Chainsaw Man Chapter 142, Denji Fan Club Review: A Different Side.

Despite the ominous ending to the previous chapter, Chapter 142 of Chainsaw Man, “Denji Fan Club”, has one of the most wholesome openings of the entire story.
Denji has taken Nayuta to an amusement park and we get a panel of her enjoying herself on a ride.
Sadly, this wholesome image is not enough to make even Denji feel better because he still looks incredibly depressed while watching her from the bench he is sitting on.
Fumiko is still guarding him and Denji assures her he is not going to turn into Chainsaw Man again.
Fumiko says this is disappointing but Denji points out that his time as Chainsaw Man was not all good, and Fumiko agrees, revealing that Public Saftey has even been keeping watch on Denji in the bathroom.
Denji rightfully points out how screwed up this all is, calling Fumiko a stalker which, after all of the creepy stuff she has done, is totally justified.
Fumiko, however, demands that Denji call her his fan, but Denji says that every woman who comes onto him ends up hating his guts.
With Denji’s interactions with Makima, Reze, and many others, it is hard to exactly fault him for thinking this.
Fumiko, on the other hand, admits that she does hate Chainsaw Man a little bit because he did not save her parents.
We then see a different side to Fumiko than the creepy stalker, as she reveals that she was there when Denji fought Aki who had been turned into the Gun Fiend.
Denji then asks Fumiko if her parents survived, which is pretty stupid of him, considering that she just said Chainsaw Man did not save them.
I am not sure if that is Fujimoto just showing Denji having a dumb moment, a writing issue, or a translation issue.
In any case, Fumiko reveals that she also saw Denji transform back into a human and cry over Aki death.
She states, “When I saw it, I realized for the first time… that the one who’s been fighting all this time, while Devils kill him over and over again… was just a kid.”
A kid who she touched inappropriately… yeah, Fumiko’s a creep.
Fumiko concludes her speech by saying she swore to save Denji after she saw who he was, making her, not a Chainsaw Man fan, but a Denji fan.
This is a very well written speech and it does make Fumiko sympathetic but, again, it is complicated by her prior actions.
She says she knew Denji was young yet she still pretty much assaulted him in the theatre.
Fumiko’s statement does seem to break through Denji’s depression, at least, because he is still considering what she said when Barem approaches, contrasting Fumiko as a Denji fan by saying that he is a Chainsaw Man fan.
Barem says it was not easy to sneak over to Denji without getting spotted by Public Saftey, indicating that they are looking for him.
Barem then shows his Chainsaw Man lighter to prove that he is a fan before asking Denji to grant his “fan request.”
What follows is a moment that feels like Fujimoto is speaking directly to the reader.
“Personally, I want to see Chainsaw Man fighting. I want to see him carving up Devils with his chainsaws… getting covered in gore… suffering and struggling and getting killed… and despite it all, returning to life and getting back up again.”
It feels like Fujimoto is just repeating what he has heard some fans say about Part Two, which has been much slower paced than Part One.
I am not complaining, though, since I have personally quite enjoyed the direction Part Two has taken but it does appear that Fujimoto is aware that there are some readers who do not.
It will be interesting to see which direction Fujimoto decides to take this.
Will he decide to give into some fan pressure and make the story more violent, or will he stick with the more character focused approach he has been taking?
It looks like we will get an answer next chapter because Barem reveals that the Weapons are about to attack, and we see Sugo, the Whip Hybrid, and the Spear Hybrid standing in a store ready to begin, as the chapter ends.
Of the three, I would say that the Whip Hybrid is the only one who looks comfortable with what she is about to do.
Sugo and the Spear Hybrid look much more uncomfortable.
I have said before that I think Sugo will probably end up betraying the Weapons to help Denji and I still believe this to be true but I am interested to see if my impression of the Spear Devil’s reluctance is correct or not.
Will Denji fight the Weapons when their attack begins or will he back down and let the attack happen to live a normal life?
I could see this going either way but, if he does fight the Hybrids, it will certainly not go as well as when Pochita fought them at the end of Part One.
Chapter 142 is a solid Chainsaw Man chapter, which promised an imminent attack from the Weapons while showing a new side to Fumiko.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 141, Normal Life Plus Review: An Ominous End.

