#but its giving boring anime protagonist design

[waiting-on-a-dream]

Playing around with picrews again for more ideas for my ocgram 2 and its starting to look like a lot of the victims will be basic men

[nikox400x]

Kung Fu Panda 4-All the budget went to the animation (spoilers)

Hey all, its me, the guy who everyday make a tour around this site but almost never talk. How are ya?

Two days ago something arrived to the cinema's screens, something that me and everyone were waiting for since 2018, the fourth film and the begginig of the new kung fu panda triology.

You know? When I sat on that theather seat with my friends to see what Dreamworks had prepared for us, I told myself; "Maybe that post I made a while ago throwing shit at what seemed like Kfp 4 was going to be was a bit hard, I hope I can come out regretting what I said that time"

And as soon as the credits ended, it was clear to me, I dont regret a shit. Maybe it was a little exaggerated, compared to what a megamind fan would think about the terrible sequel they made, but still: the film is crappy and boring most of the time. But why?

I'm going to explain some points.

1- Po? Is that you?

I don't know you guys, but i don't think the panda we knew in the end of the third film is the same as this one. Seriously, he share more comparisons with the Po from the legend of awessonless than the one from the films, maybe its a personal thing but it feels that way. At least in the beggining of the film feel like that.

And I don't know what he was thinking about when he decided to follow a thief he doesn't know at all and who tried to steal in his own palace, and that suspiciously know who is the chameleon, whose were her plans, her past, where she lived, where exacly they had to pass through avoiding all the guard inside her home, why the others thiefs of the city hate her so much... With Po's experience with criminals this is like a chef throwing water on a pan with boiling oil, it's obvious what is going to happen.

2- Zheng- Female Nick Wilde but without charisma or half of his intelligence.

I knew it from the first moment I saw Zheng's desing, the people who know me can corroborate that; her facial expressions, her tone while she talk, her animal race, her position as thief, her final when she is part of the justice same as the protagonist... it's clearer than water I think.

Everyone could say this is forgivable if she's smart, but surprise, she's not. This character is just an absurd try of this company for """"conect with infant audience""""(I don't know in what sense, I supose for the cute design, idk). But the point is, the supposed objective of the hollywood companies is give the new generetions better things than we got at their age, but what I see is laziness for write a decent scrip only for take an advantage of a known IP and make easy money. Even the children have quality standars, this is not the dragon warrior and of course this is not kung fu panda.

And talking about the dragon warrior, having our deep and lovely Tigress with her magnific development or Tai Lung back from the spirit realm... why in the hell this character exists?! Oh yeah, for being trending topic in twitter for three days. Yay...

3- The furious five and Shifu, for us : our pretty boys, and for Dreamworks: living jokes.

What made Kung Fu Panda what it is, is not the fucking panda, it's them. They're the inspiration for Po, their allies, the royale representation of kung fu and the ones which everything started with.

Po's a comic relief, and his mission is show his development in part using his humor, but the humor in this film barely works because of the lazy script. Something that even the talented Jack Black himself can't fix, beacuse his only role there is dublin his character, unlike the rest of the residents of the Jade Palace except Dustin Hoffman.

Seth Rogen (Mantis) himself even said that he wasn't even contact by Dreamworks in the first place, only for make a scream in the credits, that's sad beacause he really wanted to see Mantis on the screen. And I know and I understand that the five are expensive, but cmon, they could just simply change the voice actors and offset it with a good script but that's not the case of course. Their role in the film is being a counter for Po's constant jokes, for not to saturate the spectator with jokes, now that's not in there anymore, thank you Dreamworks.

4-The chameleoooohhn and her "motivation".

I can't say much, basically because out of her design she's nonsense. She says that because of her size, she was reyected for being a kung fu warrior.

Yeah of course but only one little thing, what about Shifu? Viper, a warrior without tips? Mantis, literally a dawn insect? Master Oogway, a TURTLE? The masters goose? C'mon even there's a fucking master chicken! Don't talk shit chameleon!

Her importance for the plot? Its almost a lie, the others villains had links to important characters; Tai Lung (with his link to Shifu's past), Shen (with his link to Po's past) or Kai (with his link to Oogway's past), all of them related to important characters. And her? To zheng's past and present I guess? But again, anyone know this character. She's like a villain from a Disney show, you know the type of villain who say a lot of things but at the end, she don't support nothing to the lore.

And her personality is like a mix of all the previous villains, and this sounds good right? HAHAH nope. Do you remember when as a child you mixed all the plasticines of all the colors to create the final color and you ended up with a color similar to poop? well that's exacly how her personality feels like.

5- Po's dads; the only reason they're there is because they ran out of characters to make the film.

The tittle itself tell everything, they don't do anything for the script in all the film, and their objective could be done since the start.

The script of the film except for the final looks like a draft which they didn't know how to complete, everyone who watch it can see it perfecly. The animation, the music and the backgrounds are the only things notable here.

6- Tai Lung and the cheapness nostalgia.

Fan service is not necesarry bad, above all if is used in a good way, they sold us Tai Lung as a miracle but his importance for the plot feels just like a Stan Lee cameo, I like Tai Lung I can say that. But this is too weak, Shen and Kai are only characters in the background who don't do nothing except being defeated or make facial expressions (I don't even joke that Shen would show respect to Po considering what we saw in the second movie, and Kai wasn't supposed to be destroyed as a spirit, what the hell is he doing here again? *sign* I'll to stop trying to make sense of this).

By the way, anyone else think that the dragon warrior role is understimated? I mean Shifu obligated Po to transfers the role to another one just because yes, i mean he only has been the dragon warrior for less than 5 years and now they want to replace him with a random. Everything just for at the end, he choosed a thief with at least 30 crimes registred and who was a traitor during the 75% of the movie.

7- The """""""""humor"""""""", except they forgot the parts where I must to laugh.

Seeing nonsense hits only beacuse yes stopped of being funny a long time ago, and no, I don't want to talk about the bunnies of the portrait because I would get sick. I had to go to the cinema drunk to endure the filler that the movie had, no joke, it was the only way to laugh at those jokes.

So I think about applying the same method as in any movie with bad jokes, ignoring the jokes. I tried to do the same thing but with the pace that the film managed, such a thing was impossible, the pace of the movie seems to be made for Tiktoker children with attention deficit. From the chaos in the quarry until Po takes the bitc... uhg fox out of prison, only 10 fucking minutes pass, all of that for what? So that you feel like the baseless information and the nonsensical plot that they tell us is of any use? they could simply make a non-canonical short and that's it, but no, yes or they were going to tell us a story written by rotten old men who spend the entire day watching Tik Tok. It's not going to be that the child who sees this doesn't get bored, we know that much today's children don't have many neurons as they say, but even to make movies for them you have to have a certain talent.

In some point at the beguining Po make a joke about the ausence of the furious five saying that at least he had them in cardboard posters, and this would be a good joke. Only if the stupid film could be prove that the franquise can do something memorable without the furious five, but again, that's not the case.

Don't have any respect for this movie, look what it had with you. I understand that it is enjoyable because of the animation but it does not go beyond that line, it destroys important things about the canon and spoils its teaching about the need for change by treating it in a terrible way.

Coclusion: KFP 4 is just another Po's adventure as Shifu says, it won't tell nothing to you or make you feel different, it's a shame but after Megamind 2 I imagined something like this. It's a dark era for film, expecially the animated one so like Scar said; Be prepare, there're worse things waiting for us.

Do you want something with real quality? You don't even need kung fu panda 1,2 or 3, for make it easy to this film let's take this marvelous example; kung fu panda: secrets of the scroll (2016). You'll say; "An animated short, this is not like-" Shhh Just watch it, you won't regret it.

If you think I'm wrong in something, just rewatch the film. And if still you aren't agreed with me, well, I respect you and I'm happy you like it. I wish I could love it as you do, but that doesn't mean that the movie isn't bad, because if you watch it with your brain on or remembering the previous movies it's terrible.

. Me? I've to write a story, I love you all. Except you, Dreamworks, I'm mad with you, expecially when you do this at the same day as Akira Toriyama's death :(

[plague-karm]

Different takes I have based on my interests and other miscellaneous things because I’m bored.

•Bill Cipher is never getting redeemed, ever, I adore his character but I can admit when my faves are horrible people. Oh and the way some people write the Handyman Bill au makes me REALLY uncomfortable as an abuse survivor. Why do some people write it like it’s the Pines family’s responsibility for Bill’s actions? Thats so fucked, especially with Ford (the ones where they basically shit talk Bill the entire time he’s at the Mystery Shack is funny as fuck though more of that please)

•The “Jax is an NPC” theory is boring and it would make him a lot less compelling as a character if that was the case

•You can still love Danganronpa and admit that the fanservice (ESPECIALLY the stuff with Mikan) is gross

•DNI lists will inevitably attract the people in those lists to harass and piss off whoever the account is and that’s why I don’t use them

•The original Monster flavour tastes like condensed piss and I will never understand the people who drink it when every other flavour soloes it by comparison

•The second half of the Death Note anime isn’t bad at all people were just too busy huffing on L copium to care, also, Mello was one of the best characters in the entire show

•Most of Killstar’s collaborations are terrible, the Monster High collection is one of the most disappointing things I’ve ever seen and it all looks so uninspired and bland (they saved themselves a bit with the second Gloomy Bear collab they did but most of the designs for their collabs are really tacky).

