World Trigger Season 2 Review

Posted on September 9, 2025 by dreager1

Season 2 of World Trigger starts immediately and I really appreciate that about the show. You never need an episode to get people back into the spirit of things. If they need a review, they can just rewatch the first season again. That’s how I see it at least. As with season 1, season 2 is excellent. The battles, animation, and story are super good. I wish the manga hadn’t had to go on hiatus for so long because it’s clear that this would have been a breakout hit. Dare I say that it may have passed Hunter X Hunter and kept pace with One Piece in popularity? Ah well, it’s all a what if.

The season starts with more aliens deciding to invade the planet. Jin is able to predict their arrival thanks to his side effect and so the government mobilizes all of their forces. With the exception of some B rankers like Osamu and his fellow tournament fighters so this way they would not be distracted. These aliens are from another planet and are aiming to force a fight between Earth and the first enemy so they can get away. Otherwise they are basically given a suicide mission here as Earth would wipe them out. Their main goal is to destroy the big spaceship which would set Earth back at least a year and the heroes have to stop them.

One thing about World Trigger that is quite unique compared to other anime is that Earth gets a whole lot of respect. We aren’t just sitting ducks for the various alien races and can actually hold out own. The biggest invention tat Earth had was the ability to use energy bodies to let its fighters train in life or death situations constantly. This is also handy for the invasions where they can fight with their fake bodies without the risk of death. The automatic bail-out feature ensures a guaranteed survival so it’s as if everyone has two lives.

Around half of the season is for the invasion and usually you’d expect that the second half would falter in comparison but as it is a tournament, that isn’t the case. Those battles are incredibly satisfying as well. They also have a lot of strategy to them and in a way that is really what makes the series stand out. Plenty of big titles have strong action scenes but this one consistently has plans on top of plans. By making the battles a 3 way fight of 4 teammates each, there is always a whole lot going on.

Of course the invasion does have much higher stakes so it would still take the slight win. It’s also nice seeing the most powerful fighters in the verse going at it since generally as good as the students are, they aren’t going to be holding their own against the upperclassmen. Jin himself doesn’t get much action this time but he got to steal the show repeatedly in season 1 so that makes sense. Additionally, his ability to give the Earth time to prepare still makes him the automatic MVP.

Meanwhile in the tournament, there may be times where you feel like the aces could do a little better in the fights but overall the strategies make sense. This is a series where there are power gaps but generally they aren’t crazy. A normal fighter can defeat an elite with the right amount of strategies. The prodigies are able to move a little faster or hit a little harder but it’s not like Superman going up against Green Arrow. So while I can be a bit skeptical when someone like Kuga isn’t shredding 3 ordinary joes, it’s easier to understand than in other titles.

At 12 episodes, the season goes by a lot quicker than the first one which had an incredible amount of episodes. You still feel like a lot of progress is made but of course that’s probably since I love all of the action. The tournament is still ongoing so in that sense it may feel like things haven’t moved a ton but it’s all in how you look at it. I wouldn’t mind if the tournament kept going on for a whole other season.

Now lets look at the characters. First up we have Osamu and he is desperate to look better than last time where he got absolutely crushed. This time he gets to show off what he can do with his new wire traps which are really effective. It was a clever way for him to get around his lack of abilities and he still has the occasional dash to try and crush someone’s shield. While Osamu can be a little too quiet and soft spoken at times, he’s a pretty decent lead. There’s nothing you can do about being weak in this verse as your base trion won’t improve much, so coming up with a smart way around that is a good idea.

Meanwhile Kuga continues to look good as the ace. He has some of the best physical stats in the series and it’s all with a weaker trigger than what he usually had. He is always the power hitter of the group and continues to get more and more adept at using different fighting styles. Technically I would say he has less of a focus here than in other arcs but still makes his presence known at all times.

Chika also gets some good moments with her gun but unfortunately deals with that trauma of hers where she can’t shoot anyone directly. It’s a pretty big issue so hopefully she will be able to bounce back from that soon. Right now it severely limits her and without that, I dare say that Osamu’s group would win every battle with ease. The sheer amount of destructive force that she has is completely through the roof. A few shots would completely bury the whole map.

Hyuse gets his own subplot here as he moves closer to his goal of returning home. Ultimately there won’t be a way for him to do this unless he plays ball and so he prepares to do just that. In the process h has to raise his rank and prepare to join a squad. Anyone who saw season 1 won’t be surprised at his level of ability. The guy can be rather deadpan but is a supremely good fighter and one who knows his limits. That is really what makes him incredibly difficult to defeat. I look forward to him appearing more since that will be real entertaining.

Next up we have Katori Squad. This team is as dysfunctional as it gets and that really ends up hurting them a whole lot. Katori is fun with how aggressive she is and her love of battle. Her skills are definitely considerable but she tends to try doing a little too much on her own and actively ignores the plan. This may work if you have truly unbelievable power but in this kind of setting it’s usually going to be a pretty big L. She is thoroughly embarrassed during the initial match but I give her kudos for trying hard until the end. The teammates are not without fault but she played the biggest role in their defeat.

Rokuro just needed to go about things in a less combative way. I know he was just trying to get his point across but the problem is that he’s really weak. So in this case you had someone strong who was not good at planning and then someone good at planning who wasn’t strong. Sort of like a discount version of Osamu and Kuga. Hopefully they are able to recover from this in the future.

Then we have Kakizaki squad. This team has no real standout fighters and so they try to win with good old fashioned coordination. I would say this team is used to show the limits of that approach. Ultimately you do need an ace if you are going to win. You can have 3 people with the best levels of teamwork ever but if none of them are super skilled, you will eventually lose. Fumika gets props for her quick thinking on how to block Chika’s bullet and force her out of the comfort zone. Meanwhile the other two did well in putting up a consistent fight but they aren’t the most memorable characters. I’d say that’s just a side effect of the team structure.

After that is Ikoma squad. Their leader is not the smartest guy around and just likes being an attacker. So as a result the rest do their best to cover for him. Ikoma can get away with this because he is incredibly skilled. Almost nobody is able to block his sword strike which goes for a very long distance and deals tremendous damage. It’s a technique that few have managed to copy and I like the idea that he just decided to master a pretty basic move that nobody stuck with. I’m not the biggest fan but he did well there.

Mizukami is also good because he has a strong level of confidence that I like to see. Not to say that any of the other teammates don’t have that, but he sticks out a bit more. This team is really good at using multiple shooters and winning the long range battle. It’s an interesting team composition and one that works pretty well. At least they do have an ace although I wouldn’t call this one of the most impressive teams.

Finally we have Oji squad and I really liked these guys. This is a complete strategic team. None of them are aces, but they are all as smart as possible and can still be deceptively skilled. The leader, Oji is definitely the standout character. He tends to be one step ahead of the others and is ready to kill steal at any time. He’s fighting for results, not some misplaced kind of honor. He’s right, in a real battle there are few rules and so he does whatever it takes to win.

Kazuki and Yutaka are also really analytical and work well with Oji. It’s hard to say if they were always like that or Oji helped to mold them into his image. Either way it makes for a team with incredible synergy as well as a solid baseline of skill. I’d like to see more of them in the future. They didn’t have the most unique designs though so I wouldn’t count on a lot more for them, although at the same time the cast is so large that maybe this had to happen. I mainly focused on the big teams for this season but the cast probably has about 100 characters at this point. Coming up with big designs for all of them really has to be a massive challenge.

As for the new aliens, Gatlin is probably my favorite one. He is a supremely good commander who knows how to read a situation and can even handle multiple opponents at once. The fact that he could keep a whole squad on their toes is incredibly impressive and his cannon is also really powerful. He’s a good example of another character who really thinks things through. What makes him rally dangerous is that he’s essentially as strong as an A rank fighter with Osamu’s kind of thinking process.

The rest of the aliens are also pretty solid and each have their own unique personalities. Of course they’re almost all geniuses but this is the kind of series where that’s true of just about everyone. Even the “dumb” characters tend to have above average intelligence which is pretty funny. The aliens have the advantage of being able to call out near endless amounts of foot soldiers while the humans have the advantage of more substantial numbers of real fighters as well as home field advantage.

The animation has been touched up since the first season so you will immediately notice how much flashier it is. The animation is incredibly smooth and the art style works perfectly. It really gets the blood pumping as the characters go at it. The soundtrack is also good with quite a few solid tunes mixed in there. It makes for a powerful combo all the way through.

Overall, World Trigger season 2 is really quite good. That is even an understatement, this is an elite title. I highly recommend it for all anime fans because it’s not every day that you get this level of strategy. It’s one of those things where it is hard to describe this with justice through text alone so you really just need to watch it. I would also say that even if the series never gets a proper ending, the conclusions here are good enough. You still got a great taste of what the concept is all about and of course we do have another season coming up so I’ll be reviewing it at some point. With the tournament still going strong, it’s really a foregone conclusion that season 3 will also be incredible. The writing and strategy ensure that nothing less can happen.

Overall 9/10

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Review

Posted on July 27, 2025 by dreager1

Brotherhood is one of those legendary anime that for an extremely long time was considered to be the best of all time. Even now it is still regarded as one of the overall best and a pinnacle of the anime medium. Now I can finally say that I have seen it as well and it definitely is a great title. After completing it I can see why so many people love the title. Now nothing is going to usurp Yugioh GX as the top anime around the block but this one does earn all of the praise that it receives.

The story revolves around two brothers, Edward and Alphonse. When they mother died an early death, they attempted to use human transmutation in order to bring her back to life. This did not work though as it violates the law of equivalent exchange and Alphonse ended up losing his entire body while Edward lost his leg. Edward then sacrificed his arm in order to retrieve Alphonse’s soul which is now held within an iron body. They decided to become professional alchemists in order to find a way to retrieve Alphonse’s body back. While the dead cannot be brought back to life, surely the body of someone who is still alive is attainable right? The adventures will lead them through a lot of trials in the meantime.

The main trial here involves a group of monsters known as Homunculus. They work for a mysterious figure who intends to do something with the entire planet and has implanted minions in many high ranking positions. Some of these monsters are obvious while others appear to be normal humans until they transform. These monsters are fully immortal which may help Ed/Alphonse’s research but stopping them won’t be easy. Additionally, the government is an authoritarian dictatorship led by King Bradley and there exists a government officer named Roy Mustang who intends to supplant him as the leader one day. He has to walk a fine line of staying true to his code of justice while making enough friends to get up there. Additionally, the shadows of his past continue to haunt him. A genocide was conducted against the Ishvalan people and one of their last survivors, Scar has decided to systematically murder all Alchemists. His plans threaten both the heroes as well as the villains which makes him an ultimate wild card.

There are more factions at play as well which is part of why the series is so long. It does a good job of showing us the motivations of all the groups and giving each character a lot of development. The whole thing is made with a high level of quality so it is no surprise that the series has gotten so popular. You’ll definitely be sucked into the series very quickly. The worldbuilding of how alchemy works is also set up in a simple way from the start so you can follow along. Alchemy is all about equivalent exchange so you can turn iron into a different metal and reshape things into weapons but you can’t turn a potato into a rocket launcher for example. Likewise you can’t bring the dead back to life because what would be equivalent to that?

Well, there are a lot of theories on that within the series and the brothers visit a lot of towns to try and get to the answers. There is one answer that sounds obvious from the start which you could come to with a second of thought as well but is it that simple? Also if it is possible, would it be moral to do so? The heroes find out the secret to the philosopher’s stone early on which makes their lives a whole lot more difficult. When you know how something is made, if it’s immortal then you naturally won’t want to use it if you are trying to stick to your moral high ground. Even once the object already exists, some will not want to use it while others will and that’s another big debate in the series.

