Seinfeld Review

Posted on February 28, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to talk about a comedy series from quite a while ago. This one definitely got a whole lot of seasons to it and to this day is considered to be one of the all time best. I had a good time with it, I would still say that The Office is better and will always be the definitive comedy series but I’d say it’s fair to put this as #2 for now. I know Friends is considered to typically be the third show of the big 3 but I can’t say I have any plans to check that one out for now. Also like most long running shows like this, you can tell that Seinfeld starts to drop off near the end but I would say it’s significantly less of a drop off than the Office since at least this show kept the main character all the way to the end.

The show mainly follows 4 characters on their journey through life although of course there are a bunch of supporting characters. First up is Jerry Seinfeld. He’s a comedian who does pretty well for himself with how he throws money around during the series. It’s well regarded that he’s not rich but he has enough to live well. Jerry is good at his job and his apartment is the usual meetup spot. His neighbor Kramer is the opposite, he’s typically never working, can’t hold a job, and doesn’t tend to be that smart. He’s got street smarts though which helps him out a lot. Then there is George who tends to have a ton of bad luck. He always starts off strong in his endeavors and then something goes wrong. Finally there is Elaine who tends to have highs and lows in her journey. One day she will be the chief executive and the next she is desperately trying to find a man so she doesn’t have to work anymore. With these 4 fighters running around, every day is an adventure!

In a way this show is easier for me to review than most that would be around this length because it’s a comedic title. If it was a long battle Shonen or something I would want to talk about the various arcs, the fights, and different story elements in detail. Since this is more on the episodic side I don’t really have to go that far. I’ll break down the characters but for the most part I can talk about the series at large in general.

One thing that’s pretty interesting to see when going through the show all at once like this are the subtle changes. For example, the first seasons were extremely tame. It seems like you couldn’t show a kiss or get too specific with certain things so they would always have to have a cutaway so you are left with the implication. In the latter seasons they were allowed to actually show all that stuff and go much farther. Naturally that is a downgrade which is part of what made the latter seasons decline a bit. Don’t get me wrong, the series never goes crazy to be sure but it definitely does get more suggestive in the later seasons. The characters all start getting really desperate.

In general the series can be divided into 4 kinds of segments. 1: The characters are really bored and wander into an adventure. 2: The characters are all horny and get themselves into trouble. 3: The characters are overconfident and bite off more than they can chew. 4: The characters decide to all compete with each other. Typically episodes in 1, 3, and 4 tend to be really fun while the ones in the second section can be a bit more hit or miss. Put it this way, the series leans pretty hard into the stereotype that all guys are super desperate for a girl. As the only girl in the party, Elaine has to deal with all 3 of the other guys making passes at her from time to time.

That’s gotta be super tiring, like why even hang out with these guys after a while right? Well, the problem is that it’s the same wherever she goes so at least these guys make her laugh. Her body count by the end of the series is also pretty massive. It’s almost a running gag later on that she goes with pretty much any guy she can get which I didn’t see coming because initially she was very choosy but I guess with age she got more desperate. So none of the characters are pretty heroic.

Put it this way, in the Office, there are a number of characters who are pretty solid. Characters who have their antics and such but seem like good people deep down. None of the main 4 here are actually good people. Elaine doesn’t like pets and even assists with kidnapping one, George is always up to scam someone, Jerry actively behaves like a jerk to anyone who won’t be able to beat him up, and Kramer is the kind of guy who tells everyone’s secrets to everyone and gives bad advice that will destroy your business.

It’s part of what makes the final episode work really well. That was one of the most ambitious 1 hour specials I’ve seen for anything live action. It’s like the Avengers: End Game of comedy show. They manage to bring together characters from all of the past seasons and reference a ton of old episodes. That was super impressive and the perfect way to end the series. The fact that you can watch the final episode and immediately loop back to the first episode is brilliant. You could effectively watch the show on a closed loop that way. Not literally of course with the age differences for all the actors but the show makes it a point to say that none of the 4 character have absorbed any lessons from a previous episode. They are completely unchanged since the beginning.

That’s very rare since even in a comedic show the characters will usually be way different by the end. There will be some kind of a time skip where they were always good people deep down or something like that. Not in this one! Even the way the final episode starts is because the main characters were being jerks and overly aggressive again but this time the cops were around to haul them in. Yeah I could talk about the final episode for ages, it was brilliant.

Back to the humor though, I would say it works more often than it doesn’t. The weekly experience for the show might feel different because then a weaker episode will stay in your mind more. When going through them quickly though, there’s no time to really dwell on a weaker one. You’re always ready for the stronger episodes to come in and take their place. It’s also what I’d call an advantage of sheer numbers. Lets say the show was only 12 episodes long. A bad episode would hurt a lot more than a 100 episode show with 8 bad episodes. The ratio is roughly the same and yet you now have 92 episodes that were really solid and make the others a faint memory.

It does depend on just how bad the worst episodes were of course but in this case lets say the worst episode is like a 4 and the best episode is like an 8. The more important number is the average episode where I would say a 6 is fair. I was close to giving this one a 7 though, it’s right on the cuff. Ultimately what keeps me from putting it higher is I feel like a 7 is the kind of show I would search up on Youtube occasionally. Looking up a best gags video or something like that. I’ve done that for the Office several times and for a bunch of animated shows where I’ve given them a 7, but for Seinfeld I haven’t been tempted to do that and am not sure that I will.

Part of the reason is that Seinfeld’s jokes all tend to need some context to them. You find the episodes funny as you’re watching them but a random clip out of context is not going to do it. This is a show where you at least need to watch the episode as opposed to the Office’s more quick punch type of gag. I will say that you are more likely to get hungry watching Seinfeld than the Office because the main characters are always eating. Seriously you can’t go one episode without them going to the cafe or eating something at home.

Okay now for the main characters themselves. First up is Jerry and I would say that he’s the most entertaining of the 4. The main reason is that he’s the only one who can really succeed on his own. You can have an episode where he is the only primary character and you’ll get some good gags out of him. He’s always got some good lines and I think he has the best facial expressions out of the bunch as well.

The last entertaining out of the 4 would probably be George. He’s more of a support character who needs the lead in order to succeed. On his own the main gags that you can pull out is him being desperate for girls and being super lazy. You don’t get quite as much headway out of that especially in a long running title. In third place would probably be Kramer. He has a lot of fun moments and you also don’t know what to predict with his segments. One moment he will be thinking up a crazy scheme like installing a hot tub in his room and the next he will be organizing a strike of the local bagel shop. Because of how unpredictable he is, there can be a good amount of gags.

Finally for Elaine, it depends which version of her it is. If it’s Elaine the successful entrepreneur then it’ll typically be a good segment. She shows everyone how to run the show or shuts down the soup kitchen when the owner tried denying her service. It’s always fun when she’s on top of her game. If it’s Elaine the man slayer, then the segment’s going to be on the annoying side as she’s either trying to seduce some guy who’s just trying to have a normal day or she’s dominating the guy so hard that she gets bored and has to try and change him. So it’s a flip of the coin here.

From the side characters, the best was the owner of the Mets. (Or Yankees, it was one of those) He’s always talking real fast and making threats everywhere. The guy knows he is good and I love the confidence. There’s also the lawyer who is pretty funny. My only problem with him is that his episodes always end the same way. He comes up with a great lawsuit and then Kramer gives away the win by mistake. Rinse and repeat with no twists.

Newman can be fun. He’s that slimy upstairs neighbor who loves getting freestuff but never helps you when the tables are reversed. Definitely not somebody that you can trust. Most of the long term boyfriends and girlfriends for the characters tend to be on the obnoxious side. They’re just here to mess with the dynamic and cause some friction. You always know that they’re doomed from the start. Also that’s a very high pressure position because the other 3 are constantly judging you the whole time. That can’t really be fun. Also the main 4 are the biggest gossips that I’ve ever seen so then you’re basically on the mainstream news the whole time.

Overall, Seinfeld is a pretty fun show. As with any comedy you sort of have to be in the mood to get into it but from there it’s easy to just binge a lot of episodes. Particularly since a lot of them are stand alones it is easy to do that at any point. The later seasons start to have callbacks and some multi parters but for the most part even those are easy to watch at random. Every episode tend to have some funny moments and some are pretty funny the whole time. I think a lot of the humor works because it tends to be relatable stuff that just gets played up a bit. The latter seasons may get weaker but they’re still good. Ultimately if you’re looking for a good comedy show then I can definitely recommend this one. It has aged well with the jokes and characters and I believe it always will. It’s fairly timeless.

