Naruto 641: You’re the Main Stars

By: Robert Murphy

Link to manga here

Well it’s that time once again, that wonderful time of the week where we get to see what awaits in the world of Naruto in a chapter dubbed “You’re the main stars.” After the craziness of last week’s chapter, I was reeling to see what would happen this week with Obito finally attaining full control over the Juubi’s abilities, transforming him into a likeness of The Sage of Six Paths. This new Obito’s powers were more tame and concentrated, making the taking him out even more challenging than it was already proving to be for Sasuke, Naruto and the fourth Hokage. It is quickly becoming clear that the Fourth Great Shinobi War is on a whole new level and that becomes apparent to everyone on the battlefield, especially in this week’s chapter. I won’t give away any details but suffice to say that you all should not be missing a single chapter of the Naruto action, so jump on in and enjoy the chapter and I will see you all again next week. 

Rosario + Vampire (Season 1)

By: Robert Murphy

Tsukune Aono is just a normal high school student who unfortunately can’t get into any prestigious Japanese private schools due to his poor grades but a bit of luck occurs when Tsukune’s father happens upon an invitation to Yokai Academy. However on his first day, Tsukune quickly finds out that this isn’t a normal private school, this is a school for young monsters and creatures that are disguised as humans and are learning how to live among them. Tsukune does the smart thing and quickly freaks the hell out and tries to run for the hills until he meets a young vampire girl by the name of Moka who has a deep enjoyment almost immediately into the show has an attraction for Tsukune’s blood. This normally would make any human keep running for home, actually makes Tsukune want to stay, not because he’s into her sucking is blood but Moka quickly becomes his first true friend that he’s ever had, and the same goes for Moka. Moka though quickly discovers why Tsukune’s blood tastes so good and that is because he is a human, Moka who is initially upset by this agrees to keep his secret so he can stay with her at Yokai Academy.

Hi, nice to meet you. Mind if I suck your blood?

Now right from the get go you can probably tell what kind of show that this is shaping up to be, a young male student comes to a school full of monsters and immediately attracts a hot (forgot to mention above that Moka is very hot) female vampire, who pretty much gets turned on just by smelling Tsukune. This is a Harem anime, true as they come because not only does Tsukune attract Moka, throughout the show he proceeds to attract a number of other female monsters and creatures to his somehow amazing animal magnetism. Also, in a very Harem like fashion, Tsukune doesn’t seem to be too fond of the situation he is in, he likes being friends with Moka and maybe likes her a little bit more than that but as all these woman start to show him attention his dismay quickly rises (WTH am I right?). Some of these other woman include Kurono, who is a young Succubus to be who falls for Tsukune after her plans to make all the boys in the school her love slave failed and he shows her compassion and understanding which somehow seems to work on girls in animes more so than real life. The story continues on and we gain two more characters to our love group with Sendo, a witch who is technically not a monster and is therefore picked on and treated as an outcast for being half human, cue Tsukune the bleeding heart to the rescue. And finally we have Shirayuki, a snow demon who had been watching Tsukune since day one and has harbored a secret crush for him but was too shy to come out to him; she is our resident wallflower/emo type girl.

Woman of Rosario + Vampire

As for the story itself, things progress rather unimpressively, each episode is pretty much an introduction of a new character/monster to the show that gets introduced and it either is a girl that falls in love with Tsukune or it’s a male character showing off. This usually ends with this character getting their collective butts kicked by Moka who has a hidden personality behind her kind hearted and peaceful form that she is often seen in. This form appears when Tsukune clumsily removes the rosary seal around her neck and activates a scripted cut scene, this happens every frickin episode by the way, which explains how when the rosary is removed Moka transforms into a sexy ass kicker. I mean that quite literally too, Moka’s other form always seems to enjoy a good round house kick or any variation of it, leaving us with an up the skirt shot for all to see. This just so happens to be another theme for the show which is up the skirt shots, up the skirt shots EVERYWHERE and this is to be expected with the harem theme so we aren’t too shocked by this turn of events. But honestly what would have saved the show for me is if they would of done more with the split personality side of Moka, right from the get go she is an incredible fighter and a general badass with a sexy skirt and it is unfortunate that we don’t get to see or know more about her during the first season of the show.

 Moka’s other/more appealing form

To sum it all up, Rosario + Vampire, leaves a lot to be desired on a multiple of levels, I myself don’t have a problem with Harem animes, I do enjoy them for the reason all guys love them but they also have to actually have a story for me to get my head around and this one just didn’t. Each episode of the series consisted of a very basic formula which was, introduce a new character from around Yokai Academy, have them turn out to be mean or evil and then Moka’s other form will proceed to beat the tar out of them. And as I said, I wish there was more done in regards to Moka’s other form because not only is she an awesome character but the fact that she isn’t thoroughly explained in the show it makes for some unfortunate plot holes. If you are just looking for a show with up the skirt shots, interesting love triangles and supernatural monsters then you should check out Rosario + Vampire but you won’t find much else.

