Tag Archives: Supernatural

Natsume’s Book of Friends Season 4 Review

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The adventures of Natsume and his protector Nyanko continue in this season as they help some more Yokai now. By this point you either vibe with the season or you don’t which is typically how a long running title goes. I would say it keeps pace with the previous seasons. It’s not my favorite one out of the batch since Reiko doesn’t get to do much but it’s still on the same level. It succeeds in being a calming series as always with a good array of different stories to keep you entertained.

We start off with a fairly important episode right off the bat. Natsume gets overwhelmed by some Yokai and so he ends up getting captured by Matoba. Matoba takes the chance to try and recruit Natsume although that doesn’t go well. Both characters mainly get to use this chance to discuss their different ideologies. Natsume wants to protect both humans and Yokai while Matoba wants to exterminate them all. If Matoba ever got the Book of Friends it would be a rather attainable goal since he would immediately have an entire army.

Matoba gets a solid amount of hype here as well since he is quickly able to even take out Nyanko. There’s a decent amount of back and forth here as both characters try to keep their hype but it does feel like Matoba has the edge since he is willing to murder Nyanko while the yokai has to hesitate since Natsume doesn’t like bloodshed. I’m glad to see Matoba because the series could use a serious reoccurring villain like this guy. The only tricky thing is that Natsume himself can’t fight so the series will have to squirm its way around why the guy doesn’t just murder the kid. For now we can believe that since he only wants to murder Yokai, destroying Natsume would go against his creed.

I would say the whole Matoba plot outshines the actual Yokai predicament of the episode. You have Lord Rokka who is being hunted by Matoba and Natsume has to help him out a little bit. It’s not bad or anything but you are really laser focused more on the confrontation of ideals which makes sense. I expect that will always be the case when Matoba or Natori is in the episode since they tend to steal the show.

In fact the next episode had a very tough time matching the opening two. You have this mini Yokai puff ball that threatens Natsume and his house if he doesn’t get some help fast. Ultimately Natsume helps out but these kinds of scenarios do help Matoba’s point quite a bit. There are so many Yokai that are constantly trying to murder humans or at least threaten to do so before they are taken down. At the very least it appears that there are more evil Yokai than good ones and that’s rough. At the end of the day you can’t destroy them all but destroying the evil ones makes sense. They’re practically dead already so I feel like sealing them is worse since you are conscious forever.

After that we go with a more emotional episode. There was once a guy and girl who were very much in love with each other but one day the guy died. A yokai decided to pretend to be the guy so he could talk to the girl for a while and keep her from being lonely. This meant he always had to hide indoors and find an excuse for her not to enter. I have to suspend a ton of disbelief here to be honest but it’s a pretty touching tale. Ultimately he should have been honest from the jump though and is super lucky that she wasn’t bitter about the whole thing. Maybe she suspected the truth early on but it’s hard to say. The ending is solid here and it’s nice to have a story about a good natured Yokai over here. At the end of the day, a romance between a human and a Yokai will never end up working out with how different they are though.

We follow that up with another emotional story. This one deals with Natsume’s past and those tend to be some of the most enjoyable episodes. We see things from the point of view of a girl who used to be around there and saw how strange he was. She sort of wishes she had talked with him a bit more but for the most part she just watched and eventually he left for good to the new school. This got kicked off due to a friend of her friend noticing him on the way back from school or something. There’s some mild danger with the girl almost getting hit by a truck but for the most part this was about the feels.

So after that it makes sense that we dive into a more action packed story segment. Our next 2 part adventure! This time Natsume gets rather sloppy and is stuffed into a bottle. Nyanko is forced to go undercover as Natsume in order to rescue him. This is also Tanuma’s big chance to help. He always wants to contribute but Natsume tends to block him out. Well, Natsume can’t quite do that this time eh? It’s a fun teamup and I also think this is Nyanko at his best. His rude demeanor while in Natsume’s body makes for a lot of great humor. The guy absolutely doesn’t care about keeping up appearances.

It’s certainly rough for Natsume since you know that his reputation will never be the same but I dare say this version of him would be a much more interesting protagonist anyway. I like Natsume but he is way more passive after all. Nyanko just tells it like it is. As for Tanuma, it’s great that he wants to help but I totally get why Natsume keeps him to the side. Without the ability to see Yokai everywhere, he would usually be a liability. It’s only in select circumstances where he can be helpful like when he can temporarily see the monsters.

After that is more of a quiet episode but with an interesting pairing. Nyanko and Nanase are both trapped in a pit which gives them time for some banter and to reflect. Nanase gets some actual character development with a glimpse into her past here. I didn’t talk about her much earlier but she works for Matoba as his main assistant/follower of orts. She is knowledgeable and experienced which makes her a great partner to have. So this was fun, again it’s one of those episodes that isn’t the most action packed with high stakes or anything but it works well.

After that is the next big saga as a 2 part adventure. I’d call it more on the fun side this time though as Natsume has to pretend to be a god and compete in a big competition. It’s going to be difficult to win obviously though because he is up against another god. Really he needs to buy time until they can find the genuine thing but he may have been sealed by an exorcist a while back or worse yet, some yokai think he abandoned them. Natori is also on the case here and while he will watch for now, if the villain wins then Natori will have to exorcise him.

While Natori isn’t quite as intense as Matoba in terms of destroying the Yokai, he’s still more aggressive than Natsume. Natori will destroy any spirit who poses a threat and he makes that clear to Natsume here as well. Humans are ultimately going to be his priority so these episodes have some solid stakes to them. It’s a rare case where there is no danger of the villains winning but innocent Yokai will be destroyed as well if Natsume can’t get to the bottom of this in time. It’s an interesting saga that will keep your attention the whole time.

Finally we have the 3 part finale about Natsume remembering his days as one of his old houses and then having to visit there in the present. Basically his father’s house is going to be torn down and it still has a lot of precious memories to him. He tries to keep a brave face about it but he really wants to visit. This stirs up a bunch of old memories and he also has to meet up with one of his old foster families which is a bit awkward. He left on mainly good terms with them although the kid didn’t like him.

It’s easy to see why since at the time he was unable to hide his ability to see Yokai very well. So to the family it would look like he was yelling at nothing and constantly breaking stuff. He ended up running away from home more than once and a lot of rough stuff happened to him. The Yokai really never let him catch a break and it got extra powerful in the current days as well. It’s too bad that he couldn’t ultimately get along with them a bit better. The actual family really seemed like nice people too. They definitely did the best that they could and ultimately it just wasn’t enough. Hopefully Natsume will visit there again someday and make things better.

It works really well as the finale because it’s a good reminder of how difficult Natsume’s life was back in the day. The episodes mainly take place in the present day where everything is rather calm and happy but that only came after years of struggling. Having Nyanko-sensei there to guard Natsume really makes a world of difference. There are scary Yokai all around every corner and without a bodyguard Natsume would be dead in short order. Yeah he definitely has to keep his guard up at all times but at least now if he makes a mistake there is someone to help him.

