Sean Akizuki's Fantasy Critic

It's no secret that Conan the Destroyer (1984) is viewed as a convoluted mess. However, I think Hasbro still had a soft spot for it when they created Mesmira for Conan the Adventurer (1993) . The Conan mythos had various alternations from adaptation to adaptation or call it remake to remake. It's because each story is independent from different continuities like Marvel Comics, Dark Horse, and Robert E. Howard's original stories. One character that got lost in translation is the wizard Thoth-Amon. Thoth-Amon was a villain in "The Phoenix and the Sword". For some reason, later alternations of the Conan mythologies made Thoth-Amon from just another character (who never met Conan in earlier adaptations) that ascended to the level of the archenemy. Conan the Destroyer introduced a character named Thoth-Amon but played a VERY MINOR ROLE. The biggest antagonists were the mesmerizing Taramis (the Big Bad, though another Taramis from the novels was a good queen) and the fi...

Mortal Kombat II introduced three secret fights namely with Jade, Smoke, and Noob Saibot. Each one of them required ridiculous fights. Smoke required that ridiculous The Portal uppercut and press Up+Start. Smoke was just a powered-up version of Scorpion (and the same went for Noob Saibot for MKII ). Eventually, Smoke made his way into Mortal Kombat 3 (and all its updates) as a cyborg. The updates featured Human Smoke as a separate playable character - though the SAME character.  Smoke's storyline is that he's the close friend of Sub-Zero (Kuai Liang). Sub-Zero (Kuai Liang) was able to escape the cyber-initiative but not Smoke. That would explain why Smoke became a cyborg as an unlockable character for MK3 . The updates made Cyber Smoke readily available compared to Human Smoke. Mortal Kombat Trilogy had everyone unlocked. Human Smoke was just a modified Scorpion. The Cyber Smoke had a spear attack, a teleport punch like Sektor, and invisibility. The two-character variants were ...

Big Bad Toy Store As the year of the dragon approaches - I feel like addressing my favorite Mortal Kombat character's somehow unexplained ability. Sure, one can really say that you need to evade logic in certain areas of fiction. Liu Kang was shown to have the ability to become a DRAGON in some Mortal Kombat games. Sure, one might explain his fire ability to have learned it like Ryu learning the Hadoken from Street Fighter. However, the game still fails to explain how in the world Liu Kang could transform into a dragon when he's listed as HUMAN. Mortal Kombat II was the first time I showed an interest in the franchise when I was in ELEMENTARY. I felt the first game was too bland for my taste. The second game gained so much better reception than the first or even the third game. At that time, Liu Kang practically became my favorite. Maybe, it's because he's Chinese, or was it because of his cool dragon fatality? He quickly became my favorite character overall. Even when ...

The continuity of Megaman Legends can be seen as a totally different continuity. Having played Megaman Legends 2 - there's the diary of Professor Barrell Caskett. Yes, that means Roll Caskett isn't the Roll of Classic Megaman .  I once thought it was all the same continuity but the diary reveals that Megaman VOLNUTT is named after Classic Megaman . Classic Megaman is treated as Fiction Within a Fiction evidenced by the show in the bar, the video game, and a poster of Zero at the toy store. Megaman Legends was released in 1997 and the sequel Megaman Legends 2 was released in 2000. It's no secret that some Classic Megaman games come out after the Megaman X SNES Trilogy . For example, Megaman 7 came out sometime after Megaman X . Megaman Legends came with 3D Megaman spin-off that sadly never had the third installment. I think the game should've had a third installment before its cancellation. I mean, there was a lot of potential with the storyline especially the Elder Syst...

Coincidence or not? I t's really something that Conan the Adventurer was released in 1992 - that would be 10 years after the first  Conan the Barbarian film . Conan the Adventurer finally ended its broadcast on November 23, 1993. On March 5, 1994, the short-lived Conan and the Young Warriors came out - months before Conan the Destroyer would hit its 10th anniversary. I did watch this one but hated it. Then again, I have no intention of rewatching Conan the Adventurer ever again after seeing the 1982 Conan the Barbarian film.  The setting goes where Conan must mentor three new characters. What happened to the original cast? It's not known. Conan the Adventurer's finale did hint at a sequel hook when there was no sign of either Ram-Amon (who's obviously a footnote to Movie Thulsa ) nor Mesmira the rightful queen of Stygia . Greywolf's siblings Sasha and Misha are still stuck in the curse. They could've picked up from there. Instead, Conan and the Young Warriors go...

The lore of He-Man and She-Ra were meant to be tied tightly. I enjoyed both 1980s cartoons even if She-Ra was meant primarily for a female audience. The three-parter introduction for She-Ra featured the expansion. It's revealed that Skeletor was once a member (and the favorite apprentice) of Hordak. Skeletor was once a member of the Evil Horde. The flashback involved Hordak and Skeletor attempting to steal both Adam and Adora. Skeletor was left behind by Hordak. Skeletor ratted out Hordak. It's revealed that Snake Mountain was once a base of operations for the Evil Horde.  Skeletor became a secondary antagonist to She-Ra. It's something that Skeletor was once a member of the Horde. It's possible that Skeletor agreed to work with Hordak, learned fast, but soon became more ambitious in the process. Hordak does use a combination of technology and sorcery. Later episodes of She-Ra reveal that Hordak did learn sorcery at some point. My only assumption is that Skeletor learne...

