Tag Archives: Sci-Fi

A Quiet Place: Day One Review

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That tagline is ripped right out of the Wolverine tie-in game for Gamecube. I can’t believe it. “Stay low. Stay quiet. Stay alive!” Still one of the more memorable superhero lines since I had to hear it over and over and over and over again since I died so many times on that level. It was definitely not a game for the faint of heart. Unfortunately that tagline is tough to follow for the main characters of this film who panic continually and can’t stop yelling. I didn’t like the main characters much at all and the whole film feels like a bit of a waste of time. They didn’t bother answering any of the important questions about what happened when the aliens first landed which defeats the purpose of a prequel.

The film starts off by introducing us to Sam who has cancer and it seems to be pretty far along as she doesn’t know how much longer she has to live. She is taken care of at a hospice along with a lot of others and one day the nurse Reuben says he is taking everyone to see a show. Sam gets lured in by the promise of pizza but once they’re there, the plans are changed as the government has declared a state of emergency. Giant monsters are showing up and eating everybody. Sam decides she will get her pizza anyway but along the way she bumps into a guy called Eric who is super annoying the whole time. Can she shake him and get her pizza or is it too late?

No offense to the characters or anything but who asked for this? We wanted a prequel to explain how the government possibly lost to a race of aliens that are extremely primitive and have numerous weaknesses? You can drown them, burn them, overwhelm them with sound….they’re not even bullet proof. So I was hoping this prequel would answer that. It could focus on the army the whole time as we learn some uncomfortable truths about how they were helping the aliens or something. No…once again we’re following some humans who are outmatched and outgunned here.

I mean the main heroine is dying of cancer, obviously she isn’t going to be able to fight these monsters. It’s just a really strange choice and I can tell you now that the film doesn’t bother even trying to tell you how we lost to these things. It’s just taken as a fact and you really have to stretch your disbelief here. Ah well maybe we’ll get a spinoff to the prequel one of these days that focuses on the army. That would be a good idea I’d say.

Okay so for Sam, she’s not a terrible main character or anything. She doesn’t have the best attitude but she’s in a pretty sucky situation as it is since cancer is rough. So I can cut her a bit of slack even if I think she still doesn’t handle the situations very well. Yelling through the rain is just not a good tactical decision and can get you in a whole lot of trouble right out of the gate. Also her final decision was not a good one. Yes, it’s always tempting to end things quickly with a decisive move like that but you have to try and survive for as long as possible. You can’t just give up no matter how rough it looks.

As for Eric, I have less patience for this guy. For starters, he keeps on following Sam around everywhere even when she doesn’t want to be followed and in a world like this it puts her in direct danger. He needed to mind his own business and stay away. That would have been the only smart thing to do here. Then when he is around he’s bumping into stuff and also yelling a lot. She now had to take care of someone in addition to her cat which isn’t easy. If he could fight that would help but he’s mainly here to hold her back.

I will give the film kudos for not bumping off the cat. That would have been terrible so the film at least managed to avoid doing that. Would have really blown the film’s score up. Even without that, the film has a lot of problems though. A good portion of this feels like a complete retread to the first film. It’s not really doing anything exciting or different with the premise. It’s just the characters hiding around trying not to make noise like last time. Sure, to an extent that is going to be the case due to the nature of the monsters but at the same time there has to be some way to differentiate it at least a little bit. Otherwise what is really the point of all these adventures.

That’s part of why it feels like a waste. It’s just everybody getting murdered by the monsters and since it’s a prequel you can’t even say that they’re making progress or learning any new information. Instead we actually know less than we did the last time since these characters have no way to have learned anything about these beasts. We do get quick cameos and guest star roles from future characters that will be showing up like the guy from the second movie so at least that’s neat.

The film could stand to tone down the violence somewhat. Seeing the monsters ripping up the humans and devouring them the whole time gets old pretty quick. Maybe if the humans could fight back more it could be better but as it stands it is just one more thing against the film. I also think that the film could benefit from having the characters talking more. It’s something they can’t do because of the plot though so the movie sort of starts to trap itself here. It’s hard to keep your interest when everything is so silent the whole time. It ends up making the film drag on which is not the effect that you want to have.

You also have to really stretch your disbelief every time the heroes are running away from the monsters. Seriously this happens over and over again where they start running and the monsters don’t catch up immediately. This should be a really quick catch for the monsters based on how fast they run. Almost every scene feels like plot armor so you’ll start shaking your head very quickly here. It ultimately just doesn’t add up at all.

Overall, A Quiet Place isn’t treading any new ground here. You may as well watch the first one again and I hope that they find some way to change up the formula in the next title. There is just so much more that you should be able to do with this series. Lets start humanity’s comeback or something. Or if we get another film in the past, it needs to be about the government. I need to understand what happened to cripple the planet so badly because the current responses leave a lot to be desired.

Overall 3/10

The Wild Robot Review

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It’s time for a movie that is very much like Wall-E. It’s an emotional story about a robot trying to connect with an animal and along the way we even get some action scenes near the end. There’s a lot going on here and while the beginning does tend to be a little on the slow side, it picks up as the movie goes on. I would say that the movie had a good balance of good and bad things happening throughout while maintaining a positive tone. Ultimately I would recommend checking it out.

The movie starts with Roz landing in a forest area within Earth. As a proud robot belonging to a massive corporation, her mission to enrich the lives of those around her and fulfill their goals. The problem is that there was an accident and she was never supposed to land in a place like this where there are no humans. She tries to help out the animals initially but can’t understand them so she trains until he is able to do so. Roz then ends up assisting a little bird named Brightbill when hatching and so the bird thinks of her as his mother. A local fox named Fink initially appears as a tricky antagonist but quickly ends up helping her out. The two of them need to help Brightbill learn how to fly and survive on his own. This little bird was the runt of the litter and otherwise would have likely died without any help.

It’s a pretty heartwarming family story going on here with Roz and the gang. It’s got a good message the whole time with the characters all pitching in to help each other out and it has a very strong sense of community. The whole climax is about getting everyone to band together after all. Now this will never be perfect in a forest setting as the cycle of life and the food chain will force some tough realities into existing. That said, it’s still nice to at least see everyone band together against a common enemy.

I do want to underscore again that this is not an action movie. So don’t let me trick you into getting the tone wrong. This is a family movie first and foremost about the bonds of friendship. The climax at the end does give us some action but it’s not played super serious for the most part and these are hardly the strongest foes out there. The main villain A.I. is pretty impressive though. She is certainly persistent and has quite a few methods available to use in attacking the heroes. It really ended the film on a high note.

The literal ending of the film I was not a big fan of though. We got a heart warming moment but I thought Roz made the wrong call here. Hopefully a sequel would address this. Back to the characters though, Roz makes for a fun lead. She can be a little slow on the uptake initially, but then learns what it really means to look out for other people. It becomes less about the programming and more about her individually which was really nice. It was the kind of character development you like to see.

As for Fink, he brings a lot of the heart to the film. His quick wit is always a lot of fun and he brings up the film’s energy. Now it is fair to say that he does take some of the gags a little far. You get the feeling that he actually was serious about ending Brightbill for a little while in the beginning. Still, he turns over the leaf and becomes a force for good which is ultimately the important thing. The film would lose a lot if he wasn’t there because he just brings a lot of depth to it. You could argue that he definitely had the roughest upbringing among the characters.

