Here we are at part 2 of the Matt's Grand Anime Review. Today I focus mainly on shounen/action genres.

Dragon Ball Z

Without Dragon Ball Z the American anime market may very well not exist (certainly not the way it does today). DBZ is certainly an entertaining show, what with all the rediculous battles and "power up" sequences, but it's not without its faults. Cheesy and reptitive animation dampen the action sequences and there really isn't a whole lot of character development. In fact, I consider DBZ to be almost like a "bro show". And, toss on the fact that no character can ever really die and a lot of the suspense has just been killed. But, at that, it does make for some excellent entertainment if you're willing to overlook the formulaic plots and the aforementioned other problems. 6/10

As a kind of quick Merry Christmas to anybody reading this blog, I bring to you some of my latest art pieces. I'm thinking perhaps that an art section on the gallery page might be a good idea, but in the mean time you can enjoy it right here or on my deviantArt page. But, I digress.

I hope everybody had a Merry Christmas and will have an awesome New Year!

Here begins three articles of anime reviews. Yes, I know I said two in the previous post, but after creating the list I realized it would be more prudent to split this into three. This also allows me to kind of categorize things and I'll kick the list off with cute and romantic comedies. Another thing to note is that my criteria have changed. The movies and video games were all things released in 2008-2009. These are all things I watched in those years. So, without further ado, here is part one of my anime reviews.

Midori Days

Midori Days falls into the latter of the aforementioned categories. The premise is absolutely rediculous opening with protagonist Sawamura Seiji waking up one day to find that a tiny girl, Kasugano Midori, has replaced his right hand. Oddly enough, even though the show indulges in more fan service than any other I've watched, there was never a raunchy moment, something I thought odd considering the premise. The overall story follows these two as Midori tries to win over Seiji who is otherwise distracted by just about every other woman within eyesight... except the ones that actually like him. The show is full of plenty of laughs and feel good moments and I'd certainly recommend watching it if you are interested in the genre. 7/10

It is time now for the second wave of '08/'09 reviews with today's column covering video games.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (2008, Xbox 360)

There was quite a bit of hype surrounding this game when it came out. It was supposed to be a Star Wars IP that the world hadn't seen since Shadows of the Empire. Did it live up to the hype? Depends on who you ask. I didn't buy it until recently, but I definitely had fun playing it. That said, there were also many points where I was frustrated out of my mind to the point of controller throwing (something I've not done in years). Some of this was due to faulty game mechanics, but mostly my own incompetence. Sadly, the game is fairly repetitive in terms of combat and I found myself relying on Force lightning to handily finish off every enemy I came across. There are plenty of options for combat such as push and choke and, of course, your lightsaber, but none of these were as handy or wholly satisfying as lightning. Oh, and for all the hype about Euphoria, never once did I see a stormtrooper grab another in mid air. 7/10

The year is beginning to wind down and Christmas is just around the corner. I've consumed quite a lot of media this year, from my newfound addiction to anime and the usual domestic shows and video games. Over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to review what I considered to be the best of the best in each genre. Today, I'll start off with movies. I'm going to fudge a little bit and include movies released last year as well, otherwise this would be a really short list.

The Incredible Hulk (2008)

Honestly, I just watched this movie for the first time tonight. I will preface by saying that I really didn't have any issues with the 2003 film and saw the reboot of a reboot so close together a little ridiculous. However, that aside, the new film was enjoyable. I didn't love this film, nor did I hate it. It's pretty much the basic tale of how Bruce Banner became the Hulk and how he attempted to cope with it. There's plenty of action to go along with the story and everything flows well. One thing I will pick on, however, was how bad the CGI in this film was. At times I felt like I was watching something that had been rendered with the UT3 engine and there was even a scene where the green screen keying failed to suspend my disbelief. 7/10