Batman: Assault on Arkham (2014)

This week I felt like taking a look at something Batman related after I finished the Batwoman DLC for Arkham Knight as I'm still on a huge hype for anything Batman. I've always found myself enjoying Batman as a kid, specifically the animated series and the Beyond series too like most people who grew up during that period of time. However after that It was not until both Nolans Batman Begins and the Arkham series that I really began to get super into it.

I never ever used to read comics of any kind, I would only know about superheroes from their cartoons, movies or games. While Nolans series of Batman films really got me back in to that universe it never made me want to read any of the stories it was based on, It was only when I played the Arkham series that I began to research characters Id never heard of and stories that inspired plot elements within the game. I think I can thank the Arkham series overall for the way I feel about Batman In general today actually.

If it were not for its use of easter eggs and in depth looks at character profiles I would never have looked online and discover decent places to begin reading. The only thing with that is that I don't read new series as they come out, I can only read collected issues in a graphic novel format, I really don't like waiting to see the end of an arc or story. Perhaps that's because I began with collected issues and I've never actually tried to read weekly or monthly though, to be fair with the New 52 thing I don't really feel like starting anew, to me each story takes place in the same universe unless specifically stated not to.

The Arkham series as well as Begins pointed me in the direction of the Year One storyline and from there I was hooked, I've read so many graphic novels now and my collection is ever growing but I'll always love Year One and to a latter extent The Dark Knight Returns, both of these graphic novels really propelled my love for the mythos of the character, his universe and his rogues gallery as much as the video games did.

So I looked around and realised I had a few Batman Blu rays Id not checked out yet and after the Arkham Knight game I thought id give Assault on Arkham a shot. This film takes place within the Arkham universe and seems to fit in after Origins and some time before Asylum. Although it is a Batman movie he actually takes the back seat to the Suicide Squad, A group of villains and anti heroes set up by Amanda Waller. As the name describes this squad is set up to do the missions 'no one else can', to make use of the most dangerous villains skills and of course as a scapegoat if something were to go wrong so Waller can deny any accountability.

While Batman does take a back seat this time around I suppose this movie is a nice introduction to the Suicide squad if you are unfamiliar with them as a group as it does feature a number of characters who will be front and centre in the upcoming live action film in 2016.

I think it is a shame this film doesn't focus too much on Batmans perspective but to be far he has enough animated features as it is. I suppose if this film was titled just something like 'Sucide Squad: Assault on Arkham'  it would not have sold well (If it even sold well anyway), but anything with Batman in the title will garter more attention towards it. Maybe that will change after the films release if people can get over how the fucking Joker looks.

The Suicide Squad this time around consists of King Shark, Killer Frost, Black Spider, Captain Boomerang, Harley Quinn, and Deadshot. Their introduction almost felt like something out of a cheesy trailer with each of them having text around them stating who they are and who they were 'playing'. I actually really like the idea of the Suicide squad if only because I love to see villains working together to take on something, be it a hero who continuously beats them, a bigger threat        or an entire asylum.

I like that although they are working together, they're forced to, it makes for some pretty great scenes where the characters can't stand each other but know they just have to bite their tongue and get on with it or else their head will explode due to a nano bomb placed within their neck. I actually really liked that Waller showed first hand what would happen if one of the team were to disobey her. Right from the get go of the team being brought together we see KGBeast (what a name!) attempted to break away from the group and instantly got fucked up.

The plot begins when the Wallers government team infiltrate the Riddlers Hideout only to be stopped by Batman, Waller knows the Riddler has knowledge of each and every member of the suicide squads real names and threatens to release them on the internet. Waller assembles the squad to infiltrate Arkham Asylum while Batman is preoccupied in order to get a thumb drive laced with this information that is located within his cane.

The Squad lands in Gotham and works with The Penguin in order to find a way into the Asylum, during this time they suit up and await orders. However some members of the team begin getting specific secretive orders that the rest of the team are not to know about. As the story progresses we find out The Joker set up a Dirty bomb within the city and Batman believes the Riddler knows where it is. Because of this Batman continues to have run ins with the squad which allows Harley to be sent to Arkham, just as Waller planned.

As they all begin their plan to enter the Asylum they come across the Joker in Solitary confinement which pisses Harley off to the point of the plan almost going out of the window. During this time Batman gets the feeling Harley wanted to be caught and quickly heads toward the Asylum. Batman soons shows up and attempts to take on the entire squad, easily subduing the majority of them until he is seemingly overwhelmed and stopped by Black Spider.

Frost goes missing at this time and turn up at the Riddler's cell to assassinate him, however The Riddler states he knows how to defuse all their nano bombs in their necks. Naturally the Joker has found some way to escape (surprise surprise) and is looking for a way out of the Asylum. The Squad meet up with the Riddler and Frost and begin shocking themselves in order to overload the nano bombs.

At this point if you hadn't guessed it we see that Black Spider is Batman in his costume, who is somehow wearing his own mask beneath an entire Black Spider get up. Then the Joker shows up and chaos ensues as you can imagine.Oh and remember the bomb I mentioned before?, yeah it was just conveniently in the mallet Quinn was using.... how lucky.

The movie pretty much turns into Arkham Asylum lite now as the Joker releases all the inmates such as Two Face, Bane and Scarecrow while the remaining Squad members attempt to escape. Of course the Joker and Quinn were stowaways on Deadshots ticket out of the Asylum and the three begin fighting. The fight between Deadshot and the Joker is short but actually pretty great and get's quite brutal at times with multiple stabbings and choke outs rather than just a standard shitty fist fight.

The end of the movie shows Batman defusing the bomb and Gotham saved once again, with a short epilouge showing him confronting Waller about the damage caused by her Squad and a final scene with Deadshot reunited with his daughter aiming his sniper at Wallers head as the film ends.

This movie had a number of aspects that I did enjoy such as the line up of villains and the banter between them actually being quite funny at times, such as Killer Frost making ice related puns and the rest of the teaming groaning whenever she does. With that banter also came some rivalry between Deadshot and Captain Boomerang which I really liked the build up to with them having dart throwing competitions and getting into some fights, but in the end it felt like it didn't lead to anything as they betray each other after all.

To be fair though they are both villains so maybe the 'we were rivals now we're best pals' thing would not have really fit well. This sort of stuff actually helps the slower scenes with their pace, I feel these scenes would be pretty boring without the interactions to be honest. However Harley Quinn in this film, while a nice addition overall seems to be more of a 'IM SO RANDOM LOL' kind of character than actually funny in her own right, she had some dumb catchphrase throughout the movie of 'yahtzee' and it just got annoying.

I like that the films includes a large number of Batman's rogues gallery even if just for a moment such as the Penguin, Bane, Ivy and a few others, while they are only on screen for a few moments they are each a welcome addition and show that Batman's been busy and is already well established as the hero or 'dark knight' of Gotham by this point. 

I also liked that at least one time Quinns costume resembled her animated series version to an extent rather than the one she has in the Arkham games, I like to think the games take place in that universe but much later on. On the other hand however I like that the majority of the other characters costumes such as Bane and Scarecrow retain their look from the games, it's one of the only parts of the movie that makes it feel like it's actually related to the video game.

The voice acting is actually really good all around, Of course Kevin Conroy reprises his role as Batman once again and no matter how many years go by he still does the character justice, unfortunately he is not in the feature for too long every scene he's in shows how comfortable he is with being Batman, his voice just has this great power around it that just commands those around it to be intimidated, it's a guy in a Bat suit that will completely fuck you up if you're committing a crime and you know it.

While Mark Hamill has been away from the Joker character since Arkham City the use of Troy Baker as the Joker Origins has been the next best thing, he has truly been fantastic in the role, especially in Arkham Knight recently, there were definitely times when I could not tell the difference between the two. While he is great in this movie too, there did seem to be a number of moments where he just was not as good as he was in Origins, this isn't to say his portrayal this time around was bad in anyway it just felt like he could do better and he knows it.

