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The Universe 6 and 7 Invitational Fighting Tournament continues. Goku faces off against a guy who looks exactly like Freeza. Heck, the guy even has the same transformations and powers as Freeza! Will Goku and the warriors from Universe 7 be able to pull through and win the tournament and its prize—the Super Dragon Balls?! |
Alright, we've got a lot to get through this week, Legends fans, but before we can do anything, we have to acknowledge the most important thing to happen this week.
How cute was baby Ray?!?!
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It was only a matter of time before their camp was attacked...and that time has come. Rick Grimes and company find themselves surrounded by zombies. Who will die, who - if anyone - will survive? Who will be the next to join the walking dead? |
“Elongated Journey Into Night” heralds tonight’s brand new addition to The Flash under the guise of clever wordplay and a vandalized front door.
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FACING ANNIHILATION The Survey Corps’s quest for the truth of the world inside the Walls has brought them back to Titan-infested Shiganshina District, a mere stone’s throw from Eren’s childhood home. They have come to execute Erwin’s final gambit, reclaiming Wall Maria and the secrets of humanity’s past. But the Colossus Titan, the Armored Titan, and the Beast Titan have been waiting for them, and saving humanity will require the most difficult sacrifice the Corps has ever had to make… |
By: Eric Flapjack Ashley (@flapjackashley)
I was originally planning on this being a review of Super Mario Odyssey for Nintendo Switch, but I’ve actually only played about two hours of the game. That leaves many hours left for the game to dazzle me, so I cannot do a full review at this time. But what I can do is talk about one thing that Odyssey has reminded me of: that, if done correctly, Nintendo games are magic.
People will often ask me why, as an adult male, do I love Nintendo. The company has made its fair share of mistakes in the past, most notably seeming to lose its way during the Wii and Wii U era. And they paid the price as the latter console ended up being the worst selling home platform in the company’s history, selling around a tenth of what the Wii did before it.
Being a Nintendo Nerd isn’t always easy. Nintendo fans are often overlooked as not being “hardcore,” liking “baby games,” and – in recent console cycles – always getting left out of the major multi-platform games like Madden and Destiny. And when you basically only have Nintendo making games for your system, you go through droughts with zero games, and the Wii U suffered through many of them. When you sit around and see everyone else get the big games and you are stuck with amiibo Festival, it is easy to forget why you like Nintendo in the first place.
One thing that Nintendo has done this generation cycle is speak to its fans. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was a love letter to its fan base, and ended up being a wonderfully reviewed game. The game was so good that the success of the Nintendo Switch could be solely placed on it’s shoulders for the first couple of months.
But Super Mario Odyssey is something else.
Being the first true must-have Switch-exclusive game, Odyssey is magical right from the opening cinematic sequence. And it only gets better from there. Taking a risk on the franchise that your company is known for is always risky, and its initial reveal was met with some skeptical fans; it is tough to have fans who want something different from your games, but not too different, and, from what I’ve played of it so far, Odyssey delivers.
The gameplay of throwing a cap on something and “capturing” it, meaning you play as Mario but temporarily occupying said object or enemy, is revolutionary. But more than that, it is just flat-out fun. It is fun to play, fun to control, fun to look at, and fun to talk about.
Super Mario Odyssey reminds me of why I love Nintendo. Video games are meant to be fun, and while I am not saying that games like Call of Duty or Halo are not fun, there is just something magical about a well made Mario game. With its callbacks to past games like Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, Odyssey takes the best of the franchise and expands on it without relying solely on nostalgia for its mileage. Even just an hour into it, I have smiled more at this game than I have in any game in the past four years.
Odyssey highlights the very best that Nintendo does. And when Nintendo is on top of their game, they are extremely hard to top. The pick-up-and-play nature of their top franchises like Mario, Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., and Splatoon emphasize fun over anything else. It says something when you can boot up a game, lose all track of time, and realize that it is now suddenly five hours later.
With 7.3 million units sold since launch, made even more impressive since it doesn’t yet include a holiday season, the Switch is making it good to be a Nintendo Nerd again. Having two major Game of the Year contenders in your console’s first year is quite an amazing feat. The Nintendo magic is back, and Super Mario Odyssey will help lead the charge for months to come.
Are you a displaced Nintendo fan who left big N’s side in recent years? Are you one who has stuck by them through the thick and thin? Or are you a new fan that Nintendo has captured the imagination of due to its unique hardware and focus on fun? Let’s talk about it, because it is finally good to be a Nintendo fan again.
