Tag Archives: Anime

Fate/strange Fake: Whispers of Dawn Review

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It’s time for Fate to begin another animated spinoff. The franchise has really done a whole lot as it expands in every way and this film is already going to be getting a full TV show later on. It’s definitely impressive and this one kicks the route off to a really good start. The Holy Grail War always feels grand in every timeline and this one’s no different. The special also already adds a number of different hooks to really make it stand out.

This one starts off with a rumor about a new Grail War taking place in the United Stated. The ministry is skeptical, however they can’t take a chance on this being legit and send over a pair of professionals to check it out. Due to the war being in America the rules are a bit different due to the magical history not being present. There is no ruler/observer this time around and there is one less servant….for now. There are conditions by which an extra servant can still appear but otherwise this is still very much the classic war that you remember. Each of the masters summon their servants and prepare for battle. Who will come out on top?

This whole special/movie is really about setting up the tournament so at this point it has barely started. Still, that makes it the perfect way to build up the hype and introduce the characters. The cast is already quite large so don’t expect them to all do a lot just yet but we already know some of their motivations and we almost get the first big fight here. The quick clash was a good way to get you ready.

Now the main question you may be wondering is…who am I rooting for? Well let me break down the teams and my general view of their goals and why I would or would not root for them. First up we have Gilgamesh and Tine, this is the pair I am rooting for. Tine’s goal is really to win this grail war quickly o that she can push away all of ther interlopers who have appeared and are wrecking the land. As someone who has helped protect the land for many generations she just can’t let this stand and I resect that. Excellent motive right off the bat so she had my attention. She can also fight and took care of the other guy real quick.

One thing you will learn quickly in this series is that you always have to act very quickly. If you want for even a moment then you may get bumped off by the very servant that you summoned or someone else can land a cheap shot. So your best bet is to use a command seal immediately and otherwise you may be in trouble. Tine doesn’t have this problem because she knows how to address Gilgamesh with respect and doesn’t cross any lines. That’s the kind of dedication and devotion that he is looking for in his subjects. No more and no less, just do what you gotta do and you’ll be fine. It’s completely possible that she will have some sinister motivations in the background but for now she’s easy to root for.

Then Gilgamesh is a super impressive servant as always. I love how grand he talks at all times and the man carries himself like a true professional. He is not someone to be trifled with and we actually get to see him cut loose for a little bit as he gets excited in one scuffle. It’s very rare to see him treat any opponent with a high level of respect so that was cool. Also if you’ve been watching some of the other spinoffs like Grand Order then you get a little something extra in all of the interactions with him and his rival since you got to see more of the context there. Yeah I don’t see any team passing this one and they should be the obvious lock to win the tourney.

Then we have Enkidu and Wolf. In theory this is the next strongest pairing but I’m highly expecting Enkidu to suffer the worf effect here. The pieces are all just in place right now. This guy’s a literal god compared to all of the other servants who are mere heroic spirits. He can control the very atmosphere and environment and Gilgamesh has been looking forward to fighting him. I’m betting that the little girl’s shadow is going to show up and murder him since the foreshadowing is already there. It would be a shame to see Enkidu go down so quickly but I do have high hopes for this new villain so it really could work out. It’s also a little too early to actually be worrying all that much.

I like Enkidu as a pretty solid antagonist. He’s a very reasonable fighter and someone with complex motivations. Then you have the owner who is a normal Wolf. It’s an interesting concept since before now we’ve only seen humans be masters but it makes sense that any sentient life could do it. My one problem is how the Wolf is going to be involved in the fighting and could get hurt now. That already happened here and it’s definitely animal violence you don’t want to see. If the series brings that back in any form it’ll definitely be concerning. This was the only part that wasn’t great since the rest of the special was spectacular.

Alexandre is another fun pick for a master because he’s a police officer. I guess police chief is probably more appropriate here and the guy even has a personal army dedicated to his cause. He wants to fight for justice but gets criticized by one of the other officers for it. You can tell that this guy’s sense of justice is probably more the tyrannical sort but considering some other fighters here are going to be pure evil, you may need to root for him.

This is really helping to take full advantage of the fact that the war is in America this time by involving the police and government. I’m really liking the approach. Unfortunately while this guy is one of the more interesting characters, I really don’t like his servant Orlando yet. The guy doesn’t seem like a fighter and gets overwhelmed too easily by his vices. I have a feeling he’s going to be a chore to watch until he eventually gets bumped off. Hopefully he can prove me wrong.

Then we have Flat and Jack who feel completely out of their league. Flat has skills but doesn’t totally know how to use them yet which could come back to hurt him. Then we have Jack the Ripper who seems reasonably tough but not all that impressive. Yeah they should be very worried at this point and could be a first round exit. They have no interesting motivations for being in this tournament either so there’s not much reason to root for them. They’re just doomed.

We don’t know almost anything about Richard and Ayaka yet so I’ll mainly skip them. Richard seems like a solid hero and the only “Hero” out of the 12 who is actually heroic. You can tell that he’ll be one of the main characters. As for Ayaka she appears to still be in her rebellious phase so we’ll have to see how that plays out. I see them being a fun combo to root for but I’ll still take Gilgamesh any day. Richard’s going to really need to prove himself here.

Tsubaki’s just a kid so right now it’s not like she has any big plans. Fortunately she seems to potentially have one of the strongest servants since the mysterious shadow is getting a lot of hype. Her whole plot is wrapped up in some mystery right now since we don’t even know if her parents totally know about what happened. Initially it seemed like her father wanted to be the master based on the planning and getting the artifacts but we also got a scene where he was monitoring a mysterious bruise/imprint on her so maybe this is a plan to make her powerful. Either way I can see this being one of the darker plots but as long as she has the shadow to protect her I expect things are going to start going up for Tsubaki.

Next up is Jester who is very much a big wild card character here. His servant Assassin seemingly took him down for the count right away but he was able to auto revive later on. He definitely has some pretty solid abilities even as a “human” so there is more to him than meets the eye. Even the servants may want to be afraid of the guy at this point and I think the Assassin should be very nervous. It’s going to be difficult for her to get away from this guy should he choose to chase after her. Making some humans a big threat is a good way to increase the tension though so I look forward to seeing what this guy can do.

While Waver and Grey are not in the tournament it will be interesting to see if they get involved in the action. As a pseudo servant Grey can fight and while the Waver show depicted how she would not be able to hold her own against any servant perhaps she can get some kind of power up. Waver is also well versed in magic and perhaps he would be able to come up with a spell that could work as well. They don’t need to get involved but it would certainly be fun.

Francesa is very much another mystery character. She is a servant where we don’t know who her master is and she appears to be a double agent. Francesa also doesn’t seem particularly heroic and has a whole speech about how easy it is to be a villain. This is someone you want to watch out for because she will absolutely stab you in the back. I don’t expect she will end up being one of the stronger servants but should still have a sizable role.

Then we have Faldeus who is a government worker and it seems to be implied he’s either CIA or FBI. He’s a really fun character right off the bat here because he made a great plan and executed it flawlessly. He knows how to be undercover and having the government around here is a brilliant move. It adds a whole new dimension to the Holy Grail War and really spices things up. I’m betting he will be a main antagonist here and at the end of the day even servants can die against bullets if you land the attack with enough stealth. Yeah this guy is going to be a lot of fun.

So there are the combatants. As you can see the movie set up a whole lot of plots and characters right from the jump which is excellent. This tournament is bound to be a blast and even thought the tournament is typically only a few days long, you can easily make this a long series just by having lots of fights, planning etc. The bigger the cast the bigger each day will be and the cast is already quite large here.

The animation is definitely really solid as you would expect. We haven’t had much action yet but all of the characters are really clear and the backgrounds are sharp. The soundtrack isn’t quite as memorable as the other Fate titles just yet but I did really like the ending theme. I’ve been hearing it a lot on Pandora and it really helps bring in the grand vibes of the series. Fate should always feel like a huge deal with even the weakest spirit still being a powerful fighter and that comes across here.

Overall, I expect this is going to be a really high tier part of the Fate franchise. The setup was excellent and there is just so much to do here. It’s still early to get a proper vibe on how things will play out so we’ll just have to wait and see. If they keep the production values and writing up then there should be no worries here. I definitely recommend checking this one out as soon as possible.

Overall 7/10

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Review

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It’s time for a movie about the dangers of time travel. See time travel is something that can be super beneficial and help you out of a jam but it can also become something that you rely on too much and then you’re really out of luck. You want to hit the middle ground but with that much power it’s just not so easy. This is definitely a solid film all around and one that I would recommend checking out.

The movie starts by introducing us to Makoto who is living a fairly ordinary life. She is best friends with two guys, Chiaki and Kosuke. If you’ve studied up on your film cues then you’ll know that this is already a red flag. According to film rules guys and girls can never stay as just friends! 😦 One day Makoto falls down while in the supply room and crushes a time travel device. She can now go back in time by building up energy and running like the Flash before literally leaping through time. It’s a power that she will have to master quickly or she will end up going too far back. It’s a lot of fun but is she somehow causing trouble by messing with the timeline?

First off the animation is solid here. It’s not quite at the mainstream anime level like Naruto or Pokemon but still above your average western title. There aren’t a lot of bright colors and the like for it to be able to show off with the animation but it’s all clear and you can follow along which is the important part. The writing is on point and the characters are likable so you have a good foundation here. The soundtrack’s more on the subdued side though so don’t expect to get a lot of big lyrical songs this time around.

This film’s more of a romantic slice of life so don’t expect too much end of the world stakes or anything like that. There definitely is danger here and things happen but for the most part it’s really about Makoto learning to stay and face her problems instead of running away from them. Always a good moral if you ask me. I do have some issues with the romance here but we’ll get into that in a minute. I did appreciate how Makoto’s aunt took the whole time travel aspect in stride though and offered her two cents about how to use it responsibly. A much better reaction than being shocked and having Makoto explain it all again.

As the main character Makoto is pretty solid. She wants to keep the status quo and is pretty good about rearranging events to make this happen. She wants to help people out and just seems like a good kid in general. Perhaps not very brave with how much running she does but at the end of the day she really tries her best. It’s probably not the most satisfying ending for her but that’s the risk of time travel. You never really know what timeline would end up being the best one and ultimately I’d say she left her ideal one.

Then there is Chiaki who is one of her best friends and he keeps trying to confess his feelings to her which causes Makoto to have to use more of her time travel. He just isn’t ready to stay as just friends and she’s not ready to let him out of the friend zone so it’s a tough dynamic. In that sense her plan was always doomed to fail though because from how he confessed it was clear that he had been thinking about this for a while. So even if she found ways to avoid him for a little bit, it was going to happen eventually or he’d move on. She needed to be able to stay in the pocket and throw out the rejection in the flat. Just let him off easy and you’re good.