Finally for Brightbill, well I wasn’t a big fan of his. I thought that the other two characters were considerably better. He’s earnest and means well but I didn’t like how easy it was to turn him against Roz. I felt like that plot development needed to have happened a lot sooner for it to be believable. For it to have happened so late in the game just makes him look absolutely terrible. Yeah, I was not really a fan of that at all. It was tough for him to recover, which may sound a bit harsh but I consider this to be a kind of betrayal which is never cool.

I’ll give the film props for also not making the bullying too overdone or anything. Brightbill got teased quite a bit for sure but it’s not like they were beating up on him the whole time. I guess the closest to that was when they started dunking him in the water and Roz quickly broke that up. The film just feels fairly realistic and you could substitute the animals for humans and quickly understand the message just as clearly. It is a well written film, I could stand by that 100%.

As for the animation, it looks decent. I wouldn’t say I was crazy about it but I don’t really have any big complaints. It’s not going to touch the hand drawn animation for the last 30-40 years but it can hold its own with the average CG production. I would just say it’s a film that will be relying more on the writing and story than any technical elements. There isn’t much of a soundtrack either with the exception of a song or two in there. Nothing in particular to really write home about though.

As a final note, the film also did good with the supporting characters. I liked Brightbill’s mentor who taught him how to really fly with a high level of skill. I also liked the elder who did his best to try and help Brightbill fit in. There were a real number of characters all doing their best here and the film did a good job of establishing their characters. There would probably be quite a few new characters if they ever did a sequel to this one but I’m confident that they would work out well enough.

Overall, The Wild Robot is a good movie from start to finish. Yes, it can be a little understated and I will admit that I tend to miss the humans a bit from time to time. The first half was a bit slow as Roz is getting used to things and the fox could have used one more character to help him with all the snappy quips and such but at the end of the day the positives outweigh these. You will be entertained and I would recommend checking it out if you are looking for a fun family film. It’s definitely quality content and the movie goes by quickly. The climax is also fun since you may not be expecting things to get quite as explosive as it did. Ultimately that makes for a fun film and I’d definitely check out a sequel.

Overall 6/10

They Live Review

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

It’s time for a classic alien invasion title but with one big twist, what if they had already invaded? It’s a pretty clever film and one that has aged pretty well overall. I do have some issues with it that keep me from being able to completely recommend the title but on the whole I had a good time. The film knows how to have a good action scene when needed and of course that is crucial.

All right so the film starts off by introducing us to Nada who is homeless and just trying to get by right now. He finds a construction gig and gets to work but the people at the nearby church are acting a little strange. Nada busts in there and grabs a pair of glasses. When he puts them on, he is able to see the truth. Aliens have already infiltrated the Earth, posing as most of the rich people. The class wars have been manufactured! Every TV channel and radio program is giving subliminal messaging to make people lose their free will. The media is not on the side of the humans! Nada needs to quickly get some more people to the cause but is it already too late?

So yeah a very interesting premise right out of the gate here. I thought this was super interesting for sure. Nada isn’t always the best at handling his business though. For example after he gets his glasses, one of the first things he does is to start picking a fight with a nearby alien. That’s really not the best idea out there, like why would you even do that? Definitely a shaky decision at best. He does take out a number of them with his gun but the guy has no plan and is super outnumbered so eventually he has to retreat. We do get a reason for why he was acting so erratically later on though.

It turns out that the glasses work like a drug and give you an artificial high while you are wearing them. This means that you are going to be acting a little overconfident and then crash afterwards. Nada finds this out the hard way and is lucky that he survived after letting his guard down and having a lady named Holly shove him out of a window. The whole scene was super unexpected and at the same time, you do feel like Nada should have been more careful. He did literally keep her at home against her will as a prisoner so of course she would strike back as soon as possible. Anyone else would do the same in a heartbeat.

Where Nada looks worse is when he trusts her later on. Remember, we know that the big shots at the media company are in on this and she is one of the big supervisors. A little suspicious eh? She does make for a compelling character but just not someone that you should really be trusting at all. That is, as long as you have some kind of functioning survival instincts. If you don’t, then I can let you pass a little easier there.

Nada also has a long fight with Frank in order to convince him and while I think it was drawn out a little too much, I give the film points for its bravery here. I don’t think just about any film would really even try to have an action scene go on for this long. It’s just a crazy thing to even suggest and yet they pulled it off. That’s pretty impressive. The fight stops and starts so many times that it will probably fake you out at least 3-4 times. You wonder how either character can even stand up after that as it’s absolutely brutal.

In general the film isn’t so violent but that fight definitely gets real intense. There is a body count to be sure but this feels more like a summer blockbuster than a horror most of the time. So it doesn’t feel particularly gruesome even if you know it technically is on the back-end. The film does have some rather unnecessary fanservice though. They definitely could have gotten by without that. The film has its hiccups as I said, but on the whole the story is still engaging enough where you can get past that.

It also has a good degree of humor that works well with all of the serious moments. It’s never over the top goofy or anything like that to get you out of the mood but the heroes know how to banter and have a good time with each other throughout. It all comes down to this film having a lot of action and the runtime is also fairly short so you really have to move fast the whole time. I think this would make for a really good TV show. There are a lot of ways you could stretch it across multiple seasons because the sheer amount of moving parts if extensive. Then of course you could even have a whole saga about the events that take place after the ending. Clearly things are going to change a lot now and the question is if the humans can possibly win or if it’s too late. I feel like by this point it is probably too late for them but they can still last for a long while using guerilla warfare tactics.

Overall, They Live is a really interesting film. I do think aliens tend to make for a very interesting premise in general. Mix in the fact that they are shapeshifters who can appear as anyone and that becomes even more intense. The film isn’t really able to dive into every plot point here but that would be tough for any title to pull off because of how huge the actual storyline is the whole time. Either way I would recommend this title. It’s a storyline that we surprisingly don’t see as often as I would like so you really can’t pass up on any film like this. Even in real life they say you can never know someone 100%, well this film may make you a bit paranoid after that but it’s still worth the watch.

Overall 6/10

Sonic X Shadow Generations: Dark Beginnings Review

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It’s time to talk about one of the best animated features that Sega has ever put out. Shadow has been getting a lot of hype recently between the new live action movie and his upcoming video game. Mix in a whole miniseries and we’re talking about peak content right from start to finish. At the end of the day this is less than 15 minutes so you can’t squeeze everything in, but it still works really well as a stand alone story. You feel the emotion packed into each saga and now the whole thing has been compiled into a single video so that makes it even easier to watch.

The saga takes place across the past to the present. Shadow remembers his days with Maria in the Ark and then we see in the present that he has to make it back up there to stop a super menace. Along the way he gets to see his old allies Rouge and Omega. The 3 of them are still a powerful team, but then again any team with the Ultimate Life Form would be quite formidable. This saga all leads right into the video game so you will definitely want to get that as soon as possible. Still, even if you don’t buy the game, this is one of the best characterizations of Shadow.

He’s a very complete character. Someone who is now a hero of the world but goes by a different set of rules compared to Sonic. We see Shadow busting into an army installation to steal a rocket after all. Sonic would do that if needed, but he would first try to talk things out. Shadow is all about making things happen and that doesn’t change here either. Sonic also doesn’t appear at all so this is really Shadow’s show all the way around and that’s pretty nice to see. As the one true rival to Sonic, he deserves to be getting his own stuff. It’s been a long time since he was relevant in the games so this is cool to see.

