unblinded-by-nostalgia-blog

[unblinded-by-nostalgia-blog]

Unblinded by Nostalgia's 10th anniversary SPECIAL!!!!

The Story

Okay, I'm not doing a "Part 1 and 2" format for this anime. Mainly because there is no point. Because the series works in an "episodic" fashion and handles it so poorly that doing the Review in my usual fashion will get my point across better.

Yes, I said it, Cowboy Bebop is shit. Or at least half of it is. Here is a list of episodes

1 2 3 4 5 9 12 13 15 16 24 25 26

This is the list of episodes that matter and move the plot along, or develop the characters in an important way, all the other episodes are just filler. They don't move the plot along and they are just overall boring (especially episode 11) in fact, episode 11 (where everybody dies at the end) ruins the ending to the actual series (I won't spoil it here), but if your main cast dies in a previous episode, how do we know if they are ACTUALLY dead at the end.

In fact, the world building is bad. We know that crime is so bad that there is a TV show that advertises criminals. But that's thrown out the window since the TV show gets cancelled in the 2nd half of the series, so is everything peaceful now?

Actually, no. In the last two episodes, an old gang that Spike used to belong to tries to kill him for some reason (it's never explained, even the show says it makes no sense.) and he runs into the villain that is important to the plot (again, NEVER fully explained!)

A lot of the story's problem is that we know nothing about what's fully going on. Why did Spike join the gang in the first place? Why did he become a bounty hunter?

The Characters

The Characters are one note and one dimensional. They are forgettable and the series just forgets about them all in the end (even the main side characters!)

The ONLY memorable character was Glen. He was the only character with a personality and an interesting backstory and motivation. Everyone else is just forgettable or annoying (I'm looking at you, Ed!)

In fact, the main villain is shit, he gets very little screen time (less then 10 minutes) and he isn't threatening in the slightest, in fact, the characters don't even ever mention him other than in 5 episodes, and that's just MENTIONING his name. We don't know his motivations or why he wants to kill Spike. We know nothing in the slightest. In fact, is name is "Vicious". It's like a preschooler created him to be a generic Saturday morning cartoon villain for one episode, not the main protagonist for the ENTIRE series!

The Animation/Special Effects

The Animation in this series is beautiful and so is the soundtrack. I will not diss that, but I did notice some recycled frames of Animation, but honestly, I've seen worse...

Final Thoughts

Everyone is going to say that I don't get it and the series is symbolic. Just to let you know, I do get it. My father watched 100s of old cowboy films when I was young and I would watch the, with him, and I love epic fight scenes and spaceship dog fights, in fact, one of my favourite games on the N64 is Starfox 64. And I have seen a fare share of Bruce Lee films and documentaries in my spare time. And symbolism doesn't make a series Deep automatically, it also needs substance to keep the viewer interested. But if you series is mostly (in fact, over HALF) is just filler, you cannot expect you audience to care.

This series is praised universally by both anime and TV show fans alike, but most of it is because this is the first anime they ever watched.

I guess you could say they were Blinded by Nostalgia...

The Story 1/5 The Characters 1/5 The Animation/Special Effects 4.5/5

Overall 1.5/5

[unblinded-by-nostalgia-blog]

Unblinded by Nostalgia’s Valantines Day SPECIAL!!!

The Story

The story is about a teacher-student relationship.

The story is pretty good, or at least I would of said that if the story wasn't rushed really badly. The book tries to tell a series long story (like Only the Ring Finger Knows) in an 111 pages. And it does definitely show.

The story is rushed beyond belief and we don't get any intimate moments with the characters that don't involve sex (even though there are barely any sex scenes to begin with!) we just get boring scenes with the teacher at the pub with his ex-boyfriend which shouldn't be first priority!

The Characters

The characters don't get any time to develop. All we get is two bland characters with even blander side characters.

The Illustrations

We get very few illusions in this novel and they also look rushed. The characters look ugly and the backgrounds are minimum at best.

The Yaoi

The story is too short to be a story based yaoi, but it's not a sexual based yaoi because there are very few sex scenes and they are really bad. It doesn't get the chance to be either one because of its short length.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this could of been a great yaoi title, but due to the novel being so short, once you start getting into it, it's already at the ending.

If you don't mind it's short, rushed length, I can see some people enjoying it. Just make sure it's REALLY cheap if you do decide to buy it, but for most people, it's best to avoid this one...

The Story 2/5 The Characters 1/5 The Illustrations 2/5 The Yaoi 1.5/5

Overall 2/5

[unblinded-by-nostalgia-blog]

The Story

The story tells us what happened to all the characters several years after the previous volumes.

That is pretty much it. It is basically an epilogue to the series and it is a fitting one. But I don't think that it deserved it's own novel since it is short and takes up less than half of this novel.

