Sean Akizuki's Fantasy Critic

Kamen Rider was one of the things that entranced me as a child. They had the cool bug design, the awesome action and well, it all began with the Kamen Rider era where it began with the first Kamen Rider to the last of the Showa. These TV shows were: The Kamen Rider (there was an additional Kamen Rider) Kamen Rider V3 (aided by Riderman) Kamen Rider X Kamen Rider Amazon Kamen Rider Stronger Kamen Rider Skyrider Kamen Rider Super-1 (after this, ZX was just a TV special) Kamen Rider Black-Black RX Perhaps the most popular was Kamen Rider Black which ran for two seasons against two different enemies. The first season although it was well-received by many was too gloomy for me and I preferred the second season which is Black RX because it wasn't too serious. In Black RX, the riders united to defeat the Crisis Empire but their role was more on helping civilians so to say they were given unfair treatment is trash. What was also intriguing is that during the course of the series, there...

After a decade of wait, finally Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is here. I have enjoyed playing the VS. Series with Capcom especially Marvel vs. Capcom 2 against my friends in the CPU and getting in a rough match. It's got the graphics, the moves, the violence and I hope Disney will withdraw from Marvel soon enough. I've even read it will involve Dormammu. Final boss? I kind of thought though that Sigma may make a good final boss but maybe Dormammu is better. Here's a little interview of of the upcoming game. I'll just have to pay PS3 at my third degree nephew's (or second cousin once removed) house since it's not likely I'll buy a PS3 since I've become too hooked with creative writing. I definitely however don't feel very excited about computer games anymore though.

Conan the Adventurer's most frequently seen villain Wrath-Amon the incumbent leader of the Snake Cult and high priest to the snake god Set was one of the childhood villains I found scary but not as scary as Set himself though. Wrath-Amon himself is portrayed to be the show's version of Serpentor. He has almost the same outfit as Serpentor and he's just temperamental and pure delicious ham. Consider the similarity may be there because Conan the Adventurer was also produced by Hasbro. The role of Wrath-Amon himself as the Chief Servant of Set, the high priest and ruler of Stygia. In the Robert E. Howard folklore - the city of Stygia is devoted to Set and worshiping any other god isn't allowed. The High Priest holds the real power while the king is symbolic - which may explain why Mesmira was Queen of Stygia while Wrath-Amon served as the high priest of the serpent god Set. What was revealed was that he was once a gilla monster owned by the previous high priest known a...

It's just shameful how Rita and Lord Zedd could end up together while PR's most famous couple Tommy and Kimberly were soon broken up. I mean I watched the whole show for these two lovebirds, their wonderful chemistry that was really broken. I read somewhere that Amy Jo Johnson was promised a better career by some production so she arranged for her graceful exit with Saban (in contrast to Thuy Trang who had payroll issues like Yuki Yajima had with Japan Action Club) and did it. I believe that's why Catherine Sutherland was introduced into the show as Catherine to replace her. So okay, I thought Catherine was just temporary but it wasn't. In fact, Amy Jo Johnson never showed up so the writers really had to shift her character too fast from a likable one to an unlikable one- that is dump Tommy just like that. WTF? In fact, a later episode had Tommy and Catherine a married couple (in the future) which really made me throw away the whole Zordon arc out of that outrage....

If there was any PR couple that really lasted long, it was Lord Zedd and Rita. So okay Lord Zedd didn't like Rita when he first appeared on the show because she failed to capture the Earth and banished her away. But he underestimated her that she was able to return to the moon, drugged him with a love potion and ended up marrying her while she planned to take over. But things went rather differently after their rather funny wedding. So what happened next? Rita came to truly love Lord Zedd for who he was and not for his power. Lord Zedd on the other hand was coming to accept Rita as his wife. The two had rather difficult journeys while designing even deadlier schemes as a couple. Even when Lord Zedd had toned down in terms of his temper, it didn't make him any less dangerous. So Goldar discovered it was all a sham and tried to administer the antidote but to everybody's surprise, Lord Zedd was still in love with Rita. Theoretically saying, Lord Zedd may have suppressed...

