Book Review: D.Gray-Man Vol. 24

Review:  #862
Title:  D.Gray-Man Vol. 24
Series:  D.Gray-Man – 24th volume
Author:  Katsura Hoshino
Comments:  Things are getting really confusing and messy right now.  It starts off well enough, elaborating on the surprise appearance of a character from the end of the last volume.  Once it returns to following Allen again, who is now reunited with Johnny and Kanda, things takes a turn to the bizarre.  We get some big fight scenes but the artwork is so busy that it’s hard to make out what is happening.  The characters use some weird powers and things spontaneously happen with must explanation on the reason why.  The ending takes the cake when the Millennium Earl shows up and goes crazy.  It’s at this point that you try and reflect how much the tone and direction of the story has changed compared to the earlier volumes, and maybe it’s not a good thing.
Rating:  6/10

Starship Troopers: Invasion (2012)

Starship Troopers:  Invasion is the fourth film in the franchise and is yet another direct-to-video, but is computer animated this time.  It follows another group of characters as they are in space fighting the bugs that are threatening to infest the entire galaxy and kill all the humans.  It keeps many of the series' key features such as the bug designs (including adding some new ones) and the random nudity.  The animation is not too bad but the lip syncing is not ideal and in some scenes, it can feel blurry.  The plot remains pretty small scaled and it takes a while before it gets to the meat of the story.  Unfortunately, the climax is anti-climatic, lacking proper buildup and doesn't pack any punches.  It does, however, portray how despairing it must be facing numerous bugs who can kill you easily as you are desperately trying to retreat to get to safety.  While Invasion is not the disaster of the second film, it doesn't quite capture the magic of the original.

Black Cat (2005-2006)

Black Cat is a 24 episode anime based upon the manga of the same name.  However, it is only inspired by the manga as many events and plot elements were changed.  The anime has a slow start, three episodes in and you still feel as if nothing is explained properly.  All we know at this point is that Train is part of Chronos, he is known as the Black Cat and is a fearsome assassin.  Sven is a Sweeper (which is a kind of bounty hunter) that's poor and always hungry but carries a briefcase full of contraptions.  Eve is this bioweapon kid and Rinslet is someone in disguise.  Nothing about the world is explained and everything seems shrouded in darkness and mystery.

Chronos is an organization whose purpose is to keep the peace... by killing people.  Granted, they only target villains such as crime bosses but they aren't painted in a good light.  The pacing is slow and the storytelling feels disjointed.  While it tries to take the time in revealing Train's origins as a member of Chronos, his relationship with Saya, and eventually the reason that he becomes a Sweeper and journey with Sven and Eve, it doesn't feel like it flows properly.  Even after it all happens, the anime still feels like it's taking too much time in setting up the rest of the plot.

Once it finally gets back the initial set up and starts to focus on the relationship between Creed and Train, that is when the pacing picks up and it gets a lot more interesting.  This is also because the rest of the characters, under Creed's Apostles of the Stars (whose aim is to reshape the world), are introduced with their own special powers.  While all of them show up at once making it harder to remember who each one is, it spices up the blandness that had been permeating the anime up until that point.

The anime gets better from around one-third of the way in and picks up its stride around halfway in.  It never elevates itself more than an average anime though.  The exaggerated emotions and humor makes it enjoyable at certain points but what drags it down is the lack of an objective.  While this is a story about Train and Creed, it feels like it is always pushed to the back in favor of episodic storytelling, which is frankly boring.  While we're told that Train is cool and powerful, he is shown to be extremely reckless.  To be honest, out of all the fights that he was in, it never felt like he was leagues above his opponent.  As a matter of face, there were more than a few times where he got destroyed instead.  In the beginning, there is no camaraderie between Train, Sven and Eve.  They don't feel like a team since they split up and do their own thing so often, lacking teamwork.  It eventually gets better as they get a feel for how each other works but not by much.

