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thealmightyemprex · 1 year

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Top 10 Hammy 80's movie villains ranked by hammyness

Evil is over the top ,at least in film .So I wanted to do a list of my 10 favorite scene chewing villains but as I was thinking about and looking at the great scene chewers of cinema I noticed something ,the most insane over the top baddies tend to be from the 80's ,so doing my top 10 Hammy 80's villains ranked by hammyness ,so this isnt necesarily ranked by favorites ,just the most gloriously over the

10.Raven Shaddock from Streets of Fire-

I love this guy,This guy is bonkers.Played by a young Willem Dafoe ,this guy just does whatever he wants like rush on stage with his biker gang to kidnap a singer,Ellen Aim cause he thinks she is hot and challanges the main character Tom Cody to a SLEDGE HAMMER DUEL .So why isnt he higher? Well the ove the topness cause more from the script then performance and this is already a very over the top movie .I'm not saying Dafoe isnt hamming it up,It is Willem Dafoe after all ,ya got odd faces and he is doing this sort of southernish accent ,but I would say he is kind of channeling the classic black hat villains youd see in old westerns and I have also seen Dafoe go bigger .The fact this guy is only 10 shows you how over the top the other villains are

9.Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors

This thing is a sassy voracious manipulative man eating singing plant...You dont expect it to be subtle .I debated whether to include vocal performances ,but...HOT DAMN ,Levi Stubbs brings it .See Levi Stubbs was not an actor nor did he have asperations to be one ,he was a singer ,and yet he brings such a energy to this role ,being both flamboyant but also powerful . Levis voice has a seductive yet dominant quality ,and props to the team of puppeteers ,making a villain that not only chews on the scenery but on its costars

8.The Kurgen from Highlander

An immortal warrior who seeks to slay other immortals to achieve a great prize ,on paper this guy is so flat ,just an elementally evil dude .....Thank GOD for Clancy Brown .I mean Brown is a very intimidating guy ,very tall with a deep voice that Brown adds a rasp to ,but Brown plays the role like a guy whio just loves fuckin with people ,like its not enough he kills people but he loves messing with them too .He drives insanely while mocking the love interest,barks at an old lady,licks a priest,etc.Like anything to get a reaction .Combined with his costuming ,and very bad hairstyle choices(YEs I am including when he shaves his head ) ,this is a villain with punk rock energy

7.The Joker in Batman

Hey what do you get when you take an already kind of out there actor,give him a perminate smile ,cove him in white makeup and just let him loose?Ya get Jack Nicholsons Joker.Now Joker is an over the top character,a grinning laughing madman whose sense of humor is murder and Nicholson was a perfect choice to play a demented gangster with a twisted sense of humor .Also of the live action Jokers ,he is the funniest

6.Skeletor from Masters of the Universe

So the hammyness of Frank Langella is diffrent then the others on this list .....Cause his over the topness is really a reflection of how seriously he is taking it ,as he is playing the role of this skullfaced overlord as if he was Macbeth or Richard III.Its a really good performance ,wreally hitnting that Skeletor feels trapped by his own villainy....What makes it hammy ,is just the contrast with everything around him,a shakesperian villain giving grand speaches while he fights a nearly naked muscled man ,and Billy Barty is running around,and there is a lizard creature and a beast man and a tough talkin cop and Courtney Cox is there-Just what is this movie?I'll tell ya:Its fun

5.Professor Ratigan from the Great Mouse Detective

Disney Villain played by Vincent Price ....Nah I dont need to explain this one

4.Baron Vladimir Harkonen from Dune

This....Is one of my favorite villains to qoute .A very vile man who seeks to take over Arakis and kill Duke Leto and his family , while flying around doing nasty things ,he is so grotesque it becomes funny .Hats off to Kenneth McMillian who COMMITS ,shouting,laughing ,and overall he just looks like he is having a BALL .He is such a weird creepy horrible man,he is kind of the reason I love the movie next to Patrick Stewart running into battle with a pug in his arms

3.Lord John Whorfin from the Adventures of Bukaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

So Buckaroo Banzai is already a bonkers movie.,,,I swear,Jon Lithgow looked at the script and said"....I'll make it weirder "Playing a scientist posessed by an alien lizard from the 8th dimension ,in a sea of rather deadpan performances ,Lithgow stands out with his insane mannerisms and very goofy Italian accent

2.Stubbs from Enemy Mine

So Stubbs ,a cruel scavenger and slaver who kidnaps the adopted alien kid of the main character is only in the third act of the movie.Now if you havent seen the movie you might be asking ,"Emprex ,if he isnt in the movie a lot why is he so high"...Thats because he makes his minimal screen time count . A lot of it comes down to Brion James who just DEVOURS the scenery,shouting almost every line .I dunno ever since I saw this movie ,this asshole has really stuck with me

1.Frank Booth from Blue Velvet

A character so hammy he is kind of terrifying .In the world of the film everyone is wrather subdued.....Then Frank enters the film,screaming,rambling,raving and cursing and he is so unhinged it is truly frightening .DEniss Hopper is honestly perfect as this man who is a basically a raging id ,hes one of my favorite villains in film and by far one of the best scene chewers

So what do ya think?Agree?Disagree? Share your thoughts! Who is your favorite hammmy 80's movie villain?Who did I miss

@ariel-seagull-wings @filmcityworld1 @the-blue-fairie @princesssarisa @angelixgutz @amalthea9 @themousefromfantasyland @goodanswerfoxmonster @theancientvaleofsoulmaking

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lemaistrechat · 2 years

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Classic He-Man review: The Golden Discs of Knowledge

This episode starts with the Sorceress requesting He-Man’s help at Castle Grayskull. Arriving, he finds the place so haunted that the jawbridge is banging up and down and the castle’s eye sockets are randomly lighting up. The haunting turns out to be a phantom named Zanthor.

ZANTHOR: “Long ago, He-Man, the wisest men and women in the universe came here to Eternia, to store their knowledge on the Golden Discs. The Council of the Wise made me the discs’ keeper. ... in a moment of weakness, I gave the discs to Skeletor, who promised me great power in return. You can see for yourself what power I received. ... For my crime, I was banished to the Phantom Dimension, doomed forever to travel Eternia as an invisible phantom.”

