Velcro: The Green Lion - Coming Soon

In order to fight fire with fire in the continued war with the Devil Corps, Velcro heads off for the village of Redfield in search of the rogue Magician, Shiki, from whom she intends to learn the ways of Magic. However, the Ninja Kat's infamous reputation follows her, and as such, the only thing she finds in Redfield is banishment.

But as Velcro departs to hone her skills, Redfield comes under attack, and their leader, the Elder Chow, goes missing. And in the resulting confusion, the citizens of Redfield reluctantly find themselves having to place their faith in Velcro to uncover the truth behind their predicament.

Picking up right where The Ninja Kat left off, Velcro: The Green Lion continues the action packed tale that takes our hero into new lands within the Country of Widows, uncovering new secrets around every corner. In these uncertain times as the world grows more aware of the Devil Corps' evil scheme, the lines begin to blur between who can be trusted. And Velcro will have to go back to her roots and confront her demons waiting at home in order to fully unleash the beast within.

Coming soon...

www.VelcroTheNinjaKat.com

Dog Every August Day?

So as some of you might remember, for April Fools this year I teased the possibility of doing a Dog Every Day event this August, similar to last year's popular Cat Every Day August. I even had a theme set to get things kick started, where I would have said something along the lines of, not amused by my Aprils Fools joke, the dogs of the world are coming for me, and they're not gonna stop until I'm DEAD (Dog Every August Day)! Every dog has its day, and this time it ain't no joke. Except, well, looks like the joke's on them after all.

See, while planning this month out, I realized just how little I know about dogs. What can I say? I'm just not much of a dog person, and there's no way I would've been able to improvise daily dog posts the way I was able to conjure up some of my cat blogs last year. And even concerning the Dog of the Day feature itself, when I did my post about BJ, I realized that I knew very little about his character or personality, and as such, most of the post ended up being more about me trying to take pictures of the dog rather than focusing on the dog himself. And I'm almost certain that that's how most of those posts would have ended up turning out, too, which I could imagine would grow tiresome after a while.

So yeah, sorry folks, but I'm gonna bow-wow out of this one (ow, sorry again!). Dog Every August Day's been cancelled. However, I do still intend to do a normal, gimmickless Blog Every Day August this year. Or, rather, an improvised version similar to how I did it last year, where I'll be taking the weekends off and only posting on Monday through Friday throughout the month. So stick around, and don't worry, I've got some other interesting things planned that'll hopefully make up for my lack of dog posts.

Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie

The other movie I caught the other night was the latest in the Naruto series, Road to Ninja. I came into this one already pissed off after having sat through the frustrating Blood Prison, and I was worried that this movie was only going to continue to fuel my rage for the evening. However, once the story really starts to kick in, this movie actually takes a nice little turn and proves to be genuinely charming, and one of the strongest entries in the movie series to date.

The story with this one is that Tobi has created a Limited Tsukuyomi, basically a smaller scale version of his Moon's Eye Plan that transports Naruto and Sakura to what's essentially a reflection of our own world. However, like looking at the reflection of the moon against a lake, there are ripples in this new world, and as such, several of the characters act in entirely different ways from how we've come to know them in the real world.

Unlike all the other movies, this one doesn't take our heroes to some filler land or invent new filler characters exclusively for the movie (aside from Sakura's parents, who technically exist, but we've never actually seen them in the manga. And if we ever do, I sure hope that Kishi doesn't stick with the god awful character designs the anime came up with for them. I mean, good god...). Instead, it chooses to explore the changes made to this new world, and let us rediscover these characters in a whole new light.

For instance, gone is the kind, shy, and frail Hinata. Here, she's open and in your face, unafraid to speak her mind, and quite frankly, she's a bit of a bitch. And this world's version of Sasuke has embraced the fact that he's got women tossing themselves at him left and right, and is quite the ladies man as a result. But in other cases, we merely see characters essentially trading characteristics with one another, such as Choji and Shikamaru, or Kakashi and Guy. It's actually pretty neat to see all the differences in this new world, and it makes for some humorous moments seeing characters act entirely differently from normal. However, there are a few cases where the changes do feel a bit forced, such as Kiba being a huge cat person, or Shino spraying bug spray everywhere (though his random as hell "I hate bugs" line was awesome!).

