Disney

Disney Missed The Mark With “The Marvels” Movie – Review.

As a long-time fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I approached “The Marvels” with high expectations, especially given the buzz around cameo appearances of iconic characters like Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Captain America (Chris Evans) in the trailers. However, my anticipation quickly turned to disappointment when these scenes were noticeably absent from the actual film. This bait-and-switch tactic set a disheartening tone for the rest of the movie.

See the trailer they used here: read more

Disney Missed The Mark With “The Marvels” Movie – Review. Read More »

Disney Dreamlight Valley Review

I’ve spent the past month playing Disney Dreamlight valley on the Nintendo switch.

Disney Dreamlight valley is a cute farming and life simulation game featuring memorable Disney characters past and present.

You grow crops, cook and discover new recipes, decorate your home and village, and customize a unique avatar.

Disney Dreamlight Valley is similar to the sims or animal crossing or harvest moon or atelier or similar simulation games.

Is this game for you?

Here’s my advice as a player since launch: read more

Disney Dreamlight Valley Review Read More »

Disney World 50th Anniversary Post Trip Review October 2021

I just returned from Walt Disney World yesterday. I stayed at Coronado Springs Resort from October 2 – October 8 and checked out on October 9. I flew with Southwest. Here are some thoughts and impressions.

Sprinkled throughout are some photos. Some are photopass and others are camera pics from either my Iphone 13 Pro or my husbands Galaxy – something 11? maybe? I am too lazy to match the pics to what I’m talking about so pic is not related to each paragraph and just here to show off the fun and excitement we had on our Walt Disney World vacation Disneymoon / Honeymoon. read more

Disney World 50th Anniversary Post Trip Review October 2021 Read More »

Disney World New Genie+ Lightning Lane Passes – Why I Like Them.

Disney announced yesterday the new system that will replace Fast Passes at Disney World in Orlando Florida. This new system is known as Genie+ and Lightning Lane. This new optional additional feature allows you to use the fast pass lanes – renaming them to lightning lanes it appears – for most – but not all – rides for $15 per person per day. Here we go again – anytime Disney World changes pricing, the people of the internet lose their actual minds. People are going crazy and highly upset and offended by this change. Although when Disney took away fast passes last summer due to the Pandemic, people were wanting to pay to see them return – You people are never happy. How dare a BUSINESS want to make money?!! The nerve of those people! Right? read more

Disney World New Genie+ Lightning Lane Passes – Why I Like Them. Read More »

My Disney World October 2 – October 9, 2021 Upcoming Travel Planning Trip Itinerary – As COVID and Delta Variants Rage Across Florida

Many of you may know that I am getting married in about 3 weeks. And that for my honeymoon – since I can’t go to Japan because the borders are still closed – I plan to travel to Walt Disney World. Right now the trip is scheduled to occur October 2nd through October 9th of 2021. I wanted to wait until their 50th anniversary – and also until it was not so hot and humid.

The only other time I’ve been to Walt Disney World was for the 25th anniversary which, I’m 40 now, so that was 25 years ago when I was 15 – or possibly 16 – because their celebrations last a year+. I remember it being a sweet 16 present from my grandma (nana). But I can’t remember if I had turned 16 just yet or if it was before that. Anyways, needless to say, a LOT has changed since the last time I visited Walt Disney World. read more

My Disney World October 2 – October 9, 2021 Upcoming Travel Planning Trip Itinerary – As COVID and Delta Variants Rage Across Florida Read More »

Mulan Doesn’t Deserve All This Hate – A Review Of Disney’s Live Action Mulan From A Fan Of Asian Cinema

Mulan has been under fire from all side. Whether it’s angry members of the LGBT community, or political backlash, it’s fair to say things did not go as Disney may have planned with their latest Live Action Release.

I wanted to watch it myself. I had feared it may get pulled off the site due to political pressure. Can we just leave politics aside and enjoy this for what it is, a work of fiction that may or may not be based on a historical figure. There’s still debate if Mulan was in fact a real person, or just a legend. read more

Mulan Doesn’t Deserve All This Hate – A Review Of Disney’s Live Action Mulan From A Fan Of Asian Cinema Read More »

pokemon center

I Want To Take an Anime and Manga Tour in Japan

Animate - The World's Largest Anime Store
Animate – The World’s Largest Anime Store

OMG… I want to do this. (Maybe Next Year – I don’t have Vacation Time left this year since I will be going to Peru this summer) Their next tour is in just a few weeks, and seems to only happen once a year, in March coinciding with the International Anime Festival AnimeJapan.

https://japandeluxetours.com/japan/group/anime-japan-tours#anime3

Visiting Japan is my life long dream. (sadly, mostly just so I can go shopping for anime, game, and doll stuff lol. Although I do want to do the museums and cherry blossoms and hot springs and other cultural things too – though mostly, I’m just a big geeky nerd who loves anime and wants to go shopping – which is what this whole tour is designed for <3)

It’s not that much money (well OK it is, but it’s cheaper than I expected honestly). Guided 6 Day Anime Tour in Japan which includes hotels and Guides through all the “anime” spots in Japan (since I can’t speak Japanese a Guide would be helpful…)

Only $1,500 a person, includes hotels for each day. I’d just have to have airfare, and LOTTTTTTTTSSSSS of money for food and shopping. Like seriously I’d probably want to have another $1,000 with me just for shopping lol. If I buy a dollfie dream or custom volks doll or something that’d eat half that budget right there. Then there’s all kinds of cheap (but cute) dolls / toys / figurines, etc.

I wouldn’t want to go by myself either – I would hope my boyfriend would go with me but if not then I’m pretty sure that I could find a friend or family member to take… If I had to pay for both of us that’s $3,000… The tour includes several meals but I’d need money for more meals (Let’s say $100 a day food budget X 5 days $500) Airfaire is probably close to $1,000 a person too So not counting shopping expenses I’d need $5,500… I want to mainly go shopping so I’d want at least $1,000 for shopping for myself that’s $6,500…. which still… isn’t that bad because of all the things this tour includes.

