All right, I now own the complete Yu Yu Hakusho series! Watching this classic will be a blast and you can certainly expect a review for it once I’ve finally done that. Time to see if the anime original ending is better than the manga’s end.
After watching all of the Slayer seasons, it was time for a slightly more serious take on the fantasy genre. By “slightly” more serious, I mean that this one is very somber and dramatic for the entirety of its run. (Ignoring the sequel series/season) You can tell that this is the tone that it is going for as soon as the first opening plays. It’s catchy, but the images are also quite sad. It depicts a barren wasteland and a solitary hero who must wander through life on his own even when his friends are near. His mission is a fire one and the stakes are high. It’s a fun series even if one of the characters goes through a personality shift a little too quickly at the end. (Azalie)
A long time ago, Orphen was taught magic at the Tower of Fang. Things went well for a while and Orphen became one of the strongest magicians in the world, but his mentor (Azalie) became greedy with power and used a mystical sword to stab herself which transformed her into the dragon, Bloody August. The Tower of Fang decided that she must be eliminated which caused Orphen to leave on a mission to save her and to defeat the Tower of Fang if necessary. On his travels, he ended up meeting up with a kid named Majic and a rich lady named Cleao. Majic gets involved in the quest because Orphen decides to take him in as an apprentice (For a good amount of money of course) As for Cleao, her family owns the legendary sword that transformed Azalie in the first place so Orphen decides to take it back. Cleao follows him so that she can take the sword back once he’s done with it.
The sword isn’t powerful enough to change Azalie back to her human form though so Orphen needs to find a few relics to amp up its power and allow him to cast the spell. Is it that easy though? A lot of complications occur and naturally the Tower of Fang aims to stand in his way. Along the way, Orphen softens up a little with the group, but for the majority of the series, he’s serious business through and through. He can’t relax until the mission is complete.
Orphen’s plot is pretty engaging and this first series builds up a lot of the universe as we learn about the current status quo. The Tower of Fang seems to be the only ruling body in the world or at least the main one by which all others look to for advice. I wonder how they got such a high rank since the group doesn’t seem all that tough. If I could change one thing about the show’s plot, it would be that I’d like a better resolution at the end, fight-wise. There wasn’t really a big fight to end the series surprisingly and Orphen never got to have a big fight with Childman. Even fighting Azalie in her final form would have been a blast to see as the student surpassed the mentor. Unfortunately, all of these fights never got to happen which was a little disappointing. The series had a good amount of action in its run, but I feel like all anime should end off with a big fight. End on a high note right?
Orphen’s the lead of course and he makes for a good one. He’s completely focused on the mission so he rarely humors his comrades on their comic relief subplots. He’s an excellent mage so he rarely ever loses a fight. He reminds me a little of Train Heartnet although he is typically in denial a little more. Azalie isn’t quite as selfless and nice as Saya was in Black Cat. It’s still a noble goal to save her of course, but he certainly bites off a lot more than he can chew here. Regardless, Orphen’s tough personality and ace combat skills make him a great lead.
Cleao’s the main heroine and she always means well. Unfortunately, she’s not much of a fighter. She gets into arguments with Orphen quite a lot, which ultimately help him not get too focused on the mission to the point where he’ll lose everything else. When a fight starts, Cleao’s glad to try and help even if it’s only a little. It’d be great if she could learn a spell or two, but Cleao is certainly charasmatic so she’s got that going in her favor. The group needed an energetic character in the mix for the good banter and contrast that it brings. She owns Leki, a magical dog of immense power who comes in handy quite a bit. This also ended up helping Cleao a lot since Leki is immensely powerful and can blow away most opponents with ease. When Leki grows up, he could even end up being stronger than Orphen if the bigger versions of him are any indication.
Then…we have Majic. Unfortunately, he’s a bad character. He’s one of the main comic relief characters of the series and a running gag is that his magical abilities are terrible and seem to never actually improve no matter how far the series ends up progressing. One scene towards the very beginning of the series doomed him though even if it was meant as a quick comic relief scene. Majic uses his spells to make a mirror next to where Cleao was bathing so he could watch. It’s a pretty despicable act and while Orphen put an end to it, it shows that Majic definitely has no standards. It’s a quick scene and Majic never does anything like it again, but there’s no way that he could be a likable character after that. When you’re in a small group on the road, you have to be able to trust your partners. After an act like that, there’s no way you can really trust Majic so it’s good to see him fail at performing spells for the rest of the series.
Volkan and Dortin are the other comic relief characters. Volkan always acts as the voice of reason against Dortin while Dortin forces him to come along anyway. Dortin is like Hercule or other comic relief characters who always talk a great game before getting wrecked. It works really well for Dortin though and he is easily one of the best comic relief characters of this type out there. He gets most of the best lines in the entire show and the banter between him and Orphen helps to make the series so enjoyable. Typically, any scene with the two of them is going to be pretty good and a lot of Dortin’s schemes are fun even if they’re doomed to fail. I don’t really care for Volkan, but then again, I typically don’t care for the “straight man” in jokes or the serious comic relief character. It just doesn’t work for me at all and destroys the point of a comic relief character.
The whole show is really about saving Azalie so she has a big role in this. For the first half of the series she’s essentially mindless. Not completely as seen when the dragon turns into Childman and he still has control, but it is hard to see what her plan is. Later on, we find out a lot of startling plot twists about her. The sword transformation may have not been how she planned it to go, but she was aiming for power for all the wrong reasons. She always wanted Childman, but as he was a reasonable mentor, he placed the friend zone card. That’s what Azalie wanted vengeance and she ultimately ends up taking over Childman’s body.
From there, she freezes one of the Fang members, tries to destroy Childman, and also breaks the mind of one of the Elders. She is a complete villain through and through, there’s no way to get around that. Despite all of this, everyone treats her as a likable hero by the end who just went a little off course. You can make a plot like that work such as Cardfight Vanguard where Kai went around doing quite a few evil things before being taken down, but it has to be gradual. In Orphen, this turnaround is just about instant as soon as she is essentially defeated and Childman is turned back into a baby. Also, we learn that she essentially becomes the boss of the Tower of Fang in the sequel series. She never gets to pay for her crimes of murder and assault in the slightest.
Don’t get me wrong, Azalie makes for a great villain, but it’s incredibly hard to buy the fact that she is now a “hero.” It’s not that easy and quick to switch sides and especially not when we see her being evil for quite so long. All it took was for Childman to remove the friendzone card from the table, but it’s way too late for that. So, while Azalie is cool, I think that the end plot development simply did not make any sense by the end. It could have been handled better.
Childman is Azalie’s mentor and seems to be generally considered as the strongest magician in the world. His abilities are quite high and it is revealed at the end that he could even have defeated the Bloody August if he had wished to do so. I don’t like this guy though because he is supremely annoying. All along he wanted to save Azalie as well, but he just decided not to tell anyone and as a result, he made no real progress in his quest. Either way, he would need some artifacts if he wanted to do anything, but he never got any of them and then Azalie took his body with ease while Childman was in awe of her. He really could have handled the situation 100x better than he actually did. I respect his power, but that’s about all.
Hartia is Orphen’s childhood friend, although you could barely tell from this season. Hartia acts like a friend and tries to act as a mediator between Childman and Orphen, but it’s tough since Orphen wants nothing to do with him. It also doesn’t help that while Azalie was in Childman’s body, she kept incriminating herself and Hartia intentionally to further widen the wedge between the friends. By the end, Orphen and Hartia had some all out battles with each other. Hartia could certainly have done a better job of explaining things at different points, but in the end the fact of the matter is that he chose the tower over Orphen and that’s probably at the heart of Orphen’s grudge. I like Hartia’s superhero identity even if it certainly doesn’t help to smooth things over with Orphen. He’s actually a lot stronger than he lets on.
Flameheart is one of the main villains and he is the first opponent to flat out defeat Orphen before the fight was interrupted. He may not be the coolest villain around, but he is quite powerful. He meets with a bit of an anticlimactic end though as he made the same mistake as Azalie as he tried to grab the sword. I suppose that the sword is just hard to resist. I’m not really a fan of this guy though and he does do a lot of whining when things don’t go his way. Good villains have to keep their calm and activate a backup plan when things don’t go well.
The show has some mild fanservice towards the beginning and the end. For the end it’s mainly through the astral projection of Azalie appearing for no real reason. It’s her astral form, but it is still overused quite a bit and Cleao also gets some towards the beginning, but by and large Orphen manages to dodge this trap for the most part. There are definitely a few filler esque episodes, but they’re typically not bad. At the very least, filler helps you appreciate the real episodes a whole lot more.
Power Level wise, I’d place Orphen the character above several magicians like Dr. Strange and Lina Inverse (Definitely a close fight though and composite Lina could be another story with her Sword of Light) but physically he is around human level which can hurt him against fast opponents. As a series, Orphen is fairly realistic despite the magic so it wouldn’t rank too high next to other anime titles, but I’m sure that we’ll be getting some power ups as the franchise goes on.