But the biggest changes come in the form of Sakura and Naruto. This world is said to be an illusion that provides you with whatever it is you wish. And so, in this world, Sakura no longer has her nagging parents around, as they were the ones to have died saving the village during the Kyuubi attack. And meanwhile, Naruto's parents are still alive and well, though they're not quite the brave, noble shinobi that he's come to admire. But it's really interesting to see Naruto and Sakura come to terms in their own different ways with the changes brought onto their lives in this new world, only to realize that, now that they have what they've always wanted, they miss what they already had in the real world. So it's kind of a grass is always greener on the other side type of story.

The movie also revisits the Kyuubi attack quite a bit, and in fact, this movie is probably the most cemented in canon of any of the movies to date. Which makes sense, seeing as Kishimoto actually played a big role in contributing this time around. But that's not to say that this one's perfect. Early on, Sakura was quick to get on my nerves, essentially reverting back to her more annoying part 1 self as she complained to Naruto about her parents, and even mentioned how Sasuke would understand, which is bullshit, since one of the very first chapters in the series saw Sasuke talking mad shit to Sakura for complaining about her parents. But the movies usually tend to do this part 1 reverting nonsense with Naruto, so it was interesting to see a different character fall victim to it instead this time around. Perhaps we could look at this as another case of switching characters up, though I really doubt this particular instance was intentional. And there are some other minor inconsistencies, but it's probably easier to just try and not think too much about them.

So I actually liked this one quite a bit. And it ends with quite a few really nice and satisfying twists involving the Akatsuki and the main villain. The animation was solid all around, and the story was actually really well done, even if there were a few hiccups here or there. But it's nothing that'll frustrate fans like what we got from Blood Prison at least, and everything comes together in a nice, touching package. If you're a fan, definitely check this out if you get a chance.

Naruto the Movie: Blood Prison

So last night I decided to catch up on the two latest Naruto movies that I hadn't seen yet, Blood Prison and Road to Ninja. And while Road to Ninja is the first Naruto movie where Naruto writer, Kishimoto, was heavily involved in, the opposite couldn't be further from the truth with Blood Prison. It was clearly written by someone who's never seen a full episode of the anime or read a single chapter of the manga, and has an only limited idea of the story based on watching a handful of key scenes or looking at a sporadic choice of key panels in the manga. This movie doesn't just contradict canon, it flat out breaks several of the rules of how this world works that have been well established in the story. So, as an avid fan of the series, it was a frustrating experience to sit through. Though that's not to say that it's poorly written in general, as, taken on its own merits and removed from the series, it's actually a pretty decent movie.

The story is basically that Naruto's been framed for murder, including the attempted murder of the Raikage, and has been sentenced to imprisonment as punishment. Once he's imprisoned, we learn more of the backstory revolving around an ancient box that requires a sacrifice in order to be utilized to grant its wielder power, and the darkness that lies within it. I actually kinda liked how this one took Naruto away from the rest of the usual cast and placed him in this solitary situation, as he attempts to break out of prison and clear his name. In that sense, it was a nice change of pace, and Naruto's actual character was handled fairly respectably enough, especially compared to how overly goofy and idiotic the anime writers tend to usually make him in non-canon material.