This tour includes all of the Ghibli and other museums, the largest anime stores, and even admission to an anime convention for one day. OMG and an anime theme park another day… OMG it includes real life mario kart racing too…. omg…

The number 1 place I want to visit actually isn’t on this tour – that place is Doll Point Akihabara – Volks store where you can buy Dollfie Dreams and Asian Balljointed Dolls and Accessories – including some items available only in the store and not sold online.  But that’s OK because the tour gives you free time in the evening and one free day where you’re on your own without a guide.

My dream / life goal / bucket list… lol…

Now that I have my passport I can actually do stuff like this O_O!!! Now I just need money (lots of money) (and to wait for my vacation time again lol).

https://japandeluxetours.com/group/tour/anime-japan-tour-6-days-a

Tour Includes

  • 6 DAYS
  • 5 nights accommodation
  • 7 MEALS
  • 5 breakfasts
    2 lunches
  • TRANSPORT
  • All transport shown

Details:

  • 4 nights Western hotel
  • Daily Breakfast-Buffets and 2 Lunches included
  • All ground transportation in Japan during the tour
  • Complimentary Airport Transfers (see details)
  • Admission Fees, Tax & Gratuities at all included Destinations
  • Full time service of licensed English speaking tour guide & separate bus driver
  • Japan Deluxe Tours Handbook and Tour Goods Package
  • Free Wi-Fi in Bus & Most hotels
  • read more

    I Want To Take an Anime and Manga Tour in Japan Read More »

    The Little Mermaid

    62 Disney Animated Feature Length Films Ranked From Best to Worst – An Otaku’s Take On the Best and Worst Animated Disney Films – Disney Films Ranked From Best to Worst. Top 10 Disney Films

    I’ve seen a lot of lists like this out there on the internet which try to rank from Best to Worst, or Worst to Best, the Best (and worst) Walt Disney Animated Films of all time. So here’s my take on the old classic “Top 10” (way more than 10 lol) Disney Films.

    *For brevity’s sake, sequels and prequels are not included individually in this listing. When ranking for example “Cars”, I refer to the franchise as a whole, giving most focus to the first film but perhaps giving reference or mention to some of the sequels as well.*

    Also for this review I have chosen to not include any of the Studio Ghibli films. I will create a similar list ranking those films in the near future. As well as seperate lists for Dreamworks, Don Bluth, and Warner Bros animated film.

    Lastly, I have not seen every single Disney film (though I’ve seen probably over 80% of them). Any films I have not seen, will not be ranked, but instead included in an unranked list at the end of this article.

    Collections of short films such as The Three Caballeros and Make Mine Music were not included in either of these lists. I’ve also omitted Disney films which combined animation with live action such as Bed Knobs and Broom Sticks, Mary Poppins, Pete’s Dragon, James and the Giant Peach, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, So Dear to My Heart, and Song of the South.

    What are some of your favorite Disney Films? Leave a comment below.

    Here’s how I would rank every Disney Film – I’ll start with the Best so you don’t have to scroll too much. <3

    62 Disney Animated Feature Length Films Ranked From Best to Worst:

    1.) The Lion King

    It is true (though Disney denies it) that this film completely ripped off an anime called Kimba the White Lion. Yes, they took everything from this film, the Lions, Zazu, the hyenas, even Simba and Kimba’s father speaking to them in the clouds, and even Scar! Complete with the scar over his eye and everything. — Yup, totally infringed on someone’s intellectual property rights… but still… The Lion King is my favorite Disney film… They took Kimba and made it about a million times better (that doesn’t make what they did “right” or “ok” Clearly, Kimba’s creators should have been paid some royalty fees). But Disney was able to take an already great family story and make it even better. Better animation, better acting, better music, and a better story, because they condensed down a TV series into a movie format, cutting out a lot of filler episodes, while hitting the emotional highlights.

    If you want to learn more about what Disney did to Kimba, check out the videos below (not my videos, just sharing them with you):

    No Title

    No Description

    The “Original Story” – The Kimba VS Simba Controversy

    EDIT: I now realize I got some information wrong in this video. I was under the impression that the 1997 Jungle Emperor Leo movie, which I show a lot of clips of in this video, began production before The Lion King. It didn’t – I got my information from IMDB, which I assumed was correct.

    2.) Beauty and the Beast

    A tale as old as time, Beauty and the Beast is my 2nd favorite Disney film. It features a smart, bookworm heroine, who risks her life and freedom to save her father. It also is a great romance story, in which both the leading lady and leading male must learn to look past the surface to find true love. Don’t judge a book by the cover. If someone can love a beast, and the beast can finally learn to love someone for their mind/heart and not what’s on the outside, that love can do anything. It’s very romantic, and also parts of it are dark and frightening. Like all Disney films, it has great music, and the recent Live Action Musical adaptation is also fantastic! One of my favorite things about Beauty and the Beast is the imagery, all of the characters, and the beautiful setting. I just ordered a dress which has a beautiful stained glass print featuring the beauty and the beast.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01A0G0S14/

    3.) The Little Mermaid

    I will always prefer the 1975 anime version of Hans Christian Andersen’s the Little Mermaid, because at the end she turns to sea foam. There is no happy ending. But sometimes with a love story, that’s OK and it makes it more dramatic. Almost any film can make me laugh, but it takes a very special film to make me cry. The 1975 anime version is also a more faithful adaptation of the original story.  In the original fairy-tale, the mermaid is given one last chance for a happy ending. Her prince has already wed another woman, but the mermaid is told by her sisters that if she uses a magic poisoned dagger to kill the prince and his new wife, she can return back home to her father and sisters and live as a mermaid once again. Unable to bear the thought of hurting her true love, she chooses instead to wish him and his new wife a happy life together, and as the sun rises, she turns to sea foam, sacrificing her life and happiness in exchange for his.

    Disney takes this sad tragic love story, and puts a cutesy Disney spin on it. Although the two films are very different, they are both great in their own rights. I love the side characters, music, and animation of the Disney version of the Little Mermaid. It’s also nice to imagine a happy ending once in awhile :).

