Women's Wrestling Wednesday -- Candice Michelle

Such a lovely image of former Women's Champion, Candice Michelle. 

It's technically Thursday morning as I'm finishing this article up before bed, but I wanted to get it out there regardless. I know I'm not doing a very good job at making this feature a "weekly" affair, but I'm going to try to close out the year of 2015 with a featured women's wrestler every week, even if it kills me.

Last week's featured female wrestler contacted me with her admiration for my article that I'm finally motivated to continue doing this feature for this blog for the long haul. I'm not sure if I'm going to hear from this week's featured femme fatale.

Career History -- Credit: Wikipedia

Candice Michelle Beckman-Ehrlich (born September 30, 1978) better known as Candice (Michelle) is an American model, actress, and retired professional wrestler best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment.

In July 2004, Beckman auditioned to be a contestant for World Wrestling Entertainment's Raw Diva Search. Despite not being chosen to be in the final ten, she was hired by the company under the gimmick of a makeup artist. She competed on Raw in several Diva contests, including lingerie fashion shows and limbo contests, until the end of the year.

On June 30, 2005, Candice was moved to SmackDown! where she became involved in a storyline between Torrie Wilson and Melina. On July 24, Candice made her pay-per-view debut at The Great American Bash where she served as the Special Guest Referee for the Bra and Panties match between Wilson and Melina. She was then moved back to Raw in a trade along with Wilson. In her next storyline, Candice and Torrie became villains by taunting 2005 Diva Search winner Ashley Massaro, and they joined forces with fellow Raw Diva Victoria to form an alliance known as Ladies in Pink (later Vince's Devils). On the September 5 episode of Raw, Wilson defeated Massaro after the interference from Victoria and Candice. They continued feuding with Massaro until Trish Stratus returned from a legitimate injury to help Massaro "retaliate" against Vince's Devils. On the October 17 episode of Raw, where she, Torrie and Victoria faced off against the team of Stratus, Massaro, and their new ally Mickie James in a winning effort after Wilson pinned James. On November 28 episode of Raw, Candice teamed up with Victoria and Torrie Wilson in losing effort to Trish, Ashley and Mickie. In November, Candice signed on to pose for the April 2006 issue of Playboy. She had her first shot at the WWE Women's Championship in a Fulfill Your Fantasy Battle Royal at Taboo Tuesday but was eliminated from the match by Massaro. At the Tribute to The Troops on December 19, Michelle teamed up with Maria Kanellis in a winning effort defeating then Women's Champion Trish Stratus and Ashley Massaro in a divas-tag-team match after Candice pinned Ashley.

In January, Candice appeared at New Year's Revolution in the first ever Bra and Panties Gauntlet match, where she was eliminated by Maria. On the February 13 episode of Raw, Michelle accompied Torrie in losing effort to Ashley. After winning a number one contender's Diva battle royal on Raw, Candice got her first singles WWE Women's Championship match, but lost to then-champion Trish Stratus on February 27. After the match, Candice slapped Wilson, blaming her, in storyline, for the loss. Vince's Devils later broke up when Torrie became a fan favorite after Candice and Victoria turned on her during Candice's Playboy cover unveiling. This feud led to a match at WrestleMania 22 in which both Playboy cover girls competed in a Playboy Pillow Fight. Torrie Wilson won the match. On the June 12, 2006 episode of Raw, Candice was defeated by Torrie in the first ever "Wet and Wild match", a wrestling match involving water balloons and squirt guns, in which the winner of the match would be on the cover of the WWE 2006 Summer Special magazine. but the feud continued sporadically in backstage segments where Candice was depicted as Vince McMahon's "sex slave. On the July 11 episode of ECW, Candice appeared as Kelly Kelly's dance partner on that night's Kelly's Exposé segment, and continued portraying a villainess by attempting to seduce Kelly in a backstage segment before their performance.

On the July 17 episode of Raw, Candice was the Special Guest Referee during a tag team match of Stratus and Wilson against Victoria and Mickie James. James entered the match without being tagged in, so Candice threw her out of the ring. Afterwards, Victoria tried to clothesline Candice, but she ducked out of the way, allowing Stratus to perform a Stratusfaction for the victory. As a result of her participation in the match, Candice became a fan favorite. On the Raw following Unforgiven, Candice won a match against Lita. The next week, in her second match against Lita, Candice was pinned after she was speared by guest referee Edge, in the first round of the WWE Women's Championship tournament. On the November 27 episode of Raw, during the Diva battle royal, Candice suffered a legitimate broken nose when Victoria kicked her in the face. She had surgery on November 30 to repair her deviated septum.

Candice returned at New Year's Revolution on January 7, when she went to the ring with Maria to fight off Melina as she tried to interfere in the Women's Championship match between then-champion Mickie James and Victoria. Candice made her in-ring return on January 22 when she and Mickie James defeated Victoria and Melina in a tag team match with Candice scoring the pinfall. Candice then resumed her feud with Melina, who claimed in her blogs that no Playboy cover model was capable of defeating her in the ring. Candice took offense to this, which led to a Bra and Panties match between the two, which she lost. During this time, Candice began training on her off-days to improve her in-ring abilities. Weeks later, Candice was beginning to receive more air-time and higher profile matches, and she won tag matches that pitted her with Mickie James against Victoria and Melina. She also picked up several wins against the latter two in singles matches, which culminated at One Night Stand, where Candice defeated Melina in the first ever match held in a swimming pool full of pudding. Candice defeated Melina to capture her first WWE Women's Championship at Vengeance, becoming the first ever WWE Diva Search contestant to win the Women's Title. Candice retained her title against Melina in a rematch at The Great American Bash as well as debuting a new finisher called the Candywrapper.

Candice performing the Candywrapper to Jillian Hall.

Beth Phoenix became the number one contender for the Women's Title after winning a Diva battle royal at SummerSlam. At the Unforgiven pay-per-view, however, Candice successfully retained her title in their match by countering one of Phoenix's moves with a crucifix pin. Their feud continued when Phoenix pinned Candice during a non-title mixed tag team match on Raw on September 24. At No Mercy on October 7, Candice dropped the title to Phoenix, ending her reign as Women's Champion. On October 22, Candice legitimately cracked her clavicle during her rematch for the Women's Title against Phoenix in a two out of three falls match; Phoenix ran into the ropes, causing Candice to fall face-first off of the turnbuckle onto her face, neck, and shoulders necessitating a rushed finish and putting her out of action for 14 weeks.

