Tag Archives: Comedy

The Kid From Left Field Review

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It’s time for a retro Baseball title. This one as a kid as one of the main characters so I was wondering if he could really keep the film together but it ultimately works out. My main issue is with some of the adults who really don’t do anything to help him out at all. At the end of the day if you want to improve at anything, whether it be Baseball or video games you’re going to have to be ready to put the work in!

The film starts by introducing us to Coop who works as a peanut salesman within the Baseball stadium. He used to fancy himself as a good player but unfortunately he was never all that great. The folks around the stadium are nice enough to keep the act up so he can look good in front of his son though. I thought that was a really nice thing to do. Unfortunately the local team has been dreadful for a long while now and Coop knows what is wrong with them. The problem is that he has no credibility. When his son Christie passes on an off-hand remark to Pete, one of the players, the team begins to do better. This gives Coop and Christie an idea, they can help the entire team and Coop will have Christie be the go between. Now they can finally win the World Series!

Of course this plan would not work if Christie had no Baseball knowledge so it works out that he is experienced in the game as well. In fact he was managing his own team in the kids division. Even in the pros, while Christie mainly uses Coop’s ideas, he quickly begins to have ideas of his own that work out well. The team goes from being the laughing stock of the sport to suddenly being a top rated contender. There is really just one problem though which is that eventually someone is bound to figure out what is going on. Can Christie keep on being manager until they’ve won it all or is he doomed?

I think the only main problem I have with the film is that the conflict if a little forced. The team is winning ballgames now which is really the only thing the owner and coaches should care about. Why worry about who is giving the orders when the results are this good? I disagreed with Coop’s concerns throughout the whole experience but even worse is that the film gives him some ammo here with how the coach threw out the kid.

Midway through the film, the coach finally figures out without a shadow of a doubt that Christie is the brains behind the operation so he yells at the kid and fires him. You’d think that the players would say something the very instant they saw the kid wasn’t around or go to the owner right? Instead it takes a few losses before they storm the base and bring him back. It also makes no sense why the coach would do that since without Christie, he would be taking losses again and proving himself to be a bad coach. So what was the point of all of that? I didn’t feel like the film made a whole lot of sense in these moments and just made everyone look rather bad.

Christie did his part and the team should have had his back from the jump. Meanwhile Coop needed to be braver. It was nice to see him get all excited about working with Christie and being a secret hero of sorts but it took too long for him to finally get involved on the front end. Even right to the climax he was prepared to ditch the team which would have been rough. When the chips are down you have to deliver.

During the adventure there is a subplot with Pete who of course was in a huge slump before Christie showed up. His relationship with Marian is getting rocky as we come to the time tested dilemma of choosing his job or her. Marian wants him to leave the game because she figures he’s washed up and she might be right. Pete doesn’t want to just ditch his team in the middle of the season though and especially not when he’s suddenly had a big comeback. This time I felt Marian was not being very reasonable. Pete didn’t exactly have a lot of options here and he has people who are counting on him. I think Christie could have helped to train him up further and get the guy a few more accolades first.

So when the film gets dramatic is mainly when I had my doubts here but otherwise it is a fun Baseball film with a lot of action. This time you do get to see a whole lot of plays and any Baseball fan should be satisfied here. The turnaround is also believable since often times the difference between a big play and an error can really just be a single bad habit. These players were terrible because they had no coaching and didn’t really know where to start. So it makes sense that having actual coaches help out and show them the ropes would make for a huge difference.

If you want to get a bit technical again though, it is odd that no player ever complained about how bad their coach was. By all accounts he never even tried to teach them anything so isn’t that a good thing to mention to the owner? They should want to win too since it increases their salary so now I have to give them at least part of the blame. Look it’s not like I want to do this but it makes the most sense logically. The fake coach should never have lasted for even a fraction of how long he did.

Ultimately the film probably should have gone on for at least a few more minutes to really show us the ending but you can guess what would have happened next. So I was pretty satisfied all the way through and can confirm without a shadow of a doubt that this is a movie which puts Baseball first. The writing is good enough where you don’t mind the kid being one of the main characters. If you look at the film too deeply then some parts of the story don’t hold up quite so well but either way you’ll have a good time.

Overall, The Kid from Left Field is a good movie and definitely one to check out when you have the time. It’s a fairly short film so it’s not like it’ll take a ton of time and at the end of the day there’s not much to dislike here. While you will have to stretch your disbelief, you will be having fun the whole time which is what counts. I also am glad to see that snacks have come a long way since back in the day. Roasted Peanuts never sounded all that interesting, give me potato chips or something like that instead if I’m watching a game live.

Overall 7/10

Ghostbusters (2016) Review

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This film was definitely quite infamous when it came out. Trust me it’s definitely deserved although the film is at least a little more fun when you watch it as a complete parody. That’s how it should have been marketed to be honest because this film is not serious in the slightest. I’d argue that it is practically a parody to be honest even though I know how crazy that might sound. Every few minutes there is some kind of gag to undercut the whole thing which is exactly what a parody would do right? At least that’s the way it seemed to me. In a way this could have actually been an interesting angle if you treated it like an SNL skit to really be authentic but it doesn’t quite work.

The film starts off with Erin doing her best to deliver quality lectures and be a respected teacher. Unfortunately a ghost of her past has appeared. See, when she was younger she co-wrote a book with Abby about the supernatural and now it is something she is embarrassed by. Also, they had agreed to never publish the book and why isn’t Erin getting any of the royalties? She confronts Abby and begs her to take the book down but instead she is repeatedly bullied and humiliated by Abby. Erin loses her job as a result and now her only shot at success is to team up with Abby and her partner Holtz in finding some actual ghosts. She will be….a Ghostbuster!!

This is one of those films that peaks early which is a problem for it. About 80% of the best gags and moments are all in the first 30 minutes of the film. I really enjoyed the dynamic with Erin and Abby and how much they hated each other. They were so bitter about everything and Erin would constantly be professional only for Abby to stab her in the back. This happens over and over which was just great. Then you had another good gag with a fake-out involving a dead guy and his grand son. Good stuff…lets not forget the intro stinger either. It felt like the movie was really going places. It was also interesting to have one of the supporting characters be that really annoying Gabe character from the final seasons of the Office. Never thought I’d see him anywhere else again.

