Happy Monday BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! This is Manga (And Also Anime) Monday, the place where Japanese reigns king and we get to revel in its glory, while also making respectful criticisms. Today’s topic is going to be a gem of an anime from 2004, Samurai Champloo (yes, a part of this is going to be explaining what the name means). Here we go!

Samurai Champloo answers the long unasked question: What if feudal Japanese culture and Hip Hop culture happened at the same time? In answering this question, this anime is able to both depict and comment on historical events and practices, as well as modern day issues and practices. The story follows two vagrant swordsmen, Mugen and Jin, and a teenage girl, Fuu, as the travel the countryside in search of “a samurai who smells of Sunflowers.”

While the plot of Samurai Champloo is somewhat lacking, as the majority of the story lines are episodic and their is not much of an overarching plot, the show more than makes up for it with its stunning animation and score. The animation in this program is reminiscent of the incredible anime, Cowboy Bebop. The animation may not always be of the highest quality, but it is still done in such a way accents the many elaborate fight scenes and perfectly sets the shows Hip Hop tone.

The music in this anime is arguably some of the best in the entire industry. You can easily tell that an incredible amount of effort went into creating the anime’s music, but also that the creator’s of said soundtrack had a deep appreciation and passion for what they were doing. On its own the music would be incredible, but when blended with Samurai Champloo’s stylistic animation it creates a truly unique and masterful experience.

The other big pull that this adult anime has going for it is how it beautifully mixes humor and action. A lot of shonen-esq anime tend to mix comedy and action in a fifty-fifty ratio. Samurai Champloo, however, is closer to seventy percent humor and thirty percent action. While this could be a problem for other anime, Samurai Champloo manages to pull off so many laughs due to its unique and enticing characters.

This also means that when the anime does choose to focus on action, it really is balls to the ball excellent and truly enthralls the viewer.

Samurai Champloo really is a great anime that succeeds at blending distinct and whole seperate cultural elements. This is even demonstrated in the series title, as the word “Champloo” is a corruption of the Japanese word for mix-up, and can be thought of as meaning mix tape. This signifies not only the blending of traditional Japanese culture with modern cultural influences, but also the series’ have focus on Hip Hop music. If you are looking for something to watch over winter break, I cannot recommend Samurai Champloo enough. It’s up for viewing on Hulu for free, so do yourself a favor and check out this anime original series.

Alright. That just about does it for this week’s installment of Manga (And Also Anime) Monday. If you enjoyed it, please leave a like and a comment down below, it’s really appreciated. If you want to stay up to date with this blog you can: subscribe in the upper right tab using your email, like the official BaddaBing BaddaBlog Faceboook Page, or follow me, @LucasDeRuyter, on Twitter. I hope all of you have a great week and be sure to come back to 4B on Wednesday for the next installment of Pop Culture Wednesday.

BaddaBing, BaddaBye

Good morning BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! Or, if you had a little too good of a New Year’s, good afternoon! This is Game Grind, the place where everything relating to the video game industry and gamer culture is written about with vigor. I’ve noticed that a lot of news outlets use this time of year to talk about some of the best aspects of the previous year or even repost some of their previous stories with a “Best ___ of 2015” moniker. I could do something like that, but instead I’m going to look to the future, like a boss! Here are some games that are coming out in 2016 that I am definitely going to play.

Final Fantasy Explorers

Final Fantasy Explorers is a Final Fantasy spin-off title for the 3DS.The game play will consist of all of the long time FF staples, and a combat system reminiscent of Monster Hunter. It also has an interesting feature that allows monsters you have defeated in battle to join your party and help you beat up other monsters. So it’s basically Final Fantasy mixed with Monster Hunter, mixed with Pokémon. If I have to explain why that’s awesome…..why are you even reading a blog post about video games? (Also the game lets you play as fan favorite FF characters, so that’ll be fun.)

Release Date: January 26th

 

Mighty No. 9

Mighty No. 9 is the spiritual successor to the original Mega Man games and is being released for nearly all gaming platforms. The game originally received funding when Mega Man’s producer, Keji Inafune, started a Kickstarter for the project, but has since been picked up by some major publishers and development studios. The game promises a return to the original Mega Man gold standard and that promise alone has me sold.

Release Date: February 9th in the U.S. and February 12th world wide

 

Fire Emblem Fates

Fire Emblem Fates is the next installment in the Fire Emblem franchise and is coming to the 3DS. It promises to be as fun, intricate, and challenging as its predecessor, Fire Emblem Awakening, in addition to having a more compelling story. The game’s been out in Japan for a while and I’ve only really heard good things about the latest FE game. If you like turn based strategy games as much as I do, this game looks to be everything done right in a JRPG.

