Tag Archives: Comedy

White Men Can’t Jump Review

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This review is of the TV-14 edited version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

It’s time for an old school comedy about what it takes to scam someone. It’s a pretty fun movie even if the characters aren’t always very likable though. As the main characters are scammers that does make sense though. The basketball battles are all pretty fun and there’s enough of them where you could call this a sports title as well.

The film starts off with Sydney hooping with his pals when a guy named Billy shows up. Billy looks like he’s probably no good as basketball so Sydney allows himself to be goaded into a 1 on 1 battle. He gets defeated though and Billy walks away with all the money. Sydney’s upset at first but then figures he can use this to make a lot of money as well. Sydney knows the basketball scene well after all so he can keep on challenging folks to 2 on 2 battles with Billy and rack up a ton of money. Can they really keep this going or will they eventually fall short?

Naturally hustling isn’t something you can really respect or admire though. I know Billy is desperate but surely there are more legitimate ways to handle this. He and his girlfriend Gloria are on the run from the debt collectors as well now and it’s all become a really big deal. This whole thing certainly hasn’t put him in the greatest position, that’s for sure. When he inevitably gets double crossed, you can’t feel super bad for him either. The guy also takes way too many risks. Risking Gloria’s money for his own pride about the slam dunk was really a bad move as well. I’m glad that Gloria stuck to her guns and ditched him there because she warned him ahead of time and he still went through with it.

That said, I wouldn’t say Gloria was a very solid heroine either. She definitely complained a whole lot while he was trying to earn some money. She could have been doing something as well instead of training for Jeopardy the whole time. The odds of being called in for the show and then of winning are so slim that it’s like playing the lotto. That’s not a very constructive way to plan for the future. She’s all over the place and has a gun at the ready but folds when the chips are down. It would have been nice if she was more supportive.

On the other side, Sydney is a fun character who delivers most of the humor in the film. He’s got a quick wit and is always one step ahead of the other characters. He’s a lot of fun and the film definitely would not be the same without him. I did think that his betraying Billy later on was rather out of pocket though. I know he wanted revenge but at that point it would seem like they were never really friends. In the film they sort everything out and team up again but I couldn’t really buy into it. No way you forgive someone when they ripped you off for more than $1000 like that. Especially when it’s money that you really needed at the time.

I don’t blame him for the slam dunk challenge though because that was completely on Billy. He did not need to try to take on that challenge and Sydney warned him against it several times. At that point, it’s all on Billy for going through with it and a bet is a bet. You have to honor it at that point. Sydney’s girlfriend Rhonda is definitely a lot more loyal to him than Gloria was to Billy. She backs him all the way without fail so that’s a pretty good dynamic right there.

As I mentioned before, the Basketball scenes are definitely pretty good. They’re fast paced and definitely deliver on the action. You may not like the two leads all that much for being scam artists but at least they are really good on the court and can hold their own. It’s why you feel like they shouldn’t need to resort to this. Just try to get serious about Basketball and win the right way. Of course if they don’t think they have the skills, they’ll get exposed real fast. Such is the risk you face whenever you enter a high level of competition though.

The script goes pretty hard on the banter so there will be a lot of laughs but it can also be a bit much/edgy at times. That’s always the risk you run with a film like this though. I would say that it ultimately succeeds a lot more than not though so that’s a good thing. I would have maybe added some kind of a main villain to spice things up though. For the most part there isn’t a central antagonist and it’s more about the characters trying to get along. The Jeopardy subplot could also be removed in its entirety. It just doesn’t have much to do with anything and you could just redo Gloria’s character. It’s a unique subplot to be sure since you’re definitely not expecting this in a Basketball film. It’s just such a long shot though, it almost would have been better if the plot didn’t go anywhere and Billy talks about what a waste of time it was.

Overall, This was a pretty fun film. We got some danger with the debt collectors but for the most part this is a light hearted film about a lot of banter. The main romance isn’t very good but the film actually addresses that directly which was nice. The writing wasn’t always super strong and the main characters could be better but I had a good time with it and in the end that’s what counts. Basketball’s definitely a fun sport to watch with how fast paced it is.

Overall 6/10

Mission: Yozakura Family

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This series is another one that’s off to a fun start. I think the overall premise has a lot of potential right off the bat. The characters are likable and the art is good so at the end of the day that’s a great combo right there. We’ll se how long they’re able to keep the story fresh but at least for right now I would definitely recommend the title and look forward to reviewing it once the series has finished.

Overall 7/10

Sakamoto Holidays

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It’s time to return to the world of Sakamoto Days with this spinoff. It’s pretty cool to finally have a new comedic title to check out. So far the humor is handled well and it’s not going for the usual kind of cheap gags. I can definitely respect that and automatically that puts this one above the average title. It was a good read and hopefully they can keep this one going for a long while. I’ll have a review for the series once it ends.

Overall 7/10

Baby, Take a Bow Review

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It’s time for a really old time film about how it can be hard to escape your past at times. In this case it’s because of a private detective who really has a bone to pick with the main guy. it can definitely be rough having someone bring up the past all the time. The film works pretty well even if some of the troubles that come up feel like they could have been avoided with a little more effort from the main characters.

