My Favourite Characters - Trico

*Spoilers ahead*

When I started this series, I didn’t expect an animal would make it onto my list of favourite characters. I mean, there are certainly characters that I like that have animal characteristics, or are part animal, but they’re still mostly human-like characters with a voice or self-awareness, basically the things that make a character a character. Trico however, is just a pet. He also happens to be the greatest pet ever. From The Last Guardian, Trico is a mystical animal, inspired by several other animals including dog, cat, bird and... elephant judging by the size. When you first meet him, he’s a dangerous, scared, untrusting creature, but as you spend time with him, feed him, take care of him, he eventually grows to care for you, much like an actual pet would. This would be the first great thing about Trico, how realistic he is. It’s incredibly difficult for videogames and animation to accurately recreate an animal’s movements and behaviours, even with references, because animals are spontaneous creatures, very hard to predict how they move and act. Now Trico has a bit of an advantage seeing as he is a fictional creature made up of several others, but regardless, everyone can see the influence behind him and how scarily accurate his movements are. Sometimes he moves like a cat, or behaves like a dog, and many a people-including myself-find it scary how realistic it is.

The fact that he is a fictional creature also allows for him to feel much more unique. If you ever pay attention to how a love of mythical creatures in films behave when they’re being passed off as pets, usually they behave just like dogs, just look at Toothless from How To Train Your Dragon as a good example. While Trico’s influences are prominent, he still feels like a wholly unique creature that you will fall in love with. And yes, you will fall in love with him. If you’re a pet owner, this game will ruin you from how much this creature reminds you of your own pet, and as someone who hasn’t been a pet owner in many years, I found myself actively talking to Trico the same way I would with a dog or a cat. It’s also helped that he is just freaking adorable. I am so glad there was a button just for looking at Trico because so many times I just wanted to admire and cuddle this adorable creature.

That connection you make with Trico is also brilliantly paced, going from being frightened of you, to indifference, to loving and protecting you. With very little dialogue and letting the actions speak for them, every time you feed him, heal his wounds, pet him, guide him, he grows closer to you. First he’ll start listening to you and take orders, then he’ll fight off guards who attack you, save you when you fall, and fight tooth and nail to protect you, the same way you would for him. There are two moments in particular that stand out to me. One is when a second creature shows up (I named him Quatrico) and starts attacking Trico, and I found myself panicking while trying to save my precious friend. Likewise later on, when the statue soldier tried to kidnap me, Trico overcame his fear of the weird stained windows to protect me, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt a greater sense of pride and love for a videogame character. He relied on me just as much as I relied on him, the perfect balance.

Even the name itself, Trico, has multiple meanings to it. The most notable is that his name is the Japanese word for prisoner (Toriko), it could also be a combination of the words bird (Tori) and cat (Neko). But one interpretation that I came up with, which also holds the least meaning, but is the most fun, is that this is the third Ico game, making it a Trio of Ico, Trico. It’s just small details like that with so many meanings that show how much effort and meaning was put into this game. No detail is irrelevant, everything has a story, a purpose, and is highly creative. Which it should be, they’ve been making this game for over a bloody decade, I would expect them to have perfected every little detail.

Trico is the best animal to ever be portrayed in a videogame, hell, considering there are no other animals as far as I can think of that I would feature on this series, I guess that also makes him the best fictional animal ever. He’s incredibly unique, realistic, loveable, the connection you have with him is beautiful, and if you are a pet owner, this game will destroy you by making you fall in love with this thing and then cry every time he gets injured. He’s the best animal and I love him the same way I would an actual pet, and I’m willing to bet you will as well.

