thatkrazymann

[thatkrazymann]

Throw a Watching to your Witcher.

So it has come to pass, another Netflix Drama series: The Witcher. For those unfamiliar, this new venture comes courtesy of one Andrzej Sapkowski, a polish writer best known for (drum roll please…) The Witcher series! The Witcher is a kind of dark fantasy series, like Lord of the Rings if it caught a venereal disease from a prostitute and also had an old, nagging injury from some old battle, like say, an arrow to the knee? The Witcher follows the adventures, or misadventures, of one Geralt of Rivia, a Witcher, as he travels the lands seeking to just live his life and do what he can to survive. If you are unfamiliar, a Witcher is a monster hunter, not a witch hunter, who has extraordinary abilities that have been granted to them via a forced mutation, they’ve basically been created to be roam the lands and kill various monstrosities for coin. But let’s get to the point, is Netflix’s The Witcher any good? I have played one of the games, read the books, seen the show(which apparently not all reviewers could be bothered to do but hey, why bother to fully work on something you’re paid for right?!) and after consuming all that media, I can’t say I’m totally a fan, but I can say that the show does indeed make for an entertaining watch for newcomers, and it’s at least better than season 8 of Game of Thrones so there’s a win right there.

As I have said, I’m not a devoted fan of The Witcher, I played the Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, I couldn’t really play the others because I don’t have a PC. I was interested in reading the books after playing the game and found them intriguing and a nice change of place. But with both the game and the books, I found myself really searching for a starting point which didn’t really exist. The show does actually have a much stronger jumping off point, giving the viewer a good baseline for the series to continuously build around. That’s not to say that it doesn’t have some issues and problems, especially to a newcomer I’m sure. There were plenty of times where I took a trip to the wiki page for clarification or to just understand what some character had said that everyone seemed to think was important, and there are still things that I’m not sure the significance of. The Witcher does succeed at doing some pretty good world building, the monsters and magic system are especially well thought out, though a little hard to grasp. But you can really see that care has gone into this series, the team behind the camera, and indeed the team in front of the camera, really do care about this world and the story that is being told, which is rare for a Netflix series I feel.

*Spoiler town ahead so if you want to know what I feel overall, jump to the end!* 

If we want to talk gripes, I have a few but let’s start positive first, this is a rich story! There are so many things going on and multiple layers (like an onion) and the show really doesn’t stumble over itself too badly. A few things that did trip me up was the beginning of Yennefer’s story, why she sucked and then didn’t suck with magic, the girls who turned into eels for what feels like a test, etc. There were some minor quibbles but as the story progressed the true depth of each of the characters shone though. Now, acting wise, I didn’t think I would like Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, I can’t really tell you why, I guess because I just couldn’t see his face as a Geralt but he has a strong opening performance that only gets better the more we see him. Henry is obviously the actor that has read the books beforehand and absolutely loves them, and that pays dividends. I’m not sure if he did all his own fight choreography but man, it looks like he did and during those moments his love for the character shines through in the most minute of details. While I don’t see the same love for their characters as I do from Henry, Anya Chalotra’s portrayal of Yenefer is amazing. The fact that she manages to play Yenefer with a literal crookedness about her before casting that aside shows just how great she is. Anya does a great job owning many of her scenes but I feel like the character kind of stopped getting understandable character development after she met Geralt and her actions become increasingly more contrived. The side actors are all pretty decent, some kind of phone it in, knowing they’re in a fantasy setting where they can say “fuck” repeatedly and not have it seem out of place, while some play to their strengths and deliver really good nuanced performances, although the Ciri storyline has got to be up there for most useless storyline around. Hardly anything answered and really not much gained besides having her occasionally see that everyone sucks in the “real” world.

A weird but for me, ultimately pretty charming aspect of the series that may or may not be a deal breaker for you is the fact that the whole series is told a little out of order. It’s not as tricky to follow as Westworld, but it does make you do some work, and you know what? That’s fine! Working to discover something is kind of a nice feeling, especially when your guesses come true, even halfway so. It doesn’t block everything off behind this grand, final reveal , it just feels a little odd to be seeing events and have characters refer to passages of time in large blocks. The Witcher also succeeds in this by making sure that if you didn’t pick up on some or all of the hints, you don’t feel like a dummy, something which Westworld had no shame beating into me. I certainly think it could’ve been a little more complex with its narrative structure and I know a large group of reviewers and viewers will moan about how it’s unnecessary and that they just want to watch something and turn their mind off and enjoy but you know what? Art isn’t an anesthetic, it’s not supposed to lull you in and put you asleep, it’s supposed to tell something that gets your brain jogging, and while this isn’t a jog, it is a brisk pace for the brain.

Now, time for some proper looking at what may not in fact be too great with The Witcher series and there are certainly a couple things. As I previously said, the Ciri storyline feels very superfluous to me. We don’t learn much beyond the fact that she’s some kind of kid who harbours ancient, primal, magic, which sounds cool until you realize that there’s no payoff for that. Shit never goes down. Sure, Ciri screams and trees blow down, stuff happens but it doesn’t affect the world, I don’t care about that as much as I feel like I should. The Ciri storyline I feel could’ve been saved for the opener of the next season, to show and fill us in on what happened to her between the beginning and end of the first season, then you can throw away as many characters as you want. Dragging her story out without any payoff feels incredibly lacklustre. Another problems is in fact something that I did touch on as saying it was good, the side characters. While the acting involved is good for the most part, I don’t find myself caring about any of them Sure, a couple of them are good and memorable, but on the whole? They all feel like they don’t serve a grander purpose. Whenever characters reappear, they still haven’t changed much and it feels like using them to hide little bits into the hidden narrative layer would’ve been the way to go. The exception to this is Jaskier, who is always brilliant but also helps to give us, the viewer, a character we can relate with who actually does things in this world that change and affect others. It’s disappointing that even my favourite side characters for their amazing acting, like Stregobor, Tissaia, Mousesack, and Calanthe, never really bring something into the fold that I feel gives weight to the narrative, which brings us to my final complaint. The story feels a little dry and meandering, and while that can be acceptable for some episodes and others do help give a better view of the narrative, the episodes toward the end just really bumble about. Geralt hunting monsters or interacting with royalty is interesting and telling, watching Geralt have some kind of fever dream not so much, even if the fever dream is very emotional. Same with Yenefer, when she’s learning magic and fighting off assassin’s and interacting with Geralt? A+, good going, conversely, whining about wanting a choice that SHE made and saying she wants to take it back because she was forced to make it? Not so much. Worse than that, she goes on to protect what she wants to burn down for really no reason that I can gather. Things are interesting but also tedious with her and the world she inhabits.