Release Date: February 19th for North America, Q1 for Europe and Australia

 

Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow

In celebration of the original Pokémon games being twenty years old this year……wait, Pokémon is twenty years old!!? I have to fact check this, one sec……………………………………………………………………………………Wow, yeah. Pokemon Red and Green came out in Japan on Feburary 27th, 1996. Time fly’s, huh? Anyway, in celebration of this anniversary, the original Pokémon Red and Blue (the Western and improved versions of Pokémon Red and Green) are going to be released in all their Game Boy goodness on the 3DS eShop. This is actually a pretty big deal, because The Pokémon Company never re-releases their games on newer hardware without massive graphical and technical updates. I’m totally going to pick up Pokémon Red again and trip balls on all the nostalgia.

Release Date: February 27th   😀

 

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD

I have a confession to make to all of you. I have committed a Nintendo fan cardinal sin, I have never played some of the console Zelda games. Yes, go on, shame me. I disserve it. Thankfully though, Nintendo has given me a chance to redeem myself and is re-releasing Twilight Princess for Wii U. There is also going to be a very cool looking Midna/Wolf Link Amiibo that, by the sound of it, will release extra content on the upcoming Zelda Wii U project. Now all I have to do is play Skyword Sword and all of my sins will be forgiven! Although, I have it on pretty good authority that I don’t really need to play Skyword Sword.

Release Date: March 4th

 

Star Fox Zero

You know how Zero Suite Samus is known to most young players as “the hot chick from Smash Bros.”? Well, Fox and Falco are dangerousaly close to becoming the furries from Smash Bros., seeing as a new, non-remake game has not been seen in the series since 2006. Thankfully, a new entry is coming to arguably the most popular rail shooter ever, in the form of Star Fox Zero for the Wii U. The game looks like a return to form for the series and seems to have a fun blend of action shooting and puzzle solving. I’m so excited I could…….DO A BARREL ROLL!!! (Yeah, that was lame even for me, sorry.)

Release Date: April 21st for Japan, April 22nd for the US, and sometime in April for Europe.

 

Darkest Dungeon

This dark, anxiety inducing turn based RPG/dungeon crawler is coming to both PC and PlayStation 4. This Indie gem was well received on Steam during its early access period. This game seems like a new spin on the RPG genre and I’m sure I’ll enjoy its dark and gothic motif.

Release Date: January 19th for PC (master race) and Q2 for Playstation 4 and Vita.

 

Bravely Second: End Layer

I freakin’ love Japanese Role Playing Games (JRPGs) and turn based strategy games. I know they are not for everyone, but they are most definitely for me. I was elated when I discovered that one of my favorite JRPGs from this generation was getting a sequel in the form of Bravely Second: End Layer for the 3DS. The original Bravely Default set the standard for what a modern turn based strategy game should be and I cannot wait to see how it expands on the original’s charming and imaginative universe and story.

Release Date: Already out in Japan, February 26th for Europe,  February 27th for Australia, and sometime in 2016 for North America.

 

Dragon Quest VII and VIII

Dragon Quest is a franchise that is arguably on par with or exceeds Final Fantasy in terms of quality and scope. These are two fan favorite titles of a series that I have yet to spend much time with so I’m looking foreword to experiencing these remakes for the first time on the 3DS.  Also, all of the artwork is either created by or done in the style of Akira Toriyama, the guy who created Dragon Ball. So it’s already awesome.

Release Date: VII in the Summer and VIII sometime in 2016 after that.

 

Final Fantasy XV

It is difficult to express how much I want to play this upcoming PlayStation 4 and Xbox One title. I bought the mostly sucky HD version of Final Fantasy Type Zero just so I could experience this game’s demo and it was marvelous! For years the FF franchise seemed to be on a down swing and only since the release of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has the core FF series begin to climb back to its former glory. I believe that FF XV will solidify Final Fantasy’s place at the forefront of modern gaming, where it deserves to be.

Release Date: sometime this year (hopefully, it’s been in development for like seven years).

 

The Last Guardian

This is a beautiful game where you solve puzzles with the help of a giant bird/dog/cat creature and it draws upon elements from The Shadow of the Colossus. Nothing more needs to be said. Oh, wait, there is one more thing; it comes out on PlayStation 4. So go out and buy a PlayStation 4 before this game comes out.

Release Date: Not soon enough, in 2016.

 

The Legend of Zelda: Wii U (tentative title)

Very little is known about the next installment in the Zelda franchise. We don’t even know for sure that it’s coming out on the Wii U! However, it has been described as the most open Legend of Zelda title yet, and as a mix between Skyrim and The Legend of Zelda. That promise alone makes this game a guaranteed buy for me.

Release Date: 2016 (Maybe, probably, hopefully)

 

Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem

This game is going to be a hot Japanese mess. And I, as a proud Otaku/Weeb, am going to revel in it. It’s going to be coming out on the Wii U and is either going to be very good or so bad that it’s good.

Release Date: Already out in Japan (lucky!) and sometime in 2016 for the rest of the world.

 

World of Final Fantasy

Finishing up this list is the chibi style final fantasy game that looks to be as adorable as it is cliché. This game is similar to FF Explores in that it has players befriending and fighting alongside monsters, but is different in that the game play is turn based and utilizes Final Fantasy’s classic Active Time Battle system. Will this game be the best video game in 2016? Probably not, but it will be pretty amazing to see and interact my favorite Final Fantasy characters and monsters in such an adorable art style. I’m definitely going to add this to my PlayStation 4 library (sorry Vita).

