While it's rare that I do these "In memory of" posts, this is one time that I do feel that is justified, not to jump on a bandwagon or anything, but because of the personal attachment that this person has to me.
John Mitchell was one of the first people I ever got to know, one of a few that I saw first. My parents would tell stories to me of how much he tried to protect me when I was in the hospital, how he would stand guard over me while I slept. I don't think I would be where I am today if it wasn't for him. He helped inspire my passion for finding out how machines worked when I was a kid, helped me with construction projects when I was in high school, helped me improve in chess, and this year helped me get to and from the hospital when I had my broken foot during the winter. I owe a lot to him, as he was, and still is, one of only a few role models that I have. He has fought struggle he had to overcome, even when health issue after health issue piled up on him. Unfortunately, he just couldn't fight any longer, as two large surgeries, one for his leaking lung, and one for his bowel, took their toll on him. And when this is released, it means that he would have passed away.
I cannot begin to describe how much he has changed me, helped me through some of the hardest challenges I've had to go through. He was someone I looked up to, sought guidance from when I was lost or struggling, and I cannot begin to describe how much I will miss him. As he and many others have said, life does go on. Life will go on. But this world will not be the same without him.
Goodbye Pop. I know wherever you end up, you truly do deserve it. I just hope that now you can finally live without the pain of your aging body, and all that it's been though. You fought to the very end.
Wednesday, 19 December 2018
Wednesday, 12 December 2018
DCember; Justice League: Was anyone expecting this to be good?
I don't really say that as a joke either, this film was in development hell from the start to the point where it was a miracle that it even got to "competently made", and many would argue that even that's a stretch. From rewriting on the fly, to calling in a director with a drastically different style due to loss in the Snyder family, to badly CGI'd upper lips thanks to Mission Impossible, the reports coming out about the film during development was one mess after another. It's safe to say that this movie was released with the expectation that it was going to fail in the eyes of Warner Brothers. Were they right to assume that though?
Wednesday, 5 December 2018
DCember; The Lego Batman Movie: Ow, the edge
No seriously, stepping on the edges of Lego bricks hurt
Welcome to DCember, the DC equivalent of MAYvel. Because everyone else is doing christmas marathons, so I thought I'd be that hipster edge lord that goes against the norm. And what's more edgy then DC's track record of quality movies? I regret nothing in that, but probably will at some point, depending on what happens first. Anyway, unlike MAYvel, not everything will be dedicated to DC. The main reason being because there are often end of year games that I try to rush reviews of, such as Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee which should be coming out within a week or two, but the large majority of content on this site is going to be dedicated to DC. Starting off with The Lego Batman Movie, a somewhat direct sequel to The Lego Movie, starting that movie's interpretation of Batman and trust me, this movie will love to remind you that you are watching a Batman movie.
Welcome to DCember, the DC equivalent of MAYvel. Because everyone else is doing christmas marathons, so I thought I'd be that hipster edge lord that goes against the norm. And what's more edgy then DC's track record of quality movies? I regret nothing in that, but probably will at some point, depending on what happens first. Anyway, unlike MAYvel, not everything will be dedicated to DC. The main reason being because there are often end of year games that I try to rush reviews of, such as Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee which should be coming out within a week or two, but the large majority of content on this site is going to be dedicated to DC. Starting off with The Lego Batman Movie, a somewhat direct sequel to The Lego Movie, starting that movie's interpretation of Batman and trust me, this movie will love to remind you that you are watching a Batman movie.
Wednesday, 28 November 2018
DCember Prologue; Lego DC Supervillains:Well, at least I'm not smelling corporate bias?
It is no secret that I hated Lego Marvel Superheroes 2. I
personally found it a slog to go through, the DLC was broken, the over world
wasn’t fun to travel through, the levels got shorter as I went through, and
even at the 100% mark, I never really felt satisfied with the experience. I got
so mad at the experience that I was genuinely considering not getting another
one, and became extremely cynical towards DC Super villains. Against my better
judgement, I picked up DC Super villains thinking that, at the very least, it
would be a good review for this week, seeing as most of, if not all of next
month’s content is going to be focused on DC. Was I wrong to be so overly
cautious? In a word: No. It’s times like this when I’m glad I don’t do number
scores or submit reviews to Metacritic and the like, because I’d probably piss
someone off at WB for this, not that it matters, I don’t get review copies, and
any ad space they may get here is through Google, not me.
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Wednesday, 21 November 2018
Yu-Gi-Oh; Pyramid of Light: This seems a bit excessive for a card game...
