Slam Dunk Review

Posted on May 12, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to look at one of the best all time Basketball stories out there and it’s one of the best sport titles in general as well. This one was absolutely huge in Japan and rightfully so. There are a ton of really great stories contained within this title and all of the characters get a lot to do. While I may have some issues with the ending, it is tough to have a perfect ending. Nothing will work for everyone after all but it is what it is as far as that’s concerned. The only sport titles I would have above this one are Kuroko’s Basketball, Prince of Tennis, and Blue Lock. I have Slam Dunk as the 4th best all time sports title.

The series follows a guy named Sakuragi who is basically a juvenile delinquent. He gets into a lot of fights in school and everyone absolutely fears him except for his posse and a girl at school named Haruko who treats him normally. He falls in love with her and turns away from his delinquent days. In fact, her brother is a big basketball player and she thinks Sakuragi could do well there. She is also in love with the new rookie Rukawa. All of these reasons cause Sakuragi to join the Basketball team so he can impress her and show the others up. That’s not so easy though and he quickly finds out that the sport is not so easily tamed. He’s a very stubborn kind of guy though and vows not to quit until he’s the best. What started initially as something to impress the girl he likes quickly becomes much more than that as he makes some rivals on the team and starts to really get invested. He really does want to be the best now and eventually score the famous Slam Dunk. Can he pull it off?

One thing that is impressive right out of the gate is how long the series is. There are over 30 volumes here and it’s almost hard to believe because the series goes by so quickly. Some games take a very long time to end after all which is also why the characters all have time to shine. In every big game the author tries to have all 5 starting players have a big role and often times even a few players off the bench will do big things. After all there are more than 5 big players on the team and that number grows as the series goes on.

Initially you really have 3 big players in Sakuragi, Rukawa, and Akagi. Sakuragi can barely play at all so you’ve really just got 2 big players. Then after that we have an ex delinquent show up and before you know it, other big players are jumping on. Then a few of the final years or behind the scenes players get to do their thing. So the team ends up being really well balanced which is nice to see and you get really invested here. You had to see them lose a lot of rounds before they made it to this stage in the game so this is like the big payoff. I will say that the school names tend to blend together though. Sakuragi’s team is Shohoku but other big teams also start with an S. So the best thing to do is memorize the main team’s name so you always know that any other team is their opponent.

The art style is fairly retro but definitely high tier all the way. It’s one of the cleaner art styles that I’ve seen and it has aged incredibly well. You really feel the intensity behind each of the battles. Slam Dunk is the kind of series that has some actual hand to hand battles in addition to what’s on the field so those moments are always fun as well. Sakuragi obviously has experience with his fists and one consistent thing throughout the series is that he is the absolute strongest. In a fight nobody can bring him down and I was glad that this proved to be true the whole way. The odds that there was another basketball player who was just as strong would have been a bit much. A lot of the others can fight and do their best to put up a fight but they’re no Sakuragi.

To make up for this, it takes a long while for Sakuragi to actually get good. If you’re worried about him getting good immediately, don’t be. He doesn’t actually turn the corner until the very end of the series. For a little bit there you’re even worried about just how much he will be able to contribute in the end. He still makes a lot of basic mistakes even by the end but you can absolutely see the progress. He starts by working on rebounds, then free throws, and then finally the ability to go for the slam dunk. You’re even invested enough where you get annoyed when he messes up a play or misses a shot because you are really rooting for his success. That’s the hallmark of a great character.

Now you might be wondering, why don’t I like the ending? Well, it’s virtually impossible to get into that without spoilers but it pulls the kind of ending that I’ve seen several other sport series pull and it never works. The kind of ending I want is a really satisfying one where the team leaves everything on the table. They still have a bright future and no real setbacks outside of a possible loss. I don’t mind the characters losing the big game or anything like that but you shouldn’t stockpile anything on top of that. Still, I can’t deny that it is a very tense climax all the way and one of the best Basketball games in the series.

You may be wondering, with 31 volumes, there has to be more to the plot right? Well, in a small scale yes, there is of course a lot of context and mini subplots going on here that I haven’t mentioned but in a large sense yeah this is the plot. Generally it is about all of the characters uniting to win the big tournament. Along the way there are a lot of different games and it’s not just one tournament. They get to play in all seasons so if they lose one tournament then they have a chance in the next one. Generally the only time limit is that they need to win something before the third years retire because otherwise they won’t get to see the big trophy at the end. Perhaps it is already too late for those guys but Sakuragi is going to do his best to win.

You don’t need much more than that for this kind of series. It’s the same for titles like Kuroko’s Basketball and Prince of Tennis. Playing the game and getting farther and farther is the whole point of the adventure so you don’t need anything more than that. It’s also why the volumes blend together because of the games continuing across them and a lot of them being in the same tournament. The games keep on getting longer and longer too in order to show off how intense the opponents are. In a few chapters you only really get one pass as the teams size each other up.

Okay lets talk about the characters now. There are certainly a good amount of them running around here. First up is Sakuragi and there’s not much more that I need to say about him. He’s a really fun character who always gives the team hope when they are down. He doesn’t scare easy and is the kind of person you want to have your back. He will absolutely defend you all the way. His basic understanding of the game means that he will mistakes and will fall for traps but he is always improving at a very fast rate. So give him time and he will be the best on the field at some point.

His romance plot is a little basic as he falls for Haruko right away and it almost feels like more of a gag than anything else. You can cut him some slack because clearly this isn’t a situation that he is used to and it is a big part of the series to be sure. I just wasn’t really behind the romance on this one. He needed to just focus on the game and the series barely has time for this plot for most of the duration. It’s the vehicle that got him to start Basketball but that’s pretty much the end of its use.

Haruko’s a good character though and she always does her best to be supportive. She does have Sakuragi’s back as a good friend and while she likes Rukawa, she doesn’t act really desperate about it. In fact, it’s easy to forget that she likes him at some points because it is never a really big deal here. It’s just a part of her character plot. Rukawa certainly has no time for any of that since he is busy trying to be the very best Basketball player in the world. Rukawa is a really good rival who can dish it out against anyone. Sakuragi is a very physical kind of guy after all and Rukawa responds in kind. I like his confidence and overwhelming skill.

That said, I do think that he tends to disappear a little here and there when the going gets tough. Towards the end we do have a subplot into that as he is reminded that if he wants to be the best then he should be able to defeat anyone who gets in his way. This does end up lighting a fire underneath Rukawa and he puts up one of his best performances. So while he was generally one of the most impressive players all the way, he really reached his potential by the end. He was definitely a great rival to keep Sakuragi honest the whole time.

Then you have Akagi who is basically the strong man of the group. He is always ready to land a good rebound and he is one of the only people that Sakuragi will always listen to. The lead has a lot of respect for the guy and it’s not just because he’s related to the main heroine. Akagi is a natural leader and while he may get down in the dumps once in a while, he usually keeps his head high and has good advice. He’s the cornerstone of the team and as long as he believes there is a chance, everyone fights really hard.

Of course you also have the coach but my hot take is that he’s not very good. Sure, he will show up every now and again with a good play but for the most part he leaves everyone to their devices. Not a bad idea by any means when you’ve got a lot of talent on your squad but it does mean that I don’t give him much credit when they win. After all he didn’t actually do much about that right? That’s the only way to see this. The assistant Ayako does a better job of making sure that each player has what they need. She does all of her duties smoothly and it shows. There’s also a romance plot with her going on but it’s even less of a focus than Sakuragi’s plot so you can safely ignore it.

Kogure is one of the quieter players on the team but he can still play as needed. The guy doesn’t stand out but what he does have on his side is a lot of experience. He keeps his cool under pressure and can get a few baskets in. He’s a solid example of a supporting character who would help out during crunch time even if he wasn’t an elite. The same is true for Yasuda as well. He always keeps his cool and doesn’t fall for the enemy’s mind games. So if the teams are getting fouled a lot then you can count on him to step in and save the day. Or at least buy some time, you’ll still need someone who can really score.

Mitsui is another fun member of the team who can actually fight pretty hard in real life as well as on the court. He was gone for a while at the start so the team has good reason to be annoyed with him but his skills are definitely the real deal. His three point shots get the team out of a lot of holes. It’s such a huge deal to be able to get those extra points as needed. He may not be the calmest guy and it’s pretty easy to egg him on but when you’re on a team with the wild card Sakuragi, it’s fine to have some attitude issues on the court. They will end up sorting themselves out after all.

Then you have Miyagi who is another solid player. He seems to think of himself as Sakuragi’s rival at times but I wouldn’t quite put him in the same weight class there. He is absolutely a good player and all but I never found him to be outstanding. Hey, you need a full team of 5 to go up against the opponents so he still filled in his spot really well. He was a solid guy to have on board. These are all of the big players on the main team. There are others who ride the bench and get a quick moment here and there but for the most part they won’t be making an impact in the actual game. Now it’s time to look at some of the other players on the rival teams.

First up we have one of the strongest teams in the series so you can bet that they have a stacked lineup. Their lead player is Maki who is basically the best all around player in the series. He can dunk, he can play defense, he has speed, he can do anything. I like his overall confidence and even by the end I don’t think that the rival actually surpassed him. There’s no shame in that though, this guy is seriously the real deal so that is to be expected. He’s not just some obstacle though, he gets a good amount of character beyond that. He’s actually a rather fun guy, he’s just naturally competitive on the court.

His coach Takato is also much better than the main coach although that’s true for all of them so I may as well say that now. This guy actually uses a lot of strategy and puts his team in the best position to win. Kiyota is another tough fighter who has confidence on the level of Sakuragi the whole time and this guy’s actually really good. Of course you can expect that Sakuragi will eventually be better than him but this guy is the more complete player at the moment.

Jin and Takato may not be all star players in the way that the others are but they are always put in to win at the right times. They have specific talents like the 3 point shot for example and the coach has them make a move when Sakuragi’s crew least expects it. Just another example of how important it is to have a great coach. A great coach can single handily change the way a match is going to play out. There’s no doubt of that.

Next up we have the team with Uozumi and Sendoh leading the charge. This was another great tag team. Uozumi really made for a rival to Akagi and had a lot of overall power. In a one on one he would tend to lose to our guy but one benefit of always losing is that you have more to work on down the road. So he kept up his game and now he is fully a match for Akagi, even taking the lead at some points. He’s not a dirty player or anything though and keeps everything above board which I respect. It’s easy to acknowledge him as a solid rival.

Meanwhile Sendoh was a rival for Rukawa and did well there. He does light a fire under Sakuragi as well at times but I would say that Rukawa is his main focus. This is another guy who has a case for being the best overall Basketball player. He puts a lot of effort into every part of his game and once he gets serious it is hard to beat him. His one weakness is that it takes time for him to get serious at some points but it does always happen eventually so that’s important. He’s so good it’s not like there is usually a reason for him to get serious early on.

The next team has Kawata and Fukatsu as the big two. Kawata is a really strong player who relies on his strength all the way. That’s not to say that he can’t make shots but this is his big strength to the point where it takes everything Sakuragi has to stop him. It makes for a great rivalry all the way and he’s definitely a player that you really have to account for. Fukatsu is more of the solid all around type. He calmly manages the ball and gets his whole team involved. Another player that really makes it difficult for the opponents to do much against him. This team is a bit weaker than the others in terms of the big two but it’s fairly relative at this point.

There are naturally a bunch of other players across the rest of the teams. This series has no shortage of them but these are the biggest characters that have a role in the series. They are guys that all left an impact and in general they were all good. There are no characters that I found to be super annoying or anything like that. They all had good roles and kept things interesting.

