Rewatch Theory - Hellsing Ultimate

Rewatching anime or any show/movie for that matter is both a gift and a curse. For one, it is always comforting to return to an anime that you love. Even in a world where shows are so accessible that a strong commitment is not a requirement, there is something nice about restating a show that you know you'll enjoy. At the same time, there is always that bit of lingering doubt. Will the show live up to the expectation that I have in my mind? I for one always have a habit of blowing shows out of proportion in my head, often what I remember from a show is better than the actual product itself. Every so often though, I muster up the courage to do so. For some shows like Evangelion it's a yearly tradition. Others like Kill la Kill are shows that I could rewatch anywhere at any time and still feel those strong emotions I felt at the time. However, it has been quite a long time since I went back to rewatch a show that I consider a pillar in the library of anime that I've watching, Hellsing Ultimate.

Hellsing Ultimate is a show that I really owe a lot to. I discovered it about a year before I got around to watching Neon Genesis Evangelion, the show that I credit with reigniting my love of anime. I first found it because of Team Four Star's abridged series. It was something I had just sort of clicked in with no real knowledge of what Hellsing was, something I clicked on out of boredom out of anything. While of course, I was laughing quite a bit because Team Four Star do a very good job with their abridging, I was much more interested in the product that was on screen. Vampires, Nazis, wars of occult and religion. Not to mention that the action direction of the show was outstanding. This was a world I wanted to invest myself into and I wasted no time tracking down all the episodes. The show was actually in the middle of it's run and all of the episodes hadn't been released yet. So I tracked down the manga and read through all of it. This show had me and I absolutely loved it. Recently, I picked up the series on blu-ray and naturally with some time in my schedule I figured it was as good of a time as any to explore an old favorite.

Hellsing is, I think, one of the best gateway anime out there. It's one of the best examples of what anime is really capable of with stunning visuals, outlandish characters, and an absolutely ridiculous concept. It's premise of absurdly strong vampire who fights other Nazi vampires and unique twists on many famous legends makes it immediately gripping. Hellsing is based on Kouta Hirano's 1997 manga. It's concept starts simple enough, focused around the fictional Hellsing Organization who protect Great Britain from supernatural threats such as vampires. Their chief defense is the vampire Alucard (yay Dracula backwards is always clever), who quickly establishes himself as one of anime's most powerful characters. The plot quickly gives way to a number of memorable characters such as Sera Victoria, a vampire sired by Alucard who serves as the audience's view into the world. Alexander Anderson and the Iscariot Organization, basically the Cathlolic version of Hellsing who are intent on destroying them for being...Protestants. There are plenty more memorable characters but the greatest victory of the show is that for all of it's bombast it makes sure to give us the best villain...Nazi vampires. I give credit to Hellsing because there truly is no greater villain to include in your story than Nazi's. In a story which features traitors, rapists, and monsters...Nazi's are the perfect villain. Hellsing's Big Bad himself, The Major, is one of the great anime villains. His monologues on war and humanity are some of the show's best moments and he remains just as chilling as he was when I first watched the show. He's also a Nazi so it's pretty satisfying to watch him get punched in the face.

In the early moments, I noticed a couple of things that gave me pause in this second viewing. The first few episodes are a bit rough, moving very quickly and the english dub (yes, english dub) has a few stilted moments that don't work very well. There is is feeling that Hellsing often chooses style over substance for Rule of Cool moments, rather than present something new. However, this often turns into one of the show's strengths. The pain of the exposition of the initial episodes has a number of good payoffs because they set the groundwork for some of the most explosive scenes in the show. It fits really well, there's a scene in which out of nowhere, Alucard recites a line that he gave another character about the specs of his pistol. In the moment, it seems maybe a bit out of place but it just fits so well, especially the number of references that the series makes to 80's action movies.

It's only helped by the fact that Hellsing's english dubs is one of the strongest out there, largely because of the outstanding performance of Crispin Freeman as Alucard. While Freeman had already voiced Alucard before in the show's original anime adaptation, this was my first introduction to him. Surely enough, Freeman has become one of my favorite voices in the industry. Freeman's performance as Alucard is certainly excellent but that shouldn't obscure the great job the rest of the cast. Given that there are a fair amount of accents in the show, not every actor gets it totally right but the almost comical nature of it makes it almost better. As I said before, for all of it's dramatic flair, Hellsing does have this farcical almost satirical nature with which it treats it's subject matter which can occasionally be to it's detriment. There is some tonal whiplash especially when it comes to Seras as a character who ranges from comic relief to audience stand in early...but I suppose that's all to set up the payoff for her character arc. Despite this, Hellsing makes it very clear when it's in it's serious mode and these silly moments are few and far between as the show reaches it's climax.

Hellsing Ultimate is one of the most faithful adaptations of manga you'll see

While I wavered in the first few episodes, the final few made me realize what is so great about the show. The monologues of the characters, the struggles of humanity vs monsters, the importance of preserving one's humanity. Beyond all the carnage and the hot blooded action there does lie a strong emotional core in the show. When I reached the final episodes, I felt a drag on my heart, a sadness that the wild ride was once again at it's close. A large part of this has do do with the excellent characters. Alucard's prominence on any promotional material for the show would imply that he is the show's focus and he certainly does receive his fair share of screentime. However, I would struggle to really determine who is the protagonist of the show as a fair number of characters receive a great deal of focus. Seras, Anderson, Integra, and even the villainous Major can all make claims at being the central character. Alucard's near invincibility and the desire of many characters to best him makes the central story really just a story that brings all of these characters together, with Alucard being the common link. If you really must pick out a most central character it would probably be Seras as her arc is the most human of them all and for most of the story she serves as an audience stand-in.

So, did I like my rewatch of Hellsing? It definitely has held up very well over the years. It satisfies one's want. It's not perfect, some of the ways Seras is treated are bit problematic and the fast pace which with things move can be both a positive and a detriment. However, it is a truly excellent show that is worthy of your time and one that holds up on repeated watching. I would recommend watching the show dubbed but in this case both subbed and dubbed are very good options.


This article is the first in what I hope to be a somewhat recurring series where I rewatch shows and write about them. I'll also hopefully do some new content along the way.

Why Be Ordinary When You Can Be Wacky? - Nichijou Review

It truly has been a long long time since I did that thing that I started this blog for. It's been a collection of video games, comics, other TV shows, soccer occasionally...but the anime side of things has really been left unchecked. If I can leave a small announcement to maybe the 4 people who actually read my stuff, I'm going to start doing more anime reviews and articles when I can since writing brings me a lot of joy. There is definitely going to be some stuff coming down the pipeline in the anime department. I've got a solid queue to take down in the next couple of months as 2018 was a huge year for anime and I'm still playing catch up. I want to hit some stuff on the To Aru universe since I've been really in to that lately and because I really haven't had enough salt in my life...I may even touch on Darling in the Franxx. However, recently I decided that it was time to finally get around to checking out an older favorite, Nichijou.

