Latest Stevenbomb Previews

Rather than post the images and the 2 min preview for each episode, will only post a few for each episode along with a preview of the respective episode.

Doug Out

Are You My Dad?

The Good Lars

Are You My Mom?

Orbox C Puzzle Game Mini Review

Disclaimer: Developer Gamebalance has provided me with a full version of the game for the purpose of this review

Orbox C is the third game in the Orbox series made by Indie Developer Gamebalance. While the Orbox series has been around for a number of years as browser games and Orbox C was made available on Steam last December, it's only now that I got my hands on it. Plus I happen to be a bit of a sucker for puzzle games - so long as it doesn't make me rage so much, that is.

The game mechanics are quite simple. Use the arrow keys to navigate your way to the red block, which serves as the exit. Other missions would have you collect stars, blow up bombs, and others. You'll also encounter obstacles such as blocks that bounce you at an angle, warp zones, etc. More advanced missions will feature a combination of these.

A free version of Orbox C is available where you get to play the first 30 levels, though much of it are just tutorials. The real meat of the game comes if you pay $2.99 for the full version. For the price of a burger at a fast-food restaurant, it's not that bad, and the full version does provide pretty challenging levels that require a lot of thinking through.

Other than a simple background and generic background music, Orbox C is quite a challenging game despite its simple mechanics. What really interests me is that various versions of the game exist and not just in Steam, with each version having a unique set of level designs. You would be surprised at some versions of the game where even  the Tutorial levels turned out to be harder than it looks. So if you feel like being a completionist, you may want to seek out the various versions of the game and try them out.

Whether you play the game on your internet browser, smartphone, or on Steam, Orbox C is worth killing some of your time, as well as a boost to your noggin. Puzzle fans will enjoy this one, while casual games can fit right in. And for $2.99 for the full Steam version, it's worth the price. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give the Steam version of Orbox C, a 4 out of 5.

Alleged Marvel Leaks Details

Got these leaks from /co/ so take them with a grain of salt. Also spoilers.

    >SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING - Test-screenings have been very positive so far. Angourie Rice is playing Gwen Stacy. Logan Marshall-Green is playing Jackson Brice. Donald Glover is playing Hobie Brown. The Vulture doesn't die and there are plans to bring Michael Keaton back further down the line.

    >THOR: RAGNAROK - In post-production and coming along nicely. The Soul Stone is introduced. Thor finds out about Thanos just as Asgard, the universe's first line of defense, is nearly destroyed, leaving the cosmos unprotected. He then returns to Earth to recruit the Avengers to help him fight Thanos.

    >BLACK PANTHER - Just wrapped filming. It's a standalone movie and it's more serious, in the same vein as "Captain America: The Winter Soldier". Sebastian Stan makes an appearance as Bucky Barnes.

    >ANT-MAN & THE WASP - Gearing up for production. It's standalone and set simultaneously to "Avengers: Infinity War". Same humorous tone as the first movie. JulIianne Moore is in early talks to play the original Wasp, Janet Van Dyne. Jared Harris is in advanced talks to play the main villain.

    >CAPTAIN MARVEL - In pre-production. Carol Danvers will be briefly introduced in "Avengers: Infinity War". Yon-Rogg is slated to be the villain. Richard Rider will also be featured ahead a potential movie about his transformation into Nova.

    >AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR - Filming. The core characters are Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Falcon, Winter Soldier, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and the Guardians of the Galaxy, although other make appearances. The Black Order is featured as Thanos' enforcers, formed by Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight, Ebony Maw and Black Dwarf. Peter Dinklage is playing Pip the Troll. The plot revolves around the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy joining forces to collect the Infinity Stones before Thanos. Thanos reveals that he masterminded numerous events right down to Loki's defeat at the hands of the Avengers to facilitate the creation of the Infinity Gauntlet and destroys an en entire galaxy with it. The heroes manage to retreat back to Earth, defeated, but refuse to give up and decide to assemble an army to stop Thanos.

    >AVENGERS 4 - Pre-production. The culmination of the entire MCU so far and the final battle against Thanos. Numerous characters will die, but some of these deaths will be reverted at the end of the movie through the Infinity Stones. The most notable permanent deaths are Captain America and Odin, setting up Bucky becoming Captain America and Thor becoming king of Asgard. Iron Man will retire but the door will be left open for future appearances.

    >PHASE 4 - Early development, therefore subjected to change. There are talks about separating upcoming movies between Cosmic Marvel and Earth Marvel and having each pocket follow their own overarching storylines, although nothing quite as ambitious as the Infinity Saga. The Russos and James Gunn will be creative consultants throughout the whole process. "Doctor Strange 2", "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" and the "Spider-Man: Homecoming" sequel are givens. There are plans for "Captain America 4", "Thor 4" and "Ant-Man 3" as well as "Nova" and "Thunderbolts". Sequels to "Black Panther" and "Captain Marvel" are also expected.