The push to capitalize on Pokemon's fame was a strange time for shows and anime, as many shows tried to tap into that market by making their worlds revolve around their takes on Pokemon. In the case of Yu-Gi-Oh, that included things like making an entire city crawl to a halt just due to competitors in a corporation dedicated to the game's competition, used as a ploy for the owner of said corporation to try and get his hands on three cards, and unintentionally drawing in the attention of a crypt keeper and his servants joining the tournament to try and get them and a puzzle from a kid who has the spirit of a Egyptian pharaoh that shares his body. No really, all of that happens, and I'm even skipping parts of it. Point being, this universe is weird, and it gets weirder when it wants to go cinematic, so let's see how weird it gets with two of the localized movies, starting with the first (to my knowledge) that got released in English, Pyramid of Light. Before you ask, yes I did try a World of Light joke, but nothing worked for me.
Wednesday, 14 November 2018
Pokemon Stadium: Remember when people were excited to play Pokemon on a home console?
While a part of me relishes in that being a stab at the Let's Go games, it's somewhat rooted in fact. From what I've heard, people were excited for this game to come out, this was the first ever way to battle with your Pokemon on your TV after all. Whereas with Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee, the reaction's been kinda mediocre, though I'll save that for another time. For now, though, the spotlight's on Pokemon Stadium, the second Pokemon Stadium game ever made, and allowing players to battle their Pokemon on the square screen, something that is even more fitting thanks to the Detective Pikachu trailer coming out yesterday (another time, though you can find my initial reaction on my twitter account). How well does it hold up though now? Welcome to a world of visible triangles.
The main focus on Pokemon Stadium is the Pokemon battles, with a large chunk of the modes in the game dedicated to it. There are tournament cups where opponents are randomized based on the rules and difficulty level set, Gym Leader Castle, where the battles are more predetermined as you battle trainers themed around, and eventually including, the Eight Kanto Gym Leaders, and a mode where you and some friends can battle each other. Battles can be done with either premade rental Pokemon, or if you have the Nintendo 64 Transfer Pack, the pokemon you capture in Pokemon Red, Green (if you have one), Blue or Yellow. It's rather simplistic at its core, though it's the biggest problem comes from its source, Pokemon Generation 1, a generation that had infamous glitches, and when the concept of balance in the battles is laughable. This was before Fairies, before the Dark and Steel types existed. Before the Special stat split, when Special Attack and Special Defence were the one thing. This was a time when moves like Wrap made it impossible to attack when glitches let Venusaur become the strongest of the three starters thanks to Toxic and Leech Seed stacking. This was the generation that cemented Mewtwo as the strongest Legendary, even though there was a point when it was dethroned thanks to a god-like horse and your worst nightmares personified kinda nerfed him just a little bit... and was later cancelled by the invention of Mega Evolutions and now we're back to square one. Point being, if you know how to break the battle mechanics of the Generation 1 games and have a transfer pack to nuke them even further, very little is actually going to stand in your way. There is a charm in that though because it's kinda fun to tower over your friends with that kind of knowledge, and if they have a similar kind of knowledge, then do what I did while testing it at the Tech Games Fest this year, embrace the anarchy and do a battle with nothing but Alakazam's Metronome.
The Transfer pack has one other function in Pokemon Stadium though, the ability to play the Generation 1 games on your TV. I can't, however, judge this aspect of the game as while I own the game, I don't own a Transfer Pack, not to mention the lack of a physical copy of a Generation 1 game. What I can however review are the mini-games, the final mode of the game that gives players a break from battles. Like many have said elsewhere online, these games are a lot of fun, and it's a shame that they haven't left the N64. It would honestly be cool to see them remastered and added to the core games as a side activity. Sadly though I don't think that'll happen, based on how the games are designed nowadays. Though as a tip, if anyone at Game Freak ends up reading this, they would be an easy way to bring the Game Corner back. What would you rather, Voltorb Flip or Magikarp Splash?
It's hard to judge the presentation of this game, because while it hasn't aged well at all visually, what makes it worse is a common problem for retro gamers. That problem is "what happens when you try to play a game not made for a widescreen TV, and play it on a widescreen TV because how many people still have CRT's? This game looks rough and ugly when played on modern screens, even more so than normal. The only problem is that the N64 is really the only option to play the game now. It's not available on the Wii U or 3DS eShop, never came to the Wii eshop to my knowledge, and many emulators struggle to run the game (trust me, I checked). I have to ask though, why? Why wasn't it brought over because while 3D battles aren't the thing it's needed, for now, there is still a charm to it thanks to the animations used in the game, and the audio presentation which features realistic versions of the Pokemon cries, solid remixes of the gen 1 games' soundtrack, and the best announcer I've ever heard, which makes the slow-paced battles feel far more energetic and lively than they really are.
Is Pokemon Stadium fun? Yes. Is it enough fun to find a working N64, game and hopefully score the Transfer Pack and a Gen 1 cartridge, knowing you'll probably have to replace the battery? No. Hopefully, the game can get new life again at some point, but seeing as they continue to not release Mario Party 3 again, I find that hard to believe. If you can find the stuff needed for a good price, then great, have fun as there is definitely fun to be had. For me at least it's more entertaining then Pokemon Snap but that's beside the point. Anyway, from Pokemon to another fad of my primary school, let's go back to Yu-Gi-Oh next week with looking at two movies. Pyramid of Light, and the Dark Side of Dimensions.
