Television – The Ranting Penguin

Why You Need to Watch The Mandalorian

January 4, 2020January 4, 2020Robert LeeLeave a comment

Now that the first season The Mandalorian on the Disney+ streaming platforms over, it’s time for a brief review of the season. There are a few minor spoilers, especially for the big reveal in the first episode. I’ll try to not get too detailed about individual episodes other than a couple standout ones.

It is no secret that the original Star Wars trilogy was heavily influenced by the films that George Lucas studied and admired as a film student. From war movies like Dam Busters, and westerns like The Searchers, and of course, samurai films like Hidden Fortress. Their influence on the aesthetics and feel of the original film were strongly evident.

I believe the new films from the Disney era is not so much influenced by their classic roots. They are influenced by current action films and previous Star Wars, but with no regard to pillars on which the franchise was built. The exception to that is Rogue One which was not only different from modern executions, but harkened back to war films like The Dirty Dozen or The Guns of Navarone.

Now, with The Mandalorian, streaming on the Disney+ service, Star Wars is deconstructed down to its roots once again and harkens back to the westerns and samurai film on which Star Wars built its foundation. Produced by Jon Favreau (Iron Man) and Dave Filoni (The Clone Wars), the show approaches the Star Wars universe as a gritty entry into the mythos that does not focus on grand battles between space wizards and fleets of spaceships. It’s episodic in nature with an underlying narrative of a loner on the run from planet to planet trying to stay one step ahead of the ones hunting him.

In the early years following the collapse of the Empire and in the Outer Rim of the galaxy bounty hunters eck out a living hunting down assignments and cashing in on the bounties. Right away, the esthetics of the spaghetti westerns pioneered by visionary director Sergio Leone are invoked in the first scene. The Mandalorian in the title is a man with no name and is just referred to as Mando by everyone else, including the head of the Hunters Guild, Greef Karga (Carl Weathers). After turning in a rather annoying bounty (“I can bring you in war, or I can bring you in cold.” Apparently the cold is either dead or in carbonite.), he accepts an off the books assignment from Greef Karga to retrieve an asset for a former Imperial, played by Werner Herzog. After some great shootout scenes and the introduction of IG-11, the galaxy’s coolest hunter droid, the asset turns out to be the internet’s favorite meme of 2019, lovingly referred to as Baby Yoda.

PicsArt_01-01-02.24.24 — In a shot that is evocative of the final shot of John Ford’s classic western, *The Searchers*, we are introduced to Mando. Trivia: Pedro Pascal’s stunt double (from episode 3 onward) is Brendan Wayne, grandson of John Wayne and star of *The Searchers*.

In the third episode he turns in the young baby asset to the employer, Mando has second thoughts about turning in a child to people who obviously have some sketchy plans for it. So he turns back and rescues the kid and has to shoot his way out of not only the ex-Imp’s camp but through the rest of the Hunters Guild that would love to cash in on the reward. Of course he makes it out.

Most of the episodes after that is a bit of a planet of the week trek through the Outer Rim planets staying a step ahead of others that would hunt him and the child down. Along the way will be guest star appearances from actors such as Nick Nolte, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, Clancy Brown, and Taika Waititi who directed the final episode and voices IG-11.

Episode 4 has Mando and the Child on the run and he has the idea to lay low in a remote planet in the hopes of the heat dies down and he can move on with his life. In the most straight up homage to the western and samurai films as he meets former Republic fighter named Cara Dune ( Gina Carano) who also is seeking a more quiet life. This changes as a local village is constantly being harassed by raiders.

And of course the village has no one that knows how to fight back so they recruit the magnificent duo to not only defend the village but to train the villages in how to defend themselves. Yes, this is basically Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven, one of the most familiar tropes in the two genres. And it is one of the many standout of the series. But then again I’m an easy mark for the Seven Samurai trope and have always liked the premise.

After a couple of what I consider filler episodes one of which is pretty weak, the final two episodes ties a few plot threads together and culminates against the odds shootouts and more engaging action than some recent Star Wars films. Mando is given a chance to make nice with the Guild again by heading back to Navarro, the planet he bugged out of with the baby. Imps, led by the Client, have been interfering with the guild’s business and making it harder for the Guild to go about it’s work. So Mando gets an offer he can’t refuse, come back to Navarro, clear out the Imps and the Guild will clear off the fact that he killed a bunch a members a few episodes ago.

Things naturally don’t go as planned as the Bantha poodoo hits the fan. Along for the wild ride are a few characters that Mando has encountered along the way along with Greef Karga.

The casting of the show is near perfect. Pedro Pascal, who is always under the helmet has to basically do all his acting through voice work and stunts and he is very impressive. And seeing Carl Weathers as Greef Karga is an absolutely delight as he is both charming and menacing. Listen carefully and you will hear Nick Nolte’s voice for Kuill, an Ugnaught (those worker aliens last seen on the big screen in The Empire Strikes Back). Gina Carano is not only physically impressive as a former MMA fighter, but has really grown as an an actress as well. Taika Waititi voices the Hunter droid IG-11 and is an incredibly endearing character. Nearly the entire cast is compelling and has a distinct personality that is very memorable. Even minor characters like a Mandalorian version of a blacksmith has a moment that is memorable and tone setting. Giancarlo Esposito’s character is not only engaging but will leave you in the end wanting to know more.

Of course if you are on social media, the real star of the show is The Child, known all over as Baby Yoda. As much as there were leaks that came out for The Rise of Skywalker, there weren’t that many leaks about The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda may have been one of the best kept secrets in our modern day of leaks. The absolute adorableness of Baby Yoda is probably 2019s greatest phenomenon. It is certainly its cutest. I like the rest of humanity that has a heart love the little creature that is mostly a combination of puppetry and animatronics. I have, however, gotten a bit tired of the constant memes it has generated.

Baby Yoda’s adorable presence on screen steals everyone’s attention. The character not only has no name but we don’t even know what species it is. We know that someone powerful is after it, and that it has strong Force powers naturally. Other than that we know very little. Yet it steals every scene that it is in.

PicsArt_11-30-05.18.12 — I don’t think this pose is an accident. It’s obviously an homage to a scene from *Hard Boiled*, the classic Hong Kong action film by John Woo and starring Chow Yun Fat.

There are many reasons why The Mandalorian succeeds. One of them is that by stepping away from the grand scale of the Star Wars we’re used to and instead going for something different, it reinvigorates a live action series that had grown stale in its creativity. And yet, the show’s premise and storytelling technique is not new or particularly innovative. It’s not the Breaking Bad or the Sopranos of Star Wars. But by embracing a western like feel, it in itself is different as the western isn’t exactly crowding everyone’s televisions. The closest comparisons to this show would be the samurai series of Lone Wolf and Cub or the science fiction western anime of Cowboy Bebop.

The show is produced with an old school Star Wars aesthetic as well. This is a part of the galaxy that is lived in but forgotten. Stormtroopers are not always in the cleanest of armor and much of the equipment has a used and gritty look to it. The Mandalorian achieves a feeling of verisimilitude that unfortunately the sequel trilogy does not achieve. You get a sense of authenticity not evident in the recent movies. Only Amazon’s The Expanse (must-watch science fiction series) has that level of authentic feel to it (and I would argue even more so).

Ludwig Götansson, fresh off his Academy Award win for Black Panther’s score, provides the atmospheric music for thow and if you look online, he provides an album’s worth of music for each episode. Yes, some of the cues sound like music from the Rocky franchise. That may be because he also did the music for the Creed films which in itself took influence from the Bill Conti scores.

The Mandalorian genuinely changes the game as far as the Star Wars franchise is concerned and hopefully paves the way for a better quality and way of storytelling in the future, because the movies definitely need to do something different — without alienating the fanbase. Yes, there are moments of fan-service and homages, but it doesn’t get in the way of the storytelling. In fact the most homage filled episode, the one on Tatooine may be it’s weakest episode. But despite those few bumps, the show is an absolute delight and it comes with the highest recommendation.

Final Score: 9/10

Opinion: Your Racial Slurs are not Comedy

September 18, 2019September 20, 2019Robert Lee2 Comments

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Warning. I will be using some strong language. And I get a little pissed off.

I’ve not been a consistent viewer of Saturday Night Live for many years now. I have managed to catch a few episodes over the last few years and still found it mostly entertaining. When news broke that for the first time in over 40 years, SNL had hired its first cast regular of Asian decent, my reaction was “What took so long?” Rob Schneider, a former SNL alum is one quarter Filipino and fellow alum, Fred Armisen is a quarter Korean, who for the longest actually thought he was a quarter Japanese. But Bowen Yang is the first full-Asian cast member. He was a staff writer for the show last year and stepping in front of the camera is a big step up for him and a significant, though long overdue step for representation.

Also announced as new cast members were Chloe Fineman whose claim to fame is her range of impressions. And the third name joining the cast was Shane Gillis, whose claim to fame, apparently, is using racist slurs in the guise of comedy. Gillis and Matt McCusker are seen in a clip from their podcast Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast he is seen mocking Chinese overtly. Interestingly, the podcast episodes have since been scrubbed from YouTube and iTunes. It was only through digging around by journalists that these comments surfaced. And it’s not as if the comments are old and could be attributed to being outdated, they were from 2018. :

A September 2018 episode of “Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast,” which Gillis co-hosts with fellow comic Matt McCusker, shows the comedian mocking Asians. “Damn, Chinatown is fucking nuts,” Gillis says in the clip, before adding, “let the fucking chinks live there.” Gillis and McCusker then mock Asian accents and complain about the “fucking hassle” of ordering food from someone who doesn’t speak English well.