The film starts off with Kay heading over to prison to pick up Eddie who is just being released. Private Detective Welch advises her not to do this as it will be the biggest mistake of her life but she ignores him and the two get married. 6 years later they have a daughter named Shirley and are doing really well for themselves. Unfortunately Welch isn’t thrilled about this. He decides to bust in and try to get some dirt on the guy. He may have been fired from every spot around but he still has enough pull to walk into any office whenever he wants.

Welch is definitely the big villain of the movie but I have to give him some real credit here. The guy is absolutely unrelenting. He just keeps on moving forward and somehow the guy has a whole lot of influence. People tend to believe him and so he is really able to sabotage whoever he wants. For example, he tells Eddie’s boss that the guy is probably a crook and the one responsible for a theft so the guy fires Eddie. Just like that.

It’s definitely a shame since Eddie had been doing really well. He also helped Larry find a job so the two ex cons put their lives of crime behind them. Unfortunately that starts to make them desperate and then you have the current criminal Trigger still around to try and tempt them into the dark side. What a guy. Trigger even has a gun and everything so he definitely makes the climax real serious here. He’s more of a physical threat than Welch even if Welch is the bigger social threat.

Trigger’s your average baddie though while Welch really has charisma and personality. So I would still say that he is a lot more memorable in the end. He’s definitely not someone that you end up forgetting and he helps make the film more entertaining.

Meanwhile Shirley’s role actually isn’t all that big this time. She’s mainly here to help make the situation worse for Eddie as she gets tricked quickly with the gun and gets them into hot water a lot. She’s only a kid so I mean it’s not her fault or anything but yeah without her things would have gone way more smoothly for the main characters.

Eddie and Larry did say no to Trigger’s offer so they get props for that. In other films you see the main character get tempted to get back into the life of crime but in this case when he said no, he meant it. Always a really good idea. The characters were also just generally solid. They had good attitudes and kept their chins up even when things weren’t going well.

Meanwhile Kay was really solid for sticking with Eddie and not letting Welch get to her. Jane has less to do here but was also a very loyal partner to Larry. Stuart gets 0 points because he’s the one who was tricked by Welch into firing two of his best employees. So much for innocent until proven guilty right? This guy folded when it counted and you don’t really forget that kind of thing. Even if he apologies later it just ends up ringing hollow.

The film is very short as it’s barely over an hour so it has to move quickly. I do think that’s enough time for this kind of film though. It’s not like it’s going for some kind of really long and elaborate plot. At its core it’s a simple romance story about characters just trying to have a quiet existence. All they really want is to raise a family and have a good time. For a lot of people that’s really enough and yet they are pulled into a bunch of problems anyway.

If there’s one slight issue here it’s that nothing really happens to Welch. It just feels like he’s going to pull the same thing with a different ex-convict next time. He didn’t learn any lessons or even get harshly reprimanded. He was already fired from every agency before the film started so it’s not like he could be fired again either. Definitely a case where it feels like the film overlooked his role by the end when he should have at least gotten fined or something for misleading the police. I’m not sure what the exact crime would be for something like this but just find something to stick and hit him with it. The guy’s dangerously obsessive so he can’t be let on the loose. I would absolutely watch a spinoff film with him as the main character though because like I said, he was easily the most entertaining character around here.

Overall, The film probably should have been named after the main plot rather than Shirley being in it. She gets her classic dance number and everything but really isn’t a main focus in the film. I guess you could say she helps as motivation for Eddie staying o the straight and narrow but the title should have been something about trying to prove his innocence. Either way, it’s a solid film that’s good harmless fun. You could watch it at any point and it flows over very quickly. It’s also such an old film so it’s always fun to see how a title from the 30s plays out. I’ve seen tons of 50s films but even for me I haven’t seen a ton of 30s. That’s why there’s nothing wrong with it being simple, for all I know this may have been rather ambitious for its day.

Overall 7/10

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Review

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It’s time for a sci-fi film that isn’t afraid to get rather crazy. It starts off with a really crazy dolphin song and that sets the tone for what’s to come. That’s a good thing though because Sci-Fi shouldn’t be afraid to go all out. It’s one of the things that can make the genre really fun and all. That said, I wouldn’t say this one always succeeds in the humor and everything so it can be a bit hit or miss.

The film starts off with Arthur protesting the demolition of his house. His friend Ford shows up though and explains that it doesn’t matter because the Earth is going to blow up. He’s an alien too after all. He helps Arthur escape into space where they’re tortured, meet different clans, and now have to…try and save the universe? Can that be right? What can some random Earthling do? Time to find out!

Arthur’s definitely not the best character though. He’s a little too desperate and slow on the uptake. Considering that he met an alien early on and is then told a crazy story you’d think he would be ready. Instead he is still worried about his car for a while even when the planet is about to be destroyed. Also, his almost girlfriend Tricia dumps him for an alien but he hasn’t been able to fully get past his feelings?

He only knew her for 5 minutes with a drink and she was already talking about travelling across the globe. It’s clear that she wasn’t serious about him so he should have just moved on quick too. Meeting someone while you’re both drunk at a party is definitely not going to put you in a good position for success in a romance if we’re being honest here.

