiwatori is around. I’d say he has earned that distrust from how he acts in the manga.

I never really ended up becoming a fan of that guy. His alter ego Krad doesn’t appear as often as you’d think. At first you would expect him to appear almost as much as Dark but that’s actually not the case. Krad makes the most of his brief amounts of screen time and is one of the only people who can actually fight Dark in close quarters combat but I still didn’t care for him much. His goal isn’t great at all and he just feels desperate since he knows that he can’t actually beat Dark in a fair fight. It’s impressive of Hiwatori to hold him back all the time but it’s also a bit of an anti feat for Krad.

After that we get into the art characters. So you’ve got Towa who I completely forgot from back in the day and she’s a nice enough supporting character. She knows a bit about the supernatural stuff going on in the series and can usually provide insight to the characters not trapped in the mirrors. Ultimately her function is more as a guide/informant than as a fighter but she adds to the dynamic reasonably well. The cast was really small without her there so she helps to round things out a bit.

Then we have Argentine who is the first big villain. The guy starts off rather whiny though and so he never got to be all that good. He just wants to be loved and all of that which is pretty deep for a painting, but in the end it’s never going to be one of the best character motivations for me. He tries to be helpful later on but I can’t really think of any really big moments where he contributed. He’s around a lot but just doesn’t do much of anything so that doesn’t help his case either.

Then you have Manisumea who ends up being one of the biggest threats in the series. I’ll give him props for having a painting arc with more personality than the others. Seeing Daisuke have to fight with a new kid for his romantic dreams and Risa actually getting her own plot was nice. None of that really helps Manisumea though who comes across as rather desperate. It seems like the only way for him to get his own identity in the real world is to replace Daisuke which is definitely a rough deal but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. He’s less memorable than Argentine but I suppose he’s a better villain.

Outside of the paintings you’ve also got Saehara who is Daisuke’s best friend. The guy serves his role as the comic relief character but doesn’t actually do much beyond that. He’s a big Dark fan and also wants to catch him someday so the guy has spirit but you almost forget that he exists half the time. He just doesn’t tend to leave a big impression and I don’t think the series gives him a ton of screen time either way.

The final main character in the present is Hiwatori’s dad- Elmroot. So that guy is an interesting figure because the whole time you’re waiting for him to make some kind of grand move. You know it’s going to be really epic and then you see that the series is almost over and he hasn’t done anything yet. He’s a little more on the ruthless side compared to Hiwatori but ultimately he does have a pretty good backstory. By the end I thought he was an interesting character. Definitely an underused one without a doubt, but I was glad that he was around. It would have been nice if he could have met Daisuke’s Dad at some point though. I think that could have been a lot of fun with how different they are. Daisuke’s dad always had a lot of good moments even though they were low key. You’ve also got Wiz who does his best to help Daisuke out. He’s like a little winged rabbit who initially can’t talk or anything but can gradually talk a bit. This is perfect for helping Daisuke’s cover when he has to be in two places at once. He’s also Daisuke’s wings most of the time so yeah this little creature is absolutely a crucial member of the team and should not be overlooked!

Finally we get to the 3 flashback characters. Near the end of the series there was a quick mini arc about one of Daisuke’s predecessors and I thought it was handled pretty well. In fact you could probably say that it was the best arc out of the big story ones. So Taize was considered a rebel in the family and he refused to steal anything. He got along with Dark well enough but the issue was that Taize was also a big flirt and so he didn’t actually feel a special way about anyone. As a result Dark couldn’t come out. Well, one day Taize runs into a girl named Fukami who works for Yuu and that’s when his heart speeds up for the first time.

It’s a very dramatic story for sure with a lot of drama but the big 3 had a better dynamic than the main 3 in the present timeline. I think what helps a lot is how confident Taize is. He’s certainly not about to get pushed around here and he also has a lot of skills even without Dark stepping in. Taize ultimately worked on his own terms and left in much the same way. He was just a very interesting character through and through.

Fukami made for a good heroine as well. She was insecure about her voice and so initially she would only speak to Yuu. She only made an exception when Taize stole Yuu’s painting so that she could get it back. She succeeded in getting it back but Yuu was super petty and upset that she talked to someone else. Throughout it all Fukami always took the high ground and would even talk using paper after that so as not to upset Yuu. She was a very considerate person and I’m glad that things went well for her. A tragic ending would not have felt right there.

Finally there was Yuu and I didn’t care for him. You can see how the whole thing is tragic for him since he clearly liked Fukami a lot but basically lost her in an instant. I just lost my respect for him when he was upset at her about the whole thing. He only has himself to blame for not making a move and he needs to keep that in mind. From there it continued the eternal rivalry between the two families on an even more intense level. It was a nice way to see further into the rivalry and the arc was just really good.

Now after all of that you may be thinking, this review seems pretty negative eh? Can it actually achieve the positive score in the end? Wel, I’d say that this one is able to do it. It’s true that I wasn’t a huge fan of the characters or the story but I was always engaged with seeing what would happen next. The series is a good page turner and that’s because the dynamics are solid.

Dark and Daisuke always have a lot of fun conversations. Riku and Risa also have a nice bond going and the series is definitely at its best when it is focusing on the comedy. It has a lot of charm to it and the adventures are nice. In a way the stealing things element is just the backdrop for these school adventures. If you cut out the actual arcs of falling into a painting each time then the series would excel even more. Perhaps it would run the risk of being too low key but I think it could pull this off.

As for the artwork, it definitely changes a lot as you go through the series. It makes sense when you consider how long this series had to wait until the final arcs. There is something nice and retro about the original art but either way I would say it looks solid throughout the series. You can definitely follow along with no trouble at all. The character designs are all unique and at most you can just have trouble when Daisuke is turning into Dark sometimes. You aren’t always sure if he’s in the hybrid form, the faux form, or if he actually is Dark now. In fairness to the art though, sometimes the mystery is intentional by the manga since you aren’t supposed to know how it is. The transformation rules can be a little complicated as I said earlier.

Unfortunately I was not a big fan of the ending at all. I thought they kind of fumbled the ball there a bit. It reminds me of the ending for a series with a dynamic very similar to this one and it made the same mistake. When you’ve been together for so long and become best friends, you want both characters to be able to have a satisfying end. When that doesn’t happen then it just feels like a really big shame. Especially because the journey was so long. There is still more to like than to dislike here of course but a nice ending would have been a good cherry on top for the experience.

