screwinon

Hi, I know it's been a LONG time since I've posted anything. Thesis projects took over all my free time, and getting my life together has caused 
a major writer's block. I will get things done eventually. 

But that's not why I'm writing. Bleach has just ended today. And seeing that one of my first posts on this website was about Bleach. AND I made
two journals concerning Naruto's problems and its ending. I thought it would only make sense that I made one for Bleach as well. 
So...here we go. *deep inhale* 

Back in my high school days, I loved Bleach. It was one of my favorite ongoing animes, and was the one that introduced me to both the anime
and manga communities. Ichigo was once one of my favorite shoenan protagonists. Chad and Kenpachi were was once two of the most badass
anime characters I've seen. Aizen, was once not only my favorite anime villain, but one of my favorite villains of all TIME. I loved everything 
and everyone, from Ichigo's friends, to the Soul Society Captains, to the Espada (with the exception of Nnoitra and Zommari because I found 
both of them annoying and boring respectively BI), even if one particular character or moment wasn't great, the good GREATLY outweighed
the bad.

Which made it all the more disheartening for me once I read up to the point in the manga where the story started to fall apart. My rose-tinted
glasses of fandom started to crack, and the flaws were starting to get harder and harder to ignore. And before I knew it, the series that I once
held in such high regard, to the point where I began writing stories inspired by Kubo's work...collapsed into a mire of overcomplicated contradictions,
long-winded awkward dialogue, confusingly vague motivations, and fights that either lasted way too long, or not long enough, with characters
that I struggled to even care about.

Now everyone who once read/watched Bleach has their own interpretation of when things started to go sour. Some say it was immediately AFTER
the Soul Society Saga, others say it was after Ichigo's fight with Grimmjow, others say it was Ighigo's fight with Ulquiorra. I personally feel it went
bad once Aizen cut down Harribel for no other reason than she was the only Espada left standing. But regardless of WHEN it started to happen, Bleach's
downfall in quality became apparent. Of course this didn't affect hardcore Bleach fans who were with the series all the way through the Fullbringers arc
and even through the final one. And god bless their hearts for staying positive despite the contrary. But even they couldn't keep it after the final fight
which everyone, unanimously thought was the worst climax of the series in SO many ways. But, I'm not writing it to list those ways.

I'm writing this as a send-off to Bleach. Because the most frustrating thing about Bleach post-Aizen, is that you could TELL that there was still a good
and engaging story wrapped deep within the bullshit. And I can recognize that the Thousand Year Blood War Arc, could've been the GREATEST arc
the series could've had. But it didn't, simply because of two things. One: Kubo over-complicated the Quincies to the point that not even HE remembered
what they were at times. and Two: Lack of focus on not just Ichigo, or Uryu, but any focus in general. One of the biggest faults that Bleach has over
Naruto, is that Naruto although ignoring its vast side-cast, still focused on its main players. Bleach was the inverse, the main cast, mainly Ichigo's own
friends were pushed to the side, for more focus on characters where most of which took away more screentime than the hero of the story.

And as much as I hate to paraphrase Donald Trump, but Kubo could've Made Bleach Great Again. If he had a more solid idea of what he was planning to
do with the Sternritter, and not beat around the bush when it came to the backstory ABOUT them, and their relationship to Soul Society. 

Let's compare the Espada to the Sternritter. The Espada, and the Arrancar in general, although not all of them having the best of fights, we always knew
were considered a big deal. Because there was a long build-up to them. Starting with Grimmjow's lackeys, and introducing us to them being ranked by numbers.
First through how each Arranchar was made by Aizen, and the top 10 being the strongest of the strong. 10 being the lowest, and one being the highest.
....Which was stupidly retconned by Yammy but there's no time for that. The Espada and the whole numbering system of their heiarchy was easy to understand.
So when we see characters face progressively higher and higher numbers we can understand how much of a big deal they all are. Sure, most of them
didn't live up to the "Captain killing" reputation when they were originally introduced. But the point is that there was build-up, and a sense of hierarchy among
Aizen's troops.  

Ywach and the Sternritter, have NONE of that. The weirdest thing about this whole Quincy villain group, is that we've seen nothing but them, yet at the same 
time, have learned close to NOTHING about them. Unlike the Espada whom slowly built themselves up through threat after threat, the Sternritters just...show up. 
Not even in Karakura Town, but just in Soul Society and immediately causing havoc. With the audience knowing close to nothing about who they are, why they have
powers related to the alphabet, and most importantly, how they survived the purge that wiped out the Quincy species THOUSANDS of years ago. Heck, the only 
reason Ichigo even got involved was because the Sternritters were attacking Hueco MUNDO instead of Karakura Town. A desert wasteland full of monsters and death. 
So there's even more disconnection for our hero before the arc even starts. Sure they're attacking the friends he met there, and we later learn he's part Quincy later. 
But still, there needed to be more of a set up to the Vandenreich than just them...immediately invading the two known planes of the afterlife. 