Good:

-Does what a Harem anime does best, upskirt shots and love triangles

-Moka’s other form is unique and an all-around badass

Bad:

-The story as I said falls flat and follows a boring formula for each episode which is upsetting considering the unique premise

-Moka’s other form never gets explained, she’s awesome but who the heck is she and why is she sealed away?

-The cut scenes that occurs every time Moka transforms gets old really quickly and pretty much ruins the action scene that follows it half the time

Scully Rating: 4.0 out of 10 

The Wolverine

Article by Zach Goodier

Hugh Jackman is back for the highly-anticipated movie The Wolverine.  When it comes to this movie, you can be sure that Jackman knows his character and can deliver a consistently good performance as the immortal mutant, but the weak point of Origins lay with the supporting cast, as well as some weak writing and blundered execution of what should have been a very compelling story.  The Wolverine provides a chance at redemption for this spin-off, but does it succeed where its predecessor failed?  Let's get into the review and discuss exactly that.

Yashida, the man Wolverine saved from the Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki.

The story is arguably the most compelling of all of the X-men movies: Wolverine is coping with the consequences of what he did at the end of Last Stand, and he is at a crossroads, he has no reason to continue living, but he also has no means of dying.  Logan is plagued by nightmares revolving around Jean and the things that he has done.  This is where an old friend sends one of his agents, Yukio, to bring Logan back to Japan, where he had saved this man, Yashida, from the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.  Logan's reward for his act is the chance at becoming mortal, so that he can live a normal life and die a normal death.  This is where the story is at its strongest: forcing Logan to confront the possibility of finally being free of the immortality that has forced him to endure all his suffering. 

Yukio is not a girl to be taken lightly, it's just too bad her character wasn't developed more in the script.

From there, the story quickly turns into the action flick that we expected, with Yashida dying, and the Yakuza attacking the funeral to kidnap his granddaughter, Mariko.  From there, we see romance, betrayal, and some quality fights that contain some excellent stunt work and martial arts.  However, the story kind of drops to the background for the most part, with Logan only coming back to the question of whether or not he is ready to die when his powers are taken away and all the wounds he used to be able to shrug off are no longer healing like they used to.  It quickly felt like the story took a backseat, and the movies ending just wasn't all that strong like I was hoping it would be.  It wasn't all that bad, but it really didn't feel like it came full-circle like it should have.

The Silver Samurai has adamantium armor and swords.... So yeah, that just doesn't seem right.  Is Oprah just giving the stuff away now? Wolverine had it before it was cool.

Most of the side characters in this movie have the same shortcomings as those in Origins: they are either not written very well, or they just tried to force things a little too much, too fast, and it ends up seeming hollow in some way.  I think the biggest shortcoming of both Origins and The Wolverine is that they tried to put too many characters into a movie that doesn't take the time to allow a lot of character building between big action scenes.  That being said, Mariko is well written, but Yukio never seemed to get the attention she needed to be fully developed.  She does have some back-story, but as a character she is never fully brought to life for me, considering her significant role throughout the film. 

Viper (left) and Mariko (right) are having a little friendly "chat."

One big issue I saw with this film was in how it handled the established lore.  Without spoiling too much, adamantium is no longer the invincible material we thought it was.  While the comics have differing views on adamantium and Wolverine's powers involving it, as well as how other characters have made use of the unbreakable metal.  However, I felt that rather than risk upsetting the fan base, they could have avoided any problems by just letting adamantium clash with adamantium, just like in the 2nd X-men film.  Once it's broken, the magic is somewhat lost.

One thing this film does right is getting Wolverine more in touch with his samurai-inspired roots in the comics.

Overall, this movie was enjoyable, but held back by the lack of character development for some of the most essential supporting characters.  While whether or not some parts of this film violate lore is debatable due to the flexibility of the story based on the different writers and their takes on adamantium and its' limitations, it feels like a move that was unnecessary in the first place.  Not only does it risk the near-invincible status of our favorite X-man, but it also felt like a pointless move on the part of the writers.  Wolverine is a character driven by the sacrifices he has made, and the hell he has been through.  Every "scar" he bears, and every change he has gone through reflects a significant point of his life.  While this movie is by no means a footnote in Wolverine's extremely long and eventful life, it still lacked that feeling of significance to him.  This movie wasn't about a profound change in the same way that Origins was, it was simply a return to normalcy for the most part.  While the alone bears some significance, it just didn't have the same emotional weight behind it that other X-men movies were able to deliver.

