Just out of curiosity I have two questions for those of you on relatively familiar terms with me.

1. Do you have Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire?
2. If you answered yes to the above, have you reached the Battle Resort?

I'm ALMOST done completing my stable of Steel types. I just need two of them to learn a couple move tutor attacks exclusive to these games. I have one friend who is close but I'm a little impatient so I'm curious if there's anybody else. XD

Watch this and tell me is you agree.

https://youtu.be/Ay-IUE6WlAo

I'm still interested in it but I'm really not fond of the look. I honestly think it looks worse than SF4 on current gen. I think the major reason being it looks like it's trying to hard to look "real". It may be textures or something. Regardless, I like Street Fighter because of the bright, cartoony character designs. I like them from SF2 through Alpha and SF3 and that toony spirit was still prevalent in SF4. Here though? I don't know. It looks off to me. The fact that Guilty Gear Xrd has such vibrant 3D models may also be a factor. Like, these should look more Akin to Xrd's models but instead it's a sort of bland, slightly ugly middle ground between Xrd's full on anime aesthetic and Killer Instinct's commitment to dark and edgy. Street Fighter V is a long way off but for now I don't like the art direction.

Also, the presence of Hakan is going to be a major deal-breaker for me. He had better be on the friggin' roster or I'm going to be livid.

Title says it all!

First things first, I recently discovered that there is going to be a Masterpiece Ultra Magnus and not just an Optimus recolor! Check it out!

http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers.....photos-180411/

Ultra Magnus is one of my all time fave transformers, so seeing this I think I've just decided what I want for my B-day in January. Dear god...just look at it. Bask in its glory, it's magnificence!

On another tangent, I found these. Now whenever I read Swerve he sounds like John Mulaney in my head. Even better, if you've read MTMTE, don't you think these sound EXACTLY like things Swerve would get himself into? XD

https://youtu.be/WbKsZZ_B9NI
https://youtu.be/LcPBlR4xuV8

I might do a top 5 fave G1 bot list. x3

So, I finally got around to typing my thoughts on what comics I read in November. There will likely be some spoilers. Also, you'll hear me mention Axis a lot. If you don't know, Axis is a Marvel story event where heroes and villains have basically had their alignments reversed due to actual magic. That's all your really need to know. Also I'd love to see some comments. Either to discuss stuff we've read or just to share what you've read and I haven't so I get a sense of what others think. I just hope to see some talking.

Marvel

-All New Captain America #1: Among all the various changes and status quo shenanigans, Captain Falcon was the one I was most curious about and thought made the most sense. I was a little wary because while I really liked Remender's work on X-Force and Venom, I really dislike most every other hero book he's tackled lately and I HATED Remender's first Cap. Thankfully this run is off to a much more promising start. It's a super solid introductory issue. It's about as good as one could hope for. We get some great action as Sam shows what he can do. There's some airborne acrobatics, a little comedy, a good tussle with Batroc the Leaper and even a pretty nice teaser ending with Zemo. Even better is this book seems to largely be ignoring the Axis event which is good because Sam is acting like tremendous prick in that story. Not a good side to show off the new Cap. Immonen absolutely kills it with the art as I expected him too. He's one of Marvel's best artists currently and his presence should definitely give this book a nice bump. As long as Remender doesn't dip into the moronic bickering that made me drop Uncanny Avengers, this could be a real winner.

I only wish Sam didn't need to take the mantle of Captain America to get this ongoing. Sam is a cool enough hero to merit having his own book and his personality could use some defining since he was kind of plain until Brubaker took a crack at him. Either way, Marvel expanding the universe by giving a B-lister a push is always great. But taking Steve's place honestly feels like a demotion to me and it has me wondering what will happen when Steve eventually returns to form. Passing the Shield and the title at least makes sense here, especially since Sam Wilson And Steve Rogers have been frequent teammates. But Sam was his own hero with his own identity and now he's been forced into a shadow he honestly has no hope of stepping out of. Captain America is Steve Rogers like Batman is Bruce Wayne, and as awesome as it was and as much sense as it made for Dick Grayson to take the cowl, it wasn't going to last. I feel this will be the same. Hopefully Falcon gets a character defining run and joins the A-listers as a result of this. In the meantime I'm looking forward to #2.

-Avengers #38: Sometimes I really winder why I keep getting this book. If not for the fact it's part of Hickman's overarching Avengers story, I would have probably dropped it by now. Sometimes Avengers has some great issues but lately, ever since Infinity, this ongoing has largely felt like a supplemental book the real story happening in New Avengers. Sometimes there's a sense of progress or little character moments, like the last couple issues, but then you got issues like this one which feel like almost nothing but somewhat pretentious sci-fi concepts and talking heads spewing exposition. It took me five minutes to remember what even happened in this book. When I remembered I was like "oh yeah...nothing". Expect for the last panel with Shang-Chi

-Inhuman #8: The conclusion to the wacky adventures of Black Bolt and Maximus. And my god is it an anticlimax. After the rather good last issue, to see everything resolved so suddenly and easily is nothing short of a let down. Also the ending REALLY rubbed me the wrong way and tells me Charles Soule may not have as good a grip on characterization here as he does on DC titles like Red Lantern and Swamp Thing. Major spoiler but after breaking free of mind control, Black Bolt blows Maximus' hands to smithereens and lets him fall off a cliff, leaving him for dead. I'm an Inhumans fan and the first word that came to mind when I saw this was "Betrayal!". Black Bolt loves his brother despite being well aware of how Maximus is and how much he hated by him. He also feels responsibility and guilt over Maximus state of mind because Black Bolt thinks he may be responsible for it. He's let Maximus off with nothing after doing so much worse. This just feels wrong. don't even have Stegman's good line work to fall back on to enjoy this issue.

Inhuman is a book I'm rooting for but it's just having such a bitch of a time getting traction. Between Fraction jumping ship and that hack Joe Mad dropping off after 3 issues it had an uphill battle but there's no sign of it ever finding it's footing. There are so many disparate pieces in play here, none of them seem to have any connection and nothing happening feel like it has any real reason to happen. Inhuman is a book where stuff just happens. Not to mention it's hamstrung by it's attempt at making the Inhumans ersatz X-men since the story focus is split in half between the new guys and the royal family. Frankly, the bits with the new Inhumans don't interest me for the same reason the X-men don't interest me: I don't really care about normal people whining about how they're suddenly different, even if it does make more sense with Inhumans than mutants. Even if they weren't present though the royal family wouldn't be any better off. Part of the appeal of the Inhumans in the culture clash when modern society meets the very foreign and alien Inhuman society. That aspect is largely absent. People are just pissed Attilan is parked in New York. The other appeal is how the Inhuman Royal Family is like a darker, more mysterious Fantastic Four. They work best in stories ans as characters in a group and that's not here either since the Royal Family is in pieces. Black Bolt and Maximus are more involved with the Illuminati, Karnak is dead, Crystal hasn't even been mentioned and Triton has been relegated to background cameos. That just leaves Medusa and Gorgon who just can't carry the weight themselves. And now I know next issue is an Axis tie-in. I suspect it'll be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

-Moon Knight #9: Brian Wood is doing a admirable job trying to fill the shoes of the peerless Warren Ellis. It's futile of course but the book is still an enjoyable noir style read that has some nice mystical/surrealist trappings that's also managed to keep to it's own corner of the Marvel universe. Three issues into Wood's book and it's clear he's opting for an overarching narrative rather than the "one and done" stories Ellis was doing which is both a good and a bad thing. Regardless it's still a good read and Smallwood's art it quite a nice fit for the book as well. There's not a lot of action in this story and the framing device of having a spectator see Marc's hallucinations seems a bit ridiculous but I can let it slide.

-New Avengers #26: Kind of a low key episode. Just a fair amount of talking and set-up. There's some Dr. Doom involved though which makes me happy. Dr. Doom is awesome to begin with but Hickman writes a goddamn brilliant Doom. The main focus of this issue though seemed to be the addressing of what's happened to Tony Stark in the span of the time skip. Important, but also kind of a shame because I read this before Superior Iron Man and learned through New Avengers that Tony is in the "Axis persona" as it were. Decent issue. Talking heads again but it felt relevant.

