Welcome to the Fantasy Zone
This Zone is dedicated to the lesser known elements of anime hosted by the cast of Victory Script.
What weapon is the best?
Who will win in this Death Battle?
Is this costume practical?
You name it, it's all covered here in the Fantasy Zone!
Welcome to another installment of Really That Bad? Where I attempt to defend a notoriously hated piece of anime or character, this time it's Dragonball GT.
Dragonball GT already had a tough act to follow in DBZ so were already on the back foot; common criticisms aimed at the show including turning Goku back into a child, largely mediocre villains, dumb stories and the fact that Pan is the anime equivalent of Scrappy Doo.
There is much to rag on, especially when much of the cast is reduced to the same level as Mr Satan barely doing anything and getting killed very easily.
But five reasons why I disagree with it being terrible.
1. It's a by product of the Buu Saga ending with a sequel hook and that saga dragged far worst than any of GT.
2. Super Saiyan 4 is legitimately awesome looking.
3. The Shenron Saga actually shows the consequences of the characters abuse of the Dragonballs.
4. Pan is hardly the most annoying character in the series
5. The ending felt final. Goku calling it done felt like the end of an era.
Well until Dragonball Super happened but that wasn't because of GT. Super actually happened because of the live action Dragonball Evolution flop. Toriyama was so disgusted by the live action film that he came out of retirement to do Super.
Also remember GT was never declared Canon as it was decided that GT along with the film series from Z are alternative timelines.
So overall Dragonball GT, not great but hardly the worst thing the franchise has produced.
I've just seen the Sonic Movie and there's alot of ground to cover with the adaptations because this film is an extra to an already packed history so here I'll break it down between the movie, the animated shows and the comics.
Sonic the Comic
Also known as the Fleetway Comics version which attempts to tell the origins of Sonic as if he were a normal brown Hedgehog turning blue after an experiment testing high powered shoes; equally bizarre is Robotnik who starts off as a kindly scientist who turns evil after an experiment goes wrong. The Fleetway series had interesting ideas on how certain lore worked within it's universe and was well presented with some great original characters who to this day deserve their own chance; there are a number of misses among the rogues gallery, some of which are pretty reliant on British sense of humour and references to understand while others are a poor substitute against Robotnik himself.
Archie Sonic and Sonic SatAM
A rich series that really promotes the freedom fighter movement giving Robitnik a threatening presence and a universe full of interesting characters and a lore so vast that it would take all day to explain. I'm sad to see the comics reboot and disappointed that SatAM left on a cliffhanger. Nevertheless this is one of the best Sonic adaptations on offer.
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
A gag series more in line with Looney Tunes with less clever writing and heavy reliance on random humour. It's sugar humour, it's nice but hurts your teeth after a while.
Sonic Underground
A bizarre blend of SatAM mixed with a musical? It's difficult to take seriously the stakes when they are constantly singing 90s pop songs.
Sonic OVA
I'm a huge apologist for this OVA as it inadvertently helped me discover anime. Looking back it's ageing better than expected as this feels the closest to what Sonic should be, catgirl not withstanding.
Sonic X
A lot of my hate still comes from Chris Thorndyke and it really sets a new low for Sonic. Granted it's better designed than half the catalogue of Sonic's terrible games and I dare say it has it's moments but having to shoehorn in a child just to give Sonic his motive doesn't work.
Sonic Boom
The only way this train wreck could work is by being a self aware gag fest and they succeeded. I still regard this as Sonic's best cartoon ironically for writing.
Sonic Tyson Hesse Web Shorts
A selection of hilarious shorts done by ascended Sonic fan Tyson Hesse. I laughed more from these shorts with no dialogue than I did any other cartoon.
Sonic the Movie
Now for the proper verdict. The only question to ask is have you seen the movie "hop"? Congratulations you know 95% of this movie already. Overall it's a decent film that takes an already tried and tested formula and only slightly improves on it. It's best moments come from Jim Carrey's performance as Robotnik and Sonic's powers which makes better sense of why an organic lifeform can easily destroy robots; it's down side is that we know so little of Sonic's own world that the backstory just doesn't offer anything to grasp onto so were expected to just accept the characters of this owl who was raising Sonic moments before being killed by an arrow fired by what looks like an echidna, it gets more annoying when a certain character pops up in the credits creating more challenging questions which need a sequel to answer.