Overall 6/10

Little Witch Academia Review

Posted on February 28, 2024 by dreager1

All right, it’s time to talk about a very wholesome slice of life title. Yeah you could probably throw some other genres into this one but that’s what I think of when talking about this show. It’s got magic, fantasy, and spells but for the most part it’s about the girls living their day to day lives and having a lot of fun. It’s a very pleasant show and one where I do think the animation is part of what helps it turn up to the next level. They had a lot of fun going crazy here.

The show starts off with Akko getting ready to start her first day at magic school! As a kid she always looked up to Shining Chariot and so now this is her chance to follow in the legend’s footsteps. The only problem is that Akko has a very low aptitude for magic. No matter how often she trains, she has trouble performing even the most basic of spells. Throughout the show she has to try and keep her confidence up while watching everyone else easily excel. Fortunately she makes two friends in Lotte and Sucy and even gets a rival in the prodigy Amanda. Along the way Akko may even have to save the world…or at least the school.

So yeah this is one of those shows that can be fairly episodic for most of the run but there are ongoing plots in the background. One of them for example is that their teacher Ursula is a bit mysterious. As the viewer you find out that she is Shining Chariot almost immediately but the characters don’t know that. Part of the mystery is why did she retire in the first place and then additionally, why not just tell everyone?

The only tricky thing with a plot like this is you are always looking forward to it getting more screentime. You want to see what happens with Shining Chariot but typically the show only gives you some breadcrumbs. It’s not until deep in the second half of the show that you get to see her having more action. Even by the end of the series, my favorite episode was easily when she infiltrates the villain, Croix’s base. We get to see why she was the top witch as she’s jumping past enemies and using a lot of crazy acrobatics.

In Chariot mode her eyes and hair even change color. It definitely makes for a perfect disguise in that way since nobody should reasonably be able to figure out her secret. If she’s stressed then her eyes change color though so she has to watch out for that. She’s definitely one of my favorite characters even if her inaction can be a bit annoying at times. She should have told everyone about Croix right away. I know in general she wants to be a nice person and doesn’t want to jump the gun but once lives are at stake then you really have to make a move.

Again this isn’t typically an action series but it certainly happens at times. You have dragons and then near the end you have Croix and her machines. The machines are pretty fun and definitely have a whole lot of uses to them. Croix is also a fun villain. Naturally she does have a backstory and everything but the show committed to her being an antagonist a lot more than I figured. For part of the show I was expecting it to all be some kind of massive misunderstanding. Sure, we find out her reasons for doing all of this but she was actually causing damage and could have easily murdered Chariot and Akko at different points. Croix was really resolute in her goal for most of the run so she worked really well as a villain.

Before I talked about the animation and part of why it’s so good is because of how fast it is. You really feel the speed going by when Akko gets her magic staff and zooms through at super speed. Shining Chariot gets some good animation whenever she shows up and all the action scenes are great. The animation goes one step further though and is also very expressive during normal scenes. I think what caught my eye the most were the facial expressions. Akko always has different funny faces going on when she is frustrated, excited, bored, etc.

It’s the kind of show you could watch on mute and you could always tell what her mood is. I dare say she may have had the best facial expressions I’ve seen in anime. It really helps to play up the humor. For example with standard animation this may have been more of a 6 but it gives the show an extra boost because it’s always just a lot of fun. Now at times the show almost feels like it has some fanservice with how short the costumes are and how the animation is so high budget that the wind is constantly blowing as they’re jumping around but I feel like the show was just careful enough to never go too far there.

There may be a little fanservice here and there but for the most part I really do think the show isn’t going for that. It’s more just showing off the special effects than anything and there’s no perv characters or anything running around. If anything this is a very safe all ages kind of show and it’s even got some nice morals throughout. It’s not a literal “Dear Celestia, today I learned…” but usually there’s something about never giving up, trusting your friends, learning that others have their own problems, etc. So in that way it can almost feel part educational. I think this would have fit right in as a Saturday morning cartoon.

In terms of world building I think the show isn’t always perfect though. It’s always fairly ambiguous just how much the average human knows about the witches. On one hand they have to get investors for the school so the rich people kind of know about it but some seem to think it’s all just a big hoax/scam. That would be fine if the witches weren’t right there but it’s extremely easy to prove that witchcraft is real. I’d have preferred either they went the X-Men route and just pretended to be a normal school, or that everyone just knows about them and they’re cool with it. I feel like the show sort of goes in the latter direction but it’s just not as clear as you would expect.

In terms of the soundtrack, it’s not nearly as memorable as the animation. I’d say it sounds okay. I’m not a big fan of either opening but they work well enough. If the show was more action based then this would be more of a problem but for a slice of life the music isn’t something you focus on as much. As long as it isn’t downright bad then we’re always still in business. Now lets start talking about some of the characters. I wouldn’t say the show’s cast is all that big to be honest. There are a lot of one shot characters and also a bunch of mild supporting characters but for the most part the core cast is never big.

Akko is the main character and she’s a fun heroine. The storyline of the main character not being able to use magic or whatever power is normal in the setting isn’t anything new, but she doesn’t really get a cop out for it. Usually in titles like this, the main character secretly gets the strongest power (Magical Index), secretly always had powers, (Mashle) or gets a power that is just labeled differently. (Black Clover) Notice the cop out here, they can all actually fight. In this case, Akko can use magic to a small degree, she’s just not good at it. She will continue to improve over time but she’s not secretly the most powerful or anything.

At best she gets little glimpses of what a mage would be like by getting a special wand that works for everyone briefly and also with the magic broom. Neither of these are permanent power ups though so she still has to work hard every day. We also get an actual story reason for why it’s so difficult for her and it’s a pretty emotional twist. It really changes the whole dynamic of the show and also isn’t waved away by the end. If we ever got more seasons I’d be curious on what happens next. Akko may get sad at times but for the most part she never stays feeling sorry for herself for very long though.

One of her best friends is Lotte who is more of a brainy type of character. You can sometimes guess a character’s personality and strengths right from the design and this is one of those cases. There’s nothing wrong with Lotte but she’s never one of the more interesting characters. She tends to be fairly quiet and isn’t super ambitious so there just isn’t a lot you can really do with that character in the dynamic. She does have a plotline involving a book series that she enjoys though and that appears several times.

Then there is Sucy and I never became a fan of hers. My main problem is that she’s a little too drastic in her opening appearances. She nearly gets Akko murdered to which she is not apologetic and then tests her poisons and plants on her. She’s not the kind of friend you would want to have. Not only does Sucy always cause a lot of trouble but it’s the lethal kind. You want a friend who might pull some pranks or something on you but would never go quite so far. That’s where you have to put your foot down because it’s gone above the line.

Diana is one of the standout characters here though. She’s the classic genius/prodigy type of character so you know that she has absolute confidence. She’s rich as well which is an added bonus and is always outperforming Akko. By all accounts they shouldn’t even be rivals but Amanda doesn’t really dissuade Akko from this and just focuses on her own techniques. Part of what I like about Amanda is we see many times just how hard she trains and studies. As she tells Akko, she’s not the best because she’s just that talented, it’s because she trains the hardest.

I think more times than not this is true. The people exceling and doing a terrific job have actually put the work in. No matter how much of a prodigy you are, if you never train then you won’t go anywhere. I think it helps Akko see things in a different light and in general Diana is also just a very responsible person. While she has her banter with Akko, Diana never says anything particularly hurtful or ever tries to get in the lead’s way. She’s really a good role model all the way through.

There are a bunch of other classmates around. Some have big roles and some are more on the small side. The one I would mainly say is big enough to get a write up would be Amanda. She shows up a bit later in the show and is like a second rival. She’s super competitive and talks a good game. I thought she added a lot to the dynamic so I was glad to see her around. It’s always good to have another character with a ton of confidence to really shake things up.

For example we already have plenty of quiet characters like Constanze. She’s a genius and great at her craft but she’s not exactly the outgoing type. Nothing wrong with that but it does mean that she won’t tend to be quite as interesting. It’s always nice to see Akko gradually get to all of the characters and break the shells around them though. Also there is one human with a fairly big role and his name is Andrew. He’s the son of one of the biggest investors in the show and he always grew up being told that the witches were scams and not to take them seriously. After meeting Akko he learns the truth and also starts to slowly stand up for himself. So he has a good character arc here and has a lot more confidence than he used to.