He gets some points for his tenacity but also loses some for the fact that he went on the rebound rather quickly. After she avoided him enough times he goes after her best friend and it makes you think he couldn’t have been that head over heels for her. It’s always a tough call of when it’s time to move on. I would argue that this is way too soon though because even though he couldn’t get an answer out of her, he was still ready to move on.

Likewise the same thing happens with Kosuke. It’s more ambiguous but I would say it’s heavily implied that he likes her as well and ultimately goes with someone else. You could also just say that he was looking out for her as a friend so to the film’s defense it is up to you to decide. He’s a nice guy and did his best to not let anyone down while pursuing his own dreams. He really took school seriously which differentiates him from the others by quite a lot.

So with the romance, ignoring the whole why couldn’t they all just be friends angle (Because sometimes people just are friends and none of them are in a secret crush but that’s never to be in these things) I would say Makoto seeing the various timelines and how the guy would end up with someone else just showed why perhaps the romance wouldn’t have been best. If you were truly soulmates then the guy wouldn’t be going with another girl so easily right? To the guy he doesn’t remember confessing so it’s not a rebound per say but it does show that she was easily replaced and that’s not the basis for a good romance. That’s why I’m not really sure that it would have worked out.

Also while you can “learn to love” someone, I also don’t think that’s a great starting point. She clearly didn’t see him as that kind of guy and I would say the first impression is huge. She mainly just got jealous when he was with someone else and that’s another red flag. Wanting a guy because otherwise he will be taken seems like a very petty reason to me. At least the film does take place over the full summer and they’ve all known each other for a while so I won’t say that the romance is super rushed or anything. It may not be the best one but it still made an attempt.

Of course the film is at its best when we’re just seeing Makoto having fun using time travel. Before she realizes how serious it all is, it’s nice to see someone just enjoying the ability. Particularly since she uses it for everyday things like having her favorite dinner multiple times or getting to sleep in. Being able to rewind time means being able to ignore the consequences of your actions for a while. You can go to a restaurant and order all the most expensive things. Then after leaving you can rewind time and you stay full since you still experienced the event like how she was so tired after doing Karaoke on a bunch of loops. The applications of time travel are endless and I’d love to see a long running comedy about it some day. Just a character having fun with the power and living a perfect life. You’d probably need some kind of threat or danger eventually to hook people but I’d have fun just watching that series as in. Also kudos to the film on the unique method of landing out of time travel with the forward roll into the wall. It’s a little element but one that really helps the film stand out since that is very memorable.

Overall, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a pretty good movie. In some ways you’re just as interested in the movie that we didn’t see though. The apocalyptic future sounded real interesting and you sort of look forward to seeing how things went. It also adds an extra layer to the ending because it’s really hard to interpret exactly what’s going on. Personally given all the evidence I can’t see how things will ever work out for Makoto so that part’s tragic but as long as she has fun in the present then I suppose that’s all that matters. At the very least she definitely wouldn’t want to use time travel again even if she got the ability again.

Overall 7/10

Shaman King Review

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Shaman King is one of those Shonen Jump titles that was really big back in the day but then it basically just fell off. So much so that even when we got this big remake of the show that would adapt the whole thing I didn’t see it mentioned much except for when it got mocked on occasion. Well I have to say that this is a title where a lot of people missed the boat on it because it’s amazing! I have a ton of good things to say about this one but in short, it’s a title you should check out.

The show focuses on a kid named Yoh who wants to one day be the Shaman King! He wants to live an easy and carefree life and realizes that becoming the King is the only way to pull this off. After all if someone else becomes the King then it might make things even tougher. Additionally this way he will have the power to protect those close to him so it’s really a win/win when you think about it. He makes friends with a kid named Manta and together they get started on their journey. Along the way they’ll meet many other allies and enemies alike as they go forward to the goal. Can they possibly succeed though?

Most of the show is basically a large tournament of course but before that we do get some pre arc adventures. Right off the bat I’ll say that the animation is really solid here. I enjoyed all of the big battle scenes and seeing the character use their oversouls. The author really had a lot of unique designs and seeing them in motion was definitely cool. The attacks stand out and you always looked forward to the battles.

Then there is the soundtrack which is actually the most impressive part of the show. It’s not often that I say that…in fact it may be the first time. Still, the music here is incredible! It has a lot of rock themes. Agni’s Song is one of the really standout themes and plays during the series’ best moments. You always know something’s about to happen when it starts. Then there’s Anna’s Resolve which is an incredibly emotional song that always fits the scene it plays in. It captures the desperation of each scene really well.

Now the pacing is fast since there’s a whole lot to cover and little time to do it. I remember feeling like it would be impossible to get all of this into one shot without going to 100 episodes or so but somehow they pulled it off. Now granted, I haven’t read the manga in so long that I wouldn’t really notice the fights/scenes that were skipped. I would probably take that a bit more personal if I was super familiar with the content but at least this way I can say as part of the general audience that it’s not super noticeable. You won’t have a bad time feeling like you missed out.

Yoh makes for a fun main character as he’s very unique. I can pretty much guarantee you have not come across many main characters who are as laidback as he is. Yoh takes this to the next level as he always says things will work out no matter what. It might be easy to think he has no drive as a result but I would still say the motivation is there. After all his goal can only be attained by becoming the King so he works hard at it. He just doesn’t stress about how things will play out which is a key distinction. It’s something easier said than done but that I would say is the right approach. Why worry about things that you cannot directly control right?

Like I said it’s really difficult to do that but it actually does make a whole lot of sense. At the end of the day there are times where you can try your best and it just won’t be enough. That’s just life after all. As long as you know you did everything that you could then you shouldn’t sweat the small stuff. That’s really a big theme later on when one fighter appears with abilities that are so good they’re basically unfair. You just have to acknowledge that there was nothing else you could do and then it works out.

The manga goes in a very interesting direction for the ending. It’s definitely not one I would have expected prior to reading the series but I do like it. I wouldn’t want this to become the norm of course but it’s a great way of writing around a powerful villain and not allowing any power level hax at the end. Trust me the author would have been in a tough spot if he wanted to end it traditionally. I would have just had a very hard time buying into it no matter how convincing he tried to be. That just wouldn’t have been easy. Now there are a lot of characters here so lets start diving into them.

Anna is an excellent main heroine who even gets a whole flashback arc to herself. Right away that speaks volumes since you wouldn’t get that kind of attention otherwise. She’s a very tough character who always makes sure that Yoh keeps up with her training. Despite her tough demeanor she always looks out for the side characters as well and protects Tamao as well as the little kids when the villains are around. I really enjoyed the fact that she could hold her own in a fight all the way through to the end of the series. Anna may not fight physically but she knows how to make the most out of her summons.

Manta is the human in the group so he sort of represents the general audience. He doesn’t know anything about spirits or what’s going on here so gradually he begins to learn all of this by hanging out with Yoh. I can’t say I ever ended up liking the character all that much though. Sure he’s nice enough but he can’t really fight and basically ends up being a hostage at times. His father was actually a lot more interesting as he actually used his money to get weapons and results enough so that he could try and threaten Hao. Obviously that doesn’t go so well but I liked the attempt. If Manta used his money more for things like that then that would be awesome.

Ren is a great character as you can probably guess. He’s basically the rival in the series and has the classic arc of starting off evil and then turning good. They really go far with this though and he gets a ton of development beyond that. He tries to own up to the crimes his family has committed and doesn’t waiver. He continues to get stronger and even by the end of the series he still has his confidence. Now yes, he does get completely surpassed by Yoh but that was always going to be inevitable. The fact that he lasted so long was still impressive and I just love rival type characters like this.

I would make the case that he’s one of the more complete rivals in league with characters like Vegeta than the average ones. Meanwhile Horohoro is sort of like the second rival but gets more of the shaft. He tends to be treated more like a joke when the going gets tough which is rough for his fans. He is still very powerful but becomes irrelevant a lot sooner. To make up for this he does have a power up near the end but by then it’s already a bit too late to compete with the others who kept on getting stronger and stronger. At times Horohoro can lose his head but he’s definitely someone that you want in your corner at all times.

Ryu is a character who grew on me a little more in the anime but I still don’t like him much. He’s one of the weaker members of the cast both in terms of personality and strength. He’s always lagging behind but at least he does have the determination to keep on fighting. He definitely has his moments where he stands up and receives a lot of punishment but he’s also just not that funny. His redemption arc was fairly decent but he really could have stood to be cooler. His gimmick of always whining about wanting to be with Lysberg got old fast.

Then you have Faust who is my least favorite member of the group. He tried dissecting Manta and I never forgot that. It’s just too much to come back from. At that point you might as well just make him a villain because that was just completely diabolical. From then on he is supposed to be a hero you can root for but I just couldn’t do it. It may sound crazy but sometimes a single scene is enough to hold you back. From that point you just can’t move forward and that’s what happened here.

Joco is next and he was okay. Also not someone I was a big fan of (I guess I liked the side characters more than the main ones at times) but at least he’s better than Faust. Joco also starts off as a villain but gradually learns to respect human life more and becomes someone who can be handy in a fight. He sacrificed a whole lot for power, a bit too much if you ask me. But temporarily the reward was that he was one of the most powerful characters in the series. He doesn’t get to fight much after that but he leveled up really quickly.

Finally there is Lysberg who is a fun character. He’s desperate for revenge against Hao and won’t stop until he’s taken the guy down. The problem is that like Angel’s grudge against Apocalypse is futile because of the power difference, Lysberg is leagues weaker than Hao. He has no way of enacting revenge which makes him more and more desperate. I actually liked him quite a bit in the show when I didn’t like him much in the manga so his character was handled well. Ultimately he learns to work with his rage instead of letting it control him and that was a really good message to put out there.

Yoh’s father Mikihisa gets a decent role by the end of the series but you do have to wonder where he was the whole time. It’s great that he finally appeared to train Ren and the others but if he was this strong then he should have been helping out in the whole fight against Hao from the start. I didn’t buy any of the excuses for why he was gone the whole time. Nah I just don’t see it, he knew that there was danger and didn’t step up. That’s not something you can really do.

Then of course we have the big gun himself, Hao. Hao is a very interesting villain because in his own way he does believe that what he is doing is just. He murders people all the time and amasses a lot of power but doesn’t see himself as cruel. He just thinks that he is above good and evil. I would say he definitely had a firm evil slant initially but the more he talks with Yoh and friends, the softer he gets. He just doesn’t like humans but quite a few characters in the series don’t and I can see why. Hao easily has one of the most iconic baby scenes in all of anime as he fights and talks tough when he was just born. That’s really impressive and he only gets stronger from there.

He’s a very layered villain and one who doesn’t come off as pretentious. I always looked forward to seeing him show up and dish out the damage. Hao is absolutely a highlight of the whole series and I really enjoyed his brief team up with the heroes. Admittedly you couldn’t take the cliffhanger seriously since the humans were completely doomed but it was a really cool moment anyway. His theme is also one of the most iconic in the series and you’re interested in what he’ll do after the series is over.