As for the romance, I touched on it a bit earlier but I wouldn’t call it particularly strong. Mainly because both characters are on their second choices in a sense. Not saying you can’t change your mind or anything but it’s always a bit of a trickier sell as opposed to going for the main pick. That’s when you can really get behind the romance and it all works out nicely. There’s no room for doubts or anything like that.

Overall, D.N.Angel is a good series. I’d say the best way to describe it is as a very peaceful manga. You can easily blitz through 20 chapters or more at a time because you are always eager to see what will be happening next. The story knows how to keep you at the edge of your seat even without any action as you wonder how Daisuke will get out of revealing his secret identity this time. The series just tends to stall a lot whenever it enters a story arc. While that may seem like it should be reversed, it is the slice of life moments that feel a lot more important. I think a better cast could have helped it turn around to the next level but if you’re looking for a solid romance type manga then this is still a good one to check out. The phantom thief element shakes things up a bit and there’s nothing really crazy here. This is the kind of title you could recommend to someone who hasn’t read much manga before and they’ll be able to follow along real easy.

Overall 6/10

Pacific Rim: The Black Season 2 Review

Posted on May 22, 2022 by dreager1

The Black certainly took a break for a long while but at long last we got season 2. I was pretty much blown away by how good season 1 was. It had a great premise and really executed on it. The solid cast brought this to completion and I was eager to see how season 2 would play things out. Season 2 is a very different show in a lot of ways and while the first one had me gushing about everything, I would say that this season had more weaknesses. It’s still pretty good but I had some issues which wasn’t the case with the first season.

Last time Boy transformed into a Kaiju and saved the day but now the group has to decide what to do with him. Taylor thinks its way too dangerous to stick with him and Mei agrees but Hayley says they will not abandon him under any circumstances. The Sisters of the Kaiju are after him as well which complicates things. Protecting Boy could end up costing all of them their lives. Taylor will be faced with a tough decision there and this could even cost him the trust of his allies. Will he make the right move? Also, does this group have ties to their parents?

There’s a lot going on here of course but the Sisters are definitely the main threat now. Not to say that the Kaijus aren’t a threat but at this point it’s fairly easy to outmaneuver them and to stay safe. The sisters can control Kaiju which is the real danger here since that means they can utilize strategy and all kinds of tactics to keep the upper hand. I wasn’t able to take them very seriously though which is part of what made this season a bit weaker. This group isn’t all that strong individually. They can be shot like normal or just overpowered. Their ability to use Kaiju is impressive but it’s not enough to make the group as a whole very scary.

You feel like the heroes probably could just storm the base and blow them up a few times. I like the concept of the group for sure and I remember being intrigued in season 1 but they just didn’t live up to the hype. Giving them some slight super abilities or a more charismatic leader would have gone a long way towards helping the group out. It did at least give us a fairly satisfying plot with the mother though. The episode of jumping into her mind and trying to bring her back was cool. It was like something out of X-Men with the whole exploring the mental realm part.

So this is around the point where Shane shows up and he’s definitely changed quite a bit. The guy was the big antagonist last time but here he is played up more like someone who deep down cares for Mei a lot the whole time and has just made a lot of tough calls. He walks back some of his more nefarious moves from last season with revelations like him storing up the memories and now he’s ready to risk his life to save the main characters’ mother. It’s impressive that he didn’t walk away from the challenge and just went for it. It feels like there’s a bit of a disconnect here but either way he makes for one of the better characters in this season.

The scene of him casually taking out a few of the sisters just made him look that much more impressive even if it had the opposite effect for them. His partner was also decent but more of a tech guy so there wasn’t a lot for him to do in the field. Shane’s group should live on rather well with their new commander who knew how to fight and lead the group. He ends up bumping off one member of the group but she was handling everything in a really awful way. Why shoot at a monster that’s not even going towards you? The scene was meant to show how she cracked but man was that a bad time for it.

The season is only 7 episodes so by this point we’re already about halfway and then we get the climax with the sisters launching their final assault and Apex even showing up. The government also appears to mostly get in the way by the end. I felt they were unreasonable the whole time but the kids did not help their case at all. We’ll get into that more later on. The fights are good as always with a lot of solid back and forth. There aren’t as many robot vs kaiju battles here but the ones that we do get always deliver when it counts.

There are also our share of human battles against the smaller creatures which is good. I did think that the main wolf type Kaiju looked way too weak though. You couldn’t go one episode without them getting wrecked by someone. They would lose to humans, Boy, random villains, etc. Seriously, it’s almost each and every one of those 7 episodes where they lose and it felt like they were complete fodder now. Losing to Boy is fine of course but when they were losing to Mei and the others it could be a little harder to buy because of how ferocious these things are supposed to be. It’s mostly just a power levels issue but they went down too easily.

As with last time I really enjoyed the animation. I still say it looks like something out of Nintendo with Hayley looking like a cross between Link and Samus. The style suits the series well and takes 0 time to get used to. It just works right from the jump even when there are no action scenes. It’s really colorful and striking so each scene has a big impact on you. The soundtrack or lack thereof isn’t impressive though. I couldn’t tell you any big themes from the show which is a shame because I think you could have had a lot of really cool sci-fi themes going the whole time. It seems like that wasn’t meant to be this time though.

Now we do meet a crazy guy named Bunyip who actually manages to keep the Kaiju at bay to an extent. I thought he was pretty interesting because he has managed to live all these years but he definitely didn’t think things through by the end. His system was never going to work forever though with how it relied on the food like that. One moment of sabotage and it’s all over. I did find it interesting that they had to do the whole sabotage thing instead of controlling the Kaiju outright. Maybe that would have been too much for them or their hunger for food would supersede the orders.

Now the most controversial character here would be Taylor and for good reason. This guy makes a whole lot of mistakes in this season and they are rather large ones that you can’t walk back from. He argues with Hayley in basically every episode about Boy and what they ought to do with him. Naturally he wants to cut ties with Boy the whole time because Taylor thinks the situation is too dangerous while Hayley says they should keep looking after him since they’re all a family. Taylor then does the unthinkable in brokering a deal with the villains to take Boy off their hands and it’s a move that you can’t come back from.

You can’t just give Boy over to an insane cult like this. Who knows what could have happened to him and then the fact that he did this in the dead of night so the others wouldn’t realize just makes the whole thing even worse. It wasn’t a brave thing to do but a cowardly one. I wouldn’t blame Haley if she decided to never speak to him again after that. Then in another scene has her take the tough job of helping talk to someone as they’re dying so it can be peaceful. Hayley has to go through a lot here and a good chunk of it is Taylor’s fault.

