Axess: It's All How You Look At It!

This episode is similar to a scenario in Mega Man Battle Network 4 Blue Moon.

Plot Synopsis
Shuko is a depressed girl with a run of bad luck so bad that the entire town considers her a jinx to have around. All the shops around her close, hoping to ward off her misfortune before her presence taints them. Bad news for Higsby though, as he's having a Net Battle tournament that Shuko excitedly enters.

On the day of the tournament, there is a heavy downpour of rain and Shuko chalks it up to her bad luck. The contestants Lan, Mayl, Higsby, Tory, and Shuko, prepare for their match, a five-way brawl where leaving the battle platform disqualifies the contestant. Shuko brings out her Navi, AquaMan... scratch that, SpoutMan (this one isn't the dubbers fault this time though, there's a dispute with DC comics that resulted in the renaming), and SpoutMan is so adorable to everyone that he throws them off their game. In the fight, Lan slips up with his battle chips, and NumberMan manages to throw his doom dice so it lands on a corner. Afraid of being cursed with bad luck, all the NetNavis back away slowly from SpoutMan until they accidentally fall out of the arena, leaving Shuko the winner. Shuko is absolutely ecstatic about this sudden turn of events, and happily claims her prize, a 10 pound bag of rice.

Unfortunately, Shuko's rice cooker is broken, so Higsby lets her borrow his. It just so happens, however, that the power plant is shutting down the power for a week for routine repairs (they must have PG&E! Ha, obscure Californian power crisis reference!). Shuko starts blaming her bad luck and starts crying, so determined to make her feel better, SpoutMan sneaks off to repair the power. In doing so, he trips up a few security alarms, which make him start bawling. When SpoutMan cries, he releases tons of water from his spout, enough to flood the entire cyberworld!

Lan, Higsby and Shuko run to the power plant to try and stop SpoutMan, but the waves surrounding him are too much for MegaMan and NumberMan to break through. Shuko calls the situation hopeless and starts lamenting her bad luck, when Higsby finally tells her she caused her own misfortune by exaggerating her problems. If she had been more positive, SpoutMan wouldn't have gone off on his own. Shuko tries to think up a solution to the problem then, and determines that they can stop SpoutMan by plugging his spout.

MegaMan performs a DoubleSoul with NumberMan, raising his analytical abilities high enough to accurately pinpoint his attacks. MegaMan plugs SpoutMan's spout with an Elec Sword, bringing him under control and stopping the floods. Later, Shuko gets a job assisting Higsby with the chip shop, and has decided to have a more positive outlook on life. After all, she's luckier than Higsby.

Critique
Shuko is probably the most annoying new character to me, and the writers don't hesitate to ramp up her annoying whining as much as possible. I know Shuko is acting to get the intended effect, but damn if it isn't still annoying.

Other things work in this episode, Shuko aside. The little bits of bad luck are humorous, Lan has some decent lines, and for no particular reason, one of the extra characters has "ze outraegous French Axsent! No?" Also, Higsby has the best line in the show. "You have to have a good outlook on life, althought you don't have to be as upbeat as Lan, he's so gung-ho!" Oh man, Lan could not have been summed up any better than that.

Also, we get a new DoubleSoul, which is always a plus to see in action, and MegaMan's voice gets modified like NumberMan's which is a nice touch. The little details are what save this episode, but Shuko really comes close to killing it.

Rating: Thumbs up!

Also a side note, it looks like Ribbita showed up this episode, so I suppose I was wrong about her voice actress disappearing for a while. I don't really recall her showing up again though, so maybe this was a one time deal, or maybe I'm just talking out my ass. (Probably the latter).

Axess: The Incredible Guts!

Plot Synopsis
This episode plays tribute to possibly the greatest movie of all time, King Kong. Dex is delivering some curry on the island of Jawaii to the seedy noodle merchant from the CutMan Brothers episode. Of course, since that episode only aired in Canada, if you're watching this episode in America, you'll have no idea who the fuck that is.

Anyway, the guy trades his curry tab for a weird device called a Net Wrecker. Initially Yahoot, and World Three deride Dex for making the stupid trade, but to their surprise, the device actually powers up GutsMan an incredible amount. Since Lan and MegaMan just happen to be stopping by on their way back from Kingland, what better time then now to finally defeat them once and for all?

World Three lure Lan into a friendly matchup, and just as MegaMan starts winning, Dex pulls out his ace in the hole. He activates the Net Wrecker, which causes GutsMan to increase in power and size tremendously, but Lan is still able to work up a strategy to put up a fight. Dex goes full throttle on the Net Wrecker, blowing up the machine and sending GutsMan into an uncontrollable rage! Now much bigger, and more dangerous, GutsMan starts wreaking havoc on the cyber network... oh yeah, and Dex wins the match by the way.