At no point in the series will you be even remotely bored either. Each of the matches are important and will have you on the edge of your sear. Sport series like this also remind you that victory is never guaranteed either so you really don’t know if they will win or not. It’s different from an action series where the characters have to win to an extent or the series is over. In this case that’s not what is happening. Sure, you can still pick up on trends and everything but it is all executed really well.

Overall, Slam Dunk is an excellent series and definitely one of those titles that you aren’t likely to forget. The games are all really great and the cast is very likable. With 30+ volumes you have plenty of time to get used to all of the characters and see what makes them tick. I would even say it probably has a stronger cast than Kuroko’s Basketball to be honest. So that’s one area where I have to give this one the edge. Whether you like Basketball or not I dare say that you can really appreciate the story. It’s just a great story about competitive nature and also what it means to really be a team.

Overall 9/10

Gintama Review

Posted on May 6, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to look at one of the most iconic manga titles of all time. Gintama has long had a reputation for being one of the funniest titles of all time while simultaneously being known for its exceptional cast and storylines. I can safely say after completing the series that it really is an elite title and deserves to be treated as such. It’s really an excellent series and I won’t be forgetting it anytime soon. This is a monster to talk about with over 70 volumes but no time like the present right?

The basic plot revolves around Gintoki, Kagura, and Shinpachi as the trio runs a little group that performs errands for people. They will do just about any task whether it be walking a dog or playing matchmaker. They’re in a good town for this because everybody has problems that need solving. Unfortunately Gintoki isn’t always the most efficient at handling these tasks and so he is often behind on the rent and the group has a ton of problems staying out of the red. They have a lot of wacky adventures for the first 500 chapters or so with the occasional action arc and then we transition into the saving the universe kind of stories. Once these come into play then things really end up changing.

One of the most impressive parts of the series is really how seamlessly it changes. The series was so exceptional as a comedy but there isn’t really a disconnect when it goes into the action phase. If anything it’s like the ultimate payoff because you know the characters so well by this point and are eager to see what happens to them. It gives you more reason to root for the characters and hope that they make it out of the situation. It reminds me of Reborn! in a way but to a much higher degree in terms of how long it takes. Don’t get me wrong, there are some action arc fairly early on in the manga as well but it’s only near the end where it makes the complete shift and doesn’t really look back.

Even in the action arcs there is always some comedy to be sure but the stakes stay high and characters can actually die. Gintama certainly wasn’t afraid to change the status quo when needed. The artwork for the series is incredibly good which helps as well since you could always count on really top tier action scenes the whole time in those fighting based arcs. The series can definitely hold its own with just about every title in terms of the artework. Some of the world’s lore is so detailed that I can’t say I always cared about it but it’s clear that the author was definitely passionate about the whole thing. There is a whole lot of lore here without a doubt.

There aren’t all that many series that crossed 70 volumes like this one did which also automatically puts this one at an advantage in terms of how much it could do. There was time to really do a bit of everything because it’s that much longer than the average manga. I would say the title’s reputation as being legendary is definitely deserved. As a comedic manga, naturally not every joke is going to land. It has its rough moments where you’ll be cringing at a joke, in fact that will be lots of them like that. The series still has the sheer length to outnumber those with constant jokes that are actually good. This is a series that definitely throws everything it has at you and is quite bold. I can certainly appreciate that.

There’s a lot of story to get through and a ton of characters so lets start going through them. Prepare for a very long write-up here which goes without saying for a series on this scale. I mostly won’t talk about too many of the comedic chapters/mini arcs in part because there would just be too many of them and also because there are numerous gags that were a blast. You just have to experience them in context, or even without and see how fun they are. As long as you like really creative/zany comedy moments then you’ll have a good time here. Apparently there are around 64 Gintama arcs but I’ll mainly be skipping any that are too short and talking about the biggest ones. I also won’t really be going in order on these in part because I’m not sure of the exact order for some of them and putting them in order would take a little while.

One fun mini arc is when Katsura, AKA the best character in the series infiltrates the Shinsengumi and quickly becomes trusted enough where he turns them against each other. It’s only 4 chapters which is an example of the kind of mini arc that is sort of around for a quick gag and then goes away but manages to be fun. The comedic arcs like this which are mainly just absurd tend to have a lot of great humor. You enjoy seeing Katsura mess with people which he does in most arcs. The fun part is that he’s really awful at it and yet he tends to be successful which is a nice contradiction. Nobody notices how he is stumbling over his words or contradicting his story in many instances. The arc also shows how wearing an afro can really change everyone’s view of you and works a bit like a disguise.

Another example of a really good absurd arc involves the character popularity poll because that is breaking the third wall to a historic degree. Basically some of the characters aren’t too pleased with how they placed so they start attacking and degrading other characters in order to have them drop in the polls. This way one of them can claim the #1 spot. Naturally this causes a battle between the popular and unpopular characters. Also this is Gintama, meaning you can’t trust anybody. People change allegiances and start fighting each other left and right. So if you’re not careful then you will just be the next victim. It’s another really short mini arc but one that really made the most of the concept.

Then we have an arc where Gintoki decides to make a lot of money with an anonymous confessional box. As you can probably guess, a ton of the complaints ended up being about him which wasn’t very fun for the guy and he begin hearing a lot of incriminating things. When this inevitably involves the shogun as well, Gintoki ends up being in a whole lot of trouble. The Shogun and his gags still tend to be some of the weakest parts of the series but I did like the story for this arc. It’s a really fun gag and it was nice see all of the characters show up to share their dark secrets. Gintoki may not have given good advice at any point but hey it’s the thought that counts.

Another quick arc revolves around Shinpachi getting a letter…from a girl! She seems to be opening the door to a long distance relationship but is he reading too much into it? Also, he is famously a big shot in a fanclub for a local celebrity girl so can he betray her like this? Getting into a relationship may not be the right move. He also makes the mistake of asking Gintoki for advice which isn’t always a great move. It’s one of those fun arcs that takes things to an absurd level but is fun because you can definitely picture the stress of answering a letter in the mail like this. You can’t really determine tone or anything from a letter which makes it really easy to overthink things.

Naturally this wouldn’t be a comedic series without at least one love potion arc right? This is another short one but you can imagine all of the gags that come into place when a love potion explodes across the whole town. It’s a fun enough mini arc and a reminder of why that would be such a dangerous ordeal if it were a real thing. Everyone suddenly having to confess their feelings and being put in the spotlight would be rough, especially once the effects wore off and you had to live with the aftermath. Although I’d argue for Gintoki and friends they are embarrassed so often that it shouldn’t be as big a deal compared to others.

Another romance based one involves a dating sim game that has been getting really big. Naturally Shinpachi falls into this game and this causes Gintoki and friends to get involved. Naturally it isn’t recommended to fall for your virtual girlfriend since the whole thing is still a game but for someone like Shinpachi who hasn’t had any luck in the real world it makes sense that this could end up getting tempting. It’s always nice to see Gintoki talk really tough and suddenly get involved as well, it’s part of what makes him a really entertaining main character. He always talks really tough and belittles everyone but when the chips are down you find that he’s quickly just as invested himself.

Then we have the body swapping arc which is another comedic classic. Kyubei has always been rather confused and acts like a guy so her big wish comes true and everyone switches genders. It’s a pretty entertaining arc and I have to say that living in this main town must get really confusing for everyone. Quite a few of the characters really take this in stride though. At the end of the day it’s not like their core personalities have changed after all, but of course they do have to get back to normal after that. It’s a fun arc while it lasts and is a natural climax to all of Kyubei’s inner doubts.

Kagura gets a fun little arc where the series remembers that she can’t handle the sunlight and it is deadly for her people. So she had gotten a bit lazy about this and ends up faking her own death with the sunlight but the problem now is how can she get out of this before they cremate her body? Additionally, some characters know the truth and are using this as an excuse to murder her. It’s going to be a tough situation to get out of and she has to choose between her life and her honor. This is a very short arc but definitely one of those absurd plots that is a lot of fun to read. you gotta be careful what kind of a gag you try to pull on your friends.

One extremely short arc was about Gintama breaking the clock that controls all of time by mistake. So now time is frozen and nobody can move on. In this world even clocks can spell disaster I suppose. There was also a quick little party where Gintoki and the other 3 members of the original 4 man squad try to remember a 5th person who invited them there but they have a hard time with it. You feel bad for the guy. It has to be rough having nobody remember you even when you were a big member.

There’s an arc that is mainly comedic but with some emotional undertones. One day when Ayame is trying to mess with Gintoki as always and get him to marry her, her glasses end up breaking. So Gintoki gets her some new ones but they don’t actually work for her. She decides to use them anyway since they were a gift but now she is messing up more than ever and a group of assassins are after her. So she has to learn to look out for herself and ditch the glasses even if they were a gift for Gintoki. It’s a good arc with a solid moral about looking out for yourself too. You may like someone a lot but if they give you something that doesn’t work or actively hurts you then you should just not use it. Ayame learns this the hard way.

Idol groups are a big deal apparently, so big that the galaxy’s strongest idol group shows up to take down the one on Gintoki’s planet. This battle has high stakes because the winner will effectively rule the universe after this. So losing is definitely not an ideal option. The main idol group isn’t bad but the galaxy’s strongest have a ton of dirty tricks up their sleeve to watch out for. This isn’t one of my favorite arcs and I’d say it’s because there aren’t too many gags you can use this one. The main gag that you have to keep on repeating is how all of the fans are pervs and nerds which doesn’t last very long as a funny gag.

A better arc involves the body switch between Hiijikata and Gintoki. Again, if there’s a comedy trope that you have heard of, it will appear in Gintama at least once. The seires was ready for anything and this was a really fun one. Naturally they have completely different leadership styles as Gintoki is super laidback and does whatever he wants while Hiijikata is super strict. So both groups have a lot of trouble getting behind this and it makes for a pretty fun story. I was definitely satisfied the whole way through.

There are a bunch of mini arcs that reference other series like Jojo’s, Hunter X Hunter, Bleach, the Saw movies, and more. So you can expect to see those and have some fun with them. Most are pretty short and I didn’t go into as much detail here but you know these are always a blast. Then there is the big scandal arc where Gintoki gets drunk on New Year’s and may have had several affairs. Unfortunately he doesn’t remember what happened and since this is Gintoki, he knows that it’s all possible. So this leads to a ton of misunderstandings and shenanigans as he tries to solve all of this. He will have to hurry or people will lose whatever respect they have left for him. Of course, nobody respects him anyway so that means there aren’t really any stakes here.

The mini arc involving a time skip was definitely some brilliant stuff. While Shinpachi thought the series just went on a 1 week break, 2 years had actually passed within Gintama. So everyone has new designs and even their personalities are a bit different. It’s all rather odd and he has fallen behind now which is really rough. The gags here were all on point and it was a great way to poke fun at the time skips. Gintama is definitely a series that absolutely masters the art of breaking the third wall. It does this extremely effective at all times so I was really impressed the whole time. It’s very short but still very funny.

Dragon Quest is so big that it has tons of references throughout the series but one big one is the Tama Quest mini arc. She gets a virus so the characters have to log in and get rid of it but the whole experience basically turns into a video game. That’s definitely a fun way to adapt how these things go, so I had a pretty good time here. Even the art style looks like an 8 bit video game which shows how much range the artist has. Seriously, it’s one of the best looking manga titles out there.