The rest of the cast was pretty good too, Deadshot Particularly, while I found Harley Quinn to be annoying I can't deny that her voice works for the character and it always has, she'es meant to be this high pitched woman who love's to be the centre of attention other than when the Joker is around and honestly I had no idea until I just looked it up that it wasn't Tara Strong who voiced her this time around but Hynden Walch who voiced her in The Batman.

There were some issues I had with he movie too though. I don't understand the use of techno and dubstep like beats for the soundtrack, especially outside of action sequences It just did not seem to fit in any scene at all, Batman should be almost Gothic with its music, I mean if you're going for a more action orientated movie then fine but there is not need to have crazy ass dubstep playing when characters are suiting up and talking to each other, Id rather now music at all at that point.

The animation is nothing amazing, it kind of feels like your typical Saturday morning cartoon, a lot of scenes understandably take place in the darkness and actually look better because of this. One thing tht bugged me was having Batman's pupil semi visible most of the time, it was really distracting when and looked like a mix between the animated series batman and the film version where his eyes are always visible. To be fair though, the women were all drawn pretty well as you can see above....
In fact Killer Frost was one of the best things to look at I don't care!

Overall was this movie worth a watch? I would say yes if you're a huge Batman fan but no if you're more into just the films or games. While this is set in the Arkham universe it does not really have anything to do with the games other than some character designs, the story certainly does not really lead in or out of any game in the series. This film really is more of a Suicide squad movie, which is fine really I think in that respect it is quite a good way to become familiar with the characters and motives of the Squad so you're up to speed for the 2016 movie.

However the only key characters you'll need to focus on are Deadshot and Quinn it seems, as they seem to be center stage in the 2016 movie according to the trailers. Honestly if you're looking for a really good Batman movie from the long list of animated features I would not recommend this as your first. In fact Both Year One and The Dark Knight Returns have been animated and the Killing Joke is in the process of being made so honestly id say to go for one of these unless you're really in to the Suicide Squad.

I've actually got quite a few DC animated movies laying around the house so perhaps I'll review some more some time!, if you're into Batman or any Superhero let me know of any cool underrated animated movies to check out, they always seem to get overshadowed by their live action counterparts.

Dragonball Super (2015) : Episode One, How's it looking so far?

This week It was kind of a given that I'd take a look at the first episode of the new Anime Dragonball Super and how it's looking so far as well as what I hope to see as the series progresses. Now I don't plan to review every episode but maybe some key points every now and then, for now though I want to discuss what this show is, what I think of the planned storyline and how I feel this episode stands as a new beginning but also as a sort of continued epilogue to Z.

The series was first announced on the 28th of April 2015, just over a month before the airing of the first episode and was the first animated TV series in 18 years. The series characters and general plot were developed by Akira Toriyama much like Battle of Gods and Revival of F. What's interesting about this series is the setting itself, described by Toriyama as following “…the aftermath of Goku’s fierce battle with Majin Buu, as he attempts to maintain earth’s fragile peace” the series will actually continue on after this going up to BoG, in-between the two movies and after Revival of F where it is said to explore one of the alternate universes described by Beerus in the former movie.

While I'm happy with this I'm most excited about this other universe storyline as it's something totally new where we really have no idea what awaits other than the two new characters revealed who I assume act as the Beerus and Whis of that universe, Champa and his as of yet unnamed attendant. With this new universe we have a great opportunity to see some new character designs and world building but also some amazing fight scenes if the two films are anything to go by.

What's great about this is the way Japan planned Super to air directly after the last episode of Dragonball Kai so it literally feels like a continuation to those watching weekly in Japan even if it does go back in time slightly from the last episode of Z.

I feel like the creation of this series is the culmination of the Dragonball 'renaissance' that began back in 2008 with the Shonen Jump Special and just intensified with everything that came since, the OVAS, the Jaco Manga, the games like Xenoverse and Heroes and of course arguably the most popular and important factors, the last two movies. It really feels like Dragonball never really went away due to its world wide popularity with multiple generations.

When the first episode came out I was understandably super (ha!) excited but I wondered how they would deal with having to focus on the small amount of time after Buu but before Beerus, I did not think there was much they could actually do between those points that would involve the typical Z style fights or training. What we got was more akin to something only seen in the filler episodes of Z we got a look at how the characters are dealing with this time of peace and honestly that was great to see.

In Z it always seemed like there was no real 'down time' for the characters outside of the odd filler episode like when they were waiting for the Cell Games to begin. But here we see that Goku is now a radish farmer in order to support his family but yearns to train, Gohan is finally becoming a scholar and is engaged to Videl and from the looks of the next episode Vegeta is more of a family man albeit a grumpy one.

The plot of this episode was nothing major, it revolved mostly around Trunks and Goten looking for a wedding present for Videl while having sub-plots around the worlds reaction to Mr Satans defeat of Buu and showing Beerus during an undisclosed time as he destroys planets. The episode was definitely more comedy orientated akin to early Dragonball or BoG and felt more like the infamous driving school episode in that respect.

As a starting point to the series I thought this worked really well, it did not really make itself accessible for new viewers in my opinion but I think if you're watching this show you've got to be familiar with at least Z.  The first scenes we're shown are actually taken from the battle with Kid Buu in Kai, I'm not going to lie I'm actually disappointed that they decided not to reanimate this flashback but I can totally see why they did this as they already had it animated, I guess in some respects for many this would actually fuel their nostalgia.

I like that Goku is wise enough to know that although they are in a time of peace he has too keep up with his training and continue to get stronger, he is well aware at this point that he is the saviour of Earth and it is usually down to him to defeat the threat, although he seems fine with this because of his love to fight It shows how other cast members who used to have such potential like Gohan have understood this and in some respects given up on being a saviour, they still fight but they focus more on their own lives.

This actually points some of the characters, specifically Gohan in the direction he heads in GT, becoming a scholar and father first rather than stay like his Buu Saga self. Oddly Gohan even looks like he does in GT at this point, yet a few years later he will look and dress like a younger version of himself. Although I feel like Gohan is becoming more and more of a background character as time goes on I can't help but enjoy any scene with him and Videl in, I just like those two being together and wonder if they'll include their wedding in the show itself like at the end of the Dragonball Anime with Goku and Chichi.

Honestly It's nice to see Goku act more like a Father to Goten, of course he was never there for the first few years of his life due to being dead but now that they are in this time of peace it's great to see them hang out together, It was a nice touch to have Goku say he was proud of Goten. The next episode may even have Vegeta and Trunks moments like this which would also be a nice touch, especially after Vegeta finally understood how important his family is to him.

If the Opening and Ending of the show is anything to go by then hopefully we will be seeing more of characters like Yamcha and Tien like in Revival of F, Id love for this to happen it would just be nice to see them included again even if it's just brief scenes of them taking out weaker enemies.

I think capitalising on Beerus' popularity really helped this episode, I don't think it would have been as good as it was if not for his scenes, it was fantastic just to get a brief glimpse of what his job actually is and how he may carry out the destruction of worlds and funnily enough it's a lot like the film, Beerus just wants to have a great meal and barters with the planet that if it's good enough he won't destroy it. Hilariously he decides the meal was worth saving exactly half the planet for and he splits the planet exactly in half.


Finally I think Roshi's brief scene at the end of the episode absolutely stole the show, it encapsulated everything I love about Toriyamas comedic style. Just to have Roshi seemingly appear out of nowhere somehow knowing that Goku has come into a lot of money and screaming that they should buy some Porn with it was extremely early Dragonball and really solidifies Toriyamas involvement with the series.

Outside of the plot of the episode I'm really happy with both the Opening and Ending, I feel like both songs are quite catchy, while I don't feel they are on the level of the Z openings I feel like they still fit quite well. I love that Jaco is included in the opening itself as I loved reading his Manga and it shows how Toriyama really wants him to be a bigger part of the series itself, I'm excited so see him show up at some point within the show.