No matter how he rationalizes it, he made a terrible choice here. You can’t just betray your allies like this no matter how tough the situation gets. It was very disappointing since he was pretty good in the first season. It may have sown the seeds for their future disagreements but at least they were talking it out rather than him just making a big move like this. At least Hayley was still a very good character. She did advocate for helping Boy a whole lot in the season and never backed down. She proved herself to be more of a hero than the other 2 who certainly had a lot of doubts about the whole thing. Hayley just doesn’t give up the way that the others do and has managed to keep her optimism the whole way through.

She is also able to keep a better control of her emotions at times. Perhaps not all of the time as she’s under a lot of stress to but when the going gets tough she steps up. That’s exactly how it should be. As for Boy, he doesn’t get a ton to do here since he is being mind controlled half the time but he means well. He’s just too young to have much of a character yet though so he’s mainly just around as a plot point more than a character.

Mei is still the most hardened member of the group and she’s always talking about leaving but deep down you know that she’s here for the full ride. She has some history with the sisters which can cause her to freeze up but it doesn’t stop her from going in and helping with the whole attack on the base. Ultimately she does the best during this operation which is not surprising. The show always gave her the respect and poise that is due of such a good fighter. She was more on Taylor’s side the whole time but unlike him she wasn’t going to try anything sneaky in the dead of night so she’s way better than he is.

One character who shows up briefly here is Apex but you feel like his character was wasted. This guy still has the best design in the show and is one of the fiercer characters but he doesn’t get a true fight this time. He shows up to help with the Boy situation and that’s it. Ultimately it wasn’t much in the way or closure for this guy and they could have done better. I was happy to see this guy and so to have his role be so small just didn’t feel right. He deserved a big battle if nothing else.

Finally you have their mother Brina who is a solid character. It’s definitely a shame that she got brainwashed so thoroughly but it’s hard to imagine someone. holding out against the sisters for so long on their own anyway. They’re a professional cult with a ton of experience in this domain so that makes sense. Ultimately it’s hard to remove their influence and she has a tough time throughout the season. I was glad that she got to appear and have some conversations with the main characters at least. It was definitely a long time coming there.

As for the government stepping in, so here’s why I blame this on the heroes a bit. They should have yelled right away that they were the children of the two legendary pilots. After that have the A.I. try talking and just keep saying trivia and fun facts that establish their identity. Instead they were a little too curt and down to business on the liens which didn’t give the government a lot to work with. Of course I do think the government wasn’t very reasonable here either as they immediately started firing the whole time. At lest look at the situation and see what’s happening here. These guys were way too gung ho and if the barrage was successful then the robot would have been taken out too. You feel like they could use every suit they can so breaking it would be a huge waste for them.

It ended up making the final fight a whole lot closer than it needed to be. I’m also not convinced their assault would have done much to stop the real Kaiju enemies so being here may not be the safest thing anyway. Well, the season works as an open and shut ending to the series which most of the important things wrapped up. The Black does well in feeling like its own stand alone story while acknowledging that things are going on around the planet as a whole. I’d like to see this continued and incorporate them into the main plot to stop the Kaiju once and for all. That would make for a great season 3.

One of the things that helps the show excel so much is the very solid writing here. It’s a very advanced writing style here where the characters debate and talk each path through. They don’t always see eye to eye by the end and sometimes the plans are no good but the dialogue is quite strong. Writing plays a key part in any show and this one was definitely in a good spot as a result. Mixing in the fun action and graphics is an extra bonus to take this even further. So what I’m saying in the end here is that you’ll have a lot of fun here and you should be satisfied with the ending. It may have had its weak points but at the end of the day it’s still a well rounded show with a lot of fun moments. The action scenes are all a lot of fun and while this is a show for the story first and action second, they give each fight a good amount of time and effort.

Overall, Pacific Rim The Black has been a really fun ride. Watching the two seasons back to back would definitely make for a really solid watch. A lot of franchises would be desperate to get a show this good so it’s really fortunate for Pacific Rim to get something like this. There was a lot of effort put into it and there’s a lot of replay value to be had here. If you’re looking for a solid action/adventure show then you definitely can’t go wrong with this one.

Overall 7/10

Cells at Work!! Review

Posted on May 22, 2022 by dreager1

It’s time to look at the next installment in the Cells at Work series. Season 2 focuses more on the side characters like Normal Cell so it serves to expand on how well you know the cast. It is not quite as explosive as season 1 though and you will miss Red and Neutrophil when they aren’t around. You can tell the production values have dropped as well. Since the show is a slice of life title it’s not like you could call this a filler season but it does feel like that a bit since nothing big happens until near the end of the season. The climax is really solid though and ultimately this is a good title even if it isn’t a great one.

The general premise of the show is that all of the blood cells in a person’s body are sentient. They go around making sure that everything works and this is how you stay alive. Red blood cells move the nutrients around and the White blood cells take out the germ intruders. It all makes for a smooth operation and so you see their day to day lives. Near the end of the season the big villain known as Cancer makes his return to kick things into high gear. Can the heroes stop him?

This is a rather short season with only 8 episodes in it so the whole thing goes by pretty fast. The cast may not be the strongest out there but they’re still nice enough. Lets get the weak points of the show out of the way first. As with the first season I do find that the backgrounds can feel a bit repetitive because there’s only so much you can do while being inside of a body. It limits the show to an extent because the average slice of life has a lot of fun outdoor backdrops and elements to keep things fresh. With that out of the question here the characters have to do the heavy lifting.

Some of the characters are pretty fun so that works out well enough but at the same time I wouldn’t say that this is a series with top tier humor. Titles like Bleach and Noragami would be funnier. As a comedy it’s probably a little below average and the action is only standard. In a lot of ways that is the best way to describe the show. It’s not particularly weak in too many areas but it’s not strong in any of them so it only ends up being a rather standard show that isn’t too remarkable in any way.

From the soundtrack there is one theme that I liked a lot in season 1 and it returns here but barely. Felt like it didn’t get used to much this time which is too bad. The rest of the themes are okay but not really memorable. The animation also isn’t all that impressive. The first season had a lot of really intense, fast paced action scenes while this one has those very rarely. The battle with cancer at the end is probably the only one that felt like it had a lot of really good shots.

