You’re never too old to have dirty thoughts.
Goodbye, Lara Ep. 3
Lara has to find her prince and fall in love again, right? This way, she can save her people. Well, I’m glad the show isn’t wasting our time pretending as though her prince isn’t literally right next to her. Sure enough, when Mari casually confesses near the end of the episode that she likes “funny characters,” Lara’s heart skips a beat. It skips a beat so hard that a massive dagger rises out of the water and starts floating in mid-air. Uh, is anyone going to comment on that?
Before Lara seemingly falls for Mari, however, we got to see her bumble her way through the human world yet again. First, she seemingly has no understanding of what a school is. What, do the merfolk not educate their own kind? Lara discovers a faucet and proceeds to get water everywhere. Okay, she likes this sort of thing ’cause she’s a mermaid, but it’s not like this is her first time in the human world. Why is she clueless about humans not wanting their shit wet? Lara ends up doing a ton of online shopping, ’cause guess what? She doesn’t understand the concept of money either. Damn, the merfolks were commies too?! But again, this ain’t her first rodeo. Did she never see anyone in her previous human life exchange money for goods? This is getting silly! Last but not least, she sees Mari spar with a senpai in boxing practice, so the mermaid climbs into the ring and tries to break it up. She has no understanding of the concept of sports either! What exactly do the merfolks do in their spare time? Just float around every damn day? Should we even bother bringing their meaningless existence back to life? My point is, it’s natural for Lara to be ignorant of the human world, but I think we’re pushing it a little too far. One or two misunderstandings? Fine. All of them? Ehhhhh…
From a distance, however, Lisa cheers Lara on, because their people’s salvation rests solely on the young mermaid’s shoulders. Be that as it may, why is Lisa not revealing herself? What sort of family is she? She’s interested, but not interested enough to reunite with her long lost sister? There are still elements of this story that I find indecipherable.
Oh well, at least we get to see Gon the fish, a.k.a. the sea witch Grace, trick Mari’s grandma into letting Lara stay indefinitely. She accomplishes this by calling the old woman through Mari’s smart speaker. The most accurate thing in this entire episode is showing how susceptible the elderly are to scams.
Iron Wok Jan Ep. 3
Jan is tasked with cooking up 50 portions of qingjiao niurou si. Translation? Shredded beef with green peppers. The cocksure young chef immediately whips up all 50 portions, aaaaaand… they’re bland. Try as he might, he can’t figure out why his recipe is failing. When the head chef yells at him, Jan actually starts crying. He then hides out in the back alley and beats himself up some more. Yup, this looks like the result of an abusive upbringing. Oftentimes, a bitchy attitude is just a cover for someone who is deeply insecure on the inside. Not that any of this absolves Jan of his behavior. He should still learn to control himself.
Anyway, good guy Takao proceeds to bombard Jan with a barrage of puns in order to cheer him up. After Jan calms down, he finally realizes his error: you can’t shove 50 portions worth of ingredients into a single wok and expect everything to cook correctly. You end up with watery beef, because you’re essentially boiling it. Wait, really? That is such a basic-ass rookie mistake. Anyone who has ever tried to make anything on the stovetop knows that you can’t overcrowd the pan, skillet, wok, or whatever. Of course, I shove all my potstickers into one giant cast iron skillet anyway, ’cause I’m lazy as hell. But my point stands! How does a young prodigy, who knows all these French techniques, make such a glaringly obvious mistake? Ah well, Jan is back to being cocksure again.
Oddly enough, Kiriko intended to help him if he hadn’t figured out his mistake beforehand. She’s too soft-hearted, especially since he’s been lowkey sexist towards her.
In the second half of the episode, Jan and his new buddy Takao go camping. For dinner, he whips up a dish that involves stuffing quail and red bean rice inside a big, aged chicken. So… like a fancy turducken? I’m sure the end result is delicious (assuming everything is cooked to a safe temp), but that’s a lot of work for a campfire meal.
Later that night, Jan has nightmares of his grandfather. Specifically, he recalls his grandfather’s last moments. More scenes of abuse? You guessed it! But we also learn why gramps went and killed himself. He was trying to teach Jan this… rather dubious technique for preparing tendons. It involves soaking the tendons in waste oil. Yeah, I think dementia had set in by this point. I think you could get seriously sick if you try to eat anything that has even touched waste oil, much less been soaking in it. But I bet you anything there’s street food out there being made with oh-so-delicious waste oil.
