Tag Archives: Crossover

Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong Review

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I remember when I first saw Godzilla blasting the life out of Superman when the comic came out. People were talking about it for weeks and with good reason. It’s very rare to see Superman taken down so easily. Yeah he’s lost his share of fights but in one shot like that?? Yeah that is super rare and just doesn’t happen. Superman is a symbol of power and so when he goes down…the world loses its confident defender in an instant. Such is the power of Godzilla.

The comic starts out with the Legion of Doom all fighting each other and throwing around insults when Lex unveils a big plan he has. It goes haywire when the Toyman tries to prove himself though and now a bridge has been made between the world of the monsters and DC. Godzilla has emerged and in order to restore balance to the worlds….Superman must die. Will he be able to save the world along with his super friends or are they all going to be no match for the King of the Monsters?

There are other monsters running around here like King Kong but Godzilla definitely gets the meat of the appearances. It makes sense though as everyone is here to see this guy. It goes without saying that he is absolutely the main draw here. King Kong and the others are good but you would probably still expect Superman and the League to take them out quickly. This is a much different matter entirely. The story also gives quite a lot of the DC superheroes a chance to shine so I appreciated that. They made the most of all the issues here.

The standout part is definitely the fight with Superman and Godzilla. Now granted, I really don’t think Godzilla should ordinarily be able to win this one. Superman is much too fast and powerful. Even if Godzilla can hand in there for a few blows, he would ultimately fall after a while without being able to properly land a counter attack. It’s still fun to see the battle though and Superman still looks like a great leader. Meanwhile Batman’s team is the only one to convincingly defeat their Kaiju opponent so that was some nice hype.

It was fun to see the Bat Family all working together as a unit with the exception of Red Hood. It’s not Jason’s best role to say the least as he gets utterly humiliated. I get the fact that he really wanted to show off but this was definitely not the right time to do it. Guns just aren’t the best weapon against full powered Kaijus. The other teams mainly stall or convince their fighter to stop which are still impressive but Batman’s team stands out for really getting the job done.

One character who does not get the job done is Shazam. He messes up in the intro and then somehow loses to the Legion of Doom. It was not a good moment for the guy as that should have been an easy W for him. You just can’t let that happen to you. Green Lantern and Flash also get pretty big roles and look good. Their banter is always a lot of fun and they keep things fresh. I imagine it also helps morale a whole lot. If only Guy Gardner had someone to bounce off of like that. Maybe people wouldn’t always be so mean to the poor guy. At least within the context of this comic it gets a bit harsh for him.

As expected the art is really good here. There is a ton of detail and it makes for an easy read. The fights all pop out at you and the colors look sharp. It really lives up to everything you would expect to see from a big Godzilla and Justice League crossover. Of course I would still like to have more adventures but if the comics were to stop here, I could already say that they accomplished a whole lot.

I suppose if you’re a Legion of Doom fan then you may be left wishing they could have looked more impressive but at this point it’s hard to take them seriously even on a good day. It doesn’t feel like the Legion of Doom have ever managed to keep up with the Justice League for very long. You tend to be more worried when the villains show up on their own with a big plan rather than as a team. Lex Luthor himself is a huge threat for example but when he’s leading the legion? Eh, not really a big deal.

Of course there are times where this can be different but it’s usually not the case. The Toyman definitely looks really bad for a while there but I suppose he ended up causing some trouble even if it was incidental. Deathstroke was one of the most fun villains in his little subplot trying to find Toyman. It’s just hard when there are giant Kaiju running around and dimensional crystals in play. That’s why it was impressive that he was finding any leads at all. Lex gets his share of action of course but definitely ends up being in a little over his head. I do like how Superman’s supporting characters were so aggressive though. Lex was constantly throwing out insults and threats while Lois was also making sure to try and outshine Clark Kent just because she could.

Now on a quick power levels aside, I do think that realistically this wouldn’t really be a big challenge for the Justice League. They should be able to very easily crush all of the Kaiju that show up and then take care of the Legion of Doom. It was of course an enjoyable adventure with everyone splitting up to battle but Superman is just too powerful for all of this and should be able to clear the board on a whim. Such is the power of Superman.

Overall, Justice League vs Godzilla was definitely a fun read. There’s a lot of action and quality characters all the way through. They did a good job of allowing the characters to still have some downtime and personalities going on beyond the fighting like with Superman and Lois hanging out and of course all the banter with Green Lantern and the Flash. I was also totally cool with King Kong getting a smaller role here because of course Godzilla is the main draw. Yes, you should be satisfied with this adventure no matter what side you’re on.

Overall 8/10

Gridman Universe Review

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Gridman Universe is one of those films that is a great reminder on why crossovers are awesome. It really takes every fun aspect from the two shows and brings them together here. You’ll have tons of easter eggs and every character gets something to do. One of the best scenes in the film is when someone whips out the “Domination” ability because that thing is super overpowered and for a minute you’re wondering if they remembered that some heroes can use it. It’s really a trip down nostalgia lane and the film has a pretty long climax. It’s all just excellent stuff.

The movie starts with Yuta still feeling the effects of the Gridman show. At the end of that adventure, Gridman left and so Yuta got his body back. The problem is that it means he didn’t get to really keep the experiences of what happened during the show. He had gotten close to Rikka at the time but in a way it didn’t count and he’s having a hard time approaching her. Things have gotten a bit awkward again and he is also having a hard time contributing to the big school play that they are working on. Well he has no time to worry about that when a Kaiju attacks the city and Gridman returns. Yuta merges with him to fight off the invaders but something feels different about these attacks.

The Kaiju are very real but Akane isn’t around anymore. Who is this new threat? Additionally, the universe appears to be colliding with another one which brings in Yomogi, Yume, and the rest of the new cast of Dynazenon fighters. They don’t know why they’re here either but are ready to help as soon as they get their mechs back. Can Yuta save the world and also express his feelings to Rikka or is that too much to accomplish in such a short time frame?

Yuta’s predicament is definitely a super understandable one because in a way he did lose part of his life there. It’s not easy to reclaim any amount of extra time. I’d say doubly so because it’s not like it was due to a villain or anything like that. There isn’t someone to blame, it just sort of happened and Gridman didn’t do anything bad either. Everyone seemed to really like Yuta during that time so it’s a lot to live up to. The film handles this whole character arc really well. Yuta may not be my favorite character because of how timid he is the whole time but he’s still likable enough.

Meanwhile Rikka’s also in a tough spot here because it’s like she has to get to know Yuta all over again. I’d say she does a good job of putting on a brave face and acting as normal as possible though. She is doing her best to put on a great school play for everyone and keeps good relations with the main characters. Utsumi has a little less to do than the main two but he’s also contributing to the play and doing well. He’s a solid friend who is always there for Yuta when he needs some support.