Candice made her on-screen return on the February 18, 2008 episode of Raw, distracting Beth Phoenix during a match with Maria. She returned to in-ring action on March 17, teaming up with Maria to defeat Jillian Hall and Victoria. During the match, Candice injured her left shoulder by tearing the scar tissue over her previously broken left clavicle. Unlike her previous injury, Candice broke her clavicle in four separate places, in essence, shattering it. As a result, Candice was replaced by Ashley for her scheduled match at WrestleMania XXIV. On March 23, Candice underwent successful surgery on her re-broken clavicle.

Candice performing the Candy Kick on Beth Phoenix

On the September 1 episode of Raw, Candice made her in-ring return match teaming up with Kelly Kelly and Mickie James to defeat Jillian Hall, Katie Lea Burchill and Beth Phoenix, with Candice pinning Phoenix. Candice received a push upon her return as she was named the number one contender for the Women's Championship, but lost to Beth Phoenix at No Mercy. On the February 2 episode of RAW, Candice unsuccessfully challenged Beth Phoenix for the Women's Championship after the interference by Mendes and Marella. On the February 16 episode of RAW, Candice, James and Kelly stopped Marella and Mendes from interfering in the Women's Championship match between Melina and Phoenix, which was won by Melina.

On April 15, 2009, Candice was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft. She, however, never reappeared on the brand and was released from her WWE contract on June 19, 2009.

My Thoughts:

Candice Michelle is a woman that represents part of most present day WWE Diva fans refer to as the "Diva Search" era of WWE Divas. I personally find that it's absolutely disrespectful that these women in this generation of women's wrestlers in WWE get so much negativity and disrespect from Diva fans that it's outright disgusting to me. It was already hard enough to coexist in a company in the wake of Trish Stratus and Lita's departure, but someone had to take the ball and run with it. Let's face it - the developmental system wasn't as ripe with female talent as it is today back then, so WWE had to start somewhere. That's why I can't fault Candice, nor any of the women who came up this way, to becoming WWE Divas. As her career mirrored Trish Stratus' own, she had the drive and determination to acquire the skill and experience to leave her own mark and legacy in the Women's Division. I believe without a shadow of a doubt that if her injuries didn't sideline and derail her, she would have been a multi-time WWE Divas Champion as well - a damn good one at that.

Candice Michelle was among a generation of women of WWE Divas that get overlooked often only because of the Diva Search or former model associations. Why can today's fans give her the respect that she deserves for her career? She found success in a position where many doubted that she would thrive in. Not many women could step into that ring and hope to continue on in the wake of the absence of Trish Stratus and Lita. Over time, Candice made her own mark and lasting impression. She was beautiful, she was fierce, and she was a fighter. Whatever was thrown into her way she overcame it and continued to fight on. Candice Michelle may have started out her WWE career as mere eye candy but by the end of it, she was definitely a jawbreaker - in more ways than one.

One thing that I have always admired the most about Candice Michelle was that she owned and accepted every aspect of her career as an entertainer. She didn't hide that she was model and posed for Playboy. She didn't allow her past dictate how fans and her peers see her as. She worked hard to gain fans' respect as an in-ring talent. She improved more and more and in time, she became the one to watch as she sat at the top of the Women's Division at that time. I truly miss seeing Candice Michelle in WWE, not just for her beauty and in-ring talents, but as an individual who wasn't afraid to be herself. Today's landscape and generation of both WWE Divas and Diva fans are conditioned to frown upon the former models turned wrestlers and most of those women aren't even given a fair chance to shine without the fans hating them out of spite for their past. I wish more fans would look back at women like Candice Michelle and remember that every woman in WWE won't always have the same rise to stardom like their beloved favorites. Some may pay their dues by working the independent scene and traveling the world before landing that big break in NXT, but there's others, like Candice Michelle, who could merely be signed as eye candy (at first) and discover a passion for the in-ring aspect of this sport that nothing or anyone will be able to stop them for making their dreams of being the best athlete physically possible by devoting themselves 200% to their training.

If anything, Candice Michelle taught me as a fan to not judge a book by it's cover. At first glance, Candice may be just another pretty face, but she has the heart of a warrior. That fiery passion for this sport drove her to become the first Diva Search contestant to win the WWE Women's Championship. As more fans tend to turn their backs on women coming into the sport like Candice did in favor of "pure" women's wrestlers, her career acts as a constant reminder to me to never underestimate these women's passion for this business, no matter where or how they have found their way into the WWE.

As a fan, my heart broke when she suffered her two collar bone injuries. No one never knows what could go wrong in these matches because that's the risks the wrestlers take to entertain us - something that a lot of fans tend to overlook and take for granted nowadays. These men and women don't owe us anything, they sacrifice everything to entertain the fans. For your contribution, Candice, I thank you.

Candice, if you're reading this, I know your journey wasn't the best - it had it's ups and downs, but when you rose to the top of the Women's Division after overcoming every roadblock in your way, I was there with you, applauding you for all of your hard work. You're definitely one women's wrestler who I highly regret not having a chance to see wrestle live in the prime of your career.

If I may add, you had some of my most favorite ring gear for a women's wrestler for a LONG time.

Hand-Picked Favorite Matches & Moments:

Vengeance 2007 - Melina (c) vs. Candice Michelle for Women's Championship (NOT full match)

No Mercy 2007 - Candice Michelle vs. Beth Phoenix

Candice Michelle vs. Victoria for #1 Contender's Spot for Women's Championship

Monday Night RAW - Candice Michelle vs. Jillian Hall

Monday Night RAW - Maria vs. Beth Phoenix (Candice Michelle Returns from Injury)

Monday Night RAW - Jeff Hardy & Candice Michelle vs. Shelton Benjamin & Beth Phoenix

Monday Night RAW (3/19/2007) - Candice Michelle vs. Melina - Bra & Panties Match

Monday Night RAW (2/2/2009) - Candice Michelle vs. Beth Phoenix **Candice's Last Official Match**

Women's Wrestling Wednesday -- Nicole Raczynski

Welcome to another edition of Women's Wrestling Wednesday, where I enlighten my readers on noteworthy women in our beloved sport of professional wrestling. I have to be honest before we go further as I have to confess that I have been sitting on this article for the duration of about 3-4 weeks now as I keep feeling like I'm not doing it justice. As I write this, it's a few minutes before midnight, and I still feel like I'm not giving this woman enough credibility in this article since I have so much respect for what she has done in her wrestling career. I'm going to give this my best shot so bear with me, folks.

History  -- Credit: Wikipedia

Nicole Raczynski (born April 19, 1979) is an American former professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenure in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring names Roxxi Laveaux and Roxxi. She is also known for her time in Shimmer Women Athletes and various other independent promotions under the ring name Nikki Roxx.