So how does the film falter? Well, once Erin and Abby agree to bury the hatchet, the film tries to play things a little closer to the vest. It acts as a normal action comedy film with the characters fighting Ghosts but it doesn’t have the script needed to pull this off. The jokes get more and more cringeworthy as the movie goes on. It starts to rely on the same jokes over and over again like Kevin being super dumb and this just doesn’t work. It’s a little too overblown and again…repetition is the enemy of a good gag. If you rely on the same joke too often then it is inevitable that it will fail. I guarantee you 100% that it’s not going to be a good idea. Even the best joke won’t work if you run it into the ground.

For Kevin…every 2 minutes he is on screen a gag like this is going to show up. So those really hurt and he’s also not remotely a likable character. There’s no point for him to be here except to be the butt of the jokes and hey that’s the comic relief character’s role but in this case it’s really not worth it. Cutting him out would have been better for the whole film. The other supporting character Patty is a lot better and even she’s not great.

At least she is an actual character though and can keep up the banter with the others. If only the banter was good though. Holtz is the third member of the trio with Abby and Erin but there isn’t a ton for her to do. She’s the “tough” character of the 3 but they’re all so inept that it isn’t really saying anything. Abby is the worst of the 3 and is completely awful at everything she tries. So yeah she embraces the comedy role as well but as one of the main characters this doesn’t work too well. Erin was the best by far at first but then she has the character gag of drooling over Kevin the whole time which loses her massive points.

If you were hoping that the villains would save the day then think again. Rowan is the main villain here and he’s super whiny the whole time. He wants to help the ghosts make a comeback and all but you can’t take him seriously at all. Then you have the Marshmallow Man in his big comeback appearance where he is treated pretty awfully. He falls on the first two characters and then the third one just oneshots him from being with a little pinprick thing. Definitely a disrespectful way to go out here. Of course it’s all played as a comedic kind of thing but that’s probably something to save for a sequel when you’re earned the cache to pull that off.

The cameos for previous Ghostbusters as different characters was much better. Now that’s a fun easter egg for fans. I also liked the new take on the Mayor and his flunkies as they get in the Ghostbusters way. Having them be fully aware of what’s going on and having to put up an act the whole time is great. That’s what I would expect them to do in this situation and so it matches up.

The fact that the film doesn’t pull up the classic Ghostbusters theme is a shame though. I was really waiting for that. So I think what hurts this film is that it’s not exactly sure of what it’s doing. You have 3 real options as a big reboot like this. (I’d say it’s definitely not in continuity so I’m treating it as a reboot).

1. You play it straight as a new take on the series. Keep any easter eggs to a minimum and try to win fans over with your fresh direction. You need to have full confidence to pull this off.

2. You go for outrage and do your best to mock the fans of the originals. Something like the Velma series or Teen Titans Go where you go out of your way to slap fans across the face. If you take it far enough it can double back around into being endearing.

3. You go for nostalgia. Plug the film full of easter eggs, references, and wink wink moments. Do this if you’re not really confident in your abilities as a writer and you need to borrow from the old material to get fans into the door.

I feel like this film is mixing all 3 of them. It certainly does a good amount of 2 and 3 so in that case you could have just made it in continuity and been direct about that but the film is also trying to set up the next generation with these all new ghostbusters which doesn’t work. It’s rare to make a successful new branch of the series over the bodies of the old ones. You have to be careful how you do it or you’re always gonna get a bunch of issues.

Overall, In the end I didn’t think this film was very confident in itself. Yeah the original Ghostbusters were comedies as well but they still had their serious moments and they had a tendency to keep the balance very well. This is more like one of those modern films that feels like it can’t stand to be serious for more than 3-4 minutes at a time without cracking a big joke. The tension must always be cut as soon as possible and that’s always going to put you in a tough spot. You can always get a free out of jail card if the jokes are actually funny of course. That’s an exception to virtually every rule but the jokes here by and large were no funny. I still did really like the first part of the movie but it all started to go downhill from there with no way up. Something tells me that this film isn’t really going to be making a comeback with guest star appearances or anything in the new films. But hey I could be off base there. For now I would say to skip this one and focus on other Ghostbuster titles.

Overall 4/10

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem Review

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It’s time for the latest big TMNT project. This film works as a new segment of the franchise so you can jump in without any prior knowledge on the series. Long time fans will get some extra fun out of it with all of the characters around but it is very accessible. Technically I would put this one below a number of the other TMNT films but as a whole it’s still a good title. I’m ready to see what the sequel has in store.

The movie starts by introducing us to the origin of the Ninja Turtles. They get blasted by some ooze and are raised by the rat known as Splinter. He believes that they should stay hidden away from the outside world because people wouldn’t understand and I get that. They would almost certainly be hunted to their demise like the X-Men. Unfortunately the Turtles are now old enough where they want to get into the human world and have a lot of fun. They meet a girl named April which leads to a partnership. She will let them into School and help them try out various human activities while she gets the exclusive scoop. These happy days cannot last forever though as other creatures are preparing to take control of the human race.

There is always a lot going on with this film so I give the movie props for the fast pacing. I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s quite as fast paced as the Spider-Verse films and there is definitely down time here but it does aim for a rapid style. That means the action scenes can go pretty hard as well and fight past the limitations of the art style which isn’t the best. In general the film can be pretty fun and I liked the main villain a lot. Before diving into the characters though I’ll just touch on some of the reasons why the film didn’t stack quite as high for me as some of the others.

The first part is the animation like I referenced earlier. I feel like it’s a bit of an uglier style with or without the characters. The characters you could blame on the art style but even that can hurt a bit. Like Leonardo is obsessed with April but the art style means that it’s a bit hard to connect with him because nobody looks even remotely attractive in the film. When April first appears you half think it’s a parody for a second and the real April will show up behind her and this might not have been so noticeable except that her beauty gets referenced quite a lot as Leonardo’s crush continues. The film could have tried a little harder here.

Then throw in the crude humor that this film shoves in for a few characters like April and one of the mutants and you’re really in trouble. I’ve seen way worse crude humor before of course but it’s been a minute since I’ve seen this much in a movie. Probably since I saw the Garbage Pail Kids about a year or two ago. It’s not overwhelming but it’s the little things that add up and these comedic moments definitely do not land. In general this isn’t a laugh out loud kind of film. The jokes are mainly okay with some that fall flat and others that are reasonably good.

Finally the Turtles themselves are one of the worst incarnations of the characters that I’ve seen. They beat the Bay Turtles but beyond that they’re just really not likable. The film tries too hard to make them act like actual teenagers. Teens are generally not as likable as adults unless we’re talking about anime or comics where the teens tend to be cool. These are more like real life teenagers so the film wins points on realism but loses points on the basis of their just being annoying the whole time.

