The Fairly Oddparents is FINALLY(?) Over

So last night in the US, Nicktoons, the subscription-based premium channel of Nickelodeon, aired what is apparently THE final episode of The Fairly Oddparents. This is according to the Twitter account of "Nick and More" a news group dedicated to report the ins and outs of the Nickelodeon brand. So their reporting is indeed legitimate.

Now to clarify, Nick and More did say that the episode that aired last night was the 167th episode. The last production-ordered episode actually aired back in February. So this season of The Fairly Oddparents are being aired out of order and that the 167th episode was the last one on the list.

Nick and More also said that neither Nickelodeon or FOP creator Butch Hartman has announced a new season of the Fairly Oddparents. Hartman himself has not said anything about FOP since the last episode aired. I did tweeted him about it but have yet to get a reply.

Normally a new season is to be announced either during the current season's broadcast, or shortly after the last season ended so the production team can get to work before the next season's premiere date. I would probably give it a week. If neither Hartman nor Nickelodeon say anything, then we can safely say that yes, The Fairly Oddparents is indeed over after 16 years and over 160episodes.

The Fairly Oddparents as I said has been around for 16 years and until recently is always aired on Nickelodeon. But when it moved to Nicktoons a few months ago, it's a bad omen. For those unfamiliar, Nicktoons is only available for Cable and Satellite subscribers who pay the higher premiums and is not available on basic cable. This means that Nicktoons has a much smaller audience compared to the main Nickelodeon channel. And if an ongoing series is to moved from Nickelodeon to Nicktoons, it usually means the network wants to burn off the series and get rid of it for good. This has happened in the case of Harvey Beaks, and unless my memory is screwed up, the Legend of Korra as well.

I believe I can speak for everyone that we are all relieved that the show is finally over. When it first aired in 2001, it was a great series with its comedy, characters, and even has a plot that makes you care for the show. But it has far overstayed its welcome. Many elements of the show's lore are either retconned or removed entirely. Characters like Tootie and Trixie leave the show and replaced with Chloe. And the show just ain't funny anymore. No pun intended, but all the magic that made The Fairly Oddparents great has long since disappeared.

Furthermore, 16 years is way too long for a kids show. If you've watched the first episode as a 10 year old, you'd be in your mid-twenties by now. And this isn't like Doraemon or the Simpsons where the show is almost always episodic in nature with no end in sight. My only disappointment is that, if this is indeed the end of The Fairly Oddparents, it was never given a proper ending. So it did not end with bang, but with a whimper. Or in this case, Timmy in a girl's outfit for the nth time.

Dragon Ball Super 100th Episode Review

So this weekend, Dragon Ball Super celebrated its commemorative 100th episode, which is no small feat by any means. Sure, we have Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece as those who have hundreds of episodes, but for most anime, they don't go beyond 50 or so. It just seems like Japan can produce these shows more quickly, and at times more efficiently, when compared to places like the US where it would take anywhere between 3-5 years for a show to reach its 100th episode.

For the 100th episode of Dragon Ball Super, you'd think the show would do something a bit special. In a way, yes. The 100th episode is where we finally get to see Kale aka the female Broly in action in the Tournament of Power.

Now just a quick crash course for those not up to speed, the current arc of Dragon Ball Super has Goku and his companions engaged in a battle royale against warriors from other universes, where the last team members that survive has their universe spared from erasure by the Omni-Kings.

In the highlights of this episode, Caulifla, the fighting genius of Universe 6, finally faces Goku and demands that he teaches her the Super Saiyan Blue form, in return to activate it and take on Goku at full strength. To show that she's serious, she goes Super Saiyan, but with bigger muscles. This is similar to the form Trunks used back in Dragon Ball Z against Cell. Goku of course notes the weaknesses of Cauliflas's form and demonstrates Super Saiyan 2. Caulifla naturally fangirls over this and Goku's more than happy to teach her the form, much to Beerus's chagrin.

I think I can speak for everyone that in this brief encounter, Goku and Caulifla would make quite a couple if Goku never married Chichi. The two are just kindred spirits as Caulifla is more than eager to learn on how to become stronger and take on stronger opponents. You could say that Caulifia is Goku's true counterpart of Universe 6. Or to put it another way, Caulifla is a gender bent Goku as Fionna is to Finn in Adventure Time.