It doesn’t even feel like Tricia likes Zaphod all that much and is really in it for the space travel. She always liked travelling on Earth after all and in space you’ve got billions of times more space here. I wouldn’t say the whole thing reflects great on her either but hey she’s following her dream and not just floating through everything the way Arthur is.

Zaphod is fun though, he has a good time with the whole plot. I do like how he is wearing a suit that looks like him and just keeps on popping up. That’s a great example of a gimmick that stays funny throughout the movie. Yeah he has his serious moments by the end and all but he’s at his best when he’s just messing around the whole time.

Marvin is a depressed robot who is with the crew the whole time but his gimmick gets old a little fast. There’s not a whole lot you can do with that gimmick after a while. He gets to help out and does his best but ehhhhhhh, you don’t really need him. It does give us a chance to see a character who is even sadder than Arthur though.

He’s a good example of the film itself though which starts out a lot stronger than it finishes. Because he does have a good array of fun lines at first where that jaded spirit of his really works well. Ford was a better side character in the end. He was really helpful the whole time and without him the characters would have been doomed.

One of the main plots that comes up later on is about the ultimate question and ultimate answer. So in one of the film’s crazy exposition moments it turns out that the universe finally found out the ultimate answer to life itself thanks to a super computer. The problem is that it was just a number, 42. They now need another computer to answer that but there’s a whole lot of time that you need for this and only one computer can handle this.

It’s a pretty solid subversion since usually the whole film would be about finding the answer to life but instead we are given that from the start. I also like the idea of the answer itself being ultimately pointless. Cmon that’s gotta get a smile out of you at least. The journey is like the answer though, the question itself is not all that important. It’s just the plot device to get the characters onto a bunch of planets and to meet lots of different aliens.

In some ways it feels a lot like Stat Trek. It’s more about the exploration than big battles or anything like that. Throw in some dry humor that tends to work well for this type of story and the film does have a solid approach. When it comes time for the more serious plots though…not as solid. I already talked a bit about the romance but it’s really sub par here. Arthur’s just too desperate and even if Tricia was just hanging out with this guy to an extent, it sure seemed like they were in a real relationship. The guy would smack her on the backside and everything so yeah Arthur needed to have the willpower to walk away. It makes the ending more on the underwhelming side. There’s also a quick rushed romance for Zaphod that just comes out of the blue.

That’s not the kind of thing that would really hurt the film’s score or anything but yeah that could have been handled better. The movie does have really good special effects once action is happening though. The laser guns look good, Marvin’s robot design is super good as well. It looks really lifelike and you’ve also got the change gun that transforms items seamlessly. The dolphin song may have been rather bad but I choose to believe that was intentional as a gag so hey it is what it is.

Overall, I’d say this was a good film. I think the humor works more than it doesn’t. What keeps it from being higher is something that generally tends to happen to some comedic films. The second half starts to drag on a little bit, the film overstays its welcome and could have shaved off like 20 minutes or so. They did get to reach a lot of planets as a result so I get why they wanted the film to be long, but it just lost a bit of steam at times. A film like this can only last as long as the novelty factor and after a while the craziness of everything doesn’t really phase you. I would still recommend checking this out if you like sci-fi and comedic/parody type films. This one has a lot of fun poking fun at everything which makes the humor really accessible I’d say. Everyone should find at least some of the gags funny I’d expect.

Overall 6/10

Delicious in Dungeon Review

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It’s time to look at the anime version for Delicious in Dungeon. I reviewed the manga recently and I wouldn’t exactly say it got the highest score. The problem this title runs into is really backed into the premise itself. The characters are eating anything that moves as they continue to sample what the dungeon has to offer. The stakes are high so you understand why they are doing this but it doesn’t help them rise up as characters at all. The show has some fun moments and action scenes but on the whole this one definitely ends up being more of a skip. It’s unable to hold its own with the big shots.

The show starts off with Laios and his party fighting some monsters. In this world there exists a dungeon that is absolutely massive. It continues to grow every day and so people travel inside for different reasons. For some they are just looking to make a quick buck and get out of there. Others enjoy the thrill of it and finally you have some who want to defeat the monster at the end of the dungeon and see what happens. Legends say that you would then become the King of the dungeon and will be able to manipulate it at will. Well, during their adventure, Falin is eaten by the red dragon and taken away. The party splits but Laios wants to rescue his sister so even without any food or provisions he heads in there with the rest of the characters. Can they win?

The animation is fairly solid here. I don’t love the art style at times but it is trying to emulate the manga so I understand the direction. The character designs are on point though and the movement is good. For some of the big fights they really go all out like with the Red Dragon. It’s just not a battle series first and foremost so I would say the animation tends to take a backseat there. In terms of soundtrack there weren’t any themes that really wow’d me. It sounds okay but is definitely below the curve for anime.

How much you enjoy the show will probably come down to how interesting you find the meals. For most cooking anime part of the fun is in replicating the recipes and having fun with that. You obviously can’t do that with most of these dishes since they’re made up of monsters that don’t exist. I suppose you could probably just substitute chicken in the recipes and see how it goes. That could be fun to try at some point but either way I feel like a big part of the appeal goes down there. It also feels like a series with a lot of corrupting going on. For example Marcille isn’t big on eating monsters and resists for as long as she can but by the end she is forced to go along with them. Otherwise she would just starve.

