The Deadpool trailer, originally leaked from the San Diego Comic Con, will get its official release this Tuesday on Conan.
According to Conan’s schedule, posted on his website, Ryan Reynolds will introduce the Deadpool trailer on his show Tuesday on TBS. “Ryan Reynolds debuts the new redband trailer for ‘Deadpool,’ the site reads. “We’re filling up his dressing room with chimichangas in anticipation.”
After it premiered for Hall H at the San Diego Comic Con, the Deadpool trailer got fans’ blood boiling in anticipation. The fans of Hall H reportedly chanted “one more time,” and director Tim Miller obliged by showing the trailer again.
After a flood of hi-res images and the Comic Con debut, the buzz is building for Deadpool. It will hit theaters this coming February, and hopefully be everything fans of the comic hero were hoping.
Shaun the Sheep is going to cause to me rethink my personal thoughts on animated movies. As I stated in my Minions review, I’m not personally fan of animation, however, when you are presented with a flick like Shaun the Sheep, one that is incredibly heartfelt, Ewe can’t help but love it.
Based on a British TV Show, Shaun the Sheep centers on a flock of sheep who head to the “Big City” to rescue their amnesia-stricken farmer. One of the more intriguing decisions was to not have any dialogue in the film. With simply animal sounds, goofy sound effects, and sight gags that were reminiscent of the Benny Hill Show, the audience was entranced by what was transpiring during the 82 minutes. It was a bold stroke by the Claymation studio Aardman ( the guys who brought us Wallace & Gromit) but it was without question a home-run.
Laughing as I watched a dog in surgical scrubs get distracted by the looks of a delicious femur bone on a skeleton, I began wracking my brain, trying to figure out what makes this animated picture different than all the others that I have seen; well, aside from the lack of dialogue. Plain and simple, this movie has a soul. When you see your typical animated movie, it’s basically a mishmash of computer-animated voices. The beauty in this movie is that since it’s claymation, each shot is purposeful, as each shot has to be created by the fine folks at Aardman. The disbelieving look on the sheep’s face when their farmer doesn’t recognize them generates poignant emotional weight to the film. At the heart of Shaun the Sheep is a story about losing your “family,” and it’s told in an admirable way.
So this weekend, when your children are wanting to see the latest Superhero movie, lean them towards Shaun the Sheep, a refreshing option.
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The National Lampoon Story tells the sordid tale of National Lampoon, a company that began as a satirical magazine; before long, it transformed into a counter-culture movement focused on making the straight-and-narrow crowd uncomfortable, and eventually a major player in Hollywood comedies, thanks to the breakout success of Animal House. Of course, with all that success came inflated egos and infighting.
Here is the trailer for Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead, the doc directed by Douglas Tirola:
Years before Saturday Night Live exploded into American culture in the mid-70s, Harvard graduates Henry Beard, Doug Kenney, and Robert Hoffman launched National Lampoon, America’s first national humor magazine. No topic was off limits for this brilliant publication that mocked and re-imagined the world in a truly surreal way. What started as a fringe counterculture magazine grew into a media conglomerate including albums, theater productions, television programs, books, radio shows, and blockbuster films like Animal House and Vacation.
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead will hit select theaters and VOD on September 25. Should be a fascinating look at a groundbreaking comedic force.
For those who have seen Captain America: The Winter Solder, or have followed the rumor hype mill as this writer has, saw the wee little Moon Knight hint at the end. Moon Knight, Marc Spector the mercenary/boxer/martial artist/son of a rabbi, Jake Lockely the cabbie, Stephen Grant the wealthy philanthropist, Mr. Knight the white-suited and white masked vigilante detective; Moon Knight has been many things over the years.
Whether fighting werewolves, men dressed up as a black-armored knight from medieval times, an insomniac who can project bad dreams, or simple ghost punk rockers, the White Knight of Marvel has truly seen it all. Well, at least the weirdest of the Marvel Universe. This is just a summary, Monkey’s Fighting Robots will have a more in-depth coverage the man behind the Moon Knight, and why he deserves better than he’s gotten thus far.