The guy was never super timid or anything like that but he did have a tough time talking back to his father. He would just defer to the guy but now he can make his own decisions so that’s always a good thing. In a show like this you can probably imagine that there is some shipping going on, but for the most part this is avoided. I think that’s a good thing since this should just be a show more about having fun. The romantic drama can certainly wait and take a backseat for now. Finding the different inscriptions for the staff is already enough of an active plot to keep you super invested while still having a good time.

Overall, Little Witch Academia is a pretty fun show. It’s a fairly low stakes adventure for most of its run but will dial up the tension from time to time. There’s a lot of fun moments here and some quality characters to follow for the whole duration. You’ll have a good time for the entire run. At most you might just wish there were a few more action scenes for Shining Chariot to show off her skills. Even past her prime and without using her powers she is a complete threat in combat so you wish you could see her in her prime. A prequel starring her as the main character would be great someday! In the meantime I would definitely recommend this show if you’re looking for a solid feel good title.

Overall 7/10

Kimi No Todoke: From Me to You Season 1 Review

Posted on February 20, 2024 by dreager1

All right folks, it’s time for a classic romance anime. So the question here is, will it be one of those shows that survives in spite of the romance or will it be one with a high quality pairing? Fortunately it’s the latter and this show could teach a lot of it rivals a thing or two. Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura??? Out of the way, this is where quality romantic writing comes into play! The show manages to dodge a lot of the usual tropes and makes sure that the characters are really likable the whole time.

The show follows a girl named Sawako who is really softspoken. She’s fairly timid and doesn’t have any friends but she always tries to make a good impression. Sawako says good morning to everyone but people never really return her greetings and they even have a mean nickname for her: Sadako. Now I should say that for the most part the characters aren’t trying to be jerks, it just comes naturally because they’re super oblivious. But now she has finally made two friends in Ayane and Chizuru, plus the popular guy at school has actually noticed her. Things might be looking up for her but Sawako can’t let her guard down. All she’s ever wanted is a normal life and she won’t let it go!

Sawako hasn’t had the happiest childhood but she’s never let this get her down which I appreciate. Yes, she wasn’t exactly surrounded by friends but she has very supportive parents who were always good to her and she’s a glass half full kind of person. If there is some positive to be found then she will find it. Sawako’s never held a grudge against anyone and is quick to just say sorry and try to make things right. Part of her early character arc in the show is to speak up more to avoid any misunderstandings which is a good mindset to have. After that it’s about sorting out her feelings and being a little more outgoing.

I’d actually say that part’s not really a big change for her because again, she actually did try reaching out to the classmates and it just never worked out for a variety of reasons. Now she is able to do so with more confidence though. Because Sawako never had friends there are a lot of things that do go over head though which is part of the comedy here. She can misinterpret things and doesn’t always recognize an insult but she sticks up for her friends and is the happiest that she’s ever been. So the whole show is pretty wholesome and straight forward which can be a nice change of pace.

The main guy here is Kazahaya and he also surpasses expectations because he doesn’t fall for the usual traps. For example when the main villain Kurumi starts spreading rumors, he doesn’t take any of them seriously. When Sawako suggests putting some distance between them because she doesn’t want the rumors to hurt him, he just says that it’s nonsense. He stands up for her in class and makes sure people don’t go too far with the jokes. His most impressive moment is when Kurumi manipulates the situation so it looks like Sawako is hanging out with another guy and instead of sulking or running home, he just dashes over to her to ask her directly what’s going on.

Kazahaya is a very nice guy but he’s no pushover and is also direct when needed. He even admits on more than one occasion that he’s not the perfect guy Sawako thinks that he is. He’s got a short fuse and gets jealous easily but the fact that he controls himself so well all the time is a testament to his character. He’s a very well fleshed out characters with his own strengths and weaknesses. The guy’s humble but he does really excel the whole time.

Then we have a solid supporting cast here as well. First there is Ayane who is a strong contrast to Sawako. She’s not nearly as innocent in the art of romance and has a ton of real world experience. You can tell this will be a bigger plot point going forward because she doesn’t seem to be as cautious as she ought to be. She goes through a bad breakup in the show and keeps a strong face on but while everyone else is quick to cry or vent about their issues, she never really does. Internalizing is something that never really works out long term but I appreciate that she prioritizes her friends’ happiness so much. She is a good friend that you can count on.

She also really enjoys playing matchmaker so she always gives Sawako and Kazahaya a quick push when needed. Ayane is even the top bodyguard as she figures out Kurumi’s strategies and solidly puts an end to what’s going on. I don’t think the other characters were really prepared to handle this kind of mental warfare and so the situation would have just kept escalating otherwise.

Chizuru is Sawako’s other main friend and she’s a fun character as well. Tactics are not her strong suit but she is super emotional and expressive which always helps the group dynamic. She’s good at breaking the ice and is a very laidback character. She does get her mini arc in this season involving her first crush. Unfortunately for her there was a fairly big age gap and he already liked someone else but she doesn’t take it so well. Unlike Kazahaya and Sawako, she doesn’t communicate with Ryu nearly as well so they get a bunch of the usual misunderstandings.

It would have been annoying as the main pairing but as a side one it’s not quite as bad. As a whole the romance is significantly weaker than the main duo though so for now you hope it just stays as a friendship. After all, what’s better than having a good childhood friend right? It’s not like Ryuu’s ever asked her out or anything so as far as she’s concerned they are just good friends.

It’s why I put more of the pressure on Ryuu here. If you ask me, the person who is in love with the other one should always make the first move. I’d even say it should go both ways, the girl should ask the guy out if she likes him rather than waiting to be noticed which was Kurumi’s issue here. Nothing will happen if you’re just leaving it to destiny or something like that. Ryuu may be nervous about how things will play out but that’s when you have to look at the board and choose carefully. Imagine the worst case scenario and decide if the best case is worth it. Worst case: You lose the best friendship you’ve ever had. Best case: You’ve got a girlfriend now. So it just comes down to what is more worth it but you do have to make a choice at some point.

Ryuu’s whole character personality is that he’s the blunt type so this should be right up his alley. Well, romance dilemmas aside, he’s a solid character. Ryuu’s another nice guy who generally does the right things. He’s just not as outspoken as Kazahaya so he probably won’t be jumping into every situation. He won’t even notice most of them as he can be really oblivious at times.

There are a lot of other classmates running around as well but these are the main ones. One I will give a negative shoutout to is Joe though. He’s the definition of a super desperate guy who wants a girlfriend so badly that he’s always talking about it. Naturally nobody wants to be with him and it makes sense. He needs to have some dignity and then things will be looking up. That doesn’t mean he’s owed a relationship though, if it doesn’t happen then it doesn’t happen but a little more self respect never hurt anybody.

As the main villain of the show, Kurumi does a good job in the role. She pretends to be nice to everyone while secretly talking behind their backs and plotting their downfall. It’s a pretty realistic kind of villain for a school setting and we’ve all seen someone like this in the past. The key indicator is always if somebody gossips with you then you know they gossip about you as well. Kurumi is pretty slick to always be out of the limelight but she didn’t count on someone like Yano being around.

At the end of the day she tries these dirty tricks because she isn’t actually confident enough to ask out Kazahaya herself. There’s nobody to blame here though, it’s a skill issue pure and simple. It’ll take a lot for me to buy her as one of the good guys because she went really far with the rumors that she spread. She caused a lot of damage here and while it’s not surprising that Sawako would let that go really quickly, as a viewer I can’t really fall into the same boat.

Pin is the main teacher in the show and he’s a really fun side character. He’s one of the stronger comic relief characters and of course to put it mildly he is not a responsible grownup figure to root for. This guy is always over the top, putting students on the spot and ramps up the pressure when it’s time for the sport competitions. The reason this works though is every comedy show needs a hyper aggressive kind of character like this. Since he’s an adult he even dodges all of the romance drama although occasionally he will troll the characters a bit.

Yeah this guy’s a blast and the series just wouldn’t be the same without him. Meanwhile you have Sawako’s parents who are nice enough. It would be nice if the Dad was just a bit bolder though. He’s just so meek and constantly crying. It makes him a bit more one dimensional on the comedy scale. The Mom is fun enough though, she’s always around to support Sawako in all of her endeavors.

So we’ve got a pretty solid cast here overall. It’s not too big yet which works out well so you can focus on all of the characters individually. On an animation level the show can be fairly inconsistent. The character models aren’t always very detailed, they tend to change a lot from scene to scene and there are a bunch of moments where you can pause and have a good chuckle. That said, this is a comedy series so you’re not expecting a big budget production. That’s usually more the exception than the norm.

