Review: Power Rangers Super Samurai Finale Review

     Another year, another series of Power Rangers gets retired.  This year, it is the retirement of Power Rangers Samurai.  The finale of the season "Samurai Forever" was great in terms of wrapping up the story and nostalgia for older fans.
     As to how it wraps up the story, it does not start out with a "previously on" segment.  The episode begins in media res with an unmorphed fighting sequences.  I like this purely for the fact that it is a strong throwback to MMPR, including the fact that they played the theme for the show during the fight.  Moving on, Mentor shows up and gives Jayden a replacement Shiba Disk to fight Xandred.  Jayden also gets the Double Disk to amplify his power.  So they find Xandred and a bunch of Moogers and fight them unmorphed.  Then, after the Moogers are defeated they fight Xandred.  He gets held in place by a combination of Symbol Power and Jayden attacks him with two Fire Smashers.  Jayden gets knocked back and, in a random act of epicness, Kevin uses the Shiba Disk to do massive damage to Xandred.  Jayden finishes him off with Shogun Mode.  Xandred activates his second life and the rangers become the Samurai Gigazord.  They unmorph in the cockpit and attack head on.  Xandred keeps knocking off zords until they are down to the Samurai Megazord.  They combine all their Symbol Power for one final strike with the sacrifice of their zords and their powers.  They do their victory call with hands in and jumping in the air, similarly to the end of every multi-part MMPR episode.  The show ends with Spike going back home with Skull (Jason Narvy returns for a cameo and some slapstick with Bulk), Kevin goes to train for the Olympics (Setting up for him meeting Kimberly in Megaforce I believe), Mike goes home with Emily, something that anyone with two brain cells called months ago, Mia goes to culinary school, Lauren returns to where she came from, and Mentor decides to teach Jayden the guitar.  The episode ends with the portion of the MMPR theme that everyone knows.
     As for the season as a whole, people overreacted to the quality of the series.  It was not one of the best, but it was definitely not the worst.  Also, people complain about the writing on forums and such but what these people don't realize is that it is not written for them.  It was written for the children.  It served its purpose to keep the franchise relevant during the transition between ownership by Disney and Saban Brands.  The best thing that could be done by the series is not to move to Vortexx but to Cartoon Network. Cartoon Network allows the TV-PG rating, something that the franchise could take full of advantage of.

Final Rating for the Episode: 9.5/10
Final Rating for the Season: 8.5/10

     Two final notes: one, the Power Rangers/Super Sentai Fandom is probably the worst in existence in terms of accepting the Canon, complaining about what the series is doing and complaining about the future.  Two, next week on Nickelodeon, the Christmas episode airs and looks to be...interesting to say the least.  In terms of Christmas episodes, I would rank it up there with "A Season to Remember" from Power Rangers Zeo.

Tune in Saturday at 1 on Nickelodeon for next weeks episode, "Stuck on Christmas."

Review: Kingdom Hearts I

     I decided it was time for me to begin reviewing the Kingdom Hearts games one by one.  First, obviously will be Kingdom Hearts I.  This decision came as the original "trilogy" of games is wrapping up.  Next year, at some point, Kingdom Hearts 1.5 Remix comes out with Kingdom Hearts I, Kingdom Hearts RE:Chain of Memories, and cutscenes in theater mode for Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.
     So, now for the review.  The game is an RPG made by (at the time) Square Soft.  It is a crossover of Disney, Final Fantasy, and it's own characters.  The game follows Sora, a boy who's home is destroyed by creatures known as the heartless, as he searches for his friends.  For this (and all subsequent video game reviews) I will break down the review.

Story: 9/10.  The story itself is great, it has great moments and heroic monologues that make the game's message get through.  I take off the one point because it begs for a sequel at the end and the dialogue, especially with Donald and Goofy, gets painful to listen to at times.

Graphics: 10/10.  In its time, the graphics are the best they can.  Load times are at a minimum and there are few, if any discontinuities in graphics.

Sounds: 9/10.  The soundtrack is great as it helps to illustrate the mood.  It also premiers Utada's "Simple and Clean" to America, a song that I know I will never get tired of hearing no matter how many games they put it in. However, I hope that Kingdom Hearts III will use "Passion" or another song.

Gameplay: 9.5/10.  The game is well balanced with physical attacks, magic, and summons.  To be honest, summons were not used much by me.  The only one I actually used regularly was Tinker Bell because she restores HP and offers an extra life.  The only issue was the one segment in Hollow Bastion where Sora loses his Keyblade and Donald and Goofy leave and, if you aren't reliant on magic, you are screwed at this point because physical attacks do nothing against heartless.

The major drawback of the game was traveling between worlds.  The Gummi system is flawed, mainly because, in order to get to a new world, you need to warp to a nearby world and then travel there.  On the same track, the fact that Gummi Parts are located in the worlds in chests is a waste because, in this game, there is very little purpose in doing Gummi battles. Also, the Gummi battles are too easy because you can easily win by just firing straight and dodging.  It requires little skill to do.

Final Rating 9/10.  A good way to start the series.  Next week, I will review Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories.

Review: All the Little People

     As finals bear down, I continue to review episodes of Adventure Time.  This week's episode was another comedic random episode called "All the Little People."  In this episode, Finn finds a bag of toy figurines of everyone in Ooo that have their own lives.  Like The Sims however, Finn and Jake have the power to manipulate and influence their lives.  Jake wants Finn to stop playing with them, but Finn keeps on playing, destroying the relationships of everyone in the Mini World and having everyone hate Little Finn.
     This episode is cute and has it's funny moments (a few at the expense of players of The Sims).  The Magic Man makes an appearance in the beginning of the episode which leads me to believe that this is not the last we will see of the Mini People.

