Anime! It’s a little crazy, it’s a little zany and usually it’s usually full of action! We love action here, so this week I got with Kevin Kutlesa from The Mental Attic, where we decided to have a sit down chat about anime – and more importantly, anime that we would have loved as a teenager. Some of these have been around for ages; whereas some of them came and went. Either way, these are our Top 10 Shonen Anime!
Anime! It’s a little crazy, it’s a little zany and usually it’s usually full of action! We love action here, so this week I got with Kevin Kutlesa from The Mental Attic, where we decided to have a sit down chat about anime – and more importantly, anime that we would have loved as a teenager. Some of these have been around for ages; whereas some of them came and went. Either way, these are our Top 10 Shonen Anime!
After the initial disappointment I experienced from the start of Dragon Ball Super, I slowly got into it. I felt like, as a fan of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, that I should stick it out and try out more of the series. Heck, I even liked GT (which some readers may find disturbing)! Having said this, the Tournament of Power, the current Dragon Ball Super arc, has been gripping with some excellent moments… But has it gone on for too long?
After the initial disappointment I experienced from the start of Dragon Ball Super, I slowly got into it. I felt like, as a fan of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, that I should stick it out and try out more of the series. Heck, I even liked GT (which some readers may find disturbing)! Having said this, the Tournament of Power, the current Dragon Ball Super arc, has been gripping with some excellent moments… But has it gone on for too long?
Continue reading “Dragon Ball Super: The Tournament of Power – Has It Gone On Too Long?”
Last year, I wrote an article on the Cosplay Trends for 2017; in which I managed to get 4 out of 5 right, so I felt like I needed to try this type of article once again! Yes, with the new year nearly on our doorstep, it’s time for us to look to the future. We’ve had a lot of really cool new trends appear this year, so what do you think we’re going to see in 2018? Well, there are the trends I foresee coming to light.
Last year, I wrote an article on the Cosplay Trends for 2017, in which I managed to get 4 out of 5 right, so I felt like I needed to try this type of article once again! Yes, with the new year nearly on our doorstep, it’s time for us to look to the future. We’ve had a lot of really cool new trends appear this year, so what do you think we’re going to see in 2018? Well, there are some trends I foresee coming to light.
Continue reading “Timlah’s Predicted Cosplay Trends of 2018”
The power of teleportation is a skill which few possess; a skill of true concentration and energy. The characters we’ll be chatting about in today’s list are all masters of their craft, able to teleport seemingly with ease. It’s as if moving their, or another whole mass, is just like breathing to you or I. Whatever you think of these characters, it’s certain that these are our favourite zone-phasers.
Don’t blink, or you’ll miss this week’s Top 10 Teleporting Characters!
Rule #1: Do not act incautiously when confronted by bald, wrinkly, smiling men.
This rule applies to all elderly people who smile knowingly in the face of danger. It’s always worth listening to walking sticks to check for hidden swords, or observe hairpins for potential weaponization. Are those slippers for shambling slowly to the bathroom, or for whupping young whipper snappers into shape? Do they still have their own teeth? Either way it’s bad news.
Rule #1: Do not act incautiously when confronted by bald, wrinkly, smiling men.
This rule applies to all elderly people who smile knowingly in the face of danger. It’s always worth listening to walking sticks to check for hidden swords, or observe hairpins for potential weaponization. Are those slippers for shambling slowly to the bathroom, or for whupping young whipper snappers into shape? Do they still have their own teeth? Either way it’s bad news.
Join us as we take register of the residents of this old folks dojo and secret underground retirement facility. This is our Top 10 Dangerous Elderly Characters.
Continue reading “Top 10 – Dangerous Elderly Characters”
The Z warriors are back once again, but this time they’re going universal – or, well, cross-universal. Fans of the classic Dragon Ball Z,along with the original Dragon Ball will likely enjoy the new additions to the franchise, but what about for the casual observer? We’re ready to get Super in the latest instalment; Dragon Ball Super. It’s definitely a new adventure, that’s for sure.
The Z warriors are back once again, but this time they’re going universal – or, well, cross-universal. Fans of the classic Dragon Ball Z,along with the original Dragon Ball will likely enjoy the new additions to the franchise, but what about for the casual observer? We’re ready to get Super in the latest instalment; Dragon Ball Super. It’s definitely a new adventure, that’s for sure.
When you’re making a cast of pirates, do you ever think of putting a bouncy ball in amongst the crew? Not really. When you’re making a story about war, do you ever think of putting scantily clad ladies all over it? Probably not. What about those times you’re designing a fantasy RPG and you design one of the main characters to be… A robot? Ah well, at least we remember these characters, right?
