Demon Slayer Season 4: Hashira Training Arc Review

Posted on September 1, 2024 by dreager1

Demon Slayer has returned with another season and this is probably the first time where it’s more of a preparation one. Usually you’ve have the massive multiple episode length fight to close things out but instead we’re setting up the movie trilogy this time around. It makes for an incredible cliffhanger in the final episode but at the same time it does mean that the first half tends to be more on the slow side which can be tricky since as it is, Demon Slayer doesn’t have the best cast of heroes.

The season starts off with Tanjiro eagerly awaiting his chance to get some training from the Hashira. He is still injured so he has to wait a little while while the others get a head start but he quickly begins to catch up. Can Tanjiro clear all of the trainings before it’s time for the next big move? Muzan appears to be getting desperate so he could really show up at any point. The heroes have to be prepared to stop him.

That makes the training a little dicey though. I mean there’s no real way around it but imagine Muzan decides to strike right after the heroes are done training for the day? They’ll all be exhausted while he is at full strength. In fact, it seems likely since the heroes do their training by day and the vampires move by night. Now that I think about it, the heroes should have absolutely been training at night the whole time. I’m sure it’s hard to adjust their internal clocks but I’m sure they could pull it off if they had to. This is actually giving Muzan a good advantage. Now, the heroes definitely need training so to an extent they are going to have to do this, whether it’s at night or in the day but it is really something to be considered here.

As always the animation is really sharp here. There are less opportunities to show off but we get a few Hashira training bouts that look really good and of course the final episode looks stunning. The fighting that we get there is really hype and it’s one of the best anime cliffhangers that I can think of to end a season. They didn’t hold back at all, this is a good way to get everyone into the theaters right away. The scene is drawn out to maximum intensity without going too long and like in the manga, it hits you just how sudden all of this is. I also liked Muzan’s slow walk to the castle. I know this got some shade for being super long but it’s the big villain himself finally making a move. I would say that warrants the extra attention.

The soundtrack is also really good as you would expect. The opening isn’t my favorite but I do really like the ending. It played perfectly when Muzan showed up to take everyone down. In general the show always has a very grand feel for the serious moments and this season was no different. The season also only has 8 episodes so it does go by pretty fast which helps to make up for it not being super eventful for most of the run.

I suppose the main weakness the show would have is that the humor doesn’t work super well. As I alluded to earlier, the character cast in Demon Slayer isn’t really one of my favorites. They can’t hold their own comedic/slice of life moments as well as a lot of the other big titles. So you’re really just waiting for the next fight scene the whole time instead of just absorbing the moment. So every time there is a training bout you are excited but otherwise you are shaking your head. While it’s not always entirely serious, I also do think that the training regimen is way too harsh on the characters. It feels like a borderline villainous group with how ferocious they can be. If Tanjiro had been one step closer then Genya would have lost his eyes for example.

It makes it very hard for you to really like the Demon Slayers at times. Obviously they are still much better than the demons so lets not get that twisted but I would appreciate it if they were more likable. For example Kagaya gets his big moment at the end of the season after being sidelined for the whole series. He has a decent speech and a good plan but you’ve never really been given much reason to care about the guy. I give him tremendous props for hanging in there despite his injuries but that’s about all I can say for him.

Tanjiro looks solid as always. He’s definitely very determined and shows off his good work ethic here. He had humble beginnings like the rest of the corp but through all of the life and death battles he has really shot past them in every metric. He is basically a Hashira at this point and I appreciate that the show supports this by the fact that he can follow their movements now. I look forward to seeing him fight next time since he’s finally back to full power. Muzan definitely better watch out!

Zenitsu’s role isn’t very big here but he has a noticeable personality shift once he gets a certain letter. After all these years we can finally see him in a serious role. I was definitely happy to see this because his old gags had run dry by now. In the final episode he keeps his composure even more than the Hashira. He’s definitely going to be causing the villains some problems.

Inosuke doesn’t get a ton to do here either but he’s always eager to fight as always. His physical abilities are always good so I look forward to seeing what he does next time. It does feel like Tanjiro had started to leave those two far behind so now is their chance to catch up a bit. Tamayo also gets to make her big return here to help the group out. As the medical expert it’s good to be seeing her knowledge used in a combat context. She definitely had a tough role here but she never backed down. Honestly she has the most reason to be rather annoyed at everything going on because she really set the heroes up perfectly.

Sanemi is still a little too cruel for the demon slayer corp. Once you are actively trying to remove a fellow fighter then you need to be kicked out. Yeah he has his reasons and everything but they just aren’t good enough. Meanwhile Obanai is definitely missing the forest for the trees with how he’s trying to bump off Tanjiro the whole time. Allowing jealousy to cloud his heart at a time like this is definitely not a good move. Mitsuri doesn’t have time to do a whole lot here but that makes sense since she just had her character moments last time.

Muichiro is still working on not being so emotionless and I would say he does a pretty good job here. He may not be making too many friends just yet but at least he is more reasonable. The paper airplane stuff may have been a little cheesy but it was fun enough. They also are really showing how Muichiro is one of the strongest now too with how he was handling multiple Hashira at the time time. Shinobu doesn’t get to fight this time as she’s concocting some kind of a plan. We’ll have to see what comes out of this.

Giyu gets one of the biggest roles from the group as we finally learn about his backstory. It definitely adds a lot of context for why he has had a hard time fitting in and has trouble really being expressive. In some ways he’s like Tanjiro where he is super oblivious and in other ways he just doesn’t realize what he is saying. I will miss his arrogant side since we’ll probably get less scenes of him explaining how he’s different from the others but either way I still trust him as one of the big hitters in the series.

Finally we have Gyomei and we also learn his backstory here. Definitely a pretty tragic one where he tried his best but it just wasn’t enough. He gets good props for holding his own against a demon even as a kid but ultimately it didn’t serve as much of a consolation to him. Demon Slayer always has to have some kind of tragic ending though. I feel like we’ve already seen the whole family get murdered a few times by now for other characters but I suppose it’s an easy one to set up for the tension. I still don’t really care for Gyomei though. The constant crying just seems like it’s a bit much even if that’s his gimmick.

Finally we have Muzan as the big villain. He may be starting to get awfully sloppy here but he’s so close to his goal that it makes sense in a way. At this point he is so close to his goal and he figures that the humans can’t really do anything to him. It’s not a smart play but I can cut him a little slack there. He still did have a backup plan ready to go which worked really well after all. It’s lucky that he had this though as I dare say the whole series would have ended here otherwise. Even with regeneration, I definitely don’t think he would be able to tank so many powerful hits at once. Especially as they would keep on slamming into him over and over. His regen is near instant but it still does take up energy and he doesn’t have an unlimited amount of that. It’s pretty interesting how similar it looks to a Titan forming but I suppose that makes sense since it’s the same concept.

The heroes are already using a lot of plot armor to hang in there with Muzan though so you wonder how that will continue. This is one of those series where I do think the villains got a huge power creep over the heroes though. It’s hard to really picture them standing a chance so we’ll have to see how that goes. Like I’m skeptical about Muzan falling for the trap but at least now that he has, the rest of his events make sense since he’s so weakened. Once the rest of the Upper 5 members who are still alive show up, you would assume that it’s curtains. I’d take Akaza over any one of the Hashira any day after all. Being able to match them blow for blow while also having high speed regeneration is just an absolutely insane combo.

Overall, You could say that the whole season really exists just for the final episode. It’s all to bring about this big cliffhanger and prepare people for a bunch of nonstop battles that are all going to start now. It’s hard not to get excited for something like that. It’s going to be absolutely awesome. In the meanwhile I would still say to check this season out. It’s not every day that you get a season for the main characters to relax and chill out before the big fights begin. I know fans of many series would wish that they could have gotten this treatment. It all depends on how much you enjoy the characters of course but I don’t think they will steer you wrong. The animation is smooth for all of their moments either way so just think of this like a quick mini arc before getting to the real stuff. At worst you can just call it uneventful but it should still keep your attention the whole time. The show has had so many different fight scenes in previous seasons that you can allow this at least once, but the pressure is definitely going to be on for the movies. The fights need to absolutely bring out Ufotable’s best although they have never failed before do I’m feeling pretty confident.

Overall 7/10

The Enforcer Review

Posted on August 22, 2024 by dreager1

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 Harry to return to fight off some more crime. Unfortunately for him, the guy doesn’t have much backup this time. The film shows even more just how inept everyone tends to be without him and corruption is through the roof. I think the movie goes a little too far with this at times here but I dare say it has a slight touch of comedy at times which helps to push things through. If it was fully serious it might almost get a bit depressing.

The film starts off with some guys getting murdered as a terrorist group continues to gain ground for some kind of nefarious purpose. Meanwhile Harry pulls off another stunning victory over the forces of evil but there was a whole lot of collateral damage and he’s demoted. He now has to work with a lady named Kate thanks to a new initiative where they are trying to get more girls on the force. Harry is against this, not because Kate is a girl but because things should be done in a meritocracy. Promoting her just for this reason strikes him as a little silly although the silliness is just beginning. Can Kate prove that she has what it takes?