Unfortunately, this goody-goody relationship between the two is making Kale jealous, who at this point is unable to transform into a Super Saiyan at will and can only do so in extreme anger. While the show never addresses it, I'll put it out there and say Caulifla and Kale are a lesbian couple. subtly speaking. This is because the two share opposite personalities that draws them both together - Caulifla is what anime and manga fans call a 'Tsundere', where she shows off as being a bully, but is actually a kinder person on the inside. Evangelion's Asuka Langley-Soryu popularized that particular character trait. Kale on the other hand is a 'Yandere', which is the opposite of a Tsundere character. She appears shy and timid, but if you want to live up to old age, don't ever screw with her.

So when Kale sees Caulifla and Goku, no pun intended, 'hit it off', Kale's Yandere trait kicks in and transforms into a Super Saiyan with only one thing in her mind - kill Son Goku.

For fans of the character Broly, who only appears in the non-canon Dragon Ball Z movies, Kale is without a doubt his counterpart in Dragon Ball Super, quite literally. Furthermore, Kale has shown in this episode that she is far more powerful than Broly could ever be. This may upset some Broly fans who in their mind still places Broly as the most powerful of all the Super Saiyans, including Goku. Nevertheless, Kale has such unprecedented power that she forces Goku to go Super Saiyan Blue and throw a Kamehameha. But Kale just walks through it without a flinch.

Compare this when Goku, in his SSB form, through a Kamehameha against Merged Zamasu back in the Future Trunks arc. Merged Zamasu is totally unaffected thanks to his half-immortality. Kale of course doesn't have that feat, but is able to tank the Kamehameha anyway.

As expected, some fans argue that Goku isn't even using the SSB form at full power and actually lowered the power of his Kamehameha as a way of 'testing' Kale's power. I've made a video months ago about that subject, which you can find in the video description if you want my detailed opinion on that. But my short reply is, given that the fate of Universe 7 is at stake, Goku is in no position to 'test' someone's power. If Goku were to lower his guard and power at this point, he will be pushed out of the ring, and in the past few episodes, he was very much close to that.

That said, it is true Goku is trying to conserve as much of his energy as possible. Whis has stated that as powerful as the Super Saiyan Blue form is, it eats up quite an amount of stamina. And since healing items like Senzu Beans are forbidden in the tournament, Goku as much as possible, has to avoid using the SSB form until the final stretch. Otherwise, Goku would be too worn out in the closing moments. However, Goku has been forced to use this form a number of times already the past few weeks, and has to use that form yet again to avoid being pushed out by Kale.

As exciting as the highlights of this episode may be, I am actually quite disappointed. For the 100th episode, I was expecting Toei to at least feature what we would call 'Sakuga', which are moments in which the overall animation in one scene or another is done with incredible detail. Toei has done this with Goku Black in the Future Trunks arc. But for this episode, you don't get any Sakuga and instead have moments of bad character design and animation. Not as terrible as the infamous episode 5, or what we see with Goku and Golden Frieza, but it is there and is quite noticeable.

Another reason I didn't like this is the writing and direction of this episode. Kale has Goku at her mercy and the latter's only option at that point is to go Super Saiyan Blue + Kaioh-ken, if not his yet to be revealed new power-up. Instead, Kale tosses Goku aside and rains a barrage of Ki blasts over the entire ring, destroying much of the place before looking for Goku again. Piccolo explains that Kale is losing control of her powers, but doesn't really appear that way and is more of Toei having trouble with Kale's rampage while making sure Goku doesn't get beaten up or eliminated in the process. Time constraints may also play a role as the show doesn't get season breaks and Toei has little time to polish things up.

And what is perhaps the most disappointing part, as Kale's shows off more of her power, Jiren steps in and knocks her out in one shot. All of a sudden Jiren shows he is far more powerful than Goku has ever faced previously and is eager to fight him right away, this is despite his beat up by Kale. The latter wasn't eliminated, but is out cold.

What I'm saying is that I want Kale to be around for a few episodes and engaged in multiple battles against other characters before finally getting eliminated. Sure, she wasn't pushed out, but it feels so anti-climactic that Jiren takes her out easily with one shot, and that's not even him at his full power. So at this point Kale's time is done and is no longer relevant because now we have Jiren who, based on this performance, can take out everyone else with very little effort.