It would have been nice to have had one of the characters stay strong on this the whole time as a contrast or someone to tell Laios to back it up and stop being weird about everything. Instead he just gets more and more intense about everything and really just wants to eat everything. If you redid the series but it was about them eating every plant around instead then that would work a lot better. Not all monsters count as animal violence here but a lot of times they do go after some fairly realistic ones. Also, in general things like eating the dragon after beating it feel a bit off. It’s good not to let anything go to waste if you end up taking out a monster but of course the real trick would be to not destroy the monster in the first place if you could help it.

At least make the dishes look more appealing. A lot of them just don’t look good to eat in general. As for the humor, it can be more on the hit or miss side. Any of the jokes about how insane and shady Laios is tend to be more on the fail side. I’m just not all that interested in the guy and I think he takes things a step too far. Likewise the jokes about how gross the food is don’t really work…because the food does look gross. So it’s barely even a joke at that point so much as just pointing out observations.

What this really comes down to though is characters. Often times I would say a joke isn’t funny in a vaccuum so much as it’s funny because you like the characters. Like a 2/10 joke could become a 6/10 joke if you have the right character saying it. Since I’m not generally a big fan of the characters, it means that the jokes don’t reach their full potential. It’s not necessarily a writing issue although on a macro issue I suppose you could say it is the writer’s job to make the characters better.

It’s pretty interesting writing about the characters here after finishing the manga but of course the anime only covers some of the events so the characters are a bit different since their character arcs haven’t finished yet. I already went over Laios before so I won’t go further into his character. He’s just not very responsible and has terrible priorities the whole time.

Marcille has always been one of the more likable characters. I feel like she is the only one super serious about recuing Falin. Laios may be her brother but he constantly gets distracted by monsters and his hobby of eating. Look, I love eating too but it’s important to have some priorities and not just be flaky where you go after anything right? That’s my biggest problem with Laios but again let me not drill on this guy for too long. So Marcille is completely out of her comfort zone with this. She doesn’t particularly love the dungeon and she certainly doesn’t want to eat any strange monsters.

However, she puts up with everything in order to rescue Falin. This is the sign of a true friend. Marcille bails them out of a lot of difficult situations with her magic and really comes in clutch. Without her the rest of the characters would have been doomed in a big way. She is definitely the most powerful member of the group and she has the revive spell. So without her if you died in the dungeon then you would be stuck for a while. You don’t technically die permanently due to a spell within the dungeon that keeps your soul from leaving but either way it’s fair to say that you probably don’t want to die at all or be stuck there for 3 months waiting for another adventurer to find you.

In a way that has to be the scariest part of dying in the dungeon. Depending on how you die, it’s possible that nobody would ever find you. For sure that’s why you want to go in a group at the very least because being by yourself feels like it would be borderline a death wish at that point. I guess you’d really be banking on your skills to get immediately rich and run away but it’s not worth it.

Shuro is one of the most annoying characters. He claims to be in love with Falin but then the guy is going to rat her out for being a monster right away? My biggest problem with the guy is that his devotion is just not strong enough. Simply put, I don’t feel that he would have my back in a confrontation and that’s a big issue. How can I trust a guy like that? So he just ends up being extremely unlikable and you know you’re bad when you make Laios look like the reasonable one in a conversation.

I’m not a big fan of Namari leaving the party either but at least she handled things well. It was clearly a “Nothing personal” kind of vibe with her. She’s still on good terms with everyone and isn’t making threats or getting in the way. So I can definitely respect her and she is really handy in the fights. It would be nice for her to appear more but she’s just living her own life at this point and I won’t knock her for that.

Back to the main cast, Chilchuck is next on the list here and he’s also reasonable. He’s not so much in it for Falin as he is for the money and he keeps his contracts. The guy is also a nicer person than he lets on so you have to recognize that a lot of this is just the mask that he puts on. When the going gets tough, you can actually count on him which is important because you can’t say that for some of the other characters. He may not be a fighter but his locksmith skills are certainly useful when you’re in a dungeon like this.

Senshi is the resident cook running around the dungeon and he seems to have a mysterious past. Still, the heroes need to trust whoever they can at this point so right now that means rolling with him. He is useful in a fight as well and keeps the group united so he was a superb addition to the team. Without him it’s very possible that the rest of the group would have been taken out by now. He just has a knack for being in the right place at the right time. I don’t quite like him as much as Marcille but he’s a fairly reasonable guy at the end of the day who does his best.

Then we have Izutsumi who joins up later. She got hit with a curse that made her part cat which is pretty rough to work with. She is trying to find a way around that but the spell was made very carefully so there haven’t been any real leads thus far. Her best bet is sticking with the main crew though so that’s really what she does. She’s the best hand to hand fighter of the group so it’s nice to finally have a close quarters specialist.

As Falin is the main goal in the show she doesn’t appear a ton but when she does show up, she’s fun enough. I don’t care for her too much in the flashbacks as she can be a little too timid. She’s not quite as weird as Laios is but seems to have kept in some of his traits. She’s at her best when she’s more confident and crushing anyone in her way. Falin is a prodigy of magic after all who might even be able to hold her own against Marcille. She just needs to embrace her own abilities.