The main focus on Pokemon Stadium is the Pokemon battles, with a large chunk of the modes in the game dedicated to it. There are tournament cups where opponents are randomized based on the rules and difficulty level set, Gym Leader Castle, where the battles are more predetermined as you battle trainers themed around, and eventually including, the Eight Kanto Gym Leaders, and a mode where you and some friends can battle each other. Battles can be done with either premade rental Pokemon, or if you have the Nintendo 64 Transfer Pack, the pokemon you capture in Pokemon Red, Green (if you have one), Blue or Yellow. It's rather simplistic at its core, though it's the biggest problem comes from its source, Pokemon Generation 1, a generation that had infamous glitches, and when the concept of balance in the battles is laughable. This was before Fairies, before the Dark and Steel types existed. Before the Special stat split, when Special Attack and Special Defence were the one thing. This was a time when moves like Wrap made it impossible to attack when glitches let Venusaur become the strongest of the three starters thanks to Toxic and Leech Seed stacking. This was the generation that cemented Mewtwo as the strongest Legendary, even though there was a point when it was dethroned thanks to a god-like horse and your worst nightmares personified kinda nerfed him just a little bit... and was later cancelled by the invention of Mega Evolutions and now we're back to square one. Point being, if you know how to break the battle mechanics of the Generation 1 games and have a transfer pack to nuke them even further, very little is actually going to stand in your way. There is a charm in that though because it's kinda fun to tower over your friends with that kind of knowledge, and if they have a similar kind of knowledge, then do what I did while testing it at the Tech Games Fest this year, embrace the anarchy and do a battle with nothing but Alakazam's Metronome.
The Transfer pack has one other function in Pokemon Stadium though, the ability to play the Generation 1 games on your TV. I can't, however, judge this aspect of the game as while I own the game, I don't own a Transfer Pack, not to mention the lack of a physical copy of a Generation 1 game. What I can however review are the mini-games, the final mode of the game that gives players a break from battles. Like many have said elsewhere online, these games are a lot of fun, and it's a shame that they haven't left the N64. It would honestly be cool to see them remastered and added to the core games as a side activity. Sadly though I don't think that'll happen, based on how the games are designed nowadays. Though as a tip, if anyone at Game Freak ends up reading this, they would be an easy way to bring the Game Corner back. What would you rather, Voltorb Flip or Magikarp Splash?
I wish I could make it look this good on my TV. |
It's hard to judge the presentation of this game, because while it hasn't aged well at all visually, what makes it worse is a common problem for retro gamers. That problem is "what happens when you try to play a game not made for a widescreen TV, and play it on a widescreen TV because how many people still have CRT's? This game looks rough and ugly when played on modern screens, even more so than normal. The only problem is that the N64 is really the only option to play the game now. It's not available on the Wii U or 3DS eShop, never came to the Wii eshop to my knowledge, and many emulators struggle to run the game (trust me, I checked). I have to ask though, why? Why wasn't it brought over because while 3D battles aren't the thing it's needed, for now, there is still a charm to it thanks to the animations used in the game, and the audio presentation which features realistic versions of the Pokemon cries, solid remixes of the gen 1 games' soundtrack, and the best announcer I've ever heard, which makes the slow-paced battles feel far more energetic and lively than they really are.
Is Pokemon Stadium fun? Yes. Is it enough fun to find a working N64, game and hopefully score the Transfer Pack and a Gen 1 cartridge, knowing you'll probably have to replace the battery? No. Hopefully, the game can get new life again at some point, but seeing as they continue to not release Mario Party 3 again, I find that hard to believe. If you can find the stuff needed for a good price, then great, have fun as there is definitely fun to be had. For me at least it's more entertaining then Pokemon Snap but that's beside the point. Anyway, from Pokemon to another fad of my primary school, let's go back to Yu-Gi-Oh next week with looking at two movies. Pyramid of Light, and the Dark Side of Dimensions.
Wednesday, 7 November 2018
Super Mario Party: Making friendships by ruining them one friend at a time.
Many believe that the best of friends are forged when people go through the hardest situations. While no game can come close to that kind of experience on its own, the closest would have to be Mario Party. What might look like a harmless party game, can quickly turn into one of the most cutthroat competitive games you can play in a group. Why? Minigames, and Power stars. That being said though, get a good group of people together, and these games can be some of the best games to play together. While there was a quality shift, especially during the Wii and into the Wii U, Super Mario Party boasts as being a return to form for the series. How well does it pull it off though?
Wednesday, 31 October 2018
Children of the Corn: Is there such a thing as a fear of Corn?
As you may have noticed if you've been paying attention to this site, horror's not really something I gravitate towards. Is it because I get scared easily? Not really, I'm that one jerk who laughs at scary things if I know they're not real. Combine that with Haloween not being a big thing here, and hopefully, that explains why Haloween isn't a big thing here. However, I will try, I will make a conscious effort to do something scary when I can! I may look to Twitter to help... and that's why instead of Saw, we're doing Children of the Corn... Does this count as progress?