Now onto the good stuff. Neutrophil is still one of the best characters here. I like his drive to always protect the body and help the others out. He doesn’t waver in his goal and just keeps on going while also being reasonable. He did help the normal cell with hiding the other germs at one point and isn’t the automatic killing machine that everyone thinks he is. All you have to do is watch how he always supports Red to see that he’s a nice guy. Whenever he was the focus of an episode that was a good thing.

Red really gets the shaft here so don’t expect to see her a lot. She’s still a fun enough character but in a way she got bumped from being one of the 2 lead characters to a very minor supporting role. She makes the most of her moments but it would have been cool to have seen her do more. Maybe not a fight per say but some kind of support role.

Killer T is a fun character as always. He can be a little stern and rough around the edges but that’s just how he rolls. He still put in a ton of effort in order to master his super attack and won’t give up on his friends. He can be a bit much but Killer T will still land in the positive section every time. Meanwhile Regulatory T Cell definitely took a heavy hit here. She ultimately crumbled when the going got tough and that’s not easy for me to forget. She was on the wrong side and used a technicality as an excuse.

By the time she turned things around she had already done a ton of harm. There was no way to get on board with her character after all of that. She quickly sunk to being one of my least favorite cells here and there’s no real way to climb up again. At least realistically I don’t see that happening. She really enjoyed dishing out the pain against her friends too. It’s not like there was any hesitation, she just went right to it. You can’t make mistakes like that.

As for the normal cell, well he’s decent enough I guess. He was a bit annoying in his first main episode though where he is making fun of the white blood cells and all. I get that he’s jealous but the guy was insanely petty the whole time. You should be showing a little more respect to the guys who are keeping you alive right? Without them the germs would have infested the planet and that would be it for them all.

The first episode is mainly about the little cells who go around building bridges and being generally helpful. I liked their coach who got to appear since she was a strict teacher who ultimately helped them all out. It was a low key but fun way to kick things off. The second episode reminded me why the Memory Cell is still one of the worst though. He never comes through when the heroes actually need him to and when your weakness is your memory then you know you’re doomed. How could you start thinking you know about the future?

Neutrophil did well in the other part of that episode to stop the invaders. The 3rd episode has two segments as well. In one of them the Mast cell struggles with being liked vs doing her job. It’s a bit messy since the others don’t appreciate her. Ultimately she finds a balance here but I can’t say that I was a big fan of hers either way. The other segment had one of the more intense fights here as Neutrophil had to fight for the hair. The fact that thousands of his comrades died in this fight makes things surprisingly dark for a minute there. This villain really had a good setup going to stop the heroes each time. Kind of a shame that none of the others ever messaged for backup before though. You’d think that some of them would have done that.

Then we get to the mini arc of the normal cell watching out for a bunch of little creatures. Its nice and wholesome to an extent but at the same time you just feel like he’s not handling things very well. Being mean to the white blood cells is never cool and how is this guy so clueless about the world as a whole? He basically has to grow copies of himself all day so he can’t leave his room. Why not use that time t read or learn about the world? It might be fair to say that the world has no real educational books like that but in that case he should try asking around. Normal cell wants to be a hero but ultimately it just isn’t working out for him.

Finally we get to the Cancer Cell plot and this one is definitely fun. It also brings up some deep questions like Cancer Cell asking why he has to be murdered just for being born. The interesting part of making every cell’s job automatic while also making them sentient is that it can bring up dilemmas like this. White blood cells have to murder germs and cancer cells. That’s the law of this reality and yet as this cancer cell points out, that means its unfair to his group. From the instant they are born, they are slated for destruction. Even if they stopped their activities they would have to be destroyed.

Neutrophil doesn’t really have an answer for that either. He just explains they have to finish this and proceeds. Cancer Cell is a villain so don’t get that mixed up but his points were worth thinking about. He also mentions why they have to risk the lives of trillions of cells and lose them in many fights to protect one body. Why not just take out the body so they can all die together or just ignore it until it eventually shuts down. It’s not an option that’s sustainable in any way but sacrificing trillions of lives for one does seem a bit lopsided.

So you can always count on the cancer cell to really get you thinking. He’ also got a cool design and really solid powers. It took all of the strongest fighters teaming up to take him down for the count. NK cell got to appear again and she did really well in the fight. She’s another really solid character for sure and works well with the others.

As for my final thoughts on Cancer’s questions on just destroying cells because of their type, I agree with him that it’s not right but I can’t think of many ways around that. The characters are very limited in what they can do because of the setting and in his case he was already acting aggressively evil. Maybe there’s some kind of prison that can hold them. At the very least I was glad that Neutrophil didn’t hesitate and just rushed in. If you don’t have the answer then there’s no point in dragging it out. Just get out there and take care of business. Maybe one day he will be able to get his happy ending if they can find a cell that cures other cells.

The stakes were high and cancer is a fitting final boss so it was a good way to wrap up season 2. It always feels odd to finish a show that’s less than 12 episodes because it feels short. We still got the final saga to be a two part event though which was neat. You’ll have a good time here and you might even pick up a few things. It’s very science based like last time so you may recall some more scientific names than you did to start the show but at the same time there are so many names that you may forget them just as easily.

If we ever get a season 3 I think a good idea would be to get them out of the body somehow. That, or make it a time skip where the body now looks like a city. That would make for some fun new dynamics and even having the human shrink and appear in there would be cool. It would be tough to make that work but it would spice things up. Assuming we need to keep things reasonably similar then just bringing the animation budget back up to season 1 levels would be good for all of the fights. It’s hard to know how you can possibly top Cancer as a final boss though.

Overall, Cells at Work!! is a fun sequel. If you wanted to see the characters again then this definitely does the trick there. It should feel nostalgic seeing all of the characters again. It’s definitely got the same vibe as last time and due to its nature you can jump in on almost any episode and know what’s going on the whole time. It’s very accessible for casual watching and makes for a solid experience. There wasn’t a ton to say here compared to many shows since there isn’t a lot to theory craft or a huge cast to discuss but ultimately I’d say I covered the main points. If you checked out season 1 then you’ll want to watch this as well.

Overall 6/10

Tiger & Bunny

Posted on May 17, 2022 by dreager1

I’ve now started the Tiger & Bunny manga. It’s a pretty classic superhero story so far and has solid fundamentals. It’s a bit early to say how it’ll shake out so far but it’s a good read and I’ll have a review up once I have finished the series.