Tamao is a character that I never ended up liking all that much. She’s super shy and likes Yoh so you know that she’s doomed the whole time. She has her moments where she tries to get stronger and I do like how Anna is still very friendly with her. Anna still considers Tamao as a friend and on one hand it’s almost tragic for Tamao that Anna doesn’t even regard her as a remote threat but it’s much better than this turning into some kind of triangle which would have been awful. Still, make Tamao tougher and that would have been cool.

Then there’s Ren’s sister Jun who starts off as a villain but also gets better. I still think her dynamic with Pairon can be a little odd considering that her family completely ruined his life but I guess he’s good about moving forward and not letting the past drag him down. Jun doesn’t get a ton of screen time but makes the most of it. Yuan makes for a good villain but he’s a character who lost all his edge once he turned good so I didn’t like him as much after that.

There are a ton of Patch members running around and a lot of them do get a role in the final arc but for the most part Silva’s the only one with a big role. He works well as the mentor figure and I’m glad that at least he was trying to do something about the Hao situation. The others were just going with the flow which is not what you want to see out of the organizers. They should be the ones up in arms trying to do something right? Perhaps that was hoping for too much. Silva ends up delivering with a really good fight and I liked him more in the anime viewing than in the manga.

Then we get to the X Laws which was a really fun group. They made for an excellent third party to the mix and while the power creep may have surpassed them fairly quick, they were memorable. In particular you had their leader Jeanne who had a really high power level and a unique moveset. You don’t want to be her opponent because those attacks looked like they would reallllllly hurt. I would have liked her to have gotten at least one more fight but since her role remained large it worked out.

Next up is Marco who was also a standout. He understands his role as the leader and never misses a beat. He can be harsh in his training but you understand it with the stakes being so high. At the end of the day he’s someone you can trust and by the end of the series he’s surpassing his limits and fighting with the best of them. The guy has a lot of honor and believes in his convictions which makes him a very tough opponent to defeat. There is also Hans who works as a secret weapon of sorts but I wish he could have appeared more. I think he would have been a really good ally to Marco.

The biggest missed opportunity is Sati to be honest. So she’s the leader of the third group of god level fighters. The problem is that this group shows up way too late to the point where you barely get to know any of the characters. They show up when the tournament is already winding down and so we know they’re really tough but you don’t get to see it. It makes the characters feel like empty hype which is no good. Sati for example has a good design and a solid amount of hype. Her first appearance was really good but it’s hard for me to say that I actually like the character because she vanishes so quickly.

Then we have some of the villains here like Opacho. This villain’s a total kid so he never ended up being one of the big ones tbh. I see him more as emotional support for Hao, someone the villain could really trust. I did like how they basically had a family dynamic going there but it would have been more fun if Opacho could have fought at some point. You’re always limited as a villain if you can’t fight.

In contrast Luchist was an excellent fighter and someone who really held his own throughout. His debut appearance left a great impact and his evil angel spirit made for a really cool mecha. In general all of the mechas looked really great but this one really stood out. He’s also a fairly complex character who still kept a lot of his mystery by the end of the series. He’s certainly a villain but a very compelling one and one of the best antagonists in the series.

The BoZ Brothers weren’t quite as hype. Sure they actually held their own against the heroes which was impressive and the music was sort of surreal to see but on the whole I wasn’t big fans of theirs. They weren’t that tough and I never saw them as a threat. They were just around to stir up some trouble. Peyote was a little cooler maybe because of his final scene. It’s sort of like a double edged sword since on one hand it doesn’t make him look too smart but on the other hand he becomes way more memorable that way. I really wasn’t expecting his plot to end the way that it did so that was intense. I guess you really do have to watch out for the quiet ones.

Quick shoutout to Dracula whose role was way small but he had a very memorable design and character moment. That’s about it for him but hey Dracula’s in here….sorta. Bill ends up being more memorable because of the Football motif and the fact that he actually returns for more fights. He’s low key fairly strong, he just showed up at a point in the series where everyone was really strong. Otherwise he would have done a whole lot better in the matches.

Then you have the 3 witches group in Kanna, Marion, and Matilda. They’re a decently fun group although I don’t think I was as big a fan of them as most. They were big enough to get their own spinoff after all which is impressive but they wouldn’t have been my first pick. Ultimately it’s not like they’re super strong either and most of the heroes could take them down rather quickly. Likewise the two kids Redseb and Seyram are heavily carried by their Golem. Without it they would have had a really rough time of it. I did appreciate their revenge subplot though.

Shaman King tackles the whole cycle of violence really well. The kids want to avenge their father after they were attacked by a gang but if they murder the one responsible then that guy’s friends will go after them and it basically won’t end. It’s the tragic case of why it’s so hard to stop the cycle. After all it feels unfair if everyone got to have their revenge except you right? But at the same time someone needs to stop it eventually. Ultimately Yoh is definitely the main voice of reason here as you would expect.

On the spirit end, Amidamaru makes for a good ally. He’s got a good honor code and does his best to make sure that Yoh stays on the straight and narrow. The two of them get along very well and I like the dynamic they have. He feels like someone you can trust! Amidamaru is already a good character from the start so he doesn’t even need a whole character arc.

Meanwhile Bason is similar but I would say he shows the negative quality of how too much loyalty can be a bad thing. For example if Amidamaru disagrees with something he would tell Yoh while Bison follows all of Yoh’s orders without question. There lies the problem though. When you follow all orders without thinking for yourself and that includes criminal acts then you really become part of the problem and that’s no good.

Kororo is a nice spirit who doesn’t talk but is always there for Horohoro. There actually wouldn’t be much to talk about with her but we get a backstory later on that adds a ton of depth to the character. Ultimately I thought that she was really solid. If anything her story is a lot more tragic than what I had been expecting the whole time. For the most part Shaman King is a fairly lighthearted series. It does have its serious moments but not a whole lot of them. This was definitely one of the exceptions.

One main allied spirit I never ended up liking was Tokageroh. At the end of the day he was a villain back in the day and sure he’s mellowed out now but eh….it was never too convincing. He’s just not a very likable guy and you get the feeling that if Ryu ever turned evil again and gave him an order he would just end up following it without question. That’s something I couldn’t say for the others.

Eliza is very memorable because of the past but technically as a spirit she doesn’t do much. I just like the idea of a bond that transcends time and death so she’s still looking out for Faust. I may not like Faust at all but Eliza never did anything wrong and seemed like a good person from the start. Then we have Matamune who in comparison is one of the spirits with the biggest role. I would have liked an extra appearance for him at the end to really tie things together but he was still a lot of fun. Some of his dialogue was a little too cryptic to actually be all that meaningful imo, but at the end of the day he was always helpful. I also liked the fact that he could fight and that he lasted so long without a proper master to give him mana. He was super loyal throughout and always did the right thing even if it meant fighting his friend. It’s part of what made him such a tragic figure.

Then we have the Spirit of Fire who has an awesome design. No real character but that was enough for the shoutout. Personally I would have given the other elements different designs to make them standout though because otherwise they all start to blend together. Likewise the Golem gets a shoutout for looking really cool. I forgot how he had looked from the manga so it was nice seeing him here.

Then for the story arcs I’d say you can mainly divide the series into the pre arc, tournament saga, the Anna flashback, and then the climax of the series. The pre arc does a good job of introducing all of the characters and getting them onto Yoh’s team. In a way even once the tournament starts I still think of it as the pre arc until we’re at the team phase. Still, you get to understand how the spirit fighting works and meet the characters. It’s some of the only times you will get to see Yoh at school chilling out so enjoy the time while you can. It’s paced well so you don’t feel like the series is being held up in the meantime.

Then for the tournament there’s not much to say there beyond the fact that it’s awesome. The fights keep on coming and there are so many different powers and fighters in the ring. It’s really fun to see how they all match up. Towards the end the heroes start to easily clobber their opponents but at least for a while there it was close. In particular once Yoh got to a high level even multiple fighters at once couldn’t phase him. I liked when Yoh was on top like that though, it showed how far he had come.

Tournaments are a great way to increase the stakes and introduce a bunch of characters so that’s something this series took full advantage of. As we neared the end we also entered the big Anna flashback and it was a really good one. We really got to see what she had to endure back in the day and they are some of the most emotional episodes in the series. I would even say Shaman King is one of the rare titles to really understand romance and how to use it effectively. I was definitely proud of how it went and the slowburn style is the way to go. Additionally Anna never loses her fire. She is always ready to defend Yoh and jumps into the fights as needed. Her powerful summoning skills can’t be underestimated. I almost didn’t want to leave the flashback land because it was so good.

Then you get to the climax which was a classic boss rush as the heroes had to keep on climbing through the final tower. It’s a fun arc even if it’s a bit on the shorter side next to the others. While watching you kept thinking that some of the fights were going to have to be rushed because otherwise there were too many enemies and not enough fighters. Considering that, they did a good job of still giving most of the members complete fights that actually went on for a while. The last bit is definitely rushed but otherwise it was still solid. The fight scenes were fun and we got to really see how powerful this group was.

Ultimately there is a classic epilogue involving a timeskip but that part’s less exciting mainly because I don’t really like any of the redesigns. Perhaps I would get used to them someday but they just don’t look very cool. The main characters all had very signature styles about them that worked well within the context of the series but as adults they all just look rather bland. It’s really just not the same.

If the show has any weakness it’s that the humor can be a bit desperate at times. Particularly Tamao’s two spirits who basically show up just for comic relief. They go so over the top you can barely believe what you’re watching. Still, they barely appear so you can easily get by them. Additionally there’s basically no fanservice here which is nice as well. The series is just very tasteful and that fits in with its very calm atmosphere. This is really a very different action anime and it succeeds on so many levels.

Overall, Shaman King was an excellent show. I have to say that I was really impressed all around. It was fun getting back into the Shaman King franchise after this like I quickly went and checked out the sequel as well as some of the spinoffs. The franchise has built up a whole lot of great characters and lore so there is no shortage of content. In a way the sequels might be getting too ambitious but that would be going off into a tangent. Either way I would say to watch this right away. It’s got a good blend of action and emotional moments so there is something here for everyone.

Overall 9/10

Hero Mask Review

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It’s time to check on Hero Mask. I actually finished this show several months ago so this review has been on the backburner for a while. Hey better late than never right? In my defense the show has one of the most boring openings I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s lifeless, dull, and does not energize you at all. I quickly listened to it once more while writing this review to see if it would get better and it did not. At least the ending theme is good though. The beginning of the ending is really good and works with the cliffhanger.