Growing up, Raczynski attended professional wrestling events at the Boston Garden with her parents. She trained as a wrestler under Killer Kowalski at the urging of April Hunter who was already training there. Raczynski was allowed to train at the school for free, according to her, because of Kowalski's "soft spot for the women that were trying to get into the business" (other women, such as Chyna, are known to have paid, possibly because one of Kowalski's own students urged her to train). She debuted in March 2002 under the ring name Nikki Roxx and later formed a tag team with Hunter called The Killer Babes. Raczynski wrestled in numerous North American independent promotions such as Shimmer Women Athletes, Squared Circle Wrestling, Women's Extreme Wrestling (WEW), Professional Girl Wrestling Association, New England Championship Wrestling, Defiant Pro Wrestling, MXW Pro Wrestling, World Women's Wrestling, Chaotic Wrestling and Ring of Honor (ROH). She has also wrestled in Mexico for promotions such as Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), Lucha Libre Femenil and Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA).

In October 2013, Raczynski announced her retirement from professional wrestling in order to concentrate on her fitness career and company. Her retirement match was promoted by Lucky Pro Wrestling (LPW) on December 6 in Clinton, Massachusetts. On December 6, Roxx defeated Alexxis in her retirement match.

Why does Nikki makes the list for this feature? Simply put, she was a trailblazer LONG before the whole movement of the Divas Revolution in WWE came around. She was one of the original mainstays for the TNA Knockouts division back during the initial boom period of the division back in mid to late 2007. She started off as the simple "Voodoo Queen" valet to the Voodoo Kin Mafia stable, consisting of WWE's former New Age Outlaws Billy Gunn and Road Dogg, but later evolved into a female fighting force of her own. She began to gain a niche following of fans that grew into many people supporting her, despite her heelish disposition.

Fun Fact: Raczynski is the innovator of the Barbie Crusher/Voodoo Drop (Hammerlock Guillotine Drop) finishing move.

My Thoughts:

I first discovered Nicole Raczynski when I was taking a break from WWE in the post-Invasion angle era of professional wrestling and I was experimenting by checking out as many independent wrestling promotions as possible. By some chance or another, I picked up a few of the early SHIMMER DVD volumes and saw one of her matches when she was still working as Nikki Roxx. I instantly became a fan of her work and became even more excited when I recognized her as the "Voodoo Queen" Roxxi Laveaux in TNA Wrestling's Voodoo Kin Mafia stable.

Shortly after that, TNA Wrestling debuted their women's division, known as the Knockouts division with Roxxi among the founding members of that roster. As a fan, I remember being upset that she was on a hot streak to get a Knockouts title shot at Sacrifice 2008 (see below) but ultimately lost that title shot to Gail Kim and getting her head shaved as a result of losing the Makeover Battle Royal. I suppose I felt that Roxxi was TNA Knockouts' reincarnation of WWE's own Molly Holly - who would prove to be the workhorse time and time again, only to make everyone she worked with look like a million bucks. When you talk to women's wrestling fans about amazing talent in WWE and TNA/Impact Wrestling, you get the same few names - Lita and Trish Stratus or occasionally Chyna and/or Victoria from the older WWE fans while the younger fans give you Paige, AJ Lee, and Sasha Banks right off the top of their heads. Then you have those same fans mention Gail Kim, Awesome Kong, and the Beautiful People (Angelina Love and Velvet Sky) but I have personally never heard someone mention or take note of Roxxi's talents. If you ask me, while Gail Kim and Awesome Kong represent the cream of the crop concerning TNA Knockouts, but just about everyone in the first generation of Knockouts were all legendary in their own right. If Gail Kim is referred to as the heart and foundation of the Knockouts division, then Roxxi could be referred to as the soul of that very division. Whether when she was the Voodoo Queen or the Hardcore Knockout, Roxxi was definitely had an aura about her that made personally invest into her matches. You knew that she was going to put everything she had into that match, whether it was going to kill her or not and no matter what size of the crowd - big or small.

I'm finding it rather ironic that WWE's developmental brand, NX,T took pretty much the archetype of her character and literally handed it off to Bayley to massive success in her own right, so I don't understand why many promotions - especially TNA/Impact Wrestling didn't market her into a huge star when they had the chance? Your guess is as good as mine as a fan, but I have thoroughly enjoyed following her career for the last few years. It's a shame that more women's wrestling fans won't have the opportunity to see her wrestling in her prime. I hope to remedy that with my readers here taking the opportunity now to check out some of her matches that I have provided below.

Take a bow, Nicole Raczynski. You deserve it. Definitely on the top of my list of women's wrestlers who should have made it into bigger stars in this industry and definitely one of the best TNA Knockouts to never hold the Knockouts Championship.

Hand-Picked Favorite Matches:

Note: I take NO credit for uploading or creating the following videos. I merely want to expose my readers to Nikki's talents.

CW Woman's Championship Mercedes KV (Sasha Banks) vs. Nikki Roxx

Tribute to Nikki Roxx (Roxxi Laveaux)

Awesome Kong vs. Roxxi - Bimbo Brawl

TNA Sacrifice 2008 - Gail Kim vs. Roxxi Laveaux - Ladder Match

TNA Lockdown 2008 - Queen of the Cage Match

TNA Slammiversary VIII - Career vs. Title for the Knockouts Championship - Roxxi vs Madison Rayne

COLLECTOR'S CORNER -- TRIAL & ERROR VOLUME TWO: Cheap Knock-offs and Counterfeits

"Black Man"? C'mon how can you even read this
packaging label without thinking it's racist LMFAO...

Cheap Knock-offs -- I touched upon this subject briefly in the last article on my personal journey of collecting pop culture collectibles but good Lord, we have to talk about this a bit more in detail. There's a LOT of people trying to sell cheap knock offs as legitimate toys while there's even MORE knock offs disguised as heavily sought after popularized toys and collectibles. To be honest, if you're a collector who is merely concerned with having all of your favorite characters instead of looking to sell your collection at some point, you could buy a few cheap knock offs to fill the gaps in your collection, customize the toys to your liking, and no one else but you would know any different.

I happen to be in a roughly three pop culture toy collector groups on Facebook (2 following and detailing pro wrestling collectibles and memoriblia, and another covering anything and everything else nerdy collectors like myself should have their eyes out looking for), where we discuss, trade, and sell our figures for profit. While I have only bought from a few trusted sellers on there, I do happen to see a lot of hilarious posts with photos of cheap knock offs that they have seen in the wild in various retailers.

Here in the Carolinas, the biggest outlet that has all of these cheap knock offs seems to be the Rose's/Maxway store chain.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce you to a WHITE Kofi Kingston...

