Kill La Kill

While I was at Katsucon this previous month, not only was Card Captor Sakura recommended to me, another anime was recommended to me through the Anilplex panel. At this panel, they show cased Nekomonogatari Bluray set and an anime called Magi and Vividred  and this one anime that had been garnering a lot of attention from fans called Kill La Kill. I heard about it, but until the panel really changed my mind, I was not originally going to watch it, but through a few people talking me into it, I eventually did, and honestly, I am glad I did.



The plot for Kill La Kill is simple: Matoi Ryuuko is seeking revenge on who ever killed her father. With her, she wields a back talking school uniform named Senketsu that gives her enormous power and makes her near indestructible and half of a scissor blade thats capable of cutting through anything. She goes to Honnouji Academy, where Kiryuuin Satsuki, an oppressive student council leader who has her own army of super power uniforms trying to beat Ryuuko into the ground. Along the way, she meets upwith Mankanshouku Mako, an energetic girl who is hyper active and love Ryuuko no matter what. Together, they go on the quest to defeat Satsuki to try and get her revenge on the person who killed her father.

The characters for me were lovable and well written. Even Kiryuuin Satsuki had her redeemable qualities, even though she was trying to kill our beloved Ryuuko. The Four Devas under her, Jakuzure Nonon, Sanagayama Uzu, Gamagoori Ira, and Inumuta Houka, had some funny and awesome moments as well as well as the highest super power uniform under the God Robes that Satsuki and Ryuuko possess. Mako was energetic through out the series and the way she was over dramatic in explaining things kept the series on a positive note, even the world was going to hell in a hand basket. Even the character that terrified me to no end, Harime Nui, had her awesome moments because, like Mako, was energetic and happy in all situations.


The animation for this show was unique in its own little way. It felt like it had a hand drawn feel to it, and when Mako starting getting excited and started "spinning" she actually looked like she was flipping around. The action scenes were well animated, and the whole battle sequences felt over the top like in Guran Lagaan. Every time they used their attacks, there was text, which also helped with the over the top feel, and even added for some hilarity as well.The uniforms had almost their own little transformation sequences, making it feel like a magical girl. The uniform that Ryuuko had, I will admit, was skimpy, but it is not worth the controversy. The outfits were all distinguishable and related to their powers, which was interesting and, I will admit, pretty cool.

Overall, I am glad I gave this anime a chance because it was not as serious I thought it was going to be. I will admit, I am sad that it is over, it was an enjoyable ride and unlike most anime, it wrapped up everything nicely at the end. Studio Trigger did a great job at animating this, and I am looking forward to what they have in the future.

The Avengers

For many, comic books are the source of joy, and when those comic books become adapted into movies, everyone gets excited. The long awaited movie of Marvel's, The Avengers series is no different, with all of of the Avenger characters getting their own movies, and finally coming together in this epic showdown between good and evil. With it being so highly rated before coming into theaters, I was honestly a bit skeptical, but also hyped for one reason: the characters it mainly featured.


Our story is Loki, the Norse Trickster God, and the main villain of the movie Thor, somehow gets to Earth to take the Tesseract, an infinite source of energy, and is capable of opening a portal to another world. He takes over the minds using his spear to make one of the best archers and the best scientist into his slaves. Nick Fury assembles the Avengers, which are Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, The Hulk, and Black Widow, in order to stop the destruction of Earth, and stop Loki. Problem is, will they be able to assemble and get along long enough to stop Loki, or will chaos envelope the world?

The characters were both the strong point and the weak point of the movie. Loki is still driven by revenge, which in a way makes sense, but the extremes he goes to in order to exact his revenge are irrational at best. He plans on destroying the world due a grudge on Thor, all because Loki was adopted. All the other characters were also well done, and the interactions between them were amazing, and funny. They actually picked on one of the problems I have with Iron Man, which is the fact with out the suit, he is nothing, among the random jabs at the characters and their super-hero back ground.Although the characters had their bickering moments due to cultural differences, they eventually dropped some of it, and they straightened up and flew right.

There were no shortages of fight scenes or explosions in the movie, though it feels like you have to wait forever for them. True, between character fights and disputes through out the movie there were a fair few fight scenes, but I have to give the Hulk the award for most amusing fight scene, but the best fight scene, besides the grand finale, has to go to Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America. It was well coordinated, and I can see that actually happening if the Avengers were real, and it was, for me, a display of their power against each other, while Loki was just amused.

In the movie, the world may be going to hell in a hand basket, but that does not stop the humor from going on in the movie.. This movie in a lot of parts made me laugh at the witty dialogue, and the characters reactions to one another. From Thor's amusement of the human world, to Iron Man's witty comebacks, to Captain America's confusement at the modern world, these reactions and comebacks were almost nothing short of priceless. At one point, Nick Fury said "I bet you ten dollars that this world has changed a lot more than you thought," and when they get on the air ship, Captain America is amazed at the technology, and proceeds to hand Nick Fury the ten dollars.

Music score wise, the music was phenomenal and fit well with the movie. All the scenes had well coordinated msic, and to boot, the music felt like it was supposed to be there. There were no awkward silences between characters because even when there was no music, the tension between the characters was well portrayed, and felt realistic. The music was catchy, which is always a plus, and they knew how to balance it out between having the music out in front or to have it in the back.

Personally, this have to be one of the most epic movies I have ever seen. Each character was well portrayed and they really kept the personalities of the characters from the original movies. Also, they kept the romance to a minimum, thank god. I highly recommend anyone, super hero fan or not, to go see this movie because there is a little something for everyone: action and violence for the dudes, and steaming hot men for the chicks.

Sherlock Holmes-A Game of Shadows

When one says mysteries and detectives, one name usually comes to mind, and that name is Sherlock Holmes. He has wit, skill, and that just right stroke of luck. He has bizarre methods, some of which you may not think would work, but they also seem to pull through regardless. Watson, his side kick and the fellow doctor doesn't have that same streak of luck, though he is a vital part to the movie. In the second Sherlock Holmes movie, Sherlock has to battle the mysterious person who was pulling the strings in the first movie, and defeating this person, and even though his methods are a bit bizzarre, I have to admit, he really is the best detective the world has ever seen.

The movie starts off like the first one, in a mess of random events that seem to never correlate, though they do provide some laughs. After the death of Irene Adler, the possible love interest of Holmes, Sherlock looks into who did it, and he finds that his adversary this time is Professor Moriarty. Through the movie, Sherlock Holmes is probably faced with his greatest mystery yet, and while solving the mystery, he has to stop an international crisis from arising.

First off, in some ways, this is a direct sequel to the first movie. Some jokes, and even the bad guy, are brought over from the first movie. Although it may be advertised as something such as a Bond movie, it really is not. The first movie will explain a lot to you, and it is a good watch in my personal opinion

I will admit, I especially liked the comedic bits, because Sherlock is never serious. He is like Captain Jack Sparrow when it comes to his methods of going through with some stuff. Also, some of the stuff he does may not make sense at first, though you might have just have to roll with it, because everything will make sense by the end of the movie. Even though his plans may not make sense at first, you just have to trust that everything will make sense by the end, just like any good mystery movie.

Also, the weapons aspect of it was very good. Although I am no gun nut, I went with a friend who was and he could explain some of the weapons. At one point, the bad guy was shooting at Watson with a sniper rifles, though Watson quickly finds the Howitzer, which is basically a canon, and fires it at the sniper. The sniper's last words, sadly, were "This isn't fair." Now, for some reason that made me laugh, along with Sherlock's attempts to use a semi-auto gun.

This movie is the perfect combination of mystery, action, and even a bit of comedy, and in my opinion, well worth the movie tickets. They say that sequels are never as good as the originals, but in the case of this movie, I digress: it is on par, and somewhat better than the first. So, if you're in the mood for a mystery, and semi-action film, then go see Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows, now playing in a theater near you!

Toy Story 3-All Grown Up

It seems the big movie trend is continuing, even in the Disney and Pixar Universe. This time it was Toy Story that got it's second sequel. While the sequel wasn't bad, I will give Disney/Pixar credit: they made the story more impacting than the other two, and even made some of it down right creepy.
The story this time actually is Andy, the main kid going off to college. For some reason he has kept his childhood toys, because who doesn't feel a bit of nostalgia growing up. They show him growing up the way we sometimes see our selves grow up: through the mom's video camera. But finally we get to the big day: Andy is grown up, going off to college. His mom makes him clean out his room, stating that everything must either go into attic, donated, or thrown away. Andy decides to put the majority of the crew in the attic, and only taking Woody, our beloved cowboy, to college with him. However, Buzz and the gang were put in trash bags to be put in the attic, but due to a screw up, they end up on the garbage curb. They then end up at a daycare, and they're greeted by Lotso, a big cuddly stuffed bear. Also, they're greeted by Ken, with whom Barbie, donated by Molly, immediately falls in love with. There is a multitude coming to greet them, all of them friendly.
Woody was able to get out, in order to go to college with Andy, while leaving Buzz and the gang there. The longer Buzz and the gang stay there, the less friendly everyone seems. Everyone is basically held hostage there by Lotso and his minions.
One of the most memorable momeents in the movie is when Buzz Lightyear starts speaking in Spanish. It was kinda like Was that prgrammed in there the entire time? It was first brought about on meme boards, and now, its one of the funnier moments in the movie. Every time he talked, there was Mexican music playing, and he started being all romantic( Not like Buzz at all). He speaks only in Spanish, but luckily for you monolengual English speakers, there are subtitles.
 I feel like the creators knew somehow that the original audience, people around the ages of 14-19 would be watching, due to the tone of the film. One of the creepier scenes in the movie was a group of the Daycare toys playing roulette with one of the animal sound toys, the one where you pull the lever and the arrow spins and it plays the animal sound it lands on. Buzz then intrudes on them, and they hold him hostage. Also, the tone of the movie is way darker than the first two, even though the message is sort of the same. The reoccurring theme in all of the movies is sort of abandoment, though in this movie they took it to a whole new level, and even a creepy level at that. It was sort of like if they didn't get rescued, then they would die.(Wait, is that even  possible)
The ending to the movie is not what you would expect. They make it so the ending has you on the edge of your seat at the climax. Also, the resolution almost made me wanna cry. I won't spoil anything for you,but for all of you who grew up on Toy Story, I think you will enjoy the last (hopefully) installment of the series.