Still, when you lose someone important to you then people will try their luck and we see that several times in the series. Everyone believes they will be the one to figure it out and end up paying the price. There is one silver lining which is that you see the truth about alchemy and can do it without using seals or equipment. It’s just a hollow silver lining at times if you sacrificed your sight or body in order to learn it.

The series looks great even after all of these years so the animation has really held up. The fight scenes were really focused with a lot of good movement and choreography. The colors are striking and the whole thing feels like true art. Meanwhile the soundtrack has a lot of variety and a great amount of battle songs. The endings are also catchy as well as the openings. Basically the series has no real weak points on a technical level and it just serves to enhance the series more and more.

It already had great writing and story development so this was the icing on the cake. It’s a very complete story with a satisfying beginning, middle, and ending as well. No cliffhangers here for folks who don’t like those. You are able to watch this all the way to the end and get all of the details. It’s cool to see how far all of the characters (who survived hehe) came from the start of the series to the end of it. There will still be a lot of issues that they have to go through but the main threat is passed.

Now lets talk about the characters. First up we have Edward who makes for a good MC even if he does spend a large portion of the series getting knocked around. He’s hardly the most powerful character in the series and even by the end it’s possible that he wouldn’t crack the top 10 although that may be pushing it. It’s different from the average Shonen adventure where you would expect him to keep on getting power up after power up and quickly ascend to being near the top. Ed is more about slowly getting to his goal.

There are even long stretches of time where he doesn’t even get any action sequences. That can happen with an extended cast of course but it’s definitely very noticeable here. Still, it works out well and he does lock in for the climax when it counts. He’s a good character and I liked him a lot more now than when I originally read the manga back in the day. Ed’s definitely got some spunk to him. The scene where he smashes open a cosmic door to reassure Alphonse was an epic moment.

Meanwhile Alphonse doesn’t get as many fiery moments but gets to show off his good character by how he handles the situation. He literally doesn’t have his body and yet he still manages to have a good attitude and doesn’t whine about it. Alphonse also helps Ed during the fights on several occasions. While he does end up being taken hostage more than once and generally can’t fight as well, it’s the thought that counts. Being an empty suit of armor does mean that he has more weaknesses after all and messing with the circle inside of him will even cause his soul to instantly be destroyed.

Trisha gets the smallest role from the family for obvious reasons. She died early on after all and so we just see her in flashbacks. It would have been nice if she could have appeared more but I guess adding too many flashbacks would potentially weaken the pacing. Her husband Hohenheim gets a lot more to do but I wouldn’t say that I ever ended up being a big fan of the guy. I never bought his excuse for just running out on the kids for so long. He absolutely could have communicated himself a whole lot better. Not even better, the guy didn’t communicate at all.

He gets some credit for his role in the climax but it was still disappointing how he wasn’t there for his family when it counted. Not only could he have prevented the tragedy at the beginning of the series but he could have helped out a lot during the life or death situations at the beginning. No matter how you slice it, he failed the kids when it counted.

Then we have the childhood friend Winry who was always there for the brothers and continued to be a quality character throughout the series. She doesn’t allow herself to just be a hostage/piece to be used by the villains and is quick to get with the program. She really is a great mechanic and ends up being super useful at different points in the series. Without her Ed would have absolutely been dead many times over.

Hughes is a character who doesn’t appear for most of the series and yet he keeps up a prominent role in the story. You could say he was the trigger for a lot of things to happen later on. While I wouldn’t say he was ever my favorite character, he was a good one. A character who made tough choices and lived with them instead of making any excuses. I also appreciated the strong bond that he had with his wife. A super loyal character like that is always fun and he was a good friend you can count on.

His partner Roy really ended up being a huge character in the series and definitely a highlight whenever he would appear. He has fire powers and I would say that he is easily the strongest hero and perhaps the strongest character in the series. Fire is incredibly overpowered in a realistic series like this and it can also completely bypass regeneration. Burn anything long enough and even a philosopher’s stone won’t be able to keep up. The series usually has to keep him far away from the battlefield to prevent him from just taking over and in the climax they had to quickly nerf him.

Roy is a character who did end up having to make a lot of compromises to make it into the top brass. Whether he went too far or not will ultimately be up to you. On the record, I do think he went too far along with all of the heroes who were on his side during the big war. They knew that they were working for a villain and yet they went along with it because those were the orders. Everyone who followed these orders and those who simply ran away are all guilty. They should have stood up for the people being massacred and did something. Sure, it’s good that they are trying to make things right now but it is all a bit late for that.

Also in terms of how things went with one of the villains he was fighting, I think Roy should have been allowed to destroy his opponent. I get the argument that he was going too far and dragging it out, but the villains needed to be eliminated or they would end up being a bigger threat later on. It worked out in this case but letting Roy finish the job would have been cathartic considering everything that he had went through.

Armstrong is one of the big alchemists we meet early on. He’s portrayed as a strong fighter and gets a lot done but surprisingly he doesn’t get much of a serious fight until near the end of the series. It makes scaling him rather difficult but we do know that he is very capable. He’s not my favorite character but he’s not bad by any means. He can just be a bit too passive at times which is why I much prefer his sister Olivier.

Olivier is consistently one of the most aggressive characters in the series and I was on her side at all times. Even when the villains basically call the shots and have operatives everywhere you need to be able to just take them down as needed. She bumps off a number of fighters and then her own soldiers are absolutely crucial to winning the day by the end. Without them the alchemists would have been absolutely doomed. Even without any alchemy of her own, Olivier fights very hard. She’s a lot of fun to watch.

Izumi is another strong fighter and in her case she also has alchemy to back herself up. She would absolutely be considered one of the strongest fighters even by the end since she can fight with and without powers. For the most part she isn’t super active in the story but does have her moments every now and again as the mentor. It goes back to the size of the case again where some characters just don’t have as much of a chance to shine.

Hawkeye is one character who gets a lot of great moments though. She is the best support fighter you could ask for and helps Roy out a ton. She gets all of the most dangerous jobs and gets threatened numerous times but always stays strong. Ultimately she is a normal person with a gun and yet she still does a whole lot of damage. She had a very compelling character arc and backstory. Hawkeye was easily one of the best characters in the series without a doubt.

Major Miles and Captain Buccaneer are two good troops who stood out from Olivier’s forces. Miles really accomplished a lot and accomplished a lot in his position. Meanwhile Buccaneer proved to be more than a large man with bravado and ended up being an incredible asset to the team. He managed to get an absolutely critical hit in the climax against one of the villains and was just a lot of fun to have around.

Then we have the forces from the other country like Ling. He starts out as a rather shady prince. I wouldn’t say he’s the most heroic guy in the world but he does know what it means to lead a country and does that rather well. He protects his troops and fights hard against the villains. His ability to fight in the dark is also handy since he can read chi. He was a lot of fun and he slowly rose up the ranks to be one of the best characters by the end.

I also liked both of his subordinates Lan Fan and Fu. They were extremely loyal and really knew how to fight. In particular Lan Fan gets a whole lot of screentime and makes a lot of sacrifices in order to make sure that he wins in the end. I can definitely appreciate that kind of dedication here. Fu also was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice at any time. May is her own faction as she tries to get to the secret of immortality and is another fun fighter. She is deceptively strong thanks to how agile she is. It makes it extremely difficult to actually tag her in a fight since she can easily dodge most strikes. Since she is a kid compared to the rest of the characters, she is also a bit out of her depth at times although she handles herself better than most would.

For the villains, Tucker gets a pretty small role next to the others. He just got infamous because of the crime that he committed. This guy had absolutely no moral compass and was totally crazy. It was definitely good that somebody bumped him off. There’s the suspicious Dr. Marcoh but at least he was trying to do things for the right reasons although he allowed himself to be used for a bunch of crimes as well. He never became one of my favorite characters but he does his best to atone for things.

From the big villains, Lust ends up getting one of the smaller roles since she doesn’t last for a very long time. Her abilities are good and I did enjoy her presence but by default she ends up being one of the weaker villains. It’s just tough to do much when the others are all constantly appearing so they naturally end up going ahead of her. I do prefer her to Gluttony since she is more strategic though. Gluttony is strong and even has his own powered up mode which most characters lack. That said, he just isn’t very bright.

Perhaps that would have made him too dangerous so this was a way to prevent that. Either way he serves his role as a powerful villain even if he isn’t ready to strategize. Sloth is another villain who isn’t very smart but he is so much more dangerous that it barely matters. He barrels through the characters and really lands punishing blows. His fight against the two Armstrongs was really good and it helps to make his character more memorable. He didn’t appear until late in the series but did well.

Kimblee is a villain who appears extremely early but it takes forever until he fights. He did really well in the role though even if he was often outmatched. The guy is extremely smug but the heroes deal with him a bit easier than you would expect. I liked the guy’s swagger though, he was absolutely full of himself but in a really fun way.

Envy is another character who loves gloating but it’s definitely earned since he bumps off so many characters. The guy is already powerful and then has a super form on top of that. Ultimately he could beat most opponents in the series and mainly just had trouble against the top tiers. I liked how sadistic the guy was and he’s a good example of how to write a really twisted villain. They also nailed his voice when in Envy’s true mode. The voice was just perfect and it’s hard to describe just how awesome it is. He goes on a long speech at the end and it’s just awesome.

Pride is a villain who doesn’t appear until near the end but makes his presence known immediately. He is one of the most powerful villains and his shadows are really hard to beat. That’s why it’s impressive how the author thinks of several ways to take him down. If anything Pride only lasts a while because of a big error the heroes make at one point. Ah well these things happen, but I did enjoy Pride a lot. He was an extremely solid villain.

Then we have Greed who ended up being the best of the villains. The guy has a lot of freewill and doesn’t just listen to orders like the other villains. He does what he wants when he wants to do it and that embodies the trait of Greed very well. Why should he just listen to orders like an ordinary character? He just kept getting better and better so you will want to stay really focused for all of his battles.

King Bradley is another top tier villain and I would go as far as to say the most powerful villain by far. Yes, I put him over Father. Bradley has incredible speed and power. He is able to slice tanks apart and can outpace any alchemist attack. It takes an entire army to slow the guy down and he endures a ton of wounds before going down. He’s an example of why it can be tough to defeat a villain with true conviction because he will fight as hard as any hero would. He is completely evil but written really well as to why he believes what he does. He’s basically loyal to a fault and can just express himself really well.

Of course we have Father as well and the guy had good plans but perhaps falls into the trap of waiting too long? He probably should have taken a more aggressive plan to trap all of the candidates that he needed instead of waiting til the end. His hubris was absolutely his downfall but he was a fun villain as well. I didn’t remember his origin at all until watching the series and thought that it set him up really well. I would have liked a longer climax fight but it was still really satisfying.

Finally we have Scar who starts off amazingly well but does sputter near the end. I would say he is best as a complete villain who keeps everyone on edge compared to being more of an anti hero later on. His ability to destroy anything that he touches is incredibly powerful. It’s super hard to prevent someone from even touching you after all which is why he can potentially defeat any opponent. At the same time, it also means that most of the villains are a rough matchup since they can keep on regenerating so trading blows is advantageous to them.

Scar gets a ton of character development and it is a really well written character arc. So don’t think that he’s poorly written or anything, but I guess I just got used to him as a villain. Some characters simply aren’t as interesting as heroes even though he didn’t do anything wrong per say. He’s still one of the higher characters in the series but as a villain he was fighting for the top rank.

With all of these characters and more fighting for their goals, the series feels like a true epic. It’s why my favorite part of the series is when all of the factions converge at Father’s base and finally meet each other at the same time. It was a great moment and it’s why a series always benefits greatly from having more than two factions. You simply can’t recreate that moment without such a factor.