The Characters

We learn what happened to most of the characters after the left the main storyline, but I have one problem with this epilogue. Most of the returning characters are female and only three male characters (Lawrence, Luward and Col) are actually seen and get a fitting conclusion.

Even the shepherdess Norah and Eve, who Holo disliked are in this! And Holo even invited them!

I know that the demographic of this series is mostly male, but that's no excuse to leave out the male characters in the ending! Especially when this series appeals to both sexes and doesn't follow the usual light novel tropes! It makes the ending feel loosely like a harem light novel's conclusion, not a Spice and Wolf conclusion!

The Illustrations

We get a few illustrations in this light novel and they are okay. The main problem with them is that the printing made some of the illustrations too dark to see properly. The expect this sort of problem from Tokyopop's releases, not Yen Press!

In fact, they didn't give this volume much care at all! Other than the illustrations being impossibly too dark to see clearly, the front cover is bad, with Holo covering most of the title, couldn't they have placed it in front of her, moved it lower down, or better yet, shrink the title slightly so the title doesn't say 'Spice & Woi'! Plus, the paper quality has gone down compared to older volumes! And bare in mind, the older volumes were cheaper (£7.99) than this volume! (£9.99). If the quality of the releases went higher, I would be okay with it, but they are actually LOWERING the paper quality! Even Viz Media with there cheaper releases (£6.99) are better quality than this! Heck, even Tokyopop's later releases were cheaper! (Though, they were released in worst quality than this light novel...)

Did the people who released this volume even care about this series and how it was one of the first light novels to be released in English and made light novels popular in the west!?

Final Thoughts

Overall, this conclusion isn't the best out there, but other than a few minor problems, this final chapter of Spice and Wolf was great! But it's short length might turn away casual readers of the series. For those who are diehard fans of the series, you probably have bought it by now. But for more casual readers, I suggest you buy it cheap or rent it.

The Story 4/5 The Characters 4/5 The Illustrations 2.5/5

Overall 3/5

This volume also contains three short stories which I will review here.

Traveling Merchant and Gray Knight

The Story

The story is about a young Lawrence meeting an old knight.

The story may sound simple and plain, but it is an interesting story. The story is told to Holo by Lawrence after seeing a quote on a weapon, which makes it more interesting because it's like your there too listening to Lawrence's story, so it makes the story more magical and a joy to read.

The Characters

Seeing Lawrence as a young merchant is interesting to see, but it's not as interesting as the knight himself. He is a very interesting character and I won't give away why, you just have to find out for yourself!

Final Thoughts

Overall, this is Definitely one of my favourite short stories from the Space & Wolf universe. If you have half and hour to spare, give this short a go!

The Story 5/5 The Characters 4/5

Overall 4.5/5

Gray Smiling Face and Wolf

The Story & The Characters

The story is about Col's thoughts of Holo and Lawrence.

That's pretty much it. But very few people actually like Col and even those fans already know the thoughts of Col anyway, making this short story pointless.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this story isn't and wasn't wanted. It tells us what we already know and it is an overall boring read. Take my advice to skip this one...

The Story 1/5 The Characters 2/5

Overall 1.5/5

White Path and Wolf

The Story & The Characters

The entire story is a conversation between Holo and Lawrence.

It isn't the most interesting and engaging conversation they have had, but it is still fun to read.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this story is a fun read. Good enough to be the final story? Hell NO! The story feels more fitting in a 'Side Colors' novel than the final story of a great series!

The Story 3/5 The Characters 4/5

Overall 3.5/5

Overall Thoughts

Overall, this novel is a slightly disappointing ending to an otherwise great series. It isn't bad, but it leaves more to be desired. And with the lack of care Yen Press gave the series feels like being given the middle finger.

I recommend you borrow this one from a friend or at you local library or buy it cheap.

Epilogue 3/5 Traveling Merchant and Gray Knight 4.5/5 Gray Smiling Face and Wolf 1.5/5 White Path and Wolf 3.5/5

Overall 3/5

[unblinded-by-nostalgia-blog]

SPICE AND WOLF MONTH!!!

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a review of the Anime series only and does not reflect the thoughts of the original novels. They are two different entities and I will be treating them as such.

Part 1 (Episodes 0-6)

The Story

The story is has Holo being offered a young merchant's hand in marriage via contract.

The first part of this series is based on the third book of the series, which is my favourite in the series.

As an adaptation to the third novel, it is a good one. It isn't the most true-to-the-novel series, but I still enjoyed it. It also went into more detail on the economic side of the series than the original book which many people will appreciate, but those who know how economics works might find that this first half holds the viewer's hands too much.

As it's own entity, it's good. But it doesn't move the overall story much and the series made Holo and Lawrence a couple much faster than the original series did, which makes some of the elements of the story feel rushed.

