Power ups are a staple of shonen anime, and like anything else that becomes so ubiquitous in a genre, the specific way it is utilized can tell us a lot about what that series is saying. With this in mind, let’s take a look at One Piece.

Video games are a medium where repetition is fundamental, so let’s talk about how it’s used in storytelling.

There is an early scene in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse that I feel is worth taking a closer look at. This isn’t one of the big action scenes, or a piece that gets into all the lore. No, just a small quieter scene, that breaks down the thematic metaphors this movie is working with.

Today let’s look at the pilot episode of Psych. Most pilots are just the average length of an episode for the specific series. Some are 2-part episodes. But then there are some, like Psych’s, with a runtime that’s about equal to an episode and a half.

This is the story of Tim Drake, Batman’s third Robin, having the realization that he’s bisexual. It’s a story of identity, and how much of a struggle it can be to understand what it is that you want when it is something that doesn’t fit with how you previously defined yourself.

I want to take some time to talk about Digimon: The Movie (2000), its history, why I find it so fascinating, and why I think people who don’t even care about Digimon might be fascinated too.

I Saw the TV Glow is a horror film that derives most of its horror from the idea of a trans person having the realization that they’re trans but fearing what it could mean to fully admit it. Instead, it uses TV as a representation of repression.

Last year I played What Remains of Edith Finch for the first time, and this game has pretty much stayed on my mind ever since.

Rogues Division is about a team of super powered people, brought together to stop other powered people. Basic superhero kind of idea. But why are people starting to have these powers? And what are the motives behind creating Rogues Division?

Here is a spec pilot I wrote a while back for a series called Modern Legends.

When talking about anime pilots so far, I have been sticking with the Shonen genre (with Fairy Tail and My Hero Academia). So, this time I wanted I switch it up a little and talk about an Isekai. More specifically, a video game Isekai, which feels like its own subgenre at this point.

Earlier this year I replayed Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (2015) live on stream with one particular question in mind: How bi is Jacob Frye?

Even a non-premise pilot is a pilot. And while it wants to be like any other episode, it still has work to do setting up the series. How does one balance these two seemingly contradictory choices?

In a series all about playing games, primarily Duel Monsters (the in-universe name of the YuGiOh card game), what’s purpose of this unbeatable monster showing up so early?

The Marvel Cinematic Universe currently consists of 29 movies and 6 Disney+ original series (and this isn’t touching on all the shows that are borderline canon). Needless to say, they’ve covered a lot of ground, and brought in a lot of characters. But there are always more…

Emotional power tropes can be subcategorized into at least three more specific kinds of tropes. These include, but at not limited to, any literalization of emotions equalling power, the power of friendship, and kindness or empathy leading to power.

What do the Miles and Mary Jane missions really add to Marvel’s Spider-Man? Well, quite a bit.

With this first collection of movies and series, there are a few patterns starting to pop up. I’ve already written about these patterns in one sense, talking about the theme that could be connecting the entire phase, but now I want to take some time looking at what hints are being dropped for future MCU projects going into Phase 5, or beyond.

What began with cable, and has become common place with the rise of streaming services, is the type of show that has no commercials breaks. If network shows are built around mini climaxes to keep people engaged enough to come back after commercials, how are streaming shows done?

The first part was primarily focused on the digidestined themselves and the expanding lore of the series, but this one is going to be more about the villains and themes that this arc gets into.

Not long ago I wrote about the themes that act as connective tissue between the movies of the first three phases of the MCU, so, after seeing the first two series, I thought it would be fun to guess at what could be this phase’s theme.

The first of two posts diving deep into the Oikawa arc of Digimon Adventure 02. This one is focusing on the digidestined and ways in which this series expands on the lore.

With the entirety of the World of Assassination trilogy having been out for a few months now, I have decided that it would be fun to rank all the levels in the main campaign.

It is because of their anime-only status that some fans look down on these episodes as less worthy, or even non-canonical. But, they do have their place. It may a place that comes out necessity, that doesn’t make them inherently bad.

It has been commented in various ways before that DC’s superheroes are closer to being gods, and Marvel’s are closer to humans. There are examples in both that can prove that this isn’t universally the case, but never has the concept of the Justice League as a pantheon held more weight than in Zack Snyder’s take on the characters.

It’s time to return to the Digital World for another deep dive into the series, this time looking at Digimon Adventure 02 (2000).

We know that mutants are coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe eventually. And, well, they come with their own unique complications. Here are four storylines from the comics that could act as inspiration for how mutants and the X-Men can be brought in.

A deep dive into the “How the Mighty Fall” mission story in Hitman 3’s Dubai level to see how it functions as a subtle tutorial for both new players and old.

Do you ever get those days, where it’s the middle of Winter, and all you want to do is curl up into a ball and roll around on the ice? No? Well, at least there’s Spheal, they understand what I’m saying.