I really enjoyed the imagery in the ending more than anything as it shows a silhouette of Goku as a child as he walks through a background image of key locations from both DB and Z. This is quite similar to the 2008 Specials ending which I was also a really big fan off, it just shows how much not only Goku has been through and how far he has come but also the how far the series has come too. It shows that this series was not forgotten and will not be for a long time.

In terms of the shows animation quality it seems to be exactly what I would expect from any new Anime, which is pretty good while obviously having certain scenes where maybe a character is not as detailed as they were before. I think it's easy to forget that this isnt the big budget piece the last two movies are and there will be these examples of 'quality' every now and then. Generally though this does'nt bother me and I feel like the animation is great.

It seems like the animation team are already putting in Toriyamas 'Toribot' imagery in certain places like on the bills of money which is great to see early on as it's a sort of trademark Toriyama likes to do within his work. To see this happening so early on suggests to me that this really is a Toriyama backed series and like the two new movies, is going to be something special. They also seem to be using a few minor familiar characters again like Mr Satans students from the filler of the Cell Games Saga showing up while he is being interviewed for saving the world.

Generally I prefer to watch Dragonball in English although I don't mind the Japanese version, but I prefer the Japanese music more, at least for the original show over Z. So far with Super however I've  got to say I didn't find the music anything special yet, but that could change over time. There is so much room for things to either improve or change over time so it's difficult to comment on certain
areas right now.

Overall I feel like this episode was a great starting point to the series. I'm really excited to see where this series goes, especially with the exploration of Universe 6 as it kind of reminds me of the fan Manga Dragonball Multiverse (which isn't that bad) in some ways, although I hope it steers clear of the evil version of characters shit as well as AF like character designs. I hope we see many more comedic segments like in this episode too and if the teaser for the next episode is anything to go by then we're in for a hilarious ride!

Let me know what you thought of the first episode and where you think the series is heading!

Murasaki Baby (PS VITA: 2014)

After a bit of a hiatus I'm back this week with a game a played a lot of while on a short vacation, Murasaki Baby which is a side-scrolling puzzle platformer with horror elements from Italian developers Ovosonico released exclusively for the PS Vita in late 2014. The game was designed by Massimo Gurrani who is better known for his work on titles such as Killer 7, No More Heroes and Shadows of the Dammed, all of which are games I have played and loved.

I originally saw this game when it was revealed briefly in a Sony press conference at E3 2014 and at the time I had no intention of owning a Vita but in all honesty this game looked like it was going to be amazing from the brief look we got and the visuals made it really stick out in my mind as a game Id like to try eventually if I ever got a Vita. However after that E3 I never heard of the game again, it was only with PS+ that I remembered this games existence and jumped at the chance to play it after being so drawn to it the previous year.

I honestly could not wait to play it and saw my recent vacation as a chance to really get into it during travel and while I did play it first, I slowly moved on to other games and found this title to be much more of a chore, saving it mainly for the inescapable plane ride to and from my destination, it's fair to say I was disappointed with this game as a whole, but this is not to say it does not have it's strong points as a welcome edition to the PS Vitas lacking exclusives list.

First though I should explain exactly what this game is about and how it plays. The story of the game while not in depth focuses on a character known only as 'Baby' who lost her mother and needs to traverse a world filled with childhood fears and at times disturbing imagery in order to reunite with her, pretty simple. As he traverses through the world she begins to meet a number of other children however each child is help captive in some form or another and it is up to you to free them from their fears or problems.

Gameplay wise the controls are relatively simple and generally touch screen focussed as you guide Baby via dragging her balloon with the touch screen through various obstacles and eventually learn new techniques such as turning the Vita upside down to progress or using the swipe function to be able to use a certain ability on the world around you such as freezing a certain platform or even having a monster in the background constantly blow air into your balloon to re inflate it after a puncture.

These sort of abilities are a real strength for the game and are perhaps its strongest point, especially towards the end of the game where you're suddenly using all different abilities one after another in order to get through the level, while playing these latter levels I was actually having a great time. Unfortunately they were short lived as just as soon as they began the game was suddenly over, I really felt let down.

Although I was not really enjoying my time overall with the game the visuals were something that actually kept me interested in playing just so I could see what new creepy world Id be thrown into next. I found each design to be quite unique  especially in terms of the characters, with the heads flipped over and their mouths above their eyes yet the hair still being on the 'top' of the head. Overall  the visuals were quite creepy and even Tim Burton esq, although it is said they were inspired by American artist and writer Edward Gorey.

The primary use of Black and White really intensified the feeling of being a child who is more or less alone and depressed in a strange world as well as pushing the weird atmosphere upon the player. I think the use of the balloon was also pretty neat as it was at times the only coloured part of the game which stresses the importance of it as your 'life' but also that this item is the child's safety net, it's what keeps her calm in a otherwise scary place while she searches for her mother. While there were these areas that I enjoyed I have a lot to say about what I found to be lacking in the game.

 By far the worst part of the game for me was the clunky controls, which is surprising as the game is mostly touch screen based. The primary way you move the child is to press the balloon with your finger and drag it in the direction you want to move in, this seems simple enough however the speed at which Baby moves is tediously slow and if you ever try and move just a touch faster than a snails pace then the child falls over, cries and takes a few seconds to get back up, this is super frustrating towards the last level where you actually have to try and move at some speed.

What's worse is the odd time you have to turn around and the character will just turn and instantly turn back the other way again making it take a super long time just to get them facing the correct direction. Even when you have to use the touch screen to touch enemies in order to kill them, this sometimes is so inaccurate that you'll end up getting yourself killed numerous times. This was without a doubt the point which made me refuse to play the game for a number of days, I just could not bring myself to fuck around with the awful speed the child walked at.

The game was about 3 hours long which ordinarily I would not have too much of a problem with, however because the difficulty was really really easy for the majority of the game it felt like it was over way too quickly, it was only the last level where I actually had to do a few more attempts. This made me feel like the game had such a missed potential, the devs really could have put a bit more time into the level design and come up with levels more akin to the final one where it gets quite intricate, I feel like they really let themselves down in this respect.

I felt the soundtrack was really nothing special either and I'm not a trophy collector but I thought it was really dumb that the only way to get the gold trophy was to listen to the only real song within the game during the credits, the trophies may as well not have been in the game to begin with as they were all to just complete each level with only one requiring you to do something missable.

 I think I was a real shame that this game wasn't that good because the Vita as it is now is failing as a system, so much so that Sony outside of Japan have officially dropped support for it and class it more as a PS4 accessory. I love my Vita, mostly due to PS+ and I know there are a number of great games for it and amazing features such as crossplay, but I feel like Sony really didn't learn from the mistakes of the PSP and shot themselves in the foot, there are some great games for the Vita like, Senran Kagura, Danganronpa, Tearaway and Gravity Rush but it's only the former two that have any sequels on the system, it seems as though it's mostly Japanese games that dominate the system.

Now this isnt a bad thing and I love playing them but even the PSP had a number of Western games and exclusives at this point in its lifetime. I think I'm happy because I essentially got this game for 'free' due to PS+, as I'd only feel a huge sense of buyer remorse if I had paid full price for this title, If you're a die hard Vita fan who wants to play all the exclusives made for the console then Id recommend waiting for this to go on sale but overall I would advise you not to waste your time which really is a shame.

Thanks for checking this out, I'll hopefully get back to some sort of schedule soon!

Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin I: Blue-eyed Casval (OVA: 2015)

This week I move back to the Gundam series with part one of a new OVA series Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin. This OVA is interesting as it is essentially based on a Manga adaptation of the original 1979 television series which was not produced by series creator Yoshiyuki Tomino but Character designer for the original series Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. The reason for this adaptation was to look at the One Year War in a lot more depth by focusing on the reasons the war started, the politics and also the characters themselves. Due to this there are a number of changes to the story in order for it not to be a complete retread such as Mobile Suit designs, characters and plot points.