Additionally while I would say the show feels on the lower budget side, it can still have good shots. I think it does a good job with the chibi moments and Sawako has a very distinctive look to her chibi form. The show captures the art style fairly well there. The soundtrack is also fairly low key. I’m not a big fan of the opening but it’s okay. I’ve listened to it a bunch while writing the review and it still just doesn’t pop out at me. There’s a good dramatic theme that plays in the show but it’s basically the only one that I really remember.

So this is one show where the story has to carry it since the technical elements aren’t really doing much on their end. Fortunately the story is up to the task. There’s not much more to say here, it’s a well written show with good pacing and a lot of wholesome moments. I think it’s basically the kind of dream romance everyone thinks of when the subject comes up. It may seem a little too perfect at times but that’s part of the fun. If you want romance with tons of drama then there are countless titles to check out. Sometimes you just want a wholesome romance and this fits the bill. Not to say that there’s never any drama because that certainly comes up but it’s never anything significant or mean spirited. They are the kinds of problems that you could see coming up in real life as well and just talking through them. This show actually understands the power of proper communication.

Overall, I’d recommend checking out Kimi No Todoke. Of course it depends if this is your kind of show and you should be able to tell right away from the opening minutes if it will be. There are no big plot twists here. No sudden saving the world plot or big love triangles going on. It’s very directly a story about a guy and a girl each falling in love for the first time. No rebounds, Neither one of them is a delinquent, they didn’t have a dark childhood, nobody is deathly ill, etc. It’s just a quality romance and these are the reasons why it surpasses most. Sometimes you want to watch a show where everything just works out and the main couple get to share a bunch of great experiences instead of a bunch of traumas. The real test will be to see if future seasons can keep this up or if they will be too tempted to dump a bunch of trauma in.

Overall 7/10

Spy X Family Season 2 Review

Posted on February 18, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for a pretty fun set of adventures with the Forger family. Season 2 adapts what I consider to still be the best arc in the manga so it’s going to be hard to beat this one. For the most part I would say the season is fairly low stakes aside from that adventure but it’s a really hype one to throw into the season. In general we don’t get to see as much of Yor at her job compared to Loid so it’s fun to see some action there. The show goes by really quickly at 12 episodes long.

Since most of the episodes are one shots, I’ll just go through them as I review the season. Real quick in case you don’t know the basic story of the show, here’s a recap. Loid is a professional spy with no equal and Yor is the world’s greatest assassin. Loid’s latest mission is to get closer to the Desmond family and find out what they are up to and for that reason he needed a family with a kid to infiltrate the school. So he adopted a kid named Anya (Who can secretly read minds) and married Yor (Who found this marriage to be convenient as her cover as well). They even got a dog (Who can see the future) and as they all live together they’ve quickly become a real family although Loid and Yor can be hesitant to admit this even in their thoughts.

You can see how this will play out on a large scale so for now the fun is in seeing how long they can keep the pretenses up before one of them gives away the secret. The first episode has Yor getting poisoned after one of her missions and so she’s working through it but the problem is that Loid’s taking her on a date to get her spirits up. Now she has to try and get through this adventure without him suspecting anything but since she can’t even sit, it won’t be easy. When you stop and think about it, most dates involve sitting at some point whether it be for watching a movie or eating. So as you can bet there are a lot of shenanigans going on here.

It’s a fun way to start the season off and you get to have a lot of Loid and Yor interactions which is always nice. It underscores how difficult it is to live this double life as well. It would be easy if they knew each other’s secrets after all and until the secret is revealed eventually in a last season or something, these misunderstandings will just continue to occur. Anya even gets to contribute a little here so she wasn’t left out of the premiere or anything like that.

The second episode is a bit on the weaker side and as you will quickly notice, the best episodes are the ones about Loid and Yor or at least one of them. When it’s about the side characters then it doesn’t stand quite as tall. This episode has two main segments. One is about poor Bond (The dog) seeing a future where Yor’s cooking takes him down so he has to find Loid and fast. Along the way he gets to help out on a mission which is fun enough but I feel like the dynamic with Bond can’t have as much variety almost by definition since he can’t talk. The other half is about Damian who has been working too hard. To take his mind off of studying, he is taken to the lake to fish and get to act like a kid for once.

Damian’s not awful or anything but you don’t really care much about these kids so the whole time you’re just waiting for one of the main characters to return. At least for me that’s my primary thought the whole time because they’re the ones who really get the plot going. The first segment with Bond had some action though so I’ll give it some props there. In general the show does a good job of moving quickly and the technical aspects like animation are always solid so it goes by quickly enough. Side characters are just side characters for a reason.

In episode 3 we get a Yuri segment which is always fun. We get to see him taking down a spy who was smuggling photos. The guy is very good at his job and while he is way too obsessed with Yor, he definitely cares about family a lot. That theme naturally ties into the case as well. There are also two mini segments involving Anya but those are on the weaker side. Anya oversleeps and then she gets the wrong message from the Bondman show. Actually, saying it’s the wrong message isn’t quite accurate, I’d say the show itself is just a bit busted. Yor definitely carried this episode.

In episode 4 we get to see Franky being desperate and making a fool of himself as always. Look, if you’re only extra nice to someone because you’re hoping to ask her out then you shouldn’t bother. That’s not being authentic in the slightest and so you’re rooting for Franky to fail. The other segment was a bit more fun with the kids fighting over snacks. We get to see Damian trying to be a nice guy in the end. Despite the tough talk, he does let Anya win when it counts so that speaks well to his character. Franky brings this one down but the first short is solid so it’s still able to tread water.

Episodes 5-9 are about the Yor arc and from the size alone you can tell that this is the big one. Yor is given a top priority mission to protect a lady and her baby while on a cruise. She needs to get her safely off the ship near the end of the voyage but the problem is that the information leaked an the cruise is packed with assassins of varying skill levels. Additionally, Anya actually won a raffle to the ship so she and Loid are going to be aboard. Yor’s cover involves a business deal so they can technically see her but she can’t afford to get distracted and if they see her fighting then it can be all over. Will she be able to save the day?

There are a lot of reasons why this arc is so good. For starters we’re back to the high stakes here. Each of these assassins are actively trying to murder her. This is not fun and games and we see how she mercilessly takes care of them as well. We usually see the more clumsy/happy side of Yor but she’s all business when it comes time for the fights. It’s also not a walk in the park and the various assassins get to really show off their techniques. This feels like a battle Shonen for a while there and the animation did good here. I liked the effects for the electricity and in general all of the hand to hand moves were good.

Since we had several episodes to the arc, there’s time for some good cliffhangers as well. As always Loid and Anya do get a bit of a role so they aren’t totally written out. Loid gets to diffuse some bombs and Anya helps with one of the weapons but for the most part this is Yor’s show and that’s good. Up until this point Loid has had his share of action and Anya is always around but this is the first full mission we’ve had for Yor. I hope we get more of them someday but I will be satisfied with this for now. It absolutely elevates season 2 as a whole and has a ton of replay value.

After that episode 10 is partially an epilogue of sorts as the family finally reunites and Anya gets to brag about the trip a whole lot. Leave it to Anya to get herself into trouble since nobody’s gonna believe that. I’ll cut her some slack since she is a kid and I could absolutely see a kid doing that…but it’s why she can’t really keep up with Loid and Yor yet. Once they all know each other’s secrets, hopefully they can teach her how to fight and be more ready in the field. It’s a low key episode but one that puts on the finishing touches to the arc rather well.

Episode 11 is really about how charming Loid is and how the ladies can’t stay away from him. The first half is about how Becky has a secret crush on him. It’s too bad because she’s otherwise a high quality character but I guess everyone has their weakness. Obviously she’s just a little kid so the whole thing is more of a joke to the other characters. Yor is nice about it and Loid does his best to just excuse himself. I assume this will be a very rare kind of running gag as Becky should get over him quickly. The second half is about Fiona who is still trying for Loid and she’s way more desperate since she’s a full adult pining after someone who is married. You know how I feel about rebounds so I can’t root for her in the slightest.

She just needs to focus on her missions and stop trying to sabotage Loid. If she has a crush on him that’s fine as long as she tries to get over him but she’s gotta keep that to herself. You just can’t let anyone find out and you gotta bury those feelings. When you try to fight for someone who’s already taken…well that’s just sad. The episode is entertaining enough but not the most exciting to be honest. I wouldn’t want Becky or Fiona to be main characters for too many segments.