So, in honor of speculation for a character who rarely gets much love, here is a top 5 actors who could play the Fist of Khonshu:
6. Christian Bale…so there is 6.
He’s already played the Dark Knight, whom some claim Moon Knight rips off, so why not the White Knight? We know he can play dark roles, rich, suave roles, and military roles. He’s from the U.K., so maybe that could play to Jake Lockley if they chose that aspect of the original solo Moon Knight comic.
5. Johnny Depp
‘Because he’s Johnny Depp’ is one reason, but not a substantial reason. He’s a character actor, and familiar with playing almost any role. Not to mention that he is good at playing crazy roles. Unfortunately, he is not numero uno because he is Johnny Depp, and might overshadow Moon Knight’s first live-action attempt. Also, many see his acting prowess in decline, so they might avoid the film for that reason. He reportedly doesn’t give a *****, so he might just take it and surprise everyone!
4. Jim Caviezel
I almost forgot about JC. An actor who has yet to grace comic books, but is a terrific actor. He has ‘dark’ and ‘gritty’ written all over him. He has played a military and CIA operative in the past. He could probably deliver a good, dark, gritty voice to Moon Knight. It is unclear if he would play Moon Knight as he has yet to be involved in comic book adaptations, but that is what they said about a Michael Keaton Batman. Right?
3. Bradley Cooper
He is just coming into his own as an actor, so he might not be multidimensional yet. He has played a sniper, which is like a Merc, right?
2. Michael C. Hall
Think Dexter. He has that dark side but can hide it with a mask of sanity. It is not the soundest logic, but admit it; he could work.
1. Ryan Gosling
Gosling is my number one choice for Moon Knight. He is a character actor, young enough, and has played dark and lighter roles together with ease. Not to mention, I think he is overdue for a comic book entry.
There is a runner-up category!
That would consist of younger Liam Neeson, Jake Gyllenhaal because for some reason everyone seems to want him in the role, and maybe younger Bruce Campbell. Why? He is Bruce Campbell.
One more thing….
Moon Knight will need some good music, and three that come to mind is Tiger Army-Power of Moonlight(it practically sounds like they say power of Moon Knight), Left for Dead- Beware of the Moon(It is about American Werewolf in London, but the name and chorus work), Tiger Army- Lunatone(Another moon related tune).
One last thing…Should it be on Netflix or a Marvel Studios film?
This writer suggests a Netflix show because of the success of Daredevil, and a TV series’ ability to flesh out a character. Since Moon Knight is relatively unknown, he’ll need the origin story in season 1. Oh, and as Monkeys Fight Robots previously reported, Marvel is planning a new character six months that starts with the Punisher. So, why not?
Ian McShane is taking up residence in Westeros! The Emmy winning Brit actor is joining season 6 of Game of Thrones, according to Entertainment Weekly. The former star of Deadwood returns to HBO for a role on Television’s most popular show.
At this time, we have no indication as to what role he might play, in what is sure to be the most mysterious season yet of Game of Thrones. The show is preparing to dive into a part of the story not yet revealed in any of the novels.
I’m sure many fans can just picture Ian McShane fitting into the dark world of Game of Thrones. As we can remember from his time on Deadwood, McShane has a way with words.
A few days ago, we reported rumors about the possible exit of Channing Tatum from the Gambit movie over at Fox. The Hollywood Reporter explains that normal negotiations were taking place when the rumor started spreading:
“One thing that needed figuring out was the extent of Tatum’s involvement in the X-Men universe. Fox sees Tatum’s Gambit, a mutant who harnesses kinetic energy, as one of the anchor characters of the X-universe, akin to Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, someone who would anchor his own movies and appear in numerous others. It’s a commitment that could theoretically last more than a decade.
Sources say that backend compensation was also a sticking point.”
In other words, they’re talking about a possible “replacement” of Wolverine (now that Jackman has officially announced his retirement from the X-Men franchise after his last solo movie) for Gambit. And of course, that means a lot of years of commitment from Tatum and a lot of money to pay from the studio.
“The Magic Mike star’s participation hardly was in any real danger because the actor already had invested quite a bit in the superhero part.”
