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Simple Taste · Dad Needs To Talk

0:03
What's up y'all, and welcome back to Dad Needs to Talk.
0:07
I'm your host, Robert, and today today I'm going to be sharing my
0:11
thoughts on the movie American Fiction.
0:14
The Game, Suicide Squad, Killer, Justice League, and it's all
0:19
going to be wrapped up in the topic of simple taste.
0:24
So as always, thank you so much for dropping in.
0:30
Hope everybody out there is doing well.
0:33
If this is your first time here then welcome, but if you're
0:36
returning listener and or watcher then welcome back.
0:39
Y'all know here that needs to talk.
0:41
It's all about fatherhood and family manga, anime, TV, movies
0:46
and video games now. I hope everybody out there is
0:51
doing well. It's crazy man.
0:55
We're freaking already. We're about to hit the midway
0:58
point of freaking February of 2024.
1:02
It just feels like the days and time.
1:05
It's just going by in a blur. But overall, life is going solid
1:12
on my kids are about to wind down the basketball season for
1:18
for 8th grade. And I I have a very fun topic
1:23
about that I'll do at a later point, just 'cause it kind of.
1:30
It's kind of interesting watching and comparing how they
1:38
are in athletics and stuff, whatever and the structure of it
1:42
within a big city, Metroplex area like where we live in
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versus like where I came from a very small country town to where
1:53
you know and like I said, I'll get to this more in depth in a
1:55
later episode. But just kind of just the
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general thoughts of a lot of kids, this would be their last
2:03
time playing basketball potentially whatever.
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Because, you know, like I said, me growing up in a small town,
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it was kind of like, OK, hey, even if like I was on B team or
2:16
whatever in 7th grade and maybe eighth grade, I don't remember.
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And then, hey, but eventually, you know, I still got to play
2:23
ninth grade and then JV and varsity, all that stuff,
2:26
whatever. But now, with there being so
2:32
many kids, so many schools and stuff, to where the kids 'cause
2:40
you used to be for, at least for me growing up, whatever middle
2:45
school is, when a lot of people kind of started sports, like it
2:48
was super rare but back in the day for you to have much
2:52
experience of, like, you know, Pee Wee or Little League or
2:55
whatever growing up, whatever. And so a lot of people like,
3:00
yeah, there was like some people that did get to play early on,
3:05
but the I feel like the majority of people all kind of started
3:09
together in 7th grade and then went on from there.
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But nowadays it's like, 'cause like example, like my kids,
3:15
they've been playing since they were five or six years old, and
3:18
now they're 1415 years old. And it's like you can
3:24
immediately pick out in the crowd or when you're watching
3:27
the middle school game of who has been playing and then who
3:31
are the new kids or whatever. And so it kind of makes things
3:36
kind of crazy to where where my kids next year get into like the
3:42
high school level of stuff. It's going to really start to
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like splinter them off to where some of them might immediately
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play on Varsity, some might play on JV, some might play on 9th
3:55
grade and some is just going to be no because I feel like the
3:58
9th grade team, it's going to be like maybe the best of B team
4:05
and the worst of A team because a lot of the other kids like the
4:09
best, best people of the A-Team will be playing on maybe JV or
4:14
Varsity, whatever. So sorry, sorry.
4:16
It was just kind of like just interesting just thing about
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like some of the kids that are kind of maybe still new to this,
4:21
whatever, just they're just going to get naturally just
4:24
filtered out or whatever. Unfortunately just because like
4:27
even just like in our area is small, is like a small corner of
4:33
the bigger DFW metro place. But even for us, we have 5
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middle schools funneling against the two high schools.
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So and you already try to do the math and the numbers on that and
4:45
the number of positions that the two high schools or whatever for
4:48
sports stuff, whatever. And it's like some of y'all
4:51
going to be weeded out. So we knew, like I said, that'll
4:54
be a deeper discussion for for a future episode and stuff.
4:57
So but yeah, but overall yeah, life is life has been solid.
5:03
Valentine's Day is coming up in a couple of days.
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We're also by next time I get to record hopefully who knows what
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things might look like with with whatever news that Microsoft is
5:15
going to share. I hope that they do it on Monday
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or Tuesday and not wait until the back half of the week or
5:22
whatever. So but we'll see where things go
5:24
from there. But anyway, don't want to drag
5:27
this on because it's already late, me and me and the kids and
5:31
the family watching the Super Bowl or whatever I had.
5:34
I had no snake in the game either way.
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So it's kind of whatever whoever won, but but like I said, I just
5:41
wanted to touch on, talk on these couple of topics today.
5:44
So I'll go in and jump in. And so like I said before I get
5:48
to or like I said like the the, the kind of topic or thing I
5:52
want to touch on is simple taste.
5:56
And what I mean by that is that sometimes yes, we might know or
6:04
be aware that like hey there is something of a higher quality
6:10
that might taste better, might look better, might play better
6:13
etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Sometimes we just have just
6:19
those kind of like like that that comfort garbage we like to
6:23
consume and you know the the the, the kind of the kind of
6:32
example I use I was telling my wife and I was telling about the
6:38
topic while ago is that is that sometimes like yes, I I know
6:45
there is some really good food. I could go and get some very
6:50
high quality Chinese food. But every now and then every now
6:54
and then I want my reliable trash that is Panda Express and
7:02
it is what it is. You know it it's just like it's
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like yes, we we all know it. It's not no secret that, and the
7:08
Express is not nowhere near the top of the food chain when it
7:13
comes to good Chinese food, but sometimes it is just like a
7:19
reliable, reliable comfort, you know?
