Anime – akadjblaze

Fading Frontier: Kukje Electronics Center

December 11, 2017December 11, 2017 by akadjblaze, posted in Anime, Gaming & Esports

Video games make way for manga and anime figures

This was written as part of a look at how popular gaming stores and markets have faded away over the years in Korea. This article was my contribution covering Kukje.

In the second part of our installment looking at hot gaming markets in Korea, I took a trip to another popular hot spot, Kukje Electronics center. Located near Nambu bus terminal, Kukje sits in a big multi-level complex sporting many different electronic goods and wares over several different floors.

Located on the 9th Floor, go through the G2 door and up the escalators

Continue reading “Fading Frontier: Kukje Electronics Center” →

D’s Horizon – 2016 Madness

December 16, 2015January 7, 2016 by akadjblaze, posted in Anime

So it is finally 2016 and oh boy are there some movie bangers coming our way! So to help you (and myself) keep track of whats coming up and when, here is a list of the movies Ill def be checking out this year along with their current trailers and release date, clicking on the movie name will take you to the IMDB page where you can of course check out more up to date information and individual country release dates, so, straight to it…

Kung Fu Panda 3 – January 29

Starting off the year we see the third instalment of this popular franchise hit the screen. The trailer looks like a lot of fun and this will be a nice family fun movie to kick start this crazy ass year of movies

Deadpool – February 12

Highly looking forward to this, the promo so far has been spot on and Reynolds is perfect for this role, should be a lot of fun

Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice – March 25

Still have concerns for this movie, I really hope it’s good and does well so it can secure the DC universe in the cinematic form

Jungle Book – April 15

Well it is about time they bought this old but popular movie to the big screen in proper fashion. There has been various incarnations of this story during the past so will be interesting to see how this one fairs. The trailer hits all the right notes and as a fan of the old cartoon I’m looking forward to this and it looks like it should be a good family movie

Civil War – May 6

Avengers 3 in all but the name, this movie is in danger of being too overloaded but given the success seen from the MCU so far, it should be a safe and good movie

X-Men: Apocalypse – May 27

Not sold on apocalypse at all, feels to early to bring him to the forefront, the Xmen franchise has been a mix bag, it has potential but will keep my optimism low

Alice Through the Looking Glass – May 27

The first Alice movie in this series was enjoyable with fun characters and a nice representation and interpretation of the book, so I am interested to see how the second movie goes

TMNT: Out of the Shadows – June 3

Finally we get decent versions of Be-bop and Rocksteady on the big screen, apart from that it should be your typical Bay movie but still a bit of fun

Warcraft – June 10

The trailer looks epic, but it might come off as just another fantasy adventure movie akin to a Tolkien movie, I hope not as the Warcraft world has some good stories and epic battles

Independence Day: Resurgence – June 24

A loooooong time coming, was a bit worried about Smith not reprising his role but the trailer looks epic and the casting should be more than enough to make this a huge movie

The Legend of Tarzan – July 1

Prob my least interesting one on the list, a movie that again has had many iterations, however the trailer has peaked my interest slightly with this one and could end up being pretty good

Ghostbusters – July 15

An all female cast of this classic movie is an interesting take but the casting is good, let’s just hope the story is as well (Trailer to come)

Star Trek Beyond – July 22

Never been a huge Trekie fan but still enjoyed the movies, this looks like it is more akin to the original series which will appeal to some and not others

Suicide Squad – August 5

Was very excited when this was announced and have been impressed with what I’ve seen so far, the big question still remains over Lettos Joker but the rest looks dam good

Gambit – October 7

Still not sold with Tatum as Gambit, don’t mind if I’m proved wrong but still to early to tell if this will be good or not, I have my doubts that this will fill Wolverines shadow in the Xmen universe and after a bit of pre production drama… (Trailer to come)

Doctor Strange – November 4

It’s hard to imagine this movie not being awesome with the stellar cast involved, Cummberbatch as Strange is like Downy as Stark, it just fits (in theory at least). The pictures released look amazing and I am itching to see this one (Trailer to come)

Moana – November 23

As a Maori it’s nice to see a pacific based Disney princess style movie, I’m hoping this ends up being a hit similar to Frozen (Trailer to come)

Rogue One – December 16

This could be an interesting sleeper movie, the premise behind it is really cool so this movie has great potential if done right and could be a very positive lead in to expanding the Star Wars extended universe onto the big screen (Trailer to come)

Assasins Creed – December 21

Still far out but movies based on video games have never had much luck, however with the rich story lines available in the Assassins Creed universe, there should be enough material to make this movie work, at least in theory. (Trailer to come)

D’s Horizon S02 Episode 1

September 23, 2015September 26, 2015 by akadjblaze, posted in Anime

So its been awhile between posts so time to get back into it again, so why not start a new season just as the new TV seasons kick off. They all start within a few weeks or so of each other plus some other shows are also just on the horizon, so lets take a quick look at whats coming up!

