Tag Archives: Friendship

The Care Bears Movie Review

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Let me tell you something, you don’t want to mess with the Care Bears. The instant I knew I was going to watch a movie about these guys I knew I was in for a big adventure. Their magical abilities are quite formidable and the only reason they don’t win more fights is due to the genre. These films are for kids and about having fun rather than being big action blockbusters. If they were then this would be a whole different ballgame. The film is good old fashioned fun. I won’t say it’s great or anything but I had a good time with it.

The movie starts with the Cherrywoods telling a story to a bunch of kids. Back in the day there were two kids who were really lonely and they had a rough time of things because they were orphans. So the Care Bears decided to step in and get them to have friends. They took the kids on a tour of their world and helped them learn the true meaning of friendship. The problem is that they didn’t reach a kid named Nicholas in time. This kid ends up meeting a mysterious lady who lives in a book. She quickly begins to trick him into learning the dark arts and generally spreading misfortune into the world. He will now stop the world from caring about anything. Can the Care Bears stop him or is it game over?

The Care Bears have a lot of abilities like powerful lasers and high tech gadgets but they are lacking in confidence. For the most part they don’t want to deal the evil spirit directly. So throughout the film you see the Care Bears running around and panicking. They are definitely not the best allies to have on your side since they don’t really inspire any kind of confidence. At one point the two kids have to fend for themselves as Nicholas chases the around because none of the care bears are really doing anything.

Now granted, the world wasn’t in a very caring mood as the care levels went down but you’d still expect the bears to be able to do something. Instead they take a back seat in their own film for a while there. The movie isn’t too concerned about delivering a great story and it’s more about the vibes so lets talk about those. For starters the animation is pretty good. The hand drawn aspect still works pretty well after all these years. The scenes are very smooth and easy to follow. The action scenes that we do get look pretty good too.

The soundtrack is more of a mixed bag. Some of the songs really don’t work at all while some others are okay. Just don’t go in expecting anything too crazy here. As for the script, it’s fine enough. Everyth8ing can be a bit exaggerated but that works well enough. One character even gets a massive plot twist at the end which shows how he has really changed as a character. That was pretty wholesome all things considered. He really came a long way from when he was a kid.

The more I write about the story the more I have to admit it was a bit all over the place. At the same time that is part of the fun I suppose. This movie isn’t even worried about trying to have a huge narrative or telling a complete story. It’s just messing around and having a good time. I also give it points for not even trying to introduce the various care bears beyond their name. You either get the drift of what’s going on or you don’t. It all comes down to that.

I also appreciated the villain being straight up evil and this wasn’t all some kind of misunderstanding. She wants to achieve her ambitions and has no problems manipulating whoever it takes to complete that. That kind of unfeeling villain works well in the Care Bears as a complete foil to everything that the main characters represent. Her design was good and while it would have been nice to have had an explosive finale, I suppose that’s not really what this movie is all about.

The concept of the Care Bears will pretty much always beat the execution but perhaps one day that can change. In the meantime the important thing is that the film is fun and you’ll have a good time. I do wish they would skip the narration at the beginning though with the story book plot device because it does spoil the ending. I know it’s basically a foregone conclusion that things will go well but at the same time you still don’t have to actively show it like that.

Now will this end up making you a huge fan of the Care Bears themselves? Eh, probably not. They still aren’t super good at their jobs and basically get lucky a lot of the time. Considering the crazy amount of technology and super powers that they have, they should have a better handle on things. It’s another reason why the Ponies are higher since they do generally have solid control over the kingdom. They don’t have to rely on humans to bail them out every time as that would just be plain embarrassing.

Overall, The Care Bears is a good film. I won’t say it’s great or anything like that but by the end you will feel pretty satisfied with your experience. The Key Bear even came in clutch when it counted. The world of the Care Bears may be a deadly one as one town can completely tip the balance of power one way or the other but at the same time it also shows just how much difference one person can make. I don’t think the franchise will ever be at the level of My Little Pony or Strawberry Shortcake going forward since the premise just isn’t quite as hype but if you haven’t watched this movie yet, you should change that.

