Blade Runner Week Annoncement

“Ive…seen things you people wouldn’t believe.”  In a way, this line could sum up Anime Otaku in general.  Through Anime, we have access to all kinds of different worlds, both normal and extraordinay.  In some ways, a lot of the scifi/mecha Anime stories I enjoy so much owe a lot to the film from which that quote comes from.  I asked friends recently if I should review that film for the Anime Corner and they all unanimously said “Yes”.

So…next week is BLADE RUNNER WEEK!!!

Yessir, I’ll be throwing in extra reviews throughout the week: Blade Runner on Tuesday, the Anime short film Blade Runner Blackout 2022 on Thursday and finally I will have my review of the highly anticipated sequel, Blade Runner 2049 up by Friday.  For this reason, there will be no new First Impression Friday feature to coincide with next Friday, it will strictly belong to the Blade Runner Sequel.

Ergo, the week will go as follows:
Monday-New Review-Silent Mobius Part 2

Tuesday-Blade Runner Review

Wednesday-New Top 5 Wednesday (Not Blade Runner Related)

Thursday-Blade Runner Blackout 2022 Review

Friday-Blade Runner 2049 Review

It’ll be tough writing a review for the original film cause, frankly, I could write five pages for every couple minutes of the movie, explaining why it’s so amazing…I’ll have to scale it back a bit.  I also hope 2049 at least lives up to it’s predecessors name.  I have a feeling nothing will ever top the original and when you call that film “The Greatest Movie Ever Made”, it’s a foregone conclusion anything that comes after will never be as good…so maybe settling for a “Pretty good” will suffice.

Either way, it’ll be a busy week next week and I hope you’re ready to read what I come up with.

See ya then everyone.

FIF#35-Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ

UC 0088.  The Titans have only just fallen when the forces of Neo Zeon begin their assault on the Earth Sphere.  The Federation and the AEUG are both exhausted from their last conflict to muster an immediate response.  To keep hope alive, the AEUG entrusts its fate into the hands of Judau Ashita and his childhood friends to take up arms against the Neo Zeon.  With the powerful new Double Zeta Gundam at his disposal, it’s up to Judau to pave the way for peace between Earth and the colonies.

Gundam ZZ (pronounced Double Zeta) is an infamous entry in the Gundam mythos for a couple of reasons.  The chief of these reasons is its incredible 180 on the dark tone set by Zeta Gundam in the beginning, followed by another 180 turn when that approach doesn’t work.  It’s also one of the few Gundam shows that has taken forever and a day to find its way to U.S. shores.  With the whole series on Gundaminfo’s Youtube page, I figured it was time to see if the legends of this show (good and bad) were all true.

The series starts off Zeta like (from what little ive seen of Zeta anyway.  I’ve seen the three compilation movies but heard theyre nowhere near as good as the series…plus they end differently, in a way the ZZ probably wouldn’t happen at all).  The first episode is mostly a recap of the history of the Universal Century, seen through Mobile Suit Gundam and Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam.  Seeing the Argama in such shape, devoid of many of its Mobile Suit pilots, and the feeling of dread with Zeta lead Kamillie Bidan in a vegetative state following Zeta’s finale, is pretty somber and dour.  But then the second half of the episode gets going and this is where the lighter tone comes in.  We get a “Who’s that Pokemon?” style montage of Mobile Suits followed by a sneak peak of events to come and…yeah it’s weird to see such slapstick humor in an otherwise serious universe.

Gundam doesn’t have to be dark all the time.  There are various bits of humor throughout the original series that worked for the moment but never ruined the serious tone.  The introduction of ZZ’s new cast, especially Judau Ashta, feels like a slap to the face against the show that preceeded it.  Zeta is one of Gundam’s most popular titles for it’s darker take on the story established in Gundam 0079 and was honest to a fault with the horrors of war.  Seeing a former Titans villain and the first of possibly many Neo Zeon commanders portrayed in comedic fashions is a big “uh oh” for how things are going to proceed.  In truth, I wasn’t a fan of Judau or his junkyard friends, or his bickering back and forth with his sister.  It feels like we’re watching a totally different series than a Gundam one, one set in the Universal Century anyway.  The plus side is this, BRIGHT MOTHERF****G NOA.  Sure Judau might be determined to upstage him and steal the Zeta Gundam.  But Bright is having none of that and even with all the unexpected hilarity, he’s still the bad ass Captain he’s been from the beginning.  I also like how he made the connections between Amuro, Kamille and Judau’s first time piloting the Gundam (it definitely makes something he said in Gundam Unicorn make more sense).  It wouldn’t surprise me if somehow Bright wrote a book about the legacy of the Gundam Pilots, seeing as how he’s met and mentor for four of them.  Also, Kamille in his vegetative state in the dark truck was creepy and the moment he shared with Judau was very fitting of Zeta’s darkness.  If the first couple of episodes had been more like this, I’d start to wonder why people aren’t fans of this series.

Still, I don’t think I’ve gotten even close to the more insulting comedic moments yet.  That might be worth sticking around for, or at least skipping around the series, to see how bad this show gets with its humor.  Also, would like to see fan favorite Roux Louka at some point as well.  Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ is available to watch after all this time.  Feel, in any case, that not watching it in full would be a disservice to myself as a Gundam fan.  At the very, very least, I need to see the actual Double Zeta in action just once.

