Twelve Forever Production Complete

Twelve Forever was a animated pilot short created by Julia Vickerman (Supervising Director for Clarence and Animator for Yo Gabba Gabba), which premiered in 2016 as one of many potential shows to be given a full series order by Cartoon Network. Twelve Forever was sadly cut, though Vickerman continued working on Cartoon Network as writer for the Powerpuff Girls Reboot. Twelve Forever would find a new home on Netflix, when the latter announced the series order in 2017.

Shadi Petosky, who is currently one of the writers for the Netflix series, has made tweets that the show has completed production and it's all up to Netflix as to its eventual release date. 

The story of Twelve Forever is of Reggie and her friend Shane engaging in adventures within Reggie's created outer world, where she is seen as the superhero Twelve.

Godzilla: Planet of The Monsters Review

Godzilla: Planet of The Monsters is the latest installment of the popular giant monster franchise. It is also the first time in its history that a Godzilla movie is produced in an anime format. Animated versions of Godzilla were produced before, most notably two from America - one  by Hannah Barbera in the late 70's, and the animated sequel to the Roland Emmerich film in 1998.

Gen Urobochi, the man behind the successful Madoka Magica series, as well as the puppet theatre hit Thunderbolt Fantasy, wrote the screenplay for Planet of The Monsters. Animation is co-produced by Polygon Pictures, who worked on other anime projects like Knights of Sidonia and Ajin: Demi-Fiend. Planet of The Monsters is a first in a trilogy of Godzilla anime films.

The movie begins with a very long prologue. Earth was in a constant state of conflict between the human race and the various Kaiju or giant monsters that keep popping up here and there. The turning point came when Godzilla came along and is shown to be unstoppable, even when the humans have advanced technological support from two alien races - the Exif and the Bilusaludo. As a result, the three races are forced to leave Earth to find a new home somewhere in the cosmos.

Fast forward to our main story, taking place 20 years later. Tensions rose within the survivors as they have yet to find a habitable planet and with supplies and rations being extremely low. In a last ditch effort for their survival, the three races travel back to Earth, where 20,000 years have passed on that planet. Despite the huge time skip, Godzilla is apparently still alive. But Haruo Sakazaki, a human who witnessed Godzilla's rampage when he left Earth 20 years earlier, has a plan to destroy the King of The Monsters once and for all.....

I have been a Godzilla fan for many years now, with  2004's Final Wars being my most favorite Godzilla film, as it shows him being a virtually unstoppable force. So when I heard that this trilogy of anime films will be written by the man behind Thunderbolt Fantasy, and developed by the team behind Knights of Sidonia, there's pretty much hype on this one. To be honest, I was left with a bit of a mixed taste by the end of the film. But I'm not really that surprised, either.

Urobochi's writing results in the film being like something taken from the 90's upscaled to modern times. There has been a number of Godzilla stories where the humans interact with aliens for good or bad. So there is nothing new in this alliance of the three races. And like other Godzilla films, a conspiracy is brewing from behind the scenes that will likely be explored in the sequels. Nevertheless, Godzilla is the prime antatonist, which places the alliance as the good guys.

One of the biggest issues with the Godzilla franchsie is that much of the human characters are pretty much forgettable, save two - Miki Saegusa, played by Megumi Odaka in the Godzilla films from 1984-1995; and Captain Douglas Gordon, played by Don Frye in Final Wars. Like every other film, Planet of The Monsters features a number of human and alien characters that, the audience really wouldn't care for. This is most especially with the film's protagonist Sakazaki, who I can best describe as being its version of Captain Ahab from Moby-Dick. Sakazaki is so obsessed in killing Godzilla that he would take extreme measures to do so, even if it means nearly endangering his comrades. While we have seen protagonists who do questionable and even immoral acts, like Code Geass's Lelouch aka Zero, they still retain enough charm to be likable by the audience. Sakazaki lacks such charm.

Another issue I have is that in nearly every movie, Godzilla tends to get bigger in size, used as a marketing ploy. Next thing you know Godzilla would be so gigantic he could swallow all of Earth if he wants to. It's ridiculous. I'd rather see Godzilla just cause mindless mayhem than see him get bigger. It's what makes him a nearly unstoppable force. While there is a story element that explains Godzilla's enormous size in Planet of The Monsters, it still leaves me with a sour taste. While you do get to hear the iconic roar, it's not as often and the famous Godzilla theme is totally absent. This is the third film in which the Godzilla theme is never played and the last movie to have done so was Final Wars - that's a staggering 18 years back.