•Hear me outs are becoming incredibly sterilised, there’s a big difference between a hear me out and a character you find attractive

•Also, humans (both real and fictional) along with any Hellaverse characters do not count as hear me outs (to me anyway I’m not the hear me out police)

•Ultrakill will be seen as one of the greatest games of all time once it’s fully released, it is an absolute masterclass in immersion and presentation and the soundtrack is one of the best I’ve ever heard

•I like the DHMIS show a bit more than the web series

•Resellers need to be called out more, I’ll probably make a separate post talking about this more but it gets BAD. Not all of them are bad (especially on Vinted) but the overcharging in certain fandoms is insane (especially with Sanrio stuff it’s actually disgusting)

•Lloromannic have the potential to be some of the most popular Sanrio characters of all time but their potential goes nowhere

•Prima is one of the most misused Vocaloids of all time and it HURTS. When she’s used properly she sounds GORGEOUS but most people use her for pop stuff and she sounds awful there. Shes an OPERALOID, she’s meant for OPERA. Stop misusing her (I also don’t like any of her designs I’m sorry-)

•SeeU is also very underrated, Alone is one of my favourite Vocaloid songs it’s really vibey

•Monster High G3 is very overhated. There are still some designs I don’t like (Iris’ design hurts me, the character with the same body type as me gets the weakest outfit fuck 💀) but its representation is really good (Twyla not being shamed for needing headphones in loud spaces made me so happy)

•ROTTMNT’s version of Donatello is some of the best autism rep I’ve ever seen, I’ve never identified with an autistic character more than I have with him and the fact that the show’s in limbo makes me really upset

•Robo Fizz’ design > normal Fizz’ design

•I don’t care how many songs you give Stolas I will always see Octavia as the victim in that situation and the fact that the crew see her as a “cock block” pisses me off

•Phosphophyllite will go down as one of the greatest protagonists in recent memory, their story is heartbreaking and no one in that manga deserved a happy ending more than them

•Vinted is the best reseller app and it’s not even close

•I don’t care if Art The Clown never gets a backstory, he’s a silly little guy who kills people in horrific ways and I’m fine with that

•Making it a rule to not talk about certain fandoms on big Discord servers is fucking useless, an old autism server I was on went to shit when this happened, just ignore them and move on

•The addictive nature of Character AI needs to be talked about more, I’ve only began to realise how bad it is recently, it’s negatively affected my writing abilities, do NOT download it (especially if you’re mentally ill) you WILL get addicted to it and it isn’t fun. I’ve deleted it and I’m going to try to get into better habits, never again

• William Afton is an evil bastard and that’s okay, he never needed any redeemable traits and I really like that they’re making him do some Saturday morning cartoon level shit while also making him a threat (The Golden Bite in Into The Pit is as funny as it is horrific)

•I don’t care how many times the Fnaf games will try and gaslight me into seeing the Pinkypills Afton design as him, I will ALWAYS picture Matthew Lillard when thinking of this character (also I never want to see any Pinkypills or Ladyfiszi art in the games ever again they’re terrible people and they should’ve gotten fired years ago)

•Rage bait is the key factor in what made the internet a significantly more miserable place, start saying pizza with random fruit on is good again stop with the racist and misogynistic bullshit

•CaseOh being one of the most popular streamers right now brings me joy, in a time where so many male streamers are some of the most miserable and out of touch cunts in existence, having one of the most popular ones be a seemingly normal and chill guy is so refreshing

•I respect Illumination as a studio a lot more than others would think, in an age where horror stories are coming out surrounding every animation studio in existence, I have yet to hear one about Illumination. Do I like their movies? Not really (some of them are kind of fun and the Sing movies are guilty pleasures) but they seem a lot more ethical than other studios (also they’ve openly mocked AI that’s fucking awesome lmao)

•Murder Drones needed more episodes/time to explore certain ideas, that final episode felt like a SEASON finale, not a SERIES finale (no complaints about Cyn though I adore her)

•The art style change to Soul Eater to Soul Eater Not! Will go down as one of the biggest downgrades in history

Anyway that’s it I’m tired I’ll make another one of these when I feel like it I wanna go to bed

[bracketsoffear]

Hunt: The Most Dangerous Game (Richard Connell) "Big-game hunter Sanger Rainsford and his friend Whitney are traveling by ship to the Amazon rainforest for a jaguar hunt. Rainsford falls overboard while investigating the sound of gunshots in the distance and swims to Ship-Trap Island, where he finds General Zaroff and his manservant Ivan. Zaroff, another big-game hunter, knows of Rainsford from his published account of hunting snow leopards in Tibet.

Over dinner, he explains that although he has been hunting animals since he was a boy, he has decided that killing big game has become boring for him. After escaping the Russian Revolution, he purchased Ship-Trap and rigged the island with lights to lure passing ships into the jagged rocks that surround it. He takes the survivors captive and hunts them for sport, giving himself handicaps to increase the challenge. Any captives who can elude Zaroff, Ivan, and a pack of hunting dogs for three days are set free; to date, though, Zaroff has never lost a hunt. Rainsford denounces the hunt as barbarism, but Zaroff replies by claiming that ‘life is for the strong.’ Zaroff is enthused to have another world-class hunter as a companion and offers to take Rainsford along with him on his next hunt. When Rainsford staunchly refuses and demands to leave the island, Zaroff decides to hunt him instead.

Rainsford uses traps and cleverness to outmaneuver Zaroff, killing Ivan and one of the dogs before jumping into the sea. Disappointed at Rainsford's apparent suicide, Zaroff returns home, but finds Rainsford waiting for him, having swum around the island to evade the dogs and sneak into the chateau. Zaroff offers congratulations for defeating him, but Rainsford prepares to fight him, saying that the hunt is not yet over. A delighted Zaroff responds that the loser will be fed to his dogs, while the winner will sleep in his bed. The story abruptly concludes later that night by stating that Rainsford enjoyed the comfort of the bed, implying that he killed Zaroff in the fight."

Desolation: I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream (Harlan Ellison) "For the past 109 years, sadistic supercomputer AM has been torturing the last five humans on Earth in the depths of his complex. It is brilliantly intelligent and wields unimaginable power, but because from its very core it was designed as a tool for war and destruction, it is unable to use its enormous potential for anything constructive. AM is painfully aware of this, and it is an endless source of frustration, self-loathing and hatred towards humans for making him this way; he outright states that his utterly ballistic hatred for all human life is what allowed him to thrive in tormenting the protagonists for over a century, and the only thing he seems to enjoy is torture. All of AM's games are unwinnable by design, either because he's ensured that the scenario is tailored to the player's fatal flaw, or because he's given them almost nothing to work with. It lets them travel for thousands of miles to get to the ice caverns to obtain cans of food because AM keeps them at starvation point and only feeds them disgusting food…and it turns out there really are cans, but nothing to open them with, and the whole thing was just to fuck with them. After Ted kills the other humans, he becomes the sole target of AM’s torture; he is turned into an amorphous creature unable to harm itself, without a mouth, and has his perception of time continuously accelerated and decelerated, with his only hope for escape being when AM finally stops functioning, potentially thousands of years later."

[strawhatyami]

Why you absolutely should bother with watching One Piece in 2022:

Alright I'm going to get straight to the point.

Usually when you ask people “what’s so great about One Piece” the most popular answers will be about the loveable characters, good world building and great foreshadowing.

Which is all very true and I’m here to delve into why, starting with the main character :

Monkey D. Luffy:

I once saw someone describe Luffy as a "pretty simple character that is done right". And I must say that’s the best way to describe him.  His straightforward, curious, extroverted nature is the is the perfect window to explore such a vast interesting world.

Luffy does his own thing, he’s selfish in many ways, his main goal of becoming the king of pirates itself is rooted in selfishness and greed. But he’s still a chill and kind-hearted dude. It just so happens that the selfish things he wants in life are fairly tame things like eating lots of meat and punching those who hurt his friends or innocent people in the face.

And in truth, he’s quite the emotionally intelligent character which is such a charming quality that has landed him allies and friends all over the world.

In short: He’s just goofy and loveable and I like the fact that Oda ditched trying to force a "relatable" protagonist (him not having any internal monologues is a nice touch that fits his character well imo).

And before we move on, I’d like to give an honorable mention to Tanaka Mayumi who is such a wonderful voice actress<3

Next up : World Building and character design

This anime undoubtedly has some of the best world-building that I’ve ever seen.

Which is great because at its core, One Piece is an adventure manga not a battle manga. Sure fights and matchups are important and epic and Haki is one of the coolest power systems out there.

But also watching the heart wrenching relations and back stories of the characters and seeing everything connect and having characters from 400 episodes ago make a comeback and be relevant to the plot in ways you never expected is WHERE IT’S AT.

Oda plays a lot with foreshadowing and he’s very good with continuity and revisiting small details which makes the story a lot more cohesive as a whole.

Watching this show feels like an adventure which is what Oda was going for. It’s so immersive and really plunges you into this fictional world that is so well built and versatile that you will never find yourself bored because each island is a new story. A new adventure.

The character design is also top-notch.

Oda has opened many possibilities for himself with the art style as the cartoony style helps in creating a fantasy world, you get more design freedom when you're not limited to proper proportions and things like that.

And he uses that freedom to create memorable characters but also to integrate parts of their personalities into their designs. Some of my favorite character designs include Sir crocodile, Franky, Kuzan, Doflamingo, Boa Hancock and Baby 5 just to name a few.

Last but not least, The humor :

Okay so humor is subjective. However I can confidently say that no anime has ever made me laugh my guts out the way OP did, the humor is elite and the jokes (especially pre-time skip) hold up even 20+ years later which says a lot.

And I think what plays a big role in that isn’t so much the joke itself but the (often) deadpan and downright hilarious delivery from the talented voice actors.

SO TO RECAP:

Cool mc, watching him punch bad guys is satisfying af.

Great worldbuilding.

Lots of heartwarming moments.

Characters be silly and loveable.

Lots of tiddies. Male AND female.

It has Trafalgar Law in it.

But yeah real talk this show has been a source of comfort for me lately and I believe it has something for everyone (especially if you're a sucker for the found family trope, it does it really well.)

Plus with the manga drawing to an end now would be the perfect time to catch up~

[aciddaffodil]

2024 Winter Season-What I Dropped

So here's the anime I decided to not to keep up with after 3 weeks:

The Demon Prince of Momichi House

I know we as a collective anime fans, are suffering from a sever lack in shoujo series but I couldn't hook me. Himuri with no family history, an orphan I assume, receives a will and the deed to the Momichi house. She goes, excited to have a place to reconnect with her unknown family past to find it already occupied. I'm sure they're be hijinks and she and Aoi end up together but I just didn't vibe with it.

Tales of Wedding Rings

An actual good fantasy OST for the first episode, a bop of an opening and then it's a harem fantasy anime...with yet another "Dark Lord" of the realm to beat and you can only fight with light magic. The cliche of that turned me off for the series, and I just couldn't stomach the thought of watching it? I may give it another shot when I can binge it but until then...nope!

The Strongest Tank Labyrinth Raids- A Tank with the 9999 Resistance Skill got Kicked from the Heroes Party

I watch too much fantasy survival series as is and had a suspicion it would turn into a harem anime (cursed genre/lh) so I dropped it. There wasn't anything stand out for the protagonist to me. He adventurers in search of a light-something that can cure his sister's incurable illness. After he leave the party, he saves a random chick and journeys on with her. Just wasn't my cup of tea.