Overall 6/10

Edens Zero Review

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As everyone who reads works created by Mashima knows…the best ship is friendship. Friendship is something that will take you very far. When you think you’re at the end of your rope or that you are going to get absolutely dominated once more, just remember to reach out to your friends. Eden Zero is filled with lots of great and positive messages the whole time. I really appreciate this the whole time. That being said…., the series is held back massively by the crazy amounts of fanservice contained within. Trust me, it’s an absolutely absurd amount of fanservice the whole time. It will chill you to the bone. This could have easily been a 9/10 series but it just couldn’t overcome all of this.

The series starts with a V Tuber named Rebecca deciding to head to a robot amusement park planet. On it, she meets a boy named Shiki who was raised by robots. He doesn’t even know how to have a basic interaction with another human which is a little strange. The guy seems to really be behind the times but the robots ask her to take Shiki with her since they will be dying soon. This leads to some tearful goodbyes but she takes Shiki along with her on the V Tuber journey. Shiki gets to make a lot of other friends as he journeys with her but there won’t be time for too much fun. The entire multiverse is at risk because of various opponents who want to destroy everything. Can Shiki stop them?

First thing’s first, the art is absolutely spectacular as you would expect. This guy is super experienced from the days of Fairy Tail so this isn’t really much of a surprise. It’s still got some of the best looking fights and character designs that you will see in manga. It’s really spectacular and the paneling is on a completely different level. It’s the kind of series you could easily binge from start to finish as a result because it’s just so easy to read through. The artist has real skills here.

Unfortunately it is a double edged sword as the series is very quick to jump into fanservice the whole time. You can barely go two pages without something crazy happening on screen. I dare say that it may even match Fairy Tail in that regard. Fairy Tail may still have the edge in frequency but this one has the edge in how extreme the fanservice elements get. Lets just say that things get real disturbing here and the series also gets really granular about the fanservice as well. It tries to hit every possible niche which isn’t always a good thing. Wait…it’s never a good thing. Yeah this series was cooked from the start. It’s one of those titles that is a 9/10 in terms of hype but ultimately sinks to a 1/10.

It’s just not a series that you could easily read in public or ever recommend to anyone so automatically that means that it is a bad series. You really can’t come back from that. The series can also get a little overly dark as well. Usually it goes hand in hand with the fanservice but quite a few villains like to focus on humiliation. You can see how that gets rough real quick. Others have to become slaves for a while and others are thrown to the wolves. Quite a few characters meet very grisly fates throughout the series which is unfortunate.

I would say that this is to keep pace with the themes that the series has by the end. The heroes are fighting to achieve a perfect world where everyone finally gets their happy ending. To do that, they hop between different timelines and pasts. Well, this isn’t their goal for most of the series but by the end this happens. So after seeing how everyone had such a tragic end, we can be happy that they have peace the next time around. It’s a good concept but you probably could have toned down the bad endings a little bit.

Also while the series is fairly long, the ending still ends up being super rushed which is almost impressive but in a sad way. There was definitely more time to continue so I’m not sure why the series ended so abruptly. This was definitely the time to get in some more massive fight scenes. Rushed nature aside though, I can’t be upset with how it finished though. This is the kind of really happy ending that I could get behind. It was satisfying that after such a long and dangerous journey, the characters were allowed to actually thrive and have a good time. I definitely can’t fault that.

Now lets talk about the characters here. I’ll just say right now that every story arc is bogged down by the fanservice. I’ll get this out of the way now so I don’t have to be super repetitive. It’s not like Fairy Tail where it took a while for that to show up. Nah, in this title they went hard from the jump and put in every possible effort to stop any of the arcs from being as high tier as they should have been. Naturally I won’t be going into every character but I’ll tackle a bunch of the big ones.

Amira is one of the big missed opportunities of the series because she seemed like an interesting character with a lot of mystery. She’s a secret agent of sorts who is a master of disguise and usually seems to be one step ahead of the other characters. She gets a whole lot of respect but doesn’t end up doing much with it. I remember always being intrigued when she would show up…and then she would just vanish as quickly as she had appeared. It felt like an odd decision.

