Sorry this one is late, real life got in the way.
Still, I would like to make an addendum to Part 1 of this list. If you recall, I put both "Dream On" and "Path of Genocide" in the number 9 spot, mainly due to Will being the core reason as to why I checked out Undertale to begin with, as I simply could not get those songs out of my head. However, I did neglect to mention one other little gem that he made:
Much like how "Dream On" seemed reflective of Asriel's cycle of grief and "Path of Genocide" was more of a story piece for the games Genocide route, "I Stay Determined" could easily be seen as a P.O.V piece from Frisk's perspective during the Pacifist route. Lyrics like "So you can be not a foe, but a friend" help support that idea. Otherwise, this is probably my favourite Undertale song due to the guitar riffs and Will's vocals ranging from soft and calm to loud and rugged, which compliment the instrumentals perfectly. As far as I'm concerned, this is also on the first part of the list. I only neglected to mention it as I hadn't heard it at the time.
With that said, the rules from last time still apply here. Namely; this is all bias and opinion based, I have not heard every song, and I'm not putting entire albums on here.
But otherwise, from here on out, it'll be solely original songs by him, so let's keep the list going with:
5:
I think I enjoyed this song more for the superficial reasons as opposed to what Will might of intended.
While this song captures the idea of a savage beast being taken out of his cage to hunt down his prey in the dark, I can't help but focus more of the absolutely brutal way that the instruments, vocals and lyrical structure work off of each other. The initial slower pace of the lyrics match up perfectly with the louder build created from the guitars and drums, which help to sell the idea that the artist is a predator, searching through the night for his prey to prove their dominance and strength. The aggressive nature of Will's vocals in this number help to sell to the listener this idea that no matter where you run, you'll never be able to escape from your inner demons as they try to hunt you down.
Always leave it to Will to make a song about being an aggressive monster sound amazing. Lord knows, he did it better than Adam Levine did.
4:
A common motif that I have found in Will's original songs is this idea of defiance to compliance... if that makes any sense.
I feel that what this song represents is a tad more obvious with it's message; that no one is going to control what the artist is going to create, and that the corporate craft is what will destroy any sense of identity or uniqueness about the artist, so the artist has to scream louder that they are not their play things or their tools for gain. Once more, this seems to be a common theme throughout plenty of Will's original scores, but each one is given their own unique flavour so that it never feels old.
Or maybe I'm grasping for straws and should just say this song's awesome. Either way, love it!
3:
This song feels more along the lines of a character piece, which is something I greatly appreciate.
"Kings & Queens" tells the story of two people, so different yet so similar to each other, as they fight their way from the deepest, darkest parts of their lives to reclaim something that once belonged to them in another life. They aren't going to just sit back and wait for it to come to them; they are gonna keep fighting and striving for what they believe in just so they can announce to the world that forgotten them that they are back!
What else can you say except; "They're the fucking Kings & Queens!"
2:
And:
Again, putting more than one song on the same spot, though this one feels more justified as... well, it's the same song in different styles.
I intentionally left the opening of the original version in with the song so that people get the idea this isn't just "another Will Ryan song about his defiance". Instead, he makes it clear as crystal. This is Will's most personal song, as it represents his pain of being seen as an object, a toy; something for the audience to play with and demand more when they aren't satisfied. And as soon as he's out of the spotlight, they ignore him until he tries to satisfy them yet again. That spotlight is something that a lot of people like Will go through, in terms of emotional stress. Stuff like that stays with you, even if you can fight it off. It's not something anyone can take lightly, no matter how times you hear stuff like "Man up" or "Get over it". This Will at his most vulnerable and personal, and he's not going to let you look away this time. The simplicity of the song actually helps the listener to understand the complexities of this subject, and the last line of the song speaks more volumes than any kind of gothy, emo "woe, is me, with my million dollar mansion" trash that larger artists put out on a daily basis.
In short, this song is simply a masterpiece.
... Okay, I'll include the "Steamed Hams" version too:
But only because this is the only time I ever found that stupid late meme funny.
And now, without any further delay, let's get to it:
My Number 1 song by DAGames is:
There was never any doubt in my mind that this would be on the list.
I mentioned before that a lot of Will's original songs, along with dealing with his own emotional struggles, are ultimately about defiance against a negative stigma; to keep true to yourself and to always do what you love. Not because anyone told you to do it, but because you WANT to do it. And if they can't see you for who you are, then they can all fuck off, as you'll never need them again if they continue to stand in your way of growing.
This song captures that idea PERFECTLY, while still showing that no matter what comes his way, no matter what shit people may say about him and his music, Will is not going to stand there and take it any longer, so neither should you. So, simply stand up and shout "Fuck them all"!