So, at the end of all this, what are my feelings on the show? Should you watch it? YES! Absolutely. There’re only a couple things issues and they’re all pretty minor in comparison to other shows. The writing and pacing is a little sporadic and while the acting on the whole is good, with the except that some of the minor actors phone it in so they can say “fuck” in the same sentence as saying “the elves” or “butcher of Blaviken”, then you’ll be fine. Sure, a lot of those characters have weird motives or no motives and people bitch and complain about things that I really don’t think is relevant but that’s fine. My two biggest gripes are with a lot of the characters just being absolutely unlikable for the sake nothing or something I don’t understand, even after delving into the wiki, and the Ciri plot which could’ve been touched upon in the season 2 premier and it would’ve had more weight. The acting is fairly rock solid with notable love going out for Henry Cavill, Anya Chalotra, Joey Batey, and Anna Shaffer. The fight choreography is some of the best I’ve seen and I really hope some kind of behind the scenes look at that is shown. So, all-in-all, I’d say a 7/10 to 7.5/10, and since a lot of people will generally think that’s bad, I’ll add this: I’m definitely gonna rewatch The Witcher, probably 2 more times (despite the “Netflix drama time commitment”) and I don’t think I’ll be bored or won’t enjoy myself! Give it a watch and let me know what you think!

[thatkrazymann]

@-rant-

Thought you might enjoy this on this chocolate inspired holiday!

Strax Hearts You!

“I must have been impaled by the metal-tipped arrows from the flying, scantily-clad baby.”

Strax loves how gruesome this holiday is, with the weapons and body parts

[thatkrazymann]

Berkserk, Or: How Do You Talk About a Classic?

This has been a long time coming. Obviously. I haven’t written anything since Digimon almost a month ago! But this particular manga has plagued me quite a bit. This is actually the 4th or 5th time I’ve tried to write this review/discussion thing and have always stopped and deleted everything after the halfway point. Why? Hmmmmm, well, that’s tough to understand, but it’s basically because Berserk is a huge classic. And a classic in a different sense than say, Akira, which can benefit from a very wide and in depth talk. Most people know of Berserk, and everyone that does knows what makes it great, so what can I add to this discussion? That’s what has kept me from writing this. So, now without further ado, I will try to write this without being a little whiny writer because I guess that doesn’t matter, if you enjoy what I say, great, but for the most part, if you read Berserk, you know why it’s one of the best, and most disappointing manga series of all time. But if you don’t know about it and are wondering what the fuss is about like I was one weekend in December, then prepare to have your minds blown and your stomach turn queasy!

Now, Berserk, for those of you who don’t know much about it, originated in the 80′s, which makes it all the more impressive. Why you may ask? It is one of the darkest, goriest, most violent mangas I’ve ever read, and it’s awesome! It really is odd seeing something that is so against the usual shonen tone (which makes sense cuz it’s seinen) but this was an age where manga was still trying to find it’s feet. Shonen heroes still did the usual things and nothing was too against the grain, except for Guts. He is so anti-shonen stereotype that it’s shocking. He’ll insult the innocent, mock the weak and powerless, and generally just be a total dickhead that only is created once every thousand years by the combined shittyness of man coalescing as one. But that’s what makes him a little likeable, because even though he mocks the weak for being weak, it’s just because he’s so crazy strong! In a way, he’s earned the shitty way he treats people in his world, which makes me feel bad writing this now, but seriously. Read the first bit of Berserk and you’ll learn to hate the guy, but also like him for the fact that there’s not much that can come close to stopping him. The dudes a tank in the best sense of the word.

But what’s Berserk about? Well, it takes place in a world very similar to medieval England with a large country that has fallen into despair from a long, harsh, expansive war having ended fairly recently and corruption, plague and demons not really making things any better for the population. This is part of the charm of Berserk. It’s so fairy tale twee with it’s settings that it can be sickening but the world almost turns those quaint, wholesome views of it’s head by adding a big heaping spoonful horror with a curbstomp sandwich of depressing reality on the side. This is always what dark, mature manga does but Berserk adds just enough fucked up stuff to make it really fucked up, but also adds the right amount of normalcy and medieval fantasy to make it a step above from such other mature series like Gantz and Tokyo Ghoul. There’s a real through line where we can see moments of beauty followed by horrendous kicks to the gut(s)(HA). It tries to play off the “man is a monster” card and while it is effective, I think the idea I prefer is man is a monster because of the world he lives in, but also because of his desires. It makes for a beautiful statement that spirals into infinity with it’s complexities that really boil down to the chicken or the egg? And through all this, we do see truly good people which helps to further add some dimensionality to the settings. This isn’t just a black or white world, it’s very much a grey one in which people are just trying to survive and that often leads to paths that are considered evil or at the very least, not good. But sometimes, doing the right thing will lead to the good results the characters were hoping for and that’s always nice to see. A mature series that knows how to balance the extreme, delicious darkness and also the sweet, comforting light.

But what makes Berserk special? As I stated, Guts is a huge piece of shit and that keeps making people question why? At first, nothing much is revealed about him but then we’re thrust into what may be the best backstory OF ALL TIME! Because that’s what this is all about, what makes a man who he is? And the answer to that is one of the most shocking, horrific, and beautiful storylines I’ve ever read. The arc is called The Golden Age and it fits so well because after reading it once and going through a 2nd, and then a 3rd time, it really does shine, making the characters even more tragic. The arc starts after encountering the beings that Guts wants to kill, essentially really weird, cool, science fiction inspired horrors that stand at the top of the world of demons. One of which, Femto, apparently has prior history with Guts as Guts calls him Griffith. Then we see the tragic and shocking upbringing of Guts and the lonely, dangerous life as a mercenary he lives through until meeting Griffith, the commander of the Band of the Hawk, the best bunch of fighters around! Guts gets his butt handed to him by Griffith, meets his 2nd in command Casca, and is essentially claimed by Griffith and made to join the company so that he can help Griffith achieve his goal of winning the war, bringing about peace, and finally becoming nobility and king. And through an amazing whirlwind of events set during the war that ravaged the country before we began reading, we see Guts grow. He does start off a dickhead but we see him make friends, become close to people, and develop into a worthy protagonist with real ideals. But by developing as a person and beating Griffith, he secures the downfall of himself and everyone he cares for and loves. 

