FIF#261-Clevatees

The Four Beast Kings: Monsters of unfathomable power, borderline invincible foes.  Alicia Glenfall learned this the hard way when she fell in battle along with other brave souls at the hands of Clevatees.  Alicia did not expect to be resurrected to assist the Demon with an unexpected task: raising a baby named Luna.  Neither know of the childs true destiny and where the path of this experiment in human understanding leads, even Clevatees himself does not know.

 
I’ve never been one for Dark Fantasy.  Between growing up hearing just how nightmare inducing the final of the original Berserk was to how unsettling the first episode of Goblin Slayer surprised everyone, I’m cool with letting others enjoy them, even if they are beloved tales (a la Berserk).  I’m not sure what about Clevatees gravitated me to it but go figure, it might have something to offer thanks to the titular beast himself. 
 

T5W#577-Top 5 Best Peter Cullen Toonami Promos

We’ve sadly lost a lot of popular icons within the span of seemingly days and the losses aren’t getting any easier.  While the loss of Tim Curry and Dolly Parton still feels unreal, for me, the most heart wrenching departure of a famous and beloved human being is still Peter Cullen.  For many of us, he is forever immortalized as the voice of one of the greatest heroes in science fiction: Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots in the Transformers franchise. But for those of us who didn’t grow up with his awesomeness as a voice actor in the 80s, the Toonami age saw Cullen’s vocal talents brought to a whole new generation.  Alongside Steve Blum’s Tom, Cullen provided the hype for virtually every single show on Toonami’s line up in dozens of promos across Toonami’s ongoing lifespan.  It’s just not going to be the same hearing him announce the arrival of a new title or remind us when an awesome show like Bleach or Naruto is coming up next.  Heck, how many Anime did Cullen bring to our attention in the same way he narrarated the epic opening for Voltron?  Well today that’s how I’m going to honor a hero whose loss did as much a number on me as losing Leonard Nimoy.  Today on Top 5 Wednesday, we honor the voice of multiple generations with the Top 5 Best Peter Cullen Toonami Promos.  Rest well in The Matrix old friend, Til all are one. 

 

Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match

Before he was a champion of Earthrealm, Johnny Cage was still trying to make it big in the action movie business.  When his costar on his latest project goes missing, Johnny is on the case, not realizing he’s about to be pulled into a dangerous web of satanic cults, demon warriors and beautiful women.  It’s a fight for the City of Angels itself and now Johnny must step up and become the bad ass he’s always played on screen. This isn’t a movie though.  This is Mortal Kombat.

At last we’ve come to the (at the moment) last entry in the Mortal Kombat Legends series and it’s the one I’ve been looking forward to the least.  This iteration of Johnny Cage has been the weakest aspect of Legends overall for me.  But whether by intention or by popular fan demand, Warner Bros Animation decided to give Johnny his own solo film, a prequel no less.  Now yes, like Snow Blind this is more in line from what I expected from Legends overall and Johnny Cage is a good fit for his own movie…just not this version of him and certainly not this movie itself.
 

FIF#260-Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You

For hapless business worker Sakaki, all he has in life to cheer him up are his smokes and the pretty check out girl, Yamada, at his local Supermarket.  When he arrives one night and Yamada isn’t there, Sakaki despairs.  That is until he is summoned behind the Supermarket Yamada’s beautiful coworker, Tayama, to share a smoke.  Completely unaware of her true identity, Sakaki starts up an unlikely friendship with this blunt but well meaning beauty as they continue to smoke behind the supermarket together.

 
I’m not a smoker but damn if Anime doesn’t somehow make it look cool and appealing, from Spike Spiegel to Revy and the Lagoon Company.  And then this title pops up on my Crunchyroll feed.  I don’t know what it’s about, I mean the title couldn’t be that on the nose, could it?  All I know is there’s a really cute Anime girl having a smoke with a guy and they look pretty chill.  Is that really all this show needs to be successful?  The answer after the first episode is…well…yeah maybe.
 

T5W#576-Top 5 Big Titles Coming Fall 2026

2026 has seen yet another incredibly showing of Anime for the world to enjoy.  From the return of Jujutsu Kaisen and Ghost in the Shell to newcomer champions like Daemons of the Shadow Realm & Marriagetoxin, there’s no shortage of favorites to peruse this year. With Summer 2026 winding down, all eyes look to the new titans of the Fall to take the stage and show us what they’ve got.  Old friends return, new stories begin and new iconic characters make their way to the big screen.  And just what am I looking forward to in the next couple of months?  Let’s find out on todays Top 5 Wednesday as I count down my Top 5 Big Titles Coming Fall 2026.