-New Avengers #27: More exciting than the last one and there's some serious intersection with the happenings from Avengers. It's just more reaffirmation that New Avengers is where the good story is. This was awesome. We see what Dr. Strange is up to, there's more Dr. Doom and a sweet smackdown with the Black Priests from earlier as well as a significant revelation. Thor also got a proper showing by using a alternate universe Mjolnir he swiped off Evil Thor. Badass. Seems kind of funny to me that Hickman of all people is throing the Thor fans a bone, but I digress. This issue has me super hyped for whatever happens in the next issue.My only real gripe with this issue was the art. I personally can't stand Kudranski's art. It just seems so close to normal looking and is mundane as a result. That's personal taste really.

-Silver Surfer #7: Silver Surfer continues to be my favorite current ongoing that Marvel is putting out. Dan Slot has always entertained me. Silver Surfer since the beginning has always been going for a deliberate Silver Age kind of corny vibe and the end result is fantastic. It tells its own little stories in 3 issues or less, they're fun and don't take themselves to seriously and are completely isolated from whatever crappy event is going on. This issue is actually a Surfer recollecting several past adventures with co-lead Dawn Greenwood that we haven't seen. They're short and sweet and the reason for the recollections is good too, also resolving in a cute, fun way. As far as I'm concerned, this series is a must read, especially if you want more fun and adventure in your comics,and this issue is just as good a jumping on point as any. The only reason I can understand somebody not looking into this one is Michael Allred is the artist. His pop-art aesthetic is very polarizing and I may adore his stye, I can easily see how it may not be everyone's cup of tea, and that's perfectly fair.

-Superior Iron Man #1: This book was...interesting. I'm not sure what to make of it. Apparently after Axis is done, Iron Man somehow gets away with leaving this new "evil" persona intact. Odd that they're kind of spoiling the still ongoing Axis event, but whatever. I've seen dumber. All I know is the best way I can describe this book is I think the idea is interesting but I have no idea how this could be an ongoing. The gist is due to Axis, Tony has been turned into the ultimate slimy, self-absorbed, douche-bag corporate CEO. I mean, that's always been Tony to some extent, but he's always had some affable and noble qualities to round him out generally. This book has essentially pitched those qualities out the window and cranked the rest up to eleven. Iron Man has a hard enough time carrying a solo book and I'm just not sure who wanted to read a book about the most detestable guy imaginable. That's like a concept you do for a mini-series. Not to mention the plot device is kind of goofy. Tony makes an app that makes people gorgeous somehow. He behaves like it's free but then turns it off saying it was just a trial period and it'll cost $100 a day to stay beautiful. What really demolishes my suspension of disbelief is it seems nearly everybody loses their shit and craves this app like a drug, as if all of society were really that shallow but even more than that, at one point we see a gang of app-made supermodels literally roaming the streets, trying to weed out "the uglies". You got to be kidding me.

-Superior Iron Man #2: I just had to read more and see where this goes. Apparently Tony is now such an insufferable douche-nozzle that he doesn't even star in his own book. This is Daredevil's show. Almost the entire issue is Matt calling out Tony on his bullshit and getting his ass kicked. Also, there's a point where Iron Man blackmails a guy with the welfare of his son, all so that he can look good to a crowd. Can you see why I have a hard time understanding the desire to read this? This new Iron Man is a villain, and not even a remotely likable or interesting one. He's that asshole from Robocop, or that asshole in Aliens. They Weyland-Yutani guy. I don't like heroes acting like villains usually. I didn't like it in Civil War and I sure as shit don't like this. Also, There's a thing that happens to Daredevil at the end. This has happened to him before so if they try to portray him as all conflicted about what to do, I'm out, because it was a no-brainer for him before when more was at stake.

-Thor #2: This should have been the #1 right here. It was so moronic how after all this buzz , hype and controversy about She-Thor that she only appeared in the last goddamn panel of the first issue. That's not how you debut your new character. Anyway, I thought the first issue was abysmal and while I think this issue is better it's only by the slightest of margins. We see She-Thor kick some butt and that's about it. The book still puts my ability to suspend disbelief to the limits though, adding more problems to what already happened last issue. That's the least of its worries though. Here's the whole problem with this book right now. It's operating on the idea that it's a mystery who the new hammer-bearer is. However, that means they aren't being too forthcoming with significant characterization. In this book, She-Thor talks out loud in stereotyped ye-olde dialogue but has this normal sounding internal monologue that constantly reacting at her own actions. Like, all her inner dialogue is phrases like "I can't believe I did that!", "How did I know that?", "Well that was certainly a thing", and so on. The big problem right now is that we as readers have absolutely no reason to care about this person. We know nothing about her character or even her personality or her motives. We have no reason to like for her or even root for outside the fact she's big, mean frost giants. If you want to debut a character, this is not how to do it. If you want a good example on how to debut a new character, look at Kamala Khan, the new Ms Marvel. Only decent thing I can say about this book is the art is okay. Dauterman is decent and in particular he uses onomatopoeia in a very cool and powerful way. Like, the sounds made by these godly heroics are so powerful they nearly have physical presence. Dauterman needs to stop with the teeth gritting face though. It looks more like the people are having a leaf blower pointed at their faces.

I was skeptical of this launch but I'm open minded and was willing to give it a chance because I generally like Jason Aaron books. I seriously think he's being disingenuous when he says he panned this all along because I doesn't fit at all with anything that happened in "God of Thunder" and the writing is so half-assed I almost can't believe it's Aaron writing it. This feels like it has editorial interference all over it. I'll give it a little longer but patience is basically already spent. Granted this was on thin ice with me to begin with. This really has all the feel of a shallow marketing/PR stunt to boost sales and will probably be irrelevant in less than five years. It's an uninteresting story concept using about the most derivative hero idea there is to push a "brand new" hero is so bland and uninteresting that they decided the best way to give her a push was to subject her predecessor to character assassination. If you're hero is so uninteresting that your primary way to promote them is to make their predecessor go from noble, self-sacrificing protector to pathetic depressed asshole, I have serious doubts that your new hero is worth reading about. Supposedly Thor and She-Thor will have a run in for issue #4. I swear, if Thor, the real Thor, is still in drunken douche-nozzle Axis mode, I'm done. I know Thor jobs a lot. As a Thor fan you come to term with that. Still, this time it seems especially cynical and disrespectful.

DC

-Multiversity: Pax Americana: Ah Grant Morrison, how you conflict me so. Morrisson is a writer you love or hate and both positions are probably for the exact same reasons. I personally find Morrison's work to be more trouble to read than it's worth. He's the "idea guy" which is his strength but also his weakness. He can come up with story hooks and themes I've never thought of before but sometimes he goes so overboard with ideas that his stories lack characters. Instead, everybody just become mouthpieces to spout concepts that ultimately have little importance or meaning. On the other hand, if Morrison scales back the weirdness, he can make some brilliant goddamned writing and he's responsible for some of my favorite comics. Multiversity has been generally enjoyable to me thus far because, first issue aside, he's reigning in the weird. Sadly, Pax Americana breaks the mold and Grant decides to go Full-Morrison. I still have no idea what the point of this book was. I don't know what the story was. What was in the pages seemed to just be Morrison tackling the major themes of Watchmen in 40 pages in reverse chronological order. If that sounds bad, I think it's even worse in execution. There are no characters here, just ideas and themes and people talking about them. There's no arc here than I can discern so I just don't know what the point was. If there's any saving grace it's Frank Quitely's art. I love his art and it delivers here to be sure. Sad fact is, even if I knew beforehand I'd hate this book, I'd buy it anyway. Morrison and Quitely are a creative team I just buy on principle. Still, hated this issue and dying to read the next one which is Captain Marvel/Shazam themed.