The Manga also has entire volumes dedicated to certain characters and their perspective, in one case being series antagonist Char Aznable, how he came to be involved with the conflict and his subsequent awakening as a Newtype. This OVA rather than beginning where the Manga does actually decided to use this volume as its basis and tell the story of Char who at the time was known as Casval. Perhaps this decision was made as not to reanimate familiar scenes and focus on what had never been animated before or perhaps it was due to the popularity of the Char character who has been involved heavily in the majority of the Universal Century time line.

Originally this OVA was announced as a four part series with room for more episodes in March of 2014 as part of the Mobile Suit Gundam 35th Anniversary ~ RISE! project along with the final episode of Gundam Unicorn and its release and the announcement of a new television series set after the Universal Century time line by original creator Tomino titled G no Reconguista which aired its final episode a few months ago. Clearly this event was jam packed with great content for fans and while the latter animations were received quite well how does this OVA fair?

The first episode was released in February of 2015 and sits at just over an hour long as opposed to the 45 minute time frame usually seen within the series OVA's and begins with the story of Casvel and his Sister Artesia as they must survive after their father Zeon Deikun's death during a speech for independence from Earth which would soon be known as the precursor to the Principality of Zeon. We soon find out the cause of Deikuns death was actually due to an assassination via poisoning by the Zabi family who would go on to control Zeon during the One Year War.

We soon see the Deikun family ripped apart as they are moved around for their own protection thanks to the loyal Ral family. But as time progresses and the situation worsens the children are taken away from their mother and smuggled back to Earth.

While the focus is very much on the past of these characters there is a brief action sequence set during the One Year War at the beginning of the animation which I believe was done purely to sell more Gunpla model kits as there is only one mobile suit featured during the main focus of the story, although I'm not complaining as the sequence was quite well done and gives a viewer not familiar with the franchise a quick look at why Char is regarded as the Red Comet of Zeon and an Ace pilot.

What I particularly enjoyed about The Origin was that is likes to focus not only on what happened before the conflict but also the roots of a lot of characters and factions motives which are just sort of there in the original series. For example we get to see the roots of the rebellion from the Earth Sphere via the protests riddled throughout the colonies as well as the low morale of those who would join the side of Zeon. We see that they are not just some evil soldiers like they are presented to be in the original series but a group of people who truly believe that they need their independence and not be governed by Earth.

It also makes use of showing the squabbling and betrayals ridden throughout the Zabi family siblings with numerous siblings plotting the others deaths in a bid to gain complete control of Zeon.We even see one of the siblings die early on from a bomb assassination implied to be by his sister, however it is blamed on the Federation and only fuels the growing hatred between the two parties.

While it does paint Zeon supporters a lot more positively it also shows the Federation in a more negative light, especially during the protests by having the use of tanks and other means as scare tactics to quell the problem. This differs from the way they are portrayed in the original series as the saviours and just side of the conflict. This portrayal actually works really well with the way the federation is portrayed in later series such as Zeta Gundam and Unicorn in that there is no 'good' side during a conflict and each has their questionable methods, this is a portrayal of each side I greatly appreciate as it adds some depth to both sides rather than a simple good v evil storyline.

The Animation quality is quite good all round especially in terms of character designs, however unfortunately it is not as spectacular as the previous OVA series Unicorn which is a shame as that only increased the overall quality of the animation in that case, but perhaps there was less budget to work with this time around and we must remember that there are not as many action sequences with robots pulling off crazy moves like in Unicorn.

Thankfully a few of characters voice actors from the original series make a return such as Shūichi Ikeda who reprises the role of Char in the opening sequence. Interestingly before release there were rumours circulating that the majority of voice actors were to be replaced as they were getting on in years and many important characters Seiyuus had unfortunately passed away in recent years, however much like with the latest Dragonball films using as many if the original voice cast as they can this OVA tried to do the same.

In this first episode there was not a huge reason to do this however as Casval and Artesia were still children and therefore used different Seiyuu, but perhaps as the episodes go on and the need to expand into a complete retelling of the series like the Manga goes on to do then there will be more reason to have a returning cast even if it is only the likes of original series protagonist Amuro Ray. With a number of returning characters in the mix generally it was great to see them again and see how they began their paths to wherever they may end up during or after the war but there was one character who pretty much stole the show for me and that was a younger Ramba Ral.

I really enjoyed the portrayal of Ramba Ral, a character who was more or less the first Ace pilot faced by the protagonists in the original series and a loyalist to Char and the Deikuns, Ral was always shown in the original series as an honourable man who enjoyed a battle and not necessarily one who agreed with the majority of Zeons motives. While he died quite early in to the series he was always a fan favourite character so it is great to see him as a more important entity in this OVA as well as a caring and charismatic ally to the Deikuns with one scene involving him going out of his way to retrieve Artesias cat.

While he is a lot more goofy and perhaps even innocent than he is in the series I think that works well, by having him help in the seclusion of the children he quickly becomes a much more serious man and the episode even takes a quick turn into a sort of noir spy thriller with him by having him go undercover in a bar in order to find his soon to be lover Hamon and get her help in smuggling the children to Earth. I sincerely hope we get to see Ral more as the OVA progresses as a reanimated segment of his battle with Amuro would be absolutely fantastic.

Of course the main focus is on the two children and I found Casval to be quite an interesting character with  the way he becomes almost like an adult  as the innocence of childhood is quickly taken away from him, especially when he meets with the Zabi family to show he is not and will never be afraid of the people who killed his father. Already we can see this will be the man to adopt the name Char and work his way up the Zabi ranks to destroy them internally during the end of the One Year War.

But while his innocence is quickly taken away from him his younger sister remains the same, even though I have seen her as an adult and seen her become a more capable character entirely I believe by having her remain innocent at this age it keeps Casval in check and stops him becoming too reckless as we see when he takes control of a mobile suit for the first time and begins picking off the enemy. If it were not for his sister he surely would have continued killing or got everyone else on board killed.
Perhaps this is why he becomes the man known as Char later on and why his  sister becomes Sayla and joins the protagonists in the original series, because without her he loses his way and becomes a character driven purely by revenge only.


Towards the end of the episode there are some very sad scenes which involve the children leaving their mother forever, which Casval understands but Artesia believes will just mean they will see their mother not long after they arrive on Earth, while some may not find this that upsetting I always find I can't deal with any emotional scenes involving young children or animals for whatever reason and this scene got to me a little!

While the episode begins to change Casval the ending is great because it ends on the child like wonder of discovering new things and looking on at something amazing as the children travel to and see Earth for the first time, which I feel works quite well in that it reminds you they are just kids caught up in this whole thing that they never asked for, but to have Casval explain to his sister the reason they left Earth was because it was beautiful until the humans polluted it really does remind you this is the child who will one day take this to an extreme and try to make the earth uninhabitable for humans to they move on to space and evolve as a species.

While I greatly enjoyed this episode there are a few issues that i've seen mentioned online. For example a number of people seem to complain about the popularity of using CGI in action based sequences as it sort of cheapens the look of the animation and is very noticeable. Personally I have never minded it too much but I have not seen many shows or movies that have actually used it, but more recently when I watched the first of the new Berserk movies I found it to be really bad and not suited to the beautiful art style that was in the majority of the film. While in that case it allegedly gets better in the latter films released in the case of this OVA I actually did not mind it's use at all.

I feel that style actually suits the action sequences because it fits with something mechanical and makes them stand out as more than just animated in the same way as humans therefore if it doesn't look as organic in its movements it actually benefits the whole use of something mechanical.

Another issue I've seen pop up is that there really is not enough action in this episode, which I again don't find as an issue but perhaps that's because I know the battles that will come. I understand that the average viewer of a Mecha Anime are expecting over the top battles but I feel like this series was produced more for the long time fan who want to get a deeper understanding of the events and characters of the One Year War. That is why the focus is on these back stories and more of a political drama at times, I honestly think this is fine but we must remember it is only the first episode and with the second approaching soon there may be more action as we progress.

