#you can argue that hunter x hunter got a reboot

[dog-forest-spirit]

What are your theory as to why Sunrise keeps clinging to the Inuyasha rights? They have been absorbed by Bandai, and yet they are clinging to them. Cash cow Gintama merch they still had their stickers on until recently, their own huge franchise Gundam given over to Bandai quite a while ago, but the Inuyasha anime? Still copyright 2009 Sunrise. They insisted on giving Sesshoumaru red and white also as a theme color, but now have given him a greyish purple because of the manga. But still they cling to it. Inuyasha is quite big internationally, is that why? But Gintama was the mos exported series for quite a while..! But many fans pretend it doesn't exist anymore after their stupid "what if" story (checked last merch for that, and that was in July 2022 while Inuyasha has long into next year, Moroha unsurprisingly has more of his self-insert than herself in her merch, that stupid tanuki thing). And I got to admit that I still feel a little queasy when I rewatch the first anime, especially later episodes with Rin after knowing what fantasies some of the people involved had 🤢.

When they finally lose the rights, will they be brought up quickly? As many fans want a more faithful adaptation, or will Bandai snatch them up again to take them and give to another company within them to animate? Do you think Takahashi will try getting involved with who they go to when that time comes? I really hope they'll tone down Miroku. The "eew, grooming" scene is really important so I wish it could be part somehow without one of the heroes being a creep, (it was before sumisawa got involved)

Imagine the cool transformation scenes where Inuyasha's ears and colors change during sunrise properly animated! I want to see it!

A new anime that will set it free from the grossness of the past..! Maybe even have Sesshoumaru's mother calling Sesshoumaru a hogosha and ask him why he chose a human rather than a yōkai or at the very least finding a wife first before adopting so he doesn't have to take care of her alone..! Or her in-character calling Rin another pet along with Jaken, which Jaken corrects with Sesshoumaru being Rin's hogosha but not correcting himself being called a pet because that seems in-character for him somehow. And hopefully a new translation of the manga as viz's Americanization where they'd rather introduce Hawaiian words rather than treating a Japanese series as Japanese..!

Sorry for babbling...

They are probably holding on to them because it’s more profitable to keep them than to sell them to someone else and I have zero idea tbh :( sunrise is so ass backwards they handled the yashahime controversy in the WORST possible way they consistently picked the worst option every single time and I hope we can get a new adaption but I don’t know if it’ll happen any time soon :( I’m sure inuyasha was more popular internationally and that’s a big ^^ but ranma 1/2 was huge too and it hasn’t gotten a new adaption urusei yatsura JUST got one I feel if we get one it won’t be for another 10/15 years but if we get one I hope it gets the fruit basket treatment inuyasha has its faults but it’s a really good series and introduced anime to an entire generation of adults but I feel inuyasha is left out of the “iconic 00s” anime conversation which is also :/ I’m going to be optimistic but I don’t know how realistic it’ll be but we didn’t think we’ll get a sequel (pedobait family show spin off spoof) so 👀

I would LOVE a prequel and would have preferred that over whatever yashahime was but only if sunrise does NOT touch it I want a studio who really cares about the source material and doesn’t treat these adaptions like fanfic and throws cheap plots in with even worse characterization for money most anime doesn’t run nonstop anymore so if we get one hopefully it gets the love it deserves

[hoaqins-funk-house]

Springtrap

Yandere

Male Reader

You can read part 1 here

Part 2

Quietly whistling, you enter the building, locking the door behind you and turning into the office, finding the familiar tall man leaning against the wall above the vent.

“Welcome back, Y/N. You ready?” 

You stretch, as per usual, humming. “As I’ll ever be.”

He walks past you, patting your shoulder with a grin as he murmurs two words into your ear.

“Good luck.”

You deadpan as his teasing hits you, watching him wave as he passes the glass. Sighing, you plop down into the chair, cursing as your tailbone hits the metal again. You follow William with the cameras, him speedily making his way back to the last room, where he motions to the vent next to him, crossing his arms in an x.

You nod to yourself. He isn’t going to go in that vent, as it would give him the unfair advantage of being in a vent where you can’t block him off.

When he smirks at the camera and slinks into the shadows, you sigh, beginning your defense.