The Characters

The two main characters get a lot of development in this arc. But I wish that the other side characters, especially Mark, the alchemist and the 'prince' had more development and in the alchemist's case, more screen time.

The Animation/Special Effects

The animation isn't as good as the first series. It recycles footage from the previous episodes and it suffers the same problem as Vampire Knight Guilty where the series had far too many flashbacks. It also uses a lot of still imagery and covers the character's mouths when they are talking, and it is really noticeable.

The Dub

The dub it still top notch, I especially love the 'prince's' voice and the alchemist's. They sound like exactly how I imagined they would sound while I was reading the original novel.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this arc was a great as an adaptation of the third book and as it's own entity. It isn't perfect by any means,nor is it a masterpiece, but it is worth watching is you have the time.

The Story 3.5/5 The Characters 3.5/5 The Animation/Special Effects 2/5 The Dub 5/5

Overall 3.5/5

Part 2 (Episodes 7-12)

The Story

Nothing really happens in the second half that is entertaining, except for the last episode where they made Holo and Lawence an official couple and Lawence lost all of his money.

Many people want a season 3 of this series, but after an ending like that (which is far different from the original book), what is there left to tell.

It would of been better if they made book 4 instead of skipping it and going straight to book 5.

The Characters

We learn a lot about Eve (she's called Abe in this series for some reason), but the rest of the cast is given very little development, heck, even Holo and Lawence don't get much development in this!

The Animation/Special Effects

The animation is slightly better, but that's not saying much because it still uses those cheap animation tricks throughout the series.

The Dub

The dub is still very well done. The only complaint I do have is that Eve sounds too much like a boy in this. She would of been better off with a lower pitch voice, but not a deep as this!

Final Thoughts

Overall, this half is definitely the weakest in the entire series. Apart from the final episode, they are skippable unless your REALLY interested in the story.

The Story 2/5 The Characters 2/5 The Animation/Special Effects 2.5/5 The Dub 4/5

Overall 2.5/5

Overall Thoughts

Overall, this series (and the first season) is overrated, but it is definitely worth a watch. While I do recommend you buy the first season, I recommend you only rent the second season.

Part 1 3.5/5 Part 2 2.5/5

Overall 3/5

[unblinded-by-nostalgia-blog]

SPICE & WOLF MONTH!!!

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a review of the Anime series only and does not reflect the thoughts of the original novels. They are two different entities and I will be treating them as such.

Part 1 (Episodes 1-7)

The Story

The story is about a young merchant who teams up with a wolf-girl who promises to help him get his dream shop if he takes her back to her homeland in the north.

The story is not an action series like most fantasy anime, but focuses on money and how if affects their world.

Some people may get confused with the economic talk, but the anime explains how it works well. But you have to concentrate on this series all the way through to keep up, even though it doesn't look like anything but talking going on in this series, listen carefully to what they are saying and you will be able to follow the storyline.

The Characters

The two main characters, Holo and Lawrence, work off each other perfectly, and they are both interesting characters in their own right. But they are the only interesting characters in this series (so far), and the rest of the characters get very little screen time or are not very interesting.

The Animation/Special Effects

The animation isn't very impressive. The characters just mainly sit down and don't move. When they walk, they sometimes seem a little stiff.

The animation even recycles a couple of clips in this first part, and you do notice them, even if you aren't looking for them.

The sound effects are all stock. The wolf howls, footsteps, doors closing, every sound effects you can here are reused and can be found free on any free moviemaker app!

The Dub

The dub is one of the best I have heard from Funimation! All the roles fit the characters perfectly and you know that the voice actors had a lot of fun dubbing this series!

Final Thoughts

Overall, this first part may not be the best out there, but it is still very enjoyable! Let's hope that the second part follows this part's example!

The Story 4.5/5 The Characters 3/5 The Animation/Special Effects 2/5 The Dub 5/5

Overall 3.5/5

Part 2 (Episodes 8-13)

The Story

The second half is about Lawrence coping with bankruptcy after the armour he bought loses its value.

The second half is DEFINITELY weaker then the first half, with a lot of filler and having the series go nowhere till the last 2 episodes.

The Characters

The main duo get a lot of development in this half, but the new character, Norah, isn't that interesting, all we know is that the Church doesn't like her and think she is a pagan witch (they never explain why very well) all they say is that she is too good at protecting sheep from wolves... That is frustratingly dumb for this series!

The Animation/Special Effects

The animation is still not very impressive. Even the final battle scene isn't very good, the character movements are too stiff.

The Dub

The dub is still very well done. But I think the voice of Norah doesn't fit well. She sounds too high pitched and doesn't sound like a confident shepherdess who can fend off wolves.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this second half is definitely weaker than the first half. The main problem with this second half is that it's too slow, and this is already a slow paced show. It's still enjoyable, but don't expect a masterpiece out of this second half.