Train has a tendency to just leave the group behind and go ahead.  This becomes annoying because you don't get the sense of teamwork whenever he does this.  Despite the action scenes ramping up in the second half, as well as a more defined objective, there are episodes where something random is slotted in and it feels very out of place.  All of the scenes are flashy but lacks substance, which is disappointing and not very fun to watch.  It also skews towards campy humor but works well on the whole.  The animation quality varies significantly and fight scenes are filled with characters mid-pose with a flashy background.

The major arc is severely rushed.  Characters show up with new weapons with no explanations, and the worse thing is that they get another one in the next scene with little fanfare.  It's confusing and lazy.  The result?  We get a disappointing resolution and then the reason for this becomes clear, an anime original arc to round out the story.  The sad thing is that they final few episodes are a slew of episodes with poor plot and character motivations that isn't properly fleshed out.

Overall, Black Cat is a subpar anime with a rushed plot.  The sad thing is that it horribly adapts the whole of the Black Cat manga and threw away a lot of the character development.  What we get is numerous characters introduced who only show up for a handful of scenes, look menacing and then disappear.  The story is supposed to revolve around Train and Creed but it lacks any sort of charm and we're left with a poor anime that doesn't make much sense.

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Book Review: D.Gray-Man Vol. 23

Review:  #861
Title:  D.Gray-Man Vol. 23
Series:  D.Gray-Man – 23rd volume
Author:  Katsura Hoshino
Comments:  The story of D.Gray-Man has become messier and messier what with the fourteenth Noah awakening within Allen and then him being branded a traitor by the Order.  Most of the volume is spent with Kanda and Johnny searching for Allen, whilst revealing tidbits on the plot.  However, you get the feeling that the author is indulging herself and drawing Allen wearing whatever costume she likes because it doesn’t feel like it is relevant to anything.  The drawing style also makes it difficult to know what’s going on.  The scattering of humor is done well though but the pacing is just too slow to make it feel worthwhile once you’ve finished the volume.
Rating:  6.5/10

Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight (PS4)

Persona 5:  Dancing in Starlight is a rhythm game based on Persona 5.  It is the sister game to Persona 3:  Dancing in Moonlight and sequel to Persona 4:  Dancing All Night.  The core gameplay remains the same as Dancing All Night, in that you use six buttons:  three from the d-pad, and three from the face buttons.  As the button prompts overlap the icons on the side of the screen, you press the corresponding button in time with the music.

As per usual with rhythm games, there are several different types of button prompts.  Hold Notes require you to hold down the button, there are notes requiring you to double tap the button, and Scratch Notes which require you to flick the analogue stick.  However, you can map the Scratch Notes to the shoulder buttons which is much easier on the higher difficulties.

Each note has one of four ratings depending on your timing:  Miss, Good, Great and Perfect.  Getting a Great and Perfect will build up your combo, increasing your score multiplier.  Furthermore, getting specific Scratch Notes will unlock Fever Time, a section of the track where you get better points, not lose your combo if you hit Good notes and additional events.  Throughout the whole time, the background has several of the characters dancing.  The environments are taken from iconic destinations of the game, including Tokyo, various Palaces, Mementos and Cafe Leblanc.  There are certain tracks which plays the animated scenes from the game.

A big point was made in how the game does not have a story mode.  However, this serves to mean that the game does not have the visual novel type of story from Dancing All Night and Arena.  There is still a story here, albeit very shallow.  The cast of Persona 5 are bought into the Velvet Club by Justine and Caroline.  They explain that this is part of their dreams and that they will forget everything once they wake up.  They encourage them to dance to their hearts' content.  This situation takes place after the events of Persona 5 but still allows the game to fit within Persona 5's canon.

By completing specific challenges in the normal course of gameplay, you unlock further scenarios with each character that expands on their personalities as well as shedding more light to their situation.  The story has a neat tie-in with Persona 3:  Dancing in Moonlight, with more than a few references (if you have the DLC, you can even get Shinjiro and Makoto in one of the songs) that explains why the cast was pulled into this scenario.  The tone of the game is lighter and fits with the fact that they player is most likely revisiting the characters and happy to interact with them again.