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And I feel like we all have that for TV shows, books, manga,
7:27
anime, video games, etcetera. And so this this kind of came to
7:33
mind again. Again, when I watched American
7:37
Fiction. So for those who don't know So
7:41
American Fiction is a movie starring Jeffrey Wright has a
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very awesome cast. It's got freaking Jeffrey
7:50
Wright, Tracy Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, Erica Alexandra, who I
8:01
hadn't well, I've probably maybe seen her in passing.
8:05
I hadn't really thought about her since she played Maxine back
8:09
on Living single Back in the freaking 90s by Sterling K Brown
8:16
and Keith David. It it's got like a very dope
8:20
cast of characters. But the basic premise of this
8:23
movie is that Jeffrey Wright's character is a Arthur A.
8:31
He writes some very fantastic novels and stuff, but they just
8:36
don't sell. They are of the highest quality,
8:38
fantastic storytelling, writing, etcetera, but they do not sell.
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And so he ends up beginning to write this book as kind of in a
8:50
way of proving a point of how sometimes some of the most
8:56
popular, bestselling things, whatever, are things that or
8:59
probably trash, you know, in the grand scheme of things,
9:02
whatever. But that's the stuff that people
9:04
eat up. And so he starts writing this
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book after he goes to this convention where he did a panel
9:12
with some other writers and stuff, but it was only, like a
9:17
handful of people in the audience.
9:18
And he asked one of the dudes, he was like, hey, does this feel
9:22
like a small crowd, a small crowd, even for this event?
9:25
And then they were like, Oh yeah, well, everybody's over at
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this other Centara, who is a isa raised character over at her
9:34
panel or whatever. And so she's reading an excerpt
9:37
from the book, whatever sounded very hood and ghetto and stuff,
9:40
whatever from the verbiage of how it was written and stuff,
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whatever. And so, like, so he started
9:45
writing a book kind of in that same vein and it ended up
9:51
getting picked up. They started offering this dude
9:54
hundreds of thousands of dollars for a book deal.
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They wanted to immediately turn it into ATV, show all this
10:00
stuff, whatever. And it was kind of like a joke
10:03
that went too far, so to speak. And so, like, so that that just
10:10
really made me circle back to this idea and stuff.
10:16
Whatever of just like, hey, sometimes we can create the most
10:21
finely tuned and crafted Big Brain content or video or book
10:29
or whatever, but it might not be what the mass market wants.
10:36
It's like, yes, you might find your very small community,
10:40
whatever, dedicated readers, watchers, etcetera, whatever,
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but it's not gonna hit those big time numbers like some of this
10:48
other stuff, whatever. And it kind of made me think
10:50
about how, you know, there there are certain Youtubers and stuff
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I've followed for years and it feels like every few months they
10:59
are doing freaking power scaling videos or oh, top top 50
11:04
strongest characters in One Piece or top, you know, 10
11:07
strongest abilities in this series or whatever.
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And it's just like the same stuff over and over and over and
11:12
over and over and over and over. And then it's like, hey, I'm
11:15
over here talking about this very cool manga.
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Mostly I've never heard about. But it is super good and there's
11:22
I know maybe get a few views or whatever and there's like oh
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hey, person did another top ten strongest characters in whatever
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mainstream Naruto whatever. They get thousands, hundreds of
11:37
millions of views or whatever. But that is just kind of the the
11:40
the nature of the beast and stuff.
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So but yeah, and and it kind of made me also think about.
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And like I said, I'm, I'm going to talk more specifically in
11:50
depth about both American Fiction and Suicide Squad a
11:53
little bit later, check for the time stamps of those.
11:55
But just to kind of talk on this topic right now with Suicide
12:00
Squad, I feel like that also really fits this theme of what
12:08
I'm talking about to where I never really had any grandiose
12:14
dreams of like, yeah, this is going to be the next biggest and
12:18
greatest thing in the world. I just saw it as a, hey, this is
12:22
just going to be a fun game where I can just turn off my
12:26
brain, be in the DC Universe, whatever, and see these
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characters that I've enjoyed growing up, whatever.
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Not necessarily being a big comic book nerd, but I've
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watched, you know, Batman, The Animated series, I love the
12:40
Batman Arkham games and lots of other stuff in between.
12:44
The Harley Quinn show. So much stuff.
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And so when I saw OK Rock stated the people that made the Batman
12:54
Arkham games or whatever, or doing something new in the same
12:56
universe or whatever, I was like, OK, I'm going to give it a
12:59
shot or whatever. And then when I play the closed
13:02
alpha end of last year, whatever, I was OK, this is
13:06
cool. There is something fun here.
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And so it's just been interesting watching the game
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get all these crazy love reviews and people crapping on it and
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stuff, whatever. And it's like, yes, I get it,
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you're disappointed that this isn't the thing you were
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thinking or hoping or whatever, but just taking it at face value
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for what it is, it is fun. I have somehow found myself,
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I've already put in almost 10 hours into it, which is kind of
13:40
crazy cause most of like the review discussion I saw, right.
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It was I was like, yeah, the game, you know, you'll be done
13:47
with the story and you know, 8 to 12 hours or whatever, yada,
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yada, yada. And I'm like, I'm almost 10
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hours in and I just had my first boss battle against one of the
14:02
Justice League members or whatever.
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And it's like, OK, I still got, you know, how many Justice
14:07
League members left to potentially go through and then
14:09
some other stuff. So it's OK, I'm cool.
14:12
I'm. I'm like I've already gotten 9
14:13
hours out of it or whatever. But you know, but like I said, I
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think it also just has a mix of expectations and stuff with all
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of these things to where sometimes while I know it's,
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it's easier said than done, but it's like comparing something to
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what might have came before or putting the weight and pressure
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of something that started over a decade ago, whatever.
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And it's like, I get that, but also try to look at it as just
14:53
what it is on its own too or whatever, with of course that
14:57
stuff taking into account whatever.
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But yeah, but then this game kind of just fits into just this
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kind of fun and the best way fun Garbage trash.