For background information, Nichijou is not a new show. In fact, it's actually close to eight years old at this point seeing that it's initial anime run came back in 2011. Overall though, Nichijou has caught my eye largely because it follows a legacy in one of animations most preeminent studios in this day and age, Kyoto Animation. It's difficult to talk about modern anime without at least mentioning KyoAni given that their shows have been so popular. The same studio which gave us The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzimya, K-On!!, and Lucky Star is unsurprisingly the brains behind this operation. Kyoto Animation has been leading the charge in the "moe" genre (if it can even be called a genre) or more a revolution when it comes to the way that the slice of life genre has really pushed forward, most predominantly "cute girls doing cute things". Slice of life and the high school settings were always backed more by drama then anything whereas since the revolution we've seen much more of shows where characters go to school and just...live their lives. This isn't exactly a novel of new concept really, more just a glut of shows trying to compete for the same niche. Kyoto Animation has always been out on the front with this but I struggle exactly to figure out what exactly compares to Nichijou.

It's almost impossible to not love Yuuko, Mio, and Mai

When asked what exactly Nichijou is about, the answer isn't entirely clear. With other KyoAni works like Haruhi or K-On!! its a little bit easier since those shows have easy to explain premises. Nichijou is kind of about...nothing. More specifically, it's just about these three girls attending high school and hanging out together. However, stating that Nichijou is about nothing implies that it lacks focus whereas the opposite is actually true; Episodes are broken up into little skits or comedy shorts. Each short has a particular focus but mostly being about the "ordinary lives" of the three high school girls, Yuuko, Mio, and Mai. Yuuko is probably the closest the show could come to be "the" main character but in a show like this, it really doesn't matter. The universe they live in scales from the ordinary to the absolutely bizarre. One short could just be the dramatic retelling of Yuuko forgetting her homework one day to something as ridiculous as the school principal suplexing a deer in the school courtyard. Taking a test has the gravitas and  to an entire training arc for a shounen anime, raw steaks occasionally rain from the heavens. Nichijou will claim upfront to be ordinary but in reality is anything but, it's actually one of the best comedy shows I've watched in a long time.

The way I like to think about it is that it's like when you and your friends from high school all meet up after not seeing each other for several years. You start recollecting times from school and often these stories stretch the truth a bit, there is plenty of embellishment to be had. All your stories share a common theme in that while they're ordinary in nature, we as the storyteller ascribe meaning to them and highlight the aspects that . Things like going out to lunch with your friends, forgetting your homework are all very ordinary. However, it's all about how we remember them in our mind. Nichijou captures this feeling perfectly as accidentally stabbing herself with a pen may cause Yuuko to explode. Losing her notebook full of lewd hand drawn art turns Mio into a cold blooded killer in the style of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure to get it back. It's as if Nichijou has a playbook of all our old memories and is playing them back with ten times the drama. It's not the first show to play ordinary situations for laughs but it manages to land  It's fun and nonsensical but it just works and that's all you can ask for.

This show is a gif machine

Of course, humor being subjective, I didn't find everything Nichijou had to offer to be gold. Yuuko and her friends are the shows stars but because of the skit nature of the show, they are not always the main focus. In fact, there is actually a whole other cast of side characters. Each of them has their own little gimmick, for example one of them has a tendency to carry an entire arsenal of firearms on her at all times which another can't grow hair on his head outside of his mohawk. The most entertaining of these I thought was the teacher who was too afraid to ask his coworker out on a date. Not all of these characters or their respective plot lines were enjoyable to me but I never really found this to be an issue because if you aren't gelling with a certain scene, the show wastes little time moving you to the next one. Even outside of the main characters, there are these little recurring shorts like "Helvetica Standard", "Love Like", and "Things That are Cool" that while not always burst the sides with laughter funny, are always charming and a fun way for the show to change up the pace. Because of this, it feels bursting to the seems with content. Luckily, Nichijou's pacing doesn't allow any scene to take up any more time than it needs to and it never dwells on a punchline or joke longer than it needs to. Without fail, no matter what scene you are watching, Nichijou is simple entertainment. Regardless of whether you vibe with the comedy style of one skit, you will find another one that suits you.

However, just because this is a comedy show doesn't meant there is not substance to be had here. Yuuko and friends actually only make up around half of each episode. The other main focus is on a small girl named Hakase who we're told is a genius inventor. She's invented a robot named Nano and they live together, eventually joined by a talking cat named Sakamoto. It's really here where the show finds some of its heart. I didn't really vibe with the comedic aspects of these characters as much as I did Yuuko and her friends but I didn't find that to be as important. The relationship between Nano and Hakase is one of the shows best emotional notes. Nano's want to be more human and her role as a caretaker for Hakase is the closest the show has to an overarching narrative. Hakase however is probably the only negative thing I can really pick out as she makes up most of the "moe" quotient. Most of her scenes include her acting as a brat and it makes many of her scenes rather...annoying especially since Nano is the much more enjoyable part of the relationship. Surprisingly, despite my initial annoyance with them, Nichijou actually hits it's best stride in the second half when Nano starts attending school. This brings her into contact with Yuuko and her friends and the show is much better for it. I was pretty floored by some of a later episodes which actually brought closure to the few overarching plot lines of the show. Nichijou does not hesitate to pull out the rug from you, sometimes where you expect comedy, you actually find a lot of really solid depth. Themes of self-acceptance, discovering what kind of person one wants to be, the meaning of friendship and even just having the courage to ask someone you like out and the difficulty of being turned down. However, it doesn't dress itself as anything greater than what it is. Nichijou remains simple to it's core with a number of heartwarming scenes. If you want a show that will just make you happy and fuzzy, this one is for you. This struck me as being very much like KyoAni, considering that I never expected to grow as attached to the K-On girls as I ended up becoming, I really came to love these absurd girls from Nichijou and was left feeling sad that my time with them was at an end.

Being a KyoAni production, Nichijou features some stunning animation. The first thing that you notice is the unique art style, it looks much more like a comic strip, not aiming so much for the photo realism. Where something like K-On!!! went much more for photo realism, Nichijou feels so much more like a retro cartoon. It also features some of the most tasteful uses of CG I've seen in any show where despite being very noticeable in some scenes it only adds to the already present comedy. So much of the comedic impact comes from fantastic animation as scenes and punchlines are delivered with true gravitas. The score is nothing to be ignored either ranging from some pensive pieces that must have been featured on a Joe Hishashi B-side. Like the visuals, the OST is great about framing the proper mood and serves the comedy side of things really well. I also never skipped either of the two openings because they were masterful examples of just how good this show looks. I encourage anyone interested in watching Nichijou to try and get a copy of the blu-ray because the show is so crisp looking.

At it's core, Nichijou is simple entertainment that has little objective outside of having fun and I struggle to really come up with many negatives besides how some of the humour didn't really gel with me and that's to be expected. It's actually frustrating that because I've been pretty well behaved in this review but I can't say I did anything but enjoy this show. What Nichijou has is a great universe that by the time it reached the end, I only wanted more adventures in the universe. No other show of this genre has really. It is not without it's faults though, not every gag lands, the humour isn't always consistent in the early episodes, and Hakase really is pretty annoying to deal with. However, if you come to stick with Nichijou there is pretty much no way that you won't be entertained. Like Haruhi before it, there is something here for everyone. It's just some ordinary girls living out an anything but ordinary experience and a good time will always be had be all. Nichijou is really a treat and I encourage anyone looking for something fun or an "in between" show to check this out.