You're not seeing things that's a REPAINTED Kofi Kingston that one member shared on the group. At least the packaging is top notch, but everything else is left to be desired. I know a lot of guys who do their own custom figures for wrestlers and characters that WWE and other various promotions have been too lazy to make themselves. I'm still finding it hilarious that WWE raced out of their way to make a Kevin Steen/Owens figure after Ring of Honor announced that he was one of their premiere figures in their upcoming debut action figure line. Talk about petty much?

They aren't the only ones who have been seeing these cheap knock offs. I managed to visit some of my local outlets here in the Carolinas and EASILY found a few offenders. Let's take a look shall we?

(Laughs) I don't even think Ultimate Warrior would approve of these figures...

(Busts out laughing) So let me get this straight, this is supposed to be a hardcore match pack of wrestling figures? Sweet idea, but very, very BAD on the figures. From left to right, the only thing they have done here was took two Sabu ECW/WWE figures and head swap them with Jimmy Wang Yang and Brutus the Barber Beefcake's heads. Rambo/Rocky or whatever Stallone figure they used was head swapped with a Vince McMahon repainted body while the last figure on the right is CLEARLY a repainted D-X 2006 era Triple H figure. Once again, if you're hardcore into creating custom figures then this might be up your alley to drop $10 for these figures. I know I personally wouldn't bother. I was cracking up laughing so hard.

"Superior Robot Fighter"... Hmm, why do I suddenly have the old
Mega Man cartoon theme song in my head now?

A "Superior Robot Fighter" that is clearly in Gundam packaging. On the back of the box is a clear picture of New Mobile Report Gundam W's Gundam Epyon, but this looks more similar to one of the Universal Century timeline mobile suits from the Principality of Zeon or possibly of the ZAFT organization from Gundam SEED. (Shrugs) No idea as I've been out of the loop on newer Gundam series for a LONG time now. For $3, that's not a bad deal if I'm perfectly honest. If I was sure of which Gundam it was, I would totally snatch up one and repaint it (Walmart sells the paint that is usually used on Gundam model kits and figures on their model plane/cars aisle in the toy section).

After Gundam licensing has gone through quite the mess nowadays in terms of distributing anything Gundam-related "officially" outside of Japan without a ridiculously high price, I'm not surprised to see Gundam knock-offs. I'm pretty sure you are going to continue seeing this pop up until Gundam gets a reasonable distribution deal stateside again.




Yep, FROZEN knock offs...

C'mon you can't be too surprised. Pretty much the most popular children's cartoon for little girls right now and you know someone had to make some knock offs. Hell, that packaging is enough to fool most kids for Christmas. If you want to go that cheapskate route, more power to ya' because I know I won't judge you - those damn dolls are expensive as hell.

Yep, that's a non-Transmetal T-Rex Megatron from Beast Wars.

Ever since the revival of the Transformers franchise with the VERY popular Beast Wars: Transformers cartoon in the early 2000s, which led to Hollywood seeking to make a live-action blockbuster franchise based on this 80's cartoon and toy craze, there have been MANY knock off toys from the Beast Wars toyline. Japanese originals and other standard figures in mint condition from this toyline will net you between a couple hundred to thousands of dollars trying to get them all, but a crafty collector will simply buy a few of these knock offs, repaint them to their liking and call it a day. It just depends on how badly you want these Transformers in your collection.

REVIEW -- Rise of the Tomb Raider

Rise of the Tomb Raider is the 2015 sequel to the 2013 reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise from developer Crystal Dynamics and publisher Square Enix. This will be the eleventh Tomb Raider game. The game released on November 10th 2015.

Microsoft Announced At E3 2015 that Rise of the Tomb Raider will be a timed exclusive release for both the Xbox 360 and Xbox One on November 2015.

Square Enix later revealed the PC, version would arrive Early 2016 via Steam and PS4 would arrive Holiday 2016. There has been no word on a PlayStation 3 version.

Story: 

Set one year after Tomb Raider, Lara Croft's experience of the supernatural on Yamatai has been covered up by an organization known as Trinity, a sinister private enterprise pursuing the supernatural. In order to prove she is not insane, Lara becomes obsessed with finding the truth behind myths around the world. As her obsession threatens to consume her, she discovers herself in the same predicament as her father, discredited by the scientific community after an encounter with Trinity of his own, and she inadvertently leads them to Siberia and the ancient city Kitezh—built by Georgy II, the Grand Prince of Vladimir in the 13th century—which Lara believes holds some truth behind immortality. In a race against time, Lara must survive against humans, animals, and the environment in order to find the truth behind the myths and become who she is destined to be.

The Verdict:

Game Informer had a feature showcasing all of Lara's improved equipment for this new game.

I want to note that I was happy to find a copy of the Xbox 360 port of the game to rent, but I have no idea if the game is the same across the board on both 360 and Xbox One, so bare with me as this review is from entirely from my personal experiences playing the 360 version.

First things first, this is a gorgeous game to behold. From stunning cutscenes, beautiful environments, and heavily detailed character models, you can tell that Square Enix wasted no expense in terms of visuals for this game. It’s definitely up there for one of the most visually stunning titles for last-generation consoles, along with Remember Me and the first two Assassin’s Creed titles. Then there's the small things that Square Enix pay attention to in terms of detail, such as Lara's weapons showing any and all visual upgrades while she's wearing them on her body or while using them in combat or Lara taking the moment to shiver after walking around in the snow for some time and even taking the opportunity to rub her arms to attempt to warm herself up. It's small things like this that really help immerse me into game's world. Square Enix really did some top notch work here.

Lara has plenty of new toys to help her out this time around.

Gameplay is the same is what we’ve come to know from the original game, but Lara can actually melee enemies by default this time around. I thought that was an excellent decision this time around as it annoyed me to no end in the original game where Lara wasn’t as effective close range as she was in mid and long-range combat until you maxed out the skill upgrades. This ability along with an upgraded hatchet can even knock off the armor from heavily armored foes and leave them ripe for execution finishing moves.

I think that someone may have complained about the gruesome death sequences and graphic ordeals that Lara got herself into in her original adventure on the island because those sequences are far and few this time around. There were a few cringe-worthy death sequences and fatalities due to player error, but definitely nowhere as many as there were in the original game. Lara doesn’t sport as many near-fatal injuries either, but I found myself bursting out laughing as she merely rubbed some herbs and leaves onto her possibly broken and bleeding arm to make it good as new. That’s video games for ya, huh?

No matter how you approach combat, Lara ALWAYS comes off like a bad ass.