Source: The Daily Beast

But it is not only Chinese that Gillis disparaged:

In a separate podcast, “Ep 144 – A.I. is Racist,” Gillis and McCusker make fun of Asian accents about 22 minutes and 20 seconds in, referring to the video game “Clash of Clans” as “Crash of Crans” in a mock Chinese accent.

A little more than 21 minutes into “Ep 146 – Live from Shane’s Parent’s Basement,” while talking about the Battle of Gettysburg, Gillis refers to soldiers yelling as “so gay.” About 29 minutes into the podcast, Gillis uses the word “retard,” and “f-ggot,” and shortly afterward he and McCusker joke about “hot Southern boys” being raped during the Civil War, comparing it to “having gay sex in jail.”

Gillis, in describing women who disguised themselves as men to fight in the war, refers to them as “flat chested f—ing bitch[es].”

Source: Variety

His homophobic comments did not stop there though:

… Gillis and McCusker chat about comedians who adopt a more confessional style, like Judd Apatow and Chris Gethard, and mock them using homophobic slurs, calling them “white f*ggot comics” and “fucking gayer than ISIS.”…

Source: Vulture.com

Let’s be perfectly clear here. He was not playing a role. It was not some heated conversation and it was not a stage performance or persona. These remarks were during a podcast where everything is casual and open. He was playing himself. They weren’t putting up an act, they were two dudes talking racist shit. There was no fucking joke there.

When these comments from only a year ago resurfaced, he issued a twitter response:

pic.twitter.com/fw7QJHLFdi

— Shane Gillis (@Shanemgillis) September 13, 2019

You know what the real false outrage is? The real false outrage is from people defending him saying that comedy is no longer sacred and that pioneers like Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy would be silenced in this current culture. I am old enough to remember Richard Pryor’s comedy. I have never herd him use a racial slur against any other race. Yes, he did use the N word, but he never used the word chink as far as I can remember. Here is audio from one of his famous bits about Chinese food:

Here is Eddie Murphy who is in this famous segment mocked people mocking Chinese:

Now, the above bits were genuinely funny, told on stage as part of an act. Shane Gillis was not on stage. Look, as a comedian, you get pretty much free reign to say whatever you want. You should be allowed to be provocative. but you should also be ready for that pushback. Dave Chappelle’s latest comedy special for Netflix Sticks and Bones received some pushback for offensive material. I have watched it. Yes some of the material pushed the boundaries of good taste, some of which wasn’t even funny — such as his bit in the beginning about Michael Jackson’s victims. But if someone is holding up Chappelle’s latest comedy to Shane Gillis, they are stretching it. Now there are plenty of people online defending Gillis — especially since SNL decided to fire him. Theses defenders just happen to mostly be white. As for an Asian voice, Rob Schneider (he is one-quarter Filipino) is also defending Gillis. So to Bill Burr and Jim Jeffries, here’s a joke for you — go fuck yourselves. Rob Schneider has his own history of racially insulting acts so he is probably the last person that should be defending racist comments. In fact, he should be the last person defending comedy. So Schneider should shut his punk-ass mouth.

So let’s have some perspective from persons of color. The fine dudes at Double Toasted offered their perspective and main host, African American film critic Korey Coleman went and substituted the N word for what was said about Chinese people, except for Chinatown, he used Compton. “You’d have to dig a hole, apologize, and hide in that for two years before you showed your face again.” Korey goes on to say, and I’m editing a little, “Everybody wants the N word for themselves…and listen, not everybody’s gonna get that word. My man talking about being called Fredo (referring to Chris Cuomo being called Fredo)…that is not the N word. But as far as that C word goes, I’ll give y’all that, because it was used to put people down.”

There have been, of course a few online reactions from members of the Asian American community to Shane Gillis one of which is from fellow blog and podcast site, the Nerds of Color. It was also addressed by They Call us Bruce podcast. Chinese American YouTube personalities, the Fung Brothers have put up their reactions to Gillis’s comments. David and Andrew Fung have had a long career usually focused on food, but they have also been outspoken about Asian American issues and our place in American culture. David Fung: “Just because you’re a strong comedian if you’re racist, you get in trouble…nobody is saying he can’t live his life. Nobody is saying he should be thrown in jail, killed. I’ll just say this, I think a lot of Asian Americans are affording him a lot more humanity than he affords us.” I highly recommend both the Double Toasted and Fung Bros videos.

I am glad that Shane Gillis was eventually fired from being on Saturday Night Live. But it should not have come to this. SNL should have done a better job of vetting its new cast members. And on the note of Saturday Night Live’s own history, defenders of Gillis point out the show’s own history. So let’s address one of the elephants in the room, John Belushi’s Samurai skits back in the 70’s. That was forty years ago, and we knew it as a parody of Samurai films that were popular at the time. And most racially charged skit was a a classic skit that commented on how words can be offensive.

See, there is actually nothing inherently wrong with these words. What is wrong is their context. And Shane Gillis as some bloke sitting at a table with some other guy complaining about Chinese and gays is providing a window into what his personality really is. There is a big difference between Mel Brooks using the N word all over Blazing Saddles, who was making a comedy about racism, compared to Quentin Tarantino who feels he can drop the word all over his movies just because he feels like it.

The whole Shane Gillis situation shows that we still have a long way to go as far as how race is addressed in this country, even in comedy. You can not disguise your racist rants as “just comedy.” There’s no “just” anything. Yes, they are words, until you use them wrong and in a malicious way like Gillis. I’m glad SNL fired him and I hope he can learn something from this as he is still a young 31 years old. But of course his supporters are all up in arms about “cancel culture” and “political correctness.” Go fuck yourselves. How’s that for political correctness? Now don’t get all upset because I wasn’t being a nice obsequious Chinese.

For further insights from better more enlightened people than me about Asian Americans and Asians in pop culture. I recommend following The Nerds of Color and They Call Us Bruce. Both podcasts are on iTunes and wherever you prefer to get your podcast fix like Soundcloud or Google. Believe me, they are better spoken on these issues than I am. Hopefully I wont’t have to write another post like this again. But I have a feeling it won’t.

Carole & Tuesday is a Netflix Must Watch Anime

September 14, 2019September 14, 2019Robert Lee1 Comment

carole-tuesday-titlecard Netflix has been getting into the anime streaming game for some time now with some exclusive titles, some of which they genuinely produced as opposed to slapping their name on it as a Netflix original. Their binge model of dropping all episodes at once has largely been a success for the streaming company. In the case of anime that they have exclusive licenses to, the show may have been running for months before it shows up on Netflix. Carole & Tuesday is such a show.

Carole & Tuesday is a 24 episode series that is produced by Studio Bones with exclusive international streaming rights belonging to Netflix. Though the streaming giant was not involved in actual production, it is still labeled as a “Netflix Original.” Netflix has decided to cut that 24 episode season into two parts and deliver part one while second half is still being broadcast in Japan. They have also included an exceptional dub to go along with the show which I think fits it all the better as we shall see in a little bit.

I had been anticipating Carole & Tuesday since I’ve seen early preview clips on YouTube and even more excited after seeing musical clips from the performances. I’m anxiously awaiting the second half of the show. Hopefully it’s only a matter of a few months because this show is a delightfully entertaining with an infectious spirit that will have you falling in love and rooting for the title characters.

We are first introduced to Tuesday as she runs away from her wealthy home with a robotic rolling suitcase and a guitar (a Gibson acoustic, of course) on her back. In an opening montage it becomes clear that the setting is not only the future but that it also takes place on a terraformed and colonized Mars. Carole is a girl that seems to have trouble keeping a part time job. While performing on the street with her keyboard, Tuesday is captivated by Carols’s music, and the magic of the show is born.

It is the most simplest of stories, two girls meet, form a bond, discover their love of music and decide to make their musical dreams come true together. Carole writes great melodies and Tuesday has a knack for lyrics, all they need is work. Unfortunately in this futuristic world, songwriting and music composing have been replaced by AI and efforts are seen at best quaint, and at worst unwanted.

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In contrast to their lofty dreams is Angela, an already successful model who is being steered towards singing by a controlling mother who also acts as her manager. She is coached by an unemotional vocal “coach” that is training her voice to conform to his Artificial Intelligence created songs.

Tuesday and Carole end up getting the attention of Gus, a down on his luck music manager, who has seen better days who usually spends his days drinking his sorrows away lamenting better days. After seeing a viral video of the pair singing, he leverages his way out of the bottle and into their lives as manager. Dragged along for the ride is Roddy, the nerdy sound technician(and source of the viral video) who has an awkward crush on either Tuesday or Carole. It is possible he’s crushing on both. It’s not really clear, and that is somewhat charming.

Things go a bit rough at first for the pair in the beginning, especially after they get conned by a little beer-guzzling robot video director. But all the pieces will gather together for Mars’ Brightest, the biggest singing competition on the planet that is similar to modern singing competition shows like American Idol that are popular now.