-

It was five when you really lost him. He was nowhere to be found. 

You had exasperated a few more shades, excluding the one who seemed to really enjoy being about three inches from your face at all times. You didn’t really mind him, though; he was pretty hot.

Your brother wasn’t wrong when he called you ‘gayboy.’

Still, looking up, you see the man with a ripped up uniform staring down at you amusedly, his hand placed on the glass. Quickly, you play audio in the room to his left, making his grin lower as he gets led away by his body, you playing another sound in a further room before resetting audio.

You hear his rapid steps as audio reboots, watching him dart across the glass before finding him at the door frame. You lock eyes with him, a drop of sweat flowing down your cheek. Hearing the audio finish rebooting, you blindly grasp at the camera pad, violently and repeatedly pressing the sound button in a vain attempt to lure him away. Audio broke again because of how quickly you were spamming the button.

Right before he could take a step into your office, the bell chimes, and you shove the camera pad away from you, face hitting the desk with a thump as you let out a relieved sigh, feeling the stress leave your body.

“Hmm. You did quite well, all things considered.” William praises, watching amusedly as you wearily raise your hand, curled in a thumbs up. 

“I think I aged about a decade.” You groan, pushing yourself up to face your hunter for the night. You breathe heavier than usual, hair either sticking out or to your face from sweat, along with the light flush that comes with occasionally losing your oxygen supply.

It’s a sight he plans to see again; granted, not in this context.

“I’ll take that as a sign of quality pursuing.” He states, further entertained by your half-hearted glare. “What, do you have a problem with that?”

“You’re too good.” You say.

His brow quirks at your words. “Too good?”

“Yes, too good a pursuer. And you know what?”

“What?”

“Feeling like your prey for fifteen minutes was enough to completely wipe me. A whole six hours would genuinely kill me.”

He laughs, ignoring the feeling he gets from you calling yourself his prey.

“Well, I’ll just have to hunt to your limit. Now... isn't your shift over? Or do you just want to stay the day with me?” His grin makes his offer into what would easily be interpreted as a joke.

“Something came up, unfortunately. I would stay and chat, but it seems I must be going.”

Of course, this is you we’re talking about.

William was somewhat taken aback. You said you would?! 

You would stay back to talk with him?

He practically short-circuits, lips slightly open in shock. He only comes back to reality with the feeling of your hand running through his hair, ruffling it. Instinctually, he grabs it, looking at the hand in his grip and then at you, a small smile on your face. 

“Should I not-”

“No, you may. I just… wasn’t expecting it, is all.” He cuts you off, releasing your warm hand and watching with a pang of disappointment as your hand lowers, you stepping away. With a wave, you turn. 

“See you tomorrow, William.” 

He nods nearly breathlessly as you exit the building, lifting a hand and letting his fingers drift over his chest. 

A pulse.

… 

Then another.

…

And another.

His gaze lifts from his hand to the door you had exited through, expression shocked before his eyelids droop once more, lips forming a drunken grin. 

You are his, the one he needs most, his perfect prize and his perfect prey.

You, who gave a corpse his heartbeat.

It’s about 17 hours later that you stumble in, Your frazzled state catching William off guard. You slouch over as you walk, the dark color under your eyes speaking to how many hours of sleep you got. 

Entering the office, you, for once, sit down calmly in your chair, your head hitting the table in front of you. You turn to face the rabbit-eared man, eyes half-lidded and dull.

“I came in an hour early to sleep, if you don’t mind…” You drawl, him grimacing at your state.

“Feel free to.” 

He hums as your eyes shut, and he watches your body fully untense, noting the chair slowly rolling out from beneath you. Your face is peaceful, nearly the same expression you gave him on the first night after first meeting him face-to-face.

He sighs, stepping closer and grabbing your midsection right before you would've fallen. Your eyes don't even open, but you quietly groan, continuing to sleep as the man considers his options. 

He can rest you on the floor? 

No, when you wake up you'll need to peel yourself off of it.

He can put you back in the chair?

You'll probably fall out of it.

There is that staff room he found… 

Eh, it's his best option.

There's a couch in there, too.

