One of my all-time favorite animes out there is FLCL. So when i heard FLCL 2 and 3 were going to release, i was very skeptical. Not only was the original team not involved, but the original artist was available and they didn't want to take him in. Regardless of how i felt before it released, i was optimistic and it looked like the new team had a lot of passion for the series. So i still wanted to give it a chance. After I finished all 6 episodes of FLCL, here are my thoughts:

Its not a bad series overall, it definitely has an FLCL vibe, but it never feels like it expands on anything or grows from the original FLCL series, just puts more on top of it without knowing what its actually doing.

In some parts, the series definitely tries to imitate FLCL classic, and in other parts the series things its expanding ideas that FLCL already but its really not. So in this review i'm going to go into detail on what FLCL progressive got wrong or not as well as the original. Of course, spoilers. So if you haven't seen the series, i recommend you do.

#1) Story and Characters
What made FLCL really interesting was how the story was complicated on multiple aspects that took time to decipher.

There were concepts like N.O., Atomsk, Medical Mechannica, and Robots coming out of peoples heads if they met the right qualifications (and i'm making it sound crazy intentionally as that's how its suppose to feel at least on a first view). But there's also the complicated relationship between Naota and Mamimi, his friends and his family. Nothing was ordinary despite Naota narrating. And it wasn't that those aspects of the story were random, they were just told at a different pace. But it wasn't like the series felt like it was intentionally vague about it, it was due to

Trying to decipher both aspects of the series at the same time was part of what made FLCL so rewatchable. In Progressive, its completely expendable. The story doesn't feel worthy of watching again. In both the crazy supernatural and the social aspects of the series, they weren't that compelling or interesting or worth investing in. Characters like Hidomi Hibajari  were typical Tsundere, but not because she had something interesting about her to hide, that's just the way she was. Ko Ide was just a ladies man who happens to get all the girls and is secretly is poor making ends meet. And the way they portrayed the town that these characters lived in, just didn't feel as real as the town that Naota lived in.

None of them suggested or hinted that there was a complicated history between them or characters. They had relatively basic lives. Which really just didn't make it entertaining at all to watch whenever i expected something to suggest these characters were more than what they seemed and never coming close. Don't get me started on Ide's friends.

and the worst for last: Haruko. The sole returning character and they messed her up badly. IN the original, she would sometimes speak randomly and tries to play some sort of rhyming game, she never was as obnoxious as she was in FLCL progressive. Her tone was completely different from the original, trying to constantly sound obnoxious as possible. The biggest mistake that they got wrong from Haruko was that even though she was manipulative, she never "brainwashed" anyone to getting what she wanted and yet thats exactly what she did in this series. She tried to brainwash Ide and Hibajiri's class in the most obnoxious way possible.

Another problem with FLCL Progressive is that it completely misunderstood Haruko's relationship with Atomsk. In the original, it was only referenced that she was in love with him by Commander Amarao. But if you picked up on the clues, it wasn't about romance. What Haruko really wanted to do was to "eat him". This was referenced multiple times in the series when she hit Naota's head she would scream "lunch time!" and get angry for Naota for eating him when she said he was the only one to eat him.

FLCL Progressive doesn't reference that at all and sticks with what the creators interpreted. Which is a real shame.

#2) Sense of Randomness
One thing FLCL Progressive tries to do is push for a sense of randomness just like classic did. However, it does it in the wrong ways. FLCL Classic just really had the right level because in some areas it was using animation changes, and in other areas. FLCL Classic never pushed random moments as part of the story, only in minor scenes. Anything that "seemed" random was foreshadowed early in the episode.

FLCL Progressive did some random things and made no sense or tried to really foreshadow them properly. in FLCL Classic, Amarao's organization felt like a real secret government-based organization trying to take out Haruko and Medical Mechannica but in FLCL Progressive, they are trying to make a giant robot out of an amusement park. And it never made sense as to why or how they were able to do that. When they do attack the Medical Mechannica plant, it just shoots giant mocchi and turns people into mochi as well. And the secret weapon was a secondary character who turned into a plant. And once again, it never really made sense as to why or how its possible.

#3) Music and animation
The music is what i was looking forward to the most when it came to the series. And the Pillows absolutely delivered. However, the biggest mistake this series did is that it didn't choreograph scenes to certain action scenes properly. Actions scenes in FLCL progressive played the music not as loud and the scenes wouldn't go with the action and sometimes they would cut off the songs prematurely. It was irritating to see. The only times they didn't do this was for the brand new songs.

FLCL Classic would also play the music in the background even without big action scenes, but the scene would always end before the song would. That is important because the song would linger and it left a bigger impression. If FLCL Classic didn't do this, i wouldn't think that the pillows would be as big as they are now.




At the end of the day, i'm just disapointed. i don't hate the sequels, but i knew what i was getting into when i saw the trailers. Did anyone else feel the same way about FLCL progressive? And is anyone looking forward to FLCL Alternative?

So I finally saw Netflix's take on Death Note and I was right about everything.