Griffith, being the utter piece of shit that he is, decides to sleep with the kings daughter. The king whom he has served faithfully, winning the war for him, and also doing some nasty stuff that involves the kings family members and also involves stabbing multiple times. And the king basically decides to just destroy Griffith and make him a shadow of who he was, but moving on from his being a prick. Yeah, that’s right, he is one! He isn’t a tragic character at all! Which is what a lot of people think he is. Which he isn’t... Anyway, Guts and Casca go to free him from the dungeons after sorting out there own feelings (Casca is a girl BTW, that’s kind of important), and so they free him, and some stuff happens, fights occur, people are happy, the whole usual schtick, but then the moment comes. The defining part of this whole arc, and arguably the entire manga, and I won’t ruin it, you have got to check it out but man, reading it everytime makes my pulse quicken so that by the end, I’m almost in tears. It’s truly an emotional rollercoster that has a lot of seriously fucked up moments but manages to humanize the asshole Guts from the beginning in a way I didn’t think was possible. I feel for the guy and wholeheartedly understand why he was the way he was and can’t fault him. The world beat him down and took away everything he cherished. All because of Griffith.

But this also is a good time to talk about nudity. Because so many mature series have nudity that it can be off putting. I honestly am not a big fan of nudity in manga, but that’s more or less because of the over-sexualization of it all. And while there is plenty of sexiness going on in Berserk, the nudity does not become a crutch. I never feel like I’m reading it to see the naked boobies, which is what I felt when reading Gantz. And I’ll talk about Gantz sometime, don’t worry about that, Gantz will be here to defend itself, but the nudity in it is so tasteless. Everyones tits are out because of sex, and everyones horny and it’s weird. Really, really weird. A lot weirder than this paragraph which is already pretty weird. But this is just one of those things that I didn’t mind about Berserk, I feel that any nudity it does show isn’t to attract any young teens who may accidentally read it, it’s there because it fits the story in the right places. When nudity is called for, it’s for a situation in which it completes the story and doesn’t distract from the narrative and it doesn’t make me feel weird for seeing it. Like an artsy film.

Now, onto the part that no Berserk discussion could be without. This series has been going on for a very, very long time, and it’s not even at chapter 400 yet. WAT? That’s insane. And when I read it, it was because “serialization has started up again!” and after the two short chapters that enticed me in to start the series, it’s back to waiting for the summer when another couple chapters can be released disappointingly. And this kills me. Because I am not a stranger of waiting a long time for good manga, FUCK YOU YOSHIHIRO TOGASHI! I LOVED YUYU HAKUSHO AND LOVE HUNTERXHUNTER! WHY WON’T YOU GO BACK!!!! *Ahem* sorry, moving on, it makes me sad. Series that could of achieved legendary status can’t die, it’s like Dracula or one of the demons in the manga, ironic in a way, and now it has overstayed it’s welcome. Because I thought it was awesome up until the God of the Sea nonsense, but that is of course reading it without any waiting and if I had waited the prophetic 12 years for the story to get to that part, I would’ve packed it in. And while the story is still good, and finally tells us why the title of Berserk is so appropriate, it has by no means ever captured the same spirit and intrigue of The Golden Age arc. The one after it involving the church came close but it’s been a downhill ride ever since. 

And I think now that the series is getting a new anime adaption, that news just makes me all the sadder. Because there will not be an ending, never one that is satisfying atleast. We’ll only ever have the lingering memories of the good times, that shine so brilliantly like Guts’ memories of the Band of the Hawk. But maybe I’m wrong, maybe a return to force is coming but the chances of that seem unlikely, although the Casca business might make me cry and that’s a pretty good thing to aim for. But in conclusion, have an ending in mind, and a rough idea for your story. Don’t just trail off and leave things hanging because it makes me feel like I’m wishing away my time for something that will probably just be mediocore and I won’t do that, not for Berserk, that has turned out like Bleach, poor, shitty, ol’ Bleach. So with that, what did you think? Have you read Berserk? Do you like it? Is Casca the most tragic female ever? Let me know! And if you thought this sucked, also let me know because this one was tough, I won’t lie. It’s hard to talk about something that mimics a rollercoaster, that goes up, then down, then up, then plummets into the earth, killing everyone, classic Berserk style. Stay classy and I’ll see you next time, BUH BYE!

[thatkrazymann]

One of the best new sports animes/mangas in a while. Yes, I said it, take THAT New Prince of Tennis!

Anime i’ve Watched

Haikyuu!!:

Synopsis: Inspired after watching a volleyball ace nicknamed “Little Giant” in action, small-statured Shouyou Hinata revives the volleyball club at his middle school. The newly-formed team even makes it to a tournament; however, their first match turns out to be their last when they are brutally squashed by the “King of the Court,” Tobio Kageyama. Hinata vows to surpass Kageyama, and so after graduating from middle school, he joins Karasuno High School’s volleyball team—only to find that his sworn rival, Kageyama, is now his teammate. Thanks to his short height, Hinata struggles to find his role on the team, even with his superior jumping power. Surprisingly, Kageyama has his own problems that only Hinata can help with, and learning to work together appears to be the only way for the team to be successful. Based on Haruichi Furudate’s popular shounen manga of the same name, Haikyuu!! is an exhilarating and emotional sports comedy following two determined athletes as they attempt to patch a heated rivalry in order to make their high school volleyball team the best in Japan. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Status: Complete

My Rating: 10/10

Finished airing in 2014 with a total of 25 episodes. 

Well I just finished Haikyuu and now i’m all fired up with nowhere to go… seriously! I could fight a battle right now or you know… maybe play some volleyball? Not that I have any athletic ability leftover from my youth. 

I seriously cannot believe you guys convinced me to watch a sports anime… I played on some teams when I was younger but i’ve had little interest in them since. Also to be completely honest I didn’t think i’d care for a sports anime if it wasn’t Chihayafuru style or had a female lead (though the two shows had a bit of a similar feel to them). I was wrong though… I admit defeat. 

I am so freaking pumped up atm (no seriously I need to find a way to burn some energy asap) I loved this show. Love! Love! Love! Loved it! So good! The action, the animation, characters, music! I loved everything. This may possibly be one of my all time favourite animes ever now. 

Teamwork, friendship and competition… these are the things great sports animes are all about and Haikyuu had it all! These are also a few of my favourite things… anyway now that i’ve finished the first season I could probably ramble on for ages about all the things I loved but perhaps it’s best of I just go and start the second season. 