Underlying the story is a few commentaries about the nature of stardom and also of social media. One of the featured singers is best known as a social media star, basically posting Instagram or YouTube videos of himself just being in front of things calling attention himself. Yes, it’s very similar to our present day “influencers.” Stalking is personified in Cybelle who has an unhealthy obsession with Tuesday. And of course, the main crux of the story is that Carole and Tuesday write their own music as opposed to ling an AI do it for them.

Overall, the show is just plain fun and will make you feel good on a dreary day. The characters are all interesting and the acting in both Japanese and English are exceptional. In fact, I lean more towards the English dub as all the songs, except for one in French, are sung in English as they were in the Japanese broadcast version.

The show’s lead director is Shinichiro Watanabe, who is best known for the classic anime Cowboy Bebop. In fact, I have a sneaking feeling that somehow the two shows are connected, not just because of the Mars setting. And if you are familiar with Cowboy Bebop, then you should be prepared for top notch quality in not only animation but music as well. In fact, every episode title is named after a famous song such as True Colors, Every Breath You Take, Born to Run, Dancing Queen, etc. Each episode also features the corresponding 45 RPM that the title refers too as eyecatches (title cards that appear in what would be the beginning and end of a commercial break in Japan). Details like this really show that the producers love their classic pop music.

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It must also be pointed out that even though this is an anime with some exaggeration of characters, the character design of our main stars is not only beautifully done but done in a manner that does not overly sexualize them — in other words they look like normal young women. And I must also add that this particular anime has done an exceptional job in not making persons of color look like the racial caricatures they have looked like in the past.

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I found myself, like Roddy, just crushing on the pair of rising stars and found their spirit of not giving up while climbing uphill and keeping their spirits positive to be infectious. It’s as easy to root for these girls as it is to love them. The first twelve episodes complete a major story arc. But it does not close out the show as the second half promises to continue the next phase in their story. Even the show’s rival and antagonist, Angela, is a fascinating character who may have a bad attitude, but is still sympathetic.

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Carole & Tuesday is an absolutely binge-worthy series and will be a delight for everyone. It is appealing for most ages except for some light swearing and one song in particular which is filled with f-words. It’s played for laughs but it is extremely catchy. For reference, it’s Episode 9’s performance by the Mermaid Sisters. Below is the video.

I highly recommend this show not only as an anime but as television series. Like Cowboy Bebop, this is one of those titles that anime fans can recommend to non anime viewers. It is extremely accessible and filled with great tunes that blend naturally into a animated series filled with delightful characters of heart and charm. And for days when you are feeling maybe a little down, tune in to Carole & Tuesday for a show to make you feel a little better about the world. Oh, and you too will want a robotic AI owl alarm clock. Although I’d go for a penguin one.

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Final Score: 9/10

The first volume of the vocal collection is available on iTunes digitally. Amazon Music sells individual songs as opposed to the album.

If you are interested in artists behind the singers in the show follow this link. http://caroleandtuesday.com/music/artists/

Con Report: Silicon Valley Comic Con

September 2, 2019September 2, 2019Robert LeeLeave a comment

This year’s Silicon Valley Comic Con has come and gone and as Silicon Valley’s largest pop-culture and comic book convention it has had ups and downs. As in the last two years prior, it took place in the San Jose Convention Center. Unlike mot comic cons across the nation, SVCC is unique in that they actively incorporate science as part of their programming. In a prominent area right beside the official con merchandise, NASA had an information and merchandise booth.

The con itself was well attended and for the first time it was held in the summer. Previous cons were held during the Spring, around spring break period. I have mixed feelings about this. According to the convention it was due to popular demand that the convention be held in the summertime. But there is a reason that summer is also called Con season and having it in mid August is right in the middle of other conventions as well. For myself I prefer the Spring as summers in Silicon Valley can be unpleasantly hot. Either way, it will be interesting to see the number of attendees this years compared to previous years.

As standard for comic cons, the were plenty of celebrity appearances and opportunities for autographs and photos with these celebrity guests. Silicon Valley Comic Con has had a history of doing reunions of casts. A few years back they re-united the cast of Back to the Future. A year after that it was a reunion of members of the cast of Star Trek the Next Generation. This year it was the re-union of the cast of the first three Terminator films and members of the Mighty Morphing Power Rangers American cast. Unfortunately, even though Arnold Schwarzenegger made an appearance on Sunday for autographs and photos, he was not on hand for the stage appearance with other cast members from the Terminator films such as Robert Patrick, Edward Furlong, Jeannette Goldstein, and Michael Biehn.

Also making an appearance for autographs and photos was Jason Mamoa (Aquaman, Dune) who has been building up a huge following over the years. Unfortunately he could not attend any stage appearance either.

Missing out on these two celebrities on stage was a disappointment but unfortunately it is the nature of the business when you have to work around the schedules of two busy individuals like Arnold and Jason. Too bad I was never a power rangers fan, I would have geeked out.

I did not cosplay this year. Part of that was the South Bay heat was not comfortable for me. And on top of that, some of my costumes no longer fit around the waist. They must have shrunk in storage or something. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Nevertheless, other attendees did cosplay and much of them looked really great.

I did however spend a good amount of time in the main exhibit hall with my shopping list of comics I was looking for and also connecting with acquaintances in Artists Alley. I did notice one thing about the programming track that was interesting. For a comic book convention, there seemed to be a lack of comic book centered programming. Maybe it’s a reflection of the industry that there are plenty of pop culture panels about things such as movies that were influenced by comics but sadly there were hardly any panels about comic books themselves. Maybe no one submitted panel ideas for comic book coverage, which is a shame.

One odd programming choice about panels I did not understand is the overlapping of panels. Half of the panels would start at the top of the hour while another half of the panels scheduled would start at the thirty-minute mark.

As with pretty much all comic conventions these days, the cultural divide is still evident in the total lack of anime and manga programming. Perhaps it is the fact that anime and manga is so huge now (manga sales are actually higher than comic books) that there is some unwritten understanding that they just may as well have their own convention. In fact, Crunchyroll Expo came two weeks after SVCC. .

Overall, the convention this year was slightly disappointing from previous years as not everything seemed to go as planned. I don’t know if there were any plans for either of the big name draws of Mamoa or Schwarzenegger to participate in stage panels but if there was no plans as such it probably should have been announced ahead of time.

Lines to enter into the convention were exceptionally long as the security company hired seemed confused about some of the simplest details such as what snacks could and could not be brought into the venue. People were made to pour out water bottles and and snacks confiscated, this included little bags of M&Ms and trail mix. All beverages including coffee had to be consumed before entering. There was apparently a special entrance for VIP ticket holders, unfortunately, hardly anyone knew about it, not even the ones at the door. And on a personal note, when I had thought that I had lost my car keys inside the convention and tried to get in just after the convention had ended, guards at the door were in total confusion as to what to do.

But the con experience, despite some nitpicks, has been steadily becoming the major pop-culture convention for Northern California. But because it actively cultivates a balance of science and technology with all things we love about nerd culture. Without movie and television studios trying to dominate the convention with major announcements or trailers, this is definitely more friendly towards fans just having fun together.

Review: Amazon’s “The Boys” is Absolutely Subversive

August 1, 2019August 1, 2019Robert LeeLeave a comment

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Warning: This review will contain and reference graphic violence and language throughout.

If you are undergoing a bit of superhero fatigue because they all seem generic and PG-13 sanitized, the expletive filled and violent Deadpool films may fill that void. If you think those are even a little too sanitized, then The Boys series on Amazon Prime just may be your cup of tea. It out-swears and out-gores Deadpool. It doesn’t just paint superheroes in a bad light, it practically makes them villains.

There are many references to Marvel – and especially DC superheroes in the show. In fact, The Boys started out as a comic published by DC under their Wildstorm imprint, but the comic and label were cancelled. The Boys found its home with Dynamite publishing Now Amazon has adapted it for their Prime service.

Superheroes, commonly referred to as Supes in the show are commonplace personalities in the world, specifically the United States. They are looked up to and admired by the masses. In the opening scene, we see an attempted armored car robbery be foiled by two superheroes who have none too subtle similarities to the looks and abilities to Wonder Woman and Superman.

The very next scene shows us that some fucked up shit is going to be happening from this point on. Hughie (Jack Quaid) works at a Radio Shack like electronics store, not quite happy at his job. But he does have a great relationship with his girlfriend, until the day a superhero speedster known as A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) plows through her, leaving a pile of blood and gore. Barely stopping he continues on his way.

The Supes are apparently under the umbrella of the Vought Corporation. They market the heroes and hire them out to cities for protection from crime. And they also produce movies staring these supes as well as create theme parks around them. Add toys and other merchandising and it is obvious that this is a huge corporate company with assets worth billions of dollars. And yes, it is probably a purposeful dig at Marvel Studios and Disney.

It is mentioned that there are over 200 heroes in the country but the prime spot for any of these heroes is to be a part of The Seven, a superhero team that is basically the Justice League. After the retirement of a member, a young and relatively naive superhero from Iowa is given the opportunity to join The Seven.