Good:

-Hugh Jackman is still THE Wolverine, no doubt about it.

-Wolverine facing the "curse" of immortality provides a great element to the story.

-Great stunts and martial arts work during the action scenes.

-Some exciting new characters from the comics.

Bad:

-Story kind of takes a backseat to the action, which leaves some things up in the air.  Even the big "twist" towards the end was too predictable, I knew it was coming after the first half hour or so into the film.

-Supporting characters kind of feel like they lacked strong writing in the script, or there just wasn't a lot done with them.

-While the lore of Wolverine is rather flexible, there is still the potential for fans to get very upset with how things turn out, especially without any sort of explanation as to how these things are even possible.

Scully Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Deadman Wonderland Chapter 58: END

Link to Manga: http://www.mangapanda.com/deadman-wonderland/58

Hey guys, Zach here.  Normally, we at Scully Nerd Reviews take the weekend off, but I'm making an exception for the very final chapter of one of my favorite manga series: Deadman Wonderland.  It's been a hell of a ride, but all things must end in time.  This was a great chapter, wrapping up what happened to the main characters after the events at Deadman Wonderland.  All the loose ends are tied up, and there is some closure between Ganta and Shiro.  I'm going to miss seeing new chapters of the series, but I'm happy with how it all turned out.  If you've been following this series for a while, here is the conclusion you've been waiting for; if you haven't followed the series, then it's all officially released so you can read right on through if you want.  In either case, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I hope you enjoyed this great series.

Pacific Rim

Reviewed by: Alaina M.

Director Guillermo Del Toro takes two tried and true blockbuster mainstays-giant monsters and giant robots-and combines them for a new and exciting twist in Pacific Rim. Massive sea monsters called Kaiju are swimming up from the depths of the sea through an interdimensional portal in a deep ocean trench, technically making them aliens. As these enormous killer creatures begin their invasion, toppling major coastal cities around the globe, world leaders team up to create Jaegers, larger than life robots named after the German word for “hunter.” The Jaegers are effective until the Kaiju attacks increase and worsen, causing world powers to discard the Jaegers in search of better alternatives. The remaining Jaeger pilots must team up without outside help and stop the invasion once and for all.

Although the story is interesting and the action fun and exciting, weak acting at times takes away from the movie itself. Charlie Hunnam plays Raleigh Becket, a Jaeger pilot. I was not impressed with Becket, who initially comes off as a reckless and cocky ace who disobeys orders and does things his own way-usually with success. Some of his lines clichéd and overdone, others are just plain goofy. Although he does seem to mature later on in the film, there is still nothing very unique or even interesting about him.

         

But where Becket fails to impress, some of the other characters bring a little more depth to the story. Rinko Kikuchi shines as Mako Mori, skillful and determined fighter-in-training who had a traumatic experience with the Kaiju as a young girl. Idris Elba does an excellent job as Stacker Pentecost, the leader of the operation who brings a balance of strong, borderline harsh leadership and a sense of quiet heroism the film would otherwise lack. Then there is Elba’s “research team” of two quirky scientists who offer comic relief and occasional moments of genius.

The initial idea of the story is great for a summer action flick; I mean who doesn't want to see giant robots fighting it out with giant sea monsters on the big screen? But the plot at times seems very simple. Del Toro sets his characters up for predictable events, relationships and character transformations. There were many times when you could easily tell what was going to happen next. In spite of that, you couldn’t help cheering for the characters when they succeeded.

Having given Pacific Rim ample criticism, I wouldn’t go so far as to condemn it. It does have several redeeming moments. The fight scene in Hong Kong is everything an epic monster vs. robot battle in the city streets should be. The relationships between the main characters grow throughout the story as we are shown both past events that brought them together as well as current events that forge new bonds or strengthen existing ones. The graphics are not dazzling but still fairly good. In sum, it’s not the greatest movie ever made, but it’s still an enjoyable, if mindless, trip to the movies.

Good:

-Interesting initial story and action that makes it a good summer popcorn movie

-Epic fight scenes in dramatic locations

-Good development of some of the character’s stories

Bad:

-Weak acting by the lead character that makes him seem incredibly cliché

-Predictability of the plot makes a creative story seem less original

Rating: 6/10

Black Cat

By: Robert Murphy

In the semi-mystical world of Black Cat, over one third of the world’s economy is held together by the organization known as Chronos, a group that preaches world peace but is coated in a veil of murder and bloodshed. These murderous acts are carried out by the organization's thirteen elite assassins who are equipped with unique weapons that each possess a special ability used by their wielder, we follow the exploits of one of these assassins by the name of Black Cat who is the thirteenth member of the assassins. But things change pace for Black Cat when he sent on a mission that changes his views and eventually will make him leave Chronos and embark on a life as a Sweeper (bounty hunter) with his friends Sven and Eve. Things loom on the horizon for Black Cat and his friends though as his past soon catches up with him and his new life and threatens to change the new happiness that he finds in it.