Now we’re mostly going to be getting into the more serious arcs. First up is an arc that shows us the first meeting between Sakamoto and Mutsu. As always Sakamoto was biting off more than he could chew with a big sales scam to some pirates. Ultimately he manages to turn on the charm and Mutsu likes how determined he is. Sakamoto ends up helping her out and she joins him as a permanent ally. He’s sure lucky to have someone like her who is super powerful by his side. She could easily crush him at any time but they have a solid amount of mutual respect going for them. It was nice to see how they first met and it would have been a shame if we never got to see that. Even without Gintoki getting to do much here, the arc holds up well.

Another serious arc is Okita’s introduction arc. He’s a very serious guy who generally just beats everyone up as he looks for a worthy opponent but he is very mellow when his sister is around. He acts like just a general nice guy and we find out that she’s super sick and her fiancé is evil. The arc is an example of how Gintama isn’t afraid to get really dark. There is no cure for her ailment and she just gets closer and closer to her death while Okita has to do his job and take the fiancé down. It’s a tough road for everyone involved but ultimately at least she got to see that Okita takes his job very seriously. Definitely not an arc that you really expect when reading Gintama but it worked well.

Okita has a big role in another arc where Gintoki had a sword get stuck in his backside. This presents a ton of obvious problems like even the basic action of sitting down but what’s even worse is that the sword works like a symbiote. If Gintoki isn’t careful then he will be taken over. The sword also has a wife and a rival/villain who also get stuck into different characters. Okita and Gintoki will have to fight to the death here but is there any way to get the swords out. This is one of those arcs that is mainly comedic and absurd but also has some serious moments with the sword’s backstory. Good luck taking it seriously though. I thought this was a pretty fun one that shows just how unique the series is.

Then we have one of those arcs that has to be Bleach inspired. A weather girl gets involved with demons and the supernatural so Gintoki and friends step in to help since they love her program. Gintoki makes sure to watch every day after all but can they handle supernatural menaces? Well, of course they can! The series also has soul reaper equivalents so it’s not like this is too crazy to deal with. It was nice to see the weather girl get involved because she is mentioned constantly in the series but rarely gets to take the center stage. So that was pretty fun.

Another short but key arc is when Otae and Shinpachi’s master shows up. The guy should have been dead for years but somehow he has survived and now he has a cool beam sword. Unfortunately Gintoki realizes that the guy is a double agent and has a powerful bomb within him. So he has to destroy the guy even if it means breaking the hearts of his closest friends. It’s a really emotional arc to be sure and also underscores Gintoki’s resolve. He may joke around a whole lot but when it comes to his friends, he will even be the villain if that’s what it takes to keep them safe. It’s a mindset that I can absolutely respect.

Then we get the introduction to Kagura’s father, Umibouzu. The guy is a beast in combat and easily one of the most powerful characters in the whole series. Still, he definitely has his silly side the whole time and I always like the rivalry between him and Gintoki with regard to being Kagura’s true father. It’s true that the biological father is always off planet while Gintoki has been the one actually raising her. I tend to be on his side when things are getting competitive to be honest. Umibouzu is still a good guy of course but Gintoki’s still better. This arc’s a fun way to meet the dad and learn more about Kagura at the same time.

After that we also have an arc with Kyubey showing up to try and win over Otae. Meanwhile Kondo is getting engaged to a gorilla and this won’t be the last time that happens. He likes Otae as well but can he really compete with Kyubey who is an absolute prodigy, good at just about everything and just a lot more impressive than Kondo can ever hope to be? It’s tough but there is a twist about Kyubey and how she’s actually a girl which is extremely lucky for Kondo. Kyubey would go on to be one of the more entertaining characters and this arc was definitely a lot of fun. It’s fairly low key but we get to see Otae a lot which is good since she’s generally more of a side character.

There’s also a fairly small but serious arc with a terrorist named Jiraia shows up to cause a lot of destruction and Gintoki has to take him out. This was a really good arc and has one of the best fights in the series. We really get to see Gintoki going the extra mile and fighting even when he has serious injuries. We would see more and more of this as the series goes on but it was one of the first times we could see exactly what Gintoki could do. It was definitely a masterful storyline.

An arc that is a bit of a cross between humor and action has the characters get taken to a turtle island which quickly becomes a save the world type of mission as they have to stop some cannons and start being transformed as well. It’s definitely a good bit of fun especially with Katsura being a main character. The heroes really have to try and surpass their limits in order to win here. It ended up being really memorable for me as a result even though the arc isn’t very long and is fairly early in the series.

As we approach the last big arc, we get different arcs that connect to the main storyline as every big villain is taken care of. One of these is for taking down Oboro, one of the more powerful fighters. It turns out that his past goes way back. He makes for a pretty good enemy, that’s for sure. Utsuro is really the big boss though and he’s the kind of guy that keeps coming back over and over again. You really have to respect how durable he is and the full nature of his plans. His backup plans have backup plans. One arc has him trigger a war between different planets in the universe, then he ends up attacking the planet, then he turns into a kid which causes a civil war among Gintoki and his allies, etc. The last few arcs are mostly a ton of nonstop fights in the middle of all of this.

The arcs are all really solid but the one part you don’t end up caring about much it eh Shogun plot in space. Unfortunately Katsura is stuck in that plot so you won’t actually get to see him fighting all that much there. It’s too bad since I felt like the series always hinted that he was actually the best fighter but it’s hard to prove without more evidence. The final arcs do a great job of involving just about every character who ever appeared into it. That’s super impressive and it feels like a true Shonen final arc. The final chapters even throw in an extra time skip with new designs and gimmicks as well to give some more closure. There is also an epilogue too that goes on surprisingly long during the arc. Gintama ended as it started, with a lot of troll moves that’s for sure.

Then the Shinsengumi also have quite a few arcs where they get to do a lot. Their arcs don’t tend to be the most interesting in part because Gintoki and friends tend to take a backseat. I know the arcs themselves are rather popular though and I wouldn’t say they’re bad or anything. I probably just have them a bit lower than most. One of these introduces the Mimawarigumi, which is basically a reverse group. They will show up a whole lot and the two groups are constantly battling it out. The group also aren’t a bunch of throwaways or anything like that. They are able to hold their own blow for blow against the main group and have a lot of real members. They even get their own origin stories and such later on so that was definitely impressive.

Then you have the big farewell arc as well. This one is really long and has both groups fighting a whole lot but most importantly it starts to tie into the final arcs with the cosmic villain showing up with his big shots. It’s one of those climaxes that just keeps going and is really hype. So ironically I like it more for the non Shinsengumi parts but it’s the same arc so it still counts. There are tons of mob fights here too so if that’s your thing then it’s a bonus. We get so many army against army fights that they will probably start to blend together after a while though. I would say that happened to me after a while as well, I tend to always prefer the direct battles. We do get plenty of those in this arc too though.

You’ve also got the Shogun arc which is also about the Shinsengumi a lot. The Shogun is still one of my least favorite characters though, no matter how much the series wanted to try and make him likable. Similar to the last arc, this one gets elevated by Kamui showing up later on as opposed to the Shinsengumi parts. The fights there are some of the best in the series so I was definitely impressed all the way. It’s absolutely an arc to keep your eye on and one of the turning points in the series in terms of going all the way into action.

So I didn’t quite throw in every arc but that was quite a lot of story to get into. There are also tons of one shot chapters that have running gags that keep on appearing so they are like mini arcs that aren’t connected. In particular one excellent one is when Gintoki visits a prison to help an aspiring manga author. That was always a really fun set of stories and it shows how Gintoki would really make time to help people. The gags were always a lot of fun. All right, deep breath now people because it’s time to talk about the characters and man does this series have a lot of them! Naturally I won’t be talking about every single character but I will be talking about a whole lot of them so prepare yourself.

First off we have to start with Gintoki of course and he’s an incredible lead. A top tier Shonen Jump protagonist all the way. He may not be the most heroic or anything like that but he does have a lot of convictions and will always protect his friends. He’s a lot like Kenshin when you think about it. Gintoki is trying to leave his dark past behind him and have a lot of fun but it always ends up catching up to him in time. He’s an extremely layered character who excels in both the comedic and serious stories. He’s one of the best characters in the series and has a ton of iconic moments. Definitely one of those characters you can be inspired by and even learn a few things from.

Shinpachi certainly doesn’t have Gintoki’s confidence and is often lagging behind when it comes time to fight. He just doesn’t have the skills needed to keep up with most of the characters but he tries hard. I tend to like him more in the comedic moments than in the serious situations since he adds a lot to the dynamic in the funny moments. He definitely does earn his spot among the main cast though, the series wouldn’t be the same without him. The straight man role in a joke is something that I’ll probably never really find the humor in but he has enough of his own gags to make up for this. There’s always a lot for him to do.

Kagura is naturally even funnier though and with her superhuman strength she is able to hold her own in the serious arcs too which I appreciate. She gets a lot of backstory which is actually rather tragic but she always keeps up a good spirit. She may give Gintoki a tough time but they have a good father/daughter bond throughout the series. All 3 members are definitely needed in order to make the series reach its full potential each time. Of course there is also the dog Sadaharu. He may not be able to talk but at the same time he has a reasonable role here since he has a lot of personality. He will actively attack Gintoki at times and surprisingly gets an extremely big role near the climax of the series. That really took me by surprise since I was not expecting that at all. We get to really see a lot into how strong the bonds between him and the rest of the characters are.

Tae is Shinpachi’s sister and her role is fairly big even if she isn’t usually important to the story of the arc. She is always around being the mature member while everyone else is messing around. Quite a few characters in the series like her as a result but in particular Kyubey and Kondo fight over her. She usually brushes them off fairly well and definitely has her violent side as well. Nobody better dare mess with her or it’s all over! She’s a fun enough side character for sure and usually understands quicker than the others why Gintoki does what he does when it’s time for a serious choice to be made.

As the landlord, Otose is always giving Gintoki a lot of grief because of how late he is with the payments. I definitely get it since that’s her livelihood and she needs that money in order to survive. That said, at the end of the day she does let him get away with a whole lot and is a very reasonable person. Catherine is a more mild supporting character who doesn’t appear very often towards the end. Her role is usually to get dunked on by everyone else for how ugly she is and how she looks like a cat. Definitely not a very flattering role to be sure but it’s hard to feel bad for her when she starts the fight a lot of the time.

Hiraga is a local inventor who helps out quite a bit. His role is never all that huge but he sticks around since near the beginning of the series so his appearances add up. He’s not amazing or anything but he’s not bad. It’s always good to have a mechanic on hand. He is able to help out Tama a lot who actually is a great character. Tama is a robot who may not know too much about human customs but learns a whole lot during her interactions with Gintoki and the crew. She has a lot of personality and also has some gadgets to fight with when things get serious. She’s always fun.

Now lets talk about the best character in the series. So Katsura is usually one of those gag characters who doesn’t take things too seriously but don’t let that fool you into thinking he is weak or anything like that. I would argue quite strongly that he is stronger than Gintoki and Shinsuke. My reasoning for that is when they were kids Katsura was always shown to be the best. He would consistently win and then in the present I would assume that things stayed the same. The difficult part is that he is often not on the front lines in the same way that the others are. It feels like most of the time he would end up on some kind of side quest that has nothing to do with anything. So that was a little disappointing but I guess it is what it is.

Regardless, he does have a big role in so many stories that I shouldn’t be too greedy. His gags were always a lot of fun. I like the idea of his being a super genius who just keeps himself entertained by messing around the whole time. Then he has his best friend Elizabeth which the series has a lot of fun with. We get a lot of twists about that character and you have to decide how many of them to take seriously. Elizabeth is definitely a really odd character all around but in the end the dynamic works rather well.