Also, Splinter suffers from this as well. I prefer him to actually be an expert fighter who knows what he is doing. In this film he’s one of the main comic relief characters. All he knows about fighting is from movies so he’s not very good but he does bumble his way into a few victories. It’s a very different direction for the series so it’s a bold take but one that I don’t think worked very well. I want Master Splinter back, not this guy. You do feel bad for him in one scene when the heroes all ditch his pizza party without giving any good reason for that. That was definitely emotional.

So these are the areas that hold it back from being higher but now lets talk about the good aspects. First up we have the main villain Superfly. This guy has a cool design and he’s a really good fighter. He actually manages to take on the whole team with ease. The film can’t resist the “Giant enemy” climax but this guy still does good the whole time. Definitely not an enemy to take lightly at all. He was the only villain who was really ready to see the whole thing through to the end.

He got a good origin story so you can understand his actions from the start. That’s something that goes a long way to making him more of a memorable villain than the others. The rest of his allies are mainly other animal hybrids who have had a tough time of things. They tend to range from annoying to bad though. You have the crude humor one who is the worst but will unfortunately probably be in the sequel. There’s the “cool” skateboarder who isn’t bad. He has some skills and potential.

Rocksteady and Bebop are reasonable. This is the one case where I actually preferred the Bayverse ones but that’s more so because those were way better than expected. So there were a lot of mutants to show up here but it felt like a bit of a cop out not to have a proper fight with the Turtles. I worry that the problem is that the Turtles are a bit too weak in this verse. They seem super young and don’t really know how to fight at a high level. I’m hoping the sequel has a time skip where they are now expert fighters or something. Maybe they hired a proper fighting coach or something like that.

The school setting has potential for the sequel. So long as the film avoids the romance traps and mostly focuses on the Turtles getting used to human customs, it could be fun. There’s a lot of material there to have fun with. As with this one, there should be a lot of jokes running around so as long as most of them land then we’re good. Of course I won’t complain if we switch to a more action focused approach like the 2007 TMNT film. Either way though if we’re not comparing this to other TMNT films then it is still a good movie. For sure there is still more action and stakes than your average animated theater film over in the US. I still enjoyed a good amount of the jokes and some of the action segments could look pretty good. The world building is on point and there are already a lot of things set up for the sequels.

Overall, This is a good TMNT film. There are other directions I would have preferred that it went but at the end of the day the important thing is that the franchise is continuing. I’d say this one’s sort of like a modern take on the 80s part of the franchise. With some of the intro stuff out of the way the sequel might be able to jump into the action a little quicker. Naturally I will be waiting for the Shredder to show up and take some names. Since Splinter won’t be able to do anything this time, maybe this could be when Casey is introduced as the rival to the Shredder. Either way there are a lot of possibilities here and I would recommend checking this film out.

Overall 6/10

The Pride of St. Louis

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One of the toughest things to come to terms with as an athlete is when you are finally washed out. No matter how good a player you are, you will eventually not be able to play with the best of them at some point right? Well, it’s even worse if an injury cuts things short because then you really know that you had more left in the tank. The film shows this off in a rather light hearted way and we see that Dizzy had to go through a lot.

The film introduces Dizzy as a very confident ballplayer. He has been around the sport his whole life and it is really his favorite thing to do. The scouts don’t totally see it his way yet as he has to go through the minor leagues instead of straight to the pros. Dizzy uses this time to win games either way though and also impresses a girl named Patricia enough to marry him. Dizzy even goes on to convince the teams to hire his brother Paul so they can star in the pros together. It’s all going super well until one day both Dizzy and Paul get massive injuries that are basically career enders. Paul takes this as well as he can but Dizzy is in denial and believes that he can still make a comeback. Is he right?

Most of the drama by this point is really about Dizzy making himself look bad with how he thinks he can still play while no doing so good. It goes on enough to the point where Patricia ultimately ditches him. I thought this part was definitely a bit much. Sure they’re still married but Patricia is nowhere to be found and doesn’t even show up to support him when Dizzy is being attacked by the media. The film could have made their dynamic a little nicer since I felt like neither side was very reasonable. Dizzy would never listen and Patricia took rather drastic steps right away.

As the main character, Dizzy is fun when playing baseball but he can be rather annoying. The fact that he isn’t able to hold a conversation without going on different tangents definitely explains the nickname. And of course there’s nothing wrong with still being a kid at heart but he does take it rather far. Patricia is never really able to get through to him and it’s also hard to see how they can have a proper romance when he just doesn’t have too much time for her. He’s always wanting to play and talk Baseball which isn’t always a good way to show where his priorities are.

His brother Paul was slightly more reasonable although also a space case compared to most characters. The best character here was probably Johnny who was a good friend to Dizzy and helped him out when the going got tough. Without him, Dizzy would have really been in a jam since nobody else was really in a place to help him out at all. So it’s definitely good to have at least one real friend who has your back.

The climax gets a little intense with a battle between the media and the school association. I thought that Dizzy gave up a little too quickly here. I know he thought that he was doing the right thing but when you give up like that you really are hanging everyone out to dry. Everyone who was supporting you through thick and thin are basically tossed to the curb. As you can probably tell with this film, my main problem was definitely with Dizzy for a decent portion of it. I thought he could have been a lot better.

The writing is solid as you would expect from an old film though. The pacing is good and the characters always sound very reasonable. I still enjoy the retro way of talking. The film is also on the shorter side and never drags on. The pacing is pretty good at all times, they did a good job of including a whole lot of story lines and plots here. You see Dizzy at his highest and at his lowest here. It’s a good reminder to never turn to drinks and gambling when you’re in a slump because that only makes things get even harder. It certainly backfired for Dizzy as you would expect.

While the drama could be a bit much, the sports were always good at least. It was interesting to hear the play by play broadcast from back in the day. I think Dizzy was probably a bit too scattered even for that as I don’t think I would necessarily want him as the commentor for a game I was watching. Of course I don’t really watch Baseball because I feel like it moves too slowly so it’s possible that you’d want to be distracted from the game with a lot of stories to make the dead time go faster. That’s definitely a possibility.

Overall, If you’re up for some Baseball then this is a good film to check out. I wouldn’t say any of the characters are too likable but none of them are awful or anything like that. The film is still able to stand on its own regardless. Be warned that while the themes of Baseball are a central part of the film, it doesn’t actually have a lot of game time in it. The moments where we see someone playing are actually rather brief. I definitely would have liked to have seen more of the game itself. It seems like a pretty accurate telling of Dizzy’s story though even if you have to take the ending aside. At the end of the day it’s a fairly pleasant film and one that you can watch at any time.