Like we said in our first report, Tatum will also produce the X-Men spin-off, and has been working on it for years.
If your brain hurts it must mean that Derek Zoolander is around. Apparently Derek published the trailer to Zoolander 2 too early because it has been taken down, but luckily the BroBible made a copy.
Update: Paramount Pictures released the trailer Sunday afternoon.
Zoolander 2 stars Ben Stiller (Who will also direct), Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Penélope Cruz, Christine Taylor, Kristen Wiig, Billy Zane, Fred Armisen, Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian, Olivia Munn, Kanye West, Ariana Grande and Mika. It was written by Justin Theroux and Stiller. The film is scheduled to be released on February 12, 2016, by Paramount Pictures.
Marvel’s Ant-Man pulled in $3,625,000 on 3,332 screens Friday, good for third place. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation dominated the box office with $20,400,000 on 3,956 screens. Vacation a distant second at $4,500,000 on 3,411 screens.
Ant-Man has collected $123,154,000 at the box office in 15 days and still sits in the Marvel Cinematic Universe box office cellar.
[table caption=”Marvel Films” colwidth=”20|200|50|50|50″ colalign=”left|left|right|right|right”]
Rank,Film,Year,Opening Weekend,Gross
1,The Avengers,2012,$207.4M,$623.4M
2,Avengers: Age of Ultron, 2015, $191.2M,$456.6M
3,Iron Man 3, 2013, $174.1M, $409M
4,Iron Man 2, 2010, $128.1M, $312.4M
5,Iron Man, 2008, $98.6M, $318.4M
6,Captain America: Winter Soldier, 2014, $95M, $259.7M
7,Guardians of the Galaxy,2014,$94.3M,$318.4M
8,Thor: Dark World, 2013,$85.7M,$206.3M
9,Thor, 2011,$65.7M,$181M
10, Captain America: First Avenger, 2011,$65M,$176.6M
11,The Incredible Hulk, 2008,$55.4M, $134.5M
12,Ant-Man, 2015,$58M,$123.1M
[/table]
In the week that we got our first glimpse of the MCU’s version of Spider-Man it seems appropriate that the first edition of our Book Club tackles the first volume of the series that introduced Peter Parker and comics to a new generation; Ultimate Spider-Man.
It’s important that you understand something about me; Ultimate Spider-Man is my favourite comic series of all-time. Note that I don’t necessarily think it is the best, indeed much of the story arcs prior to the Death of Spider-Man leave much to be desired, but it will always hold a special place in my heart for virtue of the fact that it was the series that got me into comics. Growing up in the 90s, my introduction to superheroes came primarily in the form of the multitude of high quality animated series that filled the airwaves. It wasn’t until the first Sam Raimi Spider-Man movie hit (which incidentally took a lot of cues from this book) that the comic books began to resurge in popularity in Ireland. This led to many titles, including the reprints of Ultimate Spider-Man, being made available in your local newsagents and provided the public with greater access to these series. Many of us knew the core characters and their backstories, but Ultimate Spider-Man stood out by providing interesting re-interpretations of those characters. That being said, this marks my first time reading the opening story arc of the series. While I have a solid run of the first incarnation of Ultimate Spider-Man I only began picking up the series during the second story arc; “Kingpin”. I didn’t decide to pick up the first volume until recently, partially worried that I had over-hyped the series to the point that it would only be a let-down. So does the series start off strong? Pour yourself a glass of wine and let’s find out.
