Attack on Titan

Attack on Titan is a 25 episode anime (with 5 OVA) based upon the manga of the same name.  It is a wildly popular series thanks to the intriguing concept and iconic scenes.  It is set in a fictional world where just over 100 years ago, giant humanoid creatures known as Titans mysteriously appears and wiped out most of humanity.  How?  These are gigantic creatures ranging from 4m to 60m tall, they seek and devour humans and worse of all, they have quick regenerative ability.  Decapitated one?  The head will grow back within seconds.  When the best of human's weapons are cannons, it is no wonder that they were nearly wiped out.  There is one last pocket of humanity left, they have settled down within three gigantic walls that are aimed at keeping out the titans.

The walls not only keep out the titans but effectively, the humans themselves are trapped and have limited access to the natural world due to the titans roaming around.  The area within the walls are gigantic, with mountains and rivers inside, humans are able to self-sustain and they enjoy peace for many years.  All of this changed when one day, a Colossus Titan mysteriously appears and smashes the gate of the outer wall.  To put it into perspective, this titan was 60m tall.  This allowed many smaller titans to enter the city and create a massacre.  This leaves us to following the protagonists, Eren, Misaka and Armin, who were just normal children.  During this great tragedy, Eren was forced to watch his family brutally consumed by titans.  This is sure to leave a huge psychological mark.

As humans retreat to within the second wall, Eren joins the military and swears to kill all the titans. So how can tiny humans kill a titan?  Each titan has a weak spot which is the nape of their neck, in order to get that high, humans have developed a wearable propelling system which they wear as two packs on each side of their waist.  Combined with grappling hooks and gearing which allows it to retract, they can travel like Spiderman, swinging through the city.  Armed with two extremely sharp swords (with replaceable blades), they can jump up to slash the titans' weak spots and kill them permanently.  The story is gripping but the first half falters.  It shows great potential and each episode ends in a cliffhanger but the next one doesn't completely satisfy your thirst and hunger for more.

Episodes do not fully answer the questions raised and there is a lot of reflection and flashbacks.  While this adds to the backstory, it gets frustrating when most of the episode is dedicated to a flashback and nothing actually happens in the present battle since the last episode!  Attack on Titan also shows the cruel and brutal nature of war.  Humans are devoured by titans and the way that this is shown is horrible.  You feel the fear and despair that the characters much be experiencing.  This isn't only done once, but is constantly shown such as when titans overrun a city and you're trapped in a building, being hunted, knowing that your chances of survival is slim to none.  At certain points, it can go a bit too far in showing the graphic nature of the deaths.

Despite all the good points about the intense and despairing atmosphere that Attack on Titan has, the plot has a fan fiction feel at times.  This is because some of the decisions by characters, or some of the events that happen feel unlikely or are farfetched.  In the midst of a near total loss comes a sudden miracle, something that is very unlikely to happen.  While it is eventually explained and rationalized, you can't help but feel that it was false tension.  This gets frustrating when these events happen without explanation on why it is happening until more than a few episodes later, so it feels it is there just for the sake of action etc.

Attack on Titan also likes to stall for time with expositions or characters talking about theories before it gets back to the major plot point of that episode/arc.  Sure, it is a storytelling technique but when it does this in the episode after every major cliffhanger, you can't help but roll your eyes and be annoyed, especially when it cuts from intense action sequences to 20 minutes of people talking in a room.  Speaking of action sequences, this is where the anime excels.  The battles between a group of humans against a group of titans is very enjoyable to watch.  The overpowered titans and unorthodox fighting techniques of humans makes each battle interesting.  These battles also instill a sense of fear to the viewer.

The horror and hopelessness you feel whenever a titan snatches a human from midair and devours them is unparalleled and guaranteed to surprise you every single time.  This feeling is further heightened through the adrenaline pumping music used.  The musical score throughout the series is fantastic, especially toward the second half of the season during battles.  While typical of anime, the main character Eren is so useless during the climax as he reflects upon whether he should fight or not.  What makes it frustrating is that he starts off with a strong resolve and then degenerates.  Screentime from episode after episode is dedicated to his wavering.  So when the final showdown is about to occur and this happens, and so many characters dies as he keeps trying to decide, you really want to punch him in the face.  Once that is completed though, the final battle did not disappoint.

At the end of the 25 episodes, the biggest questions are still not answered and many plot threads are left unclosed for you to wait until the second season.  Once again, this is frustrating that after spending more than eight hours, you did not learn much about the titans at all.  Why did the titans appear?  What are they?  Why are some of the titans special?  None of these questions are even touched upon.  Frustration pretty much sums Attack on Titan.  It is great to watch and the world is very interesting.  It is let down by many questions it presents yet does not answer any of it.  That said, Attack on Titan is definitely worth a watch thanks to the high quality animation and fight sequences.