Brigandine is a solid villain who had a good honor code. He came in at a rough point narratively so the guy was not a threat but he was technically powerful. I tend to like the strong types who stick to fighting within the combat rules and don’t take hostages or anything like that. He’s the kind of villain who will be memorable based on how much you enjoyed his battle or not. If you weren’t a big fan then that would be the end of that.

God Acnoella has such a cool name so you would expect her to be one of the very best right? Well, unfortunately she still has quite a few limitations on screen time. Make no mistake, she gets a ton of hype constantly but it never amounts to much. I really thought she should have had more of a grand final fight so we could actually see what she could do. Another missed opportunity and you’ve seen me say that a few times. It’s just that there’s a lot more you could have done with some of these characters.

Happy works well as the main mascot here. I like that he is effectively just like the Happy from Fairy Tail. It’s technically a different one but has a similar personality and everything. He definitely has a real intense backstory so you feel bad for him too but he messes around less than the FT version. This is one that you can actually count on to have your back.

Hermit is one of the main characters and she is a super genius. She may not be able to fight on quite the same high level as the other generals but you can’t underestimate her IQ. She absolutely holds her own there and saves the group on many occasions thanks to that. She can hack into any system and ends up making it look easy. I liked when we would have the cyber fights because it was a great excuse to get her into the action as opposed to having her just be on the sidelines. It was a great decision all the way around and she adds a lot to the dynamic with her cheerful disposition.

Jaguar was a fun villain. You sort of knew that he was doomed from the start but I thought he actually put up a much better fight than expected and even held his own. The guy was strong and fast which is a good combination. Considering that he wasn’t the main villain of his arc, the author gave him a good amount of hype. I definitely enjoyed him even if he may not have been the most powerful villain out there. He was still strong enough to make a difference.

Justice is a fun character although a big part of why he’s fun is his banter with Elsie. The author had a good time making them very similar to two of the characters from Fairy Tail and it works well. The guy has incredible physical abilities and is one of the stronger characters in the series for a while but gets written out along with Elsie later on. He had a good design and a solid skillset which automatically made him a really fierce member. Meanwhile I also liked Elsie a lot. She was always ready for a fight and stayed prepared the whole time. You weren’t about to catch her lacking which is important. She has a whole lot of battle experience at her disposal after all.

Joker is a super powerful villain but one of those figures that the series may have made a little bit too powerful. With the ability to stop time for fairly long periods and a very solid energy source, it’s just hard to see how this being could be defeated. I wasn’t entirely convinced with the method that the series brought up. It’s why time stop abilities are always so overpowered. It’s just really hard to stop them. Still, Joker had a great design and really showed up out of nowhere near the end so that was a lot of fun.

Kleene is one of those characters who had a really tragic origin story. Easily one of the toughest ones to live through here although Edens Zero sometimes works as a trauma contest. So I can tell you there are tons of competitors for this position. Poor Rebecca has to be up there as well along with Homura’s mother. The list goes on and on, the dark nature of the series could be rather exhausting a lot of the time to be honest. Kleene is definitely the definition of a character who started out as an intimidating boss and quickly became super weak once she turned heroic though. She still had a few battles here and there but never got that intimidating aura back.

Meanwhile her brother Jinn got to keep on fighting though. He was a really solid figure who was just looking out for his sister the whole time so I definitely appreciated that. His wind abilities were real good. He may have ended up getting power creeped as the series went on but he always had a cool personality. Then you had Laguana who sort of took over his role as protector of the group in the later stages. He was protective of the younger fighters and really had a big change of heart compared to his early days of being a villain as well. His ability to turn you into water if you start crying was super unique and also very deadly. Once you’re water, there’s really nothing you can do except accept defeat. You may think that not crying would be easy but in a series about friendship and loss that happens quite often.

Labilia starts off as a super petty bully but actually gets a ton of character development. Her backstory feels a bit retroactive when it shows up to be honest but all in all I thought she was a really fun character. Sometimes you need a petty villain to shake things up a little aside from the super cruel end of the world type threats. Ultimately it’s not like she can fight so she tends to vanish from the spotlight most of the time. Couchpo is another V Tuber that gets a fairly big role. She likes to eat a lot which is always cool. It helps her stand out among the pack.