Release Date: Sometime, someplace, and somewhere in 2016.

 

Alright, those are my must buys in gaming for 2016. Ugh, my wallet hurts. Did you see anything you like? Do you have any questions about any of the titles? Do you want to know why any of your picks didn’t make the list? Well feel free to ask these questions and any others in the comments down below and I’ll be happy to get back to you. If you’d like to be informed when new content is posted to the 4B blog, you can do so by: subscribing via email in the upper right tab, liking the official BaddaBing BaddaBlog Facebook Page, or by following me, @LucasDeRuyter, on Twitter. I hope you all have a great New Year’s weekend and be sure to come back here on Monday for the next installment of Manga (And Also Anime) Monday.

BaddaBing, BaddaBye

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Hump Day BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! This is Pop Culture Wednesday, the place where any and everything relating to media is geeked out to and critiqued. Today’s topic is Star Wars. Yes, again. Trust me though, this article is going to be totally different from the previous one. You see, Disney has some big plans for the space opera in the future and it has many fans of the franchise excited at best and concerned at the worst.

Disney, the massive media conglomerate that has owned Star Wars for a few years now, plans to release one Star Wars movie every year for the foreseeable future. These movies would go beyond the core VII, VIII, and IX films and be more akin to spin-offs that focus on characters and events outside of the main plot of the new trilogy. Why is Disney doing this? To expand a beloved franchise that is dear to millions of people and to continue to inspire further generations of creator, of course! Yeah, no. Disney is doing this because this because Star Wars might be the most profitable media franchise ever. The Force Awakens is already on track to be the most profitable movie ever made, surpassing James Cameron’s Avatar, and it has not even been released for a month yet. These funds are further supplemented by Star Wars toy sales. Star Wars toys have pretty much been printing money for whoever owned the rights to them since the seventies, so the House of Mouse definitely cashing in there. Alrighty, now that  we’ve covered the why, let’s move on to the major reactions to this business strategy.

I’m in a good mood today, so let’s start with why some people are happy with this decision. The primary train of thought behind those who are excited about this news is “OMG MORE STAR WARS YESSSSSSSS!!!” And I am inclined to agree with them. There was a ten year gap between the release of Revenge of the Sith and The Force Awakens. During that time span, fans only had a couple of, admittedly very good, cartoons to curb their Star Wars fix. These television programs never quite did the job, though, and really only increased the desire for Star Wars to come back to the big screen. Fans also had the, now non-canon, extended universe keep them occupied. However, those books, video-games, and comics were always dubious in terms of quality and, in many cases, probably belong in the ether they have fallen into.

The other group of fans, who loves this series just as much as the first, is concerned with one new Star Wars movie a year because it seems like a formula for more bad Star Wars movies. The prequels were awful, they completely betrayed the vision and scope of the original three. The Force Awakens has pretty much assured fans that this new trilogy will not make the same mistakes that the prequels did. However, one Star Wars movie a year means that, inevitably, a bad movie is going to get made. Essentially this group of fans has decided that they would rather have quality over quantity and I cannot fault them for being skeptical of the spinoffs, seeing as we fans were betrayed numerous times before.

I personally find myself agreeing with the latter group, but for somewhat different reasons. Marvel Studios is a subsidiary of Disney and they have proven numerous times that they can release one movie a year, connect it to a larger story, and utilize lesser known characters in their films just fine. Disney will more than likely be able to make one good to great Star Wars movie a year for the foreseeable future without too much hassle, just like they have for the Marvel cinematic universe. However, just because they can does not mean that they should. To me Star Wars has always been an institution that sets the bar for what cinema and science fiction can be. Star Wars is not just entertainment, it’s inspiration for all of the young creators in the world and shows them that a work of fiction and be almost inexpressibly awesome. To do one movie a year kind of cheapens the franchise for me. I feel like Star Wars should be a treat that is only made available every few years that you get to revel in. Yes the extended universe has been a thing for decades, but I always viewed that as more of a creator sanctioned fan fiction. I suppose my concern for the one Star Wars movie a year plan stems from idea that, in doing so, the movies will loose the magic and uniqueness that made them great in the first place.

Well that’s my opinion on the matter. Let me know in the comments below what you guys think of Disney’s strategy. While you’re down their please give this post a like and, if you want to stay up to date, you can subscribed to this blog in the upper right tab by using your email. Alternatively, you can stay up to date by liking the official BaddaBing BaddaBlog Facebook Page or by following me, @LucasDeRuyter, on Twitter. I hope you guys enjoyed this post and hope you will come back on Saturday for the latest installment of Game Grind.

BaddaBing, BaddaBye

 

Happy Monday BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! This is Manga (And Also Anime) Monday, the place where any and everything anime related is delved into with vigor. Today’s topic is a manga that was first released in 2012, currently has around 150 chapters, and is a series that I totally did not marathon through over the last four days due to winter break boredom. Anyway, here’s why the series The Seven Deadly Sins is awesome.