SORCERESS: “The only remaining member of the original Council is Zodac.”

ZODAC: “Since the Council of the Wise disbanded, I have served the Overlords of the Eternal Dimension, keeping watch on the affairs of mortal men but never interfering. But since this matter involves a decision made when I was on the Council, I will hear you out, Zanthor.”

Remember this dialogue for after the summary.

Zanthor wants to make restitution by stealing back the Golden Discs from Snake Mountain, where he found them in his phantom form but couldn’t touch them. He leads He-Man, Battle Cat and Orko on a dungeon crawl into Snake Mountain. They find fake Golden Discs, get noticed by Skeletor, and caught in a Force Cage trap. They fight Beast Man, Evil-Lyn and Trap Jaw before finding the real Golden Discs two levels down and across a snake pit. It’s mentioned that Skeletor used knowledge from the discs to shape Snake Mountain.

Back at Castle Grayskull with the discs, Zodac gives Zanthor his body back... and a Cosmic Enforcer uniform just like his.

ZODAC: “The Overlords of the Eternal Dimension have decided that there are too many Skeletors in the universe to allow the discs to become openly available. Therefore I, as Cosmic Enforcer, watcher of the universe, shall be their guardian. However, keeping watch over the universe is a big task for one man. I need an assistant.”

So everyone learned a valuable lessons about second chances. But what did we learn about this setting? When did the past events they were talking about happen?

Well, this story was referencing the December 1982 series bible, where Zodac was a more major character than you’d expect from his small role in what actually got made (3 episodes).

These events happened centuries before Prince Adam’s mother crashed on Eternia, during which the planet regressed from an advanced state, with secrets of technology being preserved by the Man-At-Arms family.

Does that mean Skeletor was centuries old? No; let’s skip ahead to the She-Ra episode “Reunions”:

https://youtu.be/ef3XuNGGoQo

Skeletor had only been around since Adam and Adora were newborns, a pupil of Hordak during the Horde invasion of Eternia. So on-screen canon contradicted the series bible. The Council of the Wise did not predate Castle Grayskull (that would be a different group, called Elders or Ancients) and “disband” by fusing into a spirit except for Zodac. Zanthor’s betrayal must have happened less than 19 years before this episode, followed by the Council of the Wise disbanding and Zodac leaving Eternia. It all happened early in King Randor’s reign.

#motu #reviews #he-man #orko #battle cat #sorceress of grayskull #zodac #zanthor #skeletor #beast man #evil-lyn #trap jaw #classic she-ra #hordak

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freedfromthegalactichivemind · 2 years

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It's funny, in my crossover fanfics I have made Eternia more nuanced then say classic He-Man in terms of trying to make 3 dimensional character but also more over the top as well.

Like I am down right tempted to have Eternia be a place where Musical numbers just seem to happen when the story require it.

So then I can have moments like

Catra: Oh whoop dee do Mr Overlord of Evil, you won big whoop, you gonna sing about

Skeletor: .... (Begin to sing a Disneylike Villain song)

I decided instead of making He-Man more like She-Ra I wanted to show the contrast between Eternian and Etherian culture. Yet both existing in the same universe.

Ever since I've watched Galavant, I've kind of wanted a modern She-Ra version of Galavant. Or, at least, Hordak and Catra doing a bombastic Disney-style villain-song duet. And can you imagine Horde Prime doing a villain song? Bonus points to anyone who can make some kind of She-Ra or old school MotU version of "Be Prepared" from The Lion King. That one's my favorite. (Ah, great, I'm imagining Horde Prime leading and all of these clones going "Our teeth and ambitions are bared!")

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variantmodes · 3 years

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tag drop.

#awaiting tags.#character : 「 angel of death 」 ⇢ cioccolata .#character : 「 prehistoric impulse 」 ⇢ diego brando .#subject : 「 starlight bloodline 」 ⇢ joestars .#subject : 「 blood-poisoned bloodline 」 ⇢ brandos .#character : 「 unlucky kentuckian 」 ⇢ johnny joestar .#character : 「 caged in hands 」 ⇢ yoshikage kira .#character : 「 rainbow in darkness 」 ⇢ weather report .#out : 「 friends come in many forms 」 ⇢ recommended .#out : 「 then perish 」 ⇢ delete later .#character : 「 soldier of love 」 ⇢ jonathan joestar .#character : 「 unbreaks the broken 」 ⇢ josuke higashikata .#study : 「 viewed under a microscope 」 ⇢ analysis .#character : 「 like clockwork 」 ⇢ narciso anasui .#study : 「 philosophy of beauty 」 ⇢ aesthetic .#out : 「 entering the world of fiction 」 ⇢ official content .#character : 「 touch of grey 」 ⇢ prosciutto .#character : 「 overlord of evil 」 ⇢ skeletor .#character : 「 zora’s dearest son 」 ⇢ prince sidon .#character : 「 soul built of ancient ruins 」 ⇢ pannacotta fugo .

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ilikekidsshows · 2 years

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This episode definitely had a lot of stuff I enjoyed. It did a good job of setting this series up as a spectacular combination of badass and camp. Basically, the show is trying to be cool, but isn’t above being silly, and it refuses to be self-conscious about any of it. You have to give props to a show that unashamedly has its main villain be unironically lauded as the Overlord of Evil, while also showing him sipping some tea from a sinister mug.

However, the sheer self confidence this show exhibits with Skeletor’s character is only possible due to the juxtaposition of its main hero, He-Man. In his guise as He-Man, Adam becomes the strongest man in the universe. He might be an inexperienced kid, but through magic he becomes more than Skeletor’s equal. This is why Skeletor being a feared figure in-universe despite losing against the hero is justified. Literally no one but He-Man can stop him, since Skeletor was repeatedly shown as a remarkably skilled warrior as Keldor, who’s only become more powerful with the addition of sorcery to his arsenal as Skeletor.

I also appreciate Man-at-Arms redeeming himself for his treatment of Adam at the end of the three-parter. Since Adam has to keep his role as He-Man a secret from his nearest and dearest (this especially has to sting due to his judgemental father), he really does need the support of someone he trusts and respects and I like that Man-at-Arms so readily steps into the role of being Adam’s support.