Godzilla obviously is the one that truly carries the film around and he does deliver. His design is more akin to the 2014 film version, only a bit more aggressive. You can't help but cheer for him when he starts squashing Sakazaki and his troops, even though he's technically the bad guy here. So it's a given that Godzilla is bound to lose to Sakazaki, until the twist that leads to the second film. There are also some Easter Eggs found for die-hard Godzilla fans.

So the only reason one should watch Planet of The Monsters is because of Godzilla himself, and he does show why he is deemed the King of The Monsters. Everything else is subpar, but that is to be expected in virtually every Godzilla film. It's a B-Monster Movie after all, just that in anime format. Not the best Godzilla out there, but it leaves room to check back the sequels which out of curiosity, will leave you to look forward to it at least. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give Godzila: Planet of The Monsters, a 3 out of 5.

Devilman Crybaby Series Review

Akira Toriyama. Masashi Kishimoto. Hayao Miyazaki. You probably know who these people are as they are the men behind the anime and manga we all know today. What you may not know is before they made their names known to the anime and manga world, back in 1970's, one man did made a stamp in that world and he was second only to the God of Manga himself, Astro Boy creator Osamu Tezuka.

That man is Go Nagai. Back in the 70's, Nagai was one of the most famous people in the industry thanks to his many works. He is most well known as the creator of the series Mazinger Z - the very first Super Robot manga and anime series that featured a human being piloting a giant robot. This defined the mecha genre as we know today, with well-known entries like the Gundam franchise, Gurren Lagann, Voltron, and even American works like Sym-Bionic Titan, Megas XLR, and Pacific Rim.

But I'm not talking about Mazinger Z here. What I'll talking is Nagai's OTHER famous work, which he personally considers as his masterpiece. That's because the latest adaptation of Nagai's "Devilman" series is now available on Netflix under the title "Devilman Crybaby". This anime has created a lot of buzz among critics and anime fans, and even famous Youtuber PewDiePie sounded off on Devilman Crybaby and that he really liked it.

The story in Devilman is about Akira Fudo, a naive, wimpy teenager who gets picked on a lot due to his pure-hearted nature. Only his classmate and friend Miki Makimura comes to defend him, as he also happens to be living with her and her family.

One fateful day, Akira is reunited with his childhood friend Ryo Asuka, who comes out of the blue as the two have not seen each other in years. Ryo has discovered that the demons of hell are popping up on Earth, masquerading as humans and are on a killing spree. Ryo asks Akira for his help in defeating these demons, to which Akira unwittingly agrees.

Turns out that to defeat a demon, a human needs to become one as well. But not just any human, one with a pure-heart - just like Akira's. Possessed by the demon Amon, one of the most powerful and ruthless among its kind, Akira becomes the titular Devilman, a fusion of Amon's demonic powers and Akira's own humanity.

Devilman has a bizarre love-hate relationship among critics and viewers. This is because Devilman is, and dare I say it, THE most violent, shocking, vile, disturbing, unsettling work in any anime or manga. While there have been a lot of other works that contain the same kind of graphic content, like Attack on Titan, Berserk, Elfen Lied, Tokyo Ghoul, you name it. Devilman, by comparison, is in an entirely different level. Either you love what you see in Devilman, or you hate it with such conviction not seen or heard in other anime or manga.

What I believe as the reason for this bizarre relationship is that the narrative and the graphic depictions in Devilman serve a very specific purpose. Nagai was born just one month after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the end of World War II. Like many Japanese at that time, Nagai has witnessed the horrors of war even at a young age. As anime and manga can be used to show one's expressions through art, Nagai expressed himself through Devilman as a cautionary tale of Armageddon happening not by the divine or a prophecy or whatever. But by the human race killing each other to extinction because they refuse to settle their differences. It's a message that, if you do see it in Devilman, is extremely powerful and does hit the viewer pretty hard.

When you think about it, the current atmosphere we are experiencing today is heavily reflected upon in Devilman cranked up to beyond extremes. You get these strong emotional feels after watching works like Your Name, Spirited Away, Your Lie in April, and others. But to get that same kind of feeling in Devilman, a HORROR series of all things, is not only unique and extremely rare, but what makes Devilman, for good or ill, one of the greatest anime and manga classics of all time.