Don’t mess with me face

To start with, the show is quite nicely animated, characters throughout Black Cat stand out and make good impressions and that’s not just because most of them have supernatural powers up their sleeves. That’s right whether it’s the weapons or the characters themselves, we see some unique abilities spread out among the characters that range from seeing into the future to transforming their entire body with nano bots. This however is all wrapped into a seemingly normal atmosphere meaning that the settings that we find our characters in, look like cities and towns that we live in today and the fact that people walk around with strange powers doesn’t affect it. This isn’t a bad thing either, it makes the story feel smooth like it’s no big deal that we have these powers, we’re just awesome like that. Each character is not only visually enjoyable however, characters in the show are just as enjoyable to watch for example Sven is a quick witted, goofball who appears to initially be just a colorful jokester but is quite resourceful when he is needed. And I can’t talk about the characters and leave out the main character Black Cat who if not for anything else can be most famous for the incredible fight scenes he’s a part of throughout the show and there are quite a few of them. This isn’t to say he’s a bad or uninteresting character who’s only good at fighting but I am saying he is an all-around badass with his supernatural skills at wielding his gun; it makes for a lot of great action.

Sven is one goofy s.o.b and I love him for it

As for the story itself, things move along at very enjoyable pace throughout the series and you hardly find a low moment where there isn’t something interesting happening in the story, whether it’s an action scene or tracking down a new bounty, there’s always something going on. But the story doesn’t just drop off the map once Black Cat leaves Chronos and now he’s a sweeper, no things stir up from Black Cat’s past at Chronos. This comes from a man named Creed who is a former Chronos assassin like Black Cat but who has gained a following and new powers in order to take down Chronos and start his own revolution. He comes to Black Cat to try and get him to join his cause and now he must choose between his old life and his new one and face Creed and his new followers. These followers of Creed are also quite interesting as they sport some unique personalities and abilities just like Black Cat and his friends. Creed himself is well a bit eccentric and I’m using that word lightly just from his outgoing appearance and his mildly unsettling interest in our main character, it’s kind of a skin crawling affair.

Do I have something on my face?

If I could make my one complaint with the show it would have to be that the start of show takes a moment to get out of the ball park and our fun little group doesn’t get formed till and our fun little group doesn’t get formed till a few episodes into the series. All in all though, Black Cat was a great show to watch, with its unique and diverse cast of characters on both sides of the spectrum and the powers that some of them sport, it makes for a great story from start to finish. Fight scenes are very sleek and fluid and are a really enjoyable experience especially when Black Cat himself is involved and showing off his grade A pistol skills, it’s no wonder he was a top Chronos assassin. The story also moves just as sleek and smoothly as the action does as there really never feels to be a low point in the story or the action, there is always something going on and waiting around the corner for Black Cat and his friends.

Good:

-Story is both interesting and moves at a great pace

-Characters are unique and appealing, some with pretty cool supernatural powers

-Any scene with Sven will undoubtedly leave you with a smirk on your face

Bad:

-Takes time to get the gang together of Black Cat and his friends but be patient the good stuff comes quick

Scully Rating: 8.8 out of 10

47 Ronin Trailer

Zach here again with some news about an upcoming film that is scheduled for release Christmas Day, 2013.  47 Ronin looks like a newer, oriental version of 300, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.  Keanu Reeves stars as a slave-turned-ronin samurai that fights to free the land from an evil kingdom (sound familiar yet?).  The plot doesn't seem all that new or exciting but this definitely presents itself as an action movie with some outstanding visuals and excellent fight scenes.  This could be the adrenaline-charged action flick we've been waiting for, but I hope they don't let the CGI get in the way of a good old fashioned samurai katana duel, because you just can't beat those.  We'll keep you in the loop as we hear more about this upcoming film.

TFS Abridged Parody Episode 36

Hey guys, Zach here.  We just watched the newest episode of DBZ abridged, and IT. IS. HILARIOUS.  Vegeta is my favorite character on the show, and he doesn't disappoint in this episode.  So sit back and get the hospital on speed dial 'cuz your sides may end up splitting.

Naruto 640: Finally

By: Robert Murphy

Link to manga here

Guess what day it is, guess what day it is!! That’s right its Hump Day and what better way to spend it than with a new chapter of Naruto. Let me start out by saying I just love the title of these week’s chapter which is simply dubbed “Finally” and throughout the chapter I was wondering what this would mean for the world of Naruto, and Masashi Kishimoto did not disappoint me. To recap last week’s chapter, the first, second and third Hokage tried their hand at taking down Obito but were sadly not enough but they did use their attacks to learn more about Obito’s new powers. This left the 4^th, Sasuke and Naruto to lead up the fight and things move ever more drastically this chapter with every attack from Obito proving to be almost fatal and yet he still has no full control over the Juubi’s power. It’s up to these three to find a way to stop Obito before that happens, jump on in and find out what’s in store in this week’s chapter of Naruto.