My Score: 4/5

The Five Games this Year I Really Loved Playing, The Three I Didn't Like, and The Two I'm Indifferent To

Well here we are again. This blog has had it's fits and starts and really only ever comes alive when I have strong feelings about Star Wars or something. I have a couple of articles that have been in draft for months, some that got deleted (the internet is better off for not knowing my thoughts on Crimes of Grindelwald, spoilers: it was horrendous), and others that never escaped my headspace. However, end of year articles seem to be my forte and a trademark at this point. Most people seem to like my opinions on video games so here we are. I make an effort every year to play a decent amount of games because well, I enjoy them and doing things that you enjoy should be a frequent occurance in your life.

However, I didn't exactly get to playing as many games this year as I did in the last but that's a bit misleading. I didn't play as many games that I truly enjoyed. In light of writing reviews of each game, I'd rather just write short little snippets about each one...for all of the two people and me mum that actually read this dead blog. So here's what we'll do. I'll be nice to the games I enjoyed, mean to the one's I didn't like, and then probably even meaner to the games that I played and then just didn't care. Because to be honest, if I spend a bunch of hours playing a game and feel really no strong feelings towards it...that's actually worse than a game I didn't like. I'm also aware of how many of these games came out in the last quarter of the year...which is probably more indicative of how this year in gaming was as a whole. Also...spoilers...there's no God of War on this list. I didn't play it, wasn't that interested, but I'll get around to it...eventually. Anyways, let's get to it:

The 5 Games I Actually Liked this Year:

5.) Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep

I must be getting softer in my older age because normally the sound of Kingdom Hearts is something that makes me, as the kids say, cringe. I've mostly stood by a stance that the only reason most people play these games is nostalgia blindness but having played through most of the series now...I can see the appeal. The story is bad and needlessly complex but they're a good time for the most part. However; game design wise I found KH1 and KH2 to be frustrating games for many reasons. In playing the series though, I mostly did so for the opportunity to play through Birth by Sleep. I was not disappointed when finally I booted the game up and found...it's actually really good. BBS fixes most of the series most glaring problems: it does away with it's annoying protagonist and his friends (I never cared for Sora, Donald, & Goofy...sorry fanboys) and replaces them with more compelling characters. The story is still bogged down with some of the typical Kingdom Hearts belief that complexity means sophistication or quality but it's actually pretty straightforward. Having three different playstyles and three different lenses to play the story through makes an all around great experience. The Command Deck system is a much better way to do magic and where it felt like an afterthought in the other games, it feels essential and satisfying here. Birth by Sleep is the best one in the series and may even convince me to play through Kingdom Hearts 3 after the new year.

4.) Pokemon: Let's Go, Eeevee!

Nintendo are really great at making you buy games that you've already played. Hell, the Switch library is largely made up of ports. Even so, the reason Nintendo gets away with it is because they are so damn good at it. The Let's Go! games are just Pokemon Yellow with a massive graphics upgrade and no wild Pokemon battles but weirdly enough, I didn't seem to mind. The game is nostalgia baiting done correctly and is a beta test to see how well a fully realized 3D Pokemon game will do. It's easy to sink lots of time into the game but it's the right amount of time. The PokeDex is small enough that it's obtainable, the battling is just as simple but satisfying as you remember, and the Pokemon catching is actually pretty fun. Revisiting a fully realized 3D Kanto is a treat, with fully animated cutscenes that are gorgeous, a beautiful graphical style makes the work truly feel alive, this is one of the best Pokemon experiences you can have. Where the newer Pokemon games have made things more complicated, it is nice to see the series return to it's roots. And no, I didn't miss wild Pokemon encounters.

3.) Marvel's Spider-Man

I'm a little bit biased here because, let's be honest, I love Spider-Man and currently it's an amazing time to be a Spidey fan. His role in the MCU, the new Spider-Verse movie, and this game have finally erased those awful Andrew Garfield memories away. This game is great! There's not a lot more to say about it but Spider-Man gave me so much joy this year that I can't help but put it firmly in this spot. It's a game made by people who love the character, who make a story that's a love letter to the character, that make a game that makes it fun to be the character. It's a lesson about how characters like this should be treated and that any executive should observe before they stick their noses where they shouldn't (looking at you WB). Anyways, Spider-Man is fun and tells a great story. It's also a refreshing game because even though it follows the same played out formula as maligned games series like Assassin's Creed or any other Ubisoft title, it does so in a way that's not overwhelming or obnoxious. It also helps that the objectives give you more excuse to use the game's excellent web swinging mechanic or the intutive and fun as hell combat. Turns out when the side activities involve the most fun mechanics of the game...they're actually more enjoyable. Now, it's not without it's flaws, some of the activities are especially pedantic and there's a noticeable lack of post game content (I know there's DLC but I don't count things you have to pay for). Even so, it's a great game and if you care even a bit for Spider-Man...you should play it.

2.) Super Smash Bros: Ultimate

Indulge me for a bit as I take you back to when I was a younger, less cynical person. Everything amongst my middle school friends and I was settled in Smash Bros. Melee was the ultimate game, it was the game that inspired my love of games, it's a fantastically made game. You play Melee today and it still handles as smooth as butter. It's a simple enough game that anyone can pick it up and have fun. It was a staple at sleepovers and playdates. However, I hadn't played much of Smash Bros after that. I never owned a Wii or Wii U so Brawl and Smash 4 passed me by. However, Ultimate has made me a believer again because the game is at it's core...pure fun. You experience with the game, is completely up to you. You can do nothing but play the single player modes and have a good time. You can go online and challenge yourself, you can lab the game for hours, you can be competitive or casual. No matter what approach you take towards the game, it's fun. It's also packed with so much content, there's over 70 fighters, so many stages, so much music, so many spirits. This game is a celebration of everything Nintendo and is 100% worth owning a Switch for.

1.) Hitman 2

Last year, I applauded how good Hitman (2016) when the game was played in full with all content available. Like I mentioned with Birth by Sleep earlier, it's amazing what happens when a developer makes a sequel that actually improves on the first one in almost every way. Hitman 2 makes everything availible right from the start, all levels are right there for you and each one is an immersive world of it's own. I had more fun exploring these contained but incredibly detailed levels than I did the vast open world of Red Dead Redemption 2 (more on that later). There's nothing like playing a Hitman level for the first time, the feeling of trepidation as you explore each level, figuring out little exploits and tricks to help you get silent assassin. Even when you succeed, you feel a need to go back in again because you noticed a new trick you want to try. The game offers so much freedom but it doesn't give so much that it feels intimidating, there are boundaries to focus you and rules to manipulate. There's also such a focus on enjoying the game you want to, the game will steer you down a more silent path but doesn't reprimand you for going loud if you want. That the game is so much fun to screw up in is what makes it a great experience, every death and every success makes you want to try again...something I can't say of all games. It took me about two weeks to play through all the new levels and hit 20 mastery on all of them...but if you think I'm done with the game just because of that...well you're mistaken...because this game has more than enough to keep me coming back

The 3 Games That Make Me Question The Why

3.) Kirby Star Allies

By question the why...I often mean like the...why did I bother to buy this? I played through pretty much all of Kirby Star Allies and I barely remember a thing about it. It was really pretty looking and cute, as most Kirby games are. The gamplay wasn't really all that fun though and the whole allies feature didn't seem to have much impact on what was going on. I guess that's a whole, "play your way" kind of thing. I'm not sure, this game didn't resonate with me and my lack of things to say about it kind of sums up my feelings.