Biggest disappointment is that the films do not address Marvel TV (Agents of SHIELD, The Defenders, Cloak & Dagger). I was hoping the narrative of Infinity War would have a multiverse concept, if only to resolve the issues regarding the ties between the films and the TV shows. Since that is not happening, it means Marvel TV is absolutely separate from Marvel Films and the connection is in name only.

When Yale Students Attack Samurai Jack

Let's get this out of the way. Yes, I am an Anti-Social Justice Warrior or SJW. Yes, I am against the kind of feminism as displayed by the likes of Anita Sarkeesian, Zoe Quinn, and Brianna Wu. Yes, I am well aware that I'm a guy, so SJWs and Feminists would want to have my head cut off, and served on a platter, because "muh-cultural-appropriation-policial-correctness-feminust-justice" or what have you.

And because I have such a scorn view on these types of people, I tend to ignore or laugh off whatever blaring sounds they make, because whatever accusations they have, just makes no common sense. That being said, I am human and eventually I'll have to respond to something. So when I heard the news story of students from Yale University heavily criticizing the current season of Samurai Jack for "Homophobia, Sexism, and Cultural Appropriation", I just laughed at how preposterous those accusations are. However, it has gone viral. So, I said to myself "Ok. You want to play this game? I'll play along."

The so-called "news" comes from The Yale Herald, which reviews the current season of Samurai Jack. As I was reading their article, I couldn't help but snort at their profound stupidity. Not to mention the fact the article is incredibly short and doesn't provide a sound explanation of their claims.

Let's read their first accusation:

"Jack’s first villain, Scaramouche, with his flamboyant dress and mannerisms which include ending every sentence with “babe,” reads as somewhat tone deaf and homophobic."

Nothing in Scaramouche's character makes him homophobic at all. At best, Scaramouche is a flamboyant character with a taste for scat-style jazz. There's nothing wrong with being flamboyant. The late David Bowie has done so throughout his career and he's straight and nobody complained about it. In fact, Scaramouche's persona is what makes him one of the most interesting and popular characters of this season.

2nd accusation:

"The portrayal of samurai seems to be rooted in a Wikipedia level understanding of the historical figure and feels appropriative at times"

What these Yale Students are trying to say is that Jack doesn't in any way resembles how an actual samurai behaves. Furthermore, because the series is written by Genndy Tartakovsky, who happens to be Russian (ergo, white), it's a case of cultural appropriation.

So how come they didn't complain about the Ninja Turtles then? They're created by two white guys. The turtles aren't Japanese, yet they practice their ninja skills or ninjutsu. And theirs isn't even anywhere close to real-life ninjutsu.

Even tha Naruto franchise's use of ninja skills are all fantasy made and very loosely based on the real-life ninjutsu.

What about Gintama, Rurouni Kenshin, or Samurai Champloo? These are anime titles that feature samurai, but are just as loose and more rooted in fantasy than real-life samurai culture. How come they didn't complain about these works?

And implying someone like Tartakovsky shouldn't produce works that have a non-Caucasian protagonist is like saying Shigeru Miyamoto should never have created Super Mario Bros. because Mario is not Japanese, but an Italian. Or the creators of the Avatar franchise can't make the series in the first place because the creators are white and their characters are Asian.

3rd accusation:

"While this season introduces the strong, nuanced female character of Ashi, women’s bodies are often depicted as hyper-sexual, a fact made uncomfortably clear by the daughters of the Scotsman in the latest episode."

So they're body-shaming the Daughters of Aku because they're so slim looking, while also body-shaming the Daughters of the Scotsman because they're hyper muscular. Next thing you know, these Yale students will body-shame a fat character for the same reason. How nit-picky these idiots get?

Don't these people even consider that the body types of the Daughters of Aku and the Daughters of The Scotsman are due in part to their training? Ashi is trained to be an assassin, so a flexible body is more appropriate for the job. The Scotsman's daughters are trained to carry heavy weaponry. Of course they need to be strong to lift those!

I dare these Yale Students to give an example of a well-known fictional character with the body type of their choosing that not only is very good with his/her assassination skills, but is also flexible and can lift a giant sword 20 times its size with relative ease. Protip: they can't!

And what is wrong with "Da Samurai" being someone who enjoys 70's funk or what have you, while still being a samurai himself? If Samuel L Jackson where to star in a film as a Samurai while having the persona of the character Shaft, would there be a problem? No! And by the way, he already did played a samurai in Afro Samurai. So what? Cultural appropriation again? Give me a break.

