#Also Frieza's?? a lot cuter than I expected????

[bloodsoakeddoodles]

TFS: Hey, ship this

Me: Yeah alright

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Z 288

So between Episodes 287 and 289, you’ve got this ten year gap, spanning the wish to erase the world’s memories of Buu, to the first appearance of Uub, which marks the epilogue to Dragon Ball Z.     Over the years, there’s been a lot of material created to fill in that “ten year gap.”  The last ten minutes of Episode 287, this episode, Movies 13, 14, and 15, all 131 episodes of Dragon Ball Super and the Dragon Ball Super: Broly movie.  Uh, what else?   That Yo! Son Goku and his Friends Return special.   There was some crossover special with One-Piece and another anime I forget the name of.  Also, both of the Xenoverse games, while set in the future, feature Goku pulled from this general time period.

I can’t blame people for trying to fill in this period with new stories.  The question is whether there’s really a story worth telling at this point.  I like Movies 13 and 14. Movie 15 was okay, but hardly worth the trouble, and Dragon Ball Super didn’t get good until the Tournament of Power, which I wouldn’t call essential viewing.    The action was good, but the story doesn’t hold a candle to classic Dragon Ball and DBZ.

In a lot of ways, Episode 288 is sort of a prototype for a lot of what Dragon Ball Super ended up doing: these slice of life, quiet moments in between the big adventures.  This is mainly because Super had a really hard time cooking up an antagonist worthy of the franchise.   Beerus and Golden Frieza were borrowed from movies, Champa, Hit, and Jiren weren’t really bad guys, and Zamasu was absolutely fucking awful.  When I watched Super, it was honestly a relief to see that the next episode would be the gang screwing around at a basebal field or a movie set or whatever.   At the same time, it was always frustrating to me.   They went out of their way to bring these characters back, and they never seemed to have a plan for what they wanted to do with them.  I’ll watch the Tenchi Muyo! gang hang out in a mall or something, that sounds like a good time.   But Goku?   I expect a little more from him.

In this episode, everyone’s having a party at Bulma’s place, but Goku went off to watch some pterodactyl eggs hatch.   So it’s pretty similar to a number of one-shot DBS episodes, except DBZ hasn’t done this sort of thing very often, so it’s a lot more effective.  

Here’s the problem: One of the four eggs fell out of the nest and is stuck in this precarious-looking branch.    Goku wants to move it back, but the parents won’t let him, and I guess he’s not eager to force the issue with his powers.   He’s worried that the baby will fall once it hatches, so he sticks around to keep an eye on the situation.

Anyway, Chi-Chi got all dolled up for this pary, so she’s decided to just go without Goku’s broke-ass and leave him to his nature hike or whatever.    There needs to be more fan-art of Chi-Chi in this getup.  

If I’m not mistaken, Goten’s outfit in this episode is a callback to the clothes Goku wore in that one episode of the Fortuneteller Baba Saga.   Let me just pull that up...

Eh... close, but not quite.   Goten’s got the tie and the hat, but he’s wearing suspenders instead of a vest. 

Anyway, everyone arrives at Capsule Corp.   Yamcha’s got a new car Bulma had made for him at a discount, and Krillin’s thinking of asking for one of his own.    The Son family shows up and Chi-Chi gets miffed when anyone asks about Goku.   Chi-Chi says he’s waiting for his eggs to hatch.

Anyway, they’ve got a nice spread here.    This looks like the place where all of Dr. Brief’s animals run around, but that seems like a bad place to hold a party, so maybe they have more than one indoor park.  

Anyway, Tien and Krillin have some pizza, and Master Roshi laughs at a “photo album” (it’s porn).

Buu wants Vegeta’s hot dog, and he’s in a good mood so he gives it to him.   I always liked that.  It shows that they managed to get along at some point.     This is the sort of thing Dragon Ball Super should have done.   Buu never got a chance to interact with most of these guys in Z, and they killed him off in GT, so they could have gotten some mileage out of him in Super, but they didn’t.

Chiaotzu drinks exactly half of one soda and leaves.  