Wednesday, 24 October 2018
Addendum Review: Pokemon Go, Two years Later
At the time of Pokemon Go's launch, while I was interested leading up to the release, even talking with people who were participating in the Beta here, the early launch period soured my interest quite drastically. At the time, my phone couldn't handle the game, the Google Play store outright refused to let me download it. What also lowered my interest in the game was the limitation of just Kanto Pokemon, and not even all of them as, from what I've heard, more unique pokemon like Ditto were missing at launch. Even when I got a new phone, one that could play Go, I just wasn't motivated enough to start it, only officially starting it late last year while I was killing time waiting for an event that I was working at to end, and only catching my starter, Squirtle.
So what inspired me to actually give it a chance? A number of factors actually. The first being the upcoming Let's Go Games, and how they're trying to marry the Go catching mechanics to the core RPG world design. The other? My broken foot. Throughout all of the winter this year (remember Northern Hemisphere people, down below the equator, June, July and August are the winter months), I was housebound healing a broken foot. A friend of mine on Twitter recommended I use Pokemon Go as my rehab of sorts, to help build up my leg and foot strength again, and I'll admit that it has done that quite well, I'm now back to full mobility in my leg and foot with no pain. As a result of it though, it has meant that I've had a lot of time with the game, and I figured it might be time for an Addendum Review, covering some of the changes that have happened since then.
So what inspired me to actually give it a chance? A number of factors actually. The first being the upcoming Let's Go Games, and how they're trying to marry the Go catching mechanics to the core RPG world design. The other? My broken foot. Throughout all of the winter this year (remember Northern Hemisphere people, down below the equator, June, July and August are the winter months), I was housebound healing a broken foot. A friend of mine on Twitter recommended I use Pokemon Go as my rehab of sorts, to help build up my leg and foot strength again, and I'll admit that it has done that quite well, I'm now back to full mobility in my leg and foot with no pain. As a result of it though, it has meant that I've had a lot of time with the game, and I figured it might be time for an Addendum Review, covering some of the changes that have happened since then.
Wednesday, 3 October 2018
Opening Impressions: Transformers Cyberverse
Wednesday, April 12th, 2017. The last Opening Impressions post I did (not counting Beast Machines) that used the tag Opening Impressions... wow it's been a while since I've done one of these, and this is assuming I haven't forgotten to put the right tags in some posts which is very likely that I have. I need to take a break from traditional anime for a bit though, so I figured why not wash away Sailor Moon with some giant robots? But what is there to do? The Japanese exclusives? Those are best saved for a marathon especially because that would defeat the point of trying to get away from anime for a while. The games? Hoping to get to War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron next year. Prime Wars Trilogy? Anything I could say on those has probably already been said. There's not much for me to add to that discussion. I wasn't a fan of it, even though I saw all three. I really wish that Mark Hamil's first role as a Transformer wasn't in those shows because I would have loved to see it in something with a higher production value. No... what I need is something new, something that discussions are still ongoing about, something like Cyberverse.
As per usual with these posts, while I try to make the official reviews more formal, these posts I let be more casual, bring in theories and the like. There will still be formal elements, but I can't make any concrete judgements on a show that hasn't even finished the first season yet.
As per usual with these posts, while I try to make the official reviews more formal, these posts I let be more casual, bring in theories and the like. There will still be formal elements, but I can't make any concrete judgements on a show that hasn't even finished the first season yet.
Wednesday, 26 September 2018
Sailor Moon Marathon; Sailor Moon Crystal: Wait... Didn't I do this 4 weeks ago?
"Hi you 20-40 somethings that enjoy sticking to your childhoods! Did you like Sailor Moon growing up? Have you heard how much better the Japanese version is? Well here you go, have the first three seasons redubbed and restictionless now that we don't need to worry about the TV sensors. What's that? You want a new show? Well then take this, the first three seasons with all the filler removed in a brand new art style! That's what you meant by a new show right? No? Too bad!"-A Viz media representative... probably (not really).
Wednesday, 19 September 2018
Sailor Moon Marathon; Sailor Moon SuperS (Cloverway Dub): Sailor Moon into Dreams... yeah I had nothing so NiGHTS refference
Where does one go after scientific witches try to find the Holy Grail? Clowns stealing dreams to try and get a Pegasus... yeah, we're really scraping the bottom of the barrel here... Well, the end is in site, so let's see how one of the last Sailor Moon show, and the last to be given an English dub before VIZ took over went, let's look at Sailor Moon SuperS. No, I don't know why they don't call it Super S either, some sites do, some don't.
Wednesday, 12 September 2018
Sailor Moon Marathon; Sailor Moon S (Cloverway Dub): I can't decide, should this be a Monty Python joke or Indiana Jones joke?