Overall this OVA acts as a nice little start point for the Origin storyline and gives a wealth to expand upon in the next few releases. While it is light on the mecha action it more than makes up for it in terms of character development so I believe it is well worth the watch for any Gundam fan interested in the Universal Century.

But is this OVA a good starting point for someone new to the series? Yes and no, yes in the sense that it is set before anything during UC and does a decent enough job of explaining what is going on but no in the sense that you don't really know where any of this is going if you don't have prior knowledge to the original series. In my opinion I would recommend viewing the 3 compilation films of the original series which cut out a lot of filler and has superior animation quality and then view this OVA.

Daredevil (Netflix 2015)

This week I'm reviewing a new 'Netflix Original' series that you've probably seen mentioned across the internet recently, Daredevil. This series revolves around the Marvel character and protector of Hells kitchen in New York as he begins his crime fighting career and becomes a well known vigilante in the area. We see him progress as he defeats petty criminals to Mafia, Yakuza and Drug lords all revolving around antagonist Wilson Fisk.

Daredevil is the first of four miniseries planned in conjunction by both Netflix and Marvel which is set to include other heroes such as Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage, the plan being to have all of these characters meet up to form an Avengers style team up series, The Defenders. I think this was a wise move by both Marvel and Netflix as perhaps these characters would not have been popular enough alone to make their way to the big screen, it really does make you appreciate these perhaps lesser known heroes.

In a way it kind of reminds me of the 90's Marvel cartoons that all kind ofcrossed over from time to time, in fact most people who watched those as kids will probably be watching Daredevil, it's almost as if Marvel is growing up with the more mature format of shows like this but unfortunately it doesn't seem as though the movie side of things will become more mature any time soon, but then this series probably wouldn't stand out as much if the films delved into the subjects we're familiar with in this show.

I'm quite pleased that Netflix has delved into producing some Superhero based content, and with DC releasing multiple series such as Arrow, Gotham and The Flash there was no doubt that Marvel would be soon behind them especially as the world of movies is becoming dominated by yearly Superhero based releases. I feel as though this partnership between Netflix and Marvel is fantastic as Netflix Originals are becoming increasingly popular with titles such as Orange is the new black and House of Cards being in their third seasons.

But with Netflix originals the entire series is usually released on the same day, which some find to be great and some find to be a problem. I personally find it to be great because I don't have to wait weekly to continue a show I'm hooked on and if I don't watch to 'binge' on the entire show I can just watch maybe 2 or 3 episodes every other night or so, it's completely up to the viewer. Some however would like this weekly gap between episodes because they feel it ruins the discussion on the show in that the first week or so everyone will be talking about it but shortly after discussion may be non existent.

A point that I really enjoyed about this show was that it doesn't focus much on the origin story of the characters in the first episode. It's more interspersed throughout the show, it is only during episode 7 that we see how Matt began to hone his skills and use his heightened abilities to his advantage due to his training from Stick and right after that with episode 8 we take a look in to Fisk's past and a glimpse into how he became the man he is today. I believe having the show give little parts of a characters past every few episodes is great, especially in a time where Superhero movies are taking over and some are even being rebooted multiple times at this point.

A lot of people already know most Heroes origins and don't need them to be the focus of the film or show at this point, having them be interspersed really works well as it gives a chance for the first episode to be more action packed and grab the viewer rather than having to adhere to the same old story and boring audiences, in terms of movies this works well because it doesn't have to eat up too much time and allows the film to stand on it's own more as a new story featuring that hero. Of course with the likes of Luke Cage and Iron fist their series may focus more on their origins as they did not have a movie featuring them like Daredevil did.

This also leads into the pacing of the show which worked rather well, of course with movies we have around and hour and a half or two hours to get the entire plot set up and resolved while sometimes leaving some room for a sequel to be set up. With television we can take our time and while Daredevil is a shorter 13 episode show it really does seem to make use of its time having the story slowly unfold and showing the progression of the character as he builds himself as well as friendships around him that benefit his vigilante career. On the opposite side we see this almost untouchable Fisk at the height of his career slowly start to lose his grip as enemies conspire against him and our protagonists close in on him.

In terms of the casting and characters I generally can't complain I find Charlie Cox to be a great Matt Murdock and while portraying a man who seems to be disabled he really does bounce off the other cast members with witty comments and comedic timing, In the Daredevil roll I feel he also works well as he can portray this angry character who will do whatever he can to help his city without going to Christian Bale levels of trying to be this intimidating character. I feel like Cox relies on his mostly calm portrayal to put the fear into his enemies until he really has to turn up the heat. The fact that he can put this across while only having half of his face visible half the time is fantastic, although I don't feel it works as well when he gets his proper costume later on.

I also really enjoyed Elden Henson as Foggy, I believe he works so well as a comedic relief and as a close friend to Murdock, the way they bounce off one anther is great and the emotion between the two during episode 10 where Foggy finds out Daredevils identity really shows how close they really are. We see a friend worried about his 'blind' business partner and best friend along with the state he has found him in after an intense battle with Nobu. I felt the flashbacks to when the characters first met in this episode were hilarious at times and a nice change of pace to the violence and more action orientated scenes of the series.

Now Vincent D'Onofrio as Fisk is an overall amazing presence in the show and quite possibly one of the best representations of a Marvel villain we've had on our screen in some time. Fisk is presented quite well at first as this charismatic guy who loves art and even the odd flirt with the right woman, but we soon see a much more darker side to him when he begins to cave in the head of a man who 'embarrassed' him while he is on a date. We slowly see why this man is so revered and respected in the criminal underworld as well as seeing how manipulative he can be when he begins to play other gangs off against Daredevil by making them believe he was the one to kill certain members.

D'Onofrio plays both the respectable and the villainous sides of Fisk so incredibly well and while his attempts at romance can be a little cringe worthy at times overall we see a complex man with a motive not dissimilar to Daredevils, the cleaning up of the city, it's just the way in which the characters attempt to do it that differs.

Moving back to the brief flashback aspect of the show I feel like a lot of flashbacks in some series feel forced and are just used to eat up time but in this series they really matter to the overall development of the characters, such as Matts training, his time with his father and his opening up to Foggy. I feel that because these are split in to different episodes it honestly makes me care more about the character, I would hate to have all this spill into one origin episode.

This show in many ways does feel like Marvels take on Batman in that it focus' on a man with pretty basic 'powers' who wants to turn his city into a positive place free from the crime that has become rampant over time, both will do whatever it takes to combat these crimes but also stick to a strict code that they will not kill a criminal, which in Matt's case is more due to him being a man of the law. Both seem to go by the 'this is my city' mentality in that they are a lone protector, which is strange in Daredevils case seeing as he shares the city with not only some of the Avengers but soon the likes of the Defenders.

The more I think about it this series is almost like Batman Year One, in which we see the beginnings of Batman but more so his training and first few attempts at becoming a vigilante, in this comic there are no real villains other than common criminals and a few key characters surrounding the situation This series is the same, it's the beginnings of Daredevils career and doesn't delve to deep in to his rogues gallery, choosing to focus more on common criminals and a few gangs. Now while I have never read a Daredevil comic in my life I do read a lot of Batman and I'm aware that Frank Miller, who did some of the best Batman stories including Year One but before this he worked on Daredevil so perhaps this is why there are a lot of similarities between to two over the years.

What I really enjoy about the Daredevil character is that he is a lot more grounded, he doesn't have a power on the level of the likes of the Hulk or Thor and he doesn't deal with the threats they do and I feel this makes him a lot more human, even more so than the likes of Tony Stark. He can't easily take out a bunch of enemies, he even has a lot of trouble against some of them and when he gets hurt, he really gets hurt which we can see an example of during episode two when he fights against a large number of enemies whilst being highly fatigued.

We see this character progress both mentally and physically throughout the show but what I really enjoyed was how he progresses visually. In a world where people are already aware of these flashy superheroes and their eye-catching outfits it was quite funny to see people comment Daredevils first costume saying it sucks or even leaves him open for certain attacks. Towards the climax of the show we see him take on this advice and don a costume a lot more similar to what we'd expect although it is a little more practical with some armour plating here and there.

