Demon Slayer: Mugen Train is mostly an incredible anime film that not only lives up to the first season of the anime, but also successfully bridges the gap between the first season and the upcoming second season.
When it comes to anime films they are generally connected to the anime television series they’re based on by featuring the same characters or taking place in the same universe. However, the movies almost always are their own stories that don’t cross paths with the stories being told in the series. Mugen Train picks up right after the first season of Demon Slayer ends…
Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke board the train Rengoku, the Flame Hashira, is already on. They’ve been summoned to the train because people keep disappearing and there’s said to be demons aboard including a demon who has supposedly killed several demon slayers. He has pawns, who are usually children, who infiltrate the dreams of Enmu’s victims that bypass their subconscious and destroy their spiritual core.
There is usually a drastic difference in animation quality between an anime series and its films, but Demon Slayer already features such impressive animation that it’s difficult to top it. Mugen Train contains all of the glorious breathing and sword techniques animated to blissful perfection, but what it does differently with its animation lies within its backgrounds. Trees and water are either 3D elements or are somehow lifted from realistic backgrounds because they’re amazingly detailed and look genuine.
The main demon on the train, Enmu, utilizes 3D animation in unique ways. Going into too much detail will spoil the film and where the Enmu character is taken, but keep in mind a certain form of Enmu is animated in 3D. It’s pink, slimy, wet sounding, and gross. And Enmu’s English voice actor sounds like he’s doing a Michael Jackson on South Park impersonation, so there’s that.
Enmu has the ability to put people to sleep, but he feeds them pleasant dreams at first and then injects them full of the worst nightmares imaginable during their gruesome death. He has the ability to detach his left hand, which has one eye near its thumb and a talking mouth on the back of its palm.
The main issues you may have with the Demon Slayer series are still relevant here. Tanjiro still cries and whines about stuff way too much and the film suffers a bit too much from over explaining things; a trait most anime titles fall victim to. Zenitsu’s unbearable yelling about how much of a weakling he is gets tiresome, as well. But you knew all of this going into it.
The film makes up for its few shortcomings by having jaw-dropping action sequences and laugh out loud humor at every turn. Inosuke’s dream about being the real leader of the group and being the voice of reason when Tanjiro is too emotional to move on is both hilarious and justifiable. And Zenitsu fantasizing about being with Nezuko is too good. He also has bucked teeth in more than one person’s “good” dream, which only gets funnier in the long run. Also, why does everyone seem to purposely call Tanjiro the wrong name?
Tasty!
The highlight of Mugen Train is Rengoku. His fight sequences are the highlight of the film, but he’s also hysterical. Rengoku will forever be associated with the term, “TASTY!” (or “DELICIOUS!” if you watched the sub). Rengoku has a fight at the end of the film that is lengthy, memorable, and just downright amazing. The character is forever immortalized in awesomeness because of his presence in Mugen Train. He talks in a bold and boisterous voice and is slightly ridiculous in nature; think All Might from My Hero Academia engulfed in fire.
Demon Slayer: Mugen Train won’t make you a fan of the franchise if you aren’t already, but it will absolutely strengthen your love for it if you’re already an established fan. It’s also an anime film that covers just about everything; it tries to tear at your heartstrings, it has two fantastically sinister villains, it has significantly kick-ass action sequences, and it further develops a supporting character you were only briefly introduced to previously. Demon Slayer: Mugen Train is outrageously funny and enormously action packed. It should be considered an impressive feat of animation even if you aren’t an anime fan. 4/5 Tasty Flame Breathing Whiskeys.
The schedule for GVO‘s second championship has been set! And this time, you’ll be able to watch favorite GHGamers duke it out through a heavy gust of Japanese fighting games over Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, and Facebook (channels and their respective links will be announced soon). Better, watch us be among the first to competitively stream brand new releases, the Japanese arcade smash Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late [cl-r] and Arc System Works’ next big fighter, Granblue Fantasy: Versus!
