Happy Humpday BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! It’s Wednesday and that means today’s article is going to be about on of the many colorful, child friendly, and well edited shows on television. Just kidding, of course I’m going to be talking about Sunday’s The Walking Dead premiere. You saw the title, you know what’s up.

I have a friend, let’s call him Bryan. He stopped watching The Walking Dead somewhere between seasons 2 and 3 like so many other individuals. I desperately wanted this to be the episode that could get him back on the bandwagon and that would inspire him to marathon everything that he has missed. This was not that episode. It was good, for the most part. Definitely a sold start to season 6, but it seemed like it was trying to piss me off the entire time. If you saw the episode you know what I am talking about.

For those of you who did not see it, I’ll try to make my point without giving away too many spoilers. Before watching the episode, I imagined the writers doing one of two things; either jumping ahead some amount of time into the future, or picking up the series right where season 5 climatically ended. Instead they decided to do both, somewhat poorly. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of loose ends are tied up, a lot of new dynamics are explained, and everything makes sense from both a narrative and objective standpoint. The issues I have is that the show decided to have all of their flashbacks in black and white and that the flashbacks are cut randomly in between a pretty awesome action sequence.

I really do not know why they decided to make all the flashbacks black and white. All the flashbacks in previous episodes have been in color and I really do not think doing it this way contributed anything to the episode. I actually really want to know why they made this aesthetic decision. Were they going for a George Romero vibe? Did someone just figure out how to work the filters on their phone? Or did the writers think that the audience would not be able to distinguish between the main story and the flashback without there being some sort of obvious tell? If the last one is the reason, then I’m actually a little insulted.

Also, having the flashbacks spliced in between the action was upsetting to me. To paraphrase a quote I’m sure Bryan would appreciate, I think stories should begin where they do naturally, not where they get exciting and then cut back to exposition. Other creators, like Quentin Tarantino, can get away with this because they add a level of suspense and mystery to their works through this model. In last night’s TWD episode, it was just distracting.

None of these reasons should be enough to discourage you from watching the episode, however. It was as good as any other Walking Dead episode, and a solid start to the season. There was plenty of action, some great character interactions and growth, and a cliff hanger that has had my roommate and myself buzzing for days. It is a good episode for fans of the show, just not good enough for me to start hounding Bryan to watch it again.

What did you guys think of the season 6 premiere? Let me know in the comments down below and, if you feel obligated, give this post a like while you’re down there. I really appreciate it. As always, you can subscribe to 4B via email in the upper right tab. Also, if you want to stay up to date, you can like the official BaddaBing BaddaBlog Facebook Page, or follow me, @LucasDeRuyter, on Twitter. Have a great rest of the week and be sure to come back on Friday for News for the Mighty, News of the Week.

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Happy Monday BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! I hope you had a kickass weekend and are prepared to make this week epic. As always, this segment is where we talk and analyze all things Japanamation. Today I’m reviewing the anime Gangsta.

Summer is decidedly over with, which means pumpkin flavored everything, beautiful trees, and dozens of anime wrapping up their twelve to thirteen episode run. Gangsta was an anime that had an incredible amount of potential, but suffered from many of the same issues that hinder other works when they are adapted from one medium to another. Namely, pacing, story delivery, and sequel lust.

Gangsta could have been a great anime, however it is bogged down to mediocrity due to the rapid changes in the narrative’s speed. It seemed like some episodes tried to cram as much story, exposition, and action into a twenty two minute time slot as possible, while other episodes spent far too much time focusing on events that contributed very little to the overall story. On a more personal note, I particularly found issue with this anime’s pacing because the bloated segments typically focused on characters that I did not particularly enjoy or find interesting.

I also take issue with the way the anime delivered exposition and told some of its story. I will not spoil anything, but there is a moment that the anime builds to over the course of several episodes through flashbacks. When it finally reaches that moment and depicts the climatic scene, it is shown in muted colors with the majority of the event taking place off screen. Needless to say I was disappointed. Actually, this is about the point where I felt the series was beginning to go downhill, around episode six.

The series’s decline continued to the final episode of the anime. I would normally refer to this episode as the anime’s conclusion, expect nothing is concluded. It is very obvious that the show wants to get a second season to elaborate upon many of its dangling story lines and cliffhangers. However, there is no way to know for sure if Gangsta actually is going to get a second season, which means that I just watched twelve episodes of build up for nothing. There are no resolutions, no pay offs, and really no coherent endings to speak of whatsoever. I part of me desperately hopes that the series does get another season so that I can get some closure, however another part of me hopes that they do not and that they suffer for making me care about these characters, only to leave their fates in limbo for god knows how long.

This review actually turned out to be way more negative than what I intended. Gangsta has some problems, but it is still a pretty good series that dares to be different from the formulaic structure of many other modern anime. It is different and I have to give it credit for that. However, I cannot in good conscious say that it is a great anime, because it did way to many easily avoidable things that piss me off way too much. I would still recommend that people watch Gangsta, just maybe not as enthusiastically as I would have after just watching episode three or four.

Alright, what do you guys think of this review? Are you going to watch Gangsta? Am I a terrible human being and are my opinions crap? Let me know in the comments down below and be sure to sure to give this post a like while you are there. As per usual, you can subscribe to BaddaBing BaddaBlog via email in the upper right tab. Be sure to check out and like the official BaddaBing BaddaBlog Facebook Page and check me, @LucasDeRuyter,out on Twitter. Have a great Monday everybody and a wonderful week.

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Happy Saturday BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers!!! Welcome to Game Grind, the place where video games and the video game industry are carefully scrutinized. Today’s going to be a shorter post because, as I mentioned on the Facebook page yesterday, I have midterms to prepare for.

Befitting my currently hectic schedule is the fact there does not seem to be too many video games being released in the near future that I am interested in. Yes, of course I’m going to pick up Battlefront and Fallout 4. Beyond that however, there is a little that interests me. I’m over Call of Duty, I do not play sports games, and I am a bit more picky than what I should be when it comes to 3DS and mobile games. So yeah, perhaps I’m becoming a cynical old douche.

Ooooooooooooooooor, the much more likely answer is that I am just as awesome as ever and what is happening right now is an example of a much larger industry trend. I have stated on here numerous times that the video game industry is not in the greatest of shapes. It by no means is doing poorly, but if some longstanding issues are not resolved in the near future they medium may be in some serious trouble.

I think that the reason why it seems like there are so few games coming out in the near future is because fewer video games are being made. It is incredibly expensive to make  a triple A game. Actually, come to think of it I don’t really know what triple A really even means. Regardless, today a lot of video game companies will not make a game unless they are almost positive it will sell well. This is also why there are so many sequels in video games. I have not done a tone of research into this train of thought, but I suspect that if I want to play a variety of new and original games, I’m going to have to check out the mobile scene and maybe get a steam account. *groan*

Alright guys, that about does it for this weeks installment of Game Grind. As always, you can subscribe in the upper right tab and be sure to check the blog out on Facebook and me, @LucasDeRuyter, out on Twitter. Have a great Saturday everybody.

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Happy hump day BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! Just like every other Wednesday (except for the ones where I’m too lazy or unfortunate to post something) we’re going to be talking about one of the many facets in the pop culture world. Today, I’m going to be reviewing season 2 of the critically acclaimed television series Rick and Morty (although you probably figured that out from the title……)

The first thing that comes to mind when I ponder over this latest season of R&M is that it was much darker than the first season, which is a pretty impressive feat. Season 1 had a pedophile Jellybean king, a genie-esk being that existed to only fulfill a singular purpose and then die, and this scene:

So how could season 2 possibly get any darker than this? By trusting the audience to take what’s happening on face value. In season 2 the main characters are no long shocked (for the most part) by the crazy, unpredictable world around them. They are now struggling (and for the most part failing) to maintain their sense of self within this way to big universe. This allows the writers to tell stories that focus on more basic human concepts like trying to maintain innocence,  fighting to have a construct of what’s right and wrong, and dealing with depression or insecurity. The story lines that focused on these ideas were some of the best in the series, but he trade of is that the audience no longer has a character that they can 100 percent support or experience the show vicariously though. I personally am fine with this because, after the events of the first season, I am completely ready to buy into whatever extremely high concept idea the show throws at me.

Like this one:

Rick and Morty becoming darker by no means makes it less funny, though. I laughed just as hard if not more so at this set of ten episode than what I did at the eleven episodes from a year and a half ago. So, in terms of comedy, I would say that season 1 and 2 are about even. However, I do feel that season 2 as a whole was better than the first because it dared to be darken than the first season, all of the main characters were fleshed out, and there was some genuine character growth the was very sparse in the first season.

I would dive further into these points, but that might spoil parts of the season and I do not want to give you any excuse not to watch this season. If you haven’t watched season 1 of Rick and Morty, you have no excuses at this point. All of season 1 is up for free on YouTube, and its like fifteen bucks to get all of season 2. Seriously, this show is freakin’ amazing and Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, the creators, are geniuses.

(Because you guys are worth it here are a couple clips that I feel show off how great season 2 was. Enjoy and be sure to go and watch the full episodes.)

That’s probably enough gushing for one week. If you enjoyed this post (or if you are awesome and enjoy Rick and Morty in general) pleas give this post a like and leave a comment down below. As always you can subscribe to this blog via email in the upper right tab. Also, in case you’re new to the internet, Facebook exists and BaddaBing Baddablog has a page there. Please go check it out and give it a like, its like the best thing on Facebook, trust me. Just click on this link. Also Twitter is pretty cool, go and check me out over there. I’m @LucasDeRuyer. You guys be sure to have a great rest of the week and be sure to stop back on Friday for News for the Mighty, News of the Week.

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(BaddaBing, BaddaBye)

Happy Monday BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! This is Manga (And Also Anime) Monday, the place where we explore the sometimes scary, usually enticing world of Japanese media. Let’s light this candle!

It is no secret that I am a massive fan of the incredible and super popular manga One Punch Man. So I was ecstatic when I discovered that an anime adaptation was in the works. Apparently either gods or demons do exist and one of the answered my prayers, because the Once Punch Man anime premiered yesterday and……………it was crazy good. I think the opening does a solid job demonstrating exactly how good it is, but also accurately depicting the quality  of the animation.

For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, One Punch Man is a manga and (know to my joy) an anime about a man who decided to become a hero to fight monster that plague his society. He trained so hard that all of his hair fell out, but was able to become strong enough to be a hero. The only problem is that he over did it. He is now so strong that he can defeat even the strongest of enemies with a single punch. The story follows this main, Saitama, as he tries to find meaning in his life and meets other individuals who are heroes.

Yeah, it’s pretty great. Besides a great concept, the anime did a great job bring this series to light in practice. The animation is stunning and perfectly matches the art style from the manga. I would post some comparison images, but because the anime is so new there are not a lot of screen captures of it yet. Regardless, the fight scenes look amazing and I applaud Mad House, the studio responsible for the animation, for their great work on the series. the voice acting cast has also done an excellent job matching the bizarre characters present in the series.

In short, check this series out. It’s filled with bizarre, compelling characters and a plot that is as original as it is entertaining. I fully believe that this series is going to rise to the level of fame of other recent anime hits like Sword Art Online and Attack on Titan. Check it out using any of the links below.

One Punch Man on Hulu

One Punch Man on Viz Media

If you enjoyed this post please be sure to give it a like and leave a comment down below. Also, please subscribe via email using the upper right tab. It would also be amazeballs if you like the official BaddaBing Baddablog Facebook Page and followed me on Twitter. I’m @Lucas DeRuyter. Have a great Monday and an even better week. See you on Wednesday for the next installment of Pop Culture Wednesday.

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Happy Saturday people of the internet. This is Game Grind, the place where we dive into the vast and mysterious world of video games. Today I’m going to be raving about the game that has taken up way to much of my life lately.

Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows 

The latest free DLC for Shovel Knight takes everything that worked in the original game and makes it even more awesome. The game play is faster, the attacks and play style are more customizable, and the characters are even more lovable. Not only does this game stand well on its own, it improves the original game by expanding the Shovel Knight universe and adding more depth to the already bizarre characters.

The main character of this DLC is Plague Knight, a fan favorite boss from the original game. He’s on a quest to create the ultimate potion. To do this he needs to steal the essences of all of the bosses from the original game and the titular Shovel Knight. I’m not quite finished with the game yet, but what exactly the ultimate potion does is never really explained to the player. It is pretty much a mcguffin, but it is not to hard to figure out exactly what the potion is probably going to do.

Helping Plague Knight on his quest is Mona, a minor character from the original game that is also an alchemist. It is pretty clear that these two characters have some chemistry (haha PUN) but it seems like both of them are too unsure of themselves to act on their feelings. Fleshing out the cast is the romantic Hoarse-man Percy, the doting and infatuated Magicist, the weird musically inclined sewer mutant Oolong, and Baz, the derpy guy who’s just trying to fit in.

What I love most about this game is how much it changes while also holding on to the core principles of the original game. Playing the same level as Plague Knight that I played as Shovel Knight, allows me to use my previously gained experience, but also poses new challenges do to how different the playable character is. I also really enjoy how different characters interact with Plague Knight when juxtaposed to how they acted around Shovel Knight. For example, as Plague Knight the guard in the first town I visited would not let me into the town. Which, yeah, that makes total sense. Of course a guard would not let an evil alchemist in a bird mask into his town. Oh, also, you can make Plague Knight dance, which is just……freakin adorable, man.

In short, if you own Shovel Knight, play this new game. If you do not own Shovel Knight, get on that. Then, when your done playing that game, play this DLC. I’ve sincerely enjoyed this game and I imagine that most other people would too.

Alright, that does it for this week’s installment of Game Grind. If you enjoyed this post be sure to like it and leave a comment down below. If you feel so inclined, you can subscribe to BaddaBing BaddaBlog via email in the upper right tab. I would also greatly appreciate it if you liked the official Facebook Page, and followed me on Twitter. I’m @LucasDeRuyter. Have a great Saturday and be sure to come back here tomorrow for Politics, Politalks.

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Happy Friday BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! This is News for the Mighty, News of the Week! The place where you can learn everything you need to know to seem informed and knowledgeable to your friends and family when you see them over the weekend. Here we go!

Damn It  Call of Duty

The video game franchise Call of Duty is undoubtedly, if not regrettably, one of the biggest and most popular franchises in the video game industry. They have a new game coming out in 2016, Call of Duty: Black Ops. 3. In order to advertise and get people excited for this new entry into the series, the Call of Duty twitter account changed their profile to make it seem as though it were a news outlet and “reported” that a terrorist attack had occurred in Singapore. A few hours later, they changed their account back so that it obviously represented the Call of Duty franchise and tweeted that those tweets were potential glimpses into the future where Black Ops. 3 takes place.

I’m not going to harp too much on this issue, because that’s what Call of Duty wants. They want this to be a controversial advertisement so that they get a bunch of free word of mouth advertising. In order to prevent this I’ll only say the following: not cool Call of Duty. I can tolerate you guys being on the top of the video game market, but don’t be oblivious dicks about it. Thanks to you discourse regarding video games is reverting back to that of the 90s and you are almost single handedly making people like Jack Tompson relevant again. Great job *slow clap*.

Oregon Community College Shooting 

Yesterday at Oregon Umpqua community college a man killed seven individuals with a firearm and wounded seven others. The shooter was confronted by police and was killed by them. There are several rumors circulating currently regarding the shooting, with the most prevalent ones being that the shooter was encouraged by individuals on social media websites to commit the atrocity and that the shooter specifically targeted Christians. I desperately hope that those that were wounded are able to make a complete recovery and I give my complete support and condolences to the families who lost loved ones.

This is the second mass shooting in only a few months and I beg politicians and lawmakers to reform our country’s firearm laws.

Click here for more information on this story.

That just about does it for this week’s News for the Mighty, News of the Week. Sorry, I know it was kind of a bummer, but that’s life sometime. I’ll try to make tomorrows post a little lighter. As always, you can subscribe in the upper right tab via email and be sure to check out the 4B Facebook Page, and my twitter account, @LucasDeRuyter. Have a great weekend everybody.

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Happy Wednesday BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! This is Pop Culture Wednesday, the place where all things relating to and affecting western media are discussed. I still can’t believe I haven’t thought of a better name for this segment yet……ah well, this works I think. You know what I haven’t talked enough about on here?

Comics! And today I’m going to fix that. But for the sake of time, convenience, and me not having to come up with more ideas for things to talk about here, today’s post is only going to focus on non-superhero comics. You can expect that comic book goodness in the coming weeks, but today this article is going to focus on the equally super, maybe even equally heroic, but less superhero IPs in the comic book industry.

Steve Lichman

This is a web comic that I just discovered yesterday thanks to the wonderful people over at Kotaku. The basic premise of this web comic is that the monsters that roam the halls of the dungeons found in dungeons and dragons have personalities and struggles similar to those individuals who play dungeons and dragons. Seriously, even if you giggled just a little bit at the panels posted above, head over to the author’s, Dave Rapoza, website and check it out. Steve Lichman is crazy good and insanely funny.

Click Here to Head to the Steve Lichman Website!!!

Sex Criminals 

Sex Criminals by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky is an awesome weird, funny, perverted, social commentary. The basic premise of this comic is that when the main female lead, Suzie, and the main male lead, John, have sex, time stops. Like literally. They use this god like power of theirs to commit various kinds of mischief and rob banks so they can prevent Suzie’s library from being foreclosed on. Despite enough dick jokes to make a sixth grader die of laughter (actually make that due to) Sex Criminals tells a compelling story and critiques aspects of our society that deal with sex, mental illness, and social stigma. It’s phenomenal.

Archie 

Having first appeared in 1939, Archie Andrews is one of the oldest comic book characters in western media. This latest version is the combination of two of the biggest names in comics right now, Mark Waid and Fiona Staples (yeah, those are there actual names, I think comic book creators are required to have badass names). This new version has all of the same characters from the previous iterations of the series, but are now updated to fit a more modern audience. This reboot also seems to be tackling more serious issues like loneliness and what it means to be happy, as well. I personally really enjoy the narrative Waid and Staples have created in the first two issues and I think the art style is fantastic. It’s like four bucks to buy a digital copy of this comic, do yourself a favor and check it out.

That just about does it for Pop Culture Wednesday everybody. I hope you enjoyed it…….and I also hope that you express that joy by liking the post and leaving a comment down below. You can also express the unrelenting happiness you are now experiencing by liking the BaddaBing BaddaBlog Facebook Page, or by following me on Twitter. I’m @LucasDeRuyter. Also, as always, you can subscribe to this blog via email, in the upper right tab. Have a great hump day everybody and be sure to come back on Friday for News for the Mighty, News of the Week.

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Happy Sunday BaddaBing BaddaBlog readers! This is Politics, Politalks the placer where everything political is examined and discussed. As always, any views or opinions I express here are solely my own and should not be viewed as a representation of any other organization I may be, previously was, or currently am affiliated with. With that out of the way, here we go!!!

This week the Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, announced that he will be resigning from his position in October.This announcement came shortly after the Pope delivered a speech to congress and also privately spoke with Boehner. I personally believe that the Pope convinced Boehner to resign out, but that’s just me speculating.

John Boehner, as a very public political figure with more power than the average politician, was of course a figure of controversy. He was fairly criticized by the left, but was appreciated by the right. However, he fell out of favor with the extreme conservatives who are becoming a larger part of the Republican party. In fact, when Rep. Boehner announced his intent to resign, he sited the recent difficulty in trying to pass a government funding bill as a primary cause. Many very conservative Republicans refused to sign any funding bill that allotted any funds to planned parenthood and were willing to shut down the government if their demands were not met.

As Rep. Boehner is on the precipice of stepping down,  many are speculating who his replacement will be. Many people believe that House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California will be elected to fill the role. Rep. McCarthy’s views more closely fall in between the positions taken by many conservatives and extreme conservatives that comprise the Republican party. Rep. McCarthy has previously pledged to not pass any legislation that raises taxes in an effort to combat climate change and has taken a hard line stance against abortion. While Rep. Boehner could by no means be called a “middle of the road politician” this is even less applicable to Rep. McCarthy.

Alright, that just about raps up this weeks installment of Politics, Politalks. As always please leave a comment down below and give this post a like. You can also subscribe to this to 4B via the tab in the right corner. Enjoy your Sunday.

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Happy Saturday freaks and geeks! This is Game Grind the place where we dive into the many different aspects of the video game industry. So buckle up, strap on your Nintendo Power Glove, and get ready for some pixelated knowledge.

I’ve talked Mobile games a few times in this segment before. I usually refer to them derogatorily and say that I will elaborate on my views of them at a future time. Well, welcome to the future! Today I’m going to describe exactly why I dislike mobile games and why I think they are bad for the industry. Mobile games are bad for gaming because they are poorly regulated, have a poor business model, and because a majority of them are just awful games.

Mobile games really do not have to meet any form of quality or industry standard. This could potentially be a good thing creativity as it could allow developers to make games about subject matter that has a difficult time finding its way into mainstream gaming platforms. But instead people make mobile games about Kim Kardashian.

Yeah, I think I’ve made my point on this one.

You have probably heard of the term “freemium” in reference to mobile games before. Freemium means that a game is free to play, with the option to spend money to do things like level up your character faster, give you more power ups, or skip levels all together. You know how you could enter the konami code into Contra and that would give you thirty lives? Freemium is basically exactly like that, except you would have to put an extra five dollars into the machine. This money making strategy in itself is not terrible, but more and more games are being released that practically require players to spend money in the game to get any progress. Moreover, same games even target individuals with addictive personalities so that they pay even more money toward the game, similar to how the alcohol industry makes most of its money from alcoholics. See the South Park episode “Fremium Isn’t Free” for more information on this deplorable practice.

The last point in my argument is easily the most subjective. While I do believe that the quality of mobile games is worse than that of other platforms, I will admit to having played and enjoyed several mobile games. The series that first comes to mind is the tower defense series “Kingdom Rush”. However, aside from a few gems, I truly believer that many mobile games are of a poor quality. This most likely stems from the fact that literally anyone can make a game and, so long as it does not blatantly violate copyright laws or terms of service, can upload it to an app store. This should mean that the video game industry is becoming more inclusive and open, but what is happening in actuality is that a lot of sub-par games are being made.

In short, I think that mobile gaming is very much in its infancy right now. There is a lot of potential there, but it’s not going to grow anywhere until it grows up a little. In order to do this, some form of regulations should be added to the mobile gaming industry to prevent people from performing poor business practices and from blatantly ripping off other properties. However, the biggest change that needs to be made in the mobile gaming world, is that people need to stop playing bad games. If everyone stops playing and spending money on crappy freemium games, the industry is going to change and progress much more quickly.

That just about raps up my rant/explanation of mobile games. I made some pretty controversial claims and if you have any strong feelings about them go ahead and leave a comment down below. While you’re there you could also like this post and perhaps even subscribe via email in the tab in the upper right corner of this page. You can also follow the official BaddaBing BaddaBlog Facebook Page for regular updates or my Twitter account, which is @LucasDeRuyter. I hope you enjoyed this post and be sure to stop by tomorrow for Politics, Politalks; we’ll be talking about John Boehner resigning and what that could mean for the immediate and long term future. See you then.

BaddaBing, BaddaBye