Tag Archives: Capcom

Megaman: Future Planet Voldos Review

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Time for the next Megaman oneshot. I have to give this one some major props for being what I would consider a true oneshot. It’s over 60 pages long and tells a complete story from start to finish. It’s not over in the blink of an eye and as a result it gets to really be remembered a little more easily after finishing it. The new villain Geist is definitely solid and I like the idea of giving the old robots some new moves. All in all, this is a solid story.

The oneshot starts off with a mysterious figure named Geist appearing and he kidnaps Roll and Dr. Light. All of Megaman’s old foes have returned as well with Geist granting them new abilities to take Megaman down with. That means their old weaknesses are no longer applicable either so Megaman will have to adapt quickly or he is going to be taken down. Can Megaman really defeat these fighters or is it all over for him and who is this mysterious Geist fellow?

I won’t spoil his identity but Geist is definitely fun. The guy is quite smart to be able to use a new gravity stone to give the robot masters their new abilities. For example, Gutsman can now move his blocks after throwing them which makes it harder to dodge or repel. Then you have Elecman who has a super thunder strike now. honestly I’m not sure how gravity factors into that but we can roll with it. Of course a robot like Gravityman would benefit from this but ironically he is one of the robots who is taken down the quickest. I suppose Megaman had enough practice fighting through gravity by that point in the story.

With 60 pages, Megaman is properly able to go up against a lot of fighters and even navigate the enemy castle. This is the level of detail that would be missing if this was a quicker story. So all of the extra pages really had a lot of good use here. We also get to see Megaman strategizing throughout the fight and wondering what’s going on. You could easily turn this into a nice little OVA and then extend some of the fights a bit. Due to just how many villains there are here, the fights themselves are still small for the most part.

After all, Megaman’s taking on fighters from the first Mega Man game and then others as well. The two longest fights would have to be the battle against Gutsman as Megaman learned about the gravity upgrades and then the battle against Geist. Both of those battles were definitely a lot of fun so that worked out pretty well. The structure is also in line with how it would be if this was an actual game adaption. Maybe Capcom should take a note from this manga and make a game where you fight some familiar faces but they have new abilities. No need to always be making new villains right?

The artwork here was definitely solid. The character designs are on point and I did like how the battle scenes were drawn. I think a good amount of effort was put into this adventure and it ultimately helped ensure that the villains felt like real threats here. Even Mega Man had to acknowledge their skills as he said an older version of himself would not have had a shot. It’s nice to see that he has been getting stronger after each adventure which makes sense.

As a final note, it’s only too bad that we didn’t see Proto Man step in. I guess he doesn’t always have to appear but of course it is fun when he does. Megaman barely made it through some of these fights so I’m sure he wouldn’t have minded the backup. In a way Geist is ultimately making more trouble for future villains though as we see that Megaman absorbed the upgraded robot master abilities so now he is stronger than ever. Talk about arming your enemies right? That’s the risk when fighting a hero who can copy abilities with a single touch. There is just no safe way to fight him.

I wonder if Megaman can copy abilities from minions too. We’ve never really seen him do that, but it could be because he just isn’t tempted. What could a minion have that he would really want right? We see that even the minions here got power ups which is handy and rather nice thinking of Geist. It feels like minions are usually left out but it’s important to power them up too since they are the first defense against Megaman. So if you make them nice and strong then you can potentially slow the blue bomber in his tracks.

Overall, The actual planet Voldos may not be explored all that much here but it is responsible for the new gravity stone. That is central to the plot so it all evens out in the end. It’s a good way to jump start a new story like this. Why be constricted to the games when you can come out with original plots right? I’d love to see an ongoing Mega Man title right now that’s story based with a lot of big battles. In the meantime these oneshots do the trick though and I would definitely recommend checking it out. There are no real negatives to be had here.

Overall 7/10

Fight! Megaman X Review

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Time for a very quick oneshot Megaman X manga. This one’s definitely blasting through the first game at record speeds as it adapts the whole game in under 18 pages. You have to admit that this is quite the impressive feat right? Well, I definitely had fun with it and the art is pretty solid. It’s like a fun little minicomic and since it will take less than 5 minutes to read, why not check it out right?

The basic plot is that Sigma has gone crazy for some reason and launched a war on the world. Mega Man X is the only fighter who can hope to stop him. (Zero doesn’t appear in this story) So Megaman gets to work and makes short work out of each enemy until he also takes Sigma down in a single blow. It turns out that Megaman truly is the ultimate fighter out of all reploids and everyone should fear his abilities. The narrator says that the battles are not over but with Sigma out of the way I think it’s safe to say that they are. Who would dare to rise up against Megaman?

I’m guessing the author is a fan of the fire maverick because he’s the only one who actually beat Megaman the first time. It was good to see that not just everyone would fall to Megaman without a fight. These guys are here to win after all and are used to being the strongest in the land. It goes without saying that they just wouldn’t roll over like this. There’s no time for more than a quick one panel fight for most of the mavericks but it’s still nice to see one put up a fight.

As mentioned, the art is pretty good here too. The pages are very clear and the character designs are on point. You certainly can’t go wrong there and it makes this even easier to read. It works well as a quick cliffnotes version of the first adventure too in case you want to jump right into Megaman X2. You could just read this and you’ll have covered the plot of the first game. Sure, some characters are cut out but you get the general idea which is the important thing.