Who will take down our inaugural champ the Defiant Bear? Be sure to tune in to GHG’s Videogame Otaku Championship aka Good Vibes Only aka GVO Round II: Tokyo Edition on the scheduled dates we have down below. Dates, participants and card subject to change.
***GVO ROUND II: TOKYO EDITION – Stage Schedule***
(Warm-Up determines who plays first; winner gets 2 points and a first match “bye”)
(M.E. = Main Evento!)
(Every Group will have a bonus round in Street Fighter V: Champion Edition for points)
GROUP 1 ALPHA
Sunday, 2/23/20, 10am-130pm
Warm-up – Koihime Enbu RoyRaiRai
–Street Fight Alpha 3
–BlazBlue: Central Fiction
–Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late [cl-r]
–Tekken 7 (DLC Only)
–All-Time Fighter: Power Stone
–All-Time Fighting Series: Street Fighter
–Current Fighter: Injustice 2
–Current Fighting Series: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
GROUP 3rd STRIKE
Sunday, 2/23/20, 6pm-930pm
Warm-up – Kamen Rider: Climax Scramble Zi-0
–Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
–The King of Fighters ’98
–Dead Or Alive 6
–BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle
GVO World Champion Artez Bailey (Defiant Bear Daddy, Madden Fiend)
–All-Time Fighter: Street Fighter Alpha 3
–All-Time Fighting Series: Street Fighter
–Current Fighter: Tekken 7
–Current Fighting Series: Mortal Kombat
“The” Christian Orozco @KingKoopaXL
Christian Orozco (Otaku Extraordinaire)
–All-Time Fighter: Bloody Roar
–All-Time Fighting Series: The King of Fighters
–Current Fighter: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
–Current Fighting Series: Dead Or Alive
Juan Rodriguez
Juan Rodriguez (Judo Fighter/Instructor)
–All-Time Fighter: The King of Fighters XIV
–All-Time Fighting Series: The King of Fighters
–Current Fighter: Dead Or Alive 5
–Current Fighting Series: Dead Or Alive
GROUP 4 HYPER
TBD – Saturday or Sunday, 2/29 or 3/1/20, TBD
Warm-up – SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy
–Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting
–Dragon Ball FighterZ (DLC Only)
–Mortal Kombat 11 (DLC Only)
–Samurai Shodown
–All-Time Fighter: Mortal Kombat II
–All-Time Fighting Series: Mortal Kombat
–Current Fighter: Mortal Kombat X
–Current Fighting Series: Mortal Kombat
Jason “Evil Preacher” Bud @PreacherAMC
Jason Bud (IRL Version of Deadpool)
–All-Time Fighter: Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes
–All-Time Fighting Series: Mortal Kombat
–Current Fighter: Mortal Kombat 11
–Current Fighting Series: Injustice
“Dynast” Dana Keels IG/Twitter @hatandwand
Dana Keels (Proud New Papa, Trekkie)
–All-Time Fighter: Street Fighter II
–All-Time Fighting Series: Street Fighter
–Current Fighter: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
–Current Fighting Series: Super Smash Bros.
INTERMISSION CO-OP BETWEEN GROUP SESSIONS (If time permits)
–Capcom Belt Collection (Co-op exhibition, Both Days)
Batman Who Laughs Noob Saibot
Darkseid Geras
Harley Quinn Cassie Cage
Katwoman Katana
Killer Kroc Baraka
Street Fighter V: Champion Edition
Blanka
Cody
E. Honda
Falke
G
Gill
Kage
Lucia
Poison
Sagat
Sakura
Seth
See you all on Facebook Live, the Geekdom Gamescast Facebook Group, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and YouTube on February 23rd at 10am for GVO Round II: Tokyo Edition!!!
It’s the premiere of our second season of the Geekdom Gamescast and we’re starting out with a BANG. Moody gets into his recent visit to the mecca of video games — Tokyo, Japan! From arcades to game stores to.. basements?
Moods gets into some new discoveries, a little bit of what the gaming culture is like, and the massive haul that he brought back to the states.