Coming to Hughie’s life is Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), who claims to be a Fed, but as Hughie says, he looks like he came out of a porn version of the Matrix. He ostensibly gives Hughie the opportunity to get some payback against the supes and particularly A-Train by planting a bug in their headquarters. All he has to do is accept the $45,000 offer from the Vought corporation and sign a non-disclosure agreement.

As you can imagine, things don’t go entirely as planned. Hughie’s life is in danger from invisible superhero Translucent. Butcher saves him and the two take Translucent prisoner. It turns out that Butcher is not who he claimed to be but that he is hell bent on exposing the supes for what they are — a bunch of self-serving sociopaths who care nothing for the public other than their polling numbers, their fake personas, and profits from endorsements. Butcher has no compunction killing supes and hates them all for reasons that are revealed in a later episodes.

Spanning eight episodes, there is practically no filler in this lean series. Every episode advances the story forward. The show takes the concept of superheroes and subverts them more than any other media has ever done, perhaps even more than Watchman. And it is very difficult to give an in depth review without too many spoilers. Each episode is a revelation and they are several arcs that encompass the entire first season run.

In any other comic book universe, the members of The Boys which include other members, Frenchie (Tomer Capon) and Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonzso), would be considered super-villains. But in this world, The Boys do not have super powers and they don’t have tons of money. These are working class folks, each with reasons to hate supes.

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But the world loves its superheroes and think that they can do no wrong. Even in a superhero survivors therapy group, there is no real animosity towards them. But because of their larger than life personas and relentless corporate marketing, the heroes are treated like gods. And the biggest face of that pantheon is Homelander, played perfectly by Antony Starr. Homelander is basically a combination of Superman, Captain America and maybe All Might from the My Hero Academia manga and anime. He even has a flag as a cape. Too bad he’s the biggest cunt in the series. Out of the other Seven, he is an the true sociopath.

Possibly the second most popular member of The Seven is Queen Maeve, (Dominique McElligott) a character analogous to DC’s Wonder Woman as personified by Gal Gadot. She’s definitely in on the dirty business of the superhero life but she is also sympathetic to Starlight’s plight as the new girls and shows genuine remorse for some victims that she can not save while, Homelander shrugs it off and seizes it as a PR opportunity.

Underlying the background of these supes is their control by corporate ownership of Vought, which to them not only is their source of fame and money, but their protection from undue scrutiny and lawsuits. It is soon apparent that they have more than a marketing interest in their supes as they push for lawmakers to allow them to serve in the military as weaponized soldiers. Right away, that is a red flag in any movie or television show, even one that is subverting the genre. They also market the idea that supes are blessed by God to protect people.

The Boys does more than subvert the superhero genre, it gives it a big middle finger to its face. It also is a scathing critique of the cult of personality associated with superheros by painting them as egotistical hypocritical figures who think they are above the law. Now, one can’t but help that in real life comic book movies, Marvel ones in particular, are extremely popular. But none of them, not even the dark visions of Zack Snyder, address the day to day implications of having that much power over a population of non powered beings and the ramifications of how much terror they really cause. Yet amidst all this dark subversive storytelling is also dark subversive comedy that dials up the satire to 11.

The cast is full of personality and Karl Urban chews up his scenes with a plethora of cunts and fucks coming out of his mouth, which is supposed to be a British accent, but sounds more Australian (Karl Urban is from New Zealand). Fellow New Zealander, Antony Starr plays Homelander as the perfect all-smiling all-American hero, while underneath, he’s as total bastard, more of the Evil Superman than the kid in Brightburn. Chace Crawford plays The Deep, an unlikable person from the start who is also a joke to the rest of The Seven because his superpower is talking to fish. Though he is not really deserving of our sympathy, his back story is very interesting. Erin Moriarty Starlight serves as the only supe deserving of our sympathy as she serves as the idealistic one from the small town but thrust into the dark fucked up reality of the corporate superhero world where her image is controlled and her popularity is polled daily. Simon Pegg is featured in a couple of episodes as Hughie’s father which is an homage to the comics, since Hughie was modeled after Simon Pegg.

This show is most definitely not for everyone. It can be crass, crude, gory and uncomfortable. But it is also one of the best takes on superheroes up to date. It turns the idea of superheroes on its head and subverts the idealized idea of them. This show would not be possible and probably be as good as it is if it weren’t for how popular the superhero genre is right now. Avengers: Endgame is now the highest grossing film of all time and it was only a matter of time that a film or television series was made as an anti-superhero series. Now I’ve not read the comics that the series is based on but I never at one time felt it was necessary to have read them to get enjoyment out of it. Thankfully, Amazon has already greenlit a second season and I look forward to it as it ended on a massive cliffhanger.

Final Score: 8.5/10

Marvel at Comic-con 2019

July 25, 2019Robert LeeLeave a comment

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I have not gone to San Diego Comic-con in over a decade, and of course not Hall H. I frankly don’t miss all the crowds and the annoying press of people , especially for Hall H where it can get really packed and bit hot. And it seems that a lot of studios are not going for the big wall to wall presentations anymore like that have done before. Warner Brothers and DC had nothing to bring to comic con this year. And originally, neither did Marvel. But Kevin Feige being the smart marketer that he is, realized that this year was the perfect opportunity to dominate the geek news cycle with Marvel news. So on Saturday, July 20th, Feige and Marvel brought the boom to the room.

Since I could not be there personally, I had to rely social media feeds and YouTube streamers who were also watching social media feeds. It was actually kind of fun. The slate of announcements were for many things were already expected. However there were a few surprises such as casting, and a major reveal in the end.

Obviously if you are not up to date on the most recent Marvel films, including Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home, there will be spoilers ahead.

The Eternals

I know that most fans know very little to nothing about the Eternals. And I highly doubt that anyone out there were thinking “Yeah! Eternals! This is what I’ve always wanted.” And in the history of Marvel comics, they were not a top tier title, or middle tier for that matter. But their existence as the early inhabitants of earth feeds into that History Channel Ancient Astronaut itch. Their inclusion into the Marvel Cinematic Universe could be huge, though. For one thing it is possible this lays down the foundations on why some people become super powered instead of getting killed by, say gamma rays, a radioactive spider, or a super soldier serum.

The Eternals are not exactly a superhero team, they are a race of beings that have existed on earth since the beginning of time. Marvel’s panel introduced audience to the cast: Angelina Jolie will star as Thena alongside Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Lia McHugh as Sprite, and Don Lee as Gilgamesh.

That is a huge stable of talent. And I looks forward to seeing what they do with this. For a more informed take on the significance of The Eternals and what the implications are for the MCU, I recommended Robert Jefferson of Comics Explained to break it down for you.

Thor: Love and Thunder

Gracing Hall H were Chris Helmsworth, Tessa Thompson, and Natalie Portman. Now Ms. Portman has had very little to do in the Thor movies since the Dark World and even her scenes in Avengers Endgame was previously shot footage with some post audio recorded by her. That would beg the question on why she is there. Director Taika Waititi was a fan of Jason Aaron’s comic run of The Mighty Thor where Jane Foster assumed the mantle of Lady Thor. I don’t know how they are going to handle the handing over of ther mantle because the circumstances are unique in the comics and the way the MCU is set up now, it doesn’t seem to be going in the same direction. For the film, though, Jane Foster will be known as Mighty Thor.

Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Yeah, I know a lot out there have no clue who Shang Chi is but I have to say I have never been more dreading and excited. I am excited because Shang Chi was one of my favorite comics in the 70s and especially when artist Paul Gullacy was drawing the comics where he straight up modeled Shang Chi after Bruce Lee to the point that Marvel probably told him to cut it out.

Now, Shang Chi comes with some baggage and the big one is of course that he is the son of Fu Manchu which is possibly one of the worst racist Yellow Peril Stereotypes in history. Marvel lost the rights to the Sax Rohmer characters a few years back. And now they have cast Hong Kong legend Tony Leung Chiu-Wai as the true Mandarin who had been hinted at as a character since Iron Man and did wrong in Iron Man 3. Now the Mandarin is still a problematic character as far as race, but the name doesn’t have the racist baggage that Fu Manchu has.

Newcomer, Simu Liu was introduced as Shang Chi who had only received news that he got the part four days before the panel. But Mr. Liu is not a stranger to Marvel Studios as he had been campaigning for an Asian superhero before Shang Chi was ever officially announced as a project. He seemed to interact really well with the crowd and has a natural charming personality.

I’ll have more thoughts on Shang Chi in an future post. But Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has a lot riding on it that casual fans may not be aware of.

Black Widow

After the events of Endgame, many cynics hve coiced the opinion on why people would want to see a Black Widow movie. Which begs the question of why not? Just because Tony Stark dies in the finale of Endgame does not mean that there is no reason to watch the previous movies with Iron Man. Black Widow is no different. And make no mistake, this is going to be an origin. Joining the cast besides Scarlet Johansson will be David Harbour as Alexei, the Red Guardian.

This looks to be a more grounded film as well as a spy thriller. Besides the Red Guardian which is essentially Russia’s version of Captain America, will be Taskmaster who is a master mimic of fighting styles, making him very difficult to defeat.

