Tag Archives: War

The Elusive Samurai Review

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It’s time for one of those series that takes place in the really old days of constant warfare and strife. It does still have that Shonen boost though so you can expect a whole lot of big fight scenes all the way through. In theory his could have been really good but the author goes too far into trying to get some hyper realism here while at the same time also bringing in weird supernatural elements. Basically if the series could fall into some kind of hole, it did. This title hits every snag possible and definitely ends up being a title that I would not recommend.

The series begins with Tokiyuki’s family being murdered by Takauji. He runs the whole clan out of the village and assumes a position of political power. Tokiyuki aims to get revenge and restore his clan’s honor but it won’t be easy. Takauji isn’t just the most powerful man on the planet, he is also possessed by a literal demon. This demon allows him to break the minds of his opponents and perform a lot of miracles that are not humanly possible. Tokiyuki will need to take a slow burn approach on this, one that will take many years. Even if it takes his whole life, Tokiyuki will never give up!

This title made it all the way to 25 volumes which is really impressive. I should also mention that there are a ton of time skips within the series but the artist goes out of his way to make sure that none of the character designs change. So when you’re binging this visually, you don’t have to worry about the characters constantly changing even if it does mean that it can be easy to forget just how old they are.

I’ve got more negatives than positives for this series so lets go into the good things first. The artwork is pretty good. While it is often used for really explicit visuals that get crazy, the actual quality is really high up. You’re not going to see a whole lot of titles that can keep up with this one in the long term.

I’d also say that the fight scenes can be really solid. Usually they tend to get ruined by going way too far but the initial clashes are always great. There is also a lot of strategy in the battles and the army fights are done well. It may not be on the level of something like Bleach or Kenshin when it comes to the sword fights but on the whole the fights can be good.

Now on the issues, well of course first we have the ultra violence. This series just tries to push the envelope as far as possible to the point of just being super excessive. People die in all kinds of imaginative ways and in this kind of series you’re really hoping that the first blow destroys you. If you live then things are going to get many times worse for you. The constant bloodshed may remind you why the villains have to be stopped but it doesn’t help that Tokiyuki’s group has a lot of crazies as well.

I feel like there is some kind of narrative hidden within the series about how psychos will take advantage of war to legally murder people. It’s the kind of grim plot that would be right up this title’s alley. There are some good characters here but the cast as a whole is definitely one of the weaker ones. Then of course we also have a considerable amount of animal violence. It just keeps on coming and a ton of horses die throughout. It’s part of why I usually shy away from the old war titles because often times the horses are going to be casualties. Definitely ends up being a real downer.

Another issue is the crude visuals here. It’s sort of like crude humor but not really because these scenes are in no way meant to be funny. Instead it just shows you how far Takauji has fallen. His spit has mind control properties within it and this is used several times. There are so many scenes that will just have you gagging here. Yes, we do have the fart bombs from one of the ninja so there is full on crude humor here as well. Mix it all together and this is a title you won’t be forgetting but certainly not for good reasons. You won’t be able to go a volume without something messed up happening.

There’s an audience for this of course like with good ole Chainsawman which always sounds crazy in the worst ways but generally this is definitely going to be a flop for me. Your strengths as a series would have to be absolutely incredible to overcome all of this. Since the setting isn’t really my thing and the title is too down to earth for crazy DBZ style fights, the situation was not exactly in its favor. That said, the series is so messed up that it is hard to picture any change in situation really working to its favor.

Tokiyuki is definitely a weird main character with how much he loves to be chased. The guy gets all excited about it and especially enjoys when the stakes are life and death. I guess you gotta follow your passions and all. By the end of the series he is known as a really good commander and got a lot of big wins. I dare say the ending will end up being disappointing with how it all plays out but the author was more or less trying to follow the plot of the real events. I’d say he just did it with broad strokes.

Tokiyuki also showed some indecision in the series with how he could not pick one heroine. Whenever that happens it definitely makes you shake your head. I know things were different back then but it’s not the biggest consolation that you can have. Even by the end of the series Tokiyuki isn’t the strongest fighter but his speed really comes in handy. He is able to really hold his own just thanks to that attribute. It’s why I always say that speed is so important. I never ended up becoming a big fan of this guy but at least he did have some solid moments in the series.

As for the final boss Takauji, he has a large presence throughout the series. His crazy gimmick is that he likes to pretend to panic and act like a coward when he is secretly at the top of the foodchain. This guy has plans without plans and so the heroes always have to try and keep their guards up. The series gives him a bit of a cop out by the end although there is a qualifier to it so I appreciated that. I certainly didn’t like Takauji even as a villain because he was too all over the place but I can definitely say that I respected his power. You could throw the whole main cast at him and 9 times out of 10 he would defeat them.

They were all normal humans going up against someone who could take on whole armies with his willpower alone. The series wrote itself into a bit of a hole with how strong they made him. Even by the end a lot of plot armor was needed but the series did try here. None of the other villains ever get close to this guy’s level but that’s always how it was going to be. The series really revolves around Tokiyuki and Takauji, with all the side characters doing their best to help out.

Yorishige serves as the mentor role for the lead. He has the ability to see the future and even has vague cosmic powers. This guy really ends up bailing Tokiyuki out of trouble on more than one occasion. Without him, things would have certainly been darker. While he technically misses out on a good chunk of the series, he remained as one of the more memorable characters. Naturally the series couldn’t resist making him a bit weird as well and the jokes there tend to get old quick. This isn’t really a series that is going to leave you laughing the whole time.

Shizuku takes over as the cosmic fighter for the second half of the series. She is in a tough spot though because she is supposed to try and remain emotionless and ready for any challenge. At the same time she fell in love with Tokiyuki so that makes it difficult for her to live up to this. It would have been good if she could have been more honest about her feelings at an earlier point but better late than never. She is one of the supporting characters who actually ended up being fun all the way through.