He lifts you onto his back in order to not continue holding you like a wet towel, walking out of the office and into the area where cam three was active, finding the door in between a few props. Opening it, he feels the floor beneath his bare feet shift from grimy tile to thin carpet, colored black, along with a dark, ugly green couch. There’s a vent on the wall, a secret entrance to your office’s vent.

As he goes to place you down on the couch, he realizes that your arms are wrapped around his collar, head leaning into his. 

He regrets not paying attention earlier, as you were practically a heating pad. His arms, very loosely circling your legs, release as he leans closer to the couch, hovering with his back over it before realizing that, hey, you were asleep!

So, he lets himself turn, your arms still wrapped around the back of his neck, instead holding you up on his front.

Now, he decides to lay down on the couch, his tall physique making his legs have to be propped up on one arm of the couch. You lay on top of him, head nestled in the crook of his neck, allowing him to feel your soft breaths across his skin.

His arms wrap around you, feeling your warmth. With a small, satisfied grin, he feels the slightest flush cross his cheeks as you nuzzle closer. You were made for him; made to fit perfectly against him, made to be his, forever.

He doesn’t even notice as his eyelids drift down, consciousness fading. 

Goodnight, Y/N.

-

It was to the chime of the bell that you woke up, letting out a small sigh before you begin to take in your circumstances, eyes still not open. 

You fell asleep at work, but it certainly isn't midnight, as the bell had just chimed. It also isn't the chair you fell asleep in.

As they shift around you, holding you tighter to him, you realize that arms surround you, and that it seems likely you're sleeping on the rabbit man. 

Before you try to roll over and off of him (which was a dumb idea; William would've fallen with you), you feel him wake up based on the rumbles in his chest as he lowly groans.

You sigh, half-heartedly pushing yourself up. "Good morning, William."

His eyes shoot open, and he looks down, noting you and the position you were both in. "Mind letting me go?" 

"Uh- yes, sure." He releases you, allowing you to get off of him, stretching with a yawn. Meanwhile, William was reeling. 

You, saying good morning?

Your rusty morning voice?

You, apparently not caring about how you were just asleep on top of him?

Actually, he almost wishes you did care about it; you being embarrassed would be adorable.

"So… where is this?" You ask, looking over your shoulder at the man as he sits up, already feeling the void of your warmth.

"We're in the staff room. The door leads right into the attraction." 

You hum, nodding, him standing with a small sigh before standing at your side, his hand placing itself on your shoulder. 

"Nevermind that - what exactly made you into a walking corpse? Don't you know I already have that role covered?" He asks, a joking tone in his voice. You smile.

"Well, remember the funerals I got off my main job for? I had to go to one." You sigh, feeling his understanding shoulder pat. 

"How unfortunate that you had to do the thing you were getting off of work to do." 

That understanding shoulder pat turns sour!

"Listen. I, uh, can't really argue with that…"

William smirks. "No, you can't."

You sigh again, defeated. "Well, I need to head home. Thank you for letting me sleep through my shift, by the way. You make for a spectacular bed." It is with those parting words that you exit the room, not even allotting him the time to process your words.

Stiffly, he stands, following you out the door and back into the main area of the building, where the last he sees of you for some hours is the door closing behind you. 

He finds that watching you leave each night makes the cold emptiness hit him once more, returning him to a state similar to how he was when trapped. His lips, previously in a stricken pout, now fall into a scowl. 

You, you, you…

He fell asleep easily and dreamt of a peaceful void when you were there. But now that you aren't…

His dreams will never be calm. That brief instance of tranquility was like a drug to him; he wants more, the quiet, warm existence in a space consisting of nothing. Nothing to bring him pain. Nothing to bring him fear. 

But, nothing to bring him joy.

If he stays with you, will his dreams return to light? Will he feel your arms wrapped around him, holding him close as he buries his face into the crook of your neck?

Letting out a shuddering breath, he forcefully breaks himself out of his thoughts, looking down at his hands as they shake. Lifting one to his face, he feels his mouth in a wide grin. 

He already knows what he wants. 

He already knows what he needs to do.

But he needs to be patient.

-

As you reenter the building, William perks up to the sound of the door closing behind you. He purposefully replaces his wide, unsettling grin with a casual smirk, entering the hallway and seeing you. 

