Adult Siblings Versus...is bac with a new epsidoe that's a little different than normal. This week we talk about our childhood experience with "Weird Al" Yankovic, speficially four of his albums we owned as kids.
"Alapalooza”, “Bad Hair Day”, “Running with Scissors”, and “Poodle Hat.” But not "Polka Party." Never "Polka Party."
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| We need to have a serious talk about cultural appropriation, 1990s Weird Al |
More details after the jump.
Unfortunately, I'm a little late with this one, but Adult Siblings Versus...recently dropped an episode on the classic anime Trigun, a show so imbedded in my own history as an anime fan that I never dared review it on this blog.
Until now!
Well, kind of. It snot really here, it's on the podcast. But you can listen to it here!
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| Classic cartoon or overrated nostalgia bait? You decide! |
More details after the jump.
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| It took them 43 years to have a female protagonist in the main series |
For the purposes of this list, the primary factors taken into consideration when judging Gundam were 1) Functionality, 2) Aesthetics, and 3) Cool Factor. Only Gundams were considered for this list, but not the SD Gundam part of the franchise. The Gundams from the Gundam Build series will be counted even though they are technically plastic models rather than actual giant robots.
List so Far:
#9: A-Z Gundam
#8: Gundam Heavyarms
#7 Tequila Gundam Daniel Custom
#6: ∀ Gundam
Honorable Mention #2: RX-78-2 Gundam. No Top Ten Gundam
list would be complete without the original Gundam. Except this list. It’s not
on this list. Look, I appreciate this thing as a classic, but frankly it’s the
blueprint that is the basis of all other Gundam, almost all of which could be described
as “Gundam + ___ = Cool.” It just feels like even by Zeta Gundam it felt like we
had moved on. Sorry if this bugs you.
Part II after the jump.
[WARNING: This page contains unavoidable spoilers for various Gundam anime, in particular Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, so read at your own risk.]
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| "It's a Gundam!" |
As I continue dig back into my blog per the suggestion from my therapist, I find myself leaning towards a post I can been wanting to write for a number of years, and even started at some point, but never got around to posting; a Top Ten list of my favorite Gundams. [Note: Part 2 is Here]
For those of you who may not be aware, Gundam is a
metaseries of anime, manga, novels, video games, and tons and tons of plastic
model kits that have been a mainstay in Japan since 1979. It’s best to think of
it as their answer to Star Trek, a space opera franchise with a variety of
different shows, spin-offs, and sequels. While each show has some differences,
the basic premise usually centers around giant robots as tools of war (as
opposed to superheroes, as they were portrayed in Japan before Gundam), some
sort of conflict between the people of Earth and the humans living in space, a specialized
giant robot (usually called a “Gundam”) that is significantly more powerful
than the standard units, and that war is hell and the realities of it are not
heroic but ultimately tragic.
Also it’s a giant commercial to move plastic model kits based on all the robots in the various media. GOTTA SELL THEM TOYS!!!
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| (Some of) My Gunpla pile of shame |
I am a fan of giant robots and Gundam in particular always resonated with me since I was a kid. Like any Gundam fan I have my favorite units across the franchise. When making this list I focused on three aspects:
1) Functionality:
What does the Gundam do, do well, and do better than all other Mobile Suits?
2)
Aesthetics: How interesting or visually appealing
is the Gundam?
3)
Cool Factor: A combination of intangibles,
personal biases, and the Rule of Cool.
A few guidelines before we start:
·
To streamline the list, we’re only looking at Gundams,
not other mobile suits from various shows. Otherwise machines like the Tallgeese,
Qubeley, and The O would dominate the list.
·
I have decided that the Gundams from the Gundam
Build side of the franchise will be considered, even though technically they are basically
in-universe toys and video games rather than giant robots. For the purposes of
this list, they’re close enough.
·
I will NOT be counting anything form the various
SD Gundam franchise, as from what I understand those things are proper
characters instead of pilotable robots.
Honorable Mention: Barbatos Lupus/Barbatos Lupus Rex. I struggled
over this for months (yes, that’s how long I’ve been tinkering with this list).
I think the issue is that these two versions of the main Gundam from
Iron-Blooded Orphans are just different enough that I feel they don’t count as
one suit, but neither one is able to make the list in its own. If I could get a
version of this with the look of Lupus and the weaponry and performance of
Lupus Rex it would have beaten out #10 or more.
Full list after the jump.
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| Robin is having a bad time |
It's not hard to see why it’s a difficult assignment. It is taking content 1) from one medium and making it work in a different one, 2) trying to pitch it to Americans when the original was aimed for a Japanese audience, and 3) trying
to squeeze the correct amount of content into whatever limitations the new
medium has. Trying to fit tens of manga chapters into one film is hard enough, especially
when you have try trick Joe Schmo America into ponying up 14 bucks to watch it.
Netflix, the streaming giant who always seems to be one strong breeze away from
falling over in a pile up of massive debt and investor tears, has made several
attempts to buck the trend and so far they have not been received that warmly.
The most recent attempt, a live action TV adaptation of Cowboy Bebop, ended up
being very divisive among fans (as in, some fans thought it was fine but not at
all Cowboy Bebop and other fans thought it was an abomination against God).
So when Netflix announce they were creating a live action TV
adaptation of massively popular (but interestingly not particularly popular in
the United States) manga and anime One Piece, there was a lot of skepticism.
That manga creator Eiichiro Oda supposedly had some involvement didn’t really
make it easier to swallow. From my perspective, it was tough because on the one
hand I LOVE the One Piece comic and have been collecting it since 2003 (even
though I’m embarrassed to admit I only own 61 volumes out of the, as of this
writing, currently available 106 volumes). On the other hand, I actually don’t
like the anime, ever since I saw it shortly after reading the first
volume and deicide it was unable to capture the best qualities that made the
comic so good. So if I’m too much of a snob for the high successful One Piece anime how the hell
can I get into Netflix Presents One Piece, especially after the disappointment
of Netflix Presents Cowboy Bebop?
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| I meant to review this when it came out Short Version: Just go watch the anime instead |
Full review after the jump.
Adult Siblings Versus...is back with the final film of the controversial Star Wars prequal trilogy, Revenge of the Sith. It's the "good one" so long as you ignore of the parts of it that are genuinely awful.
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| What are the Sith getting revenge for? Unclear. |
More details after the jump.
In the latest episode of Adult Siblings Versus..., we continue our look at the Star Wars prequel trilogy with possibly the most divisive film of the franchise; Attack of the Clones. Yes, that is what they decided to name it.
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| Jedi shall not know love, or compelling dialogue |