The soundtrack for the show is pretty good. We have a solid opera theme that plays for the big moments like when the Bloody August attacked the Tower of Fang. It was a great scene I have to add as it came out of nowhere and was pretty unexpected. Who would have thought that the big villain organization would be taken down so suddenly and in the span of around 2 minutes? These guys talked such a big game, but they crumbled in the end. There are quite a few other good battle themes in the series as well. Both of the openings are also quite good with the second one having better action scenes, but the first one probably encapsulating the themes of the show a little better. In the end, I will actually choose that one as my favorite for this series.
As for the animation, it looks pretty solid. Especially when the high budget scenes show up, there is a noticeable difference. The colors are nice and vibrant and this is especially useful for the action scenes. Even when the budget is normal though, the show looks very clear. Naturally, the sequel series looks a lot richer with detail, but this one is definitely solid. There are even some illustration type shots towards the beginning of the series which are always fun. As long as they aren’t spammed of course, but that’s not the case here.
Overall, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen is a solid show. It’s definitely one of the more somber anime that I’ve seen in a while at times, but there is no shortage of comic relief characters, which keeps the atmosphere fairly light at well. The animation and soundtrack hold up very well and fight scenes are solid as well. It’s an all around solid show and one I’d recommend to all fantasy or action fans. If you like good banter a lot, but are not necessarily an action fan, I think you can still enjoy this show quite a bit as well. I’m just about done with the sequel series so you can expect a review for that as well fairly soon. It opts to drop the serious angle so it’s more of a lighthearted adventure which works well enough in its own right, but it is definitely different.
Overall 7/10
I now own the Blu Ray! Definitely one of the best DBZ films out there and helped to erase the memories of Battle of Gods. This film is only matched by legendary titles like Broly and Android 13, but may even surpass them!
It’s time for another Digimon review! This film’s definitely a classic and I’ve probably seen it 10 times or more at this point. It’s certainly the film that I think of whenever I see Digimon and now I can say that I’ve seen it dubbed and subbed. Naturally, the dubbed version wins out, but both versions are good in their own rights. Diaboromon will always be remembered as one of the best villains in the franchise. (Also due to Rumble Arena 2)
Tai and friends haven’t really kept in touch lately, but the DigiDestined are forced to join up again when a computer virus threatens to destroy the world. It’s hacked into electronics all around the country. Tai and Izzy were luckily already at home when this all happened, but Sora, Mimi, and Joe are currently busy. Matt and TK are ready to help though so the four of them will have to be enough to stop Diaboromon!
As per usual, the dub tries for a lighter, more intense angle on the film while the sub tries for a super serious and solemn approach. Typically, the music is what really illustrates this. Unfortunately, there are no good themes in the subbed version as a result. I wouldn’t call them bad per say, but none of them work as battle themes. Meanwhile, the dub keeps everything very fast paced, but you’ll also have to get ready for health drink jokes and the like.
I was never a fan of the animation for this film and it’s a step down from the Hurricane special for 02. The humans just look very, I guess you could say sludgey. It’s like what happens when you overly streamline a character. It can almost be disorienting since the character’s physical forms don’t seem to be too physical. It’s what I like to call the anti-theater effect. See, I’ve mentioned in the past how the theater effect can be awesome. It can make the colors really stand out and the fights awesome, but the opposite effect is what’s seen in many American films. Just think of any theater based American film, I’ve never seen one that actually had very good animation. They all try to be lifelike and as a result, they unfortunately succeed. Luckily, this doesn’t stop the fight scene in Our War Game from being good.
This was the debut of Omnimon and that was certainly a lot of fun to see. He was the series first Super Mega (Officially he’s just a Mega but when 2 Mega Digimon fuse I can’t consider the result to be just another Mega) and he certainly out ranked Diaboromon in power. We haven’t gotten to see Omnimon fight all that much in the franchise since then, but in Digimon Savers we saw that he’s still a powerhouse and I’m sure that in the new movie series he will get some big fights. Most of the other Digimon didn’t get to do a whole lot here, but it was a quick film so there wasn’t a lot of time to include them.
It also resulted in a pretty epic scene where Diaboromon attacked during the evolution sequence, which is probably a great speed feat since I assume that it’s almost instantaneous. I liked the subplot of how kids sending email to Izzy and friends was slowing down their Digimon. It makes sense since they had to rely on an old computer to power up their allies this time and rerouting their emails to Diaboromon’s account makes sense since that is actually a pretty easy feature to do nowadays. No plot hax there, which is how it should be.
As always, Tai’s a pretty hardcore lead character. He’s even able to infiltrate the Digital World like an old pro. I’ve never been much of an Izzy fan and I’m still not, but at least he booted up the computer for Tai to save the world with and showed up unlike some of the other DigiDestined. The other members really need some kind of communicator so they can always be in contact. The main member who looked bad was actually Kari since she picked up the phone, but didn’t want to leave the party. It was a case of international security so she absolutely should have showed up. Nothing should have prevented her from making it back even if she may not have been able to help all that much in the end.
One thing that I actually did miss in this film though was the fact that the humans and Digimon were separated by the screen. Fighting in the Digital World or in the Human world together as a team is always more exciting and especially when the human characters can fight as well like Marcus. In a way, it’s more like Megaman NT Warrior this way, but the separation prevented emotions from running quite as high and the stakes from getting a little more personal.
I like to think that this film is what got most of the characters so popular. Diaboromon and Omnimon certainly hit it off big after this and I’d still say that both of them are some of the most popular Digimon around. I’m hoping that Diaboromon appears at some point in the new films since that would be pretty neat. At the moment, Our War Game is definitely the best Digimon film at the block so it sets the standard for the others to follow and the line that they hope to surpass someday.
Overall, Our War Game is a solid Digimon film as always. It’s a little light on action, but it’s a short film overall so there’s not a whole lot that they really could have added on that note. I recommend either version, but the dub first and foremost. Maybe even watch both since the film has a decent amount of replay value. I’ve probably seen it over and over enough times to keep me satisfied so I don’t need to see it again for a long while, but if you’re looking for a film with monster fights, this is your best bet. Until then, I’ve got Tri to look forward too as well as the Diaboromon rematch film.
Overall 7/10
It’s time to take a look at the latest Pokemon film! The hype around this movie was that many different Legendary Pokemon would get to appear. I’m always up for seeing the titans come up, but was admittedly disappointed in how it was handled. A good film overall though and Pikachu isn’t nerfed this time around, making for some good power feats. It reminds me that I still need to go play Pokemon X/Y!
The film starts out in a desert as we see a village looking up to the all powerful Hoopa. In Hoopa’s true form, he’s essentially a giant Genie. He warps other Legendary Pokemon to the village via his inter dimensional rings and then fights them for a little while before sending them back when he’s in danger. This cowardly fighting style gains him many fans, but then the power corrupts him and the village is essentially destroyed. Fast forward a few centuries to the present where Hoopa is now in his chibi form being escorted by two allies. They are looking for the bottle so that Hoopa can regain his true form once more. Surely he is ready for this now…right?
Ash and friends were enjoying a nice vacation when Hoopa decides to snag a donut. The odd thing is that the real donuts look like French Crullers while the fake donuts look like the real deal. I think Ash and friends are essentially getting scammed. Ash follows Hoopa through the portal and then gets his friends across as well. The odd thing is that the friends still don’t trust Ash and actually try to stop him, but he is able to overpower their combined might. Ash and friends decide to help Hoopa out, but then the city comes under siege thanks to Hoopa’s true powers. He has split into his dark self and the chibi form. Can Ash muster up the will to defeat the evil Hoopa or will his feelings of friendship and camaraderie overpower him!?
To start the analysis off, I was underwhelmed by the opening. For starters, I have to say that Hoopa’s design is one of the worst Pokemon designs of all time and probably top 5. The genie looks nothing like a Pokemon and is hard to properly use in a fight. The voice likely doesn’t help matters either. He also comes across as very petty in the intro as he is clearly going to lose against the Legendary Pokemon so he warps them away, but not before getting his cheap shots in. This happens during the entire film and it can be a little annoying. The Pokemon were minding their own business before getting thrown into these fights and never get any closure since they are just tossed aside. It’s the issue with having fighters who can’t talk, they don’t get much of an ending when they’re cheated out of a fight.
Most of the fight scenes also aren’t actual fights. It was cool to see Lugia flying rings around Hoopa and landing some good shots in, but that was probably the only real fight scene that we got. The rest were “action” scenes which are essentially just long chases throughout the city. I’m fine with having action, but not at the expense of fight scenes and that’s exactly what happened here. The sad part is that the TV show has a lot of fights consistently across the episodes, but then when the movies come…it’s like there’s not enough budget for it. The budget is instead used for things that aren’t quite as important like the backgrounds or adding extra layers to the dimension effects. I’d trade all of that for a quick 1 on 1 fight in an instant. I’d say that most people watch Pokemon for the fights anyway.
