Personal Post: Top Video Games of the Decade (2010-2019)

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain!, support me on Patreon and watch my Twitch Channel Every Saturday at 10:00 ET

 To think that ten years have already come and gone. As we head into the 2020’s we must take the time to reflect and plan from where we were in 2010 to where we are now to where we want to be in the future. But that’s a bit too overwhelming and philosophical for this guy so let’s instead talk about the best video games of the decade. Now this is all my list covering games that I’ve personally played that were released in the United States that year so if you don’t see your game of that year on here leave a comment and let me know how much of a non gamer I am. Also there won’t be any compilations or collections on this list so no Mega Man X Legacy Collection, Bioshock collection or anything like that. 

 Nor will I put any game on here just for the critical acclaim that they’ve received or what everybody else thinks should be on the list for that year or anything like that. If you want that go to IGN where they’ve most likely put Ocarina of Time 3DS on their list because it’s expected and everyone is a Emperor Damned Sheep. No my choices are ones that I either really do love or have a personal attachment to me as a gamer and as a person. Though to give you all hopefully some idea of what kind of gamer I am here’s the list of the runners up for their respective years.

2010 God of War 3/ Bioshock 2

2011 infamous 2

2013 Project X Zone/Bioshock Infinite/ SMT4 

2014 Persona Q Shadow of the Labyrinth/Ni No Kuni

2016 SMT 4 apocalypse

2017 Persona 5/ Pokémon Sun

2018 Fist of the North Star Lost Paradise/ Bendy and the Ink Machine (PS4)/ Ni No Kuni 2/ Mega Man 11

2019 Luigi’s Mansion 3

Now that you have a taste here’s what I consider to be the best games of the decade in the year of their release.

 Starting off with 2010 I’m going with the release of my very first non Persona SMT game Shin Megami Tensai Strange Journey. With Persona 4 I discovered my favorite franchise and fittingly enough Strange Journey was my first step into the wider SMT catalogue. The best way to describe the transition from the two was like one minute you were watching Diamond is Unbreakable and the next; a remake of Saving Private Ryan written by Alan Moore. Strange Journey introduced me to the negotiation system, a more serious story, even harder bosses, but slamming difficulty and the moral choices between Law, Neutral and Chaos that the wider SMT games are known for. Now I know that this game got remade in 2018 and while I do love it to pieces and consider it essential for your 3DS collection the original is more personal to me and while I will definitely recommend the 3DS version the original game is what I will remember 2010 for, when I took a chance, chose my unit and ventured forth into a strange and dangerous land and will carry those experiences with me forever.

 2011 however will be much shorter since honesty I would rather keep any positive comments toward Konami at a bare minimum considering how they are the pinnacle of the Japanese Hell Company and thus earns my unyielding hatred. Downpour contributing to that as well when Konami tried to release this game, Book of Lost Memories and the horrendous Silent Hill HD collection during the aptly named month of Madness. The last hurrah of the Silent Hill franchise; Downpour was the spiritual follow up to Silent Hill 2 that Homecoming tried and failed so hard to be. Though it did have its flaws with the Otherworld segments being reduced to running away from a red vortex for a few minutes to the breakable weapons the spirit of what Silent Hill should be still shined through without having to lean on nostalgia. Plus it was one of the few games that acknowledges that Silent Hill 4 existed so there’s that. So; short and sweet, this game is underrated and #FucKonami.

 Now I did say that compilations are off the list but that doesn’t mean that remakes of the same game with new original content were excluded. So that means that I can put Persona 4 Golden as my pick of 2012 no problem. Oh the poor PS Vita, a lovely little handheld that Sony sadly neglected. Before the Switch came around this was as close as we could get to having full console quality video games on the go, with the enhanced rerelease of Persona 4 being the pinnacle of that notion. With this game I will forever refer to the PS Vita as the Persona 4 Golden machine.

 Aside from that Persona 4 Gold is basically Persona 4 only portable with new content, simple as that. And if you have a problem with that (other than "please port it to a system that more than a few people own so everyone can enjoy it aside from watch let’s plays") let me know. Not much else to say but it’s Jojo’s BizzaRPG 4 on the go, what’s not to love?

 Now 2013 was a great year for the 3DS with Project X Zone introducing me to new franchises I was only casually aware of to SMT4 my first proper mainline SMT game. But for me I have to give that spot to the game that got me back to a childhood classic, Pokémon X. I skipped generations 4 and 5 simply because I was kind of bored with Pokémon by that point so seeing as I had a new 3DS and needed games for my library I figured what the heck and now I was literally back in the game. Just seeing all of the Pokémon in 3D on a proper portable console invoked the expected reaction. 

 Not much else to say except it was the game I needed at the right time, sometimes you can come home again. Except for now when Nintendo, game deal or whoever decided to do what they did with Pokémon Home, absolutely unforgivable!

 2014 however was a rough year for me personally. This was the year that I finished my one year game design course at the New York Film academy and started to get into the real world. I didn’t have a job for months so until that came around I had quite a bit of time on my hands. And after the emotional roller coaster I needed a pick me up and Studio Ghibli and Level 5 gave me that with Ni No Kuni, Wrath of the White Witch. It’s a cliche to say that certain video games are like playing an interactive movie, but it’s true Ni No Kuni gives you the chance to play an actual Studio Ghibli movie with all the tropes, proper hand drawn art style and the whimsy, wonder and magic that comes with it. 

 Now as much as I love this game I do have some problems with it. Actually completing the game is an absolute nightmare with getting all the Familiars, creating all the items from the Genie, fighting the super boss and completing the Solosseum was just too much for me to bear back then. Speaking of the Familiars I was not a big fan of that, you’re supposed to be a newly minted Wizard with your new companions yet you have little monsters to do all the work for you, sounds pretty weak to me. Completion problems aside this game and Studio Ghibli remind us that sometimes it’s always darkest before dawn, even if Miyazaki himself can be a grumpy asshole.