Gotham, Season 2, Episode 1 September 22nd:

Well last season left us in an interesting place to start the second season off with. My hope is that they continue to sort the show out and start to focus on the story more rather than trying to set up everything so fast to keep people interested. The first season really did just start of name dropping as many Batman related characters as possible abd it was till half way thru the season did we really see that start to drop off and get some really good character development. Everything is there but theplot execution is still way out. They have a good set of characters cast well who suit their roles well but it was just a let down story wise. I am really hoping they can pull this together for season 2 because the show has a lot of potnetial

Agents of Shield, Season 3, Episode 1 September 29th:

Well season 2 def cemented this as a great show and it left us in a very interesting position at the end. It looks like we will come into season 3 with the knowledge that Inhumans could and will be all over the world now as well as the world dealing with the backlash of the AOU fallout. It seems like we will have possibly 2 teams running around now but my real question is, what is Shield going to become now that the Avengers seems to have become a fully fledged agency unto itself and also with that in mind, how will Civil War shake things up again… Im eagerly looking forward to this season

Flash, Season 2, Episode 1 October 6th:

I love how they have done flash with the only exception of the whole Iris story, she annoys me, but the rest of it I am totally loving. looking forward to seeing how they progress the second season especially with Grod! The first season had a lot to like about it both character and story wise but of course also there is the bigger universe to contend with as well and the crossover episodes are especially enjoyable. Cant wait to see more cross over episodes while also enjoying season 2

Arrow, Season 4, Episode 1 October 7th: While the first 2 seasons were really good, season 3 fell down pretty flat in comparison, not that it didnt have some very exciting and great moments and finished off relatively nicely, it really felt like an interlude season that has hopefully tied up a lot of lose ends and will make way to season 4 being more enjoyable and hopefully more meaningful as well. Again the corssovers are something very special so along with those and the promise of a new villain, lets hope season 4 can get arrow back on track again

Walking Dead, Season 6, Episode 1 October 11th:

It gets a mention because again it is based on a comic book and it has been a pretty good zomibe TV show thou of course it has its faults. The trailer looks pretty epic and gruesome so it looks like the show is going to keep up with its traditional values. Will be interesting to see how this season pans out and just how long they plan to keep this show going, thou we all know, once Daryl dies, its game over!

Fear the Walking Dead, Currently Screening: So I haven’t started on this showy but will start it next week. It looks good and have heard it isn’t too bad so far but we shall see.

Further out shows we stil have to look forward to are:

Supergirl, October 26th:

Wasn’t overly impressed by the trailer however this might not be that bad, will have to see the first episode in its entirety till can give this any real review but it does look interesting.

Jessica Jones, November 20th:

The next inline from the Netflix series that will eventually lead to the Defenders, Jessica Jones is set to hit very soon. After the huge success that was Daredevil, people are hoping that this will carry the same weight and punch that DD did. It is hard to know what to expect as we are yet to see a trailer but it will be coming soon as the premier date gets closer

Legends of Tomorrow:

This show just looks and sounds freaking awesome! If you have seen the trailer then you will no doubt agree. The characters are all pretty well known and we know how they are and the dynamic between them is going to be great!

Agent Carter Season 2:

While it wasnt a huge success, the first season had a lot to love about it and Peggy Carter is a great character. There was some really great moments during the first season esp the reunion with the Howling commandoes. After watching Ant Man there is def a lot of scope they can work with while dealing with this series and the foundation of shield, i really hope they keep this going because it will make as a nice history piece for the MCU

I want my surprise dam it!

April 18, 2015 by akadjblaze, posted in Anime

Less than a week till Ultron! With that in mind and the mention that there will only be a single post credit scene at the end, time for a short write up about Post Credit Scenes and just keeping surprises in general in a world where everything seems to get leaked and information and spoilers are too readily available.

So, post credit scenes and dropping big surprises for us at the end of a movie, this is something that Marvel has been very adept at doing and has done an awesome job esp with the MCU, the first being Stark and Fury at the end of Hulk and Iron Man, both scenes had fans talking for ages about the upcoming avengers possibility. Then by far the biggest and most bad ass reveal to date, Thanos at the end of Avengers, that had us yelling and celebrating at the end of the movie (much to the confusing of the other Koreans in the theatre who had no idea lol). While there has been some fun reveals since (Howard the Duck, Strucker and the ‘Twins’) there has been no big OMG moments since Thanos, and with Marvels line up already revealed till the end of infinity war, the opportunity for another OMG moment is severely limited.

And other movies have really missed the opportunity to make another OMG moment, X-men DOFP was the pinnacle of a failed opportunity when they announced Apocalypse 2 weeks before release date making that ending scene pretty dull. But at least Marvel has a few more opportunities coming up…

Spider-man could potentially be one, if they reveal the casting for him as a post credit.

But apart from that only other option would be another character reveal (my pick as I have said before is Wolverine to be revealed as post credits for Infinity War Part 1!)

Another one I might put my money on is Beta Rey Bill end of GOTG 2.

Inhumans have already been introduced, Panther will get his introduction (and has been announced and cast), Ms Marvel is another one who will get a post credit intro if not a bigger one.