When Netflix decided to adapt the Devilman manga for their streaming service, Director Masaaki Yuasa was hired for the job. Yuasa is well known for his visual style of animation in Tatami Galaxy in 2010, and the Kickstarter short Kick-Heart in 2013. Westerners in particular recognize Yuasa's work from the Adventure Time episode "Food Chain" or the anime Space Dandy that aired on Adult Swim - both released in 2014. Some were skeptical on how Yuasa's style will blend with the horror themes of Devilman Crybaby, but the end result turned up way better than expected.

When horror is to be visualized, almost always it is done to shock the viewer. I'm not an art critic, but with the way Yuasa did with Devilman Crybaby, imagine if Van Gogh or Picasso do a horror painting in their own style. It may or may not be disturbing to you, and you may like it or hate it. But it's still a Van Gogh or Picasso painting, so it's still a win for the artist. The same case with Yuasa's Devilman. It's his style all right, and the graphic content is there. Yet it draws out the emotions out of you positively or negatively. Yuasa hits that mark really, really good.

I have seen numerous adaptations of Devilman, and yet even though I know what was going to happen in Devilman Crybaby, it still hits me deep when it did happen. Never can I recalll any fictional work where I know the spoilers ahead of time, and yet didn't ruin my experience at all. It's one of the many testaments to Devilman's legacy. I also enjoy how Yuasa tweaks the story a bit to set in the present day to suit today's audience. And for longtime fans of Devilman, there's even reference to the first animated series in the 70s by Toei (the same company behind Dragon Ball) where Devilman is depicted as a superhero of sorts.

Whether you love it or hate it, Devilman Crybaby is by far the closest and best adaptation of Go Nagai's original manga. Even if you probably know the entire plot from previous releases, it's presentation in this version still blows you away, making it a contender for this year's Anime of The Year, and also an instant classic. Director Yuasa does justice to the series and shows what makes Devilman a highly regarded horror series that others pale in comparison. Just remember that this is NOT something kids or those with weak constitutions should watch.

Fun Fact: despite its graphic content, the original Devilman manga was published in the 70s as a Shonen series, meaning its meant for pre-teen boys. Fun times. On a scale of 1 to 5. I give Devilman Crybaby, a 5 out of 5.

Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 4 Review

Previously in Voltron: Legendary Defender - Shiro, who was missing for a few episodes after knocking out Zarkon at the end of Season 2, finally pops up and rejoins the team, who has already adjusted to having Keith as their new leader, and Allura taking the Blue Lion spot. Lotor finally shows up with his harem soldiers and is a rebel with a plan of his own, and is quite a match for the Voltron team. Meanwhile, Haggar, as she helps recover Zarkon, remembers her being his wife and the catalyst for the conflict thanks to her obsession with the quintessence having virtually infinite power, which explains why Voltron is so powerful.

With Shiro now back on the team, Keith feels less obligated as team leader and spends more time with the Blades of Marmorra. This causes a rift within the group, resulting with Keith leaving the team to be with the Blades, while Shiro re-assumes the position of Black Lion pilot. Later on, Pidge is reunited with her brother Matt and the two geniuses worked together to help Shiro and the others.

Zarkon's loss to Voltron is spread across the universe, causing many civilizations to revolt and form the Voltron Coalition, with the mission to liberate the rest of the universe from Galra control. The Voltron team are tasked to strengthen the coalition by performing a series of stage shows (I kid you not). The coalition then began their campaign and by the end of the season, have liberated a third of the Galra territory.

Meanwhile, Zarkon is back and orders a search and destroy operation against Lotor, now deemed a traitor to the Galra Empire. This forces Lotor to speed up his plan of re-opening the gates between dimensions, in order to mine the quintessence for his own use. This complicates things, however, when he kills one of his own harem soldiers suspected of being under Haggar's spell, causing the rest to plot to bring Lotor to Zarkon in exchange for leniency. Lotor then is forced to take drastic measures - an unholy alliance with the Voltron team.