When Jan tasted the finished dish, he truthfully confessed that it was horrible. Unsurprisingly, his grandfather abused him some more. Once the old man tired himself out, he left and stuffed his mouth with salt. That was when he realized he had severely lost his sense of taste. So time to retire and live out your golden years, right? Haha, if only. Nah, gramps went and immolated himself. Yup. Men will do anything instead of therapy.
Well, no wonder Jan is the way that he is. He was raised by a complete psychopath. He never stood a chance! But now what? Is this series going to remain nothing more than a cooking show with exaggerated techniques? Or will we actually try to unfuck this kid’s personality? Who here would even have the patience for this Sisyphean task? Well, Takao’s a nice guy, right? But seriously, if we do decide to go down this route — and it’s fine with me if Jan undergoes serious character development — I just hope the responsibility doesn’t magically fall into Kiriko’s lap because girls are often expected to carry the emotional burden.
The Insipid Prince’s Furtive Grab for the Throne Ep. 3
Aside from the very first one, all of the imperial princes and princesses have gathered for a meeting with the emperor. Apparently, the first imperial prince is too busy defending the borders. You’re telling me the empire’s defenses would fall apart without him literally there? Tsk tsk. Plus, as you go down the line, you can easily see how the princes and princesses come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Welp, you know what that means: daddy emperor must be packing a few venereal diseases. His kids have already started bickering too, and his only response is “A little rivalry is a good thing. That’s how I became the emperor myself, after all.” Hm, I wonder how many of his own brothers and sisters he’s had to kill with his own hands.
The emperor then declares a competition! He assures one of his younger children — literally a child — that it isn’t a contest of strength. Don’t worry! You just have to hunt rare monsters. So you expect this… kid… to hunt for rare monsters against this brother of his? Uhhhhh… I hear certain venereal diseases can make you lose your mind. Syphilis, right? To be fair, this competition will not get you the title of crown prince. T’would be folly to decide something so important over a mere hunt! See? Daddy emperor hasn’t completely lost his marbles yet. Oh no, no, no, the award is nothing more than the somewhat less lucrative title of Ambassador Extraordinary. Right. Killing rare monsters really well designates you as someone who can maintain relationships with foreign countries. That logic sure adds up.
Besides, why exactly are we holding this competition? Because he’s bored? Did he run out of consorts to bang? We’re also told that the emperor has withdrawn soldiers from the eastern side of the empire, thereby allowing the monster population to rampage out of control. Not only does this put the local population at risk, this is why adventurers haven’t been able to keep up. And all this for what? To pick out the next ambassador? Unless the winner is meant to negotiate with said rampaging monsters… oh, syphiliiiiiiiiis…!
In the aftermath, Arnold reasons that even though he could easily win, it would be too suspicious for the “insipid” prince to suddenly get his shit together. Luckily, or rather unluckily, daddy emperor has dealt him a rather favorable card. Every candidate is assigned a regiment befitting of their strength or lack thereof. As a result, Arnold is partnered up with a prodigy of a knight. Said knight just so happens to be his childhood friend Elna, who has no qualms about bullying a member of royalty. In fact, she’s had quite a long history of trying to whip Arnold into shape. Sebas doesn’t mind, though. Silver is only strong thanks to his ability to wield ancient magic. He is otherwise physically weak, so this is an opportunity to toughen Arnold up. More importantly, however, it is no longer suspicious for Arnold to win if he can make it look like Elna is doing all of the work, which she seems happy to accept. She’s rather insistent on Arnold winning this competition. Is this for him or for her own ego? Thankfully, we don’t have to worry about a potential love triangle on the horizon. After all, Finne is plastered all over the ED. She’s the obvious future winner for Arnold’s affections.
One last aside: if being an insipid prince gets you a prodigy, then who did the emperor assign to the two literal children in the competition? It’d be funny if the old man somehow thought the youngest prince and princess were still somehow more capable than Arnold, though.
LIAR GAME Ep. 16
Good lord, this round just keeps on truckin’. Let’s make a long story short!
Country of Day thinks they’re doomed, Akiyama hears the rest of the team out, he cooks up a way to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, and now the team is staging a very convoluted comeback. But don’t get too cocky, because Country of Day has to hope Yokoya hasn’t sniffed out Akiyama’s plan.
