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Charlie Cobra Reviews (1840 KP) rated Baki in TV

Jul 7, 2020

Baki

2018 | Action, Animation, Drama

7.2

(9 Ratings)

TV Show Rating

Ridiculously Crazy Yet Insanely Hardcore

Baki is the third season of an anime series based on manga series titled Grappled Baki or Baki The Grappled. It is directed by Toshiki Hirano, written by Tatsuhiko Urahata and produced by Kei Watahiki, Yuki Yokoi, and Executive Producer Tetsu Kohima. Baki is made by TMS Entertainment and licensed by Netflix.

Baki is anything but a normal teenage high school student. After becoming one of the greatest martial artists in the world by winning a legendary underground fighting tournament, Baki continues to train with intense focus to become strong enough to surpass his father, Yujiro Hanma, the strongest fighter in the world. He is warned by Mitsunari Tokugawa, ruler of the underground fight arena, that five of the world's most dangerous, violent and brutal death row inmates have escaped and they are all converging on Tokyo. Their unmatched skill and strength have made them bored and their objective is to taste defeat. Tokugawa warns Baki that they are seeking him in hopes of being overwhelmed and utterly crushed. Other underground martial art warriors gather to fight by Baki's side after being summoned by Tokugawa.

This anime is pretty freaking crazy. Whether it's the ridiculous amount of muscles the characters have or the amount of damage they can handle, this anime is over the top. From the beginning they hype up these individuals with the stories of why they're in prison and the impossible ways that they escape. But when they start fighting it really picks up. This series was a guilty pleasure of mine for a bit, I totally binge watched the first season and eagerly awaited the second. That being said it is far from perfect. There is a lot of talking sometimes (a bit too much exposition) and waiting for action but when it happens it rarely disappoints. I mean the fight scenes are really graphic with blood, broken bones, teeth breaking, eye stabbing etc. I really hate that it has CGI at all but it's far and in between. At first I didn't like the art style at all but it kinda grew on me. Also to me the second season didn't live up to the hype of the first one but that's just my opinion. If you're looking for straight up action then this is the anime you're looking for. I give it a 7/10.

Kudos

Debbiereadsbook (1197 KP) rated Confined Desires (Rehoboth Pact #1) in Books

Mar 25, 2021

Confined Desires (Rehoboth Pact #1)

Katherine McIntyre | 2021 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance

8.0

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

It's not especially explicit, but it IS full of love and passion

Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

Mia splits with her boyfriend and comes home, to Sky since she has nowhere else to go. Then the world comes crazy and there is stay at home order. Can Sky and Mia manage in a tiny one bed flat, in close proximity, and keep their hands off each other?

I have to commend Ms McIntyre. For a while she only wrote male/female pairings. The last book I read of her's was a M/M pairing, and this is a F/F pairing. And she nailed this, as she did Midnight Heist!

Sky has lusted, LOVED Mia since high school. She's not sure she can cope with them being so close for an extended time. Mia is, quite simply, the only woman for her. Mia, in turn has had feelings for Sky for equally as long. She just wasn't exactly sure WHAT she was feeling then, but she is now.

It's great watching them dance around each other for a while, and then fall headlong over that cliff. Only for Sky to mess it all up by keeping her mouth shut. Oh, I wanted to punch her then, I really did, especially as Mia poured her heart out to her!

It's not especially explicit, but it IS full of love and passion. It's emotional too, with Sky dealing with the loss of her sister, and Mia's female parental unit (I don't like her, can you tell?!?)

It is the first 'virus' book I've read, and I expect there to be more, but every one of those books will have to stand against this one, in that regard, cos it is so well done!

The title of the series is the Rehoboth Pact. I loved the reason for that, and that Aubrey evokes said pact when Sky acts stoopid! There is a third friend, Kyle, in the pact. We didn't meet her yet though. Aubs is here though, and she's a lot of fun! So, I'm assuming that the series will be around these three girls. Can't wait to read them!

It's not a compliacted read, just a story of two girls seeing who is right in front of them, and acting on your feelings.

4 solid stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**

Kudos

Becs (244 KP) rated Ready Player One in Books

Oct 2, 2019

Ready Player One

Ernest Cline | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry

8.9

(161 Ratings)

Book Rating

Genre: Sci-Fi, Fiction, Dystopia, Fantasy

Audience: Young Adult

Reading level: High School +

Interests: science fiction, fantasy, video games, 80’s

Style: Sci-Fi

Point of view: First person.

Difficulty reading: It started off great and I flew through the first half of the book. It’s towards the 55%-75% mark that was a bore for me. But the ending was great!

Promise: Dystopian Sci-Fi video game world

Quality: Minus the 20% that was pretty darn boring and long, the book as a whole was a great read.

Insights: I’m not a huge gaming geek, so without Cline explaining half the time what these gaming terms are, I’d be as lost as a pig in a supermarket. For that, I thank him. It was nice seeing a Dystopian world set in the future that was still in our lifetime. I have never read anything like that – cool to see how Cline wrote it.

Ah-Ha Moment: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Okay, I knew Aech was hiding something. But I could not figure out what it was for the life of me. But when Aech and Parzival first met, in real life, face to face, I WAS NOT EXPECTING him to actually be a ‘her’.

This was me:

Favorite Quotes: “Going outside is highly overrated.” – Yea, I feel ya too. I just want to stay in and read all day every day. Who needs a job, who needs to eat, all we need are books. Am I right?

“You’d be amazed how much research you can get done when you have no life whatsoever.” – I mean, you’re not wrong.

“One person can keep a secret, but not two.” – Secrets, secrets are no fun. Secrets, secrets hurt someone.

Aesthetics: The whole book is an 80’s aesthetic that I love. Plus, it gives a brief inside scoop on the whole “if we don’t care for the planet now, there will be nothing in the future” debate. Which is true, we should care for the planet more than what we do now. I mean we only live on Earth just as much as everybody else. The copy of Ready Player One that I have, is a 2015 Special Edition copy – I love the cover on it.

“People are more than just the way they look.”