On that note, I wanna go back to the part where fans are saying "Goku isn't taking Kale seriously" when he went SSB. So Goku threw a Kamehameha and Kale was unaffected, but when Kale is hit by Jiren's attack, she was knocked out. It's clear Jiren wasn't attacking Kale at full power. So if Jiren had no trouble taking out Kale with a small portion of his power, why did Goku struggle? If Goku is as strong as fans say he is, then Goku should have no problems in handling Kale even if he used a small portion of his power as a Super Saiyan Blue as fans claim him to be. That is not the case. Kale was going Berserk and Goku had to take her seriously if he wants to stay in the game. Goku didn't turn SSB to test Kale's strength, he used it because Kale is about to do some serious damage to him.

Kale wants Goku dead, so there is no reason for her to be holding back. Even Hit has mentioned that Kale would be disqualified if she kills Goku and Caulifia is trying to calm her down. Was Goku holding back with Broly when the latter wants him dead? Of course not. Was Goku holding back in his SSB form when he took on Frieza's Golden Form for the first time? No. In fact, in the TV version of DBS, Goku has said that he is keeping his guard up on Frieza rather than be excited for their rematch. Why? Because Goku knows Frieza is not someone he should take lightly. So he must fight Frieza at full strength. Same when he faced Merged Zamasu, and same when the Trio de Dangers are using their ultimate attack, and the same when Kale was out for his blood. Never mind the crappy writing from Toei.

If I am to describe this episode, it's like watching an episode of WWE RAW where they hype up the next big feud between their biggest stars, and though it has its moments, in the end, you spent 2-3 hours of watching a WWE program for virtually nothing at all. You'd complain about it, but Vince McMahon doesn't care as long as his shows are always at full house, high ratings on TV or online, people buying their merchandise, and saying New Japan Pro Wrestling is total crap, despite the contrary NJPW is a far better product. Same thing with Toei's handling of DBS. They don't care how bad it is as long as it's a ratings hit in Japan, more people buy the merchandise, and the fanbase thinking it's the greatest anime of all time that everything else is pile of bullsh--.

Adventure Time Season 8(?) Finale Review

It's becoming quite the norm from Cartoon Network in which they will be airing new episodes of their shows first on the Cartoon Network app before the broadcast release. And the next set of episodes from Adventure Time is one of them, which came out this weekend in the US.

There is some confusion as to whether or not these 5 episodes are to wrap up Season 8, or these are part of Season 9, the show's final. When you watch the episodes on the Cartoon Network website, it lists "Orb" as the Season 9 premiere.

However, according to showrunner Adam Muto, these five episodes indeed close out Season 8. It's just that for whatever the reason, the top brass of Cartoon Network decided to change the division and instead places Orb onwards as part of Season 9. We've seen this done before in the case of Steven Universe and Uncle Grandpa. So again, it's all the weird shenanigans Cartoon Network is doing.

Another thing to note is from Jack Perndarvis, who works on the show as writer and storyline artist. He pretty much spelt it out in this tweet from 2016 that Adventure Time got the axe, and this was not mentioned in any of the news articles on the show. However, they are given time to wrap things up, with the final episode scheduled to air in 2018.

The only thing left I have to confirm is the number of episodes left after these 5. From what I am told, there are 18. Again, I cannot confirm if that's the case or there are more. But I will have to assume that 18 is how many episodes are left in the series. And that makes me very sad. But before the sadness takes over, here's my take on the 5 episodes.

"Abstract" is the first of the five and begins shortly after the events of Elements. Jake isn't doing very well adjusting to his life in his Shapeshifter form, so much so that everyone around him, including Finn, gets weirded out by his appearance.

One night, Jake had a series of abstract dreams, as the title of this episode suggests. Jake, being Jake, doesn't get any of it at all, but he does notice two key visuals - the Shapeshifter that birthed him, and Jermaine, who has switched from painting landscapes to doing abstract art.

Seeking answers, Jake journeyed to the wastelands and confronts his brother, suspecting Jermaine is under some mind-control because of the change in his style of painting. Jermaine assures his brother that even though he has indeed changed his style of painting, he is still the same Jermaine as before. As Jake looks over the rest of Jermaine's paintings, he begins to understand himself better, making him revert back to his old self, though he didn't notice this until Finn told him much later.

This episode of Adventure Time is co-storyboarded by Graham Falk, which made me lower my expectations. Ever since Falk did the episode "Sad Face", which is one of my least (if not THE least) likable episode of Adventure Time, I pretty much placed Falk at the bottom tier of storyboarders. Thankfully, this episode isn't as bad as "Sad Face", but it's not something to excite about either.

