Hello again. Civil War is still breaking box office records; easily shaking off the stigma of the controversial comic book storyline on which it was based. I'm probably going to be going again soon; since barring The Nice Guys, a lot of the competition looks terrible (looking at you, Angry Birds).
Even so, I've just been informed of something I feel I should address; especially with my computer still not working (even though I'll be calling Apple again this week, it's highly unlikely I'll have it working to get you something for X-Men Apocalypse on another episode of the X-Men anime). Despite the fact that the Yo-Kai Watch franchise hasn't been the massive hit many were expecting; Nintendo has determined that the game has enough of a cult following to release the sequels; as "Yo-Kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits and Fleshy Souls" on September 30 in the US; with a second season of the anime later this month as well as more merchandise.
Once again, there's no easy way for me to type this: I am just not that big a fan of the whole thing. I have written several pieces to illustrate how I don't like it. However, I must also point out that anyone expecting me to just stop writing about it for the purpose of countering the praise it's gotten has clearly come to the wrong place.
That said; my initial reaction towards the release here may have been a bit excessive. While I have no
intention of rewriting or deleting any of the material I've done on this blog, I will at least admit that I could have explained my feelings better.
That's not to say that I still don't have issues with Yo-Kai Watch; by any means. I still believe the anime is among the weakest "mons" series I've looked at. Even after 119 episodes and 2 movies; the flashy animation is the only real factor I can praise. Otherwise, the stories make no sense to me and
the characters are little more than one joke and a load of toys. Although the dub has some fans; I am not among them for how corny the jokes are (such as dated references to Adam-12; which I barely understand even as someone who references The Big Lebowski a lot) and how stiff the voice acting is (even the normally lively Johnny Yong Bosch seems as wooden as the lumberyard at Home Depot).
The manga is decent, even if there are better ones that involve Yokai in some way (such as the late Shigeru Mizuki's classic "GeGeGe no Kitaro;" which I might cover some anime of around Halloween).
Now comes the part where I must once again address the video games. Even if the original game has only sold around 130,000 copies in six months (with some unconfirmed reports hovering around 200,000); Nintendo is staking much more with the sequels, which suggests there's enough of a following to grow on even if the series definitely hasn't become "the next Pokemon" many tried to hype it as. I've pointed out that was a mistake; as was launching the game against Call of Duty: Black Ops III. Jibanyan had chocolate bars. The Black Ops guys had automatic weapons. It was no contest which one was more appealing to those outside the cult following that were interested in the game.
As such, I'm going to have to once again bring up this analogy I had around this time last year: I went into Batman V Superman expecting to like it, and my expectations were not only met, but by all means exceeded.
By contrast, Captain America: Civil War managed to take a highly controversial comic storyline and turn it into an engaging, deep and highly entertaining film even with the weight of the franchise's pedigree on its shoulders.
It remains to be seen how the sequels will do; even if they did officially kickstart the series in Japan. There's no guarantee the same thing will happen here, so we'll see.
So, with all this on the table; I'm finally caving and getting a used copy of the game after I preorder Pokemon Sun and Moon. I'll address my take on the rivalry another time. As for the anime: I still have a few episodes and the first movie on my hit list; but all that can wait until my computer fixed. You probably won't see them until after I do more of the Pokemon movies (including the Volcanion movie, which will be done after it's dubbed in English). See you, space cowboy.
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