Chapter 141 of Chainsaw Man, “Normal Life Plus”, feels like the shortest chapter we have had in a while, not that it’s a bad thing.
The chapter begins by showing that, despite Denji trying to live a normal life, he will never be able to escape reminders of Chainsaw Man.
We see this in the Chainsaw Man Curry Buns he buys while shopping with Nayuta, and even with the Asa posters they pass while walking home.
Also on their way home, they encounter a Devil, which Denji and Nayuta look pretty happy about.
Denji is about to transform but hesitates and, in that moment, a bunch of Chainsaw Man Church members show up and kill the Devil for him.
As Denji and Nayuta depart, a store named after Fujimoto can be seen behind them.
This doesn’t have anything to do with Denji’s predicament, I just find it a fun easter egg, like when Fujimoto named the karaoke place Denji and Fumiko visited after himself.
Fujimoto then presents us with more panels of Denji living his depressing normal life with Nayuta, until the two eventually go to bed with their dogs and Meowy.
Denji, however, cannot sleep and when he wonders if he will eventually get happy in this normal life, Nayuta attempts to console him by saying she will stay with him forever.
This does seem to comofort him, somewhat, as Denji goes to sleep hugging his little sister.
However, this is Chainsaw Man so trouble is innevitably on the horizon, as we see the Weapons of the Chainsaw Man Church meeting up at Family Burger to discuss their plans.
Barem is leading the discussion, with Sugo and the Whip and Spear Hybrids also in attendance.
Just like many of us thought, Barem is up to no good, as he plans to launch an attack with the other Weapons.
Since tomorrow is the Chainsaw Man Church’s day of worship, the Church’s followers will not stop any Devil attacks.
This will cause the Public Saftey Devil Hunters to emerge, who the Weapons then plan to kill to draw Chainsaw Man out.
Out of all the Weapons, Sugo seems to be the only one reluctant about enacting this plan, as he demands to know why they are going so far to make Denji transform into Chainsaw Man again.
It would seem that Sugo is being kept out of the loop.
In response to his demands, the Whip Hybrid tells him that they will be Weapons tomorrow, so he should remove all of his thoughts.
This, again, causes Sugo to reassert his humanity, telling her to let him think for himself.
Sugo really is similar to Denji in a lot of ways and this only reinforces my belief that he will eventually betray the Weapons to help him.
As for Barem, he does agree with Sugo that they are human, but also acknowledges that they are weapons, asking the group what they have in common.
The Whip Hybrid guesses that they are hard to spell.
It would seem that she is not the sharpest weapon in the shed.
With a creepy face, Barem states that the thing humans and weapons have in common is that they are both born to kill, so god will forgive them, no matter how many people they kill.
On this ominous note, the chapter concludes, promising that Denji’s normal life is about to come to a violent end.
Why the Weapons want to draw Denji out, I could not say at this point, but I do think there is one thing they have not accounted for: Asa.
Just like Denji, I doubt she is going to be able to stay out of the fray, which will probably lead to a second team up between her and Chainsaw Man, against the Weapons this time.
“Normal Life Plus” is a solid Chainsaw Man chapter, which I think signifies the end of Denji’s attempt at a normal life.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 140, Scales Review: Meeting Another Weapon.