 2015 was one of the tougher years to pick out though that was mostly due to the lack of games that I was interested in. But there was one game that I was waiting for, the conclusion to the Arkham trilogy; Batman Arkham Knight. While I did have a fun time getting to be the Goddamn Batman one last time before my opinion of Warner Bros withered and died like the Joker. That was mostly due to me playing the PS4 version while PC users were treated to a buggy, broken disaster. Also if you knew anything about Batman history you knew who the Arkham Knight was as soon as you heard him talk.

 Now funny enough apparently the Arkham Knight caught on with someone at DC since there’s an actual Arkham Knight in the comics now. Now before you say anything, no the Arkham Knight in the comics is not Jason Todd. Back on track Arkham Knight wasn’t the only problem since Scarecrow was a boring, droning putz who took himself way too seriously. But thankfully we had the surprise inclusion of the Joker with Mark Hamill’s second to last performance as the clown prince of crime before the bellyflop that was The Killing Joke. As the conclusion to the trilogy that helped repair the reputation of Superhero games it was satisfactory but Warner Bros and WB have burned too many bridges with me to give their games another chance, and that's truly a shame.

 Speaking of licenses in 2016 we got the brilliant return of Ratchet and Clank on the PS4. Now while I never saw the movie that the game was apparently tied into (and from what I heard that was for the best) this reboot got most of what made Ratchet and Clank work right gameplay wise. The game had the proper mix of platforming, gunplay, puzzle solving and a good bit of humor in the writing. I would complain about how Ratchet and Clanks early dynamic was off from how it was originally but since this was being told from Captain Quarks perspective (aka the most unreliable of narrators) I can let it slide since he most likely didn’t pay attention to those parts. Though that does bring up a bit of a problem with that excuse; namely. 

 Plot wise this was a remake of the first game only with Dr Nefarious added in as the evil scientist working for Chairman Drek. Sure, while we didn’t re-explore every planet from the first game it did expand on some of the smaller details on the planets that we do revisit. From what I can gather the movie seems to have the same problem that the Warcraft movie suffered from, namely being too faithful to the source material that it forgets to create a story that it appeals to others outside of the established fan base. But again that’s just what I’ve heard, I could be wrong. Regardless of the movies failings the game itself is a good introduction point to the new fans while being a great trip down memory lane for the old fans. It definitely makes a better showcase for the PS4 than Knack that’s for certain.

 Now before I made my pick for 2017 I initially thought that it would be Persona 5, since it was one of my most anticipated games this generation. But when I finally played the Switch rerelease last year and knowing the development history; I have to name Cuphead as my favorite game of 2017, at least retroactively. Now since Cuphead DLC was included in Smash Bros one can assume most people know about Cuphead through research and pop culture osmosis; bit you know what they say about assuming so here’s the rundown. Cuphead is a hard as nails 2d side scrolling boss rush game in the same vein as Alien Solder on the SNES. It was made by two brothers who remortgaged their houses to keep the project alive and to capture the feel of the Fleischer cartoon style they did the animation for every character by hand! 

 Let me repeat, they put their livelihoods on the line to get their uncompromised game out into the world. Now add on the fact that Cuphead was so critically and commercially received that the game now stands among the ranks of Shovel Knight and FNAF as one of the icons of the indie game market and that would have been enough but for it to be just so damn fun and challenging with era appropriate music, creative and challenging bosses and all for at 20 bucks sets it leaps and bounds over any other game in 2017. If you haven’t played Cuphead you need to rectify that ASAP!

 Now 2018 had the exact opposite problem of 2015 for me to pick the best game since there was so many candidates I could have picked if my runners up for that year were any indication. But my ultimate pick for 2018 was the PS4 Spider-Man. Just like the Arkham games you truly got to be Spider-Man, but unlike the overexposed, multimillionaire Goddamn Batman who constantly drones on about how he touched his dead mother's breast, Spider-Man’s entire premise is being relatable to the observer. Though that’s what my draw to this game is since, honestly I can’t stand 616 Peter Parker. Mostly attributed to One More Day Into The Spider-verse also showed how 616 Peter’s life is a complete and utter train wreck not helped by the writers constantly trying to put him into the “escapist fantasy” box and other people who have the name of Spider-Man just carry it better than him, like Gwen Stacy, Miguel O’Hara, Dr Octopus and yes even Miles Morales are all just better than main universe Peter. 

 But in this game we have a similar Peter Parker but thankfully not an exact copy. He has a better relationship with the NYPD, Mary Jane knows his secret identity but their relationship is on the rocks and spoilers; this Peter Parker takes the “great responsibility” part seriously when he didn’t waste the antidote to the Devils Breath on Aunt May before it could be mass produced. That moment is what cinched it for me, because I knew that main Peter Parker would be that big of a selfish, shortsighted idiot to put Aunt May over everyone in New York if the whole deal with Mephisto was enough of an indication. Spider aside the gameplay here is some of the best I’ve come across in a long time. Sure the combat system may take a few notes from the Arkham games such as the spider sense but unlike the detective vision it’s not game breaking nor does the combat system guarantee a block by pressing a button; it still relies on your skills as a player. 

 Also yes, THE WEB-SWINGING IS THE G.O.A.T! Just the feeling of swinging around New York climbing to the top of Avengers Tower and free falling into the concrete jungle down below and swinging around like an urban Tarzan was just downright magical. But then again these are the guys behind Ratchet and Clank and they know how to make a fun and entertaining game through and through. If you haven’t played this gem, rectify that immediately!

 Now to wrap this up we have the one game that several of us were waiting 13 years for, 2019 finally gave us Kingdom Hearts 3. Now did this game have some problems when it came out regarding the difficulty, yes. Did the story wrap up the Xehanort saga while still having Tetsuya Nomura’s less beloved little writing quirks such as sequel baiting, leaving some parts of the story unexplained or not explained well enough that a whole new set of DLC was released to retcon those parts, yes. Did this game still capture that feeling of childhood wonder, excitement and hopefulness even if you’re not a major fan of most of the Disney worlds, yes. Did this game draw out the ire of some of the worst parts of the gaming community for various reasons, sadly yes. 