Character-wise, the new original characters weren’t bad. The guy was pretty weak willed since he was possessed so easily and he probably should have expected the situation to happen, but it’s not totally his fault and he rebounds from the whole thing. Likewise with the heroine who is fairly similar to the guy personality wise. Both of them don’t have much personality, but they have powers in the form of Force blasts from Arceus. They don’t get to fight all that much, which is why another villain would have been really good. It’s always neat to see a human with some kind of super ability though so I’ll give some extra props for that.
I didn’t like Hoopa’s normal form, but I liked his mini version. His gimmick is that he always says “Were you surprised?” throughout the film for many different contexts. I can work with that and Hoopa’s actually very likable unlike some of his predecessors who could be more annoying like Manaphy. His abilities are fun as well even if he didn’t use them properly. Why not call out Mewtwo or Deoxys? That’s actually another critique with the film. From the legendaries, it’s mostly just the scrubs that are called. Latios, to an extent Lugia, etc. Where were the big guns like Mewtwo, Arceus, Deoxys, Ho-Oh? Let’s face it, those are the fighters that people wanted to see. We’ve seen Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, and fans a lot. They also got the new Legendaries from Black and White so it’s almost like they didn’t want to have to go and animate the older Legendaries with the exception of Lugia. I feel like that cheapened the whole point of the film to an extent because I was looking forward to seeing my favorite Pokemon fighters. Of course, if Lugia is more than a match for Hoopa, those guys would have crushed him without much effort.
Luckily, this is where the Pikachu hype comes in. His thunder blast is able to match up against a combined Legendary Pokemon onslaught and the whole film goes out of its way to show that Pikachu should not be taken lightly. The bond between Ash and Pikachu was also proven as Ash was able to recognize him instantly even when surrounded by dozens of other Pikachus. I was surprised at this since I was sure that Pokemon would want to use this as a joke, but the writers resisted the urge. It was a good move since Ash and Pikachu should definitely pass a test like that. Ash also admits that he wants to be a Pokemon Master on his own and he won’t take any shortcuts. I’d expect nothing less from such a hero.
The animation was crisp and sharp as you would expect. It’s a shame that we didn’t get any big fight scenes to really see how the animation fared, but that’s how it goes. It may be easier to animate scenes of just walking around, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that the scenes are all very clear. Pokemon makes a large sum of money so the animators likely have the best equipment and staff to work on these projects. As a result, you’ll be hardpressed to find any scenes that don’t look good.
Unfortunately, the soundtrack is not very good. I don’t think I’ll call it downright bad, but it’s very uneventful and there are no good battle themes. That’s a shame since the video games are known for their spectacular soundtracks and the film should have just borrowed them. Instead, most of the music is very peaceful and that’s definitely never been my style. I want some quick battle music themes that rock you to the core. The Mega Evolution Acts succeeded with this so the movie should have been able to as well.
Ash’s new partners definitely have less personality than his old ones and that’s shown in the film. Their role is very small and none of them have a critical game changing moment. One of them picks out the donuts and one of them has “The future is now!” catchphrase, but is that really a personality? Granted, the dubbing is so over the top and forced for the catchphrase that it can be funny in a retro outdated kind of way. I don’t think that kind of way even counts though to be honest. Ah well, Ash is a great main character and that’s really what counts in the end.
So, where does this film rank in the end? I’d say that it beats the last one, but get roflstomped by Victini, all of the Dialga and Palkia trilogy, most of the classic films through Hoenn, (Beats Manaphy and Zoroark though) and that’s not too bad. I don’t want to bother looking at the full list of films, but it’s likely on the lower side of the half, but think of it this way, 1 film less than half is the destiny for many films no matter how good they are since there are just that many. This film had a lot of flaws and was a big missed opportunity like Battle of Gods, but had enough positives to send it over the hill.
Overall, This is definitely a film that I would recommend. It’s not the most inspired Pokemon film and I miss my action scenes/insert song from the older titles, but I have to accept that with modernization comes a decrease in quality at times. The new Mewtwo film was amazing though so maybe Pokemon will get right back on the saddle in the next film. Otherwise, the TV show crossover arc with the Mega Evolution Act is liable to feel more like a movie than the actual movie series. Team Rocket is around, but their role is very small. Still, keep an eye out for Wobbuffet since his true powers are finally given their due credit!
Overall 7/10
It’s time to close out this series since Act IV appears to be the last one. It’s been a fun ride and was certainly filled with a lot of action. It definitely gets you hyped for the climactic clash between Alain and Ash. I’m satisfied with how this all ended even if Alain’s naivety can be a bit much. Seriously, his goals seem pretty iffy and he certainly takes contradictory steps to get him to the end goal.
Alain decides that he wants to be the strongest Pokemon Trainer of all time. His boss Lysandre tells Alain that he will need to defeat 10 Mega Pokemon trainers in a row. If he loses even one of them, Alain will be forced to hand over his Mega Stone and he’ll be fired. Alain doesn’t seem to mind the fact that this is basically a threat and agrees to the challenge. “Fight’s over son” is what his opponents should have said, but none of them went that far. In the subplot, Mairin is forced into tears once more and her Pokemon helps a prisoner escape the evil facility, but becomes sickly in the process. This is alarming and it seems like Lysandre may not be the nice guy that we thought he was. Of course…who ever actually believed that one right?
As always, the animation is quite good for the special. This one was basically just nonstop action the whole time and while the fight in episode I was probably still the most impressive, the quality doesn’t let up here. It’s still sad to see the Pokemon wait for the trainer to give out an attack instead of making a move, but it seems to be their destiny. After all, getting caught by the Pokeball has always seemed like a subtle form of brainwashing, which is what made the N plot from the Unova days so interesting. Maybe it also takes away some of their intelligence or free will to even think about doing something without a command. It’s something to think about. We get quite a few Mega Pokemon here as Alain runs through them all with minimal effort.
One thing to note is that Alain’s Charizard has the edge over most of the Pokemon thanks to the type advantage. It was interesting to see so many grass Pokemon in the mix, maybe Lysandre has a heart inside of him after all! That being said, I have to call in plot hax to the fact that Alain won all of the fights. Especially when you consider the fact that the very first opponent was giving him a lot of trouble. There’s no way that he should have been able to have defeated an Elite Four member in his weakened state. I’m not buying it and that’s why Ash is always routinely defeated by these guys. They mean business pure and simple.
There was one intriguing moment in the film where the Dub seems to have messed something up. I forgot the context so you’ll have to watch the film yourself. It involves Alain answering a question with a big No, followed by a little line and then a No. It was just odd and I don’t think that it was intentional. Maybe….but unlikely. The soundtrack was pretty fun. Oddly enough, the soundtrack for the full length Hoopa film wasn’t very good, but this special used quite a few themes from the games and that’s always fun to see. We had a remix from what I think was probably the Red/Kanto games and another one from the newer titles. Good music themes can always make the difference in a film so you want to have good ones.
I’d say that the main frustrating part of the film is Alain. His goal is to become the strongest Pokemon Trainer, which is a great one. The problem is that he goes about it the wrong way. Being Lysandre’s Yes Man is not the greatest job in the world and he’s mean to Mairin for no reason. He wants to make things right by saving her Pokemon, but it really made no sense to be rude to her earlier. He can’t seem to make up his mind. Furthermore, it’s odd that he doesn’t even suspect that the organization is evil. I thought that it was obvious when the group grabbed the crystal and it should be even more evident now that a Pokemon is sick from the mysterious lab. They were clearly imprisoning a Pokemon and while the heroes don’t know that, the dots should be connected now. It seems like a Professor is close to figuring out the truth though.
I do like the concept of having a “hero” who is being tricked and working for an evil organization since it can lead to a good fight between heroes. Case in point, Ash and Alain are going to be facing off against each other soon so that’s going to be great since Alain is already an established character. It’s like having Yugi fight Jaden or Batman going up against Captain America. Of course, the former barely counts since it’s best when the two characters are seriously fighting each other with something at stake. I’m certainly going to be on Ash’s side and I want him to crush Alain, but Alain is still a good main character. The fact that he’s getting suckered so easily and convincingly is part of why I’m looking forward to Ash pounding him flat. Alain needs to learn from someone who knows, that you’ve gotta see the bigger picture. That’s probably how Ash made it all the way back to age 10 after so many years. Charizard is a great partner for Alain as well and it’s easy to see how they’ve beaten so many opponents. He really means business.
There’s a nice twist ending in the film as well. If there’s anything that can match up to a crossover battle, it’s seeing the next big villain. The Pokemon that was being experimented on is getting ready for vengeance and hopefully he is able to take down the villain organization. Those guys have definitely got to go. Steven should know that the group is evil as well since he’s supposed to be a pretty wise guy so this is all partially his fault as well. I still don’t care for Mairin as a character and she’s definitely not needed here, but she could be worse I suppose. She’s mostly getting in the way though, but Alain still needs to remember that there are no johns (excuses) in Pokemon battles.