T5W#111-Top 5 Favorite SNES Games

Ah the days of youth.  Before we had video games that seem more lifelike than ever, we had to sit in front of 16 bit graphics and try to pull off moves so complex, youd be surprised you could pull them off without a joystick.  Well, this Friday, those days are coming back.  Following the success of the Nintendo Classic, the most powerful gaming company on the planet is resurrecting the next generation Nintendo console, the Super Nintendo Classic.  The miniature console is set to contain 20 classic titles from the 16bit era system, including the never before released Star Fox 2.  I loved the SNES.  It is arguably more responsible than the OG NES or the Sega Genesis for getting me into serious gaming.  So to celebrate the upcoming release this week, ill be looking at my personal Top 5 Favorite Super Nintendo Games.  Def some titles everyone will recognize but there are one or two hidden gems that might surprise you.

 

#5-Star Fox

At the time this game came out, there was nothing quite like Star Fox, at least in my eyes.  The game felt more epic than it presented itself.  The flight controls seemed catered to both beginners and avid flight simulator enthusiasts.  The “Tron” like soundtrack added to the digital environments perfectly.  Naturally, you also had your diverse team of wingmates before they became fully vocal internet memes (DO A BARREL ROLL!!!).  Granted I like Star Fox 64 a lot more for it’s epic, movie quality presentation and better controls.  But without this gem on the SNES, we couldn’t have Star Fox 64.  I cannot wait to finally play the finished but never released Star Fox 2, which apparently had many of its elements for gameplay and story shuffled into Star Fox 64 following its abrupt cancellation.

 

#4-X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse

In the early 90’s, it was all about the X-Men.  Thanks to their hit TV series on Fox Kids, Marvels merry band of mutants were more popular than ever.  This game felt about as close as you could get to actually being an X-Man.  The game is spilt into two halves featurning Wolverine, Cyclops, Beast, Gambit and Psylocke tangling with first Apocalypse and then Magneto.  Wolverine’s combat was brutal for an SNES game and Gambit’s combos were always fun to pull off.  Also, this is the game that first introduced me to the sexy psychic mutant bad ass that is Psylocke, who I wish had more of a presence in the series.  If it found a way to include the iconic 90s TV theme, it would have been perfect.  As it stands though, this is still the best 16 bit X-Men game of all time for me and I wish it would’ve gotten included on the SNES Classic.

 

#3-Super Mario World

Yup.  You cant really make a Nintendo list and not have Mario on it (though the same could be argued for Legend of Zelda…and ive never played A Link to the Past hence why it isn’t on this list).  After Super Mario 3 closed the NES chapter with one of the best games on that system, Super Mario World came along and set the bar high for any SNES game to follow this system launching title.  The colors, the music, the design, it was Mario taken to the next level.  Add in an array of new powers (FEATHER FLIGHT CAPE!!!), crazy new enemies, well imagined stages and the ability to ride Yoshi and his multi colored, multi powered brethren and you’ve got a game that still stands the test of time and still remains one of the Mario series most popular titles.

 

#2-Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest

Much like Mario World above, DKC2 came along and did something few expected: it topped it’s predecessor in almost every way.  From the very first notes of the games intro, you know that this game is somehow going to go bigger than its predecessor, even if the titular Donkey Kong isn’t playable.  Diddy and Dixie are an amazing team, especially Dixie and her helicopter hair.  From braving whirlwinds in briar patches to clinging to walls of honey (and watching the monkeys lick it if you wait long enough) to the majesty of the Lost World, all mixed to the best damn soundtrack of the , Donkey Kong Country 2 was a lot of fun to play and is one of the best video game sequels out there.  I honestly think it hurt my enjoyment of the follow up: Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble…but then again Kiddie Kong was annoying and that game felt more child friendly with the bears and the…yeah Donkey Kong Country 2-best Donkey Kong Game on the SNES (Why is the first one on there but not Part 2? Kirby and Mario have 2 games).

 

#1-Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time

The definitive Ninja Turtles game for the ages.  A simple premise: While trying to take the Statue of Liberty back from the Shredder, Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michaelangelo are throw through a time portal and must fight their way from the past to the future and back to the present.  Simple gameplay: a classic arcade sidescroller beat em up.  The power of a kick ass ninja mutant in your hands and the ability to play with a friend.  My sister and I used to eat up a lot of time on this title.  We spent so much time on it, we were even able to tackle the hardest difficulty and unlock the true ending (which isn’t much though we do get the best 16 bit end song ever).  Simply put, I had fun playing every game on this list for countless hours.  But TMNTIV was, and still continues to be, the shiniest gem in the Ninja Turtles video game legacy and not even a poor 3D update for the Xbox could match it.  Classics are classic for a reason.

Silent Mobius Part 1 Episodes 1-5

Tokyo 2024 AD.  More than twenty years have passed since a magical disaster unlocked a door to a dark dimension.  As Tokyo continues to rebuild, creatures that escaped from that doorway to Earth, known as Lucifer Hawks, lurk about the city.  That’s where they come in.  The “Attacked Mystification Police”, or AMP, is a unit comprised of all women, who combine futuristic technology with ancient sorcery to combat the Lucifer Hawks.  And they’re about to get a new recruit: Katsumi Liquer, daughter of one of the greatest mages of all time.  Her untapped potential may be the final key the AMP needs to turn the tide in this war against the darkness.