Nezu is also a solid character and the main muscle of the army. He is a total prodigy who has been able to fight at a high level ever since he was a child. He is fairly young for a good portion of the first arcs after all and only gets stronger from there. His weakness is in his physical strength which makes sense. He has biological limits no matter how skilled his actual swordplay was. This guy just has no real asterisks, no annoying gimmicks that hurt him or anything like that. So that really helped put a feather in his cap.

Ayako is a strong heroine and I mean that quite literally as the series shows her raw power to be downright inhuman. She can be a bit more awkward than some of the other characters but always tries her best. She is another character who likes Tokiyuki which is something she has to deal with while still entering the front lines every time. I thought she was a pretty solid character in the end. Out of the 3 main heroines she would technically be in last but at least it’s fairly relative.

Genba is a thief who helps Tokiyuki quite a lot throughout the series. He always likes to hide his true expertise under a mask of jokes and comedy. A fairly effective strategy if you ask me. That being said, he could get a bit old at times. Usually it feels like he is just buying time for the main characters to get ready. He’s super useful in a war and someone that you want on your team but as a character he is far from being one of the more entertaining ones.

Fubuki has to be one of the more tragic characters. He goes through a whole lot of strife and turmoil at every corner. The poor guy had to be experimented on and basically had his mind broken. Sure he gets to finally be himself at the very end but you wouldn’t want to have to go through that for any price. The villains who messed with even try to have a mini redemption arc. Not to turn good but basically saying “No hard feelings right?”. The whole thing is swept under the rug way too quickly. I did think that he was a really fun character though. The heroes had desperately needed another fighter in the group as well.

Natsu is Genba’s partner in the story. Initially she was a spy for the villain side but finally came around and became one of the better ninja in the group. By the time she joins it is fairly deep into the series though so I wouldn’t be expecting her to be getting a huge role or anything like that. Still, no complaints on this end. I’d say she was one of the stronger supporting characters.

Shina had a really tough time of things as she took on some fierce injuries. Eventually she was able to fight again with the help of some sword legs. It’s hard to imagine just how difficult it would be to walk around like that but she actually managed to pull it off. Her role isn’t super large but she does end up being a fun character as well. Finally we have Mima who join in as one of the main heroines. The fact that she can actually fight is a big W although she naturally gets weaker the instant that she becomes a good guy. It just seems to be something that happens inevitably to characters when they switch sides. She is also forced to share Tokiyuki which is not exactly a great honor. Either you are the only special one or you’re just another one of the allies.

Tadayoshi is Takuji’s brother and ends up being one of the biggest villains. He may not have a demon power at his disposal or a great amount of physical strength in general but makes up for it with intelligence and strategy. He is always doing his best to stay two steps ahead and is the one guy that Takuji actually listens to. Deep down Tadayoshi knows that he could be betrayed at any moment though. His loyalty runs deep in spite of this.

Sadamune is a villain with incredible archery abilities. His eyes also let him see a great deal in an instant. The villains all seem to have super abilities like this but this is probably the most tame one. Yes, being able to see well is really useful but it’s not on the same level as super strength or anything like that. This guy actually had a real large amount of respect for the main character. They may have been enemies but sometimes you just like to find a strong rival.

Interestingly the heroes also had an expert archer in Kitabatake. This guy could definitely hold his own and was a real inspirational figure on the hero side. I can’t say that I abided his methods though. He essentially believed that might makes right. As long as his men were taking their opponents down, it was not a problem that they were all so murderous the whole time. I fundamentally tend to disagree with this even in the context of war. In particular there was one berserker on his team who was always itching to murder people as violently as possible.

You always want to be careful that you aren’t becoming as bad as the villains. Granted, in this series that would be really difficult. You have a horse monster who is super crazy and then Nagao who was basically an emotionless killing machine. The villains had lots of crazies among their roster although surprisingly they didn’t tend to kill each other off too often. Their underlings though? Yeah they tend to dry in droves throughout this series! It is definitely not the kind of position you want to have here because odds are that you won’t survive it. One villain even starts throwing his own minions at the heroes like rockets.

There are more characters but this handles most of the main ones. The series does involve a lot of nonstop battles amidst the war so you’d think that would make it an instant winner. Instead it reminds you why a series still needs to succeed in the fundamentals. If you abandon those then you really don’t have a chance. I will always give the series credit for lasting so long but ultimately it is going to be near the bottom of the Shonen Jump barrel.

Overall, The Elusive Samurai was not the next Kenshin. If you want a good sword series in the modern day then I hear that Kagurabachi is really good. Otherwise you just need to wait until the next Bleach sequel comes out. The anime could elevate this series by toning things down. It seemed like season 1 was content to go hard but some of the stuff in the manga is so intense that you assume it has to be toned down somewhat. I suppose we’ll find out one way or the other as things move forward.

Overall 2/10

War Hunt Review

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This is one of those films that really gets into the nitty gritty of how war can really change a person. The soldiers involved in this war are really brought to the brink with one of them completely cracking. Although the film leaves the door open on if he was already broken before the term even started or if the service just widened the gap here.

The film takes place near the end of the Korean war. They are all hoping for peace but in the meantime the US army is tasked with making sure that they don’t lose any ground and that Korea really feels their muscle. Each day without a peace treaty is supposed to feel painful. The main character here is Loomis and he has been assigned to a new squad. Everything seems normal at first, except for on guy named Endore. He routinely goes outside at night on solo missions and seems a little off. Loomis quickly finds out that he is going around murdering enemy soldiers…but what can he do about this?