Overall, A Pokemon special with nonstop action the whole time is definitely a good way to get me interested in what’s happening. Alain’s story ends here and it’ll be great to see him return from Ash’s point of view soon. In the anime, Ash just got his Mega Pokemon recently so since Alain can’t stand to see another trainer use a Mega that he has not defeated, things are definitely going to heat up a lot in the upcoming moments. With that epic cliffhanger at the ready, I’m looking forward to seeing the Pokemon’s true form. I remember seeing it a while back and the design was certainly awesome. Steven and Mairin may be rather uninteresting supporting characters, but all that you need in the end is a good main character to have a TV special succeed. While Alain is a watered down Sasuke, he still has his moments and I’d say that he ended this 4 part special as a good (naive) character.
Overall 8/10
The first Sword Art Online show had started off as an all star but quickly turned into a trainwreck. This one doesn’t crash and burn in such a way, rather it suffers from a myriad of issues from the get go. The sequel just seemed to have lower standards across the board. I still can’t call the show good as a result, but we do get some nice fight scenes. This series has 3 arcs, but most of the review is spent on the first one, as it is the longest. Get ready folks because there’s a lot to bash here! That being said, this still manages to beat season 1!
Kirito doesn’t really want to go on dangerous virtual reality missions anymore. Why would he want to do this after nearly dying right? Well, things change when the government makes contact with him regarding two pieces of important intel. Someone has been terminating players in the new Gun Gale game. Kirito quickly reminds the agent that it’s impossible to injure a real person from a video game. The agent agrees, but he wants Kirito to investigate a little anyway. Kirito heads into the game and things get personal when he finds out that this “Death Gun” character may be a Sword Art Online survivor. Can Kirito really take this guy down or will his long break from playing shooters come back to haunt him? Granted, Kirito finds a beam sword, which greatly helps him in the battles.
Meanwhile, there’s a new character in the mix. Her name is Sinon and she intends to win the big gun contest so that she can get over her fear of those weapons. It’s an intriguing way to cure her fears although I do see the logic in it. Still, it’ll be very tough to win the contest when Death Gun and Kirito have also entered to complicate the situation rather dramatically. Kirito is and always will be known as the ultimate gamer so he’s not going to just let Sinon win when there’s still a job to do.
One gimmick that the anime decided to use for this arc was for Kirito to be in a feminine designed avatar. Another character makes it clear that it’s still a male one so that’s good for Kirito, but he still manages to look like Lucina and decides to mess with the other characters a bit. It’s rather unnecessary if you ask me and I missed his standard design. Kirito’s normal design is just so cool that you didn’t need to mess with it.
This does lead into the animation angle a little. The first show’s animation was top notch. Some of the best animation in the business and it was at a theatrical level. Every episode felt like a movie. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case in this show. It looks good for the most part, but it never comes close to looking like the first show. It still keeps the theatrical feel to an extent, but there are episodes where the budget is noticeably low and the quality really falls. Most of the fight scenes aren’t very exciting and that’s why we always need Kirito to save us. If it’s an action scene from Sinon, you can expect the animation to not be all that great. The anime uses more shortcuts and simply feels a little more like a cash in sequel. It’s rather unfortunate.
As for the soundtrack, it gets completely lolstomped by the original. Disclaimer: it’s not a bad soundtrack. Sword Art Online II still does the world proud and I like the battle theme. It also reuses a lot of themes from the original to help itself out. That being said, you won’t be blown away like you were with the first show. It’s sad since more techno music would have been appropriate for this season, but we only got a few really good tunes. Again, that’s impressive for the average show, but it’s not enough to even come close to topping the original.
While this show doesn’t explode like arc 2 of the original, we get another similar villain. The show seems to be obsessed with this kind of plot. The heroine even gives up once again temporarily and while Asuna had no choice, but to stick around, this other character has no excuse for this brief hesitation and lack of will power. It’s pretty unacceptable. Moreover, the show also has more fanservice than the original. I won’t say that the original completely avoided this trap because it most certainly did not, but this show was more frequent with this issue. Sinon’s costume isn’t terrible and it’s certainly no Satana, but the camera always zooms in on inappropriate angles, which makes it bad.
I’ve always felt that the costume is not much of an issue. You can have a character with Power Girl’s costume and provided that the camera plays it straight and never focuses on the gap, then it’s basically fine. For example, Harribel’s costume never seemed all that bad. Kubo quickly made this an issue by having her super form make it worse, but in the manga there was never any attention drawn to it (Besides the cover) so it was easy to just ignore. The anime completely shuts down that escape option and it’s pretty disappointing. We’ve also got random scenes of Asuna in the bath and the show continues to show why the quality of the original arc will never return. It’s just another thorn in the show’s side.
Finally, before getting into the positives let’s tackle another negative. The show takes itself way too seriously this time around. As a result, the show makes Kirito, Sinon, and most of the characters look bad at different times. Gone are the days when Kirito was completely fearless and picking fights with anyone who crossed his path. He is petrified when Death Gun shows up and constantly freezes up during the series. He nearly cries during a few different moments and while he initially took the Sword Art Online experience pretty well, his personality regresses rather seriously in this title. The show is really trying to appear to be very deep and emtional when it really isn’t. One of the reasons why the original Sword Art Online was so great (Arc 1) was because it was very happy and chipper despite the stakes. The stakes were raised and things got serious in the climax, but it adapted accordingly. The whole plot with Death Gun just feels forced and rather out of place.
Likewise with Sinon. You could have whole episodes about her shaking in front of a gun and reminding us of her origin story. (Which honestly wasn’t even that traumatic considering that she saved everyone in the shop and became a bit of a hero. The whole thing was also super unrealistic since the mother didn’t appear to be pleased, but anyone would be glad to have their life spared and the villain defeated. Sinon should have been looked up to by the masses. It just didn’t make sense) Cut the drama Sword Art Online and let’s get back to what made the show good.
As for Sinon as a character, she was decent at first. It’s quite sad that one of her very first scenes involves a guy trying to hit on her, showing once again how sad this show has become. Still, in Gun Gale, she is a tough warrior who has a great reputation. She wants to destroy Kirito in the competition for betraying her trust and puts up a good effort, but I can’t stand her human form. It’s probably the worst from all of the Sword Art Online protagonists and it makes it very hard to root for her. It was simply too much of a contrast and is basically like Homura’s form from her origin days…if she had no character development and never gained any strength of self or conviction to make the hard calls. Sinon is decently good with a gun, but is virtually useless in close combat situations. There’s no way that she would have done very good had Kirito not been around.
As for Kirito, he’s still the epic character that we remember from the original show for the most part. He manages to drive something that is almost impossible to drive within seconds and constantly pulls off hype moments like nobody’s business. He even beats a speed challenge that had never been beaten in the history of the game. I feel like the author tried to make Kirito as extremely awesome as possible and it was definitely a good move on his part since that’s why I like Kirito. He’s basically the ultimate character and never loses. How can you not root for him? Well, there are actually a pair of reasons that I can think of.
For starters, he finally made the decision to have a girlfriend in the first show. You all know what I think of the many flawed romances in media, but for the sake of argument, let’s say that this is an okay decision. In that case, then he needs to make this clear to everyone, but when introducing Sinon to the gang, he referred to Asuna as being merely a friend. That’s just terrible writing and really seems out of character for Kirito now that he’s not a free agent. He should have stayed as a free agent, but since he didn’t, he’s got to play by some new rules now. Also, Kirito looks uncharacteristically weak during the final fight against Death Gun.
Due to the true identity of Death Gun, we learn that he’s actually pretty weak and that Kirito should own him rather easily. Instead, Kirito is actually getting wrecked in the close quarters fight. Gun vs Sword would be fine, but it’s a sword battle so Kirito should have the massive edge. The fight makes no sense and is just very frustrating as the writers clearly have no idea on how they should handle the show anymore. It all comes down to the author of course and I feel like he’s losing his grip on the show. Correction, he already lose his grip on Sword Art Online and I feel like the anime are going to continue to stay in the negative zone. It’s too bad since the show always has the potential to be an 8 or a 9, but it simply can’t live up to that.
For example, if we go to the pros for a second, let’s look at the technical merits of Sword Art Online. As I mentioned, the animation is still pretty good for the most part. The soundtrack is very good as well and the fight scenes are great. They pale next to the original SAO, but shine when compared to the average show. It still feels like a movie and Kirito makes for an amazing main character. However, the fanservice, repeat of the Fairy Dance Asuna plot, and the uncharacteristic moments from the main characters are what really hurts the show in the long run. It just can’t survive these negatives and I feel like the author will just keep on making these mistakes over and over again.
Aside from the main arc, there are two minis that are included. The first one is a quick mission in fairy world as the heroes try to get Kirito a new sword. The animation hits an all time low in this arc and there’s really no point to it. The heroes face some monsters and then they head home. It’s fun to see the whole team together again, but it also makes them all look a little bad as they have a tough time facing off against some monsters. Still, I’ll admit that it’s a little nostalgic and Kirito’s back to his real design so it wasn’t all bad. Klein also got a bigger role, but it’s not much of a role and he’s just around to make Kirito look good. He wasn’t needed as a result since Kirito always looks cool.