The series doesn’t have many negatives in general. It completely avoids the fanservice trap which is awesome. It’s why this series is very new viewer friendly. There is some animal violence in the series which can be hard to avoid for a really long title. It’s usually nothing crazy but in a shorter series it could have been trickier. The series can get dark at times but does a good job of not going too far with it. It’s more the implications that can get trickier when you think about them like Tucker’s daughter. Scar had a point with how he resolved the issue but it was a tough situation either way.

For the heroes my only issue would be that at times they are ultra passive. I know that it’s hard to defeat a whole government but when the villain is in front of you then you have to act. You need to step up and do something instead of simply biding time. Things went over well but only thanks to characters like Olivier and Roy moving the story along. I fear that Ed and Alphonse would have been unable to do much to move the status quo forward. I’m sure they would want to do something but they just didn’t even know where to start.

Overall, The series may be well over 50 episodes but you will blast through it with ease. The story arcs are a lot of fun and there are so many great characters. It’s an amazing story all the way through and there just isn’t much to dislike. The characters can be a bit too passive in trying to stop the villains at times but I get how it would be difficult to stop such a large amount of them in this kind of setting. Either way, whether you like action or a good well written thriller, this is a series that I can recommend. It’s also a great launching point for folks who have never seen an anime before because it’s a solid story for any medium.

Overall 8/10

Magilumiere Co. Ltd. Review

Posted on July 20, 2025 by dreager1

It’s time for a magical girl series that is using a very scientific approach to the whole thing. It’s definitely a unique way to present the series but in this case a traditional approach probably would have worked better. It was interesting but you know how that word can sometimes be used negatively? That’s how it felt with this one at times where it was an interesting approach but probably should have just gone with a standard one. Still, I would say it was still a good series and it’s one that does flow better if you marathon it. The characters just weren’t given enough room to really get out there and take over.

The series follows a girl named Kana who has been job hunting for a long time. It’s really hard to enter the magical girl business even though she has a fairly strong resume. Well, one day she meets a girl named Hitomi who works for a small startup company. They don’t have a whole lot of frills or resources but they are willing to give her a chance. Kana agrees and now she has joined the quirkiest group out there. In fact Hitomi is the only magical girl there and the group is very small in general. Can Kana learn what it truly means to be a magical girl and save the day?

So I mentioned a scientific approach before, let me explain what I mean by that. So in this universe, magical girls fight using computer algorithms that launch the spells and outfits. Think of it like a robotic suit I guess even if that’s not a full 1-1 comparison. So you will be out in the field as a magical girl and then your computer partner sends you the script to activate a spell. Your wand will have some pre set spells as well but they won’t always work on the opponent so that’s where the adjustments come in. There are many magical girl companies across Japan and the whole thing is very organized.

When a situation occurs, the town or company will call the nearest agency and request aid. If the situation is too big for the nearest agency, then they will ask for additional reinforcements. Naturally Kana’s group doesn’t get many calls since they don’t have the professional relationships in place yet. Additionally, they are seen as rather radical in their approach. They go for safer magics and use precision attacks rather than big blasts. This helps to reduce collateral damage but also means that the whole fight can take much longer. The lack of firepower also means that everyone has to play their roles really well or someone will get hurt. It’s easy to see why not everyone is in a rush to hire these guys.

The series even explains why only girls can transform, it’s a genetic thing. Now one guy in the series does try to challenge this and pays a heavy price. It makes for a very interesting subplot though because he actually has some good points but quickly begins to get way too desperate and unhinged to the point where he wiped away all of the good points in an instant. I guess if humanity is in a last ditch battle for survival, at least we know that this would be an option.

The series ends with a lot of interesting plot threads that could be pursued in a sequel. They still have not found a way to prevent monsters from materializing in the real world. Additionally the magical boy program is clearly possible, now they just need to find a way to do it safely. Then you also have the new style of magic that Kana’s team uses and if that can be leveraged across the world, it would make everything safer. The series ends on a very optimistic level which works nicely. You know that the planet is in good hands since there aren’t any big more threats around. They wrapped up all of the huge plots even if some parts are a bit rushed like a wedding that shows up out of the blue.

The romance is intentionally rushed as part of the gag. In a sense that doesn’t make it inherently bad, but I tend to prefer much longer development times for a huge decision like that. Maybe I didn’t mind as much in this case because it was presented as a gag. The series only has one real romance that is set up for a bit and moves slowly. Otherwise the series doesn’t have a whole lot of time for that. It’s a reasonable length at 17 volumes but the series also has to move quickly with all of the monsters so the character work has to take a back seat.

In my mind the series has two main weaknesses. The first is the character roster. Even by the end I thought they were fairly weak. There are some decent characters here, but I would say there was only one great character. The rest ranged from decent to okay. You don’t really get absorbed into their predicaments and hype scenes as much as you would if they had been super likable characters. Likewise, 90% of the villains are mindless monsters that are meant to be throwaways. The only actual big villain leaves a big impact but I wouldn’t say he was particularly likable either.

The other weakness is the very scientific approach to the magic. Like I mentioned before, it’s just a bit too structured. It sort of takes the “magic” our of the actual concept. That’s not necessarily a bad thing as I like a good sci-fi but it ends up being portrayed so realistically that it ends up being boring. It’s the heroes typing in code which launches the spell and it’s hard to make that look super hype. The series needed more action scenes I’d say. With changes to these two elements the series would have jumped up into the next tier, I feel rather confidently about that.

All right so lets talk about the characters now. First up is Kana who is a bit on the softspoken side. When the series starts, she doesn’t have a lot of information on the magical girl process but is eager to learn. She is always very determined and quickly begins to study on all of this. As the series goes on she begins to gain more and more confidence. It’s a solid character arc and what she lacks in overall power, she makes up for in leadership. She can really be relied upon by the end of the series and her perseverance really paid off.

Her partner Hitomi is the headstrong member of the group but she still feels rather sanitized next to the average character in this archetype. What I mean by that is she is plenty strong and talks tough but it all feels rather corporate. She isn’t actually breaking a bunch of rules or being over the top reckless. It feels like they could have done a whole lot more with her character and then by the end when she is ready to move on, it’s a bit too fast. She was still fun to have around but the character was held back way too much.

Kouji is the captain of the group and likes to dress up as a magical girl as his quirk. He’s a good engineer and can deliver code in a pinch. It feels like he could have been doing a whole lot more during the series though. The guy is presented as a genius and yet he rarely takes to the helm except during the climax. We end up learning a lot about his sad past later on which adds another dimension to the character. The events certainly changed him. He’s fun enough but I would have liked him to have taken a less passive approach.

Kaede is an interesting character as he will take you through an emotional roller coaster throughout the series. You never really know what is going on in his head and he gets to be very important to the plot later on. I give him credit for easily being the most interesting character in the series and he had one of the best non action plots throughout the title. He’s super memorable so I appreciated that and he showed that you could have a big impact even without powers.

Kazuo is okay but has the least impact among the main characters. He’s the computer guy and tends to be super oblivious to anything. He takes his job very seriously which is definitely not a bad thing but he doesn’t have a whole lot of personality beyond that. I would have definitely liked for him to have been doing more and maybe get some big drama plot to put him near the front.

Mei is the best character in the series. She’s the top worker at AST, the big rival company in the series. She likes to fight in a very emotionless way as she performs the optimal action at any time. Naturally the optimal route can sometimes feel a bit harsh to the more emotional characters in the series. It’s also not going to win her any friends but she’s the top in her field for a reason. As the series goes on she begins to open p more and this was a solid character arc.

Additionally I liked AST as a rival. It’s not as if they were bad people or anything. They just really saw this as a business and feel that going by the book is the best way to protect everyone. It’s also hard to disagree with that at times. Their results speak for themselves and the series resists the urge to suddenly make them look really corrupt. Throughout the series this makes for a good rivalry all the way. I would also say their president Kei is better than the main group’s.

Kei is always involved with the business and operations. He makes sure that nothing goes wrong and puts in all the extra effort that is needed. Take him away from the group at any time and things would definitely not be going as well. He’s the leader for a reason and I liked seeing his expertise. He doesn’t just show up in the climax of the series, his impact is always felt. An adult who was also portrayed well as Kenji. He’s the father of one of the main characters and they’ve always had a hard time connecting. Not because he’s a bad guy or anything but he’s just not good at communication and they ended up always being at odds. He does make his share of mistakes in the series but they are never in a nefarious way. I appreciated that.

Sho is one of the big villains in the series and he does well in the role. I would say he just starts to crack a little too much near the end. I was hoping he would handle himself with a bit more dignity than how he was presented. Give him some more hype moments and let him stick to his ideals right to the end. Instead, you just can’t take him seriously by the end no matter how powerful he got. The flashback did a good job of making sure you disliked him because of how evil he was and the main story needed to follow up on that. His final form looked cool though.

Hibiki joins up a bit later as another computer whiz and he was a good character. His expertise definitely helped quite a bit and he also left much more of an impact than the other guy. The fact that he even had a bit of a romance with Sakae also helped him be more memorable. Both characters were definitely fun enough and the main characters could always use more recruits. As the series drew to a close, the group was definitely a lot bigger than they used to be but still small overall.

Alice is a big character in the flashback. She was really nice but definitely to the point of being naive. The fact that she didn’t tell her best friends about what was going on was definitely a crucial mistake and one that really ended up costing her. It felt a bit forced because I don’t see why she wouldn’t have said anything sooner. It really put her in a bad spot all the way. So she was good but definitely ended up causing a lot of damage by dropping her guard.

Akane ends up being a main character by the end. She is a solid new recruit who is very outspoken. So in some ways she’s like the lead in that she is a rookie but starts out of the gate with a lot more confidence which I appreciate. Confidence is always a great trait for any character after all. Then we have Iroha who is more of the scientist type but also very confident and outspoken. They were good members of the team and I wish they could have appeared more or gotten more big solo moments to build up their hype.

As far as the artwork goes, the series looks okay but not great. The art can make you read a bit slowly with how detailed it gets. During action scenes it won’t always look clear and some of the characters can look too similar. So the art isn’t bad but it’s definitely lower than other titles that you may have been used to by this time. It’s not going to be the aspect that enhances the manga so you will be reading for the writing and story.

Overall, This is a good series. I do think the series could have ended up being better than it was but in the end it was good enough. I had a good time with the battles and it is also memorable enough that I won’t be forgetting it. The art wasn’t the strongest that I’ve seen but in the end I can still say that I was satisfied here. It’s not every day that we get a magical girl series after all so you really want to enjoy them while you can. Now the new one on the block is Dandelion so we’ll see how long that one lasts. In the meantime if you have not read through this series yet, you should do that. It was certainly well written and is enjoyable.

Overall 6/10

Blue Lock: Episode Nagi Review

Posted on July 13, 2025 by dreager1

It’s time to talk about the big Blue Lock spinoff that was running for a while. Honestly it’s pretty sad that it ended so soon because it felt like this series still had a lot of gas in the tank. Did it really need to end this soon? To me it just didn’t make sense for things to be so abrupt like that but maybe one day we’ll get more spinoffs. Either way it was definitely a great title and it’s fun to see the extra focus on Nagi. You can even use this to an extent as a way to cover the events of the original series in a quicker way and then cut to the main series after this one’s ending.