Shinsuke is the main villain for a good chunk of the series although he spends a lot of time in the shadows so once he does actually appear, there isn’t quite as much time for him. Still, he’s not the kind of villain that you are likely to forget, that’s for sure! He has a really good backstory that explains why he turned out the way that he did and you get it. It’s a really tragic origin story and he has a lot of people to blame for what happened. A main theme in the series is about growing up and moving on from the past though so he actually has quite a few deep conversations with Gintoki about things. He’s definitely a very layered villain and one who is always a threat.

He has a few subordinates but the biggest one by far has to be Bansai. Bansai has a really good intro and it seems like he can hold his own with the stronger characters but surprisingly his role always ends up staying rather small. He doesn’t get the big feature fights that you would expect to see out of him. I like the design though and I suppose not everyone has to have their big action moments. He’s still around for a bunch of the war scenes and everything.

Then we have the best villain, Kamui. He’s a solid wild card and whenever he shows up you know things are going to get bad for the heroes. His stats are out of this world to the point where Gintoki and the others can’t beat him in a fair fight. It’s safe to say that he is the single strongest character in the series except for the final boss. That guy still has him beat I suppose. So Kamui gets a lot of chances to dominate and he’s generally the kind of character who loves to fight and test his limits. I always love characters like that.

Of course there are several Shinsengumi characters who end up being big so lets go through them. First up is Kondo and for the first chunk of the series I would constantly mix him up with Hasegawa. In my defense, the two of them are way too similar. Seriously their personalities aren’t that far apart either. I can’t say that I ever liked Kondo much. He was always super desperate so he looked bad. He doesn’t stand up for himself and so his persona as being a big shot in the organization doesn’t work.

I actually preferred Hasegawa who at least made himself into a professional homeless person. That’s not easy and he had his own sense of pride the whole time. His parody moments would actually land rather well so I had to give him a lot of props. Not enough to say that he is a very good character or anything like that though. He just beats Kondo which isn’t a high bar. Then we have Yamazaki who can also be rather desperate but at least he knows what he is doing. He’s a good undercover agent who isn’t afraid to play the long game when tailing a target. Now that’s what I call skill and dedication.

Then we have Hiijikata who is a pretty fun character. His mayo gimmick is definitely fun and he actually acts as a foil to Gintoki at times. I never bought him being in the same level of power as the lead to be honest but he was still good to have around. His strict leadership style really isn’t bad at all and he made the group a force to be reckoned with. It wouldn’t be the same without Okita though who is a really good standout character. He’s another guy who likes to fight and never backs down from anything. Not all of his personality traits are great to be honest but he tends to be awesome more times than he is not. So I would give the guy a full thumbs up in the end.

Then we have the reverse group and they had two big members. The first one is Sasaki who does well to command his fighting troops. He’s a serious guy without a doubt and definitely not someone to be underestimated. I can’t say I loved his character but he made for a good villain. His right hand woman Nobume was a lot more intense though. Now she was a blast and a good rival for Okita. Honestly she was too good for that group the whole time and I would look forward to her scenes. It was always nice to get more star fighters.

The series definitely liked its duos though. Next up we have another one. Ayame is a ninja who is completely obsessed with Gintoki. She stalks him and does whatever she can in order to attract his attention. On one hand, her determination itself is admirable but the stalker kind of character is rarely my cup of tea. Her gags tend to be more annoying than funny and I couldn’t take her seriously in the power department. The same is true of her boss Hattori. He may have technically been one of the main 4 with Gintoki and friends in the past but he never seemed nearly as tough. The guy doesn’t have the same level of grit or determination either. Honestly the guy felt rather fraudulent the whole time. I never ended up liking him and he often had some of the weaker chapters although I did like that time Gintoki and friends dressed up as ninja. Wait a sec, half of that was for Sakamoto. Yeah these are two characters I absolutely mixed up all the time. They act the same and their dynamics with their partners are the same as well. Maybe this is the one weakness of the series because having multiple characters this easy to mix up is a little crazy.

One primary character in the main town is Tsukuyo. She’s sort of like a mafia gang member and she seems to like Gintoki but I wouldn’t expect that romance to go anywhere. She’s a tough heroine who can dish out damage with the best of them. It’s always fun to see her even if she rarely gets to step in during the serious arcs. Another good heroine is Kyubei. She may be confused for a while as to what her gender even is but at the end of the day she does have some serious fighting abilities. I was a little surprised that she didn’t show up more in the serious arcs but her gags were always rather fun. Ayumu could be a little more on the annoying side when he would try to look out for her though. He really just had that single gag.

Then we have the big villain, Utsuro. He is an extremely interesting character due in large part to the fact that the storyline really doesn’t go how you think it would. The origin story is extremely unique with more twists than you would expect. Ultimately, I thought the series did an excellent job with him. He felt like a true end game boss, the kind of guy you could never take down. In a lot of ways he really was invincible all the way through to the end which is what you would expect from a character like this. He just kept on coming back over and over again to great success.

The series is no stranger to good villains though. Jiraia is another intense villain who still has one of the most iconic fights in the series. I loved seeing Gintoki have to try and use all of his skills to try and repel the guy’s sheer speed. Definitely not something that just anyone could pull off, I can tell you that! Another reason why Gintoki is one of the all time greats but Jiraia is a villain you just don’t forget.

Another really solid villain is Housen. The guy is a super strong fighter who really gives Gintoki a tough time. You definitely must not underestimate him and while he’s not a recurring villain, he made his presence felt. Umibouzu isn’t a villain per say but he does go up against Gintoki and friends so I figured I’d mention him here. He’s actually fun when he’s being serious although he does goof off a lot. Now there are a bunch of other supporting characters but I’m going to end with one of my least favorite.

The Shogun. This guy is an absolute waste of time. In all of the comedic chapters his only role is to get humiliated over and over again with no end in sight. Really just an annoying character and by the time he is to get his serious moments, it’s just too late. I just can’t take him seriously. It’s rough since he has a lot of screen time and big emotional moments meant to make him go higher but they still didn’t win me over. I suppose at least I can say that his final scene actually was pretty emotional and I won’t forget it.

So that is the world of Gintama! Quite a lot to go through there. It may seem like an intimidating title to jump into but the best advice is to just jump into it straightaway. For the jokes, as long as you have a good sense of humor then you should have a blast here. Just remember that pretty much no joke is out of bounds here. You’ll have some fairly intense ones, suggestive jokes, crude jokes, etc. Every kind of joke is here and while I would say that way more of the jokes land than miss, not every joke will work for everyone. So just see what you think of the tone and work from there. Hopefully you also like the action scenes as well since those end up being super important.

You can also treat the series as educational to an extent. There are tons of themes in the show about bettering yourself as a person and remaining optimistic. Gintoki always saw the bright side of things no matter how bad things got. Yes the series can be really silly but in a way it’s always just a played up version of real things that people feel and experience. A ton of the mini arcs all focus on different trials and the serious ones of course have a lot of motivational moments as well. There is a lot more to the series than meets the eye and it was already elite before that point. Gintoki has more hype cliffhangers and rage modes than almost any other protagonist.

Overall, Gintama is definitely an elite title and one of the very best in Jump. It’s super impressive how long it kept on going for and it has a ton of replay value because of how many great stories were in here. By the time you finish the series you can absolutely go back to the start and enjoy the nostalgia of seeing the characters back in the happy days of the series. It works well as a really good loop. It’s really the kind of series that could have even kept going but that probably sounds a bit greedy after this long runtime. So I’ll just be content with what we got and I highly recommend reading this series. It’s not without its flaws, it probably makes just about every mistake possible at different points in the series. At the end of the day though, it was long enough to override all of those issues and manages to be really top tier. It’s why you can’t give up, even if you come across an underwhelming arc, the series can always rebound so long as it keeps on going. There is always a chance.

Overall 9/10

Mashle Review

Posted on March 10, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to dive into the world of Mashle. A lot of comparisons were drawn to One Punch Man when this came out because the series is about a guy who is extremely powerful physically to the point of having a lot of absurd feats. I would even say his feats start holding their own against Saitama for a little while there but aside from that general part of the premise, it’s not actually all that similar. The blend of humor and action work really well here.

The story starts by introducing us to a world where just about everyone has some kind of magic. If you somehow don’t get this then you will be in a lot of trouble and unfortunately Mash is one such kid. Fortunately as a baby he is taken in by a kind man who raises him for year, Regro. He has done his best to raise Mash in an isolated cabin since then so they are away from the outside world but one day the cops catch on. Mash will now have to enter magic school and pass the exams to become a Divine Visionary. It’s the only way to keep him and pops safe, but how can he compete with these students who all have crazy magical abilities? Well, that’s where the strength comes in!

So with that part it starts to sound a bit more like Black Clover and that’s probably the best series to use as a comparison. No wonder this series is so good right? A lot of the magical abilities are also very creative and powerful so by extension when Mash is taking them on, it makes him look even stronger as well. One thing I’d note right away though is that Mash is never presented as being unbeatable or anything like that. He is super strong but gets damaged and comes close to losing a few different times. He’s always able to think of something in the end but it does ensure that the stakes are high throughout. Mash can be destroyed if he isn’t careful.

There’s also the social stakes of everyone finding out that he doesn’t actually have magic but that’s more for the comedic element. Mash isn’t the smartest guy around and is a terrible liar so more often than not he is practically giving that secret away anyway. He also makes friends rather easily and so they aren’t about to give the secret up. So many people know the secret as each episode flies by that you figure it may not matter as much as everyone thought it would anyway.

What I like about the humor for Mashle is that it’s quite quick witted. There are a lot of great physical gags with Mash doing things that shouldn’t be humanly possible but then you also have the more out of the blue ones that tend to involve creampuffs. One is that no matter what Mash cooks or what ingredients he uses, it always ends up becoming a creampuff. It’s like a curse, but a beneficial one since that’s his favorite food anyway. The gags tend to be really funny with this one and there is a good variety of jokes to be had here so it never gets repetitive or anything like that either.

The show tends to lean a bit harder on the action than the comedy but it executes both really well which is the important thing. When the show wants to get serious, it definitely nails the tone. The fights are really solid and very creative with the abilities like I mentioned before. Mash may occasionally undercut the tone with a gag but for the most part if it’s a serious fight then it’ll really stay that way.

Fortunately the animation is up to the task. I wouldn’t call this a particularly high budget show for the most part but they knew their priorities. For example the average scene of standing around or moving through different locations won’t look great. The animation tends to be a tad spotty there but all of the important fights quickly dial up the intensity quite a lot. Any plot important fight will generally look great so the show knows how to turn it up when necessary. That’s important because you need to look good to properly convey the serious feats happening here.

Then for the soundtrack, that part’s a little more forgettable. I wasn’t a big fan of the opening. I feel like it was trying to feel like One Punch Man to encourage discussions and comparisons but it just didn’t work. It wasn’t particularly catchy. Then the show itself had some decent tunes but none that really stood out. I’d like to see the soundtrack improve in season 2 because I do think of it as a bit of a weak point right now. Nothing that would seriously hurt the show of course but it’s certainly not helping it either.

One of Mashle’s strengths is how each character really stands out. Part of what makes them so memorable are the striking colors for each one. While the animation may not always be super sharp, the colors always stand out. The character designs are on point and the show is just very bright. It has an early 2000s vibe to it with everything being so vibrant and the show is really easy to watch. It’s the kind of title you can pick up and play at any time, although it’s not like there are a ton of episodes so it’s not something you can watch too often for now unless you want to really get it played out.