Overall 7/10

Attack of the Puppet People Review

Posted on March 14, 2022 by dreager1

Attack of the Puppet People seems like a misleading title to be honest as they aren’t the main antagonists here. Maybe “Night of the Living Doll” or something like that could have worked instead. Still, this is a fun film and you’ll get a kick out of it. Some of the character’s reactions may not make a whole lot of sense and one character is extremely slow on the uptake but ultimately it’s a unique premise that’s executed rather well I’d say. The movie has strong fundamentals and never wavers.

The movie starts with Sally heading to a doll store where there was a help wanted sign. The owner (Mr. Franz) is so delighted to have her start up that she is a little taken aback. Perhaps this is not the job for her? Well, Franz is quite pushy so in the end she relents and starts right away. The job’s pretty fun for a while and she even meets a salesman named Bob and they get serious about each other. Bob even asks her to marry him but then he mysteriously vanishes the next day. When Sally goes to work she sees a doll that looks just like Bob (Smart move Franz….) but can it really be him? Sally then realizes that the other dolls look like other people who have vanished such as the previous secretary and mailman. Could Franz be turning people into dolls? Sally sure thinks so but how can she possibly prove this? It will be difficult indeed.

Part of the issue is that this story sounds crazy to anyone who hears it. How can you turn someone into a doll? That doesn’t make sense and sounds like something straight out of a Sci-Fi movie. The Police Sergeant that she talks to is a huge skeptic for sure. He does realize that quite a few people have vanished recently but figures there’s nothing about this that links it to Franz just yet. The guy does a little digging but misses on every single clue and is always in the right place at the wrong time. Ultimately you can’t count on that guy to help very much at all. He seems like a nice guy but not a useful one.

As for Sally, well she’s okay and at least she figured out what was going on quickly. My main issue with her is that she can be a bit of a pushover. She really lets Franz talk her into accepting the job and then doesn’t even realize as he locked the door behind him. She should have dashed out after the Sergeant. After all, she just claimed him to be a kidnapper so even if the cops didn’t believe it, there’s no way this would end well for her. She should have ducked out immediately.

Franz is the main villain here and not the smartest guy. First off, Sally would not have even suspected anything if he didn’t have the new doll just sitting there. Why wouldn’t the villain keep all the human dolls in hiding and only display the actual ones? From what we saw of the shop, he has no shortage of those so lock the human ones somewhere safe and display the fake ones. Case closed and that would have made him a lot harder to track. I’m convinced that this guy wasn’t very good at the villain game as he also gives the humans a lot of freedom while he’s outside and underestimates how much they want to be free. You can see how he is a bit crazy as he thinks the people really like him and he even tries to get them to sing to him but ultimately that’s his undoing.

For a good chunk of the film the characters are dolls so that makes for an interesting dynamic. Knowing that you could be put into suspended animation at any point has to be rather terrifying. You’re rarely ever truly safe at that point. One doll for example was kept in stasis for months so she barely knew what was happening at first. When your life is completely dependent on the whims of a random villain like this, then you definitely want to get out as soon as possible.

I think you do have to play it cool at some points like when they were first awakened, but otherwise you have to try as many plans as possible. The phone plan was a good idea and same for the trying to turn back to their adults form moment. Ultimately the heroes tried a lot of options which was good but they’re inherently at a huge disadvantage just due to how small they are. There’s only so much that you can do at this size.

The movie also has some fun humor. Franz has a best friend who is always coming over to talk. It was nice how that guy would always come with the worst timing and slow Franz down. Usually you see that happening a lot to the heroes so for once the roles were reversed here and the villain is the one who had to deal with this. That’s definitely something that’s a little different. The friend also really meant well and seemed like an earnest guy. Too bad he didn’t have better friends.

It is pretty interesting to see what life could be like if you had to live as a doll. Even if you take away the suspended animation part I don’t think it would be a good deal though. Just about everything would be dangerous. One of the captives says that a plus is not really having to do anything. You just get to walk a bit, have your free meal, and do some entertaining. The issue is that you really do feel like a toy after that. I can see wanting to be super tall like a Kaiju or something but even then that would only be good if you could shrink afterwards. Otherwise no deal.

The plot may be rather low key but the writing is what really helps it be entertaining. The main characters are good and Franz makes for a solid villain. There’s one scene where he forces Sally to act in a play but I thought the whole “jump scare” where the doll turns into Hyde didn’t seem as intense/scary as they tried to make it. This ultimately leads to Bob beating the doll up but I didn’t really understand the big reaction. The doll was a little scary sure, but I didn’t think it was That scary.

As a final note, I do think the Sergeant was really pushing it here. When he saw that Franz was hiring yet another secretary as the last one “Went abroad to go find her fiancé” that should have raised massive red flags. That would be another disappearance and yet the cop doesn’t really think twice about it. He accepts the guy’s word right away. Even if you don’t buy into the supernatural element, what about the possibility that this guy is just kidnapping people the old fashioned away? There are too many people going missing for this to be a coincidence. Ultimately it ends up being the main character’s responsibility to help take this guy down but it would have been nice if they had some kind of backup.

Overall, The poster may not be very good for this film but the execution is. There’s even a quick scene where the characters are watching a film and it’s nice and meta since there were quite a few similarities in that plot. It felt kind of random but the scenes they chose in that film were definitely entertaining so that worked out well. I also thought the characters were good. One of the captives seemed to have gotten used to this life too easily but the others were totally faking it so that helped even things out. The writing was good and the film was fun so in the end that’s all that counts here. It ended up being a fun ride.

Overall 7/10

The Seven Deadly Sins: Seven Days Review

Posted on March 11, 2022 by dreager1

Next up on the Seven Deadly Sins spinoff list is more of a romance title. Yes, Seven Days is a title that I would consider to be a romance first and foremost which is a first for this series. The main manga certainly had its share of romance plots but it was always an action/adventure as the main genre. Well, this title is exclusively about the romance between Ban and Elaine which is a change of pace right away. I’m not a big fan of the romance myself but the story is told well. We get some action and the characters are nice enough so that ends up being a win.

The story starts off by explaining that Elaine is one of the fairies tasked with protecting the fountain of eternal youth from any who should go into the forest. Fortunately she is not alone, her brother is the fairy king and he is incredibly strong. There are many powerful fairies within the forest and even the trees automatically protect against intruders. Unfortunately a bunch of the fairies were suckered by a corrupt human who kidnapped them and the King went off to save them. The rest of the fairies quickly ran away back to the Fairy Realm so Elaine is tasked as the only fairy left who must protect the whole kingdom on her own. The King said he would return shortly but now 700 years have passed. One day a mysterious traveler named Ban appears and he is in search of the fountain of Eternal Youth. Elaine must stop him but he seems different from the rest.