Lyra is one of those villains who was really just created as an excuse to throw more fanservice into the mix. She wants to humiliate Rebecca in a rigged game and that is basically the whole point of her existence. It’s definitely annoying and doesn’t make her an endearing character at all. You’ll forget about her right away even if you don’t forget the events. Then you have Mother who is a cosmic being with limitless powers but she ends up not doing much either. One of those characters who plans things out and says a lot of grand stuff but when the chips are down she seems to just not care about anything. She certainly doesn’t go out of her way to help Shiki and pals even when she is literally dying.

Noah is someone who can somehow see into different timelines and knows when the universe has been reset. We never actually go too far into this but he works well as a plot device who gets to give the info dumps and keep everyone on track. I’d like it more if he could fight or do something in addition to that though. It makes him come across as a bit of a flat character at times. Meanwhile Holy is a lot more fun as a government officer who does whatever she wants. She isn’t above using blackmail and has characters on all sides afraid of what she will do next. Her abilities are really solid but the main thing is that she has confidence. She knows that no matter what she does, all eyes will be on hers. It takes a lot of guts to be getting involved with such fierce fighters.

Then from the main characters we have Rebecca who is a super solid main heroine. She can fight really well with the rest of the characters and I like her unwavering confidence. She is the kind of character who is always pro actively looking for some way to help the rest of the fighters and I appreciate that. She gets a ton of character development and screentime of course and only gets better with each appearance. Definitely a character who gets a lot of credit for the series being as solid as it was. Well…that may sound like an insult since the score is low so a better way to phrase this is that she added a lot to the dynamic and was really fun.

Next up is Homura and her gimmick is that she always says exactly what she is thinking. No matter how inappropriate or out of place it may be. She will just speak her mind and it gets her into a lot of jams. Fortunately she is also super good with a sword and makes up for this by really protecting the team when they need a defender the most. I definitely enjoyed her character and she is very well meaning. It really goes to show how the main cast of Edens Zero was really solid. I actually enjoyed all of the super core characters even if the supporting characters start to fade out after that.

For example Connor is one of these guys. He tries to present himself as a capable captain but has way too many slip ups for me to take him seriously. He’s not the guy you want to have by the wheel because he gets distracted too easily. Even his wholesome plot twists are not enough to save him because they ring hollow by then. Nah this was a character who had too many flaws and never ended up being all that good.

Now Void was a superb character even if he was introduced super late into the game. He has a very solid backstory that may be a bit convoluted but it works well in context. He is one of the strongest characters in the series without a doubt and can hold his own with any of the other fighters. He has a top tier design and top tier abilities so you can’t ask for much more out of him than that right? Then there is Ziggy who looks really similar and there are a lot of comparisons that you can make across the two characters.

Ziggy’s motivations and everything get a little complicated as well. Needless to say, he’s definitely a really fun villain to have around though. He would always shake things up quite a lot and helped Shiki to really evolve as a fighter. Poseidon was another villain who really made things tough on the heroes. His abilities were the real deal and despite being older, his abilities really didn’t falter. He has the power of luck on his side which is really strong but of course if you are simply stronger than fate then it won’t work. Such is the big limitation of hax type abilities like that so it made for a very satisfying fight.

Shura was the real threat in the Poseidon arc though. Now here is a super demented villain who just likes to inflict pain all of the time. He was definitely way too sadistic for me to really like him as a villain but he definitely had a real intimidating aura about him. The guy was someone you absolutely did not want to cross because if you did then that would be curtains forever. His gravity abilities were some of the best in the series too. Most of the strongest fighters actually had gravity now that I think about it. It makes sense though, that has always been one of the most powerful elements for good reason.

Back to the heroes, Sister was surprisingly a sadistic character as well. It’s played for laughs but she always enjoys torturing Rebecca as one of her past times. She messes with different characters like this and so you’re reminded that you probably wouldn’t want to be living on the Edens Zero. It would be fairly unforgettable but not a very pleasant spot to be in.