Others

-Annihilator #3: And here we have another Morrison book. Remember what I just said above in Pax Americana in regards to my thoughts on Morrison? Well here's a great example of what happens when Grant doesn't go Full-Morrison. I need to share the backdrop from the last two issues because it's just too damn cool. Annihilator has been a phenomenal read. The main idea behind it is movie writer Ray Spass decides to write a space horror about a black hole. However he's dying from a brain tumor. Surprisingly ends up getting visited by the main character in his unfinished script, Max Nomax, who can't recall how he got there. He says the tumor is actually some metaphysical autobiography and it'll explain the events that lead to his arrival and that by getting the details out his head, Spass can make the "tumor" go away. It's really out there but it really works here for a couple reasons. Firstly, Max and Ray are very fun characters to watch interact and have a really fun odd couple chemistry. The other reason it works is because by merit of the main character having a brain tumor, there's a near constant blurring of the line between reality and fantasy. The whole situation is surreal and sometimes horrifying and the mystery is being slowly unraveled at an enjoyable pace. Every issue increases answers provided and horrors presented and as such this is the strongest issue yet. None of this would be as good as it is though without the phenomenal art by Frazier Irving. I love the surreal vibe of his work. It's beyond description and here it really elevates the material. Search Frazier Irving art. Trust me.

-Grendel vs.The Shadow #3: The conclusion to the fun little romp between a pulp icon and that despicable bastard Hunter Rose. I like Hunter Rose Grendel stories more for the noir style of the tales happening in the world itself than because of Hunter himself. He may be cool, but he's also heartless and despicable. The Shadow on the otherhand is a character I find cool but have no real interest in. For a book with two leads I don't actually like, this whole run has been a really fun little adventure. We get to see the manipulations and maneuvers that happen when a heartless, ruthless mob boss/assassin clashes with a heartless, ruthless vigilante. It's just pure fun. This issue was a great ending to it all with a plot twist I honestly didn't really see coming. It's also a great primer for both title leads, really doing a good job conveying what each character is about at their core. Wagner's writing is spot on and his art is always a pleasant sight to behold, always evoking a strong noir vibe and, in this case, art deco. It's just a really fun mini that I strongly recommend checking out.

-Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #35: Ah, a new arc for the best Transformers run in years. If there is one comic I'm always most excited about, it's More Than Meets the Eye. I will say this right now. If you like good comic that have high minded concepts rooted in grouded character pieces, that can mix comedy as well as drama and stellar art, you should be reading this ongoing. It's not just a great Transformer comic. It's a great comic in general. James Roberts is writing what may be the greatest Transformers comic of all time.

So, fangasm aside, I really can't talk to much about plot points in this book because the details would require more writing than I feel like doing. All I know is that the possible directions the story could go are numerous. This is a story arc that has a great deal of potential. I get the same feelings at the start of this like I did at the beginning of a past arc called Shadowplay, and that arc was fucking phenomenal. Not to mention, despite Megatron reforming and going on adventures in space bumping elbows with Autobots, we haven't seen him interacting much with the group leaders Rodimus and Ultra Magnus. I hope this next arc changes that especially since Magnus was basically appointed Megatron's lawyer at his trial and the two interacting has so much potential for great character moments. Hell, we had one this issue! Megs had a minor mental breakdown. It was hilarious and when it was over, Magnus gave him a pat on the back asking if he felt better. That all sounds bonkers by the way. I bet reading that makes you want to know more which is testament to just how interesting, different, exciting and downright creative this book is. It's got the great characterization of the 90s Justice League international with the high-brow science fiction weirdness one would expect from something like Doctor Who, a 2000AD book or some other adequately British sci-fi media. Which reminds me, there was wink nudge Judge Dredd robots in this issue. God this series is so much fun.

Buy this book now!

Like seriously, can anybody make heads or tails of this? I don't know myself, but I think I like it? Maybe?

https://youtu.be/ithZmwEebVA

Is this what DMT makes you see? >.=.>

Over a year ago I tried doing little bite-size reviews of comic issues on twitter. Never got much attention or discussion started so I stopped. But considering all the happenings on lately I'm getting the itch to just start talking about them again but not on twitter because fuck that place. I'm gonna do them hear. Nothing long. Just little blurbs going over what comics I read in a certain time span. That leaves me to wonder though. For those of you who actually give a damn, do you think it would be better to talk about books on a weekly basis or a monthly one? I'm leaning more towards Monthly because the list will be more consistent. Comic release schedules could give me some weeks where I talk about a lot and other weeks where there's nothing to talk about. Still, what do you think?

On a tangential note, today I flipped through the new Sam Nova issue and was overwhelmed with the most sublime sense of shadenfreude as I saw him get utterly wrecked. A berserk Hulk derivative shattered his arm like a saltine cracker before a two-page spread (something I usually hate) devoted entirely to Sam getting punched in the face so fucking hard he was sent roaring from New York to Paris where he collided head first into the Eiffel Tower. It was so embarrassingly pathetic I almost felt sorry for the little Gary Stu. Almost.

I still hate the little turd but I'll give him some credit for holding his ground when so hopelessly outmatched. Stupid, but brave.

Pretty self explanatory. I only ask because I may need a favor in the future. The gist of it is I saw the leaked Move Tutor list. I've got almost all the pokemon I want, bred and ready to raise. Some though would have been missing moves I really wanted. In particular I want to teach Ice Punch to my Metagross and Knock Off to my Bisharp. I know at least one person is getting it and said he's willing to help me in that regard but he's not sure when since he's not sure how obsessively he'll be playing. I'm just curious how many of you plan to get one of these games so I can have multiple avenues to get my monsters just how I like.

Thanks! <3

I just saw this on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Transformers-Movie-Original-Motion-Picture/dp/B00HNYDHBU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415426436&sr=8-1&keywords=transformers+movie+soundtrack

Now, read the track listing and answer me this: What is the point of releasing a Transformers Movie soundtrack without the Stan Bush tracks? No "Dare"? No "The Touch"?! Are you fucking kidding me? I'm legitimately baffled!

And for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, sit down and listen, and understand and your ears feast on the greatest song to ever be made...ever. Like, for reals.

https://youtu.be/AZKpByV5764

Lots of people seemed to dig the Pumpkin TF sequence from Halloween. It's no secret I adore the produce hybrid transformations, bizarre as they are. Just wondering now, because I want some ideas, what kind of fruit or vegetable hybrid would you guys want to see me turn into next?

I know it's trending this week but this is such a phenominal piece of work I think everybody should see it. Not band-wagoning. I just adore this. The song, the animation, the characters, everything. Bought the album off amazon the day I heard this.

https://youtu.be/YlEb3L1PIco

I tear up at 3:19 without fail. ;.=.;

I've been in a funk for the last 24 hours. You'll probably laugh but I don't care. I need to get this off my chest...

In the span of three torturous issues of Guardians of the Galaxy, Brian Michael Bendis has managed to spit in the face of continuity, demonstrate a staggering amount of storytelling incompetence, and drag through the mud my hero, Richard Rider, Nova Prime. His legacy has been insulted, demeaned, and he's still MIA or dead. This has taken its toll on me.

This shouldn't hurt me as much as it does. Even I think it's a little silly, but goddamn it, Nova means more to me than I could possibly articulate. I discovered him in probably one of the lower points in my life. Something about his character spoke to me and his ability to constantly overcome adversity in the face of overwhelming odds coupled with his charismatic personality and impossibly self-sacrificing heroism and compassion was a tremendously uplifting force during the first time I very nearly broke. I don't care how ridiculous it sounds. Nova is important to me.

Richard Rider is my hero. I don't care if he's fictional. His stories move me and raise my spirits to a place they rarely go anymore, a place where I can sincerely, for a little while at least, believe in the human capacity for compassion and good. Hope is such a rare commodity nowadays.

And so now I'm left waiting, hoping the old adage that nobody stays dead in comics comes true again so that one day Richard Rider will return with a good writer and I can once again believe in something better.

http://static.comicvine.com/uploads....._deodato20.jpg

For the Nova Corps.

Was planning to talk about this in audio but something happened today that really killed my mood. Feeling too numb now to want to bother. You may find out tomorrow if I have the heart to talk about it. Instead I'm just going to ramble off some bullet points.