We then have to talk about all the huge delays that have staggered the video game releases for 2020. See you all again soon for next GodHatesGeeks x Geekdom Gamescast FightFest — GVO Round II: Tokyo Edition!
I’m a casual Tokyo Ghoul fan. I’ve seen the first two seasons of the anime albeit several years apart in between viewings and I kind of like the second season despite it being known as a terrible adaptation for glossing over a good chunk of the manga. The 2017 live-action film had been on my watchlist forever and I finally got around to it after I was informed I’d be reviewing its sequel Tokyo Ghoul S. The previous Tokyo Ghoul film is actually the best live-action anime film I’ve seen thus far. In all honesty, that’s not saying much especially since the film still has some glaring issues but Masataka Kubota (13 Assassins, Rurouni Kenshin Part I: Origins) is such a satisfying Kaneki.
Tokyo Ghoul S feels like a different film in comparison. Fumika Shumizu retired from acting, so Maika Yamamoto replaced her as Touka Kirishima in the sequel. Kaneki is also suppressing his ghoulish desires throughout S and it’s absolutely frustrating. He’s psychotic and terrifying in the first film, but restrains himself by consuming nothing but coffee in S. He’s sluggish, can’t keep up with other ghouls, and is constantly getting his ass kicked throughout the film. Shota Matsuda is the sole reason to see Tokyo Ghoul S. Portraying Shu Tsukiyama, Matsuda is a ghoul also known as The Gourmet. He gets off on fine cuisine and extravagant delicacies. He eats human flesh, but it’s presented to him as a five star dish. Once he catches a whiff of Kaneki, then the hunt for the most exquisite gourmet meal begins.
The opening sequence is nasty and vile and undeniably everything I’ve ever wanted from a Tokyo Ghoul film. Tsukiyama rips a model’s eyeballs out of her head and consumes them like maraschino cherries. The camera goes dark after her eyes are plucked out of her skull before showing the perspective from the dangling eyeballs as Tsukiyama lowers them into his mouth. He then chucks her barely breathing carcass out of a skyscraper window where she plunges down onto a crowd of people on the ground below. Tsukiyama runs around in this weird mask that envelopes his entire head even encasing his impressively emo hairstyle. In that mask, he’s totally awesome; sniffing handkerchiefs with a few drops of Kaneki’s blood on them and is basically fueled by this orgasmic urge to consume Kaneki cuisine.
But once Tsukiyama takes that mask off, he isn’t nearly as impressive. The action sequences are really well done, especially the Touka/Tsukiyama fight where the camera placement feels like a Resident Evil boss battle. The special effects have always been one of the main downfalls of live-action anime films and that is no different for Tokyo Ghoul. There are times when the kagunes used by the ghouls look fantastic, but they tend to look less and less great the longer they’re showcased. The scenes in between Tsukiyama’s screen time are practically sleep-inducing. It feels like nothing eventful happens unless he’s around. Kaneki willingly and knowingly making himself weaker is rather infuriating, as well. These films are attempting to be more faithful to the manga and that’s fine if Kaneki refusing to eat and being a little turd about it is what occurred in the source material, but it doesn’t make it any less annoying.
That John Wick lighting tho.
I definitely recommend going out of your way to see the first Tokyo Ghoul live action film. It’s way better than it has any right to be. Tokyo Ghoul S is more of a rental suggestion though. The gore is outstanding, the action is entertaining, and Tsukiyama is a bad ass, but an eating fetish can only take a film so far. The film drudges along during setup sequences and long strings of dialogue. How a returning Nishio (Shunya Shiraishi) is able to get stabbed a dozen times and not die is somewhat entertaining in its own right. The Tokyo Ghoul live-action franchise has so much potential and hopefully it can get back on track if another film ever goes into development. 3/5 Pickled Eyeball Bibles.
