#obviously i feel for her but the visual of it is unintentionally hilarious

[cherry-valentine]

Winter 2023 Anime Season

Here’s what I’m watching:

Buddy Daddies is easily my favorite new show this season. Following a pair of skilled but unlucky hitmen (Kazuki and Rei) who end up taking in and attempting to raise a little girl they just orphaned (Miri), the show is primarily a comedy. The humor mostly comes from watching two people who are woefully ill equipped to deal with a child having to work through the day to day challenges of caring for a little girl, from finding a good daycare to figuring out how to dress her. These mundane objectives are made hilarious through the lens of these guys being literal assassins. They go from shootouts to making dinner for their daughter. The show also sneaks in some truly heartwarming moments, as well as truly traumatic ones. Both Kazuki and Rei have tragic backgrounds that explain why they can’t just abandon Miri. The relationship between the two men is fun and interesting. While a lot of viewers are hoping for a romance between them, I just don’t see it happening. So far I’ve yet to see a single hint that the story will go that direction. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to see it, but I’m afraid there’s going to be a lot of disappointed fans at the end of the season. Other than that, the show has decent animation and excellent character designs (Just look at Rei when he’s in assassin mode. Just. Look. At. Him.), as well as fun peppy music. The series overall is just super watchable. There’s not a moment in any episode that I’m not entertained. Highly recommended.

The Tale of Outcasts follows a young orphan girl named Wisteria who can see a powerful demon named Marbas, a rare ability among humans. Marbas is immortal, very old, and very bored, so he decides to take Wisteria along with him to travel around the country, meeting other demons along the way as well as avoiding powerful demon hunters sent by the church to destroy him, one of them being Wisteria’s long lost older brother Snow. This show is a bit more light hearted and mild than I expected at first. It does have serious or darker moments, but overall the stakes don’t feel incredibly high at any given time. The charm of this story centers on the relationship between Wisteria and Marbas. Both care very much for each other, and thankfully (so far) the age difference prevents it from becoming a romance. If anything, Marbas takes an almost fatherly role with Wisteria, even if he sometimes forgets how fragile humans are and unintentionally puts Wisteria in danger. It’s a soft, sweet relationship that carries the series on its back. The animation is fine, nothing special, and the design work is pretty good. In particular, the demons all have cool designs. I’m not crazy about the music but that’s a small quibble. Recommended.

High Card is an energetic action series set in a fictional modern kingdom where 52 special playing cards give people super powers. These cards were accidentally (?) scattered across the kingdom, one of which lands in the possession of a young thief named Finn. After getting drawn into a battle for possession of another card between rival groups seeking to collect them, Finn is recruited to join High Card, an organization trying to gather all the cards for the king. This is a very colorful, vibrant series with a fun setting, exciting battles, and excellent visuals. The characters are cool, especially Wendy, a somewhat shy and mousy young woman who turns into a batshit crazy, unstoppable killing machine when she uses her card, and Chris, the flippant ladies’ man who is rendered immortal by his card’s ability (and there’s obviously more to him than meets the eye). The animation is slick. The music is, in my opinion, the best of the season (both the opening and ending themes are absolute bangers). Honestly, if not for Buddy Daddies, this would have easily been my favorite new show of the season. The show has a generally light hearted vibe but they’ve thrown at least one episode at us to prove how serious and dark the story can get. Highly recommended.

Bungou Stray Dogs has a new season (I think it’s season four?) and like with a previous season, it opened with a mini arc that’s entirely comprised of a flashback. This is something not every show can get away with, but Bungou Stray Dogs pulls it off. This flashback deals with the creation of the Armed Detective Agency, a group of “gifted” (people with special powers) agents who work with the government to neutralize threats, most often involving other “gifted” folks. When the season’s actual plot kicks in following the flashback, it’s about the Agency being framed for horrific crimes and being pursued by powerful government-sponsored hunters. The strength of this series has always been its ability to balance its genuinely funny humor with the darker, more violent aspects of its plots. It does both things so well, and manages to overlap them without one aspect distracting too much from the other (something a lot of stories, anime or otherwise, struggle to do). This season might just be the darkest yet, with each new nightmarish development making the situation more and more bleak for the Detective Agency. The animation remains polished and the design work attractive and interesting. If you watched previous seasons, you’re definitely already watching this. If you haven’t, this is a great time to catch up.

Revenger follows a group or mercenaries who take jobs killing targets as revenge for people who can’t afford to hire hitmen, charging only a single coin that has been bitten into, to display the rage of the person who was wronged. A skilled but stoic samurai named Raizo joins them after they get involved in a plot by his lord that tricked him into killing his fiancé’s father. While they’re definitely a group of killers, there’s a lot of moral variety among the group, with some seeming to enjoy the kills while others simply want to see the guilty punished. It’s an interesting mix of personalities. There’s an overarching plot about a giant stash of opium hidden somewhere in the city and corrupt government officials, but the show is best when focusing on stand alone stories of random people needing revenge. The animation is decent and the character designs are varied and attractive, particularly the leader of the group Yuen. The backgrounds are especially nice, with lovely colors and lighting. The music is quite good too. It’s not my favorite show this season, but it has a solid spot on my watch list.

Carry Over Shows From Previous Seasons:

Boku no Hero Academia

Blue Lock

Yowamushi Pedal

To Your Eternity

Best of Season:

Best New Show: Buddy Daddies

Best Opening Theme: High Card

Best Ending Theme: Buddy Daddies

Best New Male Character: Rei (Buddy Daddies)

Best New Female Character: Wendy (High Card)

#Anime Reviews #Buddy Daddies #High Card #The Tale of Outcasts #winter 2023 anime #seasonal anime #anime recommendation #text #bungou stray dogs

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 26 part one

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Stuff)

Warning! Spoilers for All 50 Episodes! 

I’m Coming Up So You Better Get This Party Started

The Lans arrive just in time to see Cousin Jin Zixun hassling Su She, and they wonder how he has the fucking nerve to come to a party that they are also invited to. 

Su she was invited by his new best friend Jin Guangyao, who deploys a full-on charm attack, wrapping Su She permanently around his little finger. 

Smoother than the Lanling weather that’s how he holds himself together Watch out, he’ll charm you 

Jin Guangyao grew up with women who earned their living by being charming, pleasant, and hiding their true thoughts from their clients, and he appears to have mastered this useful skill set. With Su She, he exudes confidence and authority, allowing the lesser man to bask in his attention.

With Zewu Jun he deploys helplessness and embarrassment, effectively controlling a man with much greater power than his own.

Lan Xichen confronts him about Su She's presence, and Jin Guangyao pretends he didn't know that Su She was ex-Lan. This seems super unlikely, given that JGY is good at collecting information that he can use to fuck with people, and also that he sheltered Lan Xichen from the Wens directly after Su She betrayed him.

Lan Xichen seems like he doesn't believe what JGY is telling him but then he decides to drop it, passive-aggressively saying that since JGY is uninformed, he's not guilty. Lan Xichen is actually assuming a lot here about his right to tell Jin Guangyao who to invite and who to shun, but JGY doesn't push back. Lying is so much simpler.

(more behind the cut!)

Su She wins for most unintentionally sarcastic-seeming toasting expression.

Jiang Cheng, Party Animal

Jiang Cheng arrives at the party, bringing his Jiang retinue and his bad temper. He super obviously casts around to try to find Wei Wuxian, who already told him he probably wasn't coming to the party.

Jiang Cheng is that guy who only comes to a party because the girl he likes said she was thinking about going, and then he spends the whole party saying "hey have you seen Mei Lin? She said she was going to be here but I don't see her."

Jin Guangyao formally congratulates Jiang Cheng on the Jiang clan's success in the hunt, and Jin Guangshan toasts him. As always, Jiang Cheng reacts to praise from authority figures like it's rain in the desert, smiling from ear to ear. He says that the Jiang Clan will donate the prey from the hunt to the other gentry clans. ...what?

Are we seriously saying that when these dudes go night hunting it's not just to remove dangerous bad stuff, it's for profit? 

Like, do they eat monsters? Wear their fur? Make leather from their skin? Carve jewelry from their claws? Is Jiang Cheng wearing a purple monster's skin right now? (There will be an art prompt at the end of this post)

Meanwhile, check out the way Nie Huaisang is looking at Jiang Cheng, wow.

