Category: Network Picks

Fan Favorites: Pokémon Types

Posted on by Kendall

This has always been a tough question for me to give a committed respond to. Ice, Steel, and Dragon all deserve mentions, but I'll ultimately hand the chalice to Ground.

I know few Ground type lovers, and I've always pondered why. It's not my favorite, but it's offensive presence is huge and the Pokemon can range from cute, like Trapinch and Numel, to awesome like Groudon and Mamoswine! It's a very cool type.

Truthfully, it's a lot of simple things that culminates it into my favorite. Their design is broad, yet definable. Earthquake is probably my favorite move in the franchise. Their role as a tanky powerhouse is fun to go berserk with. And of course, ol' Mamoswine is Ground type.

Ground would be followed by Grass.

Grass has always been put out to pasture, though Grass is a powerful type when played well.

For example: Grass/Fairy is a subtle combo! Whimsicott is perceived as weak, yet when you look at the stats it can be very well played. Considering how closely nature and fairies are related. Florges should have been Grass/Fairy.

Fan Favorite: Mon Ludicolo

Posted on by Kendall

I like Ludicolo. Still wen you compare Ludicolo to mons like Shiftry you can tell he got the short end of the stick when it comes to movepools, but it more than makes up for it with a good defensive typing, far better niche in weather with Swift Swim, and ability to wall common Water type threats.

Abilities:

  1. Swift Swim
  2. Rain Dish
  3. Own Tempo
  • HP: 80
  • ATK: 70
  • DEF: 70
  • SPA: 90
  • SPD: 100
  • SPE: 70

I'm a huge fan of this cheerful Pokemon and still one since Ruby and Sapphire. I just can't help but to dance when it listens to music, wears a leaf sombrero and is often depicted carrying maracas and having one heck of a good time.

One of the more interesting things about Ludicolo is its unique typing, which negates several of the weaknesses that pure Water and pure Grass Pokémon have. Nothing makes me happier than using Rain Dish Rain Dance. What a great combination. Plus who can resist the charisma of a giant dacing Mexican pineapple duck. Or is it supposed to be a platypus? I don't know.

Ludicolo is awesome exactly because it's so strange which all just adds up to Ludicolo being my favorite mon.

It has been amazing going through the games and seeing them grow into the phenomenon that it is today.

Hunter x Hunter

Posted on by Kendall

The 2011 Hunter x Hunter is underrated and I might add amazing. I find that this is a shame, so many people brush it off as just another shounen, yet the anime has so much more to offer. Seriously, the quality of animation, the music and of course the story is great, and they fit the series perfectly.

The Heaven's Arena Arc, starting in episode 27 and going to 36. This is the shows the first departure from mainstream shounen. Here you have a drastic battle system change that is a bit of a breath of fresh air. It doesn't go full seinen until the Yorkshire Arc starting at episode 37 and continuing until episode 58.

Granted, I do feel the first two arcs do have some merit to them, even if they are a bit lighthearted. The current arc is a really impressive feat of storytelling.

The only thing that bugs me about it is that I feel like a lot of what could be more focus on dark themes are underscored until halfway through, around that point it starts to get a lot darker. This might have been an attempt to make the show more kid-friendly at first, I'm not sure, nor do I have a link to back it up.

While it isn't my favorite it is a cool show and I can fully understand why someone would call it their favorite show.

OP2

Posted on by Kendall

Hyadain no Joujou Yuujou – Nichijou OP2

I have a new one for you today which I am working my way through. And I am doing something that I am not very good at, I am taking my time. I don't want the show to be over that fast.

At first I was a bit sad that the series got a sequel, but that is only inevitable when the first one was so good. yeah, OP is just as great. I don't know how exactly to explain it but the first fells more cinematic and kinetic, this for some makes it better. The second OP is a bit more chaotic, or maybe I would say that it is more hectic. Chaotic sounds like it doesn't have structure, but it does. And it is well build, but the story is just so much more, yeah, well chaotic.

Not to mention that the Nano animation at 00:53 leaves me breathless every time that I see it.

Underrated Anime Gold

Posted on by Kendall

Grimgar

Grimgar, this is way underrated. Its one of the best fantasy anime since it takes a more realistic version of how it would be to awake in a fantasy world and has some really realistic fighting.

The characters are (mostly ) earnest & endearing. And the art is gorgeous. And you will quickly see that character development is what the show is about though with how everyone deals with living in this brutal world.