I haven’t read any of the 55 volumes (and counting) of Yasuhisa Hara’s Kingdom manga or watched any of the 77 episodes of the anime adapted by animation studio Pierrot (Bleach, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Tokyo Ghoul among many others)…
To make matters worse, I haven’t seen any of the films by director and co-screenwriter Shinsuke Sato (the two live-action Gantz films, Death Note: Light Up the New World, the live-action Bleach film for Netflix). I’m going into Kingdom completely blind and I have no idea if that makes the viewing experience any better or worse.
In 255 B.C., Kingdom revolves around the quick-tempered and charge-headfirst-into-battle-without-thinking Xin (Kento Yamazaki) that dreams of being the greatest general of the Qin Kingdom. There’s other shit going on; a bloody 500 year war between the seven states of China, Xin’s best friend Piao (Ryô Yoshizawa) being enlisted by the King only to turn around and be killed, and King Yin Zheng being a splitting image of Piao, but nothing is emphasized or screamed louder than Xin’s desire to become the greatest general China has ever known.
That game of Whack-a-Mole was fixed and you know it!
Kingdom feels like it’s about 45 minutes too long for its own good. The first hour seems to drag as blood spraying into the air every now and then isn’t enough to keep you fully intrigued. The manga is an exaggerated recounting of Zheng actually becoming king in 221 B.C. during the Warring States period and eventually unifying China while the characters are loosely based on actual historical figures. The action adventure film attempts to portray Xin and Piao as worthy and capable swordsman because they clunked stick swords together 10,000 times in an empty field throughout their childhood and teenage years.
The film tries to compensate for its slow first hour with a more eventful second half, but it doesn’t totally succeed. Yang Duan He (Masami Nagasawa) and her mountain tribe are pretty awesome. Their masks remind you of something straight out of Princess Mononoke and you’ll be trying your hardest not to compare Yang Duan He to Xena: Warrior Princess. There’s this competition for the throne that gets a little complicated. Zheng’s brother Cheng Jiao (Kanata Hongo) is nasty and heartless and basically a human version of Salacious Crumb sitting on an even more elaborate version of Jabba the Hutt’s dais. Zheng and Jiao have the same father, but different mothers; Jiao’s is of royal blood and Zheng’s is a dancer or, in other words, a commoner. Jiao viewed peasantry as being bone deep; it isn’t something that can ever go away.
The main theme of Kingdom sounds like a direct ripoff of the main Guardians of the Galaxy theme, which is kind of a mindfuck. The prosthetics and make-up effects in the film are questionable with Li Dian, the original slave owner of Xin and Piao, having this awkwardly orange colored face, inhumanly puffy cheeks, stringy facial hair, and the ugliest facial expressions imaginable. After Xin joins up with Zheng, a girl in a bushy owl costume named He Liao Diao (Kanna Hasimoto) is mostly only around to take everyone to the mountains later. The chemistry Xin, Zheng, and Diao have is reminiscent of what Mugen, Jin, and Foo have in Samurai Champloo. Another observation is that Xin is basically Goku with Vegeta’s short-fuse temper; he lives to fight and eat, he’s dumber than a bag of rocks, and he can’t identify a woman when she’s standing directly in front of him.
Cheng Jiao’s go-to henchman, former general and current hitman for hire Zuo Ci (Tak Sakaguchi) may be the film’s coolest badass. He doesn’t give a shit about anybody, tells Xin that all dreams are bullshit, and is a part of what is arguably the best action sequence in the film. Meanwhile, General Wang Yi (Takao Ohsawa), the most renowned general in all of China and the guy with the status Xin plans on taking in the future, is a bit overrated. He mostly just parades his weird and pointy facial hair around and swings his giant sword as if it won’t remind us of Guts from Berserk.
Rock-Paper-Scissors was crazy in the before times.