#he man and the masters of the universe #he man and the masters of the liveblog #motu #episode wrapup

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anistarrose · 4 years

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Fear The Reaper A Lot, Actually (TAZ Balance AU)

AO3

Summary: In the aftermath of the catastrophe at the Miller Lab, Kravitz strikes a deal with his bounties. Their crimes against death will be forgiven if they can bring in two specific liches for arrest…

But unfortunately, those liches are named Lup and Barry J. Bluejeans.

Characters: Kravitz, Taako, Barry Bluejeans, Angus McDonald, Magnus Burnsides, Merle Highchurch, Noelle | No-3113, The Raven Queen, misc. BoB cameos

Relationships: Taakitz, Angus McDonald & Taako, Barry Bluejeans & Kravitz

I posted the second of three scenes in this chapter on Tumblr in January, not really expecting to continue it at the time, but it was well-received there, and I realized that I actually have a lot more ideas for this AU than I expected! This fic has been in the works for months, and I’m simultaneously so excited, nervous, and relieved to get it out of my mind and into the world.

That said, there is one other person who’s read this fic before, and that’s @fexiled! They’ve been an awesome (and patient) beta reader, and I’m incredibly grateful to them for all their advice, typo-catching, and encouragement!

***

Kravitz couldn’t even begin to fathom what kind of sinister agenda would possibly bring a lich to a train station, but he’d intercepted Barry J. Bluejeans in stranger places than Rockport. If he was after any other bounty, he’d be worried about the nearby masses of civilians on holiday getting caught in the crossfire, or worse, being used as hostages — but with Barry, he never knew what to worry about.

Barry, for his part, didn’t seem fazed by the prospect of facing down the Grim Reaper in a transportation hub staffed entirely by identical clones of Tom Bodett, and he addressed Kravitz calmly and amiably:

“Ah, there you are. Hope you didn’t have a ticket for the Rockport Limited, ‘cause it left a couple minutes ago.”

“I have a magical sapphire scythe that lets me teleport anywhere on the Material or Astral Planes,” Kravitz replied. “Why would I need train tickets?”

Barry chuckled — nervously? Awkwardly? Without a visible face beneath his hood, he was difficult to read. “I dunno, leisure? In case I got on a train and you wanted to follow me, but legally?”

Kravitz narrowed his eyes. Barry was normally talkative for a lich, but today, he seemed especially affable… not to mention unsurprised by Kravitz’s appearance. “Were you expecting me to follow you here?”

“You’ve followed me stranger places,” Barry reminded him. “Graveyards for dragons, necromancy conventions, the actual moon that isn’t just a secret society’s headquarters… point is, I kinda figured the ticket counter at a train station wouldn’t stop you.”

Kravitz adjusted his grip on his scythe, channelling a spark of the Raven Queen’s power to scan the area for magical traps. There were none.

“I don’t have any tricks this time,” Barry promised him, his hooded void of a face still frustratingly impossible to read. “No sabotage, no moon ogres. I just want to talk.”

A pigeon landed on the ground between them, pecking at a dropped sandwich without any acknowledgement of the two undead entities that could each obliterate it in a second.

“Let’s say I humor you, in the interest of not catching an innocent bird in the crossfire,” Kravitz replied. “What would you want to talk about?”

“I’m realizing this isn’t gonna sound that sincere, but… an apology. And a warning.”

“What world do you come from, where it’s appropriate to follow an apology with a threat? Are you going to, I don’t know, imprison my soul if I don’t forgive you?”

“The world I come from has nothing to do with it.” The lights beneath Barry’s hood flickered erratically, but he kept his composure. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for wasting so much of your time. You could be out there stopping evil necromancers, but I’ve been leading you on a wild goose chase for a decade, and I’m genuinely sorry about that. I’m sorry that I can’t do the things I need to do or save the things I need to save without being undead, and making what I can only assume is a gigantic bureaucratic mess for the Astral Plane.”

Kravitz sighed. “Are you hinting that I should just give up forever on chasing you, because you’re not evil? Do you really expect me to believe that, coming from a lich?”

“Well, I wasn’t counting on it, but that would be nice,” Barry admitted. “The thing is, whether you believe me isn’t going to matter a whole lot in… let’s see, at the rate we’re going, I doubt it’ll take much more than a year. You’re gonna have a bigger problem on your hands — and if you want even a slim chance of surviving it, you and your goddess and every plane in this system will need to be prepared.”

Kravitz eyed a clock on the station wall. “Keep making threats like that, and you’ll have thirty seconds to explain yourself before I end this conversation.”

Barry held up his hands. “Wait, wait, let me clarify — that wasn’t me threatening you! That’s me knowing what’s coming, and not wanting to see it obliterate this entire universe! I — I see, now, how that could get misinterpreted — but I promise, I’m not making this up just to mess with you! You have the ability to warn the Astral Plane, to warn the Raven Queen and by extension all the gods in the Celestial Plane, so that they can prepare for this and stand a fighting chance —”

“Excuse me, gentlemen? Is there anything I can help you with?”

A Tom Bodett approached them, completely unfazed by the lich and the reaper staring each other down of the Rockport Limited boarding platform, and Kravitz couldn’t help but wonder how frequently the humble employees of the train station had to deal with the undead making a scene.

“Stay back, mortal!” he shouted, twirling his scythe and jumping between the Barry and the poor, almost certainly underpaid Tom. “This is an arrest of one of the most dangerous death criminals in Faerun —”

But Barry had already vanished into thin air, leaving behind only the faintest wisp of red smoke, and Kravitz held back a curse.

This always happened one way or another, every damn time Kravitz had encountered Barry in the past decade. Barry had been right about one thing — he’d wasted an astronomical amount of Kravitz’s time over the years.

“Well, I guess that takes care of that,” Tom declared brightly, as if he caused distractions that allowed ultrapowerful death criminals to escape justice every day. “He was making quite a scene — any idea what his deal was?”

Kravitz shook his head. “Just a lich playing mind games. As liches are wont to do, you know.”

At least, I hope that’s all Barry is, he thought with a shiver. But if he wants to give me a reason to believe him, then… well, he can do it from a cell in the Eternal Stockade.

