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Dark Genius
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Digimon: Digital Monsters (1999)
Cool anime!
Digimon Adventure and Zero Two are some of the coolest animes that i've seen. And to be sure, I've seen alot. From Evangelion to DBZ, I've seen anime in just about every spectrum of human thought; however, digimon remains in my top 3. There are many reasons for this and I'd like to give some now without bashing pokemon or other animes that people like to compare Digimon to.
First, Character Development and Interactions is basically what half of digimon is all about. In the first season, half the problems the kids get into are because of their own mistakes and problems; however, they always stand together when needed. At first the kids are amazed with the new world they find known as the Digital World. They go through many battles and defeat Devimon. At this point they realize that not everything in this world is so great and the loss of Angemon weakens everyone's spirits. They then have to go and fight on Server(i love the continent names haha) and it is there they defeat Etemon after a long struggle. After Tai leaves everyone goes their separate ways and its here we first see how the characters really are when they are alone. Matt who was thought of as this lone shark of sorts shows that he really is a team player when he helps Joe out for that long period of time. The second part of this idea is that there are approximately 16 different people in the first season to get to know. This is because of the 8 Digidestined children and their digimon. They have different ideas about everything so everyone that watches this show can find some character they relate to.
Then, there are the incredible action sequences throughout the season. There are always new enemies after old enemies have been dealt with; showing that it is the duty of everyone to stop evil...even if it can't be destroyed completely. There were many memorable battles that i'll rewind to and watch these days 3 years down the road from the first time i saw it. I mean the first time u see Angemon, to the whole Myotismon arc, to the first time we see Mega Digimon go at it....this series is jam-packed with great battles.
The great thing about Digimon is that it deals with all the problems that youth go through in their teen years without being overly-gushing with emotion. Like we see the great happiness that arrises when the children finally defeat Myotismon; however, just a couple of minutes later they are up against the Dark Masters with no hope of winning. This causes utter distress in the kids and their group breaks down. We see Matt and Sora deal with Depression and Mimi with Greed. We see TK grow up in episode 52 and with his revolution evolution Magnaangemon is born. Everyone is shown to have their own fears and strengths and this true diversity just makes this show great.
Basically Zero Two just expands upon the first season with new characters while keeping our heroes as mentors to the new basically. It is a great season, full of action and emotion.
Together these two seasons were utterly amazing, spanning 104 episodes and spawning 4 movies and numerous video games...both Japanese and American. Also the card game is ever successful, so it is no wonder why so many people like this great series. From "And so it begins" to "A million points of Light" Digimon is truly an action-packed ride.
Daredevil (2003)
Good, but no Spidey
I went into Daredevil expecting an incredible movie hyped for around 8 months. As is often true, movies don't live up to their hype and Daredevil is another fateful example of this. Other such dissapointments include X-Men and Episode 1/2.
Daredevil, while indowed with plenty of incredible action scenes, falls short in the department of something that every film needs. That department, the audience's care for the characters, is ultimately far underdeveloped. We, the audience, fail to care for these characters packed into a 90 minute mini-movie of a great comicbook. Daredevil, a second tier character, would seem to be a very good person to base a movie on; however, it falls short due to his portrayal. He is a dark, destructive character who places revenge above morality. Normally, it would seem that the vengeful human race would find solice in a character such as this.
This mess of a film throws us into the live of Matt Murdock in the capable hands of Ben Affleck. BA gives a generally stand-up performance normally uncharacteristic of his skills. The great Kingpin isn't given enough screen time and the audience doesn't really care about him. It mattered nothing to me if he died or killed hundreds of others. He simply wasn't given enough time to formulate an evil presence.
The same is true with Bullseye, the "main villian" of this Daredevil picture. Although the writers tried to portray him as this evil assassin, I ultimately thanked him for his victories. I wanted that old hag to die just as much as him and thought the whole paper-clip death was fun. However, it just didn't create an evil persona for him and he comes off almost as comedic relief. This here is one fan that thinks Colin Farrell is probably the most overestimated actor out there right now. As of now, he has yet to star in a movie that I could sit through without wincing in agony every few minutes(I.E. American Outlaws).
Lastly I think that Jennifer Garner was perfect as the Deadly Electra. She fits the role to a "t" and doesn't falter even with the few lines that she is given. Plus, who wouldn't want to look at Jennifer for a 90 minute film. *watches the complete lack of raised hands*.
I give it the popular consensus of 6/10 just below X-Men, but far off from the glory of Spider-Man.
Kidô senshi Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory (1991)
An incredible branch in the UC timeline!
Stardust Memory is by far one of the best and most enjoyable of the whole Gundam collection. As its rating shows, most others agree that this series offers the best of mecha in recent times. It has everything that one could want in a series: great battles, cool characters, likable villains, and of course it continues with the Gundam tradition of showing both sides of war. It even has some comedy and romance(although somewhat annoying). Kou Uraki whines just a little bit less than Amuro, so u won't have to wear earplugs while watching. The best aspect of the series has to be the battles. Throughout of the series, we see the use of 3 incredible gundams. Each of them has their own niche that sets them apart. The GP01 is the classic Gundam for all purposes. The GP02 has first strike capabilities that basically starts Operation Stardust. The GP03 is just an incredible mobile armor/suit. Besides these, the battles are very even unlike MSG's battles. The Zeon have equality in the way of mobile suits. But anyways, this series is a must see for any Gundam fan and it has the coolest villain ever. Long live Anavel Gato, The Nightmare of Solomon.
Doragon Bôru Zetto Zetsubô e no Hankô!! Nokosareta Chô-Senshi Gohan to Torankusu (1993)
The best DBZ movie/tv movie....
The "History of Trunks," was the greatest DBZ movie that i have seen. It had more drama than the normal movie, and that was what made it so great.
Basically it reveals the future in which everyone except Gohan and Trunks have been killed by the Androids, and the two Z-fighters train hard to win the future...
Mononoke-hime (1997)
Excellent example of the breath-taking of Japanese Animation
When I first rented this movie, I was expecting an awesome anime with incredible animation. That was exactly what i got. I have been a fan of anime for over 3 years now. I have seen Akira, Ghost in the Shell, NGE, DB/DBZ/DBGT, and others. However, I can truly say this was one of the greatest animes......no movies...that i have ever seen.
At first it was a little confusing but then it cleared up and was stunning. The incredible animation paired with the excellent storyline made this breathtaking. A must see for anime fans and non-anime fans alike.
10 out of 10......no lie
Shinseiki Evangelion (1995)
Simply stunning......
This series is simply mind-numblingly good. There is no other way that i can possibly describe how deep and amazing this series is. If you never see another Anime series in your life after it...see this. It will change your perception on anime and series in general.
I hope that they never dub this series.....it is so perfect....i wouldn't want it to be messed up.
Gabe