When I was young and carefree, I didn’t really have strong opinions on anything like most media, video games included (and I’ve been a gamer for as long as I remember), or any other media like books, movies, and television shows. In the early 1990s, I did have a slight interest in Disney’s animated films and had seen many in the theaters then, but when The Lion King came out in 1994, refused the opportunity to see it with my family when we visited my late maternal grandparents then. Since then, I hadn’t actually seen the film in its entirety to the point I could remember it, but recently watched it in full on Disney+ to celebrate its thirtieth anniversary.
The film opens with the iconic “Circle of Life” musical number and sequence where the newborn Simba, son of King Mufasa, is presented to the animal population of the Pride Lands. When Simba grows up, his father teaches him about royal responsibilities and preserving the “circle of life,” which connects all living entities. However, Mufasa hypocritically excludes the hyenas from it, with his effeminate younger brother, Scar, conspiring with them to seize the throne for himself. Some of the character names, Scar’s included, create an Aerith and Bob situation, like the main hyenas being named Shenzi, Banzai, and…Ed. Scar’s birth name, Taka, is never mentioned within the film, and a flashback in the future series The Lion Guard shows how he got his namesake facial blemish.
“When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connected in the great Circle of Life…but not the hyenas.”
Young Simba is a bit of a brat, and many musical numbers feel a bit excruciating, such as “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” (which steals a bit from Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5”), and “Be Prepared” (sharing its name with the Boy Scout motto doesn’t help). Scar ultimately tricks his nephew into going into the middle of a gorge while having the hyenas incite a stampede of wildebeests try to kill him, which results in Mufasa rescuing him but being killed himself in the process. Simba is blamed (mostly rightfully) for killing the king, with his uncle telling him to run away, which he does.
Simba eventually encounters the vagrant meerkat Timon and the warthog Pumbaa, who teach him through song “hakuna matata,” the art of not giving a damn, which he masters into adulthood. He rescues the two from his old friend Nala, with whom he falls in love, and who tells him that the Pride Lands has become drought-stricken under Scar’s reign. The film shows no logical explanation as to exactly how they did, with starvation present as well due to the lionesses refusing to hunt, so one could count them among the real villains of the movie alongside Mufasa.
The real heroes of the film.
After a celestial visit from his father, Simba returns to the Pride Lands to confront his uncle, with the rest of the film having plenty of callbacks to the first act. Overall, The Lion King definitely has many positive aspects, including the soundtrack (with exceptions such as a few of the musical numbers), strong voice performances (including James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Jeremy Irons as Scar, and Whoopi Goldberg and Cheech Marin as the hyenas Shenzi and Banzai), and parallels to William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. However, the movie does derive elements from Osamu Tezuka’s Kimba the White Lion, and there are others issues like zero in-film explanation about the climate during Scar’s kingship. Regardless, it’s easily a bucket-list animated film, but as with many others, that’s far from synonymous with “masterpiece.”
The Good
The Bad
Hamlet, but with lions. Great voice performances. Beautiful animation. Nice ethnic soundtrack.
Some unexplained plot elements. Borrows elements from Kimba the White Lion. A few excruciating musical numbers. Toilet humor.
The Bottom Line
A must-see Disney classic, but not synonymous with “masterpiece.”
Throughout my life, I was on and off religious, pretty much forced into The United Methodist Church when I moved to where I have lived since 1988. My family eventually stopped going, and I tread the line between agnostic and atheist for over a decade. I started going to a country Methodist church again with my parents circa 2006, then only my father. Given our eventual estrangement, however, I began to fully attend my town’s Episcopalian church towards the end of the last decade, given its reputation as one of the more liberal Christian denominations and my personal political and social liberalization.
African-American author Michael Bruce Curry has been the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in America since 2015 (with his predecessor being female). He begins with the story of his ancestors, with his grandparents having been part of the Great Migration of Black America between 1916 and 1970. Curry touches on his family’s religious background, highlighting events like one of his grandmothers telling him when he was young after he mocked a zealous preacher, “You don’t laugh at anybody else’s religion. You respect the Lord however he comes.” His book features many excellent quotes from the Bible and historical luminaries like Martin Luther King Jr., such as, “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”
While Curry’s book has some fascinating factoids, such as his preaching at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding, he becomes somewhat political throughout it. For example, he is critical of ex-President Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance immigration policies, possibly citing Exodus 23:9 (“You shall not oppress an alien…”) and opposing separating immigrant families (largely shared then by both conservative and liberal Christian denominations). This issue is my main point of contention with his work, as I believe that following Man’s law is as crucial as following God’s, and that the Bible does not unequivocally endorse traditional family values, as seen in passages like Matthew 10:34-37 (which includes the statement, “Your biggest enemies will be the members of your own family”).
One needs also note that religions and their respective texts have been grounds for various atrocities and crimes throughout human history. For instance, Exodus 22:18 says, “Suffer not a witch to live,” a possible justification for the Salem Witch Trials, and others like Adolf Hitler probably had religious motivations for genocide, maybe, “Whatever you do, do it for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10). As one who has suffered emotionally and psychologically at the hands of his flesh and blood, furthermore, I strongly believe that the blood of the Covenant is far thicker than that of the womb, would have gladly accepted alternative guardians, and have today found far more accepting nonbiological families.
Curry does mention far less polarizing political figures like the late Senator Robert Kennedy and abolitionist William Wilberforce, who helped peacefully end slavery in the British Empire. He further elaborates on his relatives, mentioning his comatic, then mute mother Dorothy, and his near-death experience when he got his head stuck in a couch. However, he succumbs at points to widespread theoretical nonwhite infallibility, mentioning the alleged innocence of the late black boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter (with the 1999 biopic about him, for instance, having inaccuracy that would lead to one of his former opponents suing the film’s director).
The presiding bishop draws an intriguing analogy between the anti-apartheid priest Desmond Tutu and singer Dolly Parton. He further mentions the Swiss-American psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ namesake five stages of grief (which I believe can vary significantly as an autistic) and discusses bargaining with God. The bishop correctly points out that Anglicans/Episcopalians were once aligned with mainstream historical society and the Catholic Church on issues such as Native Americans and black slavery. Additionally, he engages in more political discourse, incorporating Dr. King’s insightful quote, “It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o’clock on Sunday morning.”
Overall, while I agree with Bishop Curry on major social and theological points (for instance, nonheterosexual relationships and love, overall, “being the way”), I highly disagree with him politically (even despite considering myself more open-minded than I was during the 2000s). However, I don’t disagree with him to the point of many lapsed Catholic American politicians regarding the Pope (and in my opinion, they should instead be Episcopalian, given Curry’s perspectives and my view of Anglicanism as liberalized Catholicism). As a result, I skimmed over many portions, but genuine members of the rarely-mentioned Religious Left will adore his book. I identify more with the “Religious Center” and believe that in Christ, there is no Left or Right, just as there is no East or West, black or white, heterosexual or nonheterosexual, male or female, and so forth.
When the long-anticipated first entry of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, The Force Awakens, was released in theaters in 2015, it received widespread acclaim, with many critics calling it “a return to greatness.” However, as a longtime fan of the franchise, I disagree that the series ever “peaked” (an endemic opinion that emerged after the polarizing Prequel Trilogy), given the obvious overlooked flaws in the original films. Nonetheless, I continue to support the multimedia cash cow with my attention and money. The following year came the debut of the spinoff Star Wars film Rogue One, also well-revered, afterward the next mainline Episode, Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Major Spoilers for The Force Awakens
Despite losing Starkiller Base, a third Death Star in all but name, the First Order rules the franchise’s nameless galaxy, forcing the Resistance to evacuate their main fleet on the planet D’Qar. In a daring move, pilot Poe Dameron leads a solo attack against the First Order dreadnought Fulminatrix, destroying its critical cannons and creating an opportunity for Resistance vessels to escape. However, Dameron’s decision to defy General Leia Organa’s orders and attempt to destroy the entire ship leads to his demotion to captain. This is a significant development as it highlights the ongoing tension and personal struggles within the Resistance, particularly in the aftermath of Han Solo’s patricide by his son, Ben, who still identifies as Kylo Ren.