The Seven Deadly Sins is an action, adventure, fantasy series created by Nakaba Suzuki. The story follows the exploits of the titular group of knights, The Seven Deadly Sins. More specifically the main protagonists of this story are the captain of The Seven Deadly Sins Meliodas  and the princess of the kingdom that he serves Elizabeth. The story begins with Elizabeth and Meliodas meeting in a tavern that Meliodas owns. It is then revealed to the audience that The Seven Deadly Sins were once the strongest order of knights in the kingdom of Brittana. However, when the captain of the kingdom’s Holy Knights is killed, The Sins are accused of murder and go into hiding. The main story begins ten years after this event. The plot then consists of Meliodas and Elizabeth trying to find the Sins to clear their names and save Elizabeth’s father, the King, who is being held captive by the same Holy Knights that accused the Sins of murder.

The manga more or less follows this plotline for what is currently its entirety. The story also explores the backgrounds of each of the characters in the series. This is one of the series strong points, as each one of the main characters is incredibly unique, interesting, and entertaining. However, the story’s strongest point is easily its world building. The Seven Deadly Sins takes place in a world that is more or less a conglomeration of a wide assortment of fairy tales and epics. This manga has giants, fairies, demons, dragons, magic, and fountains of youth. Characters from other works of fiction even make appearances such as Arthur Pendragon of Camelot and his mentor Merlin.

The Seven Deadly Sins may not offer a deep commentary on the human condition or any current real world issue, but it is a great story and a refreshing work of fiction. It is incredibly entertaining and attempts to bring the fantasy genre back into a world that is currently being dominated by science fiction. If you are looking for something to read over winter break or just looking to read an epic work of fiction, I cannot recommend The Seven Deadly Sins enough.

Alright, that just about does it for this week’s installment of Manga (And Also Anime) Monday. If you enjoyed this post, please leave a like and a comment down below. If you’d like to be notified the next time a post is made, you can subscribe to this blog by entering you email in the upper right tab. You can also keep up to date by liking the official BaddaBing BaddaBlog  Facebook Page or by following me, @LucasDeRuyter on Twitter. I hope you have a great rest of the week and be sure to stop by here again on Wednesday for the next installment of Pop Culture Wednesday.

BaddaBing, BaddaBye

Happy Saturday BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! We’re the holidays kind to you? I hope they were and want you to know that I’ve had a great past couple of days. However, it is most definitely time to get back to work and bring you the news and opinion. This is Game Grind, the place where any and everything video game related is examined with both steely and jovial eyes. Today’s article is quite hilarious to me, but infuriating to many other gamers. Steam was broken.

For those of you who are unaware, Steam is a software where people can purchase and play videogames on their personal computer. Steam also allows individuals to publish and sell games on Steam. Essentially Steam is to video games what Amazon is to eBooks. Well, at least it usually is. Yesterday afternoon for a period of about an hour, Steam users who were trying to log into their account found themselves being signed into other users accounts instead.

While this may not seem like a colossal issue, it’s actually fairly terrifying to a large number of people. As money does change hands via Steam, accounts are linked to people’s credit and debit card information as well as individual’s pay pal accounts. What happened yesterday is comparable to people accidentally being able to sign into other people’s Amazon or Apple iStore accounts.

While Steam currently is working and the issues have been fixed, the next logical question is, “how did this happen?” Well, according to Steam management, a configuration change to the website earlier that day resulted in a caching issue allowed some users to be randomly signed into other users’ accounts. Steam also believes that this issue has been completely resolved and that no information was wrongfully taken.

Public opinion to Steam’s response to this issue has been fairly mixed. On the one hand, Steam’s management did close the Steam store, the place where monetary transactions actually take place on Steam, shortly after this incident began. On the other hand, the entirety of Steam was never completely shut-down during this incident which still gave people the opportunity to view and potentially steal other’s information.

I do not have a steam account, so I’m able to look at this incident with quite a bit of detachment. Other members of the gaming community rave about Steam and I personally find it a bit funny that a company that usually has all of it’s shit together can make such a colossal and PR damaging error. This event has also allowed me to come to certain realizations.

It is incredibly peculiar and potential detrimental that  there is only really one place to buy and sell digital games over the internet. Perhaps there are a few different region specific websites that I am unaware of, but nothing really rivals Steam’s size and accessibility. This could be actually be a pretty big problem. Normally when a business messes up like this there are genuine consequences. People could close their accounts on this website and open one’s with a comparator or people thinking about getting into online gaming would explore different options. However, this cannot really be done with Steam as it exists now, as it is more or less a monopoly .

Steam’s parent company, Valve, has also been criticized in the past for practices that are common amongst businesses that have become a monopoly. Steam’s customer support is horrendous. If a customer finds them self locked out of their purchase library or unable to use a redemption code, more often than not they are out of luck and unable to receive help from the company. This year, 2015, Valve actually received an “F” from the Better Business Bureau due to the large number of complaints that have been lodged against Steam.

As impossible as it may seem, an alternative to Steam needs to arise in the near future. While console gaming is an option to many of Steam’s users, console gaming does not have the same accessibility that Steam has to independent developers and game creators. There needs to be another online place where new and independent games can be published and purchased, and until there is Steam is going to continue to engage in poor business practices and the gaming industry and community is going to continue to be less than what it has the potential to be.

That got a little more serious towards the end than I originally intended, but it still needed to be said. That just about does it for this weeks installment of Game Grind. If you enjoyed it please leave a like or a comment down below, it’s really appreciated. If you would like to stay up to date with BaddaBing BaddaBlog, you can do in the upper right tab via your email. Alternatively, you can like the official BaddaBing BaddaBlog Facebook Page or by following me,  @LucasDeRuyter, on Twitter. I hope all of you have a great weekend and be sure to come back Monday for the next installment of Manga (And Also Anime) Monday.

BaddaBing, BaddaBye

Happy Wednesday BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! This is Pop Culture Wednesday, the place where any and everything Pop Culture is talked about, analyzed, and, dare I say, obsessed over. Considering that I am a massive fan of the franchise and that I have at least five friends who would kick my ass if I didn’t write about this, today’s post is going to be all about the brand new Star Wars: The Force Awakens film. WARNING: this review is going to contain spoilers to the plot of the movie and my opinions of them. If you have yet to see the film and wish to stay pure and untainted, do not go past the image of the Star Wars spoiler.

Alright, awesome. If you are reading this you have seen the movie and are ready to read some thoughts about it. Either that or you haven’t seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens and you are okay with me spoiling it for you. If that’s the case I think I may hate you a little bit, but still appreciate your contribution to the view counter.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is exactly what it needed to be. It is a good movie that captures the magic and wonderment of the original trilogy, while simultaneously assuring audiences that the next few films are going to be decidedly different from any of the prequels. While this project was very clearly a group effort and the reason that it is so good is because everyone involved gave it their all, I believe that the quality of this film is mostly due to writer/director/produce J.J. Abrams. Abrams is very clearly a fan of the Star Wars franchise and it showed in this movie. In a lot of ways this film felt like a love letter to generations of Star Wars fans and gave them expansion to the universe that we have always wanted. While I was initially worried about the usually average and decidedly safe Abrams directing Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I’m glad they went with him.

The plot and narrative of this film was both spectacular and familiar. It would have been totally appropriate to put “Inspired by A New Hope” in the opening crawl, as The Force Awakens hit nearly all of the same beats as the original Star Wars film. A relatable protagonist is discovered in a desert, a lovable droid has important information, there’s a dude running around in all black, and the heroes blow up a giant machine capable of blowing up a planet. While I would criticize this film for being unorigional, I will not because Star Wars: The Force Awakens did not need to be original. We got originality back in the prequels and nobody has any of those movies in their Star Wars Top 3. Well some people do, but they’re weird.

Alright, now that I’ve put up a couple paragraphs regarding why I liked this film and how it is exactly what it needed to be, it’s time to get to some of the stuff I did not like. Without getting into any of the controversy surrounding Rey as a strong female main character, I personally felt that it was a little weird that she had such a mastery of the force from the get go. She Jedi mind tricked a Stormtrooper without ever being thought how to do that or even what that was. Granted that scene was hilarious, but it still seemed strange to me and took me out of the movie for a second. Also, her character is just a conglomeration of the best aspects of the main characters from the original trilogy.  She’s an empowered, role model of a women, she can use the force and is more or less chosen to save the day, and she gets to fly around space with Chewy! I really like Rey, but I also really want more of her and to get a better sense of who she is.

Another issue I had with this film is that the character of Poe (who in my mind will be referred to Popo ‘cus DBZ) was not as involved as he should have been. He, Rey, and Finn really seemed like they were going to be the new three man characters of this trilogy, and he was maybe in a total of twenty minutes of the movie. I love his character and really want to see more of it in the rest of the trilogy.

My biggest issue with this film is the handling of Finn’s story arc. Finn is just a regular guy. He doesn’t appear to be force sensitive (although that scene with Ren starying at him made me think otherwise for a bit), he isn’t particularly skilled at any of the cool things and activities in the Star Wars universe, and, up until he went on his first combat mission, he worked for the first order against his will as a janitor. When he decided to rebel against the Order because they were slaughtering innocent people, it very much seemed like this story was going to be about an average guy trying to do the right thing in an extraordinary universe. This very much felt like his story for about three fourths of the movie. Culminating in his fight with Kylo Ren. I desperately wanted him to be able to defeat Ren or at least tie with him, because that would make the story about an ordinary person, who is just trying to do good, standing up to and defeating what are essentially gods. Rather than tell that story though, the movie decided to scrap that in the fourth act and let the special people, Rey and Ren, duke it out.

While I do have a few other minor issues with The Force Awakens, these were the main ones. Again, I cannot stress enough how much I enjoyed and appreciated this movie. The only reason I bring up these negative points is because the sheer quality of the movie otherwise only made these flaws more apparent. This was the first good Star Wars movie to come out in over two decades, and I will eternally love this movie simply because of this. Yes, there are issues and yes, the entire film felt like a kind of set up for the next two and the spinoffs, but this film is indisputably and unquestionably a win for Star Wars Fans everywhere.

Stray Observations:

• Harrison Ford nailed it as Han Solo. In the last Indiana Jones it seemed like he was half-assing it, but he truly went above and beyond in reprising his role.
• I went into this movie knowing that Han was probably going to die, and I still nearly cried when it happened.
• That said, Chewbacca just shooting Ren right after it happened may have been my favorite moment in the whole movie.
• How does Maz have Luke’s lightsaber!!? That thing should be hundreds of miles below Cloud city! Does she have his hand too?
• The scene where Rey met Luke was beautiful and goddamn near perfect, but seriousaly? Mark Hamill can’t get one damn line in the movie!
• Damn Mark Hamill, you got in shape! ‘Props to you.
• My favorite shot of the movie is probably when Ren and Rey cross light sabers and the t-shape is reflected in Rey’s eye.
• I’m not sure how I feel about Supreme leader Snok, but I feel bad that Andy Circus is never allowed to just be himself.
• We get it. The First Order is basically space Nazis. Little on the nose with that one.
• Finally if you are not currently following the Emo Kylo Ren account, do it! You will not be disappointed.

 

I have way more thoughts and opinions on this movie than what I could possibly fit here, so please leave a comment or question below and I would be happy to respond to it. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great day.

BaddaBing, BaddaBye

 

Happy Monday BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! Finals are over! We are back! And we are better than ever! As always this is Manga (And also Anime) Monday. The place where any and everything anime related is delved into. To kick things off, here is a review of what is undoubtedly the best anime of the fall season, One Punch Man.

One Punch Man is the story of an unemployed salary man named Saitama. One day, after failing to find employment, Saitama comes across a boy being attacked by a monster. In saving the child and killing the monster, Saitama realizes that it was never his dream to become an office worker. He had always dreamed of becoming a hero, one that was strong enough to defeat any evildoer with a single punch. With this seemingly unreachable goal in mind, Siatama sets sets out to achieve it with his unshakable will and determination.

Three years later and at the beginning  of the series. Saitama has achieved his goal. He trained so hard that he lost all of his hair and can now best any opponent with a single blow. And he hates it. The reason he became a hero in the first place is so that he could find purpose and enjoyment in his life. However, crime and monster appearances are not going down whatsoever and the fights are no longer fun. This is where the story begins, with the universe’s strongest man lamenting his existence.

From a technical standpoint, One Punch Man already has a lot going for it. The animation in this anime is astonishing. It is beautiful, fluid, and filled with incredible detail. In several episodes, if you pause in just the right places, you can find that the animators took the time and effort to create an entirely new image for a single frame. I also very much appreciate how Saitama’s usually derpy expression seamlessly shifts to a badass heroic one subtly and smoothly when necessary. The music in One Punch Man is also incredible. Not only does the general background music perfectly fit whatever scene it is placed into, but the action music is often crafted for each particular fight. This means that the music in nearly every action sequence perfectly matches that individual fight. An incredible amount of detail and effort was put into this program and it is very apparent.

The story of One Punch Man also manages to be rich and enticing. The show’s main hook is that it is very much a parody of most Shonen anime storylines and, in many ways, a parody of the concept of superheroes in general. In those stories the main character is usually the under dog who, over the course of the narrative, has to fight stronger and stronger opponents until they are the unquestionable strongest. Then the story ends, evil has been vanquished, and everyone lives happily ever after. Once Punch Man plays off of this by having the main character be already impossibly strong. Saitama also very much does not have the personality of a main character in this kind of story. He is far more concerned and worried about figuring out how to pay for his rent and making it to his local grocery store’s special day than he is about vanquishing evil. Other characters also personify tropes found in superhero and anime storylines. There is Saitama’s vengeance seeking cyborg disciple Genos, the incredibly wise and incredibly old martial artist Bang, and the morale ambiguous rival character Speed of Sound Sonic. Any of these characters can be found in most Shonen anime, but their over-the-topness in One Punch Man is incredibly humorous and very appreciated.

One Punch Man is not all parody, however. This program is packed with a lot of societal and philosophical commentary. Saitama is desperately trying to find purpose and happiness in life. He worked hard and achieved his goal, but as soon as he did he realized that he preferred trying to achieve his goal than the actual goal itself. At this point he’s put in far too much time and effort into this profession/hobby to simply change it, so he is left with a sense of melancholy and a longing for excitement.  Much of the societal commentary comes from the anime’s organization of heroes, the Hero Association. The Hero Association is run very much like a modern day business, with tiers of employment and preferential treatment given to those at the top. It is through the Hero Association that One Punch Man makes poignant comments about how hierarchies are more designed to maintain a status quo than reward actual skill or effort or about how we live in a world where results are held in a much higher regard than the time and effort that went into achieving them.

One Punch Man is truly a brilliant anime on all fronts. My only criticism is that the program is only twelve episodes long. Many other people share my praise for this work of animation. Currently, One Punch Man is rated number 17 one IMDB’s list of top rated TV shows. If you want to check this show out, which I highly encourage that you do, you can find it on Hulu. Enjoy.

I wish I could say more about this spectacular anime, but if I make this much longer no one will read it. I hope you liked this article and I promise that there will be man more to come. If you would like to read any of these, you can go ahead and subscribe using your email in the upper right tab. You can also stay up to date by liking the official BaddaBing BaddaBlog Facebook Page or by following me, @LucasDeRuyter, on Twitter. I hope all of you have an awesome day and be sure to come back Wednesday for an intergalactic Pop Culture Wednesday.

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Happy Monday BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! This is Manga (And Also Anime) Monday, the place where we dive headfirst into the varied and sorted world of anime and manga. Before we begin today, I’d like to take a moment and say that today’s story brings me an immense amount of happiness. A part of me is attributing that happiness to a marvelous work and inspirational author both receiving much deserved recognition  with today’s news. Another part of me cannot help but think the joy I’m feeling is similar to the joy a hipster feels when an underground band that they have been a longtime fan of begins to receive widespread public fame and regard. I’m not a hipster, though. I don’t have the legs to pull off skinny jeans (okay, I do, but I find them immeasurably uncomfortable). Regardless, I am filled with joy and excitement by the news that one of my current favorite manga, Mob Psycho 100, is getting an anime adaptation in 2016.

This work had been previously mentioned on BaddaBing BaddaBlog: and if you want to give that a read, head right over here. Mob Psycho 100 is a manga published in URA Sunday Comics and is written and drawn by the mangak ONE. ONE-sensei is noted for being the creator of the original One Punch Man webcomic, for being the writer for the One Punch Man manga, and for being the creative driver and a producer for the One Punch Man anime. Mob Psycho 100 follows the story of a middle school aged boy, Shigeo,  who is nicknamed “Mob” do to the fact that he blends into crowds and does not have much of a presence. Mob is an incredibly powerful esper, someone with psychic powers, but is intentionally emotionally repressed due to his powers being tied to his emotional state. If he feels too much an any one feeling or feelings, his psychic power could do immense damage to those around him.

The main conflict that arises in Mob Psycho 100’s narrative derives from the very impressionable and naive Mob trying to make sense of the world around him, and his attempts to form meaningful relationships, especially with the girl he has a crush on. However, most of these relationships are grounded on Mob being used by those around him. This is most evident in his relationship with his boss/mentor Reigen, a fake psychic who uses Mob to run his exercise business in exchange for paying him $3 an hour and occasionally giving him life advice and advice on how to use his powers.

The only concern I have with this adaptation is how they are going to handle the series very distinctive art style. Mob Psycho 100’s art is generally considered sub-par when compared to other works. While I personally think that this more simplistic art style works in MP 100’s favor, but it may loose some of its charm when animated. Thankfully the studio that is handling the adaptation, BONES, is widely respected for having animated works from a wide range of artistic styles, including the likes of Space Dandy, Soul Eater, Ouran High School Host Club, and the Fullmetal Alchemist series. Now all they have to do is nail the voice acting and I’m predicting Mob Psycho 100 to be one of the best anime of 2016.

That about does it for this week’s installment of Manga (And Also Anime) Monday. If you enjoyed this article, please give it a like and leave a comment down below. If you want to stay informed to new posts, you can subscribe via email in the upper right tab. Alternatively, if you wish to stay informed, you can like the official BaddaBing BaddaBlog Facebook Page, or follow me, @LucasDeRuyter, on Twitter. I hope you have an awesome week and remember to come back here on Wednesday for the next installment of Pop Culture Wednesday.

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Happy Saturday BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! This is Game Grind, the place where any and everything related to the video game industry or culture is analyzed and critiqued. Today’s topic is a review for a game that has received a fairly low amount of coverage from mainstream video game news outlets.  Today, I’ll be reviewing Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon for the Nintendo 3DS.

Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon is a spin-off from the main series of Pokemon games. The hook in these games is that, rather than playing as a trainer, you take control of a Pokemon instead. The game play is also much different from the mainstream Pokemon games, and, is instead, a roguelike, isometric dungeon crawler. In this game, a party of anywhere between one to five Pokemon explore a randomly generated dungeon while fighting other Pokemon and attempting to complete a predetermined objective, such as getting to a certain floor or defeating a specific enemy.

The story of Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon is, admittedly, pretty forgettable. You play as a human that was turned into a Pokemon and uncovering the mystery of how that happened more or less takes a back seat to the mystery of numerous Pokemon being turned to stone. Both of those plot lines really are not touched upon by your character until the second half of the game, and the first half more or less consists of unrelated plot points. There are a couple fun instances of foreshadowing, however. Honestly, my favorite part of the human turned into a Pokemon shtick, was taking a personality test to determine which Pokemon it was recommended I play as. I got Charmander because of my fiery spirit (ladies ;p) and my kind personality (ladies again ;P).

As someone who has played the previous Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games for handheld consoles, I felt that this game improved upon those titles, while still holding on to the approach-ability that made those previous titles stand out. Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon is a bare-bones dungeon crawler. It is not difficult whatsoever to pick this game up and withing half an hour have a firm grasp of the controls and the mechanics of the game. As someone who does not play a lot of dungeon crawlers, I appreciated this aspect of the game and feel like this was done intentionally as a way to introduce younger players to the genre.

I personally also enjoyed the general atmosphere that the game presented, although it may not be for everyone. This game is very lighthearted, bubbly, and campy. I literally spent the first half of the game playing as a Charmander in elementary school with a Chikorita for a best friend. Pretty much every character is some combination of vibrant, zany, or eccentric. The music in the game also does a surprisingly good job of helping to set this tone. The main theme is catchy and jovial. The dungeon music also does a great job of creating a sense of exploration in the beginning, but also shifting to a heavier, more dire, tone as you get further into the level and it becomes more difficult.

Is Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon a must buy for 3Ds owners? I don’t think so. However, it is most certainly a well done game that could serve as a great introduction to the genre of roguelike dungeon crawlers. While this game is not extremely memorable or exemplary of what the 3Ds is capable of, it most certainly is fun and has given me more than enough reason to keep coming back to it. If you need something to keep the dust off your 3Ds until the 2016 titles start to hit, I recommend Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon.

Alright, that just about does it for this installment of Game Grind. Thank you so much for reading and please leave a like and/or a comment down below. If you want to keep up to date with 4B, you can do so via email in the upper right tab. Alternatively, you can learn when new posts are made by liking the official BaddaBing BaddaBlog Facebook Page or by following me, @LucasDeRuyter, on Twitter. I hope you all have a great weekend and please remember to come back on Monday for the next installment of  Manga (And Also Anime) Monday.

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Happy Monday BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! Before we begin and on a quick side note, apparently sex does sell. Saturday’s post had the most views since this blog began way back in August. If you missed it and want to see what all the fuss is about, you can check it out right here. Alright, with that out of the way it’s time to talk about one of the most popular and greatest manga/anime in both Japan and the entire world. This post will be all about Hiro Mashima’s Fairy Tail.

There’s a lot that makes this series great, so buckle up. Fairy Tail (yes, its actually spelled that way because….badass) is a Shonen anime and manga series that was first released in 2006, shortly after Mashima-san finished his previous work Rave Master (a bit on that right here if you’re interested, and you should be). Fairy Tail takes many of the elements that were present in Rave and refines them. FT focuses on a group of friends that act as a surrogate family and the adventures that they go on. There is definitely an overarching plot, but the story arcs are pretty definite, with elements or events from each of those separate arcs coming back into the story much later. It does not seem like it at first, but Fairy Tail does a great job of alluding to both past and previous events and building the world the story resides in through them.

Fairy Tail also does a great job of making you love the characters in it, especially the main protagonists Natsu and Lucy. At the beginning of the story, Natsu is a fire mage who is searching for his missing father, the fire dragon Igneel. Lucy is an upcoming mage who is interested in joining the mage guild that Natsu is a part of, Fairy Tail. The two quickly become fast friends and, as the story goes on, their friendship may or may not be becoming less platonic.

That is actually another great aspect of FT, it’s written in such a way that nearly any of the characters could have romantic feelings for any other character. The Fairy Tail fandom loves this aspect of the series. Seriously, if you google any combination of characters you’re guaranteed to find some kind of fan art depicting them being romantically involved. Mashima-san knows that the fans love this love polygon, and has even referenced it numerous times withing the series, as show above.

Another thing that Mashima-san includes in his work that fans love is fan service. Oh, boy is there a lot of fan service.

I would include more pictures, but I’m a little T&A’d out after the last post. While this may seem like blatant over sexualization of characters (whether or not that is good or bad or either I’ll leave to you to decide), this fan service is generally done for humerus effect. Mashima-san has also acknowledged that he sometimes over uses fan service in the panels below, which I think are hilarious. (Remember that manga is read from right to left.)

All and all, I would say that Fairy Tail’s success derives from the fact that it feels like a manga/anime written by and for manga/anime fans. Mashima-san is very in tune with his audience and manages to incorporate story elements that they love into FT without ever compromising his creative vision of the work. After more than 450 chapters, Fairy Tail still feels fresh and exciting with what seems like years of build up about to come to fruition right around the corner. If your a fan of anime/manga, I cannot recommend Fairy Tail enough. I personally prefer to read the series, but any kind of Fairy Tail in your life is an awesome kind.

That just about does it for this latest installment of Manga (And Also Anime) Monday. If you enjoyed it please leave a comment down below. If you are all caught up and would like to gush about it with me, leave a comment or get in contact with me and we can totally nerd out! As always, if you want to stay up to date with 4B, you can subscribe in the upper right tab via your email. Alternatively, you can keep track of this blog by liking the official BaddaBing BaddaBlog Facebook Page, or by following me, @LucasDeRuyter, on Twitter. I hope you guys like this post and that you have a great week.

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