Tag Archives: Yael Ventura

Absences & Struggles

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By: Yael Ventura

As 2021 came to an end and the students returned back to school, a new COVID variant has shown up as well. Omicron has reared its ugly head as a more infective mutation of the virus, with it easily being able to spread around quickly. This new variant has affected schools across the nation, with teachers having up to 50% of their student’s being quarantined or absent. Just in the LAUSD district alone, they recorded 33% absentee across the district. On average, teachers recorded up to 40-50 absent students across all their classes. Of course this brings forth many issues concerning students and teachers. For instance, teachers struggle with trying to keep their quarantined students on track with their regular classes. Teachers can’t continue with a lesson because the absent students won’t be on the same page as regular students when they eventually return. students aren’t being sent back home, teachers are back to being in a full classroom and seeing familiar faces.

For students, it’s difficult to keep up with the homework without the teacher’s guidance and having that face to face learning. Just being given the homework without the much needed learning can cause a student to fall behind, making it very difficult to raise their grades. As well as possibly falling behind with grades, another struggle students face is mental health. Quarantine was hard, mentally, for students as they went from being in a social setting to being stuck at home for a year. Seniors are also really worried about shutdowns with how many people have been sent home, fearing that a possible shutdown could ruin their final year of school and senior activities. As scary as possible shutdowns are, it doesn’t mean students are helpless. Many actions can be done to counteract COVID-19 and it’s variants, like covering up with a mask.

Along with covering up, getting the vaccine and it’s booster is a great way to protect yourself and family against the virus, especially with the new Omicron variant. Taking tests is also very useful in counteracting the virus. Thankfully, as the days go by more and more students are showing up to school again. With classes being almost filled back to how they were, and with students aren’t being sent back home, teachers are back to being in a full classroom and seeing familiar faces.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One): First Look at New Trailer

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By: Yael Ventura

After the box office hit: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, released to theaters on December 1st, 2018 and grossing over $375.5 million world wide, the movie introduced non-comic book readers to the Spider-Man multiverse. The movie brought along characters like: Penny Parker, Spider-Women, Spider-Ham, Spider-Man Noir, Miguel O’ Hara and the protagonist, Miles Morales. The movie left viewers amazed with its animation, soundtrack, and references, cementing Miles Morales as a household name among new and old fans alike.

It is now three years later, and both Marvel and Sony released a teaser for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One) on December 4th, 2021 giving the fans a first look into the new movie.

The trailer starts off with Miles laying in bed as a portal opens with Spider-Woman (Gwen Stacy) coming out and having a conversation with Miles. They decide to go out, cutting to Miles as he zooms through the web of multiverses and lands into a new universe and a new visual style for the movie. As he’s catching his breath, a portal behind him opens up as Spider Man 2099 (Miguel O’ Hara) comes lunging at Miles, catching him. As both Spider-Men are falling, Miguel opens another portal, bringing the two into a new universe along with a new visual style change. Miguel catches up with Miles as the teaser cuts off introducing the name of the film: Spider Man: Across the Spider-Verse as the title glitches to show that this film is only part one. Yet another glitch and the release date is shown, October 7th, 2022.

It appears that a long wait is ahead for fans as they excitedly wait for the release of the new film.

My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission–Movie Review

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By Yael Ventura

Rating: 4 out of 5.

When a sinister organization threatens to wipe out all superhuman powers, the fate of the world is on the line. With two hours until the collapse of civilization, Deku, Bakugo, and Todoroki manage to work as a team, but there’s still one problem. Deku’s on the run for murder.

Crew:

Original Creator: Kohei Horikoshi. 

Director: Kenji Nagasaki 

Screenplay: Yosuke Kuroda. 

Music: Yuki Hayashi. 

Character Designer: Yoshihiko Umakoshi. 

Animation Production: BONES. 

Cast: 

Izuku Midoriya – Japanese: Daiki Yamashita, English: Justin Briner

Katsuki Bakugou – Japanese: Nobuhiko Okamoto, English: Clifford Chapin

Shoto Todoroki: Japanese: Yuki Kaji, English: David Matranga

Rody Soul – Japanese: Ryo Yoshizawa, English: Ryan Colt Levy 

Pino – Japanese: Megumi Hayashibara, English: Cristina Vee Valenzuela

Flect Turn – Japanese: Kazuya Naki, English: Robbie Daymond

In a world where 80% of the population has a super power known as quirks, Izuku Midoriya is born without a quirk. His life goal to become the world’s greatest hero just like his idol and the symbol of peace, All Might, is cut short by the revelation. When Izuku comes across his idol on his way home, his life changes forever. Now with his new quirk of One for All, he attends U.A. High School with his classmates as they train to become pro heroes.

My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission brings out what fans love about the original anime series. A compelling story, unique original characters, high octane fights and stellar animation. The movie introduces new heroes with unique quirks and of course villains with powerful quirks. 

The first act starts off with an introduction to this movie’s villain, Flect Turn, and his cult, Humarise. Their goal is to erase the world’s quirk and leave only the quirkless humans. The cults release a smoke that causes civilians to act on their own, killing many. The movie then cuts to the film’s three protagonists as they engage on a stealth mission. The three heroes are shown rocking their new sleek stealth suits.

The second act then slows down as the heroes are positioned in different areas around the world. Newcomer Rody Soul is introduced and how he and his little siblings live in poverty. He does jobs for the bar owner and during one job, he runs into Izuku and his trio. Izuku, hero name Deku, follows Rody and is held at gunpoint with Rody. They escape and Izuku is wanted by the world as a mass murderer. This act slows down and has a road-trip-film like feel as the “wanted” duo make it to a safe point.