Forecast: Hazing

Having gotten the single pleasant part of the banquet over with, it's time for the Jins to pick on the Lans. Cousin Jin Zixun goads Lan Xichen into taking a drink with him, knowing that this is (mostly) against Lan rules. Jin Guangyao tries to stop him by saying, hilariously, that it's bad to drink and fly on a sword, but CJZX waves this away and keeps pushing, saying that if Lan Xichen won't drink, it's an insult to him.

A random cultivator who is definitely on the Jin payroll backs him up, saying that teetotaling is for losers, and Captain Blowhard boisterously agrees. Loudly agreeing with powerful people is the Yao clan's signature martial arts skill.

Jin Guangyao looks embarrassed and helpless, which is, as mentioned before, his own signature skill. But he's just playing his own part in this piece of theater; everything happening at this party (so far) is happening for the benefit of the Jin Clan. Cousin Jin Zixun is an ass, but he's not actually a loose cannon, and Jin Guangshan is clearly enjoying the Lans' discomfort.

Why? This entire party, the hunt, everything he's done since the end of the Sunshot campaign, has been designed to increase and consolidate his power. His main goal is to get the Yin Tiger seal, but reducing the status of the Lans is also a good move for him. The Lans have been the strongest opponents to the use of resentful energy, and worked the hardest to conceal and contain the Yin iron in the past. If he wants to use resentful energy as part of his own cultivation, he needs them to chill. 

So this is a bit of a test; will they comply with the will of the larger group in order to avoid conflict, or will they refuse, which will allow him to label them as iconoclastic weirdos?. 

Lan Xichen takes a long look at his brother, who is expressing all sorts of emotions while keeping his face very very still. 

At a guess, he is thinking that this entire party is bullshit, that his brother's willingness to play along with these assholes is bullshit, that being viciously beaten for having a single drink in his life was bullshit, that Wei Wuxian not being here right now is bullshit.

Lan Xichen picks the "go along, get along" path, having his drink and using his magic skill of anti-intoxication to neutralize it, as he'd done previously when drinking with Wei Wuxian. 

Cousin Jin Zixun picks on Lan Wangji next, and since he cannot magically or even non-magically tolerate alcohol, there is a real risk to his reputation if he drinks. But Lan Wangji breaks rules when he feels like it, not when people tell him to. He pointedly ignores the offered drink while Lan Xichen looks worried. 

The rest of the party guests have a wide variety of reactions, none of them helpful, to these shenanigans. Jin Guanshan's son and heir watches with calm interest as the power dynamics play out.

All of this is actually not great strategy for the Jins. The Lans don't play little social games to gain power, because all that time they spend not drinking, not gossiping, and not doing other stuff? Is spent cultivating and practicing sword and musical battle forms. The Lan Bros are overwhelmingly powerful as individuals, and embarrassing them won't change that.

It's moot, ultimately, because Wei Wuxian chooses this moment to arrive.

Darkness Visible

Wei Wuxian actually made a big impressive stair-climbing entrance to Jinlintai a few minutes ago, with camera work echoing Lan Wangji's stair climb at the Wen Indoctrination Bureau from several episodes back. 

But nobody was around to see that, other than us, and when he appears at the party it's in stealth mode; he steps into the frame from out of nowhere, and drinks Lan Wangji's unwanted drink.

Lan Wangji responds by looking at him like this for the next several minutes.

Wei Wuxian doesn't have time for their usual sport of Extreme Gazing, though; he came for a reason, which is to find and rescue Wen Ning. He gets right to it, asking Cousin Jin Zixun where he's keeping him.

Jiang Cheng, who is the king of worrying about the wrong fucking thing, jumps up to try to stop Wei Wuxian from talking. Like, seriously, he's ok with the Jins trying to take his clan's special extreme weapon, but he's not ok with his head disciple being rude in order to fulfill a whopper of a life debt--Jiang Cheng's life debt, in particular--or being rude in order to preserve the clan's independence.

Jin Guangshan decides this is a good moment to bring up the Yin tiger amulet. Wei Wuxian pushes back, hard, pointing out exactly what Jin Guangshan is doing. He says he's setting himself up to be a new Wen Ruohan. 

Lan Wangji pays close attention to Wei Wuxian's reasoning here, and so does Nie Mingjue, unless he’s just trying to mask his confusion. 

Jiang Cheng is too busy being horrified to listen, apparently. Or he just doesn’t agree, preferring to be reduced to a secondary authority, rather than defy a primary authority.

Wei Wuxian is, of course, all about independence; he was literally born to be a rogue cultivator, despite being dubbed “patriarch” himself, not long after this. 

Let’s Go Crazy Let’s Get Nuts

Wei Wuxian gets tired of the scene and decides to lose his temper. He makes a show of being enraged, and he genuinely is angry, but I don't think he's out of control, this time.  

He acts like he's out of control in order to scare everyone, but he makes his points very clearly, reminding everyone that he has power they don't have, that he's good at killing, that he's not patient, and that his teeth are nicer than everybody else’s. 

Everybody in the room freaks out to one degree or another--except Jin Guangshan, who is apparently too pissed off to be scared.

It's hilarious that Jin Guangshan thought he was going to get Wei Wuxian to hand the Yin Tiger amulet over by creating a complex system of social pressure against him. Wei Wuxian's favorite way of responding to social pressure is to escalate it into violence, regardless of the consequences; he's been doing that at least since Gusu Summer School and probably a lot longer. Jin Guangshan should know this, given how many beatings his son has taken from Wei Wuxian over the years.

Wei Wuxian does a fantastically sexy scary, theatrical countdown, and Cousin Jin Zixun caves in and gives him the information he wants. It's worth noticing that even under threat of death, CJZX doesn't comply until he visually checks in with his clan leader. He’s genuinely a bad person, yes, but he’s a loyal soldier, which is what most of these clans value most. 

As soon as he gets what he wants, Wei Wuxian is perfectly, smugly, in control of himself again. Everyone in the room is still stunned and afraid, so Jin Guangshan has achieved that much, at least; nobody likes Wei Wuxian having the Yin tiger seal now, including Jiang Cheng. 

As he leaves, Wei Wuxian has one of those conversations with Lan Wangji in which everything is said in glances in the course of a couple of seconds. 

WWX: I love you, I have to leave you; I've got some shit to take care of and I won't be coming back to all of this. 

LWJ: I love you; I'm probably going to have to fight you; your funeral is going to be so upsetting

Wei Wuxian turns away from everyone, and you can see the weight settling on his shoulders, as he contemplates the choices he just made and the choices that are still ahead of him. 

Jin Guangshan, for the first and only time, loses his temper in front of everybody, literally flipping a table because he's so mad about what just happened. 

Art prompt: Jiang Cheng wearing an outfit made of a Chinese mythical creature. Bonus points if it’s a qilin. Bonus bonus points if Zhang Qiling (from DMBJ/Lost Tomb franchise) is standing next to him looking grumpy while Jiang Cheng wears an outfit made from a qilin. 

Soundtrack: Get This Party Started by Pink, Charm Attack by Leona Naess, Let’s Go Crazy by Prince. 

#the untamed #the untamed gifs #wangxian #restless rewatch the untamed #canary3d-original #my gifs #learn to count the yiling way #1900 words

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

#5: The One With Astruc's Self-Insert

In my introductory post, I said the main inspiration for this blog was @hypocrisyofandrewdobson​. For those who don't know, Andrew Dobson is an infamous webcomic artist known for drawing webcomics that tend to demonize people he's come across in public or people who disagree with him online (either critical of his art or his political views), while portraying himself as the victim or wise man calling them out on their differing beliefs.

If you want to learn more about this guy who I consider to be far worse than Astruc, check out the blog in question. And no, I don't know why he draws himself as a blue bear.

Why am I talking about this? It's one thing for some schmuck on the internet to use his work to respond to criticism, but the creator of a popular animated series dedicating an entire episode to attacking his critics and trying to get others to feel bad for him is another story.

The second episode of Miraculous Ladybug's third season, “Animaestro” served as a wake-up call for fans (myself included) to make them realize how immature Astruc could be. The plot centers around the premiere of a movie about Ladybug and Cat Noir directed by Thomas Astruc, who voices himself in the original French dub.

And this isn't just a brief cameo like what Stan Lee did in the MCU. Astruc is the Akumatized person this episode, so there's naturally a lot of focus on him. Throughout the first half of the episode, Astruc portrays himself as this timid man who nobody recognizes or respects, like this idiot who doesn't know what animation is.