The Story 2/5 The Characters 2.5/5 The Animation/Special Effects 2/5 The Dub 4.5/5

Overall 3.5/5

Overall Thoughts

Overall, this show is ok as an adaptation to the original novels. I do think that the anime is overrated, but I still enjoy it on it's own. It isn't something I would watch again anytime soon, but if you are looking for something to watch and nothing else good is on, I would recommend you watch this series.

Part 1 3.5/5 Part 2 3.5/5

Overall 3.5/5

[unblinded-by-nostalgia-blog]

Part 1 (Episodes 1-6)

The Story

The story is about a world where humans form a revolution to take over their vampire rulers.

The story overall is great, but the problem that this anime has is that it follows the manga word for word and it doesn't change or add anything new to make it stand out from its original source material. So if you have read the manga recently, you may want to wait a while before you watch this anime because you will practically see what you have just already seen.

The Characters

The characters are still great, but I want to see more of the vampires side of the story. Because of what I have seen from the humans seem a lot worse than what the vampires are doing.

The Animation/Special Effects

The animation is great, especially with the fighting scenes. But the watercolour backgrounds don't suit the character designs. Don't get me wrong, I like the backgrounds and how colourful and grim they can be, but with the character design style, it doesn't look as great.

Final Thoughts

Overall, while this adaptation is great so far, it doesn't take any risks like changing some of the scenes, and thus, this series is pretty much literally the manga in anime form.

Hopefully, as the series goes on, it will make changes from the original manga.

The Story 4/5 The Characters 4/5 The Animation/Special Effects 4/5 The Dub 2/5

Overall 4/5

Part 2 (Episodes 7-12)

The Story

The second half of the anime has the opposite problem from the first half, it wanders too far away from the source material.

I don't mind an anime trailing off from the original manga's path as long as it is done well. But here, it adds filler and typical anime tropes that were just shoehorned into the anime. It feels like some corporate business man came across this anime and said "it isn't tropey enough. Let's add a pointless romance, a shower-yuri scene and cheaper animation!"

The Characters

Some of the characters have been turned into tropes, especially the blond pig-tailed girl. My God, she is the most ANNOYING tsundere I have ever seen! She just yells at the main character and has a love rivalry with the purple haired leader (I will NOT refer them to their names because they are NOTHING like the original characters that we fell in love with in the manga!)

It's such a shame that these characters have become shadows of their former selves.

The Animation/Special Effects

The Animation takes a DIVE in quality. They use every cheap tactic in the book like those "rush lines", characters mouths getting conveniently covered, CGI and many more that you know and HATE!

The Dub

I decide to wait on commenting on the Dub until now because it is exactly the same. Basically everyone sounds too old! The demon that the main character possesses sounds like she is in her 30s instead of sounding more youthful. The main cast sound too old, the vampire sound WAY to flamboyant and Guren cannot emote to save his life!

The only good voice actor here is the lady who voices the pinked hair vampire, she just suits the role PERFECTLY! Now only if the rest of the cast wasn't shit...

Final Thoughts

Overall, this is just a train wreck. It isn't the worst downfall I've seen, but it is still pretty bad!

The Story 2/5 The Characters 1.5/5 The Animation/Special Effects 2/5 The Dub 2/5

Overall 2/5

Overall Thoughts

Overall, this anime had potential. And a LOT of it too. I honestly thought it would take over Attack on Titan and become the next big anime in the community. But it got ignored for the most part, and now I can see why.

The anime took the original charm of the manga and just DESTROYED it!

The first half is great (even though it follows the manga too closely), but the second half just destroys the potential it had and its hopes of being a success.

I might Review the second season, but don't count on it.

If you are curious, give it a rent, but just go read the manga. Leave this anime to rot!

Part 1 4/5 Part 2 2/5

Overall 3/5

[unblinded-by-nostalgia-blog]