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Not not in a bad way, but like I said in the way of Panda
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expressed where I was like, hey, this is something that is fun
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and comforting to this, whatever.
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And yes, it has some problems and stuff, whatever and some
15:28
critiques, but it is far from the worst thing I've ever played
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for. Far from the worst thing I've
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ever consumed. And so but I like, I think
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that's just me having an open mind.
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Two things like that and I think that's kind of what it takes
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sometimes when we approach certain stuff is to have the
15:50
open mind and like I said just kind of know what what were we
15:54
looking to get out of this thing.
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Like I said, it's going back to the Panda Express thing or
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whatever. It's like, hey, I want something
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that's fairly cheap, but I know, taste decent, that will satiate
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me, get me full and I will have some leftovers to look for a
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little bit later, whatever. So that's so that I can go to
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whatever versus yeah, I can go somewhere, spend maybe a lot, a
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little bit more money and it might taste better.
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But then it's like, OK, I'm going to be hungry again, you
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know, in an hour or so, you know, so but that, that, that
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that's like just something I did was just kind of on my mind,
16:39
another super big and crazy about it.
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But I think there is room for all of these things to coexist.
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We can have the best looking thing, We can have the best
16:53
playing thing. We can have the greatest novels
16:57
in the world, but alongside those we can also have some more
17:03
simpler things. Even if it's just something to
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at least kind of like get people in the door.
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You know, it's where it's like, it's like with like a lot of,
17:12
you know, anime and manga stuff, whatever.
17:14
A lot of the general population or the average consumer will go
17:21
for, as they call it, the the kind of meathead action crazy
17:26
fight stuff, whatever flashy that's going to catch your
17:29
attention or whatever. And that's going to get you in
17:31
the door. And then hopefully eventually
17:35
maybe you'll find something else that are like, oh, what's that
17:37
over there? And you'll find yourself
17:39
enjoying a slice of life show or a thriller or a sports series or
17:47
whatever. And so so I guess Alexa and same
17:49
thing for Suicide Squad killed the Justice League tour like OK
17:53
hey we got you in the door now what else is around that might
17:59
pique your interest where the tour it could even just start
18:02
off as like hey other games that are maybe kind of like this or
18:07
like say just like hey, if you like this you might also be
18:10
interested in these Batman Arkham games if you never play
18:13
them so to speak. Whatever, just as a example.
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But like I said, I feel like it is, it is OK for all of these
18:20
things to coexist and that sometimes, sometimes what you
18:28
are making, what you are doing isn't the problem.
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It is like, yes you are making good high quality stuff, but
18:40
you're just not finding the a big audience.
18:43
I guess I should say you are finding a audience because you
18:45
might be getting a few views or whatever 'cause I I'll even take
18:49
myself for example, Not saying that I have the highest budget,
18:55
highest quality podcast or YouTube channel, whatever out
19:01
there, whatever, far from it. But what I have noticed is that
19:06
I have at least found and built up a reliable core group of
19:13
people, 'cause I noticed that like, like example, like for a
19:18
lot of people, it's not, it's like, OK, whatever, that's not a
19:20
big number, but I do. I do.
19:24
I have noticed over these few years that I've been doing this.
19:26
Whatever that I at least hit a kind of like a like a bare
19:31
minimum threshold of like around 20.
19:35
I feel like I I have a strong core 20 that usually comes
19:41
around, check out my stuff, whatever, comment, share,
19:45
whatever the catch may be or whatever.
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And then from there, you know, things are kind of splinter off.
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And you know, I'll find better audiences depending on what it
19:56
is I'm talking about. Or like if I'm doing like a
19:58
specific manga or game review, TV show review, whatever.
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That might bring more attention because it's, you know, more
20:06
general or more mass appeal versus a standard podcast
20:11
episode like this where, you know, everybody might not click
20:15
on or whatever. But like I said, I kind of have
20:16
that core group and that is something that I have found
20:21
comfort and reliability in to where?
20:26
Yes, I might not be getting these crazy big numbers on
20:29
stuff, whatever, but I do appreciate having this core
20:34
group that I can talk to on a regular basis that will comment
20:40
on my videos and stuff that will DM and message me on Twitter or
20:45
Instagram or whatever. Be like hey man, I take that
20:48
episode or whatever. Hey I enjoy this topic whatever
20:51
etcetera etcetera or that might might even I mentioned something
20:55
that I talked about on their respective YouTube channels or
20:59
podcasts or whatever they catch may be and stuff.
21:01
So, so yeah, so like I said, just something also just wanted
21:05
to kind of give use this all to also kind of give a bit of
21:10
encouragement to those out there that might things like, man, I'm
21:13
not really getting many, many people checking out my blog or
21:19
my podcast downloads or my YouTube views or whatever thing
21:24
you're trying to measure success on.
21:29
Because just being consistent and having that core base there
21:35
sometimes will mean might mean more to you.
21:39
I know it means more to me sometimes than getting the crazy
21:42
big numbers, especially if it's not people that's sticking
21:46
around and repeat customers. And so if it's like, OK, hey,
21:51
cool, yes, this, this one video out of nowhere or this one
21:54
Pockets episode got thousands of views or whatever or thousands
21:58
of downloads. But then it was like, OK, next
22:01
episode we're back to the five, you know, so but bam, so like,
22:07
so that that that's kind of in a basic nutshell with that topic
22:11
of Jess. Hey, sometimes we just have to
22:15
continue being who we are and hopefully eventually, you know,
22:23
our audience and fan base or whatever will continue to grow
22:27
and expand with people who are looking for what you are
22:31
presenting. Like especially for like in the
22:34
case of meets where it's like I'm not necessarily trying to
22:37
make a life and career out of this, whatever.
