Hoshikozu Telepath: Touching Foreheads is a Sign of Affection, I saw it in Suddenly Human

Hoshikozu Telepath was a late 2023 anime from Studio Gokumi based off of a manga by Ookuma Rasuko. I have reviewed some Gokumi anime before: Yuuki Yuuna wa Yusha de Aru, Tonari no Kyuuketsuki-san, A-Channel and the god awful Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge. Let’s hope this is more like the other stuff I’ve reviewed of theirs and not that one.

Story:

Konohoshi Umika is an incredibly awkward girl who doesn’t fit in with people in general. I relate. She dreams about going into space and meeting aliens who will understand her. I still relate. Her life is turned upside down when a strange girl arrives at her school and declares herself to be an alien. Umika is immediately drawn to her. Can’t relate to that one but I wish I could. The story involves their budding friendship, which quickly starts growing into more and their quest to build a rocket to take them both into space. Naturally, they start small with various forms of miniature rockets. Fortunately for them, they make some friends who can help them along.

My only real issue with the story is that it stops dead in its tracks multiple times to explain the specifics of building model rockets. It really takes you out of the narrative when Raimon or Kei just starts going into ultra specific details about model rockets. I’m sure someone will argue that “it’s educational” but that doesn’t make it narratively cohesive. All those PSAs that used to get added to the end of American cartoons were educational too but they were still the worst part.

On the positive side, the anime is insanely cute. I appreciate the fact that its sci-fi elements are toned down to make it more relatable, including having the girls start small and do something within the realm of possibility for High School girls. Though I can get fully behind a more zany, over the top comedy there is something to be said for the more toned down, relatable approach. Most of the jokes are also really good. It also provides a solid sense of hardships and the girls going through a steep learning curve. They don’t just become masters through a short montage or have some uncanny knack for building rockets. There’s also a great little theme of finding a place to belong that we see all our main characters engage with to varying degrees.

Characters:

The thing I adore about the cast of characters is that they all have complexity, realistic motivations and character flaws. While I maintain that comedic characters don’t necessarily need those attributes, it is nice to see ones who have them.

Umika has extreme social anxiety and starts out only being comfortable with Yuu and her own relatives but we start to see her gradually putting an effort into socialising and the group of people she can talk to expands. Yuu has a much more extroverted outlook but that covers up a loneliness and sense of loss over not remembering who she is or where she came from. Haruno has a dream of helping others achieve their goals but in working with the others she starts to discover ambitions of her own. Raimon is obsessed with tinkering and feels isolated because no one can keep up with her so she pushes people away but Umika and the others may just be able to understand her.

It’s worth noting that these four also work very strongly together for comedic purposes. Their dynamics provide all kinds of possibilities for strong gags. They’re also just downright adorable.

Where the anime falters a bit is with the minor characters. Most of them are perfectly fine. They serve the function they need to and feel real enough. Then we have characters like the teacher or the little sister who just feel under-utilized. The situation will beg for them to do something more substantial than they end up doing.

Art:

I really love the character designs. The differently coloured highlights a lot of the girls have in their hair is really striking and the general designs are basically weaponised cuteness. They also go into great detail to make the various types of model rockets super accurate. The backgrounds are very good too.

Sound:

The cast is excellent. Funato Yurie, Fukagawa Seria, Aoki Shiki & Nagamuta Moe all have amazing performances. The music is great. Sakai Asuka did a phenomenal job.

Ho-yay:

There’s a lot. All four of the major girls, Umika, Yuu, Haruno & Raimon have a level of les-yay that would make a polyamorous relationship amongst them believable. And it’s ceaselessly adorable. Even the fact that they touch foreheads in multiple affectionate scenes like they adopted Jeremiah Rossa is cute. The les-yay is especially strong betwixt Umika & Yuu. They have so many exceptionally cute moments.

Areas of Improvement:

1. We don’t need long explanations of model rockets. Yes, they make it clear that you did your research but they also aren’t very entertaining.
2. The series really needs to do more with the bigger supporting characters. Even just a few extra lines to help flesh them out.
3. More cute Sapphic moments would work a treat since they are one of the strongest aspects of the series.

Final Thoughts:

Hoshikozu Telepath stands alongside Gokumi’s best work, Tonari no Kyuuketsuki-san. It’s an excellent series with some minor issues. My final rating is going to be a 9/10.

January Bonus Review: Xyber 9

I’ve reviewed quite a few obscure cartoons over the years. This time we’re looking at Saban’s Sci-fi work from the late 90s, Xyber 9: New Dawn. Interestingly enough, only the first ten episodes aired initially in the US before the show was cancelled. But the thing aired in its entirety in Ireland and in 2007 Disney aired the entire thing as part of its Jetix line-up. So, this show refused to die but my question is whether or not it was worth saving. Let’s have a look.