The animation is also really solid. I’ve heard it was made using Blender technology which is really cool since I remember that being used in part for a lot of other cool projects back in the day. I think even Super Mario Bros Z used it for some movement. The colors are sharp and everything is very dynamic. The attacks all pack a punch like the incredible Shadow vs Emerl battle which I’ve seen quite a few times at this point. That was great stuff and it’s also cool how this finally adapts some lore that we first learned about in Sonic Battle. The fact that Emerl was this powerful in base is also quite impressive. It makes you appreciate Sonic even more for being able to stop him.

Then we have the soundtrack which is really good. A lot of great tracks everywhere but in particular hearing Casey Lee Williams from RWBY show up to sing the final song was great. That was the perfect way to end it with one of the most tearful scenes you’ll ever see in animation. You’re crying right there with Shadow as things go sideways. He may be the ultimate life form but he still has the dark past and you never really get over that. I imagine it will continue to be a factor as his career goes on.

It would be nice to get everything else in the Sonic verse animated that we only know the lore of. Seeing the Shadow flashbacks in real time without any cuts, seeing Chaos emerge in the past with the Tikal origin, etc. You could absolutely do a whole lot of this and really expand the lore. It would have the ripple effect of also fleshing the games out and making replays even more fun. I’d be getting my hopes too high if I wish for all of that though so I’m just saying it would be neat.

Overall, I could go on about how awesome this was but at the end of the day it is only 15 minutes so I would start repeating myself after a while. You should definitely check it out, there is really nothing bad to say about it at all. It’s just pure greatness in its raw form. Every scene is critical and the pacing is on point at all times. If they ever made a full length TV show out of this I would definitely be ready. There is a whole lot of untapped potential for Sonic media so hopefully this is really just the beginning. I like the Chaos but their upcoming miniseries isn’t exactly what I’m talking about.

Overall 9/10

Reynatis Review

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All right, it’s time for one of the big games that was getting a lot of hype around the bend. Yes, the season is stacked so it started to get overshadowed to a degree by other big titles like Metaphor and Sparking Zero, but make no mistake this is still a top tier title. What it may lack in length it makes up for with an excellent story and really smooth gameplay. It’s one of those titles you do not want to miss out on.

The game is marketed as dual main characters but very quickly you will see that there is one true main character. Marin is the guy and he is determined to be the strongest sorcerer in the world. He believes that this will allow him to be free so that he will not succumb to any of the rules set by the world. He can make his own choices and does not have to align himself with anyone. He is a “Stray” meaning that he is on his own right now which is very dangerous. Typically magicians who are on their own are bumped off.

The other main character is Sari and she is a part of the MEA. They are a big group of sorcerers who basically bend everyone to their will. You either work for them or you are squashed in record time. They are really not all that flexible. She really wants to destroy the source of the evil drug that has turned the world into a nightmare but for now has not received any real support. As someone who is a part of the big government, she will naturally be coming into opposition with Marin who is all about freedom.

Part of the problem with the dual leads mechanic is that Sari is really framed as the villain the whole time. You’re never really left wondering who you should root for because it’s obviously Marin. She attacks him for basically no reason and follows corrupt commands. She gets better as the game goes on but after a little bit, all of the chapters focus on Marin instead of switching every time. So even the game gave up on the idea. I should note that the story is still really good, but this angle didn’t work and it’s worth mentioning because it seems to be something they had really been striving towards.

This is a game that has a huge amount of world building and yet you are left wanting for more at times. It feels like the game introduces more topics than it actually ends up solving which is a little surprising. There are like 6 different groups throughout the game and while the ending does find a way to deal with all of them, there is a lot of meat left on the table. I could absolutely see a sequel for this someday. As it is, the game has two different post game chapters but I’m not at a high enough level to challenge those. I did play the World Ends crossover which was a lot of fun though. Would have been even more fun with the voice acting but maybe it would have cost extra.

Like I said the gameplay is super smooth though and that’s the main reason we are here. It’s a 3D action title that focuses a lot on dodging. You are supposed to trust in your magic abilities so the idea is that if you don’t move or attack, you are given the chance to parry an opponent’s move and absorb magic. Once you have magic, you can transform and attack until you run out. Then you repeat the process. You cannot parry purple attacks so you have to be able to react right away and dodge instead of waiting for the parry option. It’s a good bit of tactics at play here.

Then of course you have different badges that you can set which activate different powers. You will want to plan things out and test different combos to see which work the best for you. I tend to enjoy the long range powers and stick to my standard combos for the close range hits. For me that worked well but again you will want to find out what works for you. There are a pretty good amount of options at play here. Once you are strong enough to wipe out enemies with a single string of combos, then you are set.

Leveling up is fairly quick here. I got up to level 73 by the time I beat the game which is not half bad I must admit. Still got destroyed in the post game but at least I felt like I could grind if I had to. In fact, that’s a large part of the fun here. I actually enjoyed wandering through the town and scanning graffiti (Which unlocks new powers) and completing side missions. I ended up beating over half of the side missions and would have fun clearing out the rest. It’s a game that makes you want to play it. That’s the best way I could describe it. In some games side missions are just too much of a hassle but they make it so easy here. You just go to where it shows on the map and get the job done.

The map is good and the quick travel is great. When you mix those things together then you are really in a good spot. The graphics are naturally really good as well. The attacks stand out and the city looks nice. You’ve also got a really good soundtrack here. It may be a little limited in terms of how many tunes there are but fortunately I did enjoy the ones that were present. That makes a pretty big difference.

As for length, I beat the game in around 15 hours but I did take about 2 hours off to have fun with side quests. It’s not a super long game and even beating all of the bonus content will probably only buy you another 2-3 hours or so. There is a case to be made for buying this game when it’s a bit cheaper as the price will probably dip. That being said, the quality is still worth it. I think the shortness stands out because you expect more out of an RPG type game, but just think of this more as a fighting game or something. It’s still considerably longer than the average game of that title or any platformer really. It may be losing out in replay value compared to those though so it’s not really a 1 to 1 comparison. It all just depends on how far you get absorbed into the game and the cinematic experience really did it for me.

Overall, Reynatis is definitely an elite game. I would recommend checking it out right away. You’re really going to want to go for 100% completion right out of the gate, or at least everything aside from the post game mission. Even being level 100 doesn’t stop that from being a super hard challenge but hey it’ll be satisfying when you complete it right? The game is not as long as the average RPG but for an action game it’s not bad. You can tell they put a whole lot of effort into this one. The technicals are all good and I would definitely be in line for a sequel.

Overall 9/10

Sword Art Online Progressive: Scherzo of Deep Night Review

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It’s time to go back into the world of Sword Art Online, one of the greatest franchises of all time. The movies have stuck around with the first arc which is a smart decision since that is still one of the greatest individual arcs in anime history. It’s a great movie with stellar animation and a top tier soundtrack the whole time. You won’t want to miss out on this one as Kirito continues to show why his skills are the real deal.