Grimgar also has some of the best music and art I've seen in an anime as well. The whole show looks like a watercolor painting.

Of course it has some slight flaws with pacing and a bit of fan service but apart from that its just pretty much perfect in my eyes.

Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru

It's a quirky slice of life comedy about the people who frequent Seaside, a maid café that's really a coffee shop. The shop is owned by a grouchy old woman and the local girls who work goof-around there as part timers.

Made by the team behind Madoka and Bakemonogatari, it was one of the 5 or 6 shows SHAFT did in 2010, and got overshadowed by all the big Fall 2010 shows. It even competed against another oddball-comedy show from the same studio that fall, Arakawa Under the Bridge II.

It's got comedy, romance, music, it's got tragedy, and a lovable cast of misfits…no moe moe kyun here.

Katekyo Hitman Reborn

I would definitely say Katekyo Hitman Reborn could make the list. And you know I am a huge KHR fan so it isn't a surprise that it appears

I know that's not so underrated in that it is , it was kinda popular in its days, but right now it's almost dead so I am including it as one of the underrated nuggets.

I know a lot of people that wanted to watch it, but they all were turned down by the same thing: first 20 episodes.

I agree that some of the first 20 episodes are annoying/boring at times, not each and every episode all the way through mind you, but they are for comedy purposes first since the creator wanted to make a comedy anime, but later on the creator decided that the main character has potential and transformed it into an action one. So, my advice is to watch it, it's one of the best from zero to hero anime and a good comedy. If you can't stand watching the first 20 episodes then watch the first and the 19th epsode so you can basically understand the plot/characters.

KHR: Varia

Posted on by Kendall

In this arc you are introduced to 2 things that are important to the KHR world.

The Vongola Rings and the fact just how spoileriffic the Openings get with showing Chromein direct connection to Mukuro, in my opinion the Varia Arc is the best arc of the series.

We learned a good bit more about the characters we grew to love during their training for the Ring Battles and the action in this arc was also some of the best during the entire series.

Xanxus was an interesting "villain" with a cool backstory and motivation. His Varia group wasn't any less interesting either.

With Squalo being probably the best of the bunch due to his weird sense of honor that still reflects what Yamamoto lives through very well. It was just kinda dumb how Chromes backstory was literally dropped on us the moment she got into her fight, but she does have a good backstory so I am not too mad.

Belphagor was a good opponent for Gokudera, Lussuria probably the best fight Ryohei ever had. Mammon was a key part later on and obviously the best choice for an opponent that Chrome/Mukuro could face…in general the Varia are just a good foil to Tsuna and his friends which I really liked. I was also very happy to see the Varia return later. Much Later in fact. 10 years later, and we have a segway into the next arc!

Pokémon for Rainy Days

Posted on by Kendall

If you feel like gambling, most Swamps only put in 140 EV's into speed (to Outspeed Scarf-Lando-T in Rain). So if you instead want to got Modest for more power in other situations, only put 148 into speed, and play for bulk with the rest. This build Will OHKO what it is designed to beat, but you will easily drain off any damage done to you if if it is faster or too bulky, where Swamps ice punch does the most damage.

I simply put the leftover EVs in Special Defense after investing in speed and Special attack. This was a choice to get more worth out of the Assault Vest and greater effective returns from Giga Drain, but you can choose to put the 108 into HP instead, if you want physical bulk. Scald is pretty helpful for that also.

If you really want bulk, you can modify the set even further to bare minimum Special Attack investment for the important KOs. Did come calcs for the main threats that Ludicolo is for (based on what you said):

  • 156 SpA Ludicolo Giga Drain vs. 116 HP / 0 SpD Mega Swampert: 192-228 (101 – 120%) — guaranteed OHKO
  • 8 SpA Ludicolo Ice Beam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 168-200 (101.8 – 121.2%) — guaranteed OHKO
  • 220 SpA Ludicolo Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 148 SpD Rotom-W: 84-98 (53.5 – 62.4%) — guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (all sitrus berry users will be 3HKO, D:)

Mega Swampert in the Rain hits hard! It will likely heavily damage if not KO Ludi's partner if you can't bring it down.

One typically has to protect the previous turn with whatever partner to safely switch in Ludi beside it, So the smart player will go for the exposed partner. Oddly, switching swamp on sight of Ludicolo isn't common in my experience with the scenario, they don't want to waste limited rain time I assume.

So in theory, you could drop to only 220 EV's Special attack to allow for more defensive investment. This gives you 140 EVs to place defensively, Where I still recommend Special defense exclusively.

In the end though, Giga draining proper targets for more damage really helps your bulk as well.

To Summarize:

  • [0/0/0/252/84/172] Timid to outspeed any adamant M-Swamps — 252 SpA Ludicolo Giga Drain vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Swampert: 192-228 (109 – 129.5%) — guaranteed OHKO
  • [0/0/0/252/108/148] Modest to outspeed common M-Swamps ONLY. — 252 SpA Ludicolo Giga Drain vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Swampert: 204-244 (116.5 – 139.4%) — guaranteed OHKO

Again, this is all for a Rain counter/Bulky Fake Out Ludicolo I built for a recent team. It also performs very well against the common bulky waters of the meta such as Milotic/Rotom-W/Jellicent/Suicune.

This leads to a final spread of [0/0/0/220/140/148 Modest].

Slightly more bulky than the other set, but deals enough damage when it counts. I still run the [0/0/0/252/108/148 Modest] On my team though.

Fan Favorite: Black 2 & White 2

Posted on by Kendall

The reveal of Black/White Kyurem was done spectacularly. The game made use of the DS' visuals brilliantly here.

As for the gameplay, it's almost the same as the gameplay in Black and White, which is not a bad thing in the slightest since those contributions to the series were excellently done. And at the same time almost everything bad about the first Black and White were improved with these two games.

My favorite new feature was probably the Black Tower/White Treehollow. It was basically the Battle Tower with levels, EXP, and prize money, plus you got a free shiny dragon out of it.

I liked that it had its own final boss, too, Benga wasn't too bad. And in addition to that the evil team actually did something catastrophic and there wasn't a clear-cut happy ending.

Easily the most underrated feature.

There are so many items here. It's a great resource for a lot of items, including rare stones, thanks to the Black Tower/White Treehollow.

Almost all of the available Pokémon appeared in the game, with very few of the monsters being left out, and most of those were starters or legends. Speaking of legends, this game has 'em in spades. Heatran, the Regis, and Lati@s are just a few examples.

I don't care what you say, Ghetsis was gonna kill the player. Even if he only wanted to freeze you, that would have killed you, just a bit more slowly. The rest of the game is smooth sailing from there on out, I guess. The champion reveal is done well, though I feel it could have been someone else, as there was already a Dragon-type leader in the region.

The end credits theme is possibly my favorite in the series to date.

I will probably see Black 2 & White 2 as the perfect Pokémon games until they inevitably top themselves.

Anime Opening Music

Posted on by Kendall

*Neon Genesis Evangelion – Cruel Angel's Thesis*

It's pretty iconic opening and somehow I always get this weird nostalgic feeling of home when I listen to it. This song is classic, awesome and my number one.

*Psycho-Pass – Abnormalize*

This one just perfectly fits what I imagine when I think of the series, and even though I have heard it so often it still gives me goosebumps.

*Kekkai sensen – Hello, World!*

Probably my most listened OP of all time, yet it doesn't quite make my #1 spot. True it has this very chilling feel about it, while at the same time gets me hyped, great song, just not the greatest.

Short List

  • Cruel Angel Thesis – Yoko Takahashi (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
  • Ano Mori de Matteru – Bonjour Suzuki (Yuri Kuma Arashi)
  • Maigo Inu to Ame no Beat – Asian Kung-Fu Generation (Tatami Galaxy)

Non-Pokémon Anime

Posted on by Kendall

I know that most of these are fairly recent, the reason is because if I don't stay up to date I will probably never take the time to watch them. And that would be sad. Out of all of the new/ongoing anime right now I've decided that these left the biggest mark on me, some of them are just amazing to behold.

  • Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom I watched the first arc of Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom and enjoyed it, unfortunately the ending really turned me off the series. After that I watched a number of episodes in the second arc. What I found was that the new female lead was really boring and flat. After that I didn't care if she was going to become a fleshed out character or not, the effort wasn't worth it. That is why I am striking it from the list. Though the show is still worth mentioning, it just isn't an editor's pick.
    • SNAFU
  • Kids on the Slope I loved everything about this show, but the music is what really captured me. But that should not comes as a suprise, fans of anime will know the name Yoko Kanno who compose works for some of the biggest anime franchises.
  • Non Non Biyori
  • Code Geass
  • Magi