Random Month: Skullman Review

Well Random Month is ending and I had fun with this. I got to look at different parts of entertainment and I will be doing this again next year probably. So now I reach the real Skullman. I reviewed the anime series so now I will look at the original. For the next Random Month I really want to review the manga series that picks off the story, but finding it once was hard enough. Sadly I lost the link and can't find it again so yea.... If you don't know the man who created this hero was Shotaro Ishinomori the man who created Kamen Rider, the first Super Sentai series, and many other toku classics. This one shot manga was actually the basis for Kamen Rider shockingly enough.

In Kamen Rider Spirits we get a man posing as a rider with a skull motif

Now this is a manga from 1970 so the story is not going to be the biggest thing ever. For the year though it was really different. It's a very dark piece of work compared to the other works of Shotaro. The story starts with the viewing of strange cases of murder caused by monsters! A bat, werewolf, and crocodile like creatures are attacking people. There is also a man who breaks into a science lab. This is the Skullman as he kills all the men inside and burns the place down. The Skullman has the power of hypnosis as he can tell anyone what he wants which is how he gets in the lab. The Skullman leads the creatures as he has been killing people for a good amount of years. We soon then see the police looking at the four cases and the media is covering it up. Even though the cases seem very separate the police know it is the work of the Skullman as they been on his trail for a long time ever since he was 2 years old. Now of course the Skullman didn't start at that age, but the boy has been missing for a long time ever since the death of his parents. We learn this after we are introduced to the man Kagura Tatsuo. He wants to get involved with the case and after he gets looked up he is allowed to be around. This is where an elder officer tells him about the Skullman as the suspect is the boy from fifteen years ago. More murder cases are coming around as the Skullman seems to be unstoppable. Will the murderer be caught or will he get away with what he wants, but what exactly he is aiming for?

Pros- I love the story a whole lot, it's seems rather simple, but the story has a complete turn around with clever writing. The idea of Skullman is a completely new for his time because we follow a really dark character who kills for his goals. It's really hard to say somethings because the complete turn around gives a whole different view on the Skullman. It's a basic dark revenge story and it works perfectly cause the manga has some perfect scenes of darkness and suspense. The first pages are amazing with no text as we just see people being killed by the monsters. It's a great way to start out by showing how dark things can get. The animation is also very good as I love Shotaro's style. It's very cartoony, but there are great details that add to the seriousness. There really isn't any gore even with people getting killed in brutal ways. Which I like because if it was too gory I think some of the pages wouldn't have that much of an affect. The art also gives off really eerie settings which again adds to the dark tone of the manga. Finally, the way of how the story is told is great as I said the couple of pages just show what's happening and we get a feeling of what's happening. Also some great character scenes where they talk about the case and the past. There is no narrator which is something I hate at times.

Cons- There is really one thing that is slightly disappointing and it's similar to how Kamen Rider Double is. The whole mystery is obvious on who the Skullman is. Now even though that part is ruined the complete turn around still got me by surprise. Also I think Shotaro did it on purpose since the whole turn around is supposed to be the real shocking part and not who the Skullman is.

Overall- This is a complete masterpiece and my favorite piece of work from Shotaro. It's a perfect dark story that can easily surprise people today. The way the story is told is well done thanks to character scenes and no narrator shoving information down our throats. The art is excellent with Shotaro's cartoon like style with great details. You can read the Skullman on tons of manga websites and I highly recommend it. I also would tell people to read the continuation of Skullman and even though it's not done by Shotaro the other author does perfect with the elements and uses his version of Skullman to tribute the past author. I give the Skullman an A+ and why can't this get a modern take with a movie?

Random Month: Top Ten Favorite Video Game Characters

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! This may not be Thanksgiving related, but there isn't a lot of Toku that relates to this day because well it's an American only holiday. I bet some American Toku shows have some, but I will save that for another time. Anyways it's still Random Month and it's continuing with video games. I have talked about my absolute favorite character in games before, but I don't want to ignore my other favorites. So this list is to give the spotlight to more characters I love so much. One rule and this is one per franchise.