And to this day, even after Bleach is over, I STILL barely understand how the Sternritter worked. Like I understand that they gained their powers by Ywach writing letters
of the alphabet into their soul with his holy blood and THAT is what gives them their range of powers. But outside of random abilities, they never seemed to have any 
form of ranking outside of "Their Majesty" and Jugram, who was the second in command/heir/commander of the Sternritter. And that was it. We didn't even know that 
there even WAS a royal guard until they were immediately introduced once Quincy god man went to kill the Soul King. We don't even know how the nature of the powers
work. Like, why is it only a letter, and not a WORD. And what constitutes that letter turning into the word of power, is it random, or is it the very first word that pops into 
that Quincy's head? It's so VAGUE that it's frustrating. But I could literally go on for HOURS about what better powers I would give the Sternritter rather than what they 
ended up getting. 

Now, if Kubo just made the letters a bit more consistent. Like, the lower in the alphabet the weaker you were. It would be easier to understand. As well as just, introduce, 
ALL the Sternritter from the get go, instead of just creating random weird characters that pop into his head from week to week. Have the Royal Guard consist of Pernidas,
Askin Nak LeVarr, Bambietta, and As Nodt, and you already have a team of formidable broken powers right there. C-F. And I'm certain you could make them appear just a
broken and powerful as the previous Royal Guard if you just used their powers in a different light.

As for the fights with the MANY Sternritter. Just have Gremmy create his OWN V-Sternritters and have Kenpachi and the Vizards fight THOSE guys, while the Captains, and Vice-
Captains, and friendly Arranchars team up to take down the rest of them. It's not that hard to believe or write. And also give Mayuri just ONE fight instead of FOUR. >8(

So lastly we can just leave the Royal Guard to Ichigo and his friends as they try to stop Ywach. And we would finally get to the most important part of what this final arc should've
been about. Uryu Ishida's struggle as a Quincy. Out of ALL of the characters in Bleach, this guy was the most neglected.  This was a character, whose very RACE we thought was 
COMPLETELY extinct, with the obvious exception of his dad. A kid who literally had, NO clue if there was any OTHER Quincies out there in the world, and had to shoulder the duty
of continuing the legacy himself. And now, this...sudden army of Quincies show up proving him to be wrong. And he has an opportunity to finally give Soul Society the justice that 
his race deserved as they were mercilessly slaughtered by them. But slowly realizing that his, once thought revolution leader, is actually a cold, uncaring god who dreams of conquering
and destroying reality. And works his way up through the Majesty's ranks just to be by his side. Waiting for the BEST opportunity to take him out. For the sake of not just the world,
not only for his race, but for his non-Quincy friends too. To show that he was MORE than just the LAST QUINCY. 

This could've been, a GREAT story. Ichigo and friends trying to confront Uryu, only to see him loose his way to Ywach's charisma and power. Ichigo trying to reach to his friend, while 
also trying to reach and understand his new found lineage as a demi-Quincy himself. ALL of that character development. ALL of that context. ALL of that drama. WASTED. On padding 
and random bullshit fights with fat black guys with "love" powers. >BI

And the saddest thing is. The ending chapter of Bleach itself. IS a good chapter. Ichigo and Orihime getting together, Renji and Rukia getting together, pleasing my shipping side,
as well as giving the rest of Ichigo's friends logical outcomes and careers. Heck, even the kids are adorable. 83 ....But even in THAT chapter they still drop questions that Kubo KNOWS
will never be answered.

The amount of unanswered questions is....staggering. And not JUST in the final arc. But...nearly all of them past Soul Society. WHAT was Ywach's relationship with his dad, the Soul King?
Why did Ginjou go rogue? What WAS the act that banished Szayel Aporro Granz from the Espada, and what did he do to get back INTO it? What happened to the Mayuri's zombie Arranchars?
How did Orihime get over her Stockholm syndrome with Ulquiorra? What did the K of BG9 DO? What did Shinji's bankai DO? WHO IS THE NEW SOUL KING?! Just question, after question, after
question. And ALL of it is going to be left unresolved. With nothing to look on outside of the announcement of a live action Bleach movie. Which at this point, I'm not sure even the most 
hard of the Bleach fandom is looking forward to it. Even if it DOES turn out to be great like the Rurouni Kenshin movies. It won't wash out the...disappointment that Kubo left behind. 

A disappointment that no ending can truly fix. 

And on that sad note. I say goodbye to Bleach. You may not have been the brightest of stars in the sky, but I will always remember you fondly, for good and for worse.

So long Bleach. And may a thousand broken english butterfly metaphors sing thee to thy rest. 

*pours out ink in memory*  

Got tagged by

I tag . So here we go, my top five favorite game osts. In no particular order.

5. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle



4 Portal 2



3 God of War 3



2 Mass Effect 2 



1 Metal Gear: Rising

As of today (or yesterday if you actually bothered to stay up past midnight), Legend of Korra, and the Avatar tv franchise as a whole, just ended. We'll undoubtedly still get more comic projects according to the creators, and I'm sure they'll be a lot of fun in settling debates with (like how Satoru is TOTALLY Su's dad), but in terms of future seasons, or probably anything concerning "post-Korra", this is as far as we go. Whether or not there'll be a post-Korra COMIC in the future, we cannot say. But, for now, this is the ending to Avatar. 