2.) Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age

Between this and my disdain for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 last year, I think I need to just not play traditional JRPGs. DQXI is very straightforward, no frills, is a by the books RPG. That's the appeal, is it's simplicity. There's not a lot to it, it's easy enough to enjoy but also pretty easy to put down. The battling system, is pretty boring and encounters become a chore after awhile. You have to make these things engaging if your game is going to require a decent amount of grinding. So maybe I'll like playing it for the plot! Well the plot is pretty standard "chosen one, evil dark lord of darkness and evil, and there's wacky sidekicks" kind of plot, it's not interesting in the slightest. The protagonist doesn't talk and that's different than a Persona game or something where even though the protagonist doesn't talk he does have lots of personality that the player can inflect upon him. The protagonist here is basically a wooden piece of cardboard who just does what the game asks of him...very much in the "would you kindly" mold. The characters, aren't interesting, the gameplay is simplistic to the point of being boring, and I found very little incentive to keep going. I mean, people tell me it gets better...but if I have to slog throughout 30-40 hours to get to where the game gets "good", that's not exactly worth it to me. The game is quite pretty as well and has an expansive open world...however it's pretty much devoid of any personality and empty. This game is just aggressively average.

1.) Rise of the Tomb Raider

I am aware that this game originally came out in 2016 for the Xbox One. I am aware that a new Tomb Raider game came out this year as well. However, I played this one in 2018 and given the fact that all these Tomb Raider games are the same, I think playing Rise gives me some insight into what Shadow was probably like. I spoke earlier about how Spider-Man is guilty of most of the same issues that AAA games have which are "too many pointless side quests and map clutter". However, Spider-Man has core gameplay that made even the frustrating side quests still kinda fun. Everything in the Tomb Raider games feels like a chore. The puzzles aren't fun, the combat is derivative, everything is just so devoid of any innovation that I finished the game more out of obligation rather than because it was something I wanted to do. It doesn't help that Lara Croft is also an asshole in these games which is supposed to be part of her character arc or something but it doesn't exactly make me like playing as her. Once again you have beautifully rendered environments that are just there to service the player...they're empty outside of surface level. This game is completely forgettable.

The 2 Games I Am Totally Indifferent To

3.) Octopath Traveler

So this one is a bit misleading...because my Switch tells me that I logged over 35 hours with this game so it really could not have been that bad. However, I have yet to "finish" this game and I have to come back and think of my reasons why. Everything you could say about Dragon Quest is pretty much true about this game...however...Octopath Traveler comes at you with a unique concept. Eight travelers, eight different stories...but the developers never actually thought about how to implement that concept in a proper way. The characters never interact...outside of some weird optional cutscenes...which makes the game devoid of any real personality. It has a cool graphical style which evokes a feeling of Final Fantasy games of old and the battle system is engaging and immensely satisfying when you pull it off. That is...until you realize that most enemies can just stuff your hardest hitting attacks, random encounters become multiple minute long chores, and the whole thing feels lonely because all your unique characters don't seem to have any mutual reason for traveling together. I guess a game doesn't need all that much set up for you to just have a fun traditional RPG time...but this concept just feels wasted on a game that is great at wasting your time. Grinding is slow and unrewarding, at a certain point I just couldn't really care anymore. I'm not saying that games should just hand you things on a silver platter but there needs to be something more engaging what is offered. Octopath Traveler is a fine game and I'm sure there are might fine people who play it.  For me however, it was an underwhelming waste of a good concept.

1.) Red Dead Redemption 2

Eh, sue me, I couldn't really care. Let's get one thing straight, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a fine game. It's detailed, it's clear that Rockstar worked really hard on it and that's great. Doesn't mean it's the greatest game ever though. The original Red Dead Redemption was also a fine game but I think one that people look at with rose colored glasses. It comes back to the idea of the open world. It's great to design something that's big but you have to put stuff in it. Red Dead 2 is a pretty game, it's an expansive game, it's not shy about bragging out it's detail and how big the world is. It never explains the "why" of it's world though. Not to mention that Rockstar still can't get their protagonists to control in a way that isn't lumbering. Once again, everything takes too long. Some call this immersion but there's a frustration and lack of immersion with how long everything takes to do. As an adult, it's much harder to spend substantial amounts of time in a game. You can't pop in to Red Dead for an hour and get something done. You're more likely to accidentally bump into someone, have your horse gunned down by lawmen, and be stranded in the middle of nowhere in that time. The plot of the game isn't some elaborate Western narrative either. Most missions start with "well let's try to not get in a gunfight" and ending with well...a gun fight. The shooting is also somehow worse than it was in GTA V which is just baffling...especially for a game where shooting is the centerpiece. I digress because this game is fine, it has a lot of fun moments, and it's beautiful. However, it doesn't feel like that 10/10 game for me.

Top Ten Best Things I Played this Year (and the 4 Worst)

So I made a deliberate decision at the end of 2016, play more video games. What a year 2017 turned out to be. Many have said that 2017 being a massive year in gaming was excellent as an escape from the ugly world around us. While there is truth to that, the games here aren't just distraction. They're all real, full experiences that enriched not only my year but a lot of other people. So played a lot of stuff, lot's of good stuff. This list is going to categorize the best stuff I played this year, in an order (which I hate doing but whatever).

Be warned however, this list isn't just covering games I played that came out this year, it is a list of every game that I played this year, regardless of release date.


10.) Life is Strange: Before the Storm

I've learned to not judge books by their covers. This past summer, I finally played the original Life is Strange, finding that through its cringey at times, angsty look at high school, it was one of the most real games I'd played in ages. Life is Strange is at it's core, emotionally resonant, packed with sequences that shake you to your core. It's prequel, Before the Storm, is arguably the better experience, ditching the time travel and photography for an edgy and introspective view on how we deal with loss, betrayal, and new, unexpected experiences. Once again, the player wields a lot of power with how they experience this title and I really think this isn't one to be missed.

9.) Sonic Mania

I find it difficult to fully discuss my experience with Sonic. I never grew up playing the Genesis games, I never actually experienced true 2D Sonic. I grew up with the Adventure games, ones that aged very poorly with time. Looking for a second game to pick up on my newly acquired Switch and I was not disappointed. Sonic...rocks, especially this version. The levels are gorgeous, the music is fantastic, and the gameplay is a far cry from another game that will grace this list (in a worse light) later. Sonic is fun, Sonic is fast, and all is right with the world.

8.) Hitman (2016)

Hitman is a somewhat controversial pick here I guess. I mean, not every game releases itself into pieces over the course of a year. Having gotten to finally play the full game with all it's pieces intact, plus all the other content available, I can fully say that Hitman is an excellent title. It does what any good non-linear stealth game should, provide multiple routes to accomplish your goals. Far more creative players than me will figure out ridiculous methods but the game also accommodates those more novice players and each level scales up the difficulty properly. While the game encourages stealth, it doesn't heavily punish you for going loud (unless you really care about your score that much). Every level is dripping with details and alive, a world you can truly immerse yourself in and want to find every little detail. Hitman is fun no matter which way you decide to play.