I went into Chapter 140 of Chainsaw Man, “Scales”, excited to see if another Devil Hybrid would return to the story.
Sure enough, there was one, and an intimidating one at that.
The chapter begins with Denji and Sugo arriving at the Chainsaw Man Church, which has a giant model of Chainsaw Man’s face sticking out from the top of the building.
Sugo tells Denji that a cult used to own the building before the Chainsaw Man Church absorbed them, claiming they “vanquished evil.”
Well, it turns out that the cult elements of the Chainsaw Man Church are far from vanquished.
Before this is revealed, Sugo introduces Denji to his guide, the Kobeni clone from the Aquarium Arc.
He introdues himself as Nobana Higashiyama and, with this last name-drop, we finally know that Nobana is Kobeni’s brother and not just a weird male clone of her.
I wonder what Kobeni thinks of her brother joining the Chainsaw Man Church, and if we will see her again?
As for Nobana, he is exactly like his sister, stuttering over his words, as he gives Denji a tour of the Church.
When Denji notices that all of the Church’s members are students, Nobana says it’s because all of the adults’ minds have been altered by an American ultraviolet ray weapon hovering over Japan.
Why do the Church followers believe this?
Well, because Chainsaw Man discovered it with his super vision, of course.
So, basically, the fake Chainsaw Man is brainwashing his followers with outlandish conspiracy theories, which bear a strong resemblance to the extremist conspiracy theories of today, like the idiotic jewish space laser conspiracy.
This is not the only extreme thing the Church is doing because, when Nobana takes Denji to the Chainsaw Man Wedding Chapel, he tells Denji he will be having sex with a girl and then marrying her.
So the Chainsaw Man Church is also engaging in coerced underage marriages.
But, yeah, the cult elements have been totally vanquished.
Sugo said so.
Denji rightfully calls this cult behavior out, revealing to Sugo that he never found a ultraviolet weapon.
At this revelation, Sugo merely doubles down, saying it’s okay if one person gets screwed over so long as hundreds are saved.
Sugo is clearly brainwashed but he does seem like a good person despite this, so if his brainwashing is broken I could see him betraying the Church eventually to help Denji.
If this does come about, however, Sugo and Denji will have a lot to worry about from a particular member of the Church because this is the moment when one of the Devil Hybrids finally makes his appearance.
His name is Barem and he is the Flamethrower Hybrid whom Makima controlled to attack Denji.
He is also, clearly, a massive psycho, jabbing his fingers up Denji’s nose and then threatening the city and eventually Asa in an attempt to make Denji become Chainsaw Man again.
He then tells Denji to picture a pair of scales.
On the right side is Denji’s home, family, pets, a wonderful life, and on the left in Denji’s starter which transforms him into Chainsaw Man.
Barem asks Denji which side is heavier but, instead of answering, Denji pushes him off and storms off, while Barem cheerfully shouts out to Denji that he should, “Enjoy your normal life while you can!”
The chapter then concludes with this threat.
“Scales” had a lot of moments that are interesting to consider in their implications for the story,
chief among these being the introduction of Barem.
He is most likely going to be a threat going forward, and there are already quite a few theories about him already.
I have seen some theorize that he is the man who placed his hands on Haruka’s shoulder in a threatening way in Chapter 132.
This seems likely to me, considering he is introduced in almost the exact same way in Chapter 140, with him placing his hand on Nobana’s shoulder.
Another theory about Barem is that he was not actually under Makima’s control when he fought Pochita.
In that fight, all of the Hybrids are talking about how much they love Makima, while he simply states, “Hmmm. Everyone really loves Ms. Makima, don’t they?”
It is almost as if he is not under control like the rest of them and is just fighting because he enjoys it, which would certainly match up with his creepy personality we saw in his chat with Denji.
As for the other Devil Hybrids, with Barem’s introduction, there are now two unknown ones left who we have not been introduced to.
These are the Spear Hybrid and the Whip Hybrid, the latter of whom is already theorized to have shown up, which I mentioned in my previous review.
As for the other remaining Hybrids, Reze, Quanxi and Katana Man, I now do not see them being involved in the Chainsaw Man Church, given how much of a cult it is.
The fake Chainsaw Man, Fami, and the Justice Devil are clearly indoctrinating people to suit their own ends.
As for what this end is, I think a war with America is one possibility.
Makima mentioned that there might be a war in Part One of Chainsaw Man, and Yoru said “War draws nigh” in Chapter 135.
As for the American component, it seems like Fujimoto has been setting up a lot of anti-American conspiracies among his characters.
There is the random guy who says Chainsaw Man is just American propaganda in Chapter 103 and, of course, there is the Chainsaw Man Church spreading extremist conspiracy theories about America in this chapter.
A war with America would also make Yoru stronger as the War Devil, which may be a part of Fami’s plan to end the Nostradamus Prophecy, since the prophecy states that Mars, meaning Yoru, will reign.
Fami is also intertwined with justice as the Famine Devil, with justice being a big theme, what with the mention of scales from Barem in this chapter, like the scales of Lady Justice.
Like I said, there are a lot of implications which could be drawn from this chapter and other recent events.
We will just have to wait and see what these implications amount to.
Either way, this was another great Chainsaw Man chapter, which showed the indoctrination of the Church and introduced the new threat of Barem very well.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 139, A Chair’s Feelings Review: Teleportation Activated.