There’s only so much I can say about 16-18 pages though so this will be a fairly quick review. As a parting note, the story does remind you why the Megaman X series is such a great concept right out of the jump. A future in which mavericks fight using special abilities with the world at stake just sounds awesome no matter how you say it. This story is certainly no exception to this, not by a longshot.

Overall, This is a fun story. There’s a lot you can do with one shots as it gives artists time to practice or you can just see a nice little story with the characters. I’m surprised the story wasn’t more of an original adventure or something but the first game’s plot has aged well so it’ll always end up being fun to read about. I’ve got some more oneshot stories coming up so get ready for those. We’ll see if they’re as solid as this one. As long as Megaman X is taking names I expect we’ll be in good hands though.

Overall 7/10

Mega Man X Dive Update

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I have now maxed out all purple and blue grade characters! In my last update I had done the same for weapons so now that means only golds are left in both categories. Those I won’t ever complete most likely since they take so much time but this was another good milestone. Additionally I finally unlocked Bass EXE, the greatest character of all time so I’m feeling pretty good about that. We’ll see what the next big accomplishment is!

Megaman X4 Review

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The Megaman X adventures continue as we head into X4. The manga has always made sure things were quite tough on X and this series is no exception. Just when X feels like he has finally beaten the bad guys and can relax, things go off the rails again. The series had to end rather quickly so we don’t actually make it to the ending of the game this time but it’s still a fun adventure. If you’re a Megaman fan or just want a good action title then this is a good one to check out.

The story starts with X and Zero enjoying the peace from the space station. It seems like the world is finally back to normal since Sigma is no longer around. X no longer has access to his post death environmental form and is back to his standard gear. For some reason Zero doesn’t seem pleased at how everyone is cheering on X as a hero but doesn’t say anything. Unfortunately peace is very short lived as a monster known as Eregion appears and immediately destroys an entire city. It begins laying waste to the world until X and Zero stop it.

The government needs someone to blame though so they say Repliforce is behind the incident. There is a lot of machinery around which does seem to link them. Repliforce is to be disbanded and all of the robots incinerated to achieve world peace. Repliforce doesn’t agree with this though and declares war on humanity. Zero ends up joining them as he doesn’t think it’s right for them to all be destroyed while X is left with the Maverick Hunter group to take them all down. Will X really be able to put aside his feelings and destroy Zero and the Repliforce members or will he have to abandon the fight?

By this point X is sick and tired of always having to fight off these mavericks. He takes it all rather hard and the worst part is how he can never save anyone in time. Later on the Repliforce group shuts off a power grid which ends up taking out a bunch of hospitals so many people die. As X watches all of this go on with no way to stop it. This has been a running theme in each series where X does save the day but only after major casualties. It’s why he has retired several times and why he detests the mavericks so much.

At the same time X has so much humanity within him that he is unable to keep from crying many times. He certainly cries a lot in this series as well and you can see how he’s emotionally unbalanced at this point. A ticking time bomb of emotion you can say and it does catch up to him. After X is defeated by Frost Walrus and he has to watch as another one of his close friends is murdered right in front of him, X goes completely insane. He turns into a dark form and just wants to murder everybody.

It was certainly a drastic shift although it’s one that doesn’t last long as the series quickly ends up finishing. I thought it was interesting although I think this already happened to X in a previous series. Either way it makes sense that this would all start to effect X quite a lot. You really do feel bad for him, I dare say that few main characters have suffered nearly as much as he has.

Meanwhile Zero is a mixed bag here. The mild subplot of him being jealous of X feels completely out of left field. By the end of the series we learn that what he is truly jealous of is X’s ability to feel emotions. Zero can feel sad and everything but he can’t cry, it’s just impossible for a robot like him and he takes that personally to the point where he even strikes X. Zero’s decision to stay close to Repliforce to keep an eye on them is very much in character with how he operates though and he got a lot of good fights. Having X and Zero in different locations was a good way to have each of them deal with a lot of mavericks.

Like with X things don’t go very well for Zero though as he can’t save everyone either. Being a Maverick Hunter is really a business where you shouldn’t expect any gratitude since nobody seems to like them at this point. Zero has his skills as always though and looks very impressive here. He’s still one of the strongest heroes on the block that’s for sure. At this point X and Zero are the only two good maverick hunters so they better keep their guards up.

As for the villains, Eregion was a cool one to start things off. He’s fairly mindless but still a strong maverick who really put the heroes in a tough spot. I certainly missed him when he was gone but you won’t forget that intro scene. Cyber Peacock is another fun one mainly because I enjoyed the mini arc where Zero enters the data world. In a way it reminds me of Battle Network which was always fun. Magma Dragoon doesn’t do a whole lot but I always like his Street Fighter type moveset which is handy for any fight like this. He is able to get up close and deal massive amounts of damage at any given point.