It makes Reiko extra impressive in how she stood her ground for so long and even caused Yokai to fear her. I’d still love to see a prequel series about her some day. I’m sure she had her own troubles and we’d probably see those even clearer in a series from her point of view but to everyone else she is someone to be feared and that’s definitely hype. Still the best character in the series by far.

On a technical level the series isn’t too impressive and mainly uses the good writing to get by. The animation is okay. It flows well but it’s not going to be catching your eye or anything like that. The soundtrack is super peaceful which makes sense for the show but I could use some more rock themes. I know the show is about the calm vibes but I don’t think that means the soundtrack and everything has to follow suit. You can absolutely go all out even within those confines.

Overall, Natsume’s Book of Friend continues to be a consistently solid series. It may not be a great title or anything like that but it’s one where you can tune in every week and expect a good product. The seasons always feel familiar and so you can jump between episodes from any season without any real issue. There is not much of an end goal since we don’t know how many more demon names are in the book so this can go on for as long as the author of the manga wants. In the meantime I will be ready to continue following it for each season. As long as you enjoy fun little stories like this then you should have a good time here as well. We will see if Natsume ever does end up completing the book or if ultimately the series will have one of those “The adventure continues” endings.

Overall 6/10

The Company of Wolves Review

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

Oh noooo it’s time for a film about wolves. Let me tell you something, these films tend to be rather lackluster at best but this one really takes the cake. It was just so bad on every level. From the plot to the violence to the characters, it was all so bad that I had tears in my eyes. You will want to avoid the movie at all costs. Get out of there as soon as possible, it is definitely not the way to go.

So the movie starts with a girl getting ready to go to sleep. She goes to sleep and everything starts moving and getting all trippy but we go back in time for another girl’s sister gets eaten by wolves and then the grandmother of the first girl tells her a story about how men with unibrows are evil. From there we lose the plot further as we have tons of stories inside of other stories with wolves murdering everybody and it just goes to show that you are not safe anywhere. It butchers the little red riding hood story so hard on every level.

Lets start jumping into the negatives here. First we have the obligatory animal violence. The wolves like to eat just about anything of course and so that does include a poor cattle that was simply minding his own business. The scene is surprisingly graphic but it gets less surprising as the time goes by. Why? Because the whole film is thriving on shock value. The transformation scenes are easily some of the most graphic that I have seen. It’s pretty crazy seeing the guy just bleed himself into a wolf. That was super crazy but more grotesque than scary. Then in another one you have a wolf coming out of the guy as if the human skin was just a suit. This one was creative though so I will say that the special effects were really good this time.

Reminds me of when Reverse Flash jumped out of some guy’s body in the CW show. That was weird and spooky without being grotesque so props there. It’s just that the props I give the movie are always very far and few in between. For every decent moment like that there are a ton where you will be shaking your head. Lets go back to the romance angle for a minute. So we’ve got this villager kid who likes the main heroine and he’s always going after her but his persistence makes him feel more like an antagonist than a good character most of the time. He basically steals a kiss at one point and she has to shove him away and he doesn’t get the hint.

They play up the fact that he’s naive but as the saying goes, no means no. He needs to accept the rejection and keep it moving. It does lead to a quick fight between the fathers which was fun but yeah that character was awful. Then in the segment with the grandmother, you’d think the girl would have more of a reaction to her grandmother being eaten. She doesn’t react as you would expect her to which will make you grown as well. That’s not a small offense, that’s literally murdering a member of your family. Pretty crazy you know?

The grandmother is so mean to everyone that it can be a bit funny. She’s constantly intentionally scaring the kid with all of these violent stories and generally being a bit of a jerk about it. My only problem here was that when it came time to actually prove her abilities, she got folded immediately. Yeah she’s old but where’s her gun or at least some kind of a dagger? She was completely unprepared despite being the expert and that was disappointing. Felt like the whole plot was rather useless as a result. At least that’s the way I see it.

Now it is clear what message the film is going for. Don’t let anybody take you away from the straight and narrow path. Don’t trust anyone since all strangers can be evil. The grandmother throws this message in constantly and you can assume the wolves are basically a metaphor. The problem is that a big message can’t save a film and it’s really just an excuse to have all of these stories. At the end of the day it doesn’t help to make them be any more connected and the film is a real bore as a result. You know that the humans can’t do much here. Yeah they can shoot one but usually it will have bit someone else who can transform.l

The humans will always be on the backfoot here and due to the anthology format, it’s not like they can get a final win anyway. All in all, this film definitely did not do anything to make me all that impressed with it. Instead it just did the opposite. I don’t think that it would have been much higher if it was all one story but probably would have been better than a 0 at least. Maybe we could have stayed in the modern day which is an infinitely better backdrop than the olden days here. The olden days with werewolves is a super bad combo.

Overall, This film was pretty bad. At no point in the film was it cooking up a good story or developing any good characters. Everyone here is on the annoying side, the romance is dreadful, and the violence is definitely over the top. I didn’t really get what the point of the whole thing was. Surely they could have thought up a better script than this right? I think the movie got a little too ambitious with all of the stories inside of a story. Having it all be chronological would have helped but even then, anthologies are always the worst kind of format. You should really have more confidence in telling a complete story.

Overall 0/10

Nosferatu the Vampyre Review

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Oh no, we’re back to vampire world. As you can probably expect this film is pretty bad all around. The characters are sloppy and the main villain is anything but intimidating. The whole time he’s on screen you’ll be shaking your head because he’s just not really a threat. If the characters could learn how to throw a decent punch it would all be over for him but unfortunately they don’t have the speed feats needed to take the edge here. It’s a real shame when you think about it.

The movie starts off with Jonathan being given a big job from his employer Renfield. He has to go over to Dracula’s lair and sell him some real estate. The place is rather far but it’ll pay well so Jonathan goes even though Lucy begs him not too. She has seen visions of his this will go badly but he doesn’t care. He wants the money asap! Everybody is scared or Dracula though so he can’t use a horse and as a result the trip takes months. Not a great amount of luck there but at last he has made it. Dracula seems rather spooky the whole time though as he keeps on staring at Jonathan. Jonathan is sloppy and cuts himself which causes Dracula to go crazy and eventually Dracula decides to go take down his wife Lucy. Jonathan has to try and make it back home before Dracula but it won’t be easy now that he is super ill. Additionally a plague is going to be wiping out the place in short order.

Where to start with this one right? The bloodsucking is pretty awful as always. The heroes never put up a fight and just take it. Jonathan for example just stays in his bed as Dracula gets closer and closer. The guy barely even reacts as he is knocked out. Then the same goes for Lucy who is unable to do anything. Those scenes are super annoying the whole time and you’re always waiting for someone to break the cycle. In the end I would argue the heroes didn’t do much of anything and Dracula just got sloppy. I can’t even give Lucy much credit there because you’d think Dracula would be hyper aware of what time it was.

He’s just sloppy in general. Jonathan even had a good time to finish him off earlier but got spooked. This is one of the slowest incarnations of Dracula and he isn’t particularly impressive physically. There’s no way anyone should be afraid of him. His design is certainly very sinister but more in a completely insane, psychotic way as opposed to being threatening. Jonathan should have just knocked the life out of this guy. The fight should not play out any other way.

