'Made in Abyss' Has One of the Greatest Fantasy Settings Ever

I was aware of the existence of Made in Abyss last year, but it was an anime series that I never got around of watching.  But after reading and hearing from a few people that it was the best anime of 2017, I just had to check it out.

Top 20 Memorable TV Moments of 2017

Since the movies got twenty, TV will also get twenty.

20.)

In Kakegurui episode 11, in the gambling showdown between Jabami and the student council treasurer Manyuda, the latter refuses to acknowledge the authority of the dealer of the game, who is the masked student council vice-president, regarding the extraordinary stipulation of the final round.  Manyuda insists that only the president, who has gone away for a meeting, has the power to do that.  Then, the vice-president – who dons a mask all throughout the series – removes her mask, revealing her face for the first time.  To the shock of everyone present, it’s the president all along!  Apparently, the president and the vice-president are twins, and I presume that they are living their lives in the same manner as Christian Bale’s character(s) in The Prestige.

Top 20 TV Shows of 2017

My resulting year-end list for 2017 TV somewhat mirrors the mid-year rankings.  Anyway, without further ado, let’s jump into it (by the way, for a more expounded evaluation on a particular show, click on the links when available).

Honorable Mentions: The Flash (its current season is a back to form for it.  Unfortunately, season 3, early in the year, is so disappointing and off-puttingly angsty that it isn’t able to make this list’s cut-off), Welcome to the Ballroom, Justice League Action, Planet Earth II, Kakegurui: Compulsive Gambler

20.) PSYCH: THE MOVIE

This would have been much higher in the list if everyone from the old gang had been able to participate.  Series revival please!

'Little Women' TV Mini-Series Has Been a Delightful Year-End Treat

Though I’m a male, I’ve loved Little Women ever since I was a kid.   I’ve probably read the novel and its sequels – Good Wives, Little Men, and Jo’s Boys – a dozen times each.  I’ve also enjoyed the 1994 film adaptation and the different anime series adaptations (especially Little Women 2, which was based on Little Men).  I’m a huge fan.

Thus, great was my delight that there’s actually a 3-part Little Women mini-series released on the last week of the year.  Binging it this New Year’s Eve has been a treat.

'Black Mirror' Season 4 Episodes, Ranked (Plus, Re: What Could Be the Show's Biggest Twist Yet)

Just like last year, I will be listing here the episodes of the latest season of Black Mirror in the order that I think is least to best.

But, before that, some thoughts: season 4 is as dark, delightful, and insightful as ever, but compared to the previous seasons, I think its set of episodes is the weakest.  I partly think it’s because its featured science fiction technologies feel a bit of rethreads of technologies previously introduced in earlier Black Mirror installments.  Several times, throughout the season, you would go, “Hey, wait a minute.  That’s similar to (insert old Black Mirror episode title).”  This somewhat lessens the sense of originality.

That said, something about the finale made me think this was intentional.  Maybe even brilliant.  Anyway, I will be tackling this later.  Let’s first get the ranking done…

Goodbye, Doctor. Hello, Doctor.

Part 1: “Doctor... I Let You Go.”

Regeneration scenes have always been among Doctor Who’s most exciting, powerful, and poignant moments.  But the farewell of Peter Capaldi’s Doctor in the recent excellent Christmas special “Twice Upon a Time” has been especially emotional and impactful for me.  It’s probably because the Twelfth has been my first Doctor.

In 'Inuyashiki', a Cyborg Middle-Aged Man and a Cyborg Teenager Clash and Struggle for Their Humanity

Inuyashiki is a science fiction superhero anime series about a kindly, elderly man named Ichirō Inuyashiki.  He’s friendless and his family doesn’t respect him; he only finds companionship with his dog Hanako.  Though he’s only 58 years old, he looks much, much older than his age and suffers from chronic body pain.  One day, he’s diagnosed with stomach cancer and told that he only has three months to live.  Unable to tell his uncaring family about it, he goes to the park that night to mourn.

Suddenly, a mysterious, extraterrestrial ship suddenly pops out causing an explosion that obliterates his body.  Before the aliens depart, they reconstruct him.  He wakes up the next morning making nothing of it.  He feels extremely thirsty, but his body feels stronger and refreshed – gone are the pains.  Then, to his shock, he discovers that, though he has a human exterior, he’s now completely a machine internally, and possesses unbelievable abilities.  Soon, he begins using his newfound powers to do good by fighting crime, protecting the weak, and healing people with terminal illnesses and grave injuries.

