I'm On A Crunchyroll

As well as helping me get my Christmas shopping finished nice and early, this year's Black Friday also saw Amazon  offering some cut-price Prime Video subscription deals for the many, many channels available through its central hub.

So, I got myself a sub to Crunchyroll, which I'd been circling for months.

But what is Crunchyroll, you may ask?

Google summarises it as follows:

Crunchyroll is a streaming service for anime and other Japanese entertainment, owned by Sony Group Corporation. It offers a vast library of anime series, films, and manga, with content available to stream both with original Japanese audio and subtitles or with English dubs.

I had two main reasons for this subscription: (a) I was fed up waiting for more episodes of My Hero Academia to be released on blu-ray and wanted to see the final season and the spin-off series, Vigilantes; and (b) I wanted to see what other fantasy anime were available that gave off similar vibes to my new favourite shows: Delicious in Dungeon and Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.

Now, I knew there were a LOT of animes out there, but I don't think I was fully ready for the full Crunchyroll library (and this is nowhere close to all the animes, as there are several other streamers offering similar content, such as Prime Video itself and Netflix, the home of the Studio Ghibli movies).

The first thing I did was finish season seven of MHA, but then I wanted to save the show's final season and spin-off, allowing myself time to explore what else there was in Crunchyroll's portfolio.

I make no bones about the fact that I suffer decision paralysis when being faced by too many options, but endlessly scrolling through the shows and movies I now had access to nearly melted my little brain.

I watched the first episodes (or two) of several almost random choices that looked like what I was looking for - which is really easy when episodes are a little over 20 minutes long - but found myself being extremely persnickety. They were good, but not EXACTLY what I was hunting for.

One thing I did quickly learn though is that I much prefer anime that's dubbed into English. When I was watching Japanese language shows I found the subtitles were changing much too fast and I couldn't keep-up and was also missing the visuals while trying to read.

This is odd because I watch subtitled movies and a lot of Japanese documentaries on NHK World-Japan and have no issue with their subtitles.

I've currently settled on The Water Magician, which is - so far - an easy-going isekai serial with 12 episodes in its first season.

Being a lifelong fan of Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz, I'm interested in the the isekai genre as it's something I've often thought about introducing - somehow - into a roleplaying game set-up. A number of recent Japanese-inspired systems I've been looking at fully embrace the idea of "people from our world finding themselves in a fantasy world".

Of course, I've now found my own fantasy world - Crunchyroll - and may be lost for some time as I ferret around to find the magical MacGuffin that will solve all my problems... or give me the inspiration I need for my next roleplaying campaign.

A Knight of The Seven Kingdoms Rides Into View

I'm really looking forward to this as the very-grounded Dunk and Egg stories are my favourite part of George RR Martin's whole Song of Ice and Fire-related oeuvre.

As usual, while the show premiers on HBO Max on January 18, we'll see it in the UK on Sky Atlantic the day after (hopefully there'll be a 2am simulcast offered that I can record and watch first thing when I get up).

THROWBACK THURSDAY: The Boy Reporter

The world-famous "Boy Reporter" Tintin has always been part of my life. I can remember getting Hergé's beautiful comic strip albums from the library as a wee nipper and seeing them displayed in revolving stands in old-timey book stores.

I've long considered Tintin as one the major fictional inspirations (along with Clark Kent) that steered me towards a career in journalism at the tender age of 18.

When Rachel's firm went on a day trip to Bruges (in Belgium) back in 2009 my only request was a Tintin-related gift, and she picked me up an artistic mouse mat (from when they were a thing) decorated with an Hergé sketch.

This nicely complemented my small, but precious, collection of Tintinalia that I've accumulated over the years.

Until recently, I only actually owned a small number of the Tintin albums, including my original 1972 copy of The Crab With The Golden Claws (pictured at the top and bottom of this article), which has been in my possession since I was about six or seven.

To date, this is my favourite story of Tintin and Snowy, also introducing us to Captain Haddock, but I have to confess I know for certain that I've only read a handful of the books... and most of those when I was very young.

Back when I was working as an editor of trade magazines - in the years before going university - one of the 'perks' of being paid to jet around Europe was the ability to hunt for Tintin merch (it was more interesting than the trade shows about plastic extruding machinery that I was actually there to cover). 

Two of my Tintin reference books... one of which I can actually read!

I can't remember exactly where I picked up my French-language guide to Hergé's universe, Tintinolatrie by Albert Algoud, but it was probably the same trip where I found a Tintin shop around the corner from my hotel and snagged a pair of Tintin: Boy Reporter socks (sadly long gone).

Around this time (it must have been the late 1980s to mid-1990s) I also used to drive down to Brighton a lot, to visit friends and go shopping, and there was a lovely little store in The Lanes that sold high-end Tintin ware.

So, over a series of visits, I purchased a small selection of Tintin crockery that, to this day, has pride of place in the French dresser in our dining room.

My small, but beloved, collection of Tintin crockery

About a decade or so back, I also recall one of my friends buying me a Tintin t-shirt during their Asian travels (I think it was a bootleg Tintin in Vietnam design), but that too has sadly gone (again, as old clothes tend to).