Also this is where the slow burn approach fails because all the scenes of Dracula staring at everyone is more annoying than it is scary. It will bore you to tears the whole time because it all feels so unrealistic. I don’t care if he’s using some kind of hypnotism, just break out and take him down. Every time they just stand/lie there you know how the scene will play out and it still takes forever.

Then the whole town plot with the plague is pretty boring as well. Basically a bunch of mice start coming around and the villagers know they are doomed so they all start to eat and just give up on everything. Surely they could have tried something before throwing in the towel right? Instead they did absolutely nothing and that was a shame. The ending is surprisingly grim for the heroes. It looks like evil has won out this time and if the cycle continues then it’s just going to keep on happening over and over again. Even Van Hellsing didn’t look particularly great here to be honest. His role is rather small and he just didn’t have a whole lot of confidence. He’s a far cry from the more action centered version that I am used to.

As the main heroine Lucy nis okay and she definitely has some guts but I was still expecting a little more out of her. I’ve already talked about Jonathan enough but the guy is super annoying and should have heeded Lucy’s warning. If not, at least get out of the house right away after getting the papers and don’t just let Dracula stare at you the whole time. Renfield is definitely at his most insane in this version and he was an interesting character. I can’t say that I was able to take him very seriously though. It’s not like he has a lot of raw power or anything and he’s no genius. He just gets lucky that the cops are not particularly careful so it’s easy for him to break away. That was extremely embarrassing.

Then Dracula is rather dull and boring. So yeah there’s not much here to make this film all that good. It’s one of the most boring Dracula movies that I’ve seen and that’s even considering that it still hits all of the usual negatives like excessive violence and a lot of blood sucking. It’s very rare that there is ever a good vampire film and this will certainly not end up being one of the exceptions.

Overall, I highly recommend skipping this film. It’s way too slow paced and unrealistic the whole time. If Dracula himself looked more powerful then at least that part could be believable but instead he looks flimsy enough to just toss away and that would be it for him. The guy is super slow as well. So if you’re in the mood for a thriller film, definitely skip this one as soon as possible. You absolutely do not want to be anywhere near this film unless you’re ready for a good nap. In that case then we have an exception on your hands.

Overall 1/10

The Girl from the Other Side Review

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Usually there’s a bit more to the title but it seems like most sites cut that intro part out so I’ll keep it direct too. At this point it’s been a while since I finished the manga but it still feels pretty recent. The movie does a good job of capturing the spirit of the series and the key parts from early on. The only thing I was expecting them to include that they didn’t was an old lady that shows up early on but I don’t think it was a bad idea to keep her out. This way you focus more on the two main characters.

The film starts with a bunch of shady soldiers seemingly on the lookout for some kind of monster. After they leave, one of these monsters arrives and finds a little girl named Shiva. She seems to have been completely abandoned and he decides to raise her, at least until he can find a safe way to get her back to humanity. We never find out his name here so I will refer to him as Teacher which is what Shiva calls him. Teacher’s situation is unique in that he cannot make any kind of contact with a human or else he will spread a plague that will destroy them.

The state of the world is such where once you make contact with a monster, you contract a disease and become a monster as well before you die. So the villages are very strictly quarantined and any monsters are hunted on sight. Monsters like Teacher no longer feel anything and they also can’t sleep anymore so they are constantly awake and alert. Fortunately for Teacher he seems to be able to exist indefinitely with his mind intact instead of eventually going insane and dying. So that’s very fortunate but he has complete memory loss of his human life. The film is mainly about his dynamic with Shiva as he has to decide what the best thing is for her. Continuing to live with him or being with the humans.

On one hand the humans seem like a good pick since they will really know how to take care of her, but on the other hand almost all of the humans we see are corrupt, sinister, or panic at the drop of a hat. Teacher may not be the best at the domestic life but he has given Shiva a roof over her head and can actually cook. Me personally? I’d stick with the monster who was looking out for me as opposed to taking my chances with a bunch of stranger. I know that the humans could maybe find out if I have family or not but considering that Shiva was ditched in the middle of nowhere…I wouldn’t like my odds banking on that.

I give Shiva a lot of credit overall because she doesn’t panic or act the way most kids in these things tend to be. She’s not immature or anything like that and doesn’t hold Teacher back. While the situation isn’t the most comfortable, Shiva never complains or makes things harder on him. She’s very supportive at all times and looks out for his emotional wellbeing as well. Shiva does her best at all times and is the kind of character who sees the bright side of things. It’s exactly what makes her such a great character. You know that she would be easy to get along with.

Meanwhile I’ve already talked a lot about Teacher so if it’s not obvious, I thought he was a great character as well. He’s also trying his best. It’s why the dynamic works here because he clearly has no experience raising a kid and so he is learning as he goes. Meanwhile Shiva does her best to be useful as well like we see her doing the chores and helping him out so it’s a real team effort. It’s a really wholesome vibe in what is otherwise a pretty dreary world. At all times you are well aware of how messed up the world is but the movie focuses on these characters which is why the whole thing is so wholesome.

Now there is some danger here like when one of the soldiers pops up and also with the other monsters getting closer. There is definitely tension here and you aren’t really sure how things will play out the whole time. You’re fairly confident in Teacher being able to handle himself but if he’s attacked by a lot of monsters then it’s game over. Not being able to sleep is a massive plus since he can always keep watch but at the same time it is rough having to live while basically looking over your shoulder the whole time. Nobody wants to live like that but it seems like there are enemies at all sides.

The ending taps into the anime-ness of this adventure as we start talking about souls and things get trippy. Anime-ness might not be a real word but you’ll get what I mean when you see the climax. I will say that Teacher almost made a big mistake since the ending involves taking a ton of risks but it all works out which is the important thing. You get the feeling that there is a lot of world building left to be explored when the film ends and that makes sense since this is really an intro to the series.

It’s an effective one because it tells you exactly how the series would play out. It does get a bit more dialogue heavy with more characters in the manga but the overall tone and themes are pretty similar. I would just say it ends up getting darker and darker as the series approaches the ending. For the most part this title adapts most of the best parts either way. The animation techniques for this one is also interesting. Characters are constantly flickering like a 30s animation.

It intentionally is going for a very old look. Maybe like an Aesop’s Fables or something like that. It does work for the tone and mood that the movie is going for but if I’m being 100% here…I would still take some shinier looking animation. It succeeds in looking old but of course that means it’s not looking quite as sharp as it should. Intentional or not, I do think you should always try to look as good as possible. The soundtrack is also more subdued to keep with the tone. Again, understandable but a solid rock theme would have been nice.

Overall, This is a pretty strong story. On the technical side it’s really not all that impressive but the actual story is good and I enjoyed the characters. It’s one of those stories that is very simple but very emotional and executes at a high level the whole time. I can safely recommend it to anyone as a result. It’s easy to understand and I found it to be engaging. It’s fairly short after all so no time to drag on or anything like that. It’ll be nice if they ever adapt the rest of the series.