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Makemake, Eris. Not counting moons and the sun, these are all the planets in our Solar system. I would include the moons here, but there are 194 formations scientists consider Natural Satellites in our Solar System. Many of these have connections to other factors of our lives in some form, from the five elements of Chinese astrology, depictions of alchemy, star signs of numerous cultures, I could go on but honestly nothing I could add here in regards to Saturn's death powers could top the number 1 reason why people remember this season. Welcome, to Sailor Moon S.
Ok, first things first, the new intro. This gives off the impression of this being a rush job in the dubbing process (wouldn't be surprised to be honest). It is the Japanese intro, using the English theme which doesn't match the new intros in terms of lyrics. I can't talk for the Japanese one though as while they use the same song, the lyrics are different between Japan and the West.
Ok, first things first, the new intro. This gives off the impression of this being a rush job in the dubbing process (wouldn't be surprised to be honest). It is the Japanese intro, using the English theme which doesn't match the new intros in terms of lyrics. I can't talk for the Japanese one though as while they use the same song, the lyrics are different between Japan and the West.
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Wednesday, 5 September 2018
Sailor Moon Marathon; Sailor Moon R (DiC Dub): Who wants to break the news to Pluto?
THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE SEASON, NOT THE MOVIE (Bloody hell, what is with this series and it's naming conventions?)
Yeah, kids, while you might not learn about this now, there was a time when Pluto was considered a proper planet. All the way up to 2006. Does this have anything to do with the Pluto in this show that has power over space and time? No, just couldn't resist the joke in the title. Welcome to Sailor Moon R!
Yeah, kids, while you might not learn about this now, there was a time when Pluto was considered a proper planet. All the way up to 2006. Does this have anything to do with the Pluto in this show that has power over space and time? No, just couldn't resist the joke in the title. Welcome to Sailor Moon R!
The objectification point from last week still stands, and isn't helped by this cover. |
Wednesday, 29 August 2018
Sailor Moon Marathon; Sailor Moon (DiC Dub): This is not an excuse to ask me to review Dragon Ball!
Before we begin, there is something I should clarify with this. Like with all my other anime reviews, this marathon will be reviewing the English dubs of the shows. However, as some of you might be aware, there are two English dubs. A more recent one by VIZ Media, and another primarily done by DiC Entertainment, the exception to this being Sailor Moon S, which was done by Cloverway. This marathon will be primarily focusing on the DiC/ Cloverway dubs, VIZ's is one best saved for another time if there's interest.
If I was to ask you to name an anime you watched as a kid growing up that you remember off the top of your head, what would you answer with? Dragon Ball? Cowboy Bebop? Pokemon? To a lot of people, they might say Sailor Moon, born from a manga of the same name and one of the defining choices in terms of the Magical Girl story structure, about a group of ever growing friends destined to come together to stop evil threats that lurk in the night and shadows. For it's time it was popular, enough to still be going to this day. Time, however, is a fickle thing and is harsher to some ideas than others. So, how kind was time to Sailor Moon? Ignore the fact that I'm clearly not the target demographic for this and let's find out! Welcome, to the Sailor Moon Marathon starting with the original show.
If I was to ask you to name an anime you watched as a kid growing up that you remember off the top of your head, what would you answer with? Dragon Ball? Cowboy Bebop? Pokemon? To a lot of people, they might say Sailor Moon, born from a manga of the same name and one of the defining choices in terms of the Magical Girl story structure, about a group of ever growing friends destined to come together to stop evil threats that lurk in the night and shadows. For it's time it was popular, enough to still be going to this day. Time, however, is a fickle thing and is harsher to some ideas than others. So, how kind was time to Sailor Moon? Ignore the fact that I'm clearly not the target demographic for this and let's find out! Welcome, to the Sailor Moon Marathon starting with the original show.
Wednesday, 22 August 2018
Digimon Adventure tri. Chapter 4; Loss: I'd have gone with missing or missed as there's a missed opportunity here
We finally did it! We're in the Digital World! One of the main draws for Digimon and something that not a lot of Digimon series, including Adventure and 02 wasted time to get to. Secrets are bound to be revealed, friendships remade, and more... right?
Well, yes, but the way they handle it is... strange to say the least. We learn why "Ken" is evil, although that was revealed in Chapter 3, I left it for here as it flowed better and it's more important here. We learn Himekawa's involvement in the plot along with another new face for this series, we know who's pulling the strings, and we learn more about Meicuumon's role in all of this, but its not before the kids have to reconnect to their Digimon, as all eight of them have lost their memories. It's honestly amusing to see how the Digimon interact with their partners, how afraid, confused, mad and the like that they all are. I can't help but smile at things like Nyaromon being one of the first to trust their partner thanks to the connection Kari has with the whistle. One of the last ones though is Biyomon, who is mad at Sora until pretty much the end of the film. What brings some stakes into this though is that not only are the team eventually separated, but a villain is trying to take Meicuumon. That villain is... Gennai? You remember that old man that helped the original team in Adventure, then suddenly became a lot younger in 02? Had a whole thing about the balance between the Human and Digital World, was even giving information to the organization Himekawa and Diago Nishijima (I'll get back to him) on the Infected Digimon. Well... Apparently, he's evil now, working alongside Himekawa, and serving King Draisel, an entity those who are familiar with Digimon Data Squad would know of. Turns out, Draisel was behind all of this and is intending to go to war with the Human World. To do this though, he needed the Digital World rebooted so that all the powerful Digimon that the Digidestined have defeated return, including those who fell in the human world, and never became Digi-eggs again.