-I hope the non-sequels aren't just used as set-up material for Avengers 3. I want these to be self contained where the title characters shine.

-Really glad to see Marvel making films of less prominent characters. My hero preferences lie more to fringe characters so seeing movies made about B and C listers is exciting.

-Inhumans is by far the most exciting prospect to me. I love the Inhumans. However I think it also has the most potential to be bad or at the very least, less likely to make everybody happy. Doing a film all about the royal family would be awesome, but also hard since Inhuman culture is so foreign to the rest of he human race. On the flip-side, rumor is since marvel doesn't have the movie rights to the X-Men they're trying to turn the Inhumans into ersatz mutants. This can work too and would honestly work better for a discrimination angle better than the X-Men ever did but I'd be bummed if it was at the expense of prioritizing Black Bolt and his family. For the record, I was never very fond of the X-men. I don't think they really "work" as part of the Marvel shared universe.

-I love the Inhumans so if there's anything about them you're curious about, please, ask me. I'd love to discuss it.

-Black Panther almost has me as excited as Inhumans. Blaack Panther is a badass. Being a king of a thriving African nation as well as a hero gives him a great dynamic. He's just so cool.

-Doctor Strange should be exciting as long as they don't puss out with how far they take the magic stuff. The comics at their best can be incredibly trippy sometime. I think a Doc Strange movie shout flirt with the style of somebody like David Lynch.

-Captain Marvel is a good call since Carol has basically been a staple of the Avengers for some time now and she's a pretty cool character. Beyond that I don't have any real enthusiasm thought because I'm not especially invested in Carol. Mostly because her arguably definitive Avengers stories were largely penned by Brian Michael Bendis, and anybody who knows my tastes in comics knows how I feel about Bendis and his writing.

-Guardians 2, nuff said. Just stay fun please.

-I'm sure Captain America: Civil War will have about as much to do with the comic story as Avengers: Age of Ultron will to it's namesake. That is to say, little to nothing. At least I'm hoping so, because while I can't deny the narrative impact Civil War had on Marvel comics, the fact of the matter is I really hated Civil War. A lot.

-Thor 3 will hopefully be better than Thor 2. Stay off Earth please. Start dipping into cosmic drama and high fantasy like the best Thor stories do. And get Thor over this love-sick, bleeding heart crap. Showcase him as the proud and righteous badass he really is. Take a cue from Simonson. And please for the love of god, don't mirror the comics and start up some "Unworthy" bull crap.

-Avengers 3 is likely for the best. If it's going to encapsulate all the properties up to that point, there are going to be so many characters and movies parts that I'd expect even a 2.5 hour movie to be a disaster trying to accommodate them. Even though it's titled Infinity War like the 90s event, it's in all likelihood The Infinity Gauntlet. Infinity War would require Adam Warlock and the Magus being established which I doubt will ever happen in film. Other than that, War just sounds better for a title.

Tangentially...

-Fuck Bendis. I don't think I've ever hated a writer as much as I hate him. I try to keep people and their product as separate entities. I feel that's an important thing to be able to do to enjoy things in life. Bendis may be a cool guy in real life but his writing and it's lack of respect for characterization and continuity is so insulting to me. It seems so contemptuous of anybody who invests in these characters as creators or as enthusiasts. I hate Bendis, and I hate the tremendous influence he has. He's a hack writer. Hopefully he's regarded with disdain in the future among others like Liefeld. One can hope.

-And fuck Sam Alexander too. I don't think the abhorrent little prick is long for publication. He's already dipping under the 25k threshold. Been there a while too. Nobody likes you Sam. Richard Rider sold more of his final issue than you will this month I bet.

Welp, here it is. Released yesterday apparently. Now enjoy watching and listening to Marvel taking advantage of that Disney license!

https://youtu.be/tmeOjFno6Do

I like it! I think it's going to be hard to top the original and there's always the worry in the back of my mind that these films might end up with a bloated cast of heroes, but time will tell I suppose. Either way, this trailer has me hyped largely due to one thing: Ultron.

I was really enthusiastic about the casting of James Spader because I figured as long as he delivered a similar performance to the one he gives in Blacklist, we'd get a deliciously diabolical take on Ultron and this trailer simply reaffirmed that. I still have my misgivings about Ultron being made by Tony Stark instead of Hank Pym but that's probably the comic fan in me. I like Ultron a lot but he isn't an exceptionally deep villain and the biggest things setting him apart from other stock, genocidal AIs is his ego, his Oedipus complex and how his thought patterns were based on his creator, Hank. This can be just as easily incorporated through Tony instead, especially considering how twitchy he was in Iron Man 3. It can still work in theory.

Regardless, this was a hell of a debut. I'd argue it was even more than Thanos' debut in Guardians of the Galaxy which is saying something considering Thanos only had a few more lines. Ultron's voice was just dripping with disdain and I loved it. After a string of relatively vanilla antagonists, I'm looking forward to another villain in the Marvel cinematic universe with some flavor. Loki needs a breather.

Just learned two things today which make me very sad.

1. Apparently despite game patches and add-ons being a thing in games nowadays, the new Mega evolutions are not going to be compatible with X and Y. I can understand this from a business perspective because Nintendo what to give an incentive to update to the remakes, but it's still disheartening to know I won't be able to actually use Mega Metagross. T.=.T

2. Apparently trainer customization has been removed from the remakes. I love me some customization so this really ticks me off and gives me even less motivation to actually get the remakes.

So a few questions for everybody who currently plays pokemon. Will you be abandoning X/Y for ORAS or whill you stay in Kalos? Also, for those of you who played the original Ruby and Sapphire, what was you're general impression of the titles? Just at a cursory glance, fan generally seem to consider Ruby and Sapphire the worst generation to date, but I'm not entirely sure why? Anybody care to shed light on this?

In the meantime I'm going to keep breeding and training monsters in X while crossing my fingers for a Pokemon Z. I was burnt out on Pokemon Silver but this game streamlined so much of the grind that I've been hooked ever since.

So raise your hand if you still plan to play X and Y. =D

*Edit* Oh fuck! There's a Mega Steelix too!?!? Steelix is my favorite pokemon!!! Shit! You're tearing me APART Game Freak! DX

I heard about this free-to-play game before but only today have I taken a serious interest in it. I was wondering if anybody here has played it or would be willing to play it. A Diablo style Action RPG with Marvel sounds appetizing to me. I did after all adore Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Question though for my more PC literate acquaintances. Based on the system requirements, how demanding does it sound?

https://marvelheroes.com/download

Sadly I'm highly doubtful my laptop could run it, especially coupled with some statements I've seen by others that the game is highly unoptimized. Oh and for the record, my sudden interest in Marvel Heroes has absolutely everything to do with this:

https://youtu.be/4WTxo-o1dSg

Apparently the game developer started making Rich but Marvel wanted them to make it Sam. Developer said fuck off and relegated Sam to being an alt costume. And my GOD...just look at those effects! The rocket moves...GLORIOUS! Can you understand why I'd like to throw some money at these guys? XD

Seriously, fuck Sam Alexander. I hope he gets relegated to character limbo. He doesn't even deserve to be smeared by an undignified death. He's such a miserable fill-in.

In light of certain technical difficulties, I think I'm going to take the recommendation of a friend and start s skype group. I figure at this juncture it would be far more prudent for all of us to simply load the vids on our own comps synch up the playing and then watch them that way. Streaming has become incredibly difficult and this isn't ideal, but it's the best option available for the near foreseeable future.

So here's the plan. If you've been a regular in any capacity in my streams in the past or you'd like to get in on the fun, comment below the journal. I'll try to get in touch with everybody who comments and get their skype information privately via notes and then when I have an amassed list, which I will add to my personal skype contacts. I'm also willing to relay the contact list to everybody involved. Of course, if people understandably want to be more discreet about their contact info, please mention in your comment you don't want it given to others.

From that point on we'll try to get as many of us together at any time we can. I kind of presume people are following my lead since that's been the way it's been for the last year, but if others want to start other seasons and get people in on those then that's good too. We're improvising. We'll do what we can. So if you want to be part of this Kamen Rider contact circle, just say so below and I'll start amassing the list.

