Tokusatsu Review: Top 16 Main Kamen Rider Final Forms Introduction.

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Yep it's that time of the year again where the current Kamen Rider gets his Final Form and attains their defining stats, powers and in some cases a huge step in their character development. But the most important reason for this part of the franchise is of course that classic and essential part of mass entertainment no matter where you are in the world.

Yeah let's not kid ourselves here these shows relay on merchandising to keep the machine going and that's okay; money makes the world go round, people need to pay for food, homes, clothing, cocaine, to prevent Lord Xenu from conquering earth and whatever else they need it for. Now I know that it isn't all about the money but hey come on here people need to get paid for their hard work and provide for their families if they have one you know? I know that focusing too much on merchandising can kill a show in a snap but here's the trick, if the show's writing is compelling enough and people get invested enough with the show, then they'll buy the toys and whatnot of their favorite show to not only show their support but to keep a little piece of what they love in their homes to either show their kids or sell on eBay when the toy line ends. I kind of got off track there but the point is a Final Form more often then not helps to sell that years Rider to the fans, to help them decide how they stack up in the franchise. So this is my own personal list of the top 16 Final Forms of Kamen Rider as of 2015.

Now before we begin I will be laying down the criteria as to how I'll be ranking these forms. First is obviously aesthetics, first impressions are everything when it comes to judging something for the first time especially a Kamen Riders form, some might look really cool and badass, others however, might just look so nightmare inducing in it's heinousness that many would assume that the design was ripped right out of the Necronomicon. But yeah if it don't look good, you aren't going to be drawing in the casual passer by. Unless the intention is for them to watch out of shear hilarity by what they just saw, in which case; congratulations Joel Schumacher gives you his pity!

Yeah, the dude who gave this the seal of approval feels sorry for you, bra-vo!

Second, the powers that the form has. Final forms aren't much good if it can't help you take down the bad guys easier. I mean application beats out aesthetics any day of the week and a cool power can make up for a bad design most of the time. But for some of these, man that power better be worth it!

Third, its introduction and implementation in the series. One of the big WOW factors for the final form is in how the thing is introduced. The Rider is pushed to his absolute limit, the villain is about to kill him and make those that the Rider has been trying so desperately to protect suffer before begging for the sweet release of death. Then out of that desperation a new power emerges, symbolizing not only the Rider's resolve to protect those he cares for but also the culmination of their struggle against the threat the villain represents. But sometimes power like that can come at a cost, and the Rider will eventually have to pay the piper, and when that time comes, what will be lost?

Maybe just an arm and a leg. No biggie.

Fourth, my familiarity and feelings towards the Rider himself. Now keep in mind that I haven't seen every single Rider series so I don't know everything about the Riders or their series. I mean I've seen most of them and the four that I haven't I've seen reviews of their series so I at least have a general idea of what I'm working with. So if your favorite Final form isn't as high as you'd want it on the list, too bad, make your own and quit whining. Oh wait I forgot what internet I'm on.

Time to cover my house in bacon, again. Maybe this time I won't get brought to the nuthouse.

Finally, only final forms used in the Rider's respective series are going to be included in the countdown; so no Super Tatoba, no Meteor Nadeshiko Fusion States, and no Infinity Dragon Gold or anything like that. From the first episode to the last those are the parameters I'm going to be judging by and that is that. Now before we get to the list itself I might as well give my thoughts on the honorable mention; Kamen Rider Drive: Type Tridoron.

Why is this only the honorable mention? Obviously it's too new at the time of writing this post. The episode where it's introduced hasn't even been subbed so I can't comment on it without giving spoilers on its powers that I found on a Kamen Rider Wiki. So I just have the aesthetics to work with here; and oh lord this form.

I get what they were trying to do by incorporating Tridoron into the design but it just makes Drive look like if Ronald McDonald became a NASCAR driver. What kills it for me are the headlights on top of the eyes on the helmet, yeah obscure the field of vision even more then the extra plastic or whatever on the sides of the helmet that's practical costume design right there. Also the wheels on the feet don't help matters here. They just look like they'd hinder Drives maneuverability rather then help.

And you thought the big honking wheels on these things looked stupid!

Now for the cherry on top; the symmetry the suit could have had is ruined by the black left arm coming out from the Tire Shoulder-pad, but because the designers went the route they did with the tire they botched what could have been an at least passable design. In short a less then stellar looking Final form for a "meh" Rider for a unbalanced average series. Now again I would give more praise to Type Tridoron if I were allowed to talk about the buildup and powers but as of right now I can't. But wait! If Drive is the honorable mention why am I still calling this countdown the top 16? Well be sure to come back next time for the answer.