For someone with a big role though, Frost Walrus is your guy. This guy gets a ton of credit not just because he defeated a whole army of fighters but because he beat X and the Flame reploid in a 2 v 1 fight. Sure, X was using his base armor, but that’s been enough to defeat most fighters up until now. Against Frost Walrus that didn’t cut it. Walrus doesn’t really hold grudges either and approaches the fight as he would any other. He even lasted for a little bit against X in his rage mode. If not for Walrus doing so well and Double goading X on for a while, the hero may not have gone back into his more powerful forms to end the series off. Without a doubt you won’t see a villain more memorable than this guy here.

Colonel has a big role too of course since he is one of the Repliforce leaders. He has a big rivalry with Zero so they fight quite a few times but I definitely didn’t like him much. He’s never worried about putting Iris in trouble and puts her in a really tough spot all the time. He’s not as honorable as he tries to act. I agree with Colonel that Repliforce is being used as a scapegoat and of course he should be fighting back but intentionally targeting civilian areas like the hospital is really an underhanded play. There’s absolutely no honor in doing that.

Iris is a good character though. She does her best to keep Zero and Colonel from fighting at any cost. Additionally while Iris was conflicted about what side to join, she was doing her best to heal everyone she could. As a doctor she believed her role was to heal everyone regardless of faction and made good on that ideal for as long as she could. Then you have the General who is easy to mix up with Colonel. This guy’s a solid character and while he may not be the one giving out the orders, General follows them rather well. He’s just strong enough to be a threat without overshadowing the others.

It wouldn’t be a Megaman X manga without a traitor though right? That’s where Double comes in. By day he is the comic relief newcomer who doesn’t know anything but then he is one of the top mavericks on the villain side by night. Even his whole design changes into something that looks really cool. He works well enough as the traitor although it’s so fast that you don’t have a lot of time to process this on an emotional level. I don’t think X was particularly broken up about it at least. Man, robots don’t stay as Maverick Hunters for very long do they?

I would mention Sigma, but he doesn’t actually get to appear. As I mentioned earlier, this story ends early so the cliffhanger is the two heroes about to fight him. Too bad it couldn’t get 1 more chapter though since I think that’s really all it would have needed in order to have adapted that fight. It was soooo close, but it just wasn’t meant to be. Too bad too since I rather enjoy Sigma’s X4 design. I have a lot of nostalgia for the game in general since X4 is one of the first Megaman X games I played. It really holds up quite well as both a challenging and enjoyable game. The fully animated cutscenes were also a blast.

The artwork here is very nostalgia since it reminds you of the first 3 adaptions. That said, I do think the art has slipped a bit. Some of the action scenes can get incredibly chaotic to the point where it is really hard to know what’s going on. You know in a general sense of course but following the play by play during an action scene can be a bit of a trial. It means each chapter will take you a little longer to get through but ultimately I still want to emphasize that the art is good. Even if it may not beat the first 3, the action scenes are on point and the character designs are solid.

X4 tackles quite a lot of themes here so it’s a shame that it couldn’t have been longer to really expand on them. Like how X is the only machine who can cry and so Zero and the others are sometimes envious of this. Crying is a rather big theme in the manga and also the reverse which is that X can lose himself in the rage. I think if we had gotten more chapters we likely would have seen the two of them have a big fight to try and get X back to normal. He sort of just went back to normal on his own which was odd.

Then you can also see why X is so upset. He makes a speech about how he’s been stopping Mavericks since forever and saved the world a few times but it feels like nothing has changed. The depressing part is that nothing has changed. It’s hard to look at the world before he saved it and afterwards and see any kind of tangible change. It just isn’t there at all. Everyone is still dying constantly and the divide between robots and humans is as big as ever. After all, the government was very quick to say that every robot in Repliforce should be terminated.

X doesn’t have much time to even think about this before the group is committing terrorism everywhere. Otherwise though, you can see why Zero didn’t like this since it implies that the robot lives are meaningless. They can simply be snuffed out when they are of no more use to the government. By all means X needs to fight for the robot’s rights but once they start hurting civilians X is forced to go against them. It’s interesting because X really can’t reason with them at all right now since every minute spent talking is one where the villains are blowing more people up.

Zero quickly sees how irrational they are as well. The group could have made more good points but in the end they were just too quick to attack. So I would say they are all mavericks just using this as a convenient time to strike. Especially once we have the link to sigma. Some of them seem to really believe in the cause but then they should have been more careful with their targets. I’m convinced that they could have talked X into their side if they were more patient.

After all, X is someone who will absolutely be willing to talk and debate ideas. He’s that kind of robot but they didn’t give him a chance to do it. It was poor planning by Repliforce and another thing to blame Colonel for. As a final note, I really like the strong continuity among the X titles. We have flashbacks to the original series and even some previous guest stars. It’s always nice to be reminded that the previous adventures happened. Of course we know they did but that confirmation is important since otherwise it can quickly be forgotten.

It also gives us a chance to see why X isn’t using his big super powers from last time. It seems like he just lost them and for the upgraded armor he stopped wearing them since it was a time of peace. After being goaded on by Double, X was able to take these back out and go on the offensive. X is very strong in his own right so I can see why he left these initially but I was glad when he went back to get them. Underestimating the enemy is not something you ever want to do.