During the beginning of his career we see Daredevil become quite sadistic in the way he deals with criminals, he really doesn't seem to give a shit what happens to them as long as they live, it's almost as if he enjoys the pain he gives to criminals, which he shows by throwing people off of buildings or even impaling them. This is one of the aspects of the show that makes it stand out more compared to the rest of the universe it's set in. The show really does not shy away from brutal beatings and some gore, especially when Fisk is involved.

Honestly there was not too much I did not enjoy about this series, but this is not to say it is perfect. I did find some issue with the character of Karen Page, I thought she was alright in the first few episodes but slowly found her annoying over time, I felt like she could be removed altogether and have Foggy fill her role somewhat and it wouldn't take anything away from the series, she just felt like our bridge into the Ben Urich Character.

As much as I enjoyed Vincent D'Onofrio in his portrayal of Fisk I did find the focus on him and Vanessa a bit much, I understand it's to show everyone has a weak point and that he could be this nice guy on the outside but remain the same man he has always been on the inside but I just found the scenes with them both in to be almost like a goofy nerd who has never spoken to a woman in his life just falling over himself, desperately trying to impress. I found myself laughing at him in these scenes more than anything, but again I don't know much about the character outside of the old Spiderman cartoon so perhaps I'm just not informed enough about how he usually acts around Vanessa in the comics.

In all, Daredevil is a fantastic series that delves into the darker tones of the Marvel universe and is not something you'd really expect given the track record of the other Marvel TV series Agents of Shield. While this does rely on the cinematic universe for its setting it quickly becomes its own thing which doesn't need to rely on goofy references every few minutes like Gotham. In fact id argue this could be a great starting point to that universe as you really do not need to know anything before going in to it, perhaps this would be perfect for those who dislike the movies but still like the characters.

Having the show avalible on Netflix you could easily watch the entire series at any point you wish and with a second series announced already for 2016 it's clear these new batch of shows being produced are on the right tracks and may even begin to rival the cinematic universe itself in terms of popularity, I really cannot wait to see where they go next with Jessica Jones which I believe is being filmed at the moment, it's clear the bar has now been set high.

How Videogames can benefit Anime

So I was looking at my game collection the other day and realised I own quite a lot of Anime related video games especially for series I've always been a fan of like Dragonball, but there are a lot of titles I picked up on a whim or had originally played at a friends house that in turn got me super interested in a certain series like Naruto for example. The more I thought about it the more it occurred to me that it's down to video games that I am a huge fan of certain Anime and without me playing these games I may not have even given many series a chance.

With the Naruto example this was back in around 2006, I had always heard of the series being really popular before it was brought over to the West, with many saying it was 'the next DBZ' but Id never thought to actually sit down and watch an episode. However in high school a few of my friends had modified PS2's with a bunch of Japanese titles on them, this was the first time Id really thought that there were more modern (at the time) games that were not released worldwide and really opened my eyes to a lot of titles.

One of the games we would always play was what I believe became the Naruto Ultimate Ninja series in the West, which only had a basic amount of characters and only really went up to the first few arcs of the Anime. I remember thinking the attacks were pretty cool and the characters interesting enough, but I think what really sold it to me was seeing that Naruto had something similar to Dragonball with the nine tailed transformation. It was soon after discovering this that I began to look online and start watching the series.

I have a really big memory of being really sick that Summer holiday and just sitting in my room watching the series from start to finish but skipping out that god awful filler that would lead into Shippuden. This was around the time the Shippuden Anime had just began airing in Japan and quickly I decided to begin reading the Manga as I could not deal with the amount of filler being thrown out. I think over time a lot of people slowly got to the point where they were sick of the series to a degree but were so invested in it that they felt they had to see how it ended, I know I was. Overall it was an enjoyable Manga Series and while I probably would have go into it eventually, It was because of that PS2 game that I took the plunge.

I think video games have hugely benefited a lot of series, especially in the West where a lot of series would otherwise not be considered for dubbing even Manga releases, it's thanks to the release of certain titles that these series can gain a whole new group of fans and get an idea of how successful the series could potentially be in the West.

The biggest example of this for myself is the Dynasty Warriors Gundam series of games which is now on its fourth title. Before I played this game I had only watched Gundam Wing on UK TV and played one game on the PS2 set during the original series, which at the time I assumed was some kind of Wing side story. So for Christmas in around 2007 I asked for a Xbox 360 and the first game I got was DW Gundam as I had been hearing about it online and how it featured a large number of series.

Now in this game it pretty much mashed together all different series and timelines into one big what if story with some proper Anime related story modes along the way, I believe this was really beneficial as it introduced me to so many new characters and Mobile suits as well as a useful section of the game which informed you about everything to do with them albeit briefly. Seeing all these characters interacting and noticing some knew each other previously due to being set in the same universe gave me a huge incentive to research the franchise itself and find where I could watch some of these shows and when they were produced.

Unfortunately in the UK at the time there was no real way to obtain any of the other series legally so I had to resort to downloading them, I don't believe Sunrise have too much of a problem with this as the primary aim of the show was to sell Gunpla models and merchandise, in a sort of glorified toy commercial style and if we're only shown one series we may not even know these models existed. This has changed slightly now with more releases showing up in the UK but also on Gundams official Youtube page in which they will upload entire old series for a set time and also broadcast new episodes of shows weekly just after their airing much like Crunchyroll.

I think the first series I started with was G Gundam, a sort of mix between Dragonball and Gundam and the first alternate universe show in the franchise, which understandably was right up my street. Shortly after I watched Seed which was another alternate universe series but used a lot of plot elements and features from the original series almost as if being a modern adaptation (in 2002). I think it also helped that a series was just airing at the time titled Gundam 00 which I got in the habit of watching weekly, this really made me feel like a part of the fan base because I could discuss it each week with friends and online much like when I used to watch a show on Toonami.

It's fair to say this franchise is one of my all time favourites and if my Gunpla collection is anything to go by it will remain that way for some time, at the moment I've watched pretty much every single thing that's been released, even some terrible Canadian live-action movie, it's almost as if releasing the game in the UK was some kind of master plan from Bandai and Sunrise and in my case it really worked out.

There are of course a few more examples such as the Ghost in the Shell game on Playstation 1 which I played on a demo disc in the late 90s, In all honestly this game was not one I can remember a lot of other than the red mech you pilot during the demo and it is perhaps not the best representation of the Anime overall but I remember the huge amount of demo discs I would have as a kid from magazines and all these now hazy memories of obscure titles id endlessly play. While the Ghost in the Shell game was one of these, I remember playing this game a hell of a lot compared to the other titles on the disc and it was not until the around 2008 that a magazine company in the UK started to release certain Anime titles every few weeks on DVD with a new issue of their magazine.

The first of these was Ghost In the Shell and as soon as I saw this I instantly remembered the name from that demo disc I had enjoyed countless times, I didn't even realise the game was based on this Anime when I first played it but I quickly picked it up and watched it as soon as I got home. As much as I enjoyed the movie I've still yet to watch the sequel or series produced more recently, regardless it was due to a dumb demo disc that I even picked up this DVD in the first place, but I guess that's what the studio was hoping for with the creation of this game.

 

The most recent example of a video game enticing me to view a series is with Jojo's Bizarre Adventure All Star Battle on Playstation 3 which was a title I originally saw being discussed on forums every so often, but what really caught my eye with this title was it's amazing looking visuals which looked as though they were taken straight out of the Manga pages themselves. This game was developed by CyberConnect2 who are known for their amazing look Naruto titles and the Anime inspired Asura's Wrath, both of which I had previously played and was impressed with visually, so I knew this title would be worth a look.

However I did not want to import the title just because I thought it looked nice, so I looked online and researched the series as best I could and luckily saw the A new animated adaptation of the Manga was in the process of airing in Japan. I began watching the series right away and while I found the first half of the first arc to be slow I found the ending and the entirety of the second arc to be amazing, I've even begun to read the Manga way past this point and thoroughly enjoy it.