I think the rough part here is of course we know part of the message is that Kate is ready for action and can back him up but she looks really bad at first. She is clearly not prepared for any of this and nearly gets blown away during a missile practice exercise. It doesn’t exactly inspire confidence when you are counting on this person to watch your back in a life or death situation right? It takes a very long time for Kate to really be combat ready and by then we’re approaching the end of the film so you know what’s about to happen. For what it’s worth, I do think she’s a likable character. Her heart’s in the right place but she was in over her head.

Harry is a fun lead as always. Super gruff and to the point. He can be rather rude for sure but at least you always know he is speaking his mind and not sugar coating things. He’s still just as good a fighter as he ever was and age has not gotten the best of him. The guy puts up with a whole lot but ultimately keeps on going to help people. So I admire the drive and there is really nothing to dislike about the guy. He always puts his best foot forward and is an inspiration to everyone around him.

Now the police captain looks real bad here. For starters, he really wants good press and to look good for the mayor. So he’s running around spoiling Harry’s plans and generally not caring about anything. Arresting Harry’s informant was absolutely terrible. The guy was only looking out for the short term benefits there. It’s clear that he wasn’t actually thinking of the public good. Then by the end he’s absolutely given up as expected and doesn’t even realize that the fight was already over. This is the kind of person that Harry has to work with on a daily basis.

The worst part? Harry is outranked by this guy so there is only so much you can do. It has to be absolutely disheartening to be the best man on the force but to not be ranked high enough to actually make a difference in these things. It’s the ultimate frustration. Then you mayor as well who falls into all of the same traps. He wants votes and he wants results but the guy can’t wait long enough to get them the right way. He’s the kind of guy who would jump into a trap just to spite Harry and to show that he can make his own decisions. He’s not the smartest guy at all.

The villains are okay but not super memorable. They have their own motives and all but at the end of the day they basically are terrorists. Their message gets lost early on when they’re murdering everyone. It always takes a rather huge kind of message to counter murders like that. You need to have an extremely powerful message for me to even begin to think of supporting you by this point. These guys don’t though so they lose the credibility rather quickly.

Like I mentioned earlier, one of the film’s strengths is that it does throw in some good humor from time to time though. Harry’s dry wit really works well in different scenes and then you also have a lot of crazy stuff going on like one of the terrorists being in a nun outfit and the pastor generally being super unhelpful. You can’t really stay neutral or talk about nonviolence when you have terrorists inside the building with you. People are unhelpful to a comedic extreme, corrupt to an extreme, and everything is just big and crazy. Even the way Harry handles the opening case is rather funny with how nonchalant he is about it.

The humor never goes too far or wrecks the tone of the film though. It is absolutely a lighter tone than the last film but it’s handled smoothly and isn’t forceful. It just works here and not every film has to have some kind of super deep message after all. This film is also a lot shorter than the last one so in a way this may have been a decision to just make this more of a basic action film. You can never really go wrong with that as long as the writing is good and I thought it was rather solid. The ending may not be quite as solid as the last one since it’s way more of a hollow victory but it’s still good enough. Harry shows off his attitude to the end and we get one last gag of sorts.

Overall, The Enforcer is a good film. I don’t think it quite has the depth of the last one but it’s still a good adventure. In a way it continues to show just how corrupt things are to the point where Harry has to rely on other criminals to get the info he needs on the main villains. He can’t rely on the cops or their information networks which is really rough when you think about it. With the mayor pushing all of his social justice policies in, Harry can see how it might get even worse in the future. He may complain, but ultimately he keeps on getting the job done though and that’s what is important. I would recommend checking this film out, you’ll have a good time.

Overall 6/10

Magnum Force Review

Posted on August 22, 2024 by dreager1

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

It’s time for Harry to return and start putting some justice back in the streets. Magnum Force tackles the topic of vigilante justice which is pretty fun because usually you only see that in a superhero story. Sure, non superhero movies sometimes have this as well for the main character but it’s a little rarer to have the complete hero having to take on a vigilante. Especially when the hero is someone who is willing to skirt the rules quite a bit like Dirty Harry.

The movie starts with a crook managing to get away on a technicality and preparing to enjoy his new freedom. Unfortunately for him, he bumps into a cop who is just not having this and gets brutally murdered. Harry decides to look into this although he is warned not to look too closely. A man like Harry is going to try for answers and those answers may not be to the department’s best interests. It’s a touchy subject after all and so naturally Harry doesn’t listen to them at all. He’s going to do whatever he wants and that’s really the final answer. He does have a partner, but there’s not much point talking about him because you know how that tends to go.

In a way this movie plays out like a part mystery. Who is this rogue cop? There are several suspects because in the movie we meet a new rookie unit that is formed of several prodigies. These guys are all experts with a gun and are definitely not afraid to use it. So which one of them has gone off the deep end and started executing criminals? Sure, it might sound like a good idea at first and that’s why it is always such a tempting proposition but it becomes a super slippery slope. In fact we can go over that a bit in this review because the movie also goes over this in detail.

Basically as Harry points out, the rogue cop is playing judge, jury, and executioner. Yes, Harry has had to wrestle with these themes even in the first film. Sometimes you do have to pull the trigger but there’s a big difference between doing that either in duress, a split second situation, a one time event, and casually going around bumping off all criminals. You have to be absolutely sure that the person doing the crime is actually guilty and figuring out a lot of similar things as well. After all, if you got this wrong, then you are murdering an innocent person.

In a perfect world, if it were possible to perfectly know if someone was guilty of particularly heinous crimes then I doubt that anyone would have a problem deleting them. If you could press a button and it only deleted people that you knew committed the crime like cold blooded murder in a non acceptable circumstance, then that’d be great. Of course, that is not something that can ever happen. The thing with vigilantism is that you can’t promote it because then it’ll spread and inevitably be used by someone who doesn’t subscribe to the same values. It puts the whole topic in a very dicey spot. You can only really internally root for it and not externally.

Take the opening scene, everyone knows that this guy murdered a bunch of people. He got off on a legal loophole, but that’s all it was…a loophole. When you have actual footage of someone doing something criminal, it can be extremely frustrating to see them out and about again with no problem. The law will never be perfect of course as you can’t stitch every loophole but that’s when vigilantes don’t seem to bad. So in the world of Dirty Harry, you can easily imagine how vigilantes would appear. There is just so much crime and corruption everywhere. The cops seem rather dirty at times so the only way to put a criminal off the streets is to do it yourself.

Of course, using a cop to do this means the whole agency could be compromised. So it makes for a pretty good battle of ideals throughout the movie. Then you also have the battle of generations. Harry is an older guy who has been around the block many times before. He knows how to fight and make command decisions but can he handle any of these younger cops? We see that they are near perfect on the gun range and hold their own in a shooting exhibition. Of course, Harry threw the latter so we can assume he would have won or at least tied there but it doesn’t change the fact that these guys are really evenly matched.

Harry is always a likable character and he does tend to carry the film at a lot of points. He’s certainly not flawless. The guy makes mistakes like anybody else but he’s always at least fighting for something. He still believes that the badge means something after all and this kind of main character is always fun. I also like the main villain. I won’t say who it is but the film definitely takes a twist out of a mystery film with how it’s handled. It makes for a really solid climax all the way around.

The film does show off what a lawless city it takes place in so there is definitely some grit here though. The murders can be a little bloody at times of course. There is some fanservice running around and most of the characters are meant to be rather unlikable. I like the young cops and Harry but pretty much everyone else here tends to be annoying. I actually thought Harry’s partner wasn’t bad but you just feel like he’s absolutely doomed the whole time. Nobody can hang with Harry for long. That’s just how it always is. He’s built different for this kind of thing.

Overall, Magnum Force is a pretty solid film. It’s definitely a long one so there is a whole lot of time for investigation here and debates on what is going on. The movie avoids being too black and white on the issue which I appreciated as it is a bit of a nuanced topic. It may be an uncomfortable one for most but there is a reason why vigilante justice is so popular after all. The film absolutely lands the ending as well so it makes for a satisfying watch. It’s probably a film that would be a little too intense for younger watchers but I wouldn’t say it is completely off its rocker either. I do think the film showed some restraint overall since it could easily mess with the audience’s emotions to make the vigilantism even more accepted based on how awful the criminals are. You are more left to assume based on context and such rather than shown the various crimes for the most part which is always the best way to go. So yeah this is definitely the film to watch if you want a compelling action title.

Overall 6/10

Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage Review

Posted on August 17, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to jump back into the world of the rankings. The first season was fun with a lot going on and some pretty dynamic fights. The cast may not be the strongest but the show still holds its own. That said, this one is more like a mini season so that does put it in a bit of a tricky place right out of the gate. Could the season win without a big story? Well, I found it fun enough so I would say it was still good. The first season definitely wins without a doubt but at least since we know the characters by now, they were able to hold their own stories without too much trouble. The 10 episodes definitely go by real quickly so in a lot of ways this really does feel like a mini season even aside from the story.

I’ll jump into each segment and talk about them so you get a feel for the stories. That’s always the most enjoyable way to review an anthology after all and it gets you right into the thick of things! The only exception to this is the final episode where it actually continues the story and works like a preview of what the next full season will be like. I thought that was a real interesting touch so I was glad to see that. It ends the season off on a really strong note which is definitely what you’re looking for here.