Elaine has good reasons to be really jaded at humanity. She has the ability to read minds and so far everyone who has come to the fountain to gain eternal youth has been a complete criminal. They all end up being liars and try to attack her right away. Fortunately she has been strong enough to defeat them all with ease but between that and a lot of the fairies being kidnapped, the humans do not look very trustworthy at all. Ban’s really shown to be the only good human here.

It is unfortunate that the rest of the fairies look so weak though. Losing to random humans like this isn’t a good look for them. If these were higher ranked villains then that would be different but the way they lost was sad. Even Elaine who looks impressive against the humans ends up faltering when an actual monster shows up. The Fairies definitely need some good power ups so they can alter the balance of power because this is really not working out for them.

Yes, a monster does show up in the second volume to add a little danger to the equation. Of course if you’ve read the main series then you know how this adventure has to end. In case you haven’t, I can say that this definitely changes the dynamic of the series and ties into Ban’s role in the main title. The ending is definitely an emotional one but with enough hope left where you know the characters can still have a chance.

The battle scene was also solid. It’s cool to see Ban fighting back in the day before he got his powers. He was still a strong fighter but of course not on the same level that he is currently. He fights more carefully than in the main series since he really can’t afford to be getting hit like normal but in the end he still can’t quite go up against the really strong opponents without his abilities.

Ban’s a likable character here. He’s quick to give up on his journey when he learns that it will hurt the forest and from then on just tries to help Elaine get through her boredom. I’m still not a fan of the romance angle here but at least through the series we take 7 days before they start to be together instead of right away. Still not a whole lot of time but since they’re both bored with absolutely nothing to do, it’s 7 days where they’re hanging out 24/7 instead of some hours at a time.

I also think the artist did a better job of drawing Elaine to look a little older at least. We know she’s 1000+ years old and all but when she looks too young it just doesn’t feel right. Still not a perfect scenario but better than it could have been. As for Elaine, she’s a good lead. She did well to protect the forest for 700 years without any real backup. (She has a demon dog but he vanishes whenever villains appear) If I was her I would be sore at how everyone just vanished though. The fairies completely ditched her so maybe she should have ditched the forest and left as well. The task just feels completely unreasonable.

It’s also a shame that she doesn’t have more ways to fight off this monster. I feel like she should have some kind of special abilities that would aid her here but she wasn’t really able to do much against this beast. If Ban were not here then she would have gone down in an instant. Ultimately she stayed heroic through to the end though and did not complain as she looked through the forest. It was certainly a relief for her to read Ban’s mind and finally find an honest human for the first time. Having the ability to read someone’s mind has got to be a very comforting feeling since you know for a fact that you aren’t being tricked.

This series (2 volumes, but that’s enough to be called a series I suppose) has a very small cast but I think that’s intentional to show how alone Elaine is. The other fairies appear briefly in volume 1 but after that it’s really just her and Ban the whole time. It’s hard to imagine how she didn’t go crazy just wandering around the forest for 700 years with nothing to do aside from murdering the occasional trespasser. There is some dialogue about how the passage of time feels different for immortals because of just how long it is but that’s still just a really long amount of time.

Also from just reading this series, you have to be mad at the King. He told her he’d be right back and then vanishes for 700 years? Aside from his death or complete memory erasure there is really no excuse for that. I also think there’s no excuse for other Fairies not arriving to work in shifts or to try and get her some intel. They sure show up very quickly in the epilogue when Ban’s around so where were they until then? These are the kinds of allies that you absolutely do not want.

Overall, Seven Days was a fun spinoff. It does show that you can have a quality romance adventure even if you’re not on board with the actual romance. The story’s very low key with lots of scenes of Ban just reading a book about beer labels to Elaine as he wows her with his adventures. The fact that this book is so low key is the point as she’s desperate for any activity that will erase her boredom and it’s a good way to connect the two characters. Elaine was always a fun enough character in the main series while Ban could be hit or miss. He was at his best in this story though and the author understood his character well. The ending is also solid and ties into the main series smoothly. As the story is stand alone you can read this without context of the main series and maybe it’ll even help you to give it a read. Either way, you’ll have a good time reading these two volumes.

Overall 7/10

The Seven Deadly Sins: Original Sins Review

Posted on March 10, 2022 by dreager1

As you probably know, I was not the biggest fan of the Seven Deadly Sins main series. Much like Fairy Tail, it could have been one of the all time elites but was held back by fanservice issues and a really poor main character in Meliodas. Still, with the concept being good, that always means that the spinoffs have a lot of potential since you can possibly get all of the highs without the lows if the stories end quickly enough. I would say this spinoff does a good job of that. It’s not amazing or anything like that but it’s a pretty good collection of stories where the Sins get to do their thing and take out the enemies.

The main story in this book sees Meliodas and the crew take on the vampires. This story is from before they disbanded so it’s fun to see the team together from back in the day. Even at this point they were all incredibly powerful and I think you could do a whole prequel that would be a lot of fun about this era. There isn’t a lot of danger as the heroes completely outrank the villains in every possible way but at least we get to see them all use their signature techniques.

From the vampires the only real notable one is Gelda as she would later go on to have a big role in the climax of the series. She’s certainly smarter than the average vampire and quickly knew the score and exactly how everything would play out right from the beginning. Her request to be destroyed by Meliodas still isn’t the right move here though even if winning would have been impossible. At this point she had no true allies or reasons to keep on going but she could have found some if she stuck around. It all ultimately ended up working out for her but if you read this story before reading the main series then she will come off as being someone who gives up way too quickly.

The strongest vampire was probably the leader who fought Escanor but even then you knew that he was doomed from the start. The art is great as always though so you can really appreciate the villain designs here. They just emit power in every panel. Likewise the heroes all look powerful here and you can see why they are known as the ultimate fighting force in the kingdom. It’s rare to have a hero group who completely outshine the villains like this but that’s just how good they are. It would be difficult for any group of villains to match them. The fights are solid so that’s why the vampire story is very good.