Finally we end the season with a Bond adventure which was an odd pick. I feel like this didn’t make a whole lot of sense for the final episode. Basically Loid tries to train him some more but different events keep happening where Bond has to save someone to avert a bad future. The problem? By averting the future, it never happened so to Loid it just looks like Bond is going crazy. That’s definitely the worst part about seeing the future since you can’t really prove it or anything. Still, props to Bond for trying his best and hanging in there the whole time. By the end he does perform a rescue good enough that Loid does notice it.

So it’s a wholesome episode but I would have picked a story that focuses on all 3 of the characters a bit more. Well, either way that wraps up season 2 and it was a fun set of adventures. 12 episode titles like this sure do fly by very quickly. The Yor saga carries the season but even without it, this would still be a quality slice of life title. The Yor saga just adds on the action genre which to me is always important and stacks the deck against season 3 because it’ll be tough to top this one now.

As mentioned earlier, the animation is definitely solid here. It’s all very streamlined and while the animators don’t get to show off too often, it’s clear that a lot of hard work went into this one. The soundtrack isn’t as memorable though. The opening song is fairly catchy though and special shoutout to the opening’s animation because it really went crazy there. I like how fast everything was moving and nowadays there are enough openings of people just stretching or jumping up and down that getting so much full movement is really appreciated. I’m betting the frames in that opening are about as much as the average episode with how much was going on.

Part of what makes the show work is that the character cast is good. A slice of life is only as good as the characters and their interactions after all right? Loid and Yor are solid as I mentioned. They’re both hard workers and they really care about their family and being nice people in general. Anya may be immature but she still tries and has some entertaining moments. Franky and Bond admittedly don’t help much but the characters can’t all be winners. Yuri is entertaining and adds some danger to the group dynamic while Becky is the only kid who actually seems mature and loyal in the kids group. Damian may be nice when it counts but he’s still not someone who helps you out in the day to day. The cast is actually rather large when you think about it.

Overall, Spy X Family continues strong with season 2. As a whole I think I’d give the edge to season 1 for more consistently high quality stories but none of them individually touch the Yor boat fights. I really hope the series goes down the action route more in the future because it’s clear that there is a ton of potential there. The main characters can all fight after all so the natural outcome should be to get these battles in there right? Maybe make it so that the Desmond family has a ton of powerful bodyguards on retainer or something. Either way this is a solid show that I can recommend to everyone as a safe product for fans of slice of life or action.

Overall 7/10

Heaven Can Wait Review

Posted on February 18, 2024 by dreager1

I saw the original film adaption of this story not too long ago with good ole Mr. Jordan. I thought it was okay but didn’t actually think it was very good and the ending was pretty bad. Well this one improves upon the original in just about every way and is a lot better. The ending’s still not great to be honest…in fact it’s still bad but the film manages to overcome the original’s just enough for me to still give it the thumbs up all the way.

So the film starts off with Joe training hard to stay in shape for the Rams. He is the backup QB but you never know when he will become the starter someday. In fact, that day is coming up fast as the coaches have decided to plug him in. He goes out for a bike ride but is unfortunately destroyed in the car crash. He is taken to the after-world to prepare for his journey to Heaven but Joe feels like there has been a mixup. Well, he was correct! It turns out that he should have survived and the new trainee was a little too overeager. Jordan promises to find Joe a new body since his original was already cremated but can he really get a body that is just as good as the old one? That’s not going to be an easy feat I’ll tell you that right now!

The whole thing is pretty unfair to Joe from the start so you feel bad for the guy. He’s trained his entire life for a shot like this and then it’s all taken away from him in an instant. I suppose life itself can often be unfair like that but for a movie you’re hoping that he gets the perfect ending. The problem is that he never does. The ending is on the bittersweet side as he gets to accomplish some of his dreams but has to sacrifice others. It’s like he just really can’t get it all but because the error was not on his side, Jordan should have made it up to him a lot better.

Well, Joe has a good attitude about the whole thing so I give him credit there. I like how they showed Joe’s good work ethic here. To play QB for the NFL you need to be memorizing a lot of playsheets and putting in a ton of time into the craft. So when he takes on the body of a big CEO, he actually does the research and handles himself fairly well in the big business meeting. The only problem is that he’s not very smart with how he handles the two people trying to murder him. Joe took over the body of a guy who was recently murdered by his wife and the guy she was cheating with so it would stand to reason that they would try again once he had the miraculous recovery right?

Well…he doesn’t do anything about it. It’s just a very questionable move there because you figure that he would fix this really fast. It shouldn’t even be a question, he should have quickly gotten the cops involved or if he thought there was no evidence he could grab, confront them at least. Instead he just has fun living his life and acts as if they don’t like each other but as a mild disagreement and not to the extent of his body being deadly just a little bit earlier. The wife and secretary are played up a bit more here than in the original for how goofy and slapstick they are. This is one area where I’d say the original wins. They’re so cartoonish here that you just can’t take them very seriously at all which makes their victory all the worse.

We do have to have the big romance here of course and so the heroine here is Betty. She was at odds with the guy whose body Joe took over so there is some friction at first but when Joe makes good on his word to stop harming the environment and small businesses then she comes around. Of course Joe is married so I’m a bit wary with Betty so readily going out with him to dinner and the like. Sure you could say it’s just as friends…surrrrreee but Joe clearly doesn’t see it that way. He does give her the ole promise that he’ll get divorced soon so they could get together but the whole thing should feel rather suspicious. Also it just doesn’t make her look great. I’d also argue that the ending isn’t great for her either.

Yes, she remembers the line that he says at the end so she knows this quarterback is the one Joe was talking about but there’s no reason to assume that it’s the same guy. In fact it isn’t anyway since Joe is gone so they’re going to hook up because she’s doing this as a favor to Joe? No matter how you slice it, it makes her look a little too willing to jump into the next relationship rather than giving herself some time to grieve and stay solo after the first guy was bumped off.

Jordan tries hard with finding good bodies for Joe but I have to say that he didn’t try hard enough. As I keep saying, the ending wasn’t satisfying and it’s entirely Jordan’s fault. He could have warned Joe about the murder attempt and he certainly could have allowed him to live out the rest of his life rather than conking out early. He’s one of those guys who promises the moon but then doesn’t deliver.

Finally Max was a loyal friend to Joe the whole time. He really helped get Joe back into Football shape rather quickly which was impressive and the guy helped out with the murder case. I will say that the investigation was a lot more fun than in the first film. It does get a little goofier at times but on the whole I thought it was a blast and a half. I’m always up for a good mystery after all.

Overall, Heaven Can Wait is a fun film. I’d say on the whole the humor lands more effectively than the first one. Joe is a better main character here and like I said it’s just better nearly all around the board compared to the first. The ending is still a downer but it’s not enough to keep me from recommending the film. You’ll definitely have a good time here and hey it’s also an important reminder to be careful when entering any road/tunnel that is not properly lit. It’s a real risk.

Overall 7/10

Here Comes Mr. Jordan Review

Posted on February 4, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for another film involving souls and it was pretty interesting but I definitely had a massive problem with the ending. The problem was so big that I dare say it ends up having a big effect on the movie itself. It’s just not the way you want to see these things go and it felt like the main character basically got the raw end of the deal. Nothing went the way that it should have for him.

The movie starts with Joe getting ready for the biggest match of his life. If he wins this then he will be crowned the #1 boxing champ. Joe has been training his entire life for this and is pretty confident in his chances. He hops into his plane and heads on over but some wind shows up and his plane starts to crash. That’s when he wakes up in the after life where he is being taken away….permanently. The whole thing seems rather off so he questions the angel, 7013 on this. Well…it looks like this guy is new at the job and he jumped the gun by taking Joe out early. His boss Jordan vows to make this right.

He will see to it that Joe has a satisfactory new body to replace the old one and that he can live out the rest of his life there. He’s supposed to have dozens of years left to live and so of course Jordan will make sure that he gets to live those years. Joe is not thrilled about any of this but will give this a fair shake as he waits for a good body. There has to be one around here somewhere. And so begins the journey of body hopping and trying to become the champ again.

A good chunk of the film takes place with a corrupt businessman named Farnsworth. See, he was murdered by his wife and her rebound guy so this is a decent body for Joe. It’s not exactly in the most well fit shape but it can do the job. The only problem is of course that people want him dead and the girl that Joe likes (Bette) can’t stand Farnsworth. Well, it’s time for justice and maybe he can get her to change her mind by becoming a better person.

This is really where the film should have stayed as this makes perfect sense for the film. He gets to have a shot at the title because he’s so rich that he can schedule fights and he can use his wealth to make the world a better place. How do you top that right? Well, that would be the general idea but the characters don’t play this smart and the film isn’t quite done yet. There are more bodies to hop and twists to come flying.