And almost predictably, like its predecessor, the finale is pretty polarizing to a lot of people. Some say it's great, and a fitting way to end the series, others say that it was rushed and has left more then a few unresolved threads, or were disappointed that it ended with them not seeing or knowing certain things. In a way, it's kind of funny how the ending to Korra has ended nearly the same manner of Last Airbender. Fanbase polarized whether this was written well, or things were just "too easy" for the Avatar. The main difference being is that we AREN'T dealing with a deus-ex machina for once, but instead, are regarding the idea of pacing. My feelings for this season? Well, knowing what I've already said about my feelings towards Korrasami, OF COURSE I'd end up like this:  But despite what many skeptics might say, this final episode isn't good BECAUSE of Korrasami confirmation, there's a whole LOAD of good elements thrown in here too. 

Now, one thing we can take from this season as a whole, is that this is about Korra dealing with the consequences of PTSD. After getting poisoned by Zaheer, and forced to undergo physical therapy, she has been feeling useless, and gets the idea that maybe she is no longer needed in this world. What this season is asking, "Does the world still need an Avatar at all?" And I believe it pulled it off brilliantly. Korra fighting off her delusions, training with Toph, taking out the poison, talking to Zaheer, all of these were great points in showing Korra's progression from a confused and scared girl, to the confident, and wise Avatar she rebuilt herself as. And with the way they handled Kuvira as a character was just fantastic. Easily going down as one of the show's GREATEST villains. Zelda Williams pulling her character off tremendously in a way that would make her late father proud. She's Bryke's favorite villain, and it's very easy to see why. The girl's like Azula 2.0, cold, cruel, manipulative, dangerous, and even a bit crazy, but never truly evil. Azula was brought up in an environment telling her that the world was destined to be hers as a birthright, everything going her way, which developed her antisocial behavior, as well as her slow dip into insanity. Kuvira, although crazy in her own respect, is a far different animal. She's crazy, but not mentally insane, if that makes any sense. Unlike Azula, Kuvira is actually doing the things she does for the sake of her fellow Earth Nation, NOT out of her own personal greed. Her common nickname is, the Great Uniter, and often sees herself in that light. Doing whatever was necessary to fix what Korra unintentionally caused. Hell, she even admits that all the things she did was wrong, but still thought it would all matter in the end once her "perfect order" had been built. Blind to her own ambitions, and refuses to let anything stand in her way. Including cutting off people who matter to her, emotionally, and physically. Her adopted mother, her inner circle, even her own fiance', all of them were betrayed by her because Kuvira could not stand to loose all she had worked so hard for. Which makes her infinitely more complex.

To put it bluntly, Azula was a monster. But Kuvira, was a person. A terrible person, who did terrible things, but still obviously human underneath her cold steely (almost mechanical) complexion. And they don't instantly redeem her, which I love. She acknowledges what she did was wrong, and ruined and killed hundreds of lives, so she willingly gets herself arrested. Which I respect tremendously.

Not to mention all of the Varrick scenes, Bolin's development, Mako's sole awesome moment, and the development of Lin and the rest of her family, Toph included , and all of the other fun stuff, by default this should be the best book, right? Well, unfortunately, as it is apparent with all seasons involving Korra, this one is not perfect. Several characters don't get that much focus and just seem to add nothing but dressing, like Bumi, Kai, Zuko, Iroh 2, or the potentially interesting prison camp people. And there's a common complaint that this season feels pretty rushed when it comes to the finale, and having the series end with us never seeing the rest of Korra's avatar world, like the Fire Nation. And there are two main problems within the season that had caused this I believe.

1. The elephant-bear in the room, Episode 8: Remembrances. Where the hell do I begin? Apparently, Nickelodean, in their "divine wisdom", for SOME reason, decided to cut Korra's (the most successful and critically acclaimed show they have ever HAD) budget. Cut it so bad that it would affect one whole episode. Bryke and DiMartino had two choices, one: fire half of their staff, or two: make a clipshow. And they went with the former, because unlike their tyrannical overlords, they actually CARE about PEOPLE HAVING JOBS! So they made Remembrances, a 28 minutes clipshow recapping the events from the perspectives of Mako, Korra, and Varrick respectfully. And is regarded by most fans as the WORST EPISODE OF AVATAR EVER! Personally, there is reason to say that. The bit with Mako and Wu is very hard to watch, and there's only so many times people can go into flashbackland without thinking that we're missing some important plot right about now. Although, for what they had to work with, they at least use it as an opportunity to make fun of themselves Ember Island Players style, Varrick's section being the pinnacle of that with him going straight into amazingly bad and cheesy Avatar fanfiction. And although it slowly does get better the longer you watch it, with Korra's part being a good nod to how far she's come. It still doesn't change the fact that this was a bad episode, and has visibly harmed this season. Loosing the writers the opportunity to try and properly develop certain things, like foreshadowing of the Colossus, what exactly the other Airbenders were doing to be so "stretched-thin", the family dilemmas of Lin and Toph Beifong, some scenes with characters we don't see often, and probably the one character who desperately needed the MOST development-