We'll make this work guys. <3

List
-Zero
-The_WP
-Shiron
-Karen
-Tetsu
-Mac
-EC
-Wes13
-Aki
-Jaeh
-Mabo
-Lion
-GuanYu56
-Remmy
-Nate
-Grey
-Kei

Is there anybody out there planning to get the Ruby and Sapphire remakes who's willing to put aside the Metagross mega stone for me.?

Yeah another pokemon request journal, only because Gamefaqs' trading boards are utterly useless. All I'm looking for is a Ditto that has a Special Attack IV of exactly 30. No more, no less. I'm going to try breeding for a Hidden Power so it has to be precise. If you're absolutely 100% positive and you're willing, please let me know in the comments.

Thanks! <3

---KAMEN RIDER GAIM SPOILERS!!!---

I remember saying it the episode it happened. If a person's "death" scene involves their body sinking to the dark depths of some body of water, they are actually dead. Lo and behold, Gaim's finale comes along and what do we see?

Everybody doubted me. Hell, after several episodes I doubted myself. But I find it hilarious that my initial, knee-jerk reaction was 100% correct.

Finale was awesome btw. If you want to chat about it in the comments, be my guest. <3

Hey guys. Need a little help getting some Pokemon.

After a hiatus from Pokemon X I decided to come back and d a little more collecting before the remakes of Ruby and Sapphire come out. Thinking I might get one. Regardless I'm trying to get a few and if any of you feel like being charitable and basically giving them away, well, you'll really make my day. <3

Anyway, here's what I'm looking for at the moment.

-A Pawniard/Bisharp that has the "Knock Off" attack.
-A Magnemite/Magneton that has decent IVs, the "Magnet Pull" ability, and can do the Fire type version of "Hidden Power".
-A Ditto with perfect IVs

If you're willing, just drop a comment here and we'll work from there. Thanks for the time and consideration!

Hello everybody! It's been a while but I'm back with another Kamen Rider review. This one took a little longer due to some visits with friends and a rather busy work month, but I finally got through the last of the Neo Heisei riders. Bear in mind this one will be the last review I do for a while because I want to go back and watch Fourze, Kuuga and Agito with some friends before moving on to other shows. Ryuki will probably be next. So anyway, was Kamen Rider Wizard really the final hope? Spoilers obviously.

Kamen Rider Wizard

What I liked

-Fantastic fight choreography: Upon the first episode, Wizard immediately wowed me and everybody else with it's stellar action. Wizard's amazing grace and agility lent itself to some very flashy martial arts and the combination of a gun that turns into a sword as well as the various spell ring resulted in some very cool fight effects. There were even times he would copy his weapon to dual-wield or even copy himself and watching what I think was two suit actors doing synchronized fighting was incredibly cool. From beginning to end the fights were top notch.

-Phoenix was an amazing villain: This guy, oh my god. I don't think it's a stretch to say Phoenix was by far the most engaging character in the show and to be perfectly frank, he carried a lot of the earlier episodes. A problem I'll get into later was the main villains lacking menace and Phoenix did a lot to fix that problem. He's not a deep character. He's a bloodthirsty warrior whose lust for battle and destruction is a borderline obsession. His menace was tangible because he felt as much a threat to the heroes as he did to the villains. He was perfectly capable or curb-stomping the hero. On the flip side, his aggressive tendencies didn't gel with the plans of the series big bad at all so them keeping a tenuous grip on a short leash really emphasized he was a bomb waiting to blow.

Most of the early drama was a result of Phoenix. He also had some of the best moments in the series. Even though it was a dream, seeing him go on a rampage in a hospital, attacking injured people was amazing. There was also a point where he was sick of being demeaned by his peers and decided to screw with them by helping the heroes. One of them, Rinko, runs into him and they have a little heart to heart. She thinks deep down there is still goodness in him and gives him a little pep talk, telling him to be himself. In an awesome reversal of cliches she is totally wrong but he takes the talk to heart, resolving he's going to do whatever the hell he wants and damn anybody who tries to stop him. He then nearly kills Rinko. It was great. Phoenix was just amazing and, like Isaka in W, I feel Phoenix's departure from the story marks the point of decline in the show.

-That one teacher in that one episode: Small point but this guy gets extra kudos for being the only Gate with any goddamn sense and doing one of the most badass things in the series by stomping that toy plane.

-The main villain's plan was pretty clever and concise: Wiseman was really the White Wizard. He wants to make more mages so he can use them to revive his dead daughter. He's posing as a phantom to lead other phantoms under the pretense he wants to make more phantoms when he really wants them to overcome their despair which allows them to be mages. So he's playing both sides. That's cool.

I had some very major issues with the villains in this series which I'll get to eventually. But when the methods and overall plan of the main villain come to light, they made enough sense that I could somewhat forgive the earlier misgivings. Somewhat. Still, that says a lot. The fact that the big bad was playing both sides of the conflict to one end is pretty rad and more importantly, his reasons for doing so make perfect sense in my mind. It sat perfectly in line with events earlier in the show. It wasn't so convoluted that suspension of disbelief went out the window and the revelation, though highly predictable, did improve the overall quality of the show near the end to an extent. Bear in mind though this is a double edged sword which I'll get into partly here and partly when I talk about villains. Anyway wanting people to become mages was one thing but having such a tight leash on the Phantoms while basically leaving Haruto alone seems like a bad idea. I realize he wants something in place to help keep phantoms in line, but still, kind of an oversight if you ask me.

What I disliked

-The Phantoms were absolutely pathetic villains: The Phantoms are the main villains of Kamen Rider Wizard. They are monsters born from the hearts of humans when they completely give in to despair. They suck...hard. Going into why exactly will take a little while to explain.

First of all, the general motivation for the phantoms for most of the series is their leader, Wiseman, wants to make more phantoms so he can perform a sacrificial ritual called The Sabbath for reasons revealed later. To make more phantoms they need to find people with magical potential called Gates and force them to basically give up all hope allowing the Phantom to take over, killing the gate. The hero, Haruto wants to preserve hope and fights to stop them. With that out of the way, why do the Phantoms suck? Well, to start they are stupid have no personality whatsoever for the most part.

Part of the strength of villains in past seasons is how they can have relationships with heroes or the victims in episodes. Sometimes the monster of the week was also the victim. These character interactions added more depth and more dramatic tension because there was an emotional connection in some capacity. Rarely is that ever the case with Phantoms. They just show up and try to make gates sad. If we were lucky, the Phantom would try to learn what is emotionally supporting the Gate and try to tear that down. That was more interesting but it still didn't give the phantom much personality. Most of the time we weren't that lucky.

A running point of contention was a saying often thrown out: "Let the fear of death drive you into despair". This got so infuriating. Bear in mind Phantoms don't want to actually want to kill Gates. If they do the potential Phantom is lost. So they're just trying to scare the gate so goddamn much they lose all hope? That is unbelievably pathetic and tells us nothing about the Gate even or why we should care about them, let alone the Phantom. What if the Gate doesn't even fear death? This became the norm about halfway through when it seemed Phantoms just gave up trying to be clever.

Now, being devoid of personality could work. It did with the Grongi. But there's a difference. The Grongi succeed all the time in their goals. The Phantoms never succeed once. Not one goddamn time do the Phantoms manage to drive a person to becoming a Phantom. This becomes a problem early on and one time when Haruto isn't there to save the Gate, they overcome their despair all on their own. This eventually establishes the sense that nothing is ever at stake because the Phantoms will never succeed, and indeed they never do. Early on there was a slight sense phantoms are still something to be wary of because of Phoenix maybe just going ape-shit and the possible threat of rebels in the ranks like him, but then Phoenix goes away and the Phantoms are essentially rendered toothless and they only become more of a joke as the show goes on.