Then there’s a very short story where a few bandits decide to break into the cafe Meliodas owns to harass Elizabeth. Fortunately the rest of the Sins show up and beat up/intimidate those bandits for a while. The group’s always ready to watch out for her that’s for sure. While the story may make it seem like they arrived by accident, you get the feeling they’re all always on the lookout so as soon as the bandits showed up they knew what to do. This was before the popularity poll results in the volume so it was a good way to give everyone a moment to shine first.

Finally we have the pilot to the Seven Deadly Sins series. It’s always interesting to read the pilot to see how things changed from the original oneshot. For starters, Meliodas actually seems like a decent person here. He has a huge sword as well instead of the hilt that’s missing a blade. The plot itself is the same as Elizabeth shows up to try and locate the Seven Deadly Sins to help her retake the kingdom but they are all scattered to the winds. Her personality is very different though as she doesn’t really have any manners here and is super oblivious to all social rules.

In this case, her being a princess means that she doesn’t have much common sense and doesn’t know basic tasks. Unfortunately this is an excuse for some fanservice. The villain here is a little more deranged and one of those pervy type villains who is extremely annoying so the main series definitely had a better introduction when it comes to the villain. Both the original first chapter and pilot have different positives and negatives so in a way the series just changed up what held it back. It’s a decent pilot but it’s easy to see how this could have taken us down the wrong path.

The artwork has certainly improved from then though. You can’t really compare the character designs from the pilot to the main series, it’s just a world of difference and that makes sense since the artist is a lot more experienced now. With these 3 stories in here, this makes for a fun one shot. It’s always good to see the gang again and I’m glad these stories were put into a manga volume instead of staying in limbo for all eternity. This is certainly the better deal.

The Seven Deadly Sins may not be the best group of heroes out there as I’m not a huge fan of most of their members but it is a nice dynamic with how they’re barely a team. They don’t work very well together to the point where it’s extremely rare to see them all teaming up at the same time. They’re all just too strong so naturally they all have big egos and rivalries of their own. Merlin and Gowther always seem super suspicious so it’s hard to know what they’re thinking. King and Ban are always fighting, same with Ban and Meliodas. Escanor’s personality does a 180 based on whether it’s night or day and Diane is nice enough. Their chemistry makes for a lot of fun banter but usually won’t turn into teamwork. They’re so strong that it’s rarely needed though.

From the 3 stories my favorite one was the vampire story for the reasons listed above. It’s just a very classic action story and seems like the kind of plot you could expect to see in a movie. Second would be the short story about the Sins beating up the random bandits. It was really short but it was nice to see everyone defending Elizabeth there. Finally the pilot would be in last. Still a decent story but between the villain being pretty bad and Elizabeth not being at the top of her game it just couldn’t compete with the others.

Overall, Original Sins is a clever title for having the original story in here but at the same time it makes you think that this might be more of a full prequel instead. I still say that a story about their original adventures in full would be a lot of fun. If you’re a fan of the main series then you’ll definitely want to check this one out. If anything you may enjoy checking this one out if you haven’t read the original as well as it’s a decent jumping on point. The vampire story at the beginning tells you all of the character personalities and abilities while the pilot gives you a good idea of the story. So that way you’ll have a good idea on if you will like the series or not.

Overall 7/10

Kenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues Review

Posted on March 10, 2022 by dreager1

The first Gambler film was fun enough and it continues with a solid sequel. This one was quite long which is definitely impressive. It gives the film time to really slow down and go through the motions as the main character builds up a full team to fight the villains. This one plays out more like a classic western in that sense as the characters jump into battle and there is not a lot of actual gambling here. In fact, there’s only one game but it’s fun enough. I wish we got more card games though because I think that would have definitely been a really good move.

The movie starts with Brady and the gang back on the train as they head to San Francisco. At long last they can get there for some final games. Brady tells his friend Billy that it’s time to retire though as Brady is going to be a full time father now. Unfortunately the train is attacked by the McCourt gang who decide to take Brady’s son Jeremiah hostage. They are now aiming to take $1 million dollars from the bank. Fortunately it is several days away. Brady needs to try and get there ahead of them so he can take these fiends out. The reason for this is because the owner of the train is planning to get all of the money out of the train before McCourt arrives. When McCourt finds out that he has been tricked…well it will not go very well for Jeremiah so he has to hurry at top speed. Can he make it?

Now you might wonder how this would last for 3 hours right? Well, the journey being such a long one that takes place over several days is the key reason here. Usually you would just skip ahead a lot but the film uses this as a way to really show how long this journey is. There are lots of scenes of the heroes traveling, the villains traveling, or both groups just taking a break. Brady also has to quickly go and grab some backup because as good as he is, he won’t be able to take the McCourt gang down by himself. Billy’s eager to help but even then it would be 2 against over 10 men.

So the first chunk of the film is about Brady going around and getting some backup. It turns out that he had a lot of connections from back during his war games. Brady has really been around the block, that’s for sure. None of the guys he recruits are super notable though. I don’t think the recruitment phase was as strong as in the other western titles and I can even tell you why. Usually in this phase, each of the characters gets to look really hype so you understand that the lead is building up a team of all stars. Surprisingly this version does not go in that direction. In fact, you could very easily make the case that most of these guys are only decent fighters at best. They just happen to be fighters that Brady knows about.

The only particularly powerful one is a local bounty hunter named Kate. She is the only member that Brady didn’t know about previously but when he finds out about her reputation, he has to quickly go over and recruit her. She’s definitely happy about the money but is she hiding anything from the group? There is always a risk to throwing a wild card into your deck, even if she happens to be a very powerful asset. I can’t say I liked her very much. Sure, she is a fun character but for most of the film she ends up being a big obstacle and while she ends up turning around, it took a while to do so.

She still beats one of Brady’s recruits who was just a painful character. The guy didn’t even know how to be an effective traitor and lets his feelings get the best of him. That guy got off easy if anything. Even his final lines are him trying to be cryptic again instead of being helpful. Perhaps he used to be a solid fighter back in the day but certainly not in the present. The rest of Brady’s men were okay even if they weren’t very remarkable.

Brady is a solid main character as always. He can fight with the best of them and is always ready with his hand on the trigger. He dominates in the poker game in the film although sadly we only get one game that’s rather short. He also takes down the villain when it counts. He’s effectively the perfect main character in a lot of ways as he’s a great fighter, leader, poker player, strategist, and never gives up. The guy is written as someone with no real weaknesses and the only reason the villains last a while is because they are always running.