In terms of equipment, you start off with just a pistol and Lara’s climbing hatchet/axe for melee attacks, but soon enough you’ll be armed with your good friend from the original game - the bow. Square Enix did a great job of making sure this weapon stays just as exciting - if not more so, in this game. I wish that more games would adopt the “sequel approach” that Rocksteady did with Batman: Arkham City - start players off with EVERYTHING they had from the original game and build upon that arsenal. I can understand taking out the more overpowered weapons and items but we shouldn’t have Lara run into “Metroid syndrome” where she trips up and drops all of her items down some pit and has to start from nothing at the beginning of every game. I know, I know. It’s a VERY minor complaint and I’m willing to forgive them for that this time. Even Assassin’s Creed did that when they went from II to Brotherhood. You started the next game off with literally almost everything you had in the previous title.

And boom goes the dynamite...

Over the course of the game, Lara acquires flame arrows, explosive-tipped arrows, poison arrows, armor-piercing arrows, and even arrows bundled with knockout gas (I personally didn’t find this one myself but that’s welcome addition as well). Lara is also able to acquire multiple weapons of the same type but she can only carry one weapon from each weapon type at any given time (bow, pistol/handgun, shotgun, and rifle/machine gun). This gives players freedom to tackle the game’s objectives as they see fit as there’s a multitude of ways to take out the adversaries standing in Lara’s way. There were several occasions throughout the game where I would manually reload a checkpoint just because I wanted to try out different way to tackle a particular obstacle or take out enemies in a different way after exploring the environment.

A great attention to detail in-game sports Lara with her pistol clearly ANY and
ALL visual upgrades to your firearms in her holsters to show
silencers and extended magazines stocked.

Speaking of environments, this is a game that rewards players for exploration and taking the time to explore the locale. Your controller vibrates when Lara’s near hidden resources and supplies that are buried underground. You can dig these resources up and use them for crafting upgrades to your weapons and inventory items. Lara can even craft items on the fly now that adds even more depth to combat. There wasn’t a single time where I felt the combat in the game was unfair as there’s always something laying around that you can pick up, craft something on the fly and help you out in the heat of battle. Players just have to pay attention to their surroundings. Resources for crafting can be found in boxes and crates littered around the environment, by looting enemy corpses, and even by hunting animals as well. At least they didn’t make hunting in this game as annoying and tedious as it is in Assassin’s Creed III and IV…

I will admit seeing bears, wolves, and mountain lions made me think that I was playing those games for a moment though or even Red Dead Redemption with that bear gunning for you like a madman. I’m sure that’s going to give some players nightmares after bumping into that fool the first time.

The tactical knife allows Lara to cut down ropes and ziplines, but also can be used
for stealth kills along with the axe. 

In terms of the narrative, it’s a bit of deja vu with a bit of “been there, done that” by the game’s finale as I honestly felt like Square Enix literally rehashed the ending from the original game in terms of the build-up to the finale - the introduction of some supernatural army of doom, the fool who wants to abuse this power for their own personal gain, and the last Rambo-esque hurrah through what seems like impossible odds versus enemy soldiers and the supernatural. The plot twist near the end is a bit TOO predictable as I saw that coming the second that character was introduced, but I will give Square Enix kudos for the tease at the end of the ending credits. I’m very glad to see that Lara’s adventures in this revival will continue.

One thing that may throw players for a loop this time around is that this game is a bit of an open world. You don’t have to stick to the main story consistently. Instead, you can venture off and explore the 9 optional tombs or partake in various side missions. Each of the optional tombs are a test of wits and applying various uses to Lara’s equipment. If you don’t have the items to necessarily solve that tomb, the game will let you know right off the bat before even entering, so that’s an added plus that the creators of this game thought of a prompt to let players know of that for they won’t feel stupid wasting hours for nothing. The various side missions can be found from the various NPCs you encounter throughout the game. Each of them have a simple task that usually details finding some items, hunting animals, or disposing of enemy forces. Nine times out of ten, the missions take place where you have gone to previously at that point of the story, so if you’re doing the side missions as you’re progressing throughout the story, it’s not that hard to accept these missions between breaks in the narrative. Most of the time, they reward you with upgrades for your weapons, so it’s beneficial to help these people out when you can as most of the time you’re killing two birds with one stone - you’re acquiring resources and parts for upgrading your weapons and inventory as well as getting rewards for helping these NPCs out. The “last” side mission can be done in post-game as one of the NPCs want you to visit and complete EVERY optional tomb in the game. She rewards you with a TON of coins for your trouble, which can be used to buy items at the Supply Shack.

From what reports are saying online, it's beneficial to complete the side missions before you complete the main story as you're unable to finish most of them in post-game after continuing the game after the ending credits.

Like the previous title, Lara gains experience for every action in combat and exploration. These points can be used to purchase Skills to enhance Lara's abilities and expertise in hand-to-hand combat, hunting and salvaging resources, and with her weapon prowess. My personal favorites came from the combat skills that hone her abilities with the bow, unlocking double and triple kills while zoomed in on adversaries. This ability transforms the game into Splinter Cell: Conviction with a bow, or rather Hitman for Square Enix fans. These abilities enhance Lara's abilities and weapons that she acquires throughout the game's narrative as well, such as upgrading flame arrows to napalm arrows, grenade/explosive arrows to cluster bomb arrows, or poison arrows to poison gas cloud arrows. Shotguns could even be upgraded to fire rounds that ignite it's targets into flames, combat mastery with particular firearms can be upgraded to unlock finishing moves with those weapons as well in close quarters combat. Experimenting and toying with the upgrades for each players particular playstyle is worth multiple playthroughs on its own just for joy of toying with all of these combinations. This is yet another thumbs up for Square Enix allowing players to tackle the game as how they see fit.

Unlockable costume for completing
all of the optional tombs. 

I thought the outfit that was unlocked after you complete all of the optional tombs was a pretty sweet bonus. Lara finally looks like she fits in with the rest of her Remnant allies.

Bugs and Glitches

On Xbox 360, I ran into a lot of situations where the framerate would drop to a crawl for a few seconds when there’s a lot going onscreen (explosions, tons going on in the environment, etc.). It’s not bad enough where it ruins the game, but after installing the game to my HDD, this problem happened a lot less than I would expected it would otherwise.

One of the underwater optional tombs is glitched. There’s a segment where you have to attach a rope arrow to a crane that’s underwater after draining the water out of the pool. The puzzle is unsolvable if the rope glitches into the wall and doesn’t attach to the switch. I was only able to solve the puzzle after reloading the checkpoint and returning back to this area. I had a similar situation happen when creating a zipline throughout the course of the story.

Before you acquire the Iron Grip skill/ability from one of the optional tombs, I found it rather glitchy to perform rock/ice climbing with the grappling axe. I would have Lara scale/climb walls only for her to randomly slide off the wall and fall to her death. I don’t know what was the cause of this, but I think it has something to do with some poor collision detection. I’ve had this happen a LOT over the course of the game. Once again, it’s not enough to break the game, but enough to annoy gamers and potentially turn them away from the game.