This episode gets an 8/10 purely for its comedic value.  Next week (as per production code order) should be "Bad Little Boy" but it could be pushed back again.

Correction

Next week's Adventure Time episode is not "Bad Little Boy."  It is actually "All the Little People."

Adventure Time "Up a Tree" Review

     Adventure Time this week revisited their true form with the random episodes with little bearing on the series.  This week's episode "Up a Tree" was a prime example of this.  Here, Finn and Jake's game of catch goes awry when their Frisbee goes into a Tree and Finn has to go get it.  Hi-jinks ensue as Finn eats a cursed apple and is  shrunk down and the animals that live in the tree try to get him to stay there forever.  He escapes with the help of a delusional squirrel.
     The episode as a whole was a strong one, complete with the iconic one episode characters that have better stage presence than most live action actors.  The factor of the cult that lived in the tree was a cute way to introduce a Monster of the Week antagonist.  The full circle ending came back when Finn escapes on the perfect throw, something him and Jake aspired for in the beginning.  Finally, in terms the story, this episode confirms that the waving snail is no longer possessed by the Lich.

The episode gets a 9 out of 10 for living up to expectations.

As of right now, the next air date is not confirmed to be December 3rd, but when episodes come back, "Bad Little Boy" is next.

Also, for those of you who care, "Fionna and Cake" DVD set comes out this February.

Rating 9/10

"Five More Short Graybles" Review

     Last season, we saw the first "Graybles" episode and it was very well received.  The third episode of this season "Five More Short Graybles" once again features Cuber doing his thing and showing five stories each with a common theme.  Where last time it was the five senses with Finn and Jake being touch, Princess Bubblegum being taste, the Ice King being smell, LSP being sound, and Beemo was sight.  In this one, the theme was the five tastes with Gunther being salty, Finn and Jake being sweet, Marceline being savory, Beemo being bitter and Tree Trunks being sour.  In the end, Cuber makes a joke saying that the audience could have thought that it was the five fingers (Beemo being the pinky, Finn and Jake being thumbs, the Ice King being the ring finger, Marceline being the index finger, and Tree Trunks being the middle) but Cuber says that people haven't had five fingers in a long time.
     If we are going to get this and another "grayble" episode later this season, Cuber and where he is better become significant, especially with "Another Five Short Graybles" being so close to the finale.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.  Nice lighthearted nonsequitor after the heavy hitting episodes "I Remember You", "The Lich", "Finn the Human", and "Jake the Dog".

Adventure Time "Finn the Human" and "Jake the Dog" Reviews

     Three weeks ago, Adventure Time wowed us with a stunning display of plot development over a four episode arc that finally came to a satisfying ending this week.
     The story picks up when Finn and Jake go through the portal after the Lich and follow him to the Time Room.  They meet Prismo who tells them that the Lich used his one wish to wish for the extinction of all life.  Finn wishes that the Lich never existed.  It then cuts to Farm Finn who is being told by his mother that he has to sell the family mule, Bartram.  Finn argues and is overruled.  He goes outside and starts talking to Bartram who wanders off.  Finn finds him in a tree and, while trying to retrieve him, falls into a hole.  In the hole is the Mushroom Bomb frozen with the skeleton of Simon Petrikov crushed under it.  A 1000 year old woman jumps out of the bush next to the body when Finn goes to retrieve the Ice King's crown.  The woman explains that Simon sacrificed himself to stop the bomb and the world was frozen over for 400 years.  She has guarded the crown ever since.  Finn goes to retrieve it and the woman fires on him with a laser gun. The laser passes through him and Finn retrieves the crown.  Simon, from beyond the grave, tells the woman, who is revealed to be Marceline, to get the crown.  Meanwhile, in town Finn goes to Choose Bruce (Choose Goose's equivalent) to try and sell the crown.  The Destiny Gang (sort of the rogue entity that calls the shots in Farmworld) steals the crown.  There is a moment of tension as the leader of the gang (hilariously self-dubbed "Big D") is given the crown to wear.  He puts it in his belt and retreats on a ski-lift type apparatus to a large house.  Finn attacks one of the members of the Destiny Gang and the rest retreat.  Finn decides to go after them because they kidnapped both the Crown and Bartram and Choose Bruce gives Finn an add-on for his arm that turns it into a blade.  Finn gives chase and Big D just hands the crown back.  Meanwhile the Destiny Gang torched the entire town where Choose Bruce lives.  Finn goes down and is informed that his house is being attacked next.  He, Jake, Bartram, and Marceline rush home and they find his family trapped in the house.  Finn, in an effort to save his family puts on the crown.
     At that point, the episode switches to "Jake the Dog" and picks up with Finn's transformation into the Ice King.  He starts putting out the fires and shooting the Ice Lightning that is the Ice King's primary weapon at the Destiny Gang.  Marceline and Jake rush down to the hole where we first found her and they watch the bomb go off.  Finn saves his family and Bartram.  Back at the Time Room, Ooo Jake is looking to Finn.  Prismo tells him that Finn is in his own timeline created by his wish.  Jake is told he gets a wish too.  He tries to wish for a sandwich and Prismo tells him to hold off.  Jake decides to watch it as it plays out.  Back in Farmworld, Finn breaks his family free and tells them what happened.  He hears his sibling crying and snaps out of it long enough to send his family away with Bartram.  He starts freeing the Destiny Gang and he hears Jake howling.  In the Time Room, Jake and Prismo are in a hot tub discussing relationships when the Cosmic Owl shows up and joins them.  In Farmworld, Finn goes to the epicenter of the bomb and finds Jake in the green goop that was seen in "Mortal Folly.  Marceline's skeleton comes out and says I told you so.  Finn kills it.  Jake starts gnawing on Finn's cyborg arm and his eyes have the possessed color that the snail and Princess Bubblegum had.  Finn drops Jake.  In the Time Room, Prismo, Jake, and the Cosmic Owl are doing a rap about sitting in the hot tub.  The Cosmic Owl accidentally unmutes the screen where the Farmworld is visible and Jake sees the possessed Farmworld version of himself attacking Finn.  Jake grows and his face is ripped off and replaced with the Lich's.  The screen goes fuzzy and Jake starts pleading to Prismo to wish for Finn to be safe.  Prismo informs him that his wish needs to be very specific because all the wishes have an ironic twist.  Jake vomits under pressure and Prismo tells him to wish for the Lich's wish to be that Finn and Jake were back home. Jake does it and it cuts to the beginning of the episode and instead of the Lich wishing for the extinction of all life he wishes for Finn and Jake to go home.  They do and the gems go back to the crowns.
     This episode taught us many things about the world.  First, Marceline is half-demon and the Vampire-ism was inflicted later in life.  Second, the Mushroom War actually was a nuclear war.  Third, the Lich's creation comes out of the radiation from the nuke.  Fourth, the creation of Ooo is inevitable, just the players are different.