All in all, Kingdom is a decent action adventure that just takes a while to really get going. The performances aren’t totally satisfying with Kento Yamazaki hamming it up on more than occasion and taking the brainless dolt with a huge mouth thing to uncomfortable levels. The story isn’t exactly hard to follow, but it does feel like it’s trying to be more convoluted than it needs to be. You don’t feel any sort of attachment to any of the characters and any sort of twist can be seen long before the reveal. Kingdom is just an okay way to spend two hours that is probably a justifiable rental on a day when you have nothing better to do, but is not worth paying full price to own. 3/5 Stick-Envy Riddled Bibles.
If you consider yourself a wrestling fan and you haven’t been living under a Rock plushdoll the past couple of days, then you know all about the craze that was New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 11.
WK11 was, in short, outstanding. WK11 had at least 4 Match of the Year candidates. WK11 was 6-hours long. WK11 had a 7-hour press conference and festival beforehand. WK11 had caused MoodyMania to spend close to a bill on 3 T’s–including, to your right, a straight-from-Japan Kinnikuman [M.U.S.C.L.E.]-inspired Okada T.
WK11 was everything and then some.
That said, while the one DestinO and myself watch New Year’s Dash Tokyo (here’s 2.5 more hours of amazing NJPW just in case WK11 wasn’t enough), we’ll do our best to bible-grade every match from the glory that was 1/4/17.
*NEW JAPAN RUMBLE*
At WK11, he brought new meaning to the term “Flash”.
MOODY: Despite irony in the name Wrestle Kingdom, this opener/pre-show/legends reunion was no Royal Rumble. Lots of good humor and a few fun, albeit ultra-brief spots (i.e. 60-year old Kuniaki Kobayashi and a certain nWo Japan 56-year “old school Ryback”…), but it’s a match that was–and always intended to be–horrible, especially with many of the entrants theme songs blaringly overdubbing the broadcast (music rights reserved, my Assman). 1.5/5 Bibles.
DESTINY: Hey, look, it’s the guy Devitt turned on to start Bullet Club! But, yeah, couldn’t have said it better myself. The Rumble is always good for a few cheap pops for nostalgia’s sake; but it’s just a thing for everyone not in one of the “good” matches to do (thank god Cheeseburger didn’t get over eventual winner Michael Elgin). But, hey, Scott Norton. 1.5/5 Bibles.
*TIGER MASK W vs. TIGER THE DARK*
Doh! Guess DestinO’s right.
MOODY: Despite the spectacle involved, the first true match of WK11 was actually quite forgettable. Of course, any match involving Kota Ibushi (seen in CWC) and ACH (seen in ROH) is gonna pack some good spots, but these were definitely “safer” than usual. 2.75/5 Bibles.
DESTINY: Where were Ibushi and ACH? I only saw Tiger Mask W and Tiger the Dark. But, yeah, the spots weren’t exactly as crazy what you’d expect out of a match between the two of them. Maybe it was the ridiculously giant masks holding them back. 3/5 Bibles.
**IWGP JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TEAM TITLES**
*THE YOUNG BUCKS vs. ROPPONGI VICE *
Let’s get ready to suuuuuu….
MOODY: Since our brother Sean loves to call our beloved Bucks “spot-monkeys”, it’s only fitting for me to tell our fine chapel audience about the great spot in this match (and there were a few, one leaning on dang-err-ous): Nick Jackson was able to one-arm bulldog a persistent Rocky Romero off the top, all while delivering added leverage to brother Matt‘s devastating destroyer. Of course, RPG held their own, got the “flash” upset, and set the tone for a night that saw an unprecedented amount of straps being won in a row. 3.5/5 Bibles.
DESTINY: The Bucks are simply one of–if not the most exciting team to watch. But RPG Vice really surprised me and the two teams put on a helluva match, including Rocky getting powered up as he got hit with superkicks. Maybe Twitter will be nicer to Trent Baretta now that he has a title. 3.75/5 Bibles.
**NEVER SIX-MAN TAG TEAM TITLES**
*LOS INGOBERNABLES (Evil/Bushi/Sanada) v. CHAOS (Richochet/Satoshi Kojima/David Finlay) v. BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale/Yujiro Takahashi/Hangman Page)*
Phantom of The Wrestler.