22:39
This is just something I'm kind of trying to do for fun or
22:42
whatever. And who knows, maybe someday
22:44
that might change, but for now, just doing it for fun and just
22:48
enjoying those connections and stuff I'm able to make with
22:54
people and stuff like that, so, so yeah, so just keep pushing
22:58
forward and know that just because you might not see people
23:06
coming through, whatever, that doesn't necessarily mean that
23:09
there is something wrong with what you're doing.
23:12
So, but yeah, So now going from there and kind of speaking a
23:17
little bit more specifically, I want to touch on American
23:23
fiction first. OK, so circling back to American
23:29
fiction. So speaking specifically just on
23:32
this movie now, I'm very happy that I went and watched this
23:37
movie because it was one because for one, I enjoy Jeffrey
23:42
Wright's work now. I was very late on discover him.
23:46
I really kind of got introduced to him with the role he played
23:51
in Westworld. And then of course he played a
23:54
fantastic role as one of the kind of like main villains and
23:57
stuff and Last of Us Two video in the Last of Us 2 video game
24:01
and stuff. So we're Speaking of which now I
24:03
think about it. I wonder if he going to be in
24:05
the it'll be dope if he gets to play his character in the TV
24:10
show as well. So but I don't know we'll we'll
24:12
see. So yeah, so like, like I
24:16
mentioned earlier, whatever with this, this movie basically at
24:20
the core follows A novelist who writes very well, but his books
24:27
just aren't taking off and he ends up diving into black
24:33
stereotypes and black tropes and stuff like a super basic level
24:40
and it is a causing things to take off.
24:43
So now the surrounding story around this, and now I'm
24:47
speaking specifically on the movie, so might be some Miles
24:50
Broilers for the movie, but so his character, he ends up
24:58
getting to a argument or whatever or something with with
25:03
one of his students, 'cause he's also a professor at a college or
25:07
whatever. And so they're, I guess they, I
25:09
think they were talking about some like black history stuff,
25:11
whatever. And one of the students, I
25:14
believe she, she was a white student or whatever, didn't feel
25:16
comfortable. I believe she, I can't remember
25:20
if it was just written or they were saying it, but I think, I
25:23
think it was, I think it was the N word written on the on the on
25:27
the whiteboard or whatever. And so she didn't feel
25:31
comfortable with it or whatever. He confronted her on it or
25:33
whatever, and then he ended up kind of being put on like kind
25:37
of like a a administrative leave type of thing, whatever.
25:41
And so he ends up going back home, whatever, to visit his
25:44
family. And so is his, his, his older
25:47
sister, Tracy Ellis Ross and his mother.
25:52
And then Sterling Bryant is also his other older brother, too.
25:56
Whatever. But but yeah, so he ends up
26:00
going back home, whatever, visiting the family, whatever.
26:03
And while he's home, they discover that, you know, his
26:06
mother is basically starting to get early signs of Alzheimer's
26:11
and stuff to where she's starting to forget stuff, forget
26:13
people, et cetera, et cetera. A tragic event happens.
26:21
And like I said, just spoilers for the movie.
26:23
I'm just gonna just go and say to whatever, basically while he
26:27
is out at lunch having lunch, discussing family stuff,
26:30
whatever with his sister, whatever.
26:32
She seemingly has a heart attack and dies right there.
26:37
And so now he's kind of put in a position to where now he is kind
26:41
of having to take over the care and well-being of his mother
26:47
whom because he had moved so far away he's not familiar with too
26:53
much of what's going on with the family and household expenses
26:58
and stuff for her. Because the sister was living
27:00
with the mom and or they were living together and the sister
27:04
was taking care of all the medical bills all of the basic
27:07
life bills and stuff whatever paying for the in house maid and
27:13
all this stuff whatever. And so basically like I said
27:15
Jeffrey Jeffrey Rice character who is known as a monk but his
27:20
name is Thelonious. But Monk, it just kind of thrown
27:24
into this whirlwind situation of like man, not only did I just
27:28
lose my sister, but my mother is kind of going through this life
27:32
changing situation and stuff whatever.
27:34
And that's kind of where in the background this book taken off
27:40
to where now he's getting all this influx of money that is in
27:45
turn helping him being able to help provide for his mother and
27:50
family and stuff, whatever. But he's also at odds with
27:55
himself because it's like, man, the the books and stuff that he
28:01
poured his heart and soul into writing or whatever just wasn't
28:05
getting any traction. Whereas he kind of what he feels
28:08
like Stoops down to the lowest level and just throws out this
28:12
garbage. And now he's getting book deals
28:15
and TV deals and thousands and millions of dollars or whatever
28:18
thrown at him. And so he's kind of had a
28:21
internal struggle with that throughout the whole movie of
28:27
knowing like, hey, this trash, it's helping me provide and care
28:31
for my mother. But on the flip side is like,
28:33
man, I'm helping to feed into this lowest common denominator
28:41
of stuff, whatever. And so, so it's also I I just
28:44
enjoyed that kind of internal struggle that he was having
28:50
because like I said, I I kind of have had it sometimes with my
28:54
podcast or whatever to where, you know, certain things that I
28:57
feel like math are like really poured my heart and soul into
29:00
this thing, whatever. And it gets like little snow
29:03
traction. And then there's other things
29:04
that I just kind of just come in, press record, blah, and then
29:09
stop, record, upload, yay, you know, tons of views or whatever.
29:12
So, but also, y'all know me. I I love stuff that is heavy on
29:20
family vibes. And of course, you know, I'm not
29:24
going to get into it again or whatever.
29:25
But I know a lot of y'all know that my podcast started because
29:30
of what happened with my mother and sister back-to-back where I
29:35
lost them. Kind of like I lost my sister
29:38
unexpectedly, whatever. And then my mother got sick and
29:42
then quickly went after that or whatever too.
29:45
And so that part of the movie really hit and connected with me
29:51
as well. It's because of the of the
29:53
situation that that Mark was going through in the movie.