The first short in the series shows us once again why Kage is such a great character. He’s looking for an herb that he needs for Boji’s mentor and yet he can’t help but stop to assist an old lady who needs him. He performs each and every chore even while he is super busy and you have to acknowledge his good strength of heart here. Ultimately the good deed pays for itself and things work out but he was willing to help out with no reward which is always good. He’s definitely one of the most heroic characters.

In the next story we had Boji and Kage get tasked to raise a ton of money. They come up with a genius plan to have people try to throw rocks at Boji and he needed to dodge. They racked up a lot of money this way but ultimately needed to give most of it away to a poor kid who needed their help. Another instance of Boji and Kage being good heroes here so I can appreciate that. The town’s not in the best shape so I imagine that a lot of people there are in a rough spot. Hopefully they can keep helping everyone out, one spot at a time.

After that we get to see how their heroism can sometimes put them in dicey situations. They didn’t realize that a bunch of bandits were villains and just thought they were people down on their luck. Kage and Boji got suckered rather easily but at least they are strong enough where they can win the fights without any trouble. So ultimately that helps to reduce the damage from all of this. I can’t blame them too hard for being super kind hearted when they have the power to get out of a jam on their own after all. It’s a nice enough story and we got some action in this time.

We also had a short involving a desert but the tough part about having 3 shorts in one episode instead of 2 is that one will really get the shaft. That was the case here as there wasn’t much time for anything. We had a nice feels moment with the monster but that’s about it. I would probably consider this to be the weakest short in the season. There just isn’t much to absorb or talk about here.

After that was a fun one though as Hiling is getting ready to mount a counterattack to take back the kingdom. So she heads off and finds out of her friends. So the friend agrees to help if Hilling saves the day first. It’s a nice team up and this is also a good place to mention to you that the setting of the episode changes each time. So some take place at the end of the series, some before the series, etc. So definitely something to really keep in mind here. Obviously this plot would not make sense if Boji was already the king. It was good to see Hilling as the main character, she tends to be fun.

We also have a short special with Daida learning some basic healing magic and helping Boji out when the lead gets hurt. You can tell it’s not going to be Daida’s forte so I wouldn’t expect to see him doing anything crazy with healing in the future but every bit certainly helps. This one felt fairly short, not a whole lot is going on here. So it’s not bad, but won’t hook your interest particularly well next to some of the other episodes.

Then we get one about Ouken and the Desha/Despa brothers. We already saw a lot of this in the main series so this is really a way to expand upon it a bit. They each got super abilities from their father but they aren’t perfectly balanced. One of them is immortal, one has super strength/magic, and I forget what the final one has. Maybe intelligence? He’s not really a fighter but is a good teacher. Either way I always like seeing the Underworld, it’s established pretty well in the series and always makes for a good episode.

The next one actually continues the plot in a lot of ways. Ouken’s friend Fren decides to search for a cure to the immortality and goes on a whole quest. He takes on a lot of dangers and threats as he searches for a lead. Ultimately he is able to get some intel which will set up the cure/next steps for a future arc. Fren was definitely loyal and you always want someone like that in order to have your back during a pinch. So this was another fun one.

We have another weak one coming up sadly. In this one, the horse that Despa owns has gotten really fat. So the mission is to have him lose weight and this starts to work when the horse sees a girl horse that he likes. Unfortunately for him it turns out that she already has someone. The guy is absolutely crushed and gains all of the weight back. It’s why if you are going to change something or set a personal goal, it needs to be for you. Otherwise you will inevitably get disheartened at some point and will lose all progress. You can’t let it get to that point so the ending is actually a rather sad one. It also just feels like straight up filler since the episode ends as it started so they could have done more here or had a better message.

After that is an origin episode for Hokuro. Hokuro really wanted to be a knight. Someone who would be able to watch over Boji and keep the kingdom safe. Unfortunately he isn’t very strong but the guy does know sign language which ends up helping him out. Without that you know that Hokuro would have been tossed out, so his instincts of wanting to be able to communicate with Boji were good ones. Ultimately he did as well as he could, but personally I would not have recommended him to be a soldier. He has a good story of course but there is not much point in a soldier who cannot protect his king.

Then we have two shorts that don’t have a ton of plot but are excuses to really see what is going on in the kingdom. We have one where Boji helps out a lot of different people while he still misses Kage. Life just isn’t the same on his own. Boji is a king though and I want to say that the point is that he still continues to help people and fulfills his duties rather than running out of the kingdom on a wild goose chase to find his friend. Meanwhile Daida’s short is rather similar. He is working to rebuild the kingdom but a lot of people still don’t trust him. He was just too evil and possessed for too long. So he takes it slow and in the meantime continues training with the Big 4. So he’s doing his best but it’s just a long road.

We get a story about how Bebin trained hard so that he wouldn’t be so much weaker than the other members of the big 4. He had good technique but completely lacked power and so as he got desperate he would make more and more mistakes that would really come back to bite him. It definitely put him in quite the tough bind but ultimately he got better at using his techniques after some formal training. I still don’ really see him beating any of the other members of the Big 4 but at least now it’s definitely a lot closer. He certainly made a lot of progress.

My favorite short in the series was definitely when the Big 4 are challenged to a game of arm wrestling. It should be an easy thing for them and yet they are getting absolutely dominated for most of the episode. It’s pretty crazy especially because there weren’t any big gimmicks here. Yes, the guy they were fighting was a master of the craft and knew how to use his leverage but at the end of the day it was still his strength that was proving to be superior. It was extremely impressive the whole time. I was glad that the heroes finally started working together but the Big 4 definitely did lose a good amount of hype here. This short easily had the most amount of hype behind it.

We get a story Kage’s mom and how she raised Kage right. He used to get picked on by the local kids and everything but instead of worrying about that, he still just had a good time. When villains would attack, Kage ended up saving them. He’s definitely someone you can count on in a pinch and he has certainly saved Boji many times at this point. It’s a nice little short even if it does make the town look rather mean and corrupt as always.

King Bosse gets a segment to go more in depth on his having Boji. We already saw part of this in the show but this way it’s a little extended. He has to fight off all kinds of enemies but in the back of his head he still knows his own guilt. At the end of the day, he made a deal that was not worth it and has been paying ever since. He would only get worse as the series went on unfortunately. I still don’t like King Bosse and probably never will with how drastic he got. At best you could say that he is a very imposing villain with his high levels of raw power and all but in the end this isn’t going to be enough to start rehabilitating his overall character. The guy doesn’t really get any sympathy from me.

Miranjo had a segment with her as a kid running around with the kid demon. The little thing was real afraid of her back then but since she was a kid i’s not like she could totally tell and so she chased him for a while. It’s a nice look at things before she got ultra depressed with everything going really badly for her. A lot of characters here had pretty tough backgrounds which definitely do not excuse their later actions but at least it’s nice to see some happy times occurred.

The final segment is about Boji giving some gifts to all of his friends. It’s a pretty solid way to end the season since it ties into the treasure chest and everything. You get to say your final goodbyes to all of the characters as well which is nice. Of course this wouldn’t literally be the last episode but in a way it’s the last episode of the arc so either way it works out pretty well. It’s a low key episode of course but it’s nice seeing all of the characters again. It could be a while before we see any of them again.

Now like I said this brings us to the final episode where things get real intense. The next #1 king has been chosen at last but of course we know that things never go well for the top king. He always seems to vanish. So why even go through with the process? Well, Desha is still trying to cure the curse of immortality on his brother and so this is a risk he has to take. We get to wrap up that plotline here and in general the episode feels rather fast paced. It keeps up some mysteries to be sure but you know this will be a pretty interesting plot that’s going to keep on going. The gods may feel a bit nerfed right now but I suppose we can assume that this was the weakest one or something like that. You always feel like King Bosse should be the only one able to take these guys out.

The heroes may regret not asking for help from Boji and Daida but I get why they wouldn’t want to be asking the kingdom for help every time something happens. They need to be able to hold their own in a pinch after all and that’s completely valid. Desha is also no slouch in the power department, he looked really good in season 1 after all so it’s not like you would assume that he could be defeated. Power itself doesn’t seem to be much of a counter for the price of the king’s reward but in the back of your head you would probably feel pretty secure about the whole thing.

The animation for the show is okay. It’s certainly below average compared to most titles but we do get one solid looking fight in the very final episode. More of a quick cut than the full fight but close enough. The show has always gone for an intentionally simplified look and I’m not the biggest fan of it but it could still work for those fights. We just need more movement and everything here along with some nice/colorful special abilities.

As for the soundtrack the tunes are basically the same as in season 1. They’re not super dynamic but they’re okay. They feel nostalgic while watching the show at least. Nothing that I would be likely to Youtube afterwards or anything like that though. The theme song could definitely stand to be a lot more exciting though. It’s all just so mellow and everything. I want the theme song to embrace more of how crazy the show can be with demons and gods running around. It may not be the tone the show is totally going for but I think it would work well.

Right now the technical elements aren’t doing a whole lot to back up the show itself and that’s what has got to change here. Lets pump the show up with a bit more hype. The world building is already there after all, we just need to make it all a lot more hype. This is more of a wishlist for season 2 at this point I suppose. Nothing wrong with just being a good show of course, but I know this could be a great show.

