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)
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
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…
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!!
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 🙂
So just barely a few days after Marvel drops their bombshell, DC investors are obviously getting their panties in a twist, and have probably gone and wrecked what would have been some nice reveals in anyone of the major upcoming nerd fests (I am also a nerd so I mean that in a good way) and instead of going for the reveal, DC has basically dumped out in plain sight their upcoming schedule… not that I am complaining because it looks dam good! But still, reveal fail!
Anyways here is what their line up looks like
2016
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Suicide Squad
2017
Wonder Woman
Justice League
2018
The Flash
Aquaman
2019
Shazam
Justice League 2
2020
Cyborg
Green Lantern
Hell yes! But a lot of interesting tid bits here and speculation to follow, baddassdigest.com has the list plus some speculations or head over to ign.com for a bit more info. But from here we see suicide squad getting their own movie, awesome! Question is, who will play which members, will Harely Quinn be in it or not, Assault on Arkham was awesome, I wonder if they can do it justice like that. And will they mess around with the race of each person…
Speaking of which, I wonder what Green Lantern we will get, Hal or John… I really think it needs to be John, it would effectively wipe out the first GL movie that while looked good visually, was a bomb… But also I think John suits the tone more that they seem to be going for… and then there is the race issue… but we will leave that for now
However on that note, Wonder Women is set to be the first female lead superhero film! And we know Cyborg will be the first black superhero (if Marvel doesnt release Black Panther before hand) I wonder if we will see Hawk Girl, or John the Martian!!
But that aside, it still annoys me that the CW tv series of Arrow and Flash will be living in a seperate universe, meaning there will be 2 Flashes running around, while there are ways around this, is still just doesn’t feel right to me, and bringing Arrow into that world would have been awesome, not just in the Justice League but also in his own show, much like Tony Stark had to deal with the world being so small, Arrow would have to do the same coming to grips with it in back in his own show.
Anyways, the questions aside, we are basically getting 4-5 superhero movies every year now, cant complain with that! And DC’s lineup is looking very exciting, we have been waiting for it and finally we get Justice League on the big screen! Booyah!
Yup, so unless you have been sleeping under a rock, todays biggest news comes from those lovely guys at Marvel… Iron Man will be joining Captain America in Cap 3!! Yes this is huge news! Why? Well… read here for more info, badassdigest.com has all the news but basically it makes way for a pretty big story line from the comics…
So by the looks of things, the likely fallout of Avengers 2 will most likely center around Iron Man for creating Ultron in the first place (thou there will most likely be a huge reshaping of the MCU as a result of this as well) And with this in mind, they have also mentioned there will be some variation of the civil war story line (again read over here at badassdigest for more info on that) and maybe even fallen son… while obviously it wont be exact to these story lines, its good to know that Marvel is looking down this road to take the MCU which is steadily growing in size (I wonder if Spidy will end up coming over…)
So not only is this good news because the story line should make for some very interesting movies but also it will be the first ‘cross-over’ movie where we see 2 avengers occupy a single movie outside of the whole group, which will hopefully mean we see more of these type of movies in the future from Marvel! Also it does seem like a good way to expand and drag out the MCU a bit more meaning Thanos will prob appear and hit harder in Avengers 4. Marvel obviously has big plans and as we have seen recently, these plans extend for years to come, basically these are exciting times as a comic book fan!
Well after those Ddos attacks have died down it seems it is business as usual… for now at least, so time to hit into episoe 9, we are coming to the end of some shows for the summer season which also means Fall/Autumn season is basically on us with the first of the new anime starting this weekend and there is a lot of new shows coming out as well as continuations of some very popular ones so it is definitely an exciting time! However it is not just anime that is starting over, in the real life adaptation of comics, we also have a heap of shows starting too so I’ll start with those this week and next episode will catch up again on the anime shows I have been watching.