7.) Doki Doki Literature Club

Then suddenly out of nowhere comes this little gem. Doki Doki Literature Club is a free to play visual novel on Steam. At first glance it looks like your average run of the mill visual novel game: join a school club, have four cute anime girls who are immediately head over heels for you, write cute poems for each of them. Suddenly all of that gets turned on its head after about two hours, the cracks in the idealistic and innocent atmosphere begin to form. Then suddenly the game becomes something else entirely, straight up psychological horror. I could spoil the twists and turns of this incredible little adventure but it's an experience best enjoyed without knowing anything.
6.) The Danganronpa Series

So I'd wanted to play the Danganronpa games for a very long time, having known about their strong cult following. It's weird premise (murder high school run by a talking bear), addictive gameplay loop, strong characters all were major draws. Luckily for me, the entire series became available on PS4 this year and I was absolutely blown away. As a visual novel the series is full of twists and turns with an over the top style that fits. None of the gameplay diversions felt tacked on or frustrating and the characters were vibrant. Of the three mainline games, 2 contained my favorite cast of characters but if you haven't played these games about murder high school, you're missing out.

5.) Tokyo Mirage Sessions FE

Another 2016 game that is gracing this list is the wonderful Tokyo Mirage Sessions. This game had the unfortunate distinction of being a Wii U exclusive so it flies mostly under the radar in a mainstream sense. However, looking at its parts its easy to see the appeal: a Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem crossover really shouldn't have much trouble finding people to play it. Divisive among hardcore SMT fans who need to get over themselves anyways, Mirage Sessions is an absolute blast. It dives headfirst into its bizarre and unique premise (pop idols fighting demons who are trying to steal the magic that lets them be such excellent performers). It's literally JRPG incarnate. However, play the game and you'll find its wonderfully self aware and genre savvy work with real heart. It's battle system beautifully fuses the SMT formula with notes of Fire Emblem and the whole thing just works. Here's holding out for a Switch port because this game deserves a lot more attention.

4.) Super Mario Odyssey

From here the list takes a predictable turn. Mario Odyssey spells out everything for you right there on the tin. It is a gorgeously made, precisely executed, and charming platformer. It possesses a near overwhelming amount of things to do but never makes anything feel like a chore. It's challange and fun comes from learning to move Mario in these gorgeous worlds and push the limits. With crazy jump combos, some beautiful sequences, and a weird as hell premise; Mario Odyssey is a success at nearly every level. However you approach the game, it will worm its way into your heart and is a game you can bet I'll be returning to plenty in the new year.

3.) Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

2017 has restored my faith in open world games. In a time when games like Assassin's Creed and Grand Theft Auto create these sprawling but ultimately empty open worlds, its a novelty when a game actually gives you a real open world. These words have become cliches when talking about Breath of the Wild in this past year but they are the truth. The unrestrained freedom of the game, an open world that rewards exploration with little secrets buried within. You can complete all the Shrines and only have hit on 5% of what this game has to offer. There is something so refreshing about Breath of the Wild that it's influence is likely to be seen in titles for a long time. If you haven't bought a Switch, this is absolutely the game that justifies that purchase.

2.) Persona 5

Anyone who knows me is probably doing a spit take. The Persona games are my favorite series by far. I can't even begin to explain how these games have impacted my perspective and the way that I look at the world but also the way that I choose to connect with people. Persona 5 is a masterclass of game design but also of storytelling. In a market which claims that the single player experience is dead (looking at this list and you know that's false), Persona 5 is a profound rejection of that claim. Enter a world just popping with style (how many other game menus look like this) and vibrant characters. Very few experiences left me struggling to figure out what to do afterwards and the hole that Persona 5 left with me was so large that I just restarted it the next day. Persona 5 is a can't miss title.

1.) NieR: Automata

I repeat once again, the death of single player, narrative driven experiences (a profoundly false claim). NieR: Automata is the best game that came out this year regardless of what the mass gaming media says (no disrespect to Breath of the Wild but come on). There was nothing as fresh, jaw dropping, and beautiful as this game. The wacky existential plot, the smooth as butter game play, the jaw-dropping visuals and earth shaking soundtrack. NieR is an experience, one that tantalizes all of the senses and hits you at the core of your being. Yoko Taro deserves a lifetime achievement award for the sheer originality of this game that has the stones to stand out and deliver something truly special. NieR is an important game and if history forgets this game, then fuck history.




And well, unfortunately...not everything can have a happy ending. Here are the 4 worst things I played this year:

4.) Kingdom Hearts Final Mix

I am sure that certain parts of the internet will crucify me for this, but hot damn...this game is bad. I mean, sure, perspective. Technically this game came out in what? 2002? But here is the thing, I never owned a Playstation 2 during its golden era of gaming. I never played those key titles and yes games were not made as well back then. However, I don't have the rose colored glasses that from seeing this game for how it is. Kingdom Hearts? It is almost an inexcusable piece of game design. As a concept, it is remarkable, taking Disney and Square properties and merging them into this amazing game world almost seamlessly. The problem is actually playing the game, the lack of direction in what to do next, the spotty collision detection, boss battles more reliant on cheap tactics than playing them in creative ways. Kingdom Hearts is a mess. The solace is that the sequel is legitimately fantastic, the crime is that the Final Mix makes no effort to round out the rough edges of the title.

The gameplay shifts into weird diversions that don't reward skilled play and encourage cheap play. Take the Chernobog boss battle towards the end where all the gameplay that has been drilled into you is thrown out the window. There is no way to dodge and instead you just have to sneakily take tiny windows of opportunities to wittle down his enormous health. Get too greedy and he'll hit you with an attack that you can't escape from. It's like guerilla warfare that put a crack in my smartphone. At the very least, the music is good. Thank god it improved in the second one.

3.) Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is by no means a "bad" game, it's actually quite good when it gets down to it. So the question therein lies: why exactly is it here? That one is a little bit harder to explain. First off, the game has several design flaws: terrible character design (especially for female characters), horrible map design, horrible side quest design, and forgettable characters. Despite this, the whole package comes together into something that is actually quite good. However, the glaring flaws make it difficult to play for any extended period of time, which is difficult in a game that requires a ton of time to do anything of note.

2.) Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star

Generic Dynasty Warriors game that features characters from the bloated and convoluted Fate series. This was not the only Warriors like game that I played this year (Fire Emblem Warriors being the other). However, one of those games featured a lot of content and love for its source material as well as adding in features that made the game feel more fleshed out. Fate/Extella meanwhile is packed with systems and progressions that are hollow, weird difficulty curves out of nowhere, fake difficulty, and its shallow (even for one of these games). It held my attention for a few days, occasionally was a good distraction, but overall not very impressive.


1.) Sonic Forces

Here are some facts:

1.) You will play games worse than Sonic Forces

2.) You will play games better than Sonic Forces

"Well sir", you say, "that seems patently obvious. You would be right! However, Sonic Forces is a downright mess not because it's a bad game, it's actually a fine game. It's a mess because everything about the game is low effort. From the design of the title screen to the gameplay, nothing stands out. You have some cool ideas at play: the custom character is one but then what else? Forces takes no risks and has no ambition. The levels are short, the gameplay (despite having three variations) is one note, the plot is nonsensical and stupid, and parts of the game are broken. Games can be remarkable for a variety of reasons. Some are remarkable for being good and others are remarkable for being bad. Forces is remarkable for being just aggressively average. In a year where single player gaming had a damn near revolution, this is unacceptable.