2. Prince Wu. Goddammit Wu. Out of ALL of the Avatar characters, Korra or Airbender, he was the one I hated the most. He was insufferable, spoiled, and was just a pain to watch. Every word he spoke, I just wanted to kick him in the face. I understood with what the writers were TRYING to do. Goofy, whimpy, spoiled prince who has to learn responsibilities personally after being denied his birthright, and learn the perspective of the everyman. The problem is, that he never STOPPED being a spoiled prince, until the last couple of episodes. He showed NO growth, no grasp of the ideas of being a king, and way too pathetic to EVER be taken seriously as a king-to-be, or even a human being in general. Every time we cut to Mako and THIS GUY, I could ponder all of the things we could focus INSTEAD of him. Why couldn't the prince just be kidnapped, and have Mako go through an arc of failure and willing to accept it. That way learning from Korra as they both try to better themselves, and help each other as good friends. That would be a million times more interesting then any party or lavish routine Wu ever described. Now, granted he doesn't become king and actually DOES turn his state into a democracy so anyone BUT him can take the throne, and he did do some awesome things with Badger Moles. But the problem with THAT is, that it was never built up at all. We weren't told of Wu's apparently bad singing talents, and sure he had an obsession with Badger Moles, but obsessing over, and controlling through song, are two VERY different THINGS! He felt like a waste of a character, and I'm sure that if they just never brought him on board, this season would feel like it had a lot more closure to it.

But that being said, with the lack of closure on a few subjects, does that make Korra's ending bad? ....No. Again, it ran very smoothly, and ended in a way that made perfect logical sense. In fact, this is probably the first time a series has ended WITHOUT the use of a deus-ex machina. So got to give it props for that at least. Sure, there were still flaws with it, but at this point, any Korra season has flaws. And all of the arguments I heard about how the ending was bad, I can easily compare to that of the original series. 

There were many loose ends that the series left unresolved? Last Airbender had that too. Hell, that whole "Where's my mother?" line should be proof enough. Not only that, but we don't know what became of Azula, or Toph's parents. In fact, this ending is kind of similar to that of A:TLA in a way. Both end with having a party to celebrate the victory over a mighty foe, one being an actual party, the other being a wedding, both involve the Avatar getting together with their love interest and learning something grand, and both indicate that times of change were on the horizon. And personally, I like open-ended endings. Not the whole cliff-hanger ones, but the idea that, everything involving our main characters had been resolved, but the world is still going to change even if we're not watching it. Gives the audience the chance to use their imaginations, which most endings don't give you the option for. Not to mention it gives us GREAT fuel for fanfics. ;D It's normally, "nope, this is it, nothing else happens." or "this is our ending and you got to deal with it." Sure, there's a new spirit portal now, but honestly, I think it fits perfectly well. For the third portal, is a number that practically represents balance, for three is normally given to organizations to properly order in balance.

Now what does this mean for the world? Who can say. Maybe Bryke will eventually have a comic project touching all of those subjects. But to me, I'm perfectly satisfied with what we had. Sure, Remembrances may have shot Korra in the foot, but it's the idea that she was still able to finish the race, and not have that busted foot slow her down, is far more admirable then I would have hoped. 

Do I wish for more? Of course I do. I am disappointed that the spirits didn't do much outside of becoming laser fuel, there was still such rich potential concerning the ideas of humans and spirits living together that Korra did not touch upon. Same can be said for a lot of things that were left unsaid. But despite that, this series was still able to stand on its own. It didn't need the help of past avatars, nor the past gaang to get things done. Book 4 came, and it conquered. And although the original Avatar will never be replaced, I think I'm not alone when I say, that this little series that could, will still be just as fondly remembered as its father-series. 

Goodbye Korra. You weren't perfect, but we still loved you regardless. For the treasured memories, and fun times, I bid you rest. And may you and Asami have the best spirit vacation ever.

Well....isn't this an awkward situation. :I Five months ago I ranted out all of the aggression I had on the series in one neat journal. With the intention of getting all of it off my chest, and preparing myself for the bombardment of negative outcries that were undoubtedly going to come once the series ends. Because fans tend to be whiny dicks like that.  

And as Naruto as a series got closer and closer to its conclusion, I was still as cynical as all hell. More Kaguya bullshit, more Sasuke bullshit, more power-up bullshit, and of course there was hints of the last Naruto movie, creatively named, "The LAST: Naruto the movie."  

"Oh everyone's getting new clothes, and it takes place a few years in the future and in SPACE."

"Great, another movie to add to the pile of inconsequential anime films, whoopdy-fudgin-do."

"And it's going to focus on Hinata!" The stubborn Naruhina fans exclaim. 

"Oh come on guys," said the man who refused to do any actual research on the movie itself, "why are you getting so hyped up about this? Naruhina isn't going to happen, get over it. This movie is just trying to sucker you into it so Kishimoto can squeeze a tiny bit more life out of his property." "It's better to just give it up and forget about it. This series REALLY needs to end soon."

"There's also going to be a Part-3 miniseries, too."

"OH COME ON, seriously?! Where can you possibly go after fighting the apparently lame and boring ninja-god? I honestly have no idea why you people continue to read this stuff after all the disappointments Kishimoto has given you over the years. Because at this point, there is NO possible way, to make Naruto feel good again. In ANY, WAY, SHAPE, or FORM!"