The film picks up where The Force Awakens left off. On the aquatic world Ahch-To, Rey presents the self-exiled Jedi Master Luke Skywalker with his old lightsaber. The legendary Jedi Knight casually tosses it aside and locks himself in his hut. This moment has sparked intense debates among fans, critics, and even actor Mark Hamill. Luke has been criticized for allegedly losing his character growth from the Original Trilogy. However, one should consider that Kylo was his nephew, his flesh and blood. As I am no stranger to the pain of betrayal from my biological family, I can empathize with Luke’s reaction and understand his decision.
Meanwhile, Supreme Leader Snoke questions his apprentice Kylo’s loyalty to the dark side of the Force and potential to become a worthy successor to his maternal grandfather, Darth Vader. Snoke sees that Kylo has “too much of his father’s heart” in him and disciplines him through various Force powers like lightning. Back on Ahch-To, Rey tries to recruit Luke into the Resistance against the First Order, mentioning that his sister Leia sent her. However, Skywalker insists that the time of the Jedi Order has passed, alluding to their downfall after the Clone Wars. Eventually, the Jedi Master agrees to give Rey a few lessons despite his pessimistic views.
After an attack by the First Order on the vessel Raddus exposes Leia to cold space, the long-necked and lavender-haired Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo, portrayed by franchise newcomer Laura Dern, takes charge of the Resistance. Holdo disdains Poe’s warning that the fleet will run out of fuel, causing the pilot to distrust the new commander. Meanwhile, former First Order stormtrooper Finn, now a full ally of the Resistance, wants to search for Rey and joins one of his admirers, Rose Tico, to seek the Master Codebreaker in the casino city Canto Bight on the advice of Maz Kanata (embroiled in a union dispute) so that they can disable the First Order’s hyperspace tracker.
On Ahch-To, Rey and Kylo briefly communicate telepathically, hinting at a deeper connection between the two characters. However, their interaction is disrupted by Luke, who initiates her first lessons and enlightens her that the Force is not a simple dichotomy of light and dark, as previously believed. Rey uncovers a place beneath the island, steeped in the dark side. Afterward, she continues her conversation with Kylo, who compels her to find the truth of his descent into darkness and the subsequent rift between him and his uncle. When Rey ultimately departs, an old friend visits Luke, who urges him to transcend the past. He delivers the most iconic quote in the Sequel Trilogy, underscoring the film’s profound impact on the Star Wars narrative.
Poe assists Finn, Rose, and BB-8 in visiting Canto Bight on Cantonica, where they encounter trouble with the local police. While in custody, they manage to escape with the aid of the stuttering slicer DJ, portrayed by Benicio Del Toro, who is also a new addition to the Star Wars saga. DJ assists them in infiltrating the Supremacy, disguised as First Order officers. Despite their efforts, they are eventually apprehended, leading to a confrontation between Captain Phasma and the defector Finn. The First Order decimates the Resistance’s fleet, leaving only the Raddus. Poe challenges Vice-Admiral Holdo, who commands the ship’s evacuation to an old Rebel Alliance outpost on Crait, the setting for the film’s climactic battle.
Meanwhile, Rey takes an escape pod from the Millennium Falcon and surrenders herself to the First Order. Kylo Ren escorts her to Supreme Leader Snoke’s throne room, leading to a confrontation reminiscent of Return of the Jedi, where she tries to persuade Kylo to abandon the dark side. The leader of the Knights of Ren grapples with both sides of the Force. The movie culminates in the Battle of Crait, echoing the Hoth battle at the start of The Empire Strikes Back, delivering unexpected twists that conclude the eighth episode on a high note.
As someone who initially didn’t care much for The Force Awakens but believed Episode VIII was an improvement, perhaps the pinnacle of the Sequel Trilogy, my first rewatch solidified that view. Most of the film felt fresh; since I rewatched the movie on Disney+, I saw it in its entirety and could mercifully pause for bathroom breaks. Like its predecessor, the writing is nothing short of intelligent. It has witty banter galore, plenty of homages to the Original Trilogy, and characters on either side of the conflict, predominantly Luke and Kylo, being equally just in their motives. The gray area of the Force receives significant focus as well.
However, while The Last Jedi is nearly perfect, it shares the same issues as its predecessors, chiefly the sheer number of events that occur within the films (for instance, C-3PO no longer has the distinctive arm color he had in Episode VII). No specific trilogy or movie has ever been the main problem with Star Wars; yet, admittedly, creator George Lucas wasn’t entirely foresightful when expanding it into a franchise. Consequently, the numerous spinoff books and television series have had to fill in the gaps between the films, and many remain unfilled. Nevertheless, the second installment of the Sequel Trilogy is a pinnacle of the Skywalker Saga and the series.
The Good
The Bad
Excellent acting. Very intelligent writing. Insightful sociopolitical commentary. Engaging character growth. Tons of great homages to the Original Trilogy. Superb soundtrack and visual effects.
Still a lot of things that occur outside the films.
Italian author, humorist, and journalist Carlo Lorenzini, better known by his pseudonym Carlo Collodi, published his magnum opus, The Adventures of Pinocchio, in serial form for the children’s magazine Giornale per i bambini from 1881 to 1882, and would receive acclaim as one of Italy’s most significant contributions to the worldwide literary zeitgeist, its most translated and widely read after the Bible. It would inspire countless other fiction and adaptations like Disney’s iconic version, its name shortened to Pinocchio, released in 1940, which initially failed at the box office due to the forthcoming Second World War.
The film opens with the Talking Cricket, named Jiminy in Disney’s version and voiced by Cliff Edwards, singing “When You Wish Upon a Star,” which would eventually serve as the studio’s musical motif. Then he narrates the tale of the eponymous puppet, so named for being made of pine, whom poor, elderly woodcarver Geppetto creates and wishes alive upon a star. Pinocchio consequentially animates thanks to the Blue Fairy but retains his puppet form, and she assigns Jiminy as his “conscience,” Geppetto doing his part to raise him and trying to send him to school.
A classic game of cat and…fox
On the way, Pinocchio encounters the effeminate vulpine con artist “Honest” John Worthington Foulfellow and his silent feline companion Gideon, who recruit him into vagrant showman Stromboli’s puppet show. Jiminy fails to emancipate his charge, with the Blue Fairy eventually doing the job after a round with Pinocchio’s untruths that results in her constantly elongating his nose, coupled with her iconic quote, “A lie keeps growing and growing until it’s as plain as the nose on your face.” Afterward, the puppet is on his own and joins a coach of boys en route to Pleasure Island.
The island bears a curse where its visitors, free to engage in vices like vandalism, fighting, smoking, and drinking, turn into donkeys due to making “jackasses” of themselves, with Pinocchio, mid-transformation, escaping with Jiminy’s help and finding Geppetto in the belly of the whale Monstro, from whom they must escape. Overall, Disney’s adaptation is, to date, still one of the strongest; however, there are some dangling threads, like what happens with Honest John and Gideon, and many moments come off as ridiculous today. Regardless, the musical numbers like “Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee” (which serves as a bit of a central theme) are endearing, and aside from endless ruination by past and modern activists, journalists, and politicians, is an iconic piece of animated cinema.
The Good
The Bad
Still one of the best adaptations of Collodi’s classic. Great animation. Decent music.
A lot of moments that haven’t aged well. Many character fates left unresolved. Endlessly ruined politically.
I was largely apathetic and carefree in grade school about the world’s happenings, American politics, and US history until I took my education more seriously, starting in the seventh grade. While I got the general gist of American history during eighth and ninth grades, I discovered well after graduating college that many inconvenient details were absent from mainstream textbooks. I long knew about the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, with conspiracy theories abounding about his murder, expanded upon through director Oliver Stone’s “controversial” Academy Award-winning JFK, which many film critics consider his magnum opus.
The movie heavily utilizes footage from the 1960s, opening with President Dwight Eisenhower’s farewell speech regarding the military-industrial complex. Then it proceeds to JFK’s assassination proper in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963, by Lee Harvey Oswald (who would himself be killed the same day by nightclub owner Jack Ruby), portrayed by Gary Oldman in Stone’s film during his original material. The music is decent, but the irritating overuse of snare drums, chiefly during the president’s murder, can be pretty annoying. After the first ten minutes, my initial impression of the film was also negative, given lines like, “Goodbye, you sorry bastard! Die!” and conversations like this:
The president has been shot. Oh no! They think it’s in the head.
