Tuesday, March 31, 2020

The Rest of My YouTube Videos

Just informing anybody reading this that I've added the links to the YouTube videos I've uploaded that I hadn't already added to their respective pages on the sidebar.  There are a whopping total of three videos I've added: a YTP and a YTPMV on the YTPs/YTPMVs page and an AMV on the AMV page.

Regarding the AMV (which is also my most recent upload), it is an homage to the cartoon Static Shock, a Saturday morning stable of my youth.  The song used is "Electric Avenue" by Eddy Grant, a song with an interesting story behind it regarding how I grew to enjoy it.  During my time working at a grocery store, they would play a wide variety of horrendous songs that would make me want to bash my head against a wall.  However, this song was also in the mix, and having never heard it before, I was pleased that it was actually very catchy.  So every time it would play among the assortment of audial torture, I'd be happy, even if for a brief three minutes or so.  As such, I decided to make an AMV in celebration of both the musical gem I found and a beloved cartoon of yesteryear.  So here it is below:




If anyone reading this is interested in the YTP and/or YTPMV, just check the page on the sidebar to find the links to those.

Until next time.  (Whenever that ends up being.)

- nssfleahedgehog

Thursday, February 27, 2020

Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back - Evolution Review

Pokémon anime movies are a long-running stable of the Pokémon franchise, with one coming out in Japan every year since 1998.  For the most part, they coincide with the Pokémon anime, featuring Ash and co. meeting either a Mythical Pokémon (such as Mew, Celebi, or Jirachi), a Legendary Pokémon (such as Mewtwo, Entei, or Giratina), and/or a Pokémon that will be introduced in the games' next generation (such as Lugia, Lucario, or Zoroark).  However, the 20th and 21st movies did things a little differently.  In Movie 20, instead of Ash and co. meeting the movie's title Pokémon during their journey, the plot is instead an alternate take on the beginning of Ash's journey, showing what would happen if Ash acquired a Rainbow Wing when he encounters Ho-Oh in the events of the first anime episode.  It also features several Pokémon released after Gen. I, including Piplup and Incineroar, as well as debuting the Gen. VII Mythical Pokémon Marshadow.  Movie 21 takes place in the same alternate timeline as Movie 20, with Ash and Pikachu arriving in a movie-exclusive location for a local festival and debuts the Gen. VII Mythical Pokémon Zeraora.

So what new and interesting ideas are showcased in Movie 22?  What new Mythical Pokémon debuts?  Nothing and none are the respective answers to those questions; Movie 22 is a CGI remake of the very first Pokémon movie!
Yep.  Granted, taking something made in 2D and remaking it in 3D isn't unheard of in the realms of video games and Pokémon is technically a video game franchise first and foremost.  But to do so in anime?  Weird.  Well, how does it look?









...Dear God, I cannot unsee this nightmare...


Plot

Plot wise, it's pretty much a Copy-Paste of the 1st Pokémon movie, Mewtwo Strike Back.  Changes made to the plot are very minimal.  There are a few instances of story polish, such as Ash's Charizard, Misty's Psyduck, and Brock's Vulpix being present at their Trainers' lunchtime to establish their existence before they're on Mewtwo's island.  When Team Rocket takes Ash and co. to the island, they are sailors in a Lapras-themed paddle boat instead of Vikings (nixing the Minnesota Vikings reference in the English dub 😢).  There's also an added scene of Giovanni showing off Mewtwo to an army of Rocket Grunts.

Other than that, there are some updates to keep up with the modern additions to Pokémon as a franchise.  The manager of the harbor mentions the Gen. III Pokémon Wingull instead of real-world seagulls, which were mentioned in the original.  When a character's Venusaur battles Mewtwo's cloned Venusaur, they are instructed to use Energy Ball and Leaf Storm respectively, both moves originating from Gen. IV.  Giovanni also wears a dark colored suit like his modern anime design as opposed to his original orange one.

In regards to dialogue, there aren't many significant changes.  The points the characters make throughout the movie are still the same, even though the lines aren't always verbatim from the original (though I swear some actually are verbatim).  There is an amusing line in the English dub where Brock mentions his "famous jelly donuts" in reference to the notorious dub alteration from the original series in which the Japanese food onigiri (cooked rice often formed into a rounded triangular shape usually with pickled or dried food in the center, normally translated as "rice balls") is called jelly-filled donuts.

"Nothing beats localizing a foreign food to cause misconceptions!"

So overall, the plot is the same as Movie 1, which admittedly is very good.  The quality of the story is intact, but the fact that it's almost an exact remake of something we've seen before really lessens its impact, unfortunately.