On the other end, Yomogi is pretty solid. He’s definitely gained confidence since the older days and is way more self assured. He’s quick to notice when someone’s not feeling well and gives Yuta some nice words of encouragement which was definitely nice. He does a great job of holding off the villains at one point and basically does what he can to save the world. Likewise Yume mirrors his confidence and helps Rikka by not beating around the bush either. Yomogi and Yume’s dynamic is definitely pretty solid and they’re long past the point of having any doubts which is great. It would have been nice for them to have gotten a bigger role as the film definitely skews more towards Gridman than Dynazenon but their role was still good.

You may be curious about the big villain, Mad Origin. Well he’s a pretty solid villain. At first I was worried that he was showing up too late and wouldn’t get to do anything but at the end of the day he still did get to have a standout fight and lasted longer than I expected. Naturally that boosted him up the ranks for me quite a bit. He basically wants to destroy everything and you gotta respect that. If not for basically every hero in existence showing up to team together against him, the guy really could have won.

Akane only gets a small role here but it’s definitely a really good one. She was always a fun villain in the first story and she’s still shown to clearly be one of the most powerful fighters here. At this point she shows up whenever she wants to deal out some damage which is a fun role to have. Also the film doesn’t shy away from the twist in the first show that it’s all a fake world that is manipulated from the real world. The characters have had to contend with that, at least the ones who know about it. After all if you found out that you’re fake, what would you do about it? You’re still you after all so on a grand level it shouldn’t matter but that might be easier to tell yourself than to actually believe.

Each show gets to bring their whole supporting cast so as you keep watching you get rewarded for how much you remember each character. Meanwhile the animation here is really excellent as you would expect. The fights really pop out and the colors are very striking. The characters all have very distinct designs and then you’ve also got a really great soundtrack. The domination theme is excellent and then you’ve also got a lot of good general action themes and even a good insert song. The technical aspects were definitely on point here and never faltered. It goes without saying that the story and writing are also very good here.

The movie also did a good job of making up for some previous weaknesses. The two shows did have a bit of a fanservice issue at times and this movie really didn’t have any of that. Maybe a quick moment somewhere but it wasn’t an issue in the film which is great. The movie also came up with a good villain for the end which helped to end things on a high note. It’s really fundamentally sound on every level. The movie is also long enough to give the human characters a chance to catch up and talk a lot outside of the fight scenes. Maybe at most I’d have liked the main two from each show to have gotten to talk a bit longer. I’ll take what I can get though.

Overall, This was definitely a great film. I can’t imagine you will have any real complaints as a fan of either show. The movie went above and beyond to include every possible reference and plot point that it could. There is a lot of great action and also time for character reflection. It also works as an excellent end to the franchise. Naturally I’d love to see more installments in the series but if it ends with this then that’s fine. You can probably watch this even without seeing the shows first but I don’t think you will get the full experience since the big cameos and such won’t hit as hard even if there are enough context clues to figure out what’s going on. Now I suppose I need to wait and see what the next film crossover will be. There are endless possibilities for fun crossovers in anime after all.

Overall 8/10

Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections Review

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I may not have gotten this game day 1 but I knew at some point that I would need to take the plunge. The whole marketing was about a new Uchiha showing up and that’s like finding out that there is a new Saiyan. It’s an immediate way to build up hype and I can tell you that it succeeded. Really one of the only reasons this wasn’t a day one is because most of the story is old.

When you boot up the game you have your usual array of modes. Vs mode, the main story, and special story. The main story is basically compiled from all of the previous games where they paste a lot of those fights but apparently remove a lot of the interactable bits. From what I’ve heard it’s a straight downgrade which is a shame but that’s just how it goes I suppose. We weren’t hear for the main story either way and I skipped it entirely. At some point I’ll play through it for the trophies but that’ll be a while.

The special story starts off with Boruto getting hooked on this online game where he can play as Naruto. Unfortunately there is a deeper conspiracy here and someone is mind controlling Naruto and the others. Sasuke will have to hold Naruto off but Boruto had to stop the threat at its core. If he doesn’t succeed then that will be game over. Now while the main history mode is longer, they did put a good amount of effort into this special story and it lasted longer than I expected with the post game story chapter. It’s really got a lot of good stuff to it. The beginning of the story is certainly slow paced but once the game starts cooking, it really doesn’t hold back at all.

The gameplay is very familiar to long time Storm fans. You have your auto combos and then several ninjutsu and ultimate jutsu. Use them all to really get the edge in combat and absolutely dominate everyone in your path. The story is generally easy but you still can’t just approach it blindly. You need to have some strategy in mind or you will end up being defeated in short order. Generally I would say that the giant monsters are the toughest to deal with since they don’t really flinch or stagger.

As expected the graphics are pretty high end. The cutscenes still look really amazing as well as the in game graphics which are on that PS5 level. They definitely kept in line with what you would expect from the series. Additionally the soundtrack is also really good with a lot of different tunes. The game can get really dramatic and the themes are able to keep up with the tempo and themes the whole time.

In terms of replay value, this is a fighting game so of course it’s basically endless. You can keep on having new experiences with each fight as they will all be different. Additionally some of the trophies look rather difficult so that will buy some more time as well. Since the gameplay is a lot of fun, you’ll certainly be incentivized to play as much as possible.

The story also handled the new Uchiha, Nanashi really well. She’s a really well written character who manages to get interesting really quickly and ends up having a complete arc. The game even sets up a romance that you could argue is better than any of the romances in the main Boruto and even Naruto series. It definitely has one of those super tragic endings to it too. Naturally you usually want to have a very happy ending for any kind of plot but the tragic angle can sometimes work too and this one pulled it off.

I would say there are some power level issues here as I think Boruto could easily wipe out any of the old Uchiha soldiers. Maybe I’m underselling them but I just see Boruto winning that one. Likewise it feels like Sasuke and Naruto could do even better in the present but at the end of the day power level issues never hurt the game’s actual score and quality. This is still a very engaging story by the end and helps make the experience worthwhile.

This is also a gameplay style that I grew up with so it’s super nostalgic. I won’t say for a minute that I’m the best at it or anything like that but I feel comfortable in the system. Mixing up the combos and trying out new techniques is something I can do without too much trouble. The different cinematics for every finishing special is also another incentive to use each character and learn all of their finishers. Adds to the replay value without a doubt.

Overall, Boruto Connections is definitely an excellent game. It would have been nice to see them redo the whole story from the start to Boruto but it’s definitely easy to see why they would choose to just reuse the assets since they were already there. Naturally if this is your first Storm game then it’ll hit even harder because then this is really an amazing amount of content to go through. You have a ton of replay value here with the trophies and everything so there is more than enough value to justify the price. No downsides there so pick up the game as soon as possible.