Doorman: This is a private event, sir.

Astruc: Huh? Excuse me? I'm Thomas Astruc, the movie director.

Doorman: You filmed Cat Noir and Ladybug? What are they like in real life?

Astruc: Er, it's an animated movie. It's all cartoon characters. We don't actually film anyone. See, there's this whole team that draw the chara—

Doorman: Whatever. Who would want to see Ladybug and Cat Noir as cartoon characters?

Get it? Wasn't that meta joke hilarious? This is how much I was laughing:

And Astruc continues to get about as much respect as Rodney Dangerfield when he interacts with other characters like Jagged Stone and Chloe.

Jagged Stone: Ladybug is one of my best buds! I can't wait to see her movie!

Astruc: Well I—I'm the director, so actually it's more my movie, so to speak.

Jagged Stone: Oh, so you're the one who created the story?

Astruc: Well, technically the screen writers wrote the story, inspired by Ladybug's exploits.

Jagged Stone: Oh, okay. So you did all the drawings?

Thomas: No, no. The animators do all the drawings.  

Jagged Stone: So what do you do then?

(Later on...)

Chloe: So you're the one responsible for this movie?

Astruc: Yes, yes! Exactly! That's me!

Chloe: Then you were the one who left Queen Bee out of the trailer. You're lame, utterly lame.

I can't believe Astruc had a scene where he interacted with Chloe and didn't insult her at all.

The episode is determined to make the audience feel bad for Astruc. Nobody respects him and what he does. Isn't that saaaaaad? Nobody cares about animated film directors like Walt Disney or Tex Avery anyway. Not even these stupid children understand how hard Astruc works.

Several Children: Ladybug! Where's Ladybug?

Astruc: Hey there, kids!

Teacher: Ladybug isn't here children. We came here to meet the director of the movie. Children: (frowning in disappointment) Aww.

(Astruc looks visibly disappointed.)

Way to insult your primary demographic, Astruc. I thought you said kids have a better understanding of these stories when people criticized the writing of a certain episode (It's that scene in “Puppeteer 2” if you're curious/don't value your sanity).

It's almost like you're using that as an excuse to half-ass your work while still getting to claim this show is so groundbreaking.

In case you can't tell, “Animaestro” is one of those episodes. The ones where the showrunners decide to dedicate an entire episode to attacking critics of the show in a blunt fashion. Whenever a show addresses criticism, they either create an obvious strawman character to parrot the opinions of fans who don't like their work, or have someone defend the show and insult the critics directly.

The problem isn't that they're ignoring criticism. It's their show, and they aren't obligated to listen to critics or fans who don't like the direction the show is taking. On the other hand, they aren't obligated to fight back like this and treat their audience like crap. Any show that does something like the three clips I showed you usually comes off as petty and immature because they dedicate so much time to insulting the critics. 

Even during the Akuma fight, Astruc has to call out Ladybug for having problems with his movie in-universe, obviously representing critics of the show Astruc claims have no right to criticize the show while it's still airing.

Ladybug: What's with that trailer too? I am not scared of cats, at all.

Astruc/Animaestro: You haven't even seen the movie and you're already slamming it?

Cat Noir: He does have a point, you know.

Ladybug: I wasn't slamming it. It's called constructive criticism!

Yeah, how dare Ladybug be angry that this movie is portraying her as a powerless coward dependent on Cat Noir as opposed to a confident and brave superhero. She just doesn't understand the genius of Thomas Astruc!

And of course the character Astruc claims is “perfect” is the one to take his side.

And that's another problem with this episode, the metatextual references. Before he gets akumatized, Astuc says he spent three years of his life working on his movie. I get that time in this show is weird (we somehow had episodes taking place on the first day of school, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and the first day of Summer), but how did Astruc's self-insert work on a movie based on a superhero who has only been active for a year? Meta-wise, it's an obvious reference to the scorn Astruc has gotten from fans after working so hard on his show, but the only people who would get that reference are the ones who are aware of Astruc's reputation online.

Self-Insert aside, I actually think the titular Animaestro is one of the more visually impressive Akumas featured on the show. Animaestro takes on several forms based off several different forms and eras of animation, like flash, anime, rubber hose, and they all stand out. Granted, some of them are obvious parodies of other characters like Goku or Sailor Moon, but the actual Akuma fight is fun to watch. According to the Mexican Miraculous Ladybug Twitter account, this episode took two and a half years to create, and it shows. It's too bad the story behind it is completely insufferable, almost like the cartoon equidistant to Pixels.

But then comes the part that honestly makes the episode worth it, mainly for how unintentionally hilarious it is. Do you want to know what Animaestro's weakness is? Do you really want to know?

Animaestro is physically incapable of moving unless someone is watching him. I am not making this up.

Ladybug and Cat Noir literally defeat Animaestro by getting everyone to stop paying attention to him.

I could make so many jokes with this, but I can guarantee you're already thinking of something just as good, if not better, than whatever I write.

And there's the end where Astruc gives Marinette his ticket to the movie, which prompts Marinette to kiss up to him for no real reason.

Astruc: Sorry, I guess you don't know who I am either.

Marinette: Of course do. You're Thomas Astruc, the movie director!

Astruc: She recognized me. Somebody actually recognized me!

Nothing happened to make her change her opinion on the Ladybug movie, she didn't really say anything to him earlier in the episode that connects to this exchange, and outside of a few lines Animaestro said, she doesn't even know why he got akumatized (even though ironically she and Chloe accidentally contributed to it because of the awful subplot involving Kagami I talked about last time). If anything, it comes off less like she actually appreciates Astruc's work, and more like she's stroking his ego just to keep him from getting akumatized again.

So yeah, this episode is awful, and the fact that it came out right after the controversial “Chameleon” only proved to show what kind of direction the show was taking this season.

But honestly, even if Astruc still wanted to make about how he doesn't get enough respect the episode could have potentially. All he had to do was make a simple change: Instead of making it about validation for Astruc as a creator, make it about validation for animation in general.

It's a common misconception that animation is only used for shows and movies aimed at children, so the episode could reflect it. Instead of the huge turnout where several celebrities appear at the premiere, instead, the turnout could be a lot smaller, with the media dismissing it as some stupid kiddie flick. Instead of getting akumatized because he gets humiliated in public/getting no respect from anyone else, Astruc gets akumatized because he sees the audience didn't go wild for the movie after the premiere. All he can hear them say is that it's just “kids stuff”.

So when Astruc is Animaestro, he goes on about how important animation is. How it's helped produce propaganda since World War II. How it helped improve special effects in big blockbusters. How the medium is used to create movies that simply can't be filmed on a physical set.

After defeating Animaestro, Ladybug shows up to talk to him. She had seen the movie earlier, and actually enjoyed it. She had a few problems with the story, but they were just minor nitpicks and inaccuracies Astruc wouldn't know about, and she was blown away by the animation. She tells Astruc not to be deterred by his critics, and continue to do what he does. As a designer in her civilian life, Ladybug knows the joy creating brings her, and both she and Astruc want to spread that joy through their work.

Back at the premiere, Astruc thinks about what Ladybug said to him when he sees some kids reenacting a scene from the movie. Astruc walks over to them and asks what they thought of the movie. They said they loved it and how energetic it was. When he tells them he is the director, the kids' faces light up and they say they want to do what he does when they grow up, bringing a smile to Astruc's face.

Isn't that a much more humble approach instead of what we got? It would have helped Astruc come across as more sympathetic, especially with animation fans. But instead, we got an entire episode of Astruc whining about how misunderstood he is.

And you know the footage used for the movie at the beginning? Remember that, because I have a huge rant about it saved for a later post.

For now, here’s an example of a creator appearing in his work done right.

#immaturity of thomas astruc #thomas astruc #thomas astruc salt #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug salt #animaestro #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #adrien agreste #cat noir #chat noir #jagged stone #chloe bourgeois #queen bee #queen b #star trek: the next generation #the simpsons #harley quinn #teen titans go #thundercats roar #thundercats #spider-man #stan lee

[retphienix]

I Have A Lot To Say So I'll Read More This.

The short of it?

I'm glad I played Joker- I played it because I wanted to know how DQM evolved when it reached the DS and I got my answer.

It's mediocre. Not bad exactly, I enjoyed playing it, it adds some REALLY appreciated features to the DQM series and if you were playing it at release it had online play which plays well with the post game content which I haven't touched by the time I wrote this:

-but there are some engine/console specific things that made it a drag and there are some parts of the game that are just weaker than the previous games which is amusing since the previous games were simple GBC titles.

