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Various thoughts on a variety of topics.

Various Thoughts

Various thoughts on a variety of topics.

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  • Tag Archives Science Fiction
  • Sword Art Online: Alicization & War of Underworld

    Posted on September 23, 2020 5:37 am by Offkorn 1 Comment

    There are a great many problems with the three part sequel to the SAO Ordinal Scale movie.

    The central one is the ill-conceived fusion of the sci-fi modern day plotline and Underworld’s essentially stand-alone fantasy plotline. The two never had any reason to mix. Assassin’s Creed does something similar, and the criticisms about the way that franchise mixes its past/present settings hold doubly true here since Underworld is effectively self-contained as opposed to being a reflection. The author could have easily wrote Alice and Eugeo’s story as its own thing with no association whatsoever to Kirito’s group and ended up with a far more consistent and immersive product.

    Pretty much all of the remaining issues can be tied back to Kirito’s involvement with the story; spontaneous power-ups, random cameo appearances, last minute saves, questionable character motivation, harem elements, and bizarre plot twists all. Really, the only flaw that can truly be called its own is the re-occurring theme of using psychosexual megalomaniacs as main villains.

    Vaguely related to all of that in a ‘you can probably watch this if you’re a fan of the genre’ sense are the series Runway de Warrette and Princess Connect! ReDive. The first of which is a fashion industry-focused Cinderella story overloaded with assholes who magically become nice while the latter is a conventional fantasy action-comedy whose protagonist has the personality of a particularly dull puppy.

    Continue reading → Post ID 8522

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    This entry was posted in 2018 - Autumn 2019 - Autumn 2019 - Winter 2020 - Summer Anime Related and tagged Action Battle Shounen Comic Relief Crunchyroll Drama Fantasy Finished Hulu LN Adaptation Romance SAO Science Fiction Series Televised Virtual World
  • Joshikousei no Mudazukai & Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume o Minai

    Posted on September 4, 2020 11:59 pm by Offkorn Comment

    A schoolgirl comedy in the vein of Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou (with a main character transplant from Nichijou), Joshikousei no Mudazukai‘s main problem is that a good chunk of its cast end up more annoying than entertaining when they go to extremes (there effectively being only half of a straight man to bounce the insanity off of contributes to that issue). So it’s basically as hit/miss as a random comedy would be and your mileage will definitely vary.

    The school life comedy Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume o Minai meanwhile takes its cues from Bakemonogatari and Haruhi, mixing Bake‘s structure with Haruhi‘s sci-fi theme along with character traits from both. What it lacks in action and flashy visuals it makes up for with consistency and an avoidance of potentially offputting extreme behavior. The movie continuation unfortunately doesn’t share those positives, going deep into heavy drama territory as it does, and honestly I suggest skipping it since Shouko remaining a mystery will likely a produce better result than finding out what’s actually going on.

    Oh, and there’s also Ore o Suki Nano wa Omae Dake ka yo (another school life comedy), which sadly doesn’t have anything at all going for it beyond creepy character design and nakedly artificial character behavior.

    Continue reading → Post ID 8522

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    This entry was posted in 2018 - Autumn 2019 - Spring 2019 - Summer Anime Related and tagged Comedy Comic Adaptation Crunchyroll Drama Dramatic Support Finished HiDive Hulu Incomplete Source Movie Novel Adaptation Romance School Life Science Fiction Series Televised
  • Kanata no Astra: ASTRA LOST IN SPACE & WATASHI, NOURYOKU wa HEIKINCHI dette Itta yo ne!

    Posted on September 2, 2020 2:59 pm by Offkorn Comment

    A bit of a rarity these days, Kanata no Astra happens to be a completed adaptation of a completed work. And though not quite a mixed genre series (the comedy is absolutely the main focus) it treats its dramatic aspects with all due seriousness without cutting any corners or using any cheap tricks. Really the only thing negative I can say about it is that there’s one plot twist too many; the overarching reasoning behind why they found a ship where they did ends up on just the wrong side of unbelievable… particularly when combined with the habitability of the various planets they visit.

