Next up is popular 90s Super Hero show, X-Men.
In the 90s, superhero shows managed a healthy existence without the demands of some big shot executives forcing it down our throats; Spiderman, Batman and X-Men are still highly regarded as the best cartoons of all time and not many people would argue that statement; and while we know why the former two were popular, X-Men was popular for a different reason. X-Men taught it's audience about grey morality, something that's not touched upon anymore in cartoons; it's more than just a showcase of mutant powers, it's how you deal with those powers and how regular people react to them and how to deal with constant hatred from said regular people.
Also it doesn't just offer you one solution it offers you two; you can decide to follow Professor X, attend a safe environment where you can learn to control your powers and learn how to reconnect with the world that's isolated you.
Or you can follow Magneto and turn against the human race, declaring yourself the next stage of evolution.
Being honest, both sides have good arguments, even though it's obvious that you should be supporting the X-Men, the grey ambiguity of the human race makes it hard to believe that Professor X can make such a peaceful world when they send giant sentinel robots to capture and execute you, equally I wouldn't put my faith in a leader who helped send in the sentinels to prove a point.
The characters are also rich in complexity with little room for mistake.
X-Men is not perfect though, it's humor turns up in strange places, Jubilee is not that interesting yet they focus on her too much at times and the Phoenix saga was the show's low point.
Other than those nitpicks, I loved the X-Men cartoon, the cartoons that followed never really captured the same formula the original did, which is a shame because there's so little to get wrong that it's hard to make this franchise bad.
Moving on with my next review, World God Only Knows.
The story is about a master gamer named Keima Katsuragi who can conquer any dating game earning the nickname "God of Conquest", with these skills he has earned infamy within the online realm which catches the attention of the Demon World who have allowed numerous loose souls to escape and have sent Spirit Hunter Elsie to retrieve them, knowing that the task involves conquering the hearts of women as the loose souls feed on negative emotions that create dating scenarios, the Demon World requests the help of Keima which Keima stupidly agrees thinking it's another gaming challenge only to end up getting roped into spirit hunting and of course with this being a contract from hell, if he doesn't do it then he'll be beheaded along with Elsie by the purple collar now round his neck. Using his knowledge of dating games as his only reference, Keima must now conquer the hearts of real women which he has done his best to avoid for so long.
This show is genius, the writing is some of the best I've ever seen because you are always keen to see the result of each conquest and with each girl being different in personality it never gets boring and even the filler episodes are fun. (except Episode 4 about the Glitched game)
If there are any issues and there are, I'd say there's a pacing issue, some girls get more episodes than others and any more than two episodes drags on too long, and although I've only seen the first two seasons, reading the synopsis for season three hasn't given me much promise as it gets goddesses involved.
Those are nit picks though and it doesn't distract from some of the best parts of the show, and if you're an avid gamer then the references at the season one finale will make you smile, especially if you're old enough to recognize all the games consoles Keima plays and why the joke about the oldest console not exploding due it still loading is so funny. Also I should bring up Elsie, who is simply the cutest anime character I've ever seen and heard, especially when she's so enthusiastic about random things such as Fire Trucks.
The dubbing is also top notch and deserves a mention but the music is weird; reading some of the lyrics in the opening themes, the singers seem to agree with this.
Final Verdict: This is a brilliant series and deserves a watch, make sure to keep your focus during the slower paced episodes and you should get through the whole series with no problems.
Now for something completely weird, this is Uta Kata.
Uta Kata is an unconventional Magical Girl Series by the same creator of Kiddy Grade.
It's about Ichika Tachibana and her experiences over a summer break; it starts in an old school building where Ichika discovers a mysterious girl named Manatsu Kuroki inside a mirror who offers Ichika mysterious magical gems on a magatama attached to her phone which can make her a magical girl and grants her access to Djinn, powerful elemental spirits, all she's asks is that Ichika records her experiences in what appears to be a judgement test. After agreeing, Manatsu comes out the mirror and transforms Ichika into a Magical Girl wearing a different costume each episode designed by a different artist, being the quirk of this show.
I'll be honest, it's a weird concept, it's one of those shows where it's difficult to support the leads as they woefully get drawn into psychological torture which isn't a pleasant watching experience not helped when Manatsu comes across as a real bitch in some scenes making Kyubey from Madoka Magica seem benevolent in comparison.
What were supposed to understand is the different ways in how power can be used in both the heroic ways and the villainous ways, but the way it comes across is somewhat mean-spirited which doesn't make for the best of climaxes when the big reveal comes in. So really the only reason you'd even watch this show is for the costumes as each artist adds their own unique costume each episode.
Here's the list of artists, what their known for and which episode and costume they did.
1. Megumi Kadonosono - Sun (Kiddy Grade & Uta Kata Character Designer)
2. Suezen - Moon (Yadamon Creator & Shining Force II Artist)
3. Hajime Ueda - Earth (FLCL Manga Artist)
4. Keinojou Mizutama - Water (Brigadoon Character Artist)
5. Kaishaku - Fire (Steel Angel Kurumi Manga Group)
6. Hidefumi Kimura - Heaven (Design & Screenplay Kiddy Grade & Uta Kata)
7. Keiko - Wind (Figurine Designer)
8. Hajime Watanabe - Flowers (Character Designer Kodocha)
9. Mine Yoshizaki - Thunder (Manga Artist Sgt. Frog)
10. Koshi Rikdo - Darkness (Manga Artist Excel Saga)
11. Ken Akamatsu - Sea (Manga Artist Love Hina & Negima)
12. Keiji Gotoh - Mirror (Director & Artist Kiddy Grade & Uta Kata)
Quite a list there, would loved to have seen a few more of them but they are nice Magical Girl costumes and functions as the show's greatest strength and high production values only make it all the more appealing.