The problem with creating big reveals at the end of the movies is first keeping the casting a secret, then trying to manage any leaks and lastly and prob most importantly, when someone is signed, studios like to release that information right away to not only create hype but also I guess from a business stand point to let others know that an actor is tied up already with a role etc etc, they were lucky with Thanos since all they needed was a face so keeping it secret was not hard, but something like spider-man, keeping him secret till say Civil War in a years time… How much of a mission would that be… But I still have hope that they can give us one more big OMG moment, unlike DC who failed miserably having their whole line up basically revealed at a share holders meeting (in contrast Marvel held a big ass event for their line-up)

In this day and age, I really feel like a lot of the magic and anticipation not to mention the surprises are taken away from us all too soon, information is so readily available to us now and we have become a culture of now now now, it feels sad that secrets cant be kept anymore (thou Marvel does a great job of trying to, I really respect them for that) and it feels like companies have stepped away from the straight up shock and awe approach of giving us a huge surprise to slowly spoon feeding us information thinking that it will slowly gain pace and create hype and interest/anticipation but honestly I think this approach dulls the excitement, E3 is a prime example of this, we get spoon fed information about everything before hand that once we get there, we already know all the shit that’s going to happen, we already know what to expect, not that is always a bad thing, but there is nothing like knowing you are among the first people to find out something totally huge that no one else even had a clue about, it was like that for us at the end of Avengers when Thanos was revealed and I am sure others felt the same at their prospective mid-night screenings across the world because you know, the second the movie was over, that reveal was all over the internet. So let’s hope there are still some more fan service surprises ahead of us

D’s Horizon – Interlude

March 30, 2015 by akadjblaze, posted in Anime

So I keep starting to write this, but then it gets put aside, something new happens and I’m back to the start again, so Im making the effort to post this up now and hope that nothing else majorly game changing happens between now and when Age of Ultron drops in a months time. Also I think there is going to be plenty of surprises during the movie and that the trailers have held a lot back

Our first proper taste of Ultron came from a leaked trailer which marvel promptly released shortly afterwards which was pretty good on their behalf. The trailer itself was nothing short of awesome, but in true Marvel fashion, left us with nothing but more questions than answers, some awesome action scenes, that epic hulk buster armor, an awesome looking Ultron and all our heroes back in action. The tone of this trailer is pretty dark, and seems like maybe Scarlet Witch is getting inside the Avengers heads and turning them on each other. We dont see Strucker or Vision in the trailer either so there is a big question over where and how they will appear in the movie (along with a zillion other questions as well)

While the trailer was our first real taste, the scene with the Avengers sitting around and trying to lift Thors Hammer was released at comic con (I think it was) and was really a joy to watch (Cap might be almost worthy?!) The avengers have always really shined when its them interacting with each other outside of battle and away from the many ‘world about to end scenarios’ they are constantly faced with, it gives us a chance to really see their personalities shine often to great effect

Fast forward to the news that Spiderman is coming back to the MCU and that at some stage he will be getting his formal onscreen introduction, most likely its too late to see and Easter eggs in Ulton for him, its prob not too late to maybe see a mention in Ant Man, at any rate we will def see him in some form when Civil War hits us next year (you can prob rest assured that there was 2 scripts, one with and one without spidey)

Finally we get the second and third trailers (which are pretty similar, all 3 just add a little bit more each time but essentially its the same stuff), which has a couple of totally epic moments but also importantly shows us a slightly more comedic and fun tone in parts that we are already accustomed too with the avengers, so while this movie will be darker than the first, its good to know that there will still be that ‘comic’ relief and same fun banter between the various team members. We see the first full shot of the Avengers literally jumping into action and also what looks like them fighting alongside scarlet witch in a scene too, oh and also more destruction with Hulk and Stark which easily looks set to be one of the most epic fights to hit the big screen. And finally, we get a short look at Vision and he looks awesome! Again this trailer hasn’t revealed too much and has left us eagerly anticipating the ride that is about to come on us on release date

So, where do things stand at the moment and possible repercussions as well as my picks for what might happen. Well there is plenty of ‘recaps’ floating around out there, this one from cinemablend is quite good so you can jump over there to get the low down on each charater.

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Avengers-2-What-We-Know-So-Far-About-Age-Ultron-32405-p20.html

But what follows are my picks for what will happen…

Well AOS has been focusing on Inhumans, so I cant imagine any lead up to Ultron, much like when Winter Soldier came out, AOS always reacts rather than set up. You can be sure the AOS part of the MCU will feel the fall out from Ultron and with the way things are going, its going to change the script up totally again (the AOS universe is already headed into a shit storm) and with Hydra already struggling, will Von Strucker survive? I think Hydra is going to take a huge hit again and go back to the shadows to make way for Civil War and then the big battle on a galactic scale with Infinity War being the focus (they wont be gone for ever but they will take a back seat for awhile) This will allow AOS to focus on the 2 diff Shield Organizations as well as inHumans and the Movies will be Civil War and then character build up for infinity war. So for now, bye bye Hyrda

I have no idea how Vision is going to be introduced or even what role he will play, I just hope its well done. Plus he will have the Soul Gem. In the Trailer I almost missed it at first, but Thor mentions that they are meddling in things they could comprehend (funny he is always saying that) plus we see Stark holding that sceptre again… Sceptre, Soul Gem, AI = Vision