Now you may be wondering what the issue is. Well, there’s a big difference between taking down enemy soldiers mid combat vs seeking them out at night for private executions. Especially with the war winding down. Endore even runs around their dead bodies for some kind of weird ritual and the whole thing seems crazy. Unfortunately the only advice Loomis gets is to stay away from Endore. Yeah…that’s not very helpful now is it? It’s not like Loomis is a captain after all so he doesn’t have much power.

Adding onto the previous issues is the fact that he ends up twisting his foot and is out of action for a bit. Loomis completely froze up during his first fire fight and had to be saved by Endore. Things really couldn’t get much worse for the lead. Meanwhile there is a kid named Charlie who shows up by the camp. Loomis tries to be friends with him but Endore gets in the way as he doesn’t want Charlie to be having any fun. He seems to be training him as a future soldier of war.

It’s all a rather grim state of affairs. Even when the war is just about over, you still have more characters dying. It’s a mix of letting their guards down and just the tough luck of war. Until things are actually resolved, there is always going to be some danger. The captain did his best to stress this but it still didn’t result in a perfect outcome. You definitely can’t say that the film was trying to glamorize the war at all.

This movie is fairly quick so it all goes by rather quickly. After all there is only one-two main fights here and most of it is about the characters just trying to survive. At one point the Koreans launch a fairly big offensive where they just start bombing everything. They unleash massive amounts of firepower while Loomis and the other soldiers have to hunker down. It’s a tough mental battle as well because you don’t know when the enemies will run out of ammo and stop firing.

I think this probably would have been enough story to fill in the plot but I suppose adding in the crazy soldier helped to add more explosive drama in. It’s really hard to deal with a villain on your side during war time. There just isn’t any time to worry about that. The captain did good in taking decisive action when he had to. Loomis was yelling at him to stop and all but that was a moment of kill or be killed. I don’t believe there was any time to waver there even if it did result in another death. It was regrettable but his hand was forced at that point.

It just would have been nice if they could have saved the kid as well. I don’t think the orphanage life would have been great but Loomis was right that it would still be worlds better than trying to survive in the middle of nowhere on a war torn path. At least the kid would have had a chance and could have learned how to be a kid after that was stolen away from him. Letting Charlie remain in the wilderness definitely added onto the tragedy of the story. Made this into a full on sad ending rather than being ambiguous.

I was surprised that Loomis didn’t really have a big final scene though. After he froze during the first battle, I kind of thought that he would be the one to land the final shot. Show that he was now ready for what war entailed and that could be the mixed message about how war changes everyone in some way. Instead he was mostly helpless at the end anyway. I know it was a tough moment so I’m not trying to blame him too much but he really never got to step up.

Overall, I would definitely recommend War Hunt. It’s a pretty good film. It’s intense without being exploitive or anything like that. You can understand the grim tone and what has happened to the characters without the movie having to go all out in spoon feeding the answers to you. I would also say that the short length of the movie helps prevent it from dragging on. I don’t think you would have benefitted much from an extra 30 minutes as it would have really just been more detailed moments for the plots you already had at the ready.

Overall 6/10

Vampire in the Garden Review

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It’s time to look at a classic tale of humans vs vampires. This one apparently has quite a story to it but I can’t say that I remember it so well before actually watching the show. At 5 episodes it is quite short so that may add to the effect. I’m not the biggest fan of vampires in general but it’s a solid story. It does end without a whole lot of things being resolved though. In a way it’s like you got to see the main character’s part in it and then you turn the camera off before the inevitable bad ending that is going to happen to most of the cast.

The show starts by showing us the war between humans and vampires. Both sides have taken heavy hits over the years. Most of the humans are extinct and have retreated to a mini city that is protected by a special kind of light that repels the vampires. The vampires have their own mega base where they stay out of range from these weapons. Both sides continue to strike the other but neither have made a decisive blow to end the war as of yet.

Momo is a soldier who has had a tough time with this. She’s not big on violence and the vampires can also be kids and look really unassuming. She is unable to pull the trigger during a pivotal moment which causes shame onto her mother Nobara. Nobara is a high ranking general in the army and doesn’t have time for this kind of distraction. She also finds out that Momo has been hiding some music which is explicitly forbidden to humans. Music is seen as a work of the evil demons. Momo has enough and runs off, only to be taken by the queen of the vampires, Fine. Fine appears to be decent but is she really? The humans mobilize to save Momo while the vampires give chase because they feel that Momo may be corrupting Fine. Is there a way to end this cycle of violence?

I’d say that’s the main theme of the show. Trying to get away from the fact that this war is essentially an eternal one at this point. There will be no true winners or losers, only more bodies added onto the pile. The problem is that when the war involves this many people, it is not easy to stop. Fine essentially says that they should turn their backs on the war but at the same time it will keep on occurring. It’s sort of like closing your eyes to a bad situation. I’m not saying it’s inherently wrong in this context but it’s a short sighted decision. One way or the other, someone is going to win this war and then these two will be hunted again.

Now who is going to win this war? Well, I’m betting it will be the vampires, they just have too many strengths going for them. Yes, the humans have the lights but they aren’t particularly fast and can be evaded. The search towers are extremely lethal but the smaller lights are shown to be survivable. You have to factor in that the vampires can fly, have super strength/speed, and have absolutely incredible durability. They are not going down easily by any means. They will be in the driver’s seat in all the fights. The show tries to make this appear to be relatively equal but I just don’t see it playing out that way.

You can also see why the vampires are wary about Momo. See, this same situation happened to Fine earlier. There was another human girl who looked like Momo and things didn’t end well. The anime slowly peels back the cover on what happened in the previous tragedy but it makes the whole situation a lot clearer. Fine just seems to be walking into a trap from the perspective of all the other vampires. In particular, Allegro is someone who cares a lot for Fine’s safety and decides to take things into his own hands.

