@dunedragon Ask and ye shall receive!

Two children stood in a white room, one with arms crossed across her chest and an eyebrow cocked in mild interest while the other was playing with the hem of his hoodie.

The girl was wearing a cropped blue jacket over a black top with leggings under a pair of shorts, an orange symbol outlined in gold prominent on the left side of her jacket.

The boy was wearing a large orange hoodie that seemed to swallow him whole and almost covered his shorts while a bright blue headband with a matching symbol was snuggly tied around his head.

Regardless of where they came from, both were part of the Hikari family.

"So," the girl started. "I'm guessing your name is Netto too? How did you get here?"

The boy flinched before answering. "Actually, my name is Lan and I honestly don't know how I got here. I remember going to bed and hearing a voice talking about the likes meeting one another. When I looked around, I couldn't find MegaMan and only saw this giant robot looking thing. Then, I was here!"

Netto nodded slowly, lips twisted in a grimace. "One, it's good to know that you have some form of RockMan in your world from what it sounds like. Two, I think were were brought here by Duo."

"Who or what is Duo?"

"He's a NetNavi from the edge of the universe and operates purely on logic as he judges other beings from their planets, decides whether the species or race is good or evil, and then destroys the planet if he deems it evil," Netto explained, much to her counterpart's horror. "He dropped by my planet some years back to judge it, but the test was rigged by his companion, Slur. A bunch of criminal NetNavis were resurrected and mostly given to people who had less than good intentions. A few people were innocent, but a majority of them were career criminals. Long story short, my friends and I beat the bad guys, exposed and deleted Slur, and sent Duo on his merry way among other things."

Lan decided not to ask about the last bit of the sentence that his counterpart muttered under her breath.

"Well, you sound like you've been doing some cool stuff for a while. I just got my NetNavi. Dad gave him to me as a gift when we moved back to DenTech City," the boy explained.

Netto blinked at her counterpart in confusion. "You moved back to Densan?"

"DenTech City, but yeah! Before that we were living in Cyber City! I lived in DenTech when I was younger but we had to move for Dad's job. He then got transferred back to Sci-Labs Headquarters after the mayor was arrested." Lan then shrugged. "Turns out the mayor made it so Dad would transfer and slowly tried to get him to unearth some powerful programs that had been hidden away a long time ago."

Netto sighed. "Our family can never have a moment of peace, at least that is universal."

"Um, just how bad is it? I mean in your world?" Lan asked. "I just started a new school and MegaMan keeps trying to drag me into situations, like trying to make new friends not like I had many in the first place back in Cyber City, but what about you?"

"I'm basically part of a super sentai group that goes around the world and stops cyber crime. People keep thinking that just because they're smarter than the average human that they have the right to steal the hard work from other people to rule over everyone on the planet, so we have to kick ass and take names. I've lost friends in the line of duty and I've been betrayed by them too, but a majority of my team are still friends with me and with each other. We have goot times and we have bad times, but at least I have RockMan and the rest of the family beside me." Netto went quiet for a bit and blushed. "Also, I have my boyfriend so that helps too..."

Lan smiled and softly clapped his hands together. "Hooray for you!"

Netto smiled when something caught her eye. "Has that door always been there?"

Lan turned around and jumped back. "No, no it was not."

"...We're gonna have to go open it to find out where we are, aren't we?"

Lan sighed and took off his backpack before rummaging around in it. A few seconds later, he pulled out a kabuton stick. "I have other things if you need one."

Netto smiled. "Oh, I think we're going to get along just great."

Haru's Birthday Weekend (Prompt: 👾)

What is your favorite episode of Appmon, and why?

OK, I wrote this prompt, so you'd THINK I'd have an easy answer to this, but I'm gonna break my own rules, because as it turns out I can't pick just one episode, lolol. And then I was going to do a Top 5, but I can't do that either! So here are my Top 7. I could probably have turned this into a Top 10, especially since all of the final episodes are SO strong, but I did try to limit myself to one episode per Appmon "arc" (which I'm not sure I could even delineate, but this sounds about right, so good enough!).

Also, periodic reminder to PLEASE WATCH APPMON. IT'S SO GOOD.

Under the cut because of end-of-series spoilers, and to spare your dash!

Also, excuse the bias to these screenshots. I run blogs dedicated to Haru and Knight, and I'm too lazy to take more right now kjdfahkfh

Episode 4 ("Take Your Dressing! Cameramon's Halloween Scandal!")