The movie opens up with Kirito and Asuna taking down the powerful floor 4 boss. The heroes all decide to celebrate and since it’s almost the end of the year, both of the big competitive guilds will even team up for the party. It’s pretty unheard of but that’s a good thing. After all, the players in the Sword Art Online game are literally trapped within it. There is no way out of the game and if you die here, then you die in real life. The only way to end this curse is to clear all 100 floors of the game. It’s an extremely difficult task but it’s one that may even turn impossible if the groups start fighting among each other. Unfortunately there are some villains who are aiming for this. Information leaks that the 5th floor boss drops a legendary guild flag which would completely flip the balance of power. Now one guild may be gunning for that and skipping the party. There is only one way to stop this, Kirito will have to take the boss down and claim the flag but he’ll need to assemble a powerful group of trust worthy fighters. He only has a few hours to do this though.

When you think of the ideal movie, you’re often thinking of something that has a considerable amount of action, top tier character development, and a film that just looks great. Well, this one hits all the boxes and continues Sword Art Online’s streak of having absolutely amazing films. It’s why you can never really count the franchise out, at any point it can just deliver an absolutely insane level of hype. The fact that it’s an AU/prequel doesn’t even phase you because you’re having too much fun here.

Asuna is still more the main character than Kirito since this is in the progressive verse and she looks real good. She has come a long way in her fighting abilities and finally has a more offensive style here. She holds her own against the bosses, Argo, and even her old friend. At times Asuna still has fairly low confidence that can cause her to downplay herself but when the chips are down she definitely shows up. I liked that she came up with a plan of her own to get the rapier back and she also had really clutch moments against the villains. Once in a hostage situation and in another case to prevent a 2 v 1.

It helps that Asuna is a super pleasant person in general so you’re always rooting for her. She is a great character and it’s even fun getting flashbacks of her playing the Tekken homage with her friend. Sword Art Online is one of the few titles where it had an A+ romance for the whole franchise and this movie does well with that too. There isn’t a lot of time for romance here but the beginnings of it are still present and definitely work well.

Meanwhile Kirito looks great as always. He’s the top player that most fear but all respect. When he’s on the stage people can talk tough but nobody is about to fight him. The only exceptions to this are the Laughing Coffin members and unfortunately the film doesn’t give us a fight with them yet. That part was too bad because there are two different times in the film that the matchup is teased but doesn’t deliver. I feel like they are really setting them up to be the big villains in a third film but giving us a small fight here wouldn’t have hurt. That’s probably my only nitpick, teasing the fight twice was just too much. I wanted to see Kirito absolutely waste those guys. I have no doubts on his victory. Even 2 against 1 he would have been too much for them there.

In terms of personality the film also did Kirito justice with how he’s super knowledgeable and tough but not a showoff or anything like that. He may not be the smoothest with day to day interactions but still holds himself well. He’s a charismatic guy and has made quite a few friends. It’s impressive stuff and he definitely holds his part of the film.

Argo gets a rather big role here which was surprising, but nice to see. She doesn’t get as many moments in the spotlight as the other supporting characters but was definitely very important in the Aincrad arc. She knew how to get info and could hold her own in a fight. We rarely ever see her fight so that was another pretty fun thing. She has Wolverine claws and everything. I think it’s clear that she’s not quite as tough as Asuna or Kirito but the fact that she is really fast definitely helps her to avoid traps and such.

Mito also returns from the last film and has a good role here. It’s not a super big one but it’s definitely a critical role as the heroes would have had casualties without her. Her fighting style is still a whole lot of fun to watch and that long whip of hers also means that she can strike at foes from any range. It’s pretty much a direct counter to the final boss of the film. It’s nice to still see Mito mainly being a loner but I wouldn’t be opposed to her joining Kirito and Asuna to make their team a trio. At that point they could really start thinking about soloing more bosses.

Of course I mentioned before but the graphics are super top tier here. There are different fights in the movie and they all look amazing. The final boss definitely has the most spectacle but I would say the best fight in the film was Asuna vs Mito. I always like human vs human type fights because you can really focus on the choreography there. You see all the tactics, expert fighting moves, etc. I really had absolutely no complaints there. Then of course the soundtrack is super awesome as always for the franchise.

In particular the standout theme was for the final boss. What I liked is that it felt completely like a sci-fi boss theme. I’ve been listening to it on repeat for a while now. The boss also has full mechanics and everything that were incorporated into the film like the heroes having to jump over the shockwaves and targeting the circles. Everything about it felt like the people behind the story had really played video games before. It felt like the most accurate boss fight I’ve seen out of any of the movies and of course it’s a great bonus that the whole thing looked spectacular.

When it comes to Sword Art Online your main worry is always that there will be some fanservice or iffy moments but this movie mainly manages to steer clear. There are some super mild stuff but for the most part the movie knows that it’s elite and isn’t bothering with any of that. That’s a massive W in my book I gotta say. There are enough fights to keep the movie moving at a fast pace but of course you also have the drama with the guilds that is fun. The movie makes sure to balance it all while reminding you that at the end of the day this is still a story about Kirito and Asuna. They take the main focus and rightfully so. Without them there wouldn’t be a story after all.

Overall, I highly recommend this film. It’s an extremely epic story and one that you don’t really need any former context to get into. You can just jump into this movie and the story is masterfully told so you won’t be lost or anything like that. You can just sit back and let the narrative guide you. The technical elements are incredible as well and I definitely can’t wait until the next movie. It’s already been 2 years which is a super long wait. The movie industry just isn’t the same without Sword Art Online at the ready.

Overall 9/10

Escape from New York Review

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

This is one of those films that everybody has heard of at some point. It’s a pretty well known thriller from back in the day and having New York as the main setting is always a pretty good idea. I like the idea of the story and this is probably a better way to do the prison break kind of plot than with a standard one. They could have done a little more with the concept but you’ll still have a good time here.

Basically in the future crime has gotten so bad that the world needs more space for the prisons so Manhattan was sacrificed. The entire borough is now used to house all of the criminals. It’s an open air prison without any kind of supervision or police control. The crooks are basically left to their own devices to rule or be ruled. Unfortunately, the government gets sloppy and the president’s plane goes down so he ends up crashing within the city. If he isn’t recovered in less than 24 hours, nuclear weapons will be automatically activated and the world will be doomed. This forces them to send in a guy who used to be a military hero but tuned for some reason appears to be a big criminal now. You can probably guess that there is more to this than meets the eye but he is convinced to help in exchange for a complete pardon. Can he really save the president?

The mission is stacked against Snake (The lead) in a lot of different ways. For starters the government injected him with mini bombs so if he doesn’t save the president within the time frame then he will die. Additionally, chances are very good that the president is already dead with how ruthless the place already is. The odds that he is still okay are super slim but the government won’t care and will still blow Snake up. Snake is also massively outnumbered and will have to be dealing with some really crazy odds. This is also territory that the villains are super familiar with since they’ve had to live here for many years. The situation just keeps getting worse and worse.

Still, Snake couldn’t exactly turn down the job opportunity since he was told in no uncertain terms that he would be obliterated if he said no. This is a government that sanctioned a complete borough prison after all, you can tell that they are not bluffing by any means. Snake makes for a solid lead either way. He’s clearly experiences and knows what he is doing out there. A lesser character would have been absolutely crushed early on by everything happening but he just stays on mission even as characters are blown away right in front of him. He has to put up with a whole lot and you can bet there is basically no gratitude in the end.