He’s a very loyal vampire to be sure. He also points out that as the queen, Fine does have a lot of responsibility here. She can’t just be shirking her responsibilities all the time. In a way she should be using her role to try to change things instead of escaping. Yeah it would absolutely be a lot tougher but it’s still an option for her with how much power she has. Ultimately things don’t go very well for Allegro at all but he ends up being sympathetic.

I liked Fine but she definitely had her faults with trying to run away and all. It was nice to see her fighting and the show actually gave a good explanation for why she couldn’t just absolutely crush everyone in her way. The fact that she refused to drink blood meant that she was constantly in a weakened state. This completely affected her fighting ability and why wouldn’t it right? So that made a lot of sense and I thought it was handled really well. She also helped Momo to escape her shell.

At first Momo was the kind of person who would just put her head down and accept whatever order she was given. After that, Momo would finally speak back and do well. I didn’t like Momo quite as much as Fine. They had similar character arcs in a way but the problem is that Momo was a more naive version of Fine. When they first made it to the sanctuary, Fine immediately knew that something was wrong while Momo was clouded by what she hoped to see. In the end Momo is a child so it makes sense that she would be easier to fool but it would have been really nice if she could have looked a little better in the meantime.

I think this is where the short length hurts a bit. If it had gone on longer, I think we would have had more scenes of Momo protecting Fine, the way that Fine protected her. We saw this briefly when Momo was forced to fight and it would have definitely continued into the next episodes. A dynamic like this is perfect when we really see both characters risking their lives and doing their best to protect the others. It’s a dynamic that I really enjoy and Fine absolutely did her part. She put her life on the line many times. If you are going to make the selfish move of ditching the world to protect each other, then you need a lot of scenes to really sell that. Even just one or two more episodes of the two of them on the run together would have been nice.

As for Nobara, well she doesn’t handle things very well at all. She should be upset with Momo for putting her in a tough spot but she could have more effectively gotten Momo on her side with words. Instead Nobara constantly lashed out and that’s not the right way to brainwash someone. Nobara took too long to really understand exactly what her main goal was. Is it to lead the humans or to protect her daughter? Unfortunately there was not really a way to do both. I think we could have gotten a bit more out of Nobara but she worked as an intense antagonist.

Then we have Kudo who ends up stealing the show a lot. He’s Momo’s uncle and the guy can really fight with his sword. He casually destroys vampires and also holds his own with Fine. It shouldn’t be possible for an ordinary human to be defeating vampires in single combat and yet he pulls it off. This guy has clearly been training for a long time and has more street smarts than the other humans. He has his own tragic backstory which partially explains this.

Kudo is focused and has a chip on his shoulder. That’s a huge red flag for any opponent going up against him. Life is not something you can be assured of having by the time you’re done with that fight. Kudo is the best character in the series without a doubt. He may not really be on the right side but it’s easy to see how he ended up where he is due to the previous events.

You’ll probably notice that I’ve referenced past trauma for a lot of the characters. Well, that is a common element among most of them in this show. Momo is the only one entering the conflict fresh. The others have all already had negative encounters with the other side that has turned them into who they are now. It all goes back to that classic cycle of violence. It’s why the war can’t be ended quite so easily.

The animation is pretty good. I don’t consider it to be anything high end but the show works well and I don’t have any real issues here. It’s all pretty flashy and the characters move well. Action isn’t the highest genre in this adventure but there is enough of it where I’m glad that the show looks good. The soundtrack is a bit on the weaker side. Since music is part of the whole divide, we don’t have a lot of it. Fine tries to teach Momo a song and it’s okay but when you exit the show you won’t have heard any real catchy tunes. I’m also mixed on music being something that was left for the vampires. Shouldn’t the humans use that either as a means to trap the vampires or as a way to take some power back? Just letting the vampires keep it seems like a surrender to me.

For a vampire show it mainly avoids a lot of the blood sucking. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than the average vampire type product. It can get a little violent but never extensively so. I think this would be a fairly safe anime to recommend to folks. It doesn’t have a ton of replay value though so it’s not one that you are likely to go back to. Enjoy it for the initial run and then keep on moving to the next thing. That’s the easiest way to go.

Overall, The show covers a good amount of ground in 5 episodes. It has a happy ending on the surface but you can’t help but feel that it is the calm before the storm. The war will never stop until one side is destroyed, no matter how many small communities appear that try to surpass this. They will all likely end up like the first sanctuary at best. I would have liked to have focused more on the war itself but that was clearly not the focus for this show. You’re going to be here for the drama and the show is written well. It does feel a little confined within the 5 episodes where there are things that could have been more fleshed out but it should satisfy you.

Overall 6/10

Megaman Star Force Tribe Review

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It’s been a long while since I got to check out a Star Force title so it was nice to be able to read this one. The oneshot has a pretty interesting angle to it but the story is ultimately too short to take full advantage. It’s a pretty good title but it definitely left a lot of meat on the bone and at times the tone shifts could be a bit jarring. If you thought some characters went easy on Eren for massacring millions of people in Attack on Titan, get ready for how the Mega crew handle this crisis!

The story begins with a flashback as the narrator explains how there was once a tribe of Megamen. They all lived in peace and harmony until Bly showed up. He massacred all of them and so the tribe was no more. None of the Mega Men could stand up against him and why did he destroy them all? To prove his own power! Yes, Bly simply wants a worthy challenge and will destroy everyone in his way. In the present we find out that one Mega Man survived, his name is Berserk and he intends to avenge his fallen comrades. Consumed by vengeance, he marches on to Bly’s castle.

This would actually be the perfect story for one of those old school 2D beat em ups. Berserk really isn’t holding back and the way he is drawn makes the guy look constantly psychotic. It’s pretty fun to have a main character like that and since his character’s revenge is portrayed as really justified, you don’t have to have any reservations about rooting for him. Stopping Bly is important because the guy will never stop murdering his opponents to achieve true power.

