Hasbro Archives | Otaku No Culture

[Unboxing] Magic the Gathering, Godzilla, Ikoria & This Franchise’s Future…

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Not every set of Magic the Gathering is worth playing. My interest lays less on being devoted to this hobby of CCGs and more on where the narrative is headed. The story-based focus has been at the forefront for years now, and I can thankfully ditch the expensive side of the hobby and simply enjoy the tale.

After War of the Spark, the story concerning the desert gods from Amonkhet came full circle (died) and lest Hazoret returns, I’m biding my time to see what the next expansions offer.

When I heard about a partnership with TOHO Studios, my interest peaked at what’s going to happen. Planeswalkers Vivien Reid, Lukka and Narset will no doubt be important. Plus, you can never go wrong with giant monsters! Ikoria fulfills my fondest desires with the trample mechanic. The two recent additions–mutate and companion–might break standard play, but I’ll rely on reports than experiment to find out myself. For now, I can also go full on Kaiju with alternate art cards in my play deck on those kitchen table games with my buddies.

As my unboxing video shows, I got extremely lucky with pulling not one but two of the few most talked about cards.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr4kaLlhnpg&w=560&h=315%5D

Continue reading “[Unboxing] Magic the Gathering, Godzilla, Ikoria & This Franchise’s Future…”

I’m All Abuzz with Bumblebee the Movie

Whether this Bumblebee the Movie acts as a soft reboot to this franchise or not, I enjoyed this film more than the past works.

Transformers Bumblebee the Movie Poster Spoiler Alert

Anyone who played the Transformers War or Fall of Cybertron games will be in for a treat in the opening act of Bumblebee the Movie. I heard about the buzz and still had a bit of trepidation with the designs. I’m glad I was wrong and when I found time to see this film, not only did it take on familiar tones from How to Train Your Dragon in the relationship of a troubled young girl and her “pet” car but also, the nostalgia play was bang on. Anyone who saw Transformers: The Movie (1984) will know what I am talking about.

Continue reading “I’m All Abuzz with Bumblebee the Movie”

Returning to the Fold: MtG’s Global Planeswalker Series

Global Series: Jiang Yanggu & Mu Yanling - MTG Wiki In concept, Wizards of the Coast announced a terrific idea: to get “a team of Chinese artists, writers, and folklorists to explore a new branch of Magic lore rooted in Chinese aesthetics and mythology.”

They released two new Planeswalker decks a few days ago—Global Series: Jiang Yanggu & Mu Yanling—to appease a new (re)generation of players, like myself who is part of that demographic and heritage they want to appease. I love works inspired by ancient worlds. My return to playing this game is because of Amonkhet. When that phases out, I do not know if I will continue. I hear Modern tournaments are brutal, and I am not sure if I want to play in that arena.

This release is not meant for serious competition or Friday Night Magic tournament play. Not everyone will know this detail. It’s not written on the accompanying story card. From WotC’s own mouth: “After much discussion, we settled on something unusual: these cards would be legal for Standard play in mainland China events. They will also be legal in Vintage and Legacy everywhere. They will never be Modern legal, because once they rotate out of Standard, the reason they were Standard legal no longer applies…”

Continue reading “Returning to the Fold: MtG’s Global Planeswalker Series”

My Little Pony: The Movie Delights and is All-Star

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

The toy company Hasbro will most likely have a hit with their theatrical relaunch of the My Little Pony franchise. The simply named film My Little Pony the Movie debuts October 6th and it will have enough humour to appeal to young fans and old. Newcomers might be at a loss to understand what the hubbub is about; all anyone needs to know is that these talking animals are an embodiment of the best virtues of knighthood. But this club is not exclusive. The ponies do their best to teach to the world (and each other) how to be a better person. In this film, we meet Capper, a cat who can easily challenge Puss in Boots (DreamWorks) for the title of which animated feline to love and a team of parrot pirates who embody the true romance of sailing the seven seas. Well, in their case, it’s the skies over Equestria.

The story sees Princess Twilight Sparkle (Tara Strong) and her friends prepare for a festival. Moments before any fun can take place, a very familiar if not generically evil Storm King (Liev Schreiber) — I was reminded of how alike he is to The Emporer in LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures — and his assistant Tempest Shadow (Emily Blunt) raid the kingdom. Sparkle’s sisters are captured and she barely escapes. and attempt to capture her too. This unicorn gone bad and the wolf-like conquerer teamed up because Shadow believed the king can restore her broken horn. Between all the various types of horses believed to roam this world, I think more unicorns types exist because they are inherently more magical than ponies and pegasi. This stems from their mythical origins. While the toy company may have never considered making this connection since the introduction of this product line in 1981, some newer and older fans may well wonder.

Continue reading “My Little Pony: The Movie Delights and is All-Star”

Michael Bay’s Transformers Has a New TV Spot & Tying the Film’s Mythology Together

michael-bay-transformers-the-last-knight-201597 By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Could there be a decent story in Michael Bay’s 5th Transformers movie outing? The Last Knight has a new television trailer, and it shows Optimus Prime behaving badly. The tagline of “Rethink your Heroes” suggests he’s been corrupted. He’s purple eyed and looking scary.

Including the previous trailer, there’s very little information to explain Prime’s transition. The last movie had him rocketing into outer space to search for the Creators, while carrying the Seed. While I doubt he’s going to ram that down their throat upon finding them, I suspect he did discover their whereabouts and because he was one to their many — they overpowered and reprogrammed him. He’s been left for scrap, floating helplessly in space. As the full length trailer suggests with the vortex (conical) shaped spaceship, could that be the Quintessons vessel? There’s not enough detail to say, although I am hoping these creators will be featured in this fifth outing.

Continue reading “Michael Bay’s Transformers Has a New TV Spot & Tying the Film’s Mythology Together”

Ouija: Origin of Evil is a Better Treat for Fans of this Franchise

The game is hardly over with the prequel Ouija: Origin of Evil. A few more tales can be spelled out but just how long interest remains depends on the desire of players wanting to toy with fate.

ouija_two_xxlg-jpeg The game is hardly over with the prequel Ouija: Origin of Evil. A few more tales can be spelled out but just how long interest remains depends on the desire of players wanting to toy with fate.

This latest movie is better than the first (I reviewed it here) mostly because of the setting. The late 60’s was a time where plenty of geopolitical terrors were lurking about. The aspects of historical rife made it so; the ongoing Vietnam War was on the minds of some politicians, the Berlin Crisis of 1961 and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 began the year. The end of this decade was rife with uncertainty as the future looked grim.

People were looking for answers; some turned to spirit contact for messages in what the future may hold. Alice Zander (Elizabeth Reaser) offered her skills as a medium (when she really had none) to give solace to those concerned about the world at large. Most of her clients wanted council because of the passing of a loved one. However, most of her séances were faked. The deception is known by her daughters Doris (effectively played with creepy finesse by Lulu Wilson), the youngest, and Paulina “Lina” (Annalise Basso), the eldest as they sometimes help mom out. However, when the Hasbro game is introduced and Alice decides to use it in her own game of deception, the supernatural forces lurking in her home are awakened!

Continue reading “Ouija: Origin of Evil is a Better Treat for Fans of this Franchise”