Chapter 139 of Chainsaw Man, “A Chair’s Feelings” picks up right from the reveal of Sword Man’s arrival, with Denji still not having a clue who he is.
In an attempt to remind Denji (and probably the reader as well), Sword Man brings up the battle with Makima, only for Denji to inform him that it was Pochita fighting her, not him.
Denji leaves a dejected Sword Man, telling him he has to go to school, only to be dismayed when he sees Sword Man is joining his class.
Sword Man introduces himself as Miri Sugo to the class but it is unclear if that is his real name or just an alias.
Sugo informs the class that he is not there to make friends, only for a bunch of girls to take interest in him, much to Denji’s apparent envy.
Later in the day, Sugo attempts to talk with Denji, who is being a chair for Fumiko.
He tells Denji that he is here to invite him to join the Chainsaw Man Church, stating that “the weapons walk” with them.
This statement means there are probably many hybrids from within the Church who we will be introduced to soon.
We may have even been introduced to one of these “weapons” already.
Back in Chapter 107, we see a girl from the Devil Hunter Club fighting Yuko.
This girl has a cap over her eyes, hiding her identity, but she resembles the Whip Hybrid who was under Makima’s control, like Sword Man was.
Many readers noticed this similarity but the theory died off when the girl was implied to have left the club after Yuko’s attack.
Now, with Sword Man returning and claiming that “weapons” have joined the Chainsaw Man Church, it seems that this theory may have some weight after all.
Getting back to the chapter itself, Sugo and Fumiko begin arguing to convince Denji to stay on their side.
Sugo wants Denji to join the Church, while Fumiko wants him to stay living a normal life.
During their argument, my prior impression of Sugo attempting to manipulate Denji was seemingly proven wrong, as Sugo seems genuine in wanting to help Denji.
This is because he holds a lot of gratitude for Denji freeing him from Makima.
Denji, however, is content to live as a chair.
Sugo is disappointed, saying that he actually wanted to be Denji’s friend.
As he leaves, Sugo happens to mention that if Denji joined the Chainsaw Man Church he could sleep with all the women he wants.
And, just like that, Denji gains the power of instant teleportation.
Joking aside, Denji does not actually teleport.
We can see from little dash movements in the panels that Denji actually uses super speed to get in front of Sugo.
This is probably for comedic affect, though, rather than being an actual Chainsaw Man power.
It is also very funny, along with the potential implication that Fumiko fell over when Denji dashed to confront Sugo.
Denji tells the Sword Man that he has given what he said a lot of thought, as if hours had passed and not just a few seconds, before declaring he will join the Chainsaw Man Church, bringing an end to the chapter on this comedic note.
So now we have Denji, Asa, Fammi, Sugo, and Haruka as members of the Church, along with the hybrids mentioned in this chapter.
All of the important characters seem to be joining up with the Church, which will probably result in a lot of great and funny character interactions over the next few chapters.
It will be interesting to see which “weapons” are part of the Church.
We could see Reze, Quanxi, Katana Man, Whip Hybrid girl, and even some of the other unnamed Hybrids who fought Pochita under Makima’s control.
These characters could very well reappear in the next chapter tomorrow, or later in the story.
As for Chapter 139, it did a great job of building up this intrigue.

Chainsaw Man Chapter 138, Sword Man Review: The Return of… Who?