But more than that, this song is number 1 on the list for a more personal reason, and this is what I meant when I said this list would become more serious. Know that not a word of this is hyperbolic.
In May earlier this year, I was going through an emotional state of decay. It was the final semester of University in my second year, and I was completely swamped by constant assignment after assignment, task after task. I was struggling just to get started on otherwise relatively simple essays, because of all of these other things just weighing down on my mind. Add on the fact that I was trying to balance that along with time I wanted to spend with my mum and baby brother, as well the fact that I was due for maxillofacial surgery in a few weeks time, and I felt my life just spiralling out of control. I was honestly considering just finishing the second year, dropping out and getting a 9 to 5 job, if only because I didn't want to confront the reality around me as my confidence was falling apart.
What ultimately stopped me from going down that road were two major factors. Firstly, a talk with my mum. She noticed that I was getting into slump and wanted to talk to me, to just allow me to let out any aggression or sense of doubt I had been feeling at that time. Talking with her has always what kept me down to Earth and allowed me to think more rationally. She is the rock that I needed in my time of desperation.
Secondly, this song. Hearing this song telling me that I was worth something, and that if I stand in defiance of my own demons, I will come stronger. So, that's what I did. I pushed those awful thoughts out of my head through sheer anger and kept striving forward to finish my year. And never had I felt more relieved when it was all over. Which is why "Heart of An Artist" will always be my number 1 DAGames song of all time.
And that wouldn't have been possible were it not for my mum and Will Ryan. And so; mum, Will, from the bottom of my heart:
Thank you. For everything.
I hope those of you who are still reading enjoyed the list. You have any other DAGames song that you feel should be on the list? Well, comment below and let me know.
But until next time; this is Callum Lewis, the Media Hood, signing off!
PEACE OUT!!
Sunday 11 November 2018
How to fix Kamen Rider Zi-O.
(SPOILER WARNING!!)
I had said previously that I was dropping Kamen Rider Zi-O after 6 episodes due to how insultingly bad the series was getting. However, I found myself going back to it and watching the next 3 episodes (as episode 10 inexplicably has not popped up on any website yet). The show is still gutter trash, but it hasn't reached the same level of insulting that we got in episode 6.
Still, looking back, I started think of how exactly the show could've been improved from it's inception and how the story (or lack thereof) has progressed thus far. I'm not gonna just say "have Riku Sanjou or Naruhisa Awakawa write it", as that was pretty obvious to me from day one. Those two actually KNOW how to write a good story with likeable protagonists. Instead, I will divide this into two categories and mark down how each could be improved immensely with simple revisions or difference in perspective.
With that said, let's begin where I feel the series suffers the most:
The Story:
On top of being derisive of Den-O's basis of a guy that helps some random lady as they travel through time to stop monsters from massively rewriting history, Zi-O's story has virtually nothing going for it thus far, with the exception of Sougo potentially becoming the evil overlord that Geiz and Woz believe he will end up as. But even then, it still feels derisive of other stories that have done this idea far better; the possibility of the protagonist becoming the villain due to both external and internal circumstances that forces them into that role. Hell, that was a major plot-point with Decade and how Tsukasa was trying to deny the idea that he is the Rider that will destroy all the others. Instead, he tried his hardest to earn the trust of his seniors and discover for himself what it means to be a Kamen Rider.
Zi-O, on the other hand, as just focused on the same damn thing with each episode:
Geiz: This guy is gonna ruin the world, so why don't we just stop him here and now?
Everyone else: Here's a stupid reason that stops you from completing your end goal and is used to say you're wrong when all evidence suggests that you're in the right.
Geiz: Oh, okay. I'll just accept it until I inexplicably don't.
Lather, rinse, repeat for every fucking episode.
On top of that, the subplots in each "arc" for the series has incredibly dumb and wrecks any appreciation one may have for it. The episodes focused on stopping Another Wizard, for instance, has said Kaijin do everything he does just to impress a random lady who will never love him the same way in return. And when he learns that lady is going to get married to his rival, he flips out and starts causing actual havoc instead of using his powers for a magic show. Appreciation for it is then ruined with how Zi-O has the guy talk to his past self to stop him for ever becoming Another Wizard, thus rendering the episodes focused on Another Wizard entirely pointless. Nothing was learned and nothing was achieved. Fan-fucking-tastic.
