Blog Archive

Sunday, May 1, 2016

May Updates:

Wheel of Time is getting a tv series, made by a competent publisher, unlike Red Eagle and that awful FX pilot.  The question is who, what, when?  How long will it be?  How big will the budget be?  Will it be filler or faithful to the story?

I've waited a long time and wished for a long time for Wheel of Time to be made into a story larger and grander than the books could portray.  Music, voice acting, costumes, special effects, everything could be better if it were live action instead of just the written word.  But if they mangle the plot, it could instead all be much worse.  And that's if the show ever leaves development hell in the first place.  But at least now there's a chance something great will happen.  Someday.

Meanwhile, Netflix is making another Marvel show, which we know will be great, because these people have aced every Marvel tv show they'd tried so far.  This time it's 'The Punisher.'  Daredevil season 2 was really The Punisher Season 1, so they should have called this 'The Punisher Season 2.'  All the same, the important thing is we get more Punisher.  Punisher is a way better hero than Daredevil because he's willing to actually kill bad guys, and doesn't take shit from annoying coworkers who lecture him on how he should or shouldn't do his job.  The Punisher might well be my favorite superhero of all time.  As a result, this is probably going to be the best Marvel Netflix show so far.  It'll be a while before it comes out, though.  First we have to watch Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones Season 2 and The Defenders.

The big reveal this week is that the reason ships are randomly attacking the Harekaze is because they've been infected by a rabies-like mind virus transmitted by gerbils that makes them ultra aggressive despite themselves, but are easily cured when thrown into the ocean, which spits them back out because the ocean apparently doesn't like mind viruses.

This isn't a very believable scenario.  In fact, I'd say it sucks.  As a result, High School Fleet will max out only as a good show, never a great one.  The underlying premise behind all this action is just too weak.

Re: Zero Kara will also only ever be a good show.  This is because everything seems to happen by pure chance.  People don't actually die in such arbitrary and sudden manners as the show portrays, and thus the time travel cop-out would not normally be activating every week like it does in this show.  If you're unlucky, you might need to time travel backwards after getting mugged in the street once in your whole lifetime.  Death by violence is incredibly rare, even in a medieval culture, because obviously if it were common all civilization would break down and nothing would even exist.  Dying by violence every week is just crazy.  It's not a believable world.

12-Sai will max out as a good show, but that's only the case if I actually continue watching it throughout, which is still in doubt.  I'm not fond of NTR (stealing a girl away who already has a lover), I think it's despicable on both the boy and the girl's part, and anyone participating in such activities should be executed for trying to destroy love, which is pretty much the definition of pure evil.  The story is now headed in that direction, and if it actually fulfills that prophecy, ::shakes head::

Netoge no Yome is slightly different, in that the boy and girl aren't actually a couple, but the fact that they constantly act like a couple while still not being one is a bad sort of tension, not a good sort.  There's little to like about this series aside from the otaku-related/MMO-related inside jokes.  I may get to the end of this show and classify it as good, but I also may not.

Big Order and Mayoiga are just whacked out high on drugs trips.  It's not even at the level where you can complain about unrealistic plot developments.  They revel in doing those.  So long as the stories remain funny/interesting I'll keep watching, but both of them could only possibly max out as good.  A total nonsense show drawn solely for shock value can never be called a great work of art.

Boku no Hero Academia has many things I like and many things I dislike.  The two balance each other out, so in the end it'll either max out as good or I'll drop it and leave it at the level of mediocre.  This just isn't the next Naruto.

Kuromukuro and Koutetsujou no Kabaneri are the only two shows left with enough potential to possibly reach my great anime rankings.  They'll obviously be good no matter what, but it's still in doubt if they can really show themselves off as uniquely insightful about something, anything, their subject matter is covering.

Naruto's true manga arc actually resumed last episode, midway through the ep.  It's now at the top of my weekly expectations and the best show that's aired this year.  I've been waiting for the finale to Naruto seemingly all my life.  The hype is finally real.  The epic conclusion will actually happen, this year.  This will be as memorable as Naruto's beginning.  All the loose ends are tied together and wrapped up perfectly.  This show finishes with a sense of utter bliss and pure satisfaction.  The author controlled the story from beginning to end and kept the framework completely interconnected from start to finish.  It's just a masterpiece.  Which is why it's the #1 anime of all time.  Go figure.

We'll have to see how the ending plays out, but I've been surprised by how good Assassination Classroom has been lately.  Once I get a full grip on the show's quality, when it ends, I'll have to adjust my rankings accordingly.

Things are happening in the tv Game of Thrones that I could never see happening in the books, like the Sand Snakes assassinating Doran and taking over Dorne.  Umm, no.  But whatever, so long as it's entertaining I'll watch, even if it is pure filler.  If Martin ever releases Winds of Winter I can read the real story then.  I doubt he'll ever finish this series though.  He'll die of old age first.  So the TV series will end up being the official canon ending, simply because it's the only ending we've got.

Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow all feature heroes stupidly throwing away their chance at victory due to hostage situations/blackmail.  You can't oppose evil and expect to take no losses whatsoever.  If good men do nothing, evil automatically wins.  So these stories where the heroes always take the easy way out and yet still emerge victorious are really lame.  I care about the characters and the episodes are often funny so I have no intention to quit watching, but if the Wheel of Time tv series is any good, it will replace these shows in my good tv rankings.  This is no longer 'must see tv.'

Clover Days is the sequel to Clover Hearts, which was never translated.  All the same, Days is being translated.  Go figure, right?  Well, now there's a new upgraded version of Days coming out, so even Days being translated is already obsolete.  What we need now is a translation of the new upgraded version.  Welcome to the wonderful world of fansubbing, where nothing works and nothing makes sense.  It's been ten years and we're still waiting on a translation of Little Busters Perfect Edition.

At least Da Capo III is making steady progress.  That's the one to watch for this year.  And Dracu-Riot is supposed to be fully translated sometime this summer.  That's a good reason to celebrate too.

I'm making steady progress on KoiChoco and Hoshizora no Memoria, but I wouldn't say either are particularly great visual novels.  They won't upset my rankings, which still stands pat at just 10 works I've actually played and fully endorse.  There's nothing wrong with them either, just underwhelming.  Hopefully I can reduce my backlog before Dracu Riot or Da Capo III are fully translated.  Otherwise the crisis will just go exponential.

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