Rating: 10/10.  Great Job

"The Lich" Storyboards

    A lot of information was cut out of the season 4 finale of Adventure Time.  First of all, the Lich is inside Billy from the dream on.  Second, when Lich/Billy says "I'm going to push the Lich in there" he isn't referring to just the void he is referring to a prison dimension.  That's not all either, Finn's dad was a great hero of Ooo that was unjustly locked up in the Prison Dimension.  The Lich also says to Finn when he is bargaining for the book that he can bring his parents back.  I assume that any similarities to Harry Potter are purely coincidental.

Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 Reviews with Spoilers

     Very few other things compare to the feeling of satisfaction when a person finally wrecks the Champion in any Pokemon game.  Pokemon Black 2 and Pokemon White 2 make it all the more satisfying because of the context of the journey to get to that point.
     While the game may continue two years after the events of Pokemon Black and Pokemon White, there are immediate and noticeable changes.  You start off in a new city in a portion of the Unova region that was previously a forest.  Cheren, your rival from the first game, is the first gym leader while Bianca, your other rival from the first game, is an assistant to the resident Pokemon expert for the region, Professor Juniper.  Alder, the previous game's champion, makes a return appearance early.
     After playing through for a while, you get the opportunity to return to old locales.  There are differences in the appearance and subtle changes in the layout but majorly, they have new areas to explore.  The game progresses linearly, get to town, fight Team Plasma, fight gym leader, rinse and repeat which helps to ensure that players stay on track with the game.  It should also be noted that the role of the HM has been minimized more by removing badge requirements to use them.
     After beating the eighth gym, you confront Team Plasma.  The final scene makes excellent use of the processing power that the DS possesses in terms of usage of the 3D graphics and leaves the game open with the cliffhanger.  You then go on to fight the champion and beat the game.
     You may be wondering to yourself, where are the spoilers?  Here they are.  This game features many references back to Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald.  One includes the Colress Machine which moves Pokemon that are blocking routes.  This functions similarly to the Devon Scope to remove Kecleon from in front of the Fortree gym.  Also, unlike in past games, one of the gym leaders is very important in terms of plot development.  In R/S/E Wallace was important to stop Groudon/Kyogre while here Drayden has the DNA Splicers to fuse Kyurem with Reshiram/Zekrom.  The eighth gym is water, sharing this trait only with R/S/E and the town where the eighth gym is located is designed similarly to Pacifidlog Town where the wood houses floated on the water.  Finally, the eighth gym leader from the previous game becomes the champion with the previous game's champion still able to be battled.
     I give this game a 9.5/10 and I am looking forward to the R/S/E remakes.

Final Rating: 9.5/10

Adventure Time Seasom 5 News **Massive Spoilers**

     According to an animatic clip that I have watched, we will see Finn's dad in the season premier of Season 5.  We will also see Finn's little sibling.  Finn will meet Simon in the episode and he will wear the Ice King's Crown. 