You Know What They Say About the Third One: X-Men: Apocalypse Review

The complaints that the cinema is overloaded with high-budget, superhero, CGI-fest, films is not entirely unfounded. Audiences have received Marvel Studios' films especially well to the point where even if one of their films does not do especially well, everybody goes to see it regardless. Superhero films have become near cultural events in popular culture and are surprisingly the films that are likely getting the most talk at water coolers. The films that really started it all was the original X-Men trilogy, directed by Brian Singer. Previously, superhero films had been campy and ridiculous. This isn't to say that the Tim Burton Batman films are bad or that your nostalgia towards the Christopher Reeve Superman films is unfounded. This points more blame at Joel Schumacher, who set superhero films back several years with both of his installments into the Batman lore. Singer's films were both excellent, though they seem dated now and were followed by Bret Ratner's Last Stand. While Marvel has dominated the superhero cinema scene, the X-Men franchise, owned by Fox, has slowly been getting life breathed back into it. First Class was well received, same with Days of Future Past. Feburary's Deadpool also counts as an X-Men film, though it may be stretching a tiny bit. This now leads us the newest installment into what is becoming a more and more bloated franchise: X-Men Apocalypse.

The new X-Men films have this obsessions with decade long time-skips which confuses the audience because nobody in the cast appears to have aged twenty years. This can possibly be marked down to something in the mutant gene that keeps mutants looking beautiful forever. Anyways, its been about 11 years since the events of Days of Future Past but...nothing has really changed. Mutants are still largely outcasts, the original X-Men team remains scrambled. Charles Xavier is running the school at least, so that's a plus. The plot gets going when the ancient evil, Apocalypse, wakes up, recruits some buddies including Magneto who has been trying to lay low in Poland, and decides he needs to destroy everything and rebuild it anew. It's up to our favorite mutants to go out and stop him. They certainly take a rather roundabout way to do it. The first hour of the film is remarkably slow as it needs many scenes to bring all of our characters into the fold. The plot moves forward strictly out of necessity more than anything and by the time it hits its stride, its about two hours in and you still have around half an hour to sit through.

Luckily for our heroes, Apocalypse takes his time really doing anything. It's actually rather good for us too because we get introduced to Jean Grey, Cyclops, and Nightcrawler, all staples of the X-Men universe. We see a young Scott Summers discover his powers, deal with the ramifications of not being able to control them, and bond with Jean Grey over the fact that their peers fear them. It's all pretty well done. We even get an appearance from Jubilee. However, the problem that the plot has is that it struggles to balance its ensemble cast. The main cast from the previous two films has returned, then you have the introduction of about eight new characters, not to mention fitting in Quicksilver. There's a lot of jumping around and it can be difficult to keep track of everything, even when the film "trims the fat". There's not even enough time to really flesh out the film's titular villain, Apocalypse, whose appearances onscreen are all rather one note. Rather strange for such a long film.

The newest members of the cast are easily the film's most engaging

If Batman v Superman is the lowest on the "funny" scale and something like Guardians of the Galaxy ranks near the top when judging superhero films on this category, then Apocalypse falls squarely in the middle. The previous two installments were fun in their own way. Matthew Vaughn was able to make First Class truly a fun film that also managed to have its serious moments. Days of Future Past was able to strike a delicate balance that managed to highlight the seriousness and severity of the plot. Apocalypse has no idea where it is tonally in any sense. Moments that are meant to be funny some during times that are a little too serious and Singer just can't seem to let any scene play out naturally. Take for example Quicksilver's rescue scene in this film. While technically its brilliant, it comes at one of the film's most serious moments and is followed by another serious moment. The tone whiplash is evident as after his whimsical run through the school to save everyone, we find out he didn't save everyone, and we're supposed to feel sad but how can we after a rescue sequence to the tune of "Sweet Dreams"? This isn't an issue with superhero films specifically, I personally thought that the criticism of BvS "not being funny enough" to be absurd. It's more of a complaint about the tone of films in general and some confusion about why certain decisions were made here. Most notably, the whiplash caused by the Quicksilver scene.

<Spoilers> Then, of course, once you're all out of options you jump the shark by shoehorning in a Wolverine cameo into the middle of the film. The three young X-Men find Weapon X while searching for a way to free their older counterparts. Jean Grey lets Wolverine run loose and he conveniently murders everyone in the facility. We get a touching moment between him and Jean and then he runs off into the distance. Then after that "fun" little diversion, we're taken back to the main plot wondering why exactly we went there aside from that little touch of deus ex machina. This also opens another giant plot hole as to why exactly Wolverine was even at the facility since the last film established that Mystique was posing as Stryker when Wolverine was recovered from the river. Anyways, the whole scene at the Weapon X facility is also rather puzzling and feels uneccessary, though it does give us Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Nightcrawler being awesome, which was entirely welcome. <Spoilers End>

It's unfortunate that the film's villains are so un-engaging

But herein lies the film's biggest problem is that I just didn't care about Apocalypse or his Four Horsemen. They just exist onscreen, their motivations (aside from Magneto and, if you're stretching, Psylocke) are non-existent. For the most part they've just been beaten down and abused and they're looking to strike back. Rather than channel this into something meaningful, the film instead just has them window dress for the whole film, simply just appearing where Apocalypse is, striking poses as he lectures Charles Xavier. Their existence in the film feels frivolous. Angel and Storm are truly wasted as characters but only because the film has to introduce three major X-Men while also balancing out the pre-existing, already rather large, cast from the previous two films. Maybe someday we will get a film that actually does Angel justice. Then of course we come to the film's main villain. Apocalypse is here because the film needs a villain and he decides to insert himself into the plot whenever he feels the need to move things forward. The problem is that often times he doesn't. Isaac's scenes as Apocalypse are plodding and you can feel the pain of a truly fantastic actor as his talents are wasted merely talking in cryptic language for a plot that feels truly played out and boring. Ancient evil wakes up and wants to rule the world, seen it before. Lots of building destruction with no emotional resonance, it's all played out really. Compare this to Civil War which actually took the plot to a more personal place with its villain. While saving the world level stakes are nice, it ignores the personal touches that comic books can have with their characters. What made the previous X-Men installments so good was that they were more grounded.

What really should have been focused on are the new X-Men: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Storm, and even Jubilee. The film's best scenes are the one's spent at Xavier's school as these teens begin to bond and come to terms with their powers. It makes you wonder if the film would have been better off without its boring villain and would have been better served bringing things back to a smaller scale. A film that focused on these young versions of familiar characters, learning to master their powers and finding acceptance with who they are has always been at the core of the X-Men as a group and comic book. This does all come together at the climax and, to be honest, the final battle sequence is impressive, if not undermined by the fact there's little buildup to the unleashing of these powers. This, added to the fact that the film makes zero attempt to capitalize on the time period in which the film takes place. I'm told that the film took place in the 80's but aside from some costume choices and one Return of the Jedi reference (which was clearly meant to be a  shot at Ratner's Last Stand and instead ends up reflecting the audience's feelings to this "third" film), I couldn't exactly tell the difference between the world of this film and 2016. Apocalypse struggles to balance its ensemble cast. It functions well enough as you get to see all the characters you've gotten to know. However, despite an eleven year timeskip, nobody has really changed. The character arcs don't move forward for any characters, unless you count Magneto though his entire character arc feels contrived and the film does a very poor job of resolving it. The young cast does show enough promise and the next film looks like it will focus on them, so that's at least something to look forward to.