Luckily, this doesn’t indicate the movie’s overall quality, as the second act is better, concluding with Jim Garrison’s (played by Kevin Costner) trial against Clay Shaw (Tommy Lee Jones), where excellent points and observations are made about the iffiness of the Kennedy assassination, only for Shaw to win. I can relate to many of the themes, like Garrison being a crappy husband and father and that “official” government reports shouldn’t be blindly trusted. One thing that irked me about the movie’s reception outside movie critics was that questioning the government was more “controversial” than the film’s racist and homophobic slurs (and sadly, the MPAA thinks saying “fuck” is worse than those, for some illogical reason). Then again, the Woke movement didn’t exist in 1991.
Works on contingency? No, money down!
The acting was okay, aside from lines like those above and the overabundance of allegedly “intelligent” characters, mainly the Southern historical figures and politicians, sounding like dumb hillbillies (you can tell I’m from the South by my voice, but I have the dignity not to talk like that). Aside from the irritating snare drums, the music was mostly good, with the violin pieces being the strongest, particularly during the ending credits (before which comes an epilogue showing the fates of the various luminaries featured in the film). Many great quotes also abound, like “The bigger the lie, the more people will believe it.”
Overall, despite a lousy beginning, some bad writing (including unnecessary gratuitous swearing), and occasional veering off-topic (like Mardi Gras and gay parties), JFK has something for everyone regardless of how they feel about the Kennedy assassination and conspiracy theories, mostly deserving the Academy Awards it received. It’s easily a bucket-list film (but that is far from synonymous with “masterpiece”) and makes excellent sociopolitical commentary about questioning one’s government, even in the face of “official” facts (which often come from people with political agendas). Sadly, given the federal destruction of most documents related to the Kennedy assassination, who the hell knows if we’ll ever discover the genuine, objective, verifiable truth?
The Good
The Bad
Some of the performances are good. Ditto the music. Trial at end is the film’s high point. Great sociopolitical commentary.
Bad first impression. Snare drums in music are irritating. Inconsistent quality of acting. Sometimes veers off-topic.
The Bottom Line
A bucket-list film with something for everyone regardless about how they feel about the Kennedy assassination.
Being a good person and contributing positvely to my community and society regarding art and literature, maybe having laws and schools named after me (though I wouldn’t want an excess of statues and paintings of me due to the whole “graven icons” verse of the Bible), and probably an ideology (regarding art, philosophy, politics, and video game design), among other things.
Star Wars’ Expanded Universe (EU) has been a crucial part of its narrative since its inception, even before the release of the sequel The Empire Strikes Back three years later. This expansion was marked by influential books like Alan Dean Foster’s Splinter of the Mind’s Eye and a few spinoff stories featuring the beloved character Han Solo. However, when Disney acquired Lucasfilm, they “rebooted” the EU, invalidating all narrative elements without the original and prequel trilogies; the primary Episodes would be rebranded as the “Skywalker Saga.” Three years later, Disney released the first canon entry of the sequel trilogy, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, a collaboration between Lucasfilm and director J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot production company.
Set three decades after Return of the Jedi, the movie introduces a new generation of characters. It revolves around the disappearance of Luke Skywalker after one of his rogue pupils annihilated his fledgling Jedi Order. His twin sister, General Leia Organa, leads the Resistance in defending the New Republic against the First Order, formed from the remnants of the fragmented Galactic Empire. On Jakku, a desert planet like Tatooine, Resistance pilot Poe Dameron discovers a star map of Luke’s location. This discovery leads to a chain of events, including the kidnapping and torture of Dameron by Kylo Ren, leader of the Dark Side-following Knights of Ren and successor to Darth Vader. A pivotal character in the narrative is disgruntled stormtrooper FN-2187, renamed Finn, who saves Dameron and escapes via a TIE fighter.
Kylo shares Vader’s dark sense of humor.
They crash-land on Jakku, escaping on the Millennium Falcon after the First Order begins an airstrike. The legendary vessel’s previous owners, Han Solo and his imposing furry friend Chewbacca, discover and board it, dealing with various gangs with which Han had conducted business. Afterward, the film cuts to political maneuvering at the First Order’s Starkiller Base, a planet converted into a superweapon (essentially a third Death Star, which the movie acknowledges, albeit capable of destroying entire star systems). Supreme Leader Snoke, who looks like a giant disfigured cross between Lord Voldemort and Gollum (with Andy Serkis ironically voicing the emperor stand-in), gives General Hux the OK to execute the weapon while questioning his apprentice Kylo’s capabilities as his enforcer (his reasons unfortunately spoiled to me by some jerkwad online before I saw the film in theaters).
The star map leading to Luke, harbored by the diminutive droid BB-8, is discovered to be incomplete. They travel to the planet Takodana to meet the cantina owner Maz Kanata, who is around a millennium old and offers the Resistance help. Visions of Rey’s past and the Jedi Order are revealed when she touches an old lightsaber below the cantina, which she allows Finn to keep. After a riveting speech by General Hux on Starkiller Base, the film’s dramatic high point, the superweapon’s fury is unleashed on the Hosnian System, home to the New Republic, leaving the Resistance by itself to face the First Order.
The First Order assaults Takodana in search of BB-8, with Kylo also capturing Rey and interrogating her at Starkiller Base. As the superweapon prepares to fire again, the Resistance launches a counterattack, with Han, Chewbacca, and Finn infiltrating the base. Kylo is confronted with a vile but heart-wrenching climax, after which the Resistance attempts to destroy Starkiller Base from within, with Rey and Finn confronting Kylo. The film concludes with a cliffhanger showing an aged Luke that ties into the following episode, The Last Jedi. The emotional impact of these events leaves a profound and lasting impression on the audience.
Probably the film’s comedic high point, ironically a bit before the emotional climax.
I didn’t have many expectations when I watched the movie in theaters, initially released in the previous decade. The trailers did an excellent job masking critical points of the narrative (but again, significant twists had been spoiled for me), and the focus on Luke’s disappearance at least surprised me. At first, it felt like a glorified remake of A New Hope (which it often and admittedly is). However, upon rewatching, I found it superior and better written, with the dialogue being nothing short of intelligent, including frequent witty banter, plenty of callbacks and homages to the original trilogy, and one reference to the prequel trilogy (“Perhaps Leader Snoke should consider using a clone army”).
The Star Wars franchise has always excelled in its sociopolitical commentary and themes, and The Force Awakens is no exception. Its chief motif is history repeating itself, freedom and democracy, and their perpetual struggle against tyranny, constantly being in flux. The characters, new and old, excel as always, with many, like Kylo, being very relatable and those like Han having had excellent growth between the original and sequel trilogies. While the sudden invalidation of the original Expanded Universe irritated many, the new canon has been just as enjoyable in many aspects.
Han probably had the best character growth in between the original and sequel trilogies.
However, The Force Awakens bequeaths many of the same issues as its predecessors, chief among them the sheer volume of events that occur offscreen, explained only in the canon books and television series, like C-3PO’s red left arm and the existence of the Knights of Ren themselves. Thus, the sudden dump of new characters, settings, and situations during the film’s initial release was somewhat problematic, with many books and series slightly filling the narrative gaps since then. There are also weird expressions like “moof-milker” (akin to The Empire Strikes Back‘s “nerf herder”).
Regardless, I enjoyed Episode VII upon my first rewatch, chiefly because it evoked many emotions from me, good and bad, and often hit home hard. I know its reputation has somewhat soured since its initial release, but I felt quite the opposite and think its themes could easily apply to today’s world. The characters and writing are superb, with the music and visual effects excelling as they always have throughout the Star Wars franchise. However, it inherits many problems from its predecessors, like the endless events occurring without the films. Even so, I was blown away by the movie when I rewatched it and will happily rewatch the following Episodes and the trilogies before.
I first heard this song in the episode of The Simpsons “‘Round Springfield,” and I listened to the original playing while sitting in the break area at the local grocery store, so here’s the whole song.
Here’s the The Simpsons version.