Witch gets the smallest role from the shining generals if you ask me. She never got as much of an origin story and her supporting characters didn’t get as personal as the others. She is a good member of the crew and probably the most mature to be honest but she doesn’t end up standing out quite as much as she could have. Then you have Valkyrie who steals the show as soon as she shows up. She actually gets even less screentime than some of the other characters and yet it doesn’t matter because of how overwhelming her presence is. When she shows up, the characters have to take notice. Her fighting skills are absolutely top tier.

Xenolith is a mentor type figure who shows up for a bit and then becomes one of the antagonists. His role isn’t as big as you would expect from this character type. I like that he put some of the characters in their place who were trying to be a bit iffy. I wouldn’t say that he’s a high tier character or anything like that though. Then you have Xiaomei who knows a whole lot and constantly breaks the 4th wall. It’s always interesting to have a character like this but she doesn’t really add a lot to the story so she could have been cut out here.

Throughout the story there are scenes that take place millions of years in the future and they eventually tie into the story but it sure takes a long while. The series isn’t afraid to jump into time travel and loops which is admirable but you could do that without Xiaomei giving us spoilers and foreshadowing. If anything I think that would even benefit the mystery so it could tell its own story right there.

Now for some of the villains. One that is really memorable is Clown but more because he is a very twisted villain than because he is a good one. It’s a fine line between being a good villain and one who is creepy just to be creepy. I didn’t end up liking this guy. I can acknowledge that he is super powerful but yeah he’s not going to be near the top. Then you have Cure who ends up being a super big boss. Another guy with an intimidating design and a ton of raw power but I wouldn’t call him a good villain. He gets a little too twisted and dark with how he deals with the Holy and the other fighters. Edens Zero definitely had a problem about getting too dark sometimes.

This naturally goes to Drakken Joe as well. This guy is a true Kingpin type figure among the underworld and so he gets mixed up in a lot of twisted stuff. The series does not miss with the incredible designs as he is another one you could throw ono the list. This is definitely a world where you rarely feel bad for the villains by the end because they really do not hold back at all.

Eraser is sort of a villain. He works for the government but the guy just follows orders no matter what so he’s basically a villain. It’s a shame that he never got to fight much but I think it’s because his ability is broken. As his name suggests, he can erase things, including large pockets of space. He takes down large parts of a whole army and it’s super impressive. In theory he could destroy almost any character in the series without any real effort.

Back to the heroes, Pino is a nice little robot that is always helping the heroes. It’s always nice to see her around. She’s not particularly tough or anything but is always around to spread kindness and cheer. Then you have Weisz who is a super engineer. He would have been known as the resident genius but Hermit has that covered. I like his mech suit and in general he’s handy. I feel like he didn’t fully keep up with the power creep later on in the series but he’s always a central figure at all times.

Finally, we have Shiki. As the main character he is naturally a huge character and he’s a lot of fun to root for. He’s one of the biggest advocators for friendship that I have ever seen. Now admittedly he can take this a little too far at times. There are some things that you can’t forgive nearly as easily as he does. It’s just not going to work. That being said, the idea behind the character is a good one. He gets a solid amount of rage modes throughout as well. I would say I enjoyed him a lot more than Natsu from the author’s other series. Shiki is a high tier lead who could hold his own in any series.

As you can tell from all of the images, the series does absolutely go all out on the friendship themes and it is really endearing. I like that the series isn’t embarrassed about this or going half heartedly about it. We get to really explore what it means to be friends in a whole lot of different circumstances. Not just how to get friends but to handle them. You support each other and meddle in affairs as needed. Like I said, it can be a bit unrealistic but I’ve never seen another title be this unrelenting about it which works really well. Yet another part of the series that could have made the whole title elite if it didn’t have other issues slowing it down the whole time.

That’s about it for the characters. Of course there are dozens and dozens of other characters scattered within the series but you will need to read the title to see them all. It’s still not a title that I can really recommend though. Yes, it brought tons of hype and I had a really good time for a lot of the fights. However, the negatives still outweigh the positives with all of the dark elements and fanservice. It just gets really over the top here. Man, why did it have to happen to a title with such dynamite art and time travel elements?

