Happy Monday BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! If you’re looking to shirk off your real world responsibilities and are discreetly trying to recover from a weekend of merriment, look no further. This is manga (And Also Anime) Monday, the place where I spit some anime/manga facts, through out a couple opinions, and garnish everything with a few well timed jokes. Here we go bros.

It has come to my attention that getting into anime can be a pretty daunting task. This is partially because there are several industry heavy terms and tropes that appear in anime and almost nowhere else. If you have not been an anime fan for your entire life (like moi) then you might have some trouble figuring out what is going on in a program, or what the hell someone, who is trying to get you to watch a particular anime, is talking about. Today I am going to try to remedy that by listing some common terms and their definitions.

Anime:  In the West this term is used to describe animation that comes from Japan, while in Japan this term is used to described all animated works. I know that this is pretty basic, but we have to start somewhere.

Manga: Japanese comics. It can also be used to describe a particular art style usually denoted by features such as big eyes, speed lines, and exclamatory topography. ie. Scott Pilgrim.

Shonen: Anime or manga intended for an adolescent to teenage male demographic. Think Naruto, One Piece, Bleach.

Shojo: Anime or manga intended for an adolescent to teenage female demographic. Think Sailor Moon or just about any series that features a primary female cast.

Seinen: Anime or manga that is intended for an adult male demographic. Such as, One Punch Man or Tokyo Ghoul.

Dub: A version of an anime that has been translated into a different language. If you are watching an anime and the characters are speaking a language other than Japanese, you’re watching a dub. It should be noted that the quality of a dubbing an anime ranges widely and is often a sources of debate for anime fans.

Sub: A version of anime that has the characters speaking in Japanese, but with subtitles on screen in the language of the viewer. Subs are often available before dubs and are considered superior by some anime fans due to it better persevering the original Japanese dialogue.

Scanlation: The process of a comic being translated from one language to another.

Fan Service: The use mildly sexual content to peak a readers interest. Sometimes it makes sense within the plot of the story, sometimes it does not. You known how basically every horror movie has to have some kind of sex scene? This is pretty much like that.

Ecchi: The PG-13 of anime and manga. It denotes some sexual content, but not enough to warrant some kind of censorship.

Hentai: Basically porn……………view at your own risk.

Chibi: Characters that are drawn in a deliberately cute way. These characters often small and young looking. This art style is usually used for humorous affect to create juxtaposition.

Mangaka: The creator of a manga. More often than not, mangaka both illustrate and write their work.

Mecha: A very popular genre of anime that is denoted by the presence of large robots.

Omake: Something extra in a collection of manga chapters or anime episodes. Similar to behind the scenes or bonus content in western works.

Otaku: A fan of anime and manga. This has become a catchall term that is used now to describe almost anyone who enjoys anime or manga, but used to solely refer to people who took there fandom to an extreme, possibly unhealthy, level.

That is more or less all of the basic terminology you need to know to enter into the wonderful world of anime. If you thought that this post was informative or enjoyable, give it a like. If you thought it was god-awful or if I missed something that you think should be on this list, leave a comment. As always, you can subscribe to BaddaBing BaddaBlog and receive notifications via email, buy going over to the upper right tab. If you really want to be cool, you can head over to the BaddaBing BaddaBlog Facebook Page and give it a like. I’m also on this new thing called Twitter. Go follow me, @LucasDeRuyter, and watch me figure out how to work it. I am terribly sorry, but there will not be a post tomorrow, but fret not because the next installment of Pop-Culture Wednesday is right around the corner. See you then.

BaddaBing, BaddaBye

Happy Sunday BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! As your weekend and summer come to a close, take a minute to enjoy the little things like the beautiful weather, the smell of freshly cut grass, and the latest installment of Politics, Politalks. As always, any opinions I write here are entirely my own and should in no way be thought of as a representation of the views of any parties I have been, currently am, or will be associated with. With that in mind, lets talk politics.

You know who I hate? White supremacists. You know who I also hate? Donald Trump. Thankfully the Grand Wizard of the KKK has made it easier for me to hate them both simultaneously as the KKK has endorsed Trump’s run for president. Trump publicly rejected the Clan’s endorsement, but the damage is already done. A group of people that hold views that cause them to be hated by basically all of America believes that Trump is doing a good job and should be elected president. I look foreword to seeing people on Fox News try to explain how Trump still isn’t racist, even after the KKK saying that he’s aces.

Speaking of Fox News, I dislike them as well. I feel that way about them for many reasons: they are anything but fair and balanced, they straight up lie to people, and that they are sometime unintentionally raciest/ sometimes intentionally racist. When the Straight Outta Compton premiered Fox News reported that thousands across the country were lining up to see it and that surprisingly no fights or riots had broken out. However, what upsets me the most about the news company is that they have created an environment where you either agree with them, or you are wrong. I have talked to (well, been talked at) by many conservatives who regularly watch Fox News and it seems like they think that any news outlet besides Fox News is either wrong or propagating the liberal agenda. I know several people who think that the internet, the freest medium to express opinions, is run by liberals. This situation makes it basically impossible to  have any kind of discussion because any source other than Fox News has become devalued in their eyes. I would actually be kind of impressed that Fox News has gotten so many people to drink their Kool-aid if I was not so upset by the situation.

Alright, that pretty much raps up what everything I wanted to say about these topics. Thanks for letting me vent guys. I promise that Monday will be a bit more jovial. If you did enjoy my rant be sure to like the post and leave a comment, but only if you are down with that. Also maybe head on over to the BaddaBing BaddaBlog Facebook Page and do the stuff over there. You could also follow me on Twitter, I’m @LucasDeRuyter, but only if you enjoy my musings in 140 characters or less. You can also subscribe to BaddaBing BaddaBlog via email by clicking on the tab on the upper right of the screen. See y’all Monday.

BaddaBing, BaddaBye

Happy weekend BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! Today’s Saturday, so prepare for your weekly fix of Game Grind. The weekly article dedicated to reporting or analyzing the video game industry.

You know who I love? Nintendo.

I love them even more recently because they have made news by doing something incredibly awesome. They have come together with the makers of the super amazing video game Shovel Knight,

Yacht Club Games, to make a Shovel Knight amiibo.

I know it may not seem like it, but this is actually a pretty big deal.

Nintendo is extremely protective of their characters and properties, perhaps more so than any other company in the video game industry. Due to this, Nintendo has very rarely let outside companies handle their IPs and has sparsely published third party works exclusively on their consoles. The notable exceptions to this being the first six Final Fantasy and the Bayonetta franchise. Shovel Knight is an Indy game that was first released on Wii U and 3DS and later on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. However, it was recently announced that Nintendo is going to be working with Yacht Club Games to produced a Shovel Knight amiibo, which is Nintendo’s money making, toy/DLC hybrid.

This is great news not only for fans of Shovel Knight, but also for fans of Indy games. Nintendo adopting Shovel Knight as an amiibo is symbolic of their desire to be more involved in the independent video game scene. Which would be great for the video game industry. Right now, Indy video game makers are able to publish their games almost solely on mobile platforms and PC. Not being able to publish their works on consoles and partner with larger companies makes it difficult for new Indy developers to make money and grow. Nintendo offering to work more closely with Indy developers and give them a place to sell their quality games will be great opportunity for new companies to grow and also make Nintendo a boat load of money.

Alright, that about does it for this weeks Game Grind. I’m picking up a copy of MGS5 on Tuesday, so the next installment will most likely be a review of that game. Thank you so much for reading and if you enjoyed the article, go ahead and give it a like and maybe leave a comment down below. You can also subscribe to BaddaBing BaddaBlog via the drop down menu on the right side or follow/like the Facebook Page. If you enjoy humor in increments of 140 characters or less, you can follow me on Twitter; I’m @LucasDeRuyter. Once again thanks for reading and tomorrows post will tackle or report some political issue or another. See you then.

BaddaBing, BaddaBye

Happy Thursday BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! I know that Thursday is normally an off day, but seeing as I will be moving on Friday and will not have time to write a post then, Friday’s post is coming to you a little early. This is News for the Mighty, News of the Week! Which is the weekly post that aims to inform you, the reader, about everything noteworthy that happened during the week. That way, when you are trying to hit on a girl in your favorite pub or brewhouse, you can lay some topical lines on her. Here we go!

YouTube vs. Twitch

The act of watching other people play games and produce commentary while playing said games has become an incredibly popular form of entertainment. There is nary a person with internet connection under the age of thirty that has not heard of the uber-popular Let’s Play YouTuber, PewDiePie. Seeing the potential of a rapidly growing market, the retail company Amazon outbid Google in the purchasing off the website Twitch. This website allows users to watch people play videogames in real time, leave comments, and, in some cases, allow upwards of  millions of people to play the same videogame simultaneously. Possibly out of spite, Google took those funds that it was going to use to buy Twitch and invested it into their partner company YouTube. This allowed YouTube to launch YouTube Gaming this week, which more or less does everything that Twitch does, but better.

I personally love it when giant companies like Google and Amazon get into squabbles like this. Especially when it results in more competition being formed in an industry, which is great for both people making content and consumers. YouTube Gaming’s big hooks are that it can play videos at a higher quality than Twitch, and that its video player uses less bandwidth and processing power than Twitch’s player. I’ve never really been much into the Let’s Play scene, but now that a lot of YouTubers I like are experimenting on YouTube Gaming, I think I may have to check it out. I also believe that the deciding factor on which platform comes out on top will depend on whether Twitch can hold onto broadcasting the massive eSports competitions or if those events switch to being viewable on YouTube Gaming.

More on YouTube Gaming right here.

Reporter and Cameraman Killed on Live TV

 In sobering news, television reporter Allison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward during a live television interview. The gunman, whose name I will not write here as I do not want to contribute to him gaining any amount of fame, was a former employee of the news station Allison and Adam worked for. He had been fired from the newstation WDBJ two years prior to this tragic event due to angry, unprofessional behavior. After he killed the two WDBJ employees and injured Viki Gardner, head of a local chamber of commerce who Allison had been interviewing, he fled the scene in a rental car. He latter attempted to take his own life with his legally purchased firearms, causing the car to crash. Police apprehended the shooter and took him to a nearby hospital for treatment. The killer died in the hospital due to his self inflicted wounds.

My thoughts and heart go out to the families of the Allison Parker, Adam Ward, and Viki Gardner. I also beg lawmakers across the country to create and enact legislation to help prevent incidents like this from happening again. Clearly something needs to change in our country.

Click here for more on this tragic event.

McWhopper Proposal!!?

In lighter news, Burger King has reached out to competitor McDonald’s with the intent of creating a combination of both restaurant’s signature burger. This fusion burger would be called the McWhopper and all proceeds from the burger’s limited run would go to the charity Peace One Day. This burger would have its own unique packaging and be sold in both McDonald’s and Burger Kings across the country. This offer was make by Burger King via an open letter published in the New York Times and Chicago Tribune and McDonald’s rejection was released via Facebook.

McDonald’s turned down the offer because, apparently, they hate money. Seriously, even if the burger was only sold for one day and the proceeds went to charity, McDonald’s would still make a killing off of selling fries and drinks! I know there have to be some smart people working at McDon’s HQ for them to have grown into a massive chain and stayed around for so long, but apparently they all had the day off yesterday. This is a worse business decision than when McDonald’s sold all of the shares of the Chipotle restaurant. Sorry guys, looks like we can’t help reach world piece by eating fast food.

Side note, am I the only food lover that likes to combine foods from different restaurants? Like, I get a couple tacos from Taco Bell and then pair them with an ice cream dessert from Culvers. Does anyone else ever do that? Let me know in the comments down below.

More on the McWhopper right here.

Stock Market Madness

If I had written this post three days earlier, I would be describing how the stock market was being dominated by individuals and companies selling shares due to concerns over China’s slowing economy having a detrimental impact on the world economy. Instead, I get to write about how the Dow. Jones Stock Index has climbed 619 points, its highest clime since 2008. So good for me, as I get to write about good news, and good for literally everyone, as the world economy is not imploding.

To explain what happened simply, many investors were worried that, due to reports of China’s economy slowing, the economies all around the world would begin to slow. This caused them to rapidly sell their shares in various businesses. However, due to China’s implementations of measures to restore their economy and the realization that maybe investors overreacted, people realized that things were not tectonically bad and began buying up all of the shares that had previously been sold, for a much cheaper price.

The moral of the story here is…….kind of nonexistent. When you get an institution as connected and grand as the stock market, weird things like this are bound to happen. It actually could have been way worse.

More on the Stock Market right here.

Amazon Alcohol

Do you want to get hammered drunk, but have no immediate access to alcohol and do not want to leave your home? Well, stop trying to ferment those oranges because Amazon has got your back! The retail giant announced a new service yesterday called Amazon Prime Now, that will deliver various items, including ice cold beer, to your door in under an hour. The service will only be available to individuals living in the Seattle area for now, but if it does well you better believe that Amazon is going to expand this idea.

Well Amazon will definitely make bank off of this service, I am interested to hear what you readers thing about it. Is this the beginning of a new phase in product consumption? Is this the first step down the road of humanity becoming like the people In Wall-E? Let me know in the comments if you’re sober enough to type coherent sentences.

Alright, gang, that’s it for today’s installment of News for the Mighty, News of the Week. Thank you so much for reading. If you like this post, show it by hitting the like button and, while you are down there, maybe answer one of today’s questions in the comment section. If you want to receive notifications for new posts, you can subscribe via the right side dropdown menu, or like/follow the BaddaBing BaddaBlog Facebook Page. You can also get notified and have a few laughs via my Twitter profile, @LucasDeRuyter. You can also appreciate my badass new profile pic. while you are there.

Once again, there will be no post tomorrow. However, the next installment of Game Grind will be released on Saturday, as per usual. Have a great Thursday and Friday everybody.

BaddaBing, BaddaBye

Happy Wednesday BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! Today I’m going to write about what’s going on in the world of pop culture. Well, at least that was the plan. Do to the way a lot of western media is produced and marketed, there is not a lot to talk about right now. All of the summer blockbuster movies are done with, the television series that premiered or returned are still a few weeks from winding down, and there are not enough issues of the comics I have picked up over the summer out yet for me to form much of an opinion. I could talk about art, literature, or music, but I’m by no means an authority on art, I’m out of the loop on current or upcoming novels, and the thing I’m most excited for in the music scene is the next Gorillaz album, which probably will not be out until 2016 or 2017. So instead of talking about what is new or upcoming in pop culture, I’m going to examine and review a specific title in the field that I enjoy. Namely, Rick and Morty.

Rick and Morty is an adult animated television series airing on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block and is the product of the Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland working together. The show follows the adventures of an alcoholic mad scientist, Rick, and his naïve and well meaning grandson, Morty. The show originally began as a parody of the two main characters from Back to the Future, but has since blossomed into its own unique and compelling story.

Perhaps the single greatest thing that can be said about Rick and Morty is that it is not afraid to push an idea to its absolute limits. Whether an episode is taking a jab at an overused science fiction trope or pioneering an original storyline, the writers unapologetically push a concept to a point that would seem ridiculous on any other show. However, on Rick and Morty these outrageous developments are delightful and extremely entertaining.

For example, in one episode Rick introduces Morty’s family to a creature called Mr. Meeseeks. This human-like being is created with a push of a button, given task, and then explode once they complete said task. These creatures are totally fine with their brief, one note existence. However, when a Mr. Meeseeks cannot fulfill his determined task, helping Morty’s father Jerry take two strokes off of his golf game, Mr. Meeseeks quickly creates other Mr. Meeseeks to help him help Jerry. Before long there are dozens of the genie like beings and they decide that they only way they can help Jerry is by killing him and thereby taking all of the strokes off of his golf game.

Yeah, that’s just a taste of how dark this show can get. Another episode features Rick and Morty doing irreparable damage to the planet that they are living on. Most shows would have the leads find some imposable and comedic way of returning things to normal. Not Rick and Morty. Instead of fixing the problem, the two of them travel to a parallel dimension where that universes Rick and Morty die and just replace them. This causes severe psychological trauma to Morty. However, we do get to see him adopt a more nihilistic worldview which ultimately helps him overcome some of his longstanding insecurities and better adjust to what life throws at him.

Rick and Morty is great because it dares to be weird and original. That should not sound like much, but sadly a lot of television shows are created and marketed in a specific way to the largest audience possible. When I watch an episode of Rick and Morty, I get the impression that the creators and writers don’t really care if their show is extremely popular or not. They seem to be more concerned with creating something that they enjoy and can be proud of.

Rick and Morty is more than halfway done with its second season. So far this season has been even darker, funnier, and more real than the first season. Adult Swim has green lite production for a third season of Rick and Morty and I’m sure it will be marvelous. If you have not watched Rick and Morty already, watch it. All of season two so far is up on YouTube for free. If you have friends who do not watch Rick and Morty, convince them to watch it. Rick and Morty is probably one of the greatest shows on television right now and I can promise you that its quality an popularity is only going to grow to a rickdiculous level from here.

Thanks for reading and don’t forget to like the post and leave a comment, like and follow the Facebook page, and follow me, @LucasDeRuyter, on Twitter. Normally Thursday would be a day off, but because I’ll be busy on Friday, you can expect the next installment of News for the Mighty, News of the Week sometime tomorrow. See you then.

BaddaBing BaddaBye

Happy Monday internet! Who’s ready to get Schwifty!? If you get that reference you are amazing, and if you don’t, watch Rick and Morty already. It’s on Youtube for free and is probably the most consistently funny and thought provoking program on television right now. Before I begin today’s post, I wanted to let you readers know that reviews for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain are starting to come in and………..it’s a masterpiece. Literally, IGN gave the game a score of 10/10, which earned it a “Masterpiece” rating. This makes it one of 33 titles in the entire history of video games to earn that title. Since the game is released to the public on Sept. 1st, I’m probably not going to be able to post as frequently due to me needing to play that game. Also, I’ll be starting this thing called “College” again, which will probably eat up a decent amount of my time. I’ll probably post a review of the game after I’ve played enough of it to form a reasonable opinion to compensate for the lack of activity. After a week or two into college, I’ll also probably draw up a new posting schedule that will mesh better with my class schedule and other responsibilities. Okay, now that the housekeeping stuff is out of the way, it’s time to get serious and talk about Japanese comic books.

Japanese comics, or manga, are comics created in Japan with various genres marketed to different age groups. These comics tell a wide variety of stories and are quite often the source material for any given anime. Modern manga first began to appear in 1945 as a way for Japan to express its unique culture and also reshape its global image after World War Two. It can be distinguished from western comics quite easily, as Manga is typically in black and white and due to Manga being read from right to left.

While I am probably in the minority opinion, I enjoy manga more than anime. This is for a few reasons, some of which are stupid and some of which are totally valid. When I first started reading manga at around age 13 or 14, the internet connection in my house SUUUUUUUUUCKED. Actually it still kind of does, but anyway; it was easier and less time consuming for me to read a work than it was for me to watch its anime adaptation. Manga is also able to generally be more graphic and suffers from less censorship than anime due to manga not being a televised medium. Lastly, manga usually does not suffer from what is commonly referred to as “filler” in the anime industry. “Filler” is the insertion of story arcs or scenes into an anime that did not appear in the original manga. Filler can be added for various reasons, ranging from produces trying to make more money to the anime catching up to the source material in terms of story, but filler almost always contains a story that is not relevant to the series plot and is usually never referenced again in the show.

Now that you know what Manga is and why I like it, here are some great series for new readers to pick up.

Rave Master

Rave Master, also known as RAVE or The Groove Adventure Rave, tells the story of a sixteen year old boy who is chosen by fate to save the world. Along the way he meets an amnesiac girl and a mysterious dog-like creature and together they attempt to fight evil and restore the girl’s memories. If it sounds like a straightforward somewhat clichéd story, that’s because it kind of is.

This is the first series written by the acclaimed manga author Hiro Mashima, who’s better known for his later work Fairy Tail (which you should probably also read). While at its heart RAVE is a story that has been told a thousand times, there are enough twists and surprises to keep a reader entertained though the story’s entirety. RAVE also does a tremendous amount of world building and has some striking character development. This combined with the fact that nearly every character has a delightful 90s punk tone makes everything feel cool and badass.

Seriously, these guys look like Green Day, but with more swords and angst. I love it.

Tokyo Ghoul

You know how there was a stretch in literature where a ton of authors wrote about vampires and tried to depict the complex situation of living amongst people, but also needing to eat people to survive? Yeah, this author, Sui Ishida, basically said fuck you guys, this is how that story would actually go. The end result of this was the masterful work known as Tokyo Ghoul. This is a story about college student, Ken Kaneki, who one day is attack by and nearly eaten by a ghoul. He avoids death, but has to receive an organ transplant to live. A few days later he discovers that regular food tastes like garbage to him and that the only things he can eat are human flesh and coffee. This story is about him adjusting to living life as a monster, or ghoul.

This is a phenomenal story and probably has some of the best uses of literary devices in all of fiction. Subtle foreshadowing is present all though out the story, some of which does not come to fruition until hundreds of chapters later. Tokyo Ghoul also draws parallels and acknowledges these parallels to other works of horror such as Kafka’s book The Metamorphasis. Most impressively, the entire work is a loose interpretation of the story told in tarot cards. The author will sometimes hide numbers in scenes that show what tarot number a character is associated with or what event in the tarot cards’ story is happening.

This is an exceptional manga that has equal parts psychological thrills as it does action. The author pulls no punches in describing the dark aspects of cannibalization for survival. Tokyo Ghoul also does a great job of showing what life would be like for a person that society thinks of as a monster. This story can be dark and morbid, but that is because it is supposed to be a tragedy.

It’s a beautiful tragedy.

One Punch Man

If you read superhero comics, this series will probably be easy for you to pick up. One Punch Man was created by author One (this is a badass pseudonym) and is equal parts action, satire, comedy, and philosophy. It originally started as a web comic, but became so popular that it has seen a rerelease in publication magazines, with the art now being drawn by Yusuke Murata. This is probably the most beautifully illustrated work on this list.

The story follows a man named Saitama who dreamed of becoming the world’s strongest hero. After three years he achieved his goal. The only problem is that he has become so strong that he can defeat even the strongest of enemies with a single punch. You know how Superman is always mocked because he is supposed to be all powerful, but still winds up getting his ass beat by Batman? Saitama would make both of them look like chumps. The main plot of One Punch Man more or less follows Saitama trying to find meaning in life after achieving his goals.

I would go into more detail describing some of the supporting characters and the overachieving themes of the work, but, honestly, if you aren’t interested in it by now, One Punch Man probably is not for you. I’ll just let the main character sum up who he is and what he’s about.

Mob Psycho 100

This is another work by One (yeah, yeah, I’m a fan), that is also geared toward an adult audience. It should be noted that this work is both written and drawn by One, so expect a vastly different art style than what is in Once Punch Man. However, this series contains just as many psychological musings and examinations of society.

The story of Mob Psycho 100 follows 8th grader Shigeo Kageyama who is nicknamed Mob (which essentially means John Doe in the Japanese context) because he is incredibly bland and unassuming. However, in reality he is an immensely powerful esper, an person capable of an array of paranormal abilities. The reason he is so plain and stoic is because his psychic powers grow more powerful and become harder to control as he gets more emotional. Shigeo has intentionally placed an emotional shackle on himself to protect the people around him, which ironically has caused him to have difficulty forming relationships with others and finding his place in society.

You know how Forrest Gump is more or less a story of an individual being used by those around him? This story is like that, but a LOT cooler. Mob Psycho 100 is filled with compelling characters with interesting world views. While a lot of stuff happens, the story is ultimately about Mob trying to find where he belongs, how to make the most out of his life, and how to handle his extraordinary powers. The story regularly rotates between being funny to thoughtful and insightful, to badass. Meaning that the plot is always moving and is never boring.

That’s it for Manga (And Also Anime) Monday. Thank you very much for reading. There won’t be any posts tomorrow, but you can still be excited for Pop-Culture Wednesday. If you liked this post, go ahead and give it a physical like down below and leave a comment while you’re there. You can also subscribe via email in the right side drop down menu. You can also like and follow the BaddaBing BaddaBlog Facebook page. I’m also on Twitter, where I am hilarious. My handle is @LucasDeRuyter. If any of these series interested you they are readily available online in various places, although I would prefer it if you viewed them through legal channels. Good luck with the work week everybody.

BaddaBing BaddaBye

Happy Sunday BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! Just like last Sunday, this segment is dedicated to bringing you news and my opinion regarding current political issues. Once again, any and all views expressed here are entirely my own and should in no way be thought of as a representation of any groups that I have been, currently am, or someday in the future am associated with. Now that that’s over with, here we go!

Guns, and issues relating to guns, are arguably the most controversial topics in American politics. I actually know a bunch of people who’s voting habits are solely based on a candidate’s position on gun control. The reason I bring this up is because two individuals were recently arrested on the charges of planning to commit a mass shooting at the Pokemon World Championships. If these men are found guilty of plotting to shoot the many Pokemon fans at the event, in my opinion they will be some of the most deplorable people on the planet. I also want to commend the Boston Police force for handling this incident so quickly and professionally.

The reason guns are so controversial in America is because they have a deep and varied history in the American culture. On the one hand, guns were distributed to civilians on an widely during the country’s genesis so that ordinary people could fight for the country’s independence. Since then, firearms have been seen by many people as symbolizing ideas such as freedom and personal protection. On the other hand, guns have been used by American’s to inflict tremendous amounts of pain and suffering; both upon enemies to the nation and innocents withing it. Due to this, firearms are seen by many as instruments of senseless violence.

These conflicts of opinion have made it almost impossible to create any kind of reform regarding firearm issues. As someone who agrees with the latter view and as someone who lives in the state with perhaps the loosest firearm regulations, I find this detestable. By not making it any harder for people to commit mass shootings, we are creating an environment that says that Americans are okay with mass shootings, so long as we are still allowed to keep our guns. This is what those terrorists want, and by continuing to leave the situation as it currently stands, they are winning.

Well it is clear that this situation needs be changed and that laws and regulations need to be put into place to fix this problem, the question of how to go about doing that arises. The immediate answer is to elect politicians to create and enact laws, but that is easier said than done. Gun issues have created such a divide that any politician who says they are going to limit gun ownership in any fashion, that it will become tremendously hard for them to get elected. Moreover, if anyone in any position of power does try to place new regulations on guns, they will most likely either be unsuccessful in their venture or not be reelected.

The reason why politicians who try to limit the purchase or use of firearms have difficulty continuing to work in politics is because there is a ground dedicated to making sure that all Americans have easy access to guns and convincing people that guns are not dangerous. This group is called the National Rifle Association, also known as the NRA, and they are kind of evil. This group has continued to propagate the idea that guns are synonymous with freedom and have fought to keep gun laws unchanged after events like school shootings. This group claims that they fight for the rights of gun owners, but in reality they do far more good for gun manufacturers than for firearm owners. It is incredibly sad that this group has so much lobbying power and such a large financial backing.

Personally I believe that things will only get better when people stop making gun ownership such a large part of their identity. There are currently way too many people who are way too into guns for any reasonable amount of change to occur. Which sucks a lot. I could go into way more detail and list off a bunch examples of preventable gun related violence, but you’ve probably heard them all ready and this article already has me far too bummed out. I will end this with one final remark, though. Ancient civilizations used to sacrifice men, women, and children alike to their god so that they could have or maintain power and influence. People like to think that we as a society have outgrown that practice and today label it as barbaric or inhumane. We have not. The only difference today is that instead of a god, it is a gun that we are sacrificing lives to.

On that sombering note, thank you for reading. I promise that tomorrow I will post something much more upbeat and funny, and also related to anime/manga. If you found this post to be thought provoking or interesting, please like it and leave a comment down below. You can subscribe via email in the drop down menu to the right, or you can like/follow the BaddaBing BaddaBlog Facebook Page. You can also follow me on Twitter, I’m @LucasDeRuyter. Have a great week.

Happy weekend readers! Here’s some video game news to give you something think about doing in the future as you try to max out your character’s skill tree in Skyrim for the fourth time. This is Game Grind.

Pokémon Fighting Game Coming to Wii U in 2016

It was announced at the Pokémon World Championship this weekend that the previously Japan arcade exclusive Pokken Tournament, will be heading to Wii U consoles worldwide in Spring 2016. This game will depict the Pokémon universe as it never has before, as it will feature the pocket monsters fighting each other in a manner akin to Street Fighter or Mortal Combat. Appropriately, this game will allow Pikachu, the Pokémon franchise’s mascot, to dress up in a lucha libre costume.

I personally think that bringing Pokken Tournament to the Wii U was a brilliant decision on Nintendo’s part. A Pokémon fighting game has been a dream shared by many Pokémon fans for a LONG time. With the exception of some fan made games, this is that dream come to fruition. Also, LOOK AT PIKACHU LIBRE!!!!  He’s so adorable I want to pinch his cheeks until I’m electrocuted to death! If this game is handled and advertised correctly, Nintendo is about to sell a lot more Wii Us.

More on Pokken Tournament here, and here.

FF7 Out On iOS

Final Fantasy 7, arguably the most beloved and greatest Final Fantasy game (yes it is, shut-up six-ers!), has been released on iOS devices. This version is based off of the PC port of the game and has been adjusted slightly to work on touch screen devices. The game also has two new features which allows players to turn off random enemy encounters and instantly raise the playable characters to their maximum level. If you want to experience this gem of a game again, or for the first time, on Apple devices, it’ll set you back about 16 dollars.

I’m excited that this masterpiece is being rereleased and being made available for more people to play it. This game is, at the very least, the second greatest game to be released on the original PlayStation and is considered revolutionary in the JRPG genre for it’s amazing story and (for the time) beautiful graphics. For those of you who didn’t know, a remake of the game is in the works for the current generation of consoles. When this was announced I, and every other fan, was temporarily reduced to an emotional puddle. I may just buy this rerelease, just to tide me over until the remake is released.

More on FF7 rerelease

Bonus, Final Fantasy 7 remake trailer:

Super Mario Maker

On of the fall games that people are most excited for is Super Mario Maker. This game adds a twist to the traditional Mario formula by allowing players to create their own Mario levels and allow other people all over the world to play it. This, of course, can get pretty crazy; as seen in the game’s trailer.

While Nintendo will be releasing some of their own levels, most people are looking foreword to the ridiculously challenging levels that other players are inevitably going to create. This game is also a “Let’s Player’s” dream (hopefully Nintendo loosens their strict rules regarding this entertainment medium). It’s already obvious that this is going to be a great game and I cannot wait for the 11th.

Super Mario Maker Info.

Nintendo Movies?

On of Nintendo’s heads and legendary game designer, Shigeru Miyamoto, recently stated in an interview that the gaming giant may become more open to having some of their works adapted to films. This is surprising considering that Nintendo has always been extremely protective of all of their IPs. Nintendo has only ever turned one of their games into a movie one time and, well……. You know what? You don’t need my opinion on this one, here’s the trailer and you can infer for yourself information about the quality of the movie.

I personally am excited by this information. If done well, Nintendo movies could be awesome! This news also adds some validity to the rumor that Nintendo is looking to make a live action, Legend of Zelda, Netflix series. While it is entirely possible that these ventures could be awful, I feel that so long as Nintendo is involved and directors and actors who are familiar with the source material are hired, these films and series could be pretty good.

More on Nintendo’s interest in film adaptations

Xbox One Hype

Microsoft’s Xbox One has been in the news recently due to changes coming to the console. These changes include: backwards playing capability for certain Xbox 360 games, the rerelease of older titles on the Xbox One, and the ability to cross play and cross buy with PC’s that are running on Windows 10. Microsoft believes that these additions, as well as a variety of Xbox only titles, has made the Xbox One superior to the PlayStation 4. It is clear that Microsoft aims to win the Console Wars with these improvements.

Personally, I don’t think that these announcements are going to dethrone Sony’s PlayStation 4. Granted I own a PlayStation 4 and am biased, but I believe that Microsoft is too far behind to catch up to Sony’s console. The biggest mistake Microsoft made, besides pushing the Kinect so hard, was not having any of these features available to the Xbox One when it was released. Backwards compatibility is a quality that gamers adore about video game consoles and that probably would have swayed gamers to pick up Microsoft’s Xbox. However, this feature is coming far too late. Everybody who is passionate about video games already has a current gen console by now, and backwards compatibility isn’t as big a deal to casual video game players. The second thing that is going to keep Microsoft from doing better than Sony is, pretty much all of Asia. The Xbox One is selling HORRIABLY in Asian markets. While Sony is winning everywhere, it’s at least slightly close in the U.S. and Europe. In Japan and other Asian countries, the PlayStation 4 and Wii U easily dwarf anything with a Microsoft logo. Sorry Microsoft, maybe things will go better with the Xbox 720 (which should have been the name of the Xbox One to begin with).

More on Microsoft’s Xbox One hype

That is it for this week’s installment of Game Grind. If you liked this post, give it a like and leave a comment down below. If you really enjoyed this, or anything else on BaddaBing BaddaBlog, you can subscribe to it via email in the dropdown tab to the right. You can also check out BaddBing BaddaBlog’s Facebook page, right here. Go ahead and give that page a like and a follow, but only if your are sure you are ready for such a long term and committed Facebook relationship. Here’s my Twitter profile if you want to check me out on there too, @LucasDeRuyter. Thanks so much for reading, have an amazing weekend, and may all your hopes and desires become reality. See you tomorrow.

BaddaBing, BaddaBye

Happy Friday readers! Soon we shall escape the surly bonds of the work week and gaze upon the majesty of the weekend. Aaaaaaand if you happen to be bumming around with your mates anytime during the weekend, here’s some stuff you can talk about to seem knowledgeable and escape crippling awkward silences.

Disney is Making a Star Wars Land

At the Walt Disney company’s D23 expo. (which I think is also the name of a K-pop group and a Rap group), it was announced that a Star Wars theme park is going to be added to both California’s Disney Land and Florida’s Disney World. Construction will begin in 2017 in California, but no date has been given for Florida, yet. These parks will be 14 acres in size, making them the largest single “park” in either collection of parks. It has also been stated that Disney wants to make the new park as “realistic” as possible, by having all employees where universe appropriate costumes at all times.

If I go missing for like a week at any point after this park has been constructed, this is where I’m going to be. I’m going to spend the next 2 – 3 years meticulously crafting the most realistic Chewbacca costume ever created, and I’m going to spend an entire week reveling in this new park’s glory. I don’t even care that I’m probably going to die of heat stroke or dehydration! 8 year old me would totally kick my ass if he found out that there was a Star Wars theme park and I didn’t go there within its first week of opening.

Click here for more info. on the D23 expo.

North Korea Attacks South Korea

North Korea has lunched artillery at South Korean loudspeakers that were broadcasting messages that were critical of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un. No South Korean’s were injured in the attack, although several individuals were evacuated from the area, but have since returned. It is also being reported that Kim Jong-un is ordering soldiers to enter into front line attack positions.

It is extremely likely that nothing is going to come out this development.  North Korea has been has been making attacks like this and has making threats of invasion, pretty much sense North Korea became a country. It is the nation state of someone who is WAY too drunk at a party. They mouth off that they are hot shit, but everyone knows that they aren’t every going to do any of the things that they say they are going to. Then they flash a gang sign to a random black guy, and their best friend China is finally fed up with N. Korea, and is like “Alright man, that’s it. You’re on your own.”

Click here for more news on N. Korea

Tinder vs. Vanity Fair

The magazine Vanity Fair has recently taken shots at the dating app, Tinder, by writing an “expose” detailing how Tinder has ruined that dating scene for women. The article claims that the app allows men to take advantage of women more easily by claiming to want relationships, when in reality they only want one night stands. It was also reported by the author of the piece on twitter that (30%) of all Tinder users who claim to be single, are in fact married.

Tinder responded to this article and its author’s tweet with a series of tweets of their own. While Tinder’s tweets are fiery, they essentially state that the survey Vanity Fair conducted in their article is a misrepresentation of Tinder users, that those who lie about their relationship status on Tinder are a much smaller minority than what Vanity Fair claimed, and that Tinder has helped many individuals find meaningful relationships. It culminates with Tinder claiming that the article was written from a biased perspective, which is actually a pretty big insult in the world of journalism.

Total disclosure, I have a Tinder profile. I’ve used it, I’ve messaged people who swiped right on my profile, and I’ve meet with a few of those women in real life. Are there crazy and morally deplorable people on the the app? Yeah, but there are shitty people everywhere. Tinder isn’t inherently bad, but just like any other platform that people can use to present themselves to others, people are going to lie on it and abuse it.

Click here to learn more about the Tinder/Vanity Fair feud

Posh Pumpkin Spice

 Starbucks has recently announced that it is going to change the recipe for its popular Pumpkin Spice Latte drink, to include actual pumpkin. This announcement has been met positively by individuals who feel that food should actually contain what it is named after. However, the news has been negatively received by some people who deeply enjoy the drink in its current incarnation and by some vegans who enjoy the drink as the new recipe introduces condensed skim milk.

I don’t really care about this story. I’m a Dunkin’ Donuts man. Really the only reason I’m including this story is because I find it slightly funny that this qualifies as “news” and because I wanted to give you, the reader, the power to potentially ruin the day of a basic girl or guy that you dislike

More info. on the Starbucks changes

Ashley Madison Leak 

Recently hackers stole user information from the affair website Ashley Madison. This information ranges from users name and address as well as their credit card information. The hackers offered not to release the information if Ashley Madison’s parent company shut down the site, but the company declined and this week the hackers released the information. Currently the website’s owners are claiming that the information that has been released is false, but it is becoming increasingly evident that this information is real.

This event has actually caused quite a bit of controversy. On the one hand, people who secretly cheat on their significant other are terrible people, but, on the other hand, the releasing of private personal information is widely frowned upon in this growing digital age. That’s actually a great topic to bring into the comment section down below. Do you guys think that the hackers did a good thing, or do you think that they are in the wrong?

Ashley Madison Hack

Thank you so much for reading this post. If you enjoyed it, go ahead and give it a like and maybe start a conversation in the comments down below. Go ahead and subscribe to BaddaBing BaddaBlog via email by clicking the follow button on the right side drop down menu. Also be sure to like/follow the Facebook page, located right here, and follow me on twitter, right here. Have a good weekend y’all.

BaddaBing, BaddaBye

Happy Thursday readers! Today I’m going to talk about something that has been on my mind for a while that will probably upset quite a few of you:

I think DC Comics is better than Marvel (drops the mic).

(Picks mic back up) And here’s why I believe that. First, historically DC has produced better works and storylines than Marvel. Second, DC has a better, more interesting cast of characters than Marvel. And third, looking foreword it seems like DC is going to be making better content than Marvel.

Now before I begin really making a lot of people mad by using reason and facts to defend my view, I need to give credit where credit is do. Yes, Marvel is on top right now. Yes, Marvel has, for the most part, transitioned their IPs to film better than DC. And yes, Marvel has basically singlehandedly changed the world of film and Hollywood by making superhero movies a viable genre, that can both tell an interesting story and make people money. I want to make it clear that I do actually LIKE Marvel and it’s works. I loved Guardians of the Galaxy, I think Deadpool is one of the most refreshing, original, and entertaining superheroes in existence right now, and I am super pumped to see Civil War when it comes out.

(Although, truthfully I think I’m more excited to watch elementary school kids get WAY to intense over the inevitable “Who’s Side Are You On” advertising campaign. Seriously, I totally see them going full West Side Story with this stuff. “No Mom! I can’t go to the North side of town with an Iron Man backpack! That’s Capt. America territory!”)

However, despite all of this, I like DC comics more for some very concrete and understandable reasons.

DC has been making some great content long before Marvel dominated the film industry. If you compare any of the “Best Of” lists between DC and Marvel, you are going to notice something a little strange. DC’s list contains almost entirely whole series of a particular comic’s run or one-shot graphic novels, while Marvel’s list contains a lot of specific issues of a particular series. To me this is demonstrative of DC’s ability to tell a complex and dynamic story, and not just surprise a reader by placing a heavily advertised “shocking development/twist”, which usually involves a character dying. (While I will admit that DC has done this in the past, those did not place very highly on the list and everyone in comics was killing characters in the 90s because………well the 90s kind of sucked for comics.)

Outside of comics, DC was also the first to do things like movies and TV shows well. DC comics proved in 1978 that Superheroes could be great in movies with the release of the first Superman. This was proved again in 1989 when Tim Burton released his first Batman movie. You know what Marvel films consisted of in the 70’s and 80’s? A Howard the Duck movie and a straight to video The Punisher film. Yeah, it’s safe to say that DC was the winner in this one. Also, yes, I do know that the sequels to both of the original DC comics’s movies got steadily worse, my point is that DC established that comic book characters could appear in and do well in film.

On television, DC comics has also established itself as the better of the two. Now I know Marvel fanboys are going to rage that Spiderman and the X-men have dominated superhero cartoons for years and that makes Marvel better, but they are wrong. Batman the Animated Series is far and away the best depiction of a superhero franchise on television. It was unique, beautifully used noir elements, and created an original story and new characters, rather than poorly ripping of the comics and counting on nostalgia and blind fandom to get viewers. Marvel interpreted their works for television, DC used the medium of television to tell new and compelling stories.

And in the video game industry……Batman’s Arkham games (redrops mic).

Now on to my second point, DC has better character’s than Marvel. To make this point I am going to utilize a point made by legendary Author George R. R. Martin. Martin has stated, “I am tired of this Marvel movie trope where the bad guy has the same powers as the hero”. This is a completely valid criticism of Marvel, and I think it’s fair to say that DC’s villains are much better than Marvel’s. All of Marvel’s villains are just the good guy but evil or a vague personification of something evil. Here’s a quick list of some Marvel heroes and their big nemeses.

Iron Man – Iron Monger

Hulk – Abomination andRed Hulk

Capt. America – The Winter Solider and Red Skull (who’s basically just Hitler)

Spiderman – Dr. Octopus (both are octopods)

Star Lord – Ronan (basically he’s just a terrorist. I don’t think we even really find out why he wanted to blow up Nova. Besides that he’s planet and Nova were at war.)

Fantastic Four – Dr. Doom (Okay, Doom is actually a REALLY good villain in the comics, he’s like a dictator who’s kind of a wizard and want’s to take over the world because he saw that the world gets really messed up and he thinks he’s the only one who can prevent mankind from killing itself by ruling over it. However, Marvel cancelled the comic out of spite and in all the movies he’s basically just the good guy but bad.

Ant Man – Yellow Jacket (Ant Man, but with lasers!)

So yeah, DC easily has better, more interesting villains and DC does a better job and helping the viewer see why the villain thinks that their justified. DC’s villain catalogue includes:

Superman – Lex Luthor and Brainiac

The Flash – Capt. Boomerang, Mirror Master, Capt. Cold, and Weather Wizard.

Green Lantern – Nekron (a personification of death that actually is a really clever retcon for why DC superheroes have been able to die and come back to life so many times.)

Batman – Mr. Freeze, Penguin, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Two Face, Bane, The Court of Owls, Harley Quinn, Ventriloquist, Clayface, Man-Bat, Hugo Strange, The Riddler Ra’s Al Ghul, Catwomen, and The Joker.

………..Actually, you know what, event the most mediocre Batman villain is better than Marvel’s best baddy.

Now for my final point, the future of each company. Marvel may be on top right now, but it’s inevitable that their rigid production schedule is going to cause them problems and their longstanding feuds witch Fox and Sony are already starting to catch up with them. DC is on the set to be on the upswing, however. The Nolan Batman movies had two good to great movies and one outstanding one (you know which are which) and while the new Superman movie did suck, the Batman v. Superman is at the very least going to make DC a crap ton of money. Suicide Squid looks like it is going to be a lot of dark fun (and is also a great use of DC’s superior villains), we’re getting a Shazam (his actual name is Capt. Marvel, long story there for another time, maybe) movie, a Wonder Woman movie, a Flash movie, a Justice League movie, an Aquaman movie, and 3 Batman movies directed by and staring Ben Affleck! If done right, I genuinely think that this lineup could over through Marvel’s cinematic universe. It seems like DC is already making some really good choices too, they successfully have me and a bunch of other people excited for an Aquaman movie. Never would have believed that a few years ago.

I can just imagine that conversation in DC/Warner Bros. executive office:

Exec. : Okay guys, we need to star competing with Marvel in the movie industry. Our best bet is to make some movies that feature some characters that are household names. Any ideas?

Writer 1: Um, let’s see. We have Batman, Superman, Wonder Women, Green Lantern, The Flash, and Aquaman.

Exec.: That sounds great. My only issue is that the public perception of Aquaman is not very good. He’s the butt of a lot of jokes right now because he’s way to aryan and campy. We need to find a way to fix that to make a decent movie starring him.

Writer 2: Well, we could make him more badass.

Exec.: Alright, how do we do that.

(silence)

Writer 1: What if we cast an actor to play him who is known for being a badass and then change Aquaman so he more resembles what that actor is best known for?

Exec.: I like that idea. Now the only question is, who is the most badass character/actor in media right now?

Writer 2: …….Khal Drogo

Exec.: ……Oh my God. Go get me a phone. GO GET ME A PHONE!!!!

And the rest is history.

Alright, thanks for reading my rant. There’s no way this didn’t stir up some feelings so tell me why you agree or disagree with me in the comments down below. Also be sure to like the Facebook page and follow me on twitter, I’m @LucasDeRuyter. You can also expect a regularly scheduled blog post coming to you tomorrow. See you then, guys.

BaddaBing, BaddaBye