#i’m just saying i wish they had kept incorporating more anime like gags in the og too

[stupid-2012tmnt-pics]

i miss when they used to go all anime in the show,,, i guess this will have to suffice

[thescrapbookingscientist]

Biweekly Media Roundup

- Trigun (Anime) - Still obsessing over Trigun and Knives specifically. Can’t believe how much I like this patronizing genocidal asshole. That’s good characterization baby.

- Lackadaisy (Webseries) - I don’t have anything interesting to say about this one, just that it was a very well made and pretty intro to what I remember being a pretty compelling web series. The designs of the cats and how much personality each exudes is incredible. 

- The Super Mario Bros Movie (Movie) - The reviews of this seem pretty mixed, but personally I liked it quite a bit. No, it’s not some mind blowing cinematic masterpiece, but for what it is, a kid friendly movie introducing the basic Mario story, it’s honestly much better than I was expecting-especially considering Illuminations previous output. You can tell it’s made by people who love the series, not only with the level of references but also in just the details of how the characters move or how the backgrounds and world are rendered. It’s quite pretty, with the character models looking adorable and the backgrounds full of color. Bowser was a standout of course, both in Jack Blacks vocal performance and the way they incorporated his mannerisms into the character model. I loved the brothers relationship and how affectionate they were with each other. It also had a few pretty solid jokes. I do wish it had been longer, as the scenes went by too fast for any emotional moment to take root, but again if you think of it as a set up of what’s bound to be a franchise of Galaxy, Luigi’s Mansion, or Odessy sequels, then it’s a pretty good “first episode” so to speak. 

- Bocchi the Rock (Anime) - My first venture into binging all the yuri-esque shows I missed from last year, Bocchi was indeed pretty solid. They made the protagonist uncomfortably relatable in her brand of social awkwardness which made for some emotional moments as well as big oof jokes. The cut away gags experimenting with different animation were fun, I did quite like the music and performances, and the character dynamics were pretty good, I’ll watch a 2nd season if it gets one. I’m not sure I’d go as far as calling it anime of the year, the ending didn’t really leave off like a complete story and plot wise it didn’t really have much going on, but as a nice slice of life comedy it’s definitely worth the watch. As a character Bocchi is great, but hopefully a s2 will explore a bit more of the other band members, who weren’t generic characters by any means but didn’t really get much screentime.

- Dr, Stone (Anime) - Hey we are back! New guy seems fun, I still adore Senku as a protagonist, and I’m interested to see how they plan to balance so many characters moving forward. Hope we see more flashbacks of the fantastic dad/son relationship, it’s honestly one of my favorites from any media I’ve seen. 

- Buddy Daddies (Anime) - While the ending surprised me in it’s conclusively (I did not expect a future epilogue to be canonized) overall I’d say it was a good decision. I’d say this was a solid C+, B-, it was good at being the cute little parenting comedy it wanted to be with some fun moments and solid animation but wasn’t particularly memorable in terms of plot or characters-like, I like all the leads, but I don’t see them topping any end of the year favorite lists. I will say that I’m surprised at how platonic they kept the fathers, I hadn’t expected them to get together but I did expect a lot more ship bait than we got. They work fine as a ship but the series really did focus a lot more on the child rearing aspects which came as a surprise considering how often marketing wants to tease mlm relationships for profit. I guess I appreciate it as I prefer giving visibility to more platonic relationships and unusual family structures to queerbaiting with no delivery but also there’s so few genuinely good mlm anime that it would’ve been nice for them to just have them be a couple. I did have a fun time with this, I’d recommend it if you are into the raising children genre. 

- Campfire Cooking in Another World (Anime) - Follow some people who had suggested this as a fun, relaxing little cooking anime and yeah, that checks out so far. Just a very cute and wholesome little feel good series about a man feeding his giant God level talking dog and baby slime child-As a domestic monster appreciator this is checking my boxes pretty well.  

- The Locked Tomb Series (Books) - Almost done with Gideon the Ninth, once again I’m really enjoying these characters and their dynamics, as well as the general space necromancy mystery plotline. I’m listening to the audiobook at the moment, but I’ll likely buy the physical copies as there are a lot of excellent quotes in here that I would like easier access to revisit. Anyway, Gideon and Harrow are the toxic co-dependent love hate lesbian ship I’ve needed in my life since my catradora hyperfixation. 