WandaVision

Coming to Disney Plus. When the creators outright say that the show is going to be strange, they probably. It will feature Wanda, the Scarlet Witch, and Vision who we last saw dead in Avengers Infinity War. And it will take place after the events of Avengers endgame.

Now, how they bring Vision back from the dead has not been revealed but there are no shortage of theories as to how this can be done. Most likely it has to do with what Shuri did at the last minute in a scene in Infinity War.

I had also been promised that other MCU characters would make appearances in the show as well. The rumors that the show would take place during the 50’s was a bit off. It will apparently have a 50’s feel to it, whatever that means. But it will explore the nature and powers of Wanda more. That brings us to her joining Doctor Strange.

Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness

“Just because Quentin Beck made up lies about the multiverse, doesn’t mean it isn’t real.” Declared Kevin Feige. Director Scott Derrickson promises that this will be the first Marvel Studios horror movie. Benedict Cumberbatch showed up and received a belated happy birthday from the host and audience.

The title itself opens up a lot of possibilities and it has also been confirmed that not only will Benedict Cumberbatch be reprising his role as Strange, but that he will be joined by Elizabeth Olsen reprising her role as Scarlet Witch. My personal theory which is total speculation is that an event will happen within the WandaVision series that will lead up to being resolved in Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.

And it could all lead to Marvel’s House of M, which would be epic. Robert Jefferson is once again, on hand to give an in depth explanation to one of the major storylines to shape the Marvel Comics universe in his four-part House of M videos. Part 1 is below.

Falcon and Winter Soldier

Coming to Disney Plus in 2020 will be Falcon and Winter Soldier in their own limited series. It’s not Captain America and the Winter Soldier. Let me say why this title really works and just may shot down the nerdy theorist out there. Just because Steve Rogers gave his shield to Falcon does not mean he is Captain America. In my opinion, these things may work in the comics where you have month to month to sell the transition. I may even work as a television series. This series is only supposed to be six episodes, however.

From a storytelling standpoint it makes sense that public wants Wilson to be the new Captain America, and maybe he even tries to assume the mantle for a while. But Sam Wilson is not Steve Rogers and he has to come to terms with his own identity too. This really

What If

For Disney Plus, this has the potential to be the most fun and experimental of any series they have on their table or even their movies. What if? was a comic series that was popular for some time in the 70s through the 80s which were usually one issue speculations such as “What if Conan was in the Modern Age?” “What if Mary Jane were Bitten by the Radioactive Spider?” The comics would start with an introduction by a Watcher who basically served as the Rod Serling of the series.

Jeffrey Wright, who has been seen in such big franchises as The Hunger Games, Westworld, and Boardwalk Empire will be providing the voice of The Watcher.

Hawkeye

Also coming to the Disney Plus streaming service is a Hawkeye series. Apparently it will be focusing on Renner’s Hawkey character training Kate Bishop to be the new Hawkeye. “I get to teach someone else how to be a superhero without super powers.” They used the same graphic as the title graphic for Matt Fraction’s run of Hawkeye, which Io9 called one of Marvel’s greatest comics. Yes, there will presumably be a female takeover of the Haweye mantle. Cue anti SJW outrage. But I am intrigued.

Loki

So some bloke named Tom Hiddleston showed up for the announcement of a show that was no secret. Loki will be a limited series streaming on Disney Plus although he had died in Avengers Infinity War, he was very much alive in the time travel portion of Avengers Endgame. And we saw that he had an out. And the version of Loki that will be on the show is going to be the evil Loki, not the chaotic good one that we saw at the end of Thor Ragnarok and the beginning of Infinity War.

Blade

Two-time Academy Award winning actor Mahershala Ali came out on stage at the very tail end of the Marvel presentation. At this point, everyone on stage and in the audience were handed Black Widow hats, but Mr. Ali did not have one. WHen Kevin asked him why he did not have a hat on, he said he brought his own. He put it on and it had a newly revamped logo for Marvel’s Blade. Mic drop of the con.

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Blade had a decent following and had some success as a film franchise starring Wesley Snipes. This would mark Marvel Studio’s foray into the darker universe. The original movies were rated R and Bob Iger, CEO of Disney has said in no uncertain terms that the Marvel Cinematic Universe would not be rated R. Deadpool would be on his own at Fox. It is not impossible for Blade to be rated PG-13. The original comics were written under the outdated days of the Comics Code.

Nevertheless, the it will be some time before we see Blade on screen as Kevin Feige said after the presentation that it would not be part of Phase 4 but rather Phase 5. So many things can happen behind the scenes. Maybe Bob Iger will change his mind.`

Fantastic Four and More

A reboot of Fantastic Four was essentially name-dropped as the panel was closing as well as mentions that Black Panther 2 and Captain Marvel 2. We know the sequels are coming, but there is no release time frame set but it is inevitable. They were name-dropped as well as Fantastic Four. And like Blade, these sequels look to probably be in Phase 5.

Final thoughts

Now, if you think this is Marvel’s mic drop, remember that their appearance at Comic-Con was a last minute decision. And there is still D23 coming up in August which is the major convention run by Disney which they have been promoting for some time to supplant San Diego. Expect to hear more details on Black Panther’s sequel, Captain Marvel, and expect a team-up film to close out the phase. I am sure Marvel has a lot more news to make and more details on the films already mentioned.

There is going to undoubtedly be some pushback against Marvel for having such a diverse cast of characters in their upcoming phase of movies and it will probably be from the same corner of the internet that were going to boycott Captain Marvel and drive its box office numbers down, you know, the same ones who thought that Black Panther was pandering to minorities and was going to be a box office failure. Well, they are proving themselves to be nothing more than circular group of people echoing each other. And we know that half these people on YouTube making their little screeds could not care less or really even believe in what they say. They do it for the clicks and the views. And the fact that there is supposed outrage over diversity shows exactly why there is a need to have diversity. Now these movies may fail. But it probably won’t be because of diversity or more representation of marginalized people. If they fail, it will fail because they are just bad.

If I made any errors in the announcements, forgive me. I will make corrections in the comment section if needed.

Review: Your Lie in April

July 15, 2019July 15, 2019Robert LeeLeave a comment

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Music is a terrible thing…If you hear a marching band, you march, if you hear a waltz, you dance, if you hear a mass you take communion. It is the power of music to carry one directly into the mental state of the composer. The listener has no choice. It is like hypnotism. So now, what was in my mind when I wrote this? Hmm? A man is trying to reach his lover. His carriage is broken down in the rain. The wheels stuck in the mud. She will only wait so long. This is the sound of his agitation. “This is how it is.” The music is saying “not how you are used to being, not how you are used to thinking…but like this.”

Beethoven, Immortal Beloved (1994)

Note: Almost all quoted dialogue is from the English dub as I feel is not only a faithful adaptation of the intended script but also an eloquent localization which flows more naturally when spoken in English. The result is very poetic.

Within the medium of anime, there is a genre called slice of life. Think of it as weekly dramas or sitcoms. They do not usually incorporate any fantastical elements like magical battles or big robots fighting each other. The is no world saving. What usually makes it stand out as a success is a cast of characters that draw the audience into their personal stories how they interact with others.

Every season, there are dozens of anime series that come out encompassing different genres. The slice of life genre has its fair share of titles and of course there will be ones that rise to the top in terms of quality. Every once in a while, there are titles that not only rise to the top of its genre, but rises above all other shows in the medium to become true works of art. Let us look, with some minor spoilers, at the beauty of Your Lie in April.

In Your Lie in April, Arima Kosei was a former prodigy pianist who was on the track to being a star. One day, after the death of his mother, he suddenly stopped playing in the middle of a performance. His two best friends are Tsubaki Sarabe, a tomboyish girl who has known Kosei since they were little children, and Ryota Watari, captain of the soccer team who likes to think of himself as a playboy and likes the company of girls he considers cute. By the way these kids are the most poetic and articulate middle-schoolers ever. The series is very well produced and is absolutely beautiful to see. It is captivating and will break your heart more than once during the 22 episode run.

Kosei’s for the last few years has been basically wading his way through life after the death of his mother. He emotionally broke down in tears on stage. It is soon evident that the reason for this is that he’d been emotionally and physically abused by his mother to become a great pianist. Critics labeled him the human metronome, someone who plays pieces exactly as they were written.

When he first meets Kaori Miyazono, a fellow student, he is intrigues by her free spirit attitude. Ostensibly he and Tsubake are the tag alongs for a introductory meetup between Kaori and Watari because Kaori apparently likes Watari. It turns out that Kaori is a violinist and that she is on her way to a competition. In competition, the players are assigned a set piece that is supposed to be played as it is written. In this case it is the Kreutzer by Beethoven a piece for Violin and Piano. All the other pianist play well and according to the way it is written, but when it is Keori’s turn to play the Kreutzer, it is not as it is written. It is paced differently and alive with flourish and passion. This annoys the judges who mark her down, but it wows the audience. But is the fictional above quote from Immortal Beloved can be taken at perspective, it is like a heart agitated and exited.

While at a cafe together, Kousei shows some kids how to play Mozart’s “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” but he stops in the middle and leaves after improvising. He confesses to Kaori later he can not hear the notes of his own playing once he starts to concentrate. Kaori knows that Kosei used to be an accomplished pianist and is determined to bring his talents out again. His other friends are all for this as they know he’s been aloof, merely content at coldly transcribing pop songs to sheet music for piano. “For people like us, life without music is death.” she tells him.