29:57
But like I say, overall it was a solid movie.
30:02
I enjoyed how it kind of threaded, threaded the needle,
30:09
having the real life stuff that like really makes you think like
30:15
I said, just like how, you know, like suggest the things of like
30:18
hey, just the simple stuff sells sometimes the family drama
30:22
stuff, whatever. But they also did a solid job of
30:28
mixing in some comedy and comedic relief moments
30:32
throughout to kind of help alleviate.
30:35
So it's not just full heavy, heavy heavy all the time.
30:39
But and I also enjoyed it kind of like a kind of like a fourth
30:44
wall thing but within the movie itself to where like when he was
30:49
first writing that first part of the book, whatever the father
30:53
and the story he was writing was played by Keith David.
30:56
And they were there in front of him acting out the things that
31:01
he was writing down. And then whenever he would get
31:04
stuck at a part, the characters would literally look at him be
31:08
like, am am I really saying that or what?
31:11
What, what do I say next, you know, or do do we need to redo
31:15
that again? And so it's kind of funny how
31:19
just seeing how they kind of use that that internal kind of 4th
31:23
wild breaking thing whatever where how his stories literally
31:27
were kind of coming to life before him and he would change
31:30
it then it would replay out or whatever.
31:33
And even how they handle stuff at the end with the movie and
31:36
the reveal of you know he's not really this hardcore because
31:41
that that's something that's ever.
31:42
I've got to mention too is that the the pen name that he takes
31:46
on for this other book, he uses a different name like a alias.
31:51
But this person is supposedly a ex convict that's on the run
31:56
from the from the FBI and the government or whatever.
31:59
And so that's why he doesn't really do public appearances and
32:03
he's kind of like in like the shadowy silhouette whenever he
32:07
does like camera interviews and stuff.
32:09
Whatever it it it was just like, it was just like a very thought
32:15
provoking and funny movie that actually just like really hit my
32:19
heart with the family stuff. Stuff by American Fiction.
32:23
Definitely recommend it. If if you look for something
32:27
along those lines, it's it's some good stuff.
32:32
So all right, briefly, I'm going to just touch on again Suicide
32:38
Squad, Kill the Justice League because like I said I have
32:44
managed to put in 10 hours with this game and I've been having
32:49
fun. Like I said, yes, this game is
32:53
far from it is definitely far from perfect.
32:59
But for what it is I am having fun now.
33:04
I will say I'm not. I'm not necessarily.
33:06
I'm not necessarily saying hey go out and spend your $70.00
33:13
plus whatever to to to play this day one, but either maybe later
33:22
down the road when it maybe is on sale or something, or like I
33:31
said, in my case, whatever, I got it because I had some gift
33:35
cards, whatever leftover so I I didn't have to pay.
33:38
I don't think I didn't have to pay anything out of pocket for
33:40
it or whatever, but like I said, I luckily was fortunate enough
33:46
to get to play Indy closed Alpha few months back and so I already
33:52
got got to kind of get hands on with it.
33:54
But I did my research and I have an open mind and so while yes,
34:01
this isn't the same thing as the Batman Arkham games, it does
34:06
still have some of that care and attention there within this game
34:15
from Rocksteady. Because for those who don't know
34:18
so Suicide Squad, Kettle, Justice League, it takes place
34:22
in the same world as the Batman Arkham series.
34:25
So Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, Arkham Knight.
34:29
Well, Arkham Asylum was 2009, Arkham City was 2011, and then
34:33
Arkham Knight was 2015. And so it's been about 8 years
34:38
since Arkham Knight came out. And the story of this takes
34:42
place five years, five years after the end of Arkham Knight.
34:48
And so you follow the Suicide Squad, which this rendition is
34:52
composed of Captain Boomerang, Harley Quinn, King Shark, and
35:02
Deathstroke. So that's who the four playable
35:06
characters are in the game. So it is a it is a kind of like
35:10
a Co-op style game though. You can't play a solo.
35:14
I've been playing it 100% solo by myself.
35:17
But you can play up to four people in Co-op and you
35:23
basically come to Metropolis where all of the all of the
35:27
Justice League for the most part have been or under a mind
35:32
control thing from Brainiac. And so the game start off with
35:38
start off with Green Lantern, Batman and Superman are already
35:43
under the influence. Flash and Wonder Woman are free
35:47
at the beginning of the game, but eventually Flash gets
35:49
captured and now he's on their side or whatever.
35:52
And so you were tasked with killing the Justice League as
35:57
the name says. Now the gameplay of it or
36:01
whatever, pretty straightforward.
36:03
You're for the most part using a variety of guns and stuff.
36:07
Each of the characters kind of start off with a kind of like a
36:12
couple of guns they kind of specialize in, and then they
36:16
each have different melee attacks and abilities and stuff,
36:19
whatever. And so I've mainly been playing
36:24
as Captain Boomerang, though in my case, whenever I'm playing,
36:28
since I'm playing by myself, whenever I can at any point in
36:31
time, pretty much just push a button on the D pad and change
36:35
and control any of the other characters whenever I want to.
36:40
But Captain Boomerang is just the one that I've gravitated
36:42
towards the most, because I just enjoy his traversal and stuff in
36:47
the game. Because he has a Speed Force
36:50
Scarlet that he got from the the Justice, the the Hall of Justice
36:56
thing, whatever. That's where everybody in the
36:58
Suicide Squad got their some of their gear and stuff, whatever.
37:01
So yeah, so I have a Speed Force gauntlet, so I I can throw my
37:05
boomerang and kind of like teleport or quickly go to
37:09
wherever it's at or whatever. And so it's kind of really fun
37:12
to maneuver around the environment and stuff.
37:16
Whatever definitely takes something used to.