(cut to late October)

"Leaked epilogue chapter pages hmm?" "Meh. Might as well see who's wearing the Hokage hat now for curiosity's sake. Let's see," skims through it, "Who the hell's Karui? Shikamaru and Temari hooked-up, good for them," :/ "Tenten's still useless, and WAIT, Sakura and Sasuke have a kid?!" "But...but, wait, if SHE went for the sociopath...then," notices whiskers on Hinata's daughter, and physical similarities she shares with both Naruto and his own son. "so.......NARUHINA WAS CANON THE WHOLE TIME?!!?!? " 

So .......remember when I said when I dropped the series for a very selfish reason? Well, ironically, that same reason is now why I'm back on the the hype train again! CHOO-CHOO! With all of the latent embarrassment that comes with it. -_-  This honestly feels like winning the lottery, but never buying the ticket. When this happened, I was happy, yet also extremely confused. And not just because I haven't read the manga in years, I have kept up to date in what's been happening through word of ear. But, the logic that Kishimoto apparently runs on, isn't the same kind that I run on. I mean, there are a LOT of people (NarutoXSakura fans being the most prominent) pissed off about this ending, and I can clearly understand why.

Because, in the context of the story, Naruto doesn't seem to care about Hinata at all. Or even ACKNOWLEDGE her. She sacrificed her life TWICE, and her brother paying the price for one of them, and Naruto STILL never even bothers to even register a 'thank you.' And still went on about Sakura after that. Who admittedly, made a lot more sense from a plot perspective. She's been with him longer, they've built up the most trust, they've both been through a lot of shit, and both have similar goals, 'Bring Sasuke back.' So, by default, she would be BOUND to be Naruto's love interest. But...no, turns out she wanted Sasuke all along. Which sucks. But in a way, I can't not like it. Not the Sakura and Sasuke getting together, hell if anybody Rock Lee really deserved her. But the whole Naruto and Sakura not getting together issue.

That I do like, because the funny thing about their relationship, is that they have all the story requirements to have a romance, except the actual chemistry. Sakura and Naruto both have loud and in-your-face personalities, that conflict with each other almost every day. They're friends, sure, but throughout the story, the two of them share the kind of relationship that best friends would have. Definitely a better friendship that Sasuke EVER had with any one from his teams. And that's why I liked it. One of the reasons why I watched/read Naruto was because the main girl WASN'T the protagonist's love interest. She was just a friend, and REMAINED a friend. That's surprisingly rare when it comes to manga. Normally when it comes to Shoenan, the very first girl character the hero meets will eventually marry them. But in Naruto, it's different. Sakura went for somebody else, (and is probably now in an abusive relationship ) and Naruto went for a side-character. Seriously, can you name like, FIVE other mangas that do this? Or any modern show that does this?  Because the only ones that comes to my mind were Dragonball and Fullmetal Alchemist, no others.   YES, she did technically said that she loved Naruto, but that was really more of a comforting lie to tell him to try and convince him not to go after Sasuke for the 800th time. Meanwhile, despite not having much interaction with each other, Naruto and Hinata had a lot of cute moments of chemistry that Sakura simply did not have. Which comes from the sweet idea that, this kid, whom just wants to be acknowledged by everyone, and have friends, has his own secret admirer. And is just too dense of a person to notice. It was really cute.....until it got to the Pain arc where it got awkward aggravating on Naruto's behalf. 

And looking back, Hinata really IS a good match for that blonde idiot. Her naturally quiet, subtle, and apparently EXTREMELY patient persona, is the perfect counterbalance for Naruto's typically loud, blatant, and spontaneous personality. And it wouldn't be abusive since both of them are caring and sensitive people at heart, and are willing to die to protect the people who matter to them. Hell, one misconception people take from Hinata, only wanted to become strong because of Naruto's "sexiness", is false. She doesn't do it just to go for a date, or for him to ask her out, she does it because Naruto inadvertently INSPIRES her. To do more then everyone else believes you can. That's her ninja way. And just the idea that a genuinely sweet character like this always got the short-end of the stick in this series, WAS one of the reasons for why I stopped.

But apparently, that is no longer the case. Naruto and Hinata have children, and are married. You GO girl. And, as I found out later, the LAST, is actually a tie-in for how exactly their relationship happened, WRITTEN by Kishimoto himself, and judging from what I saw on tumblr......oh, GOD it's going to be cheesy. And I'm going to love every SECOND of it. The more that gets confirmed, makes my shipper heart go into a cardiac arrest. They practically made a movie built on ALL of my guilty pleasures. Ninjas, space, alien gods, and dream shipping. Throw in chocolate, porn, pirates, and chocolate pirate porn....with Thor, and you basically got my movie.  