Originally intended as a six-issue mini, Ultimate Spider-Man: Power and Responsibility is an extended re-telling of the origin story featured in Amazing Fantasy #15. The purpose of the Ultimate line was to give the Marvel universe a modern makeover that would allow them to appeal to new readers without having to deal with the burden of decades of continuity. You should all know the story by now, Peter Parker is an isolated teenager who upon being bitten by a genetically altered spider gains super-powers and must grapple with the responsibility that comes with them. The twist here, which was novel until the release of the original Spider-Man movie, was that the origins of Spider-Man and the Green Goblin were intertwined. The spider which bites Peter is a product of Oscorp’s Oz programme, the very same programme that Norman Osborn hopes to use to develop a wonder drug. It is creation of Spider-Man which provides Osborn with the data necessary to develop the formula further which later transforms him into the monstrous Green Goblin. Linking the origins of both characters in this manner gives more of a reason for the two to become arch-enemies. Like Ying and Yang they represent humanity’s potential when science is involved, its capacity for both good and evil. Given his stance on the identity of the Green Goblin, I don’t think Steve Ditko would have been pleased with this turn of events, but it works within the context of the story and makes their relationship more compelling. Unlike a lot of heroes who create their own villains, this series shows us the reverse with both Osborn and Doctor Otto Octavius playing key roles in Spider-Man’s creation.
The Peter Parker we are introduced to perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the character and the MCU would do well to take note. As a teenager struggling to fit in with the world around him, he is immediately relatable to the modern. He has outbursts; moments of anger directed at adults who he doesn’t think understand him, but beneath that pain is a good kid trying to find his place. Its notable that the entire first issue remains barren of though balloons, in a classic case of showing as opposed to telling, we learn about Peter from watching how he interacts with his peers and his relatives; Ben and May Parker. We essentially get to see how the outside world views Peter and how those perceptions impact his life before subsequent issues delve into his own mind-set directly through the now famous Spider-Man internal monologues. As the volume progresses, Peter comes more and more into his own right until he is dishing out witticisms faster than the Flash with a bad case of the runs.
Peter’s relationship with Mary-Jane is extremely well done in this iteration, though it’s worth nothing that this isn’t the MJ many of you know and love. Even before the spider bite, it’s clear that the two share a connection and that there is an underlying attraction that neither of them is willing to confess to. Mark Bagley expertly illustrates the stolen glances and subtle body language of two teenagers starting to feel for one another. While MJ retains the girl-next-door status of many of her incarnations, her ability to relate to Peter on an intellectual level is critical here. MJ is quite intelligent in her own right and the pair’s attraction to each other is of both a physical and intellectual nature. It’s Mary-Jane who consoles Peter following the death of his Uncle, waiting outside his house for hours just so that someone is there waiting for him when he returns. It’s a beautiful moment and one that Bagley’s art compliments wholly. The character herself may not have appeared in Marc Webb’s Amazing Spider-Man series, but some inspiration had to be taken from this character when they were conceptualising that universe’s version of Gwen Stacy. Much is left unsaid in this volume, but the door is left open for many possibilities regarding the progression of their relationship down the road.
Arguably the character who benefits the most from this expansion is Uncle Ben. The reader gets to know Ben Parker over four issues and truly understands the kind of relationship that he and Peter shared. As a result when the inevitable tragedy occurs it has more of an impact than it has in past iterations. Most Spider-Man stories emphasise the importance of their relationship after Ben’s death and we know very little about him, but by making their relationship central to the story in the lead up to it, it makes his death all the more tragic. There is, of course, tension between the two as Peter comes to terms with his powers and how they will change his life, but it’s the kind of tension found between a parent and child as the latter hits puberty. Bendis turns Uncle Ben into an actual character as opposed to a cardboard cut-out whose sole task is to dish out catchphrases about responsibility. This is the kind of character that I could have seen the great Martin Sheen playing and it is a pity that we didn’t get more of that in the Amazing Spider-Man film series.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Harry Osborn suffers greatly in this adaption. It is heavily implied that Harry merely uses Peter for his brains and cares little about their friendship. This terrible introduction to the character is compounded by the fact that Harry rarely features in Bendis’ run outside of rare Goblin incidents. Much of the conflict between him and Peter is born out of the great friendship they supposedly had, but we, ultimately, don’t learn much about this version of Harry. We are told that he and Peter are good friends, but there is little enough evidence to support that. As a result, the interesting dynamic that can exist between these two characters is squandered in what is an otherwise great story.