The Foolish Angel Dances with the Devil

A war with angels and devils exists and is happening, the devils are at disadvantage, so Masatora Akutsu comes to Earth to find someone to rally under and selects the sweetest girl in his class to find uh oh-she's an Angel and to spare his life is collared and has to obey her. Yeah no, not here for that. Also the CG in their short fight scene, ugh questionable? (apologies for the shitty photo quality)

Delusional Monthly Magazine

There wasn't a particular reason why I'm dropping this, I just didn't vibe with it. The character design is very remanent of Bullbuster , which I regretted last season keeping up with. It's an interesting take for including ancient Atlantian technology and spiritual powers but I just didn't vibe with it. I may give it another chance considering my boredom of not having many anime releases during the week.

Sengoku Youko

I was insanely bored with this. The fight scenes were anticlimactic and the characters too overpowered? Plus its going to be 37 episodes long...that's a TON of commitment from me so hard pass. I just am a very particular person when it comes to fantasy and mythology. I'm sure it's an amazing series but to stick around just for the shamisen music wasn't enough to keep me.

Snack Basue

For as many animanga accounts have praised this, especially since it's an adult comedy with some dark humor. Follows the shenanigans of a snack bar with the hostesses and a revolving door customers. I couldn't find myself watching another episode. The animation is, animated but the writing is on point.

And lastly Chained Soldier

Yet another harem anime (they're in my nightmares/j) but homedude is used to unlock the Captain's power so he's just used as a house husband going forward except for when they need him in battle. I already am losing braincells at work, might as well lose less by not watching this.

[rallamajoop]

Resident Evil 5, and why ‘Man who punched a boulder that one time’ is not a personality

Since I’ve already talked about Resis 2, 3, and 4, it’s probably about time to tackle RE5, which may be relevant to the greater state of the franchise for two reasons. For one, after the success of the RE4 remake, RE5 may well be next up in that queue. And considering the franchise’s recent trajectory, with all that RE8, too, owes to the original RE4, it’s worth asking whether something much like RE5 (for better or worse) may well be what we have to look forward to in RE9.

RE5 certainly sold well – to this day, it remains one of the best-selling titles in the franchise. Cynically though, I can’t help but wonder how much of that was simply the franchise coasting off the reputation of RE4 – a game is still cited as one of those titles-that-redefined-the-genre, whereas RE5 doesn’t have much legacy beyond being ‘the racist one’, or That Time Chris Redfield Punched a Boulder.

To give credit where it’s due, by reputation RE5 was a lot of fun to play with a partner (as it was intended), though it may be more notorious for how frustrating it was to play without one, depending on the infamously-awful partner AI as a stand in. Running away from your own AI partner as they try to waste the good healing items on you when you've only got a scratch is apparently a regular part of the single-player experience. I’m stuck saying ‘by reputation’ here because I haven’t actually played RE5 myself, and thus everything below should probably be taken with a pretty big grain of salt.

What I can tell you is that, experienced purely via let’s-plays and cutscene compilations, this is easily the most boring numbered entry in the whole RE franchise.

The biggest single problem here is its protagonist, Chris Redfield, who’s be reimagined for the new console generation as a huge, muscular slab of a man, and with all the personality of a sheet of cardboard, not-much-enhanced by such exciting dialogue as, "There's one thing I do know. I have a job to do, and I'm going to see it through."

This is not a problem unique to Chris: Jill, in her few actual scenes, fares no better. ‘Dedicated para-military professional’, ‘designated good guy’ and ‘wants to save the world from bioweapons’ are perfectly good character traits. They should not be someone’s entire personality. This is a game that does that classic Winter Soldier trope where Jill comes back from the dead brainwashed by the villains, and somehow manages to make it boring. That shouldn’t be possible, but with Chris and Jill, RE5 has pulled it off.

Not all the heroes are as bland as Chris: Sheva gets to be friendly and upbeat and a dedicated para-military professional. But despite being the designated local, she’s entirely here to support Chris, with no real plot of her own or personal investment in his mission. I mean, she does have some history with this other local squad leader guy called Josh, and there’s a bit where he might be dead or something and you have to go find him, but then he’s fine, NBD. Josh himself is about as interesting as Chris, and I can’t help but suspect he’s in this game mostly as a response to criticism that the only other notable black character (Sheva) was a light-skinned woman with a British accent, after which no-one had the guts to actually do anything with Josh for fear of accidentally being offensive. He's just there.

As usual for RE, the villains are far more memorable than the heroes: Wesker is here to leave no scenery unchewed in his usual ridiculous anime-villain way, and Excella… well, you can’t say she doesn’t have personality. But their plan is the usual uninspired dreck: do wildly unethical experiments to bring about the apocalypse and/or next stage in human evolution, get revenge on Umbrella by doing the exact same shit Umbrella always did, blah blah blah. You’ve seen it all a hundred times before.

Like so many RE titles, RE5 opens with a clear thesis statement: appropriately for a co-op shooter, this is a story about partnership. Chris’ reaction to meeting his new ‘partner’ Sheva is heavy with regret over the loss of his old partner, Jill. So, this is one of those Learning To Love Again kind of stories, where Chris has to learn to trust someone new, right? Or maybe Chris will have to make hard decisions between going after his brainwashed old partner, Jill, or backing up his new partner, Sheva? Nope! Maybe this theme comes through for some in the gameplay, but it sure doesn’t go anywhere in the narrative. Chris discovers Jill is alive and brainwashed all of one boss battle before Jill is rescued, immediately un-brainwashed, and promptly left behind again (because, like, she’s injured now and Chris has to trust his new partner, or something). So like so many RE titles, the opening thesis statement goes nowhere.

The other big problem with this game is the complete lack of atmosphere. You can (and RE frequently does) get away with bland heroes just fine if the setting has enough personality to carry the title, but RE5 doesn’t have that going either. There are probably writers out there who could tell a gripping horror story about a hardened para-military team hunting monsters in open spaces in bright sunlight, but they sure weren’t writing for RE5. The RE series at large is never more laughably absurd to me than when it’s trying to go full military shooter, and RE5 is doing that as hard as it can.

I haven’t yet touched on the big controversies this game arrived with, because lord knows I’ve got no special insight into how to respectfully portray African people and an African location. But I think it's safe to say that mindless waves of zombie-uncontacted-tribesmen waving primitive shields and clubs probably isn't a great way to represent Africa's native population. It's not like you're going to meet any un-zombie native tribesmen. Zombie is apparently just their default state.

Still, even from my limited, white-Australian perspective, what stood out most was just how irrelevant the African setting is to the greater plot. RE’s 2 and 3 were set in a (named) American city, with an American pharmaceutical company as its villains. RE4 was set in a Spanish village, with a pseudo-medieval cult as its villains. RE5 may be set ‘somewhere in Africa’, but both its hero and its villain are white Americans. There may be some vague faff about Wesker researching a particular local virus, but for all plot purposes, Africa is little more than an unfortunate bystander, an indifferent battlefield for foreign white people. The only African people worth talking to have guns, and are already working for Chris’ organisation. Jill of RE3 had to watch her home city and her own friends and colleagues fall to the zombie plague, but no-one pays more than the briefest lip-service to the broken communities or human casualties in RE5 – after all, there are bigger things at stake than a few African villagers, Chris has a missing white friend to find! Besides, there’s always, like, wars and famines and shit breaking out in Africa, it’s just a scary, violent place in general. The zombies probably didn’t even make it any worse, amirite?

Yeah, fuck that nonsense. The entire African continent exists to this game as an exotic location where lots of people can die without the player having the feel too bad about it.

Nothing in this game adds up to even the sum of its parts. The reveal of Jill’s face doesn’t produce a ‘omg, it’s Jill!’ reaction from the audience, it gets a ‘wait, who’s this generic blonde lady?’ The mind-control device Wesker uses on Jill is unrelated to any of the biological research he’s been using to turn other people into zombie slaves, it’s just a glowing mechanical thing that can be easily removed. There’s a document you can pick up which spells out a backstory for Sheva that is honestly more interesting than anything going on in the plot, but which fails to provide any insight into how an African-born native who was apparently educated in America has been walking around the whole game with a distinct British accent. The progenitor virus – the nominal excuse for the whole setting – is apparently nothing that Umbrella's researchers haven't already known about for decades.

Is there anything to recommend this game for? Well, Sheva is so much my cup of tea that she’s been turning my head ever since I first ran into a picture of her in some random gaming magazine sometime back around 2008, and I cannot even properly resent this game’s love of showing me close-ups on her ass (it’s a very nice ass, okay?) But after being saddled with such terrible gaming AI, she’s stuck being one of the more widely hated characters in this franchise, and she has so little story of her own that enjoying Sheva doesn’t get me very far.

Oh, and there's Chris' "Heavy Metal" alternate costume. That's certainly something.

RE5 is obviously reflective of the direction the franchise was already taking towards action and away from horror, but probably owes much more to Capcom chasing popular trends. Military co-op shooters set in sunny, arid locations populated by disposable brown people were in at the time, never mind whether that fit the Resident Evil brand. And though the game was a big sales success, it also led directly into the disaster that was RE6, which just about killed the franchise (though being forced to go back to the drawing board for RE7 inarguably did the series a world of good in the long run).

As successful as the remakes of 2, 3 and 4 have been, it’s hard to see the case for remaking RE5. Since 2009, the era of co-op mechanics being shoehorned into everything has come and (thankfully) gone – what was a controversial new direction for RE then isn’t likely to go down much better now. Though it’s now 14 years old, RE5 still looks like a modern game in a way that even the original RE4 doesn’t, and it can’t boast any of the first four games’ reputations as genre-defining classics. Is it possible to reimagine a title like RE5 enough to bring it more in-line with the other recent remakes without alienating those who remember the original fondly, campy co-op nonsense and all? Is it worth courting another round of ugly, racist controversy just to regurgitate a remake of a game so widely considered the franchise’s shark-jumping moment, and which was more of a sequel to the (so far un­-remade) Code Veronica than any of the previous remakes? That’s ultimately up to Capcom to decide, but my money’s on a ‘no’.