He will never get tired of you in your uniform.

You lift your head to meet his gaze, hearing him approach. He waves through the glass, you doing the same thing in return. You, per usual, stretch your arms above your head, feeling them get grabbed by William. Looking up at him, you raise an eyebrow, not noticing his grin. 

“Say, could you get out of that seat real quick?”

You hum in confirmation, him releasing your wrists as you stand.

You deadpan as he takes the seat, sitting down in it. "Wow. Asshole."

He laughs. "Think of this as charity."

"I'll think of it as what it is, thievery." You huff, sitting on the desk as a replacement for your stolen chair.

He laughs again. 

You roll your eyes, leaning your head on your arm, which is propped up on your leg. "I think the dude who got you made a really good choice."

William pauses. "Okay, now I think you're actually flirting with me."

"Take it as you will. But what I mean is he made a great choice for a horror attraction in finding you. Your big form is scary as hell, what with the actual organs about to spill out and stuff. Your human form… I wouldn't describe you as scary. Intimidating to someone who doesn't know you, maybe, but not scary."

"And what makes me... intimidating?" He asks, face forming into an amused expression as he watches you deadpan for a moment at his tone.

"Your scars, sure, but the main thing is your height. You're like, what, 6'7?"

"I was still quite tall when I was fully human, too."

"Really? How tall?"

"Around 6'4 or 6'5."

You whistle. "Damn, you didn't even grow that much, even when you got a boost from the suit. Actually, how does that even work?" 

"The suits? Well, when bodies are shoved into the suits and become trapped, their souls begin to merge with the vessel. For me, it took a long time, because I was around your age, but for the other suits…" He pauses, flicking one of the bobbleheads. "It didn't take them very long at all."

You nod. "Because they were kids… I never understood it."

His brow lifts. "Never understood what?"

"Why someone would kill them, and 11 of them at that. Kids can be annoying, sure, but… they still deserve a chance to grow." Your eyes focus on the ground, brows drawn together.

"I see." He responds, silent other than those words. You don't notice how his expression turns cold, lips in a downward curve. His reason for slaughtering the kids is simple. 

He wanted to. 

You look up, his face shifting to solemnity. 

You offer him a weak grin. "Sorry 'bout bringing that up, it's a bit heavy."

"No, it's fine."

You hum, leaning back while your hands grip the edge of the table. "I think I'm gonna miss this. The fifteen-something minutes we got here."

He tilts his head, so you take that as a sign to elaborate. "Tomorrow's my last day. I can still visit, of course, but I'll be heading back to my job on Tuesday."

His eyes widen as he processes it. Of course, it was never going to be permanent. The pay was shit, and you even told him that you had a month off, nothing more. 

He doesn't want to let you go, not when you're right there, not when you won't be showing yourself as often. 

"You good?" You ask, him nodding as his gaze shifts quickly to the door you leave through. All he needs to do is block it, then you'll be forced to go through the whole attraction if you want an immediate exit.

"Yes, just wondering how often you'll stop by." His eyes shift back to yours. Of course, he hadn't even considered the question. He knows there isn't any need to worry, not when you'll be at his side the whole time. He'll bind you to him, make it impossible for you to escape.

"I should be able to on weekends, and maybe Wednesdays? It depends on my schedule. So at least twice a week." You smile, the slight head tilt adding to the charm. "It's good to know I've made an impact on someone here, though. William, I really do enjoy your company."

His soft smile holds a hint of euphoria. 

You enjoy his company? 

He hopes you will feel the same over the years. His idea… 

He knows exactly how to do it.

"I enjoy yours as well."

"Well, I'd hope. Me waking up on top of you would've been a bit more awkward if you didn't." You chuckle, his smile slightly widening.

Of course, it couldn't happen tonight.

"I suppose so."

Your brow raises, arms crossing. "You sure you're good? You seem rather… subdued." You question.

He shrugs, feeling the strange warmth form in the pit of his stomach as he hears you worry for him. "I'm just a bit tired, I suppose. Sleeping last night threw me off." Well, he is actually a bit tired.