    If you have yet to see the anime version, Amazon is selling it for about $10. Click the image below to check it out. https://www.amazon.com/…

    4.) The Good Dinosaur

    Speaking of films that can make me cry… I balled like a baby (at several different scenes) in the theater when I went to see The Good Dinosaur. It’s a touching story about a dinosaur trying to get back home to his family. Similar in some ways to my childhood favorite, The Land before Time. Disney’s The Good Dinosaur is a heart touching film with beautiful and cute 3D animation. The scene with the fireflies is my favorite. The goofy looking characters, with their innocent designs, totally deceive you into thinking this is a funny or cute film. I was not prepared for how heart stirring it was going to be. It’s also very dramatic and full of suspense and twists and turns and surprises. That’s why it’s in my top 5 Disney films of all time.

    5.) Monster’s Inc.

    Finishing out my top 5 favorite Disney Films is Monster’s Inc. This movie is full of charming and cute characters. It is equally funny and touching. A very heart warming movie. Boo, Mike, and Sully are some of the best original characters Disney has ever designed. Monsters Inc is quite possibly the cutest disney movie of all time. The sequels were also cute, though of course, not as good as the original.

    6.) Finding Nemo / Finding Dory

    I actually saw Finding Dory first, before Finding Nemo, somehow I missed out on Nemo, even though it was very popular with millennials. According to this chart being born in 1981, I could consider myself a Millennial, or a Gen Y, or Gen Next (never even heard of that one). So Nemo seems to be THE Disney movie of my generation… but I actually didn’t see it when it premiered in 2003. I wouldn’t see it for over 12 years after that, but yet, this film proves to have held up to the tests of time. It was just as enjoyable, new, fresh, charming, and heart warming to me as it was to the millions of fans it earned at release. I loved Dory, especially baby Dory. She might be my favorite Disney character ever. So for that reason, I actually enjoyed Finding Dory more than Finding Nemo. Both films are funny and beautifully animated, and tell a heart warming story about the meaning of family.

    7.) Up

    Disney’s Up is such a sad, touching, beautiful film about true love and loss, and growing up, and growing old together, and a story of adventure and excitement, and to never ever give up on your dreams. It’s a remarkable story. Storywise alone, it’s probably my favorite story from any Disney film. There’s no way to watch this movie and not cry. Out of all of the Disney films in our list, this one feels the most mature and grown up. Its tone is darker and sadder and more thought provoking than most Disney films. And then there’s that Disney charm and humor, with Doug the talking dog and other minor characters. The message behind Disney’s Up is so “Up”lifting. This is a movie full of heart and emotion.

    8.) Aladdin

    Aladdin is one of the first Disney films I can remember seeing in theaters. Don’t get me wrong, I’d seen others, I know I saw 101 Dalmatians and Rescuers and other older films before this one. In fact one of the first movies I ever saw in a theater is Disney’s Snow White, and I am told it scared me until I cried lol. But my memories of seeing this one as opposed to the rest are crystal clear. And it may be that nostalgia that plays a part in how highly I rank Disney’s Aladdin on my list. I recall who I was with (my mom and best friend and her mom and brother), I can recall all of the characters, music, animation… Robin Williams as the genie, such a classic film. One of the great masterpieces of my childhood.

    9.) The Nightmare Before Christmas

    This is not just one of my favorite Disney films, but one of my favorite films from any studio, animated, or otherwise, of all time. I love the music, the characters, and I love Halloween. It has always been one of my favorite holidays. I also love other Tim burton films, such as beetle juice, the corpse bride, and Edward scissor hands to name a few. His stories are always so unique and I’m surprised and intrigued in how he can take a macabre subject and put a comic spin on it, and make it even a family film, such as the Nightmare Before Christmas.

    10.) Frozen

    This is another one of those Disney “fan favorites” that I missed at its initial release. I actually just watched Frozen for the first time a few months ago and even though I’m older than the majority of the Frozen fans, I totally agree that it is one of the best Disney films of all time. It finishes out in the final Top 10 spot on my list. I loved the story and the characters. My favorite thing was seeing how the characters changed and grew through the film. Initially Elsa is the more friendly outgoing bubbly type, but events occur which change her to isolated and aloof. Anna had been more shy, but as she grew with freedoms that Elsa lacked, she developed a natural curiosity for the world and a strong sense of adventure. Elsa struggles with the responsibilities placed on her young shoulders. Finally she can be free, and this is even highlighted in the lyrics to the very popular well known song, in which Elsa climbs the stairs of her ice castle barricading herself off from the outside world so that she can finally be her TRUE self. It’s a story about accepting and loving yourself, accepting and loving others, and having courage to be different or come to terms with those differences and individualizes. The film is often championed by the LGBT community and there are rumors that the sequel will feature a lesbian love interest for Elsa, marking the first time a Disney feature length animated film will have a gay or lesbian main character. This is controversial and a departure from the family values Disney has always tried to champion. However, in modern times, what makes a family is changing, and Disney too is changing to reflect more modern values. In this story, Elsa and Anna must rely on themselves and each other. The “prince” even betrays them and acts as the central villain in pushing the plot forward. This is a strong film featuring themes of independence and courage. It’s also charming and full of excitement as most Disney films are. The side characters such as sven and olaf are hilarious and cute. There are many people who love to hate on this film. But hating on something just because it’s popular is dumb. Sometimes that popularity is well deserved. While it’s not the best Disney film of all time, it still cinches the final spot on the “Top 10” list.

    Disney’s frozen was supposedly loosely based on Han’s Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen, though a number of liberties were taken.

    If you’re interested in reading the original tale, you can read it for free here: http://hca.gilead.org.il/snow_que.html 

    You can also find over 170 variations of this tale on Amazon.

    This one has the best ratings and reviews because of its illustrations by an award winning Ukranian artist: http://amzn.to/2Fgq4kw

    This one has the original illustrations from hundreds of years ago: http://amzn.to/2CvQHPA

    There’s also an anime based on the Snow Queen from 2005 https://www.anime-planet.com/anime/snow-queen-the

    In the original tale it was a boy and girl, who were friends, not siblings. The main plot centered around a magic mirror that broke and a shard went into one of their eyes distorting their view of the world and changing their outlook/personality. The other character sets off on a journey to try to remove the shard from her friend’s eye and restore his kind heart. At the end of her journey, about to give up, the gods tell her that she already has everything she needs to save the young boy, and that her true power has always already existed within herself.