Power Rangers Super Samurai "Stroke of Fate" Review

   Having finally been able to seen the episode that should have aired last week, the Serrator story arc came to a close.  Picking up immediately after the last episode the Rangers find themselves in the ruins of where the ground exploded.  As they recover Antonio notices Deker (you may remember him as Cole Evans, the Red Wild Force Ranger) lying unconscious.  Rather than just killing him there to completely destroy Serrator's plot (and save Jayden a ton of trouble down the road) he lets him go.  Conflicted with this decision, he brings it up in the post-defeat meeting.  Antonio decides to go after Deker himself leaving behind Lightzord and a note.  Just as Mike and Kevin discover the note, the gap sensor sounds and Serrator reappears.  Jayden takes Mia and Emily (ladies man) and goes to Serrator while Mike and Kevin go after Antonio.  Needless to say, Mia, Emily, and Jayden have to deal with Moogers and defeat them handily while Antonio attempts to reason with Deker.  Deker attacks and Mike, Kevin, and Antonio are all beaten and Deker escapes.  Serrator not only defeats the other three but makes them de-morph.  Deker arrives and Serrator starts monologue-ing (yes monologue-ing) when Antonio, Kevin and Mike arrive.  They are also knocked out of commission.  Deker, instead of slicing the world open, decides to strike Serrator.  The Rangers morph and defeat Serrator's smaller version.  Then the drawn out Megazord battle ensues starting out with Claw Armor, Bull, Light, and Samurai Zords fighting against Serrator and two Papyrox.  Then they combine to the Samurai Gigazord.  That fails and they have to beat Serrator with the Samurai Gigazord, Shark Attack Mode, with Red Shogun Mode.

     It was one of the better episodes of the series and it exemplified the acting abilities of Mike and Antonio (in perspective of course).  The best part of the episode was the MMPR reference by Bulk.  Megazord sequences should have been cut down and I swear to god if Deker says "My Sword Uramasa" one more time, I will save Jayden the trouble of killing him.

This episode gets a 8.5 out of 10 purely because it is clearing the train wreck that is Power Rangers Samurai off the air.  Also, if you were to make a drinking game where you take a shot every time Deker references his sword, the rangers morph, the rangers use a more powerful weapon, and every different Zord combination, just on this episode you would be D.O.A.

8.5 out of 10.  Please no Megaforce drinking games.

Catch Power Rangers Samurai every Saturday at 1 P.M. Eastern Time on Nickelodeon, Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Jungle Fury, Time Force, and Ninja Storm on at assorted times on Nicktoons Network and Power Rangers SPD starting Sunday November 11th at 10 A.M. for Morphenomenon on Nicktoons Network.

Adventure Time Season 5 Episode Titles

Here is the list of tentative episode names as put out by Pendleton Ward:

1014-105 Finn the Human

1014-106 Jake the Dog

1014-107 Five More Short Graybles

1014-108 Up a Tree

1014-109 All the Little People

1014-110 Bad Little Boy

1014-111 Jake the Dad

1014-112 Davey

1014-113 Mystery Dungeon

1014-114 Little Dude

1014-115 All Your Fault

1014-116 Vault of Bones

1014-117 The Great Bird Man

1014-118 Simon and Marcy

1014-119 Puhoy

1014-120 A Glitch Is a Glitch

1014-121 One Last Job

1014-122 Princess Potluck

1014-123 BMO Lost

1014-124 James Baxter the Horse

1014-129 Shhh

1014-130 The Suitor

1014-131 The Party’s Over, Isla de Senora

1014-132 Another Five Short Graybles

1014-133 LSP Gets Robbed

1014-134 Only Wizards Allowed

As you can see, we get two more Grayble episodes, Jake's puppies are born, Finn the Human and Jake the Dog are the first two episodes on the 12th, the finale takes place in Wizard City, BMO has at least one episode (maybe two depending on the glitch episode) and most important: an episode about Simon and Marceline.  Bad Little Boy is the genderswap with Fionna and Cake.

Source: http://adventuretimeart.frederator.com/post/34847035669/on-the-verge-of-season-five-hey-sports-fans

Thoughts after the Season 5 TV Spot

     The TV Spot for Adventure Time gives away a lot in regards to what happened/what will happen.  We now know that after going into the portal, Finn and Jake follow the Lich to a room that resembles the Time Room as shown in the map of the multiverse.  A strange being that grants wishes grants the Lich's wish for "the extinction of all life."  Aside from the question of why anyone would want all life to be eliminated especially when they could easily rule the world, Finn and Jake each get one wish.  Finn wishes that the Lich never existed.  While Finn is saying this, there are two scenes that are shown.  One is the Lich moving through a ruined city with other similar sized undead beasts and the other is Simon Petrikov looking up at bomber planes flying overhead.  It then cuts to Huck Finn waking up and saying "What?" in typical Finn fashion.

The clip can be found here:

Here we have the Adventure Time Season 5 TV Spot

I don't even...  Full thoughts on this tomorrow when it is not 1:45 in the morning and I don't have class in seven hours.  I am just going to sleep until things make sense again.

Nicktoons Network Power Rangers SPD and Power Rangers Super Samurai "Trickster Treat" Review

For those of you interested, Power Rangers SPD will be airing on Nicktoons Network starting with a 48 hour marathon on Sunday, November 11th at 9 am.

As for "Trickster Treat": do not waste your time watching this episode.  It is the worst written episode and worst acted episode of the worst season of Power Rangers.  There is no scene that was originally recorded for this episode and the unmorphed ranger scene is from the finale.  And the worst part about this is that it disrupted the main series of events to say "it's Halloween, let's show a Halloween episode that is vaguely related to Halloween."

Terrible use of Shinkenger Returns Saban, why make it.  Nickelodeon, what are you thinking.

0.5/10

Discontinuity that went unnoticed

   I noticed this about the episodes "Holly Jolly Secrets" and "I Remember You."  There is a slight discontinuity about the Ice King.  In "Holly Jolly Secrets" the Ice King appears to remember his past and knows that he was at one point Simon Petrikov.  In "I Remember You" he has no recollection of Simon even after watching the tapes with Finn and Jake that established his back story.  Here is my theory behind this: the crown hasn't completed it's process of transforming Simon into the Ice King and he will inevitably reach his "final form" that will transfer his character from neutral evil to chaotic evil and require him to be slain by Finn and Jake or rescue Simon from within the Ice King. 