Our antagonist, Norman Osborn acquits himself well in this volume. As a corrupt businessman with delusions of grandeur, Osborn is as despicable as it gets. He outright hates his son; he at one point arranges to have Peter Parker “taken care of” so as to avoid legal liability and when he discovers the Oz drugs works he arranges to be the first human test subject because he considers himself to be the perfect human specimen. If Bendis had made his Osborn persona and his Goblin persona essentially one and the same, that might have been interesting, but that isn’t the case. This version of the Green Goblin is boring, amounting to nothing more than Diet Hulk. Physically he is a challenge for Spider-Man, but there doesn’t appear to be much going on upstairs. He can generate fireballs and throw them at people, but his design is akin to a luchador with only his face resembling anything like the Goblin we know and love. Within the context of the story, it’s questionable where the costume; which consists of purple pants, green underwear and a purple cloak even comes from. I wouldn’t be surprised if Norman stopped off at Villains R’Us before injecting himself with the serum. Honestly, the Goblin seems shoehorned into the last two issues. It’s almost as if in the modern era, where all stories are written with the trade paperback in mind, they were afraid that the emotional story that has underpinned the rest of the volume wouldn’t be enough to satisatiate readers. It would have been much better for them to have waited to reveal the Goblin in a future story, this would have allowed the appropriate tension and hype to build as well as give them a chance to develop the character more. As a result, while the Goblin gets better in later issues, he acts as little more than a boss character with no real motivations or character to him. He just isn’t interesting outside of his sleazy corporate persona.
Looking at the art, to my mind Mark Bagley is one of the definitive Spider-Man artists. His art is as linked to the character as John Romita Jr. Bagley brings a brightness and richness to the characters with images that pop out of the page. Neither too realistic nor too cartoony, Bagley’s illustrations are the perfect blend of styles. Bagley is at his best in moments of silence, when focusing on Peter’s sense of isolation. Even without words, Bagley manages to convey a loneliness and deep sadness that comes from being ostracized from your peers. That is not to say that Bagley doesn’t excel when focusing on Parker’s alter ego. Quite the contrary, his ability to draw emotion from a masked character is beyond compare, through cleverly manipulating the mask’s eyes. His re-vamped Goblin design is also quite refreshing showing a gradual evolution of the mutation coursing through Osborn’s blood.
Despite a number of teething problems, this first volume of Ultimate Spider-Man did not disappoint. It gave a much needed modern update to the character’s origin, fleshing out the backstory by creating interesting takes on well-known characters and snappy natural dialogue more likely to be seen on a Joss Whedon production than a comic page. For those of you jumping into the big bag world of comics for the first time or those of you looking to remember while you fell in love with the medium in the first place, Ultimate Spider-Man: Power and Responsibility gets our seal of approval. It just goes to show that even with an all too familiar story, with great talent comes great comics.
You know what I think, but what did some of our other staff members think about this first volume;
“I’m officially the worst Book Club member, because I’m only half-way through this collection, but I love it so far. While Bagley’s art felt a little cheesy to me at first, by the end of the third issue, I was completely won over by the 90’s nostalgia vibes that radiates out of his early work—okay, so the book was published in October 2000, but it still LOOKS like the 90’s. To be fair though, this first collection of Ultimate Spider-Man is so much more than a nostalgia piece. It’s an answer to the 616 Peter Parker’s rigid and slightly cold origin story, and Bendis does a fantastic job of really capturing the essence of the powerless becoming the powerful overnight and what that would mean to a kid who’s constantly the butt of the joke. By now, we’ve seen so many variations of the Spider-Man origin story, that going into it, I worried this collection might feel rote. However, these first few issues of the lengthy Bendis/Bagley run—now considered a legacy to many modern-day comic fans—is somehow fresh and exciting in spite of all the Spider-Man based products this book arguably inspired over the last decade and a half.” – Matthew McCrary
“I was so reluctant to this series when it came out because this wasn’t my Spider-Man. That was an epic fail on my part. This series is fresh, fun and made me remember why I like Peter Parker so much. This was all because of Bendis’ writing. On the other hand I can’t stand Mark Bagley’s artwork. Everyone looks the same and compared to Todd McFarlane and Erik Larson, Bagley comes off like a cheap knock off. Love the writing, can’t stand the artist.”– Matthew Sardo
What do you think? Was this volume spectacular? Did it do everything a spider does? Sound off in the comments below and join us in two weeks for our next Book Club review where we will be looking at Y: the Last Man Volume 1.