The Pups’ Christmas Review

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It’s time to look at a wholesome Christmas special from a while back. It’s extremely short at only 7 minutes long but it makes for a good time. You get to remember the excitement of opening your gifts on Christmas and just how chaotic it can be. The main characters being dogs doesn’t really change that because you can still feel the excitement all the way through.

Basically when they go and open the presents they are attacks and shocked by a number of impressive toys. You’ve got the train set, giant stuffed animals, etc. The biggest highlight of the film though is this little toy tank that is constantly running around blasting away at the pups. It is able to survive just about everything as if it’s the Terminator. Seriously, nothing is able to bring it down and this reminds you of how sturdy the toys used to be back in the day.

If this came out nowadays you’d just be wondering how the toys haven’t broken to pieces yet. Of course there are high budget toys out there as well but they can be rather outnumbered at times. So as long as you enjoy seeing dogs play and have fun then you should like the special. Of course the dogs do get startled a lot and are on the defensive for most of the special but it’s not going into the realm of animal violence or anything like that. Mainly you’ve just got a lot of toon force going on with a very fast paced chase scene going on.

The animation has really aged well here. There’s a whole lot of detail and I’m always impressed at just how much they were able to do. It’s crazy how in 2024 you’ve got new cartoons just announced that look substantially worse than this one. This one has good character designs, good animation, etc. It’s the whole package and it’s also so fast paced that it makes the animation even more impressive for effortlessly keeping up. Yes this is definitely what you like to see from a classic animated special like this.

There really aren’t any negatives to be had with this special although of course it’s so short you would hope that nothing would squeeze in there. The length of the special means that you can watch it at any time although I’d say it probably wouldn’t have a ton of replay value so give it some time between each viewing. It also means there isn’t a ton to write about so this will be on the shorter side for reviews. I like to think I still have this same energy when opening up presents even if I know what’s in most of them beforehand. It’s just a time honored tradition that never really goes away.

Overall, The Pups’ Christmas is a pretty good special. It’s good wholesome entertainment all the way that is good for all ages. It may be many decades old but that hasn’t zapped any of the life out of this short. Sometimes you just want something really light to watch and get you into the Christmas spirit. This one does a good job of that. It may be a few months after the fact by this point but with the weather going up and down you can easily pretend that it’s still December and give this one a play. I guarantee it will be a satisfying 7 minutes of your time.

Overall 7/10

This Happy Feeling Review

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It’s time for one of those films where a weak romance really holds it back. There’s only so much you can do with the rest of the film when this isn’t on point after all. I also think the film could have gone a little more all out with the comedy since it doesn’t tend to be laugh out loud humorous most of the time. I did enjoy a bird that was running around for most of the movie though.

The movie starts off with Mitch realizing that he is super old and the world of the theatre has long since passed him by. Part of him wants to get back into the business but the rest of him knows that he can’t keep up. There is a lady that he has been involved with for a long time named Nita but he’s bored of her as well. Well, one day a girl named Janet stops by his place after being defeated by the rain and so he lets her stick around. The problem is that she’s fallen for him and this inflates Mitch’s ego. Perhaps he’s not over the hill yet but at the same time he knows that a relationship is a bad idea here due to the really large age gap. What can he do?

Well the obvious answer is to just not get into a relationship but most main characters aren’t smart enough for that. This is very much a rebound type of film. Mitch was bored with Nita so he briefly gets involved with Janet and then common sense returns so he goes back to Nita. The problem is that it’s not particularly satisfying for anyone. Mitch proved that he can’t be 100% trustworthy at this point. There are no take backs and the film should have probably gone for a more somber ending where he retires or something and runs off. Janet goes to find a new job while Bill and Nita just wonder what they should do next. That would be the ideal ending.

I’m still glad that Mitch saw reason by the end. Better late than never and all that but the whole plot is definitely more on the annoying side. It helps that most of the cast is rather annoying so you’re rooting for Mitch to prove the doubters wrong at least in terms of his horseback riding and acting ability. Lets take Nita for example. She immediately gets super jealous of Janet and starts being petty about everything. You get why she would be upset since Mitch is intentionally portraying this as him cheating. Lets face it, there’s no other reason to have had Janet pick up the phone.

So I’m cool with Nita getting angry but where it gets unreasonable is when she takes it on everyone else. When Bill falls and gets seriously injured, she takes that time to gloat to Mitch instead of feeling bad about it. Not very compassionate right? Rather than being so bitter she should have just left Mitch entirely and moved on to someone else. Why stick around to be with someone that doesn’t appear to actually like you?

Meanwhile you’re supposed to be rooting for Bill to get together with Janet but why would you do that? The guy’s a jerk. He looks incredibly awful right from the jump as we find out that he moves on from girlfriend to girlfriend as such a common occurrence that nobody can keep track of who he is currently dating. Then when Janet is in a vulnerable spot he takes that moment to put some real pressure on her. Yeah part of it is a misunderstanding but most of it is just Bill trying to make a move under the worst set of circumstances possible. The worst part is that he blames her for all of this.

It’s a part of the film that is rather dated to be sure but even with that context there’s just no way for me to find Bill to be even remotely likable. The guy is just super annoying all the way through. He’s quick to turn on Mitch too even though he was the one who was badmouthing the guy. If Bill wasn’t so aggressive about that, the movie could have turned out very differently as well. I’m afraid that Janet isn’t fully innocent in all of this either though.

Janet knows that Bill likes her but she likes Mitch so she decides to make the older guy jealous by intentionally acting as if she likes Bill during the dance. What this means is that she is putting the guy on and is very intentional about doing this. Manipulating someone emotionally is never cool. It’s a really underhanded trick and of course this just leaves Bill confused later on. Janet spends a lot of time working to seduce Mitch as well and obviously it’s successful since the guy has the willpower of an old banana but none of this really helps Janet as a character. If she was hopelessly in love with the guy and needed a reality check then that could at least give her some character development but instead she just walks back to Bill.

Yeah the romance here is just so bad. It’s all rebounds or romances that you couldn’t root for from the start. The only likable character here is Mitch’s maid who helps him out by fixing his back and generally helping out around the house. She’s a fun character and delivers about 90% of the film’s humor. She has a dry wit about her and is always in the right place at the right time. I don’t know what Mitch would do without her. She definitely elevates the film which makes her a model supporting character.