Something which makes this even harder is the revelation the Phantoms were being played by the big bad. They were never really meant to make Phantoms. These Gates were supposed to overcome despair so they could become more Wizards and while this is cool for the big bad, it only drives home how pathetically nonthreatening the series villains actually were. A few new phantoms being born here and there would add a lot to story, being both a symbol of Haruto failing, challenging his beliefs and forcing growth and as an obstruction for Wiseman, his plan possibly reeling out of control. But nope. The show played it safe. The villains of any series need to drive the conflict in a story and if they cease to be a threat the story lacks tension and drama which makes he story all the weaker.

-The story is predictable, bare-bones and stagnates early on: Haruto is the final hope. He uses magic to fight Phantoms and the despair they bring...and that's about it. The show does have a plot and a meaning to some of the happenings in the story but they only really comprise about 1/3rd to 1/2 of this 54 episode season. Previous seasons watched have incorporated the "monster of the week" format but it has never been more monotonous than this. Previous season used the format to do some world building or develop characters but this season was perfectly content to have a solid 20 episodes of raw filler that do nothing but have hopeless, pathetic villains appear and promptly get stopped.

Never mind that there were plot points which seems aborted early on. Dragon as Haruto's dark side did little. Nitou's need for mana and relationship were chimera were irrelevant. Gremlin, the only Phantom with a human heart, being a figurative monster to begin with was never expounded on. The list goes on. So many potential avenues for development simply cast to the side. The plot starts moving in about the last ten episodes and is laden with quite a few twists, but sadly they were so heavily foreshadowed and easily predicted that my guesses as to what was happening was disgustingly close to the truth. It takes a lot of bite out of a twist when you see it coming a mile away.

-Almost nobody in the cast has an arc and most characters are irrelevant: Regardless of whether a character is good, bad, or someplace in between, the simple fact of the matter is that outside of arguably the protagonist Haruto, nobody has an arc. Even having a bad arc is better than no arc at all. Essentially everybody is the same at the end of the series as they were at the beginning. This is especially damning for the supporting cast. Shunpei and Rinko become little more than cheerleaders who barely do anything to proactively assist our hero. They're mostly just comic relief. Wajima, a character who should be like a mentor figure to Haruto is little more than a magic ring vending machine. Nitou, despite being a likable character was completely and utterly irrelevant to the plot. He was literally the token rival rider. Medusa's only personality was "Wiseman wills it". And of course we already mentioned the Phantoms at large. Pretty much each member of the Kamen Rider Club is Fourze got more development in two episodes than anybody in Wizard. Hell, even Akiko was more relevant to her season's plot. Oh Jeezus! I'm using Akiko as a positive example! DX

Haruto is a likable character. I thought he seemed a little stale at first but we realize he's just a laid back guy in a very normal way. Maybe he's playing straight man to the goofy ensemble. He has a bit more to him than the others since we get a peek into what drives him and how desperate he can be not to fail, but even this falls flat to a degree since he never actually fails except in one instance with one character at the end.

-Koyomi...I should care, why?: Koyomi was a very important character in the build up to the climax both as a plot point and due to her relationship to Haruto. I guess the two were supposed to be close and when Koyomi eventually dies and Haruto can't save her it's supposed to be a big deal. The thing is, it wasn't. Not to me anyway. I was pretty numb the the whole proceedings. Here's why.

Koyomi was a character who was barely present in the show at all and had next to no time given to developing her as a character or her relationship with Haruto which was supposed to be so important for this climax. Most of the time was was just in the antique shop doing stuff and sometimes spotting Phantoms but her development was next to nothing. Apparently the reason why is she's a pop idol in Japan and her schedule was so rigid she could barely make filming for the show. I really don't care who you want to blame for this production foible, but if you're going to have a character be central to the plot and have their connection to the hero be a major aspect of the series climax, it's important that we as viewers know the character and care about them. For Koyomi, neither applied to me personally and it damaged the home stretch as a result. This series had the most ho-hum ending, nearly on par with Kuuga. By the end I just really didn't care.

-Power-ups are handed out like candy at Halloween: This is a personal thing, but in my brief time watching Kamen Rider, something I feel is established now is that when a Rider gets a big power-up, there's some sort of arc to it. It's ability earned through hardship or some major character development. Well, Wizard has a shit ton of power-ups but only one really feels "earned" and that's his Flame Dragon Ring. Every other dragon ring is basically given to him without a hitch and Infinity, his ultimate form, was essentially obtained through deus ex machina. It just really annoyed me.

The Gates are never likable: Most gates are people who pop up, have no plot importance beyond simply being gates and have no relevance after they are saved. They almost never have any connection with the heroes or the monsters attacking them so there's no emotional connection. Many of them are unlikable and so pathetic and feeble that all it takes to break their spirit is to destroy some material object that has some sentimental value as if the memory itself was irrelevant. One dumb bitch nearly snaps by having obviously mind controlled people saying she's worthless (which she was by the way). It's not as bad early on but it's unbearable by series end.

Conclusion
Several people have said Wizard was just one big missed opportunity they're absolutely right. I voice a lot of grievances but they are less about things that the she show did that annoyed me and more about things the show just didn't do at all. I don't hate the show but I don't really like it all that much. It's not bad, it's just so overwhelmingly bland. The story does nothing daring or interesting, opting to play it remarkably safe and simply give us the most generic story it can episode after episode. The mostly flat characters deny the season any real emotional core for us to get invested in either. The show has no real strengths. Though Kuuga and W may have had things that drove me up a wall, they also had things I adore. On the whole, Wizard just isn't strongly proficient in anything other than fight choreography and that can't carry a story. You can pretty much apply that saying "It's worse than bad, it's boring".

So I'm going to be watching Fourze, Kuuga then Agito again, this time with some friends. After that I'm going right down the line so the next review will likely be either Ryuki or Gaim depending on which one I finish first.

Hey everybody!

A while ago my good buddy  jaeh and I were talking and he mentioned this idea he had for a comic involving our characters and asked if I'd be interested in writing it. Welp, that comic is now finished and available for purchase!

https://payhip.com/b/vGhA

If you're at all a fan on inflation or big wobbly birds and dragons I totally suggest checking it out. Jaeh is obviously awesome at the material. You can't go wrong!

Well, it's been another month but I knocked off another season of Kamen Rider. I know I was originally planning to do Blade but after watching the OOO X Fourze crossover and getting a little taste of Double I decided I'd tackle the rest of the "Neo-Heisei" Riders first so the next rider will be Wizard. Anyway, here is my review of Kamen Rider W. Bear in mind this one will be more spoilerific than past reviews because most of my grievances have to do with specific plot points.

Kamen Rider W

What I liked

-Shoutaro, the protagonist: Liking the protagonist is important in any series but I feel it carries a little more weight here with Shoutaro since I feel he carries a lot of the show. Shoutaro is the apprentice of a now dead, hard-boiled detective. He aspires to be just as awesome and cool-headed as his mentor but his sentimentality and tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve earn him the moniker "Half-Boiled" from his peers. Shouaro is just an immensely lovable character. His rather feeble attempts to be a typical hard-boiled detective make him seem like a total dork and an good source of comic relief, but juxtaposing that with his sincere desire to help the people in the city he loves reveal just how awesome a character he is. I don't see how anybody could possibly dislike Shoutaro.

-The main rider design: Let's just ignore for a moment that purple is my favorite color and purple/green is possibly my favorite color combo period. Kamen Rider W has possibly the coolest design or any rider I've seen so far. It's minimal but very sleek and cool. It has a scarf which adds extra awesome points and the "half & half" visual aesthetic is awesome for color balance but also in illustrating how the powers work. W can swap out USB drives called Gaia Memories to empower him with different weapons and abilities. They all have different colors which are displayed on the halves of the body. It's just a very cool aesthetic and his powered up forms were awesome too, despite one having a laughable name.

-The early, episodic feel: The first two thirds of W don't really have much in terms of an overarching narrative and I like this because they show was trying to evoke a certain detective serial vibe. I compared the earlier two-episode mini arcs as kind of like watching Big O or Cowboy Bebop, where Shoutaro and his allies basically try to address strange happenings on a case by case basis, stopping criminal activity and maybe touching on a bit of humanity here and there. It also meant there really wasn't any pacing issues since every two-episode arc was it's own little self contained story. I enjoyed it for as long as it lasted and for was little overarching narrative there was, it was relatively humble and fun all the same. Sadly the show eventually worked to a big conclusion, but I'll get to that later.