Don't get me wrong though. It doesn't change my opinion of the series as a whole. Kishimoto is STILL not the best writer in the world. Not the WORST, just not the best. And, that doesn't make him a bad person. I know we, as a collective hive-mind of teenagers/early twenties tend to give Kishimoto a lot of shit (which he'd most likely will never notice since he can't speak/read English), but, after doing some actual research and interviews. He's, really not that bad of a guy. I can see why he and Oda were such good rivals with each other. Sure they never did any legit crossovers together, but there was still a good sense of respect the two men have, which is rare in a competitive market. Hell, the guy is legitimately surprised by just how much his manga has changed from when it originally started from. Sure, the man can't write women well, nor remember certain characters existing, NOR redemption arcs without them feeling cheesy and poorly executed. But, he did know how to write emotion. And when a good guy DID die, you DID feel the impact and weight of the incident. Rarely glossed over. Also, apparently Hinata and Naruto's kids, are loosely based on his OWN family. Like his kids trying to get their father's attention, or the wife knitting him a scarf. Which kind of makes me think, does that mean that Naruto is based off of him? And would that be self-indulgent or not? Yes, Naruto does eventually becomes Ninja-Jesus, but on the other hand, he's STILL an idiot, and loudly points it out. And even a jerk. Makes you wonder.

You can really understand that, despite his work not ALWAYS being the best, the man did have a lot of passion for his job, and was never lazy getting pages done. FOR FIFTEEN YEARS STRAIGHT. As oppose to Kubo, who makes ten splash pages of some dude walking to the door every week. Now, I could be totally wrong. After all, I've never met the guy, I'll most likely never WILL. But, I'm going to be mature, and, like the late Micheal Jackson, admit, 'You were always questionable, but you've still done some good stuff too.'

Which is why I'm more then a bit concerned about the whole fandom war. Because, as predicted, Narusaku fans weren't pleased. And I don't mean like, some angry comments, or mean deviantart pictures. I mean, legitimate death-threats. Hell, there was not only one, but TWO petitions on Naruto created by these fans. One, to force Kishi to rewrite the ending so Naruto DOES get with Sakura, and Hinata....I don't know, gets with Kiba or something , and the other, to BAN it from the United States.

Ok, first off, just because your imaginary ninja boyfriend didn't go for the character you wanted them to, isn't enough to BAN something from America. Hell, WE'RE the people who usually CREATES the stuff that's banned. Left 4 Dead, GTA, Modern Warfare, Postal, ALL of these games are banned in several countries, and all of them, made by us. So, unless you intend to go and find EVERY volume of Naruto, and replace all of the pages with child pornography, you are NOT going to get that story banned by the United States government. And secondly, REWRITE? Look, again, I understand your concerns, I thought Kishimoto was doing this as a fangrab too. But, no, he legitimately wanted this from the start. And is not budging. Like he should.

Naruto, isn't Mass Effect. You can't just go through the plot, and expect like you're entitled to some missing or alternative content at the end. It's a BOOK, with a linear narrative. The only opinions that matter to the story's progression, and where it ultimately goes, are the publisher, the editor, and of course, the WRITER. Now, I'm not going to take my soap box and claim that Naruhina fans wouldn't do this either, because, hell, if things went differently, I wouldn't be surprised that this whole situation would happen again. But from where it stands, this how Kishimoto wants to end it....and then make a story about Bolt's adventures in the Spring apparently. What's done is done, and you should get over it. If you want to see alternative endings or Naruto's and Sakura's children, then what did you think deviantart was FOR?!

Ugh, people. They'll be the death of me. So yeah, until this whole Last movie thing dies down, I'm technically a Naruto fan again. Fancy that.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to figure out the least expensive way to travel to Japan, on a college student's salary. Really large catapult maybe?   

Seeing that today's October 3rd. The day of Mean Girls, Smash Brothers Wii, and of course the new season of Legend of Korra being released. Where Korra gets her haircut, meets Toph, and supposedly a whole bunch of other shit that will go down since I refuse to watch any trailers because I don't want to be spoiled on anything. Which is kind of pointless in hindsight considering tumblr and facebook being the rivers of spoilers that they normally are. So I know this kid is going to become the new Earth King or something, but I swear if he ends up being Asami's love interest I will be REALLY pissed and disappointed. But, seeing that I'm already on a rant, and today's Korra Day, with a new Korra on the way, fans waiting for all kinds of Korra-related Korra antics of Korra. 

OBVIOUSLY, we're going to be talking about Fullmetal Alchemist.  

Oct. 3. NEVER FORGET!  

Ah, FMA, , the only franchise other than Star Wars that has accidentally created its own demi-holiday. If you want to know what I like in terms of manga it goes like this:

5: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure 4: Rurouni Kenshin 3: One Piece 2: Toriko, and 1: FULLMETAL!! It's by far my favorite manga of all time, and today, in honor of the third, I'm going to give my reasons for why. Because even after all these years, there's still no other shoenan manga like it. And it was either this or watching FMA: Brotherhood again, but due to my studying schedule, that can no longer be the case, so here we are. :/ 

Now for those of you who don't know, Fullmetal Alchemist takes place in the country of Amestris, where the practice of alchemy (the art of changing one material into another one) not only works, but has been used to bolster the land's military and overall lifestyle. Due to the massive amounts of knowledge and research required to pull it off, there aren't that many alchemists in the world, and most of the successful ones are all pulled in into the military to use their powers for the good of the state. Thus referred to as 'State Alchemists', who are very few and far between in terms of skill, practice, and even sense of morality, but by far the youngest one of the bunch is, the Fullmetal (fancy word for steel) Alchemist, Edward Elric. Who's infamous for his short fuse temper and arrogance, and famous for always having his armored younger brother Alphonse accompanying him at all times, as well as having a mechanical arm and leg, and most importantly, the ability to create alchemy without a transmutation circle. Which is generally how everyone is supposed to achieve alchemy at all. 