The more anime I watch, the less impressed I am with the animated action scene. Okay, maybe not less impressed per se, but exciting, well animated action scenes are less likely to win me over on an otherwise hum drum series. Every now and then though, something comes along and transports me back to my teenage self–the one who was so attracted to anime because it was “Cool Japan” and because the art style was wholly other–forcing me to practically ignore bland characters or genre tropes that I’ve since grown more and more tired of. God Eater‘s third episode did that for me, hastily pushing my focus past a story line that badly needs some fleshing out and instead reminding me why the whole “girls with guns” trope is so rampant throughout the genre; when it’s done right, it’s undeniably cool.
This week’s episode picks up directly after last week’s action-packed goodness. To give some background, God Eater takes place in an apocalyptic future where the world has been besieged by monsters of all sizes called Aragami. Our main protagonist, Lenka, is in the beginning stages of becoming a God Eater–a warrior against the Aragami who is given special powers in order to properly combat them–making him a “New-Type”. By the third episode, Lenka–just starting on his path to greatness–teams up with his more wisened cohorts, Lindow and Sakuya, in order to save a transport plane that’s being heavily bombarded by hordes of Aragami. Enter Alisa, the girl with a gun–also the New-Type girl on the transport plane who apparently needs saving. The episode doesn’t quite go in the “damsel in distress” direction, which is where things get interesting.
Alisa may seem like an old anime stereotype–the tough girl who simply won’t follow the rules–but there’s more to her than meets the eye, and she breathes fresh air into God Eater through her energy and her ethics, pushing the show beyond simple monster madness and into a truly rich action series. The shots of Alisa dashing across the breadth of her transport plane–slashing monsters left and right before sliding to a knee to fire burst rounds into a pack of blue flying creatures–are exhilarating, even if they’re not the best animated portions of the episode. Before now, God Eater has been exciting, but more in the vein of, “hanging with a new hero who barely misses death at every turn”. Alisa, on the other hand–as a “New-Type” who handles herself like a seasoned professional–offers experience out of nowhere. It’s the kind of character that God Eater needs; one who offers hope in the face of mounting monster concerns. At face value, Alisa represents the “girls with guns” trope by subverting classical ideals of femininity–motherly love, warmth, nourishment–and bringing nothing but death and destruction to the attacking creatures. When it turns out that Alisa–denying her own rescue by the God Eater crew–is staying with the transport plane to protect all the people on board, she finally becomes both the best traits of the “girl with a gun” and the motherly figure, blowing away the bad guys while protecting the weak and the innocent. As female characters in general go, she could be more complex. As female action characters go, however, Alisa brings just enough interest to the show to keep God Eater watchable.
It’s not just the “girls with guns” trope that makes this week’s God Eater the best of the week. The animation that God Eater employs has to be divisive amongst viewers–it’s one of the more obvious CG-based styles we’ve seen in the last few years–but it’s a strong factor in what makes the series such an enjoyable watch. Anime series have strived for some time now to incorporate classic ideals of Japanese 2D animation with the technological advances of CG animation, usually to ill effect (see this season’s Chaos Dragon, for one). God Eater, however, has seemingly solved the puzzle by creating an interesting character design–almost fuzzy on the edges at times, with some seriously thin line work–that makes its characters feel like they’re related to the 2D designs we’re used to, while also making them of the world which the series’ CG monsters inhabit.
That doesn’t even get into the gorgeous landscapes that fill out the backgrounds of God Eater–possibly the most impressive aspect of the animation. The episode starts with a scene of a rolling sea, calm and placid with the night sky hanging overhead. Soon, an Aragami shoots out of the water, disrupting the idyllic setting–a foreshadowing of the chaos to come, all with the backdrop of a beautifully lit sunrise taking form in the background. It’s shots like this that really draw us into the world of God Eater, helping the audience understand the mood of the apocalyptic world these characters call home. The various backdrops also help to give the Arigami a sense of scale that makes them even more frightening. While the main Aragamai force feels like it’s straight out of a random Final Fantasy or Persona battle–the least impressive animation in the episode, these creatures are round, blue, moth-like creatures with gaping mouths, razor-sharp teeth and tacked on wings–a fleeting shot of a much more intimidating Aragami towards the end of the episode, uses the sky around it to both hide the creature–giving us that Cloverfield effect–and size it up amongst the sprawling sunset.