Alas, this probably seemed a bit too dark to the editors so very quickly we run into a “Last Kryptonian”/”Last Saiyan” kind of angle. Turned out other Mega Men survived the purge. One of them works for Bly now. He’s not mind controlled or anything, he just figures there is no way to fight back….or he might have a plan. Either way, Berserk has to prove himself and show why he was always the most powerful. I like the little detail that each Mega Man is based on a different form from within the Star Force games. The main 3 are naturally the 3 main forms from the second video game.

Where the tone problems come from is how the characters will goof off during battle. Now you may say this is just a normal Shonen thing but it’s just a bit overdone here. Think about super exaggerated facial expressions and things like that. It can be jarring with how suddenly it happens and this also impacts the story. For example, we actually get a comedic moment with Bly towards the end and then everyone’s joking around as if he didn’t just murder a ton of people. It should just be way too personal for all of that.

Additionally, the manga gets clearly rushed as we are given a traditional plot of 8 bosses who are protecting each floor. Then suddenly Bly shows up and one shots 4 of them because he just couldn’t wait any longer. Yeah I can always enjoy a good subversion but this felt more like the series had to suddenly end. We don’t even get to see the Tribe King form all that much as a result. It does get a lot of respect as being the most powerful form though so that was nice to see.

I also thought Bly was generally a really solid villain as you’d expect. He’s very powerful and is absolutely no nonsense when it comes to battle. He doesn’t get a ton of screentime due to the length of the series but each of his scenes are pretty good. The only other villain with a good amount of screentime is the evil magician but he’s more played for laughs. The guy isn’t a great fighter and has to rely on cheap tricks to stay in the game. He’s not much of a challenge to Berserk.

Berserk makes for a pretty good main character. I liked that he was so determined and wasn’t going to give up, even if it meant being outnumbered and having to go up against a ton of fighters. He was absolutely not going to hold back. He also didn’t fall for the whole “You can’t attack your allies!” strategy that the magician pulled and just snapped some sense into the other Mega Man. You can’t afford to be defeated in this kind of situation and it’s why I’m always annoyed when any hero fall for that. There’s a time and a place for mercy and this isn’t it.

While I enjoyed the intensity of the art, it was a bit rough at times. Almost like it was trying too hard to look intense and at times it just backfired instead. It was still clear enough so I enjoyed it but it’s a far cry from the NT Warrior or Gigamix titles. Megaman Starforce always felt like it got a bit of the shaft next to the other Mega series so either way I was glad to see another manga for it. It technically got more content than I give it credit for with 2 anime, 3 games, and multiple manga but it still felt like there was more that could have happened here.

Overall, Mega Man Star Force Tribe was a pretty good manga. There is only so much you can do in one volume after all. I liked the idea of a whole tribe filled with Mega Man but it does raise some questions on how they could all be defeated so easily. Were most of them just super weak or something? Even by the end, while it’s clear that Bly is stronger than any individual Mega Man, it wasn’t so much of a gap that you could picture him eating a ton of them. I guess you had the element of surprise and all but that’s an area where a longer series would have been able to flesh things out more. One volume titles always tend to be a bit of a tease but it’s fun to theory craft how things could have gone on your own. If you’re a Mega Man fan then I definitely recommend checking this one out!

Overall 7/10

Braveheart

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This write-up below is based on the TV-14 version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a write-up for the unedited version of the film would be more negative

It’s time for one of those old war time epics. Get ready for 3 hours of violence and armies colliding. It’s definitely not my kind of film but it’s tough to do this kind of title in general since I’m not a big fan of the old days and wars usually aren’t my thing either. So mix these in together along with max edginess and it comes as no surprise that this would not be one of my top recommendations. If you aren’t too familiar with the war then this is a decent way to learn about it although you might also want to check out a book on the subject.

The film starts by showing us how England violently captured Scotland and began to put barbaric laws on them. They did their best to completely break their spirits and kept on murdering all of the greatest warriors. Well, one day they murder William’s wife and so he decides to finally fight back. He gets some people together and destroys a bunch of soldiers. After that he begins to win more and more fights to the point where a war may actually be something he can pursue. It won’t be easy as they are extremely outnumbered but if he keeps on chipping away then at least he will be closer to a free Scotland.

The movie’s length certainly allows it to build up a lot of the characters over time and then also set you up for betrayals. It’s the kind of movie where you really can’t trust anyone. Most people can be bought for some price or threatened with something or someone that they value more than their life. It’s not enough to just assume your friends will be with you at all times. Then Scotland itself isn’t 100% united either. You have a bunch of characters all with their own goals and ambitions. Some think that they should stop fighting while they are ahead and cut a deal, others want to make a play for power, etc. It makes things really tough on William since he has to deal with drama on two fronts.

Additionally, England made clear in the opening scene that they could not be trusted. So, it sounds like a really bad idea to William when England asks for peace and some people actually entertain it. It shows that some people just don’t learn and will keep on falling for the same tricks over and over again. Not a very impressive moment there. Still, they press on and keep fighting over and over in all of the battles that appear.

The movie is pretty direct about what it’s going for here. You’re going to have loads and loads of fights and it’s going to be very violent. A lot of films at least try to spare the horse but unfortunately not this one. There are a lot of them getting stabbed and murdered amidst all the fighting. The animal violence is through the roof here and of course so is the human violence. It’s all very graphic and detailed, then you’ve got the sheer volume of it which is another story as well. It all adds up to a rather relentless film.

Film based on real life also don’t tend to be able to give you a super happy ending either since that’s not how things usually go. There will be a whole lot of sacrifice and setbacks. Often times the main player doesn’t get to see the ending himself either. This film is no exception although it tries to make the ending as light as possible. It’s a cold comfort to those who are already in the grave but at least it’s something.