Now let talk about the characters. First I do have to note that a lot of characters get off a bit too easy here Yeah forgive and forget is all nice and good sometimes but these guys go very far. Like Brad, one of the police officers was definitely going to murder Regro and would have murdered Mash if he wasn’t so weak. The guy has clearly been abusing his power for a long time now and so he should be in jail after that. Ultimately the show is more comedic in nature so these things tend to get overlooked but when you really think about it….it just doesn’t work. I can’t say I ever liked Brad much. He sticks around as a supporting character but never gets better if you ask me.

Regro doesn’t get to do much but he gets a lot of points for looking after Mash for so many years. He’s a good guy and really did his best. That’s the whole reason Mash is so motivated in trying to succeed at the magic academy. Meanwhile Mash is a solid lead. He may not be quite as charismatic as some other Shonen leads and isn’t exactly the most fired up character that you will see. However, his gags do tend to be funny and he has a solid amount of rage moments for when it’s time to protect his friends and I can always appreciate that.

Then we have another petty character in Claude. Again, the show could have been harsher with this guy. He was actively blackmailing a student and then kept trying to get in Mash’s way. He’s a straight up villain the whole time and I’m not super convinced that he is suddenly going to be a big hero going forward. I just don’t get those vibes from him but hey I could be wrong.

The main heroine of the show is Lemon but she never actually gets a super big role. She doesn’t look good initially as she makes the wrong calls but ultimately she gets better…at least a little bit. The problem is that her main personality trait is that she’s in love with Mash and that’s about it. So that doesn’t really make for much of a complete character. It just means that she will be really one note for most of the adventure and she also can’t really fight that well which knocks her out of most situations.

The same can be said for Finn who is a support mage at best. He’s always really nervous and can’t keep up with the other characters’ shenanigans. He’s just not my kind of character. I prefer to see characters with a whole lot of unwavering confidence who grin in the face of evil. Characters who aren’t afraid to mix it up with the villains and all of that. You know that they’re building something up for Finn but it’s going to take a while and so right now he’s on the lower end of the cast.

We’ve got another petty bully character in Lloyd. In a way that’s how you can describe all 3 of the first villains. This guy likes picking on the weak and that’s about it so as you can imagine Mash makes short work of him. There’s not much to like about this guy and he’s fairly forgettable. Fortunately the villains get better as the show goes on because that’s definitely a rocky start. Another villain who is more on the annoying side is Lauren. She basically uses her magic to make guys fall for her before Silva goes and knocks them out. It’s definitely not a magic that will work on most of the stronger fighters in the verse so that really knocks her out of the running early on. Nothing particularly interesting about her either.

Okay now we get to the bigger characters. First up we have Lance who is a pretty strong rival type of character. He challenges Lance early on and gives him a really good fight. It’s probably the first time in the series that Mash has a really solid challenge in combat. His character’s gimmick of being obsessed with his sister is definitely overplayed and annoying though. It’s his one bad trait and otherwise he’s one of the most intense characters in the series. You can always count on him dealing serious damage and all of his fights are a blast. Definitely one of the standout characters in the series to be sure.

Then you have Dot who is a lot more talkative and rather loud but unfortunately he is very easy to trick. The guy lowers his guard a whole lot and tends to feel really bad for himself. I’d definitely like to see him man up a bit more often. He does get his big moments of course but they are usually outnumbered by him being humiliating. He is one of the funnier characters which works in his benefit but definitely expect him to eat a lot of Ls. It’s too bad because he’s the character with the fire type magic so you could say that he takes up that lot there.

Another hero is Rayne although he doesn’t show up until later. Also, he’s one of those guys who doesn’t like those without magic to the point where you could argue that it basically makes him a villain as well. He was absolutely ready to take Mash down and would have if he was stronger. He’s the kind of guy that’s great to have around to fight the villains but you can’t trust him at all.

Then there is the headmaster of the school Wahlberg, but I can’t give him too much credit. Part of the problem with this guy is that he’s a nice enough guy but he still has people that he answers to. This means that he will make compromises even if he knows that it’s not the right thing to do. It’s a big issue in any series because in my mind you have to follow justice no matter what. If that means disobeying direct orders and such…well so be it. That’s just how it has to go.

His evil counterpart Innocent Zero gets a lot of hype but doesn’t really do anything in this season. You can definitely see that they’re building up to a big confrontation like an All Might vs All For One kind of deal so that will be fun. Likewise one of his top subordinates is a guy called Cell War who hasn’t had a chance to do a ton but in his brief screentime we see that he is incredibly powerful. Another true threat to Mash so the hero will definitely have to watch out. The season ends with a lot of intrigue for part 2 so you definitely want to stick around.

For the villains who are in this season though, Silva is a pretty solid one. He’s definitely a villain who plays dirty and uses every trick to win but he’s also very powerful. Even without his cheap tricks he would be able to defeat a lot of opponents. That’s part of what helps him stick out. If he was weak then he would come off as more petty than anything but like this the guy is on point. He leaves a real impression on you. Anser is another decently solid villain. The guy is the brainy type although that is also used against him as the guy’s main gag. I enjoyed his fight a good deal he ends up being a villain who can stand out. He’s not one of the most powerful by any means but he can hold his own.

Then we have Abel who is a really big deal. The guy’s ability to use many puppets at once is really impressive and he’s actually someone who did give Mash a run for his money. The guy looks great right from the start and also lasts for a little while which makes him stand out more. He’s got his own reasons for fighting and ultimately while he is a villain from the start, he’s fun to watch. He even plays off of Mash’s gags a bit here and there.

Abyss comes in later and strength wise is easily one of the most impressive. He can use arrows in the air much like Medusa to speed himself up and he can also use them to mess with his opponent’s movements. It’s an incredibly difficult spell to work around because you will be really disoriented the whole time. All it takes is one big mistake and then you are gone. Almost any fighter except for Mash would have lost this battle which just proves that point. Abyss is a very complete villain with a lot of solid development.

For some more minor villains who were pretty hype, next up is Shuen. I ultimately thought he was fun. The guy even made his opponent Dot jealous because of how good he is. That’s a fight he probably should have won too, I had my doubts on Dot really being able to turn things around there. He may not really get to do anything going forward but he made for a good villain. Likewise Jon was solid with his kitchen themed attacks. A good gimmick goes a long way so even though he may not return to do anything, it was a good appearance nonetheless.

Love, Wirth, and Milo fall into this camp as well. Each one appears for a quick fight and looks good. I liked their designs and overall confidence. They may be very minor villains almost by definition but they definitely trounce the average oneshot villain. Mashle really excels when it comes to making enjoyable characters like this. There are other characters but these are the main ones. The show has already done a lot of solid worldbuilding and set things up well for the second season so we’re in good hands.

Overall, Mashle was definitely great. It’s the kind of show that just feels good to watch with a lot of quality humor and good action scenes. You will definitely never be bored watching this one and the action is always a lot of fun. If you were worried about having to compare it to One Punch Man, you should still check it out anyway. Obviously I’m on Team One Punch Man overall but both shows definitely have their place here and I look forward to seeing more of Mash’s adventures soon!

Overall 8/10

Dr. Stone: 4D Science Review

Posted on February 4, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for the return of Dr. Stone. After the series ended a while back, it returned briefly for a 3 chapter mini series. That was a pretty nice surprise particularly since it actually does add some more context to that controversial ending involving the time machine. Retroactively it adds a lot to the lore as well although this may have been a bit too ambitious for a 3 chapter series. The first chapter has a massive cliffhanger after all and the second one ends with some mysteries but the third has to wrap things up rather quickly. I’d say it feels rushed but I’m at least 99% confident this was meant to be a 3 chapter miniseries from the jump so I suppose that was intentional.

The series starts by having Senku remember his first time trying to make a time machine. He was a kid at the time and so he knew he couldn’t actually build one but what he could do was test to see if a certain event would happen in the future. For example, hypothetically if you built a time machine and did find a way to travel through time, the best way to prove it would be to leave something for your past self to find right? Well nothing happens so Senku gives up on it but in the present they decide to try again. To their surprise something does happen…they discover a message from Senku’s father implying that he was able to master time travel but how is that possible? It’s time for the scientists to work on one last case!

I do want to say that this experiment is the most logical way to test time travel and it’s also why I’m confident that it will never be discovered. In theory there would be some evidence at this point from people going back in time. I know a few counter arguments for it is that they’re really careful about changing time so that only the outcomes are noticeable and since that’s our present reality we would not be able to tell. I’m not sold on that but time travel’s always an interesting subject. So for the heroes to get a message from Senku’s father, that’s pretty big.

It’s a great hook from the first chapter and the only problem is that there are a ton of really fun scenarios you can make from that but the series doesn’t opt to go with any of them. It’s a shame because I think that would have been great. Perhaps a little “Jump the Shark” in nature since it would be way less science based but it would be fun. Instead the series opts to go with the cop out ending as in it ends before we see exactly what happened. The series allows you to decide for yourself if the time travel worked or if it didn’t. Me personally? I’d rather know one way or the other. The author needed to take a stand here and just tell us. Putting off the decision of what happened feels like the author was just playing it too safe.

Perhaps one day we will get a sequel to this that explores the ending because at least if the ending goes one way then there is plenty of room for a sequel and that’ll definitely change things in a big way. Beyond that the art is really solid as always. I like the realistic style that is always used for Dr. Stone. The writing is also good as you would expect with all of the characters making plans and it’s good to see that Senku really hasn’t changed a bit. He’s still a super logical person who doesn’t let anything get to him.

I did appreciate that Ryusui also got a really big role here. He’s the first one to pick up on something and the series hasn’t forgotten that he can compete in intelligence with everyone else. Perhaps not as a pure scientist, Chrome, Xeno, and Senku are definitely superior there but in overall intelligence and picking up on things, it’s hard to beat him. He was also doing his best to shield Senku from taking any emotional damage which I appreciate. The characters are really a close knit group at this point and even with society back, you figure they will always stay great friends and won’t drift apart.

There’s one emotional subplot in here that sort of comes out of nowhere though. At best you just don’t really care about it and at worst it feels like just a way to nerf a character. The all powerful alien cube beings apparently have emotions and just hide them behind logic. Why is this even a thing? It just doesn’t make sense to me and it has this whole emotional goodbye to everyone before going back into its emotionless mode. So why is his basically filler? Because if you skip that chapter, the status quo hasn’t changed. It’s back to being emotionless and in theory the emotional outburst will never be mentioned again. So…..yeah there just wasn’t much of a reason for this. I can’t say I felt bad for it either since the being creates a lot of the drama in this miniseries for no good reason. If it just talked things through with Senku that would have been way better and Senku would have understood since he is a scientist at heart. There are some twists of course since this miniseries is part mystery so I won’t go any further into the nitty gritty of what’s going on there.

Overall, This was a fun mini series. At only 3 chapters long it’s really a blink and miss it kind of title. You’ll be done with it so quickly that it almost feels like a one shot but in volume format it’ll be a fun way to see the cast again. Each character gets a quick moment to contribute and we also get a classic building roadmap which was always fun in the series. It’s a little too short to really go into too much detail on this but there’s still enough for you to feel the nostalgia. Outside of the cop out ending which is a little iffy, there’s nothing bad here so there’s really nothing to dislike. Particularly within the context of the 3 chapters limit I’d say it did a good job.

Overall 7/10

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Review

Posted on January 30, 2024 by dreager1

All right it’s time to talk about the legendary Shibuya arc! Well this season covers more than just that but it is the big deal that people had been hyping up for years. You’ll have seen people throwing around the case that it is the best are in Shonen Jump history. That’s pretty bold words and Hueco Mundo would have a word with that but the arc was absolutely epic and the anime does it full justice. This is a season 2 that does end up defeating the first and I dare say that it is the absolute peak of Kaisen. Unless a certain fight ends up being a movie, I don’t see any single product beating season 2. This had too many highlights.