She tries to convince him to be her accompanist for the next competition. He is constantly surrounded by the planned piece, with either sheet music taped to his text books or the music playing over the school’s PA system. Up until the day of the competition, he still refuses. “You’ll have me this time,” Kaori tells him. “I know you can’t hear your own notes and that you’re all kinds of rusty. I know all of that. And I want you with me anyway. Maybe we bomb out there. Maybe we step off that stage in defeat. We are going to play. If there is a crowd and a chance to play, I’m taking it. I’ll give it everything I’ve got. And the people who hear, they’ll never forget me. Part of me will echo in their hearts forever. I think those moments are why I’m alive. I was put on this earth to make music, and so were you. So please, be my accompanist. Believe in me, even a tiny bit.”

In his first public appearance since he broke down, he is unable to keep up with Kaori’s free spirited and lively playing. He starts off well, but haunted by the memory of his mother who literally beat it into him to him, he becomes lost. His ability to hear the notes, once again leaves him as he loses confidence. He ends up halting completely.

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The competition is over for them, now. But Kaori merely gives Kosei a look and says “Again?” She starts from the top and once again he tries to follow. We hear her thoughts as if he were communicating with him telepathically. “It’s dark and we can’t see where the road leads, but trust in me and take another step. The stars will light our path however faintly. I know they will. Come on, our journey awaits.” At this point she’s just playing to play. “She moves me forward, relentlessly, like a heartbeat. Her music is everywhere.” he thinks to himself as he unleashes himself on the keys not as an accompanist but as a soloist. One of the judges observes it is like observing a musical brawl. Yet, there is so much spirit and bravado that even though they are now out of competition, they have the audience enthralled, resulting in a rock concert style standing ovation. “The cool dry air, the sent of dust, my journey has begun,” says Kosei to himself.

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Yes, they were disqualified, and their performance was technically a train wreck, but slowly Kosei begins to open up and try to come to grips with the inner pain he still carries from his mother’s treatment of him.

It is clear right away that Kosei is attracted to Kaori not just for her musical abilities but for how he makes him feel more alive than he has in years. “The girl who likes my best friend,” he even thinks. Yet, he also knows his best friend likes her and she likes him. Yet, Watari doesn’t have a bone of jealousy in his body and encourages him to be play with Kaori. Of course, Watari is a good hearted playa, so of course he’s got another girl. And as par for the course with standard anime and melodrama tropes, Tsubake as been developing feelings for Kosei too.

As dramatic as the subject matter is, there are great moments of comedy between the characters, much of it slapstick and stylized in chibi transformations where the characters become mini caricatures of themselves. Much of that slapstick humor comes at the expense of Kosei, though as he is often kicked, slapped and yelled at by caricature versions of his friends. This is of course played for laughs and stands in total contrast to the flashbacks of when his mother would abuse him both verbally and physically. This may be more disturbing to some than others and some of you may not see the difference between the slapstick chibi violence and the memories of Kosei’s past.

Kaori manages to talk (i.e. trick) Kosei into entering a competition featuring Chopin’s Wrong Note Etude. As the layers of Kosei’s old pain is peeled away, the scabs are exposed. Hidden within his pain was the belief that if he were a better piano player, his wheelchair bound and sick mother would get better. Yet, we are still watching the deconstruction of a young boy who is dealing with repressed pain, maybe even depression. Kosei’s memories come flooding back during the competition as he faces down the looming presence of his mother’s shadow, and looks toward Kaori for his inspiration.

In many ways, Kosei shares SOME qualities with Shinji from Neon Genesis Evangelion in that he has led a traumatized life. His pain and trauma stem from merely wanting approval and acceptance from a parent. Yet, he evolves beyond being the human metronome. He has learned to play with heart and love. It even inspires his old competition rivals.

Some of the elements that make the simplest of stories succeed and resonate is of course is in the execution. Your Lie in April is an absolutely beautiful modern anime with warm colors contrasted with the stereotypical flutter of falling cherry blossom leaves. You can tell that this show was not skimped on. Much of the musical performances on piano and violin look rotoscoped which gives it a look of authenticity.

And of course, the music is from some of the greatest classical composers of all time. On hand are Beethoven, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Bach, Kreisler, and Mozart. The original music is good and as well and has a top notch opening song by the group Goose House.

The writing, once you accept the fact that these are the most eloquent middle-school kids in the world, is beautiful. The dialogue when it is not being comedic, is near poetic in the English dub or even when reading the subtitles. The writing works in subtle and complex ways of proving a narrative and advancing some important themes. Kosei may be just be one boy in an average middle-school. But his story just doesn’t effect himself, his success and failures relies on and effects all those around him, from his rivals to his best friends. His joys and sorrows (which are also two musical pieces used, Love’s Sorrow, Love’s Joy) are deeply connected to everyone.

Your Lie in April teaches us is that we matter to our friends and our joy brings them joy. We need personal connections not only to live but to lift each other up. Koari is the greatest personification of that. We can probably relate to those points in our lives where we fee down, with low feelings of self worth. We are not good enough, we can never live up to what is expected of us. So when Someone like Kaori comes along saying something like, it’s all right, be what you are, live like there’s no tomorrow, it is a wish many of us desire over most difficult of times in our lives.

Your Lie in April has more than its fair share of melodrama beyond what was already mentioned. Some of the supporting characters do not have much of a story arc outside of Tsubake. Kaori’s back story is revealed even slower than Kosei’s and it is not until the final episode 22, the finale that we learn her story fully. And we also find out the significance of the title, Your Lie in April. I’ve known grown men to totally break down in tears by the end of the series.

The beauty of the series is not just the gorgeous art but in the main characters. While some may feel like there is too much internal monologues of Kosei and a few others, it actually allows us to enter into not only their personality but their souls. It makes the show all the more compelling and we end up rooting for Kosei to succeed.

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I am an unabashed fan of this series and have watched it several times. It is filled with beautiful animation, classical music, exceptional English dubbing, and poetic writing. It says to the audience, you don’t have to go through life alone, there are people who care for you and even love you. Highest Recommendation

Final Score: 9.5/10

Review: The Rising of a Shield Hero Season 1

July 4, 2019Robert Lee2 Comments

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In various anime the theme of being transported into another world, under the sub-genre called isekai, is not especially knew, of course. One of my favorite ones was The Vision of Escaflowne from 1996. Modern isekai, for better or worse, have lately been following the formula of not merely transporting the main character or characters from their ordinary mundane lives and depositing them into a fantasy world. Most new isekai now transports the character to a fantasy RPG gaming world — with stat sheets and leveling up quests.

Most of these shows are trash in my opinion. One show I managed to catch last year, and I’ve mentioned in my coverage of Crunchyroll Expo 2018, was a preview of The Rising of the Shield Hero. This particular show stands above the generic isekai that has lately flooded the industry. Based on a series of light novels by Aneko Yusagi, the anime had a bit of internet controversy which we will get to later but it turns a few fantasy cliches on its head while still following some standard tropes. There is also a series of manga that is adapting the light novels.

Naofumi Iwatani is an otaku college student. One day in the library, he stumbles upon a copy of a book called The Record of the Four Holy Weapons. Believing it is a standard light novel, he begins skimming through it. He sees a description of a world that summons four heroes from another world to battle great waves of evil. He smirks how cliched it is when the heroes are described as a Sword Hero, a Spear Hero, and a Bow Hero. When he gets to the section detailing the different heroes, the entry for the Shield Hero is blank. So of course, magic light happens and he gets yanked out of the mundane world and into another world.

Upon arrival, Naofumi meets the other summoned heroes who are apparently not only from alternate eras of Japan, but from alternate histories as well. For this first season, that fact hasn’t come into play. Each of the other heroes are armed with their perspective weapons. Naofumi is armed with, you guessed it, a shield. In most games, the shield person is a bit useless and has no offensive capabilities.

It seems that the summoned heroes have no choice but to help the kingdom defeat the monstrous hoards that threaten the kingdom in waves. Their only way of returning is by winning. Not only that, they are low level heroes with zero experience. Yes, in the corner of their vision is their stat sheet which tracks their levels and skills. It is determined that they must level up before the first wave arrives and must do so separately. They are each allowed to recruit a party to join them in their leveling up quests.

Unfortunately for Naofumi, no one chooses to join his party initially. Myne, daughter of the King does decide to join him though and they set out to into the world. He acquires some low-level armor and a bit of coin. And after what he feels is a successful day of adventuring and slaughtering orange balloons, he relaxes with a few pints and spends the night in a tavern.

The next morning, he is arrested and accused of a crime he did not commit, the attempted rape of Myne. While in the court of the king, and in front of the other heroes, it is apparent that not only are the charges false, but a set-up my Myne to discredit him.

Controversy One – Let me take a bit to address this as when this episode first aired, there was quite a bit of internet controversy over the idea a false rape charge. Rape is a very serious real world horror. In this era of Me Too, something like this is sure to generate controversy. And as far as storytelling is concerned it gives insight to the personality of Myne, who will go on to be one of the most disliked anime character in years. I don’t believe the creator or the producers were trying to make any sort of statement other than to portray Myne as an evil and devious person. If you can get by that, then the anime is worth watching.