Season 4 of Voltron: Legendary Defender has the smallest number of episodes with just 6. I suspect that extending the series to 6-7 Seasons or so is just wordplay when in actuality the episodes were divided into smaller chunks and stamping the season number with it. We've seen this practice before with Cartoon Network on their handling of Steven Universe, Uncle Grandpa, and more recently Adventure Time. It's awfully annoying, to be honest.

Word has it Shiro's return happened sooner than the staff wanted it to be due to the insistence of the top brass from either Dreamworks or Netflix. The reason is explained in the fourth episode of this season - Shiro is the most popular character of the show. This of course, resulted in re-writing the plot, that in effect not only removes Keith from the Voltron team, but also demotes him to a supporting role, pretty much crashing down all the build up that was made for him in past episodes.

I have mixed feelings for this. On the one hand, I am glad Shiro is back. He is indeed my most favorite character. But I don't want him back in the leadership position, and especially taking back the Black Lion. It makes the concept and requirements of being a Paladin of Voltron and piloting a lion virtually redundant. I'm more than ok giving Shiro a supporting role and just have him give commands in the Altean Castle.

And I do feel bad for Keith because like I said earlier, Shiro's return has him demoted to being a supporting character. So all that build up and development seemed to tantamount to nothing. I also get the impression this would make him less popular among the fanbase.

If there is a silver lining to this, there's still Operation Kuron, of which Shiro is unknowingly an agent of the Galra. So chances are Shiro's revelation about this will result in him giving the Black Lion and the position of team leader back to Keith. However, I'm no longer as hyped over that revelation because we've already seen the switch between Shiro and Keith, then a switchback, and with Operation Kuron, if that is the case, likely another switch.

There's also the matter of how grand is the war against the Galra really is. The show wants to say that 'when we say universal, we mean it'. It does open a bunch of questions that the series won't answer in terms of world-building. So as to not bore you with science stuff, let's just say that if Voltron, who is on one end of the universe, travels to the other end where Zarkon is, the time of travel between those two points is like taking a non-stop flight from New York to Australia and Zarkon didn't grow old during the whole process.

So am I to believe that all the ships featured in Voltron Legendary Defender are capable of travelling across the universe with virtually no time dilation whatsoever? In other words if Shiro and the team left Earth to travel across the universe and back, it only took them a couple of months. If they did that in the real world, when they return to Earth, hundreds, maybe even thousands of years have already passed!

Granted, even in the original Voltron series, the conflict is said to be universal. But it's mainly hyperbole and the conflict is more between Planet Arus and Planet Doom, rather than expanding through galaxies. What I'm trying to sayis I prefer less is more in terms of the scale of the Galra conflict. If the staff really wants this to be literally universal in scale, at least provide more details to maintain the claim a la Star Trek or Gundam or Macross. If that's not possible, then make it something like Gurren Lagann. The way Voltron: Legendary Defender explains it is smack right in the middle which ends up neither appealing nor interesting.

And it doesn't stop there. The whole writing pretty much suffers everywhere throughout the season. Lotor, who was shown to be incredibly cunning and tough, takes a full 180 in this one. An entire episode is made dedicated to being pure comedy, but it ends up more cringy than funny. And there isn't anything that gives Voltron a true sense of challenge or struggle. I can't help but blame the sudden return of Shiro and putting him back in the leadership position as the cause of all this.

With only 6 episodes, and a totally messed up writing, there's not much else to say other than this season is my least favorite of the bunch. All I can hope is that it's just a huge fallback for the staff and that they would work hard to make it better in the seasons to come. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give the 4th Season of Voltron: Legendary Defender, a 2 out of 5.

Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 3 Review

In case you missed it, Voltron: Legendary Defender came out last week in the US on Netflix. To my surprise, the third season's number of episodes was shorter, with just 7 episodes total. However, the 4th Season is said to be coming this October, which is two months from now as of this recording. I had the feeling Netflix is taking cues from Cartoon Network and started splitting episodes just because.

When I learned that the series will have 78 episodes total, I was both surprised and a bit concerned. It's because it's been awhile since we had an action-oriented animated series with an ongoing story arc that lasted for more than 50 episodes. In Japan, most anime wrap themselves up between 12 and 24 episodes. Sure, we have Dragon Ball Super and One Piece who are well beyond the 100 episode mark. But look up the rest of the pack and you will notice a number of them don't last that very long.

