Since this week we are basically on the eve of Comic Con and the
Guardians of the Galaxy hitting theatres I am going to keep it short
since there is going to be a lot of news coming out in the next few days
esp regarding DC and Marvel, so yup, next episode I’ll be dedicated to
them! Also I have the BeFM DJ comp coming up soon as well as a trip to
Taipei so yeah, its a busy time!
Read more ...
Short News
But
for now, Naruto is back this week and the new movie has a release date
scheduled this dec titled Naruto - the last Naruto, name is a little
confusing, is it the last Naruto movie (prob not) or just a play on it
Bahumut,
the popular card game has been rumored for an anime series for a while
and seems to have been in the works, looks like it might come this
Autumn season
Macross new series is 'being planned/in the works' basically meaning, dont hold your breath
Episde Briefs
Summer
season is starting to get more intense now, coming up to episode 4 this
week, I still think Akame Ga Kill and I would say Aldnoah Zero are my
picks of the bunch. I know some people are a bit on the fence about
Akame Ga Kill, mainly because the mood/tone jumps around so quickly,
from being dark and gruesome one second, to being light hearted and
comedic the next, however personally I like that, it kinda brings in the
gore that you wish other animes had yet still has that fun side about
it. I just wonder if it’s going to be as brutal as Shingeki when it
comes to killing off people
One
piece... Sanji is about to take on Dol Flamingo? Didn’t see that one
coming, I wonder if he is still injured after that fight with Vergo and
will Law intervene as well or will it be one on one, and will Sanji get
his ass kicked... Kinda hope not but I’m guessing it will go that way
Mahouka,
finally get to see Tatsyua let loose a little more and get to figure
out more of his abilities, he is portrayed as such a bad ass
SAO
seems to be taking a diff route to the first season, they have actually
taken time out for some decent character development... maybe, if they
have then I am def happy but I wonder if they will keep that up
Back
into Fairy Tale, up to the next Saga, seeing Natsu take on an S rank
quest, and now are about to run into all kinds of problems, this is also
serving as Grays back story, and now Erza is on the way to bring them
back... I sense more destruction is imminent
So
that’s the news and anime recaps in a very small nutshell... as I said,
it’s still a work in progress... But for now, here is my recommended
anime and throwback character
Recommended Anime
Moretsu Pirates (Bodacious Pirates)
Moretsu
Pirates is an interesting but fun take on what a future pirate might be
like. The show is set far in the future as humans have colonized space
and after the process of colonisation, independence and war has ended
with a long term peace, pirates who were basically used as privateers
during the wars are now little more than show pieces trying to make a
living by 'performing' pirate raids and doing whatever other work they
can manage. Enter Kato Marika, a first year high schooler living in an
'outer' colony who suddenly finds out her father who has recently died
was in fact a pirate captain aboard the ship Bentanmaru and that she is
set to inherit his position, not to mention she also finds out her
mother was a very famous pirate as well. The story follows her as she
comes to grips with this situation as well as deciding whether to take
on the role as captain. Like most manga's the story focuses on a young
person taking on the lead role and in this case it does feel a little
strange when you really look at it to think that a 1st year high school
kid can become captain of a pirate ship, but other than that the series
does handle this relatively well and it is nice to see the girls taking
the lead in a more positive way than other animes which just tend to
focus on sex appeal first rather than skill, Moretsu pirates tends to
look at skill first, thou that’s not to say there isn’t a fair level of
sex appeal thrown in there (just wait till she puts on a space suit...
where did those come from?! and also there is the random high school
girl scene where the other girls are trying to look at another girls
breasts as well, kinda expected these days... disturbing) Kato Marika
thou is often portrayed at times as an airhead who is actually really
smart, not an uncommon theme among anime. The show does try to act
serious on some levels with well thought out narratives explaining how
the pirate works in their time as well as some light explanations of the
current political climate and how they fit into that, but given its
only 26 episodes long, there is only so much you can cram into such a
short period. While there are obviously questions left unanswered, it
doesn’t do a bad job of being cohesive enough to make it interesting and
worth watching. The animation itself is pretty nice and mostly well
thought out including ship designs, except for the stellar military
ships, having the ship the shape of a knife?? I know its space but it
just doesn’t seem that practical.
Overall
the series is solid and finishes at a nice point for a first season
leaving the viewer wondering about what could be next as it leaves the
world at a very open stage, and a few big bombshells added in as well
however there is no news on a second season and seems doubtful there
will be one anytime soon. So if you can handle that annoyance then it is
worth a watch
Animation 7/10 It is nicely drawn but has some weird design quirks
Characters
7/10 Some really likable characters but some others suffer at the
expense of the main characters due to the short series length and are
introduced to us out of nowhere at times
Plot
7/10 It has enough thought to it and just enough added mystery at
times. The relationships between insurance company and pirates as well
as the political climate makes for some interesting themes if they were
able to be expanded on
Overall
7/10 It is solid and interesting, I like the details and the atmosphere
it creates but it’s a shame there isn’t more episodes, feels like its
nicely set up to be great in the long run only to have it short at one
season
Throwback Character
Panthro
General to the Thundercats
Superior strength and figthting skills as well as technologically capable
Weapons: Nunchuku, Armour Spikes and the Thundertank (Extendable arms in the rebbot)
Panthro
is one of the more badass Thundercats, weather you are looking at the
original or the reboot of the series they have still kept his demeanour
the same which is good and why I like him as a character. He is a noble
and a general in the Thundercats and regarded as one of the best
warriors around. While there are some small differences between the
original and reboot, fundamentally he is the same character. He is
strong and loyal, gets angry easy and is brilliant when it comes to
technology. He is what you would describe as a heavy fighter, using his
strength and skill to great effect during combat. His weapon of choice
is a pair of fighting sticks that mimic nunchaku that have cat paws on
the end. In the reboot he loses his arms and ends up having them
replaced with extendable mechanical ones which give him more power. If
all else fails you can also find him driving around causing chaos in the
Thundertank which he is also very protective of
Thundercats
is one of those childhood shows that many people will remember; the
famous sword of omens was many a child’s favourite. The cartoon itself
was pretty good, it had a solid toy line to accompany it and was
animated pretty well for its time. The story would often progress as the
Thundercats adapted to their new home and made friends while also
trying to overcome Mum-ra and his evil forces. There was a reboot of the
series in 2013 that I also really enjoyed but unfortunately didn’t do
very well. They took a slightly new spin on the history and the
characters bringing them into a more modern era I guess however it
didn’t gain the popularity the original show did, my guess is due to
lack of awareness and now people will prob be annoyed with it because
it’s a tale left unfinished, but then again the original was also left
pretty open ended which is common for most of the earlier cartoons with
very few only ever reaching a somewhat definitive ending. The original
Thundercats is like 100 something episodes long and is hard to find in
good quality but if you’re feeling nostalgic I’m sure you can find it,
however I would recommend trying out the reboot, it is shorter but it
does add an interesting take