As a child in the late tens - one of the shows that I held dear (but now an Old Shame) was Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers . I could remember how Lord Zedd became known to be more intimidating than Rita Repulsa but proved to be just as stupid. I mean, it took their marriage (and him becoming less scary) to finally make him an even bigger threat (which still made him scary). I think one of the issues that I had was the rise of the Z-Putties.  Lord Zedd arrived and bragged that he would do better than Rita Repulsa. Goldar suggested sending putties. Lord Zedd finally created a new brand of putties that he claimed was supposedly stronger. Yes, they appeared stronger as the Power Rangers were worn out from the first encounter. However, the tide was changed when Jason discovered that the Z on their chests was the WEAK SPOT. One punch then POOF - those guys managed to blow out! I kinda find that quite weird really. Sure, they were stronger than Rita's Putties but they were Glass Cannons...

I just don't find it strange how I could easily relate to Beast in Disney. Why? Well I did grow up with a bad temper tantrum that can't be resolved by normal means. Okay so let's say that I can easily get irritated over trivial matters, can really roar so loud and argue over a prolonged period of time. And somehow, some people think I still have some gold within me. So I think the last thing I'd like to hear is, "You have to control your temper." And indeed it's true. And I kind of thought though maybe I've met my future Belle but she's not yet ready. I kind of figured out that my type of women would be like Belle, some beauty, more brains and character that exceeds the outer while the outer gives a preview. What if that woman I met nine years younger is the Belle I'm searching? I certainly wouldn't bet that only child I met would be Belle due to her tough attitude much like Sakura Nishihori in Boukenger.

The thing is I find quite natural that because I'm a big fan of Beast (hoping to find a Belle), Gaston would naturally be my most hated bad guy. Why? I'd like to say that Gaston is extremely a braggart (well he has the skills but not so much on the looks), oafish and not to mention, he's mostly hot air. He just reminds me of the types of bullies I faced in my childhood days. Just to think of it, I don't even find him handsome, I wish Disney made him more good-looking to create a lasting impact of a villain with good looks. I kind of thought though that he was based on Avenant who was far more good-looking than he was but the same degree as evil. Avenant in the 1946 film was a rich man so I kind of thought that would have made him more imposing. Even if Gaston didn't seem to be more of the "perfect villain" as Avenant was, but I always would hate him number one in my list also because he's the most realistic character to ever exist. Also Avenan...

If there was any wicked witch that really intrigued me was the wicked stepmother of Cinderella namely Lady Tremaine. Unlike other witches, she appeared with so much poise and dignity it wasn't easy to tell she's evil except if you know a few facial expressions to know something's fishy about this woman. This is an example of how you can know she's really full of wicked hate just with that expression shown above you. Of course, she always appears kindly with other people around and she's a serious backstabber. Man I really hated her. She does everything to make Cinderella's life miserable while not anybody outside notices because she's such a good actress- nobody knows she's really full of evil. And the thing is she's also overly demanding probably an explanation why her own biological daughters are very wicked. She may have damaged them badly too. And her wickedness doesn't end in the first movie- she is shown to look down at the commoners,...

So far, for me the most memorable and most likable character in MMPR will always be Trini Kwan. Why? Aside from being an Asian yellow ranger, she was presented to be the toughest, most kick-ass character with a tough personality. She's really that skilled that even Jason gets amazed by her knowledge in martial arts. She was also the first yellow ranger in Power Rangers. She reminded me of Mika Koizumi in Bioman who was also the first female yellow ranger in Super Sentai and the first yellow ranger in Bioman. Her character died in episode 10 when Mason used the Bio Killer Gun, she saved the others at the cost of her life. Both characters were kick-ass female. Eventually like the actress Yuki Yajima (who only stayed in Bioman for nine episodes), soon enough Thuy Trang (who stayed for less than a half of the second season) had payroll issues, had enough of Saban and quit. Eventually on that fateful day of September 3, 2001 an accident claimed her life. She like Mika Koizumi me...