The Story The Story is about a young boy with a magical Samisen who is guided my his Shikigami and a rounnin kabutomushi to find the three artifices that will defeat his evil grandfather, Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto. If you are confused by what I described, don't worry, since the film makes this a whole lot simpler for the audience, by making as NEVER explaining it or oversimplifying the information so much, it makes it even more confusing. They even go as far as calling the Japanese Macaque a "monkey". (Did 4kids Dub this movie?) I watched this with my parents (we usually watch movies on the weekends) and my parents were confused by the characters actions and important story plots. I hate to brag here, but I have been learning Japanese for about 6-7 years now, and I know a good chunk about the culture and the mythology, so I had to explain to my parents why Characters did and said certain things, because the film doesn't tell the audience about Japanese culture. It just assumes that you are an expert and it leaves the majority of audiences confused unless they have someone explain what a Gashadokuro is. Because the film NEVER does! And when your trying to educate the masses about a culture very different from our own, you need to explain things, but not oversimplify the information given. This film does fail at that, but once I explained the more "confusing" aspects of the film to my parents, they understood enough to enjoy the film. The Story of the film itself is very creative and the creators certainly did their homework when studying Japanese culture (it is definitely clear that this film takes place in the Okinawa prefecture, being a island where there is no other island for miles and that it snows heavily there and they do practice the Bon Matsuri (celebration of the dead)) Some of the scenes did unfortunately feel a bit rushed (especially in the last third), but it is overall a great story. The Characters The Characters work off each other so well. The relationship between Kubo and his Shikigami is just great. I didn't feel like Kubo and the ronin had that much chemistry, but the Shikigami and the rounin's interactions were just fantastic. Those two bicker at each other about everything, but it's sweet bickering, not annoying bickering like in most films. I felt like the villain, Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, wasn't given enough development to be that good of a villain, and I wonder why they chose the "carp dragon" as his dragon form (he could of formally been a carp, but the film NEVER explains this, it would of been better if he turned into a monster rabbit (Japanese people say there is a rabbit on the moon and you can see the rabbit on the moon if you look carefully enough) than a "carp dragon". The two tsuki-on'nanoko sisters were much better villains than Mikoto, they had a much better explanation of why they hated Kubo's mother and his Shikigami so much. The Animation/Special Effects The film looks more like CGI than a stop-motion film. It is just that good! But the frame rate does drop from time to time (especially in the dialogue parts) but considering that the rest of the film must of been VERY time consuming and expensive at the time, I can't honestly blame them for cutting corners that only a sharp eye could see. But I'm criticising the final product, not the entire production! Final Thoughts Overall, this film is great for those who understand Japanese culture. Most people will get lost and/or confused by the film and not understand it (since the film never explains Japanese mythology or culture to the audience), it really does push away a good majority of audiences. It is still a great film, but poor choices in the story (or lack of explanation,) especially the last third of the film and the villain not being very interesting is what drags this film away from a "masterpiece" rating. If you don't mind using Google for most of the film, you'll enjoy this film. The Story 4/5 The Characters 4/5 The Animation/Special Effects 4.5/5 Overall 4/5 And where was Amaterasu-ōmikami? You can't have a film about Japanese mythology without the god of gods being present! Was she having a day off or something while Kubo was being chased by one of her children? I guess mothers (and god's) need a break once in a while.

[unblinded-by-nostalgia-blog]

The Story The Story is about a young teen who ends up in a zombie apocalypse. The film is barebones, which would be fine if it was funny. But it isn't. It barely tries to make any attempts to make you laugh, but the jokes either give you a minor chuckle or makes you cringe at it's terribleness. They even couldn't do the black comedy right, especially with one of the death scenes, where they couldn't decide if the scene should be tragic or funny, so it tries to do both, but it just FAILS terribly! The film is also full of plot holes and the characters making stupid decisions for the sake of moving the plot along. And they don't even add any jokes to add to the film's ridiculous nature, making you bored by the film. The Characters The Characters are as generic as they come. We have the "relatable" dweeb, the crazy badass, the no nonsense girl and the little sister, and none of them play off each other very well. They just make unwitty, predictable remarks reminiscent of a generic high school comedy! And we are STUCK with these four characters, there is only one side character, but they only added him to bring in a celebrity cameo. Even the actors act like they don't care, they seem like they are only in this because they needed to pay a debit they made with the mafia (even THAT story would of made a better comedy than this!) The Special Effects Even the gory scenes in this movie is crap. It is not over the top enough to add to the film's ridiculousness and it isn't realistic enough to add a realistic tension to the film, it's just disappointing. The rest of the effects are just barebones. They don't go for the cheap, B-movie style or go with the hyper-realistic Effects. Again, this just shows that the creators had NO idea how to make a black comedy! Final Thoughts Overall, this is just a cheap, Hollywood cash-in to take advantage of the young teen crowd. The Story is dull and unfunny, the characters just don't work off each other to make the film work and the Special Effects are cheap and lazy (and not the good kind!) A bad comedy makes a BORING film and I was BORED by this film! Heck, "The Host" a wannabe serious film is MUCH more funny and entertaining than this film! If you want to watch a funny zombie apocalypse film, go watch Shaun of the Dead. The Characters work off each other so well and the jokes are ACTUALLY funny! So watch that film instead of this rotten corpse Hollywood threw out onto the public street! The Story 2/5 The Characters 0.5/5 The Special Effects 2/5 Overall 1.5/5

[unblinded-by-nostalgia-blog]