After a two week break, Chainsaw Man has returned with Chapter 138, “Sword Man.”
The chapter begins by immediately disproving my theory that the creepy girl laid a trap for Denji because, instead of attacking him, she actually attacks an injured thug who was pointing a gun at him.
The girl then realises the gun is a fake, which did make me wonder why the guy even pointed it at Denji in the first place?
It was a bit of a weird detail.
Getting back to the creepy girl, Denji is surprised that the girl is not his enemy, and Yoshida shows up to confirm this, telling Denji that the girl is named Fumiko Mifine, a 22-year-old Devil Hunter.
So she is a 22-year-old making moves on a 16-year-old?
Well, Fumiko just got a whole lot creepier than she already was.
As for why Fumiko did not help Denji when he was being attacked by the group of thugs last chapter, she says that she did not want her song to be interrupted, looking embarassed.
Denji rightfully wonders just what is wrong with Fumiko and Yoshida, while Yoshida inspects the bodies of the thugs, finding no means to identify them.
So who sent these thugs to attack Denji and how they knew his identity is currently a mystery.
Denji is dejected that a girl was only acting interested in him as her job but Fumiko insists that she is into him because he is Chainsaw Man.
No, Fumiko, enough with the grooming, please?
At least Denji’s reaction to Fumiko saying this looks less than positive.
I hope?
The scene then ends with Yoshida promising to set Fumiko straight so Denji will not have to fight again.
The chapter then cuts to Asa, who is watching news about her exploits at home.
Asa seems happy when a commentator on the news calls her beautiful, yet completley contradicts this when she tells Yoru they are not doing this for praise.
Yoru agrees, saying that they are doing this to kill Chainsaw Man, while Asa says they are doing this to help him.
Yeah, they are definitley going to butt heads over this in the future.
After stating their goals, Yoru complains about the rush Asa is feeling, due to her newfound fame, to which Asa says fame creeps her out because people are invading her privacy.
Yoru looks likes she wants to call Asa a liar and the next panel proves her as one, with Asa sporting a tired and delirious grin at her fame.
This panel not only had me laughing out loud but also reminded me of Denji learning that people loved him as Chainsaw Man near the end of Part One.
Both he and Asa want to be loved, only now Asa is actually experiencing that while Denji gets none of the fame he had previously.
This is epitomized by the next panel, which sees Denji looking dejected as he stares at a poster of Asa.
He is then approached by a hooded man who is also angered by people overlooking Chainsaw Man for Asa.
Given the shape of this man’s hood, I thought he might be Violence before we saw the bottom half of his face in the following panels.
In these panels, the mysterious man confirms that people can see Yoru’s scars when she takes control of Asa’s body, meaning that Yoshida would have seen them when they first met in Chapter 99.
It makes me wonder what Yoshida’s actual plans regarding Asa are?
After the man finishes talking, Denji is annoyed, wondering why strangers keep talking to him.
The man seems disappointed Denji does not remember him but states that is okay because he does not remember him either.
When Denji insists to know who he is the man pulls back his hood and identifies himself as “Sword Man.”
Denji’s response is the one which many fans probably had reading this reveal, “Seriously, who is this loser?”
Well, turns out this “loser” is actually one of the Devil Hybrids Makima controlled to fight Pochita at the end of Part One.
He only gets a few lines and is killed pretty quickly in both fights, so he is not that memorable.
This makes it interesting that Fujimoto chose to bring him back, of all characters.
Perhaps Sword Man is the mysterious figure who healed Denji back in the Falling Devil Arc?
Maybe he was the one who sent those thugs to ambush Denji and Fumiko?
Whatever his role is, he clearly wants Denji on his side, as he appeals to his vanity by talking about Asa stealing his fame.
As for why he says he does not remember Denji, this is probably because he was under Makima’s control at the time.
Same goes for Denji, his body was being controlled by Pochita when he fought Sword Man and the other Hybrids.
Probably the most interesting implication of Sword Man’s return to the story, however, is the fate of the other Devil Hybrids.
If he is alive then that means the other Hybrids, like Reze, Quanxi and Katana Man are probably alive and could very well return to the story at some point, which is exciting to think about.
“Sword Man” is yet another great Chainsaw Man chapter.
It sets up Fumiko’s role as Denji’s creepy bodyguard, along with Asa’s enjoyment of her newfound fame, and the return of Sword Man has exciting implications for other missing characters.
It will be interesting to see what this set up amounts to in future chapters.

Choujin X, Chapters 1-40.2 Review: I Regret Dropping This Manga.

Tokyo Ghoul is one of my favourite mangas, so when I learned that Sui Ishida was writing a new one, Choujin X, I was very excited.
I was so excited for it that I made sure to review the first chapter once it released, and did the same for many of the subsequent chapters.
These reviews can still be found on my blog.
However, while I did find Choujin X to be good, I slowly began to lose interest in it, for a reason that I have never been able to put my finger on, to the point that I dropped it some time after Chapter 21.
I did not revisit it until recently, when I saw that the second part of Chapter 40 had released.
I decided to re-read the entire manga from the beginning, all the way through the chapters I had not yet read, and up to the most recent chapter.
After finishing Chapter 40.2, all I could think was that I was a fool for dropping this manga in the first place.