Now describing the plot is also pretty fun because there’s a lot going on here. So the show follows a guy named James Blood who is basically a James Bond kind of character. He’s one of the top operatives of the SSC and the only thing keeping him from going higher is the fact that he’s a bit of a hot shot. He’s the kind of guy who will jump into a crowded highway to grab a suspect instead of waiting for the light. He’s always getting into fights and follows his code of justice. Of course that is what makes him a fun character.

Okay so there is a big court case coming up and a witness randomly drops dead in the streets. She had been perfectly healthy so this is rather odd. An attorney named Sarah decides to look into it but seems to now be in danger. The SSC are also looking into this but tend to drag their heels. James’ old enemy from the past seems to have returned to life but he’s wearing a weird mask that is granting him super abilities. In fac these masks are popping up in different places across the city. There seems to be a whole conspiracy going on with these metahumans and how does it all track back to the lady who randomly died? Well you can start with the person she was going to be testifying against as a start but that gets you into a whole corporation which has ties to the government and a big circle of rich people. The close James gets, the more obstacles that get in his way. If he wants to find the truth then he may even have to go up against the SSC itself.

At its core the show is mainly a mystery and there are a ton of moving pieces here. The character cast is fairly big and every character tends to be important in one way or another. As it’s a mystery it’s important to keep all of the characters straight in your head. I’d say this is really like a police thriller type of film and since I just saw the SWAT movie it sinks in even more now in hindsight. In a way the supernatural/sci-fi elements sort of distract from this. Now, I’m always a fan of sci-fi but when you’ve got superpowers too then it’s hard to balance everything.

Let me give you an example because this scene was just so crazy that I couldn’t believe it. One villain decides to attack the SSC headquarters. All right so here’s the thing, they have dozens of armed officers in the building at all times and a lot of security devices. So if a guy threateningly walks in then you’re gonna shoot him right? Well, they hesitate a whole lot and he slaughters all of them. Now granted he was wearing a mask so that gave him some regen plus extra speed and defense. It’s not invincibility since we see people shoot through the defenses with enough time but fine lets say the cops just couldn’t handle this guy.

What’s worse is a few minutes after this the elevator opens up on the 20th (Some random high number anyway) floor and an old man walks out with a big suitcase. The guards know that everyone below has been murdered so they already have their guns out and tell him to freeze. What does he do? He calmly sits down and opens up the suitcase. He then puts on a gas mask. Gee I wonder what he’s trying to do? The guards keep telling him to stop moving and this and that but at that point you have to shoot right?

The scientist is obviously calling their bluff and there’s no point in telling someone to freeze when you have no intention of shooting. That defeats the entire point since it’s the threat behind “Freeze!” that is what gives it power. Long story short the guy pulls out a poison grenade and throws it at the cops, then while they’re coughing he takes out a gun and murders them all. It was one of the worst scenes I’ve ever seen in terms of believability with someone breaking into a building. You can’t tell me that at least one of those officers wouldn’t have had the foresight and reaction times to take this guy down? That was just embarrassing.

At times the villains really get lucky because the heroes just don’t know what they’re doing and it’s pretty tragic. Lets give the heroes a bit more credit instead of just having James have to do all the work here the whole time. Now back to the masks, here’s why I wasn’t a big fan of them. The power structure of the masks didn’t make a lot of sense and also didn’t seem very consistent. So each mask does different things like one got super strength, one got regen, one got super senses, etc. It seems to change based on the mask and fine that’s just how it is. They’re all different like devil fruits. Yet sometimes someone with super speed only moves at fast as an ordinary person, some get exhausted immediately while others don’t, some rewind time but then they don’t. The whole masks thing just seemed like a writing shortcut to get the characters where they needed to go when they needed to be there and that is the definition of a lazy writing shortcut.

There’s a lot of interesting things you could do with the masks but that never happened. Another example of this is near the end of the show in one of the most disappointing scenes. So an old man shows up out of nowhere with mysterious abilities. He seems to be able to sense nearby masks and track them plus possibly have some control over the weather. It’s really vague but that’s why the cliffhanger works. He shows up and approaches two of the other big villains and it’s the confrontation we’ve been waiting for. Well the next episode starts and the guy is apparently powerless as the van gets blown up and he’s basically knocked out. It was one of the most wasted cliffhangers I’ve seen in a long time. Whew that was bad.

That episode actually had gotten me super hyped because it was the most intrigued I’d been about the series up until then. Too bad it couldn’t actually go anywhere. The show really could have pushed harder on its themes and the hype moments and made this a lot more exciting. If I’m watching a mystery thriller it’s so that I can get excited after all. Now I’ve been focusing on the negatives but there are still a lot of positives here so I’ll get to those now. This isn’t a bad show, I’d still call it good but without a whole lot of replay value.

All right so the first positive is that the action scenes here do hold up really well. Particularly James’ fights with Harry are really solid. James fights with his hands while Harry uses his legs and so the fight scenes are fairly original with both of them using their strengths and trying to get the other off balance. Harry is the only one who can go blow for blow with James too which is no small feat. I always looked forward to their battles.

In general I would look forward to all of Harry’s scenes. His subplot was easily the most interesting. His girlfriend got a mysterious ailment and so he’s working with the villains since he was promised that she could be healed. It’s a longshot of course and the villains could always betray him but he decided that at least this way he has a shot and so he went for it. I do think he could have communicated this to James at least and talking things out would have helped. Harry did everything the hard way without a doubt but the fact that he was someone who could actually fight already made him a very interesting character. The series didn’t have many great fighters.

I already talked about James a bit but he’s definitely a really good character. He works well as the lead and while he may not stand out a ton, I always like characters who are ready to break the rules to help someone out. When the SSC starts to become obviously corrupt he doesn’t hesitate in getting off the grid to help a girl out. It’s just who he is and you need someone like that when the people who follow the rules without a second thought tend to miss the forest for the trees.

Sarah makes for a good heroine here. She’s very consistent in her attempts to try to get to the truth. Sarah definitely gets into a lot of danger as a result but I was on board the whole time because she tried doing things the “official” way with the SSC and they kept hiding things anyway so she had to go it on her own. Ultimately she’s the one who manages to crack a pivotal part of the case and so she got her closure. Sarah was definitely a fun character all the way.

Lennox is one of the higher ups in the SSC and gets a fairly big role here. Ultimately he is James’ boss so he is able to make sure to go easy on the lead. This does put him in a tough spot with the higher ups above him though. Ultimately I liked that he made sure to go against their orders when they were being unreasonable like when he turned the tracker off and helped James escape. He definitely made his share of mistakes as well but that was a good moment.

Eddie is the tech guy so he’s not much of a fighter. Unfortunately he did tend to get on my nerves at times because of this. The guy just wasn’t helpful in the field and the one time he went in of course someone died. I always feel like when you’re a genius in a setting that is borderline sci-fi, then you have to invent a lot of great weapons/defenses for yourself. That’s the only way to make sure you are useful in combat.

Geffrey is one of the main evil scientists here and at least I will say that he is determined. Setbacks never seem to get him down for long and he does believe in the masks 100% even once they keep running into problems. He even loses a limb to those things and it doesn’t faze him. Although that scene wasn’t smart because why would you get so close to something like that right?

Grimm was a very intense villain. He was the first one to show up and easily overshadowed everyone else so they probably should have saved him for a bit later on. The guy was super impressive in combat and to be honest James wouldn’t be able to beat him in a normal fight. Fortunately for him the mask had a lot of side effects because otherwise he wouldn’t have lasted long. Grimm having what I can only describe as a supervillain codename also helped to make him memorable.

There were a group of special operatives that worked for the villains who appeared for a few episodes but they didn’t last as long. The tense fight in the apartment building at night worked really well though. That was one of the highlights of the show and I wanted to see more quick fight scenes like that. A good police thriller should have a solid mix of investigation and action after all. It’s only when you merge the two that you get the best product imaginable and I think the action was a bit light here.

Theo is one of the first guys to show up with a mask and he does well. Ultimately he just wants to see his family again which is a noble goal and his abilities are solid. He was put in a tricky spot and had to protect people so you feel bad for him. He’s the kind of character where you figure he’s not going to get a good ending right off the bat. It’s just a general vibe you get but he’s solid enough while he’s around.

Other side characters you have here are Anna and Walter. Anna is someone with a lot of connections who knows a whole lot about what is going on but for the most part doesn’t really give that info out. The heroes try to interrogate her several times but it tends to not go anywhere. Walter meanwhile is one of those guys who keeps on making a ton of bad choices over and over again until they inevitably catch up to him.

Richard is a character who has a flashback saga which may seem completely unrelated for the most part but I was cool with it because it was a very tense flashback. Ultimately he makes sure to square things away in the present and then gets written out of the show. He was a fun character to have around though. Ultimately his leaving opened the door for Douglas though who looks really corrupt and shady from the start.

He makes no attempt to hide this at any point which is kind of funny. He’s just always trying to get in the way and actively murder the suspects. It shows how dangerous it would be to have a villain within the upper ranks of the police because he has a whole lot of knowledge like locations and plans that he could leak at any time. Under him is Alan who is a very by the books guy. He seems decent but of course when your boss is a crook then that’s something you still have to watch out for. As the show goes on Alan gets better but he definitely starts off really rough.

The soundtrack isn’t memorable so the show gets no points there but the visuals could be good at times. Like I said earlier the visuals are great during the fight scenes. That’s absolutely when they stand out. The normal day to day scenes tend to be a bit weaker. This isn’t going to be one of the all timers but it works well enough. The show goes by fairly quick even with a little over 20 episodes.

Ultimately what the show really needed was for the mystery to be a little more engaging. I liked it well enough but it wasn’t exactly keeping me up at night. I still blame the masks for this because while it’s a cool concept, it really disrupts the flow of the whole world that was built. They seem way too overpowered and the heroes are just lucky that they weren’t used more or it would have been all over for them. That’s what really doesn’t work about this whole setup. The fights are good but it’s not like they happen super often either.

Overall, Hero Mask is a good show but not the most interesting or engaging one. There’s a good reason why it took so long to write about this one because I had a big backlog because it’s just not super thrilling. That in no way means its bad but you will forget about it fairly quick. I’d say to check it out if you really enjoy the cop thrillers like this but otherwise you can find better ones. The show does have a super sudden ending though which was something. Not the kind of ending that gives you a lot of closure but I would say there is room to make a sequel here if they ever want too.

Overall 6/10

Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King Review

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I’ve been waiting ages for this film. When they first announced that Black Clover was finally getting a movie I was definitely hyped. This is one of the best franchises out there and the king of Shonen Jump. There’s a reason why we call it G.O.A.T. Clover. Getting that on a movie budget was certain to be an all star product and the film does not disappoint in any way. It’s basically a lock for film of the year so you can basically skip everything else. Nothing’s touching this and now I just need to wait until we get the next season already.

