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DON’T TOY WITH ME, MISS NAGATORO Episodes #1 & #2 Anime Review
A new season of anime is upon us. The first one we will be reviewing is DON’T TOY WITH ME, MISS NAGATORO.
I’m going to be completely honest here. This anime straddles the line of cute and enjoyable to unwatchable all through out the first two episodes. The story centers almost exclusively around the two main characters: Nagatoro and Naoto Hachioji. Hachioji is an awkward introvert who mostly seeks to avoid attention from his fellow classmates. Nagatoro gets off to bullying Hachioji. Why she enjoys pestering him is still open for interpretation. Something cool the show did was it did not show any character’s (except for Hachioji’s) eyes until the 5 and half minute maker. Of course, Nagatoro’s eyes are the ones we see.
Hachioji explains why we don’t see the other students’ eyes. He says “Look away, close my mind” (at the 20:06 minute marker of Episode #1). All these students have bullied him throughout his life over his mangas and drawing. So, when we are introduced to Nagatoro and we see her eyes, I assumed she was going to be nice. Boy, was I wrong.
And that’s where my problems begin. She straight up bullies him. I sat through the second episode hoping the characters would become a tad bit more complex. Meh. There is a cafe scene that gives me hope the two will develop. However, for now, be prepared. Both of these characters are hard to root for.
Nagatoro is very harsh. She degrades him, mocks him, inflicts physical and mental abuse to him. I won’t even go into detail over some of the stuff she does to him but most of it is sexual abuse or at least taunting him. Which is what makes it so hard to watch. It is more than teasing, it is dehumanizing in a lot of way. If Hachioji could defend himself or create a line in the sand, I feel like we might get somewhere. For now, he is stuck in this mindset of “eww, she’s so mean” but also “ahhh, a cute girl”. Because he has been bullied his whole life, he tolerates her behavior.
It’s interesting to say the least. The animation is great. The sound effects and visual gags are highly entertaining. Some of the scenarios they find themselves in are innocent but still have high sexual undertones. These can be okay. For example, the vampire subplot was fine before she fell and groped him. She then used this as a chance to beat him down by mocking him saying that was the first time a girl touched him. Scenes start off fine and quickly cross a line. And based off of Hachioji’s body language it is hard to tell if he enjoys it or is too scared or nervous to ask her to stop. And Nagatoro’s outward demeanor makes it hard to gauge if she hurting him out of in
I can get the appeal of this anime. Again, it can look great and be funny. A socially awkward male lead combined with a cute and confident female do create a pretty unique working dynamic at times. Some of the teasing is entertaining. And again, the cafe scene gives hope for something deeper.
Still, as of the first two episodes this is a unique rom com that occasionally rises above mediocrity. The relationship between Nagatoro and Hachioji is different and interesting enough that’ll keep checking this one out and see if it becomes a guilty pleasure or slog to get through.
Score: 6 out of 10 (For now)
Watch it on Crunchyroll now: https://www.crunchyroll.com/dont-toy-with-me-miss-nagatoro/episode-1-senpai-is-a-bit-senpai-dont-you-ever-get-angry-811065
Next up, we review the first three episodes of Odd Taxi (spoiler alert- I love that one!)
Highlighting Humble Bundle Video Games! (Ultimate Chicken Horse, Summer in Mara, ABZU and a ton of Lego Games!)
Hey guys, Humble Bundle has 4 pretty solid video game bundles going on right now.
For those of you who don’t know, Humble Bundle is a pretty awesome website that sells mostly software bundles. These softwares can range from video games to editing software. Through Humble Bundle alone, I have got Sony Vegas 15, RPG Maker VX, and plenty of awesome games. So it is certainly worth looking at. My brother, who introduced me to Humble Bundle, says he stopped using once they started offering more then just games. He said they never featured game bundles anymore. Well, this week highlights why it is important to pop in every once in a while. That said, each bundle will have a priced tier. It is pay what you want to pay but there are incentives in the form of (video games in this instance) to motivate you to buy the highest tier. You determine how your money is spent, as it can be divided among the publisher, charity, and Humble Bundle themselves.
