Sean Akizuki's Fantasy Critic

The Prospector I normally don't go to the movie house -- not especially in the dawn of digital media! I gave the Super Mario Bros. Movie a shot. I watched the movie as a middle-aged man. Back in 1993, there was also the Super Mario Bros. live-action film -- which was a commercial failure . Maybe, I'm too harsh at it. The 1993 live-action film has a cult following -- something similar to Santa Claus: The Movie . However, I'd still pick Santa Claus: The Movie any day over the live-action Super Mario Bros. film. Maybe, my harshness towards the 1993 film was because Haim Saban and DiC had the much better Super Mario Bros. Super Show .  It's not that long of a film. There are times I wish that Lou Albano and Danny Wells were still around. Sadly, they're gone since the film had a similar charm to the Super Mario Bros. Super Show . However, I'll give credit to Chris Platt and Charlie Day for giving their all to voice the Mario Bros. one way or another. Jack Black (who ...

Above is a screenshot I got from Twitter . It was alleged that Raiden vaporized Kintaro but that was NEVER said in-game. What were the chances of those happening? Apparently, it was either canon or it was done AFTER the second tournament. Raiden wasn't allowed to compete since he still held his Thunder God status. Instead, it seems that Kintaro was tasked to lead the extermination forces. Instead, Raiden ended up killing Kintaro. It was also said Kintaro supposedly murdered Johnny Cage. This may have outraged Raiden AND he ended up killing Kintaro. I could imagine an enraged Raiden vaporizing Kintaro. It would be a violation of the tournament rules IF he did it during the tournament. The original timeline's Mortal Kombat II tournament was a false one -- one designed to serve as a distraction. That was heavily changed during the reboot. Shao Kahn's challenge was recognized as legitimate by the Elder Gods. Kintaro probably wanted to settle scores and ended up killing Johnny C...

It's no surprise that Kidou Keiji Jiban is followed by Tokosou Janperson . Janperson is getting an official DVD release. Is it surprising that the second Robocop-inspired Tokusatsu is getting an official DVD release? I missed this and realized that man -- I'm getting old! Shout! Factory has been handling DVD releases. Meanwhile, this classic Janperson is what I'd call, "That BADLY-NEEDED release!"  What makes a Janperson DVD release exciting? Who can remember the Robocop (1994) TV series that came after it? I'd like to quote Shogo B'Stard's statement on the said series: So, the whole humanity of Murphy being what interests me about the character, I read that the show delves deeper into that, so that basically decided for me. But...the show tries, but just doesn't quite go to the levels that I feel it should, and it doesn't try to say as much as that first movie. For example: an early episode has religious zealots protesting the police because t...

I read through Screen Rant's overrated characters in Batman: The Animated Series . I'm going to highlight one of my favorite villains -- Poison Ivy! A favorite villain doesn't necessarily have to be Pure Evil. Some of them can be potentially anti-heroic because of their anti-villain status. Pamela Lillian Isley aka Poison Ivy is in that category. Here's something that Screen Rant says about Poison Ivy as a character: Poison Ivy had a fantastic debut in Batman: The Animated Series “Pretty Poison,” establishing her as a vengeful eco-terrorist with a personal vendetta against Harvey Dent. However, as the series progressed, she became more of a one-note character whose motivations rarely evolved or were expounded upon in any great detail. Considering her intentions are fairly noble compared to other Batman: TAS villains, she could have been a far more compelling character. However, Poison Ivy was often reduced to using plant-based gimmicks without much emotional depth. Unli...