The final arc tries to be even sadder and more dramatic than the Death Gun arc and fails miserably. Asuna meets a new fighter named Yuuki, who is supposed to be the strongest swordfighter of all time. She even defeated Kirito. (lol) Asuna agrees to help Yuuki and her team beat a boss in the fairy/SAO merged game so that their names can be engraved for all of time, but will they be able to accomplish this before another team shows up? Well, this arc did have 1 really good moment. Kirito shows up to fend off dozens of teams of players and manages to slice apart a magic blast. That shouldn’t have been possible and led to a lot of hype moments for Kirito, which is always a blast. They hint that Kirito still lost in the end, but it was still a great entrance and probably the best cliffhanger in the entire show. It was an awesome moment. We also got some good fight scenes like Asuna vs Yuuki and Yuuki vs Kirito. I remember the fights only being all right in terms of animation, but it was still nice to see. There was just a lot of plot hax everywhere and I still don’t buy Kirito getting beat, but I’ll just mark it down as him deciding to hold back to spare Yuuki’s feelings. Yuuki was in a difficult position after all and Kirito’s a nice guy so letting himself be defeated is the least that he can do.
If the arc had been played straight with a lot of action and cool moments, it would have been great. Instead, we get some drama between Asuna and her mom as the subplot and the main plot is also bogged down by the drama. For Asuna and her mom’s plot, you could think of it as a classic case of being in a Star Wars discussion. (Epic way to drag the name into my review for more clickz) While everyone is debating whether or not Episode VII or Episode V should be known as the greatest in the series, you’re off to the side shaking your head since you know that Episode IV is the way to go. Why is this relevant? Well, Asuna and her mom are both wrong in their debates.
I was on the Mom’s side for part of it. I agree that Asuna clearly has no idea what she’s doing and she’ll probably regret not having any aspirations or deciding to play video games for so long while she’s abandoning her real world connections. Video games are clearly epic and should be played for at least 20 hours a day, but it starts to get in the way of the real world. Still, the mom decides to give her more arranged dates and has a very old school way of thinking which is completely outdated and makes her look bad. As for Asuna, she looks terrible in the debate the whole time since her answer to everything is that she’ll be okay as long as she’s with Kirito. It’s pretty naive and sad, but she’s right that being paired up with some random joe is even worse and marrying based on social standings is not the U.S. way unless you’re a celebrity. Still, in the end, it’s hard to be invested in the plot.
May as well put this out there now, Yuuki’s a better character than the rest of Kirito’s allies combined. Unlike Asuna who always wavers and went from being a strong female lead to a character who has literally switched game positions to be more of a healer, Sinon who used to be a strong female lead and then had a dose of the real world, Klein…who is Klein, etc; Yuuki’s a strong fighter who never gave that role up. Her abilities were at a high level and she was a determined character who could have easily been the lead heroine in another title. She has the right attitude when teaching Asuna that sometimes you have to fight back against the bullies instead of letting them step all over you and your politically correct demeanor. It’s a shame that due to circumstances she won’t be a main character. She was also needlessly cryptic about the whole thing, but I suppose that she still made a good decision. After all, otherwise she would have to have a long conversation filled with tears and drama from the other characters so maybe it was for the best. Of course, she didn’t count on genius level Kirito being able to track her down from anywhere on the planet. That’s Kirito for ya though.
This series of Sword Art Online may have been bad, but at least it was still epic. Arcs 2 and 3 weren’t, but they were basically the side show bonus stories in the anime as Gun Gale was the main focus. (Alllllll though, if the series had just been Arc 3 or Arc 2, maybe the show could have gotten a solid 6) The first arc still feels like a nice movie event despite it not being quite as professional as the original. It has sown the seeds for future arcs so I’m sure that this villain organization shall return soon. The laughing coffins (And their recycled flashback that appears maybe even a dozen times during the show) will be back and in full force. Hopefully they end up being good villains and hopefully Kirito isn’t depowered since he should wreck those guys with ease.
Overall, Sword Art Online II feels like a cheaper, cash in version of the original. However, it doesn’t tank quite as horribly as the first show so it still gets the better rating. It’s a bad anime in the end and can’t cross the halfway mark so I don’t recommend it. I’d sooner recommend Attack on Titan actually so if you want a more intense anime with the same English Dub voice actor for the main character, that’s the show to check out. Or Blue Exorcist as well. For Sword Art Online, I’d recommend just watching the first arc of the original show and then pushing the rest of the series to the side. It’s simply not worth the time and who knows how the next SAO show will turn out. It may just be on a downwards slope that will keep on sinking and sinking as time goes on. No matter what else happens though, the series will still have Kirito and that means that it always has a chance.
Overall 4/10
It had certainly been quite a while since I had seen this film. I’ve seen it a few times in the past and recently I finally saw the subbed version. It’s definitely interesting to compare and contrast the two versions. I grew up on the dub and I’m always very partial to that format so it certainly wins for me, but both of them are certainly solid. The film is very short and is essentially an episode, but we still get a nice fight at the end and that’s what counts. It’s a nice way to start off your Digimon anime experience and Godzilla fans will definitely appreciate it.
Tai and his sister Kari were having an ordinary day at home when an egg shows up and a monster jumps out of it. The monster is nice and pretty small at first, but things start to get a little worrisome when it evolves into Agumon and breaks the roof of their house. It jumps away with Kari so now Tai must find this monster and rescue his sister. Tai will have to hurry with this as well since another monster is about to come through the gates and this one’s not an ally! Can Tai really keep it together under such duress? Well…this is Tai that we’re talking about!
The original version takes itself a little more seriously than its English counterpart. The music is very subdued and soft. Unfortunately, this does mean that we don’t get any real battle/action themes in the film so the fight is more of a visual experience. No crude humor jokes at least and the film has some extra scenes that weren’t in the dub. I can see why the beak getting smashed was cut out although the fire blast to the wing wasn’t that bad and could have easily been kept. It’s definitely more of a thriller in the original cut as the whole thing is pretty mysterious and a little out of nowhere for the main characters so it’s really a trial by storm. I’d probably give this version a 6/10, but the dub helps the overall score jump by a star as it wasn’t too far away from that anyway.
In the Dub version, it’s more of a comedy action. We even get some narration that I could probably do without, but most of the dub’s other qualities are good. For starters, the music is a drastic improvement even if it doesn’t feel very Digimon esque at times. The battle theme is much more fitting for the climax and the Dub just has an epic feel to it at the end. There are also more burns and epic one liners in the dub like a truck driver scene that I had completely forgotten involving two truck drivers and one who fell asleep at the wheel. (The wiki is pretty handy for times like this) Tai jokes about how large the egg is and he’s never speechless when it comes to these strange occurrences. An overload of jokes can be bad if they’re poorly written like in Pixels, but for something like Digimon that has quality control, it works out pretty well. Another good part on the dub is that it cuts out a random scene where we find out that Tai’s father is a drunk. Yeah, we didn’t need to know that! The dub’s high intensity and one liners help to alleviate my slight weakness with the film that will come up in a second. Regardless of what version you watch, the animation for the fight scene at the end is very good and this film certainly succeeds on a technical level.
If the film has a main weakness, it’s that the happy days scenes can drag a little. As you may or may not be aware, I’m not a big fan of kids and babies in films and other media. Kids are usually exempt in anime though (I can elaborate on that if necessary in the comments) and I actually thought that Tai was a pretty good character. Kari…not so much, but at least we know that she gets a lot better in the actual anime. I actually didn’t care for Koromon. He is cool as Agumon and Greymon, but the chasing each other around the room and the odd face hug parts were moments that could have been dramatically shortened. That’s really it though and while the scenes can get a little dull, it’s not something that will really hurt the experience for you. It’s already a short film after all so how much can it really drag out right?
What I think would have made the film a little better would have been for a larger cast or at least one more character to be with Tai. It would help to give us some more dialogue and if we were lucky, maybe even some banter. Alternately, the easier and possibly even more effective strategy would just be to make Tai a little older. Of course in that case, the film would need to have made it a different cast since that may not have made a whole lot of sense for the TV show and we don’t want logic holes right from the get go right? As just mentioned, Tai is already a good character in this film. He takes charge and isn’t afraid of anything. Once Kari is taken away, he quickly goes outside on his own and confronts the Digimon. It’s easy to see why he became the leader of the group. Kari can’t really talk all that much at this point in the film so it would essentially be impossible for her to be a likable character. If she couldn’t talk, but was old enough to still have a personality, then it could be a different story. The other main characters of the TV show make cameo appearances so that’s neat for their fans I suppose.
