Sean Akizuki's Fantasy Critic

It might sound a bit confusing but here's a bit of details on what I would dub as "Mortal Khristmas". In the Chinese pantheon, one Elder God's birthday is celebrated on December 25 in the Lunar Calendar. So who's the celebrant of that special day? The Elder God would be known as Yu Huang Tai Zi (玉皇太子) which literally means Crown Prince of the Jade Emperor. He's the firstborn son of the royal couple Yu Huang Da Ti (玉皇大帝) and Wang Mu Niang Niang (王母娘娘) otherwise known as the Jade Emperor and Queen Mother of the West. It's time to explain the cycle to why Mortal Khristmas will still be celebrated on February 10, 2018. It's simple. December 25, 2017 in the solar calendar is still November 8, 2017 in the Chinese calendar. A reason for this delay is because June of the Lunar Calendar entered into a two month cycle since it's a Lunar Leap Year for every three years. A month would extend itself because the Lunar Calendar only has 28-30 days to catch...

It's been 30 years since the first Blue Bomber entered the scene, isn't it? I could think of how 2017 is reminding me of the fact "Hey I'm not getting any younger." or how some people teased me I was still into Megaman (or Rockman in Japan) and certain Tokusatsu series. I do still check them out (but not talk about it all the time) but I tend to remember one thing... I tend to think about how I got into the Megaman franchise and how the Blue Bomber played an impact on my life. I remembered owning a Famicom back in the 90s and held a grudge against my parents for not getting me a Super Famicom (or Super Nintendo in the U.S.) before we got our first Playstation. Aside from Super Mario Bros. I also developed an obsession with Megaman . It was back at that time I didn't know that Megaman and Rockman are the same series. Rockman is the original, Japanese version and Megaman is the translated version for the American audience. I got hooked with the wei...

As Megaman's 30th birthday is a few days from now, I'd like to talk about one character in the Megaman X series that somewhat intrigued me. Some think he's not an interesting character. Others think he's the patron saint of trying too hard according to The Gamer.com . Here's what I started to think when I first ran into this character. He's a freaking reference to Bass from Classic Megaman. Both are colored black, have scars and they play almost like. Both can't run with a gun. If you played the rather frustrating Megaman & Bass game, you may be familiar with how to play as Bass. Both characters can shoot at multiple directions while they can't move while firing their weapons. Difference is Axl doesn't double jump. Instead, it's his hover move that makes navigation easier for him. What was amazing to think was how Axl was introduced as a playable villain in Megaman X7 while Bass was introduced as a new villain Megaman 7 (a game tha...

Shao Kahn is known as the recurring, most badass villain of the Mortal Kombat franchise. Not even Shinnok a fallen Elder God comes close to how badass he is. I would like to remember the struggle of defeating the big guy himself in Mortal Kombat II, Mortal Kombat 3/Ultimate/Trilogy and lately Mortal Kombat (2011) . Mortal Kombat II is what some may call as a huge improvement of the very first game except with the balancing issues. Yes, balancing issues. Kintaro was probably the hardest boss for many players. Shao Kahn entered as a much more intimidating final boss than Shang Tsung. Shang Tsung may have morphed but Shao Kahn could beat several people up in a couple of seconds. Not everyone figured out an effective strategy for it. Shao Kahn's rule didn't stop in Mortal Kombat II . He returned for three more games namely the failed Mortal Kombat 3, the successful Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and the console exclusive Mortal Kombat Trilogy . He was playable the first time but i...

I remembered watching the 90s French cartoon Night Hood where the character is based on Arsene Lupin. Just a few years later, I ended up watching the comedy Anime Lupin III. Why do I feel like writing about Lupin III out of the blue? It's because of the upcoming Super Sentai is called Patoranger vs. Lupinranger. I want to imagine Detective Zenigata and Lupin III as the red rangers of their respective teams. O remembered the comedic scenarios that get both Lupin III the grandson of Arsene Lupin gets into with Detective Zenigata. If we could combine the universes of Night Hood and the 70s cartoon Lupin III - one can think of Detective Zenigata as the "grandson" of Inspector Ganimard though it's just impossible. The recurring gag tends to be how Lupin III fights villains for his own personal cause and that he and Detective Zenigata have to join forces at times to beat a common foe. I haven't really seen much of Lupin III nor am I a huge fan of the franchise. Right...

I always think about how often I thought back then and think right now about America trying to make its own Tokusatsu than localize Japanese works. Okay, a bad localization or adaptation decay doesn't ruin the original product's content but it can still give a bad impression. On the other hand, even an original work can be that bad and I could talk about Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters. I remembered what it was to be a child in the 90s and I watched almost everything that felt like a "kiddie show" - even if that show had degrees of violence. I mean, who can remember the use of knives and gunshots in old school Super Sentai? I decided to check out Tattoeed Teenage Alien Fighters which aired on ABC-5 way before it became TV-5. I checked it out and personally, it lacked charm to me and it still lacks charm to me until now. I checked out some episodes but it never got into me at all. You wanted an American Toku that's not based on Japanese Toku then you got it. T...

I gave a thought on how much of the Kamen Rider of the Heisei era I've watched but not in their proper order. I even remembered how I got so stuck with Super Sentai that nothing else mattered IMO. Now it's time for me to talk about the Showa era of Kamen Rider. I started with Kamen Rider Black and Kamen Rider Black RX. I watched several of the Showa era but not in their chronological order. I watched Kamen Rider Den-O then Kamen Rider Decade then I went backwards and forwards. Officially, I've seen everything from Kamen Rider Kuuga up to Kamen Rider EX-AID even if I never saw them in their chronological order. Now it's time to talk about the Showa era. I remembered getting a fascination at it like every other child. I went WOAH when I saw a Kamen Rider Black toy with the picture of the 11 Riders on the box. I remembered collecting some Kamen Rider cards in the late 90s without dreaming something could change. Then something happened: I started having a different m...