TV Review: Star Wars The Clone Wars

When I first saw this series I thought it might be worth checking out though I was a little hesitant.  I had seen the Clone Wars animated movie and regretted it but after much deliberation I decided to give the series a try.

At first I wasn't that impressed.  It wasn't horrible but it really seemed to fall flat.  Not much depth to the stories and just no real connection to the characters.  I was actually going to just write the whole thing off when I talked to someone at work who was also watching the series.  He agreed that the first episodes weren't that good but told me to stick with it because it gets better.  As it happens, he was right.

Not only does this series flesh out the missing years between the second and third abominations (aka Episode two and three) it also adds some depth to the character backgrounds as well.  Palpatine's manipulations of the Republic, Anakin's inevitable fall to the dark side, even Obi Wan's background is fleshed out, not to mention a number of other Jedi who are put into the spotlight along with some of the clone troopers themselves (just because the are genetically the same definitely doesn't make them identical).  Personally I recommend giving this series a try even if you weren't a fan of the prequel trilogy though be warned; the series doesn't start to get some good momentum until about a third of the way through the first season.  Until next time...

TV Review: Knights Of Sidonia

Okay, I just finished a binge session of the new anime series Knights of Sidonia on Netflix and I have to say it is definitely worth checking out.

Set on a massive colony ship traveling through deep space, the series follows Nagate Tanikaze as he goes from being a scavenger living in the underworld of Sidonia to one of the elite garde pilots in the military.  The story keeps a very good pace through out and really pulls you in to find out what will happen next.  The animation is top notch and the details are just out of this world.

The only downside to this series is that there are only twelve episodes currently available.  Thankfully a quick search on the web revealed that the second season has already been given the green light so we can expect more intense anime action to be headed our way thanks to Netflix.  Until next time...

Are You Ready For The Ultimate Prize?

While flipping through recommendations on Netflix I stumbled on something that really surprised me.  Sit down and strap in because we are about to race for the ultimate prize.

This is an anime with a twist.  It's not just Japanese... it's also French!  Created by Savin Yeatman-Eiffel and first airing in 2006, this anime follows the story of a team of star racers from Earth (think podracers from Phantom Menace but much, much cooler... and they have guns too!) that have been invited to join the Great Race of Oban.  The prize for winning the Great Race?  Well, to find that out you'll just have to watch!

With lots of action and characters that really pull you into their personal struggles as they work together to win the race, this is an incredible series.  When I first started it up I was a little skeptical but I found that it quickly drew me in and left me wanting to find out more of the story, not to mention the crazy Car Wars like action of the race itself.  I definitely recommend checking this one out if you haven't already!

As Above So Below

Welcome to London Below

I recently had a chance to watch a BBC television series called Neverwhere. Released in 1996 the story was created by Neil Gaimen and has also been released as a comic series and a novel as all under the same name. The story in the television series opens with Richard Mayhew heading to dinner with his fiancee Jessica when they come across a young woman who lying on the ground and bleeding. Richard feels that he must help her and much to Jessica's annoyance he picks the girl up to take her to the hospital. The girl regains consciousness long enough to ask Richard not to take take her to the hospital so he takes her to his house instead and thus begins his fall from London Above to London Below.

Personally I really enjoy these kinds of alternate reality shows and movies so I really enjoyed Neverwhere. I can really see either pulling the whole setting or even just parts of it into some kind of modern horror setting like World of Darkness though there already is a Neverwhere RPG out there and you can't beat the price; free. Just head on over to RPGNow.com and you can find both the original version of the game and also the third edition as well. I haven't had a chance to take a look at either edition so I'm not sure how good they are but I definitely plan on checking both of them out.

As for the television series, I really enjoyed it but it is an English series and some people might have a hard time getting into it.  Must admit that I don't know why it is but there's just something about English shows that some people just don't enjoy.  Kind of like anime, ya know?  Even so I definitely recommend at least giving it a shot as it is an interesting story.  Until next time...

"One more thing..."

While sifting through the myriad of options that are available on Netflix streaming I happened to stumble on a cartoon from 2000 that is definitely worth checking out.

I remember watching some episodes of Jackie Chan Adventures years ago but never the full series. I've recently been able to remedy that (well, I've seen most of the series now...) and I'm glad I did.

The story revolves around Jackie Chan (go figure) but in the series he is your average archeologist who finds himself pulled into a race to prevent a ancient demon from being released from his prison.  And that's just the first season!  The supernatural twists continue in the second season as the demon tries to release his brothers and sisters from the extra-dimensional prison.  Even though this is definitely done as a kids cartoon series, I can see a lot of potential for ripping ideas into your own game... plus its fun to watch which is always a good thing.  Until next time...