- Resident Evil 4 (Video Game) - Played till around chapter 6 so far with my friends and honestly, it’s really good. They keep all the fun stuff from the original but make it high res, I love seeing Leon and Ada and Luis and the Merchant again. It’s hard to get everyone together to play but I’m excited about getting to experience it again, got some great childhood memories of hanging with the girls and laughing at all the strange zombie noises they chose to include.

As usual I’m also keeping up with The Greatest Estate Developer, Land of the Lustrous, The Vampire Dies In No Time, and The S Classes that I raised.

Listening to: Nothing is Going Right by Meiyo, Eat Your Young by Hozier, Achilles Come Down cover by Annapantsu, Stalker’s Tango by Autoheart, Ship in a Bottle by fin, I Hate Everything But You and I’ve Always Never Believed in You from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, They’re Only Human from the Death Note Musical, Counting Bodies Like Sheep by A Perfect Circle, Kickback by Kenshi Yonezu, My Kind by Hilary Duff, Hallelujah cover by Pentatonix

[protagonistheavy]

I finished Midnight Gospel, it sure was a TRIP!!!!! I had a HIGH time!!!! I’m glad that I DRUGS!!!!!

Okay so, Midnight Gospel was okay but admittedly there was a lot of elements to it that were cringily “whooahh like, drugs man!” I dunno, I guess there isn’t too easy of a way to animate the experience of a big high without relying on tropes. There’s definitely some good charm in there for portraying those types of feelings in the animation, but when they rely super heavily on motion blur, or have everything get all swirly/liquidy, ugh, it really becomes an eye roller. It’s a shame because the animation definitely captures a lot of beautiful things, especially when it works well with the dialogue, but unfortunately those moments are muddled in what is pretty typical affair for, like, “flash animation cartoon that wants to be trippy.”

When the show tries to be Rick and Morty, that’s when it’s at its absolute worst. It tries to be more like the spiritual-themed version of Rick and Morty rather than physics and science at some points, and it just... I hate Rick and Morty lol so when I see animation or gags or writing that feels too much like it, again... eye roller...

But past all that I thought the show was ALRIGHT. It’s very dialogue focused and I respect it for that. The dialogue usually blends really well with the animation in order to tell the narrative that they want. Sometimes the overlap could get distracting, but usually what was on screen served the purpose of the ideas they wanted to talk about. The conversations are definitely enlightening and leave the viewer with intriguing topics to think about, though it does sorta suck that I feel like the conversations end like five or ten minutes too early, or that some information is kept cryptically defined, which to me feels more like a move to keep the show feeling “mysterious.”

There is no plot for the show, so def don’t go in expecting anything like that. As a result it’s pretty frustrating when the show lingers on the non-simulation moments because the non-simulation aspects have very little to say, at least not coherently. They introduce characters that won’t matter, they introduce worldbuilding that won’t matter... It tried to be bare bones but then also tries to get you into thinking there’s meat, I guess?

I think the finale was the best episode, obviously had the most impact in it. I think the episode in the medieval world with Trudy was like, really good RIGHT UNTIL that “fight” with, uh, Ben or whatever? The... booty guy... Yeah once it decided to go off the rails into lolsorandum territory, lost a ton of interest. In general I think all the interviews are really fun and enticing, it’s cute how they work these normal conversations about and from real people and incorporate it into whatever the show is wanting to do, and I like how flimsy they are with the narrative, so you have characters speak over each other, laugh at jokes, struggle to remember something, go on little tangents, all while the animation just continues like normal. It’s really interesting! Just a lot of downs with all the ups it has to offer.

I’d honestly kinda recommend to people who are interested in a different type of show with a more scripted podcast kind of feel. I dunno how scripted the interviews actually are, obviously some parts are scripted while others aren’t, but they’re good talks nonetheless and engaging conversations to listen in on. I just wish that if the series was going to try and do any worldbuilding, that they’d commit to it and come up with a compelling world outside the simulations, one that served a little more utility.

[inikavulpixelreviews]

Let’s Talk About Pokemon - The Sobble Family

816: Sobble

Looks like my overall favorite this time around is the Water Starter. Not that it has very stiff competition. But look at this CUTIE. And it's a REPTILE. Gosh, the last time we had a reptile for a starter was Gen 5. Why so conservative on the lizards??? That's disappointingly been a fall for Starters in that there's been a notable decline in reptiles. Gen 1 definitely had it too hard the other way where all three starters were in one way or another reptilian. Gen 2 also had a pair, but by Gen 6 we had gone from one reptile per game to absolutely none. Hopefully they're back and here to stay again!