Oh it is a good time to be a comic lover! So first up, let’s see what is hitting the small screen first this fall but a quick note…
ArrowOct 8th. Season 3 of what is DC’s very successful adaptation of the character
Agents of ShieldSept 23rd. Agents of Shield returns for it’s second season, I am expecting big things from this season and looking forward to the tie ins with Age of Ultron
On a side note for Agents of Shield, I am looking forward to this little crossover/back story too with Agent Carter
GothamSept 22nd. The show is set to act as an origin/back story to Nolans Batman series but focusing on detective Gordan as well as the origins of popular batman villains as well. It is an interesting idea
FlashOct 7th. Flash finally gets a proper on screen debut, with the cross overs between this and arrow and just the fact we get flash! I am excited for this
Walking DeadOct 12th. And of course who can forget zombies, zombies and more zombies! The new season is finally here, so what the hell is terminus really all about
Well that’s the TV shows, a lot of goodness there, it’s great to see these comic book adaptions hit the small screen and bringing us some fresh takes and ideas on some already fan favorite material… Seriously TV lately has been out doing movies with regards to this… but that’s another debate, for now, on to the anime for this fall I’m looking forward to…
Log Horizon Season 2Oct 4th. Looking forward to season 2 of my fav anime
Shingeki no Bahamut GenesisOct 6th. Based loosely on the card game I also play so interested to see if it is any good
Cross Ange: Tenshi to Ryuu no RondoOct 4th. Mechs vs Dragons? Sounds fun
Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade WorksOct 4th. I haven’t watched this myself but have heard good things about the series and I know some people are waiting eagerly for it
Gundam: G no ReconguistaOct 2nd. A new Gundam series…
KiseijuuOct 8th. Also known as Parasyte, Kind of like a body snatches meets anime type deal yet more disturbing maybe
Magic Kaito 1412Oct 4th. Sounds a little diff, international jewel thief vibe going on
Psycho Pass 2Oct 9th. I think I need to watch the first season as this is the most anticipated anime this season
Terra FormarsSept 26th. Sounds a bit like starship troopers… sweet!
World TriggerOct 4th. Alien invasion, warriors with powers… Sounds good
At the moment these are the anime I am keeping my eye on and will endeavor to at least watch the first few episodes of. From summer season the only ones still going will be Akame Ga Kill and SAO 2 (as well as the long show runners) so it is a nice fresh start, however there is a lot starting so it will be difficult to keep up with everything! If you want to check out all the anime dropping this fall, again go here, http://www.anichart.net/fall, they have a really nice list along with countdowns to the first episode and short briefs of each anime
Well while you contemplate what your Fall viewing schedule is going to consist of (yeah good luck with that!) here is a recomended anime for you
X-men Evolution
As far as X-men go, we have seen them come across in various forms, in the cartoon world, there was the original X-men cartoon which did very well and stayed pretty true to the comics, however my favorite incarnation of the mutant team is definitely X-men Evolution, for various reason, but just overall it was done well (as can be expected from a 20min cartoon)
The plot basically follows the X-men during their high school years, dealing with trying to keep their mutant powers undercover while attending a local high school and at the same time dealing with threats that arise from either other mutants or political figures and their meddling’s. Of course magneto features heavily as an antagonist and the usual dichotomy created between him and Xavier is ever present during the show. However they have removed some of the rivals that most people are use to and added some new ones. The big thing is removing Wolverine and Jean’s ‘love’ interest which personally I really like because it was one thing about wolverines character that really annoyed me, instead Jean is in her teenage years, and her relationship with scoot is slowly developing, and instead they add the 3rd party as Rouge, which kind of works in some ways, it just makes more sense and feels more natural than the whole Jean wolverine thing.