Y’know, when you put it like that, you can use this synopsis to pretty much describe every episode thus far in this arc. Therein lies the problem with this or every arc, to be quite honest with you.
I just like the part where Nao refers to one of the Country of Night traitors as “Bandana-san.”
Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games Ep. 3
Aya and Mio find not just one but two more girls to join their late night escapades. In fact, it’s their very own dorm monitors, Yuu and Tamaki. That’s crazy. There are that many closet FGC degenerates out there? And not only have they all decided to attend this school, they were assigned to sleep on the same floor? Why can’t I have that luck? All the hot MILFs within my 20 mile radius, but not a single JRPG fan? Life is so unfair.
Well, the story’s pretty simple this week. After getting caught in the “act,” Aya challenges Tamaki with her expulsion potentially on the line. Luckily for her, Tamaki sucks. To be fair, the primary couple is really crazy about fighting games, so maybe we shouldn’t expect the average person to keep up. Tamaki loses so much, they wonder if she’s even trying to win. She thus gets told to train in the corner by her lonesome. And that’s one of the major reasons why I can’t get into fighting games. You’re expected to practice a lot and/or quickly get used to losing.
On the other hand, Yuu, who just wants to have fun, accuses Aya and Mio of almost bullying Tamaki. But the floor leader has been diligently carrying out her assignment, so you can’t really say she’s being left out. It sounds more like Yuu feels bad that she doesn’t get to play. That’s still a fair concern, but she should speak for herself.
When the girls get into the nitty gritty of fighting game discussion — complete with strategy breakdowns, minutiae of game mechanics, and all the jargon that comes with the territory — I have to admit I zone out a little. Not only do I almost never play fighting games these days, I wish they would sprinkle in some variety. It’s just Street Fighter 6 all the time with these girls. So I looked into the manga, and it doesn’t even use SF6. It features a completely fictional fighting game called Iron Senpai 4. Either way, at least give me some variety.
Victoria of Many Faces Ep. 3
Victoria knows that being seen with Jeff at a fancy party might complicate her situation, but she’s a woman of her word! She never breaks a promise! Should a spy really be thinking like that? Should a spy living a new life with an adoptive daughter really be thinking like that? On the one hand, Victoria wants to project this image of a well-trained, experienced spy. On the other hand, her actions show me a woman who wants to live a normal life. Is Victoria lying to herself?’
Right before Victoria leaves for the party, the old lady lets her know that she can feel free to stay out all night. Sounds like someone might be living vicariously through Victoria. But as much as I like romance, I’m finding it difficult to root for Victoria and the captain. No, it’s not even the fact that he might still have baggage over the death of his former fiancee. Trust me, it’s a very, very dumb reason: you can’t be a romantic love interest with a name like Jeff. At least go by Geoffrey or whatever. Fancy it up. But despite his mundane name, he has his admirers.
I have to admit I kicked the playback speed up to 4x at one point. Can you blame me? First, it’s the prince dancing with his partner. Then it’s Jeff’s turn to dance with Victoria. Yawn. Unsurprisingly, Victoria can light it up on the dance floor as well. You know how when you cheat in school, you’re not supposed to give yourself a perfect score because it would look too suspicious? That’s how I feel about Victoria. Yes, I know you can slay, girl, but pull it back a bit. You’re supposed to make yourself inconspicuous. Stop acing everything.
Case in point, Victoria notices one of the servers acting erratically. There’s no reason for her to get involved. This kingdom’s affairs are none of her business… buuuuut she can’t help herself. She clues Jeff in on the suspicious individual, then she secretly knocks the guy out when he manages to get away from the captain. She thinks she’s being sneaky, but one of the guards actually sees her running away from the scene. Luckily, everyone is too sexist to believe that a woman could knock a man out. There’s just no way, bro! Well, almost everyone. The prince, Jeff’s friend, is still suspicious.
Even so, why put yourself at risk like this? She reasons afterwards that she had to do it. If the culprit had escaped, then everyone at the party would’ve been investigated. Well… unbeknownst to her, she’s kinda being investigated right now. Plus, if someone was bold enough to carry out an assassination plot at a party attended by the prince, wouldn’t you investigate the attendees anyway? So no, I don’t think Victoria’s plan would’ve worked even if no one saw her running away from the scene. Now, it would’ve been easy for Jeff to dismiss the prince’s suspicions if Victoria had pretended to be a normal woman with normal skills. He knows, however, that she’s anything but. I think what Victoria has consistently shown is that she will not only lie to others, but lie to herself as well.