Like I mentioned before, the film just doesn’t have quite as much humor as you would expect. The romance itself feels like it’s played fairly serious the whole time. Mainly I think the issue here is that the humor is just too subtle to the point where it just can’t actually dominates the scene even when the joke is being played. So this ends up being more of a drama and it isn’t able to succeed. It would have needed a stronger cast of characters for that.

Overall, This Happy Feeling isn’t a particularly good movie. It makes quite a few mistakes in the romance and it just isn’t able to overcome them. The title may remind you of the hit anime, My Happy Marriage but that title is infinitely better than this one. So unless you are desperate for a romance film, you should give this one a skip. There are many better titles within the genre to watch instead. It’s also important to remember even in real life that you never want to be the second choice. Don’t be the rebound guy and instead keep on searching until you’re the starter. Otherwise you’re stacking the deck against yourself in the risk department.

Overall 4/10

Superman Vs. Meshi Review

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It’s time to look at a great manga. This is a title that has a rather insane plot and just embraces it 100%! That’s exactly what I was hoping for as well. Some manga have a cool premise but just don’t do a lot with it or lose confidence and just switch to full time action. A very respectable option if you have to duck your premise of course but when you announce a manga about Superman fighting against the top foods and you keep it going the whole time? I have to give you some mega props there.

The manga basically starts off by revealing that Superman has a big secret. He actually flies over to Japan every day for lunch because their food is way better than Metropolis’. It’s to the point where he’s actually rather hooked. Even when Ma Kent makes him some food or he’s at a Justice League event, he just wants to get back out there. At first he’s a little embarrassed for anyone to find out but as the series goes on, he gets bolder and bolder about this. He actually wants to share his hobby, but can he convince the rest of the team that Japan’s food is so much better?

Of course it is easier for Superman compared to most people since he can actually fly across the planet and go to Japan within minutes. So he can actually take his lunch there without issue. He gets to see how much fun a classic noodle bowl is, their version of a cheeseburger, etc. It’s to the point where he can barely bring himself to eat in Metropolis anymore because the food quality takes such a dip. If you’re the world’s greatest superhero then you want to eat the best foods right?

The meals he has in Japan are also very humble ones. Usually they’re family type restaurants and Superman explains how everything is done so efficiently. So what I’m getting at here is that the entire manga is about hyping up Japan and how it is the absolute pinnacle of food creation in the whole world. Nothing else is even close to it. Superman is constantly hyping the place up to the point where it gets to be really funny. That’s where the entertainment from the series comes on.

I feel like the only way you won’t enjoy the manga is if you take it really personal to your own area’s style of cooking or something like that which would really be missing the point. I like the idea of the author here being excited to hype up all of his favorite foods through the series. In the manga, Superman points out ways to make each meal better with little tips and tricks the whole time. A lot of them actually looked like good tricks too which is where I have to give the series even more credit.

Superman has a different dynamic with each character that works well. The best one might be with Lex Luthor. So Lex is actually one of those trend setters on social media, an influencer if you will. So whenever Superman orders something, Lex has to order something bigger and fancier than whatever Superman got. It’s purely to try and one up the Man of Steel, but Superman always finds a way to make a comeback. Usually he’s nervous at first but then realizes that even a smaller dish can have things that the bigger companies don’t.

It’s like the Little Engine that could. It’s an inspiring story all the way through but through food. By the end even Lex admits that Superman’s food tastes are really good. Then you have Batman who figures that the 5 star dinners he can get at Gotham are the best but he is absolutely floored by the little noodle spot that Superman brings him too. The Justice League get impressed at one point when frozen Japanese TV dinners turn out to be better than their complete dining experiences at any fancy restaurant.

You might find this the hardest to believe but hey, that’s just how it goes. Japan’s food is that delectable and it’s always inspiring to see Superman convert more of the characters to his cause. When he’s not constantly eating, we do see Superman fighting against foes like Doomsday and Darkseid. There is a little action here, but make no mistake, the food is the primary focus so don’t count on anything big like that happening. There’s also the subplot with Lois where he has to be careful that she doesn’t find out his true identity.

Lois had to be included in some way so this makes sense but you are usually looking forward to the food part a little more. Even Lois admits that it’s the best food of all time though so you know that we’ve got a winner here. Supergirl was also skeptical at first but quickly changed her tune. I think it just goes to show that some places really have tremendous dishes. I was half expecting Superman to move there by the end.

One of the final bosses in the series is a Japanese restaurant with a massive menu. The problem in a sense is that everything on the menu tastes amazing. So what do you do when you have 100+ items that are all absolutely incredible? That is his dilemma and we find out that he has already been “defeated” several times as he didn’t order the items in the right order or picked the wrong dipping sauce. So it still tasted incredible but wasn’t 100/100 the way that it should have been.

I love how seriously he takes all of this. He even gets a bit defensive when everyone tries just ordering whatever they want and eating at their own pace. During a big funeral he uses his super abilities to quiet the crowd and get them to order what he did. When he invites the Justice League members over, he usually insists that they order what he gets as well. A bit controlling perhaps but you can definitely appreciate how their faces light up when they taste the food so it always works out well.

The art is also really good here. It’s super expressive which is always a good thing and it’s got a very simple style which makes each page easy to read. I really didn’t have any issues here and so long as you find the manga funny as well then I think you’ll be in a good spot. Who knows, maybe the series will even inspire you to go and grab some of these dishes. You’ll really feel like you’re missing out if you don’t. There’s not much of an ongoing plot here so it makes for a quick review but there is a good amount of content packed in here with all of the food that Superman tries. It’s also got that silver age feel to it where he puts “Super” in front of just about every ability he uses because it sounds cooler.

Overall, Superman Vs. Meshi is definitely a great title. I had a blast with each volume. It’s really easy to read through the whole time and never loses any team. It helps that I tend to like a lot of the dishes in the series so it would just make me hungrier and hungrier. I’ve been to a few Japanese spots but not really ones like what is presented here. A small dine-in type experience that looks very friendly. I’ve got ideas eventually but yeah this manga really does a perfect job of presenting the food. I highly recommend reading it.

Overall 8/10

Comedy of Terrors Review

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This movie’s pretty funny at first but starts to just barely overstay its welcome by the end. Fortunately that’s when things wrap up or that could have been tricky. I’m always up for parody type titles like this though. You ca recognize how the scenes would have played out if it was serious and then enjoy how it goes instead. It just starts to run out of gags and so it replays them instead.