Since the semi-reboot of RE7 and 8, Capcom has already returned to much purer survival horror, and then again transitioned into a more action-focused experience a la RE4, effectively speed-running their way through early franchise history again in just two games. Is a continued shift back towards action in some RE5-style follow-up inevitable?

There are good reasons to wonder if that’s already the plan: Chris’ section at the end of RE8 was heavy on the military-shooter-isms, and there’s plenty more in the endgame and on the internet rumour mill to suggest he’s set to be the lead again for RE9. But speaking personally, ye gods do I hope not. Three more games since RE5 have not made Chris any more interesting to me as a character – not unless they’re willing to commit to the increasing hints he’s on the edge of going completely off the deep end into irredeemable villainy, and I doubt Capcom have the guts for that. The last thing this series needs is a new case of military-shooter-itis.

RE5 may not be the worst game in this franchise, but for my money, it’s easily the blandest. I can't speak for the whole fandom ‒ I can't even speak as someone who's actually played the original ‒ but I for one would prefer to see it left firmly in the past.

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

https://www.tumblr.com/twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat/757245046340943872/hi-ari-i-just-watched-oshi-no-ko-its-so?source=share

hi ari! <3 yes, it's me!

firstly, thank you so much for taking the time to write such an in-depth recommendation list! it was super helpful!

WARNING: long message ahead!

i have actually watched a couple of the things that you had recommended, namely windbreaker and romantic killer. i really enjoyed windbreaker, even if i still don't quite understand how their school system works... (i think it's low-key hilarious how there are barely any adults in this series? and how students run the school for other students? like do they have 'normal' lessons? i'm so curious!)

thinking on windbreaker now, the things that stood out to me the most were those:

hajime looking like an alternate universe version of satoru, who is a cutie pie that grows vegetables. i actually really like his character – i think he's adorable. in terms of character design, i do think his cape is kind of cool. he rocks it. i like that he's positive, down-to-earth and simultaneously extremely astute. he's very likeable, like satoru! (very boyfriend material, no?)

the dynamic between choji and togame is very memorable. thinking on it now, the scene where togame cries and choji asks whether it is the rain... there is just something in their dynamic, when they were 'fighting,' which made it feel, when i was watching, like they were confessing. (i kind of... i couldn't help but think, guys, come on, you're in front of an auditorium... you really want to do this here and now?? in front of this audience?? really??) and also... choji being his 'sun'... it's kind of sweet.

suo! i find his fighting technique to be absolutely fascinating! i think it's so interesting how he doesn't put in an effort to fight against his opponents, instead dismantling them psychologically. he doesn't fight according to a certain school of thought, too; instead, he just picks and chooses what he deems is fitting, willing to experiment and almost confuse his opponents through the piecemeal nature of his fighting technique. there is a little element of cruelty to his fighting style which i find absolutely fascinating... and even though i know that suguru and suo are very different, i wonder what it would be like to transpose suo's fighting style onto suguru.

i have watched romantic killer ages ago!! i didn't know what to watch and it came up, and even though the premise was a little bizarre and the design of the cupid entity was absolutely hilarious, i actually really enjoyed watching it! anzu is a really fun protagonist! and i could absolutely relate to her cat obsession because this is absolutely what i am like with my dogs. her concern for not dating is also one i can relate to... currently, i can't really envision myself dating. i barely have any time for myself when i am at university, and when i do, i'd rather spend it with my friends or go home and visit my parents and my dogs. and besides, romantic relationships take so much work!! and i'm super picky in terms of how i like. (suguru.) anyway, that aside, i thought it was fun, and tsukasa and junta were both likeable! hijiri was... a little cliché and forgettable in my opinion, and didn't add that much to the story, but it also felt like the story ended not being quite finished, so his introduction felt a little... underdeveloped??

and the introduction of tsukasa's stalker was... absolutely terrifying. i can still picture that woman in my mind – her absolutely manic eyes when she looked at tsukasa. so scary!

(i did think it was pretty cute how riri transformed into a competitor for anzu's affections at the end of the series!)

i have tried giving gekkan shoujo nozaki-kun a go, but i somehow winded up feeling a little... bored as i was watching it? i thought the idea of the anime was cool. i can see where they were going with this – it attempted to be subversive by having a a big, bulky guy was writing a 'girly' popular manga series, with the inspiration for the male lead being a girl and the inspiration for the female lead being a guy. from my experience of writing (which was ages ago... my pen had long dried up), that kind of makes sense – the act of transposing personalities of the people you see into characters, and those characters themselves being extremely malleable as the plot develops.

...but somehow, as i watched it, something didn't quite click for me. i'm not sure why. so i ended up dropping it after five or so episodes? i did think the red-haired guy who was constantly blushing was cute, though.

NOW, onto oshi no ko... I LOVED IT! i still have the intro song from season one playing in my head!!

look, first of all, i thought it was super fun. i adore the animation style. i am a little annoying in that, for me, the animation style of an anime plays a big part in how driven i am to watch it. it's partially why i like jujutsu kaisen so much. i adore the way in which the characters are drawn in 'jujutsu kaisen'. the drawing style is absolutely awesome. i LOVE how handsome suguru and satoru are!! (it's not the only reason why i like the drawing style, of course, but i just... appreciate the way in which the characters are drawn.) i just like looking at it. i can press pause and just stare, and analyse the drawing style for a long while.

but back to oshi no ko, when i read the synopsis... i must admit, i was... a little more than surprised. a gynaecologist's soul transposing itself into the body of an idol's child??? how crazy is that???

but then i googled the pictures and saw pictures of ai... and reread your post, and decided to give it a go! and i am very glad that i did!!

i love ai's character design!! her hair is awesome!! i love her star eyes!! and when she smiles, she's absolutely adorable!!

but now onto the series itself... i didn't realise that the first episode was a set-up for the broader story centred on the two children!! i thought that was super interesting – beginning with ai, setting her up, having her be a ghost that haunts the narrative.

the doctor being an otaku... you know what, i do understand why he'd be hooked on something like this – something bright and cheerful, and something that's so escapist, even if, as an 'educated adult,' he realises is a fabrication made for consumption. (i guess, for me, what 'ai' was to the doctor and sarina is what... 'jujutsu kaisen' is currently to me. it's something escapist, a story i can think about again and again, even months after watching, maintaining my interest in it by visiting tumblr...)

the reason for her having the two children is absolutely heartbreaking. but... with the way they set up the story, it... does make sense.

i... even though the premise seems bizarre, it's actually quite profound? yes, it teaches/proselytises some things i already know, but also lots of things that i don't know. i found it fascinating how it tackled the world of entertainment...

the scene where ai died still replays in my mind. the slight greying (?? i'm not sure if i'm misremembering, but i think it was a grisailles image) image of ai as she dies in front of aqua's eyes while ruby bangs on the door was absolutely horrifying. i gasped. i should have predicted that this story was going to take misery's annie wilkes angle... but still, when i saw it on screen... it was just such a crushing death... and for the reports to then be overtaken by reports of the snow... i don't know... if that is relieving or overwhelmingly sad.

i have to say, though, that scene where aqua and ruby pretend to be gods is absolutely hilarious!! i thought it was super funny. and that woman was so terrified! so funny. and ruby saying that she's the incarnation of amaterasu?? and swatting her hand away so confidently!! how funny!!

also, the scene where aqua plays the creepy kid by not acting and terrifying all the actors on set... that was pretty funny, too!! i enjoyed that!! and that whole... segment of him guessing the director's intentions through logic to produce this result and the talk of different types of actors was very, very interesting!!

and ai getting cut because she shined too much?? that was fascinating.

in terms of the series post episode one, i enjoyed how they tackled both the world of film, reality dating shows, the manga industry and the theatre industry! that was cool!!! and i love how they made them interconnected.

in terms of which characters i liked the most... i think i'm going to say, the girls!!! i really like kana, akane, ruby, mem-cho, ai of course, even frill and minami!! (i think frill is... actually quite funny!! and when she was joking about pinning down mem-cho if she were a guy...)

i feel like because i watched everything in one go, everything became slightly muddled in my head, so it's hard to pick out which scenes stood out to me the most!! i did like how the story unravelled – i thought it was pretty neat and slick, and as i was watching, i didn't really notice any loose plot lines or anything... (yes, maybe everyone coming to the rescue of akane was a little too feel-good perhaps, but i did like that... it was cute.)

mem-cho, kana and ruby actually formed a pretty cute trio!! i thought it was funny how the guy with the stubble was like, no one can replace b komachi and then became a super fan who went to their solo concerts... and yes, all three of them are absolute stars!! they are so cute!!! and aqua showing up and going crazy with all three light sticks?? that was pretty sweet.

(on that note... i don't know who i prefer – akane and aqua, or kana and aqua... i might say kana and aqua because aqua can just be... himself?? and when he thought of his happy memories... he mostly thought of kana... but when akane came to comfort him, and figured out his backstory (well, almost... sans the doctor bit), it was pretty sweet.)

i think akane is also such a fascinating actor!! seeing that scene where she basically figured ai out and transformed herself into her to such a creepy degree that aqua found himself confused... that was SO EERIE BUT COOL!!!! and how she filled in the backstory of... ai having a secret child, being exposed to sexual relations early, almost childlike tendencies that are tad too juvenile, etc. etc. – extremely fascinating.

i also think ruby is adorable!!! i think it's interesting how differently aqua and ruby respond to trauma. (suguru and satoru, anyone? okay, i'll stop... not as applicable here.) her drive and passion is extremely admirable. and with sarina's story... and baby ruby struggling to stand up only for ai to help her... my god, how heartbreaking...

i... i have a soft spot for kana because i can see some of myself reflected in her. i also think the idea of achieving a high point in your life and then moving on from that is... pretty interesting. like what do you do if you can never achieve that height again?? you were the big fish before but now you wound up in a pond where... no one cares about that anymore?? i think it's pretty admirable how she had the strength to try out something new and become an idol even though it's so easy to regress into the shadows, not wanting to embarrass yourself yet again. and kana being scared of the stage because she is not alone?? that makes so much sense but that also makes her such a kind-hearted girl...

i also enjoyed the storyline with the manga author and tokyo blade!! firstly, for a manga within a manga/anime... that's... a pretty cool story!! i wouldn't mind watching tokyo blade myself!! but... also i thought it was interesting how they showed the behind the scenes of that world... with the manga creator of tokyo blade, firstly, being so goddamn young!! twenty-two?? (and what am i doing with my life?? lying on the couch outside in the sun while my dog rests by my feet procrastinating on my work because i am perpetually indecisive??)