37:18
Kind of like getting used to the rhythm of the traversal and
37:22
stuff and kind of like building up your momentum and keeping
37:24
going and stuff, whatever, and chaining this stuff.
37:27
But as you play the game and you unlock more skills and stuff,
37:32
whatever, you get like special takedown abilities and stuff.
37:36
I had already knew of why because I got it in the alpha a
37:40
few months ago. But Captain Boomerang kind of
37:43
has like this kind of like AOE area to where he'll kind of
37:46
quickly using the Speed Force like bounce around doing damage
37:51
on everybody within the area for a set amount of time.
37:55
And then you also have this really cool like single enemy
38:00
execution. And so it's kind of just like
38:03
quick montage is showing me like hitting them, maybe kicking them
38:08
in the nuts, stabbing them in the face and then some other
38:12
attack, whatever. It's it's funny, I I enjoy it
38:15
every time I get to do it or whatever.
38:17
But but yeah, that's kind of like kind of like the basic
38:20
gameplay loop. Now you do get other perks and
38:25
stuff whatever on your weapons because like right now I just
38:28
got a ice ability or whatever so I can freeze enemies with my
38:35
with my melee, I take them. If I hold down in charge of my
38:38
boomerang, whatever, when I hit them with it, it'll freeze all
38:42
the enemies within a certain area or whatever.
38:46
I also just got a sniper rifle from from like a black mask
38:51
themed to where when I shoot an enemy with it, I can't remember
38:56
like like what I got to do to trigger it or whatever.
38:58
But basically I can shoot an enemy with it or whatever and
39:02
it'll freeze them or or cause them to go into like a slow
39:06
motion phase for a period of time.
39:09
And so that's pretty cool. So like I like I said like like
39:12
the weapons and stuff, whatever. There is some variety from it.
39:15
It's more than just the basic baseline or I'm just shooting
39:20
with just the basic shotgun or whatever.
39:21
It's like, no, these weapons have different perks, abilities.
39:25
Like I said, like freezing and other stuff and this slow MO
39:29
thing. Now yes, there are times where
39:33
things can't get crazy busy and chaotic, whatever, but I'm still
39:39
just having fun just zipping around to the port and shotgun
39:42
and to the port and you know, single person takedown on thing,
39:48
whatever, building up my meters. It is simple fun and that's like
39:55
I asked for whatever and the story has actually been pretty
39:58
intriguing or whatever and a lot more going on because yes, you
40:02
are trying to hunt down the Justice League, whatever.
40:04
But getting to see the these different characters along the
40:07
way and like I said it, it's just fun.
40:13
I know I sound like a breaking record saying that, but at the
40:15
core of it, that is what it is. And it's like yes, once again,
40:21
yes, people harping. Oh man, I wish it was this.
40:24
I wish it was that or whatever. But it's not.
40:27
And either you cool with that or if you're not down with that
40:31
cool move on, go fighting this to complain about or go pleasant
40:35
that you actually want to play whatever, and let those of us
40:38
that are enjoying this game, whatever, continue to enjoy it.
40:42
But but yeah so I'm I just did my boss fight against the Flash
40:48
and dealt with him and stuff so but but I was I have been I'm
40:59
getting more used to it now or whatever.
41:00
But they definitely don't hold don't pull no punches or
41:03
whatever. This is definitely AR rated game
41:06
to where like people are dying people are getting taken out
41:10
brutally and stuff whatever. And so it is something to just
41:17
kind of keep in mind or whatever towards.
41:18
It's like, yes, this is a kind of comic bookie game, but this
41:22
is kind of more on the on the more mature side of it or
41:26
whatever, likes as far as like with the violence and stuff,
41:28
whatever, but things fit. And I also enjoy the
41:36
customization and stuff of the characters as well, 'cause my
41:40
Harley Quinn, she has this very dope, kind of like a green and
41:47
some other color like theme going on with her.
41:51
Instead of like like the traditional red and blue or red
41:55
and black, whatever, she kind of has some kind of like a green
41:58
with her hair pulled back in a pontole with the side of her
42:01
head shaved. Whatever.
42:02
My Harley Quinn looks super dope.
42:04
I'm out there. She has some pictures and stuff
42:05
on social media later. But but yeah, like I say, it is
42:09
just fun and the fact that I've already, without even realizing
42:16
whatever, put in almost 10 hours, just cause of show that
42:20
or whatever. And it's just been like a really
42:21
nice kind of like a game to unwind with at the end of the
42:26
day towards. I mean, OK, I've worked all day,
42:28
dealt with my wife and the kids and done sport stuff, whatever,
42:32
all day practices or whatever, and like I got 30 minutes,
42:36
whatever or an hour to spare before I go to bed.
42:39
Cool, let me hop on Suicide Squad or whatever.
42:41
OK, then pick a mission or whatever where there's a main
42:43
story mission or just some side around, like, hey, go protect
42:47
this thing, whatever. And like, yes, there are lots of
42:50
repetitive parts and stuff to it or whatever, which I get.
42:56
But I also think about like all the times in Destiny when I'm
43:01
running through the same areas, shooting the same enemies or
43:03
whatever, it's all kind of the same.
43:06
Heck, even even with the Batman games or whatever, it is like
43:10
when you're not in the story stuff, whatever.
43:11
It's like yes, you're just fighting waves of St. thugs or
43:16
whatever. And so it's like people are
43:20
like, man, I wish where's more of that or whatever?
43:22
And it's like, well it's kind of there whatever.
43:25
It's just instead of you doing more hand to hand combat or
43:29
whatever with gadgets, whatever, you're shooting with guns but
43:32
still using some gadgets and melee weapons and stuff,
43:36
whatever and special abilities and stuff, whatever.
43:38
So it's kind of still there in a sense, but just in a different
43:41
way. But yeah, so I look forward to
43:44
continue playing it and stuff, whatever.
