T5W#573-Top 5 Otakon 2026 Moments

I’ve been noticing a pattern with the Cons I go to over the last few years.  There’s an old notion among the Star Trek community that, for a long time anyway, the even number movies were the best ones (Star Trek II, IV, VI, First Contact), and the odd ones were either “Meh” or just plain bad (Star Trek III, V, Generations, Insurrection).  I bring this up cause I feel like the odd number Otakon years have been amazing while the even years are either “Ok”, “Not as good as the previous year” or sometimes straight up bad.  Otakon 2026 falls into the middle of that bunch.  I had a great time overall and was happy to be there.  It just didn’t quite hit the same heights as 2025 and there was some hotel drama that’s probably circling the message boards too.  Me personally, this one maybe isnt in my Top 5 Best Otakons ever HOWEVER there were some of the best moments from any Otakon I’ve ever been to that came from it.  Alright enough yakking.  Time for Top 5 Wednesdays annual Otakon After Action with my Top 5 Otakon 2026 Moments.

 

T5W#572-Top 5 Biggest Story Changes in The Rose of Versailles 2025 (SPOILERS, DUH)

It may not be as perfect as the late 70’s masterpiece but the 2025 musical version of The Rose of Versailles is still a pretty darn good adaptation.  While I was expecting a lot of truncated storytelling and important plot points to be omitted, there was one thing I never expected the movie to do at all: add or change key events from the TV Series that actually strengthen and I dare say better the central journeys of both Marie Antoinette and Oscar (more so Oscar actually).  And these changes rank as some of the best moments of the film as a whole, more than the fun musical numbers and gorgeous animation.  Well now that the movie has been reviewed, todays Top 5 Wednesday is a bit of a bonus look at what was added to make The Rose of Versailles better than before (still not a perfect 10 but if these had all been inserted into the TV Series, that 10 would be assured).  Anyway, these are the Top 5 Biggest Story Changes in The Rose of Versailles 2025. 

 
Kind of goes without saying but SPOILERS…duh

The Rose of Versailles (2025)

Oscar Francois de Jarjayes, born a woman but raised as a man and soldier.  Marie Antoinette, born a noblewoman but destined to rule a nation.  As France inches towards a bloody revolution, the friendship between these two will face awaken personal challenges that will forever alter their fates.  Love, honor, duty and the wish to be free of them all will drive these women to opposite ends of a conflict that will change the course of a nations history forever.

Considering the time period where it takes place and the overall focus on romance in wartime, The Rose of Versailles lends itself quite well to being turned into a musical.  After all, there have been more than a few musical iterations going as far back as the 70s and there’s an OVA compilation of the original series that came out in 1987.  I guess with the sudden resurgence of classic Anime titles like Rurouni Kenshin and Ranma ½, it was only a matter of time before someone thought to resurrect The Rose of Versailles for a new age and this time combine the Animated Film and Musical avenues together.  The end result is a film that is just as much a music laden compilation film as much as it surprisingly improves on and enhances a lot from the TV Series.  It’s a mixed bag but in an overall good or bad way?
 

The Rose of Versailles Part 8 Episodes 36-40

The day Oscar has feared has come: a full on Revolution has erupted in the streets of Paris.  As ordinary citizens and military clash for the future of a nation, Oscar must decide what side she is on while also confronting her feelings for Andre.  On the eve of the Storming of the Bastille, Oscar and Andre take their rightful pages in the history.  What will be their fate and that of the monarchy locked in the sights of the people they have neglected for so long?  The French Revolution has begun but what comes after might arguably be worse than anyone ever dreamed.

Took em long enough eh?  After almost 38 episodes of build up, The French Revolution finally arrived in the Series Finale of The Rose of Versailles.  This was the ending promised from the get go and true to any historical account of the event and its aftermath, none of it was pretty.  Heroes rose and fell.  Enemies were punished and slain.  And the age of Versailles came to a cataclysmic yet inevitable end.  But how was this blood soaked finale for The Rose of Versailles as a whole?  Overall, mostly solid though even it’s finest moments did highlight some curious storytelling missteps in the back half of the series.
 

Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender

Aang, the Avatar, did the impossible and ended a century long conflict, bringing peace back to the world.  But scars still linger, most of all Aang’s own position as the worlds Last Airbender.  That is until the search for a powerful artifact reawakens a long buried Airbender named Tagah.  What should be a glorious reunion turns dangerous when two very different visions of Airbender legacy collide, threatening to burn the world Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph and Zuko fought long and hard to create.  Once more, maybe more than ever, the fate of the world and the potential resurrection of the Airbenders rests in the hands of Avatar Aang.

Special Note: Ever since I started doing them in 2015, Extended Summer Series Reviews have always had one unspoken rule about them: when they start, they run uninterrupted til they (and whatever bonus movie might come with them) are done.  Eleven years later, I’m breaking that rule for this special occasion.  Today, July 25^th, marks what would have been my Dads 75^th Birthday.  And one of the shows he loved dearly and helped me get into was Avatar: The Last Airbender.  So when I heard that the long awaited Avatar Movie wasn’t just getting released but was being released on his birthday of all times?  Well some rules are meant to be broken here and then right?  So yeah, we’re briefly interrupting my Extended Summer Series Review of The Rose of Versailles to take a look at a movie I think Dad would have loved as much as he loved the show.  Anyway, onto the review and…Happy Birthday Dad.
 
What can really be said about Avatar: The Last Airbender that hasn’t been said already other than it’s basically perfect?  I guess one thing you could always say, or rather ask, is: when are we getting a sequel?  And I’m not talking about something like The Legend of Korra or the forthcoming Seven Havens.  I mean when are we getting a brand new Avatar adventure with the OG Team Avatar?  Well folks, that day has finally come.  Somehow, despite a very public near termination by Paramount itself, Aang and the team are back in an adventure a long time coming for both viewers and for Aang himself.  And it’s a good thing too because if you love the series, this is one feature film continuation that takes the entire Avatar experience to the next level in mostly good ways but not without a few Toph placed stumble blocks.