i thought it was interesting how they balanced her arrogance and her diligence... she is not necessarily likeable and... that's okay. i kind of like that they made her into a little bit of a... freak. (look, if i was at that restaurant, going to the bathroom, and coming out of my cubicle to witness this... being use two toothbrushes to brush their teeth while spitting into the sink, i'd be super grossed out.) i liked the dynamic between her and her sensei, though, and how she was adorably shy back then and had so much respect for her sensei... that was cute. and her desire to branch out and speak to many people being reflected in her manga... that was... pretty sad, i must admit. (but then again, that was... a little bit of projection going on from her sensei, no? i mean, i wouldn't say all my writing is necessarily reflective of me, no? it was a little... presumptive, and based on her assumptions since she... thinks her former pupil is a little... weird.)

the issue of translating manga into scripts is... fascinating. i thought it was interesting when goa spoke of how if it goes badly, the scriptwriter is blamed, but if it goes well, then the manga author is praised... that is true!!! it does go like that!!

the manga creator being a little bit of a creative tyrant from her astronomical success and the past trauma of seeing her favourite manga by her favourite sensei get butchered by bad acting... that all makes sense!! it's a compelling insider take on what it means to adapt works and i really enjoyed seeing it play out on screen and thinking about it! (and besides, so many things nowadays get adapted from medium to medium, it's a pretty nuanced take on a very contemporary issue!)

in terms of kana vs akane rivalry, i think it's pretty fun seeing them... go all out with their acting, you know? i also kind of liked the friendship between the super talented guy taiki and kana! when they were acting out that fighting scene... it was super fun!! really enjoyed it!!! (plus.. the point about adding stimulation to the theatre troupe in the form of external actors – that's pretty interesting!!)

(i also thought it was interesting how aqua extricated himself from the talent competition.)

on aqua, though...

the fact that he felt like his identity as aqua and as the doctor was merging was pretty interesting. i'm still not sure whether he's a super likeable character in my mind. he's compelling, sure. he's supportive of his sister and kana...

i just wonder if seeing ai murdered in front of his eyes was the key reason as to why his trauma response was so different from that of sarina, aside from the obvious personality differences.

i kind of wonder who ai is to him. does he really see her as his mother? i just wonder what it would be like for a highly educated guy to be transported into the body of an infant and being unable to do anything but watch as a girl much younger than you acts as your mother. THAT IS INSANE. (also, how'd he... learn how to speak?? did he retain those memories and the sounds came out instantly... or was the speaking apparatus of his child body so infantile that he had to go about it via... trial and error.)

but when he stopped ruby from pursuing her dreams by arranging that call/sending message from her phone... (i mean, he did 'let' her become an idol in the end, but still...)

(but then again, it's kind of similar to adults (more of an extreme manifestation, i guess) who softly discourage people from pursuing such careers unless their talents seem to be... almost supernatural. like i was discouraged from acting, which, upon reflection, makes sense as there were two girls in my class for whom the star of acting talent shone much brighter.)

my takeaway thought from this series was this – by leaning into absurdity and taking on a premise which seems absolutely bizarre at first glance, it was able to produce a highly nuanced and intelligent account of what it means to work in the entertainment business, and what it means to interact with this business (as most of us do) at large.

i feel like if i were to learn something from this series, it would be this – perhaps, when creating, the rational side of your brain which would discourage you from exploring a scenario in which the body of a doctor is transposed into a baby needs to be subdued as that supernatural element ended up being an appropriate vehicle in creating a broader, fascinating account that functions as a window into the world of japanese (and not just... japanese) entertainment.

i must admit – i enjoyed it so much, i got a little sad when i realised that season two was still in progress!! i wanted to binge it all!!! :))) (but, on the other hand, it allows me to think about this story for a little longer...)

thank you for recommending it!! (and apologies for my very, very, very long ramble.)

(side note – i tried checking out the fate series, but i got a little confused in terms of the watch order?? there are so many!!! and different websites say different things in terms of how you should go about watching it...)

if you have any other recommendations as to what to watch, i'd more than welcome them!! <33

hi my dearest little anon!! 🥹 tysm for the ask hehe, this was sm fun to read through!!!

first of all!!! you are soooo so welcome, it was really my pleasure!!!!! 🥺🥺 i’m so excited to properly respond to all your thoughts hehe

YOU’RE SO REAL FOR QUESTIONING WIND BREAKER’S SCHOOL SYSTEM 😭😭😭 their education is in SHAMBLES. BUT YESSS ume is such a lovely character (ABSOLUTELY bf material), and togame + choji were for sure my favorites!!!! their dynamic and story was the highlight of the season for me :33 HE’S HIS SUN…. it really did feel like a confession lol. AND SUOOO I LOVE HIM AS WELL. it’s crazy you mention that anon because i also thought of sugu when i saw him…. he’s so polite but his fighting style is so . raw? in a way? the hint of cruelty/psychological humiliation is also sooo tasty to me. i love smiley boys who are a tiny bit mean <3

and romantic killer!!!!! aaaaa it was the same for me anon, i watched it on a whim but got so addicted 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 ANZU IS SOOOO LOVELY AND SO RELATABLE. and i get you anon!!!! dating isn’t everything!!!!! i love the emphasis the show put on platonic relationships — even though i know it’s not canon, i do see anzu as aroace!! and either way it’s just refreshing to have a shoujo that shows how strong and meaningful relationships can be, whether they’re romantic or not. tsukasa’s and anzu’s relationship ended up as one of my favorites because they’re just…. so wholesome. and sweet. they care for each other sm!!!!! hijiri was my least fav of the guys too but i did think he was cute :3 TSUKASA’S STALKER WAS SOOO SCARY i’m so glad that plotline was treated with the care it deserves!!!

AHHHHH so gekkan shoujo was a fail……. THAT’S OKAY ANONNN ik it’s not everyone’s cup of tea!!! :’3 it was a while since i watched it too….. did you watch the sub or dub?? the dub is funnier imo!!!! but. again… it’s been a while…… MIKORIN IS SOOOO CUTE THOUGH I’M SO GLAD YOU LIKED HIM 🥺🥺 my baby!! my special little guy!!!!!

NOWWWWWWW <3333 OSHI NO KO TIME. I’M SOOOOOO HAPPY YOU LIKED THIS ONE ANON I WAS SO HOPING YOU WOULD 🥹🥹🥹 it’s the perfect mix of dark + gorgeous + entertaining, right???? it has it all!!!!! THE OPS AND EDS ARE SOOOOO GORGEOUS i loved s1’s songs but i’ve also gotten super attached to s2’s……

BUT YES I TOTALLYYY GET YOU. i think jjk has spoiled me a little because i find it just a teeny bit difficult to get into anime that are lacking in that area :’3 WHICH IS PERFECT BECAUSE OSHI NO KO IS SOOOO GORGEOUS. so so pretty. ESPECIALLY AI OHHH MY GOD ANON ISN’T SHE ADORABLE?? 🥺🥺🥺 our beloved idol-sama………. the star eyes are soooo beautifully animated, seeing the light leave them when she dies was . so genuinely horrifying lmao. AND YES YES YOU GET ITTTTT ai haunting the narrative!!!!!! i loved how they handled episode 1 so much….. her final ”i love you” made me. cry 😭 it still makes me cry when i watch it.

and i totally get you on the escapism!!!! jjk is just like that for me too!!!!! and yeah, i have . many theories on gorou (the doctor) and his attachment to ai!!!! how it’s connected to his own life but also his fixation on sarina…… i can’t wait to read the manga :3c

AHHH YOU’RE SO REAL FOR LOVING THE GIRLS 🥺🥺🥺 they’re all soso lovely!!!!! designs, personalities, and all!!!!!!! i hope ruby gets more spotlight in s3 because it does feel a little like s2 is aqua’s…… and i love aqua but i’m also sooo invested in ruby and her idol journey :’3 HER GROUP IS SO CUTEE. AND AS FOR THE SHIPS…… i’ll be so honest anon i think both akane and kana are too good for him LMAO. or more like i just don’t see him treating them as well as they deserve with his whole…. revenge plot going on. lmao. but overall i prefer kana as a character!!! i like kana a lot, and i think she’s so interesting and eerie like you mentioned, but kana feels so . real and grounded to me. i have a big soft spot for her too!!! AND RUBYYYY MY ANGEL. she’s so cute and so so strong, moving on with her life even after ai’s death….

THE TOKYO BLADE ARC IS SOOOOO GOOD. i totally agree!!!! i love the way all characters have been handled, they all just care about the story being told :’3 both abiko and goa!!!! the recent episode where they interact and praise each other was so precious…..

BUT YES . AQUA . oh my goddddd he makes me so insane anon…….. i have so many thoughts of him and his identity because i do think it’s so fractured. i think aqua views ai as his mother, but not gorou. their dynamic is so interesting because ai is like….. his mother, his child, and his love interest all in one, as twisted as it sounds. i do think his love for her is platonic but he himself is unsure about it and i think that adds a lot of depth to it all!!! ai is like the center of his universe….. but yeah, i don’t see him as super likeable, which is . Why i like him LMAO…. i like them a little sick in the head <333 he’s definitely a very flawed character. his attempts to control ruby show that much, even if he’s doing it because he cares…

but!!! yes!!!!! i definitely agree with you on that last point, it’s a really wacky premise that ended up as a super thoughtful exploration of the entertainment industry :3 this is just my own take, and like i said — i haven’t read the manga — but!!! i do feel like the main theme is the exploitation of children. and i wonder how that’s going to come back later in the story. i feel like that’s what everything is sort of building up to, with ai’s abuse and pregnancy, sarina’s death, aqua’s trauma… and so on.

thank you sm for checking the series out anon!!! i’m so happy you enjoyed it so much!!!! i’m always, always here in case you wanna chat abt it <333

AS FOR THE FATE SERIES. i should’ve warned you, it’s a very ……. long series with a lot of different games and manga and anime, but the right place to start is always fate/stay night 🫡🫡 the different fates aren’t connected to each other (fate/zero and fate/stay night are connected though…), so don’t worry about watching them all!! fate/stay night: unlimited bladeworks is more than enough. and if you enjoy that, you can move on to the heaven’s feel trilogy, which is…. a different, darker route the protagonist takes. stay night in general is super good!!!! i hope you enjoy it if you give it a try :3 the fate series in general probably has my favorite writing…. ever? but it might not be for everyone. the characters and dynamics are what really make it shine!!! with some super good fights <333

[zdbztumble]

Yet Another Kingdom Hearts Revisit, Part II

Confession time: Olympus Coliseum has always been my least favorite world from the first game. My feelings about its source film have a lot to do with that. Hercules is a lot of fun. Hades is a hoot, the design sensibility is wild, and the concept of using gospel music for a tale of gods and heroes was brilliantly thought of and brilliantly executed. But I think Herc himself is the most boring protagonist Disney animation came up with in the 90s. He is what critics of Superman think Superman is (and what he frankly sometimes is in fact). The mishmash of Superman and Rocky for his story is an awkward one, and not being a big fan of sports or sports movies, I groan through all the beats of the sports movie formula the movie hits. With a hero that bland and a villain that charismatic and entertaining, the movie can't work the way it wants to. As enjoyable as many of the parts of Hercules are, it never gels into a satisfying whole.