And finally, I don't really recommend playing through Joker 1. Can't speak on the sequels, but Joker 1 was a pretty middling experience for me so I'm the wrong person to get a positive recommendation from.

And since the opportunity presents itself: If you like monster RPGs and haven't tried it- go emulate Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 for the GBC, it's really good and also if you emulate you can fast forward the GBC era grind if that's your taste- really a win all around.

On to my rambling:

I debated on writing, rewriting, rewriting, and better presenting my thoughts on this game and the series as a whole but nah, Joker ain't getting that, I'm ramblin'- lol

I will split it slightly between "The ending" and "The game as a whole" though.

Ending:

1:07 - This is slightly a 'game a a whole' thing but honestly it's funny to me that you unlock a permanent repel in this game by doing the main quest. I entered this dungeon feeling strong enough to beat the game, so I just avoided 90% of encounters entirely.

5:00 - I genuinely got a laugh out of Sparkpug's whole deal in this finale. Not story wise, that's fine, no complaints- I mean that Sparkpug is clearly built to be a monster that can carry an ineffective team. He's clearly meant to be bred a few times and a god tier member of a potentially inexperienced player's team- but I literally never used him after the intro.

So during this scene it's supposed to be like "I'm a demi-god monster, you can't possibly beat me" and I'm thinking "Dude, you're like level 10 and shit tier, you can't win, this is hilarious."

Obviously it's a real boss fight and not 'face the monster you once had' but I was having fun roasting him behind the scenes of this recording.

45:00 - What an entirely unexpected change of pace.

Like, I had it spoiled for me by a screenshot that Dr. Snap becomes a monster or something- but I thought maybe he was always a monster or something, and also I got a bad look at him.

HE TURNS INTO A BODY HORROR BEAST, THAT'S NUTS.

Genuinely a highlight of the game.

52:00 - I fucking laughed what a meaningless exchange where the payoff is saying "He was stupid!", it's honestly just silly and dumb but not necessarily bad just dumb lol

55:00 - Not a great 'you won' victory lap. Like at all. Kinda feels like they should have just made this all a cutscene where I appear back at town and see that Solitaire is the leader now etc etc.

I kinda don't understand why it's a victory lap at all? Because all anyone says is "They picked a weird successor to Snap >:(" or "Snap went to the island? I bet he was stopping the calamity :)"

If you have 2 lines of dialogue prepared, maybe don't make a victory lap???

1:00:00 - What a fucking stupid payoff lol

Like sincerely, Solitaire does NOTHING the entire game! She's meaningless from start to finish! And the 'surprise' is that she's the new commish??? And she got the position because she's a rich spoiled brat??? Like LITERALLY that's why????????

What a stupid fucking ending lol

Now her proposed evolution of the contest is fair enough, I mean it's childish as hell, but to be fair- more contests is a fine idea especially since prior games and this game demonstrated the public's interest in watching monster fights. And the goal being to fight her as the final fight is fucking egotistical and stupid- BUT- it does play into the fact that the player didn't get to fight her the whole game so it's whatever?

1:03:00 - This is both the best and worst lol.

This game has no story, like at all, it's fucking empty front to back, and only explodes with like- 1 event at the very end.

This moment is a montage of memorable moments with your 'best friend' Sparkpug. It's cinematically very nice to be honest! Even includes a moment I don't remember at the arena which probably didn't happen lol.

So visually it's cool- I dig seeing the camera zoom out as we run across the beach, and the flashback moments intersplice over us making our way to the scout memorial- that's very well done.

The content is empty lol

As I said there's no story, these moments are nothing lol

And that's that.

All said the ending was a very nice challenge to face with my team- I had to abuse items like mad but I MADE IT! It was a GOOD fight.

The rest I've already said.

On to the game as a whole:

I have issues with this game, but there's good too. It's really like 4 steps forward 6-7 steps back it's weird, it's really weird.

Positives are neat!

> First and foremost- TRAITS!

Monsters in Dragon Quest Monsters have always had a problem with keeping their identity for long. The way I'd explain it to an outsider to the series is that Monsters DO have special stat variance and intended movesets and all that jazz- but the breeding system completely and entirely destroys that relatively early into the game.

While a monster might normally have really high defense and low other stats while knowing buffing magic- breeding, EVEN UNINTENTIONALLY, will have that same monster come out with 9 billion attack and all ice magic.

Monsters in DQM have a habit of becoming canvases for the breeding effects rather than their own mons- and this is undeniably a downside. It makes the game feel unique, it doesn't 'hurt' it, but when by mid-game monsters are more easily identified as sprites rather than strengths and weaknesses or even types (family) it's a slight downer on the series.

Traits fix this a lot by making every specific monster have unchangeable traits which offer things like "immunity to x type of damage" or "higher crit chance"- it's small, but it gives each monster more identity.

> Second and secondmost- SKILLS!

The older games didn't use trees, it used each individual spell as a potential pass on during breeding.

Each monster could have 8 spells, and when you breed two monsters you pass on all 16 spells to the offspring (they don't learn them all at once, they learn them as they level up) as well as the natural spells the monster would learn by level up.

So in the older games it is really easy to end up with a refined and overpowered list of 8 spells on each of your monsters.

Now spells are tied to Skill trees and your monsters can have 3 skill trees total (which are passed on as OPTIONS when breeding).

All to say skills do a lot for removing the "Master of all, weakness of none" spell lists that the older games made trivial to make, now you have to limit your builds and be more specialized- also they added skills like "Attack up" to add more variance to a build- instead of having spells you might just have high stat buffs as skill trees.

Overall I think Skills are an improvement because coupled with Traits it makes each monster feel much more specialized and unique and less like a sprite with no identity.

> Breeding is improved.

This is very much because of skills and traits- again- but also the system is just improved in general. Instead of being told "That's a monster you haven't had before!" and judging your decisions based on the name of the offspring breed, now you get to see a small sprite of the resulting monster to help you decide- ALSO instead of getting 1 result for every combo (to the point where you have to back out and choose Monster A + Monster B and Monster B + Monster A as separate options), you now get up to 3 results to pick between for every breeding opportunity.

It's just better.

> The engine is impressive.

At least to me. This is a DS title using (from what I read) a rework of the DQ8 PS2 game's engine- it certainly looks like it.

Combat models are nice, using moves looks nice, overworld exploration looks nice- it looks nice.

Now for some negative and general nonsense- all of which is more often than not 'weird'.

> I gotta be unfair and say "The Story" first and foremost.

DQM 1 and 2 are not intense story games. They aren't.

But they both knew how to handle their story well for what they wanted to tell, I can and will praise both for their narratives because they know what they are and do it well.

DQM:J does not. It's fucking bad.

Basically: The overall story doesn't exist- you're told to be a spy, but that comes up 1 time towards the end of the game and LITERALLY doesn't matter at any other moment INCLUDING the one time it comes up.

You have NO meaningful objective from the start up until near the end of the game. You show up and have no goal- so you get told to get some crystals with no meaning behind it (not even a lie because they are clearly evil- not even a lie to motivate you! NO MEANING IS PRESENTED! JUST DO IT! TO DO THE CONTEST I GUESS! WHY? SHUT UP!)

So 90% of the game time you're not doing anything meaningful. So what about the islands? Any small narratives to keep things moving?

NO!

NOT AT ALL!

So you go 90% of the game having no real objective, just kinda wandering forward mindlessly- and then the game suddenly goes "Oh! Guy who seemed sus! He's evil! He's gonna unleash the calamity that you were 'kinda but not directly' working towards with your dog! You know, that plot point that's kept vague and paid 0% attention to the entire game? Yeah it's happening! Aaaaand you're done! GG!"

Basically there's just nothing going on in this game, it's all background noise until the last 10% of the game. And that's lame.

DQM1 had a light story- but from the very intro cutscene you have a clear objective which makes every action you do seem relevant as you are working towards that goal.

From the start of the game you know "My sister is gone! The king says a magic wish can get her back! I'll go do that!" and then you do!

DQM2 has a much better story!

You have a goal from the start (The kingdom is physically dying and you have to save it by getting a new plug!) AND it has stories for each world you visit!

THAT'S MILES BETTER! THIS GAME COULD HAVE DONE THAT FOR THE ISLANDS!