After the Adventure Time Blow Out

I finally got back to work on The Legend of Arkana and here is a new poster.  Don't be to harsh, my photoshop and artistic skills are terrible.

#LegendsLive

And Finally...

My thoughts on "The Lich":

“Scared something fierce”

Billy asks about the cosmic owl

Stealing the gems

Finn finds the Enchiridion in Billy’s bag

Billy found it in a bear’s mouth

Turn the sword on the E. and it opens up and the gems go in.

Hello, My name is Book-o.  What you see here is a map of the multiverse.  It shows all the known dimensions and the links between them.  This is the dimension that contains the universe in which we currently reside.  At the center of the multiverse is a dimension called the time room believed to be a quasi-comporial dwelling place of the all mighty prismo.  The time room is a secret dimension that exists outside of time.  The Time Room produces time waves that are experienced by other dimensions.  Some dimensions have permanent links that allow travel to and fro.  Others become linked temporarily by naturally forming wormholes and others can become linked artificially by magical portals opened by objects of great power.  Once the last gem is inserted into the Enchirideon it will have the power to create a portal to any dimension in the multiverse.  An activated portal has the power to create a time dilation in which either side of the portal experiences a temporal synchronization allowing for the safe passage of particles through a nonlocal region of spacetime. 

Finn and Jake steal Princess Bubblegum’s gem.

The Enchirideon turns to stone.

Billy is actually the Lich.

Lich offers Finn immortality.

Finn destroys the Enchirideon.

It forms the portal anyway

Jake tries to stop the Lich

Finn helps Jake

Both get pulled into the portal and it vanishes.                           

Fade to white like the end of Lost season 5

Finn is sitting barefoot on the root of a tree with Jake sitting like a normal dog next to him on a farm with a barn/tractor.  He has a visible nose and a robotic arm.  He is fatter with a sash going across his chest.  Jake’s eyes are different and he is also slightly fatter.  Finn is playing a flute type instrument.  Jake howls and it is unknown if he can speak English.  Finn is called inside by a woman in a pink dress with a ring on.  Finn refers to her as “Mom.”  The barn has a very steampunk look to it.

“Finn, Finn will you come in here please.  Hurry!  It is very important. ” 

Thoughts on "I Remember You":

Marceline, is it just you and me in the wreckage of the world?  That must be so confusing for a little girl.  And I know you’re going to need me here with you.  But I’m losing myself and I’m afraid you’re going to lose me too.  This magic keeps me alive, but it’s making me crazy and I need to save you but who is going to save me?  Please forgive me for whatever I do when I don’t remember you.

Marceline, I can feel myself slipping away.  I can’t remember what it made me say but I remember that I saw you frown.  I swear it wasn’t me, it was the crown. This magic keeps me alive, but it’s making me crazy and I need to save you but who is going to save me?  Please forgive me for whatever I do when I don’t remember you.

It is assumed that the “Mushroom War” that wiped out the humans is the point when the magic returned.  However, it is shown that the magic returns earlier because Marceline is a vampire in “I Remember You.”  My theory is that Betty Petrikov became Princess Bubblegum.  The “friendly rivalry” between Marceline and Princess Bubblegum is because, while the princess may not want the affection that the Ice King gives her, Marceline wants it.  The engagement between Simon and Betty was never stated to be broken off so I believe that Betty went to find a similar crown so that she can live forever like Simon.  Unfortunately, her memory was wiped and her sanity was lost similar to Simon but instead of developing mental illness causing him to kidnap princesses, she dedicated her insanity attempting to fill the empty void in her life left by Simon.  I believe that if both these characters continue to be main cast players on the show, they will be written off at similar times but I doubt that both Princess Bubblegum and the Ice King as we know them will last longer than season 6.

Comments, Feedback, and more.

I would like to take the time to acknowledge comments.  Comments are encouraged and I will take all feedback into account.  On that note, a comment yesterday said that my review lacked substance.  My question is, would you rather I continued to do reviews like that with a bare-bones review within a few minutes and then in-depth analysis within 24 hours or should I do both at once within a few hours?  Comment responses.

Also, Friday I would like to do a post discussing people's views other than my own.  If you have a theory on November 12th's episode of Adventure Time or on the show in general, email it to TLOAOfficial@yahoo.com.  I will feature the top 5 theories and I will discuss them.  If I can't get 5 emailed to me, I will use Tumblr theories.

Adventure Time Theories for Season 5

     To quote Frieza from the Team Four Star dub of Dragon Ball Z: "Well that happened."  Of course I am referring to the royal mindfuck that was last night's episode of Adventure Time, "The Lich."  Now, even as I am writing this, people are speculating as to what will happen next season.  Here are my theories:

1a. The Finn and Jake we see in the finale are an alternate timeline where one key event is different, namely the Mushroom War never happened.  Every other event remains the same.  In this theory, Marceline is still a vampire because her becoming a vampire is independent of the Mushroom War and Simon Petrikov becoming the Ice King still happens as him discovering the crown is independent of the war.  However, the two characters never met because their meeting is the result of the war.  As a result of the Ice King's "wizard eyes" he can see what happened and restores their memories of Ooo.  They go on a quest to find the gems and the Enchirideon of that dimension with the help of the Ice King so they can return to their own timeline and fight the Lich.