Overall, The treasures season was fun enough. There may not be much stakes or plot progression for most of the season but the stories themselves were solid enough to hold your attention. So I didn’t have any real complaints here. I think it went about as far as it could with this format and not being able to jump far ahead just yet. Fans of the first season should check this out to see all of the old characters again while people who have not jumped into the franchise just yet will not really have any reason to do so. This is really an experience for the fans compared to season 1 which is easier for everyone to just jump into. Hopefully the actual season 2 comes sooner than later.

Overall 6/10

Escape Plan: The Extractors Review

Posted on August 1, 2024 by dreager1

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

Another Escape Plan? Hey some characters have a hard time staying out of jail but at least you know they have a lot of experience by now. This one really goes back to the original in a lot of ways with the main character getting more screentime and doing a lot of fighting. I would even go as far as to say that it’s definitely the most intense one. It has its moments but you can definitely tell that the series is faltering somewhat.

All right so the film starts with reminding us why a bunch of bodyguards just aren’t worth it. Daya’s group is immediately defeated and she is kidnapped. Always better to have one all star than a group tbh. Her father is a big time criminal who operates a lot of prisons and so Ray has decided to take him down. It won’t be easy though because Ray’s group isn’t all that great and they are defeated along with Abigail getting kidnapped. Ah well…looks like Ray is gonna need to do a lot of the heavy lifting here. He’s fairly used to it though. Can he murder all of the villains before they execute the final hostages or is it already too late?

One thing you can definitely tell about this film is that it’s quite a bit edgier than the first two. Gone are the more sci-fi type prisons in place of a very dusty, sand type of area. It looks more like a prison you would see in real life which in a way is good for realism but by film 3 it’s not like that should be a huge consideration right? That’s already all done with by this point. Even the fights are more on the realistic side without all of the big choreography. You just have people getting shot and stabbed.

The fight scenes aren’t bad but they do tend to end with rather violent finishers. You may think Ray is a little too old for all of this but he definitely handles himself well in a fight. you can expect him to typically dominate in the ring. Of course he does have a lot of rage due to the events of this film. There is definitely a body count to be had here and with films always needing to top themselves and elevate things to the next level, you could say that this film took the next logical step. Can’t say it’s one that I’m a really big fan of but hey….that’s how it goes. It’s a big spoiler to say much more than that but one character ends up biting it and I would say this was unnecessary.

I feel like it could have set up some sequels since the dynamic is different but I suppose they didn’t have enough fuel in the tank to squeeze out a 4th one of these. It would definitely be nice if Ray’s teammates could hold their own a bit better. Yeah they each have their specialties like we have the jokester hacker, but at the end of the day it doesn’t feel like he will come through when it counts. You actually want to have someone inside the jail with you taking down tons of opponents.

Ironically the best assistant Ray has is DeRosa who isn’t actually part of the main team. When he shows up the villains start falling like dominoes but his role isn’t quite as big here. He shows up a few times and then at the very end but this is not really his film so think of him more like a guest star. He would do pretty well in continuing the franchise if you had to switch main characters I would say.

The film does give the main villains a connection to the first film so that helps in terms of connecting everything together. I can appreciate that as a writing strategy even if you don’t really need to do it. I understand how you want to end things on a bang and that makes everything feel more personal. It reminds you that you really can’t trust anyone in the prison breaking game. At the end of the day everyone is out for themselves and will mess you over if given half a chance.

If we did get another film we’d have to see how they force Ray back into a prison. Are we going with the ole hostage routine again, some kind of challenge like a mega prison? The latter would look bad for Ray while the first would feel lazy. I dare say the best thing to do is ditch the prison theme. It’s not called prison break after all. Have Ray be on an island where a coup happens and now he has to escape or maybe put him on an airplane that gets hijacked. This franchise could have really expanded in a whole lot of ways but instead it just ended.

The writing here isn’t bad either. Perhaps a bit on the generic side but I had no real problems with it. The setup is decent and the film’s pacing is good. If you just take away some of the excessive violence and grit here then this would really be fine. It may be hard to avoid all of that in a prison film but I would say the first two films did a better job of this. It all just feels a little less hopeless with how things are going. You feel like there really is something worth fighting for while by the end of this film things are a bit too far gone. Still not pointless by any means as there are people to save but it doesn’t hit in quite the same way.

Overall, Escape Plan 3 is probably the weakest one here. It goes a bit far at times to be sure. I don’t think the plot itself was bad. The supporting cast may be a bit annoying in how they hold Ray back but realistically he is the leader for a reason. It makes sense that he would be the strongest after all. Maybe they can just make his teammates a bit stronger next time, I liked the main fighter in film 2 after all and DeRosa is solid. Put them as the main trio for a whole film and then we’re talking. Still, unless you absolutely need to watch the whole trilogy I would say to watch the first two films and then call it a day.

Overall 4/10

Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

Posted on August 1, 2024 by dreager1

The sequel to the original Solo Leveling has just started so I expect it will be around for a long time. I’ll be here for when it finishes though and I already know this is going to be a great one! Lots of action right out of the gate and by the end of the series you know there are going to be tons of feats. Hopefully it can be the next Boruto and be a mega hit.

Overall 8/10

Naruto Shippuden Review

Posted on July 28, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for one of the most well known anime of all time. This adapts most of the Naruto manga series after all which may be the second most iconic title of all time right after Dragon Ball Z. So the stakes were high and I’ve been watching this show for well over 10 years. Well, it definitely brings back a lot of good memories and it’s adapting a ton of amazing content. Unfortunately I would say that it has the absolute worst pacing and directing I’ve ever seen for a show. At times I would say it’s the kind of show you want to watch on AMV mode because of all the cutaways and stuff that are thrown in but I’ll get into that more later on. Basically though, it is a pretty good show either way.

The show starts by re-introducing us to Naruto who has returned to the Hidden Leaf village after nearly 3 years. He is now ready to help the village out and maybe they can even bring Sasuke back. The village refuses to acknowledge his hard work and they keep him in Genin status but he will prove them wrong. Together with Sakura and Kakashi he goes on his first mission which is to save his old friend Gaara. Gaara has been abducted by the Akatsuki and they aim to extract his tailed beast which will result in the guy’s death. They ultimately want all of the beasts which means that Naruto is in trouble as well but he is still ready to answer the call. Nobody’s going to get in his way!

Of course with 500 episodes you can bet that the plot is going to change a whole lot and this series does cover a very wide variety of arcs. A lot of them are even exclusive to the anime and were not featured in the manga so you should get excited for those….mayyyybe. They can be rather hit or miss but I’ll talk more about the arcs later on. At its core this is a series with a lot of combat action and adventure throughout. You learn valuable lessons about friendship and everything. It’s a series with quite a lot of good values spread throughout the title.

Of course in that time it will also make some slip ups. The series does have its occasional fanservice but it has always been better with this than other titles. It never gets too excessive so for the most part the series stays classy. With such a large amount of episodes, not all of them are perfect but the majority are good. There is of course some animal violence and other pitfalls here but if I was going to recommend an anime to someone, Naruto would be on the higher end since it feels relatively new user friendly despite the length.

Now despite all of this, why do I take shots at the pacing? Well lets look at a few random fights. Take Naruto and friends against Kaguya. The fight starts up and looks good…then we’re interrupted for several episodes for her really drawn out flashback. Okay, we’re back to the present for a few more punches. Then..back to Obito’s backstory. The fight gets interrupted so much. Then after the initial round with Madara we enter a filler season that lasts over 20 episodes and feels like it goes on forever. You’re just waiting for the show to return each time. It would help if the fillers were better but most of them weren’t all that great.

This happens consistently over and over. When the series doesn’t switch to a different plot point, it will usually instead have a scene get super dragged out. This especially happened in some of the earlier arcs like when Sai showed up. We have him and Naruto clashing kunai for such a long period of time that it makes Naruto look extremely wimpy. Instead of dominating the fight or even winning, it ends up being evenly matched which makes no sense. There are lots of zoom ins and reactions as the characters prepare to fight, etc.

Usually One Piece is the title people talk about in terms of something being drawn out but honestly I never had the same level of issues with that title. I would say it comes down to directing. Even when it’s drawn out, you don’t feel it quite as much as in Naruto. In Naruto it’s like everything just stalls and the added scenes don’t try to disguise themselves. So you’re just waiting for something to happen. A ton of episodes would get absolutely brutal with this. It’s why I say the series is lucky that it’s adapting a 9 star title because that hard carries the whole series. Without that, with the way everything is so delayed and such it would have a really hard time staying afloat.

Ultimately what helps to counter this is that the series does have a ton of nostalgia. I could turn it on to a random episode right now and I would have a good time. It does bring back memories and I do feel like they tried. The results may not have always been stellar but it’s not like the show was just phoning it in. The budget behind the show seemed reasonable. For example the animation is solid. There are some episodes that look absolutely top tier and to this day there are some fights that people say should be in the conversation for greatest of all time. Even for the fights that weren’t given the top of the line budget, I would say they looked good. This is a title that had strong fundamentals all the way through.

Then you have the soundtrack which really is excellent. There are a ton of great tracks all throughout the series and some new tunes that don’t even show up until the final saga. The fact that the show was still adding new tunes left and right like this was definitely impressive. I enjoy more tracks in the show than I can even count so you can bet that these definitely help to amp up the source material as well. Good music always goes a long way.