Victoria doesn’t go home immediately after the party. She actually hits up a local bar in order to calm her nerves. In her own words, she is filled with excitement and nervous energy just from knocking the wannabe assassin out. Basically, she loved being a spy, and tonight was the first time in a long time that she got to indulge in the physical part of that role. This also recontextualizes earlier scenes. She’s not just carelessly exposing herself by being super good at everything she does. Rather, she takes pride in her skills, and a part of her wants to flex said skills despite the danger this puts her and Nonna in. Hm… a woman caught between two identities.
Well, every action has its consequence, so the last thing we see before the credits roll is a certain majesty — presumably the king of Hagl — issuing an order for one of his agents to look into a certain Victoria Sellars. Our heroine might have to go on the run again. Hopefully, she can take Nonna with her, but a well-trained spy wouldn’t endanger herself like this. If she’s smart, she should at least cut contact with Jeff regardless of his blatantly obvious feelings for her.
Red River Ep. 3
Welp, this episode is titled “I Can’t Go Back, I Won’t Go Back.” Basically, Tito is dead — cruelly skinned from the neck down, in fact — and Yuri can’t forgive his killer. I don’t understand it, man. Yuri has a chance to see her family again. Do you know how devastating it is to lose your kid and especially in that fashion? Her family has no clue how or why she disappeared. From their perspective, it’s a complete mystery, and they’ll probably always hold out hope that Yuri is still alive (well, she is… just in a different time period). Not only that, Yuri also has a chance to be with her crush and childhood friend again, someone whom she had just started dating before an evil witch from centuries ago pulled her through time. But Yuri decides to stay for revenge. Well, no, there’s one actually one more insane wrinkle: she already has feelings for Kail after three whole episodes. Welp, sucks to be Himuro. Childhood friends never win. I just love how all Kail really had to do was put a few moves on her. Typical shoujo bullshit.
Thanks to fake news, Tito’s sisters will be going after Yuri. Can’t say I feel any sympathy for our heroine, though. Not only did her impatience doom Tito, she quite literally chose this life.
The Villager of Level 999 Ep. 4
The Hero’s Party is still suspicious of Koji, but cooler heads prevail. Princess Kurull and Rex the Hero rightfully argue that our protagonist hasn’t actually done anything to threaten them. I am mildly surprised that Rex is this level-headed. After all, he was introduced as this playboy who only wanted to put together a party full of cute girls — a harem for himself, basically. You’d expect this sort of character to lash out at the protagonist with jealousy. But no, it’s Paruna the mage who remains unconvinced (due to her tragic history with demons).
Anyway, a massive horde of monsters is headed for the city. Koji entrusts Alice to the Hero’s Party despite their differences, then runs off to find Takako and Menow… or so he claims. We later find out that he’s fighting the horde by himself. Ah, of course. Men have only two major dreams: to die slowly in the snow or face impossible odds by themselves (like Zack in Crisis Core!). He’s basically sacrificing himself to prevent humans from hating demon even more than they already do. Takako then spills the beans on Koji’s backstory: dad killed by a monster, mom killed by humans. This is enough to convince the Hero’s Party, so they all run into battle in order to help support Koji.
Like I said, this show isn’t super exciting, but the mission is peaceful coexistence. I don’t look forward to watching this show every week, but I’m okay with it.
Clevatess S2 Ep. 2
The whole mage academy setting isn’t doing it for me at all. First half of the episode is what you always see in stories of this ilk. Ooh, here’s your first magical lesson! Everyone, line up to demonstrate your magical prowess to the rest of the class! Naturally, Alicia has none. A few select individuals are talented. Klen doesn’t even get a chance to try. God, it’s so rote. Why do you people just write the same boring story over and over?
In the second half, a talentless student gets turned into a dark beast and goes on a rampage. Some new girl named Mary Merryweather suggests that he was trying to acquire a crest when he wasn’t worthy of one. I dunno, man, I bet the evil priest guy led the kid down the wrong path. The talking, evil salamander (Vorden?) in the nightmare world doesn’t help either. But to be honest, my give-a-fuck meter for this show is at an all time low, so I’m not even gonna bother speculating any further.