Finally there is Kabru who is a tactical genius. He’s always creating plans and trying to think things through. I feel like he definitely helps to keep the characters guessing. This guy is a lot of fun and after he got his own episode, I wish he could have gotten more. He’s just way more charismatic as the leader and feels like a more fleshed out character. This is somebody you could absolutely roll with as the main character. Just keep him in there and he would definitely elevate the whole cast without question. There is just no question about it. He is playing a bigger role as the season ends so I look forward to seeing more of him.

By the time season 1 ends there have definitely been quite a few reveals and a big plot shift. The series is preparing to get serious with the big storyline and I can definitely appreciate that. The new Elf characters that showed up also have a lot of potential so I look forward to seeing what they do here. They’ll certainly shake things up which I can really appreciate. For all of these reasons, season 2 seems primed to be the best and surpass season 1 but after reading the manga I can tell you that the opposite is more likely to be true. We’ll see though, the anime can always mix things up.

Overall, Delicious in Dungeon is a show with a very unique premise. It definitely takes the whole cycle of life and eating to survive themes to the max. A show like that just ultimately won’t be for me though. I tend to feel bad for the monsters here who really didn’t ask for this and the character cast is more on the weak side. So that does tend to hurt the humor a bit as well. You should be reasonably entertained for the most part but if you want a show with more intense dungeon exploring then it’s time to check out the show about the reincarnated slime instead. Although there hasn’t been much exploring in a long time there so it might not be the top option.

Overall 4/10

Mashle: Magic and Muscles – The Divine Visionary Candidate Exam Arc Review

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It’s time for the return of Mashle. The first season was definitely great with a solid balance of action and comedy. This one follows it up pretty well with more of the same. We finally meet the big villains in this batch so you know that things are getting real. No problem though, the story still makes time for the humor and everything so the balance isn’t lost. In a lot of ways Mashle feels like a retro Shonen Jump title that could have stood in there with the classics like Naruto. It embraces the common Jump scenarios while also having a lot of fun with them.

After the events of the last season, everyone now knows that Mash has no magical abilities. This means that there are a lot of people who resent him and think he should not be allowed to take the Divine Visionary test. An appeal is made to the principal but fortunately Mash is allowed to stay on. The one catch is that the stakes have now been raised. If Mash doesn’t become the Divine Visionary then he will be murdered. There will be no escape for the guy. It’s a pretty tough situation to be in but then again, this only matters if he loses and Mash is confident in himself. We begin the next round of the tournament but of course the villains are also waiting around the corner.

The 12 episodes really go by very quickly here. It feels like the season ended as soon as it had began but I suppose that just talks to the quality of the show. As always Mash is a fun main character. I would say he is even better in this season because he has more tough dialogue with the villains. At one point he declares himself to be the strongest and in general he doesn’t shy away from any fight. It’s great to be strong but it’s even better to know that you’re strong and so I really liked the confidence there.

Innocent Zero is a pretty great villain right from the jump. The guy has big plans, big connections, and he is generally in control the whole time. That’s the kind of thing that you look for in a villain without a doubt. He also has the power to back his tough talk up as he is probably the strongest fighter in the series right now. His time abilities are super intense and then he gets another power up during the season. I was also glad to see him defend Mash during the early court hearing. It may not be for the right reasons but I’ll still take it. Innocent Zero is also a rare villain who may specialize in long distance attacks but can still hold his own against anyone in close quarters. Now that’s a perfect balance.

While we meet all of the visionaries, most of them haven’t had a chance to do anything yet. Ryoh leaves a great impression because he actually seems reasonable and defends Mash the whole time. Why would you possibly want to murder the kid who is you best hope against the villains? They’re all so brainwashed about the whole magic society part that they even go against their own best interests. Now that is a bad look if I’ve ever seen one. So some of the visionaries definitely get docked a bunch of point for this either for being against Mash or just being on the fence about this.

Wahlberg looks good in the fight but I still have to take points away for how he handled the Mash situation. Put it this way, he’s the principal and yet he is letting this whole debate go on. He should have rushed in there real quick and shut the whole thing down. All he has to say is that Mash will continue to be a student here and ask them what they want to do about that. He could likely beat most of them although if it’s a team battle it would probably be tricky. I just think he should have flexed his power a little more and actually tried to make a difference. Otherwise he’s really not using his position to his advantage. The guy’s way too passive which is my problem with him.

Orter is the biggest prosecutor in terms of trying to get Mash murdered. He wants that guy to be absolutely executed right away but fortunately there aren’t any other members who are quite as deranged as he is. This guy actively hires other villains to go and get Mash. You’re looking forward to someone taking him down at some point. Fortunately Rayne is one of the characters who is actually trying to defend Mash and he does a pretty good job of that. His abilities are really good and while I’m a bit surprised that he didn’t crush Margarette harder, I’d say it’s implied that Rayne is still stronger. He’s a divine visionary for a reason after all.