1b.  The Finn and Jake we see in the finale are an alternate timeline where one key event is different, namely the Mushroom War never happened and the Enchairideon and gems were never created.  Thus, Simon would not be the Ice King and Marceline would not be the Vampire Queen.  BUT considering that Finn and Jake lived over a thousand years after Simon and Marceline, both would be long dead however their descendants would be alive.  With the help of Simon's descendants, Finn and Jake find a way to return.

1c. The Finn and Jake we see in the finale are an alternate timeline where one key event is different, namely the Mushroom War never happened.  The Finn and Jake from the Ooo timeline will appear and team up with the alt-Finn/Jake and the Ice King and Marceline to get back to Ooo using that dimension's Enchirideon.

2. The Finn and Jake we see in the finale ARE the Finn and Jake from Ooo Prime but altered to fit into the new dimension like how we saw Stewie and Brian in "Road to the Multiverse."  It is a covert operation to track down the Lich culminating in a showdown using the universes with Finn and Jake and their gender-swapped versions vs. the Lich.

Personally, I think none of these will happen as they are too easy to figure out.  It will probably be some new outrageous mindfuck that will leave with more questions than answers.  Penn, meet J.J.

Review: Adventure Time The Lich

Well the gems have power.  Basically, the gems from the crowns, when put into the Enchirideon open a portal to another dimension.  The Lich takes the form of the Hero Billy and tricks Finn and Jake into opening the portal.  Finn and Jake follow the Lich into it and end up on a farm in what I assume is the American South where Finn has a robotic arm, his face resembles that of Lemongrab and his mom is there.

That is an amazing finale.  They basically said the rules of connecting the dimensions and the reference that is master of it all is the one from "Five Short Graybles."  The end was unexpected and a massive cliffhanger.  Season 5 better begin explaining

Not at all what I expected but a solid 10/10

What is Ooo?

Well I have a theory.   But first, here is the chronology of important events:  Note that years are denoted as "Age" with "Age 0" being the Mushroom War.  Also, note the time and date this was written; it is before the airing of "The Lich."

Age -5: Simon Petrikov finds the Enchirideon, Simon Petrikov buys the crown from a Scandinavian dock worker.  He puts it on and begins to lose his sanity and loses Betty, his fiance.

Age 0:  The Mushroom War occurs and wipes out all humans with the known exceptions of Simon and Marceline.  Simon meets Marceline and gives her Hambo from the ruins of a toy store.

Sometime between Age 0 and Age 1000: Simon completes his transformation into the Ice King, the Kingdoms of Ooo are established and the magic returns.  New species are created and somehow Finn comes into existence.  The Enchirideon somehow finds its way to its new location.  Billy's adventures occur and the Lich King is defeated the first time.

Age 1013: Finn finds the Enchirideon, Finn defeats the Lich the second time, the Lich possesses the "waving snail" and Princess Bubblegum, the Lich gets the Enchirideon, the Lich returns for a third time, Marceline attempts to restore the Ice King's memories.

Now to try and explain the Ice King's behaviors.  I believe that Betty became the Princess Bubblegum after the Mushroom War.  Basically is my theory is based on the wording of what Simon said.  All Simon said was that he never saw her again after the hallucinations started.  I take this not as she couldn't deal with Simon's curse but instead wanted to become immortal like him so she went on a search to find another similar crown.  The crown that she found was the tiara that Princess Bubblegum wears.  The crown created a similar effect to the glasses of nerdicon and made her intelligent swapping Simon and Betty.

Here is how it all fits together under this theory.  Princess Bubblegum is scientifically inclined in her character design because Betty's intent is to rid Simon of his curse.  However, Betty lost her memory and is unable to remember that.  The Ice King is in love with Princess Bubblegum because of the fact that, since she was at one point Betty, she is "his princess."  Marceline and Princess Bubblegum have the rivalry because Marceline has abandonment issues and wants the affection of her father who didn't abandon her willingly, Simon.  The Ice King wants the love of Princess Bubblegum and is indifferent toward Marceline in his current state so this creates Marceline's feelings toward Princess Bubblegum.

I also believe that Hunson Abadeer is not Marceline's real father OR he found the locket and became the Demon.  The difference between him and Princess Bubblegum and the Ice King is that he would have retained his memories (he remembers that Marceline is his daughter) and he made her a vampire so she would live forever.  The option that he is not the father is that Simon was her father figure until he became the Ice King and she was taken in by Hunson Abadeer as a little girl.

Hopefully tonight's episode can shed light on some of the mysteries.    

Review: Adventure Time I Remember You

There are no words to describe what I just saw.  I tasked Adventure Time to make up for the abysmal failure that was the 100th episode and they did.  The episode revealed that Marceline and the Ice King knew eachother before the destruction of the Earth and it is also the first episode to show the actual carnage of the thermonuclear war that destroyed everything.  Wow, just wow.  10/10

Adventure Time just became must watch.

     This year truly has been a big one for the hit show Adventure Time on Cartoon Network. Within the past year we have learned where the Ice King came from and why he kidnaps princesses, Finn got a new love interest, we learned about the Nightosphere and the Spirit World, we learned where the magic man came from and that Abraham Lincoln from the pilot is from Mars, we learned that there are different elementals (Fire and Water are all that we know of), we learned what happened immediately following "Evicted", we learned Princess Bubblegum's successor and we learned that Lady Rainicorn is pregnant.  Based on descriptions from tonight's and next Monday's episodes, it appears as though this year is poised to be the true "shit hits the fan" year setting up for next year.  This week, the Ice King and Marceline the Vampire Queen bond over memories while next week the Lich King comes back and reveals Ooo's secrets.  I will be posting a list of information gathered from tonight's episode by 8 P.M. and a review of "Tales of the Park Part II", this year's Halloween special of Regular Show.