Overall, Megaman X4 is a great manga. You can certainly see where it starts to feel rushed near the end even though just one or two chapters could have made a difference. The series is filled with ideas even if a lot of them don’t really get to be completed. All in all, it still serves as a solid conclusion to the series. It would have been nice if it could have had a happier ending for X though as he still has no reason to feel anything but despair at how hopeless the whole situation is. To this day I will always be surprised at the absolutely massive body count in this series. Thousands die in every title like it’s nothing. X’s world is certainly the roughest timeline to be apart of. If you haven’t checked this series out then you definitely should.

Overall 8/10

Mega Man X Dive Update

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I have now maxed out all Blue and Gold grade weapons!! Maxing out all Legendary grade weapons will probably take a super long time but this is a good start. I’ve also maxed out all B rank characters so I’m heading over to A rank fighters next. Gotta keep on styling on every maverick that gets in the way of Megaman!

Mega Man X Dive Update

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I have finally reached Level 100! This has definitely proven to be a mobile game that I’ve stuck with. It’s just way too fun to turn away from. The max level in the game is 160 so we’ll see how long it takes for me to get there. I’ll keep you posted!

Mega Man X Dive Stats and Records

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Stats time!

Play Time: Infinite
Level 146
Story Levels Completed 156/156
Total Achievement Points 6870
Current Power Level 836339
Character Gallery Level 129
Weapon Gallery Level 91
Card Gallery Level 130
Skills Level 380
Characters 53/106
Weapons 68/88
Chips 14/17
Research Level 9

Chip Stats

Mega Scorpio

Level 79
Rank 5/5
Analyze Max

Maoh The Giant

Level 79
Rank 4/5
Analyze Max

Gigantic Mechaniloid CF

Level 79
Rank 3/5
Analyze Max

Chill Penguin

Level 79
Rank 3/5
Analyze Max

Overdrive Ostrich

Level 79
Rank 3/5
Analyze Max

Sting Chameleon

Level 79
Rank 3/5
Analyze Max

Boomerang Kuwanger

Level 79
Rank 2/5
Analyze Max

Storm Eagle

Level 79
Rank 1/5
Analyze Max

Mad Nautilus

Level 79
Rank 0/5
Analyze Max

Weapon Stats

Sniper Buster

Level 75
Rank 1/5
Skill 30

Gravitational Pulse

Level 75
Rank 1/5
Skill 5

Air Buster

Level 69
Rank 0/5
Skill 5

Destructive Laser

Level 74
Rank 1/5
Skill 5

Demon Blade

Level 34
Rank 0/5
Skill 5

Beam Machine Gun

Level 70
Rank 0/5
Skill 5

Purgatory Machine Gun

Level 70
Rank 0/5
Skill 5

Poisonous Cloud Spray Gun

Level 30
Rank 0/5
Skill 5

Electric Current

Level 37
Rank 0/5
Skill 5

Destroyer

Level 51
Rank 0/5
Skill 5

Arrow Buster

Level 30
Rank 3/5
Skill 25

Shadow Blade Buster

Level 30
Rank 0/5
Skill 1

Triangular Saber

Level 79
Rank 5/5
Skill 48

Elite Lance

Level 75
Rank 2/5
Skill 0

Gatling Gun

Level 73
Rank 5/5
Skill 5

Shotgun

Level 30
Rank 0/5
Skill 0

Ion Rifle

Level 10
Rank 0/5
Skill 0

Snowy Spray Gun

Level 30
Rank 2/5
Skill 0

Crushing Spray Gun

Level 30
Rank 0/5
Skill 0

Drill Head Cannon

Level 30
Rank 0/5
Skill 5

Heavy Blaster

Level 59
Rank 0/5
Skill 5

Military Buster

Level 79
Rank 5/5
Skill 47

Wind Pressure Buster

Level 30
Rank 5/5
Skill 0

Standard Saber

Level 33
Rank 1/5
Skill 0

Beam Rapier

Level 30
Rank 5/5
Skill 0

Laser Rifle

Level 30
Rank 5/5
Skill 0

Triangle Gun

Level 30
Rank 5/5
Skill 0

High Speed Rifle

Level 30
Rank 5/5
Skill 0

Gas Emitter

Level 30
Rank 5/5
Skill 0

Compressed Spray Gun

Level 30
Rank 5/5
Skill 0

Burning Spray Gun

Level 70
Rank 5/5
Skill 5

Energy Cannon

Level 30
Rank 5/5
Skill 0

Cannon

Level 30
Rank 5/5
Skill 0

Mega Buster

Level 30
Rank 5/5
Skill 6

Skill Stats

Electric Spark

Level Max
Rank 1/5

Sub Tank

Level Max
Rank 2/5

Ray Arrow

Level Max
Rank 2/5

Crescent Shot

Level Max
Rank 2/5

Astro Crush

Level Max
Rank 1/5

Restriction Off

Level Max
Rank 1/5

Ray Splasher

Level Max
Rank 0/5

Perfect Protection Program

Level 20
Rank 0/5

Character Ranks

Ultimate Armor X 1/5
Cinnamon 4/5
First Armor X 0/5
Zero 2/5
Alia 3/5
Vile 2/5
Marino 2/5
Roll 1/5
Zero (Z) 2/5
Aile 2/5
X 4/5
Massimo 3/5
Axl 2/5
Pallette 3/5
Mega Man 5/5