    The only similarity at all in the tales is that they are set in a snowy place, and at the end, the characters are glad to see that it is finally summer again.

    Alternatively there have been 2 legal allegations raised that Disney has once again stolen this story from another creator.

    The first of which is some incredibly obscure Peruvian author that almost no one has ever heard of, who says that Frozen is based on memoirs she had published about her own life. The memoirs,  “Living My Truth” and “Yearnings of the Heart”, by Isabella Tanikumi. The guardian reports that “Both the memoirs and Frozen feature loving sisters, one of whom causes the other to be injured and then hides herself away from public life through shame.” They go on to report that “One of the sisters has suitors named Hans and Cristoff in the memoirs; in Frozen Anna develops romantic attachments to men named Hans and Kristoff.”  That seems like more than just a coincidence to me… The judge however ruled that these claims were too “generic” – I don’t agree with that ruling because it even lists specific names and characters – that’s pretty “specific” right there – which is the very opposite of something being “generic”, but hey this is Disney, they can get out of almost anything – but then again who’s to say that this author isn’t just looking to make a grab at Disney’s money since this is the best selling Disney film of all time.

    The other lawsuit alleges that Disney once again turned to Japan for inspiration and cites numerous similarities between Frozen and the 1980s anime Saint Seiya. The similarities here include similarities between Elsa and Anna and the 2 Saint Characters (who are also sisters), Hilda and Freya. In both cases, the younger sibling has no magical powers and wishes to save her older sister and her kingdom. The older sister wields magic powers that controls snow and ice. Both of the older sisters used to be kind, until their personalities suddenly change.

    But you know what they say, every idea you will ever have, someone else has had that exact same idea already. It’s all about who can execute their ideas. And there are no original ideas left in the world, and so on… So meh, at the end of the day, we may never know if Disney blatantly copied anything from either of these 2 sources…

    11.) Cars

    Walt Disney’s Cars just barely misses a spot on our “list of the top 10 Disney movies”. I remember an old commercial (not related to CARS, I believe it was for Exxon Edit: It was actually for Chevron) where the cars all had happy faces and could talk, etc. It was something about how their fuel made your cars happy. I believe this came out well before the first CARS movie… But the concept was charming and cute. I don’t know if Pixar made these commercials, or has ever seen these commercials, or perhaps felt inspired by the commercials… but the similarities to the characters in Cars is quite apparent.

    Chevron Cars Commercial Compilation (1990s-2000s)

    Here is a compilation of Chevron with Techron commercials that aired throughout the 1990s and 2000s. They featured all kinds of claymated (and later CGI animated) talking cars and trucks. The Chevron Cars have been seen on television since 1995, and a toy line was also manufactured from 1995 to 2010. read more

    62 Disney Animated Feature Length Films Ranked From Best to Worst – An Otaku’s Take On the Best and Worst Animated Disney Films – Disney Films Ranked From Best to Worst. Top 10 Disney Films Read More »

    KH1.52.5HDRemix

    Kingdom Hearts 1.5 and 2.5 HD Remix PS4 Videogame Review

    14 Year Old Sora in Kingdom Hearts 1
    14 Year Old Sora in Kingdom Hearts 1

    Title: Kingdom Hearts 1.5 and 2.5 HD Remix

    Platform: PS4 (note this release combines various Kingdom Hearts games originally found on the PS2, GBA, Nintendo DS and 3DS)

    Genre: Action Roleplaying Game ARPG

    Publisher: Disney + Squarenix

    Where to Buy: $49.99 on Amazon (at time of this writing)

    Overall: 68/80 85% B “Very Good Game for Girls”

    Geeky: 3/5 The games have fun gameplay, good graphics for the age of the games, and a great soundtrack. However, the Disney segments can be a bit too kiddie for some more serious gamers, and although the entire series is about the juxtaposition of light and dark, the light hearted disney characters can sometimes take away from immersing yourself in the deeper darker story of Sora and his friends.

    Sweetie: 5/5 – This game is cuteness overload by combining well loved Square and Disney characters. It also has a surprisingly deep, relatively dark (for a Disney product at least), and mature storyline, which evolves and grows deeper and darker from game to game as characters grow and evolve.

    Gameplay: 10/10 Kingdom Hearts is an action RPG. You play as Sora, a young boy who dreams of leaving his home town on a tiny island. When the game begins you are asked to choose a weapon. You may choose between shield, sword, and magic wand. You’re also asked which weapon you will give up. This allows you to customize your fighting style to match your preferences. You’ll also be asked a few questions. These questions do not have any significance on the story, but they do have a large impact on how quickly you will level up throughout the game.

    A tutorial will give you a taste for how combat is in each of the games. You can run, jump, push and pull objects, climb, and use your chosen weapons as you chain attacks, dodge, defend, and parry to take down your foes. Enemies will drop small glowing orbs which can offer XP or sometimes restore health or other benefits. You will have to run around and touch the drops, because they do not get added automatically.

    After settling into the game, you are allowed to freely explore the island, interact with NPCs, and engage in several minigames, such as fighting or racing with your friends on the island. You will see many familiar faces from both Squaresoft and Disney franchises.

    Fairly early in the game, Sora gets his wish of leaving the island, and the rest of the game is played through traveling between different worlds, each representing a key franchise from Disney or Squaresoft. There are numerous battles to fight, areas to explore, sidequests, mini games, and hidden goodies. In fact, to find everything, across all games will take you almost 300 hours (and you’ll be awarded with an extra ending in each game). There’s plenty of content here to sink your teeth into, even for the most seasoned of gamers.

    The action based combat is fun and snappy, while the mini games and interaction with a wide variety of characters gives you a break from the hack n slash combat, creating a well balanced game that equally values action as well as adventure.