I think we will def see either a Black Panther set up thru Wakanda being mentioned or an after credits scene with Panther in it. (Im picking both) You can be sure Ultron will want to go after Vibranium, we know Claw is going to be in the movie, it just seems for certain Panther will get his introduction in some form here

Its a long shot but I think there will be some small (very small, maybe a news paper article, or glimpse of a symbol or something) mention of Spiderman, it will be small but I think it will be there

Thanos will show up, I think Loki is set to make an appearance as well, I think both will show up towards the end of the movie, Loki to set things in motion for Thor 3, and Thanos just to show that there is another threat out there (read it somewhere else but possibly Thanos gets introduced thru one of Scarelt Witches visions) greater than they could ever have imagined possibly adding more fuel to the fire for Civil War (could also have some extra back lash into AOS, ill be interested to see how the Inhumans react to Ultron and also lets not forget Daredevil!)

As for Ultron himself, I’m going with this theory, Ultron was a concept devised from Hank Pim but re-invented by Stark. Carter is set to make some small appearance again, but I cant imagine it having any huge bearing, thou I think there will be a flash to Pim and Jan (Ant Man and Wasp) which will set up Ant Man. The Key thing with Ant Man is that it is being set up as someone taking over the mantle of Ant Man. Also after re-watching Iron Man, the end when Nick Fury states that Stark isn’t the only superhero, this is before Thor and Cap, so who else was he referring to exactly? In AOS the index for gifted people is really small but there must have been some other heroes in the shadows previously

I think there might be more information come up for Doctor Strange too, it will be small but something

With the MCU growing every year, the plot threads are becoming more and more intricate which is great and is really forcing fans to take a greater interest in the universal so that they can really appreciate, needless to say Marvel has created a winning formula, so much so I have one last pick Im going to predict now…

Wolverine to Join the MCU and to get teased at the end of Infinity War Part 1 as a post credit reveal! BOOM!

Spidey comes home!

February 10, 2015 by akadjblaze, posted in Anime

Now people will remember back to last year when talks were leaked between Marvel and Sony about Marvel bringing Spidey back into the MCU and that at first it seemed like the idea might fly but was in the end initially given up on because the respective partners couldnt come to terms. (Latino Review had some good stuff on it and here was a nice sum up done by ign and another one here. Also Badassdigest had plenty on it too) However while fans were lamenting, people over looked an important fact, it wasnt Sony as a whole negotiating, it was only a small part. Long story short, those who read thru the reports properly noticed that the major heads of Sony were not happy with how Spiderman was being used and its comparative failure in the box office and that those heads were due to meet in Jan and you can sure bet that Spiderman would be somewhere on their agenda.

I told my friends to wait till Jan, the deal isn’t dead yet

Fast forward to January and rumors began flying again, Latino Review once again keeping us on edge with more rumors and what appears to be either leaked plots or well thought out guesstimations.

And then it happened, finally, Spidey, has come back, to the M. C. U….. (well you know what I mean)

Here is the link to the official Marvel News announcement page, needless to say the internet has been blowing up about the news and everyone is happy that they finally managed to make the deal! Yeah yeah!! But now, the questions start coming in of just how will they bring Spidey into the MCU and what roll will he play, who will play him, will he be a rebooted? The answer to those questions will come soon enough, but for now, lets just bask in the fact Spidey is back where he belongs

(and as a side note, this deal might mean good news for other Marvels franchises not with Marvel eg. Fantastic Four and X-men, while not likely anytime soon, this deal proves that anything can happen and that fan service for the most part still has meaning to the studios, while I doubt they will make an appearance in this current golden age of comic movies, who knows what will happen after infinty war)

D’s Horizon: Episode 12 – Mid Season is over

February 2, 2015 by akadjblaze, posted in Anime

I know its been awhile between posts, but with this cold ass weather it is easy to be distracted but I’m back to writing again and thought since I have been watching mostly TV shows the last few months, it would be a good chance to post up some mid-season finale reviews/thoughts esp now that most of the shows are back on from the Xmas hiatus. Thou the whole mid-season thing is a little annoying but I guess with Xmas it does make sense since TV programming basically goes to hell over this period. Anways, it has been a good TV season, which makes up for the average ish Anime season even after I was all hyped for it, ill cover anime next time once I do some catching up during my break in the following weeks.

On a side note, I did watch the whole series of ‘Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire’ which was very good, but my god, nothing like greedy mofos to screw up a good thing! Might touch on that in another post at some stage as well.

