Her Majesty’s Swarm, Volume 1 – Manga Review

Posted on June 7, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Her Majesty’s Swarm follows a teenage girl who is absorbed into a world that feels very similar to an online game that she’s obsessed with. For seemingly no reason she wakes up in a strange cave and is seen as a queen of Arachnea by the giant arachnids in the faction. Using her knowledge from the game she sets forth to help the faction and find a way back to the real world.

The first volume of this manga is the definition of average. It’s not great, it’s not terrible, just incredibly average. The art looks alright, but it’s nothing to write home about it. It’s always clear what’s going on and it’s an easy enough to follow story. The characters are really underdeveloped, at least in volume 1, and by the time it ends there’s no desire to carry on reading into volume 2.

The first quarter of the manga is very slow, in that it’s mainly the main character questioning how she got to the new world, and that’s about it. She then adapts quickly, using her gaming experience to take control of the hive-minded arachnids and finds a village nearby that she befriends the locals of. The story picks up from there, but it’s still not completely gripping or intense.

Overall it’s not the worst manga I’ve ever read, but it’s far from the best. It’s something that blends into other things and not something that’s very memorable.

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It’s That Reincarnated-as-a-Virus Story, Volume 1 – Manga Review

Posted on June 6, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter


The manga, It’s That Reincarnated-as-a-Virus Story is based on the light novel series of the same name. It follows someone who is reincarnated as a virus and starts to infect animals and plants in order to take control of a new world. It’s an isekai story, which means ‘otherworld’ and normally presents someone who dies in our world and is reincarnated in another.

The art for this story is really great. It’s simple, cute and really nice to look at. Then the story is just so bland, that it’s an absolute chore to get through. I haven’t read that many isekai stories, but I’ve read a few, and this is by far the blandest and hardest to read. I actually stopped reading around 50 pages a few months back and had to restart it just to finish it off. It’s not a long read, with very little text to read, but it still took a lot of effort to really get through.

The main character is just not interesting. He was a loner in his past life, and then becomes a virus and there’s nothing interesting about him. The most interesting character is the adventurer that he meets, who’s the girl on the front cover, but she’s only in it for one chapter. I know she’s probably going to reappear later in the story, but I won’t be reading past volume 1.

It’s very dull, hard to read, and really not worth reading. The art is good, and that’s it.

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Orochi, Volume 1 – Manga Review

Posted on June 5, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Orochi is a horror manga by Kazuo Umezz that was originally released in Japan between 1969-1970 and was later collected in 6 volumes. For the first time the series is being published in English in the original order. Previously a book containing later chapters, Orochi: Blood, was released in 2002, which is now long out of print and fetches a high price online. The series follows Orochi, through a series of short stories, that are pretty much unrelated apart from Orochi appearing in them. She meets people and with supernatural abilities affects their lives and sees the hidden consequences of their actions.

Volume one has two stories in it, Sisters and Bones. The first story finds Orochi going to a house and pretending to be a maid to discover the secret of the two sisters living there. Bones is about a widowed woman who mourns the loss of her husband, and Orochi attempts to bring the husband back to life. Both of the stories have twists that you won’t see coming. While it’s a horror manga, it’s not really about being scary, but more about creating a deeply unsettling and creepy atmosphere, which both of these chapters do really well.

Sisters, is the shorter of the two, being around 90 pages and is a really concise and chilling tale, while Bones is much longer around 200 pages. Both chapters feel the right length for the story they are telling. They also both feel complete and satisfying on their own. Their both page-turners, and you read each one in a single sitting. They’re messed up in the best way possible for horror fans.

Kazuo Umezz’s artwork is really great, with a lot of detail and it’s always clear what’s going on. It perfectly captures the tone of the stories. It’s easy to get swept up in the stories and then they absolutely fly by. They may not actually be truly scary, but they leave an impression once you’re done. The second volume already has a release date, and I’m going to be getting that as soon as possible. Umezz is one of the greatest and most influential horror manga writers, and Orochi is a perfect showing of that.