I’d say the only way to save a film like this would have been to have cut out a lot of the details. We don’t need to see every grisly death or see every barbaric law placed on the Scottish people. It certainly sets up the rage that they felt but that kind of negative feedback loop doesn’t make for a very fun viewing experience. This is the kind of film that doesn’t have very many happy moments at all since they all inevitably get tainted by the scenes that will be following them shortly afterwards. Death is always right around the corner here.

Although if you play a lot of Fire Emblem, you will have a good time recognizing all of the war terms. In those games you always have to decide where to carefully place your archers, infantry, and calvary. The movie also deals a lot with tactics and that is usually where the Scottish people had the big edge. They were able to outmaneuver the big armies and their endless supply of men with really good strategies. In a war, strategy is absolutely key on any battlefield. A single mistake will cost a whole lot of troops.

Overall, If you are definitely okay with all of the crazy violence here then you might like Braveheart. After all, that is 90% of what’s going on in this film anyway. If you are not big on violence, well then you’re probably watching the wrong film. History is often dark and violent. So many crazy things went on that it can be hard to fathom. At the same time, that can be said of the current days as well. There is always a lot going on around the world here as well. Not a minute goes by on Earth without a tragedy going on and watching this film gives you a way to see into some of that.

Crimson Tide Review

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

It’s time for a film about war time situations and how it can be tough to agree on a proper plan of action. The stakes have never been higher for any of the characters here and it makes for a really suspenseful watch. The story and characters are both really good and the film moves forward at a really good pace. I didn’t really have any major issues with it and was invested the whole way through.

The film starts out by explaining that a Russian extremist has taken ahold of some nuclear facilities and is threatening to fire them off if he is provoked. Captain Frank is told to assemble his troops and go underwater to set up counter measures. If ordered, he is to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike at the enemy. He picks Ron as his second in command and they head underwater. The big problem here is that communication gets knocked out early on after an order is given to attack based on certain conditions. When the conditions are met, Frank is ready to attack but Ron wants to find out more information. This threatens to tear the unity of the ship’s crew apart. What can they do about this?

The problem with a disagreement like this is that neither party is likely to back down. Too many lives hang in the balance and many will die if either one is wrong. Frank’s point is that they already have their orders and the fact that they cannot receive new ones does not mean that they abandon the old ones. Every second they wait is a second that something bad could be happening on the outside. It’s imperative that they take out Russia as soon as possible. On Ron’s side, if they attack now and the threat has already been averted, then they will be triggering a world war for no reason.

For me I would definitely side with Frank here. You have to go with the preemptive strike. It’s the whole reason you’re out here and the stakes are too high to stand back. So while he takes some rather drastic steps towards this end, they were completely justified. You just have to do this if you believe yourself to be correct. You’ll have to watch the film to see how it plays out but it’s a decision where hindsight can’t factor into it. So you have to choose a side and then just proceed with no regrets.

I imagine there will be a ton of hard feelings between the crew long after the events of the film have ended. There is quite a bit of violence here after all and that’s something you never really forget. No matter what the cause was, if you’re attacked or pushed around then you’re gonna remember it. The film develops a few of the side characters who each have to take a side by the end. One of them in particular is rather wishy washy with how he picks his sides but everyone else picks a side and sticks to it.

It also shows how easy it could be for a revolt to happen within a ship because there are so many people there with their own tasks that you can’t possibly keep track of them all. So if one guy is missing you probably won’t notice and by the time you notice 8 guys have left their posts, they’ll be in front of you with guns. You’re also completely stuck underwater so there is absolutely no escape. It has to be the scariest part of being in a submarine. I don’t even like being in a train that goes underwater for that same reason. If something happens then you’re basically doomed.

While I don’t tend to love war films, I do really like submarine stories and so that part of the balance won out. This is really a thinking man’s film where the thriller elements are in the strategy. Yes, there are some real fights here like with the enemy subs but this is still more about each character’s ideology. The top two certainly had very different ways of thinking which appears in the film right from the start. The contrast is set up really well for when the main disagreement happens.

The film does a good job of not making either one of the characters look insane either. You could probably make the case that it is leaning towards Ron as the main character here but it’s not too heavy handed. You are still able to make your decision on who you feel was right in this case. A weaker film would have definitely been throwing in not so subtle jabs the whole time.

Apparently a sequel is being worked on so it’ll be interesting to see how that one plays out. I imagine that the story will be a whole lot different for the next one. A sequel for a film like this is always going to either be hit or miss because the story doesn’t automatically lend itself to a sequel and if you don’t have too many returning characters, it will feel like they’re just borrowing the title for money. Well, we’ll come to that bridge when it happens but it will definitely be difficult to surpass this film.

Overall, Crimson Tide is a very good film. The writing is really solid and the situation feels very realistic. You never know how someone will react when a situation like this pops up and even close friends have to end up going at it. You can have as many plans and procedures as you want but when the situation actually happens, people aren’t necessarily going to listen to what is said in the book. They’re going to do what they think is right at the time and you just have to hope that it is close enough.

Overall 7/10

Black Hawk Down

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

Black Hawk Down is definitely a really intense film. Certainly one that isn’t trying to hold back on your account. The war and its events are not ones that I’m particularly familiar with. This was definitely back before I was really even slightly keeping track of such things. Of course you can still get what is happening really quickly because a lot of wars have very similar motivations and reasons for starting. There will always be serious disagreements across countries and reasons for war, as unfortunate as that might be.