Realizing they've got bigger problems (I made a pun), they run the Net Wrecker back to the noodle merchant, who says he got it from some guy named Tadashi Hikari, Lan's grandfather. Through a quick series of coincidences, deus ex, and straight up bullshit, they determine that the only way to stop GutsMan is to put him to sleep, and wait for the Net Wrecker effects to wear off. To do that, they gather up a bunch of Spicy Chips, which apparently now put NetNavis to sleep.

GutsMan gets tuckered out, day is saved, everyone hugs and goes home.

Critique
Definitely an improvement over the last episode, with a lot of great imagery (such as GutsMan climbing a tower holding Roll) and quirky moments. An episode with World Three is always a plus, even if their role has shrunk even smaller than before, and unlike Dex's last episode, his sudden being a jerk trait has been toned down as well.

The only real problem with this episode is how much crap the writers pull out of their ass to resolve the conflict at the end. Coincidences happen in shows all the time, but a crap load happening at the same time is what we called contrived. It's not an episode killer though, about what you'd expect from this show. It's a decent homage to King Kong for MegaMan, and that makes it worth watching at least.

Rating: Thumbs up!

Axess: The Purloined Princess

Plot Synopsis
Lan is pissed off about Chaud being able to Cross-Fuse, and complains to his dad about it. This wastes a good five minutes as this particular piece of continuity actually has nothing to do with today's episode!

Lan, Ms. Mari, Rush, and Mayl all get e-mails telling them to meet up at a certain point. An elevator opens up and they go inside, only to be thrust into a giant Optimus Prime style transformer mech, and thrust to Kingland, where Yai is now residing. Figuring no one would come and see her if she asked, Yai decided to kidnap them instead.

Anyway, Yai's company, AyanoTech is releasing a new video game about a princess based on Yai, however, some of the data was stolen by viruses. She needs help tracking the data down before the game is released, so everyone starts tracking it down. The viruses all end up at Yai's favorite Strawberry themed places, and since they figure the data is acting like her, they get ahead of it and track it down to one of Yai's castles.

The data is trapped inside a scuttle virus, and Lan hits an "Evil Cut" Program Advance to take it out and retrieve the data. The day saved, everyone decides to try out Yai's new game, only to discover the princess isn't the only character based on a real person.

Critique
Of all the characters that have disappeared from the show, why couldn't Yai have stayed gone? Get ready for a series of some of the most painfully bad jokes you've ever heard, and I sincerely hope some of them are the fault of the dubbers and not bad source material, but I doubt it.

I don't mind zanyness in the episodes, but every time a story focuses on Yai, the writing just gets plain lazy. Every setup goes, "something over extravagant and impractical happens," and the punchline is, "Yai is rich." It just isn't funny the millionth time you hear it, and Yai's selfish spoiled brat character is just so one dimensional that she doesn't have anything else to her character. Her onscreen presence is boring, and stories revolving around her are boring. This episode is boring.

Rating: Thumbs down.

Axess: Cross-Fusion for All!

Plot Synopsis
While out for cookies, Lan accidentally stumbles upon a hidden dimensional area in an abandoned warehouse, where mettaur viruses are shuffling around dark chips. Luckily there happens to be a ramp nearby, so Lan thrusts himself into the dimensional area cross-fusing into MegaMan. Lan busts up the dark chip operation, and the Net Agents seize the warehouse.

Everyone congratulates Lan on a job well done, and he starts to let the success go to his head a little bit. He runs into Chaud, who tells Lan that he should have followed the viruses to the Dark Chip factory... because... you know... viruses can travel outside of dimensional areas...

Anyway, Lan and Chaud split up to look for the factory. Lan gets lured into a trap, and Chaud gets lured to the factory... which also turns out to be a trap. Traps for everyone! The factory gets blown up with Chaud in it, and Lan gets stuck in a room that fills up with sand! That's only half the problem though, as a darkloid named DesertMan is thrashing MegaMan about, and is now setting up a dimensional area to take out Lan as well.

Even though Lan puts up a good fight in Cross-Fusion, DesertMan has too much of an advantage being surrounded by sand, and he hits Lan hard enough to break the Cross-Fusion. Just as Lan is about to be done in by DesertMan's attack, Chaud shows up in his own Cross-Fusion with ProtoMan and saves the day!

How did Chaud escape the collapsing building, know where Lan was, and break through the dimensional area? Well you see...

Critique
How do you take a decent show and make it more boring? Why by adding boring villains! Not boring enough for you? Let's start kicking around Chaud as a main character, who seems to have lost even more personality since the last time we saw him!

This episode isn't bad per se, but it's the tip of the iceberg that's about to crash into this show. More Cross-Fusion, more Nebula, more Chaud, and just wait till they turn up the melodrama! I get that putting Lan in danger this way adds some excitement, but it also cheapens the show to me to have him basically fighting monsters every week, and now we've got Chaud, who you can put money on is going to be a prick about being better at Cross-Fusion than Lan.