Sadly Billy doesn’t get much of a role here. He’s around the whole time but just doesn’t get to contribute as much as you’d like. Considering that he saved the day in the first film I would have liked to have seen more of him here. At least he gives a good speech to cheer Brady up at one point. Jeremiah is on the annoying side. I know he’s trying to help Brady by constantly interfering with the villains but only plot armor keeps him alive after the first attempt. Jeremiah takes way too many risks and most of the attempts just never had a chance at succeeding. If you want to escape that’s fine but you have to do it in a smart way or it’s just going to completely backfire.

McCourt was a decent villain though. He did well to attack the train and get the note in writing about the money. He was just a few minutes from succeeding which was impressive. The guy also tries to be a little more lenient on the hostage even if you can hardly call him heroic for that. He just sees Jeremiah as a big safety blanket in case things go south. The guy has a lot of backup plans at all times so I have to give him credit there. The plan was quite sound.

One character I didn’t care for much was the drunk villain. I think he’s meant to be endearing since he’s the only one who cares about Jeremiah and wants to help but I found him more annoying than anything. It seems like he got in with the wrong crowd by drinking a lot and at this point he doesn’t think that he has a way out. All right, that’s rough for him but he’s still sticking around anyway. He may have more of a conscience than some of the other villains but as long as he’s with the crew he can’t really take the moral high ground. Additionally, there are so many opportunities for him to run off with Jeremiah.

The villains leave them alone so may times in the film. Naturally he decides to make a break for it when the characters are all together so he is caught extremely fast. This is similar to Jeremiah as he always picked the worst times to make a fuss so the characters matched up well in that sense. Now why this film succeeds for me is because it’s a very long film that doesn’t feel too long. You’ll be engaged from start to finish on the adventure.

The reason for this is that it feels like something is always happening. Now these may be details that certainly could be skipped to save on the runtime but it’s still interesting enough to see. The writing is good so the characters are reasonable and we get some solid fight scenes here. At this point the film is completely a western adventure as opposed to being a gambling film (Not like I’d call the first film a full gambling experience either) but it’s executed well. There’s a good amount of replay value here as well since there aren’t any strong negatives holding it back. Throw out the one guy Brady recruited who ended up being a creep and this film would be even smoother.

Overall, This film did a good job following up on the first one. With the films getting longer and longer hopefully it can keep this momentum up. If the films ever jump the shark but remain 3+ hours then that could really be a painful experience. I like to think that the films won’t make that mistake though and maybe Brady will finally be able to get to the big championships in San Francisco next time. That could be the chance to finally have the film centered around gambling this time.

Overall 7/10

The Legend of Zelda Gaiden: Quark and the Fairy Queen Review

Posted on March 6, 2022 by dreager1

Now this is a very unique oneshot because this time Link isn’t the main character. Or I guess he technically is in a sense but they call him Quark here. I found that a bit odd myself but I figured I shouldn’t question it. It’s a fun story, I don’t see what the point of not calling the lead Link was, but this would fit in well with the LoZ mythos for his younger days.

The story starts with Link walking around when he meets a fairy and an old man in the forest. Whoops…I meant “Quark”. So Quark is on a quest to grab the 3 legendary artifacts so that he can awaken the Master Sword. Once he has that then he will be able to save Zelda from Agahnim, a powerful sorcerer who has taken over Hyrule. Unfortunately Quark isn’t able to pull the Master Sword out yet and literally cries to these two people about it. The guy is introduced as Lepton and the fairy is called Ellie. They explain that there’s another villain on the loose named Graviton. Perhaps Quark could practice his skills by defeating that guy and saving a great deal of lives? Lepton will even throw in some free lessons so Quark agrees to the terms.

Right off the bat you can tell that this Quark is a little whinier than the others. Of course he is still a rookie here but even so it’s just odd to see Quark not be more of a leader kind of guy. At one point Lepton asks Quark why he’s fighting and the hero responds with “For myself” which was not the right answer. After getting beaten up by the villains for a bit, Quark remembers that he’s fighting for Zelda and the kingdom. Better late than never I guess?…..and Quark’s sword skills aren’t great yet either as he has to be saved by Lepton. By the end of the oneshot it’s safe to say that he’s back to being more courageous.

So this isn’t the best portrayal of Link I’ve seen, but Quark’s an okay main character. I wasn’t a big fan of Lepton for most of this story because it felt like the guy was making things hard on Link for no reason. He already explained that Graviton is quite powerful but then tells Quark that he has to fight on his own against him? Why? This inevitably leads to Lepton getting stabbed and things could have been different otherwise. There’s a plot twist at the end that makes all of this meaningless anyway but it’s still not a good look for him regardless.

The idea of the character’s not bad though and if Lepton would just let go of his ego a bit more then I think he’d be a much better character. Ellie’s nice enough as the sidekick. She is looking out for Lepton and tries to make Quark polite at all times which is good. As for the villain, there’s not a whole lot to say about Graviton. He has a really solid design but the guy is partially comic relief so I wouldn’t say that you can take him all that seriously. The guy even wants to go to sleep at one point because the wait to get his power up was too long.

The humor is done well enough in the story though. It all flows together pretty well and the fights are good when they happen. There is a lot more dialogue than I was expecting initially though. The oneshot really makes sure that you have on your reading glasses at all times. If you take them off then that’ll definitely be game over for you right off the bat. It’s not boring at any point though and the oneshot is of a decent length at 30+ pages. There’s enough time for the plot to settle and this feels like a legitimate sidequest. Something that would help Quark in the long run.

The art is solid here and it’s a quality story so there’s not much more you could ask for. Quark feels out of character but I know there are a lot of different Link incarnations. I am completely used to the more serious version from Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess at this point so it’s hard to go back to the spunky, younger versions. Still, I will say that Quark stepped up when he had too which is the important thing. I’m surprised Ganondorf didn’t appear but I suppose he can’t show up every time.

Overall, This was a fun story. Graviton had a cool design even if his personality wasn’t quite up to par. It’s always nice to see Link (I’ll just call him Link at this point. Quark just doesn’t feel right) having some help along his quest. It always feels like he has to do just about everything by himself when you hope that someone will step in to help him eventually. This was finally that moment even if Lepton didn’t want to directly help too much. I think there’s a time for training and a time for action but Lepton messed this up. If you want to see a fun little story about Link as he prepares to save the day, this is a good one to check out. You’ll definitely be blasting through it in no time.

Overall 7/10

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The Legend of Zelda Gaiden: Quark and the Fairy Queen Review

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