So, onto the reviews and ill start with the surprise stand out

Constantine

This had me hooked from the get go, the movie wasn’t bad, Keanu did a good job of playing Constantine, not having much knowledge of him before that I found it interesting and a good movie, not great but good, however this new rendition is just awesome, the casting of Constantine even again without knowing the comics just works so beautifully and the rawness of the show leads to some brutal moments both visually and emotionally. The show centers around Constantine as he comes out of a self-exile situation to battle the rising darkness while also coming to terms with a past and conscious that is screwed up at best. Each episode is a stand-alone type of thing while building towards the bigger picture and it just works, I can’t really praise it enough. The mythology used is well thought out and puts a nice spin on things. The finale ended up with a cliffhanger and a bit more clarity on things while still leaving a lot to come. The betrayal was a bit set up but worked all the same and it’s nice to see him finally come up against something he has no idea how to handle. Can’t wait for it to start back up again

Arrow

The season started off annoyingly ‘cryptic’ for lack of a better word, while things kinda just kept going, we were without a real driving force, a villain, after Death Stroke was ‘removed’ we were eagerly waiting for a new villain, knowing that they wouldn’t use Merlin again and finally towards the end we learned it would indeed be Raus Al Gould who was splendid in the mid-season finale handing Oliver’s ass to him and looks like paving the way for a supernatural element to finally hit properly in the show (the Mericual drug while factious, still has some scientific relevance… ish) The season really did shine with the last few episodes, first with the crossover with Flash which was a hell of a lot of fun (Diggle’s reaction is priceless) and then the Finale with Ras. Arrow looks to be back on track while also appearing to set itself up to add to its roster finally of good guys, hopefully giving a greater dynamic for the show. Can’t wait to see this play out as well as more crossovers

Flash

This keeps going from strength to strength while also giving us a whole heap of just what the fuck is going on with Well’s moments, even the ‘reveal’ in the finale was more of a mind fuck than a reveal because it didn’t actually answer anything and leaves us with even more questions. I must admit the whole love story thing gets annoying at times but I guess they need to throw that shit in there to keep the mushy audience happy… at least I hope that’s their reason, I mean yes in the context of the story it is needed but sometimes the focus of it is just, I don’t know, too much? Anyways, Flash looks awesome and his attitude is just about perfect, the villains have been good to. They have done well in capturing flashes universe here, makes me wonder just how they will go with the Flash Movie and Justice League… I am really hoping they don’t fuck it up…

Walking Dead

Well, way to kill someone off in an annoying manner, it just didn’t make sense… but the reactions were gold. The show really does have its great moments mixed up with um really, you could have done better moments. The Eugine reveal is an interesting one, at the same time also annoying, sure, the show is about survival, but finally this season they start to ask, survival for what? To what end? And as I have said before, where is the end game, sure a show about survival is cool, but to keep people really interested and guessing you are going to need some kind of build up to something, not just every time they find a safe haven, a new way to fuck it up so they have to hit the road again. Now I know this is a little tricky since the comics are far ahead and they draw from that, and since I have made effort not to read them (thou I am really tempted to and prob will end up doing so) this is just speculation from a fan in that position. But I really want some kind of end game or some kind of at least more of a forward thinking from them to find a proper safe haven, my guess is they head to Washington where there is likely going to be some kind of ‘haven’ but if it was me, I would be headed the other way to the Caribbean and hitting up the Islands there, if you could clear out an Island, you would be pretty much safe and could establish a colony there with little trouble… Might elaborate more on that in a future post with a ‘What I would do in a zombie apocalypse’

Gotham

While we were forced feed a bit at the start, the show has really settled down into a good cop show, Penguin is a stand out, his character is so well done, Gordan as well, the introduction of Dent was interesting, again felt forced but apart from some of those ambiguities, the show is interesting and provides an interesting insight into Gotham, Gordan and importantly, Bruce, seeing how he might have become Batman from his younger years after his parents murder is interesting as we often see him, not much of his origin story, sure Nolan gave us one but the focus was still later on, the shift of focus to his childhood is a newer take (I think one of the comics did this as well?) and combine that with origins for all the villains as well from a similar perspective provides us with a great show so far. Anyways, the show has left us in an interesting place as plots are starting to take shape as well as various relationships and political motives/agendas are forming as well. They have rammed a lot in over a short time

Finally, my favourite, esp with Ultron on the way…

Shield

Ok so firstly, was excited to learn Lawless was going to be in the show… But um fail, she was dead after the first Episode. That aside, Shield kicked off right where the first season left it, in a very interesting place and going full steam ahead, sure the first half of season one was a set up and it was important because now we just have a show set up in a great universe that has endless possibilities. So to get the obvious out of the way, Skye is an Inhuman, the Alien tech was Kree, Hydra is all over the place, Is Whitehall really dead, Ward is much better as a love puppy bad guy, Skye is finally a badass, May was always a badass, The Fitz/Simmons thing was almost perfectly done and Coulson has his mind back, kinda, and they Killed Trip?! So the mid-season finale… Has gone into setting up the Inhumans for the MCU and has also made the Kree connection to earth, basically linking up a lot of things. The questions to be seen are, what will Age of Ultron change? (Obviously everything, again!) Will the story focus on Inhuman’s more? Will Shield still be around? How is Civil War going to affect the landscape once again?! Is Skye going to have superpowers? Will Ms Marvel come from Shield or will she come from the GOTG side of the universe? Will they touch on Daredevil and give it an intro of sorts? Honestly anything Marvel does at the moment is right on the money, sure, it has its holes, but meh, does care! This is the golden age of superhero movies, best to enjoy it!