*Choujin X* is completley unique from other stories with super-powered characters.

The manga finally connected with me in a way which it had not on my first read and I am so glad that it did.
The story follows Tokio Kurohara, a teenage boy with seemingly no direction in life, who constantly lives under the shadow of his best friend, the confident and accomplished Azuma Higashi.
When the two are attacked by a Choujin, a person with super-human abilities, they are left with no choice but to attempt to become Choujins themselves.
This works for Tokio, who becomes a Beast Choujin resembling a vulture, while it seemingly does not work for Azuma.

Tokio becomes a Beastial Choujin in the first chapter, similar to how Kaneki became a ghoul in the first chapter of *Tokyo Ghoul.*

And so Tokio is forced into the world of Choujin, where he slowly begins to emerge from under Azuma’s shadow, alongside Ely Otta, a short teenage girl who gains her own powers after being attacked on a plane by the Choujin known as Chandra Hume.
The thing that makes Choujin X so distinct is how it fits into the super-hero genre.
This is certainly no My Hero Academia, as the powers many of these characters have fit in more with eldritch monsters, as is most apparent with the character of Sora.

Many of the *Choujin* in this series feel downright Lovecraftian.

Abilities like Raise and Chaos States make the Choujin entirely unique compared to super-powered characters from other stories.
The characters of Choujin X are also pretty great, especially Tokio, with his arc of learning what his own dream is and trying to achieve that.
It is this quality that makes Chapter 35 my favourite of the series so far, with the conversation between Tokio and his dad being a highlight, along with how the chapter itself ties into Tokio, Ely and Azuma’s growth as characters.

The conversation between Tokio and his father is one of my favourite moments of the manga.

The rest of the cast is also pretty great, with standout heroes, villains, and characters who may be somewhat both.
There is also a lot of mystery in this series, most notably the identity of the titular Choujin X.
I am highly intrigued to see the answer to these many mysteries, some of which I already have my own theories about.
As for my criticisms of the manga, I do have a few, such as that there are a few times where characters recap everything that has happened in the story, which does feel a bit unnecessary.
Also, of all the chapters, I would definitely say that Chapter Two is the weakest.
Re-reading that chapter really reinforced how much of a mess it was.
I probably had more difficulty trying to figure out what was happening during Chapter Two’s action on my second read than I did on my first.

Thankfully, Ishida greatly improves on the action in the rest of the story, and I am looking forward to the rest of it, especially with the horrifying events of Chapter 40.2 seeming to lead into an epic and probably tragic fight.
Overall, Choujin X is another great manga from Sui Ishida, which I regret falling behind on.
If you dropped it, like I did, then I would highly recommend re-reading the series all the way up to the newest chapter.
Hopefully, it will finally connect with you the same way it did for me.

Hell’s Paradise Anime Review: Well-Animated or a Let-Down?

I know I have found a good story when I decide to read the manga rather than wait week by week to see the anime version of it.
This was my experience with the Hell’s Paradise Mappa adaptation.
I loved the first three episodes so much that I read Yuji Kaku’s manga over three days, being rewarded by a compelling story with incredible characters and inventive fights that worked perfectly with the theme of accepting strengths and weaknesses.

It was this scene which ultimately convinced me to read the manga..

From that point on, I was watching the anime not as someone experiencing this story for the first time but as someone who had read the manga and was judging the anime based on how well it adapted the source material.
This is where a lot of complaints from manga readers came in.
I saw many critcizing the adaptation as it was airing for the quality of its animation.
To be fair, I can understand why this criticism is happening.
The animation is clearly not up to the par of Mappa’s other brilliant adaptations, like Chainsaw Man.
However, the animation is still solid, with numerous excellently animated fights, like in Episodes Two, Nine, Twelve, and Thirteen.

While some fights do feel a bit lacking, some of them are fantastically animated, especially towards the end.

The story is also much the same as the manga, with Gabimaru the Hollow (Chiaki Kobayashi) travelling to a mysterious island with his executioner Sagiri (Yumiri Hanamori) to claim the Elixar of Life in the hope of receiving a pardon from the Shogun so he can see his wife again.
Gabimaru, Sagiri, and all of the other prisoners and executioners are well voiced and just as endearing as they are in the source material.
The themes are also well expressed, with signs of how they will eventually tie into the story in a big way in the coming seasons, how ever many there are.