Anywho. Story is lacking and empty and lame especially when DQM2 has a similar format but does every part better- you have a clear objective you're working towards AND side stories to keep the light narrative moving!

WTH!

The spy plotline doesn't matter! It could have been used to build suspicion on who's the good guy!

The islands are so empty of story!

DQM2 has a fun mix on how a rival character works which makes every world interesting to see how they get involved!

This game has a rival that does NOTHING!!!!!!!!!

It's just such a step back from the previous games, it's weird to see DQM 1 land a solid simple story and DQM 2 build a great format to expand the story going forward- and then DQM:J just slams its head into the dirt and wipes out.

> Game's slow.

The engine switch is a good thing overall, but it makes combat slower (a lot), adds loading screens to combat (primarily), and they didn't bother speeding up the grind from previous games.

Because of the grind still existing which isn't a problem in and of itself- the game becomes SLOW AS HELL because the engine makes that grind take longer.

Also world exploration is slow which is to be expected when moving from 2d to 3d, but this is countered by adding things to the world to find or do- and Joker tries but it's still noticeable. The world exploration isn't a problem, it just stands out alongside the combat being slow as hell.

The engine change was a great thing- but it feels like they should have put more work into speeding up combat to counter the slowdown of load times and flashy animations.

A GOOD WAY TO FIX THAT MIGHT BE XP!

> Music ain't great in my opinion.

DQ has amazing music. This game has some weak renditions in my opinion. The CELL HQ theme song is a pretty good poster child for the worst there is, but just in general even the better music is lacking compared to the chiptunes of the GBC or the better mixes of the main series.

Maybe it's unfair, it's a DS game, I don't know, I just know I ended up just muting most of the game because it didn't sound great. I played the GBC games OSTs instead for a large portion of my playthrough. I listened to videos instead for the bulk of the game.

It's just not pleasant to me, sorry to say.

> XP!!!!!!!

I'm being a spoiled ass on this but yeah!

XP SUCKS IN THIS!

There aren't good placed to grind until you beat the game! (apparently)

The first level blatantly has too low xp which makes you grind before you can tackle the boss of the island- and the late game has you mindlessly grinding low xp rewards in order to be ready to face the final boss.

It's WEIRD!

Why is it so low!

> Tech is weird!

I could ramble on this alone but here's the short version:

DQ has a unique fantasy world aesthetic that each game has explored in its own way. It's basically "swords, magic, monsters, and charm- things feel light but aren't afraid to get scary sometimes :)"

This game... doesn't.

This game has fuckin' tech watches, jet skis, TOWER PCS????

This ISN'T dragon quest on a world building level.

It's like, contemporary modern world but with slimes.

And that could be good I guess, but it feels so fucking weird to see PCs right alongside swords and axes and a dracky.

Like... why?

It's a poor aesthetic according to my tastes. Maybe I'm an ass for that. The tech is weird.

All to say, in a poor rambling "I gotta get this out of me" kinda way, is Joker was fine.

I enjoyed breeding. I enjoyed seeing the engine. I enjoyed the unique additions like a 'hero monster'.

But I also had to grind mindlessly on a slower game.

I had to endure a story that forgot to show up until the very end.

I sat there thinking about replaying the older ones the whole time.

It was fine.

It's mediocre.

I'm glad I played it.

I'm done now :)

#RetPlays #Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker #Dragon Quest #Dragon Quest Monsters #Dragon Warrior Monsters #DQM #DWM #DQM:J #DS #Nintendo

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 114

Episode: Futari wa Precure Splash Star 16 - “Dreams, Hopes, and Kenta’s Worries!” Date watched: 20 April 2019 Original air date: 21 May 2006 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/9tLWpZb Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

Kenta overhears Avengers: Endgame spoilers

I’m not sure if Splash Star is a bit more on-the-nose with its life lessons than FW/MH were, or if I’m just more acclimated than I was when watching those seasons, but this is another episode with a very clear moral theme, and also parallels to an episode of Max Heart... and a conclusion that almost (almost) undercuts the whole thing.

Kenta is in a bit of a slump, and after some pressing from Saki, he admits that he overheard his parents having a conversation that seems to be about how they want him to take over running the boat rental shop eventually. He takes this to mean that they don’t really believe in or care about his dream of being a professional comedian, and he’s not sure what to do next. Mai mentions that her brother’s dream is to become an astronaut, which her whole family found silly at first, but when they realized he was serious, they decided to support him fully. Kenta is unconvinced, so Saki suggests they all go to Mai’s place after school and talk to Kazuya directly. Meanwhile, the Kiryuu sisters are eerily standing behind a door, listening to all of this, confused about the concept of pursuing dreams.

creepers gonna creep

Kenta doesn’t see any value in this, convinced that his dream is over and his parents don’t care, but Saki drags him along to Mai’s house anyway.

that wasn’t hyperbole, she literally drags him

The talk with Kazuya is less inspiring than they might have hoped, as he admits that his dream may not come true, but he’s got to work for it or it will definitely never come true. Kenta is still not very convinced and goes home to ruminate on it.

The next day at school, he’s still feeling down, and Saki calls him out on this. They argue for a minute and he says he’s already given up on his dream before storming off. Michiru speaks up from behind a surprised Saki to ask if she thinks dreams are really that important, because the twins don’t think they are. Kaoru starts to speak up about her own dream....

homework, sports, world destruction, you know, the usual.

You may have noticed Dorodoron creeping in the background of that shot as well. He did not go unnoticed by the sisters, and after Saki walks off he talks with the two of them and asks that they not get in his way today, as he has his own dream.... to defeat the Precure and become Akudaikaan’s right hand man.

((doubt))

Saki isn’t letting Kenta’s depression get her down though, and she goes to an extra training session after softball practice and works her heart out. Mai similarly decides to live in the moment and put her all into her drawing at the art club. Kenta watches the softball practice and cheers on Saki, starting to reconsider her words. Saki’s training is interrupted by Dorodoron of course, who has an Uzainaa made out of pipes that shoots mud. Saki is angry at him for interrupting when she was trying her hardest, which he responds to with scorn. Mai quickly appears and the pair transform. Without missing a beat, the monster shoots mudballs at them, which they block with their spirit power but are visibly weakened. Dorodoron taunts them, since he chose this time to attack thinking Saki would be weak after expending all her energy in practice. (That’s actually smart!) Unfortunately for him, he’s just pissed the girls off, and they respond that nothing is impossible for them if they never give up! Then they knock the Uzainaa on its ass before blowing it away with Twin Stream Splash. At least he tried!

After the dust settles, Saki wakes up a sleeping Kenta and he admits that watching Saki practice has reinvigorated his interest, and he vows to take the first step towards his dream that day. Saki and Mai follow him home, where he confesses to his parents that he really wants to be a comedian and he can’t take over their shop. They’re confused, because they never had any doubts about his future or any expectation that he would take over the business, and it turns out the conversation he overheard was about them leaving for a weekend vacation, where he’d be needed to man the shop, but not a permanent takeover. Oops.

MECHOKKU - wait am I allowed to say that this early?

The trio go out on the dock to absorb this information, which mainly consists of Kenta moping while Saki and Mai can’t stop laughing at his misunderstanding.

He does say, though, that this has set him on his path, and tomorrow at school he’ll take his first step toward his dream.

The next day, the two friends are wondering what Kenta’s “first step” could be as they arrive to see a crowd of students around the entrance to the school.

It turns out Kenta is in the middle, recruiting for his new Comedy Club! He makes some absolutely terrible jokes and the episode ends on a still of him laughing.

Obviously, the theme of this episode is pursuing your dreams, no matter what, and hey, even the villain gets in on it!

I can list several reasons that’s not likely to happen

They touch on a point Max Heart once made that you don’t have to know exactly where you want your life to go, just pursue your interests right now. Mai’s brother Kazuya is, as usual, a dispensary of good advice on the subject, and it’s always pleasant to see him. Maybe I’ve just seen too many misunderstanding plots lately, but I really don’t like the fake-out at the end where Kenta’s foks reveal that he misunderstood. At the very least, I wish they’d resolved the misunderstanding earlier, or started it later. Maybe have the episode start with Kenta struggling with comedy and thinking about giving it up, and then in the middle he overhears the conversation about him taking over which gets him in a downer mood. It was just super obvious to me, given his limited understanding of the situation and how vague the conversation he overheard was, that all was not as it seemed, and that undercut my ability to get invested in Kenta’s concerns. Self-doubt is a powerful feeling, and I’m all for it being explored, I just wish it came from a more emotionally resonant source.