Kamen Rider is owned by Ishinomori Productions, Toei Productions, and Bandai.
Spaceballs is owned by  Mel Brooks, Brooksfilms and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.
Batman and Robin is owned by Warner Bros, DC Comics and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment.
Fullmetal Alchemist is owned by Studio Bones, Square-Enix, Funimation, Viz Media and Hiromu Arakawa.
Troll 2 is owned by Claudio Fragasso, Filmirage and Epic Productions.

Video Game Review: Persona Retrospective: Persona (PSP) Part 1: Welcome to the Velvet Room

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One of my personal favorite series of games is the Mega-ten franchise, more specifically the Persona series. This sub series of games focus on themes of Jungian philosophy, self-discovery and realization, the strength of bonds gained from those close to you, and that every person has the power to change themselves. Of course when you just look at the series in a mechanics sense Mega-Ten games are basically Pokemon only with an actual plot, only instead of Pikachu you can summon the Devil!

Pika, Pika mortals!

Instead of what can be considered legalized cock fights you instead control demons and various mythological figures to fight against creatures of pure darkness and negativity. Sounds like fun right? Well it sounds better then anything Square Enix crapped out in recent years regarding Final Fantasy. Now for us to start off at the beginning. Now I won't be covering the original American release of Persona 1 known as Revolations Persona since, well A: I didn't play it when I was younger and B and this is the important one; B: the original localization team took a chainsaw to everything! They pretty much went out of their way to make this as "American" as possible, name changes, dialogue, the whole nine yards. They even resorted to putting one character in black-face, I'm not going to show it for obvious reasons but look up Masao Inaba and see for yourself. Basically they Lolcolized the ever loving crap out of this game, and I refuse to give that version the time of day.

Unclean heathen, you dare to refuse the generosity of American publishers sparing your pure American mind from foreign influence? That's it, I want you out of my country right now, In America! Now if you'll excuse me I'm going back to the most American place on earth, In Columbia!

Wow, I was wondering what happened to that guy, anyway I'm going to be talking about the PSP re-release that came out in 2009. And because it was on PSP it's now on the Vita! Now for the game itself, we open on a classroom in St. Hermelin High School in the town of Mikage-cho where seven friends are discussing whether they believe in a rumor called the Persona game which apparently would allow people who participated in the ritual to be able to see their futures or other similar phenomena. Now for me to introduce seven out of our nine heroes in the order of their introduction. The first is Masao Inaba nicknamed Mark.

Oh hai Mark.

Yeah I'll just be using the characters nicknames for this recap in order to make it easier for me. Markey Mark here is the lighthearted class clown of the group. The person who instigated this event is Hidehiko Uesugi aka Brown.

He could be this universe's Kamen Rider Blade judging by that shirt.

He's also more of a joker then Mark and a bit more smug but he does have a good heart. Next is Yuka Ayase.

I don't like her.

Why? I'll get to why later, she's an air headed Kogal who can get more then a little annoying. For those of you wondering what exactly a Kogal is. Well, think of them as Japan's answer to valley girls and you'll be close enough. Next is Eriko Kirishima aka Elly.

Coming down the isle showing our new school fall lineup!

Elly is a rich girl who returned from studying over seas in America for most of her life. She has a calm, lady like grace and elegance to her, along with an interest in the occult, and she's one of the most popular girls in St. Hermelin High. Next is Kei Nanjo.

Screw the meme I have a Persona!

Nanjo is the heir to the Nanjo group, a group of various corporations. Due to him being a bit of a rich brat he tends to be more of a cold, logical thinker, have some of an heir of arrogance to him, and tends to be the stick in the mud of the group. Next is Yukino Mayuzumi.

If you need help, just call me.

She's a former yankī who is trying to reform with help from the groups teacher, Saeko Takumi. Yukino is often seen as a big sister to most of the student body.

No, but that would make her even more awesome.

She still does her best to look out for people and help where she can in her own way. And finally there's our main hero. Like most main heroes in the franchise he's a silent protagonist and you can give him whatever name you want. But for the purpose of this retrospective I will be using the name given to him in the Manga. This is Naoya Tōdō aka Naorin.

Anything you want to say to the audience? Nope? Okie dokie then.