Sorry about the lack of posts

News:  Goseiger v. Shinkenger has been confirmed for Megaforce.  It will be a full cast team up similar to the ones starting in Lost Galaxy and ending in SPD.   The full cast of Samurai has been confirmed to return which means that we will have Antonio in Super Samurai Mode.  Also, RangerCrew's FuryDiamond has stated that in off the record unofficial conversations that fans will be more stoked for season 2 of Megaforce.    Also, Megaforce will be 50 episodes and three movies.

Power Rangers Super Samurai Final Arc!

    Yes, Nickelodeon has been threatening this for months but it is finally time for Power Rangers Super Samurai to end.  The final arc begins on this Saturday, October 13th at 1 PM with "A Crack in the World." I am interested as they are using footage from Shinkenger Returns for the Halloween special.  Still no word if we will see the Black version of the Super Samurai suits.  Next year, we can expect Goseiger v. Shinkenger to be made into a Power Rangers version and that is when we will see Super Samurai Gold.

All information here is courtesy of rangercrew.com

Online Store Review: Gamestop PC Direct Download

     Yesterday, I decided to buy Mercenaries 2: World in Flames on PC direct download.  I weighed the options and decided to buy it through Gamestop's direct download server.  It had a vast selection of games to choose from for download as well as DLC for said games.  The selection rivaled even Amazon and was comprehensive of modern games across genres.  Prices were good and were even lowered to the points where, with tax added, it equaled or was less than the advertised price.  The only drawback was the 4+ hour download time.

I would recommend using Gamestop for direct download

Legend of Korra Season 1 Review with Spoilers.

     Following the abysmal failure that was The Last Airbender, Nickelodeon launched in spring of 2012 Avatar: The Legend of Korra.  The show was an absolute success both in ratings (the highest rated animated television show thus far in 2012) and in storytelling itself.  The show managed to set itself apart from the past three seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender and reignite the massive fan following the franchise has.  

     The show starts out in a way that is similar to most spin-offs within the story's continuity.  It introduces the new main character while using an old character in a minor role to establish the time lapse.  Korra, after an issue arises in Republic City forcing the son of Aang and Katara, Tenzin, to not be able to train Korra.  Korra sneaks away with the help of Katara who takes on the role of "Gran-Gran" in this episode.  Korra gets to Republic City and learns of the anti-bender unrest growing in the city.  She takes up professional bending and moves in with Tenzin and his family.  During the final of the Professional Bending Tournament, Amon (the bad guy) and the Equalists attack and take the bending from the other team.  Korra, Tenzin and Lin Bei Fong (Toph's daughter) fight back and drive off the Equalists.  Korra begins working for Tarlok in an effort to keep the Equalists from taking over the city.  It is revealed that Tarlok is not only working against the greater good of the city, but is also a blood-bender.  Korra is taken captive by Tarlok and attempts to contact Aang for advice.  Amon finds Tarlok and Korra and Korra escapes but Tarlok's bending is taken.  The equalists attack Airbender Island and Tenzin and his family escape, Lin sacrifices her bending to save Korra and the Airbenders.  Korra infiltrates the Equalists and finds out that Amon's real name is Noatok (I probably spelled that wrong), he is Tarlok's brother, both Tarlok and Noatok are the son's of Yakone (the leader of a criminal syndicate in Republic City who was the first blood-bender that could blood-bend when it wasn't a full moon and he had his bending taken by Aang) AND he is a blood-bender that can use blood-bending to take other people's bending.  Korra and Mako fight Amon and Korra loses her bending.  The fight seems not to be going well until Amon almost takes Mako's bending and she miraculously learns to airbend.  Amon gets thrown out a window and his secret is revealed to the world so he gathers Tarlok and they escape.  In their escape, Tarlok blows up the boat they are on in a murder suicide.  Meanwhile, Katara is unable to restore Korra's bending.  She runs off and meets the spirit of Aang who restores it and gives her access to the Avatar State.  She then restores the bending of everyone who lost it to Amon.  The season ends with Tenzin referring to Korra as "Avatar Korra."

I give the season a 9 out of 10 because it had great art, storytelling, themes, and characters but it didn't do enough to continue the continuity to Avatar: The Last Airbender.  Foremost, not once is The Mechanist mentioned.  Zuko has a few passing references and Iroh has no references.  Also, I don't want to rate it too high because a clip out of SDCC (San Diego Comic-Con) leads me to believe that Koh may be the main antagonist from this point on and THAT would earn a 10/10

9/10 I hope Book Two is as good

Adventure Time 100th Episode Review (Spoilers)

     On the night that featured both the season premiers of Adventure Time and Regular Show, one show did well, the other had a hundredth episode special that left a lot to be desired.  For a show that ended last season with the announcement that Lady Rainicorn is pregnant with Jake's baby (something that the fan community has been calling for for years) they did not do a very good job commemorating the 100th episode or bringing the premier up to at least the par standard established for the show.  The story was stock and generic.  All I can say is, the Fiona and Cake episode better be good and the Lich story line should at least be continued in a way more satisfying than "Did you get the book?"