Final Verdict: It's an attractive looking series and is good inspiration for upcoming artists but the story is too complicated and the characters aren't worth supporting and just make you hate them.
Our next review got an unanimous vote but considering the subject matter that comes as no surprise as we dive into Teen Titans.
DC has been under the Warner Bros banner for quite some time now and a look at their history going back as far as the Batman animated series days, there were a number of shows that were really successful and arguably the best of the early 00s era was Teen Titans.
The cartoon is based on the comic book of the same name featuring a team of five heroes consisting of the 1st Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven and Beastboy as they fight crime and act like teenagers in a pseudo anime world and pseudo anime is the correct term as it takes every cliche anime has to offer including an opening theme sung by Japanese J-Rock duo Puffy AmiYumi a.k.a the musical Dirty Pair. Now while many people groan at the idea of a Western cartoon using anime styling, Teen Titans actually gets a free ride alongside Avatar the Last Airbender & Code Lyoko and in some cases mistaken for an actual anime and who can blame them as we have some of the best written characters and stories in the 00s era, an era that I normally associate with the downfall of animation.
The comedy is pure gold with Starfire being voiced by Princess Bubblegum, Raven's deadpan humor and plenty of one-liners to keep everyone entertained there's never a dull moment; this is why the gag comedy Teen Titans Go was green lit which didn't get the best reception from the fans hoping for a proper Teen Titans remake; being honest it's quite funny and it's better than no Teen Titans.
It can get pretty dramatic as well particularly with both Starfire's & Raven's backstories being the show's crowning moments for drama. (In Raven's case it could compete for an oscar)
If Warner Bros can stop acting like Business men for a moment and take a good look at how well Teen Titans was received during it's run, then they wouldn't need to cancel this series along with Young Justice and other DC shows that are also really good.
Overall I really enjoyed Teen Titans, I normally hate the constant wave of super hero cartoons because the genre is so saturated to the point of collapsing under it's own weight, but within the ocean of this genre a number of shows do wash ashore and manage to do the job without feeling like it was forced to be there because of some blockbuster film release.
For years the Samurai Warriors franchise has been the staple of all things related to the Sengoku period but what actually happened usually paints a more interesting picture as I shall now show you. This guide will serve to represent what happened to these people.
Uesugi Kenshin
Worshiping the Buddhist War God Bishamonten may give you the impression that Uesugi Kenshin was a holy man, but he's quite a notorious drunk.
Takeda Shingen
One of the only Daimyo of his time to use female ninja making the likes of Kunoichi more accurate than you think. Ninja tactics were common practice for Shingen and wasn't afraid to try anything, from Kunoichi disguised as concubines to direct attacks on Kenshin while he's on the toilet.
Also worthy of note is Shingen's size as he required two horses to ride into battle, justified seeing as Asian horses are smaller than European horses.
Sanada Yukimura
Before he was slain, Sanada Yukimura took on Ieyasu Tokugawa's army with a small force of his own and proceeded to fight through the camp to try and take Ieyasu's head. Most of the kills were made by Yukimura alone and in comparison Tokugawa's army was twice the size.
Hideyoshi Toyotomi
Toyotomi was never well liked or even as jolly as his appearance in the game suggests or even a decent warrior.
Ishikawa Goemon
Goemon is a popular choice for paintings, one of which depicting his execution, while being boiled alive he was holding his son in the air to save him.
Takenaka Hanbei
Despite the visual age difference, Hanbei is older than Kanbei Kuroda however Hanbei died in his 30s while Kanbei lived to his 50s.
Hojo Ujiyasu
Ever wonder where the Legend of Zelda Triforce symbol comes from? It's the mark of the Hojo clan.
Mori Motonari
His historical age puts him as being older than Shingen yet the game portrays him as middle aged.
Gracia
Noted for converting to Christianity as Gracia was a baptized name, it's worth noting that Hideyoshi banned all forms of Christianity during this period as well as foreign visitors.
Kaihime
In order to get any respect as a warrior, Kai is referred to as a man by Hojo Ujiyasu
Nobunaga Oda
One of Oda's retainers was an African slave named Yasuke. Oda's interest in the man was enough to earn Yasuke this title which during a time of slavery was quite a high honor for any slave in that period.
Okuni
It is said that she is the founder of Kabuki plays.
Saika Magoichi
It is said that Saika Magoichi is an alias used by as many as three different men with similar names.
Tadakatsu Honda
Went through 100 battles without as much as a scratch. And yes he really did wear antlers on his battle armor.
Ginchiyo Tachibana
Despite being the last of her clan and leader, her husband Muneshige still held all the power despite being of a different clan.
Nene
Was nothing more than a politician in real life.
Date Masamune
Other than countless tales of badassery, Masamune Date was responsible for Japan's first overseas expedition; a boat known by the name San Juan Bautista outside Japan visited the Philipines, Mexico, Spain and Rome with the idea of forming relations with the Pope, even to this day descendants from that voyage still live in Spain. He was also sympathetic to Christians, allowing them to preach in Sendai despite being banned by Tokugawa. In fact Japan would be very different if it were Masamune in charge instead of Tokugawa who ended up isolating Japan until the late 19th Century.
Hope you enjoyed today's history lesson.