As the title suggests, Abstract is essential an episode about, well..., 'abstracts' and how Jake and Jermaine perceive it. The viewers are also taken to view the abstracts in the episode and interpret in in their own way. I appreciate the gesture from Falk, but the big letdown is Jake's own arc of his Shapshifter form being resolved in this episode, allowing the rest of the series to go as if nothing happened to him. I was hoping this would go on a few more episodes so we learn more of Jake and the Shapeshifter so Jake's story comes to a proper close. I don't know if there is room for that at this point, given that we are ever closer to the series finale.

"Ketchup" is about Marceline's interaction with BMO throughout this entire episode, which is something I do not recall that was done before, save snippets of scenes of Marceline and BMO together.

It begins with BMO visiting Marceline to help her ridding the vampires from the Stakes mini-series, except BMO completely forgot that happened 6 months ago and Marceline's back to being the only vampire left. She nevertheless needs BMO's help in reading an old USB drive and figuring out its contents. While BMO scans the Flash drive, the two decided to catch up, which is what this episode is about.

First is BMO's point of view on the events of Islands, which, given it's BMO is full of shenanigans that was fun to watch, and is given a special animation sequence for his story. What I didn't expect was JG Quintel, the creator of Regular Show, making a cameo appearance as a wailing Blue Jay, obviously a reference fo Mordecai.

Afterwards it was Marceline's turn, this time doing her own version of the Elements mini-series before she turned into candy. Like BMO, her tale is full of shenanigans that's chock full of great visuals. However, unlike BMO's, Marceline's story ended abruptly, though understandable. She admits she hasn't talked much about herself, which implies she's an introvert who really wants to open up more to others, but is very hesitant in doing so.

When BMO's scanning of the Flash drive was completed, it actually contains old photos of Marceline as a little girl and her mom. When BMO asked who were the two in the picture, Marceline chose not to say  and let BMO make up a story of the two instead.

I hate to bring back Bee & Puppycat into this as I'd rather have that show dead and buried for being so awful and not worth the investment. That said, Bee & Puppycat had a similar episode in which it feature a short story done in a completely different style of animation. The difference is that Bee & Puppycat's short story has virtually no relevance whatsoever to the plot in general, while Ketchup does. Not only was Ketchup's sequences a twisted fun recap of Islands and Elements, but it also lets us explore a litlte bit deeper into Marceline's character.

As a vampire, Marceline feels quite lonely for living for centuries while everyone else has a set lifespan. Bubblegum shares the feeling as she is just a sentient piece of candy that's been around for just as long as Marceline. So the two are kindred spirits that eventually became best friends.

As Marceline tells it, her relationship with Bubblegum tends to get quite complicated due mainly to their differencing personalities. It's not hard to see why. A person who does loud music a lot pairing up with a science nerd isn't exactly a good combination. That resulted in the breakdown of their friendship prior to the 1st Season of Adventure Time, but the two have since patched up.

I forgot to mention by the way that the special sequences were animated by none other than Alex and Lindsay Small-Butera, the couple behind the Baman Piderman shorts. I believe they also did one for Clarence, though I do not know exactly which episode.

"Fionna and Cake and Fionna" is the latest of the Fionna and Cake episodes in Adventure Time. This time, the Ice King reads out the latest chapter of his fan fiction series towards an audience in Turtle Princess's library, who are either interested with the story, or are forced to by Ice King. (I say the latter)

Then suddenly, an old woman, claiming herself to be the REAL Fionna, pops up to criticize Ice King's work as being baloney and wants to show everyone what really happened via an old VHS tape. The tape shows Fionna and Cake getting a sarcophagus made out of Emerald. As Fionna and Cake leave their latest loot in their treasure room, a mummy slowly creeps out, but Fionna stops the tape before continuing.

Naturally, I had the same thinking as Finn as having a lot of questions. Does Fionna REALLY exist and not a mere fan fiction made from Ice King's head? Besides that, everyone wants to see the rest of the tape. Fionna refuses at first, but reluctantly decides to play a little more. At this point, I can see that 'Fionna' isn't who she claims to be, but I decided to play along.

Ice King invites Fionna to live at the Ice Kingdom, to which Fionna accepts and shows signs of taking over while poor Simon remains oblivious to what she's doing, still acting like a total fanboy over meeting his character.

As this is going on, we see the rest of the tape. The mummy is apparently none other than the Queen of Ooo wrapped in bandages to scam Fionna and Cake in order to steal their treasure. Ice King realizes the scam and confronts the imposter who confesses she's not the real Fionna, but just an old lady in costume.