This is mainly Kenta’s episode, but Saki has a large role in motivating him, intentionally or unintentionally. The episode opens with her at softball practice, doing catching in the outfield and missing a bunch of balls. The coach tells her to do extra practice after school, which is what she’s doing the following day when Dorodoron attacks. She’s not doing her best, which is why she vows to work hard at her goal of becoming a better softball player. It’s Saki’s drive and commitment that really helps encourage Kenta to talk to his parents and move forward in pursuing his comedic dreams. She also, to a lesser degree, encourages Mai’s artistry. That is Pink Precure Energy. There’s a particular scene that stuck out at me because of the tone and use of music, and that’s Saki’s after-training practice with her coach, catching balls in the outfield. It’s not a long montage, but it is  moving, and punctuated with a lovely song from the soundtrack called “Konjou, Konjou, de Konjou!” or “Spirit, Spirit, Lots of Spirit!” It’s a marching theme with drums and heavy brass and while it’s been used before in the show and will be used again, it stood out to me more in this scene than usual. It’s that perfect blend of visuals and music that just sells how hard Saki is working to improve herself, and in turn motivating Kenta. Give it a watch:

Michiru and Kaoru don’t have a lot to do in this episode, but they are fun when they appear. The shot of them eavesdropping on Saki, Mai, and Kenta’s conversation on the school balcony is visually interesting because of the use of distance. Not only is there a physical wall separating them, but they’re also a good distance down the walkway, which speaks to the amount of separation between them and the heroines, despite their apparent closeness. Also they’re cast in shadow, and I don’t think that’s just because they’re indoors.

Reading even more into it (probably too much, I don’t know how deep the symbolism goes here), the sliver of light on their faces may represent their growing curiosity about the Land of Greenery and its residents and their behaviors, and lack of loyalty to Dark Fall. In other words, it’s a sign of the light within them starting to shine. But again, maybe I’m reading too much into that. It’s fun to speculate though. Normally they would try to hatch a plot to undermine the girls’ dreams or otherwise disrupt their day, but today they stay out of it. Sure, it’s partly because Dorodoron asked them to, but they didn’t show any indication that they were going to launch an attack (or tell him what to do to get to them). Their observations of the humans and their kindness seem to be having an effect.

But also this bit is hilarious, when Saki is like “Don’t you two have dreams?” Michiru is like “not really” but Kaoru says “Yes” and Michiru just looks over at her in confusion, before she starts to say “My dream is to destroy -”

Michiru’s face is priceless and she quickly ushers Koaru away before she can reveal that they’re evil. Somehow Saki didn’t pick up anything.

There’s a few examples of really unique camera angles that I want to showcase real quick, but I don’t have much to say about them.

They all happen back to back and I’m not sure what the intent was except just to avoid the usual shot/reverse shot for this conversation with Kazuya.

Also you may notice that the characters are looking a little sloppy. The art is not up to par this episode, especially in the mid- and wide angles.

I remember reading somewhere that poor quality control on the artwork and a slow plot led to a ratings slump in the show that they never quite recovered from, even when the storyline picked up (around this part really). I’ll look more into that. The art is noticeable but not awful, and of course we’ve seen much worse. So much worse.

Never forget

I think I’ve exhausted everything I wanted to say about this episode. It’s a nice turning point for the show. Next time, Mai and her mother have a heart to heart. Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 0 Zekkouchou Nari. There was a “Zekkouchou” on its own, by Kenta (as part of a joke) but I’m not counting that.

Miracle Drop Count: 3

#Precure #Pretty Cure #Futari wa Precure Splash Star #FWPCSS16 #PCD114

[insfiringyou]

Which girl will be more compatible with members(as romantic couple)other than their original partner?

Please choose one person for each and reason for choosing them.

I think we've said before, but probably (from a relationship POV only as we think some of them would get on better with other people as friends)

RM and Cassandra

Jin and Nana

Suga and Min-seo

J-Hope and Ara

Jimin and Nana

V and Ji-eun

Jungkook and Ara

Namjoon would enjoy speaking English with Cassandra and appreciate that she enjoys art, architecture, poetry and is really well read, and emotionally intelligent and sensitive.

Jin is a hard one as we think he's just so perfect for Min-seo, but he has that funny side to him where he'd think she was hilarious (sometimes unintentionally so), especially when she's just in her own world, doing gardening and collecting things. He'd think she was really sweet.

Yoongi obviously has a soft spot for Min-seo (though not romantically), but we think he'd appreciate how kind and caring she was. In fact, the girl he briefly mentions dating in the new fic when he was a lot younger, we imagine, wasn't worlds away from what Min-seo is like. Just very sweet and kind. It would be a very different relationship to Jeong-sun and would bring out his more protective side. In turn, he'd lose some of that fast-paced wit and humour he has with Jeong-sun, and it would naturally feel like a more domestic relationship.

J-Hope would find Ara sweet and visually, we think she'd be the most attractive to him. We've joked before he'd also find dating Cassandra interesting as he'd love to watch her in plays and her nudity etc honestly wouldn't phase him at all (he'd barely notice).

Jimin's a hard one as we think he'd find Young-soon and Ji-eun more sexy but a bit intimidatingly so. He'd feel more comfortable with someone sweet and kind like Nana. We also think her hyperactivity would be amusing to him and he'd enjoy that side of her.

Taehyung and Ji-eun would admittedly be a disaster, but he'd get a kick out of dating someone so intelligent, beautiful, and who loves drinking as much as he does. It makes sense to us that Cass was closest to Ji-eun when they were hanging out because they'd both be quite wild at times.

Jungkook would find Ara most attractive and think she was sweet.

#bts #bts x oc #bts girlfriends #bts girlfriend #bts rm #rm #jin #bts jin #bts suga #suga #bts j-hope #j-hope #bts v #v #bts jimin #jimin #bts jungkook #jungkook

[agentnico]

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) Review

Remember when Killmonger says in Black Panther earlier this year “you think he’s your king? Nah...I’m your king!” The T-Rex in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom basically goes by that motto, well, maybe saying queen instead of king, because the animals in Jurassic Park are female.

Plot: When the island's dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen and Claire mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event.

The first Jurassic World film was fine. It didn’t recapture the magic of the original Jurassic Park, but it was an enjoyable shove-popcorn-in-your-mouth and see dinosaurs-shove-humans-in-their-mouths kind of film. Now we have the inevitable sequel which to be honest does make sense, since the first one did make over a billion at the box office, so even though it is a most definite cash grab, I do accept that in this scenario its very well founded. However now instead of Colin Trevorrow we have J.A. Bayona of A Monster Calls fame taking over the director’s chair, though Trevorrow does write the screenplay alongside Derek Connolly. But that brings me straight away to the issue of this film. It’s two different visions, the director’s and the screenwriters’, and they simply do not mesh together well. In addition, even the film’s plot-line feels like two different films. with the first half being the events on the island with Owen and Claire trying to save the dinosaurs from Pompeii, then the second half being set in Luigi’s mansion with an auction of the dinosaurs, and these two plot-lines don’t mix well together. This is mainly due to the script being very weak, having hollow dialogue, a story filled with plot holes and decisions dumber than Lloyd and Harry from Dumb and Dumber. Then there is also no escaping the fact that this film, at least partially, is a knock off of The Lost World: Jurassic Park, at least the first half, though, ironically, it is that first half that is set on the island that’s more interesting than the events that follow with the auction. From the opening scene, you are hooked and on board with the whole thing, as ridiculous as it may be, all away till they leave the island, after which the film begins to dip, and though you are still entertained, there are many dull and boring parts where I personally began to zone out. However, on a positive side, the title Jurassic World is now justified.