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Book Review: The Red Wind

Review:  #541
Title:  The Red Wind
Series:  The Kingdom of the Lost - 1st book
Author:  Isobelle Carmody
Read Before:  no
Comments:  The Red Winds feels more like the prologue of a story rather than a proper self-contained story of its own.  By the time the ending comes, you really feel as if this was all part of the set-up and the real story will begin in the second book.  However, the plot is still surprisingly good, whether intentional or not, it is full of mystery and promises, and there were even a few times where it sends shivers down your spine.  The story is calming, containing no violence.  It focuses upon the bond of the brothers, and what they do to survive.  You wish that the mysterious Red Wind could have been explained but the author has withheld that information, probably for one of the later books in the series.  The Red Wind is a nice story but lacking in a few areas.

Rating:  6/10

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

First of all, Escape 2 Africa instantly has a better setting and story than the original.  The pacing of the plot is more brisk, events are more interesting and the film less boring.  Alex and his gang wants to return to New York, they commission the Penguins to fly the plane back, however, they crash land into Africa (that scene isn't one you want to watch on a plane), where Alex meets his father.  While it can get predictable from time to time, especially when the misunderstanding of Alex wanting to dance and his father wanting him to fight.  There are a few subplots within the film but it manages to tie very well together and it all works.  The humor relies on visual gags, sometimes being a bit obnoxious and lame, yet most of them are quite funny.  The animation and aesthetics are slick and perhaps the most impressive thing about Escape 2 Africa is how well all the plot elements they introduced throughout the film manages to come together in the end, and how you can see how that event in the earlier parts came to this.  While it can still be improved upon, Escape 2 Africa is a fun movie.

Disney Infinity (PS3)

Disney Infinity is along the veins of Skylanders, being part of the toys-to-life genre.  Naturally, with such as vast of pre-existing well known and very popular Disney characters to pick from, this pretty much guaranteed Infinity to be a success.

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS:

Disney Infinity comes in a Starter Pack which contains all the stuff that you would need, as well as a small taste of the figures.

The back shows off the concept of the game, as well as the cast of characters from Wave 1 you can actually buy, there are 29 characters for purchase, including the Starter Pack ones.

So what do you actually get?  Well, you have three character toys, the Infinity Base, a clear statue-like thing which contains the worlds, a Power Disc and a character card.

The first figure is Sulley from Monsters University, one of the odd things you'd notice is that the aesthetics are quite different from the source material.  In order to create a cohesive universe of all these characters from Disney, the developers made a new unifying aesthetic.

It will take some getting used to but makes sense in the end and there are some good detail on these figures, including sculpted detailing.

The second figure is Mr Incredible from The Incredibles.  He has a lot of smooth surfaces as he's wearing a superhero suit.

He looks great though.  All these figures are attached to bases, and the base is where the NFC chip is.

Lastly is Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean.  It's always surprising that Disney pushes Pirates so much considering the movies themselves are for ages 15+.

Anyway, this figure has some intricate sculpted and painted details.  These figures are a softer plastic so bits won't break off immediately if you drop them on the floor.

Then there is this clear statue thing, basically, it has a NFC chip so that the game can detect which worlds to give you access.

If you look closely, you can see the sculpting of the logo of all three of the worlds provided.

You get a Power Disc which can either be of the circular or hexagonal version.  What you get is random.

There is a character card which is barely worth mentioning as the cardboard used is thin and flimsy.  There is a code at the back which also directs you to a website, probably to unlock some electronic goodies.

Lastly is the Infinity Base, which has two circles and a hexagonal shape, for you to put figures on.

Perhaps the most surprisingly of which is the fact that the base is so slim.  It's also powered by the USB cord, no need to fumble around with batteries.

The base also lights up with different colors which looks nice, it flashes when your character levels up etc.  All in all, a decent amount of stuff inside the pack.

THE GAME:

As mentioned, Disney Infinity is of the toys-to-life genre, similar to Skylanders which kicked off the whole trend.  This means that placing a figure onto the base will transport it onscreen and into the game, where you can control it.  The game starts off with a long introduction and while it is supposed to impress, it ends up feeling quite boring.  It shows the potential of the game including worlds like Cars and Tangled (of course, you will need to buy the characters in order to unlock these worlds).  It is also from this section that you feel that the game demands too much of the console hardware as loading times are long and the game's framerate stutters from time to time.  There are two distinct modes, a Toy Box mode and a Play Set mode.  The "story" elements are within the Play Sets, the game itself comes with three Play Sets which is actually fairly generous since it takes around three to four hours to finish each one.  Each Play Set is like a completely different game.  The Play Sets are accessed by the clear statue thing after you place it on the base.  The included Play Sets are:  Monsters University, The Incredibles and Pirates of the Caribbean.  Naturally, in order to blend all these different characters into the game, they had to create a new unified aesthetic.  You're either a backer or a hater, it looks weird to be honest but at least it still works and isn't too horrible.  Voice acting is hit and miss, some of the characters sound great while some are very different to what you would expect.  Graphics are also modest.