***

“Hey, Reaper Man! I’ve got an idea for you!” Taako called out. Something about the gleam in his eye piqued Kravitz’s curiosity, even though hearing out ideas from death criminals was an objectively unwise idea.

“Do tell, then,” Kravitz replied, and the mischievous smile on Taako’s face expanded into a toothy grin.

“You hunt down a lot of different bounties, right? And Lucas and Maureen and Noelle, they can’t possibly be the worst criminals on your naughty list, can they?”

“Naughty list? What is he, Santa?” Magnus snickered. “I guess it is technically still Candlenights…”

“Today has been a Day with a capital D,” Kravitz warned Taako, “and I’m not in the mood to hear an argument about why I should let them go because morality is relative —”

“Cool your collarbones, Skeletor, I may have come here to get the Philosopher’s Stone, but I’m no philosopher. I was just thinking: what if we tracked down one of your bigger bounties for you? You let some harmless death criminals go, we bring you a really evil one in return, you collect a big old bounty and also get to see my charming face again! Doesn’t that deal sound like a winner?”

“In practice, it just sounds like a good way to get double-crossed — but in theory, it would be quite a bargain, I’ll grant you that.” Kravitz mentally ran through his list of bounties, almost immediately focusing on one particular lich that had vexed him for years. “And I have to admit, I’d love nothing more than seeing you three take a crack at bringing in Barry J. Bluejeans —”

The second Barry’s name was uttered, Taako let out a wheezy laugh like a congested elephant, and Magnus and Merle weren’t far behind, guffawing so heartily that they fogged up the insides of their null suit helmets.

“I laughed at that name once just like you, but when you’ve been hunting him for years to no avail, it won’t seem so funny anymore!” Kravitz warned them. “He’s easily in the top five most dangerous liches in Faerun, not to mention the number one most elusive!”

“Barry’s a LICH?!” Magnus chortled, as Merle doubled over clutching his stomach and Taako rolled around on the floor in hysterics.

“All that time in Phandalin, we were at the mercy of an evil undead overlord and we didn’t even know it!” Taako cackled, evidently not too troubled by the revelation. “Fuck, we’re lucky to even be alive!”

That caught Kravitz off guard. “Wait, you’ve met Barry Bluejeans?”

“And lived to tell the tale!” Merle boasted. “We could totally do it again, by the way!”

“Hang on, Merle,” Noelle interrupted. “Was this what you meant earlier? When you said you were friends with a couple of liches?”

Merle blinked. “When did I say that?”

“Never mind.” Noelle sighed, then turned to Kravitz. “There’s gotta be some mistake. Some kinda identity confusion. The Bluejeans I met in Phandalin, he — he was a good man. He tried to keep us hidden while he fought off that awful dwarf, that dwarf that was setting everything on fire as far as the eye could see. Mister Bluejeans was so reassuring, and so brave — if anything, I’d call him a hero, not some horrible undead monster.”

“That doesn’t really sound like our Barry,” Merle said. “He was kind of an ass. Told me to stab myself with a rusty fork.”

As his bounties squabbled among themselves over the true nature of Barry Bluejeans, Kravitz took the opportunity to pray to the Raven Queen.

Your Majesty, if these criminals think they can really track down such a dangerous lich… would taking their offer be the right choice? Or am I about to be scammed?

The reply was immediate, as if the Raven Queen had already been observing the Miller Lab intently and contemplating the situation for herself. I cannot make this decision for you, Kravitz. But I trust your judgement.

Thank you, milady. Kravitz collected himself, and announced his terms.

“I’ll tell you what. One lich isn’t quite enough to sell me on this deal… but two liches would be, especially if the latter of the two hasn’t been detected in over a decade. If you bring me the both of them in the next two months, everyone involved in this whole Miller debacle goes free — but if you fail, I come to collect all your souls. You still up for this deal?”

Magnus looked like he wants to ask for clarification, but before he could get a word out, Taako casually declared:

“Sure, dude, we’re up for it. Who’s the second lich, other than Barry?”

“Her name is Lup, and she was last sensed in the general vicinity of Wave Echo Cave ten years ago,” Kravitz replied with a smile. “That’s all I know about her, so that’s all the information you get, too. Good luck!”

***

“You’ve got two months to capture a couple of liches? And if you don’t, the Grim Reaper will take your souls?!”

“Shh, not so loud!” Magnus hissed, pressing a finger to Angus’s mouth. “Do you want everyone on the moon to hear?”

Angus glanced around the cafeteria. Exempting him and the three Reclaimers, it was completely empty aside from a few discarded, tattered Candlenights decorations. “Have you at least told the Director about this?”

Magnus smiled sheepishly. “Uh, it never seemed like the right time to bring it up.”

“Carey knew because she was there, but she didn’t seem too keen on being the one to break the news,” Taako elaborated. “Can’t say I blame her.”

Angus sighed. “And your new robot friend, Noelle. Is her soul a part of this bargain, too?”

Magnus nodded. “Yeah. We promised her we’d take care of it, so she’s hanging with the Regulators now —”

“And I bet Lucas Miller isn’t even dead after all, is he?”

“Perceptive as ever, Agnes,” Taako confirmed. “Maureen really did die, though. She went back to the Astral Plane.”

Angus took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, a gesture that made him look far older than ten. “No offense, sirs, but why didn’t just gamble with the Grim Reaper for your souls like normal people? You might’ve actually had a chance at succeeding, that way!”

“Huh,” muttered Magnus. “Good question…”

“Yeah, Taako, why didn’t we just gamble for our souls like normal people?” Merle echoed.

Taako shrugged. “I dunno. I guess I just thought that Kravitz guy sounded pretty okay, like he’d give us a reasonable bargain…”

“Reasonable? He made Magnus chop my damn arm off!”

“Arguing isn't going to get us anywhere, sirs,” Angus spoke up. He hoped he was putting on a calm facade, even though his feet were trembling in his shoes. “Did Kravitz tell you anything about these liches? Names? Locations of recent sightings?”

“Already jotted down all the details for you, my little man,” Taako answered, handing Angus a single sheet of paper. “Didn’t want to forget anything that would help you work your boy detective magic.”

“As if you could ever forget Barry Bluejeans!” Magnus scoffed.