-The rare moments of between Shoutaro and Phillip: I feel like in some capacity this show wanted to be a buddy story like OOO did. It had a different approach to be sure in that Shoutaro and Philip aren't as adversarial as Eiji and Ankh. Really the two are more like family and their strength comes from that. Some of the very best moments in the show where these two realize just how well they complement each other and how they make a fantastic team. I should mention though while I feel these moments are great and largely in the show's favor, it's somewhat mitigated by the fact that very often Phillip is portrayed as the more vital and important of the duo in most all aspects.

This irks me because I feel it undermines the very notion their strength comes from them working together. Add to to that, I feel Phillip on his own is a rather bland character. His interesting qualities come from his interactions with Shoutaro, whereas Shoutaro by himself is already a driven and compelling character. In fact, it seems Shoutaro often gets shit on by the narrative or is usually the one becoming the liability in fights is extremely frustrating at times. The camaraderie between Shoutaro and Phillip is definitely a notch in the show's favor, but it's not nearly a strong as it could be.Kind of a gripe, I know, but it was too intermingled with the good for me to be able to separate it.

-Terui actually developed into a decent character: Terui is the rival rider of this series and for the longest time I hated his guts. He was a very, very angry man who had such a hate-fueled revenge boner that he was a tremendously hostile and despicable prick who very nearly killed innocent people because he refused to stop and think for a minute. He was like this for a while to the point where if his opportunity to take revenge reared, he would automatically fly off the handle, shove his head up his own ass and revert to revenge-boner mode. Well, they actually fixed that! I never thought I'd give a damn about Terui but they actually did a decent job of developing him to the point where he realized that all his raw anger and hatred would do little but bring more sorrow. He leaned to let go of the anger and selfishness to fight for something better than his own revenge, though he never completely lost the desire for that. Even though I'm not really a fan of his character is was a pretty compelling arc actually.

-The informants: These characters were very minor in the grand scheme of things, but I liked them a lot and really wished they were utilized more. Shoutaro,being a detective has a handful of people on the streets who tend to get word of various happenings in the city. All of them were characters with their own quirks, but they added a nice flavor to the supporting cast and the general detective theme of the show.

What I disliked

-Akiko: To the surprise of nobody, this bitch tops the list. Those of you who watched the series know exactly why. Basically I find Akiko a completely unbearable character who did nothing but damage and hold back this series from her introduction in episode one. For at least a dozen episodes, this abhorrent cunt, despite technically being a supporting character and ally, did nothing but openly antagonize and actively impede or flat out sabotage the attempts of Shoutaro and Phillip to actually do some good in the city. I don't know when it happened but she eventually mellowed out and stopped being so confrontational but it was something of a moot point since her personality was still grating as hell. A minimum of 80% of her dialogue was conveyed while screeching like a banshee making Jim Crarey's most annoying sound in the world. Being the designated comic relief, she was always running around, shrieking and mugging for the camera like a goddamned loony toon, sometimes even ruining the tone of scenes. She was a blight on the show the entire time and I never, ever, saw anything likable or redeeming about her.

-The last third of the series and the ending: A lot of the reason I don't hold this show in higher regard is because of how it winds up, or rather winds down, or the conclusion and I'm going to call back on this for all points from here on out. I said earlier I liked the episodic feel of earlier episodes. Well, in the last third of the series, the plot decides to abandon this for a more "Grand" narrative to conclude the show that involves big plans and manipulations and shock revelations and all the usual stuff you'd expect. Problem is since a lot of these things were never terribly important for a majority of the series they wind up feeling rushed and underdeveloped if not completely unnecessary. I was fine with the previous detective angle and would have been perfectly happy with it ending on a low key. Instead we get revelations that Phillip is a blob of tangible data and related to the villains which I guess is supposed to add gravitas if it wasn't so cliche.

Basically they conclusion would up being a series of rapid-fire ass-pulls that had me constantly asking "Why" and "what's going on". Nowhere is this better illustrated than the last three episodes where after curb-stomping the now established big bad, another bad guy literally pops out of nowhere. He was barely set up at all, his motivations are poorly defined and he has the most ridiculously broken power imaginable. He uses the power of other people's hope to do literally whatever the fuck he wants, and at one point when being hit by a fireball, proceeds to no-sell being lit on fire, saying he's a zombie. I lost count of the times I yelled "bullshit". End cap this with an awesome heroic sacrifice that I actually liked that's totally reversed and cheapened by one final ass-pull in a filler-like final episode and you have a conclusion that in some ways was even more disappointing than Kuuga's.

-Mishandled villainy: The main villains of this season for the most park are the Sonozaki's. They distribute the Gaia Memories which are the root cause of conflict in most episodes. My impression of them through a majority of the show was they were essentially a rich, apathetic mob family who had no real aspirations aside from the possession of wealth and power. It worked for me, especially as Gaia Memories were often portrayed as a metaphor for drugs and substance abuse. Partway through the season, Isaka was introduced, a character who had far more ambition and I took him to be the main antagonist. His desire was also to acquire power but in a way that put him on a crash course with the head of the Sonozaki family. His presence was discomforting, he had a personal connection with Terui, giving him his arc, he felt like a legitimate threat and he had a much more clear agenda. The subplot if Isaka vs Ryuubee fuels the conflict in the city our heroes had to fight. This inner family feuding really worked for me, especially in the mob family context and I liked it alot...until the final third of the season.

Sometime around the mid 30's Isaka is defeated and dies. As far as I'm concerned, this marks the season's decline in quality. At this point the show killed its main antagonist and spent the remaining episodes rushing to try to fill the void left behind with half-assed attempts, mostly by putting over Ryuubee as this grand chess master which I never bought personally. Grander goals are ham-fisted in with minimal explanation. Apparently Ryuubee wants to turn his younger daughter into "Priestess of the Earth" to bring about something called the Gaia Impact. It's never effectively explained what either of these things are or even why Ryuubee wants a Gaia Impact to happen in the first place. Older sister Saiko basically has no reason to be in the show at all anymore and doesn' have any apparent motivation at all when she loses the means to best her sister. Then of course there's the ass-pull villain mentioned earlier. Basically the ruined by the season's abandonment of the episode detective format which was working so well before.

-Needless antagonism and rampant incompetence: There's a lot of senseless behavior in this show which can get very grating. I already mentioned Akiko in the early episodes but Terui is also guilty of this good while. Even when they get better their value to the team is dubious, especially Terui who despite being the rival rider and getting a power-up is the goddamn king of jobbers. I only remember one significant victory to his name. The rest of the time he seems to do little more than get his ass kicked and he's supposed to be some elite police officer. Speaking of the police, Fuuto Police are incompetent to a pathetic degree. One is at least a decent guy but the other is an utter moron who is senselessly confrontational all the goddamn time. Neither of them are ever helpful in any capacity whatsoever.

The award for complete, unforgivable stupidity however has to go to Shroud, the mysterious benefactor of out heroes. Turns out, in the final third of the season when stuff goes downhill, that she is actually the jilted matron of the Sonozaki family who swore revenge on Ryuubee for wanting to use her son as tools for his recently, vaguely alluded to, ambition. Makes sense until you hear how she went about it. For starters she wanted to use her son as Kamen Rider to kill Ryuubee. So, she wasnted revenge on her husband using her son as a tool by...using her son as a tool of vengeance. Hypocrite. She says she loves Phillip but nothing was really stopper her from being totally transparent about who she was or why she was helping him, or Terui for that matter. Actually, scratch that she has good reason for being secretive with Terui. Because she's the one who gave villain Isaka the Gaia Memory he used to go on the killing spree in which Terui's family were victims, hence his revenge-boner. She helped Isaka in hopes he might also take out Ryuubee. Makes sense. Problem is he was perfectly on track to do this until he was fucking killed by Terui whom Shroud was ALSO helping. Why? Fuck if I know. She knew Terui's family was killed by Isaka and kept egging him on to give into hate but I have no idea why she'd do this since it sabotages her other plan!.