Story:

In the distant future, two monarchs, King Renard & Queen Tatania, are waging a war. Renard is being supported by the shadowy figure, Machestro. An unaffiliated boy named Jack gets caught up in the middle of a battle and discovers an ancient piece of powerful technology, this is the titular Xyber 9. This is bad news for Jack since Machestro will stop at nothing to possess the Xyber.

Let’s start with the big narrative issues with the show. First of all, the show is really bad about expanding on its story elements. For example, we know the Xybers are ancient technology but there’s never anything to explain why they’re considered so powerful or why Xyber 9 itself is in such high demand. It has knowledge about the ancient world and it can interface with technology. That’s about all we see. And Machestro doesn’t want it for its knowledge. But we see some pretty advanced technology from him and his subjects so it begs the question of why he can’t have his people design something else that can interface with various technology. The show also never explains how the whole situation started. How did King Renard fall under Machestro’s control? How did the entire war start? I feel like this is one of those rare shows that actually would have benefited from a flashback heavy episode or two. The romance aspect is also pretty bad. They basically put Jack in a love triangle and have his potential love interests take jabs at each other like they’re in a bad sitcom instead of a sci-fi adventure.

Another problem is with the ending. It’s legitimately awful. They shoehorn in this weird message about pacifism being the true way and force a very unsatisfying climax with it. They also pull a rescue for one of the characters out their ass. You remember how the Owl House crew knew their last season was going to be cut short and did their utmost to tie up everything in a satisfactory way and they largely succeeded? This feels more like they had all the episodes made except for the very last one when they found out they weren’t getting more and they just had to try and cram everything in there. Which may have been what happened. Maybe they had twenty one made when they initially got cancelled from American television and they just rushed a final one to give their Irish viewers a conclusion. Either way, it’s a rubbish ending.

I wish I could say that the series at least had some good ideas in its plot but it really doesn’t. The whole setup with the factions waging war and a powerful MacGuffin emerging that can turn the tide is pretty generic. As is the whole concept of the monarch being controlled by a shadowy Puppet master. And Xyber 9 isn’t exactly a better example of this type of story. It takes those elements in a heavily simplified direction. And you might argue “But it’s for kids. It has to be simple.” To that I would say, nonsense. There’s a difference between presenting a story in a way that’s digestible for kids and presenting a story that’s not challenging or complex in any way. This is something that the best children’s cartoons I’ve reviewed like Gravity Falls, The Owl House, She-Ra and The Princesses of Power & X-men all understood. It’s not something Xyber 9 understands.

Characters:

The characters largely suffer from the same problems as the narrative. They’re painfully generic and shallow. Jack is a cocky little shite. Xyber 9 is the sagacious guide. Ikira is the old mentor. Anakonda is the action girl love interest. Mick is the scoundrel who we’re supposed to find charming but he just comes across as a douchebag. Willy is the taciturn giant. Machestro is the evil one. You get the idea.

There are three characters who could have been significantly more interesting based on what little we get of their back stories. The first is Ikira. The man was part of Machestro’s forces but was abandoned and left to die which led to his revelation that his people have a virus that makes them sensitive to the sunlight but that the virus is treatable. The issue is that the show barely touches on this nor do we know shit about his people and their culture beyond them serving Machestro and having this virus. Does Ikira have a family he might want to get back to? Friends he could reach out to? Do his people even have cities or do they just hang around in the tunnels? These questions will never be addressed. The second character is Anakonda. She was raised by snakes, can turn invisible, rides a giant bat creature, can soothe wild animals and comes from some kind of naturalist tribe. On its surface, that could be a very compelling character concept. But, like with Ikira, we get very little about her people and culture. Instead she’s just the action girl part of Jack’s love triangle. Finally, we have Princess Roselyn. A naïve girl who learns that her father is a tyrant and decides to help the resistance against him. Maybe not the most original concept, but it’s definitely one that can be very interesting. But the show pretty much reduces her to the second part of Jack’s love triangle and largely treats her actions as being more for him than they are for moral concerns.

Another thing worth mentioning is that Machestro’s evil plan is really fucking stupid. Basically, he wants to block out all sunlight so that he and the others with sensitivity to it can emerge from the darkness and rule the world. Ignoring that they couldn’t actually survive very long with zero sunlight and that it would be much easier to go through the same curative process Ikira did.

Art:

The art isn’t bad. The character designs are decent enough. The CG integration looks fine. The action sequences flow pretty well. The animation can be a little janky at times but it’s not noticeable enough to be a major issue.

Sound:

The voice acting in this varies. You have people like Rene Auberjonois, Nika Futterman, Chris Marquette & Tim Curry who all do really well. Then you have people who are just okay. You also have people who are kind of obnoxious in their delivery like Jolie Jenkins, Quinton Flynn & Jason Marsden.

The music is pretty good. David Ari Leon did a solid job with it.

Areas of Improvement:

1: They really needed to do a better job of expanding on their world, the scenario and the character’s backgrounds. I truly believe that a more relaxed, gradual pacing would have made for a more engaging, and compelling show. Maybe then people would have tuned in for it.

2: They really should have given Anakonda and Roselyn personalities and interest outside of Jack before worrying about setting up their stupid love triangle.

3: Machestro’s plan really needs a lot of fine tuning in order for it to make even some semblance of sense. You can’t just rely on your audience not noticing the flaws. No, not even if your target audience is children.

Final Thoughts:

I understand why this cartoon was canceled early on. It takes some very generic ideas, pairs them with generic character tropes and executes them in a dumb way, It seems like an example of a cartoon that didn’t bother putting in much effort because they assumed children would watch it for the bright colours, robots and action. I’m giving this one a 3/10. It’s really not worth tracking down.

December Bonus Review #3 Star Trek III: The Search For Spock

I’ve talked about Star Trek on multiple occasions. I’ve reviewed the animated series, first film and second film. It’s also a franchise I’ve referenced more times than I care to go back and check. It’s a franchise I very openly have a lot of affection for, in terms of the classic series, Next Gen & DS9. And now I’m looking at the third film based on the original series, The Search For Spock.

Story:

We open where Wrath of Khan left off. Spock is dead. The Genesis device is in Star Fleet’s hands and the planet it left behind is being studied. The Enterprise is on her way back to Earth when Doctor McCoy starts demonstrating some concerning behaviour like breaking into Spock’s old quarters and talking like him. Meanwhile, a group of Klingons have learned about Genesis and they intend to take the device by force so that the Federation can’t leverage it against them.

There are a few issues with this film. First of all, we discover that ambassador Sarek wants Doctor McCoy brought to Vulcan as he possesses Spock’s “Katra” but this important Federation ambassador can’t arrange passage to bring McCoy to Vulcan for some reason. There’s also a line about how Kirk has had a very distinguished command based off of logic. Which is kind of laughable. Kirk is the Captain who was known for “Cowboy Diplomacy”, bending Star Fleet’s rules on a regular basis and seducing/ being seduced by alien women so often that you have to hope Federation medicine can eliminate VD. Logic my tuchus.

That being said, the film holds up really well overall. The exploration of how to deal with something as powerful as the Genesis device is compelling. The fact that the Klingon concerns are fully legitimate and make a lot of sense really works to the film’s favour. Kirk and his crew may have to take action for reasons that come across as contrived but the way the film works off of their skills and gives them individual chances to shine is a real treat. It also manages to keep a real sense of tension based on them having to rescue the rejuvenated Spock from Genesis within a time limit. I also appreciate that Kruge, like Khan before him, doesn’t fall for Kirk’s very blatant attempt at baiting him

Characters:

The original series cast are all very well written in this. The antagonists are also very compelling. It’s clear that the idea of the Federation gaining power through using the Genesis device as a weapon is horrifying for Kruge and his crew. They see themselves as being forced into action for the future of their species, their world and their way of life. Then we have the Federation. They make a lot of decisions in this film that we, the audience, are very clearly not supposed to agree with. However, those decisions actually make a lot of logical sense in context.

Cinematography, Visuals & Effects:

This is a very good looking film. It doesn’t have the epic space battles of Wrath of Khan, but the effects, ship designs, and overall cinematography all look good. The one thing that really doesn’t work is the bit where Kruge falls to his death. That shot has not aged well.

Acting & Music:

The acting is very good. We have the seasoned talents from the original series, but without resorting to cheesy elements to make it look like a series for kids. Christopher Lloyd is amazing as Kruge. He conveys so much about the character’s complexity solely through his mannerisms and the way he delivers his lines. The music is really good. James Horner did an Excellent job of capturing the Trek aesthetic.

Final Thoughts:

I feel like Search for Spock is a bit under-rated because it follows on the coat-tails of Wrath of Khan and just doesn’t hold up as well as that film. It’s still a great Star Trek film with lots of compelling ideas, intrigue and high quality sci-fi adventure. I’d give this one an enthusiastic 8/10.

Shinryaku Ika Musume OVA: Featuring games more unplayable than Superman 64

I talked about a comedic anime called Shinryaku Ika Musume a very long time ago. It’s been over a decade at this point when you factor in the fact that it was a repost of an older review when I first put that one on WordPress. And even that repost is almost a decade old. At the time, it was the only thing I’d seen from Diomedea. It’s since been joined by Akuma no Riddle & Dai Mahou Touge. So, the studio has a strong track record. In any case, the comedy was enjoyable and we’re revisiting the series with a look at the 3 episode OVA.

Story:

The OVA is set up with one episode containing a variety of shorter episodes. The episodes deal with Ika Musume, the Aizawa family and the various eccentrics they encountered in the main series. They test the world’s second worst video game system after the CD-I, watch Gorou get embarrassed by his mum, try to prevent Chizuru from being mistaken for an alien and more.

The issue with this series lies in the format. They want every short to be around the same length. As a consequence, there are some shorts that feel like they don’t really take full advantage of the comedic possibilities, like Chizuru being suspected of being an alien, while others, Ika Musume trying to throw out a message in a bottle, drag on a bit. There are also definitely episodes that are better than others. None of them are bad but some are just okay while others are fantastic.

On the positive side, the comedy does largely work. There are a lot of good episode ideas in here and they’re executed well in spite of some of them being too short or dragging a bit. It manages to be consistently entertaining.

Characters:

The cast isn’t particularly complex. However, they don’t need to be. I’ve gone over this with comedies many times but comedic characters need to have strong comedic potential and play off of each other well. Which the characters in this generally do. Though there is a question of why we need three scientists when they quite literally all have the same function and personality. The characters also don’t get the kind of development they got in the first series. They’re pretty stagnant.

Art:

The art style is cute and vibrant. The animation flows well. The characters still largely have similar faces with different hair. I can’t really fault the OVA for keeping that feature since it was also in the original series. It’s just kind of lazy design.

Sound:

There are a lot of skilled actors in this. Kanemoto Hisako, Tanaka Rie, Fujimura Ayumi, Itou Kanae and more. Their performances are pretty solid. The music is upbeat and fun.

Ho-yay:

There’s a bit. The OVA doesn’t really feature Ika Musume’s seeming crush on Nagisa nor does it have many homo-erotic moments betwixt Ika and Eiko. It does feature Sanae’s very blatant interest in Ika. It also has the same issue as the original where it seems to be largely present because the writer finds it funny.

Areas of Improvement:

1. The OVA would definitely benefit from having fewer shorts and having more extensive explorations of the comedic possibilities within a given scenario. They could literally drop the weakest short from each episode and turn out a better product.
2. If you’re going to have Sapphic representation, at least give the character more to her personality than just mindlessly pursuing the girl she likes.
3. There are several characters who would definitely benefit from a bit more depth. Solely because the jokes they’re used for are obvious.

Final Thoughts:

This OVA is worth watching if you enjoyed the Ika Musume series proper. That being stated, it really doesn’t add much. It’s more of the same. It has the same strengths as the series proper and the same flaws. I’m giving it a 7/10 since I did mostly enjoy the comedy and found it quite endearing but it’s not brilliant.

December Bonus Review #2: Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

I’ve talked about the Pokémon franchise a lot. Both in anime form and in terms of the games. And why not? It was part of my childhood and it’s a franchise I still regularly revisit for relaxation. Except Sword & Shield as they were rubbish. But let’s look at the latest main instalments. Like with Sword & Shield, I’m not going to discuss Gamefreak’s lazy and consumer unfriendly decision to leave certain Pokémon out of the game. I will however be discussing the sorry state of the games at launch. Let’s get started.

Story:

We open with our protagonist moving to the Paldea region and beginning their new life at The Pokémon Academy. After a brief introduction, our young hero is set loose on a treasure hunt which has them challenging gyms, raiding bases of the seemingly delinquent Team Star and chasing down massive Titan Pokémon for mysterious herbs.

The story in this instalment is actually among the best in the franchise. If not the actual best. All three story arcs are really compelling and feature unexpectedly tragic elements that add some serious depth. They also each have their own climaxes and they come together in a really strong way for the game’s finale.

Characters:

This title has some of the strongest characters in the franchise’s history as well. You have Nemona in the gym challenge, Penny in the Team star story & Arven in the Titan hunt. I’ll be completely honest. At the start, I didn’t much like any of them as characters. They all seemed kind of flat but the game does an excellent job of slowly peeling back that superficial impression and showing you the hidden motivations and layers of the characters.

Nemona, for example, starts out looking like an over-eager battle maniac. However, as you progress it becomes clear that she wanted you to love battling and rise to become a formidable trainer because she feels stifled by success. There isn’t anyone around who can give her a good challenge and that’s gradually causing her to become disinterested in something she used to love. Which is a very interesting take on a strong trainer and a compelling way to tackle burnout. Arven and Penny likewise have some highly interesting layers hiding beneath your initial perception of them. Which I wasn’t anticipating because Pokémon characters are usually exactly what they appear to be.

Gameplay:

Let’s begin with the big aspect that needs to be discussed. The state of the game at launch. This game started out with a lot of bugs, glitches, lag issues (even when playing offline) and crashes. We may live in a world where that isn’t uncommon. Where, in fact, games are frequently released in an incomplete state and patched into a more playable framework. For me, this is still unacceptable. Being able to patch games post-launch does not give companies carte blanche to half-ass their releases.

That isn’t the only issue with the gameplay. The open world may be a good idea but they didn’t execute it well. The issue being that the levels of trainers, Titan Pokémon, & Team Star bases are all stagnant. They don’t change based on where you are in the game, how much you’ve completed or your level. What that means is if you start out going to the right of the Academy and clear out a bunch of events there and return to the left side later, the left side will be far too easy unless you want to completely change your party. Which happened to me. I went right at the start and by the time I headed left I could beat anything in one hit. On the opposite end, you can also go too far while exploring and wind up facing opponents who are virtually impossible. This also happened to me. I nearly got wiped by a trainer with a single Pokémon because it was twenty some levels higher than anything I had.

The game also removed the convenient GTS system where you could deposit a Pokémon for trade and someone could take the trade at any time. Which made it so much simpler to get trade evolutions since you could just put in a Machoke, request a Machoke and both you and your trade partner would get Machamps. Some of the new Pokémon also have really annoying evolution methods. There are multiple monsters that evolve from taking steps while walking with you which is just time consuming. The worst, however, is Gimmighoul. Gimmighoul is basically a mimic Pokémon, if you’re dealing with a really ugly mimic. To evolve it you have to find 999 Gimmighoul coins around the map. What makes it more insulting is that its evolution is bloody hideous. It looks like the mascot for tearaway cheese but you have to get it on your Pokedex if you want to complete it and get the shiny charm.

Let’s move on to the positive aspects. First of all, being able to see the Pokémon wandering around on the map is still a positive improvement. I also really like the movement mechanic of having this legendary Pokémon you use as a mount and helping it regain abilities in order to traverse various areas. It’s a good way of blocking player access to certain areas until they’re ready without resorting to something annoying like HMs. The way they do TMs in this is also a better compromise between giving them unlimited uses and just having them break than they’ve done before. What they do is give you the ability to make TMs using items you find and LP. So, you can make whatever TMs you want so long as you’ve had the TM in question. Though I still would prefer to just have unlimited uses like they did in Sun/Moon. I also appreciate the game giving you prizes throughout for Pokedex completion. It makes it more immediately awarding to go through the whole process of catching them all than just doing the whole thing and hoping they’ll give you a prize after. The whole lecture and testing process at the Academy is also a nice touch. It’s like an optional tutorial that offers you rewards for doing it and doesn’t take up too much time.

Then we have the Terastal mechanic. Honestly, it might be the best new game gimmick the franchise has had in a long time. The way it works is that you can use your tera orb once per battle to change a Pokémon into a specific type, at which point it looks like a crystalline figure, and give it extra damage when using moves of that type. What makes it interesting is that you can change a Pokémon’s Tera type. For instance, you could take Gyarados and make it a ground type with all the weaknesses and strengths thereof. So, it’s not broken and over-powered like getting three powerful attacks that also give you boosts. Nor is it team limiting like Megas were. It’s a lot more strategic.

Art:

The issue with the art is that the game has a lot of weird graphical glitches. They’re especially obvious if you watch random people in the background and their janky movements but you’ll also notice bizarre perspective. Like, you’ll battle a child trainer and the grass behind them will be taller than they are. It’s also disappointing that you can’t buy cute outfits for your trainer. You can buy hats, gloves, shoes, glasses, socks and bags but you don’t get shirts, skirts, trousers. Instead you’re stuck with one of four school uniforms. I miss Sun and Moon where you could change your outfit daily and find all kinds of interesting outfit pieces in the shops.

There are some positives. First off, the important trainers (Elite Four, Gym Leaders, Important NPCs) all look really good and unique. Even if they are a little pandering with characters like Iono, the gym leader who streams. Her design is still fecking adorable. The opening character customisation for hair colour, eye colour and hair style is also really good. The Pokémon models have some very nice details. Unlike Sword/Shield, these ones actually look like they’ve been updated and not just lazily imported from the prior generation. The Tera effect is also really nice looking. Like I said, Tera Pokemon look like crystalline figures with little added flair for the tops of their heads. The animation to Tera is also fairly quick and clean unlike the overblown Dynamax animation.

Sound:

The music is pretty solid. It can get a bit repetitive during longer gaming sessions. While there is some unique music for gym battles and such, you’re going to hear a lot of the same music for travelling, wild battles, random trainer battles and such.

Areas of Improvement:

1. These games never should have released in the state they did. If Gamefreak needed an extra month or two to get everything fixed, they should have pushed back the release date.
2. The game needed the GTS system in place. Especially if they’re going to keep the whole trade evolution mechanic.
3. The game needs a proper open world with scaling difficulty.

Final Thoughts:

For me, the state of the game on release definitely hurts it. The big question is how much does the game itself make amends for that huge misstep? Well, it has one of the strongest stories in the franchise and some of the best characters. It also does take some steps forward and some notable steps backward as well. I would still say these are good games. They’re also a bit disappointing because they could have been masterpieces. With more development and features this could have been one of the best generations. But it released incomplete, suffers from a lack of GTS, improperly executed open world and lack of outfits. I’m still going to give them a 7/10 for everything they do get right. I just really would have liked the effort that went into the story and characters to have translated into effort put into programming.

December Bonus Review #1 Lightyear

Lightyear is a 2022 Disney Pixar title based off of the popular Toy Story character. It wasn’t received particularly well by either critics or audiences. Is it that bad? Well, I’m going to have a look and judge it for myself.

Story:

We open with a short blurb telling us that this is, in fact, the film that the Buzz Lightyear toy was based off of in the Toy Story universe. You know, just in case the name and the very iconic Buzz Lightyear spacesuit weren’t enough to clue you into that little fact. We move on to see Buzz and his fellow space rangers, Alisha Hawthorne & Featheringhamstan, exploring an unknown planet when they’re forced to flee due to giant, hostile insects and slithering vines. Buzz crashes the ship by mistake and the trio is forced to awaken the rest of the people on board, who are in stasis, and build a whole civilisation on this hostile world to try and repair their ship. Buzz is testing the new hyperspace crystal when he returns to find that four years passed on the colony while he was gone. After that the film covers a bunch of more attempts while time passes until the world around Buzz drastically changes.

There’s one massive issue with the film. While it has some good concepts in its premise, the execution is very lackadaisical. It’s like watching a very mediocre episode of Star Trek where the writers didn’t think things through very well or they just tried to incorporate too many side plots and didn’t have enough time to wrap them all up in a satisfactory way. Except this film is twice the length of a standard Trek episode. The issue is that there are so many elements to it hat could be entire films by themselves. The whole exploration of a hostile world could be its own film. Trying to build a colony on a hostile planet could be its own film. Trying to break the hyperspace barrier while losing touch with the world around you because time is moving far faster for it could be its own film. The whole invasion of Zurg could be its own film but it’s all crammed together which means nothing gets as much attention or developed as well as it should. We also have the whole reveal with Emperor Zurg which is actual rubbish. It’s very much a case of they had a bad idea but decided to use it anyway and then they implemented it poorly.

The best part of the film, no contest, is the whole relationship betwixt Buzz and his closest friend, Alisha. The whole montage sequence where we see them catch up after Buzz’s failed flights until she succumbs to old age is genuinely good and it’s pretty sad to see Buzz watching the final message she left for him. And watching him connect with her grown granddaughter after his final flight and gain some insight into what her life was like is a pretty sweet moment.

Characters:

Most of the characters in this film are just bland. The only four who are really worth mentioning are Buzz, Alisha, Izzy and Sox. Buzz is an okay character. His obsession with trying to make up for his piloting mistake makes sense and he has a nice little arc where he comes to terms with what’s happened. Alisha and Izzy have the best scenes in the film and the pair of them are by far the best characters. Sox is Buzz’s robot cat and he makes for a solid animal sidekick character.

Art:

The artwork and animation are both solid. As much as the film isn’t very impressive in most regards, it is a good looking film and I do appreciate that Sox’s design makes him look artificial with mechanical looking movements and all.

Sound:

The acting is fine. I know a lot of people were upset that Buzz was voiced by Chris Evans instead of Tim Allen but if we’re being honest, Evans isn’t an inherently worse voice for the character. The big thing that drags his performance down is that Lightyear doesn’t have as interesting or endearing of characterisation as Toy Story. Which is the exact reason that most of the performances in this are just decent. Not good, not bad. Uzo Aduba and Keke Palmer have the strongest performances because they voice the most compelling characters.

Ho-yay:

There’s a little bit. Alisha marries a woman and seems to live a happy life with her. Though we barely see her wife.

Areas of Improvement:

1. The film really needed a more focused narrative. I think they could have had an existing colony trying to break this speed barrier with Buzz as the test pilot, had the whole story about him coming back with years having passed and eventually had him return to an invasion that he had to help fend off and executed a much stronger, more cohesive story without the rubbish twist about Zurg and with more time to develop the story and characters.
2. The whole twist with Zurg’s identity just shouldn’t exist.
3. They really needed to develop their side characters better. Featheringhamstan basically fucks off after the opening sequence having contributed nothing. Then we have the two who accompany Buzz, Izzy and Sox against Zurg. He’s a coward and she’s a kind of shite version of the old lady from Atlantis.

Final Thoughts:

Honestly, this wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be given the general response. It’s still not a good film. While it has some aspects that do kind of work, it’s very underwhelming and mediocre overall. My final rating is going to be a 5/10.

November Bonus Review: Blue Beetle 1-36

One of the most recent super hero films centres around Jaime Reyes aka The Blue Beetle. To be frank, I haven’t watched the film and I don’t really plan on it. It’s very likely they did what Hollywood always does and changed a bunch of aspects of the character to make him fit better into a generic Hollywood hero story. What I am going to look at is the Blue Beetle Comics. To be specific, the original run of Jaime Reyes as the Blue Beetle from May of ’06 to February of ’09.

Story:

We open with our hero crashing into the desert where he’s promptly attacked by Guy Gardner. You may know him as nobody’s favourite Green Lantern. We get a flashback explaining how Jaime disappeared and what happened to him during Infinite Crisis. Gardner eventually backs off when he finds out that Jaime is just a kid and our hero makes his way home only to discover that he’s been missing for a full year. He tells his parents and sister the entire truth of where he’s been and what’s happened to him. Now, he has to take up the heroic mantle passed on by the late Ted Kord and discover the truth behind the scarab that’s made a home in his spine.

As a whole, this series holds up extraordinarily well. The respect they pay to Kord’s legacy is admirable. The whole story line with the Reach is brilliantly handled. The uneasy stalemate betwixt Jaime and La Dama is really compelling. The series also manages some really funny moments like Jaime not noticing Supergirl’s giant S because his mum taught him not to stare or his ultimate power fantasy or his mum giving a verbal lashing to Guy Gardner after seeing the giant green fist behind his back. Yet it blends those moments of humour with some very touching, heart-warming moments like Jaime flying with his grandma or his little sister getting over her fear and trying to comfort him when he shows vulnerability. This series of comics manages that delicate balance of tension, seriousness, comedy and genuine moments that only the best comic writers have hit perfectly. Giffen, Rogers and Sturges stand alongside Claremont, Simone, Wolfman & Perez in that regard.

Characters:

One of the rather unique things about this series is that Jaime is completely open and honest with his family as well as his close friends. Which results in him having an incredible supporting cast. His major antagonists are also pretty unique. La Dama is highly sympathetic when you see how much she loves her niece and her attempts at being a better person for her. The Reach may have the most friendly yet insidious invasion plan of all time.

Art:

The artwork in this is really good. There are a lot of different artists who work on the series with the longest running being Rafael Albuquerque but all of them do a really good job. The action panels generally flow well and the character art looks great.

Final Thoughts:

This is among the best comic runs I’ve ever read. It stands alongside Chris Claremont’s work with various mutants, Simone’s works with Wonder Woman, Birds of Prey & Secret Six or Wolfman & Perez’s take on the Teen Titans. While there are some issues that are slightly less amazing than others, I’m giving the thirty six issue run as a whole a 10/10.

Film Festival Week: Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha 2nd film A’s

At this point I’ve reviewed quite a few instalments in the Nanoha franchise. Including the first film and the A’s series. Thus far, it’s been a very strong franchise and I hope we’re ending this year’s film festival week on a high note with this.

Story:

We open with Hayate taking the bus while holding a chained up book in her lap. She’ get’s wheeling herself home in her chair when a sleeping truck driver nearly rams into her only for her to be saved by a mysterious light. Meanwhile, Nanoha is beyond excited for Fate’s upcoming return. They’re enjoying their reunion when we learn that mages and magical creatures alike have been attacked and had their linker cores drained. These events are quickly linked with the Book of Darkness incident that cost Captain Lindy her husband years ago.

The narrative of this film is really well put together. They set up the story with Hayate and her knights in a way that makes them and their cause come across as misguided but highly sympathetic. The film does a fantastic job of showcasing the knights’ desperation and building up on that as they approach the climax. The sequence where Fate comes face to face with her past trauma is brilliant. The NanoFate scenes where they’re very blatantly in the early stages of falling in love are adorable. The climax itself is incredible. It has high stakes, a grand scope and some very powerful moments. Then we have the ending which has some excellently handled bittersweet elements.

Characters:

This franchise has always had really strong casts and this film is no different. Nanoha, Fate, Hayate, The knights, Lindy, the members of the time-space bureau, Arf, Suzuka, Alisa they’re all great characters. A big part of the casts’ strength comes from the inter-personal relationships and how the characters interact with one another. And it’s not just the les-yay fuelled interactions that are superb. Seeing Suzuka befriend Hayate, Nanoha try to understand Vita, Liny assume a motherly role for Fate & watching Fate and Signum come to mutual respect are all very compelling relationship dynamics.

Art:

The film looks incredible. The characters have the best versions of their designs. The action sequences are really excellent. The backgrounds are vibrant. The one issue I have is with the transformation sequences. Which have been a continuing issue with this franchise. They’re very weirdly fan-servicey. Keep in mind, these characters are around nine or ten years old. And we have shots showing off their bare butts and chests. Who exactly are these shots for?

Sound:

The acting is fantastic. This franchise has always had an amazing vocal cast. Tamura Yukari, Mizuki Nana, Ueda Kana, Sanada Asami, Kuwatani Natsuko, Shimizu Kaori, Yuzuki Ryouka and the rest all reprise their roles flawlessly. The music is another aspect that the franchise always does really well and gets handled perfectly in this film.

Ho-yay:

There’s a lot. We get the obvious romantic tension betwixt Nanoha and Fate. There’s also a lot of it with Hayate and Vita. In addition to that, Arf gets really blushy around Captain Lindy. Methinks she wants the two of them to be Fate’s mums together.

Areas of Improvement:

1. The transformation sequences desperately need reworked.
2. I’m not joking. No transformation sequence involving a little girl should involve nudity.
3. For the one action sequence that Lindy was directly involved in it would have been cool to see more of her directly using her magic and getting involved since it’s not really something we’ve seen from the franchise.

Final Thoughts:

Honestly, most of the elements in this film are so well-handled and genuinely fantastic that I’m tempted to hand out a perfect score. The one thing that’s stopping me from doing that is the weird and creepy fan-service involved in the transformation sequences. Due to that, I’m going to give it a 9/10. It’s absolutely worth watching. I would just suggest skipping through the transformation sequences.

Film Festival Week: Doubutsu Tonarigumi

Doubutsu Tonarigumi is a propaganda film from the early days of World War II. Personally, I’ve always found this type of thing kind of interesting whether it’s blatantly racist American comics or my own country scapegoating Jews for everything. In spite of the fact that Jewish people did nothing wrong. Let’s see what some old-fashioned Japanese propaganda looks like.

Story:

The film is basically a series of snippets about the importance of having an organised neighbourhood association. They can pass on flyers, spread awareness of over-priced black markets trying to profit off of scarcity, put out fires, chase away pushy salesmen and shelter together in the event of a bombing.

This is a lot more mild and tame compared to a lot of the WWII propaganda pieces I’ve seen. Which makes it significantly less problematic to look back at but it also makes it less interesting. When I look at a comic of Superman using racial slurs while fighting very questionably drawn Japanese soldiers, it’s awful but also morbidly fascinating. The same is true for a lot of those old propaganda pieces. But this one is just cloying and boring. The big message seems to be “make your neighbourhood better by snitching.”

Characters:

The members of the neighbourhood association are basically indistinguishable from one another. There’s not even enough personality amongst them to be called archetypical.

Art:

For 1941, the animation isn’t all that bad. It definitely doesn’t hold up by any means. The animation is awkward and choppy. The characters look pretty shite too. The best you can say about it is that it doesn’t include a bunch of egregiously offensive designs. Which may seem like it should go without saying but it is a WWII propaganda piece.

Sound:

This sounds its age. The mixing is badly done. The voice acting is very stilted. And I’m sure part of that is just how bad sound recordings were back then.

Ho-yay:

None here. Partly because of when it was made and partly because the characters are beyond paper-thin.

Final Thoughts:

It’s pretty rubbish. Maybe in the early 1940s this looked and sounded impressive. But that doesn’t alter the basic fact that there’s nothing of substance here. It doesn’t even have the decency to be a PSA/ propaganda work that’s so outrageous and absurd that it’s kind of fascinating. My rating is going to be a 3/10. I wouldn’t bother tracking it down unless you’re really curious about WWII propaganda to the point where even the boring ones are of interest.

Flim Festival Week: Fresh Precure film- Omocha no Kuni wa Himitsu ga Ippai!?

I’ve talked about the Precure franchise many times. Fresh Precure being the most recent series I reviewed and one of the best. So, this film festival week we’re going to look at the film based off of that series. Omocha no Kuni wa Himitsu ga Ippai!? It came out in 2009 while the series was still airing. Is it a good addition? Let’s check it out.

Story:

We open with the girls planning to have three nights worth of pyjama parties. Unbeknownst to them, toys are disappearing around the city while they’re playing around. Naturally, when they find out they assume it’s Labyrinth only to find out that they have nothing to do with it. That’s when Love’s old stuffed rabbit, Usapyon, emerges from the closet to tell them that the trouble originates from the kingdom of toys and a being called Toymajin.

The big issue with the film is that the twists are all way too obvious. I understand that the Precure franchise is intended for a young audience but there’s a point where things are so obvious that you’re actively insulting that audience. And this doesn’t quite cross that point but it comes very close.

On the positive side, the film does have a strong sense of fun to it. The antagonist also has a legitimate grievance which does make things more interesting. I also appreciate the overall message of appreciating what you have. I also like the way each of our main protagonists has her own challenge to overcome. It’s kind of reminiscent of the X-men story where they get taken to different challenges in Arcade’s Murder World.

Characters:

Our main cast are as endearing as ever and all four of them get a chance to showcase the personality aspects that make them such. The two major characters who get added in for the sake of the film are Usapyon & Toymajin. Usapyon is quite a likeable character. Toymajin is more compelling than the antagonists we usually get in Precure films since he actually has a genuine complaint unlike, say, the antagonist of the Gogo film.

Art:

The artwork and animation are really good. It looks very much like the series. The only real issue would be the length of time spent on the stock footage scenes. The film doesn’t condense or combine the transformation sequences. So, we get to see all four one after the other with their full lengths.

Sound:

The acting is really good. Oki Kanae, Komatsu Yuka, Nakagawa Akiko & Kitamura Eri are all really strong in their roles. The film adds Sakamoto Chika and Tsuru Hiromi who are both solid in their roles. The film uses the same music as the series proper and it’s still fantastic.

Ho-yay:

The girls in this continue to read as a polyamorous lesbian grouping. There’s about as much les-yay in the film as there is in a standard episode after Cure Passion joins the roster.

Areas of Improvement:

1. Combining the transformation sequences would have allowed for extra time for more important content.
2. The film would have benefited from being less obvious with its plot line.
3. I would have liked to see more of the girls just interacting with each other.

Final Thoughts:

This film is pretty enjoyable. If you’re a fan of Fresh Precure, you’ll most likely enjoy it. It’s basically a long, stand alone episode. I’m going to give it an 8/10.