    Story: 8/10 I find it jarring at times how the story jumps between worlds, and I sometimes cringe at some of the Disney characters (and I consider myself a Disney fan! But it can really take away from the story, just when things are getting interesting to flash back to Goofy or Donald, especially with their well known silly voices and all). This can all make the story less immersive. However, at the heart of the story, you have a coming of age tale and a love triangle between 3 best friends. You watch throughout each game as Sora and his friends evolve and grow and change and how their friendships and relationships change as well. The story from each game is directly related from one game to the next. We’ve already watched Sora age by 2 years (and gotten a glimpse at a very young Sora as well). When Kingdom Hearts 1 starts, Sora is 14. By the end of Dream Drop Distance, he is 16. Many speculate he will be 16 or 17 in Kingdom Hearts 3. We witness Sora’s changing emotions as he transitions from adolescence to young adulthood. The main theme song in Kingdom Hearts 1 even hints at this with the lyrics of the chorus stating “Don’t get me wrong, I love you, but does that mean I really have to meet your father? One day when you’re older you’ll understand what I meant when I said No, I don’t think life is quite that simple.” Those lyrics perfectly describe the relationship between Sora and Kairi. An innocent love, a boy who still quite often views love/girls as “gross”, and a boy embarrassed by his emerging feelings of love for Kairi. And we witness not only how friendship can grow to love, but also how platonic friendships can change to rivalries when two boys love the same girl. The depths of both Riku and Sora’s love for Kairi is perhaps the best thing about the story.

    I recently picked up Kingdom Hearts 1.5 and 2.5 HD Remix. I had played the original KH1 and KH2 on Playstation 2 but that was over 12 years ago now. And I had not played the other side games.

    Every game in Kingdom Hearts is connected, and contains the same 3 characters, Riku, Kairi, and Sora, and the story gets deeper and more complex as the games go on as more is revealed building upon back stories and prequels and sequels and spin off games. It can be intimidating for someone new to the franchise to pick up the games now with almost 15 years of games to catch up on.

    Many people recommend the following order to play the games in to get the most out of the story:

    Kingdom Hearts 1 (1.5 remix)
    Re: Chain of Memories (1.5 remix)
    Kingdom Hearts 2 (2.5 remix)
    358/2 Days (1.5 remix)
    Birth By Sleep (2.5 remix)
    Re:Coded (2.5 remix)
    Dream Drop Distance (2.8 remix sold separately)
    0.2 Birth By Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage (2.8 remix sold separately)
    X Back Cover (2.8 remix sold separately.)
    Unchained X (free mobile game, available separately)
    Kingdom Hearts 3 (sold separately – coming soon)

    So you will need bare minimum to purchase 3 games

    Kingdom Hearts 1.5 and 2.5 HD Remix
    Kingdom Hearts 2.8
    Kingdom Hearts 3

    And optionally download and play Unchained X on your cell phone.

    Some of the “games” above are actually “cutscenes” because they could not emulate the nintendo DS “touch screen” on the PS4. So each of these nintendo remakes are movies which reuse old, and add new cutscenes to tell the story.

    You can alternatively purchase and play these Nintendo games separately. But you should be fine with just the cutscenes from an understanding the story standpoint.

    Characters: 10/10 I really enjoy watching Sora and friends evolve, age, mature, and change over the course of multiple interconnected games. I also really do enjoy seeing favorite characters thrown in from Final Fantasy and Disney. It’s a strange mashup but it works surprisingly well. If you are either a Disney or Squaresoft fan you will love the cast of characters in these games.

    Graphics: 7/10 – Taking into consideration the age of the games, I think the graphics are beautiful and memorable. They are vibrant, full of color, detail, and fun. The character designs blend Disney’s whimsy and charm with Squaresofts more stylistic approach. Sora also reminded me of a brunette Cloud wearing Mickey’s big “clown” shoes. The bobble headed appearance of the characters, makes them cute, but it’s almost a bit too juvenile, given that even when we first meet Sora and friends in KH1, they’re already teenagers. I feel like they look like Precious Moments dolls, and about 7-10 years old because of the proportions of their heads to bodies. — Luckily, the artwork does improve in later games.

    Take a look below:

    Sora from Kingdom Hearts 1 (Does he look 14 to you? Not even close in my opinion).

    Sora from Kingdom Hearts 2 (He is supposed to be 15 here, looks about right.)

    Sora from Kingdom Hearts 3 (Speculated to be 16 or 17 here) (meh this design is alright, I expected to see something like Final Fantasy XV quality here. There are very few details in the hair/face and almost no shading on the clothing, it just looks kinda flat/plastic-y… not what I’d expect from a PS4 title. He does look a tiny bit more mature, slimmer face, etc.)

    Music: 10/10 I’m a big Utada Hikaru fan, and I love the opening theme “Simple and Clean” – as I mentioned, I feel the lyrics foreshadow the coming of age story and changes that our little island buddies are about to experience. She also sings “Sanctuary” the opening theme of Kingdom Hearts 2. And it has been confirmed that she will also be involved with the opening for Kingdom Hearts 3. My favorite Utada Hikaru song though will always be “First Love”. The Japanese versions of the tracks are also quite catchy even without knowing the lyrics or understanding Japanese. The background music is also fitting and full of adventure and wonder.

    Voice Acting: 6/10 – The voice acting is definitely hit or miss for me. Some characters I think are perfectly cast, and others way off mark. Some give pretty convincing performances, while others are too overdramatic and/or the opposite, lack any feeling or emotion in the deliverance of their lines. The iconic Disney characters also can tend to annoy and detract from the story with their overly cartoonish voices for which they are so well known.

    Replay Value: 9/10 Although the games are linear, there are multiple games in this “bundle”, and each game has a secret ending, usually only uncovered for completing all side quests, or playing on the hardest difficulty settings, which will take you around 270 hours total according to How long to Beat. Even if you don’t want to go for the secret endings, you’re still looking at over 130 hours of gameplay just for the main stories of each game. For just $40something, that works out to around 30 cents per hour of entertainment. Therefore your return on investment is quite high in this title, even if you might only play each of the games once.

    Overall: 68/80 85% B “Very Good Game for Girls”

    Kingdom Hearts 1.5 and 2.5 HD Remix PS4 Videogame Review Read More »

    My Neighbor Totoro Anime Review

    My Neighbor Totoro Ghiblifest 2017 Anime Movie Review

    I went to see My Neighbor Totoro subbed last night as part of the 2017 GKids Studio Ghiblifest. The theater I went to seemed to have a fairly good turnout for the show, but not as popular as the theatrical SailorMoon Release which I reviewed here (dub) and here (sub)

    Still it is nice to see anime getting more coverage in theaters. I drove almost an hour to go see Totoro, but it was still closer than the nearly 2 hour drive I made (twice) to go see Sailor Moon. It’s also awesome to see old anime like Totoro from the 80s and SailorMoon from the 90s finally on the big screen!