While wearing particular alternate costumes/outfits, Lara’s items and weapons glitch completely through her body to some hilarious results. For example, the Compound Bow looks like it's sawing her in half at times or coming out of her shoulders and waist. I was using the Commando and Infiltrator outfits for the last portion of the game, so I guess that’s why it was looking so weird…

After acquiring that wire tool that you can use to throw Lara’s grappling axe to help with long jumps, it tends to glitch out and make Lara fall to her death much like with the normal climbing axes. Once again, this doesn’t happen a LOT but it’s just plain annoying.

Rent It, Buy It, or Don’t Bother?

Even though I rented it, I suggest buying it. I’m definitely going to pick up a copy at some point as I would love to replay the game at a higher difficulty with the added challenge of the boost cards and skills, along with the disadvantage handicap cards.

After renting the game for 5 days, I managed to finish the game with 77% completion (100% story completion, ALL optional tombs and side missions completed). The only stuff I didn’t get around to was exploring all of the crypts and acquiring all of the collectibles and various weapons.

If you enjoyed Lara Croft’s debut adventure in this rebooted franchise, then you owe yourself to join Lara once again on this new entry in the series. You can tell that Square Enix has made this game into a labor of love with obvious influences from the Uncharted series as well as the Hitman franchise to make this game even more a joy to play as the original.

With Lara Croft & The Guardian of Light and its sequel, Lara Croft & The Temple of Osiris, Square Enix are well underway restoring the legacy of the Tomb Raider franchise with this new titles in Lara Croft’s traditional tomb raiding form. There’s enough here to keep long time fans happy while enough new paint to intrigue and amaze gamers to draw in new fans to this franchise. With various improvements over the original title and tons of replayability and extra content, Rise of the Tomb Raider is welcome addition new entry in this revival of the Tomb Raider franchise.

I know that there’s plenty of fans mad that it’s currently a Xbox exclusive, but don’t fret - PlayStation 4 and PC owners will get a crack at this game in 2016. I’m sure by then all of the DLC detailed in the Season Pass will be available all at once.

Late Night Ramblings (Nov. 12, 2015)

I guess this one should be referred to as "Early Morning" Ramblings as I happen to be up before 7AM typing this up...

I haven’t taken the time to chronicle the entire story of the recent Ultra Street Fighter IV tournament that I attended on Halloween at my local Gamestop, so I want to remedy that situation now.

To be quite honest, I didn’t make up my mind to enter the tournament until about 4-5 days before the actual date of the tournament. I just happened to be in the middle tutoring my friend Randy in the game and I was growing impatient with his progress. That’s a pet peeve of mine when it comes to teaching people fighting games. If I take time out of my schedule - especially when I’m supposed to be on a hiatus from this genre - and offer to help you out, I expect you to at least be grinding on your own practicing what we’ve done or in training room/replay channel to review and understand WHY you lost. With him I was going easier than I was with my close friends. We’d run a few sets and I’ll tell him between rounds/sets what he’s doing wrong, how to approach that match-up better, or simply something to work on out of words of encouragement. He was showing a lot of promise - I got him to stop mindlessly jumping in and mashing out Shoryukens and he was starting to understand the ground game better. Something happened and he started to revert to “online tactics” - tons of reckless and mindless approaches and mashing out moves. I guessing he panicked or something, but he was dealing with me kicking things up a notch more than some of my regular casual sparring buddies would. So it was just downright frustrating that he threw all of that progress out of the window.

As a result, it took me back to why I wanted my hiatus from this genre in the first place. I looked at the Gamestop tournament as my last “hurrah” to the game and the genre for the time being. I thought it was ironic that the second that I put my mind towards entering the tournament everything in my life that week went to shit and was hellbent on me not getting a single bit of time to practice until the morning of the tournament itself.

What was my tournament training regime you ask? Mostly I run into Training Room and go through ALL of the moves on both 1P and 2P sides of the screen. I dunno what it is with 2D fighters but my brain “skips” for a second to think of how to input commands on opposing side of the screen at times. I’ve NEVER had this problem in 3D fighters but it always plagues me in 2D fighters time and time again. After that, I run through basic “bread and butter” combos on both sides of the screen before jumping onto Ranked Match for a few random matches. I set the search for ANY in terms of Skill Level and focus on just reacting and studying how my opponent plays. If I run into a tactic that I can’t deal with or completely blows me up, I try to simulate it in training and figure out a counter or defense to that tactic.

Perfect example, that entire morning I was having issues with Dudley’s Jumping Diving Elbow Drop, a move I used to low-profile with cr. MP or cr. MK in previous versions of Street Fighter IV. In this version it was oddly trading, so I had to adjust my timing or just straight out knock him out of the air with st. MK. I think I practiced this anti-air training for about 2 hours straight until I felt comfortable against it.

After I felt good enough to get the nervous jitters out of my system and feel properly warmed up, I ate some breakfast/lunch since I tend to have social anxiety attacks pop up randomly in events if I do have an empty stomach and headed to the mall where the event was held.

I get there, there’s like next to no one there. I felt like a complete nerd - even more so than usual, carrying my bookbag full of controllers and my adapters where it looked like the thing wasn’t happening at all. FYI I play mainly off a PS2 to Xbox 360 adapter and I have one that allows me to use the PS2 controller on a PS3 as well. The clerk at the counter said they were still having the event and just that people were strangling along to get there. This really took me back though. Back in high school, they held a Soul Calibur tournament in this same mall but it was in the center of the Food Court. About the same size of entrants too, I think it was about 9-12 people total - few seasoned players like myself and others ranging from folks my age to kids who didn’t know what the hell they were doing - they were just there for the free candy that Gamestop were giving out.

Here’s the kicker about the tournament before it even started. The clerk hosting the tournament wanted to do 1-round, Single Elimination and the vets along with myself vetoed that idea out. At least give people a fighting chance. So, it was changed to Best of 2 sets (2 out of 3 rounds to win), Single Elimination. Character lock too. The tournament was on Xbox 360 on a no lag monitor but everyone was forced to use those wireless standard Xbox 360 pads.

Right then and there I busted out laughing because I wish I actually practiced on one of those. The clerk hosting the tournament allowed entrants to practice/warm up and I’ll say without a doubt they literally opened up some used 360 pads to use. D-pad and analog sticks were loose and buttons were mashed in from prelonged use. Seriously, how do people ruin their controllers like that so easily? I have PS2 AND NES controllers that STILL play like new.