Card Stats

Spiral Blast Shot

Level 79
Rank 0/5

Ciel System

Level 59
Rank 0/5

Cyber-Elf

Level 60
Rank 0/5

Command Mission X

Level 55
Rank 0/5

Supporting Beat

Level 47
Rank 0/5

Super Mega Man

Level 58
Rank 0/5

Proto Shield

Level 42
Rank 0/5

Big Bang Strike

Level 79
Rank 0/5

Dr. Cain

Level 79
Rank 0/5

Model ZX

Level 57
Rank 5/5

Aile

Level 36
Rank 1/5

Zero Knuckle

Level 39
Rank 0/5

Z Saber (Z)

Level 70
Rank 5/5

Mummy Armored Soldier

Level 56
Rank 1/5

Alia

Level 45
Rank 0/5

Layer

Level 51
Rank 0/5

Marino

Level 34
Rank 0/5

Vile

Level 58
Rank 3/5

Explosive Round

Level 63
Rank 0/5

Zero

Level 56
Rank 0/5

Z Saber

Level 45
Rank 0/5

Raider Killer

Level 47
Rank 0/5

Maoh The Giant

Level 31
Rank 1/5

Frost Walrus

Level 39
Rank 2/5

Hell Crusher

Level 31
Rank 2/5

Volt Kurageil

Level 41
Rank 4/5

Mole Borer

Level 40
Rank 1/5

Press Disposer

Level 39
Rank 1/5

Old Robot

Level 39
Rank 4/5

Launch Octopus

Level 32
Rank 3/5

Anglerge

Level 51
Rank 3/5

Gigantic Mechaniloid CF-0

Level 34
Rank 1/5

Pallette

Level 65
Rank 5/5

Massimo

Level 37
Rank 5/5

Axl

Level 38
Rank 5/5

Strafing Barrage

Level 38
Rank 5/5

X

Level 37
Rank 5/5

Charge Shot

Level 37
Rank 5/5

Victoroid

Level 34
Rank 5/5

Hoganmer

Level 57
Rank 4/5

Pararoid R-5

Level 36
Rank 4/5

Dig Labour

Level 38
Rank 5/5

Notor Banger

Level 39
Rank 5/5

AxeMax

Level 38
Rank 4/5

Barrier Attacker

Level 39
Rank 4/5

Ball De Voux

Level 38
Rank 3/5

Jelly Seeker

Level 38
Rank 3/5

Garakuta Robot

Level 31
Rank 3/5

Earth Commander

Level 45
Rank 4/5

Metall C-15

Level 38
Rank 4/5

Batton M-501

Level 43
Rank 5/5

Crablaster

Level 40
Rank 4/5

Mad Pecker

Level 46
Rank 4/5

Refleczer

Level 38
Rank 4/5

Megaman Zero Review

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Time to look at a manga I started a long time ago. It was time for the full revisit and to finish it off this time. Unfortunately the series still suffers from quite a few issues that end up limiting its overall potential. The Zero games have some of the best storylines in the whole franchise and could have become one of the best Megaman manga titles on the block. Instead this one decided to go for more of a comedy route which was passable in Arc 1 at best but went over the edge in the second half.

The story picks up with a group of kids heading to an abandoned factory where they see a deactivated Zero. It has been many years since the Megaman X series and we learn that there was a civil war that the humans managed to win and so all of the reploids were destroyed. There are some exceptions though and robots still work for the government. Unfortunately, the world is now run by a dictator and as a result there is no peace in the land. The kids accidentally awaken Zero who saved them from a nearby patrol. Unfortunately Zero is suffering from complete amnesia and can only activate his Zero mode once in a while.

He has a complete case of split personality now and in both forms he doesn’t retain his memories of the other. As Zero he is a merciless fighter who is excellent in combat but not all that compassionate. As his human form he is a complete scaredy-cat who gets beat up by the kids and doesn’t want to fight against anyone. He cries a whole lot as well. Will Zero really be able to help the resistance reclaim the world while he is in this state or is it just a lost cause?

Right away you can see how the manga is taking a lot of liberties from the game. Why give Zero amnesia and make him a complete comic relief character? It just doesn’t make a lot of sense and I don’t think it works as a great narrative move either. If I was the author I would have played the game straight and it would have made for a great story.

The tragic part about all of this is that the art is actually extremely good. The fight scenes that we do get are on point and I like the character designs. The humor can really get in your face though as the characters yell and cry a whole lot. Seeing Zero get picked on by Lito (The main kid) is a bit jarring as well. The villains are played seriously though and Ciel was a fun character. There are a number of good elements here but you feel like it all could have just been better

It’s like looking at a distorted view of the actual adventure. Still, this arc was pretty good and if it ended here I would have said that the title was different but still pretty good in the end. We then cut to the second arc which may as well be a completely different series.

So 50 years have passed since the events of the first arc. The main kid is now referred to as grandpa by everyone in the village and he is fairly well respected. Well one day Lito has finally finished rebuilding a brand new Zero to protect the village. This one doesn’t have amnesia of course and his personality is totally different. He’s like a kid and really just wants to impress grandpa. While he starts out as being rather weak, he gradually improved throughout the series. That’s good because the evil Dr. Weil is fast approaching and he wants to find the Dark Elf so that he can do something sinister. His main ally is a robot called Omega who may be the most powerful opponent yet. Can this Zero duplicate really claim victory?