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ESCAPE FROM KING TITAN Thanks to Rod Reiss, Eren finally knows the terrible truth behind how he acquired his Titan powers, and the depth of his father’s crimes. The king orders his daughter Historia to kill Eren and restore the power of the Titans to its rightful place, but she chooses her own selfish path: survival. As the cavern crumbles around the Survey Corps, Eren must make another last-minute decision, with the lives of all his friends in the balance. |
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CAGE MATCH The Survey Corps is engaged in a desperate, final battle to retake Wall Maria and defeat the Titans once and for all. Eren must use his new powers to seal the holes created five years ago in the Shiganshina District gates, not to mention to finally reach the basement of his old home and find what secrets lie hidden there. But the most difficult part of the operation will be surviving whatever clever traps the Colossus Titan, Armored Titan, and Beast Titan have prepared for them! Now that Erwin is gambling with every last human life, who will triumph? |
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It’s off to summer camp for Midoriya and the U.A. students! But this is no ordinary vacation—it’s high-impact training where the students are expected to develop their Quirks even further! The teachers have set up some tough challenges, but none will be as difficult and as life changing as the threat a new group of enemies poses. What’s even worse is who the villains’ target is and why… |
By: Jaclyn Cascio (@jaclynator)
Last week’s episode of Supergirl was full of emotional content and family issues galore, but very little Supergirl herself. This week, the show not only focused on Kara (Melissa Benoist), but built an entire religion around her, averaging out the Supergirl content between the two episodes. To find out how the episode went, we’ve got a spoiler-y review for you!
Supergirl has been known to tackle some big issues over the seasons, from gender equality to immigration. Sometimes tip-toeing around the issues, light as a feather, or sometimes facing them head-on, the show’s writers have managed to address current political situations with grace and open-mindedness. This week’s episode of Supergirl was no different.
“The Faithful” touched on the topic of religion. The episode addressed religious freedom, faith, fanaticism, and other issues surrounding the subject, while remaining confined to a fictional belief system. This allowed the subject to be more fully explored while wisely avoiding the trappings of any strong feelings surrounding currently existing faiths of Earth. The exploration began with a walk down memory lane to the premiere episode of the show in which a nearly-catastrophic plane crash jump-started Kara (Melissa Benoist) into action. Her actions apparently sparked the start of a cult worshipping the Kryptonian god of light, Rao. Needless to say, it didn’t go well and an entire stadium of hockey fans almost met their makers as a result.
Watching the episode, I felt that it connected almost seamlessly to some character motivations in DC’s Batman v Superman. The film touched on the fear that emerged with the reality of Superman’s almost god-like power (which, I think, was allegedly the reason why Lex Luthor went bonkers creating a giant destructive monster – although to be honest, I’m still a little unsure about how that unfolded). The power of a superhero might be the cause of fear for some. But in Supergirl’s case, it seemed to have inspired unflinching and unquestioning devotion (to an unsafe fault).
True to its roots of delving into both sides of an issue, “The Faithful” not only explored the fear that drives some toward religion or away from it. It also looked at the potential beauty surrounding faith in something bigger than the self. James (Mehcad Brooks) had some incredibly wise and open words for Kara as she struggled with the cult-like belief system. The conclusion of the episode this week was also a sweet and soulful portrayal of all the positive things that religion has the potential to represent.
Aside from the overarching religious theme of the episode, a major mystery remains. Who is Samantha (Odette Annable)? And what happened to her at the end of the episode? (If you’ve read the comics, shhh! Don’t spoil it for those who don’t know yet.) Her story about balancing motherhood and being a badass businesswoman was beautifully told, but we haven’t been given reason to sympathize with the character just yet. What is her history? How did she come to be such a large part of the story so quickly this season? With further development, the attachment to the character (whether hero or villain) may increase, but her struggles may have come too soon to have the impact they deserved.
Samantha wasn’t the only one dealing with the drama of motherhood. Alex (Chyler Leigh) broke down with her hopes of becoming a mom seemingly dashed. She echoed the sentiments of those who can’t have children for a variety of different reasons and the pain that can come with it. The genius of “The Faithful” plunging into topics of motherhood is that it worked in juxtaposition with the daddy issues that filled last week’s episode.
Overall, “The Faithful” was a solid representation of what Supergirl does best: taking big issues of today and making them otherworldly; ironically, making them more accessible and safe to talk about. It can safely be called a rousing success for the week!
What did you think of the episode? Did it hit the mark for you or was it too heavy for you?