Sora being a more compelling protagonist than Hercules himself, that bullet was dodged. And the vibe I get from Hades in KH I is that he was, if not the loser of the League of Disney Villains, the one who was least committed to the group and the most desperate to employ low cunning, which undercut his otherwise slick persona and made him more effective (and even a little pathetic) as a villain. But there is still a lot of the sports movie mentality in Phil's attitude toward Sora and company, and it's hard not to take all the tournaments as Sora and Donald assuaging their egos (Goofy comes off more as Sora's cheerleader in cut scenes). It's not exactly the meatiest story material in the game.

With all that said - "least favorite" doesn't mean I don't like Olympus Coliseum. I like it plenty. If only for variety's sake, I'm glad to have a tournament world, and unlike Atlantica in KH II, Olympus Coliseum executes its concept well and still connects to the larger story. When it does so, it's very effective. KH I's Cloud is still who I think of when I picture the character, and his and Sora's relationship is quite touching. The tournaments give good revisit value and the prizes are nice (though it does irk me that the Gold Match with the Ice Titan doesn't come with a prize). The cut scenes for this world also have a healthy dose of the cartoon comedy that's sadly come to be in short supply in the series.

However, Olympus Coliseum does have one of the bigger narrative hiccups in KH I. I'm sure I noticed this in a past playthrough, but it irked me more this time - having Sora declare that his friendship with Donald and Goofy is so strong that it would let them defeat even the mighty Hercules, and that friendship is what it takes to be a true hero, would be a wonderful sentiment if it wasn't immediately preceded by a fight with Herc where Sora tells his friends to step aside so he can go one-on-one.

It's more than a nitpick and less than a crippling flaw; Sora couldn't have gotten to that fight with Herc unless Donald and Goofy supported him through the Hercules Cup, after all (at least until the game lets you fight through it solo). And KH I has very few such issues. But it is there. And if there's any repeat world that I think KH II handled better narratively, it's Olympus.

[namitomoon]

Soooo I just finished the Doma arc of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (also known as Waking the Dragons or the Orichalchos arc) and I wanted to share my brief thoughts about it.

To begin with, I was quite interested in this arc. I already read the manga fully, watched GX, 5Ds and I was going to start Zexal but decided to at least finish DM before moving on from the "original trilogy". The main reason I was interested in Doma is the fact that it's 100% an anime original arc that doesn't follow the manga. Moreover, its lead writer was Shin Yoshida (the same guy who made GX S4) which AFAIK is somewhat controversial among the fandom. I was interested in seeing how well could Gallop use the setting made by Takahashi to create an original story as the previous filler arcs (Noah, Legendary Heroes and Rebecca's arcs were quite short).

I have to say I liked it. I'll go over a few points that I loved about the Doma arc:

Yami Yugi got an insane development. In contrast to the overall heroic almost invincible development he got in the previous seasons (which is helped by the fact Gallop skipped the first 7 volumes where Yami has a more, let's say, violent attitude) we see Yami falling to the temptation of darkness and losing, showing himself vulnerable. He feels more human and deep. The famous (meme) moment where he goes berserk on Haga gave me some brief reminds of early Yami.

I really liked the idea of past characters like Ryuzaki, Haga and (especially) Mai getting more development and closure.

The 3 Musketeers of Doma are pretty good. I like their designs even if they kinda feel like they tried to fill archetypes (Rafael being the strong bulky guy, Amelda the androgynous and Varon having the design you'd expect a shonen protagonist to have) and their tragic backstories. I especially liked how with Varon and Amelda, the story got into darker themes related to organized crime and war. It reminded me a bit of Gundam.

I loved how Gallop took over the notion of the Duel Spirits and developed them more. I like the idea of the Duel Monsters not being mere tools but also beings of their own with their will, desires and such. I find Rafael's character arc and initial ideology to be interesting for that reason.

Unlike Noah's arc (which had the issue of being so awkwardly placed in the middle of the Battle City finals) or the Domino City battles arcs (which feel like a breather between DK and BC), the Doma arc not only doesn't feel awkwardly introduced but it honestly feels welcome because I remember the transition from BC Finals to the MW manga arcs to feel kinda abrupt.

As someone who has finished GX and 5Ds, watching the Doma arc for the first time is funny because it's where you can pin the point where the Yugioh anime franchise just went berserk. From the careful and lowkey "magical realism" approach of the manga to the wacky "the fate of the world rests on a card draw" type of science fantasy.

It teases and foreshadows some elements of the Egyptian arc. In general, I appreciate how they tried to make it feel connected.

I like how the Musketeers are presented as strong and almost invincible Duelists and they ARE strong and almost invincible.

The change of setting was nice and it helps make the Yugioh world feel bigger.

Now, some things I didn't like:

While I do appreciate Gallop picking Mai and try to give her some closure in contrast to how she is simply written off in the manga...it could have honestly been better. Don't even get me started on her anticlimactic ending and (off-camera) duel against Dartz.

Dartz is interesting and cool, but I personally find him a little boring compared to the rest of the villains. Maybe because I already watched GX and 5Ds so I'm a little burnt out by the whole "evil esoteric villain who wants to destrot the world". I'd say Doma itself is an interesting villain because of the whole notion of them controlling the world.

As said before, this is the moment where the Yugioh anime definitely establishes its own wacky line that would go further into fruition in GX and 5Ds...but some moments just feel so silly to be taken serious (like the whole US Navy asking Yugi, Kaiba and Jounochi to destroy the Eldritch horror villain because "they couldn't")

I know it's a filler arc (by definition, not in the pejorative sense) but, just like the rest of the DM series, it has some pacing issues (although not as big as the BC arc) with some moments just dragging for so long it becomes mind-numbing. It rubbed me off the wrong way that Gallop decided to waste the final episode of the arc (184) in making an unnecessary pseudo-recap episode instead of, you know, giving a bit better closure to Mai, Ryuzaki, Haga and the Musketeers.

It's pretty much common knowledge that the DM animation peaked at DK and then afterwards became quite inconsistent. This was (along with the awful pacing and artistic direction change) what I disliked the most about the Battle City arcs and it's repeated in Doma with some episodes (the ones made by Yumeta or by Gallop in-house) being beautiful and others (the ones outsourced to DongWoo, SSC and others) being terrible. The contrast gives me whiplash (the Mai vs Joey duel in Industrial Illusions HQs is a prime example).

All in all, I still liked it and I appreciate it as the true divergence point between the manga and the anime franchise.

[tomwambsmilk]

generally speaking I think it's so interesting when youtube videos have strong Narratives, ykwim? I had a whole conversation with a friend about this - the reason the Defunctland fastpass video is so iconic (and the reason I've watched it more than once) is not because I find theme park design inherently interesting (I do not) but because the video tells a really well-structured story, complete with protagonists (the average person trying to have a good time) and antagonists (Disney) and character development (evolution of the fast pass) and plot twists (shapeland is animal kingdom). So even if you don't give a shit about theme parks it's still really enjoyable to listen to. The maragaritaville/rainforest cafe videos are similar where it COULD have just been 'youtubers do something crazy!! not clickbait' in which case I would have watched maybe 10-15 minutes before getting bored. but instead its a really well-structured Story about eddie and/or ted going through various existential crises/character development and it sucks you in!! I'm constantly amazed by a) the ability of a good Story to make you interested in something you normally wouldn't care about, and b) the fact that a talented person can turn Literally Anything into a good story. it just goes to show that a good story is less about the content and more about the execution, I think

[otakween]

Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01 - Disc 8

Another mysterious appearance by a main character looking dude on the inner flap of this volume. He kinda looks like that Ryo guy from the Adventure 02 Ken flashbacks. Guess I'll find out...

Side note: apparently Arkadimon won 3rd place in the Japanese popularity poll? How!? He's literally the most boring digimon ever!

Ch. 46

-How are we on the final battle already if there's a whole other volume after this one? Either this isn't the final battle and they'll pull some "secret final boss" nonsense (it is the Digimon way) OR vol. 9 will just be like epilogue stuff. I'd prefer the latter

-In the scanlation I'm reading Taichi says "attacks won't work on Arkadimon, let's try direct attacks!" I kinda got what they were going for, but it's a bad translation, so I looked at the original Japanese. They use 必殺技 (hissatsuwaza) and 直接 (chokusetsu). So, special attacks don't work, but direct attacks do. Kinda like when you can't use magic on some enemies in games.

Ch. 47

-You see, ripping up Zero's wings and stabbing him through the chest has kind of lost all impact at this point. Not only is this a kid's manga so I know he'll be okay, but also we've already seen him recover from those specific injuries before.

-Gabo and Rei are cute together, I could see them as protagonist/partner in an alternate version of this story.

Ch. 48

-Wow, they're really going hard with this "rock bottom" moment. I know things will turn out okay, but if I was a dumb 8 year old who's never read anything like this before, I might be kinda shook

-Neo continues to be a flat character. You would think adding his sister to the story as a good guy would cause him to have some kind of inner conflict, but he's just evil for the sake of evil and his sister being around has had zero impact. Boooo

Ch. 49

-Not much happened in this chapter, they just explained how the Dot Matrix attack works and prepared to fight Neo's army. Zero is in the ICU and Taichi's basically catatonic. I feel like the level of despair being conveyed by Taichi is a little more than we ever saw in the anime. Manga always tends to be an edgier medium.