X-men evolution deals with most of the issues bought up thru the comics, it is split into 4 seasons, each taking on a different story ark but ultimately all being tied in together, first dealing with magneto, then dealing with Mutants becoming exposed and finally taking on the man himself, Apocalypse. While there is obviously a few notable villains missing, there is more than enough to carry these 4 seasons thru even if it does appear patchy at times. The other argument is that the newer Wolverine and the X-men cartoon (that annoyingly got canned after one season) is a continuation of X-men Evo or could easily be seen as that especially since it happens when they are all older and introduces some new characters
But that aside, X-men Evo is a good watch and has a defined start and finish and follows the story of X-men in a slightly different light that I found enjoyable
Animation 7/10 – It’s a step up from the older series for sure, but the way the characters have been drawn is to reminiscent of many other cartoon series, was kind of hoping for something a little different, however they all look really good
Characters 7/10 – Each character gets their own time in the spotlight as the show progresses which is nice as we can get to know them better, but it is a rehash of what we already know, however if you are new to X-men then this is really nice
Plot 6/10 – It is simple, we already know it, there is no major twists or anything unexpected but there are some changes which I like, it is patchy in parts but it is still good
Overall 6/10 – There are amine which are better and more in-depth, however the X-men story is always a favorite and they have done well with it here and while I don’t rate it high, I do recommend watching it
Taipei is a pretty nice city, very green and settled in what I believe used to be a lake bed till it drained out thousands of years ago (I think there is still some remnants of the water towards the center of the city, but if your that interested, Wikipedia and Google!) Anyways my trip got off to a stella start with being upgraded to business class on my flight, got to love that, the reason thou being over booked is a bit of a fail… but apparently airlines do this to cover themselves in case of changes or cancelations… I’m guessing last min ones but still, it can be a risk, but in my case it was a gain.
Arrive in Taipei and wholly shit is it hot there, but the first thing I notice is how clear the sky is and how green it is, kind of puts Seoul to shame really. After checking in at the hotel I decided to check out Taipei 101 since its close to my hotel and not sure what my next 2 days will entail so thought might as well bang it out early. Easy enough to get there, the place is really modern and has that feel to it, however it is def off set by all the 100’s of tourists floating around, and since it was a Sunday, screaming shit kids. The wait to get on the elevator going up was maybe 30-40mins so not too bad given the elevator ride to the top only takes all of only 40 seconds and the view at the top is def worth it.
Taipei is a funny city in that it doesn’t have a huge amount of high buildings or a big concentration of them in a single area so 101 really stands out (almost comically if you wana be a stink guy about it) The view at the top and seeing the mountains surrounding the city is really something. The tower itself is nothing overly special, well it is but as far as towers go they all have their own little something. 101 has this huge ass swinging ball as a wind dampener (cue dirty jokes) but it is an impressive structure and if it wasn’t so tourist heavy the surrounding/adjacent mall and facilities would be much more bearable. I wanted to eat there but yeah nah, waaay to busy so ended up getting a feed from a place close to my hotel that sold NZ beef, score! and dam, the price of food is really cheap
So on to my second day, was meant to meet up with my friend but didn’t hear from so decided to first go check out a popular anime spot I had read about under Taipei Main Station, well its not actually under the station, its close to it thou (ill post specific directions in another post) but it quickly became apparent that a lot of shopping in Taipei is located underground almost directly following the subway lines, the mall here wasn’t huge, but looooong! and that was only the part I checked out. As far as toys go, they (and it seems everyone else) is miles ahead of Korea… weird but my guess is Korea is still on that whole anti Japanese buzz could be the reason… But I digress, there was many small shops rocking mostly One Piece, Hatsune Miku, Gundam and various other popular anime products, but not many of the less popular ones as expected. I was surprised to see some old G1 transformers floating around. After grabbing a feed here I decided to check out Xmien, the main ‘trendy’ shopping district, similar to Harajuku in Japan, and it is very similar but I did notice that the same local brands tended to show up in most places, it did however make a nice change from seeing immigrant Nigerians (or whatever country) peddling their bullshit gears. The area consists of maybe 4 blocks by 4 blocks space worth of shops, lots of stuff tucked away in small places but the best spot to check out is the department store, well its not really a department store, its just a big ass building fill to the brim with a heap of really good shops, kicks, clothes and anime, winning! Anyways I ended up spending most of the day shopping and by the time I rocked back to the hotel, it was food and crash while deciding what the hell to do on my next day…
I really didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I decided to go to the zoo, i thought about doing the temples and museums etc but honestly there is too much associated history that I know nothing about so doing those sites kind of felt pointless (I wasn’t in the mood to learn either) so I decided the zoo would be great since it is a well known zoo, and I have never seen Pandas before! So after lunch I headed out to the zoo, so easy to get to, just jump on the subway (side note, the subway system there is really good, clean and efficient) It was a little tricky at first to figure out how to plan my zoo trip since there was no real guides at the entry but I figured it out pretty quickly and started making my way thru the different sections checking out the animals. Now I love animals, I think they are so amazing and beautiful, so seeing them in a zoo is both a pleasure and depressing at the same time. Feeling happy that I can see these amazing animals but depressing that I cant see them wild and free in their natural habitat because humans are basically heartless, greedy fucktards.