 

A man made disaster from several decades ago?  A special kind of monster the police cant handle?  A team of women who are the only hope for a futuristic city that looks like Blade Runner?  Hmmm…this sounds a liiiiitle too familiar.  As I sat down to watch the first five episodes of our next series, Kia Asamiya’s Silent Mobius, I noticed right off the bat the number of similarities between this show and Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040.  The situation, the character classes, the enemies.  There’s a supernatural twist but I feel like watching something too familiar might’ve hurt my possible enjoyment of the beginning.

What drew me to Silent Mobius, besides the awesome Bandai Entertainment trailer with the theme song playing in the background, was the set up.  My whole life, ive been an equal parts fan of both Science Fiction and Fantasy (probably gotten equally from both of my parents).  So seeing that there’s a series out there that blends a Blade Runner style aesthetic (even with Spinners, yes they borrowed the name from the Police Rides from that film for the flying cars here) with supernatural horror seemed like an exciting fit, oh and there’s a cast of incredibly beautiful women.  The problem is: not only does it all feel like BGC with magic, the characters initially aren’t that engaging.  Some did grow a bit over time but it took time that this series cant really afford to waste.

Let’s look at our cast.  We have Katsumi, the super hot secretary mage from Hawaii who, quite frankly, is a bit more OP than necessary.  That brings up one huge, glaring flaw about the AMP in general.  I hate to agree with the police big wigs but they have a point.  Until Katsumi shows up, it looks like the other girls cant really do too much against the Lucifer Hawks other than irritate them before they get their butts kicked.  Before Katsumi came along, just how did they plan to do their job?  The combo of magic and science doesn’t seem to be doing them much help unless they have a super awesome spell, usually provided by Katsumi in Sailor Moon fashion, to even scratch the monsters much less destroy them.  The fact that the AMP get’s approved is beyond me…in a sense, it probably just got started for storys sake.

Back to the characters.  Of the main team, I liked Kiddy the best.  She’s a no nonsense red head with super human strength.  She’s hard headed but knows how to watch out for her team. Her and Katsumi’s relationship goes through varying stages of “SHINJI GET IN THE GIANT ROBOT!!!” in the first couple of episodes when Katsumi refuses to accept “with great power comes great responsibility”.  But after Katsumi reveals why she’d rather fight alone and without a team, Kiddy lightens up on her and we start to see a good friendship form that I think will do them both some good.  There’s also Lebia, Yuki and Nami and all three have skill sets that either seem sub par or non essential to the team.  Nami, an exorcist, tries to be an offensive force but her spells are easily shrugged off.  Likewise, Lebia’s attempts to use technology seem ineffective and Yuki kind of just stands there, scared out of her mind while sensing things with her psychic powers.  There’s also Rally Cheyenne (gotta admit, her name is cool) and Isozaki, who seem more Gendo and Fuyutsuki from Evangelion more than a combo of the psycho leader Sylia from BGC.  Granted Rally is clearly hiding things and Isozaki didn’t leave much of an impression until Episode 5 when she purposefully unleashed some Lucifer Hawks on a party the team was holding to make peace with the other Police Departments.  Wow…did she not watch Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and know that plan could have gone totally sideways?  For lack of a better term…Isozaki is a b-

Moving on, the rest of these intro episodes feel pretty by the numbers at this point: The AMP takes on a couple of Lucifer Hawks they have a hard time with; some hints are dropped about Katsumi’s past and destiny by both the Hawks and Rally; the team pulls together and/or learns a lesson; Katsumi saves the day; rinse and repeat.  With all this repetetiveness, it’s surprising I found Episode 5 to be the most entertaining episode of the bunch.  As stated above with Isozaki, the team reads the police message boards and finds out just what the world thinks of them: Katsumi is too gloomy, Kiddy’s too thuggish, Nami’s unmemorable and Yuki and Lebia are labled as background characters.  While im surprised the male dominated force didn’t once drop a comment about the hotness of the team, it’s a wonder the show pokes fun at its characters like this.  It’s as if the writers are acknowledging how the characters have been presented so far and are taking an episode to make some course corrections.  It works mostly with Lebia, Kiddy and Yuki.  Nami still doesn’t do much for me.  Katsumi, on the other hand, seems to be finding love with Roy, a cop who helped train her.  It definitely doesn’t feel like a forced romance for them, in fact, theyre kind of cute together.  Same goes for Kiddy and Ralph.  Im sure that’s heading into romantic territory soon and we’ll see how that plays out.

Besides the cryptic story, the characters who are all still finding their role in this mix, and the not so smooth fusion of science and magic, the one thing that I have to nitpick about this intro set is the inconsistent animation.  The first episode is done in a style that seems just a level below X-199 The TV Series.  However, subsequent episodes seem to be ditching that digi paint animation for a more traditional handdrawn look.  Both look…ok?  I cant really decide which style id prefer over the other.  However, trying to mix and match them isn’t working for me.  It’s like looking at the Zeta Gundam Film Trilogy, where they tried to mix new modern animation in with the animation from the 80’s with the original Zeta series, it was pretty bad.  The switch ups in animation cant be ignored, even with a cast of cute police officers fighting monsters.