 But no matter what anyone says about this game at least Square recognized the criticism and actually did something about it with the free Critical Mode update and the (sadly overpriced in my humble opinion) Re:Mind DLC. Whereas most other companies would have just left it and forget it to drive their reputations into the ground “cough Gearbox” “cough Bethesda” “cough Warner Brothers.” Now as a game KH3 is still a fun old time, though in my experience Proud mode was a bit too easy and Critical Mode took this game from zero to Cuphead in just a few Megabytes which was fine with me and at least you can unlock the Oblivion Keyblade by finishing Critical so there’s that. Now while KH2 is my overall favorite game in the series KH3 as of the Re:Mind DLC is a very close second.  So that wraps up my list of the favorite games of the decade per year. 

 From the end of the PS3, the failure of the Wii U, the end of Steam Greenlight to the rise of the loot box and its subsequent need for regulation to the mistake that was the Stadia and the constant disaster of Fallout 76. From the birth of both the PS4 and, honestly the best console so far the Switch; video games have had a rather interesting and turbulent ten years. Now speaking of Decade; since we’re in the Reiwa era now I have to give my thoughts on the last of the Hesei era of Kamen Rider. If this list didn’t kill me than the next one will, oh well I beat Cuphead, The Valkyrie Queen on Give me a Challenge and Yozora on Critical within the span of three months. Bring it on!

Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey is owned by Atlus, Sega and Lancarse.
Silent Hill Downpour is owned by Vatra games and Konami Computer Entertainment
Persona 4 Golden is owned by Atlus and Sega.
Rick and Morty is owned by Justin Rolland, Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland's Solo Vanity Card Productions, Harmonious Claptrap, Starburns Industries, and Williams Street
Pokémon is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, Ken Sugumori and Statoshi Tajiri.
Ratatouille is owned by Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios and Brad Bird.
Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is owned by Level-5 Games, Studio Ghibli and Namco Bandai.
Batman Arkham Knight is owned by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Rocksteady Studios and DC Comics
Ratchet and Clank is owned by Insomniac Games and Sony Computer Entertainment.
Dragon Ball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT and Dragonball Super is owned by Funnimation, Toei animation, Fuji TV and Akira Toriyama.
Dragon ball Z Abridged is owned by Team Four Star. 
Cuphead is owned by Studio MDHR and Chad and Jared Moldenhauer.
Kingdom Hearts is owned by Square Enix, Disney Interactive Studios, Tetsuya Nomura, and Shinji Hashimoto.

Personal Post: Kamen Rider Zi-O Ep 45, Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger episode 19 and Marvel's Spider-Man Finale

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain!, support me on Patreon and watch my Twitch Channel Every Saturday at 12:00 ET

 Yes, after several unexpected downtime I'm finally back to streaming on Saturdays. Though after getting some much needed feedback I've decided to make a change or two. First I've gotten a new headset since my old one died, it happens and while the audio quality may be different its just something we'll have to adjust to. Second, I'll just try to keep my streams to under 2 hours, minimum 1 hour, at best 1 1/2 hour, 2 tops. This will help me personally since I need to devote some time to my other projects and 4 hours for streaming does seem excessive.

Personal Post: Kamen Rider Zi-O Ep 41 & 42, Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger episode 15 & 16 & Marvel's Spider-Man Part 8

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain!, support me on Patreon and watch my Twitch Channel Every Saturday at 12:00 ET

 Hey yeah sorry about the delay from last week. There's been quite a bit on my plate lately and I'm going to need some time to get everything back on track. In other words, its summer, vacation time is here and I need one. Especially after dealing with the nothing that Zi-O and Ryusoulger's given me to work with! But at least we have the City that Never Sleeps campaign to; ironically help me sleep sounder at night knowing that better content is out there.

Special thanks to my Patreon backer Jesse for his support.

Movie Review: Spider-Man Far From Home: The end of Phase 3 (No Spoilers)

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain!, support me on Patreon and watch my Twitch Channel Every Saturday at 12:00 ET

"I knew I shoulda taken that left turn at Albuquerque." 

 Summer is here and after the events of Endgame it looks like the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is looking for a little bit of R&R. But sadly no matter what universe it is Peter Parker needs to suffer, c'est la vie. This suffering comes in the form of Nick Fury highjacking his class' European trip to have him help a new hero called Mysterio (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) who is totally a survivor from another universe hunting down four elemental monsters to prevent the destruction that his world suffered from occurring in Peters. Of course Peter doesn't want any part of this, but after the events of Endgame the world is looking for the next Iron Man, and since Peter is technically Tony's apprentice and the only active Superhero he's basically guilt tripped into helping Mysterio. So will Peter be able to live up to Tony's expectations or will the four elementals have their way with this Earth?

 Short version of this movie, it's really good, better than Homecoming, and a decent sorbet course to wrap up Phase 3 of the MCU. But it does also help to explain how the world of the MCU adjusted to the people who were snapped out by Thanos returning like nothing had ever happened and having a little fun with it with a pretty funny gag at the start. In the case of education; the kids who "blipped" as they called it (I see what you did there, and I'm still bitter) just had to repeat the year that they were in from the start while their friends and family who weren't blipped moved on with their lives without them. Like for example your younger brother who was three years younger then you is now two years older. The only way your family tree could be even more insane was if you were from the planet Jurai or your last name was Joestar/Kujo.

 But the biggest gaps to fill is the lack of Superheroes, sure there's Dr Strange but he's dealing with cosmic threats. Falcon, Bucky and Wanda are most likely on the run thanks to the Sokovia accords and T'Challa has a kingdom to run. No idea where Bruce Banner is, Thor is in space with the Guardians, Carol is protecting the Skrull and the rest of the cosmos, Cap took the long way home and is in no shape to do anything like he used to, and as for the guys like the Defenders, Inhumans and any other groups from the T.V series? They're more akin to local protectors than facing threats head on unless they're right in their neighborhoods (literally in the Defender's case.) So everyone looking to Spider-Man to fill Iron Man's boots makes sense, but on the other hand Peter's a Teenager who skipped 5 years and is dealing with the fact that his mentor/father figure is literally plastered all over the place as if in constant judgement of him for not living up to his example.