Piccolo’s just chillin’ out in a flower bed.    Character arc, complete.

Oh, you thought this was the smug Goku macro?   Tell me again how you didn’t know it was from this scene where Goku reminisces about his grandfather.

I guess the place where his space pod crashed wasn’t too far from this pterodactyl nest.   I’m surrprised the crater grew over so fast.    Also, this is like the third or fourth time they’ve shown this location in Z, and it never looks the same twice.

Anyway, Grandpa Gohan was strict but also very kind, and I always like how Goku remembers him here, as the series is drawing to a close.  

Then a DINOSAUR FIGHT happens, because this show rules! Not sure why the two-legged dinosaur has hippo ears, but okay.   It’s like Toei thought the rights holders for actual dinosaurs would sue them or something.   

This scene also features the Ginyu Force song from the early portion of DBZ.   You know the one.

Thirty-two seconds into this video.    They ran this song into the ground in the Namek Saga, and then slowly weaned themselves off of it in the Frieza Saga, until eventually it fell out of rotation.   I think it got used a couple of times in the Androids/Cell arc, and this might be the first time it’s been used since then.   And you know, it’s a great song when it’s used sparingly.   Once I got used to expecting it in every episode, it got really grating, but here, it works perfectly.    I found myself sort of missing it.   

Anyway, Goku totally in favor of cool dinosaur fights, but he doesn’t want them near this nest, so he carries these rowdy boys to another spot and tells them to fight there.  

But that sort of kills the whole mood, you know?

Never mind that, because it’s TIME TO DANCE.

In the Japanese version, the score uses the rock music Tank Clerk was jamming to in Fusion Reborn.   I guess this is the only rock music in all of Dragon Ball, sort of like how Cold Slither’s music is the only rock music in G.I. Joe or Transformers.

We’re tired of words!   We’ve heard it before!

We’re not gonna play the game no more!

We’re Cold Slither, heavy metal  machine!

Through the eyes of a lizard in you will dream!

When the venom stings, a new order brings our control!

Anyway Chi-Chi rules the disco floor until she throws out her back.   

Then Dende mentions Goku and it brings down the mood.   This is why no one invites you to these things, Dende.  Even Tien thinks you’re a buzzkill and he just spent the last half hour explaining the Haber-Bosch process.   

Bulma is worried about Goku, but Chi-Chi playfully suggests that Bulma is sweet on him, but that’s just too bad, because Chi-Chi’s too pretty for her to steal him away.    Is she drunk?   Maybe, but this is still less awkward than the dub version, where she suggested they trade husbands.   “No, I was only kidding about swinging, Bulma.... UNLESS...”

Back at where Goku is, all these other animals show up to watch the nest, because I guess animals do that in this show.  

Then it rains, and Goku shores up the nest with a bunch of logs.  Not sure how this improves the situation, but okay.

He tries to work on the branch the fourth egg is sitting in, but it falls into the river first.

Goku saves it, but then a fish tries to eat him.

But the egg is okay, so victory for Goku.

Kind of an ominous shot of Capsule Corp.   Looks like something out of Revenge of the Sith.

Everyone’s playing cards, and that looks like a lot of fun.    Well, not if I have to play with Roshi and Oolong.    Take me to the non-sex-offender table, please.

Krillin and his family prepare to head out, but they walk out the door just as Goku shows up.

This part here is great.

Chi-Chi gives him a hard time, but she can’t be too mad, because he does this sort of crap all the time.

So she takes Goku back to where the food is, and Goku gives Gohan the wink like “Yep, life of Riley.”

I almost wonder if they tried to do some sort of Last Supper thing with this, except they couldn’t fit everyone into the shot on a 4:3 TV.    Anyway, Goku explains how things turned out with the pterodactyls.

They all hatched.   Don’t really know what else to add to that.  Weird how some of these animals watching were causing trouble earlier.   That snake tried to eat the eggs until Goku tosses it away.

Goten asks if he was cuter than the pterodactyls when he was born, and Goku explains that he was dead when Goten was born, so he doesn’t know.   Awkward.