The movie starts by showing Conrad’s fight against the magic knights. He puts up a terrific fight but ultimately Julius manages to take him down with time magic and he’s locked away. Julius’ eyes even flash black for an instant when he uses his ultimate spell which was intense. We fast forward 10 years to where a tournament is being held and Yuno will finally be able to fight against Asta. Ultimately this isn’t to be though as Conrad shows up in the present along with 3 other Wizard Kings from the past. The 4 of them have decided to destroy the entire world so that they can remake it as a better one. Asta won’t let this happen though and he commands the magic knights to unite and fight. Can they really defeat a whole squad of Wizard Kings though?

One of the hype parts about this of course is that the enemies are all Wizard Kings. They’re characters who are well fleshed out with their own goals and desires as well as being ultra powerful. To become the Wizard King you need an incredible amount of power after all so it’s not like just anyone can do this. Sort of like how I said Naruto surpassed the Hokage at least by the Pain arc at worst, Ichigo surpassed the Captains by the early part of the Arrancar saga, and Luffy surpassed the admirals by Marineford, I would say Asta surpassed the Captains fairly early on. You could say Yami is an exception but he wipes everyone else out pre time skip. Now this is where the rubber meets the road and we can see exactly how that turns out.

The movie doesn’t cop out with their abilities either and each king looks fantastically strong. Sure they do have the advantage of unlimited mana thanks to the super sword running around but even without that their individual techniques are on point. The movie is close to 2 hours and almost the whole thing is the big fight scene. This is what I love to see, the pacing is nonstop with action around every corner. Not every movie could handle something like that and it’s fairly rare because a lot of time you still need to develop the OC characters and have a lot of time to regroup. Here you hit the ground running.

There are numerous times in each fight where the villain or hero is about to lose and then the second wind comes in. That’s super hype to be sure because these Wizard Kings have determination on their side as well. They’re not going to give up so the heroes have to completely put them down. I’ll go more into their goals later on although it’s not as convincing of a case as even someone like Thanos. It’s a more surface level argument for world peace that doesn’t have too much nuance since the film makers likely didn’t want you to doubt the heroes at all. Probably for the best but of course the side effect is that these Wizard Kings do feel a little crazy.

Another really strong part of the film is the animation. Even outside of the fight scenes everyone looks really crisp. The character models are really on point and this is a full 2023 film on all sides. It’s just great how smooth everything is and it’s the kind of film I could quickly re-watch right now. The replay value is incredible and the choreography is on point. The super form for the main villain is also great and they didn’t hold back on the beam effects. By the end this feels like something out of DBZ.

Then we have the soundtrack and I think it goes without saying that this is going to be another 10/10 ost. You have the insert song from the anime, a song that I believe was new, and then a ton of battle themes. The soundtrack is very fast paced which fits the film since it was very fast paced as well. The production values were really high throughout and of course the writing and story is very good as well. Asta gets his usual inspirational moments and Noelle also gets her moments to shine. You can’t help but be inspired during their speeches.

Okay so lets talk about the villains. First up is the main villain Conrad. So he wants to make the world more equal because he’s seen how mean the nobles are in how they pick on the commoners. They murder, insult, humiliate, and basically enslave those without magic and right now the kingdom isn’t doing much to change that. As he’s mentioned there have been incremental improvements but it’s always small things and the world itself doesn’t change much. The main TV show has delved into this as well and so he figures that at this point they just need to end the world. It does mean to an extent that he did give up though.

Now you do get it because in a lot of cases things don’t always get a lot better even when the hero wins in the end. Look at all the crazy stuff that still goes on in Naruto. I do think Asta will do a better job of changing everything because that has been such a huge topic in the forefront as opposed to being a subplot but yeah that’s Conrad’s ideal and motive for this. I liked that Asta also engaged him on the actual points of this like how nobody will accept the end result after watching their comrades die in front of them.

Even if you could absolutely guarantee world peace, if it involves a massive genocide like this, then it will never end up convincing people. You’re doing more than cracking a few eggs, you’re basically just being the villain. At the end of the day I’m always about saving the 1 person over the 100 as a philosophy. You must never sacrifice anyone and of course this isn’t even a subtle case, it’s just him murdering a whole ton of people and so you’ll never waver as you root for Asta. I’m sure that each of the Wizard Kings saw some super twisted things in order for them to agree with Conrad like this but at the end of the day it all comes down to them losing hope and giving up when they shouldn’t have.

Conrad’s abilities are pretty handy with his key magic. It feels a little broken if anything with how long range it is but that’s probably why he became the King. It may not be fair but having a super cool ability gives you a huge push towards becoming the Wizard King and that’s how it’s always been. His final form is epic and the whole time he really puts up a good fight. He has a solid plan as well and shows good tactics throughout the film. I’ve said this a few times already but the movie never forgets that these are Wizard Kings that we’re dealing with and so they get a lot of respect.

The only Wizard King who was a bit off was Jester. Mainly because this guy just seems super evil and unstable the whole time. Sure he agrees with the plan for probably the same reasons but he just feels evil throughout. His dialogue is what you would expect from the Midnight Sun, not someone who used to be the leader. His abilities are still really handy with the barriers though. Barriers have a whole lot of positives to them like how agile you can make them. They’re flexible and can keep on adapting to attacks. This guy really doesn’t give up either and from all of the Wizard Kings you could make the case that he’s the only one to never really lose. He could have absolutely kept on going.

Then there is Princia who I dare say is the most powerful out of all the Wizard Kings. Take away amps like the swords and put all of them together in a fair fight and I’m going with her. First off she can summon an army of really powerful fighters and then once you get past them, it turns out that she is a close quarters fighter as well who can hold her own with the country’s strongest, Mereoleona. The fact that the fight was so close there really showed off what she could do. I don’t think any of the others would have been able to have held their own in quite the same way. She was also a fun character and had a solid personality. You could actually see why she was a good person at one point and ultimately just got jaded.

Finally we have Edward who is probably the weakest. Mainly because he relies on summons and ice but has nothing else once you get past that. This is relative of course, he’s still an incredibly powerful Wizard King but not as intimidating as the others. He has a good code of honor and isn’t just going crazy with power so I can really respect that. He has a good exchange with Noelle and ultimately keeps his honor to the end. He doesn’t crack or go crazy at the end which is really good because a King should maintain grace to the end.

As for the heroes, everyone gets something to do here but of course some get more screen time than anything. For the Black Bulls, I thought Finral actually looked really solid here. His reaction times were good enough to block a hit from Conrad and he was critical throughout in getting the heroes out of danger. Of course Noelle looks fantastic in showing off her high power level and also making an impassioned speech to remind Edward of what he stood for. Noelle doesn’t give up and the series continues to do a great job of keeping her in the same conversation as Yuno and Asta.

The various captains all get to fight but Yami is really the only one with a sizable role and even then it’s a bit smaller than you would expect. He doesn’t look quite as powerful as you might think as well but I guess at this point he’s finally being surpassed. His fans should still be satisfied with his appearance here. Mereoleona looks excellent as expected. She’s the most impressive grownup here from the heroes side. Her powers continue to get more and more intense every time she fights and it’s clear that she has no upper limit. She will just continue to fight until the end and almost no other character can burn as brightly.

Yuno looks great here as well as he saves Asta on more than one occasion and keeps going after the villains. He has enough stamina to outlast all of the Captains as well. I would say that even in the film it feels like Asta has left him in the dust to an extent because Yuno just doesn’t have the KO power that Asta has but his normal abilities are still do good that he can continue to hold his own. As always I like Yuno’s confidence and his positive rivalry with Asta. They really do a good job of building each other up as always.

Finally I’ve already talked about Asta but just to confirm he is amazing as always. His speeches really land and he’s the kind of guy that you want to represent your kingdom. He’s the last to go down and will keep trying to make the world a better place. Naturally there are a ton of other character helping out including a cameo so watch it for yourself to see all the fun characters. This feels like a true event movie in the best ways with how high the stakes are.

Now lets talk about the negatives of the film. Well…yeah I had no issues with the film so that’s it for this section.

Overall, Sword of the Wizard King is a film that I highly recommend you check out. They did a fantastic job of showcasing the skills of all the heroes while establishing these villains as top tier threats. The Clover Kingdom is so loaded with powerful fighters that the enemies have to be able to hold these own and that wasn’t a problem for these guys. The movie really goes by in an instant so you need to watch this as soon as possible. The only rough part is having to wait for the next product which can still take a while but hopefully not too long. When the series comes back though, I will be ready!

Overall 9/10

Fate Stay Night – Unlimited Blade Works Review

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As always Fate delivers with an excellent movie poster right out of the gate. This film faced the very daunting challenge of needing to adapt something that should usually take well over 10 hours to adapt and cramming it into a little less than 2. The good news is that the pacing is super fast as a result and of course there are a lot of nonstop action scenes. On the negative side, this means that sometimes the fights have to be quick and some are basically skipped entirely. Ultimately it is a great film but one that you admittedly don’t need to watch since the show exists.

The film starts off with Shirou walking Sakura home and then he swings by the school for some reason and gets murdered. He wakes up and summons a servant known as Saber and goes to the Church where he is introduced to the Holy Grail War. He now needs to find a way to defeat all of the other masters so that he can make a wish on the Holy Grail and save the world. It won’t be easy since all of the masters have their own powerful servants but Shirou knows he needs to win or the others might have really bad wishes that they try to unleash upon the world.

The movie doesn’t actually explain most of the opening except in the vaguest of terms though so be ready for a lot of flash forwards and jumping around. The film really seems to expect that you’ve already seen the first show that kinda sorta adapted the Fate route. It’s a valid technique to be sure but even if you’re a member of the general audience you should still enjoy this one for the great visuals and fights. In a way you will probably get more out of it if you’ve seen the show first though so you can have fun seeing which parts are the same and which ones changed. Personally I would say the way to watch the main Fate titles is to start with the Unlimited Blade Works show, then Fate/Zero, then it probably makes sense to check out the Heaven’s Feel trilogy if you plan to watch those, but otherwise skip to the original Fate Stay show and then check out this movie. By that point you will have basically seen all of the routes and it’s fun to compare them all.

This movie’s a little older now since it’s from back in 2010 but the visuals definitely hold up. The fights here use less flash and glamour but make up for it with a lot of really tight choreography the whole time. In particular Shirou’s final 2 fights really hold up super well. The movement is intense and you really got to see the various characters’ fighting styles. There’s a lot of back and forth and while you will probably have some doubts on some of the power levels here, the fights themselves are good which is what counts.

Because the film doesn’t really explain how Shirou gets so powerful over the course of the movie all of his scenes will probably have you a bit stunned. How can this normal kid be going up against the greatest heroes in history? Well even in context I can’t say that I actually bought that so you’re right to be skeptical. A lot of the climax is about clashing ideologies and overcoming any doubts you may had. It’s a great message but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it meshes well into the actual physical fight. So the animation is top tier but some of the battle results are more sketchy.