The Yale Herald ends their short article with the following:

"Samurai Jack is thus flawed in the many ways that most mass entertainment is flawed, and thus deserves the same critical eye. With this in mind, whether the show is still worth experiencing should be left to the discretion of the individual viewer."

I get the impression these Yale Students never liked entertainment, period. I'm assuming they would hate Grave of The Fireflies and calling it one of the worst anime films of all time, despite the fact that it is very much praised by critics and fans alike.

I may be unfair criticizing these students from Yale University, as the article is written by one Sam Kruyer. If anything, HE should be criticized for this and not the student body in general. But as it was published anyway and there is no backlash within the university about it, it appears the students of Yale University are backing this up.

I DO hope I am wrong and it's just this Kruyer guy who is the moron. But as it stands, this article represents The Yale Herald, which represents the students of Yale University, and thus my criticism of their article goes out to ALL of them. They are from a prestigious university. They should be much better than this.

Thankfully, they are in the minority as everyone sans these Yale Students really enjoy Samurai Jack. My final message is that they should take a real hard look upon themselves and crack their heads open rather than being so closed up, if you get what I mean.

POWER RANGERS IN AN SRW GAME

Bandai Namco has recently announced that the May update for their Super Robot Wars SRW X-Ω (Cross Omega) mobile game will feature the Daizyujin from Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger. American fans will know this as the first season of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. It is worth noting however, that Zyuranger's debut it part of a special collaboration event and is only available for a limited time.

This is the first time a Super Sentai/Power Rangers series has appeared in an Super Robot Wars game (SRW for short), as the franchise is often restricted to mecha like Gundam, Macross, Gurren Lagann, Evangelion, etc. However, since its debut in Japan for smartphones in 2015, the X-Omega game has featured various shows normally not within the mecha genre, including Crayon Shin-chan, the Idolmaster, and Godzilla.

Historically, the Super Sentai series did appear in one crossover back in the Famicom (the Japanese NES). SD Battle Oozumo was sumo wrestling game featuring characters from Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Gundam, and Super Sentai (specifically Turbo Ranger, Liveman, Flashman, and Jetman. All four predate Zyuranger).

Zyuranger will make its grand debut in SRW X-Omega in May for the iOS and Android.

About Super Robot Wars -
Originally released for the Game Boy in 1991, Super Robot Wars is a long-running video game crossover franchise featuring various mecha anime. Players take the role of their favorite anime mecha from various shows like Code Geass, Full Metal Panic, The Big O, GoLion (Voltron in the US), Eureka Seven, and many more, while fighting enemies in a Turn-Based Strategy game similar to Nintendo's Fire Emblem series. Its most recent game, Super Robot Wars V, was released in early 2017 for the PS 4 and PS Vita. It is also the first in the series where it has been released in English (although only for Asian countries).

Adventure Time: Elements Review (SPOILER WARNING)

While Adventure Time fans are eager for the broadcast release of the mini-series "Elements" on Cartoon Network, those who want to get it early can purchase all 8 episodes directly from iTunes, as it was released earlier this week. I was one of the few who managed to get the iTunes release. So this video will summarize and analyze the events that transpired on this mini-series.

As I said in the beginning of this video, it will contain spoilers for the entire plot of Elements. So this is your last chance of backing out if you don't want to be spoiled at all.

After the events of the episode "Orb", which you can check my short review on it in the video description, Finn, Jake, and BMO discover that the Treehouse, the surrounding areas, and even its inhabitants have all been turned into candy. Not only that, the candified people are all given completely different personalities. As the trio investigates further as to what is going on, they would encounter Sweet P, who is unaffected by the candy transformation, but is fearful of his now candified parents. Obviously, because Sweet P is the reincarnation of the Lich that grants him his immunity.

Later, the trio would find Princess Bubblegum transformed into a giant Candy Tower, and although she retains her sweet persona, it's a twisted one, as she wants everyone and everything around her turned into Candy. Now we all know Bonnie can be a bit of tyrant at times towards her people. But what she does in this mini-series is far more disturbing while under the cloud of, excuse the pun, "sweetness". BMO turned into candy while Finn and Jake were rescued by the Ice King, who apparently now lives in the Cloud Kingdom, or what's left of it.

Ice King's explanation of what is going on ties to a number of episodes that happened previously. The Ice Elemental Patience St. Pim is making another attempt of uniting the four Elementals of Earth - Ice, Fire, Candy, and Slime. Obviously, the other elementals refer to Phoebe the Flame Princess, Bonnie aka Princess Bubblegum, and Slime Princess.

While Patience is away foregoing her master plan, Betty, the new Magic Woman, appears and tries to make Ice King remember his past as Simon Petrikov. I guess it was obvious in past episodes, but I didn't notice until now that in spite of having Magic Man's powers and insanity, there's still a piece of humanity left in Betty that she remains determined to restore Simon's memories.