Where the issues come is in how many of the events that transpire just flat out don't make any sense, and really show just how unknowledgeable with the material the writers are. For instance, they clearly saw Naruto wearing that bad ass red cloak of his when he debuted Sage Mode in his fight against Pain, so they figured that, hey, that cloak must be a side effect of entering Sage Mode, right? Because literally every time Naruto enters Sage Mode, the cloak will just magically appear on him in a puff of smoke. And, well, that's not how it works. Sure, Naruto looked awesome in that cloak in the series, but there was a reason behind him wearing it during his fight beyond just looking cool, and he originally wore it along with a big ass scroll, which he carried so as to be able to summon his clones to the battlefield (another inconsistency, as Naruto is just magically able to summon his clones to his side as well in this movie, an ability that he doesn't posses in canon, and is even explained in detail within the context of the series in which this idea was taken from). So the cloak actually serves a purpose in the series. But here? They gave him the cloak because someone thought it looked cool, and clearly also thought that it was surely a part of his transformation, which is just silly.

They also mixed up the way in which one of his signature finishing moves, the Rasenshuriken, is supposed to work in execution. His completed version of the move works in a way where it completely decimates its target, literally wiping them out of existence on a cellular level. However, the writers confused this with the earlier, incomplete version which Naruto used against Kakuzu in the series, which merely breaks down the cells in its victim without actually erasing the victim out of existence. Now, for someone who's only vaguely familiar with the material, this is an easy enough mistake to make. However, for someone writing an official movie based on this series, it's a sloppy and inexcusable mistake that shows a complete lack of care for the source material. And even with getting the moves mixed up, they didn't even fully comprehend how the move they accidentally used actually works, as the characters who get hit by the it are still able to get up and move around after the fact, which should be flat out impossible.

Considering that they messed up so many things with the main character himself, it shouldn't have come as a surprise that they botched up elements pertaining to the history of the world itself as well (such as the Grass Village apparently existing before the village system was ever even invented). So there's those kinds of inconsistencies all throughout this thing, including several other examples that I won't bore you with, but that'll frustrate fans of the series to no end while they're watching. And even as far as fitting the movie into continuity with the rest of the series, it technically takes place before the war, yet Naruto already knows Bee, which is impossible. Now, this isn't that big a deal, however, up to this point, they've actually done a decent job of fitting the movies in with the continuity of the ongoing series, especially compared to some other anime movies, so to see them really start to fumble this late in the game is just a bit of a shame.

However, all that said, if I were to watch this movie as a non-fan of the series, I'd actually have to say it's a pretty decent flick. And it's dark as hell, too. The designs of the new characters actually aren't that out of place within the Naruto world, and are pretty well written at that, with quite a bit of depth to a lot of them. And since the movie removes all the side cast of the main series, it also gives them a chance to really flesh these characters out and allow them a chance to grow on us. And some of the twists this movie takes are actually pretty surprising, too.

As far as the animation goes, this was pretty solid stuff for the most part. Silliness with the magic cloak aside, the Sage Mode battles were pretty entertaining. And I was actually shocked at the sheer amount of gore on display in this thing. I mean, the main series does have its bloody moments from time to time, but good god, this was rated R levels of gore spraying around. The movie more than earns its title of Blood Prison, that much is for certain, and I'm actually kinda surprised they got away with as much, considering that this series is typically aimed at a younger audience, but I'm not complaining!

So overall, this one's hard for me to rate. On the one hand, this is a movie that ignores the established rules and canon and kinda just does its own thing, based purely on inspiration after seeing select out-of-context scenes and images from the series. So in that sense, it's frustrating as hell to watch as a fan, and I found myself yelling at the screen on numerous occasions. However, as mentioned, taking all of these elements and removing them from the series, looking at this movie purely as a stand-alone, it's actually pretty damn solid all around. So take that however you will, I guess, but if you can somehow manage to ignore all of this movie's inconsistencies or, better yet, you're not a fan of the series already, you'll be in for a bloody good time with this thing. Otherwise, you're probably better off watching something else.

The Wolverine

So there's a scene in The Wolverine in which the title character, Logan, is eating food with the young woman he's protecting, Mariko. And as he dives in, he leaves his chopsticks standing upright. Mariko specifically plucks the chopsticks up and lies them down, explaining the purpose behind her actions as she does so, how it's a bad omen in Japanese culture to leave the chopsticks as such. She then continues to talk about other traditional Japanese customs, and ends the scene by mentioning that Logan wouldn't be familiar with said customs, since he's not Japanese. And as she finishes talking, she plucks the chopsticks up, again, and lies them down, again.