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Interceptor – Film Review

Posted on June 4, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Matthew Reilly

Writers: Matthew Reilly and Stuart Beattie

Starring: Elsa Pataky, Luke Bracey, Aaron Glenane, Mayen Mehta, Rhys Muldoon, Beline Jombwe, Marcus Johnson, Colin Friels, and Zoe Carides

Rating: ★½

Interceptor is about the threat of a nuclear attack on America and the ways that would stopped. It stars Elsa Pataky as Captain J.J. Collins who is being stationed at SBZ-1, an interceptor base in the middle of the sea that has one mission; to stop a nuclear missile if it’s fired towards America. There are two interceptor bases, with the other being Alaska, which is quickly taken over by terrorists, leaving SBZ-1 as the only operating base during an attack.

Sixteen nukes have been stolen from Russia by a terrorist group who want to destroy major cities in America, after they have also taken down the Alaskan base they quickly turn to the remaining base, with Captain Collins as the last line of defence for the base after the terrorists start to take control. She holds out in the control room, with the door locked as Alexander Kessel (Luke Bracey) attempts to get in. She has told hold out ninety minutes for reinforcements to arrive.

The set-up for this film could be good as a tense action thriller, but it just isn’t. It’s so dumb, that it’s only worth watching because it falls into the ‘so bad it’s good’ category. The whole thing just gets increasingly stupid, with annoying characters, poor acting, as it progresses towards its inevitable finale. The motive for the terrorists trying to destroy America to build a better America is dumb.  

The bad guts make bad decisions that lets Captain Collins get the upper hand, quite a few times. They don’t kill her when they get the chance, multiple times. At one point her dad is being tortured, that obviously tests her limits with keeping the door locked, but instead of continuing the torturing they straight out kill him, giving away any leverage they had.

Interceptor is a laughably bad film, that even a cameo from Chris Hemsworth (one of the only good bits) can’t save. The acting is poor, the characters don’t act logically, and the whole plot is over-the-top and takes away from the tension. It’s really not worth watching.  

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The Orville: New Horizons – Episode 1: Electric Sheep Review

Posted on June 3, 2022 by ashleymanningwriter

Director: Seth MacFarlane

Writer: Seth MacFarlane

Starring: Seth Macfarlane, Adrianne Palicki, Penny Jonson Jerald, Scott Grimes, Peter Macon, Jessica Szohr, J Lee, Mark Jackson, Anne Winters, and Norm Macdonald

Rating: ★★★★

It’s been three years since the second season of The Orville aired, thanks to Covid delays, it’s been a long wait to re-join the Orville’s crew, but it’s definitely worth the wait. The third season has the sub-title New Horizons, but it’s not a reboot at all. The first episode, Electric Sheep, wastes no time at all getting right back into the swing of things. It deals with the outcome of the season two battle with the Kaylon. Isaac (Mark Jackson) has been reinstated as a member of the crew and is causing friction with some of the other crew members who don’t like him still being on board, as he’s a Kaylon.

The Orville continues to be Seth MacFarlane’s love-letter to Star Trek. Everything about the show feels like something that would fit in within one of the classic shows, and this episode in particular is pure Next Generation. It deals with prejudice, depression, and suicide in a way that’s just classic Trek. There’s a message, but at the same time it’s a strong episode with great characters that we’ve come to love over the last two seasons, so it works on every level.

The delay hasn’t affected the show at all in anyway. All of the cast step back into their characters straight away, as if no time has passed. It’s great to finally catch up with them, even if it does feel that some of the characters aren’t given enough time to shine in this episode, despite its hour plus running time. Hopefully future characters will focus more on some of the other characters, especially Lieutenant Gordon Malloy (Scott Grimes), who takes a backseat for most of this outing. Like the previous seasons, the visuals still have those early 2000s Star Trek Enterprise/Stargate Atlantis era vibe, that feel a little dated but filled with nostalgia. It feels right at home with the shows that it’s inspired by.

New Horizons is going to be the shortest season of The Orville, with only ten episodes. If the first episode is anything to go by then we’re in for a great season. It scratches that itch for classic Trek while also feeling like its own thing. Electric Sheep packs a punch, with some surprisingly emotional moments.

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