Demon Slayer is probably my favourite series at the moment…let alone my favourite anime. I originally watched The Mugen Train movie, and that was my first introduction to the anime and the characters. And even with no prior knowledge, it engaged me right from the start.
This movie had much higher stakes than the previous two I’d seen, and since I had seen quite a bit of the anime by the time I saw this movie (for the second time now), I was much more familiar with the characters and the storyline…and found myself on the edge of my seat even after having seen the movie once already.
It was really great to see all of the demon slayers and the hashira. I really liked seeing Tanjiro and Giyu fighting alongside each other…and, of course, Akaza made an appearance in this movie, along with Doma. Doma is perhaps scarier than Akaza, since he comes across as really charming and almost kind…while brutally murdering people. Akaza, at least, never pretended to be anything other than what he was.
What was good was being able to see both Akaza and Doma as they had been as humans. With Doma, it didn’t really do much to humanise him. Even before becoming a demon, it seemed like he didn’t have any real empathy towards other people. For Akaza, though, learning about his past as a human was heartbreaking. By the time the battle between him, Giyu and Tanjiro was over, I actually had tears in my eyes. It was enough to make me hope that the demons who’d been able to return to their humanity would find some sort of peace in their next lives.
I also really liked the fact that Zenitsu confronted Kaigaku, and was actually awake during that battle. Prior to watching this movie, I’d seen Zenitsu only able to fight when he was sleeping…which was a really unique idea, even if he was annoying when he was awake and constantly freaking out. But in this movie, he showed a much more serious side to him, and it was actually really great to see.
I hated the fight between Doma and Shinobu, even though it allowed me to learn more about Shinobu…and to a lesser extent Doma, even though he was still obviously a bad guy. Just very charming with it, which left me with very conflicted emotions about how the battle was going.
I will say that I am Not Happy that I have to wait even longer for the next movies to come out. Okay, maybe it’ll give me time to watch the whole anime in its entirety, but I still don’t want to be waiting so long for the other movies!
So, I picked up this book because the title and the cover both really intrigued me. And then I read the blurb, and I immediately thought this book sounded interesting…and different enough to hold my attention, over all the young adult books with really similar plots I keep seeing.
I felt that the book had a really strong start. Being a writer myself, there were some really interesting moral issues raised even from the very first paragraph. As a writer, it is true that I have killed characters in service of the plot. Never for no reason, though. I don’t do it just for shock value like I’m aware some people do.
But…going back to the book itself, I thought it got off to a really interesting start. As a writer myself, it’s interesting to consider the effects that a book can have on someone. And being addressed by who I assumed was the killer, about kidnapping a writer, was a really interesting idea.
I was a bit disappointed that the book started with Katie having been kidnapped, because it seemed to remove a lot of the mystery that the blurb promised. I’m a strong believer that less is more…and while this is mostly to do with movies (especially horror movies), I think the same is true for books as well.
This book also completely changed genres about halfway through and that…really ruined the book for me. I felt there was no foreshadowing for it to suddenly turn into a fantasy, and what had been shown before didn’t match up with the sudden swerve into fantasy territory. I mean…why was the killer writing messages to Lyla? I kind of get that maybe the whole speaking to the lead detective was meant to be Katie’s plan, but given that she didn’t even seem to know about Lyla until she saw the newspaper article…I felt it really fell short. And the other two ‘twists’ just felt like the book had lost its way somewhere along the second or third murder.
This book could have worked well as a fantasy thriller if there’d been more foreshadowing before the sudden swerve, but sadly, by the point that was revealed…I just lost my suspension of disbelief. By the end of the book, I couldn’t help wondering if this had actually been written with the help of AI. Mostly, this was due to a scene where Katie presses her forehead against another character’s…and that’s an action that seems to occur a lot in AI writing that I’ve seen.
Whether written with AI or not (and it’s pretty sad that I now have to consider that as a possibility when reading books), this really wasn’t as good as I was hoping it would be. It definitely could have been improved…and there is such a thing as too many twists, especially when these aren’t foreshadowed at all.
Unfortunately, this book simply wasn’t one I enjoyed reading…and I wouldn’t seek out another book by this author unless it was completely different to this one, and didn’t give me a sudden genre switch partway through. Because there’s not much more jarring than a sudden shift to fantasy when reading a thriller that had no hint of it until quite a way into the book.
This book was one that came up on my Facebook feed when I was browsing through. The blurb was intriguing, even though the plot wasn’t hugely original, so I decided to give it a try.
