Petty Reviews on "Afro Samurai"

Afro Samurai is the story of a young African American samurai on the destructive path of revenge to become the number one samurai in the world and avenge his father and their family name. The show has received many words of praise, as it deserves, but there are a few naysayers. These Negative Nancys seem to be harping on the same “issues” no matter how petty they are. First they say that the story of a young swordsman avenging the death of his father is repetitive. Although that might be the case, that has no effect on whether or not this story tells it better or in a different way from the others. Romantic comedies all have the same plot (couple meets, everything is going great, guy breaks girls heart, they get back together and happily ever after) nobody is sitting here saying that a movie would be considered bad for following that template. This next one is really petty in my eyes. The headbands that prove who the number one and number two swordsmen are the most sought after objects in this show and they are saying that anybody with a weapon, whether it be a gun or spear or lasers, is also going after it therefore not making them swordsmen. That just seems rather petty in my eyes and once again does not dictate whether the story and animation are good. This certain review also says that “I can't tell whatsource this show ripped off more: Ninja Scroll with its "everyone wantsyou dead" premise and ninja sidekick or Samurai Champloo with its attemptto immerse hip-hop culture with Japanese swordsmen using the "blacksamurai" gimmick that mildly offended me.” I’ve never seen the shows mentioned beforehand, but I can’t understand how someone would be offended by a black samurai as I am sure that whoever wrote this review is not a black samurai. This review seems to leave out so many important aspects as to what makes a show good. They do bring up the animation and action saying that it is great, which is one of the more important aspects of a show, but they leave out so much more. The music selection chosen for this series intertwines so well with what the producers were trying to portray. What other music group to play in a story of a black samurai than none other than RZA? The fact that RZA is playing whilst Afro Samurai is slicing through his enemies makes it just that much cooler. Also, Samuel L. Jackson plays Afro and his talkative sidekick. This show also does more than just shed blood everywhere. The plot gets very sentimental as our hero develops feelings for a woman and has to face one of his closest childhood friends in conquest for the number one headband. This review seems to have left out many important aspects as to what makes shows good and just focused on the little things that seemed to bother them. This does not make it worthy of a 3/10 rating ever. I would suggest that anybody that likes anime to definitely check this one out if they haven’t already.

Critic on TV show "Breaking Bad"

http://nypost.com/2008/01/17/tour-de-pants/

“Breaking Bad” was a TV series on AMC created by Vince Gilligan and first aired in 2008. The series ran for 5 seasons and ended in 2013. It was a show about a middle aged chemistry teacher named Walter White who found out he had terminal lung cancer and turned to cooking and selling methamphetamine in order to provide for his family before he passed away. He sought the help of his former student Jesse Pinkman, who was already in the business, and together, they dealt with the pros and cons of the drug world. In addition to dealing with his pregnant wife Skyler and his teenage son Walter Jr who had cerebral palsy, he also had to deal with his wife’s sister Marie and her DEA husband Hank. Oh! And not forgetting his alter ego ‘Heisenberg’.

It was very hard to find a bad review of “Breaking bad” so I had to settle for a mixed review. Linda Stasi of the New York Post wrote a mixed review of the show and began by comparing it to that of “Mad Men” which she said was arguably the best series of its own season. She said both shows “hinge on what even most normal of family men are actually capable of”, referring to the fact that in both shows, the men were forced to step out of their normal ‘lifestyles’ in order to provide better for their families. In Walter White’s case, going from a high school chemistry teacher who worked a second job at a car wash, to becoming a drug lord who ended up buying the car wash.

 Stasi applauds White’s union with Jesse Pinkman, which she refers to as “ill-fitting drug purveyors” and she believes that their clashed personalities was what aggravated the situations that brought the viewers to the edge of their seats. In the same breath however she referred to the show as “really bizarre” and “gory” when she described the atrocities that the drug world revealed. Unfortunately, what Stasi showed contempt for is one of the reasons why I loved the show. I appreciated the fact that the consequences of being in the drug world were not sugar-coated and I enjoyed every expression of it. If you depended on the show to make a decision on entering the business, the answers were all there for you, the good, the bad and the ugly. Stasi also admired that Walt and Jesse created a rolling meth lab on an RV and one day came up with New Mexico’s best meth ever. To me that seemed a bit common but, I agree it was a cool way to start the show in order to keep our hearts pumping for the unfolding of all the other clever and unprecedented created labs.