The film mainly takes place in Somalia where a great civil war has started. There is a huge famine so right now you have hundreds of thousands of people dying on both sides which has only increased the bitterness across the board. The United Nations attempted to quiet things down but as soon as the U.S. Marines left then things went crazy again. So now the U.S. is returning to shut everything down but what should have been a 2 week mission has turned into something far greater. With Washington losing patience, the elite soldiers will have to take more drastic measures to assassinate the head of the most violent gang. Can they pull this off?

During the course of the movie, some of the soldiers begin to have some doubts about the mission. Are they really on the right side of this battle and should they be playing the role of the world’s police here? Often times you are not going to get a whole lot of gratitude from people after having served the country which is definitely disheartening. You also have to trust that the intel you are getting is accurate and that you are not fighting on the wrong side here. If you are, then you’re really in trouble.

The film mainly takes the stance that somebody has to put an end to the violence and since America has the means to do so, it’s up to them. I generally do agree with that. It’s hard to just overlook what is going on around the world if you can help it but obviously real life’s not like a video game. When you step in to interfere in any foreign land then you are opening a huge can of worms. It’s a can you should open but it all comes down to execution and being careful not to overextend yourself. In this film the U.S. forces are really put in a very difficult position.

As the title suggests, everything goes wrong once one of the Black Hawks goes down. It triggers a whole lot of events and more lost lives in trying to reclaim the situation. The troops are in heavy enemy territory after all and these guys are not afraid to fight dirty. After a certain point you have to basically assume that everyone walking towards you is an enemy and must be taken down. There are no real exceptions here and you also have to be on the lookout for traps. If you are about to lose, you cannot let yourself be captured alive because that will end up leading you to a much worse fate. For one character I expected the worst but surprisingly he pulled though.

The movie definitely is very dark though so you can expect a whole lot of violence. You really see some very deep wounds across the characters here and one character in particular is beaten really badly. With large scale destruction like this there aren’t really any winners either. You see just how many buildings are blown up and there is a very large death count by the end. Even for the survivors you have to assume there will be some very strong cases of PTSD coming out of this. War always has significant casualties.

Since a great chunk of the movie is the large operation to take down the powerful leaders, there isn’t a lot of time for character development or anything like that. You’ll generally know who each of the characters are but that’s about it. The film tries to add a bit of levity amidst the nonstop doom and gloom with a subplot of two soldiers who were seemingly left behind. They’re trying to catch up to the rest of the group and it’s definitely not an easy adventure for them. One of them is basically deaf by the end. I appreciated the film trying to lighten the mood but to an extent that’s basically an impossible job with this kind of movie due to just how serious the subject matter is.

It’s just crazy dark and even when something violent isn’t happening for a change, you can feel the tension in the air and know that something is about to happen. The film does have a fairly large beginning to set things up so you can stay relaxed for that part. I wouldn’t have minded if the whole film was basically setup since that tends to be the best part. Once they are on the field then things get crazy. The soldiers are also at a disadvantage from the start since they have to follow the proper rules of engagement and fight fair. The enemies have homefield here and tons of people who are eager to fight. Their sheer numbers advantage is crazy high, particularly since the U.S. is completely alone out here except for some backup which only helps out super reluctantly at the very end. Even then they left the soldiers behind to get picked off one by one.

Overall, If you really like war films then I imagine you will enjoy this one as well. It’s definitely very long so the film is able to include all of the details that it wants to. At the same time, it is rather unrelenting and you’re not going to be having a lot of fun with this film. It’s just not that kind of film and for me personally, I like happy movies. They add a little pep to your step which I really appreciate. Of course this film can also work as an informative watch although I would argue in that case it’ll always be easier to just read the Wikipedia article or something like that.

My Hero Academia Season 7 Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 9/10

Kelly’s Heroes

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Kelly’s Heroes is one of those films that threatens to overstay its welcome with the long runtime but ends up being solid all around. It’s certainly better than a good deal of the military/war films that I’ve seen. The comedy really helps to cement itself as a good all around title and it still has time for the serious action scenes as well. This would be tough for almost any title to match I’d say.

The movie begins with Kelly escaping the Nazi base with one of their commanders. He finds out from this guy that there is a huge shipment of 14,000 gold bars that went into a nearby town. The town is significantly behind enemy lines but Kelly smells a huge pay day. So he rounds up a lot of his pals from the army to go and get the gold. Not a whole lot mind you, they want to keep this as a tight operation but a guy called Oddball overhears the plan. He insists on coming along and considering that he has 3 tanks at the ready, Kelly figures it will be a good idea to let him in. So they begin their adventure deep into enemy lines. Can they pull this off?

It’s pretty easy to see why the characters are all super stoked about this though. As one of them says, they face this kind of danger every day for only $50 per day. Well now they can risk their lives for life altering amounts of money. Not a bad deal you’d have to admit. Of course it also doesn’t take away from this being a very difficult mission. So there is a body count and not everyone makes it through. The deaths are taken pretty seriously and the film is able to blend the two genres well. When a character goes down, the cast have a moment of silence before going back to the yelling and bickering.

Kelly makes for a really good main character. You can’t picture anyone else being able to contain this many personalities running around in the same room. They would just completely overwhelm a lesser character but they aren’t going to be pushing Kelly around. Early on it takes a lot of convincing for his boss to get in on this deal and it was only the fact that Kelly was fully prepared to go along without the commander that it forced him into this. The cast for the movie is also impressively large. There are a ton of moving pieces here with different plots that you have to keep track of at once.

Oddball is probably the biggest character next to Kelly. That guy is commanding his own share of troops and while his leadership style is considerably different, he gets the job done as needed. The guy always sounds rather out of it which is part of the appeal. I probably still wouldn’t trust him with a job no matter how many times it turns out well though. The guy has exceptionally good luck which is really handy to have out on the field but you are always worried about when it will run out. You just know that it’ll run out at the absolute worst moment.