As for New York City itself, it really looks like a dystopian backdrop here. There is almost no power since the criminals had to try and work some greenhouse supplies to their benefit with very limited results. Any reasonable person was likely axed off years ago so you’ve only got the crazies at this point. Everyone is extremely insane but at least some are crazy in a helpful way like the cab driver. I would say he was my favorite character from the city dwellers.

He talks about things very nonchalantly but is clearly prepared like when he had the bottles ready to light on fire. He’s been around the block many times and has seen a lot of things. He is clearly scared all of the time but at least he knows a lot of people and how to get around. Even the Duke would probably have a hard time stopping him. The Duke is the head honcho of the whole operation and really calls the shots here. In any situation there will always be one figure who rises to the top amidst the chaos and in this case he was the guy. He doesn’t get to appear quite as much as you would expect though. He’s mentioned a whole lot but it’s really not until the end that he actually shows up. I’d say he live up to the hype reasonably well. You can tell that he’s a real tough character but introducing him early on could have been fun.

This film is definitely more of a thriller than a full action movie either way. Don’t expect a lot of big explosive fight scenes the whole time. Snake can clearly fight and does knock a lot of people out but for the most part this is a stealth mission. He’s got to find the president and so a lot of screentime is really in exploring the city and talking to people to gather intel. I could see this being a really fun video game with how you would explore like that. The desolate ruins of Manhattan with criminals around every corner would really be tense.

The film can be violent at times but not quite as drastic as I would have expected. The film has a fairly dark atmosphere and keeps the tension going but does so without having everything be on screen. You know the situation sucks for everybody within the prison and the film doesn’t have to beat you over the head with the implications of this. You’re curious just what life looks like on the outside but the focus is really on the jail itself which makes sense. Either way there is a ton of corruption as always.

Overall, Escape from New York is just a really interesting film and works well. You’ll be at the edge of your seat the whole time. When I say the film could have done a bit more though, it’s really that the concept of turning a whole city into a prison sounds really interesting to me. I’d like to see a bit more about how it works and that’s where having the Duke show up earlier could help. You’d have to treat the subject carefully but yeah there is a lot of potential there. Here you are really getting a glimpse of the whole thing I’d say. Like Snake you’re really just thrown in there and that does amp up the tension so in that way the decision did make sense.

Overall 7/10

World Trigger Review

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World Trigger is one of those titles that was absolutely massive but then had to go on a really long hiatus. It seems like the fans have stuck with it but I would still say it lost a lot of ground. Going back to the original anime series, it was really an elite. This absolutely would have been one of the premiere Jump titles to beat if it had kept on going and ideally if it had stayed weekly as well. It absolutely deserves to be considered as one of the cream of the crop anime titles that balanced out both Shonen action and Shonen sports atmospheres into one excellent product.

The story introduces us to Earth, a world that was completely changed after an alien invasion occurred like 10 years ago. The humans quickly reverse engineered the tech and made a whole government group to combat the threats. In the present, we see one of the main characters named Osamu who is eager to become a full fledged member. Right now he is too low ranked to really be of use in many fights but he has to fight hard for his friend Chika’s sake. Osamu needs to find out what happened to her brother many years ago after he was abducted. Fortunately, an alien known as Kuga shows up one day who has incredible powers. Perhaps if Osamu allies himself with this guy, he will be able to achieve his dreams.

Things are pretty tough on Osamu right from the start due to how the power system works though. For example, Osamu has very low levels of Trion (Spirit energy essentially) so he can’t fire weapons or use swords with the same amount of power and speed that others can. He has a great deal of tactical awareness to be sure but how much that can help in a one on one fight will have to be determined. A great deal of the series is about Osamu trying to improve and this is done through his performance in the actual alien invasion and during the B Wars where he forms a team with Chika and Kuga to rise up.

The series has over 70 episodes which means there is plenty of time for a lot of adventures and character development. I do have to say up front that it is a show which does prove the filler allegations to be true unfortunately. Pretty much every episode is a 9/10 here and the only saga that was not nearly at the same level was the filler arc. It was still good but you could absolutely feel the massive decline in quality. I defend filler sometimes but I couldn’t on this one. I’ll get into that more later on.

One area where the series succeeds on a massive level is with the technical aspects. The soundtrack is one of the best ones that I’ve heard in a long while. Part of what makes it work is that the soundtrack is rather large and has a number of solid themes. So it’s not just one theme to hear over and over the whole time but instead a number of really good tracks that keep on coming. It’s definitely the kind of show where this really helps to enhance the fights and dialogue scenes. Everything becomes 10x more epic with this level of music playing in the background.

The show has a ton of in depth analysis and strategy in every episode so if you had boring music playing then this could get old quickly. The writing is super good so I don’t think it would ever drag the show back but this is the ideal combo. I would actually say this show is the absolute best when it comes to the explanations. The writer clearly thought it all through with a good degree of accuracy. You don’t always have the characters agreeing either which makes for a pretty good extra dimension. For example one character might give one kind of advice and then the next one shuts it down. So the character being critiqued has to consider both options and as the viewer you have to wonder who was actually correct. Naturally I tend to favor the more aggressive options here.

Then we have the animation which is pretty solid. I won’t say it’s absolutely top tier or anything like that but it’s really smooth and streamlined. The anime also really decided to show off in the final B Rank wars fight with a lot of super great animation. There’s one particular cut where 5 people are fighting on screen at once and it was super dynamic. I know it’s really hard to move multiple characters on screen at the same time like that so it definitely ended up being extra fun. The choreography is always there and so this is the kind of animation that will continue to withstand the test of time.

Then you have the large amount of fighting styles and weapons which are all animated well. The fact that all characters have access to the same weapons but have to choose their loadout before a match is pretty fun. It means you can always expect some kind of switchups and plot twists running around. You have to stay 3 steps ahead of all the other characters at all times or you will be doomed.

Okay now lets get into the characters here. World Trigger has an absolutely massive cast with tons of “hype” characters running around. It makes power scaling pretty fun and interesting. In a lot of ways it’s one of those “Any given Sundays” like Football where an upset is always primed to happen. With the exceptions of Jin, Kuga, and maybe two other fighters, the cast feel very equal among the hype talents. Then of course you have Osamu who falls below just about all of them but hey one day with his plans and intellectual prowess perhaps he can make a name for himself. Perhaps…he can control a World Trigger at some point.

First we’ll talk about Tamakoma. Reiji is a solid fighter who has a good amount of strength and is also good at teaching. He really proves himself during the series and while he doesn’t fight all that much, he generally looks good whenever his time to shine does come up. Konami is really the power hitter of the group though and while she also doesn’t get too many fights, her skills are the real deal. The villains are quick to make sure she is distracted during their invasion because they weren’t sure they could handle her. Now that is what I call real screen presence and hype. When even the villains fear you, that’s high praise. She also has one of the better comedic gimmicks with how she always believes everyone. So as a result she gets lied to a whole lot.

Karasuma is another good member. He’s a fun character and I like how he’s always messing with Konami but in terms of overall ability he seems like the weakest of the trio by a fairly significant amount. He’s just not able to keep up with them from what we’ve seen and everything about his toolkit feels painfully standard. Hopefully he’s hiding something.

