The entertainment world moves fast, and Thunder 3 ‒ Episode 9 is the latest development catching everyone's eye. From fans to industry insiders, the reaction has been immediate.
The Story So Far
I've been on record multiple times about how much I enjoy Thunder 3's manga, but I'm coming to the conclusion that's because I read all currently available eight (English-language) volumes in quick succession, which mitigated the terrible pacing problems inherent in the narrative. Thunder 3's manga concluded in Japan recently with volume 10, and this run is likely to cover only the first half.
That's a problem, as volumes 2-4 are easily the weakest material, the chapters within which almost entirely sideline the funny cartoon people cast in favor of the desperately boring, personality-vacuum “real human” characters. It seems we'll only get to the worthwhile part of the narrative as the run concludes. A smarter adaptation would have greatly condensed this series into something much snappier and more entertaining.
Unfortunately, the majority of production choices made here have been anything but smart. At least this installment completely sidelines the cardboard-cutout Segami in favor of the far more badass “Genius”. He hijacks a couple of supremely cool bipedal walker mech thingies and uses their brutally overpowered weaponry to unleash some pain on the invaders.
A great many explosions ensue, and honestly, it's a lot of fun. The bog-standard alien mooks have terrible aim and completely fail to successful him, and only with the use of a enormous rocket launcher do they succeed in damaging the first mech. It's ok though; there's another handy mech nearby he can commandeer instead.
His colleagues all enthusiastically cheer him on, although they're all eventually slaughtered by a more formidable enemy. Said formidable enemy is an unnamed enemy commander with male-pattern baldness and dreadlocks. He reminds me of John Travolta's laughable alien part in the Scientology-funded abomination Battlefield Earth, which isn't a good look.
This guy embodies that tiresome trope of the “noble” enemy commander who only wants to find a worthy rival with whom to engage in a damned good scrap. At least his annoying friend, the one who (in darkly humorous fashion) evaporates the heads of a sweet dating couple in the installment's opening moments, gets a bullet to the temple, courtesy of Genius.
As much as Genius is cool and all, we know bugger all about him, and the same goes for most of the other humans, many of whom get splattered across the sidewalk here. It's kind of hard to keep track of how many are left, it honestly stretches credulity that anyone has survived so far, apart from the handful of Empoweral users.
I really, really need the funny cartoon people to start doing something, preferably something exaggeratedly ultra-violent. That should have happened several episodes ago, and the delay is unforgivable. Thunder 3 is currently streaming on Netflix.
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For now, fans have plenty to discuss, and the industry has plenty to analyse. TeraMovies will be tracking every twist in this story as it unfolds, bringing you the full picture from the world of entertainment.