RWBY Release

By: Robert Murphy

Link to video here

Good news everyone, the release of RWBY’s premiere episode has finally come out for everyone to enjoy. For those of you who don’t know, Rooster Teeth Productions, the people who brought us all Red vs. Blue, has been working on an anime style show known as RWBY and was created my animator Monty Oum. The story takes place in a modern setting filled with monsters and supernatural forces. The series focuses on four girls, each with their own unique weapon and powers, who come together as a team at Beacon Academy in the city of Vale where they are trained to battle these creatures and become Huntresses. Prior to the events of the series, mankind waged a battle of survival against the shadowy creatures of the Grimm until they discovered the power of Dust, which allowed them to fight back the monsters. Having watched the first episode of the series, I can say that I am thoroughly impressed and amazed by all the hard work that has been done on this series and what has come of it all is truly and amazing start to what will be a great series. Hope you all decide to check it out and stay tuned for more episodes to come, Murphy out. 

Red 2

  

Article by Zach Goodier

Red 2 is the sequel to the DC comic movie Red.  Now that I've successfully stated the obvious, let's discuss whether this movie is a worthy follow-up or not.  Frank Moses and Sarah are trying to lay low and live normally, but Sarah is getting tired of the safe, protected life that Frank insists on.  Thankfully, the silence is soon broken when Marvin makes an appearance and tells them that someone is out to get them.  Frank dismisses it as more of Marvin's paranoia, until Marvin's car blows up in the parking lot.  What ensues is a worldwide quest to find out who is out to get them, and why.

Household chores are so boring...

Red 2's plot is a little... meh.  It's not bad, but it doesn't really break a lot of new ground.  There are a couple of little twists and turns along the way, but this movie isn't focused on espionage and spy games, it's more about the fast-paced action and humor, and this is done very well, just like in the first one.  Just like in the first one, it's the funny banter between and during the firefights that make this movie just so entertaining.  And just like in the first movie, there's plenty of hilarious moments to be had, and the cat-and-mouse element between Frank and his pursuers is just exciting to watch.  So I don't care if the plot feels a little.... meh; it's the overall entertainment we're after, and Red 2 delivers.

I hope that's your gun digging into his hip.

The characters are mostly the same, with some obvious additions.  Anthony Hopkins joins the crew as a British scientist who is not quite right in the head, but provides for some great comedy.  Catherine Zeta-Jones plays a Russian agent, and this provides for some friction with Sarah, since she once had a relationship with Frank.  My favorite new addition to the cast is Byung-hun Lee as "Han," the world's most dangerous contract killer.  Han has some history with Frank, and the rivalry between the two keeps the action and humor going throughout the film.

Meet Han, he has some unresolved issues to work out with Frank.

The only real problem this movie has is that it seems to lack some..... thing.  It's tough to put my finger on, but I feel like it wasn't as intelligent or grounded as the original.  For example, there are a few instances where someone is caught in a "certain death" scenario, and then they are miraculously saved by someone else, even though they had seemingly no idea when or where to be to save the day.  So sometimes you're left asking yourself, "how the hell did they pull this off?" Sometimes it's not so bad, but other times you feel like too much was left to the imagination.

Russians... even the ladies are not to be treated lightly.

Overall, this sequel is a great watch; there is plenty of action and comedy to entertain you throughout.  This may not be as grounded as the original, and it may lack some of the feeling of suspense and danger that the original had, but that doesn't make this movie bad by any means.  The additions to the cast are outstanding overall, and make this movie that much better for it.  If you liked the original Red, then I would recommend you go out and watch this, because it is more of what you loved.

The Good:

-Great action

-More great comedy

-New cast members bring new tallent

The Bad:

-Not very grounded in terms of action or plot.

-Story felt a little...meh.  And yes, that is my technical term for "uninspired" or "not too thought out."

Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10

For the LOLZ: Sneaky Dragon

[ENP-MEP] There's No Stopping Now

Today we have an AMV for you from Ellines Nakama Productions.  The song is Adelita's Way, "Sick," which is one of my favorites.  The Youtube page has the animes, since there are a bunch used in this video.  I just love a good hard rock jam with some action scenes mixed in, it really does a good job of getting you pumped up, even after a long day.  So sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Stay Nerdy,
-Zach

In the News: Steam Summer Sale

Hey guys, Zach here. Steam is having a HUGE sale right now, and a lot of popular games are going for practically pocket change..... SO GO BUY STUFF!!! My poor wallet is going to go wanting for a while, but how can you pass up these deals?  Now excuse me, I gotta check back and see what else is on sale.