All right now lets dive into the story. So of course the first arc is about rescuing Gaara and it’s a fun way to kick things off. Deidara and Sasori get most of the screentime from the villains side of things. Yeah Itachi and Kisame show up but they’re more of a distraction than anything else. Don’t expect them to be getting any big character development just yet. Seeing Kakashi and Sakura fight was nice since it had been a while since we saw them. To date this might even be Sakura’s best fight as she really handles herself well against Sasori. Definitely a fun matchup while Kakashi doesn’t get to do as much this time. Deidara is a tough matchup for him since he’s always in the sky.

The stakes were high right off the bat and really the only complaint you would have here is that Naruto didn’t really get to look as strong as you might have expected. He’s the 9 Tailed Jinjuriki and after years of training with Jiraiya, he should be a true power hitter right? Well, surprisingly that just wasn’t really the case. He never felt quite as unstoppable as he should have which definitely left me puzzled. In a fair fight I see him losing to both Sasori and Deidara at this point in time which is absolutely crazy.

Naruto makes for a superb main character and the more I watch the show the more I appreciate him. I still have the battle crazy leads like Goku and Ichigo above him but Naruto is well above the average lead. He’s a surprisingly mature character by the end of his journey and he really learned his lessons instead of staying static. A lot of other leads could really look to him for guidance on this. He gives a lot of speeches and also knows when to stop talking and just start fighting. It’s this balance that makes him one of the greats.

Sakura also gets to look really good in Shippuden. Gone are the days where she would have to run away or duck a fight. Now she can fight alongside Naruto and the others. Her strength is really impressive and she gets some really fun fights in the series. Having the ability to heal her own wounds as well is definitely a massive plus on top of all that.

Kakashi is the ever reliable leader as well and definitely looks good here. The whole running out of chakra thing may be a bit of a running gag but jokes aside, he does take care of business. Without him they would have been absolutely doomed more than once. He may not always win, but you can definitely count on him to show up when the chips are down. He is a Sharingan user after all and that is still one of the absolute best weapons in the series.

Might Guy’s always been a fun rival to Kakashi and you can make the case that he was actually significantly stronger than him for most of the series. The 8 inner gates are really no joke and it was great to finally get to see him use them by the end of the series. He jokes around a lot but at the end of the day he is a sensei and one of the stronger fighters in the leaf village. Without him the heroes would really be in trouble.

Tenten doesn’t get a lot to do in the series but she is always ready to be the voice of reason. I appreciated seeing her show up from time to time but I wish she could have gotten stronger. Rock Lee is the more disappointing character here because he had such great showings in the first series. Taking on fighters like Gaara and Kimimaro is still legendary but you can’t really point to any signature fights in part 2. The same goes for Neji who by all accounts is much stronger but he isn’t really given anyone to fight outside of fillers. I suppose again that does make the case for why filler can be really handy. This way you can give fights to the characters who ended up being skipped over.

Chiyo only showed up for the one arc at the beginning but she did well. She made the most out of her screentime and ended up being a really memorable character. Even nowadays people know her well. She really outshined Kankuro who used to be the best puppet user but got surpassed by an incredibly large margin. He never really gets many scenes to make up for this. In comparison Temari also doesn’t do much but is at least relevant for the final parts of the series thanks to her dynamic with Shikamaru.

Gaara has a lot of screentime here so he does well. I do miss the fiery spirit he used to have back when he was an antagonist but he definitely got a ton of character development so I can’t deny that. His sand abilities are absolutely lethal at this point and he became the ruler of a whole country which is no joke. He gets to meet up with Sasuke and is generally one of the most loyal allies to the leaf.

As for the Akatsuki, I always liked Deidara quite a bit. His flair for the dramatic is handled really well. He’s an entertaining character who will keep you on your feet the whole time. His birds are also incredibly dangerous, the fact that he can use them to give fighters like Sasuke and Gaara a tough fight is super impressive. He’s the kind of guy who never gives up until the end so I can definitely respect that.

Sasori isn’t nearly as ambitious of a character but he is still a strong fighter who should not be underestimated. His poison daggers are tough to deal with since he has so many clones. I ended up liking his abilities more than the character itself but he’s decent. At the very least I will ay that he’s iconic, due in part to being in the first arc that everybody has ingrained into their heads.

Then the next arc has the big return of Sasuke which was hype! We’re introduced as Sai who tries to be Sasuke’s replacement but lets just say that he is absolutely not built for this. He’s not even close and falls far short of those high standards. Sasuke actually has been training over the last 3 years so the gap between him and Naruto was absolutely massive. It’s crazy that he could have finished them all off if he wanted to. The arc is fairly short but we got the big Naruto vs Orochimaru battle so that was pretty fun. Orochimaru was ultimately just soo slippery to really be put down for good. He was seriously just having fun in that match. You get the feeling that he would have crushed Naruto if he was really trying.

Sai is a character I never warmed up to. For sure he went through a lot and going through the Root program is crazy but he’s not my kind of character. He never gets all that emotional and his ability to draw anything is not a very offensive type power. It can be used well but for the most part you can never picture him scaling with the top tiers. Taking Naruto to a draw was absolutely a huge fluke and one that I would never expect to see again. He just got supremely lucky there.

Yamato is someone I’ve warmed up to a bit. I think he had a super rocky start but as the series went on he would get more and more emotional. He actually became someone who would defend Naruto so that was nice to see. He tends to be on the wrong side of almost every issue though so he’s not perfect. I will need to see a lot more improvement out of him.

Orochimaru has a lot to do here as you can probably guess. The guy is getting close to needing to switch bodies after all. He probably could have planned things out a bit better but he was dealing with an Uchiha prodigy so that’s not easy. His durability is still very impressive to me. The guy never really goes down. He definitely gets off way too easily in the series though. This guy is psychotic and a mass murderer. He should be in jail at the very least. That part kind of annoys me but ultimately he does deserve his spot as one of the most memorable characters in the series.

Kabuto still works well as the right hand man. He gets a surprising amount of power near the end which was definitely a very impressive power up. By the end he is one of the strongest fighters and while we knew he would be strong, I was still impressed. He is a really fun wild card. I don’t love the character but he absolutely made the final arc better. Without him bringing all of the old characters back it just wouldn’t have been intense.

Sasuke is one of the biggest characters in the series so naturally there is a whole lot to talk about with him. He goes on a journey into the darkness where he sinks further and further as the series goes on. Just when you think he might be getting heroic, something would happen that would send him back. It’s a really tough cycle to be sure but at the end of the day, it’s a mission that he was ready for. He has his share of points and that’s why the battle of ideologies between him and Naruto was really good. He wanted Revolution while Naruto was effectively fighting for the status quo. Both sides have pros and cons to them.

Their rivalry is still one of the best of all times for any series. It’s just super impressive by all accounts. Sasuke is also my favorite character in the series. There are none who are even close. His character is just so deep and you could talk about him for an entire article. He survived one of the toughest experiences imaginable and he didn’t let it break him. If nothing else, you definitely have to look at that amount of fortitude and be impressed. It was really something. Then throw in some of the best attacks and theme musics and it’s a wrap!

The first of the really big filler arcs involves Sora. He’s a kid who is constantly upset and yelling so get ready for that. What I liked about the arc was they constantly played the anger theme which works well for battles but that’s about it. It’s a relatively uninspired arc and one that goes on for too long. There were some cool ideas too like a widespread 3 Tailed Jinjuriki battle but that was not enough to save this one in the end. You can easily tell which arcs are filler or not based on the quality which is kind of crazy. Well maybe not too crazy since in theory the original author knows his characters best but you’d still expect it to be a little closer.

In the following big arc, we get to focus on two more Akatsuki members. Hidan and Kakuzu show up and destroy Asuma so now the Leaf have to avenge him. It’s one of the only times we see a real switch in the team rosters so that was pretty fun. Kakashi vs Kakuzu is a really underrated fight that had a lot of great choreography the whole time. I also liked Hidan vs Shikamaru even though I felt like the hero didn’t stand a chance in that matchup. Then Naruto has his big return which is always super hype. He really got a lot of the best return moments across the series. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised though, such is a hero’s job right?

Hidan is one of the most enjoyable Akatsuki members. He’s always laughing and messing around while destroying everyone. The guy is unhinged and that works really well for his character. Trust me, he’s just a blast and to this day I’m waiting for Jashin to show up. Hidan got his immortality from someone after all. This could really work like in a sequel series or something.

Kakuzu by contrast is much quieter and more of a serious fighter. He wants to complete the mission and that’s it. He’s not really thinking about anything else. His trait of having more than 1 heart is definitely super handy though and the guy can fight in hand to hand. He’s a very well balanced member of the Akatsuki and definitely would have been a tough fight for most of the heroes. I also liked the idea of someone who is immortal being teamed with someone who has multiple lives. I think the second layer to that is how Kakuzu would always murder all of his partners back in the day but there’s no chance of that now.

Ino and Choji are sort of along for the ride in this series. They don’t really get to do much of anything and don’t really have the skills to stay relevant either. They get their moments but don’t expect too much out of them. Asuma get some really solid moments before he goes out though. I always liked his chakra blades, they seem super practical as a weapon. Ultimately he just needed to be stronger to hang in there more but the guy fought well.