Nobody stood the chopsticks back up, and yet there she was, plucking them up and lying them back down, as if we hadn't not only just seen her do that mere moments before, but explain why she was doing it, as she was doing it. And somehow, nobody caught that. And yes, this may seem nit-picky from me, but this was an example of the kind of sloppiness within an otherwise legitimately intriguing scene that stood out to me and frustrated me as such, and though it wasn't a big deal in the end, it continues to stand out, as my reactions towards this scene pretty much sums up how I feel about the movie as a whole.

"Get to the point, bub."

We pick up after X-Men: The Last Stand, as Logan wanders about, lost with no further purpose in life after he had killed Jean Grey at the end of that movie. The story takes Logan to Japan, where circumstances see him losing his powers, and getting caught up in a struggle that ultimately sees him acting as the protector of the young woman, Mariko. For the most part, I actually liked the scaled down story in comparison to all the prior X-Men movies, the first Wolverine included. There's only a small handful of other mutants here, and none of them really stand to steal the spotlight away from Wolverine, as he fights on to find a new purpose in living.

I also really liked the removal of his healing factor. In doing such, it actually added a new layer to the character, and it added certain stakes to his fights, stakes that I honestly was never even aware were even missing while watching him in action in any of the prior movies. However, the downside to this is that, just like the chopsticks, since the movie makes such a deal of pointing out these new stakes to us, once he ultimately regains his powers leading into the climax, suddenly it feels like he's this invincible man who we don't have to worry about anymore, thus removing those stakes and leaving me no longer feeling too concerned for his fate, which really stood out.

Speaking of the action scenes, these are actually the weakest part of the movie. They're all just so dull and generic, and I often found my mind wandering whenever the story was put on hold to start up yet another action scene. And this is a movie where you could definitely feel that several of the action scenes were written into the script purely because a certain amount of time had passed since the last one, and not because it was an organically appropriate time to start up the action again.

However, not all of them were bad. In fact, the one that I expected to be the least impressed with, based on how terrible it looked in the trailers, was the fight atop the moving train. And yet, surprisingly enough, this one actually turned out to be the most impressive action sequence in the whole movie. And sure, the train scene might not have been the most original idea, though then again, there were also scenes taken straight out of Lord of the Rings (Boromir), The Matrix (that creepy bug thing), and even Beauty and the Beast (the tub scene), among others, so it reached a point where I wasn't too worried about the movie wowing me with its originality.

But this movie's biggest weakness lies in the way that the story pans out. Specifically, I feel that the ending held off for far too long on getting to the point and explaining many of the characters' motivations, because by the time we enter the final showdown, I stopped being intrigued and instead merely felt frustrated. And considering how long they held off on the big final reveal, I was disappointed to see it be the most predictable outcome possible. It just bothered me, and it felt sloppy in execution.

In fact, this movie was ripe with sloppy plotting and editing throughout. For instance, there's a scene where Mariko gets caught, is engaged in conversation with the villains who caught her, then she's knocked out. Cut to the very next scene, she wakes up, walks into the next room, and instantly resumes her conversation with said villains as if nothing had even happened. So... what the hell was even the point of knocking her out? Was there a scene that explains its relevance that just got cut from the movie, yet they still decided to keep the scene of her passing out anyways? I don't know, but it was sloppy, and it stood out, and it just reeked of poor planning and execution.

Which is a shame, because, somewhere in this mess of a movie, there are some really good ideas. Logan dealing with Jean's death and finding new purpose in life, all while experiencing just how vulnerable he is when he doesn't have his powers to rely on anymore, these are all truly intriguing aspects whenever the movie placed focus on them. And even when things quieted down and they went over such things as Japanese traditions, again, all interesting stuff. And it really makes me truly curious more than ever how Darren Aronofsky would have tackled this movie had he not pulled out of it when he did. But after he left the project, I was always worried that this was just going to become yet another generic superhero film, no matter who replaced him. And, sure enough, despite how intriguing this movie may at times get, in the end, the other stuff overpowers it and makes this just another bland action movie in a vast ocean of bland action movies. It's not bad, and what we got was enjoyable enough. But it truly could have been great in the right hands, and that's what's most frustrating of all.