This episode is a GREAT early episode for its focus on Haru and Gatchmon's characters and their Driver-Buddy relationship, particularly showcasing how Haru is able to think on his feet and use his wits to win the day. Plus it's Halloween-themed. And Haru USES HIS GOGGLES. Literally, what's not to love?? XD

Episode 18 ("Haru and Yujin's Bond - Stop! Rampaging Resshamon!")

I LOVE this episode for paying homage to the Pokemon Go craze. Amazing and incredibly relevant, considering the show originally aired in 2016, rotfl. A very fun premise that also places a lot of emphasis on Haru and Yuujin's relationship, including Haru's worries about revealing his secret life as an AppDriver to Yuujin and insight into Yuujin's character, all important groundwork before Yuujin becomes an AppDriver in his own right.

Episode 25 ("Infiltrating to the Deep Web at last! The Mysterious Cyber Kowloon!")

OK, THIS actually might be my favorite episode. It has it all: gorgeous animation, an AMAZING setting, surreal comedy, a lot of drama, and ultimately our main trio of heroes biting off more than they can chew, ending on a positive note nonetheless. It's SUCH a well-done episode, and is an exciting and satisfying way to wrap up the first half of the series.

Episode 31 ("The Traveling Companion!? Tripmon's Terrible Trip")

While you might THINK I put this episode on my list for the Haru/Yuujin moments, it really made it on here because of its focus on Offmon, his fears, and ultimately... his secret. I love that little guy and the themes of the episode, plus Tripmon has a GREAT design and is a fun Monster of the Day!

Episode 36 ("The Conclusion of General Election! The Hand of Devil Approaching to Eri!")

AKA The One on the Yacht. My favorite Knight episode, if only because the storyboarding/direction is ON POINT and Eri is such a badass. The whole episode is such a wonderful showcase of her character and her plot thread (plus, Knight reveals his true colors to our heroine, in a truly stunning scene) <3

Episode 42 ("Rei's Determination! The Great "Search for Hajime" Operation!")

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the first half of this episode are the best 15 minutes of filler in the entire series. And it's not even really filler, since it's all about Rei getting an AMAZING focus episode that's simultaneously hilarious, satisfying, and completely heart-wrenching in the end. Plus more of Elena and Alice! WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE???

Episode 49 ("The Miraculous Final Evolution! The God Appmon Advent!")

(I don't have a screenshot for this one yet, sorry!)

THE LAST FEW EPISODES ARE SO IMPORTANT, but I wanted to talk about this one specifically. Our heroes (minus Haru) rally and unlock their God Grade Appmon in truly touching and wonderful scenes with their Buddies, with Minerva's question coming into play one last time. And then the visuals of the fight to follow (where the kids hover on platforms at their Appmon's sides in a way that's incredibly evocative of how their Buddies float around around when they're Unrealized) are so epic, in a way that you KNOW this is what the whole series has been building toward. It’s about the SCALE. It’s about the PARALLELS. 👍👍👍 And then we have Haru: despondent, betrayed, bereaving, and being egged on by YJ-14, before... well. Some truly amazing scenes, I'll leave it at that. This episode has me screaming, crying, frothing at the mouth, etc, and that feeling doesn't stop until the series is over. It's SO GOOD.

Thanks for reading!

I'm obsessed with the new Disney film Prey (minor spoilers to come) that has been released this month, to the point that i've already rewatched it many times for many reasons, but the most important is it's impossible for me to not interpret it as a passionate and long love letter to BtVS.

I know that the film is a new "opus" in the Predator franchise but the influence of Buffy is so much everywhere (she spent her time killing all kind of predators on BtVS), that this story could have been easily used to completely reboot my favourite vampire show, if the intent to resuscitate it was still in the air.

Let's be clear i'm not usually a fan of crossover, i saw the first Predator film but wasn't into it because there was no reason for me to bother with so much testosterone, when the Alien franchise offered me years before an heroine like Ellen Ripley.

But Prey is a new concept: i watched the gifs on Tumblr and was immediately and intensely attracted to the vibe of the film, without knowing anything about it.

The landscapes alone (the story takes place in the Northern Great Plains in North America in 1719 so a very wild and breathtaking environment, with seemingly endless sweep of prairies, forests and mountains) are to die for.

But it's really the cast that makes it worth: an ensemble cast of almost only native americans (Comanche people) with as main character a teen heroine (between 16 years old and 18 years old), named Naru and her amazing dog Sarii. They are both at the center of a story that focus on her fight to survive and to protect her community/tribe from a monster coming from space.

A predator looking constantly for new preys, acting with the strength and ferocity of a wild animal and the intelligence of a human hunter, while being also equipped with the most advanced technology (heat sensor, an unbreakable field that can cut heads and many more weapons).