 But at least since Aunt May, Ned and pretty much everyone important in his life knows he's Spider-Man anyway he at least doesn't have to worry too much about the secret identity thing. That's something I do give the MCU Spidey credit for, throughout the life of 616 Peter Parker his secret identity issues has given him absolutely nothing but grief and plot contrivances, thankfully the writers recognized that and at least took measures so that MCU Peter doesn't have to worry about his loved ones. I do want to talk about Mysterio, butter those who've never heard of him before I'll keep my trap shut. All I'll say is that Jake Gyllenhaal's performance makes this character, this really is Mysterio. As for the ending, all I'll say is that I was desperately waiting for a certain character to say this line when he showed up.

 But now that Phase 3 has ended, it's time. As before when Phase 1 and 2 ended its time for me to go down the list of them and list the best to the not as good. Though make no mistake Phase 3 had no movies as bad as Iron Man 2 or Thor the Dark World, at worst they were just fun and with the main MCU Achilles heel holding them back (the boring antagonist).

#1 Infinity War (The big show stopper and finally worth it to see Thanos get his big purple ass off that chair and wreck all of the ass, just to take in that sunrise on that farm.)

#2 Captain America Civil War (This was the movie that Age of Ultron should have been.)

#3 Avengers Endgame (This really needs to be seen back to back with Infinity War to get the full effect, also never just insert Time travel, ever!)

#4 Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 (Another great Guardians movies and thank Yandu's beautiful blue mug that James Gunn is back on track for Volume 3.)

#5 Black Panther (Poignant social commentary with one of the best villains of the MCU despite said villain overshadowing most of the cast.)

#6 Thor Ragnarok (Definitely what Thor needed after the Ragnarok that was Thor the Dark World.)

#7 Spider-Man Far From Home (For better than Homecoming and helps establish the new status quo after the Snap.)

#8 Captain Marvel (Cool 90's throwback, a great female lead; though not as good as Wonder Woman but that's a high bar to reach so, fair's fair.)

#9 Doctor Strange (A good Phase 1 movie and amazing visuals but the villains sucked. Yes, an MCU bad guy was lame color me shocked too.)

#10 Spider-Man Homecoming (The plot was just there and mostly inconsequential. Though it did introduce some of Spider-Man's rogues gallery that never got decent live action incarnations before and Michael Keaton killed it as the Vulture.)

#11 Ant-Man and the Wasp (Most of the same complaints as Homecoming but with a weaker villain with Ghost. But at least she had Lawrence Fishburne backing her up so she's at least better than Kamen Rider Ghost.)

 With that list done we move on to Phase 4. Maybe later on I'll do an overall list of MCU movies from top to bottom, we'll see. But this movie does raise a rather important question that needs to be answered. Now that the founding members of the Avengers are gone (Except for Thor but he's in space so whatever.) Who will rise up tot take their place as Earth's Mightiest Heroes?

 Will it be a family of 4 with Fantastic powers? Will it be a group of young people using the powers they were born with to protect those who hate and fear them? Or will the Defenders get upgraded to the main movies once they ditch Iron Fist? That remains to be seen, but rest assured we'll be there to see it. But as for me, I've run out of excuses, it's time for me to finish Heisei Generations Forever once and for all, this is gonna suck.

Special thanks to my Patreon backer Jesse for his support.

Spider-Man: Far From Home is owned by Sony Pictures Releasing, Marvel Studios, Pascal Pictures and Colombia Pictures
Dragon Ball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT and Dragonball Super is owned by Funnimation, Toei animation, Fuji TV and Akira Toriyama.
Dragon ball Z abridged and Hellsing Ultimate Abridged is owned by Team Four Star. 

Personal Post: Kamen Rider Zi-O Ep 40, Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger episode 14 & Marvel's Spider-Man Part 7

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain!, support me on Patreon and watch my Twitch Channel Every Saturday at 12:00 ET

 Sorry for the delay folks, had to wait till the episodes were up. Anyway once again Zi-O manages to find new levels of incompetence with the introduction of Grand Zi-O. Let me tell you all once I get my entries of Kamen Rider Final Forms updated when we get Zero One's final form this sucker is not breaking the top ten. Ryusoulger gives us RyusoulGold who is basically a pretentious Glen Quagmire. But on to the good stuff with Spider-Man the City that never sleeps where Hammerhead is ready to take a shot at being New Yorks top dog.

Special thanks to my Patreon backer Jesse for his support.

Personal Post: Marvel's Spider-Man Part 6

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain!, support me on Patreon and watch my Twitch Channel Every Saturday at 12:00 ET

 Well, it seems that there's no Kamen Rider or Sentai this week. I'm guessing it's due to Golf or something else airing around the time but hey a break from Zi-O is always a good thing in my books. But we have plenty of action as we wrap up the main campaign of Spider-Man after I had to replay the game due to region incompatibility. After we take care of the Sinister Six and save the city Peter has the future to look forward to after putting Aunt May to rest. Now that the main campaign is done we can move on to the DLC.

Special thanks to my Patreon backer Jesse for his support.

Personal Post: Kamen Rider Zi-O Ep 38, Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger episode 12 Marvel's Spider-Man Part 5

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain!, support me on Patreon and watch my Twitch Channel Every Saturday at 12:00 ET

 Well for once Zi-O managed to give a decent tribute episode with Kagami finally becoming Kamen Rider Kabuto as he wished for in the first episode. Ryusoulger however gets really stupid with a pointless filler episode that finally introduces Gaisorg after his appearance in the Super Sentai Saikyou special. But boy, things sure escalated quickly in Spider-Man. After finally defeating Mister Negative we find that he was just the appetizer for the main course that is the Sinister Six. Now not only do we have to deal with all of the Rykers escapees but also the Silver Sable forces who have turned New York into a police state.