Of course, the US has a number of animated shows that go beyond 50 episodes, but that's mainly because the episodes themselves have almost no overarching plot. Even Batman: The Animated Series and Samurai Jack have mainly standalone episodes and only a number of them are part of a major story arc. The last series I can remember where you have to watch the show where it's an ongoing arc from beginning to end would be the Avatar franchise. Unless I am mistaken, there's only like a couple of episodes where it is a standalone, or a recap episode of sorts.

Long story short, I was expecting Voltron: Legendary Defender to wrap itself up after 3 seasons. But if the show is to have 78 episodes total, I just wonder how they can keep the show going without appearing like it's dragging itself for too long.

Anyhow, the main plot of the 3rd season of Legendary Defender can be divided into three parts - the search for the missing Shiro, who disappeared at the end of Season 2; the eventual transition of the pilots to the status quo we know from the original Voltron and GoLion anime; and the team's battle with Lotor. With this season only 7 episodes long, these major arcs get resolved rather quickly.

The search for Shiro was pretty much resolved within two episodes total, mainly in episodes 1 and 5. The first episode has Keith and the team desperately looking for Shiro. At the same time, within the span of 3 episodes, Keith and the gang would transition into the Voltron team we all know. I had no issues with the transition as it went smoothly and feels natural. Keith still has his hot-headedness, but he slowly shows markings of being a leader, just as Shiro wanted him to be.

Shiro's arc is exclusively in the 5th episode, as we see what became of him after Season 2, and eventually reuniting with the team. At that point, he can no longer pilot the Black Lion, as Keith is now it's new.....owner? Master? Anyhow, he does replace Allura's post as he commandeers the castle with Coran.

That being said, the episode slightly reveals that Shiro is more than he appears to be. As Shiro makes his escape from Galran captivity, he had a vision of him being subject in a series of experiments as part of "Operation: Kuron", highly implying Shiro is unknowingly playing as a sleeper agent for the Galra. Does that mean he will eventually betray the team? And what then? We will not know until many episodes later, not necessarily the next season.

I really do like the way Lotor is written in Legendary Defender. He is shown to be far more cunning and skilled than his Defender of The Universe counterpart, and has proven to be just as much an arch-enemy to the Voltron team as Zarkon. While he and Zarkon have the same goal of ruling the universe, Lotor's way of ruling differ from his father's that the two have an estranged relationship. Lotor also has an entourage of female Galra fighters by his side who are just as fearless as they are loyal, if not enamored to him.

I did not expect the series to play the multiverse card and that Voltron's origins and power stems from an ore that travels through alternate realities. The Quintessence, which is the power source of Voltron and Zarkon, actually originated from another dimension. Zarkon becoming a bad guy was mainly due to the overexposure of the Dark Quintessence that corrupted him and his wife Honerva, now the witch Hagar.

At this point, Zarkon's obsession with the Black Lion and Voltron now makes a lot of sense. Zarkon needs Voltron to open up the rift and extract the Pure Quintessence for himself. Lotor has the same idea and is following through with his plan. Though I do wonder if Lotor is also aware of his parents being corrupted by the Dark Quintessence and if it's a possibilty that he plans to use the Pure Quintessence to cure them. Or maybe he really just wants it for himself. Who knows?

Going back to the multiverse concept, although subtle and doesn't really say much, I get the impression that Voltron: Legendary Defender is not a reboot of the original Defender of The Universe series. Think something like the Powerpuff Girls or the Ben 10 reboots in which they are in actuality continuations of their past shows. In the case of Legendary Defender, the multiverse concept suggests the previous Voltron shows exist in other realities that are tied to the universe in Legendary Defender.

In episode 4, when the Voltron team entered an alternate universe where the Alteans are the bad guys, they encounter Sven, who is that universe's version of Shiro. Obviously, the Sven character is a reference to the original Sven in Defender of The Universe. But thanks to the multiverse concept, it could also mean that Sven in Legendary Defender is also a counterpart to the original Sven in Defender of The Universe.

I highly doubt that Legendary Defender will go far enough that the characters would cross over with the previous Voltron incarnations, let alone the GoLion anime. But it would be interesting to see if the two Pidges from Defender of The Universe and Legendary Defender meet and how they would interact, given that they have opposite genders. Hell, if Legendary Defender can somehow use the multiverse concept to introduce the Vehicle Team Voltron aka Dairugger, or the Gladiator Voltron aka Arbegas, I'd have them take my money along with my Netflix subscription.