A few Christmasses ago (or maybe it was my birthday), Rachel got me Michael Farr's highly regarded Tintin: The Complete Companion, a comprehensive overview of the backgrounds to the stories and a look at Hergé's source material, photos, sketches etc

Unfortunately, I think Tintin has always played second fiddle to my love of American comics primarily because the latter always has new offerings every month, making it feel like a "living hobby" (the longer you leave it, the more there is to catch up on) whereas Hergé's Tintin consists of a set canon, never to be expanded upon, and so remains static and always available. 

Where It All Started: My Childhood Treasure

Trailer for Second Season of A Thousand Blows

The Life & Times of Staghind Starlight Aramioc-Blacksword

Lengthy "Tell Me About Your Character" Alert...

Last week's piece about my early RPG characters got me thinking about my most successful and enduring Dungeons & Dragons character: Staghind Starlight Aramioc-Blacksword The First.

By mid-1979, the club side of The Dark Tower had outgrown the rooms above the shop and relocated to a community hall a short distance away in a more suburban area of Tunbridge Wells.

As well as all the normal campaigns being run, one Dungeon Master (I don't recall his name) was running a "competition" dungeon, known as The Crypte Of The Courageous. He told me to create a third level character, so I turned for advice to the best source of reliable information I knew... the counter monkey at The Dark Tower.

His immediate suggestion was a half-elf magic-user/fighter/cleric (I had embraced Advanced Dungeons & Dragons by this time)... and so was born Staghind.

Staghind's first character sheet - from her run through The Crypte Of The Courageous

Not only did she (and her fellow adventurer whose name has faded into obscurity) become the first team to conquer The Crypte Of The Courageous in July 1979, but she would eventually become my longest surviving and, beyond a shadow of a doubt, favourite Dungeons & Dragons character.

Among her other achievements in her illustrious career - before settling down as Queen Of Norll, Jalla and Elfland - she rescued a fellow party member from boiling mud in White Plume Mountain (admittedly she'd knocked him in there first); liberated the Simarils from Morgoth; gained storm giant strength for 10 years from a raid on a giant's lair; and - most impressively - was taught martial arts by a duck master of Quack Fu!

Oh yes, she also met the legendary White Dwarf and her own god, Niffle. Apparently his mission is to seek out those who are worthy enough to worship him (he doesn't actively court worshippers). As it says on her character sheet below she has only ever actually met one other Nifflite - the high-priest of the faith, a gentleman by the name of Thor.

She was married twice; first to Gublin's main character Egghead Aramioc and then to Guy Huckle's Glorfindel Blacksword. She had seven children and adopted one (a duck by the name of Quincy).

Her eldest daughter, Elean, made an appearance in the first few sessions of  the first campaign I ran for the Tuesday Knights as a pirate leader (Staghind herself was masquerading as queen of the Amazonian island of Zenn).

I had always had a very definite idea of what Staghind looked like, but it wasn't until issue 24 of White Dwarf came out that I actually had a visual representation of my vision (see picture above).

However, in recent years I've begun to reimagine her as resembling Sandahl Bergman's Valeria from the 1980's Conan The Barbarian movie.

 

 

The final page of Staghind's "retirement" character sheet (immediately above) details her subterranean 'castle' (the former Halls Of The Elf King; a dungeon she took over), her fleet of ships, her magic horse and her small orc army.

Ahh, those were the days!

There was no set game world when we played, Staghind moved from campaign to campaign, Dungeon Master to Dungeon Master and no one questioned her ever-increasing wealth or powers. This goes a long way towards explaining the bizarre diversity of her travels and treasures - from obvious Tolkienesque material to Howard The Duck-inspired martial arts skills.

I'd like to point out that at some stage I deducted the "bonus experience points" she was gifted to start at 3rd level, so the experience points you see on her sheet were all earned by her own sweat and blood.

I certainly wouldn't be adverse, one day, to bringing her out of retirement, but - on the other hand - I'm quite content to leave her, safe and sound, on her throne, surrounded by all her wonderful acquisitions and memories.

Most likely though is I'll use either the map of her castle or of The Crypte Of The Courageous as a dungeon in a future campaign, with Staghind's numerous magic items and plentiful finances as the treasure.

Afterall, who could resist the chance to own the delightfully-named "vorpal sword of everlasting flame of disintegration"?

Ready or Not: Here I Come For A Sequel

Moments after surviving an all-out attack from the Le Domas family, Grace (Samara Weaving) discovers she’s reached the next level of the nightmarish game — and this time with her estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newton) at her side.

Grace has one chance to survive, keep her sister alive, and claim the High Seat of the Council that controls the world. Four rival families are hunting her for the throne, and whoever wins rules it all.

I really liked the original, but was not expecting a sequel. That said, it's written and directed by the same people as the first, so I'm not going to turn my nose up at Ready or Not: Here I Come.

The trailer makes it look like more of the same gonzo violence and black humour - delivered by an all-star cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Néstor Carbonell, David Cronenberg, Elijah Wood, Kevin Durand, and, of course, Samara Weaving.