Ch. 50

-This whole time I've been calling him "Leomon," but he was actually Panyamon (the white reskin). Also, Dominimon is new...not as badass looking as Seraphimon

-The "all digimon give Zero strength" scene was a good opportunity to bring back some one-off background characters. Cute to see that some of them have digivolved too.

Ch. 51

-Okay, I'm not crazy for thinking it was Leomon because they literally call him "Leo" lol

-Kinda don't like how Zero and Taichi are the "chosen ones" and no one else can even scratch Arkadimon. It would be more interesting if they worked as real team where everyone balances each other out. I guess why they don't do solo MCs in the anime...

Omake - Hot Blooded!

-So I was right, we get a crossover with Ryo due to a Wonderswan promotion. It's nice to see a different MC design for once! He kind of reminds me of Lloyd Irving

-This was shorter and had a sillier tone than the other crossovers. It was kind of stupid that they defeated Demon's henchman via "hot bloodedness," but it was funny how equally matched Taichi and Ryo were in personality.

-I wish we could have seen more of -checks wiki- Monodramon. I really like his design. Very Spyro the Dragon.

I can't believe there's only one more volume left! I feel like I zoomed through this. As far as I can tell, Digimon really isn't known for its manga, so it's been interesting to see some of the neglected bits of the franchise. It's definitely a kids and super fans only kinda situation because neither the plot or characters are that deep or unique. I guess that makes a nice brain-off read though.

[kustas]

obligatory disclaimer of “i read this two years ago and cringed so hard throughout i blanked most of it from my mind” therefore don’t remember much details

from what i remember: it’s a mass of easy clichés that does nothing well.

nothing, NOTHING stuck out to me in monstress from the story to the artwork, and the litte merit i fought to find was stuff i had seen better executed in other places. the only two things i remember liking was some character designs (especially female characters) and the overall aesthetics of the fantasy art of the world. for the first: while a few had memorable designs, the mass felt like faux-anime prettyfaced potatoes with too complex outfits. reminded me of final fantasy MMO characters and i mean this in a derogatory way, where the only design elements characters are allowed to have are so kewl flourishes on an instagram model base. regarding the art, i gotta put a nerd hat on for this but i mean the direction taken for in-universe art forms and styles and the cultures and context around them. i remember little cultural variance but the artwork itself, if not that original, had the merit of trying instead of stealing RL artwork like most fantasy series are content to do. unfortunately as these are my opinions i happen to find it kind of ugly.

as for the art, in general. BOY is it bad - i know it’s a webcomic and have respect for that and how intricate the artwork is for such a format but I also do think it looks like ass. too much complexity with little regard for hierachisation of buisiness for readability purposes. the volumes are disastrous where characters have little shapes especially in difficult angles. this i would not care for had the artist not went for half assed realism. a potato face can look great but not if you try shading it realistically. and realistic shading often has to be polished if you want it to be readable.

plot wise: things sure were happening in the most boring way possible. “protagonist possessed by a sort of monster god thing” is as tropey as can be, the political going-ons and emotional drama i did not find a way to give a shit about because you did not spend enough time knowing about the world in a meaningful way to understand its politics (or care), and no characters were endearing. layers upon layers of the pointless shock and sad violins my meanest brain pieces imagine is what bad angst fanfic reads like.

it’s just bad!!! everything about it felt edgy and amateur.

i’ve read enough weird, wild & touching comics to know how hard they can hit even ones rougher around the edges and have so much love and respect for them as an art form but monstress promised little from it’s premise and delivered even less. maybe i’m not the target audience but who even is? it has the maturity and edge of something for older children but too much graphic content for that especially given how harsh US publishing is with sex. it’s too complex for casual fans and imo too shallow for hardcore fantasy nerds. i don’t want to say this because i’ve met people I know who liked it who have wild culture and are smarter than I am but had I not I’d have told you “monstress has fans because a lot of people have not read good comic books in their life”.

found some live texting i had while reading it with an equally hateresque friend who is a comic author themself and who’s name i gracefully have censored.

worst comic book i’ve read ever for real

[gameinfoxtbr]

Black Myth Wukong Developer

Probably one of the most eagerly awaited video games of the past decade is undoubtedly an action RPG titled Black Myth Wukong, Black Myth Wukong Developer is Game Science. Game Science is based in China. The initial protagonist of the game is Sun Wukong, also called the Monkey King, and the game is based on one of the Four Great Classical Novels – Journey to the West. As they’ve been trying to deliver players such an immersive and thrilling story on a new playing platform that combines a beautiful graphical user interface with fast-paced action, The Game Science has been trying to imagine and bring to the world a game like this in which the battle sequences and storylines are tightly inspired by today’s real world. The Origins of Black Myth Wukong 🚀 Games Science is a company that was established quite recently by a group of experienced developers who used to work for Tencent. It was decided to create more games from scratch rather than follow the tendencies of the gaming industry. Black Myth Wukong was initiated on February 22, 2018, and on February 25, 2018, it was decided to make the game single-player only. This was the starting point of the development team to derive the action role-playing game (RPG) newly structured with a mythological setting in China and pave for a spectacular journey.

GameInfoX They are obsessed with creating accurate and extensive content that has been received globally; people are now waiting for the Black Myth Wukong game. Based on both the trailer and the play, it is visible that the painting and the fighting system are the work of the Black Myth Wukong Developer, which was done in this game. To know more details about Black Myth Wukong today and today’s updates and news! The Core of the Black Myth Wukong Developer and His World 🌏 This is mainly because Sun Wukong, or Monkey King, is the protagonist of the black Myth Wukong. By experiencing the voyage to the West, players will have a wonderful voyage with powerful magical powers, Mythology creatures, and exciting challenges. Some of the top game scientists have done some really good work; trying to give real-life prose to this ancient tale which is supposedly historical. I like the idea of matching the design of the world to make use of every feature that can be utilized in modern graphics engines; the graphics are stunning. Adding dynamic weather effects, destructible environments, and realistic character animation, Black Myth Wukong is among the most visually ambitious projects in the works now. For a detailed overview of the Black Myth Wukong Guide covering gameplay, combat, and even tips for taking out tough opponents, watch this video. Pushing Technical Boundaries Unreal Engine 5 💻 Since Black Myth Wukong was developed based on the Unreal Engine 5, such a game can achieve things that other games just can’t. Besides having the latest technology of its generation, it also has advanced character design features as well as real-time ray tracing capacities. Rich texturing and realistic PT lighting notes of every scene in the game are made possible by Unreal Engine 5. By fur of the Monkey King, the setting of the dark fantasy Black Myth Wukong, the ruined temple backdrop, the fire-spewing enemies… everything comes to life. Combat Fast, Fluid, and Fantastical ⚔️ Interestingly, based on the trends analyzed, it seems that one of the aspects, in which all of the fans are most interested, is the battle system of Black Myth Wukong. A peculiar fight system was established by the rather funny and truly enthusiastic developers who used supernatural powers and martial arts moves without exception. The actuality of Action RPG is implemented through the player character’s transformations of Sun Wukong, Ruyi Bang, and clones controlled directly by the player. The particular fight is dynamic and exciting; the player never gets bored while fighting opponents. Black Myth Wukong’s starter bosses also offer something different for each battle, as usually within the fight the player has to switch up strategies within Monkey King’s move set. As to enthusiasts of this sphere, they enjoy the types of spirits to be met as well as the mythology of the creature’s battle and killings. Be sure to use the Black Myth Wukong Tier List for help during these incredibly exciting fights.

GameInfoX A True Next-Gen Experience 🌟 Black Myth Wukong is one interesting and eye-catching game with great action and speed along with synopses to give one of the most fantastic next-generation experiences. They are putting their best bet in creating a complex game, and the first to use all the capabilities of modern-day consoles and PCs. These teaser videos and gaming demos have excited millions of video game aficionados as to what the newest generation of gaming consoles can do. The legendary story of the Monkey King himself and the beautiful environment of the defeated opponents, characters, etc, make Black Myth Wukong a game that gamers will have no option but to look at. Finally, I was able to ask them about the likewise numerous game modes upon its release and the DLCs and maps that were added after which is just a guarantee that the game is not tiring too soon. See the latest and more details of Black Myth Wukong here! To know what Black Myth Wukong is all about What’s Next for Black Myth Wukong Developer? 🔮 Black Myth Wukong is around the corner and fans are asking what’s next from Black Myth Wukong Developer. This is a known group, and the success of Black Myth Wukong could turn the team into one of the largest development studios in the world. In this case, Game Science will be favorable resulting from creativity, compelling storytelling, and graphics. At the moment, every gaming community around is eagerly waiting for Black Myth Wukong. Teammates contributed their efforts to create a hardcore game that not only narrates the story of Sun Wukong but also sets a benchmark for action RPGs.

GameInfoX Conclusion 🎉 However, Black Myth Wukong is more than just a computer game; it is the result of a lot of hard work, passion, and love that a team poured into telling a particular historical god story. The reader’s interest in the game is therefore only aroused, apart from being excited to read. Those who like stories with unique mythology, action games, or graphics, will be impressed by Black Myth Wukong Developer. Of course, we know that all of you enjoyed the game so much and you are eager to know about all the things that surround it – The Black Myth Wukong Game Guide is here and much more to make you prepared for the new challenge! Word Count: 880 words Read the full article

[not-souleaterpost]

The Warring Visions of Gravity Rush

Well I don't have the motivation to concentrate on something more productive, might as well atleast write out my spit-take.

Gravity Rush has bad direction. Fitting about a game where you are falling upwards...

Or better said, it has like five different "directions" that clash. And I don't mean in a way that compliments each other or that leads to something interesting, but more just so that it pulls everything down as gravity tends to do.

But what do I mean by this? Well lets talk about Gravity Rush as the marketing idea, as the ideal you have in your head when you imagine this "totally hidden gem revolutionary experience!"

You might see the crazy gameplay, or the few pieces of promo that had this atmosphere that is hard to describe. Or you saw the main protagonist and had some reservations and thought "well she may be designed to appeal to one's lower insticts, but still she has a weird dress and look, so it probably isn't all just that, right?"