43:46
Like say I am in no rush to play this, whatever.
43:49
Because, like I said, because of the nature of what this game is,
43:52
it is something that I plan on just chipping away at for a long
43:56
while to come. And I'm kind of that.
43:59
That's why I'm glad I got the digital version of it or
44:02
whatever, because I'm like, for one, there's probably not going
44:04
to be much of A resale value on this down the road with it being
44:08
mainly online. But two, I'm like that way.
44:11
I just always have it downloaded on my hard drive and whenever I
44:13
want to boot it up, it's just there or whatever.
44:18
But yeah, so that is kind of like said my my overall thoughts
44:21
so far with Suicide Squad, Kill the Justice League.
44:25
But I am very intrigued to continue to play it and
44:29
hopefully probably by the time I'll probably plan this the rest
44:31
of the month and then by the time I'm probably wrapping it
44:34
up, whatever the first DLC thing, the Elseworlds thing with
44:40
the alternate dimension, Joker comes into play.
44:44
And I'm very curious to see that because I just kind of got my
44:47
first taste of that stuff within the story after I dealt with The
44:52
Flash, whatever ended up somewhere else with another
44:56
version of the character that I thought was already gone.
44:59
And so, like, I'm crying. Intriguing.
45:02
So but overall fun game. Like I said, maybe you maybe
45:06
potentially wait for a sale, but as somebody who didn't have to
45:10
pay full price out of pocket or whatever, I'm enjoying it.
45:13
I'm having fun with it. So last couple things I want to
45:18
just shout out or whatever. So shout out to Hell Divers 2.
45:27
Now I'm probably not going to play this whatever 'cause this
45:31
one Hell Divers 2 definitely seems like it is for sure more
45:35
fit for a actual cooperative play or whatever.
45:41
But it is one of those games that it is just fun to just
45:46
watch random clips on social media or whatever.
45:50
Or just watch Twitch streams or whatever of just the fun chaos
45:57
and just the funny situations and stuff.
45:58
Whatever that's happening with this game cuz the first Hill
46:01
Divers. I don't think I ever played it,
46:04
but I know it's kind of like a cult classic and so it's been
46:08
very dope watching over the course of this weekend it
46:11
gaining so much attention and stuff.
46:13
Whatever. It's where I think it's already
46:14
sold 1,000,000 copies over the last and it just came out thing
46:17
Thursday or Friday last week. So it's very dope seeing it
46:20
doing so well so early and that it's found it's community and
46:26
stuff. So, so yeah, so shout out to
46:30
Hail Divers too. Like I said, just wanted to show
46:32
that some love, so I haven't checked that phone so I'm
46:40
probably not 'cause even though it's free on PS Plus, I had
46:44
tried the demo for it like that. I think they did like a demo or
46:47
beta or something, whatever. Several months ago last year,
46:50
whatever. And I started running around or
46:52
whatever and I was just like, this just isn't for me.
46:54
So I just tossed it to the side and then deleted it or whatever.
46:59
So something else I had downloaded to just try.
47:02
And I'll say graphically the game looks great, which shoot,
47:06
I've got this, mention that or whatever real quick.
47:09
Suicide Squad. The game looks fantastic, like
47:14
the attention to detail and stuff.
47:16
Whatever with the character models and stuff look so dope.
47:21
Super high quality. The music is good.
47:24
The voice acting is top notch. Sorry.
47:28
So I forgot to mention that part of like, visually that game
47:31
looks fantastic. Like super, super good.
47:36
So yeah, so circling back, freaking Skull and Bones is
47:43
coming out. Think this week or next week or
47:46
whatever. And they did a open demo or
47:50
whatever for over this weekend. So I downloaded or whatever,
47:55
played maybe like 30 minutes tops, whatever, and I'm done
47:59
with it. So I played through like the
48:01
intro or whatever, and I already kind of had a feeling it wasn't
48:03
going to be my type of game, whatever.
48:05
And actually playing it proved that it is not my type of game.
48:09
It is seem like seemingly just a strictly ship combat game or
48:13
whatever to where when you're on the ships, you're literally
48:16
controlling the ship itself, whatever, fighting other ships,
48:18
whatever. And then there are some parts
48:21
where where you can disembark the ship and go on land to get
48:28
materials and stuff for whatever, crafting, whatever.
48:32
Now we'll say the character models in that game also looked
48:36
pretty dope. Whatever, because I got to do
48:37
the little character creative thing at the beginning of the of
48:40
the of the game or whatever, and the characters looked really
48:45
cool. But like I said, it's just the
48:47
actual gameplay itself. I was just like, Nah, this this
48:50
just isn't for me. So I just stopped playing like
48:53
after maybe like 15 to 30 minutes, whatever.
48:55
So but that's coming out soon. We'll see where that goes.
49:00
A game I'm very excited for, but I'm gonna have to hold off on
49:03
playing or whatever until I get more money and stuff, Whatever.
49:06
But Banishers, Ghosts of New Eden, this is a kind of like a
49:12
more action RPG game. From Don't Nod, which they're
49:17
the studio that created the original Life is Strange games.
49:21
They also did Remember Me back on like the PS3 era as well as I
49:27
think they game Vampire or whatever.
49:32
But I am very, very intrigued to see and learn more about this
49:40
game. Like I say, it is coming out in
49:41
a couple of days, so the the clock is the clock is ticking on
49:48
it, but it it looks like something new and different from
49:55
them because it's been a while since they've got to go into the
50:00
like more action heavy stuff, at least that I've gotten to play.
50:03
So this is very high on my list of of things I want to check
50:09
out. And so because you kind of play
50:12
as both this husband and wife character, where the wife
50:16
something happened to her to where she's basically a ghost.
50:20
And so you get to control stuff and kind of like the word of the
50:24
living, the word of the dead and stuff.