We will get started with the Spring into VR Bundle. I personally have no way of playing VR, but I might buy a tier to stash the games for later. This bundle is one of the more expensive ones. The $1 tier only has one game, Detached. The tiers then jump up $14.82. The games are as follows Star Trek: Bridge Crew, Surgeon Simulator: Experience Reality, Swords of Gurrah, and Espire 1: VR Operative. Some solid titles, but nothing that really blows me away. This isn’t a good deal though because for just 18 cents more, you can get the next tier. At the $15 tier you can get Job Simulator, Sairento VR, and Borderlands 2 VR. Job Simulator looks interesting but I’m not sold on it. Sairento looks neat and Borderlands 2 is Bonderlands 2, which is to say its pretty darn good.
Verdict: If you are going to shop this Bundle, either grab the $1 or the $15 bundle. There’s no sense in just getting the $14.82 bundle.
Link: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/spring-into-vr-bundle?hmb_source=&hmb_medium=product_tile&hmb_campaign=mosaic_section_1_layout_index_1_layout_type_threes_tile_index_1_c_springintovrbundle_bundle
Approximate Time Remaining to Claim Bundle: 1 Day 23 Hours
Next up, let’s look at the New Couch Classics Bundle. Door Kickers: Action Squad starts off this bundle as the lone representative in the $1 dollar tier. For one dollar, this game looks solid enough, bragging about
- High detail retro graphics
- 6 playable characters, each with unique gameplay and level up options
- Unique in-game Strategic Abilities system
- 84 non linear levels to complete
- 60 weapons and gear items
- 20+ enemy types and 4 mission objectives
- Zombie invasion mode allowing you to play the game again in a new way
- Couch and Online Cooperative Multiplayer
Pulled Straight From the Humble Bundle Page
Moving up to the $8.07 tier, this bundle really picks up the heat. Ultimate Chicken Horse, Nine Parchments and 20XX is probably the best single tier so far. Nine Parchments doesn’t have a description so based off the video it looks like a top down co-op RPG. Ultimate Chicken Horse is probably the game I’m most interested in all of today’s bundles. It plays like a Super Mario Maker game. Someone designs over-the-top 2D platforming stages and then parties of players can attempt to navigate the thought provoking and death defying courses. 20XX looks like a recreation of the Megaman franchise with modern rogue influence game philosophy. The highest tier here is $10. Not bad. Wargroove, Lethal League and Biped come included in this tier. Wargroove looks like a solid tactical RPG but I don’t really have much experience in the genre. Lethal League Blaze is a unique looking fighting game where you try to defeat each other using an anti-gravity ball. Certainly looks worth checking out if you want a different style fighting game. Lastly is Biped. Biped is a potential sleeper hit. The game is a physics based 3D Co-Op adventure game. This has a Wes & Jess stream written all over it. I will probably be picking this one up.
Verdict: Personally, I’m looking at the 8 dollar tier but Bipeds alone could easily sway me into the $10 tier. Either are a great value here.
Link: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/new-couch-classics?hmb_source=&hmb_medium=product_tile&hmb_campaign=mosaic_section_1_layout_index_1_layout_type_threes_tile_index_2_c_newcouchclassics_bundle
Approximate Time Remaining to Claim Bundle: 8 Days 23 Hours
![Amazon.com: Ultimate Chicken Horse - Nintendo Switch [Digital Code]: Video Games](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71KOgQQus0L._SL1500_.jpg)
Next up is the Lego Built to Bundle. In the $1 tier we have The Lego NINJAGO Movie Video Game. In the $9.50 tier we have Lego Worlds, Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 Deluxe, LEGO Marvel’s Avengers and LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes. Lastly, in the $10 tier we have LEGO DC Super Villains Deluxe Edition and LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham Premium Edition. Honestly, I have not played a single one of these LEGO games but I have played LEGO games in the past such as Lego City Undercover and the Lego Star Wars Games on PS2. This bundle is an amazing value if you like: the Lego games, any of the licensed properties such as Ninjago or Batman, or want some fun couch co-op or family fun games. I honestly don’t think you can go wrong.
Verdict: If you fall into any of the “likes” above, go ahead and get the $10 bundle. The value is insane and you know what you’re getting because these games are going to be the same quality throughout.