10. Cole Phelps from L.A. Noire

It has been only a year and this game already has been forgotten. It was big when it came out and even though some people think of this as Rockstar's weakest game I disagree. I do like Grand Theft Auto and I still haven't play Red Dead Redemption, but I think this game needs to be remembered more. The presentation alone should be memorable with nice looks and detailed character models. The best part was the main character Cole Phelps. He was a simple man who came back from the war and is now working as a police officer. Through hard work he gets to become a detective and he still stays the same. He is a man who brings justice and he doesn't want to lose that belief he has. There is even good background story we learn about making him a much larger character. I don't want to spoil that information though. This game was near perfect in presentation as I still remember a lot of great parts of the story and this amazing character.

9. Kirby from the Kirby franchise

This may seem to be an odd choice, but I have my reasons. Kirby is some strange creature that has infinite gluttony. He can even gain abilities from eating his foes and there are so many forms of Kirby. He has been tons of things to UFO's to a ball. There is not a lot special about him, but it's the simplicity that I like a lot. We don't need to know about Kirby he is pink, cute, tough, and fights for the right things. Kirby never shows any signs of being evil he's just a good guy. So he's not big and complex, but Kirby is just awesome.

8. Shadow from the Sonic franchise

Shadow is easily the second biggest character from the Sonic universe. When he first arrived people were ecstatic to see another hedgehog fighting against Sonic. His first game was Sonic Adventure 2 and he was a complete mystery as we didn't know a lot about him. All we know he was created by Eggman's grandfather and that he was powerful since he could use the Chaos Emeralds in new ways Sonic couldn't. Later we start to learn more about Shadow in Sonic Heroes, but it was little information and was like a sudden twist (again no spoilers). Later we get to Shadow's own game and I like it, it's not the best, but it's far from the worse thing in the Sonic franchise. In this we finally learn about Shadow and I liked it a lot when I was younger. It blew my freaking mind. Now it's not as great, but it doesn't hurt the character. So after that Shadow became an ally and his actions are more like a anti-hero at times he still does things for good. Shadow a big complex character for the Sonic franchise and was a great addition to the history of Sonic.

7. Luigi from the Mario Franchise

Two things I have to say first. My favorite color is green and I was the younger sibling. So it's obvious I played as Luigi a lot when I was younger. It's funny though that I relate with him on how I am taller than my older brother. What makes Luigi great is that later on he becomes a comic relief character in future games like the Mario and Luigi RPG's. He has some of my favorite moments of humor in video games and he can still be as strong as his brother. He did have his own game as well and again I liked it. It was very different for me when I first got the Gamecube. I played it multiple times and got very high scores on it. The game had humor which fits Luigi well and it shows a lot of bravery he actually has. Luigi is another not so complex character, but like Kirby he has little things that make him great.

6. Ezio Auditore from the Assassin Creed franchise

Assassin's Creed is one of my favorite current gen games. Then there is the sequel. This is where the games started to get tons of recognition. Everything was much better than the first one and the main character is simply amazing. At first he is actually a hated character. He acted like a punk and was very immature, but when things got serious and when he learned about his heritage he has a complete 360 on his life. Ezio becomes an assassin and one of the best. I love characters like this, you hate them at first and quickly feel bad for them. Next they become a big dynamic character and continue to move forward. This character is so great that he got two spin off games and he stays the same character that we all love. Even when he gets older he is still very strong. Ezio a big dynamic character that really got my by surprise when I first saw him.

5. Ike from the Fire Emblem franchise

I have talked about Ezio and you can feel for him. Ike fits in the same category, but his dynamics are bigger for me. Ike was brought into being a leader too fast by his father, but he didn't lack the experience. Ike was a very skilled fighter and could do things by himself. He lead a small group and even though some of his teammates didn't see him to be strong enough he still worked hard for victory. After a huge plot point, Ike has to take the whole group and become it's leader. He doesn't hold on very well in the beginning, but he quickly learns to not to let things hold him down. His journey gives him more resolve to fight and gives him better leadership skills. Ike was just the son of the leader and he quickly became a leader who lead a simple mercenary group into becoming an army who's task is to take down an empire.