Silent Mobius is off to a rough start and I really hope it gets better.  It has the workings of a great show with a fun premise, a nice cast and a great setting (I’m glad Blade Runner’s had such an effect on the world of Anime).  But some characters just aren’t gelling (Nami and Isozaki), the overall premise feels too similar to Bubblegum Crisis with Lucifer Hawks instead of Boomers, and the change in animation every few minutes is a bad sign that the animators couldn’t make up their mind how they wanted this series to look: old school or (at the time) new school.  There’s still time to work out these kinks, it is the start of the series after all.  But then again, it’s also that, the beginning…and shows can sometimes live or die based on how they get started.

Anyway, the magical techno mayhem continues next week.  See ya then.

FIF#34-Mobile Suit Gundam: Twilight Axis

UC0096.  It’s been three years since the event that closed the second Neo Zeon Rebellion and saved the Earth from total destruction at the hands of Char Aznable.  But a lingering mystery has remained: whatever happened to Axis following that fateful battle?  Two former Zeon officers, Arlette and Danton, are hired by the Earth Federation to head to the derelict asteroid and investigate.  It should be a simple mission, until an unknown Gundam appears to shake things up.  Where did it come from and what other secrets are waiting for Arlette and Danton on this piece of Zeon history?

The summary I just typed up I had to paraphrase from the official synopsis…because without it I would have no freaking idea what was going on in this story.  As the first of six parts to be released as an online series, the first episode of Twilight Axis plays more like a cryptic trailer than attempting to explain anything we’re seeing on screen.  Why are we going back to Axis now after all this time?  Why is Arlette so desperate to get there and what’s her connection to Char and Lalah?  Why is there a Gundam attacking the Investigation Team and where did it come from?  What’s more, these online episodes are only going to be extremely short in length, like 3mins each probably.  That’s hardly any time to tell anything, especially if it’s going to be told in such a jumbled and confusing manner. 

It’s sad to harp on all of this because this is might just be a setup im really excited for.  Much like the end of Gundam Unicorn, I have always been anxious to see how the Universal Century adapts to the game changing events featured there and in Char’s Counterattack.  Also, we still have no definite answers as to what became of Amuro and Char during the Psycho Frame Wave event that moved Axis away from Earth.  This could be the motherload of answers we’ve been waiting to see for almost thirty years (Char’s Counterattack came out in 1988 remember).  And yet, we’re following a new character we barely know, through events tied together through rapid fire editing and some very cryptic, but familiar, imagery.  It’s almost like watching a Robotech feature and somehow knowing you aren’t going to get any updates on the fate of Rick Hunter and the SDF-3.  Twilight Axis has 6 episodes, 3 minutes each to work with, and I think it’s going to try and do more than it can with such a short window of story time.

 

Mobile Suit Gundam: Twilight Axis will be popping up from time to time throughout the rest of 2017 and probably early 2018, so I guess I’ll check up on it every couple of episodes or so.  I feel like this is one to wait and see and also marathon in full when it’s all released.  After all, it’s only going to be 18mins in length at minimum.  I should be more excited for this.  However with new additions to Gundam The Origin and Gundam Build Fighters (NOT FOCUSING ON BUILD FIGHTERS TRY) coming later this summer, this new chapter of the Universal Century era might take a back seat.  I guess if anything, Episode 1 got me asking the right questions…but also wondering about the harsher ones as well.

T5W#110-Top 5 Favorite Steve Blum Anime Roles

 

Steve Blum.  The Man.  The Myth.  The Legend.  He has been one of the most popular voices in all of Anime, his roles ranging from leads to equally memorable supporting roles.  For many of us, we know him as the voice of a generation, a man who’s vocal awesomeness introduced us to the world of Anime, mostly through his time as the bad ass Tom 2.0 on Toonami.  He is Steve Blum, there’s many like him but only one true him.  So, to celebrate the recent return of Cowboy bebop to Toonami’s late night line up, this week im taking a look at my Top 5 Favorite Steve Blum roles.  These are the characters I cant imagine being voiced by anyone else and some of them are personal heroes.  Keeping my fingers crossed too that I can maybe meet him at Katsucon next year (leave it to me to let slip I wrote a blog about him.)

 

#5-Kyohei Kadota aka Dotachin (Durarara)

Kadota roles with a group of rabid otaku and his best friend who is prone to anger when someone messes with his van.  Somehow I feel like this is the kind of crew Steve Blum would roll with in real life.  Kadota often plays the peacemaker and older brother figure to many individuals in Ikebukero and is the man to seek out when you need a job.  He basically runs Ikebukero’s equivalent of The A Team…that’s just awesome.

 

#4-Makoto Shishio (Rurouni Kenshin)

While he is known for playing the cool hero, Steve Blum can easily jump into the role of bad guy just as easily.  And there is no hotter opposite to the cool hero than the rage inferno that is Makoto Shishio.  Betrayed by his own allies and left for dead after being badly burned, Shishio dedicates his life to overthrowing the Meiji Government.  Shishio headed the most popular arc of the Rurouni Kenshin anime, a foe who could go toe to toe with and best Kenshin blow for blow.  I wish that when Funimation did the English Dubs for the RuroKen movies that they could’ve gotten Steve back for a role most people associate with such a bad ass and meanacing character.

 

#3-Roger Smith (The Big O)

This had to be the easiest pitch to a voice actor ever: Hey, you want to play Batman but he is always Bruce Wayne and has a giant robot?  If Bruce Wayne was an Anime character, he’d be Roger Smith, Paradigm City Negotiator and secret pilot of the Megadeus, The Big O.  Much like his distant spiritual cousin, Spike Speigel, Roger carries himself with an air of cool and confidence that only Steve Blum could provide.  This is the guy you want negotiating when you are in a tight spot.  That or he could just call forth the Big O in grand fashion to just step on a guy…yeah I like that approach better.