Overall 7/10

Yu Yu Hakusho (2023) Review

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It’s time to jump into the world of Yu Yu Hakusho! I admit that I was rather skeptical of this one when it was coming out. While I’ve always preferred anime to traditional animation cartoons, I’ve often found that their live action products do not really compare to the average western one in terms of effects or even just pacing and excitement-wise. It just looks a bit more low budget in general although it’s not like I’ve seen tons of them to compare to be honest. Well, this one was pretty fun, ultimately I think it needed a little more punch for it to be considered as great though. By the end it actually just makes you want to go back and watch the anime again…which I did end up Youtubing a lot of the best moments afterwards. The show is only 5 episodes long so it goes by quickly.

The show introduces us to Yusuke Urameshi who is considered a big delinquent at school. He’s definitely not the nicest person around but is generally a good guy who just gets into a lot of bad situations. Well, one day he sees a kid about to get hit by a car so he jumps in to save him but ends up dying in the resulting crash and goes to the spirit world. There he is given a deal by Koenma, he can be revived but will have to spend the rest of his days as a Spirit Detective or he can stay dead. Yusuke’s rather stubborn and initially thinks about staying dead but ultimate he gets revived. Now he has to stop the demons that plague this planet, but does he have the strength to pull it off?

The series has to move rather fast because it is trying to set up the characters but then jump right into the action. So sure enough the first episode covers his death, resurrection, and his first fight with a demon. Well, not a true demon anyway but a kid who was being possessed by one. It’s a solid way to start things off with a lot of action and also gets you used to the fast pace that the show will be operating on. This is definitely not a title that will be slowly taking you to the goal. That said, in retrospect this is actually the episode I would have sped up a little more.

A lot of time is spent on this kid who got possessed. Basically he was being bullied at first and couldn’t defend himself which gave the demon the opening it needed to tempt take control of the kid’s weakened heart and get revenge. It all takes a decent amount of time though and since the kid wouldn’t end up being all that important later on, you could actually save some time by just having him get absolutely crushed real quick and start the first arc with the 3 demons early. It would give you more breathing room at the end.

The actual fight is good though. Yusuke is holding back the whole time trying not to hurt the kid too badly which is mainly why the battle takes a while. If Yusuke was going full blast then it wouldn’t have been a problem. We also get to know Kuwabara and Botan a little more through this introduction saga. The second and third episodes are really more about Yusuke’s first battle encounters.

Basically 3 demons have each made off with a powerful object from the spirit world which they obtained by defeating a pack of other powerful demons. That means these guys are real serious and Yusuke learns that the hard way when he has an extremely difficult time with the first one. That first demon always gets a smaller role than the next two which is the same here. There just isn’t much to him and he’s also a lot more irredeemable than the other two because the guy is always targeting kids. Hiei and Kurama are able to get redemption arcs and fight as rivals because at least they weren’t really doing anything too evil. In fact in this Netflix version you could make the case that they are functionally heroes from the start. That just doesn’t apply to the first demon.

There are also a few changes to the arc here like in Yusuke’s battle with Hiei. Yusuke is properly shown to be way weaker than Hiei for most of the fight and even though he gets some hits by the end, I don’t think the victor is really ever in any doubt. Hiei’s speed is just way too fierce and it’s not like he is lacking in overall attack power either. So that gives him the absolute edge in a fight. The way the arc seamlessly transitions into the Toguro saga is also pretty good. Each of the characters have a reason for wanting to head to the island to take him out.

The rest of the show is the island adventure which even takes some queues from the Dark Tournament like Toguro’s team being there. It means everyone gets an opponent to fight in the final episodes which I definitely appreciated. This is also where the show goes a bit beyond my expectations because some of these fights are actually rather long. In particular I would give a lot of credit to Kurama vs Karasu as the longest fight and it could go blow for blow with an anime battle.

Yu Yu Hakusho’s effects are better than I would have expected so mix that in with the extended action scenes and it puts the show in a good space. While I had some negatives with the show, this is the positive that really outweighs all of the other areas. The fights are real intense with a lot of good close combat action. I wasn’t overly impressed with how they handled the Spirit Gun, it often felt more like a quick burst than an actual energy attack but all of the other attacks were on point. We even got some good speed feats for Hiei.

Then the writing is also pretty solid. Yusuke works well as the likable jerk and Hiei’s always a classic tough guy. All of the characters have a lot of spunk to them and so that makes the episodes real enjoyable. The pacing is super fast so you’re never bored and even if it’s unfortunate that we are unlikely to get a straight Dark Tournament adaption now, hopefully they keep going and eventually give us another season some day.

Now lets talk about some of the series’ weak points. First up would be that the power scaling can be really wonky. It has the classic issue that most titles with a speedster face which is that he suddenly moves way slower when in a battle. Yusuke should not realistically even be able to touch Hiei yet he holds his own in a fight? I’m extremely skeptical about that happening at all. It doesn’t really make a lot of sense and you see this happen in other fights as well. Hiei should be dominating Bui when they battle and Kuwabara should really be getting wrecked in his battle.

There are also some demon dogs that are added to the island which is pretty needless. The anime also had a quick monster there for Toguro to defeat but I don’t remember it looking like a dog. So there was a bit of creature violence there that felt a little close to animal violence so I was glad that it wasn’t around very much. We did bypass the bird death that the anime had so in a way they sort of canceled themselves out there.

In terms of the pacing I’m cool with it moving so quickly. The only negative would sort of be that whatever’s been skipped and moved away is unlikely to ever appear. So I miss something that didn’t ever get to exist which is why it’s not really the kind of thing that would hurt the score. It hurts the potential of this as a full live action franchise but for now the season traded future potential for immediate returns which does mean that in the short term it does work out pretty great.

Now lets talk about the characters a little bit. As mentioned, Yusuke is a great lead. He may not have the same fire as his anime self in a lot of ways but he’s still a good guy who is always ready to fight. He’s a little less cocky and powerful for sure so get ready to see him on the defensive a lot and having to use agility but he’s still got those street fighting skills. Keiko is also a good heroine who always has his back even when Yusuke’s not exactly making himself look great. Her role even feels a bit bigger here than how it usually was since she tags along with the crew on their missions.

Botan is a really fun heroine as you would expect. She’s always having a good time and taking things in stride. Botan may not be the biggest fighter but she’s great in the support role and has a ton of experience. Kuwabara gets a solid role here. He may be Yusuke’s punching bag as usual but the guy tries hard and does get his moment with the spirit sword. I’d argue he should still be no match for Elder Toguro because of the speed difference and all but I already talked about the power levels. His core character is good and it’s nice to have another delinquent who is actually a nice guy so it’s not like Yusuke’s one of a kind.

Then we have Hiei who has certainly been softened a lot in this version. He’s basically a hero like I mentioned. He only murders villains and is really intent on saving his sister who has been kidnapped. He has many chances to murder Yusuke and doesn’t take them, he really spares his opponents whenever he can. I would say he also doesn’t seem as powerful as he is usually portrayed though. He has a really difficult time against Bui for the whole run and doesn’t feel like he stands a chance against Toguro. You could make a strong case that he would lose in the anime as well but that was after dozens of episodes of him appearing to be so much stronger than all of the other characters so it was more of a shocking moment when we see that even he is outmatched.