Again, I’d like to reiterate the part about dumb decisions, as this film is filled with them. A soldier guy walking into a cage with a dinosaur thinking he’s macho-man, well, serves the macho-man right, he’s gone and been swallowed. The T-Rex!...my gosh, the T-Rex in this movie. She’s hardly in it, but for the moments she was were unintentionally the most ludicrous and funniest things that happened on screen. So there’s this scene on the island where everything is going to sh**, and Owen, Claire and this nerdy dude get stuck face to face with this angry dino-dino-jungle animal who wants to go chomp-chomp-chomp. But low and behold, the T-Rex comes out of nowhere and saves the day by attacking the hungry dinosaur and showing who’s the real cool kid in school! Fair enough, I can accept that, the T-Rex wants to show off its dominance, alright. But then you’d think it go for Owen and the other humans. No, she just gives a good old roar and then waddles away like a duck. It’s not that funny when I just describe it, watch the film for yourself for that scene alone, the fact how anti-climactic it is truly is hilarious. And in general there are a lot of stupid decisions thrown throughout the film, and I honestly think that the reason for that is the poorly written script, as you can very much see in various parts of the film J.A. Bayona’s artistic directing style pop up here and there and shine. A great shot that comes to mind is one where this dinosaur is creeping around the bedroom of this little girl and we see a close-up of the head of this toy horse and then behind it appears the shadow of the dinosaur head which I found to be visually an interesting composition. As I said, this movie is actually filmed quite overall, it is the script that pulls it down.

It was nice to see the use of practical effects, as in this day and age so many blockbusters rely purely on CGI, and with so much CGI on-screen the result becomes visually very fake and non believable. With Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom there is also a lot of CGI which, again, at times looks very unrealistic, however there are certain scenes where animatronics are used with obviously the eyes CGI’d but as a whole being fully practical, so I very much don’t mind the use of CGI, it just looks much more perfected as when in mixture with practical effects, and this film does offer a bit of that.

Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard (now without heels) both return from the previous films, and my issue with the previous one was the fact how one-note I found both of them to be. Here however it feels like there was more progression and development to them, as they were much more interesting to watch, and even Pratt’s natural sarcastic tone has been toned down to balance with the rest of the film, and to be honest, Chris Pratt the way he is in this film is probably at his best. His relationship with the raptor Blue is also the stronghold of the entire piece. Howard is enjoyable too, however she does once again suffer from constantly being the damsel in distress, but she does also get her moment to shine. Though again the issue does arise that even though they have chemistry, Pratt’s and Howard’s relationship in this film is hard to believe, just like in the previous film. Rafe Spall and Toby Jones play the villains, and Spall does fine, however his villain is at the end of the day a generic baddie. Toby Jones is just under-used and his role could have been played by anyone. Jeff Goldblum and BD Wong both make appearances too, however their roles are so minor that if you are planning to see the film for either of them, don’t bother.

Look, at the end of the day this film has many flaws, Its all over the place and generally bland, yet for a popcorn flick its enjoyable for what it is. I mean, let’s be honest, at the end of the day you’re going to see this film for a bunch of dinosaurs, and, can’t lie, you get exactly that. But as a film Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is okay at best.

Overall score: 5/10

TOP MOVIE QUOTE: “Change is like death. You don’t know what it looks like until you’re standing at the gates.”

#jurassic world #jurassic world fallen kingdom #chris pratt #bryce dallas howard #ja bayona #colin trevorrow #jurassic park #jurassic world: falled kingdom #jurassic world fallen kingdom review #jurassic world: fallen kingdom review #jurassic world 2 #jurassic world 2 review #movie #film #2018 #2018 in film #movie reviews #film reviews #action #adventure #science fiction #dinosaurs

[nicemango-feed]

Islam & Creativity: Lamenting the Loss of Art that Could have been...

As a person of Pakistani Muslim background who dabbles in... art stuff, I’ve long been aware of the limitations imposed upon visual artists and creative types of every sort, in my motherland. 

I see the precautions and risks Pakistani film-makers take, just to film documentaries, especially if they touch on religion and extremism. 

Actors in Pakistan, once had to make sure their clothing passed ridiculous modesty standards before they could appear on TV. 

During the reign of religio-maniac dictator Zia ul Haq, women on TV were required to have headscarves on at all times, and if there was a death scene, or drowning scene, their heads simply wouldn’t be shown, to avoid the immodest picture of a woman without her headscarf. 

Unacceptable… even in death. 

Things are better now, TV wardrobe-wise, but the underlying sentiment of curtailing the imagination has not changed. 

This leashing of creativity spans the Muslim world, in varying intensities, but its everywhere in it’s uniquely oppressive, Islamic way.

I grew up in Saudi, art was pretty much non existent there…aside from a few painters in the malls who were always painting landscapes, fruit arrangements or a picture of The King. 

From Getty images, painting by Ralph Cowan

Things started to change as I grew older, and the world grew smaller through tech. With smart phones, the internet and satellite TV it was harder to control what people read, what shows they watched (words related to “royal” “prince” “king” were often muted even in cartoons when I was younger), or what music they listened to (words were commonly erased or blacked out from album covers, female singers were covered in black marker). 

Image from http://ift.tt/2iFnCar

In my last year there, I attended an “art” exhibit somewhere…something incredibly novel at the time for Saudi life. Of course all the artists being showcased were male. 

There were no figures, only geometric shapes, landscapes and Arabic calligraphy. 

“It’s a start" I thought. 

There was a time when simply having a camera out in the open in Saudi was taboo. I remember my dad having to get out of the car and hurriedly, covertly take some photos for my class project on buildings in the old part of town. 

The contradictions were so many, taking photos in the open was taboo, but there were photo developing places on every corner. Drawing figures was frowned upon as it was considered “idolatry” but the men hired to stand in malls and paint The King, over and over, were considered ok…nay, they demanded a form of idolatry from the 'loyal subjects'.. in that regard. 

It was utterly bizarre for a young questioning mind to grow up around this. I don’t regret it though, the strangeness of Saudi Arabian life has made me who I am today. I have a mixed loathing and affection for it, which i’ve discussed before, some warm fuzzy feelings of nostalgia when I hear Arabic, and also feelings of terror as I remember the morality police screaming at me. 

***

My Pakistani relatives who lived in Pakistan always looked down on life in Saudi...in terms of ‘freedom of expression’. Yes, there is no morality police there (other than the public itself), yes there are women allowed on TV without Burqas (but the burqa is revered and glorified), Yes some creativity is allowed (with many restrictions)...

But who are we kidding here? 'Freedom' is not a thing associated with the Muslim identity, unless you are lying to yourself. The more staunchly Muslim you get, the less freedom you have. Yes, this could be said about any religion...but the orthodoxy Islam commands in the average adherent is unmatched today. 

from www.kiblat.net

It is a religion more recent than the other big ones…so, it had the opportunity to plagiarize build upon already established frameworks of oppression. Coming later, gave it the chance to be more nit-picky, more controlling and more hateful than some already pretty hateful ideologies. 

***

Last year In Pakistan we saw Qandeel Baloch, a rising youtube celebrity, who simply didn’t abide by modesty codes of any sort…She was just a young person having fun, something most of us wouldn’t think twice about in the west. 

Her life was was taken, brutally, in an honour killing by her own brother. 

Before that, in 2014, we saw an iconic, elite, Pakistani popstar-turned-mullah Junaid Jamshed, be accused of blasphemy himself… for having a casual tone and 'poking fun at Ayesha', the prophet Mohammed's wife (in an albeit sexist manner, but the sexism is not what pissed the stauncher mullahs off).

The irony... of someone who's a critic of secularism himself, a proponent of hardline Islam, being accused of blasphemy.

It just goes to show that this blasphemy-beast isn’t satisfied, no matter how religious you are. It is flawed in its humaneness obviously, and strategically...in the sense that it can be turned around and used against anyone -even those who favour and defend it. 

There will always be someone more religious to look down upon you.

Sadly, Junaid Jamshed died late 2016 in a plane crash…and even the way Pakistanis wanted to remember him was judged, monitored and Islamized. 

Request to TV channels- Pl don't show Junaid Jamshed's music life that he had left many years ago. Remember him as a  preacher of Islam.

— Ansar Abbasi (@AnsarAAbbasi) December 7, 2016

He was a huge 80s pop icon once. 

Yes, we lost his creative mind to religion later in his life, but he was just one more, silenced. 

Preacher later in life or not, this was no reason to control how people remembered him. 

To demand their memories of him as a singer be wiped clean, and he be remembered only as a 'holy man' not as a ‘disgraceful entertainer’ is absurd. 

He died as a preacher. But shameless pak media will try to portray him a music star@AnsarAAbbasi

— Mazhar Khan (@shanglians) December 7, 2016

The depths religion wants to get its claws into is frightening. They even want to rewrite history, to satisfy the faith, and they have the media power to do so.

***

Taher Shah, unintentionally hilarious Pakistani singer, was also forced to leave the country because of threats. I'm not sure how he's even controversial. He's like one of those singers you see in the auditions of America's got Talent, that don’t make it through… but they’re so bad….it’s good. 