Although short at 7 episodes, the third season of Voltron: Legendary Defender does a lot better than the last one. And I admit, I was wrong about the dragging part. The series has a lot of stories to tell and the writers did a very good job keeping it interesting and the viewer engaged in its plot. In the end, I am left vey satisfied overall and looking forward to its next season. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give the 3rd Season of Voltron: Legendary Defender, a 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.

Marvel's Iron Fist Review

One thing I learned when trying to watch a Netflix show on the first day: If it's a hit, you'd have a hard time trying to watch it even with a very fast internet connection because of the traffic. That was the experience I had with Marvel's Iron Fist, the fourth series of Marvel's lineup on Netflix that will lead up to the much anticipated "The Defenders" series, alongside Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Jessica Jones. I couldn't watch the show on the first day, so I had  to wait it out until the traffic loosens up. I finally got to it about several days later.

Now to be fair, my knowledge of Iron Fist is quite spotty as I never got to read him in the comics. So for the most part, my exposure to Iron Fist was from other media, be it games, animated shows, etc. That being said, I am familiar with Danny Rand's origins and how he became the Iron Fist.

Surprisingly, the entire plot of Marvel's Iron Fist on Netflix is pretty much layed out in the very first episode. Danny Rand, played by Finn Jones, is a rich kid who was supposedly killed in a plane crash along with his parents more than decade ago. He arrives in New York to seek out the only remaining family he has left, the Meachums. The Meachum siblings, played by Tom Pelphrey and Jessica Stroup, aren't keen on seeing someone who is supposedly their childhood friend and thinks he is there for a hostile takeover of Rand Enterprises.  So not only Danny must prove that he is who he is, but also uncover the conspiracy behind his father's company.

As the Iron Fist, Danny Rand is the guardian of K'un-L'un, a mystical place that appears every number of years. Danny was supposed to guard the entrance for the rest of his life from intruders, but left for New York to seek out remnants of his old life. He also has a secondary role of being the sworn enemy of The Hand, which Marvel fans know were the enemies Daredevil encountered not too long ago. The Hand plays a role here as the major antagonist of the show.

Some point out that the overall plot of Iron Fist is very much similar to the Arrow TV series. I am not surprised as there are indeed parallels between the the two shows. Both Danny Rand and Oliver Queen are rich guys who became vigilantes. They deal with an organizations of skilled assassins, etc. I don't see anything wrong with it, and the way Iron Fist is executed differs from what is seen in Arrow.

Rotten Tomatoes gave the show a rating of 18% (as of this review). If you read the reviews from these media outlets, they provide one jarring narrative - Finn Jones sucks as Danny Rand, in part because of cultural appropriation. Or to put more bluntly, because Danny Rand is white. This is despite the fact that this is exactly who Danny Rand is in the comics. But I will tackle that subject later.

Despite all the hate critics give to Iron Fist, it is a huge hit for Netflix. According to Inverse.com, the data, gathered via Parrot Analytics, reveals Iron Fist being the 2nd most viewed show when it made its debut, just behind Luke Cage. You could say Iron Fist is a lot like the Transformers movies. Critics hate it, but people flock to see it anyway and being huge hits at the box office.

There are certain parts critics gave to Iron Fist of which I do tend to agree on. The series was great and it keeps me engaged and wanting to catch the next episode. However, some parts of the writing just seems 'off'.

One example is in the 2nd episode, where Danny revealed that one way of summoning the Iron Fist is if he's taken enough of a beating that would build up the energy or Chi needed to summon it. This was used only in the 2nd episode, but for the rest of episodes, this was thrown out as Danny gets beaten up.

Another is in the final episode, where Danny takes on his parent's killer, Harold Meachum, played by David Wenham. There's a scene in the rooftop where Danny enters via the door, while Harold was already pointing the gun at him, but didn't fire for several seconds until Danny started running and found a hiding spot! And THEN he starts the firing the gun!

There are also several instances where the supporting cast switch allegiances more often than not. Heels become faces, then heels, then faces; while faces turn heels, then faces, then heels again. It's pretty much annoying, to be honest, because not only you don't get as to whose side these characters are, but in many ways, the change of allegiances makes no sense.

