Sure enough, the narrator makes a point to stress the exact headcount that the Hunters are down to, and it isn’t some clean percentage. It’s almost endearing, at this point.
I don’t know if I’m necessarily won over yet, but now that I recognize the ‘sportsman’ quality that seems to connect Togashi’s work, this arc is starting to grow on me. The show floundered a little for me over the first four episodes because there wasn’t much of any ‘inciting incident’ prompting Gon to go off on this adventure and, thus, the assembly of his team felt rather arbitrary.
Of course, teams are assembled arbitrarily in games all the time, and the lack of connection between the members is actually makes their interactions a bit more interesting. If the show had maybe just started with these kids getting introduced to each other as they all showed up for the Hunter qualifying rounds - - and if their respective backstories were subsequently revealed during monologues and flashbacks - - I think the show would’ve had a much stronger, cleaner start.
== TEASER ==
Yeah yeah yeah… I’m sure some of you long-time fans are going to object to that notion and insist that the show needed to take its time with its characters. I’ll still stand firm and say this show would’ve benefited from having a few matches lit between its toes when it was taking its first steps out of the gate.
As for this episode itself, I continue to believe that Togashi has partly been inspired here by a desire to see how much tension he can ratchet up with such innocuous props. I mean, for crying out loud, our lead’s signature weapon is a fishing pole! A bunch of would-be Hunters get taken down by landmine-like mushrooms! Two of our heroes get saved by a can of ExLax!
It’s the same kind of imaginative streak that shapes a level of SUPER MARIO BROTHERS, yet we're seeing it used for a shonen fighter, and… I’m down for more of it, now. Hope you’re happy.
Watch this episode,“Hisoka × is × Sneaky" here and decide for yourself, then read my comments on the previous episode here.
About the Author
Tom Pinchuk’s a writer and personality with a large number of comics, videos and features like this to his credit. Visit his website - - tompinchuk.com - - and follow his Twitter: @tompinchuk
Sure enough, the narrator makes a point to stress the exact headcount that the Hunters are down to, and it isn’t some clean percentage. It’s almost endearing, at this point.
I don’t know if I’m necessarily won over yet, but now that I recognize the ‘sportsman’ quality that seems to connect Togashi’s work, this arc is starting to grow on me. The show floundered a little for me over the first four episodes because there wasn’t much of any ‘inciting incident’ prompting Gon to go off on this adventure and, thus, the assembly of his team felt rather arbitrary.
Of course, teams are assembled arbitrarily in games all the time, and the lack of connection between the members is actually makes their interactions a bit more interesting. If the show had maybe just started with these kids getting introduced to each other as they all showed up for the Hunter qualifying rounds - - and if their respective backstories were subsequently revealed during monologues and flashbacks - - I think the show would’ve had a much stronger, cleaner start.
== TEASER ==
Yeah yeah yeah… I’m sure some of you long-time fans are going to object to that notion and insist that the show needed to take its time with its characters. I’ll still stand firm and say this show would’ve benefited from having a few matches lit between its toes when it was taking its first steps out of the gate.
As for this episode itself, I continue to believe that Togashi has partly been inspired here by a desire to see how much tension he can ratchet up with such innocuous props. I mean, for crying out loud, our lead’s signature weapon is a fishing pole! A bunch of would-be Hunters get taken down by landmine-like mushrooms! Two of our heroes get saved by a can of ExLax!
It’s the same kind of imaginative streak that shapes a level of SUPER MARIO BROTHERS, yet we're seeing it used for a shonen fighter, and… I’m down for more of it, now. Hope you’re happy.
Watch this episode,“Hisoka × is × Sneaky" here and decide for yourself, then read my comments on the previous episode here.
About the Author
Tom Pinchuk’s a writer and personality with a large number of comics, videos and features like this to his credit. Visit his website - - tompinchuk.com - - and follow his Twitter: @tompinchuk
Of course Kenshiro would find some way to kill a man with a wet willy…
As I said in the last GATCHAMAN CROWDS write-up, I’ll be taking a short hiatus from FIST in the interest of making room for something new from this season. To be honest, as well, for as much as I love FIST, the episodic and repetitive nature of the show makes it a harder to run with in this column. Several of you have lunatics have noted that the first arc is especially slow, and that’s become abundantly clear. The sub-plot about Yuria’s captivity offers solid intrigue, but I feel like it’s going to be drawn out well past that intrigue’s dissipation point.
Weirdly enough, these first six episodes have drawn a little bon mot about the Punisher to mind…
== TEASER ==
I forget which writer it was who said that the character’s policy on killing made it difficult to build a substantial rogue’s gallery for him (because Punny kept offing all his villains, natch), but he was right and the same sentiment applies to Ken, so far. These ‘God’s Army’ guys could probably sustain a whole arc - - not just as a source of heads to explode, but also as a collection of complex characters to profile - - but they’re just cut off at the stem before they can really bloom, as it were. Ken shows up, unleashes hell, and that's it, we’re done with them.