First I will say it’s odd that Joe didn’t do anything about the people who murdered Farnsworth. He knows good and well that his wife and secretary had already murdered him once so doesn’t it stand to reason that they would do this again? It makes no sense that he just leaves them to their own devices and doesn’t do a thing about it. This ultimately comes back to bite him and it’s all just rather senseless. Additionally there’s a long period there where Joe doesn’t even really think much about taking them to justice, it’s the last thing on his mind and so he’s close to just letting these murderers keep the money and just doing his own thing. That also doesn’t make sense, cmon now.

Joe’s just not a very smart guy and makes every kind of mistake imaginable. If there’s an error to be made then he will make it. It’s just that simple and that’s really bad all around. You’re rooting for him because he’s a nice guy, but he is definitely a frustrating character the whole time. It’s like he’s sabotaging himself the whole time. Meanwhile it goes without saying that everyone should be upset at 7013 since he messed everything up in the first place. Despite that, he has the gall to be complaining about the situation at different points and how time consuming it all is. He’s the guy who made the situation like this in the first place so there’s really no sympathy here.

Jordan is a bit disappointing in the end too and Joe should be mad at the guy. First off, he absolutely could have warned Joe that he was about to get bumped off the second time. He knew in advance so why not mention something? I’d argue even if it’s against the rules that wouldn’t matter in this case since the situation was all his fault as well. At that point there’s no real precedent for what’s going on. The worst part is also that Jordan ends up just being a big liar the whole time. He made a lot of promises to Joe the whole time about how he would be able to live out the rest of his life and get his shot to be the champion. While the latter maybe counts if you really squint, he definitely went back on the first aspect. It’s just a super rough spot to be in because Joe really lost everything without anything to show for it.

The film also doesn’t make Bette look good as a result. You have to understand that she falls in love with Joe when he’s in the Farnsworth body and then falls for him again in the next one? As far as she knows these are two completely different people so she moves on way too quickly. That’s not the way you find true love and it just makes her look more on the shallow side. I definitely expected better from her here and the romance in general is definitely on the weaker side. Even in the first place it’s hard to see her falling for Farnsworth when he was the one responsible for sending her father to prison. Yes, he made things right but it’s way too late by then right?

Joe’s boss Max was an entertaining character and I always enjoyed seeing him around but the guy could be a bit slow on the uptake at times. Things definitely didn’t go his way a whole lot and you could argue that he probably lose out the most in a lot of ways. Yes, the ending does throw him a bit of a bone but that’s all it does. The guy should have gotten off with a much better fate. He may have contributed to the issue by burning up the original body but it’s not like he ever could have known what was going to happen so I can’t blame him there.

Overall, The writing is good and I enjoyed the plot but the whole movie feels rather unfair to Joe. He was taken from Earth way too early and so he correctly fought for his case to go back. All well and good but the end of the film just slips the rug out from under him which is unfortunate. So I had a good time here and the comedy could be good but parts of the story feel really forced and additionally that ending is particularly brutal. That knocks it down a few pegs here and it’s an eternal reminder of why an ending is supremely important. Without it, you have nothing!

Overall 5/10

Sonic Prime Review

Posted on January 15, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to talk about the most recent Sonic show that just ended. Prime definitely had a pretty good run although the episode count isn’t as impressive as the overall length because of the way the show kept getting split up. Still, because of that you certainly can’t say that it was over in the blink of an eye. It had some good action and it’s always fun to see the Sonic characters running around even if the show never got too ambitious or tried to be anything more than pretty good.

The show starts off quickly with Sonic and friends trying to stop Eggman’s latest attack. He’s trying to do something with a crystal shard and so Sonic quickly attacks him but ends up blowing the shard up which sends him into a whole different reality. There are now different worlds that have alternate versions of Amy, Tails, Rouge, Big, and Knuckles. Sonic has to unite the gems to reform the crystal and bring his world back but to do hat he will have to defeat the Chaos Council, a group of different Eggmen that are bent on ruling the universe. Can Sonic stop them and will these alternate characters want to prevent the fusion since it could have dangerous repercussions on their own home worlds?

So right away I will say that this is pretty much a classic Saturday Morning cartoon title. You shouldn’t expect things to get too tense/dangerous even with the end of the world stakes at place. There will be a lot of one liners and comedic moments to keep things light but Sonic’s always been good with those. So the tone itself fits, but the execution isn’t always up to par with the high standard of the games’. Sonic is often not as witty as he thinks he is and so some of the jokes tend to fall flat. It’s why the show is definitely at its best when there is action happening.

We have one of our longest Sonic vs Shadow fights in the series during the second part of the show and it’s handled really well. Fans of Sonic may not appreciate that he plays second fiddle to Shadow all of the time but I’m pretty cool with Shadow being the strongest. (Remember that Sonic 2006 showed that he has been holding back the whole time and could have easily beaten Sonic) They should be fairly close but Shadow having the slight edge isn’t bad. In fact you could argue that a slight edge in a fight like this would be enough to have one character dominate.

Shadow is consistently shown to be more experienced, smarter, stronger, and more combat ready in general. In any scene with the two of them running around Sonic will often end up falling flat on his face while Shadow lands with grace and poise. As a result the show does have to write him out quite often since he would be dominating the whole time. Even then he shines off screen like when we see how he actually managed to take down a whole army of enemies. That was great. Shadow is absolutely the highlight of the series and any scene with him is awesome.

I will say that I also enjoy Sonic a lot. Yeah he definitely acts a lot younger than usual which is why my head canon is that this takes place back in the old days despite how that would not fit with continuity. However, he’s still a hero through and through. It’s always fun to see him use his speed and dominate the enemies when the chips are down. He’s a good lead and he still clears over 90% of the cast in the show.

It’s a bit of a shame that we don’t get to see his friends much since the alternate universe fighters take the main stage here. Most of them are rather boring. There’s the pirate crew but they don’t have much of a role beyond their version of Knuckles. That Knuckles is okay but it’s hard to take him seriously as a threat since you figure Sonic can beat him at any point. At least he did have a full personality the whole time so I’ll give him that.

Then in the Jungle role the only one with a real full role was Amy. She had a pretty good action scene with Sonic as they avoided the trees/vines while battling. Beyond that though, there isn’t really much to her. Her bird also ends up failing at the last possible moment for no reason other than to buy time which was odd. The Amys in general go more of a role than the other characters though. Typically each world had one primary character: Pirates was Knuckles, Rebellion was Tails, Jungle was Amy, however then you had the robotic Amy from the pirates world also get a big role so that broke tradition.

Robotic Amy was fun, she didn’t get quite as much to do later but it was a fun concept. Having her finally break away from the programming and do her own thing was cool although even then I think they could have done a little more with it. Imagine her being a full third faction just trying to take over the world or something. I think that could have been a lot of fun.

After that is Nine who has a super big role. His role is second only to Sonic in the show as he is a consistent presence in each part. The guy is a genius like the real Tails but has to live with the fact that he isn’t the Tails that Sonic always hung out with. The whole thing’s pretty tragic for him and I think the show does a good job of playing him up as more of an anti hero than straight up villain. I mean some of his dialogue in the last part is classic bad guy but the motivations make sense.

Basically the way I saw it at first is that depending on how the merging goes through, Tails’ and his timeline may no longer exist. The way the show actually ends it doesn’t seem like that’s the case but it’s a very reasonable concern. So his goals and Sonic’s are directly opposed to each other and Yu-Gi-Oh Arc V had a very similar issue. It’s a very interesting one that I enjoy because there isn’t really a right answer. Once a new world has been created, you don’t really have any authority to suddenly destroy it to bring your own back right? However if you don’t, then you are sort of murdering billions of people by inaction. Sonic has to bring his world back at any cost and Nine has to protect his.

Again, this is Sonic Prime so it’s not going to go with the hard philosophical questions like that. The final part makes this more of a black and white struggle in regards to who the good guys are and the bad guys but it was a fun way to end off the second part. Nine also works really well as a villain and while I will always take speed over smarts, he absolutely does give Sonic a good fight.

I’ll talk about the power levels in a minute but lets wrap up the characters. Metal Sonic shows up here which was pretty cool although it’s a very different take on the character to be sure. He likes to throw out puns and joke around just like Sonic. It’s going for the more literal copy of Sonic right down to the personality rather than being cold and calculating like he usually is. I get what they were going for here but I don’t think it really works. It does make him memorable though so I’ll give him that. Later on we get more copies that are truly mindless and they don’t end up being all that interesting.