The movie introduces us to Trumbull who is a super corrupt guy who doesn’t like his wife Amaryllis and only married her so he will have control of the funeral company once her father dies. In the meantime business is slow so he has to work with his partner Felix to murder people for the coffins. It’s slow work though and in the meantime the amount of money that they owe is only getting larger. So at this point the only thing to do is bump off the landlord so this way they don’t have to pay rent. This guy will be tough though. His name is John and he’s known as a very persistent guy who never goes down to the point where he is a pseudo immortal. Can they overpower him?

In a way there’s a lot going on which is why the first half is really good but gets shaky later on. For example I enjoy the banter between Trumbull and Amaryllis. There’s just so much bad blood here and you get the feeling that Trumbull was probably a really bad actor when he asked for her hand in marriage. Somehow it worked out but now he doesn’t even pretend. She tries to get together with him several times and he can’t stand to even look at her. So he drinks and drinks to try and speed up his own demise. The script is fairly clever here and the burns can be funny. It’s the best dynamic in the movie.

Trumbull is also the most charismatic character in general so you always want him to be on screen. Unfortunately when Amaryllis is by herself, her only gag is about how bad her singing voice is so the film repeats this gag many different times. Her character is ultimately used only for fanservice aside from that so there just really isn’t much left for her. You’re rooting for her to get away from Trumbull but not to fall into a rebound romance or anything like that.

Meanwhile Felix is Trumbull’s hapless associate. He has always liked Amaryllis but of course that would be taboo. He talks a good game but always goes along with Trumbull’s orders and is a complete accomplice. I can’t say that I felt all that bad for him. He needed to stand up for himself more and so even if he might feel like a character who needs sympathy, I couldn’t muster much up for him. If you want a sympathetic character then John is your guy. He’s just minding his own business when the main characters keep trying to murder him.

John’s making an honest living and while he may be a stern landlord, he’s not doing anything illegal. You’re rooting for him every time the guy is able to resist the clutches of death. Again this is a gag that might be played up a little too much but I was glad that he never called it quits. This is not your average human and he even had some sword skills.

I can also say that the film has a fun climax with a whole lot of twists and turns. There’s a ton of activity within those final minutes where no character is particularly safe. It ends things in a very satisfying way that makes the rest of the adventure stay as fun as it was. If the ending was bad then it probably would have had a rough ripple effect on the rest of the movie. At the end of the day the ending will always be key for this reason.

The film’s cast is rather small but the film’s not super long or anything like that so it’s balanced pretty well. The character with the least to do was definitely the father since his only role was really to be completely out of his depth and not sure what was going on. You always felt bad for the daughter who saved him from being poisoned many times but he never understood so he blamed her for stealing the medicine. Probably should have found a way to get that cleared up at some point….

If there was something I could have added to the film aside from a larger variety of jokes, it would be to have had some kind of a big final fight with John. That could have been fun and you could have used the immortality for a lot of fun gags. Like they keep murdering him with more and more elaborate traps/weapons and he just keeps on getting up. I did like their extended fight of him trying to get out of the coffin and their sealing it up. Something like that but as a full on comedy fight.

Overall, Comedy of Terrors is a film that has fun with a lot of gags. It could have used more material to really make this a hit but in the end it was still good. I would safely be able to recommend this one. As long as you’re looking for some good humor then there is really a good amount to enjoy here. It’s also not a bait and switch by any means as the first seconds start you off with some gags right off the bat. They seriously wasted no time here which I thought was rather impressive. Although I am glad that they didn’t keep up with the super speed effects and comedy sounds as that would have been a little too much. The film excels with the subtle comedy where everyone is a bit off but they are all technically acting serious. I find that to be a lot more effective.

Overall 6/10

Mashle Review

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It’s time to dive into the world of Mashle. A lot of comparisons were drawn to One Punch Man when this came out because the series is about a guy who is extremely powerful physically to the point of having a lot of absurd feats. I would even say his feats start holding their own against Saitama for a little while there but aside from that general part of the premise, it’s not actually all that similar. The blend of humor and action work really well here.

The story starts by introducing us to a world where just about everyone has some kind of magic. If you somehow don’t get this then you will be in a lot of trouble and unfortunately Mash is one such kid. Fortunately as a baby he is taken in by a kind man who raises him for year, Regro. He has done his best to raise Mash in an isolated cabin since then so they are away from the outside world but one day the cops catch on. Mash will now have to enter magic school and pass the exams to become a Divine Visionary. It’s the only way to keep him and pops safe, but how can he compete with these students who all have crazy magical abilities? Well, that’s where the strength comes in!

So with that part it starts to sound a bit more like Black Clover and that’s probably the best series to use as a comparison. No wonder this series is so good right? A lot of the magical abilities are also very creative and powerful so by extension when Mash is taking them on, it makes him look even stronger as well. One thing I’d note right away though is that Mash is never presented as being unbeatable or anything like that. He is super strong but gets damaged and comes close to losing a few different times. He’s always able to think of something in the end but it does ensure that the stakes are high throughout. Mash can be destroyed if he isn’t careful.

There’s also the social stakes of everyone finding out that he doesn’t actually have magic but that’s more for the comedic element. Mash isn’t the smartest guy around and is a terrible liar so more often than not he is practically giving that secret away anyway. He also makes friends rather easily and so they aren’t about to give the secret up. So many people know the secret as each episode flies by that you figure it may not matter as much as everyone thought it would anyway.

What I like about the humor for Mashle is that it’s quite quick witted. There are a lot of great physical gags with Mash doing things that shouldn’t be humanly possible but then you also have the more out of the blue ones that tend to involve creampuffs. One is that no matter what Mash cooks or what ingredients he uses, it always ends up becoming a creampuff. It’s like a curse, but a beneficial one since that’s his favorite food anyway. The gags tend to be really funny with this one and there is a good variety of jokes to be had here so it never gets repetitive or anything like that either.

The show tends to lean a bit harder on the action than the comedy but it executes both really well which is the important thing. When the show wants to get serious, it definitely nails the tone. The fights are really solid and very creative with the abilities like I mentioned before. Mash may occasionally undercut the tone with a gag but for the most part if it’s a serious fight then it’ll really stay that way.

Fortunately the animation is up to the task. I wouldn’t call this a particularly high budget show for the most part but they knew their priorities. For example the average scene of standing around or moving through different locations won’t look great. The animation tends to be a tad spotty there but all of the important fights quickly dial up the intensity quite a lot. Any plot important fight will generally look great so the show knows how to turn it up when necessary. That’s important because you need to look good to properly convey the serious feats happening here.