-Danny

DC TV Weekly #14

Supergirl 'Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk' Review
A Valentines day episode a week late, sure, why not. Make it about a stupid love triangle between Kara, Mxy & Mon-El...preferably not. So yeah, Kara and Mon-El are officially a couple...to compare them to white bread would be an insult to bread. But hey, let's talk about something great about this episode, and that would be Mr Mxyzptlk himself. Sadly he's not a floating dwarf voiced by Gilbert Gottfried, but a hyper-active Doctor Who rip-off is just as enjoyable, also he insults Mon-El, so he's good in my books. Honestly Mxy is one of those characters that I have wanted to see in the DC TV Universe just out of sheer curiosity, wondering what they would do with him, so I'm pretty sure I was going to love him for no other reason than respect for trying, thankfully he was an entertaining character to boot. The actor was really energetic, the lines he was given was humorous and the silly ways he manipulated the world around him made him a delight to watch. But the love triangle aspect was still shit, as nearly all love triangles are. Speaking of love, let's talk about Alex and Maggie, you know, that relationship people are actually interested in, I will say I'm mixed on how they handled this story. The set-up of Maggie hating Valentines Day was forced and poorly constructed, with Alex completely ignoring Maggie's desires (That being, to not celebrate Valentines Day) and then Maggie in response just wants to walk away instead of talking about it like an actual adult would do. But then that ending with Maggie talking about why she hates Valentines Day and how she was outed before she was ready was a really well done scene. So this is a case where the destination is great, but the journey getting there was rocky. Hell, that could describe the entire episode, rocky, but with some greatness sprinkled in. 7/10.

The Flash 'Attack on Gorilla City' Review
Not to sound like a broken record. But you might have noticed a pattern with these reviews that whenever they do something silly and feels straight out of a comic book, I tend to ignore any other issues. In this case we have Flash and co. travelling to Gorilla City in a parallel Earth, where Barry has to fight Solovar, the leader of the psychic gorillas in gladiator style combat, when they are betrayed by Grodd who plans to start the Planet of the Apes on Earth-1…There is not a part of that sentence I don’t love with all of my heart. This is why I love DC Television. This is the stuff even the Marvel movies haven’t been willing to go too in terms of silliness. Yes I could complain about the hokey acting, or the forced melodrama back on Earth-1, but I really don’t want to. The hokey acting adds to that adventurous feel and complete induldgement of the setting, and the melodrama of Jesse not sure if she should stay on Earth-1 actually had a fairly lovely scene between her and H.R. I suppose my only real complaint would be that Julian served no purpose being on Earth-2, but honestly, that’s a nitpick. This is the most entertaining episode of Flash we’ve had all year, I absolutely loved it, and I am very excited that this is a 2 parter. Oh, and Keith David as Solovar, that’s just the icing on the cake. 9/10, but if next week’s episode turns out to be just as good, I might just upgrade it one more point.

Legends of Tomorrow 'Camelot/3000' Review
Well they are just spoiling us with silliness this week. The Legends teaming up with the knights of Camelot to take down the Legion of Doom with mind controlled knights? Oh, and Ray fights with a lightsaber, Stargirl is Merlin, Sara is Lancelot and Mick somehow has the most powerful brain? Do I even need to say why this is so much fun? On a technical level, this is certainly one of the best shot episodes of Legends, that fight scene looked rather expensive, and the final battle between Ray and Damien looked gorgeous, also, that final shot of Rip, anyone else get some Norman Bates vibes from that? Yes I could nitpick the plot and how it kind of doesn't make sense, but I could also do that with practically every episode, so bother? The only actual nitpick I have is that at no point did they make a single Monty Python reference! Come on, you even had King Arthur fighting a black knight! Or even a reference to Shining Knight? Another underrated DC Character, would have been perfect. What else needs to be said? Though I love it when this show commits 100% to being fun, that sadly means there isn't much to discuss in terms of a review without repeating myself. It was super fun, well shot and with some steady plot progression, oh, and we got to see Stargirl again, always gonna be happy about that. 8/10.