“A lich named Barry Bluejeans? That can’t be right…” Angus took a look at the sheet, titled “Case File” in loopy cursive letters and broken up into two subsections:

Lich #1

Name: Barry Bluejeans

Last seen: The circular glass mistake formerly known as Phandalin, a couple months ago

Weaknesses: Gerblins (unless that was a cunning play so we’d let our guard down), pants that aren’t made of denim, the temptation to party and drink while other people do his job for him

Other information: Used to be Gundren’s bodyguard, and didn’t do a very good job — but who could blame him? That dwarf was an even bigger asshole than he was.

Lich #2

Name: Lup

Last seen: Wave Echo Cave, 10 years ago

Weaknesses: I don’t know, probably holy water or something

Other information: Zilch

Each section was accompanied by an illustration. Barry’s was a cartoonish drawing of a skeleton with jeans, glasses, and a mullet, while Lup’s was simply a series of question marks. At the bottom of the page, Taako had written: Now have at it, Caleb Cleveland Junior!

“…You really have a lot of faith in me, don’t you, sirs?” Angus asked quietly.

Taako shrugged awkwardly, as Magnus replied:

“Well, we know you’re way better at this than us. And you know that’s not exactly a high bar to clear, but you’re obviously our best shot.”

Angus took a deep breath. “Do you remember the reaper’s exact terms? Were there any loopholes we could exploit?”

“Were there?” Magnus mused, tugging at one of his sideburns. “Does anyone remember what he said?”

“Why are you looking at me?” Merle asked, prompting a laugh from Taako.

“Well, in that case…” Angus took a deep breath. “I guess I’ll interview Carey and Noelle to make sure we’re not missing anything, but we shouldn’t count on being able to cheat the deal. Do you think we could book a transport sphere down to Wave Echo Cave tomorrow morning, to go search for leads?”

“Should be no problem,” Taako told him. “Back to our old stomping grounds! I can hardly wait!”

“Reliving our old mistakes! Hooray!” Merle cheered sarcastically, and with that, the Reclaimers all sauntered back to their dorms with easygoing attitudes that Angus could hardly believe.

How are you all so cavalier about dying? he thought. How can you bear to joke about this situation?

And what will I do, if I can’t help you find these liches?

***

Notes:

I really appreciate people commenting on/reblogging this fic, especially for this first chapter! There's absolutely no obligation to do so, of course, but it would mean a lot <3

For what might be the first time in my life, I already have a surplus of chapters written, so the update schedule should remain consistent for at least a month or two (fingers crossed). Since this chapter was on the shorter side and included a scene I posted months ago, I think I’ll post Chapter 2 in a week, then switch to updating every other week from Chapter 3 onwards. (Probably still on Tuesday evenings, plus or minus 24 hours.)

Also, I’d just like to give a shoutout to Angus McDonald for always, always ending up with a bigger role in my fics than I expect when I start writing! But I’m glad he managed to sneak his way into this one, because there’s a bunch more Angus scenes coming up that I can’t imagine this fic without!

#taz #taz balance #taakitz #taako taaco #kravitz taz #barry bluejeans #magnus burnsides #merle highchurch #no-3113 #lup taaco #the raven queen #taz balance spoilers #rosalia writes fic #fic: FTRALA

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xazz · 4 years

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Thought

Adora said she wanted to bring magic back to the universe now that Etheria is safe and there’s no evil overlord to bend it to his fucked up will

He-Man and She-Ra take place in the same universe. Etheria is a sister planet to the Eternia where Castle Greyskull is... you know, located and the place Adora gets her power from.

Does that mean that Eternia doesn’t have magic right now? And if so is Prince Adam just a DUDE waiting for his destiny? A destiny he’d find by meeting Adora and the other princesses on Etheria?

What I’m saying is.

We can potentially have more She-Ra. She’s just palling around with He-Man and dealing with Skeletor (who could also be a weird offshoot of Prime’s clones who also went buck wild like Hordak). For me I’d prefer Adora to be a Mentor to the Hero character because we NEVER get to see wise female mentors who just kinda know shit for the sake of knowing shit.

also preface: I know nothing about old she-ra or he-man lore other than the shitty cartoons I watched when I was like.. 8.

#she-ra #she ra #rambling at 1 am

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grass-skirt · 5 years

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As promised, here’s my Overlord review! Overall? It’s pretty good! Is it perfect? Nah. There are some parts where the story feels like it hits a lull for a bit too long. There are also complaint’s about the anime’s visual quality in the 3rd season. And while Albedo obsessing over Ainz is can be funny,

I feel like it keeps her from being a more developed and interesting character. (Plus some of the early fanservicy moments with Albedo were kind of mortifying to watch for me in the anime.)

Still, what I like about it is something I’ve mentioned before, which is that it’s a story that primarily follows monsters who are largely indifferent (or worse) to humans, but not without principles. An anon asked me about Overlord being dull because of how overpowered Ainz is, and yeah. Sure there are villains to fight, but so far there is no big bad guy, or even big good hero, out there to pose a serious threat to Skeletor and the Monster Mash crew because they’re level 99 monsters in a world that, for the most part, might as well be Stardew Valley to them. But that doesn’t prevent it from being fun, exciting, and compelling! For starters, Ainz isn’t just an overpowered Overlord going around wasting everyone. Think of him this way: he’s a regular guy who got stuck in the edgy body of his D&D character in a new and unknown world and now he has to fake it till he makes it

Plus, the story isn’t exclusively about him and his overpowered squad. The story also follows plucky adventurers, washed up famous swordsmen, lizardpeople romance, royal politics, a small village where humans and goblins live together

and more. A lot of the plot and a lot of the tension and drama builds up here, with the supporting cast and the world that the series builds. It’s also what makes the story feel unique and interesting. Ainz and company don’t think of themselves as evil. But they also don’t think of themselves as good. Sometimes they do good things for other people, and other times they do things that are truly villainous. And we see and feel that from both sides. We don’t just get attached to the monsters who are our protagonists--the story also makes sure that we get attached to both the people they help and the people they hurt. The further along the story gets, the more Ainz and his monsters become both the heroes and the villains of the same story

That also leads into one of the reasons why some people won’t want to get into this series. It’s legitimately hard to root for them sometimes when they’re acting in callous or downright pointlessly cruel ways. Just because I find it interesting as part of the larger narrative doesn’t mean I think it’s always fun to see. It gets graphically brutal at points, and likable people who did nothing wrong get killed. The series may be filled with comedy, but it gets tragic too. And this is also the area where the series goes fully Edgy every now and then.