MOODY: With Omega are the forefront, all the hype was on Bullet Club tonight–despite offering up a 3-man pair here that resembled more like The Godfather, Viscera and Repo Man. But, this silly little gauntlet match set the tone for the mega-hardcore, homeland-approved Los Ingobernables de Japon for the rest of the event. The psychology behind putting LIJ over was solid, and my dude Bushi killed it! 3/5 Bibles.
DESTINY: So many brainbusters, a certain person suggested we should’ve turned it into a drinking game. It was weird hearing Kevin Kelly refer to Bad Luck Fale (who defeated Nakamura for the IC title and Okada during the New Japan Cup tournament) as a “rising star”, as if he were still a young lion. But the gauntlet format was a cool idea, even if I didn’t enjoy the match as much as I expected to. 3.25/5 Bibles.
*CODY vs. JUICE ROBINSON*
…is a man who never pays the bill on a first date.
MOODY: How good was Wrestle Kingdom 11? This, arguably one of the three worst matches of the night, would still be a very pleasing main event for any other brand’s weekly program. It was The Cody Show, and how fantastic of a heel he is and will be with the Bullet Club. His Indian deathlock looked violent as hell, and his overall work here showed flashes of Prince Devitt‘s heel brilliance a few years ago. I’m psyched for the #AmericanNightmare! 3/5 Bibles.
DESTINY: A solid match, overall. Cody was Cody, and I did laugh when he did thatStardust pose. But I got what I wanted–Juice taking the L after getting hit by a Crossrhodes (that looked especially awkward after reversing an Unprettier), so I can’t complain. 3/5 Bibles.
**ROH WORLD TITLE**
*KYLE O’REILLY vs. ADAM COLE*
So much for being the “Final Battle”.
MOODY: As a fan of both, especially that guy in the Bullet Club, SuperKliq and Dream Team (Bay-Bay!), I’ll be the first to tell you this didn’t belong here. But they do it every year. Bedmates ROH and NJPW had Jay Lethal vs. Elgin for the strap last year. True, we’ve seen AJ Styles defend his IWGP titles at ROH shows, so it’s only fair; I just think it kills the crowd–especially, considering, they booked back-to-back gaijin-only matches in a row. See you at Full Sail, Kyle. 3.75/5 Bibles.
DESTINY: The crowd should’ve been deader than dead for this–these types of things are usually the Japanese equivalent of a bathroom break match–but they were more into it than normal. I love the Violent Artist (seriously, what a cool as fuck nickname) and I enjoyed the hell out of this match as I do whenever Kyle O’Reilly and Adam Cole Bay-Bay beat the crap out of each other. 4/5 Bibles.
**IWGP TAG TEAM TITLES**
*GUERILLAS OF DESTINY (Tonga & Loa) v. GREAT BASH HEEL (Honma & Makabe) v. TORU YANO & TOMOHIRI ISHII*
And, I was sayin’ the tag division in NJPW was weak…
MOODY: What a shit-show–and I mean that in the best way possible. There was a lot of gaga going on in this match, with non-stop cursing from the GoD (Guy Padre’s fav team) that made colorguy Steve Corino lose his shit, and frantic mayhem the referee has absolutely no fuckin’ control over. I was pretty sure that GBH were gonna be too fuckin’ occupied with Yano for stealing the Tag League trophies, and they were; just a shame that the more likeable “Roman Usos” of the Bullet Club had to lose their fuckin’ titles too. 3.75/5 Bibles.
DESTINY:Supposedly this set a record for the most curses in a NJPW match and, like Corino, I completely lost it at “eat shit”. At one point, we declared this the match of the night for all of its ridiculousness and a result that no one saw coming. I also cracked up at Yano & Ishii grabbing the titles and the trophies and getting the hell out of dodge. And, yeah, heel! Usos should’ve definitely modeled themselves after GoD. 3.75/5 Bibles.