In her backstory, the old lady loves tinkering with electronics until one day she got a satellite transmission of a Fionna and Cake episode, which she recorded on tape. She then traveled around Ooo to find more until she learned of Ice King's book reading, believing Simon has other episodes on tape, to which he insists there ain't any. The old lady then leaves the Ice King heartbroken because of her deception, but he quickly recovered in just a few seconds. Later, as Simon sleeps, a beam of red light, showing images of Fionna and Cake, came from the window and zapped into Ice King's forehead.

Now earlier in the episode, when asked about how Ice King was able to come up with these stories, he responded that the stories were beamed to his brain at night. So we know he is very much aware of the red light, which is likely the same transmission the Old Lady received in getting the Fionna and Cake episode.

This episode reveals two things: 1) Ice King is NOT the creator of Fionna and Cake, and 2) it's apparently a television series. So a lot of questions remain. However, I just don't know how will all of these get resolved in the final season. Personally, I think it would've been better if it remains just something out of the Ice King's head and not having to delve too deep and have a plot over it. I do want Fiionna to be actually real and meet Finn, but as the series is reaching its conclusion, I find that to be more of in the way and it's better to not let that idea happen at all.

"Whispers" is the first of a two-parter arc of sorts. Fern, aka Grass Finn, isn't doing so well as he feels that he's a total failure, unable to protect Ooo during the events of Elements, this is despite Finn's encouragement. Sweet Pea appears running and crying and as Finn and Fern try to stop him, they were dragged deep into the forest. After the duo calmed Sweet Pea down, he then tells of how he hears whispers of the Lich. Finn and Fern of course know Sweet Pea IS the Lich transformed into a baby. So the two decide to look after him for the night before returning him to Tree Trunks in the morning.

Turns out the one that's haunting Sweet Pea was the Lich's hand, which Finn cut off during the crossover episode with Farmworld Finn and the Lich's hand spread across the multiverse. The hand is obviously trying to awaken the Lich inside Sweet Pea. Fern is tasked to look after Sweet Pea while Finn hunts down the hand. However, the Lich has communicated with Sweet Pea and is controlling him, though Sweet Pea tries to resist the hand's influence.

Finn and the hand battle it out at the Lich's old lair. But the hand was prepared this time and tricks Finn to nearly falling down the same pit that melted Princess Bubblegum. Sweet Pea comes on time and destroyed the hand, fully rejecting the Lich's control.

With the Lich seemed gone for good, Finn and Fern take Sweet Pea back to his parents. Unfortunately Fern isn't having the same kind of enthusiasm as Finn does, despite having his memories. This is due mainly to his constant failures as hero, and his desire to solve virtually anything through violence. We then see a glimpse of the the creature within the Grass Sword grasping the Finn from the Finn Sword. Fern then decides that in order to be the hero that he wants to be, he needs to take out Finn.

"Three Buckets" continues where Whispers left off, starting with Fern pulling a prank on Jake and BMO by transforming into a total lookalike of Finn. He then invites Finn to explore a dungeon, obviously as part of his plan to get rid of him. As the two travel, he becomes frustrated when he constantly loses to Finn in a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors.

In the secret dungeon, which the outside is surrounded by apparent nuclear bombs that didn't go off, Fern places Finn into a stone prison while the former heads out. As Finn is infuriated over Fern's betrayal, he discovers that his robot arm apparently can transform into a variety of tools he can use, which includes a brief message to him from Princess Bubblegum.

Finn gets out of the dungeon and he and Fern battle it out. Finn tries to reason with Fern, but kills him by accident when his robot arm misheard his command to land a fatal blow. As Finn returns home grieving over killing Fern, the latter's remains were picked up by a mysterious stranger, which ends the episode.

With the Lich now likely gone for good as Sweet Pea rejects him, it seems that Grass Finn and the mysterious stranger will likely be the antagonists of the final season. Some say the stranger is likely Finn's father, Martin Mertens. That's not true. He's apparently Gumbald, Bubblegum's father whom she imprisoned as told by one of the Banana Guards in the episode "The Thin Yellow Line".

Of these five episodes, I would say Ketchup as my most favorite. Besides the great animation by the Buteras, it's also a fun take on the two of the Adventure Time mini-series events, and we see another layer of Marceline's character, which does give a lot of feels. And obviously because I'm not fond of Graham Falk's storyboarding very much, I'm very disappointed with Jake's arc. Therefore, I'm putting Abstract on the bottom list.