It almost goes without saying that Parrotmon makes for a great villain. He has a nice projectile and in terms of pure power, Parrotmon is actually able to hold his own against Greymon. That’s pretty impressive when you really think about it since Parrotmon is typically a zoner when it comes to combat. Greymon is a great homage to Godzilla as well and their battle was done so well. A clash of anime Kaiju is something that you don’t see every day and sometimes not even in a full year. You will also be able to recognize some of the famous Godzilla roars if you pay close enough attention to the details.
Overall, Digimon Adventure starts out right with this quick film. It was probably fun for the people who ended up seeing this day 1 and becoming a fan of the franchise. It’s certainly lasted quite a while and may be the 2nd most popular mon show at this point. It’s probably solidified its standing there as well so nothing will be passing it anytime soon. I’ve seen this film many times in the past and it’s an enjoyable film for fans and people who haven’t seen Digimon yet. If you’re looking for a film with a nice fight scene at the end as a foreshadowing of things to come, then you should check this film out. It’s a little light on action of course, but no worries, the TV show has fight scenes in bulk! Naturally, this review also comes at a good time as the new Digimon film series is finally here. Yes, this site is just That good!
Overall 7/10
Naruto has had many films over the years. They’ve typically ranged from good to great. Through the years, Naruto’s only had one film that I could almost call bad (Road to Ninja) although it’s had a few that were only decent. (The first film) Naruto The Last rose to 1st place on my Naruto list, mainly due to the intense action scenes that were present. Naruto was completely out of character and the romance was iffy, but barring that…it was nearly a perfect film. Well, Boruto eliminates the romance aspect and focuses on the action so that helped it to even surpass The Last. The theater crowd was also a lot larger for this open and everyone was more hyped. Even I had to put my Pokemon Shuffle game down as the lights dimmed as I didn’t want to miss what was about to happen!
The film starts out with a bang as Sasuke faces off against Kinshiki. It was very impressive visually as Sasuke finally learned how to use his electricity to the point where he could move with it as light speeds. Kinshiki was able to keep up with Sasuke though and even outspeed him, which shows how dangerous this villain is. The film then cuts away to the main plot..boooooooo, but it was an epic way to start the movie. I’m a firm supporter of the belief that all films should start off with a bang. Look at Yugioh Bonds Beyond Time, it starts off with Jaden fighting against Paradox on top of a building during a pseudo apocalypse. It doesn’t get much more epic than that. The film was just starting, but I was already entertaining the notion that this film could be the best Naruto title yet.
We then see Boruto, who’s upset at his current situation. His father is always busy addressing the nation and performing his Hokage duties. Naruto even skips out on his daughter’s birthday. Boruto has enough of this and decides that he doesn’t want to be Hokage. His teammates, Sarada and Mitsuki, are not too thrilled because Boruto also decides not to enter the Chunin Exams. They goad him into doing so, but a scientist gives Boruto a device that allows him to use many different ninjutsu. It’s highly illegal of course so Boruto has to decide what to do. Does he really think that winning at any cost is the right thing to do? The true villains are also out there and are about to make their move!
As with The Last, you have the fight at the beginning and then there’s a long break before the fights near the end. That being said, I’d argue that the action is more prevalent than in the last movie. We still have the Chunin Exam fights which are nice. Nothing top tier about them, but the action scenes are still interesting and we don’t need to see planets being blown up every time. Although, it is a nice effect when it does happen. At the rate Naruto’s going, we could definitely get into DBZ levels soon enough. I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for that.
The animation is also excellent. Whether it is a daytime scene or one at night, the battles look great. All of the character models are on point (Even if I don’t like a lot of the designs) and the flashy ninjutsu have never looked better. I’ve always considered Studio Pierrot to be one of the best animation companies and they brought their A game here. The only technical aspect of the film that doesn’t hit it out of the park would be the soundtrack. It was all right, a good soundtrack with some remixes and danger themes, but nothing stuck out for me in the same way as The Last. In The Last, we got some incredible fight themes that were amazing. None like that here, but it’s possible that it was just drowned out by the sound effects. The theater had the audio up quite high, which is always nice. You can definitely feel every blow.
Sasuke really steals the show in this film and the fans seemed to agree in the theater as they got hyped whenever he appeared. I’d also get ready for intensity since Sasuke being on screen typically means that a fight scene will be coming up. He actually shows himself to be a better father than Naruto and he goes off to save the hero when the going gets tough. That’s the Sasuke that I remember and it’s good to see him being a hero again. His new powers from the Rinnengan are certainly very helpful and make him almost unbeatable in a fight. While the film tries to show that he may still be slightly weaker than Naruto, I’d argue that he’s still got the edge if they were to ever have another fight.
Now, a quick negative is the fact that this film’s plot revolves around things that could never happen. Remember how Naruto The Last only works because Naruto is completely out of character? Sorry to burst your bubble readers, but Naruto and Hinata were always just friends and that’s how it was supposed to go. The film’s pairing of the two didn’t make sense and still doesn’t. Well, Naruto’s out of character once again, but in a different way. He has basically abandoned his family as he virtually lives in the Hokage’s office now. He can’t be bothered to attend his daughter’s birthday party or cheer on Boruto in person. He only even congratulates him after being told to do so. It’s like Naruto just stopped caring and decided to be as cold and aloof as possible.
It’s really overdone to the point where it’s just not realistic. There’s no way that Naruto would simply stop hanging out with his family. Being Hokage is a tough job, but not to the extent that the film is trying to portray it as. We’ve seen the other Hokage still have time to be at home or take random trips. Not to mention that Naruto’s shadow clones would make it easy to finish paperwork a lot faster than any other Kage could. I just didn’t buy the film’s reasoning. Naturally, Naruto becomes a likable character by the end as he realizes that he failed as a parent and becomes a little more like the old Naruto. It’s a character arc that was not needed, but at least Naruto changed his ways in time.
Unfortunately, he is also underpowered quite a bit in this film, but that was to be expected considering that all new anime films tend to have a lot of plot hax lately. Resurrection of F, Naruto The Last, and Battle of Gods were all big offenders of this. It’s just how it goes. The first battle with Naruto is the worst since he resorts to just trying to block the villain’s large energy ball. Naturally, he can’t pull this off. He should have fired back with a blast of his own or had an epic punch moment. He just played way too much defense and Sasuke is guilty of this to a smaller extent as well. At least Sasuke proved himself in the very beginning of the film. The other Kage don’t do so well, but they shouldn’t at this point anyway. They’re completely out of their depth in a fight like this one as they don’t have the physical abilities needed to keep up with Naruto or Sasuke. We do get more space type feats as blasts keep on going past the planet and the speed feats were also very good.
The power levels will always be wonky so let’s go back to the characters. Boruto is a pretty likable lead. He did have a big problem with cheating, but he got past it. It’s an interesting character development plot as I don’t remember just about any character having to deal with that. Most of them are just noble by nature, but this works as well. I liked Boruto and he’s a very reasonable character, he was actually a lot nicer than I had expected. I thought that he would be very mischievious and cause vandalism like Naruto did back in the days, but he’s more mature than that and takes things in stride. It’s good to see and I also like his new attire. While Boruto is out of his league against any serious villain right now, his abilities aren’t bad for his age. He just needs to work on his speed. I do give him props for attempting to fight Momoshiki after the villain hit Naruto. He was outmatched, but the fact that he actually tried was impressive.
Sarada already got a whole manga spinoff to herself so her role here wasn’t that big. She’s still proving to be a good supporting character and is already more helpful than Sakura was at the time. Sakura got good during Shippuden, but Sarada doesn’t have to wait that long. She’s already close to Boruto and maybe even a little stronger than him at the moment. Her goal of being the next Hokage is a solid one. Mitsuki’s a very bland character though and I can already tell that I’m not a fan. He looks up to Orochimaru which makes sense since he’s his son (Film treats it like a twist, but it’s really not. You know this the whole time thanks to his eyes and his stretching abilities) but he should also know that Orochimaru is basically evil. Orochimaru not being in jail is still a huge plot hole in the Naruto franchise if you ask me or mini me.
Most of the other new kids don’t get to do anything so I’ll reserve judgment on them for now. Kakashi surprisingly doesn’t get to do anything in this film. The 5 Kage appear briefly and they all look decently helpful in the big fight. The problem is that they’re all super weak compared to Naruto. They can’t even defeat the main henchman. They can slow the villains down, but that’s about it. Aside from one of the Kages who was quick to bash Boruto, they were all fairly likable. Perhaps just a little generic and uninspiring. Gaara feels like the only Kage who actually earned his feat. Killer Bee makes a cameo, but he looks really bad and basically is just here to get humiliated. Most of the original characters have terrible designs nowadays. In particular, I don’t like Shikamaru’s design. The hair on his chin just makes no sense from a character perspective and the rest of his friends are no better. He has a cool scene where he helps out though and is still a likable ally.