This could easily be remedied if it's not stated directly that Sougo will become Oma Zi-O, but instead leave it as a mystery for the characters to discover who their evil overlord is and how he came to power. Thus, necessitating the Time Jackers involvement with them creating the Another Riders to try and stop Zi-O and Geiz from fixing the timelines, which then allows for the original Riders to still exist without much in the way of narrative contradictions. Hell, the whole "Sougo becomes Oma Zi-O" thing could be a narrative red herring created by Woz as a means of sewing discord and mistrust in the team, along with Sougo questioning if his future is set in stone or if he can change it for the better. Automatically, you have a much more interesting character journey instead of "i WaNnA bE kInG!"
And on that note, that brings me to point number two:
The Characters:
Be honest with yourself, readers; the characters in this show are either one dimensional planks of wood or unlikable morons. Granted, there is more of the former category, but the latter is prevalent with it's lead "hero": Sougo Tokiwa. Sougo is, in every sense, an awful protagonist, on par with the likes of ToQger's Wrong Suzuki, Ninninger's Bakaharu Igasaki, and Kyuranger's Dumb-Luck with how horribly his characterisation is fucked up. At best, he's just an idiot, one with baseless aspirations to become a king (despite that fact that a majority of countries, including Japan, has abandoned that type of monarchy) and has no idea what the fuck he's even doing. At worst, he is a selfish, narcissistic, destructive, god-modding sociopath with no consideration of what other people may be feeling and completely ignorant of the consequences of his actions. He doesn't care if he destroys the future, so long as he gets to become a king.
I'd play the "Our Hero, ladies and gentlemen" clip, but I couldn't find one good enough nor short enough for this blog. Besides, I'm sure you're all thinking it already.
If he was more along the lines of a history savant and admired the stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, that would actually make sense for him to model himself after that. Not in the sense that he would want to rule over a country, but be more of a modern day knight errand tasking himself with the duty to protect others in the name of hope. After all, Arthur was challenged by Merlin himself to oppose the whole "Might makes right" deposition, and instead decided the idea of "Might FOR right". That more aligns with the traditional ideals of a Kamen Rider; a person who uses the power that they wield, be forced or chosen, to save people simply because it's the right thing to do and it's how they hold on to what makes them human.
But of course, this being a Shinichiro Shurakura production and a Kento Shimoyama script, we don't get that. Instead, we get the bare bone minimum for the side characters, whilst the main character is a moron with delusions of grandeur who the story says is right when everything presented suggests that they should be wrong. Which is why Sougo is a horrible protagonist; he's not a character, he's a mouthpiece for the Shimoyama to project his own idiocy and hypocrisy onto other people. Combine that with Shurakura's lack of understanding of the merits of the franchise (to the point where he admits he has no clue of what heroism is), and you have a disaster of a main hero.
If more time was focused on actually giving the other characters, namely Tsukuyomi and Geiz, more time to flesh themselves as characters and actually allowing interaction between Sougo and the past Riders (who are little more than footnotes in the series, as half of them haven't even shown up), then maybe the cast could be stronger. And of course, it would help if the main "hero" wasn't a colossal douchebag with stupid aspirations.
Still, that's just how I would personally have fixed the series as it has been thus far. Other stuff like the integration of the gimmicks or the acknowledgement of previous canon could easily be handled by other experts, as I will admit that I have yet to see everything in the early Heisei run (specifically; Agito, Ryuki, Blade and Hibiki).
If you have any suggestions on how the series could be fixed, please let me know and I'd be happy to hear it.
So until next time; this is Callum Lewis, the newly christened Media Hood, signing off!
I had said previously that I was dropping Kamen Rider Zi-O after 6 episodes due to how insultingly bad the series was getting. However, I found myself going back to it and watching the next 3 episodes (as episode 10 inexplicably has not popped up on any website yet). The show is still gutter trash, but it hasn't reached the same level of insulting that we got in episode 6.
Still, looking back, I started think of how exactly the show could've been improved from it's inception and how the story (or lack thereof) has progressed thus far. I'm not gonna just say "have Riku Sanjou or Naruhisa Awakawa write it", as that was pretty obvious to me from day one. Those two actually KNOW how to write a good story with likeable protagonists. Instead, I will divide this into two categories and mark down how each could be improved immensely with simple revisions or difference in perspective.
With that said, let's begin where I feel the series suffers the most:
The Story:
On top of being derisive of Den-O's basis of a guy that helps some random lady as they travel through time to stop monsters from massively rewriting history, Zi-O's story has virtually nothing going for it thus far, with the exception of Sougo potentially becoming the evil overlord that Geiz and Woz believe he will end up as. But even then, it still feels derisive of other stories that have done this idea far better; the possibility of the protagonist becoming the villain due to both external and internal circumstances that forces them into that role. Hell, that was a major plot-point with Decade and how Tsukasa was trying to deny the idea that he is the Rider that will destroy all the others. Instead, he tried his hardest to earn the trust of his seniors and discover for himself what it means to be a Kamen Rider.