You nod, still feeling as if something is off. "I can get that. When I got home last night, I immediately crawled into bed and passed out again."

"You were still tired?"

"Well, seven hours isn't much when I had stayed up for over 40. Wait, you were tired? Animatronic-corpse-hybrid-whatevers can get tired?"

His casual grin returns. "Especially in this form, yes. I'm still a close-enough-to-living-thing to get tired normally." 

"Huh. How strange." You simply respond, eyes slipping upwards and not noticing as he rolls forward. 

"Hey, could you hold out your hand real quick? Like this." He holds out his hand in a way similar to how you grab a drink, you copying him with a slightly confused expression. With that, he rolls slightly closer, and after closing his eyes, rests his head on your hand, your fingers cupped over his cheek.

You feel your brain lag.

Your mouth opens once, you soon figuring out that whatever you would say would be incomprehensible, so it's best to not even try.

William lets out a breath, seeming to deflate into your touch. A few moments later, his eyes open to the sound of the 6 am bell and the sight of your somewhat flushed face. He leans away, leaving you still very confused. "Thanks for that." 

"You're… welcome?" 

He's already missing your touch. "Well, we should both get some rest, tomorrow's your final night." But certainly not your last with him. William rolls back, giving you the space to get off of your desk.

You nod slowly. "Uh-yeah. That's true." Sliding off of the desk, you let out a small groan while you stretch, a lot of air hissing into the noise. After you shake your head to clear it, you send a smile towards William before beginning to leave. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow." 

"Of course." He responds. When he hears the click of the door, he stands up. He needs to get some rest if he wants to be in top shape. 

His lips curl into a sneer, already knowing his plan would be successful. 

Exiting the room, he heads to the back of the attraction, returning to his animatronic form and standing in the spot he started all of this in. 

Tomorrow. 

Tomorrow.

Part 3

[kaiserdingus]

MegaMan PSP Games - Powered Up / Maverick Hunter X

The Mega Man series has always been tough for newcomers to dive into. Its a series based on challenge, skill, and memorizing stages and patterns. The original series was restrained by the technical limitations of the time, so they look more cartoony and kid friendly. The Super Nintendo’s Mega Man X series was a sequel intended to carry the torch and bring the Blue Bomber into the 16-bit era with a new look, new moves, and a new, more mature storyline.

In 2005 Capcom announced a pair of simultaneous releases for Sony’s PlayStation Portable handheld console. Mega Man Powered Up and Mega Man Maverick Hunter X were remakes of the first games in the Mega Man and Mega Man X series that utilized the 3D capabilities of the PlayStation Portable to render new ways to experience these gems of gaming. Both were remade with the idea to be accessible to newcomers, and plans were in the works for sequels to both games based on Mega Man 2 and Mega Man X2.

Unfortunately, sluggish sales would lead to both sequels being canceled. Today we have the Mega Man and Mega Man X Legacy Collections to give us our fill, but these titles were more than just ports. There were new features, new bosses, they were practically their own games worthy of their own discussion. That’s why today we’re going to be taking a look at Mega Man Powered Up and Mega Man Maverick Hunter X.

MegaMan Powered Up

It’s said that when designing Mega Man, Keiji Inafune wanted to use a “super deformed” style for the characters. Big heads on little bodies for a funny, cute look. The problem was that the technology of the time made it difficult to portray this style, so a compromise was made. The characters were still cute, but the proportions weren’t as exaggerated as originally intended. Inafune would get his chance to try his “chibi” designs when Capcom announced Mega Man Powered Up in 2005, a complete remake of the original Mega Man, updated for Sony’s new PSP handheld.

Gaming had changed a lot between the 1980’s and the mid-2000’s. Before, game design was influenced by arcade trends. Challenge and difficulty were added to games of the time to hide the fact that these games theoretically could be beaten within the span of a few hours. The original Mega Man games came from an era where rental services like Blockbuster made it easy for someone to spend $5 instead of $50 on a game for the week. If a game could be beat in an afternoon, then there was no reason for the gamer to buy the game. This was also helped by the lack of save features in these early games.