I am excited to see how Tao is portrayed in future fights.

Hopefully, the following season will have a bigger budget and more time to develop its animation so that it can reach the heights of the manga.
Again, the animation we got in this first season is very good but we know Mappa can do much better.
Although, in saying that, good treatment of their animators should come first because this was one of those anime where I heard rumors about the animators being under a lot of pressure again.
Overall, this was a good first season for Hell’s Paradise and I am anticipating its continutation.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Season Two Review: Emotional Gut Punches Throughout.

The first season of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury did a great job of getting plenty of people hooked for a second season.
Ending on the cliffhanger of Suletta (Kana Ichinose) killing someone in front of Miorine (Lynn) and being completley unbothered by it, there were a lot of questions about what would happen next.

This dark ending hinted at grim things to come.

This is why it was surprising to see the second season have a slow start, with the first episode mostly being setup.
Unsurprisingly, this caused a few complaints, but people should have been more paitient because, low and behold, the second episode gets right back to the grim story telling the first season left on from.
The story follows Suletta, who is struggling to deal with the blow that has been dealt to her relationship with Miorine, who, in turn, now has to run her father’s corporation while also trying to get Suletta away from her conniving mother, Lady Prospera (Mamiko Noto).
This leads to many a tragic moment, some of which are not even related to a character death, with the characters words alone doing the emotional damage.

This scene especially was hard to watch.

It is not just Suletta and Miorine who get the spotlight though because plenty of the other characters get time to shine, with Shaddiq (Makoto Furukawa) making his move, and an unexpected bond growing between Elan (Natsuki Hanae) and Norea (Aoi Yuki).
It is Guel (Yohei Azakami) who really shines this season, however, as he deals with the trauma of accidentally killing his own father, while being held captive on earth.
I have loved Guel’s arc, as he started off as a privileged bully at the beginning of Season One, only to grow into a humbled leader and friend of Suletta.

Guel’s arc in seasons one and two is fantastic.

Not all about his story is great though because this does lead into one of my issues with Season Two, that being Guel’s brother Lauda (Takeo Otsuka).
Towards the end of the season, Lauda’s brain does a whole lot of mental gymnastics to blame Miorine for everything, leading to a conflict between him and Guel.
It honestly felt like the writers just wanted Guel to have a fight at the end so they came up with a reason to have Lauda be his opponent, no matter how contrived it was.

Lauda’s reasoning ultimately left me scratching my head.

Unfortunately, that is not my only problem with Season Two because I feel that the ending is a bit lacking.
Don’t get me wrong, the characters do get a satisfying ending but, as for the world The Witch from Mercury has built, it felt like everything was wrapped up too neatly.
I think we could have got another season showing a conflict between earth and space, rather than it all being quickly wrapped up here.
Sadly, it seems like this really is the end of The Witch from Mercury.

It is a shame if the show is truly over because I felt it had the potential to go further.

That being said, if this is the end then the show was highly enjoyable.
Along with the story and characters, the animation and score were also great, with the OPs and ED being very well done.
This is especially the case for Season Two’s ED “Red:birthmark” by Aina The End, which has banger singing, visuals and symbolism.
All in all, The Witch from Mercury Season Two is a great follow-up to the first season, which provides a satisfying conclusion, despite it being a bit lacking.
I hope we get some continuation, even if that seems unlikely at this point.

Oppenheimer Review: One of Christopher Nolan’s Best.

Christopher Nolan is one of my and many other’s favourite directors working today.
His name attached to a project alone is enough to get my butt in a set.
I have even liked some of his films which have received criticism, like most recently Tenet.
Nolan’s Oppenheimer, however, has been getting mostly non-stop praise and, after seeing the film in Xtremescreen, I can say that this praise is entirely deserved.
Oppenheimer is a biographical film following the life of the titular J. Robert Oppenheimer, called the father of the atomic bomb.
Cillian Murphy plays Oppenheimer in his first leading role in a Christopher Nolan movie, and he does so flawlessly, conveying so much emotion with just his eyes.

This is Murphy’s best performance to date.