The humor was already high in arc 1 but they double down on it in arc 2. There isn’t a serious Zero anymore to fight for the people and this time the villains aren’t played straight either. All of them are comic relief like Omega being scared of ghosts, getting kidnapped, etc. Even grandpa is a shadow of his former self as he willingly sells off one of the elves to the villains without hesitation. The only reason why he ends up helping is because the villains ended up cheating him on the money but otherwise he was perfectly content with the trade. Not a very heroic kind of guy now is he?

The arc also just doesn’t feel like it has anything to do with the Megaman Zero games. Sure we do have the dark elf but it isn’t really important to the plot. Even by the end we never actually find it and the villain just gets sent packing again as always. It’s really just an excuse to have some more fights which would be fun if they were actually taken seriously. Since they are all comedic moments now, the artist doesn’t get nearly as much to do this time around. The art is still on point whenever something serious is going on but there’s not as much big action as I’d like.

We do get a Christmas chapter though which is fun. It’s nice to see the gang celebrating even if the idea of drunk Zero is definitely pushing it a bit. Getting drunk on cola eh? Seems like a design flaw from Grandpa if you ask me. The final chapter doesn’t even feel like a big finale with how Zero and the gang just beat the villain up again.

We do get a final side story chapter of sorts where we get to see where the real Zero is. It’s a fun way to end things off but it almost makes things more tragic since this is really serious and intense so it makes you wonder why the series couldn’t have been this way the whole time. It’s pretty emotional as Ciel misses Zero the whole time and he’s nearly destroyed but he’s finally able to make it back home. It’s a wholesome way to end this whole we also know that the villains are still around.

The second arc ultimately ends up shaving the series down one star just because it really lost its way. The series went into full comedy land which can work with the right writing but that isn’t really the level of quality you would expect to see in this manga. Ultimately it wasn’t ready for this genre combo and that’s what ended up finishing it off in the end.

As for the characters, well I wasn’t a fan of Zero here. I liked the glimpses we got of him in his serious mode but they were few and far between. That’s effectively only half of the character in this series and the other half drags him down a lot. He has no courage and is always trying to run from his problems. That is really not the Zero that I know.

Then you have the kid who is rather annoying the whole time. Lito is always beating up Zero for every little thing and you feel like he should be giving him a break sometimes. He definitely doesn’t deserve all the hits that he gets. Additionally, the kid got worse as an old man like when he tried to sell the elf. There’s no real going back from that even if it was a gag.

Ciel was a good character though and it’s too bad she couldn’t have appeared more. I liked her personality here as she was quick to start blasting and a little more headstrong than you may have thought. The scene where she tells Zero that he’s in danger when she starts shouting was great. Despite being a central figure in the games you shouldn’t expect to see a lot of her here.

The 4 guardians like Pandora and the others are fun. As mentioned, the series does play them out to be very serious which is nice. I always thought their designs were real solid but then again, designs are an area where the game series really thrived in general. Copy X also gets to show up but that part was a bit anticlimactic. Let’s just say that he ultimately goes down in one hit which I don’t think makes any sense. It feels like more of a cameo than anything especially with how his origin is a lot different here. He shows up out of nowhere.

Arc 2 introduces a few new characters like Craft. Craft starts out as a serious character for 5 seconds before he falls in love with one of the girls in the village. From there he is a changed man as every scene with him is a gag of him stalking her or getting beaten up in one hit by Zero. At first he was shown to be really powerful but after that we knew the truth. This guy wasn’t very powerful at all and would he one of the first to get absolutely crushed in short order. I thought he had potential at first but didn’t like him in the end.

Then you have Omega who is as comic relief as you can get. He is scared of ghosts, cries a lot, and is shown to be much weaker than Zero. He is not even remotely a threat and Zero doesn’t respect the guy so why should the audience?  Ultimately that is what keeps him from being a quality character.

Dr. Weil doesn’t even have much of a personality either. The guy wants the Dark Elf but that’s really all he talks about. He threatens Omega a bit I suppose but I don’t think anyone is really taking that very seriously. This arc could have absolutely used some more quality characters. The reporter is okay I suppose. She is at least trying to get her story the right way and is a fun enough character but doesn’t really get to do much even after she decides to stay at the village. You’ve also got Roze but all he does is show why the village is filled with a bunch of ungrateful guys. They are quick to turn on Zero in an instant which is just awful.

Overall, Megaman Zero is a series that could and should have been great but instead I can only say that it was decently good. It’s a fine read and it’s short so you should blast through it. The comedy can be jarring and the characters aren’t great but the fight scenes are good and occasionally you will see a glimpse of brilliance. This is not how I would have created the series but if you’re a big fan of Megaman then it’s still worth checking this one out real quick.

Overall 6/10

Mega Man & Bass Review

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It’s been a little bit but it’s time to finally check out the next Mega Man manga. It’s based on the & Bass game which was a lot of fun on the GBA. I remember sinking a ton of time into that one since it’s also really difficult as you would expect from any Mega title. At 10 chapters, it’s a pretty solid adaption. It does have to skip through some of the robots due to the end arriving so soon but it’s got a good amount of action and story so I was on board. I just wish Bass could have looked a bit better.

