Sean Akizuki's Fantasy Critic

Right now, I ask myself, "Did I waste money with my Tekken 7 purchase?" I felt I asked myself why I even bought the game. The game had potential but it was wasted . I felt Namco was about to redeem itself or outdo itself. However, it seems that Tekken 6 (a game I felt brought Mortal Kombat Armageddon another foot down the ground beyond six feet) and Tekken Tag Tournament 2 are tough acts to follow. Right now, I feel one of the biggest reasons why it sucks is the addition of AKUMA. At first, I found it cool but later, it just feels like it jumps the shark. Sure, Namco had some projects with Capcom become such as Namco x Capcom or Street Fighter x Tekken . However, this is the Tekken universe we're talking about so why is AKUMA SUDDENLY HERE? I feel Capcom and Namco have a lot to answer for even if there's no copyright infringement. I feel everything here is just too sudden. Sure, Akuma has been depowered (to a certain extent) to make him a little more balanced. Yet, on...

The Mortal Kombat 3D era is either hit or miss. Mostly, I don't even miss playing any of them. Maybe, I could say that Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance is the Super Mario Lost Levels of the Mortal Kombat franchise . Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance introduced new characters but only to be mostly lame. I used to joke about being part of the Red Dragon. However, I felt Kano was far cooler than these guys. I decided to try and pick up Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance and figured out how TERRIBLE buth Mavado and Hsu Hao really are. Daegon from Mortal Kombat Armageddon was the founder of the Red Dragon. But as said, Mortal Kombat Armageddon is also a terrible game. For all the badness the Red Dragon had - they were written as the rivals of the Black Dragon The Black Dragon was a schism. The Red Dragon, though thugs, believed in honor and stealth while the Black Dragon played rather dirty. I guess that's what made both Mavado and Hsu Hao BORING characters to use. Yet, the Red Dragon was sti...

 Right now, here's my theory that would try to fit more with the LEGENDS timeline than what I'd dare call the mutilated Disney timeline. Damn Disney - do you have to keep ruining childhoods? Anyway, let's get it straight to why I think Palpatine could be Anakin's father. If we want to try and get more similarities let's go to the EXPANDED UNIVERSE, not the Disney Continuity. Let's get started shall we? All sources here are usually from the Star Wars Wiki . Everything can start with Anakin Skywalker An early revelation is that Palpatine had a passion for racing. Where would that be passed down? To Anakin! Then Luke would have a passion for piloting. Somehow, it runs in the family, doesn't it? Not to mention the tendency to fall into the Dark Side. This would make you think if Palpatine did create Anakin magically (or through sexual intercourse) then you can think of how many of these traits are passed. There's a lot of stuff in common between them. ...

I was doing a bit of some nostalgic look back. Batman: The Animated Series (Batman: TAS) was one of my guilty pleasures. It would be a worthy competitor to X-Men: The Animated Series (X-Men: TAS)  in the year 1992. If I had a crush on Jean Grey (and I eventually wished I were Cyclops BUT I found myself as Wolverine with a complicated love life). Another crush I had (aside from Catwoman) was Poison Ivy. Just watching Batman: TAS' episode "Pretty Poison" had me shipping Batman and Poison Ivy for a weird reason. I just wish Poison Ivy would obsess more over Batman. I felt that the two could've been potentially a crack couple. Heck, I'm still a shipper of Batman and Poison Ivy . I still feel plotlines of Poison Ivy betraying the other crooks because she's too in love with Batman are needed.  What truly amazed me though is the appearance of Bella Thorne matches that of Poison Ivy from the first season. Okay, Bella was born in 1997 and she was born MONTHS after the ...

  Tekken is a game known for mixing several ideas. The idea of a 3D fighting game was from Virtua Fighter . Nina is obviously a clone of Sarah. Wang Jinrei is obviously based on Shun Di. Meanwhile, other fighters are obviously based on several pop culture materials. I don't think Mortal Kombat is the only game that got inspired by Enter the Dragon . Maybe, you might find these in common... I think Roper and Lee are the templates for Paul and Law It's no secret that Paul Phoenix and Marshall Law are BFF. Sure, one can argue Paul is inspired by Ken. However, one may want to look at the rather old 1970s hit film (which was only released AFTER Bruce Lee left us so soon) where Lee's best friend was a white guy named Roper. The late John Saxon (who died last 2020) played the said character. Both Lee and Roper are nearly inseparable. That may remind us... In Tekken , Law and Paul are also almost inseparable. I guess Tekken 3 may have gotten some flak when Forrest Law came into the...

I feel I'm among the minority who think that Kintaro is cooler than Goro. Sure, Goro was the reigning champion for nine generations (which probably explained the character's popularity) but Kintaro took it to a whole new level. I was thinking about how Kintaro's biography introduced him as a character stronger and more agile than his predecessor Goro. However, I applaud Kintaro's addition. I feel Kintaro deserves more respect (and fortunately, the Mortal Kombat X comic gave him a warrior's death and more expansion) to which he truly is - a vicious sub-boss.  If my memory serves me right, I saw somebody in the arcade who was already skilled enough to reach Kintaro. However, the moment when the player reached Kintaro, it was very tough. The player was using the second Sub-Zero (Kuai Liang) but ended up getting hammered by an uppercut, teleport stomp, and RAN OUT OF TOKENS. Kintaro practically had the stats of an SNK Boss. After playing Mortal Kombat II via the Mortal...