Again, on one level, there’s something unusually… gratifying to Ken being enough of a bad ass that he can just shut down most all threats before they even begin to trouble him. I love how direct he is with his condemnations and threats when he confronts these bereted scumbags. You do bad things? You get shut down. Simple as that.
However, if I wasn’t already wear of that overall epic that’s unfolding here, I’d find that there aren’t too many lingering hooks to pull me back for Episode #7. I mean, this army could’ve put a little more of fight, c’mon.
Watch this episode,“The Devil's Hit List. Find the Man with the 7 Scars!” here and decide for yourself, then read my comments on the previous episode here.
About the Author
Tom Pinchuk’s a writer and personality with a large number of comics, videos and features like this to his credit. Visit his website - - tompinchuk.com - - and follow his Twitter: @tompinchuk
Whenever we get to the end of this season, I might have a clearer notion of what exactly this show does to keep us coming back, week after week, even when we seem to spend most of the time complaining. It continues to be a show that’ll always take six minutes to say something that could’ve been said in just one, and boy, was I ready to write this episode off for just that (Eren’s discussion with his comrades in the treetops being just painfully drawn out).
However, the needle on the Rock-or-Suck meter hoped all the way across the dial in the second half. I continue to be impressed by the moments where TITAN is able to have its cake and eat it, too - - underlying superheroic, fantasy action with the white-knuckle tension and visceral mood of a horror thriller. There’s just such a tight escalation, ratcheting up from the realistically-cruel torture that Levi’s team inflicts on the Female Titan to the rush of reinforcements she summons with her bloodcurdling distress call.
(Though, like I’ve said, I guess I’m just a sucker for all the times this show takes a procedural approach to its fantasy - - applying an unflinching, morbid attention to detail on the order of a kid peeling apart a fly with a pair of tweezers).
It may have tested the old disbelief suspension to have the guardsman getting to chitchat over such a long and smooth sail through the tree tops at the end, sure, but damn if the twist about Female Titan’s disguise didn’t make for one hell of a cliffhanger. Even though we’ve seen a seemingly endless number of guardsmen introduced, there actually aren’t too many suspects who could’ve been piloting the creature at this point. Still, I need to know the answer to this mystery… and perhaps that really is what keeps us coming back, despite anything else.
Watch this episode,"Erwin Smith -- 57th Expedition Beyond the Walls" here and decide for yourself, then read my write-up on the previous episode here.
About the Author
Tom Pinchuk’s a writer and personality with a large number of comics, videos and features like this to his credit. Visit his website - - tompinchuk.com - - and follow his Twitter: @tompinchuk
Well, let's belly up to a good list article, shall we?
One of the things that YouTube can afford us nowadays is the ability to go back and quantify stuff that as kids, we loved. And I loved a good "attract mode" for videogames back in the day. Seeing the screenshots made me realize the kind of impact that anime had on a TON of videogames and systems. Among those systems were of course the venerable SEGA CD.
ALMOST as big as an Original Xbox
The leap from 16-bit to 32-bit was a weird transistion for the Sonic The Hedgehog laden company. They tried the 32X add-on for the Genesis, went to Sega CD, and eventually settled on the Sega Saturn as the ultimate 2D machine. The "attract mode" became a way for companies to entice arcade gamers as to the worthiness of their game, but for the Sega CD it was a little vanguard moment they used to hopefully sell more games!
And in those attract modes were some pretty amazing (and historic) anime inspired openings. So I'd like to shine a light on a few that really impressed, and stand as awesome examples of a time when full motion video (FMV) and sprite art was at a premium.
Put in the games and let's begin!
5. Lunar The Silver Star Story
A seminal hit for JRPGs, the LUNAR franchise started with this rocking, female-vocal backed hit. Featuring cutting edge sprite stills and the best that MIDI instruments had to offer, it impressed back in 1993.
A fantasy adventure with character designs by Toshiyuki Kubooka-- who also designed the characters for Giant Robo and was the animation director on Nadia of Blue Water!-- the game's bright, old-school style IMMEDIATELY jumps out at you.
And while it wasn't a Sega CD game, I thought I'd also mention the Silver Star Story Complete version that came out, which features the most earnest, Disney musical ready song I've ever heard in a game.
Just listen to her belt those lines out! Don't you just feel more hopeful now?
"All things are real/unless you dream they're not" So true, so true.
So after all that mushy stuff, let's get to some dude feelings...
4. LORDS OF THUNDER
YEEEEEAAAAHHH!