I love this idea in theory as it's an easy excuse to bring back old villains, especially if the team have to relearn how to get their partners up to Champion, Ultimate and Mega again. That last part though is a missed opportunity, as not only does Biyomon become Phoenixmon, her mega form, but Tentomon becomes HerculesKabuterimon, and Patamon suddenly becomes Seraphimon... something he hasn't been able to do since the third film that made up Digimon The Movie... Ok? Unfortunately, that is probably down to the release structure of Digimon Adventure tri. What were six movies became 26 (I think) episodes of varying length, which have been turned into films again for the home releases? Because that's not redundant at all! If it was allowed to breath more, we could have seen some interesting ideas, like the return of villains and Digimon that mean a lot to the kids, such as Devimon (the one that gave T.K some strong trauma as Angemon died that episode), Wizzardmon (who sacrificed himself to protect Kari and Gatomon from Myotismon, imagine if he was brought back as a villain), Diaboromon would be cool to see again. We do get the return of Machindramon and Metal Seadramon, but they're relegated to mukes now and lost what little personality they had. The reboot restoring the Digimon who didn't get revived is also a reason why Himekawa is working for King Draisel. She and Nishijima were two of the original Digidestined, the team before the Adventure team we know, and her partner Digimon was killed in a battle against the Dark Masters. Her partner was the only one who died that battle, as the other four, including Nishijima's partner, became the four Digimon Sovereign from Adventure. It's another thing that sounds great in theory, but I get the sad feeling that it's not going to be developed fully by the end of this.
So, where do we end this marathon? Seven of the eight digi-destined can reach the Mega level, Meicoomon is about to rip Genai a new one as her anger and Meiko being harmed got the best of her, turning her into one of the two Meicrackmon forms, Himekawa's insane, and Draisel's getting ready to go to war in the human world, intending to use Meicrackmon in the plan. Could I review chapters 5 and 6 now? I could, however, I do stick to English dubs to make it easier to review, and Chapter 5 hasn't hit home media yet, with Chapter 6 not even out yet in English. Chapter 4 only hit DVD and Blu-Ray here last week to the day, so this is another extremely timely review. However, that is the reason why this marathon is being called here. I will try and review Chapters 5 and 6 when they come out, but that is easily going to be a while. The anime content isn't over though because next week, we're looking at a team that fights evil by moonlight, stretches the definition of strong female characters depending on who you ask, and was stupid enough to try and hide a lesbian couple with an incest one... that flew over well! Regardless, I'll leave you here, Sunday will be the Tamagotchi review I promised (that I've been meaning to do since I launched the Toybox...) and next Wednesday will be the start of another marathon of reviews with Sailor Moon.
Well, yes, but the way they handle it is... strange to say the least. We learn why "Ken" is evil, although that was revealed in Chapter 3, I left it for here as it flowed better and it's more important here. We learn Himekawa's involvement in the plot along with another new face for this series, we know who's pulling the strings, and we learn more about Meicuumon's role in all of this, but its not before the kids have to reconnect to their Digimon, as all eight of them have lost their memories. It's honestly amusing to see how the Digimon interact with their partners, how afraid, confused, mad and the like that they all are. I can't help but smile at things like Nyaromon being one of the first to trust their partner thanks to the connection Kari has with the whistle. One of the last ones though is Biyomon, who is mad at Sora until pretty much the end of the film. What brings some stakes into this though is that not only are the team eventually separated, but a villain is trying to take Meicuumon. That villain is... Gennai? You remember that old man that helped the original team in Adventure, then suddenly became a lot younger in 02? Had a whole thing about the balance between the Human and Digital World, was even giving information to the organization Himekawa and Diago Nishijima (I'll get back to him) on the Infected Digimon. Well... Apparently, he's evil now, working alongside Himekawa, and serving King Draisel, an entity those who are familiar with Digimon Data Squad would know of. Turns out, Draisel was behind all of this and is intending to go to war with the Human World. To do this though, he needed the Digital World rebooted so that all the powerful Digimon that the Digidestined have defeated return, including those who fell in the human world, and never became Digi-eggs again.