Special thanks to my Patreon backer Jesse for his support.

Personal Post: Marvel's Spider-Man: Taskmaster

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain!, support me on Patreon and watch my Twitch Channel Every Saturday at 12:00 ET

 Sorry guys, been too busy working on Persona Q2 and I have a new idea for a Let's Play in the works so I figured I share my fight with Taskmaster on my Stream off hours.

Special thanks to my Patreon backer Jesse for his support.

Personal Post: Kamen Rider Zi-O Ep 37, Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger episode 11 Marvel's Spider-Man Part 4

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain!, support me on Patreon and watch my Twitch Channel Every Saturday at 12:00 ET

 Ok we're back no track for this week. For Zi-O we have the return of Toku's favorite Uke and Seme and some actually interesting things happening with Tsukasa and some words from Kagumi. With Rysoulger we get a brand new mech and Kou proves that he's at least better than Right, Takaharu and Lucky. But I'm also back in the streaming saddle with 5 full hours of web slinging action and holy Moses do things get dark. Not just from Black Car but also Mr Negative declaring war on Norman Osborn but we see Otto getting funding from A.I.M so that can only lead to good, right guys?

Special thanks to my Patreon backer Jesse for his support.

Personal Post: Kamen Rider Zi-O Ep 35, Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger episode 9 & Marvel's Spider-Man Part 3

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain!, support me on Patreon and watch my Twitch Channel Every Saturday at 12:00 ET

 Sorry this took so long the scheduling for this week was a pain. Would have had this out sooner but life happened and all that. So we have Zi-O and Ryusoulger where both groups are comprised of idiots. But no matter how bad they have it at least they're not Peter Parker. It's not much but hey at least that's better than nothing, right Peter?


Special thanks to my Patreon backer Jesse for his support.

Personal Post: Kamen Rider Zi-O Ep 34, Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger episode 8 & Marvel's Spider-Man Part 2

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain!, support me on Patreon and watch my Twitch Channel Every Saturday at 12:00 ET

 So Kyosuke is the new Hibiki, I can hear the fanbase screaming themselves hoarse after that scene. Honestly I don't think I've seen such fanbase betrayal since Spider-Man cut a deal with Mephisto. Ryusoulger is starting to test me with them continually pulling new powers out of their butts. Though speaking of Spider-Man his game continues to be a shining gem from last year. After clearing out the last of the Kingpin's operations Peter starts the main plot after getting a very awkward snack break with his ex Mary Jane.

 Why's it so awkward, the short order cook, Excelsior.

Special thanks to my Patreon backer Jesse for his support.

Personal Post: Kamen Rider Zi-O Ep 33, Power Rangers Beast Morphers Ep 8, Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger episode 7 & Marvel's Spider-Man Part 1

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain!, support me on Patreon and watch my Twitch Channel Every Saturday at 12:00 ET

 Zi-o has reached the Hibiki arc, may Madokami help us all. Beast Morphers seems to be handling the 8 episode break well and wrapped up the first story arc with a decent introduction of the Battleforce Gold and Silver Ranger. Ryusoulger gets a new General after the show blew its load with the first guy. But enough of that, time to start playing though one of the best Super hero games of 2018, Marvels Spider-Man! After being rescued from the unholy tendrils of Activision; Insomniac (the Spyro the Dragon and Ratchet and Clank guys) took over the propriety and basically did for Spidey what Arkham Asylum did for Batman, at least this will tide us over till Far From Home comes out.

Special thanks to my Patreon backer Jesse for his support.

April fools Post: Tokusatsu Memes 2017

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain! and support me on Patreon.


 Well folks since today is April Fools Day I know that anything that I post will be seen as a pile of bullshit and biscuits so I've decided to give you all some genuine laughs (hopefully) with these Tokusatsu memes that you can look at, laugh at or hopefully use on your forum posts.

Your reactions to these memes may vary but still please enjoy.

All rights go to their respective owners.

Manga Review: Kazumi Magica the innocent malice: Volume 3 Pt 2: The circle of life.

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

Yeah when you look at all the bodies you tend to start thinking along the lines of "God how did I become friends with these psychos?"

 As we delve back into the memory pool Juubey is approaching Kazumi with the wish offer. She accepts it without hesitation and wishes for her Grandma to be healthy but to die as she naturally would. Juubey asks why she wouldn't wish for her grandma's full health or even to extend her life but Kazumi doesn't want to go against her wishes and if that means she'll die as she would have so be it.

Kazumi, only 16 years old and yet still a better person then Peter Parker.

 So with the last day with her grandmother Kazumi asks for her to teach her how to make her strawberry risotto so that she'll always have something to remember her by. 

Oh goody another genuinely heartwarming scene I can't snark at, poop.

 After the story Mirai asks if it's possible for her to become a magical girl. Juubey being the opportunistic hell beast that it is is all too willing to hear their wishes. 

"Kazumi" We can use the museum to store all our excess guns from the bi monthly run. "Satomi" That way they'll be so indebted to me they'll help me to conquer the world! Or at the very least help me do a less creepy version of Cats since, you know they'll actually be cats instead of freaking furries." "Juubey" "You want to grow what now? Ok but don't blame me if people think you're a demon or something." "Saki" "Let's face it with my sister dead I need my ganja fix somehow and I'm not buying from that old pervert with the turtle!" "Umika" "I know someone out there shares my love of covering the world of death rabbits!" "Kaoru" "Now when I go back I can beat the tar out of them myself for that girl nearly killing herself!"

 So the group became magical girls, Kazumi names the group The Pleiades Saints and everyone was having a good time. 

Damn it Mami even when you aren't aware of it your influence is everywhere

 We also saw that when Kazumi lost her grandmothers earrings Saki went out of her way to get new ones, clearly showing some level of attraction to Kazumi; much to Mirai's chagrin. But the fun times ended that fateful night at the Asunaro Dome. They were going to recruit Yuuri into the group until she became a witch. After the group put her down they confronted Juubey and he spilled the beans and how the answer was staring them right in the face. 