Add on…

Agent Carter

So filling in the Marvel TV void till Shield comes back on, we have Agent Carter, set after World War 2, we find Pegy back in New York working for the SSR, removed from her rank and position in the war to that of a female agent living in a time where female rights were at best revolved around a woman should know her place, Carter is set in an interesting time and shows her struggles to adapt after the war and to fit back in to a world dominated by men even thou she is more than competent. The introduction of Jarvis and his relationship with Carter is brilliant, esp the contrast between her being a badass and him trying to be a proper ‘gentleman’. Howard Stark is also interesting as a character, with all his own scheming. The show is just starting out but already it is enjoyable. It will be interesting to see where they take the show, we know that Carter and Stark and instrumental with the founding of Shield, but we also know that Shield is infiltrated early on by Hydra, maybe even co-founded by agents whose loyalties are secretly with Hydra, making for some interesting spy drama. The other thing I am interested in is, will we see Hank Pim at some stage during the Carter series, we know that when Ant Man comes out, he is older and giving up the ‘Ant Man’ persona

D’s Horizon: Episode 11 – First Impressions Last

November 21, 2014 by akadjblaze, posted in Anime

Ok, this has been a longtime coming, I started writing it ages ago, but side tracked by all the big Marvel and DC news of recent, so here it is for this Fall Season…

So with the current climate of shows coming out I have to admit I haven’t been watching as much anime lately, which is kind of sad because there is some good shows this season… but on the flip side there is also some rubbish shows too! Keep in mind I am watching Gotham, AOS, Flash, Arrow and Constantine as well as anime shows. At any rate I have been sticking mostly to my favorite shows so the list is pretty small and now that Halo MCC is finally here, I won’t be picking up too many new shows in the near future unless something is totally outstandingly good! There is a couple I want to watch, fate night stay night is one that looks really good but I want to watch the first series before getting into it. I started watching Terraformars, but I have stopped because I am waiting for the uncensored versions (there is nothing I hate more than censorship) So with that in mind, here is what I am currently watching

One Piece

Yes it goes without saying, the best and longest running anime? And we are finally seeing a lot more action, it took a while to build to this point but now that we are there, it is exciting to see the fights as the Straw Hats are beginning to engage head on with Doflamingo and his forces… oh and SABO is back!!! (even thou they still haven’t actually mentioned him by name yet)

Naruto

With the news that the manga is finally coming to an end, the anime is also coming to the end (maybe) of the Ninja war against Madara, I am glad that there is an end point, after this war there isn’t much more they can do except of course for Naruto and Sasuke to sort out who will be Hokage but there is always only so much you can cram into a long story and Naruto’s story is definitely coming to an end. However the war has been pretty good mostly, seeing characters die and the nice reunion of Naruto and Minato has been pleasing.

SAO Season 2

So this has been a good run, slightly slower paced that the first season, but also have to bear in mind there isnt a huge amount of material for them to draw from, but what they have done with it has been enjoyable and it felt much better paced this time round

Log Horizon Season 2

So after the messy first episode, it has settled down now and things are getting a little more interesting, it is good to see some of the raid battles as well as Akutski getting more screen time and looks like she might finally get trained to be more badass. Also story wise there is a lot going on with more and more creeping in so it looks like it will be another great season hopefully

Bahamut Genesis

So I play the ROB card game, so have been expecting the release of this for some time, and wasn’t disappointed, it is a really good anime, plenty of cross over from the card game for those who play it but done so that if doesn’t matter if you play the game or not, you will still know what is going on. Follows the story of a couple of bounty hunters and a demon who steals one of the stones that is keeping Bahamut prisoned. It is a little jumpy as the world is introduced but the lead characters are very interesting and the opening theme is dope!

Cross Ange

Ok, this is a weird one, it is most definitely geared towards nerd fan boys who get their rocks off on anime girls, and the whole time it is boarder line, very borderline, but the premise of it isn’t that bad, I mean, gundams, dragons, magic, blood people dying, and then there is the skimpy outfits, girl on girl action and just a whole assortment of wtf moments. This really does take a lot of what people perceive as Japanese anime and just cram it all into a single show

Akame Ga Kill

Still loving this anime, it’s nice to know that not all the characters are safe at any point in time, while sure it has a lot of problems, overall I am still enjoying it and really like some of the characters and really want to see how it ends

Star Wars Rebels

I was a little annoyed they cut clone wars off when they did, it was at a rather interesting point, but the show was beginning to suffer thou it did have a solid few seasons and glad that they portrayed Anakin rather well, unlike in the dam movies where they made him a sniveling, whinny little bitch boy (but that’s another story) Anyways the first few episodes are really good, it seems to be set maybe a little bit before New Hope, and has a rather interesting story that I really want to see play out to its end, but I think it’s only a short series so that sucks. The cartoon renditions and even the video games of the Star Wars universe have been on point and the books following the movie series are just awesome! (still disapointed they didnt base the new movies on the Thrawn trilogy)

Avengers Assemble Season 2

So season one ended with the Cabal being disbanded and Red Skull going cosmic, season 2 has introduced Thanos as the main villain which is interesting since he was missed out of the first series they did (which was pretty good) The first season was not a reboot as such but a different continuation and feels more similar in anime fashion to the Hulk and the agents of SMASH series. Anyways the first season was good so have high hopes for the second season