I could remember the time I was a Megaman addict. So okay if you don't know this, Megaman's name in Japan is Rockman and he was given a companion named Roll but ironically, it wasn't using much rock and roll (thankfully). It began with the NES which those games back then were kind of difficult and had a lot of glitches. He later had a dog named Rush (3rd game), a bird named Beat (5th game) and he also had Eddie to send power ups. Rush reminded me of Springer from Metalder just as I compared Dr. Wily to Neros. Megaman 6 was the last NES game and for me, the most fun one with the upgrade armor he got. It was no longer limited to lack of creativity. Strangely enough, Megaman 7 was easier than the NES games and the first PS1 game Megaman 8 got a little easier. I also remembered its similarities to Tokusatsu series and frequently compared Megaman/Rockman to Janperson, Protoman/Blues (and later Bass/Forte) to Gun Gibson because of designs. Also I compared the earlier robo...

I have to admit that I once liked the Super Mario series but as time passed, the princess routine is getting redundant. I mean, can't they stop portraying the princess as someone who frequently gets caught by Bowser?! I kind of think that Super Mario Galaxy is just too redundant with the princess theme. Okay it had the cool concept of Bowser trying to take over the Universe but I wish he had a more devious thing than just kidnapping the princess. Need I say more?

Okay I have to admit I am starting to dislike Disney but they made their hottest character ever to exist- Belle. And the thing is she doesn't even know she's the hottest character in town, no in Disney. And it puts her in a disadvantage because she's got the attention of the not-so-handsome but really macho Gaston (I hate that guy) and later gets into a relationship with a man cursed to become a "beast". For one thing, I can relate with Beast many times. She was kind of different than the 1946 Belle who had siblings and her unwelcome lover Gaston was not a rich man but a hunter, she was the only child so her father can get overprotective. While she has one unwelcome lover, she meets another in Beast who is an ill-tempered guy but however, she and him open up and eventually fell in love. Of course Beast was still human despite his appearance. The thing is it seems everything was over for her when Gaston discovered that she had been dating Beast and not him whi...

The thing is I always thought that Mortal Kombat vs. DC was a lousy game. In fact, I believe that they weren't able to get the game because Disney was on its way to buying Marvel (and which is a BAD idea) and in fact, I always thought that a Marvel Comics match would be 50x more badass than DC. Why? It's because Marvel has more interesting characters. Here were some match-ups that would have been cool: Scorpion vs. Ghost Rider- Ghost Rider can operate opposite of Scorpion where he can use his chains to get close to his opponent. Iceman vs. Sub-Zero- Both of them are masters of the cold. Both of them can freeze one another and have different ice tricks against each other. Raiden vs. Thor- When both worlds collide, just imagine as how two thunder gods would battle at the same degree of power. Shinnok vs. Loki- I think the two of them are quite similar. Liu Kang vs. Cyclops- Instead of Ryu, Cyclops has Liu Kang to face. Baraka vs. Sabertooth- This is beast vs. beast battle. Jo...

America had fed so many ideas into Anime, Japan either made it better or made it worse. So okay, Robocop came first before Janperson but I find it better than Robocop. Why? There were meaner, bigger villains and far more action in the show. I find the scenes more dramatic than Robocop was. Well what's the big deal? Unlike Robocop who is part-human, Janperson like the kiddie character Rockman is a mechanical human but he's a far more serious character. When MX-A1 was unstable, one of the police scientists took him and recreated him into a fighter of justice that the law soon respected as an ally to the police force.He of course was involved with at least fighting three evil organizations. We have the Neo Guild which was led by Ben Funami and later George Makabe which uses cyborgs, the Super Science Network led by Reiko Ayanokouji which uses biological weaponry and the Tatakake Konzern a terrorist organization led by the insane Ryuzaborou Tatakake. These three villains...

The Conan cartoon despite it being a really way too mild version of an adult-oriented character does have some references to the literature in these episodes: Tears from The Sky- Wrath-Amon is described to be legendary evil just as Thulsa Doom was in the movie.  The fact that Conan stayed with his tribe at his teenage years and uses his father's sword is faithful to the Robert E. Howard novels. Star of Shadizar- They meet Jezmine who is based on Valeria who is also a thief. They must climb the Tower. Jezmine here starts off as a thief though we don't see the Snake Cult perform a sacrifice with some priest of Set hoping to drop a woman to her death. Serpent Riders of Set- They are somewhat referential to the part of the Conan the Barbarian film when Conan gets an answer knowing of the Snake Cult. The Master Thief of Shadizar- Again this refers to the movie of climbing up a tower to steal the eye of the Serpent as well as the "Tower of the Elephant". We have Na...