Then we have the Chaos Council. While I’m not as harsh on them as some others, they are very weak villains. I didn’t personally like any of them and they just made me miss Eggman. The baby is super annoying since he can’t even talk and the old man is the other extreme where he is super old and that’s the only joke that the series will keep on reusing for him. You have the kid who loves playing video games which is barely even a personality and then the only adult who I could only describe as a watered down Eggman. So not a very intimidating group and the problem is that the show really wants you to respect them. They actually give Sonic a hard time at different points which doesn’t make any sense. We really could have used more villains.

This brings me to the power levels issue. It’s common for anything including speedsters so it’s not unique to Sonic Prime but it’s still annoying as always. Sonic should be mopping the floor with just about every villain in the series. I don’t mind him having trouble with Shadow, Metal Sonic, or other speedsters. But the Chaos Council, Pirate Knuckles, and Nine? Those fights should be over in the blink of an eye. It never makes sense whenever Sonic is hit by any of these guys. If you want to do that, then have him get exhausted first like when Nine forced him to keep saving people. That would make sense but a fresh Sonic can’t be getting hit all of the time.

It’s part of why I looked forward to seeing Shadow every time because he looked the way I expected Sonic to look. He actually used his speed well and was usually winning his battles while Sonic jobbed the whole time. Yeah Sonic would eventually win with the help of his friends but that was about it. Also the friends should not stand any chance against the Grim Sonics running around. It just comes across as really cheesy the whole time.

As mentioned, the animation is pretty smooth though and so that works with the fights. At times you don’t really feel the weight behind the blows though. I always turn to the DCAU or Dragon Ball Z for this. You need animation effects for the blows or a good sound effect. Part of the problem with Prime is someone will get punched or slammed but the effect is so weak that it feels lifeless. As for the soundtrack, it’s more on the generic side. Don’t expect anything memorable.

I will say to prepare yourself for a very dragged out Part 3. While I still enjoyed it quite a lot with the fighting and climax, it is fair to say that they really start to overplay their hand. There are a ton of moments that feel straight up like recycled footage and I think that’s actually the cast. We reuse the same story beats over and over to fight the same opponents in the same setting. I knew something was suspicious when we entered the climax almost immediately in the final part and that’s because we would end up going on a loop.

Part of the problem is that this makes the power level issues more obvious. On one hand you have Sonic and Shadow teaming up to beat the Grim Sonic and then later on you have him getting punched around by Knuckles and Amy. Yeah the Alphas are stronger than the clones but even the Alphas were losing to the friends. Doesn’t make a lot of sense. I think maybe part of the problem is the CG and the show had to keep reusing backgrounds and character models. It would explain why throughout the series we kept going to the same places and fighting the same enemies. It’s yet another reason why hand drawn will always be superior.

By the end of the series you deeply miss Eggman and Sonic’s actual friends. I would really like to see a series focus more on them without any big gimmicks because if you think about it that never really happens. In Sonic X we were busy with the humans and then going off to space, in Sonic Boom they’re all trapped on an island so the rest of the characters aren’t there, etc. I think there are plenty of great stories you could tell with the main cast and no gimmicks.

So repetition is the show’s biggest weakness. It should have mixed things up a bit more and even if I give the writers the excuse that the animation limited them, you can absolutely write around that. So Sonic Prime is a very safe show and it’s a fun one but these are the kinds of basic issues that keep it from moving forward. If the show ever does return or we get a brand new one, I’d like to see them mix it up a bit. Also they shouldn’t be afraid to make Sonic more of a true leader. Yeah he’s a free spirit but he’s a fairly mature one in most forms of media. He has fun with the jokes but always at a good time and he takes care of the situation with ease which is part of why it works.

I should give the show some credit for Sonic’s new super form though. It wasn’t really necessary since he has a ton of existing ones as it is, but I still enjoyed seeing it. It was a good way to end off one of the parts and at least salvage the climax from the usual giant villain. In general I also really liked a lot of the designs for the original characters like the Grim Bots and pretty much all of the mechs. So the character designers did really know what they were doing.

Overall, Sonic Prime was pretty fun. I had a good time with the episodes. The animation is good enough as it looks like cutscenes right out of the video games. It may not be as top tier as it could have been with a more traditional style but it did the job. In a lot of ways that describes the show all around. It’s pretty good even if it’s not groundbreaking. I don’t think the show itself will have a ton of replay value but I could see myself Youtubing some of the fights every now and again. Particularly Sonic vs Shadow which is the highlight of the series.

Overall 7/10

City Hunter Review

Posted on January 13, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for a fairly wacky comedy film. This one definitely does not hold back in terms of how out there it gets. That said, the humor doesn’t really land very well most of the time. There are some good moments but on the whole the film ends up dragging itself out and whenever you think a hype scene is about to occur, your hopes get obliterated right away. This is basically what happens if you make a film with someone like James Bond as the main character…

The movie starts off with City Hunter’s partner getting extremely sloppy as he is gunned down by a group of villains. He quickly tells the hunter not to get together with his sister and City Hunter vows to live up to those words. He’s busy flirting with every girl in town anyway but his days of slacking off have come to an end as he is hired for an important job. He must locate a girl named Kyoko who is with the wrong crowd and her father wants her back. The City Hunter vows to complete the mission for all of the wrong reasons and after fumbling the operation, follows her onto a fancy cruise. What he doesn’t realize is that the boat is swarming with so many terrorists who can fight in hand to hand combat far better than he can. Is it all over for him?

So here’s the deal, I’m all for some good slapstick and I don’t even mind a main character who is completely unable to fight. Someone who is out of his depths the whole time can be a lot of fun with some sarcastic humor. The important point is that he has to be likable and unfortunately….that’s where he falters big time. This guy is just too much of a flirt who prioritizes that over the mission. I won’t say he’s as bad as James Bond but any scene with this guy is extremely annoying.

The film certainly does a good job of incorporating a lot of harem type antics into the movie to make this as authentic as possible but it comes at the expense of the movie being any good. City Hunter should have leaned more into his goofy nature and how he couldn’t find the police office let alone any crooks, but instead it focuses on what a perv the guy is. You’re rooting for the villains to take him out most of the time.

Also most of the film’s humor basically revolves around this which gets old fast and doesn’t come across as clever. There’s quite a lot of fanservice here which bogs down the movie. It’s not quite Charlie’s Angels territory which still takes the dubious crown in that department but it’s fairly unrelenting here. Even when viewing the film under the parody lens, you’re not really going to be sticking with this one for very long.

Kaori isn’t really a great heroine either. She is always jealous of the other girls that City Hunter is with and so she pouts a lot but a better heroine would have really been beating him up all the time. She imagines doing so, but actually tackling him more would have been better. I want to see some confidence and charisma. Instead she goes as far as to pretend to ally herself with the villains at times to get a reaction out of the guy…although it never works anyway. Why would she even want to be with someone who is clearly not going to be loyal in the slightest? City Hunter would drop her in an instant as soon as another girl talks to him.

Now they probably could have let up a little with how many times Kaori gets knocked to the ground though. It just gets sad after a while when you see how often she is the film’s punching bag. Kiyoko gets into a fair deal of trouble as well but unlike Kaori, Kiyoko was basically seeking this out the whole time. I don’t think Kiyoko played this very smart at all from the start but intelligence isn’t the strong suit of just about any character here.

Okay lets talk about some positives. For what it’s worth, there are a few good fight scenes once in a while. There’s a solid fight in the theater where City Hunter mainly gets dominated but eventually churns out a win. It’s still part comedy of course but it works well enough. The best fight is against the main villain’s bouncer though. Both characters move so fast that they keep on missing each other. See, this is actually a pretty good gag that is parodying how good of a fighter they both are. They’re so good that they both actually end up looking weak. Now that’s clever. There are a few other good jokes in there as well.

The effects are so bad that they go all the way around into actually being funny as well. This may not be intentional but I wouldn’t even be surprised if that’s what they were going for. This film is trying to be as silly as possible which is why it’s a shame that it’s not better. Usually I’d be a sucker for a film like this but it just didn’t have the right humor approach. Humor can be very difficult to land of course but at the same time it’s rare to mess up this badly. Seriously just make City Hunter less of a two dimensional character and you could be on to something! A film like this should never feel like its dragging and yet that happens at times. It’s a flurry of activity but sometimes it feels like nobody is going anywhere which doesn’t help matters.