Check it out! Highly recommended!  

[thatkrazymann]

Digimon, The Quintessential Childhood Anime.

Good evening. Eve. Ning. The holidays have passed but I have not, and I spent a lot of it either re-reading some manga that I’ll hopefully talk about soon or watching some anime, one of which I’ll talk about now. Which one? The one that the title talks about of course! Digimon, Digital Monsters! Now, let me take you back to my days as a young rapscallion. I watched a great staple of anime as a child, Dragonball (and Z), Sailor Moon, Gundam Wing (my personal favourite that ignited my love of anime and had such a huge impact on me today, but alas, that’s a tale for another time) and of course, the original pair that everyone was split on, Pokemon and Digimon. Now, as a kid, I loved them both. Maybe Pokemon a little more because the game consumed my life like a wildfire and helped twist my being into the kind of twenty-something that still plays it to this day just so that I can own the cool monsters who will love me, also, Pokemon Red 4 Lyfe! But between the two shows, I was happy with both of them. I’d watch Digimon every Saturday morning on FoxKids, and still to this day do I miss the DigiBowl, a marathon the weekend of the Super Bowl where the actual announcers would comment the episode as they were aired, probably really fighting to not go WTF? But I did love it. And Pokemon... I don’t remember where I watched it, maybe TV, maybe Blockbuster. But still, it was a great time when I was a kid.

However, as a young adult I have gone back to watch both multiple times, and I now have a much clearer opinion. If I offend any Pokemon fans out there, sorry but I’m really not sorry. That show must’ve just destroyed my brain as a kid because I honestly think it’s a big pile of crap now. I have tried to watch it so many times but I always give up after a couple episodes because the writing and dialogue are so godawful. And it is every episode. Not just the first season. It’s all of them. They’re all just so cringetastic, which I now loath as an adult because my life has far too much of it as is. Everyone’s so stupidly weird and naive and always trying to be funny in the worst ways and maybe if you’re on drugs it’s great. But those are probably some messed up drugs and once you’re off of them, I dare you to watch the show without the feeling of wanting to just push Ash down and beat him up. I will say I do occasionally watch the movies still and they hold up! My favourite is the 2nd, Pokemon the Movie 2000 cuz Lugia is awesome! But the first is just as good and has a really amazing message and a great setup and through line with the show, I just happen to love Lugia, I’m biassed. It happens. And also Pokemon Origins is pretty great! Wish that had come out in my teens but we are dealt the hand we are dealt and Pokemon still makes the same formulaic video games that I love. And when it comes to manga, Pokemon takes the cake with Pokemon Adventures, whereas Digimon I find very lacking, but you win some you lose some i guess.

But now to the main event, Digimon! Now, some people will want me to talk about the new movie series, Digimon Adventures Tri, and while I do want to talk about it, only one part of like, 7 has come out so far. And I liked it! I found it very reminiscent of the original but I’m holding my breath for the 2nd movie out in the Spring, so we’ll talk about the 2 then. Maybe. But if you liked the show and can handle the subtitles (which you should!) then give it a watch and be pleasantly surprised if not a little fed up with Taichi in it. But anyways, I should also mention I won’t be talking about the 3rd series, Tamers. And I know! WTF! Just talk about it already and I will because while it’s not my favourite of the series (GO ADVENTURE 02!) I will say it is the best and I want to talk about it as a whole. Don’t hold your breath over anything after that because the quality starts to slide and it really didn’t stop until Tri.

Digimon! When I first started watching it as a kid, I loved the whole concept and the world it brought forth. I played Digimon at school, I was always Metal Greymon until MagnaAngemon appeared and I think that shows how much the mythos really sucked me in, although I wouldn’t know it for a while. See, Digimon is a bit of a slow burn kind of series at the start. The writing is alright, a little cringy but not even close to Pokemon’s level (HA!) and the first arc is essentially seeing who digivolves into what kickass creature, culminating into a final, hopeless fight with Devimon and after that it starts to find its stride. We find out about the crests and tags and the emotions and further digivolutions and dark digimon and everything starts to really make you want to see the next episode. And the whole time, you wonder what about the real world? Are they ever going back to it? Or are they staying in the digital one forever, which would be cool, but the message here is it makes you invested and I think that’s where it differs greatly from Pokemon. While Pokemon was a straight line of defeating gym leaders and being the best there ever was (Never gonna happen Ash, sorrynotsorry) with many side trips and stops along the way that never actually add much to the world or his goal except sometimes helping to evolve a Pokemon. But Digimon is more of a flood. Just spilling out and encompassing everything, and most things are pretty important and will inevitably come back around. It feels like a journey with a large group of characters whom I feel invested in because they are fleshed out and given very relatable flaws. Whatever happened to the stupid samurai kid with Pincer who Ash fought at the beginning? Or the Raticate Ash once owned? Fucked if I know! But Pixiemon? Gennai? Hell, even losers like Devimon and Etemon come back around and are important after a while. The point, is that Digimon feels like it’s telling me a story, a surprisingly deep, not impossibly complex story about friendship and emotions and has seemingly dark subject matter that never really hit me until I watched it a few years ago and still hit me when I watched it a few weeks ago.

Now, while I could go on about the writing and world creation of Digimon I feel like I should move on to maybe some other stuff, so let’s see if that happens. I love the dark stuff of anime. I know that statement is a little messed up but seriously, anime may be at it’s best for me when it’s trying to tell a message that is pretty effed up and Digimon does a lot of that. Characters die. Like really! And they make you feel so sad about it! It goes to show something that Pokemon lacks as well, character development (looks like we’re still gonna talk about the writing, oh well!). Ash has really only ever grown a few times, like when Butterfree is freed and when Pikachu finds a colony but I feel like that doesn’t count. Because he never really brings it up again. Well, I actually don’t know if he does, but I have watched a lot of the newer stuff when I was a teenager and it never came up. So who cares? I remember crying when Butterfree was flying away when I was a kid but having context, it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters in Ash’s world except Pikachu. Everything else is just drivel, background noise, a very nihilistic view that Pokemon is helping to spread. But Digimon makes me pick a favourite because people change. People get better and nothing is ever truly standing still. The movement can be slow at times but when it needs to really rev it up, characters developed instantly and still felt genuine, which is pretty astounding.

