Between the Panels

It’s hard for anyone to deny the impact that the groundbreaking series,   Attack on Titan , has had on the anime fandom. And rightly so! It’s easily one of the most compelling shows on television. For over a decade it kept fans rabidly theorizing and desperately waiting for the next episode to drop. The show doesn’t shy away from lofty questions and challenging ideas, to the point that a lot of it would be impossible to cover in a quick little nerdy blog post. So instead, I’m going to think a little broader. A little bigger. I’m talking about giants . The premise of the show is that the last remnants of humanity try to survive behind huge walls keeping out the hoards of giant man-eating beings (“ titans ”) until one day when they break through. Reflecting about facing down giants, any church kid’s brain is likely to go one to place in particular: David and Goliath .  There’s some debate as to just how big Goliath was, but it is traditionally held that he was “six cubits and a ...

What kind of villain name is Heartless ? Seriously, though; it doesn't really have an impact like Magneto, Two-Face, or Reverse Flash.... Heartless is one of Nightwing 's villains that really earns his name because of what he does to his victims. This baddie has a special gun that shoots a claw tube that latches on to the victim and literally cuts out their heart . If you think that is pretty messed up, he doesn't just throw it away, no, this creep takes the heart to replace his heart with theirs.... Maybe they should have called this guy the Tin-Man (sorry for the bad joke). Heartless really does work out to be the right kind of villain for Nightwing because of the very thing that he is after in his victims, their heart. Nightwing is known in comics for having a good heart that is compassionate toward the people he protects and even the villains he encounters.  Batman himself sees this and notes that for this very reason, Nightwing would have been the perfect Batman, becau...

Imagine you could have someone that you are able to just chat with at any point and time. Some of you may already have an image of a friend or you are reflecting on your last chill time with them. Don't get me wrong, that's awesome and we all need friends that we can connect with like that. However, that can only happen if that person is there or available.  What I am talking about is a connection that cannot be severed by distance, signal, or availability.  I am talking about the connection with you and God. My favourite example of this connection is Yo and Amidamaru from Shaman King . Yo is a high schooler who is able to connect with spirits and he makes a connection with Amidamaru to get stronger to become the Shaman King. What makes these two stand out is there communication between each other. Yo does not treat this spirit like it is something that can be ignored; there is a friendship/bond there that he connects with Amidamaru in sincerity. Whenever they face different...

Back a few years ago I got into fantastic anime series:  The Rising of the Shield Hero .  What made this show amazing and also frustrating was the treatment of the main character Naofumi . I say that it was frustrating because this guy is teleported from his world to a fantasy world, asked to save a kingdom from destruction, but is treated like trash because he is the "weakest" hero of the four noble heroes. Not only that, they frame him for some pretty awful stuff and run him out of the kingdom to fend for himself. Naofumi of course doesn't like how he is treated and at first is very vocal about it, but over time he resigns himself to just push through it and live with integrity. This guy legitimately looks to help the kingdom and serve the common folk, he is the best hero amongst them. Over time you find out that Naofumi was actually being oppressed in more nefarious ways by certain members of the monarchy, yet he still stands/fights for them and the country.  You reall...

Han and Chewie .  Arguably one, if not, the most iconic duos in cinematic history.  These "scruffy looking nerf herders" are always side-by-side, hip deep in troubles of their own making. Whether it's smuggling goods, or flying in a barrage of enemy TIE fighters; these two have each others backs.  As a nerd it makes collecting a bit of a nightmare when you can find that awesome Han Solo figure, but you know you can't just have Han without his first mate/co-pilot Chewie.  Even the show Chuck , demonstrates this through the parting of two friends; one taking the Han Solo figure and the other Chewie. These two friends felt it was just wrong to separate the two figures, like it felt wrong to part as friends. Han and Chewie have seen good times and bad, but they always had each other.  I remember the biggest gut punch was when Han Solo died in episode seven, but an even bigger hit was hearing Chewie's lamenting cry and rage poor out at the loss of his friend.  ...

November has been a bit of a hard month for the nerd community with the passing of two iconic, childhood heroes. First with the passing of Kevin Conroy ; the voice actor of Batman in numerous animated shows, games, and a live performance as Old Bruce in a TV series.  Second and most recently Jason David Frank ; most well known for his character " Tommy " in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV show and the icon for the Power Rangers franchise.  These two deaths were certainly not just a blow to my childhood (rushing to watch Batman: The Animated Series or learning karate from Tommy in his instructional video), but have been a blow to the nerd community with several tribute posts and videos on social media. However, it was not just the roles that they played that left an impact on their fans, but their actual heart to be an encouragement to their fan base. Even amidst their collogues, there is this sense of great loss for the world at large as these people were a source of ent...

Lets face it, at times we can feel like the world is out to get us and we are the underdog of our own story.  It can be pretty hard to get motivated to push/do something when it is already an uphill battle.  Personally, I like to think about characters as a motivation (both fictional and real). Look at Asta from Black Clover; this guy had no ounce of magic in him and yet he has one of the most powerful magic items in the series with the drive to be the best mage in the world! Or Class 3E from Assassination Classroom, who are the runts of the school both socially and educationally, but are tasked with saving the world in under a year. Or look at Red Hood (Jason Todd) who was a street kid taking the wheels off of Batman's batmobile and is now a major member of Batman's allies in fighting crime.  Finally Captain America, going from this scrawny kid who just wanted to serve his country to becoming one of the   most iconic heroes of our time! However, there are not just ...