The story starts by introducing us to a kid named Nagi. He really likes video games but otherwise doesn’t really have any hobbies in his life. He struggles to get motivated at all and just lives life one hour at a time. Well, one day he is noticed by Reo, a really rich guy. Reo has decided to take the soccer world by storm and wants Nagi on his team after seeing the kid’s ability. Nagi allows himself to be roped into this as it’ll be too much of a hassle to stop Reo each time. Well, soon he finds out that playing soccer is actually really fun and he wants to keep with it. He is even invited to Blue Lock, a program for finding the greatest striker in Japan. Does Nagi have a chance to obtain this title?

So the plot is very similar to the main title and of course we got to see Nagi a lot in the main story. For that reason, a lot of the fights are actually old with many scenes being readapted but we do get some rounds where we hadn’t seen them before. Additionally for the old scenes, we get to see Nagi’s inner voice this time around rather than Isagi’s so that does add an extra dimension to it. At times I would say the inner thoughts don’t totally match the scene though. The series doesn’t always do a great job of making this seamless to the point where you get the feeling that someone on the staff for the spinoff didn’t agree with some plot points. Still, it’s nothing that takes you out of the experience.

The art is really top tier as you’d expect. It holds its own with the main series and really does great with the inking and showing off the various monsters that the characters are capable of. Additionally, you can feel the intensity out of every soccer play. It’s really something that keeps you excited at all times which is really important. The pages really breeze by but since the chapters are longer than the weekly version, you always feel pretty satisfied. The battles are really able to develop a lot and you see what all of the players are capable. It’s definitely not your average soccer experience.

Nagi also makes for a solid character even if he isn’t quite as intense as Isagi is. When Nagi is at his best he can have those intense moments but they aren’t as automatic as Isagi. Nagi still needs a way to get his enthusiasm at different points which can take time. He also loses his way more than once so it’s good that Reo is around to buff him back up. Nagi is definitely someone who relies on Reo a whole lot although by the end of the series he starts to get around this. It is definitely a long way to get to that point but the important thing is that he made it.

Nagi’s sheer athleticism and dominating plays also make him fun to watch on the field. You sometimes forget just how tall the guy is since he’s always slouching. Honestly if he just got some more confidence and could keep it up for longer periods of time, he would be even better. Still, at the end of the day it was a smart move to make him a main character and I’d be curious who would be picked in another spinoff. Rin seems like the obvious pick but there are a lot of good calls.

Meanwhile Reo is also a fun character. The manga gets teased for all the drama but to a large degree I wouldn’t say that it is Reo’s fault most of the time. If anything, you can blame Nagi for a few of the fights like deciding not to team up during the early founds of Blue Lock. That came as a huge shock to Reo and I think anybody would be rather upset by that point. It’s like being betrayed by your best friend. Yeah this is Blue Lock where the strongest survive but it was still very personal.

Reo spends a lot of time being down in the dumps after that but eventually manages to pull himself together. In his defense, he ended up being one of the more skilled players as well. He may not be top 6 like Nagi, but his copy ability really has a lot of versatility to it. While a lot of focus is put into how much of a prodigy Nagi is, it’s worth noting that Reo went from being a spoiled rich kid to one of the best strikers in Japan. That also makes him a prodigy at soccer if you ask me. Considering he was also good at many other things growing up, he was truly a jack of all trades from the very start.

Meanwhile it’s also really fun seeing Isagi from an outsider’s point of view. The guy just seems like an insane monster with how quickly he improves on the field. He goes from being a regular joe to suddenly making moves against guys like Rin. He’s given a whole lot of respect in the series and nearly everyone either fears him or sees him as a super intense rival. That’s not something you could say about just any character and to make up for the fact that he’s not technically around, we get a shadow version of him in Nagi’s head.

The rest of the fighters are also around of course but they don’t get a lot of added context since they’re about the same as in the main series. Bachira is still unpredictable and Rin is still an absolutely dominant force. Some of the best Blue Lockers out there. It was fun to see early views of other characters like Otoya and Karasu who took a while to do much in the main series. You also get the occasional new character like the analytical poker type player. He was a lot of fun so it’s a shame that he was doomed to be locked off. Ultimately due to the format of the series, that’s the fate of a lot of characters.

Another fun thing about being a spinoff here is that outside of Nagi and Reo’s dynamic, the series doesn’t need to spend much time on character interactions. That means we get to really jump into all of the fights right away. It feels a bit like Dragon Ball Heroes in that the fights would almost be constantly back to back like a marathon. That’s how it feels with the soccer games at times. You’re going from fight to fight and the interactions in there are used for character development. Any downtime is usually for Reo and Nagi thinking to themselves about how they could have handled their conversations better. Not saying there is no miscellaneous downtime but it’s definitely minimal and that’s not a bad thing.

It’s just a privilege of being a spinoff and this series understood that perfectly. Since the fundamentals were so solid like having a great cast and artwork, it also meant that the manga was destined for greatness If it could have gone on longer then I dare say it may have hit the elusive 9/10 score like the classic Blue Lock but ultimately I do think it would have needed more time for that. This is a great manga but I would not be able to say that it is downright elite. That’s a very high amount of praise that you really have to work for. Still, there are no real negatives here. The series is a blast the whole time. The trash talk is as good as you’re gonna see it in any title.

Then there is the occasional future foreshadowing going on here as well. We see how Chigiri’s leg continues to get closer to breaking and it’s heavily implied that one more key moment could take him out for the count. There have always been theories that he will break during the world cup and this series only served to strengthen that. Now will it actually happen? Who knows, but it was an interesting angle. It’s also fun to see just how much more reasonable everyone is when Isagi isn’t around. They all act really tough with lots of bravado when he’s in the room but without him even guys like Barou are open to using teamwork. It’s a subtle way of showing just how much control Isagi has over everyone and their playing styles.

Overall, Episode Nagi was really fun. It felt like the series was over in the blink of an eye with less than 40 chapters though. It’s monthly so that’s still a reasonable length but I would have loved for it to have reached 100 chapters. Either way if you like the original series then you’ll love this one as well. They don’t hold back on the action and it has enough new content to keep you interested from cover to cover.

Overall 8/10

My Hero Academia: You’re Next Review

Posted on April 26, 2025 by dreager1

It’s time for the next movie in the My Hero series. As the main series edges closer to the end of its run, the movies have to deal with the stronger incarnations of each hero. Will they be able to bring in more quirk fighters to handle the strongest fighters in the verse? Well they do bring in some strong fighters but you do have to suspend a little more disbelief than the last times that these guy can actually hold their own. It’s a great movie with lots of action as you’d expect though.

The movie starts with the heroes taking down some more villains as usual but then they bump into a girl who is being held hostage by a guy who is acting like he’s the new All Might. He calls himself Dark Might and wants to be a new symbol of peace…using fear. His villain organization intends to dominate this world so Deku has to stop them and save the girl. The rest of the heroes are ready to help along with the addition of the mysterious Giulio but is this guy really an ally they can depend on or is he just another criminal to mop up?

Since the power levels are a fairly big thing here lets get into them first. The villains all have rather intense quirks that seem to have no real drawback. You could argue that they basically break the balance of the verse. All Might’s successor, Stars and Stripes, All for One, and One for All are basically the 3 strongest quirks in the verse. Nothing is really on their level as the latter two were built over whole generations while Stars and Stripes is just super busted for no reason. Shigaraki’s decay quirk is also super good but he does have to grab you. The powers these guys have just don’t seem to have any limitations.

For example one girl can look at you and send you into a dream world where you are completely helpless. She could then stab or shoot you and it would be all over. Even Deku with all the other spirits residing within him was unable to break out so it was up to Giulio to do his thing. The idea that his robotic parts can activate on their own and do something was pretty handy but you can see how this power is fairly broken. She would be able to dominate most fighters with ease in any setting.

Then you have the guy who can effectively stop time. He makes a wide area around him slow down to the point of being negligible. Deku had to really go at full power to even stand a chance and the guy being shocked was the only reason it started to work. Seems like it doesn’t drain much stamina with how long the guy can keep this up and of course he can move at normal speeds so he can easily murder you while the time slow is active.

We also have a teleporter who can teleport instantaneously everywhere that he can see. It’s also fairly busted but normal in the sense that every verse has some kind of a teleporter running around. His partner with the telekinesis was probably the most normal one. There is a guy who sets up an RPG land but I was a little unclear on if his power was summoning/reality warping or if that was incidental because the monsters kept getting generated even once he was gone. The sheer infinite numbers of them was intense though.

There is also a guy who can erase quirks like Eraser but it’s a bit different. He shuts off powers over a wide range and then keeps them on if you are next to him. Great in team competitions especially with how wide the range is. It’s impressively deep so it would be really hard for this guy to lose so long as his partners are at least halfway decent. If they let up at all then he is a sitting duck though so it’s good that he’s part of a team.

So these guys are all very powerful with their hax abilities but what about Dark Might? Well, he uses energy coins of sorts which he can use to form energy objects. He can make punches, barriers, etc. It’s a very versatile weapon but he does have to be throwing them around. He has no super strength or speed of his own. The film never quite convinces you why Deku can’t just speedblitz the life out of this guy and end things in a moment. I would say he feels like a downgrade compared to the villains from the previous films.

I was also surprised we didn’t get more of a battle of ideologies with him and Deku. It quickly becomes apparent that this won’t be a thing that happens when Dark Might quickly turned into a generic villain who just wants to conquer the world though. I was surprised they didn’t go for some kind of a justice parallel. At least make Dark Might think that he is the hero of justice before Deku exposes his flaws or something. Instead he’s basically just pure evil the whole time. So I like the concept of the character but thought the execution was off.

Regardless the fight scenes were excellent though. It’s always great to see the big 3 teaming up and in general Deku always provides the best fight scenes with his speed. The fire and ice effects were also solid from his helpers and you can tell that the movie got a really solid budget. They were not holding anything back here which is as it should be. The soundtrack is solid as always too so you definitely had no worries on the technical aspects.

The side characters all get some moments here including the pro heroes. It’s always nice to see them show up and use their signature attacks even just for the acknowledgement that they are around. Always better to have a cameo than to just not appear. Now should they have done a little better in stopping the ship? Probably, but at the same time I do think Deku has long since surpassed all of the pros here so if he was having a hard time then we can buy it a bit more for these guys.

Giulio is the main OC for this film and he’s not bad. I think he gives up a little too quickly though in terms of jumping right to trying to murder the girl. He definitely needed to think of other options. Why not call in the pro heroes? In some cases that’s not always easy but this seemed like one without any real downsides. Surely they would be able to help out a little bit. The guy has a solid character arc and I like his gruff personality but it was still hard to look past the murder attempts. It’s kind of a big deal when you think about it. The heroine here is okay but doesn’t really get much to do. She’s being mind controlled for 99% of the movie and every time she snaps out of it she is kidnapped and mind controlled again. Quite the cycle when you think about it. So not really her fault, but she didn’t have a chance to shine.

When you pop in a movie like this you’re mainly looking forward to the big fight scenes and the film definitely delivers. While there is some down time between fights, it never goes on for too long or anything like that. So you can really sit back and enjoy the fireworks. Power levels are things you contemplate during the movie but they don’t end up hurting a film. I’m just glad that we got the action and that the villains had fairly inventive quirks. You could make a case that they would wash the League of Villains if they fought but it would be interesting to see how all of the hax go up against each other.

Overall, My Hero Academia churns out a lot of consistently great movies and this one is definitely no exception. The action really doesn’t let up and you get to enjoy seeing Deku and friend fight off against the most powerful villains out there. I’ll definitely be eager to see what film comes out next. Hopefully some kind of a crossover with the Vigilantes cast because that would have a ton of potential. If it takes place completely after the main series it would be a good way to expand the world development. In the meantime, definitely check this one out.