Sadly, Ice King's memories as Simon is long gone thanks to wearing Evergreen's Crown for more than a thousand years and this frustrates Betty. I honestly feel bad for her as she really loves Simon and desperately wants him back by any means necessary.

As I was doing this review, I was listening to an NPR archive from 2013 about Adventure Time regarding the Ice King and how his mental state is a reflection of the struggle of living with Alzheimer's Disease. So Betty's, and by extension Marceline's, frustrations with Simon's memory loss, is a representation of how loved ones deal with someone who has Alzheimer's.

I've also watched an episode of the Youtube Red series "Mind Field", starring Michael Steven from VSauce, where your memories determine you as a person. Should those memories be altered or stripped away, so is the person's character. I find it quite scary to know that you are defined by your own memories, and altering or removing those memories change you profoundly. This is what we are seeing with Simon as his memory loss changes him to a completely different character than what he once was.

All this made me symphatize more with what Ice King is going through. On a different note, Ice King is shown to be pretty buff in this one. I think it's from one episode where he really did some exercise to look buff, but I can't put my finger on what episode is that.

Back to the story. Taking the advice of the Tiny Manticore, Betty hangs out with Simon again, this time to instill new memories. Immediately, the two hit it off and is like a One True Pairing scene that made me wish the two do get a happy ending. Then Patience comes back with the other princesses under her mind control. She kidnaps Betty and extracts her magic powers to fuel her spell that would unite the four elements together, which backfired very badly and all of Ooo and its inhabitants were divided into the four elements.

I am quite disappointed with Patience, to be honest. Her first appearance suggests she would a possible antagonist for Finn & Jake. And although she is the one who started all this, she remains a minor character in Elements. I was hoping Finn and Patience would battle it out, but after their encounter, that's pretty much it.

After Betty is rescued, she then devises a plan to gather the jewels of the princesses and, using the Enchiridion Finn obtained back in Farmworld, would create a spell that would restore Ooo back to its original state. I totally forgot about the Enchiridion and now that the book is in play, I would think the Enchiridion will once again play a major role in a future story, perhaps to bring back the Lich.

Finn & Jake begin their adventure to retrieve the three jewels from the princesses. Along the way, several characters from seasons past would make appearances as guest characters or cameos. While attempting to take the jewel from the Slime Princess, tragedy struck as Jake is fully absorbed into Slime Princess's pure elemental form. Lumpy Space Princess, another person unaffected by Patience's botched spell, becomes Finn's companion after the latter loses Jake.

Later, while attempting to get the jewel from Flame Princess, Finn and Gunther are consumed by the Fire Elemental's rage, leaving LSP the only one left. She then made things worse by berating the Fire Elementals and having them attack the Candy Kingdom. Unintimidated by the invasion, Bonnie declares that all of Ooo should be turned candy and starts singing a song, which also acts as a spell. It is here that we now see who the real protagonist and antagonist are - LSP and Bonnie. Bonnie's song is, excuse the term again, "sweet" and not creepy at all. But the implication that it turns you into candy is what makes it disturbing and you could feel the sense of dread in the presentation.

I would compare this to the Amazing World of Gumball episode "The Joy", which is a satirical take on the zombie genre when happiness becomes a disease and everyone gets infected by it. While "The Joy"'s use of happiness to give the sense of dread is presented as satire, Bonnie's song in Elements is taken a little more seriously in the narrative. I think being turned into a living candy while singing songs of joy would probably be a far worse fate than being zombie food.

On a side note, I believe this is the first time Marceline and Flame Princess interacted with one another, though under bizarre circumstances. It would be nice to see an episode of the two interacting while being their normal selves and see how that turned out.

Another thing I was disappointed in Elements are Finn and Gunther as they are both consumed by the Fire Elemental. Given how mentally tough Finn is, he would've easily resisted being turned into the said Elemental. Gunther too, given that he is Orgalorg. That being said, I do understand the reasoning - Finn lost Jake to Slime Princess and is still unable to break free from losing him, which played a part of him being turned into the Fire Elemental. It's also a way to show LSP as the mini-series's true protagonist.

I confess I never really liked LSP as a protagonist in previous episodes. I always find her better off as a supporting character rather than take center stage. Also in part because her persona makes her such a "lump", if you get what I mean. Nevertheless, she played her part and brought Finn back by having him remember his time with Bonnie using the latter's piece of gum.

Earlier, Finn made the comment that he gets weird feelings when he sees Simon and Betty together acting like a happy couple. This, along with his memories of being with Bonnie is an indication that he is still longing for a significant other and he still has feelings for Bonnie deep down. I'm assuming their relationship will be explored yet again sometime in the future, if not Finn finally finding his true love.