 

#2-Leeron Littner (Gurren Lagann)

I was a little shocked to hear this one.  So flamboyant, so out there with his personal desires, freaking hitting on both Kamina and Simon without a particular care of who might swing his way.  This was a role im sure Steve had a blast voicing.  Leeron gets some of Gurren Lagann’s best lines and speeches.  He can also make technobabble make so little sense but also make a ton of sense at the same time (or sound convincing enough, same difference right?).  I feel like out of all the voice on his resume, this is one of the most unique roles Steve has taken on and he excels at it.

 

#1-Spike Speigel (Cowboy Bebop)

Come on, was there a doubt in anyones mind this would take the top spot?  The King of Cool, the man we all wish we could be in life.  Spike is a flawed person on the inside but on the outside he’s one of the most flawless Anime Anti-Heroes.  He practices Jeet kun Do, aka the martial arts style developed by Bruce Lee himself.  He was able to win the hearts and admiring eyes of Julia and Faye Valentine respectively.  He has the coolest ship in the Swordfish II.  He has the best wit, best action scenes best…gahhh im fanboying now.  And you know what?  He isn’t complete without Steve Blum doing the voice.  The lazy, philosophical slacker was a role perfect for the Blum man and it’s a role that continued to define his career as a voice actor.  It’s such a huge role, when Toonami first shut its doors years ago, he ended Tom’s epic speech with the same line he used to close out Spike’s story on Cowboy Bebop…and it’s the same line ill close out this Top 5 on…

 

“Bang”.

Peacemaker Kurogane Part 5 Episodes 21-24

Though they’ve lost valued friends along the way, the Shinsengumi now have the location of an important Choshu Clan meeting.  Kondo takes the lead as the Shinsengumi march towards vengeance.  All the while, Tetsunosuke is still traumatized by his encounter with Yoshida.  As the Ikedaya Inn becomes the stage for a bloody battle, will Tetsu be able to face his demons and join his comrades in time?  Steel clashes and the streets run red with blood as history unfolds.  Who will be cut down and who will live to tell the tale of a battle that will resound throughout all of Japanese history?

 

And so we come to the end of Peacemaker.  After 20 some odd episodes of waiting, the action came full throttle, bloody and relentless and…wait…waitwaitwaitwaitwaitWAIT A MINUTE.  When the hell did Tetsunosuke learn to fight like that?  For the better part of this whole series, we’ve only seen him spar with a couple of Shinsengumi members and those were very short skirmishes.  Every other time we’ve seen him, he’s been screaming his head off, trying to hook up with Saya, or huddled in a closet (though this week he had some reasons for that).  Not once have we seen any signs that Tetsu was progressing in his swordplay, much less that he was reaching the level of Soji Okita.  The kid takes on one of the greatest killers of the Choshu, one on freaking one.  You cant even argue that Yoshida was already worn down by battling Okita, Shimpachi and Heisuke.  No, even a hardened killer like Yoshida should have been able to tear Tetsu apart with no problem.  Tetsunosuke won by sheer dumb luck and a solid dose of the “it’s time for the end so he need to be a bad ass” trope.  This series is already getting a low score from me but this BS alone definitely knocks it down an extra number.

 

Tetsu’s sudden transformation into battle hardened samurai aside, we FINALLY got to the good stuff I’ve been waiting for.  The Ikedaya Incident is infamous as the event the Shinsengumi are most known for and it set back the plans of the Revolutionaries for some time.  Anyone who has seen the Rurouni Kenshin prequel, Trust and Betrayal (set during the Bakumatsu) knows that even with Kenshin trying to reach the inn, the Shinsengumi still came out on top.  We got to see the famous event unfold and it was worth the wait.  Even the great leader Kondo got involved and man could he tear up a room.  These were the Shinsengumi I always heard about.  Sure we’ve seen them serious in the last few episodes after losing Aiyu.  But in these final few episodes you could see why they’re called the Wolves of Mibu.  Once Kondo, Okita, Shimpachi and Heisuke got going, no one was coming out of there alive unless they were really damn lucky.  The swords clashes and the blood was spurting like guysers.  Finally, some good old samurai action.

 

The character moments in and around the battle were good too.  As if to mirror last week, this time it was Susumu’s turn to break Tetsunosuke out of his freak out (Tetsu even looked like a wide eyed Gollum curled up in his closet).  Not only did Susumu not take Tetsu’s fearful attitude, but he also called out Tatsu as well.  As I figured, Tetsu’s older brother has always seemed the type to want to keep Tetsu in the closet for his own safety and never see him recover. Well, that’s selfish and thankfully Susumu saw through it and said “screw you, Tetsu get your ass in gear”.  As much as I’d wish Tetsu would have gotten his uniform and sword from Hijikata, getting it shoved in his face by Susumu seemed to be just as fitting.  The aftermath of the battle also brought out Hijikata’s softer side.  As much as I call BS on Tetsu’s sudden burst of bad ass, he did earn the Vice Commander’s respect for once, something he’s longed for since the show began.  I also have to admire Tetsu’s Rurouni Kenshin stance on swords and killing, seeking to save lives rather than take them with his sword.  His promise to Saya that he would keep up this mantra was pretty touching and a good close out on one of the sweetest relationships in the series.  Poor Suzu though.  After Yoshida gets beheaded, the kid if Tetsu levels of traumautized, maybe worse.  We’ll never see what comes of him sitting in that dark alley, holding Yoshida’s rotting head…it’s a scary place to leave him.