The script shows very well Naru's progression: how she develops her real even solid hunting skills and tools that aren't, despite her training, enough to convince her tribe that she could be a hunter like her brother that everyone admires.

The plot is driven by the question of her ability to eventually come at the top of the chain of all the different kind of predators that the film presents. Will she convince her community that she has the capacity to lead them in the many other fights coming for survival, against the european settlers (and possibly more monsters from space), that are deliberately reducing drastically their habitat and their access to the food?

The most exciting part being how i can make connections with Buffy. This story was already more or less contained in the seasons 3 and 4 of the tv show.

It's like Buffy from the episode Helpless - the version of our heroine without supernatural powers but with better coordination than she had in the episode and still ressourceful - had met Beer Bad/cave Buffy for the fashion sense and they both become one and jumped into the world of Pangs.

But instead of fighting the Chumash people, she would be a part of them and would lead them to fight the colonial and patriarcal system of the white settlers (The Initiative) and the cyber monster half human/half demon that they created: Adam.

The monster of Prey The Predator has nothing in common with humanity, but he strangely reacts in very human way sometimes. And of course he shares with Adam the same physical strength, size and weight, same taste for evisceration with sharp blades and a deep need to hunt and be at the top of the food chain, if only to dominate (but not necessarily to eat).

The cherry on the top/the highlight of those endless parallels and patterns: the fact that season 4 is the season that introduced the first slayer Sineya, and brought Buffy to the roots of her power and how the line of slayers was created.

Naru is "born" (as a hunter) from fighting a demon/monster never seen before but unlike the first slayer she's not sacrificed, forced to take the demon blood and become one of them to equal its strength and kill it. Naru chooses to hunt/fight the monster as a part of a ritual that all the hunters of the tribe must follow to earn their place.

Taking the monster's blood in this scenario would be a sign of victory and social prestige (and it's the reason why she at first wanted" to hunt something that could hunt her" before her journey became a revenge tale against the white men and the monster).

Like i said if anyone wanted to reinvent the origin of the entire line of slayers, it couldn't have been a better beginning.

I didn't think it was possible to get me so hooked about a possible reboot but this film raised the stakes to a new level. All of sudden, i find myself wanting a new BtVS prequel (show or film). Desperately. And i'm even ready for a new cast, as long as it's as good as this one (i've seen criticism of Prey cast and all i have to say is that it's pure racism in my book: they totally own their part, and are more real and credible that you can dream them to be).

Prey really deserves by itself all the praise and hype it can get: it's probably the best action film of the year.

But for a Buffy fan, it's a gift and one so much more exciting because it came out of blue, is so completely unexpected. I didn't need a new obsession but i really needed this new obsession and now i need more of BtVS too.

People are pretty crazy over there lol that's why I have a twt acc just to get some wholesome fanart and twitter fic au 😂

the term "crazy" is honestly too generous for the naruto fandom over there tbh😩😩

Im gonna make a longass rant because gAHH i just--- I need to vent for a sec xD

So like, here are a list of things i fucking hate over there

Sakura vs. Hinata discourse (whY????)

SHIPWARS HOLY SHIT

people are too sensitive 😣

they complain A LOT

some of them are too comfortable with using slurs, (even though theyre non black) 😐

CANCEL CULTURE EXISTS?¿ FOR SOME GODDAMN REASON (instead of educating someone privately, they just take screenshots and post it everywhere, humiliating the account owner in the process)

DISCOURSE AFTER DISCOURSE AAAAAA

Blocking people doesnt do shit because they always make it back to your timeline if one of your mutuals qrted it. I mean, at least here on tumblr you get to filter out the anti posts with the anti tag but like over there, they just pop on your timeline regardless and ruin your whole day. (there was this one dude that accused Hinata of guilt tripping Naruto into turning feral 😐)

cyber bullying is heavily mormalized there, i can understand why some ppl wish to defend their fav and then have a a HEALTHY debate but to the point of calling someone a dumb bitch for disagreeing with your opinion is petty as fuck

some off them have this "woke and edgy" aura "i'm better than you, youre wrong, im right." "im the anime judge so i know whats a good show and what isnt" (this can be seen everywhere actually, but you can find more of them on twitter :DD)

you get #cancelled for having a different opinion

The death threats O_O (D!3, K¥S)

---shit like that isn't funny at all.