Arrow 'The Sin-Eater' Review
Oh hey, Prometheus, been kind of a while since he's done anything. He doesn't even show up in this episode but it's nice people are acknowledging him again, he's also still pulling strings by leaking Green Arrow killed Billy to the ACU. Speaking of, when Oliver confronts the ACU Captain, how in god's name did he not figure out then and there that Oliver and Green Arrow are the same person! This is the worst kept secret ever! He's not even being subtle with how he seemingly knows everything that's going on in GA's head and how he feels, not even saying "I think he'll be upset about this" no, very matter of fact "He will be upset about this" worst-cop-ever. But unfortunately Prometheus screwing over Oliver isn't the main plot of this episode, instead we have more filler. Several villains that no one cares about return for some stupid mcguffin, a flashback that has no tension because we've seen the two characters in the present so we know they're not going to die, and some stupid stuff about Oliver's girlfriend reporter-which again-no one cares about. Dammit Arrow, we were 3-0 for this week's DC TV being awesomely silly fun, why did you have to ruin that streak? 5/10.

-Danny

A Defence For Martha

Nearly a year later and I am still saddened by the massive disappointment that was Batman V Superman. I can't even say I hate the movie, because hate comes from anger (As Yoda would say), this movie just makes me sad, and nothing more. Despite that, there is one particular plot point in the film that everyone is adamant on making fun of-and I'll be honest, I find a lot of the jokes about it funny as well-but I actually think works really well, and that is the Martha Scene. In case you haven't actually seen the film, a quick explanation, Lex Luthor is holding Superman's mother hostage and will only free her if he kills Batman, so the two fight, Batman gets the upperhand and is about to deliver the finishing blow. So Superman, at death's door, in agonising pain, calls out for Batman to "Save Martha", which also happens to be the name of Bruce Wayne's mother. Then Lois shows up, fills Batman in on everything, now everyone is best friends. A lot of people think this is a ridiculous way for the two to stop fighting and to team up, but honestly...I really like it.

First off, something I've always questioned even before seeing the movie is the fact that Bruce and Clark's mother has the same name and that's never been brought up before. So just to see that addressed, and to be used as the base for their alignment, makes me a little bit happy personally. But it goes deeper than that. Throughout the film Batman has viewed Superman as nothing more than a threat. An alien who views himself as bigger than humanity and seemingly has little care for human life. He's completely wrong mind you, but from his point of view, that's how things are going down. So then fast forward to this moment, he has his enemy literally quaking under his boot, about to deliver the finishing blow. Then this god, on his death bed, in serious pain, uses his last breath to beg...for someone else's life. And then for Lois to show up and throw herself in the way just adds to it. Now from Bruce's perspective, this is the first time he's seeing Superman as a human. Someone with a human mother, a human girlfriend, and even though he might die here, all he cares about is saving someone else...That being said, who the heck calls their mother by their first name? So it's not a perfect scene, and it doesn't save this movie from being bad, but this is far from the worst thing about the film, if anything, it's one of the better elements at play.

-Danny

My Favourite Films - The Perks of Being A Wallflower (2012)

I find Coming of Age films to be challenging to both make, and discuss. It’s a genre that has to connect to its audience and have us empathise with the characters, for us to say “Yeah I’ve been there”, for a story to accurately represent the obstacles teenagers come up against. An action film just needs cool fight scenes, a comedy just needs to make you laugh, you don’t need to care about the characters, yeah it’s always swell when you do, but its not the main takeaway. This is why Coming of Age is a challenge, because in order for it to work, the characters have to act and go through things that the audience has gone through, because of this, if they go to general then it doesn’t really connect with anyone, but then if they go too specific they’ll alienate a fair portion of their audience, and I think that’s the only way it can work. I’ve met people who say they didn’t like Juno because the characters seemed fraudulent and manipulative, but that’s because they weren’t characters meant to represent people like them, they were meant to represent people like me. But then again I could say the exact same thing about Say Anything or Fish Tank, coming of age films I’ve disliked for not connecting with me, but they’re not trying to connect to people like me because it’s not about people like me.