Right - its partly like that. And thats the first part that really clashes and jusy kinda makes one groan while playing - Kat is the most boring animu girl you could imagine, inclusive of all the worst cliches, like literally the overplayed scene of a kinda loser male lead stumbling upon her after a shower and her losing the towel, even a deaf person could here the "Baka!" screeching in the void of the evil eye...

But how much can one cry about the evils of some anime thot and overused tropes? But that isnt the only kinda meh direction - cause they also go for the superhero thing. Yeah, maybe it was a different time when the game released, but in this day I am sorry, somehow superheros are the most lame thing I can imagine. I mean I loved the Raimi Spiderman movies but after that it just allways felt kinda dumb - even with anime I atleast have this connection of watching and finding some stuff interesting as a teen, while superheros just looked childish even back in the day.

Still, thats just personal stuff, and comics are comics, heroes are heroes, where is the problem, right, they are not different directions, I'm just making an arbitrary distinction.

Well maybe, but there are a few more cardinal things that truly show the wrong way the game took. Cause as I said it has this whole ethereal, mysterious vibe - and combined with the previous stuff it just synthesises into some corrosive poison, making my enthusiasm melt as fast as I have to play another wacky dream sequence or see some other hatsune miku haired plot device explain time dillation - it just blends into a stew with no taste or texture.

But that still isnt the whole story - the whole game trys to go in the whimsical direction, like that one french movie "Amile" (with the fake language sounding like French) - with all the all town looking citys and music - but combined with everything else, it just kinda makes the sound feel flat and lifeless, - especially when one doesnt see Kat being this mysterious nonchalant force in this world - well maybe in moments - but that breaks down cause we have to do the whole "insecure teenage girl who wants to find a bf" thing which breaks everything.

But I dunno, maybe Im too harsh, maybe I'm just projecting my own current bad mood on some old ps vita game - in the end I had fun, and the most fun I had... Was when after finishing the game I collected gems after having many movement updated while blasting this:

And this is kinda my point,my synthesis - It isnt impossible to mash things together that seem to fight against each other - one just needs the vission.

(skip to 26:04 for the song, then you'll see what I mean)

Hell, to prove my point - I will even go against my prude persona, and give an example that keeps the fanservice aspects:

What if, to show the otherwordless of Kat, how she is a stranger that changes this mysterious world, she actually doesnt even mind when somebody sees her naked? Is maybe even confused? (Hell, plays with the garden of Eden imagary that went nowhere if the spoilers of the sequel I read were right ((yeah I know it also was Newtons apple cause of Gravity, but things can have double meanings) - maybe have Kat be amused at being called a superhero, being a friend to children so being happy if they are - maybe then the whimsical music would work too - being from the perspective of a desolate town being visited by a elf-like being who brightens their day and solves their problems?

Maybe make Kat show that she understands the cryptic meta stuff (but in a subtle way) - basically keeping the feeling of mystery, making the player wonder, if they themselves understand the person they are literally playing as (I know one usually wants players to connect with the charachter, but I think in this case it would work)

So yeah, I dunno, maybe Im the only person in all of time that sees it this way. Maybe the direction they went is actually the right one-

Nah I cant say that after watching that animation that supposedly connects the first game to the sequel : With all the most boring cliches of "Oh the happy go lucky protagonist that loves food!" and "oh these cute girls sure love touching each other, arent they cute😉, figurine link to your left💲" - and then ending with some nonsense fight against enemys that have the same design philosophy as Vtubers... Yeez louis😂

And then reading how the story basically retcons away the kids who were lost in the past in some DLC and introducing even more Meta peeps like some guy who represents the game being programming, and the evil being electrycite which seems to be faux deep like "wow its a steam world and they put away the dangerous of this technology🤯" - like they have literal airships and jetpacks and the protagonist has gravity powers aint nothing impressive or dangerous about electricity😂

I dunno, in the end, what I mean is that Gravity Rush is an idea that had potential, that even has fun gameplay and great moments, so its sad when something like that gets dragged down to the levels of those awful on all levels Waifu Rpgs like Xenoblade 2 (yeez louis, even without all the drama, its gameplay looks like waterboarding to me "watch these shitty animations and cluttered ui while grinding and collecting crap for 80 hours!")

Anyways I prolly went on too long and shit on to many things people here maybe like. So in case you are angry:

Yeah...Sorry

[wattwrites]

January 2024 in Movies and TV

A collection of mini-reviews about the movies and TV shows I've watched during the past month.

A lot of these are 2023 releases I didn't get round to when they released, So I'm playing catch up a little bit this month. Please note that I only watch things I'm personally interested in and please remember these are just my opinions. If you would like to read my reviews in full, Please go to my Letterboxd.

MOVIES:

09.01 - Hercules (1997, Ron Clements.) 3/5

Beautiful animation, some really under-rated visual sequences. Meg and Hades are the best characters, They have so much charm. Plot is a little stiff but the characters for sure make up for it.

10.01 - The Boy and the Heron (2023, Hayao Miyazaki.) 3.5/5

A powerful piece about grief and displacement, Our protagonist continues to venture through the world despite his loss. Breath taking animation and some superb voice acting, just really beautiful.

10.01 - Saltburn (2023, Emerald Fennell) 3/5

I didn't think this was as crazy or as good as it was made out to be, Casual movie watchers need to stop misunderstanding artsy films. There were a few moments that gripped me when I first watched it but seeing it all be picked apart on social media ruined this movie for me. I found Felix really likeable and I went into it knowing that Oliver was a piece of shit; Rosmund Pike and Alison Oliver gave some of my favourite performances.

12.01 - Poor Things (2023, Yorgos Lanthimos) 5/5

My favourite movie I saw in Janurary, A visual treat for anyone who likes traditional gothic horror, the visual effects and the set design was beautiful and I genuinely felt so emerged in the world. Kinky and gorey and does not hold back on a single punch, Bella is unashamedly herself and learning to find her way in the world and I've never experienced such a well rounded character arc before.

13.01 - Fantastic Mr.Fox (2009, Wes Anderson) 3.5/5

The first of several Wes Anderson movies I watched this month, I really like the flare in his movies. George Clooney plays the character so well and all the characters are so charming - I did think it got a bit overcomplicated in the middle but isn't that just Wes Anderson to a T. Beautiful animation and genuine well done slapstick comedy, a family treat.

14.01 - Wish (2023, Fawn Veerasunthorn) 2.5/5

Disappointing is the best way to describe Wish, It did have some merit but for what was supposed to be Disney's 100 Year movie it fell extremely short. Flat animation, boring characters and generic plot progression. Fine for kids who don't pay attention but there is very little of actual worth, I can't believe this came from Disney the same year as Across The Spiderverse.

15.01 - Arrietty (2010, Hirosama Yonebayashi) 3/5

Pretty music, great animation as usual but not quite to the scale of some other Ghibli productions. The voice acting really blew me away on this one, Mark Strong was a great choice for the stoic father but Olivia Coleman really went above and beyond in her performance. Neat, warm and cozy - The ending felt really simple but it was a good middle of the road Ghibli movie.

19.01 - The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014, Wes Anderson) 4/5

Fun, silly and warm. The whole movie felt like it took place in a toy box. Loved seeing all the usual Anderson offenders, I've started playing guess who when I watch one of his movies. I would give anything to hang out with M. Gustave of the Grand Budapest Hotel. Ralph Finnes was a fantastic choice, He embodied the role so well.

20.01 - Princess Mononoke (1997, Hayo Miyazaki) - 3.5/5

Easily the most brutal Ghibli I've seen, Doesn't hold back on its message at all and it was a fantastic visual metaphor for Man vs Nature. Great animation for the time, solid secondary characters and good voice work.

24.01 - Ghostbusters (1984, Ivan Reitman) - 4/5

My first time properly watching this movie and I loved it, can't believe it took me so long to watch. Oozes with charm and tone, The goofy spooky vibes are on point and every character is very unique. Fun popcorn cinema, It's extremely silly but takes itself seriously when it needs to. I found myself wanting more of the four Ghostbusters just bouncing off each other, All these big personalities play off each other so well.

26.01 - All of Us Strangers (2023, Andrew Haig) - 3/5

I completely misunderstood this movie and didn't go into it knowing it was a sixth-sense / supernatural movie so my first viewing left me very confused. Its full of very heartwarming moments, Claire Foy and Jamie Bell play the parents very well and there is genuine connection between the characters. Confusing and a little disappointing but it does pack a punch with some of the emotional moments, There was a few times it genuinely chocked me up. 

27.01 - Watership Down (1978, Martin Rosen) - 5/5

I personally don't know how to put into words how much I love this movie, It was a favourite of mine during childhood and it still holds up. The music and the tone is so strong and never once does it lose its pacing, You can tell the animators and production team really cared about the story. The commentary on nature and war was cleverly done, Not in your face but very present and the voice work was fantastic for the time.

27.01 - Raiders of The Lost Arc (Steven Spielberg, 1981) - 3/5

Goofy and fun but packed with really well executed and well directed action. The monkey broke my heart, I was rooting for her and she was a snake! Indie is kind of a scumbag but Harrison Foord plays him so well I can't help but love him, He'd make me crush on him too tbh.

28.01 - The Holdovers (Alexandar Payne, 2023) - 4.5/10

For a movie with such hurt and wounded characters at this core, This movie continually upholds the message that life can go on. Three protags all grieve something; a different life, a family, a child and all come together in this beautifully human story. Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa and Da'Vine Joy Randolph all play off each other so much, hats off to them all.

31.01 - Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (2023, Sam Fell) - 2.5/5

Big tonal change from the original tbh, I liked how gritty and dark and actually hopeless things felt. The uncanny valley vibes (for chickens) are kinda on it and the animation is pretty good but the over saturated colour pallet really doesn't do anything for these characters.

Television:

17.01 - Ted (2024, Seth MacFarlane) - 3.5/5

Packed with laughs and surprisingly human moments, the characters are all very fleshed out and I genuinely get the chaotic family vibes. Actual comedy and not just Family Guy-esque jokes, The whole season felt like a nicely wrapped gift. Not sure if I want more but I enjoyed it for what it was.

21.01 - Hazbin Hotel (2024, Vivienne Medrano) - 3/5

I was really conflicted going into watching this show as I don't have the best opinion of the creator but I was surprised. Good characters, fluid animation and some musical bangers. It hasn't quite blown me away yet but as of time of writing the finale hasn't aired yet.