Samurai Equine

Hello there, my crowd! Welcome to my Weekly Musings: Orange Edition. 

[I ❤ JAPAN] -- [I ❤ THE COLOR RED] -- [I ❤ CELESTIA]

What's this?! A late Monday Musings entry?!  Yeah, it happens. I'll talk about it soon. Just feel free to read on for now, my crowd. 

 ( 1 / 2 ) Finally, it's movie time!  I saw Fullmetal Alchemist, the live action movie. My thoughts? Mixed; but mostly negative. It’s not bad, but it's clear this movie was made just as a cash grab since the anime and manga sold so well. The major failing of this movie is that it is paced like an action movie. While that might work for action anime; FMA is more about the drama and story than it is the action. So while you will recognize many familiar story beats, they happen so fast that none of it has any weight or gravitas. In the manga and TV series, they really drive home the weight of each situation and why it’s important. Here, if you don’t keep up with every little detail, you’re going to get lost; because they really shoved a lot of story beats in here. Doesn’t help that there are some continuity issues and errors within the film.

 ( 2 / 2 ) It goes without saying that the movie really needed an international cast. The source material is about international characters, so seeing western characters like Ed and Hughes portrayed by Japanese actors is a little hard to get past. A criticism I wouldn’t even mention if the film was ONLY shot in Japan, but it's not. Speaking of hard to get past; I really wish the dub had been a saving grace for this film. I am glad they got Vic and a few others to reprise their roles. For a second, it almost feels like nothing controversial happened with Funimation. However, despite the dub actors trying so hard, it’s clear this is not the same level of professionalism other studios could give. Heck, even the dub occasionally cuts back to the original Japanese dialogue for no clear reason. A random scream and yelling “Ute! (Open fire!)” are not quite the same as yelling “Gojira! (Godzilla!)” for example. Who did Netflix hire to direct the voice actors?! I can only recommend this movie for FMA completionists, nothing more. Probably will say the same for the sequel.

 And now some of you probably want to know why this entry is so late. It's because on top of making room to see a movie, I didn't realize I was going to get so busy during the weekend; which is the biggest reason I ran out of time to post this on Sunday night. Family was coming in with lots of visits, my mother needed some help doing some Christmas shopping, and I decided to get some personal shopping done myself while I was out. Didn't think I'd find anything nice yet cheap, but I guess that's the joy of shopping in a store, you can get ideas you never would on your own. By the time I got home, I had to make time to watch Tokusatsu. By the time I finished that, it was WAY too late for me to keep being online or post anything. So that's why there was a delay. I try not not make a habit of posting late, but sometimes it's out of my control. 

 Saber 12: Golden Opportunity!  It’s hard for me to be too broken up about Espada giving his life and Saber being unable to save him in time (especially since I’m not completely convinced that he’s dead yet). Espada fought Caliber in his pure gold form before, and it didn’t work. Why would it work again? Maybe if he actually brought Kenzan with him, like he was SUPPOSE TO DO, his ‘death’ could have been avoided. But at least we got some story out of it. Saber has his memories back, we get a better understanding of why Espada was so hung up on all of this, and Tassel is out of his mystery location?! Bring on the next episode, please!

 Saber 13: Nighty Knight. This episode was really lame... It just couldn’t live up to the hype from the last episode. Tassel didn’t appear again. No one was smart enough to see the pillars of light match their Rider colors. Saber achieved his Dragonic Knight form via mcguffin rather than a sentimental, story-related reason that would have made more sense (really hoping they explain this better in the coming episodes). I totally called it that Espada was not dead, but we got ANOTHER fake-out death scene (looks like he is going to be the next Caliber). I want to get excited about this, but everything surrounding it was just bad. ...But hey, Dragonic Knight actually manages to look more knightly than the Ryusoulgers and the Advent Riders from Ryuki, so that’s saying something.

 Kiramager 33: It came from the Labradorite!  I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. As I always say, if there is ever a moment where one fails to deliver, chances are the other will be the better show. After watching a story arc that fell flat in Kamen Rider, Sentai had a MUCH better story arc conclusion to come back to. The climactic victory felt narratively cohesive. I still don’t understand why Sayo/Pink temporarily parted with her transformation device, but at least it all worked out in the end.

 Kiramager 34: As Cool as a Crocidolite! I am pleasantly surprised by this episode. I was expecting a filler, but got more out of it than I thought. Garza is stronger after all, something’s up with Yodonna, and they’re finally setting up for the arrival of the ultimate enemy. I am hoping this show has a really satisfying finale.

 December is a weird month for me in terms of movies. Obviously, no one is going to the theater this year. So aside from any gotta-see-it blockbusters, there's really nothing I want to see other than holiday movies. However, with so many streaming services, my Netflix account is looking pretty useless on its own. If it isn't exclusively on Disney Plus, it's definitely only on something else. I'd have HBO Max if they had an app for it that works on my Roku smart TV. Ugh... I may or may now see that CGI Grinch cartoon, unless I can think of something better to see. But my mind is coming up blank, so... Any holiday movie requests? Let me know!

That's it for now, my crowd.  Take care, and let's welcome the frost.

I am SO glad someone finally said it! This needed to be said. It might not be the most important thing to focus on, but when it comes to that awful, soft reboot of the Powerpuff Girls, someone had to say this. I can't think of anyone who has put it more elegantly. This is "Familiar Faces: Ms. Bellum" by FamiliarFacesChannel.