Blog, Blog, Bloq

 The time has finally come for another Mononoke Movie. A series that I can't get enough of. There's nothing out right now that matches the creativity and chaos that makes Mononoke so unique. Even when looking at contemporaries like In/Spectre or Mushishi, Mononoke manages to take everything a step further. Where In/Spectre feels like a more violent and less complex version of Mushishi when it comes to the investigations of Spirits. Mononoke takes a more fantastical approach. A key aspect that has made the TV Series and Movies pop that much more. But this isn't a catch-all for Mononoke, this piece is about my thoughts on the second film, The Ashes of Rage.  A surprise sequel that expands on the Ooku (The Harem of Palace of Lord Tenshi) after the events from Phantom in the Rain. With the first film focusing on the Lower Rank Maid Activities and the stress that comes with the service, the second film delves into the Upper Rank Concubines. And what better way than to put the fo...

 I was kind of at a loss for what to talk about this time around. Lot of ideas bumping around, but nothing too concrete. As a result, I am gonna talk about the recent Horror Media I have been engaging with. For what it's worth, this might just be about Sinners. But we'll see where this goes.  What else is there to say about Sinners that hasn't already been said? This film from Ryan Coogler and crew goes above and beyond the expectations for any movie. From the score headed by Ludwig Göransson to the cinematography from Autumn Durald Arkapaw to the script from Ryan Coogler himself. These pieces along with many others combined to form a film with a lot of heart and passion. Not to mention some great performances from Michael B. Jordan (Plays Smoke & Stack), Miles Caton (Plays Sammie Moore), Wunmi Mosaku (Plays Annie), and Delroy Lindo (Plays Delta Slim) to name a few. It is truly remarkable how so many elements culminated here.  Now, I am going to go into some spec...

 This time around I had a few ideas of what to write about. And the one I landed on involves "Side Characters". Not to be confused with Supporting Characters, who are more involved with the main cast and overall story. So, why have I decided on something like this? Well, I thought it would be fun to talk about specific cases from varying genres. This also gives me a reason to talk about an unlikely candidate.  But to ease into the topic, I am going to use One Piece as a springboard. And the perfect character for this, is none other than Curly Dadan. The mountain bandit turned surrogate parent, is without a doubt one of the most slept on characters in the whole series. There's an argument for a more in-depth look at the character, but for now, I am going to focus on what makes her so great. ( Disclaimer : If it wasn't already apparent, spoilers for everything in this post.)  Prior to Dadan's physical debut in the Anime and Manga proper, she is casually mentioned by...

 This time around, I wasn't sure what to do. So, I thought about it. And I came around to this idea that I had about the franchise headlined by Fred Krueger. I am just going to kind of go over my thoughts on how the scariest thing in these films is not Freddy, but the loss of access to sleep. Something that I feel was lost in most of the non-Wes Craven films.  This idea materialized as a product of my rewatches of the franchise. It is quite fascinating what you can pull out when you watch movies over and over. And the Nightmare series is a franchise that I feel has such a terrible average.  This is not really an uncommon phenomenon. Most things can't keep up with expectations or consistency. In comparison, I think that Friday the 13th blows Nightmare out of the water if we take a look at the whole. But the individual scale will always lean toward Nightmare's favor. Like, Nightmare 1, 3, and New Nightmare are leagues above anything that Friday the 13th has ever put out. Ye...

The end of my journey with Zero Escape is here. An epic conclusion of a phenomenal series is what I wish that I could write. But, the franchise never gets to the heights that 999 was able to garner. While Virtue's Last Reward had more of a bloat and filler issue. Zero Time Dilemma feels painfully short. The game looks worse, has worse versions of half of the returning characters, and has too minimal of interaction from the player. It makes me wish that they would've just done separate Nonary Games for each title with no strings attached.  Even the threads that come from VLR into ZTD aren't the best. Especially when you consider that characters like Alice and Clover were so closely involved with the plot line in VLR, and in some cases with 999, yet they are absent from this game completely. And when you think about the idea that VLR and ZTD were made in conjunction with each other, it starts to become more baffling. So, you have this sequel that picks up almost exactly at th...