In the mid-2000’s, however, these tricks were irrelevant. Game development had reached a point where games had enough content. There was no longer a need to pad a game with challenge to keep them from beating it in a single sitting. With this in mind, Capcom sought to re-work the original Mega Man series for the next generation of kids who hadn’t grown up with the originals. Now there are multiple difficulties to cater to different kinds of players.

The premise, characters, levels, music, almost everything in the game are based on the original Mega Man, but now everything is expanded upon. Characters pop-out in 3D, and the levels follow the same designs, but now the world feels more alive. The story is played out through character dialogue and little cutscenes. This game would go on to influence the story and characters in the Archie tie-in comics.

Two new characters were created specifically for this game, each with their own unique level. Time Man and Oil Man bring the game’s original six Robot Masters up to eight, in line with the rest of the series. Oil Man’s design would cause controversy as it closely resembles the “Blackface” stereotype, with his black skin and big red lips.

For some background, Japanese artists are influenced by those who came before them, and a lot of the original manga artists learned from American cartoonists. Blackface portrayals were prominent in American cartoons and comics, which were imported to Japan after World War II. The average person in Japan doesn’t have any context for the history of Blackface in America, which doesn’t excuse the depictions. Because of this cultural misunderstanding, Oil Man’s skin was turned dark blue and his lips were colored yellow.

My favorite addition to this game is the ability to play as the boss characters you defeat. Each boss has their trusty weapon as their base weapon, and now the empty hole they left in their stage has been filled by a rogue Mega Man who’s looking for trouble. There are other playable characters, but I won’t spoil them for you.

I’m disappointed that we never got to see any sequels to Powered Up. It seemed like the perfect formula for Mega Man. Remake 1 through 6 in this style, maybe 7 and 8, then they could’ve done 9 and 10 too. Every time I see a new trailer for 11 I just think of it as a sequel to Powered Up, but with a more streamlined design. Don’t get me started on Mighty No. 9, the unfortunate “spiritual successor” to the Mega Man series.

Mega Man Powered Up is one of the best PSP games, and possibly one of the best Mega Man games. It’s unfortunate that it came out too early in the PSP’s lifespan to really take off, maybe if Capcom had ported the game to the PS2 or Gamecube it would have fared better.

MegaMan Maverick Hunter X

Maverick Hunter X, the companion title to Mega Man Powered Up, is a remake of the 1993 Super Nintendo classic Mega Man X. Unlike Powered Up, which completely redesigned the classic Mega Man, Maverick Hunter X stays relatively true to the original design and style of the Mega Man X franchise. It features anime cutscenes, similar to those used in Mega Man X3 and X4. One could argue that the animation and voice acting are noticeably better this time around.

While Powered Up was designed to be accessible for anyone, Maverick Hunter X is designed to be a more mature challenge. There’s no Easy Mode this time, only Normal and Hard. The first Mega Man X was never as challenging as later games in the series, but it wasn’t a walk in the park. Maverick Hunter X isn’t easier, but it does feel a little tighter to control.

The MegaMan series has never been strong on plot, but the Mega Man X sub-series does have a surprisingly strong lore. This has only ever been casually hinted at, with little exposition besides a few animated cutscenes or slideshows. Maverick Hunter X delivers a decent story in the form of an animated opening cutscene, as well as character dialogue between stages. Each boss battle opens with a back-and-forth between X and the boss in question where they explain their perspective before jumping into the action.

Once you beat the game you unlock what’s probably the coolest bonus a video game can have: a 25 minute animated film. The Day of Σ is a self-contained animated special that ties in with the game. The special is a prequel that ends where the game begins, and it tells the story of Sigma and the other reploids going Maverick.

This approach to video game storytelling works surprisingly well because it doesn’t interfere with the gameplay. Most story-driven games feel bloated with unending cutscenes, other games don’t feel fleshed out enough when they don’t include any cutscenes. Maverick Hunter X including an anime OVA is similar to 2003’s Dot Hack series from Bandai, which also came with a four part animated mini-series. 2010’s Dragon Ball Raging Blast, also from Namco Bandai, similarly featured a 20 minute special called The Plan to Eradicate The Super Saiyans.