    The pseudo-gag comedy Watashi, Nouryoku wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne! is unfortunately far less well structured. It combines 4th-wall breaking parody, 4th-wall breaking exposition, reaction humor, ecchi humor, serious drama, not-so-serious drama, action of both the sincere and not-so-sincere variety, and (at the very end) battle shounen elements. It is, simply put, a mess. They needed to either drop the dramatic/sincere bits or drop the nanomachine-related commentary and 4th-wall breaks, as the two do not mix well at all. Hell, even just sticking to one or two varieties of comedy might have resulted in something less scattershot.

    Continue reading → Post ID 8522

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    This entry was posted in 2019 - Autumn 2019 - Summer Anime Related and tagged Action Comedy Comic Adaptation Crunchyroll Dramatic Support Fantasy Finished Funimation Mixed Media Project Parody Science Fiction Series Televised
  • Carole & Tuesday & Toaru Kagaku no Accelerator

    Posted on August 30, 2020 7:29 pm by Offkorn Comment

    For the most part, Carole & Tuesday is a variation on the classic A Star is Born sort of story; you have two amateur musicians from vastly different backgrounds connecting to overcome early adversity and make music that moves the masses. The characters are mostly fun, but the core problem here is that much of the music the show features is pretty generic (particularly the songs in the first half or so) and doesn’t match the characters who are supposed to be singing them. Listened to on their own without the visuals some of the songs are surprisingly good, but almost none of them work within the context of the show.

    It also has a number of other things going on as subplots, such as anti-immigration politics and corrupt businessmen, an obsessive stalker, fame-based breakdowns, a conniving manager, parental abandonment, and advanced AI supplanting humanity. All of these end up more engaging than the main story… which is more damning than praiseworthy.

    As for the Index Accelerator spinoff, it appears to take place sometime before Index III and mostly features a bunch of new characters who don’t really have much going for them. Accelerator himself is a pretty annoying/one-note character (albeit not as bad as Touma), so its weird anyone would make a series nominally centered around him to begin with. Another oddity is the rather large amount of situational ecchi; girls wandering around and/or fighting in their underwear is quite common.

    Speaking of ecchi: Don’t watch Plunderer unless you’re fond of sexual-assault level harassment guised as cartoonish comedy.

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    This entry was posted in 2019 - Spring 2019 - Summer Anime Related and tagged Action Anime Original Comic Adaptation Comic Relief Drama Ecchi Finished Funimation Music Netflix Partial Adaptation Science Fiction Series Televised Toaru Urban Fantasy
  • Venom & SPIDER-MAN: Far From Home

    Posted on August 29, 2020 8:46 pm by Offkorn Comment

    The 2018 Venom movie is a reboot of the character which draws inspiration from the Planet of the Symbiotes comic plotline, which makes it a little strange that people were surprised it came across like a love story; it was a love story. Overall I think this focuses a little too much on being goofy and would’ve been better if Brock had more agency instead of basically being piloted by the symbiote for much of the runtime. The visual effects are solid though and I’m now cautiously optimistic for the upcoming Maximum Carnage adaptation.

    The second of the Marvel co-produced Spider-Man films, Far From Home, acts as a postscript to Endgame (which is mainly why I watched it, having been ambivalent about Homecoming) in addition to advancing its own ongoing relationship plotline. It has pretty much all the same pros/cons as its prequel (impressive visuals; Parker’s still in school) and will probably end up better if you aren’t familiar with the featured villain ahead of time.

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    This entry was posted in Movie & TV Related and tagged Action Comedy Comic Adaptation Dramatic Support Marvel Comics Movie Paranormal Romance School Life Science Fiction
  • Cannon busters & Arifureta SHOKUGYOU de SEKAISAIKYOU

    Posted on August 29, 2020 1:57 pm by Offkorn Comment

    Cannon Busters is a bit of an odd series (which I suppose should be expected since it’s an adaptation of a western comic); there’s a notable contrast between the cartoonish animation and often dark/violent event developments that doesn’t always work. The comedic interplay between the protagonist’s mercenary exasperation and the two robots’ more innocent personalities on the other hand remains consistently entertaining throughout. The action scenes are so-so.

    Its greatest flaw in the end is that it’s unfinished, much like the source material, and the point where it ends does not engender much enthusiasm for a continuation.

    The Arifureta adaptation had a troubled production history, to the point that my expectations going in were rock bottom… which is a good place to be if you want to be pleasantly surprised. Which I was… to an extent. The setup and development here resembles Tate no Yuusha‘s, but the beginning is much too drawn out, the protagonist’s abilities don’t feel in any way natural, and the action scenes heavily feature some pretty awful CGI.

    The reaction and harem-related comedy is intermittently amusing, but the action is so bad and drama so generic that it’s barely worth bothering with even if you don’t mind skipping through large swathes of runtime to seek out the good bits.

    Also a quick note about two series I had a viscerally negative reaction to: Everything about Okaasan Online just screamed ‘turn it off!’ while the 2018 production of GeGeGe no Kitarou gave the impression it was made for elementary/middle schoolers.

    Continue reading → Post ID 8522

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    This entry was posted in 2019 - Summer Anime Related and tagged Action Adventure Arifureta Comedy Comic Adaptation Drama Ecchi Fantasy Finished Funimation Harem Incomplete Source LN Adaptation Netflix Paranormal Romance Science Fiction Series Televised
  • I⊃:INVΛ⊃≡⊃ & Inception

    Posted on August 26, 2020 10:21 am by Offkorn Comment

    ID: Invaded is a series in the vein of Psycho-Pass if Psycho-Pass readings resembled Inception‘s dream-diving. It’s far more of a mystery-thriller than an action series however and unfortunately gets weird in a manner similar to King of Thorn toward the end (the Akane stand-in being made even smaller is another oddity).

    Speaking of Inception, that happens to be a movie I’ve referenced a time or two in the past in relation to newer works… yet, I never actually saw the whole thing. I had only seen the trailer and read the Wikipedia summary.

    Having now watched it, it doesn’t appear I was missing much. It’s not as mind-bendy as you would think (Doctor Strange gets weirder than it does) and in effect just ends up a variation on the standard heist movie formula popularized by movies like Ocean’s Eleven and The Italian Job. Which doesn’t make it not worth watching… just that the description evokes something more innovative than the reality.

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    This entry was posted in 2020 - Winter Anime Related Movie & TV Related and tagged Anime Original Funimation Movie Mystery Romance Science Fiction Series Televised Thriller Workplace
  • Deus Ex: M△NKIND DIVIDED & Mary Skelter: NIGHTMARES

    Posted on August 25, 2020 6:50 am by Offkorn Comment

    The sequel to Human Revolution, Mankind Divided got an extremely hostile reception upon its release. Mainly due to its monetization aspects and what at the time was considered an overly heavy-handed depiction of police vs. activists… neither of which appear to be particularly egregious in retrospect.

    Sure the existence of the Breach minigame and QR codes is immersion breaking, but it’s not like you have to play it or use them to progress. The in-game depiction of police in the face of a legitimate threat meanwhile is, if anything, too restrained when compared to the ongoing real-life police response to imagined threats. Greater issues than either of those are the general clunkiness of the character interactions/movement, and the incredibly annoying energy system. Everything needs energy and there’s apparently no way to recharge it (beyond the basic minimum ‘1-bar’ level) aside from limited consumable items.

    Unlike Dishonored 2, while you can use stealth to get past any obstacle here, you’re equally able to go in guns blazing and play it like a conventional cover-based FPS. That should be a good thing, but instead it ends up clashing a bit with the highly non-linear layout of the various maps; going from peaceful exploring to bullets flying everywhere causes enough whiplash to sort of force you into a stealth mindset in order to keep things consistent. It’s a weird combination and I didn’t end up getting very far before uninstalling out of disinterest.

    And now for something competently different:

    When I first saw Mary Skelter: Nightmares pop-up on GOG, for some reason I thought it was going to resemble the dungeon portions of Tokyo Xanadu. As it turns out, that was completely offbase. Instead it’s a dungeon-mapping game like Elminage & Labyrinth of Lost Souls with an FFT-like job/skill system and a few galge elements. There’s a lot going on here in terms of character/equipment customization, to the point that (at the start of Chapter 2) I’m really not sure learning the upgrade systems’ intricacies will be worth the effort… particularly since the character interactions are so frequently cringe-inducing.

    Related posts:

    1. Nier: Automata – First Impressions This game is quite a bit different from conventional RPGs....
    2. Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls – Conclusion Having just beat the the main storyline with two characters...
    3. Cosmic Star Heroine & Starpoint Gemini Warlords Cosmic Star Heroine is a throwback to early sprite-based RPGs...
    4. Random GOG Games Back during GOG‘s Insomnia Sale I picked up a bunch...
    5. ELEX If you’ve ever played a Gothic or Risen game before,...

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    This entry was posted in PC Video Game Related and tagged Exploration First Person Perspective FPS RPG Science Fiction Urban Fantasy
  • Tejina Senpai & ITAI no wa IYA nano de BOUGYORYOKU ni KYOKUFURI Shitai to OMOIMASU.

    Posted on August 23, 2020 4:19 pm by Offkorn 1 Comment

    The half-length episode series Tejina Senpai starts out as an amusing enough version of Ueno-san, only to run out of steam partway through and lean ever more heavily on lewdness as a crutch. The joke variety is also lacking and the additional two members that eventually get added to the club don’t really help much in that department (unless you’re a fan of inexplicable pseudo-incest).

    Also a comedy, Bofuri takes the virtual fantasy land action-adventure aspects of Sword Art Online and combines them with a somewhat random style of reaction humor focusing on Mary Sue parody. Before the guild gets formed most of the amusement comes from the sharp contrast between Maple’s appearance/personality and fondness for unintentional brutality… and this part of the show works fantastically. Eventually however it leans too far into the ‘overpowered main character’ shtick to the point event developments become tiresome. Remarkably high-quality action scenes throughout though.

    That’s the danger of parody: You run the risk of becoming the very thing you’re trying to laugh at.

    Continue reading → Post ID 8522

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    This entry was posted in 2019 - Summer 2020 - Winter Anime Related and tagged Action Adventure Comedy Comic Adaptation Crunchyroll Ecchi Fantasy Finished Funimation Incomplete Source Novel Adaptation Parody Romance School Life Science Fiction Series Televised Virtual World
  • PROJECT POWER & JOHN WICK₃: PARABELLUM

    Posted on August 18, 2020 8:09 am by Offkorn Comment

    Seeing the description for Project Power immediately brought to mind The Boys, and there are a few aesthetic similarities there. Overall though I’d have to say it’s a very different type of show which relies much too heavily on gimmicks/tropes; once the almost buddy-cop dynamic between the kid and other two leads is formed the level of believability just falls straight through the floor. It does however have some pretty cool visual effects.

    The third John Wick movie picks up immediately from where the last left off and… ultimately doesn’t really go anywhere over the course of its runtime. If you’ve seen the two previous movies, and I suggest doing so, then know that this continues amping up the ridiculousness level of the gun/fist/knife fights. Meaning that if the prequel was bordering on too much then this’ll likely be unwatchable (many of the fights end up with a strange dichotomy of being both laughably cartoonish and disconcertingly gory).

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    This entry was posted in Movie & TV Related and tagged Action Drama Movie Science Fiction

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