I’m not going to label this as an excuse to why I didn’t win as everyone else had to deal with this handicap too. I threw a lot of people off during “warm-ups” as I was playing Hugo - a character I’ve been just randomly messing around with. I knew I wasn’t going to use him in this tournament so playing him now was pretty harmless, but it put a lot of people on edge since I could hear a lot of the seasoned players notice that I knew what I was doing. I was laughing to myself, I guess the jig is up now…

After a SHORT bout of warm-ups, they started the tournament up and I went first. I KNEW it was going to happen because fate likes to play with my emotions like that in these things. If I’m not one of the first matches, it really fucks up with my nerves. I rather play first and get it out of the way to see how everyone else - i.e. my competition fares.

My first match is where my competition came into play as the first of the trio who came to the tournament together as a group of buddies (reminiscent of my old gaming buddies from high school when we entered that Soul Calibur tournament together) who were pretty damn good in warm sets. One of them played a pretty scary looking Juri, the other alternated between Dudley and Seth, while the one who I was set to face first, was another solid Dudley player.

Oh the irony. Pretty much from the second I picked Chun-Li on the character select screen people were confused or shocked. “We got this, baby.” I told myself as the round started. Without a shadow of a doubt, I pretty much bullied the guy the entire match. The guy had decent footsies, but after I pretty much discouraged him from jumping (thanks to the training I went through earlier) he was afraid to do anything. Strange that this match-up is SOOO much easier offline than online. I won that one 2-0 to advance to the next round.

The second Dudley player had an easy first round bout as he fought one of those kids who didn’t know what they were doing, so he just pretty much turned those two rounds into training mode with Seth. You know the deal - one hit confirm into a combo for full stun, one mix-up into the reset, and repeat. Even his friends were disgusted that he played like that against the poor kid. I would’ve at least played Dan just to troll (laughs) and give the kid a honest effort.

The Juri player had another easy first round bout as he fought some random guy I beat prior in warm-ups who was using Ryu. I would end up facing the Juri player in my next round bout. In the Dudley match-up I went with Ultra 2 but with Juri because I think this match is completely revamped in Ultra now after Juri’s buffs, I went with Ultra Combo Double. Reduced damage but I like the added mindgame that he can’t zone me out with fireballs.

Surprisingly enough, this turned into a match of PURE footsies. Footsies = proper spacing and zoning where you’re in a tug of war fight to control onscreen space. I have two friends who main Juri and I haven’t seen one this good like EVER. I had him beat in one round and I dropped the Ultra Combo ender and lost the round because of it. It happens to the best of it. I’m not even mad at that goof up. Regardless, it came down to tied to win, last match, last little scrap of health. I went for a Focus Attack fake-out but he didn’t fall for it and got the jump-in for the win. GGs dude. The clerk and everyone there said we had the best match of the tournament afterwards, with my opponent saying that I was his only “true” competition. Even his buddies were impressed with my play, jokingly asking if we were trying to play like it was the finals of Evo. I can’t even be mad when in past tournaments, players were so intent to get me eliminated that they had to get the tournament organizer to play and beat me himself so this was a change of pace.

I stuck around to watch the remainder of the tournament with the two buddies finishing it out, as the Juri player completely wiped the floor with his Dudley. That was just ugly to watch. Hell, our match could have been the finals as far as I’m concerned. After those two were crowned the winners of first and second place, I had to play a final match against the other person who lost in the semi-finals. I could've won that match blindfolded to be honest. The only thing I did was play Gouken and parried everything he tried to do and after he got frustrated to death I spammed charged Gohadokens high and low. 

First place won a $25 gift card to the store, second place won a $15 one, and third got $5 that could be used towards any reserve. Better than nothing as the only thing I could remember getting from that Soul Calibur II tournament back in the day was a few preorder decals/stickers from Ace Combat 4 (I think?) that they were trying to get rid of.

All in all, I felt this was a good last hurrah to end on. Like Ivy before her in Soul Calibur II, Chun-Li gave me a good ride to the end of my tournament life in this game. With my mind at rest, I feel like I can finally move onto something else and not invest all of my free time on this game any longer. We'll have to see what's the next fighter that's going to hook me in to want to play competitively in the future. For now, I'm taking it easy and continuing to catch up on games I've missed out on the last few years after allowing Street Fighter IV to take over my gaming console for the last 7+ years.

The Flash - Season 2: 1st Appearance of Zoom

To be honest, I wouldn’t have stuck this long with this show if it wasn’t for Tom Cavanagh AKA Harrison Wells’ actor. The guy has an amazing presence in every single scene he’s in and it’s a completely different side of the coin that he’s playing with his character - who’s not the Reverse Flash/Thawne in this timeline. I’m starting to like Patty’s character more and more each episode, but I’m glad that they are scaling back on Iris’ character this season. She’s NOWHERE as annoying and sickening to watch this season as compared to the first season. I was to the point where I absolutely hated her character in the first season. That being said, Barry’s love-interests are disposable and interchangeable as his underwear, so Patty might want to look out before Barry moves onto the next big thing.

As much as I HATE the fangirls from Arrow, I’m going piss them off and say that I’m still keen of the idea of Barry hooking up with Felicity Smoak. Her on that “double date” with Barry and Iris was just too great. Fuck your “Olicity” fanfiction pairing that the creators of that show was forced to make a reality to not upset you clowns.

Moving on…

As for Barry’s first encounter with Zoom, I have to say that I was a little underwhelmed. It’s roughly the same as the first skirmish with the Reverse Flash. I said this on social media last night too. I don’t see myself watching this show for several seasons on end if EVERY season is another skirmish versus another “evil” speedster. Barry gets the shit beat out of him and becomes a martyr for other heroes and heroines to step forward to help him. Isn’t that same shit that they did on Smallville, Arrow, and even The Flash last season? C’mon, I want to see Barry beat this one on his own, especially after seeing Eddie Thawne take Barry’s man card from him in defeating Reverse Flash in the season one finale.

Supergirl - Superman saves Kara's ass from Reactron

Don’t ask why but for some reason I’m STILL watching Supergirl. Call me crazy or call me stupid, but I’m waiting to see if this gets any better. The CG effects look better than they did in the pilot now, but everything else is meh at best.

I’m just getting REALLY sick of this preset template to almost all of these Arrow/Smallville-style DC Comics-based TV shows. You got the support team setup in a Command Center that’s just as corny and comical as an episode of Power Rangers, the hero/heroine going through teen angst-style puberty with learning/mastering their powers in the vein of Spider-Man, and the “Gotta Catch ‘Em All!!” Pokemon/13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo mash-up subplot. It’s getting VERY redundant.

In Supergirl, she doesn’t have not one Command Center but at least 2-3 of them - her apartment, the DEO HQ, and now Catco where she works underneath her secret identity. C’mon, how the hell people aren’t figuring this shit out while she’s at fucking work?? Between The Flash, Arrow, and now Supergirl, you’d think DC Comics’ superheroes don’t know the meaning of secret identities. I’m sure there’s going to be that one nerd who’s going to argue that Marvel Comics does the same thing but in their defense, they haven’t had a reason to “conceal” their identities when they have been dealing with an alien invasion and other various terrorist and planetary threats. They aren’t stopping the small street level criminals like DC’s heros until Daredevil came around into the picture on Netflix.