As always Fate does have an incredible soundtrack through and through. The themes fit the battles, the suspense scenes, etc. Fate always has a way of sounding and feeling very grand which is important for this setting. You really believe that these are heroes of ancient times duking it out and I’d say it’s important that Fate always retain this feeling. It’s also part of why the movie still holds up very well because the production values were on point.

Talking about the characters is a little interesting due to the fast paced nature of the film. Yes we know a lot about the characters outside of the movie but if we purely use the film as a reference then things get a little different right? For example we really don’t know much about any of the servants beyond Archer and I guess Gilgamesh/Lancer have decent roles as well. Caster, Berserker, Assassin, and a few others are practically non characters. They have the cool designs and a big fight but you wouldn’t really know them much otherwise.

Archer makes for a very intense character as always. No matter which voice actor he gets in the dub he always sounds very regal and I love the design. He’s super powerful and has a lot of interesting backstory although not all of it could make it here. He still tends to steal the show. Likewise Gilgamesh is great, he radiates power and has a very cool aura about him. He’s definitely someone you don’t want to underestimate. Lancer’s great because he’s really chivalrous and honestly one of the only servants who actually feels like he was a big hero back in the day.

Most of these so called “Heroes” don’t always feel heroic. Saber is also cool as always although her role is definitely a lot smaller than you would expect. I still enjoyed her battle with Berserker a lot as the film really showed off her speed. They had a fun special effect for how she would dash into a blue ball of light.

Then you have Rin as the main heroine who is a very nice character and definitely someone who saves Shirou a whole lot of times. Without her he definitely would have been dead many times over. Additionally her creativity in finding a way to take down Caster was super impressive. She took the situations in stride and there were moments where she almost felt like more of a main character than Shirou. Rin never quite took the lead role away but she was close.

Finally there is Shirou and I’ve always been a fan of the guy. He fights for absolute justice without compromise so he doesn’t trade lives and does try to protect everyone in front of him. It may be an impossible goal and he knows that but it doesn’t stop him from trying. Shirou always aims for the very top and the movie is about how he will never let any doubts overcome him. The movie still manages to nail his character arc even if there is less time for details. As a main character he really doesn’t miss although I will grant that he doesn’t always make the smartest decisions like running into the forest all alone or being out late at night during a war with powerful super monsters after him.

Overall, Fate Stay Night is a great film. It may be completely out of context for someone watching out of the blue but in a way that’s part of the fun. Check it out and if this all seems interesting to you, use it as a launch point to really get into the franchise. While there is little reason to watch this now that we have a complete TV show to adapt the whole thing with more depth, it can also be a quick recap of sorts if you want to relive the events without going through the whole show again. It’s almost like a recap movie in that sense and the film even treats itself like that at times with how scenes will quickly transition to the next one at the drop of a hat. Many plot elements and characters are skipped over so it’s like an abridged adventure. I’d be curious to see movies tackle other big series like this just to see how it works out.

Overall 8/10

Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files {Rail Zeppelin} Grace note: Waver, Reunion, and the Magic Lantern Review

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This review’s been a long time coming in part because I was toying with different ways of listing the title. The normal TV show was already a mouthful and then the TV special had an episode title of sorts. I wanted to go with “New Year’s Special” or something but nobody seems to really refer to it that way as a title and most barely even use this episode. I could have called it special episode but that seemed too general. So after a ton of back and forth…you’ve got this mammoth title!

The basic plot here is that Waver ends up meeting two of his old classmates from back in the day. Amleth who is good at illusion type magic (This is Fate so that’s a super simplified version of his abilities which are a lot more technical than that) and his partner Camus who used to be good friends with Waver. They’re really looking forward to the big class reunion coming up but when Waver wakes up the next day he has reverted back to his days of being a child. What could have caused this? He needs to figure out a way to reverse this and quickly or he will be the laughing stock of the reunion! Additionally there may be something a little more sinister at play.

It’s definitely always fun to have a special that takes place across Christmas and New Year’s. This is a fairly low stakes adventure that is more about showing you all of the characters and having fun with the cast than an end of the world event and that’s what you would expect for a fun TV special like this. Just about all of the supporting characters from the show appear to help out or just to tease Waver at times.

We do get one brief action scene for Gray to use her mystical Saber type abilities but beyond that this is a chance for fans to see the old Waver interact with the new cast. While this spell did not affect his mind much at first, the longer he’s in his younger body the more he starts to act like his old self as well. He just can’t drudge up the same level of confidence when he looks this young after all. It doesn’t help that he was never much of a fighter either so take away his confidence and then things really get dicey.

The special is part mystery. Now obviously you know something is up with either Amleth or Camus (Or both) since they’re the new characters here acting really shady. Illusions are also one way to make someone appear younger right? As the special goes on we have to find out the motive behind this because surely you wouldn’t go through all of this work just for some kind of personal prank right? Nah that wouldn’t track and of course we do get a sob story by the end so watch out for that.

Ultimately the motivation isn’t great. It’s a very personal one to be sure but it just makes one character look a bit whiny/petty. One character was certainly a bit oblivious back in the day so someone’s feelings got hurt but in that case I’d say what I always say. If you’re the one who likes someone else then the initiative is on you to make the move. If you prefer to just drop hints then that’s fine but they should be rather direct hints since vague ones can absolutely be misinterpreted. By the end Waver feels rather guilty about how he used to be but at the same time I think it’s a bit harsh. You can’t expect to recognize everything as the situation is unfolding. Looking back with hindsight is also not effective since that’s completely different.

The writing in the special is on point and so it all goes by very quickly. The animation is also very solid. While we don’t get a whole lot of action here, Gray’s attack animation is as stunning as ever. Additionally the soundtrack is still really good as you’d expect since Fate always has grand music. The grand feel of the soundtrack works just as well for the mystery here since the characters are always in such elaborate mansions. The character/location designers for Fate always do a great job.

Overall, This was a fun special. There isn’t a whole lot to talk about since it’s under an hour and the plot is part mystery so you don’t want to spoil things. That said, it’s solid on all sides and so you could recommend it to anyone. Someone who is not familiar with Fate will probably get less out of it but you can appreciate the fun vibes of the special and the mystery either way. It has a good blend of humor and suspense to keep you engaged all the way through. Hopefully we get more content in the El Melloi part of the franchise soon because mysteries within the Fate verse definitely work really well. With all of the complex magical spells all around it makes for a lot of possibilities in any case. It definitely increases the variables compared to a normal detective kind of adventure even if you always have to assume Waver will need to be lucky in order to not just get blown up by the culprit since most could just take him out in a single blow. It’s tough being a scholar in a world of warriors but I suppose until the next Grail War he should be mostly safe.

Overall 7/10

B’t X Review

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This is a show I sort of vaguely knew about since the Saint Seiya creator is very popular but other than the name I knew nothing about it. It turns out to be a fairly retro mecha adventure and one that I definitely had a really good time with. I love me some some mecha action after all and it all feels very nostalgic. I may not have seen the show before but the animation style and fight scenes definitely feel retro in a very good way. There are a ton of battles here that just keep coming one right after the other. The cast is very solid and the show manages to be really interesting and engaging from the jump.

The story picks up with the genius scientist Kotaro preparing to give a lecture. He’s attacked by a shapeshifting robot but his brother Teppei saves him. Teppei has always been the big fighter of the family while Kotaro has the intellect and together they make the world a better place. Unfortunately the Machine Empire attacks the delegation, murders tens of thousands and kidnaps Kotaro. They have taken him past a zone known as the Area and it’s said to be impossible to get there. The throne is protected by dozens and dozens of fighters each with powerful B’t creatures whcih are basically fancy robots.

Teppei has the Messiah Fist that he inherited from his mentor Karen and can destroy any machine but it’s not quite enough to tip the scales. Fortunately his blood is able to awaken one of the most legendary B’t creatures of all time, X. X only wants to work with Karen but he won’t just turn away from someone in need. After a lot of grumbling on both sides, Teppei and X agree to help each other out. Will they be able to stop the Machine Empire and save Teppei’s brother?

The show starts off real quick with the whole shapeshifting robot although that part gets ditched pretty fast. Ditched might be the wrong word but since pretty much the whole series takes place en route to the area, there isn’t much time to check out the real world and how humanity is faring. I liked the idea of shapeshifting robots being around every corner so the heroes always have to be careful. It almost would have been like a mystery thriller kind of title. The humans feel like they’re probably outgunned though. Put it this way, throughout the series when Teppei is trying to stop the empire, we never see the government stepping in or anything like that. The machines are in the driver’s seat all the way.

So there’s a lot left for the world building but I don’t think this is that kind of show. Most of it is really about taking on lots of enemies and continuing to push past your limits. Teppei definitely has a tough time here but he never gives up and keeps on getting stronger. Meanwhile it’s definitely a lot tougher for Kotaro trying to stay safe and out of danger.

Kotaro is a pretty good main character. Despite the constant danger that he’s in, he still keeps trying to stop the Empire in his own way by finding out the weakness to their trump card, Raffaello. After all if he can figure out how to destroy that thing then the world will really be in a much safer place. Hopefully he does get his own B’t though so he can fight a bit more because the support role is fun and all but he’ll end up staying very overshadowed if that’s the extent of his role. Make no mistake, the cutaways to his plot are always very engaging but you still want a little something more.

Then you have Teppei who is a very solid main character. He has that classic “Can Do” attitude about him. He doesn’t give up and continues to press forward. He definitely gets into a lot of disagreements with X so expect a lot of bickering but it all works out in the end. His battle skills are on point and he will jump into a battle even if he doesn’t expect to win. Teppei is good at thinking outside the box and doesn’t take thing too personal. If a character says he will help Teppei now then the hero will usually believe him and keep it moving. He just knows that the priority is saving his brother and will do whatever it takes to accomplish that mission.

X is a fun B’t and definitely one that has the most emotion out of all of them. They all do have personalities which is actually a big plus of the series but of course as a main character we get to see this guy way more than most of the others. He’s always around either in the middle of a fight or getting a power up. Now I will say that he isn’t quite as impressive as you would expect though. He’s a B’t of legend and everyone fears him but X spends most of the series getting beaten up over and over again.

There are a few reasons for this like his owner not being able to draw out his maximum abilities and his still being damaged but considering his big rep it’s still not always a consolation. You just expect a lot more from this guy and I’d say that X doesn’t really live up to the hype until the very end of the series. I like his personality though so X is still a lot of fun either way.

Karen mainly appears in flashbacks but she works as a good mentor to Teppei. She teaches him a lot and the guy would definitely be out of his league if not for the Messiah fist. Her history is mainly shrouded in mystery which you find out more of as the series goes on. Right now she has one of the stronger moral compasses in the series and she is always trying to make a difference. She can fight as well so I hope we get to see her go up against the villains in the continuation. It just feels like this would be a missed opportunity not to have her join in the fights soon. I want to see her side by side with the main characters.