Shikamaru gets a super big role in the series. He is still the man with a plan no matter what happens. He may not have the strongest attacks but he can get people to the right spots. I liked him for most of the series although I’m not as big on the character once he starts working for the Hokage. It felt to me like he basically sold out by that point and began getting more and more corrupted. I know that someone has to watch the dark side but above all else you need to trust your Hokage and I don’t feel like Shikamaru did. At times he felt like he knew best which is a dangerous assumption.

The 3 Tails Guren gets a mini filler arc and it wasn’t half bad. I remember the main annoying thing being the heroes being slow to act while the villains would monologue over and over again. Sometimes you just have to break the anime rules and land a hit real quick. I think this arc would probably work better if released as a mini series outside of the main anime. That said, I know filler was necessary to keep the show on the air without further destroying the pacing so it is always worth it. While I may not be the most positive about these things, it’s not like it was terrible or anything.

After this we finally start getting to the big Sasuke arc. He first forms a team with a bunch of new quirky characters and then heads off to go and take down Itachi. It’s a fairly short arc in the grand scheme of things but it was a fun one. I enjoyed seeing the rematch after all this time and it was easily one of the best fights in the series. I also think Sasuke’s group Taka isn’t even that bad. They’re not all stars by any stretch of the imagination but they actually had some decent banter the whole time and contrast with Sasuke pretty well. Sasuke also got a super great theme in this arc which was really good stuff. I loved it whenever that theme would appear.

Itachi is definitely a massive characters. No worries if the backstory confuses you because you’re going to be seeing it a lot. To be direct on this, he is a villain and no matter how many times we see the flashback, he was definitely in the wrong there. He was murdering women and children in his massacre and should have worked with the Hokage to find another way. No matter how you slice it, he took the villainous path. Still, he makes for a solid wild card who really can change the whole direction of the battlefield. He’s one of the most interesting characters in the series and one of the most powerful. The fact that he couldn’t be controlled even by the mass reanimation jutsu was definitely a big point in his favor. He really had backup plans on top of backup plans.

Kisame is not quite as powerful. Despite being partners, I would say they probably had the biggest gap in ability between them. You always got the feeling that Kisame could be destroyed at any moment if Itachi willed it. That’s how powerful he was. Kisame’s true form was still impressive though and he definitely did a lot of damage. As a fast yet powerful fighter, it would be difficult for most heroes to stop him. That’s how it should be too, each member of the Akatsuki should be someone that it either takes an entire team to bring down, or some of the absolute top tier fighters. Anything less just would not match the hype that this villain group got when they showed up.

For example none of the junior fighters like Suigetsu should stand a chance here. I like his confidence and the guy is ready to pick a fight but he’s in a completely different league. A much smaller league if you will. Even the idea of him trying to take on Kisame is funny. I don’t know what Suigetsu would do without Sasuke. His water powers are handy though, he just lacks the physical stats to really make the most of them.

I like him more than Jugo though. Jugo is just a bit too quiet and serious. We already have enough of those characters so he doesn’t really end up adding much to the dynamic at all. I needed characters who could provide banter. I’m not a big fan of Karin either but at least she definitely delivers on that front. When she is around you can bet that there will be a good amount of tough talk at all times. She was all business all the time except when Sasuke was involved. In that case she would break down immediately which really held her back. That gag got old fast.

Then was the big arc that may still be the most iconic in all of Shippuden, the big Pain saga. Pain finally launches his invasion on the hidden leaf and immediately destroys a whole ton of people. The body count is super high and Naruto is basically the only one who can stand against him. It’s always a fun what if to imagine if Sasuke was in town at the time. I thin he would have done really well to put it mildly. Aside from all of the awesome fighting which is of course great, we also get the conclusion to the debate on the cycle of violence. It’s a really well written sequence of scenes with both characters making a true case and then we see how it plays out. Ultimately it’s not like the cycle will ever end, but you can at least hope for the best.

Pain is of course one of the big villains of the series and he’s great all around. From the character design to his skills, this guy was the real deal. Seeing him basically take on an entire village was crazy and to date he has some of the most memorable moments in the series. You never forgot any of Pain’s big moments because that’s how influential the guy was. Each of his different bodies had more and more abilities as well. It was hard to keep track of them all, much less counter each form. That would be near impossible. Definitely a great pick as the leader of the Akatsuki.

While she isn’t mentioned as much, Konan is definitely right up there as well. Her paper abilities are super handy and she almost took down Obito early on. To think that could have seriously changed the trajectory of the series. She may appear to be meek compared to some of the other fighters but once she is in the battle she definitely goes all out. This is also a decent point to mention Jiraiya. Unfortunately I have to say that I’m still not a big fan of the guy. He had a heroic death and all but he had too many character flaws in the end. Those definitely cost him big time.

We get a random flashback arc about the old days here. I suppose people were probably getting nostalgic so it’s not a bad idea but it does sort of wreck the flow a bit. You want to get to the next big adventures after all and this is the only thing left standing in your way. It has to be removed as soon as possible. The arc isn’t super long but it’s still fairly long so you definitely have to wait for a while.

After that we have the Kage Summit, another small arc but a real doozy. Sasuke decides to take on all of the Kages and he actually has them on the defensive. That is absolutely crazy when you think about it. His fight with Danzo was also awesome and this is really the arc where he goes full on villain. Before now he wouldn’t murder innocents or anything like that but now everyone is fair game. He has really changed a whole lot from the Sasuke that we once knew. We also got the big Team 7 reunion which was cool even if it maybe wasn’t quite as big as you might have expected. There is a cool fan animation that heavily extends the fight with Kakashi and Sasuke while one of the Ultimate Ninja Storm games officially extended Naruto’s fight with him. Regardless, it’s a top tier arc.

Danzo is one of those guys who was running around causing trouble for ages so it was nice to finally see him get taken down. Honestly he got away with way too much the whole time. The fact that the Lead Village would look the other way is rather disgraceful if we’re being honest. If Sasuke didn’t take him down I don’t know what would have happened and that’s annoying because it never should have come down to that. It doesn’t make any sense. His skills are the real deal so I will give him that though. The guy has masterful tactics and it makes sense how he could reach the level of Hokage.

The Raikage is another Kage who really earns his station. He is always ready to fight and doesn’t hide behind minions. His speed and power are both off the charts which makes him a top fighter. I like his personality and he is the kind of guy who is always ready to take charge. I may not have agreed with some of his decisions but he was usually on the right side. In fact, he had to be convinced to put Naruto on the shelf when originally he was planning on deploying him to the front lines. That would have been the best plan to take advantage of his abilities.

The Mitsukage gets less to do but she is around. Her lava abilities aren’t bad but I think her main problem is that the technique doesn’t feel as special. You can’t compare it to instant regen, new lives, or invincibility. Her power is just lava and I know that is lethal but it feels like a normal ninjutsu. I wish we could have seen more out of her. Then we have the Tsuchikage who has the cube style. His particle attacks are definitely super impressive so to balance him out, the guy has chronic back pain. Honestly that gag could get annoying sometimes but I get why they needed to nerf him. Now there is a really solid technique.

After that..it’s time for the big war. You could argue that the war itself had a bunch of mini arcs within it as well. Of course you have the long dream saga where each character imagines what the future could be like. Some are simple AUs while one extended one recaps the whole series. That one was unfortunately a bit too ambitious for its own good. With an arc as long as the war, it wasn’t always able to be consistent but there are a ton of super memorable moments to be found here. Madara finally making his move and of course seeing all of the reanimated shinobi was a lot of fun. All big Shonen titles should end with some kind of a huge war because it’s the perfect way to really show off your extended cast. Without that then it’s harder to bring everyone in. So the arc may be controversial but I still thought it was very good. The climax really makes it. You’re seeing the strongest shinobi of all time all going at it. Who can’t help but not get excited at such a prospect right? This is what we came here for, this is why we are Naruto fans.

Madara is a villain who was hyped up for the entire series and I’m glad to say that he absolutely lived up to it. He is a beast in battle and the kind of guy who loves fighting. You already know that would win me over right from the start. This is a villain who shook the entire world with just his name. Now that’s presence, I don’t think there is any other villain with that much aura. It’s a shame how his character ended up going out because he was absolutely cooking everyone. There’s definitely a whole lot more you could have done with the character. Still, he got so much screentime that I can’t complain much.

Then we have Obito who was also a really big threat. Perhaps not as strong as Madara but still a top tier within the verse. You definitely understand his motivations, not just because losing someone is something we can all sympathize with but because of the fact that we got to see Rin die like 100 times throughout the series. I felt bad for her because that flashback would never stop looping. It was absolutely crazy. I do think that Obito got off way too easily in terms of reputation though. I’m glad that the series deals with redemption arcs but this man did hurt a ton of people. Lets not forget that so easily.

Zetsu has a consistent role throughout the series and then he really turns up near the end. He’s actually a rather fun character with how tough he talks the whole time. The guy has a lot of good plans and while it may stretch disbelief at times, hey the guy is patient. He is the ultimate strategist who waits on the sidelines but technically can’t fight at a high level. If he could fight too then the world would really be finished.