Terra Formars

Just finished with the 3rd episode of this and is starting to look good. The animation style is that raw desperation feel which by the looks of things is going to suit the show perfectly, thou how roaches can grow from like 5-10cm to being over 10ft tall in a span of 40 years and also genetically change to be smart is a bit of a stretch… but hey, its fiction 🙂 This feels like its going to be another brutal anime on the same level as the likes of Shingeki or Knights of Sidonia. Update: Waiting for uncensored versions to come out so it is on hold for now

World Trigger

The first episode was ok, you get a little bit of the history behind the story and a glimpse of whats going on, but at the moment its hard to get a feel of where it is going to go next, I have a feeling its going to be more story driven than action but that could change hopefully. Update: Dropped this like a bad habbit

Gundam Reconguista in G

At the moment the first episode barely kept me interested, the animation style is reminiscent of the older style of drawing which while is ok, just doesnt feel right to me when doing a gundam anime esp in this day and age. Luckily the second episode gets better so I will stay with this one for a little longer. Gundam wing for me was by far the best, thou I havent seen them all but most of them. People were excited for this because the hope was it would go back to being more serious (unlike build fighters, a straight child adaptations) and the first episode looks meh but it seems like it gets better – Update: It has hit the back burner but will try and watch it at some stage

And that is it, on the back burner I still want to watch Pyscho-pass season 2, Tokyo Ghoul, Parasyte and Gundam Recognista in G, which I will try to watch at some point but yeah, time time time…

Marvel Phase 3… OMG.. But not unexpected

October 29, 2014 by akadjblaze, posted in Anime

So after the Age of Ultron goodness last week, Marvel at their event yesterday goes and announces their Phase 3 line up, (like an up yours DC) and it is while mostly expected, still dam impressive and has left us with a lot of talking points (to be saved for later)

So here is the line up (Ant Man has been excluded since technically it ends phase 2, thou it really depends how you look at it, it feels like each Avengers Movie signals the end of each phase, but meh, semantics) Also I guessed a couple of them but just didnt get the date right, close enough, interesting to note that we dont see a Hulk movie or an Iron Man 4 (thou Cap Civil War will dub kind of like Iron Man 4)

Captain America: Civil War– 6 May 2016

This will see Cap team up with Iron Man as well as featuring Black Panther… and most likely a lot of others as well!

Doctor Strange – 4 November 2016

Benedict Cumberbatch has been cast as Dr Strange… Awesome!

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – 5 May 2017

Gets moved back to this slot, interesting but still, cant wait!

Thor: Ragnarok – 28 July 2017 (I picked Nov)

Possibly the last return to Asgard, I think we are going to see someone die here

Black Panther – 3 November 2017 (I picked July)

So we are guessing that Andy Serkis is playing the Ulysses Klaw after that Avengers Trailer, and now Chadwick Boseman has been cast as Panther, just gets better and better

Avengers: Infinity War (Part I) – 4 May 2018

Guessing with the avengers most likely split, this will be all Thanos ripping thru the universe causing total chaos either looking for the gems or with them

Captain Marvel – 6 July 2018 (I picked Nov)

And there it is, question is, where and how will she be introduced

Inhumans – 2 November 2018

Awesome, possibly expanding on the GOTG side of the universe more

Avengers: Infinity War (Part II) – 3 May 2019 (I picked this, kinda, if you ignore the first one, I said Avengers movie this day haha)

This movie will likely just include everyone in one big chaotic kick ass finale… FUCK YEAH!!!

So there it is, Phase 3 in all its glory! As I said, plenty of talking points but for now just soak it in… and with that I will leave you with this total bad ass poster!!

D’s Horizon Episode 10: Marvel and DC Domination

October 27, 2014 by akadjblaze, posted in Anime

So it has been a big few weeks for both Marvel and DC in the news, Marvel with their big Cap 3 announcement, DC dropping their eniter movie line up and then the release of the jaw dropping Age of Ultron trailer… god dam! But also the TV shows have all been really good to! Often over looked esp in the MCU since AOS is directly involved in it, there are plot threads coming left right and centre!

But anyways this update has been a little delayed, mainly because I wanted to at least see a couple of episodes from each show (thou I have also been pretty distracted lately too), but with walking dead starting much later than the others, I have already hit episode 5 for Gotham and AOS. So this can be more of a recommendation for those wondering if they should pick up these shows or not… and all I can say is, yes you should!! None have been disappointing at all and are all looking right on track to be favourites. Not to mention they work into a nice schedule too. Walking Dead Sun/Mon night, Gotham Mon/Tue, AOS and Flash Tue/Wed and Arrow Wed/Thur. So right there you have your week mostly covered! Anyways on to my first impressions.

Gotham

Have been waiting for this to come out, have managed to avoid most of the lead up to it so wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from the show, it is kind of nice going into something with little expectation these days as shows and games etc are often over hyped. For me this wasn’t the case with Gotham. Without giving to much away ill briefly go over how the show went for its piolet/episode 1 debut.