I remember win this show was first announced, people were saying that it was going to be the start of a “movement” of female empowerment for the superhero genre. Nah, this show is doing nothing but enforcing the idea to frowning upon that idea. The second it was looking bad against Reactron, Superman showed up and saved Kara and took her home without a second thought before leaving to take care of more “important” business like he was metaphorically saying that what Supergirl was dealing with was beneath him.

Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD - Melinda May’s dilemma

***HUGE Spoiler if you haven’t been keeping up to date with the current season… ***

May’s ex-husband turned out to be Lash after tampering with Daisy’s mother’s Inhuman junk that SHIELD acquired after last season’s finale. Somehow it was rigged with Terragen Crystals that released the mist that “unlocked” his powers, turning him into that monster. So pretty much, May is reduced to being his Betty Ross for his Incredible Hulk rampages. A rare touching moment between her and her former husband, but I was ready for Ward to kill the guy off see her become an even more hardened warrior. Sad to see her and Mockingbird’s manhunt or rather womanhunt? for Ward end prematurely. Speaking of Mockingbird I didn’t know Palicki was so much taller than Ming-Na. Good grief. She’s a fucking amazon. I feel like that was a bit of an oversight in terms of Marvel’s casting for that character as Mockingbird is usually depicted as shorter than most heroes and heroines as she uses her petite size to her advantage. Her Amazon stature doesn’t diminish her character here, but that’s just me being a little nit-picky as usual.

What REALLY bothered me about this episode though? The end teaser where Ward’s new HYDRA buddies confirmed that Rosalind was one of their own. I have to remind myself that every time they add one of these one-off characters that haven’t been in the comics prior nine times out of ten they are HYDRA operative. I hope it’s not true, but to see Coulson falling heads over heels for her is a bit much. It seems like they have thrown the tension between himself and May out of the window completely that they have been hinting at for the last few seasons.

Star Wars Rebels

I did a marathon of the first season and the second season thus far over the weekend and I have to say that I’m pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed Clone Wars for the most part until it’s last few seasons as I felt that it overstayed it’s welcome, but this is a nice change of pace. It took majority of the first season to make me give a damn, but they got me hooked after tying the series completely to the original Star Wars trilogy AND the Clone Wars cartoon after introducing Ahsoka Tano and Darth Vader into this cartoon. I know that I’m dying to see Ahsoka’s confrontation with her former master more than anything else now since we were shafted out of Ahsoka’s character being “killed off” during the end of the Clone Wars cartoon after mixed reactions from fans and parents who were fans of the show, despite knowing what happened during Order 666 in Episode III. I seriously doubt that they are going to kill her character off now that she has such a strong following after Clone Wars, but her past with Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader is going have to be addressed sooner or later. 

And seriously, where do all of these Inquisitors keep showing up from? Don't get me wrong. They all look totally bad-ass but do the Empire have an endless supply of them?

Revisiting New Mobile Report Gundam Wing

Watching uncut, unedited, and in gorgeous HD from the Remastered DVD/Blu-Ray boxset that someone was awesome enough to upload on YouTube. I’m up to episode 37 after grinding away at the series over the past week. Definitely not as “amazing” as it was when I first watched it back on Toonami when I was in high school but still a great Gundam series nonetheless.

I know I completely forgot about Lady Une’s schizophrenia/multiple personalities and the cause for it isn’t explained very well. It’s like her and Trieze have ONE minor disagreement between the end of the first major story arc and then the next episode she’s acting like a completely different person. I’m sure her voice actress had some fun with that one.

Speaking of voice acting talent, Gundam W sports a ton of great voices that are still floating around English anime dubs today. Quatre’s VA voices Light Yagami in Death Note as well a lot of other noteworthy roles. Trowa’s VA (Kirby Murrow) voiced Miroku in Inuyasha as well as Vaan in Vision of Escaflowne. Duo Maxwell’s VA voiced Protoman and Dr. Wily in the Mega Man cartoon and went on to voice tons of other anime characters following the success of Gundam W in the US, including Hohenheim Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist. Brian Drummond (Millardo Peacecraft/Zechs Marquise) is one of the most popular voice actors from one of the original English dubs of Dragonball Z’s Vegeta. Majority of the cast came back together to work on Gundam 00, that sports a similar tone as Gundam Wing did.

As for the fact of understanding why this series isn’t part of reruns on Toonami, there’s a LOT of religious content to edit out along with some suicidal tendencies of the pilots that parents would not be okay with nowadays. On top of that, this anime (much like most of the Gundam franchise) speaks about war in a way that most people don’t want their children exposed to. It’s a mature show for mature minds and doesn’t have a lot of happy endings - the pilots find this out the hard way on multiple occasions throughout the series.

As overpowered the Zero System was during the series’ final act, it’s no more overpowered as the essential “Newtypes” that have become the series staples in this genre To be honest, it’s literally the same idea without the genetics involved.

Looking back, the animation is still top notch - especially for this time period in the mid-90s but now that I’m older I can notice the same corners that were cut as other anime series during this time period, like Dragonball Z. For example, when Heero and Trowa fought Zechs in space with the Mercurius and Vayeate versus the Tallgeese, the same scenes from mobile dolls being destroyed are recycled into almost EVERY episodes’ space battles following this encounter. The same thing is done with the Wing Zero’s space battles. After reading up more onto the series, I found out that the mecha designs were simplified on this series due to budget limitations in terms of animation. That explains why the designs for the Gundams are DRASTICALLY different between the original anime and the Endless Waltz OVA movie as the series creator had the chance to redesign and detail the 5 Gundams as he originally envisioned them.

I’ll admit that Gundam W is a VERY slow build to the good stuff, but there’s not the comedy to fall back on to ease the grind like G Gundam had. (Laughs) Gundam W started the “pretty boy” anime craze in terms of getting girls exposed to anime in the US in the 90s, along with Sailor Moon and Inuyusha. If you were lucky to wake up for Vision of Escaflowne being HEAVILY edited on Fox Kids that my girlfriend at the time watching with her when I was in high school, you can add that to the list too. Kids WB tried to match that dynamic with Cardcapturers/Cardcapturor Sakura, but I don’t remember that anime airing completely on that channel before being elbowed off the network in favor of more seasons of Yu-Gi-OH! and Pokemon.

One more thing to laugh about concerning Gundam W to end on…

Dorothy’s fucking eyebrows.