As we go through the game we get to see this guy develop by his interaction with the rest of the cast and certain choices he makes during the journey. As for the other two heroes, we'll get to them later. Our heroes are attempting the Persona game ritual with Nanjo and Yukino choosing to stay out of the proceedings as they find it to be just bunk. Mark thinks it's bunk too but decides to participate due to a bet between him and Brown. Ayase and Elly side with Brown while you can choose to side with Brown thinking the Persona game is real; or you could side with Mark thinking this is a joke. For this we'll go with Brown since we know what'll happen next. The ritual goes like this, four participants in each of the four corners of a room facing inward, with the rest of the participants standing inside the room. One of the people in the corners will shout out something along the lines of "Persona, Persona, Please come here." (The come here part varies with each speaker). Then the first person walks to the right, till they're standing by the second person in a corner. Then that person repeats that action, ending up near the third and so on. The game ends when the fourth person reaches the spot the first was positioned at the start of the game.At first the group think that the game was a hoax, but they turn to see a small girl that wasn't there before.

No, not that one.

This one actually doesn't want to kill you instead she cries asking for help when all of a sudden lightining fills the room and hits Yukino, Nanjo, Mark and Naorin, knocking them unconscious. They're then transported through a tunnel of gears and whatnot where the eventually meet this guy.

After you answer his question Philemon grants you with the power of Persona, he explains that Persona is the power to access the various other "Selfs" that reside within them, the selfs suffused with divine love, the selfs that are capable of demonic cruelty. All of these various forms of the self can be accessed through the power of Persona. For this and the next two installments of the franchise Philemon mostly acts the role of the mentor, guiding the heroes to their next objectives, teaching them about the enemies they face, and how to access greater power. For now he says that they will need the power soon and that they should return to their proper place and time. Good advice, I'll get back to you next time where we discuss the last two members of the party, the setting, the enemies and the annoyance that is the EXP system.

Please be sure to read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain! and support me on Patreon.

Shin Megami Tensai Persona is owned by Atlus and Sega.
Yugioh is owned by Konami, Kazuki Takahashi, Toei Animation, Shonen Jump and Viz Media.
The Ring is owned by Dreamworks Pictures, Benderspink and Parkes/MacDonald Productions
Bioshock 2 is owned by Take2 interactive, 2K Marin, and 2K Australia

Introduction Billboard Brawl

            Welcome to the first installment of Billboard Brawl. This little review series is to find what could be the best and worst song to ever hit #1 on Billboards top 100 list. First, let me get some things out of the way right now. I have very little taste in music; I have no classical training, no proper judgmental capabilities as to what makes a good song good, or a bad song bad.  I am just a person that has two ears, good hearing, and an opinion. Though part of what I hope to do with this series is to try to find classic songs, champion what I think is good and demonize what is ear poison. In addition, yes this is wholly inspired by Bennet the Sage’s top 20 best and worst videos. I like the videos and everything but, well I am not one to cave into another person’s opinions just because I like them. Also I felt that he could have gone a bit more thorough, I mean sure he had to have listened to every single song that ever hit #1 to even begin to form the lists but I still fell that he could have done more. I do know that music is not his domain, his domain is an awesome one, that of basket ball sized boobs, robots that can grow to the size of galaxies, cops that tie grenades to their pubic hair and where whinny, self important emo buttclowns reign supreme. But most importantly, I don’t believe in something unless I experience it myself, plus this could give me the chance to expand on my horizons a bit, at least where my taste in music is concerned.

            Now this series is indeed covering every single #1 song that ever made it onto Billboards top 100, from inception to now. The format will be as follows, I will listen to every song for that year that made it to #1 and organize them from one to however many hit songs there were that year. For example, 1984 had, 19 #1 hits so from 1 to 19, 19 being the worst of that year 1 of course being the best. The best and worst of those years will be added onto the final lists and when I have finally caught up I will produce my final list to determine what I consider to be my best and worst #1 one song. But wait I hear you ask, what about the following years? Well I will just wait until Billboard releases the list of #1 songs that year, do the whole listing again and place the best and worst of that year onto the respective lists and compare them to the rest. They might top the list, fall in the middle or be right at the bottom, who knows, just give me something good to hear.

            The songs will be judged on several criteria, if the lyrics are good and fit in the context of the song, the music video if it has one. (Only the official video in this case, no fan videos allowed, however if the song is used in a soundtrack I will take that into consideration.) Nevertheless, the most important point is if the song is any good to me. I will also go into details on the artists themselves and what message if any the song is trying to convey. Of course if a band split and made #1 hits in the members' solo carriers I will skip explanation on the artist because I will cover each member of the band during the time of their first #1 and ignore any members after that. In other words, I will analyze the band when they made their first big hit. Any questions just leave a comment and be sure to see my previous reviews on TGWTG and on my blog http://ondavidsbrain.blogspot.com/. Be sure to spread the word and stay tuned for more reviews.