 

Which brings me to the start of my closing thoughts.  The finale brings us to Ikedaya as the first episode promised.  However, there are a ton of unanswered questions.  So Yoshida didn’t kill Tetsu’s parents, who did?  What role did Ryoma Sakamoto have to play in this series and how was he connected to Tetsu’s father?  What the hell was Tetsu’s dads deal in general?  What about Akesato, will she reveal her true occupation to Yamanami?  Will Suzu seek revenge against Tetsu even though he doesn’t know Okita was the one who beheaded Yoshida?  Did that supernatural storyline really need to be included in this show?  The answer to that last one is a definite NO.  The rest of those questions I feel might have been answered in a second season if one ever came about.  I know the manga continued on but I doubt this Anime did well enough to get more screentime…and that’s disappointing.  Again, the curse of Studio Gonzo comes in.  Other projects like Trinity Blood, Hellsing and Chrono Crusade suffered the same kind of storytelling faults that have plagued Peacemaker throughout.

 

So where does that leave my final thoughts on this show?  When the spotlight was on the actual Shinsengumi, it was great.  Seeing these historical figures interact with each other made me understand why they were so feared and loved at the same time.  Having Tetsu be the audience window was hit and miss.  That’s because Tetsu himself was mostly insufferable.  When he wasn’t screaming at Hijikata, he was screaming at something else and demanding everything be thrown his way like a brat, including the ability to kill like a bad ass.  The ONLY times I ever liked Tetsu was when he was around Saya and Susumu.  He seemed to be more nurturing than annoying around Susumu and the love he and Saya developed for each other spoke volumes, even if Saya couldn’t speak or Tetsu didn’t know exactly what to say.  The action was decent but was mostly saved for the end and in a Samurai drama, that’s misleading and downright unacceptable.  There were too many plot holes that could have been filled if time had not been wasted on pointless magical threats or characters who came and literally did nothing to move the plot along.  I think if you’re a fan of Rurouni Kenshin or Japanese History, you should check out the last act to see the Ikedaya story unfold.  That being said, RuroKen is definitely the better alternative to this one.  The Shinsengumi may not be present nearly as much (save for Saito who’s a main character) but it’s a lot more fun and has a much less annoying protagonist to guide the story along.  Yeah, Tetsu can boast he beat Yoshida but I doubt he’d last a minute against a Hitokiri Battosai style Kenshin Himura.

 

Final score for Peacemaker Kurogane is…a 5/10

 

Next week, we’re heading back to the future, where science and sorcery team up with a group of sexy police officers to fight demons…should be fun right?  Kia Asamiya’s Silent Mobius begins on the Anime Corner next Monday, see ya then.

FIF#33-Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend

Tomoya Aki is an Otaku of the purest kind.  He loves video games, especially visual novels and dating sims and wants to create the ultimate video game himself one day.  When he passes a beautiful girl on a hill, Tomoya’s mind is made up and he plans to set his dream into motion.  All he requires is some help…from some of the most beautiful girls in high school who also moonlight on the Otaku side.  One is an erotic manga author, one writes light novels and another happens to be the girl who sparked Tomoya’s crusade…but isn’t anything like he imagined.  If this merry band can pull together, and survive Tomoya’s weirdness, maybe they can pull off the impossible and get this video game made.

I’ll admit, some shows I get into based on the cosplay I see in the community.  If a couple of those characters happen to be cute girls…well im a guy so I cant help it sometimes (the whole reason I got into Fate/Stay Night was because of the Rin cosplays).  Case in point, the characters from Saekano have been floating around for a while now and characters that beautiful you have to know where they came from.  Sitting down to check out the first few episodes, I had no idea what to expect.  Some of it was surprisingly fun, the rest…is kind of a dark reflection of how really scary the otaku mentality can be.

I’ll say this right away, Tomoya Aki is not my favorite character on this show.  The first episode paints him as the guy to root for but once you get to the second episode, when he tries to force his hobbies and passions on his muse, that’s when he gets to be quite despicable.  As an Otaku myself, I know when it’s time to throw in the towel on trying to get friends into Anime.  If they don’t like it, don’t force it.  It might come about on it’s own, maybe it wont.  Either way, I wouldn’t go so far as to beg and beg and beg like a mad man trying to get a girl into a dating sym or anything like that.  And this isn’t charming Himouto Umaru Chan stuff either, at least that was cute even if it was a little cruel sometimes.  This is a prime example of how Otaku can come off as rude, crazy and more or less as menaces to society…it sucks.