Kushina has a solid role as Naruto’s Mom. She was a real fun character and a go getter. It’s a shame that her screentime was so low but she gave him good advice throughout and was a super solid parent. Then you have Minato who also looked really good. We actually got to see him fight a lot which was awesome. He always had a very cool air about him. The guy was also a top tier parent. He ends up being one of the better characters in the series and he definitely has the best reputation as the Yellow Flash. People knew not to mess with him.

The 3rd Hokage doesn’t do much here but I’ll just say that he’s annoying. Every time we get a new flashback, we see how more and more of the problems were all his fault. If he had just stood up and stopped at least one of the internal villains then things could have been very different. It’s hard to be as harsh on the 2nd Hokage since most of his actions were off screen. He seems to be a solid fighter but again we just don’t know a ton about him.

The 1st Hokage is easily the most impressive. You could make a decent case for him being the strongest character in the series. The guy’s abilities were super terrifying. Personally I still have Madara above him but the two were rivals for a good reason. It definitely wasn’t one sided in either direction. The scene where he powers up to freeze all of the Hokage and Sasuke was definitely a true flex and one of the biggest hype moments in the series. It’s hard to imagine him ever going down in the past.

Killer Bee is the only Tailed Beast holder aside from Naruto who gets a big role. He definitely makes the most of it as his debut appearance against Sasuke was definitely a really memorable one. It was nice to see an owner who actually bonded with the beast. Eventually Naruto would do this as well but it would take a long time. Killer Bee’s rapping gimmick also wasn’t that bad to be honest. Not really my thing but the execution was okay.

Hinata doesn’t do much for most of the series but she starts to get a role by the end so I should mention her. My main issue with Hinata is the same as with a bunch of other characters. She is too soft spoken the whole time and needs to assert herself more. This is what keeps me from becoming a big fan. I want to see a Hinata who gets really tough and just starts blasting the enemy. Still, I’d say her fans should be satisfied with her portrayal here.

Side note, it was cool seeing Zabuza and Haku return. They may have appeared super briefly but that was a lot of fun. One old character who shows up a bit is Iruka but I still don’t like the guy. He’s way too harsh on Naruto and wouldn’t even hear the guy out when his wedding day was approaching. I think some people find the dynamic charming with Iruka constantly bashing Naruto and apologizing for him since he assumes that the lead is up to no good. The problem for me is that this gag has the opposite effect. He should trust Naruto completely by now. It’s definitely a big L for Iruka.

The 9 Tails himself gets a ton of character development and it’s fun to see how far he has come. Gone are the days where he would just be yelling and trying to scare everybody. Now he is actually a rather reasonable person which is cool. He supports Naruto and really helps him to improve. It’s a superb dynamic and I like how they build each other up. No matter what, Naruto and the 9 Tails will always have each other as friends.

Finally we have Kaguya and unfortunately the anime does her a disservice. The extra scenes actually make her look worse instead of better which is crazy. She just appears to be too naive and slow on the uptake there. I would have liked her to have fought more and just messed over anyone in her way. She is Kaguya, one of the strongest people in the verse. That shouldn’t be asking for too much right? Great design and everything but the flashback definitely hurts.

After that, the series mainly starts to wind down. We get a quick mini arc for Shikamaru based on his novel, a Sasuke arc for his, a mini arc on picking out presents for Naruto, and episodes for some of the characters as kids. The anime really wanted to make sure you had time to see what the characters were doing in the present which is a nice touch. I mean personally I’m cool with just ending on the big fight but the longer you can extend a series the better and it was worth it to reach 500 episodes. That is an absolutely crazy amount that almost no show nowadays can ever hope to reach. It is simply too impressive.

Even with a review this long there are tons of characters and episodes I didn’t touch on. It’s why watching this show is a true saga. It’s an experience that you can’t complete in a few days. It would be literally impossible to do so. That’s the charm of the series after all. Even I would probably not remember everything if I gave it a re watch so in that way there is always a ton of replay value here. You can try to notice extra easter eggs and lore that you didn’t notice the first time. Then you will have made it to the level of grand Naruto scholar and you can use that as super bragging rights. Of course the next step will be to enter the world of Boruto at some point but that’s a discussion for another day. That is technically a separate series after all so it should be looked on separately as well.

Overall, Naruto Shippuden is one of those titles that I will never forget. It will always be very important to me because of all the memories and the experiences I had with the show. It was a title that lasted a long time and there are very few titles that can keep going for 500 episodes nowadays. It’s lucky for most to reach 100 after all. I would definitely recommend this to any action fan. For a long title like this, you are really given time to know all of the characters and get emotionally invested into the whole thing. That definitely goes a long way and at the end of the day watching this is like watching a big piece of anime history. You owe it to yourself to experience what this global phenomenon was all about. On an episode by episode battle it may not beat the higher tier shows but while those end every 12 episodes, this one will just keep on going and going.

Overall 7/10

Escape Plan 2: Hades Review

Posted on July 14, 2024 by dreager1

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

All right it’s time for the next big thriller adventure with Ray and his security setup. I thought the first film was definitely a bit iffy on the premise of Ray getting captured so this one makes a lot more sense in that regard. The story actually thinks of a good reason to get Ray in there. For the most part it’s really just a redo of the first film in a lot of ways. The lower budget does allow them to make the prison a bit more sci-fi this time though which is nice.

The main character here is really Shu this time. He works for Ray and is really good at his job. He doesn’t get fired like another guy who messed up by trusting his computers too much. Unfortunately Shu gets roped into some family drama and is attacked by a bunch of thugs which leads him to being trapped inside of Hades. Hades is one of the most secure prisons of all time and appears to be run by the same villains as in the first film. This naturally puts Ray in a very dicey spot because now he has to find a way to get in there and save Shu. The only way…might be to let himself get captured. Never my favorite plan but if you have to do it, at least this is a slightly more reasonable approach.

That said, I still don’t like the plan for a variety of reasons. The biggest one is that the most likely outcome of this is that Ray will be murdered. When you enter a space like this that is run by villains who all want to murder Ray, there is no other real outcome here. He is going to be absolutely dominated right out of the gate. The whole film’s premise really only sticks if the villains keep Ray alive out of their misplaced pride in how he can never escape. This naturally never works but in a more realistic film, they would just murder him as soon as he’s in there. Especially since one of his workers is already there so they may team up.

Still, Ray handles himself as well as possible. He’s already looking a bit older in this one (Although not nearly as old as in the third film) but he can still fight when needed. He gets a quick action scene with his partner DeRosa early on which was really solid. DeRosa is a new character here who really comes in handy. He’s been in the game for a very long time and has evidently helped Ray in the past. He’s another tough guy who beats up everyone in his way. These films have no shortages of these kinds of characters. He’s not quite up to par with the guy from the first film but he will suffice. I always enjoyed seeing the meanwhile scenes away from the jail with DeRosa doing his thing.

As for Shu though, he’s a solid main character. He puts up with a lot of torture and beatings at the jail in order to find his way out but also to help his cousin. Shu is a strong fighter and does well in the prison’s underground tournament bracket. If the fights were the only thing he would have to deal with then I think he would have gotten out just fine. Of course, you can’t expect anything to be all that fair down here. The warden certainly doesn’t appreciate this guy and Shu has a massive target on his back since his cousin was already the main person in harm’s way before. Even just helping him doesn’t do wonders for Shu’s social cred.

Again you do have to suspend some disbelief throughout the film for how the heroes learn about the exits and such. They memorize guard walking patterns, steal objects, etc. It all relies on their making some friends here and all of the guards being inept enough not to notice them taking things. I also question how exact the patterns would really be for any company. What about people cutting out early to smoke, staying a bit late, walking a different route, etc. The fact that everyone does things the same way all the time is super unrealistic to me because I feel like that basically never happens in any job. Whether it be public or private, people tend to have a lot of variance in what they do.

You could say that the jail warden just made sure people would stick to the script every time but that would make him not look so good. If anything a jail is the exact place where you would want extra variance the whole time. You want to throw the opponent off your trail and everything. So I’m skeptical but I always am for films like this one. The important thing is that you’re kept entertained though and the film did pull that off. So it’s still positive overall.

I take some points away for the general grit and violence of the film though. It’s nothing terrible or anything like that but still enough to be noticeable. it’s pretty much inevitable for any of these films where the heroes are stuck in a prison because the whole point is to show off how cruel and tough the warden is. It’s harder to show that without adding a bunch of scenes where the warden is dominating right?

Overall, Escape Plan 2 is a decent movie. I won’t call it great or anything though. It definitely does feel like it’s just copying the first film to a large extent. I really enjoyed the martial art fight scenes but the general atmosphere of the jail wasn’t great. Naturally the characters are getting beaten up and effectively tortured the whole time without any real way out. It’s definitely a real dark place to be in and the more you think about it, the rougher it would get. If you’re looking for a random action film to pass some of the time by though, you can’t really go wrong with this one.

Overall 6/10

The Invisible Man’s Revenge Review

Posted on July 7, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for another Invisible Man film. This one definitely switches things up a little bit but the films usually do that anyway. They tend to either switch main characters or take place in a completely new timeline. Either way this one is a good bit of fun although I would also say that it is very campy. Everyone tends to make the worst decisions possible and you either find that funny and endearing or you’ll just get annoyed the whole time.