The Mullahs, they won't even let us have cringeworthy stuff.

Art-policing transcends geographical borders too, it has affected many religious communities… 

But none quite like the muslim community. 

Salman Rushdie, Charlie Hebdo, and countless other examples...The most recent of which is anger and offense directed towards 'The Real Housewives of ISIS'

…a comedy bit specifically mocking *terrorist group* ISIS, is seen to be offensive to Muslims by many. It's sad, really. 

This type of reaction over something like the mockery of ISIS is disheartening and depressing. What kind of place are we in if people of Muslim background cannot partake in and enjoy skewering extremists, especially in the political climate of today, where Muslims are under scrutiny, where they are at times unfairly generalized as extremists…why would you want to blur those lines further…? 

http://ift.tt/2jw68hK

Its time for us…specifically people of Muslim background to laugh..to ridicule the parts that need to be ridiculed. It is our voices that will hold more weight than any other…it will be our voices that can change the narrative, convince children of tomorrow not to go down that path. 

***

Maybe someday, we can have our own Book of Mormon - and hopefully everyone will get to keep their heads afterwards! 

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A special thanks to Vladimir, Ritchie, Rob, David, Charlie, Peter, Sean & Ruthless.

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[cherry-valentine]

Summer 2020 Anime Season

What I’m Watching:

Deca Dence is one of the better shows this season, probably the best one that started fresh this summer. It has a very strange setup that I won’t detail very much here to avoid spoilers. It’s strange in that it’s a fairly unique twist and in that they waited until episode two to actually drop that particular bomb (whereas most anime would definitely try to cram it into episode one). The bare bones premise of episode one is that there is a huge, mobile fortress that contains some of the last remnants of humanity as they try to survive in an apocalyptic world overrun by monsters of unknown origin that range in size from tiny insects to huge kaiju. A young girl named Natsume dreams of being one of the warriors who fight the monsters, but is instead given the lowly job of armor maintenence, where she meets the older, gruff Kaburagi whom she learns was once a famed warrior. Natsume’s relationship with Kaburagi sets off the actual plot, but the story takes several turns that I honestly didn’t see coming. The series is quite violent, with literally tons of monster blood flowing and plenty of human death, but it maintains an overall upbeat, adventurous feel, with some well-done humor and genuinely touching moments. The art is colorful and bright, with some truly impressive animation. It clearly has high production values. Natsume is a fun character (even if we’ve seen characters like her many times before). She’s your typical optimistic, never-give-up, spunky sort of girl but she works really well as a hero in this kind of story and is generally entertaining to watch. Kaburagi is also a fun character that we’ve seen the likes of before (the stern former soldier type with a heart of gold). Overall a great series and very high on my watch list.

Gibiate is an oddity. It’s a series that had the potential to be top tier. I mean this show could have been not only the best of the season, but possibly the best of the year. It has gorgeous character designs by Yoshitaka Amano. The voice acting is top notch. And the premise is awesome: In 1600, a samurai and a ninja are both suddenly transported to a modern, near future Japan that has been completely ravaged by a disease that turns humans into powerful, grotesque monsters. They fall in with a small group of survivors that have gathered around a couple of scientists and a doctor who are working on a cure. Sure, it’s not 100% original, but it’s an exciting premise that results in some great samurai and ninja action. The problem is, for all the show’s great ideas, the execution is totally flubbed. For starters, the animation budget is obviously quite a lot smaller than it needed to be. What should have been thrilling battles of katana and shuriken on monster violence end up just being sort of bland. Too many cut corners. The writing also suffers, with often nonsensical dialogue and character behaviors that are so illogical that they end up being unintentionally hilarious. A good example of this is how practically everyone in the group of survivors just takes the fact that these two guys are time travelers from the past totally in stride. Hardly anyone is surprised at all or even questions it. The show tries to dismiss the stupidity of this by having one character say, “Well we have these monsters running around so why not have people traveling here from the past?” Which is still dumb because he’s a doctor who has been studying the virus and knows how it works, scientifically. But he has no questions for the guys who show up out of nowhere claiming to be from 1600? Another example would be how the samurai and ninja react to modern technology. Basically, there’s very little reaction. They don’t even react to a freaking helicopter! They should be losing their minds over this stuff! Still though, despite the show’s many shortcomings, there remains a small nugget of greatness. I can almost imagine how fantastic this show would have been with decent production values. And because I can see that potential, I’m still watching and I’m actually enjoying it very much. The characters, poorly written as they are, somehow remain interesting. The visuals, despite being sabotaged by clunky animation, are still appealing. I know it’s strange to watch and enjoy a series because of what it COULD have been, rather than what it IS, but here we are. Surprisingly high on my watch list.

Koi to Producer is an otome series with very pretty art and a supernatural plot. It’s based on a Chinese phone game that I’ve never played but sounds a lot like Mystic Messenger in how the game is played. It follows a young woman trying to produce a television show about various rumors, urban legends, etc. who gets mixed up in the world of Evolvers (humans who have developed special powers). Of course four of these Evolvers are handsome single men who are very successful and clearly attracted to her. She also ends up becoming a target of Black Swan, a shady group studying Evolvers. The show is somewhat plot-heavy, in that it tends to focus a bit more on the overarching story than on the romance. This is fine by me. The men are handsome, but two of them look a little too similar to each other, making it hard to tell them apart when they’re both in the same scene. It’s nice that the heroine is an adult and a big part of the story is about her career, but other than that she’s a bit bland and could be switched out for any other bland otome heroine and no one would notice. So far the series has hinted at an interesting back story for her so I’ll just have to hope it follows through on that. I’m enjoying the show because it’s pleasant to look at and not boring, but it’s the lowest title on my watch list.

Appare Ranman is my overall favorite of the season, which is ironic because it actually began last season. It was put on hiatus due to the pandemic and resumed this season. If you remember the old cartoon Wacky Races, this is basically the anime version of that. It focuses largely on two Japanese men who end up stuck in California after some crazy hijinks: Appare, an aloof and eccentric mechanical genius, and Kosame, a straight-laced but genuinely kind samurai who had been given the thankless job of keeping Appare in line. Broke and lost in an unfamiliar land, the two of them decide to enter a cross-country race and use the prize money to get back to Japan. Along the way they meet a whole cast of wild, crazy, and fun characters (including my favorite, the lovely, badass, and determined Jing Xialian, the only woman in the race, who had to fight against sexism and discrimination just to get the opportunity to drive in the race). The series has a very fun vibe, but has enough serious moments to keep it from being a straight up comedy (the aforementioned discrimination felt very realistic, and at least two characters are still suffering emotional trauma from losing family members to violence when they were children). One of my favorite aspects is Appare himself. He pays absolutely no mind to social norms and doesn’t care in the slightest what anyone thinks of him. This resulted in his family back in Japan being ashamed of him and everyone else viewing him as a weirdo. But Appare doesn’t mind any of that, and happily pursues his dreams. An interesting scene early on is when Jing is grappling with the fact that she’ll never be accepted as a racer because she’s a woman. She’s clearly in emotional turmoil. Kosame, who is the kinder, more compassionate of the two leads, can’t really help her. He can sympathize with her plight, but his own rigid regard for social norms prevents him from telling Jing to just go ahead and be a racer, society and their expectations be damned. It’s Appare, the guy who seemingly has very little regard for, or interest in, other people, who encourages Jing to follow her dreams. To Appare, there’s absolutely no reason why Jing can’t be a racer. The fact that society refuses to accept her means nothing. Jing has the skill to be a racer. She should be a racer. The scene did a lot to endear Appare to me. Aside from great characters (and there are so many that I can’t possibly mention them all here), the animation and design work are amazing. The characters as well as the vehicles look fantastic. The music is also great, with my favorite opening and ending themes of the season. If you want totally fun and wild romp, you can’t go wrong with this series.

Carry Over Shows From Previous Seasons: Black Clover Ahiru no Sora Major 2nd Season 2

Best of Season: Best New Show: Appare Ranman Best Opening Theme: Appare Ranman Best Ending Theme: Appare Ranman Best New Male Character: Appare (Appare Ranman) Best New Female Character: Jing Xialian (Appare Ranman)

#Anime #Anime Reviews #Seasonal Anime #Anime Recommendations #Summer 2020 Anime #Appare Ranman #Deca Dence #Text