In fact using almost the exact words he used when Sayaka became a witch in the show.

 So Umika decided to head butt Juubey so damn hard she rewrote his memories. 

Ok this only makes their actions even dumber since according to Umika now that Juubey works exclusively for them that means that no other magical girls will be able to purify their gems thus more witches will pop up and kill more people! You know for people who say they want to stop the magical girl system they seem to only be focusing on the parts that are problematic for them and not, you know THE PEOPLE THAT'LL BE TORN TO PIECES BY THE WITCHES!! But then again as we saw with Kazumi saving them students do tend to take after their teachers.

 With the flashbacks finally over Kazumi's iris' briefly change into how they were when she had the evil nuts inserted into her, which doesn't escape Satomi's notice. We end this chapter with the group calling it a day save for Saki and Satomi, where Satomi makes a proposal to Saki. 

Now who can say no to such a rational and thought out argument like that with a face like this?

Satomi has gone bye-bye Egon. My head cannon now dictates that this song will now be playing in her head for the rest of her days.

 Chapter 13 picks up immediately after this with Saki asking why since everything's going well this time. Wait, this time; what the hell? But Satomi starts chuckling to herself about how Saki can't kill her since she's clearly in love with Kazumi; she also mentions that she knows Saki's dirty little secret. 

I know you've been using the leftover pods to store your brownies, seriously Saki-chan you need an intervention. Remember what Mario-san said?

 Back at the ranch Kazumi's sleeping after the trauma of the day and Kaoru is asking Umika if things will work out this time with her thinking back to Kazumi's state under the evil nut. Saki then shows up and comes inside asking about Kazumi and if the evil nuts are behind what happened to her. Umika doesn't know but figures that the one who made them who was behind Yuuri and Souju would know for sure. Saki asks if it wasn't the nuts and that this was another failure. The duo disagree both thinking that things are going perfectly this time. 

 Saki however brings up when Niko became a witch and that her soul gem wasn't cloudy at all when it happened. She then starts to freak out saying that even though they all care about "Kazumi-chan" if they keep using their magic the way they have then they'll end up as witches. Umika however knows that something's wrong; since the real Saki never said Kazumi's name with the suffix chan before. With the jig up Satomi has the mind controlled Saki attack.

I'm sorry Kaoru-chan, Umika-Chan but you see; Cookies need love like everything does!

 She manages to incapacitate Kaoru by dropping a chandelier on her which frees her to rush into Kazumi's room and take a stab at killing her. However Saki manages to regain enough control to stab herself with the dagger instead. Satomi just changes her plans and has her bring Kazumi to her. Satomi then opens a secret room and tells several figures that it's their turn. Saki manages to bring Kazumi back to the museum and falls unconscious; Satomi shows up says that she's going to kill Kazumi. 

 She also tells her that the group lied to her again. The truth is that they didn't find out the truth about Magical girls and witches when Yuuri turned, but it was when Kazumi's original self Michiru Kazusa became a witch. She turned but the six loved her so much that they tried to bring her back to life, so they stuffed the corpse with the witch's flesh to create a clone, like stuffing a teddy bear with cotton. Great so on top of mass kidnappings, they've also been experimenting with resurrecting the dead; HOW ARE THESE GIRLS NOT THE VILLAINS?! Kazumi is of course disbelieving but Satomi points out how her Soul Gem looks like a grief seed as proof that Kazumi is really a witch in human skin. 

Well to be fair that was kind of a tip off but hey look at the bright side at least it can't get worse!

 So the volume ends with things getting worse, since the incident with the evil nut Satomi thinks that Kazumi's another failure and since Saki can't get the job done she'll have to do it herself, and by that she'll send the previous 12 clones to kill Kazumi aka clone #13, and she won't even be buried with her trucker hat!

Kazumi Magica The Innocent Malice is owned by Masaki Hiramatsu, Takashi Tensugi, Magica Quartet and Yen Press.

Spider-Man is owned by Steve Ditko, Stan Lee, Marvel Comics and The Walt Disney Corporation.

Bioshock Infinite is owned by Ken Levine, Irrational Games, 2K Games and Take-Two Interactive.

The Combine Harvester is owned by The Wurzels and EMI records.

Tokusatsu Review: Kamen Rider Gaim Gaiden Zangetsu & Baron Part 2: Drive your funky soul!

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

Part two of our double feature starts off with Kaito Kumon walking in the Helheim forest flashing back to the events of episode 21 where he joined up with Ryoma to find and kill the Overlord Demushu, the then theorized leader of the Helheim forest. Ryoma calls in to ask if Kaito's found anything; Kaito says he only found two things, jack and shit and jack left town. Ryoma apologizes for asking Kaito to do this on the anniversary of his dad's death, however Kaito tells him it's none of his business flashing back to what happened after his father sold his factory to Yggdrasil. Kaito doesn't hate Yggdrasil for what happened, what he hates is how weak he was at that time.

We then cut to... um Kaito acting like a complete wacko in a luxury hotel room.

Please stop smiling, you're killing more Kitties then the Puppies that die when Seto Kaiba smiles.

Yeah this mirror universe version of Kaito is named Shapool (or Shapur as the subtitles call him) the heir to a foreign country who's watching the early exploits of his doppelganger transforming into Baron.

"Sir I'm afraid that we are quite late for your Village People auditions as it is without stopping for cakes. Though I heard the owner might be someone as qualified for a part in the band as you sir."

This is Shapur's butler and yes before you can even make the joke, his name is in fact Alfred. Alfred tells Shapur that the cakes will have to wait since Shapur's father has told him to inspect Zawame. Alfred tells him not to be late and heads for the car, Shapur pouts as hard as he can while calling him a tightwad and I'm sorry I just can't get over seeing what looks like Kaito acting so damn goofy, it's waaaay too funny. Now before I get slammed with comments (though at this point I'd take any comments) yes I know that Shapur is played by Kaito's actor Yukata Kobayashi, in fact this is one of the positive points in this movie something I'll elaborate on later as Shapur makes his escape and runs into himself, I mean Kaito.