50:26
But but yeah, very, very interested and intrigued by this
50:33
game. I haven't watch too many more
50:36
trailers of it in a long time just because like I said, I'm
50:39
already sold on it because of who the studio is and I know how
50:47
how good wrenching stuff was with Life is Strange back in the
50:51
day. So I can only imagine what they
50:54
might do in this type of game. So but it is heavy on my list
51:01
but don't don't know if I'm going to try to circle back and
51:04
finish up Prince of Persia first or maybe I might dive on this
51:08
and I'll just kind of finish up Prince of Persia whenever I can
51:13
though I know that that's not too long of a game so but but
51:17
yeah so those a couple of games I just wanted to to shout out
51:21
and stuff as well and then I wanted to shout out a couple of
51:26
manga I had checked out as well before I before I get out of
51:31
here. So the first one it is this one
51:38
called Kingdom of Quartz, a Kingdom of quartz.
51:46
And so this one super heavy gives me whoops dropping stuff,
51:58
but super heavy gives me witch hat Atelier vibes to where
52:04
basically you follow this main character, her name is Blue and
52:10
she is a Celeste which is a Angel.
52:13
And so basically this is a world of angels and demons that was
52:17
split into two to where of course demons were banished to
52:21
The Dark World and then the angels and the light world or
52:24
whatever. But Blue has these what it's
52:31
thought of as like cursed black wings and some type of special
52:37
hidden, unknown ability or whatever.
52:39
But it kind of just follows her journey to wanting to become a a
52:48
Archangel, which is basically one of like like the highest
52:51
ranks of angels that protects the royal family and stuff,
52:56
whatever. And so this first volume first
53:00
of all, just like Witch Hat and that that's what kind of like
53:03
like was the first comparison was the art.
53:06
The art in this is freaking super dope.
53:11
It looks so freaking good. But like I said, it is the art,
53:18
how good the art looks, but also the story and the characters and
53:22
stuff. It just kind of like, really
53:24
grabs my attention. And even just within, by the end
53:27
of this first volume, we're already kind of starting to get
53:35
more of the kind of like supporting cast of characters
53:38
that's going to be involved in this journey going forward and
53:44
seeing what's going on with this mission.
53:46
Because like I said, just when a story starts off with a bunch of
53:50
very cool and adorable seemingly kids that are sharing their
53:56
hopes and dreams of the future together, like, yeah, we're
53:59
together, we're going to do. And then tragedy strikes and
54:09
special abilities or something, some unknown power awakens or
54:13
whatever. That is my type of stuff.
54:15
And so I look forward to checking out more of this and
54:19
hopefully doing a separate review for this too.
54:22
So that is a Kingdom of course, Volume one that's going to be
54:28
coming out later this month and the other one that I'm checking
54:32
out and that I checked out this weekend as well, that is also
54:36
coming out later this month. And it's also going to have an
54:39
anime coming out and the fall of this year, so around October
54:43
time, whatever called the Blue Wolves of Mibu.
54:48
Now this one follows this orphan boy who him and this other this
54:57
other kind of like adopted girl live with this older lady who
55:05
run a restaurant or whatever and they and he ends up encountering
55:11
these two kind of a ronin who were part of like a bigger ronin
55:17
group that are kind of like seemingly trying to clean up
55:20
crime and stuff whatever in the area.
55:22
But some of the guys in that group kind of seem to have shaky
55:27
morals and stuff, whatever and untrustworthy.
55:30
Well, he meets a couple of them. And I, I, I, I love this panel
55:35
here. And I just, I love the attitude
55:38
and personality these two guys. But kind of get wrapped up in a
55:42
situation with these two guys where they kind of were using
55:46
him and his, the, the main character and his sisters kind
55:49
of bait to draw out these kidnappers who have been
55:52
kidnapping kids or whatever lately.
55:54
And so through this encounter or whatever, the main character
55:59
ends up going to live and train with them to try to basically
56:04
become a ronin himself and to find his own sense of justice
56:11
and how he can potentially save the world and stuff.
56:15
So, but, but yeah, so that that that was a very dope one.
56:20
Like I said, the Blue Wolves of Mibu.
56:24
Like I said, I enjoyed this first volume, but I think I'm
56:28
gonna just wait for the anime to see how they handle that going
56:31
forward. But this was a very solid start
56:35
of that. So yeah, I think that's going to
56:39
kind of do it with stuff I wanted to touch on today.
56:45
Like I said, just kind of wanted to do this really quickly
56:51
because like I said, mainly just on that topic of a simple taste.
56:57
But yeah, so I think that's going to do it.
57:00
I don't think there's nothing else I wanted to shout out or
57:03
touch on. Let me just double check.
57:08
Yep, that's going to do it. Nothing is for me to ramble on.
57:10
It's getting late. It's almost midnight and so I
57:13
want to get this uploaded and then I'll have this out for you
57:15
all sometime tomorrow. But yeah, as always, y'all can
57:20
find me everywhere at Dennis at at Dad Needs to Talk.
57:29
Feel free to hit me up, you know, reach out, let me know
57:32
which thought of the episode on the topics I talked about with
57:35
American Fiction and Suicide Squad and then even the two
57:39
manga I had mentioned at the end and everything in between.
57:42
But yeah, feel free to always hit me up, you know my my DMS
57:45
are open. I'm always open to get emails or
57:48
even commenting on the YouTube video of this.
57:51
But yeah, So as always, thank y'all so much for all the love,
57:57
kindness and support. It is greatly appreciated.
58:00
And so as I always say, treat yourself to some nice read some
58:05
manga, watch some anime TV and movies, and of course play some
58:10
video games and live your best life.
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And with that I am out. I hope y'all have a fantastic
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week and I will catch y'all in the next one.
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Y'all be easy peace.