Overall 8/10

Togari Shiro Review

Posted on April 20, 2025 by dreager1

I knew I had to jump right into the sequel after finishing up the original Togari. This one has the daunting task of needing to wrap everything up in 18 chapters. There were still 3 big villains on the loose so between 18 chapters that should be easy right? Wait….there’s a whole new villain group on the loose? Let’s goooooo!!!! Ambitious times have arrived. Ultimately I would probably even say it beat the first series although it does have the benefit of being able to basically be nonstop action.

The story starts off about 2 weeks after the first series ended. There is just one day left for Tobei and only one more sin to collect. Here’s the problem, there are multiple villains on the loose as I mentioned and when Tobei gets the last sin, he will automatically teleport back to Hell to be reincarnated. So in a sense if he does this too fast, then he will be leaving the world to be defenseless against all of the villains. So Tobei has to try and work this out but it’s a difficult problem. Additionally, the Angels have had enough of this and have decided to destroy the world. Great timing folks…looks like Tobei will be busy.

That’s a whole lot of story to go through here though and I can tell you that by the halfway point we’re basically in the same situation so you’ve really got 9 chapters to deal with all of that. The first half is to deal with Sena’s right hand man. The most impressive thing about this villain is that he has the longest fight in the series and is around for a huge chunk of it but they somehow manage to not even use his name during any part of that. So I’ll just call him the grinning villain.

This guy is really crazy but also makes for a really good villain. His abilities are basic in that he can absorb objects and people and turn into a clay type monster. Yet he is really strong as he really dominated Tobei in their first fight and nearly won the rematch. What I liked about this villain is he fought back against the whole second chances guilt trip and just kept on taking everyone out. He’s not a mastermind kind of villain, just someone who likes chaos. He was even planning to take down Sena for basically no reason. He was a real scene stealer.

In comparison, Sena starts to fade a bit. This villain was a roller coaster because he looks tough at first, pathetic in the middle, and then good at the end. He reminded me a lot of Light Yagami in some instances. He likes to play god with everybody and just be a general master manipulator. His goals may not have been the best and deciding to even temporarily ally with the angels was super risky as well. I don’t really see what the benefit was and by the end it was hard to really untangle his goals. His final scene was really solid though. It made everyone else look absolutely terrible by the way but for him he still managed to get the last laugh in.

I would say in a lot of ways Sena is one of those villains who really works as a good sanity check on why too much mercy is a bad thing. The heroes keep talking about needing to use peace and violence isn’t the answer but then they are opening themselves up to cheap shots. If they had just taken care of business then things would have been easier. You just have to be honest here, some villains are not going to have a change of heart. Sometimes due process isn’t going to work as both the heroes and villains admit the legal system would not be able to do anything. Sena is a mass murderer and they all know it but there will be no proof since it’s supernatural. When you have a glaring flaw in the system like that, it’s time to take action.

So by extension Itzuki doesn’t look very good here. She’s just too passive and lenient as she drops her guard down time after time. The worst decision was going to the house of a murderer by herself without telling anybody. Especially when the guy called for her to drop by. He couldn’t have made it a more obvious trap if he tried. I figured she’d bring a weapon or something but nope, she just came unarmed and figured she would be able to do something.

Ose was a solid right hand man to Tobei once again. By this point he has really come a long way from being a skeptic or just another government stooge. It was nice to see him proactively fighting for justice and having Tobei’s back. He’s a high quality character by this point and really came through. Meanwhile Tobei is also really solid as he finished his character arcs last series. He is fully committed to stopping the villain and helping out humanity. There is nothing selfish or evil about him anymore. He has been a hero for a long time at this point and only continues to get stronger.

I do feel it was a bit odd how he seemed to not have any of his super abilities anymore though. He unlocks a new power by the end but the first series made a big deal of finally becoming one with his Togari. I guess we can probably blame the Togari for that though. It looks awful petty in this series and sure gets in the way a lot. I know it wants a body and to end all of this but suddenly being a sabotage type of character just doesn’t fit. It just felt like an odd character decision.

Ema gets a big role here as she really arrives to help out and balance the odds. It was nice to see her more and she also has a little more fun while in rebel mode. She continues to save the day from the shadows on multiple occasions so I have to give her a lot of credit. You really get to see various characters showing their true colors and not just being yes men anymore. A terrific plot development if I do say so myself. Also she has a real 4D chess moment where she has a conversation with someone that she can’t even see and predicts their responses. Is it maybe stretching disbelief a bit? Yeah but it was still cool and that’s what counts. Rule of cool prevails here.

Sawazaki’s role is much smaller this time though. He sees a vision of his old partner telling him not to die yet which feels rehashed and the villain outtalks him at one point. Eh not his best moments but he gets credit for quickly picking up on the signs of danger and arriving to help out. It was more than anyone else on the force did. Additionally with such a short amount of chapters, it makes sense that some characters had to be sacrificed. I would say the same thing happened to the guard dog Ami but technically he appears a lot. The direction his character went in was just a bit odd.

He basically still wants to cause chaos but is practically a hero by this point. He helps them out on a few occasions and we get a little more closure for his more personal subplot. He ended up being a fun character to the end but it did feel like he took a back seat to the Angels. I would have liked at least one big fight for the guy even though it seems like he wasn’t as powerful as he seemed to be initially.

As for the Angels, I think that whole plot could have been removed. They just didn’t add much to the story and acted just like the folks from Hell. They feel super important and think humans are all chumps. They fly around waving their authority in everyones faces and then run off. You can’t really take any of them all that seriously since they’re not the most powerful guys out there and the leaders seem super out of touch. It is impressive how much lore we have about the series by this point but at the same time I think it was lore that didn’t actively add onto the series.

The focus should have stayed on Tobei fighting Sena. You already had a really interesting premise with the villains launching a bunch of new sins in the world to taunt the guy since Tobei has to avoid finishing any of them off. That had a lot of interesting moral questions that basically had to be skipped by the end. I will say that the ending had me super nervous for a minute there but fortunately the final chapter went the right away. Not fully, I still think the ending could have been a lot better. It just wasn’t as bad as I had feared. I’ll have to accept that.

Naturally the art is pretty good. The fight scenes are on point and you can really feel the intensity in every panel. The artist is definitely operating on a solid level here. Then you also see the cruelty of humanity constantly as they are drawn like monsters. One of the big morals of the series I would say is that most of the humans are just pretty awful. When we get a national day of crime a bunch of people immediately jump into it and then try using legal loopholes to stay out of trouble. What a bad look for the citizens, it really shows why the monsters got so much traction. It must have been easy for the sins to start taking control of all of them.

Then you have both Heaven and Hell being shackled with endless rules and regulations. You would think they would be above such things but apparently not. In particular the Angels keep talking about all the rules they have to follow and all of the restrictions that are placed on them which prevents them from stopping evil. It just feels a bit silly that they have to do all of that. The whole point of being an angel should be that they can do what they want and stop the villains as needed right? If they have to overlook evil because it is out of their jurisdiction, then the whole system is messed up. Which is certainly is but even by the end of the series that isn’t really addressed. It’s fair to say that the world of Togari is super messed up. Definitely not somewhere you would want to live since nobody is really going to help.

The series also goes a bit too far with showing how evil the angels are so you can’t really believe it when they start trying to act nicer later. They literally look at babies as future harbingers of sin. They have no compassion and believe the human race are a failed experiment. They act meaner than the wardens of Hell which is crazy although both sides are shown to be morally bankrupt. Maybe Togari will change the system…but it doesn’t seem like that’s going to be happening anytime soon.

Overall, Togari Shiro was a solid sequel series. It may have been a tad too ambitious by adding more content than it could ever really hope to finish in time, but it was a fun sequel. The battles were long and there was a ton of nonstop action here. It’s a real page turner as you want to see how it all ends. The ending leaves things on a nice note and the series could definitely get a sequel if the author ever wanted that to happen. It does feel like this could have just been added to the main series but I’m assuming there’s a reason why the first one just had to end abruptly.

Overall 7/10

My Hero Academia Season 7 Review

Posted on March 9, 2025 by dreager1

All right folks, it’s time for what I dare say is the best season of My Hero Academia. The whole thing is basically a big string of fights with only some select periods of downtime. We’re clearly approaching the end game as every character gets some final moments to show what they can do. It’s a really satisfying watch and it’s also impressive to see how many seasons the show has got. It sadly won’t make it to 10 seasons since the manga ended but this was a generational run.

We start off with Star and Stripe showing up to foil Shigaraki’s plans and buy the heroes some more time. With her incredible abilities she is able to make a difference while Deku and the other heroes finally pull out the traitor from their midst. Now they are ready for the final showdown with the league of villains. All for One and Shigaraki are both in the picture. This whole war may very well ride on Deku and his mastery of the One for All quirk. Is he ready for the burden of protecting the planet or are we about to see a lot of deaths coming up?

Any show that is 7 seasons deep is going to have some incredible advantages like being able to jump right into the action since we’ve already had whole seasons of development for the characters. This show is no exception. For example we have Star vs Shigaraki in the very first episode which is really quite the way to start things off. Now the fight is a on the controversial side since we all know that Star should have won this match rather easily. Her moveset is one of the few on the planet that is a terrible match for him. Shigaraki is top 3 in the verse at this point in time and yet Star is still stronger. It still feels like her part of the story is a bit rushed but this season will be tough for power level viewers.

Shigaraki is already said to be All Might level even without his powers. So that should mean he turns everyone into a red mist instantly during the battle with the exception of Deku and possibly Bakugo depending on his full speed. Instead various heroes are able to hang out during the fight. I don’t buy it but hey that’s how it goes. At the end of the day power levels are not something that will drag a series down no matter how much I might disagree with an outcome. I’m here for the pure hype and epic storytelling either way.

Also as you can expect the animation is still great here. The fights get a very large budget and all of the characters are at the pinnacle of their power so things get really explosive. The series doesn’t take any breaks here and every fight is given a good amount of respect. The spectacle won’t disappoint. Meanwhile the soundtrack is good as always. The openings may not be the greatest but they are still a step up from some of the earlier ones. The series has a pretty rich amount of tunes to choose from during the battles as well after 7 seasons of hype. The good variety means that a lot of songs get to shine.

Naturally the season ends off on a pretty big cliffhanger for the next/final season. You will be at the edge of your seat waiting for the next set of adventures after this season ends. A good cliffhanger goes a long way and it’s just another example of how you should handle a season. Never end on a closed note when you can leave some plot threads open. I mean that was pretty much inevitable here but still a good rule of thumb.

In terms of characters, Star is the biggest new character to jump in here. She’s a lot of fun and has way more backbone than the average character. She is actively defying orders to get out here and fight the enemies. Also props to the rest of her unit who go in with her in order to contribute and fight. They are especially at a huge risk here since they don’t have any kind of super powers to fall back on. Star even gets a brief origin story and background to explain how strong she is. I love the concept behind the power as well since it is strong while also being unique. It really shows you just how powerful a quirk can be in the right hands. This was also just a super good spectacle to start the season with.

All for One is really the opponent here even though it’s Shigaraki’s body. The latter will still make his presence known later on but for now this was All For One’s show. He still makes for a good mastermind villain even if you can see how he is quickly losing control of the situation here. All Might also really knows how to push the guy’s buttons and get him to make big mistakes. As a result he makes several errors in this series but hey that’s just how good All Might is. The villain may lose a lot of hype here but he is still one of the strongest villains out there and a true threat to have to account for. I’d also argue he should have easily been wiping out the various heroes if things were going as they should.

As for Shigaraki, he is a lot of fun as always. At this point the guy just really wants destruction and will do whatever he has to in order to accomplish this. The whole thing is super personal to him at this point as well so he goes out of his way to make the whole thing as traumatic for Deku as possible. It’s always good when the main villain and hero absolutely hate each other like this. Although Deku exits his rage modes rather quickly and does his best to still try and reason with Shigaraki. It’s to a dangerous extent to be sure but that’s how he intends to be a hero.