Sonic the Comic - 8.0/10
Archie Sonic and SatAm - 9.7/10
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog - 7.0/10
Sonic Underground - 7.0/10
Sonic OVA - 8.5/10
Sonic X - 5.6/10
Sonic Boom - 8.8/10
Sonic Tyson Hesse Web Shorts - 10/10
Sonic the Movie - 6.0/10
This story acts as an Urban Legend but I can assure you that the events leading up to it are true.
Minky Momo is a magical girl from the 80s and very popular during her run and is the likely inspiration for those who suceeded her. The series was very kid friendly and nothing really bad happens to Minky Momo herself bar a few perils typical of a standard kids programme; then during one episode she loses her powers which is then followed by her death when she is hit by a truck, while the death happened off screen, the eerie sounds of an ambulance can be heard as a toy ambulance moves towards where Momo lies. The death was so shocking it is said that the airing of the episode was followed by an Earthquake making the whole episode a bad omen. But why was Momo killed off in such a way?
The way most anime function is through sponsors, mostly from toy companies and one company pulled funding midway through Minky Momo's run due to poor toy sales; this annoyed the animators working on the anime, so as a protest they killed off Minky Momo with of all things, a truck carrying toys as a way of saying "Company X killed off your beloved favourite character", except it worked a little too well and the whole series was retconned to continue airing. This is why you don't upset the animators, let this serve as a cautionary tale of abusing power.
Welcome back to Otaku Insight, this feature will attempt to ask the question about characters and anime well hated by a good portion of the community to see if said hatred is deserved. We start with Sasuke Uchiha
Sasuke is a symbol of dark edgy emo entertainment, too cool and aloof to need anyone but has a mind focussed on achieving a task, revenge! It's difficult not to draw comparisons between him and Shadow the Hedgehog and while it can be really irritating how popular Sasuke got, it was only the start of the edgy emo trend as we then meet Akatsuki with the dark coats, the purple manicure and penchant to preach about pain, death, destruction, pretty much anything that involves cult like activity.
Then when you get into the rest of the Uchiha you realise how messed up things got story wise.
But it wasn't until after Shippuden ended that Sasuke came back alot more mellowed out and calm, accepting he was in the wrong but not quite ready for normal life exemplified by his interactions with his daughter.
So to answer the question is Sasuke Uchiha really that bad?
Looking back there are alot of things about Sasuke that annoyed me but the fact that he was out of action quite frequently between the original and Shippuden meant that when he came back you didn't feel too annoyed seeing him especially when his replacement was just awful early on.
The only thing I can really blame Sasuke for, is starting Naruto's emo trend. Gaara, Akatsuki, Kabuto, Obito, Madara, in fact Akatsuki are so notorious for it that their leader is called Pain!
The fact that Sasuke has grown out of his emo phase speaks volumes about his development as a character.
Conclusion: Not really that bad anymore, character development has saved Sasuke more than once. The really bad characters are those who followed him because Kishimoto just milked the emo trend to death.
Welcome back to one of my favourite features. Enjoy!
"My Pain is far greater than yours!" - Naruto Sub
Looking at that face I'm inclined to believe him.
"Even Electronic Brain Pancake Crystal Elderly" - Ghost in the Shell Sub
I'm intrigued to know how the subtitle writers got to that conclusion.
"I'll now proceed to pleasure myself with this fish" - Code Geass Sub
A classic line from Anime past
"What was that? It sounded like a Homo being strangled!" - Fushigi Yuugi Sub
Is that the same as a dying giraffe?
"The density of this boner makes it as hard as steel" - Naruto Sub
What sells the picture is the many angry Naruto's im the background
"Guess where my other hand is!" - Clannad Sub
Gee I wonder?
"She has six boobs! I saw them!" - Toradora Sub
I believe you, but show me anyway
"Your breasts have ruined my Christmas" - Yuru Yuri Sub
Well I like to keep it topical
"And then I invoke the permanent card The Dignity of the Retarded" - Yu-Gi-Oh Sub
I'm curious to know what that card does or is it on a banned list?
"This Ramen is my Girlfriend" - Voltron Sub
I guess some people take those crazy Ramen commercials to heart.