My Stepmother and Stepsisters Aren’t Wicked Ep. 2
Oh no, the maid has a loose button and Mari’s gonna… she’s gonna… be nice about it. Oh no, the servants don’t want Arisa to get her hands dirty in the garden, so Arisa is gonna… be nice about it. Miya learns that they have a bodyguard named Gungnir, so she’s picturing an absolute unit of a man. But in reality, it’s just a puppy. This show should’ve been a short. It has no story! It’s just the same recycled joke over and over! The small scene with Miya’s maternal grandmother last week gave us a small glimmer of hope that this anime might have some hidden depths to it. We get nothing of the sort in this week’s episode. Cute dog, though.
Mebius Dust Ep. 2
I keep waiting for something interesting to happen in this show, but it never does. Once again, it’s just two different groups of kids competing against each other in the name of research. How do the games advance the research? Oooooh, we can’t tell you yet~! Man, that’s weak ass writing. Naturally, I cranked the playback speed up to 4x. I assure you, I wasn’t missing anything.
Anyway, one of the kids — the main character, actually — is down in the dumps, because he can’t figure out what his special power is. His ability isn’t outwardly flashy like everyone else’s. Well, it turns out he has precognition. I kinda hate that. This sort of thing implies that the future is already set in stone. But whatever, this boring ass anime isn’t the place to get into the free will vs determinism debate.
After round two is over, an incredibly pale magical girl pops out of thin air to greet Araki. Sure. Then we cut to yet another group of kids. They want to crash the games, but in a sinister way. In other words, just more games and competitions. This show has to be the biggest disappointment of the season thus far. I mean, with every other show, I knew what I was getting. But the synopsis for this one painted something a lot more exciting than… whatever this is.
Chainsmoker Cat Ep. 3
Everyone’s so fucked up in this show. Yaniko nearly kills her landlord, because she doesn’t have the guts to tell him she pranked him with “nyacotine” patches, which are toxic to humans. She does, however, have the guts to pull down her pants and fart in his face, thereby causing him to pass out. Ah, poop jokes, piss jokes, and now fart jokes. We’re just running the gamut of toilet humor. But it gives me the opportunity to use my new favorite meme:
Anyway, don’t feel too bad for the landlord. Just the mere thought of Yaniko’s farting ass gets him horny enough to fuck a blow-up doll.
We meet more cats. I guess Kaoruko takes the title of “Least Problematic Individual” from Anal Cat, because so far, she just seems to be a wannabe comedian? Then we have Aruko, who is so addicted to booze that she even has to sip it as she sleeps. Unsurprisingly, she throws up on Yaniko and almost chokes on her vomit. No one seems particularly bothered by this, though. You gotta wonder how often Yaniko must have slept in her own puke for her not to even wake up from this.
Last but not least… nevermind, I take the “Least Problematic Individual” title back from Kaoruko.
Dara-san of Reiwa Ep. 3
Oh geez, the kids’ mother is still alive. This whole time, I just assumed she was dead. I still think her absence is why they’ve latched onto Dara so quickly. Unfortunately, they’re kids, so we don’t get much introspection on their part. We’ll also have to wait a while before the show tells us why Chiyo isn’t raising her own kids.
At the same time, the show keeps drip-feeding us glimpses of the past. Basically, Dara’s older sister cooked up a scheme to murder her simply over a man. What a boring motive.
I Became a Legend After My 10 Year-Long Last Stand Ep. 3
First, Lock has to convince Celliss that he isn’t her father’s illegitimate child. This ends up being rather difficult, because the girl seems utterly convinced that she must have a brother. Maybe she’s just lonely. Nevertheless, they eventually clear the air, and he invites her to tag along with him on a guild quest. He reasons that she’ll go off on her own one day, so he may as well supervise her while he still can. Sure, but you could at least talk it over with her parents first. I dunno how I’d feel about a friend of mine walking off with one of my teenage daughters. This is all hypothetical, of course. I wouldn’t even dream of having kids.
To make a long story short, they eventually come across a young fiend named Luccira, but it’s okay, because fiends aren’t necessarily evil! So… why are they called fiends? I mean, sure, some series have demons be just another race, not necessarily good or evil. But at least the etymology of the word “demon” doesn’t imply something bad. Also, I could understand it if the name of Luccira’s race was simply what humans call them, but no, he refers to himself as a fiend. But whatever, I’m being pedantic.