The Story The Story is about the main character finding his father. The film is really funny. It knows not to take itself too seriously (like the first film did) and knows how to make you laugh. Yes, it does have its more emotional moments, but they don't dwell on it too long and focus on being action-packed fun. They even managed to do a great bittersweet ending in this, and as a fan of bittersweet endings, this is one of the best ones I've seen. I also love the message about father-son relationships. You don't see them in films anymore. It's all been replaced by girl power and "I don't need a man" stories. It just gets tiring and worn out after a while. This film is definitely a breath of fresh air. The Characters The Characters have more personality in this film, especially the blue...grey...whatever colour he is dude is given a more fun personality. Some may dislike the new direction this film takes with the old characters, but it is definitely a welcome change in my book! The new characters are also great and funny. And the new villain in this film is like the old classic Disney villains who are just the most evil people in cinema. And come on... how could you not love baby Groot? The Special Effects The Special Effects are so well done in this film. They must of put so much money into the CGI department and just let them go crazy. The landscapes in this film just look so realistic. It's like you could go there (even though it wouldn't be my first choice for a holiday). And the Easter Eggs left in this film. They are EVERYWHERE! Old-time Marvel fans will love trying to find them all. Final Thoughts This film is officially on the list of "the only Marvel films I actually like" alongside "Big Hero 6". I have to be honest, this film is a masterpiece. A very funny one, at that. So if you're just looking for some sci-fi fun, look no further. The Story 5/5 The Characters 4.5/5 The Special Effects 5/5 Overall 4.5/5

[unblinded-by-nostalgia-blog]

The Story The Story is about Daxter trying to rescue Jak. Well, it is at first, but most of the game forgets about that and has Daxter exterminating bugs. Which wouldn't be a bad thing if there was a variety of them. But no. We get the same enemies over and over again making the missions feel repetitive. The only variety that this game has is the dream sequences and the bug battles. The dream sequences are references to well known films such as the Matrix and The Lord of the Rings. But they are all easy, boring quick-time events that get boring after the first round. The bug battles are REALLY lazy! I finished the game, collecting as many bug cages as I could before I tried them out, but when I did, I was disappointed. It was a tacked on Rock-Paper-Scissors with bugs game. I wish I didn't waste my time collecting those cages. The ending is rushed. We don't see the old man after his shop explodes (why didn't he stay dead?) and it is just a lazy excuse to tie this game to the main series. The Characters The Characters in this is just generic. Daxter REALLY doesn't work well on his own. He barely says anything funny or witty, making him feel generic and boring like 100s of games with animal mascots. The new characters get no development or and real personality. The only good characters in this are the character Easter eggs from Jak 2 and 3. But they are BARELY in this game. The Gameplay You get different objectives for each level, but all of the, feel the same. Apart from the vehicle levels, it's all about attacking the same enemies over and over and getting lost because of the poor level design. The cutscenes also drop in quality throughout the game. They begin to jitter and go 3 frames a second which is really annoying. I thought my console was broken until I found out that other people have been having the same issues. Even the later ports have this problem! The dream sequences seem to not register you button presses, making a lot of cheap deaths. It's like the creators didn't even try. There are fun moments in this game, but they are VERY few and far between. Final Thoughts This game is just a rushed cash grab. The Story is weak and poorly connects to the main series. The Characters are forgettable (even the game forgets about them by the end) and the Gameplay is generic and rushed. This game was clearly made to cash in on the new PSP console, but the console flopped. Maybe this game is the reason why... The Story 1/5 The Characters 1.5/5 The Gameplay 2/5 Overall 1.5/5

[unblinded-by-nostalgia-blog]

Unblinded by Nostalgia turned 9 today!

We are 9 years old! We are probably one of the oldest review blogs on Tumblr!

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The Story The world building in this novel is fantastic. The amount of detail this book goes into how the Rath works is outstanding and is a joy to read... For the first quarter of the book. The rest is slow paced, dull, pointless filler and scenes that go nowhere. It was so boring, that after I finished the novel, I fell asleep. I am not kidding! The book was SO boring that it made me tired and fall asleep (and mess up my sleep pattern for a week!) that should tell you how BAD this novel is. The Characters We don't learn anything about the old characters and the new characters are forgettable place holders that are just boring. What can I say, it's just dull! The Illustrations The illustrations are as detailed as ever, and there are more of them than the previous volume, but the problem I have with them is that the first half is FULL of them, while the second half is just bare and only has 1 illustration at the end of the volume. And is it me, or does Kirito looks stupid in the last illustration? I don't know why he looks so deformed in this Illustration! Final Thoughts Other than the first quarter, this novel is a dull, boring read. I have read slow paced novels before, heck, The Isolator and NO.6 are slow pace and they are my favourite light novels. But this is NOT the way to do it! It feels like they're dragging this series out just to get more money! I will give this series one more chance (since the previous novel was a MASTERPIECE!) but if that novel doesn't succeed, it'll be time to say goodbye to SAO... The Story 2/5 The Characters 0.5/5 The Illustrations 2.5/5 Overall 1.5/5