What is most interesting about this game is that a huge number of fans began importing it purely because they had enjoyed watching the Anime online, due to this the developers used this new found Western popularity to finally announce a physical Western release in certain stores and because of the nature of the game going all the way up to the 8th arc of the Manga it has opened up the entire series to a new audience which has allowed Viz Media to license a USA release.

After I played this title myself when it was released in the UK I was honestly blown away, not because it was a super amazing game but because of the quality and care taken by the developers to produce something that actually looked like it came right off the page, I think the developers really know how to handle Anime related titles and have proven this time and again, especially with the amount of fan service they add to these titles in the form of subtle references, the attention to detail and the use of perfectly choreography, even really little things like having a certain super move breaking another players super depending on who the character is that you're against (think Saibamen Vs Yamcha in a DBZ game), truly this is a great title to own if you're a fan of the series.

There are many other examples of games that have got me into certain Anime such as Koeis Fist of the North Star games, the Sengoku Basara series and even some Bleach games and I'm glad I played each one of them, because each title I've mentioned opened up an enjoyable series to me, while some my have lost steam along the way or may not have been as enjoyable as their video game counterparts they were all still worth the watch.

While video games can be great for getting someone in to a series they can also be used to breathe new life into a series that may have already ended. The biggest example of this can be the Dragonball series of video games before and after the release of the new movie. Now Dragonball is a good case because it's a series that is so immensely popular across the world and has had a huge amount of games produced but there are only so many times you can play through Raditz to Kid Buu without getting tired.

While this is counteracted by perhaps making the gameplay change depending on the series such as Budokai to Tenkaichi, generally the inclusion of what if scenarios was introduced. Now this was probably the best thing to happen to a lot of games as the series is such a wealth of possibilities both character wise and story wise. For example Budokai had the infamous Cell absorbing Krillin stage as well as the what if fusion prominent in the second game, whereas Tenkaichi focused more on the what if story aspects such as having Raditz join up with Goku and Piccolo or Zarbon plotting against Frieza.

To an extent this kept things fresh and was welcomed by many who were getting tired of playing over the same story over and over again, I think over the years developers of these titles have got the message and tried to incorporate as much new content like this as possible, while that is a lot easier now with new movies being produced the recent Xenoverse title has adapted this in full force by having the entire game revolve around the idea of the story we're all familiar with being changed to a certain degree.

While a lot of this was inherited from Dragonball Online the way that the developers expanded upon it and added a number of new scenarios as well as the ability to create your own character have only proved that this fresh air breathed into the series is welcome, especially if the numbers in which the game has been selling are anything to go by. It's pretty clear that if used well what if ideas can certainly keep the popularity of some series afloat long after they have aired and also continue to bring new fans along the way.

I always found it quite strange that these titles are generally well received as opposed to most movie licensed games, but perhaps the concepts within these shows are a lot easier to work with or perhaps it's because in a lot of cases it's fans of the series who are working on the games and actually put a lot of time and effort in to them rather than working towards a release window of a certain movie. Regardless it's clear to see that Anime and Videogames go hand in hand and can greatly benefit each other if used correctly.

But I'm curious are there any titles that got you into a certain Anime, let me know via Twitter or something!, thanks for checking this out as always.

Dragonball GT: A Hero's Legacy (TV Special : 1997) + The Positives Of Dragonball GT

This week I take a look at the original chronological end point to the entire animated Dragonball universe with the GT TV special A Hero's legacy, which originally aired in March 1997 in Japan. Interestingly this is the only special, OVA or movie to come out of the GT era and featured a more or less entirely new cast of characters. This was created as a way to show how the world after the original Z fighters has turned out and if there were still heroes around who could potentially take up their mantle if need be.

While it does not really divulge in to that area as much as the epilogue of the series did with the battle between both Goku Jr and Vegeta Jr it does show us the origins of a potential successor to Goku's legacy as the English title suggests. But how does this TV Special hold up today, and while it is not as good as the Z specials featuring Bardock and Trunks is it worth a watch after all this time?

The basic plot of the special is something a lot simpler and light hearted than what you may be used to as it follows Goku Jr, a descendant of Goku 100 years after the defeat of Baby. We see now that Pan is an aged woman and the only Z fighter left, along with her Grandson Jr who is more of a crybaby like Gohan used to be and afraid of fighting. As we progress we see that Jr is bullied at school and refuses to stand up for himself, which Pan disagrees with.

But as she reminds him to stand up for himself she suddenly falls ill and it taken to hospital, it's actually pretty touching as Jr doesn't have anyone else and promises he'll do better to become strong, but Pan realises she's been too hard on him and even references her Fathers training with Piccolo. As Jr returns home he remembers Pan telling him about the dragonballs and believes if he finds the 4 star ball he can wish for her health to recover.

Of course he fails to listen to his Grandmother and believes he only needs one ball rather than all seven. Jr makes his way to Mt Paozu where Goku grew up in search for the ball and along the way meets a number of people, some who steal from him and some unlikely allies like his former bully Puck. As they reach Paozu they are tricked by a number of enemies similar to those Goku and Bulma first encountered on their journey.

After being tricked in to entering a creepy looking house both Jr and Puck are almost turned into dinner for the demons that reside there, however Jr escapes by using some of his Saiyan strength, alluding to his ability to turn Super Saiyan and shortly after Puck falls from a ravine after a bridge breaks making Jr feel extremely guilty and believing his friends death was his own fault, however he uses this loss to push himself as a person and conquer his cowardice.

We see examples of this throughout with his battle against Shusha and his protection of defenceless creatures like the Bear he encounters. After reaching Goku's old house we again encounter the demons who are now joined by their leader Lord Yao. After Yao begins to harm the Bears Jr encountered earlier we see Jr tap in to the Saiyan potential he always had and obtain the power of a Super Saiyan, with Yao defeated Jr finally finds the four star ball and attempts to make a wish to save both Pan and Puck.

But of course nothing happens, which leads Jr to become frustrated and the be visited by a familiar face, Goku. Goku explains that all seven are needed and that Jr has become braver than he thinks, shortly after a helicopter flies overhead with both Pan and Puck inside, showing that the balls weren't needed at all, and with that Goku disappears. This suggests that Goku really did become one with the balls during the end of GT and that he will always be with Jr as long as he holds on to it.

Now while this was a pretty short 40 minute or so special there was not a lot of room to work with, which seems to be an issue with a lot of the features surrounding the franchise but I quite enjoyed what the studio did with their time and thought they used it as well as they could as it was more of a prologue to the end of the franchise.

Interestingly I always believed this special was created after the end of GT in Japan and therefore at the time acted as the end all for the entire animated side of the franchise, but what this really is is actually more of a prelude to the last episode of GT. I say this because this actually aired in Japan between episodes 41 and 42 which were the first and second episodes of the Super 17 Saga, so there were still a number of episodes to go until we reached the epilogue of the series which featured Goku Jr again.

Now this special never aired in the UK so I personally did not have a chance to see it until a while after the series was over on UK television and because of that I thought it fit better as something that aired after the series did, so I'm curious as to how the Japanese reacted to this showing up before the last Saga of GT and if in retrospect they feel it spoiled what happened to Goku at the end of the series.

I quite enjoyed this special for what it was and felt as though its biggest strength was that it was pretty much an early episode of the original series with the focus on an adventure between a small group of characters in environments we're familiar with and plot points that feel as though they could be right out of the original series, particularly the first few episodes with Lord Yao pretty much being the Bear thief who tried to stop Goku and Bulma all those years ago, and the three demons acting kind of like a more serious Pilaf and co, minus their need for the dragonballs.

A dynamic I quite enjoyed with this is that Jr doesn't seem to have parents around much like Goku and is raised by a Grandparent much like Grandpa Gohan raised Goku. The first scene we see Pan and Jr in shows that Pan has taken her role as a Grandparent to similar levels as  Grandpa Gohan as she teachers Jr manners and also trains him in ways much akin to that of Roshi. She also still idolises her Grandfather and constantly reminds Jr that he is much like him and that he should aspire to become as great as he was.