Monsters University lets you control Sulley, in which the Fear Tech students has come and sabotaged Monsters University.  Sulley helps with the clean up and then goes to attack Fear Tech and tells the story of how he and his team manages to steal the Scare Pig.  It feels like a natural part of the universe, and that you really am playing within the movie.  It is a clever premise.  It is mission based, you run around finding characters that gives you missions.  A neat thing is that you can accept multiple missions at once an then choose which one you want to proceed with.  A marker will also show you where to go making the game quite easy.  You get to run around a fully realized Monsters University and also Fear Tech, which is really impressive and feels like it has thrown you into the movie, experiencing campus life.  Sulley's initial abilities include a scare roar and charging, however, he will earn more abilities such as a toilet paper launcher and fireworks launcher.  Sulley can find ledges to climb up but platforming is annoying and inaccurate.  You can easily drop from a ledge accidentally meaning a long trek back to the top, or you're jumping off a building when all you wanted to do was jump to the next ledge.  The Monsters University playset focuses on stealth, which means if you are discovered, you could repeatedly be hit back down until you "die", which just means you're thrown into a room and with no penalties, you can set off again.

In The Incredibles Play Set, you get to explore Metroville, the fictional city in the film.  It is open world and you can run around, explore and destroy to your heart's content.  It is actually really fun.  You cannot "kill", even when running over civilians, they will just get back up again.  This set is actually very humorous as a apart from the main characters such as Edna, Mr Incredible and Mirage, all other characters are these small super deformed models which is very cute.  You can call up your car at any time, glide and even pilot a helicopter.  Once again, the story is told via missions and you're out to stop Syndrome.  It doesn't fall within the film's canon since it contradicts a few things but is otherwise a fun and engaging story in the beginning (it starts to degrade as you play through and becomes somewhat bland).  Destroying robots is fun and there are just so many sidequests and challenges that it will suck up your time.  Eventually though, the infintely respawning enemies are annoying, since if you stay in one play for more than a few seconds, robots will spawn to attack you.  Towards the end, these robots are more powerful too which makes it much more effort than it's worth to destroy them and makes you not want to explore the open world, even though it is not that big.  The missions in The Incredibles are slightly tougher than the other two worlds but only because the controls are awkward and clunky.  Platforming and combat are not the game's strong points and it is very apparent here.  At least dying as no penalties, you instantly revive with full health.

The third and last world is Pirates of the Caribbean, in which Jack Sparrow is tasked with finding all five pieces of the Kraken's bane in order to defeat Davy Jones.  While not in canon, it was very engaging.  Truth be told, it is one big fetch quest but the gameplay makes up for this.  In a way, this set reminds me of Assassin's Creed III's naval missions, because you start off on an island but soon after, you gain control of your ship.  You set off in the high seas to other islands in order to find the pieces, and you also battle other ships by aiming and firing your cannons.  Once you get to your destination, you fight your way and platform your way to the piece.  The platforming int his set is fun while the combat isn't too intense, controls are still clunky but it is not painful here.  The voice acting in this set is fantastic as they sound just like the characters.  It was surprising at how much content this world had with the various islands (including smaller ones with treasure).  It is a great action adventure portion of the game.  Noticeably, the game's framerate often slows down, especially when a lot of robots are onscreen in The Incredibles or you're sailing the high seas in Pirates.  Scattered around the worlds are Play Set specific collectibles and also containers which have Toy Box items.  This means that you need to play the Play Sets to unlock a lot of Toy Box items before you can go about creating your own worlds.  Each world also have around ten sidequests not part of the main story missions, as well as challenges where you an earn Gold Stars (in-game achievements, but also tied to Trophies).

While the Play Sets are fun and where a lot of the traditional game play is, there is also the Toy Box.  This is the mode where it allows you to create your own worlds and levels.  Similar to LittleBigPlanet, you use the tools to create whatever you want.  Surprisingly, it is heavily menu-based, and hidden within those menus are additional challenges, some of which are exclusive to characters.  Needless to say, you can also purchase more physical figure to unlock more levels and entire worlds.  There is also something called Power Discs, one of which is included (what you get is random), these either unlock more abilities for specific characters or provide some stuff for your Toy Box.  There is local and online co-op both in the Toy Box or the Play Sets, however, if you want to local co-op in the Play Sets, you need two physical toys from the same universe, therefore this means you cannot do this using only the Starter Pack.  Overall, Disney Infinity is an above average game, however, clunky controls does hold it back from being a great one and is one step behind Skylanders.  If you are a fan of Monsters University, Pirates of the Caribbean or The Incredibles, then their level sand worlds are fun and engaging.  The fact that there are three open worlds to explore is impressive.  While it doesn't use the toys-to-life gimmick as much as you would expect (you don't swap characters that much during the game), Disney Infinity is worth your time.

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Toy Review: Transformers Animated Megatron (Leader)

Review:  #286
Name:  Megatron
Brand:  Tranformers
Allegiance:  Decepticon
Line:  Animated
Year of Release:  2008
Size Class:  Leader (Wave 1)
Mold Status:  new

HELICOPTER MODE:

Megatron transforms into a dual-rotor helicopter with a gigantic cannon sticking out the front.

He lacks tail rotors.  The batteries are also cleverly hidden within the two boosters on the back.

In terms of size, this was back before the shrinking so Megatron feels very hefty in your hands (especially with batteries inserted).  He is big and chunky.

There is a gimmick here in that the rotors are geared.  Turning one will also turn the other although it does not free spin so it's not as fun as it sounds.

He has some landing gear with plastic wheels.  Theoretically he can roll but due to the small wheels and large weight, he doesn't really, he tends to slide more.  Pressing an Decepticon symbol on the undercarriage causes lights to flash in the cockpit and a engine rising noise that keeps going as long as you hold the button, before dying down slowly when you release.

The giant cannon that sits on the underside of the nose houses a missile launcher.  The button is trigger-happy, most likely, the missile will fly out whenever you just lightly touch the figure.

As this is an Animated figure, it is very stylized with heaps of curves.  However, Megatron is one of the more realistic looking vehicles.  The matte finish looks great.

A really nice helicopter mode, while it is an unusual alternate mode for Megatron and the gun pods are a bit kibbly, it's one of the best alternate modes a Megatron has had.

TRANSFORMATION:

Transformation is easy but once you see the robot mode, it feels ingenious.  The cannon detaches, revealing the head (it feels like a cheat and lazy like this though), while the arms just unfold from the sides.  The legs involve a little bit more work but sliding pieces down and rotating them before snapping it together to form the feet.  Unhinging the cockpit causes a transformation sound to occur and lights to flash.

ROBOT MODE:

Megatron's robot mode is just as if it has stepped out of the show.  It is crazy at how well the designer managed to translate such a stylized 2D character model into a 3D figure made of plastic.

Thanks to the electronics and rotor gimmick, he has a huge backpack, the batteries sit within the torso.

The headsculpt is absolutely amazing.  It conveys so much character, looking suitably evil and cartoony looking at the same time.  The unfortunately side effect is that the head is fixed, he cannot turn his head at all!

The lack of a head swivel is due to the electronics.  Pressing and holding down the Decepticon button on his chest will slightly open his mouth and cause his eyes to flash red, as well as the chest.  He will utter one of three phrases:  "Crush the Autobots", "Where is the Allspark?" and an evil laugh.

From a side on view, you can see that his legs curve backwards naturally to offset the heavy weight of the upper torso.

He comes up shorter in robot mode, but he has a solid build and no obvious hollow pieces in sight.

Being so top heavy makes him naturally hard to pose.  His relatively stiff legs also does not help.  While he does have some ankle movement, it is not enough for dynamic poses.

The fixed head also eliminates many options.  He has ratchet hips and knees which help stabilize the figure.

His first weapon is the giant cannon which originally was attached underneath the cockpit.

It can now snapped onto either arm for some classic cannon firing Megatron poses.

Once again you can fire the missiles.

His next piece of weaponry are swords.  Where did these come from?  By some stroke of genius, some bright spark thought of the idea to convert the rotors into blades.  Very ingenious.

He can hold the blades in both arms, and the wrists have swivels which comes in very handy.  You can even use the swivels to get rid of the "gorilla" elbows.

He lacks a waist swivel due to the electronics but otherwise Megatron has average articulation.

A fantastic robot mode that looks great and have heaps of play value in the vein of weaponry options.

OVERALL:

At the time of this figure's release, we've hadn't had a good Megatron toy in years.  Animated Megatron was a breath of fresh air with two great modes and ingenious weaponry.  The electronics are well done although it might not be worth the fixed head.  Still, Megatron is a wonderful toy and worth to be in your collection.

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