One of the first villains to show up here was Metal Face and I have a soft spot for the guy. By no means is he one of the more powerful villains but I liked the guy’s confidence and he had a lot of good dialogue. He was someone who didn’t back down from a challenge and had to go up against some of the world’s strongest without anything special on his end. It might be a stretch to call this guy a main supporting character but I can say that he’s persistent and I really liked that about him.

Then you have Aramis who is more about giving orders but not actually doing much. I’m still waiting to see if she can actually fight. If she can then that will help her a whole lot but for now I can’t say that I’m really a fan. She talks really tough but then she folds when the boss shows up. If she can fight later on or defects from the villains then that would be huge and give her some momentum.

After that you have the 4 legendary generals. So part of X’s hype is that he is one of those 4 legendary B’t and that means he has a lot to live up to. The next member we meet is Fou and his B’t. Fou is someone who runs a bit of an orphanage and seems like a decent guy but since he’s working for the villains that doesn’t quite add up. He gets a lot of character development as the show goes on though and I thought his character was handled really well. Yeah he’s definitely not a true hero through and through but at the same time he does have his own standards and code of conduct. He won’t be doing just anything or follow orders blindly.

His abilities also seem extremely impressive. Whenever he shows up in an episode the villains fear him and the heroes know they have no chance. This is exactly how the big 4 should appear and it’s why I’m still waiting for Teppei and X to command that level of respect. Once they can do that then I will know that they have really made it. I hope Fou continues to get more fights as the series goes on because seeing him in action is always great. His B’t is also very solid and a machine that is also very confident in her abilities. They have a good bond going right there.

Then there is Hokuto who seems less like a fighter. This guy is more about studying and using his own genius intellect to better the world….well more like just so he can learn more. I wouldn’t call this guy a hero either but at least he wants to find the truth and that prevents him from being just another yes man. I need to see him actually fight though so for now he is the weakest of the big 4 to me. You absolutely need brawn in addition to brain to come out on top. We do know that he can fight but I want to see just how well.

Finally there is Ron but the guy can definitely be a bit more on the annoying side. He’s very strong to be sure but acts more like a mindless yes man at times. Even when everyone is telling him that something is up he refuses to listen. The guy just jumps right into fights and while it’s good to be loyal to a cause, you always have to be reasonable about it. Otherwise you end up following someone rather than the cause and that can be a really big problem. His B’t has a cool design though and I can still appreciate his power. There aren’t many in the verse right now who can challenge him.

Right now the highest ranking member of the empire that we’ve seen is a kid named Misha. He apparently works as a direct contact to the leader. So the leader gives him orders and he executes them. That’s why even if the kid isn’t very strong everyone is completely afraid of him because if he says the wrong thing then they’re doomed. What this kid says goes even when it’s unreasonable and usually this guy is very unreasonable. Lets just say that a whole lot of empire soldiers are destroyed for no reason during Raffaello’s rampages.

So for Rafaello, he is an absolutely huge robot that continues to grow and get more powerful. As a result this guy is shaping up to be the final boss although unfortunately he is so far the only character not to have any personality. So I hope he gets some quick or that won’t be the most satisfying way to end this. I’m interested in how this plays out though. Right now while he is huge, I have a hard time picturing him giving the heroes all that much of a fight though. They would have him completely outnumbered and would also be a lot faster. That should make the fight seem rather one sided if anything.

Now while the show is great, the only issue I had with it is that they do squeeze in some animal violence. Naturally the empire has a lot of livestock around so when the monster goes crazy on the loose the animals don’t quite make it. The scene didn’t really serve any purpose so I’m not sure why that was included at all. Stick to showing the machine just murder a bunch of humans instead, that’s always a better outcome. In general the show isn’t particularly violent but you can definitely still expect a fairly high body count.

One of the series big strengths are its monster of the week characters. A lot of them are actually really memorable and just as importantly they’re also fairly strong. Now to an extent it can be rough seeing all of these random generals giving Teppei a hard time but it shows why nobody else has ever infiltrated the Machine Empire. They have way too many powerful fighters at their disposal. One impressive fighter was a guy with a hook for a hand. What made him stand out is how he’s punching way above his weight class. You figure this guy should be getting packed up rather easily but instead he just gets right back into the thick of the action and keeps on attacking Teppei. Even without his B’t the guy keeps hanging in there and that’s impressive.

Likewise the first of the demon lord fighters shows up and puts up a tremendous fight. He really almost had Teppei and this is after Teppei had grown way more powerful. This is the case for a bunch of these area fighters and while you may not remember their names at times, you will remember the impact. The series quite literally would not be the same without them. I also like the idea of the demon warriors and hopefully the other 6 look good. The show made the interesting choice of confirming that the first member was actually the strongest one. I can’t remember the last time that happened so it was a good twist. Usually it’s the opposite.

The animation here is pretty good. It may not be stunning but the fight scenes definitely go all out and the character models are on point. I also liked the soundtrack quite a bit. It is a little on the smaller side to be sure but at least the tunes that replay a lot are pretty good. If they weren’t then that would absolutely have been a problem. So on the technicals the series holds up and I already explained how the fights are good. The writing is on point too. There was one annoying kid that shows up for a little while but he was written out before long so that wasn’t too bad.

There is already a lot set up for the next season as well. This one has a cliffhanger as you can probably imagine and it works pretty well. I’d have probably even gone further with the cliffhanger but this works either way. I do wonder if they can really squeeze everything into the next season because it feels like there is a whole lot to do but at the same time I know you can pull a whole lot off when the time crunch is near. So we’ll see which villains get the most spotlight coming up and which ones get the shaft. This season introduced a powerful clown villain by the end so I’m super interested in seeing what happens next.

Overall, B’T X is a great show. If you’re looking for a title with nonstop fights and at least one battle in every episode then you’re in luck. It still seems a little unpopular to an extent as there aren’t a ton of screencaps to grab off of Google without doing more of a deep dive so every person who checked it out can help get the show to be even bigger.. Still, the sheer pacing and hype of all the battles will be enough to keep bringing you back. There just aren’t a ton of old school Shonens like this left so you really have to savor them. I look forward to seeing how the sequel plays out and definitely recommend this one.

Overall 8/10

The Misfit of Demon King Academy Review

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It’s time to check out a series where the main character might be more popular than the actual show. That’s a bit of a bold thing to say of course but I feel like this guy gets mentioned all the time. The series is a lot of fun though. I think it did leave a lot of meat on the bone with the premise though since the next season is going to be pretty different based on how this one concludes. I would have stretched out the plot for another season at least but either way this is a great all around title.

The series begins by introducing us to a guy named Anos. He protects a fellow student Misha from bullies one day but then exclaims that he is actually the legendary Demon King that everyone worships. See, the characters may look like humans but the series takes place in a demon society. Everyone knows that the king is supposed to eventually revive but for some reason history appears to have been overwritten and everyone thinks the king’s name is actually Avos. Anos will have to prove himself somehow but in the meantime he must attend school like a normal person. He also ended up being branded as a “Misfit” due to the way the scanner processed his data. A bit odd since he’s the most powerful one there but that’s just how it goes sometimes. Can he uncover the mysteries unfolding around him?

One of the enjoyable aspects of the series is really just the extent to which Anos is confident at all times. The guy is extremely powerful to the point where he can almost literally defeat his opponents with a wave. He destroys someone’s fire spell just by breathing out and his physical abilities allow him to endure any blow. Anos can even come back from the dead at will and has perfect immortality. Now you also have to consider that this is all while the majority of his power is still sealed away. Anos is rarely in danger in this show so you’re not watching it to see him lose.

It’s more like One Punch Man where the fun is in the humor all around him. In one way Anos even has a big edge over Saitama which is that he has much more of a personality. Anos is strong and he knows it so the guy walks around with the confidence of knowing that he is the best. It’s just one of those facts that the others have to accept. He can almost be a bit oblivious about this as well as he doesn’t understand why others don’t recognize him as the strongest. As the series goes on we even see that he’s rather nice for a demon king and is always looking out for others.

It may sound cheesy to hear that the most invincible demon of all is also the most heroic one but on the other hand if he was a villain then it’s not like the world would stand a chance anyway. So it’s definitely a power fantasy type show here but the show holds nothing back and embraces this which makes it work. A show like this will need to still be strong all around to make it work and that’s not a problem here. I enjoyed the cast, the humor is on point, and the fight scenes are really strong when they happen.

I’ve already talked about Anos a lot but to sum it up he is a great main character. He’s a good guy who always tries to do the right thing and doesn’t let anyone impose their values on him. He’s always ready to lecture the other students on what it means to be a true demon king and the guy doesn’t waver. He takes everything in stride and that’s great. No panicking, no second guessing himself. Anos has already had any possible character arcs off screen so you’re looking at a hero in his prime.

The main heroine here is Misha. You can make a case for Sasha, but Misha is introduced first and I would say has a bigger role. She can be rather timid and doesn’t stick up for herself all that much. After meeting Anos she definitely starts to improve there though. Misha has a rather sad backstory and has been through a lot so you can see how she went down that path. I’m still not the biggest fan though as I tend to gravitate more towards the confident characters but she does earn points for stepping up to fight and help as needed. Ultimately she’s not bad and I expect she will continue to improve in the future.

Sasha is definitely a character that is more fun but also makes more mistakes. She’s like a roller coaster going up and down while Misha is someone who is very consistent. Sasha starts off great, gets on your nerves towards the middle of the series, and then bounces back again. Ultimately she has a lot of twists and by the end I can at least understand her choices. They weren’t the best and on the record I do think she should have found another way. Especially when….you’ve got an invincible demon king by your side who seems to have every power under the Sun. Just ask him for help. Seriously that’s all she needed to do and we would have skipped a whole lot of drama.

That’s why near the end it is satisfying to see her and Misha finally trust Anos no matter what and this helps during the climax. The guy has performed so many miracles that I feel like you have to be on his side by the end. There should be no room for doubt and you just keep following him to the end. It’s also the safest place to be…most of the time. More on that later.

Anos’ parents also show up which is rather nice. A lot of the time in these shows you won’t see the parents almost at all but they actually stay relevant the whole way through here. Anos has a good relationship with them and they take all of the twists and supernatural elements in stride. When he grows up in under a week from being a baby they just get excited at how fast he grew. When he ends up being the strongest most popular kid at school they’re still just happy for him. They still act like normal parents in cooking food and hanging out with him/building swords and it’s a surprisingly very wholesome plot. Naturally when they get injured you’d best believe Anos is going to be causing some major damage.

