FIF#223-Ranma ½ (2024)

Ranma Saotome is a Martial Arts prodigy with a pretty big secret.  Thanks to an accidental fall into a cursed Hot Springs, Ranma turns into a girl whenever he falls into cold water.  Unfortunately, he and his equally cursed Panda father, have brought this trouble back to Japan, where Ranma finds a world of trouble waiting for him.  Now he’s possibly falling into an arranged marriage with the youngest daughter of his fathers best friend, a girl who cant stand him, guy or girl.  If the curse doesn’t kill Ranma first, everyone wanting to get their hands on him, or his heart, probably will.

 
The Anime world seems to be going through a bit of a Rumiko Takahashi re-renaissance doesn’t it?  Just a couple of years after Urusei Yatsura got a new era reboot, we’ve gotten a new go at Ranma ½.  I’ll admit, even though I haven’t watched too much Ranma (outside of one First Impression and my Review of the first Ranma ½ Movie a few years back), I’ve been pretty curious about this one.  The previews looked fun and, better yet, after dealing with a mostly darker and depressing reboot of another beloved 90s Anime (cough cough Sailor Moon Crystal), it was nice to see Ranma’s humor looked intact.  So, how is the long awaited first episode of a reboot of a beloved gateway Anime?
 

KonoSuba: God’s Blessings On This Wonderful World 2 Part 1 Episodes 1-3

Kazuma Sato, savoir of the town of Axel, is now a wanted man.  Desperate to prove he’s not a terrorist, Kazuma must rely on the ones he cant rely on at all to save his life.  While Darkness embarks on a dangerous quest that could set everything right, Kazuma, Aqua and Megumin find more trouble coming to their doorstep in the form of Megumin’s self proclaimed rival: Yunyun.  Then there’s a potential new Undead outbreak that even Aqua’s magic cant fully deal with.  The life of a reincarnated Adventurer just got a whole lot harder for Kazuma, and he hasn’t even gotten to the Devil King yet.

When I first started watching KonoSuba this year, I never expected to fall in love with it as hard as I did.  It’s hard not to when the comedy is on point, tons of tropes from one of the most oversaturated genres in Anime (Issekai) get flipped on their heads, and the main quartet has some of the best group chemistry in Anime ever.  When I reached the end of Season One, I knew I wanted to get right into Season Two, hence why we’re spending all month of December with KonoSuba and getting right back into things today.  The start of this set is kind of special since the Season Premiere is actually the very first episode of KonoSuba I saw back at Katsucon 2024.  I was already laughing my butt of plenty without context but now it’s good to have it cause it shows that KonoSuba was already well on fire before we got to this point.
 

T5W#488-Top 5 Gunpla I’ve Built in 2024

Well 2024 is almost over and my Gunpla craze is still in full swing.   Over the last 12 months I’ve added an impressive 66 new models to my ever growing collection and I might be able to squeeze in one more build or two before the new year cause you better believe a few models went on the holiday gift lists.  I know I’ve been a bit quiet on the talking about Gunpla front for a bit, particularly with a shortened second season of Gunpla Builder Thursday.  Time needing to be managed better cause of work is having me just focus more on enjoying the build rather than deep diving but I do wanna add more Gunpla material to the blog in the coming year.  As I work out those details, today on Top 5 Wednesday I’m listing off the Top 5 Gunpla I’ve Built in 2024

 

KonoSuba: God’s Blessings On This Wonderful World Part 3 Episodes 7-10

After slaying Verdia the Dullahan, Kazuma and company’s rep has skyrocketed…as has their massive debt for damages incurred to the town.  Though desperate for money, Kazuma relishes in his newfound fame even if he still cant shake his danger prone party of beautiful disasters.  But when a massive mechanical Mobile Fortress sets course for Axel, Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin and Darkness must prove their earlier victory wasn’t a fluke (even if it kind of was).  This is the time they become true heroes…or meet a horrific end, and one is more likely than the other.

Well we’ve reached the end of KonoSuba and Kazuma and company are no closer to defeating the Devil King than they were when Kazuma and Aqua first came to this crazy world.  And you know what?  That’s perfectly fine.  I’m in no hurry to see this series reach its ultimate end goal and clearly, neither is the show itself.  There wasn’t even a major build up to the climactic boss fight against a giant mechanical Mobile Fortress.  Instead we got four very fun, mostly stand alone adventures of different kinds that continued to pile on the comedy while also doing some fun world building.  Oh and Kazuma and the girls got a place to live so progress was there too.  I’m super eager to get into Season Two but first let’s break down what went down in the Season One Finale.
 

FIF#222-Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft

Lara Croft.  Trained by the best explorers and survivors, she has overcome so much since her journey to the island of Yamatai.  But all of that has come with great cost, a cost that is consuming Lara’s soul.  But when a beloved artifact is stolen from her families collection, Lara puts grief aside to track down this theif and reclaim this treasure.  It’s another worldwide adventure filled with danger, mysterious forces and the destiny Lara can only run from for so long, the one that leads to her becoming Lara Croft, the Tomb Raider.

 
No one can deny that Lara Croft is more than just one of the greatest video game characters ever created.  While we’re long past the time when she was an icon so enormous she was being used to add campaigns not related to her own franchise, when you hear her name and that there’s a new game coming out, its cause for excitement.  The “Survivor Trilogy” reboot that comprised of 2013’s Tomb Raider, 2015’s Rise of the Tomb Raider and 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider, dialed back the overall smoldering sexiness factor of the character in favor of a more fresh faced beauty whose trials and tribulations made her all the more attractive compared to the “ahem” assets of her original form.  While we wait for whatever game will follow that pretty awesome trilogy, we have Lara Croft’s first animated adventure to keep us company.  Is it an trip worth taking?