The biggest problem I had with this version is that there is no character development whatsoever.

Light acts like a emo weird kid who can't move on in his life. Miss acts like an edgy girl who just in it for the excitement and entertainment. Light's dad has no character traits at all other than being a typical cop and a typical distant father. They should've used brand new characters entirely instead of trying to Americanize the original cast. The only interesting one was Ryuk but even he didn't get any spotlight.

Another big issue is that the Rules of the Death Note were so oversimplified and at one point had too much control of the person using it that it just doesn't feel like we are seeing a movie about a death note. The movie also suggests that Ryuk is the one who makes all these deaths happen in one particular scene. But overall the Rules of the Death Note are casually explained only when it's relevant to the plot.

What made Death Note great (at least in the TV version) is that they explained rules that would be relevant later and also use cutaways to give us extra rules to help explain any gaps or possible holes.

Death Note isn't meant to be a movie. All the other films even in Japanese work because people are familiar with the series. This film tries to do the exact same thing but if it's going to reboot it into an American setting and change the Rules of the Death Note, it has to act like we are seeing it for the first time.

It's terrible film. But that's my thoughts. What are yours?

I wanted to re-list all my story ideas here in hopes that I get to have them all here on Manga Mavericks. I decided I could also list all the ideas I wanted and inspiration and what's preventing me to continue writing them.


Story #1: Kairiku

This was a Yuri manga heavily inspired by the yuri manga and anime "Blue Drop". It takes in an alternate reality where mermaids exist and had revealed themselves to human close to modern day enough that they have integrated into society however not enough for them not to feel discrimination on land.

It takes place in a first ever diverse University to allow both Mermaids and humans to be studying together. The goal is to be chronicle base with one main love interest but having multiple love stories be intertwined. I also want to keep it very short and make it only one volume long.

What's preventing me to continue writing this is whenever I do share it no understands the idea. It's not suppose to be shonen but yuri intended for women. So discrimination is still a relevant topic that holds in Kairiku.

Story #2 GR!M × ÄNGËL
In a futuristic setting heavily inspired by Eureka Seven and Air Gear I wanted to make a fictional sci-fi skate board base racing game where there boards have unique motors that causes certain harmless side effects such as  hair starting to gain silver color and eyes turning grey. Which is dubbed as "Going Grim".

Unlike Eureka Seven and Air Gear my story has a strong element of fashion, trends, and branding recognition. Characters don't necessarily have a strong explanation as to why they refer it as "going grim" but it's a mark of a good racer.
I want to go back to this as soon as I'm ready. Art style is suppose to be somewhere nineteen Eureka Seven and Redline with fashion resembling S4 League MMO.

What's stopping me is really having a hard time finding who I want to be the main character. I already have a character that is the ideal racer but I'm trying to make a great introductory character that helps explain these things while still being the main character.


Story #3 Scissors

A story about a young handsome but very inexperienced boy who begins working at a HAIR Salon. He starts to fall for a woman who is a master hair stylist but discovers a dark secret about her. I honestly don't know what inspired me from this. Or I can't remember. I do know I fully intend it to be Josei.

What's stopping me from writing this one is that the characters are too complex for my own good. I have a hard time focusing on one character that it kind of just all blends together. And I suppose that's normal for shoo but it makes it feel like the story can go on forever.

I really wanted to make this because i felt many of the issues with comparing different stories with MMO involved, are not always fair. First off, i want to clarify the difference between an story with an MMORPG setting, and a MMO themed story.

Stories with MMO setting:
Stories using MMORPG as a setting more than as the main theme don't necessarily explain a lot as to how the MMORPG works, and how it can be successful if it was a real game. Creative license usually takes over above all else if it means telling a compelling story. The biggest example of this is dot-hack. Dot-hack has an MMORPG known simply as "The World". Its distinct and easy to tell that it's a fantasy MMO. But usually doesn't explain "how" the MMO, just enough to know how it effects the story. Most of the times the themes are how personalities are effected in an MMO and the curiosity of what the other person is like in the real world. In my opinion, dot-hack succeeds in what it wants to achieve. There are other things affecting the MMORPG "The World" that can't be tackled as if you were playing an MMO, the MMO is simply the obstacle they need to overcome.

Another series is "Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon?". This one sort of counts but not fully as gods have transformed the world MMO-like rules such as armor, spells, and leveling up, and a simplified and easy to understand economy. But doesn't explain how you can learn these abilities or how to level up. only that it is difficult and take a long time, and for story purposes the main character manages to level up at a unusual way.

For this series, the purpose of using game mechanics was exactly to show how much progression a character has made and how much recognition which readers can understand immediately based on how this world works.
 
MMO-themed stories
MMO stories such as Log Horizon and SAO are stories that use MMO fully as the theme and main intent to fully make us believe that these MMOs could exist in the real world. Explaining how combat works, how leveling works, how players can have the biggest advantage is what drives the entertainment value. Log Horizon has the biggest advantage of this as the main characters are adults who major in the kind of thinking and fully take advantage of the MMO gameplay and use it to their advantage.

The SAO predicament
Why SAO is bad? because it doesn't convey exactly what the story should be. should it be a heavily themed MMO or should it be a story that happens to use MMO as a setting?

The simplest terms as to why SAO fails is that it wants us to be immersed in the idea that SAO is going to be the first MMO to use VR. It wants us to believe in the numbers given despite the numbers not being big. It wants us to enjoy the world and the mechanics when the mechanics don't make too much sense.

So when you don't have a believable MMO, what you have left is to rely on the story. And what does this story give us? The story gives us characters that have potential to be something more than what they are. And although the story seems to make it like they did, they ended up being the same characters only getting what they want. Worst of all the main premise also doesn't make any sense and characters don't even try hard enough to explore the glaring issues. It could be that the novel explores more. But i dont believe an entire anime series would be willing to dumb down the story that much.

IN the end, rather than expanding the SAO with expansion and new mechanics, it goes make a completely new MMO with its own flaws (that make no sense for the story) and then does it again for a second time. It does explore some things that make me personally believe it wants us to think that it uses MMO setting to explore other themes, but it doesn't. Which makes it even harder to appreciate.


How to make a good MMO-themed story and a good story with MMO setting:

#1) MMO needs to have a purpose (even if its not the main purpose of the story). Usually one of the biggest themed explored in both is the gap between the real world and the online world. Other themes could be explored as well.

#2) The MMO needs to have all the very basics of what makes it an MMO or one that you can see players playing. Elements such as such as getting the best armor, monsters to fight and level up, towns and/or cities for players to either trade or be social and be immersed.

#3) Make sure you focus on the story being just as compelling. Many problems SAO had is that it brought glaring issues to the story and did not address the problems at all. Characters were also very one-dimensional. If you have interesting compelling character and story on top of a great MMO theme or setting.

#4) Whatever you do introduce, make sure it's well thought out. If you're not a **** MMO player, ask around and make sure it's not too obscure.

I have recently been watching a lot of Netflix. After finishing a few Netflix originals, I decided to give a review on what I saw because I noticed a particular pattern with Netflix originals. Of course everyone else is able to give their own opinion/review. I'll start off with the live action series and then end it with the anime.

Daredevil:
I don't read comics a lot but I was curious about this one since it did receive a lot of praise. After watching it myself I was impressed. It was almost as if every superhero character should be have a TV series produced by netflix. But the problem is that the characters quickly store trying to feel real and push to the comic archetypes and not evolve. One particular character I absolutely hate is Karen Page. She becomes a character I didn't mind to someone I absolutely detest. Something Daredevil does is make you think they are making progress when they were really just wasting time.

Stranger Things:
What is there to say about this one that others haven't already? It's true that it is very reminiscent of an 80s film, but it does it better. Not one character is a complete stereotype and as slow or impossible the story feels to progress, the depth of these characters and proving that they are more than what first appears helps the story move forward. I personally enjoyed it and was upset how short it was. Only 8 episodes but considering how long they are, it can be considered 16 episodes (which makes me wish there was at least 12 instead of

Kuromukuro:
This one requires a more detailed explanation. Sets in the near future, the female protagonist gets involved in an alien invasion. An ancient artifact revealed to be technology that encased a man from the ego period and managed to make her co-pilot to face the aliens. It reminds me a lot of the older anime when some artifact activates at the right time and sub character would somehow get involved.

However, a bigger plot involved that hints and then answers in the next episode but also a bigger mystery on who this man really is and why the aliens are attacking. It was very slow, practically nothing happened. It ended in a cliffhanger of course that will win over my curiosity so I will see season 2 once it comes out.


What they all have in common:
The benefit of Netflix producing these is that they are high quality and the episodes are usually around an hour long. The biggest problem is the episodes are in bulks, they don't come out a week at a time or so. The writing is usually good for the first few episodes but some episodes I really hate and some episodes I really enjoy. I noticed when I was watching Daredevil how the story was going nowhere and then suddenly in the last few episodes it escalates until it reaches the end. But as I watched Stranger things and Kuromukuro, they both do the same thing.


It's almost as if Netflix promised the production team funding for more episodes and then suddenly cutting it short. Although Stranger Things had a better pace than the other two, it also ended very quickly. Which is a shame.

Have any of you seen these series? If so, do you think I'm on point?

I have many favorite fonts. I tend to switch them out depending on what I'm in the mood for.

For today, my favorite font is DEUTSCH GOTHIC created by James Fordyce. https://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/deutsch-gothic

Very simple and easy to manipulate. It could work very well for a Logo. For common use I wouldn't recommend it.

You can list or mention your favorite fonts below. I recommend keeping it free license and mentioning the original creator if you see it and also make sure if it's not free license, to mention it (usually you have to pay if it's not).

I decided to create a new topic because I made enough adjustments for Terra Stregada and I think it deserves fresh opinions.