Legal GROWN adults fighting with minors 😆 Im not even kidding. There are fans who are like in their mid 20s and quarrel with minors over drawings AHAHAHA

shipping sasunaru and sasuhina is somewhat illegal?¿¿¿?? (I shit you not, one of my mutuals and i were just making up headcanons about sasuke and hinata being besties and there were like 5-10 people *coughs ss shippers* who jumped in our conversation and spammed us with shit like "ohh but sasuke doesnt know hinata, sasuke doesnt care abt hinata, sasuhina makes no sense" I JUST--- I GAH-- I JSHDAKHF

if you make fun of sasuke being gay, they *coughs ss shippers cough* will spam you with "SASUKE IS STRAIGHT! SASUKE WAS INTIMATE WITH SAKURA! SASUKE AND SAKURA RE MARRIED! SASUKE AND SAKURA FUCKED!" and then spam you with some manga panels

not to generalize an entire fandom but the ss fandom over there is a bit.... rabid

Shipping Sasuke with anyone except Sakura is a crime 😃

there was that jacksepticeye incident where he tweeted abt being 31 episodes in and he made fun of sakura being useless and sakura stans were not having it. They started spamming him with spoilers about the show and everything on anitwt just spiraled downward from there O-O

I love Hinata, I really do but some of her fans have this desire to always shove her in the spotlight and overhype her a bit too much "Hinata is the real heroine of the show!" "Hinata can beat Sakura!" "Hinata can beat Tsunade!" "Hinata shouldve been the female mc not Sakura!"

Now, you must be wondering "But Char, if you hate Narutwt that much, why wont you just deactivate and leave?"

--Well, to be frank, I use twitter as a platform to share my fanart (since I get a lot of clout there hehe~) And in spite of the cesspool, there are still some really chill people over there that i interact with so meh. Plus there are some awesome twitter aus too. I try not to waste too much of my time there to perserve my sanity but its still somewhat enjoyable. But over all, its a shit storm over there--just, just don't do it 😔 save yourself

Takeru Sasazuka Route Review

Our next character review will be of the tsundere Takeru Sasazuka. Endearingly designed with hair analogous to seaweed, he certainly gave me a lot to say in this review. He definitely shaped up to be, in my opinion, one of the weaker routes in the game. So let’s talk about it! I will begin warning for spoilers now and in my future reviews due to me having to do a much deeper dive into the plot to explain my thoughts.

Characterization

Sasazuka is a very mean and abrasive character. He doesn’t get along with many people and the friendships he does have are pretty nebulous. Apparently, it’s said he gets along well with one of the heroine Ichika’s friends, Kotoho Sakuragawa. So naturally you want to know what the explanation for that behavior is to endear you to him.

I found that while I personally thought he was cute in his mannerisms you don’t really get a proper explanation for why he has such a thinly veiled superiority complex. Of course, there is the argument that he is so good at what he does that no one else comes close and thus it’s well earned. But Yanagi is their leader and a good friend to most of them, it’s no doubt a position he’s earned yet he’s still incredibly mild mannered. 

You could perhaps explain it via the death of his mother, but Sasazuka’s personality from the brief flashbacks we saw was incredibly well established by that point. So you’re kind of in a situation where he’s just an asshole because well...He is. I know it’s realistic that some people are just mean, but I do expect otome to have a proper explanation for their more prickly characters. 

Ichika herself does indeed become a lot smarter and detective savvy whilst being his partner. I think that characterization was diminished, though because a lot of the conclusions she arrived at were lorded over her by Sasazuka. The narrative never gives her space to really one up him in the investigative department with her skillset, she’s moreso just repeating things back to him that he made her figure out on her own. This is not to mention the fact she has weird hot and cold situations where she behaves like an absolute doormat toward him in some scenes but is incredibly argumentative in others.

Plot Relevance

The plot came in big here in contrast to Enomoto. Your sub villain is an online game addict, A perfect match to Sasazuka’s cyber hacker disposition. His design is actually one of the weakest in the game in my opinion, but it’s still really really good. This is a bit off topic, but a thing I’ve really appreciated about Collar x Malice inparticular is that the adult nature of the visual novel means that the designers have a lot more freedom when making characters. Especially when it comes to fashion choices, a lot of the characters have various quirks to distinguish them from the average person but their colors are muted and blend more into the atmosphere of the game itself. Souda is no exception, his muted colors communicating exactly what you want from him. A picture of him is down below

But the big villain of this route, while surprising, isn’t as surprising as you’d think if you played Enomoto’s route beforehand. He’s definitely a weak villain in terms of motivation, but his personal connection to the heroine and her family plays a huge part in that. It humanizes him to a better degree than others. To top it off his design means you aren’t getting emotional whiplash from seeing someone so goofy acting serious like Enomoto’s route. 