These characters stand out amongst the crowd; they’re odd-balled, they’re different and that’s why we remember them the most. They are against the grain of the rest of their cast – And today we’re listing down our Top 10 most Unfitting Characters. STOP! Before we continue with this, just be aware: If a whole series is weird, chances are the character actually fits in.
The Tails Doll, a character who is so insignificant, so useless and so basically average that you’d hardly believe that they’d put it in the game at all. Let alone the fact that it’s a character that didn’t exist within the Sonic universe before going into Sonic Racing R, you’ve got what’s basically just a filler character who barely fits in with the lore and mythos of the Sonic world. Yes: There’s definitely a lore behind it, don’t question it.
However, one thing that constantly bewilders me is the fact that this little weird possessed doll became one of the biggest talking points of the game. From the Evil Tails Doll Curse, to the Acid Remix of Can You Feel The Sunshine, it’s really out of place for the rest of this rather happy go lucky Mario Kart clone. Still: You can’t really blame them for adding a character like this into the game… He even ended up going into the comics as an evil doll.
Manta is really small, which isn’t too much of a surprise with a name like that. He’s tiny, he’s got a strange haircut, we know him as Morty in the English dubs of Shaman King and he’s a smart guy. In fact, he’s probably one of, if not the smartest guy in the entire anime. But there’s always been a small feeling of aloofness about him – Like, he’s not all there. Almost as if he’s strung along by Yoh just because he has nothing better to do.
I don’t know why Manta decides to journey through the incredibly dangerous Shaman King tournament, but he seems to stay around because he’s friends with Yoh. Morty isn’t a shaman, but he can see spirits. He isn’t strong, but he’s smart. He isn’t even all that brave, except for rare circumstances, but you know what? The series wouldn’t have been the same without his worrying.
The Disc is filled with people and narratives that point a big fat finger to real-world things and says “This is you, this is what you look like, you burk.” and no one but no one does that quite so overtly as Twoflower, the little man from the Counterweight Continent who goes on holiday and starts a revolution. He doesn’t quite fit in around Ankh-Morpork, as a generally quite dingy and unpleasant city a man with a cheerful disposition and a penchant for offensively colourful shirts stands out a mile, and yet he doesn’t quite fit in at home either.
He is, in every regard, the oddball, and that makes Rincewind a perfect companion because though he looks the part and generally fits in a whole lot better in society, he’s not exactly full-blown wizard material himself. However out of the entire cast of characters from the glorious Discworld series, say if they were laid out à la one of those Simpsons character ensembles, Twoflower would light up like a beacon.
This little monkey packs a serious punch. I mean, it’s literally just a monkey and the game is very happy to tell you this over and over again. From the first Time Splitters, where the Monkey’s entry simply says “It’s a monkey” to Time Splitters 2, where the entry is updated to “Yep, it’s still a monkey”. He’s not a durable character, he’s not even all that great – but he can still wield a gun like it’s nobodies business.
The oddness of the Monkey knows no bounds. From it’s little ooks and aaks, to the fact that it’s simply a joke character, the fact that this Monkey became the mascot of the game is both hilarious and odd. They could have chosen the rather witty characters from this shooter, but they chose the goddamn Monkey!! Also, don’t get me started on just how many times I was killed by this little Monkey in the multiplayer modes.
Amidst the warring teams of idiots duking it out in a box canyon of absolutely no strategic value it seems like a single well-trained individual would be able to massacre both sides* and get out unscathed, but it just wouldn’t be funny like the rest of the series. Red vs Blue began life fourteen years ago in the early days of the internet creativity boom, a crude animation made in the Halo multiplayer. Now it’s immense, and creators at Rooster Teeth are now a major animation studio, thanks in no small part to Tex.
Tex is a badass mercenary gone renegade from an elite military unit who brings a layer of seriousness to the comedy stylings of Red team and Blue team, acting as a “straight-guy” to their “funny-guy”. She’s better trained, in fact she’s the best, and she’s mostly there to save the Blood Gulch boys from all of the terrible forces that want them dead! And she also spends much of that time listening to their arguments and non-sequiturs wondering why she’s going to all the trouble.
*This link has rude words AND AN AWESOME FIGHT SCENE but it gets a little too rude for this site.
If you know anything about The Legend of Zelda, it’s that some characters seemingly don’t know when to quit. Even Link, the hero of Hyrule, is barely able to stop for a second. Tingle, meanwhile, depending on the game you see him in, is either a collector, a fan or other. Tingle is annoying and we all get annoyed when we see his stupid face around. Couple that face with the stupid green spandex he wears, damn it Tingle, why are you even in this game?!
But he does serve a purpose, so it’s not all lost. However, just because he serves a purpose, it doesn’t really mean he should be there. In all honesty, he wasn’t too bad in Minish Cap, when really he mostly served as a way to deal with all of the Kinstones. He’s been around since Majora’s Mask, so you can bet your butt that he’s not going anywhere soon. Actually, probably not a bad idea, considering he usually has useful stuff on him. Let the fairy fantasizer be, I guess.
I feel like somewhere in Shonen Jump’s contract there is a requirement for a fluffy and adorable character, or just some bracket with “Grim and Gritty” at one end and “Childish and Adorable” at the other, and all Shonen Jump properties must fall somewhere inside that bracket. So in a world of lost and murderous souls put down by a semi-divine enforcement agency with a solemn duty to save the living from the dead… put in a teddy bear. Make him wear a dress sometimes.
Kon… why? He serves the very occasional purpose for a story, or maybe he just gets a narrative of his own from time to time, and it’s usually better than the filler arcs. He’s a constructed artificial soul placed into a vessel that he brings to life, and while he’s mostly there to occupy Ichigo’s body while he’s on Shinigami duty and saving the world, off-duty he lives inside a fluffy teddy… maybe a lion? On the bright side, he’s just as irritated about the whole thing as we are.
This one has always confused me, because Chiaotzu is a tiny little human. A tiny human who has always seemingly been able to fly. A tiny human who has always been at the side of Tien and a tiny human who doesn’t look at all like the rest of the humans from Dragon Ball. Now, don’t get me wrong: Dragon Ball is full of ridiculous characters, as we all know and love it for… But Chiaotzu? He seriously seems more out of place than the rest. I’ve never been able to put my finger on it before, but now I think I know why he’s so misplaced.
According to the Dragon Ball Wiki, he’s supposed to be like a Chinese Vampire. From the way he floats around the place, to the way he attacks with his arms stretched out, he seemingly is a perfect fit to this description. Even the white skin and red cheeks are a reference. Dragon Ball is full of myths and fantasy stories: Heck, it was originally even a loose adaptation on The Journey to the West… But Vampires..?
Ok, so Marvel have got just about everything in their arsenal so far as superheroes go. Every viable superpower from the incredible to the insignificant, the terrible to the ridiculous. If a reasonable backstory cannot be conjured then the mutations of the X-Men can always fill in the blanks. That Squirrel Girl exists is not a shock, at most it’s a mild surprise, and the only reasonable response is “Seriously?”, to be repeated, louder, when you find out she’s one of the most powerful heroes in the Marvel Universe!
Doreen Green is a human with squirrel attributes born of some odd genetic quirk, a long fluffy tail, robust buck-teeth, claws, agility, and yes, the power to talk with squirrels. With this incredible arsenal of abilities she has killed Thanos, bested Deadpool, and turned aside Galactus himself. She’s good enough to beat Wolverine in a straight fist-fight (no claws allowed), she’s got her own Iron-Suit, and amongst the foremost members of the Great Lakes Avengers.
But she’s a SQUIRREL! And she made friends with the World Eater! Deadpool just doesn’t hold up to that, so if you were expecting him on this list then clearly my friend, you don’t know Squirrel Girl.
Giygas is literally the embodiment of evil. That’s what it represents; that’s what it is. It’s pure hatred in an ethereal form. It’s also a villain that we’ve grown to both fear and respect at the same time. From that menacing music, to the frightful appearance of Giygas, this is a terrifying concept for most people, as he says some of the creepiest dialogue in the game. Words like “I… Feel… H..A..P..P..Y.” Creepy.
However, Giygas is probably one of the most unfitting characters of any video game made to date. Earthbound is renowned for being really surreal and silly. I mean, one of the enemies is the New Age Retro Hippy, who likes to get rulers out and measure… Stuff. We don’t know what, but that’s one of his attacks. Couple this with the colourful characters, the zany plot and the lovable story behind it, Giygas comes completely out of the blue. Even though you spend the whole game preparing for it.
Okay, we’ve seen some downright weird characters today. But don’t you worry, we’re not finished yet. Here are two more examples of characters that really do not fit within their properties… But yet, they kind of do in a story-related fashion. You’ll see what we mean…
Here’s an example that makes itself. The little yellow blob in the top hat joins the cast of Rick and Morty during an episode that generates all manner of kooky and poorly conceived characters like Bacon Samurai, Reverse Giraffe and Pencylvester. All of them are introduced through a series of flashbacks that make it seem like they’ve been in the series the whole time, but they’re all parasites that shapeshift into wild characters to prey on those whose trust they acquire.
The way to spot a parasite is to check your memory to see if you have any bad memories of the beloved part of your family. If they’ve never shot you, kicked you in the face or abandoned you to some terrible fate then they’re a parasite, and need to be killed. They clear out the house of all of these crazy and wacky characters they once thought were friends and settle back down to a meal of the crummiest people in the family… and Mr Poopybutthole. Oh but it turns out that he’s real, which we find out when Beth shoots him and hurts a real friend, a friend who has never hurt her.
I guess sometimes it pays to fit in, just a little more. Mr Poopybutthole is there to stand out, to be “wrong” compared to the others, because he’s the punchline to an episode that makes a huge joke out of badly introduced characters who just don’t work.
Not a character, but there’s something a little jarring about the bestial races of the Elder Scrolls games when you first begin. Having the sapient cats and lizards pop up in the choices for playable races mixed in amongst the variations of Man and Mer starts out as unusual until you get used to seeing them around, and their particular cultural quirks, and in Morrowind being unable to wear boots or helmets was a nuisance, albeit one that made sense.
They never seem more out of place than in Skyrim however. Cold blooded Argonians in the freezing north? Desert dwelling Khajiit treading the snow instead of the warm sands they adore? There are opportunities for them both in the proud nation, more so than for the displaced Dunmer who are hated and shunned by the more nationalist Nords, but I cannot imagine that any one of them would rather be anywhere but home.
Okay, now will you kindly stop sending me pictures of Jelly Jiggler? I understand he’s pretty weird, but we’ve been through this: Some series are just too weird to have any one unfitting character. But alas, we’re done with weirding everyone out with these rather odd characters who happen to just be there. It’s time for you all to help us for our next Top 10 – I wonder how fitting these selections will be?
That’s it for this week, we can finally stop thinking about the evil that is Giygas. Hopefully, we’ll be saved by the unbeatable Squirrel Girl and who knows… Perhaps Chiaotzu will finally have a new use. But what did you make of this really rather unfitting list? Did we do good, or did we do bad? Did we order the list the way you would have? As always, let us know what you think in the comments below, or over on Facebook, Twitter or Reddit.
This is a subject which has gotten me going quite a few times. A lot of people seem to dispute me, but I’ve seen in several sources that I’m correct with this one… so I’m opening this up as a discussion for all fans of Dragon Ball.
With the release of Dragon Ball Xenoverse (which I fully intend to get), I figured it’d be fun to debate the lesser cared about people of the Dragon Ball universe: The humans.
This is a subject which has gotten me going quite a few times. A lot of people seem to dispute me, but I’ve seen in several sources that I’m correct with this one… so I’m opening this up as a discussion for all fans of Dragon Ball.
With the release of Dragon Ball Xenoverse (which I fully intend to get), I figured it’d be fun to debate the lesser cared about people of the Dragon Ball universe: The humans.
I truly believe that Dragon Ball is one of those franchises that has helped to change the scene. Think about it for a moment; you’ve got the original Dragon Ball which, although popular, was really just the way the franchise begun. Then you had the immensely popular Dragon Ball Z, which if you were a 90s baby, you’d likely have grown up watching Dragon Ball as a teenager. At least this is what I did… Hmm.
In 2015 however, Dragon Ball seems to be making another one of its strong come backs. Every couple of years, it seems like the Dragon Ball team get back together and get on with producing something truly noteworthy. The last brilliant Dragon Ball film was aired only back in 2013, which was known as Battle of Gods. Next on our list of films is: Dragon Ball – Revival of F. Honestly, I am looking forward to this so much and it should bring back a wave of nostalgic fans from the times I was watching the series of Dragon Ball Z. Does anyone remember the Frieza Saga? If you enjoyed said saga, then you’ll enjoy Revival of F.
I truly believe that Dragon Ball is one of those franchises that has helped to change the scene. Think about it for a moment; you’ve got the original Dragon Ball which, although popular, was really just the way the franchise begun. Then you had the immensely popular Dragon Ball Z, which if you were a 90s baby, you’d likely have grown up watching Dragon Ball as a teenager. At least this is what I did… Hmm.
In 2015 however, Dragon Ball seems to be making another one of its strong come backs. Every couple of years, it seems like the Dragon Ball team get back together and get on with producing something truly noteworthy. The last brilliant Dragon Ball film was aired only back in 2013, which was known as Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods. Next on our list of films is: Dragon Ball Z: Revival of F. Honestly, I am looking forward to this so much and it should bring back a wave of nostalgic fans from the times I was watching the series of Dragon Ball Z. Does anyone remember the Frieza Saga? If you enjoyed said saga, then you’ll enjoy Revival of F. This film is set to come out in Japan in April 2015, so let’s watch out for when we can get a subbed version!
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