Design and Animation

This is where the movie falls apart... and also is pretty good.  While contradicting myself may make no sense at first, let me explain.

Ash, Misty, Brock, Jessie, and James all look horrendous.  I have no idea how this happened.  In still shots, the designs are just completely off and the way their faces move when talking or expressing just make it worse.  Part of it is the uncanny valley effect of seeing characters one is used seeing a certain way (in this case, 2D animation) adapted into a completely different way (in this case, 3D animation).  While this is an easy and very applicable explanation, there is something one cannot overlook: 2D anime characters have been adapted into 3D animation before without it looking abominable.  Play any video game with 3D graphics based off Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, or One Piece and one can see that the transition from 2D to 3D is seamless; the characters still look like they normally do despite the change in visual art form.  I have no idea what the animators of this movie were doing when they designed the five main characters for the movie, but they failed in making them look aesthetically pleasing.

"Give us your money, weeb!"
The other human characters are passable... barely.  I guess because the five mains are so iconic, the supporting characters look less irksome because their designs aren't ingrained into the minds of longtime Pokémon anime viewers.  That said, Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy are also off-putting in appearance, but because they're in less of the movie, it's not as distracting.

I also find it off-putting how inhumanly thin Jessie's waist is in 3D.  I know it's a common occurrence in animation to draw women with unrealistic proportions (not just in anime, but also in western cartoons), but it seems like they went too far this time.  I don't think her waist would even reach 24 inches IRL, and it just adds to the visual discomfort of character designs that make the viewers want to bleach their eyes.

"They smoked how much weed when designing us?" 

Human character designs aside, the Pokémon designs are amazing.  They look like they were ripped right from an HD video game.  The level of detail is amazing, with all the fur and scales looking beautiful.  The fire effect of Rapidash's mane?  Outstanding.  The stony armor of Rhyhorn?  Wonderful.

Admittedly, the heavily detailed designs for some take a bit of adjustment, but unlike the humans, the viewer's mind can adapt to HD Squirtle, where as it would take countless hours to get used to the way Ash looks... if one ever could.

The battle effects of moves and the movements of the various Pokémon's bodies are all great.  The battles are definitely the highlight the film.  The games pale in comparison to showcasing battles the way this movie can.

"I'M-A FIRIN' MA LAY-ZAAARRR!!!"

2D Version VS 3D Version

So the plot is the same as the original and the designs are horrible for the 'mans and great for for the 'mons.  Is there any reason to watch this movie over the original?  Of course not, I'd watch the 1st movie ten more times before rewatching this.  Is there any reason to watch this movie at all?  Uhhh...

As I said before, the Pokémon look amazing and the battles are pretty awesome.  Mewtwo is still a menacing villain and a compelling character, and the message of the movie still good and heartfelt.  Most of the other pros I've already mentioned (Brock's dub reference, updates to modern franchise additions) are enjoyable, but still negligible.  The ONLY major worthwhile addition to the remake is the camera shot when the Pokémon are fighting their clones.

Said camera shot would be very difficult to do in 2D animation.  As the Pokémon are fighting, the camera seamlessly moves from fight to fight magnificently in one shot.  It is an amazing, fluid shot that would make any director proud (and any cameraperson having to film it motion sick, probably).  The camera movements during other battles are excellent too, but this one really stood out to me.


"I could totally beat this clone if I could Mega Evolve!"

Final Verdict

It's ironic how a movie featuring cloning got cloned itself... especially since unlike in the movie, the original film could beat the remake.  That said, aside from the nightmarish human designs, nothing really makes Mewtwo Strikes Back - Evolution a bad movie.  Superfluous?  Definitely.  Necessary?  Absolutely not.  Worthwhile?  Probably not.

And so, I give this movie (2.5/5 Poké Balls).

Still better than Movie 15!

- nssfleahedgehog

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

The Most Evil Tree Villain

One video game series I adore is Final Fantasy.  I love the RPG genre, and I especially enjoy turn-based RPG's.  There are numerous aspects of the Final Fantasy series that I really love that set it apart from other series, but today I'm going to focus on the characters - specifically one character who is the main antagonist of the game he originates from: Exdeath of Final Fantasy V.

Final Fantasy V was originally released in Japan in 1992 for the Super Famicom (Japan's equivalent of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System).  It was not released in the west until 1998, when the PlayStation re-release was localized.  It was later re-released in both Japan and the west for GameBoy Advance in 2006 and remade for iOS and Android in 2013, which was later ported to Steam in 2015.

