Asurazu Rasu

Asura’s Wrath

We’re living in the era of video on demand. Marathoning a TV series on Netflix is a common enough experience that it doesn’t turn heads when someone admits to watching all of Breaking Bad in a weekend. Whether the networks like it or not, the way audiences take in serialized entertainment is changing; the old model is on the way out. Asura’s Wrath is a video game, don’t get me wrong, but it stands apart from the rest of the medium. It’s interactive media, and it’s something you should probably be aware of.

Asura is an angry man. And by man, I mean demigod. It’s the future, or a world much like our own, and eight demigods, Asura included, battle evil monsters that look like inside out animals, led by an evil gigantic creature that lives in the core of the earth. As if that wasn’t enough to get pissed about, Asura is framed by the other demigods of some heinous shit and he’s killed… Or something. Asura’s Wrath is in the tradition of extremely over-the-top, melodramatic animes, completely with plot details that are hard to make sense of and best experienced first hand.

Developed by CyberConnect2, playing Asura’s Wrath is much more like watching an entire anime. They are really dedicated to the format, breaking the game into episodes, complete with comercial break bumpers, ending credits and even a “next time on Asura’s Wrath” bit. It’s pretty silly at first, but once I let myself get caught up in the format, I found the game scratching the same itch a good TV show does. It’s been a while since I watched an anime, and it was kind of fun to almost vicariously get that experience. I guess spending all that time making Naruto games gave CyberConnect2 all they needed to make their own show.

This is not entirely surprising, giving the developer’s track record of the .hack// and Naruto games. It plays in a variety of ways, sometimes its a fighting game, sometimes its an action game, sometimes its an on-rails shooter. Most of the time it is the most over-the-top cinematics in a long time, with quick-time events laid on top of them. I never played Ninja Blade, but I imagine this is the game it hoped to be.

Asura’s Wrath really isn’t that fun to play, but it makes up for it with its bonkers story. Which is why it’s a shame that the “true ending” of the game is sold as DLC. But I can’t stay mad at a game that made a habit of people jumping into orbit. And showed a man get impaled by a sword so long it penetrated the other side of the planet. And a giant trying to crush a man from space, only to have his finger punched so many times he exploded. Yeah, Asura’s Wrath is pretty cool.

Here, There and Everywhere

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Here

Bursting onto the scene in 2009 with the radio friendly Up from Below, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros have returned with something perhaps less approachable but far more engrossing. Here is the rootsy sophomore effort by folk-prophet Alex Ebert and his tuneful hippie collective. Unlike it’s predecessor, Here has no real breakout singles and less grandiose arrangements. Instead it’s a primarily acoustic, stripped down record that feels like a love letter to turn of the century folk and gospel music.

It’s more than appropriate that Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros would find themselves dabbling with spiritual music. The group has always had that kind of traveling, religious commune feel. Alex Ebert (often dressed in all white) seems to lead the group like some kind of eccentric hippie pastor. So now that Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros have created a spiritual record they finally have something that truly fits their concept. The results are an album that feels more honest and focused than their debut.

My only real problem with Here is how underused some of the musicians are. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros is currently a dectet (that’s ten members) but you couldn’t tell from listening to the record. Where the first album hit hard with a glorious wall of guitars, keys, and horns, this album has much less. Why have so many members if you’re going to make such a scaled back album? I miss the larger than life sound, but I still enjoy the optimistic passion of this group.

Religion is a primary theme of Here and it’s dealt with little subtlety. “I love my God, God made love, I love my God, God Made Hate.” Not a lot of other ways to interpret those lyrics. I see it more as a tribute to gospel music, but it’s hard to tell with a figure as peculiar as Ebert. The leadoff track “Man on Fire” (which I can only assume its about Denzel Washington) is arguably the best on the album. It’s a brooding, ever-building ballad that wouldn’t sound out of step coming from Johnny Cash in his later years.

Fans who liked tracks like “Home”, “40 Day Dream”, or “Janglin'” may be disappointed by Here. Even though it doesn’t have any songs quite as memorable as the ones I just mentioned, it’s still a better record. Here has a clearer vision and a deeper significance.

Favorite Tracks: “Dear Believer”, “I Don’t Wanna Pray”, “Man on Fire”

Back in Black

Men in Black III

Time to party like it’s 1969! Though watching Men in Black III was a little more like traveling back to 1997. That was the year the first MIB movie was released and in fifteen years little has changed. So you can take that aspect as good or bad. I sit somewhere in the middle of the discussion. I like the fact that Will Smith is still essentially dispensing the same dated hip-hop slang form the 90s. All that reminds me of my youth, but it also feels dated. The Men in Black series was never edgy, but there’s definitely some jokes here that feel quite humdrum and very stock. Still it’s a mildly pleasing experience.

The story revolves around escaped alien prisoner Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) and his intent on going back in time to kill Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones). K was the agent who not only arrested Boris (taking his arm in the process) but launched a protective ArcNet shield around the Earth, preventing Boris’ people from invading. Boris goes back in time to eliminate K leaving it up to Agent J (Will Smith) to travel back to 1969, save K, and stop Boris. When he does travel back in time he meets a young Agent K (Josh Brolin) and hilarity ensues.

I like the story, it’s time travel but it avoids the pitfalls of becoming overly convoluted. Additionally, some of the film’s best humor comes from J’s clash with the culture. One of my favorite jokes was J saluting back to a pair of Black Panthers. Another one of my favorite aspects was the addition of a future predicting alien named Griffin, played by Michael Stuhlbarg of A Serious Man fame. He’s an odd but likable addition with his soft-spoken demeanor and vivid predictions of potential futures. As for Boris the Animal I was somewhat disappointed. I love Jemaine Clement, but the character is underwritten with few defining character traits. Really all there is to Boris is that he shoots out bug spikes and is ill-tempered.

The big surprise of MIB III is Josh Brolin. Brolin does such a marvelous job of imitating Tommy Lee Jones that I often forgot someone else was playing the character. I don’t know if it was all that time Brolin spent with Jones on No Country for Old Men but it paid off. As for Jones he’s solid as usual. Will Smith shines in the comedy department, but also does a fine job at handling some of the more dramatic moments. Surprisingly, there’s a fairly engaging subplot in MIB III about the emotional rift that’s grown between J and K.

Did there need to be another Men in Black? Probably not, but I’m glad they could end the series on a better note than in MIB II. Overall it’s light summer entertainment. Most likely you’ll get a few laughs out of it but not much more than that. I would’ve given this movie an additional half star had Will Smith done a rap song for it.