But the one thing I completely hated most of Iron Fist, is not its writing or the characters. It's the fight choreography. This is supposed to be a martial arts series, so I expected REALLY good fight scenes like the ones from Daredevil, or The Raid movies starring Iko Uwais. I'm just surprised at how incredibly bad it is.

In an interview with the British news magazine Metro, Finn Jones described the typical shooting scenario and I quote:

It was very intense to begin with. When I first moved over to New York, before I started actually filming, I had three weeks of very intense martial arts and weight training preparation. But then unfortunately once the show started, the filming schedule was just so tight – I was working 14 hours every day, six days a week, days into nights, nights into days – and actually my schedule didn’t allow me to continue the training as much as I really hoped.

So really on my days off, I only had Sunday and half a day on Saturday off, I’d be in the gym and trying to keep up with being flexible and learning martial arts. But really, I was learning the fight scenes 15 minutes before we actually shot them because the schedule was so tight. So 15 minutes before the stunt director would talk me through the choreography and I’d just jump straight into it. It really was a baptism of fire and I just learned on the job and I’ve been doing it for 12 months now. With practice you just get better and better with dealing with that kind of schedule.

 Basically, Iron Fist was a very rushed production, and Finn Jones isn't exactly a natural in martial arts. Even if he is, the extremely short timeframe to discuss and practice before the actual shooting is just bonkers, and it shows in the final product.

Critics say the series "Into The Badlands" is a much better martial arts show than Iron Fist. I agree on the fight scenes part, but Into The Badlands is trying too hard to be a martial arts-styled Game of Thrones with a Mad Max-theme that it stinks. But that's another story.

Despite the poor choreography, I do enjoy the scenes where Danny fights certain characters as though it was a boss fight. My most favorite is one where Danny fights Zhou Cheng, played by Lewis Tan. It was the only fight scene in the series that has done incredibly well.

The series has made several callbacks to Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage, so if you've seen them previously, you will notice them with much excitement. You also get the occassional dialogue humor that's been the staple of Marvel as of late, which are all funny and good.

Now to discuss the controversy surrounding its casting of Finn Jones as Danny Rand. I simply do not see a problem as to why Danny Rand can't be played by a white actor, since Danny is indeed a white character in the comics. I've been reading all these comments from everyone and I fail to see their case of making Danny Rand anyone but what he's supposed to be from the comics.

Let me put it this way. If a white guy cannot be in a lead role in a martial arts film because of his skin color being "culturally inappropriate", does that mean Chuck Norris can't be in a martial arts film, even though he is CHUCK NORRIS? The idea that someone who is of Asian descent should be the one playing the lead role in a Martial Arts show or film is just pure rubbish!

Take a look back at a number of martial arts films that star non-Asian characters in lead roles. Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Cynthia Rothrock, Jason Statam, Uma Thurman. The list goes on. Did anyone complain about whitewashing? Anyone?

Others say Iron Fist isn't as well known as Captain America or Spider-Man, therefore it should not be an issue to have Danny Rand's ethnicity changed. You coulld say the same for the Guardians of The Galaxy. NOBODY knows who they are until the film came out. Did anyone call for Star-Lord to have his ethnicity changed? Of course, not!

The same case can be said for Tony Stark as Iron Man. He wasn't as popular back then until the movie came out. Nobody had any problem with his ethnicity!

To be fair, I am Asian. I was born and raised in Southeast Asia. I am aware of the lack of Asian lead actors in American shows and film, and I do support the campaign for more Asian lead actors in Hollywood. But Iron Fist is not one of them. I agree with Roy Thomas, the co-creater of Iron Fist, who said that if you want a "culturally appropriate" character, just go and make one rather than replace an existing one with it.

Look at Miles Morales for example. He is not a replacement for Peter Parker. Rather, he became a version of Spider-Man is not the de-facto replacement of the original.

To wrap this up. The so-called 'whitewashing' of Danny Rand is incredibly stupid. The choreography sucks. And parts of the writing are just off. On the other hand, the show is nevertheless engaging and keep you wanting to see the next one, you get to see lots of funny moments, and you see how this ties together to Dardevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage. Despite all its flaws, Iron Fist isn't as bad as others paint it to be. I enjoyed it nonetheless and I am looking forward to upcoming The Defenders series. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give Marvel's "Iron Fist" a 3 out of 5.