Kind of obvious which one is green screened. Though they can more then make up for it if they decide to recreate this scene.

Alas no, Shapur just starts annoying Kaito until he maces him and switches clothes leaving Kaito unconscious on the park bench in Shapur's clothes. Okay several questions come to mind here, first shouldn't Shapur knock Kaito out in a secluded location where there are less potential witnesses? I mean parks are pretty populated locations where people could easily spot this guy knocking someone out and switching clothes with him. For that matter, where did he change? Was it behind a bush, a park Bathroom or did he just decide to strip and change in public, I mean even in Japan, a country that sells used high-school girls panties (seriously) giving your twig and berries a breather in a public park can't possibly be the slightest bit legal. I mean people are clearly walking by the area in the following scenes!

Speaking of clothes, couldn't Shapur have just visited a tailor or a clothing store or something to recreate Kaito's outfit? If the point is to disguise yourself as your other-self, knocking them out is not exactly going to make your counterpart sympathetic to your situation dude! I mean money is clearly not an issue for you unless Alfred is handling all of the expenses and thus holds your spending money, but if not then don't be such a tightwad idiot! I'm not even going to get into the identity theft that this clearly brings up and just continue with this mess of a plot.

"And now for Bum Reviews, with Kaito Z Bum"

 Of course after being knocked out, left on a bench and having his clothes stolen Z Bum is pissed off but good. As for Shapur, he's prancing around like Tingle after spending the night with Dr Rockso and Kaito swears to hunt him down and skin him with a toenail clipper. Speaking of pissed off; Alfred and Shapur's father are livid since apparently Alfred was being paid to kill Shapur; by is own father! Yeesh maybe my Seto Kaiba joke was more on the nose then I thought.

But enough about this horrible premeditated child murder now is the time on Gaim where we dance!

Yeah Shapur found where Team Baron is dancing, he starts to dance like a maniac and the rest of Team Baron give looks like Kaito has lost his freaking mind. I mean these guys were handpicked by Kaito to be part of his dance troupe so of course they should be able to spot something wrong about their former leader, and Zach the guy that Kaito left leadership of Team Baron to should be able to see that something is wrong with him from miles away. Nope they just dance with him, Zach you have failed not only as leader of Team Baron but also as a practitioner of Hip-Hopakido. Now go to your room! Even when Kouta and Mai show up they notice that this thing that looks like Kaito should not be Kaito.

It's the kitty Apocalypse.

Who the hell are you?

But even then Mai and Kouta just dance with them anyway, chalking it up to Kaito finally pulling his banana spear out of his ass.

Yeah I honestly have to say this but at this point it needs to be said. Congratulations Japan, you now have yourself your very own iteration of this infamous scene. Take a bow and enjoy.

I'm sorry but it's true we've reached Emo Peter levels of out of character goofiness here, and just like Spider-Man 3 nobody can tell that something is off with Kaito. Even when "Kaito" takes Mai with him to Charmant for cake Kouta's all like "I kind of like him this way". Though personally I do too. Meanwhile with Captain Sourpuss Alfred's caught up with him and thinking that he's Shapur tases him and takes him back to the hotel to kill him. Meanwhile back with Shapur and Mai he's baking a cake in the kitchen, how does she not notice something off with this scenario I mean they, they don't just...... Oh lord I have to stop getting off track or I'll never get through this. So anyway, yeah Shapur is making Mai a cake, why, well most likely so Yukata can demonstrate his actual baking skills. Yeah apparently he's a really good baker, the things you find out about a person. Though, eh I'm curious, I'd try one, especially if it looks like the cake he made for Mai, much to Jonouchi's chagrin.

I never thought I'd say this but thank whoever is up there we're back to the Filicide plot. Kaito wakes up in the hotel room with his arms tied up. (Fan Girls that little thought for later was for you. <3) He overhears Alfred telling his two goons to fit Kaito for a pair of cement shoes thinking that he's Shapur. Kaito thinks that's the reason why Shapur switched with him and kicks the goons asses and ran off before telling Alfred he grabbed the wrong guy.

Back at the ranch Oren shows up and is none to thrilled that Joey just let "Kaito" use their Kitchen. He's about to tell Monsieur banane au revoir when he gets a call from Alfred (he even has the guitar riff played during his transformation as his ringtone) who wants to hire Oren to capture Shapur. But I'm guessing that Alfred only gave his physical description to Oren since he thinks that "Kaito" is actually Shapur, I mean he is but he thinks that Kaito Kumon is actually Shapur all along, which is more then a tad stupid. Point is Oren is after "Kaito" and transforms into Kamen Rider Bravo to fight him since he knows Kaito isn't one to go down without swinging.

After Mai tells him to transform Shapur pulls out the Sengoku Driver, but of course since Kaito had one of the original Prototype belts it's locked to his DNA so Shapur can't use it. Which should be a gigantic clue that he's not who he says he is. But Baron is stuck in moron mode and completely forgot when Ryoma told him about the differences in belts when he got his current custom mass production belt not four episodes before the chronological events of this special!

I'm not even half way through this special and I still have 20 or so minutes to go. So Zach shows up and transforms into Kamen Rider Knuckle to hold Bravo off while "Kaito" and Mai make tracks. That's when the real Kaito shows up and a few tiny sparks decide to go off in Mai's head and realizes that "Kaito" is an imposter. Kaito then grabs Shapur and drags him off no doubt to where he has the toenail clippers. Meanwhile we see Alfred meeting with Ryoma, so you know that something bad is about to go down.