Fans of the Mega Man X series have noted some inconsistencies with Maverick Hunter X and The Day of Sigma compared to the rest of the franchise. These story inconsistencies wouldn’t matter if Capcom had gone through with their plan to reboot the X series. Had they continued the groundwork started by Maverick Hunter X, future games would fill in the blanks, and re-tell the original stories in new and exciting ways.

As far as fan speculation goes, we can draw all of Mega Man’s problems in the late 2000’s/early 2010’s right here. Mega Man Powered Up and Maverick Hunter X were great games, but for one reason or another neither title was very successful at the time of release. What’s worse is, Maverick Hunter X was available digitally on the PlayStation Network Store when the PlayStation Vita debuted, but Mega Man Powered Up couldn’t get the same treatment due to technical issues.

Both games are great and it's a shame that they’re lost to time, trapped forever on a long forgotten handheld. I have nothing against the Mega Man Legacy Collections, but I miss the days when developers attempted to remake their classic games for later generations. While there’s no arguing against the value of preserving original games and making them available to be played as originally intended, I think the world would benefit from more modernized remakes that take advantage of today’s technology to do things they could never originally do.

I hope one day Capcom releases both Mega Man PSP games. Possibly alongside other mid-2000’s curiosities like Mega Man X Command Mission and Mega Man Network Transmission. There are enough oddball Mega Man spin-offs to fill a few more Legacy Collections, I think.

Where to Buy

Mega Man Powered Up (PSP)

Mega Man Maverick Hunter X  (PSP)

Mega Man Double Pack (PSP)

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[cursedcomics]

What’s right and wrong (to my tastes anyway) on comicbook TV.

This is going to be a little bit of a love letter/ report card of hate for comic related TV shows.   And, honestly, a rant.

TV is a different breed. Any discussion of this subject has to begin with that point. You have to acknowledge that they cannot just mirror comic stories.  You have to give them the freedom to write their own stories.

That said, the entire point of basing a TV show on a comic is that it will start with an established fan base. If you honor the source material, you gain.   If you shit on it , you lose.

The Walking Dead may be the best example of this.  The characters from the comics show up. They are generally the same characters, but each character’s chronology is different. The show has taken a different direction on TV and that changes their path to death. I love that. That is a healthy relationship with your source material.  That gives your comic readers and your new TV fans something to watch.

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is the polar opposite.  It is really a pretty bad show I have binge watched. Almost every character in the show is a jacked up version of their comic selves or doesn’t exist in the comics. Sure, there are some exceptions.  They got Martin Stein right, although his dialogue is way too whiny.  Arguably they more or less got the hawks right. The guy who played Vandal Savage was a good actor, although IMO way too short.  It would be almost totally unwatchable if not for the fact that they have pretty good actors.  They floated a comic based on it and it totally flopped.  That could mean something about the TV show, or nothing at all.  In this instance I think it is your dead mine canary telling you that comic fans have tuned out because your writers are not universally good,  They have jacked up the characters turning off the fans, and that you probably have the wrong characters on the show. 

I would argue that the LOT would profit greatly from a comic-style reboot.  THe Arrow-verse is well suited for reboots. 

Have something irrevocably change the timeline and recast your time travelers.  You only NEED Sarah Lance and I’d argue, Rip Hunter, out of the existing cast.  The other 5 can rotate new characters in and out. I’d love to see Jonah Hex get pulled into different eras, eventually abandoned in the future,  and meet his own stuffed body.  Why not have Booster Gold show up and (intentionally) accidentally screw up missions to yield better results.  Bring in the LOSH for a guest appearance.  There is no reason to restore vandal Savage.  T.O. Morrow, the Lord of Time, Good and Bad Chronos are all ripe players available for season long baddies. I would argue it is time for something new. 

The Flash seems to bounce between fresh and tired. I can’t tell if the status quo or the writers yield the tired stories. While the Central City status quo is perfect for telling “Supervillian X shows up and flash saves the day” stories, it feels dated now. Plus no one really likes Barry and Iris dating as brother and sister. The one good thing about the flashpoint reboot timeline is that it temporarily cleaned up that awkward relationship into one that TV fans could tolerate. 