Luccira has been trying to scare people away with an illusion of a dragon, because he is the sole survivor of a village that was destroyed by a horde of vampires. What is he desperately trying to protect even now? A chicken, apparently. He calls it Gerberga, the seraphowl, but I mean, it’s the village chicken. But y’see, this chicken can also open dimensional rifts, which is why vampires are after it! When Lock returns home for the day, he meets up with Sia who tells him that a vampire high lord is on the move… probably to get their hands on this chicken. Man, I don’t even know what to say other than that watching this show is like watching someone try to write a story with Mad Libs.
The Drops of God Ep. 15
When we last left off, a client had found an abandoned collection of expensive French wines. They just need to know what wines they are, and of course, weed out the spoilt bottles. As such, Shizuku and Issei put aside their differences to work together. People even marvel at the fact that the two men now seem like brothers. In a way, they are. Yutaka did adopt Issei.
Robert, however, throws a bit of a wrench into the project by having the two men swap partners, i.e. Loulan with Shizuku, and Miyabi with Issei. Now, Shizuku is rather innocent and boyish, so nothing really happens between him and Loulan. They discuss their parents, and at one point, Shizuku even heaps praise on Issei.
Issei, on the other hand, immediately starts making moves on Miyabi. First, he initiates physical contact; Miyabi pulls away. Then, he offers her lunch, which includes a glass of wine that makes Miyabi feel as though she’s ballroom dancing with Issei leading her. Once again, she pulls away when it seems like he’s getting too close. What the hell is Issei doing? Is he really trying to steal Shizuku’s partner? Maybe.
Towards the end of their time together, Issei gives Miyabi his business card and tries to recruit her onto his team. Now, he just had that grand romantic gesture with Loulan — y’know, where he dramatically chased after her before she could depart on a plane. I don’t think he’s honestly interested in Miyabi romantically or even sexually… but he’s not above using such dirty tactics. He knows he has a certain effect on women, and he happily wields it to his advantage. He does value Miyabi’s potential as a sommelier, but more than anything, he would severely cripple Shizuku’s chances in the competition if the latter suddenly had to fly solo. At least, this is how I interpret his actions.
Now, Miyabi doesn’t tell Shizuku that Issei tried to poach her. When they have breakfast together towards the end of the episode, Miyabi asks Shizuku how he would feel about having to compete against Loulan one day since the woman is on Issei’s team. Maybe Miyabi is trying to gauge how Shizuku would approach her if she defected. Shizuku, in his boyish, innocent way, simply states that while the combination of Issei and Loulan is intimidating, he’s got Miyabi! I think that settles that.
I don’t think Miyabi was ever seriously considering accepting Issei’s offer, but Shizuku telling her that he’s counting on her, i.e. he needs her, pretty much slams that door shut. Still, he’s so dense, I don’t think she — and by extension, the audience — can expect to make any real progress with the guy. Still, what a bizarre episode that leaves Issei covered in a thick slime. That guy is a bit messed up in the head. Like Shizuku with Miyabi, Issei also tells his partner Loulan that he needs her. This is where his heart truly is: in her hands. Still, the damage has been done for me. I’ve been rather neutral up until this point. Neither men really appeals to me. But Issei’s dirty attempt to steal Miyabi away leaves a bad taste in my mouth. This show likely won’t end with a real winner, but if it can surprise me, then I hope Issei loses.
Everything else about everything else:
So I’m going through Digimon Story: Time Stranger, and the story is mostly putting me to sleep. Luckily, the boss fights are actually somewhat challenging, so that’s the one thing keeping me invested. To be fair, it’s not like Pokemon games have great stories either. But if there’s one thing I’ll never be comfortable with, it’s the evolutions. I don’t understand going from Shellmon, this semi-cute monster in a shell, to Venusmon, this buxom, blonde lady with her ass and tits nearly falling out of her skimpy clothes. You go from “d’awww” to gooning in a single generation. How does that work? In my ideal world, I would transplant this game’s battle system into any of the Pokemon games. It is by no means fresh or original, but it’s leagues ahead of Pokemon‘s simplistic 1v1 bouts.