There's a lot packed into the film, even if sometimes it doesn't seem like it takes full advantage of the talent of its cast

What makes the underwhelmingness of Apocalypse so difficult to take in is it is a really well-made film. The cinematography is fantastic, the musical score is brilliant, and the visuals are, for lack of a better word, slick. The fight choreography towards the end is great and the casting of the film is dead on. It's unfortunate that this is undermined by the film's plodding pace and some actors just appearing bored with their roles (looking at you J-Law).

X-Men: Apocalypse falls into the unfortunate category of not being a bad film while not exactly being a good one either. For films like this, I usually just put them into the category of "aggressively average" in which I film really doesn't do anything to be much better than it currently is. There's action, there's plenty of X-Men being awesome, the cast is truly fantastic even if not everybody really shows up. It introduces some of the most iconic X-Men characters and does a decent enough job world-building. At the same time, its poorly paced, the villains are terrible, and it lacks the charm of the previous two films. It all comes together into a film that's just "fine" or "ok".

My Score: 2/5

RWBY Is Finally the Dark Fairy Tale I've Always Wanted It to Be

It has been at least two weeks since I digested the fallout from the season finale of the latest installment of Rooster Teeth's RWBY series. I'm going to be honest, those two weeks I took to truly digest the finale, discuss it with friends, and speculate on where the series is heading, it was all for the best. Had I written a piece on the finale in the hours following my first viewing of it, it would have been filled with tears, too many feels, and an overall sense of waywardness. So instead, we have my measured reaction to the latest season which I will aim to keep somewhat concise.

A common criticism of RWBY is that its first two seasons are devoid of significant plot elements. Those seasons placed more of a focus on world building and getting to know the characters rather than the underlying plot, which surfaced occasionally. This was honestly for the best. It is clear that creator Monty Oum had a vision and wanted to create a vibrant and immersive world filled with lore. For the diehard fans, the show succeeded even if there is still so much that we don't know. Also, the cast of characters has gotten so large that more emphasis on character development was good because it gave us an understanding of who these characters were and their motivations. Had time not been spent on this, the payoff of this most recent season would not have been nearly as significant.

The third season (or volume, if that matters to you), instead drove the series down a new path, much darker than anyone had anticipated. There have always been hints of this, the second season questioned the motivations of the members of Team RWBY but ultimately never followed up on the dark lyrics that the season 2 theme posits:

Are we heroes keeping peace? Or are we weapons, pointed at the enemy so someone else can claim a victory?

Those themes instead manifested themselves into the third season where clearly, something bigger than petty thieves and fighting Grimm is going on. The show briefly touched on the above lyrics, with Cinder indicting Beacon Academy Which brings us to the end of the season where the status quo has completely changed. It is clear now that the first three seasons were meant to be a prologue to the main plot, which has now been set in motion. That the finale was titled "The End of the Beginning" is indicative of this. Even at the end, where Salem (the Big Bad) revisits the monologue from the very first episode, implies that what we had been seeing up that point were flashbacks. Especially since that 'monologue' is more like a conversation between her and Ozpin. The lyrics of 'Time to Say Goodbye' seem ever more relevant now as each member of Team RWBY  has seen their motivations or "idealized" versions of themselves torn down. Everybody except for Ruby herself of course. Despite the plot finally kicking into gear however, we are still in the dark about a number of different elements.

What has been brought to light though is what I'm most excited for, most of all the sub plots for the members of Team RWBY. Blake is finally going to face down the demons of her past or at least that is what we think will happen. She clearly feels guilty for Adam's dismemberment of Yang and her powerlessness to stop him. Not wanting to drag other into her own battles again, she ran away. This once again falls into the character dilemma that has plagued her since the start of the series, running away from her problems. While she might be finally looking to face her past head on, it comes at the cost of deserting her team and running away when they most need her. 

Weiss' plot arc for the next season is finally going to explore the relationship that she has with her family. Weiss has always struggled with the weight of expectations, some is placed on her by merit of her family name and others she places on herself. While she is probably in the healthiest mental state of the the main characters by the end of the season, it is clear that she has a tough road ahead. I'm also looking forward to finally meeting her father and seeing the conflict between him and his daughter. 

Yang meanwhile must now struggle with a world that now sees her as a monster. Also for the first time as a character, she was beaten handily by an opponent. The worst part of it for her is that it is her fiery and impulsive nature that not only drove her to recklessly attack Adam and 'defend herself' against Mercury. For Yang, her character arc will see her try and come to terms with how the traits that made her such a strong fighter may also be her biggest weaknesses. Not only that but she is now feared as the prototypical child soldier that Ozpin was breeding at Beacon. However, while the other characters are facing challenges in characters, Ruby's character development may revolve around her character sticking to her previous convictions.

The dark tone was largely to the show's benefit as the stakes were certainly raised as early as the season's 5th episode. However, RWBY is now walking a fine line. While the darker and more mature tone was a welcome change this season. It remains important that the show maintains the same levity in the dialogue that has made it a favorite of mine. Dialogue is another heavily criticized part of RWBY but I've always been a huge fan of the show's writing style. This is where Ruby comes in as a character. Since the opening monologue that preceded Ruby's very first appearance where Ozpin suggests that what the world needs is a "simpler and more honest soul". The show is certainly setting up a scenario in which Ruby's ideals are going to be put to the test against a cynical world that would tell her otherwise (Torchwick's berating of her in the penultimate episode being an explicit reference to this). Now, this sort of protagonist is not uncommon (see Shirou, Emiya) but has to be done well or they just come off as a stubborn or naive idiot (see Shirou, Emiya). What RWBY must do, while keeping the tone dark, is show us that Ruby's idealism is needed in the world. Balance is required to do what the show is attempting. In doing so, that means that as long as Ruby remains true to herself (and Nora exists), there will continue to be levity in the series.

I suppose that this article does at least have to touch on the biggest moments of the season, the deaths, a facet that had not been a part of previous seasons. Four named characters die in the seasons, all during the last two or so episodes (Penny, Torchwick, Amber, and Pyrrha). While the initial shock of these deaths is immense, the reality is that, aside from Penny, these moments serve more as a cleaning house. Torchwick as a villain had reached his end, especially since he is now outlcassed by at least three levels. Cinder, Adam, and Salem all rank above him, not to mention Mercury, Emerald, and Neo also out rank him. The series has gone beyond his petty thievery and as it shifts more towards global threats, there are just too many higher villains for him to fit. Amber, aside from being introduced as the Fall Maiden, was more of a plot device than anything, so her death was almost expected. Pyrrha is the most significant of the four as she's been a central character since season 1. This season adequately wrapped up her character arcs and unfortunately filled her role as an allegory for Achilles. Her death does pave the way for Ruby to step into the "Chosen One" role. It's unfortunate but Pyrrha's death was in the making since she was designed and named. It is hard to imagine a scenario where Pyrrha does not come back in some capacity, at the very least to continue Jaune's character development. Penny's death likely is not permanent given that she is in fact, a robot.

If I can pick out negative elements of this season it would be that the absence of show creator Monty Oum, who passed away around this time last year, was noticeable. The fight choreography was lacking the ingenuity and style that Monty always took with his work. This by no means implies that the fight choreography was bad but instead it felt as if it was simply imitating Oum's work rather than channeling him. Simply put, the fight choreography and Monty's name is what brought a lot of people to the show. Without his influence, there is little to distinguish RWBY from other shows in the same vein. Does this keep RWBY from being entertaining? No. Does it keep it from being a genuinely good show? No. However, this is something I felt was worth touching on.

