‘The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf’ is the Best Entry Since ‘Witcher 3’

August 31, 2021August 31, 2021 / thesakurasunrise / Leave a comment

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played. A rich yet depressive fantasy epic spanning multiple nations plagued by monsters and war. It’s a story about prejudice and choosing between greater and lesser evils. Amidst all of that, it remains a world that players couldn’t help but get lost in.

After the release of the live-action Witcher series on Netflix, the game saw a resurgence in interest from fans new and old. I should know, I was replaying it too. It was a quirky and often epic show that had its highs and lows, but despite it all, I loved it. News of new spinoffs and films were only natural, but was the franchise biting off more than it could chew?

If I had any concerns, they were minor, because Nightmare of the Wolf, the first of these spinoffs, was a film I highly anticipated. It came from Studio Mir, the studio behind Legend of Korra. Everything looked in place for this to be an enjoyable prequel centered around Vesemir, Geralt’s mentor.

And somehow, this film surpassed every expectation I had.

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An Obligatory, Arbitrary List of Anime Fight Scenes

February 18, 2020 / thesakurasunrise / Leave a comment

While not necessarily in vogue among anime critics lately, it isn’t hard to find rankings of very specific subjects within the community. “Top 10 Strongest Anime Characters”, “Top Ten Anime Villains”, “Top Ten Anime Couples”, etc. And of course, who could forget the perpetually memed “Top Ten Anime Betrayals,” which I don’t think I’ve ever seen created unironically.

However, while overdone, it has never felt like the kind of thing that anime critics do begrudgingly out of some unspoken tax as per the job. After all, anime has a lot of cool shit and fights are no exception. It’s only obligatory so far as such a thing is relatively easy to create and an ample excuse to ramble about things we like. That’s half the reason people like me become critics anyway.

So in no particular ranked order, here are a few my favorite anime fight scenes.

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A Review of Dororo

November 12, 2019 / thesakurasunrise / Leave a comment

More and more lately I find shows and films that I call “pseudo-nostalgic.” They are stories that fill me with a sense of yearning for the days of older trends in storytelling, even if the subject matter is not something which was known to me when I was younger. Are these films and shows which I attribute this label just banking on nostalgia? I don’t think that’s a fair assessment. I believe revisiting an old formula in a new time can feel just as refreshing and an older story adapted for the now can be made to fit in rather nicely. Today, I’m reviewing an adaptation a long time in the making… 52 years to be exact. This is Studio MAPPA’s Dororo.

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A Review of Tenrou: Sirius the Jaeger

January 1, 2019 / thesakurasunrise / Leave a comment

Expectations can be rough. In my post about searching for my “perfect” anime, I laid out the key elements present in most of the media I enjoy. When I see even one of these components presented especially well in an upcoming show, I become obsessed. This is more or less what drew me to B: The Beginning at the start of 2018 and it has happened again now with Tenrou: Sirius the Jaeger.

But integral the success of any of my favorite shows are qualities that only present themselves when the entire picture shows itself. In this way, Sirius hooked me with its style, concept and the mastery of its action, but when the dust settled there wasn’t much left. Sirius is a lesson in the price of basing the crux of a show’s appeal on just action

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A Review of Megalo Box

September 10, 2018September 5, 2018 / thesakurasunrise / Leave a comment

There is something indicative of Megalo Box’s lasting impact on me when it took so long to get around to writing this review. I could understandably blame it all on my own shotty schedule prior to committing to my current release schedule, but maybe the writer’s block that occurred every time I tried to put my thoughts into words spells something more interesting.

It makes me wonder if the show was truly the classic in the making that I praised it for being. However, to imply that Megalo Box was not a good show through and through would be a gross misinterpretation. I may not praise it as a classic, but I’ll be damned if I call it anything but a good time.
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A Review of RWBY, Conclusion – Volume Five

August 14, 2018August 26, 2019 / thesakurasunrise / Leave a comment

Previously…

The Trailers and Volume One

Volume Two

Volume Three

Volume Four

The most shocking twist RWBY has delivered is that volume four was actually good. It only took a lesser product to make me appreciate what I had. When volume five started airing, my excitement was dwindling. Over one divisive volume, I went from optimist to pessimist and was only giving this volume the grace period as a hope that the problems could be solved.

Rewatching volume five with a more balanced critique may have allowed me the same clarity that I went into my review of volume four with. Sadly, even the clairvoyance of one willing to forgive couldn’t excuse what volume five did wrong. Even amongst those who may have enjoyed this season, I can’t imagine that this is perceived as anything other than the worst of the series.