Jin is one of the combat elites of the series and so it goes without saying that he is amazing in combat. I would say that he is far and aways the most powerful character in the series. Seriously I would say that it is not even close. So to see him taking names here is always a lot of fun. He can see the various paths of the future and act accordingly. This helps him do things from dodging attacks to recommending someone be put on a mission in a few months. The scale of his visions are really impressive and then he also has the best sword skills out there. Right now we can’t really put anyone as being more powerful. There is another S rank but we haven’t actually seen him fight on screen yet. We know that he can fight of course but he has to prove it. Jin is generally a really fun troll who likes to poke fun at everyone and that just makes him a whole lot of fun. I do look forward to seeing if he will ever get a real challenge though.

Now we have Osamu as the main character. He’s not a bad kid but he is far from being one of my favorites. For starters I thought he was way too passive with how he was letting the bullies rough him up in the first episode. He was really just going to keep on letting them pound away at him which is crazy. You have to be able to stand up for yourself in times like that. How can you protect others if you can’t even protect yourself right? It just doesn’t make any real sense there. As the series goes on he gains a little confidence but suffers constant setbacks. Osamu gets careless, makes mistakes, etc. It would help a great deal if he could win some extra fights but the way that he keeps losing is pretty discouraging.

Right now Osamu doesn’t strike me as someone who should even be a B rank agent. It feels like he would not be able to beat any of his classmates and Kuga is basically carrying him to the next level. So I really want to see some significant improvements out of Osamu and that will absolutely start to raise my opinion of him. In the meantime, I’m afraid he’s just not going places.

Then we have Chika who unfortunately has some similar issues. The difference is that she has incredible amounts of power within her. She could blow almost anyone away with her cannon but she’s super timid and also has a thing about not attacking humans. Yeah…that’s definitely not someone you want with you on an away mission where you need combat tested vets. Chika is working on this but until I see her get into a battle and really contribute she won’t be going up just yet.

So it’s very fortunate that we have Kuga running around here. He’s a great fighter with a ton of combat experience and he continues to get better and better in every fight. Now this is the guy that you want to watch your back. Even without Replica he can still fight at a really high level. He cooks a lot of the characters when using a basic trigger, much less his black one. His ability to detect lies is a pretty sound one even if it isn’t really used for combat. He’s also just a fun character who can have good banter with anyone. I definitely look forward to seeing him more.

Hyuse is one of the big invaders who shows up and he’s a solid character. He’s clearly less experienced than some of the other villains as he can bite the bait when insulted. That said, he’s still really good at strategy and has some pretty good abilities. We see that he is able to keep up with Osamu’s plans later on and you could make the case that he surpasses them. He’s a fun wild card to have around. Someone you can’t really predict at all. I definitely really like characters like that and he already adds well to the show’s dynamic.

Shiori is the communicator on the main team so she is always helping coordinate everyone. I would say she is really good at what she does and definitely deserves credit. She keeps the personalities from clashing with each other too much and always keeps control. Her role isn’t one that will often get the spotlight but she still deserves a ton of credit for what she has helped to accomplish.

Rindo is the general boss of Tamakoma but for now we don’t really see him doing much of anything. We know he does a lot of the gruntwork on the back end but I would like to see more out of him. He strikes me as someone who should be really good at tactics so he can probably fight at least to a small amount right? If he can’t fight I admit that I would be rather disappointed. In a world where you can be invaded by aliens at any point, you need to learn at least some defense.

Then we have Replica who is a really good ally to Kuga. This guy doesn’t really show his emotions as a sentient A.I./neighbor of sorts. He really comes in handy quite a bit and gets several big moments. It was always fun to see him on screen and he’s one of the highlights without a doubt. He’s not a character that you can easily replace. I wouldn’t mind replacing Yotaru though. This guy doesn’t really add anything to the show. He’s the comic relief but we have other comedic characters who are a lot funnier. I’m afraid that the kid just didn’t land for me but hey that’s bound to happen sometimes I suppose.

We really haven’t seen Amo doing anything just yet but I do have high hopes for him. He is supposed to be one of the strongest agents in all of Border after all so he really needs to show up here! This is absolutely his chance to make a difference and I am buying into the hype. So keep your eye on this guy.

Tachikawa is another really strong fighter though and he has actually gotten to show off his stuff. The fact that he can fight really well against Jin is definitely some real props right there. His sword skills are good and he’s a fun character. The guy is rather laidback when outside of combat as well, he just takes his orders very seriously. I can’t really fault him for that. His right hand man Izumi is also really good. He was doing well in the battle with the neighbors as well until he was hit by a cheap shot from behind. He should have kept his guard up but yeah he really did well all things considered.

Yuiga doesn’t do as much as the others but we do see why he is known as one of the top snipers in Border. The guy is definitely a great shot and knows how to get around enemy defenses. Likewise with Toma but this is why some of the snipers start to blend into each other. They’re all really good but it can be harder to really show that off compared to fighters where you have all kinds of combos. Snipers are at the end of the day just firing off their guns over and over.

Kazama is a really solid fighter and he is even nice enough to help Osamu out a bit when the main character needed it. Kazama has the right attitude for being in the army and is always really serious. I definitely appreciate having him around and while I think his skills are a step beneath some of the others we were just talking about, he still has a lot of serious skills.

Kikuchihara is strong but I feel like he spends so much time smack talking that he will underperform soon. The guy has a high opinion of himself and that’s good because I like confidence but I feel like he spends more time insulting other characters than just being happy about his own strength. His priorities are flipped and that is what’s going to cost him I’d say. Maybe he just needs to have another fight to impress me.

Midorikawa is a decently good fighter. He actually gave Kuga a run for his money for a while there which takes a lot of talent. He can be mean as a rookie crusher at first but he saw the error of his ways so it’s all good now. Sometimes these things just happen I suppose. He’s not one of my favorites or anything like that but he’s still pretty fun.

One of the better characters is Arashiyama though. His whole squad is one of the most heroic and for that reason they are used a lot in PR and promotional materials within the universe. They help get people excited to join Border and are always professional. it’s not easy to always be ready like that so they definitely get good props. His skills aren’t the best but they’re good enough. He gets the job done.

I would say Kitora is probably the strongest within the group. She moves extremely fast and makes up for her lack of trion with precision shots. I was super impressed when she took on one of the monsters early on and was zipping around the place. While it’s true that her lack of raw power will definitely limit her against the more powerful opponents, she would definitely be a super good ally to have around in any fight. The perfect supporting fighter for sure.

Yosuke is the kind of guy who loves to fight and when he’s battling he goes all out. He’s generally chill but seems to treat the job very nonchalantly. So even murdering his opponents like when he went after Kuga is something he won’t hesitate to do. Yeah, you could say that about some of the other characters as well but Yosuke in particular felt very ruthless with how he went about this. You want to stay on his good side.

As for Miwa, he takes the neighbor situation more personally than any of the other characters. He does have a backstory about this so you understand, but at the same time he’s not the only one who’s been through a lot. I think he could stand to be more reasonable but he’s another fighter who is fun to have around. It’s nice to have a few more antagonistic main characters like this to really shake things up and keep everyone from being too similar to each other.

Ninomiya and Inukai don’t have huge roles here but they definitely represent the top B ranks very well. They think super analytically and completely show up Osamu’s group. There is a reason why they are the top ranks after all and their teamwork was excellent. That whole final fight was super good and they get a lot of credit there. I look forward to seeing more of them in the future. Ema is a solid sniper and he also seems like one of the nicer characters in the series. He goes out of his way to help Chika even if he always has some excuse ready. Then you have his opposite Masato who is super gruff and always fighting very savagely. He doesn’t do much yet but we got to see his high level of skill which already makes him an intriguing character.