Now on Sasazuka’s personal plot, this was where the route kind of lost me. Sasazuka is looking to reinstate the firearms and weapons ban that was recently repealed due to being triggered by guns. Why, you ask? Whilst they were in America, he and his mother were unluckily caught in the middle of a gang war and his mother was shot. That’s it. While he came out of it with PTSD that I felt was very accurately represented, I just couldn’t help but giggle at the reasoning. A gang war? Seriously? Especially because the game uses it as some odd knock against Americans as if gang violence is something exclusive to them. It just came off as them having little understanding of how US based gangs functioned and using it more like a plot device. 

Character Interaction

This one didn’t get me heartwarmed like all the other routes did. As I said before Sasazuka is abrasive and has few friends. This means that we don’t really get to see him be meaningfully friendly with anyone. You get a passing mention of his being friends with Sakuragawa, but they don’t really show that properly. It’s a very missed opportunity, because Sasazuka’s route is incredibly insular due to his lack of interaction with the outside world. It’s mostly either him alone, him fulfilling the plot or him with Ichika. 

This is especially egregious, because his personality does not undergo any major change. Whilst I didn’t expect any dramatic transformation, Sasazuka is absolutely awful at stating his feelings and the romance never felt like it culminated properly. His kiss with Ichika is shared on the pretense of her being horribly worried for her younger brother, to the point she cries. This causes a miscommunication where Ichika doesn’t understand they’re together until near the end of the game where she confesses to him. His softer side is almost exclusively shown through inner monologues. I feel like he definitely could have benefitted from tangibly showing that softer side in an extended scene, because as it was, Ichika was forced to decipher a bunch of double meanings. “Oh he said this, so he must mean he’s worried about me.” To speak in tropes, too much tsun, not enough dere. 

Final Thoughts

Overall I rate the route a 7/10. Not one of the best. But his donut eating sprite sure is cute.

Spoilers after the break

Alex got busted by fiancé Rebecca and it was the day of reckoning in Mumbai. As the series reached its midway point, here’s all the talking points from McMafia's eventful episode four…

The god of Mumbai is no more

It was Breaking Bad, Bollywood-style. After the tip-off from the mysterious Mexican shipping tycoon Antonio Mendez (Caio Blat) in episode three, ambitious young pretender Dilly Mahmood (a raw, swaggering turn from Nawazuddin Siddiqui) was ready to steal a one-tonne drug shipment from under the nose of reigning Indian godfather Benny Chopra (Atul Kale).

We watched the heroin get slid through pipes to bypass the barbed wire fences along the Pakistan border, then get welded into washing machines for transporting. A dirty business indeed. It’d take more than a boil wash to get those moral stains out.

With the help of a nocturnal raid on Benny’s office, his hapless late-working accountant (coldly shot in the head for his trouble) and terrifyingly talented hacker Jay “Jammy” Chohan (Vishwas Kini), Dilly gleaned all the info he needed to pull off an audacious heist. It was knuckle-gnawingly tense as cargo containers were intercepted and fake security passes checked, but he pulled it off and the fateful Srikkanth Steel container was last seen driving off into the Mumbai night.

I found myself rooting for Dilly, despite his mercurial moods that turned on a rupee – quick to slap (or shoot) those who displeased him. The final scene saw some enterprising young urchins take Dilly to Chopra’s corpse, dumped and undignified on a rubbish tip – presumably executed by silently seething Russian mob boss Vadim Kalyagin (Merab Ninidze) for bungling the operation.

“Who’s god now?” snarled Dilly, respectfully closing the dead man’s eyes – before spitting on his corpse and striding off to seize control of his new criminal empire. It was a changing of the gangland guard.

Kleiman put it on Alex’s conscience

Puppet-master politician Semiyon Kleiman (David Strathairn) ensured it was hedge fund manager Alex Godman (James Norton) who gave the heroin heist the go-ahead. After all, the intel had come from his source, he’d transferred the necessary funds and even found the crucial computer hacker.

This seems to be the manipulative strategy of choice in McMafia world. Kleiman had made Alex responsible for Reznik’s death in Prague two episodes ago and now we saw Dilly do likewise with the unlucky accountant.

When Alex gave the nod – a cryptic “Let me know how it goes” down the phone – he crossed a line. He wasn’t just sitting behind a keyboard anymore. His soft banker’s hands had blood on them and it wouldn’t come off in the shower – even if that scene did fulfil the Norton flesh quota for this episode.

Heroic hackers ran the show

How very 21st century. It was two computer hackers who became the key cogs in the global crime machine.

When Godman Capital’s “heavy metal IT guy” Tobe Miller (Joshua James) was mentioned in passing in episode three, we suspected he’d have a bigger role to play. And so it proved. With suspicious sidekick Karin (Kemi-Bo Jacobs) sniffing around his shady global fund, Alex rehired Tobe on a freelance basis to cover his electronic trail.