Link: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/lego-built-to-bundle?hmb_source=&hmb_medium=product_tile&hmb_campaign=mosaic_section_1_layout_index_1_layout_type_threes_tile_index_3_c_legobuilttobundle_bundle
Approximate Time Remaining to Claim Bundle: 10 Days 23 Hours
The last bundle for us to look at today is the Down to Earth Bundle. This is the bundle I was originally going to do a write up on before I noticed all 4 bundles were pretty great on their on. Like most of the previous bundles, this bundle starts off with a strong $1 tier. Figment is super interesting action adventure game set in the depths of the mind giving the game a unique level design. Yono and the Celestial Elephants is a fun looking action puzzle game. I’ve had my eye on it for a while now. Up next, the $11.88 tier. Personally, this tier looks a little weak to me. Abzu is probably the headliner here. It looks gorgeous. ARIDA: Backland’s Awakening looks kinda budgety. Never Alone looks like it plays like Limbo. Moving up to the $14 tier.
This is such a hard tier to gauge. Beyond Blue looks great graphically but I don’t know if the gameplay excites me enough. Lost Ember is a game that allows you to explore Earth by playing as any creature you come across. Sounds amazing. The last game is Summer in Mara. I remember following this game on Kickstarter. You play as a young girl exploring an island. The game will look amazing to Stardew Valley and Harvest Moon fans. As the core gameplay is tending to your island. You will have to grow crops, explore the sea, and traverse the land. Summer in Mara is the game that is tempting me the most.
Verdict: The high end games here are very genre dependent. Even though a lot of the games (ABZU, Lost Ember, and Summer in Mara) all look good, they may not be up your alley. You’ll just have to check them out for you.
Link: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/earth-day-bundle?hmb_source=&hmb_medium=product_tile&hmb_campaign=mosaic_section_1_layout_index_2_layout_type_threes_tile_index_1_c_earthday_bundle
Approximate Time Remaining to Claim Bundle: 3 Days 23 Hours
So those are the games. Let me know if any of these look interesting to you and what bundles you’ll be checking out.
Best Bundle for the value: Lego’s $10 tier. Couch Co-Op’s $10 tier. Down to Earth $1 tier.
Games to check out: Summer in Mara, Ultimate Chicken Horse, Biped, Yono and the Celestial Elephants, any of the Lego games and ABZU.
So there’s just a few of my thoughts. Thank you guys for reading! Have a great day!
Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions. Season #1 Anime Review
Love, Chunibyu & Other Delusions is an anime currently airing on Netflix. It revolves around a cast of characters, but centers mostly on the awkward romantic scenarios the main leads find themselves in. The anime is based on a light novel of the same name.
I believe there are two ways to resonate with this anime. The first is by connecting with the male lead, Yuuta Togashi. Togashi falls under the subcategory of a Chunibyo. I’ll leave it up to Wikipedia to define this one. “Chūnibyō (中二病) is a colloquial Japanese term typically used to describe early teens who had grandiose delusions, who desperately wants to stand out they convinced themselves with hidden knowledge or secret powers” (Straight from our overlord Wikipedia.) Read the article here.
He was the amazing Dark Flame Master in middle school. Of course, this was a persona conjured up in his head. During his younger years, this altered identity served as a way to stand out. It was a form of self expression. By all accounts, middle school was my least favorite stent in school (of elementary, middle, and high school in the States). I certainly could relate to feeling isolated in middle school. It is just an awkward phase for most of us. As Yuuta ages and matures, he begins high school. He throws away all his drawings, clothes, and equipment of his alter ego, the Dark Flame Master. He starts high school with a new outlook on life. He is tired of being nerdy, lame, and just generally uncool. He even goes as far as to join a high school with no students from his middle school. Again, I think most people see high school, or any change of scenery, as a shot to reinvent themselves. We will continue talking about Yuuta soon. But for now, let’s look at the same story through Takanashi’s eyes.
Rikka Takanashi is the other lead. She also was a chunibyo in her middle school years. However, as she transitioned to high school she did not want to change. She wanted to live in this fantasy world that the kids created. As the story progresses Togashi constantly questions why she refuses to grow up and why she is so immature. As we learn more about Takanashi, we see that her dad died a short while ago. This personally stunted her. As her made up persona, a servant of the Tyrant’s eye, she seeks out the Dark Flame Master in her search for her dead father.
Takanashi is extremely relatable in her own way. Sure, not everyone has lost their parent or even a loved one. But, still, we all cling to things that make us happy or give us hope. We’ve all liked something that was embarrassing (i.e. a guilty pleasure). And for those of you that have lost someone, I am sure this anime hits home on a different level.