Hiei’s still really cool though which is the most important thing and he works really well as the rival. He doesn’t take orders and he does his own thing like when he splits up at the island. So I do think that they really understood his character all the way. Likewise Kurama looks really good here too. Also a bit underpowered with how his fight against Karasu plays out but the ending is what counts. There were several moments at first where I thought he was doing something on purpose because it was part of a plan but then no, he was actually getting hit.

In Karasu’s defense he is really powerful though so that could explain why Kurama had trouble. It’s my favorite fight of the series either way and Kurama is the most heroic out of all of the demons for sure. He really did turn over a new leaf and the redemption is handled very well because it already took place from before we even met him. It was a very solid way for the story to go and is still very original. You don’t see many characters written like him. A strategist who can also fight with the best of them will always be excellent.

Then we have the villains. First up lets talk about Elder Toguro whose role isn’t huge but the show definitely gets the creepy atmosphere around him pretty well. The guy’s shapeshifting and stabbing moves are hard to deal with. It’s always an extremely difficult power to contend with and of course he has regeneration as well. Then you’ve got Karasu who is really fast and has invisible explosions that are launchable. That means you’re never safe anywhere around him. It’s an incredibly good technique to have and another really original power. In theory he would make for an incredible assassin since the target would not see his blows coming.

The guy is also really confident with how he was trying to draw out Kurama’s latent power. If he had just gone all out from the start then the hero wouldn’t have had time to adapt. After that is Younger Toguro, the main villain of the series you could say. The guy’s pure power is pretty crazy and he wants to fight even more powerful opponents so he’s sort of like an evil Goku. He’s a fun villain. I wouldn’t say there’s a whole lot to him at least in this version but he makes for a great end game boss which is all that you could ask for. He kept the heroes on their toes the whole time and kept getting stronger and stronger. It makes sense that he would be fairly desperate with nobody else being able to give him a good fight anymore.

Sakyo is not really a fighter but I did like how the show handled his character. He suffers from boredom too because it seems like he is invincible. Not because he is super powerful or anything like that but because he is super lucky. So it seems like no matter what he does, things work out well. For example he takes out a gun and fills every chamber except one and then shoots at himself. It ends up being a blank. Apparently every wager he has ever made, he has won. The guy has never experienced defeat which has to be a crazy feeling. So the guy gets crazier and crazier which makes sense although his final scene is extremely underwhelming.

Finally we have 3 more supporting characters. There is Yukina who has a great ability to create diamonds but nothing offensive which is unfortunate with how many people are trying to get to her. Hopefully she can find some way to use her powers in a fight at least for self defense but she’s nice enough. Genkai gets a role in training Yusuke and Kuwabara but she is gone just as fast. She’s a character who had a lot of potential but ultimately she just left too quickly. Finally there is Koenma. I don’t mind them removing the baby form because it is one of those things that works really well in the show but I probably couldn’t take him seriously in this version. As it is I still couldn’t take him seriously which is part of the point but still. He’s a fun enough supporting character, just get ready for him to always be helpless. The guy is never able to do anything except make empty threats and plead with Yusuke to save the day. So yeah that’s the show in a nutshell. I do hope we get a season 2 at some point and hopefully it doesn’t take 4+ years. I want shows to churn out seasons a bit quicker than that.

Overall, Yu Yu Hakusho is pretty good. I would definitely recommend checking it out. Obviously you get an added experience when you already know the series but even if you’ve never seen anything from the series before, you shouldn’t get lost. The show is pretty clear with what is going on. Ultimately I’m thinking this will probably give you encouragement to watch the anime afterwards. Personally I would say to go back to episode 1. Yes you will be rewatching some scenes but you will see a lot of new ones as well and the dub is terrific. You do not want to miss any of that.

Overall 7/10

Suzume Review

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It’s time for the next big anime film. This one was definitely getting quite a lot of buzz when it was coming out. Ultimately it is a pretty solid title through and through. It feels like it’s missing something compared to some of the other really big anime films but ultimately there’s a lot of heart and emotional moments here so it works well enough. We even get a quick action scene which is always appreciated.

The story starts by introducing us to Suzume who is your average teen wandering through the mysteries of life. One day she passes by a random dude asking if she’s seen any old ruins. She tells him about an abandoned town and continues on her day but gets curious and heads back. She ends up opening a mysterious door that seems to lead to space but when she goes through it, nothing happens. So Suzume heads back to school but now she can see things that nobody else can. Smoke, giant worm monsters, etc. She needs answers and heads back but it turns out the door she opened has caused a weakening in the rift between dimensions and the worms are going to end the world. She has to find a way to close all of the doors and recover the keystone quickly but this will be difficult as the expert on this (The stranger known as Souta) gets cursed into being a children’s chair by a mysterious cat who may have sinister intentions. Can Suzume handle all of this?

Now that plot may sound like we’re about to embark on a Shonen Jump adventure of the utmost hype but this is still more of an adventure story. See, Suzume has to get around the control to plug up all the door as they show up but she’s a teenager without a ton of money so she has to rely on the kindness of strangers. She meets many different people who are all very helpful. You have a lady who sells apples, a lady who dances, and even Souta’s old friend who wants some money that is owed to him.

Suzume gets to see how everyone has their own issues and happy moments and it’s a way for her to come to terms with her troubled past. Yes, she has a backstory involving lots of destruction and losing her mother at a young age which definitely plays a role in this movie. See, her aunt (Tamaki) has had to take care of Suzume for all of these years and Suzume worries that this has held Tamaki back quite a bit. Now Suzume has a true purpose and so she can turn her whole life around.

The writing is solid here and the movie may be long but it makes the most of every minute. There’s just a lot happening here and so you’re able to learn a lot about all of the characters and enjoy the experiences. It’s always nice to see a bunch of people just helping out without any of them turning out to be evil or some jaded stuff like that. This is a happy story first and foremost. I would even argue that despite Suzume’s backstory the film is happy for around 90% of its runtime. I’d categorize it as a feelgood film personally.

One of the main themes is really about asking for help when you need it and that people have your back. It’s a good message and Suzume always pays the kindness forward to the next person. So with everyone helping each other out all of the time that is really a recipe for success. It also means that the film isn’t really likely to make many mistakes as upbeat films are supposed to be fun so you’re not going to run into any terrible characters or anything like that.

Now that’s not to say the film is perfect as none are but also I did mention this was missing something. To me what it is really missing here is that the main character’s arc feels a bit incomplete/didn’t resolve the way I’d expect it to. A lot of the film, in fact just about all of it is her fault. She opens the door and removes the seal which causes all of this to go wrong. Then she basically runs away from home to help Souta on his quest but does this without telling Tamaki at first and then doubling down during every interaction.

When Tamaki gets upset she is 100% justified because it’s a huge deal. Having your daughter (Because that’s basically her role in this dynamic) vanish suddenly like this and then be travelling across the place with a man that they don’t even know is completely suspect. Yet I feel Suzume takes absolutely 0 responsibility for this. She acts very defensively throughout the movie and rejects all of Tamaki’s attempts to help her. Ultimately Tamaki decides to be the bigger person and really just makes this work but I really think the film could have benefited from Suzume making a real apology near the end.

Not a “We both made mistakes” kind of moment or anything like that but just a really nice thank you at the end considering everything Tamaki did. Tamaki really put her job on the line in leaving for so long to help Suzume and has given up a whole lot to help her. Even though Tamaki was being mind controlled at one point when she finally blows up at Suzume and she wouldn’t have ever said those things otherwise, it was mostly correct. Of course her romantic endeavors would be weakened quite a bit due to her role of watching over Suzume and she lost a ton of freedom as a result as well. It’s not something that Tamaki regrets but I’d say it underscores just how hard she’s worked to give Suzume a really good life and it felt like the main heroine was not very grateful at all.

Suzume’s still a good character, I just felt like she did not really see the whole picture and could come across as selfish at times. Likewise I wasn’t a big fan of Souta for the same reason. He’s one of the most ungrateful characters you can think of. He constantly tells Suzume to stand back so he could handle the situation only for him to fumble it. Then after a whole journey risking life and limb he barely has time to say thanks before heading off as if this was just another day at the office.

Now the good part about this is that means there isn’t really much time for romance here. That’s good because I would not say this would have been a quality romance either way. It wasn’t developed enough and just didn’t make sense. Same with Tamaki and that random co-worker who feels completely stuck in the friend zone to me. He just needs to tell her how he feels straight up because otherwise all this beating around the bush is not going to work.

Tamaki and Serizawa have a great fight for being the best character in the film. Tamaki is super responsible and always doing the right thing as I mentioned before. So it’s always great to see her doing what she can here. Meanwhile Serizawa is just a really good friend doing his best to help out. He’s completely out of his depth in terms of what’s going on but still sticks around to make sure that Souta is okay and that nothing happens to the two ladies. He really does his best to break the tension all the time too even if he is largely unsuccessful. He’s just trying to have a good time which isn’t always easy.

The soundtrack is okay but not too remarkable. I’d say Your Name and Belle are much more memorable although Belle should perhaps not count since having a lot of songs is actually part of the plot. The animation is pretty good. As always I feel like these big movies don’t look quite as sharp as the average anime since it’s trying to be more mainstream and not have the colors be as sharp but they do go all out for the scenes of the heroes closing the doors. Then the animators are really able to cut loose. So in general this looks pretty smooth.

I didn’t talk about the supernatural stuff here much but that’s mainly because I’d argue it’s not super important to the plot. The actual story of closing the doors and all that is really just the excuse to have Suzume travel the country and meet a lot of people. I’d argue the story itself is sort of the McGuffin in this case as it doesn’t really matter. We do get some nice visuals and a quick fight from it but that’s why even the film doesn’t seem to care as much about it. The cats are intentionally vague and unhelpful for basically the entirety of the movie because if they actually were straight forward then the movie would have been over really quickly. I did like the quick time travel conversation paradox we got near the end though. That was a really good use of the doorways. And of course the climax was pretty good so while the film’s more about the human interactions, the actual story did lead to some good stuff.

Overall, Suzume is a pretty solid film. I’d say it has a good amount of replay value and it’s the kind of movie that does leave you feeling good afterwards. It’s just a complete title with a lot going on and while it may not be the kind of movie that leaves you with a lot to discuss afterwards, your experience will be a good one. Now we just have to wait a bit until the next big anime film comes out so we can see how that one stacks up.

Overall 7/10

Scooby-Doo! and Krypto, Too! Review

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I always forget just how short these films can be but man do you feel it with this one. It just ends so fast and I think that does take away from what they could have done here. Ultimately it’s a fun enough movie even if I wouldn’t consider it to be one of the strongest ones. Just having the DC heroes/villains here is pretty fun. At the end of the day I also tend to enjoy crossovers quite a bit so that adds a bit of an extra punch to the experience right out of the gate.

The film starts with the Justice League vanishing and the culprit appears to be some kind of fire ghost. Clearly he is a threat to be able to take out someone like the mighty Superman. Lois tries to investigate but the monster is too tricky so for once she gives up on the biggest story of her life and instead brings in the Mystery Gang to solve this. They look scared right out of the jump with their credibility diminishing the longer they are in the room but they vow to solve this case and help save the world. Can this terrified group of youngsters surpass their limits to save the day?

Now you may be thinking, what about Krypto? No worries he randomly shows up in the Hall of Justice and helps out. Aside from Shaggy and Scooby the rest of the gang aren’t impressed since they think that Krypto is just some normal dog. I think this is supposed to be funny because they’re used to Scooby Doo doing all kinds of crazy things but now they’re skeptical. Perhaps they are right to be though because Krypto looks very underwhelming for most of the film. When the heroes are attacked by a group of villains Krypto is the first to run for the door and spends a while trying to open it instead of helping out.

He then gets absolutely crushed in his only one on one fight against another dog. This may be a Krypto crossover film but he looks so bad that you may wonder why he was in the title. His role just isn’t as critical as you would expect it to be for a 50/50 crossover like this. I would say Courage got a lot more to do in his adventure. It’s still nice to see Krypto of course and they show off his powers but when he scratches on a door instead of busting it open you wonder how much of his super strength he actually kept. Not enough if you ask me.

From the DC side the main characters here as Lex Luthor, Mercy, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen. Jimmy looks pretty bad the whole time too as he’s so desperate to be with Daphne that he made up this whole rationale in his head. He looks desperate the whole time but no worries he does vanish for most of the film. Lois looks tough as you’d expect and isn’t afraid to take shots at the cast. That said I do find it a bit out of character that she wouldn’t pursue the story herself. Yeah we get a half hearted excuse about covering other stories since the city is being overrun but that’s not quite good enough.

Mercy looks solid here as she tries to balance everything out for Lex. Her role is really satisfying all the way through and the film is able to handle the dynamic with her and Lex better than a lot of other titles to be honest. Lex is hamming up the villain angle quite a bit in this film but you would expect that with the Scooby gang in tow. This is where the film shined a bit more than I expected because I was ready for him to just be the comic relief for a while there but his role is actually rather solid. Yeah he has some anti feats in terms of intelligence but based on the ending you could make the case that it was all an act and I would take that case.

The Scooby gang are mainly as you would expect. Scooby and Shaggy are still running from every threat and generally getting taken down with minimal effort. I still think by now they should have improved a little more so I tend to be a little critical of them. Velma does good in getting hints and cracking the case so I have no issues with her. In some ways you could say it’s one of her better appearances because she’s really not getting distracted and just works to solve the case. You can’t say that most of the other characters in this one.

Fred looks pretty bad here as he keeps grilling Daphne about her and Jimmy despite being in the room when she explained that they were never together. He looks really insecure the whole time and then he gets cared easily and everything. His confidence issues are definitely not fitting for his character since he should always be the calm and collected leader who gets the job done. At his core that’s who Fred Jones is after all. A man on a mission but at least he gets some stuff to do during the climax.

Meanwhile Daphne’s not bad. She gets to fight quite a bit as the films have established her as the best fighter for a while now. She’s able to use Batman’s skills with ease and dishes out a lot of damage the whole time. Honestly it might be time for her to leave the mystery gang and become a crimefighter full time to make the best use of her talents. She could be making a real difference in the city by now.

Despite the film’s short overall length it does still manage to deliver a fairly long climax which I found to be impressive. There is a whole lot of action as we get to see all of the heroes and villains mixing it up in the city. We even get a brief battle between Mercy and Daphne which I would have liked to have seen more of since it would have had a lot of good choreography. So the action at the end was really appreciated particularly since it helped to give the DC side of this crossover a little more shine.

The humor can be a little more on the hit or miss side. I think one issue with the series is that sometimes they do tend to do the same gag over and over until it’s run into the ground. Fred trying to find out about Jimmy from Daphne, Scooby and Shaggy never being able to eat their meal in peace, etc. Still at the end of the day it’s nothing so bad that it would hurt the score big time or anything like that. The writing just isn’t nearly as clever as it’s trying to be.

Overall, Scooby Doo delivers with another fun film here. At the end of the day it may not be one of the more intense Scooby Doo titles but the novelty of having the DC characters in here makes up the difference. If you like Krypto then you’ll probably be disappointed but otherwise just enjoy the DC universe and you’ll have a good time here. I look forward to seeing Scooby Doo churn out more titles and hopefully another big crossover soon.

Overall 7/10

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn Review

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Golden Sun has always been a pretty great franchise and it’s nice to see that this game got a quick manga oneshot. It’s really just an adaption of the intro level so it’s not like it’s very long or anything but I’ll take what I can get.

The story starts with one of the kids trying to show off by proving he could pilot a flying device but didn’t realize that he needed wind powers for that. So naturally he crashes into a dangerous forest. The hero of the Golden Sun event, Isaac heads off to save him. Accompanying him is Matthew and the rest of the next generation. They end up having to fight some monsters though and it’s overall a dangerous mission but nothing will stop them from saving their friend. That is what it means to be a true hero!

Definitely a fun story. It’s also interesting how there are a lot of creative liberties from the game. For starters Isaac is the only adult here so his trusty sidekick is nowhere to be seen in this version. Additionally while in the game this was mostly all part of Isaac’s plan in terms of how to handle finding the lost kid, in the manga he’s caught more off guard. To the point where he actually loses to one of the monsters and ends up having to be saved. This change makes him look really weak so ultimately I don’t think that was the way to go. They should have just had him be in command of everything like normal.

The art was fairly decent. I wouldn’t call it top tier or anything like that but it works well enough to get the story of the oneshot across. Additionally the character cast is on point and this makes for a good adventure. The idea of course is to get you to buy the game and I like to think that maybe this would convince some people. I’ve always wondered just how effective a short promo like this could be but hey I’d say it’s as good an attempt as any. There were really no mistakes in this story. Ultimately I just wish they would have gone ahead and done a complete adaption. That would have been a lot of fun.

Because of the short length there is only so much you can write about for this one though. That’s why this review is fairly short. The characters don’t really have time for intros and there isn’t a lot going on beyond the quick fight because the page count wouldn’t really allow for that. So ultimately this is a pure teaser all the way through but it’s an effective one that will have your interest piqued.

Overall, Golden Sun makes for a good story. As the story in the games is always top notch it makes sense that the manga follows suit. It’s still a little too short to really get invested on this end but at the same time that does mean you can easily read this one at any point. It won’t take long to do after all and then you are all set. I’m currently playing through the actual video game for this story so I’ll have the full review up for that one pretty soon. You could say that I’m in the home stretch already!

Overall 6/10

Burn The Witch Review

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It’s time to take a look at the Burn The Witch movie. The way this series came out was pretty interesting with the movie jumping you right in the middle of the setting. More than most titles I would say this one could have you scratching your head a bit if you’re not familiar with the series although I always appreciate the boldness there. With context clues you’ll be okay even if the whole thing just feels a bit random. Unfortunately the character cast is still rather weak like in the manga.

The film starts with Ninny upset about something and giving the reporters the perfect soundbite to cause more controversies. She loses them with a solar flare camera and dives into the world of monsters. See in this world there is London and then there is Reverse London which basically exists in a parallel dimension. In Reverse London there are witches everywhere and there are also dragons. So it’s generally a pretty fun place to be although its more dangerous. She works alongside her partner Noel in defeating monsters and getting points. The more points you get the more career opportunities and money you can earn. Due to events in the past they have to babysit a human named Balgo who ended up getting a pet dragon of his own and is not supposed to be going to the real world too often anymore. (He ignores that of course and ends up spreading the contamination)

The main dilemma in this film is Ninny’s old possessive teammate Macy shows up to cause some trouble. She has been raising a dragon of her own known as Elly who is one of the most powerful dragons in existence. Additionally the government has decided to murder Balgo basically because they can so the girls have to protect him while they save the world. Can they pull this off? Additionally if they succeed then there goes their paychecks since the government is certainly not going to want to pay people who have just betrayed them.

So there is a whole lot going on and the film is barely an hour. Because of that the pacing is lightning quick to be sure but at times the film can feel a little unfocused. Like it’s not really sure which plot to go with next. You’re also left with a whole lot of questions. Balgo is a normal human who is often by himself, why not pick one of the endless chances to grab him alone and murder him then? Why is he allowed to go to the human world at all when he’s on a watchlist? How weak are Bruno and the other gov execs that they have trouble against two rookie level fighters? How are they allowed to actually let a human raise a dangerous dragon in reverse London without anyone picking it up on the sensors?

I don’t feel like very much thought was put into the film’s story at all. It feels like the world building is incredibly shaky at best. Even more so once we get a certain plot twist of where the film takes place. It’s pretty much an open secret at this point since everyone knows about it but just in case I won’t say anything. The main point is that I do think the film could have tried harder to make this plot be logical. Instead it just feels like you’re supposed to watch this film half asleep.

What really hurts are the characters though because they’re generally very weak. Lets start with Balgo who is easily the worst character. He’s completely obsessed with Noel to the point where he is constantly flirting over and over again. He’s cool with her insulting him as needed and just overlooks that. Suddenly by the end it’s hinted that she actually does like him? I get the whole tsundere thing but the problem is that there is no actual reason to like Balgo. He’s always being perverted, is generally useless in a fight, and has displayed no positive qualities. How she would fall for him is a complete mystery at this point. The ending to the film is definitely brutal.

As for Noel, I suppose she’s okay but even then I wouldn’t call her a very good character. Part of the problem is that she’s your classic tough character who tends to be sarcastic and emotionless as she does her duty. To pull off that character type you need a ton of witty dialogue which she doesn’t have. Additionally she doesn’t have the raw power needed to back up her quiet confidence.

Then you have Ninny who is at least a step up. She’s very aggressive and always looking for a fight so she can get a promotion. The problem? Once again she is fairly weak and actually has to get saved by Noel a few times. I don’t know how she thinks she will be hired as one of the top fighters when she is having trouble with random monsters. That just doesn’t look like a great sales pitch on paper. At least she is a celebrity in the real world so she will always be doing fine with money but it’s hard to see her keeping up both acts. She will eventually need to choose one side most likely.

The best character by far is Billy. He’s got a lot of skill but is officially out of the game at this point so he tries to hide it. The main heroines give him a tough time but he keeps his cool and still does his best to help out. He’s a solid character through and through. His role is small but very memorable. Then you have Bruno (Is it just me or all of the guys start with the letter B? Bruno, Balgo, Billy, etc.) who is solid but a bit weaker than he should be. He’s one of the members of this big secret council and he talks an incredibly big game. Yet when the going gets tough he isn’t really able to win a single fight. Sure we know he’s stronger than Ninny and Noel but they lose him rather easily and by the time he catches up he gets wrecked by Elly.

The guy panics as if he has never been in a fight before. I’d just expect a whole lot more from him and his 180 on what to do with Balgo felt a bit cheesy. This guy doesn’t seem as determined or focused as he should be given his position. Then there’s Macy who is pretty insane. She’s cool with blowing up buildings and such to get to Ninny but she’s also completely insane since she figures this somehow won’t turn her away. Is she serious about this? It seems to me that Macy and Ninny would get along just fine if Macy wasn’t doing crazy things like this. Unfortunately these possessive type characters all seem to have a few screws loose so I wouldn’t expect her to change any time soon.

Finally there’s the dragon Elly and you actually feel bad for her here. At first she was just protecting Macy and this gradually kept on escalating since Macy would always thank Elly for the help. So to Elly there was nothing wrong with blowing everyone up. She temporarily loses control later on and the heroes all try to destroy Elly. Macy halfheartedly tries to defend her but gives up after one shot. Even once Balgo activates his bankai type ability and calms Elly down it seems like the dragon is fine but gets hit with a sneak attack. The whole thing just made Macy look worse for not being more broken up about the whole thing and the rest of the heroes don’t seem too reasonable with how they just finished it off like that.

Who knows maybe that will be a plot point for the future, we’ll have to see. The animation’s fairly decent. Not even close to some of the more high budget products but it’s okay. It definitely doesn’t feel like the true movie budget went behind this one and considering how short the film is you’d think it would be easier to make it all look great. The soundtrack is also more on the okay side. The tunes don’t really pop out at you.

Overall, Burn The Witch is an interesting film but one that needed to stay on the drawing board for a longer period of time. The characters simply aren’t that interesting and that ends up extending to the film as a whole. It’s not a bad film by any means but the fact that it’s so unfocused and messy just doesn’t help matters. There isn’t a whole lot of reason to watch this one when you can just go back to Bleach instead or watch Little Witch Academia if you want to see something higher quality on the subject. I’d say this is maybe a bit better than the Burn the Witch manga but it’s still not saying much for now. Hopefully the franchise is able to bounce back.

Overall 5/10

Practical Magic Review

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It’s time for a film about magic and how a curse can really last for a very long amount of time. The film has its moments but the whole main romance is really just a big rebound so that does take some points without a doubt. Ultimately the movie goes by rather quickly and it’s an entertaining ride even if it won’t end up being one of the top titles.

The film starts off with a witch creating a curse that bad things will befall any guy who tries to get together with her descendants. The marriage will not be able to last and that has carried through to the present. Sally is our main character and she’s not going to let a curse stop her. She marries a guy named Michael and they had some kids but one day he is hit by a truck and she finally realizes that there is no way to beat the curse. She will not allow herself to love ever again but her sister isn’t ready to quit yet and has a ton of affairs. Unfortunately she has gone in with the wrong crowd now by getting together with a crazy guy named Jimmy. Sally will have to help her out before it’s too late but in the meantime what if she falls in love with one of the local authorities named Gary?

Of course that’s exactly what happens and so there is no way to get around this romance. Sally basically lost her husband to a curse and now she’s going to move on just like that? She probably should have just brought him back to life. Yes, the whole movie is a cautionary tale against doing such a thing but I think you can make it work. In a world where magic is real and it is actually possible to revive someone (albeit with some side effects) then you just have to spend your life perfecting the spell to make it work. I guarantee that it’s at least a possibility considering that we know the magic exits.

So the romance ends up being annoying as a result. Granted Gary’s not even a bad guy. He’s a good person trying to do the right thing and help out. It’s just that I’m not buying the romance. Particularly since Michael was also a good guy before he bought the farm early. The most annoying character has to be Gillian though because she’s the one dragging Sally into a whole lot of trouble. From what we’ve seen of Jimmy he wasn’t exactly a class act from the start so how did this relationship even start?

Regardless he ends up causing a lot of trouble for the duration of the film. Naturally he takes the bulk of the blame since he’s the one going around breaking the law and basically trying to murder the heroines. It would just be nice if Gillian was more responsible since it doesn’t feel like she actually learns any lessons during the film. The aunts are also not without blame as they just run out midway through the film and vanish during the climax. It sure would have been nice to have had some adult supervision to back Sally up when she was in a tight spot.

The film feels pretty short and it’s entertaining enough. There are definitely some jokes that work well like the heroes murdering Jimmy multiple times. The plot is serious to an extent but there are always a lot of lighthearted moments thrown in to keep everything balanced. It also wasn’t too easy to snap the curse so the original witch’s power was definitely impressive. You’d think the main characters or at least the aunts could have worked a bit harder to blow up the curse but granted it seems like the aunts agreed with it to an extent. So they had no real reason to snap it.

The cast here is fairly small which isn’t a bad idea so you can focus on the characters but it’s just a problem that none of them are super likable. There aren’t any standouts here and as a result the film isn’t quite as lively or exciting as it could have been. You’ll never feel bored while watching it or anything like that but there also isn’t a ton of replay value here either. So it’s not bad but it’s not that good either and just winds up being in the middle. I will give the ending props for using the power of friendship though. Sally had been neglecting the other moms at school who were just trying to help and so by the end they all help each other out. It may be a bit cheesy but it was still a decent climax.

One thing the film could have done maybe was to lean into the curse a bit more. Have Sally actually try meeting tons of guys and each time something goes wrong. The main weakness of this strategy is it could make Sally look completely desperate so it should be played completely for laughs with lots of slapstick. Then you never do a serious romance and the plot of the film is more actively about ending the curse. I will say that the curse is slick to not activate until the descendant has had kids so this way the lineage will continue to grow.

Overall, Practical Magic is a decent movie but I feel like there’s so much more you could do with magic. I tend to feel this way for most slice of life/romance type movies that involve magic. Magic is one of the ultimate fantasies for any person to have. There are so many ways you can immediately enhance your life with it or even just show off for others. I’d like to see a main character just go wild with it for once. In this movie the power levels are a bit lower so it might have been harder but the magic feels like it’s only something on the side to keep the film fresh but it’s not as overpowering an element as you might expect. If the comedic/romance plot sounds good to you then you should check it out but the fact that it’s all a rebound hurts it just enough for me to not bump this to the next level.

Overall 5/10