The show is really split up into two arcs. You have the Hidden Inventory saga which deals with Gojo’s past and then the Shibuya saga. I’ll talk about each one. The first arc is fairly short. Gojo and Geto are tasked with protecting a young girl because she is destined to be the vessel for Tengen. This does mean that she will ultimately lose her sense of self and so the heroes are reluctant about this mission. Additionally, assassins from various groups around the world are intent on taking her life. Usually there would be nothing to worry about with Gojo on the case, but the world’s most dangerous man, Toji is also around.

This was a pretty fun way to start the show. Fun may be an interesting term because the arc has quite the dark end but before that you could say that in a lot of ways it’s the most cheerful that the show will ever get. You actually see the characters having fun at the beach, playing basketball and just having a good time. It can’t last of course but it was a fun change of pace. Right away the show is able to show off the animation although I’ll get into that more later on. It’s just a really fun arc with some good fights in it. It’s got a good amount of replay value as well.

Then we jump into Shibuya and in a lot of ways you could say that the arc is just a bunch of nonstop fights. Right away you have Yuji thrown into multiple encounters and of course Gojo is dealing out some damage. Basically every relevant character in the series up until this point gets some kind of fight and it’s the big culmination of everything the show was setting up. In some ways it feels like a final arc and we just got it early. Due to how Jujutsu Kaisen is, you also don’t necessarily know which characters are safe and which aren’t which definitely amps up the danger. I’d argue that there are a number of fights here where you really don’t know who will win.

The anime also extends some fights like Mahoraga vs Sukuna which was an excellent move. I’ll always approve of making a fight longer, particularly when it’s two strong fighters going at it. It makes absolute sense that this would be a really long fight. Now’s a good time to talk about the animation in general, it is absolutely top tier. Some of Mappa’s finest work and it will hang in there with any other top tier anime title. Yuji vs Choso and Sukuna vs Mahoraga are my two personal favorite fights in terms of animation but Gojo vs Toji and Yuji vs Mahito are right under those.

Few anime can boast of having 1 fight of this caliber, let alone 4. I still enjoy season 1’s animation a whole lot and haven’t turned on it like many, but I will acknowledge that season 2 definitely wins. 1 I would say had the better artstyle but in pure animation this just can’t be stopped. When it clicks, it really ends up clicking. Gojo’s abilities really shine here and a fancy fight like Jogo vs Sukuna couldn’t stand out in quite the same way without all of the bright animations. It just wouldn’t be as hype and this arc deserved all of the hype that it could get.

The soundtrack is also top tier and in this area it does obliterate season 1. Again the first season had a great ost but this one is top 10 of all time good. It’s up there with Digimon Data Squad and Yugioh GX. There are so many different battle themes, remixes, epic themes, etc. The ost is so large and there are so many different battle themes within it. That’s the most impressive part for me because plenty of shows have a big ost but many fill it with slice of life themes and such while this one is mainly all action.

The show keeps up the nonstop action at all times and the plot is super engaging. Kaisen has really earned its reputation of being around the top. I’d also like to note that it is still really good about avoiding fanservice as well. I won’t say that it’s nonexistent, but it’s borderline nonexistent. It doesn’t fall into that trap and the writing is all on point. So this is solid on all areas. Now with this much intensity you can probably imagine that there are some slight issues.

We get a metaphor type scene where we see Wolves chasing a rabbit and it ends up breaking its foot while the others are about to get eaten. It’s 100% unnecessary and while it is fairly tame animal violence next to other titles, it’s a tad bit annoying. The show doesn’t hold back with the violence either. Most of it is in a full combat context so it doesn’t really matter much. In the fights I’d say it doesn’t go too far but when the civilians get roped in it can be a bit much. Get ready for tons and tons and tons of civilian deaths which all tend to be rather brutal. They seriously could not catch a break here. It’s part of the villains’ plan to be sure but you should expect a lot of violence here. Not enough where we enter Attack on Titan level or anything but enough for it to be fairly noticeable.

I had a slight power levels issue on the occasional fight that wasn’t given a big budget. Most noticeably in Nobara’s fight against one of the weakest villains in the series. The anime didn’t do a good job of making me believe that she would have any trouble here. She was just moving so slow that it didn’t make sense and came across like a rookie. I would blame this more on the animation than the writing because if you just had her move quicker or the villain attack faster then it wouldn’t be a problem. It’s a rare instance though.

Okay now let talk about the characters. First off is Yuji who is certainly put through the wringer here. He isn’t always able to stay strong among the events going on here but I give him credit for fighting through as much of it as possible. Things really don’t go his way and he is always put in impossible situation. The guy’s toughness keeps him going in fights but he is often outmatched. He has to go up against guys like Choso and Geto here who are considerably out of his league. Even Mahito would have been way too much for him one on one. Yuji is painfully aware of the fact that he’s not the strongest but he still goes out there and fights.

He may not stand out as much as some other leads but overall I do think he is a very good character. The final scene of the show implies that he’s got a new power depending how you interpret it but either way he’s going to need a whole lot for the next arc. His rival Megumi’s role may be a bit smaller but he still gets his share of fights. I really liked his team up with Yuji against the old man. It’s an underrated fight and it’s always great to see the duo team up. In most Shonens you have to savor the moment because the lead and rival won’t team up often. It’s also a fun fight because you don’t necessarily know who will win. The villain could claim victory since it’s not the most important fight after all.

Megumi does look good the whole time though and is willing to sacrifice himself to win. That always takes a lot of guts. Nobara absolutely gets the short end of the stick here though. She talks a whole lot of smack and does her best to contribute but the show presents her as being massively weaker than the main two to the point where she is an active hinderance at times. She lets her guard down and can’t react to the situation very quickly. I give her points for effort and I always like her personality but this was really not a great season for her.

Nanami meanwhile has a small role but really makes the most of it. He really is portrayed as a really mature fighter the whole time. He knows his limits and makes the most of his abilities to deal damage. It’s like someone with a skill level of 70 but using it to the max vs someone with 100 who keeps fluctuating. The fact that he was able to tank some attacks from Dagon was impressive and he did beat his share of monsters. I’ll always enjoy Nanami as a character, he’s a fun mentor.

Mei Mei and Ui Ui are more on the annoying side. The less said about them the better. They make for a good duo and can fight but never seem to contribute all that much. The last scene absolutely kills them as characters though. There’s an obvious angle that makes them look bad but also just running off is the worst. It means they have no internal fortitude and I wouldn’t trust them at all to have my back. The series has always been presented as a hyper realistic one and yeah you can picture that some people would do this. Doesn’t make them any more sympathetic or likable though.

Maki’s role isn’t particularly big here and like Nobara she doesn’t look great. She basically spends the season being outshadowed by everyone and not really being able to do much of anything. She desperately needs a power up. Outside of Todo, this was basically the fate of every sorcerer from the rival school as well. When Mechamaru was saying how they had almost no shot of surviving, you absolutely believe him because they’re so weak. Mechamaru at least looks powerful. Does he look good? No, because I lost a ton of respect for him based on something he does near the beginning of the season. Way I see it you can’t really come back from that. So I appreciate his power but I don’t like the guy. I’d also argue that he didn’t play the situation very smart at all. He put himself in a position where there was no way he could ever come out on top.

Then we have Riko from the early arc and she’s a good character. She risks a lot in the adventure and ultimately steals herself for what is to come. She should value her life more if you ask me but I understand that she wants to do what she feels is right. So I disagree with her choices but I wouldn’t lose respect for that. Would be nice if she could fight though.

Finally we have Gojo. The strongest sorcerer in history and he lives up to the title here. Every scene with him is the guy either unlocking a new power, or applying a new use to an existing one. It takes everything the villains have to try and create an opening even for a fraction of a second. I would argue that Gojo’s only mistake here is playing with his food. He tends to take too long to take decisive action even though narratively he does move right away. To an extent when you deal with a character this powerful, there will never be a way to resolve things in a way that doesn’t have some power level issues.

So I can see why you would want to get him out of the way because every second he is on screen is another second where the heroes have such a massive edge over the villains that you wonder how they could ever hope to make a comeback. He’s just way too powerful in every sense of the word. He is an awesome character even minus that though. Easily the best in the series and nobody’s ever passing him. He has a lot of style and is also a very practical character. If he needs to destroy his opponent to win then he will do just that. He mainly avoids it but when the stakes are high enough what can you do right?

All right, time for the villains. First just a quick shoutout to the Grasshopper. I really liked him as a villain, he may not be the most powerful villain but he has personality. He’s an example of a throwaway villain done right because he is immediately memorable and I really enjoyed the fight. That guy could actually fight. Compare him to someone like Haruta who has more screen time but is just really annoying. His whole gimmick is that he only goes after fighters who can’t fight back. That’s pretty lame even for a villain. Maybe if he was funny or something but nah you’re just waiting for him to get taken out the whole time.

Hanami is an interesting fighter because you remember her being so OP in season 1 and here she can’t do anything. It effectively shows the gap in power between fighting someone like Gojo or Yuji. In general I like how vast the power level fluctuations are here because it does show how without Gojo around, Jujutsu Society would have fallen immediately back in the day. So no shade to Hanami, but she literally wasn’t built for this kind of fight.

Then we have Dagon who has always been in the background but never got to fight before. After all of the hype, he does look good but isn’t as impressive as some of the others. He gains confidence in his true form which is good because in his intro form he’s nervous all of the time which loses some points. As a villain you always want to be as confident as possible.

The rest of the villains are all pretty high tier. First up is Choso. The guy hits way above his weight class and has a tremendous fight with Yuji. He’s fighting for his dead brothers from season 1 which is a powerful motivation. He may be evil but it gives him some sympathy points and you can get why he is fighting so hard. In that fight he had more to fight for than Yuji in terms of drive which really helped him out. Then he also gets an extended fight near the end of the season. His powers are very versatile and he’s just a lot of fun. I gained quite a bit of respect for him here and he ends up stealing the show.

Then of course there is Mahito who in a lot of ways feels like the main villain. He has the most to do with Yuji at the very least as the two absolutely hate each other’s guts. They have a lot of the best parallels here as they are each other’s complete opposites. The fights are always a lot of fun too since if he touches you even once it can be a fatal blow. You may wonder how he is never able to land any hits but the fights are very creative. I would even say the animators are at their most creative with him whether it’s showing how he can immediately turn someone into a sword and fight or how he reacts to instant teleportation.

His fights with Yuji are really a blast. It’s really one big fight that is broken up into parts you could say but each one is really excellent. I would say he may be the most interesting villain even if he’s not my favorite one. See, my favorite is Toji. He’s an ordinary human and yet he is able to go up against these gods and demons. In part that’s because of his heavenly pact which increases all of his abilities and in part it’s just because he is Toji. The guy has a ton of prep time and hand to hand abilities. He’s sort of like if Batman was evil. Any scene with the guy is incredibly hype.

Make no mistake, no matter what his last scene wants you to think, the guy is pure evil. He’s absolutely willing to murder anyone and I’m not going to let that slide. He’s a complete villain and in that role he is absolutely perfect. Then you have Jogo who is also a really good villain. He is noticeably scared of Sukuna which loses him some points. Yeah most people are scared of him but you have to hold your ground you know? The guy is always getting disrespected too which is the bad luck of fighting Gojo and Sukuna. So he’s pretty good and a great fighter but not as solid as some of the others.