Overall, Eden Zero is one of those series that I will always look at a little fondly in spite of its negatives. It’s certainly a series I could never recommend and one that I would spend a lot of time skipping massive chunks of if I ever gave it a re read. However, the peak moments of the series are super good. You really get invested in the characters and the writing is really good. It’s always a shame when there’s just so much fanservice that it takes away from the story. I really wanted to read this one for the plot but the other elements made that close to impossible. It’s a shame but that’s just how it goes sometimes.

Overall 1/10

Yuchiro’s friends are some of the worst I’ve ever seen in a Shonen Jump title

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Now in this quick write-up I’m referring to the series known as Seraph of the End. These guys are straight up embarrassing and awful. Obvious spoilers for the series and the latest chapter 114 so proceed at your own peril. This editorial is in direct response to the latest chapter that came out as of the time of this article. I initially wrote this for Reddit’s Character Rants section since that chapter left me spinning but I figured I already wrote it so why not post it here as well right? Again I do have to stress that this will have spoilers up through the latest chapter 114. For that reason I’m not including any images from the last chapter or anywhere close since those are harder to miss but I figure if it’s by text then you can’t get spoiled accidentally as you can skip this.

Now for those who didn’t read the series, it’s a convoluted story about demons, humans, and vampires fighting for control of the planet while the angels just want to nuke them into oblivion for tampering with things beyond their pale.

The main character Yuichiro is an exorcist who has lived his life to destroy vampires after they murdered his family. He’s willing to do anything to save them including joining the human group who actually did wipe out all of humanity a long time ago by making a wish. (Not quite Shenron but pretty much the same effect) He didn’t know the cost would actually destroy people. Yuichiro then meets a vampire named Mikaela who was one of his old friends who actually survived the mass murder.

The two of them are super close and after Mikaela died Yuichiro was able to reunite with him but now the guy is a demon. Okay fast forward to the current chapter. Yuchiro just found out that there is a way to bring back all of humanity. It’s a ritual that requires 7 keys (Don’t worry about those) and it will end up murdering all vampires in the world. The catch is it will randomly make one person an immortal. Nobody wants to be an immortal but it’s not a bad deal.

Then the other shoe drops, the only way to bring Mikaela back to life is to do the same ritual. Obviously since it will use up the 7 keys and destroy all of the vampires, a choice has to be made. Save his best friend or all of humanity. Now Yuichiro and Mikaela are extremely close so this is a tough one. I recommend checking out this great image gallery u/AssociationSilver997 made which shows a lot of their really close moments.

https://www.reddit.com/gallery/ufvwwg

Yuichiro is someone who has had to live with a whole lot of tragedy and grief. It’s natural that he can’t just say he will doom his best friend like that, however in an instant his friends all start to doubt him. Yuichiro has to quickly go into battle mode and then when Guren gives the order to attack, these “friends” decide to immediately arm up as well. Seriously? They’re going to just follow orders like muppets because Guren said so? Guren has been lying and manipulating the cast for the whole series, why believe a word he says?

Surely they can at least talk this through or something. At least give Yuichiro some time to explain. Remember how Guren was just beating up on the heroes a few chapters ago? There is no reason to believe that he is suddenly going to be the ultimate hero here. Personally I don’t doubt that he told them the correct cost but he should give Yuichiro some time to think about it. The main character deserves that much since he has saved them all so many times in the past.

So yeah these are the worst main character allies I’ve seen in a very long time, maybe all of time. Certainly I can’t think of a worst group in Jump. Bleach had some iffy moments for Chad and Orihime in Xcution but you could chalk it up to mind control. Usopp definitely had a rough moment in One Piece but never went quite this far. (Still not a big fan) Naruto’s been betrayed by the leaf countless times but at least most of those were fillers or movies. Still, they would be the second worst but at least they had better reasons for being traitors. (Still can’t stand the Leaf though which started pushing me to Team Sasuke)

I guess what I’m saying here is that we’re over 100 chapters deep into the series. You would think that the friends would be able to give Yuichiro the benefit of the doubt considering how many times he has saved their lives over and over again. Also lets be real, he could slaughter all of them aside from Guren in an instant if he so desired so what are they really trying to accomplish here? Unless the next chapter has some kind of big fakeout, I think it’s going to be too late for any of these guys to be likable characters.