You may remember that I mentioned I had a favourite Digimon series, the 2nd season, good for you! I’m impressed you remembered! Now, some might be wondering, why? Well, the reason is just that it felt appropriate. When the first season ended, everything was super sad and it seemed very finale-esque. Hearing that a 2nd season was coming and that it’d feature some of the digidestined but not all and then add some new ones really shook the formula up for me. I know it seems like a shallow change now, but I was a kid, it was awesome at the time! And it also still heavily featured TK and Kari, my favourite OTP that will probably never be but a man can dream. And the chemistry between everything felt fresh. Nothing felt forced and nothing really came off as lazy. The story telling, while going back to the same place as the original, was helped by having a much more over-arching thread that helped tie everything together and made me feel like big things were happening. And the tone felt darker too. Still not sure why because the first half isn’t nearly as dark as the 2nd but it also manages to deal with a unique brand of evil that the first season didn’t have. Everything feels purer, like we’re glimpsing more of the setting of the digital world, more of it’s own mythos. This helped stimulate my thirst for the show greatly. Every weekend it was my favourite show on Foxkids. Nothing ever traumatized me on it, except another Foxkids show, Escaflowne, did quite a bit. Awesome show though, Escaflowne, go watch it! But I was genuinely hooked and if there was more merchandise and they made some actual good video games, it would’ve been some different altogether. Still owned most of the Digivices though!

Now, I can’t go much further without mentioning the movies. Or the movie, as when I was a kid none of the others ever came about and the theatrical movie is actually a super heavily edited version of 3 of the Japanese ones. Nonetheless, I really thought it was a spectacular film! It didn’t have quite as meaningful a story as the Pokemon movies, but again, apparently those movies never had much of an impact in their own universe either, so who cares? At least things in the Digimon Movie were brought up in the show and stuff that we saw was actually important. Nothing seemed like it wasn’t canon, and I loved that! Now the other movies, I saw as a teen and there’s only one other movie that tied into the Adventure Series and it was still really good, I am of course talking about Diaboromon Strikes Back! Who knows if it is canon itself, I don’t know what’s canon and what’s not but hopefully it all is because it has everything that made Digimon awesome. It’s pretty funny when it has to be, it has high octane fights that will make fans gleefully cheer and even cool power ups that don’t feel like the Deus Ex Machina they actually are. But seriously, check the movies out, especially if you were a Digimon fan and didn’t know that there was an English version of Diaboromon Strikes Back.

Now getting back to the show! The 2nd half of the season was superb! I felt like it was fleshing out a much more epic tale then I ever anticipated and I wasn’t wholly wrong. There came Gods and the personification of evil in digimon form and everything just started to expand and I went along for the ride. Unfortunately, while the ending of the season is passable, that’s all it is. An old villain is brought back and some very good sad stories are told once again and the show does get incredibly dark but it just feels like it was brushing up against the truly amazing creation it was so close to being! And that’s frustrating. I really didn’t know it as a kid, I thought the ending was great! Now, I see how close it was and I know it could’ve been better. Although nothing could ever save the terrible epilogue that only made the OTP fans of Digimon eternally debate with who ended up with whom.But talking about the epilogue brings up another point that needs to be answered because of the new movie. What is canon? I kept bringing it up because while I love the spirit the new movie brings and I’m fine with it wiping out the epilogue of season 02, I just don’t know if the ending will still happen or if anything is considered canon anymore. Did the fight with Armageddemon happen? Is anything ever resolved with that bizarre world Kari was trapped in? Did Davis actually open his Ramen stand? I don’t know! And I feel we won’t ever as the English version is so different from the Japanese, which is fine, the Japanese made it, it’s theirs. But I grew up with the English one and it’s still the one I watch now. The voices seem to fit the characters perfectly and even if the story is changed, it feels great! Now that being said, I did like the new movie with the Japanese cast, although I do also wonder if Sora and Matt ever actually got together in the Japanese story because it certainly doesn’t seem as done a deal as it did with the English version!

In conclusion, Digimon rocks! We can debate about the vs. Pokemon aspect till the terriermons come home but I think it’s more mature focus and primarily story and mythos related drive tend to make it more favourable. But like anything, it does have flaws. And while some may be big, like the final ending, they never really make the whole thing come to a grinding halt. They clearly had a vision of some kind of where to take the series as a whole and it worked! And I know there’s a whole lot more in the Expanded Digimon Universe, including a link between Season 02 and Tamers and that makes me happy! This is what every anime show a kid watches should be like. A show that teaches valuable lessons while still retaining a great story that adults can follow and even enjoy too if they are open minded. If you have any questions, or comments or just want to tell me I’m wrong and that Ash is totally the hero of the world and the very best there ever was, please message me! I do love to talk, so much so that getting me to shut up is the real trick!

This tribute video is a blast from the past that I watched about 7 years ago and found again because I dig it, it’s pretty cool and I find fits the themes of the movies nicely. Give it a view!

[thatkrazymann]

Probably the best Pokemon movie out there! I still have my VHS from university :D

Anime i’ve Watched

Pokemon: Maboroshi no Pokemon Lugia Bakutan (Pokemon: The Movie 2000):

Synopsis:  A greedy collector, Lawrence III, wants to capture the legendary Pokemon, Lugia. But in order to do so, he must capture the Titans of Fire, Ice, and Lightning. The titans are powerful bird-like Pokemon, and if they are disturbed they will wage a war against each other which will ultimately result in earth’s destruction. Ash, Misty, and Tracey get caught up in the situation when they end up being washed ashore onto Shamouti Island. Soon after, Ash meets a girl named Melody who sends him into a mission where he must collect the 3 Orbs which will quell the fighting, but first Ash must gain help from the Beast of the Sea, Lugia, if he’s to succeed. (Source: ANN)

Status: Completed

My Rating: 10/10 (totally biased here)

A movie released in 1999. This is my personal favourite of the pokemon movies. The Pokemon franchise is huge… if I were to watch and review everything released we’d be here for days and that would get rather boring. Also I haven’t actually watched anything more than the original run of television series and the first two movies. Plus a few random episodes or movies from the newer run of the series that i’ve casually watched on Teletoon but to be honest I don’t pay much attention to them. 

Who didn’t grow up watching Pokemon? Or playing the games (I still have a few of them for the Gameboy and the newer ones for my DS)? Or had the trading cards (My younger brother sold all ours a while back) and stuffed animals (A Togepi plushie is literally sitting right next to me atm) and toys? I remember when I was a kid it was like the golden age of Television on channels like Teletoon and YTV. All the dubbed anime! Sailor moon, Pokemon, Digimon, Cardcaptors, Yu Gi Oh!, Beyblade ( I think I watched that one a bit) and late night viewings of InuYasha that my mother allowed me to watch. All of these shows were my introduction to anime as I imagine it was for a lot of westerners.