But if that’s not a deterrent then Overlord is a solid series with a great cast, especially for people who love monsters, a fun take on an overdone premise, and an interesting plot that gets more complex as the story goes on, all wrapped up in a neat medieval fantasy world (which I know I’m always a sucker for). For anyone interested, there’s the light novel (the official/true canon version), the anime, and manga (which is pretty far behind the other two, FYI). Obviously there are differences between them, but rather than trying to tell you that you should read the novels or debate the strengths and weakness between the anime and manga, I think people should just go ahead with the type of media they prefer!

#overlord #ainz ooal gown #overlord anime #recommendations #anime recommendation #manga recommendation

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roxthefoxinsox · 5 years

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She-ra Episode 1: The Sword Part 1

So I began and I am instantly in love with this show :O

I think Adora is great ^.^ Catra I feared at first would be unlikeable by the way she was introduced, but she’s probably my favourite character after this first episode xD Glimmer is nice ^.^ And Bow, omg, I love him xD

*SPOILER WARNING*

I’m gonna start out by saying I never watched the original he-man or She-ra, so I don’t really know much besides the memes, the incredible amount of gay, and of course He-man going ‘IIIIII HAAAAVE THE POOOWEEEEEEEEEER’. So I don’t really know how much of this stuff is new and how much of this was in the original. Sure haven’t seen any Skeletor yet xD

The story so far maybe isn’t too original, and I admit I kinda cringed when definitely-not-evil-shadow-overlord evil shadow overlord had a totally natural human chat about Adora’s backstory xD But that was only two lines of dialogue. It didn’t deter from the rest ^.^

Really curious about how this is all going to play out ^.^

#She-ra and the princesses of power #review #Catra is adorable #I MEAN SHE ACTUALLY PURRED HALFWAY THROUGH THE EPISODE #How can you not love her?#Bow is so delightfully gay #I can definitely see the homonormativity in this show #I don't know if I've seen a straight character yet #Thank you Noelle Stevenson!

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milanmatens-blog · 6 years

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Film: Ready Player One

Never, ever underestimate Steven Spielberg. That’s the biggest takeaway from “Ready Player One,” an immersive sci-fi spectacle about a future overrun by virtual reality gaming, and the world’s most famous commercial director has transformed it into a mesmerizing blockbuster steeped in callbacks to the best of them. It runs too long and drags a bunch in its final third, but make no mistake: This is Spielberg’s biggest crowdpleaser in years, a CGI ride that wields the technology with an eye for payoff. It’s also his most stylized movie since “A.I.: Artificial Intelligence,” though a lot more fun, with a cavalcade of visuals leaving the impression that he watched a bunch of Luc Besson movies and decided he could outdo them all. The result is an astonishing sci-fi spectacle and a relentless nostalgia trip at once.

Ernest Cline’s 2011 novel compensated for its literary shortcomings with a phenomenal premise, a precise futuristic vision just familiar enough to seem viable. In the year 2045, while much of the world lies in poor shape and the bulk of humanity wastes its days in the Oasis, a massive virtual reality designed by the late billionaire tech genius James Halliday (Mark Rylance, seen in flashbacks under an unkempt wig and a strange American accent) and his business partner (Simon Pegg). Diehard players wear avatars of their choosing as they roam through the Oasis’ sprawling galaxies, engaging with a plethora of pop-culture reference points (Batman! Transformers! “Back to the Future”!) that inspired geeky Hallidan, an ’80s kid who probably grew up on Spielberg movies, too. The premise is ideally suited for a pricey studio production: The bulk of its scenes unfold in a digital world, opening the floodgates for an overwhelming CGI pileup that steals from revered big-budget movies because that’s what the players do, too.

Spielberg and screenwriter Zak Penn are faithful to the book’s protagonist, disgruntled Ohio orphan Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) who escapes a drab routine with his aunt and her abusive boyfriend by living in a trailer nearby. Most of the time, he’s buried in his VR headset and wandering the Oasis as Parzival, who looks like a cheap Final Fantasy knockoff, and hangs with his best pal Aech (Lena Waithe). The friends have never met in real life, but they don’t really need to — their entire social lives exist within the confines of the Oasis, where they join an endless stream of players in following the breadcrumbs Halliday left when he died: Find all the clues leading to a series of hidden keys in his world, and his company’s stock belongs to you.

This futuristic Willy Wonka setup leads players to engage in a trepidatious online racetrack populated by a hilarious range of threats, from King Kong to a T.rex straight out of “Jurassic Park” (one of the few times Spielberg references one of his own credits). Wade’s an expert gamer, but nobody gets past Kong — not even Ar3mis (Olivia Cook), the pink-haired speed demon with whom Wade’s utterly smitten. There’s nothing particularly unique about Wade, but the movie’s throwbacks extend to its live-action scenes as well: He’s the typical white kid ready to rule the world, a Spielberg staple since “E.T.”, and through perseverance he finally cracks the code to get to the first key. Intrigued (and possibly a little smitten herself), Ar3mis joins forces with Wade/Parzival and Aech in a quest to find the other keys.

This prolonged setup inevitably leads to some major complications courtesy of the movie’s central villain, corporate overlord Nolan (Ben Mendelsohn), who employs an entire army to find the keys before Wade and his pals. Aided by a gothic monster henchman named i-R0k (who talks like Skeletor and sounds, hilariously, like T.J. Miller), Nolan concocts an evil scheme to take control of the Oasis before those annoying kids nab the prize. From there, “Ready Player One” trips over its exciting momentum, tumbling into a series of flashy battle sequences and rapid-fire strategy sessions until it finally winds back to a satisfying conclusion.

Nevertheless, the first hour marks some of the most viscerally engaging filmmaking Spielberg has ever done, starting with the moment Wade speeds through a virtual racetrack in a DeLorean time machine (Robert Zemeckis gets more than one nod) and continuing into a holographic showdown that pitches into the real world.