We enjoyed Alex and Tobe’s wary stand-off becoming a budding friendship. “Fortunately for you, I know as much about financial fraud as you do about cyber-security,” said the sarky IT nerd, shyly avoiding eye contact and sporting a T-shirt by real-life Indonesian hardcore band Burgerkill.

The pair then bickered amusingly over who worked harder, had more friends and the most fun, before Tobe shrugged: “Trust me, in this world, you’re an innocent.” I wouldn’t be so sure anymore.

It was Tobe who recommended chatroom buddy Jammy as the best hacker in India. Dilly soon barged into his Bangalore home for some of his unique brand of persuasion – sweetened by a cricket bat signed by Indian superstar Virat Kohli for Jammy’s cricket-mad son. (A neat echo of this came later, when the slumdogs pointed out Chopra’s cadaver with an altogether scruffier bat.)

Jammy duly did Dilly’s bidding by hacking into a circuitous chain of restaurant booking systems, email inboxes, chocolate vending machines and, ultimately, the wi-fi network at Mumbai Port Authority. “It’s like Pac-Man,” said Dilly with grudging admiration. But will it soon be game over?

Is Rebecca and Alex’s relationship doomed?

Back in London, Karin found that Alex’s new fund wasn’t just password-protected but he was running it solo, with no reports filed to colleagues. Meanwhile, fiancé Rebecca Harper (Juliet Rylance) found his secret second phone.

The two women met up to discuss their worries at the historic and aptly-named Hung, Drawn & Quartered pub in Tower Hill (half a Guinness for Rebecca – a hint that she’s about to fall pregnant, possibly?). Rebecca’s discovery that Alex had also been checking the weather in the Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Dubai, Tel Aviv and Geneva confirmed her suspicions and she confronted Alex.

“I invest in emerging markets,” he explained. “I work in these places and so do you.” “But I don’t visit tax havens and offshore sinkholes to launder some corrupt politician’s dirty money,” she retorted, as all her speeches about ethical capitalism came back to bite him.

His insistence that “You’re all I care about” followed episode three’s assertion: “Without you, I have no idea who I am.” For Alex, his relationship with Rebecca maintains his delusion that he’s still got “moral integrity” and is “doing things the right way, without my family’s involvement”. If he loses Rebecca, he might well lose his remaining moral compass too.

He came clean – well, partially – and promised to pull out, now that his business is back on its feet. Yet surely he’s in far too deep to escape now? And has all trust gone between the golden couple?

Prague problems led Vadim to rumble Kleiman

Determined to get his counterfeiting operation back on-track in the Czech capital, Vadim coldly shrugged off the murder in episode three (“A cop? He was a thief, stealing my goods”) and put new nemesis Karel Benes (Karel Roden) under surveillance.

The ex-policeman was too careful, so this proved unfruitful – but FSB insider Ilya Fedorov (Kirill Pirogov) found a way. He had drugs planted on Benes’ wildchild daughter, hacked her phone and piggybacked onto her father’s.

The call log soon revealed that it was Kleiman who was backing Benes’ sabotage of Vadim’s business and that they met in Prague shortly before Reznik “fell” from his apartment balcony. Crucially, Vadim also learnt that Kleiman had “an assistant” with him.

Remember Mendez admonishing Alex for lax security after travelling under his own passport? As Kleiman had warned his new protégé: “It won’t be long until Vadim traces it back to you and me.” The Russians could be coming, like they did for Uncle Boris (David Dencik).

Our hero’s family is falling apart

Since his infidelity was exposed in episode three, Dmitri (Aleksey Serebryakov, who also plays the titular medic in the Russian remake of House MD, fact fans) has been well and truly in the doghouse. Wife Oksana (Maria Shukshina) refused to chink her husband’s glass during the most awkward engagement drinks ever, and later told him: “You and the children are my whole life. You have spat on my soul.” Dmitri was on his knees begging for forgiveness. None was forthcoming.

We’re concerned about Alex’s sister Katya (Faye Marsay) too. She kicked off about the quality of her father’s champagne – cava, how ghastly – before the sound of breaking glass as she rowed with long-suffering boyfriend Femi (Clifford Samuel). Katya also seems to increasingly have the cocaine sniffles.

With all this talk of family being everything – by both Oksana and Alex – could Katya be the way his enemies get to Alex? The business end of the series promises to be explosive

Netflix&#039;s She-Ra Is Powerful Without He-Man

Netflix's She-Ra Is Powerful Without He-Man

This is a SPOILER-FREE review of the first season of Dreamworks and Netflix’s She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. All 13 episodes are available to stream right here. 