Lollipop Chainsaw

By: Robert Murphy

Ha-ha well I never thought in a million years that I would be sitting here writing a review for this game but I guess I was wrong so here it is my review for the ridiculous, booby bouncing, curse word spewing and rainbow spouting action game known as Lollipop Chainsaw. Now when the game was first coming out I will admit that I’d heard the games name before for two main reasons, one because the cosplayer for the games main character is one of my favorites (a girl by the name of Jessica Nigri) and second is it was that it was a zombie slaying video game with a busty blonde for a main character. So already you can tell that my male generated brain liked the game for all the male reasons and it was for that reason that I wasn’t going to purchase the game, I resisted, but my girlfriend being the girl she is saw it and purchased it and so here we are.

 Jessica Nigri cosplaying Juliet

For starters, I will say that Lollipop Chainsaw is unlike any other game I have played before and it’s ideas come straight out of something you’d see in a Grindhouse film like Planet Terror except that it isn’t as grainy but definitely as cheesy and obscene. The game follows the exploits of a bosomy blonde cheerleader named Juliet who is like any other popular girl in school; she is a skinny girl who thinks she’s fat and is dating a pretty boy on the football team named Nick. This all seems fairly normal until you realize that Juliet’s family is a group of zombie killers and now Juliet’s school is being overrun by the undead…oh and Nick is turning into a zombie so she cuts of his head before he can turn. This is all completely normal and rational; at least to Juliet as she must now fight to stop the undead from taking over her hometown with Nick’s decapitated head at her waist side. So at this point you can all tell that this game is pretty ridiculous and it is a game that knows this as well, in fact it relies on this and makes jokes about itself the entire you’re playing it. Alongside this there is a level of profanity, lewd behavior and sexual innuendo as well all come along for the ride and its pretty funny until it isn’t anymore. Sure I will not lie, I got a laugh out of the humor and lewdness for a bit but it got old very quickly as every five seconds a boss was shouting out that Juliet is a whore and how they’ll jizz in her rib cage when she is dead.

I like this for all the wrong reasons ha-ha

Now you’d think that you could get passed the annoying vulgarity and just enjoy the chainsaw wielding and bouncing cheerleader action, well sorry to say that doesn’t go very far either my friends. I have to say that from the start I had an incredibly hard time getting a combo to go together, Juliet does start off with basic moves but for better combos you need to purchase them throughout the game and from there the game gets easier to play. Sure the combos and hacking and slashing are repetitive, I knew it would be and I didn’t mind it but what really bugged me was how Juliet moves and her absolutely crummy locking on controls. Getting Juliet to move towards an enemy and lock on to said enemy was an extreme pain for me, for example in the first boss fight I would try to move away from the boss but still look at him to see if he was attacking and it was a disaster, I had to constantly keep moving the joystick back and forth and I almost threw the controller at one point. One thing that can be said for the combat and the story is that there are some exceptional tunes, at one point in the campaign I had the joy of listening to some Five Finger Death Punch and some other metal based tunes that kept me sane and content. As for Juliet, she isn’t all that bad and I think she would be more annoying of a character if not for Nick attached to her side; he is what makes the two work. Nick is constantly in fear of his situation that he’s in unlike Juliet who finds this whole thing completely normal, Nick though has plenty of witty one liners and sarcastic back chatter with Juliet and it makes for a great laugh.

The picture says it all

As for the enemies you’ll be chopping apart and generally dismembering throughout Lollipop Chainsaw’s campaign, there really isn’t a hell of a lot to tell you other than they’re zombies. Many of the enemies are fairly generic, some may look different for different sections you enter but other than that there really isn’t much that changes. There are some zombies with abilities such as breathing fire or some zombies have charge attacks that can knock you over but for the most part you get the same zombie slashing effect no matter what enemy you come across. There are other things like hidden collectables and mini games through the campaign that are meant to break up the monotony but these won’t really do it for you either. When you think hidden collectibles you think that they would be you know….HIDDEN, no not in this game in fact the collectibles in the game were often right out in the open and those that weren’t were not hard to find if you took a minute to look. As for mini games and other miscellaneous adventures we get short and pain in the ass events that usually will cause frustration rather than enjoyment. Take for example a mini game involving you shooting zombies while Nick rounds the bases in a baseball field 3 times to win the game for the “human” team, this seemed easy at first until you get zombies all over the field chipping away Nick’s health so fast you can’t even kill them all in time. So what starts out as something simple and probably meant to be fun, turns into another venture where I felt the urge to throw the controller again, oh and it doesn’t help that every time Juliet gets a triple kill on a zombie she enters a rainbow covered cut scene that makes you miss killing a zombie…every…frickin……TIME!