You would in fact be right since the reason for the duo's trip was for Alfred to fund Ryoma's research in exchange for at least 500 Sengoku drivers since Alfred's boss knows that Helheim is coming and wants his family to be among the lucky few to survive. But Ryoma being the crafty bastard that he is picks up that Alfred has ulterior motives due to the amount of requested drivers. Alfred outright admits that he's going to sell the extra drivers to the highest bidders, usurp his boss and take over their country. Ryoma says that he likes that kind of sneakiness and gives Alfred a gift.

A Genesis Driver and the Prototype Dragon Fruit Energy Lockseed.

Ryoma of course is offended that Alfred thinks he can just use his research in his little money making scheme and is going to be using him as a test subject for the Dragon Fruit Energy Lockseed. Yeah free tip dude don't try to shyst a shyster. Back to the wonder twins the two swap back their clothes and Kaito takes back his driver. Shapur tries to apologize saying he just wanted to be free, but Kaito says he did it just to avoid being killed and fills him in on his father trying to kill him. Shapur tries to run when he hears cars but Alfred shows up and starts kicking his ass, saying that his father wants him dead and that he'll be killing him once he's done with Shapur and that he's going to be taking over the organization.

Kaito shows up to kick the goons asses and turns his attention to Alfred having flashbacks to being abused by his father in a drunken rampage and is going to kick Alfred's teeth in because he pisses him off. That's when Alfred takes off the kid gloves and pulls out his Genesis Driver and Lockseed.

Becoming Kamen Rider Tyrant.

Kaito then transforms into Baron and fights Tyrant. But since Baron is an Armored Rider and Tyrant is a New Generation Rider; Tyrant kicks Baron's ass before he switches to Mango Arms and reengages managing to overpower Tyrant so he and Shapur could retreat. Tyrant tries to run after them but the Genesis Driver starts to short-circuit forcing Alfred to power down. Later that night Kaito and Shapur swap back stories that Shapur was adopted since his father didn't have an heir to take over their organization. But since he now has a real son Shapur is just in the way.

As for Kaito he says that after his father sold their factory to Yggdrasil he regretted his decision, was tricked out of his money, started drinking then beat Kaito before killing his mom and then himself in a drunken rampage. Kaito then tells Shapur that the only thing worth trusting in the world is your own power.

Essentially that, Peko then shows up telling Kaito that Tyrant has been attacking Team Baron and abducted Zach to lure Kaito and Shapur out. Now it's personal, Kaito heads out to save Zach and finds him in the standard abandoned warehouse. Kaito then is attacked by Alfred head on, calling him out as the pathetic weakling that he is by just using his unearned power to attack those that are weaker then him. Alfred gives absolutely zero craps if he's a weakling and just as he's about to transform the Dragon Fruit Lockseed starts to sprout Helheim vines and turn him into an Inves.

Alfred still doesn't care and just demands Kaito hand over Shapur, Kaito says he'll gladly do it if he can beat him. Alfred transforms into Tyrant and starts his assault. Kaito transforms into Baron where the fight starts but leads into the dumbest sequence of the special. Baron knocks Tyrant into some debris where he comes out riding a dirt bike that comes out of nowhere, and no this isn't a Lock Vehicle, a normal fully functional dirt bike just happens to be in an abandoned warehouse all gassed up and ready to use. Not only this one but Baron just happens to find another one and the two just start riding their dirt-bikes.

I'm not kidding when I say that this sequence mainly consists of the two just doing stunts on their dirt-bikes, they don't even fight they just hop around doing stunts until the end of the sequence where Baron manages to knock off Tyrant. Do you know how long this sequence lasts? Approximately 1 minute and 21 seconds, yep the first minutes of this specials climax starts off with bike stunts. Look I know that Kamen Riders typically ride motorcycles but we don't want our final fight to mainly consist of bike stunts and only one actual attack done during said sequence, whoever was responsible for this scene needs to be sacked and hard.

Time to wrap this up; Tyrant takes a major hit from Baron and the Dragon Fruit Lockseed takes over him completely transforming him into an Overlord Inves. Baron gets completely overwhelmed by the Overlord when Yoko shows up to give him the Ringo Lockseed that Ryoma took from Touka.

He uses it and becomes Baron Ringo Arms.

With his new power Baron is easily able to go toe to toe with the overlord. Even when the Ringo Lockseed starts to infest him with Helheim's power Baron suppresses it with his own willpower. He then executes his Sparkling finisher and kills Tyrant once and for all. With this victory Baron powers down and destroys the Ringo Lockseed with his own hands. Our story ends with Kaito getting a letter from Shapur saying that he's going back to confront his father, Kaito visits his families grave swearing to obtain the power to destroy the world and Yoko watches from the shadows and sees something from Kaito.

A glimpse of the power that Kaito seeks.

So that was Gaim Gaiden Zangetsu and Baron. Zangetsu was the clear better of the two while Baron made my head hurt from all the stupid. Though Baron does have one saving grace and that's the performance of Yukata Kobayashi as both Kaito and Shapur. The contrast between the two personae really help to show his range. His performance and the silliness that comes with it save that part of the special from becoming unwatchable. Now on to more tasty meat for next time where we get more Gaim action by taking a look at Drive and Gaim's crossover movie. See you soon.

Kamen Rider is owned by Ishinomori Productions, Toei Productions, and Bandai.
Yu-gi-oh! 5D's is owned by Katsumi Ono, Konami and Studio Gallop.
Spider-Man 3 is owned by Marvel Studios and Colombia Pictures.
Duck Soup is owned by Paramount Pictures and Groucho Marx.
Archer is owned by Adam Reed, Floyd County Productions, Radical Axis and FX Producions.
Zoolander is owned by Village Roadshow Pictures, VH1 Films and Paramount Pictures.
Electric Café is owned by Kraftwerk and Kling Klang Studios.
People Get Up and Drive Your Funky Soul is owned by James Brown, Tim Rogers, Cliff White and Polydor.
The Ren & Stimpy show is owned by Bob Camp, John Kricfalusi, Spümcø, Games Animation and Nickelodeon.
Conan the Barbarian (1982) is owned by Dino De Laurentiis Corporation and Universal Pictures.