Overall, City Hunter is a movie that just tries way too hard. It ends up being more cringeworthy than funny most of the time. Having a better main character would have helped a whole lot. Ultimately it’s probably for the best that most people don’t remember this one. Why would you adapt City Hunter instead of the original Gundam or even Astro Boy? Trust me when I say there were plenty of other manga titles you could have adapted before this one even entered the conversation. You may as well call this guy the City Hunter by the end of it with how much he’s getting wrecked the whole time.

Overall 4/10

Antz Review

Posted on January 8, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to look at a film about Ants. This is a pretty fun one that has some really clever dialogue hidden in there. It actually gets a little more intense than I could have figured and it’s clear that this film was ready to push the envelope a bit. While the animation may not be the strongest, I would say that the film holds up pretty well overall thanks in large part to that strong writing. This isn’t a film that will be easily forgotten or that you could mix up with a different title.

The movie starts with Z explaining to a doctor exactly why he feels so sad all of the time. He doesn’t want to be a mindless worker Ant just doing what he’s told. He wants to live a little, explore, and just do his own thing. The problem is that this is not how the ant culture works. So they hope to get him back with the program soon. One day he gets to meet Princess Bala when she breaks the rules to hang out at a bar and he is so determined to see her again that he switches places with his friend Weaver so he can be with the soldiers. This leads Z to be included on a suicide mission where everyone dies except for him. So now Z is considered to be a massive hero and that also makes him a big target as the main villain is hoping to create a new colony that revolves only around the soldiers. He would rule it of course and so the queen will ultimately need to be taken out of the picture.

Z uses Bala as a hostage to escape but now the two of them must survive out in the wilderness. Additionally will anyone stop the general or is the colony going to fall? One thing’s for sure, Z cannot let his guard down at any point. He’s already not a fighter after all so one wrong move and he’s really doomed. As you can expect he doesn’t get along with Bala much at first. She finds him to be too low in confidence, generally annoying, and someone who can never stay quiet for more than a few minutes. On the other side he just wants to be free now and leaving the colony was the best thing that could have happened to him. He does not intend to return so she will have to try and make him.

We have some decent banter here and so it’s a fun part of the movie to have them on the run. That said, the romance is definitely more on the rushed side here. Nothing happens that actually convinces you they could really be friends much less more than that. It just doesn’t seem likely especially with the rough start. He basically did kidnap her before so how do you really come back from that? He also just seems to not really be her type in general.

Bala also is a little slow on the uptake like when she outed herself going to the bar by mistake when she recognized Z. You’d think she would have been more subtle about it considering that she knew she would be in trouble for this. Ah well I guess she didn’t think that part all the way through. By the end of the film she’s more reasonable. Originally I thought Azteca was going to be the main heroine here so I was surprised to see her role be so small but she’s a fun enough character. I was also glad that Z had someone to stick up for him in Weaver. That guy was a good friend all the way and someone you could trust. Even when he was beaten and interrogated he would stay strong until someone else was in danger.

The whole plot of the ant revolution was also pretty fun. It showed how all they needed was one ant to make a big move and then they were ready. They probably should have questioned their destiny a lot sooner tbh but better late than never right? It’s still progress which is always good. It’s hard to imagine having to live such a confined lifestyle where you just do things because they’re all expected of you and you have no real free will. Of course within the film’s context it makes sense because they’re all ants but you can also say it’s a metaphor for how some people just do things without knowing the true reason why. Always stay alert and question everything!

Like I said the animation isn’t great or anything but it looks good enough. The character designs are on point and you do know what is happening all the way through. The soundtrack is a little more impressive with a fast tune that pops up early on and it stays energetic the whole way through. This is a fast paced movie that always has a lot happening and that’s absolutely one of its strengths. On a technical level the film is still good and of course like I said the writing is on point too. It’s a film that will give you a good amount of laughs and has a strong sense of humor all the way through. The film is also able to adapt and get serious when needed.

Overall, Antz is a pretty good film. I would even say that it is the complete package. It has everything you could want in a film from good characters to solid humor. The action gets pretty intense as well and we even have a real war scene. The film’s characters are just human enough where I’d say there is no real animal violence here but the body count itself may still surprise you a little bit. This is definitely not the kind of film where everyone has a happy ending. That much I can tell you for sure. I’d be interested in more films in this continuity but this one did pretty much explore everything. I don’t think it really left a lot of meat on the bone and had enough happening where it really filled in the full run time with no issues.

Overall 7/10

Operation Christmas Drop Review

Posted on December 16, 2023 by dreager1

It’s time for an emotional Christmas story that would do Hallmark proud. It’s a fun movie all around and the pacing is on point so you’re always having a good time. The plot is fairly straight forward and you can see a lot of the story beats coming but the execution is on point. The movie never tries to do too much and mainly focuses on one key plot instead of trying to jam in a ton of them. Less is more in this instance and so that ends up working pretty well.

The film starts with Erica being tasked with her most difficult mission yet. She has to prove why the army should close an air force base so that the funds can be reallocated. Of course this means a lot of people would be losing their jobs which is rough. Additionally the biggest loss would be the Christmas Drop program where the Air Force flies supplies, gifts, and a lot of much needed convenience items to people in the nearby islands who could really use some essentials. They aren’t very well off and so this is one way to help boost morale while helping a lot of people in very real ways. All in all, this is a PR nightmare for Erica as she is basically the bad guy here. She keeps deflecting by saying that she is just following orders but maybe it is time to make a stand. Maybe it is time…to save Christmas!

You would think optically Erica’s boss would like to keep the base to show how benevolent she is but of course in politics you always have a thousand voices yelling at you to different things so at this point and time the pressure is simply higher on the other side. Sometimes that’s really all it boils down to. Erica is certainly ready to submit her report and bury the place at first as well until she gradually sees how it helps out. I have no doubt that some money is likely spent on the program even with all of the donations but the fact that the base went out of its way to try and make this a good deal for everyone does speak volumes. It shows that they are really trying hard to be responsible at all phases of the project.

Andrew is the main guy sticking up for the program and he does a terrific job. He always has the right answers on hand and isn’t intimidated by Erica’s boss. He makes the pitch to her directly as well and you can tell that the guy has put a lot of effort into this program. Even with the romance aside I’d say his pitch would have been fairly convincing to any reporter looking in on the situation. That’s because by every objective metric this is a really good idea. For the cynical onlookers at least it’s good PR, for the people hoping to make a difference in the world this gives them an avenue to do it, and for all of the islanders it obviously helps them out a whole lot since they are in a tough spot.

It’s always good to see the army doing good and using all of their equipment for something like this is great. So yeah Andrew steals the show as the main character here. Meanwhile Erica is solid as well. Obviously she does have to go through a bit of a character arc to end up as the selfless lead she was destined to be but it’s a character arc that is definitely handled well. When it comes time to make a stand, she picks the right side and helps the team out on their mission.

As for the romance in this film, there’s no rebounding going on so I appreciate that. Often times there is a poor ex running around or a character was already with someone and breaks up after making it to the main plot. In this case that doesn’t happen. The romance is still on the weaker side since it’s all moving a little too fast though. Given the stakes here you’d think romance would be the last thing on either of their minds. Andrew has a mission to save after all and letting your feelings interfere with that would be a grave mistake.

It is definitely a bit odd to see a Christmas film taking place by the beach like this but it certainly helps the film stand out. That is also the normal setting for plenty of people so that’s a nice way to see their perspective. Of course if given the choice I would always want a Christmas that’s sub zero temperature with plenty of snow but at the end of the day you should be able to have a good time no matter how hot or cold it is. It’s more about enjoying the day and the festivities than what’s going on outside right? This does mean there aren’t any big montage of holiday foods this time around though but that’s fine.

The writing is on point so even the antagonists aren’t written to be super crazy or anything like that. Everyone has reasons for doing what they are doing and the film does give the main antagonist a good amount of presence. Whenever she walks in you know the characters are going to be stressed. You also can’t blame her for being upset since from her point of view this all does look pretty bad. Imagine walking into the army base to see the person you hired in the middle of a party instead of researching? Bosses tend to have tricky timing like that sometimes.

Overall, Operation Christmas Drop is a pretty good film. It has a good story with a solid moral and ultimately just spreads good vibes the whole time. It’s the kind of movie where you feel good after having watched it and you can’t say that for just any film. Mix in a lot of fun visuals, songs, and a good cast and you have a winner here. Being fun is one of the main positives I would say for the film and that’s really all that you need. It kept the plot fairly basic and the character cast rather small. It has a very specific focus with the story and doesn’t deviate from that. I had a good time watching it and so I would definitely recommend checking it out.

Overall 7/10

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