Then for the soundtrack, that part’s a little more forgettable. I wasn’t a big fan of the opening. I feel like it was trying to feel like One Punch Man to encourage discussions and comparisons but it just didn’t work. It wasn’t particularly catchy. Then the show itself had some decent tunes but none that really stood out. I’d like to see the soundtrack improve in season 2 because I do think of it as a bit of a weak point right now. Nothing that would seriously hurt the show of course but it’s certainly not helping it either.

One of Mashle’s strengths is how each character really stands out. Part of what makes them so memorable are the striking colors for each one. While the animation may not always be super sharp, the colors always stand out. The character designs are on point and the show is just very bright. It has an early 2000s vibe to it with everything being so vibrant and the show is really easy to watch. It’s the kind of title you can pick up and play at any time, although it’s not like there are a ton of episodes so it’s not something you can watch too often for now unless you want to really get it played out.

Now let talk about the characters. First I do have to note that a lot of characters get off a bit too easy here Yeah forgive and forget is all nice and good sometimes but these guys go very far. Like Brad, one of the police officers was definitely going to murder Regro and would have murdered Mash if he wasn’t so weak. The guy has clearly been abusing his power for a long time now and so he should be in jail after that. Ultimately the show is more comedic in nature so these things tend to get overlooked but when you really think about it….it just doesn’t work. I can’t say I ever liked Brad much. He sticks around as a supporting character but never gets better if you ask me.

Regro doesn’t get to do much but he gets a lot of points for looking after Mash for so many years. He’s a good guy and really did his best. That’s the whole reason Mash is so motivated in trying to succeed at the magic academy. Meanwhile Mash is a solid lead. He may not be quite as charismatic as some other Shonen leads and isn’t exactly the most fired up character that you will see. However, his gags do tend to be funny and he has a solid amount of rage moments for when it’s time to protect his friends and I can always appreciate that.

Then we have another petty character in Claude. Again, the show could have been harsher with this guy. He was actively blackmailing a student and then kept trying to get in Mash’s way. He’s a straight up villain the whole time and I’m not super convinced that he is suddenly going to be a big hero going forward. I just don’t get those vibes from him but hey I could be wrong.

The main heroine of the show is Lemon but she never actually gets a super big role. She doesn’t look good initially as she makes the wrong calls but ultimately she gets better…at least a little bit. The problem is that her main personality trait is that she’s in love with Mash and that’s about it. So that doesn’t really make for much of a complete character. It just means that she will be really one note for most of the adventure and she also can’t really fight that well which knocks her out of most situations.

The same can be said for Finn who is a support mage at best. He’s always really nervous and can’t keep up with the other characters’ shenanigans. He’s just not my kind of character. I prefer to see characters with a whole lot of unwavering confidence who grin in the face of evil. Characters who aren’t afraid to mix it up with the villains and all of that. You know that they’re building something up for Finn but it’s going to take a while and so right now he’s on the lower end of the cast.

We’ve got another petty bully character in Lloyd. In a way that’s how you can describe all 3 of the first villains. This guy likes picking on the weak and that’s about it so as you can imagine Mash makes short work of him. There’s not much to like about this guy and he’s fairly forgettable. Fortunately the villains get better as the show goes on because that’s definitely a rocky start. Another villain who is more on the annoying side is Lauren. She basically uses her magic to make guys fall for her before Silva goes and knocks them out. It’s definitely not a magic that will work on most of the stronger fighters in the verse so that really knocks her out of the running early on. Nothing particularly interesting about her either.

Okay now we get to the bigger characters. First up we have Lance who is a pretty strong rival type of character. He challenges Lance early on and gives him a really good fight. It’s probably the first time in the series that Mash has a really solid challenge in combat. His character’s gimmick of being obsessed with his sister is definitely overplayed and annoying though. It’s his one bad trait and otherwise he’s one of the most intense characters in the series. You can always count on him dealing serious damage and all of his fights are a blast. Definitely one of the standout characters in the series to be sure.

Then you have Dot who is a lot more talkative and rather loud but unfortunately he is very easy to trick. The guy lowers his guard a whole lot and tends to feel really bad for himself. I’d definitely like to see him man up a bit more often. He does get his big moments of course but they are usually outnumbered by him being humiliating. He is one of the funnier characters which works in his benefit but definitely expect him to eat a lot of Ls. It’s too bad because he’s the character with the fire type magic so you could say that he takes up that lot there.

Another hero is Rayne although he doesn’t show up until later. Also, he’s one of those guys who doesn’t like those without magic to the point where you could argue that it basically makes him a villain as well. He was absolutely ready to take Mash down and would have if he was stronger. He’s the kind of guy that’s great to have around to fight the villains but you can’t trust him at all.

Then there is the headmaster of the school Wahlberg, but I can’t give him too much credit. Part of the problem with this guy is that he’s a nice enough guy but he still has people that he answers to. This means that he will make compromises even if he knows that it’s not the right thing to do. It’s a big issue in any series because in my mind you have to follow justice no matter what. If that means disobeying direct orders and such…well so be it. That’s just how it has to go.

His evil counterpart Innocent Zero gets a lot of hype but doesn’t really do anything in this season. You can definitely see that they’re building up to a big confrontation like an All Might vs All For One kind of deal so that will be fun. Likewise one of his top subordinates is a guy called Cell War who hasn’t had a chance to do a ton but in his brief screentime we see that he is incredibly powerful. Another true threat to Mash so the hero will definitely have to watch out. The season ends with a lot of intrigue for part 2 so you definitely want to stick around.

For the villains who are in this season though, Silva is a pretty solid one. He’s definitely a villain who plays dirty and uses every trick to win but he’s also very powerful. Even without his cheap tricks he would be able to defeat a lot of opponents. That’s part of what helps him stick out. If he was weak then he would come off as more petty than anything but like this the guy is on point. He leaves a real impression on you. Anser is another decently solid villain. The guy is the brainy type although that is also used against him as the guy’s main gag. I enjoyed his fight a good deal he ends up being a villain who can stand out. He’s not one of the most powerful by any means but he can hold his own.

Then we have Abel who is a really big deal. The guy’s ability to use many puppets at once is really impressive and he’s actually someone who did give Mash a run for his money. The guy looks great right from the start and also lasts for a little while which makes him stand out more. He’s got his own reasons for fighting and ultimately while he is a villain from the start, he’s fun to watch. He even plays off of Mash’s gags a bit here and there.