Then you have Lay who is one of the best characters without a doubt. The guy is a super skilled swordsman with a ton of confidence and the only one who can give Anos a fun fight in the kingdom. Sure the guy is still outmatched but at least he fights hard and is considerably more talented than most. The guy is a bit of an enigma as he shows up out of the blue and seems a little mysterious. The guy fits right in with the cast though and also has a lot of confidence of his own. He doesn’t fall into the social traps the other characters try to get him into and just cares about getting stronger. A solid motivation I would always say.

Emilia is the teacher for a while but she’s definitely more of a passive villain as she believes in the class system. The show has a bit of a subplot there where the demons are divided into different ranks based on power, family heritage, etc. Anos couldn’t care less about this though and same for Lay so as they continue to show off with their powerful deeds more people start coming around to this line of thinking. It’s nice that Anos is performing such a benefit to society!

The hero Kanon appears several times in the flashbacks as someone who worked with Anos in order to make the world peaceful. Anos is the one who came up with a way to stop the war between humans and demons and then Kanon helped him execute this. Kanon feels a little naive though and definitely lacks Anos’ power so things get a bit dicey for him but I did like the guy through and through. He’s someone that you can count on to do the right thing.

Then we have a villain who was actually really powerful in Eugo. This was the god of time and as you would expect that means he can actually fight someone like Anos. Perhaps he is still not a complete match but he would make sure that Anos at least had to use his abilities for real this time. I liked the guy’s design a lot too and against just about anyone else his time hax would have likely dealt big damage.

I didn’t care much for the demon generals like Ivis and friends because they all get mind controlled incredibly easy so you shake your head when they’re around. Anos really didn’t have the best followers if you ask me. I suppose they can still be good teachers at the school if needed but that’s about it. Put it this way, if Anos is ever in danger then these guys won’t be strong enough to help anyway. It’s rough but that’s just the facts of the matter here.

Avos was also a powerful fighter. He is someone who is always in the background during the pre arc around the school and then starts making his move during the underwater arc leading up to the climax. He has a good design and can actually fight which goes a long way. Definitely a worthy foe to end the adventure with, certainly more than the evil humans from the water arc who felt desperate the whole time. The water arc was fun with the fights but you were just waiting for Anos to end everyone as opposed to the climax where Anos was fighting for the world in a high stakes battle.

Now while I thought the show was great, it’s not devoid of issues. One of them for me is how despite Anos’ super powers he does let his friends and family get injured at times. I’m not saying he needs to be omnipotent but with his level of ability that should not be happening. It’s why One Punch Man tries to stay very light because if anyone seriously gets injured then you have to have a hard look at the lead and why he didn’t do anything about it. Saitama can get away with goofing off because he always makes it in time. Likewise you give Anos a lot of slack for being slow to the scene when he saves the day but there are times where he doesn’t make it in time.

A big example of this is him telling Misha to go take down a villain near the end of the series but then he just overwhelms her and stabs Misha a bunch until she’s basically dead. Anos eventually shows up to save the day but it doesn’t feel right because he allowed that to happen. He should have put a stop to that way sooner and then there would not have been any problems. Likewise letting his guard down enough for his Mom to be attacked by one of the vengeful villains was also sloppy. When you have a hero who is this broken with a million abilities then any time he doesn’t make it in time feels sketchy. This is something Solo Leveling did really well as the MC was always everywhere using his broken abilities to keep his family safe at all times.

My only other issue with the series is more of a narrative choice. It’s not bad, but as I mentioned before I feel like the plot just ends a little too soon. So a lot of the fun here is in seeing Anos stroll around campus like he owns the place (Because he basically does) but everyone scoffs at him and tries to put him in his place. People don’t know that he is the demon king and that makes for a lot of fun scenarios. By the end of the season this plot can no longer be used which means that the dynamic will be way different. Sure there may be some characters who deny reality but they will be the exceptions rather than the rule. Another season of Anos being the misfit would have been great because there are so many other fun scenarios they could have done with this.

Have him gradually get more and more people to believe him. I’m sure season 2 will still be fun of course and I look forward to what they will do next but I just enjoyed the premise so much. I guess we’ll see if they bring in new fighters who can give Anos a challenge, or more likely he’ll get some new teammates. When Anos sandbags long enough sometimes the villains do actually start to land some hits or put up a good fight. This season had several fights where he did come close to at least a temporary death even if he would regenerate later on. It just takes a whole lot of planning on the villains’ part and also some luck if we’re being honest. If Anos ever goes all out from the start then they don’t stand a chance.

In terms of the soundtrack I would say the show is in the middle. See, the opening and the ending are both great. Easily the highlights of the soundtrack and they have a lot of replay value. The songs are even used during some of the battle scenes which is a lot of fun. However, the themes within the episode aren’t very memorable at all and I would say are probably a little sub par. So enjoy the lyrical tunes but you probably won’t remember the rest of the ost much.

I thought the animation was really sharp. You get a good amount of movement here and a lot of bright attacks. When the show goes into its action phase the anime is able to keep up and that results in some pretty hype moments. The show always looks very modern and I didn’t feel like there were any times where it looked bad. The aesthetic works well for the vibe the show is going for and so you should be very satisfied here.

At its core one last reason why the show is great is because of its replay value. The humor lands so well that you definitely enjoy rewatching some scenes. The dialogue is absolutely on point and while I would never go as far as to say it beats the action scenes, it supports them extremely well. Every time Anos starts a sentence off with “Did you really think…” you know that he’s about to flex on someone yet again. It’s why I included extra images here so you can see some of the variations. It’s part of why this guy is such a great main character. The humor/action blend here is balanced just right so there is always something to enjoy. Mix that in with the fact that the series is really good about avoiding fanservice and you’ve got something that is also easy to recommend to just about anyone.

The show does have some violence to be sure but I’d say it’s never excessive. The two most brutal moments are likely when Anos murders one guy over and over again and then when Misha gets stabbed to death. The former is certainly more violent but because it’s played off as dark humor to an extent you won’t find it as twisted. Still really dark to be sure though. The second isn’t as violent but because you really thought Anos should have protected her and because she’s so defenseless there then it hits a bit harder. On the whole the show is not one that I would say is hard to watch though and is still tame by and large.

There are also other supporting characters I didn’t really talk about much earlier but in general the cast is still on the smaller side for now. I expect we will continue to get new characters from within the school and outside of it. This is the kind of series with enough world building to be a really long franchise so adding more characters definitely makes a lot of sense with that.

Overall, The Misfit of Demon King Academy is definitely a great show. The anime is off to a powerful start right out of the gate and we’ll see if it can keep this up now that the whole status quo will be way different. I’m confident that as long as the writing stays this good there shouldn’t be any problems though. Anos may not be able to surprise everyone anymore like when he entered the underwater battle to save the day but you can probably still work around that with new kingdoms and such. Anos can continue to spread his wise teachings across the land and beat up anyone who gets in his way. That’s the way to go.

Overall 8/10

The Summit of the Gods Review

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I can’t say that I was really familiar with this film before watching it but I can safely say that it holds up well. It’s a quality title all around with a good amount of tension and quality characters. The animation style was also very smooth and worked well with what the film was going for. It sounds like a back handed complement to say it’s better than I would have expected it to be but it definitely did exceed my expectations. If you’re looking for a solid mountain climbing adventure then this is the film for you.

The movie starts by introducing us to Makoto who is a reporter. He’s trying to follow up on the story of two climbers who vanished after Everest and we don’t know if they truly climbed to the top or not. One day he’s at a bar when someone tries to sell him the fabled camera of the explorer which would prove beyond a doubt what happened but Makoto has no time for that. The guy ends up being mugged by the mysterious climber known as Habu though so maybe this actually is legit. Makoto must now find out everything about Habu so that he can track the guy down and grab the camera.

So most of the film is actually a flashback as we see Habu slowly become better and better at climbing to the point where he doesn’t need a partner. Habu’s skills are very real but his personality isn’t always the best. Not only does he not have a filter but he really doesn’t seem to respect his partners’ abilities all that much. Certainly not as much as you would expect at least and so this leads to him being isolated. He still wants to keep on pushing himself though and in a way he lives to climb so as long as he can keep climbing then he is happy. The rest just doesn’t matter nearly as much to him.

A good chunk of the film is about trying to understand what is so fascinating about climbing. It’s a super dangerous hobby without a whole lot of upside and things can easily go sideways for you. So with all of that in mind. Why do it? Well I suppose people like what they like but I can’t say that I’d ever be too interested in the hobby myself. I’d enjoy the cold temperatures to be sure but risking my life for something like this just wouldn’t feel worth it. In general few things are so I’d rather stay safe if I can help it.

Habu is definitely the best character in the film either way. He really gets a lot of screen time here and is quick on his feet. Ultimately at least by climbing on his own he’s not really putting anyone else in danger. It’s only when others want to join him that things get a little crazy. Meanwhile Makoto is a good character as well. He feels a little out of his depth the whole time but I do have to give him some credit because he holds his own by the end. He has enough strength and climbing expertise to actually scale mountains and not just get left in the dust. To an extent I do have a little bit of a hard time believing that but since he’s so invested in the hobby I suppose he may have trained at some point.

Mountain Climbing is not a forgiving sport either so even if you enjoy it a lot, you better spend some time in the weight room. There’s no escape and few places to rest once you’re on the mountain so you really do need to see the whole thing through to the end. Seeing the characters just hanging from the to of the mountain with nothing but pure arm strength is extremely impressive.

As I mentioned earlier the animation is really smooth here. I like how streamlined everything appears and it really supports this kind of adventure. The mountain itself is very sleek and the snow stands out. The movie even uses some really creative effects later on for the storm and also has some rather spooky scenes involving a ghost. I would say this looks a bit more like a DC movie than an anime but that’s not a bad thing in the slightest because it’s just so high quality.

Visually the movie keeps up with the pacing and story. I would also say that the writing is very good here as well. It’s very much a slice of life kind of movie as we follow Habu’s adventures and everything makes sense in that context. There’s no random drama, no rushed romance, no super villain here to cause trouble. It’s a story that could have easily happened in real life and even when bad things do happen like a character might die, everyone handles is very maturely. In general you could call this a very mature movie and not in an edgy way. It’s not particularly violent or disturbing, but it is a film that probably wouldn’t be super exciting for a kid. The movie is just confident enough in itself to have a satisfying story without needing to add any fluff or anything extra.

Overall, I thought this was a great movie. It excels in just being a simple, direct movie about mountain climbing. There is a lot of attention to detail here and they don’t hold your hand through how this works. You see the characters setting up their gear and just have to follow along the whole time. You can absolutely do this if you are paying attention and it’s a nice test in a way. The flashback is engaging enough where you don’t mind most of the film not being in the present. Usually I’m not big on flashbacks but as this turned out to be part mystery it worked well. In a way there’s not a whole lot to say about this movie. It’s not a title you will spend a lot of time theory crafting and instead you can just sit back and enjoy it.

Overall 8/10