Anime that CANNOT Become (Hollywood) Live-Action Film

Let's pretend we live in a world where anime movies would be adapted into live-action films produced by Hollywood with little creative input from the actual creators and creative liberties is the same term as "let's just repurpose the entire movie." I mean could you imagine what kind of a world we would live in if that were to happen?

WHY does this exist?

Is "Revenge of the Sith"...Bad?

Spoilers for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Am I going to bother you by saying the majority of the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy is pretty bad compared to the majority of the original trilogy? No. You've had fifteen years to hear about that. 

Instead, let's talk about the last live-action film of the franchise until later on in December. The fall of the Jedi and the rise of the Sith. When Sam Jackson lost a hand, robots had hearts, and they really pushed R2 into the limelight of comedy. 

"Dark Knight III: The Master Race" #1

It's been a while since we last saw this gritty, rather odd version of the Dark Knight. It's one that films have been trying to capture, and possibly will. It's one that most comic fans are familiar with, and one they me happy to see returning...sort of. 

Technically, we last saw this version of the Batman in Frank Miller and Jim Lee's All-Star Batman and Robin, but, since that won't ever get a definitive ending, we last fully saw him in The Dark Knight Strikes Again, written by, of course, Frank Miller. Frank Miller, if you aren't aware, has been more miss than hit with his recent work, but was absolutely legendary in the comic industry prior to this century. 

Blue Nexus #30 - Identity

            The entire building was in ruin. Evart stepped into the thick black smoke from the rising flames, gently falling down into the stairwell leading to the basement. Sirens wailed nearby, held off by a surprisingly fast response from the media. Adelita was the center of so much super attention that this was bound to grab their attention. He wondered if the reporters covering the Lightning and Thunder Tiger battle ever even left.

            Evart sucked in the rising fumes like taking in a breath of fresh air and sauntered down the stairwell. Even if someone found him down here, what could they really do?

"Extraordinary X-Men" #2

This is an...odd comic. Yeah. I'll go with that. Is it bad? No, not really. But it's not particularly great. It's not what the X-Men need to come back. It somewhat continues the interesting development the series introduced in its first issue, which I'll touch on as we enter into the review itself, but it also somewhat backtracks on those concepts and more sets up far different things. I fear that the series may not, at least for a little while, be what it's meant to be about. Obviously this idea is not going to last for long--or it will, and get changed back. 

Am I being vague? Okay, good, just making sure. It's more fun this way. 

"Fairy Tail" Chat

Major SPOILERS follow for Fairy Tail

It's no surprise to anyone that's been following this blog that I'm a fan of this series. I pride myself in that, too. This is a series mired in controversy over whether it's one of the worst of all time, or just some goofy, overrated series. I've said my piece on that, and whether or not you like it is up to you. 

It's been a long time since I've talked about the series, and there have been some significant changes in the story since that time, both in the anime and the manga (which I have completely caught up on). Despite the fact that I only watch Fairy Tail in the English Dub, I'm still keeping up with the events of the anime as it airs in Japan and in subtitles over here. 

So today, let's discuss what's been going down in the anime (both sub and dub) and the manga, catching up with our destructive heroes of the Magnolia guild, Fairy Tail! 

Anti-Heroes and Where They Stand Now

An "anti-hero" is, by definition (from Merriam-Webster): a main character in a book, play, movie, etc., who does not have the usual good qualities that are expected in a hero. Well isn't that just hunky-dory. By that definition, almost any hero nowadays can be attributed as an anti-hero, as most heroes have to have some morally grey background about them. Anti-Heroes used to have a gruff edge to them, they used to blur the line between good and bad. More often than not, they can take things to a pretty far extreme in the name of a good cause, forcing the viewer to question whether they're really right or wrong and create tension. 

But, things have changed. Several heroes who used to have pure, righteous hearts are being pushed to the edge more and more. When Superman, the biggest boy scout ever, gets turned into a bit of a brooder, it really stretches what we think of as a hero. 

"All-New Hawkeye" #1

Alright, soooo, yeah. This isn't "AXIS," and, while I'm at it, I may as well tell you that you won't be seeing "AXIS" for a very long time. Why? Well mostly because I'm an overconfident idiot who thought I could be able to acquire the books in time for the reviews. Turns out, nope, that's just not going to happen. 

I feel awful about this. I've had to switch things around before, sure, but this time it's three weeks of material that I promised that I simply can't deliver on. I know "AXIS" isn't the biggest book that I could review right now, but I was really looking forward to having another month-long review. Instead, I do not. And I sincerely apologize. 

Blue Nexus #29 - Out of the Shadows

            Brenda speedily floated up in Earth’s atmosphere, Kyle’s body lying limply on the red construct floor. Brenda held it together physically easily, but internally she was screaming, questions shooting out of her mind about as fast as they were moving.

            All she knew was that Kyle’s Earth body was still alive, but his soul was more than likely lost. After sensing a heap of dark—Demon—magic, she blasted toward East City, where it’d been slowly building but then all of a sudden vanished. She reached the epicenter of that burst, and found Kyle, where he still had some of that magical residue on him in the alley below. The healing magic from the cube construct wiped him clean of it, but it wasn’t doing anything for him. He wasn’t breathing, yet Brenda knew he wasn’t dead.

"Avengers & X-Men: AXIS" #2 & #3

"But wait!" you may be wondering. "Haven't you reviewed this before?"

Why, yes I have ever observant reader. I reviewed the first issue of this miniseries way back when it premiered, and you know what, I gave it a pretty solid review. You can check it out here for my extended thoughts on such.

For those who did not know what, then yes, I did review the first issue, and I won't be including it in this little run we've got for us this month. That would be redundant, and we're not about that.

*looks awkwardly over to both Fate/Zero reviews and Top 10 Villains lists*

"GANGSTA." Review

The most recent of Broadcast Dubs by Funimation to wrap, GANGSTA. is a show that was highly anticipated. People really enjoyed the manga, and it was looking visually great. By the end, though, well, some people fell off the hype train while others were still riding high. Those that fell off the train were manga readers, understandably so, as apparently the creators began to cram whole chapters together into a single episode. I can't speak for this, as I haven't read the manga, and have no intention to. 

Honestly, I ignored most of those comments. If you're going to adapt something, it has to be able to stand on its own without me having to go back and check the material, and see if anything is missing. There were some moments near the end where I felt as if we were missing something, but prior to that, everything was going great. 

Luke Skywalker is Still a Good Guy...Duh

Originally posted on Moviepilot.com by me (hence the weird font). It's gotten a good response over there so I figured I put it here. Plus...this needs to be said. 

Ever since that Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer dropped that halted the Internet from momentarily allowing others to watch that same thing, as well as our old whiny hero not appearing on the major promotional poster, people have been clambering that Luke is, in fact, Kylo Ren, or at the very least, a Sith Lord. There have been arguments that Luke secretly turned during Return of the Jedi or that he's feeling remorse over the events that happened or he formed this "First Order" and is now evil for it.