Now, let’s talk about the villains. Kinshiki is actually really cool and I’d say that he was slightly more likable than the main villain. His cool lightsaber made for a great weapon and he was extremely fast considering his build. He didn’t have much in the way of personality, but he gave the heroes a good fight and he definitely wanted revenge on Sasuke so he has some pride on his side. (Saw what I did there? Momoshiki likes to laugh and take cheap shots at the heroes, but he actually felt a little weaker than Kinshiki if you ask me. His gimmick was similar to Android 19’s and Pain in the sense that he could absorb ninjutsu. I can definitely roll with that, but physically he wasn’t that impressive. Once he accessed his final form, then Kinshiki became a true threat. The 2 on 1 fight scene between him and Sasuke/Naruto was definitely great. This guy can take a hit and is really good at close quarters combat. What he makes up for in personality, he makes up for with raw attack power. He likes to brag about how much stronger he is than the mere mortals of Earth. That’s always a fun gimmick.
We’ve now had members of Kaguya’s clan show up in the last two movies as well as the spinoff (Sorta, they were actually Orochimaru clones) and the final boss of the real series. It seems like they are constantly popping up out of the woodworks now. It’s mentioned that they crossed time and space to get here so it would be easy to invent more and more of these guys for future films. I’m fine with that since they make for good enemies. They have some eye tricks like all good enemies, but also have a great amount of speed and power. Of course, it’s hard to see them really being able to take down Sasuke Uchiha. What could be fun would be if a large group of these guys showed up so Naruto had to train some of the ninja to reach new levels of power. After all, Naruto and Sasuke have become the only fighters left in the village, similar to Goku and Vegeta.
I’m a little skeptical of the new village design though. The Leaf looks really vulnerable to attack like this and it seems like the village isn’t even totally made up of shinobi anymore. The other clans would have a field day attacking them now. Of course, the villages are all unified at the moment, but how long will that last? Eventually, there shall be fights again and it’s Naruto’s job to make sure that they are ready. The new scientists for the film were essentially filler characters who didn’t need to be involved so I don’t want too many humans like them showing up. It was also a little odd how they could just walk up slowly towards Naruto with their gizmos. They should have been ejected from the stadium. Let’s also not forget how they dashed into the portal at the last second. It’s hard to see how they would be fast enough to do that.
The only other negative for the Boruto film would be the Panda missions. There is really no point to having it here and the only reason why I don’t dock 3-5 stars from the film is that it’s handled in comic relief fashion to the point where the Panda is not seriously hurt. He gets a little salty after the heroes hit him, but the scene still has no point to being in the film. It’s not as gruesome as the eye scene in Naruto The Last, but it’s still pretty intense. Boruto was a happy film with a fun tone the entire time, but this just went a little far.
Slightly off topic, but this is where DC and Marvel can learn a thing or two from anime. Both Boruto the movie and DBZ Resurrection F were great movies that were light toned yet still had great fight scenes. DC and Marvel are engaged in a battle for which company can sink lower with their dark products with Marvel currently in the lead, but anime shows that you can be light toned and still be awesome. Resurrection F doesn’t even take itself seriously and it’s still awesome. Boruto’s a thrillride, but it’s still a very happy and chipper film. If DC and Marvel were to ever go back to that full time, we’d be back in the next age of animation! Hopefully they can listen to this at some point.
Above all, Boruto is just a very fun film. It’s rather short so you’ll breeze through it, but it’s a very enjoyable film. It doesn’t try to be very deep or emotional like Road to Ninja and Blood Prison (Two films that died in my eyes) and it manages to give us more hype moments than any other Naruto film even though there are large gaps in the film where there are no real fight scenes. This is the kind of film that has a lot of replay value and certainly more than Naruto The Last, which helps its case. Is this film better than Resurrection F? Hmmmm….usually this wouldn’t be much of a question as DBZ is just that awesome, but it actually is fairly close. I can tell you that Boruto crushes Battle of Gods without any effort. Boruto’s animation is much better than DBZ’s, but DBZ certainly has the better soundtrack. For now…..I’m going to say that Boruto was the better film, but it is close. I just feel like it was more epic, had better fights, and the stakes were certainly real. I’m still salty that the film’s tricking people into thinking that Goku can’t beat Bills or Whis. Goku would clobber them if you ask me. At least Goku is finally back in character though. Oh yeah, stick around past the credits for a slight stinger. It could have been better if you ask me, but it’s still something I suppose.
Overall, Boruto was a great film. It’s a good sign of things to come for Part III of the Naruto franchise. Boruto and the rest of the new generation are actually pretty solid characters so far, which is good to see. They should be able to hold their own movie/TV series for a while as we see them grow stronger and stronger. I don’t expect the stakes to get too high for a while since Naruto or Sasuke should be able to defeat whatever enemies head their way, but as the Chunin Exams showed, we can still get some fun fights and stories. That being said, while Boruto and his friends are solid characters, this movie also proved that Naruto and Sasuke are still the main draw. Now that we can finally have team ups with them again, people don’t want to be stuck watching the Boruto adventures. They want to see what Sasuke and Naruto can really achieve with their combo attacks. I’m in that boat as well and a feature length film with Naruto being the main character again would be great. The writers just need to do a better job with his character. He’s been out of character for two films straight now and that’s unacceptable! Sasuke was portrayed very accurately though and that’s the most important thing here. Whether you’ve seen the Naruto franchise or not, this is a good movie to pick up. It’s a solid action adventure with high stakes and well written characters. It’s a blast through and through as the pacing doesn’t let up for a second.
Overall 9/10
It’s time to review a relatively modern action show that is similar to Megaman. In the future, instead of netnavi’s, we have LBX robots. Beyond that, it’s essentially the Megaman series and you can bet that this is a good thing! I can’t say that I’ve seen many anime which had big fight scenes quite as often as this one. The plot may not have been the best, but it got the job done I suppose. Also, plot is always secondary to characters and their action scenes.
Interestingly enough, I got to watch parts of this show in Japanese and in English. One episode I saw in both versions to really see how different they were. As such, I may swap some English and Japanese names now and then, but I’ll mostly be using the original versions. I saw most of it subbed as I only watched 3-5 episodes of the English version. It was definitely fun and both versions certainly have their positives.
The plot revolved around a kid named Ban. He is into the cool new thing on the block which is the LBX fad. These mini robots are able to fight in mini arenas against each other. You can continue to customize your mech until he is the strongest in the biz. The interesting part about this is that the whole world basically runs on the assumption that people won’t use these toys for evil. The toys are actually powered with real guns and weapons. They can also operate in the real world with no limitations. With Megaman, the navis couldn’t run amok in the real world without new tech so it made a little more sense. You’ll have to suspend your disbelief quite a bit right off the bat.
Again though, such things aren’t really too important. It’s all right that this plot development isn’t the greatest one out there. Ban’s father was presumed dead in a plane crash, but the heroes quickly find out that he is being held by a villainous organization. At the helm of this organization is a man named Kaido. Ban will have to team up with his school friends and the government (Or at least, a small faction within the organization) to stop them. It will involve winning many tournaments as there is a secret program within Ban’s LBX, which was made from his father, that is the key to this whole puzzle. The plot takes a lot of breaks for the tournaments, which I was glad about since the tournaments were definitely the best parts of the show. The action was great!
At 44 episodes, the show is decently long running without being as long as popular titles like Naruto and Bleach. There’s enough time for the show to introduce a lot of characters and for the heroes to get a lot of battles. Again, my only real complaint with the show would be the plot at times. I felt like the plot would actually slow the show down as I enjoyed the fillerish parts better than the main story. For example, you could say that a lot of the random fights in the tournament was filler for the real plot of stopping Mr. Kaido. Well, those were the best parts and the episodes where the heroes planned on how to stop Kaido and how to stop the world from being blown up were usually a lot more slow paced. At one point, we got about 3 episodes without any real fights as the heroes made plans after plans.
The heroes prevented an assassination and fought off an enraged employee, but those episodes were typically light on action. They were still good episodes (Well, maybe not the latter) and I like strategic episodes as much as the next guy, but I certainly enjoy the hard hitting battles from the tournaments a lot more. I’m not going to go out there and say that the plot was downright bad. After all, the tournaments are technically still part of the plot right? Still, it wasn’t quite as good as rival shows like Megaman or Cardfight.
I was a little iffy on the animation at first. Most of the show is your standard animation which was a good thing. All of the characters were drawn well and while I wouldn’t call it exceptional, I’d definitely call it solid. It would essentially be a perfect 7, the definition of good animation. For the robots, they were basically in CGI ish looking forms so they weren’t quite as smooth as possible. In that sense, I feel like the animation could have been better and it really stuck out for me a lot at first. As the battles went on, I grew used to the style. Hand drawn would have been much better, but the show really pushed the CGI to its limit. We still got a whole lot of explosions and cool looking beams. The fights were also decently long at times, which certainly helped.