The reason I chose this particular movie is because I was talking to a friend from University and got all nostalgic…. At our apartment my roommates and I had a copy of the dubbed version of this on VHS and would watch it pretty regularly. I remember one time being right before an exam I had and the song that played right after the mini movie before the feature film was stuck in my head the entire time I was trying to write my exam and it was some super dated sounding song… might have been Pokemon World? Not sure… point is it was ridiculous. Everything about Pokemon is ridiculous. Ridiculously fun that is! 

Anyway I doubt this actually deserves a 10/10 but I am completely biased and remember pokemon rather fondly so it gets a 10. Anyway hope you enjoyed that rambling trip down memory lane!

[thatkrazymann]

How I Learned to Love History: Fate/Zero, Anime Review.

I’m back for a second review/opinion/thing. I honestly struggled with what to bring for this one, as there are a lot of things I want to talk about. Do I talk about some more manga? A recent anime I finished? And while all those are good topics, maybe something a little more classic which I don’t think too many people may of watched is in order. Though I could be wrong because the Fate/ Series in Japan has a pretty decent following and it’s actually really kick ass, which might not be why you watch anime, but it’s a main reason for me! So Fate/, what is it? Well it all started with one of those kinda strange Japanese video game reading drama things (that seems really interesting into you realize that simply making choices and reading a novel is the only two styles of gameplay) called Fate/Stay Night. Have to be honest, never really understood what the whole “Stay Night” part of it meant, but oh well. In the game there’s 3 different scenarios for how the events go down, and while they each have their own strengths and weaknesses, the one I’m the most familiar with is Unlimited Blade Works, and yes, only because it had a great anime that was done recently. Well then what’s Fate/Zero? Good question, because Fate/Zero is something that I found infinitely more appealing than Fate/Stay Night because it is a prequel, however you should still check it out because they actually have a lot in common and I WILL be talking about it. One day. 

Now, I will be talking about it and mentioning people and things that happen in it so I will apologize if something gets spoiled that you find ruins the whole show for you, but all in all I try to avoid that. Although there isn’t much that I feel I can spoil. It’s all incredibly straight forward and well laid out. In a world where magic exists and is nothing like in Harry Potter, three families, the Matous, the Tohsakas, and the Einzberns, all got together a couple hundred years ago in a town in Japan called Fuyuki and created the Holy Grail. Not the one we know that held the blood of Christ, which is what a lot of people wonder in the series, but instead it’s some metaphysical magical machine that grants the owner the power to make one desire they want come true. But of course, it can only be used once before disappearing for about half a century or so. So then the question becomes who gets to use it for their wish? And so the families put in place a little something called the Holy Grail War, with possibly the coolest idea ever for a magical combat war in which 7 people are chosen by the Holy Grail to summon a Heroic Spirit, a figure from legends and mythology, and have them fight and kill the other spirits and masters until one is left standing as the winner. I love this premise because each heroic spirit is a little different from what we know of but they all seem to have a lot of research put into their designs. I also love it because of the RPG quality of the spirits themselves. 

You see, there are 7 classes that a spirit could fall under: Sabre, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, and Berserker, and a spirit can fall under multiple classes but depending on which class the master is chosen to represent, the spirit that is summoned changes what magical items and power they bring to the fight, which might not sound as cool as I’m making it, but let’s try using an example. I’m the master for Sabre, I want to summon someone who has a legend indicating that they were a great swordsman when they were alive, but if I was a master for Caster and the heroic spirit of Sabre had a part of their legend where they got some gift from the gods or dabbled with magic enough that they became good with it, I could still summon that spirit and they would be completely different. This might just be me loving something that no one cares about and just being a weird gamer who thinks that sort of planning is cool, but hey, I truly think it is! And while I’m leaving out some finer details of the grail and the spirits, those facts would absolutely be considered spoilers and would’ve ruined the series for me so the only way to find out all the other awesome rules and stuff involved with the Grail is to watch the show!

Now, back to Fate/Zero: It takes place during the Fourth Holy Grail War with six of the seven masters introduced in the first episode, each with a couple minutes devoted to them so we can get a feel for their backstory and why they are taking part in a magical battle that has killed tons of people in the past. And I like this! By the end of the show, people have changed so much but I always need some kind of distinguisher of why people are fighting for an important macguffin. It helps to add weight to the conflict as it’s unfolding, revealing what a character is fighting for before they die usually doesn’t make me care for them but if I know everything up front then it makes me actually feel something when they are knocked out or killed. And the first episode also has an amazing ending that I sometimes go back to watch just by itself because the episode has a great way of building up the pace without showing anything too cool until that last 5 minutes when the dramatic music kicks in and we know who all the summoners are and why they’re participating. But this episode, and I guess even the series comes with a big asterisk, which I probably should of mentioned earlier but I feel it’s better to hear it now then watch the episode and go WTF!? when it comes up, but there’s some gross, um, worm stuff with a little girl. Nothing is ever shown! I guarantee that but it’s a little stomach turning when you’re not expecting it and might come as a deal breaker, it almost did for me. Just be warned, when you start to hear about a girl called Sakura, start to prepare yourself for the grossness.

I think the characters in Fate/Zero deserves special attention because I have to admit that I really, really like them! There’s of course a couple of them that grate on you after a while but because of the first episode and seeing their backstory, you always know they at least have some small shred of humanity left inside, much like myself. The main character is Kiritsugu Emiya, and he’s a magic hitman. A magic. Hitman. Awesome. And while I did want to bring special attention to him, he’s pretty plain on the surface, a cool as a cucumber kind of guy who will do whatever it takes to win the grail and ensure it’s delivery to the Einzberns. But throughout the series, we start to see who he really is and what’s his true motivation, and while he does do some seriously questionable things in the series, I always felt like what he was working towards was bigger than that, which is terrible when you see the whole series but he’s determined and suffers the most in the series so he wins bonus points from me. Now his partner, I can’t talk about. I want to because of the FANTASTIC retooling and character choices that are given to a fairly well known legend but telling you now will kind of ruin the first episode, and chances are, you might already know that twist. But I didn’t know it going in and thought that it was really cool so on the off chance someone doesn’t know, I won’t ruin it for them. 