Now during the big battles we’re taken to several different battlefields thanks to the heroes’ plan of dividing the villains up. So I’ll mainly go into the characters based on what battlefield they’re at although I’ll jump around a bit as it goes on. First up we have the girls battle as Tsuyu and Uravity go up against Toga. Deku is also there briefly and lets himself get jumped quite a bit. Lets be honest here Deku should have immediately beaten Toga in an instant before she could even make too many clones and that would be it for her. He would have made the rest of the arc way easier but instead he sandbags and then runs off. It wasn’t his best moment but it’s how it goes.

Generally speaking Deku is still a solid main character. I like his mindset and he’s a good kid trying to do the right thing. At times I would like to see a bit more imitative out of him and maybe some longer rage modes though. With his abilities it seems like there is just so much that he could really do to establish world peace. So what I would say is…get to work on that! We do get to see his tactical mind at work during the end season battle with Shigaraki though since he can’t let the guy touch him or the ground. In either event the situation would get disastrous and so he has to use his abilities creatively. That’s a really fun battle.

As for Tsuyu, she’s not bad but heavily outgunned in this fight. There simply isn’t a whole lot that she can do in this battle. Toga is much too powerful for her so at best Tsuyu can try to beat a few clones and buy some time. Uravity’s also out of her depth to be sure but at least the gravity gives her some more options. I wouldn’t say she looks all that good though because of how easily she finds herself buying into Toga’s sob story. Look, Toga’s gone through some tough stuff but that really isn’t enough to justify any of this. The more Toga talks about her tough life, the more you’re rooting for the heroes to just take her out already.

Everybody has a sob story and everyone’s gone through tough times. It doesn’t mean you can suddenly just be murdering everyone in your way. That’s not how this works…that’s not how any of this works. So Toga missed me with all of that but as a fighter she does well. In fact she should have easily won this match and I didn’t buy how long the heroes lasted against her. That’s just not happening no matter how you slice it. Toga has a good amount of speed to keep up with Deku and was making millions of clones. Those would overwhelm the heroes with sheer numbers even if you ignore how good the stats are.

In another battlefield we had the big Dabi family drama. Dabi continues to be the best villain in the series as he really puts Todoroki and the others in a tough spot. You have to remember that his body is literally not set up to be a proper match for the fire ability and yet he pulls through it with sheer will power. His body is a large collection of numerous burns everywhere and it doesn’t stop him from pressing on. The guy is absolutely deranged and a total psycho but that’s what makes him a solid villain. You really don’t see Todoroki, Endeavor, or any of the others being able to take him down. The guy is just too powerful and skilled at this point.

Todoroki is trying hard though and even uses some new techniques. At this point he has also been training for a very long time and his movements have become more precise. I still would pick him to lose quickly though and you can see that’s a theme of the final arc in general. The villains all got crazy power ups and abilities to the point where they were made to perhaps be a little too broken. There’s just nothing the heroes should really be able to do in order to even make this an even fight. The author should have maybe given them some more powerful quirk evolutions or something.

For a while there Endeavor is on a different battlefield but he eventually joins in. Endeavor is one of those characters working on his big redemption arc. To me he ultimately went too far back in the day so I don’t see him as anything other than a villain but of course it’s better to be working to improve himself now than to not be doing anything. He also has constant reminders of how everything went wrong with how Dabi is always showing up to cause more damage. Dabi is one of those really persistent villains who appears around every corner.

Then of course we have All for One taking on All Might. I was always a big All Might doubter after he lost his powers so it’s really impressive that he is still fighting on such a high level. To an extent it might be a little cheesy but you know at the end of the day it is fitting for his brand. He was always the beacon of hope and being a little cheesy goes along with that. At the same time, now that he is no longer the symbol he is free to be a little more unhinged and really get into the fight. Trust me when I say you haven’t seen All Might quite like this before. It’s a nice change of pace.

Finally you’ve got the main battlefield with Shigaraki taking on all challengers. The guy goes on a crazy run here as he just keeps getting back up. Nejire is powerful with her energy blasts but for the most part all they do is slow him down. I give her a lot of credit for getting in there and risking her life against an opponent who is really out of her depth. Likewise Tamaki gets past his fears and also uses his true powers here. Ultimately they may not have done much against Shigaraki but it showed how everybody was really going plus ultra in this fight. They were not going to just roll over.

Mirio even gets some action. His power is still broken in that he can’t be hit but he’s also not strong enough to damage Shigaraki which means that the guy basically just ignores him the whole time. That’s a rather embarrassing place for Mirio to be in but it’s just a rough matchup. Mirio’s desperate measure to distract Shigaraki really ends up being the only cringe part of the season. I think there were definitely some better options to go with that would have been a whole lot better.

Mirko is never one to miss a big fight so you can bet that she was here as well. Her close quarter skills are still legendary and she gets some good bows in. At this point she has mainly been power creeped out of the action but she still keeps on fighting to the end. She shows the true power of being an S rank hero. Certainly more than Edgeshot who is mainly useful in a support role but doesn’t do much when it comes to fighting. I suppose he’s not the strongest physically to start with so I can cut him some slack. The guy never did much before o at least this way the guy got some proper screentime.

Monoma was a secret MVP here as well. The guy helping to seal off Shigaraki’s powers for most of the season. If he wasn’t here then the deck would really be stacked against the heroes and they’d have been dusted. The guy always talks a lot and can be annoying if you look at it the wrong way but I rather appreciated his gusto. He’s the kind of guy who backs up his tough talk which is the important thing.

Aizawa is also doing well to stay in the fight considering his injuries. By this point most people would have folded but he will keep on fighting to the end. He’s definitely a worthy teacher to the characters. Even his pal Present Mic gets some good moments here even if he was too slow to stop Kurogiri from making his big comeback. I was glad to see Kurogiri doing something since he was on the sideline for so long. The heroes were lucky on that since his teleportation would be a real big problem otherwise.

We also got some backup as Lady Nagant showed up later on. Her sniper skills are still top tier and the blasts that she fired can actually hurt Shigaraki which is real impressive. Nagant already came in clutch for just surviving the bomb from last season so to see her back in action already is really something else. She’s not the only old character to make a big appearance as Gentle and La Brava show up as well. La Brava’s hacking abilities come in real handy to break up the enemy’s coordination and then Gentle buys a lot of time for the heroes by physically lifting the battlefield.

It really keeps up the theme of teamwork as everyone has a role to play. If any individual hero was gone then they would all be in trouble. Even someone like Hawks who is super injured at this point manages to get in there and help out. That guy is about as determined as Mirko with how hard he keeps fighting even when things are at their bleakest. He really needs a good vacation once this series is over.

I should also mention we have the Spinner plot where he and his cronies are heading over to a hospital to mess things up. The various characters all mention how this is really going to hurt the case of people with mutated quirks who already have a hard time. Unfortunately Spinner is already virtually mindless after All For One gave him a powerful quirk. As a result Spinner looks pretty terrible here. I suppose there wasn’t much that he could have done here either way when All for One was the guy messing him up but it’s still sad for his fans who were waiting for this fight.

Shoji gets a bit role thanks to this though. He steps in to stop Spinner and since he has had one of the smallest roles among the students, that was nice to see. I’m not a big fan of Shoji myself but having more scenes like this certainly can’t hurt. Some characters like Ida and Kirishima don’t get quite as much to do this time. They each have supporting roles though so their presence is still felt. Jiro and Mina get more offensive roles here as they actually deal some damage when they get into the fight. Likewise Tokoyami gets some hype as his shadow ability is still one of the stronger ones. All for One deciding not to take it was definitely a big mistake.

Aoyama is a character that I didn’t end up liking here. He just made too many mistake and while I understand that the circumstances were difficult he could have done better. Being a hero means being able to find a way through that circumstance and not doing anything is actively helping the villains. Hagakure did well in her brief role although I would have liked some more action for her. She has basically missed out on the whole series thanks to her quirk which is a shame.

Shinso gets a good role here as his mind control power comes n handy. It really is a great power and has a lot of utility in a big battlefield like this. Gigantomachia would be particularly susceptible since he’s not the smartest guy around. The villain does look strong as always though and is definitely a true powerhouse. Not someone that you should underestimate even if he is on the slower side.

Finally we have Bakugo who really steals the show here. He has what I’d call a basic quirk but he has kept on honing and improving it until he’s actually to the point where he is keeping up with Deku. It really is a big achievement and Bakugo should feel really proud of himself. He fights hard and very strategically, his action scenes tend to have the most intense animation as well. Bakugo has really come a long way and gotten tons of development over the years. True star treatment that is absolutely deserved.

There was definitely a lot going on here and even more characters that I didn’t mention were involved. The war arc will continue into the next season so I look forward to all of the great animation. If you haven’t seen this season yet then you should definitely change that. It’s intense and fast paced which is always an absolutely dominant combo. The battles are all very interesting and this is the big payoff that the franchise has been building up to so there was no way it would end up being bad.

Overall, My Hero Academia shines once again. It’s definitely going to blow you away once you watch it. Bakugo and Deku both fighting at their peak is definitely something that fans have looked forward to ever since the opening season. Gone are the days when they would be fighting each other (Which was Bakugo’s fault anyway) and now is the time to put aside all differences. The animation has been consistently great so I don’t really have any worries for the next season.

Overall 9/10

Blue Lock Season 2 Review

Posted on March 8, 2025 by dreager1

It’s time for the return of Blue Lock, one of the all time greats for anime. Blue Lock is the kind of franchise that never falters and even if the animation may not have been the greatest, the story makes up for that. The style and color scheme are also extremely sharp so I have to say that I was impressed either way. Things like this come down to the direction and how the information is presented. Blue Lock continues to be nonstop hype the whole time and so I can say that season 3 is going to have to work hard to keep up.

This season is pretty much all about the Japan vs U20 match. First we do have the match to choose which Blue Lock players will make the team though. There are only so many slots after all but once that’s done then we hit the ground running. This is one of the most important matches of the franchise so it makes sense that this would be a big deal. Do the Blue Lockers have what it takes to defeat the Japanese team or are they getting ahead of themselves? One thing’s for sure, they will all have to evolve their skills if they want even a slight chance of winning this one.

So lets get onto the technicals right away. The show may not have the most movement but the strong colors from season 1 persist. You can feel the power in each of the blows throughout the season and so you’re really kept fully alert the whole time. The final episode also goes really hard with the movement as Rin battles Sae. So in the end I can’t count this as anything else other than an absolute W. The show excels when necessary with the visuals.

Then backing it up the whole time is an absolutely killer soundtrack. The great tunes continue to persist over and over again as the show goes on. You have remixes of old tunes as well as a bunch of brand new songs. Shidou’s goal theme was probably the biggest stand out theme to me but I generally liked all of them. Blue Lock is so far ahead of the average anime in terms of the music that this ends up helping the whole package continue to get better and better.

The show even lands the huge cliffhanger here. We set up one of the new characters who will be dominating for a while and then we also have one character threaten to murder someone. Clearly the soccer is only going to continue to get more and more intense from here and I am definitely eager to see how that plays out. Hopefully season 3 happens sooner than later because I definitely need that right now.

Naturally the cast is still as excellent as ever. For the main character we have Isagi and he’s really not your traditional main character. He has a real edge to him that continues to come to the forefront as he is forced to disassemble and reassemble himself over and over again. He may get targeted a lot in the battles but he ultimately makes his comeback and keeps on swinging. That’s what makes him such a dangerous figure. Additionally he’s clutch when it counts and even talks back to his coach. In another series you could expect Isagi to be the rival figure.