    The excitement of seeing such childhood favorite films on the silverscreen inspired me to want to do a review for Totoro today.

    Also be sure to check out the Studio Ghiblifest home page, there will be other Studio Ghibli films in theaters all summer long, with the next one being Kiki’s Delivery Service on July 23 (dub) and 24 (sub). I like Kiki’s Delivery Service so much, that I might just go to both of them :).

    Onto the review:

    Title: My Neighbor Totoro

    Studio: Studio Ghibli

    Release Date: 1988

    Genre: Slice of Life, Adventure, Fantasy

    Geeky: 2/5 This film is beautiful to watch, even now, 20 years after its initial release. But plot wise, this is a very slow moving film, slow and uneventful for almost the entire film, and then insanely rushed in the last 10-15 minutes of the film. Actually the ending feels really disjointed from the rest of the film and you can read about that under the Conspiracy Theory below. The languid plot and ending that feels out of place make this a hard film to like, unless you’re watching it for the beautiful backgrounds and cute characters. Systematically though, I can’t give it high “technical” points due to the poor writing.

    Sweetie: 4/5 Like most Ghibli films, this is super charming with a lot of heart. It depicts every day life of two little girls living in a new home in the forest with their father as they wait for their mother to return from a hospital. The girls encounter magical creatures, and those creatures are super adorable to boot. Blending slice of life in traditional Japan in a quiet countryside rural village, alongside the mystical and fantastical secret world that only the girls can see, and all the new magical friends they make, this tale is full of sweet cute moments sure to appeal to anyone looking for a kawaii cute family friendly and feel good anime. — It loses one point because there is no plot or character development. Unlike other Ghibli films, this one just never seems to get off the ground or accomplish much.

    Story: 6/10 The story is a slice of life look at the life of 2 very young girls. Their mother is sick in the hospital with some unexplained illness, and their father has just decided to move the family to a new home in the country, thinking the fresh air from the trees would be good for his wife once she returns back home. While exploring their new surroundings, the two girls stumble upon a magical creature which they dub Totoro. Their father says Totoro is a very old forest spirit, and the father, along with Totoro, teaches the young girls to love and respect nature.

    Characters: 9/10 The real reason to watch this show is because all of the characters are cute, unique, heart warming, and funny. Not just the adorable Totoro and his friends, but also the human children. The anime puts a lot of work into making us like and care about the girls and their father. In fact, the entire film, until the very end, is just day to day stuff that the girls find exciting about their new home, or sharing loving family moments with their father. — That said, unlike most Ghibli films, there’s really no character “development” the characters do not change much at all throughout the movie. This, combined with a very slow moving plot, makes the anime feel slow and sleepy at times.

    Conspiracy Theory: If you’ve already seen the film, here’s something you may be interested in reading. There are spoilers below here, so proceed at your own risk.

    [spoiler]

    By the way have you heard the conspiracy theory that Totoro is actually a Shinigami and that the girls both die in the film? After watching the film again last night, this seems likely. Studio Ghibli denies those rumors and has even gone as far as asking fans to please stop talking about it.

    A Shinigami is angel of death, often appearing to children who are about to die and taking comforting forms such as animals etc to help children cross over. Look at other anime such as Full Moon Wo Sagashite and how “cute” the Shinigami appear there. One of the Shinigami in Full Moon Wo Sagashite is even a white rabbit and there is a very old folk tale / superstition about white rabbits. It says if one appears in a village where someone is very sick, that person is sure to pass away soon. This same superstition is also tied to another superstition that says if you say “rabbit, rabbit, rabbit” (note 3 rabbits) on the first and last day of the month, you will have good luck. And in the movie, there are 3 Totoro (who look very much like rabbits to me). Also the Totoro could be symbolic of the girls and the mother themselves! Mei says there is one GREAT BIG Totoro, a “little” Totoro, and a “tiny” Totoro. The big one could represent the mother, the little one the older sister, and the tiny one the young sister.

    Even though Studio Ghibli wants these rumors to end, they just won’t die. And with the re-release of the theatrical movie, we can be sure more and more people will be looking for these clues and debating about if Totoro is actually the god of death.

    Most of the film is very cute and innocent, with not much going on. It’s a slice of life about 2 little girls living in a new home with their father in the country side. They go to school, pray at the shrine, play in the forest, and take baths and have dinners with their father. But the ending of the film is just so dark and creepy and weird compared to the rest of the film; for me the biggest clue is when the nanny asks Satsuki if it is Mei’s shoe. Satsuki tells her it’s not, and she does this very quickly without even really looking at the shoe. When she tells her this, the old woman’s face is NOT one of relief (Thank goodness Mei is still alive), but one of sadness, there’s even a tear in her eye, and disappointment (in Satsuki not being able to face reality and accept the death of her sister.) the Granny tries to stop Satsuki from looking for Mei, but Satsuki runs off anyways.

    From there, the last 10 minutes or so of the film, feel dark and different. As the sun is literally setting in the film, and time is running out to find Mei, everything begins to get really demented looking.

    The catbus even explicitly SAYS he’s going to the GRAVE as his next stop to FIND MEI.

    In the end, when the girls are in the tree, the mother in the hospital looks out the window and says she could have sworn she saw her children laughing in the tree, but the father cannot see them, despite them all being right there at the same time.

    The film takes place in Sayama, and there was a real life murder/suicide with 2 school aged sisters. The young sister is kidnapped and murdered, and the older one goes to find her, but upon discovering that she has already been murdered, the older sister takes her own life / blames herself. And in Totoro, Mei is the younger sister who “disappears” and Satsuki is the older sister who goes to look for her. Satsuki also blames herself (she had yelled at Mei earlier).  Also this murder took place in the month of May and the girls are both named May: Mei and Satsuki (Japanese word for May).