Indeed, Sobble here is meant to be a little chameleon! Which definitely makes it stand out among Water starters, given all of them up to this point have been based on naturally amphibious creatures. Obviously, a chameleon is anything but. They do however translate chameleon powers into a water creature fair enough. So long as Sobble is in water, it's able to become completely transparent!

As the name would imply, Sobble's entire gimmick is that it breaks down crying all the time. Easily startled and anxious, it'll break down into a crying fit to defend itself. Apparently, its tears are comparable to onions, which obviously means just being near a crying Sobble will mean you'll break down into uncontrollable sobbing as well. I know Pokemon pseudoscience can get ridiculous sometimes, but “pack the chemical punch of 100 onions.” is quite the phrase.

Sobble's design is also really cute. It has markings that at first just look like cheek blush but are actually just tear markings beneath its eyes. And I love its cartoony little chameleon feet! Something I definitely wish was kept the more it evolved. We got two whole chameleon Pokemon and one doesn't have chameleon hands but the other eventually evolves out of them. Boooo. Sobble's body design also seems to be very modeled after teardrops. Maybe it's reading too much into things, but its head, head fin, and body are all slightly different tear drop-esque shapes. I dunno! Just something I'm observing now that I'm looking at it more closely.

The only thing really wrong with Sobble is that it's pretty samey with the other starters. All three of the starters this time around are very similar body shapes, with tiny bodies and huge, round noggins with something poking out the very tippy top. It's less egregious or even noticeable than the Gen 1 starter's sameface, but it's still very much there, as if all three were designed from the same template. Previous starters were definitely a lot more varied.

Personal Score: 9/10

817: Drizzile

Aaaaand they're already starting to lose me. While I did see an emo, awkward middle-stage coming, and I do like that part of its design. Definitely feels like the logical follow-through for a child that'd be sobbing constantly. I am however less of a fan of it standing upright now. And like I said, its feet are a lot less chameleon-like, and are now just some much more regular looking gecko-toes.

But it also ditches the crying theme. It no longer expels water from its eyes, rather it just creates water balloons with its palms. That's really lame, I was hoping the sobbing theme would be kept the whole way through, as I thought that was the entire point of Sobble. Water balloons don't even feel that in-place as a weapon of choice for an emo character. I guess it's just being lumped in as a general troublemaker type of thing, but it just doesn't fit for me.

Its coloration is also hella awkward. It could just be a gag on “it's not a phase mom!” but it picks up purple and green into its color scheme, only to drop both of those colors again. What was the point then? Why couldn't it have just stayed blue and yellow?

Personal Score: 5/10

818: Inteleon

Welp, we're once again three for three on anthro designs. But I've already made that rant, so I'll spare it here. I just personally really bought into the idea of Sobble eventually becoming a sad Water/Ghost weeping wraith-like chameleon monster, or at the very least it having the look of a drama student. Either would've been really cool directions to go, had they kept the crying theme.

And Inteleon here doesn't REALLY resemble a chameleon at all anymore, which is sad. It is however, a lot more like a Plumed Basilisk. Which does bring the design back around to amphibious creatures, with that being THAT lizard! Y’know the one. The one that can sprint across the water's surface! And Inteleon indeed does so, so in that regard, the heavy anthropomorphism is a lot easier to justify.

The markings on its body are also meant to be resembling something of a wetsuit, or at least a regular suit. The entire theme of Inteleon here is that it's a James Bond-style secret agent or super spy. Hence why it still turns invisible and all that! And it even shoots water out of its fingers as if they were guns, even while gesturing finger-guns. And this specific combination of spy agent making a gun with their fingers, and said finger-gun just being a water pistol is hilarious to me.

It also incorporates the back plume of the Basilisk as a wingsuit, which is really cool! The Pokedex states that Inteleon apparently has all sorts of gadgets, but I'm not sure if it just meant the finger-guns and wing membranes and nothing else or if it has more to it. If so, it doesn't really show it much not even through animations. Maybe when we see it in action in the anime it'll show off a bit more, but that sorta thing shouldn't be anime-only.