With 18 episodes to go (unless someone corrects me on this), I honestly don't know how the show will wrap everything up. There's Fern and Gumbald, who created Fionna and Cake, the Shapeshifter, Betty, etc. I'm also very saddened that yes, Adventure Time is ending, and probably sooner than I thought. Is Cartoon Network going to do another bomb and end it this year, or hold it off for several months and air the final episodes in January, which is also what they did with Regular Show? Personally, I prefer the Regular Show method. Have Adventure Time air the finale in 2018, thus signifying the end of an era of Cartoon Network originals and the start of a new one.

In any case, these 5 episodes are great, save one. And I will patiently wait for the final episodes to come. I don't know how to title this exactly, so on a scale of 1 to 5, I give these 5 episodes of Adventure Time, an average score of 4 out of 5.

Castlevania: The Series Review

The Castlevania animated series is finally out on Netlfix this weekend. I wasn't able to watch it on opening day due mainly to my other commitments, but I have managed to squeeze time to watch the show and here's what I think of it, given that I am a fan of the video game franchise.

In case you are unfamiliar as to what Casltevania is, it is as I said a video game franchise about the Belmont family - Vampire Hunters destined to battle the immortal vampire Dracula throughout the generations. Since the release of the first Castlevania for the Famicom and the Nintendo Entertainment System back in the 80's, the franchise is just as iconic and recognizable as other video game franchises like Super Mario or Pac-Man.

Now it's been well known that adaptations of video games into film or TV tend to end up pretty bad. But producer Adi Shankar took a lot of care to make sure that this adaptation gives justice to the source material and pleasing both fans and non-fans of the franchise.

The animated Castlevania based its story on Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, which came out on the Famicom in 1989, and the NES a year later. It begins with the prologue of a woman named Lisa, who visits Dracula, already an immortal vampire, for knowledge in the field of medicine to help heal her people, in return in helping the vampire communicate with the outside world. Dracula agrees to help as he enamored by Lisa's beauty, knowledge, and strong spirit, and the two end up a married couple.

Unfortunately, this is the Middle Ages, and despite Lisa's good intentions of using  science to help the sick people of Wallachia (a region of modern day Romania), she is deemed a witch by the Church and is executed by being burned at the stake. This was the last straw for Dracula and thus begins his campaign of destroying virtually all of humanity.

We are then introduced to our protagonist, Trevor Belmont. Though a total slacker, his bloodline pretty much meant he is to deal with Dracula's rampage. But Dracula may be the least of his problems as not only the Church has excommunicated the Belmont bloodline, but Trevor is also deemed a threat to the Church's ambition of power over Wallachia amidst the chaos brought upon by the immortal vampire.

The series doesn't go exactly like how it happened in Castlevania III. (Quite frankly, nobody can anyway as the game is a side-scroller) But many of the game's elements are transitioned perfectly into the animation. When we see Lisa entering Dracula's castle for the first time, the interior is a recreation of the first level of the very first Castlevania game. And it's a beauty. In fact, many of the scenes we see here are recreations of the levels found in the Castlevania games.

Plotwise, it is more towards being a bit of an original story, with Trevor having to deal with members of the Church who want him dead, all while Dracula's rampage is going on in the background. That being said, Trevor's acquisition of his allies, a key element in Castlevania III, is still here, save one character. Given that Netflix has ordered a Second Season just a day after Castlevania (actually the VERY day) debuted, I would think Shankar would bring in the rest of the cast, and pretty much put the events of the actual game forward.

I was a bit disappointed that Dracula only makes his appearance in the first episode, though understandable as he tends to just let his minions do the dirty work anyway while he plays the Final Boss. That said, I love how he is portrayed as more than just an immortal vampire. The guy knows a lot about science and sorcery as well. I love that Dracula's design and persona mirrors that of the same character from Castlevania: Symphony of The Night for the Playstation, arguably the best Castlevania game of all time.

Frankly, I do sympathize wtih Dracula's backstory here, as Lisa was his only remaining connection on tolerating humanity's flaws. Lisa did nothing wrong and the Church, being power hungry and corrupt at the time, had her executed to maintain their position of power. No way would they give that up even with the threat of genocide by Dracula himself. So his attack against the people of Wallachia and beyond are purely out of blind rage rather than some megalomaniac wanting world domination.

And because of Dracula's rage, the violence depicted here is well-justified, visually speaking. I wouldn't say it's the most graphic out there, as it's still below par in shock value when compared to Devilman and Violence Jack. That said, I do like that Shankar lets us see Dracula's minions being very indiscriminate on who they kill and in a very brutal manner - even children don't get a pass and Shankar makes sure we see that happen.