Overall, RWBY's third season was a smashing success. The story is ambitious, the darker tone a welcome change, and the animation has never been better. Monty Oum would be proud to see what Rooster Teeth has done with his project. Of course, it all depends on where the show goes from here but I will await Volume 4 eagerly.

Just a Hero for Fun - One-Punch Man Review

Oh boy, its that time isn't it. In my lengthy absence from writing on this blog, I watched plenty of good anime from 2015. The anime that I am about to discuss was certainly the most talked about anime in 2015. Now of course, when something gets so much hype it can be hard to make up your own opinion about something. Everyone is obsessed with telling you how good the show is that by the time you watch it, it suffers from those heavy expectations. The show that this article is about is not one of those shows. One-Punch Man has dominated the fall anime scene and for good reason. What you have with One-Punch Man is everything that the show implies. This show manages to take a rather simple premise and turn it into a parody and denunciation of the entire shounen anime genre. Let's get to it.

Describing the plot of One-Punch Man is essentially a pointless endeavor because it lacks a real plot. Sure there is an aspect of continuity, recurring characters, and some semblance of an overarching plot but for the most part, episodes are largely self-contained, villain of the week style. One-Punch Man takes place in a world where alien invasions and kaiju attacks are frequent. As such, cities are protected by an association of heroes. Our protagonist is Saitama, a rather ordinary looking and bald man. He was an ordinary everyman until a run-in with a crab monster inspired him to become a hero. The result of his dedication was to lose all of his hair...and become the world's strongest hero who can defeat any enemy with one punch. However, rather than this being a point of pride, it is a source of distress as our hero has become bored with nobody to challenge him. With no challenge in life Saitama resigns himself to a small apartment, living an incredibly boring lifestyle. The other important plot point is that he takes on, almost unwillingly, an apprentice, a cyborg named Genos. Episodes revolve around the two's exploits together, which are largely uninteresting. However, its this ordinariness that One-Punch Man derives its strength from. Episodes play out in a straightforward way, enemies will present themselves only to be defeated, almost anticlimactically by just one of Saitama's punches.

Get used to this, it will happen EVERY episode

One would think that this would make One-Punch Man anticlimactic. However, it only serves to be one of the show's strengths. See, Saitama is simply a deconstruction of the invincible shounen protagonist. However, while other shows would chose to take a less straightforward way towards the protagonist becoming invincible (ex. facing challenges, we see the progression from weak to becoming strong), One-Punch Man simply plays this trope straight...always. It strips down what many of these shows are; predictable. We know how every episode will end and we know that Saitama will never lose a fight to anyone. However, instead of this being a weakness, this is One-Punch Man's biggest strength, how it openly mocks shounen anime with its over the top voice acting, ridiculous characters, and insane plot threads. It never sells itself as anything different than what it is and that straightforwardness is weirdly refreshing in a genre where shounens sometimes take themselves a bit too seriously. Even though we know what will happen, what is happening onscreen remains compelling. This is only helped by some excellent fight choreography. At the same time there is a common theme of what exactly it means to be a hero which manifests in the show's more serious moments. Once again though, that is not what we're here for.

What One-Punch Man does is it entertains you greatly for twenty-plus minutes without doing anything truly new or inventive, aside from being a fantastic satire of the shounen genre. However, this can all be forgiven because the show is just so damn entertaining and comical and its honesty with how overtly predictable and trope-heavy it is only makes this better. The level it takes itself seriously (and by no means are you supposed to take it seriously) is part of the charm.

One-Punch Man is not without its weaknesses of course. It is true that the inevitability of every episode ending with Saitama defeating an enemy with one punch can be tiresome for some people. The lack of a real overarching plot may also be where some people have a hang-up with the show. However, it is really hard to call these kind of things weaknesses when the show is so intentionally hanging a lampshade on all these tropes. These weaknesses are self-inflicted if anything. This is not a thinking mans anime like Bakemonegatari or Mawaru Penguindrom, its entertaining more than anything else and better off for it.

One-Punch Man has a diverse cast of characters who all manage to leave a lasting impression

The real meat of the show lies within its characters. Saitama himself is rather bland both in character design and in personality. However, I'd like to think of this as the writers taking another shot at the kind of protagonist that we see in anime nowadays. It's that blank slate kind of character that shows up in every shounen anime nowadays that the viewer is supposed to project themselves onto (like a certain bland piece of cardboard who will not be named). He's mocking these wish fulfillment characters and while the intent is to make him boring he ends up being a remarkable character, which was the real intent. We get real insight into his life and his struggle with dealing with a society that despite his power, refuses to appreciate him. While Saitama never struggles with anyone he fights, it is instead the society around him which is his true battle. When Saitama gets serious, is when the show really kicks into overdrive. Even so, its his moments of boredom, like thinking about sales at the supermarket while fighting monsters, that truly makes his character. Its his ordinariness, the show's insistence on trying to make him that blank slate, all while keeping him several levels higher than the rest of the cast. Where Saitama possesses the power of the traditional protagonist, it is his apprentice Genos who possesses the stereotypical character traits. He's young, impulsive, and looking to become stronger. Slap him and Saitama together and you've got yourself the typical shounen protagonist.

The rest of the characters fall into a series of tropes: you have serious kung fun characters, ninjas, Japanese high school gang members, psychics, arrogant bishounens, just about every anime character trope under the sun. The sheer number of named characters is exhaustive and they all manage to leave a lasting impression on you, even the rather ordinary Mumen Rider who has zero powers or strengths. Like I said in the last paragraph, the show throws out many different interpretations of heroism and that each character has a different motivation for becoming a hero. Some characters have firm beliefs in justice, others have a strong sense of duty, and others do it for the fame and wealth that it brings. The doesn't exactly beat you over the head with the question of what makes a hero and instead just provides a diverse number of characters to demonstrate this.

Yes that's his default look...it gets better

For the most part, the animation in One-Punch Man is good. The moments when it decreases in quality are usually intentional and only serve to hammer home Saitama's ordinariness and boredom. Any time that he's drawn with any sort of detail, you know that the fight will soon be over.The action is fluid and it is really nice to see a show not rely on CGI for these scenes, something that anime nowadays has a real problem with. It is nice to see a show not cut corners. Of course, it is not like this is the Fate series or anything. The soundtrack requires very little explanation beyond being simply fantastic. The OP sets the mood for the show and is a real earworm especially the first time you hear "OOOONNNEEEE PUUUUUUUUUNNNCCCCHHHH!!!!!!".

So the question here at the end is: should you watch One-Punch Man? The answer is unquestionably yes. It is really hard to describe any weaknesses that this show has because any weakness could just as easily be described as a strength. I hesitate to say that it is one of the best animes I've ever watched but it is definitely one that I could recommend to anyone. It is only 12 episodes, remarkably entertaining, well-animated, and just downright hysterical, most of the time not even trying to be. Go out and watch it, I promise you, you will not be disappointed.

My Score: A solid 5/5

If you liked One-Punch Man, then what exactly is the next step?

Continuing with the "parody" aspect and trope-heaviness, a logical next step would be another popular anime, Kill la Kill. If you can get beyond the...uh...lack of clothes, you'll find an incredibly entertaining show with action of similar if not better quality.

Continuing with the zaniness theme, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure hits on the same keys as One-Punch Man. If you're looking for a wacky, large but memorable cast of characters, look no further than this franchise.