Rating: 7.5/10

It was good, had it's typical funny moments, but for a show as "bombastic" as Adventure Time I expected more from the 100th episode.

Regular Show Season Premier (Spoilers)

     With a show like Regular Show, anything can be expected from any episode.  With this in mind, the first episode of the season four was something totally new and original.  The show's tagline "it's anything but" may refer to the strange creatures that appear out of seemingly mundane activities but in this case, it refers to the fact that this was nothing like anything ever done before.
     When the episode starts and a man with a suit is shooting the main cast in the head with a laser, the first thing that popped into my head was "what did Mordecai and Rigby do now."  Mordecai and Rigby both manage to escape using the time machine used in the episode "Bad Kiss."  Two months pass and Mordecai and Rigby come back.  Everyone has had their memories erased and their time at the park has been replaced with other common place jobs.  In a very Lost season six fashion they do things that make them remember everything from the time and override the brainwashing.  Once Mordecai, Rigby, Skips, High-Five Ghost, Muscle Man, and Pops are gathered, they go to find Benson so they can get the park declared a historical landmark and stop the construction of Exit 9B. Unfortunately, they are captured and it is revealed that the whole thing was a revenge scheme by the son of Garret Bobby Ferguson (the giant Jesus head from season one) to bring back his father and kill everyone in the park.  Fortunately, Skips calls in all their allies from the first seasons.  An epic battle ensues and, upon Benson and Thomas (the new goat intern) signing the petition, the villains are all sucked back into hell.
     Despite it's similarities to a Dragon Ball GT story line with the deus ex machina ending similar to Power Rangers in Space, the episode is something totally new and unique to the show and introduces the new character Thomas in a way that leaves the audience wanting more of him.

I give the premier a 9.5 out of 10 rating and I only take off the .5 because I would have preferred this episode been the 100th episode special.

Rating: 9.5/10 Keep it up.

More Megaforce News

     With the fact that it is a slow news time for the Pokemon community, I figure I will cover Power Rangers Megaforce.  The one new piece of information to come out was the slogan.  Like "rangers together, samurai forever", PRM will feature a slogan "Earth's Defenders, Never Surrender."  In other news, according to rangercrew.com, the filming and production process began today for Megaforce. 

Source:
http://www.todotvnews.com/portada_top.asp?nota=ediciones%20digitales/despliegue/ale_filas&documentid=120926195807-2c9670e3ca6848f99cea0321b0c998db

For Reference:

MMPR-Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
MMAR-Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers
PRZ-Power Rangers Zeo
PRT-Power Rangers Turbo
PRiS-Power Rangers in Space
PRLG-Power Rangers Lost Galaxy
PRLR-Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue
PRTF-Power Rangers Time Force
PRWF-Power Rangers Wild Force
PRNS-Power Rangers Ninja Storm
PRDT-Power Rangers Dino Thunder
SPD-Power Rangers SPD
PRMF-Power Rangers Mystic Force
PROO-Power Rangers Operation Overdrive
PRJF-Power Rangers Jungle Fury
RPM-Power Rangers RPM
PRS-Power Rangers Samurai
PRSS-Power Rangers Super Samurai
PRM-Power Rangers Megaforce

Power Rangers Megaforce Info

     According to a source on Rangercrew.com, filming for the twentieth season of Power Rangers (Power Rangers Megaforce) is scheduled to begin this Sunday.  I believe that this will pave the way for an actual non-sentai trailer to air on Nickelodeon during the finale of Power Rangers Super Samurai.
     On a related note, Digimon has also been brought back by Saban Brands under the new show Digimon Fusion which airs in 2013.

  Picture Credit: http://issuu.com/worldscreen/docs/tv_kids_mipcom_2012/91

¡UNO!

                They’re back, and after a long hiatus after American Idiot (21^st Century Breakdown never happened) Green Day is back and back on the level of American Idiot.  The strange thing about their new CD ¡UNO! is that it is a strange mix between the style of American Idiot and the style before it.   The CD, unlike the last two, has no underlying story for the listener to decipher, no attempt at making it to the radio, and most importantly, no sickeningly similar songs like on 21^st Century Breakdown.  The CD is just pure, modernly defined rock, and at this point from a band attempting to stay relevant amongst the Justin Biebers, and Lady Gagas of the industry.  Songs that I think are better from the album include “Nuclear Family”, “Let Yourself Go”, “Sweet 16”, “Stay the Night”, “Carpe Diem”, and “Kill the DJ”.  I give the album a solid 8.5 out of 10 and I hope that ¡DOS! will be as good.

            The next review will be of The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling, or as I call it, the unofficial confirmation of the 8^th Harry Potter book.   

Rating: 8.5/10

Welcome to my Blog

     Thank you for joining me on this blog.  If you found this, odds are you followed me on teenink.com or you read my review of the movie for The Hunger Games on TeenInk.  In any case, welcome to my blog.  I am a college student that will be running this blog in my spare time.  You can expect opinion posts to be made by 3:00 PM on Thursdays and Saturdays.  I will also post little reviews as relevant information comes out.
       Now to just make this clear, Adam Taylor is not my real name.  It is the name that I will be posting under.  Very few people will know what my real name is.  For those of you interested, the name is derived from the first two Black Rangers from Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, Zach Taylor and Adam Park.

     For anyone interested, I sell hobby items ranging from Football Cards to Power Rangers Samurai cards and mini-figures. For information on how to order, check out my site:

https://sites.google.com/site/hobbiesandcards/