In Cline’s book, a lethal twist leads the character into a bleak, solitary chapter of his life that Spielberg’s too earnest to touch; instead, the movie becomes a triumphant tale of gamers taking charge on the battlefield. “Ready Player One” wants to make people who love its references celebrate them all over again. While it lacks edge, subtlety, or the genuine dread to explore life in a complete technocracy, it does find the Iron Giant battling Mechagodzilla while a rock-heavy soundtrack featuring everything from Blondie to the Bee Gees underscores the mayhem.

Penn’s screenplay (co-credited to Kline) lands on a few enticing moments outside the Oasis, most of which revolve around Mendolsohn’s character, a wonderful caricature of an executive eager to exploit his product even as he knows nothing about it. (When Wade challenges Nolan with trivia about John Hughes movies, Nolan shoots back with help from a lackey whispering the answers in his ear.)

“You think I’m just a corporate asshole,” Nolan says, and Spielberg may as well be saying the same thing to a skeptical audience: On paper, “Ready Player One” certainly looks like another ill-conceived Hollywood product, but this 71-year-old Hollywood veteran is determined to make something better than that. The movie’s greatest sequence is a prolonged homage to Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” too rich with details to spoil here, but needless to say, this is not a brainless blockbuster so much as an attempt to elevate the blockbuster form in its own language.

Once “Ready Player One” winds down, it can’t match the ecstatic contact high of encountering the movie’s trickery from the outset. The bulk of the live-action scenes lack the crisp energy of the Oasis, and Spielberg can’t match the forward momentum with character depth to spare. Wade and his pals have backstories, but they mostly just dangle in the background. This should come as no surprise in a movie that fetishizes its technological polish. As one savvy player puts it, “Reality is a bummer.”

Eventually, “Ready Player One” becomes the very thing its characters admire, a preponderance of commercial entertainment smashed together into singular blockbuster chaos. Spielberg’s roving digital camera (for the first time, this celluloid fetishist has reason to abandon ship) is aided by effective motion-capture performances and ever-changing landscapes. None of that changes the retrograde gender politics: This is a typical boy’s movie that will strike younger audiences as being out of sync with the current moment (just imagine what might happen if Waithe and Sheridan traded places), but then, so’s the nostalgia-laden Oasis.

“Ready Player One” is one of the more clever excuses to run wild with special effects. Of course, that outcome makes sense from a filmmaker whose entire legacy has been steeped in showmanship. As it cycles through dozens of references to past achievements, “Ready Player One” amounts to a frenetic attempt at remaking the past 30-odd years of popular culture by one of its greatest architects. Without seeing the movie, it’s hard to imagine anyone could turn it into a satisfying product; by the end, it’s clear that only Steven Spielberg can.

Eric Kohn

Mening:

Als eerste wil ik meegeven dat deze film mij vanaf het moment dat ik erover wist aansprak. Steven Spielberg is met deze film dan ook gericht op een specifieke doelgroep.

Vooral het eerste uur zit de film vol met CGI. Ik ben akkoord met het feit dat dit Spielbergs meest aantrekkelijke film is om te kijken. Je fantasie slaat op hol bij het kijken van al de mogelijkheden die ‘The Oasis’ te bieden heeft. Steven laat duidelijk zien hoe creatief hij kan zijn en trekt hiermee veel mensen van mijn leeftijd aan.

Trouwe gamers zullen veel van de ontelbare referenties in de film zonder enige twijfel hebben opgemerkt. Ik persoonlijk heb redelijk wat personages gezien van games die ik zelf speel of ken. Dit was een groot pluspunt voor mij en waarschijnlijk ook voor vele anderen. Mensen die niet gekend zijn met de gamewereld zullen zich niet thuis voelen in deze film. Zoals Eric Kohn zegt: Het is een echte jongensfilm.

Jammer genoeg ben ik ook akkoord met het tekort aan diepgang van de personages. Het eerste uur vol CGI laat je met teleurstelling wachten in het tweede uur. Het hoofdpersonage en zijn vrienden net als de slechteriken hebben amper tot geen achtergrondverhaal. Het contrast van actie in ‘The Oasis’ en van in de echte wereld is te groot waardoor alles wat er in werkelijkheid gebeurd ronduit saai is.

De humor in het verhaal is zwak en vaak zelfs misplaatst wat de scène en de identiteit of het karakter van het personage in kwestie verpest. Het plot is ook wat teveel zwart wit naar mijn mening. Het cliché ‘Het goede verliest altijd van het kwade’ komt teveel tot uiting.

Al bij al was de film aangenaam om te kijken. Steven Spielberg is de geknipte persoon om een evenwicht tussen inhoud en beeld te zoeken. Ook al was het alles behalve perfect, niemand had het beter gekund. Het acteren was zeker meer dan ok. Tye Sheridan paste perfect bij zijn personage als Wade. Ik had hoge verwachtingen die niet volledig werden voldaan maar het is niet je alledaagse blockbuster.

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smokeybrandreviews · 6 years

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Spirited Away

Isekai has become kind of a bad word in the anime culture. I find this highly dubious because there are some excellent shows that feature the whole “In another world” motif. SAO kind of killed the entire genre with it’s ridiculous Weeb popularity, causing the market to be overly saturated, but even so, there are a few gems. Before everyone became aware of it’s cash-grabby nature, isekai was more a niche genre, producing great content, not just anime. Alice in Wonderland and Coraline are definite Isekai stories. Harry Potter is essentially an Isekai series. A kid, born with a special nature, get’s whisked away to a world full of magic and shenanignas? How much more Isekai can you get?

Kingdom Hearts is kind of an Isekai game franchise and it’s popular the world over. There’s a show airing stateside call Reveries that is getting pretty legit ratings and it’s basically a live action, A-spec, isekai series. There’s a plethora of comics and that immediately spring to mind. Booster Gold, Mile Morales, The Exiles; all of them world displaced and trying to find their way. Hell, Gwenpool, one of the most popular characters Marvel has ever created, is an Isekai protagonist, not to mention all of the refugees from the Ultimate Marvel universe. Isekai can be outstanding when you actually put effort into narrative. This genre lends itself to world building, character development, and is wide open for creative growth. I wanted to put a list together of a few shows that, i think, are worth taking look at that happen to follow the whole “Alice in Wonderland” motif.