I love the juxtaposition of how simple the problems seem on the surface, but how complex they are on a deeper level. When I was first watching this anime, I thought it was a cute, light hearted, funny yet kind of weird anime. As it developed, I found it to be light hearted and fun at times, but serious and thought provoking when it needed to be.
The main conflict of the anime is that Takanashi refuses to let Yuuta leave his past behind. She constantly addresses him as the Dark Flame Master and gets him tangled up in her fights with her older sister and rival girls.
Another wonderful aspect of the anime is the fight scenes. Yes, you heard that right. A slice of life, coming of age, rom-com has massive, over the top, imaginative fight scenes. Remember, all the characters are chunibyos. They all have magical powered personas. This allows them to use completely crazy and vicious attacks on one another. Just check this out.
As you can see they are fighting with umbrellas and spoon ladles in a park. There’s plenty more scenes like this. As a result, I think this could be a good segue anime for viewers that prefer more Shonen animes or just your typical fighting style animes. The anime will constantly blur the lines between genres. Some episodes will start out as a slice of life schoolyard anime. Ten minutes later it is a supernatural magic thriller. That’s an aspect of the anime I really appreciate.
With that in mind, I really enjoyed this anime. I highly recommend this anime to most people. It teeters the line of a cutesy waifu anime and a deep psychological action anime. The romance between Togashi and Takanashi is really interesting. I never found myself rooting for them but they do almost complete each other in a way. Give this anime a chance and see what you think.
It felt good to make a blog post again. I can’t promise uploads at normal pace right now, but as always, I am working towards that goal. Thank you anyone who read this. Feel free to follow the blog and keep an eye out for some of the things we have going on very soon!
Thanks again for reading! Have a great day!
Manga Monday Immortal Rain Volume #1
I picked up my copy of Immortal Rain Volume #1 last year for $1.50. I finally decided to bust this bad boy out. Immortal Rain originally came out in 1999, came stateside in 2004 thanks to TokyoPop and ran for 11 Volumes.
Plot- Rain Jewlitt is immortal. He has lived for 624 years. He is now known as Methuselah, which to my understanding is the longest living person recorded in the bible. Needless to say, his body is highly desired by many because it holds the secret to immortality. However, the secret of immortality is not the motivation behind Machika Balfatin. A young want-to-be assassin. Rain is the one bounty her, her being Machika, grandfather could not slay. Her grandfather was known as the Grim Reaper. I could see some similarities to Rebirth (Read our review of Rebirth #1 here), a couple in fact. For starters, the male leads are immortal. The female leads want to kill the male leads to avenge their fallen family members. Both the male leads want to die. I’m sure there’s more, but those are the ones that jump out to me. Rain, for someone who is immortal, keeps getting taken captivate. Machika bails him out of his captivity twice, yet Rain saves Machika from potential assailants twice. By the end of the first volume they have formed a team in order to reverse Rain’s immortality. This would allow Rain to finally die and for Machika to be the one to kill him.
Characters– We really addressed the two main characters already, so I am not sure how much time we will spend here. I’ll dive a little deeper though. Machika’s character is rather simple, yet very admirable. She fights hard and has a big heart. She just wants to honor her grandfather. Rain, however, is a very deep, well written character. It is not that his character is really original, again he is the same as Deshwitat from Rebirth, but he is done to near perfection. He openly warns all the characters that want his immortality that they should dread the curse instead. This is a classic grass is not greener. So many characters are either scared of death or are looking to revive dead family members. Rain cautions that if they or their loved one gain immortality, that that person will live a lonely, bitter existence, implying they outlive their loved ones. Also, adding to the complexity, Machika’s grandfather and Rain also had a brotherly rivalry. When her grandfather passed, Rain would place flowers on his grave. At times this is a pretty surface level, typical shoenen level of mindless and fun adventure. At other times, there are deep, provoking dialogues, relationships, and moments that make it more memorable than the average adventure manga.
The World– The world is like Dragon Ball Z in that I cannot truly nail the setting. At parts, this feels like a premodern civilization manga and then there are fully realized cities. Outside of that, angels may play a part in the larger story. Which is atypical. Of course, one character is immortal. These are just a few outliers for an otherwise normal world.