No one believes in Naofumi’s innocence and yet, because of his status a the shield hero he can not be imprisoned, executed or even sent back to his world. Instead, he is ostracized as world spread about him about being some sort or monster.

Here is where the show becomes something special. By the second episode, Naofumi is despised and outcast. He is alone and has the entire world hating him for a crime he did not do. One of his few sympathizers is the weapons and armor shopkeeper, who ends up lending him some armor. Since no one is willing to join him, he resorts to acquiring a slave since he can not trust anyone (in this world, slavery is not outlawed, but still looked down on. They are also bound by a spell that ensures obedience.) But because he can not use offensive weapons, he trains his newly acquired slave, a demi-human named Raphtalia to be his sword to his shield.

Controversy Two – Being American, slavery and it’s legacy are hot issues to this day. However, outside of the United States and historically, slavery was treated differently. That is not to say that it was a positive thing to be a slave. In fact, the show even has the most dislikable characters despise slavery. For a much more in depth analysis of the subject, I recommend this well written and unique (it’s a Christian anime website — that’s unique!) and lengthy article at Beneath the Tangles.

As the season progresses, Naofumi’s character arc undergoes quite a change as he acquires more party members. His distrust of everyone around him makes him a perfect anti-hero and at first he does not care about his quests other than a means of leveling himself up and fulfilling his duty as the shield hero so that he can go back to his own world. As time goes on, mostly under the influence of Raphtalia, Naofumi not only begins to trust, but to become concerned for the common folk of the kingdom.

Before long, it seems that Naofumi is left to clean up the mess left after the other heroes. When the bow hero slays a dragon, its rotting corpse begins to spread disease. He ends up ridding the town of the disease and killing the not-quite-dead dragon.

There is much to like about the series, especially the supporting characters. Well, some of the supporting characters are outright despicable. Even though it relies heavily on the tropes of the genre it is trying to subvert, it has enough original elements in it to rise above the average dropped into another world anime. Not everything is straight forward or as what initially as it seems as the later episodes in the season hint at a deeper complexity to the world than what has been seen so far.

Though we mostly follow the exploits of Naofumi, he crosses paths a few times with the other heroes. But being blinded by Naofumi’s reputation and the lies about him they are not automatically trusting of him, even if they do have the same goals. Although, Ren (sword hero)and Itsuki (bow hero)come across later as more open minded and interested in seeking the truth. Motoyasu (spear hero), however, pretty much stays a douche throughout the season.

This is not a grimdark fantasy like Berserk, however and for good or ill it does have it’s lighter moments, mostly involving Naofumi’s companions. But as the season progresses, he does lighten up a bit. And a par for the course, there is a healthy dosage of cute contenders for best girl. The animation is definitely top notch, with well done battle scenes and a unique magic system that does not seem to b confined to any one class. The music by Kevin Penkin is appropriately epic.

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The final episode of the first season ends on both a good closing point and a cliffhanger which is a foreshadow for things to come. At the time of this writing, there has been no announcement for a second season. So if a second season does not happen, even though there is no indication of that, the first season is definitely worth checking out. Recommended

Final Score: 8/10

You Should be Watching Cinemax’s Warrior

May 28, 2019May 29, 2019Robert Lee1 Comment

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“I’m a Chinaman who’s never been to China. I was born in San Francisco, but I’m sure no fucking American. I don’t belong anywhere.”

Young Jun from Warrior

It is nearly impossible to describe how big an impact Bruce Lee had on the world of martial arts, martial arts movies, and action movies in general in a simple blog post. With just a handful of movies, most of which were really not that good and don’t hold up to the test of time, he solidified his iconic status as a martial arts superstar with name recognition that has lasted over 45 years past his death. But that stardom was hard to come by, especially in Hollywood. While getting moderate success in supporting roles, it would take him moving back to his childhood home of Hong Kong for him to have a leading role.

Hollywood in the late 60s and early 70s was not anywhere near as diverse an industry as today. And, frankly, it’s still not as diverse as it should be. But legend has it that Bruce Lee approached Warner Brothers with a pitch about a Chinese man coming to America during the late 1800s in the search for his sister. It would be a series that not only featured an Asian leading man, but would be a vehicle for him specifically and a showcase for martial arts. Warner Brothers and ABC declined, presumably with the excuse that Americans would not accept a Chinese leading man in a television show. ABC went on to produce Kung Fu, starring David Carradine.

Flash forward to 2019, and Cinemax, with the participation of his daughter, Shannon Lee, have finally brought us Bruce Lee’s original vision for a television series. Shannon Lee, Jonathan Tropper (Banshee) and Justin Lin (Fast & Furious 3-6, Star Trek Beyond) would join in producing the series Warrior that premiered this year on the premium cable channel. So let’s dive into a non-spoiler review of the first season of Warrior, and why you should be watching it.

When the first episode of Warrior opens, Ah Sahm (played by Andrew Koji) is literally fresh off the boat when he comes face to face with the bigotry of America, specifically San Francisco. He encounters a trio of abusive immigration officers, one of whom knocks a bowl of rice out of the hands of another immigrant. They mock him as he begins to pick up the rice from the ground. Ah Sahm intervenes, trying to save the man’s dignity no matter how starving he is.

That doesn’t go over well with the cops and it gives us our first glimpse of what’s to come. When Ah Sahm quickly dispatches the cops, and is recruited into one of the biggest Tong gangs in San Francisco, the Hop Wei.

This may be a show that takes place in a western setting, specifically post civil-war, but it feels modern — specially with the language, which is very generous in it’s usage of the f-word. The almost all Asian cast exist in a Western setting that is more like Deadwood, than Gunsmoke. The costuming is almost contemporary. And it may be a small thing for some, but much of the Asian characters forego wearing the traditional queue pigtail of the period. This is significant in that the queue was actually a hairstyle imposed by the conquering Manchus to demean the Han Chinese and if one were to cut off or remove it, they were never allowed back in their country or face a death sentence.

As much as a disappointment as the final season of Game of Thrones was to me (I’m definitely working on that article), the first season of Warrior exceeds expectations. From the first episode, we are given the racial and political layout of San Francisco. There is tension between the different Tong gangs with gambling, prostitution and especially opium. There is huge tension between the Irish workers and the Chinese laborers, who they believe are stealing their jobs. And then there is a corrupt police department barely able to contain the brewing powder-keg of tension ready to explode.

Since this is based on the writings of Bruce Lee, the series is also meant to be a showcase for martial arts action. If you have watched the AMC series Into the Badlands, you will know that the martial arts in that show is it’s main selling point. But that choreography purposely goes for the more stylized wire effects and near fantasy versions of fighting. Warrior presents its fights not just in a more grounded style, foregoing what Lee used to call “that classical mess,” it can get downright brutal. You won’t see any fancy flourishes or set forms and moves that were staples of 70s era martial arts epics. You certainly won’t see gravity defying wire-work. What you will get is hard hitting grounded martial arts pioneered by Bruce Lee and seen in contemporary martial arts action films.

There is quite a stable of talented martial arts actors in the show besides the main star Andrew Koji. Jason Tobin plays Young Jun, the son of the chief Hop Wei Tong. As far as gangster performances are concerned, he is the Tong’s Sonny Corleone. Rich Ting is appropriately intimidating and lethal as “Bolo,” who is considered the Hop Wei’s best fighter. Joe Taslim, who has proven himself a dynamic martial artist in films like, The Raid: Redemption, and The Night Comes for Us, plays Li Yong, an enforcer for rival tong, the Long Zi.

On top of the top-notch action and exceptional performances lies timely and topical themes about the immigrant experience. Chinese are shunned by the white American populace. They are treated as others, uncivilized, bringing crime and disease to America, as well as taking jobs away from Americans. If this sounds familiar it is purposely so. It is an obvious commentary on the how immigrants are perceived today. And towards the end of the season, there is talks of the beginnings of infamously racist Chinese Exclusion Act.

The show is pretty much serialized but with perhaps the one exception of what could be considered filler. Yet, it is a spectacular filler. “The Blood and the Shit” is a straight up homage to classic western tropes and borrows heavily from Quentin Tarantino’s Hateful Eight. The episode takes Ah Sahm and Young Jun out of their regular element of the “blood and shit” (as Young Jun describes it) of San Francisco to Nevada as they are transporting the corpse and coffin of a Hop Wei relative. The coach driver has to make a stop at a saloon in the middle of the desert so that the horse may rest up. Besides putting up with racist remarks from fellow coach passengers, they end up having to fend off a gang of robbers. The episodes serves also to solidify the bonds of friendship that Ah Sahm and Young Jun have. But for me it is the most straight up fun of the season.

The show plays a little loose with some historical accuracy. But the tong wars were indeed real, and they were incredibly violent. The names of the gangs are different for sure. As a native San Franciscan and American born Chinese I’m a little familiar with some of those Tong names, as they are still on buildings to this day.

Although it may be confusing at times, Andrew Koji’s Ah Sahm character is the only one that speaks perfect English because his grandfather was American. Though the entire Asian cast speaks English, it only within their points of view each other. So sometimes you may here them speaking accented English in front of non-Chinese or Cantonese.