I kind of thought about it that because I met some girl who's really hot and a nature lover, well I kind of thought of this crazy idea of what ifs between them: What if Batman and Poison Ivy knew each other in College? What if Poison Ivy knew Batman's secret identity but won't reveal it to anybody out of love for him? What if Batman had a crush on Poison Ivy in College and later figures out he's in a love/hate relationship with her? What if Batman was jealous of Dr. Woodroe and later Poison Ivy falls for him but they're always in a conflict? What if Poison Ivy becomes good for real and settles down with him eventually having a family she never expected? Just weird really. Just love the Poison Ivy and Batman shipping.

Poison Ivy and Batman unfortunately share a hot love/hate relationship but maybe Catwoman was more popular, that's why hers wasn't so focused. I kind of thought that the two of them were actually meant to be a couple only if Poison Ivy stops being so fanatical and adopt Batman's views, I think the two can get along. :-P Poison Ivy is a nature-caring person but she does everything to the extreme. In her crusades, she seems to suffer from passion burns for him. Poison Ivy will always use her charms at him which however, Batman doesn't return them. She of course can't take no for an answer from him so she gives him a kiss. Okay in the Animated Series, he kissed him. I don't think she wanted to poison him. I think she wanted more of him so she teased him with the antidote, if it's an adult angle, I think she wants a night with him. While she seduced Harley Dent for revenge, it seems she lusts after the Batman. In the comics, they've kissed more t...

The thing is there was Lion Voltron but that's just bland compared to the Anime it was based from- Hundred Beasts King Golion. Why? Well let's think about how much more realistic and well-wrapped Golion is compared to its butchered WEP version. In Golion, if enemies die, they die. Nobody just gets safely transported but never heard from again. And yes, characters are more well-developed. Watching the whole series means watching it for the very first time. Why? It's entirely different even if it seems to be the same. Also the violence, the gore and everything is just as intense as every other super robot show like Voltes V. There are plenty of differences in the series. I'll be using Voltron names to make things easier for those who haven't seen the Anime. It talks about how five space explorers find their planet torn apart my war, they are captured by the Doom forces (who are NOT under the Drule Empire) ruled by the evil Emperor Zarkon who seeks to con...

If there was some game I was once narrowed down to was Mortal Kombat. Why? I remembered having rage hormones and the game satisfied me, despite the fact that the game was somewhat out of balance, the basic attacks for every character is the same but the interesting myths surrounding the game was just awesome. However soon enough, all the palette swapping and same default attack was getting boring really. The earlier games were also notorious for having extra hard bosses to beat, which they were unplayable. Perhaps the most infamous has to be Kintaro because he could jump off and stomp the opponent and he was for many, harder than Shao Kahn was. Shang Tsung was the first boss character to be dropped and became a regular character. Of course, he caused imbalance because of his ability to morph. Bad idea. My favorite character was the overly noisy Liu Kang. Well I'm such a chatterbox and it's no surprise or how impulsive Liu Kang can get. He was like the "Ryu" o...

I remembered those Super Nintendo days and honestly speaking, Mario was a popular game that many people had a fuzz about or I have to mention that my mother had to belt me for spending too much time with Super Mario back then. Ever since then, the game had a good-bad memory. Today, I seem not to think about the franchise anymore. There were at least four Super Mario games I had completed. They were Super Mario 1, 2, 3 and World. Super Mario 2 was the hardest game of all while it featured the ability to use Toad and Princess Peach. Super Mario 3 goes back to the old routine of saving the princess while our heroes dress up in new power-ups. Super Mario World was a fun game with all the secrets but the saving the princess routine is getting old. Yoshi was a fun character but sigh, some fans just didn't take him too well. However later on, I ended up getting our first Playstation and so I never played Super Mario 64. On the other hand, a cousin of mine owned a Gamecube but disc...