4. Junpei from the Persona franchise

I have talked tons about Persona 3 and 4 so going back to my love for the franchise Junpei is my absolute favorite character from the whole franchise. He's a comic relief character that stays true to himself, but we learn a lot about his inner personalities. For the most he can be a goof and isn't that bright. Like everyone else in the gang he is brave and will fight the Shadows. We mostly see him be a failure at flirting and he never gives up. Then he starts to find an actual person he can really love, Chidori a girl who wears a white gothic dress. That arc of the game really got me to like his character more since we got to see more of his inner personalities as he cared for her a lot. Even after hard times, Junpei doesn't regret anything and continues to bring his A-game. Junpei is a big goofball, but he isn't a bad character as his personality is very likeable and he even brings some great motivation.

 3. Lloyd Irving from the Tales franchise

I can't believe I haven't talked about Tales of Symphonia till now. That game is near perfection for JRPG's and I played it way toooooo much that the first disc doesn't even work anymore. This was first game into the series and I played this for hours straight with my brother. Lloyd is just a teenager who lives in a little village and mostly is a goof. He falls asleep in class and gets himself in trouble a lot. He has a big heart for the people around him, but that part of him makes things hard for his future. He gets involved with Collete a girl who is the next Chosen One. He helps her get through the first part and then he is kicked out from the whole operation as a man named Kratos thinks he isn't ready. Later he gets involved with a prisoner camp and this gets the village in big trouble. People were killed and the village was burnt down. He is kicked out and has nowhere to go, but meet up back with Collete. We learn a lot about him as his past can even be interesting since he doesn't know a lot of things about himself. He's another big dynamic character who goes through a lot, but he continues to fight for his friends and for what is right.

2. Travis Touchdown from the No More Heroes franchise

Well this is odd, Travis Touchdown. I have these big characters who put things behind them, do the right things, and deal with life changing events. This character at first was fighting in an assassin tournament just to sleep with a girl..... Just that alone makes people think he is a scumbag, but wait there is more. He has a big obsession with a certain anime series and even pornography. He kills for fun mostly and is a big pervert. We do learn about his true reasons for fighting though and even though he is perverted he kicks a whole ton of ass! Travis is one of those characters who is over the top and you can never hate him for that. Also in the sequel he learns a whole lot about himself and the true meaning of fighting. Also the sequel is about Travis getting revenge so we can already tell that he is a much better person than you think. Basically Travis is just an epic character, but throughout his many fights he learns a lot and some of those fights changed himself so much. Finally the Beam Katana one of the best weapons ever!

1. Zero from the Megaman X franchise

I already talked so much about Zero before. He got his own post and I looked at everything that made him awesome. First there was how much he was involved with the overall story. Zero has tons of background information and when you learn about it, it will blow your mind. I still think there should be a prequel game for Zero to see how he was when he was first built and there could be tons of great gameplay advantages for that. Even in the beginning of Megaman X we see how cool and powerful Zero is and that just made people want to play as him so much. X4 came around and it's the best one of the franchise IMO, we saw tons of things from Zero. I know X4 wasn't the first time we played as Zero, but this perfected it. Overall Zero is way too awesome and I will never put him into a lower spot he stays at number one forever! Thank you for reading this post and make sure to leave your comments below.

Random Month: Baccano Review

There could be connections to Toku, but I just want to review this. This is my favorite anime series! If you never heard of this you are not the only one. This show isn't popular, but it needs to be! It is perfect in every way possible, so yes this is getting an A+. I really recommend watching this. For me lately newer anime has been really hard getting interested with it and I have mentioned this before. I bring up it again because I didn't talk about closure. This is the main reason why the big four anime series bore me so much they take forever! The fillers are annoying and I did read the mangas a couple of times, but even they get stretched out too much. This also goes into why I love Toku shows they have closure, they end. Forty between fifty episodes is a really good run time in my opinion. Now being too short can be an issue too sadly because things could get rushed. Baccano has sixteen episodes so yes it's short. So why is this my favorite? Well this is mostly why I started Random Month, to talk about it.