    Then there’s the references to Billy Goat’s Gruff. In the fairy tale, there are 3 goats trying to cross a bridge. “Crossing a Bridge” is pretty universal for crossing over into the afterlife. And in the fairytale, it is only when all 3 goats are together that they can cross the bridge. And in Totoro, the three “goats” would be the mother and the 2 girls. The billy goat’s gruff is referenced countless times in the film, peering over the bridges, the story books the mom used to read, and even Totoro’s name is some variation of the Japanese word for troll (supposedly, I dunno what that word is, but it was a trivia thing before the show started asking how did Totoro get his name, and it said it was because Mei mispronounced the Troll from her story book). There’s even a SERIOUSLY VERY CREEPY goat near the end of the film who tries to take Mei’s corn. And in the billy goat’s gruff, the goats get safe passage across the bridge by yelling very loudly. When in Totoro, the Totoros and the Girls scream loudly as they fly around with Totoro, etc.

    And if Totoro can be seen by children, why do none of the other children see Totoro or the Catbus when the girls are flying around, they even fly right past the boy that likes Satsuki, and she says “I guess no one else can see us”.

    And all throughout the film they keep saying how their house is haunted and everyone is afraid to go inside it, etc.

    Lastly, people say that in the final scene, the girls have no shadow when they had shadows in all the rest of the film. Though I think this was maybe just an error or oversight on the part of the animators.

    Anyways, it is an interesting theory. It does ask the audience to discount the last 2 minutes or so of the film where the girls return home and are greeted again by the Granny and other children in the village. But aside from that, everything else fits this theory.

    [/spoiler]

    End of Spoilers.

    Artwork and Animation: 10/10 The backgrounds are lovely and all of the character designs are imaginative, quirky, and cute. Totoro has become so iconic that he is now the mascot for Studio Ghibli and known around the world.

    Music: 10/10 I don’t really love the opening song. However, I do super love all the background tracks throughout the film. The ending theme is also catchy.

    Voice Acting: 10/10 The two sisters are adorable and precocious. They give very believable performances with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Totoro’s well timed animal sounds are quirky and cute. And the father and mother both sound very sincere and loving. Granny sounds old and slightly scary, but also warm and loving as well.

    Overall: 51/60 85% B “Very Good Anime for Girls”

    PS: If you enjoyed Totoro also check out Wolf Children and My Summer with Coo

    My Neighbor Totoro Ghiblifest 2017 Anime Movie Review Read More »

    Amazon, Online Shopping, Black Friday, Black Friday 2016, Black November, Black November 2016, Amazon Deals, Amazon Discounts, Amazon Deals Week, Amazon Prime, Amazon Prime Day, Amazon Black Friday, Amazon Cyber Monday, Gaming Deals, Electronics, PC Deals, PC Gaming, Console Gaming, Toys, Electronics, Boardgames, Dolls, Cardgames, PS4, Xbone, Nintendo, Sony, Xbox, Cute, Kawaii, Deals and Discounts, Amazon Deals and Discounts, Lego, Legos

    Countdown to Black Friday with New Deals Every Day on Amazon

    Amazon just launched their Black Friday Pre-sale event. You can check back every day for new items at http://amazon.com/Black-Friday/…

    Already they are offering up some pretty sweet deals for geeks and gamers. I recommend bookmarking and checking back as often as possible. I’m hoping for a PS4 Bundle or Console to go on sale. I have enough already to purchase, but since it is that time of year, saving some money never hurts, and I’ve waited this long already to get myself the newest consoles, so might as well hang in there a few more weeks and see what happens!

    Last year, amazon had amazing black friday and cyber monday exclusive gaming bundles for all three major game systems including Xbone, PS4, and WiiU. This year the savings should be even greater since the technology continues to age and the market gets even more competitive with new consoles such as the Xbox Scorpio, PS4 Pro, and (soon to be released) Nintendo Switch, which means the standard Xbox One, PS4 Slim, and possibly Wii U will need to discount their inventory to see a strong finish this year.

    PC Gamers are not to be forgotten, RIGHT NOW amazon has awesome Black Friday deals on headsets, lightup keyboards, game controllers, gaming mice, and more. There are some great deals such as headsets for 65% off, hot new release games for both console and pc at up to 75% off and many more.

    Amazon even has a page set up specifically for gaming deals here: http://amzn.to/2evLcYi

    or a general one for Electronics here: http://amzn.to/2evMYZH

    I’m also needing a new gaming laptop, and Amazon has a page for PC and Laptop deals here: http://amzn.to/2elLmON

    Video Games not your thing? Maybe you want some boardgames, legos, cute plushies, dolls, or figures? If so amazon also has a page for you here: http://amzn.to/2fp9ssJ

    And the sales will continue into cyber monday as well and Cyber Monday has it’s own page for deals which will be located at http://amzn.to/2fk9JB3 once it goes live later this month.

     

    Powered by Dealspotr | Additional voucher codes for Amazon

    Per Amazon’s site:

    “Black Friday Deals–The Party Is Just Getting Started!

    Black Friday 2016 will be here soon, but we didn’t want you to wait until the day after Thanksgiving to save on Black Friday deals, so we are counting down to Black Friday 2016 with exciting deals today, and tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and…you get the picture. Stop by each day through November 24 for early Black Friday deals, including sales on electronics, low prices on DVDs, magazine subscription specials, toy bargains, and fashionable deals for women, men, kids & baby, and more. You’ll find our best Black Friday deals, and Deal of the Day bargains you won’t want to resist for holiday gifts.

    Something else to be excited about–at Amazon, Black Friday 2016 isn’t just a day to us–it’s a whole week! We’ll kick off Black Friday Deals Week early with Black Friday deals and sales all day every day that week, including Black Friday, with those big after-Thanksgiving sales you’ve been waiting for. Trust us, if you love a good deal, you won’t want to miss it!

    To continue the excitement, we have made Cyber Monday 2016 a whole week too! We’ll be kicking off Cyber Monday with a week’s worth of cyber deals, just in time for you to get back to work after Thanksgiving … and shop online. Shhh … we won’t tell your boss! You’ll find more great deals every day during Cyber Monday Deals Week.
    So stop by any day, or better yet, every day. We’ll be here with great deals!”