Warrior, with its hip storytelling style and willingness to take on the western genre and tell it from the viewpoint of a marginalized and many times forgotten people that helped build this country, is unique, thought provoking, and without a doubt entertaining. It has already been renewed for a second season. I’ll be looking forward to that and highly recommend checking this first season out.

Update

I know I have been remise in mentioning the women of Warrior. I’ll try to go over them without spoiling anything, since the core of their characters play against type. Olivia Cheng play Ah Toy, a madam of a local brothel who is much more than what most people see on the surface. Dianne Doan plays a character that walks a line between the world of power plays within the Tongs and the local politicians. Joanna Vanderham plays the wife of San Francisco’s mayor, in a loveless marriage and one of the lone non-bigoted among the Americans. It goes beyond saying that they not only add to a cast of fine performances but their characters subvert stereotypes as well.

Review: Doctor Who – The Thirteenth Doctor

January 21, 2019January 21, 2019Robert LeeLeave a comment

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“It’s About Time” proclaimed the tagline for the new season of Doctor Who. It is of course a play on words as the Doctor travels throughout time and space but is also for the first time to be portrayed by a woman. The new season would also herald the departure of long time showrunner, Stephen Moffat and usher in a new showrunner and writers. They also made a conscious and public decision to use original stories without old villains returning such as the Daleks, or Cybermen. In a way, all those changes stacked the deck against them. Anytime there is a new Doctor there is some kind of resistance and with the decision to finally cast a woman in the role, the internet being what it is unleashed its army of trolls.

So is this the best that the Doctor has ever been? No, not really. But it has potential. Hopefully that potential gets realized in later seasons. Is it so bad that it killed your dog and you have to go John Wick on the producers? No, far from it. But it has had some freshman problems mostly in consistent writing. Rather than totally recap all episodes I’m going to go over some of the highs and lows of the season and my overall impressions of the new season and Doctor.

The season started off well enough with the introduction of the new Doctor and an ensemble cast of companions in “The Woman Who Fell to Earth.” There’s some regeneration confusion and head wonkiness on the Doctor’s (Jodie Whittaker) part. Graham (Bradley Walsh) is a bus driver, married to Ryan’s (Tosin Cole) grandmother. There is a bit of distance between them as they are not really related. And Yasmin (Mandip Gill) is a young police officer who once went to school with Ryan. So not only are we introduced to a group of companions who are relatively ordinary people, there is no hint of them being anything other than that. None of the three seem to be a universe altering objects. Yes, I’m looking at you Bad Wolf, and Clara. They could be any of us just plucked from our mundane world into adventures through time and space.

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The second episode, “The Ghost Monument,” was still trying to find it’s legs for it’s ensemble and is not particularly remarkable as a Who episode. It’s just there. We do, however finally get to see the newly redesigned interior of the Tardis.

I’ve already heaped my praise in a specific episode review of “Rosa.” It still stands as the highlight episode of the season. Looking back on it it, I think it will be considered one of the best episodes of the modern era. It is a shame, however, that they followed such a well-rounded episode with “Arachnids in the UK.” Slightly above mediocre only because of the guest appearance of Chris Noth or Law and Order fame. The episode after, “The Tsuranga Conundrum,” was more or less a bottle episode where the Doctor and team must avert disaster on a hospital ship. Some interesting moments and here and there, plus one incredibly cute monster that eats everything. But it’s still not as cute as an Adipose. It’s a straight forward Doctor Who episode with some decent science fiction elements.

Going again into the past, “Demons of the Punjab” feels almost like a spiritual successor to the excellent Rose-centric “Father’s Day” episode. Yaz not only explores her family’s past but along with the rest of the Tardis gang explores the very bloody day of Partition Day, when India and Pakistan split into two nations. There was a little bit of hand holding for “Rosa,” for European audiences, but Partition Day seems very much a part of British history and its repercussions are still felt today. Like Rosa, it presents a set moment in time which can not be interfered with by the Doctor and her companions. And for Yaz, making sure history plays out as it is supposed to is personal. Like “Rosa,” “Demons of the Punjab” also has them be a part of that history as well. It addresses the often paradoxical appearance of time travelers as not just participants but as part of the history itself. In the end, it is implied that they were always there as part of history. After “Rosa” this is my favorite episode because it deals with drama that is grounded and relatable. It also has some nice interactions with Yaz’s family.

I think that after “Demons of the Punjab,” the series starts to gain its full legs. The writing is sharper. After a rather amusing episode called “Kerblam,” a little lark taking a few stabs at Amazon shipping and their warehouses, we get “The Witchfinders.” It’s a well done monster episode, also taking place in the past, this time where the Tardis team gets to actually change a few things. They are in a period where suspected witches are persecuted and even King James I makes an appearance for good measure. It is also the first time that sexism actually becomes an issue since King James does not believe in the Doctor’s authority with her usual magic ID papers. Graham, as the older white male, ends up playing the role of Witchfinder General, a sort of bigshot inquisitor who hunts witches.

The character interactions evolve more especially between Ryan and Graham in the surreal “It Takes You Away.” Ryan has father issues from his father not being around especially after the death of his mother. He is also a bit resentful of Graham marrying his grandmother not because of race, but because he is trying to be a father figure to Ryan. Graham, himself has had trouble coming to grips with the death of his wife, Grace who we last saw in the first episode of the season. It is ultimately an episode about loss of those whom we love and how we so often wish they were back with us. It’s deals with those last vestiges of grief, the final goodbyes that many of us wish we had.

The season closes out with “The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos,” a mouthful of words for a fairly decent episode where we come full circle and are confronted with the return of the villain from the first episode., Tzim-Sha. The Doctor just calls him Tim Shaw. Tim Shaw makes for menacing enough monster though a bit generic. The science fiction elements of it are rather interesting with the incredibly powerful and religious Ux. Graham seems to complete his character arc of the season as he starts out by saying that he intends to kill Tim Shaw the first chance he gets. He eventually is the one that makes a choice in what sort of justice must be served.

Now it has become a bit of a tradition in modern Who to have a Christmas Special. So not surprisingly many fans were upset that they did a New Year Special instead. Give me a break, people. Find something else to complain about. The special, “Resolution,” brings in a new year and an old villain. No surprise it’s a Dalek. Apparently a scout Dalek that was defeated in the 9th Century resurrects and is trying to communicate to the fleet. The Doctor and team try to stop it. It works really well as a Dalek episode. For half the episode, it is in its flesh gob form and is controlling a human’s mind and body which is something new and unnerving at the same time. It’s mechanical body is a bit more imposing, not as sleek as modern ones, as it is cobbled together from whatever it can get. The special also features an appearance by Ryan’s father in which we get some closure on the character arc of Ryan.

Right up front, Jodie Whittaker as the new Doctor and her new companions have a great dynamic together and chemistry. Also instead of waiting around always parroting,”Don’t worry, the Doctor will save us,” they work as a team or “fam” as the Doctor sometimes calls them. There is a deliberate emphasis on character development for the season which allows us to get to know them not only as empty cups to be filled by whatever the showrunners feel like making them from week to week. The companions, as I’ve said, up until meeting the Doctor have led fairly mundane lives, but the call to adventure and to make some sort of difference in the universe is very convincing.

Jodie Whittaker brings delight to the show and a sense of wonderment as well. That is something that has been lacking lately. As we go on this journey with her, we experience that joy as well. Sure there is danger but there is good in what she does, and it looks like she is having fun doing it. For the most part, anyway. Exception given for Daleks.

The episodic nature of the season does away with seasonal story arcs of the past and for the most part it works. But it’s a double-edged sword. Episodes are wrapped up neatly at the end and sometimes the writing shows that a nice tidy conclusion must happen, and it must happen quickly. It is very opposite of the Moffat era of convoluted season arcs and breadcrumbs of plot clues. Ultimately a few episodes have plot threads that were introduced into an episode dangling or uncluded by the end of that episode.

The shortened 10 episode season did not help the new Doctor much either. Any new regeneration will need a few episodes to get its legs. By the time the season becomes comfortable it is almost half over. And I can see why some see so many shortcomings of the show.

And I must say that as much as I appreciated Murray Gold’s music for the last 10 seasons of Doctor Who, I am quite impressed with the music from the new composer Segun Akenola. His title theme is a bit more evocative of the classic theme than the last few seasons. And although it is probably not the choice of the composer, for years I’ve disliked the sound mix of overly dramatic music drowning out dialogue.

The bottom line is Jodie Whittaker makes a fine Doctor and her companions are very down to earth and relatable. I have high hopes for some improvements next season and I’m looking forward to a few more seasons of her and her fam.

Trivia

I believe Yasmin Khan is the Doctor’s first Asian companion. While checking that, I came upon another Yasmin Khan:

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coincidencealiensguy

Final Score: 9/10

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Final Score: 9/10

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Final Score: 8.5/10

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The Eternals

Thor: Love and Thunder

Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Black Widow

WandaVision

Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness

Falcon and Winter Soldier

What If

Hawkeye

Loki

Blade

Fantastic Four and More

Final thoughts

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Final Score: 9.5/10

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Final Score: 8/10

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Update

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Trivia

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