One of the rare times we see all of them in their Rookie forms together. |
I love this idea in theory as it's an easy excuse to bring back old villains, especially if the team have to relearn how to get their partners up to Champion, Ultimate and Mega again. That last part though is a missed opportunity, as not only does Biyomon become Phoenixmon, her mega form, but Tentomon becomes HerculesKabuterimon, and Patamon suddenly becomes Seraphimon... something he hasn't been able to do since the third film that made up Digimon The Movie... Ok? Unfortunately, that is probably down to the release structure of Digimon Adventure tri. What were six movies became 26 (I think) episodes of varying length, which have been turned into films again for the home releases? Because that's not redundant at all! If it was allowed to breath more, we could have seen some interesting ideas, like the return of villains and Digimon that mean a lot to the kids, such as Devimon (the one that gave T.K some strong trauma as Angemon died that episode), Wizzardmon (who sacrificed himself to protect Kari and Gatomon from Myotismon, imagine if he was brought back as a villain), Diaboromon would be cool to see again. We do get the return of Machindramon and Metal Seadramon, but they're relegated to mukes now and lost what little personality they had. The reboot restoring the Digimon who didn't get revived is also a reason why Himekawa is working for King Draisel. She and Nishijima were two of the original Digidestined, the team before the Adventure team we know, and her partner Digimon was killed in a battle against the Dark Masters. Her partner was the only one who died that battle, as the other four, including Nishijima's partner, became the four Digimon Sovereign from Adventure. It's another thing that sounds great in theory, but I get the sad feeling that it's not going to be developed fully by the end of this.
I have no idea why they went back to the Digital World in their school uniforms though. They're on summer vacation right? |
So, where do we end this marathon? Seven of the eight digi-destined can reach the Mega level, Meicoomon is about to rip Genai a new one as her anger and Meiko being harmed got the best of her, turning her into one of the two Meicrackmon forms, Himekawa's insane, and Draisel's getting ready to go to war in the human world, intending to use Meicrackmon in the plan. Could I review chapters 5 and 6 now? I could, however, I do stick to English dubs to make it easier to review, and Chapter 5 hasn't hit home media yet, with Chapter 6 not even out yet in English. Chapter 4 only hit DVD and Blu-Ray here last week to the day, so this is another extremely timely review. However, that is the reason why this marathon is being called here. I will try and review Chapters 5 and 6 when they come out, but that is easily going to be a while. The anime content isn't over though because next week, we're looking at a team that fights evil by moonlight, stretches the definition of strong female characters depending on who you ask, and was stupid enough to try and hide a lesbian couple with an incest one... that flew over well! Regardless, I'll leave you here, Sunday will be the Tamagotchi review I promised (that I've been meaning to do since I launched the Toybox...) and next Wednesday will be the start of another marathon of reviews with Sailor Moon.
Wednesday, 15 August 2018
Digimon Adventure tri. Chapter 3; Confession: Still not going to put any real effort into finding out what happened to the 02 Team? No?
It should be said right at the outset that this is one of the hardest chapters to watch. Not because of quality, but for the story, it's trying to tell. You know how I brought up the Death of Leomon and the D-Reaper arc in Digimon Tamers last week? Well, this is probably up with it. It's brutal if you've grown up with these characters. If you don't want to be spoiled, turn away now. What I can say about it though is that this is a far better chapter then Chapter 2 was, at least overall. If you want to know why, then read on.
Labels:
anime,
blaster,
digimon,
digimon adventure tri,
liam,
movie,
multi film,
review
Wednesday, 8 August 2018
Mediaholics Playlist: "Smashified" Part 1