In some ways Kaldo likely seems to be the most impressive. He did really well when testing Mash to see just how good he was. The guy was holding his own with speed and apparently he was even holding back? Yeah that’s not an opponent to take lightly and his sword looks really cool. I definitely look forward to seeing more of him. Of course Mash’s usual friends are still around as well. Lemon actually has her big moment where she makes a big speech and defends Mash’s honor. Finn still does his best and he has a good durability moment where he stays conscious long enough for Mash to show up and save the day.

Lance and Dot take a more active role in helping out as they fight a bit. Dot doesn’t look super impressive but what else is new right? Lance does well at least and even manages to defeat an opponent while reverted to the body of a child. Now that’s a pretty good feat and definitely nothing that Dot could have matched. I still like Lance a lot as a rival even if Mash already left him in the dust big time. He’s never going to catch him at this rate.

For the villains, there were 4 main ones in this season. First up is Margarette who gets a lot of hype early on. In the first encounter with Mash, Mash actually does a big seismic toss throw to take Margarette down for the count but it doesn’t work. When you see Margarette get up without any injuries, that’s the exact moment where you realize that this is no ordinary opponent. It’s a fantastic way to generate some hype right out of the gate. The hype doesn’t stop from there and it’s a really good fight for the two episodes. I may not love Margarette as a character but you can’t deny this level of power.

Carpaccio is more of the twisted villain type. He likes inflicting pain and his ability is perfect for it since he automatically reflects all pain. Super handy, after all who wouldn’t want to be effectively invincible right? His match against Mash is definitely fun and you have to say that it’s probably the worst matchup for the guy. Mash is probably the only character who is crazy strong enough to take the damage each time and then return blows even harder. That would really be pretty much impossible for the rest of the character. I wonder if murdering Carpaccio would just get reversed before he dies or if that’s a way around the power. Either way it would be really risky to try that.

In general the villains have some rather broken abilities here. Sitter Baby is another one of them. He can turn his opponents into babies which dramatically reduces their stats. it’s a real intense power to be sure and all the guy needs to do is quickly smash his opponent or always have a partner. Either way I’d say the heroes basically got lucky here. It easily could have gone sideways very quickly for them here.

Finally you have Cell War who is a really fun villain. His ability itself isn’t quite as broken as the others but he makes up for this with very impressive physical abilities. You feel like anyone other than Mash would have a super hard time trying to block all of the rapid blows. This guy can shoot tons of spikes at you and also use them to make other kinds of weapons. It’s really an endless barrage that just keeps on coming. I thought he was a very impressive villain even if he couldn’t ultimately keep up. Few can keep up with Mash.

As always the soundtrack is super good for Mashle. I think this is one of those things that really helps the anime to keep on elevating things. It’s really cool to know you are always going to have a great track accompanying a great scene. It’s the way to go. The opening also gets real catchy this time and is a big step up over the season 1 theme song which never really caught on for me. The animation is also really solid here. They have fun with the chibi gags which hold up really well and then for the fights there is a whole lot to enjoy. The fights move quickly and have a lot of action to them. The movement is on point and it never slows down.

The technical elements do not betray the series by any means. So now you’ve got great characters, a great story, and the whole thing is completed with the solid humor all throughout the show. I’m definitely hyped for the next season to keep up this momentum. A lot of the upcoming villains already look cool from the brief look we got at them. Also due in part to how the show still lets us have a lot of slice of life moments and comedic scenes, you’re already use to all of the characters. So you want to see them continue to show up and really get some more fights in there. I really enjoyed the climax in the manga and so I bet it’s going to be extremely awesome in the anime as well.

I mentioned that the show goes very quickly and part of that is due to the really fast pacing. There’s always a fight going on or some kind of gag. You aren’t given much time to catch your breath with the fast paced nature of the show. It makes a lot of sense with how chaotic the school is in general. I do think this is a show where bad animation could have hurt it a lot since you do want the spectacle to show off what Mash can do since that is part of the fun. If he didn’t look impressive then it hurts the entire gimmick/concept.

Also, as strong as Mash is, he isn’t quite the strongest in the verse. So that’s another difference from One Punch Man, there are actually enemies who can take this guy down. Mash is given quite a bit of trouble in his fights in this season and can’t do anything against Innocent Zero. So no worries, there is still a lot of danger in this one. There is a bit of plot armor in regards to why the villains don’t just crush everybody right now though. It would have been a simple enough task and then there would have been nobody around to fight them off later on. Zero definitely fumbled the bag right there.

Overall, Mashle continues to ride all of the momentum from the first season to great effect here. It goes even farther than the first season did and I expect we will see similar success with the next season. At first glance you may figure this is just some kind of One Punch knock-off but I can assure you that it definitely has its own identity. As long as you like good action and humor then you should have a really good time here. Mash choking someone with a creampuff is probably the best gag in the series but in general the series is super funny and the jokes tend to really land. It’s a great all around title that does not really have any weaknesses. I’s all positive here.

Overall 8/10

The Sandlot Review

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The Sandlot is one of those films that I would say has not aged very well. It ends up being more annoying than anything with all of the kids being rather obnoxious. The whole time you are waiting for them to change into better characters and it doesn’t really happen. Hey, they’re all rather young so you can cut them some slack but even so, I just expected better out of these guys. There’s also not enough baseball here which definitely hurts.