The opening scene of the book was pretty tense, with a young woman being accused of stealing from the castle and about to be executed for it. Right from the start, it’s obvious that there’s a lot more to the execution than the so-called crime Nel committed. This is partly due to Gelwin’s protestations of her sister’s innocence…and partly due to the fact that Nel, upon being executed, gives birth to a little boy, which is, of course, where the title of the book comes from.
Bane’s life in Crookfell is fairly typical of a main character in a fantasy book. He’s an outcast, with a dead mother and a dead guardian…his only living guardian is physically and verbally abusive…and everyone in the town hates him. He also has a special marking, or tattoo, on his arm that marks him in some way and is later important to the plot.
Despite the large amount of cliches, I found Bane to be a character who was easy to empathise with. I also really appreciated that, while there are some elements of ‘you can fight so well because it’s in your genes’, he’s actually trained to fight and it’s in a way that makes sense, in spite of being used as a literal punching bag during one of his (many) bullies’ own attempts at training.
I really wasn’t a fan of the romance that seemed shoehorned into this book. Belle seemed to follow the whole Cinderella trope, but I didn’t find her to be an interesting character. I knew barely anything about her, apart from what Bane so, so she didn’t feel ‘real’ to me. On the other hand, Alruna had more depth to her…but I’m really not a fan of the whole enemies to lovers trope, especially as the whole reason Alruna hates Bane is because he killed her brother to save his own life. I have a serious problem with people who want others to suffer/die when their only ‘crime’ was defending themselves…and, in Bane’s case, the rest of his town.
The idea of the Fug was quite an intriguing one, especially with how it related to Vikings and Norse mythology. I liked the fact that it wasn’t all revealed at once, instead being shown gradually as the book went along.
On the whole, I did find this book easy to read…but Bane was the only character I really felt any real connection to. I did like Gelwin, but as she only appeared at the start of the book, I didn’t really form a connection with her. If you like fantasy that’s easy to read and fairly engaging, this book is probably worth reading. At some point in the future, I’d probably be interested in reading the next books in this series.
I’ll preface this review by saying that the animated movie of Spirited Away is one of my favourite movies of all times. I’d say that it’s one of my sister’s favourite movies, too. So when she offered to pay for tickets to the theatre showing in London this year, for my birthday, I immediately jumped at the chance.
I seriously loved the show, and I’m so happy that I got to experience seeing it with my sister. I will say that being in the balcony did give a bit of a restricted view, as the balcony itself blocked a small portion of the stage. Unfortunately, part of the story did take place in an area that was blocked from view, so if you go to see the play, I would suggest avoiding the balcony seating.
Spirited Away the movie is an animated movie, and I was really interested to see how that carried through onto the stage. I thought the animated parts worked really well…and I especially liked seeing Yubaba’s giant head and how that was created on the stage.
I really loved the visual aspects of the play. The opening scene played out at the very front of the stage, which unfortunately did mean I missed a few moments of Chihiro and her parents. It had been a while since I saw the animated movie, so while I remembered most of the basic storyline, I couldn’t remember all of the intricate details. However, after Chihiro and her parents went through the tunnel, the whole stage opened up…and I felt like I was getting a glimpse into a much bigger world. There was a lot of space on the stage, and the cast definitely made use of it.
The costumes and look of the characters fit so well with what I remembered from the original movie, which was really awesome. I loved Lin especially, as she looked and sounded so much like her counterpart from the movie…and Lin was always one of my favourites from the movie, along with Chihiro and Haku, of course.
Speaking of Chihiro and Haku, I thought the play did a really good job of showing the friendship and relationship between them. Since that was one of the strongest elements of the original movie, it was really important to me that that come across well in the theatre show…and I really felt it did.
Another aspect that I truly liked about this show was the music. The song about the gods going into the bathhouse right at the start was really good…and I particularly liked the song and dance when the gold is scattered in the bathhouse the first time; although to be honest, I was confused and thought they were golden fans at first!
The show was actually subtitled, which is something I’ve never experienced at a theatre show before. It wasn’t entirely easy to read the subtitles and watch what was going on at the same time. However, the screens showing the subtitles were very clear; they were just set quite far above the stage, so I was trying to read the subtitles as fast as possible and then watch was going on on the stage. I’m a fast reader, but I did find it difficult to take in both at times.
Despite the issues with the restricted view, I did really enjoy this show and I found it a really good retelling of one of my favourite movies. I would definitely recommend watching this show, especially if you’re a fan of Japanese animated movies.
Dead Boy Detectives was one of the series that came up while I had the Netflix home screen on. I didn’t realise at that point that it was set in the same universe as The Sandman, but I was definitely intrigued by the initial clip that I saw.
I definitely enjoyed the interactions between Charles and Edwin throughout this series. Right from the start, it was obvious they were close friends; and I particularly enjoyed the whole concept of two dead teenagers solving cases involving spirits and curses and the like.
The first episode was particularly engaging, with Edwin and Charles having taken on a case involving a ghost attached to a gas mask. I thought the episode worked really well as an introduction to the main characters and their abilities. I also got to see Death appear in the same incarnation as The Sandman…which was awesome, because I really like that version of Death.
This episode also worked as a good introduction to Crystal Palace, who quickly becomes an integral part of the Dead Boy Detective Agency. I was a little confused by the ghost of the little girl who claimed to be such good friends with Crystal…but disappeared for the rest of the series. I would have liked a bit more information about who she was and what her connection to Crystal was.
I really liked learning more about Charles’ past, even though it was traumatising and made me sad to learn how he’d ultimately died. I really thought that the interactions between him and Edwin in the past, before he actually died, were really moving and sad.
I loved Ruth Connell’s role as the Night Nurse in this series. She came across as a fairly typical antagonist, but after she was trapped inside the anglerfish, I felt she went through quite a bit of character development. However, I still didn’t like the whole purpose of her job. Effectively, she said that she needed to make sure dead children stayed where they were. Considering Edwin was dragged to Hell (and tortured) on a technicality, I thought that forcing the spirits to stay where they’d been placed was actually pretty cruel. But it meant that their insistence on staying together and not being separated made a lot of sense, given their afterlifes would probably be different.
I thought that the Dandelion Sprites who were possessing/attacking Niko were a pretty nice touch, although given that they were immortal beings, their choice of language was kind of…well, they were definitely foul-mouthed little immortal beings. But they were a lot of fun.
I also really liked Jenny as a character, though I couldn’t help but feel bad for her. She was cleary trying to be a good landlord, but ended up getting pulled into the whole supernatural…and unlike Niko, I really thought that her reaction towards the end of season one, where she finds out everything, was actually pretty realistic. Of course, Niko came across as being more open-minded in general, given her very calm reaction to Crystal telling her about her friends (Charles and Edwin). I did really like that Niko developed the ability to see them, but it did seem like an awful lot of people in the series had that ability.
Okay, so let’s talk about the cats. Anyone who knows me knows that I love cats. They’re pretty much my favourite animals (although dogs are a very close second). I loved that cats played a big part in the series…though I have to admit, I wasn’t that keen on the Cat King as a character at first. He gave off very trickster-like vibes, and I thought he was going to be a more evil character than he actually was. I definitely would have liked to see more interactions between the Cat King and Edwin.
Esther was an interesting antaganist, although she came across a little over the top. I found it a bit hard to take her seriously at times and while there was a bit more of her background explored in the final episode, it wasn’t really enough to make her one of the ‘good’ vilains (i.e., someone I can identify with/understand).
Another crossover character with the Sandman was Despair, who appeared briefly with her sibling, Desire, in the Sandman. I liked being able to see her in Hell…or at least a dimension that allowed her to see into Hell. I was intrigued by her interaction with Edwin, and would like to see a bit more of the two of them interacting with each other in the next season.
All told, I really did enjoy watching this series. I binge-watched it over a weekend and was completely drawn in. I loved Edwin and Charles as characters and I really liked most of the supporting characters. The mystery about Crystal’s missing memories was engaging, and I really liked the fact that her abilities didn’t just mean that the cases were easy to solve. They all still had to work on it…especially with the case involving the groundhog day style murders. That was traumatising to see as a viewer, let alone to actively be there watching it.
If you watched and enjoyed the Sandman, then I think you’ll enjoy watching this. And if you haven’t seen the Sandman, then you don’t really need to have in order to enjoy this series. I highly recommend it!
I watched the previous movie in the new Ghostbusters franchise, and since I did enjoy it, I decided to go to the cinema to see the next one.
The initial opening scene, with a whole room of people frozen with apparently no obvious source, was a really good way of setting the tone of the rest of the movie and building tension.
I found Phoebe to be a really relatable character in the first movie, and that wasn’t any different in this movie. I can definitely relate to Phoebe needing the Ghostbusters in her life…and how frustrated and upset she was about having that taken away from her. Being told to just be a normal teenager, while the rest of the family continued to capture ghosts, was clearly really hard on her.
I will say that I was disappointed with how things were handled between Phoebe and Melody. If the characters had been a guy and a girl, there would have been a deeper exploration of their feelings and there would have been a Romeo and Juliet slant to the movie. For what it’s worth, I really don’t see Romeo and Juliet as some great love story. However, I know that comparison would have been drawn if the genders were different.
I did like the interactions between the whole family, including Gary, were really good. It was obvious that there were some tensions in the family with Gary dating Callie, including with Gary not really knowing if he could take an active part in dealing with Phoebe or not. I thought the tension between the family worked really well…although Phoebe snapping at her mother was a bit sad to see. On the other hand, I really didn’t like the fact that Callie told Trevor, ‘You’re an adult, aren’t you?’ when he asked her for help with the ghost in the attic. Like turning 18 magically means a parent shouldn’t help their child anymore? That made Callie drop a bit in my estimation, to be honest.
My favourite character in this movie, apart from Phoebe, had to be Nadeem. I always like the concept of a character who has abilities, but isn’t aware of them and then has to learn how to use those…and I really liked the way he was introduced. To be fair, the actor who plays him is one I’ve liked in a lot of things (like the Eternals).
On the whole, despite being disappointed in how Phoebe and Melody’s relationship was handled, I did enjoy this movie. It was a good sequel to Afterlife, and I particularly liked seeing the original surviving Ghostbusters appear in this movie. I will say that if you enjoyed the original Ghostbusters, I think this one and its predecessor are both worth watching.
So, as indicated in the last review I posted, I really like books based on mythology and gods…so when I saw this one on my birthday, I was immediately interested in reading it.
I really like the whole concept of humanity having to fight in battles for its survival. Of course, the idea itself isn’t really all that unique – Mortal Kombat, anyone? But this book gave me a bit more of an insight into the gods who wanted to destroy humanity, so there’s that.
I was a bit surprised that none of the gods spoke up in defence of humanity. I know the vote was meant to be a unanimous one, but it was a surprise that none of the gods cared about humanity.
I really liked being able to see Brunhilde. She was an interesting character, and I would have liked a bit more detail about her time living among humans. I assume that none of the other Valkyries lived as humans, so I would have liked a bit more detail about why they all wanted to save humans, not just Brunhilde.
I thought it was really good to see the different gods, although a lot of them were more of a ‘blink and you miss them’ appearance. I did like the brief interaction between Zeus and Hermes…but I have to say that while Zeus appeared very similar to how I would picture him, Hermes didn’t really meet the mental image I had of him. And really, neither did Thor. Gorgeous artwork, but the gods from other pantheons were clearly coloured by the way characters are drawn in Japanese manga.
I didn’t know anything about Lu Bu’s character, but I really liked the fact that he and Thor were able to respect each other as warriors. And it was interesting to see how Lu Bu’s legend was different from the reality.
I did feel like there was a lot of tension in the battle between Lu Bu and Thor. It was really good that there was a way found to allow the weapon of a human to stand against that of a god. However, given that it seems it takes a sacrifice to make that weapon, it’s kind of sad that, presumably, each battle will require that same sacrifice to make a weapon.
This book ends on something like a cliffhanger, along with the list of gods and humans who will be fighting each other. I’m definitely interested in reading further books in this series in the future!
This was the first book I read of the five I bought for my birthday, and it was one of the two I have now finished.
The blurb of this book was immediately interesting, since it involved gods and reincarnation, two things that I always find very interesting. Plus, I was really happy to see that the main character was nonbinary, as it’s the first book I’ve seen with that representation (that’s quite important to me, as one of my family members is nonbinary).
So, I do have to say that I found this book really quick and easy to read. I finished it in two days. I would have managed to finish it in one day, my birthday, but since I had a really long day and was planning on a long day the next, I knew I didn’t have the mental bandwidth to finish it in one day.
I really liked Gem’s character in this book. I found them to be really relatable and easy to engage with. Plus, as the initial scene had them dreaming one of their memories, I was immediately intrigued by what was going on between them and their demon. And the scene with the other god captured and imprisoned was depicted really well. I didn’t really understand Gem’s motivations at that point, to be honest. There was a lot about how important the balance, or the scales, were, but as I learned more about what Gem had done in their first life, I found myself wondering where the balance came in.
One thing I really liked was the impression I got that none of the characters were truly bad…or truly good, for that matter. Even with Gem being the narrator of the book, it was really clear that even the ‘villains’ had a lot of depth to them. I found myself really liking Poppy, even after viewing her through Gem’s eyes. And there was a flashback scene that made it really easy to understand Marian and her motivations.
I will say that there were some really good moments of foreshadowing in this book, especially when it came to Zeke. I would have liked a bit more of that with certain other gods who’d been reincarnated, as I felt they were only introduced right when they became relevant to the plot, instead of in a seamless way like a handful of the others were introduced.
I am disappointed that this book ended on a cliffhanger, as I really wanted to find out what would happen next. And the second book isn’t out until April, so I can’t find out what’s going to happen until then.
Anyway. I definitely found this book engaging and easy to read. If you like this kind of genre, I would definitely recommend giving this book a try.
So, I did go and see the other two Demon Slayer movies at the cinema. I really enjoyed both of them, so when I realised there was a third movie coming out at the cinema, I was immediately interested in seeing this movie.
Very similar to the second movie, this one started right in the middle of the action, with Tanjiro and Nezuko pursuing a demon that seemed to have been threatening the village Tanjiro had reached in the second film. I was a bit confused about what was going on, but it was really easy to care about Tanjiro and what he was trying to do. In the second movie, I really liked seeing more of Zenitsu and his abilities, and while he didn’t really appear much in this film, I liked that the advice he gave helped Tanjiro to focus his energy, despite being wounded and fatigued.
In the previous movies, it was made very clear that Tanjiro’s main goal in joining the demon slayers is to save his sister and make Nezuko human again. For that reason, the scene where Nezuko forces Tanjiro away from protecting her to protect the villagers, is particularly heart-wrenching. After all, it’s made extremely clear that demons can’t survive in daylight, and the sun burns Nezuko’s skin even before it’s fully in the sky.
I did find the villagers weraring the masks to be extremely weird and confusing. For a bit of the film, I actually assumed the masks were their faces; which made no sense, given that every other character had ‘normal’ faces.
I liked being able to see more of the wider world of the Demon Slayers, especially when it came to seeing more of the hashira. I really liked seeing both Obanai and Sanemi (the serpent and wind hashari respectively) fighting alongside each other to rescue a human woman from a demon, as it was really good to see how their abilities worked.
I also really liked both Mitsuri and Muichiro, especially when it came to them discussing how they each came to be marked. I really enjoyed how calmly and dispassionately Muichiro discussed his marking, as opposed to how excited and over the top Mitsuri became while talking about it. I would have liked to know exactly what being marked meant, though, as the movie deliberately cuts off that explanation…so I can only assume that it’s something bad. Also, it seems that Tanjiro’s mark is permanent…while the others’ marks don’t seem to last.
On the whole, I really did enjoy this addition to the Demon Slayer franchise. I liked seeing Nezuko being able to talk, even if she is copying what others say to her and has to be taught to speak…much like a child. I’m hoping that there will be a fourth movie out in this series very soon, as I would definitely watch it!
I do think this movie doesn’t really stand on its own, so you probably have to be at least a bit familiar with the anime before watching this movie. But if you are, this is definitely worth watching!
I watched the first Aquaman movie when it came out, so when I saw the second one advertised, I was immediately interested in going to see it.
I really enjoyed this movie. I particularly enjoyed seeing Arthur interacting with his son, and how he reacted to seeing Arthur Junior having the same abilities as him. It was a really sweet moment when he talked about how much he wished he had someone to talk to when his own abilities had started. Though, to be honest, I did question how a baby would handle those kinds of abilities…and part of me was worried that something bad was going to happen to the fish tank, like the fish would end up getting out or something.
My favourite parts of this movie were definitely the interactions between Arthur and Orm. The previous Aquaman movie had ended with Arthur obviously regretful over not being able to have a good relationship with his brother…and it was a lot of fun to see how they worked together. Although, I have to say that I thought Arthur was pretty mean when he encouraged Orm to eat a cockroach! It was sweet how Orm just trusted him, but…come on! (Unless Aquaman really does eat cockroaches and I’m just misremembering, but….)
I do think it would have been nice to see a bit more of some of the other Justice League members in this movie. Even if they’d just appeared briefly as cameos, I think it would have been good to see them…especially as I don’t know which universe this movie is supposed to take place in, given the mess that the Flash caused in his movie.
I did like the reappearance of the Black Manta as one of the main antagonists, since he was one of the antagonists in the previous movie, and it made a lot of sense that he still wants to kill Arthur. Besides, the common foe made even more sense for Arthur and Orm to be working together. I would have liked a bit more detail about how the others had joined the Black Manta, though. Especially Stingray. I was really interested in knowing what her whole deal was. I did like learning about Doctor Singh’s fascination with Atlantis…and how he never actually intended to hurt anyone from Atlantis and just wanted to see it. I was happy that he had the chance to actually see Atlantis.
On the whole, I did really enjoy this movie. I liked seeing Arthur’s relationship with his parents and with his son…and I really liked being able to see Orm and Arthur actually working together. Plus, it was incredibly sweet that he and Arthur came from such very different worlds and Orm was learning about the surface world from his older brother. This is definitely a film I would love to watch again!
Ink of Blood 