Now my favourite characters are the master and spirit combo of Waver Velvet and his Spirit Iskandar, King of Conquerors! At first you’ll probably start off hating Waver and thinking that his spirit Rider is too loud and noisy, but they help each other in their own ways and they both grow as a result so that by the end, Waver isn’t quite the miserable little twerp he once was and Rider becomes the big brother we all wish we had. It seems odd to like either of them as much as I do because of the amount I really loathed Waver at first, but their tale could almost be considered the subplot of Fate/Zero, and I actually do consider it that way. Rider has to help make Waver into a man who is worthy of competing for a legendary, dangerous device that could exist, but as Rider points out, also has an equally great chance of not existing. They’re the two characters who define why I keep going back and watching the series multiple times, they manage to carve something out for themselves that’s unique, and that’s why I like them. They’re the most unique characters in the show that I don’t think could manage elsewhere except here or having a spinoff where they solve mysteries with magic and take down criminals with lightning chariots! The rest of the masters and spirits are also great but they’re not nearly as well rounded as the two that I mentioned. I will say that there is some interesting dialogue about what a king really is and should be and another one of what will save the world. Each of these conversations helped to cement the reason why I watch anime in general, to get interesting and complex views on seemingly easy questions that are, in the end, impossible to answer.

There are only a couple things I’ll mention before ending. The the fights are pretty good. I thought they were spectacular when I first watched them and then watched Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works and that completely changed my mind. So the fights are alright, definitely not the best they could’ve done but the series also has a much better story than it’s sequel and has a lot of really great moments that are very epic in their delivery. The other thing I’ll mention is that I watched this series in english. And yes, I know! I committed the ultimate taboo sin of anime, and while I have watched it in Japanese also, I prefer the english just because the voices manage to do what the Japanese voices do as well, match the character. And usually english dubs couldn’t hold a candle, but this one manages to stand on it’s own. One of maybe 5 or 6 that do that I think manage that feat quite well. And before you all destroy me, I will say that yes, the english people occasionally do butcher some of the pronunciations, so if you will watch the series and scream when you hear a word that you know isn’t pronounced that way, maybe Japanese is the way for you. But if you can let that slide, then I think you’ll be impressed with the voice actors they chose and the quality of voice acting that’s performed. The last thing is a small touch that I enjoyed and it was at the end of every episode is clock counting down until when the series ends and it is a really cool feature. It helped to raise the tension in small subtle ways as I would sometimes see that the countdown is really close. It isn’t something that they probably made in that kind of regard but I found myself enjoying its presence nonetheless.  Now with that said, I believe that is good bye! Give the series a watch, enjoy it, let me know what you think of it and this post, and as always, if you have any ideas or things you want me to check out, drop a message in my box! Good night, and happy holidays!   

I also found another video by the same guy from the end of Nisekoi who finds people who have done really good english translations of the songs from the opening and manages to synch them perfectly to there respective openings, his youtube handle is MikeTheAnimeRunner and I like his stuff so go check some of his videos out and the videos of the artists who originally made the translations and recorded the song. Love and support all around!

[thatkrazymann]

Nisekoi Manga Thoughts:

There is always somewhere good to start and so for me, Nisekoi is what I’ve just read, like today, completely caught up, on chapter 199 (which will mean nothing after this week) but it has been a good two day reading spree that has left me, at the end of it, feeling just the way I want to feel after reading almost 200 chapters, ready to read more, but also tragically nostalgic.

For those who don’t know what Nisekoi is about, you’ve come to a good place. I’ll try not to write anything that’ll detract from the joy of reading it and will give ample warning if I am spoiling something. Moving on from there, what is Nisekoi about? Well, Nisekoi means False Love in Japanese and the title is well thought out and deserves the attention I have just given it, something more manga could learn from. Nisekoi is a harem type manga, where the main character goes through ever increasing craziness and ends up with more girls liking him than he should reasonably have. As you can tell, harem mangas are not my favourite, it usually needs a good hook and that usually constitutes absurd comedy, which sometimes has it moments but is rocky a lot of the time. I’m also not a big fan because of something that any written, creative outlet needs: character development. The females always seem to end up getting the short end of the stick on this. They never truly evolve into actual people, instead just being around so that they can fawn over the main boy and get flustered, and while that’s the case with some of Nisekoi, it does have some surprising depth for it’s female and male characters, not as much as I would hope for but baby steps. It’ll get their eventually.

 The set-up is a little “complex” but ultimately straightforward: the main character, Raku Ichijou is the son of a Yakuza boss who lives in a huge mansion with his fathers’ gang, he goes to a regular high school with his friends, one of whom is a girl he has had a crush on for a while, Kosaki Onodera. One morning he is literally stomped on like a goomba by a passing blonde beauty who just so happens to be the new transfer student in his class. And yes, by this point all of this probably sounds generic, typical and maybe a little juvenile and a touch dumb, hang on a moment, it does get better. Anyway, this blonde bombshell is Chitoge Kirisaki, the daughter of a gang-lord who recently moved to the same town as Rakus’ fathers’ gang, setting the stage for a powder keg of gang warfare the like has never been seen since the 18th amendment of the USA. However, the two clan heads have devised a “cunning” way to prevent all-out-war by having their children pretend to date each other and give the impression to the gang members that they are happily in love. 

This premise, while nice and theatrical (giving a sideways glance to YOU, Shakespeare!) isn’t without it’s flaws, like why the two heads of the gangs need to make their children date in order to prevent war. Surely just being an intimidating gang leader and ordering your flunkies to not fight would be the easiest thing, but I’m charmed with the initial premise enough that I will say, don’t overthink it. It works. It’s not airtight but it’s at least good enough to keep the series afloat for the most part. I guess? We’ll circle back to that square later, because there’s another add-on to the premise that keeps the series livelier than I expected. You see, Raku, as a boy, once met a little girl who gave him a locked pendant and told him to cherish it and hold it dear and she would have the key and he  and her will get married. He also thinks that she is his first love and would really like to find her because she is just so important to him and yadda, yadda, yaaaaaa. Love the premise but he always seems to be looking back at this when it’s convenient. I can honestly say these two premises feel like they would be enough for their own series, and indeed they could be and the melding together of them is actually pulled off in a pretty good manner, they never truly overlap, which is a bit of a shame, but there is some interesting development because of the constant discovery of new details about the girl and the locket but after a while it does start to unravel.