  Some time ago, I wrote about why I don't like most of the Showa-era Kamen Rider series . Sure, I could still say that Kamen Rider BLACK RX is still more watchable than the "spiritual successor" of Saban's Mashed Rider  - Kamen Rider Decade . Right now, I could talk about what I dislike about most of the Showa era Kamen Rider entries. Most of these series rely too much on previous seasons - pretty much like how most Power Rangers series are guilty of doing so. Hmmm... not too surprising since both are properties of Toei Ltd., right? The running gag called the Great Leader got too old too quickly I remembered a complaint I had against Power Rangers Beast Morphers was how the whole show threw back to everything back to 1993 and 2009. It wasn't all too surprising that Evox was actually Venjix under another identity. Now, I could talk about the Showa-era Kamen Rider series and their tendency to be overly connected to each other. Sure, a few series aren't directly...

If there was one unnamed race that sparked my interest, it was Freeza's race in Dragon Ball Z . Here are the known ones in the Anime: Frieza   The self-proclaimed emperor of the universe, Frieza. He appeared after the Saiyan saga, revealing that he was running an organization that enslaved planets and sold them to the highest bidder. Despite his puny size, he was small but terrible. He frequently gave an appearance of weakness to deceive his opponents but showed how terrible he really was.   Freeza revealed his first transformed state which was a giant version of himself. He was beaten by Piccolo but...   He revealed a second transformation in which he had an unusually shaped skull. This was pretty frightening.     Frieza revealed his third transformed state, which is said to be his true form. He was sleeker and back to his normal size. However, this form is no joke. This is where he gets really mean. Goku only met Frieza in this form. He was hit ...

Everyone may have remembered the 1980s!Cobra Commander to be a memorable villain . Children growing up during the 1980s or the 1990s would've remembered how 1980s!Cobra Commander was a whiny idiot who was frequently hysterical, had the traits of your typical cartoon villain, and Bond Villain Stupidity to top it all. Though G.I.Joe Sigma Six (which sadly only lasted 26 episodes) shows a more dangerous iteration of Cobra Commander. He will be referred to as Sigma Six!Cobra Commander to differentiate him from the 1980s!Cobra Commander. Some scenes were obviously taken from earlier G.I.Joe episodes such as his imprisonment and escape. Sigma Six Cobra Commander exists here to be a warrior king of sorts. What set him apart from the 1980s!Cobra Commander was this - he actually REALLY FOUGHT in person. 1980s Cobra Commander simply barked orders, relied on his minions (especially the Cartoon Crimson Twins who later betrayed him for Cartoon Serpentor), and was essentially just a sissy boss w...

Shinnok was first introduced in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero where he was the main villain. The story has him as a fallen Elder God. In Chinese mythology, he would be Tongtian Jiaozhu or the Heavenly Grandmaster . In Norse Mythology, he would be Loki. Shinnok and Quan Chi both overthrew Lucifer (who's probably not a bad guy but just another name for King Yama) allowing them to gather the forces they needed. Eventually, he made his debut as a fighting-game character in Mortal Kombat 4 and its update Gold which he was RATHER LAME. In short, a lazy Shang Tsung! I could remember how he had a booming voice. However, his gameplay was lacking originality. The graphical limitations prohibited the character from shape-shifting. Instead, he copied the moves of characters (except hidden characters). At first, I took it as a challenge to play as him. However, fifth-generation hardware limitations prevented him from using those moves on the CPU. I felt the same happened to Shang Tsung in...

After some time of not watching Anime (and I'm not even updated on Dragon Ball Super ) - I decided to watch through Toei Ltd.'s Dragon Quest: Adventures of Dai remake. Speaking of which, only if Toei will stop being so selfish with their properties and let the world view them with subs. It's a sad fact that there's no sign of an Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger DVD or that most of the shows on Toei's Youtube channel have NO ENGLISH SUBS. Just learn Japanese? Ugh, that advice sounds burdensome since I don't feel the need to learn the language except for employment or academic reasons. Now, I'm going to talk about how Dragon Quest: The Adventures of Dai is for me.  I remembered watching the 1991 version on IBC-13 but on an irregular basis. 1991 would be the same year when Chojin Sentai Jetman saved the Super Sentai franchise from cancellation. I didn't see much of it since I only watched the really badly scheduled Toku in IBC-13 . I confess I never played Dragon W...

As I was thinking of a good nostalgic post - I felt Dragon Ball Z would be a good one. I confess I haven't been updating on Dragon Ball Super while realizing Dragon Ball GT is no longer considered canon. Now, I'd like to write about the Dragon Ball Z saga which I felt was more of a massive toy commercial. It would be the Buu Saga. One may argue that the Cell Saga had some unmet potential (like how King Cold was too easily destroyed when he's Frieza's father), the Dragon Ball Z movies tend to have missed potential due to how non-canon they are. Now, it's time to talk about the final arc of Dragon Ball Z which felt more than a toy commercial and unfulfilled potential. I'm not saying there aren't great moments. I still felt that the Buu Saga had a great start. For instance, Gohan himself has had years of lack of training and must regain his powers. There's also the survival of the Universe at stake since the legendary Buu monster is about to be unleashed. T...