I was a bit taken aback by Trevor having a devil-may-care attitude. Granted he virtually has zero personality in the game and it would've been a bad idea to make Trevor a one-dimensional character. He nevertheless is more than what he appears and is quite likable.

You probably noticed that I never called this adaptation of Castlevania an 'anime' series. It's because despite the character design, animation, and all that. Castlevania is anything BUT anime as it is 100% made in the USA. Castlevania is co-produced by Frederator and Powerhouse Animation Studios. Frederator of course being behind Adventure Time and The Failry Oddparents, among many others. Powerhouse Animation is the studio behind OK, K.O.!. It does, however have a Japanese dub, which was the version I watched when making this review (with English subtitles, of course).

I would say as a fan of the Castlevania games, Adi Shankar did justice to the source material with this animated adaptation. I dare even say that this is perhaps the BEST adaptation of a video game to film or TV anywhere! The only negative parts of this is that it's only 4 episodes long and people either won't like the gore and/or featuring the Church as the bad guys. Beyond that, it is an incredible ride for fans and non-fans alike. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give Netflix's Castlevania: The Series, a 4 out of 5.

Ginger Snaps Review

Ginger Snaps is an unusual cartoon, not because it's a show aimed at a mature audience, but it's a show from the ABC Network. Now for those not in the know, ABC is one of the major television networks in the United States, alongside NBC, CBS, Fox, etc.

What is unusual is that ABC is owned by the Disney company. While Disney is no stanger to producing content above the PG rating mark, to most people, Disney is associated with family-friendly content. So it is a surprise that ABC, ergo Disney, would have a cartoon like Ginger Snaps.

And unless I'm mistaken, this is also ABC's first attempt of making an animated series for mature audiences. When you think of cartoons for older audiences, you'd think The Simpsons, Family Guy and Bob's Burgers, which are all under Fox. Or Metalocaplypse, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Rick & Morty from Adult Swim. South Park from Comedy Central, which is owned by Viacom, that also owns Nickelodeon and MTV. So I don't really recall ABC having an adult cartoon previously, let alone Disney.

The premise of Ginger Snaps is simply about Callista and her group of girl scouts selling cookies at their local school and neighborhood. Except this is done mafia-style. Imagine something like the cast of The Sopranos or Breaking Bad de-aged to little girls and instead of selling drugs, it's cookies. But everything else on mafia-themed shows and movies is intact in Ginger Snaps, with dark comedy thrown in for good measure.

And I was laughing all the way to the bank. I'm not a fan of dark comedies, but it's so well-written that even someone like me would laugh at it.  It doesn't stop there though. At 9 episodes with roughly 9 minutes each, Ginger Snaps has an ongoing arch thst does tend to get serious at times, but remain deeply interesting.

The mature rating in Ginger Snaps is due mainly to several sexual references found within the show. For the most part, despite all that, Ginger Snaps is mainly more within the content you would often see in Fox's lineup like Family Guy. So it tends to lean more in the TV-14 or PG-13 ratiing.

Now I hear it is the networks themselves that decide how to rate the shows instead of some review rating body or what have you. So ABC and Disney chose to give this a MA rating because it features school girls talking smack with sexual references and a bit of violence thrown in. It may seem obvious, but consider that in America, the stigmatism that cartoons are meant for kids still lingers, even with shows like South Park. So ABC and Disney wouldn't want to get complaints because people didn't get the memo that Ginger Snaps is absolutely NOT a cartoon made for children.

And for all those reasons not only is Ginger Snaps not airing on TV except on ABC's Video-On-Demand service, the show also doesn't get any kind of marketing or hype and the episodes are uploaded quietly. I haven't even heard of Ginger Snaps until just last week. It's kind of weird for ABC and Disney to wanting to make this series and have it out there, but also keep it niche and not get too popular so as to not stain their family-friendly reputation. Which is a shame becaue the show really is great and you should do yourself a favor and watch it. I guarantee you'll have a blast and hoping for a Season 2. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give ABC's Ginger Snaps, a 4 out of 5.

Little Witch Academia TV Series Review

So it is with a heavy heart that the Little Witch Academia TV series has reached its conclusion in Japan, though the series is recently made available on Netflix. Probably not for those who prefer seeing two guys beating the living hell out of each other. Still, if you want quality anime that also represents what anime is to newcomers, Little Witch Academia is basically it.