I reccomend using this link for use of things like the timestamps https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzbqFd7s0K8
80 songs from a decent variety of games, and we’re always open to ideas for more
For more content of ours, feel free to check out the following links
Main site: http://mediaholicreviews.blogspot.com.au/
Mediaholics Toy box: https://mediaholicstoybox.blogspot.com.au/
Main Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIM5kMZw90Ml7zUFOuaLRgg
Mediaholics RAWs: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUAML-HidNwB5AyWObrqn9Q
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mediaholicreviews
Mediaholics Twitter: https://twitter.com/MediaholicsBlog
Blaster’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Blaster944
Keybug’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/keybug55
Tumblr: http://mediaholics.tumblr.com/
TIME STAMPS
Intro
|
-
|
0:00
|
Acid Hues
|
Splatoon
|
1:48
|
Alraune: Whisperer of Dementia
|
Bayonetta
|
4:50
|
Animal Crossing Winter (Mario Kart 8)
|
Animal Crossing
|
10:27
|
Arms theme
|
Misc
|
12:40
|
Battle Champion (Ultra Sun and Moon)
|
Pokemon
|
15:38
|
Battle Theme (FFX)
|
Final Fantasy
|
20:38
|
Battle Zinnia
|
Pokemon
|
0:24:00
|
Be Cool, Be Wild and Be Groovy
|
Sonic
|
0:29:00
|
Big Blue (MK8)
|
F-Zero
|
0:31:26
|
Black Tar
|
Xenoblade
|
0:34:13
|
Blue Sky's Yonder
|
Mario
|
0:40:20
|
Bouceabout Woods
|
Yoshi
|
0:41:37
|
Bowser's Kingdom 2
|
Mario
|
0:44:38
|
Break Free
|
Mario
|
0:48:48
|
Buoyant Boogie
|
Splatoon
|
0:53:25
|
Central Highway
|
Mega Man
|
0:56:30
|
Chemical Plant Act 2 (Mania)
|
Sonic
|
0:59:42
|
Clock Town
|
Zelda
|
1:03:56
|
Codename FE
|
Misc
|
1:09:51
|
Conquest (Flames) (Warriors)
|
Fire Emblem
|
1:12:34
|
Core Kabula Battle
|
Kirby
|
1:16:09
|
Crimson Blitz
|
Final Fantasy
|
1:17:55
|
Deoxys' Theme (ORAS)
|
Pokemon
|
1:21:08
|
Dialga's Fight to the Finish
|
Pokemon
|
1:26:08
|
Eagle's Theme
|
Street Fighter
|
1:30:26
|
Eggmanland Crimson Carnival (Day)
|
Sonic
|
1:32:38
|
Exit (Red Disk)
|
Metal Gear
|
1:35:17
|
FE Theme (TMS#FE)
|
Misc
|
1:40:24
|
Fly Octo Fly
|
Splatoon
|
1:42:14
|
Funky Waters
|
Donkey Kong
|
1:45:21
|
Go Pac-Man Go
|
Pac-Man/ Namco
|
1:50:00
|
Grassland Groove
|
Donkey Kong
|
2:00:34
|
Greatest Jubilee
|
Bayonetta
|
2:07:05
|
Guile's Theme
|
Street Fighter
|
2:14:44
|
Here Comes the Squeaks
|
Kirby
|
2:29:26
|
Ice Cave Chant
|
Donkey Kong
|
2:32:38
|
Inkoming
|
Splatoon
|
2:36:01
|
Island Kahuna Battle
|
Pokemon
|
2:38:47
|
Kanazuki Beach
|
Street Fighter
|
2:43:48
|
Kanto Gym Leader Battle
|
Pokemon
|
2:47:34
|
Koopa Road
|
Mario
|
2:50:34
|
Magma Caverns
|
Pokemon
|
2:52:59
|
Mantine Surf
|
Pokemon
|
2:57:12
|
Metal Gear Saga (GotP)
|
Metal Gear
|
2:59:27
|
Metropolitan Highway
|
Sonic
|
3:03:51
|
Mii Channel
|
Mii
|
3:06:45
|
Mind in a Program
|
Kirby
|
3:11:25
|
Molgera (HW)
|
Zelda
|
3:17:05
|
Mor Ardain Wastes
|
Xenoblade
|
3:22:44
|
Mystic Mansion
|
Sonic
|
3:25:50
|
Nasty Majesty
|
Splatoon
|
3:28:34
|
Night of Big Blue
|
F-Zero
|
3:30:50
|
One Winged Angel
|
Final Fantasy
|
3:32:51
|
Pac Rainbow
|
Pac-Man/ Namco
|
3:40:10
|
Pandora's Labyrinth of Deceit
|
Kid Icarus
|
3:45:24
|
Reaper Fortress
|
Kid Icarus
|
3:50:24
|
Remix 10
|
Misc
|
3:52:53
|
Rules of Nature
|
Metal Gear
|
3:56:37
|
Rundas Boss
|
Metroid
|
4:01:01
|
Sanctuary Fortress
|
Metroid
|
4:04:33
|
Shelfie
|
Splatoon
|
4:12:42
|
Shy But Deadly
|
Yoshi
|
4:14:31
|
Snowy Fields
|
Kirby
|
4:17:32
|
Solidus Cave (Crystal Cave)
|
Zelda
|
4:19:45
|
Space Harrier Climax
|
Bayonetta
|
4:23:37
|
Spicy Calamari Inkantation
|
Splatoon
|
4:29:30
|
Split and Splat
|
Splatoon
|
4:33:26
|
Steam Gardens
|
Mario
|
4:35:49
|
Storm Eagle's Stage
|
Mega Man
|
4:40:10
|
Tentacular Circus
|
Splatoon
|
4:43:06
|
The Lunar Sanctum
|
Kid Icarus
|
4:45:01
|
Theme of Captain Falcon
|
F-Zero
|
4:49:51
|
Title Theme (Echoes)
|
Metroid
|
4:53:24
|
Title Theme (MM3)
|
Mega Man
|
4:57:34
|
Toad Town (Shy Guy Riot)
|
Mario
|
5:00:33
|
Twilight of the Gods
|
Fire Emblem
|
5:02:39
|
Veronica Battle
|
Fire Emblem
|
5:10:47
|
VS. Red
|
5:16:08
|
|
Wir Fliegen
|
Xenoblade
|
5:19:07
|
Wrapped in Black (CD version)
|
Sonic
|
5:24:04
|
Outro
|
-
|
5:29:56
|
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