Finn, now back in the game, has gathered all the jewels from the princessesand gave them to Betty, except Betty had other plans. Instead of restoring Ooo, she will use the spell to travel through time and prevent Simon from ever wearing Evergreen's Crown, thereby altering all of Adventure Time's history. Guess the insanity part of her was her obsession in restoring Simon's memories and she also admits she couldn't stand the Ice King's character. Ironically, it was the aloof Simon who botched the spell and sent her to Mars instead, where the former Magic Man is now its king.

That just leaves the problem of Ooo being turned into Candy by Princess Bubblegum. Finn figures out that LSP is the so-called "Fifth Element" and Lumps is an anti-elemental property. Using the Enchiridion, the Princess jewels, Evergreen's Crown, and LSP's "lumpiness", LSP restored Ooo back to normal. Everyone then gathered around her as she regains concsciousness and is being hailed as a hero.

It's worth noting that the scene where everyone gathered around Lumpy Space Princess features several characters from past seasons, and seeing this gives me the feeling this is like a hidden message from the Adventure Time staff to its fans, thanking them for watching the show for 8 years as Adventure Time will end its run in 2018. I would think the scene is also a thank you to creator Pendleton Ward, who plays LSP.

When Ice King took his crown back, one of the gems fell off before he put it back on. Now if you recall in the episode "Graybles 1000+", set 1000 years into the future, it featured a creature known as the "Ice Thing", a winged-creature with the face resembling the Ice King and the jewels from Evergreen's Crown as its eyes, though one is missing. So this scene is a foreshadowing of the eventual outcome from Graybles 1000+. I hope Simon doesn't end up as the Ice Thing, but seeing this made me believe in the theory that the Ice Thing is Evergreen's Crown somehow evolved and became sentient. That said, with Betty revealed to have given up on trying to be with Ice King, his tragedy is more than likely there to stay.

The last scene features Finn reuniting with Jake, now revealing his true form as a shapeshifter. You may recall in the episode "Joshua and Margaret Investigations" where the Shapeshifter bit onto Joshua's head that spawned Jake. Finn is nevetheless glad to have his brother back and will help him restore to his normal self whenever that opportunity comes.

And this is by far the mini-series's strongest trait. We often take Finn & Jake's relationship as brothers for granted, but Elements show just how strong, and vital, their bond as brothers are. And when Finn temporarily lost his brother, he was out of it, almost to a point of being devastated. I can relate to that as I do have strong bonds with my sibling and we treat each other as though we're buddies,  looking at each other's back, and having a sort of a symbiotic relationship. I would be consumed by so much grief if my sibling passes away.

So what's going to happen now that Jake is shown his true form? Given there are only a few episodes left in the current season, I would think that those episodes, or sometime in the next season will dive us more into the Shapeshifter's origins.

It's hard for me to believe that the current season is almost over at such a short amount of time. Granted, this season produced two mini-series events - "Islands" and now "Elements", both covers more than half of the episodes of the current season. This pretty much means the show will take an awfullly long break before they come back with the rest of the episodes. I honestly don't mind at all, as the current season has been great so far.

And Elements is a great mini-series with a strong emphasis on the plot, and many connectiions to past seasons that enthusiasts will further enjoy the show's long and expanded history. I really love where the show is going, especially since we are anticipating its run to end in 2018 and would like to see loose ends tied up. It's definitely worth the purchase in iTunes if you want to watch it early, or see the mini-series when it airs on Cartoon Network. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give the mini-series "Adventure Time: Elements", a 4 out of 5.

Welcome To My Life Review

While Cartoon Network has already announced what new shows are coming for their 2017-2018 lineup, we still get 1 or so that didn't make the cut from the CN pilots line (or what the network calls "minis"). Welcome to My Life is one of them, and it's one of the most unusual CN pilots I've seen in recent memory.

As the title suggests, Welcome to My Life is the story of Douglas, nicknamed T-Kesh, as he tries to live a normal life as a high school student. Thing is, T-Kesh comes from a family of monsters, and in a world where monsters and humans try to co-exist with each other, being the only monster at his school brings a string of challenges.

What's unique about Welcome to My Life is that it's being presented in a style of a documentary, as T-Kesh gets interviewed about his life throughout the day. In a way it's similar to We Bare Bears, in which the bears try to fit into human society. Welcome to My Life is a bit more realistic, as it is a young kids drama. But still has a light-hearted tone, nonetheless.

The animation style of Welcome to My Life is similar to what we've seen in The Amazing World of Gumball, combining realistic backgrounds with animation. I like that the voices coming from the interviews are done in such a manner as though you are watching a raw camera feed, making it a near realistic interview. Another I find it interesting that creator Elizabeth Ito and her family provided the voices of the main characters. Elizabeth plays the unseen reporter interviewing T-Kesh, played by Elizabeth's family member Doug, while T-Kesh's parents are played by Elizabeth's real-life parents.
A number of people who worked on the current lineup of CN Originals have also contributed to this pilot, such as Ian-Jones Quartey and Steven Sugar from Steven Universe; Mike Roth from Regular Show; and Nick Cross from Over The Garden Wall.

Perhaps the most surprising is that, if you follow through the end of the credits, the pilot was actually produced in 2015, and it's only now that Cartoon Network has made the short available online. So it stands to question what other unaired pilots the company has in their archives.

Welcome To My Life is such an unusual cartoon in terms of its genre and tone from what we are used to from Cartoon Network. I really can't recall anything like it from the channel before. In any case, it's uniqueness is what I like about it. I can see why it's something that would not be made into a full series, but I wouldn't mind seeing this as a mini-series. You can check out Welcome To My Life on the official Cartoon Network channel on Youtube.

Dragon Ball Super Fans Freak Out Over Power Levels

You know for the past few days, I couldn't help but laugh. facepalm, and shake my head towards the non-Japanese Dragon Ball fan community. It's because the past few episodes of Dragon Ball Super has the fans very upset over the one feature in the franchise that these fans find more value than Dragon Ball itself - Battle Powers, or more commonly known as Power Levels. Basically a comparison of one's power over the other. For the purpose of this video, I will mostly refer it as "Battle Power" as that is the official term used in Dragon Ball as opposed to "Power Level" non-Japanese fans tend to use.

People in the Dragon Ball fan community, and Youtubers like SethTheProgrammer have been quite passionate in applying Battle Power scaling in Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, and currently Dragon Ball Super. This is in spite of the fact that such scaling has long been discontinued after Goku's first battle with Frieza back in Dragon Ball Z. I've even said it before that Battle Power scaling is thrown out in the battle against Merged Zamasu. Yet, these people insist the scaling still applies, somehow. And now with these recent episodes of Dragon Ball Super, fans are freaking out, throw tantrums or whatever, because once again, the scaling of Battle Powers is literally thrown out of the window.

Let's provide a bit of context so you can catch up just in case. The recent arc of Dragon Ball Super is the Tournament of Power, where 10 fighters representing each universe engage in a Battle Royale where the winner has its universe safe from being erased by the Omni-King. The tournament begins in less than 2 days and Goku is tasked to build a team of 10 fighters to represnet Universe 7 on such short notice .

A few episodes ago, Goku recruited Krillin and Android 18 to represent Universe 7. Prior to that, Goku and Krillin had a battle to see if Krillin has what it takes to compete in the Tournament of Power. Near the end, Goku activated his Super Saiyan Blue or SSB form, and both he and Krillin throw Kamehamehas at each other, but Krillin was able to hold it down.

"what the hell is going on?!" fans say because no way someone like Krillin can hold down a Kamehahema attack against a Super Saiyan Blue powered Goku. Does that mean Krillin is somehow just as powerful as Golden Frieza, or more recently Toppo?

Some say Goku was holding back by lowering his Battle Power to match Krillin's even in his Super Saiyan Blue form. I find that very hard to believe. The purpose of Goku's transformations is to multiply his base power, making him stronger.

Imagine this. Let's pretend Goku's Battle Power at the most basic level is 1000. When he goes Super Saiyan Blue, his base power is multiplied by another 1000. So 1000 x 1000 is 1 million. Krillin, at his strongest level is 500, which is HALF of Goku's own base power. Why would Goku go Super Saiyan Blue to have his power shoot WAY UP to 1 milliion, and then LOWER it to 500 to match Krillin's? If the purpose is for Goku to have an even fight with Krillin, it makes no sense for him to use the SSB form when he can just as well lower his power at base level.

Now in the most recent episode, Goku and Android 17 finally met for the first time. Historically, the two never met in Dragon Ball Z and their only encounter in the franchise prior to this episode was in Dragon Ball GT. In any case, the two went all out, Goku goes Super Saiyan Blue, throws a Kamehahema, and 17 erects a barrier that deflects it like it was NOTHING!

And everyone just went bonkers! "Why 17 is so strong now?!", "SSB IS A JOKE!", "Screw Toriyama!", are some of the initial reactions I see in social media outlets. And once again, everybody starts butting heads with one another TRYING to explain what is going on and STILL insist some Power Scaling is involved even when it's crystal clear in the anime it is not!

Let me put it this way. From the official announcement of the Tournament of Power in the series up until the actual start of the tournament, every episode we are seeing in Dragon Ball Super are, for the lack of a better word, filler. What I mean is the episodes where Goku recruits members for Universe 7 are stories the writers from Toei have come up with in order for the series to go for as long as possible. None of the episodes we are seeing so far, are part of creator Akira Toriyama's outline of events for the entirety of Dragon Ball Super. The manga version of Dragon Ball Super by Toyotaro is obviously way behind the anime version. But once it reaches the Tournament of Power arc, I will bet you ten bucks Toyotaro will not do chapters of Goku recruiting Krillin, 17, and the rest and will instead skip that part entirely and have everyone gathered up by the start of the Tournament. I would also think these "fillers" are also made so Toyotaro can catch up.

