Author: Averagebeing Staff

Every time you hear the word Pokémon, the first thing you conjure is bound to be Ash’s cute thunderbolt-generating Pokémon. This yellow creature with a lightning bolt-shaped tail and red cheeks has won over generations of anime lovers. However, has it ever crossed your mind what kind of animal Pikachu was inspired by? The answer is obvious for Pokémon s like Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Charmander, or even Team Rocket’s Meowth. However, the design of Pikachu has eluded fans. Is it a rat, a squirrel, or some other rodent? Let’s find out what inspired the classic Pokémon’s design. What Animal is Pikachu…

Imagine you adopt a little kid to give them a better life, but find out a horrifying truth later on- it’s an adult living in a child’s body. From then on, you stop living a peaceful life. The adult turns out murderous and sociopathic and then begins a game of hide and seek to save one’s life. While the 2009 film, The Orphan, dealt with this eerie issue, just a year later, in 2010, something similar happened again, and this time for real. An adoption went wrong, and that ultimately destroyed the sanity and the marriage of the couple. Murder…

The internet is dominated by dog and cat videos, which are always fighting for supremacy. But other cute animals have begun taking away some internet shares from the two popular pets. Ball pythons, leopard cubs, tiger cubs, and other harmless-looking animals are adored online too. But currently, it is the Capybara who has captured all the attention online. Known for being peace ambassadors and able to chill with anyone, whether cats or crocodiles, these grass-eating rodents are living rent-free in TikTok users’ minds. They can grow up to 134 cm and weigh about 60 kg. Native to South America, these…

A serial killer, his protege, and a girl. What can go wrong? A lot. But a lot can go right as well. After all, it all depends on intent and execution. Chained (2012), directed by Jennifer Lynch, is one such tale. It has a 68% Rotten Tomatoes score, and even though it was initially decried by critics for being too gory, sadistic, as well as misogynistic, even from a female lens, it has found a cult following over the years. Made on a reported budget of only $700k, the film marked spectacular performances by Vincent D’Onofrio, Conor Leslie, Eamon Farren,…

Real-life murders stories, no matter how inhumane and cruel, have seized to incite shock in readers. This is perhaps thanks to murder podcasts and other media that have normalized the violent act. So, unless and until something heart-wrenchingly gruesome happens, most people would scroll by. However, something shocking and unexpected did happen recently. It made readers take pause and scroll upward to know the story better. What makes the story extremely disturbing is the ages of the perpetrator and the victim. One would think that families were safe and that siblings, no matter how many fights they had, would care…

Dies Irae, a 2007 visual novel, received its anime adaptation in the fall of 2017, but not many people can say great things about it. While the first 15 minutes of episode 1 showed promise, the anime slaughters everything by including innumerable characters in the last few minutes. If all the new characters had stayed and received enough attention, the problem could have been diverted. However, the creators had the brilliant idea to keep adding characters who could make sense to only those familiar with the source material. Many references and actions go over the heads of a newbie to…

From Captain America: The First Avenger to Dunkirk and from Fury to The Imitation Game, war films come in different shapes and forms. Some attempt to show the real events, while others offer a fictionalized version that’s mainly aimed to serve as a form of escapism. Where Eagles Dare tends to lean towards the latter a lot. The British-American 1968 war film was helmed by Brian G. Hutton and starred stalwarts like Clint Eastwood, Richard Burton, and Mary Ure. It followed a British-American team of Special Operations paratroopers being tasked with raiding a castle. The classic film grossed $21 million…

Mysterious, powerful, and elite. These three words perfectly describe the Hashiras. They began as seldom-seen characters and gradually graduated to participate in major arcs. Many became key players in some story arcs as well. These sword-wielders can tremble the Twelve Kizuki’s Lower Ranks and command respect from the Upper Ranks as well.  Basically, they form the highest order in the Demon Slaying Corps, and their existence sustains the organization. There are nine of them, and each one is tasked with a specific region. They handle the threats that ordinary slayers cannot. All nine of them play important roles in the…

“You can’t outrun who you are.” This dialogue by Xu Wenwu, Shang-Chi’s father, defines the climactic ending of Marvel Studios’ first martial arts/ magical movie. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is a gust of fresh air for Marvel audiences. It premiered during the pandemic and transported audiences to a world of millennia-old warlords, unfinished love stories, grief, children accepting their destinies, and Ten glowing Rings. The film begins with Shang-Chi and his sister Xu Xialing getting hounded by their father, Wenwu, who wants to bring them back after they ran away from home since their mother died.…

Succession has been a chart-bursting success for HBO as it successfully did what few shows can do in this day and age- keep audiences glued for the drama. Comparisons to The Sopranos have been made, with many also calling it the modern-day Game of Thrones, but the show has carved out an audience for itself that’s different from the rest. The Roy family drama reached its height in season 4, and the ratings for each episode kept climbing higher from the previous one. The show finally aired its series finale on May 28, and there have been unending conversations about…

Obsolete is a mecha anime that BANDAI NAMCO debuted exclusively on YouTube. It is unlike the 2D art style commonly used in anime and extensively uses 3D and CGI styles. Many would say that the anime looks lifeless because of the CGI, but if you are a fan of tech battles, then you should definitely give it a try. Episode 1 will dupe you into believing that it is simply a mecha warfare series, but only in episode 1 will you realize that humans didn’t even create the technology used in battles. An alien subplot is introduced where they trade…

In an effort to promote public transport, BART, aka Bay Area Rapid Transit, has chosen to take the help of some new anime waifus. Five mascots have been selected from hundreds of submissions, and they will help BART connect with young riders and their communities. BART arranged for an open call for California-based artists in the summer of 2022. It was met with nearly 500 submissions. After combing through them all, BART has collaborated with a select few to create the mascots. These mascots will serve as BART’s approachable avatars with a friendly attitude. All the new anime mascots are…

Monster But Wild is a Chinese donghua showing a gamer who gets transported into his favorite game. Typically, this would lead to a rosy life where the MC gets unparalleled powerups and defeats the demon lord, but not this time. Dong Dong, the gamer, gets transported only to find out he is now the weakest of all monsters, a dangly-looking skeleton monster. Still, he didn’t lose hope because “Someone was reincarnated as a slime, and he became a hero.” (Cool TenSura reference there) Alas, he gets his butt handed to him by a slime pretty soon. How will this weak…

Attack on Titan, the favorite show of all the sadist otakus in the world, is ready to air its finale. The saga that began in 2013 will end soon, and I hope all of you are ready for the gore and drama it will bring. Attack on Titan The Final Season Part 3 2nd Half is reportedly the last installment to the franchise, and I hope MAPPA doesn’t split it anymore since that would test the fans’ patience. In the last episodes that aired, Eren had already started the rumbling, and millions of people worldwide got killed. Only a tiny…

After delivering back-to-back duds in phase 4, Marvel Cinematic Universe has recaptured its groove with the recently released ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’. The film is being hailed as the best outing from the studio since ‘Avengers: Endgame.’ It seems like James Gunn is the savior MCU needed. However, one more factor played a significant role in the film achieving the kind of critical and commercial success it has- its primary antagonist, High Evolutionary. Played deliciously by Chukwudi Ivuji, the character is hands down one of the evilest creatures to ever exist in any cinematic lore. However, towards the…