However, this show might be watchable just for the female leads alone.  Yes, theyre all super attractive but they all have one thing that makes them stand above just being that.  Eriri and Utaha both moonlight as the exact opposite of what many of their school peers would think them to be.  When they’re not turning heads or breaking hearts in their uniforms. Eriri is secretly drawing adult manga at a furious rate and Utaha is a novelist who is becoming quite popular, both obviously using psydonyms.  Watching them clash and bicker, while getting some insights into their side projects reminded me of a plot line from the third season of Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya, when one of Illya’s friends turned out to want to do similar things with her secret desires.  Anyway, I could care less if Tomoya accomplishes his dream in full.  Im more curious how Eriri and Utaha will combine their creative powers and what will result from them.  I think it could be better than anything Tomoya has in mind, even if he is leading the project himself.  Sadly, I expect these two femmes to be fighting each other over the rabid Otaku and that’s a shame…they deserve better.  Should also talk about Kato, Tomoya’s inspiration.  It’s equally scary that she gets forced into Tomoya’s interests as it is that she ends up enjoying it.  Trying to change someone into someone theyre not isn’t cool…but I will give Kato credit, her totally shooting down Tomoya’s visions of what he expected her to be were worth a couple of chuckles.

So yes, for the girls, I will stick this one out probably, it isn’t that long either (but ive said that before and haven’t finished that many shows).  The series has good animation, I like the theme songs, Utaha might have just stolen my heart (her vs. Rin would be a solid showdown).  If it weren’t for Tomoya being a total creeper, I would be fully on board, but im more so half.  It’s another step out of my comfort zone, that’s for sure. 

T5W#109-Top 5 Anime I Want to see as Live Action Films

So far, in 2017, we’ve seen a slew of Live Action Anime adaptations, both in Japan and in the U.S.  While some projects like Gintama have apparently been box office successes, others…specifically two U.S. made Anime films have been less than stellar.  Ghost in the Shell tanked entirely and Death Note…well take a look at last weeks Top 5 for more on that.  And the year isn’t over yet.  Believe it or not Fullmetal Alchemist is seeing its live action debut towards the end of the year.  Whether overall success or failure, Live Action Anime Adaptations are not stopping anytime soon.  So on todays Top 5, I’m choosing the Top 5 Anime I Want to see as Live Action Films.  One of these is a bit of a cheat as it has had a live action adaptation already but it was so bad no one remembers it and it’s best kept that way.  These films could either fill a void that’s been growing in certain genres or replace certain similar franchises all together, but I’ll get to each of those in due time.

 

#5-Spirited Away

In a weird way, I feel like this would have been ripe for a Jim Henson production back in the day.  A little girl trapped in a world of magic, as well as ghosts and spirits as creative as a vast imagination can provide.  All that’s missing is an element we cant have, David Bowie somehow doing a version of No Face (We miss you Goblin King).  I cant imagine Miyazki ever giving anyone a greenlight on this, especially since the US has been screwing up adaptations left and right.  If it were to be done, I feel like this would be a Guiellermo Del Toro dream come true and we know he can pull off that kind of visual aesthetic with Hellboy 2 and Pan’s Labyrinth.  Of my five choices, this one seems the least likely, even if the story and visual promise is sound.

 

#4-Durarara

Set in Ikebukero, Durarara centers on a community of outcasts, headless demons, gangsters, otaku, shady doctors and a sharp dressed Hulk like debt collector.  And they’re all connected to one another in some way shape or form, eventually they all come together too, more or less.  This is basically the Anime equivalent of Love Actually meets TV’s Twin Peaks.  There’s comedy, action, deep character study, paranormal elements, a small town whose safety stakes keep getting upped and upped.  You could have a blast picking a director and cast to bring this epic series to life.  Heck, id say it could be a collaboration of directors (im thinking Christopher Nolan for some reason).  You’d come to Ikebukero as a tourist but quickly find yourself looking for an apartment so you could keep an eye on all the action.

 

#3-Hellsing

With the Resident Evil film series (finally) done and the Underworld franchise showing a bit of a dull edge, the time is right for a new supernatural action franchise to jump into the ring.  What better one to choose than an Anime that features a bad ass Dracula in a red trenchcoat with the greatest guns even made by modern man?  Hellsing brings everything to the table fans of horror action films expect: bullets, monster scares and oceans of blood.  And you’ve got the most ghoulishy delightful interpretation of a classic monster ever in the form of Alucard.  Do some really careful casting for the most beautiful women in the world for Integra and Seras and you could revitalize a genre that didn’t do so hot this past year (Underworld: Blood Wars and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter both faired poorly compared to their previous entries outings…that’s saying a lot).  Alucard’s time has come and you’d have to work really hard to screw him up…like DMC: Devil May Cry bad.

 

#2-Mobile Suit Gundam

I’ll never stop pushing for this, you knew it was coming.  Yes, there was a live action Gundam special made for the 20^th anniversary called G-Savior and it sucks something truly terrible.  Bad CG, bad acting, no story, you call that action?  No Gundam needs to be done right.  The Gundam Multiverse is the ultimate sandbox.  While it would be wise to just adapt the original 0079 series into a trilogy, you could go literally anywhere from Wing to G to X to Turn A.  So many worlds, so many design choices.  With the return of Star Wars roaring life into the scifi genre like never before, Gundam could take advantage of that and become a franchise worthy of standing alongside it.  Just be sure to treat whatever story you choose with mature hands.  The last thing we need is Divergent in space

 

#1-Neon Genesis Evangelion

This almost got going about a decade ago and I’m sorry it never saw the light of day.  Following the success of The Lord of the Rings, WETA Workshop was commissioned to do some pre-viz, drawings for a potential Evangelion film and they looked awesome (you can find them if you Google them I’m sure).  Back in the day, after seeing Eva for the first time, this was the one I really wanted to see in Live Action form and I still do.  The story is an easy trilogy option with plenty of time to focus on the important things…besides the mind blowing visuals.  The scars of the cast run deep and you could find plenty of actors who could bring out the hurt and fight against that hurt from every character.  Cudos if whoever does the screenplay keeps the ending intact.  This has David Lynch written all over it for directing choice.  Not sure how he handles action but the bizzare imagery seen in Hideki Anno’s classic series pretty much resembles some of the out of this world DA FRAK-ery of Twin Peaks: The Return.  If nothing else, I hope WETA is still up for it should the project see the light of day.  They put quality work into The Lord of the Rings and made Middle Earth feel 100% real.  There’s no reason Tokyo-3 and the war against the Angels with Giant Robots could feel any less possible.

Peacemaker Kurogane Part 4 Episodes 16-20

Tetsunosuke’s skills with a sword have improved thanks to his training with the Shinsengumi.  However, there is one element he is unprepared for, something the Wolves of Mibu have yet to teach him: mourning the death of a comrade.  When a cherished member falls, it’s all hands on deck as the Shinsengumi take the fight to the Choshu Clansman and the people who have been harboring them in Kyoto.  Meanwhile, Testu and Suzu run into each other but things have changed.  Suzu has been ordered to kill Tetsu by Yoshida.  Will the young page be able to carry out his masters wishes and kill his friend?  Or will Yoshida step in to finish young Ichimura himself?

Peacemaker finally became a semblance of the show I expected it to be from the get go.  However, to get to those moments, the show had to deal with its most glaring flaws, one after another.  It was a slough and even if the payoff was better than expected, it doesn’t excuse a few things.  First off, I’m not even going to talk about the conclusion to the supernatural storyline. It was as pointless as it began and barely deserves a mention beyond this.  Once again, this was precious screentime that could have gone to more important matters.  I cant believe they wasted a small chunk of the series on what could pretty much have been a separate series itself.

Onto the aforementioned “important matters”, if there’s one person Tetsunosuke has spent the least amount of time with on this show, it’s Susumu.  They had a couple of intense encounters early on in the series but haven’t had a lot of time together since.  I can think of at least five people in the Shinsengumi Tetsu has formed a strong, brotherly bond with, especially Otkia and the Joker Trio.  The sudden decision to push the brotherly love plotline on Testu and Susumu feels as forced as it sounds for something brought up so late in the game.  Their only real connection is Aiyu, who’s death this week brought some of the best story material Peacemaker has had so far.  I mean yeah, Aiyu begged Tetsu to be a good friend to Susumu.  But why?  They haven’t had a lot of time to spend together so why does she think Tetsu would be a good guide for Susumu, even if she ended up being right?  Again, I glare at the supernatural storyline.  That amount of screentime wasted could have been dedicated to giving Tetsu and Susumu more meaty material to bring their eventual reconciliation full circle.

Still, the death of Aiyu did hit all the right notes.  Though her presence on the show hasn’t been as lengthy as other characters, Aiyu was still beloved by her brothers in arms.  Her beauty and her cooking offered the Wolves of Mibu a respite from their violent lives and gave Tetsu a more inspiring older sibling figure to bond with.  Her death is tragic but you cant help but feel like it was still on her own terms, dying on the job for her mission, the way a spy would.  This brought both the tears and the heart breaking realizations from several characters.  Susumu got called out by both Tetsu and Akesato for Aiyu’s death.  Akesato flat out blamed it on Susumu’s failure (as I also did last week), while Testu nearly beat the mess out of him for failing to act like a human being when his sister was in trouble.  You know you’ve done wrong when Tetsu, maybe one of the weakest characters in his own story, has got a valid point.  The rooftop scene between Tetsu and Susumu was actually well done.  Even without their screentime together, you felt the bond between two young men who have lost someone important.  They shared their pain and determined to make good on Aiyu’s dying wish: to be better friends.  I just wish we had more build up than two episodes of forced (if decent) drama between them to make this feel completely earned.

And, as I had hoped, Aiyu’s death meant it was time for VENGEANCE MODE!!!  After almost a full series of waiting, we got to see the Shinsengumi in action, in force, with no remorse and no reason to hold back against Masuya.  Susumu’s revenge on the man who ordered his sisters execution was most fitting, especially when he dialed up the creepy factor by disguising himself as Aiyu to put the fear of God into Masuya.  It was a fun sequence, made better by the follow up of Hijikata making his nickname “Demon Vice Commander” known to Masuya through a bloody interrogation.  THIS is the show I have been waiting to see.

We ended this week on a pretty big cliffhanger.  Though ordered to kill Tetsu, Suzu found he couldn’t…so Yoshida stepped in to do it for him.  He had his creepy eyes on and everything…and yet I still don’t understand why Yoshida has it in for Tetsu the way he does.  Just what the heck did his Dad do that scared the mess out of him so badly, to call him something as low as “tainted”?  Whatever the case, he gave Tetsu a bad case of dejavu, trapping him in a burning building, holding him at sword point.  Good on Suzu trying to stop Yoshida, I wonder how that will play into their relationship going forward.  Of course, the preview for next time shows Tetsu’s ok but is he really? 

The final set of episodes is next week and the show’s in good position to give us a good ending despite all the hurdles and pratfalls it took to get here.  Better late than never though, right?  See ya next week for the series finale of Peacemaker Kurogane.