So naturally as the actual rival you can really expect that Rin looks absolutely crazy here. He keeps getting more unhinged as the episodes go on to the point where he is ready to fight in real life. I don’t like the way his Destroyer form looks but I can’t deny the actual ability behind it. At this point it’s fair to say that he is quite easily the best Blue Lock player on the field. None can even come close to his brilliance. I definitely look forward to seeing more of him. I don’t see anyone surpassing this guy.

Bachira is one of my favorite characters as well but sadly he doesn’t get a ton to do here. It’s still clear that he is one of the most skilled players on the team so that’s a good thing but he doesn’t get a chance to really go on a tear the way that he used to. I don’t think it’s that the power creep has caught up to him but just that you can’t really balance every player when they’re all on screen. He does well enough and typically beats his man which is good but you won’t see him taking down a whole team or anything like that.

Chigiri continues to impress with his pure speed. He might be the most understated player on the team because his speed is consistently able to work on everybody. Nobody seems to be able to counter it the first time and his only real weakness is a lack of stamina. Once he gets that under control then he will be even better. Chigiri should certainly be regarded as one of the team’s best strikers.

Reo is still finding his place in the universe as I don’t think the copycat thing is his final form. Still, it is impressive how he is able to copy any technique after only seeing it once. He’s definitely a dangerous player and gets quite a few really good moments. If he can find a way to add his own spin to the copy then he really could end up being one of the strongest.

Nagi looks really good here and the guy is still a prodigy. He makes a statement in the big game really early and while he was quiet after that, you know that you can count on him for a big play. He can really shoot the ball from any angle and is only getting better and better. He’s a lot of fun to root for.

After that we have Barou and I would argue that from the top characters he is the one with the most holes in his game. He loves to do whatever he wants and has a perfectly selfish mindset as an egoist but I don’t see how you can keep on causing chaos and hope to win. After a point the novelty wears off and you’re just holding everyone back. I guess you could say I just have a problem with his whole ideology but he does get his pivotal moment to help out.

Then you have Karasu who is a bit of a quiet player but he really does well in the match. You can always see him on the field either directing the defense or even making a play himself. It feels like he is a step behind the other big shots in the series but he’s a great guy to have on your side because he has a good understanding of the strategy aspect of the game. He’s not just a player first and foremost.

Yukimiya is more of an aggressive player. Forget the strategy, he’s just here to score goals. I like his confidence and he’s generally good but I almost expect him to look a little better considering that his specialty is one on one duels. There are always a lot of those in this series so he should quickly settle himself as one of the best players. For some reason he never quite takes off like that which is a shame.

Otoya is the same way but his role is considerably smaller. He may be a top 6 player with great stats but in a lot of ways he feels the most generic. He gets his chance to shine and all but you can definitely picture him getting less and less screentime. Just look at Aryu and Niko after all. They’re in the roster and are great players but don’t get to do a whole lot. At least Niko has similar surveying skills to Isagi so he can do well in predicting what will be happening next. Aryu at this point is just tall and that’s about it.

Gagamaru doesn’t do a ton but he doesn’t need to since he’s the goalie. His job is if anything not to appear too much because that means he isn’t letting any goals go through or they aren’t even reaching him. He always does a good job so you really can’t fault him at all. Someone like Raichi who is mostly a nonfactor is more of a free target. The poor guy just feels doomed to be a supporting character at this rate even though he always had a lot of gusto. Sometimes enthusiasm just isn’t enough.

Then we have some of the new recruits like Nanase. He’s a nice guy who means well but everything about his game is fairly ordinary. He seems good enough to support others but too weak to stand on his own and for that reason I don’t see him rising up the charts all that much. In comparison Hiori has more of a fire to him. He continues to improve his passing game and is really quite lethal when it counts. The show also gave him a really cool ice effect for one of his shots which really stood out and made him even more memorable. It’s the little things like that which you just don’t forget. I look forward to seeing more of him.

Meanwhile the coach Ego only looks okay here. He does mess with the heroes a bit but I still would have liked some better coaching. Yes, I get why you leave it up to the players for a while so they can have their own development but the whole point of a coach is to teach the players. He could have done something beyond sitting around until the team forced his hand. A coach should be coaching and I just don’t buy the excuses to the contrary.

Now lets talk about the other team. In general there are 4 players to look at. First up is Sendo who was the striker on the team before Sae joined up. He has a lot of resentment towards that guy and Sae definitely fuels it as he constantly insults Sendo. Sendo may not be the strongest but he is still a great player. I was rooting for the guy because for the most part he just seemed to not be ready when his opportunity was there. He wasn’t quite ready to be the all time best.

Aiku is one of the most interesting characters because he’s actually a defender first and foremost. That’s extremely rare in this series and they did a great job of really showing off all of his moves. He continues to get better and better as the match went on and I definitely await his return. It’s important to set up a good defender to really bring out the attackers. He’s also just got a very unique personality and was really well developed considering that he just shows up. You really can’t ask for much more than that.

Then we have Shido who actually ends up working for the villains on this one after he was benched from Blue Lock. It’s pretty fun seeing him on the opposing side and the guy is absolutely insane. A true wild card, even more than the actual wild card character. He can be a bit much with how over the top he is but he works real well as the antagonist. The fact that he’s nearly as good as Rin definitely shows why almost nobody can really handle the guy. He’s just in a different tier.

Finally we have Sae. After all these years Rin gets to settle the score with him. I will say that once we see the backstory it’s hard not to be on Sae’s side. Rin comes across as super unreasonable the whole time as Sae isn’t even being aggressive. It’s only once Rin turns up the attitude that Sae ends up getting really serious. So I don’t really blame Sae for what happened there. Additionally in the present we see just how much Sae has been improving because he’s able to easily handle everyone on the team except for Rin. It’s no wonder that he mocks the Japanese team for being weak. It is always hard to have to carry a whole team.

Overall, Blue Lock continues to show why it is such an elite series. I could watch episodes of this series over and over again. It has incredible replay value throughout the season. The big match has so much development and hype moments as well that it feels like a true epic. If you want to search for all of the pivotal moments you may as well watch the season again because things are happening every minute. Whether you like sports or not you need to watch this one. Blue Lock is the perfect example of a show that keeps its hype no matter what. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that Soccer was the greatest sport in the world after this.

Overall 9/10

Pokémon Reburst Review

Posted on March 3, 2025 by dreager1

Pokemon Reburst is a series that I started many, many years ago. After all of those years it was great to finally be able to read it through to the end. This is a series that really had potential to be one of the all time greatest titles that would become a whole sub franchise in itself. Unfortunately for some reason it never made its way to America and so most people haven’t even heard of it. Let me tell you, that is a huge tragedy. This is a series that has amazing art, dynamic fights, great characters, etc. There is basically nothing to dislike about the series except the fact that it is all over in the blink of an eye. The ending is also a bit on the rushed side but the journey is a very epic one. Only Pokemon Adventures can say that it is a better Pokemon manga than this.

The series centers around a kid named Ryouga who is searching for his father who went missing a long time ago. Fortunately Ryouga quickly gets a lead as to where he is. To reach the destination, Ryouga will need to assemble several Burst Hearts to attach to a radar which will point out the location. He can get these through battling other Burst Hearters and also by winning tournaments. These are very rare though and so villainous fighters are also on the lookout. If Ryouga doesn’t keep his guard up he may end up losing his. Along the way he meets several allies to back him up but will they be enough?

Right away what will stand out to you here is that the fights are all involving the trainers. You don’t have them just stand back and watching the Pokemon fight. No, instead they merge with the Pokemon through the Burst Heart process to become a fusion warrior. Ryouga’s partner for example is Zekrom and together they are a real force to be reckoned with. The fights also become DBZ style as a result with everyone zipping around and firing off energy waves/punishing blows. I really like that style of combat and it helps that the art is really quite good.

You feel each of the impacts and the fights are always very clear. The artist does a good job of emphasizing the speed and force that they are all being hit with. These aren’t light blows that are being thrown around after all but heavy hits. The fights get more and more intense as the series goes on and stronger fighters are used. The series also shows how normal Pokemon can stand up to Legendary fighters through solid tactics. Even an obscure Pokemon will have something up its sleeve. The possibilities are endless with fusions which is why it is a shame that the series ended so quickly. They could have done a lot with this.

The story also jumps into a tournament right away which is always nice to see. Most of the fighters may not have had time to be introduced yet but a good battle is a good battle no matter how you slice it. It was a good way for Ryouga to really show off the fruits of his training as well. Once you get past that, then things have to hurry up a bit as we meet several new characters who have to all be crammed in. So the pacing is really fast at least, that’s probably the positive way of looking at it.

As a main character Ryouga is really solid. He does his best to make a difference and take out all of the villains in his way. Finding his father is a pretty good motivation for a hero and along the way he never takes shortcuts. If someone really wants their Burst Heart then naturally he’s not going to take it. Ryouga always fights with honor throughout the whole match and wouldn’t dream of cheating here. Additionally he loves a good fight so these are all good traits in my book.

The only weak member of the main cast is Yappy and you can tell what kind of character he is right away. The guy is very weak willed, distracted by girls, and dreams of being rich. He’s the kind of guy that you can’t really trust at all. Sure he gets some character development by the end of the series but it’s way too late by then. I just never ended up caring for this guy all that much even if he did have a fusion form. More often than not he was just causing trouble.

Karuta is a much better character and his character arc is similar which if anything just makes Yappy look even worse. Karuta starts off as being rather weak and clumsy but gradually gets really skilled. After a short time skip he even gets a huge growth spurt and can fight well with the rest of the characters. It was really nice to see him go so far and he’s easy to root for. He may still lose his share of battles but he was always doing his best to help out Ryouga in any way that he could. Now that’s team loyalty.

Miruto isn’t really the fighting sort but she is a fun enough heroine. I do wish that she could fight though as being powerless in this world really limits your overall screentime. There’s just not much that she can do against any of these fighters and that holds her back big time. I’ll give her points for being a nice character but that’s about all that I can do for her right now. If this ever did get a sequel I’d definitely like her role to be increased.

Rug starts off as an antagonist but joins up with the crew pretty quickly. Her combat skills aren’t bad although she gets most of her mileage out of tricks. She can use attraction as an ability to work sort of like mind control and take down opponents who don’t have a lot of replay value. Once you get down to the actual fights though, she tends to go down without too much trouble. It’s more due to the power creep than her actually being weak but as the audience that’s the way it looks I’d say. She’s fun and adds to the main cast’s dynamic though.

Rend is a solid training partner for the heroes and you could say he’s the first big mentor. His Pokemon to fuse with is Boldore which is pretty cool since that’s hardly one of the more popular Pokemon. He has good physical stats and is just a fun guy to have around. I suppose my only issue with him is the same for most older characters which is that there is no real reason for them to be hanging back instead of helping the heroes. He may not be s strong as Ryouga by the end but he’s till mega strong and would be able to contribute quite a whole lot.

Garyu is Ryouga’s father so we don’t get to see much of him during the series but eventually we get the flashback of what happened. I’m typically harsh on a lot of the fathers in these titles for just vanishing without a trace but he actually gets a pass since he didn’t have much of a say in it. Seriously the guy got the raw end of the deal no matter how you slice it so I can definitely sympathize with the guy. He did what he had to in order to save the world so he has my respect.