Shinoa will be on her own. (Notice how she’s the only one to not draw her blade? At least there is one loyal friend here!) If it comes down to it I see her taking Yuichiro’s side, at least I’m really hoping that’s the case. Wanted to quickly make it clear that she did not fall down the rabbit hole like the others yet at least and I’m confident that she won’t. She’s always been a rather solid character and one of the standouts of the series so I predict she will stay strong there.

I’ve had my serious issues with Yuichiro in the past so I don’t want to say that he’s suddenly an amazing character but he has been a whole lot better in the last few chapters/the current arc. If you threw away all of the baggage then he could be a top tier but of course we can’t do that. He’s still one of the weaker protagonists on a character level but I like that he has improved. It’s why this is the worst time for the friends to turn their backs on him. We’ll see if that changes in the next chapter. It would be amazing if this was all a fake-out. It would literally save their characters but if they do go through with this then I really think there is no going back. They’ll be down for the count with me.

And to repeat one last time, my issue is their getting ready to attack immediately on Guren’s orders. Just as Yuichiro wants to save his friend, these guys have their own family and friends they want to help out. 100% I can get why they will be on the other faction to save the planet and follow their dreams. Just as Yuichiro makes his move, I respect them to make theirs. They just should at least have the decency to wait a few minutes and talk things out instead of rushing to the offensive like this. They absolutely know they can trust Yuichiro as someone who won’t just murder them but there’s absolutely no reason to believe that Guren holds that kind of loyalty. In fact, there’s only evidence to the contrary from their point of view.

So yeah this was a pretty short write-up since it was just a Reddit post initially. I’ll give the series this though, it’s definitely got me a lot more engaged lately than I ever was before. I’m actually really eager to see what happens next time. Hopefully it can keep that up and of course I’ll always be on the side trying to save one person vs the whole world. I can’t go along with just sacrificing someone like that, it’s never gonna be my option there.

My Little Pony: Legends of Magic Volume 1 Review

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My Little Pony has always been one of those franchises that most people judge instantly. It seems like a show for little kids with happy creatures that you can’t take seriously. It is a kids show, but one that’s well written and has a lot of quality episodes. As I’m about halfway through season 1, I can finally consider myself a part of the fandom. Now I’ve gotten to read another MLP comic and I’d certainly say that this is a good one although I definitely found myself missing the Main 6. There are 6 stories and each one is a self contained adventure although the series is hinting at some kind of plot getting ready to develop with the scholar who is reading the stories.

The first comic is a story about Princess Celestia and Luna from their Pony days. Celestia apparently was still a bully even back in her youth and picks on Luna a lot. She reminds Luna of her previous failures and points out that she will never be proficient in magic. Luna tries to show Celestia that she is wrong and opens up a portal, but it takes Luna away to a dangerous place. Celestia goes along with the Wizard to save her, but it’s a treacherous journey and her power alone may not be enough to win. It’s a pretty fun way to start the comic although it solidifies the fact that I will never become a Celestia fan. She’s just so mean throughout the comic to the extent where it’s hard to believe that she becomes one of the Princesses. It’s easy to see how Luna turned evil for a little while if she had to put up with this every day. I’ve always been a Luna fan so I’m glad she finally gets her due respect in the modern episodes. Her magic eventually did become more impressive than Celestia’s.

Our next story takes us to good ole Rockhoof, a legend among his people. He was a Pony who stood up for what’s right and defeated many powerful adversaries in his day. This story takes place after the legend most are familiar with and he is invited to join the army. He does, but gradually begins to put on a lot of weight as his fans take him to many dinners. He is then too weak to defend the kingdom from a powerful monster and begins to wonder if friendship isn’t magic. The other characters confirm this so he goes back to his rigorous training and makes it in time to stop the giant monster on his own. He finally realizes that hanging out with friends is all right, but at the end of the day you can only count on yourself. It’s a pretty reasonable story and while I would have liked a fight as opposed to words being enough to stop the monster, it’s a resolution that I can get behind. I’d like to see Rockhoof show up in the present at some point.