Then there's the ending when Phillip reveals he's going to disappear. At some point she says Shoutaro should do it stopping the new Ass-pull villain so he could go away happy and content. Bitch, if you gave a damn about his happiness why where you telling him several episodes earlier to ditch his only family for the sake of becoming a stronger Kamen Rider, a stronger tool against your husband? This woman bleeds bad writing to the point it's insulting and infuriating. I was legitimately pissed off by the bullshit this character showered on the season's ending.

-Missed plot in movies: I like Kamen Rider movies because they often feel like fun romps that tae place as asides for the main series. They're just fun adventures which don't have any serious import on the overarching narrative. This was not the case from W. I haven't seen the movies yet so they may just be fluff, but at times in the series I felt like I was missing important plot by missing the movies. I got this mostly from the movie ads. It looks like the relationship with Shoutaro and his boss was established in one film and the ass-pull big bad was established in another. I just didn't like the feeling I was missing out on plot my skipping the movies.

Conclusion
Somebody said it best when they said they wanted to like Kamen Rider W more than the show would allow them to. I'm in the same boat and honestly I think W is in a similar position to Kuuga when I first saw it. The series isn't bad, not by a long-shot. There's a lot of things about the series I really liked. The problem is there's a lot of early nitpicks and a of of genuine fuck-ups in the home stretch that make me write it off as just okay. The show started slow for about the first en episodes thanks to Akiko, went into a stretch of about 20 episodes that were really good and then abandoned what I perceived a lot of what made the series so good for it's conclusion. It's a damn shame too because, as I said, I really wanted to like this one. As it is though it's simply okay. It's strengths make it perfectly enjoyable but it's various narrative missteps keep it from the greatness of some of its more recent peers.

Next up is Kamen Rider Wizard, last of the Neo-Heisei riders. I've heard very mixed things but I can say its first episode made a VERY strong, positive first impression. Time will tell how it pans out.

On another note, friend and fellow Rider junkie  demonfan also reviewed Kamen Rider W. If you'd like to hear a second opinion, and I recommend you do, you can read his thoughts...

...in this link here!

Well, another month and another season of Kamen Rider has come and gone. Happy to say that I wasn't misled when people praised this one. It was on the whole a good, fun watch. Still doesn't top Fourze as my fave but that's not to slight it. So, let's get down to what I thought!

Kamen Rider OOO

What I liked

-The relationship between Eiji and Ankh, two great leads: This is far and away the best thing about OOO and why I found it as enjoyable as I did. Without these two characters and their interactions the series wouldn't be nearly as good so this part may be a little long. OOO at it's core is a buddy story like Lethal Weapon. The leads are two people who are about as different from each other as they can be emotionally, ideologically and so forth. The only really associate to try and use each other for their respective agendas, they don't even really like each other that much. But over the span of 48 episode we see them interact and start to understand each other. They face hardships and come out on top together. They have arguments and at one point clash with each other as enemies but by the end of it the two have a mutual understanding of each other and true friendship. Seeing such a powerful bond slowly grow between two polar opposites in a gradual way that feels organic is so satisfying.

As for the characters themselves, they're excellent on their own as well. Eiji is an all around likable, friendly guy with few desires aside from a profound drive to protect those in danger. He honestly reminds me of Godai in a lot of ways without coming off as a Gary Stu like Godai. Whereas Godai was incredibly selfless just "just cuz", Eiji's selflessness is rooted in a traumatic life event and he takes it to such extremes that it truly feels like he's selfless to a fault while Godai was essentially flawless. Ankh is a great character too. He acts pretty much like a jerk most of the time. Understandable since he's essentially a greed demon who's been debilitated and can only endure by possessing somebody. Even though he never truly relinquishes his jerkass attitude we do gradually see shifts in his personality. We see his doubts, his fears and overtime, his beginning to feel things other than unadulterated desire. He is also drop dead gorgeous and I swoon a little every time I see him. >.=.>

But ultimately while these two were great characters by themselves it's really how the two effect each other that really makes this show as good as it is.

-The theme of greed/desire and the pragmatic approach: Desire and greed are major themes in OOO. Much of the characterization and development is driven by the desires of the people involved and how they go about achieving or failing to achieve them. However the show is refreshingly even handed in the approach. The show demonstrates the obvious negative aspects of excessive greed but also has a rather unique take that greed is also essential to living. That desire is what also drives people to aspire to greater things. Even even shows excessive desire can be self destructive even if the desire is selfless in nature. Greed and desire are such easy things to paint in back and white so I got a huge kick out of the rather pragmatic and realistic approach the show took about moderation being key. Not surprisingly the main antagonists sit at the extreme ends of the spectrum.

-Cool Rider designs overall: I won't lie, OOO looked a little odd to me at first but I grew to like it pretty quick after seeing how the "3-body parts" aspect of it worked which I thought was a cool gimmick. And the jingles, oh got the jingles! So catchy. Birth is a pretty rad rival rider too. The gashapon pop noise shouldn't be badass but they pulled it off.

-Great ensemble cast: Considering this show is basically more about characters than about plot it's not surprising all the main characters would be good. Some are lovable, others kind of dickish and some are flat out detestable but no matter what, there's basically not a one-note character among them. Everybody has a little more to their personality or their motives and it's good to see just about everybody develops at least a little by the end. Some take longer than others, like Gotou, but they all get there eventually.

-Kougami is the boss of bosses: He wears awesome, bright colored suits, bakes the most delicious looking goddamn cakes, no matter what, in his office for just about any occasion, especially birthdays for his employees and he chews the scenery like no other, ripping through it like a tornado in Kansas. SUBARASHI!!!

What I disliked

-Inconsistent, underutilized villains: The series villains are called Greeed (yes, three e's) and they are essentially living avatars of unchecked desire. Their actions boil down to essentially getting what they want. I like them because they aren't truly evil in the traditional sense. They just do what they do because it's in their nature. I also rather enjoy their interactions with each other and how hostility tends to erupt rather easily. Sadly because they're motives aren't terribly long term or even that ambitious they don't initially seem all that threatening. To make matters worse, there's enough backstabbing among them the members weave in and out of the story making their threat feel highly inconsistent early on. Later a bigger bad who actually carries some menace enters the fray and focuses the Greeed in their efforts to his own ends but even though they seem a bit better at that point they still seem to spend a lot of time doing nothing in particular.

-The plot is pretty underwhelming and starts slow: It's good the characters are so good because honestly the plot is largely non-existent in the early parts. It basically boils down to "everybody wants the medals" and it has a very episodic feel. It's not horrible because it does give the characters plenty of situations in which to interact and develop but there's no doubt the story lacks a certain direction until the characters start to mesh a little better. Also thankfully the series largely snowballs in quality. The longer it goes the better it gets although even then the plot throws in some odd abstract notions I don't entirely understand like what makes a perfect vessel for OOO or the perfect desire to do whatever. I just rolled with it.

-Fight quality is all over the place: Some fights are amazing, some are underwhelming and some resort to cheap cgi for far longer than I enjoy watching. Like the plot it snowballs ad the quality generally improves but I've been so spoiled by Fourze and Gaim that the overall quality feels less consistently good comparatively.

Conclusion
OOO was by no means a perfect story but good characterization can go a long way, even with simplistic plots and that's certainly the case here. The characters are the most fleshed out I've seen in a Kamen Rider yet and it's largely by merit of the growing friendship between the two leads that I liked this show as much as I did. Eiji and Ankh carried this series to greatness. Without their arc this show would have only been okay. There were certainly other things I liked about it, but those two were by far the biggest reason. Most of my favorite moments where just between those two. That ending man, those feels. It was great.

Up next is Kamen Rider Blade.

Like the title says. I'm cruising through putting my ghost team together and will shortly work on my fighting one. This is the last component I need that I can't obtain on my own. If you can assist either via trade or if you know your friend safari has either of these in it, please let me know. Thanks again!