Nasu and Kumagai also made for a really solid tag team. The match didn’t start off on a great note for them but they still managed to pull off a good comeback and get some solid points even if they didn’t come in first. They had really good teamwork and fought really creatively. If they had a stronger third member I think they could really make some solid waves in the B rank wars.

Suwa squad may not be one of the strongest groups but Suwa himself is pretty fun. He consistently hits above his paygrade and shows a lot of good strategies. In a way he’s a lot like a stronger version of Osamu. I’d like to continue seeing more of him down the line. The guy is really resourceful and I know that he will continue to improve. He’s got the confidence to match his skills and potential.

Natsume doesn’t do a whole lot here but she’s a nice friend to Chika so I would say she is a good addition to the cast. Hopefully she can brush up on her sniping skills and really became an asset for later on. Now lets talk about some of the management figures who are always fun to see. First we have Kido who is extremely strict. He’s not corrupt by any stretch of the imagination but he does make a lot of decisions I disagree with. He’s willing to have a lot of friction and department battles over black triggers and a neighbor instead of looking at the bigger picture. We nearly had a whole civil war within Border (The agency) near the beginning of the series. So he definitely needs to watch out a bit with that. I do think he makes for a fun character in general though and someone to keep my eye on.

Shinoda is the only boss to actually get to fight in the series which is pretty cool. I’m glad that we have at least one character ready to defend the heroes and make the right calls. Without him standing up to Kido things could have been very different. He was also able to do really well against one of the neighbors. Yeah I definitely like this guy quite a bit, he’s another really fun character.

Kinuta isn’t nearly as tough or intimidating as the other characters but he does seem to really believe in doing the right thing. He cares about keeping everyone safe and just tends to take a really aggressive approach towards making this a reality. While other characters sit back and observe, Kinuta is ready to act. It doesn’t always bring about the best results but it is what it is.

Netsuki and Karasawa are easy to mix up to be honest. It’s not that their designs are super similar but their functions are. They both basically help get the word out and keep public relations at a high level. They are both good at their jobs and trust their instincts even if it means going over some of the bosses’ heads. I can definitely appreciate that because if you are a true pro then you probably know best in the situation. So if you have a strong gut on something then you just have to trust yourself. It’s the way to go here.

Now we have the neighbors from the main invasion. As the leader of the squad, Hyrien is definitely quite powerful. His weapon can easily block others with how many different birds it can summon and the versatility is really impressive. He makes for a fun villain to have to go up against as a result. I like when both the heroes and villains are making big plans the whole time and Hyrien even outsmarts Osamu at one point. One of the scariest things you’ll ever have to go up against is a villain with top tier abilities and smarts. At that point you almost have to just surrender because your odds of winning are not looking very good.

Then we have Enedora who is definitely more of a trash talker. Of course he is also very smart since pretty much 95% of World Trigger characters have above average IQ. His ability to use invisible attacks and strike from the inside is also super impressive. It was fun seeing this guy take on so many challengers and they pretty much got lucky with him. He came very close to absolutely wasting a whole lot of the heroes. Yeah this guy’s a great villain and while he may not get any more big fight scenes in the future, he made his screentime count.

Mira is next and she is another really dangerous fighter. The fact that she can summon portals and more minions is another really dangerous ability. What she lacks in physical ability, she makes up for with long range effectiveness. As long as she was on the board the snipers couldn’t really do anything. She had them pinned down with ease. She is also someone who always keeps the big picture in mind and you have to assume that she will continue to be a really deadly foe in future fights.

Ranbanein is probably the only villain with a really straight forward kind of fighting style. He can shoot massive energy blasts at all times and from different directions. The sheer scale of his firepower is really what makes him incredibly dangerous here. A good hit is really all that he needs to beat just about everyone. He’s really confident and likes to fight so naturally I appreciated the character quite a bit.

Then we have Viza who may be old but the guy still packs a punch. He actually holds his own against Kuga for a long while there. The guy may end up being the smartest member of the villains and the fact that he has a black trigger means he is really recognized as one of the strongest fighters. I liked him more than I expected to. The older characters can sometimes be a bit annoying and all but there were really no problems here. The guy still had a lot of energy and personality the whole time.

Then we have Osamu’s mother who shows up later on. She’s a pretty fun character even though she doesn’t appear much. You can tell that she’s definitely another brainy character so that’s really where Osamu gets it from. I doubt she will ever become all that relevant to the story but it was still nice to see her show up here.

Now we’re into the filler characters! Oh nooooo, well they weren’t that bad. While I was less than impressed with the filler arc itself, the characters definitely did their best. Xeno is just one of those annoying guys who is always talking a really tough game. He fancies himself as some kind of a big shot but he has to take a little girl hostage for most of his screen time. I never really warmed up to the guy much. I feel like he was just trying too hard to look cool and with so many really good characters out there, he could not stand out.

Lilith was better but she’s one of those characters who is a bit oblivious since she’s not exactly human and can be rather soft spoken. She eventually works up the courage to really help out and make a difference with her true powers so I give her more credit than Xeno. It just took a while for Lilith to really get going but at least she has more of an excuse due to her past than Xeno had.

Then we have the big villain Giev. I actually thought he wasn’t bad. He’s one of those villains who admittedly feels rather out of his depth the whole time but he continues to go forward with the mission no matter what. He starts to get punked near the end but at least most of his screentime was good. He had a solid design as well so the guy was definitely memorable at all points in time. Then we have his bot Charon who isn’t nearly as cool as Replica but does make some big moves near the end. At first Charon seems rather forgettable so the second half was a really smart move and definitely boosted the character a lot.

So I mentioned before that the filler arc didn’t really stack up but why not? I would say because you can immediately tell that it’s filler because everything is so forced. The characters are having way more trouble with the villains than they should be. It’s such a much smaller invasion force compared to last time so why are they being overwhelmed? The more you think about it, the less sense that it makes. That is the real problem here. There are also far fewer tactics in play here. Osamu gets his big moment about overloading some barriers but the plan itself was so risky and unlikely to work that it feels like more of a negative. There was a very real chance that he could have just murdered everybody by convincing them to go inside the cages. Not a smart move right there.

I feel like if that was a real story arc, the big A ranks would have taken the villains down immediately in an episode or two. That’s the way that I see it at least. It’s hard to really picture any other kind of outcome here. That’s the best way I can describe it at least. It’s still cool to see the characters fighting more neighbors and all but it’s no substitute for the actual canon stuff.

The show mainly has the big invasion and the B wars as the two story arcs and each one was amazing. Top tier story and a lot going on at all times. It’s why I say it’s like a mix of sports and Shonen jump and I can’t think of any other title like this. Also you can see from above just how big the cast is and that’s considering that there are many characters I didn’t even list. There are several other teams in the wars I didn’t really go into. Watch the show to see them all but the fact that the author can balance all of these characters is super impressive. Good luck learning all the names tho.

Overall, World Trigger is definitely a top tier title. I highly recommend the show whether you are a fun of sports, action, or just like good strategy in general. The show really hits all of its targets here and succeeds in each genre. In a lot of ways I would even say it’s satisfying a niche of sorts with a lot of high tier battles without constant end of the world stakes. A great deal of the battles here are friendly sparring contests but they still really grab your attention. The episodes go by quickly and you’ll be left wanting for more. Fortunately this is where the sequels come in.