I mostly just wish it was just a LITTLE more lizard-like. People dunk on its face but I actually like it quite a lot. It easily has the most character of all the starters, even if it is the typical “smug lizard face”. Its posture however just looks a little awkward. Again, minding that previous Pokemon in the series have done anthro lizard looks better, Inteleon feels like it's just standing a little bit too upright to a point where it kinda stops looking like a lizard just enough to dip into uncanny valley a bit. The hands really don't help. They're so dang big and lanky for something that's otherwise so skinny.

But don't think I forgot about the Starter recap, I just waited for it here since it makes a lot more sense with Inteleon. The overarching theme of the Water starters is easily the most difficult to pin down. Most would say that they're all just animals that are amphibious. While mostly correct, there is a bit of a deeper theme that moreso influences their designs more than their base of inspiration. But all the Water starters seem to be based on different weapons. Blastoise obviously has its cannons. Feraligatr is easily the biggest wrench in this theory, since you kinda have to stretch what you consider a “weapon”, but it does have patches on its arms that resemble fist guards, implying its weapon of choice is either brass knuckles, clawed hands, or just outright punching. Swamper's tail resembles and bladed fan, Empoleon has a trident over its face, Samurott obviously wields a sword, and Greninja has access to all sorts of ninja tools, namely its water shurikens. Primarina's another hard one to pin down, but its tail is ever so somewhat mace-shaped. And finally, Inteleon makes guns with its fingers.

In the end, these starters are pretty disappointing overall. In fact, they sadly may just be my least favorite group of starters yet, with only one line really passing for me while I’m ambivalent to disliking the others. It’s also not a great jumping off point, after how good Gen 7′s starters were.

Personal Score: 8.5/10

[Archive]

[drink-n-watch]

  Genre : Action, comedy, crime, science-fiction

Episodes: 13 + 3

Studio:

One thing that we can pretty much count on is that as long as humans have working brains, they will try to find ways to mess with them. The latest and most potent way is the designer drug Anthem, which goes way beyond just altering your perceptions, it alters your actual DNA. In fact, if you’re not careful, you could end up as something which is no longer quite human…or just dead. That’s why it’s outlawed! But how do you deal with criminals that are literally superhuman? You send in your “best”! The detectives of the Seven 0 unit risk their lives every day to keep the citizens safe and Anthem off the streets. Don’t call them heroes, they are just doing their jobs. And starting now, Kirill is one of them!

First Anthem is a great name for a drug. It’s poetic, symbolic, easy to say and remember, positive in connotation. I am putting way too much thought into the marketing applications of illegal drugs. Second, that synopsis I just wrote is very accurate and super boring. Don’t go by it. Double Decker is a fun, often very silly show. I kept thinking of Brooklyn 99 if that can give you an idea. But then also of Breaking Bad a little… It’s not as funny as Brooklyn 99 or as well written as Breaking Bad but it makes up for it in weirdness and colour! Double Decker is just a queer little show in the best way. Pun intended!

why did this image seem to fit?

I have to say, the first thing that hit me as soon as I started this series was: whoa the colours! I haven’t been taken by such a sumptuous and prominent colour palette since No Game No Life. I figure this will probably divide viewers somewhat. The colours are rich and bright but they could also be called loud and potentially headache inducing. For me, that pop art palette is a selling point though and I must say my screencaps do not do it justice.

With such an in your face element, it’s sort of difficult to get passed the colours to the rest of the production. If you do though, the second thing you are likely to notice is the CG. The CG is… well, it’s ok. Some episodes are pretty CG heavy and it’s not incorporated as smoothly as it could be. But when used more sparingly it actually creates some very interesting dynamic effects that work well with the high action scenes. It’s actually heavier in the first few episodes and I was worried that it would end up being distracting but the 3D team seems to have found the proper balance as the series wore on and later episodes, which use it more sparingly, actually have some very good CG integration.

I never get tired of the gorgeous skyline

Wow, I really didn’t think I would talk this much about production. Fact is, Double Decker has a very distinctive look to it. Not only for what I’ve mentioned above but in actual design as well. Thankfully, I think the screencaps do a better job of showing those. Like anything that’s unusual, that can be a plus or a minus. I liked it, so it worked for me, if you don’t you may actually find it enough of a turn off to drop the show. This said, the sound is in fact quite good and the voice acting has a lot of chemistry even if individual performances don’t stand out as much.