Based on the time before Batman and no it isn’t set in Nolans Batman universe (thou it feels like it could easily be so) we are introduced to a young detective Gordan who seems to be just starting out in Gotham as well as a young Bruce Wayne and we also see his parents murdered so it gives you an idea of the current time line. The show follows the detectives as they rush to solve the murder and quickly opens up the current political and social climate of Gotham (you will also have some idea of this from the batman movies as well or the comics) It acts as a nice introduction/reintroduction into the world and also managed to introduce some of the famous Batman villains in their younger years before they become criminals. The show itself is said to build more on these characters as the season progresses. It will be interesting to see just how far the show progresses before it ultimately runs into time with a grown up Bruce Wayne.

For a piolet episode it achieves what it sets out to with relatively few hiccups, the characters are believable and the setting and scenery capture a nice Gothan City, a good mix of the Cartoon darkness mixed with the real world. It does feel a little force fed in parts but that’s to be expected for a piolet and I have been excited for each new episode to come out and as it has progressed it has got better and better

AOS Season 2

So with season one, I was one of the people who enjoyed the slower paced beginning and the set up to what ended up being a very good finale and final quarter of the season, obviously with the huge hydra reveal in Cap 2 and the writers knowing about this in advance they used the first half of the season well to set things up for this. Season 2 kicks off a few months after we are left in season 1, Hyrda has gone to ground and Shield is now under Director Coulson with Fury still presumed dead. We still don’t know the status about Hawkeye or Widow or even Cap etc but they will obviously show up in Age of Ultron, so for now we get to see the rebuilding of shield as they try and mop up after the fall.

They are still branded as criminals so it has given the show a nice place to start from and we know at least to some degree what it will be building up to eg Age of Ultron before dealing with the fallout from that at the end of the season. The start of the episode gives us a nice throwback which also will set us up for Agent Carter, and I am really looking forward to that and the Howling Commandoes.

I won’t say too much about the first episode except to say it introduces a new powerful villain and a host of issues the team has to deal with, some expected and others, well done in a way I wouldn’t have thought of. It was a good first episode, solid enough to stand on its own, but the fact we know it is set in the MCU, well our expectations are somewhat higher for this show knowing the resources they can pull from. I really hope they don’t hold back too much this season, and episode 1 seems to be the right way to start and can’t wait for the season to play out and every episode so far has been pretty dam good

Flash

This is a difficult one because a lot of people had already seen the first episode since it was screened at one of the cons and so we already had an idea of what to expect. The first episode was solid enough given we have already been introduced to his character during season 2 of arrow and it seems that that link between the 2 shows will be kept strong so that is a good thing! The first episode itself was ok, obviously set as a piolet and to set up the world of flash. Arrow mostly deals with humans, however Flash will obviously stray from that and meta-humans will be introduced into that world so they managed to do this in a simple and easy way.

The problem I have with the show is that it won’t be attached to the larger DC universe. Which to me is annoying because the first episode was good and I like what they have done with Flash not to mention a nice little mind f##k at the end of the episode as well. After watching what was possible with Quicksilver in X-men, I am hoping they can bring in similar effects with Flash (budget allowing) and have high hopes for this show with already a few plot threads keeping you thinking, wait, wtf?

Arrow Season 3

So it has been awhile and a little time has passed since season 2’s crazy finale, and we are right back into the action off the bat as well as back to the team dynamics and possible fractures. It works well however there is a few points that I was thinking oh, so that’s how they are really going to do that story plot? There is a few re hashes from the first 2 seasons which could worry me (its the drug that never ends) But hopefully with the introduction of Flash into that universe we will see Arrow start to branch out from the norm a bit too. At least the ending was a nice shock! Hopefully they can carry on with this but arrow feels like it is getting to its make or break season. Still yet to see who the main antagonist will be… (a few possibilities but nothing concret yet)

Walking Dead Season 5

Season 5 already, and still going strong and this episode was a great way to get back into it, thou it wasn’t without a few um really moments, but yeah it’s not perfect but still pretty dam good. It still has its brutal ness and new ways of seeing zombie madness. Rick has hit another turning point, Carol was straight gangsta, Tyrese managed to do what matters in the end (or did he) despite having some reservations so it looks like everyone is back on song again. For those who might be new to the walking dead, obviously you should start from the beginning, it is a long haul to catch up to season 5 but it is def filled with some good moments, lots of blood and gore and new and improved ways to kill those pesky zombies!

However we are now getting to the point in the show were some kind of end game should come into sight, it was obviously eluded to in the previous season, and it looks like that could continue to develop this season, as always it is hard to tell with shows like this just how long they will last for, I think season 5 ish is def the telling point in many shows weather they will continue for many seasons to come or if they are starting to wane. But walking dead seems to be in a strong position, it is still widely watched and there is plenty of content still to draw from with the comics and the potential to find either a cure or some kind of end game scenario is something that could still cover at least a couple of seasons to come. However personally I feel an end game scenario needs to start to feature more heavily in the story line and it appears the writers feel the same way

Thats it for now, have a long overdue anime review to post up next week as well as some other posts that are sitting finished on my Ipad. Will try and get them up asap 🙂