Each character has eight of these scenes and with the nostalgic music playing, you half expect to get the iconic Social Rank Up text after each one.  To be honest, these scenes are worthwhile enough on their own and thus you don't feel like you missed out on much by the game having no story mode.  The graphics are excellent.  Since Persona 5 was already in HD and looked gorgeous, you lose the impact of seeing these characters for the first time in HD unlike Persona 3 and 4.

There is a large amount of customizations available.  You unlock more customes and accessories by finishing the songs and completing each character's scenarios.  There are plenty of costumes and accessories in the base game alone (with more for DLC of course, but you don't feel shafted).  Unlike Dancing All Night, the pace of unlocking these items is quick and you don't need to grind for them at all.  You can make the songs harder or easier through the use of Support of Challenge items.  These items can have effects such as speeding up notes, making them fade out or letting your combo continue even if you get a Good on one of the notes.

For a rhythm game, the song selection is one of the most important aspects.  Persona 5 had a very strong soundtrack and that translates to this game, there are plenty of great tracks here.  A lot of them are remixed but there is a decent selection with a total of 25 songs in the base game.

There is not much difference between the PS4 and Vita versions outside of the PS4 version featuring higher resolutions and framerate, as well as a VR mode.  VR mode is regulated to exploring each character's rooms as well as looking at character models.  You can do these things already without a VR headset, and you can't play the game in VR mode which is a shame (the best you can do is play it using the cinematic mode of the headset).  Since in Persona 5 we have never seen most of the characters' rooms, this is the first time we've been in them.  It reveals a bit more about the characters but at the same time, loses any nostalgic value.

There are four difficulties:  Easy, Normal, Hard and All Night.  All Night is crazy hard, while Hard and below are manageable and to be honest, a bit on the easier side.  Each song has one character as the main dancer, and you cannot change this.  However, what you can change are the additional dancers who show up during Fever Time (but this is also from a predetermined selection).  The neat thing is that a different character turns up for each difficulty level.

At higher difficulties, the Scratch Note (analogue stick or shoulder button) is a lot more frequent and usually put in between other notes.  This makes it quite difficult at the higher paced songs.  The flipside is that missing a Scratch Note does not break your combos but means you won't get a decent score.  The game isn't too long as playing through all songs takes around 3 hours, and completing everything the game has to offer takes around 8-12 hours (i.e. if you play through all the difficulties).

If you want to relax you can just watch each song focusing on only the characters' dance routines, watching a perfect play or watch a replay of your previous attempt.  Each character has their different dancing styles; Makoto incorporates aikido to her movements, while Yusuke is more chilled with an artist's flair.  It's actually really interesting to watch and when Fever Time comes up with a second character appearing, the way they play off each other is impressive as well as potentially have a funny event that really shows that the characters are having fun.

Overall, Persona 5:  Dancing in Starlight is a fantastic game.  It is one of the best rhythm games out there with a clean and slick UI, a great selection of songs and the perfect play for people who wanted something more to do with Persona 5.  Seeing familiar faces and scenery is great while the "story" mode is better than expected.  The rhythm gameplay hasn't evolved much from Dancing All Night but that is not a negative since it was already perfect without being too bloated.  Persona 5:  Dancing in Starlight is highly recommended for both fans of the rhythm genre and the original Persona 5 game.

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Toy Review: Transformers Generations Studio Series Bonecrusher (Voyager)

Review:  #512
Name:  Bonecrusher
Brand:  Transformers
Allegiance:  Decepticon
Line:  Generations - Studio Series
Year of Release:  2019
Size Class:  Voyager (Wave 5)
Mold Status:  new

VEHICLE MODE:

Bonecrusher transforms into a Buffalo mine-protected vehicle.  Finally, Bonecrusher gets a figure in the Voyager size class as he had always deserved.

The vehicle mode is pretty decent but there are some claws at the back which are left over from robot mode.

Like the Deluxe toy, the middle spare tires are faux and they are painted on, which is a shame.

Above is a size comparison against Generations Titans Return Optimus.  While Bonecrusher may be a Voyager figure, he does feel a tad bit lighter than you'd expect.

The other major benefit over the Deluxe figure is the claw is much thinner and closer to the real thing.

The claw is well articulated and the main source of play value in this mode.  That being said, it is too long and hangs off the back of the truck.  The body of the truck is also situated a tad bit too high off the ground.

A solid vehicle mode that's instantly recognizable.

TRANSFORMATION:

Transformation is pretty simple and very similar to the Deluxe toy in fact, but just adds a few extra steps to improve upon it.  The top splits to form the arms, and the bottom forms the legs.  The chest piece likes to get stuck when going back to vehicle mode and forcing it may pop it off which is a major source of annoyance.  The way the wheels wrap around are pretty neat though.

ROBOT MODE:

Bonecrucher's robot mode looks great and is definitely a better representation of the character than ever before.

Surprisingly, he doesn't have much kibble.  The claw that splits and sits behind his back is too long, sticking up way over his shoulders.  Not sure why this had to be the case as the claw was already too long in vehicle mode so the designer could have easily shortened it.

The headsculpt is great.  It's on a really restricted balljoint, and while it allows some side to side movement thanks to the hinge on the panel that the head sits on, he cannot really look much more than straight ahead.

In terms of size, Bonecrusher focuses on bulk rather than height, as a result, he is much shorter than most Voyagers.

As part of the Studio Series line, he comes with a cardboard stand.

The stand depicts the bridge scene which was Bonecrusher's most iconic, and only, scene in the movie where he gets killed by Optimus.

Articulation is pretty good.  Despite how his legs look, thanks to the four spikes around the wheel, he can easily stand.

Unfortunately, he falls victim to the awkward elbow joint where he can only bend his elbows inwards.  This severely limits the number of poses where it looks natural.

Just like in vehicle mode, the claw is a great source of play value in robot mode.

The claw has plenty of articulation including multiple hinges and swivels.

A great looking robot mode, just a shame about the elbow joints.

OVERALL:

Bonecrusher is a fun toy thanks to the range of articulation for the claw.  The transformation is fine and he has two solid modes.  While there are some tiny annoyances such as the limited head and inward bending elbows, this is still a great figure.

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Book Review: The Broken Ear

Review:  #860
Title:  The Broken Ear
Series:  The Adventures of Tintin – 6th book
Author:  Herge
Comments:  The Broken Ear is a mystery that sets Tintin on yet another globetrotting adventure.  This time, a priceless fetish has been stolen from a museum and Tintin has taken it upon himself to try and find it.  He encounters a lot of dead ends, as well as other people who want the fetish for themselves (for an unknown reason) and is willing to kill Tintin for it.  Naturally, Tintin constantly finds himself in life or death situations and manages to get out of all of them, to the point where you never fear for his life.  That being said, the ways he is using to get out of them is less outrageous than previous but still highly reliant on coincidences.  Unfortunately, the ending was abrupt and lets you down because after all the chasing around, Tintin ends up where he began making you feel as if the whole journey was somewhat pointless.
Rating:  5.5/10

The Adventures of Tintin (2011)

The Adventures of Tintin is a film adaptation of the classic comic book series, however, instead of being traditionally animated, they went for a weird 3D photo-realistic style.  This style is actually fairly alienating and removes a lot of the charm of the original designs.  Ignoring this though, the film starts off strong, introducing the iconic characters such as Tintin, Snowy and Thompson and Thomson.  It sets up a good mystery in which Tintin finds a detailed ship model, which holds a secret to a hidden treasure.  The villain then comes into play and Tintin is unwillingly drawn into the scheme involving the history of Captain Haddock.  The mystery manages to carry through most of its length with the exciting climax chase scene.  It gets a bit over the top during that though but did make for a visually stunning and intense moment.  Unfortunately, the ending feels anti-climactic and lazy, being uninteresting in comparison.  Overall, The Adventurers of Tintin is an average film, you'll get more enjoyment if you are a fan of the comics though.

Made in Abyss (2017)

Made in Abyss is a 13 episode anime based on the manga series.  It is set in a world where on an island volcanic crater, a huge hole extending far into the depths of the earth was found.  As explorers (eventually known as cave raiders) went into the hole, they discovered amazing creatures and ancient mysterious relics.  As more and more cave raiders arrived to strike their fortune in the Abyss, a city was formed around the hole and eventually became Orth.

The Abyss is not only interesting with the unique creatures that inhabits it but the deeper you go, the greater the toll on the human body when they want to return.  It starts off with headaches but deteriorates to bleeding and death.  It is similar to altitude sickness but faster acting and more serious.  The anime follows an orphaned girl, Riko, whose mother was a famous cave raider.  She disappeared years ago and thus Riko's aim is to follow her mother's footsteps, train and descent into the Abyss to find her.  One day, while on the upper layer of the Abyss, she discovers a robot boy.  After reviving him and giving him the name of Reg, the pair sets upon the journey into the Abyss, to go deep where no one has ever reached.

Reg is a mystery.  Typically, he doesn't know what he is or where he comes from.  He has some amazing abilities such as being able to fire a powerful laser beam and extend his arms.  Despite that, there are parts of him that isn't robotic at all (and becomes a somewhat recurring joke).  We know that he is important due to various hints from the story but we won't get any answers this season about his true nature, that's for sure.  While it doesn't take a long time before Riko and Reg to head down to the Abyss, it does take a little bit longer than you'd expect.  Once they do head down there though, this is where the anime gets a lot more interesting.  This is because the various creatures they encounter down there, as well as the whole ecosystem and dynamic between the organisms that live there is so different and intriguing.

Each encounter with a creature of the Abyss leaves you wondering how it fits in with the ecosystem.  Each has some sort of unique characteristic and as Riko and Reg continues on their journey, you start to become wary of everything due to how brutal the Abyss could be.  The cave raiders are separated into ranks, with Red Whistles being beginners and only allows to the first layer, the White Whistles are top of the top and proven to be resilient to the strain of being in the Abyss.  Riko's mother was a White Whistle and it's only natural that she knew a few characters that Riko and Reg ends up encountering.  As the personality and backstory of Riko's mother is revealed, as well as the origins of Riko herself, the implications are significant.  It sucks you in with its interesting premise and consequences.

The pacing is fast in terms of how quickly Riko and Reg traverse through the layers.  You might have expected the first season to spend most of its time in the early layers but you'd be surprised at how far they go.  This also helps in illustrating how serious the curse of the Abyss is.  Even just a slightly incline is enough to trigger the horrendous effects.

In the deeper layers, this is where things get serious.  There is an intense scene involving the pair and it can be hard to watch, even though the anime spared the most gruesome details.  There are times where you feel that Riko is a liability and if it wasn't for Reg, she would not have survived that far.  Riko tends to be a bit too eager and reckless which is not a good combination considering how dangerous the lower areas of the Abyss are.

Surprisingly, the anime has its sad and emotional moments, especially the ending.  Despite only spending an episode or so at fleshing out the relationship, it makes you care for the characters.  You feel the unjust at the situation the characters find themselves in and the inevitable result of what's going to happen.  Made in Abyss also ends at a nice stopping point, enough to make you eager for more.  The animation is stunning and looks great.  The vibrant colors lends well to the types of environments that we see such as the grass, forests and high fantasy creatures.

Overall, Made in Abyss has an intriguing premise that it manages to deliver.  It constantly shows new things about the Abyss and most importantly, despite all the questions it raises, it gives you enough answers to feel satisfied and yet yearn for more.  The second half of the season definitely focuses more on the emotional side of things and it delivers a heart wrenching result.

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