To explain the plot of Baccano is going to be quite difficult and just summarizing the first episode won't be that much help either. The show consists of three stories and some aftermath near the end. The strange part is that all three stories are shown at different times. So you could be seeing a part in the near future and then cut back to the past.  It reminds me of Quentin Tarantino a little with how the story is told because it will jump around. So I will give a synopsis of the three stories. The first story is about a man named Szilard who is immortal, but wants to spread his fortune between his little cult. One of his followers soon perfects it, but some punks steal it. These punks are lead by Dallas Genoard a complete punk. Even after they get their asses handed to them by a young man named Firo who is soon going to be part of the Martillo family. There is also some bad grounds going on between Dallas and the Gandors. All this happens while the formula goes to many different locations and who could find it? Now onto 1931 on a train called the Flying Pussyfoot (giggle if you must). On the train two gangs over take it, a group in white and one in black. Also there are a couple of thieves on board. The group of thieves lead by Jacuzzi want to get things back to normal and fight off the two groups. The men in white are lead by Ladd Ruso who loves to kill! He is doing this is help is family, but he wants fun from this as well. Some more info the Ruso's and Jacuzzi's gang aren't friends at all. The men in black are a cult following Huey who is an immortal and will overtake the train for a certain family. That's not the only bloodshed around though as there is a monster on the train, the Rail Tracer! Now the third story is also in 1931, but it follows Eve Genoard. She is Dallas' younger sister and she is trying to find him since he vanished. There is also the Runorata family who want to find him as well and like Dallas they are enemies of the Gandor family. There is even a back story arc that goes in the 1700's as it explains how the immortals begun. The show transits between the three stories and in thirteen episodes everything is explained and gives another time for each character shown. How many characters are there, well there is no main character, but seventeen!

Pros- Now you maybe confused, but this show will perfectly tell it's story without major confusion. If you do get confused there could require another watch then. So with over seventeen characters and even more minor you think thirteen episodes can't possibly do three stories. Well no, the series gives everything great amount of screen time and gives them at least one huge moments. Heck the first two characters we see Issac and Mira are in all three parts! Going on with the characters there is no rotten apple at all. Each character is perfectly well done and we get many good things from them. We learn tons of things about the plot and the characters in the thirteen episodes we get. There are more yes, but it serves as after math which I will explain later. The animation for this series is another near perfect part of the show. It does get bloody and there are really intense moments. Along with the animation the blood really jumps out with a great shade of red. The overall detail is amazing itself. This show does sound dark and it is, but along with action and suspense there is romance and comedy. Again this series only has sixteen episodes total and it does so much more than what other series can take over thirty to do. Basically, watch this series!

The best comic relief characters ever!

Cons- There is only one thing I can say here. The last three episodes, the after math. It's not bad, but (Spoiler Alert!!) the series ends at the biggest cliffhanger possible. Yes the story does continue in other formats mostly the light novels. Sadly those aren't in America and I always see rumors of second season for Baccano, but it never comes. The series didn't get popular for some reason and this still boggles me. So yes the story will leave at a huge part, but remember it does continue.

Simply a complete psychopath, but the best!

Overall- There is so much I still haven't talked about. There are even characters I didn't mention. This could not be my best review, but if it perked your interests at all that is good enough. As I said you can find either the Japanese dub online (Funimation's channel) or the English dub on Netflix, either way both dubs are amazing. I actually prefer the Eng dub because the characters are American and the voices feel more right at home with them. Find this no matter what and make it popular by any means. This anime series needs to be more known of. Watch other reviews too if you want to. Anime for Dummies (Ton of Spoilers though), Anime Zone, and probably ton of other Yotubers out there. This is the closest anime series to being perfect if it just continued. If the series continues than the whole cliff ending wouldn't even be a problem anymore. So this gets an A+ for having great stories, perfect characters, and an amazing way to tell a story.

Random Month: Skullman the Animation Review

I will take another look into an anime series, but this has a much closer connection to Toku. This is Skullman and if you know your Kamen Rider well you will know who started the character. Skullman was a one shot manga that soon was continued by a new author Kazuhiko Shimamoto. The next step for this series was an anime adaptation in 2007. Now I have seen both mangas of Skullman and I completely love it. If you love tokuatsu you will easily like the one shot and the seven volume series. So what does the anime series do, well we will find out.