Then he invites Vegeta to come over and join them, because he’s sulking over by the window.   

i think Vegeta’s just enjoying this vaporwave sunset outside, but okay,

Then the narrator observes that everyone just has more fun when Goku’s around, which, true, but this is the sort of lionizing of Goku that made GT really irritating.  

Then the Looney Tunes thing happens to him and that’s all, folks.  

[cutiecrates]

Cutie Reviews: Gacha Gacha crate July 19

Lately I’ve been wondering if I’m either being overly critical of boxes, or not critical enough. Am I just in the middle? It’s where I would like to be if anything, but I’m not sure. If you read the blog and feel like leaving a comment please do and let me know what you think.

In other news, it seems I might be missing a box. I don’t believe I ever got my June Tokyo Treat just yet, and tomorrow it’ll have been 60 days since it shipped and I can message them on it. I’m going to double-check first though, just to make sure before I do anything.

Wood Puzzles

First up is this sorta common gachapon I tend to see when browsing, I can’t say I was ever tempted to get it though. I’m not a big fan of puzzles unless they are flattened cardboard pieces making a big picture- or those really pretty crystal puzzles of characters and various items. I got a handful of those that I love to admire in passing.

Anyhoozles, there are 5 different types featuring their own difficulties, and the brand is Koro Koro. Mine is “mystery difficulty“, which I found to be quite strange since as a pyramid it looks super easy to put together. In fact it came together already.

But... as it turns out, it’s not easy. I can see how it’s supposed to look, but the pieces want to keep sliding and won’t hold still. So I’m not really sure what I’m not getting...

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

I’m not a big fan of this one- but I do know that there are people who like mental puzzles like these and would probably love this set. The pieces are clean and perfectly shaped, and I could see maybe coming to enjoy it for what it is if I played with it a few more times. I kinda lost interest after the first few <3<

Hungry Kirby

Kirby must be trending right now because he’s been appearing a lot in these boxes; not that I’m complaining. I love Kirby. If only they would start giving us some Mario Brothers now~

This series is by Takara Tomy Arts and there are 5 possible variations you can get: 2 kirby, 2 waddle dee, and 1 chef kawasaki serving as the rare piece in the collection. The figure was assembled, although you do get to put the little fork in his hand and I assume the other figures share that feature. 

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Besides the collection being ultra-cute, this would be perfect for re-ment. The details are really nice. The fork seems a teensy bit flimsy but I don’t think it’s really a problem or anything. This is also a minor detail but there are visible seam lines in various spots but some figures are just made that way. It’s not extremely noticeable to be an annoyance.

Kingdom Hearts Figure

I was extremely excited when I saw this one :3 who doesn’t love Kingdom Hearts? I have the games and manga, and I LOVE this series!

This is another collection of small, but detailed figurines. This series is by Bandai and includes 6 characters: Sora, King Mickey, Maleficent, a Shadow heartless, Donald, and Goofy. The included little sheet lacks detail and images and is full of some Disney information, so I suppose it’s from there, or is a collab or something?

Anyway I can’t say my favorite Kingdom Hearts character is included in this line (but we’d be here for like 10 minutes if I wrote down everyone I liked), but I always had a soft spot for Sora and he is who I would have wanted to get out of the options here. 

The figures feature a chibi anime style and a few of them include an item and a small base with their name and series logo on it.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I love this little figure, but it leaves me with some confusion. From the top to the mid-section is extremely detailed, including the metallic keyblade. But from the mid-section down (I know its probably hard to see in the picture) I feel like they started neglecting detail; but with a small figure it’s probably expected right? The rest of it is very impressive.

Cat Wind Chime

(Sorry for the blur, I couldn’t get it to stop moving)

As a lover of both cats and wind chimes, this is the purrfect combination :3 Wind chimes are popular in Japan during summer, when people put them outside to listen to the jingle of the bells and feel the cooling breeze as it blows through them.