I also liked the head general who was at home minding his own business until he heard that the main characters were so deep into enemy territory. He woke up real quick and decided to join them. The guy basically treated the whole thing like a big ball game. It may not be the most responsible way to view things and it was pretty clear that he wouldn’t be much good in a fight but I at least liked the enthusiasm. At the very least he was going to award them all and wasn’t some phony. Him enjoying the celebrations and everything is just the price that the others have to pay for this.

A good part of the film’s appeal is really in all of the banter between the characters and that definitely speaks to the solid writing of the movie. All of the characters tend to bounce off of each other pretty well. It doesn’t mean that everyone is likable but it does mean that you enjoy all of the conversations. The characters really aren’t afraid to get in each other’s faces and yell a lot. They’ve all got big personalities after all but they also are able to get together as a group against the enemy as needed. There is never a moment where they mix up what they want to do with what they need to do.

That’s probably the toughest part to get right for a title like this. The ending is also pretty satisfying. It may get rough for one of the characters but for the most part all of the others get a good resolution. I tend to enjoy heist films and hadn’t seen a wartime one like this before. After watching it, I would be down for more in this genre. It’s probably still a genre that will be best in city type environments but this one showed that war torn areas can work as well. That’s another pretty strong feather in the film’s cap. I typically don’t even enjoy the war setting as a backdrop but this one managed to make it work better than I would have guessed. It’s not over the top muddy and gruesome or anything like that. It’s no summer picnic but it doesn’t get in the way of the story or have me waiting for them to hit up the big cities.

Overall, Kelly’s Heroes is a pretty fun film. A lot of the humor was really well timed and the action was good. There is a lot going on here and that’s a good thing because of how long the film is. I do think they probably could have shaved off 20 minutes or so though. You can feel the film’s length towards the end with the big climax and whenever you can feel the length like that, you know that they are cutting it super close. As long as you enjoy a good laugh then you should watch this one. It’s very rare to see a war movie that is just having a good time like this so you really need to savor that feeling.

Operation Crossbow

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It’s time for a film that takes place during World War II. I wasn’t exactly sure if I should put the review tag on this one or not since it’s based around real events but it sounds like a lot of the details don’t exactly match. Still, just about all of the big characters are using the actual names of the real people and everything so in the end I suppose it’s close enough.

The film mainly revolves around the Nazi’s attempting to build a super rocket. It would be able to deliver a bomb without even needing a pilot and would be virtually unstoppable. Right now there is one issue which is that the ship always tilts to one direction so it doesn’t reach the target. If they solve this issue then it could be all over for the allied forces. Britain sends their top agent Duncan to look into this. Duncan’s group is super skeptical and thinks that the intel is probably bogus since such a rocket is unheard of. Still, Duncan remains on the case.

It’s definitely good that Duncan stayed on this because the scientist’s argument was pretty faulty right out of the gate. The idea that the rocket couldn’t exist because he didn’t know how to build one was pretty crazy. They quickly bomb the original base the Nazi’s were using but this only buys some time. Duncan sends in John and Jacob to Germany to find out where the bombs are being stored now to take them out.

Both the heroes and villains have double agents working on each side which does make things complicated as well. On one hand the heroes get a lot of good intel but on the other hand they never know when they are walking right into a trap. This happens to one agent which results in him being badly beaten before being executed. It’s why you always see countries being real harsh with traitors because their betrayals really have a massive effect.

The film is generally light in tone but the betrayal scene is definitely intense and probably the darkest scene in the film. A close second would probably be when Nora is bumped off though. It was pretty tragic because she ultimately didn’t get to last very long and there was no reason for her to be destroyed. John even vouched for her but the army took her out anyway. Was definitely one of those moments where they were showing how extreme the good guys could be as well. They really didn’t want to take a chance on any other traitors but it doesn’t really excuse doing such a thing. She was an innocent civilian.

The movie definitely goes into a lot of detail on the investigation parts as well. This may not be as interesting at times like listening to the villains monologue while the heroes figure out what is important but it is always fairly tense. If the spies are caught then of course they will die. Meanwhile the villains will stop at nothing to perfect the bomb and even sacrifice 4 of their top pilots for this mission. Definitely a real high price they are paying right there for innovation.

The climax throws us into more of a classic gun fight. This is where the film is most like a James Bond type film. Before this most of the espionage was as low key and realistic as possible. It’s how you imagine spies would try to blend in as they just won’t stick out and only people who are close to the situation would even suspect anything. Using the alias of a dead person is super risky but it’s probably more ethical than kidnapping someone and using their identity. I imagine that would have a lot of extra risks and complications as well though since you’re already in enemy territory by that point.

The writing is really solid as you would expect and so the pacing is good as a result. While I didn’t like some of the methods the heroes chose, they were fairly heroic the whole time aside from that one moment. Everyone was out there doing their best and we got to see a lot of teamwork from the highest levels of government. It was nice to see them all pulling together and doing their best to put a stop to the enemies as opposed to just arguing in a room the whole time. It really helped that they could move quickly like bombing the first base before the villains could make any more headway.

I actually thought Duncan was going to be the main character of the film so I was surprised when he got sidelined early on. It was a pretty good misdirect though so I’ll definitely give the movie credit there. Not sure if that was the intent but it was also pretty realistic since often times the bosses wouldn’t be allowed to go on these missions anyway. That’s the whole point of having field agents to go in your place right?

Overall, Operation Crossbow is pretty solid. It’s definitely an interesting movie that will hold your attention the whole time. The writing is solid and there is always a whole lot going on. There are a lot of sacrifices on the heroes so this definitely wasn’t easy but at the end of the day they prevented a big invention that could have really turned the tides of the war. So it was a high cost victory, but a victory nonetheless. If you enjoy war tensions and a bit of James Bond type investigating then you should definitely enjoy this movie.