The series begins an actress who is running for her life. Soon the man with a skull mask appears before her. Hayato Mikogami a journalist hears about the actress and she is dead. Strange thing is that they are reporting it as an accident, but he knows that it was murder. This soon leads him to go back to his hometown and look for the urban legend of the man with a skull mask. He is soon tailed by Kiriko Mamiya a female girl who inspires to be a photographer. The two explore around the city as Hayato visits his father's grave and meets a friend of his father's. He has heard about the Skullman, but he only believes it to be a myth since there are way too many variations of the rumor. Still Hayato decides to continue his search. At night the two rest at Hayato's old house as the police are escorting a woman somewhere. After a hijinks moment Hayato gets kicked out of his own house. He walks around again and when it hits midnight things get weird. Hayato finds a man panicking and when he tries to calm him down he gets hit. The man is much stronger than the usual person as he sends Hayato flying straight into a vending machine. The man continues to run as he is being chased by dog like creature. Hayato sees this and goes to see what is happening. Soon the man is attacked by two of these dog like creatures and soon the Skullman appears. When Hayato gets to the scene the man has been already killed and there he sees the Skullman. There are thirteen episodes as the series continues with the mystery of who the Skullman is and why he is committing murders. The series is pretty gory, but the first episode doesn't have that much. If you want a suspenseful mystery then this could be for you. Now there is a prologue episode that is in live action format. Sadly I couldn't find it, but I do know of a certain actor played the main role of Skullman.

Pros- As I said the series is has mystery and suspense and it works well with those elements. The big mystery with who the Skullman is pretty good with a good amount of possibilities. This actually ties with the original story as the police suspect it is the past Skullman who has come back from his grave for revenge. The animation is pretty good as it goes with a basic format, but there are some very nice touches of nice details here and there. The animation also mixes in the artwork of the one shot manga at times. The series even has nice references to the author's other works in some good ways. The Skullman himself looks very impressive and his fighting style is great with him giving a finishing blow by the knife he hides. The action is another good thing, but I think the action got a whole lot better closer to the end. Going to that, when the series hits it's climax point it gets very good. Things get really serious and it leads to a great ending. Overall the mystery works well and with nice action there is a high amount of suspense.

 The series does make a connection to Cyborg 009 and I liked it even though it doesn't count.

Cons- The main characters are average at best. Hayato is good, but in the beginning not a lot of things jump out about him and the same for Kiriko. Both do get better as the story continues, but their scenes can get boring to watch at times. The other characters who appear in the series really are just in to die and with some it works, but most of them its just you feel no good connection to them. Even though I do like the ending parts of the series it is a complete turn around. The series begins with suspenseful elements with action at the end and then that completely changes with much bigger fights. I do like it, but I would rather see more parts that were more relaxed. With some good references the series can get pretty obvious if you know the material, but then it wouldn't work for people who don't know what is being referenced. Another thing that bugs me is how cliche it can get at points. It's mostly big anime cliches and for something like the Skullman it didn't feel right. So the characters are kinda bland with some just around to die, but at least they get better as the series continues. The series does have a slow start, but give it time and it will get you at times with some really well placed scenes.

 Oh yea there is one obvious one too (Forced Love Interest!)

Overall- If you know Skullman this could work for you or not all. For me I rather not have some of these cliches, but at least the pay off is good. You can find episode of the Skullman on Youtube thanks to the Anime Network as they subtitled it and they're good. I do think there are little goofs here and there, but the subtitles won't miss anything big. So I give this series a C+ it has really good parts, but other elements really bring it down a lot. I would lightly recommend the series, but for a better experience go with the one shot or seven volume manga series. Now question time I have put good hints and this should be easy if you do some searches. Still what connects the Skullman to Toku? Also for the final week I will take a look at the one shot manga series.