Overall 9/10

Suicide Squad Isekai Review

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It’s time for the Suicide Squad show that definitely came out of nowhere. In a way it does make sense since having a bunch of villains get Isekai’d into a new world is always an intriguing idea. We’ve seen it before with King of Fighters and a few others in the past. It’s a show that definitely doesn’t mind being bonkers and for that reason I would say it tends to be all over the place. It has some really high highs but also some lows and on the whole it’s a tough balance. It’s a fun watch but I would say it doesn’t really go past breaking even.

The basic plot is that Amanda Waller sends the Suicide Squad into a foreign world. They need to take down the former squad that was sent there and also finally establish relations with the kingdom. If they don’t complete this mission then the squad will be blown off the face of the Earth. As always, Waller has put bombs inside of them and so they really have to accomplish this mission quickly. This means none of the members are particularly happy to be here and as they’re all villains, they don’t have the best teamwork skills either. Will they be able to pull this mission off?

One thing that stuck out right away was that the show got Mori Calliope on board to do the show’s ending. That was pretty hype since I remember her days of being a fairly small Youtube singer so she’s really come a long way. It’s not my favorite song of hers but it’s pretty catchy with the rhythm at least. The opening isn’t quite as catchy though. In general the ost can be a little hit or miss like the rest of the show but some of the battle themes are really quite intense. There is a good amount of variety which is important.

Likewise the animation can get extremely good at some points like when Harley fights Katana. Those moments are really spectacular. Then the rest of the fights can sometimes be downright bad or fairly low budget. The fact that there are any really high budget shots is definitely a plus though and I could definitely watch the battles again. There aren’t a ton of reactors out for the battle yet but I’ll definitely be seeking more out soon.

Now as far as the story itself goes, one thing that would have benefited the show a lot I’d say would be for the bombs to no longer be working. Having them there as a constant timer can help with the tension I suppose but it also takes away from the appeal of having villains warped into a fantasy world which is that they do whatever they feel like. They’re not heroes but they might stop the monsters just so people will praise them or because the monsters are annoying. Having to do this so they aren’t murdered defeats the purpose a bit. They aren’t actually free for the duration of the series so we don’t know exactly what they would have done otherwise.

I’d also say the Squad are obviously not that likable. It’s sort of the point to show that they’re all hardened villains and everything but with some more fun banter it could have worked better. Clayface usually had the best lines here while the rest struggled to keep up with him. At their best they would have good moments but this is a show that absolutely could feel very slow when it was not focused on the action. The action helped to mask the weaknesses pretty well.

One big kudos I can give the story is that we get some pretty big twists at the very end. That was a really good way to end the season and while you may have some questions about exactly how this would work, I would say you can explain it away pretty easily. So it’s got the right amount of mystery there and you wonder how season 2 would play out. If it ever does get a sequel, that would definitely be pretty fun but I would like to widen the cast a bit both for fight scene reasons and to increase the body count. I almost never advocate for higher body counts but in a Suicide Squad title you are expecting some members to get bumped off. That’s sort of a staple of the series but in this show they all felt safe after a few episodes. So if you had started off with double the members then it would have been easier to bump a few off.

Now as for the characters in more detail, Waller is still the big shady boss as always. She loves commanding from the shadows and does a pretty good job in her role. It’s certainly easy to talk big while you’re safe on Earth. She may be a bit easy to manipulate from the Squad’s point of view but since everything still benefits her right now, you could easily say that she’s using them. It’s a solid dynamic for now.

Harley Quinn is a big focus in the show as you’d expect. She’s wacky as ever and gets her big moments as well. She may not take things seriously most of the time but she gets some really good fight scenes. She may even look too good in close quarters at times because then she’s sand bagging in other scenes to an insane degree. The show isn’t usually interested in power levels all that much but at least she does show up when it counts.

Clayface is the most overpowered character in the series since being made of clay makes him nearly invulnerable. Usually he ends up fighting in a super sloppy way so that he can be taken out super easily. I can’t say that I appreciate that to be honest but he has a lot of fun in his role. As I said before, he’s the most likable member of the squad and he does help a lot with bringing humor to the series.

Deadshot is one of those guys who talks really tough but can’t back it up most of the time. He’s a good shot but is completely reliant on bullets so once he’s out of those then it’s over. He tends to act as the pseudo leader of the group and keeps them under wraps but yeah he needs to work on his skills a bit more. Just being a guy with a gun when everyone else has some kind of super ability is not a great match.

Just look at Peacemaker. The guy has super strength and he is great with a gun. He immediately makes Deadshot not feel quite as impressive as he could be. Peacemaker definitely feels like the most insane out of the group though. The guy will do anything to complete the mission, no matter how much of a monster it may make him. The guy definitely lost his marbles a long time ago but still thinks that he is keeping the peace.

Finally we have King Shark who has the least amount of character. He is always ready to help but naturally can’t really banter with the rest of the characters. His strength is given a lot of respect though as in the final fights he is able to easily overpower his rival and only loses once it becomes a 2 vs 1. In a 1 on 1 battle no other water fighter is going to be able to top him.

The Joker doesn’t get a whole lot to do but every few episodes we will get a quick moment with him and Harley as he explains the solution to a problem to her. You definitely get to see his experience but not really much action yet. For now the show definitely seems to be playing his romance with Harley straight as opposed to the two hating each other or being in a toxic relationship so that’s definitely a change.

Rick is here to play the straight man. He reminds the crew not to do anything crazy so they don’t get blown away and is always around to help enforce that. He has no powers and is only average with a gun so don’t expect him to do a whole lot during the fights. I would also say he’s not the most discreet when it comes to keeping secrets. He’s okay but not amazing. I will say he does have his share of good moments but I wish they could have done more with him.

Now Katana is a scene stealer. Whenever she is on screen you know an epic action scene is about to follow. Definitely the best character in the show by far. The other villains just really can’t keep up. Ratcatcher and Thinker? Weaklings who can’t really do much once you get up close and personal. At least the Thinker actually talks tough and can hold his own for a little while. The Ratcatcher is just really whiny the whole time.

Killer Croc is also so weak that you can’t really take him seriously. The guy hides behind his allies the whole time. The only good member from the other squad is the Enchantress. With her abilities she really keeps the heroes on their toes. If anything they were definitely not very considerate even when she tries to help a bit. In a straight fight I’d take her to clobber the whole squad any day.

As for the other worlders, they are okay at best. Cecil is the kind of guy who worries a whole lot. He finally comes around by the end but it definitely took him a long while to get there. Princess Fiona also spends most of the season being super timid and afraid of everything. She gets her classic courage arc so she looks good by the end of that but it’s a super long wait. At least the Queen is just openly evil the whole time but her actions tend to lack any wisdom behind them. One would think she was trying to sabotage her whole kingdom.