The movie starts with Scott moving to a new town again. It’s been rather tough for him to make friends as a result but he gives it his best effort. He heads to the local park where the kids are playing Baseball and tries to fit in but the problem is that he doesn’t actually know how to play. They eventually teach him and now they’re all one big unit. The question is, are they good influences…or bad ones?? Only time will tell.

Okay so right out of the gate the biggest problem here is that none of the kids are likable. They’re all super annoying and constantly getting into trouble. It’s quite telling that they were all super mean to Scott until he learned how to play. The main kid had to rig the game to have the others even give him a shot. It makes you wonder how many other kids they bullied. Yeah Scott was no good at the game but it’s still not a reason to be mean like that.

Then we have the whole lifeguard scene which is the low point of the film. The kid pretends to drown and tricks her which all of the other kids find to be hilarious and even something to be admired. No, that’s just an awful moment and shows that all of the kids are morally bankrupt. It’s just rough and you know that these kids could and should do better. So the film is ticking all of the wrong boxes here and it’s tough because they be getting away with all of this with no real repercussions. That’s another problem right here. If they were getting punished or yelled at then they could at least have some character development but that never happens.

The film also takes the low road of crude humor later on. We have kids barfing and it’s definitely not what you’re trying to see here. These scenes don’t exactly enhance your cinematic experience. Again, where’s the character development? Where are the fun scenes? They are nowhere to be found. To really show that the kids haven’t learned much about being responsible, Scot steals his step father’s baseball with a super rare signature. Things don’t go very well there and the whole thing was Scott’s fault.

I wasn’t super thrilled with how the ending played out. The chase scene with the big dog could have been fun but the whole time you are worried that the dog is going to get injured and of course he does. So that’s just writing in a terrible scene. The dog was really cool and I liked how much power he had in every scene but he should have ended the climax without any real injuries. Now that would have been a good way to close things out. At least I will say that the montage of coming up with ideas to get past the dog was easily the best part of the film. This was a time where the film was actually entertaining even if it wasn’t for long.

I already mentioned the most of the worst moments of the film so I guess all I can say about this is that otherwise the film just could get kind of boring. You weren’t as invested in the various characters and scenes as you could have been because of the characters. Even when they picked a fight with another group, I was rooting for them to lose because in the banter I felt like the main characters were being a lot meaner about it.

Another issue with the climax of the film is how things went for the neighbor. He’s a nice guy to be sure but losing his prized possession ball to give to some irresponsible kids wasn’t great. I know the step Dad will take good care of it but the neighbor is the one who really earned it. I know it’s supposed to be more on the heart warming side but I thought it was just plain annoying. The kids didn’t really deserve that.

Most of the film is also really focused on the kids so the subplot about Scott feeling awkward around his Step Dad doesn’t get a lot of focus. On one hand he is hoping to bond so they can be friends but on the other hand Scott is really bad at the whole Baseball thing at first. The fact that he can’t even throw is rather rough since he runs the ball over. I don’t think Bill hit Scott in the face with the ball on purpose though. Bill could have been gentler and better with the throws but I think generally he just wasn’t sure how to teach at all. He was also just shocked at how bad Scott was. Usually you at least have some fundamentals but this time he didn’t.

The only good kid in the film is Benny. He never makes fun of Scott and really helped him to fit in from the start. He stayed humble all the way through even though he was the best player. Benny was the only one brave enough to confront the dog in the end and he has a real sense of responsibility. He almost felt out of place next to all of the other kids who could only think about their own agendas. So yeah I wanted to give him a shoutout because in all fairness he was a legitimately good character.

Overall, The Sandlot isn’t really my kind of film and that’s to be expected. Generally I am not a big fan of coming of age type movies. Usually that’s because a film like this is pretty much guaranteed to have annoying characters. Part of the whole point is to have the characters learn some lessons about life as they grow up. That’s great, it means that the ending should usually be good but you will also have to be enduring the main cast for the whole film leading up to that which is a much taller order. It’s just not going to work because a film should be good for most of its scenes, not just at the very end. That’s where this one falters big time.

Overall 3/10

Robin Hood Review

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Robin Hood is one of those franchises that I’ve never really been into. The concept of a hero who steals from the rich to give to the poor is a fun one. It’s like a vigilante who is redistributing the wealth as he sees fit. Fortunately the rich people are usually super corrupt and awful or else there would be a lot of moral issues with this. That being said, the animated film has a lot more fun with the concept than the other movies. It’s easily the definitive Robin Hood film if you ask me.

The film starts off by introducing us to Robin Hood who has outsmarted the authorities yet again. He’s been doing this for years and is an expert at escaping although the cops are slowly getting a little better. Robin Hood intends to keep up this life for a while but he ends up falling for Lady Marian and wants to impress her now. What better way than messing with the corrupt royalty and embarrassing them at every turn? The dangerous part of this is the higher up he goes in the food chain, the more forces they will arm up to stop him. Has he just stirred up a hornet’s nest?

Right off the bat I thought the animation was really good. Everything looks sharp and super vibrant from the quick character motions to the backdrops. There is a lot of attention to detail here. There also isn’t a lot of songs for a musical type film but I did like one of the villain’s songs. That was definitely good. On a technical level this film holds up extremely well. It’s why I like this kind of animation style because it never goes away or gets stale. Instead in 20 years it will still look as good.