Overall 9/10

Electric Dreams Review

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Electric Dreams is one of those films that is trying really hard to balance out the comedy and romance perfectly. The problem though is it usually can’t get this just right and leans more on the comedy angle. That’s not necessarily a problem but the romance ends up being very poorly written and even some of the jokes don’t make too much sense. The film is trying very hard but I don’t think the humor has aged particularly well and at times you’re almost wondering what the main conflict of the movie even is. It feels like there wasn’t as much tension/drama as you would expect and it’s not like there is an end of the world threat going on. It just feels a bit aimless.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Miles who is an architect and he helps by planning out different ideas. He is not very tech savvy though and is super behind the times so it’s time to finally buy a computer. He gets one and almost immediately blasts it with some champagne. This causes the computer to turn into a sentient A.I. named Edgar. Edgar can do just about anything and has some really nice musical skills. This attracts a musician named Madeline who falls for Miles and he is rather enjoying the attention so he decides to lie to her about this. Edgar is upset because he likes Madeline and it’s his music so he decides to start causing some havoc. Meanwhile there is already a guy in the band known as Bill who is with Madeline. Which of the 3 guys will be able to claim her?

The first thing you have to realize here is that none of the characters are even remotely likable. Miles is the kind of guy who is mild mannered among the cast except with Madeline where he will yell at her at the drop of a hat. He’s definitely rather rude at times and lying to her about the music the whole time is pretty rough. Yes, he tries to come clean once or twice initially and Madeline doesn’t believe him but what you have to remember is that she’s not very smart at all. Miles continues to lie more and more about basically everything and that’s not a good look for him either. Miles is just not the guy you would really want to hang around. He feels way too sorry for himself and is the kind of guy who would get corrupted by a super computer immediately. The fact that Edgar is dominating him the whole time is crazy.

Miles is also too desperate for Madeline the whole time. Even after going backstage and seeing Bill having his fun with her, Miles is excited for the date coming up? Shouldn’t he talk to Madeline or confront Bill? Bill’s the most random inclusion in the film to be honest because there is really no point for this guy to be here. He’s only here to complicate matters and probably has less than 5 minutes of screentime. His appearance also makes Madeline look bad as a result.

Madeline should have set boundaries and cleared everything up right in that first scene instead of letting Miles be obviously awkward about the whole thing. Madeline is also one of the least intelligent heroines I’ve seen in a while as she misinterprets everything and has no clue what is going on. Yeah you could say that’s part of the comedy to which I would say it’s not very well written comedy. Madeline doesn’t seem particularly loyal or trustworthy with how quickly she gets into relationships. Also, her reaction of grinning when Miles wrecked her big concert (Thanks to Edgar) was completely bizarre.

Imagine someone making a lot of noise during your big performance and you’re just grinning. The alternate answer is that she didn’t hear what was happening, but everyone in the audience could and the conductor could, so is her hearing bad? The issues continue to mount over and over again. So as you can probably guess I wasn’t exactly rooting for the relationship to work out here. Seems like it’ll be really toxic and not be a good long term plan.

Finally you have Edgar who is super whiny the whole time. He wants to know about love and he wants Madeline to be with him but the guy is a program. Why is he so desperate here? He practically starts crying after a while. He has a good time messing with Miles but at the end of the day is unable to finish him off. So much for computer power. At least by the end of the film he figures out a way to expand his reach so instead of just annoying a few characters, now he can annoy the entire planet. That’s definitely one way to make your mark on the world.

It feels like you could have come up with a much more compelling storyline here if you really wanted to. It doesn’t even have to be the usual thriller kind of story where the machines take over. Just have it be a more intense rival that doesn’t whine so much. Give Madeline more agency, cut out Bill, and also make Miles more likable. Basically you just need to switch a whole lot of elements about the film and then this could be a good one. At its core you could say it’s a writing issue. The writing in the movie just isn’t good.

Overall, Electric Dreams is not a particularly good film. It’s a comedic film that is trying too hard and doesn’t end up being very funny. It felt like the movie didn’t exactly know what its end game was for a while there. I’m not saying you had to have some kind of a big and ambitious plot the whole time but the movie absolutely could have done something to stand out more here. The best thing I can say for it is that it does make using the computer really fun the whole time. I liked the graphics and how everything was voice activated. When Edgar turned on a Pac Man simulation to beat up Miles that was also pretty fun. We should have had more of this, direct man vs machine. You may be thinking that it should be easy to just smash the CPU but Miles makes that look like an absolutely impossible challenge the whole time.

Overall 4/10

Pulseman Review

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It’s time for the world to once again remember the world of Pulseman. This game was pretty fun when I got to play it through the Nintendo Switch Online but I didn’t realize that it got a manga adaption. So that was definitely pretty cool. The concept is really unique and this could have been a proper ongoing but the one shot does its job of getting you interested into the franchise.

The story starts off boldly as a guy falls in love with his computer program. He turns himself into data and they get together and have Pulseman as a kid. In a way he is the link between humanity and the digital world which is a lot of pressure. He is determined to do a good job in this role but then an evil scientist shows up who wants to cause a bunch of trouble. Why is thus doctor evil? Well as he says himself, he just likes being a bad person and as far as villain motivations go, I would say that works well enough. An evil version of Pulseman who takes everything literally will be the hero’s toughest adversary to overcome but defeating him will still still be a walk in the park.

For a oneshot story, there are definitely a whole lot of storylines going on. You’ve got the whole villainess turning good plot, the rivalry with the evil version, betrayals, etc. I’m impressed with how much the story was able to cover in a single chapter like this. It focuses on the critical elements and so it is able to adapt a ton of things without any fluff. It would make you eager to go and play the video game although of course there isn’t a ton of special effects or cutscenes going for the original game. So if you’re playing it for the story then that’s probably not the best idea you could have.

I’s why they should make a remake of Pulseman or make the manga into an ongoing someday. There is just so much potential here. The action scenes were definitely good and the artwork was on point. Each of the character designs were solid and it was easy to tell what was happening. Some of the pages could be a little dense with how much text was on screen the whole time but even with that you would never get lost or anything. The fights do have to go by a bit quickly due to the page count so if we got more chapters then this issue was fixed. The manga smartly decided to just focus on one boss battle here instead of a bunch. Otherwise it wouldn’t have had much time for anything.

I’ve read quite a few Mega Man titles where they try to cram all of the fights into one chapter and ultimately that just means each fight will get maybe one panel with a big splash page. Instead, having one fight that can get more pages is definitely ideal. Either way the story works well with or without context of the game so it’s an easy one to recommend. There’s really no downside to reading a oneshot because of how fast it is. If you don’t like it, then you only used up like 5 minutes tops anyway.

Overall, Pulseman was a good story. I had fun with it and the concept of the character is pretty cool. Some elements I would need to be explained further to really get like exactly what allows a character to materialize in the human world. We got some emotional stuff later on with one girl no longer being able to appear in the human world but she is otherwise uninjured and doesn’t seem to be in danger so just how bad is it? Since Puleman can freely go between both worlds, either way he should be able to visit her, at least that’s how I interpreted that. Perhaps there is more of a downside that I am not considering though. So yeah, definitely check this story out and see what you think. It had even more potential than Mighty No 9 I dare say. I know that’s a bold take though….

Overall 6/10