At this point it’s a bit of a meme that pretty much every Isekai show has the same kind of fantasy world. A medieval type place with evil goblins running around and knights trying to stop them. Well this show plays that as straight as possible so the world itself isn’t all that interesting. Give me a modern sci-fi world any day. The show can also go a bit too far in reminding us how evil the main characters are at times. Suicide Squad Isekai is a show that randomly gets super violent sometimes and it can range from being shocking to annoying. The biggest example of this is probably when Peacemaker tortured one of the villains but there are other scenes of people getting eaten and ripped to shreds.

That is again another one of the theoretical perks of making villains the main characters since they don’t have a no kill rule. I’d say the more clever way of using them is to just show how selfish they could be or how they do heroic things for their own pleasure. Dialing down the violence either way would have been a good idea or at least making them semi likable. It can be difficult to really root for anybody here. I would say Clayface is the most likable from the villains but otherwise you don’t really want the others to succeed all that much. The villains also lose their hype with the amount of times they are kidnapped.

One thing the show should have done would have been to learn into the anime element a little more. For example throughout the season they hint at the characters getting new abilities in the fantasy world but nothing comes of it until the final battle. Then they have fun with the super powers but that should have been happening throughout. That or just make Katana the villain in every episode since her scenes were always the best by a wide margin. I think a show all about her could have been an easy 8 star title right out of the gate.

Overall, Suicide Squad is a show that is definitely like a true roller coaster. It can get really epic in some moments and then sort of boring in others. It can look amazing one moment and then rather off the next. You never really know what you’re going to get with the episodes. I do feel like they really had some key misses here the whole time though. Some of the story choices like the bombs just clashed with the approach they were going for and I’d also say they didn’t nail down the “charismatic group of villains” angle as well as they could have. It’s definitely an experience and if you’re a fan of the Suicide Squad then you should check it out but it’s not really going to hold its own against the average anime.

Overall 5/10

Battletoads/Double Dragon Review

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It’s time for the return of the Battletoads and this time they’re meeting up with the Double Dragons. It’s one of those games you wish they had waited like 20 years for though because we could have had a killer story with it. Instead, this is pretty solid for the gameplay but there’s not a whole lot to the story itself. Still, it is pretty fun to see the characters again after playing the other Battletoads title not too long ago. Would have been good to have had more dialogue out of the Double Dragons though since they didn’t get much dialogue at all here.

The basic plot is that the villains are back and causing chaos again so the Double Dragons and the Battletoads must unite and fight. That should give long time beat em up fans chills as you go through the levels. I opted to go with the double dragons and beat up the opponents with the old school techniques. It’s fun to hit them with the various combos and in this game enemies tend to wait their turns. That’s good because now I don’t have to worry about being surprised by a cheap shot from behind. Perhaps it makes things a bit easier but I can live with that.

In general you can see how they toned down the difficulties. None of the levels are anything close to the Battletoads racing levels. You still will be dying a lot and I had to use the rewind feature quite a bit but nothing compared to Battletoads. The game also feels a lot shorter here as the 7 levels go by in the blink of an eye. As long as you have your fundamentals on point then you will eventually score the W though. Just focus on landing those blows and your best bet is the dash attack.

When you time is right, no boss can hit you before you land it. Then you can back up and quickly do it again. I was able to land as many as 4 dash attacks in a row before quickly retreating, regrouping, and trying again. It’s an absolutely broken technique so you need to take advantage of that. Going in and trying to win with pure hand to hand combat is going to backfire and fail on you hard. The enemies almost always have better range at their disposal which is a big issue for your fists.

They are durable so you will need a lot of dash attacks but you will eventually win. Just make sure to walk up or down after the dash attack so the boss will follow you and that gives you enough time to land another one. If you follow this procedure the right way then you should definitely not have any issues. It is easier said than done so expect to get blasted a few times while you are perfecting this.

The graphics are pretty solid. The game is very colorful and also expressive. The characters have their eyes popping out whenever a villain shows up in total shock. Additionally you can pogo stick enemies into the ground and they panic as they sink deeper and deeper. The studio clearly had a lot of fun with the facial expressions and I definitely appreciate that. It helps make the whole thing more enjoyable. When the gameplay and graphics are on point then you have a winning formula.

The soundtrack is less memorable but it’s not bad. It’s just not something that you will really be humming in the parking lot afterwards or anything like that. In terms of replay value, there really isn’t any though. Perhaps the cutscenes are slightly different with other characters but I’m not sure. The double dragon I played as only had one line so if that’s the case with the others then you really aren’t missing out on much. It’s a great deal to play through the Switch Online but I would say it’s probably not one you would want to spend money on because of how short it is.

Overall, It is always fun to play through a crossover. They didn’t really do much with the concept as the two sides don’t interact among the main heroes but the game itself is very sound. As long as you enjoy playing beat em up titles then you will definitely be having fun with this game. It has no real weaknesses aside from being fairly short but I would say that’s more of a genre issue. In general none of the 2D beat em ups are all that long and mainly what extended the other Battletoads game was the crazy difficulty which was definitely limited in this one. I imagine after a while you may memorize the frames and attack animations though. At that point you will really be unstoppable. Final shoutout to the game for having a bunch of notable bosses. That was a nice touch not to have them look like normal minions. With these bosses you could tell that they jumped up a tier.

Overall 7/10

Super Dragon Ball Heroes Review

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Dragon Ball Heroes is one of those titles that was really around for a long while. I admired how long it lasted because initially it seemed like this would just be a quick mini series and then it kept on going for years. Heroes became a big part of the Dragon Ball franchise as well. It was all super impressive. The animation may not have always been top tier but I can say that the concepts were always as good as it got. This is a title that will definitely be missed.

The series has several arcs so lets jump into them. One thing you should know is that each episode was generally shorter than half of a standard episode. This means that even though there are 56 episode, the actual length is considerably less than that. It does mean that you can easily watch the whole series in a short amount of time though. It’s very easily bingeable which is always nice to hear. Definitely a title that knew when to go hard even if it had to switch the animation style in the end.

The first arc starts off with a bang as tons of powerful fighters are trapped on Prison Planet. They must all duke it out for the dragon balls and Fu is the mastermind behind all of this. He has to be defeated but his skills are considerable so this will take some real work. The big selling point of this arc was really about Goku from Super finally fighting his GT counterpart. Technically speaking this is Xeno Goku and not GT but fans tend to use the terms interchangeably since in most ways Xeno Goku is unchanged from GT. He just tends to be a bit more powerful. We also get to meet the legendary Cumber in this arc. A Super Saiyan of legend whose power even surpasses that of Broly’s. Can the heroes defeat him?

Oh yeah these early episodes were super intense. While the animation budget wasn’t always the strongest, it was just great to be getting some more Dragon Ball action at long last. I’ve long considered Super Saiyan 4 to be stronger than Super Saiyan god mode but it should be a good fight with Blue. Now that Super Goku has Ultra Instinct, I do think that would go above Saiyan 4 though. The fight is very fast but considering we’ll probably never get this fight in one of the main shows I have to really take what I can get here.

Cumber actually gets a solid amount of screentime for the first arc as he fights it out with everyone. I should say right now that the power scaling in the series is absolutely crazy. You should not expect any kind of consistency or anything like that. So just enjoy the battles and the story. That’s really the main point of this series either way since the plot itself is rarely going for anything all that deep. It’s just fun to see all of the characters mixing it up. Cumber is definitely one of the best new characters to show up in this series and he has immediately become a new staple in the Dragon Ball universe. Hopefully he will get his time to appear in something else soon.

So Prison Planet made for a great first arc without a doubt. This was good stuff. After that we have the longest arc in the series with Hearts taking center stage. He wants to destroy Zeno and all of the gods and to that end he is powering something up and attacking the strongest warriors of every universe. He has allied himself with powerful allies like Cumber and Zamasu. Goku is forced to step back into the ring when even Jiren and Hit are having some trouble but is he ready to take on such formidable fighters?

Hearts is another all star villain right here. The guy has really cool abilities with his cubes and the fact that he can fight so well against Goku and friends is impressive. Most other fighters would have been obliterated just by being in Goku’s presence but that’s not the case for Hearts. No, Hearts is ready for all the action and he has a very cool demeanor. When you mix a great personality and move set into one then that is always going to be an absolutely awesome character.

I also really liked his teammate Lagss. She was able to take down Ultra Instinct Goku in one hit which is crazy. Yes, power levels don’t really matter here but that was still pretty fun. I also liked the grand scale of this arc. You get used to seeing the Xeno characters everywhere but fighters like Jiren and Hit still feel like guest stars. The animation also got a massive boost during the Hearts vs Goku fight. I remember being shocked at just how good it looked. Yeah that was super impressive without a doubt.

By the end of the arc it’s still a bit unclear on exactly how Hearts figured he would beat Zeno with all of this but personally I think Hearts could win already. I don’t stack Zeno all that high, neither do I rank the gods as being out of his league either. While the show itself would likely disagree with me, Goku and friends have long since surpassed the gods. The days of their being the strongest at the top of the food chain are long over.

After that we have a random one episode special where the heroes fight off the demon army. It’s pretty good stuff and I was glad the show got to at least cover this big battle. It may not be the same as covering the whole arc but hey it’s a start. In general the show has to cut out a ton of details and even fights due to the short length time but that makes sense. It’s already tough as it is to adapt the biggest moments after all so just consider this to fully be promotional material. If you want all the details then you will have to read the manga which goes into a lot more depth.

In the next arc Fu finally makes his big move. He has a group of fighters including the mysterious Dr W who are here to destroy Goku and friends. They’re gonna need to pull out all of the stops in order to defeat these guys. It’s a pretty solid arc right from the jump. Dr W is someone you will probably be able to guess right away because there aren’t too many characters with that letter but either way he is a lot of fun. This villain is an absolute menace and his new design is awesome. His fight with the Xeno fighters is pretty good. Meanwhile Fu getting to fight is also a lot of fun and Cumber also returns.

Fu is the big villain you think of when talking about Dragon Ball Heroes because of how much time he spends in the background of every arc talking tough. You know that he will be a top tier fighter and yet you don’t know just how strong. It’s all a mystery until he actually takes center stage and the wait is absolutely worth it. He gets a whole lot of props here and it takes the strongest in the verse to really go after him.

There’s a lot of nonstop action throughout so you really can’t go wrong here. The fights just keep on going as they get grander and grander. The arc is actually interrupted by another special midway about a kid playing the actual arcade game. That was a pretty fun special but you were definitely ready to go back to the arc after that. This is absolutely the kind of Dragon Ball adventures you are always looking forward to. They put in the best of what makes Dragon Ball so exciting.

After that, the next arc kicks things off on a mysterious set of circumstances. Goku wakes up in a strange area where everyone is fighting and Hearts decides to team up with him. Goku has to try and figure out what’s happening and in the meantime he is still injured from the previous arc so he has to fight in a very careful way. There is good strategy here and the backgrounds are great. I liked the locations and everything. Also, Fu ends up making his grand return here so we get a lot of big battles at the end as well. This is what I always love about Dragon Ball Heroes. just wait an episode or two and you are guaranteed to be witnessing big things.

Next up we have the next big tournament arc with the evil time goddess Aeos. Her time abilities are definitely more offensive oriented to the point where she is even able to go up against Ultra Instinct Goku. That made for a super awesome fight and we got one animated scene where Goku was pulling off some Sonic the Hedgehog moves. That was definitely not something I had been expecting. Aeos also generally looks super hype the whole time. She’s another standout villain to be sure.

Most of the kais tend to look rather awful and get defeated by everybody so it was about time that we had a real powerhouse here even if the catch was that she was super evil. That’s just how it goes sometimes after all and it was a valid reason for why she had been training so hard. Villains always have to stay at the top of their game in order to beat the heroes when the chips are down. It was also fun seeing dark Bardock in action during the arc. The guy definitely got a real significant power boost here considering who he was going up against. Those Dragon Ball Heroes zenkai boosts really hit hard. The arc had fun involving a lot of fighters and more of the supporting cast than usual so that was definitely cool. Of course at the end of the day I’m here for the big fighters so it’s not like I need the supporting cast or anything like that.

Finally we reach the last arc of the series. Ozotto has shown up and he intends on absorbing everyone in the universe. His powers are absolutely incredible and even Goku/Vegeta may not be able to win. They’re forced to call in the whole gang. The arc is shorter than most of the others but still hits hard. The tragic thing here is that the animation changed to CG just when the soundtrack went to the highest that it’s ever been. The graphics are basically like the arcade game cutscenes as opposed to the traditional style that was always a lot of fun. If you have to go CG then this is a pretty good style to go with since it looks just like the video games but I really prefer traditional animation.

The setup and everything was so good otherwise too. Ah well, even with the limitations this is till a lot of fun. You feel the hype as Ozotto slowly begins to take everyone down. Not only can he absorb people but he can make clones that retain their own abilities. It’s a real broken kind of power the more that you think of it. One wrong move and it’s all over. He’s probably not the final boss I would have chosen but the fact that he is so out there can also work well enough on its own. He’s fairly unassuming in that way. I’m not a big fan of the guy but he’s okay. It would just be nice if he had cooler moments to really show off.