There's also a scene after the credits that pretty much sets up the next X-Men movie, but seeing as how it immediately contradicts the last scene of the actual movie itself, it was clearly tacked on as an afterthought. Though, considering how wonky the continuity is throughout the X-Men movies already, and also considering the tacked on nature of much of what occurred within The Wolverine itself, I suppose this actually is a sort of fitting way to close out the movie and lie down its chopsticks that nobody stood back up one last time.

Naruto Shippuden 322: Madara Uchiha

Going from one of the worst animated episodes in the series last week to one of the absolute very best this week, Naruto Shippuden 322, "Madara Uchiha", is another rare classic. It's episodes like this why I still even bother to keep up with the anime, on the rare occurrence that the source material is actually treated with respect, and the even rarer occurrence nowadays that this high quality level of animation is actually dedicated to a canon episode at that. Because when it happens, it's truly something special, and that's precisely what we got from Naruto Shippuden this week.

The real Madara was finally summoned into the war by Kabuto last week, and this week's episode was the first showcase of his raw power. With slick, fluid animation we witnessed as Madara single handedly took on the shinobi alliance. And what I especially loved was the level of creativity involved when he was in the thick of it. Scenes such as a ninja throwing a paper-bomb strapped to a kunai at him, only for him to catch the kunai, tear the paper-bomb off, toss the kunai back into its original owner, then slap the paper bomb onto another unsuspecting ninja and kick him away to blow up alongside his allies, is just the sheer level of genius that we could only wish we'd get more often from this series' animators.

But episodes such as this that are given the special treatment with top tier animators also have a tendency to let loose and take a few liberties. While most episodes are content with merely using the manga as a storyboard itself and animating the manga panels as they appear on the page (and oftentimes poorly at that), this is one that chooses instead to use what happened in the manga as an outline for their own better interpretation that truly utilizes the images to their full artistic potential in a nice, smooth presentation. And while they may not have gone as far as summoning an entire damn ocean, like they did in episode 167, the slight changes that enhanced the mood and setting to the benefit of the action were still very nice touches.

As a lone Madara faces off against the army of ninjas, the clouds move overhead, casting a dark shadow over the setting as the genuine feeling of despair sweeps over the shinobi alliance. And the scene where Madara summoned the meteor had a sincere sense of desperation to it, adding a weight that was very much lacking in the manga. Even knowing full well what was going to happen, the way the scene played out with Gaara and the Tsuchikage using all their might to stop the meteor as the alliance cleared the area gave me chills watching it. So while this episode might not have moved me to tears or anything, it's still the most emotionally stirring episode we've gotten since the Kyuubi flashback over a year ago.

There's just so many awesome touches to this episode that I could probably sit here writing all day about every little scene or detail that I loved, but I think you get the picture. So yeah, add 322 to the list of awesome, top tier episodes in the Naruto series. And the only bad thing about getting such high quality episodes is that we're almost certainly going to be returning to the normal, typically mediocre quality following this. But I hope it's not too much longer before we get this level of animation again, as I think it's possible that some of the more ridiculous aspects in the upcoming fight between Madara and the five Kages could be of great benefit with this level of care and creativity involved, which could definitely help fix some of the more idiotic moments to come. But I suppose we'll have to wait and see on that, and for now, just be glad about what we have now with this episode. A true classic that I'll be sure to revisit on countless occasions.

Only God Forgives

Director Nicolas Winding Refn returns with star Ryan Gosling with their first project together since Drive. However, it's quite possible that I hyped myself up a bit too much, as this new foray fell well short of expectations. Where as Drive might've been an instant classic, these two don't quite manage to strike lightning twice, as their latest movie, Only God Forgives, feels like a rather empty experience for the most part.

The plot is a pretty bare bones revenge story. Ryan Gosling's brother is killed, but due to complications in the matter, their mother, Kristen Scott Thomas, has to fly in and ensure that proper vengeance is taken care of. But standing in their way is Lt. Chang, a sword wielding cop who takes matters into his hands to enforce his own brand of justice. So it's pretty basic for the most part, as it churns along steadily enough to its conclusion that'll leave you going, "... Wait, that's it?"

Where as a movie like Drive has a gradual build to its sudden onslaught of violence, this one is relentlessly brutal from the get-go, and it doesn't let up to the very end. In fact, it got to the point where it felt like the movie was actually violent just for the sake of it at times. As I mentioned in Drive, the violence is built up to the point that it's shocking, and there's a real impact felt when it happens. We as the audience can very much relate to Carey Mulligan's character as she witnesses the brutality before her eyes, and there's a real gut-check as certain characters are killed off.

But here, the violence is treated like just an everyday occurrence, as we act as witness to a series of terrible events transpiring, with no one to really root for or get behind. It gets to the point where even a scene that should be shocking, such as a man completely gunning down a restaurant full of people, lacks any kind of weight behind it. And I suppose that you could say that this is the point of the movie, but it makes for a very shallow experience as a result.

Adding to the shallow feeling is the fact that, in addition to Ryan Gosling himself, just about everyone else is playing different variations of Gosling's quiet, reserved bad ass schtick. Hell, the only real character in this movie is the creatively foul-mouthed Kristen Scott Thomas, who is actually quite good in the role. Now, they do make attempts to add some layers of depth to these character, such as Lt. Chang's tendency to perform karaoke, in complete contrast to his otherwise serious demeanor. But where a role such as Gosling's worked so well at speaking volumes on the character without actually saying very much himself in Drive, here the character almost feels a bit contrived as a result.

In this movie we watch as Gosling deals with his jealousy and mommy issues in his bottled up manner, translating into issues with women in general, a trait he shares with his late brother, though the two went in polar opposite directions on the matter (their mother kinda messed these kids up a little). And there's also a fascination with hands throughout. For instance, as Gosling sits and watches a prostitute pleasure herself, he'll have his hands binded, holding himself back from what he might do, all the while showing us those possibilities as he fantasizes using his hands to either please or maim. But as the weapons ultimately responsible for all the violence in the movie, whether it be by pulling the trigger, wielding the sword, or just swinging a fist itself, I suppose it's fitting that hands are such a recurring image in this movie, and by contrast, as are their removal.

While the movie may feel rather hollow, the stylized way in which it's shot is pretty stellar. The lighting scheme and the use of colors is truly breath taking at times, and the clear way in which the action is shot is reminiscent to films from an older era, with the camera pulled back to really show off everything that's happening. And being accompanied by the haunting '80s style music feels fitting given the tone and atmosphere. There's even a scene that feels like it'd be right at home in one of those torture porn movies such as Saw, so the addition of a horror sounding soundtrack really works to this film's credit.

In the end, though, when the violence finally settles, I was left feeling quite underwhelmed. The movie's not bad, it's just that, despite its mild attempts at character depth here and there, there's very little meat to bite into narratively. So no matter how bloody and brutal everything gets, it just leaves you unfulfilled. But like I said, I honestly believe that that very well was the point of this movie, to drop us into this inhumane world of endless violence and bare witness with a sense of barbaric complacency that the characters on screen feel, basically asking of us to experience the opposite of my Carey Mulligan example above and to relate to the violence, rather than react to it. But the thing is, without any substance to back that violence up, I'm given little reason to care one way or the other about the actions taking place, which kinda defeats that whole point. So yeah, I was really hoping for this movie to blow me away like Drive did, so it's quite possible that I set myself up for disappointment here. Instead, what we got wasn't nearly as satisfying.