Unbeknownst to everyone else in the military, Ed carries a terrible secret. His brother, isn't wearing armor at all. He IS a living suit of hollow armor. And the reason for this as well as Ed's automail arm and leg, was because both of them have committed the ultimate taboo. Something that every Alchemist forbids themselves of doing. Human transmutation, playing god. In attempt to bring their dead mother bad to life, Ed lost his leg, and Al lost his entire body. And would've been lost forever, if it weren't for Ed sacrificing his arm, and fusing it to a suit of armor, a trinket from his deadbeat father. The brothers are essentially broken, Al not having a body, and Ed with only half of his limbs. They are dedicated to make up for the mistakes they've made, and according to all of their research, the best way to accomplish that, is the use of the Philosopher's Stone. A magical item of fantastic power, that can do everything that normal physical laws alchemy cannot allow. For alchemy is based on the premise of equivalent exchange, you sacrifice something to get something else of equal value. Like say for instance, a cat was stuck in a tree. You could use alchemy to make the ground around it a lot more fluid, and let the tree sink so the cat can get off without injury. Transforming solid into semi-liquid basically. Destruction and recreation. The philosopher's stone supposedly doesn't follow these rules. Able to ignore equivalent exchange and achieve the impossible, like transforming a flower petal into a six-foot tall crystal statue, or create weapons out of seemingly nothing. No conservation of mass whatsoever. Ed and Al are on a search to find the Philosopher's Stone and get their bodies back to their original forms, going to all sorts of lands in the continent, all the way unintentionally getting into a shadowy conspiracy, involving mysterious beings known as the Homunculi named after the seven sins, that could threaten to destroy Amestris as they know it.   

What makes Fullmetal Alchemist interesting as suppose to other manga, or anime, in terms of storytelling, is that, if you think about it, there are no story arcs. I mean, yes there are flashbacks describing the pasts of certain characters, and the brothers Elric do visit one location after the next like all traditional Shoenan heroes. But the funny thing is that the events are so well knitted together, that you honestly cannot tell where one arc starts and the other ends. The exceptions to this rule being the beginning and the end. With the first couple chapters giving a quick story arc involving a corrupt priest, and of course, the event called the Promised Day, that is practically an all out war. But everything in-between that is just one overall story. Because, naturally in every other manga, plots unfold like this: Hero and friends travel to new place, bad guys are introduced or old bad guys come back with new plan, shit happens, bad guys are beaten, and heroes go back to slightly changed status quo. FMA meanwhile, there's no breathing room, as soon as the shit starts to happen, it almost never stops. Cornello's downfall leads Yoki, Yoki leads to Tucker, Tucker leads to Scar, Scar leads to Winry's proper introduction, and on that trips leads to Tim Marcoh, Tim Marcoh leads to Laboratory 5, Lab 5 leads to the Homunuli involvement and Al having an existential crisis. And it just goes on and on like that.  

Event immediately coming off the last event. Really showing just how chaotic and sudden the world of Fullmetal Alchemist is. Speaking of which, let's talk about the main character. Now, it's no question that Edward has been regarded as one of the most influential and famous anime characters of all time. And has large legion of fangirls is quite understandable due to his well placed pint-sized abes, and overall cocky-yet-awkward personality. But for me, there's more to it than that. He's certainly far more complex than your average manga protagonist, that's for certain. In many ways, he's kind of the opposite of general protagonist norms. He doesn't eat much, he's vocally rude, selfish, he can fight, but he often fights dirty, and most importantly, he's intelligent. They keep on building Ed up as some prodigy, and they show it off perfectly. He's quick on his feet, knows how to fight, and can outthink his opponent other then fighting him. But what I think is the best aspect about Edward, more then any other protagonist I know. Is that he feels human.

Goku can survive having a mountain being thrown at him. Naruto can survive being attacked by ninja zombies. Ichigo can survive being wasted by ghost energy blasts and shoulder gashes. And even Luffy can survive a hole in the chest. But Edward, is a lot more fragile then all of them put together. His foes are often superhuman, and aside from his alchemic abilities, he is still far weaker then them. In fact, Ed gets hurt more then the environment then his own enemies. Just to show how easily hurt he can get, and how often he really does risk his life doing this personal quest. 

One of my favorite scenes in the whole plot, is when Ed fought Kimblee, and the infamous Crimson Alchemist created an explosions that was so huge that it completely collapsed the building they were fighting in. And although Kimblee had escaped, Ed realized that he could not get out, nor pursue him, because a fallen chunk of rebar had SKEWERED him. See, if this happened in something like One Piece, all Luffy would have to do is eat some meat, or rest for a few minutes and he'd be right as rain in a matter of hours. But for Ed, this is life threatening. And if it weren't for the help of the Chimeras that were trapped with him, accompanied by his general quick thinking, and prior experience with the Holmunculus Envy, Edward would have died. Alone, and unmourned. In an abandoned town, in the middle of nowhere. With absolutely none of his loved ones realizing what happened to him. That kind of gravity RARELY ever is pulled off that well in manga. And I'm glad this is one of the few that achieves it.  