The next story was quite a bit weaker than the first two. There once lived an old nanny who liked to traverse the wilderness. One night, she noticed that a kingdom was being attacked by animals and no work was getting done. She decided to broker a treaty between the two which is fortunate since Luna had been sent out to deal with the threats. Not officially, but Luna noticed unlike all of the others and would have certainly beaten the animals on her own. Instead, friendship prevailed and Luna altered the Kingdom’s plans so that it wouldn’t interfere with the wildlife. Even back then Luna was a more benevolent ruler than Celestia. The story wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t quite as exciting or action packed as the first two. The old lady also didn’t make for as good a main character as the other ponies.

Following that adventure was the original Wonderbolts as they struggled against a Tornado. This tornado was going to rip through the lives of many griffins, but the Ponies were declined access across the border. The Griffins wanted to deal with the problem themselves so the Pony commander decides to let them all die. The other Wonderbolts can’t agree this and quit so they can help out without causing a big war between the two species. It’s a pretty noble gesture and I always knew the ponies had it in them. The commander looks pretty bad, but don’t they always? It’s a good adventure even if it’s not the most interesting one. Again, it’s a comic without any of the old characters so you do miss them quite a bit. Rockhoof’s story pulled it off, but it is a difficult thing to do for sure.

On the next adventure we meet our first Egyptian pony. She was known as one of the wisest ponies in all of Equestria and she solved all of her problems without the need for violence. A pretty impressive feat when you consider how unruly and dangerous most of Equestria was. One day her kingdom was being attacked by a large snake so she decides to deal with the issue. She’s a pretty great main character and a step up over the last two stories. She may even be the best main character in the book. It’s a fun enough story and who doesn’t like seeing a giant monster show up? This is one character who would definitely fit right in with the Main 6 if she ever met them. A pacifist is always welcome in Ponyville and especially one with Twilight Sparkle’s intelligence.

Finally, the last story was about a bunch of Pony zombies. This may seem a little out of place in the happy world of My Little Pony, but again, you can’t let looks deceive you. A wandering healer happened to be passing by and decides to cure the Ponies. Unfortunately they aren’t too grateful and make fun of her one liners. Ah well, everyone’s a critic these days. The hero didn’t have a whole lot of personality this time around, but she seemed nice enough. Someone you would want to have in your corner at any rate.

So this was a good batch of My Little Pony stories. It’s always good to expand the universe so having a whole comic series dedicated to this is pretty clever. That being said, the main plot could easily overshadow the stories if the series isn’t careful. It ends in a cliffhanger with the kid trying to find Twilight so that could be intense if it’s played straight. I don’t like that guy, but I guess he didn’t really do anything wrong in the comic so I have to cut him some slack.

As always the writing is solid. These stories could easily have been boring or simply bad if we had a bunch of crude humor and bad characters to bring the story down. Fortunately this wasn’t the case as everything was on point instead. The stories were able to develop naturally and at worst some parts would just be a little rushed since all of the stories had to end rather quickly. They never drag on though and most of the characters seemed pretty reasonable. If you’re going to make a trade paperback about new ponies, they’ve got to be good and the comics did good there.

Unfortunately, the art isn’t very good though. In fact it’s actually pretty bad at different points. It comes across like a cash in although I’m sure they put a lot of effort into the comics. The art just feels unfinished which is a little regrettable. It’s still clear though and you always know what is happening so it’s far from the worst case scenario. It’s nothing that would seriously hurt the score or anything like that. Hopefully it does improve as the series goes on the artist gets more used to the characters.

Overall, I’d recommend checking out this graphic novel. It may not have the Main 6 and can feel like filler at times, but the stories are good. It’s a pleasant enough read and you’ll find yourself blasting through the pages. I would even say that it does beat the main ongoing comic so that’s definitely pretty impressive for a spinoff. Hopefully the library gets more MLP adventures soon so I can check them out. In the meantime I can be satisfied knowing that I’ve learned more about the world and its history.

Overall 7/10