The manga starts a chapter 0 that introduces us to the characters. Mega Man is hanging out at a museum when a robot appears and mind controls all of the old robots who are being held there. The mind control signal that is sent out is unable to control Mega Man or Bass though as they are made of sterner stuff. Mega Man takes down the robots in the museum while Bass shows up to help since he doesn’t like the idea of anyone trying to mind control him. It may not be the most selfless reason to help, but it’s a reason I suppose so that’ll have to do. They take this guy down but was it really just a rogue robot trying to mind control people?

That leads into the true chapter 1 where a robot named King appears on TV and declares that from this point forward the robots will rule over the humans. Mega Man doesn’t like the sound of that and his fears are realized when Dr. Light and Wily realize that all of their data has vanished. They’re forced to band together to stop King now. To do that, Mega Man is sent into the field. Bass also wants to take King out to prove that he is the strongest robot of all. King aims to control all of the robots in the planet and Bass can’t let that stand. Will this powerful duo be able to save the day?

The art is definitely really solid here. It’s not quite at the Megamix level but the characters are all on point and the action scenes are very clear. It’s always easy to see what is happening at a glance and this is really an ideal kind of art style. It’s not quite as detailed as some others but this more basic approach worked really well here. Everything just pops out as a result.

The pacing is very quick as you can imagine. Of the 10 chapters, the first one is a prologue that doesn’t have much to do with the story and the next chapter is the intro so really you have 8 chapters to tell the story of the whole game. I’d say it handles this really well. Now, if your favorite Robot Master is one of the ones that doesn’t get a lot of action then you may be in a pickle but most of them get solid fights. It’s also been a while since I played the game so I’m not sure if these are the same 8 from the game but I’d assume so.

Bass gets a lot of hype moments but he will remind you a lot of Vegeta. He always goes in talking tough but ends up losing most of his fights. He was losing to the hand in chapter 1 before Mega Man stepped in, he was losing to Ground Man as well, then he lost to Tengu Man, and of course he lost to King at the end. The only fight he won was against the 3 guardians when Bass speed blitzed them all. Considering that Bass is in the title and everything, you just feel like he would have been more effective in combat. At least, I was certainly expecting that this would be the case.

I get that he was never as powerful as Bass EXE but he is still meant to be Mega Man’s rival after all so you would expect a level of hype there. Ah well, he may not get the wins but I still like his absolute confidence so he would be my favorite character in the story. Hopefully we get more classic Mega Man manga titles with Bass in them at some point. I know there are a bunch of other titles that have never been scanned so those are his best bet.

As for Mega Man, he’s a solid hero as always. He may have lost his confidence rather quickly when King showed up, but after a pep talk from Proto Man he was definitely ready to jump right back into action. He certainly seems to be a lot more powerful than Proto Man or Bass in this version so Mega Man really gets his props. His ability to copy weapons/abilities is still as useful as it ever was. Mix it all together and it’s easy to see why he is called Mega Man.

Meanwhile Dr. Light and Dr. Wily also get roles here. Wily looks pretty bad in all of his screen time though. The guy forgets his pants a few times and is shown to be super lazy. Throughout the adventure he is played purely for comic relief and naturally gets betrayed at one point. It’s nothing new for him of course, but you almost feel bad for the guy. He is not portrayed as being anywhere near as smart as Light here as his robots have a lot of clear flaws while Light’s appear to be perfect.

Dr. Light definitely looks a lot better. Ultimately it’s not like he will fight a lot or anything but he actually does go into the field at one point which is cool. Likewise for Roll and the rest of Mega Man’s friends. There’s even a little Mettaur in the series who acts as an ally. He wants to be big and strong one day but gradually comes to terms with the fact that he is a Mettaur.

Proto Man gets a small but important role here. It’s definitely intense to see him get sliced apart here. It’s got to be the most violent moment in the series but of course he is a robot so it’s not as if it’s all that violent compared to anything else. It’s a good way to establish King as a threat. It may not be a great look for Proto Man but he was never meant to be quite as powerful as Mega Man. It shows where his limitations are, but the guy is always ready to throw out some cool sounding lines. I’ve got a lot of respect for the guy and he gets a good amount of justice here.

As for King, he’s the big villain here of course and I thought he was really solid. His idea of making the robots rulers of the world is nothing new but it’s a solid plan overall. The humans definitely don’t seem to give them a fair shake. Even in this series the government is super quick to decide that they have to bomb the city to destroy King even if it means destroying Mega Man, Proto Man, and Bass. Light has to step in to try and stop this but the robots do appear expendable as King mentions.

So King makes for a very interesting villain. He’s also a very powerful one seeing as how he is able to take on guys like Mega, Proto, and Bass. He has to do the heavy lifting here since none of his minions are nearly as powerful. One of the big minions to show up is Tengu Man who looks pretty solid. He can fly with great speed and has to deal with both Mega Man and Bass. You’d think that these odds would be way too much for him but the whole thing is a lot closer than you would think.

Ground Man is another robot who gets a decent role. His drills are hard to stop since they have enough power to even temporarily overpower Mega Man and Bass. It’s always interesting just how powerful these guys are since our two heroes are built for combat while these minions presumably weren’t. It just goes to show that Light is always building these robots with top of the line equipment no matter what they are used for.