The film starts off with Robert murdering a bunch of people and heading to the rich Herrick estate. See, he was originally supposed to split the riches 3 ways with that couple but they left him for dead and ran off. Well he’s caught up to them now but the guy isn’t very smart so they poison his food/drink and knock him out. Their big mistake is they decide not to finish him off. Instead they destroy the contract and figure they will just tell everyone that he is crazy. That’s certainly one way to handle the situation but is it the best way? They may wish that they had finished this guy off because soon Robert would become…The Invisible Man.

Yeah there are a ton of bad decisions here so lets go through them. This was the first big mistake. Why would Jasper and Irene let Robert live after all of this? They have to know that he will try to murder them now since they effectively stole all of his money. He’s going from being a rich person to almost being on the streets? Cmon now there’s absolutely no way he would let that stand and I don’t think anybody would. Naturally it does come back to bite them.

So Robert meets up with a guy named Herbert who is nice enough to take care of him. The guy’s poor but does his best. Robert then meets up with Dr. Peter who has an experimental invisibility serum. He gives it to Robert who uses this to blackmail Jasper and Irene some more. Okay fine, he’s got the upper hand once again. He should probably have them mail out a check to him already so he doesn’t have to keep this facade up for too long but then he gets distracted. He wants to marry Jasper’s daughter Julie who is already engaged to Mark. Jasper says he will only agree to this if Robert becomes visible again.

You see the issue right? If Robert becomes visible again, then they’ll either murder him or call in the cops. He is absolutely doomed but he unironically believes Jasper and tries to get visible again. What kind of sucker is this? Cmonnnnnnn that’s never going to work. Dr. Peter isn’t quick on the uptake though and doesn’t want Robert to become visible again. Things don’t go well for the doctor…..maybe don’t talk back to the psychotic murderer without a plan of some kind?

Then good ole Herbert decides to blackmail Robert as well and gets supremely lucky that he isn’t bumped off right away. Why do people keep on trying to poke the beast? That’s just not a good idea at all and it’s just going to land you 6 feet under. All of these characters underestimate just how dangerous a foe can be when he can turn invisible at will. I mean it’s not like pressing a button but the fact that Robert can do this at all is super dangerous.

Ah well so Robert ultimately goes through with this but turning visible is dangerous in itself and then he needs them to bump off a dog that was turned invisible and then visible again. As long as it exists, his secret is in jeopardy. Unfortunately for Robert, the dog is too powerful and ultimately his greed costs him everything. It’s just amazing how many bad decisions happened here. Robert should have easily won once he became invisible and Jasper/Irene should have taken him out as soon as they drugged him.

Both sides had several chances for success. It’s why you really need to keep your eyes on the prize because if you get distracted then it’s all over. Robert got distracted by romance which is something you can’t mess with while Jasper had no real excuse. That is why you want to look at this as a comedy of sorts. Some parts actually are fairly light hearted. I don’t think it was ever intended to be a horror or anything like that. The creators probably didn’t picture it turning out quite as campy as I view it nowadays but this works as a feel good film for that reason.

Even with a body count and a murderer on the loose, the film just ends up being rather fun. They also manage to squeeze in the iconic Invisible Man laugh which was great. It would seem that the serum always causes the villain to go into hysterics at some point which is definitely always nice to see. It just would not be the Invisible Man without all of that. He may not have gotten very far with his revenge in the end but that was the focus of the plot so the title is still on point.

Overall, The Invisible Man’s Revenge is a pretty fun film. It’s the kind of film that you have to laugh along with though because if you take it too seriously then you’ll be shaking your head the whole time. This is not a film to be taken very seriously at all. Just grin along with the Invisible Man and you will be fine. I’d recommend this to anyone who is a fan of the concept and the best part is that you don’t need to watch any of the other films to understand what is happening here. You can just jump right in and you will be all set for action as a true stand alone. Then if you like this one, you can jump into the others which range from being serious to being 100% comedies that take themselves even less seriously than this one.

Overall 7/10

Godzilla Library Collection Volume 2 Review

Posted on June 22, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for a big Godzilla comic collection. Let me tell you something, this one brings a whole lot of issues. I would expect nothing less since it is a whole library collection though. It brings the full 12 issue Kingdom of Monsters series. In this one, the world is attacked by Kaiju and quickly begins to fold. We have several plots ongoing in this one. There’s a soldier who befriends a child whose parents were eaten by Kaiju. He vows to get her to safety. Then you have the President of the USA who is worried about his poll numbers and doesn’t know how this situation should play out. Of course there are a lot of different Kaiju attacking the planet as well. Godzilla may end up saving the planet or perhaps he is just going to murder everyone. At the moment it sure feels like it could go either way for a bunch of the characters.

Right off the bat you can tell that this series is having a bit of fun with everything. Almost every character is sarcastic and there is a lot of witty banter going on. Every character has something to say and they aren’t about to wait until the right time to say it. They’re just going to go and say their piece. Right away you can see how you are rooting for the Kaiju to end humanity. There’s no reason for the humans’ continued existence. It would be better to be reset through history and perhaps some day humanity will deserve the planet again.

I should let you know right now that there is a cliffhanger here so the series doesn’t end as completely as you might expect. It’s a pretty hype way to end the comic though so I was on board with that. Throughout the comic you see how everything is being completely destroyed and you might be wondering how the humans will rebuild and come back from this. Well, now you’ve got something to wonder about for afterwards. I’m guessing for the writers it was less interesting to think about the fallout and recovery so they wanted to keep every reader focused on the battles.

I get it, that is the most fun part. Also, it’s not like there’s a whole lot of humanity left by the end of the comic. So many people die left and right on every Kaiju battlefield. There’s no shortage of casualties to be found. The best of the subplots was probably with the soldier. This is where we see just how villainous all of the desperate people are. Now that food and water are scarce, they’ve all devolved into picking fights and trying to murder any other human they come across. Fortunately the soldier is strong and he does a terrific job of protecting the kid the whole time. He deserves a ton of credit for that since it’s not an easy task by any means. When you are surrounded by monsters and evil humans at every turn, it would be real tempting to run off on your own to survive.

Instead the soldier takes the hero call and helps her out. Along the way he even figures out how to pilot Mecha Godzilla and holds his own really well in a big Kaiju fight that starts. So that was a pretty fun subplot and I always looked forward to seeing it. I really liked the President stuff as well but those scenes were a lot more rare. In general the dialogue should have you laughing a lot at just how petty all of the characters are. They’re all rather unlikable to be sure to the point where the comics almost feel like a parody after a while but it’s a parody that works really well. As long as you are funny then you are good.

Of course, we all know why we’re really here. We’re here for Godzilla! Godzilla and all of the big Kaiju fights that naturally appear when you have this many Kaiju running around. The fights are definitely as good as you would expect. I had a lot of fun with them and you definitely see how Godzilla is known as the strongest here. He has a tough time with some of the Kaiju, usually because they land a cheap shot or gang up on him. One on one though? Always bet on the King of the Monsters without a doubt.

One thing that keeps the series from going further up though is that it doesn’t really do anything you haven’t seen before. The comic is a take on what would happen to the real world if Kaiju suddenly appeared and started terrorizing everyone. I get it, everyone wants to take a crack at that because the initial confrontation is always a lot of fun. People like seeing the origin but after a while I would argue that it is time to try a few different directions. While I didn’t care much for the pirate or Greek stories about Godzilla time travelling, it was a different direction. Lets have a story where Godzilla warps to the future and has to deal with a more advanced army. Maybe a story where he is stranded on an island filled with tons of monsters and has to get out. May sound a bit like Godzilla in Hell but you could do some things to differentiate it without a doubt.

I guess some credit I should give it here though is some of the human reactions. A lot of times in a story like this you typically have all of the humans panicking about these crazy giant monsters running around and all that. I get it but I think in real life you’ll have a lot of people who think its a hoax, others who think the Kaiju is friendly, and others who go about life as normal. This comic did a good job of getting a bunch of varied reactions from everyone. Even if some of these were used for comedic purposes, I actually think it was pretty realistic and more likely how people would react. Nowadays people are jaded enough where the craziest things ever could be happening and you’ll still have some people memeing and having fun. It’s just how it is.

Overall, Godzilla Library Collection Volume 2 is a lot of fun. I’m always up for more Godzilla comics and right now there are technically still a ton of issues I have not read from a bunch of different titles. At least now I can scratch this one off the list. It was not really doing much out of the ordinary so I don’t think it will rise up as one of the top ones but it was still good. For the next Godzilla comic I will hope for slightly stronger art and maybe a more unique plot. How have we not had some kind of big Kaiju tournament yet? That would be a lot of fun and is an example of a classic scenario that you could do well with.

Overall 7/10

	thezofinfinity on Alien vs One Above All
	thezofinfinity on Why Mario Odyssey is better th…
	thezofinfinity on Why Mario Odyssey is better th…
	thezofinfinity on Sonic vs One Above All
	thezofinfinity on Sonic vs One Above All
	Anonymous on Invisible Woman vs Molecule…

DReager1.com

The Ultimate Fighting/Review Site

Tag Archives: Sequel

Demon Slayer Season 4: Hashira Training Arc Review

The Enforcer Review

Magnum Force Review

Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage Review

Escape Plan: The Extractors Review

Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

Naruto Shippuden Review

Escape Plan 2: Hades Review

The Invisible Man’s Revenge Review

Godzilla Library Collection Volume 2 Review

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: