Game of Thrones - Season 7 (2017)

The seventh and penultimate season of Game of Thrones only has seven episodes.  Each episode ranges from 50 minutes to 75 minutes long.  There is an immediate strong start to the season by showing off Arya and the abilities that she had gained from her time with the assassins.  She is on a mission to kill all those that were on her list (i.e. who had done the Starks wrong) and finishes the job against Walder Frey.  It manages to make the deaths gruesome and harder to stomach, while she then moves onto kill Cersei.

Jon Snow now holds the title as the new King in the North, having secured loyalty from the various lords.  He is intent on stopping the White Walkers from invading but is struggling to find enough allies and build enough weapons that are effective against them.  On the other hand, Daenerys finally arrives in Westeros and begins her reclamation of the throne.  She is actually in a great position, having a strong army, three dragons, and reliable advisors.  It is interesting how her circumstances are perfect to ally with Jon Snow.  Her dragonfire can kill White Walkers, her stronghold contains a huge quantity of dragonglass, one of the only materials to kill White Walkers with, it seems too perfect a fit.

Unfortunately, Daenerys alternates between annoying and someone you root for.  At times, she is too proud and arrogant, as are her advisors.  She comes on too strong and asks immediately for you to succumb when characters first meet her, without considering all the facts.  At other times, she has been through many injustices in order to get to this point.  She acts like everyone did her wrong, and that she is the rightful ruler.  However, she is sometimes blinded to the fact that she is acting like the people she hates, by not listening and stating her claim just because of her blood.

Cersei has gotten her wish and became Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, sitting on the Iron Throne.  However, four of the kingdoms are in revolt and due to her nature as well as reputation, others are wary of her.  The season returns the focus back to scheming and plotting, and this is where the series is at its best.  By having such a huge cast to follow, it is inevitable that there will be uninteresting characters.  Bran fits this description as one of the most useless characters in the series.  Apart from his important first role of finding out the relationship between Cersei and Jaime, everything he does after adds nothing to the story.  Sure, he is now the Three-Eyes Raven, saw the past, and also learns of the threat, but it could have been done by another character or even omitted and it wouldn’t have made a difference.  All he does is rood and be cryptic, but not actually adding value.

Finally, Jorah, the noble knight, and Sam Tarly, who had journeyed onto the citadel to become a Maester, meet and help each other out.  This is actually a theme of the season as the unlikeliest of characters would meet up and then band together as they have a common goal.  Over the season, characters who had been stubborn up until now start to see things with a more objective view, and they move forward as a result.  It’s interesting to see the season touch upon some minor plot threads that you thought were forgotten.  It would dig them out into the open, such as Joffrey’s death, when it happened so long ago.  It’s meaningful and serves its purpose, which is what makes it logical to be brought up again.

The battles of a grand scale continues, and now that Daenerys is finally taking action and taking the fight to King’s Landing, these battles are a lot more epic.  Dothraki cavalry will rush in, fighting like mad men, while Daenerys rides her dragon into battle, spreading terror into the enemy’s forces.  The enemies then desperately find a way to counter this living weapon and it leads to several tense scenes.

However, as Daenerys faces off against Cersei, there is a looming threat from the north by the White Walkers.  They have a bigger presence towards the end of the season.  The might of their power is scary.  They have such a large army of the dead that it makes them feel invincible.  They can always resurrect more to bolster their numbers in a never-ending cycle but the season revealed an easier way out for Westeros…

The ending to the season is one of the bigger cliffhangers in the series thus far.  Not only are we not sure if the various kingdoms can overcome their differences in order to band together to fight off the threat from the North, but there are significant revelations on who is the true and rightful heir to the Iron Throne.

Overall, Game of Thrones Season 7 is filled with highs and lows.  Yes, there are certain scenes with not much happening, and there is a lot of back and forth between the characters and events.  However, things seem to continually progress at an alarming rate as we near the end of the series.  It is starting to wrap up a lot of its minor plot threads, and funneling the rest into a single point.  Despite this, it still manages to lead us to an unexpected revelation in the final episode.

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Toy Review: Transformers BotBots Ollie Bite (Series 2)

Review:  #593
Name:  Ollie Bite
Brand:  Transformers
Allegiance:  N/A
Line:  BotBots
Year of Release:  2019
Size Class:  BotBots (Series 2)
Mold Status:  new

ALTERNATE MODE:

Ollie Bite has a novel alternate mode, transforming into a cap, although the robot's mouth is noticeably the top of the cap.

It looks pretty good from most angles and there aren't that many gaps or transformation lines either.

Above is a comparison against Legion Barricade to show off Ollie Bite's smaller size.  Nevertheless, this is a neat mode.

TRANSFORMATION:

The transformation is simple and you find out the reason why there aren't that many transformation seams.  It's because there isn't that much happening.  The front of the cap folds back to form his tail, you can then flip down the legs and pull out the arms from beneath the cap.  Finishing off is pulling his mouth open and moving the top of the cap back to act as a shark fin.

ROBOT MODE:

Ollie Bite's robot mode is not humanoid based, and it gives off a Sharkticon thanks to the fin on top and the sharp teeth.

The tail is massive and sticks out the back.  It can act as a third leg although he is able to remain standing without using it as such.

The whole thing is the head and Ollie Bite lacks eyes.

He remains very short and small in robot mode, above is a comparison against Legion Crosshairs.

Poseability is very limited, you can only swing his arms forward and back, that's about it.  Ollie Bite has a unique robot mode but low play value.

OVERALL:

Ollie Bite, despite being static in both modes, has enough novelty from both its mode to be worthwhile to own.

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Toy Review: Transformers Generations Studio Series Shatter (Jet Mode) (Deluxe)

Review:  #592
Name:  Shatter
Brand:  Transformers
Allegiance:  Decepticon
Line:  Generations - Studio Series
Year of Release:  2020
Size Class:  Deluxe (Wave 9)
Mold Status:  new

JET MODE:

Just like Dropkick having a helicopter mode and car mode figure, Shatter completes this with a jet mode version.  While unfortunately not a triple-changer, it would have been hard to do in this size class.

Nevertheless, this is an excellent jet mode and it looks great from all angles.  Surprisingly it doesn't have much kibble either, just the fuselage being a bit bloated but it is easily forgiven.

A neat aspect is how well the jet mode integrates several of the robot parts, such as the thighs into the bottom of the fuselage or the arms on top, it's quite impressive.

In terms of size, Shatter is a good size, above is a comparison against TLK Bumblebee.

Here's also a comparison against helicopter Dropkick to see how well the figures look.  It's a shame that they were released in different times since the earlier waves were terrible in terms of screen accuracy so now we have Dropkick with a better car mode figure while Shatter has a better jet mode figure.

Nevertheless, this is a great jet mode with no flaws.

TRANSFORMATION:

Good news is that the transformation is leaps and bounds better than the car version and there are pretty much no bad news.  It is an interesting transformation and is a lot of fun.  The arms and legs are simple enough folding out from the fuselage.  Even the torso and head isn't too innovative since they swivel out from within the air intakes.  However, the intakes themselves as well as the wings have several joints to fold and collapse onto the robot's back and while it leaves a lot of kibble and looks messy, it isn't actually that messy to manipulate.

ROBOT MODE:

To be honest, robot mode is where it's at and Shatter does not disappoint in this area.  Despite being a predominantly grey jet, she is now a predominant red robot.

This isn't without issues since she carries an enormous amount of backpack kibble.  While the wing kibble is screen accurate, there's still the cockpit and several panels such that it juts out.

For the headsculpt, we finally get a screen accurate version that has her face and it looks really good.

In terms of size, she is shorter than a typical Deluxe and due to her movie aesthetic, a lot skinnier too with thinner pieces all around.

And a quick comparison with helicopter mode Dropkick, she actually pairs better with car mode Dropkick since the helicopter version just doesn't look that much like him.

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

The stand depicts the screens within the human headquarters.

A lot of effort has been made to have car mode kibble as she had them on screen, and while it is all faux kibble it makes her really screen accurate.

Articulation is also a lot better than the car mode version.  While her hips are still somewhat restrictive, everything else is nice and doesn't pop off.  She has joints for head, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees and ankles.

For weaponry she has a pair of blasters.

Unlike her previous figure, these blasters are handheld so aren't as cool looking as her forearm blasters.

Thanks to her backpack being comprised mostly of thin panels, she doesn't have any balancing issues and is very stable.

The wings can be angled to your liking.  This is a fantastic robot mode and looks absolutely stunning.

OVERALL:

This is the better Shatter figure by far.  She has a great jet mode and an amazing robot mode.  The transformation is fun and she doesn't have any decision-breaking flaws.

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Book Review: Goblin Slayer Vol. 6

Review:  #932
Title:  Goblin Slayer Vol. 6
Series:  Goblin Slayer – 6th volume
Author:  Kuma Kagyu
Comments:  Who knew that so many different things can happen to a guy who slays only goblins?  Yet here we are with another volume of interesting events and further character development of Goblin Slayer.  It dives a little bit into the guild system again, with Priestess worrying about her rank.  Being a year since she started, a batch of new adventurers arrives, and with their lack of experience comes arrogant.  It just so happen that the one with the most arrogance gets the attention of Goblin Slayer.  It’s a bit tough in the beginning because the new character is too rash and you can see all his mistakes before he makes them.  The amount of danger he puts the party in cannot be understated.  This reinforces the fact how a strong team has trust, working well with each other and knowing what to do to complement each other.  After the various goblin encounters (all of which Goblin Slayer continues to surprise you with never using the same strategy twice), it seemed the pacing slows down.  While Goblin Slayer is viewed unfavorably by the newbies, all the veterans appreciate what he does, odds quirks and all.  Goblin Slayer himself starts to show more emotions, confusing even himself.  It then proceeds to start expanding on the training of the new adventurers and this leads into the climax where as expected, things are never so peaceful.  The final battle, while still fantastic, never quite elevates to the same heights as previous volumes.  Just when you feel it is about to enter its height, that was the peak and it ends.
Rating:  7/10

The Saga of Tanya the Evil: The Movie (2019)

The Saga of Tanya the Evil:  The Movie is a film that carries on the story from the anime series.  While it is a standalone story, you need to have watched the anime in order to understand the context since this is all assumed.  It jumps straight into the action which is great.  After Tanya succeeded to taking over the Federation, the rebels that managed to break off and form the Free Republic has continued the war.  The film focuses on a new enemy, the Communists based off the Soviet Union.  Also, the daughter of one of the soldiers (well, the crazy powerful one that was the climax of the anime), Mary, has a big part.  Mary, despite her appearances, is fixated on killing Tanya and getting revenge for her father.  This overrides any sense of rational thought.  The bad thing though is how overpowered Mary is.  Unlike Tanya, because of Mary's one-track mind and rash moves, she isn't as likable.  Mary ends up just causing destruction without much of a strategy.  There is a marked improvement in the animation between this film and the anime series.  Backgrounds are richer, there are many more soldiers on screen at the same time.  The aerial battles, which was already a highlight in the anime, is even better now.  It's fast paced, filled with visual spectacles yet it does not feel shallow at all.  Each shot has an impact, and when the tides turn against Tanya and her battalion, you can't help but think what a waste that a war is.  The climax is as you'd expect being a big showdown between Tanya and Mary.  While at the end of the day, there isn't much to the plot other than two armies battling against each other, this is a great film, especially for fans of the anime.

Superfrog HD (Vita)

Superfrog HD is a remaster of the Amiga game that was released for the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 3.  However, there are some changes to the level design.  The game is a platformer with 24 levels spread across six worlds.  You start off with the “new” levels, which are the easier, reamstered versions in widescreen.  At the end of each level, you play a slot minigame to unlock the original levels, which are much harder.

There is a simple story to explain why you are controlling a frog.  You see, there were a prince and princess who were in love.  Then along came a witch to whisk the princess away and turn the prince into a frog.  The prince must then travel to save the princess.  The controls are simple.  The prince can jump and since he is now a frog, he can jump really high.  Unfortunately, the controls aren’t tight and the prince is way too floaty.  There are times where you expect him to stop but he doesn’t and so falls to his death.  Other times you want to jump but it is just a tad bit off and you fall over the edge. It can get pretty frustrating with how slippery he can be.

There are two power ups that you can obtain during a level.  The first allows you to slowly float down after a jump, which extends the already long jump and is an extremely useful ability.  The other ability is being able to throw items to help defeat enemies from a distance.  Without this ability, you would have to jump on top of them, or even forced to avoid them as they cannot be killed by jumping.

The prince has a health bar.  Touching an enemy or certain obstacles will decrease it.  Lose all five slots and you lose a life.  While this sounds fair, it is not since there are spikes which are an instant loss of life.  It’s unfair because of the slippery nature of the controls so that you feel that the death is not your fault.  Hit boxes are off as jumping slightly away from the center of the enemy will cause you to lose health and stun you.

While there are a lot of flaws with the game, the levels are fairly easy.  Lose all your lives and you will have to repeat it from the beginning.  The levels are big and it is easy to get lost in them.  There are heaps of collectibles and they are mainly for achieving higher scores for the leaderboard at the end.  There is a generous time limit, as long as you’re constantly moving and not staying at one place for too long, you won’t run out of time.  While the gameplay does not evolve at all during the game, you can feel yourself getting better and more used to the controls.  You’ll go longer without worrying and you’ll find the plentiful secret areas.  The only negative is when you accidentally die by touching a spike as it always feel cheap.

At the end of each world is a simple boss battle.  You basically just spam the throw button while dodging their attacks.  It never evolves too much other than adding in some enemies that fire projectiles at you.  The difficulty slowly rises and the last world has a heap of elements that make it a frustrating experience.  Not only does it put spikes that are easy to blend into the background, but it puts numerous enemies that rapid fire projectiles.  The worst part is if you get hit and you get stunned, you’ll sink like a rock losing all control and probably fall on top of a spike.  It is a very cheap and lazy design that sucks out all the fun that you can in the beginning of the game.

Overall, Superfrog HD, despite the mediocre and negative reviews, isn’t actually as bad as those make it sound.  The graphics looks great and it is a colorful 2D platformer that works well.  Yes, the spikes are cheap, as is getting stunned by a simple touch.  However, there is a huge exploration aspect and nothing beats speeding your way through the platforming in a perfect run.

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Game of Thrones - Season 6 (2016)

The sixth season of Game of Thrones is comprised of ten episodes, each of around 50 minutes long.  It adapts a part of A Feast for Crows, A Dance with Dragons, the upcoming The Winds of Winter, and new content that is not yet in the book series.  It continues on following the numerous viewpoints.  It can make it confusing to keep up during the beginning of the season as each viewpoint has their own subplots that are currently distinct from others.  They don’t interact with each other too much.  Be prepared for various characters that you thought were dead or written off the show make surprising returning appearances.

Jon Snow had a shocking predicament at the end of the last season, and we are now seeing the aftermath of the treason from a part of the Night’s Watch.  One thing is for sure though and that is Jon is definitely dead, yet he still manages to play a huge role in this season.  It can be a bit of an anti-climax with how the whole situation pans out.  He’s a tad bit more unlikable this season since he is rash and definitely not the type to strategize despite being level headed in his depictions up until now.  After spending so much time, pretty much from the very first season, some of the Stark siblings finally reunite with each other.  It is a satisfying scene and you breathe a sigh of relief.  Sansa and Baelish’s fate continues to intertwine, even when Sansa wants to break through.

Ramsay’s actions, true to his character, make it easy for viewers to hate him.  He is a despicable human.  As he continues to grapple with the fact that he is, and will always be, a bastard, he is trying to influence his father, Roose.  Ramsay’s claim as the heir is under threat since Roose’s baby is going to be born soon.  The lengths that Ramsay goes to in order to keep his place is cruel, and also makes him pitiful as it shows how insecure he is feeling.  It’s painful and frustrating to watch him constantly cheat death and managing to kill supporting characters who had been around for a while.  Ramsay rivals Joffrey in terms of the character you would hate the most.

The previous season finally had Theon Greyjoy break through his submissive behavior (which was frankly very annoying).  While he doesn’t quite return to his original proud self, he’s a lot more bearable this season.  The situation at King’s Landing doesn’t evolve too much.  The High Sparrow is still holding the queen captive, while Jaime and Cersei are struggling to get any foothold to power.  The plotting and forging of alliances continues to chug along in full force.  It’s constantly surprising how the High Sparrow has so much power and keep one step ahead.

Tommen as a King remains weak willed and this makes him terribly frustrating to watch.  It’s a shame for Jaime and Cersei that both their sons who managed to become the king are so uncontrollable and useless.  Tommen never redeems himself through any of this actions.  On other side of the world is Arya.  She had abused her powers and position and is thus being punished.  The punishment is her eyes; she is now a blind beggar.  Although we know that she will somehow get out of this, the assassin’s brotherhood is so mysterious but also because Arya is grappling with her clashing morals.  To become a part of the brotherhood, Arya must kill her targets indiscriminately.  It doesn’t matter whether they deserved to or not, they were paid by the client so they must die.  Since Arya is a Stark, bought up with honor, it is hard for her to just throw it all away.

Daenerys, having fallen from grace again, remains across the sea and struggles to build her army to take back Westeros.  To be honest, she started doing this way back in the first season and despite gaining a lot of respect, and even a godly awe from the population, it feels like she hasn’t made much progress.

The season’s production values remain outstanding, with amazing backdrops.  It has some of the biggest and grandest battles in the series yet.  It really emphasizes the scale and messiness of a battlefield, where you don’t know what’s going on around you except that you much fight to survive.  The despair the soldiers must feel when they are trapped by superior strategy is perfectly communicated.  The only sad part is how cheap human lives are, and some of the deaths are fairly gruesome to watch.

There is a strong ending to the season, which covers off a few plot threads that had been going on for a while.  While not all of the resolutions are completely satisfying, it is a relief to see the end of a few of them as they had been going on for so long.  The resulting shift of positions of power at the end o the season completely turns things around, and will reinvigorate your enthusiasm for the show.

Overall, season six of Game of Thrones manages to outdo its previous seasons and become bigger, better and more intense.  Things are happening, plot threads are being resolved, and it feels like it is charging ahead towards its grand finale.  You are completely invested in its characters and the struggles that they face, which makes it a gripping watch.

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