 Kill them with SPIRIT!

Not much else to say about Lollipop Chainsaw I’m afraid and I said before it didn’t have much hope to start with except for the fact that it appeals to the male mind set in its basic way by giving us a bouncy blonde to play as. This however, like most things with Lollipop Chainsaw got tiresome very quickly,  the overall theme of sex appeal, gore and general lewdness was fun for the few missions and then it got tiresome and I found myself skipping every cut scene because it was the same stuff all over again each time. What did keep me sane throughout the game was the surprisingly enjoyable soundtrack that the game had which feature some toe taping tunes and this coupled with the funny crap that came out of Nick’s mouth kept me going till I finished the game.

Good:

-Enjoyable tunes

-Nick’s sarcastic and quick witted one liners and conversations with Juliet

Bad:

-The horrible lock on made fighting unbearable at times

-The annoying and vulgar tone gets old very quickly

-Combat is what it is and that is simply hack and slash through waves of zombies

-Enemies aren’t very diverse

Scully Rating: 4.0 out of 10 

Naruto 639: Attack

By: Robert Murphy

Link to manga here

Hey guys and girls, it’s Wednesday once again and that means it’s time for this week’s chapter of Naruto which has simply been entitled as Attack. Last week we experienced the dreaded forming of the Jinchuuriki of the Juubi coming to life but it wasn’t Madara who became this new being, it was in fact Obito. Yes it looks like Obito was able to anticipate Madara’s betrayal and made sure he would be the one standing with all the power and not him, and he certainly now has that incredible power and is showing it off this week. Everyone must band together now more than ever to face this threat but will it be enough to take down Obito, who has focused all the raw power of the Juubi into himself and is able to throw it around without batting an eye. Join the battle in the link above and I hope you all enjoy. 

Bleach 546: The Last 9 Days

Zach Goodier

Link: http://www.mangapanda.com/bleach/546

Typical *SPOILERS*

It looks like we may be coming up on the end of the story arc soon (and maybe even the series), but there's still a good amount of story left.  Kyoraku, the new head captain of the Gotei 13, tells Ichigo's friends that even if he wins his final battle, there's a small chance that he may never be allowed to come home.  While the specifics are not discussed, it seems to be related to the powers he is gaining.  Kyoraku them proceeds to hand out "Soul Tickets," that will allow Ichigo's friends to come visit him should that eventuality come to pass.  However, while this is going on, the Seretei is replaced by buildings that resemble Juha Bach's palace. Juha Bach and Uryuu then discuss the full version of the "Kaiser Gesang:" 

"The sealed King of the Quincy,

shall regain his heartbeat again after 900 years,

regain his intellect after 90 years,

and regain his power after 9 years,

and regain the world after 9 days."

This obviously doesn't bode well for the Soul Society, and it seems that it's possible that even if Ichigo is to succeed in his quest to stop this ominous prophecy from coming true, he may still find himself trapped in the Soul Society for eternity.  But Ichigo will likely have to make that sacrifice, since he will lose everything he wants to protect if he doesn't gain the power he needs to in order to win.  It looks like Bleach may be going on break for a while before getting to the end of the story, but we'll be waiting for the next chapter, and we'll be sure to pass it along to you guys.  Remember, stay nerdy my friends.

Grand Theft Auto 5 Official Trailer

By: Robert Murphy

I will now proceed to nerd out on all of you, more than I usually do that is because the new trailer for Grand Theft Auto 5 makes me want to pull an Eric Cartman and freeze myself till the day the game comes out because I just can’t wait. The video above shows off the three new characters that we will have the opportunity to play as and also gives a little back chatter about their lives and why they’ve come together. These three characters are Michael, Trevor, and Franklin and the video shows how in the game you can freely shift between each character and play as whomever you like and that applies to during story missions too. During a mission you can be playing as one character and if a situation gets too complicated you can switch to another player (if you planned your heist well) and have them assist your other characters. This brings up another aspect to GTA 5 and that is that players have the ability to plan out the missions however you choose to, many of the missions involve robberies and crimes and so you get to plan out these heists, whether it be clean and calculated or rough and guns blazing, it’s up to you. After the heists are over and you take your cut, you can do whatever you like with the cash and there is so much to do now in with all your cash, many features like buying properties and buying homes from previous games have been brought to GTA 5 along with the ability to invest in stocks and buy tattoos, cars and so much more. I’ve been literally drooling over all I’ve seen in this video for GTA 5 and I can’t wait till I get my hands on it, I hope you all enjoy the video and get the same feeling I did from it. 

