Just like last year, this'll be a list of all the movie submissions this MD that are worth reviewing. It won't be in any specific order, but scores will be applied to each project obviously. There's gonna be a few collabs I'm gonna leave out because I don't wanna just repeat some of my reviews from last year, so keep that in mind.
Soul Madness 2: It was...uh...something. I'm a big believer in giving this new generation of Madness toons a new dash of story spice, but this one went a little far. Far, FAR too much dialogue and characters standing around saying and doing nothing particularly interesting half of the time. I can tell the creator put plenty of thought into these walls of text, but there was plenty of fat to be shaved and more than enough time that could have been put to better use than this. I genuinely want to give Kanp the benefit of the doubt, but seeing as he also took a bunch of my buddy ShootThaCheese's sprites without permission, it definitely hurts the project's image. I hope for the best with this boi, but only time will tell if all this effort was worth it.
2.5/10
Madness New York Minute: Another solid solo project by our big boi Sentry. While still on the short side, (Hence the name), Sentry's signature environmental and vfx style pulls through beautifully. I hope that this project is a precursor for whatever larger project is down the pipeline, as what's on display here is appetizing enough to have me wait for more.
8/10
Kilroy Madness 3: The finale to the series that's kept the more starved Madness Days of the last few years alive has striked gold yet again. I don't wanna do a play-by-play of what I've already covered from Kilroy 2 last year, so I'll make it brief. As with all of Diotoon's Madness projects, his unique character style allows for far more dynamic poses and movements than what'd be usually possible with the standard madness formula. SFX and music are on-point, this time delivering some sexy custom tracks. A very solid end to an overall fantastic trilogy, I am excited to see what Dio cooks up next!
9/10
Abnormis - DEPARTURE: It's about time we got some fresh blood 'round here, and Zapchon delivers! As an entry-point to a new Madness Series, DEPARTURE does a fine job at setting up a Madness tale with some new flavor. Despite some rough patches within the animation/storytelling that could have been cleaned up, the project is very solid overall and delivers some unique visual flare with fast-paced action to boot. I'd suggest keepin' an eye on Zapchon's upcoming projects, the scent of potential is strong with this one.
7.9/10
Madness Powers - Devolution: Another surprisingly good solo project to inject some life into this MD. Although some of the art assets can be rough around the edges, the assets on display here are shockingly good, especially the heavy-armored dudes that show up mid-way through the project. Animation quality is around average, but can get pretty sloppy at some points.I can only hope that KorboDuo will continue his work on the series and deliver us an even better sequel next MD, as the ending to this one felt a bit rushed.
6.8/10
Madness Whitehank Zero - The Mulligan: Speaking of RUSHED. After the splash that White Hank 2 made last MD, hype was soaring for the finale. Unfortunately, while the project is definitely a worthwhile and fantastic experience, it doesn't surpass the 2nd entry in my opinion. From rough cuts, rushed scenes, and broken transitions, everything's just a little too rough around the edges for me to ignore. Everybody involved with the project gave it their all, and I can tell that there's some real soul in there, but at the moment the collab is best defined as a half-baked dessert. The chefs needed more time to prepare it, and the dish itself needed far more time in the oven. Even so, some of the fight scenes on display here involve moves and effects that I'd bet a good deal of Madness peeps have never seen before. The weapons testing room and Neo-Wank fight scenes are my absolute favorites, having the perfect mix of fun and violence with deliciously executed animation and timing. Phenomenal animation when it all works together, disappointing when it doesn't.
9.2/10
Singularity - Observation: A surprising entry by Ellvis, for a guy who usually sticks to collabs, this is a shockingly good solo movie to add some speedy-spice to this MD. I like the idea of the main character progressing in power as he goes through his design iterations over the years, it was a clever way of showing off the meta history behind 'em. As with all of Ellvis's recent animation, it's fast, fluid, and sexy as all hell. This was a pleasant surprise for this year and I hope he's got more solo projects down the production line.
8.7/10
Madness GOTO Heaven: A collab that came out of the blue, ironically so, given the abundance of the color. There are some very interesting ideas on display here, but they're far, far too rough to really get a good gauge on things. The visuals are a nice divergence from the standard Madness fare, I just wish that the animation was consistent enough to live up to these changes. Even so, I can still tell that there's been plenty of love and care put into this collab, with there being enough concepts to keep most people watching all the way through. The monster designs in particular were pretty interesting, I just wished that more was done with them. As for me, the rough and often unfinished looking scenes are the blemishes on what could have been a solid contender for a WANK competitor.
5.5/10
-IN CONCLUSION-
This Madness Day was a pretty good haul I'd say, plenty of new talent has made an appearance and the veterans continue to pump out pretty solid projects. A huge thanks to the community for still being alive all of these years, where most communities would have rotted away we somehow have persisted. Let's keep up that trend and make it to next MD without a hitch, I'll see you there! ~(˘▾˘~)