Overlord

I wrote at length about my love for this thing a few days ago. Of all the new shows in this Isekai boom, Overlord is my favorite. It has an interesting spin on the whole “defeat the Demon Lord” motif that plagues these kinds of shows in that Ains Ool Gown IS the demon lord. He’s Skeletor if Skeletor was actually competent. The world itself is growing and expanding, giving us brand new details with every season aired but it’s the characters that make this show so endearing. They’re all so rich and developed. I love everything about this show and highly recommend checking it out.

.Hack//Sign

Before SAO, there was Sign. I’m not going to spoil the plot, which is both engaging and emotional, but it’s basically the first “trapped in a game” type of narrative that really got traction here in the states. This anime was actually a companion piece to a quadrilogy of excellent, real life,PS2 games. While i’m partial to the sequel games and it’s accompanying media, .Hask//G.U., i’d be remiss not to give credit where credit is due. If you liked SAO, check out Twilight. It did it first and much, much, better.

Re:Zero - Starting Life In Another World

Rem is best girl. That’s off top. Re:Zero would easily be my favorite Isekai show, if not for Overlord. This thing is kind of incredible in terms of world building but, just like my beloved Supervisor Skeletor anime, it’s the characters in Re”Zero that sell this show. They’re all so real, so human. The main protagonist,Subaru, because of certain circumstances, has the ability to return from death and that sh*t takes a toll on him. He has seen some sh*t. He has experienced some sh*t. And while he grows in strength, it’s at a horrific cost. The emotional turmoil of these resurrections are ridiculous and you feel it in Subaru’s evolution as a protagonist.

The Familiar of Zero

This one is more cutesy fun. It feels like if Harry Potter was a harem protagonist, you’d have this show. It’s not terrible, by any means, and relies heavy on sight gags and comedies but, considering it has 4 seasons, is mad popular. I haven’t watched through all of them but i did enjoy the first two and understand exactly why it’s so popular. This is another one that came out long before the boom so it has more of a richer narrative overall.

No Game No Life

No Game No Life is a personal favorite. I love this goddamn show! It’s kinetic, silly, fun, and quietly brilliant. A world where all conflicts are solved with games? A dual set of protagonists who are perfect compliments to each other in strength and weakness? An absurd premise that raises stakes to genocidal levels? Bro, No Game No Life is a goddamn classic and you NEED to check this thing out at least once. It’s more than worth. Also, Jibril is best girl

The Vision of Escaflowne

I kind of forget this thing is an Isekai series because of the mechs but it is. This one is more of a romance-y type of show but it’s still crazy good, It’s still worth a watch. It’s one of the first to gain popularity in the states, even if the one we originally was truncated and edited to all hell,that aired on a Saturday morning cartoon block. I think, now, Funimation has the rights so you can get a decent version, uncut, and dubbed, yo check out. I loved Escaflowne. It was emotional, beautiful, and brilliant. The content was a little heady but as an adult, i can’t recommend this one more.

Tenchi Muyo! War for Geminar

Kind of in the same vein as Esclafowne, mechs over isekai so to speak, we have Tenchi Muyo! War for Geminar, one of my personal favorites. It’s actually part of the Tenchi franchise but follows another charcter like GXP. This time, we have Tenchi’s little brother, Kenshi, as he makes his way through a brand new world. Just like his big brother and friend, Sena, dude kind of develops a harem while figting to save the universe. This thing is a Tenchi show, through and through, and lord knows i’m a sucker for Tenchi, Still, bias aside, this thing is fun, beautifully animated, and choc full of action with just a hint of eechi. Also, Doll is best girl.

KonoSuba

Yo, Konosuba is wildly popular and for good reason.This thing deconstructs the entire genre and gives you one of the best comedy animes in decades. It takes nothing seriously and gives you a lighthearted tale, full of absurdity and shenanigans. The characters are all awesome and their relationships always bring a smile to your face. This show is mad good and i highly recommend this one for everyone. It’s just a good ol’ time in general!

Re: Creators

Re:Creators is kind of a flip on the Isekai situation. What happens when the characters from those other worlds, find their way into ours, with all of their OP abilities and powers? epic goddamn destruction, that's what! Yo, i was surprised by how much i loved this goddamn show! Definitely check this thing out.

Gate: Thus the Japanese Self-Defense Force Fought There

Gate gets a lot of sh*t for being a mediocre anime overall. To be honest the community is kind of split on this one. As a cat that has been watching anime for a long ass time, i can recognize that this is weaker entry on this this list but, i think the world building makes up for that. This thing is littered with cliche tropes; Loli Goth goddesses, tsundere Dark Elves, Dandere wizard girls, etc. but it you can look past all of the harem-y nonsense, you kind of have a pretty legit political thriller. What happens when an overwhelming, modern, military force invades a country with the technology level of medieval times? How do those carrying swords and shields defend again those wielding assault rifles and mortars? It’s actually very interesting to see. I think those questions make this show compelling enough to check out.

There are a ton of others that come to mind; Saga of Tanya The Evil, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, Digimon, Drifters, Now and Then, Here and There, Magic Knigh Rayearth, Log Horizron, How Not To Summon The Demon Lord; There is a ton of content t watch. It can be overwhelming but the ten i listed above, are all excellent in their own rights and give you a decent swath of what you can expect throughout the genre.

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smokeybrand · 6 years

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Spirited Away

Overlord

.Hack//Sign

Re:Zero - Starting Life In Another World

The Familiar of Zero

No Game No Life

The Vision of Escaflowne

Tenchi Muyo! War for Geminar

KonoSuba

Re: Creators

Gate: Thus the Japanese Self-Defense Force Fought There

There are a ton of others that come to mind; Saga of Tanya The Evil, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, Digimon, Drifters, Now and Then, Here and There, Magic Knigh Rayearth, Angel Beats, Log Horizron, How Not To Summon The Demon Lord; There is a ton of content t watch. It can be overwhelming but the ten i listed above, are all excellent in their own rights and give you a decent swath of what you can expect throughout the genre.

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