  Mortal Kombat was a game was nearly crushed because of a lack of evolution. I looked into the history and pointed out the problems of the 3D games. One of them was the overly repetitive use of high and low attacks (and that's why I prefer the use of one button per limb like Tekken ), and the DAMN ANNOYING palette swap. Ed Boon gives this explanation himself : Boon continued to detail the history behind the so-called "palette swap ninjas" in a Twitter thread. Boon said, "As the most recognizable Mortal Kombat characters, the origin of "palette swap ninjas" came from both a fantastic story rivalry and a technical solution we needed to fit the game in the limited amount of space (memory) we had. One reason we made them ninjas was to get two fighters out of the same motion shoot & memory footprint. But we did have some unique frames made exclusively for one ninja. For example, we felt giving them different stances was worth the 7 extra frames of animation...

  People who grew up in the 1990s would know some of the technical limitations. Who can remember the SLOW LOADING times of fifth generation consoles? I only had the first PlayStation and I'm glad it broke. It's because I don't want to relive the slow loading times -- even when I do miss plenty of good games there! Mortal Kombat Trilogy was one such game that bit off more than it could chew. It tried to compile the previous three games into one monster game. How did it fare thee well? Well, let's dig into the technicalities and get back to the memory lane! On paper, Mortal Kombat Trilogy was a cool game . Having almost every character from the first three games was cool. However, the game relied too much on sprites and VERY LIMITED MEMORY. One may notice the following technical limitations with the CD version: Shang Tsung's morphs would cause the game to have slow loading times. (Better turn it off) MK2 Jax and MK2 Kung Lao only have ONE FATALITY. Midway could've...

The Pit has been one of the most iconic stages in Mortal Kombat . The first game introduced a narrow concrete wall. The design was simplistic. One could uppercut their enemy into the bottom BUT there was no Fatality bonus.  It wasn't until Mortal Kombat II that stage fatalities were fully implemented. Quite interestingly, the second game had a simplistic kill. Midway decided to brag their editing skills. A pseudo-3D effect was done. The enemy dropped down into the Pit II bottom (no such stage, SORRY IN ADVANCE) and hit the hard concrete floor. A pool of blood was there. Blood quickly vaporized back then in gameplay. However, the blood was left there. I feel there were graphical constraints!  Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks was a loose retelling of Mortal Kombat II . I prefer to consider it was a retcon of that old timeline. The adventure game featured Pit I on Shang Tsung's Island. A secret quest would allow one to access The Pit II. This time, both Blaze and the character dubbed...

According to Mortal Kombat (2011) , the living forest eats unsuspecting travelers who go too near to the trees. This place may have existed after Shao Kahn supposedly merged one realm with Outworld. It's possible that he lost his troops sending them there though in the Story Mode, it's seen that some characters were able to venture there without getting eaten alive. Smoke and Jade were seen in Mortal Kombat II where they hide behind one of the trees. Later, a hidden fight with an unplayable version of Smoke was possible in Mortal Kombat (2011) . Back in Mortal Kombat II , it was a rumored fatality that never came to be. I remember playing this game and wondering IF it was possible to feed the trees. It turns out that it was JUST A RUMOR. However, that didn't stop the whole concept from becoming a reality. It was the rumor one could uppercut the opponent into one of the trees. However, it was an April Fool's Joke of sorts. The stage evolved further in Mortal Kombat...

For better or for worse, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys deviates from the mythological sources. For instance, the screwed-up lineage of Hercules  is never mentioned. Hercules' heavily-inbred bloodline with Zeus mating with Io and had a son named Epaphus. Epaphus had a daughter named Libya who got romanced by Poseidon (her granduncle) to produce twins Belus and Agenor. Belus' lineage would lead up to Acrisius, the maternal grandfather of PERSEUS. So yes, Danae was a descendant of ZEUS via Belus down to Acrisius. It doesn't help that Zeus later impregnated his descendant Alcmene (who was also Perseus' granddaughter, HOW SCREWED UP IS THAT).  Another deviation worth noting is Echidna.  Echidna is described in the myth as: Echidna, often described as a half-woman, half-snake creature, holds a significant place in Greek mythology as the "mother of all monsters." Her legacy is marked by the terrifying and mythical creatures she brought into the world.   Echidna...