Zi-O, on the other hand, as just focused on the same damn thing with each episode:
Geiz: This guy is gonna ruin the world, so why don't we just stop him here and now?
Everyone else: Here's a stupid reason that stops you from completing your end goal and is used to say you're wrong when all evidence suggests that you're in the right.
Geiz: Oh, okay. I'll just accept it until I inexplicably don't.
Lather, rinse, repeat for every fucking episode.
On top of that, the subplots in each "arc" for the series has incredibly dumb and wrecks any appreciation one may have for it. The episodes focused on stopping Another Wizard, for instance, has said Kaijin do everything he does just to impress a random lady who will never love him the same way in return. And when he learns that lady is going to get married to his rival, he flips out and starts causing actual havoc instead of using his powers for a magic show. Appreciation for it is then ruined with how Zi-O has the guy talk to his past self to stop him for ever becoming Another Wizard, thus rendering the episodes focused on Another Wizard entirely pointless. Nothing was learned and nothing was achieved. Fan-fucking-tastic.
This could easily be remedied if it's not stated directly that Sougo will become Oma Zi-O, but instead leave it as a mystery for the characters to discover who their evil overlord is and how he came to power. Thus, necessitating the Time Jackers involvement with them creating the Another Riders to try and stop Zi-O and Geiz from fixing the timelines, which then allows for the original Riders to still exist without much in the way of narrative contradictions. Hell, the whole "Sougo becomes Oma Zi-O" thing could be a narrative red herring created by Woz as a means of sewing discord and mistrust in the team, along with Sougo questioning if his future is set in stone or if he can change it for the better. Automatically, you have a much more interesting character journey instead of "i WaNnA bE kInG!"
And on that note, that brings me to point number two:
The Characters:
Be honest with yourself, readers; the characters in this show are either one dimensional planks of wood or unlikable morons. Granted, there is more of the former category, but the latter is prevalent with it's lead "hero": Sougo Tokiwa. Sougo is, in every sense, an awful protagonist, on par with the likes of ToQger's Wrong Suzuki, Ninninger's Bakaharu Igasaki, and Kyuranger's Dumb-Luck with how horribly his characterisation is fucked up. At best, he's just an idiot, one with baseless aspirations to become a king (despite that fact that a majority of countries, including Japan, has abandoned that type of monarchy) and has no idea what the fuck he's even doing. At worst, he is a selfish, narcissistic, destructive, god-modding sociopath with no consideration of what other people may be feeling and completely ignorant of the consequences of his actions. He doesn't care if he destroys the future, so long as he gets to become a king.
I'd play the "Our Hero, ladies and gentlemen" clip, but I couldn't find one good enough nor short enough for this blog. Besides, I'm sure you're all thinking it already.
If he was more along the lines of a history savant and admired the stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, that would actually make sense for him to model himself after that. Not in the sense that he would want to rule over a country, but be more of a modern day knight errand tasking himself with the duty to protect others in the name of hope. After all, Arthur was challenged by Merlin himself to oppose the whole "Might makes right" deposition, and instead decided the idea of "Might FOR right". That more aligns with the traditional ideals of a Kamen Rider; a person who uses the power that they wield, be forced or chosen, to save people simply because it's the right thing to do and it's how they hold on to what makes them human.
But of course, this being a Shinichiro Shurakura production and a Kento Shimoyama script, we don't get that. Instead, we get the bare bone minimum for the side characters, whilst the main character is a moron with delusions of grandeur who the story says is right when everything presented suggests that they should be wrong. Which is why Sougo is a horrible protagonist; he's not a character, he's a mouthpiece for the Shimoyama to project his own idiocy and hypocrisy onto other people. Combine that with Shurakura's lack of understanding of the merits of the franchise (to the point where he admits he has no clue of what heroism is), and you have a disaster of a main hero.
If more time was focused on actually giving the other characters, namely Tsukuyomi and Geiz, more time to flesh themselves as characters and actually allowing interaction between Sougo and the past Riders (who are little more than footnotes in the series, as half of them haven't even shown up), then maybe the cast could be stronger. And of course, it would help if the main "hero" wasn't a colossal douchebag with stupid aspirations.
Still, that's just how I would personally have fixed the series as it has been thus far. Other stuff like the integration of the gimmicks or the acknowledgement of previous canon could easily be handled by other experts, as I will admit that I have yet to see everything in the early Heisei run (specifically; Agito, Ryuki, Blade and Hibiki).
If you have any suggestions on how the series could be fixed, please let me know and I'd be happy to hear it.
So until next time; this is Callum Lewis, the newly christened Media Hood, signing off!
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