'Conquest & Rebellion' Is a Riveting 'Game of Thrones' History Lesson

Conquest & Rebellion: An Animated History of the Seven Kingdoms is a special short about the rise and fall of the Targaryen dynasty.  Covering a span of a couple of centuries, it tells the story of how House Targaryen came into Westeros shortly before the fall of Valyria, how the Targaryens subjugated the Seven Kingdoms, and how Robert’s Rebellion brought Targaryen rule to an end.

'Welcome to the Ballroom' Is ❤

I started watching Welcome to the Ballroom (a.k.a. Ballroom e Youkoso) as soon as it started back in July.  I got into it because an anime centered on ballroom dancing was something I hadn’t seen before, and I thought it looked great based on its trailer.  Right from the get-go, it’s been pretty fun, delightful, and addicting.

'The Orville' Could Be the Best Thing Seth MacFarlane Has Ever Created

The Orville is better than Star Trek: Discovery.  I say this, not because I hate the latter – I enjoy them both – but the former, throughout its 12-episode debut season in general, is genuinely more fun, endearing, and worthwhile.

As what I already shared before (in my first article about The Orville and Star Trek Discovery), I didn’t know at first what to make of it.  The pilot felt a bit gawky and wobbly.  But as I continued to watch week after week, I got to grasp what it was going for more and more, appreciate it more and more, until I eventually found myself getting immersed and loving almost every single thing about it.

One Important Character Is Unfortunately Missing in the Otherwise Elating 'Psych: The Movie'

After the series ended in 2014, Psych returns to the small screen through a Christmas special – a TV movie called, er, Psych: The Movie.  Yeah, yeah.  I wish the title was more distinctive, especially considering that, if all goes well, creator Steve Franks plans to make five more Psych movies.  So what’s the next one going to be called now?  Psych: The Movie 2?   Moreover, if it was going to be identified as “The Movie”, then it should have been through a more appropriate medium than the 88-minute, commercial-break-divided TV movie that it is.  Instead, it should have been released in theaters – or, the very least, in VOD.

Nonetheless, it’s an elating early Christmas treat for every Psych fan.  There’s nothing particularly “special” about this special.  It’s as if it’s just another episode of the series.  But that’s totally fine.  In the first place, the show has been generally witty, well-written, tonally amiable, and highly entertaining; revels in wide-ranging pop culture references and non-staling recurring jokes; and, when needed, can get very suspenseful or touching.  Psych: The Movie turning out to be mostly like what the series had typically been is more than enough.

In 'Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie', Arnold's Surname Is Finally Revealed While Helga Gets to Shine the Most

More than 13 years after it aired its last episode, Hey Arnold! has recently made its return to the small screen via a TV movie – Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie.  It serves as a closing chapter to the original five-season series, though it could also work as a prologue to a new season, if Nickelodeon ever decides to do so.  On top of this, Arnold’s surname is finally revealed in this movie, which is – wait for it – Shortman!  After the mystery of Arnold’s surname served as a running gag in the show, the reveal that “Shortman”, which we assumed is his grandpa’s nickname for him, has been his surname all along is hilariously brilliant.

Why DCW's "Crisis on Earth-x" Is So Much Better Than the DCEU's 'Justice League'

After the fantastic Flash/Supergirl musical crossover, I wished that the next annual DCW mega-crossover would be a musical as well, since almost all DCW cast members have musical talent.  Well, that was not what happened, but “Crisis on Earth-X” turned out being what I think is the greatest Arrowverse crossover special yet.  It isn’t perfect.  It does rely on a few clichéd tropes.  But it overall succeeds in being immensely fun and delivering the best of what superhero TV can deliver.

“Crisis on Earth-X” had impeccable synergy among characters, cool surprises, high stakes, heart-rending drama, humor in appropriate amounts and right moments, tongue-in-cheek references (e.g. Earth-2 Wells telling Supergirl to deal with a huge threat by flying “Up.  Up.  And Away!”), and a good amount of thrilling, action-packed set pieces.  It showed a giant teamup of superheroes going against Nazis, fascinating doppelgangers, a major character death, the return of Flash’s greatest villain, the debut of a new DCW hero, Supergirl getting to be a wedding singer, Green Arrow doing something Batmanly once again (i.e. harboring a kryptonite arrow), letting Mick Rory be Mick Rory, the possible meeting of Barry and a time-traveling descendant, a dogfight between two Waveriders, and much more – everything to make the four-part event a superhero TV masterpiece!

With this in mind, I believe “Crisis on Earth-X” is a better superhero teamup than Justice League.

'The Punisher' Doesn't Knock It Out of the Park, but It Still Hits. Hard.

After getting introduced in Daredevil season 2, Frank Castle a.k.a. the Punisher stars in his own solo Netflix series.  And I found it partly good and partly disappointing.

The Punisher is quite a fascinating fictional character.  He’s an uber-badass.  He’s a non-powered individual existing in a world of superpowers, but not only has he held his own, he has made himself among the deadliest and most intimidating.  In his hands, guns become more terrifying and potent than superpowers.

He has a code of honor, occasionally teams up with good guys, and is often moved to stand up for the weak and oppressed.  But this does not necessarily make him one of the good guys.  He’s a psychopathic, cold-blooded mass murder.  Yes, he primarily targets bad guys.  But he’s a psychopathic, cold-blooded mass murderer nonetheless.  Thus, he has built a reputation of infamy that strikes fear in the hearts of criminals, something that most superheroes don’t elicit from them.

He finds a sick sense of fulfillment from what he does, but he doesn’t consider his vigilantism a righteous crusade.  He doesn’t make any justifications.  He acknowledges that he’s as bad as the criminals he kills, and also deserves to be punished – to be put to death – in the end.

'Trolls Holiday' Is a Cheesy, Breezy TV Special

Trolls Holiday is a half-hour TV special set after the events of the Trolls film.  Because Trollstice – the annual occasion where Bergen eat Trolls in order to feel happy – has been once and for all abolished, Bergen Town is left with no holiday to celebrate.  Meanwhile, the bubbly, musical Trolls are perpetually enjoying various holidays.  Realizing that her friend Bridget and the rest of Bergen Town is missing out, Queen Poppy enlists the help of Branch and the rest of the Trolls gang to develop a holiday for the Bergens.  However, it is Poppy who will learn the true essence of a holiday, which is deeper than presents, decorations, and glitters.

'While You Were Sleeping' Settles It: Park Hye-Ryun Is My Favorite K-Drama Writer

While You Were Sleeping tells the story of a reporter named Nam Hong-joo (Bae Suzy), who has the ability to dream of future events since she was a kid.  She is frustrated that, despite foreknowing tragedies before they can happen, she is unable to stop them.   One day, a rookie prosecutor named Jung Jae-chan (Lee Jong-suk) moves into the neighborhood.  The two start off on the wrong foot, which result to them becoming irked with each other.  However, soon, Jae-chan and Nam Hong-joo become friends and begin utilizing the ability of seeing the future through dreams in order to solve cases.  And along the way, as usual from K-dramas, a romance blossoms between the two.

Some Thoughts Before Next Week's Epic Arrowverse Crossover

The CW recently released almost a hundred promotional photos for next week’s annual Arrowverse mega-event crossover, titled “Crisis on Earth-X.”  Among the lot, here are a couple that I want to react to...

Final Thoughts on 'Inhumans'

I already wrote what I thought of Inhumans after watching its first two episodes, which is basically: it was so shockingly awful and painfully disappointing that I wanted to stop watching it.  However, though I was 99.999999999999% certain that it was never going to turn itself around, I was induced by the Marvel zombie in me to watch the remaining episodes.  Yep, fandom is a curse.

So with its first (and, hopefully, final) season finally wrapped up, let me share my final thoughts on it.

Pros & Cons of 'Stranger Things 2'

It’s already a full week since I binged Stranger Things 2, the second season of the Duffer Brothers’ Netflix hit, but let me now share the things I liked and didn’t like about it.

'Norm Macdonald: Hitler's Dog, Gossip & Trickery' Is a Treat for Fans of Norm's Unique Comedy

Norm Macdonald is not a universal comedian.  By that, I don’t think everyone will find him funny.  I guess it’s due to his pseudo-lackluster, simplistic, dopey delivery and seemingly corny, old-fashioned material.  Me, personally, I like him.  I like how he doesn’t care if you think he’s funny or not.  As long as a joke amuses him, he will tell it.  You can either laugh with him or not.  He doesn’t care.  In fact, he often revels in front of a hostile audience.  It doesn’t necessarily mean he disrespects his audience or doesn’t care if his audience won’t have a good time.  Quite the opposite.  He respects their intelligence and he won’t be patronizing.  He won’t force laughs.  He allows you to “get” them at your own pace.  At the same time, he won’t compromise his comedy.