Captain America: Civil War: Review

Well well well well well well well well well
well well well
well well well
well well well.

I'll go ahead and say that the main reason I was excited for Civil War was just so that all those memes would die out.

Guess which side I'm on.

After seeing it, I would not be surprised if the #teamcap and #teamironman fandoms ended up actually starting a civil war, because this movie is so good at lying.

Why? Because the sides were well played off of each other. Would you like an example of how not to orchestrate believable conflict? Look no further than the Batman vs. Superman movie. Marvel blew that sucker out of the water practically as hard as the new Battlefield trailer destroyed the new CoD trailer. 

Basically what the difference is.

Civil War doesn't make you feel like the battle is contrived, no; it makes you feel as though both sides have the right, though of course you may lean towards one over the other.

For you side-takers out there, however, I will stand here as an indifferent judge and tell you that you're all wrong. There is no right side. Is one side right-er than the other? Not really.

My first reaction to the movie was skepticism, rightly so. The problem to me was that both sides left the standards of right and wrong in human hands - in Stark's case, the choice was with the government. In Steve's case, it was with the Avengers. Both situations involve fallible beings making fallible choices. Nobody wins.

However, in an article published by a libertarian website (which you can read here) it rightly labels the two choices as a false dichotomy, meaning there is no right choice presented. That doesn't mean there isn't a solution, though.

Tony Stark argues for accountability, because (as is presented in the movie) they are basically allowed to get away with whatever they want under the pretense of being 'the good guys'. His solution is to hand over the reins to the government - the UN.
Against this, Steve Rogers argues that in so doing they'd be giving their right to choose over to a group with agendas that are changeable...and not always right. So they should be free to pick their own missions.

In the article, the solution is actually quite brilliant. Simply put, the Avengers should have to provide compensation for any damage they cause. No government control over their actions, just a requirement that they repay those that they accidentally bulldoze.

That's it. Game over. You can go home now.

Oh, and do watch the movie. 9.5/10 should watch (I take off the 0.5 for language).

RWBY: Anime Review

I occasionally watch anime.


Now, there is some debate as to whether or not RWBY counts as anime, because of its 3D animation.

Does RWBY count? If you said no, then please define what anime is. According to the online Merriam-Webster dictionary, anime is an art style.
So yes.
It's anime.

With that being said, let's continue.

SPOILER ALERT

RWBY is about a group of four wannabe 'huntresses'. Hunters/Huntresses in the RWBY world are guardians who protect the commonfolk from the 'Grimm', which are demon-like beasts.

These are Grimm. Pretty grim-looking. Sorry.

They do end up fighting quite a lot of the Grimm, because some eeeevil woman is trying to BRING THE APOCALYPSE by controlling the Grimm because...reasons.

But hey, who needs reasons? We have art! And awesome fight sequences!

Food fights have never been this epic.

END SPOILERS

RWBY has a lot of things going for it. First and foremost, of course, is the art. It's the most noticeable part of the series, and is quite nicely done - it even gets better as the anime progresses. 

On top of the beautiful visuals is, of course, even more beautiful visuals - the choreography. I don't care if running up a completely vertical cliff face is impossible. I don't care if you can't fight on top of an airship without freezing to death or getting blown off. I don't care if having a battle scythe/sniper rifle all-in-one weapon is unfeasible. It looks cool. 

THIS IS MY BOOMSTICK! 

No literally, it's also a grenade launcher. Take that, Mjolnir.

The music is solid - I wasn't awed by it, but maybe that's because I was too entranced by the fight scenes. It fits the mood, it's nice in the background...yeah.

RWBY also has a cast of memorable characters, even if they are a little...caricatured at times. The show has such a wide cast of secondaries, however, that being a little two-dimensional helps sort them all out. Importantly, you spend enough time with the main characters to come to care about them. And RWBY does what some shows are afraid to do (yet what all shows should do) - it puts its characters through some tough times. 

Which brings us to the plot. The plot is...interesting enough to keep you curious, but it's not spectacular. The world RWBY is set in is well detailed and built, simple to understand and follow. Near the end of the show, there are a few twists that may be a little hard to give credibility to...but okay, I can forgive a little bit of 'unbelievability'. 

Now, as far as bad things goes: there are a lot of ditzy 'cute' girls in RWBY, which makes it easy to dismiss immodest dress as innocent kawaii fluff. 

It's anime. It doesn't get much better. But, while it could definitely do better, overall I'm surprised it isn't worse. 

As far as language goes, the show is surprisingly tame - for which I am grateful. So it isn't that bad. 

Of course, do please think when they present their whole take on 'the beginning of time' and such. This is a fantasy universe, but it is always necessary to be aware of what is true and what is false.

Most importantly for the show, however, I walked away from it wanting to see more. That in and of itself signals a successful market, but I believe that RWBY is more than simply eye candy.

THAT ART.

8/10, you should definitely try it out. It's free over at Rooster Teeth's Youtube channel.