     

    Countdown to Black Friday with New Deals Every Day on Amazon Read More »

    PAN Movie, New Pan Movie, Disney PAN Movie, Captain Hook, Bad Acting, Bad Casting, Fall 2015 Movies, Family Movie, Family Movies, Peter Pan, Disney

    Hook’s character is totally wrong in new PAN movie

    Over the weekend, I went to the movies with my grandma. We saw PAN, a supposed origins story for Peter Pan (and other characters such as Sme and Hook.). The movie was just “okay.” I thought Blackbeard was really well cast. I have terrible facial recognition so I didn’t realize until later that it was Hugh Jackman from Xmen Wolverine fame. Blackbeard was really super funny (and a little bit creepy) and on point. The music in the film was awesome – Nirvana Smells Like Teen Spirit in a children’s film?! And seeing Hugh Jackman singing the song was outrageously funny too. We happened to be the only two people in the theater so I was singing along also. And the special effects were superb. Similar in scope to the effects found in movies such as Avatar. It had great cinnematics… but suffered from terrible casting (aside from Blackbeard) AND terrible writing.

    Most notably, the actor playing Hook. He could NOT act… His voice was flat, monotone, and yet somehow over dramatic (despite also being monotone at the same time how the heck???) He was so cheesy he nearly ruined the whole movie. Who is this guy? I dunno, I don’t follow the stars and I never really pay attention to who’s playing who in a movie, but he just can’t act!!

    Not only was he a poor choice of an actor…. What the heck was up with Hook’s WHOLE character in this film?! In EVERY single iteration of Peter Pan, Hook is a well bred fellow, who cares about “keeping up appearances”. He often feels isolated and lonely because of his dignified and refined nature, when compared to the rest of his crew who are more what we expect of typical pirates and ruffians. — How do we go from that vision of Hook, to some weird pseudo Indiana Jones like guy who is unkempt, unshaven, AND just as spontaneous/spunky/adventurous as Peter himself? In the play, in the disney film, in all of the books, Hook was NOTHING like this. — Now I know they’re telling their own tale and it’s theirs to tell so they can change things… but this bugs me. Hook is a favorite! There’s been numerous debates on if Hook is actually the good guy in the plays/books/disney film and whether Peter is the villain. Disney didn’t want to kill Hook at the end of the film because he said that the audience is going to end up liking him. Hook is one of the most iconic villains of all time. Don’t mess with that people.

    In the play, Hook has a scene with Wendy where he’s mortified/disgusted of himself when Wendy points out that there’s a stain on his clothes. He also plays a fricken Harpsichord (and a flute also) in the original story, people. Okay? He’s not some weird Indiana Jones Wannabe lol.

    For Hook, the most important thing in life is having “perfect form” to have “bad form” is the ultimate insult to him. It’s one of the reasons that he dislikes Peter Pan so much. Hook doesn’t even care that much that Peter feeds his hand to the crocodiles; Hook is PROUD of his hook-hand and says it’s very useful. So why would he spend so much time hunting down Peter for “revenge”? The reason Hook hates Peter Pan is more along the lines of how different Peter views the world, while Hook prides himself on “appearances” and acts like a refined gentleman – a grownup if you will; Peter by contrast, is wild, and free… Yet at times, Hook sees that Peter is able to accidentally, display Perfect Form, without even trying – this infuriates Hook who may be jealous of Peter’s natural “good form”

    Despite being a pirate, hook is supposed to be refined and honorable….. He does so many things in the new Pan movie that go against his character, flirting with the savage chieftess, flirting with the mermaids (actually doing more than flirting with them, jumping off the ship to chase after them) (and yes, Hook is a lady’s man, but it’s they who desire him, not the other way around, look at how Wendy was enamored with Hook), The bomb scene in the early beginning – too risky, too spontaneous for someone of Hook’s character. Hook is often less spontaneous than this, because he is stuck contemplating his actions so deeply to try to maintain “perfect form”. Also Hook wouldn’t be a slave – he was of high status / well bred. He should have been more like Blackbeard, had a crew of his own, etc. He wouldn’t dress like that either, or be unshaven, and Hook had dark curly hair, not Blonde straight hair. (but that’s really a minor thing).

    Just overall, I hated what they did with Hook’s character. It made the movie immensely less enjoyable to me — I was never a big fan of the original story or disney film, but knew it enough that the liberties taken in the new PAN just don’t sit well with me.

    Also, I wanted to see WHY Hook turned against Peter, but the movie never shows this. If they’re going to do a 2nd movie, I don’t think I’ll go to theaters, but may rent it, despite the bad writing and casting.

  • Peter Pan Honest Trailer Makes Us Notice How Creepy The Movie Really Was
  • [VIDEO] Watch Chad And Lauren Kelly Fly With Peter Pan
  • Pan Gets A New Video Featuring Its 3D
  • The Actor From ‘Peter Pan’ Doesn’t Look Like This Anymore
  • Captain James Hook & the Curse of Peter Pan by Jeremiah Kleckner & Jeremy Marshall
  • Hugh Jackman, Rooney Mara, Cara Delevingne Attend ‘Pan’ London Premiere
  • Download Tickets To See ‘PAN’ First & For Free
  • Pan review
  • Jackman’s Pan hardly takes off
  • Hugh Jackman suggests Tom Hardy for young Wolverine
  • read more

    Hook’s character is totally wrong in new PAN movie Read More »

    Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Tokyo Gameshow 2015

    Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Tokyo Gameshow 2015

    PS4 and Kingdom Heart fans are in for a real treat. Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter was just announced at the Tokyo Gameshow. Check out the trailer below:

    https://youtu.be/1hgsU_WleWI

    This game is meant to serve as a prologue of events leading directly to the long awaited and anticipated Kingdom Hearts III.

    According to IGN.com “Kingdom Hearts II.8 will contain a HD remaster of Dream Drop Distance, along with scenes from Unchained X called Back Cover, set to tell the tale of the Foretellers and revealing new parts of the series’ history. The final part of the collection is Birth by Sleep 0.2 – A Fragmentary Passage -, which is a completely new part of the story taking place after the events of the original Birth by Sleep, told from the perspective of Aqua”

    (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

    Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Tokyo Gameshow 2015 Read More »