And that really wraps up the Dragon Ball Heroes experience. Let me tell you, it was really a sweet ride all the way through. As long as you really enjoy the DBZ characters and setting then you’ll really get a kick out of this. Dragon Ball is such a massive franchise that you would expect more stories like this constantly but it often feels like you have to wait a long time for the next adventure. Hopefully this inspires them to keep on churning out more top tier products in the future. If they can pull that off then we will really be in business here. It probably won’t be as crazy as Heroes was in terms of being such a big crossover of characters but those are rare anyway. Heroes is like a celebration of the franchise as a whole so now it’ll take a break for smaller adventures and then one day hopefully we should be able to get another big one like this.

Overall, Super Dragon Ball Heroes is a great show. This is what DBZ sounds like to anyone who doesn’t watch the show. It’s basically all action with minimal plot and everyone is always getting beat up. The power levels are impossible to decipher and instead you are operating on pure hype. Let me tell you, there is never anything wrong with pure hype. It’s the foundational basis for what makes anime cool after all. Now that the series is done, you can binge it as a quick movie trilogy or something like that. It’s definitely worth the watch and it’s a shame that this has not been dubbed yet. It would absolutely sell a whole lot so it feels like the company is allergic to money. Dragon Ball Daima is almost here so hopefully that title is able to keep up with this one’s legacy.

Overall 8/10

Godzilla vs. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Review

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It’s time to jump into the big Godzilla vs Power Rangers crossover. It’s safe to say that crossovers are always a great way to catch my attention. Whether it be for the power level discussions or just the interactions between the characters, crossovers really take my enjoyment to the next level. I’ve read way more Godzilla comics than Power Rangers but I like to think I’m still fairly familiar with the franchise thanks to the video games and the movie. In the end this story was definitely a blast and I look forward to the next crossover.

It starts off with the Green Ranger defying orders and attacking Rita and her associates by himself. Not the smartest move to be honest and he’s quickly dispatched as they warp across time and space into another dimension. This is the world of Godzilla where monsters roam around freely and the only defender of the planet is Godzilla…and he is not a merciful ruler. As long as you stay out of his way you’re good, but the local aliens are always causing trouble and stirring him up. Rita sees this as her big chance to rule the world because there are no Power Rangers to worry about here. But is she really ready to take on the King of the Monsters himself? Additionally, the Power Rangers make their grand entrance later on.

First up, the art is definitely great here. It’s all very detailed and colorful. Every page really grabs your attention and you are glued in on the action. My favorite panel isn’t even an action one this time, but instead the splash page at the end of the first issue when the Power Rangers arrive. Their outfits just look extremely dynamic and it’s a really hype moment. I always like the grand entrance kind of moment and this really works out well. You know that the Power Rangers have never failed before but even for them Godzilla will be a tough opponent. I think that’s another big hype part about crossovers. When you have a matchup of say Superman vs Goku and assuming there won’t be a cop out, you have a hard time being able to guess who will win because both fighters are used to overcoming all odds and claiming victory. Superman defeating Thor for example was huge for that reason because a part of you just figured the fight wouldn’t end and other parts just thought maybe Thor would have the edge.

It’s always fun when you don’t really know who will win. Surprisingly, I would argue that the comic takes the stance that the Power Rangers are stronger than Godzilla. I do personally agree with this but I was expecting him to have more of an edge. It’s pretty well balanced though as the Godzilla verse Kaiju are shown to be much stronger than Rita’s legions of monsters. On the other hand, Rita and her friends basically humiliate the aliens from the Godzilla verse the whole time. So the Power Rangers may have had the edge as a verse here but it’s pretty close the whole time.

This incarnation of Godzilla leans more on him being a neutral party who destroys everything in his way. I wouldn’t call him heroic but he’s also not downright evil like other versions. Basically if you mess with him then he’ll blow you up but otherwise he’s not going around picking fights. He also does get his respect in the power department as he blows away Megalon and does hold his own against Ghidorah for a little while. I was also glad that he completely no sold the mind control from Rita. That would have been really disappointing if she had succeeded even for an instant.

Ghidorah also looks really good here. They really show him to be a top level threat and this seems like one verse where he’s even stronger than Godzilla. You do have to account for some factors like Godzilla already having been in several fights while Ghidorah was coming in fresh though. Gigan doesn’t look great though as he’s treated more like fodder compared to the other Kaiju. I also still don’t get the whole space chicken thing but I guess you either see it or you don’t.

The aliens on the Godzilla side weren’t too interesting but I enjoyed Rita and her crew. They all had solid designs and she seems like a good leader. She makes some questionable decisions (Like sending her B team out to fight Ghidorah and actually thinking they stood a chance. She found out the hard way that they really didn’t in very short order) but for the most part she is in charge. I like her confidence and would like to see more of her in action.

Then of course we have the Power Rangers who are great characters. They have great teamwork and actually feel like a complete unit. No bickering, insulting each other, second guessing orders, etc. I dare say they are one of the best led units I’ve seen in a while. It’s just rare to see the whole team buckle up to get the job done the way they did here. I always saw that as one of the appeals of the series and have no doubts that their comics are a lot of fun. The Red Ranger always has a plan and is ready to protect everyone. The Green Ranger may have been a little too headstrong in stopping the villains but considering that they were about to unleash their big plan, I totally get why he felt like he had to run in and stop that.

The Megazord also looks incredibly powerful. In the comics it manages to defeat Gigan, take out many of Rita’s monsters, and was also stalemating Godzilla and that’s before it merged with the Green Ranger’s own Zord to unlock its true power. I was very impressed and then apparently it can also self repair? Within a few minutes it was back up to 80% after sustaining massive damage so that is super impressive. Yeah the Power Rangers really got a lot of hype here and I dare say that it was all very deserved.

The writing is really on point here and this would make for a really fun movie someday. You could adapt it real easy and fans of both verses are bound to have a good time. Each verse gets treated with a lot of respect which is always important in a crossover so that everyone feels satisfied. I’d also say there were no real cop outs here. That’s probably a bit more subjective but to me they did answer the questions of who would win each fight. Whether you agree with the power levels is another issue of course but at least they put the scenes out there. There’s a lot of nonstop fights here and it’s got a whole lot of replay value.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this comic. It’s a blast all the way through and there are really no negatives to be found anywhere here. It’s rare for a crossover to happen more than once so I’m not sure if these two will meet again but there are definitely way more crossovers out there for me to check out. Godzilla vs the Justice League for example will be a fun one at some point. I’m sure the Power Rangers have had more as well, maybe they even met the Justice League as well. Either way I’m sure I will be seeing these characters again.

Overall 8/10

Scooby-Doo! and Krypto, Too! Review

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I always forget just how short these films can be but man do you feel it with this one. It just ends so fast and I think that does take away from what they could have done here. Ultimately it’s a fun enough movie even if I wouldn’t consider it to be one of the strongest ones. Just having the DC heroes/villains here is pretty fun. At the end of the day I also tend to enjoy crossovers quite a bit so that adds a bit of an extra punch to the experience right out of the gate.