I used to watch but became alienated due to things like child abuse (which hits home for me but at a more emotional and psychological than physical level), school violence (in repeating what I said in my previous parentheses), and topical humor (which tends to date fictitious television shows).
I’m sorry, but after seeing shit like this, I can’t support Israel at all. I apologize for invoking Godwin’s law, but they’re acting as evil as the Nazis did, getting back for the Holocaust the way black Americans are trying to get back for slavery. I support one country called Palestine, where Hebrews, Arabs, Jews, Christians, and Muslims all coexist, not in apartheid (and Palestine’s flag doesn’t even have a crescent moon on it the way Israel’s has the Star of David, which to me is today to the Palestinians what the swastika is to the Jews and the Southern Cross is to black Americans). America needs to stay the hell out of international affairs, pissing away trillions on international conflicts that have nothing to do with us, and focus on its issues. Putting the interests of foreigners above residents of your country is called treason, similar to Abraham Lincoln’s illegal invasion of the Confederacy. I’m no isolationist, but I believe that containment while working for peace is the best policy towards warring nations.
Something I’m trying since I’ve been having trouble keeping up in this blog, first a piece of music that sounds like a cross between previously-written pieces.
“Where Everybody Knows Your Name” from Cheers
+
The Love Theme from St. Elmo’s Fire
=
“The End of Your Adventure” from Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City
This happens with me all the time, the French term l’esprit de l’escalier, coming up with responses way too late, which is part of my autism. I can pretty much write a book about the times this has happened in my life.
The third installment of author Chris Farrington’s The Legend of Whomper series opens with the titular protagonist, a chubby blue fox, seeking a healer for his instructor, the Edgemaster (or just “Edgemaster” as he’s awkwardly called throughout the graphic novel). After finding a temple of healers in comas, Whomper dreams of interacting with the rabbit Remmy, one of the eponymous Dreamcrafters, with he and Skyla flying to the jungle to another shrine where they sleep and enter the Dreamscape. Whomper reunites with Remmy while dreaming and is shown a system of visible dreams and nightmares where he can battle imaginary monsters.
Grescam, the Dreamdragon, attacks the dream city of Lagos-4 with Whomper and Skyla training so they can better deal with him. This includes tasks such as the fox fighting a doppelgänger in his dreams. Grescam reappears, after which Whomper travels to the god Lord Hypnos’ chamber, where the backstory on the Dreamdragon is revealed. Meanwhile, Remmy and Skyla battle the Lord of Nightmares, and Whomper retaliates against the Dreamdragon with help from a mystical hammer called the Dreamsmasher. After the conflicts, Whomper and Skyla travel to Hammer Forge, where the latter goes to a bar to discuss her lover’s youth.
The third entry concludes with an entertaining look at Whomper and Skyla in prehistoric life, followed by a nice anecdote featuring minor characters. In summary, I enjoyed this graphic novel, an excellent continuation of its predecessors, given the second entry’s foreshadowing of its events. As before, Farrington’s character designs are cute, colorful, and unique, even if the story isn’t wholly family-friendly. Moreover, issues from its precursors return, like awkward dialogue and punctuation errors. Furthermore, all text is capitalized, making it vague whether important terms are capitalized at their beginnings. The story also didn’t fit my entire iPad, but I would recommend installment number three to those who enjoyed previous books.
The year 2011 saw the founding of the videogame developer and publisher Chucklefish Limited in London, specializing in producing retro-styled games. Among their publications, developed by Lunar Ray Games, was the Metroidvania Timespinner, taking heavy inspiration from Konami’s Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and financed through the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter in June 2014. It was initially to be released in November 2015. However, the project’s scope led to delays to September 2018, initially on computer and PlayStation-based media, but it would expand to the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One.
As the game’s moniker implies, Timespinner’s narrative focuses on time travel, with protagonist Lunais, a Time Messenger, needing to traverse the present and the past to defeat the evil Lachiem Empire responsible for the death of her parents. The story has a few derivative elements and a point where I had to reference the internet to find out how to advance. However, the way the game tells it is surprisingly effective and never feels forced down the player’s throat, as with most top-tier titles. Many documents add nicely to the game’s background, with a slight hint of LGBTQ+ themes and multiple endings that add some lasting appeal.
Akin to the godfather of the Metroidvania genre, Timespinner features 2-D side-scrolling gameplay. Luna can equip a Main Orb and a Sub Orb, between which she alternates when attacking; a Spell Necklace that allows her to charge and execute magic; and a Passive Ring that allows for continuous skills, such as a pair of blades swirling about her and attacking foes. She also eventually accesses Familiars, who do their own thing and attack enemies, leveling occasionally. Killing enemies may drop items, some of which are necessary to complete sidequests, with Lunais herself occasionally leveling as well, getting money from both defeated foes and breaking light sources.
Sheldon Cooper definitely wouldn’t like this kind of cat
Throughout the past and present, Lunais can also find items that permanently increase her health, aura, and sand, the last of which she can use to freeze time temporarily, often necessary to use enemies as platforms to reach higher areas. Lunais can further equip headgear, a piece of armor, and two accessories; she can also purchase various items from shops. She may further find items that can level her orbs, with repeated use doing the same. The game mechanics are virtually flawless, aside from knockback endemic to most Metroidvanias (which can lead to situations like being forced to different chambers), with occasional bosses impeding Lunais’ progress, the Dream Mode difficulty allowing her to avoid death and fully heal when she reaches zero health.
Control also serves the game well, with easily navigable menus, enjoyable exploration, helpful in-game maps where players can place markers of different colors, and pleasant platforming. While one could argue that, in difficulties above Dream Mode, the player can waste progress if killed far from restorative save points, a buyable item allows Lunais to teleport to the last safe zone, which is helpful when she’s close to death. However, there are issues like the lack of a suspend save (which I could have sworn was in other game versions I played) and poor direction (in which case I had to reference the internet). Regardless, Timespinner interfaces with players like a dream.
Jeff Ball provides a soundtrack stylistically like that of the Castlevania series, with good use of instruments such as the piano and harpsichord. Tracks like “Masquerade of Hedonists” sound like they came straight out of the iconic Konami series (and could easily pass as being written by Mozart), with other pieces like ”The Broken”, the first boss battle theme, evoking a similar feel. Some voice clips include Lunais’ grunting when attacking and occasional laughter. The sound effects are also good, and while there are some silent portions, namely most cutscenes, Timespinner is very much an aural delight.
Books–check ’em out
The visuals also evoke Timespinner’s Castlevania inspirations, with gorgeous pixel art, character portraits prominent during dialogues, enemy designs, colorful environments, and smooth animation. There are a few reskins in terms of foes, the sprites mostly don’t show emotion, and equipment doesn’t affect Lunais’ appearance, but otherwise, the game graphically excels.
Finally, finishing the core game can take as little as three hours. However, there is a plentiful lasting appeal in the form of a New Game+, multiple endings (many of which one can view within the same playthrough, and the ending credits become skippable after being viewed once), completely mapping every area, fully leveling Lunais, completing the game compendia, in-game Feats, Steam Achievements, and so forth, so absolute completion can naturally take far longer.
Overall, Timespinner is easily one of the high points of the Metroidvania gaming genre, given its superb gameplay, tight control, engaging narrative, excellent soundtrack, gorgeous graphics, and abundance of side content, surpassing others in terms of quality. While there are negligible flaws in aspects like control and the visuals, and one may argue that it lacks quantity, it quickly makes up for in terms of quality. The supplemental content will also appease those who habitually complain about short games. I enjoyed the various times I played through the game, and I very much look forward to its forthcoming sequel whenever it is eventually released, if ever.
This review is based on a single playthrough on Dream Mode of around eight hours on a Steam Deck of a digital copy purchased by the reviewer, with multiple endings viewed, and 7/37 Steam Achievements acquired.
Score Breakdown
The Good
The Bad
Superb Metroidvania mechanics. Excellent lore and narrative. Solid audiovisual presentation. Plenty of lasting appeal.
Typical Metroidvania knockback. Easy to get lost at times. Some derivative story elements. A lot of reskinned enemies.
I first heard about Great Wolf Lodge through several commercials and an episode of Undercover Boss (though I didn’t watch said episode completely), with the immediate attraction being the indoor water park chain’s lupine mascot Wiley Wolf, outfitted in an adorable boy scout/park ranger combination uniform. As such, I researched said company and discovered their anthropomorphic animal cast aimed at younger audiences. The characters would endure several aesthetic changes, the latest of which would star in a short movie, The Great Wolf Pack: Call to Adventure, released in 2022.
The film itself stars Wiley Wolf in his latest design as he joins friends like Sammy Squirrel, Oliver Raccoon, and others in an adventure that later involves a clash between two races with a claim to a territory. The characters are cute, the animation is fluid, the themes are relatable, and the voice performances are well-executed. However, there are issues like the general kiddy nature of the movie and lack of appeal to older audiences. Many “why” moments regarding dialogue and conversations also abound, and other oddities like Oliver having red panda parents come at the end. The theme songs during the ending credits are somewhat excruciating as well.
Still, it’s not a long film and is viewable on YouTube.
American politics, since despite trying my best to avoid the topic like the plague, it absolutely won’t leave my mind given the traumatic experiences I’ve had with the subject around my own family and especially in the furry fandom. It’s a really triggering subject to me since it’s pretty much the story of my life, given all the dehumanization, invalidation, gaslighting, mockery, and whatnot I’ve endured as an autistic.
After struggling endlessly to read traditional textual books, I decided, for sake of my mental health, to stop, even though I was in the middle of a fantasy trilogy, which to me is no big loss since I didn’t really care about the characters, the setting, or whatnot, and the books will probably never be adapated to feature film, anyway. From now on, I’ll only be reading books that have been adapted into film or will be adapted into film, are part of series I genuinely care about and love (like Star Wars), graphic novels, comics, nonfiction books that aren’t puff pieces or hatchet jobs or in any fashion political or antireligious, and so forth. Decluttering my life in this regard has actually been mildly therapeutic, surprisingly.
Did some more exploration and quests, but got lost and had to reference the internet since I forgot to check a skeleton in an area I had visited to get a keycard necessary to advance.
When playing my Steam Deck portably, I can take screenshots just fine, but for some reason still not with my controller on TV…
Continuing to plow along. Beat some bosses. Explored some previous areas I was unable to access. Finished a few quests. Love how the game tracks if enemies have drops you haven’t gotten yet.
Asked about my screenshot-taking issues with my Steam Deck, but haven’t gotten a response yet.
Washington, DC, because America’s terminally-cancerous political “culture” and “system” have been really detrimental towards my mental health, and just even the slightest exposure to US politics gives me suicidal thoughts, since American politics has pretty much been the story of my life. Having a politician as a father who can’t shut up about the subject doesn’t really help in that regard, either.
This is for one of my oldest friends in the furry fandom (I was penpals with her when LiveJournal was still a thing), and while we had our…disagreements, we were (mostly) on good terms.
I had done this for her as a birthday gift last year. She appreciated it when I showed it to her on FurAffinity, and another friend noted that she was surprised, given her ideological leanings (since many furs don’t like their fursonas depicted in…certain outfits, as I learned many times the hard way). Even if Reaux (the giftee) wasn’t sincere in appreciating my artwork, she was nice, so that sits well with me.
Some other art…
Been messing around with ideological art lately. Someone on DeviantArt thought my own political leanings were…vague, and I’ll acknowledge that I have strong beliefs in many directions, and as a result, I really don’t fit in perfectly with any specific ideology, party, or whatever.
Anyway, here’s the first.
My Christian views, as well.
And part of a new series I’m starting, called “Insanity is…”
I’m playing this on Steam now (and played it two times before, on PlayStation 4 and Vita) since there’s a sequel forthcoming, and I have really fond memories of the game, in my opinion one of the best Western Metroidvanias. Also one of the best Western RPG soundtracks of all time, and Jeff Ball really does a nice job mimicing the style of JRPG music (with the Castlevania series seeming to have been his biggeest inspiration).
Here are some screens from my first hour with the game.
I did this for a Peruvian furry, but despite showing them the piece via private note on DeviantArt, and they read it, they didn’t respond. God, if I had a nickel for every time that happened…
This I created for a Quebecian fur’s birthday today, and he actually followed good cyber-netiquette and responded to me a few minutes later, giving me the okay to post it on DA.
One of the final RPGs I played for the Sony PlayStation was Enix’s Dragon Warrior VII, titled Dragon Quest VII: Warriors of Eden in Japan, which was the first entry of the series I played on a console since the original Dragon Warrior on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Throughout the 2000s, the franchise would undergo a translational renaissance in the West, culminating in retaining the Dragon Quest name outside Japan. However, success in the Anglophone world would vary drastically. Thus, the seventh Dragon Quest remake for the Nintendo 3DS seemed doomed to remain in Japan when released in the next decade. Mercifully, it would be rescued and localized as Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past.
The rerelease opens on Estard, the only island in the world, with the protagonist, the son of a fisherman and his wife, working with Prince Kiefer, the kingdom’s reluctant heir, to delve into the world’s mysteries, which may lead to clues as to why their isle is all alone in the first place. The town mayor’s daughter, Maribel, joins them, with the party getting the help of individuals like the scholar Dermot the Hermit to investigate the Shrine of Mysteries, populated with pedestals that can contain the subtitular fragments scattered across Estard, which hold the key to their world’s “forgotten past.”
The scenarios the hero and his allies encounter throughout the game are endearing, developed well, have backstories, and explain why Estard seems all alone. Some texts from bookshelves add background and philosophy, with many relatable themes abounding, like unsupportive parents, rewriting history, burying inconvenient historical facts, etc. While the periods and connections between past and present scenarios aren’t always explicit, they are still intriguing. Drawbacks include glacial pacing, methodical story structure, predictable and derivative plot points, and vague narrative direction. Regardless, the narrative is an excellent draw to the game.
Prince Kiefer prevents his father from Making Estard Great Again
The localization, characteristic of previous series entries translated into English, breathes life into the dialogue, with the PlayStation version’s script having amounted to more than ten thousand pages, which could have explained the long translation period. Regional dialects return in full force, representing linguistic groups like the English (Renaissance and contemporary), Scottish, British, Cockney, French, Germans, Russians, and more. Clever naming conventions also abound, like renaming Prince Kiefer’s father King Donald in honor of the Sutherlands, numerous pun-based identities for individuals and enemies that include Cardinal Sin, Dermot the Hermit, the forky pig, the tongue fu fighter, etc.
However, the translation retains countless irritating conventions of Japanese RPG dialogue, including a chronic overuse of exclamation points and ellipses, spelled-out laughter (like “ha, ha, ha,” which today only sounds natural if done sarcastically), other onomatopoeia rendered in English (like sleepers saying “Ah-phew! Ah-phew!”), and so forth. Occasional awkward dialogue abounds as well, which encompasses the franchise’s staple encounter quote “But the enemies are too stunned to move!”, and a few punctuation marks are misplaced. There’s also maybe one inconsistent spelling of a character’s name (Autonymous instead of Autonymus), but the localization overall shines.
As a testament to the glacial pacing, players don’t encounter their first enemies until over an hour into the narrative. However, the tempo of the game mechanics beats in the opposite direction. At first, they seem like standard Dragon Quest: the player inputs commands among up to four characters, like attacks with equipped weapons, defense to reduce damage, MP-consuming magic, or various skills that may or may not require MP. The standard rules of traditional turn-based Japanese RPG combat exist, with characters and the enemy, after the players input their party’s orders, exchanging commands in an order allegedly depending upon agility, but this can be random and lead to occasional incidents of things like healing allies low on HP coming too late.
The player can attempt escape from combat, but as with 99.99% of JRPGs (except maybe Chrono Cross), this doesn’t work all the time. Other features include AI options for all characters except the protagonist (alongside a manual selection of orders), which players can set for individual allies or the entire party. These include not using MP when selecting commands, going medieval against enemies, focusing on keeping HP high, and emphasizing stat-boosting abilities and defense. While AI, of course, can often be artificially incompetent, I found this handy (especially “Don’t Use Magic,” since dozens of excellent free skills come later in the game), and methinks it shaved a few hours off my total playtime than if I had always selected skills myself.
Victory results in all characters still alive acquiring experience for occasional leveling, money, and occasional items. I should add that the remake ditches random encounters (except in one late-game dungeon, the Multipleximus Maximus) in favor of visible enemies, who charge the player’s party when their levels are lower than or equal to theirs and run away otherwise. One spell, Holy Protection, can temporarily make enemies on fields and in dungeons other than those higher in level disappear, nullifying the possibility of accidentally bumping into weaker foes. The difficulty for the first part of the game was fair for me, and I often needed to use consumable healing items in a few tough boss battles.
As is the class system if you play your cards right
When the player unlocks Alltrades Abbey (after Kiefer leaves your party permanently, so don’t waste stat-increasing seeds on him or worry about constantly upgrading his equipment), the fun truly begins. Then, players access an engrossing class system, with their party able to select from many base vocations; mastery of these unlocks those of higher tiers. Every class increases and decreases all a character’s stats by a certain amount. Fortunately, players need not keep tons of spare equipment available for job changes like Final Fantasy V. As in Dragon Warrior VII, characters acquire experience for their vocation after triumphing in an enemy encounter, but only if the foes’ levels are on par with or higher than theirs.
One improvement over the PlayStation version is that class levels rise quicker, but at the same time, characters can now only access abilities in intermediate and advanced classes if in the former or the latter if the middle-tier classes are prerequisites for those upper-tier. Monster classes from the original return (their respective hearts acquired from treasure chests or battle) and allow them to transform into these adversarial vocations to learn their skills. Unlike Dragon Warrior VII, enemy vocations are no longer divided into a hierarchy, with all skills learned from them remaining with the allies who learn them regardless of their current job.
Returning to the matter of free skills, which characters will learn frequently, many can be incredibly useful, like Hatchet Man, which has a 50/50 chance of dealing unblockable critical damage to enemies and can be handy at making mincemeat (or mincegoo) of metallic slime foes that run away quickly but reward ludicrous experience when killed. However, this can be a double-edged sword since it can consequentially level characters to the point where they don’t advance in their classes (but in most late-game areas, enemies will reward class experience regardless of strength or weakness).
To sum up, the game mechanics work surprisingly well, especially with the pacing of combat contradicting that of the narrative. I could end most standard battles on the highest speed setting within a round or two without half a minute passing. Furthermore, with character class paths planned carefully, I blazed through the final boss fight without dying. However, many issues from prior series entries recur, like the inability to target specific enemies in groups, the randomization, no telling of when beneficial spells (except Oomph) expire, and the AI not being foolproof. Late-game, furthermore, when the player has five party members, the extra can’t come along, which is a step down from previous installments where one could have everyone and switch them in and out of battle on the fly from reserve.
Everybody was tongue fu fighting
Control has rarely been a strong suit in the Dragon Quest series, and the seventh entry’s remake continues that trend. Endless dialogue and confirmations when performing simple tasks like shopping and saving your game? Check. Frequent vague direction on advancing the main storyline, even when talking to everyone? Check. Needing constantly to reference the internet regarding said poor direction and other things like hidden secrets and puzzles? Check. However, conveniences like instant teleportation among visited towns and exiting dungeons return, though these have issues, with the former only working in the present and the latter not always readily available. Furthermore, when acquiring the second nautical ship late-game, I couldn’t figure out how to get off the thing without using Zoom to a town, and the in-game clock was slow.
Even so, the fragment finder, which indicates whenever the subtitular fragments are nearby, is the best improvement over the PlayStation version. The fairy at the Shrine of Mysteries also often clues players about the location of the next one necessary to access a new area in the past. However, this did fail me at one point later in the game since I had to talk to a nonplayer character to get the detector to work in a respective area. Other improvements include maps for towns and dungeons (but in their case, players can’t swap among maps within and without floors to see how they’re connected) and an always-convenient suspend save in case reality calls. Overall, the interaction aspect doesn’t fail miserably but could have been far better.
The late Koichi Sugiyama’s soundtrack, gloriously orchestrated in the remake, excels as always, with the return of the standard series overture, staple franchise tracks such as the save menu theme, and others that fit the various moods and settings. However, many moments are without music, and the franchise’s dated sound effects return in full force.
Gives meaning to the phrase “a wolf in sheep’s clothing”
The remake’s visuals are far better than those in Dragon Warrior VII, fully rendered in three dimensions and taking advantage of the Nintendo 3DS’s glasses-free 3-D capabilities. The environments have vibrant hues (but frequent blurry and pixilated textures, characteristic of most three-dimensional graphics), and the illumination effects are superb. The character models fit the late Akira Toriyama’s character designs, including lip animations (but facial expressions mostly remain happy), and different vocations yield alternate costumes for the player’s party. However, Toriyama’s standard enemy reskins commonly recur, horrible collision detection abounds, and environmental elements frequently, abruptly, and unnaturally appear during overworld navigation. Regardless, the 3DS version’s graphics are a sight to behold.
Finally, finishing the main quest can take players as little as sixty hours (my final playtime clocked somewhere over eighty), with sidequests galore like countless subplots, completing the monster compendium, and two postgame dungeons, which can pad playtime further. However, the game excessively overstays its welcome, with other detriments to lasting appeal like fixed difficulty, minimal narrative variations, no New Game+, and the constant need to reference the internet to complete anything and everything.
With tight and enjoyable game mechanics, an intriguing narrative, and solid audiovisual presentation, Dragon Quest VII on the Nintendo 3DS is both an excellent remake and one of the far better entries of a series whose quality has ranged from okay to decent. However, issues like the need for foresight in character class path planning, retained dated series traditions, and glacial and vague narrative direction detain it from masterpiece status. Regardless, I enjoyed the time I spent with the game and wish others the same positive experience. Lamentably, events like the Nintendo 3DS eShop’s closure and the worldwide gaming industry’s apathy towards the preservation of video game history (enforced by American groups like the Entertainment Software Association) have made herculean the capacity to play it affordably and legally, but if it ever receives an enhanced port or secondary remake (provided they don’t screw things up), pick it up.
This review is based on a playthrough of a digital copy purchased and downloaded to the reviewer’s Nintendo 3DS to the standard ending, with none of the postgame content experienced.
Score Breakdown
The Good
The Bad
One of the best, if not the best, JRPG class systems. Engaging substories, with endearing localization. Excellent soundtrack. Visuals are a million times better than the PlayStation version’s.
Character class planning requires some foresight. Retains franchise’s dated traditions. Incredibly glacial narrative pacing and vague direction. Good luck finding it at a reasonable price.
The Bottom Line
An excellent remake, but terrible narrative direction and overstaying its welcome prevent it from masterpiece status.
I heard about this 1980s made-for-television anime film from a friend here on Dreamwidth; given the central role of an anthropomorphic cat-woman, I couldn’t resist. It opens in medias res with a score-old Japanese hunter, Ryosuke (or just Ryo), teaming with a South American boy, Chico (with the character costuming largely implying Mexico more than any other country), to track a monster terrorizing the countryside. Five years before, Ryo, also the son of a crime reporter father and geneticist mother, rides with his motorcycle gang and encounters a cat-woman named Bagi, a hybrid of a human and a puma.
The film relates the backstories of Bagi and Ryo’s mother, which culminates in stopping a conspiracy of scientists planning to unleash a strain of rice that can eradicate humanity, eventually returning to the present afterward. Overall, I found this a satisfying watch, even if I had to watch it in Japanese (but luckily with English subtitles), but the performances of the seiyū were superb. Given that the flaws of English voice acting are more readily apparent than those of a foreign language, this wasn’t a bad thing, and all the voices fit their respective characters. It’s on YouTube, so by all means, watch it.
-Gaming and reviewing. -Anthro art. -Working on my anthro fantasy stories. -Reading good books. -Interacting people who are actually on my intellectual level and with whom I can relate.
Though I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it took years to become an option in mainstream dentist offices (especially in the US), since, you know, politics pretty much prevents any kind of human advancement like this from becoming widespread in the first place.
An anime adaptation of many Old Testament stories from the Bible (and the story of Jesus’ birth) from Tezuka Productions that stemmed from a request by the Vatican of the studio during the 1980s, with studio founder Osamu Tezuka dying during its production. Among the quirks the studio injected was a mascot character, a fox named Roco; their depictions of Roco and other animals, primarily those in the Genesis portions, are endearing. There seemed to be many episodes missing from the internet, particularly the later ones. However, I still enjoyed this series, even if the English acting often seemed stiff.
For me, relentlessly punching the living daylights out of a punching bag, although given my right shoulder injuries and arthritis, I can’t do so frequently.
I may have heard of Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows before seventh grade before I read the actual book, given its intelligent animal cast. After reading it, it remained one of my all-time favorite pieces of literature, mildly influential upon my written word. Numerous adaptations have spawned since the dawn of film and television (most on the latter), with Disney being among the earliest studios to take a crack at it by combining it with their interpretation of Washington Irving’s completely unrelated short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
Among the more contemporary (sort of) adaptations is the 1995 British animated television film produced by the TVC (Television Cartoons) in London (likely defunct since nothing has come out of the studio since 2001). It opens with a live-action sequence where a Victorian woman begins to tell her children the tale, which quickly morphs into a full-fledged animated film. The story proper starts with Mole, disillusioned with spring cleaning, emerging from his underground home to meet and befriend Ratty (just called Rat in this adaptation), with both having a picnic with another river inhabitant, Otter, and his young pup, Portly.
Then they join the wealthy Mr. Toad, who takes them on a trip with his gypsy caravan, but the amphibian hastily develops a fascination with motor vehicles when one causes his carriage to crash. The following spring, Ratty, Mole, and their friend, Mr. Badger, attempt to dissuade their amphibian friend from his obsessions, but he steals and crashes a car, earning a score-long prison sentence. He ultimately escapes with the help of the jailer’s daughter, encountering various tribulations before reuniting with his companions and taking back Toad Hall when weasels seize it.
Overall, I enjoyed this adaptation, though I can’t wholly attest to its faithfulness to the source material (but it seems to do so, at least in my memory). The bookends of the Victorian woman telling her children the story seem unnecessary. However, I liked the various costumes of the animal characters, Otter in particular, and the animation was pleasant. I would gladly reread the book were I to get the time and watch its other adaptations, probably excluding the live-action ones since most seem to star humans that look nothing like the animals they allegedly play. Regardless, I don’t regret watching this film and would recommend it.
None in particular, really, unless I want to reread a book to refine my review of it, since I generally don’t find any kind of literature, except school and college textbooks, to be rereadable.
The second entry of Chris Farrington’s Whomper graphical novel series, mostly a collection of previous comics sharing an overarching story, opens with the eponymous pudgy fox protagonist training with his new master, the Edgemaster. Meanwhile, his partner and dragoness love interest Kayla is at magic school, given the advice to purge her “logical side.” Furthermore, the armies of the hostile nation of Menevo are on the march, with Whomper yearning to confront them and their enigmatic leader, Emperor Nocturn. However, the Edgemaster warns him not to rush into combat, with the Emperor’s three generals having conquered many nations.
After reuniting, Whomper and Skyla fly to Valgus, battling a pig captain and his unit of earth elementals. Following this conflict, they receive information about Emperor Nocturn’s generals, which include the black female science-loving unicorn Limerick, the male “undefeated” tiger Haiku, and the vague and possibly two-headed Couplet. After battling a few more unit captains, they fly to Fox City, with Whomper reuniting with his father, with the vulpine warrior running away from his family when he was seven. The novel further reveals Whomper’s backstory, encompassing his training with Gryzak and Lyktor.
The imperial army invades Fox City, with Whomper and Skyla flying to Emperor Nocturn’s airborne fortress, where they battle his generals (whose backstories come to light) and confront the imperial leader himself, with the graphic novel exposing secrets that include his appearance and species. After the conflict, more of Whomper’s backstory is revealed, including what became of his mother and what motivated him to become a warrior. The graphic novel concludes with Whomper confronting a priest worshipping Xilinx in a Raccoon City graveyard, followed by an anecdote with Dextrose and his wild cat, Taffy.
Overall, I enjoyed the second installment of Farrington’s graphic novel series, having enjoyed its predecessor. While the animal character designs are beyond cute, there is some mature content, like occasional cannibalism and blood, exemplifying the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” The action is easy to follow, the continuity between it and the first book is clear, humor abounds, the character backstories are intricate, and the battle scenes are astounding. However, issues exist like the often-unreadable font and maybe some name inconsistencies. Regardless, those who liked its precursor will enjoy the sequel, and I will continue reading the series.
Can’t think of any specific characters, but probably any of the mentats from the Dune franchise, since I wish I could have my mind and thoughts superbly organized and mimic computer abilities like being able to commit new ideas to memory, recall that which is important, and block things that trigger me.
Pretty much any animal, domestic or exotic, can make a good or bad pet, depending upon the animal’s personality and how well it reacts to their owners and most given situations. In my point of view, there’s non such thing as a good or bad, or best or worst, pet.
I read about the former Connecticut U.S. Senator’s death in the Retro Swap gaming newsletter, given his role in creating the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). I didn’t agree with him on everything, though given things like what occurred in the 2006 midterm elections, I find his experience then relatable today, even more so in recent times. It seems that every American politician has “controversies,” “scandals,” or “skeletons in their closet” (but 99.99% of the time, such charges are from their political enemies within the government and media), and while I know he had his, I’m no different, and in most respects, he has a place in my heart. In pace requiescat.
I would run for the City Council or School Board if I didn’t have so many skeletons in my closet, but if I were significantly wealthy (and in the case of running for either, I’m realistic and know there’s no such thing as a free lunch), I would definitely contribute heavily financially to my community so it could afford things like actually getting another entire high school (since the one I used to go to has been through renovation after renovation since I graduated in 2002), have far more job opportunities than it currently has in pretty much every field for the experienced and inexperienced alike (since the job offers didn’t exactly roll in after I graduated undergrad college despite getting excellent grades), and so forth, among other things.
Decided to go with a park ranger mammoth theme this month for my AI Days in review (since the nearest National Park to me is the Waco Mammoth National Monument).
Once upon a time, Sony had emerged as a competitor in the video game market with its PlayStation console, originally intended to be a compact disc add-on for Nintendo’s Super NES before negotiations fell through. Sega had also released its Saturn console to provide competition for Sony’s system, receiving a decent catalog of exclusive games like the Game Arts-developed RPG Grandia. However, due to Sega executive Bernie Stolar’s prejudice against Japanese roleplaying games, Anglophone gamers were denied a translated version, Stolar having had similar policies when he headed Sony of America.
There can be only one
However, Grandia would be ported to the PlayStation and receive a full English translation, seeing release in 1999 two years after the Sega Saturn version. Critics and audiences would extol it as one of the greatest RPGs ever made, given its unique battle system, but it had its share of detractors critical of various technical issues, the sloppy translation, and the horrible English voicework that would go for decades unaddressed, after which the game received a remaster, along with its first sequel, to the Nintendo Switch and Windows. This rerelease provided a prime opportunity to rectify the various issues of the PlayStation version, but does it?
Grandia opens in the city of Parm with Justin, an aspiring adventurer, having a “duel” with his rival Gantz that involves finding faux legendary pieces of equipment scattered throughout town. Justin also has an enigmatic artifact from his absentee father, the Spirit Stone. Thus, he searches the nearby ruins to gather clues, with the Garlyle Forces, led by General Baal and his son Colonel Mullen, expressing similar interest. The result is a grand adventure by Justin as he embarks on a quest to discover the mysteries of the ancient and hilariously named Angelou civilization with the help of others while dealing with the adversarial military.
The quality of the narrative is inconsistent, with the initial rivalry with Gantz being asinine, along with countless fetch quests that contribute little to the central storyline, not to mention countless tried tropes like an absentee father and an ancient civilization, as well as pitiful attempts at humor and glacial plot pacing. However, the game backstory is decent for Angelou and the inhabited world. Many plot beats work well also, like the different and sometimes animal races, a few decent twists, serviceable attempts at comic relief like the three female sergeants Justin and his party repeatedly encounter, and the satisfying ending. Regardless, the story is average at best.
While the Grandia series now falls under Square-Enix ownership, publisher GungHo sadly made no effort to update the sordid translation by Sony America that plagued the PlayStation version, intact and reused in the remaster. Terrible names such as Gantz and Tentz, compressed item names in the game menus, spelled-out laughter, crying, and grunting, overuse of ellipses and exclamation points, unnatural battle dialogue, lousy spell names like “WOW!”, poor writing like “I, (insert name here),” and so forth, heavily abound. The text is legible, and the translation makes some attempts at dialects for specific regions and races. However, the game localization is one of many areas where the HD remaster was a wasted opportunity.
The translation CHRONICALLY OVERUSES CAPITALIZATION in the dialogue.
The Game Arts franchise has received near-universal praise for its game mechanics, which remain unchanged from the original Saturn and PlayStation versions of Grandia. On fields connecting towns and in dungeons, visible enemies abound, with contact resulting in the game taking players to a separate screen for combat. However, rather than take cues from the visible encounter systems of previous RPGs like EarthBoundand Chrono Trigger, the inaugural entry instead has all foes that Justin and company draw near charge his party, regardless of how powerful they are, with a few enemies having cheap movement patterns such as disappearing from the field and reappearing somewhere else.
How contact between Justin’s party and the visible enemy occurs determines how combat begins. Justin contacting the foe when it hasn’t turned red to indicate alertness results in his party having the initiative, contact by the enemy on one of Justin’s allies results in them getting the upper hand, and contact by Justin with alert enemies results in battles starting standardly. Combat in Grandia is turn-based, with Justin’s party and various enemies populating the battlefield, and a gauge at the bottom of the screen, called the IP (Initiative Points) bar, indicates the order in which everyone will take their turns, its representative icons moving in real-time according to unit agility, meaning that the speed of their arrival at the Command segment can vary wildly.
When the icons representing Justin and his allies reach Command, the player receives countless options for whatever they want the character to do. These include two variations of standard attacks with a character’s equipped weapon: Combo, where they strike an enemy two times (or carry on their second attack to another foe if the first eradicates the original target); and Critical, which can cancel an enemy’s command if their icon is moving on the segment between the Command and Action points (units on either side carryout out their actions when reaching the latter). However, the timing of this is often incredibly tricky and requires excellent foresight regarding factors such as battlefield position, the rate at which an opposing unit is prepping execution of their commands, and so forth.
As with standard attacks, there are two types of defending against the enemy: standing one’s ground or evasively traversing the battlefield. Characters can also use items like in most other RPGs or attempt escape from battle, which is surprisingly reliable compared to other titles. The use of magic quickly becomes an option as well, with the player needing to acquire Mana Eggs scattered throughout the myriad enemy-infested fields and dungeons to grant a character one of four elements: Fire, Wind, Water, or Earth, which can hybrid into twin-typed spells.
Some issues abound with Mana Eggs. For one, finding the things in the first place can be difficult, given the frequent disorientation while exploring dungeons and fields, alongside the frequent loss of access to these previous areas as players advance the game. In that case, focus first on giving Justin and Feena all their elements, and only give them to Sue if you get more than three spare Mana Eggs since she eventually leaves your party. While players receive consumables to boost elemental skill levels when she and other guest characters leave your party, they are a poor substitute for an actual refund of the Mana Eggs. Regardless, if you follow this advice, the next permanent character, Rapp, will be at a huge advantage (and he joins with the Fire element). The final party member initially has all the elements, so there’s no need to worry about that.
Battles can require a lot of foresight, but regular weapon and elemental leveling and use of their respective skills can often circumvent things.
Leveling a weapon or spell level, alongside learning new spells with level conditions satisfied, gives characters a bonus stat increase, which can be a godsend given that standard experience levels (with typical JRPG experience points acquired after battle alongside money and items) rise glacially. The game mechanics work harmoniously, combat rarely dragging on aside from unskippable and overly lengthy ability and spell animations that frequently stop the action in its tracks, and other issues abound like the unclarity of if moves, be they weapon or magic-based, can cancel enemy actions (and those of certain foes, chiefly bosses, can’t be invalidated no matter what). Regardless, the battle system deserves the praise it has received then and today.
As mentioned, significant disorientation can abound when exploring dungeons, which is most common after battles. Given the dungeon design, Grandia would have seriously benefited from in-game maps, which would have singlehandedly shaved significant superfluous playtime from the game, especially for those who want to explore every corner of dungeons. Viewpoints come where the player can receive a skyward view of where they currently are but are a poor substitute. Other control issues include the inconsistent placement of save points (but these recover all health and magic), and whichever developer decided to place them after boss battles should never be allowed to work on video games ever again.
Other issues regarding the save system include the absence of autosaving when transitioning between areas and a suspend-save. Another is the parsimonious inventory limit, with players regularly needing to decide which items to dispose of and which to keep; while Stashes to place excess goods exist, the ability to send things directly to them without being at them would have been more than welcome. However, positives exist, like the remaster never crashing when I played from start to finish, the Switch Home button halting all the action and game clock, a soft reset, the ability to trade current equipment with newer gear at shops, and the always-welcome view of stat increases or decreases when shopping for new weapons and armor.
Alongside the game mechanics, the aural presentation is another high point of Grandia, beginning with a sweeping, epic central theme with numerous remixes, alongside countless other emotional pieces with superb instrumentation. However, many tracks sound unusual, like one where vocalists repeatedly shout “GUMBO!” and endless ambient themes. Lamentably, the same sordid janitorial staff-quality English voicework from the PlayStation version returns, but players can mercifully select the Japanese voices, which are a million times better. Ultimately, the aurals are good, but new rerecorded English voice acting would have been more than welcome.
One area the remaster luckily addressed, however, is the visual presentation, significantly upscaling and adjusting to widescreen the original’s graphics consisting of two-dimensional character sprites with three-dimensional scenery, which appear smooth and polished. FMVs that hybrid CG environments and anime characters also return in upscaled glory. However, there is still much environmental pixilation and blurriness, the sprites often look weird and have chibi aspects like line eyes despite their proportions, and countless character portraits look asinine and occasionally gross regarding things like Rapp picking his nose and Pakon’s nasal drippage. Still, the graphics do their job.
Move over, Joe Camel, here comes Joe…Giraffe.
Finally, the remaster is another Japanese RPG that puts quantity well above quality, with my final playtime a little over seventy hours; however, one can blaze through it quicker if lucky. Given the overdrawn longevity, alongside the lack of lasting appeal other than three extra dungeons, maxing every element and skill level, and the frequent absence of enjoyability due to the lack of numerous basic quality-of-life features and enhancements like in-game maps and the need to reference the internet to do everything (with no New Game+, no achievements, no narrative variations, no postgame content), one playthrough will be more than enough for a lifetime for most mainstream gamers.
Overall, Grandia HD has incredible aspects like its game mechanics and soundtrack. However, it is far from the masterpiece critics and audiences have extolled it to be, given its myriad issues regarding the control, narrative, English voicework, and localization, which the remaster sadly failed to address (and even the best aspects have notable flaws). Artificial longevity is another primary issue, inexcusable given the almost strictly linear game structure, with Grandia excessively overstaying its welcome. Regardless, the “iconic” Game Arts title demonstrates that video game quality, positive or negative, is a point of view. While it is often fun, it’s hardly a bucket-list game, and mainstream gamers can easily live without experiencing it.
This review is based on a playthrough of the version included with the Grandia HD Collection to completion purchased and downloaded to the reviewer’s Nintendo Switch.
Score Breakdown
The Good
The Bad
Fun battle system. Lacks PlayStation version’s technical issues. Some decent plot beats. Great soundtrack. Remastered visuals show polish.
Requires foresight at times. Very user-unfriendly. Needs maps badly. Awful translation and English voicework. Finite lasting appeal.
The Bottom Line
Has many positive elements but is hardly the masterpiece critics and audiences have called it.
I could easily adapt to it since as an autistic, I’m naturally the isolated sort, and still religiously wear face masks today since it’s still a thing where I live, wash my hands, sanitize, and so forth.
Sometimes I get up to relieve myself in my bathroom and go back to sleep, eventually fully wake up, check my messages and internet haunts, weigh myself on my scale, eat breakfast, work out while watching a streaming video or television, brush my teeth, shave, shower, dry off, and clothe myself rot he day.
St. Gallen's Scribblings 