Etheria’s fearless savior returns to television in dazzling animated form with She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, a reboot of the 1985 series that stays true to its roots while simultaneously reimagining the titular heroine for a new generation. Her twin brother He-Man is nowhere to be found, and that’s OK, because Adora/She-Ra (Aimee Carrero) effectively carries the narrative weight of the series on her mighty shoulders.

Raised by the evil Horde and mentored by the villainess Shadow Weaver – Hordak’s second-in-command – Adora was taught how to be a formidable soldier, hell-bent on conquering Etheria. The diabolical group’s base of operations is located in the aptly named Fright Zone (which tells you everything you need to know) and the cyber-punk inspired animation effectively portrays the enemy’s hideout, looking akin to something you might find in Blade Runner or an old Judge Dredd comic book.

Continue reading…

Netflix's She-Ra Is Powerful Without He-Man

Netflix's She-Ra Is Powerful Without He-Man was originally published on Sarcastard Reviews

Here on the Book Wars’ own Cover Wars, we judge books by their covers: front and back, art and blurb. The Cover Wars has a theme this month: books with ace (asexual) protagonists. Some of these characters are aro (aromantic); others are not.

  [webcomic by Emily Griggs. Book 1 (of 3) is complete as of August 2017. #ownvoices]

It’s 1852, and Clara Adams has had her future planned out for her: find and marry a proper young man, then settle in for a life of quiet obedience and domestic bliss. She’s resigned to her fate, until a bout of curiosity leads to her untimely murder, and resurrection, at the hands of monsters that she’d never dreamed might be more than fictional. Death brings Clara unexpected freedom, along with new dangers and the sudden weight of responsibility. Thrust into unlife with no way back, Clara has to learn quickly, for her unique gift might tip the scales in the secret war against her murderer for control of all London!

Heartless is an action/adventure comic set in early Victorian London. It’s about vampires, self-discovery, more vampires, the struggle against oppression, and very pretty dresses. [x]

Janet: If the cover hadn’t swayed me, contrasting as it does the Gothic novel-style innocent heroine with her red eyes and bloodied sword, the back certainly would. Emily Griggs 110% knows how to write a blurb. I liked Clara and her friends & foes immensely and can’t wait to read books two and three. (Note: book 1 is 72-ish pages long. Reading is not a Gunnerkrigg Court-length time commitment.)

Nafiza: I am not that big of a fan of the cover but the synopsis sucked me in. Must find and read.

[Wayward Children #1. #ownvoices]

Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children No Solicitations No Visitors No Quests

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere… else.

But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced… they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.

No matter the cost.

Janet: Still not over this cover. It is so perfectly beautiful and suited to the story. I like that the back copy suggests how thoroughly tension and danger pervade the school. (Reviewed here.)

Nafiza: I like this cover fine. I just wasn’t too much into the book.

[Abhorsen #4 / Prequel to Sabriel]

Sixteen-year-old Clariel is not adjusting well to her new life in the city of Belisaere, the capital of the Old Kingdom. She misses roaming freely within the forests of Estwael, and she feels trapped within the stone city walls. And in Belisaere she is forced to follow the plans, plots and demands of everyone, from her parents to her maid, to the sinister Guildmaster Kilp. Clariel can see her freedom slipping away. It seems too that the city itself is descending into chaos, as the ancient rules binding Abhorsen, King and Clayr appear to be disintegrating.

With the discovery of a dangerous Free Magic creature loose in the city, Clariel is given the chance both to prove her worth and make her escape. But events spin rapidly out of control. Clariel finds herself more trapped than ever, until help comes from an unlikely source. But the help comes at a terrible cost. Clariel must question the motivations and secret hearts of everyone around her – and it is herself she must question most of all.

Janet: I don’t love either cover, but both have something to recommend them. The first gives a sense of the scale of the troubles: not only Clariel but Belisaere and the Old Kingdom are in difficulties. The image positioning also suggests isolation, and casts Clariel and the dragon as shadows foregrounding the city. On the other hand, the dragon scene doesn’t play out quite like that (uh, spoiler?), and part of the whole point of the story is that Clariel is not the calm, long-dress-wearing young woman she seems to be here. The second cover shows Clariel in action with gloves and blade. I admire how the colouring of her face suggests a mask, while the detail suggests this is her skin – very fitting! She is a single figure seen at close range, however, which gives a new reader little sense of the story as a whole or of Clariel’s context. The back copy is pretty accurate.