The film starts with the Justice League vanishing and the culprit appears to be some kind of fire ghost. Clearly he is a threat to be able to take out someone like the mighty Superman. Lois tries to investigate but the monster is too tricky so for once she gives up on the biggest story of her life and instead brings in the Mystery Gang to solve this. They look scared right out of the jump with their credibility diminishing the longer they are in the room but they vow to solve this case and help save the world. Can this terrified group of youngsters surpass their limits to save the day?

Now you may be thinking, what about Krypto? No worries he randomly shows up in the Hall of Justice and helps out. Aside from Shaggy and Scooby the rest of the gang aren’t impressed since they think that Krypto is just some normal dog. I think this is supposed to be funny because they’re used to Scooby Doo doing all kinds of crazy things but now they’re skeptical. Perhaps they are right to be though because Krypto looks very underwhelming for most of the film. When the heroes are attacked by a group of villains Krypto is the first to run for the door and spends a while trying to open it instead of helping out.

He then gets absolutely crushed in his only one on one fight against another dog. This may be a Krypto crossover film but he looks so bad that you may wonder why he was in the title. His role just isn’t as critical as you would expect it to be for a 50/50 crossover like this. I would say Courage got a lot more to do in his adventure. It’s still nice to see Krypto of course and they show off his powers but when he scratches on a door instead of busting it open you wonder how much of his super strength he actually kept. Not enough if you ask me.

From the DC side the main characters here as Lex Luthor, Mercy, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen. Jimmy looks pretty bad the whole time too as he’s so desperate to be with Daphne that he made up this whole rationale in his head. He looks desperate the whole time but no worries he does vanish for most of the film. Lois looks tough as you’d expect and isn’t afraid to take shots at the cast. That said I do find it a bit out of character that she wouldn’t pursue the story herself. Yeah we get a half hearted excuse about covering other stories since the city is being overrun but that’s not quite good enough.

Mercy looks solid here as she tries to balance everything out for Lex. Her role is really satisfying all the way through and the film is able to handle the dynamic with her and Lex better than a lot of other titles to be honest. Lex is hamming up the villain angle quite a bit in this film but you would expect that with the Scooby gang in tow. This is where the film shined a bit more than I expected because I was ready for him to just be the comic relief for a while there but his role is actually rather solid. Yeah he has some anti feats in terms of intelligence but based on the ending you could make the case that it was all an act and I would take that case.

The Scooby gang are mainly as you would expect. Scooby and Shaggy are still running from every threat and generally getting taken down with minimal effort. I still think by now they should have improved a little more so I tend to be a little critical of them. Velma does good in getting hints and cracking the case so I have no issues with her. In some ways you could say it’s one of her better appearances because she’s really not getting distracted and just works to solve the case. You can’t say that most of the other characters in this one.

Fred looks pretty bad here as he keeps grilling Daphne about her and Jimmy despite being in the room when she explained that they were never together. He looks really insecure the whole time and then he gets cared easily and everything. His confidence issues are definitely not fitting for his character since he should always be the calm and collected leader who gets the job done. At his core that’s who Fred Jones is after all. A man on a mission but at least he gets some stuff to do during the climax.

Meanwhile Daphne’s not bad. She gets to fight quite a bit as the films have established her as the best fighter for a while now. She’s able to use Batman’s skills with ease and dishes out a lot of damage the whole time. Honestly it might be time for her to leave the mystery gang and become a crimefighter full time to make the best use of her talents. She could be making a real difference in the city by now.

Despite the film’s short overall length it does still manage to deliver a fairly long climax which I found to be impressive. There is a whole lot of action as we get to see all of the heroes and villains mixing it up in the city. We even get a brief battle between Mercy and Daphne which I would have liked to have seen more of since it would have had a lot of good choreography. So the action at the end was really appreciated particularly since it helped to give the DC side of this crossover a little more shine.

The humor can be a little more on the hit or miss side. I think one issue with the series is that sometimes they do tend to do the same gag over and over until it’s run into the ground. Fred trying to find out about Jimmy from Daphne, Scooby and Shaggy never being able to eat their meal in peace, etc. Still at the end of the day it’s nothing so bad that it would hurt the score big time or anything like that. The writing just isn’t nearly as clever as it’s trying to be.

Overall, Scooby Doo delivers with another fun film here. At the end of the day it may not be one of the more intense Scooby Doo titles but the novelty of having the DC characters in here makes up the difference. If you like Krypto then you’ll probably be disappointed but otherwise just enjoy the DC universe and you’ll have a good time here. I look forward to seeing Scooby Doo churn out more titles and hopefully another big crossover soon.

Overall 7/10

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl Review

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I knew that this game was going to be a winner the instant it was announced. It still took me a little while to buy it but hey…better late than never right? It does feel a little barebones though which is why you wanted to wait for a discount because at full price this would really not be worth it at all. There is no story mode so you will just be playing arcade mode over and over again for the single player content. The multiplayer is the main hook of the game of course but I wouldn’t say that it is a very strong hook to be honest compared to the competitors. If you look at the game on its own though then it does well enough.

So you’ve got a decent amount of characters here. I’m pretty sure it’s over 20. All the classics like Spongebob and Danny Phantom. Admittedly I did not watch a lot of Nick as a kid so the character roster is definitely not as nostalgic as it would be to someone who grew up with the characters. That being said, I still know most of the characters through reputation so that’s something. I feel like the Ninja Turtles have the best movesets here. The weapons really help them have a solid range.

That said, I played way too casually to really be giving any serious tier list advice here. Try all of the characters and see what you think. There is definitely a lot to absorb here. The gameplay is the same as the Super Smash Bros experience. You have normal moves, specials, a third jump, and power attacks. Use these to knock the opponent off of the platform so they can lose a life. Repeat the process until time is up or all stocks have been removed. Then at that point you will have won the match.

There aren’t many unlockables to be had here but you can alter the rules so that the matches are all different. You can also jump online and fight other players. As mentioned that is a pretty big draw since you can fully test just how good you are. It’s easy to style on the computers of course but the real test is going up against other people who have put in a lot of time. The online servers will probably be pretty dead once the sequel comes out so you should keep that in mind. Of course there is still local multiplayer mode as well and some trophies will require you to be on there for quite a while.

There is a lot of replay value here thanks to the multiplayer options. So while the single player is rather limited, that is really just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the total experience. So keep that in mind, particularly since the price for this game is relatively cheap right now. It’s really not bad value for your dollar and in general I just love fighting games. So getting to play one is always a real treat even if there isn’t much to it. A fighting game is a great genre in that you don’t need much. As long as the gameplay is smooth and implemented carefully then you should really be all set.