Cold Man is another robot who gets a decent role. It’s a little funny how everyone tries to think of a weakness and then Wily admits that “heat” is the weakness. I mean…it makes sense, but it’s also so basic that you have to take a step back. The rest of the robots don’t really get solo roles as the final 3 just rush Bass. It was a cool group fight though since to that point Bass hadn’t gotten to look too impressive. At least this way he had some opponents he could blast as he went for the win.

The series is definitely very by the books but it also shows how many cool stories you can tell in this universe. In particular the two stars and Proto Man are just a blast. More screen time for them would be an absolute win. Gigamix still stands as my all time favorite Mega Man story because of how well it used the characters. We got top notch fights and end of the world stakes. Typically X and the other titles are more known for that but Classic can definitely rise to the occasion as needed. This one does have a good degree of humor as well but the fights are played straight.

Additionally, the villains often bring up good points here. Light may have built a ton of robots but it isn’t exactly a utopia for them either. The robots aren’t really treated fairly and are tossed as soon as they aren’t useful here. The manga even touches on how some of the humans don’t even trust Mega Man. You could absolutely have a great ongoing about this someday.

Finally, a quick shoutout to the fun banter that Mega Man and Bass have. I like the dynamic they have going for them like when Bass just walks into his house and grabs a few power gems. Bass is quite at home no matter where he is and that’s the kind of confidence you would like to see from him. There isn’t time for more slice of life type moments like this but it does help flesh out the verse even more. Little scenes like that are fun to get some character moments between the battles. Of course if you have to choose, then the manga still makes the right call in focusing on battles above all else. With limited time you have to move as fast as possible.

Overall, Mega Man & Bass is a fun manga. It’s really straight to the point as you see the heroes jump in and start fighting the villains. There’s not a lot more to it than that but at the same time, do you need more than that with these guys? The classic robot action is what you came to see and the adventure does a good job of it. With a good balance between action and humor, this is a winner and definitely a title I would recommend. It just has no flaws and you’ll be blasting through it. It’s a very fast but satisfying read. Maybe one day Bass can get a spinoff manga of his own.

Overall 7/10

Mega Man Megamix: For Whose Sake? Review

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This is a very quick one shot but an interesting one without a doubt. It serves as a prequel to Mega Man 9 and shows why a lot of robots are upset. For once it isn’t that they are being manipulated by Wily or anything like that. At 16 pages it can only give us the general premise but it makes the heroes look shifty. So the government has passed a new law that the robots all must lose their individuality. Additionally, they will be given an expiration date at which point they will no longer function. Additionally they will be personally dismantling a lot of the older robots.

A lot of the robots have already been burned and destroyed so various robot masters from the original games have decided to fight against this. They pick up their blasters and basically jump into action. Dr. Light is arrested as well since a lot of these robots used to be his so the government figures he is an easy target. Light even tells Mega Man not to interfere since he shouldn’t fight for the humans anymore. Mega Man doesn’t agree and the one shot ends with him about to jump in.

The government are definitely the villains in this story. The fact that they want to just dismantle all of the robots just like that is crazy. These aren’t some random robots without emotions or anything. These are robots that are top of the line and have demonstrated a lot of unique personalities. In fact, that’s pretty much why the law was in effect so the government is trying to stamp out all of these robots just like that? It’s definitely a little concerning to say the least.

This also isn’t Dr. Light’s best look. I’m usually not a big fan of the guy but at least he is usually trying to be reasonable. Not here. Telling Mega Man to stay out of the fight is really counter productive since the robots are going to need him at the ready. Additionally he seems to be saying that the humans aren’t worth fighting for and that’s really a jump. Yes, don’t fight for these humans but Mega Man still has a job to do. Ideally I would like to see him jump in and help the Robots that are about to be dismantled.

They definitely look like the antagonists here but they’re just fighting for their right to survive. It is cool to see some of the older robot masters going up against the new ones but Mega Man should be helping them out in order to balance out the scales as well as defend their rights. I feel like Mega Man would absolutely be on their side in this battle. It just doesn’t feel right that he would oppose them. There are only a few pages here but I’d also like to see if there is more reason behind the law coming out now as opposed to the humans just being super scared as normal. I wouldn’t be surprised if that is it though.

The art here looks really good. The artist definitely has a great feel for how Mega Man is drawn by this point and all of the illustrations are clear. It makes this one shot really easy to read as you blast through to the end. If it ever got a full adaption that would be great since Mega Man 9 wasn’t exactly filled with story content. So developing it through a manga would really be ideal. Cossack and Wily are also around so it would be interesting to have the 3 of them there. Have Bass and Proto Man show up as well. They certainly wouldn’t want to be destroyed either but if the government is smart they would be put on the Exempt list along with Mega Man, Cut Man, and a few others.

Overall, For Whose Sake is a very interesting Mega Man story. Even from the title you can see how the story will test on whose side you’re on. The robots trying to survive or the government trying to destroy them? Complicating matters is that the Robots have started attacking cities in retaliation after finding out that thousands of them have already been destroyed. Once things escalate to violence it’s hard to turn back. Regardless, if you’re a Mega Man fan then you definitely will want to check this one out.

Overall 7/10