First stop was the Pandas, I want one! But my god, their enclosure was just depressing, I felt so sorry for them. The line was pretty big, but the cueing line for when it gets really busy was insane, I would hate to hit there during a weekend, i was there on a Tuesday arvo, it might be holidays at the moment, I’m not sure who is and who isn’t on holiday but you can be sure weekends are stay away times. Anyways after the pandas I steadily made my way from the bottom up to the top of the valley which the zoo is nestled in, they have done well with the space they have, but as always, more is better. I really enjoyed my time at the zoo, however, people, control your fucking children! I could see quite a few people getting really pissed off with how some of the kids were acting and I was beginning to get the same way too, poor animals, having to live with that shit everyday, its bad enough they are stuck in cages…
After the zoo i decided to head up the gondola after hearing/reading it was worth the trip, yup it was! the ride is maybe 30mins of nothing but spectacular views all the way to the top where you kind of just get dumped in a hillside community that’s famous for its tea houses. I looked around for one that would have a good view of the sunset and found one that was pretty much perfect, funny that the lady beckoned my to come in but I had every intention of going there. I was surprised how quiet it was but I guess it was a weekday. Anyways had some fresh tea (im not a tea person but it tasted good0 and had some wild chicken, that ended up being waaay bigger than I thought it would be, but at any rate I got to enjoy an awesome sunset. Headed back down and made my way back to the hotel to crash again after a long ass weekend! Kind of failed with my flight time, need to remember to coincide my flight time with my check out time.
So autumn (Fall) is almost upon us in the northen hemisphere and I have resorted to releasing my anime blog every 2 weeks for now, seems like a logical step since I have been busy with my DJ endeavours and the long holiday weekend is almost on us. That and I have fallen behind in a few animes except for my out right favourites so far
But the big news recently is that a lot of anime sites (esp download and torrent sites) are down due to DDos attacks, which rumor says seem to have originated from the Japanese government itself in their attempt to crack down on anime/manga piracy… still nothing confirmed thou but will be interesting to see what happens, however the episodes are still poping up on sites like KAT, Tokyo Toshokan and PB but for now it seems that a lot of these sites have indeed fallen from grace…
Akame Ga kill
Wow, at first I know people were a little off put by how the tone jumped around so rapidly, but by now I am sure people are use to it, it is still brutal and we have even seen that not every character is safe with 2 casualties already amongst the nightraid members (and not the ones I expected, thou I guess Baluat was a little obvious, cool that Tatsumi gets his Imperial arms thou) The last episode thou was a little weird at the end, why would he enter the tournament in the first place if he is meant to be an assassin, creating the obvious love interest for Lady Esdeath on the side too
Mahouka
Still not eough on the action side of things but I am still looking forward to it every weekend, but the whole brother/sister thing that is going on is really, really weird and seems to make no sense without knowing any of their past which is annoying, but apart from that I am still enjoing the show and getting to see some ass kicking outside of the school tournament
SAO2 – GGO
Well as expected this is still delivering at a slightly better pace than the first season and is making more sense at times than the first season which I am enjoying. There is less skipping forward and its interesting how it has all been tied in with Laughing Coffin too. Interested to see what happens next after the cliff hanger we were left with last episode, also, is death gun actually a part of the game or is he like a random ‘program’ that can come and go as he pleases?