I worry that God Eater can’t keep up this momentum–or even this level of quality–since its general character and plot development up to this point has been fairly lacking. This week’s introduction of Alisa, however, and its borderline immaculate animation, show promise for a show that was a throw-away watch for me over the last two weeks. I’m not expecting gold here, but a guy can hope, right?
Runners-Up: Classroom Crisis – Ep. 4/Snow White with the Red Hair – Ep. 4
I really couldn’t decide between Classroom Crisis and Snow White with the Red Hair this week, as both series have a number of great moments but are also flawed in certain aspects. Classroom Crisis scored a nice outing by proving its non-partisan nature. Kaito Sera spends the majority of the episode figuring out how to keep A-TEC afloat, with a local union being his first go-to savior. Soon, however, Kaito realizes that the union is out to use him just as much as he hoped to use the union, if not more. These scenes work to make Classroom Crisis a more well-rounded series, ideologically. The series–frequently questioning the effect of the corporate power dynamic on the modern world–doesn’t hesitate to point out the political machinations of the enemy of corporate power (the unions). Instead, it feels as if A-TEC exists outside of the societal bubble, evolved past the goofball power dynamics of both corporations and unions, but still sadly effected by both. Aside from that, the episode almost feels like watching a chess game, where Kaito and Nagisa take turns trying to cut the other one off from getting what they want; Kaito, the survival of A-TEC, and Nagisa, its demise. This economic cat and mouse game feels fresh and new, and carries an episode that otherwise putters out in its conclusion. By the end, this week’s Classroom Crisis feels weighed down by bad jokes and tsundere girls getting sassy. I’m not so cold that I don’t enjoy that sort of thing in the right series, but it’s much better suited to a less thoughtful show.
Meanwhile, Snow White with the Red Hair‘s fourth episode ends up in similar territory, starting off strong and ending on a whimper. Here, the best part is working through the mystery of the greenhouse which Shirayuki is left to solve, in order to complete her court herbalist test. Much like the quasi-playful nature of Classroom Crisis‘s cat and mouse games, the mystery which Shirayuki has to solve in the first half of this episode, keeps things light and draws the audience into the world of herbal medicine through the inquisitive eyes of Shirayuki. Things that hadn’t crossed my mind as remotely interesting–like which plants belong in which soil–suddenly became intriguing due to the pacing of the show and the way that it intensifies otherwise mundane subject matter. Sadly, Snow White with the Red Hair gets a little too sentimental by the end of the episode, going down the shōjo road of each and every character caring a little too much about the smallest of feelings in each and every other character. I get the idea behind such character emotions–“aren’t we all just the best of friends?”–but it gets tedious as a viewer who’s seen such relationships in the past. I just found myself thinking, “Come on, Snow White, there’s more to you than this.” Otherwise, this is a solid episode. The artwork is gorgeous and the overall plot has moved along nicely, keeping a pretty decent pace for the series in general. Hopefully Snow White picks it back up next week, focusing more on Shirayuki’s adventures with her cohorts and less on how damn sensitive everyone might be.
Biggest Surprise: Seiyu’s Life! – Ep. 4
Both Seiyu’s Life! and Monster Musume were on my chopping block going into this week, mainly because while each had interesting moments, the episodes in general tended to drag on and were bad about simply recycling lame tropes. This time around, however, both show’s pulled off some interesting moments that made me want to see where things are going from here. Monster Musume–for all its baggage and intention of being “just another harem show… with a twist!”–manages to showcase some truly inventive moments with the various oddballs that make up Kimihito’s cadre of possible monster wives–a slime creature in particular, this go-round. While Musume makes the best of the fantastical setting it lives in, Seiyu’s Life! actively works to portray certain fringes of reality for those in the voice acting community. Futaba Ichinose–Seiyu’s Life!‘s main protagonist–is put through the ringer this week, forced to wrap up the few voice acting gigs she has left and hoping that a new job will fall in her lap.