I remember watching He-Man (2002) and a new villain was introduced. This was none other than King Hiss. I made a comment that King Hiss was pretty much like Wrath-Amon from the  Conan the Adventurer cartoon from 1992. Is it a strange coincidence that He-Man (2002) would be on the 20th anniversary of the Conan the Barbarian (1982) movie? Wrath-Amon was a nasty-tempered boss. Instead, King Hiss was pretty much Thoth-Amon and the Movie Thulsa Doom when dealing with his minions.  Both King Hiss and most versions of Thoth-Amon were focused on the advancement of the Serpent Men. Both of them were the respective high priests of their respective serpent gods. He-Man (2002) reveals that King Hiss seeks to release his god Serpos. Serpos was a character created for He-Man (2002) and it reminded me of Set the serpent god. Marvel Set the Serpent God is represented as a multiple-headed snake, unlike Cartoon Set from Conan the Adventurer . What made King Hiss interesting was that he wasn't r...

The name of the Boxer in the Japanese is really MIKE BISON. It's an obvious pun for Mike Tyson . Now, it's time to discuss another name called Vega. Capcom America renamed Boxer from Bison to Balrog, Claw from Balrog to Vega, and Dictator from Vega to M. Bison. I Googled what Vega meant and it's a very common Spanish surname (which was probably why the renaming of Claw to Vega happened). However, another meaning for Vega is the brightest star of the constellation Lyra or landing eagle.  The Dictator who went from Vega to Bison The design of the Dictator was based on Wakizashi from the Riki-Oh series. Wakizashi means EAGLE CAPE. Both of them wore a cape and had the same military theme going on. It might be very noticeable that Shadaloo had the symbol of eagle wings and a skull.  It would be noteworthy that the Dictator himself has a series of aerial attacks. Early on, his Psycho Crusher was a special move. Though the Psycho Crusher was later made a highly damaging super move...

Street Fighter presents Balrog to be a bad guy - unlike the Street Fighter movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. Balrog's real name was actually MIKE Bison. Sounds very much like Mike Tyson right? Balrog's special attacks involve names like Charging Buffalo. Now, think about it that Capcom actually took note of the crimes of Mike Tyson to create Balrog (Vega's Japanese name) under the name MIKE Bison. The Crime Museum gives this detail of Mike Tyson as a crook : Mike Tyson is a former heavyweight world boxing champion from Brooklyn, New York. Nicknamed “Iron Mike,” Tyson committed several crimes in his youth, including robbing stores, pick pocketing, and mugging people. In September 1991, Tyson was indicted on one count of rape, two counts of criminal deviant behavior, and one count of confinement. He was accused by Desiree Washington, a contestant in the Miss Black America Pageant, who claimed that Tyson forced himself on her in his Indianapolis hotel room. Tyson was convi...

Heihachi will probably be those villains that will always be "too popular" in the eyes of the fans. Heihachi would be in the rank of the likes of fighting game villains like Shao Kahn from the  Mortal Kombat series, General Bison (General Vega in Japan) from the  Street Fighter series, and Geese Howard from the Fatal Fury series. They're all too iconic. Now, the new character Reina has the gossip flying over that she's secretly Heihachi's illegitimate daughter. However, she looks very young which may suggest that there's a significant time gap here and there. Tekken 6 reveals that Heihachi sired a half-breed son in Lars Alexanderson. Lars has the appearance of a man not so much younger than Kazuya. If Heihachi Mishima was 76 in Tekken 7 then I think he probably messed around with a much younger woman at some point. Maybe, Heihachi may have had a child of his old age. Maybe, Heihachi wanted to prove once and for all that the Devil Gene wasn't from his linea...

Source Some openings during the 1980s to 1990s cartoons can be VERY MISLEADING. Who can remember how X-Men: The Animated Series featured Juggernaut among the goons in Magneto's Mutant Terrorists then the show reveals otherwise? Who can remember the catchy jingle of Conan the Adventurer featuring Wrath-Amon as the main villain when the true villain is the serpent god Set? Who can remember Biker Mice from Mars featured Laurence Limburger as the main villain all the while he answered Lord Camembert for his LACK OF PROGRESS? She-Ra says they want to free Etheria from the evil forces of Hordak.  However, just a few episodes later, Horde Prime's name is mentioned in episode 11 "The Peril of the Whispering Woods". Horde Prime later showed up in episode 18 where the MORAL STORY doesn't match the episode . Horde Prime doesn't really show up all too often but when he does - there's some comedic effect to him showing up! Horde Prime's family tree is revealed. App...

There was the urban legend that He-Man was supposed to be a Conan toy line . It's been refuted but we can't deny the similarities. Maybe, the most obvious one is how He-Man is based on Conan and Skeletor is based on Comics Thulsa Doom. Another really creepy similarity is the birth of the Snake Mountain fortress. The Conan movie came out in 1982 and He-Man came in 1983.  Conan the Barbarian (1982) had the Movie Thulsa operate from the MOUNTAIN of Power. Movie Thulsa also had a pet wild cat. Skeletor would also have a wild cat named Panthor. Many incarnations of Skeletor operated in Snake Mountain. Apparently, both fortresses were created by hallowing several caves and the main villain operates there.  The He-Man (1983) episode had the episode "Golden Disks of Knowledge". The episode explained that Skeletor had the golden disks to create Snake Mountain. In She-Ra , it's revealed that Skeletor used to serve alongside Hordak (and therefore, answered to Horde Prime, th...