Then you have the big man himself, Sukuna. As always the guy is really full of himself but he has the power to back it up so what are you going to do right? I like his confident demeanor, the guy even grabs some soda in the middle of a fight. He doesn’t accept any disrespect and even further, he demands absolute respect. Without it, he’s going to blow up anyone in his way. He likes having fun at his victim’s expense and the guy seems absolutely untouchable right now. A fight with Gojo would have been really awesome here.

Needless to say if you’re a Sukuna fan then there is a whole lot to enjoy. He gets multiple fights and shows why everyone should be scared of him. I also have to bring up Mahoraga because he has one of the best intros for any character in the season and also possibly has the best episode here. His fight is really a blast all the way through and also just starts so quickly. You wonder how anyone could have ever managed to tame the guy in a previous incarnation because he’s so unbelievably strong. This may be the only series I can think of where a summon is easily in the top 3 strongest in the verse. At least by the time this series ends I would say that is true.

Then we have Geto who gets a lot of screen time here between the first and second parts. It’s interesting to see him as more of a hero in the original parts. After going through what he did, it’s easy to see why he would turn though. I think the trickiest thing about a hyper realistic series where even a lot of heroes are corrupt is that it makes it much easier to imagine why someone would turn evil. Geto definitely went over the cliff but you can see why he would. Even Gojo contemplated just becoming a mass murderer on a whim.

Nobody would miss the guys he would have taken out but that’s not really the point anyway. At that point it becomes a question of when do you stop. Geto certainly made his choice there and actually has an answer, but the line that he has drawn is a rather large one. In terms of power set, I don’t find him super impressive yet though. He relies on summons with tons of monsters but none of them seem that crazy yet. Powerful to be sure and he could clear most fighters but you also don’t see him defeating the combo of Yuji and Todo or hanging with someone like Mahito. Based on his confidence you have to assume that he could but I need to see more out of him.

Oh yeah there’s one more hero in Todo. That guy is a lot of fun as always. He really inspires confidence in the allies around him and his Boogie-Woogie technique is so good. There are tons of applications for it and the opponent is forced to respect this as an attack option at all times. It’s part of what makes him such a dangerous character but he can also fight well in hand to hand. He sort of appears out of nowhere here and vanishes just as quickly but the role is really great. There are a few more characters like Panda and the ice girl at the end but this covers most of the main ones. Watch the season to see them all!

The ending also sets up the next season nicely. If I have a minor nitpick, it’s that the final episode does drag on a tad. I think they overplayed their cards of setting up how empty everything is. I would have cut those scenes a bit and also played the Yuji scene early. I’d absolutely end with the big guest star character. Why would you not make that the final scene? I don’t really get it because on a hype level that has to be the most hype moment without anything even being a close second. Like I said though, pretty minor stuff because I’m hyped regardless! That kid wasn’t very smart about walking towards an obvious monster though…

Overall, Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 lived up to the hype in every way. I would absolutely recommend checking it out when you have a chance. It’s a top tier anime that can compete with anything. It’s the full package with great themes, animation, fights, and characters. The story is great too and there are some solid twists as well. I hope that third season comes sooner than later because I definitely need this to continue!

Overall 9/10

Black Clover M: Rise of the Wizard King Review

Posted on December 9, 2023 by dreager1

Okay it’s time to jump into the latest mobile adventure! This game got a ton of hype when it was announced. I feel like we had to wait months and months over in America for it, but this was definitely worth the wait. It’s a very ambitious title and one that should last you for a very long time. In a way the fact that it is so ambitious is why I didn’t last very long though. It’s the kind of game you would want to sit down and play for hours but you will have to dedicate a whole lot of time to it and I wasn’t prepared to do that just yet. I played all of the available levels but I won’t be sticking around for the next few years of updates.

The game covers a good chunk of the Black Clover manga and it’ll be interesting to see when it passes the anime. I suspect it will be a very long time since the game is very detailed so far so it covers the content rather slowly. Usually this only gets more and more noticeable as the game goes on to buy even more time. Even titles like Pokemon Go do this by holding onto the Pokemon and only releasing a few at a time. So yeah don’t expect this to go all the way to the end any time soon but the more content the better right? Black Clover fans can rest easy knowing that everything will be adapted here.

The gameplay is your classic turn based combat title. You have several attacks to choose form and you can use synergy to attack with combo moves. The gameplay is fairly simple and it’s also customizable so you can turn attack animations off to save time or have the computer play automatically for you. Of course the drawback there is that the AI is intentionally not very good so they will often make a whole lot of mistakes. It’s the price to be paid for convenience I suppose. You will get the hang of the game very quickly although mastering it is another story entirely.

See this is where the game gets a little too fancy. There are so many things to customize that it’s hard to know where to start. Characters have their gear to equip, attacks to level up, attacks to equip and leave on the bench, character ranks you have to use in order to get further level ups, bond ratings you have to improve, food, stats for the pyramid, etc. It just keeps on going and the UI gets very cramped very quickly. I think this could have absolutely been presented in a much clearer way to avoid all of the clicking. You’ll be clicking around through the menus constantly and it gets really distracting after a while. Particularly when you keep on getting collectibles and EXP at a high rate so you have to enter again and again and again.

There needs to be some shortcuts and such to make this faster. Fire Emblem Heroes for example still has the cleanest menus for a busy game like this. I was never confused or clicking on the wrong icon. Dragon Ball Legendz was another good one. I think Clover’s devs need to take some time to make the menus more polished. It’s great that they want to have so much content and for the people who take the game very seriously there will be a whole lot of depth to the gameplay. It’s just overwhelming for the casual gamer. I wouldn’t even call myself casual and it was a whole lot to take in.

I can already see how the game is poised to make a ton off of micro transactions with so many ways to make your characters stronger. If you want to style on your friends and beat people up then just pay some money and you can immediately get stronger. It’s that kind of game but that’s really all gatcha titles to an extent. So you can absolutely still play this as a freemium player and have access to all of the tools and items. It will just take you a little longer of course.

The graphics here are definitely impressive from start to finish. The game’s animations are very faithful to the anime and make good use of the CG character models. You won’t find much better looking graphics on the mobile and especially with the sheer number of cutscenes that are here. It almost feels like a full remake of the anime just with CG. The soundtrack is also very good. There are a good amount of tracks in the game although it would have been awesome if they could have grabbed the anime’s openings and ost in general. The cutscenes here don’t hit quite as hard without those.

It also goes without saying that as a mobile game there is a near infinite amount of replay value here. You could play this for years and likely not get to the end of the gameplay. That’s just how much content there is here and it’s an area where mobile does tend to dominate the competition. Gatcha games can only succeed for as long as they can churn out more and more content with the developers are quite aware of.

Overall, I do think this is a great game. It’s clear that a ton of time and resources was put into it. It could seamlessly make the jump over to consoles to be honest as there are so many cutscenes and such a big cast of characters. In a way that’s why it’s hard to do as a mobile title though because those games I am typically just playing a bit here and there with the exception of Pokemon Go which was made to be an outdoors experience. So I absolutely recommend this game but definitely treat it like a full console experience and you’ll be all set.

Overall 8/10

One Piece: Episode of Sky Island Review

Posted on October 9, 2023 by dreager1

It’s time for the next One Piece special on the docket. This one is about Skypiea but I guess they went for Sky Island to keep it a little more vague. Additionally Enel is now called Eneru….I prefer the old version but hey it’s a pretty minor thing. The special is good and does a decent job capturing the arc but it doesn’t work as well as the East Blue special because this one really goes out of its way to skip the fights. It doesn’t nail any of the really emotional moments as well as the show did and so what you get is an arc that is wayyyy watered down next to the show version. This is still nostalgic though.

The special starts with Luffy and gang heading to a small island where someone explains that there used to be a guy called Nolan the Liar. He would lie about everything including seeing an island floating in the sky but this guy is a direct descendent and believes that the stories are true. So now he continues to dive underwater in order to prove it, but this ain’t easy. Well Luffy and friends are going to pay a visit to the sky island but they find that it is being ruled by the god of lightning, Eneru. Can they defeat him and save the local islanders?

So there’s a lot to enjoy here since this is a big One Piece arc but at the same time it does lose a lot of the powerful moments and I will explain. For example, one of the biggest scenes in the show is when Enel made a huge lightning blast over one of the strawhats and it was one of the first times we saw him use such a big blast. The scene went in slow-mo and it was all very tense because we could see the damage it did. That scene straight up doesn’t happen here.

We also miss out on Zoro’s entire fight against one of the angels which was unfortunate because that was a really fun battle. Even their big battle with Eneru was very short. I guess it wasn’t a super long fight in the main show either but this felt like a blink and you’ll miss it kind of moment which is definitely not what the original was like. Even the Luffy vs Enel fight doesn’t feel quite as long or grand as it should be. It does at least get way more screentime than anything else though so you couldn’t ask for much more there.

Chopper only gets a quick instance for his win as well which doesn’t show you much. There was a lot going on with the whole island survival game but the whole thing is basically shown in quick stills as everyone is wiped out. That’s what should have been expanded and I feel like the runtime should have just been extended a little. The special goes by quickly and considering that it’s a whole arc we’re dealing with, making it around 2 hours would have been really nice. Especially since this arc gets more important each time.

Now a common topic to think about is if Enel would still be a threat in future arcs. I’d say at best he gets up to the CP9 saga but that’s it because his speed wasn’t enough to dodge Luffy’s attacks while in Gear 1. So as good as you think his lightning may be, his speed isn’t at a level where he could seriously be a fierce opponent to most. I’m sure he will get buffed a lot if he ever does reappear in the manga but I do have my doubts on that. Of course it would be awesome but the series is slowly getting to the very end of its saga so in that case it’s probably over.

The special has a pretty emotional ending with Luffy and the gang proving that Nolan wasn’t a liar. I’m also glad that the people in Skypiea had realized this too because otherwise the whole flashback would have been pretty tragic. I mean it definitely was still tragic either way, One Piece doesn’t hold back on the feels. There was some hope though and it could have all been a lot darker. So like this I was pretty satisfied. I’m naturally a lot more interested in the present stuff though and the flashback gets a ton of screentime which is also part of why it doesn’t stand up to the East Blue saga where the vast majority was about the Strawhats.

In terms of animation the special looks good enough. I don’t think it looks nearly as good as the East Blue saga though and it’s clear this one wasn’t super high budget the way the other special felt like it was. The soundtrack brings in the classic One Piece tunes which is nice enough. One of these days the specials should bring a whole new soundtrack even if it takes away from the nostalgia feel a little. Just switch things up to really make everything pop out. It’s One Piece so to an extent it will always be very good no matter what happens but this would help to really take it to the next level.

Overall, This was a really fun adventure. It just feels like they left a whole lot of meat on the bone. While nothing will beat the original source material I’d say the idea behind these specials is to give you something more or less comparable so you can just enjoy that instead of redoing the whole saga again. That doesn’t work in this case because you’re just missing out on too much action. So now you have to watch the show again which unfortunately does destroy the point of this. It’s unfortunate but that’s just the way that it is. Still good though so I’d recommend checking it out if you’re an experienced One Piece fan but I’d probably deflect people unfamiliar with the series to the TV show instead.

Overall 7/10

One Piece: Episode of East Blue Review

Posted on October 9, 2023 by dreager1

It’s time for one of those classic One Piece remake specials. This one has to cover a lot of ground since it’s going over the whole East Blue saga but it definitely pulls this off really well. In a way it’s like a template for the live action series. While the general audience would probably be a little confused if it had been adapted exactly like this, I feel like it worked really well. It’s a great special and really reminds you of the classic days of One Piece.

