Dr. Stone Vol. 3 Review (Hey Poor Player)

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It's insane how much better Dr. Stone gets once Taiju and Yuzuhira are out of the picture. I can't recommend this enough.

The Promised Neverland Vol. 7 Review

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And we've finally wrapped up the Manga Review Deluge from Hell! Give me a round of applause, why don't you?

Anyway, there's just two more reviews I scheduled for this month (Case Closed/Dr. Stone), so look forward to those.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue

Okay, now things have just gotten silly. Long have us patient Kingdom Hearts fans weathered wacky names in 358/2 Days and Re:Coded all for the sake of Kingdom Hearts III's ever-nebulous release, but Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue? That's not just absurd -- that's pretentious word salad scribbled straight from the aspiring teenager debuting their Kingdom Hearts/Animorphs/My Little Pony crossover fanfiction into the world. Not that Kingdom Hearts wasn't already a fanfictional fever dream in itself, but how on earth am I supposed to say that with a straight face? Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue -- gads, even just typing that feels nasty. Thankfully, our ever-oblivious director in Tetsuya Nomura comes to the rescue with his faux-rocket science:

"This Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance compilation follows the previously HD work 2.5...and is worthy as taking its place as 2.6. Since Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover/Kingdom Hearts Unchained is supposed to be the first game in the mainline series, that is being represented as '0' in the collection. And lastly, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep is '0.1' and that then leads into Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep."

Where do I even begin? The made-up math? The constant name influx? That despite said collection including Dream Drop Distance -- the convoluted but necessary step into the upcoming finale -- the presence of tech demo Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage- and movie Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover only further inflates the baggage of confusing names and superfluous events? Granted, maybe the latter's unfair to 0.2 -- god, did I really just type that? -- but we'll get into that later.

Worldly Weekend: Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD ReMIX

Disclaimer: This article serves as the "main" reviews for Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep Final Mix, as I possess no interest in importing the original versions.

Now, here's something certainly more bang for your buck: two Final Mixes in one collection. Sure, there's a rancid movie adaption included, but why complain when there's two Holy Grails finally localized into English? To say Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD ReMIX -- the second of the three Kingdom Hearts collections we're reviewing -- chronologically focuses on the post-Kingdom Hearts portion of the saga would be a tad misleading considering the presence of prequel Birth by Sleep, but it's not like 358/2 Days -- a game requiring intimate knowledge of Kingdom Hearts II -- being present in the first collection made much sense either. As we've elaborated countless times, no one really knows what goes on with this series, so let's just roll with it.

So anyway: Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, Birth by Sleep Final Mix, and a movie adaption of Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded. For the moment, let us pretend that last one doesn't exist, and observe the majesty previously denied to us Westerners. True, dedicated PSP owners may've circumvented the handheld's region-free capabilities for Birth by Sleep, but let's not pretend the English language's presence doesn't produce convenience for everyone else. Yet with Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix being the more famed of the two, it's only natural we begin with the collection's main attraction.

Silver Spoon Vol. 6 Review (Hey Poor Player)

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And a two.

Expect Worldly Weekend and a clean-up of The Archives this weekend.

My Hero Academia Vol. 16 Review (Hey Poor Player)

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And a one.

Astra Lost in Space Vol. 5 Review (Hey Poor Player)

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Happy New Year!! To celebrate, here's my final manga review of, uh, last year. Coincidentally, this marks the conclusion of Astra Lost in Space.

My goodness, would you look at that sidebar: 81 posts for one year! My biggest yet -- I wonder if I can surpass it this year? Regardless, in all my hard work over the past fall, I've neglected to maintain my Game Journalism/Manga archives, so expect updates around those parts.

Here's to a bigger and better 2019!

Worldly Weekend: Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX

Full Disclosure: This article will serve as the "main" review for Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix, as I have no interest in importing the original version.

And so begins our journey into the world of Kingdom Hearts remasters. For the uninformed, the three we'll be reviewing are three-course meal packages -- two upgraded ports and a cinematic feature "retelling" the story behind one of the handheld spinoffs -- designed for the purpose of uniting the series onto one console in PlayStation 3 (barring Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, which exclusively released for PlayStation 4 and would later be repackaged in Kingdom Hearts - The Story So Far on the same console). Given my peculiar relationship with this bizarre franchise, I simply cannot ignore reiterations that've hooked new fans, and so here we are.

In this case, we are reviewing Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX. Putting aside the series' latest in bizarre names, this first collection contains the "Final Mix" upgrade of the original Kingdom Hearts, PlayStation 2's Kingdom Hearts: Re:Chain of Memories remake of the Game Boy Advance game, and a movie version of Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days. As you may recall, I have conflicting feelings on all three: the first one's an aged, wannabe masterpiece that's more of a bizarrely enchanting freshman project, Re:Chain of Memories is an inferior remake worth only for 3D novelty, and 358/2 Days' pretentious presentation can't mask its identity as mediocre product. For the weathered Kingdom Hearts fan as myself, barring the first-ever release of Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix in the West, this is not an especially enticing purchase, particularly when considering 1.5 ReMIX has been repackaged into two further collections:  Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX and Kingdom Hearts -The Story So Far-.

We Never Learn Vol. 1 Review (Hey Poor Player)

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I don't think I'll be covering this series any farther, but I wanted at least one more rom-com before the year wrapped up, so what better choice than a Shonen Jump title?

I think We Never Learn would be really solid if it cut down on the sexualization hijinks. Call me a prude, but the stuff with Kirisu-sensei is really...yeah. Nisekoi was refreshing in that regard.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Review (Hey Poor Player)

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Three days and 2600+ words -- all for the sake of the game that's taken over my life for the past ten days.

Have I mentioned how much I love Smash Bros.? I love it so much that I just share my favorite screenshots I've been taking. Here's one that's gained some traction on Twitter.

Being of radioactive energy patiently awaits dinner. #darksamus #chefkawasaki #SmashBros #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/Uvh9LTbpZs

— Alagunder (@MrSaturn99) December 15, 2018