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Into Film's FILMCLUB Review of the Week Featured Winner 2017 The Story The Story is about two pen pals from two different continents. The Story is very interesting, especially with the aspect of life with Aspergers. It is definitely more of an experience than a traditional film that you would watch beginning to end, but for what it is, it's great. And the films humour is fantastic. I am a sucker for black comedy, and this film knows how to hit the nail on the coffin perfectly. But I do have a couple of problems with it. One, the film was too short. To be more precise, the time skips were too large and we didn't see any letters of the two throughout that timespan, which could of given us more insight to the characters. If the film was, let's say... 3.5 hours long, we could of had a much more in-depth experience (like we did with Seven Samurai). The other issue I have with the film is the ending. It is just a total cop-out. It's like they couldn't decide how to end the film, so they gave the film a very minimal ending that tied up all the basic loose ends in a very unsatisfactory way. The Characters At first, some people may be turned off by this film because of the theme of a younger girl messaging an older man. And yes, even my parents and I couldn't stop making "creepy pervert" jokes at the beginning of the film, but once you see the aspects of there relationship (since Mary is mature for her age, while Max is more innocent that most) it really turns into a sweet friendship which even the most concerning viewers would love. I also love the portrayal of Autism this film has. Unlike many films dealing with Autism, Max isn't portrayed as a stupid, innocent, savant which I HATE with a burning passion! This film clearly knows what Aspergers in everyday life struggle with, but without resorting to making the character "overly gifted". (We aren't ALL like Temple Grandin! You Know!) The rest of the characters are alright, but other than the mother, we don't learn much about Mary's relationship with the other characters (other than the bare minimum), which could of made the film a lot better. The Animation/Special Effects The Animation for this film is really good, I just love how in Australia, everything's colourful, while New York is more dark and bleak with just black and grey tones to the colour. The characters designs are unique. But it may turn off some viewers since some of the characters BARELY look like people and more like clay blobs! Also, the frame rate does dip now and again for no reason sometimes, but unless you analyse films as much as I do, you'll barely if not notice it. Final Thoughts This film is SO close to being considered a masterpiece! So close! It definitely portrays Asperger and Autism without falling into the cliché stereotypes. But the flaws this film has stops it from reaching its full potential. It is DEFINITELY a great film. Even my parents (who are not a fan of indie films) enjoyed it. So I see it as a great entry to indie films. It is definitely a borderline masterpiece! The Story 4.5/5 The Characters 3.5/5 The Animation/Special Effects 4.5/5 Overall 4/5

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The Story The Story is basically what the title says, Lego Batman! The first third of the film acts like a parody of Batman films, but the rest of the film is a generic, unfunny ride that cannot reach the standard the first third presented. We get cliche after cliche, and it is REALLY disappointing, especially when they don't take advantage of the fact this is a LEGO movie! They do the bare minimum of using the fact they are Lego, but they never make fun of the fact they are Lego! And the film overall is slow and boring, even though the film is shorter than most kids films, it isn't an excuse to add boring filler to fill the run time! In fact, they couldn't think of a good Batman storyline, so they decided to make it a crossover movie out of NOWHERE! And there are no witty dialogue between the different characters. They are there for the sake of being there! The Characters The Characters are one note, generic, which would be fine if they stuck with the parody aspect. But since they ditch that idea, the characters are just lazily written, just like the rest of the film! And don't get me started with the love subplot that goes NOWHERE! And the "love" story between Batman and the Joker. I don't have a problem with fans shipping Characters, but it's different when an official film does it. It's just cringeworthy and creepy! The Animation/Special Effects Okay, I have to admit, the Animation looks REALLY good! The camera angles and the fluid animation is just brilliant, except the frame rate dips for no reason now and again, and it's REALLY distracting! Walk smoothly or walk like Lego! Pick one! Don't do BOTH! Final Thoughts Overall, this film showed hope in the first third, but then someone decided to change the film completely for the sake of making the film more profitable.... by being LAZY on the STORY! At least the original LEGO Movie took advantage of being Lego! Not make it Lego for the sake of selling more toys! Unless you are VERY young and STUPID, skip this film! Your kids would probably rather play with actual Lego than watch someone use Lego to make a lazy attempt of a film! The Story 1.5/5 The Characters 1/5 The Animation/Special Effects 4/5 Overall 2/5