The TV series is a remake of the first two films. In addition to borrowing elements from the films, it also expands on the show's lore, such as Shiny Chariot's origin.

The TV remake can be divided into two major arcs. The first 13 episodes is a series of misadventures for protagonist Akko as she tries to master magic despite her less than standard results. These episodes range from the adorable to the outrageous, with several references and memes here and there. It is also in these 13 episodes that voice actress Megumi Han really shows off her talent as Akko, being able to express several types of emotions that fit Akko's character perfectly, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Another thing I enjoyed with the first half is Akko's virtually unyielding spirit and motivation. She is that determined to master the art of magic no matter what. It's quite inspirational to see her keep going in spite of the hardship she went through. You could easily interpret this in a variety of ways, such as your religious faith, success in the business world, etc.

When we reach the second half, things changed up as Akko gets a dose of reality that yes, she has an unyielding spirit, but that's not enough for her to learn and master magic. She has to work really hard to achieve her goal. It is also in the second half when show's plot finally reveals itself. Akko is given the Shiny Rod, which its true power of restoring magic to the world can only be unlocked if she is able to recite the 7 Lost Words and their hidden meanings. So the second half has Akko figuring out the Lost Words, along the way interacting and forming bonds with other characters.

At the same time we are introduced to the series's antagonist, Croix Meridies. Croix is aware of the 7 Lost Words and is attempting to unlock those herself, but in a very twisted manner. She was Chariot's former friend and rival and the relationship between the two broke down over Croix's jealousy of Chariot, and wanting the power of the Shiny Rod for herself. This was quite a giveaway in the show's 2nd opening, where we see Akko and her rival Diana walking past each other before revealing a young Chariot and Croix, indicating that Akko and Diana are also following the same path. So it all comes down to how Akko and Diana settle their differences. The last few episodes of the series places Akko's unyielding spirit to the ultimate test as revelations are put out in the open and with the fate of the world at stake.

To veer off for a moment, the way the final conflict is handled is something that I've been discussing over when it comes to another series - Dragon Ball. This is because both feature the concept of Yin and Yang, Light and Darkness, Good and Evil. Most fans of Dragon Ball firmly believed that the fights within Dragon Ball are settled by whoever has the strongest power. For me, especially with the current Dragon Ball Super series, it is less about who has the stronger power and more of the concept of Yin and Yang and how these two forces interact with each other. This concept is the forefront of the final conflict in Little Witch Academa.

Storywise, I really can't find anything wrong with the way Studio TRIGGER wrote the series. Personally, I was a bit disappointed when the show took a serious turn, but it served a purpose and was executed perfectly. The ending is done the way TRIGGER is always known for, with the way they handled their previous works like Kill la Kill, and even going as far as their years under Studio Gainax with Gunbuster, and with incredible animation to boot. I am very glad how everyone gathered up and interact with each other, making me want the series, should it continue, go to an episodic format with everyone having their own misadventures.

To put it in another way, I would like Studio TRIGGER to write an episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, or the Equestria Girls spin-off, as that's how Little Witch Academia ultimately ends up being - the girls get together, learn the value of friendship, and their faith in magic. Just like My Little Pony.

Historically, Studio TRIGGER does NOT do continuations of their IPs after one season. However, more recently they have announced a 2nd season of Inferno Cop as well as upcoming announcements of their future projects, which they've yet to do so as of this recording. Given that Little Witch Academia did leave a bit of room for a sequel, then there is a possibility that the show gets a 2nd season.

Word has it that Yoh Yoshinari, the director and creator of Little Witch Academia, wanted Akko and Andrew to end up as a couple, but was persuaded by the producers to do otherwise. Naturally, I was disappointed the romance didn't happen as Akko and Andrew had great chemistry together. That said, I do side with the producers because the plot of the second half has so much going that there's no room for the two to hit it off. So I'm just crossing my fingers that, should the series get another season, Akko and Andrew would have more time together and build their relationship.

I understand that Little Witch Academia is not for everyone because its overall presentation is more towards the Disney-like crowd. This is in spite that the show is more aimed at the anime fanbase as it aired late nights in Japan. But those who don't see this as their cup of tea are missing out on a great storyline, great animation, great comedy, and it has a very likable cast and great vocal talent. Not only is this series a contender for Anime of The  Year, but as I said at the very beginning of this review, it is an excellent entry point for anyone wanting to get to the anime medium. You want to know what makes anime so great? This is the prime example. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give Little Witch Academia: The Series, a 5 out of 5.