Abyss comes in later and strength wise is easily one of the most impressive. He can use arrows in the air much like Medusa to speed himself up and he can also use them to mess with his opponent’s movements. It’s an incredibly difficult spell to work around because you will be really disoriented the whole time. All it takes is one big mistake and then you are gone. Almost any fighter except for Mash would have lost this battle which just proves that point. Abyss is a very complete villain with a lot of solid development.

For some more minor villains who were pretty hype, next up is Shuen. I ultimately thought he was fun. The guy even made his opponent Dot jealous because of how good he is. That’s a fight he probably should have won too, I had my doubts on Dot really being able to turn things around there. He may not really get to do anything going forward but he made for a good villain. Likewise Jon was solid with his kitchen themed attacks. A good gimmick goes a long way so even though he may not return to do anything, it was a good appearance nonetheless.

Love, Wirth, and Milo fall into this camp as well. Each one appears for a quick fight and looks good. I liked their designs and overall confidence. They may be very minor villains almost by definition but they definitely trounce the average oneshot villain. Mashle really excels when it comes to making enjoyable characters like this. There are other characters but these are the main ones. The show has already done a lot of solid worldbuilding and set things up well for the second season so we’re in good hands.

Overall, Mashle was definitely great. It’s the kind of show that just feels good to watch with a lot of quality humor and good action scenes. You will definitely never be bored watching this one and the action is always a lot of fun. If you were worried about having to compare it to One Punch Man, you should still check it out anyway. Obviously I’m on Team One Punch Man overall but both shows definitely have their place here and I look forward to seeing more of Mash’s adventures soon!

Overall 8/10

Joker: One Operation Joker Review

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The title feels a bit redundant. I’m used to just saying One Operation Joker but everyone seems to list it this way so I suppose I’ll follow suit. It’s a fun miniseries, I don’t think it’s quite as good as some of the other superhero mini titles I’ve read like Superman’s food adventures and the Spider-Man Fake Red title but you’ll have fun here. I think there was even a lot of potential here for future developments if they had made this a long running title but not every series is meant to stick around forever. At the end of the day, this one still explored the concept fairly well.

The story starts with Batman and Joker fighting as always but a freak accident happens during the fight and Batman regresses back to being a baby. He has no memories now and Joker can’t let the situation stay like this. He really believes that his role as a villain is pointless without a Batman to fight against and so he vows to raise the baby back into being Batman until he can find a cure. It’ll be difficult since he is such a villain but the Joker is nothing if not determined. He will be the greatest role model that Batman could ever have. Will the baby grow up into the famous crime fighter though or will be turn out differently?

One of the more interesting angles here is of course that this happens in the present. It’s not an AU or any time travel involved so to the rest of the world Batman just vanished randomly. Of course the same is true of Bruce Wayne as well and so we have Alfred and Robin having to wonder what happened. At least in the background, they don’t show up until we near the end of the series. Crime is likely back on the rise as well although with Joker not committing many crimes, it tends to balance itself out a bit.

What will be the make or break point for this manga in terms of how much you enjoy it will of course be the humor. This is really a slice of life title with the main gag being that Joker is super serious but always has to do responsible things. He will be thinking about bombing a bank and then suddenly he has to worry about getting Bruce to daycare instead. He’ll think about beating someone up but instead bows/apologizes to someone. This kind of thing happens a lot to the point where the gag will be appearing in just about every chapter. It’s a core part of the gimmick of the series after all.

I do think the series can be a bit repetitive on this angle mainly because there are only so many ways that you can approach it. That’s how it is in most titles like this though. There’s a Detective Conan spinoff about the world’s worst murderer who wants to be a criminal but never succeeds. That title replays the same gag over and over as well. There are plenty of titles that hitch the wagon to a single gag so it’s not out of the ordinary, it just means that the gag itself ends up becoming super important to how much you enjoy the series.

For me it’s fun enough. The series never gets laugh out loud funny or anything like that but it’s harmless. The series actually avoids the easy crude humor type jokes which I really appreciated. I also think the Joker makes for a good main character. I’d have liked it if he kept a little more of his edge though. Have him still be happy and goofy around Bruce but make it so he still has a scary aura to everyone around him. I think that contrast would probably have made the gags more effective. His transformation into actually being more of a decent person does lead into the climax of the series but I’d just have tweaked that a bit.

As this is more of a comedy title, there aren’t a lot of fights anyway but you sort of wish Joker could have done better near the end. Now while the series is light hearted, there can be some dark moments. I was pretty surprised at how beaten up Robin got once the Riddler showed up. The Riddler is probably the most imposing that I’ve ever seen him. Definitely a far cry from his portrayal in the latest movie. He does really well here and I was glad to have a real villain at the end. That’s the part of the climax that I would have extended though. Also, I’d like to have seen some more actions from the aftermath but I guess we’ll have to just imagine how it would have played out.

Robin looks good here even if he doesn’t do great in the fights. His loyalty is always impressive and the guy did his best in finding a lead. Alfred also looks really impressive here as he connects quite a few dots on his own. Ultimately he overthinks things but his instincts were on point. On the Joker’s side, we naturally had Harley Quinn show up as well. Playing family is something you figure she’d be into, so naturally this situation works for her rather quickly. Even Joker’s minions are okay with this since a lot of them have families too and now they won’t really be in danger of getting murdered so quickly.

The artwork for the series is actually really solid. There’s a lot of detail all the time and whenever they throw together a scary moment, I have to say that it looks really impressive. The artist would clearly be able to really nail a serious action title. You’re not likely to forget the big splash pages that are scattered within the title. The few fights that we do get also end up looking really solid.

There’s a time skip that happens near the end of the series and I would have liked to have seen more from that era. I actually think it lends itself even better to a lot of shenanigans and fun plot scenarios because at that point Bruce is actually old enough to talk and everything. You could have a reverse Spy Family situation set up where the Joker is a responsible parent by day and a villain by night. It would fit in fairly well as a dark humor kind of plot that you would expect here.

Overall, This Joker manga was fun. It can be a bit repetitive so that keeps it from reaching the next level but the series is also fairly short so it’s not like it’s dragging on for a long time or anything like that. There’s certainly more positives than negatives here either way. The core premise is so out there that you’re just curious how it’ll work out and the series gets very wholesome. You naturally have to overlook the fact that the Joker’s still evil but regardless it’s still fun to read. Definitely check this out if you want to see the very surreal image of Joker trying his best to be the best Dad ever.

Overall 6/10