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The beginning of the longest arc of SAO, Alicization! The Story The story is about Kirito ending up in a VR world after he is killed(?) by an old foe from Aincrad. One thing I will bring up is that this volume is very different from the previous volumes, it's has slower-paced storytelling (similar to The Isolator) and it is much more mature. There is no fanservice in this novel whatsoever. Not even Kirito walking in on somebody or any tentacle Monsters. They play this story completely straight and serious and I love this novel more because of it. Some people may not like the changes made in this volume, but I think it makes a great change, since the audience of this novel is getting older, and the series was originally released in 2001, so a more mature story is definitely welcomed. The Characters The Characters in this novel is great. Even Kirito gets great character development and even becomes a mentor to the new lead of this series. Yes, Asuna doesn't play a huge role in this novel, but we do see how much Kirito and her love each other. It is so great to see when it feels like Kirito is starting to become the harem king. Okay that joke has been done to death, but since the last few novels barely had Kirito and Asuna interacting, it feels like she should of stayed dead after the first novel. I mean, I still think it would make more sense plot-wise if she stayed dead, but seeing them being lovers makes it feel like that she still has a purpose in this series. The Illustrations The illustrations are really good, but the only issue I have with them is that there are too few of them. This book is very stingy when it comes to the quantity of the illustrations. Final Thoughts Overall, this volume brings Sword Art Online back to its roots, bringing back what we loved from the original first novel, while giving us something new. Honestly, if you were short on money, I would suggest skipping volumes 2,3,4 and 8 (don't skip Phantom Bullet and Mother's Rosary. They are also great) and go straight to this arc. This series is definitely showing promising signs to becoming a masterpiece in the making! The Story 5/5 The Characters 5/5 The Illustrations 4/5 Overall 4.5/5

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The Story The film is a parody of the first two Twilight films. The film manages to put the two films together and not make it feel like two films together. Also, I know humour is subjective, but this film had me laughing from beginning to end. I don't care what other critics say! This film is funny! The Characters The Characters do a great job at making the original characters as daft and as silly as possible. It is so hard to make such bland characters funny, but these guys managed to do it! Oh and, the guys in this film are FAR more attractive than the guys in the original film, just saying. The "Holster bag" look isn't very attractive! The Special Effects The film's special effects are actually pretty good for a parody film. You can tell they had a much bigger budget than most parody films and it shows. You just don't know what they are going to throw at you next! Final Thoughts Overall, this film is definitely for those who love or hate twilight! If you're looking for a laugh, this film is for you! The Story 4/5 The Characters 4/5 The Special Effects 5/5 Overall 4/5 Also, BBFC, WHY did you give this a 12a rating? The film has blow up sex dolls and BDSM outfits in it! We're you just high that day?

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The Story The Story is about storks who deliver packages, until they have a baby on their hands. The film is the most hilarious animated children's films I've ever seen. It is more of a parody of kids films and makes fun of all the tropes. For a film reviewer like myself who has seen a LOT of animated films, this just kept me laughing all the way through, and very few other films have made me laugh so hard and for so long! The Story is basic, yes, but it is so full of witty humour that it makes up for it! And I love how inclusive the film is. We see parents from all strokes of life, straight couples, mixed race couples, single parents and even LGBT parents. It's one of those "blink and you miss it moments" but it's just so nice to see in a film aimed at children to show all types of families. Of course, some religious groups slammed this movie for this reason. Saying it's "unnatural"and "evil". Look, you religion promotes peace and tolerance right. Then stay by your words! Be accepting of these people who have already gone through so much hardship, don't make life any more harder for them than it is already. And if your religion doesn't promote peace, tolerance and love, I'm sorry, but you need to speak to a doctor. And for those saying it's "unnatural", there are actually a lot of animals who are LGBT. Dolphins are well known to have same-sex life-long mates and there is a pair of homosexual penguins (named Roy and Silo) who looked after a chick in New York Central Park Zoo. And also, snails are hermaphrodites, So don't go saying it's unnatural when even nature has LGBT couples. And I haven't even started with Banobo chimps! Humans CLOSEST relative! (It's a myth that our closest relative are chimpanzees) The Characters The Characters are just full of personality. I just love them. And the villain. OMG, he's just the kind of EVIL you love. He is just so diabolical! And the wolves are just so funny! The Animation/Special Effects The Animation is REALLY good. It is so colourful and fluid. The only issue I have with the Animation is that all the babies look the same. They are all just pallet swaps of each other. They just changed the hair and skin colour. Final Thoughts This is one of the best animated kids films I have seen. It is definitely a masterpiece. It isn't deep or too thought provoking. It just shows what matters. It is all about families, weather they are related by blood or if your adopted. Family is family and that's all that matters. This is definitely a film for all ages, even if you don't pick up on the subtle film trope jokes, you will definitely love the slapstick and just the fun time this film provides. It is definitely an instant classic! In fact, it is better than Disney's most recent films (yes, I just said that) this film feels more "Disney" than actual Disney films being made nowadays, now your just going to see it. The Story 4.5/5 The Characters 5/5 The Animation/Special Effects 4.5/5 Overall 4.5/5 Told you it was good!