I have to admit that perhaps the hottest video game babe today is Lara Croft. Despite her "age" as of late, somehow she seems ageless. Is she half-vampire? Maybe. Well, I kind of thought that before, she didn't appear that hot but she was subjected to the humiliation of the Nude Raider fanbase, where Tomb Raider fans fought among themselves whether or not it should go on. Some appeared from the natural full front to the extreme (something that would piss me off). But despite this so-called attraction, sadly I'm not a fan of the video game itself. :-P

Okay, this is kind of childish but I remembered the hottest character in Scooby-Doo was Daphne Blake. She was just so hot, well, she can cause one to fall for her even if she's not real. It was kind of nice for her to get sexy in some rare appearances especially as the graphics evolved from the 70s until recent times. So I kind of thought that her personality was more developed probably making her more popular. She turned from Danger Prone Daphne to a more mature one. Besides, I believe it's her popularity that caused Fred and Velma to be written off in the new seasons. In fact, the later seasons with Scrappy-Doo only had her, Shaggy, and Scooby in revealing monster hoaxes. However, I didn't like how her hair was done in Scooby-Doo and the 13 Ghosts. There was also the Freddie Jones-Daphne Blake fan shipping but it never materialized. For some reason though, I prefer her and Johnny Bravo as a couple (but she rejected him when they first met) but many will disagree. ...

Okay I have to admit I like Sentai better now but I just can't forget about the time I had that rather unusual admiration of Kimberly Hart (while my crushes back then weren't pretty). She was really that gorgeous and a likable character (despite starting off as a ditz but she's a real nice person). In fact, her beauty was such a headturner so it's understandable why I would stick through MMPR until she left the set by season three. It was always something to see her gorgeous figure in the show, I stuck through it like glue and wished someday I could get somebody that looks like her. Later on, I pretended to be Tommy for some time. Eventually I was distressed upon the third season when she left the show (I didn't mind much about Jason, Zack and Trini leaving and being replaced with not-so-cool replacements) and was replaced by Katherine Hillard. I was hoping for her to return in Zeo but sigh... the writers made her drop Tommy for another guy which was BAD scri...

There has been the myth that the He-Man series was supposed to be a Conan franchise. So I think it is wrong because He-Man toys were sold in 1981. On the other hand, the He-Man cartoon was shown in 1983 a year after Conan the Barbarian was shown in 1982. It may have not been meant to be a Conan cartoon but the inspiration was certainly there. Why I do think there has been a connection? He-Man started off as a barbarian in a mini-comics but the idea was later scrapped. Even if they changed him into the alter-ego of Prince Adam, some things can't be denied with the following characters of having Conan influence even if the setting of the show is not the same with Conan's ancient times: He-Man has to be the most obvious. Self-explanatory. She-Ra is similar to Red Sonja except she is He-Man's twin sister. He-Rol is similar to Kull the Conqueror. Both are ancestors to their respective protagonists. The main villain Skeletor is similar to the Conan villain Thulsa Doom. No...

From all the times when I had crushes on fictional babes, Poison Ivy was whom I had an admiration of physical beauty. She was just simply the hottest animated babe in the 90s. This was her in season one and so far, she has a lot of cleavage which makes her more tempting. She was introduced as Harley Dent's "fiance" but she was cheating on him and tried to kill him. She had developed a love-hate relationship with Batman. Sadly the authors focused the relationship on her. The kiss between her and Batman was just epic. I mean, I felt like that despite their differences, the two have that chemistry. Flirting with the Batman is just epic for me. FTW. She's been the goddess of beauty in the first season. I always was wishing she and Batman would have more interaction and flirtation along the way. Sadly when the second season came, she was being "murdered" several times like how comic book artists did. In fact, I felt like that she would have been...

One of the very things that had been part of my childhood was Conan the Adventurer. It was also this show that ended me in curiosity that made me watch the adult Conan the Barbarian film (which came first before this show) and say, "Hey what the?" The whole series was meant to be kid-friendly but to introduce children to the literature of Robert E. Howard? Not a very smart move and some parents complained that their children ended up watching the much adult rated films thinking it was also kid-friendly. In fact, I even heard legends of how He-Man was supposed to be a Conan cartoon but the adult content caused Filmation to withdraw the whole idea. In fact, Conan's pretty different. Although he's a hot-headed, impulsive, short-attention spanned character, he's a kind and caring character with almost Herculean strength being able to break metal chains. Also, he isn't a womanizing wanderer but rather he sticks to his relationship with Jezmine (who is lo...