Now I could go on about Al's great character, or Winry, or the main antagonist Father, or even the interesting relationship the series has with religion and governments. But there is a more vital topic that requires discussion. For we cannot bring up Fullmetal Alchemist, without bringing up the whole "Brotherhood dispute". Basically, which one is better, the original manga and its more faithful anime partner, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood? Or the original anime, that at first was more faithful in the first half, but made up its own stuff around the half-way point, since the series wasn't even CLOSE to being finished once they got caught up. Which is not exactly hard to do in hindsight , weekly anime show dealing with a monthly magazine, there's bound to be complications in terms of what the crap are the writers supposed to do now. And for their record, they did do a good job. Delve deeper into the "equivalent exchange philosophy", and gave a lot more depth to characters in the manga that at the time, were either dead, or forgotten. Gave a new perspective on the Homunculi for what they were after, as oppose to what the really villainous things they were originally doing. And I respect that decision, hell the manga's author Hiromu Arakawa HERSELF complimented on the changes. I have nothing against them. 

...Buuut, I just like the manga/Brotherhood a whole lot more. And that's basically for 5 reasons.

1. The explored King Bradley's character more. 

2. They gave Winry a more solid character identity. 

3. Kimblee acts like a PROPER psychopath.

4. It introduced us to the idea of FOREIGN alchemy, that wasn't even touched on the original 2003 version.

5. IT DIDN'T LEAVE OFF ON A CLIFFHANGER WHERE ED GOES OFF TO FIGHT THE NAZIS!

It honestly didn't bother me at first. But it's kind of like that thing Man of Steel has, the more you look back on it, the stupider it becomes. -_- Gluttony vs Wrath was cool.....but that's all I can really give it in terms of compliments. One of my friends once told me that it's not that bad since in the OVA "kids", we see Edward having grandchildren, and one of them looked like Winry so that must mean that she got together with him...somehow. To which I have to say, FIRST, that's not how genes WORK. Sure you can have grandkids that remind you of your dad, but that does not make them CLONES. If anything, this resemblance implies that Ed's SON had sex with someone who looked like Winry, not Ed himself. SECOND, it's impossible for Winry to get to our world. Since both of the Homunculi are dead, and she's not an alchemist herself, there's no way they can open any form of portal to make that thing happen, so it's obviously someone from OUR world, and not hers. And THIRD, Winry being Ed's love interest was barely even hinted at, to the point that they might have been just platonic and nothing more. 

Sorry for this rant, but I'm sorry. I'm pretty sure the writers had good intentions, but, I honestly think they had no idea what to DO with Winry in the 2003 anime. Sure she was Ed's mechanic and childhood friend, who cares about the brothers dearly. But.....that seemed to be the cusp of it. At first she was in Resembool, then she was in Rush Valley, there were hints of Winry having feelings for Ed, but that never gets addressed, then she joined the military for a while and became friends with Sheska, then she traveled with the brothers for a tiny bit, then she went home again. And after all that, she didn't really change at all in hindsight. She began as an automail mechanic in Resembool, and ENDED as an automail mechanic in Resembool.  

Brotherhood Winry on the other hand, really shines. Why? Because there is actual depth to how much the Brothers really CARE for her when Homunculi threaten their loved ones. The moment when Winry faced Scar, the killer of her parents, was by far one of the strongest scenes I have ever seen in the series. As oppose to the other one where Mustang had killed her parents and she's all like, 

'Oh yeah, don't worry about that. We're cool. I know you're a good guy.'  

Also they did this weird thing in the original anime where they hinted that Winry had this obsession to take things apart. Which I know is natural if your profession involves machinery. But, for me, I found it more annoying then charming. In the manga/Brotherhood, they show that Winry's doing a lot more then just helping the brothers, she is an active member in the Rush Valley community, and has helped the lives of many people. As her 'hands were meant to give life, not destroy it' . Hell, at the end it's been hinted that she actually returned to Rush Valley to continue her career, as well as raise her family. And I respect that that the Brotherhood guys threw that in.

Honestly, the funny thing about both series is that they each have faults for adding new characters who don't belong in the manga, and increasing the depth of characters while shortening others. Like Lust being more complex in 2003 but not Brotherhood. Sheska having more screentime, while Yoki is killed halfway through the show. Shou Tucker and Greed's Chimeras staying around longer while other interesting aspects of the Homunculi were pushed aside, AND Hoenheim not being nearly as interesting and cliche. And so on. Oh well, either one, still good to watch. But I do recommend watching the first one just to get a good grasp of the story. Since they don't explain things well in Brotherhood in the first episode. :/

So, in case you've hadn't noticed by now....I really LOVE this series. And I hope you'll appreciate with me.  

NEVER FORGET