And here we come back to that square that needs circling, because while I am a fan of the premise, it feels like the series is just SCREAMING to be a little more action based, and yes, more action in a series involving young teenagers in high school trying to figure out their feelings might seem like the worst addition to make to a manga like this but nothing ever seems to effect anything else! The gang war subplot, for example, fizzles out after maybe 50 chapters. Maybe. It’s very disappointing because I thought that the whole point of being in the false relationship and playing charades with each gang would be something that’s explored, and while it does show itself every now and then, after the first couple chapters the gang war is never brought up again and they may as well let the good times role on because they will NEVER FIGHT. I was hoping for some tension and drama and the actual desire of two people to protect their families and what is important to them as they see their actions do have consequences and the ensuing chaos threatens to take hold of the town and everyone in it they hold dear as well as each other as a broiling pot of teenage emotions clash and do battle with the ever present gangsters around them. The dating and lovey dovey nicknames seem to be what the author wants to drive this particular plot, and that’s fine, it ended up being fine in the end, but I was always wondering what the action packed, drama filled version of events I planned out would look like, but I guess that’s not to be and instead we have chapters involving sleeping gas in which the only way to wake a person up is by pressing two set of lips together and one in which there are gummy candies that act as a love potion. 

Now the next thing might get spoiler-ish. So maybe go read a little of it first because I’m going to pick on the 2nd plot premise mess. OK? Here I go, so the basic problem I have with the whole locket and key and girl plot is that everyone seems to have amnesia. Because it’s not just one girl who has a key, there are QUITE a few and the explanation for their addition always has me wondering wtf? Does no one remember anything? Cause the adults occasionally will make it seem they know every detail and reveal it to the rest of us but then 75 chapters later the backstory needs to be retcon’d again! And this happens like 3 times! That’s absurd! That’s called bad planning! That’s what I expect from someone like DC or Marvel who occasionally need to blow up their own universes just to clean the slate! Maybe the author did plan this out but if that’s true why is it so horrendously explained? It’s a head scratcher and headache starter for me because this plot line keeps the story moving but man, important details are just thrown in with little or no regard for what’s previously established. While it certainly is true that remembering things from 10 years ago is hard, it’s laughable that all the main characters have been affected by this in such a huge regard. 

Now, for some other points along the way, both good and bad:

 The introduction of female characters seems to hit an absolutely ludicrous number! The author could work well with what he has but instead chooses to just keep adding more and more females who all seem to like some generic guy who, yes, is kind, caring, strong of spirit and all those other things that is good and true but in the end, he just comes off as an everyman who happens to have a whole cadre of supermodel like beauties spiralling around his life. And while I know that happens in almost every harm manga I just feel like if he kept the amount of females that are attracted to Raku to a minimum then more could be done with the story and everything could be a lot tighter with more attention to detail, I wouldn’t have to feel bad for the little sister who hates Raku but ends up falling for him like 125 chapters in, and by then I’ve pretty much chosen which girl to support and I tell ya that if he ends up going with her I’ll snap and all goodwill will be thrown out the window. But again, that’s what happens in harem manga, everyone and their dog ends up falling in love with the main guy and each is given a little bit of hope that maybe the main guy will choose them!

As I previously said, the character development here in Nisekoi is fairly well done. Round of applause please! I honestly didn’t expect the females to be much more than beauties who like some schmuck for various reasons ranging from the practical to the absurd. And while that is kind of still the case for some of them, most are handled fairly evenly. Chitoge sort of stays the same but there is an added level of tragedy to her as we learn more about her past and as she herself uncovers more about her true feelings. In the end, she’s the girl I support the most because she seems to be the one that has changed the most since the beginning and grown into a distinct, one-of-a-kind individual unlike a certain Kosaki, who always seems to be the same nice, kind girl, which is fine but so far any depth that has been added to her story has mostly been trivial. I would’ve loved to of seen something more but hey, it’s not over yet, storylines could still happen. The bodyguard of Chitoge, Tsugumi, may be my favourite dark horse because she too has to come to grips with her feelings and place in the world, but she always has the damn irritating chapters that are nothing more than excuses to see her blush when she inevitably comes across some dangerous thing her master left out. It’s like these chapters are dedicated to Dr. Slump and after a while I just keep wondering why she would bring the stupid things she finds to school when it’s always gone bad the past eleventy billion times. And then there’s Marika Tachibana who I like because she’s crazy and dedicated and turns out to actually be a worthy tragic character but I feel that people might be upset if I talk about her too much because she’s not introduced for a while, she just sort of seems to come in from nowhere, but she at least gets an honourable mention from me because she has the best development and helps to give Raku a moment of clarity that he needed as a wake up call and I thought would never come.

That’s about it. All in all, a good series that I’ll keep in mind because it has an alright premise that may not get better over time or with doses of absurd comedy that are sometimes too much, but it does the trick and makes me actually know I have a heart because I care what happens to these characters and what the end will be. Like I said at the beginning, if a series can make me feel tragically nostalgic, I think that’s a good thing, it makes me yearn to read more. And just so you know, chapter 199, the chapter I just read today, kind of makes me feel the series is ending soon because it has a nice, cute title that has to do with the main title. That’s not very mainly but what do I care? I like it even with it’s faults so give it a read! And if you do, let me know what you think and if you agree or disagree with anything I said. I’ve been reading manga for a while now but am not some recluse who thinks my way of thinking is the only things that matter. So hopefully you like this and will come back again for other series and my eventual talking about the chapters that follow 199.

Here is something I found which I quite enjoy, the opening to the anime with a translated english song beautifully put in so that it matches up completely and while me and the english language in anime don’t seem to get along most of the time, I can dig these videos. I’ll watch the anime versions in the coming weeks and will hopefully be able to write about it but for now, good night and enjoy!

[thatkrazymann]

Introductions, who am I? Who are YOU?!?

Hi, most people just call me Petah. I am pretty crazy weird, which is in itself a crazy weird statement so we’re all set! Anyway, I'm a regular guy, a who’s who of what what. So I have a friend, who told me all these things about tumblr and that she writes what she likes and i thought “I want to write what I like and maybe someone else is looking for something to like”, so why not? So, I'll be posting things, ramblings if you will, of stuff I like, maybe stuff I even don't like, and hey if you want to tell me what you like, go right ahead. Want to suggest a something? Do 'er up and let me know. This is the first time I've ever done blog so time to slip the surly bonds of inexperience and start this blog. 

So welcome, to my crazy world!