Naruto
Well, loving the reunion of team 7 and the 3 way deadlock, that was pretty mean, cool that the previous Hokage are out in force too, weird that Oroichmaru is actually helping them (not to mention Sasuke’s change of heart) But least the war is coming to its climax by the looks of it and there should at least be a mean showdown between Madara and Hashirama… hopefully
One Piece
I have to admit, while watching all these other anime bolt forward at a million miles an hour, OP is basically the opposite, but given its popularity and huge world, I am glad they have the luxury to take it slow and fill in the entire story without having to skip forward missing important things that other anime often have to do. The Riku kingdom and history of them and Doflamingo is pretty cool and learning how he manipulated them all. But its getting to the point where the inevitable showdown between everyone is coming very close and almost losing patience for it to hurry up and come! But at the same time I am glad it isnt rushing ahead
I haven’t properly caught up on Agrevollen, Aldnoah Zero, Tokyo Esp and Tokyo Ghoul but will endeavour to do so in the following weeks
Recomended Anime
Air Gear
So, I found this anime randomly after searching for some fan made anime music videos to use with my dj sets and I came across someone who had used Air Gear in a pretty decent video, so I decided to check out the anime itself, glad I did! The story follows a boy named Iki and is set in a world where technology has advanced enough to allow people to basically have high powered electric rollker skates/blades with enough torque and power to allow people to ride them at great speeds, up walls and jump great distances. Thus taking extreme sports to a whole other level and giving people ‘wings’ (a common theme during the story) The story revolves around Iki learning to ride these Air Treks (in what is like a futuristic version of aggressive skating, with crews/gangs, underground races etc etc) and as he forms his own team to ride and compete against other ‘Storm Riders’ and learns that he is the ‘chosen’ one. His sisters are also part of one of the legendary A-T gangs and as the story begins, he is quickly thrown into the world revolving around Air Treks. I liked this anime because its a little different to others having an extreme sport component to it, thou as it progresses it still follows your usual anime formula of the hero on his quest thrown in the deep end only to rise from adversity, meeting his fellows compatriots etc etc, coupled with your usual weird goings on and typical shower and bathroom scenes and awkward moments thrown in for good measure (because seriously, whats an anime with out the big brestead girl getting commented on in the shower scene) But apart from the usual quirks and weirdness that is Japanese anime, this is an enjoyable watch with some interesting characters and some even weirder abilities (Akito and Agito are hillarious at times, thou also extremely disturbing as well) Add all this together and you have an anime worth watching. Oh, and the English dub version is actually pretty good! One of the rare times they get it right (swearing and all too!) The only let down was that it finished just as it was getting good, however an OVA was released that was pretty good and follows on the story further in the future but again it was only short so it is left very open ended
Animation 6/10 Its not that impressive but the characters are well drawn and have enough differences to make it ok
Characters 7/10 There are some interesting characters and some really well done interactions between some of them
Plot 5/10 Unfortunately the plot is nothing special, not to say it isnt good, its just not going to leave you going ‘god dam’
Overall 6/10 This is one of those watch if you have the time animes, it isnt mind blowing amazing but it is enjoyable enough to check it out and has a different concept than most animes but at the end of the day it does fundamentally follow the usual formula. Not on the A list of must watch, but on the B list of worth a watch
Throwback Character
Conan The Adventurer
Grey Wolf
Male
Wizard of Xanthus
Mostly magical based attacks but also physically strong and proficent in hand to hand combat
Use his staff as his outlet for his magical power, gets signifacntly upgraded with a star metal ‘Claw of Heaven’, also has his brother and sister were turned into wolves who also aid him
The serious type, wise but also similar to the others and can be quick tempered
Grey Wolf was my favourite character from this series, mainly because at the time I had a wizard obsession and he was a more bad ass wizard who not only could do magic but also hold his own in a fight.
The series itself, while old, was enjoyable, coming off the back of the successful movies, the cartoon show seemed to enjoy some success (basically any show that makes it to NZ had to have been somewhat successful at the time) The story flows different to the movies but still has a lot of the combat, thou obviously toned down for children. They made a nice little get around introducing the snake men and star metal that baneshes them from our dimension, basically allowing for combat but remvoing blood. Using the story line of the serpant set which was a main plot line in one of the movies and expanding on it more was a good move and made the cartoon feel really well thought out for what it was. The plot basically follows Conan as he is on a quest to reverse the spell placed on his family that turned them to stone, which ends up becoming a quest to put a stop to the Stigen forces and Set’s plans to invade their dimension. Along his quest he meets up with fellow heroes who aid him along the way. The good thing is that the other heroes come in and out of the series so its not always the same combination for each episode, allowing for some good cahracter interatctions. The other good thing was that the series had a definitive finale for the major plot line (which often wasnt the case for cartoons of the time) even thou some minor plots were left open ended, it was nice to be able to watch this from start to finish
akadjblaze 