I think they would be wise to have some new character unwind the original flashpoint (the one created by the reverse flash) and leave Iris and Barry to have a normal committed relationship, even a married one, with Joe seen as Barry’s beloved mentor.  Keep the characters people like and flush the dead weight story baggage that fans don’t like.  You can bring back the popular Officer Thorne. The guy who plays the reverse flash is fantastic and really hasn’t been given top scripts to go off.   Here is a Zoom who as a scientist from the future, might (should?) have some fairly big concerns about killing "Historical figures” (although he didn’t show any in the past).  The danger of Zoom without the bodycount. 

You can kill off Barry’s dad to make it a stronger relationship and that could be an impetus to explore Keystone City in Jay Garricks’ earth and get out of Central City for  a while.  DO Jay Garrick and Jesse Quick remember the flash and everything that happened?  I would think so, so you don’t have to revisit Zoom.  That might be neat for Barry and Vibe to start calling Jay Garrick’s world Earth 2 as they wouldn’t  remember naming them.   You could then toss the comic fans a bone by introducing the crime syndicate on Jesse's now Earth 3.  But that is admittedly, robbing peter to pay paul.    It would be somewhat befuddling for easily confused TV folk. But that is just some random thoughts, not a prescription like I mentioned for LOT.

Green Arrow is a series where they took everything cool from the comic, added new pieces, and built a new coherent world from it. The dialogue and stories have gone downhill since season one and team arrow is way too big, but they is a good nucleus there. A LOT reboot could tighten that up too.  Mr. Terrific could fall into Jay Garrick’s world and meet his boyfriend there that he just likes better.   Mad Dog could be an Arrow adversary. Ras Al Ghul could stay dead.  Ray, Roy and Speedy could also migrate to earth 2 or 3. John could get back both kids in the reset, which might push him into semi- retirement as a hero.  That could clear the table for fresh new villains to threaten Star City. 

I really like the supergirl series.  It’s not that they do everything right, it’s just a another show where they have a very likable star.  And they really cater to the comic fan.   They write the show from a premise akin to “Hey what if we took the core 1/3 characters of the DCU to populate this universe and then had Superman almost always away on special projects leaving Supergirl to save the day?  How would things shake out?  Anything Superman would normally handle, we will give to her. ”

The writing feels much more organic than on LOT.  I don’t like the guy who plays the Martian Manhunter, but I love that the Martian Manhunter is in the show.  (note you could always “kill off”  that identity). Mon-el is a nice add.  Bringing in the LOSH is very much mirroring what I perceive to be the concept of the show.

Agent Carter has gone by the wasteside and that was a shame. I think the show really blew it by not getting more into the era. Why not have the 1950′s avengers or Marvel’s 40′s Heroes trickle through?  A hearthrob alien from Venus with advanced technology and questionable motives? A killer robot? Venus? Namor and Namora? The Original Black widow?  The Torch? All handled by Agent Carter with an occasional assist from the wasp and Ant Man?  Their directive shunned their comic audience, IMO.

Agents of Sheild has also gotten into trouble for similar reasons. I get that Marvel didn’t want to give them access to the main MU heroes, so they tried to build around a cast instead and an assigned shit storyline eater ---the inhumans, but I think they didn’t make the right arguments.   Ulysses Klaw would have made an awesome villain for shield for the last season....adding to his impact in the black panther movie.  They should have focused on minor villains with International operations.  The Kangaroo.  Batroc the Leaper would have been a screen munching over the top villain straight out of a bond movie.  He could have a plan to kill his nemesis, Captain America, that shield could thwart.  I have always been partial to the mandrill, (and his sister Dansen Macabre), and the success of the purple man character tapping a nerve suggests it is high time for a little monkey business.  

I get that getting the Ghost Rider right was an expensive investment dictating they used that a lot for a season.   The storyline just wasn’t that good.  Another Mort. Maybe guest star the shroud.  Werewolf by night.

Like LOT, the AOS show is really built on only a small portion of their cast.   Three characters since they offed Grant --- Mockingbird, Daisy, and Coulter.  Really everyone else SHOULD be nameless agents who come and go.  It’s a spy show.  You don’t have to have ongoing arcs each week. It’s great to be the prisoner, but  you can be the 1960′s Avengers some weeks.  I think they lost sight of that.

That’s all I really got today.  End rant.