Then we have the writing which has a lot of clever dialogue the whole time. The banter between all of the characters is really solid. The only one that is a bit try hard is the main villain who is super incompetent and that’s his entire gimmick. He gets suckered all the time while his poor snake ally is constantly trying to help him out. I would have liked the Prince to have been ever so slightly more competent. I get the dynamic they were going for here but it’s not the most entertaining one because it is so lopsided. Give Robin Hood a little more competition against a foe who is more skilled and then we can really be talking.

The Sheriff was a great villain though. He has a masterful scene where he really takes it to Robin Hood. So Robin is disguised as a panhandler and is asking for money. So the sheriff expertly tosses a gold coin into his cup at the perfect angle to also cause his second gold coin to fall out of the cup. So as a result the sheriff has both coins while Robin Hood has none. Hood had his own plan and gets his immediate revenge but I thought that was brilliant. It was the most memorable scene to me after I had finished the film. You just don’t forget a moment like that. I wish he had been the main villain of the whole thing.

John just couldn’t compete. I liked his snake partner though even if he was mostly just taking Ls the whole time. Robin Hood’s partner John was fun enough. I don’t think he ever becomes quite as entertaining as Robin Hood was but he’s still nice enough. It’s always important to have at least one friend on your journeys or you will really feel very alone. As for the heroine Marian, she was nice enough. I may say that the romance in the film was a bit cheesy at times but at least it wasn’t all that rushed. A lot of time passes by over the course of the film and it helps this romance to beat the average one. I still wouldn’t call it the gold standard of anything but it doesn’t bring the movie down.

I would say the most effective part of the film is just that it’s a lot of fun. A lot of times in a Robin Hood movie the main issue is that it can be a bit boring. Sometimes they will also fall into the trap of animal violence but the mot common issue is that it’s just not very interesting and that’s a really bad position to be in. When you’re boring then it is very hard to save the film. This one dodged that immediately with the really solid humor. Most of the jokes really land here.

I would say that the animation helps to back up the jokes because the really expressive style just works really well. It still would not be enough on its own but when you add everything up then it is really a winning formula. I still won’t be all that hyped if there’s an announcement for a new Robin Hood film but if the announcement is that this one in particular is getting a sequel then I would be on board with that. That would have some real potential and the premise lends itself well to sequels. There’s no reason you would ever really have to stop making Robin Hood movies. You could even have Lady Marian join in as a partner/sidekick on his future missions.

Overall, Robin Hood is a pretty good film and I would recommend checking it out. The pacing is on point and the whole movie really flies by. I suppose it helps that the film is really short in general so it’s not like it was going to drag on either way. The film is well crafted and a lot of effort was clearly put into it. It really does its best to try and convince you that Robin Hood is actually a good franchise. If all of the films were like this one then I suppose is would be a really good one.

Overall 7/10

The Day Naruto Became Hokage Review

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It’s time for a piece of Naruto history that was always rather controversial. What if Naruto actually messed up on the biggest day of his life and didn’t make it to his own Hokage coronation ceremony? The thing that he has been striving for his whole life! Surely the reason he couldn’t make it must be absolutely massive like an alien invasion right?….hmmmm. Well it was definitely an intriguing decision that’s for sure. I get it, his fans wanted him to get a nice W here and seeing the biggest moment pulled up from under you is rough. So while I understand it..I’m not affected all that much because I found the reactions to this irl to be rather funny.

So the special starts with everyone getting ready to see Naruto. Hinata heads out for the dry cleaning and Naruto prepares to head out. He will be accompanied by Boruto, one of the biggest stars in the next gen world. That being said, they also need to bring Himawari around and that’s where things get tricky. She wants to bring an animal but Boruto knows she’s just going to make him carry it so he tries to stop her. Unfortunately Himawari doesn’t take this well and starts beating everyone up. It’s definitely emotional, I can see her being a lot of trouble as a kid.

Of course Naruto getting one shotted by her in the special is just for the gag. You see it used as a real feat here and there but lets be for real here. It shouldn’t have done anything to Naruto except maybe make him laugh. I didn’t buy any of this and it was a forced way to have him stay home. You know what I would have done if you needed him to miss the ceremony? Have Himawari say she cooked her first ever ramen so Boruto and Naruto stay home to try it out. That could have been wholesome and worked well.

But this is a special about the vibes and finally wrapping up the journey. I’d say it does a good job with this. It’s only several minutes long so it finishes quickly but you won’t forget the ceremony here. It’s always nice to see a main character reach the end game like Ash Ketchum. Of course I’d have been cool with seeing a big fight scene here but that was never likely. The animation looks good enough and so you’ll have a good time here.

Overall, This is a shorter review but the OVA itself is only like 10 minutes long so it’s not like there’s a whole lot to cover here. It’s a fun little short and that’s really all you need to say about it. If you watched the Naruto series then you owe it to yourself to check this out as a true finale of sorts. If you haven’t seen this yet then you haven’t really completed Naruto’s journey now have you? That’s what you really need to keep in mind here.

Overall 6/10