This series is by Epoch, and there are 5 kitties available; and all but 1 of them seems to have a gold bell. The 1 has silver. The dangle part, as you can probably see is the kitties tail, and each kitty has a clear bead on top to keep the string from falling through the hole.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

The detailing is really nice and simple, it looks a lot cuter than my horrible picture makes it out to be. The bell has a sweet little chime, but I did notice that when it’s hung up the tail piece becomes stiff? But when holding it, it moves fine in the breeze so I feel like it should still work fine.

Pokemon Paint

These paint palette gachapon have been pretty popular as of late I noticed. They either feature a variety of characters with art supplies, or a specific color theme- or in this case both. This series is by Kitan Club and each costs 300 yen, which I feel like is a bit expensive for such a tiny figure...

There are 5 pink adorable Pokemon to get in this collection, and if I had to choose I think I would have liked Mew or Clefairy the most. But they’re all very cute, and as you can see I got Chancy (whose Japanese name is “Lucky”).

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥

As cute as this is, as I stated above the price has me a little iffy. I mean I can see why it’s that because it’s Pokemon- but I’ve gotten cheaper gachapon with more detail/bigger size. I noticed mine has a fair amount of color issues (there not visible in the pic at all), but at the same time it doesn’t detract from the general cuteness of the concept. The seams are fine and the figure is overall smooth, and while the colors are right, they could have been applied a little better.

Dragonball Z Figurine

Our last item.... is in pieces!

That’s right, our final item is a Dragonball Z figurine that you get to semi-assemble.

Yes that is a cat next to Frieza. He wanted some attention and wouldn’t leave me alone so at this point I decided to hurry up and finish to focus on him.

Anyway, this series includes very detailed figurines from Dragonball Z and is the 3rd series/wave of the collection and includes Frieza, Super Saiyan Goku, Vegeta, and Bulma. I definitely wish I got Bulma or Vegeta, or even Goku would have sufficed, I wasn’t a Frieza fan. There is also another sheet in the gachapon, I think hinting at another possible set of characters you can get for this series. 

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The detail is obviously there, which is why I’m giving this a high rating. I also like the little put together detail and how it includes a small base piece. I’m not sure if I used it right though cause it looked like it could fit on a few places...

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Quality: 4 out of 5. I feel like it was very easy to see in each and every piece. There was no major complaints other than the color touch-ups I feel like my Pokemon needed.

Items: 2.5 out of 5. Don’t get me wrong, I did like them; especially the Kingdom Hearts figure, my cute little Waddle Dee, and the kitty wind chime. But in comparison to our previous box I feel like this one was a little bit of a letdown and pretty much was full of figurines that are just set for display. There isn’t too much to do with them and I feel no sense of practicality in this box (which isn’t you would think isn’t normally a thing with gacha, but so far our boxes have been including it and there are actually a lot of practical ones you can collect) other than the wind chime. Plus a lot of the items were on the tiny-small side and for the price we pay...

Total Rank: 6 out of 10 cuties. Detail was there, as was the cuteness with the exception of 2 capsules. I feel underwhelmed by this box though and I can’t say it’s the best representative of gachapon or Gacha Gacha Crate.

♥ Cutie Scale ♥

1. Cat Wind Chime - I mean come on, this should be obvious :P

2. Kingdom Hearts Figurine  - I love my little Sora~ I’m very happy I got him. The tiny keyblade is even cuter.

3. Hungry Kirby - Pretty simple, but very adorable. The whole collection would be great for a Re-ment display! Or to add to the other Kirby re-ment series.

4. Pokemon Paint - It’s cute and I like the metallic paint tube. I just wish the base looked more like actual paint, like I’ve seen the other paint series do.

5. Frieza - Even if he isn’t my favorite, I really appreciate the detailing put into him. The tail part is even missing its tip like in the actual anime. I remember that part, but I can’t say I remember it extremely well, I saw this series when I was like 6 or 7. I’m thinking of giving it to old babysitter, he was the one to introduce the series to me.

6. Wood Puzzle - It’s okay, but I just don’t feel any sort of desire to do anything with it.