Seiyu’s Life! is a consistently goofy and pointless show–falling off the Shirobako band wagon of giving us an “Inside Baseball” look at the industry, some episodes ago–but this episode’s ability to portray a creative person in crisis, is a true credit to the show’s more transcendent moments. Futaba sits around, waiting for her phone to ring with a new job offer on the other line, but the only phone calls she gets are much more mundane. It’s unspoken throughout the episode, but there’s a real sense that Futaba might have to let go of her dreams if things continue on this way. It’s refreshing to see Futaba struggle so much–versus the writers shoving her further into the industry without a second thought–because it captures the true feeling of attempting to break into the creative world. It’s difficult, and for every person who “makes it”, there are countless others that are struggling and considering moving on to a more lucrative career. Of course, by the end of the episode things are set back up for “cute girls doing cute stuff”, so we’ll see what Seiyu’s Life! can deliver next week. I’m not holding my breath, but at least Seiyu’s Life! provides a thoughtful outing every now and again.
Biggest Disappointment: GATE – Ep. 4
Since it piqued my interest two weeks ago, GATE has added three female leads–an elf, a sorceress and some sort of goth lolita–that have seriously dragged the series down. Having three female leads who arguably play a larger role than our milquetoast protagonist, Itami, would usually be right up my alley. GATE, however, decides to do little with them, portraying the girls as the usual elf, sorceress or goth lolita character that we’ve seen before. Not only that, but GATE‘s preoccupation with these nothing characters–setting them nude in a bath house for the entire second half of the episode–takes away from the world building that made its second episode so special. To be fair, we do get a glimpse of that here–seeing a few scenes of drama building around the country, as well as a short scene of a foreign country in our own world that wants to exploit Japan’s dimensional gate for their own greedy purposes– but it’s not enough. More so, these scenes just tease the audience–similar to the bath scene for that audience–letting us believe that maybe there’s something more to this series than there really is. GATE feels like a show with good intentions–maybe the creator or some of the writers are legitimately interested in the world building here–that was forced to include fan bait material that eventually took over. I wish I cared about the elf princess and the troubled sorceress and the sassy goth lolita, but instead the only thing I’m given to care about is if I’ll get to see them in the buff. Monster Musume may be a show that’s even more nude-friendly than this one, but at least it’s up front about it.
Predictions for Next Week
I’m done. I can’t keep holding out for Gangsta. to get any better. I’ll keep watching it, because it’s a relatively dull season and Gangsta. at least offers the familiar tropes that I like the most–save for the “dumb prostitute”, mind you–but it’s a real bummer that the series isn’t trying to do more with itself. Gangsta. has found a typical dystopic setting to languish in and, beyond that, has really only built on its characters minimally using cheap flashbacks to give them more “depth”, instead of writing scenes in the show’s here and now to flesh them out. That means that our characters feel relatively cold towards one another. Sure, they have a strong history together, but as we see them in their present, not much is going on. So yeah, Gangsta. bums me out.
Elsewhere, I’m hoping that Seiyu’s Life! and Monster Musume keep bringing it and make themselves worthwhile shows to pick up. Besides its inventiveness, Musume is also clearly being worked on by people who are having a lot of fun with it, and when that can come across the screen, it’ll make even the worst show a little more entertaining to watch. Ranpo Kitan delivered another dark episode, keeping up with the precedent set up last week, and though I can’t call Prison School the best anime of the week–or even the runner-up–it’s consistently a great watch for the style alone, if not the outlandish and ribald humor that could care less what you think of it. I’m assuming–and hoping–that those two will keep up their quality. Either way, I hope to see you back next week for my thoughts on the best–and the rest–in the week’s anime.
Survivors of the Week
Classroom Crisis Snow White with the Red Hair Monster Musume Gangsta. Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace Seiyu’s Life Prison School God Eater My Love Story Ninja Slayer: from Animation
