Battle Breakdown - Kiritsugu Emiya vs. Kirei Kotomine (Fate/Zero)

When most people think of major climactic anime fights, it's normally very over-the-top with destructive attacks and big speeches and lots of screaming. While it is often between just two combatants, it's rare that the fight only contains two total hits and no dialogue, and still remain compelling and incredibly interesting. Thankfully, we have one such brawl here today, between two of the most important characters in the Fate series in the first and only fight between Kiritsugu Emiya and Kirei Kotomine in the 2011-2012 anime Fate/Zero.

Deconstructing Heroism (ft. Fate/Zero)

One of the most important elements of the Fate franchise are the characters known as Heroic Spirits: entities from the past, present, future, and alternate realities that come together to fight for the mythical, powerful, Holy Grail. Most times the spirits are indeed heroes of old: King Arthur, Lancelot, Odysseus, Robin Hood, but other times, they're not so great. Each hero carries their own set of ideals and in no better way is that put on display than in the 2011-2012 anime Fate/Zero, where the idea of what it means to be a hero in a world that does not allow for heroes was put to the test.

Battle Breakdown (Hunter x Hunter): Netero vs. Chimera Ant King

Fight scenes are awesome, and some are just so awesome that they deserve a heavy examination to look at what makes them so truly great. One such fight, the one that'll kick off this new series of mine, comes from the 2011 adaptation, Hunter x Hunter, wherein the Chimera Ant King faces off against the 13th Chairman of the Hunter Association, Isaac Netero. If you've never seen the series or read the manga, please stay away. HEAVY SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT!

Hunter x Hunter - A Spectrum of Villainy

They say that a hero is only as strong as their villain, and in the case of Hunter x Hunter, that may very well be the case. Hunter x Hunter, compared to other anime in its genre, boats an incredible roster of villains, each with their own unique motivations, backstories, and abilities. Each of them has their own unique sphere of influence when it comes to the overall narrative, making them even more intriguing and mysterious as to how they'll come into conflict with Gon, Killua, Leorio, or Kurapika. Today, we'll examine each of Hunter x Hunter's major villains and take a look into the wide spectrum of villainy that the story boasts. SPOILERS (FOR AT LEAST THE ANIME) FROM HERE ON. 

Gurren Lagann - The Power of Hope

One of the most special things about anime is how it is a medium all of its own; it's different from Western animation in terms of style and how the Japanese culture and ideas influence the stories and characters that inspire it, and visuals are often too imaginative for anything to be caught on actual film, or to be read on a page. Sometimes shows are capable of transcending the media that is set before it and it becomes a classic both visually and in terms of thematic storytelling. One of the most popular mecha shows of all time, Gurren Lagann, vaults over the possible in terms of animation and character and places itself as one of the most special and inspiring pieces of fiction ever to be created.

Winter 2018 Anime Roundup

The Winter 2018 anime season has come and gone, and while we warm up for spring (and hop aboard the hype train for My Hero Academia season 3), let's do a little reflecting on the good, the bad, and the Killing Bites of this last season.

Devilman Crybaby, Killing Bites, And Differences in Hyper-Violent Drama

This past Winter 2018 anime season contained two massively violent series that, interestingly, did not stream on conventional anime methods: the first to premiere was the widely popular Devilman Crybaby which premiered in the first week of January, and the second was Killing Bites, which premiered toward the middle of January. Both shows revel in their violence and absolute absurdity, and upon first glance, the series may resemble one another in themes and ideas through visuals, but there’s something to be said about how hyper-violent drama can be taken in two drastically different directions.

A Place Further Than the Universe Anime Review

Every once in a while, a show comes around that moves you so profoundly that you aren't exactly sure what kind of feelings you actually have for it ending. Sadness that it's over, or, happiness that you got to witness the journey such amazing characters went on? It's a journey of laughs, tears, smiling and crying, but most importantly, of immense growth and maturity. We've all wanted to go on such a journey ourselves, and for those of us that never got the chance, maybe there's a show that makes us want to get off our butts and just GO somewhere. What place? A Place Further Than the Universe.

Laid Back Camp Anime Review

In a season of Devils and beasts, where young women can follow their dreams to Antarctica and a man can crossdress as a lady and be a professional hitman, where two young, adorable girls are the bane of everyone's existence, indeed, there could only be one show that was my favorite of Winter 2018: the one where anime girls go camping. And I am not even kidding. 

Dragon Ball Super: Top 10 Tournament of Power Moments

There's a lot that can be digested from the recent finale of Dragon Ball Super, as well as from the show as a whole. But, for now, as we ease our way out of the long-running series and enter yet another Dragon Ball hiatus, it's best we do a little bit of self-reflection on the tournament we've been laying witness to for the better part of half a year.

Obstacles in an Action Series: How They Matter Most

Arguably the most talked about piece of anything in an action-genre story is how the hero is able to overcome the odds and defeat whatever is in front of them. Sometimes it's completely overpowering a villain, sometimes it's outsmarting an opponent, but most overlooked of all is the hero managing to use their wits or own abilities to overcome some kind of an obstacle. These obstacles, quite often, will prove far more vital to the story or series as a whole than if a hero just defeats a villain using whatever they have at their disposal. Obstacles in action fiction are the most important part of the story's development, character's development, and audience's development with the series.

Dragon Ball FighterZ: Impressions for Newbs

So I’m not the best at fighting games. Soul Calibur? Love it; bad at it. Injustice? Enjoy it; bad at it. And now I can successfully add Dragon Ball FighterZ to that category of games I’m flat out bad at, but continue picking up the controller to keep playing. The thing that’s different about FighterZ, though, is that it actively wants to help me get better, something I’ve never really picked up in a fighting game. Thus, I’m here to tell you, yes you, that you will not regret picking this game up even if you’re bad at it.

Blog Update: Winter 2018

So last year was a bit...sporadic. Quite different, I'd also add. There were notable omissions from this little blog here, as well as some heavy delays to some once-tightly scheduled publications, as well as a seemingly random schedule of releases when it came to some reviews or content in general. 2017 certainly didn't make it easy for me to get around to this, but after spending some time thinking about how to handle the blog moving forward, I think I know what direction to take things moving into 2018. And, if everything pans out like I'm hoping it will, then there's some pretty exciting stuff coming down the tube.

Dragon Ball FighterZ DLC Wishlist

Merry Almost-Christmas everybody! Normally I’d take this time to talk about another list of things from this past year as a means of reflection, but screw that noise, Dragon Ball FighterZ is almost here and I wanna talk about that, because I am ECSTATIC to play this game. I didn’t get in on the closed beta and I’ve basically blocked out the weekend of January 14th-16th as time to play it and learn some of the characters I’m interested in most (Teen Gohan, Trunks, Hit, Beerus for those that care). There’s still one lingering mystery over the game: who are the eight DLC fighters going to be? We haven’t gotten many hints and there’s speculation abound, so, I’ve decided to throw my hat and hopes into the ring!

Classroom of the Elite - Style and Substance

Classroom of the Elite is produced by Lerche, the same studio that recently brought us Assassination Classroom and was directed by the duo of Seiji Kishi (who also directed Assassination Classroom) and Hiroyuki Hashimoto. It ran for 2017 episodes on both Crunchyroll (subtitles) and Funimation (English dub) and wrapped the dub just over a week ago. The series has been met with good reviews by the fanbase and there's still no word on a second season. 

The series revolves around the Tokyo Metropolitan Nurturing High School, a school in Tokyo off on an island where students are subjected to four years of intense learning and are then spat out into the world, with almost all of the students guaranteed their dream college or dream job. We follow Class-D, the lowest of the school, as they scratch and claw their way into respectability, following Kiyotaka Ayanokoji and Suzune Horikita as they lead the classroom. 

While Classroom of the Elite slips into a few modern anime tropes such as overt fan-service, over-dramatic characters, over-the-top action sequences, and teenagers that are drawn better than most real-life super-models, its clever narrative and story structure blur the line between whether or not these tropes are placed to appeal to mass audiences or lull audiences into a false safety blanket, only to have said blanked yanked over their heads. The characters (most of whom could honestly hold their own series) inhabit a world where they must prove their worth not through combat or fighting, but through sheer survival. 

Gundam Versus Review

Gundam Versus, an arena-fighting game featuring various suits and characters from the decades-long “Mobile Suit Gundam” franchise has finally made its way out West for American consumers to enjoy. The game features suits from almost every series, including some of the more recent ones like “Build Fighters” or “Iron-Blooded Orphans” (the latter is currently airing its second season on Toonami), and has some popular old-school suits as well. It’s a must-buy for any Gundam fan, and any fan of big arena-style fighters, too.

Fairy Tail: Dragon Cry Review

Fairy Tail: Dragon Cry is the second film in the Fairy Tail franchise, following Fairy Tail: Phoenix Priestess. “Dragon Cry” once again features Fairy Tail’s Strongest Team taking on an enemy on a separate country, and one that threatens the balance of the world as they hunt the mystical Dragon Cry, a staff capable of destroying whole countries. The film premiered this year both in Japan and over here in the United States, with special thanks to Funimation for bringing it overseas in a pretty quick turnaround from the Japanese release. How’s it hold up compared to the rest of the series, though?

My Hero Academia: Expectation vs. Execution

SPOILERS THROUGH EPISODE 30

By all accounts, My Hero Academia should be one of the most generic anime series there is at this point. It’s set in high-school, the characters are young teenagers that get into battles way out of their league, and they’ve all got unique powers. On paper this show doesn’t stand out at all. At first, I had little interest in it outside of how good the music was. However, off the paper, and through the execution and how it avoids and sometimes manipulates tropes, My Hero Academia has become the shining example of what shonen-anime should be in the future.

Top 10 Favorite Anime

Anime is a special art-form, there’s no doubt about it. It’s loved, hated, and mostly given confused looks by fans and non-fans over the sheer amount of “what did I just watch?” that tends to happen in an anime. In honor of both the announcement of a new Fairy Tail anime, which will round out the series starting next year, as well as this past week of reflection on the series, I figured now would be a good time to unveil my favorite anime series!

Fairy Tail and My Creative Journey

One of the most difficult things I've found in the creative process is digging out of a slump. It's often the case of "oh I can just a little here and a little there" and be just fine, eventually you'll strike home and the ship will be righted. Except, that's not true. At all. The creative drive is different for everyone and in my case it'd just been something that came to me naturally. From elementary school through high school I wrote and wrote and wrote to varying degrees of success. Sometimes it wasn't complete stories, it would just be long summaries. Sometimes it was completely rewriting something that'd taken me years. But it was fine, because there was a flow. And then, all of a sudden, there wasn't. The well ran dry. And then I found Fairy Tail, and haven't really looked back since.