**IWGP JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE**
*KUSHIDA vs. HIROMU TAKAHASHI*
Dating apps are getting worse and worse, I tell ya.
MOODY: This is when WK11 went from “pretty good” to “holy fuckballs!” Hell, I got so many comic book and video game nerds into wrestling (at least for the day) when I posted the clip of Kushida catching the “Japanese Tyler Breeze” midair into an armbar. He consequently worked over his opponent with a persistent smothering of Hoverboards, which wasn’t enough for the LIJ member’s final trifecta of: flying waistlock rana, death valley driver, and–ironically–time bomb. This kid’s a star. 4.5/5 Bibles.
DESTINY: THIS WAS AWESOME (*clap clap clap clap clap*)! I’ve kinda been indifferent to the Wrestler Formerly Known as Kamaitachi, but watching him fight his way out of 1004 Hoverboards gave me a new respect for him. Not to discount the Time Splitter–KUSHIDA brought it; and his light-up shoes looked so cool when they went upside Takahashi’s head. I adore his little Back-to-the-Future-loving ass. 4.5/5 Bibles.
**NEVER OPENWEIGHT TITLE**
*HIROOKI GOTO vs. KATSUYORI SHIBATA*
Just 2-years ago, THIS happened.
MOODY: Although I had a ton of fun on Twitter with this one (i.e. how Goto “Never” wins a title, but wins the “Never” title!; referring this match-up as a Japanese version of Ken Shamrock vs. Steve Blackman; how the epically drawn out rock opera of Goto melted into the soft strings of Shibata..), this was one of the most physical encounters in the squared cicle I have ever seen. Truthfully this stiff-exchanged, strong-styled contest would’ve been a 4.75-Bible/Star match if not for what was yet to come. 4.5/5 Bibles.
DESTINY: GOTO ACTUALLY WON THE BIG ONE! This match was the very definition of strong style; just brutal. Lariats and forearms for days and kicks that just looked like they’d fuck you up. Not many headbutts from Shibata, surprisingly. Anyway… 4.75/5 Bibles.
**IWGP INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP**
*TETSUYA NAITO vs. HIROSHI TANAHASHI*
MOODY: Damn, this is a lot of titles…and a lot of titles switching hands. Six! Imagine this coming WrestleMania post-brand split with nearly double the titles now. That’s what this feels like. Thankfully, arguably NJPW’s #1 Wrestler of 2016 (from a non-gaijin POV) held onto his strap, which only comes on the footsteps of his classic confrontation not too long ago in the G1 Climax semifinal against that other NJPWWOTY nominee. The match itself: Slingblade on apron. Ouch! Tanahashi then followed up with a High Fly Flow to the outside. Another ouch! (This time, for both guys) The former IWGP Champ also made up for his new, horrendous entrance music (what a poor time to release this crap) with great counters and an intense Dragon. But Naito was Naito. I’ll just let DestinO *wink* take the rest… 5/5 Bibles.
DESTINY:SUPER DESTINO from the man rocking the latest from the Steve Harvey collection (seriously, I don’t know how Naito made that suit look good). Yeah, that slingblade on the apron was vicious and it was immediately followed up by the High Fly Flow to the outside, but it was that move that I popped for the most. If the last match was a slugfest, I don’t even know what to call this one. Oh, yeah, I do: a 5/5 Bible match.
**IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE**
*KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. KENNY OMEGA*
MOODY: Since the world’s most accomplished pro wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer (who has been covering the sports entertainment world for almost 35-years) honored Okada/Omega a personal record ******/5, I figured I’d just leave my thoughts on the match with this…
10 BIBLES, BITCH!
DESTINY: I see your 10 Bibles and add a first-born. Not mine, because I don’t have kids, but someone’s. In all seriousness, folks, no words will ever be able to do this match justice. I feel sorry for everyone that couldn’t experience it live. And, really, this tweet of mine basically sums my feelings about this match, a match I got goosebumps even the second time I watched. Now, it’s your turn. 10/5 Bibles.