And because these episodes are "fillers", we are not supposed to take the power scaling, or lack thereof, in these episodes way too seriously, as they are not an integral part of the arc's narrative. The battles we see in these episodes are trivial at best. What really counts is what happens in the Tournament of Power and that is where we WILL see what was in Toriyama's outline.

Having said all of that, if I were to provide the most sensible explanation as to why Krillin and 17 are somehow catching up to Goku in terms of Battle Power, I can think of two theories. Let me re-iterate, that what I'm about to say are THEORIES and not facts.

1. Goku has defined Super Saiyan Blue as the Super Saiyan version of the Super Saiyan God or SSG. In other words, if we were imagine SSG as Goku's new base form, then SSB would be the equivalent of the Super Saiyan form (the first one).

However, throughout Dragon Ball Super, we never saw Goku activate the Super Saiyan God form again after his fight with Beerus. Instead, we always see him go SSB from his base form, or in rare occasions, while still in any of his previous Super Saiyan forms from 1 to 3. The perks of using SSB over Super Saiyan 2 or 3 is not just in terms of a stronger output in power. Goku can maintain the Super Saiyan Blue form for as long as he wants without draining his Ki in the process, a major drawback of the Super Saiyan 2 and 3 forms. You could say Super Saiyan Blue is, in a way, a better version of Super Saiyan 3. That, of course, opens a can of worms with regards to Super Saiyan 4 or what happened in Battle of Gods and all that, but let's set that aside for now.

2. Although the manga and anime are both different, with the similiraties being they follow parts that are from Toriyama's outline, it MAY be possible that Toei must've somehow slipped the mechanics of the Super Saiyan Blue form in the manga quietly into the anime because Goku is using it so very often in the latter.  In the Toyotaro manga, it's been stated that the more times Super Saiyan Blue is used consecutively, the more it loses its power by up to 90%. This explains why in the manga Vegeta lost easily to Hit, as Vegeta used SSB on Cabba in the previous match, ergo losing the form's effectiveness when he used it again in his fight with Hit.

I would think it's a way to show Super Saiyan Blue is no longer as effective as it used to be and a new form is needed as per the Power Up Trope that Dragon Ball has been the staple of - For Goku to defeat the enemy, he needs to be stronger. For Goku to be challenged, the next enemy must be stronger than him. Rinse and repeat.

Again, everything I said earllier is just a theory. Not facts, just speculations, just guesses. And I said before, these episodes are "fillers" and shouldn't be taken seriously as they are not important to the actual Tournament where will see Toriyama's outlines in play.

Let me do a prediction. The next episode will have alien poachers going after the island Goku and Andorid 17 are protecting. These poachers won't be pushovers so Goku and 17 have to take them seriously. If Goku goes Super Saiyan Blue on one of them and the bad guy still puts up quite a fight, unless your brain is screwed to something, you can completely forget power scaling in Dragon Ball for good. It is gone. Se fue. Kieta. Meiliao. Nicht mehr. Bol'she ne nado. Andato.

I don't know. Maybe it would be a curbstomp and Goku beats them withoout having to go Super Saiyan. But this mini skirmish has to last for 15-20 minutes tops. So the alien poachers have to do something that would make Goku take them on a little more seriously. We will see when the episode comes.

Until then, keep calm, just put the power scaling aside, and just take the show as it is, for now.

Adventure Time - Orb Review

It hasn't been out on TV yet, but the Adventure Time episode "Orb" has made it to the Cartoon Network App and you can watch it right now. What I find surprising is how Orb is both a follow-up to the Islands mini-series, and a lead-up to the next one, "Elements".

The story in Orb is quite simple. As Finn, Jake, and BMO return to Ooo after the events from Islands, a mysterious entity appears and entraps them into a dream world. Unfortunately, the trio are just too enamored with their dreams before realizing what is really going on.

Much of the episode, for the lack of a better way I can describe it, is like you're having one huge acid trip and everything is just senseless. The audience pretty much knows this, but not the characters. It also has callbacks to previous episodes and characters, such as the vampire from Stakes, and Amo. Steven Universe's Tom Scharpling returns as Jermaine. Though it's very hard for me to get used to him as Jake's brother, as every time he talks, rather than Jake talking to Jermaine, it's like Jake's talking to Greg Universe.