I usually don’t need to really mention this as it will occur in just about every show to an extent, but it was much more blatant than usual here. There is a lot of plot hax and power level inconsistencies riddled throughout the show. It is especially evident towards the climax of the anime as Ban goes from being one shotted and crushed along with all of his friends by the Sephiroth inspired LBX to just randomly surpassing him in the end. He was getting creamed by Kaido’s LBX, but quickly took him out with a single move when he realized the stakes. Jin was getting owned by Kaido and lost an arm (His robot lost an arm to be exact) but started to win because apparently having your speed cut in half and wobbling makes it impossible for a robot to guess your next target. While visually interesting, none of the final fights made any sense on a thematic level. Even Jin’s new super form, which came out of nowhere was more than a little dubious. It’s definitely something that will make you shake your head a little. That being said, plot hax never lower the score on a show, they’re just something to make a note of.
As for the soundtrack, I naturally heard two different versions of it. I got to hear the DUB music from the first episodes as well as the Subbed themes later on. For the dub, it is interesting to note that it essentially has the same soundtrack as Megaman NT Warrior. The waves of nostalgia hit me right to the core and I certainly won’t forget those anytime soon. That being said, the subbed themes had some really good battle themes. In particular, I really liked one theme that was typically used for tension or when something big was about to happen. For example, it played when the heroes decided to go behind the government’s back and storm the villain’s base. It was definitely an epic moment.
Okay, now’s a good time to talk about the characters. No show can be truly excellent with a bad cast right? Luckily, the cast of character is good, perhaps not great as some of the main characters are lacking a little, but most of them are interesting and fun to root for. Let’s start off with good ole Ban. Ban’s essentially your average main character. He’s a little generic, but mostly just in good ways and you definitely wouldn’t call him a bad character. He wants to help his friends and be one of the best LBX players out there. One thing that separates him from other leads is his big commitment to saving his father at any cost. He defies the government and attacks the villain’s base on several occasions. It typically does not pay off, but I always appreciated the attempt. Ban also takes the loss of one of his comrades particularly hard, which sidelines him for a few episodes. Lan had a similar experience involving Megaman, but that was more personal. I don’t think he would have taken this quite as hard.
Ban stands up for heroic ideals whenever he is on screen and he’s certainly committed to that path. He never gets tempted to join the dark side or anything like that. Seeing him continue to improve and level up during his fights is always nice. I would have liked for him to have been a little more competitive or rage induced for some of the matches as he can be a little too laid back. Still, Ban’s definitely a good main character and a likable guy to root for.
Ami’s the main heroine in the show and unlike a lot of her counterparts, she can fight and isn’t forgotten in the latter parts of the show. At around the halfway mark, she gets a major power up in the form of the robot Pandora, which actually kept her above Kazu for the rest of the show. Sure, she’ll never be as strong as Ban or Jin, but that’s just the way things go. She was a likable character and I’m glad that she was always ready for a fight.
Kazu was a lot more conservative and never picked a fight unless he thought there was a chance of victory. While Ami’s robots specialized in close range combat, he was a sniper. This was a little bad for him as being a sniper meant that his physical capabilities were always rather limited. I wasn’t a huge fan of him and he doubted Ban a whole lot, but he was still a decent main character. At least he could fight and he got a big confidence boost whenever he would win a match. The show could have done more with his character, but being a likable character with minimal development is better than being an unlikable one with a lot of screen time.
Jin is Ban’s rival and at first I wasn’t sure if I could take him seriously. His entrance was decently cool though and it was almost entirely ripped/borrowed from Chaud’s. Like Chaud, he would beat his opponent in seconds and even had a similar design. By the end, Jin continued to make the best choices possible. His sideplot was typically good and his personality made him a much more likable character than Ban by the end. I certainly liked his confidence and as I constantly mention, I love to see characters to really put their focus on speed. His speedy LBX was just the ticket that he needed. He may not have been quite as cool as some of the other rivals that I’ve seen, but he would certainly rank pretty high up in the rankings by the end. Jin was easily the best character in the series and likewise, the franchise. I really don’t see any character matching up to him and things will only continue to look up for him from here now that he is an established character who will likely continue to get hype along with Ban. After all, the final battles were exclusively used for Ban and Jin battles. None of the other characters could keep up, but I suspect that Jin will always be relevant.
Mr. Kaido was the main villain for almost the entire series. He was one of the reasons why I didn’t really care for the plot. He’s just not very interesting and is about as generic as you can get. I respect his LBX skills and he is certainly very powerful. That being said, he could have been more interesting. He was always talking about his big goals and feigning ignorance for all of his evil deeds, but it got old after a while. Of course, there is a twist about his personality and it will certainly make you look a little closer at one of the episodes. Back to his LBX, it was cool to see it copy the heroes’ abilities and its raw specs were already impressive on its own. Kaido is certainly not someone to take lightly. I’ll take power over personality in this case, but there’s no reason why we couldn’t have both.
Gouda was Ban’s first big opponent and his LBX was tough to get by. It was a sturdy close range combatant whose overwhelming power made up for his lackluster speed. Gouda was designed in a way that made him look very similar to Kamina from Gurren Lagann. That was always interesting and I’d say that he was a fairly good character. He felt a little outmatched towards the end because while his LBX got some upgrades, his robot never got any faster. That’s definitely dicey for him. Still, Gouda’s automatically one of the best supporting characters in the show.
Daiki’s also another good character who started out as a bit of an antagonist, but eventually became one of the main heroes. He always loved to look at his tarot cards before a match. Despite his calm demeanor, he definitely gets into the heat of battle and is very confident of his skills. Why not, considering that he is easily one of the strongest heroes. At one point, he effectively caught up to Jin and nearly surpassed him. While Jin and Ban inevitably surpassed him once again, Daiki would be in third amongst the heroes and his LBX is incredibly fast. I always like a good speed character and Daiki definitely fit the bill. Mix in his illusions and this guy was definitely very powerful.
Takuya was the main government liason who helped the main characters a lot. I actually ended up liking him much more than I had expected. He’s not the stuffy official that you would expect and he actually engages in fisticuffs on multiple occasions. It is regrettable that he has no LBX to fight with since you would expect him to have some way to fight, but he prefers to do things the old fashioned way. Sadly, it seems like he won’t be participating in the field that much anymore now that he got promoted to a higher position, but he had a good run while he lasted. Yuusuke was also involved with the government, but preferred to keep a low profile. He had a pretty powerful LBX, but he ended up giving it to Ami, which put him at a competitive disadvantage. Yuusuke’s role was decently big as a supporting character and he was decently likable. For the most part, he was just around, but that’ll do.
Lex is known as the strongest player in the world and he definitely lives up to his hype. He didn’t really do anything for a very large part of the series so I was worried about whether or not he would end up fighting at all. There is a fairly big twist involving the character in the end. We never really got to know the guy so you’re not really sure what to feel when it all goes down. I ended up thinking of him as a good character. He made some random decisions at the end though and seemed to have broken down a bit. I felt like all of his efforts were very half hearted and Lex was a very indecisive character in general. Nevertheless, his LBX was very cool and had a great design. He was a superb LBX and was great at close quarters combat. The final episodes really had a lot of epic battles with high stakes and the tournament battles were a lot of fun as well.
Mika is a character that the writers clearly had no idea how to handle. She was portrayed as the mysterious girl who was probably an expert fighter for a while, but after the first 20 episodes passed, I knew that something was up. Turns out that all of the hype was fake and she just spends her time crushing on one of Ban’s rivals. I’d give the anime points for tricking me…if this wasn’t such a downright terrible twist. She’s a really bad character and I’m still irritated at just how bad she was. Ryuu’s even worse as he’s the average bully type character who likes the main heroine and likes to pretend that he’s really tough. Turns out, he’s actually very weak and Dex from Megaman NT Warrior is much more likable.
Kousuke is one of the final bosses in the show and easily one of the most powerful characters in the series. How good is he? Well, since I’d say that he’s still much stronger than Ban and Jin, his only competition would be Lex. Both of them seem to consider themselves to be the best LBX player on the planet and both of them have super forms. For now, I’m going to say that Lex is possibly a little stronger, but it’s very close and I definitely liked Kousuke a lot. He got quite a lot of hype when he debuted and his entrance was very well done. He also wasn’t afraid of the other villains and I wish that he could have fought some more. Either way, he was definitely an epic character and I hope to see him appear more in the future.
Yagami is a villain who defected to the hero side after realizing the truth about Mr. Kaido. It’s still a little iffy with how he worked for the villain for so long without realizing anything, but better late than never right? His LBX was always surprisingly weak considering his high position in the organization. He came in handy a little in the end, but Yagami never managed to make himself stand out amidst the other characters in the show.
Overall, It took me about a year, but I finally finished the classic LBX show. The characters were solid, the animation was nice to look at, and the soundtrack was quite good. While the plot could have used a little work at times, I’m satisfied with how the show turned out. I would certainly call it a great one and highly recommend this to anyone looking for a good action show. This show has a lot of fight scenes and we get a lot of unique fighters even if the power levels are verrrry wonky. We’re talking Xros Wars levels here folks. I look forward to seeing how the sequels stack up. I have high expectations from them and am expecting another 8 or higher from the sequel. I’ll see you then and until that time, I should have begun wrapping up some manga titles to fill the void.
Overall 8/10
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