The special is divided up into 5 sections told through flashbacks from each crew member. The first one is naturally Luffy as we see his very first adventure. Of course this involves getting his devil fruit and Shanks saving him from a giant monster. It’s a pretty good origin that has stood the test of time. Yes you may still wonder why Shanks didn’t awaken his advanced haki in order to stop the monster and how he got speed blitzed by a random joe with the help of a smoke bomb. All very valid questions but it’s best to just acknowledge this as a quick fumble and keep it moving. At the end of the day that is all we can really do. It’s still a very tense opening.

You also see how Shanks and friends were true pirates. When the going got tough they did not spare any prisoners, they straight up murdered their opponents. It’s a brutal reminder that as nice as they are, they’re still pirates and aren’t about to serve as marines in arresting everybody. Seeing Luffy come into his own as a pirate makes for a solid conclusion and you’re reminded how far he has come. So all in all that works as a really good way to start this up

Then we get to Zoro’s segment. His origin is still extremely emotional the whole time and definitely one that you won’t soon forget. I do think he probably didn’t handle the situation very well in terms of allowing Axe Hand Morgan to capture him though. That’s just way too risky even when it is intentional. Once he joined Luffy then it was all uphill though. They also included his big battle with Mihawk which is still an excellent fight. They even extended the choreography and made this a true fight from start to finish. Of course he was overwhelmed but the production values were on point and I dare say that it is the best looking moment in the special.

After that we have the Usopp arc. He lied so many times that eventually nobody believed him which has to be a rough situation to be in. He definitely shouldn’t have lied so often though, this was the only way that it was going to go. Captain Kuro still makes for a very imposing villain along with his teammates. We get to see Luffy shine and of course Usopp does man up in the end. It’s easily the weakest of the 5 segments in the special but of course it’s still solid either way. Usopp just wasn’t ready out of the gate the way that the others were.

Then we have Sanji’s story which is a lot of fun as you would expect. I like how bold he was in attacking anyone who got in his way and this is back from when he was a lot more charming and wasn’t being overly flanderized with the flirting. So this version actually had a lot of dignity about him with a clear vision on finding the All Blue. His flashback is also another really sad one and of the main 5, probably the most brutal aside from Nami’s. They also really extended his fight with the minion that he fed.

The fact that the villain actually beat Sanji was something I really forgot unless the victor was changed here. Sanji was completely overwhelmed the whole time and didn’t stand a chance. It’s a reminder that while Sanji is very skilled, he wasn’t quite up to the level of Zoro here. Some really good determination moments for Luffy in this arc too though, when he punched through the spikes that was really intense! Moments like that are why he is the captain here.

Then we have Nami’s arc which of course ties into the famous Arlong Park saga. We get her origin story which was really intense and her Mom was a really fantastic character back then. She really never wavered and did her best to stick up for Nami and her sister. Then in the present of course we get the famous scene of Nami asking for help and Luffy really dishing out the pain to Arlong. That’s what you like to see from the climax and it’s still one of the most iconic moments of all of One Piece. It works really well having this as the last part of the special since it’s the biggest climax at least by that point in the series.

So there’s really nothing to dislike about this special. It’s filled with tons of top tier content throughout and constant action. The characters are all developed really well and the animation is really solid. The colors are striking and the choreography is on point. The soundtrack has aged really well and they brought back some of my favorite retro themes. The technical elements were on point here, now I just need them to do Episode of Marineford already. That one already looks awesome but I’m always down to revisit one of the best moments in the series.

Overall, Episode of East Blue is definitely a great special. It took a lot of really excellent moments from One Piece and brought them all together. The length is also pretty solid considering the amount of content here so it wasn’t super rushed. It is rushed of course to an extent because it would be mathematically impossible not to be but it all works out pretty well. I would say that a bunch of the fights do start to get skipped especially by the Arlong arc but Luffy’s fights all make it at least. I would like to have seen more fights because that’s my thing but I know others would prefer the story beats. All in all it’s a reasonable compromise/division of scenes between action and story. I would definitely recommend this to any One Piece fan, you’re bound to be in for a good time! Even to general anime fans you should be able to enjoy it.

Overall 8/10

Naruto: The Whorl Within the Spiral Review

Posted on July 16, 2023 by dreager1

It’s always good to see Naruto returning back to the world with a new story. To this day the original series is one of the most influential titles in the entire world. Almost everybody has heard of this series at some point after all. Well, this one’s a prequel about Boruto’s grandfather Minato after he won the global popularity poll. It’s always nice to see more of this guy since he’s so great and the story is handled really well. It’s got action and a lot of character development. Minato and Kushina is also easily the best romance in the series and one of the best in all of Jump.

The story starts off with Minato getting jumped by two Jinjuriki but he manages to escape them. It does give him the inspiration to create a new ninjutsu though and so he creates the Rasengan. It’ll come in handy because Kushina loses control in a fit of rage so he’ll need to take down the Fox once and for all and save her from her destiny. It’s definitely a pretty fun story through and through as we see his true power. No way Obito should have been able to hold his own against this guy. I’m just saying….no shottttttt.

The art here is excellent so right away you can see that the artist has not lost a step. He’s as good as he ever was. The details are really on point and the action scenes are really impressive. It’s cool to see Minato using the true Rasengan. I still think it’s way more impressive how he creates it with one hand compared to Naruto who usually had to use multiple hands to form it. This way’s more instant and lethal in a fight. Since part of the chapter takes place more in a meta dreamscape of sorts I wouldn’t use the attacks for power scaling personally but if you do then Minato scales up considerably since he’s 1 v 1ng the Nine Tails on his own.

The most important thing here though is how devoted Minato is to keeping Kushina safe. He doesn’t waver in that goal and is really someone that she can depend on the whole time. He makes sure not to injure her at all and takes some pretty serious injuries in getting her control again. He clearly trained in the sealing jutsus a whole lot off screen and from the chapter we see that he was meeting with Kushina almost daily to improve his skills. Minato definitely has the level of determination that we usually see Naruto with.

You could absolutely make a whole miniseries out of this so in a way it’s too bad that this is just a oneshot. You can feel that there is a lot of story left to tell even though it’s unlikely that we will ever get to see this. We even see more of Minato’s squad including an Uchiha but it’s hard to say who that would have even been. Possibly a whole new character I suppose. It’s also interesting seeing the Nine Tails as more of a true villain again.

Of course the Hidden Leaf looks as tactless and corrupt as always. They surely could have handled Kushina with more grace than basically threatening her not to leave the village constantly so she wouldn’t run out of control. She wouldn’t be trying to run off and everything if she wasn’t under so much pressure. That’s just common sense but these guys are dragging her anyway. I was glad to see her take them for a loop. While the chapter is definitely more Minato focused, she definitely gets her time to shine here too. In the end she was also pivotal with coming up with a good name for the new jutsu.

Overall, This was a really fun story. It’s very well contained and the 50 pages go by in a flash. You’ll read this in minutes because it’s just such a good story. Hopefully we get more one shot adventures in the future. In the meantime you can read this even if you haven’t started Naruto yet and maybe it’ll inspire you to check out the series. It’s very new reader friendly but of course if you’ve read the main series then you will enjoy it even more.

Overall 8/10

Black Clover Sd – Asta’s Road To The Wizard King Review

Posted on July 2, 2023 by dreager1

I wasn’t a big fan of the Rock Lee manga when it came out and I can’t say that this one was any better. With a series like Black Clover it’s always hard to picture anything short of pure brilliance but this series manages to go under my expectations time and time again. I dare say it has even more constant crude humor jokes than Pac Man which is absolutely crazy. You can barely go a page without something sad happening here. Yeah this is definitely a series to avoid at all costs.

The basic plot is the same as the main series. Basically Asta wants to become the Wizard King at all costs and he will do whatever it takes in order to achieve his dream. Along the way he has met up with many allies and has made a name for himself. Can he really become the king though or is that just a pipe dream? With only 13 chapters at the ready the series is over quickly at least which is really the only positive thing I can say about it. Otherwise it’s definitely brutal so lets dive into this.

The main negative of course is the comic relief as I mentioned. There are constant poop jokes in every chapter, the characters can’t seem to keep their pants up and the whole thing’s sad. The worst part about this is really just that it isn’t funny. At no point will you be cracking a smile or anything like that. You’ll just be wincing the whole time and I won’t even be able to blame you. That’s how sad this got after a while. A chibi spinoff or any comedic title needs to be able to generate laughs and this one just couldn’t pull it off.

The art itself isn’t even that bad. Technically speaking I think you could do some fun things with this style but the series never had any intention of being good. I feel like even fans of crude humor would probably get bored quickly since it is just the same joke on repeat for the entire series. Realistically who is going to have a good time with that? It’s also abridged enough where you will only really be following along if you’re a fan of the original Black Clover series so that narrows the audience (slightly) more. I’d have preferred a clever spinoff with fun references.

Think about Dragon Ball Sd for example. That was a really fun series because it actually throws in a lot of fun references and callbacks. You should be able to easily do that in any kind of homage because there are a lot of things to reference. Or give us some quality fight scenes for fun. I’ll always take that and maybe switch the timelines around so you can do matchups that we didn’t see in the main series. Basically any direction instead of the one that this story went in would have been a good idea.

None of the characters are remotely likable and basically they are all just one note versions of themselves anyway. It’s not like you’re reading this series for character development and depth anyway but at least give the characters some dignity. Without any character to like then there is little point in reading the series. You’re not going to get invested with any of the characters or what’s happening. I mean there’s barely a plot anyway but having good characters would have done a whole lot to get around that negative.

Because this is a gag manga there also just isn’t a whole lot to talk about. If there were funny jokes I could talk about that but there really isn’t. So after covering the crude humor which is 90% of the series anyway, and the art then that’s about it. This is absolutely a story that should be forgotten to time and I feel bad for the author who had to waste his time with this. This title only beats very few manga that I’ve ever read like Black Bird and Black Butler but otherwise this has to be in the runnings for the worst manga out there.

It stings even deeper when you consider how amazing Black Clover is. The Sd series should have been treated with respect like Chopperman and Vongola GP. Now those were chibi titles that really made the most of their runs time and time again. At least we got Quartet Knights a while back so the series had at least one good spinoff. I have to be grateful for that at least but then a part of me still just wanted so much more. I don’t think it’s too much to ask for.

Overall, Black Clover Sd is awful. Truly horrendous on all sides and you should absolutely skip this one. It makes for a very hard read because you’ll be cringing the whole time which can’t be good for your face. At least the series wastes no time in wasting your time because it starts off rough right from the very first chapter. It’s not a bait and switch where it started out good or anything like that so I can’t even say that it fell off. This was probably the worst route it could have gone with but the series decided to go through with it anyway. It’s a shame but sometimes that’s just how it goes.

Overall 1/10

	Princess Ichigo Brad… on Ichigo Momomiya vs Sailor…
	dreager1 on Braveheart
	Anonymous on Braveheart
	Anonymous on Tokyo Mew Mew Review
	dreager1 on Goku vs Beyonder
	Anonymous on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (…

DReager1.com

The Ultimate Fighting/Review Site

Tag Archives: Shonen Jump

Slam Dunk Review

Gintama Review

Mashle Review

Dr. Stone: 4D Science Review

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Review

Black Clover M: Rise of the Wizard King Review

One Piece: Episode of Sky Island Review

One Piece: Episode of East Blue Review

Naruto: The Whorl Within the Spiral Review

Black Clover Sd – Asta’s Road To The Wizard King Review

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: