Gamera Rebirth Review

Posted on September 16, 2023 by dreager1

After all these years Gamera has finally returned to take names and show everyone why he is known as one of the all time powerful Kaiju. From the start this was being marketed as a show where there would be a Kaiju battle in every episode which was a really good thing. There are a whole lot of green flags to be found here. Ultimately it is a good show…but I would say one with fairly extensive issues keeping it from being a great title.

The show is only 6 episodes long but each one is double length so that helps. We kick things off with a trio of kids, Boco, Junichi, and Joe. They’ve been friends for a long while but Boco is worried that they may drift apart after summer vacation ends so he wants to build a communication device. It’s nearly finished when the trio are attacked by a bully named Brody who beats them up severely and steals all their money. The heroes want revenge but then the kaiju known as Gyaos attacks and before you know it all of the kids are wrapped up in some kind of massive government project. Will they ever be able to go back to the simple days of just being kids?

Right off the bat I can tell you that giving the kids such a big role was a mistake. They are the weakest part of the show and take up so much screentime that you can’t get around them. You’re supposed to sympathize with the kids on their trials and gradually see how they can even teach the adults a few lessons. Instead you just find them annoying. The only interesting thing about then comes in the 5th episode. It was hinted at earlier but that’s where we get the answers and even by then you’d prefer it was handled differently.

As the main character Boco can be a bit too emotional. He is pro Gamera all the way which actually isn’t bad but he gets rather intense about this to the point where he won’t hear any other sides of the argument. He blows up at Joe pretty much unprompted which was unfortunate. Their friendship was so tight and yet he was willing to ruin it like that. I’m glad he wanted to stick up for himself near the beginning but ultimately what that would have most likely have done was just get them all murdered.

Junichi is the smart one of the group and she’s always ready to come up with a plan. So for the most part she’s solid but then also starts to get emotional and lose perspective near the end. She definitely didn’t handle some of the twists very well. I would say the only kid who was pretty solid the whole time was Joe. He tries to watch over the other two as best as he can but it’s not an easy job. He ends up getting badly beaten for his efforts but I like that he always tries. He easily had the most heart out of the group and was willing to do whatever it took to save the day. That’s the kind of hero you want to see.

Then you have Brody and well the guy starts out as a big bully beating up literal kids for their money. Sure he’s a kid too but definitely older than the others. Gradually he realizes that this isn’t good and calms down to the point where he ends up being the reasonable one at times like when talking to Boco. I think they all got used to him a little too quickly considering how they met though. You’d think they would hold a grudge for a while after that.

What about the adults? Well there are two main ones. The first is James, a guy who reluctantly works for the foundation. He makes it clear from the start that he is after his own interests and the company doesn’t really care. My main problem with this guy is he talks so tough and is constantly postering but always falls down when the going gets tough. He looks horrible in episode 3 and from there on he definitely never really does great. The guy is emotionally manipulated and constantly outsmarted. I also don’t trust that he would make the right call in the end. While he plays off the hero card near the end, it’s only because a very specific event happened.

Otherwise I think he’d have been totally find still being a villain stooge all the way to the end. He was willing to abandon the kids more than once and is generally not a good guy. Now that could work if you put him as the villain the whole time but he’s not really portrayed as the villain either. The janky animation does end up giving him a lot of fun facial expressions but that’s not exactly going to save the character.

The best human by far is Emiko and she really has no competition. She has a really solid drive and is determined to get to her goal no matter what. I like the resilience she has and it’s this kind of single minded motivation that you would usually just see in the main character. I wouldn’t have minded if the show made her the main character instead of the others. She could absolutely pull it off, I have no doubts about that at all. She gets a lot of great moments near the end.

Now in terms of the animation, it’s definitely on the sub par side. The humans don’t look great and all of the movements are really stiff. Nobody walks normally and it’s like these are pre rendered models for a video game that can’t actually move freely. It’s just a bit bizarre and reminds you why it should have been hand drawn. I will say at least that the kaiju scenes are really solid though. I like all of the energy blasts and there is good movement there. In particular the best fight was easily with Guiron. That guy could really jump and he dished out a lot of serious damage to Gamera the whole time. The guy earned his rep of being an immensely powerful Kaiju. Gamera very nearly lost that fight.

The soundtrack is mostly forgettable but I do appreciate that the show has a real theme song. The ending theme is also really solid and I like Gamera’s main theme. So that’s 3 good themes and since the show is only 6 episodes long anyway, I’d consider that to be a success. The technicals here were on point when it counted even if again the animation could have been a little better.

The writing is definitely more on the weak side. Giving Joe a potty mouth was definitely a really odd decision considering that he’s still a kid. Probably 90% of the swearing tends to come from him. I guess it’s to show us how serious business the show is but really? I do appreciate the show’s restraint in the fight scenes though. Initially I was expecting tons of blood and viciousness in the fights to show us how intense Gamera is but for the most part the fights are still stylized and using a lot of energy blasts. It can get a little violent at times but never super over the top and out of line or anything like that.

Gamera definitely looks impressive throughout when you consider that he is fighting all of these Kaiju back to back with minimal time to heal. For example in one fight he loses an arm so then for the rest of the fights he still doesn’t have it back. There’s good consistency there and you can tell that even for a Kaiju at his level there is only so much durability/stamina that he has. At full power I don’t think that any of these Kaiju would be doing a whole lot to him. He has a lot of attacks at his disposal like the fire blasts and spinning while in the shell. It’s always real fun to see him fight.

Gyaos is also a really fun Kaiju here. His moveset may be a bit more simple but he’s always been an iconic Gamera villain so I was glad to see him get his shine. He really does well against the government too. Then there’s Jiger who is still the most forgettable Gamera villain. She’s strong sure but there’s just not a whole lot to her. There’s nothing iconic compared to say Guiron. Guiron is awesome because his design is fantastic and then his whole fighting style is built around the design. If that’s not hype then I don’t know what is! Viras and Zigra are also fun to have around.

In general it’s a great showcase of most of the big Gamera villains. It would be nice to see Legion and Irys of course but I can see why they are mostly focusing on the older villains for max nostalgia. The show tends to be at its best with the fights and in the early episodes I’d have loved to focus on just that and not the kids. Now the plot really gets going in episode 5 though and that’s when the human stuff got really interesting. I was half expecting Ultraman and Godzilla to show up with all the twists we were seeing. The show just made the universe 100X more interesting in a flash.

Unfortunately episode 6 opts to close some of these plot lines rather quickly which is a shame because that had a lot of potential for season 2. There is still an after credits scene so make sure you watch that. It is a big plot line for season 2 and I liked the scene but I would have kept my options open a little more. I really wanted the moon plot to continue and there were a ton of possibilities with different groups going at it. You can always add more of course but I think this show left a lot of meat on the bone. It should have leaned a lot harder into the mystery angle of the show and less on the kids growing up and trying to be helpful.

Overall, Gamera Rebirth is definitely a good show but one that is heavily held back by the kids. Their scenes can be rather brutal or boring might be a better phrase there. You would just be waiting for them to leave already and their massive amounts of screentime remove most of the replay value out of this show. You’d probably just want to fast forward to the Kaiju battles each time. It’s too bad because the adults tend to have a very interesting subplot going. I was interested in hearing what they were planning at least and learning more about the Kaiju. There’s a pretty interesting backstory here and again episode 5 adds a whole lot of intrigue and different things to think about. It just takes a little long to get there but if you like Kaiju action then you should not miss this one. It’s not like we get a ton of Kaiju shows out there after all so you want to enjoy them while you can.

Overall 6/10

Pokemon: Path to the Peak Review

Posted on September 10, 2023 by dreager1

Pokemon has had quite a few of these short online series so far and this is another fun one to add to the batch. It takes place in the real world though so don’t expect a lot of action or anything like that but it’s definitely a pretty fun story. A good slice of life where you see what it’s like to be entering tournaments. Reminds me of my professional days playing Super Smash Bros.

The main character is a little girl named Ava who is having a hard time making any friends at school. One day she finds out about a Pokemon card club and thanks to an invite from one of the members she is ready to make her mark on the world. It turns out that her mom has a deck that can be used as well so this is perfect. Will Ava be able to make a lot of friends or will this end up being a much bigger deal than she had ever planned on? She will meet a bunch of friends and foes on this big adventure!

Each episode is fairly short so even if you merge them all together the series is under an hour. As a result it does go by very fast and you wish we could have had more episodes. The fights mainly have to be off screen’d except for one big challenge in each episode. Considering that we go through 3 different tournaments you can imagine how much time had to be cut out. I suppose the battles were not exactly the point of the adventure but regardless I’m always up for seeing them.

I used to collect Pokemon cards as a kid and had thousands of them but I really kept them to look at and didn’t actually use them in combat. So seeing the rules here was cool. I’m still a bit mixed on how you use the Pokemon energy to enhance your fighters but even without that you can follow along with what’s happening pretty well. The tournament nerves are addressed here which is nice because you definitely will feel a bit of a tingle for your first battles. How could you not right? It’s such a huge experience and not one that you are likely to forget. Definitely no shot of that.

Ava perhaps gets a little too good too quickly as she goes from not knowing how to play the game to being world champion level rather quickly. We can assume some time skips in between the episodes but nothing all that substantial considering that the designs don’t really change. It is the ultimate dream of all players to be the champ though so of course that does help make the series even more engaging.

The animation is decent. It’s clear they aren’t trotting out the A team here and the character designs take a little getting used to, but the fights with the Pokemon are fun. The scenes are brief of course but I could definitely watch a full Pokemon anime with those kinds of action scenes. The colors are vibrant and it’s nice seeing all of the attacks in motion. Make this a full length TV show so we can have more of those epic battles.

That’s really my only issue in general which is that more time would have been nice to really develop the characters and get more action scenes instead. Everything here feels like it’s on double speed since they have to move fast and while the stories are still enjoyable, you can see how they’re rushed. For example Ava takes one loss in tournament and then suddenly she basically wants to quit on the game forever. I just have a few problems with this.

For starters, that means she has been cruising through all of her tournaments up to that point without losing a match? That’s making her a bit too good at the game. Additionally she has lost matches before like the very first one so that felt like a real big overreaction to cause some drama. Personally I just didn’t buy it….I didn’t buy it at all! It does make the final boss look a bit more impressive because he takes his loss with the utmost grace. At the end of the day it’s just a tournament after all. Of course it always sucks to lose but to rage quit your career out of that was pretty rough.

There’s also one point where all of Ava’s cards fly away and so the team has to help her recover her deck. It’s a pretty intense moment but I dare say there wasn’t enough time to properly have this happen in the show. It’s short enough as it is without adding a big moment like this. So the show does sometimes bite off a bit more than it can chew and as long as you view this as an abridged series of sorts then you’re all set. I would have liked to have seen Ava have more of a rage mode against the first bully for beating up her father though. That was pretty twisted at least within the show’s context. Seriously it was so unexpected too because that just comes out of nowhere.

I was glad to see Ava dominate in that matchup. It would be nice if she was a little more confident and able to jump into the action though. She’s not a bad lead but makes enough mistakes where she wasn’t too high for me. I cut her a bit of slack because the whole point of her character is that she’s a bit socially awkward and has a hard time fitting in. Part of her character growth is getting past that which I get. There are just some points where I can’t cut quite as much slack like when she ran off to retire early. You just can’t really do that at such a late stage when her friends had really bet everything on her. Also coming in second usually gets you some kind of prize so that’s not bad right?

For the other characters, her main friend was nice enough. He helped teach her the game but at the same time he wasn’t about to go easy on her either and I respect that. Ultimately if you teach someone to win the right away as opposed to always holding back then you are setting them up for success. It’s a very good thing without a doubt. The ex bully also ended up being a nice person. Going after Ava’s Dad was a low blow but after that she was definitely someone that you could count on through thick and thin.

Ava’s parents were good although a bit underwhelming. It was disappointing to see her father get completely destroyed at the Pokemon tournament while not even knowing what was happening. Cmon he has been playing for a long while so he should at least know the score right? Then the twist about Ava’s mom rage quitting after a loss was pretty bad too. I guess it runs in the family there but nah that wasn’t very satisfying. I was instead hoping she would jump in as a final boss at the end. As I said before I did like the final boss though. He took the loss like a champ and kept on moving. Plus I liked his confidence.

The series is aimed at a fairly young audience so there may be some moments that aren’t as engaging or turns that don’t go in the epic direction that you would like but in the end the writing is consistently solid and that’s exactly what you are looking for in a title like this. It all goes by fast and there really aren’t any negatives that would make me pause. I could also easily rewatch this one at any time even if it wouldn’t b

Overall, Pokemon Path to the Peak is a pretty fun series. It may go a tad fast but it was really cool seeing all of the big battles and how things progressed. There really is nothing like playing in a full tournament series like this. The stress from playing in front of a crowd but also that feeling of claiming victory. I don’t know about you but my hands tend to shake with excitement in times like that. There’s a reason why competitive titles like Blue Lock, Haikyu, Yugioh, and Cardfight get so big. It’s because people love watching those titles and putting themselves into the mix. And why not right? It’s just so much fun to picture all of that happening. I hope we continue to get more Pokemon specials and in the meantime you should absolutely check this one out. It’s just very wholesome and uplifting.

Overall 6/10

Natsume’s Book of Friends Season 3 Review

Posted on August 13, 2023 by dreager1

Natsume and Nyanko are back for some more adventures in season 3. The show definitely has had a pretty good run and barely halfway through. At this point you know if you like the series or not. Natsume is a very consistent title with the adventures. The slice of life format works well as Natsume learns more life lessons and gets to meet a lot of Yokai both good and bad. The show may not always be super exciting but you should have a good time checking it out. Ultimately it’s a quality wholesome show that you can watch at any time.

The first episode deals with Reiko which is always nice. Basically she helped out a Yokai involving a case with a mirror. There was a bit of a misunderstanding but ultimately Reiko helped her out anyway showing that Natsume’s mysterious grandmother definitely had a kind heart. We still don’t know a whole lot about her which is part of that character’s mystique but whenever she appears she seems like a very nice person. So it feels like something isn’t adding up about her reputation but for now there’s not much of a way for Natsume to dig deeper into this. Reiko’s definitely still the best character in the series though with how pro active she is. While Natsume gets steamrolled by the Yokai most of the time, Reiko was always in control.

In the second episode Natsume had to try and get a Yokai to stop haunting his friend’s house. The haunted house plot point is always a solid one for anything supernatural but in this case it’s less of a murder mystery slasher and more about talking things out. Ultimately Natsume is usually able to talk things out which is why it’s intense when the Yokai really turns out to be sinister. Natsume was also given the option to finally go to the Yokai world this time instead of remaining with the mere mortals. Ultimately he stayed and I really wouldn’t say that he was all that tempted. While he may have had a really hard time for most of his life, it’s fair to say that he’s having a really good time now that Nyanko has his back. Natsume has a ton of friends and connections now so why would he ever want to leave right? I feel like being around Yokai 24/7 with no other humans would have a ton of downsides.

The third episode is probably the most annoying one in the season. An old “friend” named Shibata appears acting all friendly but he and Natsume had never gotten along before so it’s suspicious. Sure enough, the guy is here to ask for favors and to generally be an annoying guy. He believes that a girl he met might be a Yokai and he wants to know for sure before proceeding with their relationship. It’s a valid concern to be sure so you get why he’s doing this but it’s the way that he went about it which was annoying. He was quick to blackmail Natsume and the threats came before Natsume could really try to help.

Lets be honest here, Natsume’s a very nice guy. He absolutely would have helped this punk regardless of the fact that they weren’t exactly close friends. Then once Natsume does tell him, the guy refuses to listen. So much for wanting the truth right? Yeah this guy was just awful the whole time. The actual story is still pretty wholesome and emotional but while the show expects you to sympathize with Shibata by the end, I never did. He just doesn’t seem like a good guy so in a way it’s probably good that no romance could ever really come out of this encounter. Also in general I don’t think it’ll ever work out between a human and yokai due to the fact that Yokai are effectively immortal (With a lot of asterisks on that) while humans fade away real fast.

After that we get one of the more plot important episodes to the series when we see Natsume as a kid and how he met this one Yokai who would always scare him. It’s a pretty sad story all around because the Yokai was really just glad that someone could finally see her. Scaring humans was really all that she knew how to do and by the time she realized the damage she was doing it was too late. Natsume had left. So from the Yokai’s perspective she had to basically remember that for years and couldn’t do anything about it because she had no idea where it was.

It’s an episode where Natsume looks really good because we see that he never held a grudge against her at all and later on really understood things from the Yokai’s point of view. It’s also a reminder of how tough it can be to live as a Yokai. There are countless dangers around the world from the villains who can see you and yet there aren’t many good people who will ever notice you. It’s like the worst of both worlds which is a really sticky spot to be in. It’s rare to get a glimpse into Natsume’s past so that was really nice. This is definitely a top tier episode in the whole franchise so far.

In the next episode we have a more low key adventure but the fun part is Natsume gets to hang out with Tanuma and Taki this time. They have to find the pieces of a Yokai before it becomes whole and starts murdering everyone. Ultimately it’s also going to take friendship with the rest of the Yokai in order to stop such a threat. It’s a nice enough episode and Natsume’s friends are always fun so it’s nice to have them around. Natsume is still at the point where he doesn’t let them get super close to help out but at least they both know about Yokai which is more than what most know. While this may not be a super eventful episode, I think it’s a fairly good standalone one to even show a new viewer to understand what the series is all about. Ultimately helping both Yokai and humans is what Natsume does and generally his actions in each episode reflect that. Often times by helping one side he ends up helping the other. It’s very rare where he has to actually take someone down.

After that we have a two part adventure where we finally see Matoboa in full action. The guy is a fairly strong exorcist and unlike Natsume this guy really doesn’t like Yokai. We now have the big contrast and you have to figure they will have a real fight at some point. Matoba is very accomplished though and has a large family/army of followers by his side so things would be rough for Natsume. The episodes are really about showing how ruthless Matoba is as he takes down a lot of Yokai to get to his target, regardless of if they’re innocent or not. He also captures Natsume at one point.

Natori also gets to appear here and he sort of serves as the middle option. If Matoba is all about destroying all Yokai while Natsume wants to save them all, Natori tries to do a bit of both. He’ll save some Yokai but he’ll absolutely destroy some others. He ultimately is as reasonable and rational as possible. Both characters won’t agree with him all the time but they do tend to get along with him more than they would each other. It’s a pretty fun two part adventure especially because of how it’s setting up future events but I really hope Nyanko pulls through to land some damage on Matoba at some point. I think one weakness of the main characters being pacifists is they will often let Matoba and other characters land hits on them without ever really retaliating. Of course that’s honorable but it can also be annoying when pushed too far.

The last episode actually has lasting effects on the rest of the season which is impressive. For example in the next episode Nyanko is still wounded so Natsume tries to find something that can heal him. This even results in the little fox Yokai returning after being gone for so long. So that was pretty neat and in general it’s a pretty fun episode. That fox always looks up to Natsume and Nyanko. He nearly starts to get tricked a little easily which could have been dicey but things end up working out. It’s a very low key adventure since there’s barely a conflict in it but Natsume needed a little downtime after the last adventure.

After that Nyanko was still sick so Natsume had to go to school without him and help out with the events. The problem is that a Yokai is messing with him the whole time which is making him look suspect. How can he deal with this creature while Nyanko is still out of commission? That’s the main dilemma here and it works pretty well. I think the show actually could have learned into the dangers of Natsume being on his own without Nyanko a little harder to be honest but this works well enough.

Then we get to the next big adventure with Tanuma acting a little suspicious. He’s been avoiding Natsume as of late so the hero catches up to him to see what’s going on. Well, Tanuma is now being possessed by a mysterious Yokai. Tanuma doesn’t remember when he’s been possessed as it goes in and out but this is pretty dangerous. It’s also one of the few times we see Natsume being genuinely upset because he does think that’s crossing a line. Possessing his friend like that is definitely no joke. Ultimately being a nice guy wins out and he does help Tanuma’s spirit out but it’s a bit grudgingly.

I also think the fact that Nyanko couldn’t blast the spirit out without hurting Tanuma was a little convenient. It feels like when the chips are down Nyanko is just unable to deliver when it counts. Considering how legendarily powerful he is it’s just a bit suspect if you ask me. I suppose I should cut him some slack…but I dunnooooooo. So it was a good adventure but once again it points out the weakness to Natsume being so passive here. I need my main character to be able to fight when necessary and the problem is that I just don’t really think he will in most instances.

After that Natsume gets sick and a spirit from his past returns to mess with him. It caused a whole lot of problems back when Natsume was a kid and now it is back to cause more chaos. Fortunately this time Nyanko does take full credit for taking it down. This episode was also fairly tense because this creature was absolutely not going to be talked down and was really just trying to mess Natsume up. We don’t see a ton of creatures that are quite this bloodthirsty so that was definitely real intense. It made for a solid story and giving more focus to Nyanko was a good idea since he was sidelined for a decent chunk of the season.

Finally we have a light episode to end the series with. Natsume basically gets to hang out with the whole cast of Yokai and they all get to play a lot of games. I would say there’s not a whole lot of plot to the finale because it’s really all about just hanging out and having a good time. It fits in with the spirit of the series though as Natsume has always wanted to have some friends and now he has finally found a lot of good ones. He’s certainly not alone anymore and the final episode really shows just how true that is.

In terms of the technical aspects I’d say Natsume has never been a particularly high budget show. The visuals are nice enough but they’re not going to stand out or anything like that. The soundtrack is very subdued as well so you probably won’t have any songs that really stand out. The show survives and does well on the good writing and the solid stories. It doesn’t have any kind of backup on the technical side so it’d be nice to see that improve in future seasons.

Overall, Natsume season 3 is a fun show. Does it beat or lose to the first two? It’s hard to say because they’re all fairly even to a large degree. If push came to shove I’d probably say it beats season 1 and loses to 2 but they’re all super close. If you’re in the mood for a solid slice of life title with a lot of fun adventuring then this is the one to go for. You’re always learning good life lessons in the show and the pacing is definitely on point. It’s a very calm show that’s easy to watch at any point and the ideas for different Yokai scenarios are really endless. This can keep going on as long as the author can think of more scenarios to come up with.

Overall 6/10

In/Spectre Season 2 Review

Posted on August 12, 2023 by dreager1

In/Spectre has returned! There aren’t a ton of mystery anime going on right now so it’s always fun to check one of these out. The first season was also fun in part because of how unique the whole premise was. I’ve never seen a detective solve all of their crimes through a bunch of lies before but it really makes sense in part because there should be very few characters who could actually call her bluff on it. Season 2 continues with this and brings in some more fun cases. I’d definitely like to see this show get a season 3 and keep on going because the cases have been consistently interesting.

The first episode is fairly low key to remind you of what the premise is. Kotoko is basically a legendary goddess among the undead spirits and so they come to her with problems to be solved. She will then use her detective skills to get to the bottom of the situation. It always involves some kind of a mystery after all. What separates her from other detectives though is that she will lie in order to put the client at ease. For example she doesn’t always know the answer to the mystery. Other times she does, but figures the truth will not be easy for the client to hear so she changes it up. Often times her boyfriend Kuro will notice that she’s lying but he tends to stay quiet about it.

The first adventure involves creepy sounds in the house. Possibly a vengeful spirit or was there an explanation that’s a little less supernatural? It’s stand alone so Kotoko solves the case pretty easily. It’s probably the least eventful out of all the episodes but as an intro to the season is works well enough. I should also mention that since Kotoko can talk to all these dead spirits it does give her a huge leg up over the other detectives. After all she doesn’t have to question a bunch of people. She can just ask some nearby spirits on the details and then the case is solved. Often times for that reason as the viewer we don’t see her chat with the spirits so she can explain things in the end. We’re kept in the dark until the end so that the whole thing can be a surprise for us too.

After that we get the first big mystery saga. So big in fact that Kotoko basically misses the first part of this arc. There’s a guy named Masayuki who has been having some rather rotten luck. He was thrown out of his own company and then his friend tried to murder him. Then his wife ended up divorcing him so he lost 50% of his assets. Yeah it definitely has not been an easy road for him and he’s been super depressed when he ends up meeting a strange being known as a Yuki-Onna. The legends say that they will slay any human they come across but she doesn’t seem so violent. In fact, Yuki is the one who saved him when his “friend” left him to die on the mountain. Masayuki believes his luck is finally changing but then his ex-wife is murdered and he is the primary suspect.

Because Masayuki has been hanging out with Yuki all day in his house he doesn’t have much of an alibi. He’s also trying to not get her in trouble with the authorities so he’s very cryptic about everything. Now he may have to spend the rest of his life in jail. Yuki needs some help and so she calls in Kotoko to handle this. Surely the goddess of wisdom can handle such a task right? Well, it won’t be as easy as all that because Kotoko also isn’t sure that this guy is right for her in the first place. Relationships between humans and yokai don’t always go very well after all so she tests them quite a lot.

It’s an engaging mystery in part because there was so much setup. Not having Kotoko or Kuro jump in until later was a good idea. This way we really got to experience Masayuki’s life first and see exactly how everything had gone wrong for him. He makes for a decent main character although obviously I can’t say that the romance was very solid. It’s a rebound no matter how you slice it. Also by coincidence Yuki looks a lot like his ex-wife…so that does not help matters.

As a yokai Yuki’s values are a lot different than a human’s so she doesn’t mind having an affair and teases him a lot. To Masayuki’s defense he never crumbles though and does want to take this very seriously. He passes the tests quite well and doesn’t really lose his cool even when Kotoko is slandering him quite a lot. The guy gets threatened and is already in a rough situation but I’d say he mainly takes it in stride. The story really has everything you could want in one of the In/Spectre cases from Kotoko’s constant lying with false scenarios to building up a pretty unique case.

After that we get a smaller adventure where Rikka gets most of the screen time. She decides to crash at a nice couple’s house and they are glad to have her even if they are a bit nervous. She has a ton of money and seems a little shady. Plus her story about running away from some terrible people sounds concerning and then she leaves as soon as she appeared, only for Kotoko and Kuro to show up. There is a tiny mystery squeezed in at the end but this was really just a chance to see the main villain again and how she can keep up with Kotoko in wits. They really parallel each other quite well even though they can’t stand each other.

Of course Rikka is the big villain of the series so you can’t root for her, whether she’s charismatic or not. Also there’s still the very problematic romance with her and Kuro so you couldn’t let her win for that reason as well. I expect she will continue to bring the main characters a lot of problems over the next few seasons but the dynamic is fun. She’s actively trying to murder Kotoko but the heroine takes this in stride and they still seem to have a lot of begrudging respect for each other.

Now we have the biggest mystery in the season. A wealthy old man hires Kotoko to explain to his relatives that he actually murdered his wife. Here’s the thing…he didn’t. However, he hired a yokai to destroy her and so he wants to take full responsibility before he dies and he wants to do this directly. Lying is what Kotoko does best so she’s up for the task but the only other stipulation is she needs to get the relatives to come up with this theory first rather than just telling them. So she has to subtly lead them down that path which isn’t exactly easy. In addition she will have them rank which death story is the best one and then that will decide who gets the largest part of the inheritance.

Kotoko immediately makes some alterations to this plan but in a nutshell the story is really about the whole family coming up with ideas on how the old man could have murdered her. The official story is she was stabbed in the middle of the night by a stranger so using that as a baseline they have to figure out how to tie it to him. As the saga unfolds we see that most of these relatives were quite shady and he wasn’t exactly the only one who wanted to bump her off. The lady had made quite a few enemies in and out of her family.

It’s actually pretty tragic the more they get into it because she did have her heart in the right place initially. The problem is that she became a pawn for the CEO and then the rest of the family were not bold enough to actually talk and help her out. They never voiced any of their reservations and issues. The fact that they were ready to jump straight into murder actually speaks quite lowly of them to be honest. When that’s your first option then perhaps you were twisted from the get go. So none of these characters are particularly likable aside from a niece who didn’t actually have anything to do with the murder plot. Just about everyone else had some blood on their hands.

This helps the saga last for so many episodes of course because there is twist after twist in each one. Kotoko is good at getting the truth out there by lying enough times. Ultimately it’s got a pretty solid conclusion and you’ll be engaged the whole time. On paper you may wonder how the story can keep your focus as it keeps replaying over and over with new details but they do pull it off rather well.

Finally we end with another one shot mystery. In this one a guy decides to finally turn himself in to the cops for murdering his wife however first he gets called to a café by his friend. Has the friend figured it out? The guy figures if the friend finds out then that works too but either way he will be turning himself in. Kotoko of course ends up getting involved too and makes for a pretty fun distraction while the two guys are eating. You’re constantly wondering what she is even doing there and that mystery is explained by the end.

The end of the episode is surprisingly mean spirited with how things go for the guy but you have to remind yourself that he is by no means a good person. He’s a literal murderer so if anything it’s good that he didn’t get off too easy. Yeah this guy’s going to be in for a lousy time for a very long while but that actually makes a lot of sense and fits the crime. The Supernatural legal system doesn’t bow to the moral setup so he may not have known what he was getting himself into but then he definitely shouldn’t have gotten mixed up in this in the first place. Another really solid case to end things off with.

I actually skipped one mystery in this summary. Which one did I skip? Well that’s a mystery!! Yeah I got a little mystery of my own in there. In the end the show’s cast is fairly small so you should be able to quickly know all of them. Right now there’s really just 3, Kuro, Kotoko, and Rikka. I thought Kuro’s old girlfriend would have returned in this season but I guess that wasn’t to be. I like Kuro and Rikka a lot but Kotoko is definitely the weak link of the 3. Her gimmick of constantly being desperate for Kuro can be a bit iffy and she’s intentionally vulgar at times which the other characters really grill her about.

I know that’s her character and effectively that’s the humor of the subplot but I wouldn’t say it lands. The show is at its best with the mystery angle and isn’t quite able to balance the humor on top of that. Usually I like the dry humor style too so this is really just one of those exceptions. Still it’s not like she’s a Roshi character or anything. She limits her teasing and flirting to Kuro and doesn’t mess with anyone else so I appreciate the loyalty. I’d just say the romance isn’t going anywhere fast.

The soundtrack is decent but a step down from the first season. The new opening isn’t as catchy and the general ost is a bit on the generic side. There’s really just not a whole lot to it. The visuals are okay. I’d hardly call this one of the more high budget shows though. It looks good enough to pass by and that’s really about it. So the show is standing on its plot completely without the technical backdrops to help it out. Fortunately when the core of your show is good then the rest will follow suit but I do think it’d be nice if the show could have looked a bit more solid.

In/Spectre should continue to operate on a consistent level though because the angle is just a lot of fun. I can’t emphasize enough how interesting it is to have a detective who is constantly lying and pulling the wool over everyones’ eyes. It’s very unique and it also does not take away from the fun part of solving the mystery since we usually do get to know the truth. In the cases where we don’t, Kotoko at least has a very good idea of what it was and we just have to fill in some of the blanks which I’m always happy to do anyway.

Overall, In/Spectre has another solid season here. The mysteries are on point and the writing for them is good. At times Kotoko can still be a little too annoying and I can’t say her crude personality does her any favors. Fortunately there isn’t a ton of time for that when making deductions which is still the main purpose of the show after all. The overall story of the series may not have moved a whole lot here but it’s the kind of show that could probably stay in slice of life style for years and that would be fine. There are plenty of supernatural mystery stories to tell after all. I’d definitely recommend this one if you’re looking for a fun mystery series to check out.

Overall 7/10

Den-noh Coil Review

Posted on August 10, 2023 by dreager1

Seems like there’s quite a few ways to spell this anime’s title. I’ve seen it as Deno Coil, Den-noh Coil, Dennou Coil, etc. I suppose they all get to about the same place though. The show’s a slice of life style mainly revolving around a bunch of kids but it doesn’t get as colorful and energetic as you’d need to make this show pop out. Slice of Life titles usually need to be really funny as a comedy or have some kind of really engaging storybeats to keep you in the mix. I think this one suffers from the main kids the most since you wish they were all a bit older to have some more intense plots.

The show follows a bunch of kids who live in a town that is mostly normal except for the digital aspect. See kids all wear these fancy glasses that let them see the digital world now and so they get to see all kinds of monsters and other creatures that aren’t actually around in a physical sense. Still, the old technology is getting dangerously outdated so there are cleaning robots that patrol the streets to destroy the cracks in the system. This means they will also destroy any old creature programs no matter if that animal is a trusted pet or something like that. Characters have to deal with loss, betrayal, and mysteries. There are quite a few characters running around the town after all. Can you trust the government or the kid rebels? The main character Yasako will have to find out because she really just wants to have fun over the summer.

So I would say here the main issue at its core is that the show’s cast just can’t hold up the plot. You won’t be very engaged with what’s going on for most of the adventure because there just isn’t much of a reason for you to be engaged. The kids are messing around in town but for the most part it’s not like the stakes are super high. They may get the glasses confiscated or perhaps or perhaps blasted by the robot but in most cases it doesn’t seem like this would be dangerous. There are definitely some exceptions and we do have a missing persons subplot so things are happening but the main kids aren’t part of the most interesting plots.

The show’s animation style is also not that good which doesn’t help matters. All of the color feels drained away the whole time. It looks more like a mainstream anime type movie than a full anime. The sharp colors are really needed to take this one to the next level or at least to help because it gives you something fun to look at visually. There is a decent track or two in here for the ost though so I’ll give the show props there. On a technical level it’s not really holding its own all that well.

The most brutal character in the show has to be Kyoko though. She’s Yasako’s younger sister and all of her scenes can be hard to watch. She’s young enough where she can barely talk but is always getting into constant trouble. She doesn’t understand the stakes which means that she is always getting in the way as well. The worst episode in the series is easily the one where she is spreading a virus to everyone by kissing them. That episode was cringe and also just pretty gross. Take her out of the series and it immediately gets better. Not saying it becomes a great show overnight or anything like that but it absolutely does improve quite a bit.

Isako is trying to single handily carry the series for the most part but that’s a tall order for anyone. In her plot she’s trying to find her missing brother which is a compelling plot. The darkness of the cyber world is vast and it’s difficult to have any leads with the government keeps closing up the cracks. That’s part of why she ends up being a big hacker because that’s possibly the only way to get to the truth. She quickly takes over the local gang and in general she is a very pro active character doing her best at all times. Definitely should have been the main character if you ask me a she also gives us some actual fight scenes against the robots thanks to her talismans.

Then we have Haraken whose plot is a bit similar in some ways. In this case he’s looking for a friend of his in the digital side. It’s possible that she’s dead but he figures there’s still a part of her out there. He’s not as good at hacking as Isako so it’s a tougher road for him but his aunt works with the government which does give him a foot in the door. It does mean breaking her trust though so it’s a pretty steep penalty. He’s very determined to find the friend and you get it since if there’s any chance that she is alive then he really can’t stop until he finds her. Being stuck in the shadowy digital realm on your own would be rough.

While most of the show takes place in the human world we actually do see what the digital realm looks like at times. There’s also some spooky visuals where we see the shadowy denizens of the digital realm show up to resume their kidnappings. You definitely don’t want to let them make any kind of contact with you or it could be all over. Of course if you take the glasses off then you’re usually in a better spot but sometimes ignorance is not bliss.

It is always funny when we cut back to the adults who just think that the kids are all really crazy. Without the glasses after all this probably does look like some kind of elaborate prank the whole time. The adults don’t really have time for all of that after all. They’d much rather the kids have some real hobbies and hang out outside. The whole AR tech and digital world is pretty well detailed in the world’s lore so from the adult’s perspective it’s just another tech. People work in the government and close up the holes but as far as the adults are concerned that’s really it. There’s no monsters to worry about or things like that.

At most I’d say the robots running around do seem potentially dangerous. They’re rather large so if they fall on a kid that’s game over. Also the lasers may not deal permanent damage but it still seems like it would be really disconcerting. Maybe if you don’t wear the glasses you wouldn’t notice that you’re turning pixelated but then you probably are still talking about a ton of radiation. Nothing’s perfect of course but yeah the dangers of technology are very real.

Back to the characters, Daichi starts out decently solid as the leader of the gang but once he gets humiliated by Isako he is never the same. The guy loses most of his dignity and spends a lot of the show complaining. Mix in some shipping in the show and he definitely lost his edge real quick. He beats some of the other kids but yeah he’s definitely not going to be very high at all. He might beat Grannie though. She has an organization all about completing small missions and using the digital realm but it felt like she wasn’t super helpful for the important matters. She’d get sidetracked by having to go to the hot springs and such.

Yasako may be the main character but she’s not one of the more interesting people here. She is a nice girl who wants to do the right thing but in a lot of ways that’s the extent of her character. She’s hoping to make some friends and wants to help other characters in their quest but she never really has as much of a personal stake in all of this. If she was a bit bolder and less timid that would have helped her character a whole lot. Give her a little more intensity or hacking skills at least. Since she’s not a hacker like the others she isn’t able to fight much until she at least knows how to throw the talismans.

Speaking of cyber risks, the talismans were clearly super painful to use so if the parents found out about that they would be outlawed real quick. I guess it’s like you’re overloading your brain a bit or if you believe Isako’s explanation it’s like putting a bit of your core code/soul into it. Either way that’s definitely pretty dangerous no matter how you slice it. Fumie is the tough member of the group and even she wasn’t big on that. Fumie was pretty fun for the first half but unfortunately she pretty much gets written out in the second part. It’s not like she moves away or anything but her screentime just got significantly reduced.

It’s too bad since she had a fun personality and helped to at least get Yasako to take more risks. Finally we have Tamako as one of the grownup figures here. It’s always good to have an adult to shed some reason on all of this after all. She may end up getting the company in trouble a lot and tends to lower her guard but it was still good to have a different perspective on this. You can only watch the kids mess around for so long before you need a leadership figure in there…if she really counts as one.

So there’s quite a bit going on here and a lot of characters at the ready. It’s not like the show stays aimless forever. The first half is about showing you the rules of the verse and setting up the plot points before the second half really dives into them. Typically this is a pretty good formula but the problem is that the setup still revolves around the kids and there’s only so much you can do to make that very interesting. As it stands the show was not able to pull that off at least as consistently as it would have needed to in order to make this a really solid show.

I’d like to take the concept and make it more action based. The fact that these guardian robots can shoot lasers already sets up for a nice premise about stopping them when they end up taking over. You could have a robot invasion and the heroes have to try and fight them off. Then you remove the kids as the adult step in. We don’t have to worry about any romances or kids being annoying either. The show will perhaps be less unique but I think it’s worth it to get this into the next level. There was a lot of effort put in here but I’d say it was put into the wrong places.

A slice of life is only as strong as its main cast and by the end you’re not going to love the characters. I had my favorites to be sure but put them in almost any other show and they would be fairly low tier. You need the characters to all pop out more, give them some more interesting traits or again just make them funny. From the poster at the top you can see how the cast is fairly big and yet most of the characters won’t leave much of an impression on you other than that they cause trouble a lot.

Overall, Den-noh Coil is a show that just didn’t have many draws for me. The main characters being kids definitely doesn’t really help since I need the adults and as a slice of life it wasn’t really funny enough to turn the corner either. I think you absolutely need to age the kids up for the show to really have a chance. It doesn’t make any big mistakes either, it just can be boring at times. That’s why I’d say it doesn’t quite get up to the middle level, however it’s not an awful show or anything like that. Naturally if you really enjoy shows about kids hanging out and working together then you may have a good time here. I’d just recommend picking a show with a bit more pop like Megaman NT Warrior.

Overall 4/10

Sengoku Basara: End of Judgement Review

Posted on August 9, 2023 by dreager1

It’s time for the next installment in the Sengoku Basara series. This one’s an interesting addition as it’s basically like an AU remake of season 2 if things had gone down a different path. I’m all up for a different version of things but I would say the show fumbles the ball in a lot of ways compared to that one. Mainly this show doesn’t really have any stakes and the whole build up is basically for an event that we don’t get to see anyway. It’s a fun chance to see all of your favorite characters again for sure but it’s not much more than that.

The series starts by explaining that in this timeline the Devil King was taken out by his right hand man and then in the first episode Hideyoshi is taken out by his right hand man Ieyasu. Ieyasu has decided that Hideyoshi’s vision wasn’t right for the world and so he wants to take the reigns directly. He aims to unite the world through common bonds but Hideyoshi’s other retainer Mitsunari thinks this is nonsense since the whole rebellion was born out of betrayal. Both of these figures start recruiting members to end the Sengoku period. Which side will prevail!? Only time will tell.

Okay so lets talk about the main issue that I mentioned earlier. Just about the whole series here is about both factions recruiting armies to their cause until every major character is on one of the two teams. This takes a whole lot of time but you’re getting hyped for the battles. The problem is that virtually every battle ends in a tie and when someone loses he doesn’t end up getting murdered. That way he can get back up and fight again later. Considering this was during the Sengoku period and during a war you’d expect there to be no prisoners or mercy on either end right? Well that’s not what happens here at all.

I’m not saying you need a heavy body count. The first Sengoku Basara pulled off the stakes super well and while season 2 started to show some cracks in the armor, it still got the stakes across. The problem is that this season feels like it has no stakes because the status quo never truly changes. You could skip to episode 8 or so and everyone’s still switching sides and prepping for the big war. In a way it’s almost like every episode is filler. It’s technically not since things are happening but large-scale it never feels all that important.

Halfway through the season we’re still being introduced to more and more characters. In the final episode Masamune has a line about enjoying an endless party and in a way it felt like a 4th wall break. The war was almost like a party since nobody really wanted to hurt each other by the end and even after the fight you knew that everyone would live. There was no animosity by the end at all to the point where you wonder if the sides actually cared about winning the war. It seems like both sides respected the other one to do the right thing.

Maybe it turned out this way because the big villains were murdered right as the series was starting. It’s not like any of these characters are full on heroes but most of them do want what’s best for the country so in that way it’s not as big a deal if you end up losing the match. It does mean we get a lot of wonky power levels though. Masamune goes from getting completely handled by Mitsunari to winning later on without any real training. My main problem with this is that in the first round that was Masamune at full strength. He hadn’t lost any heart or motivation yet so later on when his head’s cleared it’s not like he should be much stronger at all.

I also don’t buy Ieyasu going down the way that he did. Both he and Mitsunari were portrayed to be way too powerful to go down so quickly. Maybe the show shouldn’t have made them so strong but it’s what made them imposing figures. The ending was not satisfying at all for either character and if anything they felt out of character in the final shot. Sure it’s fun to see them all grinning and ready for action but have they really tossed aside their convictions so easily? Yukimura is heavily skeptical of Ieyasu the whole time but at least the guy was trying.

What I liked about Ieyasu is that he was an active character. He saw Hideyoshi being evil so he took him down. Then to unite the world he was willing to fight for it and never forced anyone to join his cause. He was constantly taking the high road. When Yukimura says how the guy is still taking bonds from people you have to ask what the alternative is. It’s war so of course you are going to end up crushing some dreams and other fighters but you have to fight. Yukimura is active in the war scene and slaughtering thousands of soldiers in every fight so what is his problem with this? It’s like he’s presenting issues but has no solutions to them.

I tend to like Yukimura and he was fun here even if he had a bumpy ride. I would just say that he lost in the battle of ideologies if you ask me. I also thought he looked way too weak here. He finds his confidence by the end but the first half is a bit on the brutal side for him. Masamune doesn’t look great at first either but at least he was in there and trying to fight each time. He just got completely outplayed.

The show also teased the big return of the Devil King and that didn’t go through which was disappointing. That whole plotline ended up being a bit of a waste. It didn’t really go anywhere and by the end it didn’t change anything so that’s why I’d consider it to be an empty plot. Tenkai certainly caused a bit of a stir with the cloud but ultimately it was really temporary so it’s not like it did much beyond that. His plan ends up not seeming to be all that great as a result. He did make for a good villain at least. Without him the stew guy’s army would easily be the worst in the show so he’s lucky to have such a strong fighter around even if he’s super shady and evil.

Finally the show doesn’t really feel like a war show in some aspects because of the power levels issue. Each commander has a full army behind him, we’re talking thousands of fighters. Then you have Masamune constantly riding in with only like 5-6 fighters and they’re holding their own? I get that the commanders are more powerful but what is even the point of the army? Yukimura runs into battle completely alone half the time and the other commanders do this as well. In early seasons they at least try to pretend that the armies are important so you see them fighting a lot but here they tend to vanish. That might be more of a budget reason but it doesn’t work as an in-universe explanation.

Now of course there are positive elements here as well. I’d still give the show a good score after all and I had fun with it. For starters the main cast is solid. I always enjoy Yukimura and Masamune’s conversations after all. There’s a lot of good banter right there and they really are good rivals. Considering that Masamune is the leader of his army while Yukimura is the 2nd in command that was always impressive. It’s why I feel like Yukimura should have been promoted already. He’s long since surpassed Shingen if you ask me even if the show refuses to acknowledge this.

The factions all have real characters with their own personalities and development. So we’ve got a really big cast here and with so many factions it does make for a very engaging premise. If the show was willing to commit to 51 episodes and actually followed through on the plots then it could really be an all star title. Part of the problem is that a bunch of plots don’t really end and others basically go nowhere. If you fix that and have armies gradually getting wiped out then the show could really take advantage of the characters.

While the animation is a serious downgrade from the first two seasons in every metric, it still looks good on its own. The character designs are sharp and filled with a lot of color. The fights when they happen can be fun. We don’t get too many full fights but Ieyasu vs Hideyoshi was definitely good. The show likes to have 2 fights going at the same time so they keep on switching and it works decently well in a dynamic sense. Also the artwork is extremely clean. You can pause the show at any moment and it all looks very crisp and high definition. So the show still had a good budget in that sense. The ost is a little more forgettable than the main series though. I can’t really recall any themes but the opening is pretty good. I definitely had fun with that part at least.

Going back to the characters, Kojuro is still a good right hand man to Masamune. He looks a bit weaker than he ought to be personally but he does get a critical victory when it counts. Meanwhile Yukimura’s right hand man Sasuke looks great here. He got a serious power boost to the point where he puts up a better fight against Ieyasu than Yukimura at first. Being a ninja is definitely no joke so his speed and equipment are really on point. It would be nice to see him get some more action.

I already talked about how awesome Ieyasu is and how he would have been the best ruler of the Sengoku area. Well his right hand man Tadakatsu is not bad either. He’s a good fighter to have in the wings and since he can fly that’s great for travel. It would have been nice if we could have seen some more personality out of him. Then we have Ieyasu’s counterpart Mitsunari who is fighting for revenge the whole time. It’s interesting how the show tries to present him as the hero in all of this by the end. I’m not really sure I buy it since Ieyasu seemed consistently way more heroic throughout the whole show. Sure he did betray Hideyoshi and Mitsunari will never let him forget it but that guy was literally evil. He was going to keep on murdering people and in a war setting there’s not really an alternative to murdering the King when there is no way to put him in his own jail. I suppose Ieyasu does a horrible job of explaining this but in part that’s because Mitsunari is always attacking him.

Additionally Mitsunari’s group is way shadier and he always lets Yoshiitsugu do what he wants in the back-end. On that note Yoshi causes a ton of damage as well and the end of the show tries to frame it as he was just doing this to help Mitsunari so he’s actually not such a bad guy. I don’t buy it at all, he went too far on that note and kept secret the truth of who attacked Chosokabe’s men. In a show where almost everyone lived, that guy actually did lose his whole army. I feel like there was not a good enough punishment for that.

Motonari is the one who murdered them all and he gets away completely by the end. He never got punished or anything, I mean Chosokabe beat him up sure but that’s about it and of course the guy lived. If anyone was to die here it really should have been that guy because he completely deserved it. Eh, definitely should have been harhser.

Chosokabe is a good character though and I like his confidence. He feels a bit like a budget version of Masamune but since he’s a good character I can let that slide. Kanbei is more of a character without a purpose since he’s handcuffed the whole time and never ends up breaking out of it. A bit of a bizarre subplot to be sure. Kenshin and Keiju don’t get to do much here but they’re around and still get their hype as needed. Kasuga gets a real role at least and looks pretty good even if she lets her guard down at one point.

Perhaps the show’s cast was a bit too large which is why they couldn’t properly balance it. At the same time it still depends on how you look at the show. If you view it in the lens that they just wanted to show off all of the characters and have a fun adventure then it makes sense to throw everyone in. Even if the plot doesn’t actually end up ending you still got to see your favorite character throwing out some attacks. In a way maybe with a higher budget this actually could have worked since you would be blinded by the spectacle and wouldn’t mind that nothing was really happening.

Your enjoyment is tied to how much you enjoy the characters and that’s why it’s fortunate that the characters are all very interesting. The story is too and I would say the writing is on point. Lets say there was a mandate that none of the important characters could die, then I’d say they did their best writing around that to still have a pretty big cast and a lot of fun moments anyway. The death fake outs may not hit as hard since you already know the characters will return but the show can still be really dramatic. In some ways the show is at its best when the characters are debating their ideologies and philosophies about what to do in this era of nonstop warfare.

Overall, This show feels like it’s basically just running in circles and by the end nothing was really accomplished. If it was a slice of life title or something then that could be expected but the whole time it seemed to be framing itself as a big action series with an ambitious plot. It may not have succeeded in that way but I still had a good time. I think especially if you go into the show with that mindset then you should be fine. At least you do get the setups each time and there are fun skirmishes all throughout the show. Every character gets a degree of hype and I hope we get more Sengoku Basara adventures but I’d like it to continue from the movie as opposed to this remake timeline.

Overall 6/10

Magia Record Season 2: The Eve of Awakening Review

Posted on August 9, 2023 by dreager1

Madoka finally returns with this season 2! I am a huge fan of the original Madoka Magica show but I was far less impressed with the first Magia Record. Still a pretty good show of course but not great like the original. Well season 2 changes that as it brings the show back up to elite status. It may be very short with under 10 episodes but the action scenes are really intense and the animation budget has never looked better! Every fight is really top tier here and with the introductions/setup taken care of we are able to jump right into the story and battles. It’s easily one of the bigger jumps in quality I’ve seen from a season 1 to season 2.

The show starts with Iroha still missing and possibly dead after the events of the first season. Yachiyo blames herself for what happened to Iroha so she is determined to destroy the Wings of the Magius. Along the way she finds a lead on Iroha which then becomes the top priority. If she can bring Iroha back and stop the evil magical girl organization then balance will finally be restored in the world. Of course this won’t be easy since there are a lot of fighters in the group btu fortunately Yachiyo is one of the more powerful fighters around. Meanwhile Madoka and her crew are coming into town to save Mami so nobody better get in their way!

Lets talk about why this season is such a smashing success. I’ve already touched upon it of course but first up we have the animation. It’s really quite stellar here and you can tell that a whole lot of effort was put behind this one. It’s super flashy and the movement is like Attack on Titan. The characters feel a lot higher tier than usual as a result too. You see just how strong the magical girls are and while it may make you have a tougher time believing that the witches are a threat, it’s a worthy trade off.

In a way the only reason why the witches win is through sheer numbers and lucky shots so that tracks. In a fair fight ultimately the magical girls should usually come out on top. Part of what makes the quest depressing for the characters is how this is a truly never ending fight that just keeps on going forever. That’s where the Wings of the Magius get their ammo after all.

It’s a pretty tempting offer since they claim that they can end this violent cycle once and for all. It’s a rather bold claim of course but you can see how a lot of the characters would buy into this. On paper the plan isn’t even that awful at least as far as drawing all of the witches in to destroy them and then take out Walpurgisnacht. I don’t feel like the characters fully thought this out but that’s addressed later on. I think the show also did not want the group to come off as too sympathetic so they start going off the deep end later on. After all how can you really condone kidnapping magical girls and trapping them in cages? Well the simple answer is that you can’t and that’s when everything starts to fall apart here. The characters who support this or even the ones who ignore it definitely don’t look good in this season.

I always like the idea of fighting other magical girls as opposed to the monsters so I like this direction. The universe is already established in a way where it makes sense that they would fight eventually since there is a limited amount of grief seeds as it is. Now through in this difference in ideology and for the witches you’d think this is their opportunity to cause some damage. Of course they’re mainly mindless so not like they can plan about it. The heroes are lucky in that respect.

The soundtrack is also really solid here. At no point would I say that it surpasses the classic Madoka show or anything like that but it’s still really solid and fits in with the themes so I have no complaints there. I’d say the opening song is better than season 1’s as well. The technical aspects are all really on point here which is a solid foundation for a great show.

Now when it comes to the writing I do have a few problems with the ending although they all stem from one source. Part of the hype for this season was in seeing the original magical girls. Homura, Madoka, and Sayaka get fairly big roles here and Kyouko appears as well. As the originals it’s always fun to see them return since it’s like a crossover. In terms of power levels I’d still put them above the newer fighters but the gap isn’t all that huge. We sadly don’t get the big fight between groups, however their role is still a lot of fun. The main problem is in how they’re written out.

I just don’t buy it. They wouldn’t leave until the situation was resolved and if in the next season Iroha has any problems then the original cast is all to blame. With them around this would be really easy since they add so much firepower to the mix. Also it could have given Mami a chance to redeem herself since she’s the only one that looks pretty bad here. She ends up getting squeezed out of the plot and gets the shaft next to all of the others. You get it since she’s had enough screentime in the verse but a few moments could have helped her.

In the end it feels like an artificial way to amp up the stakes for next time. Well, I’ll take what I can get I suppose. Their scenes are all excellent and it’s part of why the very first episode is already a standout here. I’d also say their role helps support my theory that this all takes place during a failed timeline. We still don’t know exactly when this show takes place, however Walpugisnacht hasn’t appeared yet and Homura hasn’t changed her hairstyle yet. So it’s fair to say this is probably near the middle or maybe second half of Homura’s time travel adventures. I’m thinking she is just letting this play out in case the Wings of the Magius actually succeed.

The fun part in a way is we can assume that this means they existed in all of the timelines so since they never appeared in the main show, Homura must have prevented them from ever meeting Mami and dragging the main cast into this. It’s a pretty fun thought, or you can just say they’re an anomaly to this timeline. I suppose it’s hard to say for sure. One thing I love about the situation is how Homura is basically in new game plus mode. She pretends to be her normal unprepared self and yet she will have moments where the mask breaks and Homura knows something that she shouldn’t. She also comes close to saving the day when needed but holds back in the end when the new heroines show up.

That’s something I’d love to see a whole lot more. Fate abridged does well with this since one character is technically on his second playthrough there but in official works I can’t think of many plots like this. The only other one I can think of off the top of my head is Reverse Flash in the CW Flash show since you gain a lot the second time around when you know all of the twists. So yeah lets get some more Madoka content taking place before the main show so we can see Homura secretly manipulating everyone.

I do have one small negative to end things off with which is that the French magical girl basically does nothing. She randomly decides to leave near the end of the season and just bounces. We never got to see her fight, see why she’s even here in the first place, etc. I have to assume this was all either an elaborate troll moment or her story in the mobile game is extra content that couldn’t be squeezed in. Otherwise it’s just odd how she vanishes, but she was still a good character.

Now back to the positives, I really loved the ending episode and how Tsuruno’s character was handled. You better believe she went back to being the best Magia Record character by the time this was all over. I was definitely nervous since it seemed like she would be missing the entire season but getting a whole episode to herself was great. We got to see into the mind of the strongest and what motivates her. It ends up being one of the more tragic character backstories in Madoka. No her family wasn’t murdered by demons, she didn’t get amnesia or fall into another world. It’s a backstory that hits a lot closer to home because it’s one that’s realistic.

Everyone knew her as the strongest both physically and mentally. Tsuruno would always smile no matter how tough things were and so everyone could look up to her and rely on her. Deep down though it was all a front and the tough part is trying to get out of it. Once you are known in a certain way, how do you ever break the mask? If she were to not be smiling or saving the day then what would her friends think? She had to deal with all of this on her own and she did a great job of it. Short of being mind controlled and broken by witch powers she likely would have kept the mask on long term.

Nobody ever noticed so it’s not like you can ever really blame the other characters. It’s just a complex situation that Tsuruno tried to handle on her own and ultimately she would have broken at some point anyway. They say it’s lonely at the top and this is just one of the many reasons. It’s not like you get a day off when you’re a hero and the one time you decide not to go on a mission is when someone might get bumped off. Definitely a standout episode overall and Tsuruno really shines as a character. I’m not sure if she will get any more fights coming up but I definitely hope so. She is still a cheerful character so I’m sure her smile will be back and this time she won’t have to worry about any pressure or putting up a front.

Iroha’s role may be a bit smaller for the first episode or two but she quickly goes back to being the lead. She’s a fun heroine doing her best in this tough world and like Madoka she is a good inspiration to the others. I’m glad that she can fight as a higher level than the previous lead though so it’s not like this is a full retread or anything like that. The whole dream sequences within her mind and the sister who turned into a stuffed animal was pretty interesting. Definitely a lot to unpack in her mind and it continues the trend of the happiest characters having the most inner demons which I’d say makes sense when you’re always being relied on like that.

It would have been nice to have seen Madoka try to encourage her a bit but they don’t get too much dialogue together. In general by the time both groups meet up there is a lot going on and not much downtime so we don’t get very many conversations on this at all. Still as far as guest star characters go I’m definitely satisfied. Homura and Madoka had the strongest wills from the main 4 group which is to be expected. Sayaka still had a lot of doubts and had to be talked into things.

Kyouko is still more of a loner who talks a good game but tries to help everyone out. She had a fun subplot and looked impressive in the fights although I wish she had gotten more time for action. If you’re a big Kyubei fan I’m afraid that he doesn’t get much at all to do here. We have the mini one that can’t really talk but that’s about it. Also Walpurgisnacht never gets to appear so the new characters should consider themselves lucky. I still say that beast would have easily destroyed the artificial witch. Nobody’s stopping the original juggernaut, it’s known as the most powerful witch in history for a reason after all!

Yachiyo looks really good here throughout. In some ways you could say she is more the main character than Iroha. The season is largely about her trying to avenge Iroha and then later on coming to terms with her past. By the end she’s definitely become a much more secure person since she has overcome all of her demons. I will miss seeing her in a more vengeful state though. Even the villains knew to stay out of her way the whole time or else they would be taken down for the count. She definitely wasn’t dishing out any mercy there.

Then we have Kuroe who made a lot of mistakes in season 1 so she’s trying to make a comeback from there. She is trying hard to make things right so I’ll give her credit there. Unfortunately things still aren’t quite going her way yet. I also think the redemption arc is a bit harder to buy because her mistakes were so extensive. It’s not like she just yelled at Iroha or did something petty like that. She full on joined up with the big villains and was high enough up the food chain where she got to actually see some of the shady stuff they were doing. That’s where it becomes a lot harder to give her a free pass.

The characters who get the shaft from the Magia Record crew are definitely the other friends like Kaede, Rena, Sana, Felicia and Momoko. They’re around of course and get a little action but for the most part they are definitely relegated to just being background support. They don’t have any big character arcs or development left at this point. In a way that’s good, I mean it shows that they are complete characters but I also think this is more of a time constraints kind of situation. With only 8 episodes there is only so much that you can do right?

Finally we have the two big villains Touka and Nemu. Their goals may be good in stopping the whole magical girl situation but it’s definitely fair to say that they fell off the boat a long time ago. Once you start taking down the magical girls that you are supposed to be protecting then you know you’ve gone too far. Nemu at least seems to have some compassion but Touka is always rushing to destroy her enemies right away. If they disagree with her? Time to die. That’s basically her first inclination for every situation which is really not a good thing. We’ll see how things end up with these characters but for now at least I can’t say they are particularly sympathetic.

Season 2 does end with a massive cliffhanger so of course some things will likely be changing by season 3. We’ll see which characters move up and which ones move down. I’m not expecting the original characters to show up this time since they were written out so directly but at the same time you never know. The next season’s short enough to where it’s basically a movie so I’m expecting to jump into the action right away. If the budget’s as good as in this season then we’ll definitely be in for a treat!

Overall, Magic Record definitely continues on a really strong note here. It sets a bar that season 3 is not likely to reach but I’m eager to see how it all goes. The new cast is strong enough where they definitely don’t need the originals to carry them after all. It’s a nice bonus to see them of course but at the end of the day this is still the Magia Record series and you don’t want to forget that. If you haven’t seen this show yet then it’s definitely time to change that. It’s just awesome around the board!

Overall 9/10

Cardfight!! Vanguard will+Dress Season 2 Review

Posted on July 29, 2023 by dreager1

Cardfight returns with another dynamite season! It truly is one of the most legendary comebacks out there and once the Dress franchise is over it will be fun to formally compare this segment of the franchise to the original, G, and then the reboot. While Tohya gets the shaft in this one, we still get a ton of great duels in each episode. The tensions are constantly high and you really feel like the action never stops. Trust me you don’t want to put this series down until you have completed it!

The main plot here follows Yu-Yu, Tohya, and Raika as they travel to America after having won the last big tournament. It should be a fun event where they just test their limits against the most powerful fighters out there but ultimately that’s not all that is in store for them. See, Cardfighters have been vanishing, defecting from their teams, and generally playing a more soulless game. There seems to be a group at the center of all this and it’s become such a big deal that even the government is involve. With Yu-Yu away on business, can his friends back home really defend themselves? They’re definitely going to need to improve their skills if they want to make a difference here.

First off I appreciate that the plot is really going strong here. The villains over at Team Uniformers are done with hiding/biding their time. They’re going straight for the wins now and that makes them quite the sizable threat. This feels like a modern version of the Link Joker story. Sure they may not literally be sealing people’s souls but it’s the same effect as anyone who is defeated quickly drinks the Kool-Aid and stops dueling like themself. It does result in a massive boost of power too which is something you always want in a duel so that makes thing tempting. I would have added some explicit supernatural theme to the mix just because otherwise it’s in an odd middle ground that makes the defeated fighters just look bad.

One loss shouldn’t be enough to make you toss your deck and lifetime of experience away right? That’s where the Link Joker plot had the edge since it was actual magic. The villain group is quite stacked though as their members were already super powerful before they got turned. Now that they have embraced the powers of darkness their abilities have grown even more to an absolutely terrifying degree. At this point the only heroes I would trust to hold their own in a fight would be Yu-Yu, Tohya, Danji, and Raika and even then Raika is already starting to get outmatched. Meanwhile the villains have at least 5 top tier fighters and they’re only getting better.

The season is fairly short as always compared to the good ole days when the seasons were 30+ episodes but they still cover a lot of ground in these 12 episodes. Like I said pretty much every episode has a big duel in it. Additionally each of the characters have their own battle themes here which is nice since it makes the soundtrack a lot more versatile. Plus just about all of the characters have hype rock type themes. Ironically Yu-Yu’s theme is one of the only ones I don’t care for so when he’s dueling it just doesn’t make for a very satisfying climax. Usually your theme plays when you’re about to win after all.

An excellent overall soundtrack is another reason why this season is so good though. Then we have the animation which is quite sharp. I’m not going to say that it is the best in the business or anything like that but it’s very clean, bright, and smooth. You couldn’t ask for much more than that. The battles really pop out at you. Also back to the soundtrack, this one starts to play the ending theme during the last scenes of an episode which is always a great move because it works so well for the cliffhanger. Another great decision there. So now lets talk about the characters.

Yu-Yu has really come a long way over the years. He’s a really confident fighter here who is an undeniable powerhouse. At this point he’s one of the strongest fighters in the verse and while he isn’t unbeatable, I would still choose him to win in a fight against anyone except Tohya. Danji can beat him but Yu-Yu can also win so their battles tend to be more 50/50. Just as important as the power though is the fact that Yu-Yu actually feels like a leader now. He has a Goku moment where he walks in once everyone else has been defeated and you know that things are going to be all right.

His final duel in the season was definitely great and his character got to shine through. I’ll be able to point to him as a great example of a complete character arc. Meanwhile the main heroine Megumi hasn’t had as much to do lately. I think she’s going to need to get a bigger role soon because otherwise Urara has basically replaced her as the main heroine at this point. Megumi can fight well, she just needs more opportunities to get up there.

Tomari actually gets a fairly big duel here. You don’t really expect that things will go great for her but she does tend to step up as one of the senior members of the team when the chips are down so you do have to give her some props there. I don’t find her super impressive power-wise but I like her confidence. She’s a lot more likable than Zakusa who gets his share of big moments but I never end up buying into it. It feels like he always makes the wrong decisions and I would say that this season is no exception. This guy is not leadership material.

It’s sad to say but there isn’t much to talk about for Tohya here. He gets a duel and then basically vanishes for the season. It feels like they are building up for a big revenge match for him but it hasn’t happened yet. It’s a bit odd since he is one of their best bets to take down the villains but as long as it leads up to something soon then it’s fine. He got the biggest duel in both the first and second season so I guess he needed a break this time around.

Danji actually gets to take center stage near the end instead and looks great. I feel like he had lost a lot of hype since the older days where he was the big threat so his fans should be pleased here. As always I do think that he makes a lot of mistakes with his judgment like Zakusa. Danji needs to trust his friends more but he’s finally getting close to that. His intense fighting style with the fire and soccer is always fun to watch. When he brings his A game then he is definitely one of the best fighters.

Masanori is around as always and I will give him credit for being a persistent villain across every season. Seriously this guy never goes down and that is impressive in its own right. That being said, he hasn’t done anything to make himself stand out so by this point he has just become boring. I’m much more interested in every single one of the other villains. For example Jinki is still a compelling main villain. There are times where he seems to be against all of the violence so he is maybe thinking that he is the actual hero in all of this. We’ll have to see, but for the most part he doesn’t need that. In general just being a fun villain is enough here.

Then you have Sophie who is a really powerful villain as well. She went out of her way to humiliate Raika the whole time during their duel. You feel bad for Raika since he tries really hard in this season but just doesn’t look great. His skills have just reached their cap and he needs to either surpass his limits or be satisfied with taking loss after loss. Letting her bark at him without coming up with a counter was certainly a low moment for him. I still like Raika a lot as a more antagonist type character but as a hero it does feel like he immediately got a lot weaker.

Halona hasn’t done a whole lot yet but as the one who trained up Urara we already know that she is powerful. If she had ended up fighting Yu-Yu at the end we could have really seen her skills but that will have to wait for the next season. So far she is a fun villain to have around. Michiru is also a decent villain but since his heart isn’t really in the mission he doesn’t feel as compelling. The guy is basically going through the motions so that he can fight more powerful opponents but that’s about it. He will need a much stronger ambition if he wants to go further.

His abilities are good though and I always like characters who are really invested in the game. It would just be nice if he used those abilities to take the villains on instead of just working for them. He basically admits to Danji that he disagrees with their mission so that makes working for them even worse. Not a good look for him at all. Meanwhile Samuel is a new character here who gets some screen time but ultimately he hasn’t done a ton yet. He is good at pushing the plot along but as a character he’s a bit bland.

Finally there is Urara who in a lot of ways is one of the biggest focuses here. She falls for the lure of power here and then the heroes have to do their best to bring her back to reason. This does make Urara look rather bad for the most part since she was turned so easily. In a way she’s like a mirror looking back into how Yu-Yu used to be. She lacks confidence and so she is very susceptible to what people tell her. Urara doesn’t yet have the confidence to make her own decisions but by the end of the season she should almost be there.

Now what about the Uniformers’ ultimate objective? Well first we do have to admit that their plan has a tangible benefit. They really do make all of their fighters a lot more powerful. I don’t think you can really argue against that. Everyone immediately jumped up by turning the game into a science. The main problem Yu-Yu had with them was how they would force people to duel their way. If they made it purely optional then there wouldn’t really be a problem. Dueling by the book may not be all that fun but winning is a lot of fun so that should help to balance everything out right?

So I don’t think the idea of dueling with a soulless style is in itself a bad thing. Like any other job some may just want the best results. Like in a video game where you play as the broken character instead of your favorite one right? This is no exception and it’s only the pseudo magical element of brainwashing people that was iffy. It would have made for an interesting character arc if Urara decided to still use this style while keeping some of her personal modifications. I don’t think you should completely disregard the things you’ve learned after all. Skills are skills, they can’t be good or bad. It’s just all in how you use them. At the end of the day this show isn’t about the moral debate of how you obtain power but it’s still fun to think about.

Overall, Cardfight is in a really great spot here. This easily could have been used as more of a setup season and instead the show jumped right in for a ton of great action. The pacing here was on point and you can’t go wrong with everything happening here. The duels are insanely entertaining and extremely explosive. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a fun time. It’s very energetic throughout and the cast has grown to the point where there are a lot of likable players in every subplot. The final fight of an arc can go to any number of different people and so you get to try and guess who that will be. I’m definitely hyped to see how this wraps up in the next season or if this saga will keep going on for a while longer.

Overall 9/10

Shaman King Review

Posted on June 25, 2023 by dreager1

Shaman King is one of those Shonen Jump titles that was really big back in the day but then it basically just fell off. So much so that even when we got this big remake of the show that would adapt the whole thing I didn’t see it mentioned much except for when it got mocked on occasion. Well I have to say that this is a title where a lot of people missed the boat on it because it’s amazing! I have a ton of good things to say about this one but in short, it’s a title you should check out.

The show focuses on a kid named Yoh who wants to one day be the Shaman King! He wants to live an easy and carefree life and realizes that becoming the King is the only way to pull this off. After all if someone else becomes the King then it might make things even tougher. Additionally this way he will have the power to protect those close to him so it’s really a win/win when you think about it. He makes friends with a kid named Manta and together they get started on their journey. Along the way they’ll meet many other allies and enemies alike as they go forward to the goal. Can they possibly succeed though?

Most of the show is basically a large tournament of course but before that we do get some pre arc adventures. Right off the bat I’ll say that the animation is really solid here. I enjoyed all of the big battle scenes and seeing the character use their oversouls. The author really had a lot of unique designs and seeing them in motion was definitely cool. The attacks stand out and you always looked forward to the battles.

Then there is the soundtrack which is actually the most impressive part of the show. It’s not often that I say that…in fact it may be the first time. Still, the music here is incredible! It has a lot of rock themes. Agni’s Song is one of the really standout themes and plays during the series’ best moments. You always know something’s about to happen when it starts. Then there’s Anna’s Resolve which is an incredibly emotional song that always fits the scene it plays in. It captures the desperation of each scene really well.

Now the pacing is fast since there’s a whole lot to cover and little time to do it. I remember feeling like it would be impossible to get all of this into one shot without going to 100 episodes or so but somehow they pulled it off. Now granted, I haven’t read the manga in so long that I wouldn’t really notice the fights/scenes that were skipped. I would probably take that a bit more personal if I was super familiar with the content but at least this way I can say as part of the general audience that it’s not super noticeable. You won’t have a bad time feeling like you missed out.

Yoh makes for a fun main character as he’s very unique. I can pretty much guarantee you have not come across many main characters who are as laidback as he is. Yoh takes this to the next level as he always says things will work out no matter what. It might be easy to think he has no drive as a result but I would still say the motivation is there. After all his goal can only be attained by becoming the King so he works hard at it. He just doesn’t stress about how things will play out which is a key distinction. It’s something easier said than done but that I would say is the right approach. Why worry about things that you cannot directly control right?

Like I said it’s really difficult to do that but it actually does make a whole lot of sense. At the end of the day there are times where you can try your best and it just won’t be enough. That’s just life after all. As long as you know you did everything that you could then you shouldn’t sweat the small stuff. That’s really a big theme later on when one fighter appears with abilities that are so good they’re basically unfair. You just have to acknowledge that there was nothing else you could do and then it works out.

The manga goes in a very interesting direction for the ending. It’s definitely not one I would have expected prior to reading the series but I do like it. I wouldn’t want this to become the norm of course but it’s a great way of writing around a powerful villain and not allowing any power level hax at the end. Trust me the author would have been in a tough spot if he wanted to end it traditionally. I would have just had a very hard time buying into it no matter how convincing he tried to be. That just wouldn’t have been easy. Now there are a lot of characters here so lets start diving into them.

Anna is an excellent main heroine who even gets a whole flashback arc to herself. Right away that speaks volumes since you wouldn’t get that kind of attention otherwise. She’s a very tough character who always makes sure that Yoh keeps up with her training. Despite her tough demeanor she always looks out for the side characters as well and protects Tamao as well as the little kids when the villains are around. I really enjoyed the fact that she could hold her own in a fight all the way through to the end of the series. Anna may not fight physically but she knows how to make the most out of her summons.

Manta is the human in the group so he sort of represents the general audience. He doesn’t know anything about spirits or what’s going on here so gradually he begins to learn all of this by hanging out with Yoh. I can’t say I ever ended up liking the character all that much though. Sure he’s nice enough but he can’t really fight and basically ends up being a hostage at times. His father was actually a lot more interesting as he actually used his money to get weapons and results enough so that he could try and threaten Hao. Obviously that doesn’t go so well but I liked the attempt. If Manta used his money more for things like that then that would be awesome.

Ren is a great character as you can probably guess. He’s basically the rival in the series and has the classic arc of starting off evil and then turning good. They really go far with this though and he gets a ton of development beyond that. He tries to own up to the crimes his family has committed and doesn’t waiver. He continues to get stronger and even by the end of the series he still has his confidence. Now yes, he does get completely surpassed by Yoh but that was always going to be inevitable. The fact that he lasted so long was still impressive and I just love rival type characters like this.

I would make the case that he’s one of the more complete rivals in league with characters like Vegeta than the average ones. Meanwhile Horohoro is sort of like the second rival but gets more of the shaft. He tends to be treated more like a joke when the going gets tough which is rough for his fans. He is still very powerful but becomes irrelevant a lot sooner. To make up for this he does have a power up near the end but by then it’s already a bit too late to compete with the others who kept on getting stronger and stronger. At times Horohoro can lose his head but he’s definitely someone that you want in your corner at all times.

Ryu is a character who grew on me a little more in the anime but I still don’t like him much. He’s one of the weaker members of the cast both in terms of personality and strength. He’s always lagging behind but at least he does have the determination to keep on fighting. He definitely has his moments where he stands up and receives a lot of punishment but he’s also just not that funny. His redemption arc was fairly decent but he really could have stood to be cooler. His gimmick of always whining about wanting to be with Lysberg got old fast.

Then you have Faust who is my least favorite member of the group. He tried dissecting Manta and I never forgot that. It’s just too much to come back from. At that point you might as well just make him a villain because that was just completely diabolical. From then on he is supposed to be a hero you can root for but I just couldn’t do it. It may sound crazy but sometimes a single scene is enough to hold you back. From that point you just can’t move forward and that’s what happened here.

Joco is next and he was okay. Also not someone I was a big fan of (I guess I liked the side characters more than the main ones at times) but at least he’s better than Faust. Joco also starts off as a villain but gradually learns to respect human life more and becomes someone who can be handy in a fight. He sacrificed a whole lot for power, a bit too much if you ask me. But temporarily the reward was that he was one of the most powerful characters in the series. He doesn’t get to fight much after that but he leveled up really quickly.

Finally there is Lysberg who is a fun character. He’s desperate for revenge against Hao and won’t stop until he’s taken the guy down. The problem is that like Angel’s grudge against Apocalypse is futile because of the power difference, Lysberg is leagues weaker than Hao. He has no way of enacting revenge which makes him more and more desperate. I actually liked him quite a bit in the show when I didn’t like him much in the manga so his character was handled well. Ultimately he learns to work with his rage instead of letting it control him and that was a really good message to put out there.

Yoh’s father Mikihisa gets a decent role by the end of the series but you do have to wonder where he was the whole time. It’s great that he finally appeared to train Ren and the others but if he was this strong then he should have been helping out in the whole fight against Hao from the start. I didn’t buy any of the excuses for why he was gone the whole time. Nah I just don’t see it, he knew that there was danger and didn’t step up. That’s not something you can really do.

Then of course we have the big gun himself, Hao. Hao is a very interesting villain because in his own way he does believe that what he is doing is just. He murders people all the time and amasses a lot of power but doesn’t see himself as cruel. He just thinks that he is above good and evil. I would say he definitely had a firm evil slant initially but the more he talks with Yoh and friends, the softer he gets. He just doesn’t like humans but quite a few characters in the series don’t and I can see why. Hao easily has one of the most iconic baby scenes in all of anime as he fights and talks tough when he was just born. That’s really impressive and he only gets stronger from there.

He’s a very layered villain and one who doesn’t come off as pretentious. I always looked forward to seeing him show up and dish out the damage. Hao is absolutely a highlight of the whole series and I really enjoyed his brief team up with the heroes. Admittedly you couldn’t take the cliffhanger seriously since the humans were completely doomed but it was a really cool moment anyway. His theme is also one of the most iconic in the series and you’re interested in what he’ll do after the series is over.

Tamao is a character that I never ended up liking all that much. She’s super shy and likes Yoh so you know that she’s doomed the whole time. She has her moments where she tries to get stronger and I do like how Anna is still very friendly with her. Anna still considers Tamao as a friend and on one hand it’s almost tragic for Tamao that Anna doesn’t even regard her as a remote threat but it’s much better than this turning into some kind of triangle which would have been awful. Still, make Tamao tougher and that would have been cool.

Then there’s Ren’s sister Jun who starts off as a villain but also gets better. I still think her dynamic with Pairon can be a little odd considering that her family completely ruined his life but I guess he’s good about moving forward and not letting the past drag him down. Jun doesn’t get a ton of screen time but makes the most of it. Yuan makes for a good villain but he’s a character who lost all his edge once he turned good so I didn’t like him as much after that.

There are a ton of Patch members running around and a lot of them do get a role in the final arc but for the most part Silva’s the only one with a big role. He works well as the mentor figure and I’m glad that at least he was trying to do something about the Hao situation. The others were just going with the flow which is not what you want to see out of the organizers. They should be the ones up in arms trying to do something right? Perhaps that was hoping for too much. Silva ends up delivering with a really good fight and I liked him more in the anime viewing than in the manga.

Then we get to the X Laws which was a really fun group. They made for an excellent third party to the mix and while the power creep may have surpassed them fairly quick, they were memorable. In particular you had their leader Jeanne who had a really high power level and a unique moveset. You don’t want to be her opponent because those attacks looked like they would reallllllly hurt. I would have liked her to have gotten at least one more fight but since her role remained large it worked out.

Next up is Marco who was also a standout. He understands his role as the leader and never misses a beat. He can be harsh in his training but you understand it with the stakes being so high. At the end of the day he’s someone you can trust and by the end of the series he’s surpassing his limits and fighting with the best of them. The guy has a lot of honor and believes in his convictions which makes him a very tough opponent to defeat. There is also Hans who works as a secret weapon of sorts but I wish he could have appeared more. I think he would have been a really good ally to Marco.

The biggest missed opportunity is Sati to be honest. So she’s the leader of the third group of god level fighters. The problem is that this group shows up way too late to the point where you barely get to know any of the characters. They show up when the tournament is already winding down and so we know they’re really tough but you don’t get to see it. It makes the characters feel like empty hype which is no good. Sati for example has a good design and a solid amount of hype. Her first appearance was really good but it’s hard for me to say that I actually like the character because she vanishes so quickly.

Then we have some of the villains here like Opacho. This villain’s a total kid so he never ended up being one of the big ones tbh. I see him more as emotional support for Hao, someone the villain could really trust. I did like how they basically had a family dynamic going there but it would have been more fun if Opacho could have fought at some point. You’re always limited as a villain if you can’t fight.

In contrast Luchist was an excellent fighter and someone who really held his own throughout. His debut appearance left a great impact and his evil angel spirit made for a really cool mecha. In general all of the mechas looked really great but this one really stood out. He’s also a fairly complex character who still kept a lot of his mystery by the end of the series. He’s certainly a villain but a very compelling one and one of the best antagonists in the series.

The BoZ Brothers weren’t quite as hype. Sure they actually held their own against the heroes which was impressive and the music was sort of surreal to see but on the whole I wasn’t big fans of theirs. They weren’t that tough and I never saw them as a threat. They were just around to stir up some trouble. Peyote was a little cooler maybe because of his final scene. It’s sort of like a double edged sword since on one hand it doesn’t make him look too smart but on the other hand he becomes way more memorable that way. I really wasn’t expecting his plot to end the way that it did so that was intense. I guess you really do have to watch out for the quiet ones.

Quick shoutout to Dracula whose role was way small but he had a very memorable design and character moment. That’s about it for him but hey Dracula’s in here….sorta. Bill ends up being more memorable because of the Football motif and the fact that he actually returns for more fights. He’s low key fairly strong, he just showed up at a point in the series where everyone was really strong. Otherwise he would have done a whole lot better in the matches.

Then you have the 3 witches group in Kanna, Marion, and Matilda. They’re a decently fun group although I don’t think I was as big a fan of them as most. They were big enough to get their own spinoff after all which is impressive but they wouldn’t have been my first pick. Ultimately it’s not like they’re super strong either and most of the heroes could take them down rather quickly. Likewise the two kids Redseb and Seyram are heavily carried by their Golem. Without it they would have had a really rough time of it. I did appreciate their revenge subplot though.

Shaman King tackles the whole cycle of violence really well. The kids want to avenge their father after they were attacked by a gang but if they murder the one responsible then that guy’s friends will go after them and it basically won’t end. It’s the tragic case of why it’s so hard to stop the cycle. After all it feels unfair if everyone got to have their revenge except you right? But at the same time someone needs to stop it eventually. Ultimately Yoh is definitely the main voice of reason here as you would expect.

On the spirit end, Amidamaru makes for a good ally. He’s got a good honor code and does his best to make sure that Yoh stays on the straight and narrow. The two of them get along very well and I like the dynamic they have. He feels like someone you can trust! Amidamaru is already a good character from the start so he doesn’t even need a whole character arc.

Meanwhile Bason is similar but I would say he shows the negative quality of how too much loyalty can be a bad thing. For example if Amidamaru disagrees with something he would tell Yoh while Bison follows all of Yoh’s orders without question. There lies the problem though. When you follow all orders without thinking for yourself and that includes criminal acts then you really become part of the problem and that’s no good.

Kororo is a nice spirit who doesn’t talk but is always there for Horohoro. There actually wouldn’t be much to talk about with her but we get a backstory later on that adds a ton of depth to the character. Ultimately I thought that she was really solid. If anything her story is a lot more tragic than what I had been expecting the whole time. For the most part Shaman King is a fairly lighthearted series. It does have its serious moments but not a whole lot of them. This was definitely one of the exceptions.

One main allied spirit I never ended up liking was Tokageroh. At the end of the day he was a villain back in the day and sure he’s mellowed out now but eh….it was never too convincing. He’s just not a very likable guy and you get the feeling that if Ryu ever turned evil again and gave him an order he would just end up following it without question. That’s something I couldn’t say for the others.

Eliza is very memorable because of the past but technically as a spirit she doesn’t do much. I just like the idea of a bond that transcends time and death so she’s still looking out for Faust. I may not like Faust at all but Eliza never did anything wrong and seemed like a good person from the start. Then we have Matamune who in comparison is one of the spirits with the biggest role. I would have liked an extra appearance for him at the end to really tie things together but he was still a lot of fun. Some of his dialogue was a little too cryptic to actually be all that meaningful imo, but at the end of the day he was always helpful. I also liked the fact that he could fight and that he lasted so long without a proper master to give him mana. He was super loyal throughout and always did the right thing even if it meant fighting his friend. It’s part of what made him such a tragic figure.

Then we have the Spirit of Fire who has an awesome design. No real character but that was enough for the shoutout. Personally I would have given the other elements different designs to make them standout though because otherwise they all start to blend together. Likewise the Golem gets a shoutout for looking really cool. I forgot how he had looked from the manga so it was nice seeing him here.

Then for the story arcs I’d say you can mainly divide the series into the pre arc, tournament saga, the Anna flashback, and then the climax of the series. The pre arc does a good job of introducing all of the characters and getting them onto Yoh’s team. In a way even once the tournament starts I still think of it as the pre arc until we’re at the team phase. Still, you get to understand how the spirit fighting works and meet the characters. It’s some of the only times you will get to see Yoh at school chilling out so enjoy the time while you can. It’s paced well so you don’t feel like the series is being held up in the meantime.

Then for the tournament there’s not much to say there beyond the fact that it’s awesome. The fights keep on coming and there are so many different powers and fighters in the ring. It’s really fun to see how they all match up. Towards the end the heroes start to easily clobber their opponents but at least for a while there it was close. In particular once Yoh got to a high level even multiple fighters at once couldn’t phase him. I liked when Yoh was on top like that though, it showed how far he had come.

Tournaments are a great way to increase the stakes and introduce a bunch of characters so that’s something this series took full advantage of. As we neared the end we also entered the big Anna flashback and it was a really good one. We really got to see what she had to endure back in the day and they are some of the most emotional episodes in the series. I would even say Shaman King is one of the rare titles to really understand romance and how to use it effectively. I was definitely proud of how it went and the slowburn style is the way to go. Additionally Anna never loses her fire. She is always ready to defend Yoh and jumps into the fights as needed. Her powerful summoning skills can’t be underestimated. I almost didn’t want to leave the flashback land because it was so good.

Then you get to the climax which was a classic boss rush as the heroes had to keep on climbing through the final tower. It’s a fun arc even if it’s a bit on the shorter side next to the others. While watching you kept thinking that some of the fights were going to have to be rushed because otherwise there were too many enemies and not enough fighters. Considering that, they did a good job of still giving most of the members complete fights that actually went on for a while. The last bit is definitely rushed but otherwise it was still solid. The fight scenes were fun and we got to really see how powerful this group was.

Ultimately there is a classic epilogue involving a timeskip but that part’s less exciting mainly because I don’t really like any of the redesigns. Perhaps I would get used to them someday but they just don’t look very cool. The main characters all had very signature styles about them that worked well within the context of the series but as adults they all just look rather bland. It’s really just not the same.

If the show has any weakness it’s that the humor can be a bit desperate at times. Particularly Tamao’s two spirits who basically show up just for comic relief. They go so over the top you can barely believe what you’re watching. Still, they barely appear so you can easily get by them. Additionally there’s basically no fanservice here which is nice as well. The series is just very tasteful and that fits in with its very calm atmosphere. This is really a very different action anime and it succeeds on so many levels.

Overall, Shaman King was an excellent show. I have to say that I was really impressed all around. It was fun getting back into the Shaman King franchise after this like I quickly went and checked out the sequel as well as some of the spinoffs. The franchise has built up a whole lot of great characters and lore so there is no shortage of content. In a way the sequels might be getting too ambitious but that would be going off into a tangent. Either way I would say to watch this right away. It’s got a good blend of action and emotional moments so there is something here for everyone.

Overall 9/10

Hero Mask Review

Posted on June 25, 2023 by dreager1

It’s time to check on Hero Mask. I actually finished this show several months ago so this review has been on the backburner for a while. Hey better late than never right? In my defense the show has one of the most boring openings I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s lifeless, dull, and does not energize you at all. I quickly listened to it once more while writing this review to see if it would get better and it did not. At least the ending theme is good though. The beginning of the ending is really good and works with the cliffhanger.

Now describing the plot is also pretty fun because there’s a lot going on here. So the show follows a guy named James Blood who is basically a James Bond kind of character. He’s one of the top operatives of the SSC and the only thing keeping him from going higher is the fact that he’s a bit of a hot shot. He’s the kind of guy who will jump into a crowded highway to grab a suspect instead of waiting for the light. He’s always getting into fights and follows his code of justice. Of course that is what makes him a fun character.

Okay so there is a big court case coming up and a witness randomly drops dead in the streets. She had been perfectly healthy so this is rather odd. An attorney named Sarah decides to look into it but seems to now be in danger. The SSC are also looking into this but tend to drag their heels. James’ old enemy from the past seems to have returned to life but he’s wearing a weird mask that is granting him super abilities. In fac these masks are popping up in different places across the city. There seems to be a whole conspiracy going on with these metahumans and how does it all track back to the lady who randomly died? Well you can start with the person she was going to be testifying against as a start but that gets you into a whole corporation which has ties to the government and a big circle of rich people. The close James gets, the more obstacles that get in his way. If he wants to find the truth then he may even have to go up against the SSC itself.

At its core the show is mainly a mystery and there are a ton of moving pieces here. The character cast is fairly big and every character tends to be important in one way or another. As it’s a mystery it’s important to keep all of the characters straight in your head. I’d say this is really like a police thriller type of film and since I just saw the SWAT movie it sinks in even more now in hindsight. In a way the supernatural/sci-fi elements sort of distract from this. Now, I’m always a fan of sci-fi but when you’ve got superpowers too then it’s hard to balance everything.

Let me give you an example because this scene was just so crazy that I couldn’t believe it. One villain decides to attack the SSC headquarters. All right so here’s the thing, they have dozens of armed officers in the building at all times and a lot of security devices. So if a guy threateningly walks in then you’re gonna shoot him right? Well, they hesitate a whole lot and he slaughters all of them. Now granted he was wearing a mask so that gave him some regen plus extra speed and defense. It’s not invincibility since we see people shoot through the defenses with enough time but fine lets say the cops just couldn’t handle this guy.

What’s worse is a few minutes after this the elevator opens up on the 20th (Some random high number anyway) floor and an old man walks out with a big suitcase. The guards know that everyone below has been murdered so they already have their guns out and tell him to freeze. What does he do? He calmly sits down and opens up the suitcase. He then puts on a gas mask. Gee I wonder what he’s trying to do? The guards keep telling him to stop moving and this and that but at that point you have to shoot right?

The scientist is obviously calling their bluff and there’s no point in telling someone to freeze when you have no intention of shooting. That defeats the entire point since it’s the threat behind “Freeze!” that is what gives it power. Long story short the guy pulls out a poison grenade and throws it at the cops, then while they’re coughing he takes out a gun and murders them all. It was one of the worst scenes I’ve ever seen in terms of believability with someone breaking into a building. You can’t tell me that at least one of those officers wouldn’t have had the foresight and reaction times to take this guy down? That was just embarrassing.

At times the villains really get lucky because the heroes just don’t know what they’re doing and it’s pretty tragic. Lets give the heroes a bit more credit instead of just having James have to do all the work here the whole time. Now back to the masks, here’s why I wasn’t a big fan of them. The power structure of the masks didn’t make a lot of sense and also didn’t seem very consistent. So each mask does different things like one got super strength, one got regen, one got super senses, etc. It seems to change based on the mask and fine that’s just how it is. They’re all different like devil fruits. Yet sometimes someone with super speed only moves at fast as an ordinary person, some get exhausted immediately while others don’t, some rewind time but then they don’t. The whole masks thing just seemed like a writing shortcut to get the characters where they needed to go when they needed to be there and that is the definition of a lazy writing shortcut.

There’s a lot of interesting things you could do with the masks but that never happened. Another example of this is near the end of the show in one of the most disappointing scenes. So an old man shows up out of nowhere with mysterious abilities. He seems to be able to sense nearby masks and track them plus possibly have some control over the weather. It’s really vague but that’s why the cliffhanger works. He shows up and approaches two of the other big villains and it’s the confrontation we’ve been waiting for. Well the next episode starts and the guy is apparently powerless as the van gets blown up and he’s basically knocked out. It was one of the most wasted cliffhangers I’ve seen in a long time. Whew that was bad.

That episode actually had gotten me super hyped because it was the most intrigued I’d been about the series up until then. Too bad it couldn’t actually go anywhere. The show really could have pushed harder on its themes and the hype moments and made this a lot more exciting. If I’m watching a mystery thriller it’s so that I can get excited after all. Now I’ve been focusing on the negatives but there are still a lot of positives here so I’ll get to those now. This isn’t a bad show, I’d still call it good but without a whole lot of replay value.

All right so the first positive is that the action scenes here do hold up really well. Particularly James’ fights with Harry are really solid. James fights with his hands while Harry uses his legs and so the fight scenes are fairly original with both of them using their strengths and trying to get the other off balance. Harry is the only one who can go blow for blow with James too which is no small feat. I always looked forward to their battles.

In general I would look forward to all of Harry’s scenes. His subplot was easily the most interesting. His girlfriend got a mysterious ailment and so he’s working with the villains since he was promised that she could be healed. It’s a longshot of course and the villains could always betray him but he decided that at least this way he has a shot and so he went for it. I do think he could have communicated this to James at least and talking things out would have helped. Harry did everything the hard way without a doubt but the fact that he was someone who could actually fight already made him a very interesting character. The series didn’t have many great fighters.

I already talked about James a bit but he’s definitely a really good character. He works well as the lead and while he may not stand out a ton, I always like characters who are ready to break the rules to help someone out. When the SSC starts to become obviously corrupt he doesn’t hesitate in getting off the grid to help a girl out. It’s just who he is and you need someone like that when the people who follow the rules without a second thought tend to miss the forest for the trees.

Sarah makes for a good heroine here. She’s very consistent in her attempts to try to get to the truth. Sarah definitely gets into a lot of danger as a result but I was on board the whole time because she tried doing things the “official” way with the SSC and they kept hiding things anyway so she had to go it on her own. Ultimately she’s the one who manages to crack a pivotal part of the case and so she got her closure. Sarah was definitely a fun character all the way.

Lennox is one of the higher ups in the SSC and gets a fairly big role here. Ultimately he is James’ boss so he is able to make sure to go easy on the lead. This does put him in a tough spot with the higher ups above him though. Ultimately I liked that he made sure to go against their orders when they were being unreasonable like when he turned the tracker off and helped James escape. He definitely made his share of mistakes as well but that was a good moment.

Eddie is the tech guy so he’s not much of a fighter. Unfortunately he did tend to get on my nerves at times because of this. The guy just wasn’t helpful in the field and the one time he went in of course someone died. I always feel like when you’re a genius in a setting that is borderline sci-fi, then you have to invent a lot of great weapons/defenses for yourself. That’s the only way to make sure you are useful in combat.

Geffrey is one of the main evil scientists here and at least I will say that he is determined. Setbacks never seem to get him down for long and he does believe in the masks 100% even once they keep running into problems. He even loses a limb to those things and it doesn’t faze him. Although that scene wasn’t smart because why would you get so close to something like that right?

Grimm was a very intense villain. He was the first one to show up and easily overshadowed everyone else so they probably should have saved him for a bit later on. The guy was super impressive in combat and to be honest James wouldn’t be able to beat him in a normal fight. Fortunately for him the mask had a lot of side effects because otherwise he wouldn’t have lasted long. Grimm having what I can only describe as a supervillain codename also helped to make him memorable.

There were a group of special operatives that worked for the villains who appeared for a few episodes but they didn’t last as long. The tense fight in the apartment building at night worked really well though. That was one of the highlights of the show and I wanted to see more quick fight scenes like that. A good police thriller should have a solid mix of investigation and action after all. It’s only when you merge the two that you get the best product imaginable and I think the action was a bit light here.

Theo is one of the first guys to show up with a mask and he does well. Ultimately he just wants to see his family again which is a noble goal and his abilities are solid. He was put in a tricky spot and had to protect people so you feel bad for him. He’s the kind of character where you figure he’s not going to get a good ending right off the bat. It’s just a general vibe you get but he’s solid enough while he’s around.

Other side characters you have here are Anna and Walter. Anna is someone with a lot of connections who knows a whole lot about what is going on but for the most part doesn’t really give that info out. The heroes try to interrogate her several times but it tends to not go anywhere. Walter meanwhile is one of those guys who keeps on making a ton of bad choices over and over again until they inevitably catch up to him.

Richard is a character who has a flashback saga which may seem completely unrelated for the most part but I was cool with it because it was a very tense flashback. Ultimately he makes sure to square things away in the present and then gets written out of the show. He was a fun character to have around though. Ultimately his leaving opened the door for Douglas though who looks really corrupt and shady from the start.

He makes no attempt to hide this at any point which is kind of funny. He’s just always trying to get in the way and actively murder the suspects. It shows how dangerous it would be to have a villain within the upper ranks of the police because he has a whole lot of knowledge like locations and plans that he could leak at any time. Under him is Alan who is a very by the books guy. He seems decent but of course when your boss is a crook then that’s something you still have to watch out for. As the show goes on Alan gets better but he definitely starts off really rough.

The soundtrack isn’t memorable so the show gets no points there but the visuals could be good at times. Like I said earlier the visuals are great during the fight scenes. That’s absolutely when they stand out. The normal day to day scenes tend to be a bit weaker. This isn’t going to be one of the all timers but it works well enough. The show goes by fairly quick even with a little over 20 episodes.

Ultimately what the show really needed was for the mystery to be a little more engaging. I liked it well enough but it wasn’t exactly keeping me up at night. I still blame the masks for this because while it’s a cool concept, it really disrupts the flow of the whole world that was built. They seem way too overpowered and the heroes are just lucky that they weren’t used more or it would have been all over for them. That’s what really doesn’t work about this whole setup. The fights are good but it’s not like they happen super often either.

Overall, Hero Mask is a good show but not the most interesting or engaging one. There’s a good reason why it took so long to write about this one ~~because I had a big backlog~~ because it’s just not super thrilling. That in no way means its bad but you will forget about it fairly quick. I’d say to check it out if you really enjoy the cop thrillers like this but otherwise you can find better ones. The show does have a super sudden ending though which was something. Not the kind of ending that gives you a lot of closure but I would say there is room to make a sequel here if they ever want too.

Overall 6/10

	lknowledge on The Sword in the Stone Re…
	jhg195 on Sniper Review
	Princess Ichigo Brad… on Ichigo Momomiya vs Sailor…
	dreager1 on Braveheart
	Anonymous on Braveheart
	Anonymous on Tokyo Mew Mew Review

DReager1.com

The Ultimate Fighting/Review Site

Tag Archives: TV Show Review

Gamera Rebirth Review

Pokemon: Path to the Peak Review

Natsume’s Book of Friends Season 3 Review

In/Spectre Season 2 Review

Den-noh Coil Review

Sengoku Basara: End of Judgement Review

Magia Record Season 2: The Eve of Awakening Review

Cardfight!! Vanguard will+Dress Season 2 Review

Shaman King Review

Hero Mask Review

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: