Howl's Moving Castle Anime Movies Review

 Hey, what's up guys, how we doing? Let's talk about Howl's Moving Castle. This Studio Ghibli film is directed by thelegendary Hayao Miyazaki and is based on the novel of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones. This film was released in 2004, and like allof their previous films that were distributed by Disney and now GKIDS, have an ensemblecast in their voice dubbing. I'd say this is probably his second most popularfilm compared to his Oscar-winning Spirited Away. Which was also the first film he made afterthat came out. So the film is about a young woman named Sophie,played by Emily Mortimer, who lives an ordinary life working in a hat shop.

 One day as she's walking through an alleyshe encounters dark shadowy figures, and a mysterious man by the name of Howl, playedby Christian Bale. All of Miyazaki's incredible imagination comesout here as well as a magical world, where we see the two of them start floating in thesky, and flying on nothing but air. Shortly after this encounter, she meets theWitch of the Waste, played by Lauren Bacall, who puts a curse on her to where she becomesa 90-year-old woman. She then leaves her hometown in an attemptto find a way to break the curse and then runs into this gigantic moving castle. She's assisted by a mysterious scarecrow thatcan move and apparently help and understand what she's trying to do, who she nicknamesTurnip Head. And on board the castle she meets one of Howl'sassistants, Markl, a young boy, as well as the fire demon Calcifer, played by Billy Crystal. In the midst of all this we have Howl workingfor this kingdom, as well as a war going on, and all sorts of interesting plot lines. Now many people that know about Miyazaki'sfilms know that he is very anti-war, and that was no different here. In fact, it's probably even more prevalentthroughout this film compared to the rest of his, because even some of the charactersblatantly say how much they can't stand war. This, of course, came out during the Iraqwar in the U.S. and there was a lot of speculation whether this wouldn't perform very well becauseof it. However, it actually did really well and thatmight be because it was his first film to followup Spirited Away. One thing Miyazaki did really in this filmwas present how age can be a positive thing as one grows older. We see how Sophie finds a sort of calmnessin growing old, even though she has to get used to it at first. I found that very refreshing and really enjoyedhow they portrayed it throughout the film. Of course many if not all of Miyazaki's filmscontain feminist elements in them, with their strong female lead characters throughout. This film is no different in that way. He has gone on to say that this is actuallyhis favorite film that he's directed. And my theory there is that perhaps comparedto a lot of his other films it's because maybe this one didn't have to deal with censorshipor at least getting a lot of cuts compared to some of the other ones he had to deal with.
 I'm sure there was plenty of censorship overall,but he had a lot of issues with some earlier projects especially films like Nausicaä ofthe Valley of the Wind when that came over to the U.S. and Spirited Away which he wantedto be a little bit longer. But this film has a lot of good things goingfor it, it's got a lot of great, fun and interesting characters throughout. It constantly makes you wonder whether someof them are inherently good or whether their inherently bad, or what their real deal ismost of the time. And let's not forget to say this film is completelygorgeous, it has some of the best imagery compared to any of his films. It is stunning to see this in high quality,you guys. It is also really well paced and I say itcould probably be a little bit longer, but part of me really enjoys the exact lengththat we got here because some of his other films did go on a little bit long at times. This film does at times though really doesfeel like it's just a ton of really incredible spectacles and magical moments, one afterthe other. It justs, from scene to scene, it's just like'take a look at this' and then 'whoa check that out,' there's just so many cool thingsthat go in this film. And I will say, guys, it was amazing to actuallysee this film in theaters, I was so happy that GKIDS put it on as part of their StudioGhibli Fest this year. Now that it's over I can only hope we getto see another one next year with some other films and probably bring back a few of thesefavorites.
 The only thing I'm not sure if they will continueto do is to include their Mini-Fest which contained short films either before or afterthe movie ends. I for one love shorts but I could tell audiencemembers in this film were not a big fan of some of the stuff we saw, but I don't knowI mean, one of the things we saw was about this really kind of interesting fish thatwe just saw getting cooked and with some classical music in the background and stuff, it was,it was very fascinating. But hey, it's not everyone's cup of tea soI understand. But this film truly shows off Miyazaki's stunninganimation abilities. It's like he's pretty much blatantly showingyou and saying it out loud sometimes. It's like you're seeing one happening andgoing like 'whoa check out this, see what I can do here?' it's like, wow, this film really gives youthe opportunity to see what he's capable of. Overall this is a thoroughly entertainingand fun film that if you've never seen, you gotta check it out some time. Grab the Blu-ray, hopefully, if possible evensee it theaters if you can. Howl's Moving Castle is a spellbinding displayof artistic amazement, and arguably Miyazaki's most visually beautiful film. And that's why this film is a diligent pick. So what did you guys think of Howl's MovingCastle? Is this one you've always wanted to see? What is your favorite Miyazaki film or any Ghibli film or just general animation film out there? I want to know.

Ponyo Anime Film Movie Review

 hey what's up guys let's talk about Ponyo so this is a Japanese anime fantasy film that came out in 2008 and is of course directed by Hayao Miyazaki from Studio Ghibli it's about a gold fish who was given the name Ponyo when she befriends a five-year-old boy named Sōsuke and then goes on a journey to become human there's a bit more to it than that but I don't want to give too much away for those of you who have never seen this film especially now that we are at its 10th anniversary I was lucky enough to actually see this film in theaters when it first premiered and now I've seen it again in theaters ten years later and you know what it hasn't aged a day it was brought back to us theaters as part of Studio Ghibli fest 2018 and is the first film to start off the festival this year this was definitely a great way to kick things off and man I forgot simply how much I love this film where do I start

 I mean there's so many great things about it whether it's the music obviously the visuals and the animation are amazing that is definitely to be expected with Studio Ghibli but one thing I still find very fascinating about this film is even though it's g-rated and mostly features characters that are children and is geared towards kids it is very very much an entertaining film for adults as well it is simply adorable first off it's got this beautifully simple story that is presented with such energy that it really takes its time and just showing you everything you really need to know and build up to make this film work as I mentioned this film has two leading characters which are both children and that gives a very great interesting perspective as they are given so much prominence in this film there are so many moments too where you just get to see them interact and just see how cute kids can be it is one of those films that will just put a smile on your face time after time but don't get me wrong there are plenty of great adult characters in this film as well whether it's Ponyo's dad or Sōsuke's mom or some of the older folks that you just see throughout the film they're given a lot of personality too in little bits of dialogue where they're not just kind of thrown in the background they get up close and personal with a few of them at times I also like for
 example how Ponyo's dad kind of resembles like he might be sort of the villain or the antagonist but really he's not there isn't really a character in this film really who comes off as that type of person but there are certainly elements to this film where people are indifferent conflict with what they want to have happen and what their trying to do or protect and for those of you who've never seen Ponyo there are some of the most visually stunning animated scenes that you will ever seehand-drawn or otherwise for example probably one of the most incredibleshots in this film is during this great big storm when Sōsuke's mom is drivingthem away and out of nowhere you see Ponyo riding on these big waves of fishand it is just amazing it's gorgeous the music rises and it simply just leaps offthe screen it is a very great moment in cinematic history Ponyo you're amazing one thing this filmalso does really well is show you a lot of visual storytelling cues they allow alot of the character's body languages to define what may or may not be happeninga lot of the times like
 how we start to learn how Ponyo has this veryinteresting magical power that we don't quite know and it's never really fullyexplained but we kind of are given the opportunity to make it out for ourselveswhat it is as I mentioned this film looks just as great as it did 10 yearsago if not better due the blu-ray transfer and it is up there withMiyazaki's best simply put see this movie as soon as youcan whether it's tonight at the very last showing for the festival or on discfrom GKIDS new reissue blu-ray or Disney's old one as you can tell Ihighly recommend this and you will not be disappointed Ponyo is everything special magical and wonderful that Hayao Miyazaki expresses holding steady ten years later as one of his most endearing adorable and beautifully crafted filmsand that's why this film is a diligent pick so guys did you get to see Ponyo at Studio Ghibli fest this year how would you rank it among Miyazaki's other filmsand did you know it was actually inspired in part by The Little Mermaid for fans of Disney Animation if that didn't intrigue you to watch it 

The God of Highschool Anime First Impressions

 With the brand new partnership between Web toon and Crunchyroll, we’ve already seen the approach Tower of God took, now it’s timeto see if the God of High school can live up to… whatever name people give it, as I’mnot all too entirely familiar with this series. While I am a huge and massive fan of Webtoons(a quick look at my second channel says all you need to know about that), I am not typicallyinterested in the Shounen styled stories that Webtoon has outside of Unordinary. So to be honest I have no expectations forthis series going in and honestly coming out of it - not too impressed with what’s onoffer here. And I do want to preface by saying I am nota huge fan of modern shounen, I like shounen, but I think at this point every time a brandnew overhyped shounen comes out I only roll my eyes at how standard and cliche they are.

So with this being said, let’s get in to it, this is my first impression of The God of High school Episode 1. So first off, MAPPA is working on this anime and you can immediately see the maker’s mark with this series from a stylistic and visual perspective. Characters have that full, muscular tone and look you’d expect from MAPPA after series like Inuyashiki and Kakegurui. It’s obvious they took that expertise and simply iterated upon it with Go H. And in this way, the show is genuinely impressive in episode 1. I also enjoy how the faces are modeled inthis, and without even reading one single comment, I already know many of you dislike it as it’s not the traditional anime style. But that’s actually why I enjoy it, then oses and ears being that way just make the show look unique compared to other anime inits lane. I also enjoyed the coloring and tone the anime has, it’s very much Kakegurui’s saturated tones with a crushing darker tone to them. It gives the anime a very modern aestheticand MAPPA feel you’d come to expect with recent releases. The animation as well seems to be fairly on point, but not very impressive in terms of intricate details. In this sense, the animation is very standard,almost generic in its presentation at times which does leave something to be desired at the moment. Of course we’ll have to see how this continuesin the next episode. But from what I see, the animation so farrelies heavily on the camera’s movement rather than steady shots, to put it more simply the camera follows the action.
Now I won’t say I hate this outright, the sethings are good in openings and the like, and used rarely can be amazing. The best use that you viewers may know is Ufotable’s recent release with Demon Slayer. But here it takes away from the impact of the fighting, the oomph of the hits are flattened somewhat and I’m left wondering why I get the feeling this feels like a more discounted version of One Punch Man mixed with the 2000’s Digimon film with the Smash Mouth OST. Of course, it’s too early to say for sure when it comes to animation, but right now nothing really impressed me. For example, the bike chase sequence. Outside of it having no consequence to the story itself, it was decently entertaining and gave us very basic impressions of what the character’s might be like. The animation was fine in this, but nothing that really got me excited for the show at all. There were cool shots like the girl standin gon the bike with a kendo stick, but beyond that, nothing else made me say “oh damn now this is why I have to watch GoH”. Which leads me to the overall story as of this moment. It’s cliche, and it’s kinda boring and a little scattershot. Take for example the opening sequence which doesn’t really do much to get me invested in the story. But as well the fight at the end of this episode in the arena.

I tuned out multiple times and found the comedy to be cliche and almost juvenile in some instances with the whole elephant on the underwear thing. That really didn’t do a lot to help my enjoyment of it at all. Also, why does star eye guy, our (maybe) main character want to fight the blonde dude? This brings me to another issue, and that’s the fact that if you were trying to find a story to connect to, it was almost not even there at all. And the story that was there wasn’t really good or even mildly engaging. This is something I hope we resolve with episode 2, but I feel like this anime is appealing to an audience that for some reason - doesn’tcare about story in shounen? I mean, right now my first impression is thatit’s a bunch of people fighting in a tournament. Which isn’t too bad in of itself, it’sthe most overdone trope in shounen outside of the speaking in your head about what youcan do to defeat your enemy, but man so far this just doesn’t have much originalityto it. Also the moments of comedy in this first episodejust are not funny at all, and rely on people being hurt in some way to achieve the funnies. For example, kendo stick girl getting rammedinto a traffic sign or before that when she gets hit in the face with a bike. I mean, this is classic looney toons stylecomedy, but that stuff I’ve seen over and over again that I’m really tired of it bythis point. As well you have both the main guy and girlhaving the same idea of the grandma who got her purse stolen going through her life story. I mean, I don’t get it, honestly, maybeI’m just bored during quarantine but I just didn’t find it funny.

I don’t know, maybe it was the context orsomething, maybe it’s me - buy maybe it’s not, this is only my first impressions afterall, not a full review or my final thoughts at all. Also, what are their names?! I hate series where I don’t immediatelyget connected to the characters. I guess the one I like the most is the kendostick girl, but that’s because she’s the only one to show the most charisma. And it’s not like any of them are trulyinteresting right now anyways. Seems like the main guy is the main guy fromDigimon, but yet another tragic-esque sad backstory or something, his friend is just…a friend?... question mark?... and the girl get hit bya lot of inanimate objects randomly. That’s our character traits right now andwe don’t really have names for them in this first episode. Nothing about the characters at all got meinterested in this series and to be honest, while I wasn’t expecting anything, I wasstill let down somehow in this regard. But I asked yesterday on my community tabwhat you, my viewers and passersby from around the Youtube community thought of the first episode and I’ll be picking the most interesting ones to discuss. First, we have Eneniem Yale talking about the noses, he doesn’t like them. And honestly, I totally get it man, I reallydo. I think a lot of this kind of thing we saw with The Promised Neverland, and you can compare it to modern Top 40 music in America. A lot of it is the same I VI V VII chord progressionsand beats just regurgitated over and over.

It’s generally the same idea here, thoughthe music industries problem has different issues which arise from that. We are so used to one certain style in animeand that’s the super sleek looking character styles so when we see anything that doesn’tlook like a hammered down nail, we nail it down. To me, the designs were absolutely fine, butif you’re only used to eating cheeseburgers and pizza, broccoli doesn’t taste good becauseyou have to acquire the taste and then suddenly you like broccoli and carrots. Now I want broccoli and carrots. Good discussion you guys, thanks for commenting. Next up we have this comment coming in withthe truth - it looks like Digimon. And… yeah it certainly looks like Digimon,but not through any fault of its own and as well it’s not a bad thing. But man… yeah this really looks like Digimon,or like I said One Punch Man x Digimon. Good comment and thank you for the comment. One of the greatest commenters in the animecommunity, the legendary Mathew Lucas (seriously give this guy his props if you see him, he’sabsolutely dedicated to anime and anime channels supporting a lot of them). He says this will be one of the most talkedabout anime of the season and I agree. But I also think based off episode 1, mostpeople will forget about it by the end if they don’t really kick it into high gearin these next episodes. Thank you for the comment. Nothing Yet Everything brings up the OST inhis comment and honestly, I agree. The music is pretty solid so far, and lookingit up it seems the person behind the score is Arisa Okehazama who did really well onthis score.

She seems to be working with MAPPA on theirupcoming anime Jujutsu Kaisen, so props to her, nothing but love. And good comment, appreciate it. Solo Warrior says the episode skipped somestuff, in particular about the recruiting of the fighters, the three MC’s, Mori andR’s, the blonde guy was not mentioned but shown in the Webtoon. Elain lo po bia also says they took out thebit when Moris is saying to himself he’s the best fighter and also the fight with V.And man, this is really disappointing to read, because they did this with Tower of God whichserved to harm an otherwise okay story. This was my fear that they would cut stuffand rush, and it seems that they’re not above doing that. This also explains why the pacing and writingin this first episode makes absolutely no sense at all. Thanks for the comments and replies guys.
 M. Staudinger (hope I pronounced that right,I apologize if not), he says that the power scaling at some point made him quit. Of course, don’t know if that means it gotto DBZ or Naruto levels of strange, but still it seems this was an issue for him. But he goes on to say it’s entertaining,but he doesn’t enjoy it much now. And honestly, that’s the feeling I got fromthe very first episode. I got the feeling this series will probablygo down the route of just having insane bonkers fights with crazy power scaling because…well… it’s a shounen. Thank you for the comment. That’s it for the comments though, I will leave a link to the post just in case you want to read more comments I had to leaveout or want to read new comments that I’m sure by the time this video goes up, willhave probably 100 more comments. Also to get notifications for the communitytab, when you ring the bell hit all notifications. This will let Youtube know to send those yourway when I post them, or you can just bookmark my community tab as I post once a day on thecommunity tab without fail. 

Dragon Ball Super Episode 131 Final Review

 Well that was that then. What you don't seriously think I'm gonna spoil it right now do you That's right everyone the final episode of super (episode 131) just rolled along and Mmm. Goodbye to all that Miraculous conclusion farewell Goku until we meet again. Oh, hey are you are Goku Yeah? We know it's not gonna Be long until we see him again, really Thank you all so much for all the fan art put into last week's challenge hashtag (I don't know what he said) this broke the records by a mile over 200 entries there were just too many to put into this video But I'm gonna try and get as many as I can but just be warned that The ending part of this video is gonna be pretty long so stay tuned until the end to see if your selection got picked for The video and for those of you wondering I will be giving out another fan art challenge But it will be saved for a dedicated video. where we last left off the fight between Goku and Jiren went down to the wire To see which one of the two had the truest of true powers well. It kind of basically turned out It was Goku, Goku was going to win that is until he Metaphorically bled out from the back Having it tingle too much as it were.

it's okay kids there wasn't any real blood Goku was down and up But it turns out that freezer Shocker survived and then Android 17 Shocker was around too so with 30 seconds remaining in the tournament Jirens got to take out three of universe 7 goons It's a pretty tall order and I bet at this point Vegeta is up in the stands just going like huh? I should be down there too given. How they're giving cop-outs like this cereal It's like a cop-out bargain sale And you know things are serious when you don't hear the usual episode jingle and instead get a more serious Overtone and a different actual change of location, this time. We're not looking at the arena as a whole We're looking at just the pillar broken up amidst all the rubble It's a really nice touch, and I love the fact that supers been doing this in the second half of the series it just really adds a sense of gravitas and a sense of occasion to it all, nice touch as the Episode begins as Goku is currently "resting" and freezers being chastised by the likes of jiren for breaking moral ethics and Dragging Goku back into the fight even though. He really cannot be doing much right now. This is Frieza. We're talking about This is him being "nice".

It's what the monkey would have wanted me to do meanwhile. Goku's been punched around so much He can see through time. Frieza is quite clearly trying to eat up some time by basically asking dumb questions In front of jiren which is sickening him even more. but Jiren you'll want to talk given moral ethics and codes and stuff like that by Almost destroying the grandstands just to make a point - Goku that friends are absolutely useless Yeah, I think you could be quiet now. I think freezes situation right now is far more merciful and forth. Oh wow I never thought I'd actually hear myself say that This this tournament right now is just full of surprises sure enough the tyrants competence is that he cannot sense the true power of Jiren anymore and that gives him the right to just Be a jerk towards him he reckons that Jiren will only be on him somewhat severely Instead of into the middle of next week and at this point the Emperor will take that mild beating by comparison However the way that freezer goes on about it by basically dragging his past right into the present right now and giving him like ooh You're so weak. I'm gooing to be as evil as the guy that destroyed your family Dude, you don't say that that clearly is going to rub cheering up the wrong way, and he immediately attacks We actually get some of Frieza screeches, which it's actually a welcome sound if you think about it It's a very Dragon Ball Z I missed that then as to be expected here I'm actually throughout the entire episode the animation is on point here They had their best staff on this And it shows everything is polished and everything looks really good this not really a dull moment or any kind of moment I went like hmm that doesn't look quite, right It was a really good and well put together Package the mood is really sat out here With freezer and jiren fighting amidst all the dust it seems like they're actually inside the dust bolt instead of being right next to it Which is really different for super in fact different for Dragon Ball?
And we quite clearly see that Jian stoic nature is no longer present He is being rattled by everything that freezer says which wasn't the case just a few episodes ago this right here Everyone is Jirens true power Emotions!(in funny voice) Freezer then again Goten(got to him?) and a nanosecond later immediately regrets his decision And it seems quite clear at this point that Freezr is regretting having a tail because getting into all sorts of trouble And I think the pride troopers have really exploited that tremendously in this series But Frieza ain't got time for any of that because he's about to turn jiren into a literal rock Sandwich the big guy ain't too happy there But I think he should be because it's got plenty of meat and roughage in that sandwich 17 then jumps in with a psych-out ki blast and then the barrier going up around him and at this point.

 I'm just thinking ah Seen so many attacks donnager need you absolutely do nothing I bet that this attacks going to do absolutely nothing as well.
Oh oh Well actually did something oh Wow, Durin's coughing up spit, which for a kid show is kind of a big deal However the entire grandstand pulls the same anime trope of hu they did it oh? I knew they would I didn't expect this even Universal lemons getting in on the action I'm just thinking guys guys guys guys stop stop stop doing this because Jirens gonna get back up again Somehow, but this time though they do drag it out a little bit more than they usually do so I'll give them credit for that Credit, where credit's due it's actually choreographed really well to be fair because you know even the Pride troopers looked despondent Topo silently Clenching his fists freeze occurring in saying oh I was right you suck jeering. I'm so awesome Freezers then about to do his thing But then topo steps up and gives his old justice and pride rhetoric yay top pose back to normal I'm so happy he tells jeering that I'm not gonna tell you to fight for your friends because you don't believe in that just Fight for your pride, and what is true to you and that actually does get through to jiren no wonder Why jirens been so fascinated with the likes the Saiyans Goku and to a lesser extent vageta because in a way? They fight for the same thing pride in themselves Freezes hubris is checked and Jiren pops right back up again And it's just a wall of solar energy that Freezer and 17 have to block against and they're doing all they can to not get incinerated dang it freezer or I'd expect better from you usually it's Vegeta that lets the enemy stand there and power up or Goku you you're basically becoming everything you've ever hated It's kind of ironic in a way Jiren flare up is eating away at the pair's energy with freezer Literally falling out of his golden form in a really eloquent way And it's really unusual instead of just simply powering down the energy in the gold aura just Melts away of course Goku's not around to help them right now because he's just busy being all injured and stuff But I get the feeling he will turn up around very Does and he's actually Got some energy back Good old Instant Transmission and stealing other people's attacks is what Goku does to save the day? He turns the 17 and basically goes "good job 17 imma take your attack now Okay, okay", Jiren is happy to see Goku again and gives him a welcoming back present of extra energy to deal with well I've accepted a welcome back card, but alright in a move akin to the family coming home I have from movie 10 the three of them are actually get enough power up to try and negate the jiren wall of energy and It works cheering seems to be really happy about it a little too happy if you ask me I don't think I like Jiren with emotions anymore guys this then jumps into the ultimate final spat with Goku and Frieza working together against Jiren something that Krillen points out to everybody concerned and we get an awesome cut awaited Vegeta, just go like I Don't know how to (windows error sound) His basically crashing right now as in he doesn't know what to think of this the fight continues in its own way And there's just more beautifully animated sequences I could go on forever about this But I'm gonna try and keep this bit short. You need to watch the episode to see it.

 It's absolutely wonderful It's like 130(episode 130) in a way. It's just all smooth. It's gorgeous. It's probably you. You're Takahashi's doing his own Wonderful stuff it needs to be seen to be believed at this in this case But it all comes together with the pair of them Goku and Frieza sacrificing themselves dragging Jiren down and 17 just standing there and thinking that did I win Yep, sure enough universe 11 is done for and jiren is just there looking injured But toppo is right there Giving him another pep talk and saying you know what we're still by you no matter what you did and Jirens not understanding Why but he's got friends, and he knows it, but then Goku chips in saying you're a really cool I wanna fight you again sometime. We'll make it happen and then Jieren smiles the universe eleven Pride troopers they disappear and yeah, it's all done the GP(grand priest) then descends towards where Android 17 is stood and asks him what he would like to wish for and then out of all the rubble of the arena the super Shenlong dragon is right there and This shot of him amidst all the carnage of the arena and the grandson or what's left of it Beautiful shot, it's way more effective than all the motion tweens We got an episode 41 way more effective and a better sense of scale What is 17 going to wish for is it gonna be the crews? well It looks like he's having about face it turns out that 17 wishes for all the erased universes to be restored Yeah, I knew that would happen, but it's good to see that from 17. He's like Yeah, I'd better not be a douche about this well But then the GP(grand priest) is all smiling going I was right to trust universe 7 after all the Dragon does this thing Disappears and then every single universe is brought back to life We get little cutaways from most of the universes, but of course to start with universe 6 Khalif lurk al kaba champa and Naturally, we cycle through the more we see go ah sue because he's the only person from universe 10 that actually really matters but then we end with universe 11 naturally with them looking up to the skies and Topo saying you know let's go and kick universe sevens, but one more time together And then Jiren is just smiling because he's understanding maybe we should actually make friends for once Good on you mate Now this this is character development, and you know what I think this is the good place to actually have our last fan art challenge Send your fan art not to me over at my twitter at masakoX works with a hashtag a super Thank you, and you know what instead of something from this episode Draw me something that was your favorite scene or moment from the series I want your opinion And we'll share this in a dedicated video going forward because I think we all need to say thank you to Dragon Ball super For rien gauging the entire community, and this is a good way to share that so give me your best shot And we'll feature it sometime soon. Good luck everyone makes their peace 17 Just laments the fatty doesn't get to have a cruise you have to wait a little bit longer And then freeze the saying oh well you should just send me to hell because I know you're going to break your promise forever But then we stab out face and just goes Boop Oh yeah, he can resurrect people turns out this was a gift from beerus himself. He just didn't want to make it himself and Yeah, so three users alive again not having to use the Dragon Balls And I'm not sure whether this is a good thing or not It's a risky move, but maybe beerus will go back to sleep and Frieza will be the de facto god of destruction Maybe it's like that because go Cougars.

 Well. I'm just gonna beat you up again It's gonna become a super hero super villain friendship that one can't live without the other But they'll find a way to make it work no Yeahit turns out that the Z knows knew that the universe's would be restored after all because It turns out if somebody made a selfish wish they'd it's just erased everybody Yeah, I knew those little scallywags would have done an about-face and change the rules again this all culminates with Goku promising to meet the xenos again and just have a good time with the ultimate fist bump and Then we get the credits and the theme tune playing out the narrator chimes in saying peace has been restored Everyone goes back to their daily lives And we get some snapshots of of what people are up to but one thing that we do know and we get a little bit More of is seventeen gets his cruise after all so yang get on him and then pan wax vegeta on the forehead oh That's great I'm glad to see that pan was still remembered and not forgotten we get a shot of freezes Empire restored once more and Freezes at the helm thinking oh, I'm going to enjoy this right now But then we cut back to earth saying Goku cannot actually get to Ultra indistinct anymore and the dude is like oh. Yeah well I'll find a new power of my own Where is this taking place the same place they did when they fought last time their old stomping grounds? And they're doing their old fighting stances. It's a really nice moment to end out the series, and yeah, we're done guys I knew this episode was gonna Be rushed before we even saw this happening because there's just too much to actually condense into this thing We didn't get any real conclusion with beerus or any kind of like shaking hands with goku saying you did good I'm actually really impressed you probably could beat me or just some kind of goodbye or Signing off on that whole Goku beerus relationship. That was start at the beginning. That was a bit sad I'm sad that we didn't get to see that I still enjoyed the episode and it did tick most of the boxes But there were just a couple of things that really didn't sit well with me But it was only just a couple of things I'm gonna save most of my thoughts for my upcoming super detailed video probably coming on on Tuesday But it was an all right way to end things it was beautifully made and it did satisfy most of my desires to finish things out and Cheering getting proper character development that was good that he can actually improve, so what now what do we do on this slot?

 Well, it's time to go back to the beginning because I never reviewed the 26 episodes of super that started it So let's just go do that, but anyway that was my review for Dragon Ball super episode 131 tune in next time for my review of Dragon Ball super episode 1 until then be sure to LIKE and subscribe and Thank you so much for being with me these last two years.

Is Fire Force Season 1 Anime Worth Watching

 FIRE FORCE. I love self-explanatory titles. It saves me from having to describe what the show isabout. There is fire and a force that stops it – pretty self-explanatory. Sure, it’sa bit more complicated than that, but we’ll come back to it. Fire Force is an adaptation of the manga of the same name by Atsushi Ōkubo, who, afterspending ten years writing Soul Eater, decided to switch gears and focus on one of the greatestelements known to man: fire. This time, rather than a group of kids whoteam up to fight witches and the like, we instead have a group of kids who team up toLITERALLY fight fire with fire. Fire is, of course, the world’s great solution.There are very few problems that fire can’t solve! Bad hair day? Paper jam in the printer? Light the paper on fire, no more paper jam.Currently on fire? Add more fire and it’ll eventually grow, use up all the local oxygenand snuff itself out. Problem solved. Of course with this being an action shounen, that’snot the route they take. In the world of Fire Force, a new phenomenonmakes random citizens occasionally burst into flame, becoming demon-like beings called Infernals,and it’s up to the new specialized fire defence companies to rush in and defeat thethreat in a timely but humane way. So humane, in fact, that they bring along a priestessto pray for the souls of the recently enflamed.

 very Chrono Crusade of them. Not that anybody gets that reference... Unlike a traditional fire department, the Fire Companies are made up of pyrotechnichumans, people who have gained fire controlling abilities instead of just combusting themselves.Their abilities vary wildly, from straight up fire control, to wielding plasma in bladeform, to just having jet feet and giving the Infernals a good ol’ boot to the head. Andthey all have their unique personality traits that set them apart: one whose switch betweentsun and dere is on a hair trigger, a protagonist who smiles with shark teeth when he’s nervous,and OH. MY. GOD. WHY IS THIS GUY CALLED ARTHUR, AND WHY DOESHE CALL HIS PLASMA BLADE EXCALIBUR?! Okubo, you did the King Arthur reference last timewith one of the most annoying anime characters in existence! Just go and write for the Fate Franchise already!Jeeze! So the overall goal of the series is for usto watch the cool fire-centric powers of the protagonists, the Infernals, and the othervillains who will inevitably be introduced as the Infernals probably get moved to cannonfodder status.

We also get to try to piece together the show’s great mystery of wherethe Infernals come from, what happened in our protagonist’s past, and what conspiracyties it all together. It’s also cool that our protagonist is called Shinra, so I canmake FF7 references and not sound out of place. Shinra’s family ended up being burned todeath in a fire that coincided with the appearance of his powers, however both he and the storyat large doesn’t place the blame on that as the cause for their deaths. Instead, there’sa lot of nebulous inferences that there’s something far more sinister going on and noone wants to talk about it, not even the firefighter that saved his life as a child. But it’s hard to get a grip on what’s going on so far. There’s a lot about what’shappening that’s been left purposefully unclear. Thankfully, the production of theseries makes up for a lot. The production is being handled by David Production,of all studios. While I can’t fault the house of JoJo for pretty much anything here,I do have to register my surprise at how well they are emulating Okubo’s style. If I didn’tlook at the production credits for this series, I would have mistakenly bet quite a bit ofmoney that production was being handled over at Bones, considering there is so much ofthe style here that’s identical to their previous work. From an animation standpoint,so much of this show’s style screams that it is from the maker of Soul Eater, yet Boneshas nothing to do with this project, not even for key animation or the like.

 It’s actuallyquite impressive that they’ve been able to emulate the style so well. Maybe if thedemand for a Brotherhood-like remake of Soul Eater ever becomes a possibility, David mightbe a viable choice. Sure that’s more of a pipedream.Back to Fire Force though, what’s probably going to happen is that I’m going to dropthe series until it gets some more episodes under its belt. And I know that when I saythe word drop people take it as a negative against the series, but you really shouldn’t.The reason why I would hold off until there’s a decent amount of episodes is because theoverall story is what I’m finding interest in. The cast is so large here that we haven’thad enough time to get to know them and attach ourselves to them. I have no doubt that Iwill eventually find Arthur endearing, but at the moment I can’t stand him being onscreen. Calling in a comparison to Soul Eater, I had this same problem with Black Star. Lovedhim eventually, but couldn’t care less about him at the get-go.So the show is still trying to balance so many plates at once right now. It’s gearingup its overall plot, introducing major and minor antagonists, while also trying to giveits rather large main cast time to breathe, and there just hasn’t been enough time forthat. I suppose the show isn’t utilizing its time as well as it could yet. W

haverather large action set pieces that one could argue are a bit overkill for this part ofthe story, but both that and the gratuitous fan service are things that we unfortunatelywould be stupid to expect them to skip over. The action because my god it looks good, andthe fan service because, well, fan service. You think they are going to skip over whatprobably brings them a crap ton of fan interest and sells them a lot of merchandise? I don’tthink so. Speaking of skipping over things though, whileI haven’t talked about OP’s or ED’s lately in my First Reactions, the ED for FireForce is great! That's all I really wanted to say I've had it on loop for awhile, so don’t skip that s**t.In summary, I really do like this show, but considering it’s probably going to havea significant episode length by the time they decide to cut the anime off, Don't think that it's not going to probably happen, it could, it happend before... I don’t think it’s had enough time just yet to fully get up to speed. The action is superb, the productionis top notch, and the story is coming from one of my favourite shounen mangaka.
So while I will highly recommend the series to people, I can also calmly say that I’ll likely putit on hold until next season or so, just to let it build up some steam.Thanks for joining me in this quick discussion. There will be streaming links in the descriptionshould you require them, as well as a 14-day trial from our good friends over at Crunchyrollfor their premium service if you find yourself in need of it. Let me know down in the commentswhat you have been following this season. Hopefully I’ll talk about it in a futurevideo. A big thank you to my patrons, who make these videos possible. Until next time,WATCH MORE ANIME! – and stay frosty everyone. 

The perfect Anime

 I'm sure we've all,at one point in our lives, watched or readan anime or manga that we've really feltwe had a connection with. Something that spoke to uson a deeper level for whatever reason that may be. Perhaps it reminded us ofan experience we had in our lives or conveyed a messagewhere you really understood or had some charactersyou could totally empathize with. Because of it, we ended upgrowing a deep attachment to the point where no matter whatflaws the thing might actually have, we could easily overlook it because... well, it didn't matter. It didn't affect our experienceor why we got so attached to it. And even if othersdid find flaws with it, we didn't care. As, they didn't have the sameexperience that you did. To us, it was perfect. Even if, objectively speaking, The perfect anime, the perfect game,the perfect movie cannot exist.

 I was lucky enoughto be able to see the record-breaking𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦 in theaters and it absolutelyblew me away. So much so, I had towatch it, not twice, but 3 times beforegetting close to satisfied. And it was after I walkedout of the theater for the third time that I knew I'd foundmy new perfect anime. Except, I know that,critically speaking, if I called this "perfect,"or "a masterpiece," or any other overlysuperlative adjective, there would be those of us who would arguethe semantics of describing it such a way 'cause, at the end of the day,it's an opinion that's subjective. And I don't know why this wordis so looked down upon when we're talkingcritically about something. Of course I know if a film isn't perfect.

 The characters aren't the deepest,moments of it can play off melodrama, and I'm sure if I thought deeply about it, I can find plot holesbecause the film speaks to the heartrather than to the mind. Though, none of thatactually matters to me because I felt it achievedeverything it need to, and there's so much I love about this film that I wouldn't changea single thing about it. I can't remember the last time I saw something with so much charm and beauty to it and there's just not one,single thing I can point at to say why I love this movie. The beautiful dichotomy oftwo star-crossed lovers learning vicariously about one another. capturing the care-freenature of adolescence like that melancholic feeling of watching a long summer's day passing by. That dreamlike qualityof longing for something that seems preordained yet lost while mixing in themes likefantasy, long-distance relationships, and natural disaster somehowweaving all this into a compelling narrative. There are so many elementsblending together to create a piece of work thatspoke to me on so many levels that went beyondjust breaking down characters, animation,writing, and music. I

walked out of the theaterwith that same bittersweet joy of meeting a lost friendyou won't see again for a long time with a reignited passionfor this medium I love so much, and that's not one thing you can justput on a 1-to-10 review scale. To me, it was a masterpiece. And no amount of plot holes,character writing, or melodrama could take that away from me. But I know that not everyonewill share the same experience I did or come to the same conclusion. There will be people it didn't appeal to. Some will have gottentoo caught up in the hype, or simply couldn't connect to itas much for whatever reason, and that's fine. No one will ever createa piece of work that would appeal toabsolutely everybody, so why is it that wepretend a good review is something that canobjectively break down what makes a piece of mediagood or not? Many self-proclaimed critics I've seen always harp back to thewriting and characters as the absolute backboneof what makes something good. As if there's only one specificformula to making a great show. Which is something I totally disagree with. Sure there is a guidebook and theories to what makes goodfilm making and story telling, which applies to the majority,but we shouldn't forget what they are.

A guide. Not an absolute. And there are exceptions to every rule. Every anime sets out toachieve something different and part of the charm of certain movies or shows is the way they are able to impress youeven if it clearly has flaws. Or sometimes even embracing them. We say show, don't tell. Then along comes the Monogatari series showing us that we can craft an interesting story almost entirely through dialogue. If characters and writing were all that mattered, then we wouldn't get things like the mind-blowing visual extravaganza that was Redline. Gurren Lagann came to celebrate the cheesy heroic tropes we all thought we were tired of. And the ending of Evangelion was such a raw, unfiltered outcry of emotion that love it or hate it - has remained a topic of discussion and a resonating moment for many people to this day.

 So what is it that really makes the show mean something to us? The conclusion I've come to is that there is no single technique that portrays this but there is a common driving force I have felt from all these shows: Passion and communication. At the end of the day, anime is a form of art. A way for the creators to communicate to the audience in some way. Whether it be an idea, a feeling, an experience or something else. And my favorite shows are the ones where this communication really resonated with me. Maybe was a hype scene, a beautifulmoment a genius piece of writing. And I'm sure you all have your own personal examples. Which is why I feel like the best critics are people who can break down why a movie or anime appeals to them, and what aspect of it would appeal to anindividual audience member. Rather than a blanket statement of why it's objectivelygood. Nothing about this is objective. Soinstead of condemning subjectivity, whyaren't we embracing it? Most of my favorite ever shows hadnothing to do with ticking off somepredetermined categories, But some aspects of feeling that I really liked about it. Recently I've seen an increase in people embracing the critical analysis of anime, which is great you know. There's nothing wrong with promoting a smarter way of looking at a medium. But I think in doing so, I feelwe've created a community that upholds having a higher knowledge and appreciation of the inner workings behind your favorite shows more than just having fun. It is possible to embrace critical thinking while acknowledging the subjectivity of it. So we may a joke about it but there's certainly no such thing as a bad taste in anime.
I
fact I think the worst thing you can do is either keep a closed mind or alter your taste so it's more  respectable. I've seen far too manypeople try to hide their actual taste because they think it's too mainstream or two trashy or something that isn't critically acclaimed. There's nothing wrong with your favorite anime, even if it doesn't take all the boxes and characters or writing or cinematography or if you just like it for some reallystupid reason. And it's definitely nothing wrong with thinking some critically acclaimed shows are just   boring as hell. if you can unashamedly say, hey i just really like this trashy show because it was trashy. all the more power to you. I unashamedly hold "love hina" close to me because it reminds me of a time when, my adolescence romanticize the concept of just finding a partner who would accept me. And every so often another show comes along it just appeals to that side of me even if I know it's absolutely trashy. Your taste reflect who you are as a person, your interests are shaped by your experiences, and upbringing that made you the individual you are today. So why the hell shouldn't you be proudof that? It shouldn't be about having superior taste, it shouldn't be about showing off how much knowledge you have. And it definitely shouldn't be about showing how much smarter you are than other people. I

should be about keeping an open mind, embracing individuality, and most of all having fun! I'm the type of guy who can be gropingat the complex narrative presentationseen in Satoshi Kon's work, and then arguing over which Monogatari girl has the most appealing bust in the same conversation. In fact those were some of the most interesting conversations I've ever had. With some of the most interestingpeople I've ever had the pleasure ofmeeting. Whatever shows hold a special place in your heart, are special because that's the person you are. so don't forget that. and I guess all I really wanted to say through all this mindless rambling without any real point I was trying to make was that I saw an anime the other day and I liked it a lot. It was pretty great. No... In fact, it was perfect. 

My Hero Academia Anime Show

 I’m gonna let you guys in on a secret… I’ve never seen My Hero Academia. Now I know that must be hard to believe consideringthe numerous times I’ve talked and made videos about the series in extensive detail,but it’s true, I’ve never seen My Hero Academia and I’m not even completely surewhat it’s about. As I’m sure many of you will say next, Irealize that it is completely unacceptable for a channel like myself which deals primarilywith… well, anime, to have not seen or even know much about what is undeniably the posterchild for the medium right now. The only thing I do know is that like mostpopular things, you have people on both sides of the fence who either call this series overratedtrash, or the second coming of shonen Christ.

 If anything, this just makes me want to delveinto the series even more, and find out what could be causing such a polarizing response. So today we’re going to do just that andget to the bottom of this, I’m gonna check out this franchise for myself, and give youall a completely unbiased and neutral perspective on what is easily the most popular anime airingtoday. There’s just one little problem… I don’t actually own My Hero Academia, at least not physically, now we could take the baby route and stream it through a site like Crunchyroll or [ ], butwhere’s the fun in that? If we’re going to experience the biggestanime in the world, I want to do it through the most unnecessary and archaic way possible.

 Now I just have to think about how we’regoing to ge-- [doorbell rings] Wait, who’s that? Gimme one second, guys. Well would you look at that. As fate would have it, some kindly soul hasoffered to me their completely authentic copy of My Hero Academia, so it would be a crimenot to take advantage of this situation and finally experience it for myself. I do have to say though, it’s… not exactly wh I was expecting. Walt Disney Pictures presents… My Hero Academia. The front of the box says it’s “A cleverhybrid of Harry Potter and The Incredibles”, and I happen to like both of those things so here’s hoping for the best. Our story opens with a teenager named IzukuMidoriya living in a world where superpowers have become commonplace, not commonplace enoughwhere you can just reveal them to anybody, but enough where if you looked into a crowdof people, you’d definitely have quite a few who possess some kind of super ability. Midoriya happens to be the son of a worldfamous husband wife superhero duo, and we begin our tale as he’s sent to train hisown ability at the most respected hero academy in the country… Sky Hi-- I mean, U.A. High Scool. There’s just one little problem with allof this, Midoriya doesn’t actually have a superpower of his own, and he's been spendingthe early years of his adolescence pretending to have powers in the hopes of not disappointinghis parents, one of which being his father All Might, played by Kurt Russell, who wasgiven the extraordinary gift of super strength. It’s not exactly the most original premisein the world but it’s endearing enough in the beginning to have you root for Midoriyaas an underdog and want him to succeed. He has a lot of hurdles he has to face beingnot only a powerless member of a renowned superhero family, but also a powerless highschooler surrounded with classmates his age who have already developed their own. It’s here where Midoriya makes friends withseveral other classmates who have been deemed misfits, as well as his childhood friend OchakoUraraka, as they all do their best to make it through high school while something moresinister brews behind the scenes. Right away what stood out to me about My HeroAcademia was the writing, it has a wit to it that you don’t normally see in thesekinds of shows and I feel like that ultimately made the more mundane scenes throughout theseries the highlight in contrast to the big bombastic superpower sequences that are scatteredaround.

 It’s genuinely entertaining just listeningto these kids talk to each other and learn how to appreciate their company. This is especially focused on with the relationshipbetween Midoriya and Uraraka, it’s one of those dynamics where you can feel the romantictension between the two all the time, but they also manage to just have this reallywholesome and uplifting friendship that you can actually buy they’ve been friends sincechildhood. There’s also another character I won’tget too in depth with named Katsuki Bakugo, another student at the academy with fire powerswho acts as sort of a foil and rival to Midoriya. At first he comes across really douchey butas the series went on, I started to see more sides to his character and he actually becameone of my favorites after finishing this current arc. My Hero Academia in general is interestingbecause a lot of my favorite characters shuffled around a lot as each one got more and morescreentime, even some of the side characters such as the gym coach Shota Aizawa, playedby Bruce Campbell, got some time to shine and ended up leaving an impression on me. This writing and character work ultimatelylends itself to the overall series message that “anyone can be a hero”, and whatmakes a hero can derive from even the smallest acts of kindness. It’s a cheesy but positive message to spread,and a lot of the series reinforces that message time and time again, one of my favorite narrativebeats is the fact that despite having the two most powerful and world famous heroesas his parents, Midoriya ends up in a sidekick class because he simply doesn’t have hispowers.

 What initially hangs over his head as kindof a shame and burden, over the course of one of the arcs, he finds pride in being asidekick along with his other friends, and does what he can with just his resourcefulnessand quick-thinking. Another thing that left an impression on mewas the absolutely insane art direction and animation work throughout the series, as ahuge animation and sakuga fan, the visual presentation of this series blew me away ina manner I was not expecting considering the level of quality most battle shonen have. Thekey animation and storyboards here are obscenely detailed to the point where I couldn’t eventell if I was looking at a drawing or real life. Another nice thing about the life-like presentationis that a lot of the actors like Kurt Russell, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, etc. etc. gave theirlikenesses to the roles they were playing to elevate the authenticity of the show. Writing, characters, and animation aside,there’s just a lot here that makes it easily understandable why this show took off theway it did, great music, fast pace, and some lowkey mystery added in there for flavor haskept me engaged and wanting to watch more as soon as I’m done making this review. Unfortunately it’s not a perfect overallpackage, and now we start getting into the problems and why some people may be saltythat this series is getting exposure that it may not deserve. There’s one aspect I’ve avoided talkingabout up til now for a reason, and that would be the overarching narrative and the antagoniststhat our heroes have to end up fighting. Without spoiling anything, I have to admitthat this aspect fell on its face completely and the villains never really get the attentionthey deserve.

 I mentioned the fast pace being a positivebefore but it also acts as a double edged sword, the series spends so much time focusingon our heroes, their relationships and dynamics, their own personal struggles, and don’tget me wrong, that’s fantastic as I mentioned earlier, spending so much time with them meanswe end up connecting with them more, especially considering the main cast are all underdogswho have to prove themselves as heroes. The issue comes from the fact that spendingso much time with the heroes in turn means that there’s less time to go around withfleshing out the villains, less time to have them stick around, and less time to just givethem more of a presence. Because of this, it often feels like whenevera villain IS introduced in My Hero Academia, you often only have an episode or two beforethey’re gone and they never had the chance to leave an impression on you. Another complaint I would throw at the seriesis that contrary to a lot of its peers in the shonen genre, My Hero Academia never reallyfleshes out the world in compelling or meaningful ways. The premise almost limits ITSELF because sincewe’re so focused on this main cast and their difficulties with high school, the scope rarelyever expands beyond that, and we’re stuck looking at this intriguing alternate realitywith superpowers through tunnel vision. Because of that, despite the more interestingcharacter mysteries that there ARE in the world, I’m not really invested in this universeitself, I don’t care what’s out there in the world and whenever the serieseventually does start introducing new elements, it feels more like elements being introducedfor the sake of plot, rather than a living, breathing world where different factions andcharacters naturally come into play. Finally, the complaint you’ll probably seemost frequently about this series is that My Hero Academia doesn’t really do anythingnew, it’s an amalgamation of a bunch of different shonen tropes and the mangaka makesno effort in hiding a lot of his inspirations.

 That being said, I will defend HeroAca andsay that even though it is very derivative of the shonen genre, I don’t think that’sstopped it from crafting its own identity. Whether that’s simply because we haven’thad a shonen this popular since Naruto, or there’s some kind of secret ingredient here, I couldn’ttell you, but something about this series does feel noteworthy and distinct, despite takingso much from so many other sources. One thing I can say it does differently fora battle shonen, at least out of the ones that I’ve seen, is that there’s a lot more focus on the slice of life high school aspects. This has been criticized a lot but I actuallythink it’s an interesting approach in a genre that’s pretty stagnant, if anythingthe fact that it is criticized just goes to show how comfortable people have gotten withthis formula, and are resistant to change. In conclusion, Walt Disney Picture’s MyHero Academia is a perfectly adequate battle shonen that while not really doing anythingnew, does enough with solid execution that it keeps things engaging and makes me interestedin seeing what will happen next.
 Watching these goofballs develop their abilitiesand survive through oh so relatable high school incidents is both entertaining and endearing. So hey, with a series like this, you’veprobably heard it all before, but I swore at the beginning to give my unbiased perspectiveon this entire series and so I have. Follow me on Twitter for more anime ramblings,join my Discord if you want to be friends, and maybe next time we’ll take a look ata different series everyone’s talking about, I’ve been hearing a lot of things aboutthis other show called Boku no Hero Academia, no idea what it's about but I’ve heard it’sgot a lot in common with this so we’ll see if it’s anything special. One thing’s for sure though... the animation isn't anywhere near as good. 

How Anime is Made Inside the Studio

 Have you ever wondered how anime is made well today? We're going to take a behind-the-scenes look at some of your favorite animation studios and see how this whole [process] is done, from  scratch It all starts off with a script the script is produced by the artist who developed the original [Manga] himself and after a lengthy review Process by the director it gets greenlit and goes into production next we have a storyboard these storyboards include drawing movements panning of the camera, and the length of each shot next we have layouts for the actual scenery [and] Landscapes that take place first hey're drawn on paper And it is reviewed should we have a tree here should we have a building here? And then actually once it is finalized goes to a landscape department where they used to hand paint them
 They don't do it so much anymore Now it has turned into a lot of digital landscapes, but think old-school dragonball z That's all hand painted landscapes and backgrounds, and thank new age one-punch man. It is all digital backgrounds now however sometimes they still do paint in Regular acrylics, but typically don't they'll only do that in a scenario where it's faster or better for some particular [reason] But primarily now. It's all digitized because you have all your tools right at hand. It's faster cleaner and cheaper Next we have key animation now what key animators do is they draw the first frame the middle frame and the last frame Typically of an animation so basically if one guy of guy a was going to kick guy B He'd have him standing there. He'd have middle the kick and then he have the kick impacting the guy After the key animation is done for every frame. It'll go over to the [in-between] animators here's something you might find interesting When the key animators are drawing they have to use references so that they get everything correct now Here's an example of a key animator using a mirror so that he can look at his hand in order to draw the hand Proportionally and correctly after the key animators are done it goes over to the in-between animators who make sure that that animation is a solid fluid movement by tracking the three pictures that they were given or more and basically drawing the frames in between Those in order to give it that motion key animators usually are more amateur. They're less expensive a lot of times They're brought in from Korea over in Japan and that Is part of the reason that Dragon Ball Super episode 5? Didn't look great in a lot of those scenes is because it was done by less Experienced animators who were brought in to do the heavy [lifting] on those [in-between]? Fluid movement animations now what you have to understand is that in animation? just a TV series a 30-minute episode can have as many as 1,500 Redrawn pictures in that single episode After all the animations are complete it goes over to compositing now compositing is a slew of different departments But primarily it is the coloring studio the shading and this is where they put in and Fill all [of] the lines of the animations that have been created [with] the correct colors now a lot of these companies have entire Departments just for the coloring because it is so time-consuming Each of these artists will be given a correct palette of colors to use to ensure [that] all characters Keep and [Maintain] their level and quality of colors throughout the entire animation now.

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sometimes they'll be in a cave or [in] a building where there's not as much light and they'll be given a different color palette for the Darker Shades And that's why sometimes you'll see characters having different shades of color Whether it's their clothes or their skin the final stage of production is effects the effects department will take the fully drawn animation fully colored With landscapes and everything, but basically the rest of the departments are done at this point And now we'll start adding effects whether it's lightening glows or as shading blurs They'll add various effects to ensure that that animation looks amazing glints on swords more things than you probably even know A lot of blurs for certain scenes so that it gives it more of a speed motion there are so many things that the effects Department does in the end that really add [to] the stellar quality of an animation and add those effects that make you love those key moments in that anime Finally we go to post production which is editing so that the anime the 30 minute cartoon is exactly the amount of broadcast time meaning they may have to cut some pieces out and we do the Voiceovers the voiceovers are probably one of the more on stages in this entire process You guys probably knew that the voice of Goku is voiced by a woman walking [Sudhana], or underneath it feels old ah But did you know that the voice of naruto was - oh see what after dinner? You go get a shell company to understand [company]. Chaos there you [still] gotta I'm the coo you know they're not pan out I'm jake Master master our media. Thanks for joining us today Make sure to hit that subscribe button, and I will talk [to] you guys soon so lucky 

Attack on Titan Season 4 Anime Trailer Breakdown

 Hey.... it's dangerous here Go, fly... Far away... ...from here. Whoever destroys the machine gun will become the next warrior The armored titan will be one of us!! I think I understand you now. You wanted to save the world Right? Shut up... Why?... Why can't you let me die? From the appearance of the founder Ymir to the present day The Titans have taken many lives But in recent years That peace has been taken away!! Because someone has stole the founding titan inside the island of paradis! His name is... Eren Yeager!! An now I proclaim "Fight" To the enemy forces of Paradis a declaration of war!

 Welcome back everyone it's Charlie thisis going to be my attack on Titan season 4 trailer for the final season they'regoing all the way through the final arc and the manga so if you're new to thechannel be sure to subscribe to get all the videos I got a lot of requests to doa video for this and they actually show quite a bit from the very recent mangastuff in this so if you're wondering how they were able to get all this footagein if they're not completely done animating the season it's because a lotof the animation in the trailer was made separate from the actual episodes so theanimation for the actual final episodes might look a little bit different thanthe way they look in the scenes of the trailer but all the scenes in thetrailer will be stuff that they cover during the final season and they show abunch of stuff here the rest of the original 9 Titans there's a couple newones that we're seeing for the first time including the founding Titan I knowthere's a bunch of questions about what's going on with that they even fullblown to show us the coordinate so if you're not really familiar with what'sgoing on with that I'll try to explain in his non spoilery away as possiblebecause this is basically everything through the end of the story season 4will be 12 episodes total so they're obviously going to be compressing a lot ofthe story where we left off in season 3 episode 22 in the finale that'sbasically going to be the beginning of the Majerle arc so they'll cover that prettyquickly and then you have the war for paradis arc which is basically the finalarc and the manga the marlee arc picks up at the end of season 3 episode 22where they find the coastline and they're all playing around but then theyrealize that this is where all the Eldian exiles are brought and thenforcibly turned into titans and set loose because basically Paradise Islandis a prison island where they send all the exiled but the Majerle arc itself isall about the Marlins realizing through their war with the Middle East Alliedforces that even though Majerle controls a number of the special Titans in theTitan shifters their special Titans themselves aren't enough to win wars asmilitary technology continues to evolve they believe that the only thing that'sgoing to guarantee their supremacy is the power of the founding Titan but thatpower leads them to Paradise Island so obviously this gets involved inAaron's story and his family's history in season 3 episode 22 he has thatvision learning a little bit about his connection to the Eldian royal familywhen historia touches him so if you jumped off theseries there have been a number of really big reveals about the history ofAaron's family how he came into possession of the attack Titan how hecame into the possession of the founding titan in what the coordinate is and whatthis grand plan is because there's a lot of competing agendas with differentforces on the show so as at the end of season 3 and going into season 4 thereare going to be a couple of time jumps they kind of deal with that at the end ofseason 3 in the finale where they basically say six months have gone bybut as the finale Christa's true identity has been revealed as historiaReis lasts or one of the last remaining members of the Eldian royal familytechnically there are a couple other royal bloodline members out therebecause that sort of gets into
who  can control the power of the Titans how thepower of the founding Titan works she decides to reveal the secret of theTitans to everyone and naturally everybody freaks out the funny thingabout this is that if you were watching the intros for pretty much the lastcouple of seasons they'd tell you the history of the Titans of the history ofthe world in those intros if you kind of know what's going on the whole deal withthe vision that Aaron gets is that he's actually seeing a vision of thefritzsche royal family we learned about Aaron's father's history in Marley heactually infiltrated Marley seeking to gain the power of the founding Titanfrom the Reese family eventually he started a relationship with Dana Fritzone of the royal family members they had a child together that became Zeke theirfirst child who's Aaron's half-brother then later he was exiled was able tosteal the power of the founding Titan for himself while he contained the powerof the attack Titan then later he starts another family with Aaron's mother thenmore recently Aaron winds up eating his father when he's in a pure Titan formand gains the power to the founding Titan that way so this huge final arc ofthe series is all about what Aaron is going to do with the power of thefounding Titan now I'll talk about that in a second because it has some reallycool powers beyond those of the other Titans but in this trailer you see mostof the other Titans the new ones are the jaw tightened the hammer tight and

 I'llexplain those in a second but you also see the cart Titan with all the weaponsand the guns the Beast Titan again because that's Zeke but then you've alsosee Annie come back in her chrysalis no spoilers for who this jaw Titan is butas the name implies the jaw Titan possesses incredible biting and crushingstrength with its jaws in its nails it's really good as a siege weapon for saytearing walls apart and for crushing other Titans the Warhammeractually has the ability to create other structures using the hardened Titanflesh which has you pretty useful no spoilers for who possesses the power ofthe hammer Titan but that'll be a big part of the Marley Arc so I'm assumingthey're going to cover that during the first half of the season all the physicsin the history and the mechanics of how the founding Titan work are actuallypretty complicated there's a lot of complications for what your bloodline isand who can control it at what time and how it's being controlled and what youcan use it for but it's a very Lord of the Rings Ring of Power situation onering to rule them all the founding Titan is able to control all the other Titansto alter their Titan forms change their size their physiology and the person whois currently in possession or controlling the founding Titan can useit to telepathically communicate with everyone that is genetically a subjectof Amir you can even use the power of the founding Titan to alter everyone'smemories which actually you find out happened in the pastthat's why Marley wants to get their hands on it so badly because it's a godtier Titan this shot here for instance though is the coordinate the foundingTitan is also referred to as the coordinate where all paths of allsubjects of a mirror and the Titans cross so it's sort of this focal pointacross time space in the sort of metaphysical way between all thesepeople that are connected through this bloodline of a mirror going backcenturies sort of connections between all these different people but this isalso known as the unknown land it's just the metaphysical place where this allexists but if you're a big fan of history and attack on Titan because itgoes so deep one of the cool things about this final arc is that you do getthe full explainer for what happened with Amir the origin of the Titans andwhat happened with the first king fritz you learn why it is that people hatedthe Eldians so much because they were kind ofterrible people you also get a lot of Amir's personal history here too so it'sactually really cool you'll learn about how she actually originally gained thepower of the very first Titan of the founding tightened around 2,000 yearsago before the king learned of her power she was actually being attacked she raninto this giant tree didn't realize there was a sinkhole fell into thisgiant pool infused with a very spine like structure that actually gave herthe power of the founding Titan so that's kind of what you're seeing hereyou're getting a little bit tree in the trailer Amir was the firstperson to obtain the power of the Titans but she became enslaved to the Eldian king who just abused her power and then eventually trapped her inside thecoordinate in the unknown land and used her power to control all the otherTitans until thousands of years ago you have the great Titan war and the Eldianking and the rest of his people are exiled to Paradis Island and then theycreate the walls and then erase everyone's memories so they don'tremember everything in order to use the power of the founding Titan technicallyyou have to be a member of the royal family though either from the fritz ofthe Reese family that's how historian Reese is connected to the founding Titanbut if the founding Titan is inherited by someone outside the royal family likeEren Yeager here the power can still be used if the inheritor like Eren is inphysical contact with a Titan with royal blood that's how he's able to have thisgiant flashback and see her memories because he contains the power of thefounding Titan when he's doing this once they do decide what the actual releasedate is going to be that's probably when they'll release another big trailer soI'll try to do another video when that happens but because the Rick and Mortyseason 4 finale is tomorrow click here for my Rick and Morty finale trailervideo and click here for my brand new Marvel Wolverine deleted scene videothank you so much for watching everyone stay safe I'll see you guys tonight! 

Best Single Season Anime All time

 Konnichiwa, snitches. I’m B, and this is Brotakuza. That was a classic scene for us older kids,and it perfectly captures how I feel about watching anime, especially since I startedworking in Japan. I’m currently trying my best to catch upon Hunter x Hunter…and very slowly at that. But sometimes I want an anime that’s shortand sweet while giving me the same character development and story depth as the Narutosand One Pieces of the world, without having to invest in hundreds and hundreds of episodes,because I simply don’t have time for it. Luckily, there are plenty of anime like this,some of which can be binged through in between 1 and 3 sittings. Many of these are considered classics, withone believed by many to be the best anime of all time. That being said, here are my picks for the top 10 single-season anime of all time…so far.

 #10 Parasyte the Maxim When you initially read the synopsis aboutworm-like aliens invading Earth and causing mayhem after taking over humans’ brains,it seems like a straightforward horror story, but what follows is an unlikely friendshipbetween a human host and his parasyte that offers us a great lesson about our relationshipas humans to the Earth as only one in a myriad of species. And it does it in a way that doesn’t comeoff as too preachy, and even throws in some pretty thought-provoking takes on the relativityof morality. At

#9, Kill La Kill Come for the fan service, stay for the subliminalmessaging. Kill La Kill was a highly polarizing animewhen it came out. While many thought this was an overly misogynisticanime, and it is kind of hard to get past all the T&A, others felt it was a bold shotat the ecchi genre. Whichever side you may fall on, I felt thishigh school revenge story of a girl looking for her dad’s killer had plenty of substanceto back up its choice of delivery. And I also enjoyed Kill La Kill’s subtleshots at hierarchal societal structures, which is a hallmark of Japanese culture, but a reallyantiquated way of determining a person’s value in my opinion. If you can get past the overabundance of skin,I think you’ll really enjoy this one.

 #8, Ouran High School Host Club So, a short-haired girl named Haruhi stumblesher way into her new high school’s host club, breaks a vase, and now the guys, thinkingthat Haruhi is also a guy, force her to work to pay off the debt. The only thing more ridiculous than this isthe fact that a high school has a host club in the first place. The only thing more ridiculous than THAT,is the fact that host clubs exist in real life. Still a great anime, and one of the very fewthat adapted well to the live-action treatment.

 #7, Madoka Magica Madoka Magica is the story of a group of girlswho are granted a wish in exchange for their souls and service as witch fighters. The fine print of their agreement is kepthidden, and they find that their decision has a pretty lofty consequence. The magical girls genre has been done to death,but Madoka Magica throws in a surprising twist element that really cuts to the core and makesyou rethink your stance on some of the key characters. And this is a spoiler, but not really a spoiler,but sort of a spoiler…but pay close attention to the opening theme, as it kind of givesaway the twist, which still has a bit of a sting even if you see it coming.

 #6, Samurai Champloo I was fascinated with Japan’s Edo periodwhen I was little, and it wouldn’t be until I was much older before I got into watchinganime. So finding this was like a match made in heavenfor me. This is a great story about a tea shop waitresswho hires two samurai whose lives she saved, to help her find a samurai who smells of sunflowers. This anime was created and directed by ShinichiroWatanabe, who also made another anime you might have heard of that will also make anappearance on this list a little later. But for now, onto

 #5, Erased I feel like I say it in almost every video,but I love anything that has to do with time travel, and Erased is no exception. The main character Satoru has the abilityto go a few minutes back in time and stop a disaster from happening, but the murderof his mother sends him way back to his elementary school days where he must undo this terrifyingfuture by solving a sequence of violent events as a 10 year old student. There’s a bit of time hopping involved,but its never overkill, and this results in a masterpiece of an anime that also has aquality Netflix live-action version attached to it. Now at

 #4, Eden of the East I honestly don’t remember how I stumbledupon this anime, but it turned out to be one that had me on the edge of my seat. It starts 3 months after a casualty-free missilestrike in Japan with a chance meeting in Washington DC between a Japanese university student namedSaki and a naked Japanese man with the alias “Akira” who has completely lost his memory. A mysterious cell phone is their startingpoint to discovering who he really is and how he’s linked to the apparent attack justa few months prior. Now for our top 3. At

#3, Death Note Obvious classic. if you’re new to anime, this is part ofthe essential viewing curriculum. It’s about Light Yagami, a high school studentwho inherits the power of life and death with a single pen and the Death Note, a notebookthat can terminate a person’s life simply by having their name written in it. If it’s such a classic, then why only #3? Well, what made this anime work so well wasthe intellectual chess match between Light and L, the quirky detective tasked with takingLight down. After L left the picture, the magic of whatmade this such an intense game of cat and mouse died out a little for me, but it’sstill a must-watch nonetheless.

 #2, Neon Genesis Evangelion This is about as love-it-or-hate-it as ananime can get, and I fall on the side of love. This mid-90s classic takes place in a post-apocalypticJapan where mankind is fighting for its survival against giant Angel monsters with the useof Evangelion mechas. A super annoying main character and difficult-to-decipherending really left a sour taste in many viewers’ mouths, such to the point that the creatorof the series, Hideaki Anno, received death threats over it, leading to a film releasewith a new ending. But if you notice the tree of life from theKabbalah in the opening theme, that should tip you off that this anime is dealing withsome serious symbolic undertones, and I was definitely in the minority that actually appreciatedthe original ending. Check it out and decide for yourself. Before we get to #1, here are 3 honorablementions that should also be on your single-season watch list. Angel Beats, Steins;Gate, and Trigun. Definitely check those out. And at

 #1, no surprise, it’s Cowboy Bebop. Most anime series, no matter how well writtenthey are, no matter how well animated they are, usually have even just the slightestblemish. And that’s why Cowboy Bebop is revered theway that it is. It stands as a bullet-proof artistic standardfor the medium, and no anime has been able to quite recreate or recapture its flawlessness. The future dystopian space setting and soundtrackcreates a wholly unique atmosphere that is second to none.

 And the characters from the Bebop bounty huntingcrew are so well fleshed out, that there is a level of authenticity that you just don’tget from many other anime characters, period. Well, those were my picks. As always, if you’ve got an issue with thistop 10, or the order…drop a comment and let me know what your list would look likedown below. I will be back soon, but until then, Sayonara,suckasss! 

Top 10 Anime Movies & Series Recommended After Watching Your Name

 So you just finished watching "Your Name" for the second time, third, or maybe even 15th? But what else can you do to alleviate this hole in your heart? In this video I'm going to recommend 10 anime movies and series you should watch and may enjoy after watching "Your Name.

" Makoto Shinkai the director of "Your Name" received great praise from the anime and film community when this movie was released in 2007. If you enjoyed the beautiful animation and heart-tugging love story of "Your Name" then this movie is for you. Takaki and Akari, two very close friends and classmates are torn apart when Akari's family is transferred to another region of Japan due to her family's job. Despite separation they continued to keep in touch through mail. When Takaki finds out that his family is also moving he decides to meet with Akari for one last time. As years pass by they continued down their own paths. Their distance slowly growing wider and their contact with one another fades yet they keep remembering one another and the time that they share together wondering if they will ever have a chance to meet once again. Directed by Mamoru Hosoda, personally my favorite director. If you enjoyed the romance and time altering aspects of "Your Name" you will enjoy this as well. Makoto is in her last year of high school but is having a hard time deciding what to do with her future.

 In between enduring the pressures of her teachers and killing time with her best friends, Makoto's life suddenly changes when she accidentally discovers that she is capable of literally leaping through time. Following Makoto as she plays around with her newfound power she soon learns the hard way that every choice has a consequence and time is a lot more complicated than it may seem. When five students at Yamaboshi Academy realized that there are no clubs where they fit in, they band together to form the student Cultural Society. One day Aoki and Yui experienced a strange incident. Without warning they switch bodies for a short period of time. As the supernatural phenomenon continues to occur randomly amongst the five friends they begin to realize that it's not just fun and games.

 Now forced to become closer than ever they soon discover each other's hidden secrets and emotional scars which could end up tearing their club and their friendship apart. Another film directed by Makoto Shinkai the artwork and animation far exceeds any of his past but the story and romance aren't as compelling as his other works. Mitsuha's teacher the same teacher shown in this movie and many of the train sequences also feature the same characters. On a rainy morning in Tokyo, Takao, an aspiring shoemaker, decides to skip class and sketch designs in a beautiful garden. This is where he meets Yukari Yukino, a beautiful yet mysterious woman, for the very first time offering to make her new shoes, Takao continues to meet Yukari throughout the rainy season. Without even realizing it, the two are able to alleviate the worries hidden in their hearts just by being with each other. However their personal struggles have not disappeared completely. And as the end of the rainy season approaches their relationship will be put to the test. Steins;Gate is a bit different from the rest. The first few episodes may divert non anime audiences away as the characters and sitting take place around otaku Akihabara culture and is very slow moving, but I insist for you to continue watching. Understanding the culture is not necessary because the characters are so relatable and fleshed out anyone can enjoy this this is one of my favourite anime series but it took a while for me to watch only until episode 12 is when I marathoned it in a day.

 The self-proclaimed mad scientist Rintaro Okabe or HOUOUIN KYOUMA! rents out a room in a rickety old building in Akihabara where he indulges himself in his hobby of inventing prospective future gadgets with fellow lab members Mayuri, his airhead childhood friend, and Hashida Itaru a perverted hacker nicknamed "Daru" the three pass time by tinkering with their most promising contraption yet, the machine dubbed the phone microwave which performs the strange function of morphing bananas into piles of green gel though miraculous in itself the phenomenon doesn't provide anything concrete in Okabe's search for a scientific breakthrough. That is until the lab members are spurred into action by a string and mysterious happenings before stumbling upon its unexpected success. The phone microwave can send emails to the Past altering the flow of history steins gate takes Okabe through the depths of scientific theory and practicality forced across the diverging threads of past and present Okabe must shoulder the burdens that come with holding the key to the realm of time. In an alternate reality 1974 Japan the country is split with the southern islands controlled by America and the northern islands claimed by the Soviet Union Hokkaido referred to as Ezo decides to construct the tower in the sky by 1996 Hokaido's tower construction is complete and three students of Aomori have big dreams concerning this tower Hiroki and Takuya are considered child prodigies and both harbours romantic feelings for Sayuri though neither of them will dare admit it when a drone crashes down the two boys resolved to repair it and slide to the top of Hokkaido Tower but before the dreams of flying it are realized Sayuri vanishes unbeknownst to them her disappearance is related closely to the tower that the two dream of reaching This is the very first independently produced project by Makoto Shinkai although only 25 minutes long it tells a heart-wrenching story of a long-distance love after watching all of Shinkai's work you can really tell why "Your Name" was so successful. It was really a story revised and edited into the masterpiece it is almost 20 years in the making. A story of a long-distance love and mail messages between a boy and a girl set in 2046 after the discovery of the ruins of an alien civilization on Mars man has been able to make leaps in technology and is trying to send an expedition into space in the next year Mikako and Noboru are junior high school students however while Noboru will be entering senior high next winter Mikako is selected to join the space expedition also it has giant robots fighting, so that's cool. I've never finished this series as I found the first five episodes to be very boring but I've heard from others that the show finally picks up in the second season I may revisit it in the future but if you feel the need to chop onions in front of the TV this is for you.
 Tomoya Okazaki is a delinquent who finds life life dull and believes he'll never amount to anything he skipped school and plans to waste his high school days away one day while walking to school Tomaya passes a young girl muttering quietly to herself he soon discovers the girl's name is Nagisa Furukawa.  Tomoya learns Nagisa has been held back a year due to a severe illness and that her dream is to revive the school's drama club claiming he has nothing better to do he decides to help her achieve this goal along with the help of four other girls as Tomoya spends more time with the girls he learns more about them and their problems as he attempts to help each girl overcome respective obstacles he begins to realize life isn't as dull as he once thought. I really enjoyed this show not only for the romance but the great music and artwork as well I do have some problems with it that I may talk about in the future on how the series could have been a masterpiece like "Your Name." "Music accompanies the path of the human metronome.
 The prodigious pianist, Kousei Arima, after the passing of his mother Kousei falls into a downward spiral, rendering him unable to hear the sound of his own piano two years later Kousei still avoids the piano and lives a colorless life alongside his friend Tsubaki and Ryouta however everything changes when he meets a beautiful violinist Kaori who stirs up his world and sets him on a journey to face music once again. This is my all-time favorite movie even more than your name by just a tiny bit while not exactly a romantic show it tells the love of a mother and her children Hana a hard-working college student falls in love with a mysterious man who attends one of her classes though he is not an actual student as it turns out he is not truly human either on a full moon night he transforms revealing that he is the last werewolf alive despite this Hana love remains strong and the two ultimately decide to start a family Hana gives birth to two healthy children Ame and Yuki both possessing the ability to turn into wolves all too soon however the sudden death of her lover devastates Hana's life leaving her to raise a peculiar family completely on her own the stress of raising her wild nature children in a densely populated city all while keeping their identities secret culminates in the decision to move to the countryside where she hopes Ame and Yuki can live a life free from judgments of society wolf children is the heartwarming story about the challenges being a single mother in an unforgiving modern world if you have any other recommendations please let others know in the comments below be sure to LIKE and subscribe as I may talk about one of these in the future my next video I'll be talking about Sword Art Online, so be sure to watch it before then! 

Pokemon Anime Series

 Ahh, Pokémon! It was a new world of child like adventure and wonder. A world brimming with new life, new experiences, and it is one that I have slowly over time let fall by the wayside. Not that Pokémon has stopped just becauseI’m not paying attention to it. Pokemon is nothing less than a massive worldwidephenomenon that few can truly encapsulate, one that has been in the works continuallysince the original release of Pocket Monsters Red and Green back in Japan 1996. It has spawnedgenerations of games, films, albums, and books. But we here at Glass Reflection like talkingabout one particular kind of medium, and that is what we are going to be focusing on today. THE VHS TAPE! ...or more specifically, what's on the VHS tape and everything like it. I’m called this video “Remembering Pokemon”because, as I said, the Pokemon anime has not stopped airing just because at some pointin my young life I stopped watching it. At the time of recording this video, Pokemon has been on the air for 22 seasons and has a current total of 1,058 episodes. That’s a lot. Take that One Piece. But today, we are really only caring aboutthe first 82-ish. Or 77, if we decide to exclude the episodes banned in North America due toguns, seizures, and inflatable breasts. While Pokémon was not my first anime, nordid I watch it at a time when I really knew what Anime was, I cannot argue its importanceto my childhood and its influence on me. But it has been quite a while since I actually sat down to properly try to enjoy and watch the series. So how does this initial seasonhold up? Is it still worthwhile to watch, or is it only palatable with a heavy glassof nostalgia juice? Let’s find out.

 The original baseline plot of the Pokémon anime is quite similar to the video gamesreleased only a year prior. A young 10-year-old boy, Satoshi – or, as we know him, Ash Ketchum– prepares for his 10th birthday when he is finally old enough to head to the localPokémon professor’s laboratory and receive his first ever Pokémon. This small pocketmonster will accompany him through his journey across the country in a competition that defineshis entire existence. Where the anime differs, however, is quite apparent from the get-go.Not only does Ash arrive too late to receive one of the three original starters (Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle), but Professor Oak really only has one Pokémon left: a smallelectric rat Pokémon Pikachu, a Pokémon that even Oak is reluctant to hand over dueto its poor temperament. But Ash is nothing if not stubborn, and if he’s going to basehis entire self-worth on being able to capture and train these creatures, then bad temperamentis nothing he shouldn’t be able to handle. Pikachu disagrees.

 "It's also known as an electric mouse. It's usually shy but sometimes can have an electrifying personality." "I see what you mean." "Shocking isn't it?" Throughout the show’s first episode Ash literally drags Pikachu through the countrysideoutside his home town and tries his best to deal with this Pokémon who would much ratherbe anywhere else. This was just episode one and, while it didn’testablish the status quo that would soon come to light over the next few episodes, it clearlylays out several facts that remain prevalent throughout the series’ first season.First, Ash is a horrible trainer. I’m not the first person to say this, but it bearsrepeating. Ash constantly measures his worth by trying to become a “Pokémon Master”,which in this world involves catching Pokémon, training them to challenge gym leaders forbadges, and to attend the Pokémon League and compete to be the very best…..like noone ever was. And this is identical to the same journeythat players take through the original games. There’s only one problem. By Ash’s ownmetrics, he fails constantly and very rarely succeeds. Out of the original 150 Pokémon, try and guess how many out Pokémon Master Ash caught during his time in the Kanto region? Eleven. And even that’s being generous and counting the Tauros that we in North Americadidn’t actually see him catch because it was in a banned episode.Now let’s take a look at the other metric upon which Pokémon Masters are usually judged:number of gym badges. By the end of the series, it is true that Ash physically owns all eightKanto badges required for entry into the Pokémon league. But if you were a fervent watcher,you will recall that Ash…didn’t earn most of them. At least not really.Let’s go through them real quick shall we? Bolder badge against Brock: Ash fails in his firstattempt, and after hooking up Pikachu to a nearby watermill to charge his electricity,faces Brock again. Only this time…Pikachu still fails, but a stray electric boltactivates the building’s sprinkler system which showers Brock’s rock Pokémon Onixwith water, which you know it is weak to, and that makes him more susceptible to Pikachu’selectricity. That’s not actually how that works, but okay, fine. So Brock gives hima badge. Bonus, he joins Ash on his journey. and to become one of Ash's closest friends. Badge #2 Cascade badge. Ash’s rival GaryOak has already swept through the city and wiped out the gym’s Pokémon supply. Buthey, it just so happens that the girl who’s been following Ash around, Misty, is the sisterof the gym leaders and challenges Ash to a battle in their stead. Now Ash should be ableto wipe the floor here. Electric Pikachu vs Misty’s water Pokémon, no contest right?Well unfortunately for him, Pikachu doesn’t want to fight a friend and refuses to participate.Leaving Ash stuck to only fight using the other Pokémon at his disposal. Which…isn’tgood enough. Then Team Rocket barges in, has their moment in the sunshine when they capture all of the Pokémon in the gym, but then fail spectacularly because they were fighting against the literal god of thunder that is Pikachu…and Ash gets his badge. Not for defeating the gym leaders,but because Pikachu is OP as hell. In fact, this is kind of a theme that youmight start to notice. Ash is not succeeding because of his own personal ability as a trainer orbattler, but because he won the lottery in receiving a Pikachu who holds the power ofThor. Badge #3, Pikachu vs Raichu. To furtherdemonstrate how OP the little rat is, he defeats his own evolved form through sheer tactics,because Pikachu is a better battler than Ash himself. True Story. Badge #4, Saffron city and Sabrina. Ash fails twice overall, and after literally DYING andbefriending a Haunter, said Haunter makes the Psychic demon of a gym leader laugh, which apparently is good enough for a badge. Who knew? Badge #5, Ash insults the gym leader and then has to cross-dress with the help of TeamRocket to get into the gym itself. He fails to actually defeat the gym leader, butluckily for him Rocket sets the gym on fire. You know, the Gym for...Grass Pokemon. So then Ash is able to save the gymleader’s Gloom. Earning him a badge. Uh huh. Badge #6, now this time I would like to be perfectly fair. This is one where I can't really fault Ash’s skills. This is thefirst time he legitimately defeats the gym leader in question and earns the soul badge. It’s just odd that Koga, being the poison type gym leader, doesn’t actually use any poisonmoves and much more emphasis is instead placed on him being a ninja? But sure, this one Ashgets. Fair enough. Badge Seven. This one occurs around thetime Ash’s Charmander has evolved into a Charizard and has begun his proper teenage rebellionphase. As such, Ash has zero control over Charizard, because again he’s not reallygood at what he does. Charizard eventually helps fight because, while he’s enjoyingnot listening to Ash at the moment, he also doesn’t want to be one-upped by Blaine’sMagmar. So technically this is another one where Ash wins in a legitimate battle, butonly because Charizard decided to cooperate, not because Ash is in any way a good trainer.Badge Eight was basically a throwaway. Instead of fighting Giovani like in the games, orlike Gary had to do, Ash faces off in a gym battle against Team Rocket. You know, thesame trainers that Ash has been fighting since episode two who he has never lost to becausePikachu is a god. Now I’m not going to continue very far afterthis, but the point is that by Ash’s own metric of success he’s a constant failureand does things against the grain in hopes that everything just works out. and it just so happens that it does...most of the time. He constantly fights opponents going against type advantage, without actually training his Pokémon, instead relying on their own innate intuition and abilities to win fights on their own.

 However, I think this is mostly just a problem with him and how he views himself and hisself-worth. He constantly proceeds under the impression that battling and earning badgesand their equivalents is the only thing worth-while in his adventure, despite the fact that hehas been shown to be very adept in other Pokémon-related professions. His Pokémon absolutely adorehim as a person, and he takes great care of them. To him, they are not mere tools to beused to win battles, but friends with which to face challenges, and that’s a worthwhiletrait to have. For like a Pokemon Breeder. But a Pokémon Master he ain’t. One of the reasons I never enjoyed watchingAsh as a protagonist is because he just seems to be failing upwards through life. He keepsrunning into great Pokémon that are so enamored by him they just want to follow him, badgesare mostly given to him without great challenge, and he is living a life that us watchers canonly dream of. Like seriously, they never explain how he can afford to continually feed himself, or make money at all really, doing what he does. So it's quite literally a dream formost of us regular folk. But at least I can talk solace in the fact that we regular folk,unlike Ash, can actually beat Brock and Misty without bullshit tactics and instead justpummel them with sheer force and an adequately levelled Charmander. Like I did! Dooooooooooon't "That's what I'm talking about!" In fact, what kept me watching Pokemon for as long as I did wasn’t Ash at all, butrather... because of Team Rocket. Team Rocket is the group of three failureswho appear in basically every episode of Pokémon after the first, who constantly try to capturePikachu because they are one of the few who recognize this electric god’s power. Unfortunatelythough, because they keep trying to face a literal god of thunder, they almost never succeed,and them blasting off again every episode is played mostly for laughs.But I would posit that Team Rocket, often, are shown to be better trainers than Ash himself.Now I am not saying that they are always good people. Their first introduction shows themraiding a Pokemon hospital to steal sick and defenseless Pokémon, not something good peoplewould generally do. But as characters, they are the ones who grow the most over time.Their constant ideas and inventions get more and more grandiose, and honestly, while theirsuccess rate is near 0%, if they weren’t constantly up against the god of thunder thatis Pikachu, they’d probably find much more success for the effort they put out on a regularbasis. Team Rocket is the team of loveable losers that I’ve grown more attached toas I’ve grown older, because it’s hard to relate to this kid that has a lot of thingshanded to him when instead you can relate to these three shmucks who fail constantlybut never let that get them down…well, at least not for long.Hell after almost two decades worth of episodes, they actually manage to succeed in defeatingAsh fair and square in a battle, Pikachu included, and it is such a good moment to watch. Yes,they are the token villains, but their villainy is just cartoonish in nature. No one is reallythreatened by them and they don’t actually harm anyone, but they have the capacity tolearn and grow, which is something I never felt Ash was able to properly do.Now this all comes back to determining how enjoyable the show as a whole now is, whetheror not it has stood the test of time and can still be enjoyed by those who have never watchedit before now. To which I say….ehhhhhh, probably not.As a test, I watched several episodes beyond the initial 80-some-odd to try and get a feelfor how the series progressed and how enjoyable the Pokémon formula actually is, while somewhatremoving my nostalgia googles by watching episodes I had never seen previously. I watchedsome episodes from the era of the Orange Islands, only to discover that I was suddenly a lotless lenient towards many aspects of the series that I otherwise was able to brush off.The tone, the pacing, the puns. My god, the English dialogue is so full of puns that itwould make a committee of the most cringe-worthy dads cringe. "Stop pussyfooting around!" "Just biting my time!" "Ahhhhhh! The moment of tooth!" Now in fairness, the closer youget to present day, the less jarring this becomes. Many sections inthe X-Y era up until the current seasons appear to be a lot more enjoyable considering. Though I haveto admit, it feels a little odd for me after that unfortunate voice actor swap that happenedback in 2006. But we're not gonna get into that. But classic Pokémon as I grew up with itis a bit more of a relic. Something that doesn’t really stand up unless it is as steeped innostalgia for you as it is for me. I am a kid who grew up watching the series religiously,memorized the PokeRap (in the wrong order) just because I was watching it at the end of  every episode, and it wasn't necessarily in order back then I went to go see the first two films, because A) watching a Pokémon movie in the theater was nuts as a concept back when I was a kid and 2) Lugia is my favourite legendary. Fight me.It’s a product of its time that I will rewatch, not necessarily because it’s a good series,but because for me it reminds me of better times. The kind of times when this naive littlekid, who played N64, drank juice out of a box, and collected Pokémon cards, had nota care in the world. I do have a holographic Charizard though,so I have that going for me. This little card made me king of the playground! ...That's a lie I was never a king of the playground. Downside to all of this, if you truly lovePokémon and want to watch it, your options keep changing over time. At the moment theoriginal series is available on Netflix but we don’t know how long for and even thenit doesn’t contain all of the original series, only going up to episode 52 by my count. Surprisinglythough A bunch of Pokémon episodes are available on the official Pokémon Website, but onlyup until somewhere in Joto for the classic episodes, and the most recent Sun and Moonepisodes. Still huge swaths of Pokémon anime history left undisturbed. But if all you wantis the nostalga those will do you fine. Lastly, a very special thank you to my patrons,who not only support my work in general, but who also allow me to do what I do. I loveand appreciate you all. Specifically though, as I like to do, I want to give particularshout-outs to patrons Matthew Robertson, Hector Montemayor, Siri Yamiko, Ryefan Boneapart,Rune Jachobson, Joshua Garcia, and Calhoonboy for being especially awesome. You guys aregreat! And until next time – ladies, gentlemen, and others – watch more anime…and stayfrosty.