Random Month: Gurren-Lagann Review

It's a new month, Halloween is now over and sorry I didn't do a specific review for that day. Personally I don't care for that holiday, but maybe next year I could do something. So this is the start of random month where I will review anything that is slightly different than what I review usually, but some have some connections to Toku. So first is an anime series. Anime was a big thing for me when I was younger and it still is big. For me the best time was the 90's with Dragonball, Outlaw Star, and my favorite from that time YuYu Hakusho. Today anime has changed from what I remembered. This is one big reason why I got into Toku because anime started to disinterest me at times. I still watch some, but I don't follow the big ones like Naruto and Fairy Tail they just bore me. So Gurren-Lagannwas another big popular series and I was worried about it since big ones are very overrated, but to my surprise this series deserves all the love it gets. (Also the I wanted to review YuYu, but it's hard to find)

So now onto Gurren-Lagann, it's a mecha anime and some will think of Gundamn and at first that what I thought. It does share some aspects with it, but where it shares it, it amplifies it! If you love mechas this series is for you. As said by Anime For Dummies this series will be like crack for mecha fans. The plot of this series is that humanity has been taken down and are forced to live underground by the Spiral King. There are people called Diggers who expand where they live. One boy wants to see more of the world though and with his role model Kamina he supports Simon with his dream. One day a giant robot crashes into their village and begins to attack. During this attack Kamina takes action, but a woman  appears and fights the mech. During the fight the three get away because Simon has an idea. He shows them the "face" he has found and it's similar to the Gunman which are what the mechs are called in the series. Simon activates it with the drill object he found from before and it's already time for Lagann's first fight! Simon pilots the Lagann and gets his first win thanks to the mighty drill weapon! Now the three explore to the surface and they don't get a friendly welcome. Now they have to fight some more and through all of this they find out a lot more about the surface and their robot. It is in fact a Gunman, but it is missing it's lower half. Each Gunman can unite to a lower half and soon they steal their own lower half. This makes Gurren-Lagann and it's drill will pierce the heavens! Also with the support of other people Kamina takes his the team Lagann into new light as they will take down the Beast-men who have kept them underground.

 

Pros- What I love about this series the most is how short it is, but it has three parts in total. There are 27 episodes and I am amazed on how smooth things went. There is great progression and each episode has some importance to the plot. Since it's a mech anime you expect there to be action and this series gives you more than you expect. The action in this series is top notch and it just keeps giving you it. Along with the great animation everything looks amazing and doesn't confuse you on what is happening. The characters are really good as well with the best character ever made in an anime series Kamina! The series use him in the best way possible and his legacy will always live on. He is a complete badass who calls for danger and knows how to fight. I also love how much of a leader he actually is as he leads many people to what looks like suicide missions, but with his great dynamics he can make any battle possible. Simon was also a near perfect character as he is the main focus. He goes through a lot of development and how it is done is amazing. Yoko was also a pretty good character along with the other two and I am surprised that she does a lot than I expected since characters like her just stay as eye candy. There are minor characters as well and some don't get the same dynamics as others, but they stay who they are and they are already awesome so there was no need for them to change. I was afraid with the action because I would think it would over whelm the overall series, but I was dead wrong. There is great sense of emotion with sheer excitement and pure sadness. Another emotion is happiness and boy will this series get you happy, the comedy is another good element for this show. Gurren-Lagann is one of the best series I have seen to use many elements of entertainment.

Still one of the best characters I have ever seen in any type of entertainment.

Cons- There are only little things that get me at times and that is the fan service. Yea the series does do that and it's not a thing I personally like. It maybe done too many times, but at points it does mix well with the comedy at least. Also this series uses a bad style of recapping and then there is the mid point break. So little, but it still bothers me.

 She is fourteen?!

Overall- This is easily my second favorite anime. It has some of the best action because it's not only eye catching, but also fills you up with so much excitement. The progression feels very good and doesn't feel rushed at all. I would recommend this series like I am with Wizard right now. It is near perfect and both English and Japanese voice actors work well. So I give this series an A. So now here's the question what connections does it have to Toku? Well there are two parts that I know the most. The first hint is a certain voice actor and the second hint is a recent series that ended and is coming back.