The final act and climax is where the movie really starts kicking into high gear. Bombs with quirk erasing smoke begin to count down all over the world. The three heroes: Deku, Bakugo and Todorki have located the headquarters of Humarise and come up with a plan. After being given a chip that can stop all the bombs around the world, they decide to break into the headquarters to stop the end of the world, within only two hours. Piloted by Rody, the three heroes make it off the plane and begin to break in. The movie then splits into three major fights. The first fight consists of Bakugo vs new villains Serpenters. Second fight consists of Todoroki vs new-commer Leviathan. The final and most important fight features Izuku vs the headmaster, Flect Turn. The final fight goes all out with the animation and emotional aspect of the film.

Everything fans love is here and on the big screen. The music really fits the vibe of the scenes, especially during very stressful situations during the final act. The animation is also stellar throughout the whole movie, especially during a fight scene where there are no cuts and all in one perspective. Emotionally, the movie does that really great as well. The viewers can feel the stress and thrill from fights. The film is an amazing addition to the anime series, a must watch for the fans.

Video Game Review: Omori

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By Yael Ventura

Content Warning: Omori features a cute hand drawn aesthetic but the plot covers very heavy themes along with containing flashing lights. If you aren’t comfortable with heavy themes, please skip this game.

Pseudonymous artist OMOCAT released the trailer on April 21, 2014 for an upcoming project called Omori. The video gained traction very quickly as people awaited its release. After 6 years and 8 months of development for what felt like forever, Omori was released on Steam for Windows and MacOS on Christmas Day of 2020 to amazing reviews, with a Nintendo Switch port coming in the near future along with an artbook.

What originally started out as a small comic on Tumblr entitled Omori’s Story, it featured panels of a boy named Omoriboy with his friends as they play games and hang around. Later it is revealed that all of the story took place in Omoriboy’s imagination, with him drawing his “friends” and adventures in his sketchbook.

Omori is an indie Horror RPG made in RPG Maker where the player controls the character Omori exploring the world of HEADSPACE, Omori’s dreams. When your best friend Basil goes missing, your group, consisting of your closest friends, go on a big journey to find him. As the story progresses, you begin to uncover the truth behind all the horror elements of the story.

Outside of HEADSPACE, you control Sunny, a boy who became a shut-in after an incident caused him to become more isolated. Sunny is moving out in three days and the player controls Sunny as he hangs out with his friends one last time before he moves away.

The horror aspects of the game are really well made. There are a few jumpscares, as expected of anything in the horror genre. What the game does really well is how it scares players with a tense feeling. Another great aspect of the game is how the game scares those players who like to explore the areas of the game. The music also fills players with a deep feeling of dread and leaves them scared to continue playing. Omori is an amazing RPG, best played blind. The game gives multiple warnings about the themes that the story covers. If you can handle said themes, the game is a wonderful experience. Players really get connected with the characters of the story, which only makes the truth more gut-wrenching. There is a lot of replay value with the multiple endings the game features.

Yael Ventura

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Yael Ventura is a senior at John Glenn High School. He is a bit clumsy but has a heart of gold. His ID may say he’s 17 but his face says he’s 13. During his free time he likes to play video games, draw and sleep. He may not know what’s going on most of the time, but he knows how to go with the flow. His favorite new source is AllSides.

Video Game Review — Sonic Colors: Ultimate

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By Yael Ventura

Originally released on the Nintendo Wii on November 10, 2010, Sonic Colors was loved by hardcore fans and newcomers alike. Ten years later, the team Blind Squirrel has remastered the video game, now in 4K/60FPS for today’s consoles and for new and old fans alike to the Sonic series. Sonic Colors: Ultimate hopes to capture what made the original great and beloved by fans with a multi-platform release. The game is available for purchase on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Epic Games Store. 

Sonic Colors: Ultimate features Sonic the Hedgehog, accompanied by his sidekick and best friend Tails the Fox, as they investigate Dr. Eggman’s new interstellar amusement park believing the doctor is up to no good. Along the way, a captured alien race called “Wisps” join up with Sonic as they free the captured aliens and uncover Dr. Eggman’s true plans.

The game features a mix of 3D platforming action alongside 2D side scrolling. As with what defines the Sonic franchise, speed is a major factor of the game. Blast through the new colorful stages to reach the goal as fast as you can. New to the franchise are “Wisps” which power up Sonic, letting players discover new routes and sections to each level, giving tons of replay value to the game.

The game is a wonderful experience to play through for fans coming back to the game after ten years or new ones who don’t know what a “Sonic the Hedgehog” is. Of course for as much as the game is great, it isn’t without it’s multiple issues. The game features a couple of glitches ranging from certain music not playing when needed, to the game play’s possible ability to cause seizures.

Blind Squirrel rolled out day-one patches to mitigate the very damaging glitches with more patches fixing smaller glitches. Most of the issues stem from the Nintendo Switch version of the game, which forced Nintendo to give out refunds to those who bought the game digitally and want their money back (they don’t normally provide this service). This remaster is splitting the fanbase apart with some who are happy with being able to replay a fan-favorite game and others disappointed to see the Sonic franchise release yet another unfinished game.

Even with it’s issues, the game still holds up as a good, fun, and enjoyable time with a ton of replay value.