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).
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.
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.
Over the past couple of months, I decided to pick up an anime that I abandoned long ago: Fullmetal Alchemist.
The REAL Full Metal Alchemist.
The reason for this was one of my friends told me that the Brotherhood storyline was much better than the original anime's (which draaaaags on forever); and boy, were they right. For the purposes of this review, whenever I mention FMA (Fullmetal Alchemist), I'm referring to Brotherhood.
SPOILER ALERT
FMA: Brotherhood follows the story of Edward and Alphonse Elric, two young alchemists whose father abandoned them early in their childhood and left them to fend for themselves. Their mother dies not long after, and in attempting to bring her back to life via a forbidden form of alchemy - known as 'human transmutation' - Edward loses his left leg and Alphonse loses his entire body. Edward manages to bind Alphonse's soul to a suit of armor at the cost of his right arm, and they go on to become some of the youngest State alchemists in the country.
I won't bother going into alchemy itself, because Film Theory on Youtube has an awesome video on it you can view here:
Mostly awesome. I do not approve of how he seemingly discards the notion that there can be no equivalent exchange for a human soul - because, well, there can't. But that's an issue of philosophy, and we don't need to discuss that here.
END SPOILERS
The overall plot to FMA is very well done. You'd think that since the anime itself is 60-some episodes long that it might get boring, but nope. FMA kept me on the edge of my seat almost all the time - sure, there were a few episodes that might have lagged a bit, but filler in this anime is minimal to nonexistent. It's practically all scrunchy, juicy plot.
Not only that, but the way it develops is smoothly orchestrated as well. One of the biggest climaxes in the series is near the middle, when a lot of mysteries are revealed. After seeing that happen I wondered how the anime would continue to hold on to me. It's normally quite hard to keep someone interested after you've revealed your trump card...yet FMA does just that, keeping the tension strung so tight you can't wait but see how it's all going to end.
The characters in FMA are also interestingly developed and well-rounded. Each has their own set of motivations and unique history. I was intrigued at how the horrors of the Ishbalan war united many characters like Hughes, Mustang, Marcoh, and others, while also providing motives and desires for people like Scar and Kimblee. They don't stay the same throughout the anime, either: they learn and change. FMA is an excellent showcase of good character development.
While having a serious core, FMA also splices in its humor quite well. While I didn't laugh out loud at anything, I did grin whenever Edward got ticked off about being short or when they showed a chibi version of Alphonse. It's a welcome relief to the tension that is present all throughout the series.
Got milk?
The action and visual art style of FMA are splendid, with a good blend of CGI (Envy being the biggest - literally - example) and other animation. The quirks that alchemy brings to the battlefield are intriguing to see unfold, and thankfully alchemy itself isn't truly OP in any sense (unless, of course, you have a philosopher's stone) because of the limitation of Equivalent Exchange. While not all the fight scenes are by-the-edge-of-your-seat battles, most are interesting and well done.
Well done, you say? Coming right up.
Now. While FMA has a lot going for it, there are a few things I don't care for.
Number one: the language. While I can't speak for the dubbed version, since I didn't like the voice acting (bite me), the subbed version had quite a bit of cussing in it - and seeing as how Japanese cuss words are so flexible (just one could have several different English ones associated with it), the language is quite varied. And while I can deal with regular cussing just fine, I cannot tolerate any sort of religious expletives (taking Jesus's or God's names in vain). And there were a few of those. Thankfully only a few, but still...
Secondly, there was a bit of innuendo that could have been done without. I have discussed in detail just how much I love fanservice, and how great it is, and how vital it is to the plot, and...please just get rid of it. Is that too much to ask?
Disclaimer: I do not, have not, and never will watch harem anime.
Lastly, FMA does kind of drag on just a teeny bit. I realize I praised it earlier for keeping me on the edge of my seat, but more than 60 episodes can get rather long. It could definitely have shortened the plot by a reasonable amount. But this is not really a fault so much as it is a personal preference. I'm sure people enjoyed the amount of content 60 episodes can bring.
In short, FMA gets almost full marks from me. The plot is interesting and well put together, the characters are deep and very developed, the action is intriguing and satisfying, and the whole thing looks great. Coulda done without some swearing and innuendo, but what can you do. Take the good and discard the bad.