Pauline was a fun announcer which is why it’s a shame that she’s mainly used for fanservice. She had good knowledge of the events and kept on giving the live updates even while things were going crazy. You’ve definitely got to give her a lot of props there. After that we have Carola who is a solid villain even if she isn’t the strongest out there. She’s very young so it’s not like she really has as good an understanding on what’s going on compared to the other characters. Carola really just follows Hariru’s lead and could become a good guy real quickly.

I liked her well enough and she was a good friend for the guy. Hariru didn’t really have anyone else to have his back otherwise. He definitely exceled in the rival spot as well. I still remember the standout scene where he kicked a can so hard that it broke right through a boulder. Now that was crazy impressive, you just don’t see big moments like that often. It really sent a message early in in the series that the fights were going to get more and more out there. He gets several power ups as the series goes on and each form is more impressive than the last. He has the high levels of confidence that you like to see from a rival like this and also has a fairly intense backstory. This is a very complete character and definitely the best one in the whole series.

The main villain Fraud is cool as well though. He loves fighting which is a bit more of a rare trait for a hero compared to the MC and rival so that was nice. The name causes characters to underestimate him before they get absolutely rocked. His power level is also off the charts and the only thing that can stop him is a whole lot of plot armor. Without that then the heroes would have really been in trouble here. When a villain successfully out plans the heroes you know that he is a real one. Fraud is a character you will definitely remember.

Alas, most of the other villains are characters that you won’t remember. Most of Fraud’s 7 enemy commanders are so forgettable that the author got tired of them. He created a new group near the end of the series called the 3 generals that wipe out those guys in an instant. So no need to remember them. As to the commanders, they’re not bad. Amu is the most memorable for his good fight with Ryouga and the guy also seems like the strongest member. He’s got speed and strength on his side which is an absolutely brutal combo. Defeating him took a whole lot of skill.

Ganku and Rovy were strong too but they ultimately had to fight one of the strongest in the verse. So what happened to them was hardly their fault. They just could not handle this opponent but I still liked their characters. They all talk really tough the whole time. I should also note that it’s nice that the Pokemon aren’t mindless either. At one point Ryouga has to go inside a mind scape where he meets up with Zekrom and even gets to train. We get motivational speeches and everything. It’s why it’s always great when the Pokemon can full on talk like that, even if it’s through telepathy. In general the training was good and it was a great way to show Ryouga getting stronger since their bond was stronger now.

As a slight negative, the series does throw in some random fanservice from time to time. Nothing too crazy and considering how good the art was for the battles, I get the feeling that the artist didn’t care much about these scenes because they were not really given any special treatment. It can be a little obnoxious but nothing serious enough to present an actual problem. It certainly gets completely overwhelmed by the characters and the good fights. There are way more positives than negatives here so you will have a blast.

Overall, If you ever wanted to read a Pokemon series with a real heavy emphasis on action then this is definitely the title for you. The battles go really hard and there are a lot of stakes here. The characters are all taking a beating after all and death is not off the table. If they underestimate a character too hard then they will end up paying for it. Even though the series will likely not be getting a sequel, you should definitely check it out. It really is quite the unique experience and not a title that you want to miss.

Overall 8/10

Saint Seiya: Episode G Review

Posted on February 2, 2025 by dreager1

Episode G is a title that I’ve been reading for many years. The final chapter was finally translated and so I can say that the journey is complete! I look forward to starting the G sequel sooner than later. This one definitely had some ups and downs as the overall story quality is top tier but the art does hold it back quite a bit. It is definitely one of the messiest styles that I’ve seen and I would consider it to be sub par. It does actually hold the manga back which is rare for any title. Even when I’m not super pleased with an art style, it is usually fairly decent. Well, at the end of the day this is still a great manga and I was satisfied with how it turned out.

The manga takes place a little before the main series which is fun to think about. It may be a little hard to believe but just roll with it. Aiolia is treated like an outcast by the rest of the saints since Aiolos betrayed them all to save Athena. Aiolia doesn’t know why his brother did this and remains confused in the present. He does have a loyal retainer in Galarian who helps him in finding temples and dungeons with monsters to destroy. Aiolia even bumps into a girl named Lithos who ends up becoming a close friend. At least he has these two to support him and Aiolia is determined to win the trust of his fellow Saints and prove himself although it’s not to be their friend since there is a lot of resentment on his side as well. Well the time for waiting may be past now as the Titans have awakened. These fighters have incredible abilities and above them are various fighters who are named after planets. They intend to destroy everything and are led by Kronos, one of the most powerful beings in all of creation. Without a proper Athena to command them, will the Gold Saints be able to put aside their differences and take these guys out?

So like I said before, the art here is definitely real crazy. For starters, most of the characters are drawn to look like girls. Aiolia is the biggest offender here as they took a lot of liberties with his design. It looks like the artist did this to make the fights smoother as everyone can be really off model the whole time. This lets the series show us massive energy blasts as characters stretch across whole pages with their poses. It’s definitely an interesting approach but ultimately a poor one if you ask me. It can be really difficult to make out what is happening in a fight.

The longer you read the series, the easier it gets but the fact that you have to make any effort is a problem. Manga art should always be clear enough where you can seamlessly read the pages as you keep going. If you have to stop and ponder what you’re looking at then it can only be said to be poor art. That should just not be happening and with proper artwork this really would have been super epic. It’s a title that isn’t afraid to shake up the plot unlike Saint Seiya: Next Dimension.

The fact is that this series had a whole lot of fun with new situations. For example in the pre arc we see some explorers going through ruins. Aiolia is tagging along as a mysterious guide and it’s just fun to see the heroes walking around and doing normal things beyond the fighting. I’ll take nonstop fighting of course but there is something to be said for putting the characters in new environments. We even get a cop/secret agent but things don’t go well for him here. At the end of the day Saint Seiya is one of those verses that is incredibly powerful so a human is not going to last very long without protection.

Aiolia does have two followers who aren’t the strongest and so he is always prepared to help them out. Galarian is one of them although the guy can fight since he used to be a big saint candidate. The guy hasn’t been in the ring for a while though so it is fair to say that he has weakened a whole lot. It was nice to see Aiolia have such a loyal follower like him. The other is a girl named Lithos and she is an ordinary girl all the way. So she can’t fight and is definitely someone that has to be protected. She gets written out for most of the series but does show up again near the end.

The introduction chapters showing this different side to the characters is fun because then we eventually do get to the nonstop fighting marathon that the franchise is known for. Once the heroes take the fight to the Titans for the rematch, that is the rest of the series. It takes up a massive chunk of the title as every character gets their own fight which is usually a few chapters long and then we get the final saga where they all get one more fight. I can guarantee you that you don’t have to worry about a lack of action or anything like that. This title has got you all the way.

While the artwork is hard to follow, it does get the scale across. The Saints are supposed to all be universal threats with unlimited powers as they invoke the names of planets and universes in their attacks. Well this title doesn’t hold back on that at all as the characters use more and more powerful attacks the whole time. This is where it’s hard to believe that it takes place before the main series because of the power ups that they all get. Aiolia for example learns how to use the 7th and 8th senses which in the main series only Virgo Shaka could go as far as the 7th sense. Tauros learns how to go beyond just using defense, Camus learns how to use his ice better, etc. It would have made a lot more sense for this to have been after Hades although that would present some issues as well.

The Gold Saints who are here by the end of the main series just don’t feel like they would lose to a bunch of Bronze Saints. I would have a hard time believing it at least. They also learned how to respect each other and fight as a team which doesn’t quite track. When looking this one up, it’s listed as an alternate timeline but even so I don’t think that would remove any of the issues that I’ve mentioned.

Ah well, the cool factor is more important than the timeline anyway. As for Aiolia, he was a good pick as the main character here. Aiolos will always be the character who really steals the show for me but Aiolia has done a good job of being his successor. I definitely would not say that he is as good as Aiolos or even that close but he has a lot of personality and determination. He is at least trying to make the Gold Saints more accountable and heroic. Most of the others are content to just follow orders and look the other way which is not a good way to do things.

Aiolia has a good amount of similarities with Seiya and that is always a good sign. Aiolia makes sure to protect his friends and by the end he saves the world first and then works on redeeming the villains. He never loses sight of his own goals and has some pretty good speeches. I definitely had no issues with him. His light based techniques are all a lot of fun as well. Well, electricity may be more accurate but he’s also known for being ultra fast. He is easily able to exceed the speed of light which is no small feat.

In true Saint Seiya fashion, the villains will sometimes no sell the attack anyway or move even faster. That’s just how it is here, the villains are super arrogant and it’s up to the heroes to put a stop to that. The villains will literally close their eyes before attacking which is always awesome. That’s not to say that the heroes are lacking in confidence at all though. They have their moments of bragging a whole lot as well. Most of the Gold Saints end up getting a big reality check here since they figured this would be easy and then end up taking a ton of damage.

To an extent I’d say a valid critique you can have here is that a lot of the Saints are written very similarly. They show up to fight their opponent, brag a whole lot, and then eventually win. They each have very noble dialogue by the end of it and eventually admit to Aiolia that he did good. There seems to be less time to really differentiate them unlike the main series which did this very easily. This series could have worked a bit harder on that but it is a minor thing. So they all sound really hype the whole time? It could be worse.

Even then Virgo Shaka and Gemini Saga really stand out as being the strongest. If I had to give a third shoutout it would be Shura who got to show off a bit more than the other Gold Saints. Without him then the heroes would have really been in trouble. He got to show why his invincible sword is still the strongest out there. Even in the main series I really liked his techniques because it’s all him just striking really hard. Unlike Tauros you really got the idea that he was the strongest.

On the villain side, Kronos was definitely the standout character. Much like the Gold Saints, his group of fighters were mainly more on the generic side. Saint Seiya is a franchise that loves its repetition and this series was no exception. Each villain would run in screaming about how he/she is a god and shouldn’t have to fight such mild mortals. It’s all very impressive the first few times and then you watch as they are defeated time and time again. Some handle their defeat with a little dignity and grace while others go down yelling. For the most part they feel more like obstacles than proper villains.

I’d probably blame the artwork here again since the designs seemed pretty good but got cut out a lot. I’d say the pacing is responsible for the rest since they just aren’t around long enough to really leave an impact. The exception here is Kronos who really gets a lot of screentime. I liked him. We got to learn more about him thanks to his temporary amnesia and then after that he became a big villain.

On the surface he may seem like another “I wanna destroy the world” kinda villain but it makes sense because this guy has been around for a long time and has really seen just how terrible humanity has been. After a while you would definitely be ready for it to all be over. This guy has the power to do it so why not right? It can get harder and harder to root against the enemies based on just how bad humanity is. Also when it’s a quick finish like this, it’s not like it’ll hurt much. So technically we’re rooting for the heroes but it’s not like I disliked Kronos or anything like that. He was a pretty fun villain.

I also liked the abilities that the villains had. Something called Duramis which works like a Saint’s Cosmos. It’s basically the same thing but what this set of gods uses. It makes sense that each set would call the energy something different and further helps to expand the universe. The Saints having to each take down actual gods is a real feather in their cap as well. The franchise always goes really high tier and I can definitely appreciate that.

Overall, Episode G is a fun series. It’s definitely very light on plot as it is all about all of the characters slamming into each other and battling it out but that’s all I really need. In that sense it’s a whole lot like the Dragon Ball Heroes titles. You’re reading it for the fights and nothing else. Nothing wrong with that and it’s a fun way to do a spinoff. I would definitely recommend checking this one out. Even factoring in the art, I had a great time here. Hopefully one day it’ll get an anime so we can really experience the fights in their full glory. I’ll be checking out the sequel pretty soon so I look forward to seeing how that one stacks up. Can it beat the original? It’s got way more chapters but way less volumes so we’ll see how that turns out.

Overall 8/10

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Saint Seiya: Episode G Review

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