His performance is masterful, as we watch Oppenheimer go from studying abroad, to eventually leading the Manhattan Project, to his downfall during the shameful years of the McCarthy Era.
I would not be surprised if we saw Murphy get at least an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
He should not be alone in getting a nomination, however, for there are other actors whose roles in Oppenheimer make them deserving as well.
There is Emily Blunt as Kitty Openheimer, who steals the scene in an interrogation with Jason Clarke’s Roger Robb, which makes her deserving of a Best Supporting Actress nod.
As for Best Supporting Actor, the nomination without a doubt has to go to Robert Downey Jr, who delivers what is one of the best performances of his career as Lewis Strauss.

I will be upset if Robert Downey Jr. does not at least get nominated for his role in *Oppenheimer.*

Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Rami Malek, Gary Oldman, and Casey Affleck are some of the many, many big name actors who makes appearances in this film and they all do excellent.
But what is good performances without good direction, and Christopher Nolan delivers that in spades with a stunning look into Oppenheimer’s mind in all of its beauty and terror.
This terror especially comes into play with the Trinity Test, the first test of a nuclear bomb, which is the most intense moment I have seen on screen all year.

The build up to the blast had my heart pounding.

The way the cinematography (Hoyte van Hoytema), the editing (Jennifer Lame) and score (Ludwig Göransson) all combine during the Trinity Test creates such a beautifully haunting moment.
This moment is maybe even matched by Oppenehimer’s reaction to the aftermath of the successful bomb drops on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which killed hundreds of thousands.
Nolan and Murphy portray the effect these horrible events had on Oppenheimer perfectly, leading an ending scene which gave me goosebumps.
I think the last time a movie’s ending left me feeling so haunted was when I saw the ending to Bong Joon-ho’s Memories of Murder.

The ending of *Oppenheimer* will stick with me for a while.

After seeing Oppenheimer I would go as far to say that it is not just an excellent film but one of Christopher Nolan’s best, right up there with the likes of Inception and The Dark Knight.
The film is three hours long and when it was over it felt like barely any time had passed and that may be the highest praise I can give it.
I cannot recommend Oppenheimer enough.
It not only provides a haunting look at the creation of nuclear weapons but a look at the flawed yet sympathetic man who fathered them.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Review: A Satisfying First Part.

I first got into the Mission: Impossible franchise, not long after the release of the previous film Fallout, which I thought was one of the best movies of 2018.
So, going into the seventh installment in the series, once again directed by Christopher McQuarrie, I was expecting a well-directed action film with a fun story and characters, and thrilling stunts from Tom Cruise, which is exactly what I got.

The latest *Mission: Impossible* movie captures everything great about the franchise.

Dead Reckoning Part One follows Cruise’s IMF Agent Ethan Hunt, who is tasked with collecting a key, which could be used to eventually control a powerful rogue AI known as the Entity.
However, believing that the Entity is too dangerous, Ethan instead sets out to kill it, along with his fellow agents and friends Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg).
They are not alone in the search for the key, as Ethan has to enlist the help of a thief named Grace (Hayley Atwell), all the while being pursued by Gabriel (Esai Morales), a dangerous man from Ethan’s past.
The story of Dead Reckoning Part One is a lot of fun, with its still surprising portrayal of espionage, and interesting take on AI with one reveal about the Entity being pretty intense.

Speaking of intensity, the film is not all fun because there is some sadness to be had, due to specific events that I cannot get into because of spoilers.
There is some good humor to balance the sad moments, though.
One thing I was worried about going into Dead Reckoning Part One is the Part One of the title.
Movies being separated into parts seems to be a returning trend in movies these days and this can lead to some frustrating experiences, most notably Across the Spider-Verse which, while still one of the best movies of the year, ends very abruptly with the rest of the story being continued in Beyond the Spider-Verse.
Thankfully, this was not an issue for Dead Reckoning Part One because, despite being only the first part of the story, it still ends in a satisfying way, while making me want more.
This “more” includes more amazing stunts from Tom Cruise.
I honestly don’t know how the guy can keep doing these death defying scenes, with a cliff jump in the teasers being particularly nerve wracking.

Tom Cruise does it again with the amazing stunt work.

I just hope he doesn’t end up seriously injuring himself or worse with these stunts.
Overall, Dead Reckoning Part One is a satisfying beginning for a two-part story in the Mission: Impossible franchise.
Fingers crossed that they can pull off Part Two just as well but there is nothing which leads me to doubt that.