This all makes The Perks of Being A Wallflower a bit of an enigma, because while in certain ways I certainly connect with the characters, the scenarios and characters are much more intense than anything I went through as a teenager. Written and Directed by Stephen Chbosky, based on his book, the film follows Charlie (Logan Lerman) a clinically depressed teenager moving to a new school, becoming friends with Sam (Emma Watson) and Patrick (Ezra Miller) and the struggles he has fitting in. So that basic premise is probably the closest I get to connecting to this film, this came out in 2012 when I was in my first year of 6^th form, going to a new school where I spent my first year having no friends, so wasn’t exactly the most social of times in my life, so that isolation certainly hooked me, a great example of watching a film at just the right time in your life. Apart from that, there isn’t much for me to identify with, the characters talk a lot about art in the same ways me and my friends do…that’s about it. So where does the love for this film come from?

Could it be how mature it was compared to other Coming of Age films? Because that’s another big problem in a lot of them, the stakes are set really low, “Will these two characters hook up?” “Will this guy pass his midterm?” it’s not helped that they’re repeated a lot in a billion films. Here we have a film dealing with depression, homophobia, sexual abuse, and it treats them all with the weight and dignity that topics like this should be. They’re serious things that affect a lot of people and especially when it happens to teenagers when we’re not exactly at our most developed so we don’t always know how to deal with them. The film never talks down to its audience and never downplays or poorly represents these subject matters, it took bigger risks, it put in the effort and it paid off.

The acting is also superb, Lerman’s performance as a depressed teenager is subtle and nuanced, a much more accurate representation of what people with depression or social anxiety are like. Not very energetic, soft spoken, awkward at socialising, instead of what a lot of films represent depression as, incredibly sad, constantly crying and having panic attacks on the hour. Ezra Miller’s incredibly energetic and funny, completely steals the film, and Emma Watson, though a great actress, maybe the accent is a bit…noticeable. Though maybe that’s just because I’m so used to seeing her as Hermione it can be a bit jarring to hear her with a different accent. Speaking of Hermione, it’s funny to see how many of these cast members have been in nerdy pop-culture. Harry Potter, Justice League, Avengers, Scott Pilgrim, Percy Jackson, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Scott Pilgrim again. Just on a small note, the soundtrack is superb, and I’m pretty sure that’s an objective observation; David Bowie, Sonic Youth, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, you can’t argue against this.

I’m not entirely sure what else there is to say. This may end up being one of my shorter discussions on my favourite films, but that’s because this isn’t really a film that does a lot of things really well, but it does have a few things it does amazingly well. It has superb acting, a superb soundtrack, but most of all it takes the subject matter seriously, writes realistic and engaging characters, keeps everything feeling fresh and honest and is in my opinion the best coming of age film of the 21^st century. Like I said, it’s hard for me to pinpoint why I love this film so much when I don’t connect to these characters the same way I do with a Juno or an Almost Famous, minus the initial set-up for the movie, but there’s something about the charm and sincerity to it all that I do deeply empathise with it, even if I can’t sympathise with it. Which in a way is what the best stories are supposed to do, get you to care and connect with characters, even if it’s not in scenarios you’ve had to experience. Well, this film achieves that perfectly, and is one of my favourite all time films.

-Danny

DC TV Weekly #13

Supergirl 'Luthors' Review
I never really got into the whole "Shipping" business. I don't see the point, nor the passion in taking any two characters that get along and making them a couple, it's even worse when people make ships that make no damn sense (Lookin' at you Jack & Elsa). So in the case of Supergirl I never got people wanting Kara and Lena to be together...but hooboy do I see where it comes from now. Just take those final two scenes, one between Kara and Lena, who are supposedly just friends, and then right after with Kara and Mon-El who are supposedly meant for each other...yeah the Lena one had way more sexual tension. I still don't know if I like the idea of Lena as a character, mostly because the idea of a Super and a Luthor being friends seems...odd to me. But just with those two scenes, it's like comparing spicy hotwings to white bread. Thankfully Mr Mxyzptlk shows up to cockblock them. See why I like this show? I get to say sentences like that. We also have James claiming he knows what he's doing even though I'm pretty sure he's screwed up like, what? 5 Times now? So...yeah. Thanks for reminding us that he's pathetic. Seriously, every time you find out shit is going down how is the first answer not automatically "Tell Supergirl!". Oh right, testosterone filled ego bullshit. And...hm, was that it? The majority of the episode was trying to prove Lena is a good person but...didn't we do this just 5 episodes ago? And James being a fuck-up is stuff we've seen before...And Mon-El cockteasing...wow. There was literally nothing new about this episode...talk about filler. 5/10.

Arrow 'Spectre of the Gun' Review
How does one even approach this episode? I could talk about how the conversations had in this episode have been had by everyone and isn't really bringing anything new to the table. I could talk about the hypocrisy of a superhero show following vigilantes taking the law into their own hands aren't qualified to discuss these things. Or I could say this episode isn't changing anyone's minds. But really, part of me is glad that the show is trying to tackle these type of issues, and handles them with respect. Plus they make it personal to Rene, give the character some more depth, and he is a character I have never been a fan of, he's like the James Olsen of Arrow. I also like that this episode focused on Oliver solving the issue as mayor, not as the Green Arrow, and how this isn't an issue that can be solved in a 40 minute episode, but you have to take baby steps. The writers definitely put a lot of care and effort into this episode and tackling this issue. However, there are several glaring flaws, the major one would be the episode ends with Oliver overnight coming up with a new amendment that is the perfect balance between the anti-gun crowd and the pro-gun crowd that will make everyone happy...and we're not given any details into how it works...huh. Also Dinah's story was...non-existent, I don't think "tacked on" is a strong enough term. So a good message, nothing new, but I give them props of trying and being respectful about it. 7/10.

Wow. Only 2 episodes to talk about this week? That's odd.

-Danny

My Favourite Characters - Steven Universe

I’ve never been a big fan of overly masculine uber cool heroes. The Humphrey Bogarts, The Clint Eastwoods, the Chuck Norris’ and every James Bond ever. All I see there are generic power fantasies of dull men with no depth or even a personality to stick to. Don’t get me wrong, I have my power fantasies just like everyone, but I like mine to actually be invested. Stallone’s career is a great example of when it works and when it doesn’t work. Why should I care about what happens to Marion Cobra when he seemingly doesn’t care, or is even remotely affected by what’s happening to him? Meanwhile a character like John Rambo is a literal one man army, but is also suffering from PTSD and is unfairly judged and abused by everyone which lead him down a tragic path…at least for the first movie, then he turns into the generic cool dude.

With that being said, let’s talk about Steven Universe. Easily one of the most progressive shows of all time, and certainly the most progressive children’s show, dealing with themes of sexuality, gender identity, abuse, amongst a million other things. It’s also a show with a huge roster of well developed characters and even though it starts off as a simple “Underdog heroes fight oppressive fascist overlords” it eventually fills in the details that make things more complicated than that. The leader of the heroic rebellion seen as the personification of all that is good turns out to have committed horrible acts for her cause, while members of the evil and prejudice overlords turn out to be misguided, manipulated or abused by their higher ups, fighting a war they don’t believe in, but are forced to fight regardless. Hell, even the big baddies aren’t straight up evil, suffering from depression and grief over the death of a loved one and having conflicting views on when they should go from there. Almost every character is multifaceted, no one is entirely good, no one is entirely evil, no one is entirely happy and no one is entirely irredeemable. That brings us to Steven.

Steven is a half-alien child who has slowly been developing magical powers and the more of the alien world that he was exposed to, the more cruel he saw everyone to be. Within what is just over a year in the show’s timeline he has seen people he was told enemies actually being damaged individuals who just needed help, and on the other side of the coin he’s seen people he thought were allies turn out to be disturbed and near-sighted fighters of war who are unable to move on. What does Steven do during all this? He fights, but he also forgives. It’s no accident that all of Steven’s powers are based on defence, he has healing abilities, has a magical shield, and even is able to see into people’s minds and feel their emotions, giving him greater empathy for what his opponent is going through.

Steven is a character that always wants to see the best in people, wants to believe everyone can be helped and redeemed and that they can all be friends, but the show is constantly throwing things at him trying to prove that’s not true. He finds out his mother is a war criminal, he has several recurring villains constantly try to kill him and even on a physical level he gets the shit kicked out of him a lot. Emotionally, Steven’s also not a secure person, he’s suffered plenty of emotional trauma, and for a 13 year old boy, yeah it’s kind of hard to process and deal with everything that has happened to him. He doesn’t have all the answers, heck, he doesn’t even have all the questions. For me, a great character is ones who has a clear set of beliefs and the world is constantly challenging them on that, yet they don’t move. The world keeps telling Steven you can’t redeem everyone, that you have to view the world as a good vs bad scenario, that not everyone can be your friend. He doesn’t buy it. He fights to end the fight, to find a middle-ground where no one has to be the loser. Is that unrealistic? Of course, and the show has made it perfectly clear that it can’t happen, eventually, someone has to lose, and people have been lost on the way, but he’s not broken because of it. He’s not cold or vengeful, he’s still Steven.

Steven is not a perfect character, but that’s kind of what makes him perfect. He has a great set of ideals, he’s very expressive in his emotions, he always wants to help, and he’s not made fun of it for it. No one ever tells him he’s wrong for being compassionate, or for not wanting to solve his problems with violence, or that he cries all the tim—Well okay, that is kind of a recurring joke in the show and with the fans that the characters cry way too much. But that’s besides the point, Steven, the 13 year old boy in pink, who wears his emotions on his sleeve, and wants to make the world a better place, not through violence, but through kindness, and frankly, in the world we live in now, I think this is an important lesson for us all to learn, especially for our kids.

-Danny

So What is Blizzard's Plan?

If you're even remotely involved in the world of gaming then you had to spend the better half of last year hearing people talk about Overwatch. I remember just from the demo alone people were hyping it up like it was the most important event to happen to gaming since those original two white lines bounced a square to each other. And you know what? It's fine. Now to be fair, I knew going into it Overwatch was never going to be a game meant for someone like me. Multiplayer-only first person shooters with plans to update the game over the course of several years? Not my thing. I like my single player story based games that I buy as a complete package. That being said I still pop the game in every so often and it makes for fun 5 minute distractions at a time until I come to realise "Is this it?". Even though I went about 4 months without playing it and had to wait several hours for the update to install (Thanks for nothing Playstation Network) I still don't see what it is exactly that this game has to offer.

But there is one aspect of the Overwatch franchise that has really stuck out to me, the story. Now that might not make sense, it's a multiplayer game, there is no story, but that's not true. The game opens up with a cutscene explaining the basic plot, every character has their own backstory and interpersonal relationships with each other that is explored in free comics and animated shorts on YouTube and honestly they make the series so much more interesting, seriously, just go watch Bastion's backstory, it's beautiful. With all of this in mind, the detailed backstory, the rich and unique characters, the gorgeously done animation, this is a lot of effort for things that aren't actually part of the game, so I have to ask, what is Blizzard's plan? Was this originally supposed to be an animated series but plans changed and they made it a game? Or is this all Blizzard's way of introducing us to these characters and bringing a proper show/film at some point in the future? Or are these all just bonus details to act as little winks to the audience? Honestly, probably that last one. Say what you want about Blizzard's games, but they know their audience, and always look out for them. Hell, shortly after announcing Overwatch, they released detailed images of their characters, specifically to help cosplayers make accurate recreations, they even had professional cosplayers in uniform before the game was even out!

I just hope there is more to this franchise than just new maps, because I want to know about these characters, I want to see them interact more, see the drama, the relationships, the action, the development. A story mode, an animated series, just...gimme something Blizzard, don't waste this!

-Danny