Unlike Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy VI (which were both also originally released for Super Famicom, but unlike FFV were localized in the US for the SNES as Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy III respectively) the story and characters of FFV were less deep and the game focused more on robust gameplay with the best Job System in the main series.  With less complex characterization, the characters in FFV are often silly and over the top, or occasional kinda bland.  As such, the game's antagonist, Exdeath, is outrageously evil in a most hilarious manner.

Exdeath is a being literally made from pure evil: he was formed from malevolent souls that were trapped in a tree in a forest known as the Great Forest of Moore.  He appears as a towering figure covered in light blue armor and acts in a maniacal, boisterous manner.  He is so evil that he cannot even comprehend positive emotions such as love or kindness.  His evil plan is to merge two worlds together to gain access to the Void: a omnipotent force of pure nothingness.  In the crossover subseries known as Dissidia Final Fantasy, Exdeath's personality is slightly expanded to greater embrace his desire for the Void, as he is among the antagonists who believe in nihilism and want to destroy everything.  Comically, he also tends to talk about the Void ad nauseam in the Dissidia games, frequently mentioning it in story moments and battle matchups; conversely other characters will complain about or poke fun at his obsession with the Void in their battle matchups with him.

Back to Final Fantasy V, Exdeath has several memorial moments in the game's story, including: a one-on-one fight with the playable character Galuf, banishing his hilarious comic relief minion Gilgamesh to another dimension (who later is able to travel to the worlds of other Final Fantasy games and be either a summon or a superboss, depending on the game), and reviving himself from a splinter lodged in the hand of the playable character Krile (Get it?  He was a splinter because he came from a tree!).  One particularly silly moment, however, is his brief scuffle with the ancient turtle Ghido, which inspires this epic one-liner (or rather, one word one-liner) that I have immortalized in the YouTube video below:






Yes, the video features a screenshot from the GBA version of FFV and a secret voice clip from the game Dissidia Final Fantasy for the PlayStation Portable.  Truly, a magnificent line that exudes the essence of Exdeath.

Until next time, fellow Freelancers.

- nssfleahedgehog

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Blog Revival

Well, it's been 6 years since I last used this blog.  I should probably revive this, huh?

I'm planning to start using this blog more regularly now, and I've got a few YouTube videos from the past years to share.  I will share those in the upcoming days.

I'm honestly looking forward to using this blog again as a creative outlet.  Please stay tuned for more content.

- nssfleahedgehog

Saturday, March 22, 2014

W Reviews Episode 4 Is Up!

It's been over a month since the last W Reviews episode, so I'm happy to announce the fourth episode is up.  The video can be viewed below, and will be added to the links section soon.  Go ahead and give it a watch!




Thanks for your support!

- nssfleahedgehog

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

New YouTube Video: YTPMV - "Uptown Girl" by Billy Joel

I have another YouTube video up, and this time it's a YTPMV (YouTube Poop Music Video) featuring the hit Billy Joel song "Uptown Girl"!  Check it out below!





Until next time!

- nssfleahedgehog

Thursday, February 13, 2014

New Video: YTP - Arthur's Mom Is a Workaholic

It's time for another new YouTube video!  Today we have a new YouTube Poop entitled "Arthur's Mom Is a Workaholic."  If you hate the PBS Kids show "Arthur" or can tolerate it being parodied, give it a watch!  The video is below, and a link will be added to the correct video page soon.





Enjoy.

- nssfleahedgehog

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

W Reviews Ep 3 Is Up, Plus Links Revamped and Updated

W Reviews Episode 3: Ultimate Spider-Man S1E3 - Doomed! is up!  The video is below, so check it out!

Also, I've revamped the links to my YouTube videos on the right, with each type of video having its own page.  W Reviews Ep 3 will be added to the W Reviews page shortly, but feel free to check out the first 2 episodes before watching the 3rd.





Until next time!

- nssfleahedgehog

Friday, December 13, 2013

W Reviews Episode 2: Ultimate Spider-Man Season 1 Episode 2 Is Up!

Well, sick of waiting around for the first episode of  W Reviews to get more views, I decided to upload the second episode, covering episode 2 of Ultimate Spider-Man's first season.  Please watch it below, though I highly recommend you check out the first episode before that, if you haven't already.  Any support would be greatly appreciated!



- nssfleahedgehog

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Finally, A New Post! (With A New Video Too!)

Yeah, I'm finally updating this blog.  I've made a new YouTube video where I review Ultimate Spider-Man Season 1 Episode 1.  Here it is!:




Hopefully, I'll be updating this blog more often now. :p

Until next time!

- nssfleahedgehog