It wasn’t a shock to me that I could not find one bad review of “Breaking Bad”. It was a great show and I loved it because it argued reasons why an everyday normal working person may go ‘bad’.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Argument against a "Poor" Review

http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2013/02/19/metal-gear-rising-revengeance-review-ps3/

          Released in February 2013, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance was developed by Platinum Games Studio with Kojima Productions Studios directing the game direction and story. This game serves as a spin-off of the Metal Gear Solid franchise, produced by Kojima Productions Studios, and is set a couple years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Instead of following the series main character Snake, it follows the story of Raiden, a soldier-turned cyborg, trying to make a living for his family by working for a local Private Military Corporation (PMC) and aiding in war-torn countries for peace. For me, I hold this game as a good example of how a spin-off should be, considering the source material and its mythos. However, some reviews of the game have decided to play a fast card and never tried to push themselves, believing games should just finish itself. The review above is a perfect example of lazy critics wanting an easy experience.

          Story: In the review, the reviewer stated the story of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance was nonsensical and wasn't worth following. My answer to that is to go back to Metal Gear Solid 4 because that story was confusing if you had not experienced the other games in the franchise to get the full story. In Revengeance, the story is simplified with Good vs. Bad with a side plot of kidnapped children being harvested for organs and used as child soldiers. Okay, that side plot is morbid but it helps strengthen Raiden's resolve to stop the bad guys and their plans. Sprinkled in this story, as with all the Metal Gear Solid games, are various political commentary about the world and some of the issues, like war and how it's an industry and why it should continue. It also shows Raiden's progression as he must realize his true self and stand by his own morals. While the story is overly simplified, it is by no means nonsensical or convoluted.

          Gameplay: Instead of the traditional stealth gameplay that was the cornerstone of all the Metal Gear Solid games, the game utilizes Raiden's lightning quick swordplay and ninja-like movement as the new backbone of this spin-off. The game revolves around a cool mechanic which involves a slow motion ability that would allow you to cut your opponent in any way as long as you have energy and when you cut at a specific spot, you can de-spine an enemy cyborg and replenish your own energy and health. While the combat is fast-paced and solid, the reviewer seemed to dislike this combat for being too frustrating and cited its difficulty and AI combat ability on harder difficulties. For me, these words are signs of a critic being lazy and wanting an easy experience to get it over with quickly. They even stated that they couldn't complete the game on the standard difficulty--normal. The combat may not be deep, but the gameplay is satisfying when you commit yourself to understanding the adaptable enemy AI. Another highlight of the game are the boss fights that feature different strategies and amazing dynamic rock music (An example). A negative for this game is the camera as it mostly crams itself on your back as you combat against various opponents when next to walls. I can agree with the reviewer in the camera frustration.

          Final Notes: While there are more topics to cover, they are not as prominent in the review I counter. Instead of a serious story like the other Metal Gear Solid games, this spin-off is all kinds of over-the-top and shows no signs of caring. This spin-off is all tongue-in-cheek and is having fun with itself and all of the clichés with the Metal Gear Solid games. I mean, look at this:

This is a senator with body-enhancing nanomachines. And he just beat up an advanced cyborg (Raiden) with his fists. He's no joke but a joke at the same time.

No way this can be interpreted as a serious story when you a character like this. Despite not having the complexity of other Metal Gear Solid games, it's Metal Gear RISING and follows its own story rather than relying on its main series. A fun game and well worth the time when you see this as its own story and not related to the other games.

                                                                                                                             -Nikki "Nikolas" Pham

Watch the throne Jay-Z&Kanye

The album Watch the Throne was highly aniticipated by most around the time it was going to debut. The Album was made by two prominent hip-hop Moguls Kanye West and well respected Jay-Z. Of course the only thing we expected was greatness. But I cant help but say that the album was very over-rated. Acording to Tom Breihan's review from website Pitchfork the very reasons he loved the album were some of the main reasons I did not.

 

The album spoke a lot about materialistic things that the average person cannot relate to. There were a lot of references to products or designers, us “lower-class” people weren’t aware of. And even after we figured out what or who they were it was pointless because they are wayyyyy out of our price range.

I took a little bitter to the boastful rants about what country or island these two have vacationed at. Or the extreme amounts of money they have spent on simple things. I wish it was a more down to earth and relatable.

But to their defense I did like the few discussions about other issues that occur other than the materials they accumulated. It was a some talk about black on black crime and other societal issues.

None the less the music was pleasing to the ears with samples from Otis Redding and James Brown. I don’t downplay the creativity of the album either. But I still think that because it was from Kanye West and Jay-Z  that was the only reason everyone raved so much about the album. I think that the album was good but not as game changing and influencing as Tom Breihan and others like him might preach.

Even the production was over done with the numerous amount of producers used to make each track. I know there is a thing as perfection but sometimes less is more. The abstract cover art they used was a little redundant. I feel like they put in too much effort to separate themselves from the rest of the hip hop artists.

The album Watch the Throne was best describing them. Clearly they feel above other hip hop artists and want to be looked up too.

(I’m playing Devil’s Advocate, I personally liked the album too.)

August Alsina: Debut Album Testimony Cover Art Work

New Orleans Singer August Alsina will be debuting his first album in April. August Alsina decided to release the artwork of his debut album "Testimony", and the album cover is pretty simple and nice. In the image he is dressed nicely, bowing his head as if he is praying. There is a lot of emotion in this picture. August has been through a lot and has made some changes and revisions from his life so I feel within this picture you can feel his emotion from his face with his eyes being closed, and the title being "Testimony". It really gives a feel of sincerity. It seems the emotion of the picture is saying so much, and for someone that listens to his music and hears what he talks about mainly including situations in his life, and the passing of his brother, this picture is saying a lot without saying nothing.  I feel the colors in the image fits the emotion he is trying to give in the artwork. The image is straight to the point in my opinion. The title helps and what also helps is there isn't to much going on in the image.  If this image had to be summed up in one word it definitely would be emotion.

W.E.B - My Double Conscious Experience

W.E.B Double Conscious is an experience if not everyone has gone through they have at least been victim to doing it or even are still doing it today. It definitely is a struggle and a sad one at that. To not be able to fully be happy, comfortable and own yourself be in your own skin seems very sad even maybe depressing depending on the person. To battle yourself and your true identity as far as are you pleasing society and their expectations they want you to live up to and try to be yourself is like being two people trapped in one. I feel I've seen this more than have personally been in this position. I feel I experienced this when I was a little younger than I am now. I felt like this because in school everyone was cliqued up and I didn't know where I belonged but I knew I wanted to belong. I didn't want to feel or be left out; so I would try to mingle in a way that I would try to be the one everyone wanted to hangout with, be around and etc. This caused me to go through so many stages when I was younger because I wanted to be the it girl. I would change my hair color, clothes, it was a lot looking back at it. I felt obligated to try to please everyone as far as what people liked and was interested in. When I would be around certain people and I would say something people would just assume oh your this ethnic or that right off the jump because of how I would say something. Another thing I dealt with within myself was should I talk like this around this group of people and should I do this around a certain group of people. I pretty much tried to live by being the fit in girl. This caused me to know a lot of people, befriend quite a bit of people but it also caused me for that time being to lose myself and who I really was. Sometimes when I would be alone I'd think to myself what do I need to do now; but some days I would feel like I was not really myself. I at that time had to pull back and re-evaluate myself. Figure who I was, Be comfortable with being Me. So as I grew up I started being comfortable with myself; do what made me happy, what I liked to do, how I liked to do it. I found this didn't drive people away it actually attracted people and the ones that did disappear from my life I took it as they weren't meant to be there in the first place. I actually started being an example as well and had a great reputation for myself. I really feel W.E.B double conscious concept will continue to live on through people. As long as people, society keeps these expectations depended on your ethnic, the way you look and etc to it in motion people will always feel they have to live up to it. People will always be judged and feel they have to change who they are to fit a good judgement; and as long as we feel we're suppose to live up to what other people will say people will continue to experience this. That is why it's important to be you! Love yourself, grow, and do what's right to you and makes you you because in the end of the day you only will be you no one else! So an example needs to be made to accept yourself and whoever accepts you is meant to be there and whoever doesn't isn't meant to! I know I learned lessons, anyone who goes through this and is able to be one conscious which is theirself I feel will learn lessons and grow. I know what makes me and that creates my individuality. You never know by accepting someone you can save them from losing theirself in their self cause they tried to live up to the expectations of others.

Art is a Lie that Makes Us Realize the Truth.

The image I chose is a piece done by the graffiti artist known as Banksy. He is a graffiti artist who chooses to open the eyes of the world to the corruption that many people do not realize that is underlying the government. The real quote written on this wall is “If you repeat a lie enough, it becomes truth”. This quote is often used amongst people to justify their lies. In the image, the artist Banksy crossed out the word truth and replaced it with the world politics. This just shows that lies are politics. With the word truth being replaced with politics, it shows the amount of wrong in the government. As seen in many places, a majority of the government feeds lies to the public saying that everything they do is for the better, or that everything will benefit the people. Banksy exposes this truth, this real truth that uncovers the lies of the government. These are things that many people would not think of, or give a second thought and just move on with their days. Amongst the younger generation, social media spreads images like this one to show others the small truths.

I feel that the title I chose relates to this image well. “Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth” is a Picasso quote. One of the greatest artists of all time directly states that art is a medium used to dig out the truths that are covered up. In my opinion, this quote goes hand in hand with the Banksy’s stencil piece. They both use art to show the truth behind the lies. Picasso says that art is the lie that opens the world to the truth while Banksy uses art to open the world to the truth. These two artists show the corruption and lies in different mediums.

Back to the original point, the image shows the truth behind politics. It is just a lie told often enough, repeated to the point where people believe that it is true. No one would doubt something said by hundreds of people. Such repetition would cause a brainwashing “truth” 

If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes "politics"