For those who need a reminder, here's a link to my review of 2019's Ready or Not.

Meet The Cast of The War Between The Land and The Sea

This Sunday, the first two episodes of Doctor Who spin-off The War Between The Land and The Sea arrive on BBC One (and iPlayer) from 8.30pm.

This follows the prequelish screening of a condensed reworking of the classic Third Doctor story, The Sea Devils, on BBC Four at 7pm.

I'm excited for The War Between The Land and The Sea, but also slightly apprehensive (as I am with all new Who shows these days). I hope we get a decent explanation of why these "sea devils" look nothing like the classic ones of, even those seen in the 13th Doctor's Legend of The Sea Devils.

To be honest, I'm still not 100 per cent convinced they are Sea Devils!

Lost In Space With The Archie Gang

Main cover art by Dan Parent

Another forthcoming out-of-the-ordinary Archie title that caught my fancy is a one-shot of science-fiction yarns featuring our favourite eternal teenagers from Riverdale.

Written and drawn by Dan Parent, Archie & Friends: Space Adventures (One-Shot) is a 32-page intergalactic issue pitching our heroes into the depths of outer space.

When Archie and the gang gets ready to head into space on a rocket Dilton built, everything goes smoothly, until the spacecraft enters a realm where it becomes lost. With the teens lost in space, it’s going to take someone out of this world to save them — someone like Cosmo The Mighty Martian!

Archie & Friends: Space Adventures (One-Shot) is due to land in stores on February 25.

Variant cover art by Andrew Pepoy and Jason Millet

Variant cover art by Samm Schwartz

PULP PICTURE OF THE MONTH: Tarzan And The Leopard Woman (1946)

Growing up in the '70s, Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan reruns were a fixture on television's three channels. My favourite was Tarzan And The Leopard Woman.

Sadly, these days, despite the millions of channels we now have on offer, you rarely - if ever - see the old Tarzan movies, so I had to turn to eBay to pick up a bargain DVD box set of half-a-dozen Tarzan tales, including Tarzan And The Leopard Woman.

I hadn't seen this film for decades and had forgotten what it was that had so appealed to me as a youngster. Turns out it was cosplay.

Within moments I was transported back to my childhood; with my parents' old leopard-print car rug thrown over my shoulders and a handful of cutlery I became a leopard god-worshipping cultist again!

The Leopard Men, wearing their parents' old car rugs...

Tarzan And The Leopard Woman is a very simple, but smart, 75-minute tale, about a tribe of leopard god worshippers, who mask their attacks as the work of real leopards, trying to prevent British colonists from forcing 'civilization' on their home land.

The cultists are aided by Ameer Lazar (Edgar Barrier), a Western-educated native doctor who resents the West's domination of the area, but they foolishly think they're smarter than Tarzan.

Tarzan is joined by stalwart companions Jane (Brenda Joyce), Boy (Johnny Sheffield) and Cheeta the chimpanzee.

But trouble starts brewing on the home-front with the arrival of Kimba (Tommy Cook), who claims to be have gotten lost in the jungle, but is actually the younger brother of the Leopard Men's priestess Queen Lea (Acquanetta).

Young Kimba is torn between his boyish crush on Jane and his desire to prove himself as a warrior and return to the Leopard Men with her heart... literally.

Having tricked the colonials into thinking the attacks on caravans were simply the work of hungry leopards, and that they had now wiped them out, the Leopard Men then launch an attack on a caravan bearing four young women from Zambezi, destined to become teachers in the new British colony.

The women, along with Tarzan, Jane and Boy, are kidnapped - to be sacrificed to the Leopard God.

But luckily Cheeta is on hand to save the day!

The truth is, watched with 21st Century eyes, we have to have a certain amount of sympathy for the "bad guys", but - as is often the case - they simply go too far.

Tarzan And The Leopard Woman is a glorious slice of black-and-white pulp adventure, with the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden doubling nicely as the African jungle.

Queen Lea of The Leopard Men (Acquanetta).

Rolling Into Christmas

A tradition has developed in our house of multiple advent calendars, but Rachel has outdone herself this year with a dice calendar (I believe purchased from the TikTok Shop).

We began today with a shiny d12 and by Christmas Eve I'm going to have 24 new polyhedral dice to add to my collection. Gamers can never have too many dice, right?

Alice has a meaty treats advent calendar and has already nommed the packet of three strips that was behind door number one.

I know as a geek I'm supposed to love Halloween (which I do, even though we don't embrace it like our trans-Atlantic cousins), but Christmas is still my favourite holiday time of the year.

The first wave of festive decorations went up at the weekend, namely the big tree in our dining area and the small tree in the lounge.

With the bulk of my present shopping done, appropriate tunes on the radio and seasonal films on television, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Our glorious tree with another advent calendar (of mini Santa sacks) across the door

This year's new decoration: Snoopy on his house

MUSICAL MONDAY: Alatau (OTYKEN)

A surprisingly popular feature on previous blogs of mine has been the Musical Monday slot, where I post videos - old and new - of interesting musical acts from around the globe.

We begin this new era with a recent track from Siberian folk-pop act OTYKEN.