In the News: Riddick Official Trailer

By: Robert Murphy

As some of you may know, it has been nine long years since the “Chronicles of Riddick” has come to us and our master of the shadows, Riddick, is coming back to the big screen with a new film that is simply dubbed “Riddick.” This time around you’d think that Riddick would be living it up with his giant army and enjoying the good life of not being a wanted man anymore but that wouldn’t be Riddick, no Riddick is once again on his own as it is meant to be and as of right now we don’t know what happened to his army after the last film. What we do know is the price on Riddick’s head seems to have doubled and now more than ever he is being hunted by what he hates most, Mercs, this trailer shows off even more of Riddick’s amazing skills and the unfortunate team of Mercs who decide they think they can bring him down. The trailer gets me incredibly excited for what is in store and I hope it does for you so sit back and enjoy, Murphy out.

Heat Guy J

By: Robert Murphy

In the post-apocalyptic city of Judoh, crime and poverty is an everyday occurrence and it is up to Special Services Division of the Bureau of Urban Safety to protect the citizens of Judoh and stop the crimes that occur there. Our story follows a young Special Services officer named Daisuke Aurora and his android partner known simply as "J,” the two work together to put an end to the crime family that recently come to power under a young girl known as Clair Leonelli and other more powerful enemies waiting to strike the city of Judoh.

Got the gentleman kind of swagger going on

As I watched this show I realized that I must have a enjoyment for animes that feature post-apocalyptic cities with mysterious backgrounds about them but I found that with each one of the animes, whether it was Trigun or Desert Punk, they are each unique and Heat Guy J was no different. The city of Judoh is actually beautifully designed and comes with certain mystery about it because it is powered and run by technology that the people do not know about and are forbidden from knowing. The city itself is run by a group known as the Celestials who appear in the city to check and make sure everything is running accordingly or to perform maintenance on anything that might be wrong with the system that runs Judoh. The fact that people aren’t allowed to know about this technology may have something to do with what happened to cause the global apocalypse in the first place, maybe it’s to prevent it from happening again, maybe it’s a power thing, we don’t really know. That’s the other thing, we don’t really know what happened to the world before this all happened, most likely it was a man made accident like war or economic downfall, who knows but the world that is left is quite an interesting one.

A view of Judoh

As for the story and characters, we receive and enjoyable assortment of characters throughout the series both supporting and main cast alike. First I suppose I should bring up our main two characters, Daisuke who is not what you’d call goal orientated when you first meet him and honestly when you first see him you’d question a lot about him. Daisuke is pretty much a blonde pretty boy who really doesn’t seem to put much passion into his job as a safety officer but as the story progresses he quickly caught my attention and my fears were dismissed. Now even though he is an android, I can’t forget to mention J who is often times more of an ironic joke as he walks around telling people what it is to be human, more specifically how to be a man in his case. This comedic idea could be hit or miss for some so can lay your hat on J being a super badass cyborg who fights the scum of Judoh and has a unique attribute for after his battles where he lets out some steam, literally, after J fights he expels steam from his body through pipes hidden under his skin, hence the title.

Eh I’m not much of a fan of pretty boys but Daisuke grows on you

But these two characters aren’t the whole show, there are a large assortment of other characters in the show that get there do justice throughout the entire series span. One such character is Monica who is a young child who sells photos of people back to them for money; the girl pulls at your heart strings as she tries to support herself and her drunken mother by doing so. She also offers helpful advice to Daisuke about the city since she works on the streets and develops a level of knowledge about the cities inner workings and dealings and this is where we see part of Daisuke’s true self shine through especially when he tries to adopt this young girl and take her away from her abusive mother. Another character that I feel is worth mentioning is Antonia, who is the creator of J and is responsible for his well-being and maintenance. She takes this job very seriously as well since she molded J’s image into that of her dead father who she morns still and we also get the impression that he somehow knew something about the Celestials who work on the city of Judoh. Many other character incorporate the show and make Heat Guy J the show that it is, whether they help Daisuke and J along the way or fight against them, they make the show a great one to watch.

Gotta have groupies

All in all I have to say that Heat Guy J brought with it quite the interesting tale and as I said it stands out from the other post-apocalyptic animes that I have seen before. Characters on all aspects, whether they are good or bad, supporting or main characters, all bring something to the table and show personal growth and development throughout the show. They also each have their own unique style and are well crafted alongside the city of Judoh that surrounds them in each episode. If I could make a negative comment it would be that sometimes the show will drag on with non-essential things but will pop back on track with a fight scene or new information comes a knocking to put things in the right direction. 

Good:

-A group of well-crafted characters all around

-The unique city of Judoh is great to look at and features an air of mystery to it

-Enjoyable humor and plot twists to the story along the way

Bad:

-Certain times the episode can drag but it doesn’t last long

Scully rating: 8.0 out of 10