Nafiza: I looove the first cover. Especially for the dragon kinda creature who turned out rather sinister and no, this is not a spoiler. I didn’t like the book as much as I thought I would but I still liked it enough.

Princess Lasva is about to be named heir to her childless sister, the queen. But, when the queen finally bears an heir, Lasva’s future is shattered. Grief-stricken, she leaves her country of Colend and falls into the arms of Prince Ivandred of Marloven Hesea. His people are utterly different-with their expertise in riding, weaponry, and magic- and the two soon marry.

When the sensational news makes its way to Lasva’s sister, the queen worries for Lasva at the hands of the Marlovens, whose king’s mage is in league with the magical land of Norsunder-considered by Colendi to be their enemy. The queen orders Emras, a scribe, to guard Lasva.

But it may be too late-Lasva is already deeply involved with the Marlovens and their magic. War wages on, and all are forced to redefine love, loyalty, and power…

Janet: Ha. I cheated. This isn’t YA; on the other hand, if teens read unending series comprised of tomes (*coughWheelofTimecoughGameofThronescough*), there’s no reason they wouldn’t pick up this single, if thick, self-contained book. The cover and back are – interesting, in that they posit Lasva and Ivandred as the central characters, when in fact Esdras is protagonist and narrator. On the other hand, this decentralization of self is part of Esdras’ character and training, so that a front and back cover that mention her only marginally is very, very apt. That said, I don’t love back or front cover – but I did like reading about Emras.

Nafiza: That cover though >.< But I like Sherwood Smith’s books so I will probably like this one. Now to find time to actually find it and read it.

After a shout-out from one of the Internet’s superstar vloggers, Natasha “Tash” Zelenka finds herself and her obscure, amateur web series, Unhappy Families, thrust into the limelight: She’s gone viral.

Her show is a modern adaptation of Anna Karenina—written by Tash’s literary love Count Lev Nikolayevich “Leo” Tolstoy. Tash is a fan of the forty thousand new subscribers, their gushing tweets, and flashy Tumblr GIFs. Not so much the pressure to deliver the best web series ever.

And when Unhappy Families is nominated for a Golden Tuba award, Tash’s cyber-flirtation with Thom Causer, a fellow award nominee, suddenly has the potential to become something IRL—if she can figure out how to tell said crush that she’s romantic asexual.

Tash wants to enjoy her newfound fame, but will she lose her friends in her rise to the top? What would Tolstoy do?

Janet: The cover grabs my attention but wouldn’t make me pick it up if I hadn’t recognized the author’s name and previously heard that the protagonist was ace. The back copy could do with more of Tash’s best friends, since a) best friends, and b) they’re both involved in Unhappy Families.

Nafiza: Kath’s wordsmithery is such that I have had this on my TBR for a while now. I just need to find to pick it up.

The Cover Wars: Asexual Protagonists part 1 Here on the Book Wars' own Cover Wars, we judge books by their covers: front and back, art and blurb.

Plains of Sand and Steel REVIEW (Alisha Klapheke)

5 Stars. Absolutely stunning and amazing. I thought that Waters of Salt and Sin was spectacular, well Plains of Sand and Steel blew that out of the water. I know I said that Waters of Salt and Sin was absolutely amazing and practically cyber shoved the book into everyone's faces, but Plains of Sand and Steel takes all of that epic goodness and blows it into a new dimension of amazing. (So, in short, I recommend reading this book and series, in case that wasn't clear). Now to break it down! The characters in this book were absolutely amazing! (Note: that is the sponsored word of the day, amazing). I adored Seren as a heroine! She was so fierce, intelligent, thoughtful, strategic and all round great. Yet, at the same time, she was insecure, unsure and worried, which made her strength all the more admirable. I would love an entire series just on her. To continue this theme the rest of the world is populated by an amazing cast of crucial and fascinating secondary characters. Ona was great and I really loved the exploration of her struggles. Lucca was a great romantic lead, and I loved how supportive and understanding he is for Seren. Now to the plot - I LOVED IT! The pages practically turned themselves and I'm going to be vague, because spoilers aren't cool, but if you love action, drama, political intrigue and a splash of romance thrown in, then you'll certainly be happy! The writing is easy to read, really descriptive and super immersive. My complaint from last time about some action scenes being too fast - not a problem this time, so this book gets the full 5 stars! I'm not sure what else to say - read this book! I know that this review is 90% gushing, but I just love this series and books so much. I'm so excited to read more in this world and can't wait for a new novella/novel to appear soon *fingers crossed*

 Plains of Sand and Steel releases June 16th, and is available for pre-order now on Amazon!!!! *Thank-you to the author, Alisha Klapheke, for letting me be an extra early reader with this book. I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review*