The graphics are pretty good here. Perhaps not top of the line or anything like that but they are modern with no obvious issues. The soundtrack is more on the really underwhelming side. There weren’t any tunes that really stood out to me. There also aren’t a lot of stages so you will really be hearing all of the tunes over and over again as you try to beat arcade mode with everyone. Yes for the review as well as to get some more trophies I went ahead and completed the game with every character. Let me tell you, that was not easy! Or maybe it’s more accurate to say that it was easy but a little tedious.

Overall, Nick has a solid fighting game on their hands. It isn’t ruined by any random mechanic like the PS All Stars game either. So this one gets to really stand the test of time. It’s just a shame that there couldn’t have been a few more modes, features, and other stuff to make it stand out. Would have been so much fun! Instead it just fades away compared to the competition. It stands up to the test of time on its own but will always be seen as the B product instead of the A one. As long as Super Smash Bros exists that will be true for pretty much 99% of platform fighters but I still like to think that some day someone will come up with a rival so high budget and stuffed with features that even Smash can’t scare it away.

Overall 7/10

Kilala Princess Review

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Kilala Princess is a fairly basic manga that is all about having fun and doesn’t really try for a deeper plot. That said, it succeeds in this by earnestly making that the priority. The series knows exactly what it is and isn’t trying to be anything else. I can definitely respect that. It’s a super safe approach so I don’t have any significant issues with the series. It does mean that there’s a lower ceiling here since the title won’t be all that exciting or epic but it avoids most pitfalls as well. In essence what this means is that it’s a safe recommendation to anyone but it’s not going to be high enough where I would usually end up recommending it to anyone either way.

The series starts off by introducing us to Kilala who is a very cheerful girl. Life comes at you fast but it never overwhelms her and she just looks forward to the adventure. One day she meets a boy named Rei who is the prince of a far away kingdom. He’s guarding a tiara but there are a bunch of villains after it. Basically he needs to find the 7th princess of legend in order to save his country. Kilala knows there’s no way it can be her but she offers to help. In fact, the princess could possibly be her best friend Erika. Unfortunately Erika gets brainwashed and the villains are relentless. Kilala is now in for a big adventure spanning various worlds and dimensions as she aids Rei but what if this search is for naught and there is no princess?

It’s a fairly basic plot and that’s basically a vehicle for the adventures so don’t worry about that much. There’s a fairly straight forward formula here which is that the heroes will go to a world like Little Mermaid or Snow White and meet with the heroes. The villains will attack, the heroes realize that the 7th princess is not there and then they go to the next world. It sort of reminds me of Kingdom Hearts but of course without all of the Heartless attacking and laying siege to the planet. There are the human villains running around of course but they aren’t quite as threatening.

As I said before though, it’s a fairly calm adventure and without that big sense of danger you are able to just relax and have a good time. The main characters are nice enough and this is the kind of title you can definitely recommend to all ages to have a good time. There’s a little adventure, a little romance, and a little danger. There’s also some positive themes here like Kilala learning to stand up for herself and realize that even if she’s not a princess, there’s nothing stopping her from being a great person.

The series does seem to accelerate near the end to the finish line though so don’t expect each of the worlds to have equal length. Towards the end they have to wrap things up so the last world or two are rather short. Still, the series had a decent run and is still long enough to be memorable. The smaller stakes is what helps this to end up being very manageable in the long run. Now lets talk about the characters.

Kilala is a nice lead who is always trying to do the right thing and help the prince out. At times she can be a little timid though and isn’t the most outspoken lead. To an extent I would say this is because she’s younger than most leads. Kilala hasn’t had to deal with a whole lot of issues or crisis situations over the years so this whole journey is a brand new experience for her. She does take it in stride and has fun while she can of course. Part of her character development is how she eventually learns how to stick up for herself and be a core member.

It’s just not easy at first but I’ll give her points for doing this. She’s just not my favorite lead as a result. What I’d like is for her to talk a little tougher to the rival Sylphy. See, Sylphy is basically Rei’s fiancé but there’s a lot of disclaimers to that. The problem is that he never really rejects her which gives her an in to be super confident and mess with Kilala a lot. On one hand I love Sylphy’s confidence so if she did nothing underhanded then she would be the best character. Unfortunately she ends up making a shady deal at one point in the series which tanked her character.

If she stuck to fighting for Rei then that would be one thing but she crossed the line there. Ultimately that’s why the best character is Kilala’s friend Erika but she ends up vanishing after the opening arc. It’s too bad but often times that is the fate of the friend in world hopping adventure like this one. Erika isn’t the main character so she’s not really invited but she handled herself with great poise the whole time. She’s just a good person and that goes for a lot in the end.

The reason why Rei doesn’t rise as highly is because he doesn’t really pick a girl as I mentioned earlier. The guy is super passive the whole time. Sure he gets his romance moments but he’s not very decisive and leaves a lot of the work to Kilala. In some ways I don’t fully disagree with this so long as he isn’t interested since the party more in love should make the first move. The problem is then after that he absolutely needs to make a decision but he’s often content to just be on the sidelines. Mix that in with his getting knocked out, captured, and defeated constantly and he’s not the most impressive prince. He means well but you can’t say much else for him.

As for the main villain I suppose it’s a bit of a twist on who he is so I won’t say his name. He’s okay at best but there’s really not a whole lot to say about him. I think you could have gone into depth on his motivations and given him a real sob story but he doesn’t get a whole lot of attention. Yes, he does get the bare essentials in terms of origin and motives but nothing that really makes him stick out. At the end of the day he’s just some guy trying to take over and that’s why it rarely feels like this is really the main plot.

The story is more about Kilala learning about what it means to be a true princess as opposed to fighting and leading the army against the impending threat. This is still a Shoujo and not an action title after all. It’s not trying to be the next Yona of the Dawn. At times you definitely wish there would be more action but the talks with the princesses and mini adventures are fun enough. It’s basically like watching a Saturday morning cartoon.

The art is also pretty good, it’s clear and the character designs are on point. You shouldn’t have any problem understanding what is happening at all times. The different worlds all look distinct and I would say the artist captured the style and appearance of each world pretty well. It’s why in a way basic art can sometimes take on the more detailed ones. Sure this won’t look like One Punch Man or Megaman NT Warrior but because it’s rather basic it is easily understood and you can appreciate the big splash pages.

Overall, Kilala Princess is good fun. There’s not really a whole lot to it but there aren’t really any big issues either. The characters are fun enough and you’ll be breezing through the volumes. I’d recommend this to anyone who wants to see the classic Disney characters. Unfortunately the different worlds don’t get to meet up but you still get to see them advise the heroine and help her along the journey.

Overall 6/10