Tag Archives: manga
Video Game Review: Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode (NES)
The first Golgo 13 for the original Nintendo is a game I used to love playing. But I hadn’t picked it up in years. Since I’ve been thinking about doing a deep dive into Golgo 13‘s anime series and movies, I figured I’d revisit the video games, as well.
This is still a lot of fun and I really liked games like this that didn’t just have one playing style. Here, you have a side scrolling shooter but then you get to use vehicles, go on sniper missions and also go underwater.
Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode has a lot going on for it. Each stage of the game brings something fresh and unique and for a NES game, this is pretty long and takes a few hours to beat if you know where to go and what to do. Back in the day, I had to explore and figure out which steps to take.
For the time, the graphics are pretty good and the sound is great. However, it’s the story that makes this such a cool game.
This came out in an era where games didn’t have complex stories like they do in modern times. But this game took it to a level gamers hadn’t seen in 1988. This sort of has RPG vibes to it in how you talk to informants and other NPCs, get clues and directions and more pieces to the plot. While I think much was lost in the English translation, as was common with old NES games, the story still lured me in when I was a wee li’l lad.
Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode is a neat game. It’s held up well and is still engaging and fun, even if all the first-person shootout sequences do become a bit tedious and annoying after awhile.
Rating: 7/10
Pairs well with: other side scrolling shooters from the era, as well as the second Golgo 13 game and Rescue: The Embassy Mission.
Vids I Dig 661: Cartoonist Kayfabe: ‘Golgo 13’: The Impossible Hit… Video Game?! by Takao Saito
Vids I Dig 644: Cartoonist Kayfabe: Outlaw Manga – ‘Fist of the North Star’
Comic Review: I Kill Giants
Published: 2008-2009
Written by: Joe Kelly
Art by: J.M. Ken Nimura
Image Comics, 221 Pages
Review:
This came and went and I never knew about it until recently when I heard about the film that’s based on it. So before checking out the movie, I figured I’d read the source material first. Plus, it was pretty cheap to pickup on Comixology.
I wasn’t expecting the story to get as serious as it did but at the same time, it’s pretty comedic. Honestly, it has the tone of a manga story and since it also features manga style art, it’s a much more Japanese feeling comic than a Western one.
That being said, I was fairly impressed by it and even if it wasn’t my total cup of tea, I liked the idea of a young girl with a massive hammer kicking the shit out of parasitic giants out to harm her community.
While the main character is strange, she’s likable and for the most part, relatable.
This gets into some heavy things but I also feel like this would really be enjoyed by pre-teens, close to the same age as the kids in the story.
I liked the art, the tone was different and refreshing and the characters kept my interest. Plus, the story was a neat concept that was well executed.
Rating: 6.5/10
Pairs well with: other American manga-esque comics.
Vids I Dig 328: Cartoonist Kayfabe: Bizarre Manga Artist Shintaro Kago
Vids I Dig 313: Cartoonist Kayfabe: Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy, The Greatest Robot On Earth!
Vids I Dig 229: The Critical Drinker: ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ – A Relatively Good Film
From The Critical Drinker’s YouTube description: So I guess it’s about time I got around to sharing my thoughts on Alita: Battle Angel, the movie so many people went crazy for when it hit cinemas a few months ago. But does it live up to the hype? Pour yourselves a drink, kick back and let’s find out.
Vids I Dig 227: Filmento: ‘Ghost In The Shell’: Death By Invisibility
From Filmento’s YouTube description: Before Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman, there was another big female led film in Ghost In The Shell, starring MCU‘s Black Widow Scarlett Johansson. It didn’t go over so well, primarily because of one factor: narrative invisibility. In today’s episode of family friendly show Anatomy of a Failure, let’s take a deep dive into Ghost in the Shell and try to pinpoint the problems in invisibility in storytelling. It’s not a Netflix anime adaptation film, but still here we are.
Vids I Dig 204: Comic Tropes: ‘Akira’: Breaking Down the Themes and Influences
From Comic Tropes’ YouTube description: Katsuhiro Otomo is the writer and illustrator of the Akira manga as well as the director of the anime adaptation. Both were being worked on at the same time and influenced one another. This video takes a look at the cultural and artistic inspirations that influenced Otomo’s work, as well as breaking down his stated intentions. After comparing and contrasting the manga and anime, the video discusses the themes of Akira.
Talking Pulp 
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