What works this episode though is Lan being an arrogant numb nuts, and getting put in his place, a formula that usually goes well for this show. While Nebula is making me beg for even Grave at this point, at least Lan is the shining beacon holding this episode together, and for that, I'll give him a thumbs up!

Rating: Thumbs up!

Axess: Code of Conduct

Plot Synopsis
A new NetNavi SearchMan is trying to stop ShadowMan from destroying the Control X System, a new government device that tracks air traffic and satellites. Nebula needs Control X taken out to disguise one of their satellites, and so far, ShadowMan has taken out all but one, which just happens to be on display at an air show in DenTech City, that Lan just happens to be at.

Using Dark Chips, ShadowMan corrupts the security navi's, forcing them to try and destroy the Control X System, and MegaMan as well. MegaMan hesitates to fight the Navi's under control of the dark chips, and in doing so, is almost deleted. Just at that moment, SearchMan shows up and deletes all the security Navis. ShadowMan makes a temporary retreat, while MegaMan derides SearchMan for being so heartless.

SearchMan is a Net Savior Navi, and his only mission is to protect the Control X System, by any means necessary. When ShadowMan hijacks a nearby air plane, loaded with innocent passengers, MegaMan runs to their rescue, while SearchMan stays behind without the slightest concern for the potential loss of life.

MegaMan battles ShadowMan, but all doesn't go so well when ShadowMan powers up with a Dark Chip. From afar, SearchMan scopes in on ShadowMan with MegaMan also in his line of sight. SearchMan remembers what MegaMan said, and saves MegaMan from deletion, deleting ShadowMan in the process. MegaMan thanks SearchMan, who starts thinking compassion might be worth trying.

Meanwhile, Nebula has had enough time to cloak their satellite from Control System X... so I guess the whole plot was a waste of time???

Critique
This episode does that really annoying thing that happens in all foreign dubs, where the characters say way too many damn lines as fast as possible. It's hard to get a natural flow of dialog when you're translating every word in the same amount of time they are using to say it.

This ends up with a lot of situations where MegaMan talks like this, "Hey guys I am MegaMan oh no SearchMan you are being a jerk Lan we have a problem but this time I think we are okay oh hey there's ShadowMan and he's got a lot of hostages boy I better do something before things get out of hand uh oh I am running out of breath from all my talkin-" then the actor passes out.

There's also a lot of situations drawn where the characters mouths aren't in view, done to save time on lip syncing no doubt. I wouldn't even point this out if it weren't so blatantly obvious this episode. You would think this would give the dubbers a perfect excuse not to do that fast talking thing I pointed out above, but I guess they don't feel comfortable editing out huge chunks of pointless dialog.

Story wise this episode is alright, and I think I said it before, but I really like SearchMan's Battle Network redesign. His hardened soldier personality, combined with one less talking head, works much better in my opinion, even if in Battle Network, his character is frankly insane. This episode also stays away from a lot of the Cross-Fusion junk, and gets MegaMan more screen time, which is always good. Then of course, deleting ShadowMan is also a plus (although he also comes back to life in Stream).

Speaking of ShadowMan, why is he seen as a threat anyway? I've yet to see ShadowMan have a single battle where he's even remotely dangerous. I mean, go back and watch, MegaMan usually takes him out without breaking a sweat, and usually with only one battle chip. Watch this episode as ShadowMan stands still while MegaMan blows a fan at him for Christ's sake! Even juiced up on a dark chip, ShadowMan goes down from a regular shot from SearchMan. He's just lucky MegaMan isn't using Top Spin, the worst weapon of all time. Seriously ShadowMan, you're a pussy.

Rating: Thumbs up!

Possibly Good News for a US Operation Shooting Star Release?

Kotaku has a story about soaring profits at Capcom, thanks in part to Operation Shooting Star among other high profile Capcom franchises. The stories I had read about Operation Shooting Star had the game in the bargain bins after a month, but it looks like Capcom has managed to turn a nice profit with the price drop after all.

As you might be aware, there are currently no plans to bring Operation Shooting Star to America or Europe, but I think these new sales numbers are a good sign for English speaking Mega Man fans. Being how the game is relatively inexpensive to make, it stands to reason Capcom could turn a profit in the US as well, but I think Capcom is going to wait until after Mega Man 10 comes out in March before making any new moves with the RPG section of the series.

Mega Man 10 is practically a foregone conclusion to be a block buster, and there is no doubt that the release is going to generate some buzz among all gamers, long time fans, lost nostalgic gamers, and new comers alike. A good time for OSS to hit would be right in the wake of when Mega Man 10's sales start to decline, a good month or two after release. This would be right at the height of Mega Man's popularity again, and a close follow up with Zero Collections would have the blue bomber churning out cash all year long. After that, Capcom will likely pursue Star Force 4 or Battle Network 7, or possibly OSS 2 (god help us if it's the last one).

I was right about Zero collections, and probably half right about Mega Man 10, so I'm going to make a prediction about Operation Shooting Star. Operation Shooting Star will receive a US release after Mega Man 10, and possibly after Zero Collections. In the wake of its release, we'll know what direction the RPG section of Mega Man will be going afterwords. While I'm at it, I think Zero Collections will be good news for ZX 3 as well, and I personally think this is what Inafune was talking about when he said he wanted to go a new direction with Mega Man in the live broadcast. We'll see though.

Read more at Protodude's blog.

Axess: The Unsafe Safe!

After being sick as all hell for the past couple of weeks, here's a new Axess review.

Plot Synopsis
Nebula (I think this is the first time they say the organization's name) needs more rare metal to manufacture dark chips, so they setup a dimensional area around a security vault and send BubbleMan in to retrieve it. Unfortunately for BubbleMan, inside the safe is another locked safe, and when he touches it, an alarm goes off. Nebula pulls the plug on the mission and drops the dimensional area. Uberknownst to BubbleMan, a smaller, more compact safe was all that was in the other safe anyway.

The dimensional area of course did not go without notice, and the Net Saviors want Lan to check it out, after school of course, you need your priorities straight. After class, Mayl follows Lan and interjects herself into his Net Savior business again. Isn't this how MegaMan and Roll almost got deleted last time Mayl?

While they're out eating ice cream, another dimensional area forms around the security vault again, and this time BurnerMan shows up. Lan tries to run into the dimensional area, but a shocking jolt hurls Lan several feet backwards into the air, and he falls unconscious. BurnerMan steals the rare metal and gets away.

Back at the hospital... er excuse me, SciLab (because internet scientists are just as good as doctors), Lan awakens and his father asks if Lan would like to spend the rest of the afternoon running into walls some more. Lan agrees, and spends the next ten minutes hurling himself head first into a dimensional area in the lab. What he's trying to do, is cross-fuse at the point of intersection in order to break through it, but they determine Lan isn't going fast enough.

They don't have enough time to figure out how to get it working though, because BurnerMan is attacking another facility. Lan throws himself into the dimensional area again, but gets thrown back again. Lan tries with his skates, and still gets thrown off. Luckily for all of them, there just happens to be a giant machine with a conveyor belt and ramp on it. Yuchiro, father of the year, has his son Lan, climb the top of the 40 foot device, turns on the conveyor belt, and has Lan fling himself down it. This is enough speed for Lan to cross-fuse and break through the dimensional area.

Inside, Lan stops BurnerMan after a battle where, genius Net Savior that he is, Lan determines that water is bad for fire. The day is saved, but now it's really late at night and Lan hasn't studied for his quiz tomorrow! Will his dad help? Nope!

Critique
Let's recap the world's greatest dad here shall we?

1. Has his 11 year old son join a government crime fighting agency.
2. Allows him to partake in an experimental procedure in which only Lan has ever successfully completed, and the long term effects are unknown.
3. Encourages his son to participate in battles akin to comic book super hero fights.
4. Doesn't take his son to the hospital after being jolted with enough energy to, not only throw him into the air, but also knock him unconscious.
5. After said event, encourages his son to constantly repeat the same activity over and over, despite injuries.
6. Allows his son to climb a huge, dangerous vehicle with a conveyor belt, while wearing roller skates.
7. Refuses to help his son with his homework after making him fight a monster with fucking blow torches for arms.

Will someone please call Child Protective Services? I mean, I know they have high standards for their kids in Japan, but isn't this a bit ridiculous?

This also goes back to a point that's been bothering me about dimensional areas and cross-fusion since day one. If Darkloids can enter dimensional areas, why not Net Navis? Wouldn't it have been faster, and safer, to figure out how to jack MegaMan by himself into the dimensional area, instead of chucking Lan into it again and again? Just sayin...

All of this is really looking at the show a bit more seriously than it should be taken though, and if we ignore all of these points and look at the episode for what it is actually striving to do with its story, then it isn't that bad really. Obviously they aren't making the danger of Lan smashing his head into a wall as big a deal as I am, and the intended effect of comedy does work. I think Mayl has a few funny lines at the start of this episode too, and I love how ShadowMan just gives BubbleMan a disappointed "Go away," line. You can hear him being depressed at his incompetent minion, rather than typical bad guy sinister, and I just found that funny.

This is a nice episode because it sticks to a pretty simple premise and works with it the whole way through. The conflict of trying to get Lan through the dimensional area is easy to understand, and no where does the story get mucked up by trying to be too complicated, like the Friendship in the Mirror does towards the end.

Rating: Thumbs up!