This is a book I have to just suggest you read on your own. Warning, the language is the most harsh out of any manga we’ve reviewed so (If that is a concern for you or anyone you know.). It does have the F word and the B word which is bit more harsh than the usual D or H words. Outside of that, there is violence, but nothing graphic. There are certainly moments where the manga feels like just another fantasy novel. Sometimes the characters, the dialogue, and the settings feel uninspired. Other scenes really come together. I bought this book for less than 2 dollars and will gladly buy following issues for that much.
I give the book a 7.5 out of 10. The book lacks consist greatness nor is anything completely original. Still, it is done in an enjoyable manner that has very strong moments that redeem it as a whole. (It is kind of like this review.)
![Reacting to the Pokemon Legends: Arceus Trailer[Pokemon Week]](https://dahubbz.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/pokemonlegendsarceus_feb_en_us.jpg?w=90&h=70&crop=1 "Reacting to the Pokemon Legends: Arceus Trailer[Pokemon Week]")
Reacting to the Pokemon Legends: Arceus Trailer[Pokemon Week]
Pokemon Week, and the 25th Anniversary of Pokemon, continues!
I watched this trailer last weekend and was really enthralled with it at first. My brother asked me if I watched the two reveals for Pokemon yet. My first question was, “Wait, two reveals?”. I knew about the Gen 4 remakes but what was this second reveal? He pulled out his phone and I heard the opening that talks about the early days of Sinnoh and thought this was the Gen 4 Remakes. I was blown away!
I was a big advocate that Gen 8 was not going to be groundbreaking. I started saying that following GameFreak announcing they were done with the 3DS and moving on to the Switch. Not to use that as an excuse, I just knew Gamefreak would play it relatively safe. So I wasn’t surprised SwSh felt like DLC to Sun and Moon. But seeing this open world, BOTW inspired level design had me hyped for the remakes. Obviously, I found out this was a spin off or something. I’m not even sure, honestly.
I’ve watched the trailer about 2 or 3 times since Sunday and I’ve been gradually getting less and less impressed. Now, that is not to say I am not hyped (is this a double negative? Either way, I am still hyped). Gamefreak is trying to reinvent the wheel and do something pretty unique for the Pokemon franchise. Though, still, the flaws are glaring.
The frame rate is horrible for the wild Pokemons, the battles look like they will take some getting use to (as no battle interface was shown.), and graphics still aren’t knocking anyone dead.
Some of this can be fixed, of course. But the release date is relatively close for how unfinished this looked. Now, I’m not a game developer, but there is a worry, with Gamefreak’s recent reputation, that the quality isn’t going to improve between now and the release. I think that is a bit overblown but probably not wildly inaccurate.
I think Gamefreak could have something special on their hands. The hype for this Pokemon format is there. They need to not mess this up. So, at the end of the day, this is the same as the Gen 4 remakes. The hype machine is ringing off the hook. Now the ball is in GameFreak’s court to really blow us away.
Here’s to hoping!
Thanks for reading and have a great day.
![Reacting to the Pokemon Gen 4 Remakes (Brilliant Diamond And Shining Pearl ) [Pokemon Week]](https://dahubbz.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/return-to-the-sinnoh-region-in-pokemon-brilliant-diamond-and-pokemon-shining-pearlmp400004319still002-1614353238385.jpg?w=90&h=70&crop=1 "Reacting to the Pokemon Gen 4 Remakes (Brilliant Diamond And Shining Pearl ) [Pokemon Week]")
Reacting to the Pokemon Gen 4 Remakes (Brilliant Diamond And Shining Pearl ) [Pokemon Week]
Pokemon week rolls on with a double header. This morning we will be reacting to the Pokemon Gen 4 remakes, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
Link to the trailer on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pDI8Scph44
Pokemon Generation 4 is arguably my favorite generation, with Platinum as possibly the best Pokemon game of all time. This remake has been a storm brewing in the background. Pokemon set a new growing standard in 2004 with the Generation 1 remakes, Fire Read and Leaf Green. This series of remakes continued with HeartGold and Soul Silver. Finally, Generation 3 got its day in the sun with OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire. That was in 2014. That gets us to now, Generation 4. Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. Needless to say, the wait has been long.
I think this game is receiving harsh criticism already. The hate is mostly directed at the art style. They went with a more Pokemon Go (Some would say even worse) art style than Pokemon Sword and Shield. Which is drawing comparison to other remakes. With that, a few things need to be broken down first.
A. Nintendo Games Will Never Be Sony Games. At least not in the immediate future. What were people expecting anyway? I actually saw someone say this is bad because it does not look like the Final Fantasy 7 remakes… I’m not justifying Pokemon games still looking like DS games or how they are lagging behind the industry standard games of today. But comparing these remakes to Final Fantasy 7 is just a mistake. I think the Pokemon models look fine. I even think the characters in the battle scenes look fine. What loses me a bit is the character’s faces during the overworld. It is not perfect but than again there’s always the fact that…
B. Generation 4 Wasn’t Amazing Because of Graphics. Generation 4 was amazing because the Pokemons were great, the villains were cool, the legendaries of the game were peak, the post game story added plenty of content, the region was fun to explore, Pokemon Wifi Battles were all the rage, the writing was solid enough for a kids RPG, they advanced the series in cool ways such as the moves being physical or special instead of just the typing. The starters were all great. Yes, even you Turtwig. So many Let’s Players got their start playing these games. You could probably go on and on. Yet, as you can see, I didn’t mention graphics. I think the graphics were fine but were quickly outdated by the design and sleekness or HeartGold and SoulSilver.
C. If They Capture the Feels, All is Forgiven. Pokemon cast a wide net these days- grown mean in their 30’s down to kids experiencing the franchise for the first time. I think Pokemon players are jaded and complain about way too much. Like we didn’t survive the Wii and the Wii U era. Eras I personally am fond of, but still. Nintendo’s imagine was terrible during these times. You couldn’t admit you liked Nintendo or Pokemon during these days because they were not shiny like the 360 and PS3. Of course I continued to enjoy the series, but fans started to disconnect from the series at this point. Pokemon Go and Pokemon Let’s Go brought a lot of old fans and new fans and people who do not even care about Pokemon together. But they set some new trends people were afraid of. The art style, the no wild battles and the ease of the games. Gen 8 did a lot to remedy this. It changed the art style some, gave us wild battles but did not help much in the difficulty department. As a result, I’ve heard a lot of people question their belief in GameFreak. While the trailer did not leave a good taste in many fans mouth, if they capture the old school feels of being on a Pokemon adventure, I think all is well again. I just do not know if this will climb that insurmountable wall.
However, I’ve watched the Pokemon community continously fell to realize Pokemon is not Final Fantasy 7 or any other RPG. But following the harsh reviews Pokemon Sword and Shield got, combined with the long awaited expectations of Pokemon Gen 4 remakes, they cannot afford to mess this up. This was their perfect chance to get back in Player’s graces. I think they will ultimately fall short to the general audience. Personally, I think it looks fine and I cannot wait to revisit one of my favorite regions. The remake does have me hyped and I am looking forward to it. It is worth noting these games are being developed by ILCA and not Gamefreak. Gamefreak is busy overseeing tonight’s blog post, Pokemon Legends: Arceus.
That will do it for now. Here’s to hoping the games turn out okay. I work until 9pm tonight but I am planning to blog again tonight!
Thanks for reading and have a great day.
Manga Monday Rebirth Volume #2 First Manga Monday of 2021
My intentions were to have a few Manga Monday’s out at this point, but oh well. Here we are with our first review of the year. We return to Rebirth. If you have not read my review for volume #1 you can find that here!
Spoilers: There are mostly just spoilers for the individual characters and not so much the plot or anything major.
Plot- Following the events of volume #1, our motley crew of a cast, Deshwitat, Remi and Millenear set out to teach Deshwitat the ways of light magic. However, Millenear is set that she cannot be the one to train him. She informs the group that there are some monks in Hong Kong that can teach him. Long story short, the monks have other plans. We meet several new characters at the temple and some great black and white fight scenes captivate the pages.
New Characters– Just to touch base, nothing new is really discovered or advanced on the behalf of our 3 main characters. Not that they are completely static or boring, just nothing groundbreaking for them as characters occurs. However, we are introduced to a handful of new characters. The first is Rett.
Rett- Now a lot of his backstory is told through flashback and not exposition per se. This means while we see his eventual defeat, his complete relationship to Deshwitat is not fully explored. I also do not think they explained how he got to the temple. Despite this, we see how a “mere human” like Rett, who knew Deshwitat 300+ years ago, would still be alive. Kalutika, the baddie of the series, and his army defeated Rett very easily. Still, they “gifted” him with eternal life so he could witness the end of the world. He honestly does not do much but I am sure he will be a welcomed part of the series moving forward
Beryun– She is a really cool character. She is devout servant to the third character we will meet soon. She comes across rather boring at first. However, she goes toe to toe with Deshwitat fairly impressively. They have one of the cooler fight scenes I’ve seen in a manga to date. And their fight gave birth to one of my favorite quotes. (Ignore how ghetto my picture is below)
Ultimately, neither kill each other, but the fight is pretty darn good. Obviously, she is short on words, quick to the punch kind of monk. So her origins remain shrouded in mystery.
Master Tae- This section will be short. She shows up for a few pages and surprisingly beats Deshiwatit in one shot. We know nothing else of her except she most likely runs the temple is probably going to play a huge role in the series to come.
The World- The world remains relatively the same as last issue. We already knew about magic, vampires and demons. So nothing really new here.
I found this issue to be slightly better than the first. It is always nice to add more characters and dive deeper into old ones, even if just slightly deeper. The writing of the characters feels a little off but I think the characters are just being natural which makes the dialogue awkward. Remember, Deshiwatit just killed Remi’s dad and now they have to travel together. Every moment is high stakes and tensions are high. As a result, the room is always hostile. I don’t really like aggressive dialogue but I think it is how the characters would naturally react, too. At least, to a certain extent anyway.
With that in mind, I’ll give it an 8.25. There’s a pretty good chance we review 2 or 3 more volumes of this series before the year is over. So stay tuned if you want to hear more of my thoughts.
Don’t forget we have a whole section here on the blog dedicated to manga reviews. Check more out here.
I Cannot Believe We’re Already in February..
I’ve already talked about how I wont be doing daily blog post this year. However, I had more ambition post ideas than just a few post at this point in the year. Here’s why I have not posted nearly as much.
My Job– I have a wonderful job so I am not complaining. But I work 12-9pm. I live an hour away from my job. So I leave around 11 and get home around 10. That’s basically all day. Meaning it is hard to find time to plan and write the post.
Too Many Hobbies– I actually run 3 Youtube channels, have a job, and many side hobbies such as exercising, video games, comic books and so forth. I’ve been trying to Stream twice a week on Dahubbz and upload daily videos on my personal Youtube account. As a result when I get home, I am frantically taking care of other stuff.
Not Investing Time into Blog related Content- I’m sure this sounds confusing on the surface. But this vlog centers around anime reviews, manga reviews, and video game news. Sadly, I am just not doing a lot of that here recently. The only anime I am watching is Case Closed as I try to get to episode 1000 in time for it to air (Which, sadly, I probably will not be able to).
There’s certainly more reasons like our never ending pursuit of rearranging our house or our endless question of who we are in this world but for the sake of not getting deep in a blog post I’ll leave it there.
Today I am working on editing some stream clips if you guys missed the streams so you can watch them on Youtube at your own pace. Tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday so after work I’ll be watching the game.
I’ll try to do a post discussing Case Closed later and some other stuff. But again. Only time will tell. Thank you guys for sticking with me.
Digimon TCG Delayed until February.
Fans of the Digimon TCG game received some bad news. We already knew the starter decks were being delayed until mid-February. Now, the company has announced plans to delay the booster set release of Digimon TCG Set 1.0 until early February. I do believe this further pushes back the two other sets that were scheduled to be coming out in 2021 as well.
All around this is very unfornute but expected as it seems Covid is taking its toll on one, or various, areas of Bandai. Either way, I’ll try to make post keeping people up to date as we patiently await for this great card game to continue.
In the meantime, check out some of the awesome cards we pulled from our prerelease box here. And be on the look out soon for my ranking of each Digimon Skill. It’ll help you gauge the power level of each skill and maybe give you an early idea of which skills you want to build your deck around. Either way, thanks for reading and have a great day guys.
Looking forward to more Digimon TCG Cards and content? Let me know in the comments down below!
50 Followers Milestone!
So, I’ve been doing this blog thing for about 5 or so years and we just hit 50 followers. On the surface, that is about 10 followers a year. Not super impressive, but it is still something. So if you are one of those followers, thank you for following, reading and commenting/liking. I really do appreciate it.
Anyway, today is a short post. Have a great day guys. I’ll see you guys in the next post.
Da_Hubbz 