I hate to compare this to Steven Universe, but that show's staff should take note on what Adventure Time is doing so far, and by extension from Regular Show. Both have their seasons filled with story-driven episodes, but do feature stand-alone episodes that tie to the overarching plot. Orb serves both as a bridge between the two miniseries from AT, and also an episode that can stand on its own.

Looking back, I realized that in this season, there's rarely an episode that can be portrayed as a true stand-alone , with no overarching plot, whatsoever. I'm guessing it's because the staff already know the next season is the last one, so my impression would be that they, the Adventure Time staff, decided to get the story going of Finn and Jake's journey through this season, leading up to the final one in 2018. If that is the case, it's a smart move, as that means two seasons to wrap everything up. That would make me really looking forward to the remaining episodes.

The Adventure Time miniseries "Elements" is scheduled to air on Cartoon Network in the US April 24th, while the episode "Orb" is now available for viewing on the official Cartoon Network App.

Samurai Jack XCVI Screenshots

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract Review

So this week, we see the Teen Titans from the DC Animated Movies Universe make their return in Teen Titans: The Judas Contract with quite the buzz and hype compared to Justice League Dark starring Constantine, which came out a few months ago, and that both are developed by the same team. I will give a review of Justice League Dark in the near future.

The Judas Contract is based on the arc of the same name from the Teen Titans comics. I unfortunately never read it, so this is my first exposure to the storyline. Furthermore, while The Judas Contract comic book is set before the events of Flashpoint, the animated movie version is set in the New 52 timeline and is a continuation following the events of Justice League vs Teen Titans. Unless I am mistaken, this is also the first New 52 animated film where Batman is nowhere in sight.

The story starts with a brief flashback detailing when the Titans, led by the first Robin Dick Grayson, first encountered Starfire, establishing one of the most famous romances within the Batman continuity. Fast forward to the present with the Titans from the last film along with Dick Grayson returning to the team as Nightwing, and their newest member - Tara Markov aka Terra. The Titans are engaged in a series of campaigns against members of the Hive, led by Brother Blood. Unbeknownst to the Titans, Blood has hired the mercenary Deathstroke to bring them in, and Deathstroke has a plan to make it happen.

I assume you are smart enough to know what happens next, which is essentially the biggest issue with the movie as it's quite predictable in terms of the plot. Also add a cup of tropes here and there. I don't really mind these things as long as they are executed perfectly. But in The Judas Contract, the execution is just average.

There is also something weird about the film's animation. It's very hard for me to describe it. But if you are familiar with the animated films from the 1980s - like Fire and Ice, Starchaser: Legend of Orin, and Gandahar, then you probably have a good idea what I'm talking about. While I see no problem with The Judas Contract following this style of animation, it's also quite unusual as it's never done before in the previous films.

What the movie shines through, and also its main feature, are its characters as we get to peer more into their lives. I absolutely adore the romantic relationship and chemistry between Nightwing and Starfire. So much so that, if I were given the opportunity to write the next story, I'd shake it up a bit by introducing other female characters that are known to have a history with Dick Grayson, just to see how it goes. A staple of Dick's character is that he is quite the ladies man and critics and fans love it. Virtually everybody loves Dick (Grayson, that is).

Another that I like in the film is that it provides us a look into Terra's origins. While most comic book fans already know the character, for the rest whose only knowledge of Terra is through the animated shows from Cartoon Network, virtually nothing is known of her past. The Judas Contract not only gives us a look into Terra's past, but also what made her the way casual fans know her in the Cartoon Network iterations. I personally did not like her character design though as it seemed too generic when compared to Raven's and Starfire's.

I also enjoy the moments we see Jaime Reyes's life as the Blue Beetle and his struggle with the machination that is attached to his body. I'm just surprised that with Jaime having so many appearances now in animated format, he has yet to appear in a live-action format. I'm guessing all that CG may be too costly even for the people behind the Arrow-verse. But given he is more familiar now, I would think the time has come to step into the live-action world and gain a larger reputation from the general audience.

There's also something in the film I'm having confusion with, and that is with Beast Boy. The movie depicts him as being among the original lineup of the Titans when Dick was the leader as Robin. This means that by the time of The Judas Contract, Beast Boy would've been much older, almost the same as Nightwing and Starfire. But it appears as though he hasn't aged at all. I'm guessing it's due to his shapeshifting powers, which is why he can look and behave like a teenager even though he's probably in his 20s.

Despite the average and predictable plot, a confusion or two, and the lack of fan-service, The Judas Contract shines through thanks to its characters. Added in with the occasional serious tone that is the norm of these animated films, The Judas Contract ends up an incredible experience. If Warner Bros. Animation continues to produce these more often and on a regular basis, I almost wouldn't mind Cartoon Network spamming Teen Titans Go on their programming schedule, because a much better Teen Titans are here in these films. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, a 4 out of 5.