So while the animation is VERY minimal, you cannot resist the immense, metal awesomeness of that opening tune.
You've got ancient artifacts, magical armors, a CONSTANT thunderstorm happening, and a pounding beat to drive you. Then at about 1:42 the drum intro kicks in and you're treated to the intimidating portraiture of the prettiest Viking warriors you've ever seen. THIS THING ROCKS.
I've never heard an intro that so perfectly captured the feeling of sprawling arena rock. And doing so with all synth instruments is kind of unbelievable. This first-person shooter is a great game in it's own right, but if it was translated into a BASTARD style anime affair I wouldn't be upset.
3. GHOST IN THE SHELL
So, I'm technically cheating in the 3rd entry, since this was for the original Playstation... BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER. Where else am I going to get a chance to say this was the GHOST IN THE SHELL anime that we never got?
As much as I love Mamoru Oshii, his influence on the first animated version of Motoko Kusanagi kind of ruined the tone of Masamune Shirow's tech-heavy, but often humorous manga. And that's as much as I'll agree with Tom Pinchuk's disdain for the original movie.
I'd pay super Kickstarter monies to get a full series translation of this anime intro. I need off-beat tachikoma spider robots causing chaos, while Kusanagi commands them from an overtly fetishistic internet tube. Just get the showrunner from MTV's Liquid Television to take this on and I'll be a happy camper.
2. POLICENAUTS
Yeah, this intro is a bit of a slow burn... it's kind of interesting... wow, why is this taking so long??? Oh wait, this was one of the first games helmed by HIDEO KOJIMA, now it all makes sense! That's a guy who LOVES super-involved cut scenes.
But what I love about this is the MUSIC. That theme that hits around 3:10 places you right in a tension-filled techno future. And when it finally ports down to the gritty, urban setting you'll be spending the first few game play hours in, it's 80's nostalgia love all the way. Anything set in 2040 Los Angeles will do that.
If you have major time to burn, watch a full playthrough of this on YouTube and you'll get an idea of what happens when Lucasarts meets Metal Gear. This game has the first canonical appearance of Meryl, a vast corporate mega-conspiracy that Kojima loves, and more Lethal Weapon references than you can stand.
1. ROAD AVENGER
If there is an award for most narrative-driven, lyrically incomprehensible intro in video games this would win hands down.
You think you're about to play a fun racing game...
...and then you realize you're racing against Mad Max rejects in an attempt to avenge your dead wife whom they took from you presumably right after leaving the church. Yes, you have to see it to believe it.
I like to imagine the the first-person driving sequence that happens after 1:18 is actually him in a fever state, running random cars off the road in an attempt to rectify his deep feelings of guilt over his wife's death. Wow, I kinda wish this was the plot to Drive now.
***
Hope you enjoyed my picks! Got any more anime-influenced intros to share? Leave em' in the comments below!
Sam Weller is a writer and actor who's scribed for shows like FIRST EDITION, GEEK THERAPY, and most recentlyBATGIRL: SPOILED. He also really likes anime. To know what is going to happen next, follow@cravesam
Naruto and Minato put into action their plan to rescue the Shinobi Alliance from complete annihilation with the help of their own furry, little demons.
The Good
Didn't this same thing happen last week?
It's never a really good sign when I have to struggle to think about the positive points of a chapter. The issue has some nice scenes, but the drawn out pacing is starting to effect my enjoyment of the NARUTOseries. It was nice to see Naruto using such a clever way to rescue the alliance from what would have wiped everyone out. Add to that, Naruto shouting down Sasuke to just do what he tells him.
I can be a sucker for the emotional drama. I really enjoyed that scene of Naruto's parent sacrificing themselves to save their child and their final goodbye. I just don't see what it's adding to this moment.
The Bad
At least he didn't call you 'mountain face guy' again.
Graphs can often work to the benefit of the reader. However, this chapter has probbaly one of the most pointless explanations of a technique that I've seen in a long time. On several occasions this arc has pointed out that anything Minato's chakra is touching can be teleported by him. We didn't then need a breakdown of how it all relates to the shadow clone technique.
I would say that I did like the gag it all ended with. I don't think it had ever been pointed out that theSecond Hokage was the shadow clone creator.
Verdict 3/5
I'm not opposed to a bit of melodrama and symbolism, but it can be abused. The recent chapters of NARUTO have been entertaining, but they've also been rather drawn out. So much explaining and over-explaining, then little has happened in these past two weeks. The chapter was good, not great. We've finally seen Naruto has the key to defeating Obito in Ten-Tails form. Let's see some of that. More so if it'll finally end this arc.
About the Author
Kristoffer Remmell (FoxxFireArt) is a freelance graphic artist, writer, and over all mystery geek. Follow for news updates: @AnimeVicers / @FoxxFireArt