I think the character of Jr is refreshing in the sense that he is the protagonist now and was raised to be a fighter to a certain degree, much like his predecessor. I like that he seems to be this amalgamation of Goku as a child, Kid Gohan with his power and original fear and also Goten with his excitable nature. It seems as though he has inherited traits from the majority of his family and made them mix enough to be an entirely new character.

It's a shame we won't really get an expansion on his character as he has never really appeared in any media outside of this special and the final TV episode, perhaps one day we'll get his inclusion in a game and a few what-if stories from that. It's also a shame we never got a brief run down of how the rest of the Z fighters lives turned out after Omega Shenron was defeated but to be honest this special is pretty self contained and I believe it could be viewed with no prior knowledge to the series and still enjoyed.

I honestly felt like the use of Super Saiyan in this special was unnecessary, it kind of took it away from that original Dragonball feel that it was going for and threw you back in to that idea of 'oh yeah we're in a world where we can just be super strong and throw ki all day'. However while it was not something they focused on a whole lot in the special it does connect to the idea that Jr may be the next saviour of Earth someday along with Vegeta Jr who can also go SSJ and they may one day have to face an uber strong enemy just like their predecessors.

I think the general hate I've seen online for this special stems from GT itself, after Z finished in the West at least many may have assumed this new series would be more of the same, with huge epic battles and the like, but when we saw these more 'goofy' aspects like Goku becoming a child again or these until then unheard of Black star balls which spell the end for Earth. I know for me that's how I originally felt about the series when it first aired in the UK.

In the UK the broadcast order we had was Z, GT and the back to the original series, because of this I was sort of in the dark about the past of Goku and co, so I never experienced this great adventure for the dragonballs and the tournaments before I saw GT. But now that I have seen the entire series multiple times I appreciate its beginnings a lot more and because of that I can see a lot more of the positive in the GT side of things.

Don't get me wrong GT has its problems and I won't deny that there are aspects that I really do not enjoy but I can see a lot more positives now and I've spoken to others who agree with me and even made me see some positives where I had not before. For example the biggest positive for me was actually the start of the show, it was not about power levels it was about a small bunch of people going back to searching for the dragonballs but this time on a much larger scale.

This introduced to us new environments, new races and new albeit smaller threats with aspects of Z thrown in slightly such as Goku going Super Saiyan against Ledgic and having a short but sweet battle. I really enjoyed that, but soon after the series reverted to a new powerful enemy showing up and constant battles happening. This is not to say I did not like the Baby saga, I actually enjoyed the focus on the Tuffle race and a little look at the history of planet Vegeta which was only briefly touched upon in Z and again in Plan to eradicate the Super Saiyans. I did find the use of Vegeta being possessed again to be a bit tiresome and Baby to be slightly annoying as a villain but overall the story and motive of the character was interesting to me.

With this saga also came the Super Saiyan 4 form, which people seem to have mixed feelings about, personally I prefer it to the God form because if its use of mixing the style of a Super Saiyan and the ascetics of the original Great Ape form it felt like the legend of the Super Saiyan had come full-circle. I do think it looked best on Goku rather than Vegeta or Gogeta however, even if the idea that his power was so great that it made him jump back in to an adult form and then back again was a little dumb to me.

I quite enjoyed the remainder of the show with the Super 17 Saga being a nice short break between the two bigger Sagas and the Shadow Dragons being the end all of Villains. Originally I thought the Dragons themselves were an underwhelming enemy but always thought their origins as a creation of all the over use of the balls to be an interesting idea, as well as their relation to certain wishes. After discussing them with a friend Id been convinced that actually these enemies were a great way to end the series with the main plot device of the series overall now being turned on it's head and giving the heroes the biggest threat they've ever faced.

Overall I think GT is not as bad as a lot of people seem to think, I think a lot of people were like myself and were so connected to Z and not DB that we thought this 'new' direction was just an oddity, maybe a lot of people decided it was the start of the beating of a dead horse or maybe they just did not like that it was ultimately not the story Toriyama had intended. Regardless it's always going to be a part of the franchise and whether you see that as a stain or just a bit of glass that's not as polished as the ones next to it is up to you, but I think this special took a lot of the great aspects of GT and used them as a great way to chronologically end a popular series as best they could.

I really like how in this Special even in English Goku Jr is voiced by Stephanie Nadolny who voiced Kid Goku in the original series, along with Kid Gohan and Goku as a child in GT, this really does keep with the Japanese tradition of having Masako Nozawa voice the characters and his descendants and while the English dubs strayed away from this for the most part this use of having Nadolny back for Jr really seemed to fit with the nostalgic feeling the special was going for with it playing out much like an original Dragonball episode, I thought it was such a nice touch of the English team to do this and really served as a good note to end on until new features would be made over a decade later.

There are a few more interesting notes on the voice acting in both the English and Japanese versions, one of the more interesting is that the character of Susha the frog like enemy who attacks Jr is voiced by Peter Mayhew who played Chewbacca in the original Starwars movies. Now I can't seem to find any reason as to why this is, as he does not really have any other voice acting roles that I know of but nonetheless it is pretty cool. I honestly wanted to ask him if he remembered doing the voice work when I saw him at London Comic Con one year but never did, maybe next time.

Now on the Japanese side we have Jr's companion Puck who sticks with him throughout the early part of his adventure for the dragonball. Puck is actually voiced by Toru Furuya who voiced Yamcha throughout the entire series, now this again just brings us back to that feeling of the original series where it's just a bunch of friends having a wacky adventure while the search for some Magic balls. While you could say it would have been better to have a female protagonist join in and be voiced by Bulma I think ultimately this was decided against as Pan filled in that female role to a degree.

I think the choices on both sides really work and benefit the special, it seems as though the staff really wanted this to be a nice little book end to the franchise and make you feel nostalgia but at the same time content with the way things have turned out for this world, sure you could argue it leaves a lot to be answered but I think that's best, you're never going to have everything answered but you do have the opportunity to decide some things for yourself or keep a discussion going with other fans about what you think could have happened to certain characters before these events.

While you could say with the new movies GT is essentially retconned, I personally like to think it takes places in a separate continuity because to me that doesn't just erase all the neat things that came out of that series. I mean who knows the movies could soon connect everything back together in some way even if it does mean tweaking certain aspects and facts but until that happens I am perfectly alright with the separate universe idea and love that it is slightly touched upon in some games such as Xenoverse with Beerus and co wondering when Goku turned into a child again and asking how he obtained this unheard of Super Saiyan 4 form.

I think a lot of the fan base do whine too much about the 'canon' of the franchise and like I have said before to me these little things don't really matter to me, like the little changes Toriyama made in Dragonball Minus to Bardock and stuff, why does that effect your enjoyment of the franchise so much? If it helps just think of it as another universe. Or why not just take aspects of it all and make your own conclusion to what happened? You can argue the franchise is being milked to a degree but then hasn't it always?

Look at the amount of games and re-releases of the show on home media etc, it's not going to go away any time soon and if you're familiar with the Dragonball Heroes game in Japan you'll know there are what-if scenarios and characters all over the place, but the 12 year old in me loves seeing even GT Trunks going SSJ3 but that doesn't mean im mad because he didn't do it in the show, I just enjoy the ride and the breathe of fresh air these ideas bring to the series as a whole.

I think this special overall is worth a watch if you're going through GT again but personally id wait until the last few episodes to watch it, I think GT has gotten this negative stigma attached to it but I can see why but honestly as a bookend to a viewing of the series this special still does it's job really well by giving you a glimpse at the future of the world we've seen for so many years while making you feel a huge sense of nostalgia for the original series.

But I'm really curious to what you guys think about GT and if you think you would ever give it a rewatch, let me know on Twitter @Scatmanbegins or on facebook if you've got me on there, as always thanks for taking the time to read this.