Alright, so it’s a cool looking show. What else… I’ve come to realize that I am not the best person to review these types of series. What I mean is that I have a real soft spot for goofy action comedies with a criminal element. For instance, I rated much higher than average last year’s Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens. I’m also a big Archer fangirl. It’s a very specific niche that happens to speak to me, so I’m by no means objective in this review.

My review doesn’t make it clear but Travis sort of rules

I enjoyed this show a lot more than the average viewer, so my review is going to show that. But let me tell you why. The underlying organized crime story is in fact pretty solidly thought out. The organizations are described in enough detail to give you a real sense of everything that’s going on and the tension and danger are present despite the generally humorous tone of the series. If you like crime procedurals, there is enough groundwork in the storyline to keep you interested.

 This said I started the series firmly believing this was a mecha show, and for the longest time, I had no idea why. There is a pretty drastic tonal and genre switch that happens in the last few episodes that I did not see coming. It’s not exactly seamless, there is a reason I called this show messy in my title. There are some plot holes and a few contrivances. The story could have used a bit more background to really evolve naturally. But it still works.

 An effort has been put in to tie all the disparate genre elements together and give decent explanations for all the events of the series. Some are a little contrived but the whole thing holds together rather well and when you consider just how nutty things get, that’s pretty impressive, to say the least.

self-awareness is important

Although this isn’t an important element, I feel I should drop a line for all the nontraditional gender and sexual orientation representation in this series. A lot of characters and relationships do not follow social norms but both gender and sexuality are presented as incidental character traits rather than defining ones which I really appreciated. Double Decker is a very accepting show and I found it refreshing. I particularly enjoyed the fact that Kirill, the main character gets mistaken for a woman very regularly and although he is occasionally annoyed and corrects the misconception, in general, he never gets mad about it or considers it an insult or even a joke. It’s more of a catalyst for later events than a running gag. As for the clearly more traditionally masculine female character, it’s never even brought up and her femininity is never questioned despite her imposing physical strength.

 That’s a long paragraph for something I thought was barely worth mentioning. I watched Double Decker in June when questions of sexuality and identity were all around me and I just thought the series presented it particularly well while keeping its sense of humour about it. Kudos.

it’s a long story

The three extra episodes are side stories and slice of life events that happen in the course of the main storyline that for some reason weren’t included in the official season. I actually enjoyed them more and wish there had been more of those asides in the show as they fleshed out the characters beautiful and were just generally fun to watch. This is probably the first time I enjoyed the extras this much.

Overall, Double Decker is a well-made show with more than a few good moments. It’s not perfect and overreaches now and then but it succeeds more often than it fails. In my opinion, it’s worth a look. As the season stays fairly consistent throughout (the two background episodes on Doug and Max are particularly touching though), you should be able to get a good feel for the show from the first few episodes and decide if you want to see the rest. I would watch a second season in a heartbeat.

Side note : the frequent exposed brickwork and apartment interiors in this show were really beautiful. The hipster in me wanted to move there so bad!

so cool!

Favorite character: the narrator

What this anime taught me: modifying a bacterial shell with a virus’ DNA rewriting potential could yield a very powerful drug

Whenever the brain and the heart fight, it’s always the liver that suffers

Suggested drink: Double Decker Daiquiri

Every time Kirill talks to the narrator – take a sip

Every time there are comic book panels – take a sip

Every time anything is censored – gasp!

Every time anyone says Athem – take a deep breath

Every time someone gets called an idiot – get some water

Every time anyone mentions Derick – pour some out

Every time we see a cat – take a sip

Every time we see the King’s Kane – raise your glass

Every time someone gets drunk – join them

Every time anyone calls Kirill feminine – stretch

Every time Doug taps his temple – pay attention

Every time we see a chocolate bar – get a snack

Every time Doug talks about/does laundry – take a sip

Like I said, Double Decker is a very striking show. As usual, I have some more screencaps on imgur or Pinterest. I’m adding just a few here to get your interest!

Double Decker is a Little Messy and a Lot of Fun Genre : Action, comedy, crime, science-fiction Episodes: 13 + 3 Studio: One thing that we can pretty much count on is that as long as humans have working brains, they will try to find ways to mess with them.